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I've said a few times before, color casting isn't what most photographer wants. However, if you could use it as your advantage, you might be surprised with the end result!
Believe it or not, It is actually sunrise, not the moon! The color is straight out from the camera (as do in all of my photos), it's the color casting from the Lee's Big Stopper! And I think it actually give this photo a very twilight, tranquility mood. Therefore, I didn't bother to correct it. Hope you'll like it too.
Nikon D7000
Nikkor 12-24mm f/4
Hitech GND0.9 + GND0.6
Lee Big Stopper
30sec
Single Shot - No HDR
Italien / Trentino - Burgruine Arco
View down to Arco
Blick hinunter nach Arco
Arco Castle (Italian: Castello di Arco, German: Schloss Arch) is a ruined castle located on a prominent spur high above Arco and the Sarca Valley in Trentino, northern Italy.
History
The exact date of its foundation is unknown but it existed at least after the year 1000 AD. The area around Arco was inhabited already before the Middle Ages, the castle was said to have been built by the citizens and only later becoming the property of the local nobles.
The counts of Arco (from Latin arcus, 'bow'), probably of Italian origin (a presumed kinship with the Bavarian counts of Bogen could not be established), were first mentioned in 1124 deed; they temporarily served as liensmen of the Trent prince-bishops. Though they were raised to comital (Grafen) status by the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II in 1221, they had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Meinhardiner princely counts of Tyrol in 1272.
The Counts of Arco were expelled by the Prince-Bishops of Trent in 1349, whereafter the castle fell to the Veronese noble house of Scaliger. Nevertheless, they regained the castle in a local uprising, and in 1413 further strengthened their position by obtaining the status of Imperial immediacy from the hands of Emperor Sigismund in 1413. However, in the long run, they could not prevail against the mighty House of Habsburg, rulers of Tyrol since 1363. Arco Castle was captured in 1579, and the counts had to submit to the Habsburgs in 1614. Their estates were officially seized by Emperor Leopold I in 1680.
The castle was later abandoned after a siege by French troops under General Duke Louis Joseph of Vendôme in the course of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1703. A careful restoration began 1986 and following others in more recent years restorations have found a number of frescoes depicting knights and court ladies of medieval times.
(Wikipedia)
Die Burgruine Arco oder Schloss Arch ist eine Burgruine oberhalb der Gemeinde Arco in der Provinz Trient in Norditalien, oberhalb des unteren Sarca-Tales.
Lage
Die Burgruine Arco liegt auf dem markanten Felsberg (273 m s.l.m.) oberhalb der Gemeinde Arco und des Sarcatales. Sie ist Teil eines nach Norden laufenden Felsrückens und vom nachfolgenden Berg Colodri durch eine tiefere Scharte getrennt. Der Burgberg fällt zum Sarcatal über einhundert Meter senkrecht ab, während der Felsen nach Süden und Westen sanfter ins Tal übergeht. Im Norden und Nordwesten sind die Felshänge wesentlich steiler. Strategisch sicherte die Burg das enge Sarcatal ab, welches neben dem Zugang über den Passo San Giovanni bei Nago-Torbole den zweiten Landzugang zum nördlichen Gardasee darstellt.
Die Burg ist aus dem Ort Arco über mehrere befestigte Wege in zirka zwanzig Minuten zu erreichen. Der Weg führt durch die Olivenhaine unterhalb der Burg. Es gibt auch einen Auf- bzw. Abstieg von Laghel, der in etwa der alten Burgstraße entspricht. Der Höhenunterschied beträgt 120 Meter.
Geschichte
Der Burgberg von Arco war schon vor dem Mittelalter besiedelt. Als gesichert gilt eine Nutzung des Berges als Burg durch einheimische Adlige um das Jahr 1000. Zu Füßen des Burgberges entwickelte sich westlich und südlich eine kleine Siedlung, der Ursprung der späteren Gemeinde Arco. Im Jahr 1196 erklärte Federico von Arco urkundlich, dass die Burg lehnfreies Gut der Bewohner von Arco sei. Das Adelsgeschlecht der Grafen von Arco machte sich wenig später zum alleinigen Besitzer der Burg. Im Jahr 1253 überließ Riprando von Arco den oberen Teil der Burg (Alte Burg) dem Ghibellinenführer Ezzelino III. da Romano, welcher den Burgteil an Sodigerio da Tito, Podestà von Trient, übergab. Nach Anerkennung der Lehnsherrschaft des Grafen Meinhard II. von Tirol im Jahr 1272 erlangten die Grafen von Arco die Burg zurück. Die Burg wurde während mehrerer mittelalterlicher Fehden belagert, so von den Herren Seiano, Lodron und den Truppen der Republik Venedig. Sie konnte von diesen jedoch nie eingenommen werden, sodass sie als uneinnehmbar galt.
Im Jahr 1349 vertrieb der Bischof von Trient die Grafen und übergab die Burg der Familie Scaligeri. Die veronesische Besatzung wurde jedoch durch einen Volksaufstand vertrieben und Graf Niccolo von Arco wurde wieder Herr über die Burg. Albrecht Dürer malte die Burg 1495 als Aquarell. Im Jahr 1542 wurde die Burg bei einem Feuer stark in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Im Juli 1579 ließ Ferdinand II. in seiner Funktion als Erzherzog von Tirol die Burgen Arco und Penede bei Nago durch seine Truppen besetzen. Im Jahr 1614 konnten die Burggrafen von Arco nach Ende der Fehde (Capitolate) nach Arco zurückkehren, nachdem sie die Oberherrschaft des Erzherzogs anerkannten. Von 1665 bis 1675 führte Stefano Voltolino zahlreiche Restaurierungs- und Umbauarbeiten an der Burg durch. Im Jahr 1680 wurden die Grafen von Arco jedoch von Kaiser Leopold I. endgültig entmachtet. Im Spanischen Erbfolgekrieg konnte der französische General Vendôme das untere Sarcatal besetzen und belagerte auch die Burg. Nach heftigem Bombardement kapitulierte die Besatzung schließlich im August 1703. Danach verfiel die Burg schnell, und auch die Burggrafen von Arco verließen den Ort und teilten sich später in einen bayrischen und einen in Mantua ansässigen Zweig.
Im Jahr 1927 kaufte die Letzte der italienischen Linie, Gräfin Giovanna d'Arco, verheiratete Marchesa Guidi di Bagno, das Burggelände und wurde alleinige Besitzerin. Später ging das Burggelände in den Besitz der in Mantua ansässigen Stiftung der Familie Arco über. 1982 erwarb die Gemeinde Arco die Burg. Im Jahr 1986 leitete dann das Denkmalschutzamt der Provinz Trentino unter Leitung des Architekten Falvio Pontalti umfangreiche Sicherungs- und Renovierungsarbeiten ein. Die Burgtürme Großer Turm, Rengheraturm und der Turm nach Laghel wurden gesichert und der Mauerring konsolidiert. Ebenso wurden der alte Turnierplatz und die alte Burgstraße freigelegt. Bei Grabungen kamen auch die Überreste von zwei ehemalige Gebäuden sowie zwei Zisternen ans Tageslicht. In einem Gebäude konnten einige Fresken freigelegt und renoviert werden. Sie zeigen Szenen des Spieles mit Damen und Rittern.
Weiteres
An der Nordwestseite befindet sich ein Steineichenwäldchen.
In der steilen Ostseite des Burgberges wurden zwei extrem schwere Kletterwege erschlossen. Diese sind aber mittlerweile für das Klettern gesperrt worden.
(Wikipedia)
No matter where I wander, Buster the Crow pops up like magic. Here's his regular routine ... I put down a little of his 'health-food' snack ... he takes a bite, then says, "CAW" three times to summon Mrs B, his faithful mate, to join in the feast.
He must be a fair age now - he's been a friend for 11 years!
He likes to be stroked, if we're in a quiet place and he feels relaxed.
“Now then, Pooh," said Christopher Robin, "where's your boat?"
"I ought to say," explained Pooh as they walked down to the shore of the island, "that it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a Boat, and sometimes it's more of an Accident. It all depends."
"Depends on what?"
"On whether I'm on the top of it or underneath it.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
-- Technical Information (or Nerdy Stuff) --
‧ Camera - Nikon D7200 (handheld)
‧ Lens – Nikkor 18-300mm Zoom
‧ ISO – 200
‧ Aperture – f/9
‧ Exposure – 1/800 second
‧ Focal Length – 230mm
The original RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera Raw and final adjustments were made with Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
It is said that the picturesque village of Nazaré got its name from a statue of the Virgin Mary brought to town from Nazareth by a monk in the 4th century.
Today it is Portugal's most famous fishing village, having always drawn visitors to its beach and genuinely colorful life.
Until not too long ago, fishermen were still seen using oxen to pull their brightly painted boats from the ocean and even today many locals still wear their characteristic traditional costumes -- the fishermen have check shirts and trousers, and the women wear several layers of petticoats. The fishing boats are Phoenician in design with bright colors and eyes painted on the vessels, supposedly with the magical power to avert storms.
www.golisbon.com/portugal/cities/nazare.html
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www.cameralenscompare.com/photoAwardsCounterDetails.aspx?...
It is said that the Arfelans not only dwell on the plains but also in unknown locations of Historica.
These last havens, a secrecy, from wich very few enter and exit.
It is in these places that the hopes of its people will endure or fall.
You said I must eat so many lemons
'cause i am so bitter.
I said
"I'd rather be with your friends mate 'cause they are much fitter."
*يــازمــان الاقنعـــه ويــن الوجيــيه ؟؟ كـــل يــوم يطــيح لصــااحبي قنــاع
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all by mee : 3owashii
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almodell : rawa'9ii
fdet'haa
7yatii
rabii y7f'9ha lna
w yb3dha mn 3een al7asdeen ;)
Abdul Samad bin Muhammad Said, pen name A. Samad Said (born 9 April 1935) is a Malaysian poet and novelist who, in May 1976, was named by Malay literature communities and many of the country's linguists as the Pejuang Sastera [Literary Exponent] receiving, within the following decade, the 1979 Southeast Asia Write Award and, in 1986, in appreciation of his continuous writings and contributions to the nation's literary heritage, or Kesusasteraan Melayu, the title Sasterawan Negara.
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Holga FN 120 , Ilford HP 5 .
Mario Andretti once said, "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." This I think is one of my best shots to date that really captures the feeling of being on that edge of control in a race car, being able to see what's happening, but only just. Putting the pedal down and trusting your instincts to get you out alive.
It's always hard to choose just one best shot of the year, but I think this is the one. #YBSOpen22
E ela apareceu como um presente, para a felicidade de todos. Saía, voltava, parecia uma brincadeira! Deu para respirar fundo e ajustar o foco para bem pertinho dela, que se alternava entre o carro do Tom e a cerca que havia ao lado do carro, foi show.
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Saída fotográfica às bandas da Alça Viária, com visita ao vilarejo quilombola "São José", na companhia dos queridos Tom Costa, Igor Moraes e Ana Mokarzel.
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A todos, uma ótima noite de domingo e uma excelente semana.
Abraços, beijos e cheiros.
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Today's soundttack: Jack Johnson - Losing Hope.
[Explore - 49]
Photographer portrayed: Andrea Bevilacqua during his shooting at the Luxury Vintage special exhibition by Vintage Workshop® at the ancient Theatre Gentile in Fabriano, committed to us by the Trade Fairs Institution "Marche Expo".
Architect Bevilacqua is president of the local Photographic Club.
The show has focused on rare One-of-a-kind Vintage purses of research & representing the highest levels in applied arts to accessories of the past. The occasion has been the Kermesse "Fabriano Makers City". Fabriano (in the Marche Region) is a worldwide UNESCO Town for its absolute records in local Creativity.
(I had already taken several photos of this photographer before he noticed, this is the shot of the moment he realized what I was doing. He said: "Whaaaat?"And I "Whaaat you? Not asking anything since it's half an hour you have been taking photos of my stuff displayed without asking the permission..."& he: "So sorry,I'm mortified,didn't know whom to ask for,may I,pls?"I answered: "Well, it's ok with me,upon condition I can shoot you."He accepted ;-)
All the pictures I took to other photographers will be soon shared in my album & brand new public group
"Let's shoot the Photographers!" #LetshoothePhotographers #Let's-shoot-the-Phrotographers! #FotografiamoiFotografi #PhotographingthePhotographers (pls, read comment below)
Styling & Photography ©Sculptures to Wear. All rights reserved.
“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to shew when you are there.”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”
“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”
Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome–will you please to take a slice?”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “kind sir, that cannot be,
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!”
“Sweet creature!” said the Spider, “you’re witty and you’re wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I’ve a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”
“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I’ll call another day.”
The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
“Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple–there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!”
Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue–
Thinking only of her crested head–poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour–but she ne’er came out again!
And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.
The Spider and the Fly
by Mary Howitt
"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." ~Hans Christian Andersen
He said something about wanting to snuggle with my canoe, but I told him that I was in a hurry and that I really preferred that my canoe NOT have teeth marks in it. One of our larger specimens doing a bit of sunning in the shallow portion of the bayou. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou. Just another ol’ lumpy lizard and this one goes about 12 feet in length.
DSL_0133uls
Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine in Gion, Kyoto is known for its power stone said to end bad relationships or initiate good ones as well as an annual comb festival.
Yasui Konpira-gu is a quirky shrine in the Gion geisha and entertainment district of downtown Kyoto.
Yasui Konpira-gu has become especially popular among young Japanese women who flock to the shrine to perform a ritual of crawling through a hole in a large ema-shaped stone, known as the enkiri or enmusubi stone.
The ritual is performed to pray for breaking off bad relationships and initiating good ones. Supplicants write down their wishes on a white, paper amulet (katashiro), crawl through the hole in the stone, then back through again before pinning their amulet on the megalith along with the thousands of others covering it.
Performing this ritual can break up or initiate not just human relationships but also end disease or other harmful associations.
Older amulets are gradually removed and burned.
www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/kyoto/temples-sh...
El santuario Yasui Konpira-gu, en Gion (Kioto), es conocido por su piedra de poder que, según se dice, acaba con las malas relaciones o inicia las buenas, así como por su festival anual de peines.
Yasui Konpira-gu es un extravagante santuario situado en el distrito de geishas y entretenimiento de Gion, en el centro de Kioto.
Yasui Konpira-gu se ha hecho especialmente popular entre las jóvenes japonesas que acuden al santuario para realizar el ritual de arrastrarse a través de un agujero en una gran piedra con forma de ema, conocida como enkiri o piedra enmusubi.
El ritual se realiza para rezar por la ruptura de las malas relaciones y el inicio de las buenas. Los suplicantes escriben sus deseos en un amuleto de papel blanco (katashiro), se arrastran a través del agujero de la piedra y vuelven a atravesarlo antes de clavar su amuleto en el megalito junto con los miles de otros que lo cubren.
La realización de este ritual puede romper o iniciar no sólo relaciones humanas, sino también acabar con enfermedades u otras asociaciones perjudiciales.
Los amuletos más antiguos se van retirando y quemando.
Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor www.DeepL.com/Translator
A person in the hide said this fish is a Rudd.
I apologise for the amount of Little Egret images I've posted today. The light was lovely and they were very active.
antigua calle romana en damasco, ahora parte del zoco cubierto.
Calle Port Said
Superposición de dos fotogafías.
Il. Title- ( - sang sur mains - ) Mike Mullen having a nice steak dinner with a 'clear conscience' ... ( On top of dead Afghani civilians & dead soldiers.. Egomaniac.. ) Yes Wikileaks shared this piece inspired by them & their work: twitter.com/wikileaks/status/21824111844 it & the entire Wikileaks series is not- for sale.
At some point there may be an exhibition with funds going towards WL & Bradley Manning.
But for now none of the pieces in the series are commercially available or for sale to private individuals.
They do have free use by Wikileaks however.
More work to be posted soon.
Dimensions: 18" x 24.5" acid free paper, acrylics, gouache & ebony pencil
"Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family," Mullen said."
www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/29/pentagon-wikileaks-bl...
MMm no- Mullen..How can we end these wars ASAP- & STOP you from getting any MORE blood on YOUR hands..
( News from Wikileaks Twitter feed, 8 - 19 - 2012: "In fact, being from another planet, he might even have picked up on something that most Americans would be unlikely to notice -- that, with only slight alterations, Mullen’s blistering comment about Assange could be applied remarkably well to Mullen himself. “Chairman Mullen,” that Martian might have responded, “can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he is doing, but the truth is he already has on his hands the blood of some young soldiers and that of many Afghan families.” "
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/06/opinion/main6748239.shtml )
War Diary - wardiary.wikileaks.org/ Timeline: wartimeline.haineault.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mullen#2007_Senate_testimon...
& from the Pentagon- "“We want whatever they have returned to us and we want whatever copies they have expunged… We demand that they do the right thing. If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing." mashable.com/2010/08/05/pentagon-wikileaks-demand/
The NERVE.. -
Wikileaks - "What we didn't hear from the Pentagon last week: "killing all those innocent people is bad. Sorry. We will stop that" Thursday, August 05, 2010
YES.
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"Thousands of children and adults had been killed and the US could have announced a broad inquiry into these killings, "but he decided to treat these issues with contempt''.
He said: "This behaviour is unacceptable. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."" - www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/30/us-military-wikileak...
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( From Wikileaks twitter- Aug 19 2010 _ ) -
Wikileaks vs the Pentagon: Phony Fingerpointing
Tom Engelhardt:: Who Really Has Blood On Their Hands?
"Consider the following statement offered by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a news conference last week. He was discussing Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks as well as the person who has taken responsibility for the vast, still ongoing Afghan War document dump at that site. "Mr. Assange,” Mullen commented, “can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”
Now, if you were the proverbial fair-minded visitor from Mars (who in school civics texts of my childhood always seemed to land on Main Street, U.S.A., to survey the wonders of our American system), you might be a bit taken aback by Mullen’s statement. After all, one of the revelations in the trove of leaked documents Assange put online had to do with how much blood from innocent Afghan civilians was already on American hands.
The British Guardian was one of three publications given early access to the leaked archive, and it began its main article this way: “A huge cache of secret U.S. military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents. They range from the shootings of individual innocents to the often massive loss of life from air strikes...” Or as the paper added in a piece headlined “Secret CIA paramilitaries’ role in civilian deaths”: “Behind the military jargon, the war logs are littered with accounts of civilian tragedies.
The 144 entries in the logs recording some of these so-called ‘blue on white’ events, cover a wide spectrum of day-by-day assaults on Afghans, with hundreds of casualties.” Or as it also reported, when exploring documents related to Task Force 373, an “undisclosed ‘black’ unit” of U.S. special operations forces focused on assassinating Taliban and al-Qaeda “senior officials”: “The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women, and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path.”
Admittedly, the events recorded in the Wikileaks archive took place between 2004 and the end of 2009, and so don’t cover the last six months of the Obama administration’s across-the-board surge in Afghanistan. Then again, Admiral Mullen became chairman of the Joint Chiefs in October 2007, and so has been at the helm of the American war machine for more than two of the years in question.
He was, for example, chairman in July 2008, when an American plane or planes took out an Afghan bridal party -- 70 to 90 strong and made up mostly of women -- on a road near the Pakistani border. They were "escorting the bride to meet her groom as local tradition dictates." The bride, whose name we don’t know, died, as did at least 27 other members of the party, including children. Mullen was similarly chairman in August 2008 when a memorial service for a tribal leader in the village of Azizabad in Afghanistan’s Herat Province was hit by repeated U.S. air strikes that killed at least 90 civilians, including perhaps 15 women and up to 60 children. Among the dead were 76 members of one extended family, headed by Reza Khan, a "wealthy businessman with construction and security contracts with the nearby American base at Shindand airport."
Mullen was still chairman in April 2009 when members of the family of Awal Khan, an Afghan army artillery commander on duty elsewhere, were killed in a U.S.-led raid in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. Among them were his "schoolteacher wife, a 17-year-old daughter named Nadia, a 15-year-old son, Aimal, and his brother, employed by a government department.” Another daughter was wounded and the pregnant wife of Khan's cousin was shot five times in the abdomen.
Mullen remained chairman when, in November 2009, two relatives of Majidullah Qarar, the spokesman for the Minister of Agriculture, were shot down in cold blood in Ghazni City in a Special Operations night raid; as he was -- and here we move beyond the Wikileaks time frame -- when, in February 2010, U.S. Special Forces troops in helicopters struck a convoy of mini-buses, killing up to 27 civilians, including women and children; as he also was when, in that same month, in a special operations night raid, two pregnant women and a teenage girl, as well as a police officer and his brother, were shot to death in their home in a village near Gardez, the capital of Paktia province. After which, the soldiers reportedly dug the bullets out of the bodies, washed the wounds with alcohol, and tried to cover the incident up. He was no less chairman late last month when residents of a small town in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan claimed that a NATO missile attack had killed 52 civilians, an incident that, like just about every other one mentioned above and so many more, was initially denied by U.S. and NATO spokespeople and is now being “investigated.” "
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/06/opinion/main6748239.shtml
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"What is interesting is who is responsible for the killings.
Of the 1,325 civilian deaths recorded by the Afghan human rights group, 23 per cent were attributed to Nato or Afghan government forces. The Taliban and their allies were responsible for 68 per cent of the deaths.
The UN study claimed the civilian death toll was slightly lower at 1,271 with anti-government forces blamed for 76 per cent of the casualties.
Chronicling precise figures is extremely difficult because most parts of the country are inaccessible.
Crucially, both studies suggested that the proportion of deaths attributed to Nato and Afghan government forces were down compared to last year because of fewer air strikes.
This is important because clumsy air strikes on innocent villages and unfair raids on their houses has been driving a lot of Afghans to pick up arms on behalf of insurgents."
by, Hamida Ghafour
More: www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100811/OP...
& -
"My countrymen called me a prostitute
(Filed: 26/10/2004)
Fourteen months ago, Hamida Ghafour went to Afghanistan to cover her native countrys postwar reconstruction for this newspaper. But, as a westernised Afghan, her homecoming wasnt as welcoming as she had hoped"
www.afghanistan.org/news_detail.asp?17220
I am skeptical about agendas.. It can be confusing, this is why for better or worse one must have THE FACTS - it would have been better if we had them from the START.
Without facts no one cares what we do- or who we kill, because we simply don't have ANY concept of how a decade long war is going..
“The government is engaging in selective prosecution to ensure that employees keep their mouths shut,” says Stephen Khon, a lawyer specializing in whistleblowing cases. “All of a sudden the whistleblower becomes public enemy number one. There is no proportionality.” www.alternet.org/world/147778/how_the_military_destroys_t...
This- - you MUST watch-- It's of Afghani's asking for peace & for us to leave- "Wikileaks Assange, stand freely for love & we in Afg will stand with you.." From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9E_nXiPj9g
US war crimes: soldiers speak out. - www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj6s1V0Dpuw
From Wikileaks Twitter- "UNAMA Human Rights Unit issued recommendations in the report including:
• The Taliban should withdraw all orders and statements calling for the killing of civilians; and, the Taliban and other AGEs should end the use of IEDs and suicide attacks, comply with international humanitarian law, cease acts of intimidation and killing including assassination, execution and abduction, fully respect citizens’ freedom of movement and stop using civilians as human shields.
• International military forces should make more transparent their investigation and reporting on civilian casualties including on accountability; maintain and strengthen directives restricting aerial attacks and the use of night raids; coordinate investigation and reporting of civilian casualties with the Afghan Government to improve protection and accountability; improve compensation processes; and, improve transparency around any harm to civilians caused by Special Forces operations.
• The Afghan Government should create a public body to lead its response to major civilian casualty incidents and its interaction with international military forces and other key actors, ensure investigations include forensic components, ensure transparent and timely compensation to victims; and, improve accountability including discipline or prosecution for any Afghan National Security Forces personnel who unlawfully cause death or injury to civilians or otherwise violate the rights of Afghan citizens."
unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Deta...
From Wikileaks Twitter- CBC
"A bomb is found tucked into a school typewriter. Insurgents dressed in military uniforms attack an education chief. School guards are tied up while the building is bombed to smithereens. Teachers and students at an all-girls high school are poisoned through the drinking water."
"School attacks
Year Number of attacks against schools
2005 98
2006 220
2007 236
2008 348
2009 610
Source: UNICEF. Data for 2008 and 2009 are from the UN Country Task Force on Children, and previous years are from the Ministry of Education."
"Education for children up in Afghanistan since 2002- .
"Nine years ago, about 100,000 students were enrolled in schools. The figure now stands at more than seven million students, one-third of whom are girls, according to the Afghanistan Ministry of Education.
"It's one of those sectors where we've seen radical and dramatic progress since 2002," notes Rowell.
"No one knows where the country is going … but education is a beacon of success."
Read more: www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/08/06/f-afghanistan-education...
& www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/database-afghan-war-logs/
""
"New Petition Gains Prominent Signatures: “Defend WikiLeaks – End the Secret Wars” - Sign: seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/64042
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Jung.
Treating Soldier Stress: www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2008931_2172992,00...
"Afghan War Diary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Afghan War Diary (also called The War Logs) is a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan published by Wikileaks on 25 July 2010.
The logs consist of 91,731 documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009. Most of the documents were classified as "secret", which The New York Times called "a relatively low level of classification".
As of 28 July 2010, only 75,000 of the documents have been released to the public, a move which Wikileaks says is "part of a harm minimization process demanded by [the] source". Prior to releasing the initial 75,000 documents, Wikileaks made the logs available to The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel in its German and English on-line edition which published reports per previous agreement on that same day, July 25, 2010."
&
"In June 2010, Guardian journalist Nick Davies and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange established that the US army had built a huge database with six years of sensitive military intelligence material, to which many thousands of US soldiers had access and some of them had been able to download copies, and WikiLeaks had one copy which it proposed to publish online, via a series of uncensorable global servers.
Wikileaks describes itself as "a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public."
In an interview with the U.K.'s Channel 4, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that "we have a stated commitment to a particular kind of process and objective, and that commitment is to get censored material out and never to take it down." He contrasted the group with other media outlets by saying that "other journalists try to verify sources. We don't do that, we verify documents. We don't care where it came from." He denied that the group has an inherent bias against the Afghanistan War, saying that "We don't have a view about whether the war should continue or stop – we do have a view that it should be prosecuted as humanely as possible." However, he also said that he believes the leaked information will turn world public opinion to think more negatively of the war."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary
"War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford." -
Hannah Arendt
"The leak of tens of thousands of Afghanistan war-related documents tells us more than the sum total of many official communiqués about the war. On balance, more disclosure is a good thing, but the leaking of raw military intelligence is a special case that requires a careful, rather than a cavalier, approach.
There is not enough information about the war, and much official information is misleading. In Canada, the federal government's quarterly reports contain a few updates based on its goals in Kandahar, but little else that informs. The government has already shown itself to be an unreliable source on issues relating to Afghan detainees.
The situation is now too dangerous for the most trustworthy chroniclers – journalists, UN personnel – to go outside NATO-protected areas.
So reliable, independent information is lacking. The circumstances in this war make such information even more necessary."
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/we-neede...
"Instead, many eyes will now pore over this data from many different directions, looking for patterns and attempting to eliminate the noise, disinformation and fog of war.
Many will look to it to criticise and condemn the US presence in Afghanistan, but if those on the other side – those who support such military incursions – have any sense, they too will use it to understand better the war in which they find themselves and adapt their counsel to fit more accurately the facts on the ground.
That’s the benefit, usually, of an open society. We get to triangulate on the truth by gathering facts in the public space, then providing them to all sides to chew over. We use this against our own illusions and those of more closed societies who can only view the world through one narrow perspective.": www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0730/1224275801...
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_ecology )
"The first phase was chilling, in part because the banter of the soldiers was so far beyond the boundaries of civilian discourse. “Just fuckin’, once you get on ’em, just open ’em up,” one of them said. The crew members of the Apache came upon about a dozen men ambling down a street, a block or so from American troops, and reported that five or six of the men were armed with AK-47s; as the Apache maneuvered into position to fire at them, the crew saw one of the Reuters journalists, who were mixed in among the other men, and mistook a long-lensed camera for an RPG. The Apaches fired on the men for twenty-five seconds, killing nearly all of them instantly."
Read more www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khat...
"With the release of the WikiLeaks documents, Arab media may finally feel vindicated, as Western media finally start to give greater prominence to civilian casualties." newamericamedia.org/2010/07/wikileaks-documents-validate-...
"Wikileaks confirmed: A plan to kill American geologist with poison beer
The Wikileaks documents contain a claim that Pakistan and Afghanistan insurgents were working to poison alcoholic drinks in Afghanistan. While that's unproven, one US adviser in Afghanistan tells the Monitor he was almost poisoned that way in 2007." : www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0728/Wiki...
"This is duplicitous only if you close your eyes to the Pakistani reality, which the Americans never did. There was ample evidence, as the WikiLeaks show, of covert ISI ties to the Taliban. The Americans knew they couldn't break those ties. They settled for what support Pakistan could give them while constantly pressing them harder and harder until genuine fears in Washington emerged that Pakistan could destabilize altogether. Since a stable Pakistan is more important to the United States than a victory in Afghanistan—which it wasn't going to get anyway—the United States released pressure and increased aid. If Pakistan collapsed, then India would be the sole regional power, not something the United States wants."
www.billoreilly.com/site/rd?satype=13&said=12&url...
"How to read the Afghanistan war logs: video tutorial
David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor, explains the online tools we have created to help you understand the secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan": www.guardian.co.uk/world/datablog/video/2010/jul/25/afgha...
"Jonathan Foreman, writing for the right of center National Review's Corner blog, hopes the documents will force America to deal with the possible deceptions being made by ally Pakistan. "It is possible that the publication of documents that provide actual evidence — rather than rumors — of the role of ISI personnel in Taliban planning, logistics, and strategy will give the West greater leverage in dealing with Islamabad and might force Pakistan’s political elite to confront the reality of the ISI’s secret activities. If so, that would be a silver lining to what is otherwise a military disaster abetted by the U.S. and British media."
www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/NATL-The-Importance-o...
"The real significance of the Afghan war diaries lies in what Wikileaks represents as a movement, as an evolution in journalism. One analyst has called it the emergence of open source journalism. Julian Assange makes it possible for anybody anywhere in the world to submit secret documents for publication." www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Sevanti_Ninan/article541...
A War Without End: www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html
"Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: 'They show the true nature of this war'
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, explains why he decided to publish thousands of secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan Afghanistan war logs expose truth of occupation": www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jul/25/julian-assange...
The history of US leaks: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10769495
Freedom of Information Act: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_...
"A long-delayed Afghanistan war funding bill, stripped of billions for teachers and black farmers, is back before the House and walking now into the storm over the Internet leak of battlefield reports stirring old doubts about U.S. policy and relations with Pakistan.": www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40254.html & www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40251.html
This is a large study/drawing, Assange/Wikileakers of the organization Wikileaks ( wikileaks.org ) uses 'matches from sources' to disclose US gov secrecy ( behind large black curtains ) & to also finally bring some much needed attention & closure to some of these revelations ( set ablaze ).
This ongoing series is dedicated to everyone who has needlessly had their lives destroyed, been injured or die in this almost past decade of war. For the sources, journalists & average citizens who risk their lives to inform us.
Reuters reporters Namir Eldeen, Saeed Chmagh & the good samaritan ( father ) who died trying to save them & of course his two surviving small children who will forever be impacted by the brutality of war for decades to come.
Please help Private Bradley Manning- www.bradleymanning.org/
"One surprising consequence of the war in Iraq is the surrender of postmodernism to a victorious modernism. This has been largely overlooked in North America.
In reaction to the U.S. intervention in Iraq, Jacques Derrida, a famous postmodernist, signed on as co-author of an article drafted by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, previously an opponent of his, in an unmistakable endorsement of modernist Enlightenment principles. Derrida, the apostle of deconstructionism, is now advocating some decidedly constructive and Eurocentric activism.
The article appeared simultaneously in two newspapers on May 31, in German in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "After the War: The Rebirth of Europe," and in French in Libération, less triumphantly, as "A Plea for a Common Foreign Policy: The demonstrations of Feb. 15 against the war in Iraq designed a new European public space."
Other famous intellectuals joined in with supportive newspaper articles of their own: Umberto Eco (of The Name of the Rose) and Gianni Vattimo in Italy and an American philosopher, Richard Rorty. This provoked much discussion in Europe, but only a few comments so far in North America, the Boston Globe and the Village Voice being rare exceptions.
This week in Montreal, there was an anti-globalization riot in which windows were broken in protest against a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting. But the Habermas-Derrida declaration praises the WTO and even the International Monetary Fund as part of Weltinnenpolitik: maddeningly hard to translate, but something like "global domestic policy" or "external internal policy."
Yet it is not much of a stretch to claim the young anti-globalists as disciples of postmodernism and Derrida, who has hitherto been a foe of "logocentrism" (putting reason at the centre), "phallologocentrism" (reason is an erect male organ and, as such, damnably central) and Eurocentrism (the old, old West is the homeland of all of the above).
Derrida added a note to the article, observing most people would recognize Habermas's style and thinking in the piece, and that he hadn't had time to write a separate piece. But notwithstanding his "past confrontations" with Habermas (Derrida had objected to being called a "Judaistic mystic," for one thing), he agreed with the article he had signed, which calls for new European responsibilities "beyond all Eurocentrism" and the strengthening of international law and international institutions."
More: www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
"In early 2003, both Habermas and Derrida were very active in opposing the coming Iraq War, and called for in a manifesto that later became the book Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe for a tighter union of the states of the European Union in order to provide a power capable of opposing American foreign policy. Derrida wrote a foreword expressing his unqualified subscription to Habermas's declaration of February 2003, "February 15, or, What Binds Europeans Together: Plea for a Common Foreign Policy, Beginning in Core Europe,” in Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe which was a reaction to the Bush administration demands upon European nations for support for the coming Iraq War[25]. Habermas has offered further context for this declaration in an interview."
More: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%c3%bcrgen_Habermas#Habermas_and_D...
Habermas: ”The asymmetry between the concentrated destructive power of the electronically controlled clusters of elegant and versatile missiles in the air and the archaic ferocity of the swarms of bearded warriors outfitted with Kalashnikovs on the ground remains a morally obscene sight
I consider Bush' s decision to call for a "war against terrorism" a serious mistake, both normatively and pragmatically. Normatively, he is elevating these criminals to the status of war enemies; and pragmatically, one cannot lead a war against a "network" if the term "war" is to retain any definite meaning.”
Derrida: “To say it all too quickly and in passing, to amplify and clarify just a bit what I said earlier about an absolute threat whose origin is anonymous and not related to any state, such "terrorist" attacks already no longer need planes, bombs, or kamikazes: it is enough to infiltrate a strategically important computer system and introduce a virus or some other disruptive element to paralyze the economic, military, and political resources of an entire country or continent. And this can be attempted from just about anywhere on earth, at very little expense and with minimal means. The relationship between earth, terra territory, and terror has changed, and it is necessary to know that this is because of knowledge, that is, because of technoscience.
It is technoscience that blurs the distinction between war and terrorism. In this regard, when compared to the possibilities for destruction and chaotic disorder that are in reserve, for the future, in the computerized networks of the world, "September 11" is still part of the archaic theater of violence aimed at striking the imagination. One will be able to do even worse tomorrow, invisibly, in silence, more quickly and without any bloodshed, by attacking the computer and informational networks on which the entire life (social, economic, military, and so on) of a "great nation," of the greatest power on earth, depends.”
www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
I am incredibly- delighted at all the vital discussions about the war & US gov that are FINALLY taking place- & on a mass scale- as a result of this leak .. Simply miraculous..
FREEDOM & PEACE ( transparency, diplomacy & the evolution of such ) FOR ALL WAR NATIONS.
( WARNING - links ( after excerpt ) are NOT for sensitive viewers- ) "Wikileaks have released over 150 supressed images. This is the tip of the iceberg, keep looking, keep publishing.In the last week Wikileaks has released over 150 censored photos and videos of the Tibet uprising and has called on bloggers around the world to help drive the footage through the Chinese internet censorship regime — the so called “Great Firewall of China”The transparency group’s move comes as a response to the the Chinese Public Security Bureau’s carte-blanche censorship of youtube, the BBC, CNN, the Guardian and other sites carrying video footage of the Tibetan people’s recent heroic stand against the inhumane Chinese occupation of Tibet."
fortuzero.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/tibet-western-media-sa...
file.wikileaks.org/file/tibet-protest-photos/index.html
FREE TIBET!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also other dire & serious issues ( out of countless ) - that expose corruption by corporations & gov's:
"A documentary about intensive pig farming due to be screened at the Guardian Hay festival on Sunday is facing a legal threat from one of the companies it investigates. Pig Business criticises the practices of the world's largest pork processor, Smithfield Foods, claiming it is responsible for environmental pollution and health problems among residents near its factories."
www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/29/pig-business-document...
"In an investigation broadcast on BBC Radio 5 on November 14, 2004,[79] it was reported that the site is still contaminated with 'thousands' of metric tons of toxic chemicals, including benzene hexachloride and mercury, held in open containers or loose on the ground. A sample of drinking water from a well near the site had levels of contamination 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization.[80]
In 2009, a day before the 25th anniversary of the disaster, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based pollution monitoring lab, released latest tests from a study showing that groundwater in areas even three km from the factory up to 38.6 times more pesticides than Indian standards."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
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The Blue Mask - Lou Reed - www.goear.com/listen/9960779/the-blue-mask-lou-reed ( & O Superman ) www.goear.com/listen/02cf55d/o-superman-(for-massenet)-la...
Lou Reed The Blue Mask
Lyrics:
They tied his arms behind
his back to teach him how to
swim They put
blood in his coffee and milk
in his gin They stood over the
soldier in
the midst of the squalor
There was war in his body and
it caused his
brain to holler
Make the sacrifice
mutilate my face
If you need someone to kill
I'm a man without a will
Wash the razor in the rain
Let me luxuriate in pain
Please don't set me free
Death means a lot to me
The pain was lean and it made
him scream he knew he was alive
They put a
pin through the nipples on his chest
He thought he was a saint
I've made love to my mother,
killed my father and my brother
What am I
to do
When a sin goes too far, it's
like a runaway car It cannot
be controlled
Spit upon his face and scream
There's no Oedipus today
This is no play you're thinking you
are in What will you say
Take the blue mask down from my face and
look me in the eye I get a
thrill from punishment
I've always been that way
I loathe and despise repentance
You are permanently stained
Your weakness buys indifference
and indiscretion in the streets
Dirty's what you are and clean is what
you're not You deserve to be
soundly beat
Make the sacrifice
Take it all the way
There's no won't high enough
To stop this desperate day
Don't take death away
Cut the finger at the joint
Cut the stallion at his mount
And stuff it in his mouth
---
-
"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. "
Albert Einstein
IMAGINE THE HAPPINESS & GREAT WORK AHEAD OF US WE COULD HAVE AT THE END OF THE WARS!!!!!!!!!
www.goear.com/listen/48d6016/hora-de-la-mehedinti-romania...
NO MORE WAR & FREEDOM FOR ALL WAR NATIONS!!!!!!!!!
Peace.
Taken at Sunny's Photo Studio: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Photo%20Studio/126...
Pose: You Said... Forever
Taken by Drew Demure Drakul, Co-Owner of Drakul Imagery Studios.
As said before, recently I've re-scanning all of my negatives from my 26 Gasoline Stations project - this image has taken about a week to complete as after scanning I decided to completely re-work the image, removing unsightly things and extending parts of the image to try to put more emphasis on the neon petrol station, rather than on it's surroundings.
Again, this is a massive improvement on what the previous scan looked like, the colour and quality are astonishing in comparison (The original 'final image' can be found here; www.danparratt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Basingsto...).
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ig: @danparratt
It's a steam train photo of the engine right in your face. :P
Although, something has to be said about the sheer size of even an early 20th century Consolidation. Consider with about 41,800 lbf of tractive effort that 93 is nearly as strong as Britain's LNER P2 at about 43,500 lbf; in the early 1900's the American railroading network was already leaning into heavy haulage. Sure, nobody could claim 93 would win a beauty contest, or a speed one; but this machine is meant to slug out freight and is only a window into the massive locomotives that would follow in years to come.