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Scouts Camporee on Omaha Beach Honors Heroes and Promotes Peace.
By Robert Turtil
U.S. Scouts gathered April 24 to 27 for the 2014 Omaha Beach Camporee, in event held every three years in Normandy, France. This years Camporee was particularly special, because it was recognized as the opening event of the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings planned for June. Hundreds of Scouts from France, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, the BeNeLux and Scandinavian countries, Germany and other nations joined for a weekend of remembrance.
U.S. embassy personnel and active duty service members brought their families from facilities around Europe and North Africa. More than a few F-16 fighter jockeys directed AstroVans from the Autobahn to the AutoRoute to the D-514, while others followed the more historic route across, or below, the English Channel. Some Scouts flew from American cities over their spring break, and as usual, moms led the charge when dads couldn’t get away. All converged on a welcoming destination for Americans on the French coast.
Nearly 4,200 troops and their supporting families battled sometimes horizontal rain to re-live the history, and recognize the sacrifices of American and Allied soldiers, many close to their own age, who have fought and died fighting for freedom and peace. World War Two Veterans were honored, and sacrifices made during The Great War, Korea, Vietnam and The War on Terror were also recognized by scout leaders and other volunteers, many of whom are U.S. Veterans, the traditional backbone of scouting in America.
Campsites were pitched in the rain, the mud and the dark; pots of pasta were swamped by tent malfunctions. The elements provoked short-term tears and tantrums, and perhaps a sleepless night. But complaints were mitigated with stories of invasion boats packed with seasick assault troops, mud filled foxholes, and cold k-rations, as Scouts peered at the sogginess of this Norman spring. But, as EVERY Scout knows, only fun will be remembered of the mud and chill of this weekend.
Scout convoys raced around the invasion coast following ambitious schedules: Utah Beach, Point D’Hoc, Sainte Mere Eglise, Arromanches, the Pegasus Bridge and many museums. Scouts and Veterans were the special guests of honor at the historic and grand Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux where clergy, along with national and local leaders, christened a newly forged Bell of Peace and Freedom. The Cathedral was a packed and flowing sea of international scout uniforms, flags and neckerchiefs… all highlighted by sunbeams streaking through stained-glass windows.
90 year-old, World War ll Army Air Force Veteran Captain Samuel Wiley Hammersmith, B-25 pilot with 28 missions in the Pacific, mingled with Scouts throughout the weekend.
New Eagles and candidates for the Order of the Arrow were sworn in at an Omaha Beach campfire in the most meaningful of ceremonies for Scouts and their families. A French Air Force flyover, a military band and youth choir opened the Messengers of Peace multimedia presentation, bringing home the sacrifices made in the past and the promise of peace Scouting seeks to contribute worldwide. That evening, friendships were made, neckerchiefs swapped, and Paella shared at sunset on the beach, followed by a fusillade of fireworks.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was held in the drizzle at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Each Troop flew its colors and laid a wreath at the base of the huge bronze statue, The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Scouts and their families then joined hundreds of others walking the many acres of markers, looking for specific names, or just looking, at the beauty- with history, the sense of sacrifice and a touch of tears that the damp, perfect green grass of the cemetery envokes. Slowly the parking lot emptied as each American Troop and Patrol headed in every direction across Europe and the ocean… home.
If you would like to support the Scouts quest to preserve Omaha Beach as a UNESCO World Heritage site, follow this link and sign the petition:
www.change.org/petitions/unesco-save-the-d-day-beaches-ma...
Photos Courtesy Robert Turtil
Scouts Camporee on Omaha Beach Honors Heroes and Promotes Peace.
By Robert Turtil
U.S. Scouts gathered April 24 to 27 for the 2014 Omaha Beach Camporee, in event held every three years in Normandy, France. This years Camporee was particularly special, because it was recognized as the opening event of the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings planned for June. Hundreds of Scouts from France, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, the BeNeLux and Scandinavian countries, Germany and other nations joined for a weekend of remembrance.
U.S. embassy personnel and active duty service members brought their families from facilities around Europe and North Africa. More than a few F-16 fighter jockeys directed AstroVans from the Autobahn to the AutoRoute to the D-514, while others followed the more historic route across, or below, the English Channel. Some Scouts flew from American cities over their spring break, and as usual, moms led the charge when dads couldn’t get away. All converged on a welcoming destination for Americans on the French coast.
Nearly 4,200 troops and their supporting families battled sometimes horizontal rain to re-live the history, and recognize the sacrifices of American and Allied soldiers, many close to their own age, who have fought and died fighting for freedom and peace. World War Two Veterans were honored, and sacrifices made during The Great War, Korea, Vietnam and The War on Terror were also recognized by scout leaders and other volunteers, many of whom are U.S. Veterans, the traditional backbone of scouting in America.
Campsites were pitched in the rain, the mud and the dark; pots of pasta were swamped by tent malfunctions. The elements provoked short-term tears and tantrums, and perhaps a sleepless night. But complaints were mitigated with stories of invasion boats packed with seasick assault troops, mud filled foxholes, and cold k-rations, as Scouts peered at the sogginess of this Norman spring. But, as EVERY Scout knows, only fun will be remembered of the mud and chill of this weekend.
Scout convoys raced around the invasion coast following ambitious schedules: Utah Beach, Point D’Hoc, Sainte Mere Eglise, Arromanches, the Pegasus Bridge and many museums. Scouts and Veterans were the special guests of honor at the historic and grand Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux where clergy, along with national and local leaders, christened a newly forged Bell of Peace and Freedom. The Cathedral was a packed and flowing sea of international scout uniforms, flags and neckerchiefs… all highlighted by sunbeams streaking through stained-glass windows.
90 year-old, World War ll Army Air Force Veteran Captain Samuel Wiley Hammersmith, B-25 pilot with 28 missions in the Pacific, mingled with Scouts throughout the weekend.
New Eagles and candidates for the Order of the Arrow were sworn in at an Omaha Beach campfire in the most meaningful of ceremonies for Scouts and their families. A French Air Force flyover, a military band and youth choir opened the Messengers of Peace multimedia presentation, bringing home the sacrifices made in the past and the promise of peace Scouting seeks to contribute worldwide. That evening, friendships were made, neckerchiefs swapped, and Paella shared at sunset on the beach, followed by a fusillade of fireworks.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was held in the drizzle at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Each Troop flew its colors and laid a wreath at the base of the huge bronze statue, The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Scouts and their families then joined hundreds of others walking the many acres of markers, looking for specific names, or just looking, at the beauty- with history, the sense of sacrifice and a touch of tears that the damp, perfect green grass of the cemetery envokes. Slowly the parking lot emptied as each American Troop and Patrol headed in every direction across Europe and the ocean… home.
If you would like to support the Scouts quest to preserve Omaha Beach as a UNESCO World Heritage site, follow this link and sign the petition:
www.change.org/petitions/unesco-save-the-d-day-beaches-ma...
Photos Courtesy Robert Turtil
Children celebrate Handwashing Day in Lekma South Cluster of Schools, where USAID has built school bathrooms and handwashing stations to prevent disease spread. (USAID/A. Kauffeld)
Gen. Daniel B. Allyn (right), commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, stands at attention during his promotion ceremony from the rank of lieutenant ...
Scouts Camporee on Omaha Beach Honors Heroes and Promotes Peace.
By Robert Turtil
U.S. Scouts gathered April 24 to 27 for the 2014 Omaha Beach Camporee, in event held every three years in Normandy, France. This years Camporee was particularly special, because it was recognized as the opening event of the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings planned for June. Hundreds of Scouts from France, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, the BeNeLux and Scandinavian countries, Germany and other nations joined for a weekend of remembrance.
U.S. embassy personnel and active duty service members brought their families from facilities around Europe and North Africa. More than a few F-16 fighter jockeys directed AstroVans from the Autobahn to the AutoRoute to the D-514, while others followed the more historic route across, or below, the English Channel. Some Scouts flew from American cities over their spring break, and as usual, moms led the charge when dads couldn’t get away. All converged on a welcoming destination for Americans on the French coast.
Nearly 4,200 troops and their supporting families battled sometimes horizontal rain to re-live the history, and recognize the sacrifices of American and Allied soldiers, many close to their own age, who have fought and died fighting for freedom and peace. World War Two Veterans were honored, and sacrifices made during The Great War, Korea, Vietnam and The War on Terror were also recognized by scout leaders and other volunteers, many of whom are U.S. Veterans, the traditional backbone of scouting in America.
Campsites were pitched in the rain, the mud and the dark; pots of pasta were swamped by tent malfunctions. The elements provoked short-term tears and tantrums, and perhaps a sleepless night. But complaints were mitigated with stories of invasion boats packed with seasick assault troops, mud filled foxholes, and cold k-rations, as Scouts peered at the sogginess of this Norman spring. But, as EVERY Scout knows, only fun will be remembered of the mud and chill of this weekend.
Scout convoys raced around the invasion coast following ambitious schedules: Utah Beach, Point D’Hoc, Sainte Mere Eglise, Arromanches, the Pegasus Bridge and many museums. Scouts and Veterans were the special guests of honor at the historic and grand Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux where clergy, along with national and local leaders, christened a newly forged Bell of Peace and Freedom. The Cathedral was a packed and flowing sea of international scout uniforms, flags and neckerchiefs… all highlighted by sunbeams streaking through stained-glass windows.
90 year-old, World War ll Army Air Force Veteran Captain Samuel Wiley Hammersmith, B-25 pilot with 28 missions in the Pacific, mingled with Scouts throughout the weekend.
New Eagles and candidates for the Order of the Arrow were sworn in at an Omaha Beach campfire in the most meaningful of ceremonies for Scouts and their families. A French Air Force flyover, a military band and youth choir opened the Messengers of Peace multimedia presentation, bringing home the sacrifices made in the past and the promise of peace Scouting seeks to contribute worldwide. That evening, friendships were made, neckerchiefs swapped, and Paella shared at sunset on the beach, followed by a fusillade of fireworks.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was held in the drizzle at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Each Troop flew its colors and laid a wreath at the base of the huge bronze statue, The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Scouts and their families then joined hundreds of others walking the many acres of markers, looking for specific names, or just looking, at the beauty- with history, the sense of sacrifice and a touch of tears that the damp, perfect green grass of the cemetery envokes. Slowly the parking lot emptied as each American Troop and Patrol headed in every direction across Europe and the ocean… home.
If you would like to support the Scouts quest to preserve Omaha Beach as a UNESCO World Heritage site, follow this link and sign the petition:
www.change.org/petitions/unesco-save-the-d-day-beaches-ma...
Photos Courtesy Robert Turtil
The Classic Yacht Association promotes and encourages the preservation, restoration and maintenance of fine old power-driven pleasure craft. Additional objectives of the Association are to promote, sponsor, and develop yachting activities for the Association and to cultivate a spirit of friendship among the members.
DUFFY was originally commissioned by Dr. William Kidd and Elaine Kidd and launched in 1950 by the Adams Boat Company on Portage Bay in Seattle's Lake Union. Duffy was built to plans penned by Edwin Monk in 1947, with some detail changes made during construction. She is 36 feet long with a beam of 10 feet 6 inches.
Moored in Seattle's Portage Bay under the Kidd's ownership, Duffy is listed as a member vessel of the Tyee Yacht Club in the register of Washington Yacht Clubs in the 1950 "Pacific Motoring Handbook". She traveled the Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands until 1992 when she was purchased from the estate of Dr. Kidd by Mike and Gwen Byrne.
The Byrnes brought Duffy to the Shelton Yacht Club where a restoration was undertaken in the mid 1990s and actively cruised her the length of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. In 1998 Duffy was featured in the book "Ed Monk and t he Tradition of Classic Boats" by Bet Oliver.
Evan and Sara Bailly purchased Duffy from the Byrnes family in early 2017 and have started another round of restoration work, including a great deal of repairs to her below the waterline, while still taking every opportunity to take her cruising. They had already taken her the length of Puget Sound proper, as far south as Olympia and as far North as Anacortes in their first year as her caretakers.
Her hull is Alaskan yellow cedar planking over white oak frames. Her house and bright-work is mahogany.
DUFFY is powered by a single Marine Power 4.3L V6 with a Hurth/ZF V-Drive.
For more information about CYA, check out their website at www.classicyacht.org and their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/classicyacht/?fref=photo
SAIEE Western Cape Centre Initiative: Engineering the Future - School Group
Project to promote Electrical Engineering, Science and Technology
Engineering skills shortage has been identified as one of the aspects that
might hinder economic growth in South Africa. The paper compiled by Allyson
Lawless "Engineering Institutes look at the skills shortage that threatens
to affect the economic growth of South Africa", suggests increasing the
number of high calibre graduates from South Africa's tertiary institutions.
This can be done by increasing the number of engineering trained graduates
through our tertiary institutes.
Specific concern to the SAIEE is the shortage of electrical engineers. The
SAIEE needs to stimulate the appeal for electrical engineering amongst young
ones to choose electrical engineering as a career. The SAIEE needs to be the
authority in providing all information relating to studying electrical
engineering in South Africa. This information needs to be packaged in a
manner to appeal to the young ones.
The SAIEE Western Cape approached the MTN Sciencentre for an enrichment or
informative learner experience specifically geared to promoting careers in
electrical engineering. This will be done via a program of school group
visits to the MTN Sciencentre. Amongst the schools that this program target
are the Dinaledi schools, which were formed in 2001 to improve participation
and performance in maths and science, particularly among previously
disadvantaged learners.
To address the skills shortage will require intervention measures at high
school level. For this reason the SAIEE Western Cape Centre has embarked on
a project that aims to:-
* Encourage learners to take electrical engineering as a career
* improve the appreciation of engineering, science and technology
amongst educators
* To market the SAIEE as the authority in providing any details
regarding studying electrical engineering in SA
With the School Group Project, the SAIEE made it possible for 11 Schools to
be bussed into the MTN Sciencentre at Canal Walk, Cape Town. Each school
group consisted of 55 learners and 5 educators. The MTN Sciencentre contains
a floor of science and technological exhibitions. These exhibitions explore
science and technology like, wave propagation, gravity, forces, hydraulics,
electricity, magnetism, etc. They even have the largest working cellphone in
the world, as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Each school was given an opportunity to spend an hour on the MTN Sciencentre
floor and interact with the Science and Technology exhibitions. The school
group was then separated into two groups. The one group participated in a
workshop to build an electric motor, while the other group is engaged in
science and technology activities at the centre; this would last for an hour
then the two groups would swop activities. After this both groups would
congregate at the MTN Sciencentre auditorium and they will be shown a video
on electrical engineering followed by a talk from one of the SAIEE members
(an electrical engineer) on what electrical engineering is about.
In the motor building workshop the school learners, including the teacher,
are introduced to concepts in magnetism, electromagnetism, working in teams,
communication and following instruction. The kids were working in small
groups of two or three and they build a small dc electric motor from kits
that were provided by the MTN Sciencentre. We had more that 50% success in
getting the small dc motor to run. It was great joy to see the smiles in the
learners' faces when their motors started running. For those whose motor
could not run would appreciate that in engineering we still need to work in
teams, communicate and follow instructions because their motor would fail
because they did not follow instructions or communicate.
The video and talk by an electrical engineer covered the following:-
* What is Electrical Engineering
* What is the work of an electrical engineer
* Where do you study Electrical Engineering
* What do you study
* What are the criteria
* Where can I go if I need assistance - SAIEE
The learners would be given an opportunity to ask questions. Most of their
questions were around the tertiary institution's entry levels; whether
electrical engineers are paid well; and study bursaries. After all is done,
the learners were treated to some lunch and sent (bussed) home.
605 learners from 11 schools participated in this project in the months of
April, May and June (before the World Cup). The list of such schools is
available below:-
A project like this would not be possible without the excellent partnership
between SAIEE, MTN Sciencentre and UCT SAIEE/IEEE Student Chapter.
1.MTN Sciencentre
*Busi, Ryan and Carmen for the putting the program together.
*John (a retired electrical engineer and part of MTN Sciencentre
staff), Fikiswa and Michael for facilitating the workshop and safely looking
after the learners without any hassles.
2.UCT SAIEE/IEEE Student Chapter
*Ragesh, big thanks for arranging UCT electrical engineering students
to come and assist with the facilitation of building the electrical motor.
The involvement of the students, makes the learners realise that with hard
work their dreams of going to tertiary education can be made real; with
determination and hard work, off-course.
*Michael Nyarko, Francis Masuabi, Benson Chan, Eric Chen, Denis Wong,
Ragesh Pillai, Leen Remmelzwaal, Chris Fourie and Derrick Marumo, for taking
the time from your hectic varsity lives to facilitate the workshops. Your
contribution will go a long way in the minds of the young learners.
3.SAIEE members
* Mr Larry Khuvutlu, for putting the program together and
participation with most of the school visits; facilitating and giving the
talk at times.
* Mr Wilfred Fritz, Mr Jaime Mabota (SAIEE WCC Chairman), Mr Rod
Harker and Ms Unati Nombakuse, for facilitating and giving the talks.
The SAIEE has committed an investment of R 30 544; an investment that our
country needs, if it to achieve its desired economic growth and development;
half poverty by 2014; build and maintain power stations. We need more of
projects like these.
Recently, mom found this old cemetery in Stony Point NY. I lived and grew up around here and spent many years exploring the little corners of our town, but I've never seen this before.
I believe it was on a an old road. This area was sparsely settled but had numerous brick industries and was heavily dug up and reworked. There is little of the original topography left that people from 200 years ago would recognize. Unfortunately by 1700 this are was clear cut and turned mainly into farmland. in 1609 Henry Hudson saw the Native American villages and farms that lined the river all along the way. They must find this even more difficult to see how badly the land has been treated since the time they were the only people.
The last burials in this cemetery occurred in the 1850s-1870s. There are certainly more bodies whose stones have not survived into our time due to weather, acid rain, vandalism and the businesses that ran the railroad through here. It does not appear they cared much as there are telephone poles driven right into area where the plots clearly were.
These places always get me musing about time, place and my presence in it. We are really impermanent. Some of the family names on the stones are familiar names that have been here for generations. If you opened the phone book you'd see legions of the same surnames, even so these stones are forgotten. The stories of the the people underneath are long forgotten, except for their birth and death-days, A few were revolutionary soldiers and some where 1812 soldiers, probably with fascinating stories...or likely they were boring old stories when anyone alive was around to here them. Now if we could tap their knowledge it would be a national treasure to here the unfiltered and unvarnished details of life in the militia during these wars. In those days the are was sparsely settled and must have had many wild areas that were truly wild. But they are gone...as we will be.
In old cemeteries I think about how permanent the stones seem...and the tokens such as flowers and decorative things. I see things that state we will never be forgotten, but the truth is that we will forget ...and will be forgotten. Even the traumatic Sept 11, 2001 attacks spawned "never forget" signs and here we are 20 years on and there are 20 years of children (such as my son) born without any memory of this event. Just recently we passed the 80th anniversary of the Dec 7 1941 Pearl Harbor attacks and it is an interesting anniversary for most people, except for the ever-dwindling population of WWII and people alive at that time. I'm particularly interested in WWI history and the unbridled hell of trench warfare from 1914-1918.....claiming an estimated 10 million soldiers (many more if civilians are counted) and introducing the world to horrors of gas warfare and mangled bodies shot through and apart by rapid-fire machine guns and relentless high explosive artillery. Nobody alive can recount this misery that enveloped the world and set the stage for the next conflict.
The largest most solid mausoleum is just delaying the inevitable fade into nothingness. Even the pyramids of Giza have a limited lifetime.
The one thing that I do find that actually angers me is the amount of change around the place I grew up. Development has accelerated to a grotesque pace all around. Once there were quiet roads and mysterious places but they are nearly gone. This was certainly the case when I was born around here...and the old timers have complained about it for as long as I can remember. However every corner there is a marsh, a field, a place with no people, it is bulldozed into a flat field and populated with chintzy (not inexpensive though) gaudy crappy modern construction. Part of this is beyond our control, but the landowners and developers develop and develop and develop destroying everything unique to a place. This is true everywhere I go, I feel it most acutely where I grew up and where I see it sporadically. Every inch of ground has power lines, railroad cuts, newly widened roads, and strip mall after strip mall. This is an unsustainable system. Eventually there will be nothing left, and the hoards of people like locusts will move into the "new areas" and leave the old to become the next ghetto. Humans are selfish and miserable. IN particular I have a gripe with the development of large, high end houses, high up in the scenic areas destroying what little of what made the area pretty, A particularly douchey estate has multiple driveways, gates (made of fake stone despite the fact that Rockland County is named for its abundance of glacial debris!) and probably 10,000 sq ft of space and acres of property, all neatly cleared of trees. This is a particular personality I dislike the most....the self-made man who will whore himself and move on to the next town in 5 years when he has fraudulently promoted himself as "talent" worthy of millions of dollars and millions more when he loses the company tens of millions and leaves. He will gobble up precious land elsewhere so he can pretend he has a set of balls and not just wealthy family and connections. But I diverge. This is an old complaint but at least the robber barons of yesteryear built houses and estates worthy of seeing 150+ years later. Nobody will every appreciate a 10,000 sq ft McMansion with fake wood siding, plastic interior trim moldings and all the phony prefab crap called building materials today. IN my town the railroad rammed its railroad through wherever they wanted. The brick companies dug out important tidal marshes nearby ruining the waterfront. Most egregiously the marsh was converted into a dump, Mostly run by organized crime who buried garbage and hazardous waste in return for a hefty profit, which as best as I can determine funded other crime schemes and gaudy lifestyles. The money from all these ventures is gone, the families are gone the benefits to the town are gone. However we do have billions of dollars in closed factories and environmental degradation..so that now the town has to turn to corporate whore McMansion builders who build in the hillside to feed their ego for a few years till they move on.
Our impermanence is perhaps the point to more deeply consider. We should live and enjoy the time and place we have and attempt to leave a small footprint for the next generation to be able to explore the hidden corners and mysterious places.
.
Miranda Kerr David Jones Sydney - Organics Valentine's Day Event
Today - Valentine's Day in Sydney, Australia, world famous Australian model - Miranda Kerr made an in store public appearance at David Jones Sydney to promote her range of KORA Organics product range.
Hey, even super models are entitled to have their own business ventures also, and by all accounts Miranda's KORA Organics is a high quality, customer focused operation. Not only that, its a part family owned and operated company.
Miranda's mum, Therese, the top brass of the brand, was also on hand at today's event, however husband Orlando Bloom was not able to attend - understood to be currently working in Europe.
Miranda writes on her blog...
The KORA Team and I have put this blog together for the purpose of providing you with information on everything you might find interesting in the health and wellness industry. We are blessed to have renowned practitioners and others in all areas of health & wellness, natural medicine, nutrition, spirituality, exercise, supplements, organics, skincare, etc regularly contribute to our blog. Through the KORA Organics Blog I also get the opportunity to share information about my life; how I live, what I like to eat, where I shop, what foods and supplements I personally buy and like to take etc. My hope is to share with you my organic, healthy, natural life.
Here's some product blurb we know you've been waiting on...
KORA Organics by Miranda Kerr Rosehip Body Oil
Give the gift of luxuriously smooth skin this Valentine's Day with this Rosehip Body oil by KORA Organics. Miranda herself says, Valentines Day is all about spoiling one another and the KORA Organics Luxurious Body Oil is a beautiful gift and a great excuse for an all over body massage. It is available for purchase from KORA Organics, and to top it off, the first 150 people to buy 2 or more products in David Jones in the lead up to Valentine's Day will receive a custom made Valentine's Day card for Miranda to sign personally on the day - details can be found here.
Websites
Miranda Kerr official website
KORA Organics
David Jones
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography
Eva Rinaldi Photography
Scouts Camporee on Omaha Beach Honors Heroes and Promotes Peace.
By Robert Turtil
U.S. Scouts gathered April 24 to 27 for the 2014 Omaha Beach Camporee, in event held every three years in Normandy, France. This years Camporee was particularly special, because it was recognized as the opening event of the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings planned for June. Hundreds of Scouts from France, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, the BeNeLux and Scandinavian countries, Germany and other nations joined for a weekend of remembrance.
U.S. embassy personnel and active duty service members brought their families from facilities around Europe and North Africa. More than a few F-16 fighter jockeys directed AstroVans from the Autobahn to the AutoRoute to the D-514, while others followed the more historic route across, or below, the English Channel. Some Scouts flew from American cities over their spring break, and as usual, moms led the charge when dads couldn’t get away. All converged on a welcoming destination for Americans on the French coast.
Nearly 4,200 troops and their supporting families battled sometimes horizontal rain to re-live the history, and recognize the sacrifices of American and Allied soldiers, many close to their own age, who have fought and died fighting for freedom and peace. World War Two Veterans were honored, and sacrifices made during The Great War, Korea, Vietnam and The War on Terror were also recognized by scout leaders and other volunteers, many of whom are U.S. Veterans, the traditional backbone of scouting in America.
Campsites were pitched in the rain, the mud and the dark; pots of pasta were swamped by tent malfunctions. The elements provoked short-term tears and tantrums, and perhaps a sleepless night. But complaints were mitigated with stories of invasion boats packed with seasick assault troops, mud filled foxholes, and cold k-rations, as Scouts peered at the sogginess of this Norman spring. But, as EVERY Scout knows, only fun will be remembered of the mud and chill of this weekend.
Scout convoys raced around the invasion coast following ambitious schedules: Utah Beach, Point D’Hoc, Sainte Mere Eglise, Arromanches, the Pegasus Bridge and many museums. Scouts and Veterans were the special guests of honor at the historic and grand Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux where clergy, along with national and local leaders, christened a newly forged Bell of Peace and Freedom. The Cathedral was a packed and flowing sea of international scout uniforms, flags and neckerchiefs… all highlighted by sunbeams streaking through stained-glass windows.
90 year-old, World War ll Army Air Force Veteran Captain Samuel Wiley Hammersmith, B-25 pilot with 28 missions in the Pacific, mingled with Scouts throughout the weekend.
New Eagles and candidates for the Order of the Arrow were sworn in at an Omaha Beach campfire in the most meaningful of ceremonies for Scouts and their families. A French Air Force flyover, a military band and youth choir opened the Messengers of Peace multimedia presentation, bringing home the sacrifices made in the past and the promise of peace Scouting seeks to contribute worldwide. That evening, friendships were made, neckerchiefs swapped, and Paella shared at sunset on the beach, followed by a fusillade of fireworks.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was held in the drizzle at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Each Troop flew its colors and laid a wreath at the base of the huge bronze statue, The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Scouts and their families then joined hundreds of others walking the many acres of markers, looking for specific names, or just looking, at the beauty- with history, the sense of sacrifice and a touch of tears that the damp, perfect green grass of the cemetery envokes. Slowly the parking lot emptied as each American Troop and Patrol headed in every direction across Europe and the ocean… home.
If you would like to support the Scouts quest to preserve Omaha Beach as a UNESCO World Heritage site, follow this link and sign the petition:
www.change.org/petitions/unesco-save-the-d-day-beaches-ma...
Photos Courtesy Robert Turtil
South African Gospel Music promoted by SAHC at the Barbican Centre London Reception in the Fountain Room with Ditshupo aka Dee Beautiful Nurse from Botswana in Green Dress
Sakharov Prize award ceremony: "Raif Badawi was brave enough to say no to their barbarity"
"Raif Badawi was brave enough to raise his voice and say no to their barbarity. That is why they flogged him," said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of jailed Saudi human rights activist Raif Badawi, accepting the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on his behalf in Strasbourg on Wednesday 16 December. Badawi was honoured by the European Parliament for his fight for freedom of speech and thought in Saudi Arabia.
"Raif Badawi is not a criminal. He is a writer and a free thinker"
The chair of this year's laureate, Raif Badawi, was empty as the Saudi Arabian blogger and human rights activist is still in prison.
Badawi is a blogger and an advocate of freedom of thought and expression who was sentenced to ten years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a hefty fine for hosting online posts that were considered blasphemous by Saudi authorities on his website promoting a social, political and religious debate.
Read more: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/top-stories/20151020TST985...
This photo is free to use under Creative Commons licenses and must be credited: "© European Union 2015 - European Parliament".(Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives CreativeCommons licenses creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu
City of Royston staff members and DDA member worked to promote Royston at the Senior Expo in April 2011. Other staff members and DDA member also assisted. A lot of visitors stopped at the Royston booth to receive information on the community.
Coin, AD 64
Even though Nero had to abandon plans to go on campaign himself, it was important that his subjects recognised him as a strong military leader. Coins commemorated spectacular military displays in Rome and provided ample opportunity to promote the emperor's martial prowess to people across the empire. Nero's coins were the first to show a ruler in military garb since Augustus.
Wearing full armour and on horseback, Nero leads a parade of the imperial guard.
[British Museum]
Nero: the Man Behind the Myth
(May - Oct 2021)
Nero is known as one of Rome's most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty, debauchery and madness.
The last male descendant of the emperor Augustus, Nero succeeded to the throne in AD 54 aged just 16 and died a violent death at 30. His turbulent rule saw momentous events including the Great Fire of Rome, Boudicca's rebellion in Britain, the execution of his own mother and first wife, grand projects and extravagant excesses.
Drawing on the latest research, this major exhibition questions the traditional narrative of the ruthless tyrant and eccentric performer, revealing a different Nero, a populist leader at a time of great change in Roman society.
Through some 200 spectacular objects, from the imperial palace in Rome to the streets of Pompeii, follow the young emperor’s rise and fall and make up your own mind about Nero. Was he a young, inexperienced ruler trying his best in a divided society, or the merciless, matricidal megalomaniac history has painted him to be?
Nero was the 5th emperor of Rome and the last of Rome’s first dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, founded by Augustus (the adopted son of Julius Caesar). Nero is known as one of Rome’s most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty and debauchery. He ascended to power in AD 54 aged just 16 and died at 30. He ruled at a time of great social and political change, overseeing momentous events such as the Great Fire of Rome and Boudica’s rebellion in Britain. He allegedly killed his mother and two of his wives, only cared about his art and had very little interest in ruling the empire.
Most of what we know about Nero comes from the surviving works of three historians – Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. All written decades after Nero’s death, their accounts have long shaped our understanding of this emperor’s rule. However, far from being impartial narrators presenting objective accounts of past events, these authors and their sources wrote with a very clear agenda in mind. Nero’s demise brought forward a period of chaos and civil war – one that ended only when a new dynasty seized power, the Flavians. Authors writing under the Flavians all had an interest in legitimising the new ruling family by portraying the last of the Julio-Claudians in the worst possible light, turning history into propaganda. These accounts became the ‘historical’ sources used by later historians, therefore perpetuating a fabricated image of Nero, which has survived all the way to the present.
Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December AD 37.
He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger. Both Gnaeus and Agrippina were the grandchildren of Augustus, making Nero Augustus’ great, great grandson with a strong claim to power.
Nero was only two years old when his mother was exiled and three when his father died. His inheritance was taken from him and he was sent to live with his aunt. However, Nero’s fate changed again when Claudius became emperor, restoring the boy’s property and recalling his mother Agrippina from exile.
In AD 49 the emperor Claudius married Agrippina, and adopted Nero the following year. It is at this point that Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus changed his name to Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. In Roman times it was normal to change your name when adopted, abandoning your family name in favour of your adoptive father’s. Nero was a common name among members of the Claudian family, especially in Claudius’ branch.
Nero and Agrippina offered Claudius a politically useful link back to Augustus, strengthening his position.
Claudius appeared to favour Nero over his natural son, Britannicus, marking Nero as the designated heir.
When Claudius died in AD 54, Nero became emperor just two months before turning 17.
As he was supported by both the army and the senate, his rise to power was smooth. His mother Agrippina exerted a significant influence, especially at the beginning of his rule.
The Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all claim that Nero, fed up with Agrippina’s interference, decided to kill her.
Given the lack of eyewitnesses, there is no way of knowing if or how this happened. However, this did not stop historians from fabricating dramatic stories of Agrippina’s murder, asserting that Nero tried (and failed) to kill her with a boat engineered to sink, before sending his men to do the job.
Agrippina allegedly told them to stab her in the womb that bore Nero, her last words clearly borrowed from stage plays.
It is entirely possible, as claimed by Nero himself, that Agrippina chose (or was more likely forced) to take her own life after her plot against her son was discovered.
Early in his rule, Nero had to contend with a rebellion in the newly conquered province of Britain.
In AD 60–61, Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe led a revolt against the Romans, attacking and laying waste to important Roman settlements. The possible causes of the rebellion were numerous – the greed of the Romans exploiting the newly conquered territories, the recalling of loans made to local leaders, ongoing conflict in Wales and, above all, violence against the family of Prasutagus, Boudica’s husband and king of the Iceni.
Boudica and the rebels destroyed Colchester, London and St Albans before being heavily defeated by Roman troops. After the uprising, the governor of Britain Suetonius Paulinus introduced harsher laws against the Britons, until Nero replaced him with the more conciliatory governor Publius Petronius Turpilianus.
The marriage between Nero and Octavia, aged 15 and 13/14 at the time, was arranged by their parents in order to further legitimise Nero’s claim to the throne. Octavia was the daughter of the emperor Claudius from a previous marriage, so when Claudius married Agrippina and adopted her son Nero, Nero and Octavia became brother and sister. In order to arrange their marriage, Octavia had to be adopted into another family.
Their marriage was not a happy one. According to ancient writers, Nero had various affairs until his lover Poppaea Sabina convinced him to divorce his wife. Octavia was first exiled then executed in AD 62 on adultery charges. According to ancient writers, her banishment and death caused great unrest among the public, who sympathised with the dutiful Octavia.
No further motives were offered for Octavia’s death other than Nero’s passion for Poppaea, and we will probably never know what transpired at court. The fact that Octavia couldn’t produce an heir while Poppaea was pregnant with Nero’s daughter likely played an important role in deciding Octavia’s fate.
On 19 July AD 64, a fire started close to the Circus Maximus. The flames soon encompassed the entire city of Rome and the fire raged for nine days. Only four of the 14 districts of the capital were spared, while three were completely destroyed.
Rome had already been razed by flames – and would be again in its long history – but this event was so severe it came to be known as the Great Fire of Rome.
Later historians blamed Nero for the event, claiming that he set the capital ablaze in order to clear land for the construction of a vast new palace. According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, Nero took in the view of the burning city from the imperial residence while playing the lyre and singing about the fall of Troy. This story, however, is fictional.
Tacitus, the only historian who was actually alive at the time of the Great Fire of Rome (although only 8 years old), wrote that Nero was not even in Rome when the fire started, but returned to the capital and led the relief efforts.
Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all describe Nero as being blinded by passion for his wife Poppaea, yet they accuse him of killing her, allegedly by kicking her in an outburst of rage while she was pregnant.
Interestingly, pregnant women being kicked to death by enraged husbands is a recurring theme in ancient literature, used to explore the (self) destructive tendencies of autocrats. The Greek writer Herodotus tells the story of how the Persian king Cambyses kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach, causing her death. A similar episode is told of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Nero is just one of many allegedly ‘mad’ tyrants for which this literary convention was used.
Poppaea probably died from complications connected with her pregnancy and not at Nero’s hands. She was given a lavish funeral and was deified.
Centred on greater Iran, the Parthian empire was a major political and cultural power and a long-standing enemy of Rome. The two powers had long been contending for control over the buffer state of Armenia and open conflict sparked again during Nero’s rule. The Parthian War started in AD 58 and, after initial victories and following set-backs, ended in AD 63 when a diplomatic solution was reached between Nero and the Parthian king Vologases I.
According to this settlement Tiridates, brother of the Parthian king, would rule over Armenia, but only after having travelled all the way to Rome to be crowned by Nero.
The journey lasted 9 months, Tiridates’ retinue included 3,000 Parthian horsemen and many Roman soldiers. The coronation ceremony took place in the summer of AD 66 and the day was celebrated with much pomp: all the people of Rome saw the new king of Armenia kneeling in front of Nero. This was the Golden Day of Nero’s rule
In AD 68, Vindex, the governor of Gaul (France), rebelled against Nero and declared his support for Galba, the governor of Spain. Vindex was defeated in battle by troops loyal to Nero, yet Galba started gaining more military support.
It was at this point that Nero lost the support of Rome’s people due to a grain shortage, caused by a rebellious commander who cut the crucial food supply from Egypt to the capital. Abandoned by the people and declared an enemy of the state by the senate, Nero tried to flee Rome and eventually committed suicide.
Following his death, Nero’s memory was condemned (a practice called damnatio memoriae) and the images of the emperor were destroyed, removed or reworked. However, Nero was still given an expensive funeral and for a long time people decorated his tomb with flowers, some even believing he was still alive.
After Nero’s death, civil war ensued. At the end of the so-called ‘Year of the Four Emperors’ (AD 69), Vespasian became emperor and started a new dynasty: the Flavians.
[Francesca Bologna, curator, for British Museum]
Taken in the British Museum
Scouts Camporee on Omaha Beach Honors Heroes and Promotes Peace.
By Robert Turtil
U.S. Scouts gathered April 24 to 27 for the 2014 Omaha Beach Camporee, in event held every three years in Normandy, France. This years Camporee was particularly special, because it was recognized as the opening event of the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings planned for June. Hundreds of Scouts from France, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, the BeNeLux and Scandinavian countries, Germany and other nations joined for a weekend of remembrance.
U.S. embassy personnel and active duty service members brought their families from facilities around Europe and North Africa. More than a few F-16 fighter jockeys directed AstroVans from the Autobahn to the AutoRoute to the D-514, while others followed the more historic route across, or below, the English Channel. Some Scouts flew from American cities over their spring break, and as usual, moms led the charge when dads couldn’t get away. All converged on a welcoming destination for Americans on the French coast.
Nearly 4,200 troops and their supporting families battled sometimes horizontal rain to re-live the history, and recognize the sacrifices of American and Allied soldiers, many close to their own age, who have fought and died fighting for freedom and peace. World War Two Veterans were honored, and sacrifices made during The Great War, Korea, Vietnam and The War on Terror were also recognized by scout leaders and other volunteers, many of whom are U.S. Veterans, the traditional backbone of scouting in America.
Campsites were pitched in the rain, the mud and the dark; pots of pasta were swamped by tent malfunctions. The elements provoked short-term tears and tantrums, and perhaps a sleepless night. But complaints were mitigated with stories of invasion boats packed with seasick assault troops, mud filled foxholes, and cold k-rations, as Scouts peered at the sogginess of this Norman spring. But, as EVERY Scout knows, only fun will be remembered of the mud and chill of this weekend.
Scout convoys raced around the invasion coast following ambitious schedules: Utah Beach, Point D’Hoc, Sainte Mere Eglise, Arromanches, the Pegasus Bridge and many museums. Scouts and Veterans were the special guests of honor at the historic and grand Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux where clergy, along with national and local leaders, christened a newly forged Bell of Peace and Freedom. The Cathedral was a packed and flowing sea of international scout uniforms, flags and neckerchiefs… all highlighted by sunbeams streaking through stained-glass windows.
90 year-old, World War ll Army Air Force Veteran Captain Samuel Wiley Hammersmith, B-25 pilot with 28 missions in the Pacific, mingled with Scouts throughout the weekend.
New Eagles and candidates for the Order of the Arrow were sworn in at an Omaha Beach campfire in the most meaningful of ceremonies for Scouts and their families. A French Air Force flyover, a military band and youth choir opened the Messengers of Peace multimedia presentation, bringing home the sacrifices made in the past and the promise of peace Scouting seeks to contribute worldwide. That evening, friendships were made, neckerchiefs swapped, and Paella shared at sunset on the beach, followed by a fusillade of fireworks.
Sunday’s closing ceremony was held in the drizzle at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Each Troop flew its colors and laid a wreath at the base of the huge bronze statue, The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Scouts and their families then joined hundreds of others walking the many acres of markers, looking for specific names, or just looking, at the beauty- with history, the sense of sacrifice and a touch of tears that the damp, perfect green grass of the cemetery envokes. Slowly the parking lot emptied as each American Troop and Patrol headed in every direction across Europe and the ocean… home.
If you would like to support the Scouts quest to preserve Omaha Beach as a UNESCO World Heritage site, follow this link and sign the petition:
www.change.org/petitions/unesco-save-the-d-day-beaches-ma...
Photos Courtesy Robert Turtil
Hanan Morsy, Director of Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting, and Research at African Development Bank having a portrait during Global Gender Summit 2019 - Macro Policymaking to Promote Women's Empowerment Plenary Session on November 26, 2019, at Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda.
South African Gospel Music promoted by SAHC at the Barbican Centre London Reception in the Fountain Room with Ditshupo aka Dee Beautiful Nurse from Botswana in Green Dress and Kansani in Burberry Check Dress from SA
HHS Secretary Alex Azar joined top health officials and global health partners at a World Health Assembly side event to look at ways to boost public trust in vaccines as our most reliable front line defense against disease. WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivered closing remarks at the event entitled “Promoting Vaccine Confidence: Enhancing Global Immunization Efforts to Protect the Health of all Generations.”
“Vaccines are some of the most thoroughly tested medical products we have,” said Secretary Azar in opening remarks at the event. “Vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving. But around the world, complacency among the public, coupled with misunderstanding and misinformation, is causing vaccination rates to decline, with tragic results.”
Speakers at the event included EU Commissioner Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, Dr. Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Minister of Health, Brazi:, Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada; Prof. Dr. Alexandru Rafila, Romania, Member of WHO Executive Board, Dr. Seth Berkley CEO, GAVI Vaccine Alliance and Prof. Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine. The event was moderated by Dr. Katherine O'Brien, Director, Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, WHO.
Read HHS Secretary Azar’s opening remarks at the event: geneva.usmission.gov/2019/05/21/secretary-azar-remarks-on...
U.S. Mission Photo/Eric Bridiers
PAHO promotes public health approaches for diabetes prevention and care. In occasion of World Diabetes Day 2014, PAHO’s campaign encouraged this year healthy living, reducing diabetes risk factors and establishing personal healthy lifestyle goals.
There was an active participation from PAHO workers, who choose a personal goal and committed to it by taking their selfie.’
Green, European anti-nuclear bus to Brussels for a nuclear-free Europe
09.07.2012 – 13.07.2012
The idea behind the “Green Bus” is to promote and to strengthen antinuclear and pro-green-energy/pro-energy-democracy civic and political movements in Poland, Belarus, Estonia, Kaliningrad, Latvia and Lithuania.
The bus was realised through networking and cooperation between green parties, green think-tanks, green youth organizations and civic movements from the countries of the Baltic coast.
The final destination of the bus was Brussels where the participants met with the Green Group in the European Parliament and other Green Family members: GEF, HBF, EGP, FYEG.
The Green Bus Project has at least double meaning for anti-nuclear action.
First of all it has a European dimension in skills and knowledge transfer for all regions struggling with the national nuclear programs and promoting green solutions.
Secondly it is a strong tool helping to develop and strengthen cooperation and network oriented actions both in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic Sea and at the EU level.
In the European Parliament there was a very valuable exchange of knowledge and ideas between the activisits and Greens/EFA Co-President and long time nuclear campainger Rebecca Harms, and Green MEP and energy expert Claude Turmes
Article:
www.greens-efa.eu/anti-nuclear-bus-7828.html
Facebook Album:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.394582103935980.95156.1...
The Los Angeles Fire Department is proud to honor the achievements of five LAFD uniformed members who have successfully completed the demanding process of promoting in rank within the Department.
Expressing her pride in their accomplishments, City of Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley oversaw a formal promotion ceremony at the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Elysian Park on Friday, May 12, 2023.
Individually honored at the event (with their new rank) were:
Assistant Chief Luis Aldana
Assistant Chief Melford Beard
Assistant Chief Jason Hing
Assistant Chief Peter Hsiao
Inspector II Patrick Perez
LAFD Event: 051223
Photo Use Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: LAFD Photo (John McCoy)
Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk
Mississippi College School of Business leaders promoted the university's MBA program to prospective graduate students in metro Jackson during a meeting in Flowood Thursday. Pictured after Thursday's luncheon at Table 100 are Racquel Walker, who's a current MBA student and staff member at MC, School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo, assistant dean Michelle Ricker, and MBA director Lloyd Roberts. MC's MBA program enrolls 233 students and is the largest in the Jackson area.
Please also visit my Photoblog at brohardphotography.blogspot.com
Follow me and become Fan at Facebook Loïc Brohard Photography
Consider to join the group Photography Websites & Photoblogs Group on Facebook to promote your work !
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir is a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.
Gur-e Amir is Persian for "Tomb of the King". This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandson Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Mir Sayyid Baraka.
The earliest part of the complex was built at the end of the 14th century by the orders of Muhammad Sultan. Now only the foundations of the madrasah and khanaka, the entrance portal and a part of one of four minarets remains.
The construction of the mausoleum itself began in 1403 after the sudden death of Muhammad Sultan, Tamerlane's heir apparent and his beloved grandson, for whom it was intended. Timur had built himself a smaller tomb in Shahrisabz near his Ak-Saray palace. However, when Timur died in 1405 on campaign on his military expedition to China, the passes to Shahrisabz were snowed in, so he was buried here instead. Ulugh Beg, another grandson of Tamerlane, completed the work. During his reign the mausoleum became the family crypt of the Timurid Dynasty.
The entrance portal to the Muhammad Sultan ensemble is richly decorated with carved bricks and various mosaics. The decoration of the portal was accomplished by the skilled craftsman (ustad) Muhammad bin Mahmud Isfahani. Outwardly the Gur-e Amir Mausoleum is a one-cupola building. It is famous for its simplicity of construction and for its solemn monumentality of appearance. It is an octahedral building crowned by an azure fluted dome (see picture). The exterior decoration of the walls consists of the blue, light-blue and white tiles organized into geometrical and epigraphic ornaments against a background of terracotta bricks. The dome (diameter - 15 m (49.21 ft), height - 12.5 m (41.01 ft)) is of a bright blue color with deep rosettes and white spots. Heavy ribbed fluting gives an amazing expressiveness to the cupola.
During the reign of Ulugh Beg a doorway was made to provide an entrance into the mausoleum.
Inwardly the mausoleum appears as a large, high chamber with deep niches at the sides and diverse decoration. The lower part of the walls covered are by onyx slabs composed as one panel. Each of these slabs is decorated with refined paintings. Above the panel there is a marble stalactite cornice. Large expanses of the walls are decorated with painted plaster; the arches and the internal dome are ornamented by high-relief papier-mache cartouches, gilded and painted. The ornate carved headstones in the inner room of the mausoleum merely indicate the location of the actual tombs in a crypt directly underneath the main chamber. Under Ulugh Beg's government a solid block of dark green jade was placed over the grave of Tamerlane. Formerly this stone had been used at a place of worship in the Chinese emperor's palace, then as the throne of Kabek Khan (a descendant of Genghis Khan) in Karshi. Next to Tamerlane's grave lie the marble tombstones of his sons Miran Shah and Shah Rukh and also of grandsons - Muhammad Sultan and Ulugh Beg. Tamerlane's spiritual teacher Mir Said Baraka, also rests here. In 1740, the Persian warlord Nadir Shah tried to carry off the valuable tomb stone, but it broke in two. This was interpreted as a bad omen. His advisers urged him to leave the stone to its rightful place. The second time the stone was disturbed was on June 19, 1941 when Soviet archaeologists opened the crypt. The anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov was able to reconstruct Tamerlane's facial features from his skull, and it was also confirmed that he was 172 cm in height, a giant for his day, and would have walked with a pronounced limp. Further historical information about the assassination of Ulugh Beg and the authenticity of the other graves was also confirmed. Timur's skeleton and that of Ulugh Beg, his grandson, were reinterred with full Islamic burial rites in November 1942, at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The Peebles Railway was a railway company that built a line connecting the town of Peebles in Peeblesshire, Scotland, with Edinburgh. It opened on 4 July 1855, and it worked its own trains.
The friendly North British Railway later promoted a line, at first identified as the Galashiels, Innerleithen and Peebles Railway, from Peebles to Galashiels, making a connection with the Peebles Railway there, and also with the Caledonian Railway which had its own line at Peebles. The GI&PR line was built by the North British Railway and opened on 1 October 1864.
In 1860 the Peebles Railway company leased its line to the North British Railway, which operated the Galashiels and Edinburgh sections as a continuous through route.
Road transport of goods and passengers provided fierce competition in the 1950s and the line closed in 1962. No railway use is now made of the former lines.
History
Before the Peebles railway
In the eighteenth century Peebles had become an important manufacturing town, chiefly for woollen weaving and also the preparation of cotton and linen products, and also brewing. Its location on the banks of the Upper River Tweed put it on the communication routes of the area, constrained by the hills north and south surrounding Windlestraw Law and Dollar Law respectively.
When the turnpikes were introduced, Peebles was within five hours of Edinburgh by post-chaise. In 1807 Thomas Telford was commissioned to design a double-track waggonway connecting Glasgow and Berwick, a distance of 125 miles (201 km), running through Carluke, Peebles and Melrose. The waggonway would have been horse-operated, and was intended to form an outlet for iron products and lime to the borders area, and agricultural products, in particular grain, to the industrial towns of central Scotland.
The mountainous terrain of the route would have required steep gradients which would have been challenging for horse traction, and the estimated cost of construction was £365,000, a huge amount at that time, and the scheme was dropped.
A second waggonway scheme was proposed in 1821, this time designed by Robert Stevenson, on an alternative route but it too was considered too ambitious to be practicable.
In 1838 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament. Although local railways had been operating in Scotland, this was a major advance, connecting the two great cities. As the construction progressed, public opinion became active over making a connection between central Scotland and the merging English railway network. The controversy became very heated, and a great number of schemes were put forward, including some that would run through Peebles. Not all of the schemes were realistic, and in time they reduced to what became the North British Railway line between Edinburgh and Berwick, the Caledonian Railway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and Carlisle through the valley of the River Annan, and what became the Glasgow and South Western Railway via Kilmarnock and Dumfries. These great companies were all authorised by Parliament in the middle years of the 1840s.
The Caledonian Railway proposed the Caledonian Extension Railway in 1845, to run eastward from the Lanark area through Biggar and Stobo to Peebles, continuing through Galashiels to Kelso; this would have cost £1,500,000, the same as the Caledonian Railway itself from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Carlisle. However the proposal was rejected in Parliament.
In 1845 too, the North British Railway suggested a Peebles branch from Galashiels on the line that it was then building, which became the Waverley Route. The townspeople of Peebles did not think an eastward line to Galashiels was their highest priority. Supporters of an independent railway to Edinburgh had also been active, and on 23 June 1845 a meeting was held in Edinburgh. It was told that a line had been designed leaving the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway near the later Niddrie station.
In the 1846 Parliamentary session, the Edinburgh and Peebles Bill failed standing orders, and the North British Peebles branch was withdrawn by its proposers: neither line would proceed.
The Peebles Railway
As the Scottish railway network developed in the following years, the cost of transporting goods to and from towns connected to a line fell dramatically; and Peebles, and other towns not connected, felt at a marked disadvantage in the cost of the necessities of living, and in moving its manufactures to markets, and this heightened the feeling that Peebles must have a railway line. John Bathgate was the principal promoter of the Peebles Railway.
In April 1852 a meeting was held, at which a revised version of the failed Edinburgh and Peebles scheme was tabled. The engineer Thomas Bouch was engaged. The line would run through Penicuik and join the Hawick line at Eskbank, near Dalkeith, shortening the length of new construction, and the line could be built for £80,000. There was considerable enthusiasm locally and in London for the line and numerous persons registered for shares, although in the event many of them did not proceed with the commitment they had made. Enthusiasm took hold of the provisional committee too, for they sought tenders for the construction of the line and accepted one.
There remained the issue of actually obtaining the Act of Parliament incorporating the company, but this went through without great difficulty and on 8 July 1853; the Peebles Railway was authorised, with capital of £70,000.
Getting the line ready
The directors put in hand the construction of the line, under Bouch's supervision, and the share subscriptions were coming in satisfactorily. They considered the working of the line, and talked to the North British Railway but found their financial terms unacceptable. They went to some lengths to explore the possibility of getting an independent contractor to work the line, but this proved fruitless, and the company decided to work the line itself. They set about procuring the rolling stock, and planning the workforce, for operating and for track and rolling stock maintenance, that would be required.
On 2 April 1855 the line was ready enough for the steam locomotive Soho to be brought to Peebles, but this seems to have been a demonstration run, for it was not until 29 May that passenger coaches and goods wagons were brought to Peebles.
The line was considered ready for inspection by the Board of Trade Inspecting Officer, and Captain Tyler visited on 28 June. The inspection was thought to have gone well, but the formal approval received from the Board of Trade stipulated working by one engine only, and that sidings were required to shunt goods trains before passenger trains[note 2] were started. The Company had issued printed bye-laws and regulations, but these referred to disciplinary matters and not to operating rules; the Company had two locomotives and appear not to have given thought to signalling arrangements. While considering what was to be done, the Company started operating within the BoT requirements, and on 4 July 1855 the train service started. This apparently involved the construction of a passing loop at Penicuik.
Relations with the contractor for constructing the line appear to have deteriorated in the final months, and after opening it was stated in a General Shareholders' Meeting that there was an outstanding debt of £5,600, but that the Board would not pursue for damages.
The line in operation
Three trains operated in each direction daily, except Sundays. Leaving Edinburgh the Peebles coaches were attached at the rear of an NBR Hawick train, and detached at Eskbank. There the Peebles Railway locomotive coupled to the detached portion and took the train on to Peebles. The physical junction was at Hardengreen. The locomotives ran tender first from Eskbank to Peebles.
The trains were an instant success, carryings being beyond what could have been anticipated, and the first full week brought in receipts of £99, climbing a month later to £166. The stations were Peebles, Eddleston, Leadburn, Penicuik, Roslin and Hawthornden, but at the last minute it was agreed to provide a station at Bonnyrigg, and this was opened a month after the opening of the line itself.
In 1856 the North British Railway operated seven trains each way daily except Sundays, of which four were passenger trains. One of these was a "fast passenger" service leaving Peebles at 08:50 and taking 65 minutes, returning at 16:20 and also taking 65 minutes.
Soon after the opening one of the locomotives, St Ronans, became defective, "because it could not negotiate the curves on the track". Although the Company owned two locomotives and was only allowed to use one at a time, nonetheless it found it necessary to hire in a replacement. The other locomotive was named Tweed. The locomotive fleet was soon augmented but the details are unclear. The carriage stock was also required to be increased, but these acquisitions were straining the capital resources of the company and deferment of payment was practised.
The electric telegraph was installed on the line (and the NBR section), giving Peebles telegraph communication with Edinburgh for the first time, from 1858.
Additional capital
A Parliamentary Act was obtained on 27 June 1857 authorising the issue of an additional £27,000 in shares; improvements and rectification of some deficiencies in the original construction of the line needed attention.
In 1859 it was decided to install turntables at Peebles and Hardengreen Junction, as the tender-first running was said to cause excessive wear on the locomotives and the track. The North British Railway had to install the Hardengreen turntable and this seems to have been delayed, being ready in 1860.
The track had been laid with the cheapest materials at the advice of the engineer Thomas Bouch, and already in 1858 it was giving trouble, being in need of major renewal. The routine maintenance was carried out by platelayers with the assistance of a labourer, each responsible for about two miles of route. In August 1860 all the wooden bridges on the line were tarred and repainted.
Extending the line
The Peebles lines in 1866
The Peebles lines in 1866
For some time the community of Innerleithen had agitated for a railway connection, by the building of an independent line from Peebles. A number of attempts were made to bring this about without success, until in 1860 a line was proposed from Galashiels to Peebles through Innerleithen. Agreement was made for the North British Railway to run the trains. The railway was promoted as the Galashiels, Innerleithen and Peebles Railway (GI&PR). A Parliamentary Bill failed in 1860, but being re-presented the following year as an NBR branch, it gained the Royal Assent on 28 June 1861. The capital authorised was £95,000.
A Caledonian dependency, the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway, had been extended to Peebles and the GI&PR line would meet it, as well as the Peebles Railway, there.
The first section, from Peebles to Innerleithen, was opened on 10 October 1864 and the remainder on 18 June 1866. The Peebles Railway terminus at Peebles was unsuitable for the through services contemplated, and after unsuccessful overtures to the Caledonian Railway proposing a joint station, the North British Railway built a new single platform station to serve the Galashiels line and the Peebles Railway trains. It was a modest affair, opening in 1864. The Peebles Railway station continued in use for the time being, renamed Peebles (Old).
The train service now operated from Galashiels to Edinburgh via Peebles, as a through route; there were five trains daily, two on Sundays, with some short workings.
The Caledonian Railway station at Peebles was on the south side of the River Tweed and a connection was to be made crossing the river; the connection with the GI&PR line was intended to be a triangle, allowing through running towards Galashiels and towards Edinburgh.
It is doubtful whether the eastward curve was completed, although the earthworks were formed.[note 6] The NBR wished to prevent the Caledonian gaining access to Galashiels, which the curve would have enabled.
When the line opened throughout, the NBR operated passenger trains through from Edinburgh to Galashiels via Peebles.
Lease to the North British Railway
From about 1858 the Peebles Railway considered sale of its line to the NBR "before major expenditure on the line would be required". The NBR itself was planning to absorb several local railways and negotiations were fruitful. On 14 April 1860 a shareholders' meeting heard the proposed sale, but rejected it. The Company Chairman resigned immediately. A further proposal, to lease the line to the NBR, was tabled the following year, on 1 February 1861, and shareholders voted for it. The terms were generous: the line was profitable but considerable upgrade work was necessary. The NBR agreed to pay for PR shareholders to receive between 5% and 6% dividends, as well as considerable other expenses including purchase of the Peebles Railway rolling stock for £20,000. The Peebles Railway (Lease) Act authorised the move on 11 July 1861.
Connecting lines
The Peebles Railway company determined not to extend its line or make branches, but it co-operated with independent concerns that wished to do so and to make connections with its line. In North British Railway days a similar policy was followed.
The Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway was authorised by Act of 3 June 1862, to form a junction with the Peebles Railway line at Leadburn. It opened on 4 July 1864. The Dolphinton station was separate from the Caledonian Railway station there, although shunt transfers were possible through a siding connection.
During the construction of the Dolphinton line, there was a collision at the junction at Leadburn on 29 October 1863. A construction train working on the Dolphinton line ran away on a steep gradient to Leadburn. The only protection to the main line was a scotch block at Leadburn, and the runaway vehicles ran over the block and collided head on with an approaching passenger train on the Peebles line; a boy was killed and several persons were injured.
The Esk Valley Railway was being promoted in 1860; it was to run to Polton, a village with several important paper mills, from a junction with the Peebles Railway at Hardengreen. The North British Railway provided much of the deposit required to submit the Parliamentary Bill, and the Peebles Railway gave its consent. The Esk Valley Railway got its authorising Act on 21 July 1863, and the line opened on 16 April 1867. The point of divergence of the Esk Valley line was a short distance south of Hardengreen Junction, and the Esk Valley line ran parallel with the Peebles Railway for that section; it was later agreed to convert the two single lines to operate as one double track from Hardengreen Junction to Esk Valley Junction.
The first station on the Esk Valley line was to be called Bonnyrigg. It was closer to the town than the Peebles Railway Bonnyrigg station, but the Peebles Railway was unwilling at first to change the name of its own station. The PR later agreed to change the name of its Bonnyrigg station to Bonnyrigg Road. This led to confusion of passengers, and the NBR renamed the station Broomieknowe and the Peebles Railway station reverted to Bonnyrigg.
The nominally independent Penicuik Railway was authorised by Act of 20 June 1870, for a 4-mile (6.4 km) branch from Hawthornden on the Peebles Railway to Penicuik. It was opened on 2 September 1872, and the company was absorbed by the NBR on 1 August 1876 along with the Esk Valley Railway.
The Peebles Railway had a Penicuik station, which was a considerable distance from the town, and it was now renamed Pomathorn
The North British Railway had renamed Roslin as Rosslyn in 1864 and renamed it again Rosslynlee in 1872 because of the Rosslyn station on the Penicuik Railway line. Rosslyn on the Penicuik line was renamed Rosslyn Castle on 11 Feb 1874. Rosslynlee closed from 1 January 1917 to 2 June 1919.
Amalgamation
From 1870 the Peebles Railway and the NBR considered amalgamation, and agreement having been reached, the North British Railway (Additional Powers) Act of 13 July 1876 authorised the amalgamation, which became effective on 1 August 1876.
Angling Club Cottage Platform
Edinburgh Angling Club had acquired a house, named The Nest, close to the River Tweed, near Clovenfords. (The location is on Cliff Road, a short distance west of the roundabout junction of the present-day A72 and A707.) In 1898 an unadvertised halt named Angling Club Cottage Platform was provided there for the use of club members. The halt became disused in the mid-twentieth century.
The twentieth century
Passenger train services had now been enhanced to six daily from Galashiels to Edinburgh via Peebles with an additional Saturdays Innerleithen to Edinburgh train; by now the typical journey time was a little under an hour from Peebles to Edinburgh. A Peeblesshire Express was introduced for business travel from Peebles to Edinburgh. It left Peebles at 08:44 daily, stopping at Leadburn to attach a portion from Broomlee on the Dolphinton branch, arriving at Edinburgh at 09:37. The return train left Edinburgh at 16:32 Monday to Friday, and 13:33 on Saturdays.
In 1905 the North British Railway extended and improved the Peebles station, although it remained a one-platform station, with no passing loop.
The Border Show was held in Peebles by the Highland and Agricultural Society in July 1906, and the North British was asked to arrange special services at reduced rates, which it declined to do. In 1904 the NBR had declared that it considered Peebles an inappropriate location for the heavy traffic that the show would attract, due to the limited track facilities there. 20,000 visitors daily were expected, requiring 20 to 30 trains. Considerable public criticism resulted, and in March 1905 the NBR realised that the rival Caledonian Railway was improving its own Peebles branch. This resulted in an immediate move to arrange the necessary facilities. Additional stabling sidings and a passing loop were provided, and the Old station was to be reopened temporarily for passenger use. The company was still concerned about line capacity and issued a public notice that "The Company will not guarantee passengers will reach Peebles and will not be responsible for delays." In the event the trains ran and some delays were experienced. The NBR lost considerable good will because of its stance over the matter.
There was a daily goods service over the link line between the Caledonian and North British stations at Peebles, but there was never a regular passenger service. Light engines used it after the closure of Peebles (NBR) engine shed if they required to turn, using the Caledonian turntable. However some passenger excursions used the link. On 25 June 1936 a Caledonian Railway excursion from Lanark ran to Galashiels, using the link, and reversing in Peebles NBR station.
In 1923 the railways of Great Britain were "grouped" following the Railways Act 1921; the North British Railway was a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Twenty five years later, nationalisation of the nation's railways took place, and the Peebles route was part of the Scottish Region of British Railways. Now that both railway lines to Peebles were under the same ownership, Peebles NBR station was renamed Peebles (East) on 25 September 1952, although the former Caledonian Railway branch had closed to passengers by then. The NBR station reverted to simple Peebles in February 1958.
Diesel multiple unit trains were introduced on the line from 17 February 1958 after a demonstration run on 11 June 1956; a considerably enhanced passenger service was introduced in the Edinburgh suburban area, extending out as far as Rosewell.
A new station, Rosslynlee Hospital Halt, was opened on 11 December 1958 to serve Rosslynlee Hospital; the exiting Rosslynlee station was not conveniently situated for the hospital. The House Steward at the hospital sold tickets.
However the general decline in local rural passenger services was hastened by the improving bus services, and the Peebles line was nominated for closure. The final passenger trains ran on 3 February 1962, and the following day the route between Hawthornden Junction and Galashiels via Peebles was closed completely.
The Edinburgh suburban passenger service from Edinburgh to Rosewell and Hawthornden continued until Saturday 8 September 1962, being closed from 10 September. The Penicuik branch continued to operate a goods train service, and the Peebles Railway section from Hardengreen Junction to Hawthornden Junction (where the Penicuik line diverged) remained open to serve those trains, until they ceased in 1967.
The entire network of lines is closed to railway activity; the section between Hardengreen Junction and Rosewell has been converted to a cycleway.
Locations on the line were:
Hardengreen Junction; the Peebles Railway diverged from the Hawick line;
Esk Valley Junction; the Esk Valley line diverged;
Bonnyrigg; renamed Bonnyrigg Road from 1868; closed 10 September 1962;
Hawthornden; variously known as Rosewell and Hawthornden, and Hawthornden Junction and Rosewell; closed 10 September 1962;
Hawthornden Junction; the Penicuik Railway diverged;
Roslin; renamed Rosslyn 1864; renamed Rosslynlee 1872; closed 1 January 1917; reopened 2 June 1919;
Rosslynlee Hospital Halt; opened 11 December 1958;
Penicuik; renamed Pomathorn 1872; renamed Pomathorn Halt 1947;
Leadburn; the Dolphinton line diverged; the summit of the line at 935 feet was near Leadburn; closed 7 March 1955;
Earlyvale Gate; opened June 1856; trains stopped at the level crossing on market days etc.; closed 28 February 1857;
Eddleston;
Peebles; closed after 1 October 1864, superseded by new station built by NBR.
North British Railway extension to Galashiels: opened 1 October 1864; closed 5 February 1962.
Peebles; renamed Peebles East 1950; renamed Peebles 1958;
Cardrona;
Innerleithen;
Walkerburn; opened 15 January 1867;
Thornilee; opened 18 June 1866; soon renamed Thornielee; closed 6 November 1960;
Angling Club Cottage Platform; opened 1898; closed after 1932;
Clovenfords; opened 18 June 1866;
Kilnknowe Junction; convergence with the NBR line to Galashiels.
Prior to this I had the Geomet'r GNC-35 which did not give elevation information. It died unexpectantly after about 60 days.
The Promote GPS captures the satellites extremely quickly, and it does provide height above mean sea level in meters. Also the date and time from the GPS show up in the EXIF data.
This collaboration features 4 contemporary artists based in London and New York: Je BAAK, Meekyoung SHIN, Buhm HONG and Jean SHIN.
From 25 October 2011 to 26 November 2011 the exhibition NyLon: London-New York Exchange Exhibition brings together four Korean artists based in London and New York.
As it marks our first exchange exhibition with the Korean Cultural Service New York, NyLon attempts to pave a new way for these two institutions to promote Korean artists on the global art scene.
Our four exciting artists Meekyoung SHIN, Je BAAK, Buhm HONG and Jean SHIN explore a range of cross-cultural influences through their work, inspired by their lives in two of the world’s leading cultural capitals.
Four artists were selected by the local advisory panels, consisted of Ralph Rugoff, the Director of the Hayward Gallery and Dr. Sook-Kyung Lee, the first Korean curator at the Tate. The works of these artists will also be exhibited at the Korean Cultural Service New York, from 16 November 2011 to 16 December 2011.
Xavier promotes math, science clubs to younger girls
By Ambria Hammel | April 16, 2009 | The Catholic Sun
Girls at local Catholic schools show a great interest in the math and sciences, but studies show that women account for only 29 percent of college math and computer science degrees.
To bridge that gap and keep girls interested in such fields, Xavier College Preparatory teamed up with middle-schoolers throughout the diocese March 27 to host a “Girls Have IT Day.”
The all-girls Catholic high school math and information technology fair included 15 activity booths and featured presentations by two young science professionals — both Xavier alums — who talked about their career paths.
“I never thought, going into science and math, that people would expect you to be creative. But they do,” Tammy Greasby, a 2000 Xavier alumna, told 200 middle schoolers. “Creativity is a must because if you can only do what you’re told, you’re not going to go very far.”
Greasby, a doctoral candidate in biostatistics, has had to determine the best way to test, chart, color and interpret data. She’s studied the most efficient way to capture wind energy and the cause of tumors in cats.
Greasby also told the middle-schoolers about a handful of female friends in related science, technology, engineering and math fields. They’ve studied proteins, memory and the brain, DNA and the environmental impact of fuel cell vehicles and trash.
They’ve also volunteered abroad, worked for the CIA, competed in bike and swim races and created crafty projects.
“We’re not nerds, we’re normal people,” said Patricia Blaha, assistant principal at St. Thomas the Apostle School, of engineers and like-minded people.
Blaha, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, brought a group of students to the event to help them consider math and science careers.
The girls explored math, science and music activities in small groups. They looked through telescopes to see the sun, played Math Twister, used a green screen to star in a film, worked with puzzles and video games, controlled a flight simulator and made music with their water bottle.
“The whole thing behind the water is to blow in it and the sound changes as your water goes down,” explained Catherine Wyman, Xavier’s technology director. Wyman helped organize the IT day.
Many of the girls who attended IT day already had an interest in math and science classes, but learned more about major and career opportunities.
Frankie Leija, a seventh-grader at St. Louis the King School in Glendale, likes exploring computer programs, especially those that allow photo manipulation. She plans to go into forensic science, though.
“I like learning how you can talk for the dead,” Leija said.
More: www.catholicsun.org
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The Los Angeles Fire Department is proud to honor the achievements of five LAFD uniformed members who have successfully completed the demanding process of promoting in rank within the Department.
Expressing her pride in their accomplishments, City of Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley oversaw a formal promotion ceremony at the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center in Elysian Park on Friday, May 12, 2023.
Individually honored at the event (with their new rank) were:
Assistant Chief Luis Aldana
Assistant Chief Melford Beard
Assistant Chief Jason Hing
Assistant Chief Peter Hsiao
Inspector II Patrick Perez
LAFD Event: 051223
Photo Use Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: LAFD Photo (John McCoy)
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Promote your brand with this handy promotional Flags & Custom Sticky Notes. Your recipients will find this gift a worthy addition to their homes and offices. These Custom Sticky Notes allow them to quickly jot their personal thoughts or important notes from a meeting.
This past week I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in Chevrolet's #findnewroads road trip to help promote and introduce the brand new 2016 Camaro. Myself and co-pilot Jarrod (Mindz) got the leg of the trip from Dallas, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we were lucky enough to do the drive in a "Lemon Peel Yellow" manual 1SS version featuring the 6.2 liter LT1 motor making 455 horses. We had the car in our possession for about 32 hours and put over 1400 miles on the car in that time (a record for any other drivers on the road trip so far). We visited several points of interest in Texas including AT&T Stadium in Arlen --the home of the Dallas Cowboys-- the NASA space center in Houston, as well as the Circuit Of The Americas race track, aka COTA; we went on a nice drive through Sam Houston National Forest with several local 5th gen Camaro enthusiasts kindly lending themselves as our tour guides. We even brought the car into ADM Performance in Lewisville, Tx to get some baseline numbers on the car... It weighed in at 3667 lbs, and on the dyno it put down 416 hp, 421 Tq to the wheels. Impressive! Unfortunately, I think I may have became the first person to receive a speeding ticket in a 6th gen putting that power to use! First ticket in almost 4 years! Getting to drive the new Camaro early and experience it on a drive like this was pretty amazing, and it was great being able to take the car out to the different speed shops and to meet up with the local Camaro club to allow people to get a good look at the car ahead of its release. The car was received well at each stop along the way, with everyone very eager to begin seeing more of these out on the road. And I feel the same. Thanks for the great time Chevy, and Jarrod!