View allAll Photos Tagged decency

" Over the recent years, the world of news and media has been rife with scandal. Deception and corruption have shocked the nation. The need for a serious and reliable news source is crucial to our society, we are at breaking point. Feeling helpless? Wondering ‘what do we do?’ The answer lies in Preston . "

 

This Lancashire town has been through some dark times, and there to broadcast these crimes and atrocities has been the ‘ Lancashire Evening Post ’. "

 

Thank God there's no Wetherspoons there yet ! * Only joking M'lud * Satire

In the missionary hospital, my mum was able to take some patient photos. As a man, I had to be careful not to outrage any decency.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Interfaith Vigil at San Quentin in a time of COVID19

 

July 19, 2020

San Quentin State Prison, Marin County, California

 

- Huge support from a steady stream of honking cars traveling to and from the Richmond Bay Bridge.

 

-----

From the organizers (Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity):

"Background: On May 30th, California Department of Corrections (CDCR) transferred 121 incarcerated individuals from California Institution for Men (CIM) prison in San Bernardino County to San Quentin State Prison. Upon arriving at San Quentin, 25 of the individuals who transferred from CIM tested positive for COVID19. This has led to a growing outbreak at San Quentin (which had no confirmed cases prior to this transfer) with over 1,900 cases confirmed among those incarcerated, 205 confirmed cases among staff, and 12 deaths to date and climbing. Due to a lack of ongoing testing, these numbers are likely an underestimation.

 

We know there is no “safe” way to social distance in prisons, North Block and West Block housing units at San Quentin are operating at roughly 190% capacity. We know there is no safe way to transfer incarcerated individuals from one prison to another, without the risk of creating a new hot spot at yet another prison. The only way to control the spread of this global pandemic (inside prison walls and beyond) is to grant releases, stop ICE transfers for those released, and reduce California’s prison population.

 

After increasing community advocacy and some vocal elected officials, on July 10, Governor Newsom announced plans to release 8000 from prisons statewide. While this is a step in the right direction, releasing a mere 6% of the people inside California’s overcrowded prisons falls woefully short of the large-scale decarceration needed to protect the health and safety of the community.

 

We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions. Community-based re-entry programs and the faith community are able to care for loved ones, like Chanthon Bun, who was released from San Quentin on July 1st, and is now being housed in a sanctuary congregation while he recovers from COVID19.

 

------

Demands: Our Interfaith Vigil will be lifting up the following demands, in line with the demands from loved ones who are incarcerated, including the campaigns for #ActNowNewsom (bit.ly/actnownewsom) and #StopSQOutbreak (bit.ly/StopSQOutbreakDemands):

 

Governor Newsom must begin the process of drastically reducing the overall prison population to below 50% of current capacity. In order to achieve this level of decarceration, Governor Newsom must grant releases without categorical exclusions based on crimes of commitment or sentencing but be based on the current level of risk not past offenses. We know that people can change and transform their lives. Releases must include those who are serving Life Without Parole sentences, who are actually at the lowest risk of reoffending, and those on Death Row who comprise a majority of deaths by COVID-19. Release should be to families, the faith community, or community-based re-entry programs - not other prisons.

 

Governor Newsom and CDCR must immediately stop all transfers between California prisons, and from prisons to ICE detention centers. Transfers continue to spread the disease inside the prison system, to staff and outside communities. Immigration transfers of people who earn release and parole. We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions.

 

Governor Newsom must release people beginning with those most vulnerable people, including transgender people, elderly, disabled, and those medically vulnerable. Transgender people are at disproportionate risk of harm and violence in prison. Prisons should not be a death sentence. All life is precious.

 

Immediately improve the care and treatment for people inside San Quentin. This includes restoring access to phones to communicate to loved ones, adequate testing, access to PPE, improved sanitation, hot meals, etc. This also includes, CDCR must ensure that the incarcerated trans community has access to hormones and healthcare immediately – before and after their release. We demand that all people imprisoned be treated with mercy, compassion, and human decency."

 

At the time of this vigil, held at the west entrance to San Quentin, over 2,100 individuals at San Quentin have tested positive for COVID19 (1900 incarcerated, 205 staff), with 12 deaths.

This is one of the photos from a Power Point presentation explaining a study in Augusta, Georgia about a street named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

The “Claiming A Street Named King” Project is the brainchild of Rev. Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia.

 

These photos depict homes, building and abandoned structures along Martin Lutheran King, Jr. Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia.

 

It began with research in Athens and Augusta (Georgia) through the University Of Georgia School Of Environmental Design.

 

Research was led by Dr. Mary Anne Akers in collaboration with Georgia Legal Services Program, Georgia State Trade Association of Non-profit Developers (G-STAND) and Neighborhood Works America, INC.

 

“Claiming A Street Named King” Project study in Augusta, Georgia – conducted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard - shows areas that need economic assistance – and that’s the same issue in many American cities that have streets named for civil rights leaders

 

For more information:

 

claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/Claimin...

 

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook/ Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

A few days ago I read that this facility is to be restored as a cafe or restaurant and I also discovered that the area was locally known as the "Four Corners of Hell" because crossroad junction of Kevin Street, New Street South, Dean Street and Patrick Street had a pub on each corner and became especially rowdy at closing time.

  

This caught me by surprise [when I first noticed it a few months ago] especially as I should have been aware that these facilities existed having gone to school in Leeson Street and college in Kevin Street. There are two separate entities - a small park and an underground public toilet.

 

Initially I thought that it was an old monument or memorial but upon seeing the entrance I realised that it was an underground public toilet block.

 

In the 1950s and 1960s there were about seventy public toilets in Dublin but all of them have been closed. The underground public toilet block at the junction of Kevin Street and New Street was one of a number that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in response to an increasing demand for public facilities in the city. Underground facilities such as this were partially hidden from general view in order to satisfy Victorian perceptions of decency. It retains many of its historic features including railings, gates and decorative ventilation shaft.

Session Americana playing at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA.

 

www.facebook.com/pages/Session-Americana/53199003969

 

www.sessionamericana.com

www.myspace.com/sessionamericana

www.hi-n-dry.com/session_americana

www.exploitboston.com/music-musings/grab-new-music-from-s...

Session Americana - from www.sessionamericana.com

 

This ad hoc acoustic supergroup started around a table at a small pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Conway, Sean Staples, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting and other friends gathered to swap songs and stories. Their lively performances and inspired versions of tunes from the dusty backroads of America's past were such a hit with fans that they decided to take their musical conversation into the studio. The two-CD debut Tabletop People ups the ante with stellar appearances by folksinger Rose Polenzani, Twinemen's Laurie Sargent, Dennis Brennan, Asa Brebner, Merrie Amsterburg, Dan Kellar, Presidents of the United States' Chris Ballew, Jabe Beyer, Tim Gearon and other luminaries. And the 18 gritty, funny, soulful performances included span a gamut of emotions and tastes that should please both adult and younger listeners.

 

"Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard:...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston

and vocals that do the same"

— Performer Magazine

 

Session Americana sit tightly around a small cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments. A suit-case drum kit, an old electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, a field organ: This format feels very theatrical and though the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps you coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for, great songs performed by a great band. The six core members of the band have brought enviable careers worth of experience to the “table”, featuring (current and former) members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan, Kris Delmhorst. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from church coee houses to urban nightclubs to regional festival tents to large halls.

 

Band: Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Beard, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting, Sean Staples and Jon Bistline.

 

*Winner “2005 Best Folk Act” - The Boston Music Awards

*Winner “Best Roots Act 2006” - Improper Bostonian “Best of Boston” Issue

*Winner “Best CD” 2007 - Improper Bostonian

*Nominated “Best Roots Act” 2007 - WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll

*Nominated "Best Live Act" 2007 - The Boston Music Awards

*Nominated "Best Americana Act" 2008 - The Boston Music Awards

 

“Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard: ...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston and vocals that do the same”

— NE Performer Magazine

 

“No egos, no big production, just some great songs stripped down to their bare essentials and performed with a real genuineness of spirit and emotional authenticity... it’s beautiful.” (Brian Mosher)

— The Noise

 

“An eclectic, swinging tour de force” — The Boston Globe

 

“[This] local country-folk megagroup’s double CD is one of the most loose, spontaneous, warm, and homespun acts of community and decency since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

 

— The Boston Phoenix

“the cream of the Somerville/Cambridge community" - No Depression (read less)

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

VISIT TO NOKIA AND SITRA. PHOTO: ATTE KAJOVA

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs produces photo material for media representatives. Please feel free to use the photos for journalistic purposes, considering the following restrictions: One-time picture publishing right, no archiving or reselling. Editorial use only. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organisation shall be mentioned as a source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. The publisher is not entitled to transfer rights to a third party. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall also obtain the permissions needed for any names, persons, works of art, trademarks, and proprietary rights shown in the pictures. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Arctic Council Ministerial Dinner at Artikum Glass Hall. United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo held a press conference at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Timo Soini and Secretary of State of United States of America Michael Pompeo.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Interfaith Vigil at San Quentin in a time of COVID19

 

July 19, 2020

San Quentin State Prison, Marin County, California

 

- Huge support from a steady stream of honking cars traveling to and from the Richmond Bay Bridge.

 

-----

From the organizers (Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity):

"Background: On May 30th, California Department of Corrections (CDCR) transferred 121 incarcerated individuals from California Institution for Men (CIM) prison in San Bernardino County to San Quentin State Prison. Upon arriving at San Quentin, 25 of the individuals who transferred from CIM tested positive for COVID19. This has led to a growing outbreak at San Quentin (which had no confirmed cases prior to this transfer) with over 1,900 cases confirmed among those incarcerated, 205 confirmed cases among staff, and 12 deaths to date and climbing. Due to a lack of ongoing testing, these numbers are likely an underestimation.

 

We know there is no “safe” way to social distance in prisons, North Block and West Block housing units at San Quentin are operating at roughly 190% capacity. We know there is no safe way to transfer incarcerated individuals from one prison to another, without the risk of creating a new hot spot at yet another prison. The only way to control the spread of this global pandemic (inside prison walls and beyond) is to grant releases, stop ICE transfers for those released, and reduce California’s prison population.

 

After increasing community advocacy and some vocal elected officials, on July 10, Governor Newsom announced plans to release 8000 from prisons statewide. While this is a step in the right direction, releasing a mere 6% of the people inside California’s overcrowded prisons falls woefully short of the large-scale decarceration needed to protect the health and safety of the community.

 

We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions. Community-based re-entry programs and the faith community are able to care for loved ones, like Chanthon Bun, who was released from San Quentin on July 1st, and is now being housed in a sanctuary congregation while he recovers from COVID19.

 

------

Demands: Our Interfaith Vigil will be lifting up the following demands, in line with the demands from loved ones who are incarcerated, including the campaigns for #ActNowNewsom (bit.ly/actnownewsom) and #StopSQOutbreak (bit.ly/StopSQOutbreakDemands):

 

Governor Newsom must begin the process of drastically reducing the overall prison population to below 50% of current capacity. In order to achieve this level of decarceration, Governor Newsom must grant releases without categorical exclusions based on crimes of commitment or sentencing but be based on the current level of risk not past offenses. We know that people can change and transform their lives. Releases must include those who are serving Life Without Parole sentences, who are actually at the lowest risk of reoffending, and those on Death Row who comprise a majority of deaths by COVID-19. Release should be to families, the faith community, or community-based re-entry programs - not other prisons.

 

Governor Newsom and CDCR must immediately stop all transfers between California prisons, and from prisons to ICE detention centers. Transfers continue to spread the disease inside the prison system, to staff and outside communities. Immigration transfers of people who earn release and parole. We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions.

 

Governor Newsom must release people beginning with those most vulnerable people, including transgender people, elderly, disabled, and those medically vulnerable. Transgender people are at disproportionate risk of harm and violence in prison. Prisons should not be a death sentence. All life is precious.

 

Immediately improve the care and treatment for people inside San Quentin. This includes restoring access to phones to communicate to loved ones, adequate testing, access to PPE, improved sanitation, hot meals, etc. This also includes, CDCR must ensure that the incarcerated trans community has access to hormones and healthcare immediately – before and after their release. We demand that all people imprisoned be treated with mercy, compassion, and human decency."

 

At the time of this vigil, held at the west entrance to San Quentin, over 2,100 individuals at San Quentin have tested positive for COVID19 (1900 incarcerated, 205 staff), with 12 deaths.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook/ Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Session Americana playing at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA.

 

www.facebook.com/pages/Session-Americana/53199003969

 

www.sessionamericana.com

www.myspace.com/sessionamericana

www.hi-n-dry.com/session_americana

www.exploitboston.com/music-musings/grab-new-music-from-s...

Session Americana - from www.sessionamericana.com

 

This ad hoc acoustic supergroup started around a table at a small pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Conway, Sean Staples, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting and other friends gathered to swap songs and stories. Their lively performances and inspired versions of tunes from the dusty backroads of America's past were such a hit with fans that they decided to take their musical conversation into the studio. The two-CD debut Tabletop People ups the ante with stellar appearances by folksinger Rose Polenzani, Twinemen's Laurie Sargent, Dennis Brennan, Asa Brebner, Merrie Amsterburg, Dan Kellar, Presidents of the United States' Chris Ballew, Jabe Beyer, Tim Gearon and other luminaries. And the 18 gritty, funny, soulful performances included span a gamut of emotions and tastes that should please both adult and younger listeners.

 

"Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard:...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston

and vocals that do the same"

— Performer Magazine

 

Session Americana sit tightly around a small cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments. A suit-case drum kit, an old electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, a field organ: This format feels very theatrical and though the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps you coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for, great songs performed by a great band. The six core members of the band have brought enviable careers worth of experience to the “table”, featuring (current and former) members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan, Kris Delmhorst. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from church coee houses to urban nightclubs to regional festival tents to large halls.

 

Band: Ry Cavanaugh, Billy Beard, Dinty Child, Jim Fitting, Sean Staples and Jon Bistline.

 

*Winner “2005 Best Folk Act” - The Boston Music Awards

*Winner “Best Roots Act 2006” - Improper Bostonian “Best of Boston” Issue

*Winner “Best CD” 2007 - Improper Bostonian

*Nominated “Best Roots Act” 2007 - WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll

*Nominated "Best Live Act" 2007 - The Boston Music Awards

*Nominated "Best Americana Act" 2008 - The Boston Music Awards

 

“Genius ... Jaw-dropping vocals ... Session Americana is blessed in this regard: ...musicianship that sets the standard for the genre in Boston and vocals that do the same”

— NE Performer Magazine

 

“No egos, no big production, just some great songs stripped down to their bare essentials and performed with a real genuineness of spirit and emotional authenticity... it’s beautiful.” (Brian Mosher)

— The Noise

 

“An eclectic, swinging tour de force” — The Boston Globe

 

“[This] local country-folk megagroup’s double CD is one of the most loose, spontaneous, warm, and homespun acts of community and decency since the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

 

— The Boston Phoenix

“the cream of the Somerville/Cambridge community" - No Depression

UM 20191031 Helsinki. Ministeri Skinnarin tilaisuus. Onko maailmassa kysyntää vapaalle, avoimelle ja sääntöpohjaiselle kaupalle? Minna Aila, Konecranes. Kuva: Kimmo Räisänen/UM

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

UM 20191031 Helsinki. Ministeri Skinnarin tilaisuus. Onko maailmassa kysyntää vapaalle, avoimelle ja sääntöpohjaiselle kaupalle? Kristiina Kauppinen, UM. Kuva: Kimmo Räisänen/ulkoministeriö

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Arctic Council Ministerial Dinner at Artikum Glass Hall. Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Iceland Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Somedays I can fall out with my own shadow . . .

 

. . . and today was one of those days.

 

OK it's a bit obvious, but you should've seen the shite I was going to upload. Luckily I had enough decency to set up again and re-shoot.

 

I'm really starting to struggle for ideas now, and 90% of my 365 shots these days just happen - I set up with no idea what I'm going to do, take a load of shots and hope something good happens.

 

Sometimes an idea presents itself, like it did today, while I'm shooting, but the last time I set up with a specific idea in mind was nearly a week ago. This bugs me. I don't want to piss away the last 100 days or so of my 365 shooting the same shots over and over.

 

But enough about that.

 

The only thing that's photoshopped in this shot is the overlaid textures, and a lot of careful dodging to remove the texture that covered me on the left. I'm standing in the corner of my bedroom here, which is why there's a line down the middle of the shot - it's where the two walls join. I did Photoshop the line out but it looked fake without it. And I thought it accentuted the idea of the divide between me and my shadow.

 

Strobist info: SB600 at 1/32 power to camera left fired directly at subject to create the very defined shadow. The warm tone was created in Lightroom, I didn't use a gel for this shot (it didn't occur to me at the time and I stumbled on the Lightroom preset I used).

 

Worth a look at this size

This is one of the photos from a Power Point presentation explaining a study in Augusta, Georgia about a street named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

The “Claiming A Street Named King” Project is the brainchild of Rev. Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia.

 

These photos depict homes, building and abandoned structures along Martin Lutheran King, Jr. Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia.

 

It began with research in Athens and Augusta (Georgia) through the University Of Georgia School Of Environmental Design.

 

Research was led by Dr. Mary Anne Akers in collaboration with Georgia Legal Services Program, Georgia State Trade Association of Non-profit Developers (G-STAND) and Neighborhood Works America, INC.

 

“Claiming A Street Named King” Project study in Augusta, Georgia – conducted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard - shows areas that need economic assistance – and that’s the same issue in many American cities that have streets named for civil rights leaders

 

For more information:

 

claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/Claimin...

 

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook/ Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Despite signs at the ferry terminal pointing to a taxi stand and bus stop, this part of Miyajima Island seemed to be a vehicle free zone so the many Sika deer roam about freely all over the place. They are considered sacred on this island. (see previous pictures earlier in this album for notes about that and also the misgivings some folk have about the ethics of letting these animals roam freely, depending mostly on handouts from tourists and not having a natural diet of greenery). A quick word about the people you see in this picture: to the right, just after the deer is a group of Japanese schoolgirls. At the top far left are four US Marines, one of them bare chested. They drew much squeals of delight from the girls and several of them wanted to pose with the bare chested man. Calls of 'you are so cool' and much giggles and laughter rang out from the girls. Mercifully, his friends had a bit more decency and soon pulled him away from the schoolgirls squealing with delight and dragged him into a Starbucks coffee station just opposite. And the bare chested guy quickly put on a t-shirt he was carrying before entering the coffee shop. Laughter and jokes aside, I wonder what kind of impression that would have left on the minds of these young adolescent schoolgirls. (Hiroshima,Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

Every morning he wakes up and immediately looks for an ‘inroad’. A note, a few lines, a diatribe, a correspondence of, perhaps, at least two words, preferably more, from someone his devious neediness has designated a ‘loved one’. It can even be a loved one he has never met, someone he has mutually ‘catfished’ into being, that chimera called a fellow-traveller, a soul-sister or brother, a potential everyone else, someone who might proffer understanding and that elusive feeling of camaraderie. Of course, he wandered why he had nurtured this hunger, though he saw that it was almost universal, that this was a by-product of the ever-present now, magnified even, in that 'now' we currently tolerate on this information superhighway. He would have said it was man-made, or woman-made even and equally, but then he also thought that the human mammal is no different from anything else, so perhaps it was just better to think of it like any other ‘construct’, one of those permanent, and moving, constant and frivolous, featureless features of being. It was, not so simply, insecurity made manifest in one of its countless variations on the theme of itself.

  

He wondered what might happen if he just wrote to himself, for a change. He knew that the ‘I’ would be writing to him, but there was really f*ck-all he could do about that anyway. That’s always the problem, and the solution, that ghost in the solid-state hard-drive, on the cloud, in the clear-blue sky, the machine having sloped off towards the end of the last century, the 20th one that is, heading towards Bethlehem and all that literary effusion.

  

He, obviously, knew nothing about cricket or 'innings', but he loved Yeats, Joyce, Shields, ‘Catfish’ on MTV, ‘The Ru-Paul Drag Race’, ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and ‘Yellowstone’, somewhat indicating his cultural hodgepodgery, making him more-or-less like everyone else, a modern he/she/they and it.

  

He/she/they and it didn’t dissect why he loved them; he didn’t have to. He knew why he loved them, so dissection wasn’t necessary. Everything else would be put under the knife, scalpeled to the bone, from which the marrow would be extracted and collected for further investigation. His obsession with ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ confused him a little, but he was willing to just let it be. It was just one of those idiosyncrasies.

  

He also didn’t usually play with pronouns, I say play, or rather he does, but he doesn’t actually mean that. He didn’t think anyone plays with that sort of thing, it is, sadly and celebratorily, a ‘no choice’ situation manifesting itself. It is Mr Darwin at work, an early indication of an evolving change. He knew he was ‘cisgender’, though he hated the term with a vengeance. He didn’t hate being ‘cisgender’, he hated the bloody word itself. It reminded him of art-speak from the last two decades of the last century. It made as much sense, to his sensitive ears, as the ‘Integrity of the canvas’, or ‘Art Practice’, in a ‘give me a f*cking break’ sort of way. Perhaps that language would sort itself out in due course, when in some glorious future we would realise we have all morphed into bifurcatory beings and shame relative to body-parts has become a strange thing we used to indulge in, partially generated by religion and self-loathing.

  

But that was sometime off yet.

  

That he was a cisgender shirt-lifter only complicated the matter. He loved the term ‘shirt-lifter’ to describe himself, and it would take an army of cultural, gender-neutral, semioticists to prise it from his cold dead fingers, but he guessed that at some point they would. Have at it, he thought, he would be dead, so who cares? Eat him, he’s yours. He would love to be devoured and is only sorry that his disease might make him less attractive as a good meal. But then everything we eat, everything we devour, is laced. That dressing, that lacing or whatever, has an infinite number of variations, permutations beyond our ability to compute. Perhaps ‘loaded’ is the best word for it, cocked and loaded, even. It can run the gamut from PFAs to HIV, from fear to joy, from love to hate, all available in a sandwich closeby, fast fooded or handmade with love, or malice. The greatest ‘shock’ of all is, perhaps, that these are all equal. That’s where he finds hope.

  

To find ‘hope’ anywhere is a joy. He knew that was why he made art and wrote, and he was somewhat sorry that he didn’t write to himself more often. He thought to himself that he might get around to addressing that negligence.

  

About time too, he ruminated, in that mulch-mulch, manure, yum-yum sort of way of his.

 

He knew that he could change these scribblings every day, tweak them until they were 'right', or they, at the very least, said what he wanted them to say. He could do it every day and no one would notice. He was giving himself four years to sort that out. He would also do some of it privately, to document those thoughts, those ideas, that traversed that boundary, thoughts that were most definitely beyond the pale, utterly disregarding notions of decency.

 

Four years, how's that for optimism? He thought to his ho-hum self.

 

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

This is one of the photos from a Power Point presentation explaining a study in Augusta, Georgia about a street named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

The “Claiming A Street Named King” Project is the brainchild of Rev. Terence A. Dicks of Augusta, Georgia.

 

These photos depict homes, building and abandoned structures along Martin Lutheran King, Jr. Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia.

 

It began with research in Athens and Augusta (Georgia) through the University Of Georgia School Of Environmental Design.

 

Research was led by Dr. Mary Anne Akers in collaboration with Georgia Legal Services Program, Georgia State Trade Association of Non-profit Developers (G-STAND) and Neighborhood Works America, INC.

 

“Claiming A Street Named King” Project study in Augusta, Georgia – conducted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard - shows areas that need economic assistance – and that’s the same issue in many American cities that have streets named for civil rights leaders

 

For more information:

 

claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/Claimin...

 

Unspoilt, peaceful, Georgian country parish church, mostly dating from 1719-20 but built on the foundation of a much older church. From the outside, it is a handsome church, X-plan, with an additional wing at the west end, topped by a belfry tower, containing the ducal retiring rooms. The interior, renovated 1784-5 and re-arranged circa 1870, has a typical presbyterian layout with central pulpit and three galleries. Many of the box pews have a central communion table. The north aisle of the church is taller and more sophisticated, built for the Duke of Queensberry and remaining from the earlier church. Inside the Queensberry Aisle is the real jewel of the church: the most amazing monument for the Queensberry burial vault, a baroque mural monument and free-standing baldacchino carved in 1695 by John van Nost to the design of James Smith who was also architect of the later church. A riot of swagged fabric, garlands of flowers, urns, barley-sugar columns, cherubs, skulls and pediments, all in gleaming white marble. 'There are few buildings in which baroque magnificence and presbyterian decency are so happily combined.' (George Hay, Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches). The churchyard contains some fine 17th-19th century stone monuments, many with classical ornament, including the martyr's monument to Daniel MacMichael and the 1685 monument to the children of William Lukup, Master of Works at nearby Drumlanrig.

Queens Of The Stone Age and Friends

Natasha Shneider Memorial Benefit show

 

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them and link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them without big watermarks on them.

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Timo Soini forwarded the chairmanship to France, Secretary of State for European Affairs Amélie de Montchalin.

 

The Session of the Committee of Ministers, to be held at Finlandia Hall on 17 May 2019, will mark the end of Finland’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. At the meeting, Finland will hand over the Presidency to France. More than 30 ministers from the member States of the Council of Europe will attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Timo Soini.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Kimmo Räisänen / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

that would be me. thinking how wise i was, i parked next to this Jeep-type-vehicle in the parking lot at Wayah Bald in western North Carolina. all Jeep-type-vehicles have Romney stickers. just saying. anyway, there were only two vehicles in the parking lot. i could have have parked a few spots down --- there were plenty of spots.

 

anyway, long story medium-sized: we walked up to the firetower at Wayah Bald, with its restored fire tower lookout (well worth the long, five mile drive on a very-narrow gravel road to get there, btw) and there were the Jeep people. they were (big surprise coming), naturally, the nicest people imaginable. we talked for quite a time (no politics). they loaned us their binoculars, so we could look at the incredible view. they volunteered to take our picture. we voluteered to take their picture.

 

back at the parking lot, i drove off quickly. didn't want to offend my new friends with my offensive bumpersticker configuration. the rest of western North Carolina types with their offensive Obama-hate billboards and flashing business sign Obama-hate messages can be offended. '

 

when you feel like the lives of millions of people will be affected, it's hard not to get hugely passionate. i think, still think, continue to think, that Mitt Romney would be a disastrous choice for America. still, it's not wrong to be occasionally reminded of the basic decency, if misguidedness, of many on the other side.

 

now i'm going back to not working, loafing, and leeching-off the government. it's champagne and caviar time.

A couple more super panoramas from our recent visit to Papplewick Pumping Station. First through the door at 11 o'clock on a Wednesday, I had the place to myself for the best part of an hour! These are both taken with the DJI Osmo Mobile II and Samsung Galaxy S7. Each shot is a merge of 15 separate images (3 rows of 5), stitched together in-camera. Then they have been used and abused beyond the boundaries of common decency in Topaz Studio.

He wants to grow up and be like Santa....

United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo held a press conference at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo held a press conference at the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting.

 

Finland hosts the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting on 7 May in Rovaniemi. Minister-level representatives from the eight Arctic States will convene to review and approve work completed under the two-year Finnish Chairmanship to improve sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Jouni Porsanger / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

(..)It was fashionable for women to be full-figured (or plump). Men enjoyed the presence of assertive, active women. The foreign horse-riding sport of polo from Persia became a wildly popular trend amongst the Chinese elite, and women often played the sport (as glazed earthenware figurines from the time period portray). The preferred hairstyle for women was to bunch their hair up like "an elaborate edifice above the forehead," while affluent ladies wore extravagant head ornaments, combs, pearl necklaces, face powders, and perfumes. A law was passed in 671 which attempted to force women to wear hats with veils again in order to promote decency, but these laws were ignored as some women started wearing caps and even no hats at all, as well as men's riding clothes and boots, and tight-sleeved bodices.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty#Tang_women

   

LA DYNASTIE DES TANG (618-907)

 

La dynastie des Tang constitue peut-être la période d’apogée de la civilisation chinoise, particulièrement dans sa première phase (618-755).

 

Une importante réforme juridique et une réorganisation du système des taxes et des corvées fournissent au pouvoir des bases solides. Le développement des concours bureaucratiques mis en place par les Sui favorise le recrutement de fonctionnaires de qualité qui, peu à peu, vont contrebalancer le pouvoir des élites aristocratiques aux lointaines origines nomades.

 

Le pouvoir consent un effort sans précédent envers les armées. Les empereurs continuent en effet la politique expansionniste initiée par les Sui, soumettant les oasis du bassin du Tarim et permettant un regain du commerce caravanier de la « Route de la Soie », à l’origine d’une véritable mode « exotique » à la cour. Des moines pèlerins dont le célèbre Xuanzang (602-664), rapportent de l’Inde des textes bouddhiques et concourent à la multiplication des courants religieux. La capitale Chang’an est alors l’une des plus grandes villes du monde. Le règne de Gaozong (649-683) et le gouvernement personnel de l’impératrice Wu Zetian (690-704) constituent peut-être l’apogée de la dynastie. La victoire des musulmans à Talas en Asie Centrale (751) et la rébellion du général An Lushan (755-763) ébranlent l’empire.

 

amis-musee-cernuschi.org/?p=250

Interfaith Vigil at San Quentin in a time of COVID19

 

July 19, 2020

San Quentin State Prison, Marin County, California

 

- Huge support from a steady stream of honking cars traveling to and from the Richmond Bay Bridge.

 

-----

From the organizers (Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity):

"Background: On May 30th, California Department of Corrections (CDCR) transferred 121 incarcerated individuals from California Institution for Men (CIM) prison in San Bernardino County to San Quentin State Prison. Upon arriving at San Quentin, 25 of the individuals who transferred from CIM tested positive for COVID19. This has led to a growing outbreak at San Quentin (which had no confirmed cases prior to this transfer) with over 1,900 cases confirmed among those incarcerated, 205 confirmed cases among staff, and 12 deaths to date and climbing. Due to a lack of ongoing testing, these numbers are likely an underestimation.

 

We know there is no “safe” way to social distance in prisons, North Block and West Block housing units at San Quentin are operating at roughly 190% capacity. We know there is no safe way to transfer incarcerated individuals from one prison to another, without the risk of creating a new hot spot at yet another prison. The only way to control the spread of this global pandemic (inside prison walls and beyond) is to grant releases, stop ICE transfers for those released, and reduce California’s prison population.

 

After increasing community advocacy and some vocal elected officials, on July 10, Governor Newsom announced plans to release 8000 from prisons statewide. While this is a step in the right direction, releasing a mere 6% of the people inside California’s overcrowded prisons falls woefully short of the large-scale decarceration needed to protect the health and safety of the community.

 

We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions. Community-based re-entry programs and the faith community are able to care for loved ones, like Chanthon Bun, who was released from San Quentin on July 1st, and is now being housed in a sanctuary congregation while he recovers from COVID19.

 

------

Demands: Our Interfaith Vigil will be lifting up the following demands, in line with the demands from loved ones who are incarcerated, including the campaigns for #ActNowNewsom (bit.ly/actnownewsom) and #StopSQOutbreak (bit.ly/StopSQOutbreakDemands):

 

Governor Newsom must begin the process of drastically reducing the overall prison population to below 50% of current capacity. In order to achieve this level of decarceration, Governor Newsom must grant releases without categorical exclusions based on crimes of commitment or sentencing but be based on the current level of risk not past offenses. We know that people can change and transform their lives. Releases must include those who are serving Life Without Parole sentences, who are actually at the lowest risk of reoffending, and those on Death Row who comprise a majority of deaths by COVID-19. Release should be to families, the faith community, or community-based re-entry programs - not other prisons.

 

Governor Newsom and CDCR must immediately stop all transfers between California prisons, and from prisons to ICE detention centers. Transfers continue to spread the disease inside the prison system, to staff and outside communities. Immigration transfers of people who earn release and parole. We believe all people are sacred and deserving of life, regardless of past convictions.

 

Governor Newsom must release people beginning with those most vulnerable people, including transgender people, elderly, disabled, and those medically vulnerable. Transgender people are at disproportionate risk of harm and violence in prison. Prisons should not be a death sentence. All life is precious.

 

Immediately improve the care and treatment for people inside San Quentin. This includes restoring access to phones to communicate to loved ones, adequate testing, access to PPE, improved sanitation, hot meals, etc. This also includes, CDCR must ensure that the incarcerated trans community has access to hormones and healthcare immediately – before and after their release. We demand that all people imprisoned be treated with mercy, compassion, and human decency."

 

At the time of this vigil, held at the west entrance to San Quentin, over 2,100 individuals at San Quentin have tested positive for COVID19 (1900 incarcerated, 205 staff), with 12 deaths.

Californian seagulls braving the fog at the Golden Gate

---

Alcuni gabbiani nella nebbia sotto il ponte del Golden Gate a San Francisco.

Alain, Polly and Josh

Queens Of The Stone Age and Friends

Natasha Shneider Memorial Benefit show

 

p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them and link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them without big watermarks on them.

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: OMG haha when you right click it it gives "poop" as an option

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: I'm dying here

[22:33] Alx Zeiler: hahaha

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: seriously, i cant quit giggling

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: my tummy is starting to hurt

[22:33] Alx Zeiler: try it :P

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: LOL

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: dont make fun of me!

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: i wanna take picture

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: pictures*

[22:33] Alx Zeiler: lol

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: lolololol

[22:33] Sheridan Charisma: all lady like

[22:34] Alx Zeiler: at least have the decency to close the door!

[22:34] Alx Zeiler: ;P

[22:34] Sheridan Charisma: LOLOL

[22:34] Alx Zeiler pushes the port-a-potty over

[22:34] Sheridan Charisma: OMG

Suomen ulkomaanedustustojen päälliköt kokoontuvat vuosittaiseen tapaamiseensa Helsinkiin 19.–22. elokuuta. Kokous järjestetään Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamolla Töölössä. #slsk19

 

Kuvat: Petri Krook / Ulkoministeriö

 

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs produces photo material for media representatives. Please feel free to use the photos for journalistic purposes, considering the following restrictions: One-time picture publishing right, no archiving or reselling. Editorial use only. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organisation shall be mentioned as a source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. The publisher is not entitled to transfer rights to a third party. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall also obtain the permissions needed for any names, persons, works of art, trademarks, and proprietary rights shown in the pictures. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity. Photo: Atte Kajova

Unspoilt, peaceful, Georgian country parish church, mostly dating from 1719-20 but built on the foundation of a much older church. From the outside, it is a handsome church, X-plan, with an additional wing at the west end, topped by a belfry tower, containing the ducal retiring rooms. The interior, renovated 1784-5 and re-arranged circa 1870, has a typical presbyterian layout with central pulpit and three galleries. Many of the box pews have a central communion table. The north aisle of the church is taller and more sophisticated, built for the Duke of Queensberry and remaining from the earlier church. Inside the Queensberry Aisle is the real jewel of the church: the most amazing monument for the Queensberry burial vault, a baroque mural monument and free-standing baldacchino carved in 1695 by John van Nost to the design of James Smith who was also architect of the later church. A riot of swagged fabric, garlands of flowers, urns, barley-sugar columns, cherubs, skulls and pediments, all in gleaming white marble. 'There are few buildings in which baroque magnificence and presbyterian decency are so happily combined.' (George Hay, Architecture of Scottish Post-Reformation Churches). The churchyard contains some fine 17th-19th century stone monuments, many with classical ornament, including the martyr's monument to Daniel MacMichael and the 1685 monument to the children of William Lukup, Master of Works at nearby Drumlanrig.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs provides photo material for media representatives, participants and organisers of the meeting. Please feel free to use the photos, considering the following restrictions: Not for commercial purposes nor reselling. When publishing the pictures, the name of the photographer and organization shall be mentioned as the source. No picture manipulation is permitted. The holder of the picture rights and/or the organisation shall at all times retain the copyright to the picture. When publishing the pictures, the publisher shall ensure the legality of the context where the pictures are used, obtain the permissions and consents required for their publication, and observe the generally established practices and decency. The publisher shall ensure that publication of the pictures does not insult anyone’s privacy or dignity.

 

Photo: Kimmo Räisänen / Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

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