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-...

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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

  

Ganesha, also spelled Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is a widely worshipped deity in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.

 

Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.

 

Ganesha emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta Period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. He was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.

 

ETYMOLOGY AND OTHER NAMES

Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri is often added before his name. One popular way Ganesha is worshipped is by chanting a Ganesha Sahasranama, a litany of "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha. At least two different versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama exist; one version is drawn from the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu scripture venerating Ganesha.

 

The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part of the retinue of Shiva. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such as the elements. Ganapati, a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord". The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha : Vinayaka, Vighnarāja (equivalent to Vighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one who has one tusk), Heramba, Lambodara (one who has a pot belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana; having the face of an elephant).

 

Vinayaka is a common name for Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak (aṣṭavināyaka). The names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hindu theology as the master and remover of obstacles (vighna).

 

A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pillai. A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble child". He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or tusk". Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have originally meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means "a young elephant".

 

In the Burmese language, Ganesha is known as Maha Peinne, derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka. The widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikhanet or Phra Phikhanesuan, both of which are derived from Vara Vighnesha and Vara Vighneshvara respectively, whereas the name Khanet (from Ganesha) is rather rare.

 

In Sri Lanka, in the North-Central and North Western areas with predominantly Buddhist population, Ganesha is known as Aiyanayaka Deviyo, while in other Singhala Buddhist areas he is known as Gana deviyo.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

Ganesha is a popular figure in Indian art. Unlike those of some deities, representations of Ganesha show wide variations and distinct patterns changing over time. He may be portrayed standing, dancing, heroically taking action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down or on an elevated seat, or engaging in a range of contemporary situations.

 

Ganesha images were prevalent in many parts of India by the 6th century. The 13th century statue pictured is typical of Ganesha statuary from 900–1200, after Ganesha had been well-established as an independent deity with his own sect. This example features some of Ganesha's common iconographic elements. A virtually identical statue has been dated between 973–1200 by Paul Martin-Dubost, and another similar statue is dated c. 12th century by Pratapaditya Pal. Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a big belly. This statue has four arms, which is common in depictions of Ganesha. He holds his own broken tusk in his lower-right hand and holds a delicacy, which he samples with his trunk, in his lower-left hand. The motif of Ganesha turning his trunk sharply to his left to taste a sweet in his lower-left hand is a particularly archaic feature. A more primitive statue in one of the Ellora Caves with this general form has been dated to the 7th century. Details of the other hands are difficult to make out on the statue shown. In the standard configuration, Ganesha typically holds an axe or a goad in one upper arm and a pasha (noose) in the other upper arm.

 

The influence of this old constellation of iconographic elements can still be seen in contemporary representations of Ganesha. In one modern form, the only variation from these old elements is that the lower-right hand does not hold the broken tusk but is turned towards the viewer in a gesture of protection or fearlessness (abhaya mudra). The same combination of four arms and attributes occurs in statues of Ganesha dancing, which is a very popular theme.

 

COMMON ATTRIBUTES

Ganesha has been represented with the head of an elephant since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. Puranic myths provide many explanations for how he got his elephant head. One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant. Details of the battle and where the replacement head came from vary from source to source. Another story says that Ganesha was created directly by Shiva's laughter. Because Shiva considered Ganesha too alluring, he gave him the head of an elephant and a protruding belly.

 

Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta. Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries). This feature is so important that, according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). Both names are Sanskrit compounds describing his belly. The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes (i.e., cosmic eggs) of the past, present, and future are present in him. The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. Many depictions of Ganesha feature four arms, which is mentioned in Puranic sources and codified as a standard form in some iconographic texts. His earliest images had two arms. Forms with 14 and 20 arms appeared in Central India during the 9th and the 10th centuries. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck. Other depictions of snakes include use as a sacred thread wrapped around the stomach as a belt, held in a hand, coiled at the ankles, or as a throne. Upon Ganesha's forehead may be a third eye or the Shaivite sectarian mark , which consists of three horizontal lines. The Ganesha Purana prescribes a tilaka mark as well as a crescent moon on the forehead. A distinct form of Ganesha called Bhalachandra includes that iconographic element. Ganesha is often described as red in color. Specific colors are associated with certain forms. Many examples of color associations with specific meditation forms are prescribed in the Sritattvanidhi, a treatise on Hindu iconography. For example, white is associated with his representations as Heramba-Ganapati and Rina-Mochana-Ganapati (Ganapati Who Releases from Bondage). Ekadanta-Ganapati is visualized as blue during meditation in that form.

 

VAHANAS

The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle). Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew) in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana. Jain depictions of Ganesha show his vahana variously as a mouse, elephant, tortoise, ram, or peacock.

 

Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew or rat. Martin-Dubost says that the rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Ganesha in central and western India during the 7th century; the rat was always placed close to his feet. The mouse as a mount first appears in written sources in the Matsya Purana and later in the Brahmananda Purana and Ganesha Purana, where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle in his last incarnation. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa includes a meditation verse on Ganesha that describes the mouse appearing on his flag. The names Mūṣakavāhana (mouse-mount) and Ākhuketana (rat-banner) appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama.

 

The mouse is interpreted in several ways. According to Grimes, "Many, if not most of those who interpret Gaṇapati's mouse, do so negatively; it symbolizes tamoguṇa as well as desire". Along these lines, Michael Wilcockson says it symbolizes those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. Krishan notes that the rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. According to this theory, showing Ganesha as master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) and gives evidence of his possible role as a folk grāma-devatā (village deity) who later rose to greater prominence. Martin-Dubost notes a view that the rat is a symbol suggesting that Ganesha, like the rat, penetrates even the most secret places.

 

ASSOCIATIONS

 

OBSTACLES

Ganesha is Vighneshvara or Vighnaraja or Vighnaharta (Marathi), the Lord of Obstacles, both of a material and spiritual order. He is popularly worshipped as a remover of obstacles, though traditionally he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked. Paul Courtright says that "his task in the divine scheme of things, his dharma, is to place and remove obstacles. It is his particular territory, the reason for his creation."

 

Krishan notes that some of Ganesha's names reflect shadings of multiple roles that have evolved over time. Dhavalikar ascribes the quick ascension of Ganesha in the Hindu pantheon, and the emergence of the Ganapatyas, to this shift in emphasis from vighnakartā (obstacle-creator) to vighnahartā (obstacle-averter). However, both functions continue to be vital to his character.

 

BUDDHI (KNOWLEDGE)

Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of letters and learning. In Sanskrit, the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, when many stories stress his cleverness and love of intelligence. One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya. This name also appears in a list of 21 names at the end of the Ganesha Sahasranama that Ganesha says are especially important. The word priya can mean "fond of", and in a marital context it can mean "lover" or "husband", so the name may mean either "Fond of Intelligence" or "Buddhi's Husband".

 

AUM

Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum, also spelled Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Aum is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Chinmayananda translates the relevant passage as follows:

 

(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]. You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama]. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]. You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).

 

Some devotees see similarities between the shape of Ganesha's body in iconography and the shape of Aum in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scripts.

 

FIRST CHAKRA

According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Mula means "original, main"; adhara means "base, foundation". The muladhara chakra is the principle on which the manifestation or outward expansion of primordial Divine Force rests. This association is also attested to in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Courtright translates this passage as follows: "[O Ganesha,] You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [mūlādhāra cakra]." Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara. Ganesha holds, supports and guides all other chakras, thereby "governing the forces that propel the wheel of life".

 

FAMILY AND CONSORTS

Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths give different versions about his birth. In some he was created by Parvati, in another he was created by Shiva and Parvati, in another he appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati or he was born from the elephant headed goddess Malini after she drank Parvati's bath water that had been thrown in the river.

 

The family includes his brother the war god Kartikeya, who is also called Subramanya, Skanda, Murugan and other names. Regional differences dictate the order of their births. In northern India, Skanda is generally said to be the elder, while in the south, Ganesha is considered the first born. In northern India, Skanda was an important martial deity from about 500 BCE to about 600 CE, when worship of him declined significantly in northern India. As Skanda fell, Ganesha rose. Several stories tell of sibling rivalry between the brothers and may reflect sectarian tensions.

 

Ganesha's marital status, the subject of considerable scholarly review, varies widely in mythological stories. One pattern of myths identifies Ganesha as an unmarried brahmacari. This view is common in southern India and parts of northern India. Another pattern associates him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are sometimes personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. He also may be shown with a single consort or a nameless servant (Sanskrit: daşi). Another pattern connects Ganesha with the goddess of culture and the arts, Sarasvati or Śarda (particularly in Maharashtra). He is also associated with the goddess of luck and prosperity, Lakshmi. Another pattern, mainly prevalent in the Bengal region, links Ganesha with the banana tree, Kala Bo.

 

The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (prosperity) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciouness) and Lābha. The 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa shows Ganesha married to Riddhi and Siddhi and having a daughter named Santoshi Ma, the goddess of satisfaction. This story has no Puranic basis, but Anita Raina Thapan and Lawrence Cohen cite Santoshi Ma's cult as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.

 

WOSHIP AND FESTIVALS

Ganesha is worshipped on many religious and secular occasions; especially at the beginning of ventures such as buying a vehicle or starting a business. K.N. Somayaji says, "there can hardly be a [Hindu] home [in India] which does not house an idol of Ganapati. [..] Ganapati, being the most popular deity in India, is worshipped by almost all castes and in all parts of the country". Devotees believe that if Ganesha is propitiated, he grants success, prosperity and protection against adversity.

 

Ganesha is a non-sectarian deity, and Hindus of all denominations invoke him at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin performances of arts such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha. Mantras such as Om Shri Gaṇeshāya Namah (Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha) are often used. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah (Om, Gaṃ, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts).

 

Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls (laddus). He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the color red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktacandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.

 

Festivals associated with Ganesh are Ganesh Chaturthi or Vināyaka chaturthī in the śuklapakṣa (the fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of bhādrapada (August/September) and the Gaṇeśa jayanti (Gaṇeśa's birthday) celebrated on the cathurthī of the śuklapakṣa (fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of māgha (January/February)."

 

GANESH CHATURTI

An annual festival honours Ganesha for ten days, starting on Ganesha Chaturthi, which typically falls in late August or early September. The festival begins with people bringing in clay idols of Ganesha, symbolising Ganesha's visit. The festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi, when idols (murtis) of Ganesha are immersed in the most convenient body of water. Some families have a tradition of immersion on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, or 7th day. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed this annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. Because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman", Tilak chose him as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule. Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. Today, Hindus across India celebrate the Ganapati festival with great fervour, though it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra. The festival also assumes huge proportions in Mumbai, Pune, and in the surrounding belt of Ashtavinayaka temples.

 

TEMPLES

In Hindu temples, Ganesha is depicted in various ways: as an acolyte or subordinate deity (pãrśva-devatã); as a deity related to the principal deity (parivāra-devatã); or as the principal deity of the temple (pradhāna), treated similarly as the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon. As the god of transitions, he is placed at the doorway of many Hindu temples to keep out the unworthy, which is analogous to his role as Parvati’s doorkeeper. In addition, several shrines are dedicated to Ganesha himself, of which the Ashtavinayak (lit. "eight Ganesha (shrines)") in Maharashtra are particularly well known. Located within a 100-kilometer radius of the city of Pune, each of these eight shrines celebrates a particular form of Ganapati, complete with its own lore and legend. The eight shrines are: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar and Ranjangaon.

 

There are many other important Ganesha temples at the following locations: Wai in Maharashtra; Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Jodhpur, Nagaur and Raipur (Pali) in Rajasthan; Baidyanath in Bihar; Baroda, Dholaka, and Valsad in Gujarat and Dhundiraj Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Prominent Ganesha temples in southern India include the following: Kanipakam in Chittoor; the Jambukeśvara Temple at Tiruchirapalli; at Rameshvaram and Suchindram in Tamil Nadu; at Malliyur, Kottarakara, Pazhavangadi, Kasargod in Kerala, Hampi, and Idagunji in Karnataka; and Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.

 

T. A. Gopinatha notes, "Every village however small has its own image of Vighneśvara (Vigneshvara) with or without a temple to house it in. At entrances of villages and forts, below pīpaḹa (Sacred fig) trees [...], in a niche [...] in temples of Viṣṇu (Vishnu) as well as Śiva (Shiva) and also in separate shrines specially constructed in Śiva temples [...]; the figure of Vighneśvara is invariably seen." Ganesha temples have also been built outside of India, including southeast Asia, Nepal (including the four Vinayaka shrines in the Kathmandu valley), and in several western countries.

 

RISE TO PROMINENCE

 

FIRST APEARANCE

Ganesha appeared in his classic form as a clearly recognizable deity with well-defined iconographic attributes in the early 4th to 5th centuries. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest known iconic image of Ganesha is in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. His independent cult appeared by about the 10th century. Narain summarizes the controversy between devotees and academics regarding the development of Ganesha as follows:

 

What is inscrutable is the somewhat dramatic appearance of Gaņeśa on the historical scene. His antecedents are not clear. His wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing. On the one hand there is the pious belief of the orthodox devotees in Gaņeśa's Vedic origins and in the Purāṇic explanations contained in the confusing, but nonetheless interesting, mythology. On the other hand there are doubts about the existence of the idea and the icon of this deity" before the fourth to fifth century A.D. ... [I]n my opinion, indeed there is no convincing evidence of the existence of this divinity prior to the fifth century.

 

POSSIBLE INFLUENCES

Courtright reviews various speculative theories about the early history of Ganesha, including supposed tribal traditions and animal cults, and dismisses all of them in this way:

 

In the post 600 BC period there is evidence of people and places named after the animal. The motif appears on coins and sculptures.

 

Thapan's book on the development of Ganesha devotes a chapter to speculations about the role elephants had in early India but concludes that, "although by the second century CE the elephant-headed yakṣa form exists it cannot be presumed to represent Gaṇapati-Vināyaka. There is no evidence of a deity by this name having an elephant or elephant-headed form at this early stage. Gaṇapati-Vināyaka had yet to make his debut."

 

One theory of the origin of Ganesha is that he gradually came to prominence in connection with the four Vinayakas (Vināyakas). In Hindu mythology, the Vināyakas were a group of four troublesome demons who created obstacles and difficulties but who were easily propitiated. The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. Krishan is one of the academics who accepts this view, stating flatly of Ganesha, "He is a non-vedic god. His origin is to be traced to the four Vināyakas, evil spirits, of the Mānavagŗhyasūtra (7th–4th century BCE) who cause various types of evil and suffering". Depictions of elephant-headed human figures, which some identify with Ganesha, appear in Indian art and coinage as early as the 2nd century. According to Ellawala, the elephant-headed Ganesha as lord of the Ganas was known to the people of Sri Lanka in the early pre-Christian era.

 

A metal plate depiction of Ganesha had been discovered in 1993, in Iran, it dated back to 1,200 BCE. Another one was discovered much before, in Lorestan Province of Iran.

 

First Ganesha's terracotta images are from 1st century CE found in Ter, Pal, Verrapuram and Chandraketugarh. These figures are small, with elephant head, two arms, and chubby physique. The earliest Ganesha icons in stone were carved in Mathura during Kushan times (2nd-3rd centuries CE).

 

VEDIC AND EPIC LITERATURE

The title "Leader of the group" (Sanskrit: gaṇapati) occurs twice in the Rig Veda, but in neither case does it refer to the modern Ganesha. The term appears in RV 2.23.1 as a title for Brahmanaspati, according to commentators. While this verse doubtless refers to Brahmanaspati, it was later adopted for worship of Ganesha and is still used today. In rejecting any claim that this passage is evidence of Ganesha in the Rig Veda, Ludo Rocher says that it "clearly refers to Bṛhaspati—who is the deity of the hymn—and Bṛhaspati only". Equally clearly, the second passage (RV 10.112.9) refers to Indra, who is given the epithet 'gaṇapati', translated "Lord of the companies (of the Maruts)." However, Rocher notes that the more recent Ganapatya literature often quotes the Rigvedic verses to give Vedic respectability to Ganesha .

 

Two verses in texts belonging to Black Yajurveda, Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā (2.9.1) and Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (10.1), appeal to a deity as "the tusked one" (Dantiḥ), "elephant-faced" (Hastimukha), and "with a curved trunk" (Vakratuņḍa). These names are suggestive of Ganesha, and the 14th century commentator Sayana explicitly establishes this identification. The description of Dantin, possessing a twisted trunk (vakratuṇḍa) and holding a corn-sheaf, a sugar cane, and a club, is so characteristic of the Puranic Ganapati that Heras says "we cannot resist to accept his full identification with this Vedic Dantin". However, Krishan considers these hymns to be post-Vedic additions. Thapan reports that these passages are "generally considered to have been interpolated". Dhavalikar says, "the references to the elephant-headed deity in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā have been proven to be very late interpolations, and thus are not very helpful for determining the early formation of the deity".

 

Ganesha does not appear in Indian epic literature that is dated to the Vedic period. A late interpolation to the epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed, but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, in which the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote in an appendix. The story of Ganesha acting as the scribe occurs in 37 of the 59 manuscripts consulted during preparation of the critical edition. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyāsa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation. Richard L. Brown dates the story to the 8th century, and Moriz Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900, but it was not added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Winternitz also notes that a distinctive feature in South Indian manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend. The term vināyaka is found in some recensions of the Śāntiparva and Anuśāsanaparva that are regarded as interpolations. A reference to Vighnakartṛīṇām ("Creator of Obstacles") in Vanaparva is also believed to be an interpolation and does not appear in the critical edition.

 

PURANIC PERIOD

Stories about Ganesha often occur in the Puranic corpus. Brown notes while the Puranas "defy precise chronological ordering", the more detailed narratives of Ganesha's life are in the late texts, c. 600–1300. Yuvraj Krishan says that the Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha and how he acquired an elephant's head are in the later Puranas, which were composed from c. 600 onwards. He elaborates on the matter to say that references to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, are later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.

 

In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that:

 

Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.

 

Ganesha's rise to prominence was codified in the 9th century, when he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism. The 9th-century philosopher Adi Shankara popularized the "worship of the five forms" (Panchayatana puja) system among orthodox Brahmins of the Smarta tradition. This worship practice invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, and Surya. Adi Shankara instituted the tradition primarily to unite the principal deities of these five major sects on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity.

 

SCRIPTURES

Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some Brahmins (brāhmaṇas) chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity. They developed the Ganapatya tradition, as seen in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.

 

The date of composition for the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana - and their dating relative to one another - has sparked academic debate. Both works were developed over time and contain age-layered strata. Anita Thapan reviews comments about dating and provides her own judgement. "It seems likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana appeared around the twelfth and thirteenth centuries", she says, "but was later interpolated." Lawrence W. Preston considers the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana to be between 1100 and 1400, which coincides with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by the text.

 

R.C. Hazra suggests that the Mudgala Purana is older than the Ganesha Purana, which he dates between 1100 and 1400. However, Phyllis Granoff finds problems with this relative dating and concludes that the Mudgala Purana was the last of the philosophical texts concerned with Ganesha. She bases her reasoning on the fact that, among other internal evidence, the Mudgala Purana specifically mentions the Ganesha Purana as one of the four Puranas (the Brahma, the Brahmanda, the Ganesha, and the Mudgala Puranas) which deal at length with Ganesha. While the kernel of the text must be old, it was interpolated until the 17th and 18th centuries as the worship of Ganapati became more important in certain regions. Another highly regarded scripture, the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, was probably composed during the 16th or 17th centuries.

 

BEYOND INDIA AND HINDUISM

Commercial and cultural contacts extended India's influence in western and southeast Asia. Ganesha is one of a number of Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result.

 

Ganesha was particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. From approximately the 10th century onwards, new networks of exchange developed including the formation of trade guilds and a resurgence of money circulation. During this time, Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription invoking Ganesha before any other deity is associated with the merchant community.

 

Hindus migrated to Maritime Southeast Asia and took their culture, including Ganesha, with them. Statues of Ganesha are found throughout the region, often beside Shiva sanctuaries. The forms of Ganesha found in Hindu art of Java, Bali, and Borneo show specific regional influences. The spread of Hindu culture to southeast Asia established Ganesha in modified forms in Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indochina, Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced side by side, and mutual influences can be seen in the iconography of Ganesha in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia, and among the Hindu classes of the Chams in Vietnam, Ganesha was mainly thought of as a remover of obstacles. Today in Buddhist Thailand, Ganesha is regarded as a remover of obstacles, the god of success.

 

Before the arrival of Islam, Afghanistan had close cultural ties with India, and the adoration of both Hindu and Buddhist deities was practiced. Examples of sculptures from the 5th to the 7th centuries have survived, suggesting that the worship of Ganesha was then in vogue in the region.

 

Ganesha appears in Mahayana Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also as a Hindu demon form with the same name. His image appears in Buddhist sculptures during the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing. This form, called Nṛtta Ganapati, was popular in northern India, later adopted in Nepal, and then in Tibet. In Nepal, the Hindu form of Ganesha, known as Heramba, is popular; he has five heads and rides a lion. Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. A Tibetan rendering of Ganapati is tshogs bdag. In one Tibetan form, he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākāla, (Shiva) a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, and sometimes dancing. Ganesha appears in China and Japan in forms that show distinct regional character. In northern China, the earliest known stone statue of Ganesha carries an inscription dated to 531. In Japan, where Ganesha is known as Kangiten, the Ganesha cult was first mentioned in 806.

 

The canonical literature of Jainism does not mention the worship of Ganesha. However, Ganesha is worshipped by most Jains, for whom he appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. Jain connections with the trading community support the idea that Jainism took up Ganesha worship as a result of commercial connections. The earliest known Jain Ganesha statue dates to about the 9th century. A 15th-century Jain text lists procedures for the installation of Ganapati images. Images of Ganesha appear in the Jain temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

 

WIKIPEDIA

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EOS 5D Mark III+EF 24-70mm F4L IS USM

 

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The problem with painting a car gold is that when it begins to fade or in the wrong weather conditions it does start to look a bit off, I've seen one's before now which almost look Olive Green!

 

The second and final generation of the Silver Shadow, the Shadow II was built primarily to abide by the stringent American road safety legislation that was enacted in the 1970's. Chrome bumpers were replaced by composite, the ditch lights had to be positioned at a certain height (in this case underneath the bumper) and there were various other modifications made internally to make the car acceptable for the US market.

 

Many of these developments however were done as part of testbed schemes in the design of the newer Silver Spirit range that was being worked on throughout the late 1970's, added to with many design features found in the Camargue and in 1980 this combination came together to form the replacement for the 15 year old Shadow range.

I have just noticed this at our local bus stop. Just two days into the new busway service, Grant Palmer have had to alter their route around the Beecroft Estate in Dunstable because of badly parked cars. This means that the Co-op supermarket, Post Office and other shops are no longer served by bus. This parking problem was obviously anticipated as double yellow lines were recently painted on certain stretches of road. Odd then that the service was pulled so soon.

 

I walk this way to said Post Office every afternoon and have wondered why I havn't yet seen one of the new Scanias along here yet; now I know!!

  

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

Live at Revolver's Goon bar

Just got this NN Yasmin in the other day and im obsessed with her!!!

song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1LNQBX8JwE

We decided to go for a city break rather than sun in Tenerife again this September. Other than a few days in the North East we haven’t been away since last March and wanted a change and hopefully some sun. The problem is getting flights from the north of England to the places we want to go to. We chose Valencia as we could fly from East Midlands – which was still a pain to get to as it involved the most notorious stretch of the M1 at five in the morning. In the end we had a fairly good journey, the new Ryanair business class pre-booked scheme worked quite well and bang on time as usual. It was dull when we landed with storms forecast all week, the sky was bright grey – the kiss of death to the photography I had in mind. I was full of cold and wishing I was at work. It did rain but it was overnight on our first night and didn't affect us. There has been a drought for eleven months apparently and it rained on our first day there! The forecast storms didn't materialise in Valencia but they got it elsewhere.

 

You May notice discrepancies in the spelling of some Spanish words or names, this is because Valencian is used on signs, in some guide books and maps. There are two languages in common use with distinct differences. There may also be genuine mistakes - it has been known!

 

Over the course of a Monday to Sunday week we covered 75 miles on foot and saw most of the best of Valencia – The City of Bell Towers. The Old City covers a pretty large area in a very confusing layout. There was a lot of referring to maps – even compass readings! – a first in a city for us. The problem with photography in Valencia is that most of the famous and attractive building are closely built around, some have poor quality housing built on to them. Most photographs have to be taken from an extreme angle looking up. There are no high points as it is pan flat, there are a small number of buildings where you can pay to go up on to the roof for a better view and we went up them – more than once!

 

The modern buildings of The City of Arts and Sciences – ( Ciutat de Las Arts I de les Ciencies ) are what the city has more recently become famous for, with tourists arriving by the coachload all day until late at night. They must be photographed millions of times a month. We went during the day and stayed till dark one evening, I gave it my best shot but a first time visit is always a compromise between ambition and realism, time dictates that we have to move on to the next destination. I travelled with a full size tripod – another first – I forgot to take it with me to TCoAaS! so It was time to wind up the ISO, again! Needless to say I never used the tripod.

 

On a day when rain was forecast but it stayed fine, albeit a bit dull, we went to the Bioparc north west of the city, a zoo by another name. There are many claims made for this place, were you can appear to walk alongside some very large animals, including, elephants, lions, giraffe, rhino, gorillas and many types of monkey to name a few. It is laid out in different geographical regions and there is very little between you and the animals, in some cases there is nothing, you enter the enclosure through a double door arrangement and the monkeys are around you. It gets rave reviews and we stayed for most of the day. The animals it has to be said gave the appearance of extreme boredom and frustration and I felt quite sorry for them.

 

The course of The River Turia was altered after a major flood in the 50’s. The new river runs west of the city flanked by a motorway. The old river, which is massive, deep and very wide between ancient walls, I can’t imagine how it flooded, has been turned into a park that is five miles long. There is an athletics track, football pitches, cycle paths, restaurants, numerous kids parks, ponds, fountains, loads of bridges, historic and modern. At the western end closest to the sea sits The City of Arts and Sciences – in the river bed. Where it meets the sea there is Valencia’s urban Formula One racetrack finishing in the massive marina built for The Americas Cup. The race track is in use as roadways complete with fully removable street furniture, kerbs, bollards, lights, islands and crossings, everything is just sat on the surface ready to be moved.

 

We found the beach almost by accident, we were desperate for food after putting in a lot of miles and the afternoon was ticking by. What a beach, 100’s of metres wide and stretching as far as the eye could see with a massive promenade. The hard thing was choosing, out of the dozens of restaurants, all next door to each other, all serving traditional Paella – rabbit and chicken – as well as seafood, we don’t eat seafood and it constituted 90% of the menu in most places. Every restaurant does a fixed price dish of the day, with a few choices, three courses and a drink. Some times this was our only meal besides making the most of the continental breakfast at the hotel. We had a fair few bar stops with the local wine being cheap and pleasant it would have been a shame not to, there would have been a one woman riot – or strike!

 

On our final day, a Sunday, we were out of bed and down for breakfast at 7.45 as usual, the place was deserted barring a waiter. We walked out of the door at 8.30 – in to the middle of a mass road race with many thousands of runners, one of a series that take place in Valencia – apparently! We struggled to find out the distance, possibly 10km. The finish was just around the corner so off we went with the camera gear, taking photos of random runners and groups. There was a TV crew filming it and some local celebrity (I think) commentating. Next we came across some sort of wandering religious and musical event. Some sort of ritual was played out over the course of Sunday morning in various locations, it involved catholic priests and religious buildings and another film crew. The Catholic tourists and locals were filling the (many) churches for Sunday mass. Amongst all of this we had seen men walking around in Arab style dress – the ones in black looked like the ones from ISIS currently beheading people – all carrying guns. A bit disconcerting. We assumed that there had been some sort of battle enactment. We were wrong, it hadn’t happened yet. A while later, about 11.30 we could hear banging, fireworks? No it was our friends with the guns. We were caught up in total mayhem, around 60 men randomly firing muskets with some sort of blank rounds, the noise, smoke and flames from the muzzles were incredible. We were about to climb the Torres de Serranos which is where, unbeknown to us, the grand, and deafening, finale was going to be. We could feel the blast in our faces on top of the tower. Yet again there was a film camera in attendance. I couldn’t get close ups but I got a good overview and shot my first video with the 5D, my first in 5 years of owning a DLSR with the capability. I usually use my phone ( I used my phone as well). Later in the day there was a bullfight taking place, the ring was almost next to our hotel, in the end we had other things to do and gave it a miss, it was certainly a busy Sunday in the city centre, whether it’s the norm or not I don’t know.

 

There is a tram system in Valencia but it goes from the port area into the newer part of the city on the north side, it wouldn’t be feasible to serve the historic old city really. A quick internet search told me that there are 55,000 university students in the city, a pretty big number. I think a lot of the campus is on the north side and served by the tram although there is a massive fleet of buses as well. There is a massive, very impressive market building , with 100’s of stalls that would make a photo project on its own, beautiful on the inside and out but very difficult to get decent photos of the exterior other than detail shots owing to the closeness of other buildings and the sheer size of it. Across town, another market has been beautifully renovated and is full of bars and restaurants and a bit of a destination in its own right.

 

A downside was the all too typical shafting by the taxi drivers who use every trick in the book to side step the official tariffs and rob you. The taxi from the airport had a “broken” meter and on the way home we were driven 22 km instead of the nine that is the actual distance. Some of them seem to view tourists as cash cows to be robbed at all costs. I emailed the Marriot hotel as they ordered the taxi, needless to say no answer from Marriot – they’ve had their money. We didn’t get the rip off treatment in the bars etc. that we experienced in Rome, prices are very fair on most things, certainly considering the city location.

 

All in all we had a good trip and can highly recommend Valencia.

 

Any problems?

Événement lors du califat de Muawiya Ier

La mort de Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah et la nomination de Samourah Ibn Joundoub pour Basra

  

Cette même année, en l’an 49 de l’Hégire (669), décéda le respectable Compagnon et le général héros al-Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah Ibn Abi ‘Amir Ibn Mas’oud ath-Thaqafi, qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui. Il est mort poignardé et fut enterré à Koufa. D’autres ont rapporté que sa mort fut en l’an 50 (669) et d’autres en l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670).

  

Il est connu que Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah devint musulman l’année de la bataille de la Tranchée. Il était présent à Houdaybiyah et au pacte de Ridwan. Il combattit lors des batailles des Apostats, à Yamamah. Il participa à la conquête de la Syrie, à Yarmouk et à la conquête de la Perse et de l’Iraq à Qadissiyah. Il resta à l’écart de la Fitnah et lors de l’appel au Jugement par le Livre d’Allah sous ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), il rejoignit les rangs de Mou’awiyah, qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux.

  

Lorsque Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah mourut, Mou’awiyah rajouta à Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan la gouvernance de Basra et de Koufa. Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan nomma Samourah Ibn Joundoub al-Khazari (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) gouverneur de Basra.

  

Samourah Ibn Joundoub combattit en compagnie du Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) et il était implacable envers les khawarije. S’il était informé de la présence de l’un d’entre eux, il se chargeait de le tuer lui-même tellement il les détestait et disait : « Les pires créatures vivant sous le ciel, ils jettent la mécréance sur les Musulmans et rendent licite leur sang ». Samourah mourut en l’an 59 de l’Hégire (678), puisse Allah lui faire miséricorde.

  

Quand Samourah prit son poste en charge, il alla directement à la mosquée de Koufa, monta sur la chair de prêche et fit un discours. Lorsqu’il eut finit certaines personnes se levèrent et le haranguèrent. Il s’assit le temps de les laisser finir tout en ordonnant à sa garde de se mettre aux portes de la mosquée. Puis il demanda aux gens de Koufa présent de sortir de la mosquée quatre par quatre. Il leur dit : « Quiconque d’entre vous jurera par Allah qu’il n’a pas cherché à me juger sera libre. Quiconque ne jurera pas sera emprisonné et expulsé ».

  

Certains ont rapporté que le nombre de personnes n’ayant pas juré s’éleva à trois tandis que d’autres ont rapporté le nombre de huit. Il ordonna que leurs mains soient tranchées. Le crime de ces gens est d’avoir manqué de respect et de considérer celui en charge de leurs affaires comme moins que rien.

  

A ceux qui se poseront la question, pourquoi une telle violence, il faut se rappeler les graves évènements qui secouèrent la nation islamique de l’époque ou plus de soixante-dix-mille Musulmans trouvèrent la mort suite à la grande Fitnah qui débuta avec l’assassinat du troisième Calife Bien Guidé ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Samourah voulut empêcher dès son arrivée la résurgence de tels troubles en appliquant à ceux qui seraient tentés et aux fauteurs de troubles un dur châtiment afin qu’ils soient une leçon pour tous.

  

Si le gouverneur perdait le contrôle des évènements, ils pourraient s’ensuivre à nouveau d’inquiétants évènements. Samourah voulut immédiatement couper court à cette éventualité connaissant sa haine des khawarije.

  

Ceci doit servir d’exemple pour faite face à de tels évènements dans le futur. L’histoire des Omeyyades est pleine de révoltes, de guerres, de divisions, de rebellions et de luttes fratricides.

  

Il fallait mettre fin aux troubles, dont les effets furent extrêmement néfastes pour les Musulmans, d’une manière impitoyable et appliquer aux subversifs un très dur châtiment. Il n’y a aucun intérêt à laisser faire les gens d’innovations, de convoitises et les révolutionnaires. Ils ne doivent pas être abandonnés mais traités obligatoirement comme il se doit et rapidement pour éviter les effets funestes qu’entrainent leurs actions, ceci bien évidemment dans l’état islamique ou la Loi d’Allah est appliquée dans son intégralité. Mais vous êtes-vous jamais demandé si vous étiez prêts pour un état islamique ou bien les cœurs cacheraient quelques hypocrisies ?

  

En l’an 50 de l’Hégire (670), décéda le respectable Compagnon Abou Moussa al-Asha’i. Il est ‘Abdallah Ibn Qays Ibn Soulaym des Ash’ariyine qui sont des tribus Kahlan et Qahtaniyah. Abou Moussa al-Asha’i (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) a une grande histoire. Il est le conquérant d’Ispahan, d’al-Ahwaz et un des deux juges lors du conflit suite à l’assassinat de ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). D’autres ont rapporté que sa mort eut lieu en l’an 53 de l’Hégire (673). Nous avons rapporté les deux versions sur lesquels les historiens sont en désaccord et qui ne sont que des désaccords minimes.

  

Durant cette année, Bousr Ibn Abi Artat et Soufyan Ibn Awf al-Azdi attaquèrent conjointement les territoires byzantins tandis que Fadalah Ibn ‘Oubayd al-Ansari les attaqua par mer.

  

La conquête de Tunis et la construction de la ville de Kairouan

  

Durant cette même année, Mou’awiyah Ibn Houdayj, le gouverneur d’Egypte et d’Ifriqiyah[1], fut désisté par Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan et remplacé par ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ al-Fihri pour l’Ifriqiyah et Maslamah pour l’Egypte et ensuite pour Ifriqiyah. ‘Ouqbah conquit Tunis (ifriqiyah) et la ville de Kairouan (qayrawan). Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar a rapporté que l’emplacement de la ville était mauvais à cause du grand nombre de serpents, de fauves, et d’autres animaux du même genre. Quand Allah Exalté Tout Puissant et Grand les appela, aucun animal ne resta et les bêtes de proies emportèrent leurs petits. ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi a dit : « Lorsque nous nous sommes installé, les animaux s’enfuirent de leurs repaires en nous blâmant ».

  

Zayd Ibn Abi Habib, un homme de l’armée égyptienne dit : « Nous arrivâmes avec ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ qui fut la première personne à faire un plan de la ville. Il l’a divisa en quartiers, construisit des maisons pour les gens et la mosquée. Nous restâmes avec lui jusqu’à ce qu’il fut désisté. Il était le meilleur des gouverneurs et le meilleur commandant ».

  

Puis, Mou’awiyah désista Mou’awiyah Ibn Houdayj d’Egypte et ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ d’Ifriqiyah et nomma à leur place, Maslamah Ibn Moukhallad pour toute l’Afrique du Nord et l’Egypte à l’ouest. Il fut le premier gouverneur pour qui l’ouest entier, l’Egypte, Barqah, Tripoli (tarablous) et Tunis fut combiné. Maslamah Ibn Moukhallad nomma son domestique al-Mouhajir pour Tunis et démit ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ de ses fonctions. Maslamah resta gouverneur d’Egypte et de l’ouest jusqu’à la mort de Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan.

  

Certains ont dit que cette même année, al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr al-Ghifari décéda à Merv après son retour d’une razzia contre les gens de la montagne d’al-Ashall.

  

Le raid d’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr contre al-Ashall

  

Alors qu’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr se trouvait au Khorasan. Ziyad lui écrivit : « Les armes des gens de la montagne d’al-Ashall sont de feutre et leurs vaisselles d’or ». Ibn ‘Amr les attaqua, puis se retira et lorsque ses forces atteignirent le milieu du défilé, l’ennemi prit des pistes secrètes et l’encercla. Ne sachant que faire, il délégua le commandement de l’armée à al-Mouhallab qui résista et finit par capturer un de leurs chefs à qui il dit : « Choisis : sois je te tue ou alors tu nous sors de cette passe ». L’homme lui dit alors : « Allume un feu sur l’une de ces routes, ordonne que les bagages soient amenés, et tourne toi vers cette route afin que les gens pensent que tu as commencé à voyager le long de celle-ci. Alors, ils vont se rassembler sur cette route et vous abandonneront les autres. Alors laisse-les, prends une autre route et ils ne pourront vous attaquer avant que vous ayez quitté le défilé. Il fit ainsi et ils purent s’échapper avec un immense butin jusqu’à Hérat avant de retourner à Merv.

  

Ziyad écrivit à al-Hakam et lui dit : « Par Allah, si tu survie, je te décapiterais certainement ! » Parce que Ziyad lui écrivit précédemment lorsqu’il fut informé de l’immense quantité qu’il avait pris, lui disant : « L’émir des croyants m’a écrit pour lui demander de lui choisir de l’or, de l’argent et des objets précieux pour son usage personnel. Ne fait rien avant d’avoir procéder à sa demande. » Al-Hakam lui répondit au dos de sa lettre : « Ta lettre vient de me parvenir dans laquelle tu mentionnes que l’émir des croyants t’a ordonné ceci et cela. Mais sache que le Livre d’Allah Exalté, Tout-Puissant et Grand, est prioritaire au désir de l’émir des croyants. Par Allah, si « les cieux et la terre formaient une masse compacte[2] » un serviteur doit craindre Allah à Lui les Louanges et la Gloire. Allah Exalté et Loué soit-Il, lui fournira une sortie ». Il dit alors aux soldats d’aller prendre leur part du butin, après qu’il eut mis de côté le cinquième, il le divisa équitablement entre eux. Al-Hakam dit alors : « O Grand Seigneur, si Tu considères que ce que j’ai fait est juste alors prends-moi ». Et, il mourut peu après dans la capitale du Khorasan à Merv après avoir nommé Anas Ibn Abi Ounas son successeur.

  

Les Musulmans s’installent au Khorasan

  

En l’an 51 de l’Hégire (671), Fadalah Ibn ‘Oubayd attaqua en hiver le territoire byzantin et Bousr Ibn Abi Artat, en été.

  

Ziyad nomma ar-Rabi’ Ibn Ziyad al-Harithi gouverneur du Khorasan après la mort d’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr al-Ghifari. Al-Hakam nomma Anas Ibn Abi Ounas pour lui succéder dans sa juridiction après sa mort et Anas conduisit la prière sur al-Hakam à sa mort et avant de mourir, al-Hakam écrivit à Ziyad pour l’informer de la nomination d’Anas. Ziyad le désista et le remplaça par Khoulayd Ibn ‘AbdAllah al- Hanafi avant d’être remplacé à son tour, après n’être resté qu’un mois gouverneur, par Rabi’ Ibn Ziyad al-Harithi. Les gens partirent avec leurs familles au Khorasan ou ils s’établirent de manière permanente tandis que peu après Ziyad désista ar-Rabi’.

  

Quand ar-Rabi’ arriva au Khorasan, il conquit pacifiquement Balkh après que les gens de la ville l’ai fermée[3] suite au traité de paix conclut avec al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays. Il conquit le Qouhistan par la force et comme il y avait des Turcs dans ses régions, il les combattit. Il en tua certains avant que les autres ne s’enfuient. L’un des survivants étaient Nizak Tarkhan que Qoutaybah Ibn Mouslim tua quand il fut gouverneur. Certains ont rapporté que lors de sa campagne ar-Rabi’ traversa le fleuve Oxus avec son domestique, Farroukh et sa servante Sharifah. Il pilla et revint sans avoir été inquiété si bien qu’il libéra Farroukh.

  

Le premier Musulman qui but de l’eau du fleuve fut un domestique d’al-Hakam à l’aide de son bouclier. Il en donna à al-Hakam qui en but et fit ses ablutions avant d’exécuter deux unités de prières au-delà du fleuve et il fut la première personne à le faire.

  

La mort de Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy Ibn Jaballah al-Kindi

  

Toujours en l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670) fut tué Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy Ibn Jaballah al-Kindi. Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy comme certains l’ont dit était un respectable Compagnon (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) mais la plupart des rapporteurs de Hadith, comme l’a signalé al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir, ne lui reconnaissent pas de mérite.

  

Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy était un adorateur ascète, un général héros qui prit le parti de ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Il était à l’époque de Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), émir de Koufa et un de ceux qui le critiquèrent. Moughirah qui était un homme lucide le mit plusieurs fois en garde contre les conséquences néfastes de tels propos alors que l’obéissance et le respect sont dus au Sultan.

  

Un jour Moughirah lui dit : « O Houjr, soit perdu, crains le Seigneur ! O Houjr, soit perdu, crains le sultan ! Crains sa colère, crains son rang car parfois la colère du sultan met fin à des individus tels que toi ! »

  

Moughirah le mettait en garde mais il l’excusait et lui pardonnait.

  

L’Imam Tabari a rapporté dans son livre d’Histoire que Moughirah, alors qu’il approchait de sa fin, implora le pardon pour ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux). Il dit : « O Seigneur pardonne à ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan et récompense le des meilleurs récompenses pour ses actions. Il appliqua Tes Lois et suivit la Sounnah de Ton Messager (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui). Il nous unifia, nous protégea et fut tué injustement. O grand Seigneur pardonne à ses partisans, à ses amis, à ceux qui l’aiment et le protégèrent et à ceux qui cherchèrent à le venger puis il implora contre ceux qui l’avait tué ».

  

Houjr se leva un jour dans la mosquée et se mit à crier en mal contre Moughirah si bien que tous ceux qui étaient présents et à l’extérieur l’entendirent. Il dit : « Tu ne fais pas attention à ceux à qui tu portes préjudices par tes actes. Ou sont nos bien que tu as arrêté de nous donner. Viens nous voir et distribuent nous les car ils ne t’appartiennent pas. Tu es devenu renommé avec la mort de l’Emir des Croyants (sous-entendu ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui)) et un support pour les criminels (sous-entendu les partisans de Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) ».

  

At-Tabari a rapporté qu’un tiers de l’assistance s’est levé avec lui et se mirent à scander : « Houjr a dit la vérité ».

  

Al-Moughirah descendit du Minbar et rentra chez lui. Ses gens le rejoignirent et le critiquèrent à propos des sa réaction aux propos de Houjr. Cela allait conduire à deux évènements :

  

- Le premier, l’habitude des gens à se rebeller contre les dirigeants et l’autre la colère du calife à Damas contre Moughirah. Les gens lui demandèrent :

  

- « Après qui tu en as ? » Il répondit :

  

- « Moughirah ! Car je l’ai tué. Comment l’ai-je tué ? Il viendra un émir après moi et il le considérera comme moi et il lui fera comme il a fait avec moi. Il le tuera à sa première remarque. Ma fin approche et je ne veux pas pousser les gens de Syrie à tuer les meilleurs d’entre eux et à faire couler leur sang. Eux seront content tandis que moi je serais perdu. Afin que dans ce monde Mou’awiyah en tire de l’honneur tandis que Moughirah sera humilié le jour de Qiyamah ».

  

Lorsque Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan prit en charge son poste, il mit en garde Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy et lui conseilla de ne pas répéter ce qu’il faisait lors du vivant de Moughirah. Ziyad lui dit : « Sache que je te connais, j’étais en compagnie de ton père pour une affaire que tu connais (sous-entendu qu’ils étaient des partisans de ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Si ton sang venait à couler une seule goutte, sache alors que je te viderais de tout ton sang. Retiens ta langue et reste à l’écart des problèmes afin que les ignorants ne te suivent pas ». Et Houjr qui connaissait Ziyad comprit bien ses paroles menaçantes.

  

Ziyad partageait son temps entre Koufa et Basra ou il restait six mois dans chacune des villes pour gérer les affaires des Musulmans.

  

Lorsqu’il partit pour Basra, les shiites de Koufa vinrent trouver Houjr et ils se réunirent régulièrement chez lui ou ils insultaient Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) et le reniaient.

  

Le secrétaire de Ziyad à Koufa, ‘Amr Ibn Hourayth, le mit en garde contre ses activités et lui envoya un messager qui lui dit :

  

- « Qui sont ces gens qui se réunissent chez toi alors que l’émir t’a mis en garde ? » Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy lui répondit :

  

- « Ils critiquent ce que vous faites. Maintenant va-t’en ! » Et il le renvoya durement en lui disant :

  

- « Fait attention à toi et surveille ton dos ! »

  

Lorsque l’homme revint à ‘Amr et l’informa, celui-ci fit envoyer un messager à Ziyad lui demandant de revenir sur le champ à Koufa à cause de la gravité de la situation pouvant engendrer rapidement une révolte.

  

Lorsque Ziyad entendu le messager et les graves nouvelles, il revint sur le champ et dit : « Par Allah je vais couper le fil du coup du traitre obtus ».

  

Puis il envoya à Houjr trois compagnons du Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) : ‘Adiyy Ibn Hatim at-Tahi, Jarir Ibn ‘Abdillah al-Bajali et Khalid Ibn ‘Ourfouta al-Leythi, Leythi des Bani Bakr Ibn ‘Abdel Manaf Ibn Kinanah, (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux).

  

D’autres ont dit que c’était Khalid Ibn ‘Ourfouta Ibn Sou’ayr al- ‘Oudri : Hanif Ibn Zouhra (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) et cela n’a pas d’importance.

  

Lorsqu’ils rencontrèrent Houjr, ils parlèrent avec lui mais il ne leur répondit pas. Plutôt, il dit à son serviteur :

  

- « O ghoulam, as-tu attaché le chamelon ? » ‘Adiyy Ibn Hatim lui dit :

  

- « Es-tu possédé ? Nous te parlons de choses sérieuses et tu nous dit : « O ghoulam, as-tu attaché le chamelon ? »

  

Puis, ils retournèrent à Ziyad et ne l’informèrent que de choses légères pour qu’il ne se mette pas en colère contre eux et lui demandèrent d’avoir pitié de lui.

  

Et il lui arriva ce que personne des Arabes n’attendait ni même Moughirah. Ziyad envoya la police mettre de nouveau en garde Houjr et son clan ne lui fut d’aucune utilité comme l’a rapporté Ibn Kathir. La police le ramena à Ziyad qui l’emprisonna dix jours.

  

Lorsque Houjr sortit, il rejoignit ses amis. Ziyad les envoya à Mou’awiyah en Syrie, en compagnie de soixante-dix personnes qui témoigneraient que :

  

- Houjr et ses partisans encourageaient les gens à la désobéissance, à la révolte et à la guerre contre l’émir,

  

- Qu’ils avaient rompu le pacte d’obéissance à l’émir,

  

- Qu’ils s’étaient mis à l’écart de la communauté,

  

- Qu’ils cherchaient à semer la division parmi les Musulmans,

  

- Qu’ils insultaient le calife, et chacune de ces accusations était passible de la peine de mort !

  

Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy fut emmené en Syrie avec treize de ses compagnons à Mardj Adra près de Damas. Le motif d’accusation de Ziyad fut lue à Mou’awiyah puis les gens témoignèrent. Lorsqu’ils eurent finit, Mou’awiyah étonné de leur comportement leur demanda :

  

- « Que pensez-vous de ces accusations des vôtres ? »

  

Puis il écrivit à Ziyad et lui dit : « Parfois je pense que leur mise à mort est meilleure que leur libération et parfois, je pense que leur pardon est meilleur que leur mise à mort ».

  

Lorsque le message parvint à Ziyad, il lui répondit : « Je reste perplexe des choix qui se sont imposés à toi. Si tu penses qu’ils ont un quelconque intérêt ne me renvoie pas Houjr et ses compagnons ».

  

Les gens du peuple de Syrie de la famille de certains des accusés se levèrent pour intercéder en leur faveur. Mou’awiyah pardonna à six d’entre eux mais il refusa l’intercession de Malik Ibn Houbayrah as-Sakouni al-Kindi en faveur de Houjr, Houjr al-Kindi.

  

Mou’awiyah lui dit je ne peux accepter ton intercession parce que ce membre de ta tribu est leur chef et j’ai peur que la ville de Koufa échappe à mon contrôle à cause de ses agissements. Mou’awiyah ordonna que les six soient relâchés et que tous les autres soient exécutés.

  

Les tombes furent creusées et les linceuls préparés. Houjr demanda à faire ses ablutions puis pria deux unités de prières tandis que Houdbah Ibn Khayad se présenta avec son sabre pour l’exécuter. On lui dit :

  

- « Peut-être n’es-tu pas encore prêt ». Houjr répondit :

  

- « Comment ne serais-je pas encore prêt alors que je vois la tombe creusée, le linceul et le sabre affûté (sous-entendu la mort) ».

  

Lorsque la mère des croyants Saydah ‘Ayshah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’elle), qui se trouvait à Médine l’Illuminée, entendit parler de ces révoltes orchestrés par Houjr et son transfert en Syrie, elle envoya ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith al-Makhzoumi (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) à Mou’awiyah pour lui demander de libérer Houjr. Mais ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith arriva trop tard et ‘Ayshah fut très fâchée par la mort de Houjr.

  

Lorsque Mou’awiyah vint à Médine et demanda à entrer pour saluer la Mère des croyants, ‘Ayshah refusa de le recevoir alors qu’il était le calife des Musulmans. Et elle dit : « Il ne rentrera jamais chez moi. »

  

Ibn Kathir (puisse Allah lui faire miséricorde) a dit dans « al-Bidayah wal Nihayah » que Mou’awiyah se justifia longuement et réussit à rentrer chez elle et que ‘Ayshah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’elle) lui pardonna.

  

Il est aussi rapporté que Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) lui dit qu’il avait tué cet homme pour l’intérêt général des gens et que c’était préférable à leur corruption.

  

Il est aussi rapporté que ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) se trouvait assit au marché lorsqu’il entendit les nouvelles de la mort de Houjr, il pleura et sanglota longuement.

  

Lorsque ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith al-Makhzoumi rencontra Mou’awiyah, il lui demanda :

  

- « As-tu tué Houjr Ibn al-Abdar ? » Mou’awiyah lui répondit :

  

- « Sa mort m’est préférable que je tue avec lui des gens que tu ne connais pas (sous-entendu : il vaut mieux tuer un seul homme que d’en tuer des milliers) ».

  

La mort de Houjr fut aussi un des évènements douloureux du règne des Omeyyades.

  

La mort de plusieurs Compagnons du Prophète en l’an 51

  

En l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670), mourut un grand nombre de Compagnons. Nous ne pouvons pas tous les nommer ici mais nous allons en citer seulement quelqu’un.

  

- Sa’id Ibn Zayd Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Noufayl (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), un des grands Compagnons et l’un des dix compagnons à qui fut annoncé le Paradis de leur vivant par le Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui). Il mourut à Médine.

  

- ‘AbdAllah Ibn Ounays al-Jouhani (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Il participa à tous les évènements excepté Badr. Il fut témoin à al-‘Aqabah.

  

- Abou Bakra, le respectable Compagnon (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui).

  

- Jarir Ibn ‘AbdAllah al-Bajali (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) qui devint musulman au mois de Ramadan de l’année 10 de l’Hégire (631).

  

Boukhari a rapporté dans son Sahih que Jarir a dit : « Chaque fois que le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) m’a vu, il m’a vu le sourire au lèvre. Je me suis plain auprès de lui de ma difficulté à tenir sur un cheval. Alors il frappa ma poitrine du plat de la main et dit « O Grand Seigneur rends le ferme et un guide qui guide » ».

  

Ahmad a aussi rapporté de lui dans son Mousnad que le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) lui dit : « N’allez-vous pas me débarrasser de Dzoul Khalassah[4] ! »

  

Jarir dit : « Nous sortîmes au nombre de cinquante cavaliers et nous l’avons détruit ou brûlé jusqu’à la laisser comme un chameau galeux. Puis, j’envoyais un messager en informer le Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) qui lui dit : « O Prophète d’Allah ! Par Celui qui t’a envoyé avec la vérité, je ne suis pas venu avant de l’avoir détruit et laissé comme un chameau galeux ! Alors le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) dit cinq fois de suite : « Puisse Allah bénir les chevaux d’Ahmas[5] et leurs hommes. » Alors je lui dis : « O Messager d’Allah, je suis un homme qui a du mal à se tenir sur un cheval ». Alors il (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) mit sa main sur ma figure si bien que je senti la fraicheur de sa main et il dit : « O Grand Seigneur ! Fais un de lui un guide qui guide ».

  

Jarir Ibn ‘Abdallah al-Bajali participa aux conquêtes d’Iraq et combattit lors de la bataille d’al-Qadissiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui).

  

En l’an 52 de l’Hégire (672), Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi attaqua le territoire byzantin. Al-Waqidi a aussi affirmé qu’il trouva la mort et qu’il désigna ‘AbdAllah Ibn Mas’adah al-Fazari comme son successeur avant de mourir.

  

D’autres ont dit que cette année aussi, Bousr Ibn Abi Artat accompagné de Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi razzièrent le territoire byzantin. Tandis que d’autres ont dit que ce fut Muhammad Ibn ‘AbdAllah ath-Thaqafi qui commanda l’attaque.

  

La conquête de Rhodes et la mort de Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan

  

En l’an 53 de l’Hégire (672), ‘AbderRahmane Ibn Oumm al-Hakam ath-Thaqafi attaqua le territoire byzantin.

  

Jounadah Ibn Abi Oumayyah al-Azdi conquis Rhodes[6], une île dans la mer. Les Musulmans s’y établirent, l’a cultivèrent et acquirent des biens. Le bétail paissait la journée dans les prairies avant d’être rentrés dans la forteresse à la tombée de la nuit. Ils établirent aussi un guet pour les prévenir de toutes surprises venant de mer. Ils causèrent un grand désarroi aux Byzantins parce qu’ils bloquaient leurs navires. Mou’awiyah leur envoyait régulièrement des vivres et dépensait pour eux tandis que l’ennemi les craignaient. Quand Mou’awiyah décéda, Yazid Ibn Mou’awiyah les rapatria.

  

Il est n’est pas inutile de préciser que sous le règne de Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), les conquêtes ne cessèrent pas.

  

Au mois de Ramadan de cette même année décéda Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan. Juste auparavant, il envoya un message à Mou’awiyah lui disant : « Je t’ai assujetti l’Iraq avec ma gauche, donne-moi le Hijaz que j’occupe ma droite ».

  

Lorsque les gens du Hijaz furent informés, ils en parlèrent au respectable Compagnon ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar Ibn al-Khattab (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) qui leur dit : « Invoquez Allah qu’Il nous en débarrasse ». Puis tous ensemble, ils s’orientèrent vers la Qiblah pour implorer le Seigneur contre lui.

  

Et comme l’a mentionné Ibn Kathir, Ziyad fut poignardé par la permission d’Allah peu de temps après et Allah Exalté soit-Il écarta son mal du Hijaz et de La Mecque.

  

En l’an 54 de l’Hégire (673), Muhammad Ibn Malik attaqua le territoire byzantin en hiver et Ma’n Ibn Yazid as-Soulami en été.

  

Waqidi a rapporté que Jounadah Ibn Abi Oumayyah captura une île proche de Constantinople nommée Arwad. Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar a rapporté que les Musulmans, dont Moujahid Ibn Jabr, y restèrent durant sept années. Toubay, le fils de la femme de Ka’b dit un jour : « Voyez-vous cette marche (darajah) ? Lorsqu’elle sera enlevée, l’heure de notre retour arrivera ». Un jour de vent fort, la marche fut emportée et quelqu’un arriva, annonça la mort de Mou’awiyah avec une lettre de Yazid. Alors, nous sommes revenus. L’île devint inhabitée et après cela les habitations tombèrent en ruine tandis que les Byzantins se réjouirent de leur départ.

  

‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad nommé gouverneur du Khorasan

  

‘Oubaydillah partit de Syrie pour le Khorasan à la fin de l’année 53 de l’Hégire (673) alors qu’il était âgé de vingt-cinq ans. Il envoya devant lui Aslam Ibn Zour‘ah al-Kilabi au Khorasan. ‘Oubaydillah parti accompagné par al-Ja’d Ibn Qays an-Namari qui récita des vers dans une élégie pour Ziyad. ‘Oubaydillah pleura ce jour jusqu’à ce que son turban tombe de sa tête.

  

Du Khorasan, il traversa sur un chameau l’Oxus et marcha vers les montagnes de Boukhara, Il fut donc le premier atteindre les gens de Boukhara en traversant la montagne avec une armée. Il conquit les villes de Ramithan et Baykand[7] qui dépendent de Boukhara et qu’il atteignit à partir d’elles. ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad affronta les Turcs à Boukhara alors que Qabj Khatoun, l’épouse du roi était avec son mari. Quand Allah Exalté les vainquit, les Turcs lui conseillèrent vivement de remettre ses pantoufles. Elle mit l’un d’eux tandis que l’autre fut laissé en arrière que les Musulmans acquirent et qui valait deux-cents-mille dirhams.

  

Quelqu’un a rapporté : Je n’ai jamais vu personne de plus courageux que ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad. Une armée de Turcs nous attaqua au Khorasan, et je l’ai vu combattre. Il les chargea, pénétra leurs rangs et disparu de vue puis, il éleva sa bannière ruisselante de sang.

  

‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad rapporta à Basra deux-mille personnes de Boukhara. Ils étaient tous d’excellents archers. L’armée des Turcs à Boukhara était une des nombreuses armées du Khorasan qui étaient au nombre de cinq. Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays rencontra l’une d’entre elle entre Qouhistan et Abrashahr[8], et les trois à Marghab. La cinquième armée de Qarin fut détruite par ‘AbdAllah Ibn Khazim. ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad resta deux années au Khorasan.

  

Puis à la fin de l’année 55 de l’Hégire (674), Mou’awiyah le nomma gouverneur de Basra à la place de ‘Abdallah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Ghaylan.

  

En l’an 55 de l’Hégire (674), Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi razzia le territoire byzantin. D’autres ont dit que c’était ‘Amr Ibn Mouhriz, et d’autres ont dit ‘AbdAllah Ibn Qays al-Fazari et d’autres Malik Ibn ‘AbdAllah.

  

Les raisons qui poussèrent Mou’awiyah à l’engagement de Yazid Ibn Mou’awiyah à prendre en charge le mandat

  

En l’an 56 de l’Hégire (675), Mou’awiyah demanda aux gens de porter allégeance à son fils Yazid après lui et le nomma responsable des affaires des Musulmans. Tous les gens lui portèrent allégeance excepté cinq personnes :

  

- Al-Houssayn Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib,

  

- ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar,

  

- ‘AbdAllah Ibn Zoubayr,

  

-’AbdAllah Ibn ‘Abbas Ibn ‘Abdel Moutalib et

  

- ‘AbderRahmane Ibn Abou Bakr as-Siddiq (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux).

  

L’on peut se demander pourquoi Mou’awiyah nomma Yazid calife des Musulmans ? Cette question est de prime importance. Mou’awiyah dut réfléchit prudemment à la question et il en tira plusieurs conclusions.

  

- La grande Fitnah était toujours présente dans l’esprit des Musulmans et il était impératif pour eux de s’unifier auprès de leur émir et de ne pas se diviser une nouvelle fois.

  

Mais n’y avait-il pas pour Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan des gens meilleurs que son fils Yazid pour la nomination ?

  

Certes, il ne fait aucun doute qu’il y avait des milliers de Compagnons et des dizaines de milliers de compagnon des Compagnons meilleurs que Yazid dont il ne prit même pas la peine de consulter.

  

Et il ne fait aussi aucun doute que du côté politique et juridique, que Mou’awiyah vit derrière son fils Yazid l’assurance de l’armée de Syrie et c’est un point très important que d’avoir une armée dévouée car les soldats de Syrie étaient les piliers de l’état omeyyade et ce depuis ses premiers jours. Ces soldats avaient la particularité d’écouter et d’obéir à Mou’awiyah au doigt et à l’œil mais aussi de ne jamais lui avoir désobéi !

  

Quant à Yazid, il avait l’expérience militaire. Il fut le premier commandant à avoir attaqué Constantinople, la capitale de César (qayssar) à la tête d’une armée comportant des compagnons que nous avons déjà mentionné.

  

Il fut aussi nommé émir du Hajj des Musulmans durant les années 51, 52 et 53 de l’Hégire.

  

Ainsi Mou’awiyah le nomma émir des Musulmans du fait qu’il avait de l’expérience dans les affaires des Musulmans et une stabilité politique ferme derrière lui. S’il avait abandonné les Musulmans sans émir cela aurait pu conduire à des évènements bien plus graves.

  

Avec la porte de la Fitnah ouverte avec l’assassinat du troisième Calife Martyr ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), Mou’awiyah voulut prendre des précautions pour protéger les Musulmans et éviter que la porte ne s’ouvre de nouveau.

Flickr is a mess in Firefox. It started midday on Monday. I thought it was just another problem with the system (note the uploading problems on Monday), but eventually I realized that the site was showing up just fine in IE.

 

So what in the world is going on? I deleted the Flickr cookies, but that didn't change anything. The css files seem to come up fine on their own, but it looks like they're not being pulled in when rendering the basic pages.

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

In the end, clearing the cache worked. It's something I really didn't want to have to do, but after trying several other things, it was the only idea I had left.

Problem: Wacom 2's USB plug is only recognized by Macbook when jammed so hard in its USB port that it nearly does damage.

 

Solution: Plug tablet into USB hub, use duct tape to jam the USB plug in hard, plug USB multi-hub into Macbook

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

problems...

Day 245-- Part three in the continuing saga of the sick baby. Did I clone out a huge amount of personal information? Yes, I did.

 

Day three of Annika's fever dawned, and while the fever was better, the rash was worse. It was getting pretty gross, and Annika still didn't have one single symptom of a cold as diagnosed by the ER doctor, so we decided it was time to go back to the doctor. We were on vacation, a good three hours from our doctor's office, so our choices were the emergency room at the hospital (again) or the urgent care clinic. We opted for the urgent care clinic, because it sure didn't look like an emergency and we thought it would be a simple follow up visit.

 

My mom took Emily to Vacation Bible School at my in-laws' church while my husband and I took Annika to the doctor. After a grueling two hours, the doctor finally checked her out and reported back to us.

 

Annika had two ear infections and a throat infection that looked like strep throat. The initial strep test came back negative, but he would send it off to the lab to grow cultures and double check. She also had a diaper rash/ yeast infection and eczema, both of which opened up her skin to another infection, which was either strep or staph. If it was a staph infection, it was most likely MRSA, because that's what has been going around lately. MRSA is drug-resistant and won't respond to traditional antibiotics, so it is treated with sulfa drugs. This might not be a problem, except a baby whose daddy is allergic to sulfa (like my husband) has a good chance of sharing that allergy. Her hands and feet were also covered in blisters from coxsackie virus (hand foot mouth disease) which is highly contagious but not serious and is generally not treated.

 

The poor doctor was in over his head, and pointed out that he really works at a big first aid station and isn't equipped to deal with situations like this.

 

He decided to start antibiotics for the ear infections and hope that it would also wipe out the strep throat (if that's what it was) and the strep rash (if that's what it was) and then see what happened.

 

As we were sitting around waiting for the prescription and feeling overwhelmed, we got a call saying we needed to take Emily home because she was sick.

 

That's right! We're not done with this saga yet!

 

We got Annika's medicine (long and unpleasant trip to the pharmacy) while my mom got Emily. We met up at my parents' house, gave Emily a popsicle to help with the sore throat and fever that had appeared out of nowhere, and regrouped. My mom and husband stayed with the sick baby, and I took her sick sister back to the clinic. I assumed that since the doctor had just seen her sister, this would be a pretty straight-forward visit to get another bottle of antibiotics.

 

HA! After an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting with a miserable child, I finally convinced the receptionist/nurse to give Emily some Motrin for her fever. A few minutes later, she threw up all over the floor, the chair, her shoes, and our legs. The receptionist was really nice about helping to get us cleaned up and getting a bag to catch the rest of the barf, but then she told us that the doctor wanted us to go to the emergency room at the hospital instead of continuing to wait there. Yes, an hour and a half of waiting, and all we had to show for it was a paper bag containing vomit-soaked sandals. Sigh.

 

So I heaved my daughter, who is much heavier than her baby sister but too sick and barefoot to walk, out to the car and then into the hospital. Fortunately, the ER wasn't nearly as busy as it was two days ago, so we only had to wait about half an hour.

 

Emily's strep test also came back negative, but the doctor said she smelled like strep and agreed that she probably had what her sister had. Her legs, hands, and feet were also starting to get bumpy. Emily was given anti-nausea medicine. We waited 20 minutes for that to kick in. Then she was given Motrin again for the fever. Then we waited for her prescription and check out.

 

At this point, I had spent five or six hours at various medical facilities and knew I had another pharmacy trip before me, and that it would be difficult because I neglected to bring the proper insurance information on vacation with me. I hadn't eaten anything, so we stopped for a 4:00 lunch on the way to the pharmacy. By the time we got home, it was time for dinner, medicine all around, and bedtime.

 

Shoot me now.

by Alfredo Fernandes

Alfi Art Production, Divar

41st Tiatr Competition A group Of Kala Academy supported by TAG

13.10.2015

more here

joegoauk-tiatr.blogspot.in/2015/10/41st-tiatr-competition...

 

Elvis Mascarenhas

40 boulder problems in a day. We did 41. Photo by Yangwave.

Magia chwilówek

  

Zobacz więcej

  

(chwilówka, kredyt, picie, problem)

How to handle night time potty training problems www.pottytrainingchild.com/how-to-handle-night-time-potty...

 

You can also read more potty training tips at www.pottytrainingchild.com/

Does this mean you can drop off live animals?

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.....but a penguin ain't 1? This toy belongs to a 9 year old boy. What's he know 'bout 99 problems? I HOPE he means penguin considering the lyrics to the actual Jay-Z song and all.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Dornier Do 319 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

 

However, when it became clear that the new jet engine carried the potential for aircraft that were faster than piston engine counterparts, the German Navy urged the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) to develop an amphibian fighter, attack and reconnaissance aircraft. This was not to be a navalized Me 262 (which was regarded as impossible due to the aircraft’s layout with low wings and underslung engine nacelles, and added floats would have ruined the aircraft’s aerodynamics, too), but rather a dedicated single-seat jet aircraft. This new design was to be either operated from catapults (replacing the Marine’s standard on-board aircraft, the Arado Ar 196 floatplane) or, with foldable wings, from submarines with water-tight hangars. This concept had already been discussed in the mid-late 1930s, when German class III submarines were to be outfitted with such compartments – but at that time for small motorboats only, for covert landing operations, and no submarine was converted accordingly. But the concept still found a lot of attention.

 

Dornier was tasked with the development of such an aircraft, based on the experience gained with the Me 262 and its innovative means of propulsion. Dornier realized that the new turbojet engine presented an opportunity to overcome the drawback of floatplanes if it was possible to combine the light jet engine with a streamlined flying boat hull, which would impose only a small aerodynamic penalty. Such an aircraft could still be at least on par with piston-engine land-based aircraft.

Using aerodynamic research data from the Messerschmitt fighter, Dornier conceived a compact flying boat with shoulder-mounted gull wings, carried by a narrow pylon behind the single seat cockpit. The engine nacelles were placed on the wings’ upper sides, as far away from spray water as possible. Through this layout, however, stabilizer floats would have necessitated very long and draggy struts, and the relatively thin, swept wings did not allow a (favored) retracting mechanism.

As a consequence, the aircraft was designed with Dornier’s trademark stub-wing floats, which added uplift in both water and air and offered, despite a permanent drag penalty, a convenient amount of space for extra fuel and the wells for a fully retractable landing/beaching gear, which made the aircraft fully amphibious and independent from a beaching trolley. Armament consisted of four 30mm MK 108 machine guns in the aircraft’s nose section, and the aircraft’s main task would be ground attack, air defense and, as a secondary mission, fast tactical reconnaissance.

 

Dornier first presented the initial concept to the RLM in mid-1943. Performance with two Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines was – naturally – lower than the clean Me 262 fighter, but still impressive. The Me 262 was supposed to achieve a maximum speed of 900 km/h (559 mph), while the Dornier aircraft, with basically the same engines, was expected to have a top speed of 520 mph at 40,000 ft. But this was still regarded as sufficient, and the project was officially given the RLM’s type number 319. Two prototypes were built (under the designation Do 319 A-0), the first one making its maiden flight in February 1944.

 

However, at that time the German navy had lost much of its power and sovereignty, and more and more resources had to be allocated to defense projects. As a consequence, the Do 319 as a combat aircraft (originally designated Do 319 A) became a secondary priority only, and the original aircraft was cancelled. Still, the small amphibious aircraft attained a lot of interest through the type’s potential as a fast reconnaissance plane and for special purpose transport duties – namely as a personal transport for high-ranking officials and for covert operations behind enemy lines and at foreign shores – was discovered and the type nevertheless ordered into small-scale production.

 

As a consequence and as an adaptation of the airframe to its new role, the Do 319’s design was modified: the fuselage behind the cockpit was widened into a compartment for passengers, cargo or other equipment. The cabin could hold up to two passengers, sitting vis-à-vis, and it was accessible through a watertight door on each side above the stub floats. The cabin was open to the cockpit in front of it, but the opening was blocked if the front passenger seat was in place. Alternatively, up to 300 kg (660 lb) of cargo or photo equipment could be carried, and one or both seats could also be replaced by internal auxiliary tanks. The provision for the Do 319 A’s cannon armament was retained, but the weapons were rarely mounted in order to save weight.

 

In this form, and now designated Do 319 B and christened “Seeschwalbe”, the aircraft entered service with the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine on a limited scale. Most machines were exclusively assigned to staff units and reserved for special missions like liaison duties for high ranking officials, but they were also used in recce and other special missions. At least one Do 319 B was shot down over the American east coast, probably while deploying German agents from a submarine. How the aircraft with its limited range itself could come close to American shores remains a mystery until today, since Germany did not build or operate submarine aircraft carriers.

 

Production numbers remained low, though, reaching roundabout 20 aircraft (even this number is uncertain) until the end of the war, and no Do 319 survived the hostilities.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

Length: 10.80 m (35 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.78 m (12 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Empty weight: 4,120 kg (9,075 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,830 kg (15,044 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 7,385 kg (16,266 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

2,100 km (1,300 mi) with extra internal fuel cells

Service ceiling: 10,850 m (35,538 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,000 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,275 ft/min)

 

Armament:

Provisions for 4× 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose, but rarely mounted

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017, and the result of a spontaneous inspiration from a drawing of a Luft’46/fantasy creation of a Me 262 fuselage with a planning bottom, a parasol(!) wing and a single jet engine exhausting right above the cockpit, and no (visible) stabilizing floats at all. Rather spurious.

Well, nevertheless, the Me 262 jet fighter has a very shark-like profile and shape, and it has already been converted into flying boats or even submarines by modelers, and I decided to create my personal interpretation of the theme. I remembered a lone He 115 float in my stash (maybe 35 years old or even more!), and when I held to a Me 262 fuselage the parts had almost the same length and width. So, creating a flying boat jet fighter seemed like a realistic task.

 

Things started straightforward with an 1:72 Smer Me 262 fighter, which is actually the vintage Heller two-seater night fighter with a new fuselage and canopy. My kit of choice would have been the Matchbox kit, but the Heller kit is also O.K., due to its simplicity and simple construction.

 

Creating something amphibian from a Me 262 is not a trivial task, though. With its low wings and underslung engine nacelles there’s a lot to be changed until you get a plausible floatplane. Another challenge is to integrate some form of stabilizer/outrigger floats, what also influences the wings’ position. Placing the engines where they are safe from spray ingestion is also a serious matter – you have to get the high and the intakes as far forward as possible.

 

Doing some legwork I found some similar builds, and they all did not convince me. And, after all, I wanted to create my own “design”; in order to incorporate some realism I eventually settled on Dornier’s typical WWII designs like the Do 18 and Do 24. These elegant aircraft had a common, elegant trait: low stub wings as stabilizer floats, paired with high wings (in the case of the Do 18 held by a massive central pylon) which carried the engine out of the water’s reach. This appeared like a feasible layout for my conversion, even though it would mean a total re-construction of the kit, or rather assembling it in a way that almost no part was glued into the intended place!

 

Work started with the cockpit, which had to be moved forward in order to make room for the wings behind the canopy, placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. For this stunt, the cockpit opening and the place in front of it (where the original front fuselage tank would be) were cut out and switched. The cockpit tub was moved forward and trimmed in order to fit into the new place. The nose section was filled with lead, because the stub wings/floats would allow a retractable landing gear to be added, too, making the aircraft a true amphibian!

 

The He 115 float was cut down in order to fit under the OOB Me 262 fuselage, and a front wheel well was integrated for a tricycle landing gear. Once the fuselage was closed, the planning bottom was added and the flanks sculpted with putty – lots of it.

 

In the meantime the Me 262 wing received a thorough re-arrangement, too. Not only were the engine nacelles moved to the upper wing surface (cutting the respective wing and intake sections of the nacelles off/out and turning them around 180°), the original connecting ventral wing part with the landing gear wells were turned upside down, too, the landing gear covers closed (with the respective OOB parts) and the inner wing sections modified into a gull wing, raising the engines even further. VERY complex task, and blending/re-shaping everything took a lot of PSR, too.

 

Under the central wing section I added a pylon left over from a Smer Curtiss SC Seahawk kit, because a massive Do 18-esque construction was out of question for a fast jet aircraft. The gaps were filled with putty, too.

 

In order to keep the stabilizers free from water spray they were moved upwards on the fin, too. The original attachment points were sanded away and hidden under putty, and the OOB stabilizers placed almost at the top at the fin.

 

Finding suitable stub wings/floats became a challenge: they have to be relatively thick (yielding buoyancy and also offering room for the retractable landing gear), but also short with not-so-rounded tips. It took a while until I found suitable donor parts in the form of the tips of an 1:32 AH-64 Apache (!) stabilizer! They were simply cut off, and openings for the main landing gear cut into their lower sides.

 

Once glued to the lower flanks and the stabilizers in place it was time to place the wing. In the meantime the moved cockpit had been blended to the fuselage, and initial tests indicated that the pylon would have to be placed right behind the canopy – actually on top of the end of the clear part. As a consequence the canopy was cut into pieces and its rear section integrated into the fuselage (more PSR).

However, the relatively thin and slender central pylon from the Curtiss SC indicated that some more struts would be necessary in order to ensure stability – very retro, and not really suited for a jet-powered aircraft. And the more I looked at the layout, the more I became convinced that the wings and engines were in a plausible position, but placed too high.

 

What started next were several sessions in which I shortened the pylon step by step, until I was satisfied with the overall proportions. This went so far that almost everything of the pylon had gone, and the wings almost rested directly on the Me 262’s spine!

However, this new layout offered the benefit of rendering the extra struts obsolete, since I decided to fill the small gap between wing and fuselage into a single, massive fairing. This would also mean more internal space, and consequently the original idea of a jet-powered combat aircraft was modified into a fast multi-purpose amphibian vehicle for special tasks, capable of transporting personnel behind enemy lines with a quick move.

 

More PSR, though, and after some finishing touches like a scratched landing gear (front leg/wheel from an Italeri Bae Hawk, main struts from a Mistercraft PZL Iskra trainer, wheels from an Academy OV-10 Bronco and with improvised covers), several antennae and mooring lugs made from wire, the aircraft was ready for painting. On the downside, though, almost any surface detail had been lost due to the massive, overall body sculpting – but the application of the light zigzag pattern helped to recreate some “illusionary” details like flaps or panel lines. ;-)

  

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

 

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

 

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

 

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

 

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

  

A messy project, in many ways, but I am happy with result. Most stunning is IMHO the fact that all major parts for this compact flying boat actually come from a single, simple Me 262 kit – but visually there’s not much of the left from the jet fighter. But it’s also amazing that the proportions look right, and the whole thing quite plausible and Dornier-esque! Turned out better than expected.

MONTES CLAROS JÁ TEM O SEU CONSELHO GESTOR DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS

 

TOMARAM POSSE NA última segunda-feira (11/06), na Prefeitura de Montes Claros, os representantes do poder público e da sociedade civil no Conselho Municipal de Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos.

 

O Conselho, criado pela Lei Municipal nº 4.416, de 27 de outubro de 2011, tem como função fiscalizar, propor, planejar, aconselhar e deliberar ações de políticas públicas. As reuniões vão ser realizadas, mensalmente, no auditório da Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente (Semma) para tratar de assuntos relativos ao desenvolvimento do município de forma responsável e a gestão de resíduos sólidos, na cidade.

 

“Vamos ter uma dedicação extra e sem remuneração para atender as necessidades da cidade. Em Montes Claros, entre as despesas com resíduos sólidos, a maior parte vem da construção civil. Esse é um problema que temos que solucionar. Vamos também tentar implantar a separação do lixo doméstico”, destacou Aramis Mameluque Mota, secretário municipal de Meio Ambiente.

 

Carmem Lúcia Rocha Aguiar, representante das Faculdades Unidas do Norte de Minas (Funorte) enfatiza a importância da criação do conselho: “A cada dia, vemos como os resíduos sólidos são um problema para o meio ambiente. Antes da criação do Conselho, não tínhamos aonde recorrer e o problema ficava estagnado. Agora, vamos ter como resolver”, enfatizou.

 

PODER PÚBLICO

 

Foram empossados no Conselho Municipal de Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos: Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente - Titular: Albert Sandro Rodrigues, Suplente: Luciene Borges; Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente - Titular: Caroline Damasceno, Suplente: Pedro Henrique Mendes; Secretaria Municipal de Agropecuária e Abastecimento - Titular: Márcio França Junior, Suplente: João Carlos Nunes; Secretaria Municipal de Saúde - Titular: Gislene Antunes, Suplente: Geraldo Amâncio Fialho; Secretaria Municipal de Educação - Titular: José Reinaldo da Silva, Suplente: Jurarest José Oliveira da Silva; Secretaria Municipal de Serviços Urbanos - Titular: Agenor Gonçalves Ferreira, Suplente: Charles Willians Fonseca; Esurb - Titular: Francisco Aquino, Suplente: Cléia Márcia Machado; UFMG - Titular: Délcio Cesar Cordeiro Rocha, Suplente: Fernando Colen.

 

OAB/MG - Titular: Rodrigo Dantas, Suplente: Adélia Alves; CREA/MG - Titular: Melquíades Ferreira, Suplente: Guilherme Guimarães; Unimontes - Titular: Edmilson Gonçalves da Silva, Suplente: Hans Muller de Quadros; Secretaria Municipal de Planejamento - Titular: Robson Aparecido Lima, Suplente: José Elias Rabelo; Secretaria Municipal de Obras - Titular: Mirian Barbosa, Suplente: Silvana de Fátima; Secretaria Municipal de Desenvolvimento Social - Titular: Ivonilde Maria de Macedo, Suplente: Carla Caribé; Comissão Meio Ambiente da Câmara - Titular: Edwan Carlos de Quadros, Suplente: Elair Augusto Gomes; Comissão de Serviços Públicos Municipais - Titular: Raimundo Pereira da Silva, Suplente: Antonio Silveira.

 

SOCIEDADE CIVIL – Petrobras - Titular: Leila Tolentino, Suplente: Nelson Orasmo Filho; Fiemg - Titular: Ézio Darioli, Suplente: Karla Patrícia Rodrigues; Sest Senat - Titular: Ronaldo Russeff, Suplente: Hilda Antônia Rodrigues; Correios - Titular: Evaldo Jener de Fátima, Suplente: Rita de Cássia Gonçalves; Faculdades Santo Agostinho - Titular: Sheila Pereira, Suplente: Mônica Durães; Lafarge - Titular: Anderson Souza Silva, Suplente: Leandro Almeida; Ong Cáritas - Titular: João Renato Diniz, Suplente: Raquel Vieira; Ong Iva - Titular: Eugênio Teixeira, Suplente: Diane Diniz; Ascamoc - Titular: Claudenice Ramalho, Suplente: Marcelina Tereza; Faculdades Pitágoras - Titular: Antônio Carlos Moreira, Suplente: Paula Alcântara.

 

Comissão Pastoral da Terra - Titular: Alvimar Ribeiro, Suplente: Alexandre Gonçalves; Cordam - Titular: José Dílson Domingues, Suplente: Maria Cleonice Lima; DCE das Instituições de Ensino Superior - Titular: Ronilson Costa de Melo, Suplente: Isa Pereira Dias; Funorte - Titular: Carmem Lúcia Rocha Aguiar, Suplente: William Machado; Carroceiros - Titular: Manoel Messias dos Santos, Suplente: Gislene Anjo Oliveira; ONG Ovive – Vida Verde - Titular: Soter Magno, Suplente: Izael de Jesus; Serquip - Titular: Francesco Scarlone, Suplente: André Luiz Lopes. (Texto: Marcos Alvarenga Filho – Fotos: Eustáquio Narciso).

 

I always thought that people who bash GIMP's name are just flamers and trolls. But this comment seems to be from a person who does not know what the GIMP is...

'Maudie', the 2016 film starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, helped reignite interest in Maud's work. I used to watch and enjoy this movie, but Shaw Cable has changed the channel that it used to play on, and I need to get round to subscribing to the new channel which you now have to pay for. Maud had a real personality, with great determination and survival skills, living, in Nova Scotia, with a husband who was definitely not easy to live with, in poverty and with severe arthritis. No running water and no heat, for one thing.

 

To see the trailer (great acting in this film):

 

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maudie

 

A CBC article on Maud and her husband, Everett:

 

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/maud-lewis-husband-art...

 

No edited 'real' photos ready to upload today, so I'm posting a few bright and cheery online jigsaw puzzles, so that I can add them to my album. I know I should be going through my old archive photos and choosing a few before deleting them from my computer as I am just about out of space, but these puzzles are so addictive. Help, lol!

 

"Whether it's a crossword, jigsaw, trivia, word searches, brain teasers or Sudoku, puzzles put our minds to work. Studies have found that when we work on a jigsaw puzzle, we use both sides of the brain. And spending time daily working on puzzles improves memory, cognitive function, and problem-solving skills." From the National Holiday Calendar website.

We decided to go for a city break rather than sun in Tenerife again this September. Other than a few days in the North East we haven’t been away since last March and wanted a change and hopefully some sun. The problem is getting flights from the north of England to the places we want to go to. We chose Valencia as we could fly from East Midlands – which was still a pain to get to as it involved the most notorious stretch of the M1 at five in the morning. In the end we had a fairly good journey, the new Ryanair business class pre-booked scheme worked quite well and bang on time as usual. It was dull when we landed with storms forecast all week, the sky was bright grey – the kiss of death to the photography I had in mind. I was full of cold and wishing I was at work. It did rain but it was overnight on our first night and didn't affect us. There has been a drought for eleven months apparently and it rained on our first day there! The forecast storms didn't materialise in Valencia but they got it elsewhere.

 

You May notice discrepancies in the spelling of some Spanish words or names, this is because Valencian is used on signs, in some guide books and maps. There are two languages in common use with distinct differences. There may also be genuine mistakes - it has been known!

 

Over the course of a Monday to Sunday week we covered 75 miles on foot and saw most of the best of Valencia – The City of Bell Towers. The Old City covers a pretty large area in a very confusing layout. There was a lot of referring to maps – even compass readings! – a first in a city for us. The problem with photography in Valencia is that most of the famous and attractive building are closely built around, some have poor quality housing built on to them. Most photographs have to be taken from an extreme angle looking up. There are no high points as it is pan flat, there are a small number of buildings where you can pay to go up on to the roof for a better view and we went up them – more than once!

 

The modern buildings of The City of Arts and Sciences – ( Ciutat de Las Arts I de les Ciencies ) are what the city has more recently become famous for, with tourists arriving by the coachload all day until late at night. They must be photographed millions of times a month. We went during the day and stayed till dark one evening, I gave it my best shot but a first time visit is always a compromise between ambition and realism, time dictates that we have to move on to the next destination. I travelled with a full size tripod – another first – I forgot to take it with me to TCoAaS! so It was time to wind up the ISO, again! Needless to say I never used the tripod.

 

On a day when rain was forecast but it stayed fine, albeit a bit dull, we went to the Bioparc north west of the city, a zoo by another name. There are many claims made for this place, were you can appear to walk alongside some very large animals, including, elephants, lions, giraffe, rhino, gorillas and many types of monkey to name a few. It is laid out in different geographical regions and there is very little between you and the animals, in some cases there is nothing, you enter the enclosure through a double door arrangement and the monkeys are around you. It gets rave reviews and we stayed for most of the day. The animals it has to be said gave the appearance of extreme boredom and frustration and I felt quite sorry for them.

 

The course of The River Turia was altered after a major flood in the 50’s. The new river runs west of the city flanked by a motorway. The old river, which is massive, deep and very wide between ancient walls, I can’t imagine how it flooded, has been turned into a park that is five miles long. There is an athletics track, football pitches, cycle paths, restaurants, numerous kids parks, ponds, fountains, loads of bridges, historic and modern. At the western end closest to the sea sits The City of Arts and Sciences – in the river bed. Where it meets the sea there is Valencia’s urban Formula One racetrack finishing in the massive marina built for The Americas Cup. The race track is in use as roadways complete with fully removable street furniture, kerbs, bollards, lights, islands and crossings, everything is just sat on the surface ready to be moved.

 

We found the beach almost by accident, we were desperate for food after putting in a lot of miles and the afternoon was ticking by. What a beach, 100’s of metres wide and stretching as far as the eye could see with a massive promenade. The hard thing was choosing, out of the dozens of restaurants, all next door to each other, all serving traditional Paella – rabbit and chicken – as well as seafood, we don’t eat seafood and it constituted 90% of the menu in most places. Every restaurant does a fixed price dish of the day, with a few choices, three courses and a drink. Some times this was our only meal besides making the most of the continental breakfast at the hotel. We had a fair few bar stops with the local wine being cheap and pleasant it would have been a shame not to, there would have been a one woman riot – or strike!

 

On our final day, a Sunday, we were out of bed and down for breakfast at 7.45 as usual, the place was deserted barring a waiter. We walked out of the door at 8.30 – in to the middle of a mass road race with many thousands of runners, one of a series that take place in Valencia – apparently! We struggled to find out the distance, possibly 10km. The finish was just around the corner so off we went with the camera gear, taking photos of random runners and groups. There was a TV crew filming it and some local celebrity (I think) commentating. Next we came across some sort of wandering religious and musical event. Some sort of ritual was played out over the course of Sunday morning in various locations, it involved catholic priests and religious buildings and another film crew. The Catholic tourists and locals were filling the (many) churches for Sunday mass. Amongst all of this we had seen men walking around in Arab style dress – the ones in black looked like the ones from ISIS currently beheading people – all carrying guns. A bit disconcerting. We assumed that there had been some sort of battle enactment. We were wrong, it hadn’t happened yet. A while later, about 11.30 we could hear banging, fireworks? No it was our friends with the guns. We were caught up in total mayhem, around 60 men randomly firing muskets with some sort of blank rounds, the noise, smoke and flames from the muzzles were incredible. We were about to climb the Torres de Serranos which is where, unbeknown to us, the grand, and deafening, finale was going to be. We could feel the blast in our faces on top of the tower. Yet again there was a film camera in attendance. I couldn’t get close ups but I got a good overview and shot my first video with the 5D, my first in 5 years of owning a DLSR with the capability. I usually use my phone ( I used my phone as well). Later in the day there was a bullfight taking place, the ring was almost next to our hotel, in the end we had other things to do and gave it a miss, it was certainly a busy Sunday in the city centre, whether it’s the norm or not I don’t know.

 

There is a tram system in Valencia but it goes from the port area into the newer part of the city on the north side, it wouldn’t be feasible to serve the historic old city really. A quick internet search told me that there are 55,000 university students in the city, a pretty big number. I think a lot of the campus is on the north side and served by the tram although there is a massive fleet of buses as well. There is a massive, very impressive market building , with 100’s of stalls that would make a photo project on its own, beautiful on the inside and out but very difficult to get decent photos of the exterior other than detail shots owing to the closeness of other buildings and the sheer size of it. Across town, another market has been beautifully renovated and is full of bars and restaurants and a bit of a destination in its own right.

 

A downside was the all too typical shafting by the taxi drivers who use every trick in the book to side step the official tariffs and rob you. The taxi from the airport had a “broken” meter and on the way home we were driven 22 km instead of the nine that is the actual distance. Some of them seem to view tourists as cash cows to be robbed at all costs. I emailed the Marriot hotel as they ordered the taxi, needless to say no answer from Marriot – they’ve had their money. We didn’t get the rip off treatment in the bars etc. that we experienced in Rome, prices are very fair on most things, certainly considering the city location.

 

All in all we had a good trip and can highly recommend Valencia.

 

With a huge red lei around his neck and a wide grin that could have stretched across Oahu, Larry Fitzgerald held up the gleaming, silver MVP trophy. It sparkled in the sunshine as much as his game.

 

The only problem: It wasn't the Lombardi Trophy.

 

Fitzgerald caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, 44-year-old John Carney kicked two fourth-quarter field goals, and the NFC rallied to a 30-21 victory over the AFC. The Arizona Cardinals' All-Pro receiver, coming off a record-breaking postseason and a spectacular Super Bowl in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, earned MVP honors.

 

But he said the victory over the AFC, which featured three members of the Steelers' defense, didn't ease the pain from the Super Bowl.

 

"No, not one bit," he said.

 

Fitzgerald also took home keys to a new Cadillac.

 

"I'm just glad we won, that's the most important thing," he said.

 

On a sweltering day, with 60 percent humidity, Kurt Warner started for the NFC and played just one series before making way for Brees. Warner was just 1-of-2 for 8 yards.

 

"I would've liked to have won last week and not this week, if I could switch them out," he said.

 

Fitzgerald caught a 46-yard scoring pass from Drew Brees before the half and a 2-yard TD pass from Eli Manning for the go-ahead score with 4:07 to play.

 

The NFC defense took care of the rest.

 

Manning, making his Pro Bowl debut, was 8-of-14 for 111 yards. While big brother Peyton had better stats, 12-of-17 for 151 yards and a TD, Eli got the win.

 

"He didn't play the whole second half, so it's not about beating my brother, it's just about having fun," Eli Manning said.

 

The Manning brothers were the first quarterback brothers in Pro Bowl history. And Carney, who was a perfect 3-for-3, became the oldest player in the game's history. He booted a 48-yarder with 2:06 remaining to make it 27-21 and sealed the win with a 26-yarder with 32 seconds to go.

 

Sunday's all-star game ended a successful 30-year run at Aloha Stadium, with a sellout every year. The Pro Bowl will be played in Miami next year, a week before the Super Bowl. The NFL, which has been looking to increase the profile of the game, hopes to bring the game back to Hawaii.

 

The players, who spent most of the week by the beach and sipping umbrella-adorned mai tais, were pretty unanimous in wanting the game to return.

 

For Warner, the question now is whether this was his final game in the NFL or, as a free agent, will he opt to continue playing at age 38?

 

"I don't know right now," Warner said. "Again, when I have a feeling one way or the other, I'll let everyone else know. I don't have a time frame. This is the first time right now that I am done having to think about football for a while, and I'm going to enjoy that part of it, enjoy my wife, enjoy my kids and then we'll make a decision as soon as we can."

 

The AFC was looking to hula dance into halftime with a comfortable 14-3 cushion after Kerry Collins connected with Owen Daniels on a 9-yard scoring pass with 28 seconds left in the half.

 

However, that was more than enough the time for the NFC, with all its weapons.

 

The NFC took over at its 45 with 19 seconds left after a nice kickoff return by Clifton Smith. They ran two plays before Larry Fitzgerald hauled in Brees' 46-yard bomb with fellow All-Pro Cortland Finnegan on his back as time expired to pull the NFC to 14-10.

 

It made for two huge end-of-the-half plays in consecutive weeks for Fitzgerald. But this time, rather than trying -- and failing -- to chase down James Harrison on his 100-yard interception returned for a TD, Fitzgerald was the one celebrating.

 

Fitzgerald also beat Finnegan on his second score.

 

"These guys are such elite players, it doesn't take much time to get in the groove with these players," Fitzgerald said. "These guys were great."

 

The usual high-scoring affair surprisingly also featured plenty of defense. Despite rules such as no blitzing linebackers and safeties, the quarterbacks were feeling the heat, at times buried by the defensive line. None of the passes had any room for error on throws against the speedy defensive backs.

 

The AFC had a chance to take the lead late, but Julius Peppers got in the way. Down by six, the AFC started its drive on its 20 with 4:03 remaining and got to midfield. Peppers then swatted a pass by Jay Cutler with his left hand and came up with the interception that led to Carney's 48-yard field goal.

 

There were three straight drives ending with a turnover in a span of about 2 minutes in the third quarter alone, including two by Collins.

 

The second led to the NFC's first lead of the game, 17-14, late in the third quarter. Jared Allen stripped Collins from behind and scooped up the bouncing ball at the AFC 10. All-Pro Adrian Peterson, last year's Pro Bowl MVP, finished it off with a 10-yard run.

 

Pinned on its 4, the AFC came out firing behind the league MVP. Peyton Manning completed passes of 20, 18, 22, 4, and 6 yards to five players before hitting Tony Gonzalez for the score on a high-arcing, 19-yard pass.

 

Gonzalez easily outmaneuvered Seattle linebacker Julian Peterson before hauling in the pass and tiptoeing into the end zone. Gonzalez, also an All-Pro, finished with six catches for 98 yards.

 

On the ensuing series, Robert Mathis stripped Brees and gave possession back to the AFC.

 

Manning then completed a 22-yarder to Colts teammate Reggie Wayne before the NFC finally started playing some defense.

 

After the AFC reached the NFC's 31, Peppers squashed Manning -- and gave him a hand to get back up. It is, after all, the Pro Bowl.

 

With a huge red lei around his neck and a wide grin that could have stretched across Oahu, Larry Fitzgerald held up the gleaming, silver MVP trophy. It sparkled in the sunshine as much as his game.

 

The only problem: It wasn't the Lombardi Trophy.

 

Fitzgerald caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, 44-year-old John Carney kicked two fourth-quarter field goals, and the NFC rallied to a 30-21 victory over the AFC. The Arizona Cardinals' All-Pro receiver, coming off a record-breaking postseason and a spectacular Super Bowl in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, earned MVP honors.

 

But he said the victory over the AFC, which featured three members of the Steelers' defense, didn't ease the pain from the Super Bowl.

 

"No, not one bit," he said.

 

Fitzgerald also took home keys to a new Cadillac.

 

"I'm just glad we won, that's the most important thing," he said.

 

On a sweltering day, with 60 percent humidity, Kurt Warner started for the NFC and played just one series before making way for Brees. Warner was just 1-of-2 for 8 yards.

 

"I would've liked to have won last week and not this week, if I could switch them out," he said.

 

Fitzgerald caught a 46-yard scoring pass from Drew Brees before the half and a 2-yard TD pass from Eli Manning for the go-ahead score with 4:07 to play.

 

The NFC defense took care of the rest.

 

Manning, making his Pro Bowl debut, was 8-of-14 for 111 yards. While big brother Peyton had better stats, 12-of-17 for 151 yards and a TD, Eli got the win.

 

"He didn't play the whole second half, so it's not about beating my brother, it's just about having fun," Eli Manning said.

 

The Manning brothers were the first quarterback brothers in Pro Bowl history. And Carney, who was a perfect 3-for-3, became the oldest player in the game's history. He booted a 48-yarder with 2:06 remaining to make it 27-21 and sealed the win with a 26-yarder with 32 seconds to go.

 

Sunday's all-star game ended a successful 30-year run at Aloha Stadium, with a sellout every year. The Pro Bowl will be played in Miami next year, a week before the Super Bowl. The NFL, which has been looking to increase the profile of the game, hopes to bring the game back to Hawaii.

 

The players, who spent most of the week by the beach and sipping umbrella-adorned mai tais, were pretty unanimous in wanting the game to return.

 

For Warner, the question now is whether this was his final game in the NFL or, as a free agent, will he opt to continue playing at age 38?

 

"I don't know right now," Warner said. "Again, when I have a feeling one way or the other, I'll let everyone else know. I don't have a time frame. This is the first time right now that I am done having to think about football for a while, and I'm going to enjoy that part of it, enjoy my wife, enjoy my kids and then we'll make a decision as soon as we can."

 

The AFC was looking to hula dance into halftime with a comfortable 14-3 cushion after Kerry Collins connected with Owen Daniels on a 9-yard scoring pass with 28 seconds left in the half.

 

However, that was more than enough the time for the NFC, with all its weapons.

 

The NFC took over at its 45 with 19 seconds left after a nice kickoff return by Clifton Smith. They ran two plays before Larry Fitzgerald hauled in Brees' 46-yard bomb with fellow All-Pro Cortland Finnegan on his back as time expired to pull the NFC to 14-10.

 

It made for two huge end-of-the-half plays in consecutive weeks for Fitzgerald. But this time, rather than trying -- and failing -- to chase down James Harrison on his 100-yard interception returned for a TD, Fitzgerald was the one celebrating.

 

Fitzgerald also beat Finnegan on his second score.

 

"These guys are such elite players, it doesn't take much time to get in the groove with these players," Fitzgerald said. "These guys were great."

 

The usual high-scoring affair surprisingly also featured plenty of defense. Despite rules such as no blitzing linebackers and safeties, the quarterbacks were feeling the heat, at times buried by the defensive line. None of the passes had any room for error on throws against the speedy defensive backs.

 

The AFC had a chance to take the lead late, but Julius Peppers got in the way. Down by six, the AFC started its drive on its 20 with 4:03 remaining and got to midfield. Peppers then swatted a pass by Jay Cutler with his left hand and came up with the interception that led to Carney's 48-yard field goal.

 

There were three straight drives ending with a turnover in a span of about 2 minutes in the third quarter alone, including two by Collins.

 

The second led to the NFC's first lead of the game, 17-14, late in the third quarter. Jared Allen stripped Collins from behind and scooped up the bouncing ball at the AFC 10. All-Pro Adrian Peterson, last year's Pro Bowl MVP, finished it off with a 10-yard run.

 

Pinned on its 4, the AFC came out firing behind the league MVP. Peyton Manning completed passes of 20, 18, 22, 4, and 6 yards to five players before hitting Tony Gonzalez for the score on a high-arcing, 19-yard pass.

 

Gonzalez easily outmaneuvered Seattle linebacker Julian Peterson before hauling in the pass and tiptoeing into the end zone. Gonzalez, also an All-Pro, finished with six catches for 98 yards.

 

On the ensuing series, Robert Mathis stripped Brees and gave possession back to the AFC.

 

Manning then completed a 22-yarder to Colts teammate Reggie Wayne before the NFC finally started playing some defense.

 

After the AFC reached the NFC's 31, Peppers squashed Manning -- and gave him a hand to get back up. It is, after all, the Pro Bowl.

questo è il problema.

Test picture for focus problem

So I stripped her down: a messy job, but not difficult, providing you take out the centre seat and the panel underneath (which is designed to come out in 10 seconds flat), to get a bit of light on an otherwise dark subject.

 

Simply (don't you hate it when people say that? but this time it really is simple) undo the six nuts which hold the drum onto the output flange, then slacken off the hand-brake adjuster until the drum can be persuaded to come off (which may need a hide hammer), and slide the drum back to sit on the propshaft, out of our way.

 

And here's the nub of the problem (though that missing spring didn't help). The operating mechanism was well and truly clagged up with the gunge of ages. Several squirts with brake cleaner got the mess off, then Mrs W sat inside, gently operating the hand-brake, while I was underneath getting everything free, then applying a good coat of CopperSlip to the moving parts. Reassemble, making sure that all the six nuts are torqued up evenly so the drum is truly square to the flange; then adjust the shoes in the normal way.

 

The missing spring was an interesting problem, as it's very, very tight, and almost impossible to stretch up to engage, when you're lying underneath the vehicle. If you slip, you'll hit the underside very hard, probably losing a knuckle or two's worth of flesh in the process.

 

As JY used to say: this is what you do.

 

First, get a couple of pairs of safety goggles, one for you, one for your assistant: if this goes wrong, there'll be bits of broken spring flying around, which you don't want in anybody's eye. Next, take out the driver's seat cushion, and the plate underneath it. This exposes the fuel tank, but there's enough space inboard of that to drop through a loop of baler twine. (If you have a Land-Rover, it almost goes without saying that you should have yards of baler twine readily to hand.) Use about four feet, knotted securely into a loop. Engage the bottom end of the spring in its hole, then hook the top end with your dangling loop, and get an assistant standing by to haul up steadily, but really pretty hard, on the loop: stout gloves are recommended to prevent cutting the hands. This seems to be about the only reliable way to stretch the spring enough that you, underneath the vehicle, will then be able to steer the end over its upper locating hole. Your assistant above relaxes the mighty pull, and everything slips into place. Cut away the baler twine, because it's not coming out any other way.

A brief history of railways in New South Wales.

It all began with the calling of a public meeting to consider the issue of building railways in 1846. Lines were being considered to Windsor, Bathurst and Goulburn. It proposed the American solution to railway building – government grants of land along the proposed line but with an added bonus of a government guarantee of 6% per annum on the first £100,000 of capital and a government grant of cash. In 1848 the Sydney Tramroad and Railway Company was formed. After some delays work began in 1850 but by 1851 not much had happened and the company wanted a further £150,000 which was granted for a line only from Sydney to Parramatta. In 1855 the line was finally completed with the first train to Parramatta in September 1855. The line was only completed with substantial government investment and in 1856 the government decided to take over the railway and have it run by three government Commissioners. In 1861 parliament authorised lines to Campbelltown and Goulbourn, another to Bathurst across the Blue Mountains and a third from Newcastle to Murrurundi in the Hunter Valley. The line from Newcastle to Maitland opened in 1857.

 

Westwards to Bathurst.

At the end of 1860, with the royalties from gold mining the government had completed lines from Sydney to Penrith and Richmond; to Picton in the south; and from Maitland to Morpeth. The biggest engineering challenges were still ahead of the railways department – crossing the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and climbing into the Southern Highlands to reach Goulburn. The problems of crossing the Blue Mountain ridges were immense and two zig zag railway sections near Lithgow were eventually approved and several major viaducts. They line was completed to Wentworth Falls in 1867 and it was 1875 before the railway line reached Kelso across the Macquarie River from Bathurst. The official opening into Bathurst was in April 1876. The 1870s were a decade of significant railway expansion and new lines. At one stage there was even a proposal to have a direct rai link to South Australia from Cootamundra westwards to Pooncarie on the River Darling and then across the SA border near Renmark. That never eventuated. But a link to Queensland was pursued more vigorously and completed as was a line to Albury with a link to Melbourne.

 

Southwards to Goulburn and Albury.

A main truck railway line to the South was important to peon up the Western Slopes of NSW in the 1870s. The rail head was settled at Picton in 1863 and with tunnels it was extended into the Highlands to Mittagong in 1867. It was quickly pushed on to Goulburn reaching there in 1869. It was important to extend this line south to Albury to prevent the Victorian railways taking more trade from the Riverina Districts. The Goulburn to Yass section was finished in 1876. It was extended to Wagga Wagga in 1878 but the line did not cross the Murrumbidgee River into Wagga Wagga until 1879. From here the line pushed onwards to Albury where the railway opened in February 1881. It was June 1883 before the River Murray was bridged and a connection was made with the line to Melbourne.

 

Northwards to Newcastle and beyond.

Newcastle was a rail terminal like Sydney with the first line to Maitland completed in 1857.This line was eventually extended to Muswellbrook in 1869 and on to Aberdeen in 1870 and Scone in 1871. Murrurundi was reached in 1872. Work began on pushing the line north through Quirindi to Tamworth in 1874 with it being completed in 1878. From here the railway was extended towards the Queensland border and the northern tablelands. The first section with steep gradients reached Uralla in 1882 and Armidale in 1883. In 1884 the railway reached Glen Innes and then Tenterfield. The Queensland border was reached in January 1888 linking up with the Queensland railway system. Queensland railways had extended their lines to Wallangarra which is across the border from Jennings in NSW. But there was no connection to Brisbane from Sydney as there was no connection between Sydney and Newcastle.

 

Linking Sydney and Newcastle.

It was Premier Sir Henry Parkes who appropriate funds for a railway northwards from Sydney with the first stage to the Hawkesbury River and a section southwards from Hamilton just outside of Newcastle to Gosford. The line to the Hawksbury River was completed in 1887 and that to Gosford in 1888. The 3,000 feet wide (914 metres) stretch of the Hawkesbury River were still to be spanned by a railway. A competition called for engineering designs and the contract was let to an American company. Despite difficulties the bridge was completed in May 1889 with piers deeper than those of any other bridge and it was largest bridge of its kind in Australia and the third largest in the world at that time. It was a milestone in Australian railway history as it provided a rail link from Sydney to Brisbane via Wallangarra and this service was already linked with the line from Sydney to Albury and Melbourne and Adelaide and Melbourne had been the first colonial capital cities linked by rail in January 1887. So now there was railway link from Adelaide to Brisbane (1,789 miles or2, 8880 kilometres) albeit with many changes of gauge along the way and with no coordinated railway timetable for such a service. But this 1889 bridge was not stable enough for bigger and heavier trains and a new bridge was constructed across the Hawkesbury River between 1939 and 1946.

 

The North Coast line.

A new coastal line from Newcastle/Maitland to Taree and Gloucester opened in 1913 before reaching Wauchope in 1915. This lien was extended to Coffs Harbour and South Grafton in 1915. Earlier a railway line had headed south from Murwillumbah to Lismore. It was constructed in 1894 but extended to Lismore and Casino in 1903 and northwards to Tweed Heads at the same time. The section from Casino to Grafton opened in 1905 but it did not cross the Clarence River. This was not bridged until 1932. A branch line was built to Kyogle from Casino in 1910 and this was linked to a new line to Brisbane in 1930 which necessitated a rail spiral and a long tunnel across the border between the two rail systems to get the rail tracks up into the Great Dividing Range. A through train service was not possible until the Clarence River was bridged by rail in 1932. The introduction of the Brisbane Limited train via Casino and Kyogle reduced the train travel time from Sydney to Brisbane via Wallangarra by six hours. The service ended at South Brisbane until 1986 when it was rerouted to Brisbane Roma Street railway station. The Brisbane Limited train between Sydney and Brisbane ceased in 1990 when it was replaced with an XPT service. The line from Casino to Murwillumbah closed in 2004.

 

Extensions to the main truck lines.

By 1900 most major towns and cities of New South Wales had a railway service. The 1880s and the 1890s were decades of considerable railway expansion.

•The urge to get a railway to the Darling River at Bourke branched out from Bathurst firstly to Orange and then on to Dubbo in 1881. The north western line reached Bourke in 1885. From Nyngan a line was built to Cobar.

• The discovery of silver, lead and zinc in the Barrier Ranges near the South Australian border spurred the growth of Broken Hill but it was not linked to Sydney by train until 1927. Earlier a railway had been built from Broken Hill to Menindee in 1919. Then the links were made between Parkes and Condobolin and Roto to Menindee in 1927. The air conditioned Silver City Comet train began the service between Sydney and Broken Hill in 1937.

•New lines in the Riverina were designed to stop the leakage of trade across the River Murray to the Victorian railways. A line from Wagga wagga reached Narrandera in 1881 and Hay on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in 1882.

•A branch line from Cootamundra to Gundagai was completed in 1886 and later extended to Tumut in 1903. Another line which stretched from Cootamundra to Temora opened in 1893. The Temora line was extended to Lake Cargelligo in 1917. Also from Temora the line went west to Griffith in 1916 and on to Hillston in 1923. It was then joined with the Broken Hill line at Roto in 1926 to provide alternative routes to the west.

•A new southern coast line opened to Wollongong and North Kiama in 1887. The section from Kiama to Bomaderry on the outskirts of Nowra opened in 1893.

•Over a few years a north western railway branched from the New England railway at Werris Creek. The first section to Gunnedah opened in 1879 and the second section to Narrabri opened in 1884. The line reached Moree in 1897. The line extended to the Queensland border at Mungindi in 1914.

  

Hay.

White explorer Captain Charles Sturt passed this way in 1830 when he was exploring the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers. A town was gazetted at this spot in 1859 and named after a local Member of Parliament, Sir John Hay. It was not because hay grew here! Hay was the centre of a pastoral region based along the Murrumbidgee River. But the town grew quickly because Cobb and Co based their Riverina services and coach building factory here and the Anglican Church based its bishop for the Riverina here. The Diocese of the Riverina was separated from the diocese of Goulburn in 1884 with the first Bishop taking up residence in Hay in 1885 with the Bishop’s Palace being constructed in 1887. Hay church was the Pro Cathedra until the church in Griffith was designated the cathedral in 1984. The residence of the Bishop was moved from Hay to Narrandera in 1953. The NSW government built a major gaol here in 1879. In the early years the river boat trade linked Hay with Victorian and South Australian towns along the Murray River. The railway line was extended across the Riverina to Hay in 1882 bringing about the demise of the river trade. Wool was eventually replaced with irrigated agriculture and the district is now known for its rice, cotton, sorghum, and vegetables such as broccoli, pumpkins, tomatoes etc .

 

from a novel I am currently reading, "The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa...

Give Image Credit To: 'https://recondoil.com'. Hyperlink: RecondOil

Problem solving with RCECC - Red clowns enter caves carefully - Read Choose Estimate Calculate Check

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

As the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) lost control over the skies over Germany in the second half of the Second World War, it could no longer provide sufficient protection against Allied aircraft. Panzer divisions were especially affected by the lack of cover from fighter aircraft because they were always at the center of the most intense fighting.

 

The Germans already had copious amounts of half-tracked Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns (SPAAG) of different calibers and weights (Sd.Kfz.10/4, Sd.Kfz.6/2, Sd.Kfz.7/1, etc.). As these vehicles had very limited or no armor, they were vulnerable to enemy fire either from ground or air. The crew needed better protection from small arms fire and artillery/mortar high explosive fragmentation shell shrapnel. A tank-based anti-aircraft vehicle (Flakpanzer) could solve this problem, as it would have sufficient armor to resist most ground attacks with the exception of larger caliber guns. They would also provide some protection against air attacks, but even tanks could be destroyed by air ground-attack fire.

 

Many designs based on different Panzer chassis and weapons were tested and built during the war. The most successful early ones were based on the Panzer IV chassis (Möbelwagen, Wirbelwind and Ostwind), but one of the major shortcomings of all German Flakpanzers was the lack of a fully enclosed fighting compartment. As all were open-topped (because of easier construction, easier exhaust of gun fumes and the need to produce them as fast as possible), the gun crews were exposed to air attacks and the weather.

 

As the war progressed, German engineers tried to solve this problem by designing and building new Flakpanzers with fully enclosed turrets, based on later and bigger tank chassis’. One of these was the Flakpanzer based on the Panther tank, best known today as the ‘Coelian’, which was a new turret that could take various gun armaments.

The path to the Coelian SPAAG was not straight. In May 1943, Oberleutnant Dipl. Ing von Glatter-Götz, responding to the orders of Inspectorate 6, initiated the development of a new series of Flakpanzers based on already existing chassis. The Panzer I and II were outdated or used for other purposes. The Panzer III tank chassis was earmarked for the production of the StuG III and thus not available. The Panzer IV and the Panzer V Panther were considered next. The Panzer IV tank chassis was already in use for several German modifications, so it was decided to use it for the Flakpanzer program, eventually leading to the light “Kugelblitz” SPAAG. The Panzer V Panther was considered in case even the Panzer IV chassis proved to be inadequate for the task. Furthermore, the development of a whole new tank generation, the “Einheitspanzer” or “E-Serie”, had just been initiated.

 

The Germans formed a commission for the analysis of the effectiveness of enemy ground attack planes. The report (dated 31st June 1943) stated that, in the case of dive-bombing, the lowest point that the enemy plane reached was 1.200 to 1.500 m at an angle of 45-80°. Planes using larger caliber machine guns or cannons attacked at an altitude of around 150 to 300 m. The committee suggested that the best way to bring down enemy planes was using direct fire autocannons. To effectively fight the enemy planes, the future Flakpanzer would have to have a fully rotating turret with a high angle of fire and the caliber used should not be lower than 2 cm, with the more powerful 3.7 cm being preferred.

To give the crew the best protection possible and to meet any future Allied developments, the Panther-based Flakpanzer had to have a fully enclosed turret that could be armed with several different proposed weapon configurations. These included the 2 cm Flakvierling, 3.7 cm Flak either in twin or triple configuration, a newly developed 5.5 cm Gerät 58 Flakzwilling and even the powerful 88 mm caliber heavy anti-aircraft gun. The new turret design was to be ready for frontline service by the middle of 1944.

 

The first proposed design drawings were completed by Rheinmetall under the internal project number H-SkA 82827 in late May 1943 with the title “Turm Panther II mit Vierling MG 151/20”. This turret was heavily based on the Panther’s standard turret that it would simply replace. The new turret had to fulfill several set criteria like armor thickness and having an effective traversing mechanism. The armor protection of the turret was impressive, with 80 mm frontal armor and 40 mm on the sides. The turret was to be moved by using a hydraulic drive which was powered by the tank’s own engine. The maximum traverse speed was around 36° per second. Hydraulic power was used to raise the weapons, too, but a manual drive option was included as a fallback option.

The H-SkA 82827’s armament consisted of four 20 mm MG 151/20, mounted in staggered pairs, the same armament carried by the contemporary Panver IV-based “Möbelwagen” and “Wirbelwind” SPAAGs, too, but now under full armor protection. The elevation of the four guns was -5° to +75° and they had a combined practical rate of fire of 800 RPM, even though a maximum ROF of 1680 to 1920 RPM was theoretically possible. The weapons had a muzzle velocity of 900 m/s, a range of 4.800 m (15,720 ft) and an effective ceiling of 3.700 m (12,120 ft). They were belt-fed and separated from the turret crew, the gunner and the commander, which were seated in the left of the turret, weapons and ammunition were placed on the right side. The commander sat behind the gunner in an elevated position under a cupola, adapted from the Panther battle tank, for a good all-round view. Thanks to the belt-fed guns, no dedicated loader was necessary anymore, saving internal weight and space. The rest of the crew, driver and radio/machine gun operator, were seated in the Panzer V hull’s front in their standard positions.

 

After a wooden mock-up had been built, inspected and approved by the Heeresinspektorat 6, the go-ahead for the construction of five prototype turrets was given in September 1943, to be mounted and tested on refurbished Panther hulls. The new vehicle received the official designation Sd.Kfz. 171/1 “Flakpanzer V/20 mm”. On the 21st of December 1943, however, a Panzerkommision was formed to examine the further development of a Flakpanzer based on the Panther tank chassis. It was decided that the main armament should consist of at least two 3.7 cm caliber anti-aircraft guns, for more range and firepower, and this requirement was later revised to two even heavier 5.5 cm Gerät 58 guns. The Luftwaffe’s 30 mm MK 103 machine cannon was considered, too, since it had outstanding range, accuracy and penetration.

The problem was now that the Sd.Kfz. 171/1’s turret did not offer enough space or development potential to accommodate these heavier and bigger weapons, so that a completely new turret had to be designed from scratch around them. Daimler-Benz was chosen for this follow-up project, which was internally called “Flakpanzer 341” – after the SPAAG’s planned main armament with an experimental 3.7 cm (L/77) Flak 341 twin gun, also known as “Gerät 341”. In mid-1944 it would evolve into the Panther-based Coelian SPAAG family, but even this more sophisticated design with several armament variants became just a stopgap solution, bridging the delay of the anti-aircraft tanks based on the new Einheitspanzer chassis family.

 

Serial production of the Sd.Kfz. 171/1 was consequently dropped, only three fully operational prototypes were completed by March 1944, plus two armed turrets for static test. One of these turrets was later mounted onto another Panther hull, for a fourth operational vehicle. Rheinmetall kept on working with these vehicles and components until late 1945, and the four SPAAGs were also employed by the company’s Werksverteidigung unit (manned by the Rheinmetall staff, not by Wehrmacht soldiers) at the Apolda factory in central Thuringia.

 

The Sd.Kfz. 171/1s and the separate turrets were also used in the development programs for Rheinmetall’s so-called “Einheits-Flakturm” for the upcoming E-50/75 SPAAGs, primarily for targeting and rangefinding systems, weapon mounts and simplified turret movement mechanisms. One of these developments was the Kommandogerät 44, a much more compact analogue rangefinder, effectively an analogue fire control calculator that translated target and ambient data into electronic signals that could control weapon drives and trigger a weapon at an ideal moment. This innovative device eventually became part of the later E-50/75 SPAAGs that entered service in 1946.

 

The fate of these four unique vehicles after the factory’s invasion through Soviet troops is uncertain, though. They were probably destroyed by retreating German troops to prevent their experimental technologies from falling into enemy hands.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)

Weight: 40.5 tonnes (39.9 long tons; 44.7 short tons)

Length (hull only): 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)

Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in)

Height: 3.06 m (10 ft 2/3 in)

Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels

Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

 

Armor:

15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.15 in)

 

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 55 km/h (34 mph)

Operational range: 250 km (160 mi)

Power/weight: 15.39 PS (11.5 kW)/tonne (13.77 hp/ton)

 

Engine:

Maybach HL230 P30 V-12 petrol engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)

ZF AK 7-200 gear; 7 forward 1 reverse

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/29 machine cannon in two twin mounts with a total of 3.200 rounds

1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun in the front glacis plate with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This is an OOB what-if model, the prototype of the “Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20” from Dragon. The kit is actually mislabeled as “Flakpanzer 341”, but this designation had been allocated to the later prototype of the “Coelian” turret for the Panther chassis, just as described in the background. AFAIK, the “Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20” was not produced at all, there was just a wooden mock-up. And the whole project was quickly cancelled because it did not offer sufficient firepower and development potential. The only “official” designation I could find is the title of a project paper that describes the turret’s layout and construction, and it was called “H-SkA 82827.

 

But what if a small batch of these vehicles had been manufactured/completed and used by factory defense units like the Luftwaffe’s Werkschutzstaffeln?

 

That’s the basic idea/story behind this build, and it was kept OOB. The Dragon Panther is a simple affair and goes together well, but the instructions are weak, if not confusing. Good thing, though, is that the kit contains an extra sprue from a Jagdpanther kit that contains many optional parts for early and late Panther variants, as well as hull equipment, so that you get a good number of surplus parts for the spares box. The only downer is the fact that the soft vinyl tracks were molded in a bright sand tone, so that these delicate parts had to be completely painted.

  

Painting and markings:

The Panther 20mm Flakvierling is – even though it never “existed” – frequently depicted in a weird two-color scheme, probably consisting of Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) over a red primer coat. But the depicted colors frequently appear much too garish and strong, like bright sunflower yellow over wine red! WTF? However, I liked the concept and adopted it for the model, just with more realistic tones and some personal twists.

The hull received an overall coat with RAL 3009 (Oxidrot), while the turret was painted with a paler shade of red (Humbrol 70, Brick red). On top of that, thinned Tamiya XF-57 (Buff) was used to add a fragmented meander pattern to break up the tank’s outlines. The result is quite attractive, and it might have worked well in an urban/factory environment – hence the idea of allocating the vehicle to a Werksschutz unit – several aircraft companies, e. g. Heinkel or Focke Wulf, also used prototypes for local defense, organized outside of Luftwaffe units.

 

To emphasize the prototype nature of this vehicle, the wheels and the armor skirts were, for some variety, painted in standard Hinterhalt camouflage colors, in Dunkelgelb (Tamiya XF-60), Olivgrün (RAL 6003, Humbrol 86) and Rotbraun (RAL 8017, Humbrol 160). The latter was also used for the engine bay cover, which I simply forgot to paint on Oxidrot in the first place. But the slightly darker Rotbraun blends well into the rest of the hull. The wheels were painted uniformly, and I added a wheel in Brick Red on each side as an un-camouflaged replacement. The armor skirts’ camouflage pattern consists of dark circles over a Dunkelgelb background, created with a stamp (self-made from fine sponge rubber) and mimicking the original “factory design” of the Hinterhalt paint scheme.

As mentioned above, the tracks had to be painted, and this time I tried a base with acrylic black paint from the rattle can, plus some grey and re brown wet-in-wet acrylic paint on top of that. Worked quite well and might become a new standard for this field of work.

 

The tactical markings became minimal, as the vehicle would be factory-operated and also a test article – hence it just received small Balkenkreuz insignia (on the hull ,mostly obscured by tools), and a large black “3”, edged in white for more contrast, on the turret sides, with smaller numbers at front and back of the turret for quick identification from every side.

 

The model received an overall washing with thinned dark brown acrylic paint and dry-brushing with light grey and beige, before it was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. Once the vinyl tracks had been mounted, the model’s lower areas and the running gear were dusted with grey-brown mineral pigments.

  

Well, another simple build, thanks to an OOB kit of this exotic SPAAG prototype. The result looks quite good and was completed in just two days, another member in my growing collection of real, semi-fictional and whiffy German SPAAG vehicles – turning this mock-up into an of an operational prototype of a Werksverteidigung unit certainly works and could actually have been, even though the Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20 just remained a stillborn proposal.

 

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