MOLVA, la fleche

The dark eye that beholdeth ruin in every dawn is oft not guided by reason, but by the passing weather of the soul. When grief sitteth heavy upon the breast, when Fortune turneth her wheel against us, the world appeareth clothed in shadows, and every path seemeth to lead unto despair. Such is pessimism: a child of temperament, born of melancholy and nourished by fear.

 

Yet optimism springeth from another source. It is no blind merriment, nor a foolish denial of sorrow's presence. Rather, it is the sovereign act of the spirit. It beholdeth the storm and nameth it storm; it seeth the wound and knoweth it wound. Yet still it resolveth to advance. It saith, "Though the heavens rage and the earth tremble beneath my feet, I shall not yield my purpose."

 

For the pessimist asketh, "What if all should fail?" and, fearing the answer, remaineth still. The optimist asketh the selfsame question, yet answereth, "Then let me strive nevertheless." Thus is optimism not the gift of happy circumstance, but the courage of deliberate choice.

 

The nightingale singeth not because the night is free of darkness, but because song is its nature. So too doth the hopeful soul persist, not because suffering is absent, but because it willeth to answer suffering with action.

 

Therefore may it be said: pessimism descendeth upon a man as mist upon the field, unbidden and untamed; but optimism is a torch borne in the hand, kindled by resolve, and carried forward against the wind. For moods are the subjects of Fortune, yet the will remaineth the kingdom of man.

The Sociology of “Nature is Free”: Fragmentation, Modernity, Migration, and the Myth of the Liberated Entrepreneur in Early 20th-Century Iconography

The image Nature is Free offers a compelling visual allegory of the Statue of Liberty in profound transformation. Executed in a dynamic, woodcut-inspired graphic style echoing early 20th-century American propaganda and Art Deco vitality, the composition depicts Miss Liberty as simultaneously intact and shattered. One half of her face retains the serene, neoclassical composure of Enlightenment republicanism; the other erupts into raw crystalline formations, cascading waters, and geological forces. Explosive Sol Invictus-style sun rays, red-white-blue lightning bolts, and thrusting skyscrapers frame the scene, symbolizing both industrial triumph and cosmic rupture. The caption “Nature is Free” grounds the work in a vitalist declaration. This artwork functions as a potent sociological artifact, crystallizing the cultural, economic, political, and migratory upheavals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries — the passage from entrenched monarchical orders to a new world of individual enterprise, industrial capitalism, and mass migration.

Historical Context: The Dawn of the Free Entrepreneur and the Transatlantic Promise

The era around 1900, known as the Gilded Age in the United States and the Belle Époque in Europe, marked an explosive acceleration of modernization. In Europe, centuries of incessant warfare between kingdoms, principalities, and empires — from the Hundred Years’ War through the Napoleonic conflicts and the fragmented struggles of the 19th century — had produced profound structural poverty, demographic instability, and social rigidity. Feudal remnants, guild restrictions, aristocratic privileges, and monarchical absolutism (or its unstable successors) trapped large segments of the population in cycles of subsistence agriculture, conscription, and economic stagnation. The cumulative toll of over a millennium of dynastic and religious wars had devastated landscapes, depleted treasuries, and entrenched hierarchies that stifled broad-based opportunity.

In sharp contrast, the United States — and particularly its rapidly industrializing cities — represented an unprecedented opening. Here, the ideal of the self-made individual, the free entrepreneur unbound by hereditary status or royal charter, took root with dramatic force. This was the age of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Edison, and Ford; of railroads, steel mills, and electric grids. Sociologically, this transition aligns with Émile Durkheim’s shift from mechanical to organic solidarity, but it also generated anomie as traditional anchors dissolved. The fragmented Liberty in the image captures this precisely: the old European-derived symbol of republican enlightenment is cracking open, revealing primal, natural energies beneath.

Central to this narrative is mass migration. Between the 1880s and 1920s, millions of Europeans — Italians, Irish, Poles, Germans, Jews from the Russian Pale, Scandinavians, and others — crossed the Atlantic. For these migrants, often fleeing poverty exacerbated by war-torn histories, overpopulation, land scarcity, and political instability, the Statue of Liberty embodied a tangible promise of freedom. Freedom, in this context, was not merely abstract philosophical liberty or political rights; it was the concrete possibility of social mobility, economic self-determination, and escape from inherited misery. The “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Emma Lazarus) encountered a society where, despite harsh realities of tenement life and exploitation, the structural barriers of European feudalism and monarchical patronage were far weaker. A peasant’s son could become a factory owner, an immigrant peddler a department store magnate. This migratory dimension deepens the sociological meaning of “Nature is Free”: human nature, freed from the artificial constraints of Europe’s war-ravaged old order, could express its creative, acquisitive, and adaptive potential more fully on American soil.

Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) illuminates the cultural fuel behind this movement. The disciplined, worldly asceticism of Protestant (and often Jewish) migrant communities provided the motivational engine for entrepreneurial success. Yet the image’s syncretic symbolism — the crown evoking both Christ’s Crown of Thorns and Mithraic/Sol Invictus solar radiance — suggests a broader, secularized sacralization of this migratory enterprise. The entrepreneur, and by extension the ambitious migrant, becomes a modern hero bearing the flame of progress, much like the ancient Colossus of Rhodes that inspired Bartholdi’s statue. Migration thus emerges as the lived embodiment of creative destruction: old European forms shatter so that new American possibilities can crystallize.

Symbolic Fragmentation and the Dialectics of Liberation through Migration

The visual fracturing of Miss Freedom carries layered significance when viewed through the lens of migration. The intact classical side represents the imported European Enlightenment ideal — rational, universal, feminine. The shattered, mineral-and-aqueous side symbolizes the raw vitality unleashed by crossing the Atlantic: geological wealth (coal, iron, oil) fueling industry, fluid human movement (rivers of migrants), and the chaotic energy of reinvention. This duality echoes Georg Simmel’s analysis of metropolitan life: migrants experienced both overstimulation and liberation, shedding the “blasé” constraints of stratified European villages for the intense, individualistic stimulations of American cities.

From a Marxist perspective, while capitalism generates alienation, the migratory act itself represented a partial negation of feudal alienation. European peasants and workers, trapped by centuries of warfare-induced scarcity and rigid class structures, could sell their labor power in a more fluid market and, for some, accumulate capital. The image’s “Nature is Free” thus celebrates a vitalistic overcoming: human nature, long suppressed by the “ancient world” of kings, wars, and idols, asserts itself through the act of departure and reinvention. Nietzschean undertones are evident — the will to power finds expression not in aristocratic conquest but in the entrepreneurial conquest of the frontier and the factory floor.

This migratory freedom was profoundly selective and unequal. Not all succeeded; many endured exploitation, nativist backlash, and urban squalor. Yet the statistical reality remains striking: millions improved their material conditions and those of their descendants relative to what Europe’s war-scarred economies could offer. The Statue thus functioned as a powerful “boundary object” (in Star and Griesemer’s terms), uniting diverse ethnic groups under a shared myth of opportunity while legitimating the new industrial order.

Social Implications: Class, Ethnicity, Gender, and the Costs of Freedom

The cult of the free entrepreneur, symbolized here, reinforced ideologies of meritocracy and American exceptionalism, but it also masked deepening inequalities. Thorstein Veblen critiqued the conspicuous consumption of the new elite, yet the image romanticizes the productive forces — including migrant labor — that built it. European poverty, rooted in centuries of inter-kingdom warfare, created a vast reservoir of mobile labor that American capital eagerly absorbed. This influx accelerated industrialization but also generated social tensions: ethnic enclaves, labor conflicts, and debates over assimilation versus pluralism.Meliorism (Latin melior, better) is the idea that progress is a real concept and that humans can interfere with natural processes in order to improve the world.

 

Meliorism, as a conception of the person and society, is at the foundation of contemporary liberal democracy and human rights and is a basic component of liberalism.[1]

 

Another important understanding of the meliorist tradition comes from the American Pragmatic tradition, which can be found in the works of Lester Frank Ward, William James, and John Dewey. In James' works, however, meliorism does not point to progressivism and/or optimism. For James,[2] meliorism stands in the middle between optimism and pessimism and treats the salvation of the world as a probability rather than a certainty or impossibility. In the case of a meliorist praxis, the activist contemporary of the Pragmatists Jane Addams stripped progressive ideals of any elitist privilege, calling for a "lateral progress" whose concern was squarely with the common people.[3]

 

Meliorism has also been used by Arthur Caplan to describe positions in bioethics that are in favor of ameliorating conditions that cause suffering, even if the conditions have long existed (e.g., being in favor of cures for common diseases, being in favor of serious anti-aging therapies as they are developed).[citation needed]

 

A closely related concept, discussed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Marquis de Condorcet, is that of perfectibility of humans. Condorcet's statement, "Such is the object of the work I have undertaken; the result of which will be to show, from reasoning and from facts, that no bounds have been fixed to the improvement of the human faculties; that the perfectibility of man is absolutely indefinite; that the progress of this perfectibility, henceforth above the control of every power that would impede it, has no other limit than the duration of the globe upon which nature has placed us."[4] anticipates James' meliorism. Rousseau's treatment is somewhat weaker.[5]

 

Modern thinkers in this tradition are Hans Rosling and Max Roser. Roser expressed a melioristic position in the mission statement for Our World in Data.[6] He said that all three statements are true at the same time: "The world is much better. The world is awful. The world can be much better."[7] Like William James before him, Rosling held a halfway position between optimism and pessimism that emphasized humanity's capacity to improve the world.[8] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meliorism

Gendered dimensions intersect with migration. The feminine Liberty, partially dismantled, yields to more primal forces, mirroring how migrant women often entered wage labor (garment factories, domestic service) while challenging traditional European patriarchal structures. The flowing waters on the fragmented side evoke both fertility (new family lines in America) and the turbulence of displacement.

Durkheimian collective representations are at work: the image serves as a modern totem for an emergent industrial-mercantile society. Lightning symbolizes electricity — the lifeblood of the Second Industrial Revolution — while the American color palette nationalizes a universal migratory promise. The religious syncretism (Christian suffering + pagan solar renewal) provides transcendent legitimation for what was, at root, a massive demographic and economic transfer from a war-weary continent to a resource-rich republic.

Contemporary Resonance

Though anchored in the 1900s, Nature is Free speaks to enduring themes. In today’s debates over immigration, globalization, and economic liberty, the tension between ordered regulation and raw entrepreneurial nature persists. The image reminds us that freedom, for millions, has historically meant the chance to escape inherited poverty and violence for the possibility — however imperfect — of self-made improvement. It underscores capitalism’s dual character: simultaneously disruptive and generative, fracturing old worlds while birthing new ones.

In conclusion, Nature is Free documents the birth pangs of modern individualism through the prism of migration. It narrates the exodus from Europe’s millennium-long cycle of monarchical warfare, poverty, and constraint toward a horizon where human nature — creative, resilient, and promethean — could more freely unfold. The Statue’s fragmentation is not mere destruction but alchemical transformation: the shards of the old world fertilize the skyscrapers of the new. By sacralizing this process through syncretic myth and explosive aesthetics, the artwork legitimates the entrepreneur and the migrant as co-creators of modernity. Freedom, in this era, was above all the statistical and existential chance for thousands to trade the certainties of European hardship for the volatile opportunities of American reinvention. This myth, with its inherent fractures and promises, continues to shape how societies understand progress, human potential, and the perennial tension between rooted tradition and mobile nature.

Photo taken in the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art park, Bergen, Norway.

 

Throughout history, no other flower has been mentioned more than the rose, and for good reasoning. The rose has been mentioned in music, mythological stories, as an icon in movies, transformed into perfumes, and been sought as the go-to flower of love. Roses grow wild from the mountains of Norway, to as far south as Mexico. Roses were in such high demand during the 17th century, that royalty considered roses or rose water as legal tender, and were often used as barter and for payments. Today, now raised agriculturally for profit, the rose is the most popular selling flower nationally, and possibly globally.

 

www.roseshire.com/blogs/outsidethebox/15331185-ill-trade-...

I believe in a long, prolonged derangement of the senses to attain the unknown. Our pale reasoning hides the infinite from us. ~ Jim Morrison

 

Imagoism Thursday (IT) Dedicated to our friend imago2007

 

Dusit Zoo, Bangkok TH

Edgar Allen Poe House

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven

Poe chose a raven as the central symbol in the story because he wanted a "non-reasoning" creature capable of speech. Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the raven has long been considered a bird of ill omen and of interest to creators of myths and legends.

 

Poe said the raven is meant to symbolize "Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". "The Raven" made Edgar Allan Poe a household name almost immediately, and turned Poe into a national celebrity. Hence the National Park Service runs this site in Philly.

 

The Free Library of Philadelphia has on display a taxidermied raven that is reputed to be the very one that Dickens owned and that helped inspire Poe's poem.

Explore #161

 

One song can spark a moment

One flower can wake the dream

One tree can start a forest

One bird can herald spring

 

One smile begins a friendship

One handclasp lifts a soul

One star can guide a ship at sea

One word can frame the goal

 

One vote can change a nation

One sunbeam lights a room

One candle wipes out darkness

One laugh will conquer gloom

  

One step must start each journey

One word must start each prayer

One hope will raise our spirits

One touch can show you care

  

One voice can speak with wisdom

One heart can know what's true

One life can make the difference

You see, it's up to you!!

 

Take care and let us be as one ;) Car xx

  

Today's Carsounds- Bob Marley - One Love

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8onbDZmAwhE

Explore #40; November 24, 2009

 

Sorry I've been gone for a while... Work has been keeping me very busy...

So here's another shot from yesterday!!

 

Intuitive- Using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive

 

I am very good at seeing people for what they really are.... even if it's only talking to them for a few minutes (I don't even need to see them to be able to read them). This is what makes me so good in Human Resources. When I interview people, I can quickly pick up on what type of person they are. Within 5 minutes of talking to someone I can tell if they are going to be a successful employee or if I'm wasting my time.

 

Sadly, with a few people, I tried to not listen to my intuitive side. I tried to give them the extra chances to prove their true motives, feeling and/or intentions. It ended up being pointless and true colors were shown. Shame on me for doubting myself. Lesson Learned =)

 

*** I am so excited for today. After breakfast I am going to explore the county and enjoy the weather. Keep your eye out. Should be pics coming soon ***

Today's We're Here! theme is Hot Stuff. I had planned on doing a nudie-selfie type thing, keeping the more delicate areas slightly out of view however, sound reasoning and a good dose of reality prevailed and I quickly realized that I would have to save this idea for the Old Farts in the Buff day. Just so happened though that saganaki was on the menu tonight... opa!

 

201/365 2019

The reasoning behind the seemingly perpetual 40km/h speed restriction on the goods line seems obvious as C505,506,507 & 509 ease through the curves of the goods line past Canterbury station with 4190 Sandgate - Botany Goods.

Season of Tilt

Week 18, Saturday

 

In nature life has no moral. There is no good or bad, and in every moment countless beings give birth, languish and die without reason. Sometimes the possibilities of life are eaten by others even before they get a change to take their first steps. The cycle of life is very much characterized by the suffering. If you are a religious type you probably think suffering is some way sanctified by moral order given from God - and everything goes towards good no matter how contradictory it might seem. If your reasoning follows scientific discourse you probably believe in 'order of nature' or increasing diversity catalyzed by the natural selection as explained by modern evolutionary synthesis. Either way, the tragic thing is that the suffering has no demonstrable meaning. With God, meaning of suffering lies whatever one happens to believe at the time and within evolution theory suffering has no function either - even if dying has a fundamental meaning for natural selection to work. It seems that in intellectual and spiritual way it is very difficult to accept that suffering doesn't have any meaning and it cannot be morally explained by either religion or science. But it can have an aesthetic meanings for us: it's only when we find ourselves suffering we touch the essence of life as it is and has been millions of years for most of beings in nature. Only then can we come to understand what it means to be one of them - suffering is the only shared experience for all living things and therefore it forms the essence of existence from which the respect for life can be build. To be alive is to suffer.

 

---

 

Using Lensbaby optics has definitely been a very interesting adventure. Being manual focus, having an option to tilt the lens and having several optics with different distinctive characteristics has surely been a trail off the beaten path. What I like to say is that Lensbaby consciously offers something different from 'industry standard' of photography today: readymade program modes, autofocus, sharp lenses, intelligent metering, digital sensor and other 'taken for granted things' which makes it possible to take better and better pictures. In short, it's a bit of a different philosophy and breaking conventions is always a somewhat controversial move. It would be tempting to describe these differences between Lensbaby and other conventional approaches in a hierarchical manner, placing Lensbaby above and for experienced users only. But I don't want to do that, because it would intellectually a dishonest move. Instead I would like to say that Lensbaby is a different approach to photography and a tool for different job. Sometimes best tool for the job is the DSLT with fast AF-lenses. Sometimes it's Lensbaby. Sometimes it's a pinhole camera. Sometimes it's camera in your mobile phone. There is no best or worst because of diversity, but I have to give credit to Lensbaby that after using their optics I've come to realize that there is loads of possibilities beyond 'the industry standard'. There are aesthetic possibilities beyond 'the standard look' and there are different philosophies of photography at play. This has got to be one my best realization with Lensbaby optics and I'm glad that I have had actually a chance to realize it.

 

Year of the Alpha – 52 Weeks of Sony Alpha Photography: www.yearofthealpha.com

Since ancient times, the islands and coastal areas of Greece had boatyards where wooden ships were built. Wooden ships, also known in Greek as *kaikia* (aka caïque), played an important role in the economy.

 

These boats had unique technical, typological and cultural features, some of which dated back to the Byzantine-medieval era.

 

In 2013, the kaikia was added to Greece’s National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

Sadly, however, these works of art are today being destroyed after the European Union decided in 1983 to subsidize fishermen to scrap their boats. The initial reasoning behind this questionable decision was to tackle overfishing.

 

Besides the EU’s irrational decision which failed to consider the importance of the kaikia tradition for Greece, decades of inactivity on the part of Greek officials led to the destruction of thousands of handmade wooden boats.

Shasta daisy from my garden.

 

Way back in June I was mucking about on the iPaddle (as one does) playing with the distortion filters in Affinity. I probably should have been doing something more constructive but, hey-ho, life is too short.

 

So this is a set based around a flower pic. I chose it as a starting point because it’s a high-contrast image with oodles of radial symmetry, and I thought it would show up the distortion effects. (A slippery deceit of course as I conveniently invented the reasoning for my chaotic creative meandering after the fact - I suggest you never believe the fallacy that I really know what I am doing! :) ).

 

I’ll cover the processing notes for all the variants and replicate the commentary so you only need read it once (if at all, lol).

 

I’ll post a link to the in-camera original in the first comment.

 

Edit 1 - Colour

A plain colour version, then given a harsh gritty feel by duplicating the image and blending back probably with hard light (though I am not entirely sure).

 

Edit 2 - Plain B&W

The colour version converted to B&W. Bilateral blur (an edge-preserving blur which effectively smoothes out the petals. Glow filter … for a bit of glow (though te be honest I think it’s a bit of a misnomer) :)

 

Edit 3 - Twirl

Starting with the plain B&W added twirl in the centre and also a radial blur. Blended the original back to the twirly version with Soft Light.

 

Edit 4 - Shasttered

This used the Diffuse distortion filter (not the Diffuse Light filter) to create the diffusion look. Tweaked that a bit and then took the original B&W version and blended it back with the Subtract mode. This overprinted the diffuse look with an inverted version of the original.

 

I really like this effect - it reminded me of splatter painting in my young days (back in the caves in France ;) ). Or perhaps printing with a flower using black paper and white ink…

 

For Sliders Sunday. I’ll also put the three B&W versions into the 100x challenge as I am rather behind (as life around me doesn’t seem to pause for long enough).

 

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the images. Happy Sliders Sunday and 100x!

 

[Handheld in daylight.

Raw development and all the subsequent processing done in Affinity Photo.]

Far from it's original home of Montreal, AMT 330 charges a rush-hour train over the Charles River drawbridge in north Boston. The Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, and the Amtrak Downeaster loom in the background. If anyone has any additional information about the reasoning for AMT on MBTA, feel free to drop a comment.

.. for the first time in my life as a photographer, I do not own a Nikon. I still own 2 Canons and now 1 Sony.. but it's very, very hard to give up an old friend.. aaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhh!

 

REASONING: I had 11 camera bags full of equipment (some 30 years old) and decided to cut back to maybe 3 bags. I knew that the biggest number of lenses I had were Canon so I decided to cut back to just Canon. I sent equipment to B&H Photo in NYC.. and I took a Canon 60D in trade (I wanted the articulated viewing screen)..Yes, they sent me a check for the balance.. While on their website I read about the Sony A57.. then looked up some reviews on it.. it also has an articulated back.. yeah, I bought one.. so ok.. 4 camera bags!.. I thank B&H for their patience with me and for helping me through the trauma.

 

~ Have a Joyous Weekend!

-- author unknown

 

not that i would agree, but i think the reasoning is funny.

.

Abused & Abandoned Jungle Dogs.

 

Back Story .........................................

 

Guilt has been eating at me even though I know everything

at the monkey temple is running smoothly.

Still it was getting to me. So late last night, like around midnight, I started packing all the necessary gear. Checked it, double checked it, then made a short list.

My eyes opened up and the clock said 4:20AM, ggggeeerrrrr.

Second time they opened it was 5:30AM. Time to go ...............

 

Lit the gas stove, placed a pan of chopped chicken over the flame and proceeded to fix breakfast for The Worm, Boney Boy and Mr WeeNee the Pig Man. Also there's an extra helping for Mamas breakfast. On the counter behind me is separate bags for Tuff Guy, Honey and the two extra puppies that live on The Leroy Crews Turf.

For all the other monkey temple dogs there's a big stash of dry kibble in the bingo room.

 

By 6AM I'm on the road heading in an Easterly direction, a sliver of light had just crested the horizon.

The cold snap we've been experiencing was biting at my flesh even though I have on two t-shirts, a cotton shirt and windbreaker. Felt like my right ear was starting an earache so I pulled over, cut a piece from my paper face mask and stuffed it into my ear, and it worked .

 

First thing I notice when pulling into The Dog Palace is 5 or 6 painters were gathered around a small fire made from leaves and twigs. Dismounted the scooter, squatted down and laid my cold hands on the mufflers heat shield. One of the painters came over and also placed his hands on the shield.

We just looked at each other, smiled and had a big laugh .. ;-)

 

Soon Mama was at my side and full of big excitement ...........

 

After feeding Mama we took off up the stairs towards the roof.

I realized right then and there that this wasn't going to be an easy walk. Right foot was screaming and the weight from the camera on my right wrist made for the same situation.

Picked up a piece of bamboo that was discarded by the painters and used it for a cane. Put the camera back into the blue cotton bag relieving the pain in my wrist.

Once we were on the roof I sent out a sharp whistle across the swamp towards The Nuns Place. Rocky instantly appeared and I started waving my arms while yelling out his name.

 

As you can see in this photo he was really happy to see me .. ;-)

 

Mama and Rocky went nuts chasing and crashing and doing what happy dogs do.

 

Plan A was cancelled and plan B was formulated due to the condition my condition was in. Made my way back to the bingo room and sat in a chair for a spell.

Caught my second wind, gathered up the dog food bags and took off for The Leroy Crews Turf, stopping periodically along the way.

Fed Honey, TG and the 2 puppies while in my best Ting/Lish explained to the head monk and his crew what all the gauze was wrapped around my wrist and foot. Handed him the rabies vaccine card, which is written in Thai and they immediately understood what had happened. Plus I think the nuns had already told them the situation.

Head monk raised his arm and flexed his muscle indicating in Thai, "you tough man" ! I guess that's one way to look at it.

 

Next photo shows a set of cement steps with 3 dogs on them.

I'll explain that one with the photo.

 

Ended up back at the bingo room with Mama where I took a much needed break. While doing so the dog brush came out and Mama received a good brushing, she loves this a lot.

 

By 11AM the gear was packed and I said my good byes .........

 

Stopped at a pharmacy on the way home and purchased a supply of 6 inch wide gauze bandage and 3 inch gauze pads.

 

There's a good reason for this. I knew upon my return from the monkey temple the bandages would be dirty and the only way to correct this is to replace them with new gauze.Simple as that.

Lets back up a little bit here.

Monday I was back at the hospital for more rabies shots and a bandage replacement.... The nurses were not happy with me !

The night before I had pulled the gauze bandages down and ripped the butterfly bandages off. Why you ask ? Simple ....

 

I had refused to let them stitch the wounds up and told them to only use butterfly bandages, then wrap gauze around the wounds.

Before you ask I'll explain my reasoning for the refusal on the stitches.

This local government hospital is famous for making extremely bad mistakes when treating any and all medical problems.

There's a reason why it is so cheep, so I had to make decisions for them.

If, and I say If they stitched the lacerations up and there was any contaminant still in the wounds infection would be eminent. In other words blood infection would show up with a long red stripe going up your arm, not good ! Been there done that !

By using butterfly bandages to pull the lacerations together and if infection started it would surface at the openings and any blood infection could be dealt with much easier.

Alright, getting back the new gauze recently purchased at the pharmacy. Once I've showered new gauze will be applied so when I go back to the hospital for more rabies shots tomorrow the nurses won't be in such a sour mood. There's a means to my madness ..... ;-)~

 

Tomorrow being Thursday and a visit to the local hospital usually takes up a big chunk of the day so there won't be another run out to care fore the dogs.

 

But, Friday I will do another run to feed Mama and all the monkey temple dogs. Once that task is completed I will continue on towards the Cambodian border to see no# 1 wife.

 

Thanks goes out to all of you who continue to send your support. And also for taking the time to leave your comments.

  

Thank You.

Jon&Crew.

 

Please help with your temple dog donations here.

www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-abandoned-thai-temple-dogs

  

Please,

No Political Statements, Awards,

Invites Large Logos or Copy/Pastes.

© All rights reserved.

  

.

 

It's that time of the year when it can be difficult to keep those pesky election banners from intruding into your autumn photos, but this one was different. In October of 1995 while visiting the Canadian Pacific lines in Quebec, a rare referendum vote to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada to become their own country was fast approaching. Being from the United States almost everyone we came across either wanted our opinion or was more than willing to express theirs! Just a glance at the New York registration could easily draw a crowd of locals that would normally completely ignore us! News in Canada rarely ever makes it south of the border, so we unknowingly stumble upon this battle of locals. I heard more reasoning of why "yes" and why, "no" for the vote that you could possibly imagine. Even the railroaders. Not once was hockey spoke of during the whole visit! At St. Pie I included one of thousands of "no/yes" banners that I'd see. Polling was on October, 30th. I'm sure you all know the outcome, because Quebec is still a province of Canada in 2018 however, it was one of the closest votes in democracy history with the "No" vote winning by a mere 54, 288 votes out of 5,087,009 caste with a 93.52% turnout. Now those are some crazy numbers!

"My cat never laughs or complains, is always reasoning." Miguel de Unamuno

(Mi gato nunca se ríe o se lamenta, siempre está razonando)

"A new command I give you: Love one another… " — New Testament, John 13:34

 

The original artwork was placed in the 21C Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. When I saw this piece I thought how amazing that even a religion of love can be perverted with logical reasoning, if we aren't careful, to support hatred to the detriment of ourselves and our children.

 

Artist: Gehard Demetz (Italian)

Title: How You Reacted was Right, 2011

Bronze

Caption next to the statue: "Children are often saddled with the sadness and sins of cultural, social, and familial history... The boy—a child soldier—carries a crucifix like a gun."

 

The photo of this statue, the caption and the interpretation are mine.

I feel I live in a space all to myself. If ever, one day, I become a butterfly, where I live might be seen as a cocoon. I love my house. I find many joy living in it. If I didn't, I would have moved out a long time ago: there is no point reasoning with me! I'm EVERYTHING but reasonable. Actually, I have the passion of what I'm doing, and I hope it shows. That's all that matters to me.

One of these well behaved and lovely brides will be the winner of "Best Sindy Wedding Gown" ever!!

 

Her prize will be a date with this young gentleman, who's anxiously been waiting to be let out of his box... What was that? .... He'd like to stay in there? .. Nonsense!

 

Anyway, to vote you simply write the year you think should win down below. You can add your jurys reasoning if you like. I will in a few days time count the votes and notify the winner..... and let Paul out. Hooray!!

 

I will then also reveal my own favorite.

 

_____________________________________

 

To you who just clicked on this photo. If you go to my stream you'll see all the 15 brides to choose from. Yeah I know, it's a lot, and you can only pick ONE.

   

"Break those under pressure."

---

The Astraea Type A, developed around ~2032 AD, is an assault rifle based off the now abandoned AR-15 and SCAR platforms. Designed to be as adaptable and reliable as possible, Kurai developed a plethora of accessories to compliment the rifle, some of which can be seen in the current display model, such as the red dot sight and the foregrip.

 

Seeing as how the AR-15 platform was reliable in its time, KTD developed a rifle that would possess that same reliability yet enhance it with the usual skilled craftsmanship that the armaments group possessed.

 

On paper, the Astraea Type A is merely an AR-15 based rifle but the rifle itself is much different, contrary to belief. The internals do not function in any sort of way similarly to that of the AR-15 rifle but instead utilizes a bolt system akin to that of the SCAR. Although not exact to FN's design, there were still some striking similarities.

 

The rifle is internally suppressed, yet still possesses phenomenal range in its class as if the suppressor never existed. There is a gas block but it is never exposed; the block is moved back significantly and is concealed by the RIS. Why this is the case is unknown as no design schematics ever comment on the placement or the reasoning behind this placement.

 

In order to enhance its reliability and effectiveness, the Astraea Type A was designed to be ambidextrous and offered basic implementations in its design to sustain reliability. One such feature is the recoil mitigation system, which works by countering the force of a shot by traveling in the opposite direction. The bolt moves back enough to operate smoothly, but the system absorbs the shock and movement created by the recoil as a result of a transfer of kinetic energy. The energy becomes transferred towards the recoil mitigation system rather than the whole weapon itself.

 

The Astraea Type A has seen use in the battlefield and in urban environments, especially in regions and countries that are facing internal conflict. It has been used in roles outside of its assault rifle configuration; the Astraea can be reconfigured to be a DMR or a CQC viable weapon at any time. The amount of accessories developed for the Astraea made this possible and thus, it is difficult to determine what the weapon actually is.

 

Regardless of its configuration, the Astraea completes its job with high efficiency in the least amount of time possible and it is this result that has made the weapon so well known on the field. The weapon is an example of excellent craftsmanship, as always expected by the Kurai Tactical Division.

 

*Display model is the right handed model. Left handed and ambidextrous receivers are also available

Rahmen und Bezugsrahmen ...

 

does this work together ... ?

 

color-key but no fake, life is more surprising than all your fantasies ...

 

red curls like blazing flames ...

she's on fire ... she is burning ...

 

See waht Wiki says ...

 

Passion (emotion)

 

"Heat of the moment" redirects here. For other uses, see Heat of the Moment (disambiguation).

 

Frederick Goodall's Passionate Encounter

Part of a series on

Emotions

 

AcceptanceAffectionAmusementAngerAngstAnguishAnnoyanceAnticipationAnxietyApathyArousalAweBoredomConfidenceContemptContentmentCourageCuriosityDepressionDesireDisappointmentDisgustDistrustDoubtEcstasyEmbarrassmentEmpathyEnthusiasmEnvyEuphoriaFaithFearFrustrationGratificationGratitudeGreedGriefGuiltHappinessHatredHopeHorrorHostilityHumiliationInterestJealousyJoyKindnessLonelinessLoveLustNostalgiaOutragePanicPassionPityPleasurePrideRageRegretRejectionRemorseResentmentSadnessSelf-pityShameShockShynessSocial connectionSorrowSufferingSurpriseTrustWonderWorry

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Together.png

Relationships

(Outline)

Types

Activities

Endings

Emotions and feelings

AffinityAttachmentIntimacyJealousyLimerenceLove PlatonicunconditionalPassionSexuality

Practices

Abuse

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Passion (Greek πάσχω "to suffer, to be acted on" and Late Latin (chiefly Christian) passio "passion; suffering" (from Latin pati "to suffer"; participle: passus)) is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire for someone or something. Passion can range from eager interest in or admiration for an idea, proposal, or cause; to enthusiastic enjoyment of an interest or activity; to strong attraction, excitement, or emotion towards a person. It is particularly used in the context of romance or sexual desire, though it generally implies a deeper or more encompassing emotion than that implied by the term lust.

 

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) describes passions as

"penchants, inclinations, desires and aversions carried to a certain degree of intensity, combined with an indistinct sensation of pleasure or pain, occasioned or accompanied by some irregular movement of the blood and animal spirits, are what we call passions. They can be so strong as to inhibit all practice of personal freedom, a state in which the soul is in some sense rendered passive; whence the name passions. This inclination or so-called disposition of the soul, is born of the opinion we hold that a great good or a great evil is contained in an object which in and of itself arouses passion".

 

Diderot further breaks down pleasure and pain, which he sees as the guiding principles of passion, into four major categories:

 

Pleasures and pains of the senses

Pleasures of the mind or of the imagination

Our perfection or our imperfection of virtues or vices

Pleasures and pains in the happiness or misfortunes of others

Modern pop-psychologies and employers tend to favor and even encourage the expression of a "passion"; previous generations sometimes expressed more nuanced viewpoints.[

 

Emotion

The standard definition for emotion is a "Natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others".

 

Emotion, William James describes emotions as "corporeal reverberations such as surprise, curiosity, rapture, fear, anger, lust, greed and the like." These are all feelings that affect our mental perception. Our body is placed into this latter state, which is caused by one's mental affection. This state gives signals to our body which cause bodily expressions.

 

The philosopher Robert Solomon developed his own theory and definition of emotion. His view is that emotion is not a bodily state, but instead a type of judge. "It is necessary that we choose our emotions, in much the same way that we choose our actions" With regard to the relationship between emotion and our rational will, Solomon believes that people are responsible for their emotions. Emotions are rational and purposive, just as actions are. "We choose an emotion much as we choose a course of action."

 

Recent studies, also traditional studies have placed emotions to be a physiological disturbance. William James takes such consciousness of emotion to be not a choice but a physical occurrence rather than a disturbance. It is an occurrence that happens outside of our control, and our bodies are just affected by these emotions. We produce these actions based on the instinctive state that these feelings lead us towards.

 

This concept of emotion was derived from passion. Emotions were created as a category within passion.

 

Reason

Strong Desire for something: In whatever context, if someone desires for something and that desire has some strong feeling or emotion is defined in terms of passion. Passion has no boundary, being passionate about something which is boundless can be sometimes dangerous, In which person forget about everything and is fully determined towards the particular thing-(Sanyukta)

 

In his wake, Stoics like Epictetus emphasized that "the most important and especially pressing field of study is that which has to do with the stronger emotions...sorrows, lamentations, envies...passions which make it impossible for us even to listen to reason".

 

The Stoic tradition still lay behind Hamlet's plea to "Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core", or Erasmus's lament that "Jupiter has bestowed far more passion than reason – you could calculate the ratio as 24 to one". It was only with the Romantic movement that a valorisation of passion over reason took hold in the Western tradition: "the more Passion there is, the better the Poetry".

 

The recent concerns of emotional intelligence have been to find a synthesis of the two forces—something that "turns the old understanding of the tension between reason and feeling on its head: it is not that we want to do away with emotion and put reason in its place, as Erasmus had it, but instead find the intelligent balance of the two".

 

"Descartes' Error"

Antonio Damasio studied what ensued when something "severed ties between the lower centres of the emotional brain...and the thinking abilities of the neocortex". He found that while "emotions and feelings can cause havoc in the processes of reasoning...the absence of emotion and feeling is no less damaging"; and was led to "the counter-intuitive position that feelings are typically indispensable for rational decisions".

The passions, he concluded, "have a say on how the rest of the brain and cognition go about their business. Their influence is immense...[providing] a frame of reference – as opposed to Descartes' error...the Cartesian idea of a disembodied mind".

 

In marriage

A tension or dialectic between marriage and passion can be traced back in Western society at least as far as the Middle Ages, and the emergence of the cult of courtly love. Denis de Rougemont has argued that 'since its origins in the twelfth century, passionate love was constituted in opposition to marriage'.

Stacey Oliker writes that while "Puritanism prepared the ground for a marital love ideology by prescribing love in marriage", only from the eighteenth century has "romantic love ideology resolved the Puritan antagonism between passion and reason" in a marital context. (Note though that Saint Paul spoke of loving one's wife in Ephesians 5.)

 

Intellectual passions

George Bernard Shaw "insists that there are passions far more exciting than the physical ones...'intellectual passion, mathematical passion, passion for discovery and exploration: the mightiest of all passions'". His contemporary, Sigmund Freud, argued for a continuity (not a contrast) between the two, physical and intellectual, and commended the way "Leonardo had energetically sublimated his sexual passions into the passion for independent scientific research".

 

As a motivation in an occupation

There are different reasons individuals are motivated in an occupation. These may include a passion for the occupation, for a firm, or for an activity. When Canadian managers or professionals score as passionate about their occupation they tend to be less obsessive about their behavior while on their job, resulting in more work being done and more work satisfaction. These same individuals have higher levels of psychological well-being. When people genuinely enjoy their profession and are motivated by their passion, they tend to be more satisfied with their work and more psychologically healthy.[citation needed] When managers or professionals are unsatisfied with their profession they tend to also be dissatisfied with their family relationships and to experience psychological distress.

 

Other reasons people are more satisfied when they are motivated by their passion for their occupation include the effects of intrinsic and external motivations. When Canadian managers or professionals do a job to satisfy others, they tend to have lower levels of satisfaction and psychological health. Also, these same individuals have shown they are motivated by several beliefs and fears concerning other people.

 

Thirdly, though some individuals believe one should not work extreme hours, many prefer it because of how passionate they are about the occupation. On the other hand, this may also put a strain on family relationships and friendships.

The balance of the two is something that is hard to achieve and it is always hard to satisfy both parties.

 

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YES; this is all I truly want from the gift set “Fame & Fortune” Vanessa Perrin & this is the reasoning behind me pre-ordering her. Knowing me her body will be a donor body and I’ll add her clothes to another doll. I’m thinking “Second Skin” Vanessa or “Buxom” Veronique Perrin.

   

This is not actually a military cemetery ... It is family owned and operated ...

Last year on Memorial Day, I featured my father in law, that had served in war time ... This year I thought I would talk a bit about my own father ..

He was drafted, into the service in 1959, to Fort Bragg NC ..

and served to 1965..

He was in the Army, shortly after he and mother married ..

 

This is a week end, to remember those, that did not make it home, as well as those ,that have gone on ..

and for those that served, and are still here, to tell about it ..

I so appreciate you every one ...

No matter the branch of service, every service man/ woman was in there for the same reasoning .. FREEDOM

and that does not come , Free at all .. or to cheap either ...

God's blessings on all those that have served, serving, and may go onto to serve ... You are the UNSUNG Heroes at times,

but in my eyes you are the Heroes, that paved the way ..

I so appreciate you everyone,

Several here on Flickr, have been in the service, and when tick comes to tack, it does not matter the branch, all of you were there for the same reason ... and I appreciate you everyone .. God's blessings to all !

 

In the south, usually before Memorial Day, We here in Tennessee have " Decoration Sunday" the Sunday before Memorial Day ..

When I was smaller, I have known, my family to have this all day, and gather, with kin folks, for a time of fellowshipping, and even dinner on the grounds ....

This grave yard is beautifully adorned, we have had a HUGE storm come thru, minutes ago, I hope all the beautiful flowers are not blown to smithereens!

Have A blessed filled Sunday My Friends ... Cindy 2017...

During the chase of BNSF 4986 E along the Hi-Line Subdivision, the eastbound grain train would meet a westbound grain train that was in the hole at NYACK waiting for clearance down the pass. It was 13:35 by the time both trains met, and I figured it would make sense to break off the eastbound and chase the westbound back down the pass towards Columbia Falls and grab lunch afterwards. I had no clue was on the head end for power either; who knew what it was, it could’ve been something good, which only added to my reasoning. Dispatch wasted no time giving the westbound a light towards Whitefish, kicking off a brief 20-somethin-minute long chase through the Flathead Range.

 

An opening in the foliage along U.S. Route 2 at Bad Rock Canyon along the Flathead River proved to be a suitable spot to set up at, although by all means not a unique angle [the geotags at this location on RailfanAtlas say so]. At 14:07, the westbound would come into sight weaving it’s way along the northern banks of the River downgrade approaching CONKELLEY. #BNSF5828 [ES44AC] and #BNSF1018 [Dash 9-44CW] lead the company grain train through the Canyon trodding over a heavily graffitied retaining wall. The two lead units sport distinguishable paint scheme, neither of which are widely used on the roster.

 

5828 has the distinction of being the first of ten “25th Anniversary”GEVO’s painted in Mid-America Car in 2020 for BNSF. The units sport the decals of eight predecessor railroads: The CB&Q, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Burlington Northern, ATSF, Frisco, Colorado & Southern, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle. The trailing 1018 sports the railroad’s “Heritage 1” paint, the company’s first official paint scheme introduced in 1996. Two other BNSF motors would bring up the rear in DP position; a 2x2 grain train.

•

Columbia Falls, MT

BNSF Hi-Line Subdivision

 

Date: 07/30/2022 | 14:07

 

ID: [unknown]

Type: Grain

Direction: Westbound

Car Count: 115

 

1. BNSF ES44AC #5828 [25th Anniversary]

2. BNSF C44-9W #1018

3. BNSF C44-9W #5044 [DPU]

4. BNSF ES44C4 #6599 [DPU]

•

© Vicente Alonso 2022

The Byzantine gold glowed hot when I got inside, a divine signal to me that God was mad because I brought my camera inside. However, I reasoned with God, the sign read "No Cameras" in a Cyrillic lettering, a lettering style I do not recognize since the Jesuits trained me in the Romance languages and not these Slavic uncials.

 

Besides, I was inside Saint Michael's Cathedral, and I was holding a camera, and, as the saying goes, when in Rome, shoot interiors of churches in Rome , and when in Kiev, break Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Councils.

 

While God was busy figuring out my flawless reasoning, I spotted a cloaked HeiroMonk in is post-Matins chanting, moving in a pattern indecipherable by my camera, thus the ghostly visage in this seeming partial transcendence.

 

from my daily photo blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

This is not a new MOC. I mean, just take a look at the dust on it.

 

This ship started out as one of two identical ships. I forget the exact reasoning now, but at some point I decided to make this one all rusty and decrepit. I had planned on using it for my FEZ webcomic, but that has kinda stalled.....

Little Dragon - Feather (Live)

 

Right click link. Select "Open in New Window

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO0STeO149Y

 

View Large:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/manuelbranco/39836270362/sizes/o/

 

+

 

Witch House Mix VI

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyqeIyL7mOs&t=210s

As I pulled up in front of this truck to take it's picture, a security guard got off his folding chair and waved me along before I could even put the car in park, "Noooooooope, move it on outta here buddy." I tried to explain that I was only going to be a second but he wasn't having it and even though I knew I could park, shoot and be gone in less than a minute, he insisted, "That there's teamster shit and they'll have my ass if you park there." Sometimes you can just tell that no amount of reasoning is gonna let you convince someone when their mind's made up. He had no problem letting me park in the red zone ten feet in front of where I was though since, "that's outta my jurisdiction, you can do whatever you want over there." Ok, thanks. Luckily there wasn't a repeat of what happened the last time I shot one of these while parked in a red zone. Westlake neighborhood. Los Angeles, California.

Four years of college were spent learning 35mm film photography. I didn't fully embrace the medium as I preferred pixels over silver-halides at the time. Because the subject matter and working-series that I pursued had a more conceptual nature to it I needed the resolution to doctor the files as much as I could to achieve the vision. However so, being in a darkroom setting developing film and creating water-based prints left a lasting-impression. Now with a much clearer understanding of the self and the world around I see a balance of purity, activity and inertia. Analog photography is experiencing a great return which compels many too slow down and drop into the field of pure awareness. After reasoning with a few like-minded shooters and reviewing their work I realized that there is something about film that renders uniquely compared to digital imagery. Feeling into the realization I decided to call-in the Leica M6 Re-Issue before returning to the East. The Leica M6 is an analog rangefinder camera with an integrated light meter. Its predecessor was introduced in 1984. Almost 175,000 units were built in different versions until 2003. Like no other Leica M camera, the Leica M6 is a tool that keeps evoking admiration from photographers around the world.

 

www.Chancenkosigomez.com

www.Instagram.com/nkosiart

Nkosi.artiste@gmail.com

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

 

Chance Nkosi Gomez known initiated by H.H Swami Jyotirmayanda as Sri Govinda walks an integral yogic path in which photography is the primary creative field of expression. The medium was introduced during sophomore year of high school by educator Dr. Devin Marsh of Robert Morgan Educational Center. Coming into alignment with light, its nature and articulating the camera was the focus during that time. Thereafter while completing a Photographic Technology Degree, the realization of what made an image “striking” came to the foreground of the inner dialogue. These college years brought forth major absorption and reflection as an apprentice to photographer and educator Tony A. Chirinos of Miami Dade College. The process of working towards a singular idea of interest and thus building a series became the heading from here on while the camera aided in cultivating an adherence to the present moment. The viewfinder resembles a doorway to the unified field of consciousness in which line, shape, form, color, value, texture all dissolve. It is here that the yogi is reminded of sat-chit-ananda (the supreme reality as all-pervading; pure consciousness). As of May 2024 Govinda has completed his 300hr yoga teacher training program at Sattva Yoga Academy studying from Master Yogi Anand Mehrotra in Rishikesh, India, Himalayas. This has strengthened his personal Sadhana and allows one to carry and share ancient Vedic Technology leading others in ultimately directing their intellect to bloom into intuition. As awareness and self-realization grows so does the imagery that is all at once divine in the mastery of capturing and controlling light. Over the last seven years he has self-published six photographic books, Follow me i’ll be right behind you (2017), Sonata - Minimal Study (2018), Birds Singing Lies (2018), Rwanda (2019), Where does the body begin? (2019) & Swayam Jyotis (2023). Currently, Govinda is employed at the Leica Store Miami as a camera specialist and starting his journey as a practitioner of yoga ॐ

[...] Damit sind nur zwei Schlussfolgerungen möglich. Entweder, der Riss ist ein rein räumliches Phänomen, ihm fehlt also die Zeit-Dimension. Oder man muss ihn unabhängig von unserem Raum-Zeit-Gefüge betrachten. Beide Fälle lassen sich mit der M6 zur Verfügung stehenden Physik weder berechnen noch simulieren. Aber es gibt zumindest ein Experiment, mit dem er herausfinden kann, um welche der beiden Alternativen es sich handelt. Im ersten Fall passiert nichts, im zweiten kann alles Mögliche passieren, außer dass nichts passiert. Oder hat er dabei irgendeinen Denkfehler begangen? Etwas Unveränderliches ohne Zeitdimension kann auch ihn nicht verändern, ganz egal, was er tut. Fall eins scheint klar zu sein. Aber der zweite Fall? Was geschieht, wenn er sich außerhalb von Raum und Zeit begibt? Verschwindet er aus diesem Universum? Das hätte schreckliche Konsequenzen, denn es würde Ursache und Wirkung durcheinanderbringen. Oder bleibt eine Kopie von ihm zurück, um die Geschichte nicht durcheinanderzubringen? Das wäre besonderes Pech. Dann würde er glauben, dass nichts passiert ist, also Fall eins eingetreten ist, aber in Wirklichkeit handelte es sich doch um den zweiten Fall. Das ist doch zum Haareraufen! Und welcher seiner Programmierer hat ihm bitte diese Wendung beigebracht! M6 spürt, dass er in die gefährlichen Gefilde der Quanten-Unsicherheiten abzurutschen droht. Er will, in den Begriffen der Quantenphysik, ein Experiment durchführen, dessen Ausgang davon abhängt, ob es einen neutralen Beobachter gibt. Ein Beobachter steht ihm aber nicht zur Verfügung. Jedenfalls noch nicht [...]

 

(Brandon Q. Morris, "Der Riss" - {Sonnensystem 3})

 

***

 

[...] Only two conclusions can be drawn from this. Either, the rift is a purely spatial phenomenon, so it lacks the time dimension. Or you have to look at it independently of our space-time structure. Both cases can neither be calculated nor simulated with the physics available to M6. But there is at least one experiment that he can use to find out which of the two alternatives it is. In the first case nothing happens, in the second anything can happen except nothing happens. Or did he make some mistake in reasoning? Something immutable without a dimension of time cannot change him either, no matter what he does. Case one seems clear. But the second case? What happens when he goes outside of space and time? Does he disappear from this universe? This would have dire consequences, for it would confuse cause and effect. Or does a copy of him stay behind so as not to mess up the story? That would be particularly bad luck. Then he would think that nothing had happened, that case one had occurred, but in fact it was the second case. That's hair-raising! And which of his programmers please taught him this turn! M6 senses he is slipping into the dangerous realms of quantum uncertainty. He wants, in terms of quantum physics, to conduct an experiment whose outcome depends on whether there is a neutral observer. However, an observer is not available to him. At least not yet [...]

 

(Brandon Q. Morris, "The Rift" {Solar System 3})

The unexpected `extra` day started wet and would become much worse. It was a very different feeling day. Gone were nineteen of our colleagues that had been with us constantly for the previous eight days. Gone too was the early morning vehicle servicing and activity around each bus - the lack of which really emphasised the departure of most of the team.

 

Also gone was a large proportion of the items donated by Londoners as presents for kids and practical items for people displaced from their earthquake hit homes. We really wanted to think that some kind of super efficient distribution system had rapidly removed these for onward delivery but the reality was that unscrupulous people had taken stuff for their own gain. A harsh judgement perhaps but backed up by the embarrassment of our Italian `minders`, the lack of any meaningful work in shifting some of the other aid items that were also present on site and the warnings we had been given earlier in the trip regarding looting of stuff destined for those in real need. At each of the hotels used in Italy, our buses had been guarded by security overnight and no instances of things going missing had been noted. Which made the reasoning for the sudden change of final destination to an army barracks for `greater security` seem somewhat hollow.

This is just kind of for fun....I'm rather interested right now when I think what could have caused this circular hole in solid rock. This is up at Glacier National Park out in the middle of rugged outdoors along a lovely, fast moving creek...McDonald Creek. I mean it's so round!! Guess forces of nature can do this but it seems so odd!!! LOL...any and all guesses, theories, reasonings are welcome! LOL...just funning with you all this weekend!! :)

 

Thank you for the info Sheila Hill :)

 

I read somewhere, can't remember now, that Paul Klee once said something to the effect of: Painting is just knowing where to put the color. By that reasoning, I suppose photography is just knowing where to point the camera.

Day Whatever:

I'm Starting To Hate Showing Anything I Create To People.

They Don't Get It.

They Worry About Me.

And When I Try To Explain My Reasoning, They Suspect A Cover-Up.

Well Fine.

Think What You Like About My Art.

I Like My Art That Makes You Think.

29.03.15

 

So as it has been pretty apparent I have not been happy with a lot of my photos lately. And this is no exception. I'm still in a slump, but only because it's caused by myself. The easiest way to put it is that my work feels so weak from where I want it to be. but I know that by pushing myself so hard I know I'll get there. I've gotten to know myself pretty well and what I need to do to get where I want to be.

 

Now the reasoning behind this photo. This is one of my original ideas for this months Concept Collaboration theme "The World of the Others". As soon as this theme was released I immediately thought of it as not the work of the others, but the parts of ourselves that we don't share with others, or even ourselves to some degree. At some point we break, wear down, and it never a good ending when we break.

 

Another thing I do with my photos is have a billion variations. Pushing each on till they break, then bring it back just before the breaking point. One of the variations for this shot was have a little bit of smoke come out of the broken window panes to represent the fact that I'm still working really hard on this project, even if it's not coming out just the way I want it to. But it was still a little to much to I took it out. I really like the amount of blank space, it's simple enough as it is, and tells a full story.

 

p.s. I've become really good at b.s. meanings for photos if you even need help justifying something.

 

How were your weekends, do anything cool, exciting, notable? Give me the details. (this is a chance to live vicariously live a weekend thought you as I no longer have free time)

The Iron Aged Verraco, probably from the important hill fort 'Castro of Las Merchanas' is currently situated on the main square of the charming town of Lumbrales in Spain. It does not look ancient. It is called a 'donkey' (Burro de la Barrera), yet looks like a striding bear with flat snout, small ears and the dangling tail of Spanish brown bear size, and not thin or curling as a boar or frilled as a donkey. It has a frown and heavy shoulders. Contrast this stride with the lowered playful front legs of the potential dog pictured below. The verraco is described as a 'pig' in a specialist catalogue and their reasoning will be wise, so watch with an open mind and a hat against the sun. The sculpture is 120 cm and 84 cm high, and from around 2500 years old - maybe less (as far as 2200 ybp), with the granite sculpted using the then new iron tools. From an important Spanish mosaic of Celtic peoples known as the Vettóns.

Apocalypse series recap:

 

The world will never be the same again. America was destroyed by God’s judgment. Indeed, earth-shattering calamity befell America. It was so terrifying that we all trembled.

 

The economy collapsed and violence erupted. Rioting and looting broke out across America. Fires consumed America’s cities; armoured vehicles rolled through the streets. The world was shocked by the violence in New York City. Thousands of fires burned throughout the city, and the National Guard lined its streets.

 

Eventually things calmed down for a short time. Then all of a sudden, from the middle of the country, groups took up arms against the government. While the government was distracted, the Russians attacked. They made their move when America was weak and vulnerable. They launched nuclear missiles and the U.S. went up in flames. Unexpectedly, in one hour, a nuclear holocaust engulfed them. California, New York, and Florida were destroyed in seconds—like Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

The Russians crossed over to Alaska. They came down through Canada—where I am from. They headed south, toward the city of Seattle and toward the eastern United States. They also landed on the beaches. I even heard rumours that Chinese troops were on the ground.

 

The battle in America was fierce. They were fighting for their lives. There was no hope for them. Yet, in the end, they cried out to the God of their fathers. God had compassion on them, and they were able to drive their enemies from the land. America, however, was left in utter ruins. Now, they are weak and impoverished; their cities are heaps of rubble. America is nothing; it is no longer of any significance.

 

Vladimir Putin turned away from America. He then set his face toward Israel for the Battle of Gog and Magog—just as the Bible says: I will turn you around; I will put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army. Yes indeed, Russia advanced like a storm, like a cloud covering the land. Along with them were Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and many others. But God sent a great earthquake to shake the land of Israel. He threw them into a panic, and they turned and kill one another. They fell dead on the mountains of Israel, because God executed judgment on Gog and all his hordes with pestilence and bloodshed.

 

The First Seal; a Rider on a White Horse; a great peacemaker; a charismatic politician from Europe stepped onto the scene, saying, “Peace and security.” This man accomplished what his predecessors could not: he negotiated a peace treaty in the Middle East between Israel and the Arabs—just as it is written: he will confirm a covenant with many for one week. So Israel signed the seven year peace deal and started building the Temple. Remember what Jesus said, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.”

 

Bloodshed, calamity, and death—oh what fun. Wars, famines, and plagues—God’s judgment has come. Then I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had given. Heaven and earth shakes: falling stars and earthquakes—every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the officials and generals, the wealthy and powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. “Fall on us!” they yelled to the mountains and to the rocks. “Hide us from the face of the One who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

 

One-third of the earth was burned up, one-third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. One-third of the sea turned into blood. One-third of all the sea creatures died, and one-third of the ships were destroyed. One-third of the rivers and springs turned into wormwood, and many people died from drinking the water. One-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were struck so that one-third of them turned dark. One-third of the day was without light, and also one-third of the night. Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the worst is yet to come.

 

The Kings of the East marching out for war; China and its allies causing terror and horror; A two hundred million man army trained for battle; One-third of mankind killed—slaughtered like cattle.

 

Remember that charismatic politician, the one who brokered the peace treaty with Israel three and a half years ago? Well, as you can see, he is the Antichrist. It is true! With one mind they gave their power and authority to the Beast. He was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. Every kind of satanic power, sign, and false wonder was performed to deceive the people, because they had rejected the truth that would save them. Indeed, the Beast was mortally wounded but came back to life, and the whole world was amazed and followed him. They set up an image in honor of the Beast, and life was given to the image. The image was able to talk, and it killed all who did not worship it. And all people were forced to receive a Mark on their right hand or forehead, because no one could buy or sell without the Mark of the Beast. They worshiped the Dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—because he had given authority to the Beast. Remember what Jesus said, “When you see the Abomination that causes Desolation (the image of the Beast) standing in the Temple, then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains!”

 

Horrible, painful sores broke out on those who had the Mark of the Beast and who worshiped his image. Their wickedness caused them even greater calamity. The sea, rivers, and springs became like the blood of a corpse, and everything in them died. “For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and You God have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” The sun scorched people with fire, searing them with intense heat. They blasphemed the name of God, who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory. Darkness fell upon the Beast’s Kingdom, and people gnawed their tongues in agony, yet they still refused to repent of their deeds. Then the great Euphrates River dried up to prepare the way for the Kings of the East, who were marching towards God’s judgment.

 

The nations of the earth prepared for war; world supremacy was on their minds. Flashes of lightning, roars of thunder, and hundred pound hailstones fell from the sky. The worst earthquake in human history shook the world to its core. Every island sunk, every mountain crumbled, and every city collapsed. Then the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies marched out for the Battle of Armageddon. Fire burned before them, and blood, fire, and billows of smoke followed behind them. They surrounded Jerusalem, and the city was captured. The light of the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars did not shine. When the next day came, the daylight remained darkened. It was a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. It was a unique day, with no difference between day and night. But mark my words, when evening comes, there will be light!

 

Behold, the Day of the Lord is here! The Great Day of His wrath has come, and who can endure it? Heaven opened, and there came a Rider on a white horse. He is called Faithful and True—the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies waged war against the Rider on the white horse. But a great panic from the Lord came upon them, and they turned and killed one another. Then a sword came from the mouth of the Rider, and the flesh of His enemies rotted while they stood on their feet—their eyes rotted in their sockets, and their tongues rotted in their mouths. Outside Jerusalem blood flowed for one hundred and eighty miles. As for the Beast, he and his cohort were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. Now the Lord Jesus Christ rules and reigns on earth. Amen and Amen!

 

You ever experience one of those weird dreams? This may have been taken late last summer, I’m not sure, lol. I forgot that I had taken/edited it and I believe the reasoning for this is because I wasn’t initially feeling it — it’s starting to grow on me a bit!

This is a photo from nest #1 from last Summer. This Eaglet was 7 weeks old at the time I took this. Michelle and I went every week from when this nest was on eggs until the young Eagles fledged....12 weeks. What a miracle to witness.

 

I have albums of nest #1 and 2 if you want to see young eagles growing up...

This pair lost the nest after the young fledged in a bad wind storm last year and wanted to go back through these shots and have another go. The reasoning is we found the parents today, together and in the near by area. No sign of a nest that we could see but I'm not ruling it out. She was banded 13 years ago and will be 14 this spring.

 

******All photos copyright Tony Joyce and CANNOT be used on ANY blogs or websites (inc. Reddit) without my written permission.******

no ps for today. no tricks just trips. those who get it get sucked in. those who don't point their clean fingers. i won't bite got better things to do with my fangs. how dark a hole how big a plunge how absurd the reasoning how about a matter of choice.

 

is this description lame or what.

It was a long reasoning but at the end I followed the sprit and went for film shooting. Got from ebay a mint Nikon FE from the late seventies as well as a nice 50mm f1.4.... jumped into the road capturing.

 

Nikon FE, 50mm f1.4, Fujifilm 400 Superia X-tra

 

Scanned by a local lab

So I saw Civil War this afternoon... and it was fine.

 

It didn't really blow my mind, and that kinda bums me out a little. Like, don't get me wrong, it was a great film with some great motivations and political agendas, but for some reason it didn't surprise or impress me like I expected. I've been steadily more and more disappointed in Marvel films lately. Perhaps the "Marvel Formula" is becoming a bit to repetitive for me, but there were just some things that felt like it didn't work or was unnecessary.

 

I've seen that most of the positive responses are based out of "Woah it's Spider-Man, Woah Ant-Man got big, Wow Black Panther" but to a degree I'm a bit taken back by how the way the MCU is set up, where I (the audience) was to not expect something like Black Widow to be a double agent, or RDJ to be the asshat he is.

 

I don't know, I'm just kinda bored with he fact that "Oh well gee, full circle Bucky killed the Starks" and I'm supposed to feel connected to that somehow. The last time I could think of Tony having angst for his parents was Iron Man 2... in 2010... six years ago.... A movie I haven't seen in six years.

 

Going to this movie was like going to work. It's like "Who was that one person in the second movie of that other trilogy that was the daughter (aunt?) of someone's girlfriend that was a neighbor (or spy maybe?)?" or like why wasn't quicksilver even mentioned despite one movie earlier he was the main motivation for Scarlet Witch to be more heroic.Then Hawkeye's takes that role because he had to be in the movie? That's the loss of a family member that you knew from birth! If that doesn't matter, why should I have to care about Rhodey?

 

Like geez. I want to like this movie, but I was just bored as hell by all the exposition and expectancy that was brought to the table. I shouldn't be required to see every One-Shot and watch every TV show to care about these characters. Those reasons should be in the film.

  

And what the heck was Zemo's deal?

"Oh I'm mad at some vague number of Avengers for the death of a vague relative/family member so I'm gonna go on an extremely convoluted scheme that involves disguises for some reason, to not actually fight anyone but instead have the vague number of avengers fight themselves and hope for the best, despite when I single-handedly sought out and uncovered a hidden Soviet Winter Soilder Farm that could easily have all that fighting for me."

Now, why this needed to be shoehorned into Civil War story arc was beyond me.

 

Also what the hell Spider-Man? Are you not questioning your own motives and trying to discover the person you want to be? Is there nothing going off in your intelligent head to ask yourself "What are The Avengers fighting each other for?" but hey, people seemed to like seeing ANOTHER Peter Parker with no personal view points or morals to hold to.

My movie-going experience was also quite disappointing, merely for the fact that the row above and below me had groups of kids that kept asking where was "Spyer-Man" for most of the film. It kind of takes away from the drama I'm supposed to feel about characters I haven't had the regularity of getting to know them.

It's a real shame that the Superhero Genre of movies has become so saturated and campy (I'm looking at you Deadpool) that people take their kids to a movie about Political rivalry's on a Comic Book Scale, expecting a fun romp with your pal Spider-Man.

  

The concept of Civil Liberties within the Superhero Genre is a fantastic study, and in all sincerity, this film very much gave that construct justice. But if we're gonna go and alter the source material of such a smart story, let's live up to these huge political barriers that've been put into play. I don't want a story this immersing and vast to be bookend by "The Winter Solider is easily brainwashed so you guy's should fight because of that ft. another Spider-Man"

 

This movie was fantastic for it's intelligence and line of reasoning, but I genuinely didn't care about these characters like I'm expected to and that's a shame.

  

I'm really on the fence about this one. I really wanted to like it more than I did. It was great, don't get me wrong, but if Marvel is gonna go and pull 180 on us and expect things to fly, I'm gonna leave feeling disjointed.

 

I feel like I may watch this again at some point in the future, but until then, this is my final verdict.

  

PS Daredevil is great, but Marvel is gonna be dead to me for a while.

  

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Publication History

 

J'onn J'onzz, better known as the Martian Manhunter, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" in Detective Comics #225 (November 1955). A roster member of the Justice League of America, he is one of the seven founding members and a reoccurring member for many incarnations and derivatives.

 

A green-skinned alien from Mars, he is accidentally teleported to Earth and is among the last living members of his species. Motivated by tragedies that include the loss of his own family and species, Martian Manhunter becomes a superhero and protector of his adopted homeworld.

 

While among the most powerful of superheroes on Earth, J'onn is often marked for his wisdom, gentle character, and idealism in pursuing justice, making him an ideal leader and voice of reason in iterations of the Justice League.

 

He has also been featured in other DC Comics products, such as video games, television series, animated films, and merchandise like action figures.

 

In live-action, the character first appeared in the television pilot Justice League of America, played by David Ogden Stiers.

 

He also appeared in the series Smallville, played by Phil Morris, and in the Arrowverse series Supergirl, played by David Harewood. Harry Lennix played the character in the DC Extended Universe, under the guise of General Calvin Swanwick, in the films Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), with Martian Manhunter's true form appearing in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).

 

Martian Manhunter aka John (J'onn J'onzz) Jones debuted in the back-up story "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in Detective Comics #225 (November 1955), written by Joseph Samachson and illustrated by Joe Certa.

 

The character is a green-skinned humanoid from Mars, who is pulled to Earth by an experimental teleportation beam constructed by Dr. Saul Erdel. The Martian tells Erdel where he is from, and Erdel tells him that to send him back will require the teleportation beam's robot brain to be recalibrated, and that this may take years.

 

J'onzz then unexpectedly uses his shapeshifting to assume the guise of a human; the shock of seeing this kills Dr. Erdel and leaves J'onzz with no way of returning home. The character decides to fight crime while waiting for Martian technology to advance to a stage that will enable his rescue. To that end, he adopts the identity of John Jones, a detective in the fictional Middletown, USA.

 

During this period, the character and his backstory differ in some minor and some significant ways from modern treatments. Firstly, as with his counterpart, the Silver Age Superman, J'onzz's power range is poorly defined, and his powers expand over time as the plot demands. The addition of precognitive abilities (Detective Comics #226) is quickly followed by telepathy and flight, "atomic vision", super-hearing, and many other powers. In addition, his customary weakness to fire is only manifested when he is in his native Martian form.

 

A more significant difference is that in this version of him, there is no suggestion that Mars is a dead planet or that the character is the last of his kind. Many of the tales of the time feature either Martian technology or the appearance of other Martian characters such as his younger brother T'om J'onzz. Detective Comics #236 (October 1956), for example, features the character making contact with the planet Mars and his parents.

 

J'onzz eventually reveals his existence to the world, after which he operates openly as a superhero and becomes a charter member of the Justice League. During the character's initial few years as a member of the Justice League, he is often used as a substitute for Superman in stories (just as Green Arrow was for Batman) as DC Comics were worried about using their flagship characters too often in Justice League stories, fearing overexposure. The Martian and the archer inaugurated the team-up format of The Brave and the Bold. J'onzz appears there one other time, working with the Flash. In some stories he is shown travelling through space at near-light speed or to other planets.

 

The detective John Jones is ostensibly killed in action by the Idol Head of Diabolu, an artifact that generates supernatural monsters. J'onzz abandons the civilian identity as he decides fighting this new menace will take a great deal of his time. At this point his feature moves to The House of Mystery, where J'onzz spends the next few years in battle against the Idol Head. Shortly after its defeat, he takes the persona of Marco Xavier to infiltrate the international crime cartel Vulture, which he defeats in the final installment of his original series.

 

As Superman was allowed by DC to become a fully active member of the Justice League, J'onzz's appearances there dwindled. He last participated in a mission in his original tenure in #61 (March 1968), shortly before his solo series was discontinued (The House of Mystery #173, May–June 1968). In #71, his people finally came to Earth for him and he left with them to found and become leader of New Mars. Over the next 15 years, J'onzz appeared sporadically in various DC titles.

 

Fictional character biography

 

One version of his origin is that J'onn J'onzz is a Manhunter, a keeper of the peace and authority figure on the planet Mars. Well trained in various skills, including telepathy, shape-shifting, and energy manipulation, and possessing a keen detective's mind with a compassionate heart, J'onn is among the greatest to have served as a Manhunter, and protected his home for many years.

 

In 1955, an Earth scientist named Dr. Saul Erdel, while experimenting with alien (possibly Martian) technology in secret, accidentally pulled J'onzz from Mars to Earth. This sudden revelation of a seven foot tall alien caused Dr. Erdel such a shock that his heart gave out, leaving J'onn stranded on a foreign planet with malfunctioning teleportation technology, and no easy way home.

 

J'onzz resolved to use his time on Earth to help others, upholding truth and justice as he had done on Mars for so many years. He has taken many forms and played many roles over the years: detective, spy, superhero, diplomat, corporate head; J'onn always uses his vast powers and abilities to protect the weak and serve the common good, as the Manhunter from Mars.

 

J'onn is supposed to become the next leader of his people and so must undertake a Rite of Passage wherein he must detach himself from his people and understand what it meant to be truly alone. The Martian race had no such concept, as it was a very communal race, and J'onn needed the training in order to lead his people.

 

Upon his return J'onn finds that the paradise he once knew was burning with nothing much left but ashes. Not a psychic presence could be felt, J'onn was now truly alone. Standing in the burning ruins of the paradise he once knew, J'onn adopted the name "Manhunter" as he is now alone and in search for the being behind his misery.

 

Character Evolution

 

Initially portrayed as a detective strip with an alien super power twist, J'onn J'onzz took on more and more of the traditional traits of a superhero as the Silver Age dawned and Superheroes regained popularity. Throughout the 1960's J'onn was a member of DC's premier super team, The Justice League of America, and his solo stories ranged from fighting gangsters and costumed crooks, to strange sci-fi/fantasy menaces, to jet-setting as super-spy Marco Xavier and fighting the evil spy ring Vulture.

 

The Bronze Age saw J'onzz leave the JLA and rejoin his people, now on Mars II. He returned for occasional cameos, but was largely absent from publication during the 1970's. With a shake up to the JLA roster in the early 1980's, J'onn rejoined the team in the War of the Worlds 1984 story arc, and would remain a staple of the Justice League for the next several decades. J'onn's characterization began to emphasize the Noir detective elements, as well as his alien-ness among Earthlings.

 

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, J'onn became a larger player in the DC Universe, featured prominently in crossovers like Legends, Invasion and Millennium, and starring in the popular Justice League International, usually as the team's leader. His solo stories took on a more philosophical, existential bent. A mini series examining his origins was spun out of his Justice League appearances, and a second, prestige format series followed, this time set in the mid sixties during the cultural revolution.

 

With Grant Morrison's reboot of the JLA achieving new heights of popularity for the Justice League, the Manhunter from Mars achieved arguably his greatest exposure, and was featured in an ongoing solo title, which ran for 37 issues. Writer John Ostrander expanded the history of Mars, chronicling a war with Apokolips, the ensuing near extinction of the Martian race due to Malefic's machinations, and ancient interactions between Earth and Mars. He also connected the Martian and Saturnian races, and expanded the catalogue of secret identities for the Sleuth from Outer Space.

 

As the 2000's saw more Crises, J'onn's solo title was canceled, and he started to be sidelined more and more. The One Year Later event gave him a new mini-series with a new look and a more reactionary attitude. In the opening stanza of the event Final Crisis, J'onn was killed, only to be resurrected a few years later as part of the Blackest Night. His solo story in the anthology Brightest Day saw him return to a more cerebral, compassionate attitude, as well as returning him to a more familiar look, albeit with some tweaks. This too would prove short lived, though, as even bigger shake ups awaited.

 

The New 52, a complete relaunch of the DC universe, placed the Alien Atlas in a role of ambassador, welcoming the newly folded into the universe Stormwatch as part of the initial lineup. No longer a canonical founder of the Justice League, J'onn has been portrayed as having kept to the shadows. He works behind the scenes, often telepathically erasing his presence from the memory of any he helps. Still, he is known as a former member of the Justice League and a relatively public "super hero."

 

While in keeping with his usual "warrior-poet" demeanor, the New 52 Manhunter is a bit more aggressive, and more willing to use his telepathic abilities in a forceful manner. Much of his origin remains to be revealed, although his basic power set is essentially consistent. Justice League of America writer Geoff Johns has been quoted as saying he "...will make Martian Manhunter the most dangerous character in the DC Universe.”

 

Story Arc

 

He had a wife and a daughter, M'yri'ah and K'hym, whom he loved deeply. The Martians had been a thriving and space faring race for centuries, even venturing to Earth on occasion, inadvertently inspiring the Egyptians to build their colossal pyramids. However, their doom was approaching swiftly.

 

J'onn's own brother, Ma’alefa’ak, had been stripped of his fellow Martians' innate telepathic gifts for the crime of mind "raping" another, and had grown very bitter over time. In his anger and insanity, he created something that would come to be called Hronmeer's Curse after the Martian God of Death. It was a plague that preyed on a Martian's natural fear and weakness to fire. J'onn learned of his plan to destroy their race from the inside out, but was unable to stop him. J'onzz was then abruptly the last of his own race, and nearly lost his mind.

 

Wandering the Earth, J'onn's First Years

 

The Manhunter from Mars, last of his kind, now found himself in a strange and different world. Knowing that he currently had no way to return to his dead planet, J'onn wandered into human civilization, attempting to find a new life among them. J'onzz had almost completely lost his mind on Mars, but being able to now live life however he pleased provided him with a sense of comfort.

 

Using his vast shape-shifting abilities, he took many forms across the globe, seeing life from every possible standpoint. He took the shapes of men and women of all types, and even animals. He spent much of his time in the role of a man named John Jones, a deceased detective. J'onn took a liking to this particular guise, as he still possessed a strong passion for crime-fighting.

 

Bronze Wraith

 

J'onn first revealed himself as an official superhero when he joined the Justice Experience as the Bronze Wraith. He only used his strength and psychic abilities as the Wraith, careful not to reveal his extensive Martian shape shifting abilities. However, his time with the team was short, as they would quickly be altogether defeated by the villainous Doctor Trap. J'onn was the only survivor, but was able to exact justice on the Doctor with the help of the Justice Society of America.

 

Shortly before his tenure as the Bronze Wraith, J'onn sensed the arrival of a small alien spacecraft heading towards Kansas. He investigated the vessel, although it resisted his attempts to scan it too deeply. When the Kents arrived, he became invisible to avoid detection. He left knowing the Kryptonian child would be safe with them, but was concerned about the power he would one day possess.

 

He returned eight years later as Josh Johnstone and worked as a hired hand on the Kent Farm. He wanted to see how the alien child was integrating into human society. He could tell that Clark Kent thought of himself as a human being. He was further assured of the boy's heroic nature when he defended him from racist thugs in Smallville.

 

The Justice League of America

 

For years after his tenure with the Justice Experience, J'onn continued wandering Earth, taking many different forms and identities. Although he believed that if he again revealed himself as a superhero that he would draw more trouble to himself, something quickly changed his mind.

 

The super-powered protector of Metropolis, Superman, revealed himself to the world, and soon costumed vigilantes were saving lives everywhere. Eventually, in an freak alien invasion, Hal Jordan, Flash, Aquaman and Black Canary rushed into battle. J'onn quickly put aside his fears of revealing himself, and changed to his typical Martian garb, but kept his overall appearance more humanoid. He battled alongside the other heroes, and they left triumphant. From that point on, these five heroes, along with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman fought together as the Justice League of America. This team would become a mainstay in the DC Universe, consistently protecting the Earth from otherworldly threats and even home-grown emergencies.

 

Through many years with the Justice League, J'onn J'onzz managed to find some measure of solace among his new found friends. The people of Earth accepted him, along with his fellow superheroes. He still kept many secret identities across the globe, maintaining a carefully built system that he used to learn all about his fellow Earthlings.

 

The Justice League Detroit

 

Eventually, the Justice League would relocate to Detroit and have a dramatic change in it's membership leaving only J'onn, Aquaman, Zatanna and Elongated Man. Four additional heroes known as Vixen, Gypsy, Steel and Vibe joined the Justice League and J'onn would become a large contributor in their development as heroes. He became closest to young Gypsy who was a teenage runaway with an invisibility power of her own. She was homeless in the streets of Detroit and she used her her powers to protect herself. Aquaman eventually left the Justice League to return to his duties in Atlantis and Zatanna left the JLA after merging with the Godhead.

 

Near the end of this team's roster, the only members left were J'onn, Elongated Man, Vixen, Gypsy, Steel and Vibe. What was worse came when Gypsy had a premonition that two members of her League, Steel and Vibe, were going to be killed. During the Legends event, Darkseid manipulated humanity to turn against super-heroes. Darkseid sent several of his minions, including Glorious Godfrey and Brimstone, to Earth.

 

Godfrey, using his ability to control anyone just by telling them what to do, posed as G. Gordon Godfrey and told the people of Earth not to trust the super-heroes. Soon, he had with him an army of followers ready to storm the White House and take over the free world.

 

The League would try to turn back popular opinion even going into a pitched battle with Brimstone. After they fail to stop him, Brimstone caused great damage. Super-heroes themselves become outlawed by executive order of the President. After this event, Elongated Man quits the Justice League.

 

This left J'onn alone with his four rookie members and left J'onn with no other choice but to disband the League. This left the League weakened and open to attack and Professor Ivo took that opportunity to kill all the young Justice League members. Just like Gypsy's premonition the first to be killed was Vibe. He was killed by one of Professor Ivo's androids on the same day J'onn disband the League.

 

Professor Ivo sent an android to kill Gypsy next but she manages to find a conscience in the android that is sent to kill her. She convinced the android to not only spare her life, but to safely return her to her parents as well. Steel was mortally wounded when he destroyed one of Ivo's androids. J'onn brought the dying Steel to his grandfather, the original Steel, who placed him on life support and remained in a coma. After this, J'onn and Vixen stop Ivo but the damage had already been done.

 

J'onn would meet with one last line of defense at the final onset of the invasion. Doctor Fate had organized Superman, Batman,Captain Marvel, Guy Gardner, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Teen Titans members Changeling and the Kid Flash and the Blue Beetle in one last ditch effort to stop Godfrey.

 

But much to the surprise of all those engaged in battle, a small legion of children unaffected by Godfrey's mind control make a buffer between the heroes and his army. Suddenly, Godfrey's mind-controlled minions are snapped out of their trance when he slaps one of the children. He was quickly defeated, and the people of Earth trusted their masked protectors once more.

 

Following the chaos of Glorious Godfrey's invasion, a new Justice League rose from the ashes. Based in several Earth-bound United Nations Embassies, the new League found itself led by the Martian Manhunter and a man named Maxwell Lord. Lord acted as the face of the Justice League in the UN, and recruited all-new members. The new roster included the likes of Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Ice, Fire, Mister Miracle and more.

 

The Justice League International

 

The new Justice League would become the Justice League International as it works within the United Nations. Originally, J'onn would often act alongside Batman. He performed most of the tactical work, organizing the team and sending them on various missions. After the League went international, J'onn becomes the leader and that allows Batman to stay in the background. The League was basically run for several years with J'onn as the leader but Max Lord was in a big way the owner of the League.

 

Under J'onn's leadership the League would go through some of it's best years. It did not have a lot of high caliber member but it did have a very familial atmosphere. There was always crisis in the League but they had real bonds with each other. The League would have some members that would come and go, but the core of the League stayed for years. J'onn, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and “the one true” Green Lantern, Guy Gardner.

 

One thing J'onn developed during this time in the League is an addiction to Oreo cookies, called Chocos. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle who delighted in practical jokes would find it very funny to hide and even buy all the Oreo cookies they could in an effort to drive J'onn nuts trying to find them. These pranks like all there others started out good but ended up bad for Booster and Beetle.

 

Unfortunately for Gypsy shortly after she is returned home, Despero arrived and murdered her parents. Despero tried to kill Gypsy as well but she was saved by the new Justice League. Despero killed the comatose Steel during his attack on Justice League HQ. Devastated by her parents' death, Gypsy returned to being a superhero. Booster Gold himself took her on as a member of his team the Conglomerate.

 

After the time J'onn and Gypsy spend together, they grow very close. They end up developing a father/daughter relationship. Later after yet another incarnation of the League, they would both work as members of the Justice League Task Force.

 

Justice League Task Force

 

The Justice League Task Force was originally intended to set specialized heroes for specialized missions, but eventually it would become a super hero group just like the other Justice Leagues. This League however would become a little more militant under J'onn's leadership as he forces his team to wear matching uniforms. Eventually like all leagues this one would dissolve as well. In later years, Gypsy is killed but is miraculously returned to life by J'onn, who pleads with his god, Hronmeer, to restore her life.

 

JLA

 

The League was reformed after the White Martian invasion and included some of Earth's premier heroes. J'onn would again be an integral part alongside Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Aquaman. He would often link his teammates telepathically to coordinate their plans. The ghosts of his Martian heritage would be a problem on more than one occasion and J'onn would often be key to beating them.

 

When the White Martians attacked again, it was J'onn who helped provide the means of beating them, nearly sacrificing himself in the process. He would also have to foil the schemes of his brother, Ma’alefa’ak. Unbeknown to J'onn, he had survived the death of his people caused by a plague he had wrought and intended to finish the job by killing J'onn.

 

He was he one of the League's most powerful members, which was a problem when another piece of his Martian heritage came to Earth, a Burning Martian called Fernus. He had been attempting to overcome his fear of fire with the help of Scorch. The therapy triggered ancient genetic memories that had been repressed by the Guardians of the Universe and transformed him into a being of fire and hate.

 

As Fernus, he attempted to asexually reproduce by causing a nuclear strike in Japan. The League was little match for his immense physical powers and his psychic assault. However, a joint effort by the League, Scorch, and most importantly, Plastic Man allowed J'onn to re-assume control of his body. In the epilogue of this story, J'onn claims to have overcome his fear of fire unless the flames have a psychic or magical dimension. This is sometimes overlooked in more recent adventures.

 

Powers

 

Martian Manhunter possesses powers and abilities common to all Martians but has shown to be the most powerful of his race, largely due to be from his training as a Manhunter of Mars, and also his years as hero of Earth. He's also one of the most powerful members of the Justice League, alongside the likes of Superman, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Orion and Green Lanterns.

 

Super Strength - Martian Manhunter is one of the strongest heroes on Earth, with strength comparable to Superman. J'onn along with Superman was able to move one of Brainiac's ships away from Earth; the ship in question dwarfed the planet with its size and was hurtling towards the Earth at 36,000 miles/hour. J'onn has also shattered Earth's moon with his strength. He also was able to move Earth with help from Superman and Wonder Woman.

 

Invulnerability - J'onn's durability has allowed him to withstand the destruction of Earth's moon without so much as a scratch, as well as taking hits from characters like Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. He has in the past displayed the ability to make his body more dense in order to boost his durability, or his resistance to gaseous or chemical agents.

 

Flight - Martian Manhunter has been seen flying at Mach 10 in Earth's atmosphere. He has maneuverability and flight speed comparable to Superman.

 

Super Speed - J'onn and other Martians have speed that allows him to keep up with the Flash. His speed grants him accelerated reaction times as well. He is able to process thoughts and carry out actions with incredible speed as well. He can even utilize his telepathy at super speed, able to create a telepathic conference room for the Justice League to discuss matters in the privacy of J'onn's mind in just an instant.

 

Stamina - The Martian Manhunter has nigh inexhaustible endurance and resilience. He can last for extensive periods of time without food, rest, or air. J'onn has been able to travel great distances in space and fight long battles without tiring.

 

Regeneration - J'onn can quickly recover from almost any injury. He is able to reconstitute his body even when severed into several pieces. His regenerative abilities have allowed him to reconstitute his body from even an extremely small mass in only a matter of seconds, and he has even grown a new body from a severed arm.

 

Shape-Shifting - The Martian Manhunter has vast shape shifting abilities that stem from complete control of his molecular structure. He is able to take on any shape he pleases, often taking the human guise of Detective John Jones.

 

It has been revealed in the older comics, that he takes the powers and weaknesses of whoever he turns into. He can form shapes of objects or organisms alive, extinct, or imagined, and he has often shown to grow an extra pair of arms to supplement his fighting abilities and his strength. He can become as stiff and unmovable or as flexible and malleable as he pleases. He can also alter his size or the size and length of his limbs.

 

During his fight with Antares, J'onn grew to the size of building. When increasing his size, J'onn often borrows mass from matter around him and incorporates it in his body, expelling it when he returns to his normal size. The Manhunter has even shown to use his shape shifting powers offensively during his fight with Ultraman.

 

He has elongated parts of himself into blades and other weapons during combat. His density is also variable and changes as he wills it. He can use this ability to become intangible and move through objects or allow attacks to fly by harmlessly through him or to become extremely dense to add more mass to his blows and increase his invulnerability.

 

J'onn's control over his own molecular structure also allow him to adapt his visibility, granting him the ability to become invisible at will. His shape shifting abilities extend beyond even that allowing himself to change his chemical composition. He was able to turn his skin into a thick exoskeleton of human bone in order to shield him from a corrosive that would normally disintegrate his Martian physiology.

 

Intangibility - By greatly lowering the density of his own mass, Marian Manhunter is able to become intangible. He has used this power often during combat to protect himself from his enemy's attacks and to pass through walls and other structures to travel. Another use of this power is phasing opponents into solid objects, as J'onn as Fernus was able to do to Superman.

 

Invisibility - J'onn is able to control his visibility and render himself invisible to beings that can even view the entire electromagnetic spectrum. He can even appear invisible to Superman.

 

Telepathy - Martian Manhunter is one of the most powerful telepaths in the DC universe. Through sheer mental strength, he was able to resist Brainiac's telepathic control of the entire world. His offensive psionic abilities are at least planetary in scale, and he has demonstrated great finesse with his powers - achieving everything from planting subtle subliminal messages in Superman's head, casting an illusion over the entire Justice League, and forcibly invading and shutting down the minds of powerful telepaths like Despero and Doctor Psycho.

 

Psionic Blast - J'onn is able to project painful and destructive blasts of psionic energy from his eyes and his hands

 

Psionic Shield - J'onn is able to project a telekinetic shield of distinct size and force for their protection and that of others.

 

Martian Vision - Martian Manhunter can project powerful blasts of energy from his eyes. The power of these blasts are comparable to Superman's heat vision and have been shown to be able to harm the likes of Superman, Black Adam and Aquaman. He is able to create powerful enough blast to sever his own arm. He is also able to project telekinetic blasts of force.

 

Telekinesis - Presumably a side effect of his Martian vision is telekinesis. He seems to keep this ability in reserve, as he does some of his other powers. J'onn is capable of controlling / manipulating; move; push; cut out; attrack; and levitate objects even at the subatomic level. J'onn can manipulate atoms, subatomic particles, and cells perfectly. J'onn can fire extremely powerful Telekinetic Blasts, causing others to telekinetically explode and create a telekinetic shield. J'onn has only demonstrated this power a select few times.

 

Martian Breath - The Martian Manhunter has also demonstrated an increased lung capacity, allowing him to blow powerful wind bursts and freeze opponents with his breath, similar to Superman. J'onn has also demonstrated the ability to fly through space for extended periods of time.

 

Sonic Scream - J'onn has on occasion demonstrated the capability to emit a devastating sonic scream.

 

X-ray Vision - J'onn J'onzz described this ability colloquially as ionized particulate matter mapped to a variable density wavepacket. It allows him to see through objects.

 

Extrasensory Input - Martians have nine senses as opposed to a human's five senses, which grants the Martian more numerable and clearer perceptions.

Longevity - Martians possess naturally longer lifespans than human beings. J'onn has lived for at least one hundred years and is still not at old age. Based on the "One Million" story-line, we can also presume that J'onn has the capacity to live and operate at peak functionality for thousands of years to come.

 

Mayavanna (Formerly) - This is a Martian ability that gives the receiver a gift of a reality even more powerful than our own. It grants them what they want most in the world and is reserved for those held most dear to the Martian giving it. It is a gift that can only be given once in a lifetime. J'onn had to use his on Despero in order to stop him from murdering the League.

 

Abilities

 

J'onn was trained as a Manhunter on Mars, making a capable crime fighter and combatant. Since his arrival on earth, he has demonstrated a high degree of intelligence and great skill in detective work while working under the guise of Detective John Jones. Martian Manhunter has exceptionally high reasoning and logical skills, which added to his detective expertise, and also grants him highly competent diplomatic abilities. He has shown to be remarkably empathetic and understanding of human emotions and human nature. He has often given extremely wise advice to his fellows during times of crisis and in personal adversity. Despite his civil understanding, J'onn is able to assess situations and recognize which circumstances require intellectual solutions and which merit combat. When he has decided to use force, he has never been hesitant to fight against his opponents ruthlessly.

 

Weaknesses

 

J'onn has consistently been portrayed as having a weakness to fire, which has varied over the years, usually according to the needs of a given storyline.

 

In the Silver Age, even the smallest flame could cause J'onn to cringe and occasionally fall unconscious. It was explained as the natural enemy of all Martians, and would vary widely in severity by the writer's whims.

 

In the Bronze Age it became more defined, causing him to slowly lose his powers and eventually consciousness.

 

Post Crisis it was explained as being psycho-somatic, a result of the traumatic experience burning the bodies of his race killed by a plague.

 

When Grant Morrison took over JLA, he reintroduced the fire weakness as being a racial trait of all Martians, white or green. Later in that same title, Joe Kelly explained it as the result of a prehistoric war with the Guardians. The Guardians of the Universe, after defeating the Martians, placed within the Martian race a psychological fear of fire. This was to prevent them from taking on their earlier, "Burning" form, marked by aggressiveness and chaos. When J'onn excised his weakness to fire by working with Scorch, he unleashed Fernus. Afterwards, J'onn stated that he no longer fears ordinary flames and that the only fire that affects him is fire of psychic or mystical power.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

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A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: John Jones (J'onn J'onzz)

 

Publisher: DC

 

First appearance: Detective Comics #225 (November 1955)

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/55331681684

 

Created by: Joseph Samachson (Writer)

Joe Certa (Artist)

 

Martian Manhunter was seen foiling a criminal Toys For Tots catastrophe in Christmas 2017!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38564253314/

 

And in the Labor Days grilling festivities in 2019!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/48668290131/

View On Black

 

Between 1954 and 1962, a small car called the Metropolitan was sold to over 100,000 buyers in North America and Britain. Thousands of these strikingly cute automobiles are still on the road today.

 

The Nash Metropolitan possesses an ageless, cuddly quality that has made it a perennial favorite of car lovers and car agnostics alike.

 

As is befitting a car that was so different from the American norm, the story behind the Metropolitan is filled with misconceptions, perhaps the biggest of which is the belief in many quarters that the car was a design penned by England's Austin Motor Company and Nash simply applied its name badge to an American version. Since Austin was known for its fine small cars, starting with the Austin 7, there is basis for that reasoning, but the Metropolitan was an American design and the ultimate result of many years of experimentation by the Nash Motor Corporation.

 

Sources:

www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/nash-metropolitan.html

www.physics.ucsb.edu/~airboy/our_metro.html

  

BTW, Fickr, the Pirates would love to go for a ride on this one.

 

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This ARTIST is for HIRE.

We've all heard of 'puppy dog eyes' and 'piercing blue eyes' but this fellow's stare is remarkable. This is day three of this fellow in the back yard each day. This is through both the storm and back door's glass. I'm now convinced it is an immature Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) rather than yesterday's assumption of Red-tailed. Like others, I'll string out my reasoning in a photo-a-day style.