DSCN0681

For my video; youtu.be/KS7qqW-X3RA?si=CsDoch74C0bi898J,

 

West End, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

 

SkyTrain is the medium-capacity rapid transit system serving the Metro Vancouver region in British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has 79.6 km (49.5 mi) of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks running on underground and elevated guideways, allowing SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 116,569,000, or about 403,000 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.

 

Cencellada blanca: es un hidrometeoro consistente en la formación de cristales, plumas y agujas de hielo suave de color blanco sobre una superficie sólida por la congelación de las gotículas subfundidas de un banco de niebla. Sus propiedades físicas son muy similares a la de la nieve húmeda.

Dorondón: Niebla que precipita en forma de cristales de hielo, y que habitualmente se da en lugares con nieblas habituales y bajas temperaturas, como Alaska o el Valle del Ebro.

Queso tradicional de los Pirineos recuperado a finales del siglo pasado por algunos elaboradores. Actualmente este queso lo elabora Casimiro Puigdevall Pagés de la quesería Mas Farró, en La Vall de Bianya la Garrotxa, Girona.

Este queso es de leche de ovejas Lacaune (la misma raza con que se hace el Roquefort) y se elabora de forma artesanal a partir de la leche cruda. De coagulación láctica y pasta semi blanda, pasa un tiempo de maduración de unas 8 semanas en la cava. Es elaborado de primavera a otoño. Es un queso duro, bajito, consistente y apretado. Por fuera es de color amarillo, con una piel muy fina y lisa, de apariencia cerosa, sin ninguna grieta. En boca, de sabor intenso, un poco picante, ligeramente láctico, mantecoso al paladar y con retrogusto pronunciado típico de los quesos de oveja.

See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

 

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning

 

In the P-38 Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and his team of designers created one of the most successful twin-engine fighters ever flown by any nation. From 1942 to 1945, U. S. Army Air Forces pilots flew P-38s over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific, and from the frozen Aleutian Islands to the sun-baked deserts of North Africa. Lightning pilots in the Pacific theater downed more Japanese aircraft than pilots flying any other Allied warplane.

 

Maj. Richard I. Bong, America's leading fighter ace, flew this P-38J-10-LO on April 16, 1945, at Wright Field, Ohio, to evaluate an experimental method of interconnecting the movement of the throttle and propeller control levers. However, his right engine exploded in flight before he could conduct the experiment.

 

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

 

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Aircraft Company

 

Date:

1943

 

Country of Origin:

United States of America

 

Dimensions:

Overall: 390 x 1170cm, 6345kg, 1580cm (12ft 9 9/16in. x 38ft 4 5/8in., 13988.2lb., 51ft 10 1/16in.)

 

Materials:

All-metal

 

Physical Description:

Twin-tail boom and twin-engine fighter; tricycle landing gear.

 

Long Description:

From 1942 to 1945, the thunder of P-38 Lightnings was heard around the world. U. S. Army pilots flew the P-38 over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific; from the frozen Aleutian Islands to the sun-baked deserts of North Africa. Measured by success in combat, Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and a team of designers created the most successful twin-engine fighter ever flown by any nation. In the Pacific Theater, Lightning pilots downed more Japanese aircraft than pilots flying any other Army Air Forces warplane.

 

Johnson and his team conceived this twin-engine, single-pilot fighter airplane in 1936 and the Army Air Corps authorized the firm to build it in June 1937. Lockheed finished constructing the prototype XP-38 and delivered it to the Air Corps on New Year's Day, 1939. Air Corps test pilot and P-38 project officer, Lt. Benjamin S. Kelsey, first flew the aircraft on January 27. Losing this prototype in a crash at Mitchel Field, New York, with Kelsey at the controls, did not deter the Air Corps from ordering 13 YP-38s for service testing on April 27. Kelsey survived the crash and remained an important part of the Lightning program. Before the airplane could be declared ready for combat, Lockheed had to block the effects of high-speed aerodynamic compressibility and tail buffeting, and solve other problems discovered during the service tests.

 

The most vexing difficulty was the loss of control in a dive caused by aerodynamic compressibility. During late spring 1941, Air Corps Major Signa A. Gilke encountered serious trouble while diving his Lightning at high-speed from an altitude of 9,120 m (30,000 ft). When he reached an indicated airspeed of about 515 kph (320 mph), the airplane's tail began to shake violently and the nose dropped until the dive was almost vertical. Signa recovered and landed safely and the tail buffet problem was soon resolved after Lockheed installed new fillets to improve airflow where the cockpit gondola joined the wing center section. Seventeen months passed before engineers began to determine what caused the Lightning's nose to drop. They tested a scale model P-38 in the Ames Laboratory wind tunnel operated by the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) and found that shock waves formed when airflow over the wing leading edges reached transonic speeds. The nose drop and loss of control was never fully remedied but Lockheed installed dive recovery flaps under each wing in 1944. These devices slowed the P-38 enough to allow the pilot to maintain control when diving at high-speed.

 

Just as the development of the North American P-51 Mustang, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and the Vought F4U Corsair (see NASM collection for these aircraft) pushed the limits of aircraft performance into unexplored territory, so too did P-38 development. The type of aircraft envisioned by the Lockheed design team and Air Corps strategists in 1937 did not appear until June 1944. This protracted shakedown period mirrors the tribulations suffered by Vought in sorting out the many technical problems that kept F4U Corsairs off U. S. Navy carrier decks until the end of 1944.

 

Lockheed's efforts to trouble-shoot various problems with the design also delayed high-rate, mass production. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the company had delivered only 69 Lightnings to the Army. Production steadily increased and at its peak in 1944, 22 sub-contractors built various Lightning components and shipped them to Burbank, California, for final assembly. Consolidated-Vultee (Convair) subcontracted to build the wing center section and the firm later became prime manufacturer for 2,000 P-38Ls but that company's Nashville plant completed only 113 examples of this Lightning model before war's end. Lockheed and Convair finished 10,038 P-38 aircraft including 500 photo-reconnaissance models. They built more L models, 3,923, than any other version.

 

To ease control and improve stability, particularly at low speeds, Lockheed equipped all Lightnings, except a batch ordered by Britain, with propellers that counter-rotated. The propeller to the pilot's left turned counter-clockwise and the propeller to his right turned clockwise, so that one propeller countered the torque and airflow effects generated by the other. The airplane also performed well at high speeds and the definitive P-38L model could make better than 676 kph (420 mph) between 7,600 and 9,120 m (25,000 and 30,000 ft). The design was versatile enough to carry various combinations of bombs, air-to-ground rockets, and external fuel tanks. The multi-engine configuration reduced the Lightning loss-rate to anti-aircraft gunfire during ground attack missions. Single-engine airplanes equipped with power plants cooled by pressurized liquid, such as the North American P-51 Mustang (see NASM collection), were particularly vulnerable. Even a small nick in one coolant line could cause the engine to seize in a matter of minutes.

 

The first P-38s to reach the Pacific combat theater arrived on April 4, 1942, when a version of the Lightning that carried reconnaissance cameras (designated the F-4), joined the 8th Photographic Squadron based in Australia. This unit launched the first P-38 combat missions over New Guinea and New Britain during April. By May 29, the first 25 P-38s had arrived in Anchorage, Alaska. On August 9, pilots of the 343rd Fighter Group, Eleventh Air Force, flying the P-38E, shot down a pair of Japanese flying boats.

 

Back in the United States, Army Air Forces leaders tried to control a rumor that Lightnings killed their own pilots. On August 10, 1942, Col. Arthur I. Ennis, Chief of U. S. Army Air Forces Public Relations in Washington, told a fellow officer "… Here's what the 4th Fighter [training] Command is up against… common rumor out there that the whole West Coast was filled with headless bodies of men who jumped out of P-38s and had their heads cut off by the propellers." Novice Lightning pilots unfamiliar with the correct bailout procedures actually had more to fear from the twin-boom tail, if an emergency dictated taking to the parachute but properly executed, Lightning bailouts were as safe as parachuting from any other high-performance fighter of the day. Misinformation and wild speculation about many new aircraft was rampant during the early War period.

 

Along with U. S. Navy Grumman F4F Wildcats (see NASM collection) and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks (see NASM collection), Lightnings were the first American fighter airplanes capable of consistently defeating Japanese fighter aircraft. On November 18, men of the 339th Fighter Squadron became the first Lightning pilots to attack Japanese fighters. Flying from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, they claimed three during a mission to escort Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (see NASM collection).

 

On April 18, 1943, fourteen P-38 pilots from the 70th and the 339th Fighter Squadrons, 347th Fighter Group, accomplished one of the most important Lightning missions of the war. American ULTRA cryptanalysts had decoded Japanese messages that revealed the timetable for a visit to the front by the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. This charismatic leader had crafted the plan to attack Pearl Harbor and Allied strategists believed his loss would severely cripple Japanese morale. The P-38 pilots flew 700 km (435 miles) at heights from 3-15 m (10-50 feet) above the ocean to avoid detection. Over the coast of Bougainville, they intercepted a formation of two Mitsubishi G4M BETTY bombers (see NASM collection) carrying the Admiral and his staff, and six Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters (see NASM collection) providing escort. The Lightning pilots downed both bombers but lost Lt. Ray Hine to a Zero.

 

In Europe, the first Americans to down a Luftwaffe aircraft were Lt. Elza E. Shahan flying a 27th Fighter Squadron P-38E, and Lt. J. K. Shaffer flying a Curtiss P-40 (see NASM collection) in the 33rd Fighter Squadron. The two flyers shared the destruction of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3 Condor maritime strike aircraft over Iceland on August 14, 1942. Later that month, the 1st fighter group accepted Lightnings and began combat operations from bases in England but this unit soon moved to fight in North Africa. More than a year passed before the P-38 reappeared over Western Europe. While the Lightning was absent, U. S. Army Air Forces strategists had relearned a painful lesson: unescorted bombers cannot operate successfully in the face of determined opposition from enemy fighters. When P-38s returned to England, the primary mission had become long-range bomber escort at ranges of about 805 kms (500 miles) and at altitudes above 6,080 m (20,000 ft).

 

On October 15, 1943, P-38H pilots in the 55th Fighter Group flew their first combat mission over Europe at a time when the need for long-range escorts was acute. Just the day before, German fighter pilots had destroyed 60 of 291 Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses (see NASM collection) during a mission to bomb five ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany. No air force could sustain a loss-rate of nearly 20 percent for more than a few missions but these targets lay well beyond the range of available escort fighters (Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, see NASM collection). American war planners hoped the long-range capabilities of the P-38 Lightning could halt this deadly trend, but the very high and very cold environment peculiar to the European air war caused severe power plant and cockpit heating difficulties for the Lightning pilots. The long-range escort problem was not completely solved until the North American P-51 Mustang (see NASM collection) began to arrive in large numbers early in 1944.

 

Poor cockpit heating in the H and J model Lightnings made flying and fighting at altitudes that frequently approached 12,320 m (40,000 ft) nearly impossible. This was a fundamental design flaw that Kelly Johnson and his team never anticipated when they designed the airplane six years earlier. In his seminal work on the Allison V-1710 engine, Daniel Whitney analyzed in detail other factors that made the P-38 a disappointing airplane in combat over Western Europe.

 

• Many new and inexperienced pilots arrived in England during December 1943, along with the new J model P-38 Lightning.

 

• J model rated at 1,600 horsepower vs. 1,425 for earlier H model Lightnings. This power setting required better maintenance between flights. It appears this work was not done in many cases.

 

• During stateside training, Lightning pilots were taught to fly at high rpm settings and low engine manifold pressure during cruise flight. This was very hard on the engines, and not in keeping with technical directives issued by Allison and Lockheed.

 

• The quality of fuel in England may have been poor, TEL (tetraethyl lead) fuel additive appeared to condense inside engine induction manifolds, causing detonation (destructive explosion of fuel mixture rather than controlled burning).

 

• Improved turbo supercharger intercoolers appeared on the J model P-38. These devices greatly reduced manifold temperatures but this encouraged TEL condensation in manifolds during cruise flight and increased spark plug fouling.

 

Using water injection to minimize detonation might have reduced these engine problems. Both the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the North American P-51 Mustang (see NASM collection) were fitted with water injection systems but not the P-38. Lightning pilots continued to fly, despite these handicaps.

 

During November 1942, two all-Lightning fighter groups, the 1st and the 14th, began operating in North Africa. In the Mediterranean Theater, P-38 pilots flew more sorties than Allied pilots flying any other type of fighter. They claimed 608 enemy a/c destroyed in the air, 123 probably destroyed and 343 damaged, against the loss of 131 Lightnings.

 

In the war against Japan, the P-38 truly excelled. Combat rarely occurred above 6,080 m (20,000 ft) and the engine and cockpit comfort problems common in Europe never plagued pilots in the Pacific Theater. The Lightning's excellent range was used to full advantage above the vast expanses of water. In early 1945, Lightning pilots of the 12th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, flew a mission that lasted 10 ½ hours and covered more than 3,220 km (2,000 miles). In August, P-38 pilots established the world's long-distance record for a World War II combat fighter when they flew from the Philippines to the Netherlands East Indies, a distance of 3,703 km (2,300 miles). During early 1944, Lightning pilots in the 475th Fighter Group began the 'race of aces.' By March, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J. Lynch had scored 21 victories before he fell to antiaircraft gunfire while strafing enemy ships. Major Thomas B. McGuire downed 38 Japanese aircraft before he was killed when his P-38 crashed at low altitude in early January 1945. Major Richard I. Bong became America's highest scoring fighter ace (40 victories) but died in the crash of a Lockheed P-80 (see NASM collection) on August 6, 1945.

 

Museum records show that Lockheed assigned the construction number 422-2273 to the National Air and Space Museum's P-38. The Army Air Forces accepted this Lightning as a P-38J-l0-LO on November 6, 1943, and the service identified the airplane with the serial number 42-67762. Recent investigations conducted by a team of specialists at the Paul E. Garber Facility, and Herb Brownstein, a volunteer in the Aeronautics Division at the National Air and Space Museum, have revealed many hitherto unknown aspects to the history of this aircraft.

 

Brownstein examined NASM files and documents at the National Archives. He discovered that a few days after the Army Air Forces (AAF) accepted this airplane, the Engineering Division at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, granted Lockheed permission to convert this P-38 into a two-seat trainer. The firm added a seat behind the pilot to accommodate an instructor who would train civilian pilots in instrument flying techniques. Once trained, these test pilots evaluated new Lightnings fresh off the assembly line.

 

In a teletype sent by the Engineering Division on March 2, 1944, Brownstein also discovered that this P-38 was released to Colonel Benjamin S. Kelsey from March 3 to April 10, 1944, to conduct special tests. This action was confirmed the following day in a cable from the War Department. This same pilot, then a Lieutenant, flew the XP-38 across the United States in 1939 and survived the crash that destroyed this Lightning at Mitchel Field, New York. In early 1944, Kelsey was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in England and he apparently traveled to the Lockheed factory at Burbank to pick up the P-38. Further information about these tests and Kelsey's involvement remain an intriguing question.

 

One of Brownstein's most important discoveries was a small file rich with information about the NASM Lightning. This file contained a cryptic reference to a "Major Bong" who flew the NASM P-38 on April 16, 1945, at Wright Field. Bong had planned to fly for an hour to evaluate an experimental method of interconnecting the movement of the throttle and propeller control levers. His flight ended after twenty-minutes when "the right engine blew up before I had a chance [to conduct the test]." The curator at the Richard I. Bong Heritage Center confirmed that America's highest scoring ace made this flight in the NASM P-38 Lightning.

 

Working in Building 10 at the Paul E. Garber Facility, Rob Mawhinney, Dave Wilson, Wil Lee, Bob Weihrauch, Jim Purton, and Heather Hutton spent several months during the spring and summer of 2001 carefully disassembling, inspecting, and cleaning the NASM Lightning. They found every hardware modification consistent with a model J-25 airplane, not the model J-10 painted in the data block beneath the artifact's left nose. This fact dovetails perfectly with knowledge uncovered by Brownstein. On April 10, the Engineering Division again cabled Lockheed asking the company to prepare 42-67762 for transfer to Wright Field "in standard configuration." The standard P-38 configuration at that time was the P-38J-25. The work took several weeks and the fighter does not appear on Wright Field records until May 15, 1944. On June 9, the Flight Test Section at Wright Field released the fighter for flight trials aimed at collecting pilot comments on how the airplane handled.

 

Wright Field's Aeromedical Laboratory was the next organization involved with this P-38. That unit installed a kit on July 26 that probably measured the force required to move the control wheel left and right to actuate the power-boosted ailerons installed in all Lightnings beginning with version J-25. From August 12-16, the Power Plant Laboratory carried out tests to measure the hydraulic pump temperatures on this Lightning. Then beginning September 16 and lasting about ten days, the Bombing Branch, Armament Laboratory, tested type R-3 fragmentation bomb racks. The work appears to have ended early in December. On June 20, 1945, the AAF Aircraft Distribution Office asked that the Air Technical Service Command transfer the Lightning from Wright Field to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, a temporary holding area for Air Force museum aircraft. The P-38 arrived at the Oklahoma City Air Depot on June 27, 1945, and mechanics prepared the fighter for flyable storage.

 

Airplane Flight Reports for this Lightning also describe the following activities and movements:

 

6-21-45 Wright Field, Ohio, 5.15 hours of flying.

6-22-45Wright Field, Ohio, .35 minutes of flying by Lt. Col. Wendel [?] J. Kelley and P. Shannon.

6-25-45Altus, Oklahoma, .55 hours flown, pilot P. Shannon.

6-27-45Altus, Oklahoma, #2 engine changed, 1.05 hours flown by Air Corps F/O Ralph F. Coady.

10-5-45 OCATSC-GCAAF (Garden City Army Air Field, Garden City, Kansas), guns removed and ballast added.

10-8-45Adams Field, Little Rock, Arkansas.

10-9-45Nashville, Tennessee,

5-28-46Freeman Field, Indiana, maintenance check by Air Corps Capt. H. M. Chadhowere [sp]?

7-24-46Freeman Field, Indiana, 1 hour local flight by 1st Lt. Charles C. Heckel.

7-31-46 Freeman Field, Indiana, 4120th AAF Base Unit, ferry flight to Orchard Place [Illinois] by 1st Lt. Charles C. Heckel.

 

On August 5, 1946, the AAF moved the aircraft to another storage site at the former Consolidated B-24 bomber assembly plant at Park Ridge, Illinois. A short time later, the AAF transferred custody of the Lightning and more than sixty other World War II-era airplanes to the Smithsonian National Air Museum. During the early 1950s, the Air Force moved these airplanes from Park Ridge to the Smithsonian storage site at Suitland, Maryland.

 

• • •

 

Quoting from Wikipedia | Lockheed P-38 Lightning:

 

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Named "fork-tailed devil" by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese, the P-38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, ground-attack, photo reconnaissance missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings.

 

The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations as the mount of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories) and Thomas McGuire (38 victories). In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the appearance of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war. The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, the exhaust muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving, and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll was too slow for it to excel as a dogfighter. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day.

 

Variants: Lightning in maturity: P-38J

 

The P-38J was introduced in August 1943. The turbo-supercharger intercooler system on previous variants had been housed in the leading edges of the wings and had proven vulnerable to combat damage and could burst if the wrong series of controls were mistakenly activated. In the P-38J model, the streamlined engine nacelles of previous Lightnings were changed to fit the intercooler radiator between the oil coolers, forming a "chin" that visually distinguished the J model from its predecessors. While the P-38J used the same V-1710-89/91 engines as the H model, the new core-type intercooler more efficiently lowered intake manifold temperatures and permitted a substantial increase in rated power. The leading edge of the outer wing was fitted with 55 gal (208 l) fuel tanks, filling the space formerly occupied by intercooler tunnels, but these were omitted on early P-38J blocks due to limited availability.

 

The final 210 J models, designated P-38J-25-LO, alleviated the compressibility problem through the addition of a set of electrically-actuated dive recovery flaps just outboard of the engines on the bottom centerline of the wings. With these improvements, a USAAF pilot reported a dive speed of almost 600 mph (970 km/h), although the indicated air speed was later corrected for compressibility error, and the actual dive speed was lower. Lockheed manufactured over 200 retrofit modification kits to be installed on P-38J-10-LO and J-20-LO already in Europe, but the USAAF C-54 carrying them was shot down by an RAF pilot who mistook the Douglas transport for a German Focke-Wulf Condor. Unfortunately the loss of the kits came during Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier's four-month morale-boosting tour of P-38 bases. Flying a new Lightning named "Snafuperman" modified to full P-38J-25-LO specs at Lockheed's modification center near Belfast, LeVier captured the pilots' full attention by routinely performing maneuvers during March 1944 that common Eighth Air Force wisdom held to be suicidal. It proved too little too late because the decision had already been made to re-equip with Mustangs.

 

The P-38J-25-LO production block also introduced hydraulically-boosted ailerons, one of the first times such a system was fitted to a fighter. This significantly improved the Lightning's rate of roll and reduced control forces for the pilot. This production block and the following P-38L model are considered the definitive Lightnings, and Lockheed ramped up production, working with subcontractors across the country to produce hundreds of Lightnings each month.

 

Noted P-38 pilots

 

Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire

 

The American ace of aces and his closest competitor both flew Lightnings as they tallied 40 and 38 victories respectively. Majors Richard I. "Dick" Bong and Thomas J. "Tommy" McGuire of the USAAF competed for the top position. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

McGuire was killed in air combat in January 1945 over the Philippines, after racking up 38 confirmed kills, making him the second-ranking American ace. Bong was rotated back to the United States as America's ace of aces, after making 40 kills, becoming a test pilot. He was killed on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, when his P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter flamed out on takeoff.

 

Charles Lindbergh

 

The famed aviator Charles Lindbergh toured the South Pacific as a civilian contractor for United Aircraft Corporation, comparing and evaluating performance of single- and twin-engined fighters for Vought. He worked to improve range and load limits of the F4U Corsair, flying both routine and combat strafing missions in Corsairs alongside Marine pilots. In Hollandia, he attached himself to the 475th FG flying P-38s so that he could investigate the twin-engine fighter. Though new to the machine, he was instrumental in extending the range of the P-38 through improved throttle settings, or engine-leaning techniques, notably by reducing engine speed to 1,600 rpm, setting the carburetors for auto-lean and flying at 185 mph (298 km/h) indicated airspeed which reduced fuel consumption to 70 gal/h, about 2.6 mpg. This combination of settings had been considered dangerous; it was thought it would upset the fuel mixture and cause an explosion. Everywhere Lindbergh went in the South Pacific, he was accorded the normal preferential treatment of a visiting colonel, though he had resigned his Air Corps Reserve colonel's commission three years before. While with the 475th, he held training classes and took part in a number of Army Air Corps combat missions. On 28 July 1944, Lindbergh shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia" flown expertly by the veteran commander of 73rd Independent Flying Chutai, Imperial Japanese Army Captain Saburo Shimada. In an extended, twisting dogfight in which many of the participants ran out of ammunition, Shimada turned his aircraft directly toward Lindbergh who was just approaching the combat area. Lindbergh fired in a defensive reaction brought on by Shimada's apparent head-on ramming attack. Hit by cannon and machine gun fire, the "Sonia's" propeller visibly slowed, but Shimada held his course. Lindbergh pulled up at the last moment to avoid collision as the damaged "Sonia" went into a steep dive, hit the ocean and sank. Lindbergh's wingman, ace Joseph E. "Fishkiller" Miller, Jr., had also scored hits on the "Sonia" after it had begun its fatal dive, but Miller was certain the kill credit was Lindbergh's. The unofficial kill was not entered in the 475th's war record. On 12 August 1944 Lindbergh left Hollandia to return to the United States.

 

Charles MacDonald

 

The seventh-ranking American ace, Charles H. MacDonald, flew a Lightning against the Japanese, scoring 27 kills in his famous aircraft, the Putt Putt Maru.

 

Robin Olds

 

Main article: Robin Olds

 

Robin Olds was the last P-38 ace in the Eighth Air Force and the last in the ETO. Flying a P-38J, he downed five German fighters on two separate missions over France and Germany. He subsequently transitioned to P-51s to make seven more kills. After World War II, he flew F-4 Phantom IIs in Vietnam, ending his career as brigadier general with 16 kills.

 

Clay Tice

 

A P-38 piloted by Clay Tice was the first American aircraft to land in Japan after VJ-Day, when he and his wingman set down on Nitagahara because his wingman was low on fuel.

 

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

Noted aviation pioneer and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry vanished in a F-5B-1-LO, 42-68223, c/n 2734, of Groupe de Chasse II/33, out of Borgo-Porreta, Bastia, Corsica, a reconnaissance variant of the P-38, while on a flight over the Mediterranean, from Corsica to mainland France, on 31 July 1944. His health, both physical and mental (he was said to be intermittently subject to depression), had been deteriorating and there had been talk of taking him off flight status. There have been suggestions (although no proof to date) that this was a suicide rather than an aircraft failure or combat loss. In 2000, a French scuba diver found the wreckage of a Lightning in the Mediterranean off the coast of Marseille, and it was confirmed in April 2004 as Saint-Exupéry's F-5B. No evidence of air combat was found. In March 2008, a former Luftwaffe pilot, Horst Rippert from Jagdgruppe 200, claimed to have shot down Saint-Exupéry.

 

Adrian Warburton

 

The RAF's legendary photo-recon "ace", Wing Commander Adrian Warburton DSO DFC, was the pilot of a Lockheed P-38 borrowed from the USAAF that took off on 12 April 1944 to photograph targets in Germany. W/C Warburton failed to arrive at the rendezvous point and was never seen again. In 2003, his remains were recovered in Germany from his wrecked USAAF P-38 Lightning.

 

• • • • •

 

Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay":

 

Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

 

On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.

 

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

 

Manufacturer:

Boeing Aircraft Co.

Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.

 

Date:

1945

 

Country of Origin:

United States of America

 

Dimensions:

Overall: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft 6 5/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)

 

Materials:

Polished overall aluminum finish

 

Physical Description:

Four-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish overall, standard late-World War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin; 509th Composite Group markings painted in black; "Enola Gay" in black, block letters on lower left nose.

"The Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 25 metres (82 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft). Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow is normally visible on sunny days. According to legend, the first Viking settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure in a cave behind the waterfall. The legend continues that locals found the chest years later, but were only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. The ring was allegedly given to the local church. The old church door ring is now in a museum, though whether it gives any credence to the folklore is debatable." (Wikipedia)

 

All pictures clickable and some more in the set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nachdem die Küstenlinie sich nach Süden verschoben hatte, blieb über Hunderte von Kilometern ein Steilabfall vom isländischen Hochland Richtung Meer übrig.

An einer solchen Stelle ergießt sich der Skógafoss über eine Breite von 25 Metern 60 Meter in die Tiefe.

[...]

Eine Sage erzählt, dass der erste Wikingersiedler in dieser Gegend, Þrasi Þórólfsson, einen Schatz in einer Höhle hinter dem Skógafoss vergraben hat. Jahre später entdeckte ein isländischer Junge die Truhe, konnte aber nur nach dem Griff greifen, ehe die Kiste verschwand. Der Ring der Schatztruhe wird jetzt im Museum Skógasafn verwahrt." (Wikipedia)

 

Alle Bilder anklickbar und noch mehr im Album.

MADRID RIO

 

Madrid Río es un parque de la ciudad española de Madrid, consistente en una zona peatonal y de recreo construida entre los años 2006 a 2012 en los dos márgenes del río Manzanares, en buena parte sobre el trazado soterrado de la vía de circunvalación M-30,1​ desde el nudo Sur hasta el enlace con la A-5. En 2016, el proyecto se hizo con el galardón Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design de la Universidad de Harvard por su diseño e impacto social y cultural en la transformación del río

Entre 2003 y 2007 se llevó a cabo la obra de soterramiento del arco oeste de la M-30 en el ámbito del río, obra que hizo posible la eliminación del tráfico en superficie y la consiguiente liberación de más de cincuenta hectáreas de terreno ocupado anteriormente por las calzadas. A esta superficie se sumaron otras casi cien hectáreas correspondientes a los diferentes suelos infrautilizados adyacentes a la autopista.

 

Tras la construcción de los túneles afloró una herida vacía formada por un rosario de espacios desocupados, que atesoraban la potencia latente de convertirse en nexo de unión de un corredor ambiental de casi tres mil hectáreas dentro del término municipal, que se extiende desde El Pardo hasta Getafe y que enlaza importantísimas áreas verdes de la ciudad como la Casa de Campo, el Parque de la Arganzuela o el Parque del Manzanares Sur.

 

Por tanto, los beneficios obtenidos al enterrar la antigua autopista, obviamente, no han quedado reducidos a la mejora de ciertos aspectos de la movilidad urbana, ni siquiera a la rehabilitación local de los barrios, sino que pueden adquirir en un futuro próximo, una dimensión de gran escala que necesariamente deberá repercutir en las relaciones entre la ciudad y el territorio, entendidas en su mayor alcance. La enorme trascendencia para la ciudad de los espacios liberados como consecuencia del soterramiento de la M-30, llevó al Ayuntamiento de Madrid a convocar un Concurso Internacional de Ideas para concebir y proyectar los nuevos espacios libres en el entorno del río. El concurso lo ganó el equipo de arquitectos dirigido por Ginés Garrido y formado por Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos, Porras & La Casta y Rubio & Álvarez-Sala y West8, con la solución para la construcción de un parque urbano de más de ciento veinte hectáreas, que ocupa la superficie liberada por el soterramiento de la autopista. Los inicios del proyecto pasaron por el intento de comprender en su totalidad las cualidades geográficas de la cuenca fluvial. Las características del territorio y la diversidad de sus elementos naturales constituyen un conjunto de claves que han sustentado muchas de las ideas contenidas en el proyecto.

 

Sumariamente, la estrategia del éste se basa en la convicción de que, a través del río es posible conectar la ciudad, expresión máxima de la acción artificial, con los territorios del norte y el sur de Madrid, en los que aún perviven los elementos naturales propios de la cuenca fluvial. El río se convierte en puerta o enlace entre interior urbano y exterior territorial y, a través de sus márgenes, se establece la continuidad y la permeabilidad, hasta hoy aniquiladas por los sucesivos anillos concéntricos, hollados por los cinturones viarios, M-30, M-40, M-45, M-50 …, que fueron el resultado de aplicar a la red circulatoria los modelos de movilidad propios de mediados del siglo XX.

 

El proyecto se ha concebido en sucesivas aproximaciones o escalas a partir de las que se ha aplicado la reflexión sobre el campo de juego, obteniendo respuestas o soluciones diversas, desde el ámbito territorial o estratégico al local o específico.

 

En la escala territorial se han establecido los parámetros de partida para que, en el medio plazo, sea posible la regeneración de las márgenes del río en toda su longitud, como verdaderas áreas de integración entre el paisaje y la actividad humana, bajo un entendimiento contemporáneo capaz de superar el antagonismo implícito en el binomio urbano-rural.

 

En la escala metropolitana, a través del proyecto y de su concepción como gran infraestructura, se lleva a cabo la incorporación del corredor que se extiende sobre los bordes fluviales a su paso por la ciudad como parte del GR 124 (Gran Recorrido de la Red de Senderos Europeos) que ya, en 2011 se podrá transitar en toda su extensión, desde Manzanares el Real hasta Aranjuez.

 

En la escala urbana, el proyecto incorpora el río como doble línea de fachada inédita y configura un conjunto enlazado de espacios verdes que se infiltra en la ciudad; establece en la superficie un nuevo sistema de movilidad y accesibilidad; incrementa la integración y calidad urbana de los barrios limítrofes al río; protege y revaloriza el patrimonio histórico y detecta áreas de oportunidad que, sobre este ámbito de nueva centralidad, serán capaces de generar un cambio potencial del conjunto de la ciudad en el largo plazo.

 

En la escala local, la propuesta se ejecuta como una operación radicalmente artificial, materializada sin embargo con instrumentos eminentemente naturales. No se debe olvidar que se actúa mayoritariamente sobre una infraestructura bajo tierra. El proyecto se implanta sobre un túnel o, más bien, sobre la cubierta de un conjunto complejísimo de instalaciones al servicio del viario enterrado. Un edificio de hormigón de más de seis kilómetros de longitud, con enormes y determinantes servidumbres y con una topografía cuya lógica obedece exclusivamente a la construcción de la infraestructura, que emerge inopinadamente sobre el suelo y con la que ha sido necesario negociar. Sobre esta edificación subterránea, la solución adoptada se ha basado en el uso de la vegetación como principal material de construcción. El proyecto establece como estrategia general la idea de implantar una densa capa vegetal, de carácter casi forestal, allá donde sea posible, es decir, fabricar un paisaje con materia viva, sobre un sustrato subterráneo inerte, modificado y excavado para el automóvil, sobre una construcción que expresa por sí misma el artificio máximo.

 

Las familias, formas y asociaciones de especies vegetales seleccionadas provienen de la extrapolación del estudio de la cuenca del río y su adaptación, en cada caso, al medio urbano específico. La ordenación de los distintos entornos y su caracterización como lugares de uso público se ha producido teniendo en cuenta, por un lado, las funciones requeridas y las necesidades detectadas en cada distrito y por otro, la capacidad de conformar espacios habitables, inherente a los conjuntos organizados de vegetación de distinto porte.

La solución se concreta en tres unidades de paisaje principales. Primero, el Salón de Pinos, o corredor verde que discurre por la margen derecha del río. Es la estructura que permite la continuidad de los recorridos y reacciona en su encuentro con los puentes existentes dando lugar a distintos tipos de jardines de ribera (Jardines bajos de Puente de Segovia, Jardines del Puente de San Isidro, Jardines del Puente de Toledo y Jardines del Puente de Praga). Segundo, el enlace definitivo del centro histórico (representado por la imagen imponente del Palacio Real y la cornisa elevada de la ciudad), con la Casa de Campo, parque de más de mil setecientas hectáreas. En este entorno se incluyen la Avenida de Portugal, la Huerta de la Partida, la Explanada del Rey y los Jardines de la Virgen del Puerto. Tercero, la ancha franja sobre la ribera izquierda donde se sitúa el conjunto del Parque de la Arganzuela que incluye el centro de creación de arte contemporáneo de Matadero, y que representa la mayor superficie de espacio verde unitario de la propuesta.

 

Además de estas tres grandes operaciones paisajísticas coherentes entre sí, el proyecto propone ciento cincuenta intervenciones de diferente carácter, entre las que destaca el sistema puentes que dotan de un inédito grado de permeabilidad al cauce. Se han desarrollado soluciones sobre más de veinte puentes o pasarelas sobre el río, rehabilitando las siete presas, reciclando algunos puentes existentes y creando nuevos pasos, unas veces con un lenguaje silencioso y otras, intencionadamente expresivo. Como en una acción microquirúrgica el proyecto incorpora, eslabón por eslabón, una cadena de fórmulas de integración del río en la ciudad y de la ciudad en el río. Son elementos que garantizarán el contagio de los nuevos valores de las orillas regeneradas sobre los ámbitos y barrios cercanos. Con este efecto de resonancia, se prevé una sucesión de operaciones que aseguren una renovación de gran alcance. Desde ahora y de manera irreversible, se está fraguando una radical metamorfosis, sin precedentes para la ciudad de Madrid.

La superestructura lineal del Salón de Pinos es el elemento que organiza la continuidad de recorridos a lo largo de la ribera derecha del río. Está construida sobre los túneles en su práctica totalidad y tiene un ancho medio de treinta metros. Sobre la losa de hormigón que cubre el paso de los automóviles se han plantado más de 9.000 unidades de diferentes especies de pinos, de diversos tamaños, formas y agrupaciones con un marco de plantación forestal. Los ejemplares han sido seleccionados fundamentalmente en campos en los que hubiese posibilidad de extraer plantas con morfologías naturales (troncos no lineales, troncos dobles, troncos inclinados, etc.) De este modo se obtiene una prolongación controlada de los pinares de la sierra situada al norte de Madrid que parecen extenderse hasta el confín de la ciudad. Estos árboles han sido anclados a la losa de los túneles mediante cables de acero y bridas biodegradables, para potenciar su estabilidad y el crecimiento de sus raíces en horizontal sobre el paquete de tierras disponible. No obstante, este paseo se encuentra frecuentemente con estructuras de gran valor urbano o patrimonial.

 

Dos ejemplos simbólicos de esta intersección son los puentes históricos de Segovia (1582) y de Toledo (1732). En estos enclaves el salón reacciona como espacio de estancia, ampliando sus límites y ofreciendo un diseño específico, con árboles de ribera de hoja caduca y alineaciones de setos y bancos de piedra. Las actividades integradas en el salón se incorporan con un lenguaje coherente con su carácter forestal. Un claro ejemplo de este procedimiento lo forma el conjunto de áreas de juegos infantiles, diseñado específicamente como un sistema completo de formas naturales.

 

Jardines del Puente de Segovia

 

El puente de Segovia está declarado Bien de Interés Cultural. Fue construido a finales del siglo XVI por el arquitecto Juan de Herrera, por encargo de Felipe II. El proyecto de ajardinamiento de su entorno conforma una excepción en el ámbito del Salón de Pinos, constituyendo un ensanchamiento de éste y ofreciendo un modo diferente de aproximación al río. Los jardines se ordenan mediante una serie de líneas de traza orgánica que modelan sucesivas terrazas que descienden hacia el río. Estas líneas están construidas con unas piezas de granito de gran formato que sirven también de bancos. Entre ellos se extiende una superficie de hierba de bajo consumo hídrico arbolada con diferentes especies de árboles frondosos de ribera de la familia de los populus. En las inmediaciones de la fábrica almohadillada del puente se han construido dos estanques de agua limpia sobre los cuales, por un lado alza una fuente monumental de 16 chorros con forma de ciprés y por otro se extiende un pequeño jardín de lirios acuáticos. Los estanques son accesibles mediante unas gradas de piedra que se acercan a ellos hasta sumergirse.

 

Jardines del Puente de Toledo

 

Los jardines del Puente de Toledo constituyen una de las áreas más significativas del Proyecto Madrid Río, ya que se están situados en un enclave de excepcional importancia en el que el Salón de Pinos se encuentra con uno de los puentes monumentales de Madrid, el puente de Toledo, construido entre 1718 y 1732. El proyecto aprovecha dicho monumento en un doble sentido: Por un lado se compone un espacio concebido para ser visto desde lo alto del puente que se convierte así en un mirador privilegiado. De este modo los jardines ofrecen una nueva e inédita panorámica de Madrid ya que sus trazados dibujan un enorme tatuaje que se extiende como una alfombra sobre la superficie, reproduciendo un motivo figurativo vegetal. Por otro lado, los jardines incorporan el Puente de Toledo, que es una estructura barroca diseñada por el arquitecto Pedro de Ribera, como un objeto al que admirar, al que tocar y bajo el que pasar. La disposición de los setos está organizada de modo que conforma una serie de líneas que toman como referencia los jardines barrocos de la época borbónica, aunque están trazadas con un lenguaje contemporáneo. Asimismo en este punto se ha construido un graderío que permite la máxima aproximación a la lámina de agua del río, y la mejor contemplación de los arcos del antiguo puente.

 

Segunda unidad de paisaje: La Escena Monumental

 

La vinculación del centro histórico y el barrio de La Latina con la Casa de Campo ha estado vedada a los peatones de forma secular. El nuevo contacto, que ya es posible por la desaparición de los automóviles bajo tierra, ha sido resuelto con diversas intervenciones que asumen el carácter monumental y panorámico de esta zona, en la que el zócalo elevado del Palacio Real (germen primigenio del nacimiento de la ciudad) contacta con el río. Se han propuesto diferentes soluciones afrontando con extremada atención el contexto en el que se sitúan: La “Explanada del Rey”, explanada abierta pavimentada con un gran patrón figurativo y que sirve de gran atrio ante la Casa de Campo. La huerta de la partida, que es un recinto cerrado en el que se han plantado diferentes retículas de árboles frutales (perales, manzanos, moreras, granados, higueras, nogales, avellanos, etc) acoge un extraordinario mirador de la cornisa. La avenida de Portugal, convertida en un bulevar pavimentado por calceteiros portugueses y poblado por cuatro especies de cerezos (Prunus avium, P. avium ‘Plena’, P.yedoensis y P.padus ‘Watereii’ ) permite la contemplación de una espectacular floración que se alarga más de un mes en primavera. Por último, los jardines de La Virgen del Puerto, en la otra margen del río, estructurados mediante la disposición de parterres orientados según los ejes de los principales acontecimientos urbanos del área: el puente de Segovia, el puente del Rey, la avenida de Portugal y la puerta del Rey que ha sido restaurada y resituada según los datos disponibles en la cartografía histórica de Madrid.

 

Plataforma del Rey

 

En el acceso monumental que enlaza el centro histórico de Madrid con la Casa de Campo, antiguo cazadero real, destaca la Explanada o Plataforma del Rey, que es un espacio abierto de una superficie aproximada de 14.000 m2 y un frente paralelo al río de poco menos de 250 m. El destino de este espacio es el de formar un escenario capaz de acoger diferentes manifestaciones cívicas (conciertos, celebraciones oficiales, actividades culturales, etc.) en un entorno de extraordinaria calidad ambiental, que permite contemplar la Cornisa Histórica de la Ciudad. Este lugar está conectado con el Salón de Pinos y forma parte de él, aunque por exigencias de su uso, sea un área casi desprovista de arbolado. En ella el principal elemento organizador es el pavimento que, de forma muy suave, se adapta a una topografía que integra todas las emergencias de los túneles hasta hacerlas imperceptibles. En este pavimento las pequeñas piezas de granito y basalto forman un patrón que desciende desde la Avenida de Portugal y se esparce sobre la superficie del suelo a una escala en aumento progresivo. Dicho patrón vincula la plataforma con el pavimento proyectado en la avenida. De este modo la Plataforma es un elemento que liga de manera natural importantes piezas del escenario monumental que se produce en este punto, como son el Puente del Rey, la Casa de Campo, la Avenida de Portugal y el Salón de Pinos.

 

Huerta de la Partida

  

Se trata de un espacio recuperado que en las pasadas décadas se dedicó a albergar uno de los principales nudos de la autopista. La propuesta de regeneración de este lugar incluye varias operaciones: En primer lugar la construcción de una tapia, a veces opaca, a veces permeable que constituye un cierre que confiere al recinto el carácter de huerto cerrado. En segundo lugar, el modelado artificial del terreno, regularizando su superficie y tallando un único plano inclinado de suave pendiente que se desliza hacia el río. En tercer lugar la plantación de diferentes agrupaciones de árboles frutales (granados, moreras, manzanos, perales, avellanos, almendros, higueras, olivos y nogales) que se incorporan en el entorno describiendo cuadrantes reticulados con sutiles variaciones de orientación. Por último, se ha proyectado una ría húmeda que describe la trayectoria del Arroyo Meaques, actualmente entubado y oculto. Este proyecto ha sido fruto del estudio minucioso de la historia del lugar, ya que en el pasado, cuando Felipe II adquirió esta finca después de establecer la capitalidad de Madrid, en esta posición se plantaron algunas huertas que producían el alimento necesario para los trabajadores de la Casa de Campo.

 

Tercera unidad de paisaje: La Ribera del Agua. Arganzuela y Matadero

 

En la margen izquierda del cauce la ciudad se separa del río. El ejemplo más importante de la propuesta en esta orilla es el nuevo Parque de la Arganzuela, construido sobre antiguas dehesas de pasto de uso comunal. En este entorno se construyó el Matadero Municipal, notable ejemplo de arquitectura posindustrial de la segunda década del siglo XX. Con el soterramiento de la autopista, Madrid dispone ahora en este punto de 33 hectáreas de espacios libres que forman el mayor parque del proyecto. Éste se ha concebido como un gran espacio en el que el río se ha retirado dejando su huella ancestral. Está organizado con diferentes líneas que se entrecruzan, como surcos por los que pasó el agua, dejando entre sí espacios para distintos usos. Estas líneas, de carácter marcadamente longitudinal, son los caminos de distinta especie que recorren el espacio de norte a sur.

 

Paseo junto al matadero

 

Un camino más plano y ancho (el Camino Rápido), otro más sinuoso y de pendiente variable (el Camino Lento) y una franja empedrada de márgenes frondosos (el Arroyo Seco), que vertebra el centro del parque. La construcción del espacio se plantea como una gran arboleda que contiene varios paisajes, algunos más naturales y otros más construidos, configurados por una variación de especies, alturas, densidades y texturas. De este modo el parque, concebido como un retazo de la cuenca del río, incorpora tres áreas botánicas: bosque mediterráneo, bosque atlántico y fronda de ribera. El carácter de estos paisajes interiores está relacionado con los trazados longitudinales del parque, con árboles que siguen los caminos y las sendas, con sotos y bosques que emergen sobre la topografía. La textura boscosa se intercala con las superficies plantadas de aromáticas entre los caminos y el Arroyo Seco. Siguiendo la orilla izquierda del río, se dispone una franja húmeda y verde, con una pradera de césped que se inclina hacia el agua. Una constelación de fuentes ornamentales y un conjunto de tres láminas elípticas de agua pura introducen este elemento como materia narrativa que relaciona las distintas asociaciones de vegetación. Cada fuente presenta un distinto juego sonoro y visual y se rodea de pequeñas laderas plantadas de frutales que remiten a la imagen de los jardines de las leyendas o del Paraíso. Las líneas entrelazadas que estructuran el parque permiten la formación de recintos en los que se han situado importantes instalaciones para el recreo al servicio de los usuarios de todas las edades. En él se incluye un campo de fútbol , dos pistas de patinaje y tres importantes conjuntos de juegos infantiles. El parque así mismo incorpora el conjunto dedicado a la creación de arte contemporáneo de Matadero, como una gran dotación cultural que vive dentro de él. A través de los caminos se accede a las naves del antiguo complejo, cuya rehabilitación está a punto de finalizar. El diseño de los trazados permite entender la relación entre Matadero y el parque como un continuo entre el río y la ciudad.

 

El sistema de puentes sobre el río

 

La implantación de puentes sobre el Manzanares se lleva a cabo como una estrategia global, es decir, como un conjunto en que cada elemento resuelve problemas puntuales detectados en el entorno próximo, pero también forma parte a su vez de un sistema integral de conectividad transversal de acuerdo con la relación entre la ciudad y el río. Las unidades de este conjunto son de diferente carácter: puentes y presas rehabilitados o reciclados, puentes rodados existentes acondicionados al nuevo sistema de tráfico ciclista y peatonal, puentes singulares que constituyen hitos en el recorrido del río, pasarelas funcionales situadas en los nodos de máximo tránsito transversal y puentes de grandes luces que enlazan los recorridos del parque con los territorios exteriores a la ciudad al norte y al sur, haciendo realidad la principal aspiración territorial del proyecto.

 

Entre los puentes existentes destaca la operación llevada a cabo con las siete presas que han sido convertidas en pasarelas peatonales a través de su restauración integral y la incorporación de un tablero de madera accesible. En segundo lugar dentro de esta serie, se debe destacar el reciclaje del puente rodado de la M-30 que cruzaba el río al sur del Puente de Segovia, reconvertido en un puente peatonal y ciclista que incorpora un talud plantado con pinos. Entre los puentes singulares cabe mencionar el puente con forma de Y construido con cajones de perfiles metálicos, que evoca el lenguaje de los puentes ferroviarios del s. XIX colgados sobre los desfiladeros forestales y los puentes gemelos de hormigón que se dan acceso al complejo Matadero, proyectados como elementos de paso capaces también de configurar un espacio al que se ingresa, como pabellones que gravitan sobre el río, pero que verdaderamente pertenecen al parque.

 

Pasarela de Almuñécar

 

Fabricada de una sola pieza con fibra de carbono, para salvar una luz de algo más de 40 metros. Se sitúa sobre el único tramo del cauce que carece de cajero de hormigón. Su diseño final responde a las capacidades del material con que está fabricada, extremadamente ligero y resistente.

 

Restauración de Presas

 

Las siete presas que regulan el río a su paso de la ciudad han sido restauradas y puestas al servicio del nuevo sistema de pasos transversales. Sus mecanismos y exclusas han sido reparados y se les ha incorporado un tablero accesible de madera y una escala de peces para favorecer la continuidad de la fauna subacuática a lo largo del río.

 

Puente Oblicuo

 

Esta estructura viaria coetánea de la M-30 se ha reciclado para incorporarla al Salón de Pinos como un paso privilegiado a través del cual los peatones, los ciclistas y los árboles pasan de una a otra orilla. La losa aligerada que componía el tablero de hormigón postesado se cortó y apeó reforzándose para soportar las cargas debidas a su nuevo uso.

 

Puente del Principado de Andorra

 

Es uno de los nuevos puentes singulares del proyecto. Está construido por jaulas de perfiles abiertos, de expresividad algo arcaica, que toma como referencia las estructuras ferroviarias sobre los desfiladeros boscosos que se construyeron en Europa y Estados Unidos a finales de siglo XIX. Antes conocido como Puente Y, en julio de 2011 se le cambió de nombre al actual de Principado de Andorra, para agradecer al gobierno de Andorra la construcción del Puente de Madrid en Andorra la Vieja.​ Se escogió este puente para nombrarlo como Principado de Andorra porque representa también la geografía de Andorra: el país pirenaico está formado por dos valles, el del Valira del Norte y el del Valira de Oriente, los cuales confluyen en Escaldes-Engordany y se convierten en uno solo, de nombre Gran Valira. Esta disposición de los valles y sus ríos es similar a una Y.

 

Puentes Cáscara

 

Son dos puentes gemelos construidos con una lámina de 15 cm de hormigón autonivelante que forma una superficie con doble curvatura, de la que cuelga el tablero. Se conciben como dos pabellones a los que acceder para cruzar el río. Su bóveda se ha ornamentado con un mosaico creado por el artista Daniel Canogar.

 

Pasarela de la Princesa

 

El canto necesario para el funcionamiento de la pasarela se incorpora en las barandillas que en realidad conforman una pareja de vigas de alma llena y rigidizadores verticales. El lenguaje de la pasarela es intencionadamente sobrio.

 

Cerco verità e bellezza nella trasparenza d’una foglia d’autunno ...

nella consistenza d’un vecchio tronco d’albero e in altre sfuggenti ombre della realtà.

 

Isabel Allende

 

Stamattina, grazie al jet lag, ho potuto ammirare una bella alba dai ponti vicino casa, e ho scattato alcune foto in controluce. La prima e l'ultima luce della giornata sono sempre le più belle, per fare fotografia.

Scatto senza nessuna elaborazione, zoom 600mm a mano libera.

Buona giornata

 

#dandalion #sunrise #sorgere #sole #tarassaco #dentedileone #stelo #soffio #blow #orange #arancione

are Zachary & Chase consistent in being sexy? And is the other dude just as sexy?

Consistent erosion and oxidation of rock boulders produce interesting patterns highlighted by the setting sun in the egg garden, Bisti Wilderness

 

* kudos to latositti for the suggestion

North Somerset Council's new tendered services start today. The only consistent bus service from Yatton to Clevedon in the seven years I have lived here has been Citistar's Thursday shopper service. There has been nothing else for the last couple of years , but now we have the 54 from Bristol Airport to Clevedon. It runs every one and a half hours , but - April Fool ! - it does not serve Clevedon School , getting there either three quarters of an hour too early , or three quarters of an hour too late.

HCT Group , trading as Bristol Community Transport are running services 52, 53, 54 and 55.

YX21RPU is an Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC B30F new 1st April 2021 , seen at the Tesco roundabout in Clevedon , on the 10.30 departure from Bristol Airport of service 54.

While it's been consistently 10 or more degrees colder than the season's average, things are finally starting to feel like spring in downtown Chicago. For me, this means to grab a camera, get out and enjoy the nicer weather.

 

This kind of shot has been done to death, but I thought I'd give it a try with all these Divvy bikes sitting outside Chicago's Drake Hotel.

Alexander Dennis presents the brand new 100-seat Enviro400XLB three-axle double decker, developed in close collaboration with Lothian Buses and chassis manufacturer Volvo. 42 of these high-capacity buses will enter service in Edinburgh from January onwards. They are manufactured in Falkirk, securing jobs and adding value to the Scottish economy directly and via the extensive local supply chain.

 

With Lothian’s services in the Scottish capital seeing consistent patronage growth, the operator collaborated with Alexander Dennis to develop the 13.4m Enviro400XLB. Offering 100 seats and able to carry up to 131 passengers in total, it delivers unrivalled capacity for busy routes in the capital, while its front and middle doors will speed-up dwell times at bus stops. It has been built to even higher standards than bus users in Edinburgh are familiar with, with comfortable high-backed seating, WiFi, USB charging, mood lighting and audio-visual stop announcements.

 

Alexander Dennis’s Enviro400XLB is the first bus for the United Kingdom to be mounted on Volvo’s recently launched three-axle B8L chassis, powered by the efficient 350hp Euro 6 D8K engine.

 

On Friday 09th November 2018, a select few from Lothian Buses and enthusiasts were specially invited by MD Richard Hall to pay a visit to the Alexander Dennis factory in Falkirk.

The esoterist sees things, not as they appear according to a certain perspective, but as they are: he takes account of what is essential and consequently invariable under the veil of different religious formulations, while necessarily taking his own starting point in a given formulation.

 

This at least is the position in principle and the justification for esoterism; in fact it is far from always being consistent with itself, inasmuch as intermediary solutions are humanly inevitable.

 

Everything which, in metaphysics or in spirituality, is universally true, becomes "esoteric" in so far as it does not agree, or does not seem to agree, with a given formalistic system or "exoterism"; yet every truth is present by right in every religion, given that every religion is made of truth.

 

This amounts to saying that esoterism is possible and even necessary; the whole question is to know at what level and in what context it is manifested, for relative and limited truth has its rights, as does the total truth; it has these rights in the context assigned to it by the nature of things, which is that of psychological and moral opportuneness and of traditional equilibrium.

 

The paradox of esoterism is that on the one hand "men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel", while on the other hand "give not what is sacred to dogs"; between these two expressions lies the "light that shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not". There are fluctuations here which no one can prevent and which are the ransom of contingency.

 

Exoterism is a precarious thing by reason of its limits or its exclusions; there arrives a moment in history when all kinds of experience oblige it to modify its claims to exclusiveness, and it is then driven to a choice: escape from these limitations by the upward path, in esoterism, or by the downward path, in a worldly and suicidal liberalism. As one might have expected, the civilizationist exoterism of the West has chosen the downward path, while combining this incidentally with a few esoteric notions which in such conditions remain inoperative.

  

Fallen man, and thus the average man, is as it were poisoned by the passional element, either grossly or subtly; from this results an obscuring of the Intellect and the necessity of a Revelation coming from the outside. Remove the passional element from the soul and the intelligence (remove "the rust from the mirror" or "from the heart") and the Intellect will be released; it will reveal from within what religion reveals from without.

 

[This release is strictly impossible-we must insist upon It-without the cooperation of a religion, an orthodoxy, a traditional esoterism with all that this implies.]

 

This brings us to an important point: in order to make itself understood by souls impregnated with passion, religion must itself adopt a so to speak passional language, whence dogmatism, which excludes, and moralism, which schematizes; if the average man or collective man were not passional, Revelation would speak the language of the Intellect and there would be no exoterism, nor for that matter esoterism considered as an occult complement.

 

There are here three possibilities: firstly, men dominate the passional element, everyone lives spiritually by his inward Revelation; this is the golden age, in which everyone is born an initiate.

 

Second possibility: men are affected by the passional element to the point of forgetting certain aspects of the Truth, whence the necessity (or the opportuneness) of Revelations that while being outward are metaphysical in spirit, such as the Upanishads.

 

[Such a Revelation has a function that is both conservative and preventive, it expresses the Truth in view of the risk of its being forgotten; It consequently also has the aim of protecting the "pure" from contamination by the "impure", of recalling the Truth to those who run the risk of going astray by carelessness.]

 

Thirdly: the majority of men are dominated by passions, whence the formalistic, exclusive and combative religions, which communicate to them on the one hand the means of channelling the passional element with a view to salvation, and on the other hand the means of overcoming it in view of the total Truth, and of thereby transcending the religious formalism which veils it while suggesting it in an indirect manner. Religious revelation is both a veil of light and a light veiled.

 

-----

 

Frithjof Schuon: Understanding Esoterism (from Esoterism as Principle and as Way)

 

-----

 

Image:

 

Beatus de Facundus illuminated manuscript - Illustration for Revelation 1:1-3

 

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

 

testimonia.fr/beatus-de-facundus/

   

In teoria, tra poco potrebbero anche mancare quattro giorni alla fine del mondo… considerato che gli ultimi tre dovrebbero essere di black-out totale, rimane proprio pochino per salutare… In questi casi viene da pensare a “cosa si farebbe”, ammesso s’intende che i vari piloti d’aereo, a quattro giorni dalla fine del mondo, abbiano ancora la voglia di lavorare per soddisfare gli ultimi desideri altrui… viene da pensare alle ultime cose da dire, da fare.

Ma dato che vorrei essere ottimista e fancazzista fino alla fine, io preferisco immaginare un “breve” lista di cose da NON fare.

Diciamo un centinaio…

 

1-Non devo cercare il pelo nell’uovo che non mi risulta si sia avuta mai notizia di un uovo peloso e pertanto è perfettamente inutile ostinarsi a cercarlo.

2-Non devo scivolare in un controsenso perché potrei impiastrarmi tutto se per caso fosse roba viscida.

3-Non devo masticare solo gomma americana, ma anche jugoslava, senegalese e magrebina altrimenti potrei essere accusato di razzismo.

4-Non devo mandare cartoline agli eschimesi che tanto non sanno l’italiano e poi non mi conoscono, quindi che gliele mando a fare.

5-Non devo convincere la carta igienica a cambiare mestiere perché, se vuole davvero essere “igienica”, un mestiere così non lo deve fare.

6-Non devo prendere la palla al balzo che sennò il papà del balzo si arrabbia.

7-Non devo lanciare parole al vento che tanto non ha consistenza e perciò non lo prendo mai.

8-Non devo piangere per un film commovente… se proprio devo piangere almeno che sia per un film commotrenta o meglio commoquaranta.

9-Non devo dipingere d’azzurro i miei cieli, di verde i miei prati e di rosso i miei cuori, perché voglio creare un genere di pittura all’incontrario in cui c’è pieno di cuori color cagarella e cieli ecru che si intonano bene coi cuori.

10-Non devo limare le unghie con la carta vetrata.

11-Non devo andare a cento all’ora per trovar la bimba mia.

12-Non devo mettere la freccia per girare, sennò poi mi viene la voglia di scagliarla verso qualche vigile.

13-Non devo continuare a dormire su un fianco e devo capire che è meglio se dormo su un letto.

14-Non devo camminare in fila indiana che basta con sta storia che gli indiani camminavano tutti uno dietro l’altro. (non è vera!)

15-Non devo mangiare solo le penne al nero di seppia ma anche le matite al grigio topo o le bic al blu di prussia.

16-Non devo fare la hostess.

17-Non devo incaponirmi a sbattere la testa sul muro quando le cose vanno male altrimenti poi oltre alle cose, fa male anche la testa.

18-Non devo mischiare gli odori quando cucino sennò poi ci credo che a mia moglie e mia figlia non piacciono i miei piatti. (pieni di odori)

19-Non devo camminare sul filo del rasoio perché non ho per niente equilibrio e non vorrei tagliarmi tutti i piedi.

20-Non devo sudare solamente ma imparare anche a suprendere.

21-Non devo mettere i puntini sugli “i” degli altri.

22-Non devo usare l’ammorbidente per lavare i pantaloni altrimenti poi le gambe mi fanno giacomo giacomo e io continuo a rispondere che mi chiamo paolo paolo e continuiamo a litigare e non è bello litigare con le proprie gambe.

23-Non devo ingoiare lacrime amare. Non ci vuoi mettere lo zucchero? Usa quello di canna, al limite il dolcificante! Ma basta con ste lacrime amare che fanno pure schifo!

24-Non devo legarmi le cose al dito che poi stringo sempre troppo e mi diventa viola.

25-Non devo apostrofare mia mamma che altrimenti diventa iamamma e poi quando la chiamo non mi capisce più.

26-Non devo fare salti dalla gioia che sennò poi mia moglie si arrabbia.

27-Non devo andare sul canotto quando sono da solo.

28-Non devo parlare al telefono che tanto è un gran maleducato e non mi risponde mai e io parlo, parlo, parlo per niente.

29-Non devo parlare più nemmeno a Carlo Maria, Agostina e Leopoldo, tanto non so chi siano e più di tanto non se la prenderanno.

30-Non devo cadere dalle nuvole altrimenti mi faccio moooooooolto male.

31-Non devo neppure avere la testa fra le nuvole altrimenti sono troooooooppo alto.

32-Non devo affogare i dispiaceri nell’alcol altrimenti finisce che mi arrestano e mi danno l’ergastolo.

33-Non devo morsicarmi le unghie perché quelle delle mani le ho finite e sennò mi tocca cominciare con quelle dei piedi.

34-Non devo fare zapping, stalking, mobbing, running, e più in generale tutte le parole inglesi che finiscono in ing, perché m’è sgorgata un’innata antipatia per ste tre lettere vicine.

35-Non devo chiedere il conto che sennò poi mi tocca pure pagare e son tempi duri per tutti.

36-Non devo continuare a giocare a scacchi con Josè… non c’è trippa per gatti ed ogni volta è un’umiliazione.

37-Non devo spostare l’ago della bilancia da una parte piuttosto che dall’altra perché altrimenti poi la bilancia non funziona più.

38-Non devo parlare in fretta altrimenti mi si mischiano le parole in bocca e poi mi gironi i cogliano.

39-Non devo assumere sostanze stupefacenti che se no poi rimango stupe fatto!

40-Non devo dire più “riassumo”, perché io non ho mai licenziato nessuno.

41-Non devo andare fiero di mia figlia, così non devo neppure tornare fiero di mia figlia e mi risparmio un biglietto andata e ritorno.

42-Non devo far sposare a mia figlia il figlio del signor Tschurtschenthaler sennò ora che imparo a chiamare il mio consuocero facciamo notte.

43-Non devo pitturare di arancione per invidia la maledetta erba del vicino che è sempre più verde della mia.

44-Non devo andare nei monti del Tirolo a cercare gli occhiali che quello sbadato di Dotto s’è perso mentre tornava da lavorare e pensava ai Loacker.

45-Non devo essere nudo e crudo perché sennò che schifo è? Te lo sei mai mangiato te un agnello nudo e crudo? Beh, io di agnelli vestiti non ne ho mai visti, ma neppure con una maglietta e un paio di jeans eh! Però certo… crudo fa proprio schifo!

46-Non devo inventare a tutti i costi (come cercano di fare i nostri amici Svizzeri di Ginevra) l’acceleratore di particelle che per quanto ne so io, ste povere particelle lasciamole andare col proprio passo che è risaputo che “chi va piano, va sano e va lontano”.

47-Non devo parlare di riscaldamento globale che già mi pare che con quello del condominio c’abbiamo discreti casini, figurarsi a pensarne uno globale.

48-Non devo parlare col cuore in mano altrimenti mi si sporcano di sangue tutte le mani.

49-Non devo focalizzare sul passato altrimenti il presente viene sfocato, e poi tutto sommato le foto mi piacciono di più con la polpa.

50-Non devo fossilizzarmi sulle cose altrimenti poi quelli che mi trovano, tra un milione di anni fanno una fatica bestiale a staccarmi ed inoltre non hanno una bacheca abbastanza grossa per mettermi in esposizione.

51-Non devo fare tanto sesso tantrico, meglio poco sesso pocrico.

52-Non devo calmare le acque che poi non sono Mosè e non sono capace di tenerle per tanto tempo a bada.

53-Non devo caricarmi di responsabilità perché non ho ancora tutti i denti del giudizio.

54-Non devo mischiare le carte in tavola altrimenti quelli che giocano con me, mi sa che non la prendono tanto bene.

55-Non devo zigzagare a meno che nelle vicinanze non ci sia un mago con la faccia blu che sul grande lago naviga con la sua tribù. E il sette di luglio la sveglia sul collo suonava le ventitrè.

56-Non devo ascoltare solo musica da camera altrimenti il bagno, la cucina e la sala se la prendono a male.

57-Non devo mangiare carboidrati, ipofosfati, turboliodati, nucleoacetati… e fagioli.

58-Non devo dire falsa testimonianza. E chi lo dice!

59-Non devo alimentare i malintesi che sennò poi ingrassano e bisogna ricomprargli i malipantaloni.

60-Non devo essere sempre positivo ma anche un po’ negativo perché è risaputo che i poli opposti s’attraggono e siccome io m’attraggo e vorrei avere qualche speranza di conquistarmi, allora sarebbe meglio.

61-Non devo prendere le redini delle situazioni perché tanto non sono buono ad andare a cavallo.

62-Non devo frullare i pompelmi coi mandarini, altrimenti esce una spremuta di mandarelmi oppure una bevanda assai più equivoca. CENSURED

63-Non devo farmi mettere i piedi in testa altrimenti poi mi puzzano i pensieri di formaggio.

64-Non devo moderare i termini ma neppure aizzare gli inizi.

65-Non devo fare torti e neppure pandispagni o profiterolli.

66-Non devo calpestare i diritti altrui con le scarpe sporche di merda di cane.

67-Non devo mantenermi in forma, quindi mi posso sciogliere o solidificare a piacere.

68-Non devo pagare le tasse perché non ho proprio idea di cosa abbiano fatto mai per me per cui dovrei pagarle… tanto poi cosa se ne fanno dei miei soldi?

69-Non devo sognare la luna ma spingermi oltre e quindi magari sognare un po’ anche Giove, o Saturno o, perché no, Nettuno (ma non era quello che stava in mare quello lì?)

70-Non devo assimilare i concetti che già assimilo tutto il resto e tra un po’ divento una barca e non ho neppure i remi!

71-Non devo far lavorare la fantasia che è minorenne e potrebbero chiamare il telefono azzurro.

72-Non devo controllare l’ora ogni minuto senza controllare i secondi o quantomeno azzerare il cronometro.

73-Non devo fare l’albero di natale in ritardo pensando che tanto babbo natale, con tutti i pandori e panettoni e torroni che mangia mentre li prepara c’avrà la gastrite e passerà con calma, dopo guarito.

74-Non devo mangiare la frutta secca, che come per le fotografie di prima, a me un po’ di polpa piace.

75-Non devo misurare la febbre alle formiche.

76-Non devo ostinarmi ad immaginare, come pensiero pacificante, la famosa amaca ai margini di una spiaggia tropicale con la mia casa dall’altra parte della medesima, che non ho voglia di camminare così tanto per sdraiarmici sopra e pacificarmi. Allora a sto punto mi pacifico nel letto della mia casa ai margini della spiaggia!

77-Non devo cantare sotto la doccia perché pazienza mentre mi sto lavando, ma le altre volte mi sento un po’ ridicolo tutto vestito a cantare lì sotto.

78-Non devo fare il pendolare che non vorrei trovarmi mai un giorno a dover fare anche il cuccù.

79-Non devo puntare i piedi per orgoglio che sennò lascio tutti buchi nel pavimento.

80-Non devo mangiare l’odiata minestrina, ma stare bene attento a non saltare neppure dalla finestrina (prevedere exit-strategy).

81-Non devo manifestare i miei sentimenti che poi mi tocca pagare un sacco di soldi per diritti di affissione.

82-Non devo essere un tifoso sfegatato. Per ovvii motivi.

83-Non devo credere alle facoltà paranormali anche se paranormale crederci.

84-Non devo mangiare panettoni ché son troppo piccoli e grosso come sono, come minimo mi ci vogliono panchiloni o meglio, panquintaloni.

85-Non devo bollire per sete di vendetta perché tanto è un piatto che va servito freddo.

86-Non devo comprare un arazzo che tanto sulla aluna non ci devo andare e poi non c’ho posto in garage per aparcheggiarlo.

87-Non devo andare in analisi, né logica né grammaticale.

88-Non devo usufruire dei buoni pasto per fare buone colazioni.

89-Non devo saltare l’introduzione e smetterla di leggere i libri dalla fine. Che poi lo credo che non ci capisco niente.

90-Non devo amministrare con parsimonia il mio denaro perché Simonia di denaro ne ha già abbastanza di suo ed io non gliene posso certo offrire altro.

91-Non devo pagare il coperto perché a me piace mangiare fuori ed ho pure la macchina cabrio.

92-Non devo cercare la cresta dell’onda solo perché sono invidioso dei suoi capelli.

93-Non devo prendere appunti.

94-Non devo far la spesa con la lista che tanto: a) me la dimentico a casa b) se non me la dimentico non la guardo c) se la guardo, c’è sempre una voce che mi sfugge e mi tocca puntualmente tornare al negozio. E poi mi gironi i cogliano…

95-Non devo imprecare nel traffico, quando ci vuole devo imprecare e basta, ovunque mi trovi.

96-Non devo superare gli ostacoli che mica sono un cavallo.

97-Non devo fare discorsi qualunquisti che può fare uno qualunque ma concentrarmi su discorsi specifici che può fare solo uno con un certo peso specifico e siccome io magari specifico non lo sarò, ma di peso lo sono di sicuro, me li sento più congeniali.

98-Non devo più scrivere a mia moglie su un messaggio che “sono fuso”…

99-Non devo avere un bell’aspetto perché io voglio averlo subito.

100- Non devo cercare le spigole negli angoli.

    

Direi che ce n'è abbastanza!

 

I was tagged by Roz first ...

1 - I am mystified that I so consistently seem to piss people off just by being me.

2 - I truly believe that I am looking more and more like Snoopy each passing day of my pregnancy.

3 - When I was a kid I believed Snoopy was "real" ... I still do.

 

I wanted to replace Charles M Schulz when I grew up but respected and admired him for wanting Peanuts to retire with him rather than risk corruption by profit minded individuals.

4 - I used to be jealous of my brother for being SO easygoing and good at everything, now I congratulate him for it, that's personal growth!

5 - I worry I will be a terrible parent. I am still disappointed the gender surprise was ruined.

6 - I am old enough that I had to use food products to dye my hair funny colours "back in the day" I look terrible with green hair and one day I will post the proof.

7 - I am incapable of a celebrity crush. Sure, I can think so and so is cute or talented but beyond that, not at all.

8 - I still miss Brownguy like crazy. Sherman rocks but Brownguy was my true soul mate.

9 - At least once a week I am amazed by the generosity of "internet" friends. I believe they are "real" too.

10 - I procrastinate far too much.

11 - I thought I would be far wealthier by this point in my life and I'm pissed about it!

12 - I almost never vomit ... no matter HOW bad I feel. Not sure this is a good thing.

13 - I used to hate my hair when I was a kid, now I hate aging and my bizarre post accident chin.

14 - I love to eat and will eat just about anything. I cut the spoiled bits off of food and eat it anyway. -- obviously (I hope) I don't actually EAT spoiled food. I sniff test first! I get upset just thinking about the volume of food which goes uneaten in the western world when so many are starving.

15 - I am a classic underachiever.

16 - when I first got into Blythes even I didn't think I would still love them this much 3 years later.

bonus - Pi is my true love though. I think everybody knows that which is why it is not in my "16"

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra who is on a visit to Kyiv.

The Head of State highly appreciated the consistent support for Ukraine from the government of the Netherlands and the personal efforts of Prime Minister Mark Rutte to counter Russian aggression.

"We thank the Netherlands for understanding the conditions in which our people live today and what Ukrainians are fighting for," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He thanked for the recent decisions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, as well as a separate support package for preparing for the winter period.

The Head of State emphasized the importance of the liberation of Kherson for the further de-occupation of all territories of Ukraine illegally seized by Russia.

The interlocutors discussed additional specific measures of support from the Netherlands to strengthen the defense capabilities of our country and successfully counter the aggressor.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian Federation continues missile terror against the population of Ukraine and the destruction of energy infrastructure. He noted the importance of creating an air shield over our country to protect against Russian missile attacks. It was stated that in the conditions of approaching winter, Ukraine is counting on prompt receipt of assistance from partners for the restoration of damaged infrastructure and stable electricity supply.

During the meeting, there was also an exchange of views regarding the involvement of the Netherlands in the reconstruction of the de-occupied territories of Ukraine. The Head of State thanked for the initiatives of the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands aimed at attracting companies from this country to the reconstruction process. He emphasized the great need to restore infrastructure in the liberated territories of the Kherson region and expressed hope that the Netherlands will be able to take the lead in rebuilding this promising region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that despite the continuation of armed aggression, Ukraine is ready to make a concrete contribution to global food security. Hope was expressed that the Netherlands would support a new Ukrainian initiative to supply grain to African countries suffering from hunger.

"Helping those suffering from hunger today is an effective response to Russia's attempts to repeat the genocide in the XXI century. And also a reminder to humanity of the lessons of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine," the President emphasized.

The interlocutors discussed topical issues of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, as well as support from the Netherlands in promoting our country's initiatives within the UN, in particular, regarding holding Russia accountable for crimes committed.

The President of Ukraine presented the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the III degree, which was awarded to him for significant personal merits in strengthening interstate cooperation and supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

I don't think I've ever been consistently proud as a photographer. Often what happens is I log onto Flickr and wallow in jealousy because none of my photos look like my favorites, and then I force myself to go someplace to shoot so I can prove to myself that I can do what everyone else is doing, yet once I'm finished, I hate the whole shoot and I can't seem to edit anything the way I want it to look. I keep telling myself that it's because I don't have Photoshop and I can't possibly get the effects and the lighting that everyone else has, or that I don't have the right 50mm f/1.8 lens and I can't possibly get the shallow depth of field that everyone else has, but I know that can't be true. I know I can play around with those things in other programs, but every time I try, I never get it right. So every time I shoot, I feel worthless because everything always turns out the same and I'm not improving. It's a cycle of comparison, but I'm beginning to realize what I'm doing to myself.

 

Forcing myself to shoot because I want to be as good as everyone else right now is ruining me. It's shattering my confidence and bringing me down from the fluffy little clouds I used to stand on. I keep shooting these petty little shoots because I want to see what I'm capable of, but when it's me forcing myself to shoot, then obviously that's not my greatest imagination at work. I could do so much more, but with those shoots, I'm just looking for a picture with a decent angle to edit, and I'm never going to be proud of those pictures because they're not from the bottom of my heart or the center of my somewhat-deranged brain. I want to shoot when I feel like shooting--when clever ideas dip into my brain and drag me outside or to the park or wherever. I don't need to be like everyone else, shooting every single day, in sunflower fields at golden hour, or in a thunderstorm when the pouring rain threatens my $800 camera's existence. If I'm not up to it, it doesn't make me any less of a photographer. It's time I let myself improve at my own pace. I'm promising myself that starting now, I will never force myself to shoot, or to impress anyone but myself.

 

I saw some quote somewhere, and I don't remember how it was worded (I should have saved it), but the moral was basically that "focus on making yourself happy rather than everyone else, because all the people in your life can and may walk away, but you're the only person you're stuck with". It makes so much sense, and I think it's about to become my motto.

Sintra is consistently ranked as one of the wealthiest and most expensive municipalities in both Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula as a whole. Sintra is one of Portugal's most expensive and sought after real estate markets, famed for its numerous historic and luxury estates, and is home to one of the largest foreign expat communities along the Portuguese Riviera. Sintra is similarly known for its high standards of living, consistently ranking as one of the best places to live in Portugal.

 

North Pier is the most northerly of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. Built in the 1860s, it is also the oldest and longest of the three. Although originally intended only

as a promenade, competition forced the pier to widen its attractions to include theatres and bars. Unlike Blackpool's other piers, which attracted the working classes with open air

dancing and amusements, North Pier catered for the "better-class" market, with orchestra concerts and respectable comedians. Until 2011, it was the only Blackpool pier that

consistently charged admission.

The pier is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building, due to its status as the oldest surviving pier created by Eugenius Birch. As of 2012 it is still in regular use,

despite having suffered damage from fires, storms and collisions with boats. Its attractions include bars, a theatre, a carousel and an arcade. One of the oldest remaining Sooty

glove puppets is on display commemorating Harry Corbett buying the original puppet there.

North Pier was built at the seaward end of Talbot Road, where the town's first railway station, Blackpool North, was built. Its name reflects its location as the most northerly of

Blackpool's three piers. It is about 450 yards (410 m) north of Blackpool Tower, which is roughly the midpoint of Blackpool's promenade. The sea front is particularly straight and

flat on this stretch of coastline, and the 1,650 feet (500 m) pier extends at right angles into the Irish Sea, more or less level with the promenade.

History: The construction of Blackpool Pier (eventually North Pier) started in May 1862, in Layton-cum-Warbreck, part of the parish of Bispham. In October 1862 severe storms

suggested that the planned height of the pier was insufficient, and it was increased by 3 feet (0.91 m) North Pier was the second of fourteen piers designed by Eugenius Birch,

and since Margate Pier was destroyed by a storm in 1978, it is the oldest of the remaining examples of his work still in use. It was the first of Birch's piers to be built by Glasgow

engineering firm Richard Laidlaw and Son.

The pier, which cost £11,740 to build, originally consisted of a promenade 1,405 feet (428 m) long and 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, extending to 55 feet (17 m) wide at the pier-head. The

bulk of the pier was constructed from cast iron, with a wooden deck laid on top. The cast iron piles on which the structure rests were inserted using Birch's screw pile process; the

screw-tipped piles were twisted into the sand until they hit bedrock. This made construction much quicker and easier, and guaranteed that the pier had a solid foundation. The

cast iron columns, 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter, were filled with concrete for stability at intervals of 60 feet (18 m), and supported by struts that were on average were slightly

more than 1 inch (25 mm) thick.The pier's promenade deck is lined with wooden benches with ornamental cast iron backs. At intervals along the pier are hexagonal kiosks built

around 1900 in wood and glass with minaret roofs topped with decorative finials. On opening two of the kiosks were occupied by a bookstall and confectionery stall and the

kiosks near the ends of the pier were seated shelters. The pier-head is a combination of 420 tons of cast iron and 340 tons of wrought iron columns; standing 50 feet (15 m)

above the low water line, it sees a regular 35 feet (11 m) change in sea level due to the tide.

The pier was officially opened in a grand ceremony on 21 May 1863, even though the final 50 yards (46 m) had not yet been completed. All the shops in the area were closed

and decorated with flags and streamers for the ceremony, which included a procession and a cannon salute, and was attended by more than 20,000 visitors. Although the town

only had a population of approximately 4,000, more than 200,000 holiday makers regularly stayed there during the summer months; this included 275,000 admissions in 1863,

400,000 in 1864 and 465,000 the following year. The pier was officially opened by Major Preston, and he and 150 officials then travelled to the Clifton Hotel for a celebratory

meal.

The pier was intended primarily for leisure rather than seafaring; for the price of 2d (worth approximately £4.90 in 2012) the pier provided the opportunity for visitors to walk close

to the sea without distractions.This fee was insufficient to deter "trippers'", which led to Major Preston campaigning for a new pier to cater for the 'trippers'. In 1866, the

government agreed that a second pier could be built, despite objections from the Blackpool Pier Company that it was close to their pier and therefore unnecessary

As permitted by the original parliamentary order, a landing jetty was built at the end of North Pier in incremental stages between 1864 and 1867. The full length of the jetty was

474 feet (144 m), and the extensions increased the pier's total length to its current 1,650 feet (500 m). The Blackpool Pier Company used the jetty to operate pleasure steamers

that made trips to the surrounding areas. In 1871 swimming and diving lessons were added to the pier.

In 1874, the pier-head was extended to allow Richard Knill Freeman to incorporate a pavilion, which opened in 1877. The interior decoration led it to be known as the "Indian

Pavilion", and it was Blackpool's primary venue for indoor entertainment until the Winter Gardens opened in 1879.

To differentiate itself from the new pier, North Pier focused on catering for the "better classes", charging for entry and including attractions such as an orchestra and band

concerts, in contrast to the Central Pier (or the "People's pier"), which regularly had music playing and open-air dancing. The pier owners highlighted the difference, charging at

least a shilling (worth approximately £19.90 in 2012) for concerts and ensuring that advertisements for comedians focused on their lack of vulgarity. Sundays were given over to a

church parade.

On 8 October 1892, a storm-damaged vessel, Sirene, hit the southern side of the pier, causing four shops and part of the deck to collapse onto the beach below. Several columns

were also dislodged, and the ship's bowsprit hit the pier entrance. All eleven crew members were rescued when they were hauled onto the pier. Damage to the pier was

estimated to be £5,000 and was promptly repaired.

Nelson's former flagship, HMS Foudroyant, was moored alongside North Pier for an exhibition, but slipped anchor and was wrecked on the shore in a violent storm on 16 June

1897, damaging part of the jetty. The wreck of the ship broke up during December storms.

The pier was closed for the winter during 1895–6 as it unsafe; as a result, the pier was widened as electric lighting was added.

An Arcade Pavilion was added in 1903 at the entrance to the pier and contained a wide range of amusements to suit all tastes. Further alterations were made to the pier in 1932-

3 when the open air stand was replaced with a stage and sun lounge.

In 1936, a pleasure steamer returning from Llandudno crashed into the pier. The collision left a 10 feet (3.0 m) gap, and stranded a number of people at the far end.

The 1874 Indian Pavilion was severely damaged by fire in 1921. It was refurbished, but was then destroyed by a second fire in 1938. In 1939 it was replaced by a theatre, built in

an Art Deco style. At around the same time, the bandstand was removed and replaced with a sun lounge.

In the 1960s, the Merrie England bar and an amusement arcade were constructed at the end of the pier nearest to the shore. The 1939 theatre, which is still in use, narrowly

escaped damage in 1985 when the early stages of a fire were noticed by performer Vince Hill. In the 1980s, a Victorian-styled entrance was built. In 1991 the pier gained the

Carousel bar as an additional attraction, and a small tramway to ease access to the pier-head. By this point, the pier had ceased to have any nautical use, but the jetty section

was adapted for use as a helicopter pad in the late 1980s. Storms on 24 December 1997 destroyed the landing jetty, including the helipad.

The North Pier is one of the few remaining examples of Birch's classic pier architecture and is a Grade II Listed building, the only Blackpool pier to hold that status. It was

recognised as "Pier of the Year" in 2004 by the National Piers Society.

North Pier's attractions include a Gypsy palm reader and an ice cream parlour, the North Pier Theatre, a Victorian tea room, and the Carousel and Merrie England bars. The

arcade, built in the 1960s, has approximately eleven million coins pass through its machines each year.

One of the earliest Sooty bear puppets used by Harry Corbett is on display on the pier. Corbett bought the original Sooty puppet on North Pier for his son, Matthew. When Corbett

took the puppet on BBC's Talent Night programme, he marked the nose and ears with soot so that they would show up on the black and white television, giving the puppet its

name.

The Carousel bar on the pier-head has a Victorian wrought iron canopy, and its outdoor sun-lounge is classified as the largest beer garden in Blackpool. Next to the bar is a two

tier carousel, the "Venetian Carousel", which is protected from sand and spray by a glass wall.

After the fire in 1938, the pavilion was replaced with a 1,564 seat theatre which has since hosted a number of acts including; Frankie Vaughan, Frank Randle, Tessie O'Shea,

Dave Morris, Bernard Delfont, Morecambe and Wise, Paul Daniels, Freddie Starr, Russ Abbott, Bruce Forsyth, Des O'Connor, Joe Longthorne, Lily Savage, Brian Conley and

Hale and Pace.

In 2002 a heritage room with photographs was opened up, the foyer entrance was refurbished and a disabled lift added. By 2005, there was no longer a live organist playing in

the sun lounge although other live entertainment continues. In 2013, the live organist was brought back into the sun lounge.

The pier was built and owned by the Blackpool Pier Company, created with three thousand £5-shares in 1861 (worth approximately £2,990 in 2012). The same firm operated the

pier in 1953, and the company was incorporated in 1965. The Resorts Division of First Leisure, including the pier, was sold to Leisure Parks for £74 million in 1998. In 2009, the

pier was sold to the Six Piers group, which owns Blackpool's other two piers, and hoped to use it as a more tranquil alternative to them. The new owners opened the Victorianthemed

tea room, and built an eight-seat shuttle running the length of the pier.

In April 2011, the pier was sold to a Blackpool family firm, Sedgwick's, the owners of amusement arcades and the big wheel on Blackpool's Central Pier. Peter Sedgwick

explained that he proposed to his wife on North Pier forty years ago, and promised to buy it for her one day. He said that he wants to restore the Victorian heritage of the pier and

re-instate the pier's tram. An admission charge of fifty pence to access the board-walk section of the pier was abolished by the Sedgewicks.

A petition to wind up the Northern Victorian Pier Limited (the company used by the Sedgwick family to manage Blackpool North Pier) was presented on 17 September 2012 by

Carlsberg UK Limited, a creditor of the Company, and this was to be heard at Blackpool County Court on 15 November 2012.

At the 11th hour, an agreement to pay the outstanding balance owed to Carlsberg was made and Peter Sedgwick's company escaped liquidation.

[Wikipedia]

WEEK 43 – Covington Kroger Closing, Set 4

 

Greenhouse stores have traditionally been, for me anyway, rather difficult to photograph – for a variety of reasons, to be sure, but still, the consistent result is that I’m never able to really get that many great pics or angles on the buildings. Here at the Covington store, which was situated on a lot all by itself without any neighbors; had trees that were not monstrosities eating up my sightlines; and sat underneath, on this day, a cloudy sky, meaning I had no sun glare to contend with… you’d think my luck would have been pretty good to finally have a chance of getting some really great, varied greenhouse façade photos. But alas, as you can see in this pic – which I resorted to having to take from the rear window of my dad’s truck – there was a man, perhaps a Kroger employee on break, who remained steadfastly stationed in that spot, seated beneath the Kroger signage, and sure to watch every move I made were I to walk around the property, particularly this left side where the logo and other signage resides, taking photos. Sigh.

 

At least this shot didn’t turn out poorly, but I wish I could have taken so many more…

 

If nothing else, we can see in this pic that the brick façade was literally just that – a façade – as it did not actually wrap around the sides of the store; those appear to be constructed in the same concrete block we've seen on many a greenhouse Kroger in other locales.

 

(c) 2021 Retail Retell

These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)

 

Kormakitis (Cypriot Arabic: Kurmajit; Greek: Κορμακίτης, Kormakítis; Turkish: Kormacit or Koruçam) is a small village in Cyprus. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus. Kormakitis is one of four traditionally Maronite villages in Cyprus, the other three being Asomatos, Agia Marina and Karpaseia. The Maronites of Kormakitis traditionally speak their own variety of Arabic called Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA) in addition to Greek and recently Turkish and they follow the Catholic Maronite Church. Cape Kormakitis is named after the village.

 

All of the remaining Maronites villagers are elderly. The Republic of Cyprus government gives those who stayed in the north pensions of $670 a month per couple and around $430 for an individual. It also pays instructors to teach CMA, and funds week-long summer visits by young Maronites to put them in touch with their communal roots. Maronites also receive help from the United Nations. Every two weeks UN troops make the trip from Nicosia to deliver food, water, fuel and medical supplies across the border to the north's Maronite population. The UN aid convoy is manned by soldiers from the 12 Regiment Royal Artillery. Aid is funded by the Republic of Cyprus government but is delivered by the UN.

 

During the weekends the population of Kormakitis increases to more than 600 as displaced former residents return to visit relatives and celebrate Mass. Access has been made easier since 2003 when the Turkish Cypriot authorities relaxed rules on visits to Northern Cyprus. Many Maronites who were displaced from Kormakitis have renovated and upgraded the village and homes for weekend use.

 

There are several versions for the name of the village. The most common instance of folk etymology is related to the Maronites who arrived from Kour, Batroun. Feeling nostalgic, they used to repeat the sentence "Nahni jina wa Kour ma jit" "We came (to Cyprus) but Kour hasn't come". Another instance of folk etymology is related to the Phoenician settlement of Kormia. The present village would take its name from the expression Kormia jdide, or "New Kormia". These hypotheses seem consistent with the pronunciation of the village in Cypriot Greek (Κορματζίτης /Korma'dʒitis/) and Cypriot Turkish (Kormacit /Korma'dʒit/). The standard Greek name Kormakitis is an attempt to adjust the name to standard Greek pronunciation, whereas the new Turkish name Koruçam was made up after 1974 for political reasons.

 

Originally from Lebanon and Syria, today's Maronite community in Cyprus was shaped by four successive waves of emigration that started in the 8th century. With the Islamic conquests radiating outward from the Arab Peninsula, many Maronites abandoned Syria and Lebanon[dubious – discuss] and settled in Cyprus. In 938, the destruction of St Maron's Monastery[citation needed][dubious – discuss] in Lebanon prompted a second wave of refugees. Another three centuries passed and Crusader king Guy of Lusignan purchased Cyprus from Richard the Lionheart, leading the former to import Maronite warriors to the island to protect its coastlines. The last wave of emigration came 100 years later when Acre, last outpost of the Crusader edifice, collapsed leading to the last migration of Maronites to Cyprus. Kormakitis was originally built near Cape Kormakitis, but because of Arab raids the village was moved to its current location. The new location of the village was chosen because it provided better protection against raids and contained an ample supply of water and lush vegetation for agriculture and livestock. During the period of 1191–1489, the village of Kormakitis was one of the richest fiefs of the island, which belonged to the French feudal Denores. The Maronites at the time held 60 villages with a reported number of 60,000 and was the second largest community after the Greek Cypriots. In 1570, Kormakitis had 850 inhabitants.

 

During the Ottoman rule of Cyprus, the number of residences decreased; in 1841, there were only 200 inhabitants. Villagers who remained were highly taxed and harassed by Ottoman Turks and Greek Cypriots alike. The number of Maronites across Cyprus decreased simultaneously: In 1572, there were between 7,000 and 8,000 Maronites, living in 23 villages, while, in 1596, there were 4.000 Maronites, living in 19 villages. Under the British administration in Cyprus, the Maronite Community was promoted by the British government, whose policy was to support minorities. This resulted in better living conditions for the population of Kormakitis. By 1910, Kormakitis relied on agriculture and livestock, which produced grain, olives, beans, cotton, cocoons and other crops.

 

After Cyprus gained independence in 1960, projects were carried out within the village. In 1962, the village school was constructed, which was able to enrol 210 students and employ seven teachers. In 1965, the village was connected to the electric grid and houses were connected to water mains for the first time.

 

Following years of intercommunal violence, on 15 July 1974, there was an attempted coup d'état led by the Greek military junta to unite the island with Greece. The coup ousted president Makarios III and replaced him with pro-enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. On 20 July 1974, the Turkish army invaded the island in response to the coup d'état. Despite the restoration of constitutional order and the return of Archbishop Makarios III to Cyprus in December 1974, the Turkish troops remained on the island occupying the northeastern portion of the island. This resulted in the island being divided into its Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities respectively. Many of Kormakitis's residents choose to migrate to the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus.

 

Before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Kormakitis had around 1,000 inhabitants. The number of Maronites has since decreased. It is estimated that between 100 and 165 Maronites remained in the TRNC. The decline in population has been attributed to a lack of jobs and secondary education, leading to migration, migrating mainly to Nicosia and Limassol. During the school year 1999–2000, the Kormakitis Primary School was forced to close down, due to a lack of pupils, providing evidence of Kormakitis's declining young population.

 

In 2006, TRNC officials announced that Maronites from the village of Kormakitis have been given an opportunity to return to the village. This has been made possible by the fact that the houses and properties in question at Kormakitis, were not seized by Turkish settlers and Turkish Cypriots during the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. However, the Maronites have to meet a certain criteria. Firstly, they need to be the legitimate owner of a house or property in the village to be allowed to resettle. Secondly, they also have to move back to the village and reside there. Maronites are not allowed to reclaim their property and then commute to and from Kormakitis to the Republic of Cyprus controlled areas. Some 40 people, mainly elderly couples, meanwhile, have permanently resettled in the village.

 

Several churches and chapels have been built within Kormakitis and the surrounding fields. These churches and chapels belong to the Maronite Church, a denomination of the Catholic Church. Saint George's Church, located within Kormakitis was built in 1930. Devoted to the patron saint of the village the Church, construction started in 1900. The designs and plans of the church were prepared by the Maltese architect Fenec and the Maltese Civil Engineer Cafiero. The inhabitants of the village offered donations for the construction of the church. The church constituted as the official church of the Maronite Church of Cyprus, prior 1974. Today, Saint George's Church is used by the remaining inhabitants. Icons and religious items dating from the 12th century are located within the cathedral.

 

The Chapel of Saint George, often referred as Chapel of Saint George of the seeds, is a chapel situated near the Mediterranean Sea, north of Kormakitis. It was built in 1852. Every year, on 3 November, a Mass is celebrated by the Maronite Community dedicated to Saint George. This is done to coincide with the start of the agricultural season, the farmers pray to Saint George for a successful harvest. According to the tradition, after Mass, the Maronites have lunch by the sea to celebrate Saint George.

 

The Chapel of the Holy Virgin is a small chapel situated in the west of the village. The chapel was thought to have been built in 1453. Recently renovated it is frequently visited.

 

The Chapel of Saint George, often referred as Chapel of Saint George of the Nuns, is a chapel situated next to the monastery of the Franciscan sisters, in the center of the village. It was built in 1534 and was the first chapel to be built inside the village. The monastery of the Franciscan sisters was built in 1936, next to the village's square.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Prat del Roure & Caldea spa, Carrer Josep Viladomat, Escaldes, Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra center, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

More Escaldes-Engordany (E-E) parroquia images: Follow the group links at right side.

 

.......

 

About this image:

 

* Medium format (645) 4x3 high quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (20 years 2003-2023)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism editiorials

 

We offer 200.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. 20.000+ visable here at Flickr. Its the largest professional image catalog of Andorra: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). Consistent for additional advanced programming. For smartphones and web-db. REAL TIME!

 

It's based on GeoCoded stock-photo images and metadata with 4-5 languages. Prepared for easy systematic organising of very large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System).

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

Singapore Zoo ranks consistently (after San Diego Zoo) as one of the best in the world.

 

The penguins are a delight to watch. As they waddle out single file on opposite feet, I’m reminded of my daughter’s tap dance classes.

 

For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/teeth-claws-and-colou...

While it's been consistently 10 or more degrees colder than the season's average, things are finally starting to feel like spring in downtown Chicago. For me, this means to grab a camera, get out and enjoy the nicer weather.

 

The reddish leather seat of this scooter immediately caught my eye. The Trump International Tower front door is facing me on the opposite side of the street.

Somewhere inside St Paul Cemetery - Arlington - Massachusetts

Rudolf Steiner

Steiner um 1905.jpg

BornRudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

27 (25?) February 1861

Murakirály, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (now Donji Kraljevec, Croatia)

Died30 March 1925 (aged 64)

Dornach, Switzerland

Alma materVienna Institute of Technology

University of Rostock (PhD, 1891)

Spouse(s)

Anna Eunicke (1899–1911)

Marie Steiner-von Sivers (1914–1925)

Era20th-century philosophy

RegionWestern philosophy

SchoolMonism

Holism in science

Goethean science

Anthroposophy

Main interests

Metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, esotericism, Christianity

Notable ideas

Anthroposophy, anthroposophical medicine, biodynamic agriculture, eurythmy, spiritual science, Waldorf education, holism in science

Influences[show]

Influenced[show]

Steiner Seven Apocalyptical Seals Transparent.png

Part of a series on

Anthroposophy

General

Anthroposophy Rudolf Steiner Ita Wegman Anthroposophical Society Goetheanum

Anthroposophically inspired work

Waldorf education Biodynamic agriculture Anthroposophic medicine Camphill Movement Eurythmy

Philosophy

Social threefolding

vte

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 (or 25) February 1861[5] – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist.[6][7] Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published philosophical works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy; other influences include Goethean science and Rosicrucianism.[8]

 

In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality.[9] His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions,[10]:291 differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, the movement arts (developing a new artistic form, eurythmy) and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts.[11] In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked to establish various practical endeavors, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture,[12] and anthroposophical medicine.[13]

 

Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang Goethe's world view, in which "Thinking… is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas."[14] A consistent thread that runs from his earliest philosophical phase through his later spiritual orientation is the goal of demonstrating that there are no essential limits to human knowledge.[15]

  

Contents

1Biography

1.1Childhood and education

1.2Early spiritual experiences

1.3Writer and philosopher

1.4Theosophical Society

1.5Anthroposophical Society and its cultural activities

1.6Political engagement and social agenda

1.7Attacks, illness, and death

1.8Spiritual research

1.9Esoteric schools

2Breadth of activity

2.1Education

2.2Biodynamic agriculture

2.3Anthroposophical medicine

2.4Social reform

2.5Architecture and visual arts

2.6Performing arts

3Philosophical ideas

3.1Goethean science

3.2Knowledge and freedom

3.3Spiritual science

3.4Steiner and Christianity

3.4.1Christ and human evolution

3.4.2Divergence from conventional Christian thought

3.4.3The Christian Community

4Reception

4.1Scientism

4.2Race and ethnicity

4.2.1Judaism

5Writings (selection)

6See also

7References

8Further reading

9External links

Biography[edit]

Childhood and education[edit]

 

The house where Rudolf Steiner was born, in present-day Croatia

Steiner's father, Johann(es) Steiner (1829–1910), left a position as a gamekeeper[16] in the service of Count Hoyos in Geras, northeast Lower Austria to marry one of the Hoyos family's housemaids, Franziska Blie (1834 Horn – 1918, Horn), a marriage for which the Count had refused his permission. Johann became a telegraph operator on the Southern Austrian Railway, and at the time of Rudolf's birth was stationed in Murakirály (Kraljevec) in the Muraköz region of the Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (present-day Donji Kraljevec in the Međimurje region of northernmost Croatia). In the first two years of Rudolf's life, the family moved twice, first to Mödling, near Vienna, and then, through the promotion of his father to stationmaster, to Pottschach, located in the foothills of the eastern Austrian Alps in Lower Austria.[13]

 

Steiner entered the village school, but following a disagreement between his father and the schoolmaster, he was briefly educated at home. In 1869, when Steiner was eight years old, the family moved to the village of Neudörfl and in October 1872 Steiner proceeded from the village school there to the realschule in Wiener Neustadt.[17]:Chap. 2

  

Rudolf Steiner, graduation photo from secondary school

In 1879, the family moved to Inzersdorf to enable Steiner to attend the Vienna Institute of Technology,[18] where he enrolled in courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, and mineralogy and audited courses in literature and philosophy, on an academic scholarship from 1879 to 1883, at the end of which time he withdrew from the Institute without graduating.[2]:122,443,446,456,503[19]:29 In 1882, one of Steiner's teachers, Karl Julius Schröer,[17]:Chap. 3 suggested Steiner's name to Joseph Kürschner, chief editor of a new edition of Goethe's works,[20] who asked Steiner to become the edition's natural science editor,[21] a truly astonishing opportunity for a young student without any form of academic credentials or previous publications.[19]:43

 

Before attending the Vienna Institute of Technology, Steiner had studied Kant, Fichte and Schelling.[22]

 

Early spiritual experiences[edit]

 

Rudolf Steiner as 21-year-old student (1882)

When he was nine years old, Steiner believed that he saw the spirit of an aunt who had died in a far-off town asking him to help her at a time when neither he nor his family knew of the woman's death.[23] Steiner later related that as a child he felt "that one must carry the knowledge of the spiritual world within oneself after the fashion of geometry ... [for here] one is permitted to know something which the mind alone, through its own power, experiences. In this feeling I found the justification for the spiritual world that I experienced ... I confirmed for myself by means of geometry the feeling that I must speak of a world 'which is not seen'."[17]

 

Steiner believed that at the age of 15 he had gained a complete understanding of the concept of time, which he considered to be the precondition of spiritual clairvoyance.[22] At 21, on the train between his home village and Vienna, Steiner met an herb gatherer, Felix Kogutzki, who spoke about the spiritual world "as one who had his own experience therein".[17]:39–40[24] Kogutzki conveyed to Steiner a knowledge of nature that was non-academic and spiritual.

 

Writer and philosopher[edit]

In 1888, as a result of his work for the Kürschner edition of Goethe's works, Steiner was invited to work as an editor at the Goethe archives in Weimar. Steiner remained with the archive until 1896. As well as the introductions for and commentaries to four volumes of Goethe's scientific writings, Steiner wrote two books about Goethe's philosophy: The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886),[25] which Steiner regarded as the epistemological foundation and justification for his later work,[26] and Goethe's Conception of the World (1897).[27] During this time he also collaborated in complete editions of the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and the writer Jean Paul and wrote numerous articles for various journals.

  

Rudolf Steiner around 1891/92, etching by Otto Fröhlich

In 1891, Steiner received a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Rostock, for his dissertation discussing Fichte's concept of the ego,[10][28] submitted to Heinrich von Stein, whose Seven Books of Platonism Steiner esteemed.[17]:Chap. 14 Steiner's dissertation was later published in expanded form as Truth and Knowledge: Prelude to a Philosophy of Freedom, with a dedication to Eduard von Hartmann.[29] Two years later, he published Die Philosophie der Freiheit (The Philosophy of Freedom or The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity—Steiner's preferred English title) (1894), an exploration of epistemology and ethics that suggested a way for humans to become spiritually free beings. Steiner later spoke of this book as containing implicitly, in philosophical form, the entire content of what he later developed explicitly as anthroposophy.[30]

  

Marie Steiner 1903

In 1896, Steiner declined an offer from Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche to help organize the Nietzsche archive in Naumburg. Her brother by that time was non compos mentis. Förster-Nietzsche introduced Steiner into the presence of the catatonic philosopher; Steiner, deeply moved, subsequently wrote the book Friedrich Nietzsche, Fighter for Freedom.[31] Steiner later related that:

 

My first acquaintance with Nietzsche's writings belongs to the year 1889. Previous to that I had never read a line of his. Upon the substance of my ideas as these find expression in The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, Nietzsche's thought had not the least influence....Nietzsche's ideas of the 'eternal recurrence' and of 'Übermensch' remained long in my mind. For in these was reflected that which a personality must feel concerning the evolution and essential being of humanity when this personality is kept back from grasping the spiritual world by the restricted thought in the philosophy of nature characterizing the end of the 19th century....What attracted me particularly was that one could read Nietzsche without coming upon anything which strove to make the reader a 'dependent' of Nietzsche's.[17]:Chap. 18

 

In 1897, Steiner left the Weimar archives and moved to Berlin. He became part owner of, chief editor of, and an active contributor to the literary journal Magazin für Literatur, where he hoped to find a readership sympathetic to his philosophy. Many subscribers were alienated by Steiner's unpopular support of Émile Zola in the Dreyfus Affair[32] and the journal lost more subscribers when Steiner published extracts from his correspondence with anarchist John Henry Mackay.[32] Dissatisfaction with his editorial style eventually led to his departure from the magazine.

 

In 1899, Steiner married Anna Eunicke; the couple separated several years later. Anna died in 1911.

 

Theosophical Society[edit]

Main article: Rudolf Steiner and the Theosophical Society

 

Rudolf Steiner in Munich with Annie Besant, leader of the Theosophical Society. Photo from 1907

In 1899, Steiner published an article, "Goethe's Secret Revelation", discussing the esoteric nature of Goethe's fairy tale The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. This article led to an invitation by the Count and Countess Brockdorff to speak to a gathering of Theosophists on the subject of Nietzsche. Steiner continued speaking regularly to the members of the Theosophical Society, becoming the head of its newly constituted German section in 1902 without ever formally joining the society.[10][33] It was also in connection with this society that Steiner met and worked with Marie von Sivers, who became his second wife in 1914. By 1904, Steiner was appointed by Annie Besant to be leader of the Theosophical Esoteric Society for Germany and Austria. In 1904, Eliza, the wife of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, became one of his favourite scholars[34]. Through Eliza, Steiner met Helmuth, who served as the Chief of the German General Staff from 1906 to 1914[35].

 

In contrast to mainstream Theosophy, Steiner sought to build a Western approach to spirituality based on the philosophical and mystical traditions of European culture. The German Section of the Theosophical Society grew rapidly under Steiner's leadership as he lectured throughout much of Europe on his spiritual science. During this period, Steiner maintained an original approach, replacing Madame Blavatsky's terminology with his own, and basing his spiritual research and teachings upon the Western esoteric and philosophical tradition. This and other differences, in particular Steiner's vocal rejection of Leadbeater and Besant's claim that Jiddu Krishnamurti was the vehicle of a new Maitreya, or world teacher,[36] led to a formal split in 1912/13,[10] when Steiner and the majority of members of the German section of the Theosophical Society broke off to form a new group, the Anthroposophical Society. Steiner took the name "Anthroposophy" from the title of a work of the Austrian philosopher Robert von Zimmermann, published in Vienna in 1856.[37] Despite his departure from the Theosophical Society, Steiner maintained his interest in Theosophy throughout his life.[8]

 

Anthroposophical Society and its cultural activities[edit]

RudolfSteiner.jpeg

The Anthroposophical Society grew rapidly. Fueled by a need to find an artistic home for their yearly conferences, which included performances of plays written by Edouard Schuré and Steiner, the decision was made to build a theater and organizational center. In 1913, construction began on the first Goetheanum building, in Dornach, Switzerland. The building, designed by Steiner, was built to a significant part by volunteers who offered craftsmanship or simply a will to learn new skills. Once World War I started in 1914, the Goetheanum volunteers could hear the sound of cannon fire beyond the Swiss border, but despite the war, people from all over Europe worked peaceably side by side on the building's construction. Steiner moved from Berlin to Dornach in 1913 and lived there to the end of his life.[38]

 

Steiner's lecture activity expanded enormously with the end of the war. Most importantly, from 1919 on Steiner began to work with other members of the society to found numerous practical institutions and activities, including the first Waldorf school, founded that year in Stuttgart, Germany. At the same time, the Goetheanum developed as a wide-ranging cultural centre. On New Year's Eve, 1922/1923, the building burned to the ground; contemporary police reports indicate arson as the probable cause.[13]:752[39]:796 Steiner immediately began work designing a second Goetheanum building - this time made of concrete instead of wood - which was completed in 1928, three years after his death.

 

At a "Foundation Meeting" for members held at the Dornach center during Christmas, 1923, Steiner spoke of laying a new Foundation Stone for the society in the hearts of his listeners. At the meeting, a new "General Anthroposophical Society" was established with a new executive board. At this meeting, Steiner also founded a School of Spiritual Science, intended as an "organ of initiative" for research and study and as "the 'soul' of the Anthroposophical Society".[40] This School, which was led by Steiner, initially had sections for general anthroposophy, education, medicine, performing arts (eurythmy, speech, drama and music), the literary arts and humanities, mathematics, astronomy, science, and visual arts. Later sections were added for the social sciences, youth and agriculture.[41][42][43] The School of Spiritual Science included meditative exercises given by Steiner.

 

Political engagement and social agenda[edit]

Steiner became a well-known and controversial public figure during and after World War I. In response to the catastrophic situation in post-war Germany, he proposed extensive social reforms through the establishment of a Threefold Social Order in which the cultural, political and economic realms would be largely independent. Steiner argued that a fusion of the three realms had created the inflexibility that had led to catastrophes such as World War I. In connection with this, he promoted a radical solution in the disputed area of Upper Silesia, claimed by both Poland and Germany. His suggestion that this area be granted at least provisional independence led to his being publicly accused of being a traitor to Germany.[44]

 

Steiner opposed Wilson's proposal to create new European nations based around ethnic groups, which he saw as opening the door to rampant nationalism. Steiner proposed as an alternative "'social territories' with democratic institutions that were accessible to all inhabitants of a territory whatever their origin while the needs of the various ethnicities would be met by independent cultural institutions."[45]

 

Attacks, illness, and death[edit]

The National Socialist German Workers Party gained strength in Germany after the First World War. In 1919, a political theorist of this movement, Dietrich Eckart, attacked Steiner and suggested that he was a Jew.[46] In 1921, Adolf Hitler attacked Steiner on many fronts, including accusations that he was a tool of the Jews,[47] while other nationalist extremists in Germany called for a "war against Steiner". That same year, Steiner warned against the disastrous effects it would have for Central Europe if the National Socialists came to power.[46]:8 In 1922 a lecture Steiner was giving in Munich was disrupted when stink bombs were let off and the lights switched out, while people rushed the stage apparently attempting to attack Steiner, who exited safely through a back door.[48][49] Unable to guarantee his safety, Steiner's agents cancelled his next lecture tour.[32]:193[50] The 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich led Steiner to give up his residence in Berlin, saying that if those responsible for the attempted coup [Hitler and others] came to power in Germany, it would no longer be possible for him to enter the country.[51]

 

From 1923 on, Steiner showed signs of increasing frailness and illness. He nonetheless continued to lecture widely, and even to travel; especially towards the end of this time, he was often giving two, three or even four lectures daily for courses taking place concurrently. Many of these lectures focused on practical areas of life such as education.[52]

  

Steiner's gravestone at the Goetheanum

Increasingly ill, he held his last lecture in late September, 1924. He continued work on his autobiography during the last months of his life; he died on 30 March 1925.

 

Spiritual research[edit]

Steiner first began speaking publicly about spiritual experiences and phenomena in his 1899 lectures to the Theosophical Society. By 1901 he had begun to write about spiritual topics, initially in the form of discussions of historical figures such as the mystics of the Middle Ages. By 1904 he was expressing his own understanding of these themes in his essays and books, while continuing to refer to a wide variety of historical sources.

 

"A world of spiritual perception is discussed in a number of writings which I have published since this book appeared. The Philosophy of Freedom forms the philosophical basis for these later writings. For it tries to show that the experience of thinking, rightly understood, is in fact an experience of spirit." (Steiner, Philosophy of Freedom, Consequences of Monism)

 

Steiner aimed to apply his training in mathematics, science, and philosophy to produce rigorous, verifiable presentations of those experiences.[53] He believed that through freely chosen ethical disciplines and meditative training, anyone could develop the ability to experience the spiritual world, including the higher nature of oneself and others.[32] Steiner believed that such discipline and training would help a person to become a more moral, creative and free individual – free in the sense of being capable of actions motivated solely by love.[54] His philosophical ideas were affected by Franz Brentano,[32] with whom he had studied,[55] as well as by Fichte, Hegel, Schelling, and Goethe's phenomenological approach to science.[32][56][57]

 

Steiner followed Wilhelm Dilthey in using the term Geisteswissenschaft, usually translated as "spiritual science".[58] Steiner used the term to describe a discipline treating the spirit as something actual and real, starting from the premise that it is possible for human beings to penetrate behind what is sense-perceptible.[59] He proposed that psychology, history, and the humanities generally were based on the direct grasp of an ideal reality,[60] and required close attention to the particular period and culture which provided the distinctive character of religious qualities in the course of the evolution of consciousness. In contrast to William James' pragmatic approach to religious and psychic experience, which emphasized its idiosyncratic character, Steiner focused on ways such experience can be rendered more intelligible and integrated into human life.[61]

 

Steiner proposed that an understanding of reincarnation and karma was necessary to understand psychology[62] and that the form of external nature would be more comprehensible as a result of insight into the course of karma in the evolution of humanity.[63] Beginning in 1910, he described aspects of karma relating to health, natural phenomena and free will, taking the position that a person is not bound by his or her karma, but can transcend this through actively taking hold of one's own nature and destiny.[64] In an extensive series of lectures from February to September 1924, Steiner presented further research on successive reincarnations of various individuals and described the techniques he used for karma research.[52][65]

 

Esoteric schools[edit]

See also: Rudolf Steiner's exercises for spiritual development

Steiner was founder and leader of the following:

 

His independent Esoteric School of the Theosophical Society, founded in 1904. This school continued after the break with Theosophy but was disbanded at the start of World War I.

A lodge called Mystica Aeterna within the Masonic Order of Memphis and Mizraim, which Steiner led from 1906 until around 1914. Steiner added to the Masonic rite a number of Rosicrucian references.[66]

The School of Spiritual Science of the Anthroposophical Society, founded in 1923 as a further development of his earlier Esoteric School. This was originally constituted with a general section and seven specialized sections for education, literature, performing arts, natural sciences, medicine, visual arts, and astronomy.[41][43][67] Steiner gave members of the School the first Lesson for guidance into the esoteric work in February 1924.[68] Though Steiner intended to develop three "classes" of this school, only the first of these was developed in his lifetime (and continues today). An authentic text of the written records on which the teaching of the First Class was based was published in 1992.[69]

Breadth of activity[edit]

After the First World War, Steiner became active in a wide variety of cultural contexts. He founded a number of schools, the first of which was known as the Waldorf school,[70] which later evolved into a worldwide school network. He also founded a system of organic agriculture, now known as biodynamic agriculture, which was one of the very first forms of, and has contributed significantly to the development of, modern organic farming.[71] His work in medicine led to the development of a broad range of complementary medications and supportive artistic and biographic therapies.[72] Numerous homes for children and adults with developmental disabilities based on his work (including those of the Camphill movement) are found in Africa, Europe, and North America.[73] His paintings and drawings influenced Joseph Beuys and other modern artists. His two Goetheanum buildings have been widely cited as masterpieces of modern architecture,[74][75][76][77][78] and other anthroposophical architects have contributed thousands of buildings to the modern scene.[79] One of the first institutions to practice ethical banking was an anthroposophical bank working out of Steiner's ideas; other anthroposophical social finance institutions have since been founded.

 

Steiner's literary estate is correspondingly broad. Steiner's writings, published in about forty volumes, include books, essays, four plays ('mystery dramas'), mantric verse, and an autobiography. His collected lectures, making up another approximately 300 volumes, discuss an extremely wide range of themes. Steiner's drawings, chiefly illustrations done on blackboards during his lectures, are collected in a separate series of 28 volumes. Many publications have covered his architectural legacy and sculptural work.

 

Education[edit]

 

The Waldorf school in Verrières-le-Buisson (France)

Main article: Waldorf education

As a young man, Steiner was a private tutor and a lecturer on history for the Berlin Arbeiterbildungsschule,[80] an educational initiative for working class adults.[81] Soon thereafter, he began to articulate his ideas on education in public lectures,[82] culminating in a 1907 essay on The Education of the Child in which he described the major phases of child development which formed the foundation of his approach to education.[83] His conception of education was influenced by the Herbartian pedagogy prominent in Europe during the late nineteenth century,[80]:1362, 1390ff[82] though Steiner criticized Herbart for not sufficiently recognizing the importance of educating the will and feelings as well as the intellect.[84]

 

In 1919, Emil Molt invited him to lecture to his workers at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart. Out of these lectures came a new school, the Waldorf school. In 1922, Steiner presented these ideas at a conference called for this purpose in Oxford by Professor Millicent Mackenzie. He subsequently presented a teacher training course at Torquay in 1924 at an Anthroposophy Summer School organised by Eleanor Merry.[85] The Oxford Conference and the Torquay teacher training led to the founding of the first Waldorf schools in Britain.[86] During Steiner's lifetime, schools based on his educational principles were also founded in Hamburg, Essen, The Hague and London; there are now more than 1000 Waldorf schools worldwide.

 

Biodynamic agriculture[edit]

Main article: Biodynamic agriculture

In 1924, a group of farmers concerned about the future of agriculture requested Steiner's help. Steiner responded with a lecture series on an ecological and sustainable approach to agriculture that increased soil fertility without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.[12] Steiner's agricultural ideas promptly spread and were put into practice internationally[87] and biodynamic agriculture is now practiced in Europe,[88] North America, South America[89], Africa[90], Asia[88] and Australasia.[91][92][93]

 

A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a largely self-sustaining system, producing its own manure and animal feed. Plant or animal disease is seen as a symptom of problems in the whole organism. Steiner also suggested timing such agricultural activities as sowing, weeding, and harvesting to utilize the influences on plant growth of the moon and planets; and the application of natural materials prepared in specific ways to the soil, compost, and crops, with the intention of engaging non-physical beings and elemental forces. He encouraged his listeners to verify his suggestions empirically, as he had not yet done.[91]

 

Anthroposophical medicine[edit]

Main article: Anthroposophical medicine

From the late 1910s, Steiner was working with doctors to create a new approach to medicine. In 1921, pharmacists and physicians gathered under Steiner's guidance to create a pharmaceutical company called Weleda which now distributes natural medical products worldwide. At around the same time, Dr. Ita Wegman founded a first anthroposophic medical clinic (now the Ita Wegman Clinic) in Arlesheim.

 

Social reform[edit]

Main article: Threefold Social Order

For a period after World War I, Steiner was active as a lecturer on social reform. A petition expressing his basic social ideas was widely circulated and signed by many cultural figures of the day, including Hermann Hesse.

 

In Steiner's chief book on social reform, Toward Social Renewal, he suggested that the cultural, political and economic spheres of society need to work together as consciously cooperating yet independent entities, each with a particular task: political institutions should establish political equality and protect human rights; cultural institutions should nurture the free and unhindered development of science, art, education and religion; and economic institutions should enable producers, distributors and consumers to cooperate to provide efficiently for society's needs.[94] He saw such a division of responsibility, which he called the Threefold Social Order, as a vital task which would take up consciously the historical trend toward the mutual independence of these three realms. Steiner also gave suggestions for many specific social reforms.

 

Steiner proposed what he termed a "fundamental law" of social life:

 

The well-being of a community of people working together will be the greater, the less the individual claims for himself the proceeds of his work, i.e. the more of these proceeds he makes over to his fellow-workers, the more his own needs are satisfied, not out of his own work but out of the work done by others.

 

— Steiner, The Fundamental Social Law[95]

He expressed this in the motto:[95]

 

The healthy social life is found

When in the mirror of each human soul

The whole community finds its reflection,

And when in the community

The virtue of each one is living.

Architecture and visual arts[edit]

 

First Goetheanum

  

Second Goetheanum

  

Detail of The Representative of Humanity

 

English sculptor Edith Maryon belonged to the innermost circle of founders of anthroposophy and was appointed to head the Section of Sculptural Arts at the Goetheanum.

 

Steiner designed 17 buildings, including the First and Second Goetheanums.[96] These two buildings, built in Dornach, Switzerland, were intended to house significant theater spaces as well as a "school for spiritual science".[97] Three of Steiner's buildings have been listed amongst the most significant works of modern architecture.[98]

 

His primary sculptural work is The Representative of Humanity (1922), a nine-meter high wood sculpture executed as a joint project with the sculptor Edith Maryon. This was intended to be placed in the first Goetheanum. It shows a central, free-standing Christ holding a balance between the beings of Lucifer and Ahriman, representing opposing tendencies of expansion and contraction.[99][100][101] It was intended to show, in conscious contrast to Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Christ as mute and impersonal such that the beings that approach him must judge themselves.[102] The sculpture is now on permanent display at the Goetheanum.

 

Steiner's blackboard drawings were unique at the time and almost certainly not originally intended as art works.[103] Josef Beuys' work, itself heavily influenced by Steiner, has led to the modern understanding of Steiner's drawings as artistic objects.[104]

 

Performing arts[edit]

See also: Eurythmy

Steiner wrote four mystery plays between 1909 and 1913: The Portal of Initiation, The Souls' Probation, The Guardian of the Threshold and The Soul's Awakening, modeled on the esoteric dramas of Edouard Schuré, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.[105] Steiner's plays continue to be performed by anthroposophical groups in various countries, most notably (in the original German) in Dornach, Switzerland and (in English translation) in Spring Valley, New York and in Stroud and Stourbridge in the U.K.

 

In collaboration with Marie von Sivers, Steiner also founded a new approach to acting, storytelling, and the recitation of poetry. His last public lecture course, given in 1924, was on speech and drama. The Russian actor, director, and acting coach Michael Chekhov based significant aspects of his method of acting on Steiner's work.[106][107]

 

Together with Marie von Sivers, Rudolf Steiner also developed the art of eurythmy, sometimes referred to as "visible speech and song". According to the principles of eurythmy, there are archetypal movements or gestures that correspond to every aspect of speech – the sounds (or phonemes), the rhythms, and the grammatical function – to every "soul quality" – joy, despair, tenderness, etc. – and to every aspect of music – tones, intervals, rhythms, and harmonies.

 

Philosophical ideas[edit]

Live through deeds of love, and let others live understanding their unique intentions: this is the fundamental principle of free human beings.

Rudolf Steiner, Philosophy of Freedom. Chapter 9

 

Goethean science[edit]

See also: Goethean science

In his commentaries on Goethe's scientific works, written between 1884 and 1897, Steiner presented Goethe's approach to science as essentially phenomenological in nature, rather than theory- or model-based. He developed this conception further in several books, The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886) and Goethe's Conception of the World (1897), particularly emphasizing the transformation in Goethe's approach from the physical sciences, where experiment played the primary role, to plant biology, where both accurate perception and imagination were required to find the biological archetypes (Urpflanze), and postulated that Goethe had sought but been unable to fully find the further transformation in scientific thinking necessary to properly interpret and understand the animal kingdom.[108] Steiner emphasized the role of evolutionary thinking in Goethe's discovery of the intermaxillary bone in human beings; Goethe expected human anatomy to be an evolutionary transformation of animal anatomy.[108] Steiner defended Goethe's qualitative description of color as arising synthetically from the polarity of light and darkness, in contrast to Newton's particle-based and analytic conception.

 

Particular organic forms can be evolved only from universal types, and every organic entity we experience must coincide with some one of these derivative forms of the type. Here the evolutionary method must replace the method of proof. We aim not to show that external conditions act upon one another in a certain way and thereby bring about a definite result, but that a particular form has developed under definite external conditions out of the type. This is the radical difference between inorganic and organic science.

 

— Rudolf Steiner, The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World Conception, Chapter XVI, "Organic Nature"

Knowledge and freedom[edit]

See also: Philosophy of Freedom

Steiner approached the philosophical questions of knowledge and freedom in two stages. In his dissertation, published in expanded form in 1892 as Truth and Knowledge, Steiner suggests that there is an inconsistency between Kant's philosophy, which posits that all knowledge is a representation of an essential verity inaccessible to human consciousness, and modern science, which assumes that all influences can be found in the sensory and mental world to which we have access. Steiner considered Kant's philosophy of an inaccessible beyond ("Jenseits-Philosophy") a stumbling block in achieving a satisfying philosophical viewpoint.[109]

 

Steiner postulates that the world is essentially an indivisible unity, but that our consciousness divides it into the sense-perceptible appearance, on the one hand, and the formal nature accessible to our thinking, on the other. He sees in thinking itself an element that can be strengthened and deepened sufficiently to penetrate all that our senses do not reveal to us. Steiner thus considered what appears to human experience as a division between the spiritual and natural worlds to be a conditioned result of the structure of our consciousness, which separates perception and thinking. These two faculties give us not two worlds, but two complementary views of the same world; neither has primacy and the two together are necessary and sufficient to arrive at a complete understanding of the world. In thinking about perception (the path of natural science) and perceiving the process of thinking (the path of spiritual training), it is possible to discover a hidden inner unity between the two poles of our experience.[54]:Chapter 4 Truth, for Steiner, is paradoxically both an objective discovery and yet "a free creation of the human spirit, that never would exist at all if we did not generate it ourselves. The task of understanding is not to replicate in conceptual form something that already exists, but rather to create a wholly new realm, that together with the world given to our senses constitutes the fullness of reality."[110]

 

In the Philosophy of Freedom, Steiner further explores potentials within thinking: freedom, he suggests, can only be approached gradually with the aid of the creative activity of thinking. Thinking can be a free deed; in addition, it can liberate our will from its subservience to our instincts and drives. Free deeds, he suggests, are those for which we are fully conscious of the motive for our action; freedom is the spiritual activity of penetrating with consciousness our own nature and that of the world,[111] and the real activity of acting in full consciousness.[54]:133–4 This includes overcoming influences of both heredity and environment: "To be free is to be capable of thinking one's own thoughts – not the thoughts merely of the body, or of society, but thoughts generated by one's deepest, most original, most essential and spiritual self, one's individuality."[10]

 

Steiner affirms Darwin's and Haeckel's evolutionary perspectives but extended this beyond its materialistic consequences; he sees human consciousness, indeed, all human culture, as a product of natural evolution that transcends itself. For Steiner, nature becomes self-conscious in the human being. Steiner's description of the nature of human consciousness thus closely parallels that of Solovyov:[112]

 

Spiritual science[edit]

See also: Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner's exercises for spiritual development

 

Rudolf Steiner 1900

In his earliest works, Steiner already spoke of the "natural and spiritual worlds" as a unity.[32] From 1900 on, he began lecturing about concrete details of the spiritual world(s), culminating in the publication in 1904 of the first of several systematic presentations, his Theosophy: An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos. As a starting point for the book Steiner took a quotation from Goethe, describing the method of natural scientific observation,[113] while in the Preface he made clear that the line of thought taken in this book led to the same goal as that in his earlier work, The Philosophy of Freedom.[114]

 

In the years 1903–1908 Steiner maintained the magazine "Lucifer-Gnosis" and published in it essays on topics such as initiation, reincarnation and karma, and knowledge of the supernatural world.[115] Some of these were later collected and published as books, such as How to Know Higher Worlds (1904/5) and Cosmic Memory. The book An Outline of Esoteric Science was published in 1910. Important themes include:

 

the human being as body, soul and spirit;

the path of spiritual development;

spiritual influences on world-evolution and history; and

reincarnation and karma.

Steiner emphasized that there is an objective natural and spiritual world that can be known, and that perceptions of the spiritual world and incorporeal beings are, under conditions of training comparable to that required for the natural sciences, including self-discipline, replicable by multiple observers. It is on this basis that spiritual science is possible, with radically different epistemological foundations than those of natural science. He believed that natural science was correct in its methods but one-sided for exclusively focusing on sensory phenomena, while mysticism was vague in its methods, though seeking to explore the inner and spiritual life. Anthroposophy was meant to apply the systematic methods of the former to the content of the latter[116][117]

 

For Steiner, the cosmos is permeated and continually transformed by the creative activity of non-physical processes and spiritual beings. For the human being to become conscious of the objective reality of these processes and beings, it is necessary to creatively enact and reenact, within, their creative activity. Thus objective spiritual knowledge always entails creative inner activity.[32] Steiner articulated three stages of any creative deed:[54]:Pt II, Chapter 1

 

Moral intuition: the ability to discover or, preferably, develop valid ethical principles;

Moral imagination: the imaginative transformation of such principles into a concrete intention applicable to the particular situation (situational ethics); and

Moral technique: the realization of the intended transformation, depending on a mastery of practical skills.

Steiner termed his work from this period onwards Anthroposophy. He emphasized that the spiritual path he articulated builds upon and supports individual freedom and independent judgment; for the results of spiritual research to be appropriately presented in a modern context they must be in a form accessible to logical understanding, so that those who do not have access to the spiritual experiences underlying anthroposophical research can make independent evaluations of the latter's results.[54] Spiritual training is to support what Steiner considered the overall purpose of human evolution, the development of the mutually interdependent qualities of love and freedom.[10]

 

Steiner and Christianity[edit]

In 1899 Steiner experienced what he described as a life-transforming inner encounter with the being of Christ; previously he had little or no relation to Christianity in any form. Then and thereafter, his relationship to Christianity remained entirely founded upon personal experience, and thus both non-denominational and strikingly different from conventional religious forms.[10] Steiner was then 38, and the experience of meeting the Christ occurred after a tremendous inner struggle. To use Steiner's own words, the "experience culminated in my standing in the spiritual presence of the Mystery of Golgotha in a most profound and solemn festival of knowledge."[118]

 

Christ and human evolution[edit]

Steiner describes Christ as the unique pivot and meaning of earth's evolutionary processes and human history, redeeming the Fall from Paradise.[119] He understood the Christ as a being that unifies and inspires all religions, not belonging to a particular religious faith. To be "Christian" is, for Steiner, a search for balance between polarizing extremes[119]:102–3 and the ability to manifest love in freedom.[10]

 

Central principles of his understanding include:

 

The being of Christ is central to all religions, though called by different names by each.

Every religion is valid and true for the time and cultural context in which it was born.

Historical forms of Christianity need to be transformed in our times in order to meet the ongoing evolution of humanity.

In Steiner's esoteric cosmology, the spiritual development of humanity is interwoven in and inseparable from the cosmological development of the universe. Continuing the evolution that led to humanity being born out of the natural world, the Christ being brings an impulse enabling human consciousness of the forces that act creatively, but unconsciously, in nature.[120]

 

Divergence from conventional Christian thought[edit]

Steiner's views of Christianity diverge from conventional Christian thought in key places, and include gnostic elements.[108] However, unlike many gnostics, Steiner affirms the unique and actual physical Incarnation of Christ in Jesus at the beginning of the Christian era.

 

One of the central points of divergence with conventional Christian thought is found in Steiner's views on reincarnation and karma.

 

Steiner also posited two different Jesus children involved in the Incarnation of the Christ: one child descended from Solomon, as described in the Gospel of Matthew; the other child from Nathan, as described in the Gospel of Luke.[94] He references in this regard the fact that the genealogies in these two gospels list twenty-six (Luke) to forty-one (Matthew) completely different ancestors for the generations from David to Jesus. See Genealogy of Jesus for alternative explanations of this radical divergence.

 

Steiner's view of the second coming of Christ is also unusual. He suggested that this would not be a physical reappearance, but rather, meant that the Christ being would become manifest in non-physical form, in the "etheric realm" – i.e. visible to spiritual vision and apparent in community life – for increasing numbers of people, beginning around the year 1933. He emphasized that the future would require humanity to recognize this Spirit of Love in all its genuine forms, regardless of how this is named. He also warned that the traditional name, "Christ", might be used, yet the true essence of this Being of Love ignored.[108]

 

The Christian Community[edit]

In the 1920s, Steiner was approached by Friedrich Rittelmeyer, a Lutheran pastor with a congregation in Berlin, who asked if it was possible to create a more modern form of Christianity. Soon others joined Rittelmeyer – mostly Protestant pastors and theology students, but including several Roman Catholic priests. Steiner offered counsel on renewing the spiritual potency of the sacraments while emphasizing freedom of thought and a personal relationship to religious life. He envisioned a new synthesis of Catholic and Protestant approaches to religious life, terming this "modern, Johannine Christianity".[94]

 

The resulting movement for religious renewal became known as "The Christian Community". Its work is based on a free relationship to the Christ, without dogma or policies. Its priesthood, which is open to both men and women, is free to preach out of their own spiritual insights and creativity.

 

Steiner emphasized that the resulting movement for the renewal of Christianity was a personal gesture of help to a movement founded by Rittelmeyer and others independently of his anthroposophical work.[94] The distinction was important to Steiner because he sought with Anthroposophy to create a scientific, not faith-based, spirituality.[119] He recognized that for those who wished to find more traditional forms, however, a renewal of the traditional religions was also a vital need of the times.

 

Reception[edit]

See also: Anthroposophy § Reception

Steiner's work has influenced a broad range of notable personalities. These include philosophers Albert Schweitzer, Owen Barfield and Richard Tarnas;[32] writers Saul Bellow,[121] Andrej Belyj,[122][123][124] Michael Ende,[125] Selma Lagerlöf,[126] Edouard Schuré, David Spangler,[citation needed] and William Irwin Thompson;[32] child psychiatrist Eva Frommer;[127] economist Leonard Read;[128] artists Josef Beuys,[129] Wassily Kandinsky,[130][131] and Murray Griffin;[132] esotericist and educationalist George Trevelyan;[133] actor and acting teacher Michael Chekhov;[134] cinema director Andrei Tarkovsky;[135] composers Jonathan Harvey[136] and Viktor Ullmann;[137] and conductor Bruno Walter.[138] Olav Hammer, though sharply critical of esoteric movements generally, terms Steiner "arguably the most historically and philosophically sophisticated spokesperson of the Esoteric Tradition."[139]

 

Albert Schweitzer wrote that he and Steiner had in common that they had "taken on the life mission of working for the emergence of a true culture enlivened by the ideal of humanity and to encourage people to become truly thinking beings".[140]

 

Anthony Storr stated about Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy: "His belief system is so eccentric, so unsupported by evidence, so manifestly bizarre, that rational skeptics are bound to consider it delusional."[141]

 

Robert Todd Carroll has said of Steiner that "Some of his ideas on education – such as educating the handicapped in the mainstream – are worth considering, although his overall plan for developing the spirit and the soul rather than the intellect cannot be admired".[142] Steiner's translators have pointed out that his use of Geist includes both mind and spirit, however,[143] as the German term Geist can be translated equally properly in either way.[144]

 

The 150th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner's birth was marked by the first major retrospective exhibition of his art and work, 'Kosmos - Alchemy of the everyday'. Organized by Vitra Design Museum, the traveling exhibition presented many facets of Steiner's life and achievements, including his influence on architecture, furniture design, dance (Eurythmy), education, and agriculture (Biodynamic agriculture).[145] The exhibition opened in 2011 at the Kunstmuseum in Stuttgart, Germany,[146]

 

Scientism[edit]

See also: Anthroposophy: Scientific basis

Olav Hammer has criticized as scientism Steiner's claim to use scientific methodology to investigate spiritual phenomena that were based upon his claims of clairvoyant experience.[139] Steiner regarded the observations of spiritual research as more dependable (and above all, consistent) than observations of physical reality. However, he did consider spiritual research to be fallible[2]:p. 618 and held the view that anyone capable of thinking logically was in a position to correct errors by spiritual researchers.[147]

 

Race and ethnicity[edit]

Steiner's work includes both universalist, humanist elements and historically influenced racial assumptions.[148] Due to the contrast and even contradictions between these elements, "whether a given reader interprets Anthroposophy as racist or not depends upon that reader's concerns".[149] Steiner considered that by dint of its shared language and culture, each people has a unique essence, which he called its soul or spirit.[139] He saw race as a physical manifestation of humanity's spiritual evolution, and at times discussed race in terms of complex hierarchies that were largely derived from 19th century biology, anthropology, philosophy and theosophy. However, he consistently and explicitly subordinated race, ethnicity, gender, and indeed all hereditary factors, to individual factors in development.[149] For Steiner, human individuality is centered in a person's unique biography, and he believed that an individual's experiences and development are not bound by a single lifetime or the qualities of the physical body.[33] More specifically:

 

Steiner occasionally characterized specific races, nations and ethnicities in ways that have been termed racist by critics.[150] This includes descriptions by him of certain races and ethnic groups as flowering, others as backward, or destined to degenerate or disappear.[149] He presented explicitly hierarchical views of the spiritual evolution of different races,[151] including—at times, and inconsistently—portraying the white race, European culture or Germanic culture as representing the high point of human evolution as of the early 20th century, although he did describe them as destined to be superseded by future cultures.[149]

Throughout his life Steiner consistently emphasized the core spiritual unity of all the world's peoples and sharply criticized racial prejudice. He articulated beliefs that the individual nature of any person stands higher than any racial, ethnic, national or religious affiliation.[13][94] His belief that race and ethnicity are transient and superficial, and not essential aspects of the individual,[149] was partly rooted in his conviction that each individual reincarnates in a variety of different peoples and races over successive lives, and that each of us thus bears within him or herself the heritage of many races and peoples.[149][152] Toward the end of his life, Steiner predicted that race will rapidly lose any remaining significance for future generations.[149] In Steiner's view, culture is universal, and explicitly not ethnically based; he saw Goethe and idealist philosophy in particular as the source of ideas that could be drawn upon by any culture, and he vehemently criticized imperialism.[153]

In the context of his ethical individualism, Steiner considered "race, folk, ethnicity and gender" to be general, describable categories into which individuals may choose to fit, but from which free human beings can and will liberate themselves.[33]

 

Judaism[edit]

During the years when Steiner was best known as a literary critic, he published a series of articles attacking various manifestations of antisemitism[154] and criticizing some of the most prominent anti-Semites of the time as "barbaric" and "enemies of culture".[155] On a number of occasions, however, Steiner suggested that Jewish cultural and social life had lost all contemporary relevance[156] and promoted full assimilation of the Jewish people into the nations in which they lived. This stance has come under severe criticism in recent years.[149]

 

Steiner was a critic of his contemporary Theodor Herzl's goal of a Zionist state, and indeed of any ethnically determined state, as he considered ethnicity to be an outmoded basis for social life and civic identity.[157]

 

Towards the end of Steiner's life and after his death, there were massive defamatory press attacks mounted on him by early National Socialist leaders (including Adolf Hitler) and other right-wing nationalists. These criticized Steiner's thought and anthroposophy as being incompatible with National Socialist racial ideology, and charged him of being influenced by his close connections with Jews and even that he himself was Jewish.[46][155]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner

As well as being more consistent in general when it comes to building, I wanted to expand my horizons a bit. So here's my first foray into the world of Tachikoma!

 

The idea behind this was a think tank that moves freight around in a large depot, analogous to a forklift I guess. The cage at the back that forms the abdomen opens up to swap cargo in and out. I wasn't sure how to go about it at first, but once I got in the groove I had an absolute blast and finished it in one sitting. There's plenty of time left in Marchikoma so I might even make another.

Vienna, Austria

 

I am consistently impressed with the fresh vegetables found in Europe.

++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++

 

Hpa-An (Burmese: ဘားအံမြို့; MLCTS: bha: am mrui. [pʰə ʔàɴ mjo̰]; S'gaw Karen: ဖးအါ, also spelled Pa-An) is the capital of Kayin State (also known as Karen State), Myanmar (Burma). The population of Hpa-An as of the 2014 census is 421,575. Most of the people in Hpa-An are of the Karen ethnic group.

 

Climate

Hpa-An has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year, although maximum temperatures are somewhat depressed in the monsoon season due to heavy cloud and rain. There is a winter dry season (November–April) and a summer wet season (May–October). Torrential rain falls from June to August, with over 1,100 millimetres (43 in) falling in August alone.

 

+++++

 

Myanmar (Burmese pronunciation: [mjəmà]),[nb 1][8] officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast. To its south, about one third of Myanmar's total perimeter of 5,876 km (3,651 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km (1,200 mi) along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census counted the population to be 51 million people.[9] As of 2017, the population is about 54 million.[10] Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometers (261,228 square miles) in size. Its capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon).[1] Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997.

 

Early civilisations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Burma.[11] In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia.[12] The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence in 1948, as a democratic nation. Following a coup d'état in 1962, it became a military dictatorship.

 

For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife and its myriad ethnic groups have been involved in one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars. During this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country.[13] In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions.[14] There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes.[15] In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains a powerful force in politics.

 

Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion.[6] The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government.[16] As of 2016, Myanmar ranks 145 out of 188 countries in human development, according to the Human Development Index.[7]

Etymology

Main article: Names of Myanmar

 

In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became "Myanmar". The renaming remains a contested issue.[17] Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use "Burma" because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country.[18]

 

In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi clarified that foreigners are free to use either name, "because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular".[19]

 

The country's official full name is the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" (ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်, Pyidaunzu Thanmăda Myăma Nainngandaw, pronounced [pjìdàʊɴzṵ θàɴməda̰ mjəmà nàɪɴŋàɴdɔ̀]). Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead.[20]

 

In English, the country is popularly known as either "Burma" or "Myanmar" /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/ (About this sound listen).[8] Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group. Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from "Bamar", the colloquial form of the group's name.[17] Depending on the register used, the pronunciation would be Bama (pronounced [bəmà]) or Myamah (pronounced [mjəmà]).[17] The name Burma has been in use in English since the 18th century.

 

Burma continues to be used in English by the governments of many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom.[21][22] Official United States policy retains Burma as the country's name, although the State Department's website lists the country as "Burma (Myanmar)" and Barack Obama has referred to the country by both names.[23] The Czech Republic officially uses Myanmar, although its Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions both Myanmar and Burma on its website.[24] The United Nations uses Myanmar, as do the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia,[25] Russia, Germany,[26] China, India, Bangladesh, Norway,[27] Japan[21] and Switzerland.[28]

 

Most English-speaking international news media refer to the country by the name Myanmar, including the BBC,[29] CNN,[30] Al Jazeera,[31] Reuters,[32] RT (Russia Today) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/Radio Australia.[33]

 

Myanmar is known with a name deriving from Burma as opposed to Myanmar in Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Greek – Birmania being the local version of Burma in the Spanish language, for example. Myanmar used to be known as "Birmânia" in Portuguese, and as "Birmanie" in French.[34] As in the past, French-language media today consistently use Birmanie.,[35][36]

History

Main article: History of Myanmar

Prehistory

Main articles: Prehistory of Myanmar and Migration period of ancient Burma

Pyu city-states c. 8th century; Pagan is shown for comparison only and is not contemporary.

 

Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago.[37] The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 11,000 BC, in a Stone Age culture called the Anyathian with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BC has been discovered in the form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves.[38]

 

The Bronze Age arrived circa 1500 BC when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so.[39] Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Division.[40] The Iron Age began around 500 BC with the emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay.[41] Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BC and 200 AD.[42] Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as India and Thailand, as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade.[43]

Early city-states

Main articles: Pyu city-states and Mon kingdoms

 

Around the second century BC the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan.[44] The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation.[45]

 

By the 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar people founded a small settlement at Bagan. It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.[46]

Imperial Burma

Main articles: Pagan Kingdom, Taungoo Dynasty, and Konbaung Dynasty

See also: Ava Kingdom, Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Kingdom of Mrauk U, and Shan States

Pagodas and kyaungs in present-day Bagan, the capital of the Pagan Kingdom.

 

Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.[47] The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century.[48]

 

Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric, Mahayana, Hinduism, and folk religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301) toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287.[48]

Temples at Mrauk U.

 

Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until the late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom, emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437.

 

Early on, Ava fought wars of unification (1385–1424) but could never quite reassemble the lost empire. Having held off Ava, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava itself, and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555.

 

Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and the Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture. Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged.[49] Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to the rest of the country.[50] Many splendid temples of Mrauk U were built during this period.

Taungoo and colonialism

Bayinnaung's Empire in 1580.

 

Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, due to the efforts of Taungoo, a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious king Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1534–41). His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na, Manipur, Mong Mao, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Lan Xang and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam).

 

The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored a smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar, Upper Myanmar, Shan states, Lan Na and upper Tenasserim. The Restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features would continue well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley, and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty.

A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda shows British occupation during the First Anglo-Burmese War.

 

After the fall of Ava, the Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating the Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759, he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur, and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos (1765) and fought and won the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67) against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese War (1765–69) against Qing China (1765–1769).[51]

 

With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770, and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in a stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India.[52]

 

The breadth of this empire was short lived. Burma lost Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim to the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826). In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom, and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the Karenni States. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.

 

Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms, and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females).[53] Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.

British Burma (1824–1948)

Main articles: British rule in Burma and Burma Campaign

Burma in British India

The landing of British forces in Mandalay after the last of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, which resulted in the abdication of the last Burmese monarch, King Thibaw Min.

British troops firing a mortar on the Mawchi road, July 1944.

 

The eighteenth century saw Burmese rulers, whose country had not previously been of particular interest to European traders, seek to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next sixty years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises continued until, after three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885), Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma.[54] British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes.

 

With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore.

 

Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Yangon (Rangoon) on occasion all the way until the 1930s.[55] Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions such as the British refusal to remove shoes when they entered pagodas. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. U Wisara, an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike to protest against a rule that forbade him to wear his Buddhist robes while imprisoned.[56]

Separation of British Burma from British India

 

On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Great Britain and Ba Maw the first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule and he opposed the participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the Second World War, Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan.

 

A major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II. By March 1942, within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.[57] A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders, followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943.[58] Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma. Only 1,700 prisoners were taken.[59]

 

Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army.[60] The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Under Japanese occupation, 170,000 to 250,000 civilians died.[61]

 

Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as a unified state. Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals[62] assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[63]

Independence (1948–1962)

Main article: Post-independence Burma, 1948–62

British governor Hubert Elvin Rance and Sao Shwe Thaik at the flag raising ceremony on 4 January 1948 (Independence Day of Burma).

 

On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth. A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities,[64] and multi-party elections were held in 1951–1952, 1956 and 1960.

 

The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement, which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British.[65]

 

In 1961, U Thant, then the Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Secretary to the Prime Minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, a position he held for ten years.[66] Among the Burmese to work at the UN when he was Secretary-General was a young Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter of Aung San), who went on to become winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d’état in 1962. Though incorporated in the 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term ‘federalism’ as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration.[67]

Military rule (1962–2011)

 

On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism,[68] which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning.

 

A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system, with the General and other military officers resigning and ruling through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).[69] During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries.[70]

Protesters gathering in central Rangoon, 1988.

 

There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University, killing 15 students.[68] In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at the funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force.[69]

 

In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising. Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.[71] SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989.

 

In May 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years and the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 492 seats (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power[72] and continued to rule the nation as SLORC until 1997, and then as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011.

Protesters in Yangon during the 2007 Saffron Revolution with a banner that reads non-violence: national movement in Burmese. In the background is Shwedagon Pagoda.

 

On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana in November 2005, officially named the new capital Naypyidaw, meaning "city of the kings".[73]

Cyclone Nargis in southern Myanmar, May 2008.

 

In August 2007, an increase in the price of diesel and petrol led to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government.[74] The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007. The crackdown was harsh, with reports of barricades at the Shwedagon Pagoda and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed protesters was widely condemned as part of the international reactions to the Saffron Revolution and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the Burmese Government.

 

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.[75] It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damage totalled to 10 billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million left homeless.[76] In the critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's isolationist government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts.[77] Humanitarian aid was requested but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies.[78]

 

In early August 2009, a conflict known as the Kokang incident broke out in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including the Han Chinese,[79] Wa, and Kachin.[80][81] During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring China.[80][81][82]

Civil wars

Main articles: Internal conflict in Myanmar, Kachin Conflict, Karen conflict, and 2015 Kokang offensive

 

Civil wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue.[83]

 

In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict,[84] between the Pro-Christian Kachin Independence Army and the government;[85] a civil war between the Rohingya Muslims, and the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State;[86] and a conflict between the Shan,[87] Lahu, and Karen[88][89] minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, al-Qaeda signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar. In a video released on 3 September 2014, mainly addressed to India, the militant group's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaeda had not forgotten the Muslims of Myanmar and that the group was doing "what they can to rescue you".[90] In response, the military raised its level of alertness, while the Burmese Muslim Association issued a statement saying Muslims would not tolerate any threat to their motherland.[91]

 

Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.[92] During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Chinese rebels. Burmese officials have been historically "manipulated" and pressured by the Chinese government throughout Burmese modern history to create closer and binding ties with China, creating a Chinese satellite state in Southeast Asia.[93] However, uncertainties exist as clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups continue.

Democratic reforms

Main article: 2011–12 Burmese political reforms

 

The goal of the Burmese constitutional referendum of 2008, held on 10 May 2008, is the creation of a "discipline-flourishing democracy". As part of the referendum process, the name of the country was changed from the "Union of Myanmar" to the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar", and general elections were held under the new constitution in 2010. Observer accounts of the 2010 election describe the event as mostly peaceful; however, allegations of polling station irregularities were raised, and the United Nations (UN) and a number of Western countries condemned the elections as fraudulent.[94]

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Aung San Suu Kyi and her staff at her home in Yangon, 2012

 

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory in the 2010 elections, stating that it had been favoured by 80 percent of the votes; however, the claim was disputed by numerous pro-democracy opposition groups who asserted that the military regime had engaged in rampant fraud.[95][96] One report documented 77 percent as the official turnout rate of the election.[95] The military junta was dissolved on 30 March 2011.

 

Opinions differ whether the transition to liberal democracy is underway. According to some reports, the military's presence continues as the label "disciplined democracy" suggests. This label asserts that the Burmese military is allowing certain civil liberties while clandestinely institutionalising itself further into Burmese politics. Such an assertion assumes that reforms only occurred when the military was able to safeguard its own interests through the transition—here, "transition" does not refer to a transition to a liberal democracy, but transition to a quasi-military rule.[97]

 

Since the 2010 election, the government has embarked on a series of reforms to direct the country towards liberal democracy, a mixed economy, and reconciliation, although doubts persist about the motives that underpin such reforms. The series of reforms includes the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permit labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices.[98]

 

The impact of the post-election reforms has been observed in numerous areas, including ASEAN's approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014;[99] the visit by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011 for the encouragement of further progress, which was the first visit by a Secretary of State in more than fifty years,[100] during which Clinton met with the Burmese president and former military commander Thein Sein, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi;[101] and the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred the NLD.[102] As of July 2013, about 100[103][104] political prisoners remain imprisoned, while conflict between the Burmese Army and local insurgent groups continues.

Map of Myanmar and its divisions, including Shan State, Kachin State, Rakhine State and Karen State.

 

In 1 April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats; previously an illegal organisation, the NLD had not won a single seat under new constitution. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.[105]

2015 general elections

Main article: Myanmar general election, 2015

 

General elections were held on 8 November 2015. These were the first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990. The results gave the National League for Democracy an absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament, enough to ensure that its candidate would become president, while NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency.[106]

 

The new parliament convened on 1 February 2016[107] and, on 15 March 2016, Htin Kyaw was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962.[108] On 6 April 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role akin to a Prime Minister.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Myanmar

A map of Myanmar

Myanmar map of Köppen climate classification.

 

Myanmar has a total area of 678,500 square kilometres (262,000 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 9° and 29°N, and longitudes 92° and 102°E. As of February 2011, Myanmar consisted of 14 states and regions, 67 districts, 330 townships, 64 sub-townships, 377 towns, 2,914 Wards, 14,220 village tracts and 68,290 villages.

 

Myanmar is bordered in the northwest by the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh and the Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh states of India. Its north and northeast border is with the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province for a Sino-Myanmar border total of 2,185 km (1,358 mi). It is bounded by Laos and Thailand to the southeast. Myanmar has 1,930 km (1,200 mi) of contiguous coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to the southwest and the south, which forms one quarter of its total perimeter.[20]

 

In the north, the Hengduan Mountains form the border with China. Hkakabo Razi, located in Kachin State, at an elevation of 5,881 metres (19,295 ft), is the highest point in Myanmar.[109] Many mountain ranges, such as the Rakhine Yoma, the Bago Yoma, the Shan Hills and the Tenasserim Hills exist within Myanmar, all of which run north-to-south from the Himalayas.[110]

 

The mountain chains divide Myanmar's three river systems, which are the Irrawaddy, Salween (Thanlwin), and the Sittaung rivers.[111] The Irrawaddy River, Myanmar's longest river, nearly 2,170 kilometres (1,348 mi) long, flows into the Gulf of Martaban. Fertile plains exist in the valleys between the mountain chains.[110] The majority of Myanmar's population lives in the Irrawaddy valley, which is situated between the Rakhine Yoma and the Shan Plateau.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Myanmar

A clickable map of Burma/Myanmar exhibiting its first-level administrative divisions.

About this image

 

Myanmar is divided into seven states (ပြည်နယ်) and seven regions (တိုင်းဒေသကြီး), formerly called divisions.[112] Regions are predominantly Bamar (that is, mainly inhabited by the dominant ethnic group). States, in essence, are regions that are home to particular ethnic minorities. The administrative divisions are further subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into townships, wards, and villages.

 

Climate

Main article: Climate of Myanmar

The limestone landscape of Mon State.

 

Much of the country lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. It lies in the monsoon region of Asia, with its coastal regions receiving over 5,000 mm (196.9 in) of rain annually. Annual rainfall in the delta region is approximately 2,500 mm (98.4 in), while average annual rainfall in the Dry Zone in central Myanmar is less than 1,000 mm (39.4 in). The Northern regions of Myanmar are the coolest, with average temperatures of 21 °C (70 °F). Coastal and delta regions have an average maximum temperature of 32 °C (89.6 °F).[111]

Environment

Further information: Deforestation in Myanmar

 

Myanmar continues to perform badly in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 153 out of 180 countries in 2016; among the worst in the South Asian region, only ahead of Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The EPI was established in 2001 by the World Economic Forum as a global gauge to measure how well individual countries perform in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The environmental areas where Myanmar performs worst (ie. highest ranking) are air quality (174), health impacts of environmental issues (143) and biodiversity and habitat (142). Myanmar performs best (ie. lowest ranking) in environmental impacts of fisheries (21), but with declining fish stocks. Despite several issues, Myanmar also ranks 64 and scores very good (ie. a high percentage of 93.73%) in environmental effects of the agricultural industry because of an excellent management of the nitrogen cycle.[114][115]

Wildlife

 

Myanmar's slow economic growth has contributed to the preservation of much of its environment and ecosystems. Forests, including dense tropical growth and valuable teak in lower Myanmar, cover over 49% of the country, including areas of acacia, bamboo, ironwood and Magnolia champaca. Coconut and betel palm and rubber have been introduced. In the highlands of the north, oak, pine and various rhododendrons cover much of the land.[116]

 

Heavy logging since the new 1995 forestry law went into effect has seriously reduced forest acreage and wildlife habitat.[117] The lands along the coast support all varieties of tropical fruits and once had large areas of mangroves although much of the protective mangroves have disappeared. In much of central Myanmar (the Dry Zone), vegetation is sparse and stunted.

 

Typical jungle animals, particularly tigers, occur sparsely in Myanmar. In upper Myanmar, there are rhinoceros, wild water buffalo, clouded leopard, wild boars, deer, antelope, and elephants, which are also tamed or bred in captivity for use as work animals, particularly in the lumber industry. Smaller mammals are also numerous, ranging from gibbons and monkeys to flying foxes. The abundance of birds is notable with over 800 species, including parrots, myna, peafowl, red junglefowl, weaverbirds, crows, herons, and barn owl. Among reptile species there are crocodiles, geckos, cobras, Burmese pythons, and turtles. Hundreds of species of freshwater fish are wide-ranging, plentiful and are very important food sources.[118] For a list of protected areas, see List of protected areas of Myanmar.

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Myanmar

Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw)

 

The constitution of Myanmar, its third since independence, was drafted by its military rulers and published in September 2008. The country is governed as a parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature (with an executive President accountable to the legislature), with 25% of the legislators appointed by the military and the rest elected in general elections.

L'impianto del centro odierno va fatto risalire alla prima età medioevale; esso infatti doveva possedere già una certa consistenza allorché nel XII sec. divenne feudo di Roberto il Normanno assumendo come sede di contea quel preminente ruolo politico-amministrativo che gli fu proprio anche nei secoli successivi. Il primo conte di Chiaromonte fu Ugo I detto "Monocolo" proveniente da Clermont in Val d'Oise in Francia. È interessante notare che nello stemma di Chiaromonte e in quello di Chiaramonte Gulfi (Ragusa), fondata da altri della stessa famiglia di Ugo, figurano cinque monti. Il che non autorizza a supporre che i cinque monti dello stemma raffigurino, come alcuni scrivono, cinque monti del territorio chiaromontese. La vasta contea di Chiaromonte che si estendeva da Policoro a Castelsaraceno, ebbe a lungo giurisdizione sui paesi del medio Sinni e Frido e da essa mosse la colonizzazione e la fondazione di insediamenti agricoli in parte sostenuta dai feudatari laici, in parte dall'Abbazia di S. Maria del Sagittario e dalla Certosa di S. Nicola. Fu sempre nel corso del medioevo che il borgo assunse le caratteristiche di terra murata tramite la trasformazione dell'antica roccaforte in vero e proprio castello e la costruzione della potente cinta muraria dotata di tre porte che racchiudeva un alto numero di abitanti. Nel 1532 la popolazione venne tassata per 235 fuochi; nel 1545 per 204; nel 1561 per 206; nel 1648 per 91; nel 1669 per 75. La forte diminuzione del XVII sec. è dovuta alle epidemie di peste che decimarono la popolazione del comprensorio. Nel 1797 il numero degli abitanti era in totale salito a 2250 e in quella stessa epoca si assisteva ad una ripresa del centro, denotata dalla edificazione di palazzi signorili e dalla presenza di tre fiere annuali di merci e bestiame. Durante il periodo napoleonico Chiaromonte era sede del Giudicato del Circondario di Lagonegro e divenne inoltre sede di Mandamento, di Ufficio Postale, di Ufficio di Stazione dei Carabinieri, di Delegazione di Pubblica Sicurezza, di Carcere Mandamentale. Al censimento del 1862 la popolazione del Comune era di 3240 abitanti. Storicamente Chiaromonte ha sempre fatto parte della Diocesi di Anglona e Tursi.

   

British postcard by Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1369. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

Ever since Jet2 was founded in 2002, the company has been adept at purchasing second-hand Boeing 737's and Boeing 757's, the company has consistently purchased second-hand all the way until 2016...

In September 2015, Jet2 for the first time in its history has purchased brand new aircraft, with the company ordering 27 brand new Boeing 737-800's, that order later increased to 30 as Boeing is seeking a production gap between the current Boeing 737-Next Generation series and the 4th generation of the Boeing 737 family, the Boeing 737 MAX.

In 2011, with Jet2 expanding at a rapid rate across the UK, the company acquired their first Boeing 737-800's on lease... However, the newest Boeing 737's to be delivered are currently owned outright by the company.

The order of 30 Boeing 737-800's are currently being introduced as to replace the ageing Boeing 737-300 fleet, the majority of them hark back to days of operating with Lufthansa and Ansett Australia i.e. they are over 30 years old.

Currently, Jet2 operates a fleet of 50 Boeing 737's, which includes 21 Boeing 737-300's and 29 Boeing 737-800's. Jet2 currently have 22 more Boeing 737-800's on-order.

Juliet Zulu Hotel Romeo is one of 29 Boeing 737-800's in service with Jet2, delivered new to the low-cost carrier in December 2016 and she is powered by 2 CFM International CFM56-7B26E engines.

Boeing 737-8MG(WL) G-JZHR 'Jet2 Gran Canaria' on short finals into Runway 23L at Manchester (MAN) on LS936 from Turin (TRN).

giving

unconditional

and

consistent

attention

 

the SIKHS

of DELHI

 

amazing people

amazing nation

amazing photojournalistic opportunities

 

OLD DELHI

  

Photography’s new conscience

linktr.ee/GlennLosack

linktr.ee/GlennLosack

  

glosack.wixsite.com/tbws

1932 Chevrolet Confederate Series BA

General Motors marketed the Chevy Confederate as the 'Baby Cadillac' and shared many design similarities to its larger, more expensive, and more exclusive sibling. It wore a Cadillac-style integrated radiator shell, a longer hood, new deep crown front fenders encapsulating 18-inch wire wheels, and chrome-plated rectangular opening doors to cool the engine in the hood sides instead of louvers. Deluxe models, which added approximately $20 to the base price, added chrome-plated door louvers. The list of standard amenities included a tilting non-glare windshield, an adjustable seat, and a built-in sun visor. The six-cylinder engine displaced 194 cubic-inches, had 5.2:1 compression, overhead valves, solid valve lifters, and developed 60 horsepower. The one-barrel downdraft carburetor and counter-balanced crankshaft were new features for 1932, endowing the engine with ten additional horsepower over the previous year. The engine was backed by a three-speed manual synchromesh transmission with a single plate clutch and floor shift controls. This was the first year that synchromesh transmission was offered in all three forward gears. Mechanical features included the semi-floating rear axle, Selective Free-Wheeling (first offered in 1932), and an added frame cross-member to aid in ride comfort. Free wheeling allowed the car to coast when the driver took their foot off the accelerator pedal, offering greater fuel economy. Customers soon found the lack of downhill engine braking to be more harrowing than it was worth and the option soon fell out of favor.

 

The interiors had gas gauges located on the dashboard, plus additional gauges with a circular shape and dark-colored faces.

 

Factory literature claimed a top speed of 70-mph and period Chevrolet advertising stated 'Looming larger every day as the Great American Value.'

 

The 1932 Chevrolet Confederate Series BA rested on a comfortable 109-inch wheelbase and rode on 18x5.25 tires. Its wheelbase was slightly longer than the Ford Model 18 which measured 106-inches and both the Chevy and Ford price ranges were nearly identical. 1932 was the first year that Ford switched from the four-cylinder power to the flathead V8 offering 65 horsepower from its 221 cubic-inch displacement. The Fords had all-steel bodies, while the Chevrolets had the solid Fisher Body using wood and steel framing construction, plus a more rigid chassis structure and hard-rubber engine mounts affording the Chevy a smooth and refined ride at a reasonable cost. Closing a Chevy door framed in wood had a favorable and solid 'thunk' while the Ford and had a 'tiny clank.' Buyers preferred the solid nature, styling, affordability, and amenities of the Chevy, resulting in 306,716 examples built during the calendar year compared to Ford's production of 287,285 units.

 

Body styles and Price

The Fisher-built bodies included a roadster priced at $445, a sport roadster at $485, a coupe and five-window coupe at $490, a phaeton and coach at $495, and a sport coupe at $535. The Deluxe five-window coupe listed for $510 and the Deluxe coach was priced at $515. A five-passenger coupe was $575, the sedan at $590, and the convertible at $595. The most expensive body styles were the special sedan at $615 and the landau phaeton at $625. The special sedan was equipped with front and rear bumpers, dome light, silk assist cords, and a robe rail.

 

Production

The most popular body style was the two-door coach with seating for five, with 132,109 examples built. The second most popular body style was the special sedan with 52,446 units built, followed by 34,796 examples of the five-window coupe, 27,718 of the sedan, and 26,623 of the Deluxe five-window coupe. The most exclusive was the phaeton with 419 examples built, followed by 1,118 of the roadster, 1,602 of the landau phaeton, 2,226 of the sport coupe, 7,566 coupes, 8,552 of the sport roadster, and 8,874 of the sport roadster. 9,346 examples were Deluxe Coach.

 

Optional Equipment

The list of optional equipment was extensive, catering to popularity features that buyers preferred including single and dual side mount tires, a standard and deluxe tire cover plus metal tire covers, heater, outside mirror, pedestal mirror, trunk rack, dual horns, cowl lights, and fender well or rear tire lock. The list of Deluxe equipment that added comfort and a level of distinction included armrests, assist cords, curtains for the rear and rear quarter windows, a vanity case, chrome hood louvers, and two ashtrays.

 

The Confederate Series BA was Chevrolet's only model for 1932, albeit with 'Special and 'Deluxe' body styles. The company had used the single model theme since 1924, but for 1933 their lineup included the Standard Mercury (Series CC) and the Master Eagle (Series CA), both with six-cylinder power. The Standard had a 181 cubic-inch six with 60 horsepower and the Master had 194 CID with 5 additional horsepower. The Master rested on a 110-inch wheelbase while the Standard Mercury was three-inches shorter. Prices on the Master ranged from $485 to $565 and consisted of eight body styles, while the Standard prices ranged from $445 to $475 and included three body styles. The Master Eagle had an airplane-type dashboard and the Standard Mercury had safety plate glass. The Master Eagle proved to be far more popular with 450,530 examples built compared to the 35,848 of the Standard Mercury. The total production was 486,378 representing a significant increase from the 1932 model year. This trend would continue into the years that followed, with 556,666 (model year production; calendar year production: 620,726) examples built in 1934 and 544,457 (model year production; calendar year production of 793,437) in 1935.

 

Chevrolet would continue to use six-cylinder power, and two model lineup throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, with wheelbase sizes that remained fairly consistent, growing to 116-inches by 1941.

Canillo, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

More Canillo, Pyrenees: Follow the group links at right side.

.......

 

About this image:

* Full frame format 3x2 quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (20 years 2004-2024)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism editiorials

 

We offer 200.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. 20.000+ visable here at Flickr. Its the largest professional image catalog of Andorra: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). Consistent for additional advanced programming. For smartphones and web-db. REAL TIME!

 

It's based on GeoCoded stock-photo images and metadata with 4-5 languages. Prepared for easy systematic organising of large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System).

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

Visita nuestro Blog de Semana Santa en:

asociacionredobles.blogspot.com

 

Actos que se van a desarrollar durante la conmemoración del 200º aniversario del

rescate del Cristo de la Cama, consistente en el traslado de la Imagen desde la Iglesia

de Santa Isabel de Portugal (vulgo San Cayetano) a la Basílica del Pilar.

El rescate se produjo el 17 de febrero de 1809 del Convento de San Francisco, lo que

actualmente es la Diputación Provincial. El día 10 los franceses volaron el Convento,

que era defendido por unos cuantos aragoneses y por los voluntarios de Valencia. El

día 17, María Blánquez entro en el convento y vio que todos los pasos que

procesionan en Semana santa, quince en total, estaban destruidos, salvo el Santísimo

Cristo de la Cama, que estaba indemne en su Capilla de la Hermandad. Salió a la

calle, cogió a cuatro hombres, volvió a entrar al convento y todos ellos cogieron al

Cristo de la cama. Lo llevaron primero a la parroquia de la santa Cruz, después a la

de Santiago y finalmente al Palacio Arzobispal, lugar en donde vivía el general

Palafox, que enfermo lo venero y ordeno fuera llevado al interior de la Basílica del

Pilar, siendo colocado en el Altar de los convertido mirando a su Madre, la virgen del

Pilar.

Este hecho es el que conmemoramos.

A las 18´00 horas se oirá en la Ciudad de Zaragoza a los Artilleros de Aragón

anunciando el comienzo de la procesión cívico religiosa.

Con la salida desde San Cayetano de la Bandera de la Hermandad de la Sangre de

Cristo dará comienzo la procesión, encontrándose el resto de participantes ubicados

en la plaza. Seguidamente saldrá la peana, portada a varal, del Cristo de la Cama. Lo

hará con un toque preparado para la ocasión por la Sección de Tambores de la

Hermandad de San Joaquín y Virgen de los Dolores. Una vez que nuestro Cristo de la

Cama este en la plaza sonara el Himno Nacional interpretado al órgano por Ignacio

Navarro Gil.

Finalizado el himno, se descubrirá una placa en cerámica de Muel, promovida por la

Asociación Cultural Redobles. Dicha placa será descubierta por el Ilmo. Sr. D.

Francisco Javier Lambán Montañés, o persona en quien en delegue, acompañado por

el Hermano Mayor de la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo. A la vez que se descubre

la placa, don José Antonio Armillas, Comisario del Bicentenario glosara brevemente

la figura de María Blánquez y lo que ella significo.

Finalizado este acto, dará comienzo en sí el desfile.

Por la calle Manifestación, calle Alfonso y calle Coso, nos dirigiremos a la plaza de

España, en donde se realiza el segundo acto del desfile. Este consiste en depositar dos

coronas de laurel. La primera en la placa que recuerda al Convento de San Francisco

y la segunda en el monumento a los Mártires.

La del Convento de San Francisco será portada por mujeres ataviadas con el traje

regional, en recuerdo y homenaje a María Blánquez. Entregada por don Francisco

Javier Lambán Montañés (o persona en quién delegue), le acompañaran el

Comandante Militar de Zaragoza, General Juan Pinto y el Hermano Mayor de la

Sangre de Cristo. La recibirán dos soldados del Batallón Pardos de Aragón.

La segunda corona, la entregara don Juan Alberto Belloch Julve (o persona en quién

delegue), acompañado también por el Comandante Militar y el Hermano Mayor,

siendo recibida por dos soldados del Batallón de Infantería Voluntarios de Aragón.

Durante este acto sonara en la plaza el Carillón de la Diputación Provincial con

marchas alusivas a los Sitios.

Finalizado el acto, continuaremos el desfile en dirección a la Plaza de la Seo por calle

don Jaime, calle Mayor, calle Dormer, calle Cisne y calle Cuellar.

En la plaza de la Seo se realiza el tercer y último acto. Consiste en una breve

alocución del General Pinto, Comandante Militar de Zaragoza y Teruel, en recuerdo

y homenaje del General Palafox. A Su conclusión, el Batallón de Infantería

Voluntarios de Aragón hará una descarga de fusilería.

Ya para finalizar, nos encaminaremos a la plaza del Pilar, finalizando el desfile,

alrededor de las 20´30 horas, con la entrada del Cristo de la Cama en la Basílica, en

donde permanecerá hasta el miércoles 25 de febrero.

Finalizado el desfile y por lo tanto el traslado, la Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo

realizara una ofrenda a la Virgen del Pilar.

La Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo, con el fin de dar mayor realce a este

acontecimiento histórico, ha invitado a participar a todos aquellos Ayuntamientos e

Instituciones galardonados con la Medalla del Bicentenario “Defensor de Zaragoza”,

distinción que también ha obtenido la propia Hermandad. Han confirmado su

asistencia una representación de los Ayuntamientos de Alcañiz, Barbastro, Calatayud,

Cariñena, Chelva, Huesca, Jaca, monzón y Valencia. También han confirmado su

participación los Artilleros de Aragón, Batallón Pardos de Aragón, Batallón de

Infantería Ligera Voluntarios de Aragón, la Asociación Cultural Royo del Rabal

(ronda y escenificación de personajes históricos de la época), la Asociación Cultural

Los Sitios (personajes históricos de la época), la Hermandad de San Juan de la Peña,

la Cofradía del Santo Sepulcro, la Hermandad del santo Refugio, la Real Ilustre

Congregación de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Madrid y la Real Maestranza de

Caballería.

La parte musical durante el desfile correrá a cargo de la Banda de Guerra de la

Brigada de Caballería Castillejos II, de la Banda Música de la Academia General

Militar y la Ronda de jotas de la Asociación Cultural el Rabal. Durante el desfile y

con el fin de que los peaneros lleven el ritmo adecuado, les acompaña un piquete de

diez instrumentos, cuyos miembros son de la cofradía de la Institución de la Sagrada

Eucaristía, que lo harán sin los distintivos propios de la Cofradía.

Cabe destacar el estreno de una marcha procesional en las calles de Zaragoza. La

primera y ultima pieza que interprete la Banda de Música será la Marcha al Cristo de

la Cama, cuyo autor es don Abel Moreno y que fue donada a la Hermandad por la

Asociación para el Estudio de la Semana Santa.

Ernesto Millán Lázaro

Hermano Mayor

Hermandad Sangre de Cristo

Enjoy the beauty of nature and anyone with some doing retrieved For delicious food...

 

This bird consistently returns to the same perch, just a few feet off the ground, before flying down to collect acorns. He then takes them, one at a time, to an old Oak tree where he stores them in various holes. Makes for great photo ops for me. :)

La Torre del Oro de Sevilla es una torre albarrana situada en el margen izquierdo del río Guadalquivir, en la ciudad de Sevilla, comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, España, junto a la plaza de toros de la Maestranza. Su altura es de 36 metros. Posiblemente su nombre en árabe era Bury al-dahab, Borg al Azahar, o Borg-al-Azaja en referencia a su brillo dorado que se reflejaba sobre el río. Durante las obras de restauración de 2005, se demostró que este brillo, que hasta entonces una falsa leyenda atribuía a un revestimiento de azulejos, era debido a una mezcla de mortero de cal y paja prensada.

Es una torre formada por tres cuerpos, El primer cuerpo, dodecagonal, fue construido entre 1220 y 1221 por orden del gobernador almohade de Sevilla, Abù l-Ulà. En cuanto al segundo cuerpo, también dodecagonal fue mandado construir por Pedro I el cruel en el siglo XIV, una hipótesis que ha quedado confirmada por los estudios arqueológicos. Por último el cuerpo superior, cilíndrico y rematado en cúpula dorada, fue construido en 1760 por el ingeniero militar Sebastián Van der Borcht tras el terremoto de Lisboa de 1755.

Fue declarada monumento histórico-artístico en 1931 y ha sido restaurada varias veces. En la Edad Contemporánea fue restaurada en 1900, entre 1991 y 1992, en 1995 y en 2005. En su conservación ha sido importante la labor de la Armada. Se encuentra en buen estado de conservación y alberga el Museo Naval de Sevilla.

Comienza su construcción el 30 de marzo de 1220, siendo terminada el 24 de febrero de 1221, casi un año después. Con su construcción se dio por completado el sistema defensivo de la ciudad almohade y fue el punto más importante, ya que defendía al puerto. Fue construida por orden del gobernador almohade de Sevilla, Abù l-Ulà. Cerraba el paso al Arenal mediante un tramo de muralla que la unía con la Torre de la Plata y a través de la actual calle Santander con la Torre de Abd el Aziz o Torre de Santo Tomás, y de allí al Alcázar. Formando parte de las murallas de Sevilla que defendían la ciudad y el Real Alcázar.

En cuanto a la cimentación de la torre, esta consiste en una losa de hormigón de cal con un espesor de unos 5 m. (desde la cota +3m. a la cota -2m.). Dicha cimentación se apoya sobre un terreno blando, pues es una zona aluvial muy cercana al propio río por lo que en su cimentación se añadió madera de pino para darle mayor consistencia. Además de estos 5 metros de cimentación iniciales, en 1760 tras las obras de restauración efectuadas por los desperfectos que ocasionó el llamado terremoto de Lisboa, se macizó como cimentación la planta baja de la torre, lo que supone un aumento de 6 metros. Por ello, actualmente la Torre del Oro cuenta con unos 11 metros de cimentación.

Existe una tradición que dice que, se extendió desde su basamento una gruesa cadena sobre el río hasta otra torre ubicada en la actual calle Fortaleza, situada al otro lado del río, en el actual barrio de Triana; dicha leyenda es falsa ya que la La calle Fortaleza en la orilla de Triana recibe ese nombre en el s. XIX, anteriormente denominada calle Limones, por otro lado y con más acierto, en las Crónicas realizadas por Alfonso X el Sabio, donde describe al detalle la toma de la ciudad de Sevilla, solo se menciona una cadena, la que sujetaba el conjunto de barcas que formaba el puente que unía la orilla de Sevilla y la de Triana, que unía además la ciudad con el castillo, conocido posteriormente como Castillo de San Jorge, en la orilla de Triana.

La flota castellana mandada por el almirante Ramón de Bonifaz, que en dos ocasiones los documentos de la época lo definen como un "ome de Burgos" y "un burgalés de Burgos", rompió el puente en 1248 remontando el río, mientras las tropas de Fernando III de Castilla sitiaban la ciudad. Este pasaje histórico protagonizado por marinos asturianos y cántabros al servicio de la marina castellana quedó inmortalizado en los escudos de Avilés y de las Cuatro Villas de la Costa de Cantabria (Laredo, Castro-Urdiales, Santander y San Vicente de la Barquera) y fue posteriormente incorporado al escudo de Cantabria. En ellos se representa la Torre del Oro y un barco junto a las cadenas rotas.

Tras ser conquistada, se utilizó como capilla dedicada a San Isidoro de Sevilla. Después se utilizó como prisión.

Se llamó Torre del Oro desde la época almohade, el propio Alfonso X cuando narra la conquista de Sevilla ya la nombra como Torre del Oro, claramente por el brillo producto del mortero de cal y paja prensada que presentaba.

A pesar de ello, existen varias teorías sobre el nombre del edificio, todas leyendas sin ninguna prueba consistente y por tanto falsas. Muestra de estas leyendas falsas son, por un lado, en el siglo XVI, un cronista llamado Luis de Peraza dice que la torre se encontraba cubierta de azulejos que brillaban con la luz del Sol. El mismo cronista añade que el rey Pedro I guardó en la torre tesoros de oro y plata, cabe destacar que esta es una de las leyendas más destacada y conocida. Pedro López de Ayala también habla de que en dicha torre Pedro I guardaba tesoros en monedas de oro y plata. Dada la proximidad de la torre al Muelle de la Aduana durante la conquista de América es habitual decir que se llamaba así porque en ella se almacenaba el oro de América, pero el oro se guardaba en una estancia de la Casa de la Contratación (Cuarto del Tesoro) y era procesado en la Casa de la Moneda, a varios metros de allí.

En el siglo XVI presentaba un estado ruinoso, por lo que se realizó una obra de consolidación. La torre fue dañada gravemente por el terremoto de Lisboa de 1755, tras lo cual el Marqués de Monte Real propuso su demolición para ensanchar el paseo de coches de caballos y hacer más recto el acceso al puente de Triana; sin embargo, ese proyecto no llegó a realizarse por la oposición del pueblo de Sevilla, que llegaron a anunciárselo al rey, quien intervino. En 1760 se arreglaron los desperfectos macizando la planta inferior de la torre, reforzándola con escombros y mortero, y dejando la puerta del paso de ronda de la muralla como puerta de acceso principal. Ese mismo año se construyó el cuerpo cilíndrico superior, obra del ingeniero militar Sebastián Van der Borcht, artífice también de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla. Estas obras cambiaron el aspecto de la torre respecto al que puede observarse en grabados.

La Revolución de 1868 fue otro momento crítico para la torre, pues los revolucionarios demolieron los lienzos de las murallas y los pusieron en venta, pero la oposición de los hispalenses logró que la torre no se destruyera.

Fue restaurada en 1900 por el ingeniero Carlos Halcón. El 10 de abril de 1923 la torre fue visitada por Alfonso XIII. El 21 de marzo de 1936 se dispuso la instalación en la torre el Museo Marítimo por orden del Ministerio de Marina. En septiembre de 1942 comenzaron las obras de restauración, durante las cuales se mejoraron el aspecto de la fachada y se habilitaron dos plantas para la exhibición del museo y la tercera para alojar investigadores. El 13 de agosto de 1992, en el contexto de la Exposición Universal de Sevilla, se hermanó la Torre del Oro con la Torre de Belem de Lisboa.

El museo se inauguró el 24 de julio de 1944, para lo cual se llevaron 400 piezas del Museo Naval de Madrid. El museo muestra en la actualidad (2008) diversos instrumentos antiguos de navegación y maquetas, además de documentos históricos, grabados y cartas náuticas; y relaciona de Sevilla con el río Guadalquivir y el mar. En 2005 fue nuevamente restaurada.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del_Oro

secardiologia.es/

 

The Torre del Oro (Arabic: بُرْج الذَّهَب burj ad̲h̲-d̲h̲ahab, English: "Tower of Gold") is a dodecagonal military watchtower in Seville, southern Spain. It was erected by the Almohad Caliphate in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river.

Constructed in the first third of the 13th century, the tower served as a prison during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the golden shine it projected on the river, due to its building materials (a mixture of mortar, lime and pressed hay).

The tower is divided into three levels, the first level, dodecagonal, was built in 1220 by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abù l-Ulà; As for the second level, of only 8 meters, also dodecagonal, was built by Peter of Castile in the fourteenth century, a hypothesis that has been confirmed by archaeological studies; The third and uppermost being circular in shape was added after the previous third level, Almohad, was damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Rebuilding of the third level was made by Brusselian military engineer Sebastian Van der Borcht in 1760.

The Torre de la Plata, an octagonal tower, is located nearby, and is believed to have been constructed during the same era.

It is one of two anchor points for a large chain that would have been able to block the river. The other anchor-point has since been demolished or disappeared, possibly collapsing during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The chain was used in the city's defense against the Castilian fleet under Ramón de Bonifaz in the 1248 Reconquista. Bonifaz broke the river defenses and isolated Seville from Triana.

The Tower of Gold was built 1220–1221, by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abu l-Ulà, with a twelve-sided base. It barred the way to the Arenal district with a section of wall joining it to the Tower of Silver, a part of the city walls that defended the Alcazar.

The tower was badly damaged by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, and the Marquis of Monte Real proposed demolishing it to widen the way for horse-drawn coaches and straighten access to the bridge of Triana; however, the people of Seville objected and appealed to the king, who intervened. In 1760, the damage was repaired, with repairs to the bottom floor of the tower, reinforcement with rubble and mortar, and the creation of a new main access via the passageway to the path around the wall. That same year, the upper cylindrical body was built, a work of the military engineer Sebastian Van der Borcht, also architect of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville. These works changed the appearance of the tower as compared to what is seen in engravings from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries.

The Revolution of 1868 brought another crisis to the tower as revolutionaries demolished the decorative facing of the walls and put it up for sale. Opposition from the citizens of Seville kept the tower from being destroyed, and in 1900 it was again restored, this time by engineer Carlos Halcón. On April 10, 1923, King Alfonso XIII visited the tower, and on March 21, 1936 the Maritime Museum was installed in the Tower by order of the Admiralty. In September 1942, more restoration work began. The appearance of the facade was improved, two floors were set up for museum display, and the third floor was prepared to house researchers. The museum held its grand opening on July 24, 1944, for which occasion 400 museum pieces were brought from the Naval Museum of Madrid.

On August 13, 1992, the Torre del Oro was made a brother to the Tower of Belem of Lisbon to celebrate the Universal Exposition in Seville. As of 2008 the museum displayed a variety of old navigational instruments and models, as well as historical documents, engravings, and nautical charts, relating Seville to the Guadalquivir River and the sea. The tower was again restored in 2005.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del_Oro

secardiologia.es/

 

N400J, a Gulfstream Aerospace GVI Gulfstream G650ER, heading north on taxiway "Echo" at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario.

 

Serial number 6359 is operated by Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey.

 

The company received its first Gulfstream, a Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream II (serial number 60 / N500J), in October 1969.

 

Over the past 55 years, J&J has operated 16 Gulfstreams.

These have included two Gulfstream IIs, two Gulfstream IIIs, two Gulfstream IV-SPs, two Gulfstream G450s, four Gulfstream G550s, two Gulfstream G600s and two Gulfstream G650ERs.

  

Dance music has no excuse for being a boys' club. Though they don’t always get their due in a patriarchal industry, there’s no shortage of talented women who can hold their own behind the turntables. From seasoned veterans to rising stars, here are the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 you can’t afford to be clueless about.

 

The moment you walk into a party or a nightclub, it is the music that takes you by surprise. It defines the theme of the party. The beats either turn you on or energizes the mood at the party. But, what gives the party an extra zing is when the DJ is no ordinary person but someone who is well dressed and looks incredibly stunning and hot.

Let’s find out who made the list of Top 10 Female DJ's 2015.

#10 - Maya Jane Coles

  

At number 10 on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list is Maya Jane Coles. Life has been changing quite dramatically for a 25 year old British-Japanese, producer/dj by the name of Maya Jane Coles and having recently released her biggest body of work to date; her debut album “Comfort” things look set to keep on changing...

 

Born and bred in London, by any standards Maya has enjoyed a rather unique start to her career; from global spectacles like playing under the World’s largest mirror ball at the Tate Modern (UK) or charting internationally with her DJ Kicks mix for K7! to making the Resident Advisor top 10 DJ Chart 2011 & 2012.

 

In the last 24 months alone, Maya has already graced the cover of over 14 magazines in 8 different countries including Mixmag (UK), Village Voice (USA), Trax (France), Groove (Germany) and Vicious (Spain), alongside coverage in magazine’s as diverse as Vogue and Nylon through to Rolling Stone and Men’s Health with the likes of KCRW, BBC Radio 1, Per Se playing her tracks on radio.

#9 - Tenashar

  

Next on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 List, from Europe to Asia and beyond, the Tenashar bombshell is a force to be reckoned with, with a desire to shake up the world. Chaining a galaxy of EDM to her belt from electro, trance, progressive to big room house, this model and DJ’s raging energy and musical sass has shone dynamically. With energy to spark any party and epic excitement from her thousands of fans, the Singaporean starlet will turn any dance floor she touches to gold.

 

Currently based in Hong Kong, Tenashar has occupied the studio as of late, where her mashups and mixes have attracted over 300,000 fans to her Facebook page, over 450,000 views on YouTube and claimed the #1 most downloaded Podcast on iTunes. As one of Asia’s most sought after cover models for FHM, Playboy and Hypertune, its without a doubt beauty mingles so well with a beat, lining up Playboy next. Sitting pretty at #1 on Starcount and ranked #5 globally in one of Malaysia’s top nightlife websites, not only does she radiate but also attracts a magnetic clique like no other- a crowd pleasing phenomena.

#8 - Magda

  

Coming into the mix under the encouragement and instruction of Dan Bell and Claude Young, Magda began djing in 1996 working her way through the underground party circuit, via promoters, such as: Syst3m, and joining the all female dj collective: Women on Wax, it was only a short while before she began appearing regularly at Detroit area events and clubs.

 

1999 saw Magda’s initial forays into techno, electro and house evolve. Her dj sets were becoming increasingly minimal and the records in her box reflected a love of weird, challenging music. Invited by Richie Hawtin to open for him at his millennium celebration: Epok, Magda was entering a new phase in her career.

 

In the time since, Magda has expanded her work with Hawtin, becoming his sole choice to open many of his recent Detroit and international events, including: Jak DEMF weekend :2001, Control. labor day weekend: 2001, as well as earning an envious position on the line up of “From Our Minds To Yours” the Plus 8 ten year anniversary party.

 

The next few months will see Magda going on her third european tour alongside Richie Hawtin and making the jump from dj to producer, releasing music under the moniker: Run/Stop Restore on the Minus label.

#7 - Nicole Moudaber

  

A true force to be reckoned with as a DJ and producer, Nicole Moudaber's rise through the ranks of the DJ elite has been swift, purposeful and striking. Propelled by her flawlessly executed, sleazy, edgy house and tough, soulful techno sound, she picked up no less than Carl Cox and Steve Lawler as early fans.

 

Carl snapped up her early tracks for INTEC and Steve featured her music on VIVa & iVAV. Since then she's supplied killer tracks for labels like 8Sided Dice, Kling Klong, Monique Musique and Waveform Recordings, while remixing names including Santos, Martin Eyer, Mauro Picotto and Fergie.

 

Pretty much a perfect start to an artist career that began relatively recently.

#6 - Mari Ferrari

>

  

Starting way back in ‘07 when she started touring extensively around the world, mentioning countries like: America (Las Vegas, Los Angeles,Dallas, Miami, Honduras, Brazil etc.), Europe (Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Italy, Iceland, etc.), Asia and the Middle East (UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey,etc.).

 

Mari Ferrari nowadays works with the prestigious promoters and producers in San Tropez, Papagayo, VIP room. Besides her charm, this talented DJ is certainly known, respected and liked in the world of clubs life for her skills on the decks. She already attracted thousands of fans all over the world and her fame always keeps on rising. Coming in at number six on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list.

#5 - Miss K8

  

Miss K8 is mixing up a storm around the world and number 5 on our Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list. There aren’t many female DJ's in the DJ Mag Top 100 – and there aren’t many Ukrainians for that matter, either. One such lady clearly keen to ruffle a few feathers and do things a bit differently, however, is Miss K8. A native of Kiev, this hardcore techno loving temptress is more than capable with mixing it with the best in the business.

 

The so-called ‘Goddess of Hardcore’ has had a pretty spellbinding year too – as is evidenced by performances on influential hardcore techno stages a la Masters of Hardcore, Dominator, Syndicate and Defqon.1. Something tells us this lady is just getting started…

#4 - Nina Kraviz

  

As an artist, Nina Kraviz is the complete package. She sings, she produces, she DJs, and it’s for that reason that she is one of the most influential voices in the underground electronic world. Since breaking through with standout releases on Underground Quality, she has become an essential member of the Rekids family, releasing a string of EPs and a very personal debut album on the long running label. Coming in at number four on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list.

 

There are hypnotic and sensuous qualities to all the music this Siberian makes: it stems from the way she works, using her voice as an instrument and preferring to ”record from the first take, because that is how I can capture the moment. The vibe. The feeling.” Listen to deep, stripped back but emotionally resonant tracks like those that made up her self titled debut album and you will find it hard to disagree. There sure is something in Nina’s music that stands it out from the crowd – an intimacy and honesty maybe, but always is it unique and creative.

#3 - Krewella

  

Jahan Yousaf, Yasmine Yousaf, and Kris Trindl (aka Rain Man) formed the EDM trio Krewella in Chicago, Illinois. At number three on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list they got together in 2007 but didn’t release their first material until 2011, when they uploaded a handful of songs — including the jagged, celebratory “Life of the Party” — to their Soundcloud page. In 2012, they self-released their first two EPs: Play Hard (June), featuring the reggae-flavored “Killin It,” and Play Harder (December). The former reached number ten on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The same year, the trio became a staple of the festival circuit, including New York’s Electric Zoo and Texas’ Meltdown. 2013 saw the release of the groups first full-length, the bombastic Get Wet. The album spawned several singles and videos, including the sensational underground anthem “Live for the Night.”

 

“There is no bigger compliment than to have our amazing support system, our KREW, vote for us without even being asked to do so. THAT is real love”. So says Krewella – and to give the guys their dues you would indeed be hard pressed to find a more loved female duo in the EDM world right now. Consisting of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf, this all-conquering pair have a style that’s very much their own. And in spite of Kristopher "Rain Man" Trindl’s much publicised resignation, the Krewella party rolls with distinction…

#2 - Hannah Wants

  

A child of the garage generation Hannah Wants has validated herself as a world renowned DJ with some serious credentials.

 

In 2014 alone Hannah picked up the Best Breakthrough DJ title at the DJ Mag awards and became Mixmag’s Best Breakthrough DJ and Star Of The Year. Armed with an innate desire and passion to practice the art of DJ’ing from a young age Hannah has worked tirelessly for over a decade to pursue her DJ dream. Throughout this journey Wants has acquired an individual hard-hitting style and true competence behind the decks.

 

Nourishing her addiction to music the Birmingham (UK) born DJ dedicated the summer of 2010 to Ibiza. Following a number competition wins, an unexpected headline opportunity at Es Paradis and an invitation to run her own weekly night at Viva, it was there on the White Isle that Hannah really started to make a name for herself. Hannah’s main aim is to build a solid yet unique reputation for her live DJ sets and after a record amount of sell out events over the last twelve months she has dramatically risen from self-taught DJ to an unquestionable worldwide name on the house and bass music scene.

#1 - Nervo

  

At number one on the Top 10 Female DJ's 2015 list is Australian sisters NERVO are big news. While some have questioned the lack of women in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ's poll, these DJ and production siblings have consistently placed in the upper reaches. Starting out as songwriters for everyone from Britney Spears to Kelly Rowland and Armin van Buuren, they’ve a natural knack for well-placed hooks, which pepper their productions.

 

In July 2015, they finally released their debut album ‘Collateral’, which features music royalty of the calibre of Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Kylie Minogue just for starters.

 

And while a clever pop sensibility is evident in their style, they’re not afraid of getting a little deeper musically, throwing in some groovier house during their DJ sets, which are clearly in high demand. They’ll play London, Las Vegas, Zurich and Sao Paulo before the year is out. dancegeo.com/top-10-female-djs-2015/

She's, uhhhh, very consistent.

Infrared-Specific Assessment

 

Foliage Rendering

The bright, almost glowing trees are consistent with the Wood Effect (chlorophyll reflecting near-IR strongly).

 

Tonal separation within the tree masses is good for IR: individual crowns remain readable rather than collapsing into a flat white block.

 

Sky and Clouds

The streaked clouds read as long-exposure motion rather than purely IR response, which works well here.

 

The sky’s lighter tone against the darker water and land provides strong top–bottom contrast, avoiding the common IR problem of a dull, empty sky.

 

Water

The water’s smooth, slightly darker tonality anchors the composition and keeps the image from drifting into high-key abstraction.

 

Reflection is subdued, which is typical with IR and helps maintain a calm, matte surface.

 

Human Figures

Slight blur in the people is especially effective in infrared, where skin and fabric often render oddly.

 

Their softened presence avoids distracting tonal anomalies and reinforces a temporal, passing-moment feel.

 

Color Handling

This appears to be a restrained false-color or channel-shift approach rather than aggressive blue/yellow swapping.

 

The limited palette keeps the image coherent and avoids the “novelty IR” look.

 

Overall Evaluation

This is a controlled, mature use of infrared rather than a filter-for-effect image.

 

The IR contributes meaningfully to mood and structure, not just surface appearance.

 

The photograph succeeds as a contemplative landscape with human scale, using infrared to gently detach the scene from literal time and place.

 

Vall d'Incles, Incles, Canillo parroquia, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

More Incles & Canillo parroquia: Follow the group links at right side.

.......

 

About this image:

* Medium format 4x3 (645) high quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (20 years 2003-2023)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism editiorials

 

We offer 200.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. 20.000+ visable here at Flickr. Its the largest professional image catalog of Andorra: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). Consistent for additional advanced programming. For smartphones and web-db. REAL TIME!

 

It's based on GeoCoded stock-photo images and metadata with 4-5 languages. Prepared for easy systematic organising of very large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System).

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 68.A. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

La Torre del Oro de Sevilla es una torre albarrana situada en el margen izquierdo del río Guadalquivir, en la ciudad de Sevilla, comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, España, junto a la plaza de toros de la Maestranza. Su altura es de 36 metros. Posiblemente su nombre en árabe era Bury al-dahab, Borg al Azahar, o Borg-al-Azaja en referencia a su brillo dorado que se reflejaba sobre el río. Durante las obras de restauración de 2005, se demostró que este brillo, que hasta entonces una falsa leyenda atribuía a un revestimiento de azulejos, era debido a una mezcla de mortero de cal y paja prensada.

Es una torre formada por tres cuerpos, El primer cuerpo, dodecagonal, fue construido entre 1220 y 1221 por orden del gobernador almohade de Sevilla, Abù l-Ulà. En cuanto al segundo cuerpo, también dodecagonal fue mandado construir por Pedro I el cruel en el siglo XIV, una hipótesis que ha quedado confirmada por los estudios arqueológicos. Por último el cuerpo superior, cilíndrico y rematado en cúpula dorada, fue construido en 1760 por el ingeniero militar Sebastián Van der Borcht tras el terremoto de Lisboa de 1755.

Fue declarada monumento histórico-artístico en 1931 y ha sido restaurada varias veces. En la Edad Contemporánea fue restaurada en 1900, entre 1991 y 1992, en 1995 y en 2005. En su conservación ha sido importante la labor de la Armada. Se encuentra en buen estado de conservación y alberga el Museo Naval de Sevilla.

Comienza su construcción el 30 de marzo de 1220, siendo terminada el 24 de febrero de 1221, casi un año después. Con su construcción se dio por completado el sistema defensivo de la ciudad almohade y fue el punto más importante, ya que defendía al puerto. Fue construida por orden del gobernador almohade de Sevilla, Abù l-Ulà. Cerraba el paso al Arenal mediante un tramo de muralla que la unía con la Torre de la Plata y a través de la actual calle Santander con la Torre de Abd el Aziz o Torre de Santo Tomás, y de allí al Alcázar. Formando parte de las murallas de Sevilla que defendían la ciudad y el Real Alcázar.

En cuanto a la cimentación de la torre, esta consiste en una losa de hormigón de cal con un espesor de unos 5 m. (desde la cota +3m. a la cota -2m.). Dicha cimentación se apoya sobre un terreno blando, pues es una zona aluvial muy cercana al propio río por lo que en su cimentación se añadió madera de pino para darle mayor consistencia. Además de estos 5 metros de cimentación iniciales, en 1760 tras las obras de restauración efectuadas por los desperfectos que ocasionó el llamado terremoto de Lisboa, se macizó como cimentación la planta baja de la torre, lo que supone un aumento de 6 metros. Por ello, actualmente la Torre del Oro cuenta con unos 11 metros de cimentación.

Existe una tradición que dice que, se extendió desde su basamento una gruesa cadena sobre el río hasta otra torre ubicada en la actual calle Fortaleza, situada al otro lado del río, en el actual barrio de Triana; dicha leyenda es falsa ya que la La calle Fortaleza en la orilla de Triana recibe ese nombre en el s. XIX, anteriormente denominada calle Limones, por otro lado y con más acierto, en las Crónicas realizadas por Alfonso X el Sabio, donde describe al detalle la toma de la ciudad de Sevilla, solo se menciona una cadena, la que sujetaba el conjunto de barcas que formaba el puente que unía la orilla de Sevilla y la de Triana, que unía además la ciudad con el castillo, conocido posteriormente como Castillo de San Jorge, en la orilla de Triana.

La flota castellana mandada por el almirante Ramón de Bonifaz, que en dos ocasiones los documentos de la época lo definen como un "ome de Burgos" y "un burgalés de Burgos", rompió el puente en 1248 remontando el río, mientras las tropas de Fernando III de Castilla sitiaban la ciudad. Este pasaje histórico protagonizado por marinos asturianos y cántabros al servicio de la marina castellana quedó inmortalizado en los escudos de Avilés y de las Cuatro Villas de la Costa de Cantabria (Laredo, Castro-Urdiales, Santander y San Vicente de la Barquera) y fue posteriormente incorporado al escudo de Cantabria. En ellos se representa la Torre del Oro y un barco junto a las cadenas rotas.

Tras ser conquistada, se utilizó como capilla dedicada a San Isidoro de Sevilla. Después se utilizó como prisión.

Se llamó Torre del Oro desde la época almohade, el propio Alfonso X cuando narra la conquista de Sevilla ya la nombra como Torre del Oro, claramente por el brillo producto del mortero de cal y paja prensada que presentaba.

A pesar de ello, existen varias teorías sobre el nombre del edificio, todas leyendas sin ninguna prueba consistente y por tanto falsas. Muestra de estas leyendas falsas son, por un lado, en el siglo XVI, un cronista llamado Luis de Peraza dice que la torre se encontraba cubierta de azulejos que brillaban con la luz del Sol. El mismo cronista añade que el rey Pedro I guardó en la torre tesoros de oro y plata, cabe destacar que esta es una de las leyendas más destacada y conocida. Pedro López de Ayala también habla de que en dicha torre Pedro I guardaba tesoros en monedas de oro y plata. Dada la proximidad de la torre al Muelle de la Aduana durante la conquista de América es habitual decir que se llamaba así porque en ella se almacenaba el oro de América, pero el oro se guardaba en una estancia de la Casa de la Contratación (Cuarto del Tesoro) y era procesado en la Casa de la Moneda, a varios metros de allí.

En el siglo XVI presentaba un estado ruinoso, por lo que se realizó una obra de consolidación. La torre fue dañada gravemente por el terremoto de Lisboa de 1755, tras lo cual el Marqués de Monte Real propuso su demolición para ensanchar el paseo de coches de caballos y hacer más recto el acceso al puente de Triana; sin embargo, ese proyecto no llegó a realizarse por la oposición del pueblo de Sevilla, que llegaron a anunciárselo al rey, quien intervino. En 1760 se arreglaron los desperfectos macizando la planta inferior de la torre, reforzándola con escombros y mortero, y dejando la puerta del paso de ronda de la muralla como puerta de acceso principal. Ese mismo año se construyó el cuerpo cilíndrico superior, obra del ingeniero militar Sebastián Van der Borcht, artífice también de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla. Estas obras cambiaron el aspecto de la torre respecto al que puede observarse en grabados.

La Revolución de 1868 fue otro momento crítico para la torre, pues los revolucionarios demolieron los lienzos de las murallas y los pusieron en venta, pero la oposición de los hispalenses logró que la torre no se destruyera.

Fue restaurada en 1900 por el ingeniero Carlos Halcón. El 10 de abril de 1923 la torre fue visitada por Alfonso XIII. El 21 de marzo de 1936 se dispuso la instalación en la torre el Museo Marítimo por orden del Ministerio de Marina. En septiembre de 1942 comenzaron las obras de restauración, durante las cuales se mejoraron el aspecto de la fachada y se habilitaron dos plantas para la exhibición del museo y la tercera para alojar investigadores. El 13 de agosto de 1992, en el contexto de la Exposición Universal de Sevilla, se hermanó la Torre del Oro con la Torre de Belem de Lisboa.

El museo se inauguró el 24 de julio de 1944, para lo cual se llevaron 400 piezas del Museo Naval de Madrid. El museo muestra en la actualidad (2008) diversos instrumentos antiguos de navegación y maquetas, además de documentos históricos, grabados y cartas náuticas; y relaciona de Sevilla con el río Guadalquivir y el mar. En 2005 fue nuevamente restaurada.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del_Oro

 

The Torre del Oro (Arabic: بُرْج الذَّهَب burj ad̲h̲-d̲h̲ahab, English: "Tower of Gold") is a dodecagonal military watchtower in Seville, southern Spain. It was erected by the Almohad Caliphate in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river.

Constructed in the first third of the 13th century, the tower served as a prison during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the golden shine it projected on the river, due to its building materials (a mixture of mortar, lime and pressed hay).

The tower is divided into three levels, the first level, dodecagonal, was built in 1220 by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abù l-Ulà; As for the second level, of only 8 meters, also dodecagonal, was built by Peter of Castile in the fourteenth century, a hypothesis that has been confirmed by archaeological studies; The third and uppermost being circular in shape was added after the previous third level, Almohad, was damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Rebuilding of the third level was made by Brusselian military engineer Sebastian Van der Borcht in 1760.

The Torre de la Plata, an octagonal tower, is located nearby, and is believed to have been constructed during the same era.

It is one of two anchor points for a large chain that would have been able to block the river. The other anchor-point has since been demolished or disappeared, possibly collapsing during the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The chain was used in the city's defense against the Castilian fleet under Ramón de Bonifaz in the 1248 Reconquista. Bonifaz broke the river defenses and isolated Seville from Triana.

The Tower of Gold was built 1220–1221, by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abu l-Ulà, with a twelve-sided base. It barred the way to the Arenal district with a section of wall joining it to the Tower of Silver, a part of the city walls that defended the Alcazar.

The tower was badly damaged by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, and the Marquis of Monte Real proposed demolishing it to widen the way for horse-drawn coaches and straighten access to the bridge of Triana; however, the people of Seville objected and appealed to the king, who intervened. In 1760, the damage was repaired, with repairs to the bottom floor of the tower, reinforcement with rubble and mortar, and the creation of a new main access via the passageway to the path around the wall. That same year, the upper cylindrical body was built, a work of the military engineer Sebastian Van der Borcht, also architect of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville. These works changed the appearance of the tower as compared to what is seen in engravings from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries.

The Revolution of 1868 brought another crisis to the tower as revolutionaries demolished the decorative facing of the walls and put it up for sale. Opposition from the citizens of Seville kept the tower from being destroyed, and in 1900 it was again restored, this time by engineer Carlos Halcón. On April 10, 1923, King Alfonso XIII visited the tower, and on March 21, 1936 the Maritime Museum was installed in the Tower by order of the Admiralty. In September 1942, more restoration work began. The appearance of the facade was improved, two floors were set up for museum display, and the third floor was prepared to house researchers. The museum held its grand opening on July 24, 1944, for which occasion 400 museum pieces were brought from the Naval Museum of Madrid.

On August 13, 1992, the Torre del Oro was made a brother to the Tower of Belem of Lisbon to celebrate the Universal Exposition in Seville. As of 2008 the museum displayed a variety of old navigational instruments and models, as well as historical documents, engravings, and nautical charts, relating Seville to the Guadalquivir River and the sea. The tower was again restored in 2005.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_del_Oro

 

"The distinctive characteristic of a traditional society is order."

 

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

 

"A normal civilization is one that rests on principles, one in which all is ordered and in a hierarchy consistent with these principles, so that everything is seen to be an application and extension of a metaphysical doctrine."

 

René Guénon