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illustration for an article about conditions in the stratosphere - the next military arena - and the ultra low temperatures found there. They had two low-temperature rooms - one at regular atmosphere, the other at low atmosphere, and Larry Kronquist was the photographer, who had a lot of things to overcome.
The caption reads: A Modern "man of Mars" Larry Kronquist leaves the test room surrounded by a cloud of cold-haze created by opening the refrigerator-like door. This picture was arranged by Kronquist and shot by one of his aides. He found that his camera shutter 'froze' in 50-below-zero temperatures, due to the thin film of oil normally used. He had to get a new shutter lubricated with graphite.
Article © Paul Hoskins.
The Leyland Tiger 290 was their ultimate developement of the Tiger coach chassis, Cummins L10 engined, and quickly killed off after the Volvo takeover as it was a serious rival to their B10M.
Highly regarded by operators and drivers alike, it was often referred to as the Turbo Tiger, such was its powerful performance and despite the other Tigers being turbo fitted..
Leyland were obviously and justifiably proud of the 290, enough to commission a new version of the Tiger badge, and two demonstrators were registered.
One operator told me that in the several years he ran his solitary 290, he only had to replace consumables such as filters and engine oil. Such was the quality and reliability, he held the coach in the highest esteem and was very sad to see Leylands demise.
One Leyland employee told me that after the Volvo takeover, the order was given to clear stocks of all Leyland spare parts which had not seen any sales in the previous 12 months. He said it was heartbreaking to see the skipfuls of valuable spares. It also led to the situation where brand new brakeshoes for the newly introduced Tiger 290 were skipped too, because the coach was so new, nobody had worn out a set of brakes!!! When an order did come in, new ones had to be produced!!
A new version of the Tiger badge to adorn the 290 had been under development with Manhattan Windsor. This was fatter than and faced the opposite way to the existing Tigers head.
Extensively researched, the story of this badge is not totally complete, but it seems impossible to further it now, so time to publish.
Barry at Manhattan Windsor of Birmingham, sadly now closed but famous for production of quality enamel badges ranging from lapel pin badges to radiator grille badges such as this Tiger for Leyland, could not have been more helpful but alas, no records were kept of either the stages of development or the numbers produced. His exact words were "very few".
He still had the dies for producing the badge but on being asked if he could run off a small batch, said he wished to keep the mysterious aura surrounding the badge and no more would ever be made.
I suggested to him that GMTS Boyle Street Manchester would be happy to give the dies a safe and permanent home, an idea he was delighted with, and I arranged for the dies to be donated to GMTS, on the strict understanding that they would never be used to produce badges again, only for safe keeping and for show, and this was duly undertaken. See next photo.
Only 5 coaches are known to have carried the badge from new.
E255MMM Laceys Coaches, Van Hool Version 1 & 2
F304JFT Classic, Annfield Plain, Plaxton Version 2 OR 5
F62EET Burdetts, Sheffield, Plaxton Version 5
F682SRN Leyland Demonstrator, Plaxton Version 2
F683SRN Leyland Demonstrator, Plaxton Version 2 & 3
Other known badges are
1 - one on Manhattan Windsors office wall. Given away. Version unknown
2 - we won first prize at a rally with 6809 in 1988? and were presented with a plaque which sported a 290 badge. Returnable after 11 months for reuse next year. This badge, although seemingly the same shape as the others, was more akin to the 1950s and 1960s Leopards and Tigers with large areas of enamel. It was sadly badly damaged with a huge chunk of enamel missing and possibly the reason for the mod including more stripes, I didnt photograph it and thought I would wait for a better example to take. Little did we know ......................Version 1.
3 - badge number 2 is believed to have been thrown away after a replacement from Leyland was acquired. Subsequently disposed. Version 5
4 - Another Leyland employee told me that Plaxtons had a 290 badge for photographic purposes and removed from vehicles afterwards, but no confirmation of this. Can anyone confirm please? So presumably Plaxtons Works photos are unreliable, rather reminiscent of Staniers Duchesses and Grelsey A4s!!
Version unknown
5 - I was told that one of the demonstrators was sadly relieved of its badge by an admirer on the way to its first coach show. Later photos of both demonstrators show badges so presumably this was replaced. Presumably very quickly, in time for the coach show, can anyone confirm or add to the tale? Probably version 2
6 - Replacement for badge 5 Version 2
7 - one unused example amazingly turned up on ebay last year, the source is not known, maybe the one from MW or Plaxtons, a version 5 so there were at least 3 of these.
There is some photographic evidence of vehicles carrying different versions of the 290 badge. E255MMM and F683SRN both carried two versions.
Five variants are known to have been produced for the 290 Tiger Badge but it never reached the full production stage. Presumably a couple would be run off for inspection and approval or suggested tweaks, and it was developed in this way. Can anyone add to or confirm this?
Version 1 - large areas of enamel.
Version 2 - stripes & all white right hand cheek & chin.
Version 3 - stripes & half white/half chrome right cheek & chin.
Version 4 - same as 3 with dots for eyes
Version 5 - same as 2 with dots for eyes
Pure speculation as to the order in which they were produced.....
Version 1 first
Version 2 and 3 next
Version 4 and 5 last.
But in which order the variations in the cheeks appeared which would involve a fair amount of mod is difficult to assess.
I suspect that the dots for eyes were the last addition as the version without look like there's something missing.
1 - Photo number one is I believe the original version, taken from Leyland publicity brochure depicting E255MMM and grossly blown up, but obviously the early version with large areas of enamel. Photographs exist of this coach with this early badge and also badge version 2 or 5 with all white cheek and chin, difficult to tell which version with or without dots, suspect version 2, for eyes but definitely a later version.
2 - Photo number two is the second badge carried by E255MMM version 2
Pure speculation but did Leyland replace this badge because they were not happy with the appearance of the original version ???
3 - Photo number three is the second badge at Copelands but F683SRN is also known to have carried either the version 2 or 5 all white cheek and chin version.
4 - Photo number 4, no info but possibly the one from Manhattan Windsors office, as Ive seen other protoype badges on similar wooden shields.
5 - Photo number five is believed to be the final version which would have gone into production .... but didnt. Three known to exist making this the most common version, which also suggests the final version.
Because of all the stories, badge swapping and lack of conclusive photographic evidence and unknown total produced making certainty impossible, deduction from the above suggests 10-12. Its also impossible to say how many of each versions were produced but again deduction from the above plus photo evidence, a good estimate would be 2 of each and 3 or 4 of what would have gone into production..
It does seem odd that so many versions exist and I would have thought that the development would have been achieved at the artwork stage, and not by continual modification of the dies which must have been expensive. Leyland obviously wanted something really special and right!
Was the early 1980s version developed in the same way, do different versions exist? Ive never seen any. Or indeed any other Leyland enamel badges apart from odd colour variations?
Can anyone provide photos of the various versions please, PM and complete discretion assured. Any more info or anecdotes would be most welcome.
MW also produced some steering wheel and keyfob versions of the Grille badges, I will detail those next week, and also add details about subsequent operators who ran the 5 coaches.
And lastly, thanks to all who have already provided photos, information and anecdotes to amass this article.
Article © Paul Hoskins.
Article Title: Voices from the field: Teachers' views on the relevance of arts integration www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/voices-from-the-field-teac... (canva link in comments)
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Article about kayaking through a lightning storm and more pictures at www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=940866
This article was printed in my hometown paper in honor of my great uncle on his 100th birthday. Kenny is a retired Milwaukee Road man.
www.wiscnews.com/juneaucountystartimes/news/local/article...
It was 100 years ago that a baby named Kenneth was enjoying his first full day on his own.
The first scheduled airline flight was taking off in Florida, flying from St. Petersburg to Tampa. Henry Ford was introducing an assembly line for his Model T. The company jumps wages from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day. Charlie Chaplin debuted “The Tramp” in “Kid Auto Races at Venice.”
Ken Krotzman doesn’t remember those first days and months, but he remembers most things from his now-100-year life. With a sharp mind and sparkling eyes, he looks and acts nowhere near 100 years old. But he was born Feb. 11, 1914, near New Lisbon, about two miles from town in the Twin Bluffs area. He said the house is no longer there.
“I started at the Little Red School,” he said. “I don’t know why they called it that. The outhouse was red, so maybe the school started out red. I was born on a farm in the town of Lisbon.
“We grew what was the general run of things then – oats, corn, hay, buckwheat. Corn for the horses; we had two horses. We had a tractor. It was a Fordson, I think. It was gray. We had 10 to 12 cows and young stock, chickens. No hogs. We butchered some.”
Krotzman walked to school every day, but he said it wasn’t too bad.
“It was only a mile from our house to the post office,” he said with a chuckle. “I even went home for lunch sometimes – if I ran fast.”
After graduating high school, he attended the county normal – or teacher’s – college. He also attended the University of Wisconsin for a year.
“I taught for a year,” he said. “Then I went to the CCC camp. I worked mostly in the office there. I worked for a civilian doctor we had on hand. He was the best old guy. He even showed me how to sew up people. They’d come in with wounds and such when he wasn’t there, and I’d sew them up. That was during ’34 and ’35.”
From that came a job with the railroad – the Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Pacific, which no longer exists.
“I worked there 39 years,” he said. “I started in 1936 and stopped in 1975. I started out building bridges and was later promoted to foreman of a bridge crew. We’d repair buildings and bridges on branch lines. They eventually dried up, though. I spent quite a bit of time on the pontoon bridge at Prairie du Chien. That was quite an outfit. There was quite a lot of work and workers. They had to keep it level, so if the water went up, they had to lower the pontoon. The pontoon was basically just a boat. The mechanics were on hand to raise and operate it. They sold it in 1950 and it went out. They sold it to Lansing, Iowa, for a fishing pier.”
Krotzman loved to fish and hunt – hunted deer every year. And he did a little woodworking. He wasn’t in the armed forces because his job was designated an essential job during the war.
But the longest-lasting part and the portion of his life that brings a big smile to his face began in 1945.
“I was going fishing,” he said. “It was too dry around, so I went down a ditch on a back street. I was digging worms when I met her. She was following me.”
“You were following me!” said Arlene, his wife of almost 67 years. “I was walking to work.”
She ran a linotype in New Lisbon. The worm digging was going on behind her house.
Two years later the couple was married, May 3, 1947.
“It was my mom and dad’s 42nd anniversary,” Arlene Krotzman said.
What’s the secret of remaining married for 67 years?
“I was only home weekends,” the centenarian said. “I’d get home, be home Saturday and Sunday, and then go back Sunday afternoon.”
The two enjoyed their weekends.
“We’d go to dances with friends,” Arlene Krotzman said. “They used to have dance halls. We used to go out to the Bluffs; that was the main entertainment on Saturday nights.”
The two said they often went to River Bend, which was halfway between New Lisbon and Mauston.
“There’s nothing there now,” she said. “It was a bar plus food. It was a nice place.”
The couple had three children – Jim in 1949, Kathy in 1950 and Timothy in 1956. Jeff was stillborn in 1954.
“A guy was here to sell us a TV that night,” Arlene Krotzman said of Jeff’s birth. “I was starting labor and he didn’t want to leave.”
But they did buy the television, which was, of course, black and white. Ken Krotzman remembered the first television he ever saw, a bit of time before that.
“It was down the line a ways,” he said. “They had this contraption set up. The screen was all green.”
On their first TV, favorite shows were Ed Sullivan and Gunsmoke.
“We listened to Barn Dance on the radio,” Ken Krotzman said. “We had an old Silvertone radio with three big dials and two smaller dials. You had to fiddle with it to no end to get anything on the dang thing.”
Today he likes to read newspapers and books. He likes sports. Football – the Packers, of course. Basketball and baseball. The Badgers and the Brewers.
“It doesn’t seem like 100 years,” he said. “You can’t connect things through that. You just live this. The main thing is to stay really sharp.”
The most important thing he’s learned? That took a few moments of thought.
“I guess getting along with other people,” he said. “I ran a crew for years, and had to do that. You need to get along. Plus I always figure to not do anything to excess.”
This Sunday the two are celebrating that 100-year mark with a birthday party at the house they’ve lived in since 1948.
“We still do everything for ourselves,” Arlene Krotzman said. “Except getting ready for this party – we have help with that.”
The party will be an open house with cake, coffee and punch.
“Anybody who would like to come is invited,” she said.
There will be another party at her 100th birthday in nine years, and at Ken’s 110th birthday. As young as the two of them appear and act, don’t bet against it.
Happy Birthday, Ken!
At the Court
This article is about the place in Vienna. See also: Am Hof (White Castle), Bavaria, or At the court of King Arthur, movie.
The square Am Hof with the Marian Column and the former Civil armory
Basic Information
City of Vienna
District Innere Stadt
Roads leading to the square Am Hof, Heidenschuss, Färbergasse, Drahgasse, Schulhof, Bognergasse, Irisgasse
Buildings, church Kirche am Hof, palais Collalto, Marian Column, Central Fire Station
Use
Usergroups; foot traffic, bicycle traffic, car traffic
Square design, partially one-way
Am Hof historically is one of the most important places of Vienna. It is located between Bognergasse, Naglergasse, Heidenschuss, Färbergasse, Jews square and Schulhof in the oldest part of the city in the immediate vicinity of the medieval ghetto.
History
Am Hof (1865) with armory (left), Marian column, "House to the Golden Ball", palais Collalto and Kirche am Hof (right)
Market life before the Radetzky monument Am Hof, about 1890 (watercolor by Carl Wenzel Zajicek)
The body of the lynched War Minister, Count Latour is hanged on October 6, 1848, on a lantern
The Civil armory 1737
The square Am Hof was already part of the Roman military camp Vindobona and was uninhabited in the early Middle Ages.
Between 1155 and about 1275, the completion of the New Castle at the site of today's Swiss tract of the Hofburg, was here the Court of the Babenberg, that Henry Jasomirgott built himself in 1155/56, after he had moved his residence from Klosterneuburg (Lower Austria) to Vienna. This residence was a complex of buildings around an open space, so a court, with the home of the Duke as a center. To the north-west and southwest the "court" leaned against the wall of the Roman fort, into town, it was limited by gates against the bourgeois Old Town and Jewish Town. Here received Heinrich Jasomirgott and his wife Theodora in 1165 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who was on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.
Under Henry's son Leopold V was the tournament and subsequent market place 1177-1194 scene of glittering events where singers and poets such as Reinmar of Haguenau and his student Walther von der Vogelweide appeared in minstrelsy-contests.
With the move of the Prince Regnants in the Swiss wing of the then much smaller Hofburg in 1275, came the "Babenbergerpfalz" (Am Hof) in the late 13th century to the Princely Mint. The houses no. 10 and no. 12 the neighboring ghetto around the Jews square were incorporated. From 1340 At the Court were held markets. In 1365 it came to the temporary accommodation of the Carmelites in the Mint, 1386 to the official donation by Albrecht III., the place for the first time being called "Am Hof". The Carmelites instead of Roman Mint court chapel (Münzhofkapelle) erected a three-nave Gothic monastery church, that they finished about 1420. The Gothic choir still today is visible from the alley behind it. The Carmelites had already owned the house of the Jew Muschal, to that they obtained yet more houses, inter alia, the by Albrecht III. purchased house of the poet Peter Suchenwirt.
The place was originally isolated from the nearby Freyung by houses that left only a narrow connection alley and were demolished in 1846. As early as from the 14th century, it was used as a market, later also as a place of execution. 1463 was here the mayor Wolfgang Holzer on command of Albrecht Vl. executed. 1515 the Habsburg-Jagellonian double wedding of Emperor Maximilian I was held here. In the 16th and 17th centuries the place was also called Crab market, since saltwater fish and crabs were offered. In the 18th century at the market only vegetables and fruits were sold.
After the handing over of the church and convent to the Jesuits in 1554, the square was listening to the name of "At the Upper Jesuits" and was the scene of spiritual performances of the Jesuits before their church. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773 the place was again called "Am Hof". The convent building of the Jesuits was 1783-1913 the seat of the Imperial War Council and the War Ministry.
1782 Pius VI. from the terrace of the church gave the blessing Urbi et Orbi. On August 6, 1806 also from the loggia of the church announced an Imperial herald the end of the Holy Roman Empire, at the top of which the Habsburgs had stood for over half a millennium, and the abdication of the Imperial crown by Francis II.:"... that We the band, which has bound us until now to the body politic of the German Empire, as having been dissolved consider".
Took place on 14 March 1848 in the wake of the 1848 revolution the storming of the Arsenal, on 6 October the minister of war Theodor Count Baillet von Latour was pulled out from the building, killed and by the crowd hung in the middle of the square on a lantern. The place for a short time was called "People's Square".
1842-1918 and 1939-1942, the Christmas market Am Hof enjoyed great popularity. In 1973, arose here the Vienna Flea market, which in 1977 due to space limitations was relocated on the Naschmarkt. Today again yearly a Christmas market is taking place.
In 1892, before the building of the k.k. Hofkriegsrathsgebäude (the War Department), the equestrian statue of Field Marshal Radetzky of Caspar von Zumbusch was unveiled, which was transferred in 1912 before the newly constructed building of the War Department At Stubenring. The place of the Hofkriegsratsgebäude in 1915 took the Headquarters of the Länderbank.
Furthermore, Am Hof was still the main police station (Hauptwache), the Nunciature and the Lower chamber office.
In Carol Reed's film "The Third Man" (filmed in 1948) the place Am Hof appears prominently, on it stands the advertising column, through which one enters the underworld of the Vienna sewer system.
1962-63 in the course of excavations for an underground garage under the square Am Hof remains of the Roman settlement have been found. In the basement of the present fire station in original location a piece of the main channel of the camp can be visited, which absorbed the wastewater from the southern camp and led it into the Deep Ditch to the brook Ottakringerbach.
Pope John Paul II. did as his predecessor had done and gave in 1983 on the occasion of his visit to Vienna from the loggia also the Easter blessing.
On September 7, 2007 Pope Benedict XVI celebrated with approximately 7,000 people in the pouring rain as the first major program of his Austria trip one Stational Mass. After just six minutes, the microphone of the Pope and the video walls became inoperative, which is why the speech of Benedict XVI. had to be stopped.
AFTER bathing in the warm, fuzzy glow of the Mandela years, South Africans
today are deeply demoralised people. The lights are going out in homes,
mines, factories and shopping malls as the national power authority, Eskom -
suffering from mismanagement, lack of foresight, a failure to maintain power
stations and a flight of skilled engineers to other countries - implements
rolling power cuts that plunge towns and cities into daily chaos.
Major industrial projects are on hold. The only healthy enterprise now worth
being involved in is the sale of small diesel generators to powerless
households but even this business has run out of supplies and spare parts
from China .
The currency, the rand, has entered freefall. Crime, much of it gratuitously
violent, is rampant, and the national police chief faces trial for
corruption and defeating the ends of justice as a result of his alleged
deals with a local mafia kingpin and dealer in hard drugs.
Newly elected African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma, the state
president-in-waiting, narrowly escaped being jailed for raping an
HIV-positive woman last year, and faces trial later this year for soliciting
and accepting bribes in connection with South Africa's shady
multi-billion-pound arms deal with British, German and French weapons
manufacturers.
One local newspaper columnist suggests that Zuma has done for South Africa
's international image what Borat has done for Kazakhstan . ANC leaders in
2008 still speak in the spiritually dead jargon they learned in exile in
pre-1989 Moscow, East Berlin and Sofia while promiscuously embracing
capitalist icons - Mercedes 4x4s, Hugo Boss suits, Bruno Magli shoes and
Louis Vuitton bags which they swing, packed with money passed to them under
countless tables - as they wing their way to their houses in the south of
France.
It all adds up to a hydra-headed crisis of huge proportions - a perfect
storm as the Rainbow Nation slides off the end of the rainbow and descends
in the direction of the massed ranks of failed African states. Eskom has
warned foreign investors with millions to sink into big industrial and
mining projects: we don't want you here until at least 2013, when new power
stations will be built.
In the first month of this year, the rand fell 12% against the world's major
currencies and foreign investors sold off more than £600 million worth of
South African stocks, the biggest sell-off for more than seven years.
"There will be further outflows this month, because there won't be any news
that will convince investors the local growth picture is going to change for
the better," said Rudi van de Merwe, a fund manager at South Africa 's
Standard Bank.
Commenting on the massive power cuts, Trevor Gaunt, professor of electrical
engineering at the University of Cape Town , who warned the government eight
years ago of the impending crisis, said: "The damage is huge, and now South
Africa looks just like the rest of Africa . Maybe it will take 20 years to
recover."
The power cuts have hit the country's platinum, gold, manganese and
high-quality export coal mines particularly hard, with no production on some
days and only 40% to 60% on others.
"The shutdown of the mining industry is an extraordinary, unprecedented
event," said Anton Eberhard, a leading energy expert and professor of
business studies at the University of Cape Town .
"That's a powerful message, massively damaging to South Africa 's reputation
for new investment. Our country was built on the mines."
To examine how the country, widely hailed as Africa's last best chance,
arrived at this parlous state, the particular troubles engulfing the
Scorpions (the popular name of the National Prosecuting Authority) offers a
useful starting point.
The elite unit, modelled on America 's FBI and operating in close
co-operation with Britain 's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), is one of the big
successes of post-apartheid South Africa . An independent institution,
separate from the slipshod South African Police Service, the Scorpions enjoy
massive public support.
The unit's edict is to focus on people "who commit and profit from organised
crime", and it has been hugely successful in carrying out its mandate. It
has pursued and pinned down thousands of high-profile and complex networks
of national and international corporate and public fraudsters.
Drug kingpins, smugglers and racketeers have felt the Scorpions' sting. A
major gang that smuggle platinum, South Africa 's biggest foreign exchange
earner, to a corrupt English smelting plant has been bust as the result of a
huge joint operation between the SFO and the Scorpions. But the Scorpions,
whose top men were trained by Scotland Yard, have been too successful for
their own good.
The ANC government never anticipated the crack crimebusters would take their
constitutional independence seriously and investigate the top ranks of the
former liberation movement itself.
The Scorpions have probed into, and successfully prosecuted, ANC MPs who
falsified their parliamentary expenses. They secured a jail sentence for the
ANC's chief whip, who took bribes from the German weapons manufacturer that
sold frigates and submarines to the South African Defence Force. They sent
to jail for 15 years a businessman who paid hundreds of bribes to then state
vice-president Jacob Zuma in connection with the arms deal. Zuma was found
by the judge to have a corrupt relationship with the businessman, and now
the Scorpions have charged Zuma himself with fraud, corruption, tax evasion,
racketeering and defeating the ends of justice. His trial will begin in
August.
The Scorpions last month charged Jackie Selebi, the national police chief, a
close friend of state president Thabo Mbeki, with corruption and defeating
the ends of justice. Commissioner Selebi, who infamously called a white
police sergeant a "f***ing chimpanzee" when she failed to recognise him
during an unannounced visit to her Pretoria station, has stepped down
pending his trial.
But now both wings of the venomously divided ANC - ANC-Mbeki and ANC-Zuma -
want the Scorpions crushed, ideally by June this year. The message this will
send to the outside world is that South Africa 's rulers want only certain
categories of crime investigated, while leaving government ministers and
other politicians free to stuff their already heavily lined pockets.
No good reason for emasculating the Scorpions has been put forward. "That's
because there isn't one," said Peter Bruce, editor of the influential
Business Day, South Africa 's equivalent of, and part-owned by, The
Financial Times, in his weekly column.
"The Scorpions are being killed off because they investigate too much
corruption that involves ANC leaders. It is as simple and ugly as that," he
added.
The demise of the Scorpions can only exacerbate South Africa 's
out-of-control crime situation, ranked for its scale and violence only
behind Colombia . Everyone has friends and acquaintances who have had guns
held to their heads by gangsters, who also blow up ATM machines and hijack
security trucks, sawing off their roofs to get at the cash.
In the past few days my next-door neighbour, John Matshikiza, a
distinguished actor who trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company and is the
son of the composer of the South African musical King Kong, had been
violently attacked, and friends visiting from Zimbabwe had their car stolen
outside my front window in broad daylight.
My friends flew home to Zimbabwe without their car and the tinned food
supplies they had bought to help withstand their country's dire political
and food crisis and 27,000% inflation. Matshikiza, a former member of the
Glasgow Citizens Theatre company, was held up by three gunmen as he drove
his car into his garage late at night. He gave them his car keys, wallet,
cellphone and luxury watch and begged them not to harm his partner, who was
inside the house.
As one gunman drove the car away, the other two beat Matshikiza unconscious
with broken bottles, and now his head is so comprehensively stitched that it
looks like a map of the London Underground.
These assaults were personal, but mild compared with much commonplace crime.
Last week, for example, 18-year-old Razelle Botha, who passed all her
A-levels with marks of more than 90% and was about to train as a doctor,
returned home with her father, Professor Willem Botha, founder of the
geophysics department at the University of Pretoria, from buying pizzas for
the family. Inside the house, armed gunmen confronted them. They shot
Professor Botha in the leg and pumped bullets into Razelle.
One severed her spine. Now she is fighting for her life and will never walk
again, and may never become a doctor. The gunmen stole a laptop computer and
a camera.
Feeding the perfect storm are the two centres of ANC power in the country at
the moment. On the one hand, there is the ANC in parliament, led by
President Mbeki, who last Friday gave a state-of-the-nation address and
apologised to the country for the power crisis.
Mbeki made only the briefest of mentions of the national Aids crisis, with
more than six million people HIV-positive. He did not address the Scorpions
crisis. The collapsing public hospital system, under his eccentric health
minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, an alcoholic who recently jumped the
public queue for a liver transplant, received no attention. And the name
Jacob Zuma did not pass his lips.
Last December Mbeki and Zuma stood against each other for the leadership of
the ANC at the party's five-yearly electoral congress. Mbeki, who cannot
stand again as state president beyond next year's parliamentary and
presidential elections, hoped to remain the power behind the throne of a new
state president of his choosing.
Zuma, a Zulu populist with some 20 children by various wives and mistresses,
hoped to prove that last year's rape case, and the trial he faces this year
for corruption and other charges, were part of a plot by Mbeki to use state
institutions to discredit him. Mbeki assumed that the notion of Zuma
assuming next year the mantle worn by Nelson Mandela as South Africa 's
first black state president would be so appalling to delegates, a deeply sad
and precipitous decline, that his own re-election as ANC leader was a
shoo-in.
But Mbeki completely miscalculated his own unpopularity - his perceived
arrogance, failure to solve health and crime problems, his failure to
deliver to the poor - and he lost. Now Zuma insists that he is the leader of
the country and ANC MPs in parliament must take its orders from him, while
Mbeki soldiers on until next year as state president, ordering MPs to toe
his line.
Greatly understated, it is a mess. Its scale will be dramatically
illustrated if South Africa 's hosting of the 2010 World Cup is withdrawn by
Fifa, the world football body.
Already South African premier league football evening games are being played
after midnight because power for floodlights cannot be guaranteed before
that time. Justice Malala, one of the country's top newspaper columnists,
has called on Fifa to end the agony quickly.
"I don't want South Africa to host the football World Cup because there is
no culture of responsibility in this country," he wrote in Johannesburg's
bestselling Sunday Times.
"The most outrageous behaviour and incompetence is glossed over. No-one is
fired. I have had enough of this nonsense, of keeping quiet and ignoring the
fact that the train is about to run us over.
"It is increasingly clear that our leaders are incapable of making a success
of it. Scrap the thing and give it to Australia, Germany or whoever will
spare us the ignominy of watching things fall apart here - football tourists
being held up and shot, the lights going out, while our politicians tell us
everything is all right."
- CEDWYNN TOWEEL
11:50pm Saturday 9th February 2008
The "Smoke" was the model most often illustrated in articles about the super-luxurious Argonaut, a car that apparently never got built.
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.
Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:
No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War.
This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Designer:
Date:
1964
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)
Other: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (5.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)
Materials:
Titanium
Physical Description:
Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys; vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-type material) to reduce radar cross-section; Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.
Long Description:
No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71 Blackbird. It is the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. The airplane was conceived when tensions with communist Eastern Europe reached levels approaching a full-blown crisis in the mid-1950s. U.S. military commanders desperately needed accurate assessments of Soviet worldwide military deployments, particularly near the Iron Curtain. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's subsonic U-2 (see NASM collection) reconnaissance aircraft was an able platform but the U. S. Air Force recognized that this relatively slow aircraft was already vulnerable to Soviet interceptors. They also understood that the rapid development of surface-to-air missile systems could put U-2 pilots at grave risk. The danger proved reality when a U-2 was shot down by a surface to air missile over the Soviet Union in 1960.
Lockheed's first proposal for a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. This was feasible and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12. Lockheed's clandestine 'Skunk Works' division (headed by the gifted design engineer Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson) designed the A-12 to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet). To meet these challenging requirements, Lockheed engineers overcame many daunting technical challenges. Flying more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external aircraft surfaces, which are enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet's external skin of titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe. Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph). To prevent supersonic shock waves from moving inside the engine intake causing flameouts, Johnson's team had to design a complex air intake and bypass system for the engines.
Skunk Works engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section design to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to achieve this by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This treatment became one of the first applications of stealth technology, but it never completely met the design goals.
Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, after he became airborne accidentally during high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed great promise but it needed considerable technical refinement before the CIA could fly the first operational sortie on May 31, 1967 - a surveillance flight over North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as part of the Air Force's 1129th Special Activities Squadron under the "Oxcart" program. While Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Works, however, proposed a "specific mission" version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This system evolved into the USAF's familiar SR-71.
Lockheed built fifteen A-12s, including a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s were modified to carry a special reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s were redesignated M-21s. These were designed to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon between the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds high enough to ignite the drone's ramjet motor. Lockheed also built three YF-12As but this type never went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed during testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of one of the "written off" YF-12As which was later used along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Including the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of extreme operational costs, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA's A-12s. These were retired in 1968 after only one year of operational missions, mostly over southeast Asia. The Air Force's 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took over the missions, flying the SR-71 beginning in the spring of 1968.
After the Air Force began to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird-- for the special black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.
Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely required two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment included a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) system that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of advanced, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry equipment designed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts. These suits were required to protect the crew in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss while at operating altitudes.
To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird's Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines were designed to operate continuously in afterburner. While this would appear to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird actually achieved its best "gas mileage," in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, during the Mach 3+ cruise. A typical Blackbird reconnaissance flight might require several aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Each time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker's altitude, usually about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect caused the aircraft's skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so much that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks were filled, the jet's crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and again climbed to high altitude.
Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, throughout its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW occasionally deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other locations to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions were flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not begin to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.
When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to gather intelligence from sites deep within Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a vital tool for global intelligence gathering. On many occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 provided information that proved vital in formulating successful U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews provided important intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid conducted by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened commercial shipping and American escort vessels.
As the performance of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-based air defense networks, the Air Force started to lose enthusiasm for the expensive program and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. Despite protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, soon led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the one SR-71B for high-speed research projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.
On March 6, 1990, the service career of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This special airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (2,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, '972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, more than that of any other crewman.
This particular SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, a former National Air and Space Museum's Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged more than a dozen '972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of 2,801.1 hours of flight time.
Wingspan: 55'7"
Length: 107'5"
Height: 18'6"
Weight: 170,000 Lbs
Reference and Further Reading:
Crickmore, Paul F. Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996.
Francillon, Rene J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1987.
Johnson, Clarence L. Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.
Miller, Jay. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. Leicester, U.K.: Midland Counties Publishing Ltd., 1995.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird curatorial file, Aeronautics Division, National Air and Space Museum.
DAD, 11-11-01
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the capital of the Czech Republic. For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation).
"Praha" redirects here. For other uses, see Praha (disambiguation).
Prague
Praha
Capital city
Hlavní město Praha
Prague (/prɑːɡ/; Czech: Praha [ˈpraɦa] ( listen), German: Prag) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, the 14th largest city in the European Union[7] and also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its larger urban zone is estimated to have a population of 2.2 million.[8] The city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters.
Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of central Europe complete with a rich history. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras, Prague was the capital of the kingdom of Bohemia and the main residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably of Charles IV (r. 1346–1378).[9] It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era.[10]
Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petřín hill and Vyšehrad. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries, cinemas and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city. Also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe.[11]
Prague is classified as a "Beta+" global city according to GaWC studies[12] and ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016.[13] Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination and as of 2014, the city receives more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul and Rome.[14]
History[edit]
Main articles: History of Prague and Timeline of Prague
During the thousand years of its existence, the city grew from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south, becoming the capital of a modern European country, the Czech Republic, a member state of the European Union.
Early history[edit]
The Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.
The region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age.[15] Around the fifth and fourth century BC, the Celts appeared in the area, later establishing settlements including an oppidum in Závist, a present-day suburb of Prague, and giving name to the region of Bohemia, "home of the Boii".[15][16] In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes (Marcomanni, Quadi, Lombards and possibly the Suebi), leading some to place the seat of the Marcomanni king Maroboduus on the southern Prague's site Závist.[17][18] Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis.[19]
In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and, probably in the 6th century, the Slavic tribes (Venedi) settled Central Bohemian Region. In the following two centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in the Šárka valley, Butovice and later in Levý Hradec.[15]
The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, with a fortified settlement already existing on the site in the year 800.[20] The first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest.[21] The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years later than Prague Castle.[22] Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century.
The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. Legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied: "I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars." She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site.[15]
A 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya.[18]
The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia. Under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973. Until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz.
Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from all of Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveller Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub. The Old New Synagogue of 1270 still stands. Prague contained an important slave market.[23]
At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus I had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge (Juditin most), named in honour of his wife Judith of Thuringia. This bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342. Some of the original foundation stones of that bridge remain.
In 1257, under King Ottokar II, Malá Strana ("Lesser Quarter") was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany (Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights. The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications.
The era of Charles IV[edit]
Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital and it was at that time the third-largest city in Europe (after Rome and Constantinople).
He ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. On 9 July 1357 at 5:31 am, Charles IV personally laid the first foundation stone for the Charles Bridge. The exact time of laying the first foundation stone is known because the palindromic number 135797531 was carved into the Old Town bridge tower having been chosen by the royal astrologists and numerologists as the best time for starting the bridge construction.[24] In 1347, he founded Charles University, which remains the oldest university in Central Europe.
He began construction of the Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral, within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun.
The city had a mint and was a centre of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the craftsmen's guilds (themselves often torn by internal fights), and the increasing number of poor people.
The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the Castle area, was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families.
Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer) and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (3,000 people) perished.[25][26]
Jan Hus, a theologian and rector at the Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in the Bethlehem Chapel. Inspired by John Wycliffe, these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, put on trial for heresy, and burned at the stake in Constanz in 1415.
Four years later Prague experienced its first defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský. Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and proto-Protestantism, had spurred the Hussite Wars. Peasant rebels, led by the general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated Emperor Sigismund, in the Battle of Vítkov Hill in 1420.
During the Hussite Wars when the City of Prague was attacked by "Crusader" and mercenary forces, the city militia fought bravely under the Prague Banner. This swallow-tailed banner is approximately 4 by 6 feet (1.2 by 1.8 metres), with a red field sprinkled with small white fleurs-de-lis, and a silver old Town Coat-of-Arms in the centre. The words "PÁN BŮH POMOC NAŠE" (The Lord is our Relief) appeared above the coat-of-arms, with a Hussite chalice centred on the top. Near the swallow-tails is a crescent shaped golden sun with rays protruding.
One of these banners was captured by Swedish troops in Battle of Prague (1648), when they captured the western bank of the Vltava river and were repulsed from the eastern bank, they placed it in the Royal Military Museum in Stockholm; although this flag still exists, it is in very poor condition. They also took the Codex Gigas and the Codex Argenteus. The earliest evidence indicates that a gonfalon with a municipal charge painted on it was used for Old Town as early as 1419. Since this city militia flag was in use before 1477 and during the Hussite Wars, it is the oldest still preserved municipal flag of Bohemia.
In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings[28][29] were erected and Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle was added.
Habsburg era[edit]
In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg. The fervent Catholicism of its members was to bring them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity.[30] These problems were not pre-eminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in the Prague Castle, where his court welcomed not only astrologers and magicians but also scientists, musicians, and artists. Rudolf was an art lover too, and Prague became the capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, the painter Arcimboldo, the alchemists Edward Kelley and John Dee, the poet Elizabeth Jane Weston, and others.
In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War, a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia. Ferdinand II of Habsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by Frederick V, Elector Palatine; however his army was crushed in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) not far from the city. Following this in 1621 was an execution of 27 Czech leaders (involved in the uprising) in Old Town Square and the exiling of many others. The city suffered subsequently during the war under Saxon (1631) and Battle of Prague (1648).[31] Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000. In the second half of the 17th century Prague's population began to grow again. Jews had been in Prague since the end of the 10th century and, by 1708, they accounted for about a quarter of Prague's population.[32]
In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time, killing 12,000 to 13,000 people.[33]
In 1744 Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded Bohemia. He took Prague after a severe and prolonged siege in the course of which a large part of the town was destroyed.[34] In 1757 the Prussian Prussian bombardment[34] destroyed more than one quarter of the city and heavily damaged St. Vitus Cathedral. However a month later Frederick the Great was defeated and to retreat from Bohemia.
The economy of the city continued to improve during the 18th century. The population increased to 80,000 inhabitants by 1771. Many rich merchants and nobles enhanced the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens full of art and music, creating a Baroque city renowned throughout the world to this day.
In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution had a strong effect in Prague, as factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby region. A first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later the population exceeded 100,000.
The revolutions in Europe in 1848 also touched Prague, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years the Czech National Revival began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a German-speaking majority in 1848, but by 1880 the number of German speakers had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to a massive increase of the city's overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and also due to return of social status importance of the Czech language.
20th century[edit]
First Czechoslovak Republic[edit]
Main article: First Czechoslovak Republic
World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. At this time Prague was a true European capital with highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000.
Second World War[edit]
Further information: German occupation of Czechoslovakia
Hitler ordered the German Army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. For most of its history, Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and (mostly native German-speaking) Jewish populations.[citation needed] From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during the Second World War, most Jews were deported and killed by the Germans. In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany – Reinhard Heydrich – during Operation Anthropoid, accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. Hitler ordered bloody reprisals.
At the end of the war, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the US Army Air Forces. 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some of buildings, factories and historical landmarks (Emmaus Monastery, Faust House, Vinohrady Synagogue) were destroyed.[35] Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time. According to American pilots, it was the result of a navigational mistake.
On 5 May 1945, two days before Germany capitulated, an uprising against Germany occurred. Four days later, the 3rd Shock Army of the Red Army took the city, with fierce fighting until 11th May 1945. The majority (about 50,000 people) of the German population of Prague either fled or were expelled by the Beneš decrees in the aftermath of the war.
Cold War[edit]
Main article: History of Czechoslovakia (1948–89)
Prague was a city in the territory of military and political control of the Soviet Union (see Iron Curtain). The biggest Stalin Monument was unveiled on Letná hill in 1955 and destroyed in 1962. The 4th Czechoslovakian Writers' Congress held in the city in June 1967 took a strong position against the regime.[36] On 31 October 1967 students demonstrated at Strahov. This spurred the new secretary of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubček, to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the "socialism with a human face". It was the Prague Spring, which aimed at the renovation of institutions in a democratic way. The other Warsaw Pact member countries, except Romania and Albania, reacted with the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital on 21 August 1968 by tanks, suppressing any attempt at reform. Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc committed suicide by self-immolation in January and February 1969 to protest against the "normalization" of the country.
After Velvet Revolution[edit]
In 1989, after the riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, and the Czechoslovak capital benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. From 1995 high-rise buildings began to be built in Prague in large quantities. In the late 1990s, Prague again became an important cultural centre of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation[clarification needed]. In 2000, IMF and World Bank summits took place in Prague. In 2002, Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and its underground transport system.
Prague launched a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics,[37] but failed to make the candidate city shortlist. In June 2009, as the result of financial pressures from the global recession, Prague's officials also chose to cancel the city's planned bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[38]
Name[edit]
See also: Names in different languages
The Czech name Praha is derived from an old Slavic word, práh, which means "ford" or "rapid", referring to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava river.[39] The same etymology is associated with the Praga district of Warsaw.[40]
Another view to the origin of name is also related to the Czech word práh (in the mean of a threshold) and a legendary etymology connects the name of the city with princess Libuše, prophetess and a wife of mythical founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. She is said to have ordered the city "to be built where a man hews a threshold of his house". The Czech práh might thus be understood to refer to rapids or fords in the river, the edge of which could have acted as a means of fording the river – thus providing a "threshold" to the castle.
Another derivation of the name Praha is suggested from na prazě, the original term for the shale hillside rock upon which the original castle was built. At that time, the castle was surrounded by forests, covering the nine hills of the future city – the Old Town on the opposite side of the river, as well as the Lesser Town beneath the existing castle, appeared only later.[41]
The English spelling of the city's name is borrowed from French. Prague is also called the "City of a Hundred Spires", based on a count by 19th century mathematician Bernard Bolzano, today's count is estimated by Prague Information Service at 500.[42] Nicknames for Prague have also included: the Golden City, the Mother of Cities and the Heart of Europe.[43]
Geography[edit]
Prague is situated on the Vltava river, at 50°05"N and 14°27"E.[44] in the centre of the Bohemian Basin. Prague is approximately at the same latitude as Frankfurt, Germany;[45] Paris, France;[46] and Vancouver, Canada.[47]
Climate[edit]
Prague has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). The winters are relatively cold with average temperatures at about freezing point, and with very little sunshine. Snow cover can be common between mid-November and late March although snow accumulations of more than 20 cm (8 in) are infrequent. There are also a few periods of mild temperatures in winter. Summers usually bring plenty of sunshine and the average high temperature of 24 °C (75 °F). Nights can be quite cool even in summer, though. Precipitation in Prague (and most of the Bohemian lowland) is rather low (just over 500 mm [20 in] per year) since it is located in the rain shadow of the Sudetes and other mountain ranges. The driest season is usually winter while late spring and summer can bring quite heavy rain, especially in form of thundershowers. Temperature inversions are relatively common between mid-October and mid-March bringing foggy, cold days and sometimes moderate air pollution. Prague is also a windy city with common sustained western winds and an average wind speed of 16 km/h (9.9 mph) that often help break temperature inversions and clear the air in cold months.
Culture[edit]
Historic Centre of Prague
Includes
Historic Centre of Prague and Průhonice Park
Criteria
Cultural: ii, iv, vi
Reference
616
Inscription
1992 (16th Session)
Area
1,106.36 ha
Buffer zone
9,887.09 ha
Prague Congress Centre has hosted the IMF-WBG meeting and NATO summit
The city is traditionally one of the cultural centres of Europe, hosting many cultural events. Some of the significant cultural institutions include the National Theatre (Národní Divadlo) and the Estates Theatre (Stavovské or Tylovo or Nosticovo divadlo), where the premières of Mozart's Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito were held. Other major cultural institutions are the Rudolfinum which is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Municipal House which is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The Prague State Opera (Státní opera) performs at the Smetana Theatre.
The city has many world-class museums, including the National Museum (Národní muzeum), the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Alfons Mucha Museum, the African-Prague Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Náprstek Museum (Náprstkovo Muzeum), the Josef Sudek Gallery and The Josef Sudek Studio, the National Library and the National Gallery, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic.
There are hundreds of concert halls, galleries, cinemas and music clubs in the city. It hosts music festivals including the Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Prague Autumn International Music Festival, the Prague International Organ Festival and the Prague International Jazz Festival. Film festivals include the Febiofest, the One World Film Festival and Echoes of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The city also hosts the Prague Writers' Festival, the Prague Folklore Days, Prague Advent Choral Meeting the Summer Shakespeare Festival,[55] the Prague Fringe Festival, the World Roma Festival, as well as the hundreds of Vernissages and fashion shows.
Many films have been made at Barrandov Studios and at Prague Studios. Hollywood films set in Prague include Mission Impossible, xXx, Blade II, Alien vs. Predator, Doom, Chronicles of Narnia, Hellboy, Red Tails, Children of Dune and Van Helsing.[56] Other Czech films shot in Prague include Empties, EuroTrip, Amadeus and The Fifth Horseman is Fear. Also, the romantic music video "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" by Kanye West was shot in the city, and features shots of the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock, among other famous landmarks. Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" video was filmed at Prague's Radost FX Club. The city was also the setting for the film Dungeons and Dragons in 2000. The music video "Silver and Cold" by AFI, an American rock band, was also filmed in Prague. Many Indian films have also been filmed in the city including Yuvraaj, Drona and Rockstar. Early 2000's europop hit "Something" by "Lasgo" was filmed at the central train station in Prague.
With the growth of low-cost airlines in Europe, Prague has become a popular weekend city destination allowing tourists to visit its many museums and cultural sites as well as try its famous Czech beers and hearty cuisine.
The city has many buildings by renowned architects, including Adolf Loos (Villa Müller), Frank O. Gehry (Dancing House) and Jean Nouvel (Golden Angel).
Recent major events held in Prague:
•International Monetary Fund and World Bank Summit 2000
•NATO Summit 2002
•International Olympic Committee Session 2004
•IAU General Assembly 2006 (Definition of planet)
•EU & USA Summit 2009
•Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2009
•USA & Russia Summit 2010 (signing of the New START treaty)
Cuisine[edit]
In 2008 the Allegro restaurant received the first Michelin star in the whole of the post-Communist part of Central Europe. It retained its star until 2011. As of 2016 there are three Michelin-starred restaurants in Prague: Alcron, La Degustation, Bohême Bourgeoise, and Field.
In Malá Strana, Staré Město, Žižkov and Nusle there are hundreds of restaurants, bars and pubs, especially with Czech beer. Prague also hosts the Czech Beer Festival (Český pivní festival), which is the largest beer festival in the Czech Republic, held for 17 days every year in May. At the festival, more than 70 brands of Czech beer can be tasted.
Prague is home to many breweries including:
•Pivovary Staropramen (Praha 5)
•První novoměstský restaurační pivovar (Praha 1)
•Pivovar U Fleků (Praha 1)
•Klášterní pivovar Strahov (Praha 1)
•Pivovar Pražský most u Valšů (Praha 1)
•Pivovarský Hotel U Medvídků (Praha 1)
•Pivovarský dům (Praha 2)
•Jihoměstský pivovar (Praha 4)
•Sousedský pivovar U Bansethů (Praha 4)
•Vyukový a výzkumný pivovar – Suchdolský Jeník (Praha 6)
•Pivovar U Bulovky (Praha 8)
Economy[edit]
Prague's economy accounts for 25% of the Czech GDP[57] making it the highest performing regional economy of the country. According to the Eurostat, as of 2007, its GDP per capita in purchasing power standard is €42,800. Prague ranked the 5th best-performing European NUTS two-level region at 172 percent of the EU-27 average.[58]
The city is the site of the European headquarters of many international companies.[citation needed]
Prague employs almost a fifth of the entire Czech workforce, and its wages are significantly above average (~+25%). In December 2015, average salaries available in Prague reached 35,853 CZK, an annual increase of 3.4%, which was nevertheless lower than national increase of 3.9% both in nominal and real terms. (Inflation in Prague was 0.5% in December, compared with 0.1% nationally.)[58][59] Since 1990, the city's economic structure has shifted from industrial to service-oriented. Industry is present in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, printing, food processing, manufacture of transport equipment, computer technology and electrical engineering. In the service sector, financial and commercial services, trade, restaurants, hospitality and public administration are the most significant. Services account for around 80 percent of employment. There are 800,000 employees in Prague, including 120,000 commuters.[57] The number of (legally registered) foreign residents in Prague has been increasing in spite of the country's economic downturn. As of March 2010, 148,035 foreign workers were reported to be living in the city making up about 18 percent of the workforce, up from 131,132 in 2008.[60] Approximately one-fifth of all investment in the Czech Republic takes place in the city.
Almost one-half of the national income from tourism is spent in Prague. The city offers approximately 73,000 beds in accommodation facilities, most of which were built after 1990, including almost 51,000 beds in hotels and boarding houses.
From the late 1990s to late 2000s, the city was a popular filming location for international productions such as Hollywood and Bollywood motion pictures. A combination of architecture, low costs and the existing motion picture infrastructure have proven attractive to international film production companies.
The modern economy of Prague is largely service and export-based and, in a 2010 survey, the city was named the best city in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for business.[61]
In 2005, Prague was deemed among the three best cities in Central and Eastern Europe according to The Economist's livability rankings.[62] The city was named as a top-tier nexus city for innovation across multiple sectors of the global innovation economy, placing 29th globally out of 289 cities, ahead of Brussels and Helsinki for innovation in 2010 in 2thinknow annual analysts Innovation Cities Index.[63] Na příkopě in New Town is the most expensive street in the whole of Central Europe.[64]
In the Eurostat research, Prague ranked fifth among Europe's 271 regions in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, achieving 172 percent of the EU average. It ranked just above Paris and well above the country as a whole, which achieved 80 percent of the EU average.[65][66]
Companies with highest turnover in the region in 2014:[67]
Name
Turnover, mld. Kč
ČEZ
200.8
Agrofert
166.8
RWE Supply & Trading CZ
146.1
Prague is also the site of some of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic.
•President of the Czech Republic
•The Government and both houses of Parliament
•Ministries and other national offices (Industrial Property Office, Czech Statistical Office, National Security Authority etc.)
•Czech National Bank
•Czech Television and other major broadcasters
•Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty
•Galileo global navigation project
•Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
I found this fantastic article by Mitchell Sunderland of Broadly, a website and digital video channel. He meets directly with the designers of Bratz dolls. Weblink as below.
broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/meet-the-designers-behind-...
Munich, Germany
Today, there is an article in the biggest newspaper in Europe, the german "BILD". The headline reads "The Bitter Truth about Multiculture". It's about Berlin-Neukölln, which has the highest percentage of Immigrants in the City, mostly Turks and/or muslims. The mayor of Neukölln wrote a book about how he's afraid that Muslim-culture - which he mostly identifies with anger and rudeness against Germans or Non-muslims - is taking over his town.
The article was shared via facebook alone over 5.000 times within a few hours.
On the other hand, there has been a new wave of western hatred and deaths in arab countries over the last few days as response to a silly movie by some idiot.
So i wanted to share this picture today that i made from a friend of mine during Carnival last year. She was wearing a scarf that night because she was dressed as an indian belly dancer. At one point she asked me to take a picture of her, acting as a muslim woman with a burqa, just for fun.
The thing i like about this image is the look on her face.
I didn't tell her to give me the evil eye or anything. I guess she just felt like it is appropriate to the context to make a facial expression like this. Maybe she believes that the burqa equals oppression against women and that any woman wearing it simply has to be angry, i'm not sure.
Why is it that Western civilization seems to have so much fear of Muslims? Is it because we can read daily about angry arabs in the newspaper, burning european flags and threatening to kill simply anyone who offends their religion? If that's the case, i can understand where the fear comes from. I must admit that i am troubled. Do i offend any muslim who sees this picture on flickr because it makes wearing a burqa look bad? If so, please know that it wasn't my intention.
Who has to change? Is it okay to accept that there are things you are not allowed to make fun of or talk about simply because it maybe is against believes of others you don't even share? Or do radical religious groups need to deal with the fact that not everyone shares their views and therefore their rules and regulations? I'm not sure...
article complet sur la FIM à lire ici : militaryphotoreport.blogspot.fr/2015/10/la-defense-lhonne...
Article complet à lire sur militaryphotoreport.blogspot.fr/2016/04/3eme-rhc-regiment...
Complete article on : militaryphotoreport.blogspot.fr/2016/04/3eme-rhc-regiment...
"toad lily " in western name.
we call this "hototogis" meaning is a little cuckoo, their chest design is looks like this flowers dot, it is very interesting. we have difference flowers name, by our imaginations..
flower code is "Im yours forever" :)
Demel
The title of this article is ambiguous. Other uses, see Demel (disambiguation).
K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäcker Ch Demel 's Söhne GmbH
Founded in 1786
Coffee and pastry industry
Products Coffee, tea, cakes
website www.Demel.at
Interior furnishings from Komptoir Demel in Vienna, from Portois Fix
When decorating goods Visitors may watch.
Demel is one of the most famous Viennese pastry at the carbon (cabbage) market (Kohlmarkt) 14 in the first Viennese district Innere Stadt. Demel was a k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker and runs this item today in public.
History
1778 came the of Wurttemberg stemming confectioner Ludwig Dehne to Vienna. 1786, he founded his pastry shot at the place of St. Michael. Dehne died in 1799 of tuberculosis. His widow then married the confectioner Gottlieb Wohlfahrt. In 1813 they bought the house in St. Michael's Square 14. Despite numerous innovations such as frozen the company's finances could not be rehabilitated. After the death of Gottlieb Wohlfahrt in 1826 the widow and her son from her first marriage August Dehne succeeded but the economic boom. August Dehne managed to great wealth, he invested in land. As the son of August Dehne struck another career as a lawyer, Dehne sold the confectionery in 1857 to his first mate Christoph Demel.
Demel also had success in the continuation of the company and established it to a Viennese institution. After the death of Christoph Demel in 1867 his sons Joseph and Charles took over the business, which is why it since "Christoph Demel 's Söhne" means. On request Demel received 1874 the Hoflieferantentitel (the titel as purveyor to the court). The proximity to the Imperial Palace directly opposite made business more profitable. The Hofburg borrowed from Demel occasionally staff and tableware for special occasions such as proms and parties. Recent developments in the art of confectionery were brought from Paris. Trained at Demel, professionals quickly found employment.
1888 Old Burgtheater was demolished at Michael's place and transformed the place. Demel had to move out of the house and he moved to the Kohlmarkt 14. The new store inside was equipped inside with high costs by purveyor to the court Portois & Fix. The interior is decorated in the style of Neo-Rococo with mahogany wood and mirrors. Regulars were members of the Viennese court as Empress Elisabeth, and other prominent members of the Vienna society of the time, the actress Katharina Schratt and Princess Pauline von Metternich. A peculiarity of Demel from the time of the monarchy is that the always female attendance, which originally was recruited from monastic students, is dressed in a black costume with a white apron. They are called Demelinerinnen and address the guest traditionally in a special "Demel German", which is a polite form of the third person plural, omitting the personal salutation and with questions such as "elected Have you?" or "want to eat?" was known.
After the death of Joseph and Carl Demel took over Carl's widow Maria in 1891 the management. She also received the k.u.k. Hoflieferantentitel. From 1911 to 1917 led Carl Demel (junior) the business and then his sister Anna Demel (4 March 1872 in Vienna - November 8, 1956 ibid ; born Siding). Under her leadership, the boxes and packaging were developed by the Wiener Werkstätte. Josef Hoffmann established in 1932 because of a contract the connection of the artist Friedrich Ludwig Berzeviczy-Pallavicini to Anna Demel. The design of the shop windows at that time was an important means of expression of the shops and there were discussions to whether they should be called visual or storefront (Seh- or Schaufenster - display window or look window). While under the Sehfenster (shop window) an informative presentation of goods was understood, the goods should be enhanced by staging the showcase. From 1933 until his emigration in 1938 took over Berzeviczy-Pallavicini the window dressing of Demel and married in 1936 Klara Demel, the adopted niece of Anna Demel.
During the Nazi regime in Austria the confectioner Demel got privileges from the district leadership because of its reputation. Baldur von Schirach and his wife took the confectioner under their personal protection, there were special allocations of gastronomic specialties from abroad in order to continue to survive. But while the two sat in the guest room and consumed cakes, provided the Demelinerinnen in a hallway between the kitchen and toilet political persecutws, so-called U-Boats. Those here were also hearing illegal radio stations and they discussed the latest news.
1952 Anna Demel was the first woman after the war to be awarded the title Kommerzialrat. She died in 1956. Klara Demel took over the management of the bakery. Berzeviczy-Pallavicini, who lived in the United States until then returned to Vienna. After Clara's death on 19 April 1965, he carried on the pastry. During his time at Demel he established the tradition to make from showpieces of the sugar and chocolate craft extravagant neo-baroque productions. Baron Berzeviczy sold the business in 1972 for economic reasons to the concealed appearing Udo Proksch, who established in 1973 in the first floor rooms for the Club 45; also Defence Minister Karl Lütgendorf had his own salon. After Proksch was arrested in 1989 in connection with the Lucona scandal, he sold Demel to the non-industry German entrepreneur Günter Wichmann. 1993 it came to insolvency. Raiffeisen Bank Vienna as principal creditor, acquired the property in 1994 from the bankrupt company to initially continue itself the traditional Viennese company through a subsidiary. In the process of the renovation in March 1995 on the fourth floor were mura painting from the 18th century exposed and the baroque courtyard covered by a glass construction which since the re-opening on 18 April 1996 can be used as Schanigarten (pavement café) or conservatory.
In 2002 the catering company Do & Co took over the Demel. The company was awarded with the "Golden Coffee Bean " of Jacobs coffee in 1999. Demel now has additional locations in Salzburg and New York.
Products
Demel chocolate products
One of the most famous specialty of the house is " Demel's Sachertorte" . The world-famous Sachertorte was invented by Franz Sacher, but completed only in its today known form by his son Eduard Sacher while training in Demel. After a 1938 out of court enclosed process occurred after the Second World War a till 1965 during dispute between Demel and the Sacher Hotel: The hotel insisted on its naming rights, Demel, however, could pointing out already since the invention of the "Original Sacher" called pie "having used the denomination". Demel had after the death of Anna Sacher in 1930, under defined conditions, the generation and distribution rights for "Eduard-Sacher-Torte" received. The dispute was settled in favor of the Hotel Sacher and the Demelsche cake is today, "Demel 's Sachertorte" and is still made by hand. While a layer of apricot jam under the chocolate icing and another in the center of the cake can be found in the "Original Sacher-Torte", is in "Demel 's Sachertorte " the layer in the middle omitted.
Besides the Sachertorte helped another specialty the pastry to world fame: the original gingerbread figures whose modeling came from the collection of Count Johann Nepomuk Graf Wilczek on Castle Kreuzenstein. Then there are the Demel cake (almond-orange mass with blackcurrant jam, marzipan and chocolate coating), Anna Torte, Dobos cake, cake trays, Russian Punch Cake, Esterházy cake, apple strudel and other confectionary specialties. Popular with many tourists are the candied violets with which Demel earlier supplied the imperial court and they allegedly have been the Lieblingsnaschereien (favorite candies) of Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"). Rooms in the upper floors as the Pictures Room, Gold Room and the Silver rooms are rented for events. In addition to the pastry shop Demel operates, as it did at the time of the monarchy, a catering service, after the re-opening in 1996 as well as storage, shipping and packaging was desettled in the 22nd District of Vienna. Demel is also responsible for the catering at Niki Aviation.
One of several "inserts" in a JM asbestos product marketing folder discussing use of asbestos fiber in asphalt road application. This page consists of a reprinted article from a 1963 industry publication.
I still have one or two pictures to post of my stay in Barbezieux, so it is not finished ... but nice surprise, an article in the local press, released today.
J'ai encore un ou deux dessins à poster de mon séjour à Barbezieux, donc c'est pas fini... mais, joli surprise, un article paru dans la presse locale, publié ce jour.
The KOM League
Flash Report
For
August 4, 2020
For those with the courage to open another edition of the KOM League news it is posited at:
www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/50171270986/
This being primary election day, in Missouri, my duty as a citizen was exercised twenty minutes after the polls opened. There was no sign of a crowd so I was in and out, quickly. With a little steam left from the exhausting trip to the voting site it was decided to send out the selection day report.
Please give it your best shot to consume some of this report. It took a whole bunch of effort to piece it together due to the vicissitudes of life. Bet you all know what that means and have experienced similar challenges.
___________________________________________________________________________
Feedback regarding recent article.
Hey John. Thank you for this latest report. I have to say that this was both a fascinating story about the life of James Wesley and a great piece of detective work on your part. In my humble opinion, it is probably one of the best pieces from you that I've read. Entertaining and inspirational at the same time. So glad you decided to head down the stairs.
As far as the raccoon goes, I feel bad about the birds but I also think that the raccoon has a good argument that his actions were justified by the laws of nature. I would go easy on him. Stay well and keep up the faith. Mark Santo—Son of Stan Santo—1951 Ponca City Dodgers
Ed comments:
In the story regarding James Wesley the account of his time with the 1946 Miami Blues was not cited. Thus, the note from Santo prompted me to put a little more effort into finding it. On August 6 of the initial year of the KOM league the Bartlesville Oilers were in Miami for a twi-light doubleheader.
Game summary--Note that all items in parenthesis were added by the editor of this report.
In the second inning Miami scored three times on singles by (Loren) Packard, (Oscar) Engel, (Dale) Burich and (Laverne) Dennis and a walk to (Bill) Chandler. In the fourth, the Blues added three more on bingles by Engel, Burich, (Ralph) Marler and (Jimmy) Cooke and an outfield error by (Whitey) Woods. The final tally in the ninth came on a walk to Cooke, (Newt) Keithley's infield single, a passed ball and Packard's infield safety. Joe (actually Oscar Engel and Loren Packard led the visitors at the plate, each pounding out three hits in five attempts. Manager (Adolph) Arlitt of the Cards, the league's No. 1 hitter most of the season, was blanked last night, failing to connect in four attempts. N. A. Keithley (Stood for Newton Arthur), who has been closing in rapidly on the big first sacker for batting honors,
The Blues didn't yield, however, scoring two runs which were driven across by N. A Keithley and Joe (Oscar) Engel. Joe (Oscar) batted in four runs in all with his three base hits. Each club scored once in the tenth, but the Oilers clinched the argument in the top half of the 13th, when outfielder (Gerald) Cross singled with the bases loaded to plate a pair of teammates.
James Wesley makes his Miami debut
Fans who stuck out the full program, which began at 6:30 p. m., got a glimpse of all three new mound prospects, including James Wesley, righthander from Wetumka; Bob Dennany, southpaw hailing from Paris, Ill., and the right-handed (Robert) Chambers of Sapulpa (Okla.). Of the three, only Wesley lasted more than two innings, his appearance coming in the second game after Dennany was greeted with a five-run attack in the initial stanza. Chambers lasted less than two heats in the first game, during which Ralph MarIcr sparkled in a relief role until a leg injury forced him to retire. Bill Morgan also showed to advantage in the opener after being nicked for a couple of earned runs in the seventh.
On August 10 Dennany was on his way home and it is believed Wesley left the club about the same time. Never do Wesley and Dennany show up in another Miami box score. Thus, it could be said that Wesley never appeared in a KOM league game although he pitched three innings of the second game of the August 6th doubleheader. That second game was called because of the curfew and the game was to be replayed from the start, ten days later, when Bartlesville made a return visit. By that time only Chambers, of the three new pitchers appearing on August 6th, was still on the roster.
On August 6, Ralph Marler pitched well for Miami and a week later he was featured in a Miami News Record feature article. This game summary was presented for August 13 after another win by Marler. “Blasting Oscar Walterman, Carthage's ace pitcher, for eight hits in the first four innings, the Miami Blues took a commanding lead and went on to win handily, 7 to 3, last night for the Sooners' sixth straight KOM league victory. The triumph left the Blues only one and one-half games out of the lead since Chanute was rained out with Bartlesville. Ralph Marler kept five Card hits well-spaced in seven innings on the mound and was credited with the victory. Joe Beran hurled the final two frames. After Walterman was driven out, newcomer Cloyd Boyer, young right-hander, toiled four innings for the Cardinals was relieved in the ninth by Buzz Arlitt after developing a sore shoulder.”
Items on the August 13th sports page that few would notice and connect.
Ralph Marler most likely first saw Walterman when the Carthage hurler was a member of the 1941 Springfield, Mo. Cardinals. One of Walterman’s teammates went by the name of Stan Musial and the clubhouse boy at the time was Joe Garagiola who the St. Louis Cardinals were trying to hide from other teams. Also in that July 13th edition of the Miami News-Record was a column that featured Musial taking over the batting lead in the National league. So, Marler beat a pitcher he most likely saw play as a 17 year old and maybe read about Musial’s accomplishments of leading the league in hitting. But, and that is a very big “but,” he may have missed the sports column entirely for there was story on that same page dedicated solely to him and not much of anything in it related to baseball.
Trial run
Prior to placing the article in this report, written by a 21 year-old young lady, it was shared with a lady I have known for 60 years and has never been hesitant to give her opinion when asked. Sometimes she doesn’t even need that much urging. The article follows and the readers who are prone to respond can share with me what they think. For those sharing their opinion they will in turn be rewarded with the comment my “First Wife” made.
Special note:
Nearly a week ago a photo of Ralph Marler, from 1949, was posted on the Flickr site announcing the next edition would feature this former player. His name wasn’t mentioned and anyone finding that site, quite by accident, was offered a special citation if they could guess his identity. Well, very few people came across that item. However, the fellow who gave up major league baseball for 2020 in favor of reading these reports over and over spotted it. Your attention is directed to the comment section as the terminus of this report if you have quit watching MLB. Which brings up the question, how do you spell MLB backward?
Ralph Marler Toils Hard On Mound for the Blues-- BY BERNADINE LOWE
(Photo of Marler taken circa. 1949 is the feature photo of this report)
On Jan. 29, 1925 in Springfield, Mo., a poet was born He is Ralph Wesley Marler. There is poetry in his eloquent brown eyes, and when he speaks it is like listening to a haunting melody. He is sharply aware that he is too impractical for this world and has begun to fight against his lack of initiative, determination and his indecision, He lives in a dream world because he says in that he can accomplish what he thinks he cannot in reality, He thinks life is wonderful arid wants to wring every iota of happiness out of every minute,' for once a moment passes, it is forever lost. He realizes that he works so hard at trying to enjoy his life that he defeats his purpose. Music is one of the most important things in his life. He thinks "Claire DeLune" is the most beautiful piece of music ever written. He loves people and likes to study them. He will enter college this fall to study to be a psychiatrist. Any subject appeals to Ralph until he has mastered it. He works hard to achieve something, then when it is within his reach, he finds he doesn't want it anymore. He is never completely happy. Reading provides for him an escape from reality, and he likes to read of unusual people possessed of strong character. Shakespeare is one of his favorites. He likes an imaginative girl with expressive eyes and the ability to understand him. To begin a perfect day, he would stand on a high hill and watch the sun rise. Then he would like to stroll through the country, talking with someone who understands him. He sees beauty in the heavens, in every tree, in every blade of grass, in the common dirt of the road, life is so precious to him. He would like to travel in Egypt and China, the cradle of civilization. He spent three years in the Army, eleven months in combat in Europe. The Army brought him disillusionment and stark reality. In sharp contrast to his predominant personality, he loves to pitch, thrills to applause, loves to be noticed. He works hard to win, for he is exuberant in victory, but the slightest defeat will plunge him into deepest despair. He wants to be someone of great renown; a great poet, a great composer of music, a great writer, a brilliant psychiatrist. He should be an outstanding success as a writer, for his method of expression is sheer beauty.
Curiosity aroused;
After reading the Bernadine Lowe article curiosity took over and it had to be determined if Marler lived up to the expectations she espoused.
An advantage of writing about history many questions are answered about predictions and assumptions made many decades previous. What this source knew about Ralph Wesley Marler was that he was born January 29, 1924 in Springfield, Mo., not 1925 as the article by Miss Lowe stated. He passed away July 3, 1978 in Springfield.
Following his stint at Miami, in 1946, Marler was off to Independence, Kansas in 1947. That was brought about since Tom Greenwade was the Yankee scout at Willard, Missouri and Goldie Howard from nearby Branson, Mo. were close friends and both of those guys knew about Marler’s ability from his Springfield high school days as well as his time playing against Howard’s 1946 Chanute team. This is his Sporting News card.
digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/166021...
Marler was initially signed by Tom Greenwade, as a third baseman in 1946, and sent to Joplin, Mo along with other local Springfield boys such as; Lou Michels, Sam Richisen and Don Harliss. All those young men had made a name for themselves with local teams such as Springfield General Tire (Thus known as the Springfield Generals.) Later in history Whitey Herzog would also play on that team when he was stationed at Fr. Leonard Wood during the Korean War.
Arriving at Joplin on April 13, Marler was fighting for a roster spot along with other guys such as Kansas Citian, Harry Bright. Over a decade later (13 years) Bright finally saw the “bright lights” of big league baseball Marler, along with Lou Michels, Robert Cobb and Hercules Varellas were cut from the Joplin team on April 28 and were escorted by Jim Adlam-manager to their new team, the Fond du Lac Panthers of the Wisconsin State league. One can’t pass commenting on a famous name. For those wondering how large Hercules was, in this case he was 5’ 8” and weighed 164. He was from Chicago and a high school all-sport athlete including wrestling.
Marler, after starting the 1946 season at Fond du Lac, was on his way to Miami, Okla. by the middle of May..
Probably the best scorecard format in KOM league history was that of the 1946 Miami club On the front cover were 15 photos of the individual team members. In my possession are various versions of that cover. When the season opened the photo in the middle of the fourth row belonged to Robert Field of Hutchinson, Kansas. (On 8/27/2020 Bob Field, the oldest living former KOM leaguer, will celebrate his 98th birthday.) Three weeks into the season the photo occupying that spot was that of Ralph Marler. For those owning a purchased, borrowed or stolen copy of the “great tome” The KOM League Remembered, that photo is depicted on page 12. If you don’t have that book you might find it by searching the Internet since some pages of the book are displayed for free. www.google.com/search?q=The+KOM+League+Remembered+arcadia
Miami had a working agreement with the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946, but Marler was never affiliated with the Dodgers. He would only have been had they selected him as one of the six Miami players they wished to retain as a result of the working agreement.
Going backward
Prior to World War II about all that could be learned of Ralph Marler was his days at Springfield Central High School where he played all sports. The school’s yearbook was called “Ozarko” and he was in it many times. One of the more interesting items was his high school baseball team in 1940. In glancing at it the first couple of times not much attention was paid to the other names. Then, a name finally popped out at me. It was R. F. Smalley. Sure that was familiar. R. F. graduated from high school a couple of years after Marler. When Marler was fighting in Europe the not as yet old enough to enter the army, R. F., was in Los Angeles playing for the Angels. R. F. was in the army shortly thereafter and returned to civilian life and took over the shortstop position for the Chicago Cubs. Everyone then knew him as Roy Frederick Smalley, Jr. www.google.com/search?q=Roy+Smalley%20sr. (Note: The record books show Smalley graduating from a Catholic high school in Springfield. However, in 1940 he was in the public Springfield Central high school. (If memory serves me correctly the Catholic school was called Greenwood and later changed to St. Agnes. If memory doesn’t serve me that well then I’ll get mail from the masses.)
With the exception of a former KOM leaguer, Chris Kitsos, Smalley held that position until Ernie Banks came along. Phil Cavaretta lost his job over the Kitsos/Smalley issue. Mr. Wrigley announced at the start of the season Banks was his choice and Cavaretta said Kitsos was his man. History and common sense tells you who won that argument. Cavaretta lost his job over someone he wasn’t “banking” on.
When Marler got back from his army service he tried baseball during the summer and attending Southwest Missouri State in the fall and winter sessions. While in college he became the point guard for teams 1946 through 1949. At SMS the team played at the NAIA level and was a powerhouse. The star of that team was Preston Ward who made his home in Springfield after his birth right here in Columbia, Missouri. He happened to enter the world in “Mizzou City” for his parents, both teachers, were attending summer school.
A number of former KOM leaguers were also members of athletic teams at SMS during that era and could play any sport except baseball. Included on the basketball teams with Marler and Ward were Frank Hungerford and Bob Gott. Baseball scouts from the Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals and Browns were frequent visitors to “The Queen City of the Ozarks—Springfield.”
For a few hours of fun at the old computer it would be easy to enter names such as all those just listed along with Jerry Lumpe, Norm Sieburn, Bob Speake, Dale Ward and learn more of the rich history of baseball in the Ozarks.
Totally unrelated to baseball is another fellow who was playing football at SMS and his senior picture is on the same page with Marler’s. That person was a coach at the high school I attended from 1953-57. The coach also taught social studies. In his classes he told of playing college football and delved into issues of a political nature. There are not many class sessions that are memorable from my high school years but that coach and teacher, Jim Mentis, posed a question one day. It went something like “Who will be the Russian leader remembered longer than any of the others?” Hands shot up from the class and Joe Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Nikita Khrushchev all got votes. Mentis disagreed and asked for more guesses. Mine right hand went into the air and he asked my opinion and when I uttered “V. M. Molotov” he said I was right. Of course, that was due to V. M’s fame as the advocate of using the simple bottle of gasoline with a rag as a wick. Looking around the world and this country, currently, maybe the teacher and student were prescient.
In a strange bit of coincidence Mentis was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and died in a veterans home at Mt. Vernon, Missouri
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Coming to the end
Find A Grave—https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81094506
Did Marler follow the path predicted for him in the Miami-News Record of 8/13/1946? Read for yourself.
Springfield News Leader July 4, 1978--Ralph Marler
Ralph Wesley Marler, 54, of 2002 Swallow, died about 6 a. m. Monday in St. John’s Hospital of a heart ailment.
Mr. Marler was a building contractor and member of Covenant Presbyterian Church. The Springfield native was a veteran of World War II.
He graduated from Southwest Missouri State University, where he was a basketball letterman. Mr. Marler received his master’s degree from University of Missouri.
Survivors include his with, Ginger, a son, Mark Wesley of the home, and a daughter, Mrs. Nancy Shea, Kirkwood; his parents Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Marler, 1712 S. National; two sisters, Mrs. Virginia Coon, 2111 S. Luster, and Mrs. Marilyn Coon, Boute 1, Sparta, and a grandchild.
Memorial donation to be made to the SMS Educational Foundation.
Graveside services will be at 10:320 a. m. Wednesday in Maple Park Cemetery with Rev. Curtis a March officiating. Burial will follow under direction of German-Scharpf-Abbot.
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First baseman for the 1947 Carthage Cardinals passes away.
Nicholas Frederick Casaletto passed away April 9, 2020 in Summit, Illinois. His cause of death was listed as Coronavirus. He was born 2/9/1926 in Lyons, Illinois
Most of what is shared regarding the first baseman for the 1947 Carthage, Missouri Cardinals is found in the form of URL’s. Read it over and if there are any questions regarding his life, let me know. He was contacted in the early days of researching the KOM league and had many fond memories of playing minor league baseball after his days as a Marine in World War II.
www.foranfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Nicholas-Casaletto/#!...
Obituary for Nicholas F. Casaletto
Nicholas F. Casaletto, Veteran Marine Corps. World War II, Beloved Husband of the late Eleanor, nee Master. Loving Father of Gregory (Elaine), Candace, and Kenneth (Sherry) Casaletto. Proud Grandfather of Nicole, Brian (Sara) and Matthew. Dear Great-Grandfather of Grace and Emily. Cherished Son of the late Rocco and late Victoria, nee Dziadura, Casaletto. Fond Brother of Jerry (Linda) and the late Eugene (late Pat) Casaletto.
Due to the COVID-19 concerns Nichols’ family is having a private burial. A Celebration of Nicholas’ Life with a Memorial will be scheduled for a later date.
www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=casale...
This is the link to his Sporting News card. digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/7846/r...
With the passing of Casaletto only two roster members of the 1947 Carthage Cardinals remain. They are Hank Zich and Christopher Haughey. John E. O’Grady has never been located so his fate has not been determined.
Since O’Grady was mentioned in the previous paragraph, as “missing,” an all-out effort has been made to determine his whereabouts or fate. The list has been narrowed to two people and for sure when the determination is made it will be regarding O’Grady’s fate, not whereabouts.
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Agios Sozomenos in Cyprus during Spring
The history of the village as found from an article in the Time magazine
Death at High Noon
Friday, Feb. 14, 1964
CYPRUS Death at High Noon One sunny morning last week, a Land-Rover carrying seven Greek Cypriots bounced up the road to the tiny village of Ayios Sozomenos. Though only twelve miles distant from the capital city of Nicosia, the village is centuries away in time. To reach it, one travels four miles along a rutted road off the main asphalt highway and then some two miles over goat trails before the cluster of tile-roofed houses is dis covered crowded between a dry watercourse and a steep mesa of grey rock.
The Greeks say the men in the Land-Rover had intended to turn on a water pump that serves a nearby town, but were ambushed by Turkish Cypriots hidden in the dry riverbed. The Turks charge that the men in the Land-Rover opened fire on the village shepherds, who replied with their shotguns. With two dead and two wounded, the Land-Rover raced out of range, called for help. Greek Cypriots, armed with a variety of weapons, poured from neighboring villages. By noon they had surrounded Ayios Sozomenos and begun a battle that raged for five hours. At last, British troops, assigned the nearly impossible task of keeping the peace between the island's 500,000 Greek and 100,000 Turkish Cypriots, arrived in sufficient force to compel a ceasefire.
Pitchfork Charge. TIME Correspondent Robert Ball watched the fighting from a nearby hillside, then entered the village to see the grisly results. His report: "The bitterest fighting was at the western edge of the village, where the attacking Greeks had the cover of gnarled olive trees. In one mud-brick hut, where nine Turks had taken refuge, a window was blasted by a bazooka-type rocket, and the second floor literally sieved with bullet holes. In desperation, one Turkish shepherd tried to flee to the riverbed, but was cut down a few feet from the door. Another grabbed a pitchfork, made a futile, one-man assault on the Greek position, and was mowed down at once.
"Altogether the Turks lost seven dead and several wounded, but they gave a good account of themselves with their shotguns, killing a total of six of the better-armed Greeks and wounding eleven. Next morning a band of 50 armed Turkish Cypriots arrived to escort the 200 survivors of Ayios Sozomenos to the nearest Turkish strongpoint at Louroujina, four miles away. As the villagers moved silently off with their flocks of sheep and few cattle, one member of the Turkish rescue column pleaded with a British lieutenant, 'Please take the dead to Louroujina. We came to save the living. If you do not take the dead, they will be eaten by dogs.' "
Message from Nikita. The bitter fighting at Ayios Sozomenos symbolized the explosive nature of the Cyprus problem. Desperately, with a force of only 2,700 men, the British hoped to keep the peace until reinforcements arrived in the form of U.S. and other NATO forces. At least 10,000 soldiers would be necessary for the job. But Cyprus' Greeks had terrifying visions of a NATO plot to impose a political solution on terms favorable to the Turkish Cypriots. So Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus, accepted the idea of a peacekeeping force only on condition that it be under the U.N. Security Council.
An article from the "Darling Downs Gazette", 3 April 1911, states "The members of the Ladies' Archery Club were photographed in the grounds of 'Bunya', the residence of Mrs Trevethan, Herries Street, on Saturday afternoon by W. T. Schaefer of the Bain Studio".
(this same photo found on the State Library of Qld site with the above description)
Short article on the 100th Anniversary of the RAAF's 3 Squadron, featuring my photos here: aviationspottersonline.com/raaf-3-squadron-100th-annivers...
Find this collection of images from the Royal Visit to Expo 88 in our catalogue:
www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/items/ITM436213 Dept No CN88-695B
The Birth of South Bank (or, why one should always read the legislation)
Anthony S Marinac
This article speaks only of the modern history of the area now known as South Bank. The author respectfully acknowledges the Yuggera and Turrbal people, who first occupied the lands now constituting South Bank.
As we press towards 2020, it has become difficult to imagine a Brisbane without the South Bank parklands. The parklands have become the city’s playground; a garden and exercise space; a space for public performance; an important restaurant quarter; and an urban beach for a city which has ideal beach weather, but which lacks a Bondi or a St Kilda. With the release of the 1988 Queensland cabinet papers, it has become possible to take a deeper look at the genesis of this key feature of modern Brisbane. In reality, South Bank began with three key events which live in Brisbane’s historical memory: the 1974 floods, the 1982 Commonwealth Games, and the 1988 World Expo.
Early history
For much of its early European history, the southern side of the Brisbane River’s city reach was a commercial hub. The interstate railway terminal was located adjacent to where the South Brisbane railway station still stands, and the southern side of the city had wharves, and warehouses, and the infrastructure which went along to support them, including some of the less legitimate types of business: “Between the wharves and the interstate railway station built in the 1880s, were streets of sly grog and loose women, dance halls and theatres, a place where local mixed with foreign. In the years after the second world war, however, the area fell into something of a decline. 3 By the later 1960s, there were plans to redevelop part of the area into a cultural precinct. The Exhibition Building on Gregory Terrace, which housed the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Museum, had been well and truly outgrown, and was damaged by winds in Brisbane’s 1974 flood crisis. The South Brisbane site was purchased in 1969, and the Art Gallery opened there in 1982.
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre followed in 1985, the Queensland Museum in 1986, and the State Library of Queensland in 1988. The latest addition, the Gallery of Modern Art, opened in 2006. During the era of the cultural centre’s development, the South Brisbane area lost its centrality as a transport hub, when the interstate rail terminus shifted to the Roma St Transit Centre in 1986. To make matters worse, South Brisbane was inundated by the cataclysmic Brisbane River flood in 1974. Following the flood, it was clear that some form of redevelopment was going to be necessary in the South Brisbane area, well beyond the cultural centre. In 1982, Brisbane hosted the Commonwealth Games, a major international event which began the city’s transition into a modern, world city. One of the defining moments of the Commonwealth Games was the victory, in the Marathon, of Australia’s Robert de Castella. The marathon began and ended on what is now South Bank, in the shadow of the cultural centre. 5 Almost immediately after the Commonwealth Games, bolstered by the confidence engendered by the games itself, planning began in earnest for the World Exposition – Expo.
Expo
The Queensland Parliament passed the Expo ’88 Act 1984, which created the Expo Authority, properly titled the “Brisbane Exposition and South Bank Redevelopment Authority” although virtually everyone, it seems, immediately forgot the second half of the title. The authority, under the leadership of former Liberal leader Sir Llewellyn Edwards, had extensive powers to enable the Expo to be undertaken, including the power to resume land. Many of those who were moved on for the purpose of Expo were essentially voiceless, however close to the opening of Expo, the Courier Mail newspaper gave attention to renters in the surrounding areas of South Brisbane and West End, who were being squeezed out of rental markets by demand from, for instance, delegation staff from overseas. Section 30 of the Expo ’88 Act 1984 gave the Expo Authority the power to dispose of the lands resumed for the purpose of Expo. During initial planning for the Expo, these land sales were expected to form a substantial proportion of the income which would make Expo financially viable, hence the requirement that the Expo authority “secure for itself the maximum return that is reasonable to expect at the material time.”
Even in the immediate leadup to Expo, there was widespread concern about its potential success or failure. It was, however, a triumph, and a halcyon moment for the city. Its success appeared to occur at two levels: as a purely commercial venture it was successful, both in its own terms and in terms of generating longer term investment; but at a social level, Expo became a place to meet and socialise, particularly for the many thousands of Brisbane residents who had purchased season passes. Somewhere along the line, Queenslanders became proprietorial about Expo itself, and there was a substantial public desire to retain something of the spirit of what had become, in essence, an open and beloved public space.
Cabinet’s approach to redevelopment
At this point, we turn to the Cabinet documents, and things become somewhat odd. In 1986, expressions of interest were invited for the redevelopment of the site by private development consortia.8 Based on the Expo ’88 Act 1984, one would have expected those expressions of interest to have been assessed by the Expo Authority, most likely with input from the Brisbane City Council.9 However Cabinet called for these expressions of interest – it is not clear by what authority – and Cabinet established a committee to evaluate those proposals and to report back to Cabinet. The Committee was chaired by the Director General of the Premier’s Department, and included the Under Treasurer, the Chairman of the Expo Authority, and the Town Clerk of the Brisbane City Council. It is worth noting, as an aside, that the Council’s concerns were quite different from those of the Expo authority. Had South Bank become a rival commercial precinct across the river from the Brisbane CBD, there was the possibility of massive reductions in the commercial viability of office space in the CBD. The Council’s later push for open public space may therefore not have been entirely altruistic. The fact that Cabinet had absolutely no authority to call for, or assess these tenders, and that the Expo Authority had the right, if it wished, to simply proceed with the disposition of the land, does not seem to have occurred to anybody. Indeed the legislation itself is not mentioned anywhere in the Cabinet submission. Four submissions were shortlisted by the committee and considered by Cabinet: they were offered by the Kern Corporation, the CM Group, the World City 2000 Consortium, and the River City consortium. Cabinet considered the pros and cons of each submission, but it was always clear that budget considerations would take priority. At this stage (February 1988) it was not yet known whether Expo would be a success, and budgeting for the event required site sales of $150 Million in order for Expo to break even. Ultimately Cabinet settled on the proposal by River City 2000 consortium. The consortium included the Roma Street Development Group, Kern Corporation (which had also put in a separate bid), and the Conrad Hilton/Conrad Jupiters Group. The net present value of the offer was $136.83 Million, to be made as $200 Million in staged payments between 1989 and 1995. The general proposal was for two harbours and a substantial canal to be cut into the foreshore at South Bank, and the spill to be used to create a large island, to be called Endeavour Island, on the southern side of the river. Endeavour Island was to be dominated by an exhibition and convention centre, a hotel, a casino, and a proposed World Trade Centre. The shore-side of the canal was to include further office buildings, and the southern end was to include residential complexes. There were three immediate complications with this proposal. First, there were reservations expressed by the Brisbane City Council about the total amount of commercial and office floor space which was proposed by the River City consortium. Second, Cabinet had no capacity to influence the location of a World Trade Centre in the city. The World Trade Centres Association had granted to a company called the Fricker company the exclusive right to develop a world trade centre in Brisbane. Fricker was examining a number of sites in the Brisbane CBD and on Kangaroo Point. Cabinet could (and did) encourage the Fricker company “to examine the possibility of developing [a] World Trade Centre or associated facilities on the Expo site”10 but that was as far as Cabinet could go. Third, there was little appetite in the conservative Cabinet for a new casino. The Jupiters Casino had opened on the Gold Coast in 1985, and held a guarantee that no other casino would be developed in south-east Queensland until at least 1992 (although this may not have been insisted on since Conrad Jupiters were part of the River City consortium). Instead, Cabinet decided:
That no action be taken at this time to enter into any arrangement with the “preferred developer” for granting a casino licence for the site, but that the “preferred developer” be required to [include] provision for a casino facility within the site, at a location and under conditions acceptable to the Government. That the Under Treasurer be asked to investigate all aspects of the granting of a casino licence for the site and report back to Cabinet through the Cabinet Budget Committee.
Public reaction to the proposal was swift and negative. Neither the committee proposal nor the cabinet process had included any public consultation at all; the Endeavour Island concept failed to capture the public imagination; and the Courier Mail newspaper led a campaign sharply critical of the proposal. The title of its editorial said it all: South Bank – selling the city’s birthright. Sir Llew Edwards tried to distance the Expo Authority from the decision, but the Courier Mail was having none of it – and clearly journalist Don Petersen had read the legislation: The seven-member board of the Expo Authority meets today to vote on the State Government’s preferred developer for the post-Expo site … Authority Chairman Sir Llew Edwards said last week the vote was not necessary because responsibility for the decision rested with the Governor in Council. This is strange since the Expo 88 Act of 1984 specifically charges the authority with “disposing” of the land in an endeavour to gain the best possible price that might reasonably be expected. Public reaction became even more important after Expo commenced at the end of April 1988. As noted above, Expo exceeded all possible expectations, and despite its entry fees, the expo park became in essence a public space, with the many season pass holders making repeated visits. The lack of public input into the plan was a decisive aspect of its eventual downfall. The other key feature was the conduct of the River City consortium itself. Despite section 30, Cabinet continued to be the lead agency on behalf of government, and the River City consortium began immediately to push for government commitments in relation to both the World Trade Centre and the casino. Just a week after the initial decision, Cabinet made a curious decision, on the basis of an oral submission by the Premier, that the initial cabinet decision “be confirmed” and that “the River City 2000 Consortium be advised accordingly.” Once can only surmise that Cabinet had been asked to review its earlier decision, Cabinet not being in the habit of routinely reaffirming earlier decisions. Initially, Cabinet had set a deadline of 18 February 1988 to finalise agreement with the River City Consortium on outstanding issues. On that date, a two week extension was granted. A further extension was granted on 29 February 1988, setting the deadline at 8 April, and when it became clear that this deadline, too, would be missed, the Premier returned to Cabinet with a substantive report. Unsurprisingly, two of the three outstanding matters were:
negotiations with Fricker Developments regarding a World Trade Centre or a component thereof on the site; (iii) the interpretation of Cabinet’s decision regarding a Casino facility on the Expo site. The Premier asked for the timing of negotiations to be left to his discretion “in view of my continuing personal involvement in the negotiations, which I consider is necessary now.”
The fall of River City and the birth of the South Bank Development Corporation
The Premier’s involvement turned out to be decisive. Somewhere along the line, after the Premier became personally involved, someone finally seems to have fully grasped the importance of section 30 of the Expo ’88 Act. The Premier met with Sir Llew Edwards, and then returned to Cabinet to sound the death knell for River City 2000: Arising from my detailed involvement in the negotiations, I have become very much aware of the legislative requirements regarding the disposal of the Expo site. These requirements, in effect, are that the Expo authority shall dispose of the site in a way which will achieve a net financial result that will not impose a burden of cost on the Government of Queensland … in dealing with these details, I questioned why the Government is, in fact, embroiled in much of this public debate and criticism, when in fact most of the matters should be negotiated between the Expo Authority, Brisbane City Council, and the preferred developer, for submission in due course to the Government.19 Cabinet decided to withdraw preferred developer status from River City 2000, and to instruct the Expo Authority to commence the tender process all over again. This second process was to be based on the clear understanding that the Government had no capacity to influence the location of a World Trade Centre, and that any question of a casino licence would be completely divorced from South Bank redevelopment. This approach relieved pressure on the government in terms of the casino and World Trade Centre, but there remained the issue of public expectations. By this stage, Expo was well underway, and the enthusiasm of the people of Brisbane was a key element in its success. Expo forecasts required approximately 8 million visitors through the gate in order to meet its budget; it quickly became apparent that this number would be comprehensively surpassed. In the end, more than 18 million visitors passed through the gates. This, in turn, relieved financial pressure on the sale of the site. Thus the people themselves, in the process of falling in love with Expo, had helped to create the economic circumstances which allowed the government to seek a path other than a real estate fire sale. After the Expo Authority took responsibility for the tender process, it “subsequently became apparent that under this [tender] approach, it would be very difficult to meet public expectations for significant open space on the site with minimal commercial development together with the need for a financial return sufficient to enable the Expo Authority to break even.”
Instead, at the end of June 1988, the Premier joined with the Expo Authority Chairman and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane to announce the formation of the South Bank Development Corporation, which would take possession of both the assets and the liabilities of the Expo authority, including the land space, and which could then develop the site. Having learned from the first process, the Expo Authority produced a:
Statement of Development Principles for the South Bank together with some graphics showing the conceptual proposal for development of the main Expo site plus a land use proposal for the broader area. This material together with further graphics will be presented to the public as a set of eighteen display panels of which it is proposed that ten such displays be manned at various centres throughout Brisbane for a month within which the public will have the opportunity of commenting on the proposals. A press and media campaign will complement the static displays.
The public reception on this second occasion was far more positive, and the following year, Ahern introduced the South Bank Corporation Bill. In his second reading speech, he stated that the Act: provides the necessary statutory foundation from which the Expo South Bank area in particular, as well as the surrounding area, can be developed to produce a result of outstanding merit. Such a result will bring benefits not only to the City but to the State as a whole through tourism and its ability to identify Queensland to the World.
It need hardly be stated that this was far from the end of the South Bank story. The legislation has been repeatedly amended, and South Bank itself has continued to evolve in the three decades since its foundation. It is, however, well to remember the fact that the site was very nearly sold to private developers, and that the South Bank of today exists in its current form only because some anonymous angel on Ahern’s staff remembered to read the relevant legislation, and discovered section 30 of the Expo Act.
Story source: Queensland State Archives: 1988 - The birth of Southbank
Very happy today. My baby project in 2006 got featured in Step Inside Design September/October 2007 issue (print edition), and they gave me a pull quote.
Read my blog post to see the full text of the article, interaction model, credits, my personal notes on the project and my personal thank you notes. Here is a snippet of the article:
Step Inside Design article (StepInsideDesign.com)
September + October 2007 Print Edition
Step 2007 Best of Web
Winning Sites: LightToUnite.org (LightToUnite.org)
IconNicholson
“Light is the metaphor for hope and knowledge,” says Gregg Fisher, vice president of Health and Life Science Practice at IconNicholson.
So it only seems appropriate that the firm developed an interactive candle-lighting experience for the 2006 Light to Unite website. This annual campaign from Bristol-Myers Squibb raises awareness as well as funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in the U.S.
“When people start to think about AIDS, they often think about Africa,” says See-ming Lee, art director and senior interface engineer. “It’s still a very serious disease in the United States.”
—Michelle Taute (LinkedIn) / Writer + Editor
Step Inside Design Copyright Notice
Copyright 2007 Step Inside Design. All rights reserved.
IconNicholson Team (IconNicholson.com)
Gregg Fisher (LinkedIn)
Jabe Bloom (LinkedIn)
Jennifer Crowe
Mark Hopkins
Scott Friedberg (LinkedIn)
See-ming Lee (Blog / smlDelicious.com / Flickr / LinkedIn)
SML Universe
SML Pro Blog: Light to Unite 2006 = Best of Web 2007 / Step Inside Design
SML Copyright Notice
Copyright 2007 See-ming Lee (SML Pro Blog). All rights reserved.
Article by Guillaume Descarries
www.whipschocolate.com/2013/10/15/monster-soarer/
www.facebook.com/pages/Whips-Chocolate/157663044331556?fr...
©AVucha 2014
News article obtained from the Northwest Herald:
WOODSTOCK – They walked past Engine 32 and into the church where Michael Wurtz, in his final months, reconnected to his faith.
More than 360 uniformed firefighters from departments as far away as the Champaign area filtered into Woodstock Assembly of God, saluting the open casket of Wurtz one-by-one during a fire department walk-through. The departments came together with Wurtz' friends and family to lay to rest the 47-year-old firefighter, who died Friday of cancer.
Those who spoke before and during the ceremony remembered a fearless firefighter who lived to serve – for his family, his friends and his community. They talked of his adventurous spirit, his exhaustive work ethic, the way everyone who met him seemed to feel a special connection. They remembered that smirk, which somehow toed the line between business-like and light-hearted.
They tried to put into words what Wurtz meant to the world.
"We seem larger than life," Woodstock Fire Chief Ralph Webster said during the ceremony. "But quite honestly, that's not what makes us so special. That's not what made Mike special. It's the little things he did to serve others."
Giving the service's eulogy, Pastor Roger Willis harkened back to conversations he'd had with Wurtz over the last four and a half months, since the two met. He explained several words that Wurtz's memory called to mind: adventure, selfless, honor.
He said his next sermon would be called "Lessons from 1325 Dean Street," the address of the nearby Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Station 2. Being around Wurtz firsthand showed him the honor the department felt Wurtz was due.
"If we treat one another how you all treat one another, it's going to go a long, long way," Willis said.
Willis added a fourth word: rest. He talked about the peaceful nature of a visit he'd had with Wurtz in January. The two discussed faith, and Wurtz opened up about a spiritual road made rocky by his dad's death at a young age.
"I was hoping this visit would go in this direction," Willis remembered Wurtz saying.
Firefighters lifted the American flag from its resting spot on Wurtz's casket, folded it and presented it to Wurtz's wife. They gave his helmet and badge to the family. Each of his children was presented an honorary badge from the local firefighters union.
"We're having his service, but we're serving her today," Webster said of Wurtz's wife. "Her and her family."
To the blare of bagpipes and drums, service men carried the casket out the church, past rows of firefighters frozen in salute. The body was raised onto Engine 32, where it would soon fall into a procession that traveled past each of the three Woodstock fire stations.
First, the rows of firefighters were ordered out of their salute. Several finally wiped the tears from their eyes.