View allAll Photos Tagged Problem

I just deleted this album then re-loaded it to un tag a dealer i have problems with and to blow off steam about his companies' problem. it won't take the wind out of my sales for the love of life on the road. I just spent the last two hours deleting tags to dealers I’ve made large purchases from. The next step is to take their name off of my Truck and Fifth Wheel! That will teach them! I’ve even deleted two entire albums of photos with tags leading friends to the dealerships. My small protest but to have to spend more money in civil court. There should be a court for dealing with consumer products after large purchases and problems exist. Who can afford to do that and or spend the time teaching the bad dealer a lesson! It’s hard when you live on fantasy island and want to believe there are people out there that are true pros and true craftsmen. I know there are a few people out there because I met them and refused to do business with other dealers because I met them too. I’ve seen a guy weld a Holiday Rambler that broke in half over night at the frame and get me back on the road. There is even an RV dealer five minutes from my house that did such a poor job on a 30 foot trailer I want to restore that they lost a ten-grand restoration job! I went elsewhere for a purchase. Where is Brett Michaels when you need him! Now to find the proper venues to vent. Do you think the dealer’s sites post bad reviews? I’m the perfect sucker for a Salesman that cares nothing but for the commission or if they aren’t paid on commission for the BS they lay on you to kill time to eventually close the sale. I shopped for years at many different places within the State and even some Florida dealers for the right RV for me. I have twenty years’ road experience with travel trailers in and out of campgrounds and dealers. The hard part is when you find a good mechanic you are often down the road on the next adventure. The dealer can’t take away my enthusiasm for the joy of my new trailer. They are so useful when built properly and so versatile for travel or events or full time Road Warriors! Who wouldn’t be frustrated when there are 18 jobs that need attention! I was told by the salesman I’d get a good education from top to bottom and the demo guy was going to send me out of the dealership with the fifth wheel receiver or jaws ungreased with no Teflon pad for the fifth wheel! I really needed a fifth wheel hooking and unhooking lesson along with good Hydraulic jack lesson. I was good for most other things except how the solar panel works. But they try hard to push you off on the useless manuals or Destruction books because they are over worked and under staffed in the service area. I get that. Except learning the hard way almost cost me my hand with a bed and the fifth wheel. Luckily I’m quick. Sometimes I don’t know if I should have been a great mechanic a teacher or a great lawyer. I walked HIM through greasing the B&W hitch and greasing the receiver and made him put the Teflon pad he was going to make me leave without that I bought two years ago in anticipation of having a fifth wheel from Mark (the good guy) at the RV show in Greensboro. No kidding, I put a lot of thought into this. Needless to say, he has mechanical skills beyond my capability and they used the excuse it was market time or the RV show to be short with me. Now that I have tested things on the trailer before a trip and found at least 18 jobs that need to be done after waiting for a call for parts that had already been delivered and a call never received then accused of not paying for screens that didn’t fit and that a $125.00 per hour fee was going to be charged, who wouldn’t be upset? Did I mention this? It will always be something! They can just put the nail in the coffin for the common belief that it is over after the Sale is done. Getting passed off from one department to the other is unforgiveable! The excuse is familiar. I just do Sales; you have to talk to Service. Service says we just do Service, you have to go to parts. Even with lifetime warranty printed and tagged all over the trailer with a promise to teach you about how everything works I’ve found out the hard way from a popular dealer in Rural Hall, NC that it is not the case! It’s too bad I didn’t buy my Truck or RV and drive all the way to Atlanta to deal with @Scott Trail or find a similar friend that would make sure everything is right. Dream on Consumer! So, if any name bashing starts remember we always have one friend in the car, RV, insurance or Sales business. When we overall call all Salesman assholes or all insurance companies thieves or all dealings with service mechanics complete disasters we have to remember we have people on our friend’s lists that have those jobs. You know what, right now after a huge purchase and being shuffled it’s amazing I can work up any mercy for any of them. I’ve tried to be a Salesman. Service over profit was my downfall. I’ve tried to be a Customer Service Rep. It was difficult talking to people that needed parts after a large purchase when you just learned there aren’t any parts! We are all selling something whether we know it or not. If you aren’t taking pride in your job to be the best you can be and just killing time you are a part of this problem! Not everyone has a dream job. But it is just my turn to take a punch, but I’m swinging back! It is just unfortunate for them I know a little about RVs. I must have too high a standard to believe that there are really people that give a damn about products or follow through after the sale. I hate that we just don’t care attitude that leaves you searching for a better place. I had a place in Mooresville that I will find again for service. Hopefully the same family runs the place. It is near the Lake in Terrell. I need to return to and find another mobile mechanic once that moved on to a dealer in the mountains and I can’t dig his name up. There are good people out there. They are so hard to find. Maybe it is just me. I expect too much after laying down a hard-earned wage or a life savings for a house, new car, recreation vehicle or piece of equipment that is supposed to work. When I get a new toy, I want to take a photo of every nut bolt and screw on it, one because I am proud, the other reason is for future reference when things fall apart. Buyer’s remorse sucks even if you know the term all too well, Buyer Beware! I saw one guy at the current dealership I am dealing with now running, literally running to get from customer to customer after my purchase. In between him and the good mechanics are problems! The good guy’s name is Mark. He is extremely smart and knows RV’s and fifth wheels up and down. He was literally running with a ladder and carrying three heavy hitches with him to try to wait on at least two customers at the same time. I’m always leaving a window or looking for the good and hoping I’m not back on fantasy island. There were excellent qualified educated trailer technicians in the service in a good building with the right tools to build trailers from scratch, including paint. Getting to them is a full-time job on the customer’s end. They even had parts delivered that they owed me on what they call a we owe and hadn’t bothered to call in a three-week period. They wanted to double charge for some bug screens around 50 bucks until I produced a paid receipt. Even after the Salesmen told (I know his name) the parts manager he personally sat with the mechanic for a half hour trying patiently to put on the wrong screen. Even with lifetime warranty written all over my trailer they wanted to charge me for service $125.00 per hour for labor. That must be some sort of trick. For $125.00 an hour most any parts should be free! I waited three hours even with a scheduled appointment to even get told they were ready to take her in. Two days later I had to force the call to get an eta on when she would be ready. Imagine if I were a full timer living full time in my RV or still doing three shows a day in three different cities a day. Fortunately, I am gifted with a little time. The service manager mentioned to do the 18 jobs I needed to be done he still had to order parts. Imagine I was sold a unit that I (The Customer) found at least 18 things to do after leaving the lot and running the unit. So, I am going to rescue my unit tomorrow and hope what they did fix after two days waiting can get me through my first trip until parts come for the rest of the job. Do you think I am a fool to take it back? It is a hard call! I’ll know tomorrow if I receive a bill or the trailer is in good shape. The tough part is, after you have been tough with service now your unit is at their mercy. I was told by a good agent I don’t take any crap from anyone. But sometimes it costs me. But those of you that are passive and just let them walk all over you take a bigger beating. With full time jobs or people that depend on their unit as a full-time vehicle you can imagine the pressure to change up vacation times or deal with time off from your job to take care of problems.

Según el diccionario un problema es :

Un problema suele ser un asunto del que se espera una rapida y efectiva solución.

Y pueden ser, además de diversos tipos:

Mamtemáticos.

Sociales.

Economicos.

Religiosos.

Filosoficos.

Amorosos.

Etc.

 

Y yo pienso en la razon, por la cual se le de tanta importancia a los problemas, por que nos agoviamos de tales formas por cosas que aveces son tan minusculas..

No seria mejor, quizas, pensar solo en lo positivo y pasar de los problemas, dejos, siempre se terminan solucionando solos, si solo estas pendiente de ellos acabas por no vivir las pocas cosas felices que te quedan, acabas transformando tu vida en una especie de empesamiento que consistiria en pensar en el futuro y no disfrutar del presente.

Vive en positivo.

Sí, me encantan los momentos en los que tengo problemas, los saludo con la mano mientras pasan de largo.

Sex Problem @ The Nicollet, Minneapolis, MN - January 27th, 2016

5½ inch 80# cardstock circles, a good, stiff medium for this model.

 

Perfect model for CraftROBOing or die-stamping.

 

Crease pattern (postscript)

problem catur 3 langkah mati

Despite the snow, 47416 is on time as it heads a diverted Newcastle - Poole service down the now closed Leamside line near Washington. February 1984.

PROBLEMA :

Se cere rezolvarea rostului din pardoseala.

REZOLVARE:

Pentru acoperirea rostului trebuie tinut seama de urmatoarele date:

– Dimensiunea rostului este de 100mm

– Traficul va fi pietonal

– Miscarea este de 50mm.

Pentru dimensiunea data si incarcarea care trebuie...

 

www.hidroplasto.ro/rosturi-pardoseala.html

The problem with fall weather of course is the variability and this week sure proved that point with only one decent day for photography. So I finally finished up Monday's shots and here is one last picture of a LeConte's Sparrow from that shoot.

 

I love autumn, the colors of the season, and how nicely this little sparrow fits the colors of the season.

 

LeConte's Sparrows observed at Prairie Green Geneva Park District in Geneva, IL

Choose the best alternative:

1) I haven't an objective wide enough

2) the subject i too BIG

3) I am too close

4) stitching several photos is frustrating

5) anything else, pls describe.

Same difficult problem, two slightly different ways of tackling it..

I have been going here since it opened!!

Luther, Katie and I had a good session down there this evening..

Luther and Katie were doing great!

 

History -

"The Foundry Climbing Centre in Sheffield was the UK's first dedicated indoor climbing centre. Opened in 1991 it was designed, by climbers, to suit everyone from beginner to expert. It offers walls up to 13m high and lead/top rope climbs with 150 routes and bouldering"

 

"We at The Foundry provide climbing facilities for people of all ages and abilities. We have over 75 lead routes, 75+ top rope routes, 7 Autobelays, 100+ boulder problems and training and gym facilities"

www.foundryclimbing.com/

Love problem solution is the best way to solve your troubles, who is in this world don't have any love problem we help you get your love back by our love problem solution expert. Love problem solution is the best help for you to get your love life back. +91-9876706621

 

www.astrologeramansharma.com/love-problem-solution/

UHA Untersuchungshaftanstalt des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit in the former DDR - Berlin Hohenschönhausen

 

For great photographs and the low down on the G20 Summit, Protests and Demonstrations visit www.ravishlondon.com/g20

 

The world faces a problem: recession and a spiraling fall in trade. The Economist puts it like this, “Trade is contracting again, at a rate unmatched in the post-war period. This week the World Trade Organisation (WTO) predicted that the volume of global merchandise trade would shrink by 9% this year. This will be the first fall in trade flows since 1982. Between 1990 and 2006 trade volumes grew by more than 6% a year, easily outstripping the growth rate of world output, which was about 3% (see chart 1). Now the global economic machine has gone into reverse: output is declining and trade is tumbling at a faster pace. The turmoil has shaken commerce in goods of all sorts, bought and sold by rich and poor countries alike.” According to the Economist, “The immediate cause of shrinking trade is plain: global recession means a collapse in demand. The credit crunch adds an additional squeeze, thanks to an estimated shortfall of $100 billion in trade finance, which lubricates 90% of world trade.”

According to the Guardian, “On Thursday 2 April Gordon Brown is going to host the G20 summit in London. Leaders from 22 countries will be at the summit. The G20 is an organisation for finance ministers and central bankers, who in the past met once a year to discuss international cooperation in finance. There are 19 countries who are members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The 20th member is the European Union, which is represented by whichever country holds the EU presidency (currently, it's the Czech Republic). These countries represent 90% of global GDP, 80% of world trade and two thirds of the world's population. The IMF and the World Bank also attend G20 meetings, although technically the London event isn't a normal G20 meeting.”

This G20 meeting will be for the leaders of all G20 countries. According to the Guardian the policy agenda developed by the last G20 meeting “did not in fact go much beyond pre-existing international initiatives that had recently been developed in more technocratic international bodies.” According to the Guardian, “On the London summit website, the British government has explained what it hopes to achieve. At the summit, countries need to come together to enhance global coordination in order to help restore global economic growth. World leaders must make three commitments:

• First, to take whatever action is necessary to stabilise financial markets and enable families and businesses to get through the recession.

• Second, to reform and strengthen the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust.

• Third, to put the global economy on track for sustainable growth.

Gordon Brown has argued that the world must avoid protectionism. According to the Economist, “The World Bank says that, since the G20 leaders last met in November in Washington, DC, 17 of their countries have restricted trade. Some have raised tariffs, as Russia did on second-hand cars and India did on steel. Citing safety, China has banned imports of Irish pork and Italian brandy. Across the world, there has been a surge in actions against “dumping”—the sale of exports, supposedly at a loss, in order to undermine the competition. Governments everywhere are favouring locally made goods.” The Economist also says, “Kei-Mu Yi, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, argues that trade has fallen so fast and so uniformly around the world largely because of the rise of “vertical specialisation”, or global supply chains. This contributed to trade’s rapid expansion in recent decades. Now it is adding to the rate of shrinkage. When David Ricardo argued in the early 19th century that comparative advantage was the basis of trade, he conceived of countries specialising in products, like wine or cloth. But Mr Yi points out that countries now specialise not so much in final products as in steps in the process of production.”

Protectionism in itself sounds bad – but it is a policy option available and used in all political economies – including the most liberal. Protectionism can also lead to a more self-sustainable economy, and can lead to the internal development of an economy, which means the economy is less reliant and dependent on external sources of finance. Development will be slower, but it can be more secure and sustainable. It is likely that if countries do operate protectionist policies it will be a short-term opportunist and populist response to workers and unions, but it could be seen as an alternative economic model of development. It worked in Brazil and Argentina during the 1960s and 1970s for a while, until a more neo-liberal and external finance model was preferred.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was reported on Channel 4 News to have told Mr Brown the crisis was caused by "white blue eyed people". This overtly racist remark has been noted, but there has been no visible backlash. It is interesting how the whole agenda about racism never applies to the dominant one, i.e. you can racially slur white people, and white people with blue eyes without anyone batting an eye lid, whereas if you racially slur other ethnic groups you can find yourself battered. I find this state of affairs deeply offensive to the human race in general, and very patronizing to those groups who don’t come from the dominant ethnic group (i.e. its almost to say the whole anti-racist thing is a way of patting you on the head and saying there, there – because when it comes to racism we don’t really give a shit – see the way we couldn’t give a f*** if you slur our own dominant white ethnic group).

The reality is that the summit will represent a reshuffling of position, support and dependencies between the world’s twenty richest countries. Spectators are expecting China to come out feeling puffed up and proud, given that China has faired relatively in recent years, or so we are led to believe. Meanwhile national demonstrations seem to be focusing our attention to the fact that a different way of working is needed. In fact it will be work as usual – the question is who will come out on top.

In anticipation of the G20 summit a demonstration was held in London. 10,000 were predicted to attend the demonstrations. The police reported 35,000. I was there at the demonstration and I don’t believe I saw 35,000 people walk past Big Ben – and I saw it from start to finish. As one commentator, on the Guardian observed, “Apart from the small contingent of student SWP calling 'One solution, Revolution' and about 20 anarchists making noise the spirit was generally depressed and lacking any anger or sense of direction.” Cognitator joked, “Perhaps the police were adding their number to the protesters. As opposed to taking them away as per usual.”

According to the Guardian, “The Put People First march yesterday was organised by a collaboration of more than 100 trade unions, church groups and charities including ActionAid, Save the Children and Friends of the Earth. The theme was "jobs, justice and climate" and the message was aimed at the world leaders who will be gathering for the G20 summit here this week.”

The march started on the Embankment. When I arrived there I walked around desperately finding somewhere where I could have a piss for free. I tried Starbucks and Costa Cofee, but they seemed to have no toilets, I even tried the stamp collectors fayre a subterranean culture of badly dressed old people, with poor eyesight and even worse posture, which was momentary distraction from my full bladder, but which did not provide the answer to my pressing problem as the toilet door was locked and for staff only. Stephen Moss writing for the Guardian said, “Westminster is not a great place for someone like me, who has a weak bladder, to go on a march. The public loos there cost an outrageous 50p a go. The Socialist Worker magazine-seller next to Embankment tube station is on to this in a flash. "50p to have a piss – a lesson in capitalism," he is soon shouting. Later, I'm pleased to see someone has punched a hole in the wooden sign advertising the price.” In the end I walked all the way to the National Portrait Gallery where you can always be assured a good quality toilet seat.

The Guardian continued, “The marchers, estimated at 35,000 by police, accompanied by brass bands and drummers and a colourful assortment of banners and flags, walked the four miles from Embankment to Hyde Park, where speeches from comedian Mark Thomas and environmental campaigner Tony Juniper, and music from the Kooks, made for a party-like atmosphere.”

The Guardian reported, “A group of fewer than 200 anarchists joined the march and were kept isolated and surrounded by police. Chants of "Burn the bankers!" were the closest anyone came to any show of aggression.’ Yes I witnessed this, it was clear that the anarchists, dressed in black, some of them with scarves covering their faces, generally looked cool as fuck, like some post-nuclear vigilante gang, their black signifying the dark depressing reality from which humanity starts, and the point from which they wish to depart. Whether the police presence was heavy is debatable but they certainly had a line of police accompanying them, whereas no other group were honored with such a presence. Of the anarchists Stephen Moss says, “I fall in with some anarchists halfway through the march – a delightful young Greek called Alex and an Italian, who is happy to talk about Bakunin, but is, I sense, a little suspicious of me. The anarchists march together – with the police flanking them in a way they don't with the rest of the march – and I am intrigued that they never shout slogans or bang drums. Their mission is a serious one.” Moss goes on, “Alex tells me a reporter from the Sunday Times has already approached him to ask why anarchists wear masks. "Work it out for yourself – you're a journalist," he'd told him. "People always ask why we wear masks; they never ask about our ideology," he complains. In essence, that ideology is: power corrupts; all elites will be corrupt; so government should be by the people, for the people – a mass movement of the type they claim is emerging in South America. Hezbollah is also mentioned favourably, a movement they see as developing organically. "Organic" is a key word for anarchists, and it would save a lot of aggro and bad press if they were called organicists rather than anarchists.” Good point. But who wants to be called an organicist? And in any case everything is organic really – its just that some organisms develop in a way we or anarchists done like and some do. To call anarchists, organic is to miss the point, anarachists are like Christian, they dream of a reality which transcends human nature as it is and known. Structure, corruption, self-interest and greed underpin all human activity – the question is not how we can do away with it, but how can we manage it in a fair way.

Stephen Moss wrote about the variety of organizations on the march. He said, “Socialist Worker has a three-point strategy: "Seize their wealth," "Stamp out poverty," "End all wars." Sounds good, but I can't work out exactly who "their" refers to. The Socialist party is hot on slogans, colder on the mechanism by which they are put into practice. The likely outcome to the current crisis still appears to be government by Etonians.” Most of these movements are nothing to do with instituting political change. The people involved in them do not want to genuinely change things. Instead what these groups function as is self-help groups for people, for whatever reason, feel that they have been wronged in life, probably at a personal level, and feeling quite hopeless about their personal wrongs, they want to transpose their personal woe on to a faceless, unintelligible other – the government, the state, the capitalist, the rich and the greedy. Its not so much that socialist workers and anarchists want to change things, they know they are completely ineffectual, and too screwed up and traumatized, too aggressive, unintelligent and incapable of engaging people into a different way of organizing; they just want to shout out to people ‘we hurt’. Fair enough.

The TUC don’t seem to be turning up to do anything more than saying ‘there there’ to threatened workers, and stating the downright bloody obvious to the government. Their message is “The importance of this summit cannot be underestimated. Unemployment and deprivation will grow massively over the next two years unless governments work together. People need to know that there is an international solution to this crisis. If the summit suggests that there is not, many will turn to nationalist and protectionist politics with all that implies for the global economy and world peace.” Mind you they do go on to say that, “But while the immediate response to the crisis will be at the forefront of the leaders' minds, the unprecedented Put People First coalition shows there is a huge appetite for a new economic direction. Thirty years of the increasing dominance of the neo-liberal agenda has got us into this mess. The summit must show that the next 30 years need to be about a renewed era of economic growth based on a much fairer share of the proceeds. One that is environmentally sustainable and one that does not end in the burst of yet another financial bubble.” But what are they really saying? Nothing much.

There is of course something about how all of this is just about having a laugh, getting a kick, getting an emotional fix. There’s something very similar to the way that some of the more violent groups get ready for a rumble with the police and football hooliganism. Football hooligans are much more honest about the emotional kick they get from fighting. The protestors pretend that they are doing it for the people. Whatever the so called reasons, it is clear that a lot of protestors enjoy confrontation. They are much more focused on the enemy and combating the enemy than they are on creating peaceful societies. So Stephen Moss makes the interesting observation, “When the march eventually gets to Hyde Park, the anarchists refuse to join the "TUC bureaucrats" for the official rally and hold their own open-platform meeting at Speakers' Corner, dominated by elderly men in hats who talk less about Bakunin than about beating up the BNP and confronting the police on the streets of Whitechapel. It's all a bit depressing (and expletive-filled – I take serious exception to the denunciation of "Oxbridge cunts"), though I like the fact that the elderly men refuse even to use a megaphone – only the ordinary human voice is organic enough.” The media and police have both hyped the April 2009 marches as like the possible end of the British way of life, of democracy, of capitalism. Nothing could be further from the truth, but its like we all want to will it to happen – we all are looking for excitement – war may be bad but peace is fucking boring – I once read.

The Guardian also reported, “Thomas told the Observer he believed the protest marked "the start of a grassroots movement". He added: "This is a moment. This is the first time people have had a chance to come out on to the streets in a big way." But this is nonsense. This was just an opportunity for a plethora of groups, amongst whom there are more differences, and the only thing that can unite them is a general concern for jobs, justice and climate, which incidentally are three themes that unite most of the country, and all the main political parties, to catch the government at a weak moment, and hope to build up support for whatever cause they have, on the back of the anger and desperation amongst people at this time.

The protest ended up in Hyde Park. I didn’t go, it was too cold and rainy, and although I did aim to walk there via a short-cut through Victoria, I ended up taking refuge in Westminster Cathedral, where I saw another procession, of Catholic priests and altar boys, who were holding a service for the Union of Catholic Mothers. I listened to the Catholic priests, they sounded much more happy and at peace with themselves and their surroundings, than the rankerous socialist bile spitting leaders.

People are blaming the bankers, but there is in actual fact no-one to blame for this. The this needs to be qualified too. The ‘this’ is the fact that people are loosing their jobs, consumption will have to be reduced. It is ironic that it is precisely that people are facing the prospect of lower consumption that they are out on the streets protesting against greedy bankers, it is not so much the greed of the bankers that people resent, so much as the increased consuming power of the bankers that they are envious of. The bankers are not to blame for working within a system, which promoted risky investments, a system which was encouraged and deregulated by politicians who realized that whilst the bubble was growing there were huge financial gains to be made from encouraging bankers to reap the rewards both for themselves but through the state through taxation, and politicians who were encouraged by the people who voted them in, who probably formed the majority of people marching in demonstration and protest today, who voted in the governments believing the deregulation of banks not to be a serious enough issue to vote against a government for, and realizing that even if it was a risk, whilst the bubble was growing, they were happy enough to see their elected government ensuring that the country got a share of the pie. We all contributed to this fucking mess – if you can call it a mess – its only a mess for those who no longer have jobs and cannot consume so much – by voting in the government, who deregulated the banks and encouraged the lending of our money several times over to riskier and riskier ventures which in actual fact were not producing anything of material benefit, but were instead relying on house prices going up and up, as more people poured their money into it. Now we are in deep shit, because Gordon Brown has poured what little remaining money we have, and we have on credit into the black hole – it has simply disappeared.

There are some people who are saying the bankers should pay for the crisis they created. It doesn’t work like that – it works by people putting their money into a bank – and entrusting the bank to invest it wisely. Where the bank looses the money – the original investor looses the money. This creates a motivation on behalf of the investor to invest wisely, e.g. on the basis of what we know right now investing in Barclays rather than Lloyds TSB or the Royal Bank of Scotland. However reality begins to change once one’s livelihood is threatened – now it is solely the banker’s responsibility to have invested the money wisely, the public who invest their money into the banks are seen to be helpless, powerless twits, whose securities should have been looked after by a paternalistic and caring banking sector. So for example, according to Fox New, “Berlin police estimated that around 10,000 people gathered in front of the capital's city hall and more than 1,000 in Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, for similar demonstrations under the slogan: "We won't pay for your crisis." Its not a crisis – its just that there are now lots of personal crises – the public didn’t bother to check whether their banks were investing their money properly or wisely and now they are paying for it. But the banks aren’t responsible for this – they really aren’t.

We have two problems. The first was created by the fact that banks lent out our money several times over – so we thought the country was several times as wealthy as it actually was. This led to inflationary pressures especially in the housing market – where the same money was lent to several different people – all investing in housing leading to unrealistic housing prices. We now realize we have a fraction of the wealth we thought we had. This creates deflationary pressures – i.e. where everyone has less money prices are reduced. This problem can be solved by creating a soft deflationary landing to a level where the price of labor and goods reflects the value of the money we have not the value of the money we have and we loaned. This means everyone has to accept lower wages – we can either do this peacefully based around a consensus and agreement between corporations, banks, trade unions or governments – or we can do it aggressively – letting perfectly good companies whose workers refuse to take pay cuts go to the wall – and then watch as millions of unemployed people try to reform and reorganize new companies and enterprises.

 

The second problem is that banks are no longer making such risky investments – so they are not looking to lend their money on to others – which means there is less money to be lent to people – which means less activity and less economy. We have to get used to less activity – but at least the activity will be invested in activities which are genuinely producing material benefit for people – not leading to an apparent generation of wealth – which is the artificial effect of lending x amount of money to people ten times, making it seem that we are ten times as rich as previously – when actual fact we are equally as wealthy – but with prices ten times as high. We should have also let the banks go to the wall – and started again with a heavily regulated banking sector – which was not allowed to lend out peoples’ money irresponsibly. No-one wants to have to feel the pain from this – i.e. the rich bankers who keep their pensions and bonuses, the people who have banked with them who want to keep their savings, and the businesses who are funded by the banks who want to hang on to their business and jobs. So what Gordon Brown is doing, is in the name of the people, funneling money into the banking system, paying for the debts, and thus, keeping the bankers sweet, keeping the investors sweet, keeping the businesses sweet. Who looses out? All of us – the poor! They never really had anything to loose in the first place, however whilst Gordon Brown borrows money to give to the banks so they can lend to businesses and pay bankers bonuses and salaries, we move a step closer to becoming bankrupt – i.e. not being able to borrow any more money because no-one believes we can pay it back. Once we become bankrupt, social services and welfare will be cut.

According to Gaby Hinsliff, “Many economists believe a recovery now requires bursting that artificial bubble and rebalancing the economy so that Chinese consumers are encouraged spend a little more - reducing America's trade deficit - and Americans a little less. Malloch Brown suggests Britons, too, will need to relearn the art of saving.”

According to the Guardian, “But Scotland Yard is expecting a greater challenge on Wednesday 1 April, dubbed "Financial Fools Day", with a series of protests aiming to cause disruption in the Square Mile and elsewhere.” The Guardian says, “On 1 April an alliance of anti-capitalist groups called G20 Meltdown is organising a carnival headed by "Four Horsefolk of the Apocalypse", which will converge in front of the Bank of England. Anarchists are planning to target the second day of the summit at ExCel. Other groups mounting demonstrations include Climate Camp, the Stop the War Coalition, and Government of the Dead. An alternative summit will be held a few hundred yards from the ExCel centre at the University of East London.”

The alternative G20 summit website provides the following manifesto: Can we oust the bankers from power? Can we get rid of the corrupt politicians in their pay? Can we guarantee everyone a job, a home, a future? Can we establish government by the people, for the people, of the people? Can we abolish all borders and be patriots for our planet? Can we all live sustainably and stop climate chaos? Can we make capitalism history? YES WE CAN!

According to the Daily Telegraph, “The G20 conference will lead to a London "lockdown" next week, with parks, roads and businesses closed to keep world leaders safe, Government officials are warning.” The media are really building this up, as an attempt to build readership and sell advertising. Its interesting how a force created by the desire to advertise and promote consumption causes papers to distort and promote a threat and confrontation to the very system upon which it is built. The Daily Telegraph article continues, “Protesters with armed with buckets and spades are among several thousand people who are planning to bring chaos to the heart of central London.Last night it emerged that City workers were being advised to "dress down" next week to avoid drawing attention to themselves.”

To anyone really wanting revolution bear in mind these words from Stephen Moss, “Changing society is hard, and usually starts with a split in the elite. The English civil war and the French revolution both began with a fissure in the governing classes; their falling-out created the space for populist movements to develop. For a grassroots movement to effect change is enormously difficult. It was only possible in Russia in 1917 because of the devastation wrought by war.”

The reality of the demo was perhaps best summer up by ‘one789’ who said, “My experience of the demo, in talking to people and observing, is that no one had any real clue of why they were there. They recognise 'blame the bankers' to be futile and a distraction, think capitalism 'is rubbish' and 'want change', but say nothing beyond that.I at least expected a high degree of frustration and anger, but more than anything what came across was disillusionment and confusion. But then, that's what you get I suppose from such a middle-class yummy-mummy bleeding-heart rally.”

As rabbit95 said, “Be glad we live in a society free enough to protest and where, apart from the police possibly taping your presence at such a demo, there will be no comeback.”

www.g20.org/

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/summit-progress/

www.altg20.org.uk/

www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13362...

www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13362027

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-protests-london

www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/mar/28/g20-protest-...

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2009/mar/28/g20-su...

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/28/g20-protest

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-summit-globalisa...

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/25/g20-q-a

news.google.co.uk/news?q=G20+summit+London+2009&oe=ut...

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5050...

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-summit

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/global-update/cp-china/active-...

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/summit-progress/qu...

www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics...

www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_pol...

  

For great photographs and the low down on the G20 Summit, Protests and Demonstrations visit www.ravishlondon.com/g20

  

More than 250 species of aphids, often called “plant lice,” feed on agricultural and horticultural crops throughout the world, and several can be a problem in Texas landscapes. Many ornamental plants in Texas landscapes are suitable hosts for aphids, including bedding plants (especially chrysanthemums), ash, barberry, boxelder, crape myrtle, jasmine, flowering almond, gardenia, hibiscus, hydrangea, mountain ash, oaks, oleander, peach, pear, pecans, pines, roses, vegetables, and viburnum. Aphid infestations can build to severe levels very rapidly because these insects reproduce very quickly. Infestations can be widespread or localized to just a few plants, and they may be worse in some years than in others. When you see aphids on a plant, they are usually spotted in a large group and sometimes able to cover a whole leaf. Aphids have also been seen living with ants. Ants feed on the honeydew, a sweet, sticky substance excreted by these insects. The ants are normally not the problem. Even though lady bugs are a predator of the aphid they sometimes can be outnumbered. Recently when someone released some lady bugs on a Pinta that was covered with aphids they watched in amazement as these mighty bugs walked over to the aphids and started to feast. Then later it was noticed that the aphids had moved closer together. As they cowered in a large mass it was noticed that the lady bug seemed to be asleep, it ate so much that it needed to rest before continuing the onslaught. Early the next morning the leaf was covered with a sticky substance and the lady bug was trying to move. The substance was so thick and sticky that it looked like the lady bug would drown. After a few more minutes the lady bug freed itself and instead of eating more it flew away. The aphids won this war. You can also use the green lacewing. They seem to be more voracious and stronger then the lady bug. However, the green lacewing has to be ordered and the lady bug will help out until the lacewings arrive. See: beorganic.com/services/maintenance/pest_control.html

and williamson.agrilife.org/files/2011/07/Aphids_Tx_Landscape...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Sondergerät SG104 "Münchhausen" was a German airborne recoillless 355.6 mm (14-inch) caliber gun, intended to engage even the roughest enemy battleships, primarily those of the Royal Navy. The design of this unusual and massive weapon began in 1939. The rationale behind it was that a battleship’s most vulnerable part was the deck – a flat surface, with relatively thin armor (as typical hits were expected on the flanks) and ideally with vital targets underneath, so that a single, good hit would cripple of even destroy a ship. The purpose of such a high angle of attack was likely to allow the projectile to penetrate the target ship's deck, where the ship's armor, if there was any, would have been much thinner than the armor on its sidesHowever, hitting the deck properly with another ship’s main gun was not easy, since it could only be affected through indirect hits and the typical angle of the attack from aballistic shot would not necessarily be ideal for deep penetration, esp. at long range.

The solution to this problem: ensure that the heavy projectile would hit its target directly from above, ideally at a very steep angle. To achieve this, the gun with battleship caliber was “relocated” from a carrier ship or a coastal battery onto an aircraft – specifically to a type that was capable of dive-bombing, a feature that almost any German bomber model of the time offered.

 

Firing such a heavy weapon caused a lot fo problems, which were severe even if the gun was mounted on a ship or on land. To compensate for such a large-caliber gun’s recoil and to make firing a 14 in shell (which alone weighed around almost 700 kg/1.550 lb, plus the charge) from a relatively light airframe feasible, the respective gun had to be as light as possible and avoid any recoil, which would easily tear an aircraft – even a bomber – apart upon firing. Therefore, the Gerät 104 was designed as a recoilless cannon. Its firing system involved venting the same amount of the weapon's propellant gas for its round to the rear of the launch tube (which was open at both ends), in the same fashion as a rocket launcher. This created a forward directed momentum which was nearly equal to the rearward momentum (recoil) imparted to the system by accelerating the projectile itself. The balance thus created did not leave much net momentum to be imparted to the weapon's mounting or the carrying airframe in the form of felt recoil. A further share of the recoil induced by the moving round itself could be compensated by a muzzle brake which re-directed a part of the firing gases backwards. Since recoil had been mostly negated, a heavy and complex recoil damping mechanism was not necessary – even though the weapon itself was huge and heavy.

 

Work on the "Münchhausen" device (a secret project handle after a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in the late 18th century who reputedly had ridden on a cannonball between enemy frontlines), was done by Rheinmetall-Borsig and lasted until 1941. The first test of a prototype weapon was conducted on 9th of September 1940 in Unterlüss with a satisfactory result, even though the weapon was only mounted onto an open rack and not integrated into an airframe yet. At that time, potential carriers were the Ju 88, the Dornier Do 217 and the new Junkers Ju 288. Even though the system’s efficacy was doubted, the prospect of delivering a single, fatal blow to an important , armored arget superseded any doubts at the RLM, and the project was greenlit in early 1942 for the next stage: the integration of the Sondergerät 104 into an existing airframe. The Ju 88 and its successor, the Ju 188, turned out to be too light and lacked carrying capacity for the complete, loaded weapon, and the favored Ju 288 was never produced, so that only the Dornier Do 217 or the bigger He 177 remained as a suitable carriers. The Do 217 was eventually chosen because it had the biggest payload and the airframe was proven and readily available.

 

After calculations had verified that the designed 14 in rifle would have effectively no recoil, preliminary tests with dumm airframes were carried out. After ground trials with a Do 217 E day bomber to check recoil and blast effects on the airframe, the development and production of a limited Nullserie (pre-production series) of the dedicated Do 217 F variant for field tests and eventual operational use against British sea and land targets was ordered in April 1942.

 

The resulting Do 217 F-0 was based on the late “E” bomber variant and powered by a pair of BMW 801 radial engines. It was, however, heavily modified for its unique weapon and the highly specialized mission profile: upon arriving at the zone of operation at high altitude, the aircraft would initiate a dive with an angle of attack between 50° and 80° from the horizontal, firing the SG 104 at an altitude between 6,000 and 2,000 meters. The flight time of the projectile could range from 16.0 seconds for a shot from an altitude of 6,000 meters at a 50° angle to just 4.4 seconds for a shot from 2.000 meters at an almost vertical 80° angle. Muzzle velocity of the SG 104 was only 300 m/s, but, prior to impact, the effective velocity of the projectile was projected to range between 449 and 468 m/s (1,616 to 1,674 km/h). Together with the round's weight of roughly 700 kg (1.550 lb) and a hardened tip, this would still ensure a high penetration potential.

 

The operational Sondergerät 104 had an empty mass of 2.780 kg (6,123 lb) and its complete 14 inch double cartridge weighed around 1.600 kg (3,525 lb). The loaded mass of the weapon was 4,237 kg, stretching the limits of the Do 217’s load capacity to the maximum, so that some armor and less vital pieces of equipment were deleted. Crew and defensive armament were reduced to a minimum.

Even though there had been plans to integrate the wepaon into the airframe (on the Ju 288), the Gerät 104 was on the Do 217 F-0 mounted externally and occupied the whole space under the aircraft, precluding any use of the bomb bay. The latter was occupied by the Gerät 104’s complex mount, which extended to the outside under a streamlined fairing and held the weapon at a distance from the airframe. Between the mount’s struts inside of the fuselage, an additional fuel tank for balance reasons was added, too.

The gun’s center, where the heavy round was carried, was positioned under the aircraft’s center of gravity, so that the gun barrel markedly protruded from under the aircraft’s nose. To make enough space, the Do 217 Es bomb aimer’s ventral gondola and his rearward-facing defensive position under the cockpit were omitted and faired over. The nose section was also totally different: the original extensive glazing (the so-called “Kampfkopf”) was replaced by a smaller, conventional canopy, similar to the later Do 217 J and N night fighter versions, together with a solid nose - the original glass panels would have easily shattered upon firing the gun, esp. in a steep high-speed dive. A "Lotfernrohr" bomb aiming device was still installed in a streamlined and protected fairing, though, so that the navigator could guide the pilot during the approach to the target and during the attack run.

To stabilize the heavy aircraft during its attack and to time- and safely pull out of the dive, a massive mechanical dive brake was mounted at the extended tail tip, which unfolded with four "petals". A charecteristic stabilizing dorsal strake was added between the twin fins, too.

 

The ventral area behind the gun’s rear-facing muzzle received additional metal plating and blast guiding vanes, after trials in late 1940 had revealed that firing the SG 104 could easily damage the Do 217’s tail structure, esp. all of the tail surfaces’ rudders and the fins’ lower ends in particular. Due to all this extra weight, the Do 217 F-0’s defensive armament consisted only of a single 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in a manually operated dorsal position behind the cockpit cabin, which offered space for a crew of three. A fixed 15 mm MG 151 autocannon was mounted in the nose, too, a weapon with a long barrel for extended range and accuracy. It was not an offensive weapon, though, rather intended as an aiming aid for the SG 104 because it was loaded with tracer bullets: during the final phase of the attack dive, the pilot kept firing the MG 151, and the bullet trail showed if he was on target to fire the SG 104 when the right altitude/range had been reached.

 

The first Do 217 F-0 was flown and tested in late 1943, and after some detail changes the type was cleared for a limited production run of ten aircraft in January 1944. The first operational machine was delivered to a dedicated testing commando, the Erprobungskommando 104 “Münchhausen”, also known as “Sonderkommando Münchhausen” or simply “E-Staffel 104”. The unit was based at Bordeaux/Merignac and directly attached to the KG 40's as a staff flight. At that time, KG 40 operated Do 217 and He 177 bombers and frequently flew reconnaissance and anti-shipping missions over the Atlantic west of France, up to the British west and southern coast, equipped with experimental Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs.

 

Initial flights confirmed that the Do 217 airframe was burdened with the SG 104 to its limits, the already rather sluggish aircraft (the Do 217 had generally a high wing loading and was not easy to fly) lost anything that was left of what could be called agility. It needed an experienced pilot to handle it safely, esp. during start and landing. It is no wonder that two Do 217 F-0s suffered ground accidents during the first two weeks of operations, but the machines could be repaired, resume the test program and carry out attack missions.

However, during one of the first test shots with the weapon, one Do 217 F-0 lost its complete tail section though the gun blast, and the aircraft crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing the complete crew.

 

On 4th or April 1944 the first "hot" attack against an enemy ship was executed in the Celtic Sea off of Brest, against a convoy of 20 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar. The attack was not successful, though, the shot missing its target, and the German bomber was attacked and heavily damaged by British Bristol Beaufighters that had been deployed to protect the ships. The Do 217F-0 eventually crashed and sank into the Atlantic before it could reach land again.

 

A couple of days later, on 10th of April, the first attempt to attack and destroy a land target was undertaken: two Do 217 F-0s took off to attack Bouldnor Battery, an armored British artillery position located on the Isle of Wight. One machine had to abort the attack due to oil leakages, the second Do 217 F-0 eventually reached its target and made a shallow attack run, but heavy fog obscured the location and the otherwise successful shot missed the fortification. Upon return to its home base the aircraft was intercepted by RAF fighters over the Channel and heavily damaged, even though German fighters deployed from France came to the rescue, fought the British attackers off and escorted the limping Do 217 F-0 back to its home base.

 

These events revealed that the overall SG 104 concept was generally feasible, but also showed that the Do 217 F-0 was very vulnerable without air superiority or a suitable escort, so that new tactics had to be developed. One consequence was that further Do 217 F-0 deployments were now supported by V/KG 40, the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit. These escorts consisted of Junkers Ju 88C-6s, which were capable of keeping up with the Do 217 F-0 and fend of intercepting RAF Coastal Command’s Beaufighters and later also Mosquitos.

 

In the meantime, tests with the SG 104 progressed and several modifications were tested on different EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s. One major upgrade was a further strengthening of the tail section, which added another 200 kg (440 lb) to the aircraft's dry weight. Furthermore, at least three aircraft were outfitted with additional dive brakes under the outer wings, so that the dive could be better controlled and intercepted. these aircraft, however, lost their plumbed underwing hardpoints, but these were only ever used for drop tanks during transfer flights - a loaded SG 104 precluded any other ordnance. On two other aircraft the SG 104 was modified to test different muzzle brakes and deflectors for the rear-facing opening, so that the gun blast was more effectively guided away from the airframe to prevent instability and structural damage. For instance, one machine was equipped with a bifurcated blast deflector that directed the rearward gasses partly sideways, away from the fuselage.

 

These tests did not last long, though. During the Allied Normandy landings in June 1944 E-Staffel 104 was hastily thrown into action and made several poorly-prepared attack runs against Allied support ships. The biggest success was a full hit and the resulting sinking of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner (G03) by "1A+BA" at dawn on 6th of June, off Sword, one of the Allied landing zones. Other targets were engaged, too, but only with little effect. This involvement, however, led to the loss of three Do 217 F-0s within just two days and four more heavily damaged aircraft – leaving only two of EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s operational.

 

With the Allied invasion of France and a worsening war condition, the SG 104 program was stopped in August 1944 and the idea of an airborne anti-ship gun axed in favor of more flexible guided weapons like the Hs 293 missile and the Fritz-X glide bomb. Plans for a further developed weapon with a three-round drum magazine were immediately stopped, also because there was no carrier aircraft in sight that could carry and deploy this complex 6.5 tons weapon. However, work on the SG 104 and the experience gained from EKdo 104's field tests were not in vain. The knowledge gathered from the Münchhausen program was directly used for the design of a wide range of other, smaller recoilless aircraft weapons, including the magnetically-triggered SG 113 "Förstersonde" anti-tank weapon or the lightweight SG 118 "Rohrblock" unguided air-to-air missile battery for the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger".

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 3 (pilot, navigator, radio operator/gunner)

Length: 20,73 m (67 ft 11 in) overall

18,93 m (62 ft 3/4 in) hull only

Wingspan: 19 m (62 ft 4 in)

Height: 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 57 m² (610 sq ft)

Empty weight: 9,065 kg (19,985 lb)

Empty equipped weight:10,950 kg (24,140 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 16,700 kg (36,817 lb)

Fuel capacity: 2,960 l (780 US gal; 650 imp gal) in fuselage tank and four wing tanks

 

Powerplant:

2× BMW 801D-2 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, delivering

1,300 kW (1,700 hp) each for take-off and 1,070 kW (1,440 hp) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft),

driving 3-bladed VDM constant-speed propellers

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at sea level

560 km/h (350 mph; 300 kn) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft)

Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) with loaded Gerät 104 at optimum altitude

Range: 2,180 km (1,350 mi, 1,180 nmi) with maximum internal fuel

Ferry range: 2,500 km (1,600 mi, 1,300 nmi); unarmed, with auxiliary fuel tanks

Service ceiling: 7,370 m (24,180 ft) with loaded Gerät 104,

9,500 m (31,200 ft) after firing

Rate of climb: 3.5 m/s (690 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 4 minutes 10 seconds

2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 20 seconds

6,100 m (20,000 ft) in 24 minutes 40 seconds

 

Armament:

1x 355.6 mm (14-inch) Sondergerät 104 recoilless gun with a single round in ventral position

1x 15 mm (0.787 in) MG 151 machine cannon with 200 rounds, fixed in the nose

1x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine gun with 500 rounds, movable in dorsal position

Two underwing hardpoints for a 900 l drop tank each, but only used during unarmed ferry flights

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021, and inspiration struck when I realized that I had two Italeri Do 217 in The Stash - a bomber and a night fighter - that could be combined into a suitable (fictional) carrier for a Sondergerät 104. This mighty weapon actually existed and even reached the hardware/test stage - but it was never integrated into an airframe and tested in flight. But that's what this model is supposed to depict.

 

On the Do 217, the Sg 104 would have been carried externally under the fuselage, even though there had been plans to integrate this recoilless rifle into airframes, esp. into the Ju 288. Since the latter never made it into production, the Do 217 would have been the most logical alternative, also because it had the highest payload of all German bombers during WWII and probably the only aircraft capable of carrying and deploying the Münchhausen device, as the SG 104 was also known.

 

The fictional Do 217 F-0 is a kitbashing, using a Do 217 N fuselage, combined with the wings from a Do 217 K bomber, plus some modifications. What initially sounded like a simple plan soon turned into a improvisation mess: it took some time to realize that I had already donated the Do 217 K's BMW 801 engines to another project, an upgraded He 115... I did not want to use the nightfighter's more powerful DB 603s, and I was lucky to have an Italeri Ju 188 kit at hand which comes with optional BMW 801s and Jumo 211s. Transplanting these engines onto the Do 217's wings took some tailoring of the adapter plates, but was feasible. However, the BMW 801s from the Ju 188 kit have a flaw: they lack the engine's characteristic cooling fans... Another lucky find: I found two such parts in the scrap box, even though from different kits - one left over from another Italeri Do 217 K, the other one from what I assume is/was an Italeri 1:72 Fw 190 A/F. To make matters worse, one propeller from the Ju 188 kit was missing, so that I had to find a(nother) replacement. :-/

I eventually used something that looked like an 1:72 F6F Hellcat propeller, but I an not certain about this because I have never built this model...? With some trimming on the blades' trailing edges and other mods, the donor's overall look could be adapted to the Ju 188 benchmark. Both propellers were mounted on metal axis' so that they could also carry the cooling fans. Lots of work, but the result looks quite good.

 

The Do 217 N's hull lost the lower rear gunner position and its ventral gondola, which was faired over with a piece of styrene sheet. The pilot was taken OOB, the gunner in the rear position was replaced by a more blob-like crew member from the scrap box. The plan to add a navigator in the seat to the lower right of the pilot did not work out due to space shortage, but this figure would probably have been invisble, anyway.

All gun openings in the nose were filled and PSRed away, and a fairing for a bomb aiming device and a single gun (the barrel is a hollow steel needle) were added.

 

The SG 104 was scratched. Starting point was a white metal replacement barrel for an 1:35 ISU-152 SPG with a brass muzzle brake. However, after dry-fitting the barrel under the hull the barrel turned out to be much too wide, so that only the muzzal brake survived and the rest of the weapon was created from a buddy refueling pod (from an Italeri 1:72 Luftwaffe Tornado, because of its two conical ends) and protective plastic caps from medical canulas. To attach this creation to the hull I abused a conformal belly tank from a Matchbox Gloster Meteor night fighter and tailored it into a streamlined fairing. While this quite a Frankenstein creation, the overall dimensions match the real SG 104 prototype and its look well.

 

Other cosmetic modifications include a pair of underwing dive brakes, translanted from an Italeri 1:72 Ju 88 A-4 kit, an extended (scratched) tail "stinger" which resembles the real dive brake arrangement that was installed on some Do 217 E bombers, and I added blast deflector vanes and a dorsal stabilizer fin.

In order to provide the aircraft with enough ground clearance, the tail wheel was slightly extended. Thanks to the long tail stinger, this is not blatantly obvious.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not an easy choice, but as a kind of prototype I decided that the paint scheme should be rather conservative. However, German aircraft operating over the Atlantic tended to carry rather pale schemes, so that the standard pattern of RLM 70/71/65 (Dunkelgrün, Schwarzgrün and Hellblau) with a low waterline - typical for experimental types - would hardly be appropriate.

I eventually found a compromise on a He 177 bomber (coded 6N+BN) from 1944 that was operated by KG 100: this particular aircraft had a lightened upper camouflage - still a standard splinter scheme but consisting of RLM 71 and 02 (Dunkelgrün and Grau; I used Modelmaster 2081 and Humbrol 240), a combination that had been used on German fighters during the Battle of Britain when the standard colors turned out to be too dark for operations over the Channel. The aircraft also carried standard RLM 65 (or maybe the new RLM76) underneath (Humbrol 65) and on the fin, but with a very high and slightly wavy waterline. As a rather unusual feature, no typical camouflage mottles were carried on the flanks or the fin, giving the aircraft a very bleak and simple look.

 

Despite my fears that this might look rather boring I adapted this scheme for the Do 217 F-0, and once basic painting was completed I was rather pleased by the aircraft's look! As an aircraft operated at the Western front, no additional markings like fuselage bands were carried.

To set the SG 104 apart from the airframe, I painted the weapon's visible parts in RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67), because this tone was frequently used for machinery (including the interior surfaces of aircraft towards 1945).

RLM 02 was also used for the interior surfaces and the landing gear, even though I used a slightly different, lighter shade in form of Revell 45 (Helloliv).

 

A light black ink washing was applied and post-shading to emphasize panel lines. Most markings/decals came from a Begemot 1:72 He 11 sheet, including the unusual green tactical code - it belongs to a staff unit, a suitable marking for such an experimental aircraft. The green (Humbrol 2) was carried over to the tips of the propeller spinners. The unit's code "1A" is fictional, AFAIK this combination had never been used by the Luftwaffe.

The small unit badge was alucky find: it actually depicts the fictional Baron von Münchhausen riding on a cannonball, and it comes from an Academy 1:72 Me 163 kit and its respective sheet. The mission markings underneath, depicting two anti-ship missions plus a successful sinking, came from a TL Modellbau 1:72 scale sheet with generic German WWII victory markings.

 

After some soot stains around the engine exhaust and weapon muzzles had been added with graphite, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and final details like position lights and wire antennae (from heated black plastic sprue material) were added.

  

Well, what started as a combination of two kits of the same kind with a simple huge pipe underneath turned out to be more demanding than expected. The (incomplete) replacement engines were quite a challenge, and body work on the hull (tail stinger, fairing for the SG 104 as well as the weapon itself) turned out to be more complex and extensive than initially thought of. The result looks quite convincing, also supported by the rather simple paint scheme which IMHO just "looks right" and very convincing. And the whole thing is probably the most direct representation of the inspiring "Gunship" theme!

 

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Bazıları problem sever

Brilliant line, great work by Will. I did the RH finish after this as wasnt sure what was what, get pocket with the LH and head right. "The Lash Out?" the right finish was a bit harder. My grade calibrater is malfunctioning at the moment.

[14:49] Amara turned the corner, walking into the restaurant and passing Leigh and Ayr as she moved to the counter. "Afternoon you two. Nick, I'd like a medium pie with broccoli, ham, olives, and extra cheese. To go."

 

[14:50] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) just cracked up laughing. "That ain't a man. An' if you're bein' nice 'nuff ta listen, don't see why I can't do somethin' nice in return. Do you?" Leigh wasn't counting on Ayr fixing her problems, but she did know he usually managed to at least make things seem better. "Aight." Her attention shifted to the NPC waiter for a moment. "One pie with whatever meats ya'll got and a water. Plus whatever he wants despite what he says." She'd jerk her head slightly in Ayr's direction at the words. Amara got a nod. "Hey, boss. Lost your tail?"

 

[14:52] Ayr Bosatsu looks over to Amara when she walks in, chewing on the thoughts Leigh had given him. "I wanted to pick a Better time to do this, and it seems a bit abrupt to do it here and now. But," he'd clear his throat, "Amara I'd like you to Be Beta for a while. Since gage has surrendered her position we've been in need of a new one and few have stepped forward to offer their names. More than a few people have mentioned -your- name though. I'd like you to give it a try for a month and a bit, see how you feel with it." Looking down at his boots he'd huff slightly, "I'm getting too old for these lil heart-string moments."

 

[14:58] Amara was caught between blushing and crying at the announcement. She really had her heart set on just being the lead medic, but she felt rather humbled that others though her a capable Beta. "I'd be honored, Ayr, and I'll do my best. Count on it." She leaned against the counter for support as she smiled at Leigh. "My tails are fine thanks. Are you alright though after what happened yesterday?"

 

[15:07] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) nodded. "Whatcha mean what happened? Only thing that rankled me any was when it seemed like you were undermining my doing my job." She'd shrug a bit. "Might wanna buy that lady a strap-on and some therapy though? She was compensatin' pretty hard for somethin'. You're welcome to join us." She'd think for a moment before pulling a business card from her pocket and holding it out to Amara.

 

[15:09] Ayr Bosatsu looks at Amara a long moment, even as Leigh speaks to her. His head nodded somewhat, mind scratching back like a broken record to his younger years. Lolling his head forward he'd plant his chin on the desk, stifling proud tears as his heart strings got plucked and played - so much so he could only manage a nod in return to her comment. Quickly standing up to try and shake himself out of it he'd make for the counter and order himself a drink with a lump in his throat, "Cola."

 

[15:14] Amara took the business card and read it over, taking a seat at the table while she waited for her pie to be made. "I do apologize for Lana; Ashagi's been going through some difficult times. Several employees have been attacked or mauled, and we have no idea who's behind them." She sighed, putting the card away knowing it would be useful later. "Her lover was attacked. Arwen was shot...and Adagio..." Amara bit her lip, stopping the sentence short. "She just didn't want someone else to be hurt on her watch. Nothing more."

 

[15:17] Mitka Dover walks in quietly stopping at the table nodding to the pack and leigh"you all been served?"

 

[15:21] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) shrugged as the NPC put her water on the table. She'd keep her attention mostly focused on those she was with, for now. "Still, yer my boss. I'd rather see ya have someone competent if ya need someone. The way she was actin' ain't gonna do nothin' but end up gettin the people she's tryin' ta protect hurt." Her attention would then shift back to Ayr as she watched him. "So first thing I wanna ask ya is this. Am I a lady?" Yup, true Leigh fashion had the question seeming like it came out of nowhere.

 

[15:24] Ayr Bosatsu nods when Mitka comes in, pulling out his phone quietly. "Well," he scratched behind his ear. "Sometimes I wonder. You seem to be pretty much immune to any guy coming onto you," his eyes drifted to the left and the child outside. The one who gave him birthday cake, "...!" Scrabbling up quickly he'd look at Mitka then point at the child, screaming at the top of his lungs - "Get that child -whatever- she wants to eat, 'cause I'm frontin' the bill!" As his finger pointed at her it wiggled, so much tension and sincerity in his tone that it could not be misunderstood for a sudden paroxysm of drug-fuelled insanity. "...Yes, though, I think you fall under the class of things known as 'woman'." Sinking back down to the table he'd look about bashfully. "..She bought me cake...and i blew her off, sorta..So i feel hella bad."

 

[15:27] Amara nods. "Just waiting on my pizza to be made, Mitka. I'd like a glass of water though." She folded her arms just above her stomach and sighed. "I will look into a personal bodyguard, don't worry. Can't exactly afford injuries right now, but I need to stay close to the city more often than at ho-" She jumped back when Ayr suddenly proclaimed free food for a random child outside, eyes widened in surprise. "Woah...Ayr, don't scare me like that...please."

 

[15:29] Sally-Jean almost jumped when she heard someone yell at the top of their lungs.. OOhhh it was Mister Ayr! She'd look around to see if there was any other child he could be talking about.. didn't look like it so she'd sheepishly walk into the resturant, giving the adults a shy smile and a wave before going to the counter, smiling at Nick. " can I try some spaghetti and meatballs?" she'd ask quietly before glancing at the adults once more and taking her seat in one of the booths.

 

[15:29] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) tilted her head curiously considering the words. "So you'd say I'm a woman, but not a lady? Explain, please." She glanced over her shoulder to see the child he'd indicated.

 

[15:31] Ayr Bosatsu nods profusely when the child wanders in, "AHHH! You can have it all! Will make sure I pay you back for the cake i didn't give you on your birthday!" Standing up again he'd knock over his chair, pointing at the NPC dude to chop chop to it. "...Food..Whatever she wants, all of it paid by me." Thumbing his chest he'd nod sharply and pick up his chair, "I mean. Women generally tend to respond to sexual advances. You don't from what I've seen. You got boobs and probably a ...you know," he made finger gestures akin to scissors, "..but uhm...You don' got the personality of a lady. You're a tom-boy, unashamedly so." Torn between Leigh, Amara and the kid he'd nod and point a techno viking-esque finger at Nick.

 

[15:33] Mitka Dover reaches into her top to grab her vibrating phone o ut , reads the message, and sets the phone down.She would grab a peice of paper and chucks it at Ayr's head mumbling

 

[15:35] Mitka Dover would also grab Amara the glass of water and walsk over setting it downi nfront of her.She sees the pizza done and brings it too over at the same time"there ya go, eat up Mara...your eating for two."

 

[15:37] Amara didn't know which to laugh at first - Ayr's eccentric manner as far as feeding a child, his definition of what it means to be a lady, or his inability to proper refer to female genitalia. "A lot of things define a lady, Ayr, not just her physical attributes or her response to sexual advances. It's how she carries herself." She smiled at the food and drink being delivered and handed Mitka payment. "Oh don't remind me - I don't even like olives, but that's all I've been craving for three days straight."

 

[15:39] Mitka Dover swats Ayr upside the head mumnbling something under her breath"told you i'd swat you for that ayr..."she closes her phone after sending a text back.She loosk at amara"it's been red meat for me.....and skittles"

 

[15:39] Sally-Jean blinked widely at the highly animated Ayr. She'd tilt her head even, blinking a few more times before speaking up. " Are.. are you okay Mister Ayr?" she'd tap her fingers against her bottom lip. " Maybe there was too much sugar in the cake.." She'd say softly before covering her mouth in a giggle when paper is thrown at him. She'd then widen her eyes as he dashed off like the flash.. she'd look to the adults and shrug her shoulders. " Maybe he needs a nap.. they used to make the younger kids take naps when they got all sugar crazy." she'd nod her head once before staring at her table.

 

[15:40] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) just blinked. "So that makes me not a lady?" She'd consider this for a few moments before leaning back in her chair and putting her boots up on the edge of the table in Ayr's direction. If he looked, he'd get a nice view of the silky black panties barely covering her. "Alright, so where would you say I rank in the food chain? And feel free to contribute any of your thoughts to this, Amara. It would be welcomed." Her ankles crossed after a moment as an NPC brought out the pie she'd ordered right behind Mitka bringing Amara's. She fished her credits from her pocket and passed them to the guy delivering her meal.

  

[15:45] Amara shook her head at the young girl. "No dear, in all honestly, he's like that naturally sometimes. No sugar required." She nibbled on a slice of the cheesy pizza before gesturing for Leigh to help herself if she wanted a bite. "I think you're one of the more honest with yourself females on this island. It doesn't seem like you care what others think of you as long as you're at peace with yourself. You aren't walking around in heels or anything, but I'm not sure tomboy is the right term."

 

[15:45] Nikolay Fedoseev had turned around deciding he needed a slice and a moments break before heading back out on patrol.. he was in a significantly better mood since fighting with eli last night.. Heading in he just hears leighs comments glancing in her direction to see her sitting with ehr legs up and not crossed in a skirt half her ass hanging out... though he missed the panty shot... Trying to keep his face straight he cant help a small smirk... thank god she's not his daughter.

 

[15:47] Sally-Jean nodded slowly. " Ohhhh.." She'd say before smiling. She'd sit quietly as she waiting for Sam to cook up her spaghetti and meat balls. kind of listening to the grown ups, but at the same time trying to hide it.. as to not get into trouble for eavesdropping.

 

[15:52] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) dropped her right hand to her lap lightly playing with the edge of her skirt as she continued to leave her feet on the table. "But lady isn't either?" Her left hand snagged a slice of pizza and she took a bite. She'd chew before studying Amara curiously. "But lady isn't the right term, either?" Her tongue ran over her teeth in thought before she took a second bite curiously waiting to see what the response would be.

  

[15:59] Amara nodded to Nik as he strolled in, giving him an acknowledging nod while she ate. "How's the leg fairing, Mr Fedoseev?" Moving on to her second slice, she thought about how to answer. "There are too many definitions for lady, Leigh. It could be a female of high society. To some it's just a proper woman. To others it's any female that looks like she bathes and uses makeup. Feminine is not a term I'd use in your case, but I see you are a lady purely due to your confidence. You don't help to get your shit done." She took one more bite of the pizza. "Not sure a 'lady' would flash her knickers though..." she winked.

 

[16:03] Ayr Bosatsu Clatters back into the restauraunt with a crash. "I needed my hat," he muttered and looked to LEigh and Amara, leaving them to talk as he sunk down into the booth next to lil Sally. "You eating properly?"

 

[16:05] Nikolay Fedoseev turned away form nick after ordering a coffee to glance at amara and then to ayr wondering what the man will do after the shit al stired up last night.. Watching him walk back in tosit with another girl he looks to amara.. "its doing good... this is the second one i've had put on... " he'd glance to leigh arching a brow as he is now in the right position to see her flicking her skirt up with ehr fingers.. giving a half amused snort he shakes his head.. "I'm not even going to touch that one... "

 

[16:06] Sally-Jean looked up. she was about to tell him she was still waiting for her food when Nick brought a medium sized plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Her eyes would widen and she'd smile " I'm about to!" she'd smile at N ick and give him thanks before leaning towards Ayr. " never had Meatballs and Spaghetti before.. so Imma try it." she'd stab a meatball with her fork, about to take a bite before asking. " Did you like your cake? I didn't know what kind you liked.. so I got cheesecake.. because everyone likes cheesecake.. I think.. and the toy fox and toy leopard where new, all clean and stuff."

 

[16:11] Leigh Parx (Kayleigh Jigsaw) just flashed the Judge a sweet smile. "Touch what?" She'd tilt her head back and look at Ayr upside down. "You gonna help me eat this pizza and finish our talk?" Her head was righted as she finished the slice in her hand. "So where would you say I rank on the food chain, all things considered?" Leigh wasn't sure who would know how much about her, even her boss. Well, she knew Ayr would know, but he seemed occupied with the other kid. A smirk crossed her features as she considered Amara's comment on the panty flashing. "I'm wearing knickers?"

 

[16:19] Ayr Bosatsu ((posts since it's been 8 mins and he fig's P.O don't matter here. )) leans over when she does to listen attentively. "Mm..I like meatballs and spaghetti, though I don't make a very good one." His head tilted towards Leigh, realizing he'd almost seen her underwear before scrabbling off. "..Battle Axe is calling," he muttered to Sally and pressed his hands onto the table. "Sáte do.." Dusting off his hands he'd bow to the child, "I really appreciate the Cake. Thank you for thinking of me and giving me it. I'll set up a tab here for you so you can get free nomz whenever you need it. Feel I owe you that much, 'N here's my number if you get a phone and you need some help cha," and thus he did meander back to his chair with a thunk, leaving behind his calling card. A piece of paper with a goofy looking Fox and his number.

 

[16:20] Amara giggled at Ayr. "All that commotion for a hat?" She knew she probably should not sound so surprised; it's Ayr after all. "It's your second leg? Maybe you should see Imrie or the folks at Straylight for a stronger limb, Nik." She glanced back to Leigh, leaned over to check, then asked, "Black...silk or satin I think. Are my eyes mistaken then?" Amara had seen Leigh in less so this hardly bugged her. "You're closer to the tomboy side of the scale than the overly girl side, Leigh. Still wearing skirts and other feminine attire, so calling you a tomboy outright isn't correct, but you aren't walking about half nude."

Left-hand one is misbehaving. Right-hand one is better.

 

So that's annoying. New machine, set up with Marlin on RAMPS, the z-axis was always on (so the motors weren't released between layers). I thought that wasn't a bad idea, but it turns out that driving two motors (the z motors) continuously makes the stepper drivers go up to 110C, and they do a thermal cutout. Or at least, that's what it seems like. It manifests as the motors just not moving. When doing a "move 10mm" on the z-axis, it'll move, then just pause for a couple of seconds, before coming back on.

 

I have changed the row #define DISABLE_Z false in Marlin (Configuration) to true, and so it goes off between layers. I don't really trust microsteps to pickup where they left off, but at least it can print now. Also am going to add a fan to the electronics.

Milano, Corso di Porta Ticinese.

Oh, so' proprio avanti eh.

To: Anyone Awaiting An Email Reply

 

The image above is my unread email count and I want you to know I am working on reading all my email but please bear with me. Thank you for your understanding and patience. :)

 

Best,

FRANK

The causes of sexual problems are as varied and complex as the human race. Some problems stem from a simple, reversible physical problem. Others can stem from more serious medical conditions, difficult life situations, or emotional problems. Still others have a combination of causes. Any of the following can contribute to sexual problems:

 

Relationship problems: Discord in other aspects of the relationship, such as distribution of labor, childrearing, or money, can cause sexual problems. Issues of control or even abuse in the relationship are especially harmful to sexual harmony. Such problems can prevent a woman from communicating her sexual wants and needs to her partner.

Emotional problems: Depression, anxiety (about sex or other things), stress, resentment, and guilt can all affect a woman's sexual function.

Insufficient stimulation: A woman's (or her partner's) lack of knowledge about sexual stimulation and response may prevent a woman from achieving a satisfactory experience. Poor communication between partners can also be a culprit here.

Gynecologic problems: A number of pelvic disorders can cause pain in intercourse and thus decrease satisfaction.

 

Vaginal dryness: The most common reason for this in younger women is insufficient stimulation. In older women, the decrease in estrogen that occurs in perimenopause or menopause is the cause of vaginal dryness. Poor lubrication can also be linked to hormone imbalances and other illnesses and to certain medications. It can inhibit arousal or make intercourse uncomfortable.

Vaginismus: This is a painful spasm of the muscles surrounding the vaginal opening that causes the vaginal opening to "tighten." It can prevent penetration or make penetration extremely painful. Vaginismus can be caused by injuries or scars from surgery, abuse, or childbirth, by infection, or by irritation from douches, spermicides, or condoms. It can also be caused by fear.

Sexually transmitted diseases: Gonorrhea, herpes, genital warts, chlamydia, and syphilis are infectious diseases spread by sexual contact. They can cause changes in the genitals that make sex uncomfortable or even painful.

Vaginitis: Inflammation and irritation of vaginal tissues due to infection or other causes can make intercourse uncomfortable or painful.

Endometriosis, pelvic mass, ovarian cyst, surgical scars: Any of these can cause an obstruction or anatomical changes that prevent intercourse or make it difficult or painful.

Pelvic inflammatory disease: This is an infection of the vagina that moves up into the cervix, uterus, and ovaries. It can be very painful on its own and make intercourse extremely painful.

Nerve damage after surgery: Unavoidable cutting of small nerves during pelvic surgery (such as hysterectomy) may decrease sensation and response.

Physical conditions: Many physical or medical conditions can decrease a woman's satisfaction with her sex life.

Tiredness (fatigue)

Chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease

Cancer

Neurologic disorders

Vascular (blood flow) disorders

Hormonal imbalances

Menopause

Pregnancy

Alcohol or drug abuse

Medications: Certain medications can reduce desire or arousal. One well-known group of drugs that have this effect are the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) group of antidepressants, which includes drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft. Others include certain chemotherapy drugs, drugs for high blood pressure, and antipsychotic medications.

Other medical treatments: Treatments such as radiation therapy for certain types of cancer can reduce vaginal lubrication. They can also make skin and the membranes lining the genitals tender and sensitive.

History of abuse: A woman who has suffered sexual or other abuse may have trouble trusting her partner enough to relax and become aroused. She may have feelings of fear, guilt, or resentment that get in the way of a satisfactory experience, even if she cares deeply about her current partner.

Attitudes toward sex: Many people, either because of the way they were brought up or because of earlier bad experiences, don't view sex as a normal and enjoyable part of a couple's relationship. They may associate sex or sexual feelings with shame, guilt, fear, or anger. On the other hand are people who have unrealistic expectations about sex. Portrayals of sex in television and movies as always easy and fantastic mislead some people into believing that is how it is in real life. These people are disappointed or even distressed when sex is sometimes not earth-shattering or when a problem occurs.

Sexual problems of the partner: If a woman's partner has sexual problems, such as impotence or lack of desire, this can inhibit her own satisfaction. Continue Reading

 

The perfect spare tire cover for a Jeep Wrangler. The license plate ain't bad either.

Photo by Greg Shine, BLM, January 31, 2017.

 

As a result of amendments to the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act in 1976 and 1978 which addressed problems created by the growing populations on the range, BLM identified appropriate management levels and developed a process to remove excess animals. The need for the corrals became apparent when wild horse and burro populations on public lands increased to such numbers that more intensive management became necessary. Animals removed from the Oregon range are brought here and prepared for the adoption program. Periodically, wild burros from California and Arizona are also brought here for adoption.

 

Facility Operation

 

Wild horses are brought off the range to the corrals where they are immediately separated into pens by age and sex. The mares with foals are kept together while weanlings and yearlings, dry mares, studs, and geldings are kept in their respective, separate pens.

 

Within a short time of their arrival, the horses are given a health inspection by a veterinarian. Animals with any injuries or disease are treated immediately. All animals are prepared for adoption in the chute area located under the barn where they are checked for age, vaccinated against disease, wormed and freeze marked. Horses are aged by inspecting their teeth.

 

Wild Horse Corrals

 

The horses are vaccinated against such diseases as Rhinopneumonitis, influenza, tetanus, sleeping sickness, strangles, Rabies, and West Nile Virus. The animals are also wormed to rid them of internal parasites. If animals are kept for long periods of time, their hooves are trimmed periodically, as the ground in the pens and pastures is soft and hooves do not wear down as readily as they did when the horses lived on the range and roamed over rougher terrain.

 

Wild Horses Feeding

 

The pens near the barn are used as working pens where horses and burros are separated for various reasons whether for shipping, health inspections or viewing for adoption. Note the numerous gates, small side pens, wings and alleyways which make it easier to work with the animals. The larger holding pens are to the north and are connected to the working pens and alleyways. The horses and burros are kept in these pens unless they are to be shipped out in a very short time. The eastern pens are reserved for female animals and the western pens hold the males. The large barn and handling facility was built in 2001 to replace the old wooden barn which was lost to fire.

 

Adoption and Tours

 

Before horses and burros are shipped to other adoption centers or picked up by adopters at the corrals, they are given a final brand and health inspection by a veterinarian. When the adopters transport their chosen animals from the corrals, an adoption fee is collected to help defray expenses. If the animals are shipped to another location before being adopted, the fee is collected at those locations.

 

Organized tours of the wild horse corrals and facilities are available upon request. They can be scheduled for just a few people as well as larger groups. We welcome the opportunity to explain the various aspects of the wild horse program whether it concerns range management, roundups, preparation at the corrals or the adoption program.

 

If you are interested in adopting a wild horse or burro or taking a tour, please visit the corral facility, stop by the BLM office at 28910 Highway 20 West in Hines, or give us a call at (541) 573-4400. We will be glad to explain the process and requirements for adoption. A brochure is available that specifically explains the Adopt-A-Horse Program.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

After the division of Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, Slovakia was left with a small air force composed primarily of Czechoslovak combat aircraft. This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in March 1939, in the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939 in which Hungary reoccupied Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against Royal Hungarian Air Force. Later, the SVZ also took part in the German Invasion of Poland. The SVZ took part in Axis offensives in the Ukraine and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad and Caucasus operations. This engagement resulted in great losses of aircraft and personnel, though.

 

During the World War II, the Slovak Air force was charged with the defense of Slovak airspace, and, after the invasion of Russia, provided air cover for Slovak forces fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. For the rest of the war the SVZ fought US Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force raids against Slovakia.

 

Among the many more or less outdated German aircraft types inherited from the Luftwaffe during the early stages of WWII was a small number of Hs 123 A-1 dive bombers. The Henschel Hs 123 was a small single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft. The aircraft was designed to meet the 1933 dive bomber requirements for the reborn Luftwaffe. Both Henschel and rival Fieseler (with the Fi 98) competed for the production contract requirement, which specified a single-seat biplane dive bomber. The first prototype, the Hs 123 V1, was cleared for its maiden flight on 1 April 1935; General Ernst Udet, a World War I ace, flew it on its first public demonstration flight on 8 May 1935. The first three Henschel prototypes, with the first and third powered by 485 kW (650 hp) BMW 132A-3 engines and the second by a 574 kW (770 hp) Wright Cyclone, were tested at Rechlin in August 1936. Only the first prototype had "smooth" cowlings; from that point on, all aircraft had a tightly fitting, characteristic cowling that included 18 fairings covering the engine valves. The Henschel prototypes did away with bracing wires and although they looked slightly outdated with their single faired interplane struts and cantilever main landing gear legs attached to smaller (stub) lower wings, the Hs 123 featured an all-metal construction, clean lines and superior maneuverability. Its biplane wings were of a "sesquiplane" configuration, whereby the lower wings were significantly smaller than the top wings.

 

The overall performance of the Hs 123 V1 prototype prematurely eliminated any chance for the more conventional Fi 98, which was cancelled after a sole prototype had been constructed. During testing, the Hs 123 proved capable of pulling out of "near-vertical" dives; however, two prototypes subsequently crashed due to structural failures in the wings that occurred when the aircraft were tested in high-speed dives. The fourth prototype incorporated improvements to cure these problems; principally, stronger center-section struts were fitted. After it had been successfully tested, the Hs 123 was ordered into production with a 656 kW (880 hp) BMW 132Dc engine.

 

The Hs 123 was intended to replace the Heinkel He 50 biplane reconnaissance and dive bomber as well as acting as a "stop-gap" measure until the more modern and capable Junkers Ju 87 became available. As such, production was limited and no upgrades were considered, although an improved version, the Hs 123B, was developed by Henschel in 1938. A proposal to fit the aircraft with a more powerful 716 kW (960 hp) "K"-variant of its BMW 132 engine did not proceed beyond the prototype stage, the Hs 123 V5. The V6 prototype fitted with a similar powerplant and featuring a sliding cockpit hood was intended to serve as the Hs 123C prototype.

 

About 265 aircraft were produced and production of the Hs 123A ended in Autumn 1938. It was flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to midpoint of World War II. At the outbreak of hostilities, Hs 123s were committed to action in the Polish Campaign. Screaming over the heads of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire-like" bursts. The Hs 123 proved rugged and able to take a lot of damage and still keep on flying. Operating from primitive bases close to the front lines, the type was considered by ground crews to be easy to maintain, quick to re-equip and reliable even under dire field conditions.

 

The Polish campaign was a success for an aircraft considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Within a year, the Hs 123 was again in action in the Blitzkrieg attacks through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Often positioned as the Luftwaffe's most-forward based combat unit, the Hs 123s flew more missions per day than other units, and again proved their worth in the close-support role. With Ju 87s still being used as tactical bombers rather than true ground support aircraft and with no other aircraft capable of this mission in the Luftwaffe arsenal the Hs 123 was destined to continue in service for some time, although numbers were constantly being reduced by attrition.

 

The Hs 123 was not employed in the subsequent Battle of Britain as the English Channel proved an insuperable obstacle for the short-ranged aircraft, and the sole leftover operator, II.(Schl)/LG 2, went back to Germany to re-equip with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter bomber (Jabo) variant. The Bf 109E fighter bomber was not capable of carrying any more bombs than the Hs 123. It did, however, have a greater range and was far more capable of defending itself. On the downside were the notoriously tricky taxiing, ground handling, and takeoff/landing characteristics of the Bf 109, which were exacerbated with a bomb load.

 

At the beginning of the Balkans Campaign, the 32 examples of the Hs 123 that had been retired after the fall of France were taken back into service and handed over to the Slovak Air Force to replace the heavy losses on the Eastern Front after combat fatigue and desertion had reduced the pilots' effectiveness. Most of Slovakia's obsolete biplanes were replaced with modern German combat aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, so that the Hs 123s were initially regarded with distrust – but the machines proved their worth in the ensuing battles. The Slovak Hs 123s took part in the Battle of Kursk and supported ground troops, some were outfitted with locally designed ski landing gears which proved to be a very effective alternative to the Hs 123’s spatted standard landing gear which was prone to collect snow and mud and even block. After this deployment at the Russian front, the Slovak Air Force was sent back to defend Slovak home air space, primarily executed with Messerschmitt Bf 109 E and G types, Avia B-534, and some other interceptor types, also helped by Luftwaffe units active in the area.

Being confined to national borders, the Slovak Hs 123s were put in reserve and relegated to training purposes, even though they were occasionally activated to support German ground troops. From late August 1944 the remaining Hs 123s also actively took part in the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising against Germany.

 

Since Hs 123 production had already stopped in 1940 and all tools had been destroyed, the permanent attritions could not be replaced - due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts the type’s numbers dwindled. When Romania and the Soviet Union entered Slovakia, they organized with some captured aircraft and defectors a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country, including the last operational Slovak Hs 123s. No aircraft survived the war.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 24.85 m² (267.5 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)

Gross weight: 2,215 kg (4,883 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× BMW 132Dc 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 660 kW (880 hp),

driving a 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph, 184 kn) at 1,200 m (3,937 ft)

Range: 860 km (530 mi, 460 nmi) with a 100 l drop tank

Combat range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi) with 200 kg (440.9 lb) of bombs

Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)

 

Armament:

2× 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, 400 rpg

Up to 450 kg (992.1 lb) of bombs under fuselage and wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

A relatively simple what-if project, and it took a while to figure out something to do with a surplus Airfix Hs 123 A kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan yet. The Hs 123 is an overlooked aircraft, and the fact that all airframes were used during WWII until none was left makes a story in Continental Europe a bit difficult. I also did not want to create a German aircraft – Finland was an early favorite, because I wanted to add a ski landing gear (see below), but since I won’t build anything with a swastika on it this option was a dead end. Then I considered an operator from the Balkans, e. g. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or Slovakia – and eventually settled for the latter because of the national markings.

 

The kit was built almost OOB, and the Airfix Hs 123 is a nice offering. Yes, it’s a simple kit, but its is IMHO a very good representation, despite the many rivets on the hull, a rather bleak interior and some sinkholes (e. g. on the massive outer wings struts). It goes together well, just a little PSR here and there. I just added a dashboard (scratched from styrene sheet) and modified the OOB 50 kg bombs with extended impact fuzes with a flat, round plate at the tip, so that the bomb itself explodes above soft ground or snow for a bigger blast radius.

The only major modification is a transplanted ski landing gear from a PM Model (Finnish) Fokker D.XXI, which had to be reduced in length to fit under the compact Hs 123. A small tail ski/skid was scratched from styrene sheet material.

 

Thankfully, the Hs 123 only calls for little rigging – just between the central upper wing supports and there is a characteristic “triangle” wiring in the cowling. All these, together with the wire antenna, were created with heated sprue material.

  

Painting and markings:

Finland had been a favorite because I would have been able to apply a more interesting paint scheme than the standard Luftwaffe RLM 70/71/65 splinter scheme with a low waterline that was typical for the Hs 123 during WWII. However, as a former Luftwaffe aircraft I retained this livery but decided to add a winter camouflage as a suitable thematic supplement to the skis.

The basic colors became Humbrol 65 underneath and 30 and 75 from above – the latter for a stronger contrast to the Dunkelgrün than Humbrol 91 (Schwarzgrün). Thanks to the additional whitewash mottles, which were inspired by a similar livery seen on a contemporary Bulgarian Avia B.534, I did not have to be too exact with the splinter camouflage.

 

The cockpit and cowling interior were painted with RLM 02 (Humbrol 240), the propeller blades became Schwarzgrün (Humbrol 91, further darkened with some black) and the bombs were painted in a dark grey (Revell 77) while the small 100 l drop tank became bare aluminum (Revell 99).

 

However, before the white mottles could be added, the kit received its decals so that they could be painted around the markings, just as in real life. The Slovak national markings had to be scratched, and I used standard white simplified German Balkenkreuze over a cross made from blue decal stripes. Later a separate red decal circle was placed on top of that. The only other markings are the red “7” codes, edged in white for better contrast (from a Heller Bf 109 K) and the fuel information triangles on the fuselage from the Hs 123’s OOB sheet. As an ID marking for an Eastern Front Axis aircraft, I retained the wide yellow fuselage stripe from the OOB, sheet, too, and added yellow tips on the upper wings’ undersides.

The whitewash camouflage was then created with white acrylic paint (Revell 05), applied with a soft brush with a rounded tip. Once this had dried, I treated the surfaces with fine wet sandpaper for a weathered/worn look.

 

Finally, after some soot stains behind the exhausts and around the machine gun nozzles, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging (see above) was done.

  

The Hs 123 might not be the sexiest aircraft of WWII, but I like this rugged pug which could not be replaced by its successor, the Ju 87, and served in its close support role until literally no aircraft was left. Putting one on skis worked quite well, and the exotic Slovak markings add a special touch – even though the national markings almost disappear among the disruptive whitewash camouflage! The result looks quite plausible, though, and the old Airfix kit is IMHO really underestimated.

there IS NO SURGE ARRESTOR ON THE POLE!!! another problem on xcel,s grid

While the C-141A Starlifter had done well in the 1960s, especially in supply efforts over Vietnam, the aircraft had one glaring problem: it would “bulk out” before it reached its projected payload weight: the fuselage would be full, but the aircraft was capable of carrying more. In response to this and the C-141’s need for fueling stops on long trips, the USAF began upgrading the C-141A fleet to C-141B standard.

 

By adding two plugs fore and aft of the wings, the fuselage was stretched 23 feet. While the Starlifter was still incapable of carrying oversize loads, it now could carry up to its full weight. Inflight refuelling capability was also added. All surviving C-141As were upgraded between 1977 and 1982 to B standard, essentially adding 90 new C-141s to the fleet without building new aircraft. With the C-5B Galaxy also entering service, the C-141B gave the USAF unmatched air transport capability, something that would be very useful in time of war. Its first wartime service would be Operation Desert Shield, the buildup to the First Gulf War of 1991. Starlifters carried nearly half of all payloads delivered to the Southwest Asia theater.

 

The 1990s would see the most use of the aircraft, especially over the wartorn former nations of Yugoslavia. During NATO efforts to resupply Bosnian towns cut off by Serbian forces, C-141s were flown from Rhein-Main airbase at low level over Bosnia, where cargo pallets were dropped from the rear filled with food. As these pallets could cause damage when they hit the ground, the pallets were replaced by food boxes tied together: these boxes would break apart in midair and float down on individual parachutes. These “food bombs” would be used later in other areas where the C-141 was unable to land. Other Rhein-Main based Starlifters made the trip into the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, the airport of which was considered one of the most dangerous spots on earth, constantly subject to mortar and sniper fire, and required a diving approach to avoid being shot at by Serbian antiaircraft units posted in the mountains around the airport. C-141s and other NATO transports kept the city alive during its three-year siege, which finally ended in 1995.

 

In response to this, 13 C-141Bs were modified to SOLL II standard, with low-light vision equipment, GPS, and defensive chaff/flare countermeasures, for operations over high-threat areas or in conjunction with Special Forces units. Later, about a third of the lowest-timed Starlifters were modified to C-141C standard, with a new “glass” cockpit and upgraded avionics.

 

Despite the upgrade, the days of the C-141 were numbered. It was getting old, and wing cracks had begun to appear on older aircraft. As the C-17 Globemaster III was now coming into service, Starlifters began to be retired. The C-141Cs soldiered on long enough to be used in Afghanistan and Iraq, where they finally used their paratroop-carrying capability in combat, dropping elements of the 101st Airborne Division near Tikrit in northern Iraq. After 2004, the Starlifter was retired from active units and passed on to Air National Guard and Reserve units; the last eight operational C-141s were used to shuttle supplies into New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005. This was the Starlifter’s swan song, as after this operation ended the C-141 finally left USAF service after forty years of service. Of 285 aircraft, 19 were lost in accidents; 13 are preserved in museums.

 

The most famous C-141 ever flown, 66-0177 is known better by its nickname--the "Hanoi Taxi." First assigned as a C-141A to the 63rd Military Airlift Wing at Norton AFB, California, 66-0177 was a regular visitor to Southeast Asia on transport missions. A month after the Paris Peace Accords were signed, North Vietnam began the release of American prisoners of war held at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton"--in some cases, since 1965. 66-0177 was the first to land at Hanoi to pick up the first batch of 80 POWs, and as such became the first bit of America to welcome the prisoners home. Though only one of almost a dozen C-141s that brought POWs out of North Vietnam, 66-0177 was the first, and thus became dubbed the Hanoi Taxi.

 

Long after the Vietnam War was over, 66-0177 remained in service. In the early 1980s, it was stretched and became a C-141B, and was eventually assigned to the 445th Airlift Wing (USAF Reserve), based at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; in the early 1990s, it received the C-141C upgrade. As the Taxi closed in on the end of her service life, she was repainted from her AMC Gray scheme to the older Military Airlift Command colors to commemorate the aircraft's history. As such, the Taxi became something of a touchstone and living history museum for former Vietnam POWs. In 2004, the Taxi made one final trip to Hanoi, this time to pick up the remains of two American servicemembers once listed as missing in action. Finally, in May 2006, it was retired and made the short flight from the main part of Wright-Patterson to the National Museum of the USAF.

 

Today the Hanoi Taxi sits in the Experimental Aircraft and Transport Gallery at the NMUSAF. As mentioned above, it carries the old white-over-gray MAC scheme, complete with MAC stripe on the tail (though it reads "AFRC" for Air Force Reserve Command). The aircraft is open to the public to tour the cavernous cargo bay, as well as see the signatures of POWs who signed the interior.

Live at Revolver's Goon bar

Does this mean you can drop off live animals?

Sex Problem @ The Nicollet, Minneapolis, MN - January 27th, 2016

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