Fotosöndag. Tema: Fokus Spår Doft

Photo Sunday. Theme: Focus Predict Scent

 

Redigering Pierre Pocs <3

The shipping container holding the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite T (GOES-T) is unloaded from a United States Air Force C-5 cargo plane following its arrival at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 10, 2021. From here, teams will transport the satellite to an Astrotech Space Operations facility in nearby Titusville for prelaunch processing. A collaboration between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. GOES-T is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on March 1, 2022. The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy, America’s multi-user spaceport. Photo credit: NASA/Gregory B Harland

NASA image use policy.

For Dave C., I think the *Soul* of this photo is that even imaginary characters can have imaginary children and realistic concerns about their health and well-being.

  

ABOUT RAINTINGS

 

Rainting is a word I coined describing a painterly effect, achieved by photographing the subject through glass that is being rained on, like a windshield or other. It achieves an oftentimes pretty or soft flowing effect, and sometimes other-worldly. It is usually creative, fun, and fluid, seldom harsh in my opinion. I have an album of them on Flickr. Rainting is already in "The Urban Dictionary" but I would like it to also be in a more sophisticated/educational type of dictionary. I started a public Flickr group of Raintings on New Year's Day 2020.

 

The more collegiate type of dictionaries say that the word has to actually be used by people before they're likely to publish it. So if you like the word and my idea, say it loud and say it clear and take a few Raintings and post them to my new group. Using my word and trying my new group are not inclusive of one another.

 

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ABOUT LIGHTLINGS

 

Lightling is an even newer word I coined to name the odd little sort of anthropomorphic characters that sometimes appear in my images when doing a Rainting. They come in many sizes, shapes and colors and often times have what appear to be various facial expressions. In school we may have learned that a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. Well Raintings can exist without Lightlings in the scene, but Lightlings cannot exist without a Rainting.

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"My thin white border is not so much a frame as a defense against Flickr's all dark background"

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DSCN1191LightlingparentswonderifOK2letkidsplaywithglobesBordAAflickr051320

Weather reports predict the so called "Beast From The East" is due to revisit the UK over the next few days, today the 16th of March 2018 I visited Collieston Bay, its the first time I have witnessed the impact unusual weather has had on the area, it really was exhilarating and offered great photo opportunities.

 

Collieston is a small former fishing village on the North Sea coast in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies just north of the Sands of Forvie Special Protection Area, between Cruden Bay and Newburgh.

 

The earliest recorded history of Collieston is of the arrival of St Ternan, a Columban monk on a mission to convert the local picts to Christianity. There is, however, evidence that people lived here during much earlier times.

 

Collieston was established as a fishing village by the 16th century, and it provides the first safe harbour in over fifteen miles of beachesand dunes stretching north from Aberdeen.

 

Fishing for herring, haddock, whiting and codflourished in the 17th century and 18th century and was the foundation of Collieston's economy. The village became known for 'Collieston Speldings', salted and sun-dried haddock and whiting, a popular delicacy throughout Britain. As drift netting developed during the mid 19th century, the fishing began to decline and the focus of the industry shifted to places like Peterhead because the harbour at Collieston was too small to safely accommodate the larger boats needed.

 

The numerous sea caves in the nearby cliffs, and small coves with shingle beaches provided ideal terrain for smugglers. In the late 18th century it was estimated by the Excise that up to 8000 gallons of foreign spirits were being illegally landed in the area every month. In 1798, the notorious village smuggler, Phillip Kennedy, was killed by a blow from an exciseman's cutlass. His grave and tombstone still stands in the village graveyard.

 

A ship from the Spanish Armada, the Santa Caterina, carrying arms for the Earl of Erroll is said to have sunk just off the rocky point of St Catherine's Dub in 1594. In retaliation for the Earl's involvement in the Catholic plot against him, James VI blew up the Earl's castle which stood on the cliffs, a mile north of Collieston. The Earl went on to rebuild Slains Castle, six miles further up the coast, in 1597.

Collieston is now mainly a commuter village serving Aberdeen, and is largely given over to tourists during the summer months.

As predicted, a bit of wind and the blossoms start taking over on the ground...my replacement iMac turned up today, just before I took this pic. Started to get it set up - more RAM memory coming tomorrow and then I'll be back to where I was with it.

Near Portland Airport today.

 

Heavy rain is predicted for Sunday.

A glorious weekend is predicted here. I hope you all have the same. Our beautiful summer here in Vermont continues. Only hit 90 once, maybe again tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Midwest Tornadoes A well-predicted tornado outbreak swept across the Midwest on a Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17, 2013, wiping out the town of Washington, Illinois, just east of Peoria. These animation of GOES-EAST cloud top images on November 17 from 1300 to 2200 UTC/8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST verify the hundreds of severe storms that were reported across Illinois and Indiana, but do not identify which ones had tornadoes beneath them.

 

Credit: NASA GOES Project/Dennis Chesters

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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As i predicted in my Magical player shot, Rogers Federer took his revenge against Novak Djokovic yesterday by beating him (7-6,7-6, 6-4)

 

By winning this game, Federer achieved:

 

1) His 4 th straight US open (2004-2005-2006 and 2007). It's a new record.

2) 12 th Grand Slam titles (the second after Sampras who has won 14 Grand Slem titles

3) 2,4 millions dollars for just the US open title (poor of him)

 

To see my tennis set

 

Have a great week !

 

20-11-2013

Snaps from my neighborhood, taking a walk with the dog. They predict wet snow for the afternoon/evening.

This ESA/Webb Picture of the Month shows eight stunning examples of gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing, which was first predicted by Einstein, occurs because massive objects like galaxies and clusters of galaxies dramatically warp the fabric of spacetime. When a massive foreground object lines up just so with a background galaxy, the light from the background galaxy bends as it navigates the warped spacetime on its way to our telescopes.

 

Depending on how perfect the alignment is, the light from the background galaxy can be bent into an arc, a circle (a phenomenon called an ‘Einstein ring’) or even split into multiple images.

 

Arcs and circles are prevalent in these gravitationally lensed galaxies, which were identified in data from COSMOS-Web, a 255-hour Treasury programme (#1727). COSMOS-Web aims to understand the formation of the most massive galaxies in the Universe, identify galaxies that were present when the first stars and galaxies reionised the Universe’s hydrogen gas, and study the relationship between the mass of a galaxy’s stars and the mass of its galactic halo across cosmic time.

 

Using these data, researchers carried out the COSMOS-Web Lens Survey, or COWLS, to search for gravitational lenses. The researchers inspected more than 42 000 galaxies by eye and picked out more than 400 promising lensing candidates. This Picture of the Month feature presents a collage of eight of the most spectacular lenses identified by the research team.

 

This collection of gravitational lenses spans an incredible range of cosmic history. The foreground galaxies give us a glimpse of galactic life when the Universe was 2.7 to 8.9 billion years old. The background galaxies, whose shapes appear visibly distorted, stretch back even further, with one source nicknamed ‘the COSMOS-Web Ring’ (top row, left of centre) letting us peek all the way back to when the Universe was barely more than a billion years old. Several rarities appear in this collection, including an unusual case in which the galaxy acting as the gravitational lens is a flattened disc galaxy rather than an elliptical galaxy (bottom row, second from left).

 

These images demonstrate Webb’s ability to uncover and reveal never-before-seen details in gravitationally lensed galaxies. Some of the lensed galaxies were previously discovered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and are now seen by Webb in an entirely new light. Others, including those that are especially red due to either dust or distance, were first spotted by Webb. These discoveries open a unique window into the early days of the Universe and enable the study of exquisite details within distant galaxies like individual star clusters and supernovae.

 

Individual images of the lenses are also available. From left-to-right then top-to-bottom: COSJ100013+023424, COSJ100024+015334, COSJ100018+022138, COSJ100024+021749, COSJ095914+021219, COSJ100025+015245, COSJ095921+020638, and COSJ095593+023319.

 

[Image Description: A collage of eight Webb images of gravitational lensing are shown. Each of the images show various distorted galaxies in the centre of each frame, including arcs and circular shapes.]

 

Credits: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Gozaliasl, A. Koekemoer, M. Franco; CC BY 4.0

Weather.com predicted cloudy skies on Sunday evening. Good thing I ignored their forecast and decided to shoot anyway. Turns out, the skies were clear enough for a pretty decent sunset, captured from East Boston in the LoPresti Park area. Admittedly, the composition is a bit busy, but I had little else to work with, so here you go.

 

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This Sunday was an exciting day at the flea market! Funnily enough, I predicted that we would find treasures. It was Colleen's last day of sort of summer vacation (meaning she would go back to working both jobs instead of just one). On top of that, we had plans to hang out with our friend, Lisa, in the afternoon. It's always on those busy days that you find cool stuff, but don't have the chance to enjoy it. I just knew we would finally have a fruitful weekend at the flea market on the day we had other plans in the afternoon. Despite the gloomy weather, there were exciting things to be found. The pieces of American Girl clothes were all super cheap--$1 to $2 each. The seller had seen us at another booth nearby looking at doll clothes. When we passed his table, he beckoned us over asking if we collected American Girl clothes. It seriously pays off sometimes to be very open about collecting dolls, because I never would have noticed the AG clothes on his table if he hadn't motioned us over. The coolest thing about these pieces is the fact that we completed two of our outfits. We FINALLY got the diaper and a pair of shoes to go with Billie Jean's "meet" outfit. Colleen also noticed that a pair of the shoes were the ones that went with Bitty Baby's Pretty Pink Outfits (both getups were ironically purchased at the flea market back in 2014). There were a few other AG odds and ends we snagged too, like Samantha's gaiters.

 

In the lower portion of the flea market, down the hill into a somewhat muddy area, we walked by a booth with vintage toys. I studied the table as we passed, but didn't see anything worthwhile. However, on the ground on the right side of the booth I spotted an open vintage case (looked like a hatbox almost) and a cardboard box beside it. At first it just looked like a bunch of figurines from the 60s. But as we started to continue onward, Skooter caught the corner of my eye. Immediately I pounced. It turns out there was another Skipper there too. She was a Twist 'N Turn Waist doll with a mutilated leg. Colleen picked her up too for purchase. The Ideal Toys dolls caught my attention as well. I knew they weren't Tammy, but I couldn't figure out if they were from her family/friend line or were different dolls altogether. When Colleen inquired about the price, the man said he'd unload it all for $20. Normally, with the amount of stuff and condition of it, we wouldn't have paid that much. But with 60s doll items, sometimes a singular dolly will be marked that much (I think Colleen paid $25 for her first Skooter doll at an antique store in a handmade outfit). It turns out that we got Misty, Tammy's friend, and Pepper, her little sister. Additionally, there was this awesome Supergirl included! Ironically, I almost left Todd behind because he was so grotesque. I had been wanting a Todd or Tutti doll since 2011, when we got back into collecting. 60s Barbies were some of the first thing that really excited us in those days. Todd was so foul and covered in goop, I mistook him for a freaky figurine. But something told me not to leave him behind. The moment I held him at home, I lost it when I realized who he was. Plus, he was wearing his original outfit!!! Who doesn't love a doll who needs all that TLC?!! The little doll house furniture will work well for our mini houses we've had since we were kids. It's from the Ideal Toys Petite Princess Furniture line. Many of the pieces were broken beyond repair, but these were the things we could work with. Plus, we found two 60s Barbie clothing items--Ken and Ricky's jackets (I seriously would have died if Ricky had been included...he's in the top ten cutest boy dolls ever list).

 

The two Babysitters Inc Skipper dolls were from the elderly couple we always buy from. I also snagged an Ever After High body donor from them. The poor girl had a missing eye that was sharpied over. But she was still wearing her outfit AND had both hands. It was cheaper buying the donor doll than getting a pair of hands from Mattel's Replacement Part website (this is why it makes more sense to use dolls who are too far gone as body/part donors rather than trying to fix them all).

 

As for the Cabbage Patch boy, he is without a doubt my favorite find. I was feeling the Cabbie Fever on Sunday...so was Colleen. At the flea market there are always sellers who put boxes and containers of random junk (literally) on the ground and on tables. They do not take any of it out, you are meant to dig through the bins. Usually I do a quick once over of these booths since they have boring things (like homeware). But as we finished an aisle, I saw a yarn head in a clear container. Immediately my doll senses tingled...I knew it was something cool. From a distance the hair color reminded me of my 1985 Twins. I tried to not get overly amped, knowing it was probably a very similar doll to one I already had. However, as I neared I noticed his legs looked abnormally long and like a slightly different texture. When I turned this guy over I saw the freckles and the cheaper looking head/hair. Immediately I thought to myself, "This is one of the foreign CPKs. Jesmar perhaps?" Sure enough he sported the Jesmar tag (his outfit is also original--tagged Jesmar too). The poor fella was foul, covered in stains and smelling like a dumpster. His condition alone warranted a rescue. The seller was super nice and only wanted $6 for him. I suppose he could have been cheaper, but since sellers at our flea market want $25 for a CPK doll usually, it was a deal. We named him Picasso, and he was a wonderful addition to our CPK family.

 

Dolls in photo from left to right:

-1984 Cabbage Patch Kids (Jesmar)

-1977 Charlie's Angels Sabrina

-1965 Tutti's Tiny Twin Todd

-1966 Pocketbook Doll Jan

-1967 Super Queen Supergirl

-1965 Tammy's Best Friend Misty

-1965 Tammy's Sister Pepper

-1964 Skipper's Friend Skooter

-1968 Twist 'N Turn Waist Skipper

-2018 Babysitters Inc. "Stroller" Skipper

-2019 Babysitters Inc. "Bedtime" Skipper

Closed due to pandemic. I predict this will never reopen. Pre-COVID a developer was trying to get zoning changed to build townhouses on the land.

 

Found an article: www.loudountimes.com/news/supervisors-approve-sterlings-r...

Predict

Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in 1876 (146 years ago) after the discovery of a profitable line of gold; by 1879 it had a population of 7,000–10,000.

 

The town went into decline in the subsequent decades and came to be described as a ghost town by 1915 (107 years ago). The U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes the designated Bodie Historic District as a National Historic Landmark.

 

Also registered as a California Historical Landmark, the ghost town officially was established as Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It receives about 200,000 visitors yearly. Bodie State Historic Park is partly supported by the Bodie Foundation.

 

Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. According to area pioneer Judge J. G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables".

 

Gold discovered at Bodie coincided with the discovery of silver at nearby Aurora (thought to be in California, later found to be Nevada), and the distant Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City, Nevada. But while these two towns boomed, interest in Bodie remained lackluster. By 1868 only two companies had built stamp mills at Bodie, and both had failed.

 

In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 7,000–10,000 people and around 2,000 buildings. One legend says that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city. but the U.S. Census of that year disproves this. Over the years 1860-1941 Bodie's mines produced gold and silver valued at an estimated US$34 million (in 1986 dollars, or $85 million in 2021).

 

Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid– to late 1880. The first newspaper, The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County, published its first edition on October 10, 1877. Starting as a weekly, it soon expanded publication to three times a week. It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada. California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode. Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.

 

Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.

 

As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, railroad, miners' and mechanics' union, several daily newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences.

 

As with other remote mining towns, Bodie had a popular, though clandestine, red light district on the north end of town. There is an unsubstantiated story of Rosa May, a prostitute who, in the style of Florence Nightingale, came to the aid of the town menfolk when a serious epidemic struck the town at the height of its boom. She is credited with giving life-saving care to many, but after she died, was buried outside the cemetery fence.

 

Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie's Main Street. At one point it had several hundred Chinese residents and a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area.

 

Bodie also had a cemetery on the outskirts of town and a nearby mortuary. It is the only building in the town built of red brick three courses thick, most likely for insulation to keep the air temperature steady during the cold winters and hot summers. The cemetery includes a Miners Union section, and a cenotaph erected to honor President James A. Garfield. The Bodie Boot Hill was located outside of the official city cemetery.

 

On Main Street stands the Miners Union Hall, which was the meeting place for labor unions. It also served as an entertainment center that hosted dances, concerts, plays, and school recitals. It now serves as a museum.

 

The first signs of decline appeared in 1880 and became obvious toward the end of the year. Promising mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The get-rich-quick, single miners who came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, and Bodie developed into a family-oriented community. In 1882 residents built the Methodist Church (which still stands) and the Roman Catholic Church (burned 1928). Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. Also in 1881, a narrow-gauge railroad was built called the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, bringing lumber, cordwood, and mine timbers to the mining district from Mono Mills south of Mono Lake.

 

During the early 1890s, Bodie enjoyed a short revival from technological advancements in the mines that continued to support the town. In 1890, the recently invented cyanide process promised to recover gold and silver from discarded mill tailings and from low-grade ore bodies that had been passed over. In 1892, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant approximately 13 miles (20.9 km) away at Dynamo Pond. The plant developed a maximum of 130 horsepower (97 kW) and 3,530 volts alternating current (AC) to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation marked the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.

 

In 1910, the population was recorded at 698 people, which were predominantly families who decided to stay in Bodie instead of moving on to other prosperous strikes.

 

The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In a 1913 book titled California Tourist Guide and Handbook: Authentic Description of Routes of Travel and Points of Interest in California, the authors, Wells and Aubrey Drury, described Bodie as a "mining town, which is the center of a large mineral region". They referred to two hotels and a railroad operating there. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed.

 

Mining profits in 1914 were at a low of $6,821. James S. Cain bought everything from the town lots to the mining claims, and reopened the Standard mill to former employees, which resulted in an over $100,000 profit in 1915. However, this financial growth was not in time to stop the town's decline. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped.

 

The last mine closed in 1942, due to War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all non-essential gold mines in the United States during World War II. Mining never resumed after the war.

 

Bodie was first described as a "ghost town" in 1915. In a time when auto travel was on the rise, many travelers reached Bodie via automobiles. The San Francisco Chronicle published an article in 1919 to dispute the "ghost town" label.

 

By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline and a severe fire in the business district in 1932, Bodie had permanent residents through nearly half of the 20th century. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942

 

In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. Martin Gianettoni, one of the last three people living in Bodie in 1943, was a caretaker.

 

Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town.

 

The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 the state legislature authorized creation of Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named as California's official state gold rush ghost town.

 

Visitors arrive mainly via SR 270, which runs from US 395 near Bridgeport to the west; the last three miles of it is a dirt road. There is also a road to SR 167 near Mono Lake in the south, but this road is extremely rough, with more than 10 miles of dirt track in a bad state of repair. Due to heavy snowfall, the roads to Bodie are usually closed in winter .

 

Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survived, with about 110 structures still standing, including one of many once operational gold mills. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once was a bustling area of activity. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Littered throughout the park, one can find small shards of china dishes, square nails and an occasional bottle, but removing these items is against the rules of the park.

 

The California State Parks' ranger station is located in one of the original homes on Green Street.

 

In 2009 and again in 2010, Bodie was scheduled to be closed. The California state legislature worked out a budget compromise that enabled the state's Parks Closure Commission to keep it open. As of 2022, the park is still operating, now administered by the Bodie Foundation.

 

California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.

 

The economy of the state of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.4 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy as of 2022, behind Germany and ahead of India, as well as the 37th most populous. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.0 trillion and $0.5 trillion respectively as of 2020). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas in 2018, and is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.

 

Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America and contained the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including large-scale immigration into California, a worldwide economic boom, and the California genocide of indigenous people. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, following the Compromise of 1850.

 

Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade.

 

The state's extremely diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast and metropolitan areas in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. California is well known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather. The large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.

 

Settled by successive waves of arrivals during at least the last 13,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population have ranged from 100,000 to 300,000. The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups, inhabiting environments from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests. These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups.

 

The first Europeans to explore the coast of California were the members of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as San Miguel Island. Privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of San Francisco. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain, putting ashore in Monterey. Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.

 

The Portolá expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, presidios, and pueblos. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled over land from Sonora into California, while the religious component was headed by Junípero Serra, who came by sea from Baja California. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on Monterey Bay.

 

After the Portolà expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 Spanish missions of California along El Camino Real ("The Royal Road") and along the Californian coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission San Buenaventura), or Santa Barbara (Mission Santa Barbara), among others.

 

Juan Bautista de Anza led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the pueblo of San Jose in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.

  

The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions.

During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the North Coast. Fort Ross was primarily used to supply Russia's Alaskan colonies with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.

 

During the War of Mexican Independence, Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution, though many Californios supported independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California and limited its development. Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited the trade prospects of Californians. Following Mexican independence, Californian ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent.

 

In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave the Mexican Empire (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government. The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 California Gold Rush.

 

From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842. The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by Anglo-American residents of California, including Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham Affair, which was resolved in part with the intercession of Royal Navy officials.

 

One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.

 

After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, Manuel Micheltorena and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the Battle of Providencia near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced these men that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born Pio Pico was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.

 

In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterward, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[65] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.

 

The California Republic was short-lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).

 

Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the U.S. military invasion of California, with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces. In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho in Southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of Santa Clara in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing de facto American control in California.

 

Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.

 

In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come. Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.

 

The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.

 

In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854 with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.

 

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington in support of the Union. However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.

 

At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the First transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time.

 

Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.

 

In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the Gold Rush or to seek work. Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

 

Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity. Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.

 

Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government) to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them. As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.

 

In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the Alien Land Act, excluding Asian immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were interned in concentration camps such as at Tule Lake and Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.

 

Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.

 

To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.

 

Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states. California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production. Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.

 

In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 Watts riots and 1992 Rodney King riots. California was also the hub of the Black Panther Party, a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren. Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around Cesar Chavez for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.

 

Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.

 

An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.

 

Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.

 

In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From 2011 to 2017, a persistent drought was the worst in its recorded history. The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably Camp Fire.

 

Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze that is known as "smog" has been substantially abated thanks to federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.

 

One of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. Department of State evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered flight to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, and in this process, it may have granted and conferred to escalated within the land and the US at cosmic. On February 5, 2020, the U.S. evacuated 345 more citizens from Hubei Province to two military bases in California, Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, where they were quarantined for 14 days. A state of emergency was largely declared in this state of the nation on March 4, 2020, and as of February 24, 2021, remains in effect. A mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19, 2020, due to increase, which was ended on January 25, 2021, allowing citizens to return to normal life. On April 6, 2021, the state announced plans to fully reopen the economy by June 15, 2021.

 

SkyFire predicted a decent chance of a colorful sunset on this day before the remnants of Hurricane Rosa arrived, so I decided to check out the Burnham badlands in NW New Mexico. Not as showy or well known as other hoodoo lands in the Bisti and Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, there was still plenty to see and photograph. Best of all, my pal Colorado Plateau photographer extraordinaire Cecil Whitt & I had the place all to ourselves.

I went out to photograph a predicted aurora, which didn't perform. So I swiveled the camera from North to West and took this. Straight from a superb point and shoot camera (Sony RX10 Mk4), but on some manual settings: 30sec F2.4 24mm equivalent FL, tripod, image staibilisation turned off. NO post-processing whatsover - not even cropping. We see a faint Milky Way going up off the top, straight from the centre of the image. We see 5 complete constellations (Equuleus, Delphinus, Vulpecula, Sagitta and Lyra) and parts of several others. We see the Isle of Sheppey and the Essex coast, and Whitstable's famous beach huts. And a LOT of Light Pollution. I took several shots but could NOT get any without car headlights - in semi-rural Kent in the small hours!

On night of August 26, 2017, I checked and there are only a little over 1,500 views to go; so this is going to happen sooner than I thought, like maybe August 27, 2017.

 

My thanks to each and every one of you for each and every one of them. Dorothy Delina Porter aka Pixel Packing Mama

 

Delina is pronounced with a long *i* sound if you are saying it out loud in your brain right now. Actually, it is still pronounced that way whether you are or are not saying it out loud in your brain. *grin*

  

"ARTSY sign for reaching 25 Million Views"

Weather reports predict the so called "Beast From The East" is due to revisit the UK over the next few days, today the 16th of March 2018 I visited Collieston Bay, its the first time I have witnessed the impact unusual weather has had on the area, it really was exhilarating and offered great photo opportunities.

 

Collieston is a small former fishing village on the North Sea coast in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies just north of the Sands of Forvie Special Protection Area, between Cruden Bay and Newburgh.

 

The earliest recorded history of Collieston is of the arrival of St Ternan, a Columban monk on a mission to convert the local picts to Christianity. There is, however, evidence that people lived here during much earlier times.

 

Collieston was established as a fishing village by the 16th century, and it provides the first safe harbour in over fifteen miles of beachesand dunes stretching north from Aberdeen.

 

Fishing for herring, haddock, whiting and codflourished in the 17th century and 18th century and was the foundation of Collieston's economy. The village became known for 'Collieston Speldings', salted and sun-dried haddock and whiting, a popular delicacy throughout Britain. As drift netting developed during the mid 19th century, the fishing began to decline and the focus of the industry shifted to places like Peterhead because the harbour at Collieston was too small to safely accommodate the larger boats needed.

 

The numerous sea caves in the nearby cliffs, and small coves with shingle beaches provided ideal terrain for smugglers. In the late 18th century it was estimated by the Excise that up to 8000 gallons of foreign spirits were being illegally landed in the area every month. In 1798, the notorious village smuggler, Phillip Kennedy, was killed by a blow from an exciseman's cutlass. His grave and tombstone still stands in the village graveyard.

 

A ship from the Spanish Armada, the Santa Caterina, carrying arms for the Earl of Erroll is said to have sunk just off the rocky point of St Catherine's Dub in 1594. In retaliation for the Earl's involvement in the Catholic plot against him, James VI blew up the Earl's castle which stood on the cliffs, a mile north of Collieston. The Earl went on to rebuild Slains Castle, six miles further up the coast, in 1597.

Collieston is now mainly a commuter village serving Aberdeen, and is largely given over to tourists during the summer months.

Simple corniform signs: Mont Bégo

 

Further to the north of Mont Bégo in the Valcomonica petroglyph megasite, can be seen dated corniform signs from the neolithic e.g. the 'roche de la Baita'. As with Mont Bégo, corniform signs can also be seen here linked with yokes - forming an early representation of a 'living tractor' - the kind that will have also been employed for ploughing and during the movement of erratic monoliths, trees and megaliths. Whilst most of the glyphs around the Mont Bégo site are certainly Bronze age, it must be very difficult to say categorically that certain of the more simple examples are not neolithic, with the rule of thumb being that heavily simplified schematic glyphs are neolithic with representational details arriving for the chalcolithic and Bronze age. Thus the above simple signs need to be seen in contrast with more detailed corniform signs (see below). They may be of the later date, they may not. They may have exactly the same 'meaning' as more complicated corniforms - they may not.

 

The importance of the corniform sign to Mont Bégo cannot be underestimated, and there is a statistic that if you factor out unformed marks and scratches and only count 'symbols' and 'representations', then corniforms make up close to 80% of all petroglyphs. Seeing the wide variety of expression within the category of corniform, and it can be said that the ideas associated with the corniform symbol were taken by a diverse population to a zone above the agricultural line and onto bleak but mesmerising geological spaces. Mont Bégo, with it's Vallée des Merveilles and Vallée de Fontanalba was a focus for corniform 'cow signs' and understanding the dynamic range of these signs seems to be a task. For the record, there are plentiful examples of small pecks and scratches, and even when these are included, the statistic for corniforms runs to 46% of the 30,000 or so petroglyphs.

 

Top left: two corniform signs. See how there is no hint of a 'real' structure: these are not direct descriptions of a subject be it a cow-form hut, a stretching skin, a cow's scull, a cow, a tool (with the horns tipped inwards the would not make a pitch fork) or cow/human spirit - the lines seem to have starting to drift towards raw symbols.

 

Top right : The corniform has an appearance of a jubilant humanoid. Under are two 'rouelles' or spoked 'suns'. One has six 'rays' and the other five. Others similar signs can be seen with eight spokes. These are vivid but neither systematic or common to the Mont Bégo site, so however simple and eye catching they may appear, they do not seem to be representative of the site's 'zeitgeist'. The variety of the number of branches suggests to me an informal sign and not a rigorous symbol of, for example, a sun deity. Further to the north in the Valcamonica rock art site, there are seemingly indubitable sun-like petroglyph symbols with the 'rays attached to a central circle dated to the neolithic. These seem to be more conclusively suns, and the above radiants may simply be expressive and jubilant decorations associated with decorated cows and festivals. If they are aligned to a sun God then the position on the rock is small and to the side, so subordinate. With the 'corniform' on the verge of 'dancing', a description of 'festival' and joy on the corner of a vast petrogliphic surface may be a coherent explanation. As with the image top left, excluding a neolithic date for these signs would seem to me to be difficult even though they are surrounded by multiple petroglyphs that are know to be bronze age.

 

Lower left : It is very easy to see that two methods were used to produce this image. 'Pecking' and then 'scratching' with no great innovations from the great paleolithic rock art site of the Coa valley. The rock surface is very hard, and today pecking might involve a hole punch and a hammer - no great change, just a need for a sharp wrist action and eye concentration. The scratching is not always present (some may also be from historical visitors) and involves a repeated action to break the peaks between the pecks and in so doing creating a unified image. This mix of technique may have repeated on a larger scale during the late prehistoric periods for regional earthworks. Studies of some large earthworks show that ditches were first made as a series of pits and then broken through to create the large ditch enclosures we can see today. There are many surfaces where the best way to dig a pit is by driving down many deep holes using a weighted pole with a chiseled end. Adding water can speed up the process by creating shatter pressures and colloids that squirt out on their own. Messy but fast. Once a series of vertical perforations has been made, these can be broken through by levering a large pole, with the rubble of the pit removed. Two pits next to each other in the envisaged line of, let's say, a henge ditch, with the dividing wall battered down and antler picks used to clean up the ruts and imperfections. Today, predictive calculations for the time taken to make prehistoric earthworks are often made using only the final antler picks - as if you cook for one hundred using only a serving spoon - which can lead to dramatic statistics and truly vast numbers of hours required. This can make prehistory look like a repetitive and gruelling adventure in space-time or, force it to approach some of slave based monuments of early civilisation.

 

Lower right : A purely abstract sign again with humanoid overtones - a certain joy. The curling of the horns suggests an animal like a mouflon or a goat rather than a cow. Around Mont Bégo there are rare glyphs that I did not manage to photograph that are understood to be of goats. As with Soay sheep, the mouflon is an archaic variety - an early variety of sheep that has returned to the wild. They are easy to see today and unlike Isards, they retain a slight domestication and can wait to have their picture taken while still looking very wild. A very small corniform is also present top left of this image.

 

In conclusion, within the category of corniform there may be two qualitatively different glyphs with the above examples within the 'simple signs' group.

 

AJM 12.2.19

This brings us to Sir Doktor Professor Karl Raimund Popper’s attack on historicism. As I said in Chapter 5, this was his most significant insight, but it remains his least known. People who do not really know his work tend to focus on Popperian falsification, which addresses the verification or n...

 

#freeebook #freebook #ebook #book #Pomdy

Editor: taphuong

 

www.pomdy.com/book/the-black-swan/part-two-we-just-cant-p...

I first profiled the Goodman-Malone Taco Bell in early May 2020 (www.flickr.com/photos/l_dawg2000/49964758913/in/album-721...), and sure enough six months later, work is underway to transform the location to the latest Taco Bell look. Thankfully (and contrary to first reports), it looks as if this will just be a repaint and sign update however, as opposed to the somewhat more drastic changes that were done at the similar Church Rd. location. Sadly, that remodel wiped away much of that Taco Bell's original, very cool exterior traits.

 

I'm going to keep adding these to my general "Taco Bell Tour" album, instead of giving this location it's own space, since I don't believe there will be much reason to do dozens and dozens of photos of this exterior refresh. But heck, might as well start doing a few photo tags at least :P

____________________________________

Taco Bell, 2008-built, Goodman Rd. at Malone Rd., Southaven MS

Weather reports predict the so called "Beast From The East" is due to revisit the UK over the next few days, today the 16th of March 2018 I visited Collieston Bay, its the first time I have witnessed the impact unusual weather has had on the area, it really was exhilarating and offered great photo opportunities.

 

Collieston is a small former fishing village on the North Sea coast in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies just north of the Sands of Forvie Special Protection Area, between Cruden Bay and Newburgh.

 

The earliest recorded history of Collieston is of the arrival of St Ternan, a Columban monk on a mission to convert the local picts to Christianity. There is, however, evidence that people lived here during much earlier times.

 

Collieston was established as a fishing village by the 16th century, and it provides the first safe harbour in over fifteen miles of beachesand dunes stretching north from Aberdeen.

 

Fishing for herring, haddock, whiting and codflourished in the 17th century and 18th century and was the foundation of Collieston's economy. The village became known for 'Collieston Speldings', salted and sun-dried haddock and whiting, a popular delicacy throughout Britain. As drift netting developed during the mid 19th century, the fishing began to decline and the focus of the industry shifted to places like Peterhead because the harbour at Collieston was too small to safely accommodate the larger boats needed.

 

The numerous sea caves in the nearby cliffs, and small coves with shingle beaches provided ideal terrain for smugglers. In the late 18th century it was estimated by the Excise that up to 8000 gallons of foreign spirits were being illegally landed in the area every month. In 1798, the notorious village smuggler, Phillip Kennedy, was killed by a blow from an exciseman's cutlass. His grave and tombstone still stands in the village graveyard.

 

A ship from the Spanish Armada, the Santa Caterina, carrying arms for the Earl of Erroll is said to have sunk just off the rocky point of St Catherine's Dub in 1594. In retaliation for the Earl's involvement in the Catholic plot against him, James VI blew up the Earl's castle which stood on the cliffs, a mile north of Collieston. The Earl went on to rebuild Slains Castle, six miles further up the coast, in 1597.

Collieston is now mainly a commuter village serving Aberdeen, and is largely given over to tourists during the summer months.

just because……

my SIL dearest gave me this for some special occasion and we both think it’s so pretty. (And not just because it’s blue!)

 

CMWD_blue

 

Btb, I figured out how to make this my “screensaver” welcoming screen on iPhone Able— how cool is that!!

 

It’s actually calledasto glass

As predicted by the prophet Zacharie Delaplaya, the Four Surfers of the Apocalypso will soon emerge to sound the death knell of summertime. Splitting the sea foam from atop their mounts, they’ll arrive at great speed to announce to the sun-lovers and terrace dwellers the end of this lovely season. So enjoy the time you have left to knock back a pint and live each day as if it was the last act. Carpe diem!

Predicting your call on the extra board can be a bit like long division, needlessly complicated and never really sure you got it right... until the phone rings. Today I thought I had it all dialed in, a phosphate train off the CSX coming north on the Superior Sub was showing ordered for 1230 out of Pokegama with no north pools available for several hours, got it. Just before that call was expected to come in, the phone rang. CN Crew Caller... well shit. “Mr Hennessy are you qualified on the T-Bird?” Yes. Yes I am. So off to Keenan I went. Left a little early in hopes of catching some iron ore action, timing was great as I paced a northbound limestone train from Alborn up to the range, unfortunately the sun was shit for northbound moves. Coming up to Fairlane I spied a load of pellets ready to head south, hedging my bets that he would get the light clearing the limestone train I parked. Sure enough the limestone blazed past and the pellet loader was headed to the docks in Duluth. These standard cab dash 8’s hold a special place in my heart as I made my first solo run as an engineer in one (CN 2019) on a Q119 several years prior. Most fans up here loath the toasters and covet the sd40’s, a sentiment I certainly understand but anywhere else in the country finding standard cab dash 8’a leading trains in 2021 would be constitute a miracle from christ himself... on the range, just another reason not to take the lens cap off. I should get out more often to shoot these dinosaurs, but CN is very good at finding ways to occupy my time and my daughters take up the rest. These old GE’s may have another couple years left in them but the kids only stay 5 and 3 for another couple months. Priorities... It does make me appreciate the rare moments trackside that I have however!

Since Woodtick predicted that I was about to unleash a deluge of Milwaukee Road shots, I'd hate to disappoint. In the early '80s, recently shed of its "Pacific Extension", the Road found itself short of power (or at least power that worked.) Trains started to sport CN power on other parts of the railroad, but the trains that connected with DW&P in Duluth were a likely candidate for power pools - or just borrowing when short! Milwaukee Road had a longstanding agreement for trackage rights on the former Northern Pacific "Skally" to Duluth; by the '80s it had become rights on the former NP up to Hinckley where the NP crossed the former Great Northern from Minneapolis to Duluth. By this time the NP was mostly gone from that crossing on to the north, so the through trains used the former GN to complete the trip to the Twin Ports. This route was fairly active with BN trains (most of their through trains would use the GN all the way up from Northtown Yard in Minneapolis) and also the MILW and C&NW trackage rights trains...and then the Soo Line, too. This train is on the BN's Minnesota Division, the Sixth Sub that connected the wye at "Division Street" (and the Milwaukee's "Pigs Eye Yard") with the Wisconsin Division, Second Sub, at White Bear Lake. From there it's the ex-NP route to Hinckley (a.k.a. "the Skally.") The tracks in the foreground belong to the C&NW - the "Omaha" - going to and from Chicago. I think that's "East St.Paul" yard around the curve on the Omaha. I believe that practically all of this, except the Union Pacific that was the Omaha, is gone. Now the CP and the UP use the former GN through Northtown all the way to Superior with their trackage rights trains.

Bathroom, Kensington Church Street, London W8

This column is believed to represent the four seasons of the year – one on each side. The images on the closest side show a representation of the rain god – Chac shown with the nose of an elephant. Chac is one of the most frequent images that we saw throughout Chichen Itza.

 

Obviously, rain was extremely important to the Maya culture. I assume this was primarily because the Yucatan peninsula is very hot and they would have been highly dependent on rain for drinking water and agricultural irrigation. On our visit, we have been more concerned with the over-abundance of rain related to hurricane Irma. Either way, it is obvious that predicting the weather has been a chief concern of people for a very long time and we still don’t quite have it figured out.

 

Nikon D7100

Tamron SP 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II

10mm @ f/10 – 1/800 sec – ISO 400

After wasting a good part of the day driving and waiting for the northbound Herzog ballast train with what should have been 3 CP SD40's I was convinced it wasn't going to run as predicted and gave up. It wound up getting out of Whitehall way later than we expected, then had delays due to GPS problems so a hundred miles and 8 hours later I finally got a shot only 7 miles from home at Westport just before dark.

Heavens-above.com predicted a pass of the International Space Station that would be visible to the Space Coast. It was lower and dimmer than I would generally chase, but I still went to my favorite spot, the "Cuki," a sailboat in Melbourne Beach, FL that was washed ashore after Hurricane Irma.

 

It was cloudier than expected, and I was a bit disappointed by how undramatic the streak turned out until I later looked at the ground track of the Station. At the time of the left-most section of the streak shown here (over the condos), the Station is over the Gulf of Mexico, well south of New Orleans, roughly 1,000km away. The closest the Station would come was 750km, roughly over the sailboat in the streak, and somewhere over Alabama east of Montgomery. And, as it enters the shadow of the Earth (after emerging from behind the cloud in the right section of the frame), the Station is nearly 1,100 km away, cruising over (roughly) Blacksburg, Virgina.

 

New Orleans, Alabama, and Virginia. And we can see it from Florida. Kinda cool, no?

 

Details:

This is a composite of two 120-second exposures, shot at ISO400 and f6.3 with a Canon 5DIV and a Rokinon 14mm lens. Initial edits done in Lightroom, composite done in Photoshop (while avoiding the temptation to draw in a bolder streak) and edits were done (again) in Lightroom, then Color Efex2 (detail enhancer) and then some noise reduction was applied with Dfine2.

I was out for a morning bicycle ride, hoping to beat the predicted thunderstorms in the afternoon. Crossing Cherry Street and entering the Martin Goodman Trail I saw a collection of ice cream trucks in a parking lot and stopped to investigate. I discovered that it was a breakfast kick-off for Uber’s third annual Uber Ice Cream Day being celebrated in Toronto and 9 other North American Cities. www.popsugar.com/food/Uber-Free-Ice-Cream-Day-2017-43863026

 

The ice cream trucks were about to scatter across the city with a promotion geared to expand its customer base by appealing to one of summer’s most popular temptations – ice cream. As people were eating their promotional breakfast in the parking lot, I saw this young woman near one of the trucks and approached her. I was met with a warm greeting and a handshake. Meet Lisha.

 

Lisha is a native-born Torontonian who works as Operations and Logistics Manager at Uber. She has a business background with prior experience in the financial sector. Today she is supporting Uber's promotion and seemed in a very upbeat mood. She struck me as very much a "people person" with a cheerful, outgoing disposition. “Hey, it’s a fun event and I love getting out of the office to help out. I want do everything I can to help make the event a success.”

 

I told her I was just bicycling past on the bike path when I saw the gathering and stopped to indulge my curiosity. She appreciated the interest. I explained my Human Family photo project and asked if she would be comfortable with my taking a couple of photos of her with the truck to share with others on Flickr. She was happy to participate and I took a quick photo in front of one of the trucks and another with her in its side window.

 

Her message to the project? “Do what you love” and “Don’t waste a single day of your life.” Good advice.

 

Thanks Lisha for taking a minute to meet and participate in my amateur photo project. I hope the promotion is a big success. This is my 523rd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.

 

You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.

 

66131 sits at Shap Hardendale on 5th July 2024 prior to departure with 6V71 1846 Hardendale Quarry to Margam.

 

The flow of limestone to aid the iron ore furnaces at Margam is predicted to finish when ore power changes to electric arc soon.

 

Pole shot.

This is a test. This is only a test. The purpose of posting this photo is simply to determine if the average viewer prefers to view winter scenes in the winter, or to view late summer scenes, such as the following images. There's no way to predict what the preference will be.

 

Yea, right.

Well i hope the weather forecast is right both for fotting Choppers up Peak Forest & Taking my Scooby up those Country roads

Based on the following, I was ready:

 

National Weather Service Tucson AZ

200 PM MST Wed Apr 4 2018

 

DISCUSSION...a very weak upper level trough passing by will continue to spread high clouds across the region this evening with the potential a colorful sunset.

Michel de Nostredame, dit Nostradamus, né le 14 décembre 1503 à Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, et mort le 2 juillet 1566 à Salon-de-Provence, est un apothicaire1 français (on dirait en français moderne : pharmacien2).

 

Selon bien des sources3, il aurait également été médecin, bien que son expulsion de la faculté de médecine de Montpellier4 témoigne qu’il n'était pas possible d’être les deux à la fois5.

 

Pratiquant l'astrologie comme tous ses confrères à l'époque de la Renaissance, il est surtout connu pour ses prédictions sur la marche du monde.

Il est né de Jaume6 de Nostredame et Reynière (ou Renée) de Saint-Rémy le 14 décembre 15037. Jaume était l'aîné des six (certains disent dix-huit) enfants du couple Pierre de Nostredame et Blanche de Sainte-Marie.

Le nom des Nostredame vient de son grand-père juif, Guy de Gassonet (fils d'Arnauton de Velorges), qui choisit le nom de Pierre de Nostredame lors de sa conversion au catholicisme, probablement vers 14558. Selon les archives d'Avignon, et selon les archives de Carpentras qui parlent souvent de juifs des autres régions, il est suggéré que l'origine du nom Nostredame fut imposée9 par le cardinal-archevêque d'Arles, Pierre de Foix. Le grand-père de Nostredame, Pierre de Nostredame, était si convaincu de sa foi qu'il a répudié sa femme d'alors (Benastruge Gassonet) qui ne voulait pas quitter le judaïsme. Le curieux « démariage » fut prononcé à Orange le 14 juin 1463 (ce qui lui a permis finalement d'épouser Blanche).C'est son bisaïeul maternel, Jean de Saint-Rémy, ancien médecin et trésorier de Saint-Rémy, qui lui aurait transmis en 1506 les rudiments des mathématiques et des lettres. Mais ceci est douteux, vu que la trace notariée (Archives dep. des Bouches du Rhône B. 2.607) de ce vieux personnage disparaît en 1504.Il part très jeune à Avignon pour y obtenir son diplôme de bachelier ès arts. On le disait doué d'une mémoire presque divine, d'un caractère enjoué, plaisant, peut-être un peu moqueur « laetus, facetus estque mordax »10. Ses camarades l'auraient appelé « le jeune astrologue », parce « qu'il leur signalait et leur expliquait les phénomènes célestes », mystérieux alors pour beaucoup : les étoiles filantes, les météores, les astres, les brouillards, etc. Il dut apprendre aussi la grammaire, la rhétorique et la philosophie. Mais il doit quitter l'université après un an seulement, et donc sans diplôme, à cause de l'arrivée de la peste (fin 1520). Neuf ans plus tard (1529), ayant cependant pratiqué comme apothicaire (profession non diplômée), il s'inscrit à la Faculté de Montpellier pour essayer d'y gagner son doctorat en médecine. Il se fait connaître grâce aux remèdes qu'il a mis au point en tant qu'apothicaire. Mais il est bientôt expulsé pour avoir exercé ce métier « manuel » interdit par les statuts de la faculté [voir site Benazra Espace Nostradamus]. Son inscription de 1529 et sa radiation sont les seules traces de son passage à Montpellier, et on ne connaît pas de document attestant qu'il ait été docteur d'une autre université. Mais, sans être affirmatifs, la plupart des érudits du vingtième siècle pensent qu'il n'est pas impossible que l'expulsion de Nostredame ait été temporaire et qu'il soit devenu quand même diplômé de l'université de Montpellier (comme le prétendaient aussi, en ajoutant des détails supplémentaires peu croyables, certains commentateurs très tardifs comme Guynaud et Astruc), bien qu'il lui ait manqué le premier diplôme nécessaire pour accéder au doctorat, car les noms de plusieurs des diplômés connus de cette université sont absents, eux aussi, de ses registres11 — à moins que ceux-ci n'en aient pas été de vrais diplômés non plus (le phénomène du « faux docteur » étant très connu à l'époque).

 

Vers 1533, il s'établit à Agen12, où il pratique la médecine de soins à domicile. Il s'y lie d'amitié avec Jules César Scaliger. Cet Italien, installé à Toulouse, érudit de la Renaissance, est « un personnage incomparable, sinon à un Plutarque » selon Nostradamus ; il écrit sur tout. Impertinent, il s'attaque à tout le monde, s'intéresse à la botanique et fabrique des pommades et des onguents. Mais le jeune « imposteur » inquiète les autorités religieuses par ses idées un peu trop progressistes pour l'époque.

 

La durée précise de son séjour à Agen est inconnue ; peut-être trois ans, peut-être cinq ans. Les points de repère manquent et l'on ne peut offrir que des dates élastiques. Vers 153413 Nostredame s'y choisit une femme dont on ne sait même pas le nom14, qui lui aurait donné deux enfants : un garçon et une fille. L'épouse et les deux enfants moururent, très rapidement semble-t-il, à l'occasion de quelque épidémie, la peste vraisemblablement.

 

D'après certains commentateurs catholiques des Prophéties - Barrere, l'abbé Torne-Chavigny notamment - Nostredame aurait dit en 1534 à un « frère » qui coulait une statue de Notre-Dame dans un moule d'étain qu'en faisant de pareilles images il ne faisait que des diableries. D'aucuns pensent que ses relations avec un certain Philibert Sarrazin, mécréant de l'époque, de la région d'Agen, avaient rendu Nostredame plutôt suspect à la Sainte Inquisition15. Celle-ci l'aurait même invité à se présenter devant son tribunal de Toulouse pour « y être jugé du crime d'hérésie ; mais il se garda bien de répondre à cette citation »16.

 

Après la mort de sa première femme, Nostredame se serait remis à voyager. On l'aurait trouvé à Bordeaux, vers l'an 1539. Les commentateurs tardifs Moura et Louvet se le représentent en la compagnie de savants renommés de l'époque et du cru : l'apothicaire Léonard Baudon, Johannes Tarraga, Carolus Seninus et Jean Treilles, avocat.

 

Nostredame accomplit de 1540 à 1545 un tour de France qui l'amène à rencontrer de nombreuses personnalités, savants et médecins. La légende signale le passage du futur prophète à Bar-le-Duc. Nostredame y aurait soigné, d'après Étienne Jaubert17, plusieurs personnes et notamment une célèbre (?) Mademoiselle Terry qui l'aurait souvent entendu « exhorter les catholiques à tenir ferme contre les Luthériens et à ne permettre qu'ils entrassent dans la ville»18.

 

Une tradition très douteuse affirme qu'il a séjourné un temps à l'abbaye d'Orval, qui dépendait de l'Ordre de Cîteaux, située alors au diocèse de Trêves, à deux lieues de l'actuelle sous-préfecture de Montmédy, un séjour que Pagliani, après plusieurs autres, date de 154319. On ne sait s'il faut y ajouter foi, même si, avec Torne-Chavigny et Napolêon lui-même, beaucoup de gens lui attribuent les fameuses prophéties d'Orval, Prévisions d'un solitaire, ainsi que celles d'un certain Olivarius. On les aurait 'trouvées' à l'abbaye d'Orval en 1792, date approximative de leur style même. La première (de style tardif, elle aussi) serait datée de 1542, antérieure donc de treize ans, comme on le verra plus loin, à la préface des premières Centuries. Mais il semble plus probable que toutes les deux aient été composées au XIXe siècle à la gloire de Napoléon20.

 

Ici se termine le cycle de pérégrinations de Nostredame qui l'a mené en somme, après être rayé de Montpellier, du Sud-Ouest au Nord-Est de la France. Nostredame atteint la quarantaine (1543) et commence une seconde phase de déplacements qui va le rapprocher de la Provence et le pousser vers l'Italie, terre bénie de tous ceux qui connurent à son époque l'ivresse de la Renaissance.

 

Les premières étapes de ce périple sont probablement Vienne, puis « Valence des Allobroges », dont parle Nostradamus dans son Traité des fardemens et confitures à propos des célébrités qu'il s'honora d'y avoir rencontrées : « A Vienne, je vis d'aucuns personnages dignes d'une supprême collaudation ; dont l'un estoit Hieronymus, homme digne de louange, et Franciscus Marins, jeune homme d'une expectative de bonne foy. Devers nous, ne avons que Francisons Valeriola pour sa singulière humanité, pour son sçavoir prompt et mémoire ténacissime... Je ne sçays si le soleil, à trente lieues à la ronde, voit ung homme plus plein de sçavoir que luy »21.

 

En 1544, Nostredame aurait eu l'occasion d'étudier la peste à Marseille22 sous la direction, a-t-il dit, d'un « autre Hippocrate, le médecin Louis Serres »23. Puis, il est « appelé par ceux d'Aix en corps de communauté pour venir dans leur ville traiter les malades de la contagion dont elle est affligée. C'était en l'année mil cinq cent quarante six »24.

 

On le voit certainement à Lyon en 1547 où il s'oppose au médecin lyonnais Philibert Sarrazin25, à Vienne, Valence, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence et, enfin, à Arles, où il finit par s'établir. Là, il met au point un médicament à base de plantes, capable, selon lui, de prévenir la peste. En 1546, il l'expérimente à Aix lors d'une terrible épidémie : son remède semble efficace comme prophylactique, mais il écrira lui-même plus tard que « les seignées, les medicaments cordiaux, catartiques, ne autres n'avoyent non plus d'efficace que rien. » (Traité des fardemens et confitures, Lyon, 1555, p. 52) Malgré ce succès douteux, Nostredame est appelé sur les lieux où des épidémies sont signalées. À la même époque, il commence à publier des almanachs qui mêlent des prévisions météorologiques, des conseils médicaux et des recettes de beauté par les plantes. Il étudie également les astres.

La Maison de Nostradamus à Salon-de-Provence.

 

Le ­11 novembre 1547, il épouse en secondes noces Anne Ponsard, une jeune veuve de Salon-de-Provence, alors appelé Salon-de-Craux. Le couple occupe la maison qui abrite aujourd'hui le Musée Nostradamus. Il aura six enfants, trois filles et trois garçons ; l'aîné, César, deviendra consul de Salon, historien, biographe de son père, peintre et poète.

 

Nostredame prend le temps de voyager en Italie, de 1547 à 1549. C'est d'ailleurs en 1549 qu'il rencontre à Milan un spécialiste en alchimie végétale, qui lui fait découvrir les vertus des confitures qui guérissent. Il expérimente des traitements à base de ces confitures végétales et, de retour en France, il publie en 1552 son Traité des confitures et fardements.

 

En 1550, il rédige son premier « almanach » populaire – une collection de prédictions dites astrologiques pour l’année, incorporant un calendrier26 et d’autres informations en style énigmatique et polyglotte qui devait se montrer assez difficile pour les éditeurs, à en juger par les nombreuses coquilles (où certains voient le signe que l'auteur était dyslexique). Dès cette date, Michel de Nostredame signe ses écrits du nom de "Nostradamus". Ce nom n'est pas l'exacte transcription latine de 'Nostredame', qui serait plutôt Domina nostra ou Nostra domina. En latin correct, ‘Nostradamus’ pourrait signifier : « Nous donnons (damus) les choses qui sont nôtres (nostra) » ou « Nous donnons (damus) les panacées » (nostrum, mis au pluriel), mais il est également permis d'y voir un travestissement macaronique (et très heureux) de 'Nostredame'.

 

En 1555, installé à Salon-de-Provence, il publie des prédictions perpétuelles (et donc en théorie, selon l'usage de l'époque, cycliques)27 dans un ouvrage de plus grande envergure et presque sans dates ciblées, publié par l’imprimeur lyonnais Macé (Matthieu) Bonhomme. Ce sont les Prophéties, l'ouvrage qui fait l'essentiel de sa gloire auprès de la postérité.

source Wikipédia

The big hype in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend was that the weather forcasters were predicting that we could get snow as low as sea level for the first time in 35 years. Although many people waited with excited anticipation to finally see a little bit of snow in their yards...it didn't happen in most places. Fortunately, I live in one of the few places that a little bit of snow DID fall, and the temps stayed freezing enough for it to stick for a few hours before melting.

 

I had completely planned on staying out of the cold yesterday, and nursing my sniffles back to health...until I woke up and saw snow on top of my car! Then, sniffles or not, I couldn't resist throwing my snow clothes on, grabbing hubby, and going to find more snow! Woohoo! We didn't have far to go...Highway 9 and Sanborn County Park here in Saratoga looked (almost) like a frosty winter wonderland. It lasted for about two hours after sunrise. So I did my best to get a few pics of the BIG event (but mostly I was just running around with a big smile on my face taking pics of everything, like a 5 year old who just saw snow for the first time!) :-)

 

Thanks for your past comments, and thanks for being such awesome supportive flickr friends!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Battle of Peleliu

Part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater (World War II)

 

The first wave of U.S. Marines in LVTs during the invasion of Peleliu on September 15, 1944

Date15 September – 27 November 1944

(2 months, 1 week and 5 days)

Location

Peleliu, Palau Islands

7°00′N 134°15′ECoordinates: 7°00′N 134°15′E

ResultAmerican victory

Belligerents

United States Japan

Commanders and leaders

United States William H. Rupertus

United States Paul J. Mueller

United States Roy S. Geiger

United States Herman H. Hanneken

United States Harold D. Harris

United States Lewis B. PullerEmpire of Japan Kunio Nakagawa †

Empire of Japan Sadae Inoue

Units involved

 

United States III Amphibious Corps

 

1st Marine Division

81st Infantry Division

 

Additional support units

 

Empire of Japan Peleliu garrison

 

14th Infantry Division

49th Mixed Brigade

45th Guard Force

46th Base Force

 

Additional support units

Strength

47,561[1]:3610,900[1]:37

17 tanks[2]

Casualties and losses

10,786

2,336 killed

8,450 wounded[3]10,897

10,695 killed

202 captured (183 foreign laborers, 19 Japanese soldiers)[1]:89[3]

17 tanks lost

Battle of Peleliu is located in Palau

Battle of Peleliu

 

Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

 

The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States military, was fought between the U.S. and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Campaign of World War II, from September to November 1944, on the island of Peleliu.

 

U.S. Marines of the 1st Marine Division, and later soldiers of the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division, fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island of Peleliu. This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944, in the Pacific Theater.

 

Major General William Rupertus, Commander of the 1st Marine Division, predicted the island would be secured within four days.[4] However, after repeated Imperial Army defeats in previous island campaigns, Japan had developed new island-defense tactics and well-crafted fortifications that allowed stiff resistance,[5] extending the battle through more than two months. The heavily outnumbered Japanese defenders put up such stiff resistance, often fighting to the death in the Emperor's name, that the island became known in Japanese as the "Emperor's Island."[6]

 

In the United States, this was a controversial battle because of the island's negligible strategic value and the high casualty rate, which exceeded that of all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.[7] The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".[8]

 

Background

 

By 1944, American victories in the Southwest and Central Pacific had brought the war closer to Japan, with American bombers able to strike at the Japanese main islands from air bases secured during the Mariana Islands campaign (June–August 1944). There was disagreement among the U.S. Joint Chiefs over two proposed strategies to defeat the Japanese Empire. The strategy proposed by General Douglas MacArthur called for the recapture of the Philippines, followed by the capture of Okinawa, then an attack on the Japanese mainland. Admiral Chester Nimitz favored a more direct strategy of bypassing the Philippines, but seizing Okinawa and Taiwan as staging areas to an attack on the Japanese mainland, followed by the future invasion of Japan's southernmost islands. Both strategies included the invasion of Peleliu, but for different reasons.[9]

 

The 1st Marine Division had already been chosen to make the assault. President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to Pearl Harbor to personally meet both commanders and hear their arguments. MacArthur's strategy was chosen. However, before MacArthur could retake the Philippines, the Palau Islands, specifically Peleliu and Angaur, were to be neutralized and an airfield built to protect MacArthur's right flank.

Preparations

Japanese

 

By 1944, Peleliu Island was occupied by about 11,000 Japanese of the 14th Infantry Division with Korean and Okinawan labourers. Colonel Kunio Nakagawa, commander of the division's 2nd Regiment, led the preparations for the island's defense.

 

After their losses in the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas, the Imperial Army assembled a research team to develop new island-defense tactics. They chose to abandon the old strategy of stopping the enemy at the beach, where they were exposed to naval gunfire. The new tactics would only disrupt the landings at the water's edge and depend on an in-depth defense farther inland. Colonel Nakagawa used the rough terrain to his advantage, by constructing a system of heavily fortified bunkers, caves, and underground positions all interlocked into a "honeycomb" system. The traditional "banzai charge" attack was also discontinued as being both wasteful of men and ineffective. These changes would force the Americans into a war of attrition, requiring increasingly more resources.

Japanese fortifications

 

Nakagawa's defenses were centred on Peleliu's highest point, Umurbrogol Mountain, a collection of hills and steep ridges located at the center of Peleliu overlooking a large portion of the island, including the crucial airfield. The Umurbrogol contained some 500 limestone caves, interconnected by tunnels. Many of these were former mine shafts that were turned into defensive positions. Engineers added sliding armored steel doors with multiple openings to serve both artillery and machine guns. Cave entrances were opened or altered to be slanted as a defense against grenade and flamethrower attacks. The caves and bunkers were connected to a vast tunnel and trench system throughout central Peleliu, which allowed the Japanese to evacuate or reoccupy positions as needed, and to take advantage of shrinking interior lines.

 

The Japanese were well armed with 81 mm (3.19 in) and 150 mm (5.9 in) mortars and 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft cannons, backed by a light tank unit and an anti-aircraft detachment.

 

The Japanese also used the beach terrain to their advantage. The northern end of the landing beaches faced a 30-foot (9.1 m) coral promontory that overlooked the beaches from a small peninsula, a spot later known to the Marines who assaulted it simply as "The Point". Holes were blasted into the ridge to accommodate a 47 mm (1.85 in) gun, and six 20 mm cannons. The positions were then sealed shut, leaving just a small slit to fire on the beaches. Similar positions were crafted along the 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of landing beaches.

 

The beaches were also filled with thousands of obstacles for the landing craft, principally mines and a large number of heavy artillery shells buried with the fuses exposed to explode when they were run over. A battalion was placed along the beach to defend against the landing, but they were meant to merely delay the inevitable American advance inland.

American

 

Unlike the Japanese, who drastically altered their tactics for the upcoming battle, the American invasion plan was unchanged from that of previous amphibious landings, even after suffering 3,000 casualties and two months of delaying tactics against the entrenched Japanese defenders at the Battle of Biak.[10] On Peleliu, American planners chose to land on the southwest beaches because of their proximity to the airfield on South Peleliu. The 1st Marine Regiment, commanded by Colonel Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, was to land on the northern end of the beaches. The 5th Marine Regiment, under Colonel Harold D. Harris, would land in the center, and the 7th Marine Regiment, under Col. Herman H. Hanneken, would land at the southern end.

 

The division's artillery regiment, the 11th Marines under Col. William H. Harrison, would land after the infantry regiments. The plan was for the 1st and 7th Marines to push inland, guarding the 5th Marines left and right flank, and allowing them to capture the airfield located directly to the center of the landing beaches. The 5th Marines were to push to the eastern shore, cutting the island in half. The 1st Marines would push north into the Umurbrogol, while the 7th Marines would clear the southern end of the island. Only one battalion was left behind in reserve, with the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division available for support from Angaur, just south of Peleliu.

 

On September 4, the Marines shipped off from their station on Pavuvu, just north of Guadalcanal, a 2,100-mile (3,400 km) trip across the Pacific to Peleliu. A U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Team went in first to clear the beaches of obstacles, while Navy warships began their pre-invasion bombardment of Peleliu on September 12.

 

The battleships Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee and Idaho, heavy cruisers Indianapolis, Louisville, Minneapolis and Portland, and light cruisers Cleveland, Denver and Honolulu,[1]:29 led by the command ship Mount McKinley, subjected the tiny island, only 6 sq mi (16 km2) in size, to a massive three-day bombardment, pausing only to permit air strikes from the three aircraft carriers, five light aircraft carriers, and eleven escort carriers with the attack force.[11] A total of 519 rounds of 16 in (410 mm) shells, 1,845 rounds of 14 in (360 mm) shells and 1,793 500 lb (230 kg) bombs were dropped on the islands during this period.

 

The Americans believed the bombardment to be successful, as Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf claimed that the Navy had run out of targets.[11] In reality, the majority of the Japanese positions were completely unharmed. Even the battalion left to defend the beaches was virtually unscathed. During the assault, the island's defenders exercised unusual firing discipline to avoid giving away their positions. The bombardment managed only to destroy Japan's aircraft on the island, as well as the buildings surrounding the airfield. The Japanese remained in their fortified positions, ready to attack the American landing troops.

Opposing forces

Naval command structure for Operation Stalemate II

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.

Vice Adm. Theo. S. Wilkinson

Expeditionary Troops and III Amphibious Corps commanders

Maj. Gen. Julian C. Smith

Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger

Marine ground commanders on Peleliu

Maj. Gen. William H. Rupertus

Oliver P. Smith as a major general

Lewis B. Puller as a major general

American order of battle

 

United States Pacific Fleet[12]

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

US Third Fleet

Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.

 

Joint Expeditionary Force (Task Force 31)

Vice Admiral Theodore S. Wilkinson

 

Expeditionary Troops (Task Force 36)

III Amphibious Corps[a]

Major General Julian C. Smith,[b] USMC

 

Western Landing Force (TG 36.1)

Major General Roy S. Geiger, USMC

 

1st Marine Division

 

Division Commander: Maj. Gen. William H. Rupertus,[c] USMC

Asst. Division Commander: Brig. Gen. Oliver P. Smith,[d] USMC

Chief of Staff: Col. John T. Selden, USMC

 

Beach assignments

 

Left (White 1 & 2)

1st Marine Regiment (Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller,[e] USMC)

Co. A of the following: 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Tank Battalion

Center (Orange 1 & 2)

5th Marine Regiment (Col. Harold D. "Bucky" Harris, USMC)

Co. B of the following: 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Tank Battalion (reduced)

Right (Orange 3)

7th Marine Regiment (Col. Herman H. "Hard-Headed" Hanneken, USMC)

Co. C of the following: 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Tank Battalion (reduced)

Other units

11th Marine Regiment, Artillery (Col. William H. Harrison, USMC)

12th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion

1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion

3rd Armored Amphibian Tractor Battalion

4th, 5th, 6th Marine War Dog Platoons

UDT 6 and UDT 7

 

Japanese order of battle

Lt. Col. Kunio Nakagawa

Marine with captured Japanese 141mm mortar

 

Palau District Group[15]

Lieutenant General Inoue Sadao[f] (HQ on Koror Island)

Vice Admiral Yoshioka Ito

Maj. Gen. Kenjiro Murai[g]

 

14th Division (Lt. Gen. Sadao)

Peleliu Sector Unit (Lt. Col. Kunio Nakagawa[h])

 

2nd Infantry Regiment, Reinforced

2nd Bttn. / 2nd Infantry Regiment

3rd Bttn. / 2nd Infantry Regiment

3rd Bttn. / 15th Infantry Regiment

346th Bttn. / 53rd Independent Mixed Brigade

 

Battle

Landing

Routes of Allied landings on Peleliu, 15 September 1944

 

U.S. Marines landed on Peleliu at 08:32, on September 15, the 1st Marines to the north on White Beach 1 and 2 and the 5th and 7th Marines to the center and south on Orange Beach 1, 2, and 3.[1]:42–45 As the other landing craft approached the beaches, the Marines were caught in a crossfire when the Japanese opened the steel doors guarding their positions and fired artillery. The positions on the coral promontories guarding each flank fired on the Marines with 47 mm guns and 20 mm cannons. By 09:30, the Japanese had destroyed 60 LVTs and DUKWs.

5th Marines on Orange Beach

 

The 1st Marines were quickly bogged down by heavy fire from the extreme left flank and a 30-foot-high coral ridge, "The Point".[1]:49 Colonel Chesty Puller narrowly escaped death when a dud high velocity artillery round struck his LVT. His communications section was destroyed on its way to the beach by a hit from a 47 mm round. The 7th Marines faced a cluttered Orange Beach 3, with natural and man-made obstacles, forcing the Amtracs to approach in column.[1]:52

 

The 5th Marines made the most progress on the first day, aided by cover provided by coconut groves.[1]:51 They pushed toward the airfield, but were met with Nakagawa's first counterattack. His armored tank company raced across the airfield to push the Marines back, but was soon engaged by tanks, howitzers, naval guns, and dive bombers. Nakagawa's tanks and escorting infantrymen were quickly destroyed.[1]:57

 

At the end of the first day, the Americans held their 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of landing beaches, but little else. Their biggest push in the south moved 1 mile (1.6 km) inland, but the 1st Marines to the north made very little progress because of the extremely thick resistance.[1]:42 The Marines had suffered 200 dead and 900 wounded. Rupertus, still unaware of his enemy's change of tactics, believed the Japanese would quickly crumble since their perimeter had been broken.[18]

Airfield/South Peleliu

 

On the second day, the 5th Marines moved to capture the airfield and push toward the eastern shore.[1]:61 They ran across the airfield, enduring heavy artillery fire from the highlands to the north, suffering heavy casualties in the process. After capturing the airfield, they rapidly advanced to the eastern end of Peleliu, leaving the island's southern defenders to be destroyed by the 7th Marines.[1]:58

 

This area was hotly contested by the Japanese, who still occupied numerous pillboxes. Heat indices[19] were around[20] 115 °F (46 °C), and the Marines soon suffered high casualties from heat exhaustion. Further complicating the situation, the Marines' water was distributed in empty oil drums, contaminating the water with the oil residue.[21] Still, by the eighth day the 5th and 7th Marines had accomplished their objectives, holding the airfield and the southern portion of the island, although the airfield remained under threat of sustained Japanese fire from the heights of Umurbrogol Mountain until the end of the battle.[11]

 

American forces put the airfield to use on the third day. L-2 Grasshoppers from VMO-3 began aerial spotting missions for Marine artillery and naval gunfire support. On September 26 (D+11), Marine F4U Corsairs from VMF-114 landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began dive-bombing missions across Peleliu, firing rockets into open cave entrances for the infantrymen, and dropping napalm; it was only the second time the latter weapon had been used in the Pacific.[citation needed] Napalm proved useful, burning away the vegetation hiding spider holes and usually killing their occupants.

 

The time from liftoff to the target area for the Corsairs based on Peleliu Airfield was very short, sometimes only 10 to 15 seconds. Consequently, there was almost no time for pilots to raise their aircraft undercarriage; most pilots did not bother and left them down during the air strike. After the air strike was completed and the payload dropped, the Corsair simply turned back into the landing pattern again.

The Point

 

The fortress at the end of the southern landing beaches (a.k.a. “The Point”) continued to cause heavy Marine casualties due to enfilading fire from Japanese heavy machine guns and anti-tank artillery across the landing beaches. Puller ordered Captain George P. Hunt, commander of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, to capture the position. Hunt's company approached The Point short on supplies, having lost most of its machine guns while approaching the beaches. Hunt's second platoon was pinned down for nearly a day in an anti-tank trench between fortifications. The rest of his company was endangered when the Japanese cut a hole in their line, surrounding his company and leaving his right flank cut off.[1]:49

 

However, a rifle platoon began knocking out the Japanese gun positions one by one. Using smoke grenades for concealment, the platoon swept through each hole, destroying the positions with rifle grenades and close-quarters combat. After knocking out the six machine gun positions, the Marines faced the 47 mm gun cave. A lieutenant blinded the 47 mm gunner's visibility with a smoke grenade, allowing Corporal Henry W. Hahn to launch a grenade through the cave's aperture. The grenade detonated the 47 mm's shells, forcing the cave's occupants out with their bodies alight and their ammunition belts exploding around their waists. A Marine fire team was positioned on the flank of the cave where the emerging occupants were shot down.

 

K Company had captured The Point, but Nakagawa counterattacked. The next 30 hours saw four major counterattacks against a sole company, critically low on supplies, out of water, and surrounded. The Marines soon had to resort to hand-to-hand combat to fend off the Japanese attackers. By the time reinforcements arrived, the company had successfully repulsed all of the Japanese attacks, but had been reduced to 18 men, suffering 157 casualties during the battle for The Point.[1]:50–51 Hunt and Hahn were both awarded the Navy Cross for their actions.

Ngesebus Island

 

The 5th Marines—after having secured the airfield—were sent to capture Ngesebus Island, just north of Peleliu. Ngesebus was occupied by many Japanese artillery positions, and was the site of an airfield still under construction. The tiny island was connected to Peleliu by a small causeway, but 5th Marines commander Harris opted instead to make a shore-to-shore amphibious landing, predicting the causeway to be an obvious target for the island's defenders.[1]:77

 

Harris coordinated a pre-landing bombardment of the island on September 28, carried out by Army 155 mm (6.1 in) guns, naval guns, howitzers from the 11th Marines, strafing runs from VMF-114's Corsairs, and 75 mm (2.95 in) fire from the approaching LVTs.[1]:77 Unlike the Navy's bombardment of Peleliu, Harris' assault on Ngesebus successfully killed most of the Japanese defenders. The Marines still faced opposition in the ridges and caves, but the island fell quickly, with relatively light casualties for the 5th Marines. They had suffered 15 killed and 33 wounded, and inflicted 470 casualties on the Japanese.

Bloody Nose Ridge

 

After capturing The Point, the 1st Marines moved north into the Umurbrogol pocket,[1]:81 named "Bloody Nose Ridge" by the Marines. Puller led his men in numerous assaults, but each resulted in severe casualties from Japanese fire. The 1st Marines were trapped in the narrow paths between the ridges, with each ridge fortification supporting the other with deadly crossfire.

 

The Marines took increasingly high casualties as they slowly advanced through the ridges. The Japanese again showed unusual fire discipline, striking only when they could inflict maximum casualties. As casualties mounted, Japanese snipers began to take aim at stretcher bearers, knowing that if stretcher bearers were injured or killed, more would have to return to replace them, and the snipers could steadily pick off more and more Marines. The Japanese also infiltrated the American lines at night to attack the Marines in their fighting holes. The Marines built two-man fighting holes, so one Marine could sleep while the other kept watch for infiltrators.

 

One particularly bloody battle on Bloody Nose came when the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines—under the command of Major Raymond Davis—attacked Hill 100. Over six days of fighting, the battalion suffered 71% casualties. Captain Everett Pope and his company penetrated deep into the ridges, leading his remaining 90 men to seize what he thought was Hill 100. It took a day's fighting to reach what he thought was the crest of the hill, which was in fact another ridge occupied by more Japanese defenders.

Marine Pfc. Douglas Lightheart (right) cradles his .30 caliber (7.62×63mm) M1919 Browning machine gun in his lap, while he and Pfc. Gerald Thursby Sr. take a cigarette break, during mopping up operations on Peleliu on 15 September 1944.

 

Trapped at the base of the ridge, Captain Pope set up a small defense perimeter, which was attacked relentlessly by the Japanese throughout the night. The Marines soon ran out of ammunition, and had to fight the attackers with knives and fists, even resorting to throwing coral rock and empty ammunition boxes at the Japanese. Pope and his men managed to hold out until dawn came, which brought on more deadly fire. When they evacuated the position, only nine men remained. Pope later received the Medal of Honor for the action. (Picture of the Peleliu Memorial dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the landing on Peleliu with Captain Pope's name)

 

The Japanese eventually inflicted 70% casualties on Puller's 1st Marines, or 1,749 men.[1]:66 After six days of fighting in the ridges of Umurbrogol, General Roy Geiger, commander of the III Amphibious Corps, sent elements of U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division to Peleliu to relieve the regiment.[1]:66 The 321st Regiment Combat Team landed on the western beaches of Peleliu—at the northern end of Umurbrogol mountain—on 23 September. The 321st and the 7th Marines encircled The Pocket by 24 Sept., D+9.[1]:75,81

 

By 15 October, the 7th Marines had suffered 46% casualties and General Geiger relieved them with the 5th Marines.[1]:83 Col. Harris adopted siege tactics, using bulldozers and flame-thrower tanks, pushing from the north.[1]:83–84 On October 30, the 81st Infantry Division took over command of Peleliu, taking another six weeks, with the same tactics, to reduce The Pocket.[1]:85

 

On 24 November, Nakagawa proclaimed "Our sword is broken and we have run out of spears". He then burnt his regimental colors and performed ritual suicide.[1]:86 He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general for his valor displayed on Peleliu. On 27 November, the island was declared secure, ending the 73-day-long battle.[18]

 

A Japanese lieutenant with twenty-six 2nd Infantry soldiers and eight 45th Guard Force sailors held out in the caves in Peleliu until April 22, 1947, and surrendered after a Japanese admiral convinced them the war was over.[1]:81

Aftermath

 

The reduction of the Japanese pocket around Umurbrogol mountain has been called the most difficult fight that the U.S. military encountered in the entire war.[21] The 1st Marine Division was severely mauled and it remained out of action until the invasion of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945. In total, the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties during their month on Peleliu, over one third of their entire division. The 81st Infantry Division also suffered heavy losses with 3,300 casualties during their tenure on the island.

 

Postwar statisticians calculated that it took U.S. forces over 1500 rounds of ammunition to kill each Japanese defender and that, during the course of the battle, the Americans expended 13.32 million rounds of .30-calibre, 1.52 million rounds of .45-calibre, 693,657 rounds of .50-calibre bullets, 118,262 hand grenades, and approximately 150,000 mortar rounds.[11]

 

The battle was controversial in the United States due to the island's lack of strategic value and the high casualty rate. The defenders lacked the means to interfere with potential US operations in the Philippines[11] and the airfield captured on Peleliu did not play a key role in subsequent operations. Instead, the Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands was used as a staging base for the invasion of Okinawa. The high casualty rate exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.[7]

 

In addition, few news reports were published about the battle because Rupertus' prediction of a "three days" victory motivated only six reporters to report from shore. The battle was also overshadowed by MacArthur's return to the Philippines and the Allies' push towards Germany in Europe.

 

The battles for Angaur and Peleliu showed Americans the pattern of future Japanese island defense but they made few adjustments for the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa.[22] Naval bombardment prior to amphibious assault at Iwo Jima was only slightly more effective than at Peleliu, but at Okinawa the preliminary shelling was much improved.[23] Frogmen performing underwater demolition at Iwo Jima confused the enemy by sweeping both coasts, but later alerted Japanese defenders to the exact assault beaches at Okinawa.[23] American ground forces at Peleliu gained experience in assaulting heavily fortified positions such as they would find again at Okinawa.[24]

 

On the recommendation of Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., the planned occupation of Yap Island in the Caroline Islands was canceled. Halsey actually recommended that the landings on Peleliu and Angaur be canceled, too, and their Marines and soldiers be thrown into Leyte Island instead, but was overruled by Nimitz.[25]

In popular culture

 

In the March of Time's 1951 documentary TV series, Crusade in the Pacific, Episode 17 is "The Fight for Bloody Nose Ridge."

 

In NBC-TV's 1952-53 documentary TV series Victory at Sea, Episode 18, "Two if by Sea" covers the assaults at Peleliu and Angaur.

 

The Battle of Peleliu is featured in many World War II themed video games, including Call of Duty: World at War. The player takes the role of a US Marine tasked with taking Peleliu Airfield, repelling counter-attacks, destroying machine-gun and mortar positions and eventually securing Japanese artillery emplacements at the point. In flight-simulation game War Thunder, two teams of players clash to hold the southern and northern airfields. In multi-player shooter Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm, a team of American troops attack the defensive Japanese team's control points.

 

The battle including footage and stills are featured in the fifth episode of Ken Burns' The War.

 

The battle features in episodes 5, 6 and 7 of the TV mini-series The Pacific.

 

In his book, With the Old Breed, Eugene Bondurant Sledge described his experiences in the battle for Peleliu.

 

In 2015, the Japanese magazine Young Animal commenced serialization of Peleliu: Rakuen no Guernica by Masao Hiratsuka and artist Kazuyoshi Takeda, telling the story of the battle in manga form.

 

One of the final scenes in Parer's War, a 2014 Australian television film, shows the Battle of Peleliu recorded by Damien Parer with his camera at the time of his death.

 

The Peleliu Campaign features as one of the campaigns in the 2019 solitaire tactical wargame “Fields of Fire” Volume 2, designed by Ben Hull, published by GMT Games LLC.

Individual honors

Japan

Posthumous promotions

 

For heroism:

 

Colonel Kunio Nakagawa – lieutenant general

Kenjiro Murai – lieutenant general

 

United States

Pfc. Richard Kraus, USMC (age 18), killed in action

Medal of Honor recipients

 

Captain Everett P. Pope – 1st Battalion, 1st Marines

First Lieutenant Carlton R. Rouh – 1st Battalion, 5th Marines

Private First Class Arthur J. Jackson – 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines

Corporal Lewis K. Bausell –1st Battalion, 5th Marines (Posthumous)

Private First Class Richard E. Kraus – 8th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced) (Posthumous)

Private First Class John D. New – 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (Posthumous)

Private First Class Wesley Phelps – 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (Posthumous)

Private First Class Charles H. Roan – 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (Posthumous)

 

Unit citations

D-day Peleliu, African Americans of one of the two segregated units that supported the 7th Marines - the 16th Marine Field Depot or the 17th Naval Construction Battalion Special take a break in the 115 degree heat, 09-15-1944 - NARA - 532535

 

Presidential Unit Citation:

1st Marine Division, September 15 to 29, 1944[26]

1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion, FMF[27]

U. S. Navy Flame Thrower Unit Attached[27]

6th Amphibian Tractor Battalion (Provisional), FMF[27]

3d Armored Amphibian Battalion (Provisional), FMF[27]

Detachment Eighth Amphibian Tractor Battalion, FMF[27]

454th Amphibian Truck Company, U. S. Army[27]

456th Amphibian Truck Company, U. S. Army[27]

4th Joint Assault Signal Company, FMF[27]

5th Separate Wire Platoon, FMF[27]

6th Separate Wire Platoon, FMF[27]

Detachment 33rd Naval Construction Battalion (202 Personnel)[27]

Detachment 73rd Naval Construction Battalion's Shore Party (241 Personnel)[27]

USMC Commendatory Letter:[i]

11th Marine Depot Company (segregated)

7th Marine Ammunition Company (segregated)

17th Special Naval Construction Battalion (segregated)

Dorotheum

Holga 120CFN, Fomapan 100 film, google predictive search

In the middle of the twentieth century, an unusual star was spotted in the constellation of Canes Venatici (Latin for “hunting dogs”). Years later, astronomers determined that this object, dubbed AM Canum Venaticorum (or, AM CVn, for short), was, in fact, two stars. These stars revolve around each other every 18 minutes, and are predicted to generate gravitational waves -- ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein.

 

The name AM CVn came to represent a new class of objects where one white dwarf star is pulling matter from another very compact companion star, such as a second white dwarf. (White dwarf stars are dense remains of sun-like stars that have run out of fuel and collapsed to the size of the Earth.) The pairs of stars in AM CVn systems orbit each other extremely rapidly, whipping around one another in an hour, and in one case as quickly as five minutes. By contrast, the fastest orbiting planet in our solar system, Mercury, orbits the sun once every 88 days.

 

Despite being known for almost 50 years, the question has remained: where do AM CVn systems come from? New X-ray and optical observations have begun to answer that with the discovery of the first known systems of double stars that astronomers think will evolve into AM CVn systems.

 

The two binary systems -- known by their shortened names of J0751 and J1741 -- were observed in X-rays by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope. Observations at optical wavelengths were made using the McDonald Observatory’s 2.1-meter telescope in Texas, and the Mt. John Observatory 1.0-meter telescopes in New Zealand.

 

The artist’s illustration depicts what these systems are like now and what may happen to them in the future. The top panel shows the current state of the binary that contains one white dwarf (on the right) with about one-fifth the mass of the sun and another much heavier and more compact white dwarf about five or more times as massive (unlike sun-like stars, heavier white dwarfs are smaller).

 

As the two white dwarfs orbit around each other, gravitational waves – that is, ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein – will be given off causing the orbit to become tighter. Eventually the smaller, heavier white dwarf will start pulling matter from the larger, lighter one, as shown in the middle panel, forming an AM CVn system. This process continues until so much matter accumulates on the more massive white dwarf that a thermonuclear explosion may occur in about 100 million years.

 

One possibility is that the thermonuclear explosion could destroy the larger white dwarf completely in what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova (the type of supernova used to mark large distances across the Universe by serving as so-called standard candles.) However, it’s more likely that a thermonuclear explosion will occur only on the surface of the star, leaving it scarred but intact. The resulting outburst is likely to be about one tenth the brightness of a Type Ia supernova. Such outbursts have been named -- somewhat tongue-in-cheek -- as .Ia supernovae. Such .Ia outbursts have been observed in other galaxies, but J0751 and J1741 are the first binary stars known which can produce .Ia outbursts in the future.

 

The optical observations were critical in identifying the two white dwarfs in these systems and ascertaining their masses. The X-ray observations were needed to rule out the possibility that J0751 and J1741 contained neutron stars. A neutron star -- which would disqualify it from being a possible parent to an AM CVn system -- would give off strong X-ray emission due to its magnetic field and rapid rotation. Neither Chandra nor XMM-Newton detected any X-rays from these systems.

 

AM CVn systems are of interest to scientists because they are predicted to be sources of gravitational waves, as noted above. This is important because even though such waves have yet to be detected, many scientists and engineers are working on instruments that should be able to detect them in the near future. This will open a significant new observational window to the universe.

 

The paper reporting these results is available online [arxiv.org/abs/1310.6359] and is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters. The authors are Mukremin Kilic from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK; J.J. Hermes from the University of Texas at Austin in TX; Alexandros Gianninas from the University of Oklahoma; Warren Brown from Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA; Craig Heinke from University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada; Marcel Ag¨ueros from Columbia University in New York, NY; Paul Chote and Denis Sullivan from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; and Keaton Bell and Samuel Harrold from University of Texas at Austin.

 

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., controls Chandra's science and flight operations.

 

Read entire caption: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/white-dwarf...

 

Image credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

 

Caption credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

 

Read more about Chandra:

www.nasa.gov/chandra

 

p.s. You can see all of our Chandra photos in the Chandra Group in Flickr at: www.flickr.com/groups/chandranasa/ We'd love to have you as a member!

Ford Saphire RS Cosworth (1990-93) Engine 1983cc S4 DOC 216bhp

Production 12250

 

Registration Number J 868 VHB (Cardiff)

 

FORD UK SET

 

www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623665118181...

 

The Sapphire was developed in response to the un-predicted negative customer reaction to the arrival of the Hatchback Sierra launched in 1987 and originally called he Ford Sierra Sapphire. This differed from the other Sierra models in having a traditional black grille, which only appeared in right hand drive markets.

 

The high performance Sierra RS Cosworth was introduced as a replacement for the three door Sierra Cosworth, with the new four door body of the Saphire saloon. Powered by the same 2 litre twin cam turbo engine, with a less aggressive appearance, and improved equipmen. Unbeatable handling and performance for the price with a 143mph top speed and a 0-60mph time of 5.8 seconds, and a reputation as Britains most stolen car.

 

Thanks for a stunning 60,497,155 views

 

Diolch am olygfa anhygoel, 60,497,155 hoblogaeth y Lloegr honno dros y Mynyddoedd

 

Shot 18.06.2017 at Trentham Gardens Car Show, Trentham, Stoke on Trent REF 128-114

   

Forecasters predicted a Perseid "outburst" event this year. I am not a regular Perseid observer so I cannot really attest to this but for the two hours that I was out watching the night sky between 2am and 4am, I saw many meteors streaking across the sky. Unfortunately most of them were very fleeting and rather faint (probably due to the heavy light pollution where I was).

 

The Perseids are known for being colourful meteors and this one I managed to capture has a distinct purple to green transition as it streaked across the sky.

Using Children

 

What you see here are, planned, conspired acts of Domestic Terrorism. I headed into town with two bags of trash to dispose of. I usually burn most of my trash while Boondocking. With the fire restriction, I can’t. So, I try to do the right thing, take it to a proper place for disposal. A Targeted Individual in America, is under 24/7 surveillance, perps knowing and predicting their destinations.

As I pull up to this RV park to dispose of my trash, this older man is walking the dog he has, to the office. Then the girl comes riding towards us, on her bike. I pretty mush know what’s coming. No, I’m not psychic. And, I don’t believe in mind control. I do know; that weaker minds can be psychologically manipulated to think so. I’m not one. And that’s a big part of this Domestic Terrorism.

Koda, was Terrorized by perps on bikes in Grand Junction, soon after I adopted him. This is another part of this Domestic Terrorism. I would take Koda to some of the many parks in Grand Junction, for socialization and training. Perp after perp, would chase us down on bicycles, with some type of stimuli, causing Koda to be agitated and irritated. With the continued bombardment with perps on bikes, a dog could easily associate this agitation with bicycles. And, that’s just what these people were doing. I have hundreds of videos and audio; showing these egregious acts. But, apparently, our FBI, doesn’t want to see them. Again, these are planned, conspired acts of Terrorism. Working with Koda daily, he doesn’t react to bicycles, unless there is some type of Electronic Stimuli agitating him. These perps do the same thing using children.

Now, back to the man, dog and girl. Usually the perps rush into an office, bank, or store ahead of you; to stall you at the counter, or in a line. While you are being stalled, other perps involved in this Domestic Terrorism, will show up to further agitate you, and in my case; my dog too. I knew what was coming up, so I had video going. The man and girl, were set up before I stepped out of the car. There was a note on the office door, saying “Closed, will be back in an hour”. I get that a lot, I mean a lot, lot.

I had more errands to run, like pick up my Lupus meds, that the VA was supposed to send on the 4th, but again didn’t. That’s another story. I walked over to the information board to check the office hours. As I was looking, the dog the man had (I say had, because many times these perps will borrow a dog, or child), started jumping and lunging towards me. I asked the man politely, even said please, keep your dog back. The dog kept lunging at me, and he let it. He responds by calling me a jerk, an asshole, asking if I had a bad day. This is scripted; I've heard the same words over and over from these perps. And, it's documented. He's saying the dog is only 3 months old. What's that saying to the young girl? At the beginning of the audio, you can hear Koda whining. He just wants to play with the other dog. Perps will use that too. Now, take a good look at this dog; it’s a Laberdoodle. Being a certified animal care specialist, and running the US Air Force Academy Veterinary Clinic; I know better. I vaccinated 100s, maybe 1000s of dogs; starting at 7 weeks. This dog, may be 6-7 months old, maybe even older. That tells me, this perp doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and probable not his dog. I know better than to respond; because he’s just Baiting for a confrontation.

Meanwhile, the girl on the bike; is staring aggressively, directly at Koda, who was sitting in the passenger seat. This is not something a girl, this age, would normally do. Most kids act positively to a non-aggressive dog. This young girl was told to do this; I’ve seen this same behavior, over and over again. There is also, usually, some other type of stimuli, causing further agitation. Again, I have many videos and audio clips; showing these repeated acts of Terrorism. I mean, what average United States Citizen, wouldn’t be Terrorized, knowing people were using children, animal and aircraft; to Psychologically Terrorize them. And, knowing no one gives a shit, if you tell them. Isn’t that so; Mr FBI agent that hung up on me 8-2-21.

I spotted out the girl's face, but it’s still hard to block out the image of this young girl, being used in this manner. She continued to stare-down Koda, until I got back in the car. As I pulled out, she rides out in front of me on cue. I drove slowly and saw an employee coming from a building. I asked if I could pay him, to drop my trash in one of their dumpsters. He kindly said yes, and I did so. What kind of interaction, do you, think this young girl has with her school peers? What kind of adult, will she grow-up to be? These Perpetrators are using and training children to hate, putting them in harms way; and NO ONE GIVES A SHIT!

Because, I’m not afraid to addresses this head on; I have low flying airplanes and helicopters buzzing over our motorhome. The chopper that buzzed Koda and I, on my post “Terrorize Me”, is back; flying even lower and circling our motorhome again. It even showed up at 1:38 am, keeping me from falling asleep. Mr FBI agent, how many of these video and audio clips do you need to hear, see? I have them from yesterday and last night, too. I thought we lived in America, the land of the Free, a Nation of Laws!

What average American, has this done to them? There are many, but so often; they are so Terrorized, they are afraid to speak of it. Really, tell me what isn’t Terrorizing about this. Men, women and children; in large groups, Mobbing, Stalking, Surveilling, Tormenting, Terrorizing, using Direct Energy Weapons on them, from state to state. I will not be intimidated, or stifled.

I’ve warned, in many posts; that there would be a time when Law Enforcement, couldn’t even control these mobs. That time has come. How man more good, brave men and women in Law Enforcement, do we have to lose before you get this! Edward Snowden, tried to warn us of this Police State; look where he is now. He knew his life would be destroyed, his credibility demolished. I chose to stay, fight this head on, and try to make this a better America; for my daughter, her family, every American, every race, orientation.

 

If you are, or know of someone Targeted (this could be in the workplace too), please educate yourself. Look up the definitions for Gang Stalking, Workplace Mobbing; these are a Guise for Domestic Terrorism. Stay off the sites claiming to be helping Targeted Individuals. They are full of misinformation and psychological manipulation. Direct Energy Weapons (Havana Syndrome), are real, and being used on United States Citizens. They have been for decades. Be careful, knowing the Truth in America; can destroy your life.

This is a good example of how we got to where we are today, in America. How many hundreds, thousands of clips like this, would you like to see. I have them....

Now, I will wait for retaliation, perps gloating, brandishing the American flags. Is this the America you want for your loved ones?

 

Thank all of you for the many positive comments, faves, millions of views and visiting my photostream for the truth….

 

In my next post, I may share a little Street Theater, at a local laundromat.