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Silver Lake, California, USA
Only two or three days of life before the death sentence. This does not prevent her from being proudly wearing saturated orange.
During this rainy weekend, I feel a Sunday's poet :-)
Have fun to play with color in Lightroom.
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Il ne restait que deux ou trois jours de vie à la condannée à mort. Cela ne l'empêchait pas d'être fièrement vêtue d'un orange très saturé.
En ce week-end pluvieux , je me sens l'ame d'un poète "du dimanche" :-)
Beaucoup de plaisir a traiter les couleur dans Lightroom.
In Brooklyn, New York, on September 4th, 2018, on the Coney Island Boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue.
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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:
• Brooklyn (7015822)
• Coney Island (7015849)
• Kings (county) (1002551)
• Long Island (7015899)
• New York (7007567)
Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:
• boardwalks (300189544)
• capital letters (300055061)
• orange (color) (300126734)
• signs (declatory or advertising artifacts) (300123013)
• trailers (vehicles) (300212903)
Wikidata items:
• 4 September 2018 (Q45921190)
• all caps (Q3960579)
• dot-matrix display (Q1751778)
• LED display (Q2411647)
• New York City Police Department (Q328473)
• Riegelmann Boardwalk (Q4380603)
• September 4 (Q2855)
• September 2018 (Q31179569)
• variable-message sign (Q1500964)
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
• Electric signs (sh85042000)
The Postcard
A high-definition photograph on a postally-unused postcard with no publisher's name.
Note the Woolworth store behind the large monument to Queen Victoria which was created by Onslow Ford.
Interestingly, many of the faces of the people in the gardens have been blocked out, presumably to preserve their anonymity.
A Season of Operas
The photograph was taken in 1955, as there is a floral display in the gardens dated 1855 - 1955. It is likely that the display is commemorating the centenary of a remarkable season of operas.
In his autobiography (1819-1860), Sir Charles Hallé wrote:
"There came in the winter of 1855 the
offer to conduct a series of operas at
the Theatre Royal, Manchester.
A very excellent troupe had been engaged,
comprising Mme. Eudersdorff, Mme. Caradori,
Mlle. Agnes Biiry, Herr Reichardt, Carl Formes,
and other remarkable vocalists.
Most of the operas were given in German,
and it was happiness to me to conduct really
first-rate performances of 'Fidelio,' 'Don
Giovanni,' 'Der Freyschutz,' 'Die Entfuhrung
aus dem Serail,' alternately with more modern
works such as 'Robert le Diable,' 'Les
Huguenots,' 'La Favorita,' and others'.
The Manchester Arena Bombing
Piccadilly Gardens are just over half a mile from the Manchester Arena. On the 22nd. May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American singer Ariana Grande.
Twenty-three people were killed, including the attacker, and 1,017 were injured, many of them children. Several hundred more suffered psychological trauma.
The bomber was Salman Ramadan Abedi, a 22-year-old local man of Libyan ancestry. After initial suspicions of a terrorist network, police later said that they believed Abedi had largely acted alone, but that others had been aware of his plans.
In March 2020, the bomber's brother, Hashem Abedi, was found guilty of 22 counts of murder and attempting to murder 1,017 others, and was sentenced to life in prison.
The incident was the deadliest terrorist attack and the first suicide bombing in the United Kingdom since the 7th. July 2005 London bombings.
The Bombing
On the 22nd. May 2017 at 22:15 a member of the public reported Abedi, wearing black clothes and a large rucksack to Showsec security. A security guard observed Abedi, but said that he did not intervene in case his concerns about Abedi were wrong, and out of fear of being considered a racist.
The security guard tried to use his radio to alert the security control room, but was unable to get through.
Police officers on duty that night were subsequently criticised for their behaviour in the hours leading up to the atrocity - including a two-hour dinner break and a 10-mile round trip to buy a kebab.
At one point, when Abedi took his final trip through the station to his hiding place in the foyer, there were no BTP officers on duty in the area.
At 22:31 the suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device, packed with nuts and bolts to act as shrapnel, in the foyer area of the Manchester Arena.
The attack took place after a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande that was part of her Dangerous Woman Tour. 14,200 people had attended the concert.
Many exiting concert-goers and waiting parents were in the foyer at the time of the explosion. According to evidence presented at the coroner's inquest, the bomb was strong enough to kill people up to 20 metres (66 ft) away.
A report by inquiry chair John Saunders blamed “failings by individuals” for “missed opportunities” to detect and stop bomber Salman Abedi.
Saunders outlined a “litany” of failures by venue operators SMG, security firm Showsec and British Transport Police (BTP) - failures that include taking unauthorised two-hour meal breaks and ignoring members of the public who tried to raise the alarm.:
-- Reconnaissance Oversights
Abedi went to the arena several times to carry out hostile reconnaissance in the run-up to the bombing, visiting on the 18th. and 21st. May, and also the afternoon on the day of the attack.
Although arena operator SMG and security firm Showsec “had experience of identifying and responding to potential hostile reconnaissance effectively”, the system for passing on information about suspicious behaviour was “insufficiently robust”.
If the Showsec staff on duty at the time, Kyle Lawler and Mohammed Agha - then aged 18 and 19 respectively - had been aware of previous reports of suspicious activity, “it would have increased the possibility” of Abedi being spotted.
Inquiry chair Saunders also notes that SMG could have extended the permitted security perimeter from the entrance doors of the arena to the City Room, the foyer where the bomb detonated. “Had permission to push out the perimeter been granted, an attack in the City Room would have been much less likely,” the report says.
-- Absence of Officers
Despite five officers being assigned to the arena on the night of the attack, “there was a complete absence of any BTP officer in the City Room” in the half hour before Abedi detonated the bomb. And no officers were policing the public areas of the venue between 8.58pm and 9.36pm.
The report found that BTP officers “took breaks substantially and unjustifiably” longer than their authorised one hour. Instructions to stagger breaks between 7.30pm and 9pm - when younger children could be leaving the venue - were also ignored.
The public inquiry into the attack had previously heard how two officers on duty at the concert, PC Jessica Bullough and PCSO Mark Renshaw, had taken a “two-hour-and-nine-minute dinner break to get a kebab five miles from the arena”. The Telegraph reported:
"Bullough has since admitted that were
she present on her shift as she should
have been, she would have likely stopped
Abedi and asked him what was in his bag”.
-- The CCTV Blindspot
Saunders' report says Abedi chose an “obvious hiding place” in a CCTV blindspot of the arena City Room foyer, having no doubt identified this area during his hostile reconnaissance:
“Had the area been covered by CCTV so that
there was no blind spot, it is likely this
behaviour by Abedi would have been identified
as suspicious by anyone monitoring the CCTV."
Giving evidence to the inquiry, Showsec security guard Agha said that he had noticed Abedi in the City Room, but only because he “liked the look” of Abedi's trainers.
-- Inadequate Patrols
The inquiry report says that:
"A further missed opportunity to spot Abedi
in the half hour before the bomb detonated
arose from the absence of an adequate
security patrol by Showsec at any stage
during this time”.
The supervisor charged with carrying out “pre-egress” checks, Jordan Beak, did so “only very briefly”, patrolling for about ten minutes, during which he just “looked towards the staircases up to the mezzanine area”, where Abedi was sitting:
The report notes:
“He did not consider them a very important
part of the check because it was not an
egress route. Mr Beak did not go up on to the
mezzanine area and so he did not see Abedi.
This was a significant missed opportunity.”
-- Concerns ‘Fobbed Off’
Saunders wrote that:
"The most striking missed opportunity, and the
one that is likely to have made a significant
difference, was an attempt by a member of the
public to raise concerns about Abedi after
becoming suspicious about the bomber's large
and obviously heavy backpack".
Christopher Wild told the inquiry how he had spotted Abedi while waiting for his 14-year-old daughter to leave the concert.
According to the BBC, Wild recalled how he approached Abedi and said:
“It doesn't look very good you know, what you
see with bombs and such, you with a rucksack
in a place like this, what are you doing?”
Abedi reportedly told Wild that he was “waiting for somebody, mate”, before asking what time it was.
Wild alerted security guard Agha about his suspicions around fifteen minutes before the blast. But according to the inquiry report:
"Agha did not take Christopher Wild’s
concerns as seriously as he should have”.
Wild felt that he had been “fobbed off” by the guard, who claimed to already be aware of Abedi. Agha is said to have made “inadequate” efforts to flag down his supervisor or pass on the message via his colleague Lawler, who had a radio.
Although Agha did share Wild’s concerns with Lawler, the latter “felt conflicted about what to do” and “stated he was fearful of being branded a racist and would be in trouble if he got it wrong”.
Lawler ultimately made an attempt to contact a senior supervisor through the radio, but couldn’t get through, and made no further efforts to communicate what he had been told to anyone else. Saunders wrote:
“The inadequacy of Mr Lawler’s response
was a product of his failure to take Mr Wild’s
concern and his own observations sufficiently
seriously. Mr Wild’s behaviour was very
responsible. He stated that he formed the
view that Abedi might let a bomb off.
That was sadly all too prescient, and makes
all the more distressing the fact that no effective
steps were taken as a result of his efforts.”
Aftermath of the Explosion
Three hours after the bombing, police conducted a controlled explosion on a suspicious item of clothing in Cathedral Gardens. This was later confirmed to have been abandoned clothing and not dangerous.
Residents and taxi companies in Manchester offered free transport or accommodation via Twitter to those left stranded at the concert. Parents were separated from their children attending the concert in the aftermath of the explosion.
A nearby hotel served as a shelter for people displaced by the bombing, with officials directing separated parents and children there. Manchester's Sikh temples along with local homeowners, hotels and venues offered shelter to survivors of the attack.
Manchester Victoria railway station, which is partly underneath the arena, was evacuated and closed, and services were cancelled. The explosion caused structural damage to the station, which remained closed until the damage had been assessed and repaired, resulting in disruption to train and tram services.
Victoria Station reopened eight days later, following the completion of police investigation work and repairs to the fabric of the building.
On the 23rd. May, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the UK's terror threat level had been raised to "critical", its highest level.
In the aftermath of the attack, Operation Temperer was activated for the first time, allowing up to 5,000 soldiers to reinforce armed police in protecting parts of the country.
Tours of the Houses of Parliament and the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace were cancelled on 24 May, and troops were deployed to guard government buildings in London.
On the 23rd. May, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, via the Nashir Telegram channel, said the attack was carried out by "a soldier of the Khilafah". The message called the attack:
"An endeavor to terrorise the mushrikin,
and in response to their transgressions
against the lands of the Muslims."
Abedi's sister said that he was motivated by revenge for Muslim children killed by American airstrikes in Syria.
The Manchester Arena remained closed until September 2017, with scheduled concerts either cancelled or moved to other venues. It reopened on the 9th. September 2017, with a benefit concert featuring Noel Gallagher and other acts associated with North West England.
Later that month, Chris Parker, a homeless man who stole from victims of the attack whilst assisting them, was jailed for 4 years and three months.
Casualties of the Attack
The explosion killed the attacker and 22 concert-goers and parents who were in the entrance waiting to pick up their children following the show. 119 people were initially reported as injured. This number was revised by police to 250 on the 22nd. June, with the addition of severe psychological trauma and minor injuries.
During the public inquiry into the bombing, it was updated in December 2020 to 1,017 people sustaining injuries.
The dead included ten people aged under 20; the youngest victim was an eight-year-old girl, and the oldest was a 51-year-old woman. Of the 22 victims, twenty were Britons and two were British-based Polish nationals.
North West Ambulance Service reported that 60 of its ambulances attended the scene, carried 59 people to local hospitals, and treated walking wounded on site. Of those hospitalised, 12 were children under the age of 16.
The first doctor thought to have been on scene was an off-duty consultant anaesthetist, Michael Daley. In recognition of his bravery for the role he played in the immediate medical response to the incident, Daley's name was entered into the BMA's Book of Valour in June 2017.
The Attacker
The bomber, Salman Ramadan Abedi, was a 22-year-old British Muslim of Libyan ancestry. He was born in Manchester to a Salafi family of Libyan-born refugees who had settled in Manchester after fleeing to the UK to escape the government of Muammar Gaddafi.
He had two brothers and a sister. He grew up in Whalley Range and lived in Fallowfield. Neighbours described the Abedis as a very traditional and "super religious" family who attended Didsbury Mosque.
Abedi attended Wellacre Technology College, Burnage Academy for Boys and The Manchester College. A former tutor remarked that:
"Abedi was a very slow, uneducated
and passive person".
He was among a group of students at his high school who accused a teacher of Islamophobia for asking them what they thought of suicide bombers. He also reportedly said to his friends that being a suicide bomber "was OK" and fellow college students raised concerns about his behaviour.
Abedi's father was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a Salafi jihadist organisation proscribed by the United Nations, and father and son fought for the group in Libya in 2011 as part of the movement to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.
Abedi's parents, both born in Tripoli, remained in Libya in 2011, while 17-year-old Abedi returned to live in the United Kingdom. He took a gap year in 2014, where he returned with his brother Hashem to Libya to live with his parents. Abedi was injured in Ajdabiya that year while fighting for an Islamist group.
The brothers were rescued from Tripoli by the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise in August 2014 as part of a group of 110 British citizens as the Libyan civil war erupted, taken to Malta and flown back to the UK.
According to a retired European intelligence officer, Abedi met with members of the ISIS Battar brigade in Libya, and continued to be in contact with the group upon his return to the UK.
An imam at Didsbury mosque recalled that Abedi looked at him "with hate" after he preached against ISIS and Ansar al-Sharia in 2015.
Abedi's sister said her brother was motivated by the injustice of Muslim children dying in bombings stemming from the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War.
A family friend of the Abedi's also remarked that Salman had vowed revenge at the funeral of Abdul Wahab Hafidah, who was run over and stabbed to death by a Manchester gang in 2016 and was a friend of Salman and his younger brother Hashem. Hashem later co-ordinated the Manchester bombing with his brother.
According to an acquaintance in the UK, Abedi was "outgoing" and consumed alcohol, while another said that Abedi was a "regular kid who went out and drank" until about 2016. Abedi was also known to have used cannabis.
He enrolled at the University of Salford in September 2014, where he studied business administration, before dropping out to work in a bakery. Manchester police believe Abedi used student loans to finance the plot, including travel overseas to learn bomb-making.
The Guardian reported that despite dropping out from further education, he was still receiving student loan funding in April 2017. Abedi returned to Manchester on the 18th. May after a trip to Libya and bought bomb-making material, apparently constructing the acetone peroxide-based bomb by himself. Many members of the IS Battar brigade trained people in bomb-making in Libya.
He was known to British security services and police but was not regarded as a high risk, having been linked to petty crime but never flagged up for radical views.
A community worker told the BBC he had called a hotline five years before the bombing to warn police about Abedi's views and members of Britain's Libyan diaspora said they had "warned authorities for years" about Manchester's Islamist radicalisation.
Abedi was allegedly reported to authorities for his extremism by five community leaders and family members, and had been banned from a mosque; the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, however, said Abedi was not known to the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme.
On the 29th. May 2017, MI5 launched an internal inquiry into its handling of the warnings it had received about Abedi and a second, "more in depth" inquiry, into how it missed the danger.
On the 22nd. November 2018, a Parliamentary report said that MI5 had acted "too slowly" in its dealings with Abedi. The committee's report noted:
"What we can say is that there were a number
of failings in the handling of Salman Abedi's case.
While it is impossible to say whether these would
have prevented the devastating attack on the
22nd. May, we have concluded that as a result of
the failings, potential opportunities to prevent it
were missed."
Investigation Into the Bombing
The property in Fallowfield where Abedi lived was raided on the 23rd. May. Armed police breached the house with a controlled explosion and searched it. Abedi's 23-year-old brother was arrested in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in south Manchester in relation to the attack.
Police carried out raids in two other areas of south Manchester and another address in the Whalley Range area. Three other men were arrested, and police initially spoke of a network supporting the bomber; however they later announced that Abedi had sourced all the bomb components himself, and that they now believed he had largely acted alone. On the 6th. July, police said that they believed others had been aware of Abedi's plans.
According to German police sources, Abedi transited through Düsseldorf Airport on his way home to Manchester from Istanbul four days before the bombing. French interior minister Gérard Collomb said that Abedi may have been to Syria, and had "proven" links with IS.
Abedi's younger brother and father were arrested by Libyan security forces on the 23rd. and 24th. May respectively. The brother was suspected of planning an attack in Libya, and was said to be in regular touch with Salman, and was aware of the plan to bomb the Manchester Arena, but not the date.
According to a Libyan official, the brothers spoke on the phone about 15 minutes before the attack was carried out. On the 1st. November 2017, the UK requested Libya to extradite the bomber's younger brother, Hashem Abedi to the UK in order to face trial for complicity in the murder of the 22 people killed in the explosion.
Photographs of the remains of the IED published by The New York Times indicated that it had comprised an explosive charge inside a lightweight metal container which was carried within a black vest or a blue Karrimor backpack.
Most of the fatalities occurred in a ring around the bomber. His torso was propelled by the blast through the doors to the arena, indicating that the explosive charge was held in the backpack and blew him forward on detonation. A small device thought to have possibly been a hand-held detonator was also found.
The bomb contained the explosive TATP, which had been used in previous bombings. According to Manchester police, the explosive device used by Abedi was the design of a skilled bomb-maker and had a back-up means of detonation. Police also said that Salman Abedi bought most of the bomb components himself, and that he was alone during much of the time before carrying out the Manchester bombing.
On the 28th. May, police released images showing Abedi on the night of the bombing, taken from CCTV footage. Further images showed Abedi walking around Manchester with a blue suitcase.
According to US intelligence sources, Abedi was identified by the bank card that he had with him and the identification was confirmed using facial recognition technology.
A public inquiry into the attack was launched in September 2020. The first of three reports to be produced was a 200-page report published on the 17th. June 2021. It found that:
"There were a number of missed opportunities
to alter the course of what happened that night,
and more should have been done by police and
private security guards to prevent the bombing."
News Leaks
Within hours of the attack, Abedi's name and other information that had been given confidentially to security services in the United States and France was leaked to the news media. This led to condemnation from Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
Following the publication of crime scene photographs of the backpack bomb used in the attack in the 24th. May edition of The New York Times, UK counterterrorism police chiefs said the release of the material was detrimental to the investigation.
On the 25th. May, Greater Manchester Police said that it had stopped sharing information on the attack with the US intelligence services. Theresa May said she would make clear to President Trump that:
"Intelligence that has been
shared must be made secure."
Donald Trump described the leaks to the news media as "deeply troubling", and pledged to carry out a full investigation.
New York Times editor Dean Baquet declined to apologise for publishing the backpack bomb photographs, saying:
"We live in different press worlds.
The material was not classified at
the highest level."
On the 26th. May, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States government accepted responsibility for the leaks.
Links with the Muslim Brotherhood
According to a secret recording unveiled by the BBC, Mostafa Graf, the imam of the Didsbury Mosque where Salman Abedi and his family were regulars, made a call for armed jihad ten days before Abedi bought his concert ticket.
Following these revelations, the Manchester Police opened an investigation into the mosque and its imam, who also fought with a Libyan Islamist militia. Mostafa Graf is a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an organisation founded by the Muslim Brotherhood and Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Al-Qaradawi is known for having claimed:
"Suicide bombings are a duty".
Haras Rafiq, head of the Quilliam think tank, told The Guardian that the Muslim Brotherhood runs the Didsbury Mosque.
The Didsbury Mosque is controlled by The Islamic Centre (Manchester), an English association headed by Dr. Haytham al-Khaffaf, who is also a director of the Human Relief Foundation, a Muslim Brotherhood organisation blacklisted for terrorism by Israel. Between 2015 and 2016, al-Khaffaf's Human Relief Foundation received over £1.5 million from the Qatar Charity, which is also subject to US counterterrorism surveillance.
Trial and Sentencing of Hashem Abedi
On the 17th. July 2019, Salman Abedi's brother Hashem was charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion. He had been arrested in Libya and extradited to the UK.
His trial began on the 5th. February 2020. On the 17th. March, Hashem Abedi was found guilty on 22 charges of murder, on the grounds that he had helped his brother to source the materials used in the bombing, and had assisted with the manufacture of the explosives which were used in the attack.
On the 20th. August, Hashem Abedi was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 55 years. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, said that sentencing rules prevented him from imposing a whole life order as Abedi had been 20 years old at the time of the offence. The minimum age for a whole life order is 21 years old. Abedi's 55-year minimum term is the longest minimum term ever imposed by a British court.
Ismail Abedi
In October 2021 it was reported that Salman Abedi's older brother Ismail had left the UK despite being summonsed by Sir John Saunders to testify before the public inquiry into the bombing. Saunders had refused Ismail Abedi's request for immunity from prosecution while testifying.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande posted on Twitter:
"Broken. from the bottom of my
heart, i am so so sorry. i don't
have words."
The tweet briefly became the most-liked tweet in history. Grande suspended her tour and flew back to her mother's home in Florida.
On the 9th. July 2017, a performance to benefit the Manchester bombing victims was held in New York City's The Cutting Room, called "Break Free: United for Manchester", with Broadway theatre and television performers interpreting Ariana Grande songs.
On the 4th. June, Ariana Grande hosted a benefit concert in Manchester, entitled "One Love Manchester" at Old Trafford Cricket Ground that was broadcast live on television, radio and social media.
At the concert, Grande performed along with several other high-profile artists. Free tickets were offered to those who had attended the show on the 22nd. May. The benefit concert and associated Red Cross fund raised £10 million for victims of the attack, and £17 million by August. New York's Vulture section ranked the event as the No. 1 concert of 2017.
The Kerslake Report
On the 27th. March 2018, a report by Bob Kerslake named the "Kerslake Report" was published. The report was an independent review into the preparedness for, and emergency response to, the Manchester Arena attack on the 22nd. May 2017.
In the report, Kerslake "largely praised" the Greater Manchester Police and British Transport Police, and noted that it was "fortuitous" that the North West Ambulance Service was unaware of the declaration of Operation Plato, a protocol under which all responders should have withdrawn from the arena in case of an active killer on the premises.
However, it found that the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service was "brought to a point of paralysis" as their response was delayed for two hours due to poor communication between the firefighters' liaison officer and the police force.
The report was critical of Vodafone for the "catastrophic failure" of an emergency helpline hosted on a platform provided by Content Guru, saying that delays in getting information caused "significant stress and upset" to families.
It also expressed criticism of some news media, saying:
"To have experienced such intrusive and
overbearing behaviour at a time of such
enormous vulnerability seemed to us to
be completely and utterly unacceptable".
However, it was also noted that:
"We recognise that this was some, but by
no means all of the media, and that the
media also have a positive and important
role to play."
Memorial to the Bombing
The victims of the bombing are commemorated by The Glade of Light, a garden memorial located in Manchester city centre near Manchester Cathedral. The memorial opened to the public in January 2022.
The memorial was vandalised on the 9th. February 2022, causing £10,000 of damage. A 24-year-old man admitted to the offence in April and will be sentenced at a later date.
The 2018 Manchester Terror Attack
The Manchester Arena is next to Victoria Station, and in fact partly above it. Victoria Station witnessed a subsequent terror attack on the 31st. December 2018 at 20.52.
Mahdi Mohamud, a 25 year old man from Somalia stabbed three people in a knife attack at the station. He appears to have acted alone.
Mohamud shouted "Allah!" and "Long live the Caliphate!" during the attack, and "Allahu Akbar" after being arrested. A witness alleged that during the attack he also shouted a slogan criticising Western governments. BBC producer Sam Clack reported that he heard Mohamud saying:
"As long as you keep bombing other
countries this sort of s--- is going to
keep happening,"
Mohamud had lived in England for about 10 years, and resided in Manchester's Cheetham neighbourhood with his parents and siblings.
Two of the three victims, a couple in their 50's who had come into town to celebrate the New Year, were hospitalised with serious injuries. The third victim was a British Transport Police officer who received a stab wound to his shoulder.
Despite suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Mohamud was convicted of a terror offence and the attempted murder of three people, due to his possession of significant amounts of extremist material and the attack's extensive planning. He pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder and a terror offence.
The perpetrator, who was initially detained under the Mental Health Act, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a high-security psychiatric hospital.
The Second Inquiry into the Arena Bombing
On the 3rd. November 2022, inquiry chair Sir John Saunders issued a second report into the atrocity. Within the 884 pages he said that the emergency services failed to communicate properly in response to the incident, stemming from 'failures to prepare.'
He concluded that "Failing" emergency services thought a terror attack "could never happen" before the Manchester Arena bombing.
Sir John Saunders said the majority of those who died were so badly injured they could not have survived. However, it is believed that two of the 22 fatalities could have recovered if they had received better medical care.
Pointing the finger at leaders of the police, fire and ambulance services, he said:
“On the night of the attack, multi‐agency
communication between the three
emergency services was non‐existent.
That failure played a major part in what
went wrong.”
He added:
“There had been failures to prepare. There
had been inadequacies in training.
Well-established principles had not been
ingrained in practice.
Why was that? Partly it was because, despite
the fact that the threat of a terrorist attack was
at a very high level on the 22nd. May 2017, no
one really thought it could happen to them.”
The report also paid tribute to the “heroic” actions of ordinary members of the public who joined police and security and medical teams trying to save lives in a “war zone”.
Sir John said that two fatalities, John Atkinson, 28, and the youngest victim, eight year old Saffie-Rose Roussos, did have a chance of survival. Sir John said:
“I have concluded that one of those who
died, John Atkinson would probably have
survived had the emergency response
been better.”
He added:
“In the case of Saffie Rose Roussos, I have
concluded that there was a remote possibility
that she could have been saved if the rescue
operation had been conducted differently.”
The inquiry heard that only three paramedics went into the City Room after the attack. Crews from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service took more than two hours to attend the Arena.
Sir John added:
“GMP (Greater Manchester Police) did not
lead the response in accordance with the
guidance that it had been given or parts of
its own plans.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
(GMFRS) failed to turn up at the scene at a
time when they could provide the greatest
assistance.
North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) failed
to send sufficient paramedics into the City
Room.
NWAS did not use available stretchers to
remove casualties in a safe way, and did not
communicate their intentions sufficiently to
those who were in the City Room.”
Despite highlighting a series of failings, he said that:
"There were some parts of the emergency
response that worked well, and that no doubt
lives were saved”.
Paying tribute to those who helped the victims, he said:
“The heroism shown by very many people
that night is striking. I have seen the terrible
footage from the CCTV and body-worn video
cameras of the scene of devastation in the City
Room.
The description of that area as being like a
“warzone” was used by a number of witnesses.
That is an accurate description. To enter the
City Room or remain there to help victims
required great courage.”
Sir John added:
“At the centre of my Inquiry is the terrible loss
of twenty two lives. Each family and each person
at the Arena has a deeply personal story to tell
about the impact of the attack on them.
My report cannot change what has happened.
My intention is to uncover what went wrong and
find ways of improving practices so that no one
has to suffer such terrible pain and loss again.”
The report also stated that responsibility for the deaths lies with suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, and his brother Hashem, 25, who is serving life behind bars for his part in the plot.
The inquiry found that the brothers had “planned to cause as much harm to as many people as they could" when Abedi exploded his home made device.
Film: Fuji Neopan 1600. Shot and developed as 3200
Developer: D-76 (Stock)
Taken with: Nikon FM2 with Nikkor 45mm 1:2.8
Place: Moscow, Exhibition "Samurai. 47 Ronin"
The KOM League
Flash Report
For
Father’s Day 2019
To view this report go to: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/38144681264/
This edition is long and varied in content. The photo for this issue is that of Warren Liston (right) and his teammate at Iola and Enid, Oklahoma, Howie Hunt. It was taken at the KOM league reunion in 2003 at Carthage, Mo. Be not misled by the reunion shirt Hunt was wearing. It was the one from the 54th anniversary reunion held in 2000 at Chanute, Kansas.
Making amends for incomplete reporting: A hole was left in the last Flash Report big enough to drive a couple of dump trucks. In referring to the umpires of the KOM league, in 1950, the information was insufficient. A whole lot of time was spent digging into the background of both Paul Orr and James Cecil Johnson and the results are feature of this report
Stories in these Flash Reports are never planned—which is intuitively obvious, even to the most casual observer upon first glance. This issue just happened to boil down to former players for the 1950 Iola Indians and umpires in that league the same year.
In the last issue, Joe Gilbert was mentioned and he too was a member of the 1950 Iola club for one game.
This report commences with an Iola Indian who saw action in just one game.
______________________________________________________________________________
Bruce Millan—A long career
Some ballplayers appeared in a league for more than one team, in the same year, and very little is known about them. One such player was Bruce Millan. He was the property of the Chicago Cubs and was sent to Carthage in May of 1950. There wasn’t much chance of him playing with Carthage and the Chicago Cubs worked out an arrangement, in late May, for him to play for the Iola Indians.
In the May 31, 1950 edition of the Iola Register the proof of Millan showing up in Iola is contained in this manner. “Ed Simmons, new catcher on option from the Cubs, has been in four road games but has not appeared here. Bruce Millon (sp), a third baseman belonging to the Cubs, who reported with Simmons, became peeved over a personal matter after playing one game at Independence and left the Indians.”
Many years later Millan was finally tracked down. After explaining the reason for the contact, Millan confessed being with Carthage for a short time but had no recollection of ever being at Iola. Maybe, as the news article from May 31, 1950 stated, he was really peeved and wanted to forget the entire affair.
Here is the latest on a former, short-term, KOM league infielder.
Bruce Millan steps down a head of Detroit Repertory Theatre
www.broadwayworld.com/detroit/article/Bruce-Millan-Steps-...
The foregoing link contains a photo of the former Carthage and Iola shortstop during the 1950 season. The following two links are videos of him in recent years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoZEIKjrmiE
www.facebook.com/DetroitRepertoryTheatre/videos/bruce-mil...
Detroit Repertory Theatre - a progressive, one-of-a-kind institution - is preparing for its first new director in its 61 years with a $500,000 fundraising campaign to support the transition and the theater's ongoing operations.
The Kresge Foundation Detroit Program has granted $50,000 to kick off the effort. Theater officials hope to complete the fundraising campaign over the next three years as artistic director Bruce Millan hands over the reins to current marketing and development director Leah Smith.
"The $500,000 in bridge funding is intended to stabilize finances over the next three years and ramp up staffing to sustain the theater well into the future," said Smith. "The current staff of five - two of which are unpaid positions - would expand to seven paid positions."
Smith, who has been with the theater since 2003, is now director-in-training and will take the helm when the transition team is fully ramped up.
"The goal is to make the transition as smooth and visionary as possible to ensure the existence of 'the Rep' for the generations ahead," said Smith, citing the theater's mandates, which include producing quality theater with indigenous professional artists, providing training, fostering neighborhood revitalization, bringing cultural enrichment to the uninitiated, and demonstrating the power of diversity acting in unity.
"As a native Detroiter it had always perplexed me that there wasn't theater that looked like and spoke to the people who live here, to the issues that are important to the people in this city. Then I found the Detroit Repertory Theatre and I knew instantly I had found my theater home. The founders of the Rep have created a unique Detroit cultural institution. I look forward to ensuring that the Repertory's important mission of producing indigenous, union, socially relevant and diversity-centered theater lives to celebrate its 100th anniversary season!"
"Detroit Repertory is a unique institution in Detroit, a rare institution in the country," says Kresge Detroit Program Managing Director Wendy Lewis Jackson. "This is a theater that committed itself to consistent onstage diversity long, long before it was fashionable. It's a theater that is in the community, engaged with the community and programming with the community in mind."
Detroit Repertory's commitment to diverse casting goes back to its beginnings as a children's theater, Millan recalled recently. This approach to casting was "unheard of back then," he said.
"It's about the belief that we're all human beings. If two people are sisters in a play and one happens to be black - as Martin Luther King said, it's the content of the character not the color of the skin. We've been a symbol not only in Detroit but nationally for our orientation, for fighting racism and the power of diversity," Millan said.
At 88, he is believed to be the longest-serving artistic director of a professional theater company in America, and the theater he heads is the oldest professional nonprofit theater in Michigan.
The theater has also made a notable commitment to remain in the west side Detroit neighborhood it has called home since the early 1960s. The 194-seat jewel is inside a former dry goods shop on Woodrow Wilson Street in the shadow of the Lodge Freeway (M-10).
In that location, it has remained committed to high-quality production values, new playwrights, interracial casting and moderate ticket prices meant to keep the theater accessible to a broad public.
_____________________________________________________________________________
A late arriving note about another member of the 1950 Iola Indians.
Leo Albert Kedzierski—A guy who never bunted
www.legacy.com/obituaries/app/obituary.aspx?n=leo-kedzier...
Old Bridge - Leo Kedzierski, age 89 of Old Bridge (New Jersey) passed away Monday June 10, 2019 at the Venetian Care Center. Born in South Amboy Leo had resided in the state his whole life. Before his retirement Leo was employed as a marketing specialist with Ace Wire and Cable Marketing in Rahway. Leo was a proud veteran serving his country in the US Army as well as serving his community as a councilman for 2 years on Sayreville's Borough Council. Mr. Kedzierski will be best remembered for his time spent playing minor league baseball for Kansas City. He was an avid tennis player, bike rider, jogger and reader. Leo will be truly missed by all who knew him.
He is predeceased by his wife Trudy Kedzierski. Surviving are his daughter and son in-law Jill and David Zacek, his grandchildren Derek and Courtney Kwiatkowski, his daughter and son-in-law Kim and Jack Hulsart and their sons Jack and Christopher Hulsart, , his sister Jane Wortley, his cousin Joan Murphy as well as many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Calling hours at The Carmen F Spezzi Funeral Home, 15 Cherry Lane, Parlin, NJ 08859 will be Thursday from 3pm to 7pm. Funeral services will take place Friday 9:45am from the funeral home with a 10:30am Funeral Mass being offered at St. Mary's, South Amboy, burial to follow at St Mary's Cemetery, South Amboy. Letters of condolence, complete funeral details and directions may be found on spezzifuneralhome.com
Published in Home News Tribune on June 12, 2019
Comments about Kedzierski
Upon receiving a tip from baseball necrologist, Jack Morris, the obituary was read and my immediate reaction was to contact Warren Liston. Kedzierski and Liston were teammates with both the Iola, Kansas Indians and the Enid, Oklahoma Buffaloes.
This section is going to attempt to major on Kedzierski with a lot of input received over the past 25 years from Liston and others being interspersed.
Upon his birth June 20, 1929 Kedzierski and his mother were living with her parents, Viola and Michale Baczynksi in South Amboy, New Jersey. At first glance it appeared that Leo’s father was not on the scene but in the 1940 Census it showed him, his father, mother and seven year old sister living in the same house.
Kedzierski was an all-around athlete and by 1946 he was listed as a second team all-county basketball player at St. Mary’s, high school in South Amboy. He also excelled in baseball and by 1948 he was on a semi-pro team that included Johnny and Eddie O’Brien, Ray Stockton and Jack McKeon. The O’Brien’s were All-American class basketball stars and took their talent to the west coast where they performed for Seattle University. After finishing college both signed bonus contacts with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Links to O’Brien’s --https://www.google.com/search?q=johnny+and+eddie+o%27brien&oq=Johnny+and+Eddi&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.8007j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Here are some links to Jack McKeon. www.google.com/search?q=jack+mckeon&oq=Jack+mckeon&am...
One name that probably doesn’t stand out to baseball experts is Ray Stockton. After performing for the 1948 amateur team, in South Amboy, he was signed to a Class C contract by the Topeka, Kansas Owls and immediately sent to the Miami, Oklahoma Owls. One of the great things he accomplished, in 1949, was throwing a no-hitter and the greatest thing that happened was he donated the game ball to the KOM League “Hall of Fame,” when he found out someone was remembering an old league that went out of existence when Harry Truman exited the White House. The no-hit game ball resides very close to the spot where this report is being prepared.
An article in the South Amboy-Sayerville Times of April 25, 1998 paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of some of the accomplishments of St. Mary’s High School “Sister Mary Loretta was principal and some of the favorite teachers were; Sr. Helene, Sr. Celeste, Sr. Cleophas, Sr. Paula, Sr. Norine, Sr. Virginia, Father Coan, Fr. Gunner, and Fr. Toomey...The basketball team was one of the finest in the school's history, as was the baseball nine. Jack & Ed
O'Brien, Ray Stockton, and Jack McKeon were big guns on both clubs, and all went on
to become professional baseball players”
Playing third base for the South Amboy All-Stars in 1948 was Leo Kedzierski. The All-Stars entered the All-American Amateur Baseball Association tournament in Johnstown, Penn.. That tournament drew baseball scouts from many major league organizations and the New York Giants tendered a contract offer to Kedzierski. In 1949 he was the property of Erie, Penn. of the Class C Middle Atlantic league. Erie, decided to send him to Lawton, Okla. of the Sooner State league and after a short spell, in Oklahoma, Kedzierski was off to Rehoboth Beach, Maryland.
1949 ended Kedzierski’s time with the Giants. Not having any prospects he most likely had a conversation with Ray Stockton who had been the property of the Topeka Owls at the same time he had been in the Giants chain.
During the spring of 1950 Kedzierski made the trek to Topeka and made the team. He played for the Owls for about three weeks and on May 13 a KOM star was born. He hit most everything that was thrown his way except for the offerings of Carthage’s big right-hander, Paul Hoffmeister. Kedzierski told the Iola Register sportswriter that he couldn’t hit they guy and in attempting to do so broke two bats and grounded into a double play in a recent trip to Carthage.
Aside from Hoffmeister, Kedzierski hit most others pitchers and his batting average soared to league leading levels. It was as high as .355 when disaster struck He was hit in the head by a pitched ball and it was reported he had a “slight skull fracture.” That may have been akin to a “little garlic” or a “little bit pregnant.” The blow to the head kept him out of the lineup for nearly three weeks and upon his return to the lineup he suffered a sprained ankle which affected his overall ability to perform at a peak level. On top of that he received word that a coastal storm had damaged his home back in New Jersey.
However, Kedzierski kept going for a team that went through 56 roster players. For teams like that if you didn’t give an all-out effort it meant that anyone was expendable. He wound up with hitting .313 just .006 percentage points behind Stan Gwinn of Ponca City and .0061 behind Independence, Kansas player/manager Bunny Mick. His batting average was nearly a mirror image of what Mickey Mantle had hit the previous year at Independence.
When the 1950 season concluded it was believed by league statisticians that he was the league’s batting champion. However, in going through the final statistics it was found he was third among those playing in 100 or more games. It didn’t matter much at that time for he had told the Iola press that he was going to continue his education at Seton Hall Univ. and that he had attended Fordham prior to playing in the KOM league.
What Kedzierski accomplished at Iola was getting the attention of another major league organization In the winter meetings at Miami, Florida in December of 1950 he was drafted by a Pittsburgh Pirate affiliate, Waco, Texas of the Big State league. He was so great a prospect at the time that he brought $800 on the draft market.
When the 1951 spring drills rolled around he was a member of the Hutchinson, Kansas Elks another Western Association club, like the one he was with at Topeka to start the 1950 season. In a repeat of 1950 Kedzierski was sent to a KOM league team. He and Robert “Brandon” Davis left a team that included future big leaguers; Bobby Del Greco and Tony Bartirome and wound up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with future big leaguer, Ronnie Kline.
Before the 1951 season concluded Kline and Davis were on their way to the big leagues via New Orleans and Kedzierski was on his way a bit west to Enid, Oklahoma, another Western Association outfit, where he wound up with some of his 1950 Iola teammates—Warren Liston and Howard Hunt. During at least one game the Enid outfield consisted of three former Iola players—Liston, Kedzierski and Jerry Whalen from the 1949 team.
During the winter of 1951 the Great Falls, Montana club of the Pioneer league drafted Kedzierski, for $300, from the Enid club and he reported to that team’s minor league training site at Columbia, South Carolina on April 16, 1952. Great Falls was an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers managed by Lou Rochelli. That spring ended the professional baseball career of Kedzierski. But…the memories lived on.
The rest of the Leo Kedzierski story---or part of it, anyway.
Some 20 years ago Yours truly spent many hours traveling to the Kansas City area to speak at public libraries about the KOM league. The following is an excerpt from a KOM League Flash Report from March 25, 1999. It is lengthy so don’t stop until the narrative states that is has ended
That is a segue into a synopsis of the first two legs of the "KOM League I-70 Tour." The Kansas City Star with Rich Sambol got the tour off on the right foot. Rich ran a second page story a week ago Monday which most of you were advised about by my faithful secretary, me. On Thursday the 18th of March, 1999 Don Fortune of KMBZ radio in Kansas City gave me about 15 minutes of airtime and the tour publicity campaign was in full swing.
Publicizing these events is very important to the players. They want to know when the events are to be held so that they can hone their excuses and be sure and be out of town or otherwise occupied on those days.
March 18th was the site of the KOM League Program at Liberty, MO. The prospects of drawing a crowd weren’t good since no one signed up prior to the event. However, I convinced the library to let me attend anyway and two former KOM Leaguers showed up bringing with them some former Ban Johnson players from the Kansas City area. Lee Goodpasture of the 1947 Independence Yankees was there as was Warren Liston. Warren favored the crowd with his
vocal rendition of "Leo Kedzierski Never Bunts."
The March 23rd tour was hosted by the Blue Springs, MO Branch of the Mid-Continent Library System. The battery for the 1949 Independence Yankees showed up. Bob Newbill and Al Long sat on the front row and paid attention for over an hour. Another former KOM Leaguer showed up wearing a Dakota Rattler baseball team insignia on his shirt. He shook hands and said, "You know me." I shook back and said, "No I don't." He said, "I played at Iola in 1950." I retorted, "Are you Bill Hahn?" I said that for Hahn lives a short distance from that library. He said, "Guess again." I said, "Willie Sharp."
So during this session we talked about a lot of people and Willie Sharp was called upon to sing his version of "Leo Kedzierski Never Bunts." You know what? I now know that Warren Liston, Ray Khoury, Howie Hunt and Willie Sharp all knew Leo and that they must have worn the poor guy out singing that song. If you have never heard the Leo Kedzierski stories let me know and I will put you in touch with his 1950 teammates at Iola.
It just so happened that at the same time I was speaking with all of Leo's Iola teammates on my "I-70 Tour" the following e-mail came in from South Amboy, New Jersey. "John, Today I discovered another one of our locals, Leo Kedzierski played for your league in 1950, on the Topeka team.
According to my 1951 Sporting News Official Baseball Guide, he went only 8 for 40, a .200
avg. He went to the same high school as Ray Stockton, and was a cross-town rival with Rudy Neumann as you well know both alumni of KOM league battles. He remembers playing against Mantle, and said Mick batted righty against Topeka's American lefty pitcher, and blasted a double off the wall in rightfield, and in his next at bat with a righty on the hill, batted lefty
and blasted another ball to the exact same spot off the wall. Did Leo also play in KOM in '49 or '51? Do you have any other info on Kedzierski? Thank You, & Be Well, Tom Burkard
*****
I felt compelled to respond to the e-mail from Mr. Burkard and penned the following which maybe some of you guys can add your memories. Do I have any information on Leo Kedzierski?
"I wouldn't know where to start. I have had two programs at libraries in Kansas City in the past five days and four of his former teammates showed up.
Without a moment’s hesitation they can all sing, word for word and on key the hit tune, "Leo Kedzierski Never Bunts."
Never was there ever a more intense young hitter than Leo. He hated making an out worse than any hitter in KOM League lore. Ask Leo if he remembers Warren Liston, Howie Hunt, Dave Newkirk, Pudge Coulter and Willie Sharp. From that juncture Leo will become lucid when in days of yore he would have become livid. Willie Sharp told me last night that they all expected Leo to be the first man in space and that without benefit of a launch vehicle.
Leo was a .300 hitter if there ever was one. His temper, however, was uncontrollable. If a teammate would get a bloop single or some hit like that they would look back into the dugout and he would pick up anything he could find and start making kindling out of those wooden dugouts. I can't tell you all the Leo stories, but to say he loved to hit is an understatement.
Willie Sharp lives in Kansas City and he also told me last night that he roomed with Leo because no one else would. Leo was hitting over .300 in 1950 until he got hurt. His average fell afterwards.
This is Leo's playing career.
• Leo Kedzierski-(OF-3B) South Amboy, NJ Reported 5/13/50
1949 Lawton, OK Sooner State League and Rehoboth, DE Eastern Shore League.
1950 Topeka, KS Western Association and Iola, Kansas KOM League.. 1951
Bartlesville, OK KOM League and Hutchinson, KS-Enid, OK Western
Association. 1956 South Amboy, NJ Athletics State Championship Semi-Pro
team.
If you talk with Leo asked him how he liked the music in Iola. He called all the music in the Midwest "hillbilly" and all the cities, including Kansas City, hick towns.
Leo was a very bright guy and I have spoken with him in recent years and he is the calmest guy you ever heard. In fact, he will deny that he ever displayed all those antics like breaking up dugouts when he struck out. However, I have about 30 guys who could tell you stories that would fill a book.
The guys have been trying to get Leo to come to one of our reunions. I can assure him of one thing that if he does, Ray Khoury, Warren Liston, Dave Newkirk and Howard Hunt will sing that song about him."
*****
Okay, that 1999 Flash Report just concluded.
In my recent contact with Warren Liston I learned what has happened in his life since we had the final KOM league league reunion over a decade ago. For those of you who attended the reunions I learned that his wife Delores passed away in July of 2018. Everyone loved Delores. For those who knew Delores this is a link to her obituary.. www.marybutlermeyers.com/notices/Delores-Liston
Liston spends most of his time reading which he does in a profuse manner. He reads six to seven books a week and they are not of the “light” variety. He is a student of WWII and also enjoys spy thrillers. He claims the only two places he goes these days is to Wal-Mart on Saturday’s and to the library once a week. In our conversation he remarked he had to go to Wal-Mart later in the day. I reminded him it was Wednesday. He replied “What did you say your name is?” Yep, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
Had it not been for so much material on Leo Kedzierski there would have been more stories shared of my conversation with Liston. Early readers of my seldom read works will recognize Liston for some of the funny letters he used to pen to this forum on old yellow sheets of typing paper that he used when he was a police beat reporter for the Kansas City Star.
In upcoming issues some of the stories shared by Liston in our conversation will be featured if there is any interest. He verified at his young age of 92 what most people have known since Abner Doubleday first saw the light of a baseball field. Baseball players like two things, playing the game and girls and not necessarily in that order.
One riddle Liston shared concerned jelly beans. He and his teammates, on a KOM league club, were always baffled by their manager purchasing a large amount of those sugary treats just before the team headed home from a road trip. Finally, Liston asked his skipper why he did so. The answer he received was funny but logical. The jelly beans were for his children but how they were distributed and why is the clever aspect of the story. Anyone have a guess as to what happened? I may share the “official” answer next time.
Well, this has gone on long enough. However, I know that someone must have wondered how the song “Leo Kedzierski Never Bunts” went. Not daring to try it on my own, contact was made with Liston’s daughter who told me when I called her dad that she remembered Leo Kedzierski and she had a 29 –year old nephew who did by virtue of stories Liston, his grandfather, had shared with him.
Thus, I made a request to Jennifer to have her dad sing that song and here is her reply.
“Well, he sang it for me this afternoon. As far as I can tell, it was pretty much to the tune of, "In the Good Old Summertime," and the words were, "Leo Kedzierski never bunts, oh, Kedzierski never bunts, he swings and swings and swings all day, but Kedzierski never bunts."
However, when he sang it again later, it was a slightly different tune. I'm trying to get his grandson Josh to record it for posterity. I hope his family has as sense of humor! You sure brightened Dad's day, he talked all afternoon!
Parting shot:
It is great talking with someone and making their day brighter. It doesn’t happen that I do that very often. Liston also recalled Bruce Millan’s short stay with the Iola Indians in 1950. If you didn’t read the first article in this report you will have to return there to understand what was just referenced.
___________________________________________________________________________
A fan letter from Shawnee, Kansas
Hi John: Hope things are well these days with you and Noel. Surely too hot, too early, for me though. Sure never used to bother me in those "good YOUNGER days" but just don’t tolerate it well anymore. Think OLD has any bearing on that?
Seems like a good day to hit the old keyboard and reminisce a bit, especially after reading your great June 4 Milestone Edition last night. Must say I believe I enjoyed that one perhaps more than any previous. In fact I have put it in my Archives of laptop to save so just hope I did it correctly as have never used that feature before.
There were obviously several topics and entries of interest in that edition but the one which really attracted my attention was the reference to Billy Jack Cornsilk. With that comment, let me digress a bit. You might remember way back shortly after we met at the Red Bridge Library on that fateful Saturday afternoon, I learned about your "bible," Majoring In The Minors. You made reference to it and I was immediately fascinated by your description of the subject matter.
For my lifetime I have always been an avid reader of books.(No Kindle or other electronic media for me either---I want a real book in my hands, no preference of paperback over hardcover!).
Not sure exactly how I proceeded but do know I went online and must have been eBay as I know I ordered a used copy. (I have shared this with you previously I am sure.) It was located in Illinois. Not sure what I paid but it was a bargain for sure. When it arrived, it is in MINT condition. Paperback. But then when opened it I was shocked to find a copy of a lead pencil image of BJC, whom I had never heard of at that time. It is literally "perfect and beautiful". Then I looked further in the front of the book and discovered more. You yourself had autographed the copy (487/500) and sent it to one Don Bigelow in New Castle, Ohio. (Is he still living?) There was also a one-page letter from you typed on KOM League Remembered letterhead and dated September 3, 1997. And you enclosed a copy of a KOM League newsletter.
NOTE: I am not sure now how the book got from Don in Ohio to the seller in Illinois, although I seem to recollect contacting the seller for that info and seems he told me perhaps had purchased at an estate sale or something similar. Also included in that book was a copy of your letter of September 26, 1997 with the correct picture of BJC to place on page 289 of the book. (Actually when I looked that up right now I find it was actually page 280. And when I went there, that picture had in fact already been placed there over the original of another, Wayne Wiley.
I suddenly realized today I have never sat down and fully read the book cover to cover. So, in your honor (that has a nice ring to it!) it shall be my next "read.".
Just finished the latest one last evening, a thriller by Ken Follett, one of my favs. So now a thriller from John G Hall!!!
When I pulled the book from my bookcase this morning and opened it I also found two other "keepsakes" from my archives. One is a clipping from the Chanute Tribune 50 Years Ago column from April 15, 2000. The short blurb from 4-15-1950 reads as follows: "Sponsors of local baseball and softball teams met last night to begin a search for ways to alleviate the crowding at the town's one ball diamond, located at City Park. Not only is the diamond subject to occasional flooding, it also is expected to provide space for games of the Sunday School league, the merchants league, the junior college teams, the Chanute Athletics of the KOM professional league, and the American Legion teams."
Of course this is the current Katy Park and the ball diamond is now Paul Lindblad Stadium. Concrete grandstands and storage areas underneath are still original. Today it is under several feet of water from that mean and nasty old Neosho River. In the great flood of 1951, my family had 7 FEET of water IN our home, which was located about 4 blocks northwest of the park. My grandfather, Mr. Rollo Usher, longtime blacksmith in Chanute, lived directly across Main Street north of the entrance to the park and had more water than that. Terrible memories.
The other item in the book was a handwritten note from "The Coach", the wonderful and great Sam Dixon. He had heard about you and me connecting and was hoping he and wife "Babs" would be seeing me soon.
There were also several emails written by Don Bigelow to berlin@cwnet.com, which I think was BJC? Very interesting reading.
I note in last night's edition you mention that Cornsilk is still living in Calif? I think I did contact him one time just to let him know I had that pencil drawing and believe he even replied but not sure.
Now one more thing before you shut this thing down from boredom. You might remember I have told you of a Chanute high school classmate who moved to Albuquerque at the end of our sophomore years. Rodney Siever---his father was the John Deere dealer in Chanute back in late 50's, early 60's. He was an avid St Louis Cards fan and overall baseball fan as was I. For all these years we have maintained constant contact mainly regarding the sports part of life. Both of us are soured on baseball in today's age but the old days still enthrall us. He is a retired history prof at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Cal (Redwood country near Oregon line). At one time, many years ago he offered a non-credit course at HSU entitled "Baseball History 101". Only one class per semester and ALWAYS full!! He sent me a copy of the final exam one year---I flunked it flat out!!
Anyway, I have talked to Rod many, many times about you and the KOM, which he vaguely remembers being in Chanute. I have also sent him occasional copies of Flash Reports. He has been fascinated. Well, John, today I rewarded him----after last night’s edition I decided to go on Amazon. Unbelievable, I found a USED copy of M in the M In EXCELLENT condition for the absolute bargain price of $11.69 plus postage. I purchased it and am having it shipped to him as a surprise. He will spend weeks and months delving on every sentence, page and picture I assure you. There were others on there also but out of my budget---Retired Budget.
Think that is it for now John. When you awake from your boredom nap, maybe you can finish reading this diatribe.
Thanks for all you do and have done for so many OLD ball players, who enjoyed the game for what it meant to them, and that was not $$$$.
Your fan in Shawnee, KS (transplanted from Chanute, KS) by way of detour to Pittsburg, KS and Kansas State College (now my alma mater Pittsburg State University!) Go Gorillas!! Casey Casebolt
Ed comment:
About the only thing that was replied to regarding that e-mail was the fact that the original owner of the KOM book, Don Bigelow, died shortly after receiving it. Bigelow and Billy Jack Cornsilk served in the US Air Force during the Korean War.
Casebolt got back in touch regarding some sightings of the first book written about the KOM league and sent along the following “asking prices.”
John---a correction and some interesting info. I found this cheaper copy on Amazon this morning, not EBay. I looked under "paperback" only. Here are some figures as just looked again and wrote down.
9 USED
$60.73 to $150.00
3 NEW
$154.00 to $1294.00
1 COLLECTIBLE
$40.00
Ed comment:
To that listing a note was sent to Casebolt that I’d sure like to see the $1294 issue. That thing must have been dipped in gold after it left my basement. Also, it was pointed out that there isn’t a “New” issue of that book anywhere, so, if anyone makes such a claim they are fibbing.
______________________________________________________________________________
Updating last report
In the previous issue of this report the umpires from 1950 were recognized. To my chagrin I wasn’t very kind to the memories of Paul Zane Orr and James Cecil “Zeke” Johnson who was referenced as Carl instead of Cecil.
So, for those who have any interest this is a bit of background on two umpires from 1950
***
Paul Zane Orr
In the last issue, Orr was said to have been born in Missouri. Indeed he was. He first saw the light of day on December, 1, 1916 at Weaubleau, Missouri which is located in Hickory County, Mo. Yours truly has passed through there many times and always called it “Way below.”
Upon announcing the umpires for the 1950 season all the newspaper accounts stated that Orr was from Buffalo, New York. That is the way it appeared in my database for 25 years until research was undertaken last week. As a young boy Orr’s father died and he, his mother and much older sister moved to Buffalo, Mo. some 43 miles from Weaubleau. There he stayed until the start of WW II. (Joe Gilbert, mentioned in the last report was also from Buffalo. I’m guessing Orr and Gilbert didn’t know each other but will find out when Gilbert reads this issue.)
By 1943 Paul Zane Orr’s name showed up on ship manifests. Some of these ships were troop ships—USAT’s- for the U. S. Army-- such as the George Washington. From 1943-to the end of WW II, Orr’s name was also on the manifest of U. S. Wisteria. After the War he was on the Alexander M. Patch and the Marine Jumper. The Marine Jumper sailed from Naples, Italy on Nov. 21, 1949 to New York City.
It appears that Orr was ready to get off the high seas and at the age of 34 he decided to embark on an umpiring career. Someone may be able to locate the exact place but he either attended and graduated from the George Barr or Bill McGowan school of umpiring.
Whether Orr decided to go back to the big ships or Uncle Sam determined that for him, at the onset of the Korean War, he was on the manifest of the U. S. General George Callan by November 5, 1951. Through 1956 Orr’s name is found on the manifests of: U. S. General Simon Buckner, General R. M. Blatchford, U. S. General W. F. Hase, U. S. General Harry Taylor and the General Edmund B. Alexander.
During a thirteen year span it isn’t difficult to ascertain what Orr did aside from one year as a KOM league umpire. He first served as a waiter on the George Washington and then was an oiler, fireman, evaporator utility man and a water tender while on board ship.
From 1956 until August 20, 1991 confession is made that Yours truly has no idea what occupied Paul Zane Orr’s waking hours. However, on the last date mentioned he passed away in Los Angeles, California.
A bit of trivia: Another former KOM leaguer was from Weaubleau, Missouri. His name was John Hartley Williams born March 9, 1925. He was a catcher for the 1950 Iola Indians. During the games he caught and Orr called the balls and strikes, the town of Weaubleau was “behind every batter.” It would have been great to speak with Williams to learn if he and Orr knew of their mutual connection but he passed away on August 23, 1985 in Kansas City.
****
James Cecil “Zeke” Johnson
On March 4, 1893 James Cecil “Zeke” Johnson entered the world at Webb City, Mo. His father was a lead and zinc miner and thus the family moved wherever the ore was in most abundance. Thus “Zeke” lived in Purcell (1910) and Neosho, MO along with Commerce, Oklahoma. (Know anyone by that name who ever lived there?)
On June 15, 1917 Zeke registered for the draft and listed his birth place as Webb City, MO on March 4, 1892. At the that time he listed his residence as Commerce, OK and lived on River Street. His place of employment was the Sullivan Mining Company and his occupation was “job engineer.” Three years later, 1920, he had moved to a boarding house on South Vine St. in Commerce and he was listed as being a Hoisterman at the zinc mine.
It is pretty obvious Zeke worked around the mining communities most of his life with a few breaks in the action to spend time both playing and umpiring in professional baseball. The Coffeyville, Kansas Daily Dawn in a September 20, 1924 edition mentioned that he had been signed by the Enid, Oklahoma Harvesters, of the Southwestern league as a catcher. The article stated that he had earlier been an umpire in the old Southeastern league which would have placed him there between 1910-12.
By 1930 Zeke was a patient at the Bone and Joint Hospital in Tulsa. When the Census was taken his occupation was listed as a painter. By 1940 he was listed as being a laborer foreman in Bonneau, South Carolina. However, he was back in the Midwest by 1942 and residing at 822 Byers St. in Joplin. He commuted to Neosho, MO where he worked for Tarleton-McDonald Construction company. When signing up for the WW II draft his age was listed as 49 but his birthdate was listed as March 4, 1893 compared to the WW I draft card where he had placed his year of birth as 1892. At this time he was 5’ 10 ½” tall, weighing 200 pound with gray hair. ruddy complexion and have a scar on his left ankle. That scar was most likely the reason he was in the Tulsa Bone Hospital in 1930.
Johnson was an umpire not only in the Southeastern league around 1912 but he also worked Western Association games in 1928 when he was still residing in Commerce, Okla. In 1948 and 1949 he worked in the Western Association. He started the 1950 season in the Cotton States league but was there a short time. He returned to Joplin also worked one series in May of 1950 on an emergency basis during an Iola/Independence series.
When the Cardinal Junior league was formed, in 1946, Zeke was one of the first umpires selected. That league featured the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids, Alba Aces et. al., and if I have to tell people who played in that league as aspiring ballplayers I have failed horribly over the years in writing about the Mantle and Boyer families.
Over the years Zeke kept up with baseball while working in other areas such as stone crushing. He was affiliated with Harold Youngman who operated the Baxter Springs, Kansas Chat Company. Youngman was the gentleman who befriended Merlyn and Mickey Mantle and built the Holiday Inn, in Joplin and placed Mantle’s name on the marquee as the owner.
When Joe Dean “Red “ Crowder, baseball legend from Seneca, Missouri drowned in 1953 a large tribute was planned. A baseball game was planned to raise money for Crowder, a Mantle teammate with Independence and Joplin and opponent with the Seneca, Mo. Indians from 1946 through 1948 in Gabby Street and Cardinal Junior league baseball. The game was scheduled when Mantle could both manage and play in the games. He returned from the 1953 World Series that ended on Thursday and headed for Joplin arriving in time for the game on Sunday.
Baseball stars from the Arkansas-Missouri-Kansas-Oklahoma area were all invited to play and it was sort of a “Who’s Who.” affair. However, one thing that the organizers of the event demanded was excellence in umpiring. This is a quote from the Oct. 15, 1953 edition of the Joplin Globe. “Zeke Johnson, colorful and veteran umpire of the KOM and Western Association told (Joe) Becker, in a telephone conversation earlier this week that ‘If it’s the last bit of umpiring I do, I want to work the Joe Crowder benefit game. I worked behind Joe in both the KOM and Western Association and he never griped about one of my calls.’ Johnson formerly lived in Joplin. He now lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and is a powder explosions expert at a plant near Fayetteville.”
On November 5, 1964 the Joplin Globe carried the news that James Cecil “Zeke” Johnson died November 2 and that the Rev. Thurman D. Kelley would officiate and burial would be in Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery. In a twist of fate Johnson and Barney Barnett of the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids, who were friends in life, died twelve years to the date apart. Rev. Kelley officiated hundreds of funerals during his tenure at the Forest Park Baptist Church. He had officiated at the Joe Crowder funeral eleven years previous to the death of Zeke.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mercifully, that’s all
This is another illustration I did on the vintage book pages from a dilapidated old Alice in Wonderland book. I used acrylic paints. I bordered the page with a fabric by Robert Kaufman and it looks really keen, see my blog: shebrews.com
Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs (leaning over railing) speaks to a crowd in Canton, Ohio June 16, 1918 where he opposed U.S. entry into World War I and praised those jailed for opposing the draft.
The United States charged him with 10 counts of sedition for making the speech and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he joined several hundred others who opposed the war.
President Woodrow Wilson refused to commute his sentence calling Debs, “a traitor to his country,” despite a million signatures on a clemency petition.
Following President Warren Harding’s election in 1920, Harding ordered a review of Debs status. He granted Debs clemency on Christmas Day 1921.
Debs, who ran five times for U.S president—the last time receiving nearly a million votes from his prison cell, left Atlanta penitentiary and headed to Washington, D.C. to call on Attorney General Harry M. Dougherty and President Warren Harding who had commuted his sentence.
Debs joked that, “I’ve started for here four or five times (to the White House), but this is the first time I ever landed,” (referring to his five times running for President).
After a day and a half in the nation’s capital, Debs headed home to his wife in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Debs was known for organizing the American Railway Union, one of the first industry-wide unions in the U.S. and leading the unsuccessful Pullman Strike. His presidential campaigns on the Socialist Party ticket received the larges percentage of votes of any left wing party in the history of the United States, receiving nearly 6% of the vote in the 1912 election.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskst8faZ
For a blog post on Debs visit to Washington, DC following his release from prison, see washingtonspark.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/unbowed-unbroken...
The photographer is unknown. The image is courtesy of the National Archives, Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group (National Archives Identifier 2641496).
BLOGGED: 19 Nov. 2008: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/
New Yorkers Protest the US$850 BILLION (US$3 TRILLION) Wall Street BAILOUT: Wall Street, NYC - September 25, 2008.
This is actually a GOOD guy. See: billionairesforbush.com/index.php for more information.
VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE on 04 NOVEMBER 2008!
Photographer: a. golden, eyewash design - c. 2008.
Friends,
The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four-hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans COMBINED! 400 of the wealthiest Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they were demanding We give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!
Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not HIS, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt that will take seven generations from which to recover. Why -- on --earth – did -- our -- "representatives" -- give -- these -- robber -- barons -- $US850 BILLION -- of – OUR -- money?
Last week, proposed my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, were predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: THERE...IS...NO…FREE... LUNCH ~ PERIOD! And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there should have been NO HANDOUTS FROM US TO YOU! Last Friday, after voting AGAINST this BAILOUT, in an unprecedented turn of events, the House FLIP-FLOPPED their "No" Vote & said "Yes", in a rush version of a "bailout" bill vote. IN SPITE OF THE PEOPLE'S OVERWHELMING DISAPPROVAL OF THIS BAILOUT BILL... IN SPITE OF MILLIONS OF CALLS FROM THE PEOPLE CRASHING WASHINGTON "representatives'" PHONE LINES...IN SPITE OF CRASHING OUR POLITICIAN'S WEBSITES...IN SPITE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING AROUND THE COUNTRY... THEY VOTED FOR THIS BAILOUT! The People first succeeded on Monday with the House, but failed do it with the Senate and then THE HOUSE TURNED ON US TOO!
It is clear, though, we cannot simply continue protesting without proposing exactly what it is we think THESE IDIOTS should/'ve do/one. So, after consulting with a number of people smarter than Phil Gramm, here’s the proposal, now known as "Mike's Rescue Plan." (From Michael Moore's Bailout Plan) It has 10 simple, straightforward points. They are that you DIDN'T, BUT SHOULD'VE:
1. APPOINTED A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO CRIMINALLY INDICT ANYONE ON WALL STREET WHO KNOWINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS COLLAPSE. Before any new money was expended, Congress should have committed, by resolution, to CRIMINALLY PROSECUTE ANYONE who had ANYTHING to do with the attempted SACKING OF OUR ECONOMY. This means that anyone who committed insider trading, securities fraud or any action that helped bring about this collapse should have and MUST GO TO JAIL! This Congress SHOULD HAVE called for a Special Prosecutor who would vigorously go after everyone who created the mess, and anyone else who attempts to scam the public in future. (I like Elliot Spitzer ~ so, he played a little hanky-panky...Wall Street hates him & this is a GOOD thing.)
2. THE RICH SHOULD HAVE PAID FOR THEIR OWN BAILOUT! They may have to live in 5 houses instead of 7. They may have to drive 9 cars instead of 13. The chef for their mini-terriers may have to be reassigned. But there is no way in hell, after forcing family incomes to go down more than $2,000 dollars during the Bush years, that working people and the middle class should have to fork over one dime to underwrite the next yacht purchase.
If they truly needed the $850 billion they say they needed, well, here is an easy way they could have raised it:
a) Every couple makeing over a million dollars a year and every single taxpayer who makes over $500,000 a year should pay a 10% surcharge tax for five years. (It's the Senator Sanders plan. He's like Colonel Sanders, only he's out to fry the right chickens.) That means the rich would have still been paying less income tax than when Carter was president. That would have raise a total of $300 billion.
b) Like nearly every other democracy, they should have charged a 0.25% tax on every stock transaction. This would have raised more than $200 billion in a year.
c) Because every stockholder is a patriotic American, stockholders should have forgone receiving a dividend check for ONE quarter and instead this money would have gone the treasury to help pay for the bullsh*t bailout.
d) 25% of major U.S. corporations currently pay NO federal income tax. Federal corporate tax revenues currently amount to 1.7% of the GDP compared to 5% in the 1950s. If we raised the corporate income tax BACK to the levels of the 1950s, this would give us an extra $500 billion.
All of this combined should have been enough to end the calamity. The rich would have gotten to keep their mansions and their servants and our United States government ("COUNTRY FIRST!") would've have a little leftover to repair some roads, bridges and schools...
3. YOU SHOULD HAVE BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUILD AN EIGHTH HOME! There are 1.3 million homes in foreclosure right now. That is what is at the heart of this problem. So, instead of giving the money to the banks as a gift, they should have paid down each of these mortgages by $100,000. They should have forced the banks to renegotiate the mortgage so the homeowner could pay on its current value. To insure that this help wouldn't go to speculators and those who tried to making money by flipping houses, the bailout should have only been for people's primary residences. And, in return for the $100K pay-down on the existing mortgage, the government would have gotten to share in the holding of the mortgage so it could get some of its money back. Thus, the total initial cost of fixing the mortgage crisis at its roots (instead of with the greedy lenders) is $150 billion, not $850 BILLION.
And let's set the record straight. People who have defaulted on their mortgages are not "bad risks." They are our fellow Americans, and all they wanted was what we all want: a home to call their own. But, during the Bush years, millions of the People lost the decent paying jobs they had. SIX MILLION fell into poverty! SEVEN MILLION lost their health insurance! And, every one of them saw their real wages go DOWN by $2,000! Those who DARE look down on these Americans who got hit with one bad break after another should be ASHAMED.! We are a better, stronger, safer and happier society when all of our citizens can afford to live in a home they own.
4. THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STIPULATION THAT IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GOT ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest. Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the country -- then you can get a loan, but WE SHOULD OWN YOU. If you default, we will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.
5. ALL REGULATIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN BE RESTORED. THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IS DEAD! This catastrophe happened because we let the fox have the keys to the hen-house. In 1999, Phil Gramm authored a bill to remove all the regulations that governed Wall Street and our banking system. The bill passed and Clinton signed it. Here's what Sen.Phil Gramm, McCain's chief economic advisor, said at the bill signing:
"In the 1930s ... it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.
"We are here today to repeal [that] because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.
"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."
FOR THIS NOT TO REOCCUR, This BILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPEALED! Bill Clinton could have helped by leading the effort for the repeal of the Gramm bill and the reinstating of even tougher regulations regarding our financial institutions. And when they were done with that, they should have restored the regulations for the airlines, the inspection of our food, the oil industry, OSHA, and every other entity that affects our daily lives. All oversight provisions for any "bailout" should have had enforcement monies attached to them and criminal penalties for all offenders.
6. IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FAIL, THEN THAT MEANS IT'S TOO BIG TO EXIST! Allowing the creation of these mega-mergers and not enforcing the monopoly and anti-trust laws has allowed a number of financial institutions and corporations to become so large, the very thought of their collapse means an even bigger collapse across the entire economy. No ONE or TWO companies should EVER have this kind of power! The so-called "economic Pearl Harbor" can't happen when you have hundreds -- thousands -- of institutions where people have their money. When we have a dozen auto companies, if one goes belly-up, we DON'T FACE A NATIONAL DISASTER! If we have three separately-owned daily newspapers in your town, then one media company can't call all the shots (I know... What am I thinking?! Who reads a paper anymore? Sure glad all those mergers and buyouts left us with a STRONG and "FREE" press!). Laws Should have been enacted to prevent companies from being so large and dominant that with one slingshot to the eye, the GIANT FALLS and DIES. And no institution should be allowed to set up money schemes that NO ONE understands. If you can't explain it in two sentences, you shouldn't be taking anyone's money!
7. NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD EVER BE PAID MORE THAN 40 TIMES THEIR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE, AND NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD RECEIVE ANY KIND OF "PARACHUTE" OTHER THAN THE VERY GENEROUS SALARY HE OR SHE MADE WHILE WORKING FOR THE COMPANY. In 1980, the average American CEO made 45 times what their employees made. By 2003, they were making 254 times what their workers made. After 8 years of Bush, they now make over 400 times what their average employee makes. How We have allowed this to happen at publicly held companies is beyond reason. In Britain, the average CEO makes 28 times what their average employee makes. In Japan, it's only 17 times! The last I heard, the CEO of Toyota was living the high life in Tokyo. How does he do it on so little money? Seriously, this is an OUTRAGE! We have created the mess we're in by letting the people at the top become bloated beyond belief with millions of dollars. THIS HAS TO STOP! Not only should no executive who receives help out of this mess profit from it, but any executive who was in charge of running his company into the ground should be FIRED before the company receives ANY help.
8. CONGRESS SHOULD HAVE STRENGTHENED THE FDIC AND MADE IT A MODEL FOR PROTECTING NOT ONLY PEOPLE'S SAVINGS, BUT ALSO THEIR PENSIONS AND THEIR HOMES. Obama was correct to propose expanding FDIC protection of people's savings in their banks to $250,000. But, this same sort of government insurance must be given to our NEVER have to worry about whether or not the money they've put away for their old age will be there. This should have meant strict government oversight of companies who manage their employees' funds -- or perhaps it means the companies should have been forced to turn over those funds and their management to the government? People's private retirement funds must also be protected, but perhaps it's time to consider not having one's retirement invested in the casino known as the stock market??? Our government should have a solemn duty to guarantee that no one who grows old in this country has to worry about becoming destitute.
9. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET FEAR RULE THE DAY. Turn off your TVs! We are NOT in the Second Great Depression. The sky is NOT falling, Chicken Little! Pundits and politicians have lied to us so FAST and FURIOUS it's hard not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I wrote to and repeated what I heard on the news last week, that the Dow had the biggest one day drop in its history. Well, that was true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23% of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of business. These institutions have always had their ups and downs and eventually it works out. It has to, because the rich do not like their wealth being disrupted! They have a vested interest in calming things down and getting back into their Jacuzzis before they slip into their million thread-count sheets to drift off to a peaceful, Vodka tonic and Ambien-induced slumber.
As crazy as things are right now, tens of thousands of people got a car loan last week. Thousands went to the bank and got a mortgage to buy a home. Students just back to college found banks more than happy to put them into hock for the next 15 years with a student loan. I was even pre-approved for a US$5K personal loan. Yes, life has gone on with little-or-no-change (other than the whopping 6.1% umeployment rate, but that happened last month). Not a single person lost any of his/her monies in bank, or a treasury note, or in a CD. And, the perhaps the most amazing thing is that the American public FINALLY didn't buy the scare campaign. The citizens didn't blink, instead telling Congress to take that bailout and shove it. THAT was impressive. Why didn't the population succumb to the fright-filled warnings from their president and his cronies? Well, you can only say 'Saddam has the bomb' so many times before the people realize you're a lying sack of shit. After eight long years, the nation is worn out and simply can't take it any longer. The WORLD is fed up & I don't blame them.
10. THEY SHOULD HAVE CREATED A NATIONAL BANK, A "PEOPLE'S BANK." Since they're really itching to print up a trillion dollars, instead of giving it to a few rich people, why don't We give it to ourselves? Now that We own Freddie and Fannie, why not set up a People's bank? One that can provide low-interest loans for all sorts of people who want to own a home, start a small business, go to school, come up with the cure for cancer or create the next great invention. And, now that we own AIG - the country's largest insurance company - let's take the next step and PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR EVERYONE. MEDICARE FOR ALL! It will SAVE us SO MUCH MONEY in the LONG RUN (not to mention bring peace of mind to all). And, America won't be 12th on the life expectancy list! We'll be able to have a longer lifespan, enjoying our government-protected pension and will live to see the day when the corporate criminals who caused this much misery are let out of prison so that We can help re-acclimate them to plain old ordinary, civilian life -- a life with ONE nice home and ONE gas-free car invented with help from the People's Bank.
P.S. Call your Senators NOW !!! ---> www.visi.com/juan/congress/
Since they voted against passing the extension of unemployment benefits and skipped out to "campaign" to us to be re-elected...call them and tell them you will vote for the other "guy" if they don't get their act together!
UPDATE:
The Bailout Is A Truly Evil Disaster And Enabler Pelosi Must Go
We are hearing more and more reports of how badly the ill-advised banker's bailout is being handled, multi-million dollar bonuses for Paulson's old cronies at Goldman Sachs, billions going to finance the takeover of rival banks, making the "too big to fail" even bigger, and the taxpayer getting an otherwise rotten deal for their investment. We even heard a Republic senator asking how fast they could blow the money.
NONE of this could have happened without the fawning complicity of Nancy Pelosi, who infamously said it was Bush's proposal, INSTEAD of coming forward with a robust alternative plan. Just like Bush, she believes she is immune, she believes she is unaccountable, and shame on us if we don't do everything we can to defeat her this Tuesday, and replace her with Cindy Sheehan.
Here is Cindy's last TV spot. Please make whatever donation you can to put this ad on the air in these critical final days.
Last Cindy TV Spot Action Page:
www.usalone.com/cindy/donations_tv2.php
There is still time for you to make a real difference. We thank all of our participants who have already donated so generously to make this campaign what it is. For those who cannot make a contribution, please consider helping with the phone banking, and there is a link for that also on the page above.
The one thing we know is that we must continue to speak out. We must continue to challenge. Surrendering is what our current so-called representatives in Congress are so prone to, NOT what we do. Ultimate victory is not only possible, it is assured if we work as hard as we can for real change, not just the rebranding of the same old boys'
network.
And we promise you, immediately after the election we will go right back to work on pure issue advocacy full time, to continue to build the base of action for the future.
Paid for by Cindy Sheehan for Congress
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Gesehen beim Amtsgericht in Schorndorf, Baden-Württemberg. Ein Urteil mit Sofortvollzug ;-)
Lösung: Ein Parkplatzschild beim Schloss. Die Hühner sind zwischen Schlossmauer und Parkplatzschild.
Juli 2013.
Seen at the district court (German = Amtsgericht) in Schorndorf, Baden-Wurttemberg. A judgment with immediate execution ;-)
Resolving: A parking lot sign near the castle with the court. The chickens are between castle wall and parking lot sign.
July, 2013.
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 20 temples have survived, spread over 6 square kilometers. Of the various surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art.
The Khajuraho group of temples were built together but were dedicated to two religions - namely Hinduism and Jainism - suggesting a tradition of acceptance and respect for diverse religious views among Hindus and Jains.
LOCATION
Khajuraho group of monuments are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in Chhatarpur district, about 620 kilometres southeast of New Delhi. The temples are in a small town also known as Khajuraho, with a population of about 20,000 people (2001 Census).
Khajuraho is served by Civil Aerodrome Khajuraho (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. The site is also linked by Indian Railways service, with the railway station located approximately six kilometres from the monuments entrance.
The monuments are about 10 kilometres off the east-west National Highway 75, and about 50 kilometres from the city of Chhatarpur, that is connected to Bhopal - the state capital - by the SW-NE running National Highway 86.
HISTORY
The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Rajput Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand. Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by Lakshmana temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign. The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Ganda from 1017-1029 CE. The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 to 1030 CE, with further temples completed during the following decades.
The Khajuraho temples were built about 35 miles from the medieval city of Mahoba, the capital of the Chandela dynasty, in the Kalinjar region. In ancient and medieval literature, their kingdom has been referred to as Jijhoti, Jejahoti, Chih-chi-to and Jejakabhukti.
Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar in 1022 CE; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti. The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.
Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of 12th century. This changed in the 13th century, after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 CE, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them “Kajarra” as follows:
...near (Khajuraho) temples, which contain idols that have been mutilated by the Moslems, live a number of yogis whose matted locks have grown as long as their bodies. And on account of extreme asceticism they are all yellow in colour. Many Moslems attend these men in order to take lessons (yoga) from them.
— Ibn Battuta, about 1335 CE, Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah, Translated by Arthur Cotterell
Central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, remained in the control of many different Muslim dynasties from 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 CE, for example, Sikandar Lodi’s campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho. The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims. Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew, took over the temples.
In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience. Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.
NOMENCLATURE
The name Khajuraho, or Kharjuravāhaka, is derived from ancient Sanskrit (kharjura, खर्जूर means date palm, and vāhaka, वाहक means "one who carries" or bearer). Local legends state that the temples had two golden date-palm trees as their gate (missing when they were rediscovered). Desai states that Kharjuravāhaka also means scorpion bearer, which is another symbolic name for deity Shiva (who wears snakes and scorpion garlands in his fierce form).
Cunningham’s nomenclature and systematic documentation work in 1850s and 1860s have been widely adopted and continue to be in use. He grouped the temples into the Western group around Lakshmana, Eastern group around Javeri, and Southern group around Duladeva.
Khajuraho is one of the four holy sites linked to deity Shiva (the other three are Kedarnath, Kashi and Gaya). Its origin and design is a subject of scholarly studies. Shobita Punja has proposed that the temple’s origin reflect the Hindu mythology in which Khajuraho is the place where Shiva got married; with Raghuvamsha verse 5.53, Matangeshvara honoring ‘’Matanga’’, or god of love.
DESCRIPTION
The temple site is within Vindhya mountain range in central India. An ancient local legend held that Hindu deity Shiva and other gods enjoyed visiting the dramatic hill formation in Kalinjar area. The center of this region is Khajuraho, set midst local hills and rivers. The temple complex reflects the ancient Hindu tradition of building temples where gods love to play.
The temples are clustered near water, another typical feature of Hindu temples. The current water bodies include Sib Sagar, Khajur Sagar (also called Ninora Tal) and Khudar Nadi (river). The local legends state that the temple complex had 64 water bodies, of which 56 have been physically identified by archeologists so far.
All temples, except one (Chaturbhuja) face sunrise - another symbolic feature that is predominant in Hindu temples. The relative layout of temples integrate masculine and feminine deities and symbols highlight the interdependence. The art work symbolically highlight the four goals of life considered necessary and proper in Hinduism - dharma, kama, artha and moksha.
Of the surviving temples, 6 are dedicated to Shiva and his consorts, 8 to Vishnu and his affinities, 1 to Ganesha, 1 to Sun god, 3 to Jain Tirthanks. For some ruins, there is insufficient evidence to assign the temple to specific deities with confidence.
An overall examination of site suggests that the Hindu symbolic mandala design principle of square and circles is present each temple plan and design. Further, the territory is laid out in three triangles that converge to form a pentagon. Scholars suggest that this reflects the Hindu symbolism for three realms or trilokinatha, and five cosmic substances or panchbhuteshvara. The temple site highlights Shiva, the one who destroys and recycles life, thereby controlling the cosmic dance of time, evolution and dissolution. The temples have a rich display of intricately carved statues. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. Further, most erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest, rather they are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. The viewer has to look closely to find them, or be directed by a guide. The arts cover numerous aspects of human life and values considered important in Hindu pantheon. Further, the images are arranged in a configuration to express central ideas of Hinduism. All three ideas from Āgamas are richly expressed in Khajuraho temples - Avyakta, Vyaktavyakta and Vyakta.
The Beejamandal temple is under excavation. It has been identified with the Vaidyanath temple mentioned in the Grahpati Kokalla inscription.
Of all temples, the Matangeshvara temple remains an active site of worship. It is another square grid temple, with a large 2.5 metres high and 1.1 metres diameter lingam, placed on a 7.6 metres diameter platform.
The most visited temple, Kandariya Mahadev, has an area of about 6,500 square feet and a shikhara (spire) that rises 116 feet. Jain templesThe Jain temples are located on east-southeast region of Khajuraho monuments. Chausath jogini temple features 64 jogini, while Ghantai temple features bells sculptured on its pillars.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE TEMPLES
Khajuraho temples, like almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components - Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure.
The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The shikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.
The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.
Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8x8 padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid’s Brahma padas.
The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas as well as the arts are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions. All Khajuraho temples, except one, face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is this east side.Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara (or Vimana, Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Shikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life - kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called pradakshina. Larger Khajuraho temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One near the entrance, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapas are also arranged by principles of symmetry, grids and mathematical precision. This use of same underlying architectural principle is common in Hindu temples found all over India. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as “an organism of repeating cells”.
CONSTRUCTION
The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.
The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation that is almost concealed from view. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons. Some repair work in the 19th Century was done with brick and mortar; however these have aged faster than original materials and darkened with time, thereby seeming out of place.
The Khajuraho and Kalinjar region is home to superior quality of sandstone, which can be precision carved. The surviving sculpture reflect fine details such as strands of hair, manicured nails and intricate jewelry.
While recording the television show Lost Worlds (History Channel) at Khajuraho, Alex Evans recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. They concluded that these temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors.
CHRONOLOGY
The Khajuraho group of temples belong to Vaishnavism school of Hinduism, Saivism school of Hinduism and Jainism - nearly a third each. Archaeological studies suggest all three types of temples were under construction at about the same time in late 10th century, and in use simultaneously. Will Durant states that this aspect of Khajuraho temples illustrates the tolerance and respect for different religious viewpoints in the Hindu and Jain traditions. In each group of Khajuraho temples, there were major temples surrounded by smaller temples - a grid style that is observed to varying degrees in Hindu temples in Angkor Wat, Parambaran and South India.
The largest surviving Saiva temple is Khandarya Mahadeva, while the largest surviving Vaishnava group includes Chaturbhuja and Ramachandra.
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple plan is 109 ft in length by 60 ft, and rises 116 ft above ground and 88 ft above its own floor. The central padas are surrounded by three rows of sculptured figures, with over 870 statues, most being half life size (2.5 to 3 feet). The spire is a self repeating fractal structure.
ARTS AND SCULPTURE
The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples. Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices. Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. James McConnachie, in his history of the Kamasutra, describes the sexual-themed Khajuraho sculptures as "the apogee of erotic art": "Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples."
The temples have several thousand statues and art works, with Kandarya Mahadeva Temple alone decorated with over 870. Some 10% of these iconographic carvings contain sexual themes and various sexual poses. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities; however the kama arts represent diverse sexual expressions of different human beings. The vast majority of arts depict various aspects the everyday life, mythical stories as well as symbolic display of various secular and spiritual values important in Hindu tradition. For example, depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians making music, potters, farmers, and other folks in their daily life during the medieval era. These scenes are in the outer padas as is typical in Hindu temples.
There is iconographic symbolism embedded in the arts displayed in Khajuraho temples. Core Hindu values are expressed in multitude of ways. Even the Kama scenes, when seen in combination of sculptures that precede and follow, depict the spiritual themes such as moksha. In the words of Stella Kramrisch,
This state which is “like a man and woman in close embrace” is a symbol of moksa, final release or reunion of two principles, the essence (Purusha) and the nature (Prakriti).
— Stella Kramrisch, 1976
The Khajuraho temples represent one expression of many forms of arts that flourished in Rajput kingdoms of India from 8th through 10th century CE. For example, contemporary with Khajuraho were the publications of poems and drama such as Prabodhacandrodaya, Karpuramanjari, Viddhasalabhanjika and Kavyamimansa. Some of the themes expressed in these literary works are carved as sculpture in Khajuraho temples. Some sculptures at the Khajuraho monuments dedicated to Vishnu include the Vyalas, which are hybrid imaginary animals with lions body, and are found in other Indian temples. Some of these hybrid mythical art work include Vrik Vyala (hybrid of wolf and lion) and Gaja Vyala (hybrid of elephant and lion). These Vyalas may represent syncretic, creative combination of powers innate in the two.
TEMPLE NAME - DEITY - YEAR COMPLETED
Chausath Yogini - Devi, 64 Yoginis - 885
Brahma - Vishnu - 925
Lalgun Mahadev - Shiva - 900
Matangeshwar - Shiva - 1000
Varaha - Vishnu - 950
Lakshmana - Vaikuntha Vishnu - 939
Parshvanath - Parshvanath - 954
Visvanatha - Shiva - 999
Devi Jagadambi - Devi, Parvati - 1023
Chitragupta - Sun, Chitragupta - 1023
Kandariya Mahadeva - Shiva - 1029
Vamana - Vamana - 1062
Adinath Jain Temple - Rishabha - 1027
Javeri - Vishnu - 1090
Chaturbhuja - Vishnu - 1110
Duladeo (Duladeva) - Shiva - 1125
Ghantai - Jain Tirthankara - 960
Vishnu-Garuda - Vishnu - 1000
Ganesha - Shiva - 1000
Hanuman - Hanuman - 922
Mahishasuramardini - Devi - 995
In 1915 the German Bank of Chicago opened but later renamed itself The Cosmopolitan State Bank after WWI broke out. By its closing it was called Cosmopolitan National Bank of Chicago. Starting in the 1980s the bank repesented the worst of politics, fraud, and banking, which often collide in Chicago.
Former Illinois State Treasurer Jerome Cosentino was cited for receiving illegal loans in exchange for political faovoritism, resulting in the bank's siezure in 1991.
A year later Cosentino was indicted for a multimillion‑dollar check‑kiting scheme that defrauded Cosmopolitan National Bank between 1988 and 1989.
James E. Wells, the bank's colorful chairman, was involed in the bribes to Cosentino as well as diverting funds to finance his restaurant, tax evasion, and arson to destroy a warehouse in one of Chicago's largest fires.
At the time of its FDIC seizure the bank was involvent, having $121 million in assets.
Consentino avoided prison but Wells was sentenced to 15 years.
Located at 801 N Clark St.
A Columbian mammoth tusk has been found there.
As have saber-toothed cats and a marine reptile local paleontologists refer to as a Loch Ness Monster.
Even a new species of pocket mouse was discovered in central Oregon – so small that the teeth were about the size of a period at the end of a sentence.
These are among the paleontological marvels discovered on BLM-managed lands in central Oregon.
There are sections of land within central Oregon that have about 40 million years of continuous history, mostly thanks to layer upon layer of ancient volcanic ash.
Visit BLM Oregon's Flickr album for more photos and to learn more about paleo finds on BLM lands in Oregon: www.flickr.com/photos/blmoregon/albums/72157644917506269
Please don't post your photos here nor GLITTERY IMAGES. They will be removed. Don't invite me to any group. I will not accept ;-)
LT Paul Friedrich Kempf, was a pilot of Jasta 2 (Boelke). He only got 4 victories so you won't find much information on him. But because he had an elaborate paint scheme his pictures are widely seen. He was also one of the few flight leaders to servive the war. he died in the 1960's
Kennscht mi noch? is swabian dialect for 'Kennst Du mich noch?' , in english: Do you still remember me?. What he means is: You can't get me! or, as another writing, this time on a Fok. DVII, says: Du doch nicht!
Kempf was a very talkative young man and when he meets an old comrade he hasn't saw for months he walked to him, touched his shoulders and said: "Hello, I'm Fritz Kempf, we know each other from..., kennscht mi noch?" (Do you still remember me?) He adds this question nearly everytime, it was a funny habit of him. His comrades made a joke of it and asked him if he would say this to the enemy too, especially when he is in a hot dogfight. So he decided to choose this sentence as his personal marking.
'Kennscht mi noch' is not slang! In 'high german' the correct version is 'Kennst Du mich noch'. As Aaron said: 'Kennst' is from 'Kennen'= remember. But in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the swabian part of Bavaria this 'Kennst' is pronounced 'Kennscht' and also includes the 'Du'. It's not a slang word, but dialect. German dialects are sometimes hard to understand and differs greatly from each other. For myself I am speaking the 'franconian' variant and some time ago when I was in Switzerland and talked with my wife in 'franconian', the people around us thought we are coming from Finnland.
Interrupted his engineering studies to fulfill his Einjahrfreiwilliger compulsory military obligation at age 19, October 1913. Joined 5. Badisches-Infanterie Regiment Nr. 113 in Freiburg. His volunteer service was extended by outbreak of the war. He was promoted Unteroffizier on August 3, 1914 as his unit prepared to go to battle. In the fighting for the Battle of the Frontiers which seesawed back and forth around Mulhausen, Upper Alsace, Kempf was seriously wounded remaining in hospital until February 1915. During the healing process applied for a transfer to the Luftstreitkraefte arriving at FEA 3 in Gotha on May 6, 1915. He was then sent back to Freiburg for complete training and then on to Darmstadt and FEA 9 at the end of November 1915. During this time he received a number of awards/promotions for his earlier infantry service and good work in training and other duties. These are: 11-12/?/15 Iron Cross 2nd Class, 1/27/16 promoted to Vizefeldwebel, 5/21/16 received Pilot's Badge, 7/22/16 Baden's Silver Merit Medal, promoted to Leutnant on 9/9/16. Jan. 4, 1916 joins Kampfstaffel 20 of Kampfgeschwader 4. Participates in Verdun and Somme battles. Unit transferred from the Western Front and goes east and is attached to Halbgeschwader I and supports the drive to capture Bucharest in the Rumanian campaign. After the fall of Bucharest the unit is transferred to Macedonia. Kempf's squadron mate is Hermann Frommherz. The unit is then transferred west in late February 1917. 3/20/17 Kempf receives Iron Cross 1st Class and is transferred to Jasta Boelcke. Frommherz is already there a week earlier. Kempf is recorded as scoring victories on these dates: 4/30/17 a BE2d, 6/5/17 Sopwith Pup, 10/20/17 Sopwith Camel. He receives another decoration, Bulgarian Military Merit Order w/ War Decoration. Assigned 10/20/17 to Jastaschule I at Valenciennes for duty at the flight school until 1/30/18. Kempf scores again on 5/8/18 another Sopwith Camel. His last victory. He is awarded another decoration, the Knight 2nd Class with Swords of the Zaehringen Lion. On 8/18/18 Kempf is detached from Jasta B and returns to Jastaschule I and finishes out the war there. His final award of the war comes two days before his return home, the Wound Badge in Black for his wounding four years earlier in the infantry.
Meaning of defeatism in Hindi
SYNONYMS AND OTHER WORDS FOR defeatism
पराजयवाद→defeatism दब्बूपन→defeatism,lambhood,sheepishness,tameness पराजयवादिता→defeatism हार मान लेने की प्रवृति→defeatism निराशावाद→defeatism
Definition of defeatism
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Example Sentences of d...
Meaning of defeatism matlab, meaning defeatism hindi, synonyms defeatism hindi
#DefeatismMatlab, #MeaningDefeatismHindi, #SynonymsDefeatismHindi
fantastic week spent catching up with old friends in Sandpoint, ID. Great beer, great food, great company and a wood fired hot tub! the most entertaining part though was watching their sweetheart daughter interrupt EVERY sentence they spoke....observation of the following facial reactions was priceless!
(i got my hair cut :D!)
the last sentence you spoke broke my heart.
i went searching for someone better, someone who wouldnt hurt me like you did.
and when i herd the first sentence he spoke, i knew.
Singapore (Listeni/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city and sovereign state in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km2), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.
The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.
Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub. Its standings include: "easiest place to do business" (World Bank) for ten consecutive years, most "technology-ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential" (BERI), 2nd-most competitive country (WEF), 3rd-largest foreign exchange centre, 3rd-largest financial centre, 3rd-largest oil refining and trading centre and one of the top two busiest container ports since the 1990s. Singapore's best known global brands include Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport, both amongst the most-awarded in their industry; SIA is also rated by Fortune surveys as Asia's "most admired company". For the past decade, it has been the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from all major credit rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Singapore ranks high on its national social policies, leading Asia and 11th globally, on the Human Development Index (UN), notably on key measures of education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, and the country has one of the highest per capita incomes, with low taxes. The cosmopolitan nation is home to 5.5 million residents, 38% of whom are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. Singaporeans are mostly bilingual in a mother-tongue language and English as their common language. Its cultural diversity is reflected in its extensive ethnic "hawker" cuisine and major festivals - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western - which are all national holidays. In 2015, Lonely Planet and The New York Times listed Singapore as their top and 6th best world destination to visit respectively.
The nation's core principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism. It is noted for its effective, pragmatic and incorrupt governance and civil service, which together with its rapid development policies, is widely cited as the "Singapore model". Gallup polls shows 84% of its residents expressed confidence in the national government, and 85% in its judicial systems - one of the highest ratings recorded. Singapore has significant influence on global affairs relative to its size, leading some analysts to classify it as a middle power. It is ranked as Asia's most influential city and 4th in the world by Forbes.
Singapore is a unitary, multiparty, parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959. One of the five founding members of the ASEAN, Singapore is also the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, and a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations.
ETYMOLOGY
The English name of Singapore is derived from the Malay word, Singapura, which was in turn derived from Sanskrit (Singa is "lion", Pura "city"; Sanskrit: सिंहपुर, IAST: Siṃhápura), hence the customary reference to the nation as the Lion City, and its inclusion in many of the nation's symbols (e.g., its coat of arms, Merlion emblem). However, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island; Sang Nila Utama, who founded and named the island Singapura, most likely saw a Malayan tiger. It is also known as Pulau Ujong, as far back as the 3rd century, literally 'island at the end' (of the Malay Peninsula) in Malay.
Since the 1970s, Singapore has also been widely known as the Garden City, owing to its extensive greening policy covering the whole island, a priority of its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, dubbed the nation's "Chief Gardener". The nation's conservation and greening efforts contributed to Singapore Botanic Gardens being the only tropical garden to be inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The nickname, Red Dot, is a reference to its size on the map, contrasting with its achievements. In 2015, Singapore's Golden Jubilee year, the celebratory "SG50" branding is depicted inside a red dot.
HISTORY
Temasek ('Sea Town' in the Malay language), an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire, is the earliest written record relating to the area now called Singapore. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Singapura was established on the island and it became a trading port city. However, there were two major foreign invasions before it was destroyed by the Majapahit in 1398. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was nominally part of the Johor Sultanate and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries, while the wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control.
BRITISH COLONISATION 1819-1942
In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor, on behalf of the British East India Company, to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. In 1824, the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, becoming the regional capital in 1836.
Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860, the population had swelled to more than 80,000 and more than half were Chinese. Many immigrants came to work at rubber plantations and, after the 1870s, the island became a global centre for rubber exports.
After the First World War, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie was appointed General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post until 1939;
WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION 1942-45
in May 1938, the General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command warned how Singapore could be conquered by the Japanese via an attack from northern Malaya, but his warnings went unheeded. The Imperial Japanese Army invaded British Malaya, culminating in the Battle of Singapore. When the British surrendered on 15 February 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre.
From November 1944 to May 1945, the Allies conducted an intensive bombing of Singapore.
RETURN OF BRITISH 1945-59
After the surrender of Japan was announced in the Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Japanese Emperor on 15 August 1945 there was a breakdown of order and looting and revenge-killing were widespread. The formal Japanese Occupation of Singapore was only ended by Operation Tiderace and the formal surrender on 12 September 1945 at Singapore City Hall when Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, accepted the capitulation of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia from General Itagaki Seishiro.
A British Military Administration was then formed to govern the island. On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including the harbour, electricity, telephone and water supply systems. There was also a shortage of food leading to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. High food prices, unemployment, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled for the following year. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing demand for tin and rubber around the world, but it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels.
The failure of Britain to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibility as an infallible ruler in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomized by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language.
During the 1950s, Chinese Communists with strong ties to the trade unions and Chinese schools carried out armed uprising against the government, leading to the Malayan Emergency and later, the Communist Insurgency War. The 1954 National Service Riots, Chinese middle schools riots, and Hock Lee bus riots in Singapore were all linked to these events.
David Marshall, pro-independence leader of the Labour Front, won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to London, but Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock, whose policies convinced Britain to grant Singapore full internal self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs.
SELF-GOVERNMENT 1959-1963
During the May 1959 elections, the People's Action Party won a landslide victory. Singapore became an internally self-governing state within the Commonwealth, with Lee Kuan Yew as its first Prime Minister. Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State), and was succeeded by Yusof bin Ishak, who became the first President of Singapore in 1965.
MERGER WITH MALAYSIA 1963-65
As a result of the 1962 Merger Referendum, on 31 August 1963 Singapore joined with the Federation of Malaya, the Crown Colony of Sarawak and the Crown Colony of North Borneo to form the new federation of Malaysia under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement. Singaporean leaders chose to join Malaysia primarily due to concerns over its limited land size, scarcity of water, markets and natural resources. Some Singaporean and Malaysian politicians were also concerned that the communists might form the government on the island, a possibility perceived as an external threat to the Federation of Malaya.However, shortly after the merger, the Singapore state government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues, and communal strife culminated in the 1964 race riots in Singapore. After many heated ideological conflicts between the two governments, on 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to expel Singapore from Malaysia with Singaporean delegates not present.
INDEPENDENCE 1965 TO PRESENT
Singapore gained independence as the Republic of Singapore (remaining within the Commonwealth of Nations) on 9 August 1965. Race riots broke out once more in 1969. In 1967, the country co-founded ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and in 1970 it joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, leading its Third World economy to First World affluence in a single generation. His emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, limitations on internal democracy, and close relationships with China set the new nation's policies for the next half-century.
In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister, while the latter continued serving in the Cabinet as Senior Minister until 2004, and then Minister Mentor until May 2011. During Goh's tenure, the country faced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2003 SARS outbreak and terrorist threats posed by Jemaah Islamiyah.
In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, became the country's third Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong remained in Cabinet as the Senior Minister until May 2011, when he was named Emeritus Senior Minister despite his retirement. He steered the nation through the 2008 global financial crisis, resolved the disputed 79-year old Malayan railways land, and introduced integrated resorts. Despite the economy's exceptional growth, PAP suffered its worst election results in 2011, winning 60% of votes, amidst hot-button issues of high influx of foreign workers and cost of living. Lee initiated a major re-structuring of the economy to raise productivity, improved universal healthcare and grants, especially for the pioneer generation of citizens, amongst many new inclusive measures.
On 23 March 2015, its founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who had 'personified Singapore to the world' for nearly half a century died. In a week of national mourning, 1.7 million residents and guests paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and at community sites around the island.
Singapore celebrated its Golden jubilee in 2015 – its 50th year of independence, with a year-long series of events branded SG50. The PAP maintained its dominance in Parliament at the September general elections, receiving 69.9% of the popular vote, its second-highest polling result behind the 2001 tally of 75.3%.
GEOGRAPHY
Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island, Pulau Ujong. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor–Singapore Causeway in the north and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at 163.63 m. April and May are the hottest months, with the wetter monsoon season from November to January.
From July to October, there is often haze caused by bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of Sumatra. Although Singapore does not observe daylight saving time (DST), it follows the GMT+8 time zone, one hour ahead of the typical zone for its geographical location.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing constituencies. The country's constitution establishes a representative democracy as the political system. Executive power rests with the Cabinet of Singapore, led by the Prime Minister and, to a much lesser extent, the President. The President is elected through a popular vote, and has veto powers over a specific set of executive decisions, such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a largely ceremonial post.
The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of the government. Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituency and nominated members. Elected MPs are voted into the Parliament on a "first-past-the-post" (plurality) basis and represent either single-member or group representation constituencies. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament with large majorities in every election since self-governance was secured in 1959.
Although the elections are clean, there is no independent electoral authority and the government has strong influence on the media. Freedom House ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its Freedom in the World report, and The Economist ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second best rank of four, in its "Democracy Index". Despite this, in the 2011 Parliamentary elections, the opposition, led by the Workers' Party, increased its representation to seven elected MPs. In the 2015 elections, PAP scored a landslide victory, winning 83 of 89 seats contested, with 70% of popular votes. Gallup polls reported 84% of residents in Singapore expressed confidence in the government, and 85% in its judicial systems and courts – one of the highest ratings in the world.
Singapore's governance model eschews populist politics, focusing on the nation's long-term interest, and is known to be clean, effective and pragmatic. As a small nation highly dependent on external trade, it is vulnerable to geo-politics and global economics. It places great emphasis on security and stability of the region in its foreign policies, and applies global best practices to ensure the nation's attractiveness as an investment destination and business hub.
The legal system of Singapore is based on English common law, but with substantial local differences. Trial by jury was abolished in 1970 so that judicial decisions would rest entirely in the hands of appointed judges. Singapore has penalties that include judicial corporal punishment in the form of caning, which may be imposed for such offences as rape, rioting, vandalism, and certain immigration offences.There is a mandatory death penalty for murder, as well as for certain aggravated drug-trafficking and firearms offences.
Amnesty International has said that some legal provisions of the Singapore system conflict with the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that Singapore has "... possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population". The government has disputed Amnesty's claims. In a 2008 survey of international business executives, Singapore received the top ranking with regard to judicial system quality in Asia. Singapore has been consistently rated among the least corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.
In 2011, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore among the top countries surveyed with regard to "order and security", "absence of corruption", and "effective criminal justice". However, the country received a much lower ranking for "freedom of speech" and "freedom of assembly". All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at the Speakers' Corner.
EDUCATION
Education for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is mostly supported by the state. All institutions, private and public, must be registered with the Ministry of Education. English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English except for the "mother tongue" language paper. While the term "mother tongue" in general refers to the first language internationally, in Singapore's education system, it is used to refer to the second language, as English is the first language. Students who have been abroad for a while, or who struggle with their "Mother Tongue" language, are allowed to take a simpler syllabus or drop the subject.
Education takes place in three stages: primary, secondary, and pre-university education. Only the primary level is compulsory. Students begin with six years of primary school, which is made up of a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. The curriculum is focused on the development of English, the mother tongue, mathematics, and science. Secondary school lasts from four to five years, and is divided between Special, Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams in each school, depending on a student's ability level. The basic coursework breakdown is the same as in the primary level, although classes are much more specialised. Pre-university education takes place over two to three years at senior schools, mostly called Junior Colleges.
Some schools have a degree of freedom in their curriculum and are known as autonomous schools. These exist from the secondary education level and up.
National examinations are standardised across all schools, with a test taken after each stage. After the first six years of education, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which determines their placement at secondary school. At the end of the secondary stage, GCE "O"-Level exams are taken; at the end of the following pre-university stage, the GCE "A"-Level exams are taken. Of all non-student Singaporeans aged 15 and above, 18% have no education qualifications at all while 45% have the PSLE as their highest qualification; 15% have the GCE 'O' Level as their highest qualification and 14% have a degree.
Singaporean students consistently rank at or near the top of international education assessments:
- In 2015, Singapore topped the OECD's global school performance rankings, based on 15-year-old students' average scores in mathematics and science across 76 countries.
- Singaporean students were ranked first in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and have been ranked in the top three every year since 1995.
- Singapore fared best in the 2015 International Baccalaureate exams, taken in 107 countries, with more than half of the world's 81 perfect scorers and 98% passing rate.
The country's two main public universities - the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University - are ranked among the top 13 in the world.
HEALTH
Singapore has a generally efficient healthcare system, even though their health expenditures are relatively low for developed countries. The World Health Organisation ranks Singapore's healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report. In general, Singapore has had the lowest infant mortality rate in the world for the past two decades.
Life expectancy in Singapore is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 4th in the world for life expectancy. Almost the whole population has access to improved water and sanitation facilities. There are fewer than 10 annual deaths from HIV per 100,000 people. There is a high level of immunisation. Adult obesity is below 10%
The government's healthcare system is based upon the "3M" framework. This has three components: Medifund, which provides a safety net for those not able to otherwise afford healthcare, Medisave, a compulsory health savings scheme covering about 85% of the population, and Medishield, a government-funded health insurance program. Public hospitals in Singapore have autonomy in their management decisions, and compete for patients. A subsidy scheme exists for those on low income. In 2008, 32% of healthcare was funded by the government. It accounts for approximately 3.5% of Singapore's GDP.
RELIGION
Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practised religion is Christianity, followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. 17% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, whilst the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population. An analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.
There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition, with missionaries having come into the country from Taiwan and China for several decades. However, Thailand's Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity among the populace (not only the Chinese) during the past decade. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, but mostly by those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.
CULTURE
Singapore has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Culturally, the use of illicit drugs is viewed as highly undesirable by Singaporeans, unlike many European societies. Singaporeans' disapproval towards drug use has resulted in laws that impose the mandatory death sentence for certain serious drug trafficking offences. Singapore also has a low rate of alcohol consumption per capita and low levels of violent crime, and one of the lowest intentional homicide rate globally. The average alcohol consumption rate is only 2 litres annually per adult, one of the lowest in the world.
Foreigners make up 42% of the population, and have a strong influence on Singaporean culture. The Economist Intelligence Unit, in its 2013 "Where-to-be-born Index", ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and sixth overall in the world.
LANGUAGES; RELIGIONS AND CULTURES
Singapore is a very diverse and young country. It has many languages, religions, and cultures for a country its size.
When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most of the newly minted Singaporean citizens were uneducated labourers from Malaysia, China and India. Many of them were transient labourers who were seeking to make some money in Singapore and they had no intention of staying permanently. A sizeable minority of middle-class, local-born people, known as the Peranakans, also existed. With the exception of the Peranakans (descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants) who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lay with their respective homelands of Malaysia, China and India. After independence, the process of crafting a Singaporean identity and culture began.
Former Prime Ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, or have the same customs. Even though English is the first language of the nation, according to the government's 2010 census 20% of Singaporeans, or one in five, are illiterate in English. This is a marked improvement from 1990 where 40% of Singaporeans were illiterate in English.
Languages, religions and cultures among Singaporeans are not delineated according to skin colour or ancestry, unlike many other countries. Among Chinese Singaporeans, one in five is Christian, another one in five is atheist, and the rest are mostly Buddhists or Taoists. One-third speak English as their home language, while half speak Mandarin Chinese. The rest speak other Chinese varieties at home. Most Malays in Singapore speak Malay as their home language with some speaking English. Singaporean Indians are much more religious. Only 1% of them are atheists. Six in ten are Hindu, two in ten Muslim, and the rest mostly Christian. Four in ten speak English as their home language, three in ten Tamil, one in ten Malay, and the rest other Indian languages as their home language.
Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes would therefore be influenced by, among many other things, his or her home language and his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean toward Western culture, while those who speak Chinese as their native language tend to lean toward Chinese culture and Confucianism. Malay speaking Singaporeans tend to lean toward the Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to the Islamic culture.
ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS
At the national level in Singapore, meritocracy, where one is judged based on one's ability, is heavily emphasised.
Racial and religious harmony is regarded by Singaporeans as a crucial part of Singapore's success, and played a part in building a Singaporean identity. Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The national flower of Singapore is the hybrid orchid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', named in memory of a Singapore-born Armenian woman, who crossbred the flower in her garden at Tanjong Pagar in 1893. Many national symbols such as the Coat of arms of Singapore and the Lion head symbol of Singapore make use of the lion, as Singapore is known as the Lion City. Other monikers by which Singapore is widely known is the Garden City and the Red Dot. Public holidays in Singapore cover major Chinese, Western, Malay and Indian festivals.
Singaporean employees work an average of around 45 hours weekly, relatively long compared to many other nations. Three in four Singaporean employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.
CUISINE
Dining, along with shopping, is said to be the country's national pastime. The focus on food has led countries like Australia to attract Singaporean tourists with food-based itineraries. The diversity of food is touted as a reason to visit the country, and the variety of food representing different ethnicities is seen by the government as a symbol of its multiculturalism. The "national fruit" of Singapore is the durian.
In popular culture, food items belong to a particular ethnicity, with Chinese, Malay, and Indian food clearly defined. However, the diversity of cuisine has been increased further by the "hybridisation" of different styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine).
WIKIPEDIA
Norway Declares Death Sentence for 1052 Whales
Sea Shepherd vessel Whales Forever in confrontation
over Norwegian whaling operation in 1994
That other cruel and ecologically insensitive whaling nation Norway has set a kill quota of 1052 whales for 2008.
The quota is the same as last year despite the whalers being unable to find enough whales to meet that quota. The actual kill was 97 whales short of 1052.
The majority of the whales will be taken from the coastal areas around the Barents Sea, Svalbard and the North Sea.
Norway, displaying an incredible ignorance of marine ecology, claims that the piked whales must be killed to protect diminishing fish populations.
Norway claims there are 70,000 piked whales in the North Atlantic although they have not provided any scientific data to support this estimate. If there are 70,000 whales then taking 1,000 will have no significant statistical impact on fish consumption by cetaceans. However, if there are 70,000 whales then why has it been so difficult for the whalers to fill their quota historically?
Presently, Sea Shepherd is engaged in pursuing Japanese whaling vessels in the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary off the coast of Antarctica. Critics in Japan have accused Sea Shepherd of ignoring the Norwegian whale kill and focusing only on illegal Japanese whaling. These same critics claim that Sea Shepherd's motivation is racist.
These critics in Japan are ignorant however. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society considers Norwegian whaling to be as illegal as Japanese whaling. Norway is blatantly killing whales for commercial purposes in defiance of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium on commercial whaling.
"At least the Norwegians are honest criminals," said Captain Paul Watson. "They don't even pretend to be killing whales for so called ‘scientific research’ like the Japanese."
"However to say that Sea Shepherd ignores Norway to focus on Japan is ridiculous. Sea Shepherd crewmembers have sent a number of Norwegian whalers to the bottom," he continues.
The whaling ship Williamson Senior was scuttled by agents of Agenda 21 in August 2007. Four other whalers were sunk between 1992 and 2007. Norwegian whalers have been forced to pay war insurance premiums to protect their illegal whaling operations.
During the summer of 2007, Sea Shepherd's Operation Ragnarök helped shut down illegal Icelandic whaling operations and Sea Shepherd has been opposing the resumption of whaling by the Makah Indian tribe in the USA since 1995.
"We don't discriminate when it comes to outlaw whaling operations," said Captain Paul Watson. "I don't care what the race or culture of a whaler is; killing whales illegally is unacceptable by anyone, anywhere, for any reason. The enforcement of marine wildlife conservation law is and must be blind to everything but the law."
Strasbourg (/ˈstræzbɜrɡ/, French pronunciation: [stʁaz.buʁ, stʁas.buʁ]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace were historically Alemannic-speaking, hence the city's Germanic name.[5] In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 759,868 inhabitants in 2010, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.[6]
Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights.[7]
Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012.[8]
Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany.
Etymology and Names
The city's Gallicized name (Lower Alsatian: Strossburi, [ˈʃd̥rɔːsb̥uri]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße and English street, all of which are derived from Latin strata ("paved road"), while -bourg is cognate to the German Burg and English borough, all of which are derived from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("hill fort, fortress").
Geography
Strasbourg seen from Spot Satellite
Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across the river to the German town Kehl. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from, the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city.
The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, at between 132 metres (433 ft) and 151 metres (495 ft) above sea level, with the upland areas of the Vosges Mountains some 20 km (12 mi) to the west and the Black Forest 25 km (16 mi) to the east. This section of the Rhine valley is a major axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself, and major roads and railways paralleling it on both banks.
The city is some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Paris. The mouth of the Rhine lies approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to the north, or 650 kilometres (400 mi) as the river flows, whilst the head of navigation in Basel is some 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, or 150 kilometres (93 mi) by river.
Climate
In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg's climate is classified as Oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, totaling 631.4 mm (24.9 in) annually. On average, snow falls 30 days per year.
The highest temperature ever recorded was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in August 2003, during the 2003 European heat wave. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −23.4 °C (−10.1 °F) in December 1938.
Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from the dominant winds by the Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France.[10][11] Nonetheless, the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution.
Prehistory
The first traces of human occupation in the environs of Strasbourg go back many thousands of years.[16] Neolithic, bronze age and iron age artifacts have been uncovered by archeological excavations. It was permanently settled by proto-Celts around 1300 BC. Towards the end of the third century BC, it developed into a Celtic township with a market called "Argentorate". Drainage works converted the stilthouses to houses built on dry land.[17]
From Romans
The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province at Strasbourg's current location, and named it Argentoratum. (Hence the town is commonly called Argentina in medieval Latin.[18]) The name "Argentoratum" was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2,000th birthday in 1988. "Argentorate" as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement preceded it before being Latinized, but it is not known by how long. The Roman camp was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the fifth centuries AD: in 70, 97, 235, 355, in the last quarter of the fourth century, and in the early years of the fifth century. It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape. From the year 90 on, the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in the Roman camp of Argentoratum. It then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately 20 hectares. Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax, the latter during the reign of Nero.
The centre of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île (Cardo: current Rue du Dôme, Decumanus: current Rue des Hallebardes). The outline of the Roman "castrum" is visible in the street pattern in the Grande Ile. Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current Route des Romains, the road that led to Argentoratum, in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen. This was where the largest burial places were situated, as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places and commerces next to the camp. Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were (found in 1911–12) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the fourth century. From the fourth century, Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg (made an Archbishopric in 1988). Archaeological excavations below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late fourth or early fifth century, considered to be the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg.
The Alemanni fought the Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357. They were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their King Chonodomarius was taken prisoner. On 2 January 366, the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers to invade the Roman Empire. Early in the fifth century, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine, conquered, and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland.
In the fifth century Strasbourg was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns, and Franks. In the ninth century it was commonly known as Strazburg in the local language, as documented in 842 by the Oaths of Strasbourg. This trilingual text contains, alongside texts in Latin and Old High German (teudisca lingua), the oldest written variety of Gallo-Romance (lingua romana) clearly distinct from Latin, the ancestor of Old French. The town was also called Stratisburgum or Strateburgus in Latin, from which later came Strossburi in Alsatian and Straßburg in Standard German, and then Strasbourg in French. The Oaths of Strasbourg is considered as marking the birth of the two countries of France and Germany with the division of the Carolingian Empire.[19]
A major commercial centre, the town came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire in 923, through the homage paid by the Duke of Lorraine to German King Henry I. The early history of Strasbourg consists of a long conflict between its bishop and its citizens. The citizens emerged victorious after the Battle of Oberhausbergen in 1262, when King Philip of Swabia granted the city the status of an Imperial Free City.
Around 1200, Gottfried von Straßburg wrote the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages.
A revolution in 1332 resulted in a broad-based city government with participation of the guilds, and Strasbourg declared itself a free republic. The deadly bubonic plague of 1348 was followed on 14 February 1349 by one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history: over a thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death, with the remainder of the Jewish population being expelled from the city.[20] Until the end of the 18th century, Jews were forbidden to remain in town after 10 pm. The time to leave the city was signalled by a municipal herald blowing the Grüselhorn (see below, Museums, Musée historique);.[21] A special tax, the Pflastergeld (pavement money), was furthermore to be paid for any horse that a Jew would ride or bring into the city while allowed to.[22]
Construction on Strasbourg Cathedral began in the twelfth century, and it was completed in 1439 (though, of the towers, only the north tower was built), becoming the World's Tallest Building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. A few years later, Johannes Gutenberg created the first European moveable type printing press in Strasbourg.
In July 1518, an incident known as the Dancing Plague of 1518 struck residents of Strasbourg. Around 400 people were afflicted with dancing mania and danced constantly for weeks, most of them eventually dying from heart attack, stroke or exhaustion.
In the 1520s during the Protestant Reformation, the city, under the political guidance of Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck and the spiritual guidance of Martin Bucer embraced the religious teachings of Martin Luther. Their adherents established a Gymnasium, headed by Johannes Sturm, made into a University in the following century. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession, and then the Augsburg Confession. Protestant iconoclasm caused much destruction to churches and cloisters, notwithstanding that Luther himself opposed such a practice. Strasbourg was a centre of humanist scholarship and early book-printing in the Holy Roman Empire, and its intellectual and political influence contributed much to the establishment of Protestantism as an accepted denomination in the southwest of Germany. (John Calvin spent several years as a political refugee in the city). The Strasbourg Councillor Sturm and guildmaster Matthias represented the city at the Imperial Diet of Speyer (1529), where their protest led to the schism of the Catholic Church and the evolution of Protestantism. Together with four other free cities, Strasbourg presented the confessio tetrapolitana as its Protestant book of faith at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530, where the slightly different Augsburg Confession was also handed over to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
After the reform of the Imperial constitution in the early sixteenth century and the establishment of Imperial Circles, Strasbourg was part of the Upper Rhenish Circle, a corporation of Imperial estates in the southwest of Holy Roman Empire, mainly responsible for maintaining troops, supervising coining, and ensuring public security.
After the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, the first printing offices outside the inventor's hometown Mainz were established around 1460 in Strasbourg by pioneers Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein. Subsequently, the first modern newspaper was published in Strasbourg in 1605, when Johann Carolus received the permission by the City of Strasbourg to print and distribute a weekly journal written in German by reporters from several central European cities.
From Thirty Years' War to First World War
The Free City of Strasbourg remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648, and retained its status as a Free Imperial City. However, the city was later annexed by Louis XIV of France to extend the borders of his kingdom.
Louis' advisors believed that, as long as Strasbourg remained independent, it would endanger the King's newly annexed territories in Alsace, and, that to defend these large rural lands effectively, a garrison had to be placed in towns such as Strasbourg.[23] Indeed, the bridge over the Rhine at Strasbourg had been used repeatedly by Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) forces,[24] and three times during the Franco-Dutch War Strasbourg had served as a gateway for Imperial invasions into Alsace.[25] In September 1681 Louis' forces, though lacking a clear casus belli, surrounded the city with overwhelming force. After some negotiation, Louis marched into the city unopposed on 30 September 1681 and proclaimed its annexation.[26]
This annexation was one of the direct causes of the brief and bloody War of the Reunions whose outcome left the French in possession. The French annexation was recognized by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). The official policy of religious intolerance which drove most Protestants from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was not applied in Strasbourg and in Alsace, because both had a special status as a province à l'instar de l'étranger effectif (a kind of foreign province of the king of France). Strasbourg Cathedral, however, was taken from the Lutherans to be returned to the Catholics as the French authorities tried to promote Catholicism wherever they could (some other historic churches remained in Protestant hands). Its language also remained overwhelmingly German: the German Lutheran university persisted until the French Revolution. Famous students included Goethe and Herder.
The Duke of Lorraine and Imperial troops crossing the Rhine at Strasbourg during the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744
During a dinner in Strasbourg organized by Mayor Frédéric de Dietrich on 25 April 1792, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed "La Marseillaise". The same year François Christophe Kellermann, a child of Strasbourg was appointed the head of the Mosel Army. He led his company to victory at the battle of Valmy and saved the young French republic. He was later appointed Duke of Valmy by Napoléon in 1808.
During this period Jean-Baptiste Kléber, also born in Strasbourg, led the French army to win several decisive victories. A statue of Kléber now stands in the centre of the city, at Place Kléber, and he is still one of the most famous French officers. He was later appointed Marshal of France by Napoléon.
Strasbourg's status as a free city was revoked by the French Revolution. Enragés, most notoriously Eulogius Schneider, ruled the city with an increasingly iron hand. During this time, many churches and monasteries were either destroyed or severely damaged. The cathedral lost hundreds of its statues (later replaced by copies in the 19th century) and in April 1794, there was talk of tearing its spire down, on the grounds that it was against the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap. This artifact was later kept in the historical collections of the city until it was destroyed by the Germans in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war.[27]
In 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte and his first wife, Joséphine stayed in Strasbourg.[28] In 1810, his second wife Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma spent her first night on French soil in the palace. Another royal guest was King Charles X of France in 1828.[29] In 1836, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte unsuccessfully tried to lead his first Bonapartist coup in Strasbourg.
During the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Strasbourg, the city was heavily bombarded by the Prussian army. The bombardment of the city was meant to break the morale of the people of Strasbourg.[30] On 24 and 26 August 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts (most famously the Hortus deliciarum), rare Renaissance books, archeological finds and historical artifacts. The gothic cathedral was damaged as well as the medieval church of Temple Neuf, the theatre, the city hall, the court of justice and many houses. At the end of the siege 10,000 inhabitants were left without shelter; over 600 died, including 261 civilians, and 3200 were injured, including 1,100 civilians.[31]
In 1871, after the end of the war, the city was annexed to the newly established German Empire as part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt. As part of Imperial Germany, Strasbourg was rebuilt and developed on a grand and representative scale, such as the Neue Stadt, or "new city" around the present Place de la République. Historian Rodolphe Reuss and Art historian Wilhelm von Bode were in charge of rebuilding the municipal archives, libraries and museums. The University, founded in 1567 and suppressed during the French Revolution as a stronghold of German sentiment,[citation needed] was reopened in 1872 under the name Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität.
Strasbourg in the 1890s.
A belt of massive fortifications was established around the city, most of which still stands today, renamed after French generals and generally classified as Monuments historiques; most notably Fort Roon (now Fort Desaix) and Fort Podbielski (now Fort Ducrot) in Mundolsheim, Fort von Moltke (now Fort Rapp) in Reichstett, Fort Bismarck (now Fort Kléber) in Wolfisheim, Fort Kronprinz (now Fort Foch) in Niederhausbergen, Fort Kronprinz von Sachsen (now Fort Joffre) in Holtzheim and Fort Großherzog von Baden (now Fort Frère) in Oberhausbergen.[32]
Those forts subsequently served the French army (Fort Podbielski/Ducrot for instance was integrated into the Maginot Line[33]), and were used as POW-camps in 1918 and 1945.
Two garrison churches were also erected for the members of the Imperial German army, the Lutheran Église Saint-Paul and the Roman Catholic Église Saint-Maurice.
1918 to the present
A lost, then restored, symbol of modernity in Strasbourg : a room in the Aubette building designed by Theo van Doesburg, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Following the defeat of the German empire in World War I and the abdication of the German Emperor, some revolutionary insurgents declared Alsace-Lorraine as an independent Republic, without preliminary referendum or vote. On 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), communist insurgents proclaimed a "soviet government" in Strasbourg, following the example of Kurt Eisner in Munich as well as other German towns. French troops commanded by French general Henri Gouraud entered triumphantly in the city on 22 November. A major street of the city now bears the name of that date (Rue du 22 Novembre) which celebrates the entry of the French in the city.[34][35][36] Viewing the massive cheering crowd gathered under the balcony of Strasbourg's town hall, French President Raymond Poincaré stated that "the plebiscite is done".[37]
In 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles, the city was annexed by France in accordance with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" without a referendum. The date of the assignment was retroactively established on Armistice Day. It is doubtful whether a referendum in Strasbourg would have ended in France's favour since the political parties striving for an autonomous Alsace or a connection to France accounted only for a small proportion of votes in the last Reichstag as well as in the local elections.[38] The Alsatian autonomists who were pro French had won many votes in the more rural parts of the region and other towns since the annexation of the region by Germany in 1871. The movement started with the first election for the Reichstag; those elected were called "les députés protestataires", and until the fall of Bismarck in 1890, they were the only deputies elected by the Alsatians to the German parliament demanding the return of those territories to France.[39] At the last Reichstag election in Strasbourg and its periphery, the clear winners were the Social Democrats; the city was the administrative capital of the region, was inhabited by many Germans appointed by the central government in Berlin and its flourishing economy attracted many Germans. This could explain the difference between the rural vote and the one in Strasbourg. After the war, many Germans left Strasbourg and went back to Germany; some of them were denounced by the locals or expelled by the newly appointed authorities. The Saverne Affair was vivid in the memory among the Alsatians.
In 1920, Strasbourg became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, previously located in Mannheim, one of the oldest European institutions. It moved into the former Imperial Palace.
When the Maginot Line was built, the Sous-secteur fortifié de Strasbourg (fortified sub-sector of Strasbourg) was laid out on the city's territory as a part of the Secteur fortifié du Bas-Rhin, one of the sections of the Line. Blockhouses and casemates were built along the Grand Canal d'Alsace and the Rhine in the Robertsau forest and the port.[40]
Between the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the Anglo-French declaration of War against the German Reich on 3 September 1939, the entire city (a total of 120,000 people) was evacuated, like other border towns as well. Until the arrival of the Wehrmacht troops mid-June 1940, the city was, for ten months, completely empty, with the exception of the garrisoned soldiers. The Jews of Strasbourg had been evacuated to Périgueux and Limoges, the University had been evacuated to Clermont-Ferrand.
After the ceasefire following the Fall of France in June 1940, Alsace was annexed to Germany and a rigorous policy of Germanisation was imposed upon it by the Gauleiter Robert Heinrich Wagner. When, in July 1940, the first evacuees were allowed to return, only residents of Alsatian origin were admitted. The last Jews were deported on 15 July 1940 and the main synagogue, a huge Romanesque revival building that had been a major architectural landmark with its 54-metre-high dome since its completion in 1897, was set ablaze, then razed.[41]
In September 1940 the first Alsatian resistance movement led by Marcel Weinum called La main noire (The black hand) was created. It was composed by a group of 25 young men aged from 14 to 18 years old who led several attacks against the German occupation. The actions culminated with the attack of the Gauleiter Robert Wagner, the highest commander of Alsace directly under the order of Hitler. In March 1942, Marcel Weinum was prosecuted by the Gestapo and sentenced to be beheaded at the age of 18 in April 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany. His last words will be: "If I have to die, I shall die but with a pure heart". From 1943 the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft. While the First World War had not notably damaged the city, Anglo-American bombing caused extensive destruction in raids of which at least one was allegedly carried out by mistake.[42] In August 1944, several buildings in the Old Town were damaged by bombs, particularly the Palais Rohan, the Old Customs House (Ancienne Douane) and the Cathedral.[43] On 23 November 1944, the city was officially liberated by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc. He achieved the oath that he made with his soldiers, after the decisive Capture of Kufra. With the Oath of Kuffra, they swore to keep up the fight until the French flag flew over the Cathedral of Strasbourg.
Many people from Strasbourg were incorporated in the German Army against their will, and were sent to the eastern front, those young men and women were called Malgré-nous. Many tried to escape from the incorporation, join the French Resistance, or desert the Wehrmacht but many couldn't because they were running the risk of having their families sent to work or concentration camps by the Germans. Many of these men, especially those who did not answer the call immediately, were pressured to "volunteer" for service with the SS, often by direct threats on their families. This threat obliged the majority of them to remain in the German army. After the war, the few that survived were often accused of being traitors or collaborationists, because this tough situation was not known in the rest of France, and they had to face the incomprehension of many. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers, where they joined the Free French Forces. Nowadays history recognizes the suffering of those people, and museums, public discussions and memorials have been built to commemorate this terrible period of history of this part of Eastern France (Alsace and Moselle). Liberation of Strasbourg took place on 23 November 1944.
In 1947, a fire broke out in the Musée des Beaux-Arts and devastated a significant part of the collections. This fire was an indirect consequence of the bombing raids of 1944: because of the destruction inflicted on the Palais Rohan, humidity had infiltrated the building, and moisture had to be fought. This was done with welding torches, and a bad handling of these caused the fire.[44]
In the 1950s and 1960s the city was enlarged by new residential areas meant to solve both the problem of housing shortage due to war damage and that of the strong growth of population due to the baby boom and immigration from North Africa: Cité Rotterdam in the North-East, Quartier de l'Esplanade in the South-East, Hautepierre in the North-West. Between 1995 and 2010, a new district has been built in the same vein, the Quartier des Poteries, south of Hautepierre.
In 1958, a violent hailstorm destroyed most of the historical greenhouses of the Botanical Garden and many of the stained glass windows of St. Paul's Church.
In 1949, the city was chosen to be the seat of the Council of Europe with its European Court of Human Rights and European Pharmacopoeia. Since 1952, the European Parliament has met in Strasbourg, which was formally designated its official 'seat' at the Edinburgh meeting of the European Council of EU heads of state and government in December 1992. (This position was reconfirmed and given treaty status in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam). However, only the (four-day) plenary sessions of the Parliament are held in Strasbourg each month, with all other business being conducted in Brussels and Luxembourg. Those sessions take place in the Immeuble Louise Weiss, inaugurated in 1999, which houses the largest parliamentary assembly room in Europe and of any democratic institution in the world. Before that, the EP sessions had to take place in the main Council of Europe building, the Palace of Europe, whose unusual inner architecture had become a familiar sight to European TV audiences.[45] In 1992, Strasbourg became the seat of the Franco-German TV channel and movie-production society Arte.
In 2000, a terrorist plot to blow up the cathedral was prevented thanks to the cooperation between French and German police that led to the arrest in late 2000 of a Frankfurt-based group of terrorists.
On 6 July 2001, during an open-air concert in the Parc de Pourtalès, a single falling Platanus tree killed thirteen people and injured 97. On 27 March 2007, the city was found guilty of neglect over the accident and fined €150,000.[46]
In 2006, after a long and careful restoration, the inner decoration of the Aubette, made in the 1920s by Hans Arp, Theo van Doesburg, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and destroyed in the 1930s, was made accessible to the public again. The work of the three artists had been called "the Sistine Chapel of abstract art".
Architecture
Strasbourg, Cathedral of Our Lady
The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out.
Notable medieval streets include Rue Mercière, Rue des Dentelles, Rue du Bain aux Plantes, Rue des Juifs, Rue des Frères, Rue des Tonneliers, Rue du Maroquin, Rue des Charpentiers, Rue des Serruriers, Grand' Rue, Quai des Bateliers, Quai Saint-Nicolas and Quai Saint-Thomas. Notable medieval squares include Place de la Cathédrale, Place du Marché Gayot, Place Saint-Étienne, Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait and Place Benjamin Zix.
Maison des tanneurs.
In addition to the cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city: the Romanesque Église Saint-Étienne, partly destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing raids, the part Romanesque, part Gothic, very large Église Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played,[49] the Gothic Église protestante Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune with its crypt dating back to the seventh century and its cloister partly from the eleventh century, the Gothic Église Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass and furniture, the Gothic Église Saint-Jean, the part Gothic, part Art Nouveau Église Sainte-Madeleine, etc. The Neo-Gothic church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Catholique (there is also an adjacent church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Protestant) serves as a shrine for several 15th-century wood worked and painted altars coming from other, now destroyed churches and installed there for public display. Among the numerous secular medieval buildings, the monumental Ancienne Douane (old custom-house) stands out.
The German Renaissance has bequeathed the city some noteworthy buildings (especially the current Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie, former town hall, on Place Gutenberg), as did the French Baroque and Classicism with several hôtels particuliers (i.e. palaces), among which the Palais Rohan (1742, now housing three museums) is the most spectacular. Other buildings of its kind are the "Hôtel de Hanau" (1736, now the city hall), the Hôtel de Klinglin (1736, now residence of the préfet), the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (1755, now residence of the military governor), the Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin (1725, now seat of the administration of the Port autonome de Strasbourg) etc. The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150 m (490 ft) long 1720s main building of the Hôpital civil. As for French Neo-classicism, it is the Opera House on Place Broglie that most prestigiously represents this style.
Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt, being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues are homogeneous, surprisingly high (up to seven stories) and broad examples of German urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of European architecture as well as Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Greek and Neo-Babylonian styles. The former imperial palace Palais du Rhin, the most political and thus heavily criticized of all German Strasbourg buildings epitomizes the grand scale and stylistic sturdiness of this period. But the two most handsome and ornate buildings of these times are the École internationale des Pontonniers (the former Höhere Mädchenschule, girls college) with its towers, turrets and multiple round and square angles[50] and the École des Arts décoratifs with its lavishly ornate façade of painted bricks, woodwork and majolica.[51]
Notable streets of the German district include: Avenue de la Forêt Noire, Avenue des Vosges, Avenue d'Alsace, Avenue de la Marseillaise, Avenue de la Liberté, Boulevard de la Victoire, Rue Sellénick, Rue du Général de Castelnau, Rue du Maréchal Foch, and Rue du Maréchal Joffre. Notable squares of the German district include: Place de la République, Place de l'Université, Place Brant, and Place Arnold
As for modern and contemporary architecture, Strasbourg possesses some fine Art Nouveau buildings (such as the huge Palais des Fêtes and houses and villas like Villa Schutzenberger and Hôtel Brion), good examples of post-World War II functional architecture (the Cité Rotterdam, for which Le Corbusier did not succeed in the architectural contest) and, in the very extended Quartier Européen, some spectacular administrative buildings of sometimes utterly large size, among which the European Court of Human Rights building by Richard Rogers is arguably the finest. Other noticeable contemporary buildings are the new Music school Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain and the Hôtel du Département facing it, as well as, in the outskirts, the tramway-station Hoenheim-Nord designed by Zaha Hadid.
Place Kléber
The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponts Couverts that, despite their name, are no longer covered. Next to the Ponts Couverts is the Barrage Vauban, a part of Vauban's 17th-century fortifications, that does include a covered bridge. Other bridges are the ornate 19th-century Pont de la Fonderie (1893, stone) and Pont d'Auvergne (1892, iron), as well as architect Marc Mimram's futuristic Passerelle over the Rhine, opened in 2004.
The largest square at the centre of the city of Strasbourg is the Place Kléber. Located in the heart of the city's commercial area, it was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753 and assassinated in 1800 in Cairo. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Jacques François Blondel, architect of the king, in 1765–1772.
Parks
The Pavillon Joséphine (rear side) in the Parc de l'Orangerie
The Château de Pourtalès (front side) in the park of the same name
Strasbourg features a number of prominent parks, of which several are of cultural and historical interest: the Parc de l'Orangerie, laid out as a French garden by André le Nôtre and remodeled as an English garden on behalf of Joséphine de Beauharnais, now displaying noteworthy French gardens, a neo-classical castle and a small zoo; the Parc de la Citadelle, built around impressive remains of the 17th-century fortress erected close to the Rhine by Vauban;[52] the Parc de Pourtalès, laid out in English style around a baroque castle (heavily restored in the 19th century) that now houses a small three-star hotel,[53] and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture.[54] The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden) was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The Parc des Contades, although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic Parc des Poteries is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The Jardin des deux Rives, spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of the Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare) park of the agglomeration. The most recent park is Parc du Heyritz (8,7 ha), opened in 2014 along a canal facing the hôpital civil.
leper graveyard, robben island, cape town
Robben Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robben Island shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town [show]
Coordinates:
33.806734°S 18.366222°ECoordinates:
33.806734°S 18.366222°E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
MunicipalityCity of Cape Town
Area[1]
• Total5.18 km2 (2.00 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total116
• Density22/km2 (58/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African60.3%
• Coloured23.3%
• White13.8%
• Other2.6%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Xhosa37.9%
• Afrikaans35.3%
• Zulu15.5%
• English7.8%
• Other3.4%
PO box7400
UNESCO World Heritage Site
TypeCultural
Criteriaiii, vi
Designated1999 (23rd session)
Reference no.916
State PartySouth Africa
RegionAfrica
Robben Island (Afrikaans: Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island." Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km².[2] It is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. To date, three of the former inmates of Robben Island have gone on to become President of South Africa: Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe,[3] and current President Jacob Zuma.
Robben Island is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[4][5]
History[edit]
Robben Island as viewed from Table Mountain towards Saldanha Bay.
Since the end of the 17th century, Robben Island has been used for the isolation of mainly political prisoners. The Dutch settlers were the first to use Robben Island as a prison. Its first prisoner was probably Autshumato in the mid-17th century. Among its early permanent inhabitants were political leaders from various Dutch colonies, including Indonesia, and the leader of the mutiny on the slave ship Meermin.
After the British Royal Navy captured several Dutch East Indiamen at the battle of Saldanha Bay in 1781, a boat rowed out to meet the British warships. On board were the "kings of Ternate and Tidore, and the princes of the respective families". The Dutch had long held them on "Isle Robin", but then had moved them to Saldanha Bay.[6]
In 1806 the Scottish whaler John Murray opened a whaling station at a sheltered bay on the north-eastern shore of the island which became known as Murray's Bay, adjacent to the site of the present-day harbour named Murray's Bay Harbour which was constructed in 1939–40.[7][8]
After a failed uprising at Grahamstown in 1819, the fifth of the Xhosa Wars, the British colonial government sentenced African leader Makanda Nxele to life imprisonment on the island.[9] He drowned on the shores of Table Bay after escaping the prison.[10][11]
The island was also used as a leper colony and animal quarantine station.[12] Starting in 1845 lepers from the Hemel-en-Aarde (heaven and earth) leper colony near Caledon were moved to Robben Island when Hemel-en-Aarde was found unsuitable as a leper colony. Initially this was done on a voluntary basis and the lepers were free to leave the island if they so wished.[13] In April 1891 the cornerstones for 11 new buildings to house lepers were laid. After the introduction of the Leprosy Repression Act in May 1892 admission was no longer voluntary and the movement of the lepers was restricted. Prior to 1892 an average of about 25 lepers a year were admitted to Robben Island, but in 1892 that number rose to 338, and in 1893 a further 250 were admitted.[13]
During the Second World War the island was fortified and BL 9.2-inch guns and 6-inch guns were installed as part of the defences for Cape Town.
From 1961, Robben Island was used by the South African government as a prison for political prisoners and convicted criminals. In 1969 the Moturu Kramat, which is now a sacred site for Muslim pilgrimage on Robben Island, was built to commemorate Sayed Abdurahman Moturu, the Prince of Madura. Moturu, who was one of Cape Town's first imams, was exiled to the island in the mid-1740s. He died there in 1754. Muslim political prisoners would pay homage at the shrine before leaving the island.
The maximum security prison for political prisoners closed in 1991. The medium security prison for criminal prisoners was closed five years later.[14]
With the end of apartheid, the island has become a popular destination with global tourists. It is managed by Robben Island Museum (RIM); which operates the site as a living museum. In 1999 the island was declared a World Heritage Site. Every year thousands of visitors take the ferry from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town for tours of the island and its former prison. Many of the guides are former prisoners. All land on the island is owned by the state of South Africa with the exception of the island church. It is open all year around, weather permitting.
Access to the island[edit]
Robben Island is accessible to visitors through tours that depart from Cape Town's waterfront. Tours depart three times a day and take about 3.5 hours, consiststing of a ferry trip to and from the island, and a tour of the various historical sites on the island that form part of the Robben Island Museum. These include the island graveyard, the disused lime quarry, Robert Sobukwe’s house, the Bluestone quarry, the army and navy bunkers, and the maximum security prison including Nelson Mandela’s cell.[15]
Maritime hazard[edit]
Dutch map of the island, from 1731.
Seagoing vessels must take great care navigating near Robben Island and nearby Whale Rock (it does not break the surface) as they pose a danger to shipping.[16] A prevailing rough Atlantic swell surrounds the offshore reefs and the island's jagged coastline. Stricken vessels driven onto rocks are quickly broken up by the powerful surf. There are a total of 31 known vessels that have been wrecked around the island.[17]
In 1990, a marine archaeology team from the University of Cape Town began Operation "Sea Eagle". It was an underwater survey that scanned 9 square nautical miles of seabed around Robben Island. The task was made particularly difficult by the strong currents and high waves that make sailing in these waters treacherous. Nevertheless, the group managed to find 24 vessels that had sank around Robben Island. Most wrecks were found in waters less than 10 metres (33 ft). The team concluded that poor weather, darkness and fog were the cause of the sinkings.[17]
Maritime wrecks around Robben Island and its surrounding waters include the 17th century Dutch East Indiaman ships, the Yeanger van Horne (1611), the Shaapejacht (1660), and the Dageraad (1694). Later 19th century wrecks include several British brigs including the Gondolier (1836) and the American clipper, A.H. Stevens (1866). In 1901 the mail steamer SS Tantallon Castle struck rocks off Robben Island in dense fog shortly after leaving Cape Town. After distress cannons were fired from the island, nearby vessels rushed to the rescue. All 120 passengers and crew were taken off the ship before it was broken apart in the relentless swell. A further 17 ships have been wrecked in the 20th century, including British, Spanish, Norwegian and Taiwanese vessels.
Robben Island lighthouse[edit]
Due to the maritime danger that Robben Island presents to shipping, Jan van Riebeeck, the first Dutch colonial administrator in Cape Town in the 1650s, ordered that huge bonfires were to be lit at night on top of Fire Hill, the highest point on the island (now Minto Hill). These were to warn VOC ships approaching the island.
In 1865 Robben Island lighthouse was completed on Minto Hill.[18] The cylindrical masonry tower, which has an attached lightkeepers house at its base, is 18 metres (59 ft) high with a lantern gallery at the top. In 1938 the lamp was converted to electricity. The lighthouse utilises a flashing lantern instead of a revolving lamp; it shines for a duration of 5 seconds every seven seconds. The 46,000 candela beam flashes white light away from Table Bay. It is visible up to 24 nautical miles (28 mi).[19] A secondary red light acts as a navigation aid for vessels sailing south southeast.
Wildlife and conservation[edit]
When the Dutch arrived in the area in 1652, the only large animals on the island were seals and birds, principally penguins. In 1654, the settlers released rabbits on the island to provide a ready source of meat for passing ships.[20]
The original colony of African penguins on the island was completely exterminated by 1800. However the modern day island is once again an important breeding area for the species after a new colony established itself there in 1983.[21] The colony grew to a size of ~16,000 individuals in 2004, before starting to decline in size again. As of 2015, this decline has been continuous (to a colony size of ~3,000 individuals) and mirrors that found at almost all other African penguin colonies. Its causes are still largely unclear and likely to vary between colonies, but at Robben Island are probably related to a diminishing of the food supply (sardines and anchovies) through competition by fisheries.[22] The penguins are easy to see close up in their natural habitat and are therefore a popular tourist attraction.
Around 1958, Lieutenant Peter Klerck, a naval officer serving on the island, introduced various animals. The following extract of an article, written by Michael Klerck who lived on the island from an early age, describes the fauna life there:[23]
My father, a naval officer at the time, with the sanction of Doctor Hey, director of Nature Conservation, turned an area into a nature reserve. A 'Noah's Ark' berthed in the harbour sometime in 1958. They stocked the island with tortoise, duck, geese, buck (which included Springbok, Eland, Steenbok, Bontebok and Fallow Deer), Ostrich and a few Wildebeest which did not last long. All except the fallow deer are indigenous to the Cape. Many animals are still there[24] including three species of tortoise—the most recently discovered in 1998—two Parrot Beaked specimens that have remained undetected until now. The leopard or mountain tortoises might have suspected the past terror; perhaps they had no intention of being a part of a future infamy, but they often attempted the swim back to the mainland (they are the only species in the world that can swim). Boats would lift them out of the sea in Table Bay and return them to us. None of the original 12 shipped over remain, and in 1995, four more were introduced—they seem to have more easily accepted their home as they are still residents. One resident brought across a large leopard tortoise discovered in a friend's garden in Newlands, Cape Town. He lived in our garden and grew big enough to climb over the wall and roam the island much like the sheep in Van Riebeeck's time. As children we were able to ride his great frame comfortably, as did some grown men. The buck and ostriches seemed equally happy and the ducks and Egyptian Geese were assigned a home in the old quarry, which had, some three hundred years before, supplied the dressed stone for the foundations of the Castle; at the time of my residence it bristled with fish. Recent reports in Cape Town newspapers show that a lack of upkeep, a lack of culling, and the proliferation of rabbits on the island has led to the total devastation of the wildlife; there remains today almost none of the animals my father brought over all those years ago; the rabbits themselves have laid the island waste, stripping it of almost all ground vegetation. It looks almost like a desert. A reporter from the broadcasting corporation told me recently that they found the carcass of the last Bontebok.
There may be 25,000 rabbits on the island. Humans are hunting and culling the rabbits to reduce their number.[
25]
List of former prisoners held at Robben Island[edit]
* Autshumato, one of the first activists against colonialism
* Dennis Brutus, former activist and poet
* Patrick Chamusso, former activist of the African National Congress
* Laloo Chiba, former accused at Little Rivonia Trial
* Eddie Daniels (political activist)
* Jerry Ekandjo, Namibian politician
* Nceba Faku, former Metro Mayor of Port Elizabeth
* Petrus Iilonga, Namibian trade unionist, activist and politician
* Ahmed Kathrada, former Rivonia Trialist and long-serving prisoner
* Koesaaij, Malagasy co-leader of the Meermin slave mutiny in February, 1766
* Langalibalele, The King of the Hlubi people, one of the first activists against colonialism[citation needed]
* John Kenneth Malatji, former activist and special forces of ANC - Tladi, Soweto
* Njongonkulu Ndungane,[26] later to become Archbishop of Cape Town
* Mosiuoa Lekota, imprisoned in 1974, President and Leader of the Congress of the People
* Mac Maharaj, former accused at Little Rivonia Trial
* Makana, one of the activists against colonialism
* Nelson Mandela, African National Congress leader and former President of South Africa (first black president)
* Gamzo Mandierd, activist
* Jeff Masemola, the first prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment in the apartheid era
* Amos Masondo, former Mayor of Johannesburg
* Massavana, Malagasy leader of the Meermin slave mutiny in February, 1766
* Michael Matsobane, leader of Young African Religious Movement. Sentenced at Bethal in 1979; released by PW Botha in 1987.
* Chief Maqoma, former chief who died on the island in 1873
* Govan Mbeki, father of former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki. Govan was sentenced to life in 1963 but was released from Robben Island in 1987 by PW Botha
* Wilton Mkwayi, former accused at Little Rivonia Trial
* Murphy Morobe, Soweto Uprising student leader
* Dikgang Moseneke, Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
* Sayed Adurohman Moturu, the Muslim Iman who was exiled on the island and died there in 1754
* Griffiths Mxenge, a South African Lawyer and member of the African National Congress
* Billy Nair, former Rivonia Trialist and ANC/SACP leader
* M. D. Naidoo, a South African lawyer and member of the African National Congress
* John ya Otto Nankudhu, Namibian liberation fighter[27]
* John Nkosi Serving life but released by PW Botha in 1987
* Samuel Sisulu Founder of South African Freedom Organisation
* Nongqawuse, the Xhosa prophetess responsible for the Cattle Killing
* Maqana Nxele, former Xhosa prophet who drowned while trying to escape
* John Nyathi Pokela, co-founder and former chairman of the PAC
* Joe Seremane, former chairperson of the Democratic Alliance.
* Tokyo Sexwale, businessman and aspirant leader of the African National Congress
* Gaus Shikomba, Namibian politician
* Walter Sisulu, former ANC Activist
* Stone Sizani, ANC Chief Whip
* Robert Sobukwe, former leader of the PAC
* Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Namibian politician
* Sakaria Nashandi, Namibian politicia
* Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa and leader of the African National Congress
* Achmad Cassiem
* Setsiba Paul Mohohlo, former APLA unit commander
* Micheal Ludumo Buka, former ANC Activist
* Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa's first Pedi president
* John Aifheli Thabo, an ANC political activist[citation needed]
* Ezra Mvuyisi Sigwela, an ANC political activist
* Xolani Casper Jonas, an ANC political activist
* Kwezi Nontsikelo, ANC political activist, Advisor to the Minister of Defence
Ryan Nyenhuis - photograph by: Ian Levack
Photograph by: Ryan Nyenhuis
Sunday June 15th 2008, Fathers Day. Ryan and I woke with a plan. The plan being to sneak into the abandon R.L. Hearn Thermal Generation Power Plant which is located in the south east area of downtown Toronto. We wanted to photograph the beauty of decay.
We had made a trip over to the power plant a week prior to scout out the area, to see where guards were located and to find easy access inside.
Sneaking past the guard house located at the front of the property and making our way along the north west section of property towards the back of the plant where the barbed wire fence was weakest.
We then smoked three quarters of a joint together before working up the nerve to hop the fence. Ryan went first, watching him hop the fence and dart out into the yard and hiding behind scrap metal for cover then finally making it to the back of the building. Then it was my turn. What excitement that was, knowing your breaking the law to do something adventurous.
After getting onto the property we were standing at the back of the Hearn and looking for our way inside. To do so we had to hop up onto a metal fence post and from there had to reach up and grab a hold of plywood that covered up the tall entrance area. A good 15 foot climb up, over and in.
Once inside the first photo that was taken was the one of Ryan and I standing together, titled "final hours".
This place was like no other we had ever explored together. The shear size of it all was breathtaking and mind blowing at the same time. The beauty of destruction.
After the first photo was taken we started exploring the plant. Taking the necessary precautions we had come prepared with asbestos masks and flashlights.
We had made our way around on the ground floor, through locker rooms, showers, storage rooms. Then we started making our way up stairs to the 2nd and 3rd level offices, had the remainder of our joint together.
From the office levels we went back onto the factory area and started climbing the metal stairs up further still. Some photos show how high up we were in that building.
We then made ourselves up onto the roof. What a view from there looking out over the city core. Looking out over Lake Ontario we saw really dark storm clouds. Ryan pulled out a cigarette and had a smoke.
We were up on the roof for about a half hour before Ryan asked me "what do you want to do now man?". "Do you want to go home now or stay a bit longer and explore?". My camera battery had died at this point and being there any longer served no purpose for me. I was hesitant on a response because at the same time I wanted to keep exploring because the plan was to keep coming back weekend after weekend to explore and document the old structure.
I then agreed to keep exploring. We came in off the roof, coming down a level, walked through a doorway into a long looking dark room. All across the top level of The Hearn runs conveyor belts that run coal from one end to the other. Walking together along the metal grating flooring. Ryan was 2 feet in front of me.
I then ended up tripping over a small extruded piece of metal on the floor, and from that second on I pointed my flashlight directly onto the floor to see where I was walking.
Very shortly after this happens, in mid sentence Ryan just falls into blackness. All I see is from his waist up as he plunges into complete blackness and followed by about 4-5 seconds before hearing a sick crash far below.
I then look 2 feet in front of me and see there is no more floor. My imediant thought is that he is dead. Then my brain clicks "I have to get my best friend out of here".
I then tried my best to back track to get out of the building, taking a route that he and I had not taken to get to this point. All I knew is I had to get out of The Hearn and find someone that could help.
I don't even know how I got out of that place. When I did I came out on the back side of the building, ran around to the guard house screaming for help.
I screamed to the guard that my best friend just fell in there and is hurt really bad, he asked what we were doing in there and I told him we were just taking photos.
The guard then called like every paramedic, fire and police officer in the city. About 10 minutes after the call was made all I could hear were the sirens. Scared and relived at the same time I was.
Once they all showed up I told them Ryan was in there, that we were up high in the building and he fell. All the cops were telling me to retrace my steps, they wanted to see where we came in from. I screamed at them "we don't have time for that right now, my best friend is dying in there". I then started leading them to the front of the Hearn because I knew it was the closet way inside. We get to the front and all entrances were boarded up. One cops said to me "Ian there is no way in through this way, you have to show us where you came in from". I then demanded to the fire fighters that they bust this plywood down to get inside.
Once inside the cops started fucking with my mind, me being in total shock at the time they started asking me where we had explored, they wanted me to take them on what would have been a few hours of exploration, which we didn't have time for.
Then an officer finds his asbestos mask and glasses. My first thought is he was okay, that he somehow managed to crawl out under his own power. I was wrong. His mask and glasses had bounced off of objects on the fall and Ryan was nowhere to be found.
The police tried getting a hold of Rogers Communication to see if they could pin point his location with the cell phone he had on him. They ended up using thermal vision to locate him. He was trapped in a coal hopper located high up in the building.
I was escorted out at this point in time because I was too "hysterical" for the cops liking.
Two and a half hours went by, a fierce thunderstorm was passing through.
While they were working on getting Ryan out I was giving my statement to the police. Never gave one of those in my life. I told them everything that I am writing here right now, everything, even the joint smoking. I had Nothing to hide.
We went in undetected but I didn't care if the whole world was watching at this point, I was doing what any best friend would do. I was trying to save him. City Pulse News was there and I was trying to hide from them. I was scared that this is how his family would find out and how my family would find out, being Fathers days and all.
After two and a half hours of hell they finally got Ryan out. I watched them carry him out on a backboard and I yelled to him that I loved him.
Ryan was rushed to St. Micheal's Hospital, the best in all the city for trauma.
I followed about an hour after him, being escorted in a police car. On the drive one officer said to me "this is going to cost you and your buddy about a hundred thousand dollars for all that had to be done here today". What a jackass thing to say. I responded by saying "I don't give a fuck about money, take all I have from me I don't care, I'm loosing the most important person in my life right now".
We get to the hospital, I enter the trauma wing of St. Micheal's. They told me that I was going to be the one to call the home of the Nyenhuis'. I thought that was insane, and told them I could not make that call, that they would have to.
I then went into the waiting room, sat down. I remember the NBA finals were on the televisions in there and I ended up falling asleep somehow.
Waking to Stevie and Tammy's faces hours later (Stevie being Ryan's room mate and Tammy being Ryan's girlfriend).
Stevie told me that John and Cheryl were on their way and that we could go up stairs to the trauma ward to see Ryan.
The trauma centre, located on the 9th floor of St. Micheal's Hospital.
Hours passed by, as the night went on the news kept getting worse and worse about his condition.
I ended up leaving to come back to my apartment at 6am the following morning, I had to talk to my parents and try and shovel some food into my system. Still being in shock and never got treatment for shock when it happened.
I returned to the hospital at 3pm that day. Only to find nothing had changed with his condition.
Then came the worst words I ever had to hear, Ryan's father coming in the room and telling me it was time to say goodbye to Ryan.
We made our way into where he was being cared for. To see my best friend in the state he was in broke my heart. Blood coming out the back of his head, body black and blue bruised from head to toe, internal damage that could not be repaired, feeling his forehead and it being ice cold. He was laying there in front of us, dead. Machines were the only thing keeping him "alive".
I said my goodbyes to him, telling him that he can't leave me here, he can't leave the creation of Studies In Comfort behind, something that is so brilliant, that we were supposed to take over the world together and do all that was planned. I told him to haunt me.
I then looked at his eyes and saw tears. He may have been brain dead but I know he heard every word I said. Doctors did not give an explanation to what was coming out of his eyes.
If only I had said to Ryan "hey man watch your step" he might still be alive today. I have been told over and over again that I can not blame myself for what happened that day. I sometimes still do.
Ryan and I once had a conversation that if something ever happened to one of us that Studies In Comfort would stop, without a core creator there is no sense to continue it. Well I am going against those wishes. I can't lose what he and I created even before it took off the ground.
I now know my purpose in life. To carry on Studies In Comfort. I must continue on for him, finish off the 3 studio albums we had in the works and continue on with this art form.
Ryan died at the wheel and I have moved his lifeless body to the passengers seat and now a fucking insane madman is driving.
Ryan Nyenhuis, whos favourite artist was Nine Inch Nails, who lived on floor number 9, who wore a roman numeral 9 on his right arm, who died on the 9th floor at St. Micheal's Hospital, Toronto.
Thank you to 55 Division and all the paramedics and fire fighters who helped get Ryan out of that terrible dark place.
Ryan Nyenhuis is survived by his father, John, mother Cheryl, sisters, Jennifer and Leah, their beautiful children, myself and Studies In Comfort.
Ryan John Nyenhuis
July 28th 1981 - June 15th 2008
We love and miss you.
___________________________
All photographs were taken by Ryan Nyenhuis & Ian Levack with a Casio EX-Z1050 camera.
I'm doing my best impersonation of a truncated sentence. Here I am trying to explain it to my senior class who swear that they've never heard of it.
Except for the green footless tights from 'Sportsgirl', everything is Thrifted & Remixed - animal print wrap dress, tourist scarf of Venice & YSL flats.
020
CHAPTER XV.
REPORT OF THE ALIENISTS.
The report of the sanity commission follows:
To the Honorable A. C. Backus, Judge of the Municipal Court of Milwaukee County:
Pursuant to your appointment of the undersigned on the 12th day of November, 1912, as a Commission to examine John Schrank with reference to his present mental condition, we respectfully submit our report.
This report consists of:
First: The examination of John Schrank with reference to his personal and family history, his present physical state, and his present mental state.
Second: Inquiry by means of data furnished by the New York Police Department, the Magistrate of Erding, Bavaria, reports furnished by the Milwaukee Police Department and other officials brought in contact with him, and certain documents furnished by the defendant himself, and others found in his possession, some of which are herewith submitted as exhibits, duly numbered.
Third: Summary and conclusions arrived at.
PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
Age 36. Single. Born in Erding, Bavaria, March 5, 1876. Father born in Bavaria, and mother born in Bavaria. Occupation, bar tender and saloonkeeper. No regular occupation in the last one and one-half years. Education, common schools in Bavaria from the seventh to the twelfth year; three or four years in night school in New York, in English.
In early life a Roman Catholic; not a practical Catholic for the past 15 years.
His father died at the age of 38 of consumption; was a moderate drinker; the mother living at the age of 56 or 57. One brother and one sister living, in good health. One brother and one sister died in infancy.
A sister of mother insane, suffered from delusions of persecution; died of softening of the brain, so-called, in 1904, in Gabersee Asylum, Bavaria. Certified by Magistrate of Erding, Bavaria.
Patient states he was never seriously sick. Knows of no serious accident or injury. Never suffered from headaches.
Lived with grandparents from three to nine years of age; worked in a vegetable garden during that time, and then returned to parents.
HABITS.
Denies excesses; no use of tobacco until two years ago, never more than five or six cigars a day, average two or three cigars. Has generally taken about five pint bottles of beer in twenty-four hours, of late years. For two years, in 1902-1903, drank no intoxicants at all. He states he drank to slight excess at most half a dozen times a year. Never used drugs of any kind. Denies all venereal diseases, and presents no physical evidence of them. His usual habit was to retire before 10 o'clock at night.
PRESENT PHYSICAL STATE.
Height 5 feet 4½ inches in stocking feet. Weight, 160 pounds, with clothing. Is right-handed. Head presents no scars or injuries or evidence of injuries or irregularities of cranial bones; normal in shape, except measurements over left parietal bone from ear to median line at vertex is 1.25 centimeters larger than the right. Cephalic index 80. Cranial capacity normal. External ears normal in shape. Holds head slightly tilted to left. Shape of hard palate, mouth and teeth normal. Maxillary bones normal except lower jaw slightly prognathic. Blonde hair. Eyes, bluish gray. Complexion fair. Tongue, slight yellowish coating, edges clean. Appetite and general nutrition good. Stomach, digestion, bowels normal. Sleep good. State of heart and arteries normal. Blood pressure 125 to 130 systolic; 115 to 120 diastolic. Pulse 82-86. Temperature Nov. 12, 1912, P.M., 99.4. Nov. 14, normal. No scars on genitals. Urine practically a normal specimen.
NEUROLOGICAL.
The Eyes—Light, accommodation and sympathetic reflex present, but somewhat slow. Slight inequality of pupils, right distinctly larger than left. Color sense normal. No contraction of visual field. Slight horizontal nystagmus in both eyes on extreme outward rotation of the eyeballs. (Pupils equal and normal Nov. 20th, 1912.)
After above symptoms ascertained, 1.40 grain euphthalmine inserted, and examination of eye grounds showed no optic atrophy. The right eye ground (retina) was slightly higher in color than the left.
Hearing very acute, both sides.
Sense of taste and smell normal.
Tactile, pain, temperature and weight sense normal.
Deep Reflexes—Knee, reflex, right, irregularly present, regular on reinforcement; knee, left, absent; brought out by reinforcement irregularly.
Myotatic irritability of forearm, right markedly heightened; left slightly heightened.
No ankle-clonus.
Superficial Reflexes—Abdominal reflex present. Epigastric reflex absent. Cremasteric reflex, active both sides. No Oppenheim reflex. No Babinski reflex. Plantar reflex: right markedly heightened; left heightened.
Musculature—Arm and leg showed slightly diminished power on right side. The left side stronger, though subject right-handed.
Dynamometer, right 90, 90 (two tests); and left 100, 100 (two tests).
No Romberg symptom, and no inco-ordination of upper and lower extremities.
Gait and station normal.
Slight tremor of fingers, noticeable under mental excitement. At times slight tremor of lips.
EXAMINATION OF PRESENT MENTAL STATE.
Tests for attention show normal conditions.
Tests for memory, general and special, show normal conditions.
Tests for association of ideas and words showed special bearing upon his delusional state.
Logical power good, except as limited by his delusions.
Judgment the same.
Has no "insight" as to his own mental condition.
Emotional tests show tone of feeling exalted.
Orientation correct as to time and place.
Delusions present, as subsequently set forth.
CHAPTER XVI.
FINDING OF THE ALIENISTS.
We find that John Schrank came to New York at the age of 12, and lived with his uncle and aunt as foster parents, who kept a saloon at 370 East Tenth street, New York City.
Before coming to this country he had 5 years of the public schools of his native village in Bavaria, and after arrival in this country his only schooling was such as he could obtain at night schools in New York during 3 or 4 years.
Up to this time no peculiarity had been observed in him, from any evidence available. We note the fact that he was most especially interested in history and government, as illustrated by political writings and by the Bible. He speaks frequently of his very great admiration for the character of George Washington.
At 15 or 16 years of age he became greatly interested in poetry. This perhaps corresponds to the period of development at which eccentricities are wont to appear.
He represents that in the saloon in which he worked he was chiefly engaged in supplying beer to residents of neighboring tenements; that there was no gambling or other immoral conduct practiced or encouraged in this business place. He went on for over 12 years as barkeeper. His uncle and aunt had during this time accumulated means for the purchase of a small tenement. At the death of the uncle and aunt in 1910 and 1911 the defendant came into possession of this property.
In the last year and a half has not been in any regular business or employment, and spent his time in long walks about New York and Brooklyn, during which he meditated upon poetical compositions, and political and historical questions, jotting down ideas upon loose slips of paper as they came to him, night or day, forming the basis of his poems. He spent his evenings in a saloon, retiring early. The average daily quantity of stimulants or beer taken by him was insufficient to produce intoxication. He also states that in 1902 and 1903, for a period of nearly 2 years, he drank no intoxicants at all.
He states that in 1901, between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning of the day after President McKinley's death he experienced a vivid dream, in which he appeared to be in a room with many flowers and a casket, and saw a figure sit up in the casket, which he says was the form and figure of the assassinated President McKinley, who then pointed to a corner of the room, and said, "Avenge my death." He then looked where the finger pointed and saw a form clad in a Monkish garb, and recognized the form and face of this individual as the form and face of Theodore Roosevelt.
At the time this made a strong impression, but was not dwelt upon especially except in the light of later events.
Prior to the nomination of Colonel Roosevelt for the Presidency in the year 1912, he had felt great interest in the political campaign, and had read articles expressing great bitterness toward the idea of a third term, and toward Colonel Roosevelt personally in the newspapers of New York, and after the period when the nomination of Colonel Roosevelt began to be actively agitated, meditated more deeply upon these matters. He had always studied with the greatest interest the questions of free government, as illustrated by the Declaration of Independence, and Washington's Farewell Address. In this connection, the Monroe doctrine also assumed great importance in his mind, and the converse thereof, the duty of this nation to refrain from war of conquest; and out of these meditations grew what he elaborated into his declaration as to the unwritten laws, or "The Four Pillars of our Republic," namely (1) the Third Term Tradition, (2) the Monroe Doctrine, (3) that only a Protestant by creed can become president, (4) no wars of conquest. This document, hereunto annexed as Exhibit 1, fully sets forth his views on these subjects.
These "four unwritten laws" had assumed in his mind a character of sacredness. They were "sacred traditions" to be maintained at all hazards, and, as subsequently appeared, even the hazard of life.
The following are some quotations from this document:
"Tradition is an unwritten law."
"I would doubt the right of a court to have jurisdiction over a man who had defended tradition of his country against violation."
"The oldest of these traditions is the 'third term tradition,' it has never been violated and is an effective safeguard against unscrupulous ambition, but never before has been established a test case of its inviolability as a warning to coming adventurers."
"For the first time in American history we are confronted by a man to whom practically nothing is sacred, and he pretends to stand above tradition."
"Anybody who finances a Third Term Movement should be expatriated and his wealth confiscated."
"The dangers in this campaign are these, the third termer is sure that the nomination has been stolen, and that the country and the job belongs to him, therefore, if he gets honestly defeated in November he will again yell that the crooks of both parties have stolen the election and should he carry a solid West, he and the hungry office-seekers would not hesitate to take up arms to take by force what is denied him by the people, then we face a Civil War, * * * * * * and that he who wilfully invites war deserves death. We would then be compelled to wash out the sin of violating the Third Term with the blood of our sons. Yet this is not the gravest danger we are facing. We have allowed an adventurer to circumtravel the Union with military escort with the torch of revolution in his hands to burn down the very house we live in."
"Have we learned no lesson about a one man's rule experienced in France with such disastrous results as the end of the reign of Napoleon I and Napoleon III."
"Are we trying to establish here a system like our ancestors have done in Europe, which all revolutions of a thousand years could not abolish."
"Are we overthrowing our Republic, while the heroes of the French revolutions, and the martyrs of 1848 gladly gave their lives to establish Republican institutions."
"The abolition of the Third Term tradition is the abolition of the Monroe doctrine also."
"Hardly any revolution has started without pretending that their movement was progressive."
"The prudence of our forefathers has delivered to us an equally sacred unwritten law which reads that no president should embrace another creed than Protestant, if possible, a sect of the English Church. I am a Roman Catholic. I love my religion but I hate my church as long as the Roman parish is not independent from Rome, as long as Catholic priests are prevented from getting married, as long as Rome is still more engaged in politics and accumulation of money contrary to the teachings of the Lord. The Roman Catholic Church is not the religion for a president of the United States."
"The Fourth unwritten law, which is practically supplementary to the second, we find in George Washington's Farewell Address, where he advises us to live in peace with your neighbor. We have no right to start a war of conquest."
In his examination in this connection he stated as follows: "Four-fifths of the United States would take up arms to defend the Third Term tradition. Trying to get perpetual power and dictatorship would justify killing."
He also said he would be justified to the same extent, that is, by killing, a man who would seek the presidency and was a Roman Catholic; and also for a man who would start a war for conquest; and he thought also of the possibility of foreign powers to help Roosevelt possibly to annex the Panama Canal and break down the Monroe Doctrine. He said he believed the country would be facing a civil war if Roosevelt went on as he had done.
He gives as a reason for his present attack upon Roosevelt, that he did not wish to give him (Roosevelt) an opportunity to plead that no defense of the Third Term tradition had been made in 1912 should he aspire to another term in 1916. Asked as to how he reconciled his act with the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," he replied that, "religion is the fundamental law of human order, but to kill to try and do a good thing, and to avenge McKinley's murder, justifies the killing."
The proof of his position came to him in his dream and in his vision.
"Roosevelt's ambition and conduct proves to every man that he was back of McKinley's assassination in some way or other."
The defendant says that he prayed God to find a leader among men who would take this responsibility, and he expected all along someone else would do this thing, but no one did it, and as he was a single man of 36, without a family, and thought the deed was a good deed, and it made no difference to him, he was willing to sacrifice his life for that end, even if he were torn to pieces by the mob. He therefore concluded that it was his mission, and desired to make of this a test case.
Henry F. Cochems.
(Who was in the Automobile with Col. Roosevelt when the Ex-President was Shot.)
He thinks the election returns corroborate the fact that the people have been awakened to the idea of no Third Term.
In the progress of the campaign, when the progressive movement had taken shape, and Colonel Roosevelt had been nominated as the head of a third party, and on August 7th, 1912, the dream which had come to him in 1901, as above related, began to assume more importance, and special significance in his mind. He felt extreme agitation on this subject continuously. On the morning of September 15th, 1912, the anniversary of the date of his dream in 1901, having retired as usual the night before with his manuscript by his bedside, he suddenly awakened between 1 and 2 A.M., with the completion of a poem entitled "Be a Man" uppermost in his mind.
We insert the poem at this point:
1. Be a man from early to late
When you rise in the morning
Till you go to bed
Be a man.
2. Is your country in danger
And you are called to defend
Where the battle is hottest
And death be the end
Face it and be a man.
3. When you fail in business
And your honor is at stake
When you bury all your dearest
And your heart would break
Face it and be a man.
4. But when night draws near
And you hear a knock
And a voice should whisper your
Time is up; Refuse to answer
As long as you can
Then face it and be a man.
He found his ideas were taking shape, and getting up he sat writing, when he suddenly became aware of a voice speaking in a low and sad tone, "Let no murderer occupy the presidential chair for a third term. Avenge my death!" He felt a light touch upon his left shoulder, and turning, saw the face of former President McKinley. It bore a ghostlike aspect. This experience had a decisive effect in fixing in his mind the iniquity of the third term, and from this time he questioned as to his duty in the matter, and he finally regarded this vision and its connection with the exact anniversary of the dream as a command to kill Roosevelt, and as an inspiration. When asked by us whether he considered this as imagination or as inspiration and a command from God, while showing some reluctance to claim the vision as an inspiration, he finally answered decisively that he did.
When asked whether a man had a right to take a weapon and hunt down a man who had violated tradition, he submitted his written statement in reply, which is hereto annexed as Exhibit 2, some quotations from which are as follows:
"I should say where self-sacrifice begins the power of law comes to an end, and if I knew that my death during my act would have this tradition more sacred I would be sorry that my life was spared so convinced am I of my right to act as I did that if I were ever a free man again I would at once create an Order of Tradition."
"I presume you men would declare Joan d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans insane because the Holy Virgin appeared to her in a vision."
"When we read that God had appeared to Moses in the shape of a burning thorn bush, then again as a cloud, we will find many people who doubt the appearance of God to man in human or other shape."
"Why then in cases of dire national needs should not the God appear to one of us in vision."
The defendant states that at no time and under no circumstances did he communicate to anyone his intention. In fact, he kept it as an inviolable secret and took measures to throw off the scent persons who might inquire about his leaving New York. The defendant stated in this connection that he did not wish to commit the act in New York, as it would then be claimed that he had been "hired by Wall Street" and in that way the real purpose of the act would be obscured.
CHAPTER XVII.
SCHRANK DESCRIBES SHOOTING.
(BEFORE SANITY COMMISSION.)
On September 21, 1912, he left New York City, having first borrowed $350, and purchased a 38-caliber revolver, for which he paid $14. His efforts from this time were continuous to come within shooting distance of Colonel Roosevelt. He missed him at Chattanooga and at Atlanta, and then went to Evansville, where he remained seven days awaiting Colonel Roosevelt's return to the West. He then sought to come within range of Colonel Roosevelt in Chicago, and states that he waited for him at the exit of the building, where he spoke, but found afterwards that he had left by a different exit. He then preceded him to Milwaukee, arriving here at 1 o'clock P.M. the day preceding the attack.
On the evening of the shooting Schrank arrived at the hotel, where he had learned Colonel Roosevelt would stay, in advance of the time he was expected to start for the place of meeting. When a crowd began to collect around the automobile awaiting Colonel Roosevelt at the curb, he went into the street, standing near the automobile in a line just behind the front seat on the left hand side opposite the chauffeur's seat. He says,
"Seeing him enter the automobile and just about to seat himself, I fired. I did not pick any particular spot on his body. The crowd was all around me and in front of me. The next minute I was knocked down, but was not rendered insensible, and the gun was knocked out of my hands."
The defendant insists that he said nothing during his assault. He was then dragged to the sidewalk, and getting on his feet was hurried into the hotel, and the doors were locked. Here he said nothing, and was taken by the police through the back door to police headquarters.
From the examination at police headquarters, made at 9:25 P.M., October 14, 1912, by the Chief of Police, John T. Janssen, we find that he objected to telling his name, but did so when it was insisted upon. We also find that his statements made to the police concerning his following and attempting to gain access to Colonel Roosevelt, and his visits to various localities correspond, and his explanations of his acts agree with those made to us.
Some of his statements to the Chief of Police, are as follows, as extracted from document submitted herewith, marked Exhibit 3.
Q. Why did you want to meet him?
A. Because I wanted to put him out of the way. A man that wants a third term has no right to live.
Q. That is, you wanted to kill him?
A. I did.
Q. Have you any other reason in wanting to kill him?
A. I have.
Q. What is that?
A. I had a dream several years ago that Mr. McKinley appeared to me and he told me that Mr. Roosevelt is practically his real murderer, and not this here Czolgosz.
Q. Did you know Johann Most when he was alive?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you ever hear him talk?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you ever hear Emma Goldman?
A. No, sir; I am not an anarchist or socialist or democrat or republican; I just took up the thing the way I thought it was best to do.
(It seems worth while to note that the defendant differs from many assassins of rulers or prospective rulers in having no anarchistic ideas or connections, but rather that he intended to be an upholder of established government.)
"Mr. Grant was refused" (a third term) "and he was satisfied; this man was refused and he is not satisfied; it's gone beyond limits; if he keeps on doing this after election, he can't possibly carry a solid Western state; the next thing we will have a civil war, because he will say the scoundrels and thieves and crooks stole my nomination, and now they will steal my election, and they will take up arms in all the Western states; we are facing a civil war just to keep him in a third term."
Q. Where did you get all this idea from?
A. I have been reading history all the time.
Q. What schooling did you have?
A. Well, I have attended school in the old country, and I attended night school in New York for about four winters; that's all the schooling I had.
Q. You haven't a very good education then?
A. Indeed I ain't.
Q. Have you always enjoyed good health?
A. Yes, sir; I am a healthy sane man, never been sick.
Q. Well, do you believe that that is a sane act that you committed this evening?
A. I believe that is my duty as a citizen to do, it's the duty of every citizen to do so.
Q. Well, how did you happen to get the idea that it was your duty among all the people that live in the United States?
A. I don't know, I thought maybe somebody else might do it before I got there.
Q. And you spoke to no one about your intention on all the route you took concerning this, nobody?
A. No, sir; nobody.
While in jail the prisoner prepared a written defense, which we submit herewith as Exhibit 4, and we extract certain sentences from the same, as follows:
"Gentlemen of the Jury, I appeal to you as men of honor, I greet you Americans and countrymen and fathers of sons and daughters. I wish to apologize to the community of Milwaukee for having caused on October 14th last, great excitement, bitter feeling, and expenses."
"Gentlemen of the Jury: When on September 14th last I had a vision, I looked into the dying eyes of the late President McKinley, when a voice called me to avenge his death, I was convinced that my life was coming soon to an end, and I was at once happy to know that my real mission on this earth was to die for my country and the cause of Republicanism."
"You see that I have appeared here today without assistance of a counsellor at law, without any assistance save that of God, the Almighty, who is ever with him who is deserted, because I am not here to defend myself nor my actions."
"The law I have violated for which you will punish me is not in any statute book."
"The shot at Milwaukee which created an echo in all parts of the world was not a shot fired at the citizen Roosevelt, not a shot at an ex-president, not a shot at the candidate of a so-called prog. pty. (Progressive party), not a shot to influence the pending election, not a shot to gain for me notoriety; no, it was simply to once and forever establish the fact that any man who hereafter aspires to a third presidential term will do so at the risk of his life."
"If I do not defend tradition I cannot defend the country in case of war. You may as well send every patriot to prison."
(As showing the erratic reasoning of the defendant, the following passage, intimating that the assassination of President McKinley was a part of a conspiracy to elevate Colonel Roosevelt to a permanent control of the destinies of the United States, we quote further:)
"Political murders have occurred quite often, committed by some power that works in the dark and only too frequently of late the assassin was classed as an anarchist, but the real instigators could never be brought to justice. Whoever the direct murderer of President McKinley has been it could never be proven that he has ever been affiliated with any anarchistic or similar society, but we may well conclude that the man who in years after willingly violated the third unwritten law of the country whenever he thought it profitable to change his creed while president, perhaps to the mother of monarchies."
(From the remarks of the prisoner in our examination of him, we find by "the mother of monarchies" that he refers to the Roman Catholic Church.)
We further quote:
"Such was his fear that his machine, built up in 7½ years will be destroyed over night, that he threatened not to leave the chair unless he were allowed to nominate his successor."
"Gentlemen of the jury: The 3t (third termer) 'never again will I run for pres.' (president) has a parallel in the history of Rome. Whoever read the history of Julius Caesar knows that this smart politician while elected dictator managed to become so popular with the people that they offered him the kingly crown, but J. Caesar knew that he had to bide his time, that the rest of Senators know of his ambition, and after refusing three times he knew they would offer it to him a fourth time, and when then he accepted it he was murdered for ambition's sake."
"He" (Colonel Roosevelt) "was ambitiously waiting for the Government at Washington to start a military intervention in Mexico, but the leaders of the Republican party feared that the 3t (third termer) would muster an army of volunteer Rough Riders and return at election as the conquering hero."
"The danger even more grave than civil war is the possibility of intervention of foreign powers, who may help the 3t (third termer) in order to keep the Union disunited and separated." * * * * * *
"We would at once realize that we are surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves ready to destroy this hated Republic, ready to destroy Monroe Doctrine, ready to annex the Panama Canal and the great land of the brave and free, the home many millions free people, the dream of all heroes and martyrs for political freedom to 1848 would have ceased to be owing to the ambitions of one man, and one man's rule. I hope that the shot at Milwaukee has awakened the patriotism of the American nation."
"I have been accused of having selected a state where capital punishment is abolished. I would say that I did not know the laws of any state I travelled through. It would be ridiculous to fear death after the act as I expected to die during the act, and not live to tell the story, and if I knew that my death would have made the third term tradition more sacred, I am sorry I could not die for my country."
"Now, Honorable Men of the Jury, I wish to say no more, in the name of God go and do your duty, and only countries who ask admission by popular vote and accept the popular vote never wage a war of conquest murder for to steal abolishes opportunity for ambitious adv. (adventurers).
"All political adventurers and military leaders have adopted the career of conquering heroes wholesale murder, wholesale robbers called national aggrandizement. Prison for me is like martyrdom to me, like going to war. Before me is the spirit of George Washington, behind me, that of McKinley."
(The last sentence the prisoner explained, was written hastily, and he expected to revise it.)
This is a leaf from a Thomas Aquinas "Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard" that was produced in Italy during the second half of the fifteenth century.
The text is from Book I, Distinctio XIX, from Question IV at the end of Articulus I, followed by the Solutio to that Articulus, Articulus II followed by its Solutio and Questio V “Circa secundam” followed by the beginning of its Articulus I.
The size of the leaf is 288mm x 212mm (11 3/10ins. x 8 3/10ins.).
PROVENANCE: -
From a manuscript that was number 12 in an American bookseller's catalogue at a time when it had 309 leaves. Single leaves emerged in Otto Ege “Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts …. Copiously Annotated”, Cleveland, mid 1940's, no. 26 at $4 each.
Gwara Handlist 40.
GENERAL COMMENTS: -
With the exception of two age related marks on the verso this is a superb, clean, leaf containing a superb script that was influenced by the model of Petrarch's handwriting. It is a handsome leaf from an important text of the Middle Ages crowning several centuries of study in Biblical exegesis, doctrine and Canon Law.
THOMAS AQUINAS: -
Born in Lombardy and educated by the Benedictines at Monte Casino, in about 1239 he went to the University of Naples where the Dominican Friars in whose Order he enrolled in 1244 impressed him. He was ordained in 1250 in Cologne.
After studying at Paris he became a teacher there and wrote various commentaries. He then went to teach in several Italian cities before returning to Paris but in 1272 Naples demanded him back. It was there on 6th. December 1273 that he experienced a devine revelation so wonderful that he left his great Summa Theologica incomplete, saying that all his writings were like so much straw compared to the glory which had been shown to him. He died on 7th. March 1274.
PETER LOMBARD AND HIS “SENTENCES”: -
Peter Lombard, a scholastic theologian of the twelfth century, was commonly known as "the Lombard" after his birthplace which actually was probably Novara. It is expected that he then moved to Lombardy approximately after his birth in 1105-1110 CE He died in Paris, France about 1160 (1164). Although his family was poor, he found powerful patrons such as St. Bernard, that enabled him to gain a higher education at Bologna, then at Reims in France, and finally in Paris. In Paris, Peter taught theology in the cathedral school of Notre Dame, and it was there he found the time to produce the works discussed later in this article. Their dates can be only approximately fixed. The most famous of them, the Libri quatuor sententiarum , was probably composed between 1147 and 1150, although it may be placed as late as 1155. Nothing is certainly known of his later life except that be became bishop of Paris in 1159. According to Walter of St. Victor, a hostile witness, Peter obtained the office by simony; the more usual story is that Philip, younger brother of Louis VII, and archdeacon of Paris, was elected but declined in favour of Peter, his teacher. The date of his death can not be determined with certainty. The ancient epitaph in the church of St. Marcel at Paris assigns it to 1164, but the figures seem to be a later addition. The demonstrable fact that Maurice of Sully was bishop before the end of 1160 seems conclusive against it, although it is possible that in that year he resigned his see and lived three or four years longer.
The historic importance of Peter Lombard rests on his Sentences and the position taken by them in medieval philosophy. The earlier dogmatic theologians, such as Isidore of Seville, Alcuin, and Paschasius Radbert, had attempted to establish the doctrine of the Church from Bible texts and quotations from the Fathers. In the eleventh century this method gave place to dialectical and speculative working over of the traditional dogmas. Peter Lombard came into the field at a time when the new methods and their dialectical artifices were still exposed to wide-spread objection, but when the thirst for knowledge was exceedingly keen. One text-book after another was being published, the majority of them either issuing from the school of Abelard, or in some degree inspired by him. Of these works the greatest influence was attained by that of Peter, which was, for the time, an admirable compendium of theological knowledge. It is written under the influence pre-eminently of Abelard, Hugo of St. Victor, and the Decretum of Gratian. Whether Peter had himself seen the early writers whom he cites is frequently uncertain. As to his contemporaries, whom he knew thoroughly, he shows the influence of Abelard in his whole method and in countless details, while preserving a critical attitude toward his most pronounced peculiarities. On the other hand, he follows Hugo very closely and often textually, though here also with a tendency to avoid the purely speculative elements. For his sacramental doctrine, Gratian is very useful, especially through the quotations adduced by him and his legal attitude toward these questions.
Additional photos in set.
www.flickr.com/photos/morbius19/sets/72157634765605357/
youtu.be/HSRridF2nkg?t=9s trailer
Starring John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, Phil Chambers, Rodd Redwing, Robin Hughes, Frank Baxter, and Yvonne De Lavallade. Directed by Virgil W. Vogel.
The film opens with a brief lecture by Frank Baxter. He is a Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He explains that there are just a few areas left on Earth that are unknown and briefly describes a few theories that postulate there may be places deep under the surface of the Earth where man can survive.
In Asia an archeological dig has discovered something. Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar) and Prof. Etienne Lafarge (Nestor Paiva) expose a stone tablet. They take it back to their tent to clean and examine it. We are introduced to Dr. Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont) and Dr. Paul Stuart (Phil Chambers) who ask Bentley to translate the find: it may be related to the story of Gilgamesh and Ishtar. An earthquake rattles the area and the tablet is broken. This puts their work a month behind schedule. A small boy discovers something the earthquake brought down a mountain and brings it to Bentley. He cleans it and it is revealed to be an ancient oil lamp. The inscription is translated as a pre-biblical Noah's Ark story. The party of scientists set off for the mountain where the artifact originated before it was dislodged by the earthquake.
They set up base camp and plan their final assault on the mountain the next day. A storm hits the base camp that evening. As they set off the next morning an avalanche brings down an arm from a statue. They continue climbing and discover the ruins of an ancient Sumarian civilization on a small plateau. They estimate the ruins are 5,000 years old. While Dr. Stuart walks around the ruins he falls down through an opening. The rest of the party goes down on ropes to save him. Bentley leads the way, followed by Lafarge, who is much older than the rest. Bellamin is third down the opening followed by Nazar (Rodd Redwing). After dropping down about 200 feet Bentley finds Stuart, but he died in the fall. Nazar notices a loose piton and hammers it secure, but that triggers a rockfall and he is killed and the three archeologists are trapped.
They start searching for a way out, but Lafarge is experiencing breathing problems. He is also claustrophobic, They wander through the cave and discover a light source, which reveals a large underground city. They notice a very large tablet that informs them they have discovered the temple of Ishtar. They bed down for the night, but a lizard creature (a mole person?) digs up to the surface to spy on the three. A short time later, the party is attacked, sacks are placed over their heads, and they are pulled underground. They awake in a cave and Lafarge has claw marks on his chest. Two very pale white representative of the human underground civilization suddenly appear and direct they follow them. The scientists are escorted back to the city and presented to the High Priest, Ilinu (Alan Napier) who is performing a ritual. Ilinu immediately suspects the strangers and tells the king that they are evil. The king questions the three archeologists. At the conclusion of the questioning the high priest sentences them to death.
The three escape into a cave, with guards in hot pursuit. Bentley shines his flashlight in the face of the First Officer (Robin Hughes) who cringes and retreats. It seems the light hurts their eyes. The three return to the city and shine their flashlight on the King and High Priest and they also retreat. The inhabitants of the city are albino, adapted to a world without sunlight. A lizard creature pulls the body of one of the guards underground. Seeing this, Lafarge panics and runs back into one of the caves. Bentley and Bellamin follow and discover a slave labor camp where the lizard creatures are forced to cultivate the food source--mushrooms. The guards whip their charges, which particularly incenses Bentley. Laforge is attacked and killed by a lizard creature, but is driven off by the flashlight before he can eat Laforge.
Bentley and Bellamin return to the city and are met by the high priest along the way who tells them that they are welcome back to the city since they "possess the divine fire of Ishtar". The King is convinced they are holy messengers and are invited to a feast. One of the servers, Adad (Cynthia Patrick) drops her bowl of mushrooms, and is ordered whipped by the king. Bentley stops the punishment and is told not to interfere by the High Priest. Bentley helps her to her feet and notices she is not albino, but normally pigmented. The King presents Adad as a gift to Bentley. The High Priest explains that she is not human (like them) but a "marked one". The King and Priest further explain that when the population gets too large the excess are sacrificed in the fire of Ishtar.
Bentley and Adad talk about their respective worlds as the High Priest spies on them. The next day Bentley and Bellamin tour the city. Meanwhile the High Priest meets with his fellow priests and plots to get the flashlight. This will show the king that the strangers are not divine, but mere mortals.
Bentley and Bellamin intercede when three lizard creatures are being beaten, but their flashlight batteries begin to fail. They free the lizard creatures. Food production has been reduced because the lizard creatures are rebelling against their mistreatment. The High Priest schedules another sacrifice. After a ritual dance three women are escorted into a brightly lit chamber, enter, and are locked in. When they open the chamber later, the charred remains are carried out on stretchers. The High Priest is shown the dead body of Laforge. The High Priest was told by Bentley that Laforge was called back to Ishtar, reinforcing the story of his divinity. The High Priest shows the body to the king and explains that he is mortal and asks the King for permission to kill Bentley and Bellamin. The King agrees. Bentley and Bellamin are drugged and arrested. Elinu takes possession of the flashlight. Adad escapes and is captured by the lizard creatures. Bentley and Bellamin are taken to the lighted sacrifice chamber and locked in. The lizard creatures attack the city in force and kill the inhabitants, including the King and High Priest.
The lizard creatures break open the sacrifice chamber, but the light repels them. Adad isn't afraid of the light and joins Bentley and Bellamin on their ascent back to their world. They reach the top and get into warmer clothes. Another earthquake strikes the area, and Adad is killed when a stone pillar crushes her. The underground city is buried.
( July 1, 2010 ) Senator-elect Vicente "Tito" Sotto III takes his oath of office before Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Reynato Corona.
In line with his campaign promise, Senator Sotto commenced his legislative initiatives as he filed recently Senate Bills seeking for the creation of Special Drug Courts and a National Penitentiary for drug crimes which shall be deliberated upon in the 15th Congress slated to open on July 26,2010.
July 3, 2010 Compiled news clipping from Manila Bulletin on-line
DFA airs concern on rising OFW drug cases
By MADEL R. SABATER
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) expressed concern on Saturday on Filipinos continuously being used as “drug mules” following the recent arrest of three Filipinas in Hong Kong and Macau.
According to the Philippine Consulate-General (PCG) in Macau, a Filipina was arrested last June 26 for allegedly smuggling almost one kilogram of drugs hidden in three pairs of sports shoes in her luggage.
Consul-General to Macau Renato Villapando said the DFA is concerned with the increasing number of Filipinos serving sentences in Macau for drug trafficking. Currently, 17 Filipinos are detained in Macau.
He stressed that the DFA will help the Filipina who was recently caught in Macau for alleged drug trafficking.
In Hong Kong, two Filipinas were also arrested in separate occasions for alleged drug trafficking.
The first of the two Filipinas was arrested last June 2 at the Hong Kong International Airport after authorities allegedly found 1,040 grams of heroin hidden inside the soles of three pairs of shoes in her suitcase. The estimated street value of the drugs was HK$930,000 or US$119,500.
The second Filipina was arrested last June 24 for taking in 876 grams of heroin with an estimated street value of HK$780,000 (US$100,300). She is currently confined at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and will later be taken for custodial remand to the Tai Lam Center for Women.
"The Consulate-General will ensure that these Filipinas will have legal representation in all their court appearances and will continue to monitor their cases," Philippine Consul-General to Hong Kong Claro Cristobal said.
It will be recalled that the DFA has been warning Filipinos against becoming drug couriers.
In China, drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of illegal drugs is punishable by 15 years in prison, life imprisonment, or death. In Muslim countries, drug trafficking is punishable by death, according to Shariah law.
June 28, 2010 Compiled news clipping from Manila Standard
Pasay admits worsening menace of illegal drugs
Pasay Mayor-elect Antonino Calixto admits a worsening case of drugs and the need for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to be stationed in the city.
“Illegal drugs has become one of Pasay’s biggest problems. This has a become a big threat not only to the security of our constituents but also to our economic progress,” he said.
Calixto said he would ask the PDEA to establish a detachment before drug trafficking goes out of hand.
In the past weeks, PDEA has been raiding suspected drug dens in Pasay leading to the arrest of a local policeman selling cocaine.
“The presence of a PDEA unit here makes a lot of difference. Drug traffickers will become increasingly wary of their activities, and sooner or later they will leave the city and shift their business somewhere,” Calixto said.
Last month, the entire 12-man anti-illegal drugs unit and its commander was sacked after a series of PDEA raids.
Senior Supt. Raul Petrasanta said Chief Insp. Salvador Solana, head of the Station Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Force has been placed in floating status while his 12 men were sent to desk jobs at the Pasay police headquarters.
On April 27, PDEA agents arrested nine suspected drug traffickers inside the Apelo Cruz Compound, resulting in the confiscation of several grams of shabu and drug paraphernalia.
This was followed by the arrest of PO1 Rodelio Raña, of Precinct who yielded 1.5 kilos of cocaine during a sting operation at the parking lot of SM Mall of Asia.
PDEA agents also raided Barangay 43, 44, and 45 in Tramo district and arrested at least 15 people following reports of rampant sale of shabu. Ferdinand FabellaBan:
June 28, 2010 compiled news clipping from mb.com.ph
Drug trafficking, abuse hindering MDG efforts
By MADEL R. SABATER
Drug abuse and drug trafficking are hindering efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
“Our work to achieve the MDGs and fight drugs must go hand-in-hand. In seeking to eradicate illicit crops, we must also work to wipe out poverty,” Ban said.
Drug-related crimes “deepen vulnerability to instability and poverty,” he said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s 2010 World Drug Report released last week said that the Philippines is among three Southeast Asian countries which have the highest annual prevalence of using prohibited drugs (amphetamines) in East and Southeast Asia, the other two are Laos and Thailand.
The report said that Amphethamine – type stimulants (ATS) abuse is highest in East and Southeast Asia at 36 percent, with the global number of people using ATS expected to exceed those using opium and cocaine.
The report also said the Philippines was among countries that have significant ATS manufacture since 2000, along with Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, and USA.
Ban noted that aside from deepening poverty, prohibited drugs also help spread HIV/AIDS through injected drugs. It also undermines achieving environmental sustainability through such side-effects as chemical runoffs from cocaine laboratories.
June 23, 2010 - compiled news clipping from Inquirer.net
Shabu hidden in false bottom of Malaysian's luggage seized at Naia
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:16:00 06/23/2010
CUSTOMS POLICEMEN SEIZED 10 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) from a Malaysian who arrived from Thailand at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night.
Bureau of Customs (BOC) Duty Collector Romulo Mahor identified the male passenger as How Eng Pheow, 41, who arrived at Naia Terminal 2 on board Philippine Airlines Flight 337 from Bangkok at around 7:30 p.m.
Roque said that while at the customs examination lane, the suspect went back and forth to a counter manned by collector Manuel Mendoza several times. Pheow then left the trolley bag he was carrying in front of Mendoza’s counter and tried to leave the customs area.
Mendoza alerted customs policemen and told them not to allow Pheow to leave and to return him to the examination counter.
Pheow’s luggage contained personal items on top, but Mendoza said a further search revealed that the bag had a false bottom.
Inside were several plastic bags containing the suspected banned substance.
Roque said an on site chemical test on one of the bags indicated that the contents were shabu.
The cache has been turned over to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Airport Police for verification.
Pheow was placed under arrest and later charged with violation of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The BOC, PDEA and airport policemen have organized a team force to find out if Pheow had contacts at the airport premises or if a syndicate could have been involved in the drug smuggling.
Only a little over two months ago, a Malaysian national was arrested after arriving in the country with 14 kilos of shabu.
July 10, 2010 Compiled news clipping from the philstar.com
100-million shabu seized in Sta. Ana drug raid
By Non Alquitran
MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) arrested five Chinese nationals and confiscated from them 20 kilos of shabu with a street value of P100 million during a raid in Manila Thursday.
NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales said the five suspects reportedly belong to a drug syndicate believed behind the operation of a clandestine shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) laboratory discovered in Taguig City recently.
“This anti-drug operation is a continuing process. We expect to arrest other members of the syndicate in due time,” Rosales said in an interview.
Those arrested were identified as Ming Yuan Yuet, 40; Danny Tan, 30; Aga Co, 33; Eugene Co, 32, and Michelle Lee, 24, all Chinese nationals.
After the raid in Taguig City months back, Rosales directed Superintendent Leo Francisco, head of the regional police intelligence and operation unit (RPIOU), to conduct follow-up raids.
Based on information given by suspects arrested in the Taguig raid, Francisco conducted surveillance operation on tenants of Unit 63 Eurovilla Homes along New Panaderos street in Sta. Ana.
Rosales said samples bought during a test buy were determined by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as high-grade shabu.
Francisco served Thursday a search warrant in the presence of barangay chairman Abraham Sejosta; Manila assistant prosecutor Ma. Theresa Basillo and Jean Banaay, administrator of the Eurovilla Townhomes. The warrant was issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Amor Reyes.
Francisco said the five suspects gave themselves up peacefully. Aside from 20 kilos of high-grade shabu, the raiding team also seized two containers of a brown liquid they suspect to be raw material for the manufacture of shabu, as well as various other laboratory equipment.
Police also found six plastic bags of brown capsules, 14,500-milliliter bottles of glucose solution, a washing machine and dryer, and two weighing scales.
The NCRPO chief said the Chinese nationals chose to remain silent. “They pretend that they cannot speak our dialect. Our agents engaged them only in a sign language,” Rosales said, adding that they are hiring an interpreter.
Rosales ordered that all confiscated items be turned over to the PDEA while the five suspects were charged for possession of dangerous drugs and other paraphernalia before the Manila prosecutor’s office.
July 6, 2010 - compiled news clipping from Inquirer Headlines / Metro
Judge denies ‘Alabang Boy’s’ petition for bail
By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:58:00 07/06/2010
A JUDGE HAS JUNKED THE PETItion for bail filed by one of the so-called “Alabang Boys” nearly two years after the three were arrested on drug peddling charges.
In his July 2 order, Judge Jaime Salazar of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 103 said the evidence Joseph Tecson had presented in court to back up his petition—a denial of the accusation that he sold cocaine to a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agent—was weak.
“A denial, per jurisprudence, is a weak kind of evidence when arrayed against an affirmative and positive identification. In a bail petition, the main concern is whether the prosecution’s evidence is strong and such positive identification of the accused is strong,” Salazar said.
He added that the defense’s questioning of the PDEA’s administrative procedures could be fully explored during a court trial.
“As [for] the alleged noncompliance with certain administrative procedures by the PDEA team, the same will be assessed when the case is studied on the issue of guilt or innocence of the accused,” the judge said.
Tecson was arrested in September 2008 after he allegedly sold cocaine to Louie Valdez, a PDEA agent, in Cubao, Quezon City. Separate operations led to the arrest of Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph for drugs in Ayala, Alabang.
July 16, 2010 Compiled news clipping from philstar.com
Nahulihan ng 2.5 kilo ng heroin sa Indonesia, Pinay mabibitay
Ni Ellen Fernando (Pilipino Star Ngayon)
MANILA, Philippines - Isa na namang Filipina ang mahaharap sa parusang bitay matapos mahulihan ito ng 2.5 kilo ng heroin sa kanyang bagahe habang papasok sa Ngurah Rai Airport sa Bali, Indonesia.
Sa natanggap na ulat kahapon ng Department of Foreign Affairs mula sa RP embassy sa Indonesia, ang naarestong may dala ng 2.5 kilo ng heroin ay si Carolina Sarmiento, 41 anyos. Naaresto ito ng Customs Police noong Martes sa Ngurah Rai Airport.
Si Sarmiento ay agad na inaresto matapos ang isinagawang pagsusuri ng Customs officers sa kanyang luggage ilang minuto lamang pagkababa niya sa nasabing paliparan noong Lunes ng gabi.
Lumabas naman sa report ng The Jakarta Post na nagmula sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia si Sarmiento at tinangkang pumasok dala ang 2.5 kilong heroin na nagkakahalaga ng Rp5 bilyon (pera ng Malaysia) o P26.5 milyon papasok sa Indonesia.
Sinabi ng Bali Customs officials na nadiskubre ang heroin habang nakatago sa loob ng hardcase luggage ng nasabing turistang Pinay.
Ang pagkaka-aresto umano sa Pinay ay ang ikalawang insidente ng pagkakasabat sa mga hinihinalang drug mules sa loob lamang ng 24 oras sa Indonesia matapos na matiklo din ng Customs officers ang isang babaeng Malaysian na may dalang 220 gramo ng methamphetamine hydrochloride o shabu na nakatago sa ibaba ng kanyang suot na pantalon habang papasok sa Dumai seaport noong Martes.
Chesters Roman Fort, also known as Cilurnum, is a historic site located in Northumberland, England. It holds great significance as one of the best-preserved Roman cavalry forts in Britain. In this history of Chesters Roman Fort, we will explore its origins, its role in Roman Britain, and its legacy that still stands today.
Origins:
Chesters Roman Fort was built around AD 123 during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. It was constructed as part of Hadrian's Wall, a monumental defensive fortification that stretched across the width of northern Britain. The fort was strategically positioned near the River North Tyne, serving as a crucial military base to guard the eastern end of the wall. The name "Cilurnum" is believed to have Celtic origins, possibly referring to the nearby rocky hillside.
Military Significance:
The fort played a significant role in the Roman Empire's efforts to maintain control over the northern frontier. It housed a cohort of approximately 500 cavalry soldiers from the Second Asturian, a Spanish unit, known for their equestrian skills. These troops were responsible for patrolling the surrounding area, conducting reconnaissance missions, and providing support to other Roman forts along Hadrian's Wall.
Layout and Architecture:
Chesters Roman Fort was designed in a rectangular shape, covering an area of around 5 acres (2 hectares). The fort was enclosed by stone walls, fortified with defensive towers at regular intervals. It featured four main gates, one on each side, providing access to the interior. The fort's layout followed the standard Roman military design, with various buildings and facilities arranged around a central courtyard known as the principia. These included barracks, stables, granaries, a hospital, a commander's house (praetorium), and a headquarters building (principia).
Daily Life at the Fort:
The soldiers stationed at Chesters Roman Fort led a disciplined and structured life. Their daily routines involved training exercises, maintenance of weapons and equipment, and regular patrols. The fort had a well-organized system for supplies, with granaries providing food storage and a nearby river facilitating the transportation of goods. Soldiers would also engage in activities like cooking, crafting, and socializing during their downtime.
Interaction with the Local Community:
While Chesters Roman Fort primarily served as a military establishment, there was interaction between the Roman soldiers and the local communities. The fort's location near the river allowed for trade with nearby settlements, fostering economic ties. The soldiers would have also engaged in diplomatic efforts with local tribes and possibly recruited auxiliary troops from the native population.
Decline and Abandonment:
By the late 4th century, the Roman Empire faced numerous challenges, including barbarian invasions and internal struggles. The fort at Chesters, along with other Roman sites in Britain, began to decline in importance. The fort was likely abandoned by the early 5th century as the Roman legions were gradually withdrawn from Britain. With the collapse of Roman rule, the fort fell into disrepair and was eventually reclaimed by nature.
Rediscovery and Preservation:
The rediscovery of Chesters Roman Fort began in the 18th century when landowner John Clayton excavated the site. Clayton's work revealed the impressive remains of the fort, including well-preserved sections of the walls, gateways, and buildings. Recognizing the historical significance of the site, Clayton took steps to preserve it, purchasing the land and undertaking further excavations. He built a museum to house the artifacts and opened the site to the public in 1903.
Legacy and Tourism:
Today, Chesters Roman Fort stands as a testament to the engineering and military prowess of the Roman Empire. Visitors can explore the well-preserved remains of the fort, including the commanding officer's house, granaries, and the central courtyard. The site offers insights into the daily lives of Roman soldiers and provides a glimpse into the complex network of forts and walls that constituted Hadrian's Wall.
Chesters Roman Fort, or Cilurnum, remains an important historical and cultural site in Northumberland, England. It serves as a valuable link to the Roman occupation of Britain and offers visitors a unique opportunity to step back in time and immerse themselves in the ancient world of the Roman Empire.
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.
The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.
Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.
Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.
History
Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.
The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.
The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.
Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.
Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.
Roman invasion
The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.
The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.
Establishment of Roman rule
After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.
On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.
While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.
There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.
In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.
For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.
Roman military organisation in the north
In 84 AD
In 84 AD
In 155 AD
In 155 AD
Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall
There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.
Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.
A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.
The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.
During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.
In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.
The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.
3rd century
The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.
Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.
The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.
Northern campaigns, 208–211
An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.
As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.
During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.
Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.
The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.
Diocletian's reforms
As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).
The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.
Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.
The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.
The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.
Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.
A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.
4th century
Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.
In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.
As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.
Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.
End of Roman rule
The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.
The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.
Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.
Sub-Roman Britain
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.
In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.
Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.
Trade
During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.
Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.
These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.
It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.
From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.
Economy
Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.
The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.
By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.
Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.
Government
Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain
Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.
To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.
Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.
Demographics
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.
Town and country
During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.
Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.
Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C
Alcester (Alauna)
Alchester
Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C
Bath (Aquae Sulis) C
Brough (Petuaria) C
Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)
Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C
Caernarfon (Segontium) C
Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C
Caister-on-Sea C
Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C
Carlisle (Luguvalium) C
Carmarthen (Moridunum) C
Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)
Chester (Deva Victrix) C
Chester-le-Street (Concangis)
Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C
Cirencester (Corinium) C
Colchester (Camulodunum) C
Corbridge (Coria) C
Dorchester (Durnovaria) C
Dover (Portus Dubris)
Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C
Gloucester (Glevum) C
Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)
Ilchester (Lindinis) C
Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C
Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C
London (Londinium) C
Manchester (Mamucium) C
Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)
Northwich (Condate)
St Albans (Verulamium) C
Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C
Towcester (Lactodurum)
Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C
Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C
Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C
York (Eboracum) C
Religion
The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.
The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.
Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).
Christianity
It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.
The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.
A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.
Environmental changes
The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas
Legacy
During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.
Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe
Because there is a law of cause and effect, the universe can't and won't create itself from nothing.
A creator God (or supernatural first cause) has been made redundant and the final gap (pertaining to the so-called God of the gaps) has now been filled ... who says so?
Atheists, along with the secularist pundits in the popular media.
Why do they say that?
Because they believe that the greatest brain in atheism - Stephen Hawking, has finally discovered the secret of the origin of the universe and a naturalistic replacement for God.
The atheist replacement for God is summed up in a single sentence written by Hawking:
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing"
That is it .... problem solved - apparently!
The secularists in the popular media loved it, as far as they were concerned the problem certainly was solved. Hawking had finally dealt the fatal blow to all religion, especially Christianity. No need to question it, if a revered scientist of his calibre, is so sure of how the universe came into being, it must be correct.
The new atheists loved it, they wasted no time in proclaiming the ultimate triumph of 'science' over religious mythology and superstition.
So just how credible is the atheist claim that God has been made redundant?
And just how 'scientific' is Hawking's replacement for God?
Shall we analyse it?
"Because there is a law of gravity ....
So, if the law of gravity existed, how is that nothing?
AND - where did the law of gravity come from?
AND - how can a law of gravity exist before that which gravity relates to ... i.e. matter?
"the universe can and will create itself from nothing"
How can something create itself, without pre-existing its own creation?
(A) could possibly create (B), but how could (A) create (A)? Of course it can't.
What about the 'nothing' that is not really nothing, as most people understand 'nothing', but a bizarre 'nothing' in which a law of gravity exists. A nothing which is actually a 'something' where a law of gravity is presumably some sort of eternally, existent entity?
AND - Is Hawking implying that the self-creation of the universe is made possible by the pre-existence of the law of gravity?
Of course, natural laws are not creative agents, they simply describe basic properties and operation of material things. They can't create anything, or cause the creation of anything. Something which is a property of something, cannot create that which it is a property of.
So, even if we ignore the law of cause and effect which definitively rules out a natural, first cause of the universe, the atheist notion of the universe arising of its own volition from nothing is still impossible, and can be regarded as illogical and unscientific nonsense. Hawking's naturalistic replacement for God, presented in his single sentence, and so loved by the new, atheist clique, is obviously just contradictory and confused nonsense.
The truth, which atheists don't want to hear, is that atheism is intellectually and scientifically indefensible. That is why they always duck out of explaining how the concept of an uncaused, inadequate, natural first cause is possible.
The best they ever come up with, is something like "we don't really know what laws existed at the start of the universe".
However, the atheist claim that - we don't really know... is completely spurious.
We certainly do know that the Law of Cause and Effect is universal, there is no way round it.
The only reason atheists don't want to accept it, is ideological.
And ... isn't it strange, that the only laws atheists dispute are precisely those that interfere with their beliefs. For example, atheists seem pretty sure that one law existed .... the law of gravity (even prior to that which gravity is a property of … matter).
Why are they so sure that the law of gravity existed?
Because their naturalistic substitute for God, summed up in the sentence by Stephen Hawking, apparently requires that the law of gravity existed before anything else …..
Here it is again ...
‘Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing’ Stephen Hawking.
So atheists DO KNOW for sure that the law of gravity existed, but they don’t really know what other laws existed at the start of the universe. They especially doubt that the Law of Cause and Effect existed.
AMAZING!
Well, how about this for a refutation of Hawking’s replacement for God, also summed up in a single sentence?
Because there is a Law of Cause and Effect, the universe can’t and won’t create itself from nothing!
That is something Stephen Hawking conveniently forgot.
Apparently, he accepts that the law of gravity existed, because he thinks it suits his argument, but he ignores the existence of other laws that positively destroy his argument.
So why is it atheists that try to dispute the universality of natural laws?
According to their claims, they are supposed to be the champions of science. Yet we find in practice that it is actually theists who end up defending natural laws and the scientific method against those atheists who try to refute any laws and scientific principles that interfere with their naturalistic beliefs.
What happened to the alleged conflict between science and religion? That is revealed as purely, atheist propaganda. There is obviously much more conflict between atheism and science.
Why is the law of cause and effect so important?
Because it tells us that all natural entities, events and processes are contingent.
They are all subject to preceding causes. It tells us that natural entities and events are not autonomous, they cannot operate independently of causes. That is such an important principle, it is the basis of the scientific method. Science is about looking for causes. A natural event without a cause, is a scientific impossibility.
Once you suggest such a notion you are stepping outside the bounds of science and violating the scientific method.
What about the first cause of everything? Well, the first cause was obviously a unique thing, not only unique, but radically different to all natural entities and occurrences. The first cause had to be an autonomous entity, it had to be eternally self-existent, self-reliant, non-contingent ... i.e. completely independent of causes and the limitations that causes impose.
The first cause, by virtue of being the very first, could not have had any preceding cause, and obviously didn't require any cause for its existence.
The first cause also had to be capable of creating everything that followed it. It is responsible for every subsequent cause and effect that is, or has ever been. That means nothing, or the sum total of everything that followed the first cause, can ever be greater in any respect than the first cause.
So the idea that the first cause could be a natural entity or event is just ludicrous.
The first cause is radically different to any natural entity, it is not contingent and that is why it is called a supernatural entity, the supernatural, first cause.
That is the verdict of science, logic and reason. Atheists dispute the verdict of science and insist that the first cause was a 'natural' event which was somehow able to defy natural laws that govern all natural events.
Consequently, atheism can be regarded as anti-science. And the real enemy of atheism is science, not religion.
An idea which seems to be popular with atheists at present, is a continuously, reciprocating universe, one which ends by running out of energy potential and then rewinds itself in an never ending cycle ..... this is an attempt to evade the fact that an uncaused, natural, first cause is impossible.
So is it a valid solution?
It is pretty obvious that the idea of the universe simply rewinding itself in a never ending cycle, which had no beginning, is complete, unscientific nonsense. How such a proposal can be presented as serious science, beggars belief.
It seems atheists will try anything to justify their naturalist ideology. They apparently have no compunction about completely disregarding natural laws.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics rules out such atheist, pie-in-the-sky, origins mythology.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, the idea of a rewinding universe is tantamount to applying the discredited notion of perpetual motion - on a grand scale, to the universe.
Contingent things don't just rewind of their own accord.
The Second Law (not to mention common sense) rules it out.
Where does the renewed power or renewed energy potential come from?
If you wind up a clock, it doesn't rewind itself after it has stopped.
The universe had a beginning and it will have an end. That is what science tells us, it cannot rewind itself.
Such ridiculous atheist musings are just a desperate attempt to wriggle out of the inevitable conclusion of logic, and the Law of Cause and Effect which are the real enemies of atheist ideology.
Atheism is hoisted on its own petard by natural law and science, not by religion.
Atheists can’t refute the Law of Cause and Effect which is so devastating to their naturalist agenda, so they regularly invent bizarre scenarios which ignore natural laws, and hope people won’t notice. If anyone does they just brush it off with remarks like “we just don’t know ”.
Sorry, atheist apologists may not know …. but all sensible people do know, we certainly know what is impossible …. And we certainly know that you cannot blithely step outside the constraints of natural laws and scientific principles, as atheists do, and remain credible.
Atheists are anti-science, because they treat natural law and the whole principle of the scientific method with utter contempt, while they masquerade as the champions of science to the public.
A further nail in the coffin of bogus, atheist science is the existence of order.
Atheists assume that the universe is purposeless, but they cannot explain the existence of order.
The development of order requires an organizational element.
To do useful work, or to counter the effects of entropy, energy needs to be directed or guided.
Raw energy alone actually tends to increase the effects of entropy, it doesn't increase order.
The organizational principle in living systems is provided by the informational element encoded in DNA. Atheists have yet to explain how that first, genetic information arose of its own volition in the so-called Primordial Soup.
Natural laws are a type of information pertinent to all natural entities, they guide the behaviour of energy and matter, but also serve to limit it.
They describe inherent properties of matter/energy, and natural processes operate only within the confines of natural laws based on their own properties. They cannot exceed the parameters of those laws.
The much acclaimed, Dawkinsian principle that randomness can develop into order by means of a sieving process, such as shaken pebbles being sorted by falling through a hole of a particular size is erroneous, because it completely ignores the regulatory influence of natural laws on the outcome, which are not at all random.
If we can predict the outcome in advance, as we can with Dawkins' example, it cannot be called random. We CAN predict the outcome because we know that the pebbles will behave according to the regulatory influence of natural laws, such as the law of gravity. If there was no law of gravity, then Dawkins' pebbles, when shaken, would not fall through the hole, they would not be sorted, they would act completely unpredictably, possibly floating about in the air in all directions. In that case, the randomness would not result in any order. That is true randomness.
Dawkins' randomness, allegedly developing into order, is not random at all, the outcome is predictable and controlled by natural laws and the inherent properties of matter. He is starting with 2 organizational principles, natural laws and the inherent, ordered structure and properties of matter, and he calls that randomness!
Bogus science indeed!
Order is already there at the beginning of the universe, in the form of natural laws and the ordered composition and structure of matter .... it doesn't just develop from random events.
A major problem for atheists is to explain where natural laws came from?
In a purposeless universe there should be no regulatory principles at all.
Firstly, we would not expect anything to exist, we would expect eternal nothingness.
Secondly, even if we overlook that impossible hurdle, and assume by some amazing fluke and contrary to logic, something was able to create itself from nothing ….. we would expect the ‘something’ would have no ordered structure, and we would expect it to behave randomly and chaotically.
This is an absolutely fundamental question to which atheists have no answer. The basic properties of matter/energy, and the universe, scream …. ‘purpose’.
Atheists say the exact opposite.
Furthermore, if we consider the accepted, atheist belief; that matter is inherently predisposed to produce life and the genetic information for life, whenever environmental conditions are conducive (abiogenesis), where does that predisposition for life come from? Atheists are hoisted on their own petard, and the atheist idea of a random, purposeless, universe is left completely in tatters.
It is the atheist ideology that is anti-science, not necessarily individual scientists.
There may be sincere, atheist scientists who respect the scientific method and natural laws, but they are wedded to an ideology that - when push comes to shove, does not respect natural laws.
It is evident that whenever natural laws interfere with atheist naturalist beliefs, the beliefs take precedence over the rigorous, scientific method. It is then that natural laws are disregarded by atheists in favour of unscientific fantasies which are conducive to their ideology.
Of course, in much day-to-day practical science and technology, the question of violating laws doesn't even arise, and we cannot deny that in the course of such work, atheists will respect the scientific method of experiment and observation within the framework of the Law of Cause and Effect and other established laws of science.
Bizarrely, It is a different matter entirely, when it comes to hypotheses about origins. It then becomes an 'anything goes' situation. The main criteria then seems to be that it doesn’t matter whether your hypothesis violates natural laws (all sorts of excuses can be made as to why natural laws need not apply), all that matters is that it is entirely naturalistic, and can be made to sound plausible to the public.
However, the same atheist scientists would not entertain anything in general, day-to-day science, that is not completely in accordance with the scientific method, they make an exception ONLY with anything to do with origins, whether it be the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or the origin of species.
Atheism is not simply passive non-belief, you can only be a ‘genuine’ atheist if you proactively believe in the following illogical and unscientific notions:
A natural, first cause of the universe that was ‘uncaused’.
A natural, first cause of the universe that was patently not adequate for the effect, (a cause which was able to produce an effect far greater than itself and superior to its own abilities).
That the universe created ITSELF from nothing.
That natural laws simply arose of their own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.
That energy potential at the start of everything material was able to wind itself up from absolute zero, of its own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.
That the effect of entropy (Second Law of Thermodynamics) was somehow suspended or didn’t operate to permit the development of order in the universe.
That life spontaneously generated itself, of its own volition, from sterile matter, contrary to: the Law of Biogenesis, the laws of probability, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Information Theory and common sense.
That the complete human genome was created by means of a long chain of copying mistakes of the original, genetic information in the first living cell, (mutations of mutations of mutations, etc. etc.).
That the complex DNA code was produced by chemical processes.
That the very first, genetic information, encoded in the DNA of the first living cell, created itself by some unknown means.
That matter is somehow inherently predisposed to develop into living cells, whenever conditions are conducive to life. But such a predisposition for life just arose of its own accord, with no purpose and with no apparent cause.
That an ordered structure of atoms, guiding laws of physics, order in the cosmos, order in the living cell and complex information, are what we would expect to occur naturally in a purposeless universe.
The claim of Dawkins and other atheists to be the champions of science and reason is clearly bogus.
They think they can get away with it by pretending to have no beliefs.
However, when challenged, they indirectly espouse the unscientific beliefs outlined above, in their futile attempts to refute the evidence for a supernatural first cause.
Whenever possible, they avoid declaring those beliefs explicitly, but you don’t need to be very astute to realize that relying on those beliefs is the unavoidable conclusion of their arguments.
That is why atheism is intellectually bankrupt and is doomed to the dustbin of history. And that is why we are seeing such a rise in militant, evangelizing, atheist zealots, such as Dawkins.
Their crusading, bravado masks their desperation that the public is so hard to convince. What Dawkins needs to face is that he is in no position to attack what he considers are the bizarre beliefs of others, when his own beliefs (which he fails to publicly acknowledge) are much more bizarre.
Christianity and pagan gods?
Atheists frequently try to dismiss the idea of a Creator by comparing it to the numerous, pagan gods that people have worshipped throughout history.
Do they have a good point?
Certainly not, this is just a red herring ….
Other gods, cannot be the first cause or Creator.
An idol of wood or stone, or the Sun, Moon, planets, Mother Nature, Mother Earth etc. are all material, contingent things, they cannot be the first cause.
In fact, they are much more similar to the atheist belief in the powers of a naturalistic entity to create the universe, than they are to the one, Creator God of Christianity.
The Creator is a Supernatural, First Cause, which is not a contingent entity, nothing like the pagan gods, but rather a self-existent, necessary entity. As the very first cause of everything in the universe, it cannot be contingent (it cannot rely on anything outside itself for its existence, i.e. it is self-existent) and therefore it cannot be a material entity. The first cause is necessary because, not being contingent, it necessarily exists. If anything exists that is not contingent, it has to have within itself everything necessary for its own existence. If it is also responsible for the existence of anything outside itself (which as the first cause of the universe, we know it is) it is also necessary for the existence of those things, and has to be entirely adequate for the purpose of bringing them into being and maintaining their continued existence. It is not subject to natural laws, which only apply to natural events and effects, because, as the first cause, it is the initiator and creator of everything material, including the laws which govern material events, and of time itself.
The atheist view of a natural first cause is not even rational, to propose that all the qualities I have mentioned above could apply to a material entity is clearly ridiculous. But atheism has no regard for natural laws or logic. Atheists get round it by simply dressing up their irrational beliefs to make them appear ‘scientific’.
This combined with rants and erroneous and derisory slogans about religious myths and superstition makes it all seem perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, those with little knowledge, or who can’t be bothered to think for themselves are taken in by it.
Atheists repeatedly claim that they have refuted the law of cause and effect by asking : So what caused God then?
How true is that?
The ... what caused God? argument is a rather silly argument which atheists regularly trot out. All it demonstrates is that they don't understand basic logic.
The question to always ask them is; what part of FIRST don't you understand?
If something is the very FIRST, it means there is nothing that precedes it. First means first, not second or third.
That means that the first cause cannot be a contingent entity, because a contingent entity depends on something preceding it for its existence. In which case, if something precedes it, it couldn't be FIRST.
All natural entities, events and effects are contingent ... that is why the Law of Cause and Effect states that ... every NATURAL effect requires an adequate cause.
That means that the first cause cannot be a natural entity. An UNCAUSED, NATURAL event or entity is ruled out as not possible by the Law of Cause and Effect.
Therefore the very FIRST CAUSE of the universe, which we know cannot be caused, by virtue of it being FIRST (not second or third) CANNOT be a natural entity or event.
Thus we deduce that the first cause ... cannot be contingent, cannot be a natural entity, and cannot be subject to the Law of Cause and Effect.
So the first cause has to be non-material, i.e. supernatural.
The first cause also has to have the creative potential to create every other cause and effect that follows it.
In other words, the first cause cannot be inferior in any respect to the properties, powers or qualities of anything that exists...
The effect cannot be greater than the cause....
So we can thus deduce that the first cause is: UNCAUSED, SUPERNATURAL, self-existent, and capable of creating everything we see in the existing universe.
If there is life in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create life,
If there is intelligence in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create intelligence.
If there is information in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create information.
If there is consciousness in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create consciousness. And so on and on. If it exists, the first cause is responsible for it, and must have the ability to create it.
That is the Creator God … and His existence is supported by impeccable logic and adherence to the demands of natural law.
Atheists often say: you can’t fill gaps in knowledge with a supernatural first cause.
But we are not talking about filling gaps, we are talking about a fundamental issue ... the origin of everything in the material realm.
The first cause is not a gap, it is the beginning - and many of the greatest scientists in the history of science had no problem whatsoever with the logic that - a natural, first cause was impossible, and the only possible option was a supernatural creator.
Why do atheists have such a problem with it?
Atheists also seem to think that to explain the origin of the universe without a God, simply involves explaining what triggered it, as though its formation from that point on, just happens automatically.
This has been compared by some as similar to lighting the blue touch paper of a firework. They think that if they can propose such a naturalistic trigger, then God is made redundant.
That may sound plausible to some members of the public, who take such pronouncements at face value, and are somewhat in awe of anything that is claimed to be 'scientific'.
But it is obvious to anyone who thinks seriously about it, that a mere trigger is not necessarily an adequate cause.
A trigger presupposes that there is some sort of a mechanism/blueprint/plan already existing which is ready to spring into action if it is provided with an appropriate trigger. So a trigger is not a sole cause, or a first cause, it is merely one contributing cause.
Natural things do only what they are programmed to do, i.e. they obey natural laws and the demands of their own pre-ordered composition and structure. Lighting blue touch paper would do absolutely nothing, unless there is a carefully designed and manufactured firework already attached to it.
Atheists invent all sorts of bizarre myths to explain the origin of the universe and matter/energy.
Such as the utterly, ludicrous notion of the universe creating itself from nothing. Obviously for something to create itself, it would need to pre-exist its own creation, in order to do the creating!
They are clutching at straws and anyone with any common sense understands that
Science, not religion, is the real enemy of atheism .. and atheism, not religion, is the real enemy of science
FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
The Law of Cause and Effect. Dominant Principle of Classical Physics. David L. Bergman and Glen C. Collins
www.thewarfareismental.net/b/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/b...
"The Big Bang's Failed Predictions and Failures to Predict: (Updated Aug 3, 2017.) As documented below, trust in the big bang's predictive ability has been misplaced when compared to the actual astronomical observations that were made, in large part, in hopes of affirming the theory."