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Post-Playtex Era Strong In Cullman
Chamber of Commerce weather greeted several dozen lactating women and their families at the Walmart Pavilion inside Heritage Park on Saturday morning.
The gathering celebrated the 4th annual BIG Latch On. This event ran from 10 am until noon.
Cullman County nursing mothers along with their husbands and other support members convened to breastfeed their babies in a supportive, lactation-friendly environment.
Ashley Wright, the lead organizer of this event, invited all area lactating moms as well as their friends, family, and community to come out and participate in the cause.
The BIG Latch On is an annual, global event that celebrates, promotes and supports breastfeeding.
The larger goal of the global BIG Latch On movement is to normalize breastfeeding.
There was a worldwide synchronization latch from 10:30 to 10:31 am Cullman time.
Groups of nursing moms and their supporters around the world either latched their babies, expressed milk or fed breast milk by spoon to their babies all at the same time across the world. It was a sacred, touching and profound moment at Heritage Park.
cullmantoday.com/2017/08/06/post-playtex-era-strong-in-cu...
Place: Nangan, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
Moon Eclipse on May 16, 2022
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
Lunar Eclipse on May 16, 2022 from Italy
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
The early hours of May 16, 2022, was not an easy eclipse. The Moon was well below the threshold of good resolution due to an annoying haze and the progressive absorption effect operated by the atmosphere, well perceptible during the advancement of the phenomenon.
Having taken standard shots, normalized automatically, the brightness is indicative of these factors with the addition of the light of the incipient dawn.
The first shot is with the Moon still completely out of the shadows. Then there are some shots during the penumbral phase, in which there is a progressive shading of the advancing side. With the beginning of the partial phase, all the shots are equally spaced until the last one, when the Moon was no longer visible even by extending the exposure.
Please note that the images were taken from Italy (coordinates in the localization TAG).
All shots were taken with Tair-3S (unit 2) + 2x Panagor telephoto lens on Kodak EOS 4000D (body2) at 200 ISO - 1/400s. Tracking was guaranteed by an EQ5. Other data in the EXIFs.
To use this image please first read here: www.flickr.com/people/133259498@N05/
Tair-3S @600mm + EOS 4000D
el Nopalero... (or is it Pancho Villa ?) (((; ....... crating the harvest of Nopal cactus leaves to be weight and packed for EXPORT !
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Here is some INFO on the HEALTH BENEFITS OF NOPAL cactus - taken from the Chosen Foods - Ancient Nutrition website:
What is Nopal?
Nopal is a cactus native to Mexico, botanically classified as Opuntia ficus-indica. The Genus Opuntia describes over 200 cactus species growing worldwide, all of which share the common Mexican ancestor O. ficus-indica The success of Nopal as a food and medicine has kept it an icon of health food in Mexico where more than 700,000 metric tons are consumed annually.
More recently clinical research has found Nopal to be an ancient nutrition for modern illness because of its unique ability to normalize blood sugar, improve digestive health, and protect against inflammation and oxidative stress.
www.chosen-foods.com/aztecnopal_about.asp
History of Nopal:
Archaeological evidence shows Nopal as a staple and medicine for the cultures which have thrived in Meso Americ (Mexico) dating back at least 12,000 years including the Olmec, Toltec and most recently Aztec. Indeed Aztec folklore describes a prophetic vision of an eagle holding a serpent in its talons while perched on a Nopal cactus plant, where providence dictated they build their city. The Aztec’s referred to Nopal as “Nochtli” in their native Nahuatl language, thus naming their divinely inspired city Tenochtitlan, or City of the Nopal; today’s location of Mexico City. Explorers visiting that area in the 15th Century were fascinated by Nopal’s shelf life and ability to protect against scurvy, which we now know is due to its high Vitamin C content. Thus Nopal became a popular seafaring food and eventually made its way around the globe.
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Copyright© Ute Hagen - All my photos and art images are protected under International Copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my explit permission. If you want to use any of my images please contact me here through flickr mail or at: uteart@gmail.com
Urbex Benelux -
In the early 1950s, a new crisis arose in the international paper market, causing both demand and prices for paper to drop sharply. From 1954 the market normalized and the De Naeyer factory was able to start growing again. New machines were purchased and a new hall built. During that period they received compensation for the measured war damage.
Rather different artwork from my normal: experimenting with PovRay, my favoured ray-tracing software since the late 90s, to construct a scene of various germs and things emerging from a warped background covered in the genome sequence for SARS-Coronavirus-2.
Redbubble, the site I use for fulfilling print and other sales orders, have recently started offering face-masks as a product on which to display one's art: see their announcement at blog.redbubble.com/2020/04/product-news-masks-are-coming-...
My initial reaction was that art is a luxury, so profiting off it would be highly distateful.
However, Redbubble are matching every mask sold by donating one to a charity (Heart to Heart International); a friend pointed out that if masks are to become normalized in society then making them artistic is certainly a way forward.
Accordingly, I have started offering some existing and new photographic work in this form; however, I've set my profit margin to 0 for masks in the process.
Povray sources for this image are available on github: The Lurgy.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
President Donald J. Trump listens as U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman addresses his remarks Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 in the Oval Office, at the announcement that the Kingdom of Bahrain is joining the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in normalizing relations with Israel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
Urbex Benelux -
In the early 1950s, a new crisis arose in the international paper market, causing both demand and prices for paper to drop sharply. From 1954 the market normalized and the De Naeyer factory was able to start growing again. New machines were purchased and a new hall built. During that period they received compensation for the measured war damage.
The 1960s were mainly characterized by expansion and economic growth. The factory became a world-renowned paper company. It was during this time that the factory's centenary was lavishly celebrated.
At the end of 1974, a general crisis ensued that hit the factory badly. Competition from the Eastern bloc and Italy caused prices to drop by up to 30 percent. In 1977 no improvement was noticeable and a reorganization led to 260 layoffs.
Place: Nangan, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
The statue of the goddess Mazu, just completed in October 2009, is 28.8 meters tall, making it world’s tallest statue of Mazu according to the promotional website.
Mazu is a Chinese sea goddess. She is the deified form of the purported historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Revered after her death as a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia. She was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now generally regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven.
May 13, 2023 - USAID Administrator Samantha Power met the President of the Republic of Kosovo Dr. Vjosa Osmani. Administrator Power emphasized the U.S. Government’s commitment to supporting Kosovo’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration and discussed the importance of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The Administrator and President Osmani also discussed the longstanding USAID partnership with Kosovo on shared priorities including good governance and rule of law, women’s empowerment, advancing clean energy, and fostering inclusive economic growth. The meeting took place in Pristina, Kosovo.
Place: Nangan, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
“So Young . . . So Evil”
“Theona was so young to be so evil but only her sister Kit, who looked enough like her to be her twin, knew what rottenness lay below Theona’s luscious blonde beauty. Now at nineteen Theona had become involved in the ugliest scandal of her entire life and Kit felt duty bound to extricate her. ‘YELLOW HEAD’ is the staccato-paced story of Kit’s hopeless struggle to save her wanton, love-crazy sister from self-destruction at any cost – even at the cost of the man she loves.
“Unfolding against the tough, realistic background of a mushrooming West Coast town, itself threatened by powerful forces of vice and corruption, this novel breathes life and warmth into an unforgettable story of love, loyalty and murder – a story that could only have been written about – and for – our times.” [From the back cover]
“Scratch the Surface . . .”
“Two exquisitely lovely sisters, as alike as identical twins on the surface – so utterly different inside! Theona – wanton, cruel and provocative. And Kay “[sic]” – warm, reserved, desirable. Brill O’Hearn thought he knew which sister he wanted – until he discovered that, by falling in love with one, he had become doubly susceptible to both!
“Here is the raw, shocking story of two warm-blooded women whose desire for the same man stirs up that deepest rivalry of all, a rivalry between sisters, where blood ties are forgotten and all restraints removed as the age-old animal, struggle for a mate, erupts in uncontrollable viciousness and passion.” [From the Intro inside the front cover]
[Note: The pulps paved the way for mass-market erotica, normalizing stories that flirted with taboo. Both genres were often dismissed as "low brow" or "trash," yet they tapped into real emotional and psychological currents -- especially around gender, power, and desire.]
Clondon52w27: PHOTOGRAPHER HIGHLIGHT: Diane Arbus
From the C.London website: “Diane Arbus is known for her captivating portraits wherein she aimed to normalize marginalized groups with the end goal of highlighting the importance of representation of all people.
For this week, choose a subject which may be ‘othered’ and showcase what makes it special, beautiful unique, interesting, or any other positive adjective that comes to mind. If you are using human subjects, be sure that you are not exploiting the subject. Diane was extremely genuine in her interactions and capturing of the subjects, and we would like to stay true to that spirit.”
I am asking for special dispensation on this week’s challenge since this photograph, made in January 2015, satisfies the prompt in visual quality, story and spirit. I made an attempt today to shoot a new photo for the prompt and while I could use one if absolutely required, this image for me is too compelling to pass up.
This photo was originally shot for $2 Portraits, a project I began participating in over 10 years ago (flic.kr/s/aHsju1ayAB). Of the 90+ images I’ve made for this project, this is one of the most memorable. The story behind this photo follows.
San Francisco, CA
January 21, 2015
They were huddled together against the stone wall on the sidewalk along Powell Street, holding a sign but barely making eye contact with the passersby. The first time I walked by them, I sensed their isolation. As I circled back, they looked up and our eyes met. I kneeled down and we began to talk. I asked them if they’ve heard of $2 Portraits; they had not. After explaining the project and telling them since they were two, I’d give them $4, they readily agreed to participate. The ensuing story is one not previously encountered in almost 4 years of doing this project.
Tomas & Tara, 24 and 21 years old respectively, are originally from New York and have been in San Francisco for 6 months. Tara then told me she just had a baby on the 17th. I thought she had said August 17th. She corrected me…she gave birth 4 days ago. I was floored…but skeptical. Pictures of them with their baby convinced me otherwise.
Tomas & Tara moved to SF with the understanding that friends of theirs were going to let them share their apartment. Once they arrived however, their friends recanted and they were left without a place to live. They usually found shelter but Tara said it was a tough pregnancy roughing it on the street.
Tomas & Tara’s baby is still in the hospital, perfectly healthy except for some jaundice caused by different blood types between mother and child. The baby will be released on Saturday and fortunately they have found a shelter to live in. They are alone in San Francisco, no friends…no family…but have an optimism about them that was surprising. They talked about lots of resources in San Francisco to help folks in their situation get on their feet. Tomas is looking for a job - he’s a certified auto mechanic. Tara worked as a dental assistant and has a 2 year Associates business degree. I asked if they considered moving back to New York to be with family. Tomas said his mother is working and has his two teenaged siblings at home and they all live below the poverty level; no help there. They didn’t talk about other family as being options.
Tomas & Tara were grateful for the conversation and very thankful when I gave them $20 instead of $4. Tears welled up in Tara’s eyes when she said they had to get some clothes for the baby and this would help. I wished them luck, told them I hoped not to encounter them again on the street and then walked away very sad.
Photographed 1/21/15
Panasonic DMC-GX7 @ f1.8 1/320 17mm (34mm equiv) ISO 3200
Olympus M 17mm F1.8
Re-Processed 7/7/21
To answer this question, we must stop examining the supply side of the equation, and instead look to the demanders.
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.......***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ......
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... message header for Rolling Stones Politics
The problems are many. Too many. Our eyes get fixed upon one among them, and our passions get devoted to fixing that one. In that focus, however, we fail to see the thread that ties them all together.
We are, to steal from Thoreau, the “thousand[s] hacking at the branches of evil,” with “[n]one striking at the root.”
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.....item 1).... Rolling Stone Politics .... www.rollingstone.com/politics ... Lawrence Lessig on How We Lost Our Democracy
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'Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It' by Lawrence Lessig
Courtesy of Twelve/Hachette Book Group
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POSTED: October 5, 3:25 PM ET | By Lawrence Lessig
www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/lawr...
The following is an excerpt from Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It by Lawrence Lessig.
Introduction
There is a feeling today among too many Americans that we might not make it. Not that the end is near, or that doom is around the corner, but that a distinctly American feeling of inevitability, of greatness—culturally, economically, politically—is gone. That we have become Britain. Or Rome. Or Greece. A generation ago Ronald Reagan rallied the nation to deny a similar charge: Jimmy Carter’s worry that our nation had fallen into a state of “malaise.” I was one of those so rallied, and I still believe that Reagan was right. But the feeling I am talking about today is different: not that we, as a people, have lost anything of our potential, but that we, as a republic, have. That our capacity for governing—the product, in part, of a Constitution we have revered for more than two centuries—has come to an end. That the thing that we were once most proud of—this, our republic—is the one thing that we have all learned to ignore. Government is an embarrassment. It has lost the capacity to make the most essential decisions. And slowly it begins to dawn upon us: a ship that can’t be steered is a ship that will sink.
We didn’t always feel this way. There were times when we were genuinely proud—as a people, and as a republic—and when we proudly boasted to the world about the Framers’ (flawed but still) ingenious design. No doubt, we still speak of the founding with reverence. But we seem to miss that the mess that is our government today grew out of the genius that the Framers crafted two centuries ago. That, however much we condemn what government has become, we forget it is the heir to something we still believe divine. We inherited an extraordinary estate. On our watch, we have let it fall to ruin.
The clue that something is very wrong is the endless list of troubles that sit on our collective plate but that never get resolved: bloated and inefficient bureaucracies; an invisible climate policy; a tax code that would embarrass Dickens; health care policies that have little to do with health; regulations designed to protect inefficiency; environmental policies that exempt the producers of the greatest environmental harms; food that is too expensive (since protected); food that is unsafe (since unregulated); a financial system that has already caused great harm, has been left unreformed, and is primed and certain to cause great harm again.
The problems are many. Too many. Our eyes get fixed upon one among them, and our passions get devoted to fixing that one. In that focus, however, we fail to see the thread that ties them all together.
We are, to steal from Thoreau, the “thousand[s] hacking at the branches of evil,” with “[n]one striking at the root.”
This book names that root. It aims to inspire “rootstrikers.” The root—not the single cause of everything that ails us, not the one reform that would make democracy hum, but instead, the root, the thing that feeds the other ills, and the thing that we must kill first. The cure that would be generative—the single, if impossibly difficult, intervention that would give us the chance to repair the rest.
For we have no choice but to try to repair the rest. Republicans and Democrats alike insist we are on a collision course with history. Our government has made fiscal promises it cannot keep. Yet we ignore them. Our planet spins furiously to a radically changed climate, certain to impose catastrophic costs on a huge portion of the world’s population. We ignore this, too. Everything our government -touches—from health care to Social Security to the monopoly rights we call patents and copyright—it poisons. Yet our leaders seem oblivious to the thought that there’s anything that needs fixing. They preen about, ignoring the elephant in the room. They act as if Ben Franklin would be proud.
Ben Franklin would weep. The republic that he helped birth is lost. The 89 percent of Americans who have no confidence in Congress (as reported by the latest Gallup poll) are not idiots. They are not even wrong. Yet they fail to recognize just why this government doesn’t deserve our confidence. Most of us get distracted. Most of us ignore the root.
We were here at least once before.
One hundred years ago America had an extraordinary political choice. The election of 1912 gave voters an unprecedented range of candidates for president of the United States.
On the far Right was the “stand pat,” first-term Republican William Howard Taft, who had served as Teddy Roosevelt’s secretary of war, but who had not carried forward the revolution on the Right that Roosevelt thought he had started.
On the far Left was the most successful socialist candidate for president in American history, Eugene Debs, who had run for president twice before, and who would run again, from prison, in 1920 and win the largest popular vote that any socialist has ever received in a national American election.
In the middle were two “Progressives”: the immensely popular former president Teddy Roosevelt, who had imposed upon himself a two-term limit, but then found the ideals of reform that he had launched languishing within the Republican Party; and New Jersey’s governor and former Princeton University president Woodrow Wilson, who promised the political machine–-bound Democratic Party the kind of reform that Roosevelt had begun within the Republican Party.
These two self-described Progressives were very different. Roosevelt was a big-government reformer. Wilson, at least before the First World War, was a small-government, pro-federalist reformer. Each saw the same overwhelming threat to America’s democracy—the capture of government by powerful special interests—even if each envisioned a very different remedy for that capture. Roosevelt wanted a government large enough to match the concentrated economic power that was then growing in America; Wilson, following Louis Brandeis, wanted stronger laws limiting the size of the concentrated economic power then growing in America.
Presidential reelection campaigns are not supposed to be bloody political battles. But Taft had proven himself to be a particularly inept politician (he was later a much better chief justice of the Supreme Court), and after Roosevelt’s term ended, business interests had reasserted their dominant control of the Republican Party. Yet even though dissent was growing across the political spectrum, few seemed to doubt that the president would be reelected. Certainly Roosevelt felt certain enough of that to delay any suggestion that he would enter the race to challenge his own hand-picked successor.
A Wisconsin Republican changed all that. In January 1911, Senator Robert La Follette and his followers launched the National Progressive Republican League. Soon after, La Follette announced his own campaign for the presidency. Declaring that “popular government in America has been thwarted . . . by the special interests,” the League advocated five core reforms, all of which attacked problems of process, not substance. The first four demanded changes to strengthen popular control of government (the election of senators, direct primaries, direct election of delegates to presidential conventions, and the spread of the state initiative process). The last reform demanded “a thoroughgoing corrupt practices act.”
La Follette’s campaign initially drew excitement and important support. It faltered, however, when he seemed to suffer a mental breakdown during a speech at a press dinner in Philadelphia. But the campaign outed, and increasingly embarrassed, the “stand pat” Republicans. As Roosevelt would charge in April 1912:
The Republican party is now facing a great crisis. It is to decide whether it will be, as in the days of Lincoln, the party of the plain people, the party of progress, the party of social and industrial justice; or whether it will be the party of privilege and of special interests, the heir to those who were Lincoln’s most bitter opponents, the party that represents the great interests within and without Wall Street which desire through their control over the servants of the public to be kept immune from punishment when they do wrong and to be given privileges to which they are not entitled.
The term progressive is a confused and much misunderstood moniker for perhaps the most important political movement at the turn of the last century. We confuse it today with liberals, but back then there were progressives of every political stripe in America—on the Left and on the Right, and with dimensional spins in the middle (the Prohibitionists, for example). Yet one common thread that united these different strands of reform was the recognition that democratic government in America had been captured. Journalists and writers at the turn of the twentieth century taught America “that business corrupts politics,” as Richard McCormick put it. Corruption of the grossest forms—the sort that would make convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff wince—was increasingly seen to be the norm throughout too much of American government. Democracy, as in rule of the people, was a joke. As historian George Thayer wrote, describing the “golden age of boodle” (1876–-1926): “Never has the American political process been so corrupt. No office was too high to purchase, no man too pure to bribe, no principle too sacred to destroy, no law too fundamental to break.”
Or again, Teddy Roosevelt (1910): “Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our political integrity before the Civil War, so now the great special business interests too often control and corrupt the men and methods of government for their own profit.”
To respond to this “corruption,” Progressives launched a series of reforms to reclaim government. Many of these reforms were hopeless disasters (the ballot initiative and elected judges), and some were both disasters and evil (Prohibition and eugenics, to name just two). But mistakes notwithstanding, the Progressive Era represents an unprecedented moment of experimentation and engagement, all motivated by a common recognition that the idea of popular sovereignty in America had been sold. The problem was not, as McCormick describes, a “product of misbehavior by ‘bad’ men,” but was instead now seen as the predictable “outcome of identifiable economic and political forces.”
That recognition manifested itself powerfully on November 5, 1912: The incumbent Republican placed third (23.2 percent) in the -four--man race; the socialist, a distant fourth (6 percent); and Teddy Roosevelt (27.4 percent) got bested by the “new” Democrat, Woodrow Wilson (41.8 percent).
Yet only when you add together these two self-identified Pro-gressives do you get a clear sense of the significance of 1912: almost 70 percent of America had voted for a “progressive.” Seventy percent of America had said, “This democracy is corrupted; we demand it be fixed.” Seventy percent refused to “stand pat.”
A century later we suffer the same struggle, but without anything like the same clarity. A “fierce discontent,” as Roosevelt described America in 1906, is once again raging throughout the republic. Now, as then, it gets expressed as “agitation” against “evil,” and a “firm determination to punish the authors of evil, whether in industry or politics.” We look to a collapsed economy, to raging deficits, to a Wall Street not yet held to account, and we feel entitled to our anger. And so extreme is that entitlement that it makes even violence seem sensible, if only to the predictably insane extremes in any modern society.
Roosevelt was encouraged by this agitation against evil. It was, he said, a “feeling that is to be heartily welcomed.” It was “a sign,” he promised, “of healthy life.”
Yet today such agitation is not a sign of healthy life. It is a symptom of ignorance. For though the challenge we face is again the battle against a democracy deflected by special interests, our struggle is not against “evil,” or even the “authors of evil.” Our struggle is against something much more banal. Not the banal in the now-overused sense of Hannah Arendt’s The Banality of Evil—of ordinary people enabling unmatched evil (Hitler’s Germany). Our banality is one step more, well, banal.
For the enemy we face is not Hitler. Neither is it the good Germans who would enable a Hitler. Our enemy is the good Germans (us) who would enable a harm infinitely less profound, yet economically and politically catastrophic nonetheless. A harm caused by a kind of corruption. But not the corruption engendered by evil souls. Indeed, strange as this might sound, a corruption crafted by good souls. By decent men. And women. And if we’re to do anything about this corruption, we must learn to agitate against more than evil. We must remember that harm sometimes comes from timid, even pathetic souls. That the enemy doesn’t always march. Sometimes it simply shuffles.
The great threat to our republic today comes not from the hidden bribery of the Gilded Age, when cash was secreted among members of Congress to buy privilege and secure wealth. The great threat today is instead in plain sight. It is the economy of influence now transparent to all, which has normalized a process that draws our democracy away from the will of the people. A process that distorts our democracy from ends sought by both the Left and the Right: For the single most salient feature of the government that we have evolved is not that it discriminates in favor of one side and against the other. The single most salient feature is that it discriminates against all sides to favor itself. We have created an engine of influence that seeks not some particular strand of political or economic ideology, whether Marx or Hayek. We have created instead an engine of influence that seeks simply to make those most connected rich.
As a former young Republican—-indeed, Pennsylvania’s state chairman of the Teen Age Republicans—I don’t mean to rally anyone against the rich. But I do mean to rally Republicans and Democrats alike against a certain kind of rich that no theorist on the Right or the Left has ever sought seriously to defend: The rich whose power comes not from hard work, creativity, innovation, or the creation of wealth. The rich who instead secure their wealth through the manipulation of government and politicians. The great evil that we as Americans face is the banal evil of second-rate minds who can’t make it in the private sector and who therefore turn to the massive wealth directed by our government as the means to securing wealth for themselves. The enemy is not evil. The enemy is well dressed.
Theorists of corruption don’t typically talk much about decent souls. Their focus is upon criminals—the venally corrupt, who bribe to buy privilege, or the systematically corrupt, who make the people (or, better, the rich) dependent upon the government to ensure that the people (or, better, the rich) protect the government.
So, too, when we speak of politicians and our current system of governance, many of us think of our government as little more than criminal, or as crime barely hidden—from Jack Abramoff (“I was participating in a system of legalized bribery. All of it is bribery, every bit of it”) to Judge Richard Posner (“the legislative system [is] one of quasi-bribery”) to Carlyle Group co‑founder David Rubenstein (“legalized bribery”) to former congressman and CIA director Leon Panetta (“legalized bribery has become part of the culture of how this place operates”) to one of the Senate’s most important figures, Russell B. Long (D-La.; 1949-1987) (“Almost a hairline’s difference separates bribes and contributions”).
But in this crude form, in America at least, such crimes are rare. At the federal level, bribery is almost extinct. There are a handful of pathologically stupid souls bartering government favors for private kickbacks, but very few. And at both the federal and the state levels, the kind of Zimbabwean control over economic activity is just not within our DNA. So if only the criminal are corrupt, then ours is not a corrupt government.
The aim of this book, however, is to convince you that a much more virulent, if much less crude, corruption does indeed wreck our democracy. Not a corruption caused by a gaggle of evil souls. On the contrary, a corruption practiced by decent people, people we should respect, people working extremely hard to do what they believe is right, yet decent people working with a system that has evolved the most elaborate and costly bending of democratic government in our history. There are good people here, yet extraordinary bad gets done.
This corruption has two elements, each of which feeds the other. The first element is bad governance, which means simply that our government doesn’t track the expressed will of the people, whether on the Left or on the Right. Instead, the government tracks a different interest, one not directly affected by votes or voters. Democracy, on this account, seems a show or a ruse; power rests elsewhere.
The second element is lost trust: when democracy seems a charade, we lose faith in its process. That doesn’t matter to some of us—we will vote and participate regardless. But to more rational souls, the charade is a signal: spend your time elsewhere, because this game is not for real. Participation thus declines, especially among the sensible middle. Policy gets driven by the extremists at both ends.
In the first three parts of what follows, I show how these elements of corruption fit together. I want you to understand the way they connect, and how they feed on each other. In the book’s final part, I explore how we might do something about them.
The prognosis is not good. The disease we face is not one that nations cure, or, at least, cure easily. But we should understand the options. For few who work to understand what has gone wrong will be willing to accept defeat—without a fight.
From the book Republic, Lost. Copyright (c) 2011 by Lawrence Lessig. Reprinted by permission of Twelve/Hachette Book Group, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Related
• How Money Corrupts Congress: Interview with Lawrence Lessig
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.....item 2).... Teddy Roosevelt (1910): “Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our political integrity before the Civil War, so now the great special business interests too often control and corrupt the men and methods of government for their own profit.”
Read more: www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/lawr...
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.....item 3).... So, too, when we speak of politicians and our current system of governance, many of us think of our government as little more than criminal, or as crime barely hidden—from Jack Abramoff (“I was participating in a system of legalized bribery. All of it is bribery, every bit of it”) to Judge Richard Posner (“the legislative system [is] one of quasi-bribery”) to Carlyle Group co‑founder David Rubenstein (“legalized bribery”) to former congressman and CIA director Leon Panetta (“legalized bribery has become part of the culture of how this place operates”) to one of the Senate’s most important figures, Russell B. Long (D-La.; 1949-1987) (“Almost a hairline’s difference separates bribes and contributions”).
Read more: www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/lawr...
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.....item 4).... FSU News ... www.fsunews.com ...
The demanding side of the political equation
10:25 PM, Oct. 24, 2012 |
Written by
Chad Squitieri
Senior Staff Writer
FILED UNDER
FSU News
FSU News Chad Squitieri
www.fsunews.com/article/20121025/FSVIEW0305/121024023/The...|newswell|text|frontpage|s
Now that the presidential debates are over, I find myself as an onlooker being left without a satisfaction. A debate is an opportunity for two candidates to engage in a thought provoking discussion that highlights their differences from one another. What we often end up with in debates is little more than sidestepping and finger pointing.
Looking forward to debates to come, my wish is that they will consist of more substance, and fewer talking points. This wish of course can easily be shrugged off as little more than the naïve daydream of a college student; a thought destined to never materialize. The way to see this apparent pipedream become reality, however, is more in the hands of the voter than one might expect.
Political debates have never been known for their politeness, and this election cycle stayed true to form. While it may be accurate that politics in this country have always been highly contested matters with the ability to bring out plenty of emotions, it is also true that the mechanics of politics have seemed to stay in step with the rest of our society. It seems that in today’s political realm, it is becoming more and more “cool” to be rude to your opponent. The rationale behind this action is explained by the fact that candidates feel they can rally their bases in opposition to the other candidate by acting in ways we have witnessed over this debate cycle.
Actions such as talking over one another, name calling and finger pointing come to mind. The bigger question, though, is why do candidates feel they can better rally their bases by acting in a way that seems to turn the discussion into little more than a spectacle as compared to a way that better gets a candidate’s core message to voters. To answer this question, we must stop examining the supply side of the equation, and instead look to the demanders.
The demanders in any election are the voters. It is the voters that make up the political market, and it is this market that the suppliers, the candidates, bring their ideas. It is the nature of politicians to behave in ways the public wants them to behave. Having this thought in mind, it becomes easily identifiable why our politicians would act in ways that would otherwise seem counterproductive to the political process. It is because that is what we ask for.
If as a whole we demand to see politics turned into a spectacle consisting of little more than name calling and snarky, eight-second clips intended to make the front side of the evening news, then that is what our candidates will supply us with. If we instead insist on a more thought-provoking discussion which gets at the fundamentals, then candidates will have the incentive to provide just that.
As the next generation, we will have the ability to steer the course of the political process in this country. Whether we choose to end up with more political gridlock and wordplay, or instead choose straightforwardness and seek results is to be determined.
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.....item 5).... youtube video ... Jimi Hendrix - Are you Experienced (full album) UK ... 60:21 minutes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tlRYLP8GOU
Published on Nov 16, 2012 by gunsgifts galleries
1. "Foxy Lady" 0:00
2. "Manic Depression" 3:22
3. "Red House" 7:08
4. "Can You See Me" 11:01
5. "Love or Confusion" 13:19
6. "I Don't Live Today" 16:33
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "May This Be Love" 20:51
2. "Fire" 24:05
3. "Third Stone from the Sun" 26:52
4. "Remember" 33:42
5. "Are You Experienced?" 36:35
1997 Experience Hendrix reissue bonus tracks
No. Title Length
1. "Hey Joe" (Billy Roberts) 40:05
2. "Stone Free" 43:35
3. "Purple Haze" 47:18
4. "51st Anniversary" 50:02
5. "The Wind Cries Mary" 53:17
6. "Highway Chile" 56:37
Category:
Music
License:
Standard YouTube License
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Kamera: Nikon FE2
Linse: Nikkor-O Auto 35mm f2 (1970)
Film: Kodak 5222 @ ISO 250
Kjemi: Rodinal (1:50 / 9 min. @ 20°C)
Wikipedia: Gaza genocide
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HRF and Partners Invoke Universal Jurisdiction in Canada Seeking Arrest of Olmert and Livni for War Crimes
Ottawa, 3 December 2025
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) filed a complaint to the RCMP and the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section of the Department of Justice today ahead of Former Israeli Prime Minister 2006-2009 Ehud Olmert (b. 1945) and Former Israeli Foreign Minister 2006-2009 Tzipi Livni’s visit to Toronto. The complaint details Olmert and Livni’s participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. The complaint urges the RCMP to open an investigation into their roles and issue a warrant for their arrest pursuant to Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, S.C. 2000, c. 24, and in compliance with Canada’s obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to “seek out and prosecute” those reasonably suspected of grave breaches who set foot in Canada.
As Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, Olmert exercised ultimate political and civilian authority over Israeli military operations in Gaza in the 2008-2009 War. Under his leadership, the Israeli military executed a massive military campaign that resulted in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including: targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, the use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas, the destruction of homes, mosques, medical facilities, and UN schools sheltering displaced families, extrajudicial killings and shootings of civilians attempting to flee or waving white flags, torture of Palestinian detainees, denial of humanitarian access and obstruction of medical rescue operations, and the deliberate targeting of infrastructure essential to civilian survival.
As Israel’s foreign minister and a member of Olmert’s security cabinet, Tzipi Livni (b. 1958) played a key role in the decisions made before and during the 2008-2009 War. Livni was reported stating the following with respect to Operation Cast Lead:
«Israel is not a country upon which you fire missiles and it does not respond. It is a country that when you fire on its citizens it responds by going wild – and that is a good thing».
Olmert and Livni, as senior government officials and members of the Security Cabinet, had full access to detailed operational information and played key roles in shaping and authorising Israel’s wartime policies. Their public endorsements of the conduct, coupled with their failure to take meaningful action in response to credible reports of serious violations, make them liable as civilian superiors under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (CAHWCA).
«Universal jurisdiction exists for precisely these moments. We cannot let political power protect those suspected of grave crimes. Canada must show that no one is above the law,» said Henry Off, a Canadian lawyer and Board Member at CLAIHR.
«Those who planned, ordered, and supervised crimes committed against Palestinians — whether in the past or present — must be held accountable, as war crimes and crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations,» said Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF. «The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on Canada to act without delay, in fulfillment of its international obligations, because justice cannot be postponed or denied.»
Both have already been the subject of criminal complaints in Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland. In December 2009, a UK court issued an arrest warrant for Livni on the basis of alleged war crimes committed during the 2008-2009 Gaza War. Last month, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a complaint against Olmert in Germany over alleged war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead.
Moreover, given that the RCMP has opened a structural investigation into the ongoing Israel- Gaza War, the complaint also calls on the RCMP to question Olmert and Livni over their knowledge of the commission of international crimes in Palestine since 7 October 2023.
About the Letter Signatories
The Hind Rajab Foundation, established during the ongoing Gaza genocide, is dedicated to the quest for justice in response to the crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli state against Palestinians.
The Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, founded in 1992, is a non-governmental organization of lawyers, law students, and legal academics working to promote international human rights within and in connection to Canada.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is non-profit independent Palestinian human rights organization based in Gaza City. The Centre enjoys Consultative Status with the ECOSOC of the United Nations. The PCHR works to protect human rights, promote the rule of law and democratic institutions, and document legal violations in Palestine.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF and Partners Invoke Universal Jurisdiction in Canada Seeking Arrest of Olmert and Livni for War Crimes (Publ 3 Dec. 2025)
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Statement on the Cooperation Between Europol and the Hind Rajab Foundation
Brussels, 19 November 2025
On 22 October 2025, Europol invited the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) to speak at its annual meeting in The Hague. This invitation forms part of a broader communication process and an exploration of possible cooperation between HRF and Europol. In the last two days, several Israeli lobby groups and media outlets have expressed consternation regarding this interaction.
It is not unusual for law enforcement to cooperate with civil-society organisations in the fight against impunity. In fact, during the Rwandan genocide and other mass-atrocity contexts, civil-society organisations played an instrumental role in identifying perpetrators and uncovering critical evidence. The pursuit of justice for the genocide in Gaza will be no different.
The fact that lobby groups defending or denying the genocide are angered by this cooperation is no surprise. They seek to obstruct justice; we seek to allow justice to take its course.
On the factual side, an HRF delegation consisting of our Head of Litigation, Natacha Bracq; Operational Director, Karim Hassoun; Board Member, Haroon Raza; and led by our General Director, Dyab Abou Jahjah, attended the meeting in The Hague. Mr. Abou Jahjah addressed the assembled delegations during a session organised specifically for the foundation, and Ms. Bracq delivered a presentation outlining HRF’s methodology in evidence gathering and case-building.
Delegations from several European countries attended the sessions and expressed strong interest in our work and in exploring cooperation. Multiple bilateral meetings took place with national war-crimes units and other law-enforcement representatives, during which mutual cooperation was discussed—particularly in relation to sharing HRF evidence on Israeli war criminals who visit these countries or who hold their nationality.
Israeli lobby groups and media outlets have spent months pushing smears and defamation against the Hind Rajab Foundation and its founders. Their reaction now is predictable: Europol’s decision to engage with HRF and invite it to its annual convention makes clear that these accusations are baseless. A law-enforcement agency would never extend such an invitation if it had even the slightest doubt about the foundation or its leadership. This is precisely why the hasbara machinery is now frustrated.
Furthermore, Europol is a European law-enforcement agency, and the HRF is a European organisation. Foreign lobby groups and foreign governments cannot be allowed to dictate how European institutions engage with European citizens and European civil society.
The Hind Rajab Foundation remains fully focused on its mission: bringing war criminals to justice and ending Israel’s impunity. That mission necessarily includes cooperation with law-enforcement bodies and relevant stakeholders across Europe and beyond.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - Statement on the Cooperation Between Europol and the Hind Rajab Foundation (Publ. 19 Nov. 2025)
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HRF Moves Against Israeli Soldier in Denmark for War Crimes and Genocide
17 November 2025 – Copenhagen
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint in Denmark against Israeli soldier Sergeant Ohad Hillel, a member of the 846th Patrol Battalion “Samson’s Foxes” of the Givati Brigade, for his role in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed during Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The complaint was filed by HRF’s Danish legal counsel, Eddie Omar Rosenberg Khawaja, with the Copenhagen Police and the National Special Crime Unit (NSK) [National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet]. It is submitted under Denmark’s newly strengthened legal framework for prosecuting international crimes, drawing on both Danish criminal law (§118 c, §118 f, §118 g, §118 h) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
This filing makes Denmark the latest European country where HRF activates universal jurisdiction mechanisms to prevent Israel’s war criminals from enjoying impunity abroad.
HRF’s investigation confirms that Ohad Hillel served in Gaza from January 2024 to August 2025, during the most destructive phases of the invasion. At the moment of filing, he was located in Copenhagen and traveling around Denmark with his Danish partner.
HRF warns that individuals directly involved in the destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure are now traveling freely across Europe, including in countries legally obliged to investigate grave international crimes.
Documented Involvement in the Destruction of Shuja’iya and Jabalia
HRF’s investigative report—submitted as Appendix A to the complaint—provides extensive evidence of Hillel’s participation in:
1. The burning of the Shuja’iya neighbourhood
Members of his battalion filmed and celebrated the torching of residential buildings, calling it the «8th candle of Hanukkah — burning Shuja’iya.»
Hillel posted images of a burning civilian structure on the same day.
He photographed himself inside Hittin Basic School, a protected civilian facility.
2. The destruction of Jabalia
Hillel posted photographs and videos from UNRWA Health Centre facilities, documenting the Givati Brigade’s occupation of a UN humanitarian building.
His battalion also posted videos of forced displacement, arson, and arrests.
Jabalia was turned into “acres of rubble,” with 1,339 buildings destroyed.
These actions were not incidents of combat, but deliberate, systematic, and punitive destruction of civilian life and infrastructure once the IDF already had full operational control of the areas.
Crimes Under Danish and International Law
The complaint argues that Hillel’s actions constitute violations of:
- §118 f(2) – destruction of civilian property without military necessity
- §118 h(3) & (9) – attacks on undefended civilian buildings, towns, and dwellings
- §118 g(1) – attacks on humanitarian facilities (UNRWA)
- §118 c(1)(iii) – imposing conditions of life meant to bring about the destruction of a protected group
- Based on Article 6(c) of the Rome Statute and the September 2025 findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry
HRF’s report places Hillel within the broader Israeli policy of systematically destroying Gaza’s ability to sustain life—homes, water systems, schools, hospitals, and civilian districts.
HRF: Denmark Must Not Be a Gateway for Atrocity Crimes
«Denmark cannot allow its territory to become a revolving door for soldiers who took part in the systematic devastation of Gaza», said Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971), General Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation. «This is not only a legal issue—it is a political and moral test for Europe. If European states want credibility when they speak about human rights and international law, they must ensure that individuals like Ohad Hillel face genuine investigation and accountability, not safe passage.»
«Much of what happened in Gaza cannot be characterized as combat operations. It was the result of methodical and systematic destruction», said Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF. «Civilian neighborhoods were deliberately burned, protected structures were intentionally destroyed, and entire communities were erased through purposeful actions. Evidence indicates that Ohad Hillel participated in these acts. Under international law, Denmark has both the legal basis and the obligation to act.»
The complaint urges Danish authorities to immediately launch a criminal investigation under §§118 c, 118 f, 118 g, and 118 h of the Danish Criminal Code, prevent Ohad Hillel from leaving the country, and seize all electronic devices that may contain evidence of his actions in Gaza. It also calls for an inquiry into possible aiding and abetting under §§21–23 and for formal updates pursuant to §158 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
For the Hind Rajab Foundation, this case is part of a broader global strategy: ensuring that no Israeli soldier implicated in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide can have sanctuary. HRF is pursuing perpetrators across multiple jurisdictions, building a legal firewall against impunity. We will continue this work until every perpetrator, every accomplice, and every inciter of the Gaza genocide is held accountable.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Moves Against Israeli Soldier in Denmark for War Crimes and Genocide (Publ. 18 Nov. 2025)
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HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Prague Against Israeli Rapper–Soldier Noam Tsuriely for War Crimes and Genocide
14 November 2025 – Prague
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint before the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office in Prague against Israeli reservist and rapper Noam Tsuriely, accusing him of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The filing was submitted by JUDr. Jan Täubel, LL.M., attorney-at-law at TAUBEL LEGAL in Prague, acting on behalf of HRF. It is grounded in an HRF Investigative report, which documents Tsuriely’s direct involvement in the destruction of civilian structures and his public glorification of these acts through music.
Tsuriely is currently in the Czech Republic, having performed in Prague on 13 November 2025.
A Perpetrator in Gaza, a Performer in Europe?
According to HRF’s investigation, Tsuriely deployed with the 699th Paratroopers Battalion of the 551st “Fire Arrows” Brigade on 27–28 October 2023, entering the Gaza Strip as part of the ground invasion. His own social media posts document multiple entries into Gaza, repeated deployment cycles, and direct involvement in destruction operations.
A key incident occurred on 8 November 2023, when the 551st Brigade carried out a controlled demolition in Beit Hanoun, destroying a civilian building located above tunnels near a UNRWA school. HRF’s geolocation analysis and military-source verification place Tsuriely at the scene during the operation.
Controlled demolitions require full control of the area, entry into the structure, placement of explosives, and withdrawal — a method incompatible with claims of active combat or urgent military necessity. The structure therefore remained a protected civilian object, making its destruction a war crime under the Rome Statute and under Czech law (Sections 412 and 413 CC).
War Crimes and Genocidal Context
HRF’s complaint invokes Czech universal jurisdiction under:
- Section 7 of the Czech Criminal Code (universal jurisdiction)
- Section 400 – Genocide
- Section 401 – Crimes against humanity
- Section 412 – War atrocities
- Section 413 – Persecution of population
and is filed pursuant to Section 158 of the Czech Criminal Procedure Code.
HRF finds that Tsuriely’s actions may constitute several crimes:
- Intentionally attacking protected buildings (Rome Statute Art. 8(2)(b)(ix))
- Extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity (Art. 8(2)(a)(iv))
- Attacking undefended towns, villages, and dwellings (Art. 8(2)(b)(v))
- War atrocities (Czech CC §412)
Given that by January 2025, 70% of Gaza’s structures, 92% of homes, and 80% of commercial facilities had been destroyed, HRF concludes that Tsuriely’s actions contributed directly to the genocidal destruction of Palestinian life.
This aligns with the UN Commission of Inquiry’s September 2025 finding that Israel has committed genocide, including the deliberate infliction of conditions of life aimed at destroying the population.
«The massive destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure is the most clearly defined component of genocide,» said Natacha Bracq, HRF’s Head of Litigation.
«Noam Tsuriely took part in that destruction. He helped erase entire neighborhoods, and then he turned that devastation into entertainment.»
Weaponizing Music to Normalize Atrocities
After returning from Gaza, Tsuriely released the song “Another Day in Gaza”, framing Israeli soldiers as “the light” — even as the UN and leading human rights organizations classified Israel’s actions as genocide.
During a December 2024 performance, he projected real footage of Israeli troops storming Palestinian homes and demolishing buildings. In televised interviews, he performed lyrics such as:
«to shatter Gaza to pieces.»
His role as both a soldier and a public artist magnifies the impact of his conduct. Under Czech law, such performances may also constitute:
- Section 365 – Approving a criminal offence, and
- Section 356 – Inciting hatred against a group of persons.
«You cannot commit war crimes in Gaza and then tour Europe as an artist as if nothing happened,» said Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971), HRF's General Director.
«This man is weaponizing his art as an extension of the war crimes he helped commit. Europe cannot serve as a stage for perpetrators.»
HRF Calls on Czech Authorities to Act
The complaint urges Czech prosecutors to:
1. Open criminal proceedings under Sections 400, 401, 412, and 413 CC
2. Seize Tsuriely’s electronic devices to preserve evidence
3. Impose a travel ban or detain him
4. Investigate possible incitement and approval of war crimes during his performances in Prague
Under Section 7 CC, Czech authorities are fully empowered to prosecute Tsuriely — regardless of where the crimes were committed.
HRF reiterates that Europe must not become a transit hub or sanctuary for individuals who committed atrocities in Gaza.
From Beit Hanoun to Prague, HRF will continue to track, document, and pursue accountability for all perpetrators — artists, soldiers, commanders, and public figures alike.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Prague Against Israeli Rapper–Soldier Noam Tsuriely for War Crimes and Genocide (Publ. 14 Nov. 2025)
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HRF Files for the Arrest of Israeli Soldier Sharon Dawit in Cyprus for Torture, War Crimes, and Genocide
11 November 2025 – Brussels / Nicosia
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has officially filed a legal complaint before Cypriot authorities demanding the arrest of Israeli soldier Sharon Dawit — a Sergeant in the 424th Infantry Battalion “Shaked/Almond” of the Givati Brigade — for his direct involvement in acts of torture, war crimes, and genocide committed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The filing, submitted on 11 November 2025 by human rights lawyer Nikoletta Charalambidou on behalf of HRF, is based on the Foundation’s investigative report documenting Dawit’s participation in the humiliation and abuse of Palestinian detainees, including a verified image showing him posing proudly over a naked, blindfolded, handcuffed man in Gaza.
From Evidence to Legal Action
The case details Dawit’s deployment with the Givati Brigade from December 2023 to September 2024, and his role in systematic operations involving torture, destruction of civilian property, forced displacement, and psychological degradation.
On 2 January 2024, Dawit posted a photomontage on Instagram, including a photograph where he sits armed in an armchair while a naked Palestinian man kneels before him, handcuffed and blindfolded. HRF authenticated this image using digital forensic tools, concluding that it depicts an act of torture and inhuman treatment in violation of the Rome Statute and the UN Convention Against Torture.
The Foundation’s filing requests Cypriot authorities to act immediately under Article 5(1)(e)(v) of the Cypriot Criminal Code (Cap. 154), which provides for universal jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed outside Cypriot territory. The submission also invokes the Republic’s obligations under the Rome Statute, the Geneva Conventions, and Law 235/1990, which require the arrest of individuals credibly suspected of torture to ensure prosecution.
A Pattern of Abuse
The Givati Brigade, to which Dawit belongs, was among the first Israeli army units to enter Gaza after October 7, 2023. HRF’s investigation shows that it played a leading role in attacks on civilians, destruction of residential areas, looting, and forced displacement.
The acts captured in Dawit’s photo reflect a broader, systematic pattern of abuse. HRF and its partners have documented the use of identical stress positions and humiliation methods, confirming that such practices are institutional, not incidental — a policy of collective degradation carried out under the cover of war.
A Legal and Moral Imperative
«This case is not symbolic — it is procedural and concrete,» said Natacha Bracq, HRF’s Head of Litigation.
«Torture is one of the clearest and most universally condemned crimes in international law. Sharon Dawit’s act, captured and publicized by himself, is the visual proof of a system built on humiliation and domination.»
The filing outlines that Dawit’s conduct constitutes multiple violations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, including:
- War crimes – torture and cruel treatment (Article 8(2)(a)(i));
- Crimes against humanity – torture and other inhumane acts (Article 7(1)(f) and (k));
- Genocide – causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a protected group (Article 6(b)).
HRF’s report also references the UN Commission of Inquiry’s September 2025 findings, which concluded that Israeli forces have committed acts meeting the legal threshold for genocide in Gaza — including systematic torture and sexualized violence against detainees.
Cyprus Must Not Become a Safe Haven
«Cyprus must decide what side of history it stands on,» said Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971), Director General of the Hind Rajab Foundation.
«If suspected war criminals can land on European soil, holiday freely, and leave without consequence, then Europe’s commitment to justice is an illusion. Cyprus cannot become a safe haven for perpetrators of genocide — and this filing is a test of its resolve to uphold international law.»
HRF stresses that this case goes beyond one soldier: it is part of a wider effort to end impunity and enforce accountability for the crimes committed during Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza. The Foundation’s team has filed or supported multiple legal actions across Europe and at the International Criminal Court, using verifiable evidence collected through open-source intelligence, witness testimonies, and forensic documentation.
Justice Has No Borders
From Brussels to Nicosia, HRF is pursuing perpetrators wherever they are found, in coordination with national prosecutors and international legal mechanisms. The Foundation remains steadfast in its mission to end impunity and restore dignity to the victims of Israel’s ongoing campaign of annihilation.
«Justice begins when impunity ends,» Bracq added. «Our work is to bridge that gap — with evidence, law, and the courage to act where others remain silent.»
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Files for the Arrest of Israeli Soldier Sharon Dawit in Cyprus for Torture, War Crimes, and Genocide (Publ. 11 Nov. 2025)
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HRF Files War Crimes Complaint in Germany Against Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for Crimes Committed in 2008-2009
Brussels / Berlin, 5 November 2025
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint (Strafanzeige) in Germany against former Israeli Prime Minister 2006-2009 Ehud Olmert (b. 1945) for war crimes committed during the 2008–2009 Israeli military offensive on Gaza, known as Operation “Cast Lead.” Ehud Olmert is scheduled to appear publicly in Berlin on 6 November 2025.
The complaint, submitted by German lawyer Melanie Schweizer, was filed simultaneously with the General Public Prosecutor’s Office in Berlin and the Federal Public Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt) in Karlsruhe, which has jurisdiction over international crimes under Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch, VStGB).
Criminal Responsibility of Ehud Olmert
As Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, Ehud Olmert (b. 1945) exercised ultimate political and military authority over all Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operations, including the assault on Gaza launched on 27 December 2008.
Under Olmert’s leadership, the Israeli government and military high command executed a large-scale military campaign that resulted in the indiscriminate bombardment of densely populated civilian areas, the destruction of hospitals, schools, and UN facilities, and the killing of more than 1,300 Palestinians, among them over 300 children and 115 women. More than 5,000 people were injured and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed.
The Goldstone Report, the Amnesty International report “Operation Cast Lead: 22 Days of Death and Destruction” (Publ. 2 July 2009), and the Human Rights Watch report "Rain of Fire" documented a consistent pattern of deliberate or reckless targeting of civilians and civilian objects, the use of white phosphorus munitions in populated areas, and collective punishment of the entire Gaza population through the systematic destruction of vital infrastructure.
Under international law, political and military leaders bear command responsibility for war crimes committed by forces under their control when they knew or should have known of such crimes and failed to prevent or punish them. The complaint therefore holds Olmert personally responsible for the planning, authorization, and failure to restrain or prosecute these actions.
Documented War Crimes During Operation Cast Lead
The HRF complaint outlines a catalogue of grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including but not limited to:
- Targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of Articles 51 and 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, corresponding to §§ 8 and 11 of the German VStGB.
- Use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas such as Tel al-Hawa, Khuza’a, and Beit Lahiya, causing severe burns and civilian deaths.
- Destruction of homes, mosques, medical facilities, and UN schools sheltering displaced families, as in the Jabaliya UNRWA school attack and the 2009 Al-Fakhoura school shelling.
- Extrajudicial killings and the shooting of civilians attempting to flee or waving white flags, including entire families such as the Al-Samouni family in the Zeitoun district.
- Denial of humanitarian access and obstruction of medical rescue operations, resulting in wounded civilians bleeding to death.
- Deliberate targeting of infrastructure essential to civilian survival, including water facilities, power stations, and food storage sites.
These actions, the complaint argues, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under both customary international law and German law, which incorporates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court through the VStGB.
Urgent Legal Action in Germany
The Hind Rajab Foundation’s legal filing requests the immediate initiation of a criminal investigation, the issuance of an arrest warrant, and a European Arrest Warrant against Olmert.
The complaint notes that Ehud Olmert is scheduled to appear publicly in Berlin on 6 November 2025 at the Haaretz Democracy Conference, hosted by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. The Foundation therefore calls on German authorities to act swiftly to prevent his departure and ensure he is held to account.
Universal Jurisdiction and the Fight Against Impunity
Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law (VStGB), enacted in 2002, allows the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide even if committed abroad by foreign nationals. It has already enabled landmark cases against perpetrators from Syria and other conflict zones.
The Hind Rajab Foundation argues that the same legal principle must apply to Israeli officials responsible for crimes in Gaza.
«The victims of Gaza deserve justice, no matter how much time has passed,» said Dyab Abou Jahjah, General Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation. «Those responsible for war crimes must know that accountability has no expiration date and that the world is closing in on impunity.»
The Foundation stressed that it will not allow any war criminal to travel, pose, or speak anywhere as if they are above the law. Justice must be served — even decades after the crimes were committed.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Files War Crimes Complaint in Germany Against Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for Crimes Committed in 2008-2009 (Publ. 5 Nov. 2025)
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Hind Rajab Foundation Files War Crimes Complaint in Germany Against Israeli Extremist Elkana Federman for Torture and Starvation of Civilians
Berlin, October 31, 2025
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a criminal complaint before the German Federal Prosecutor (Generalbundesanwalt) in Karlsruhe against Elkana Federman, an Israeli national affiliated with the Kfir Brigade’s Battalion 94 (Duchifat) and the extremist organization Tsav 9, for war crimes and crimes against humanity under the German Code of Crimes Against International Law (VStGB). The complaint, submitted by Attorney Melanie Schweizer on behalf of the Foundation, demands the immediate arrest of Federman and the issuance of a European Arrest Warrant. The filing is based on extensive digital evidence showing his direct involvement in acts of torture and the systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Elkana Federman is currently in Berlin, where he appeared on October 30, 2025, as a speaker at a public propaganda event.
Torture and Abuse of Prisoners
Videos and public statements by Federman reveal his participation in and glorification of the abuse of Palestinian detainees.
In one widely circulated interview, Federman boasts about taking his dog “to Gaza as a fighter” and claims the animal “dealt with Palestinian prisoners” at the Sde Teiman detention facility, where human rights organizations — including B’Tselem — have documented systematic torture, sexual violence, and inhuman treatment.
The complaint notes that Federman’s statements were made in a public setting, eliciting laughter from interviewers and panelists, highlighting the normalization of torture within the military and settler extremist culture he represents.
Such actions fall under §7(1) Nr. 5 and Nr. 6 VStGB, which criminalize torture and sexual violence as crimes against humanity.
Starvation of Civilians as a Weapon
Federman is also a prominent member of Tsav 9, a far-right Israeli group sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for blocking humanitarian aid convoys bound for Gaza.
Through multiple videos and social media posts, Federman personally participated in and encouraged others to physically obstruct trucks carrying food and medicine.
Such actions directly contributed to the starvation of civilians, a method of warfare prohibited under §11(1) Nr. 5 VStGB, which defines the deliberate deprivation of food as a war crime.
The complaint references UN reports confirming that hundreds of Palestinians, including children, have died from hunger in 2025 due to Israel’s blockade and obstruction of humanitarian relief.
Universal Jurisdiction and Accountability
Under Germany’s universal jurisdiction, crimes under the VStGB can be prosecuted regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality or where the crimes occurred.
The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on the German Federal Prosecutor to:
1. Open a criminal investigation into Elkana Federman;
2. Order his pre-trial detention due to the risk of flight;
3. Issue a European Arrest Warrant to ensure his apprehension within EU territory.
Federman was reportedly sighted in Berlin on October 30, 2025, underscoring the urgency of the request.
Statement from the Hind Rajab Foundation
«The deliberate starvation of an entire population and the torture of prisoners are among the gravest crimes known to humanity,» said Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971), Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation.
«Elkana Federman’s conduct, proudly displayed online and tolerated within Israeli society, embodies the cruelty and impunity that have defined this genocide. Germany has both the legal authority and the moral duty to act.»
This filing follows the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint in Germany against IDF officer Shimon Avi Zuckerman, as well as similar actions by NGOs targeting an Israeli sniper. The case of Elkana Federman, however, offers a unique opportunity for Germany to act decisively, as he is affiliated with Tsav 9, a group already designated by the United States as violent and extremist. Taking legal action in this case would affirm Germany’s commitment to international law, human rights, and accountability, and demonstrate that justice applies equally—regardless of political sensitivities or alliances.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - Hind Rajab Foundation Files War Crimes Complaint in Germany Against Israeli Extremist Elkana Federman for Torture and Starvation of Civilians (Publ. 31 Oct. 2025)
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HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Germany Against Dual National IDF Soldier Shimon Avi Zuckerman
Brussels / Karlsruhe, 24 October 2025
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a detailed criminal complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt) against Shimon Avi Zuckerman, a German-Israeli dual national who served as a combat engineer in the 8219 Engineer Battalion of the Israeli army’s 551st Brigade during its military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The complaint, submitted on 30 May 2025 through German attorney Melanie Schweizer, accuses Zuckerman of committing:
- War crimes under §9 of the German Code of Crimes Against International Law (VStGB),
- Crimes against humanity under §7 VStGB, and
- Genocide under §6 VStGB.
Who is Shimon Avi Zuckerman?
Zuckerman is a publicly known figure who actively documented his military activities during Israel’s war on Gaza. On his Instagram account, he shared extensive footage and images from the battlefield — not only of his presence and actions in combat zones, but specifically of the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure.
The complaint identifies Zuckerman visually in multiple videos and posts as he detonates or celebrates demolitions of residential buildings. The posts often include graphic scenes of destruction, paired with celebratory gestures such as smoking shisha, cheering with fellow soldiers, or posing for the camera before and after explosions.
Documented Crimes and Key Incidents
Among the most egregious episodes documented is Operation “Nir and Oz”, in which the Palestinian town of Khuza’a, home to approximately 5,000 residents, was completely demolished. Zuckerman’s unit — the 8219 Engineer Battalion — played a central role in the destruction of this civilian area, reducing homes, schools, mosques, a water station, and a community building to rubble.
Footage posted by Zuckerman shows him directly triggering demolitions, cheering with comrades, and documenting the destruction as a form of performance. In one instance, he is seen posing and laughing as buildings collapse behind him. In another, a techno-themed video clip shows him initiating an explosion without wearing a helmet — indicating a non-combat situation and a lack of military necessity.
The complaint also cites independent investigative journalism by platforms including Bellingcat [PS - Check out: How to Archive the Web - Bellingcat’s Auto Archiver Tool] and The Washington Post, which have verified the identities, locations, and operations of Zuckerman and his unit. These reports are incorporated into the legal filing as corroborating evidence.
Germany Must Act as a State of Law — Not of Political Convenience
«The evidence is not just overwhelming — it is self-incriminating,» said Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971), General Director of the Hind Rajab Foundation. «Shimon Zuckerman posted his own crimes online. He is a German national, clearly identified, taking part in the unlawful destruction of an entire town, and celebrating it. If Germany refuses to act on this, it sends the message that law applies only when politics allow. A state of law cannot choose justice selectively.»
Legal Obligation and Consequences of Inaction
Attorney Melanie Schweizer, who filed the complaint on behalf of the Hind Rajab Foundation, emphasized Germany’s legal responsibility:
«The German state has a clear obligation under the Code of Crimes Against International Law. This is not optional. If the Prosecutor General fails to investigate, that failure itself may amount to complicity. It would be a legal and moral abdication — and we are fully prepared to challenge that in German and international courts if necessary.»
She continued:
«We are not dealing with vague allegations. We are dealing with documented acts of violence against civilians, published by the suspect himself, corroborated by multiple independent investigations, and committed by a person holding a German passport. Justice demands action.»
Legal Action and Demands
The Hind Rajab Foundation is requesting the immediate:
- Opening of a formal investigation,
- Issuance of an arrest warrant, and
- Consideration of pre-trial detention due to the seriousness of the alleged crimes and the suspect’s dual nationality and mobility.
Ongoing Legal Strategy
This complaint is part of the Hind Rajab Foundation’s broader legal campaign to expose and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s war on Gaza. The Foundation is working with legal teams across multiple jurisdictions to pursue both individual perpetrators and those in positions of command responsibility.
As more evidence surfaces and survivors come forward, the Hind Rajab Foundation remains committed to transforming that evidence into legal action.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Germany Against Dual National IDF Soldier Shimon Avi Zuckerman (Publ. 24 Oct. 2025)
Parámetros :: Parameters: Canon EOS 7D; ISO 200; f 22; 1/60; Sigma DC 18 - 250; 28 mm
(Es). Foto está hecha en el Playón de Bayas de madrugada de día nublado. En el encuadre definitivo he quitado parte el cielo subiendo un poco la línea del horizonte cercano. El horizonte lejano sube más hacia el centro de la imagen. En el momento de hacer la foto ya pensé en dicho encuadre y esperé la posición de la gaviota para que estuviera al otro extremo de Fray, el perro. Tratamiento es con Aperture con la mejora normalizada para RAW, aumento escaso de contraste y muy ligera modificación de luces medias para dar un poco de detalle al suelo cercano de forma que se vieran las marcas de las últimas olas.
(En). Photo is done in the Playón of Bayas of dawn by day cloudily. In the definitive setting I have removed part the sky raising a bit the line of the nearby horizon. The distant horizon rises more towards the center of the image. In the moment to do the photo already I thought about the above mentioned setting and waited for the position of the gull in order that it was to another Fray's end, the dog. Treatment is with Aperture with the improvement normalized for RAW, scanty increase of contrast and a little light modification of average lights to give a bit of detail to the nearby soil so that there were seen the brands of the last waves.
George Segal (November 26, 1924 , New York - June 9, 2000, New Brunswick, New Jersey) was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.
Love transcends our artificially-created barriers. We are all children of God, whatever form that God may take. In time, in the United States, we will change - and correct - the discriminatory laws that have been unjustly been imposed on various groups of people within our population.
About the sculpture "Gay Liberation":
In 1979, pop sculptor Segal was commissioned by the Mildred Andrews Fund, a private Cleveland-based foundation that supports public art, to create a work that would commemorate New York City's Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 riot that conveniently (if somewhat simplistically) marks the beginning of the modern gay liberation movement.
The result was the first piece of public art commemorating the struggle of glbtq people for equality, predating Amsterdam's "Homomonument" by some seven years.
Tellingly, Segal's sculpture has, from the very beginning, been at the center of controversy and suffered the kinds of assaults and bashings that glbtq people themselves have all too often experienced. The sculpture has been attacked frequently (both physically and esthetically) as well as having been moved around. Since 1992, it has stood very comfortably, however, in Sheridan Park, New York, the site of the Stonewall Inn
The sculpture, a life-like, life-size bronze group, painted white, depicts four figures: a standing male couple and a seated female couple. One of the men holds the shoulder of his partner; one of the seated women gently touches her friend's thigh. The poses are non-dramatic, but quietly powerful, suggesting depths of love and companionship.
Segal's aim in his depiction of the couples was to normalize and domesticize homosexual relationships, rescuing them from the sensationalized, over-sexualized images so common in the popular media. At the same time, however, Segal emphasizes the physical element of relationships. The partners' soulful gazing into each other's eyes symbolizes commitment and communion, but their touching represents physical intimacy.
As David Lindsey has observed, "'Gay Liberation' is all about touch and tender, affirmative embrace."
The artist himself remarked, "The sculpture concentrates on tenderness, gentleness and sensitivity as expressed in gesture. It makes the delicate point that gay people are as feeling as anyone else."
The political significance of the mundane reality of loving couples is suggested by the title, "Gay Liberation."
Segal's choice to define gay liberation in terms of ordinary, committed relationships is itself profoundly political. It quietly but unmistakably affirms the unexceptionable observation that the aspirations of gay men and lesbians are no different from those of heterosexual couples. The personal is made political in this case not by the artist or by the couples, but by the social and legal prohibitions against the most basic of human needs, the need to love and be loved.
Some critics complained that the figures appear too sad, but the complex interior life the figures display expresses, at least in part, the ambiguous place gay men and lesbians occupy in the American public consciousness, surely cause enough for sadness.
sources: wiki and glbtq online encyclopedia. see: www.glbtq.com/arts/george_1s.html
The neon sign at the Motor Vu drive-in.
THE STORY OF THE PARMA MOTOR-VU
By Karen Dobbs Cornwell and Family
My parents, Bill and Gladys Dobbs, entered the theatre business in 1944 when they purchased the Pacific Northwest theatre circuit, which included locations in Parma, New Plymouth, and Wilder. Every night, my dad drove to Wilder while my mom and I spent our evenings at the Parma Theatre. Looking back, I’m amazed I managed to make it through second grade! As time went on, our routine normalized a bit, and we even stayed home on some school nights.
Those were golden years for the movie industry. During the war, people had become used to staying in town, and in Parma, the theatre was the only form of entertainment. This continued until 1952, when the movie industry experienced a sharp and sudden downturn in Parma. It hit almost overnight, just like flipping on a television for the first time. We went from long lines at the box office to just a handful of patrons. The word television wasn’t even spoken in our home.
The rise of TV brought another shift: the drive-in theatre. My father had great foresight and got the ball rolling. In June of 1953, we opened one of the valley’s first drive-ins—the Parma Motor-Vu. I was a freshman in high school, and as we danced to “Rock Around the Clock,” it was an incredibly exciting time in my life.
Those early years were good—but not great. In the 1960s, the major saving grace for us was Spanish-language films. They helped keep both the Parma Theatre and the Motor-Vu open. By the 1970s, my parents began to enjoy more prosperous times. They started thinking about retirement, but every time a potential buyer showed interest, my dad would send them packing. He just couldn’t let go of his dream.
In 1976, my husband, David Cornwell, and I entered into an arrangement that allowed my parents to semi-retire. Then, in 1977, came a major change—radio sound. Many of you may remember the old metal speakers that hung from the poles. You’d hook them onto your car window—hopefully remembering to remove them before you drove off! Many a car window was broken that way. My dad had to remove and repair each speaker every fall and reinstall them every spring. So when the radio sound arrived, we were more than ready. Sure, a few car batteries died each night, but we had a trusty charger and no complaints.
The 1980s were tough times for both drive-ins and indoor theatres. With movies readily available on TV and video, attendance declined. The Parma Theatre closed in 1985. Even the famous Motor-Vu marquee went dim—except for the letters "MO." We couldn’t afford to fix it, and the kids started calling it “The MO.” At first, it felt like a sad reminder of hard times, but eventually we all embraced the name. Two years later, we finally got the sign fixed—well, mostly. The “R” still didn’t light up, so it read “Moe Toe Voo.”
By the 1990s, things started looking up again. The few remaining drive-ins in the country were able to book more current films. Grandparents began bringing their grandkids to share the nostalgia, and business started to pick up. We focused on maintaining a clean, safe, family-friendly atmosphere—and serving the best popcorn in the valley, thanks to our 65-year-old Manley popcorn machine (still in use and going strong!).
In 1998, we modernized by installing a used platter film system, which allowed the whole program to be spliced onto a single platter. When it worked, it was a joy.
Then came digital cinema. As the 21st century approached, it became clear the film industry was changing again. By 2012, we were told that film distribution would end after 2013. Many drive-ins were forced to close due to the high cost of converting to digital. But we couldn’t give up. We opened the 2013 season with digital projection—and what a difference! The picture was stunning. That same year, we celebrated our 60th anniversary with a BBQ for employees (past and present), family, and friends. All but one of our four generations were there, including my mother, Gladys, who was 103 at the time. She passed away not long after, at nearly 105. We’re forever grateful to her and my father for creating this Idaho gem.
In 2014, we added DirecTV so we could present a live, closed-circuit Jimmy Buffet concert. It also allowed us to screen Boise State football games, which we plan to continue doing whenever possible—as long as it’s dark enough outside!
The Motor-Vu remains a true family business. All three of my children grew up here and still help out from time to time. Over the past decade, seven of my grandchildren have been on the payroll. Our employees become like family. We love what we do, and thanks to our loyal community, we plan to keep it going.
2022 “ A new chapter”: After nearly ten years, it is clear that an update to this story is in need. Yes, we are now a decade into the great digital phenomenon. I, somehow, survived that transistion with a lot of assistance from our internet tech. This has given us the opportunity to play DVD movies, which opened up a whole new venue. That is renting the place on off-nights to schools, organizations, churches, families and businesses for private parties. We gave up on Directv, too expensive to keep live for the occasional game. Many games air at 4:00, which is too early to be visible on our screen.
In 2018, my youngest daughter, Susan Haaheim, became the owner of the Parma Motor-Vu. I, however, have not gone away. I returned to my original job at the popcorn machine, which is yes, still popping at the age of 80.
Ofcourse, what is there to say about 2020 that hasn’t been hashed and re-hashed? For the Motor-Vu it was amazing. Here we are with cars lined up to Jackson’s, playing 30 year old movies.
This brings us to the big event in 2023 when the Parma Motor-Vu will turn 70 years old. We will have the decade celebration party with employees, old and new, and family in June.
I am so happy and proud to be able to still be a part of this great, family adventure, standing at my popper, visiting with all you wonderful patrons. Thank you for reading my story.
See you at the Motor-Vu.
—Karen Dobbs Cornwell and Family
The resurfacing of the moon was quite impressive and required a constant changing of the settings (as it was getting significantly brighter). Thought it was worthwhile to stack it together afterwards with a kind of "normalized" lighting.
Place: Nangan, Matsu Islands
The Matsu islands are a minor archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea and administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Matsu islands together form the county of Lienchiang, but most of Liangjiang County (same name, different spelling) is under control of the People's Republic of China. Linear distance from mainland China is less than 20 km.
Mainlanders from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan Dynasty. The popular net fishing industry had established the base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu, the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Neither were they occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. Due to its strategic location for the only route for spice road, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation.
In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands was subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War. After years of war, the CPC finally managed to take over mainland China from KMT and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949 which also covers the Lianjiang County of Fujian. The KMT subsequently retreated from mainland China to Taiwan in end of 1949.
After their retreat, the KMT retained the offshore part from the original Lianjiang County located on Matsu Islands, and also all of Kinmen County. In July 1958 the PRC began massing forces opposite the two islands and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include the two islands. However, after talks were held between the USA and PRC in Warsaw, Poland later that month, a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed.
The phrase "Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. During the debates, both candidates, Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government. But the two candidates had different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also. In fact, Senator Kennedy stated that these islands - as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan - were strategically indefensible and were not essential to the defense of Taiwan. On the contrary, Vice-President Nixon maintained that since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom," they should not be surrendered to the Communists as a matter of "principle."
Self governance of the county resumed in 1992 after the normalization of the political warfare with the mainland and the abolishment of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, the local constructions progressed tremendously. In 1999, the islands were designated under Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of the PRC. Since 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. This privilege also applies to Penghu and Kinmen as means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsu_Islands
In 2013 I had the opportunity to visit the largest of the Matsu islands, Nangan, as a friend of mine is a teacher at a primary school on the island.
The LGBT community has always been a topic which has sparked my interest. Living in London has opened my eyes enough to become a more accepting individual. Our society ranges in different types of people and it is important for us to move away from older traditional views in order to allow society to flourish into the new generation that is more accepting today. London holds the biggest festival for the LGBT community in the UK and so I was lucky enough to be part of it. Filming my London video and experiencing a tough religious background from my national roots (Poland) had inspired me to make this video in order to capture the changing views and discrimination against LGBT in different parts of the world. Despite the positive role that the media play in encouraging people to be more accepting, there is still so much injustice in the world. I wanted to include parts of speeches which where both in favour and against the gay rights movement to show that maybe society is not moving forwards but moving backwards. Ellen DeGeneres and Matty Healy are two individuals who I find very inspiring in this area as they emphasise that couples of the same sex should not be seen any different than simply another couple. There is nothing different about liking the same sex and in my opinion labels should not exist as we should live life by simply existing to like another human being with no question. This topic has encouraged me to write up my own film which has played on my mind for over 10 years. For a long time I believed I would not be able to come out and live the life that I wanted to so I created a story in my mind where I could be who I wanted to be. Hiding my real personality felt like a huge weight on my chest and had detrimental effects to my behaviour. Therefore I used this story to split my personality into two characters; Sam and Riley. As time went on I was becoming more accepting of myself but felt the need to keep adding to this story. Since it has played such a huge role in my life, it has been the single most emotional inspiration to study the Film industry as it would be a dream to make this small idea a reality to help other individuals like myself. I decided to incorporate the idea of mental health into this as it links well with the discrimination that this community receives and the effect it has on particularly young teenagers. Similar to this film idea (The Issues of Overthinking) I decided to add clips, in between the homophobia, of regular same sex couples in order to normalize the idea of same sex marriage. Love is love and simply love, it has no definition but is simply an action between two people with no reference to gender and the sooner our community is able to realise that, not only with LGBT but other issues such as race, culture and religion, the easier it will be to reach a more just society.
Nation of China systematically organizes itself to operate just like a brain, with each individual acting as a neuron (forming what has come to be called a "Blockhead")Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicin, as seen on "Floating Perspective," a technique which displaces the static eye of the viewer and highlights the differences between Chinese and Western modes of spatial representation. It summarizes these into three ways of minor, middle and great achievement, and illustrates each with charts, explanations and formulae..The 5-volumed Record of the Realization of Perfection by the Concourse of Immortals of West Mountain ( 《西山群仙會真記》 Xishan Qunxian Huizhen Ji ) was authored by Shi Jianwu and compiled by Li Song. Shi, whose title was "The Perfect Man of Huayang" ( 華陽真人 Huayang Zhenren ) lived during the Tang Dynasty. After his success in the national civil service examinations, Shi remained secluded as a Daoist on the West Mountain (present Jiangxi province) to cultivate the Dao. But some say that there were two men named "Shi Jianwu". the Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of the Four Repositories ( 《四庫提要》 Siku Tiyao ) say some Daoists, under the name of Shi, wrote this book during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Still some hold that the book should have been completed no later than the Northern Song. The preface by the author states, the book, in secret accordance with earlier and later sages, imitating the number of five agents ( 五行 Wuxing ) and corresponding to the pure Yang one-breath ( 純陽一氣 Chunyang Yiqi ), expounds the mystery and supreme truth of the Zhong-Lu lineage in one five-volume book. The contents, similar to the Transmission of Dao by Zhongli Chuan and Lü Dongbin ( 《鍾呂傳道集》 Zhinglu Chuandao Ji ), explains the ways of inner alchemy, citing the Supreme Hidden Book ( 《太上隱書》 Taishang Yinshu ), Record of the Western Mountain ( 《西山記》 Xishan Ji ), Numinous Treasure Book of Inner Contemplation ( 《靈寶內觀經》 Lingbao Neiguan Jing ), the Book of Communion with the Mystery ( 《通玄經》 Tongxuan Jing ) and quotations of the immortals Ge, Yin and Lu. The theme, based on Three Ways Unified and Normalized ( 《參同契》 Cantong Qi ), expounds the theory about increasing and reducing fire ( 抽添 Choutian ) and the practice that leads to liberation.
en.daoinfo.org/wiki/Record_of_the_Realization_of_Perfecti...
President Donald J. Trump meets with reporters to announce that Israel and Sudan have agreed to normalize relations Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo Tia Dufour)
Built 1930-32.
"Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world.
Chartered by the Connecticut Colony, the Collegiate School was established in 1701 by clergy to educate Congregational ministers before moving to New Haven in 1716. Originally restricted to theology and sacred languages, the curriculum began to incorporate humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew after 1890 with rapid expansion of the physical campus and scientific research.
Yale is organized into fourteen constituent schools: the original undergraduate college, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and twelve professional schools. While the university is governed by the Yale Corporation, each school's faculty oversees its curriculum and degree programs. In addition to a central campus in downtown New Haven, the university owns athletic facilities in western New Haven, a campus in West Haven, and forests and nature preserves throughout New England. As of 2021, the university's endowment was valued at $42.3 billion, the second largest of any educational institution. The Yale University Library, serving all constituent schools, holds more than 15 million volumes and is the third-largest academic library in the United States. Students compete in intercollegiate sports as the Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Division I – Ivy League.
As of October 2020, 65 Nobel laureates, five Fields Medalists, four Abel Prize laureates, and three Turing Award winners have been affiliated with Yale University. In addition, Yale has graduated many notable alumni, including five U.S. presidents, 10 Founding Fathers, 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, 31 living billionaires, 54 College founders and presidents, many heads of state, cabinet members and governors. Hundreds of members of Congress and many U.S. diplomats, 78 MacArthur Fellows, 252 Rhodes Scholars, 123 Marshall Scholars, 102 Guggenheim Fellows and nine Mitchell Scholars have been affiliated with the university. Yale is a member of the Big Three. Yale's current faculty include 67 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 55 members of the National Academy of Medicine, 8 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 187 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The college is, after normalization for institution size, the tenth-largest baccalaureate source of doctoral degree recipients in the United States, and the largest such source within the Ivy League. It also is a top 10 (ranked seventh), after normalization for the number of graduates, baccalaureate source of some of the most notable scientists (Nobel, Fields, Turing prizes, or membership in National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, or National Academy of Engineering).
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 as determined by the 2020 United States Census, New Haven is the 3rd largest city in Connecticut after Bridgeport and Stamford and the principal municipality of Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 864,835.
New Haven was one of the first planned cities in America. A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating the "Nine Square Plan". The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, and the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark.
New Haven is the home of Yale University, New Haven's biggest taxpayer and employer, and an integral part of the city's economy. Health care, professional and financial services and retail trade also contribute to the city's economic activity.
The city served as co-capital of Connecticut from 1701 until 1873, when sole governance was transferred to the more centrally located city of Hartford. New Haven has since billed itself as the "Cultural Capital of Connecticut" for its supply of established theaters, museums, and music venues. New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave the city the nickname "The Elm City"." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence, Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman, Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations Avrahm “Avi” Berkowitz and White House senior staff, addresses his remarks Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 in the Oval Office, to announce that the Kingdom of Bahrain is joining the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in normalizing relations with Israel. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
The Spartakiads or Spartakiades in Czechoslovakia (Czech: Spartakiáda, Slovak: Spartakiáda) were mass gymnastics events, designed to celebrate the Red Army's liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945.They were organised by the Communist government as a replacement of the Sokol gatherings, which were disapproved by the regime and discontinued after World War II. The Spartakiads took place at the Strahov Stadium, the same place as the last pre-war Sokol gathering.
The first Spartakiad took place in 1955, and was subsequently held every five years. The Spartakiad scheduled for 1970 was canceled in the wake of the Prague Spring and the beginning of normalization. Preparations for the Spartakiad scheduled for 1990 were interrupted by the Velvet Revolution, but the event still took place, although on a much smaller scale than the previous ones.
The Spartakiads were attended by large numbers of people; for example, at the 1960 Spartakiad about 750,000 gymnasts from the whole country took part and over 2,000,000 spectators witnessed the event.
Men and women of all ages practiced their exercising routines for the event. Appearance was mandatory for soldiers and students.
---------------------------------------------
The Museum presents a vivid account of Communism focusing on Czechoslovakia in general and on Prague in particular. A variety of fields are represented including: daily life, politics, history, sport, economics, education, “the arts”, media propaganda, the Peoples’ Militias, the secret police, censorship, judiciary and coercive institutions (including the Stalinist show-trials), and political labour camps.
It is the first and only Museum in Prague (since the Velvet Revolution) exclusively devoted to a system established in the sphere of the former Soviet Union. Opened in 2001, the original items and installations containing authentic artifacts are displayed in the three main rooms of the Museum and conveniently follow the themes of: Communism The Dream, The Reality and The Nightmare. There is also a projection room with regular short film screenings.
The Museum occupies 500 m2 inside the Savarin Palace situated in the center of Prague on Na Prikope Street 10 near the metro station MUSTEK (line A and B) It is above McDonalds and open from 9 am to 9 p.m. (including holidays). V.I Lenin must be turning in his grave.
We hope you take the time whilst in Prague to learn a little about it’s recent history from a Czech point of view. Concise, objective, but certainly not pro Communist, the Museum is a great way to get a basic understanding of how this amazing Nation lived through such difficult and totalitarian times.
The Museum focuses on the totalitarian regime from the February coup in 1948 to its rapid collapse in November 1989. The theme of the Museum is “Communism- the Dream, the Reality, and the Nightmare” and visitors will be treated to a fully immersive experience. Factories, a historical schoolroom, an Interrogation Room, or the video clips in our Television Time Machine are all part of the experience. The Museum is a great introduction before you step back even further in time and experience the wonders of The Golden City.
This is the first Museum in Prague (since the Velvet Revolution) exclusively devoted to a system established in the sphere of the former Soviet Union. The original items and meticulous installations containing authentic artifacts are displayed in the three main rooms (please see the virtual tour)
The Museum presents a vivid account of Communism, focusing generally on Czechoslovakia and particularly on Prague in a variety of areas, such as:
daily life
politics
history
sport
economics
education
the „arts“ (such as the so-called Socialist Realism movement)
media propaganda
the Peoples’ Militias
the army
the police (including the dreaded secret STB apparatus)
censorship
judiciary and coercive institutions (including the Stalinist show-trials and political labour camps)
Highlights from the displays include rare items from the Museum’s own comprehensive archive as well as material obtained by the organisers from major collections, both public and private.
The Museum of Communism was created for the display and interpretation of objects and historic documents. It stands as an authoritative historical narrative relating to this 20th-century phenomenon. It is, however, in no way intended by the organisers to be a filter for contemporary political issues in the Czech Republic.
The organisers of the Museum would like to express their gratitude to the following people for their participation:
Jana Kristyna Kaplan, Kabinet soudní dokumentace a vězeňství pan PhDr. Aleš Kýr a paní Kafková, PhDr. Čestmír Kráčmar, PhDr. MartaSylvestrová, Dagmar Hochová, Viktor Šlajchert, Gene Deitch, Dr. Otto Pick, Glen Emery, František Zahrádka, Jan Stránský, Mgr. AlexandrKoráb, Mgr. Tomáš Carba, Mathew Ginn, Joel Winn, Dr. Tracy Dove and others…
------------------------
President Donald J. Trump, joined by White House senior staff members, delivers a statement announcing the agreement of full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
The GP40X was EMD's testbed for the future GP50 and introduced the unpopular HT-B truck. The 'elephant ears' version shown here was an experiment in normalizing the tunnel motor concept. The ears eventually were removed and the HT-B trucks were never reproduced. I needed a powered SP unit to haul around some heavy trains so all those unique qualities fit the bill just right. Originally I wanted to build the UP version, but the SP is more iconic with those elephant ears. The UP version will follow someday.
Goli Otok prison
Despite having long been an occasional grazing ground for local shepherds' flocks, the barren island was apparently never permanently settled other than by the prisoners during the 20th century. Throughout World War I, Austria-Hungary sent Russian prisoners of war from the Eastern Front to Goli Otok.
In 1949, the entire island was officially made into a high-security, top secret prison and labor camp run by the authorities of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,[6] together with the nearby Sveti Grgur island, which held a similar camp for female prisoners. Until 1956, following the Tito–Stalin split and throughout the Informbiro period, it was used to incarcerate political prisoners. These included known and alleged Stalinists, but also other Communist Party of Yugoslavia members or even non-party citizens accused of exhibiting sympathy or leanings towards the Soviet Union.
Many anti-communists (Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Albanian and other nationalists etc.) were also incarcerated on Goli Otok. Non-political prisoners were also sent to the island to serve out simple criminal sentences and some of them were sentenced to death. A total of approximately 16,000 political prisoners served there, of which between 400 and 600 died on the island. Other sources, largely based on various individual statements, claim almost 4,000 prisoners died in the camp.
The prison inmates were forced to labor (in a stone quarry, pottery and joinery), without regard to the weather conditions: in the summer the temperature would rise as high as 40 °C (104 °F), while in the winter they were subjected to the chilling bora wind and freezing temperatures. The prison was entirely inmate-run, and its hierarchical system forced the convicts into beating, humiliating, denouncing and shunning each other. Those who cooperated could hope to rise up the hierarchy and receive better treatment.
After Yugoslavia normalized relations with the Soviet Union, Goli Otok prison passed to the provincial jurisdiction of the People's Republic of Croatia (as opposed to the Yugoslav federal authorities). Regardless, the prison remained a taboo topic in Yugoslavia until the early 1980s. Antonije Isaković wrote the novel Tren (Moment) about the prison in 1979, waiting until after Josip Broz Tito's death in 1980 to release it. The book became an instant bestseller.
The prison was shut down on 30 December 1988 and completely abandoned in 1989. Since then it has been left to ruin. It has since become a tourist attraction and is populated by shepherds from Rab. Former Croatian prisoners are organized into the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Goli Otok. In Serbia, they are organized into the Society of Goli Otok.
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Goli Otok, Barren Island', Isola Calva 20021207 S 262 BuraVel 9122 PhotosCROLopar
Goli Otok; lit. 'Barren Island'; Italian: Isola Calva) is a barren, uninhabited island that was the site of a political prison which was in use when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. The prison was in operation between 1949 and 1989.
The island is located in the northern Adriatic Sea just off the coast of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia with an area of approximately 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 sq mi). Exposed to strong bora winds, particularly in the winter, the island's surface is almost completely devoid of vegetation, giving Goli Otok ("barren island" in Croatian) its name. It is also known as the "Croatian Alcatraz" because of its island location and high security.
I had been watching the wheel barrels being filled with Nopaj pads by workers and then waited by this truck with my camera..... ready to shoot the 'loading ramp stunt' (((:
History of Nopal:
Archaeological evidence shows Nopal as a staple and medicine for the cultures which have thrived in Meso Americ (Mexico) dating back at least 12,000 years including the Olmec, Toltec and most recently Aztec. Indeed Aztec folklore describes a prophetic vision of an eagle holding a serpent in its talons while perched on a Nopal cactus plant, where providence dictated they build their city. The Aztec’s referred to Nopal as “Nochtli” in their native Nahuatl language, thus naming their divinely inspired city Tenochtitlan, or City of the Nopal; today’s location of Mexico City. Explorers visiting that area in the 15th Century were fascinated by Nopal’s shelf life and ability to protect against scurvy, which we now know is due to its high Vitamin C content. Thus Nopal became a popular seafaring food and eventually made its way around the globe.
INFO on the HEALTH BENEFITS OF NOPAL cactus - taken from the Chosen Foods - Ancient Nutrition website:
What is Nopal?
Nopal is a cactus native to Mexico, botanically classified as Opuntia ficus-indica. The Genus Opuntia describes over 200 cactus species growing worldwide, all of which share the common Mexican ancestor O. ficus-indica The success of Nopal as a food and medicine has kept it an icon of health food in Mexico where more than 700,000 metric tons are consumed annually.
More recently clinical research has found Nopal to be an ancient nutrition for modern illness because of its unique ability to normalize blood sugar, improve digestive health, and protect against inflammation and oxidative stress.
One of our spa quality herbal products!
These cost a fortune in spas, but they are so simple at home. And the results are visible immediately!
Just pop the muslin bag into a large pot of boiling water. Move the pot off the stove and onto another surface where you can easily put your face over it, and drape a towel over your head to catch the steam. When the pot begins to cool and there is less steam, return the pot to boiling and repeat. I don't recommend doing this for more than 20 minutes all tolled, and the steam should never burn you. However, a slight tingling sensation of circulation can be felt that will fade as your skin normalizes. For best results, facial steams are recommended once a week, and the effect is cumulative.
And the bonuses don't stop after the steam! The herbs I use are beneficial for all skin types, and especially the eyes. Use the spent bags as a treatment for baggy, puffy eyes or for any other problem areas.
All ingredients organic where possible. I designed this product to work with any other regime. I made this originally for myself, as I couldn't find it on the market made with quality ingredients as well as reasonably priced. You'll see these in boutiques and spas for four times the amount! Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients.
Price is for three packets. $2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free! To save on packaging and shipping, as well as the burden on the Earth, I do not ship these in singles. Three bags for $7 or one bag can be sent with the purchase of another product for $3.
Herbs can vary according to availability.
A batch of Gifts of Nature Facial Steams may contain:
Fennel: Wrinkle remover. Fragrance herb.
White Willow: Moisturizing. Healing wash for eruptions and sores.
Nettle. Astringent, tonic, improves skin. Very high in vitamins and minerals.
Lavender flowers: Soothing. Stimulates circulation. Toning. Anti-microbial and topical antiseptic. Healing for cuts, burns. Fragrance.
Rose petals: Wrinkle removing, moisturizing. Fragrance. Sacred in Western Europe.
Linden: Softening, healing. Wrinkle removing, antiseptic, mildly bleaching. Fragrance.
St. John's Wort: Anti-microbial. Healing for skin ulcerations and severe conditions.
Red Clover: Skin conditions of all types. Purifier. Blood cleanser.
Yarrow: Astringent and healing, especially for cuts and gashes.
Elderflowers: Tonic. Clears and softens skin, smoothes wrinkles and bleaches freckles.
Calendula: Treats inflammation, wounds, irritations, and sores.
Chaparral: Treats severe skin conditions, including serious infections.
Christiania was one of my favourite places to visit in Copenhagen.
Christiania, also known as the Freetown Christiania, is a partially self-governing neighborhood in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, which has established semi-legal status as an independent community.
Christiania was founded in 1971, when a group of hippie squatters took over an area of abandoned military barracks. For years the legal status of the region was in limbo, as the Danish government attempted, without success, to remove the squatters.
The neighborhood is accessible only through two main entrances, and cars are not allowed. However the Danish authorities have repeatedly removed the large stones blocking the entrance and the residents have put them back. The authorities claim that they need to have the possibility to drive into the area due to firefighting needs, but the residents suspect (not without merit) that it will instead be used by the police.
The people in Christiania have developed their own set of rules, completely independent of the Danish government. Having no cars is one of these rules. These rules also include: No stealing, No Guns, No Bulletproof Vests, and No Hard Drugs.
Famous for its main drag, known as Pusher Street, where hash was sold openly from permanent stands until 2004, it nevertheless does have rules forbidding hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. The commerce is controversial, but since they require a consensus they can't be removed unless everybody agrees. The region negotiated an arrangement with the Danish defense ministry (which still owns the land) in 1995, and the residents now pay taxes. The future of the area remains in doubt, though, as Danish authorities continue to push for its removal.
On Pusher Street, cameras are not allowed, and locals will wave their hands and shout "No photo!" if they see someone trying to take a picture.
The inhabitants fight back with humor and persistence - for instance, when authorities in 2002 demanded that the hash trade be made less visible, the stands were covered in military camouflage nets. On January 4, 2004, the stands were finally demolished by the owners themselves (without stopping the hash trade as such, which continued on a person-to-person basis) as a way of persuading the government to allow the Free Town to continue to exist. Before they were demolished, the National Museum of Denmark was able to get one of the more colorful stands, which is now part of an exhibit.
The drug trade in Christiania has been a source of constant outrage for many Danish politicians and the current right-wing government is taking a number of steps to "normalize" Christiania, i.e. ensuring that the rule of Danish law is respected. The first step in this process was the police crackdown on the drug trade, and both politicians and police have declared that the drug trade will not be allowed to return. The second (and currently undergoing) phase is the registration of all buildings in Christiania so that property taxes can be collected (the squatters have never paid either income taxes, property taxes or rent.) The third step will be the demolition of a number of illegal shacks, constructed in a nature-preserved area (the historic naval fortress of Copenhagen). Ultimately, the government will grant other Danes the right to settle in the area. A group of squatters have staked a claim for collective ownership of all Christiania, but this has been ignored by the government.
[info from Wikipedia]
What I was most struck by was the fact that, outside of Pusher Street, which sort of confirms the image that one would have of Christiania from its "fame", the City is actually beautiful and almost pastoral, with canals and swans, and cute self-made houses, people raising kids and riding bicycles to see each other. These two pictures were taken inside of Christiania. it was a joy to spend an afternoon walking around in the sun, on one of the most gorgeous days of our entire trip, and an unusually hot and sunny one for Denmark.
President Donald J. Trump, joined by White House senior staff members, delivers a statement announcing the agreement of full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
This is not a painting, or made using AI, as some asked me. It is a real picture taken with a combination of photographic light cameras and telescopes.
SE ED102 + SE Red. 0.7
Luminance (ASI2600MM, L-Enhance, 900s, g100, 15 frames total)
RGB-(HOO) (ASI2600MC Pro, L-enhance, 300s, g100, 15 frames total).
Pixinsight, BXT, NXT, STX, Bill Blanshan’s HOO-Normalization and StarReduction scripts. Final edits in Photoshop.
Shot with a Nikon D780 and a Rokinon 14mm F/2.8. Aperture is fully open at ISO3200 6s.
A half-moon significantly washed out the aurora. The city sky glow combined with the moon light resulted in an exposure gradient across the frame; this was normalized in processing however it contributed to the noise on the left side.
12:17:46AM to 2:01:50AM.
893 frames shot at a 7 second interval, and rendered at 30FPS. This results in playback that is 210x faster than real time.
Watch on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4XsDKx8LYY
The Asahiflex IA was established in 1953 as successor of the Asahiflex I, Japan's first SLR. It had a mirror coupled to the shutter button.
When the shutter button is pressed the mirror goes up, when released the mirror moves down again. This quick-but-not-yet-instant return mirror was a nice feature for the early 1950s, when most SLRs had to be wound on to get the mirror down again.
Tha Asahiflex´s waist level finder is non-interchangeable. To solve the inconvenience of a mirror-inversed image on the ground glass and to make eye-level use possible, a small optical viewfinder was on top of the camera.
The angle of view for this finder was the same as for the 50mm standard lens. The standard lens for this camera was a Takumar 50/3.5 objective with click-stop aperture (see below). Lenses can only be used with pre-set aperture.
Compared to the Asahiflex I the IA had a number of modifications: the shutter speed numbers have been "normalized" to a series of B, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200 and 1/500.
A second flash connector (X sync) was added above the first one.
Production number of the IA: about 11,500 made.
Every marriage after living together for more than 5 years goes through dry spells, no matter how steamy they were at the beginning. In India up to 70% couples especially in metropolitan city have to actually struggle to keep the passion alive in their relationship. Marriage is all together such as different ball game from living relationship dating and friendship. Due to busy schedules, work pressure, monotony, children and old aged these are the factors that can do wreak havoc on your sex life.
If I have to speak bluntly then sex is the glue that holds a relationship together. Yoga, apart from working wonders for your mind and soul, also enriches your sex life yoga helps you become aware of your sexual core proper breathing is essential for sexual arousal. Asanas, mudras, pranayamas, and meditation are the new way to better sexuality. As more and more people are discovering that practicing yoga leads to better sex life whether you practice yoga or sex for both you need some practice and training. The yoga system of treatment requires Proper diet and daily practice of yoga.
Good sex makes our skin glow, firms up our abs, beats the blues and above all as a great stress buster.
VAJROLI MUDRA: Sit in any comfortable meditative posture with eyes closed head and spine straight. Now inhales hold the breath in and try to draw the urethra upward. This action is similar to holding back on urge to urinate. Hold the contraction for as long as your feel comfortable. Then exhale while releasing the contraction. Do this Vajroli mudra minimum 10 to 15 rounds
BENEFITS: This mudra regulates and tones the entire uro-genital system, Vajroli mudra balances testosterone levels and sperm count and gives control over premature ejaculation. Problems like prostates hypertrophy are prevented.
SHAVASANA: Lie down on the floor on your back, keep the legs straight on the floor with feet apart by about your shoulder width. Keep the arms straight by your sides with hands placed about six inches away from the body. The head ad spine should be in a straight line. Close your eyes gently. Make the whole body loose and stop all physical movement, mentally watch your breathing and allow it to become rhythmic and relaxed.
BENEFITS: This asana leads to remove physical and mental fatigue. The breathing becomes more regulated and controlled naturally. This asana improves optimum capacity of lungs and intake of oxygen. Relaxation helps to open up blocked arteries and thus helps to improve cardiac functions.
VATAYANASANA METHOD: Stand with feet together bends the right knee and place the foot on the left thigh in the half padamasan position. Then place the hand in Namaskar position. Maintain the balance and hold the position for a short duration. Release the right leg repeat the practice with the opposite leg, breathing normal. Do it two times on each side.
BENEFITS: This asana develops the ability to retain seminal fluid and regulates the reproductive system and prevent early ejaculation. It also strengthens the leg muscle and knee joints. CAUTION: Try to do it slowly after some practice one can do it. This asana require more coordination then muscular strength.
ASWANI MUDRA: Stand in comfortable position closes eyes and breathing normal. Take your attention to the anus area. Contract the anal muscles for a few seconds without feeling any strain. Then relax for a few seconds. Repeat the contraction and relax the anal muscles. Make the contractions more rapid. BENEFITS: It is very helpful to prevents early ejaculation. The inflammation of prostate gland is also cured by this mudra. It helps to alleviate piles, constipation and prevents the escape of pranic energy from the body.
Home Remedy
consuming garlic is one of the best ways to treat sexual impotence. Chew two to three cloves of raw garlic, on a daily basis. In fact, you should include garlic in your regular diet.
Onion is another very good vegetable to treat sexual impotence. It increases libido and strengthens reproducing organs. White onions are best for this purpose.
Finely chop about 150 grams of carrots. Consume this, along with a half-boiled egg, dipped in a tablespoon of honey, once every day. This will help increase sexual stamina.
Take about 5-10 gm root powder of Ladyfinger in a glass of milk. Add 2 tsp of mishri in this milk and drink it. This will prove helpful in improving sexual vigor.
Put 15 gm dried roots of asparagus in a glass of milk. Have this milk two times in a day. It will be useful in treating both sexual impotency and premature ejaculation.
In 250ml of boiled milk, add 15 grams drumstick flowers. Prepare a soup from this decoction. Another effective way to use drumsticks would be to boil 120 gm of the powder of the dry bark in half a liter of water, for about half an hour. Yet another effective way would be to have 30 grams of this powder with a tablespoon of honey. Have this paste 3 times in a day.
Ginger juice is beneficial in treating sexual impotence. Mix ½ tsp ginger juice with half boiled egg and honey. Have this mixture once every night. It is beneficial in curing impotency, premature ejaculation..
Dry fruits are effective in curing sexual impotency. Pound and mix equal quantities of dates, almonds, pistachios and quince seeds. 100 grams of this mixture, consumed on a daily basis, is said to increase sexual power.
Wash 30 grams of black raisins in lukewarm water. Eat them with a glass of warm milk, daily. Increase the quantity by 50 grams after some time.
Mix jambul fruit (Indian herb) with milk and add a little honey to it. Consume this mixture to treat impotence.
Some of the items that help normalize hormonal imbalance and boost sexual craving are chickweed, ginseng, plantain and safflower. Include them in your diet.
For female sterility, dry the roots of banyan tree and powder them into fine particles. Take about 20 gm of this powder with milk, in a ratio of 1:5. Have this for 3 consecutive nights after the menstrual cycle. Including lots of seeds, fruits, nuts, grains, fresh green vegetables and fresh fruits in the diet is helpful in treating sexual impotence.
To know more log on www.yogagurusuneelsingh.com Pic By Vijay Gautam Mobile 09810210802
Amidst all the filth and chaos, there is a man in the background with a broom, trying to clean up. But there is no way to normalize this way of life.
I’m heading to my Cardiologist’s office for an INR test. They prick my finger, squeeze a drop of blood out and snatch it onto a card where it sits for about ten or twenty seconds. When it coagulates, the Nurse announces the INR number. If it falls outside the acceptable range they adjust my anticoagulant dose starting tonight. Then we schedule the next INR and I leave.... Now that’s what I call fun fun... So, it’s an international normalized ratio. Simply stated it’s the ratio of how long it takes my blood to clot divided by the normal time it takes people of my age and general state of health. Such Fun 💐💐🎊🎂