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Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. Proverbs 28:27
People always joke that 'dog' spells 'god' backwards. They should consider that it might be the higher power coming down to see just how well they do, what kind of people they are. The animals are right here, right in front of us. And how we treat these companions is a test.
Linda Blair
Those of us in the northeast have been blessed with above-normal temperatures considering we’re now living in mid-December. Still, it gets dark too early, the trees are naked and much of the landscape is so dreadfully blah. As an optimist, it’s my job to look at this photograph and think, “If the trees were not in a state of undress, a photo such as this would not have been possible. The leaves would have blocked out what’s important.” There is a reason for every season, and, I might add, a new way to look at things.
petitions.moveon.org/sign/change-flickr-back?source=s.em....
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Users of the English version of Flickr may have got the botton " try our new experience Beta"
This is an incredible regression .....once again
No longer any white space underneath pictures for comments, description, invitations etc....
Everything is gathered in a tiny sidebar to the right of the photo in the Lightbox
All features that allow interaction and sharing have gone so groups might also disappear ......
You may take a look here
yahoo.uservoice.com/forums/224533-flickr-photo-page-beta
If you want to save the groups from a certain death, Please click this blue link and go to vote
yahoo.uservoice.com/forums/224533-flickr-photo-page-beta/...
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We had got used (more or less) the first changes, but this time, it is a
total scuttling of Flickr and of its spirit of sharing :(
We can't see who faved our pictures
We can't see the groups the pictures appear in ( except only 8)
Awards images. are not shown
Invitations are not visible except for the last ones (only in "Recent Activity").They're lost.
For admins group management will become a work more and more difficult or even impossible
Groups might close......and groups add visibility to our pictures
Our descriptions including quotes or links to YouTube or other sites are hidden
NO LONGER ANY CONVIVIALITY.. ANY VISIBILITY . NO SENSE
*I specify for those who haven't seen the Beta page;that there is NO
white area under the pictures for descriptions / comments / invitations /
flickr Award Counter
Only a narrow sidebar to the right of the image ,showing ONLY the last 4 comments
White print on a black and depressive background, that hurts the eyes
Unfortunately everything we can do is absolutely useless ....
Unfortunately it is obvious that Yahoo wants to turn Flickr into another social network for teens and young using only tablets and smartphones and whose only interaction is Hi or Lol
Motivated photographers using computers and large screens are no longer interesting users.... ( nor groups since our invitations are only visible on our "Recent Activity "Page....The oldest are lost ....)
How many people know what represents the Beta Page ?? I wonder ?
Only some users of the English version of Flickr ..... but not all of them
All this is very discouraging
Thank you EDV
visiting an old concentrationcamp in Germany, impressive for us and the kiddo's , make your humble and o so little....
In the middle of Sanaa, you still can find those gardens. A heaven in the heaven, as around, thousands of cars are horning!
Sanaa is the capital of Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. At an altitude of 2,300 meters, Sanaa is also one of the highest capital cities in the world. It is Yemen's largest city. Sanaa has a population of 1,700,000.Sanaa is one of the ancient Yemeni cities dating back to the Sabaean dynasty of the 6th century BC. In the 7th and 8th centuries the city became a major centre for the propagation of Islam. This religious and political heritage can be seen in the 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. Sanaa’s many-storeyed tower-houses built of rammed earth add to the beauty of the site. Moreover the old city is a World Heritage site recognised by UNESCO. As of the dawn of Islam until the detachment of independent sub states in many parts of Yemen Islamic Caliphate, Sanaa persisted as the governing seat, who himself is Caliph's deputy in running the affairs. The city of Sanaa recurrently assumed an important status and all Yemenite States competed to control it. The Mamelukes arrived in Yemen in AD 1517. Following the collapse of the Mamelukes in Egypt at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, Yemen fell under the Ottoman rule and during the first Ottoman rule of Yemen between 1538–1635, Sanaa became the capital of the Ottoman wilayah and also during the Ottoman second rule 1872-1918. In 1918, Sanaa was the capital of Imam Yahya, who ruled North Yemen. At the onset of the 1962 revolution which deposed the imamate rule, it became the capital of the Yemen Arab Republic. It was then the capital of unified Yemen in 1990 where it is dubbed as the historical capital of Yemen.
© Eric Lafforgue
a wild palestinian tortoise (Testudo graeca - not sure of subspecies, for those interested check www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/newfloweri.html ), on our project site land. our old palestinian farmhouse in the background - bethlehem, west bank. if anyone is interested in visiting, volunteering on our permaculture farm, or donating - please contact me. for project brief see below...
BUSTAN QARAAQA
The Project:
Bustan Qaraaqa (the Tortoise Garden) is a permaculture initiative in the Palestinian West Bank, near to the city of Bethlehem. Working closely with our neighbours, we are creating a model permaculture farm and carrying out environmental education activities with the local community, youth, and farmers.
The aims of the project are fourfold:
•To address and combat the degradation of the Palestinian environment, and to actively pursue the conservation of native Palestinian species.
•To provide a space for experimentation and demonstration of easily replicable Permaculture methods for sustainable living systems, and to nurture an ongoing interest in these methods within the local community.
•To carry out environmental education activities with Palestinian youth groups, fostering the knowledge and skills to appreciate human impact on the environment and to take action for positive change in the way we interact with it.
•To encourage volunteers from all over the world to visit Palestine, and learn skills for sustainable living, whilst also learning about the situation in the Palestinian Territories, and the reality of life under military occupation.
The Site:
Bustan Qaraaqa takes its name from the numerous tortoises found roaming the site. The ancient farmhouse that is at the heart of the project is nestled in a beautiful wadi (valley) between the verdant mountains of Bethlehem and the spectacular Judean desert. The site includes twelve dunums (4 acres) of terraces and valley floor, as well as a large rooftop space, outbuildings and a number of caves.
We have room to house 8 short-term visitors in dormitory rooms in the oldest part of the house, which consists of beautiful caves carved into the side of the hill, in addition to three private rooms for long-term volunteers. There is also plentiful space on the roof for those who wish to sleep under the stars, or for camping in the caves that are spread throughout the site.
The prices include breakfast and are as follows:
Accomodation in the house – 60 shekels per night (1-14 days)
–50 shekels per night (> 14 days)
–1200 shekels per month (> 1 month)
–1000 shekels per month (> 2 months)
Sleeping on the roof – 25 shekels per night (150 shekels per week)
Camping in the caves – 25 shekels per night (150 shekels per week)
The Context:
The Palestinian environment and the Palestinian people face a unique set of challenges as a result of the ongoing Israeli military occupation and colonization of the Palestinian Territories. The Palestinian environment is degrading rapidly as a result of the combined pressures of population growth, industrialization and climate change. As an arid to semi-arid area, the Palestinian Territories faces problems with water scarcity and desertification which are likely to escalate as a result of global climate change. Overlaying these problems is the structure of the Israeli military occupation and the restrictions it imposes on Palestinian access to resources and the ability of Palestinians to manage and control their environment and their impact on it. Further complication is added by the network of Israeli settlements across the West Bank with their associated effects of land confiscation, movement restriction and monopolization of resources. These serious factors further compound on an already dire environmental situation which directly affects Palestinian lives; the very people who have no control over the land in which they live.
Over 60% of the land area of the West Bank is designated as Area C, which means that Israel retains full military and civil control over it. Palestinians cannot carry out development projects in Area C, such as the construction of sanitary landfills or sewage treatment plants, without first getting a permit from the Israeli authorities, a process that often takes years. The areas over which the Palestinian authorities do have control mainly comprise towns and villages which are densely populated and not suitable locations for such projects. Thus pollution of soil, air and groundwater as a result of almost non-existent waste management facilities is a serious and widespread problem.
Palestinian access to water is restricted and the Palestinian Territories are in the midst of an ongoing and worsening water crisis. Over 200 000 Palestinians are not connected to the public water network and are reliant on delivery of water by tankers which are often obstructed from reaching their destinations by road blocks, curfews and closures. The water supply to the population who are connected to the network is unreliable, with frequent cut-offs being experienced, particularly during summer months. 40% of the population receive an average of less than 50 litres of water per person per day, which is half the amount recommended by the World Health Organization to maintain a decent standard of living. Lack of access to water and high water prices limit the ability of Palestinians to grow their own food.
On top of all this, the Palestinian people are becoming increasingly urbanised and disconnected from the environment as a result of the construction of the Separation Wall (which will annex approximately 10% of the land area of the West Bank to Israel) and the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements. In the Bethlehem area alone, over 18 000 acres of land are being cut off by the Wall, devastating the local farming economy and ghettoizing the population. As a result of this and of the general economic crisis in the Palestinian Territories, the food security of Palestinians is threatened, and Palestinian children are growing up in crumbling ghettoes under conflict conditions, disconnected from their natural heritage and facing daily hardships as environmental and economic conditions worsen.
Finding ways to live sustainably under such circumstances is an enormous challenge, and one that will require innovative thinking and determination. However, the difficulty of the problem is equalled by its urgency. Palestinians are struggling for their very existence in the midst of political, economic and environmental crises that threaten to destroy all quality of life, while resolution of the conflict with Israel at a political level seems as far away as ever. Therefore, work at a grassroots level which empowers people to take control of their lives and their environment is crucial.
Why Permaculture?
Permaculture is an integrated approach to the care of the earth and its people. It is about creating sustainable human habitats by following nature's patterns, using the stability and resilience of natural ecosystems to provide a framework and guidance for people to develop their own sustainable solutions to the problems facing their world. Permaculture seeks to foster the skills, confidence and imagination to enable people to become self-reliant, and to seek creative solutions to problems on a global or local scale.
Permaculture techniques can help restore and improve degraded soils, encourage species diversity, harvest and recycle water, maximize efficiency of water use throughout the system, and minimize harmful impacts on the environment from human activities through composting, creatively reusing materials and good waste management practice. Permaculture techniques are highly adaptable, cheap and easy to implement.
We believe that the application of Permaculture design and ethics to the Palestinian context can help ameliorate some of the problems faced by Palestinians. Restoration of robust natural ecosystems that also provide goods and services to the population can help to counteract environmental degradation, conserve species, provide food and materials to people suffering from economic crisis, and restore a sense of independence and dignity to people suffering under brutal military occupation.
Current Activities:
We are currently in the process of renovating the farmhouse to turn it into a functioning permaculture centre and guesthouse. The guesthouse is expected to open in May, when work will begin on laying the foundations of the permaculture farm: building rainwater harvesting systems, laying the graywater system, building greenhouses and propagating seeds. The construction of each of these components will be used as the framework for open workshops on permaculture techniques, when we will invite local youth groups to join us in learning about environmental problems, and ways of taking action to improve the situation.
In addition, we are partnering with Paidia (www.pidev.org) to hold a series of environmental awareness workshops with groups of Palestinian youth, focussing on the theme of environmental responsibility and solid waste management. The central activity of these workshops is to build a picnic area close to Paidia’s adventure playground out of discarded tyres and rubbish collected from the surrounding area.
We are also working on creating a community garden together with Lighting Candles (www.lightingcandles.org), a local Palestinian NGO working to support women and children whose lives are being adversely affected by the conflict. We are holding a series of workshops on Permaculture themes as we work together with the children to create a beautiful space for people to enjoy.
Upcoming Events:
We plan to hold a week long Permaculture course in July this year consisting of a series of workshops and lectures, with tuition from locally renowned Permaculturalists. The course will be open to both Palestinians and international participants, and will also incorporate lectures on the Palestinian environmental situation from representatives of local NGOs. The week’s activities will also serve as an opportunity to open our doors to the local community and share with them our vision as well as beginning an ongoing dialogue about ways in which we can support each other in creating positive change on the ground.
Funding:
We have so far successfully raised €8500 from donors based in the Netherlands for renovation of the farmhouse, and a further £1300 from UK sources to help with the ongoing material expenses of the project.
The running costs of the project each month including the rent for the site, utility bills, salaries for part-time Palestinian staff and pocket money for long-term international volunteers total £865. Ultimately we hope to be able to defray these costs from revenues raised from the guesthouse. However, we are still seeking small grants to help us secure the rent for the site, pay for set-up costs of the farm (including plants and building materials), support us in holding environmental education workshops with local youth groups, and to support the salaries of Palestinian project staff.
Long-term Vision
We have secured a renewable 5 year lease contract with the owners of the site, in which time we will aim to turn Bustan Qaraaqa into a fully functioning model Permaculture farm. During this time we also intend to create links and build trust within the local community, helping to propagate many permaculture initiatives with local partners and reaching out to many Palestinian youths. By the end of the first five years, it is our objective to have handed over decision making power and control over project activities to Palestinians. At this stage we will renegotiate the terms of the lease with the landowners, with the objective of securing a stable, long-term agreement to continue our work of building a grassroots Permaculture movement in the Palestinian Territories.
www.greenintifada.blogspot.com
for details about Bustan Qaraaqa guest house including rates and photos of rooms see: www.flickr.com/people/bustanqaraaqa/
longreads.com/2015/06/16/how-apples-transcendent-chihuahu...
“It’s easy to see email as unwelcome obligation, but too rarely do we take that obligation to its logical if obvious conclusion: those obligations are increasingly akin to another job—or better, many other jobs. For those of us lucky enough to be employed, we’re really hyperemployed—committed to our usual jobs and many other jobs as well. It goes without saying that we’re not being paid for all these jobs, but pay is almost beside the point, because the real cost of hyperemployment is time. We are doing all those things others aren’t doing instead of all the things we are competent at doing. And if we fail to do them, whether through active resistance or simple overwhelm, we alone suffer for it: the schedules don’t get made, the paperwork doesn’t get mailed, the proposals don’t get printed, and on and on.
But the deluge doesn’t stop with email, and hyperemployment extends even to the unemployed, thanks to our tacit agreement to work for so many Silicon Valley technology companies.” ―Ian Bogost
“Email is the plumbing of hyperemployment. Not only do automated systems notify and direct us via email but we direct and regulate one another through email. But even beyond its function as infrastructure, email also has a disciplinary function. The content of email almost doesn’t matter. Its primary function is to reproduce itself in enough volume to create anxiety and confusion. The constant flow of new email produces an endless supply of potential work. Even figuring out whether there is really any “actionable” effort in the endless stream of emails requires viewing, sorting, parsing, even before one can begin conducting the effort needed to act and respond.” ―Ian Bogost
“The only difference between the despair of hyperemployment and that of underemployment is that the latter at least acknowledges itself as a substandard condition, whereas the former celebrates the hyperemployed’s purported freedom to “share” and “connect,” to do business more easily and effectively by doing jobs once left for others’ competence and compensation, from the convenience of your car or toilet.” ―Ian Bogost
Those lazy, hazy days of summer. This Providencia Santiago teen enjoys posing for a photo by her girlfriend. I snuck up and fired off a half dozen shots as she started to smile. They both thought it was funny. Today is Monday, December 8th, a national religious holiday. No school and Keds are cool.
For those of you who might not like pheasants, here's one for you!
These guys always make me laugh. They're so adorable in their ponderous ugliness!
For those of you who are not from Sudbury (which is a lot I'm sure), every Sunday night a bunch of cars meet up at the big parking lot at our Costco. I went tonight with Kayla to check some cars out!
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camera info
| Nikon D700 | Nikkor 85mm 1.4D | f/2 | 1/1600 sec | ISO-200 |
© All rights reserved. All photos are not be used or reproduced without my permission.
Are they facing the right way or wrong way?
The Riviera is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip.........Wikipedia
The Marx Brothers once owned slightly under 10% of the hotel.
Dean Martin held a minority ownership stake while he was a headliner in the showroom.
Liberace was the featured headliner at the resort's opening in 1955.
The 1997 film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, had scenes filmed here.
Riviera, Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (Monday 5 Oct 2009 @ 5:21 pm)
Met Angus at the Arboretum again. He looks much better with out his little hiking vest. For those who don't know French Bulldogs, the ears stand up like this all the time.
Those are good ministers of Jesus Christ who are diligent to instil into the minds of their hearers the fundamental truths of God’s Word, which will prevent their being seduced by false teachers and drawn away into the apostasy of the last days. Let them not study to advance new notions, but ever be faithful in proclaiming those saving truths which they have received of the apostles and Jesus Christ.
Keith Brooks, Summarized Bible: Complete Summary of the New Testament (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 69.
Today a great many people are resistant even to reading the Qur’an, though they do not know what it contains. Because of ingrained prejudices, and without knowing what kind of life to which Allah invites them, a majority of people shy away from the Qur’an.
The purpose of writing this book is to alert people about this prejudiced viewpoint which will ultimately cause them to suffer great losses in this world and in the next. It is to invite everybody, whether or not they are believers, to read the Qur’an and consider the verses of Allah with an open heart and mind, as all pious believers have done before them, cleansed of all prejudices, rote "knowledge" and fixed ideas. This reminder is also of benefit to Muslims who say they believe in the Qur’an but who are not guided by its instructions. Hopefully, complying with this call, which has been constantly repeated throughout history by true believers, will be a way for the salvation of those who seek to win the good pleasure of Allah and lead a beautiful life in this world.
For those of you who live in Taipei, here is a little something to go and see if you have time! www.fayaque.com.tw/eventlist.aspx?eventid=0&kind=2&am...
This is a wedding day photo exhibition that focuses on the magic moments of that special day.
And this is the postcard I created for the event.
Enjoy!
When I was lonely back in '73
That's when the conga drums spoke to me
I was kind of poor, I didn't have much choice
It was just those drums and the human voice...
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Sweet LP congas...
Those are the ones who listen to the gods' words and answer only to them. Their mission in this world is to spread the light, never getting away from it. Legends say they are actually angels who hide their wings.
IS OUT NOW!!! GET YOURS!!!
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/TURB-Crusader-Armor-Holy/605...
I used a spot filter to light up this rider's face. Those are some whiskers. I flipped the image to mirror the next motorbike's motion. Also stretched this wider to fit my 1680 X 1050 pixel screen.
My hobby is photography.
CTV Regional Contact gave me 3 minutes on the local CTV News here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C2U_01ajdw
Mikey G Ottawa's 100 most interesting images as per Flickriver HERE: www.flickriver.com/photos/mikeygottawa/popular-interesting/
See Mikey G Ottawa's most popular Flickr Photo Albums HERE:
www.flickr.com/photos/mikeygottawa/albums
CBC Radio 1 gave me almost eight minutes. Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=253iqLH82oA
Rogers Cable TV gave me 10 minutes on Camera Talk HERE: