View allAll Photos Tagged decency
Catching up on some back shots from the beginning of the year
On a walk around the Addington Cemetery with a wonderful Flickr friend. February 13, 2016 Christchurch New Zealand.
There is so much damaged in the cemetery because of the earthquake we have had. It is such a pity as I don' think it will ever be fully repaired.
The Addington Cemetery was established in 1858 when the Scottish Presbyterians of St Andrew’s Church purchased land for a cemetery in Selwyn Street. Although not the first cemetery in Christchurch, Addington was in fact the first “public” cemetery, “being open to all persons of any religious community” and allowing the performance of any religious service “not contrary to public decency”.
The first burial took place on the 10th of November 1858. The cemetery has several persons of note buried within its grounds including activist Kate Sheppard, Christchurch Mayor Tommy Taylor and members of the pioneer family, the Deans.
For More Info:http://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/addington-cemetery/
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive, Acceptance, Acknowledge, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Girl, Young, Different, Rainbow, Colors, Walk, Legs, Top, Straight, Cover, Decency, Legal, Normal, Diversity
Raul Castro has offered to release some Cuban political prisoners in exchange for the release of Cuban agents held in US jails. The Cuban agents have been convicted of spying and plotting assassinations in the US. This offer has been directed at President elect Obama.
Clearly this is not a decent offer. The people held in the Cuban jails are just brave honorable people campaigning for ordinary freedoms that are standard in decent societies. The writers, journalists and democrats incarcerated in Cuban jails absolutely deserve to be free. The fact that they are in jail is just totally obscene. They utterly completely deserve to be free already...........they have committed no crime!
They deserve freedom so much that maybe Obama should take up the sordid offer. Even though It really is sordid to equate those who use the freedoms available in the US to plot the murder of others ...... with the actions of people campaigning for open democracy and the right to free speech. There can be no moral equivalence.
I have sometimes been amazed and impressed that Israel will release hundreds of prisoners to get back even the body of one Israeli solider. In my view making concessions to drag your enemy do what decency demands with no price makes the actions of your enemy look even more obscene. Maybe Obama should act in the same way. The freedom of even a single democrat or a single writer is worth the cost of releasing these disgusting murder plotters.
The newly elected Obama should and will tower above the sordid Castro brothers and their 50 years of clutching to power through their vile police state. In my view Obama should take this obscene offer just to win the freedom of people who should so clearly be free already and have never even been arrested in the first place......... and what's more....... Obama in my view should drop all restrictions on trade and movement. It's only the Castro's that have benefitted from Cuba's isolation it has allowed them to get on with oppressing the people of Cuba in private.
Cheers Jez XXXXX
[Who is Raul](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3396201.ece?token=null&offset=0)
[Prisoner swap proposed](http://www.reuters.com/article/globalNews/idUSTRE4BH5OL20081218?rpc=64)
Curt Williams of Marshall County won division reserve for Lim-Flex during the Junior Beef Expo (JBE) Heifer Show March 16. He is pictured with winning heifer, TASF Decency 075D, and Amelia Thrower. JBE is presented by the Alabama Farmers Federation and held in conjunction with the SLE Rodeo at Garrett Coliseum.
Though one of the buildings houses the local MacDonalds of Lugano, they had the decency not to spoil the style of the facade.
A golden morning after a long period of frost, as if spring won't be too long now.
CAPE MAY – Author and historian Richard Striner will sign his book “Summoned to Glory: The Audacious Life of Abraham Lincoln,” Wednesday, July 28 at 10:30 a.m. at the Carriage House Museum Shop at the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St. The event is sponsored by the Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture) Lessons of History Team.
“In the troubling times through which we have been living, there is much to be learned from the decency of Abraham Lincoln's leadership, the brilliance he showed in confronting racial injustice, and the way he faced up to our very worst divisions to create a better future for the nation,” Striner said. “Even at this late date in the study of our 16th president, the Lincoln story is full of surprises.”
Striner taught history for over 30 years at Washington College, in Chestertown, Md. He is author of more than a dozen books, an acclaimed Lincoln scholar, and his books and articles have covered political history, presidential history, literature, economics, film, architecture and historic preservation. His most recent book, “Summoned to Glory: The Audacious Life of Abraham Lincoln” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020), will be available for purchase at the Carriage House Museum Shop. Admission is free and open to the public for this book signing.
Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture) is a multifaceted, not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. Cape May MAC membership is open to all. Visit capemaymac.org/support/membership to learn more. .For information about Cape May MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals and special events, visit capemaymac.org. For information about historic accommodations, contact Cape May Historic Accommodations at capemaylodging.com. For information about restaurants, accommodations and shopping, call the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at 609-884-5508. For information on the city’s COVID-19 response, please visit capemaystrong.org.
###
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive,, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Girl, Young, Different, Rainbow, Colors, Cover, Decency, Legal, Normal,
I have never had any success in getting one of these to pose nicely on a leaf- or on anything else for that matter- but at least this one had the decency to turn round in its pot and sit still for long enough to allow a shot.
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was produced in Japan. The card has a divided back.
The Korean Gat
The seated men in the photograph are wearing the traditional Korean gat (Korean: Hunminjeongeum 갓)
A gat is a traditional hat worn by men along with hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) during the Joseon period. It is made from bamboo or horsehair with a bamboo frame, and is partly transparent.
Most gats are cylindrical in shape with a wide brim on a bamboo frame. Before the late 19th. century, only noble class men could wear gat, which represented their social status and protected their topknots.
Robert Neff of the Korean Times has written the following about Korean male headware:
'One of the most important articles of clothing for Koreans in the late 19th. century was the hat. The elderly man with his majestic black horse hair hat, often seen in pictures, is the iconic image of Korean male society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).
According to Percival Lowell, an American who stayed in Seoul in the winter of 1883-84:
"No Korean can in decency appear
without it [hat], except only to make
room for some other hat."
It was a sign of manhood, "the most essential of attributes," and a badge of one's position in Korean society.
Lowell seemed amused with the difference between Korean and American culture. In the United States it was considered poor manners to wear a hat indoors, and one would rarely remove one's shoes, but the opposite was true in Korea:
"A man would part with any or all of
his clothing sooner than take off his
hat. On entering a house, he leaves
his shoes outside to await his return,
but he and his hat go in together.
As he sits down to eat, he divests
himself of his outer garments that he
may eat with greater freedom, but his
hat stays on; and so it sticks to him
through life ― a permanent black halo."
There were many types of hats. The iconic hat, the gat, was made from horse hair and bamboo and was black and somewhat transparent.
It had a fairly wide brim that in the past, according to popular legend, was much wider as a means of preventing unrest. Because of its wide brim, conspirators were kept apart, and were unable to whisper their plans to one another.
There was also a large mourning hat made from bamboo. It was designed to hide the face of mourners from others they might encounter on the streets. It was considered a grievous breach of etiquette to look into the face of the mourner.
Early French missionaries used the mourning hat to disguise themselves as they traveled the Korean peninsula before the 1880's. They were able to move about in relative secrecy for no one would attempt to communicate with a mourner.
Court officials' hats had slightly bent-forward ear-shaped horizontal wings. It was said they symbolized the wearer's attentiveness and willingness to "catch every word of command that the King may utter."
As Korea entered the 20th. century, there were many reforms forced on the population. Some were readily accepted and appreciated, but others, especially those that dealt with hair styles and hats, were vehemently opposed.
"A man is much more firmly bound to
his hat than he is attached to his wife.
He may put away the latter; without
the hat, life becomes a hollow mockery,
for the hat makes the man. Without it
he remains forever a boy."
Hats remained a part of male culture throughout the first half of the 20th. century, but have since disappeared. The only exceptions are those worn by elderly males in the Jongno area, or the bright colorful caps that young teens and adults wear while out with their friends. The "permanent black halo" is no more.'
How Japan Took Control of Korea
Erin Blakemore has written the following for history.com in 2018, and updated it in 2023:
In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations; the country would be considered a part of Japan until 1945. In order to establish control over its new protectorate, the Empire of Japan waged an all-out war on Korean culture.
Schools and universities forbade speaking Korean, and emphasized manual labor and loyalty to the Emperor. Public places adopted Japanese, too, and an edict to make films in Japanese soon followed.
Topographical and other postcards of Korea were published with descriptions in Japanese text.
It also became a crime to teach history from non-approved texts, and authorities burned over 200,000 Korean historical documents, essentially wiping out the historical memory of Korea.
During the occupation, Japan took over Korea’s labor and land. Nearly 100,000 Japanese families settled in Korea with the land they had been given; they chopped down trees by the million and planted non-native species, transforming a familiar landscape into something many Koreans didn’t recognize.
Nearly 725,000 Korean workers were made to work in Japan and its other colonies, and as World War II loomed, Japan forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into life as “comfort women”—sexual slaves who served in military brothels.
Korea’s people weren’t the only thing that was plundered during Japan’s colonization—its cultural symbols were considered fair game, too. One of the most powerful symbols of Korean sovereignty and independence was its royal palace, Gyeongbokgung, which was built in Seoul in 1395 by the mighty Joseon dynasty.
Soon after assuming power, the Japanese colonial government tore down over a third of the complex’s historic buildings, and the remaining structures were turned into tourist attractions for Japanese visitors.
As historian Heejung Kang notes, the imperial government also attempted to preserve treasures of Korean art history and culture—but then used them to uphold imperial Japan’s image of itself as a civilizing and modern force.
This view of Korea as backward and primitive compared to Japan made it into textbooks, museums and even Koreans’ own perceptions of themselves.
The occupation government also worked to assimilate Koreans with the help of language, religion and education. Shinto shrines originally intended for Japanese families became places of forced worship.
Historian Donald N. Clark explains:
"The colonial government made Koreans
worship the gods of imperial Japan,
including dead emperors and the spirits
of war heroes who had helped them
conquer Korea earlier in the century.”
This forced worship was viewed as an act of cultural genocide by many Koreans, but for the colonists, it was seen as evidence that Koreans and Japanese were a single, unified people.
Though some families got around the Shinto edict by simply visiting the shrines and not praying there, others grudgingly adopted the new religious practices out of fear.
By the end of its occupation of Korea, Japan had even waged war on people’s family names. At first, the colonial government made it illegal for people to adopt Japanese-style names, ostensibly to prevent confusion in family registries.
But in 1939, the government made changing names an official policy. Under the law, Korean families were “graciously allowed” to choose Japanese surnames.
At least 84 percent of all Koreans took on the names since people who lacked Japanese names were not recognized by the colonial bureaucracy, and were shut out of everything from mail delivery to ration cards. Historian Hildi Kang writes:
“The whole point was for the government
to be able to say that the people had
changed their names ‘voluntarily.’”
The Plundering of Korea by Japan
(a) Historic Korean Artifacts
Koreans accuse the Japanese of plundering hundreds of thousands of ancient Korean artifacts, mostly during their 36-year occupation of the peninsula. Most Japanese consider the issue a dead one, resolved by the 1965 Japan-Korea Treaty, which led to the return of some 1,400 items.
However the treaty was not definitive, as it neglected artifacts in Japanese private collections, as well as those originating in North Korea.
The size of the haul is astounding. Eighty percent of all Korean Buddhist paintings are believed to be in Japan. And, says Seoul art historian Kwon Cheeyun:
"35,000 Korean art objects and
30,000 rare books have been
confirmed to be there, too."
However that is only the tip of the iceberg: vastly more is believed to be hidden away in private collections.
Determining legal ownership is far more difficult than with the art looted by the Nazis. Toshiyuki Kono, a law professor at Kyushu University. states:
"It's almost impossible to trace the
provenance of centuries-old artifacts."
Besides, the Japanese annexation was internationally recognized in 1910, meaning that relocating Korean artifacts within "Japanese territory" was lawful at the time.
To Korea's annoyance, Japan holds many items of particular value. More than 1,000 bronze, gold and celadon pieces owned by the late businessman Takenosuke Ogura now make up the core of the Tokyo National Museum's Korean section.
A lot of precious Korean artifacts are now owned by private Japanese citizens or organizations, which means that the Japanese government can’t just acquire them and hand them back to Korea. So, unless the Korean government offers to actually spend millions of dollars to buy back the artifacts, it is unlikely they will ever be returned.
As well as removing cultural artifacts to Japan, the Japanese also burned countless Korean government buildings and palaces.
(b) Natural Resources
The Japanese also removed vast amounts of Korea's natural resources, including lumber, rice, coal, iron ore and many other minerals.
The land itself was also appropriated by the Japanese; by 1910 an estimated 8% of all arable land in Korea had come under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily, and by 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership had grown to 53%.
Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations. Many former Korean landowners became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight because they could not pay for the land reclamation and irrigation improvements forced upon them. As often occurred in Japan itself, tenants had to pay over half their crop in rent.
Wagtale played another gig last night, this time with a hint of sophistication and decency as we performed under lamp light and with daffodils strewn across the set. I only played one song on my soprano however, as Sir Richard Riley (the saxophonist the band used to have till he went abroad) was back and stole all of the songs from me. He was darn good though!
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was published by the Tokyo Design & Printing Co. of Kanda, Tokyo.
Kanda (神田) is an area in northeastern Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It encompasses about thirty neighborhoods.
Kanda was a ward prior to 1947. When the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Kojimachi to form the modern Chiyoda.
The Korean Gat
The standing men in the photograph are wearing the traditional Korean gat (Korean: Hunminjeongeum 갓)
A gat is a traditional hat worn by men along with hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) during the Joseon period. It is made from bamboo or horsehair with a bamboo frame, and is partly transparent.
Most gats are cylindrical in shape with a wide brim on a bamboo frame. Before the late 19th. century, only noble class men could wear gat, which represented their social status and protected their topknots.
Robert Neff of the Korean Times has written the following about Korean male headware:
'One of the most important articles of clothing for Koreans in the late 19th. century was the hat. The elderly man with his majestic black horse hair hat, often seen in pictures, is the iconic image of Korean male society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).
According to Percival Lowell, an American who stayed in Seoul in the winter of 1883-84:
"No Korean can in decency appear
without it [hat], except only to make
room for some other hat."
It was a sign of manhood, "the most essential of attributes," and a badge of one's position in Korean society.
Lowell seemed amused with the difference between Korean and American culture. In the United States it was considered poor manners to wear a hat indoors, and one would rarely remove one's shoes, but the opposite was true in Korea:
"A man would part with any or all of
his clothing sooner than take off his
hat. On entering a house, he leaves
his shoes outside to await his return,
but he and his hat go in together.
As he sits down to eat, he divests
himself of his outer garments that he
may eat with greater freedom, but his
hat stays on; and so it sticks to him
through life ― a permanent black halo."
There were many types of hats. The iconic hat, the gat, was made from horse hair and bamboo and was black and somewhat transparent.
It had a fairly wide brim that in the past, according to popular legend, was much wider as a means of preventing unrest. Because of its wide brim, conspirators were kept apart, and were unable to whisper their plans to one another.
There was also a large mourning hat made from bamboo. It was designed to hide the face of mourners from others they might encounter on the streets. It was considered a grievous breach of etiquette to look into the face of the mourner.
Early French missionaries used the mourning hat to disguise themselves as they traveled the Korean peninsula before the 1880's. They were able to move about in relative secrecy for no one would attempt to communicate with a mourner.
Court officials' hats had slightly bent-forward ear-shaped horizontal wings. It was said they symbolized the wearer's attentiveness and willingness to "catch every word of command that the King may utter."
As Korea entered the 20th. century, there were many reforms forced on the population. Some were readily accepted and appreciated, but others, especially those that dealt with hair styles and hats, were vehemently opposed.
"A man is much more firmly bound to
his hat than he is attached to his wife.
He may put away the latter; without
the hat, life becomes a hollow mockery,
for the hat makes the man. Without it
he remains forever a boy."
Hats remained a part of male culture throughout the first half of the 20th. century, but have since disappeared. The only exceptions are those worn by elderly males in the Jongno area, or the bright colorful caps that young teens and adults wear while out with their friends. The "permanent black halo" is no more.'
How Japan Took Control of Korea
Erin Blakemore has written the following for history.com in 2018, and updated it in 2023:
In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations; the country would be considered a part of Japan until 1945. In order to establish control over its new protectorate, the Empire of Japan waged an all-out war on Korean culture.
Schools and universities forbade speaking Korean, and emphasized manual labor and loyalty to the Emperor. Public places adopted Japanese, too, and an edict to make films in Japanese soon followed.
Topographical and other postcards of Korea were published with descriptions in Japanese text.
It also became a crime to teach history from non-approved texts, and authorities burned over 200,000 Korean historical documents, essentially wiping out the historical memory of Korea.
During the occupation, Japan took over Korea’s labor and land. Nearly 100,000 Japanese families settled in Korea with the land they had been given; they chopped down trees by the million and planted non-native species, transforming a familiar landscape into something many Koreans didn’t recognize.
Nearly 725,000 Korean workers were made to work in Japan and its other colonies, and as World War II loomed, Japan forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into life as “comfort women”—sexual slaves who served in military brothels.
Korea’s people weren’t the only thing that was plundered during Japan’s colonization—its cultural symbols were considered fair game, too. One of the most powerful symbols of Korean sovereignty and independence was its royal palace, Gyeongbokgung, which was built in Seoul in 1395 by the mighty Joseon dynasty.
Soon after assuming power, the Japanese colonial government tore down over a third of the complex’s historic buildings, and the remaining structures were turned into tourist attractions for Japanese visitors.
As historian Heejung Kang notes, the imperial government also attempted to preserve treasures of Korean art history and culture—but then used them to uphold imperial Japan’s image of itself as a civilizing and modern force.
This view of Korea as backward and primitive compared to Japan made it into textbooks, museums and even Koreans’ own perceptions of themselves.
The occupation government also worked to assimilate Koreans with the help of language, religion and education. Shinto shrines originally intended for Japanese families became places of forced worship.
Historian Donald N. Clark explains:
"The colonial government made Koreans
worship the gods of imperial Japan,
including dead emperors and the spirits
of war heroes who had helped them
conquer Korea earlier in the century.”
This forced worship was viewed as an act of cultural genocide by many Koreans, but for the colonists, it was seen as evidence that Koreans and Japanese were a single, unified people.
Though some families got around the Shinto edict by simply visiting the shrines and not praying there, others grudgingly adopted the new religious practices out of fear.
By the end of its occupation of Korea, Japan had even waged war on people’s family names. At first, the colonial government made it illegal for people to adopt Japanese-style names, ostensibly to prevent confusion in family registries.
But in 1939, the government made changing names an official policy. Under the law, Korean families were “graciously allowed” to choose Japanese surnames.
At least 84 percent of all Koreans took on the names since people who lacked Japanese names were not recognized by the colonial bureaucracy, and were shut out of everything from mail delivery to ration cards. Historian Hildi Kang writes:
“The whole point was for the government
to be able to say that the people had
changed their names ‘voluntarily.’”
The Plundering of Korea by Japan
(a) Historic Korean Artifacts
Koreans accuse the Japanese of plundering hundreds of thousands of ancient Korean artifacts, mostly during their 36-year occupation of the peninsula. Most Japanese consider the issue a dead one, resolved by the 1965 Japan-Korea Treaty, which led to the return of some 1,400 items.
However the treaty was not definitive, as it neglected artifacts in Japanese private collections, as well as those originating in North Korea.
The size of the haul is astounding. Eighty percent of all Korean Buddhist paintings are believed to be in Japan. And, says Seoul art historian Kwon Cheeyun:
"35,000 Korean art objects and
30,000 rare books have been
confirmed to be there, too."
However that is only the tip of the iceberg: vastly more is believed to be hidden away in private collections.
Determining legal ownership is far more difficult than with the art looted by the Nazis. Toshiyuki Kono, a law professor at Kyushu University. states:
"It's almost impossible to trace the
provenance of centuries-old artifacts."
Besides, the Japanese annexation was internationally recognized in 1910, meaning that relocating Korean artifacts within "Japanese territory" was lawful at the time.
To Korea's annoyance, Japan holds many items of particular value. More than 1,000 bronze, gold and celadon pieces owned by the late businessman Takenosuke Ogura now make up the core of the Tokyo National Museum's Korean section.
A lot of precious Korean artifacts are now owned by private Japanese citizens or organizations, which means that the Japanese government can’t just acquire them and hand them back to Korea. So, unless the Korean government offers to actually spend millions of dollars to buy back the artifacts, it is unlikely they will ever be returned.
As well as removing cultural artifacts to Japan, the Japanese also burned countless Korean government buildings and palaces.
(b) Natural Resources
The Japanese also removed vast amounts of Korea's natural resources, including lumber, rice, coal, iron ore and many other minerals.
The land itself was also appropriated by the Japanese; by 1910 an estimated 8% of all arable land in Korea had come under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily, and by 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership had grown to 53%.
Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations. Many former Korean landowners became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight because they could not pay for the land reclamation and irrigation improvements forced upon them. As often occurred in Japan itself, tenants had to pay over half their crop in rent.
The old commercial center, the Main Street, continues today even after a generation or two with strip malls and big box stores at the edge of the city. There is no other public space centrally located that serves the purpose of parades and similar civic gatherings. That is why the seasonal decoration is carried out with care and deliberateness. The national flags are festive, historical reminders, and symbolic of the lives sacrificed, the ideals upheld, and the birthright of citizens under the constitution created for all to enjoy equally. There is an official flagpole in the foreground near the big fountain that flies the national, state, and county flags. Somehow this official setting in front of the county government and court building makes the national flag different to the ones hung up and down the shopping street. Despite tatters in the social fabric and quality of shared civil society among community groups and political agitations that are amplified, simplified, and weaponized to attack anybody challenging one side's vision for ideal and defendable life, still there are traces of common decency and a bit of mutual respect for others different to oneself. Therein lies some hope for a stronger tomorrow in matters of shared concern.
Press L for full-screen view; Z (or click the image) for full-file size view.
On Leicester 76, the stairs were ‘reversed’, blocking the driver’s vision of traffic over his left shoulder. One of the steps was made with holes, providing the driver with a better view. To prevent the conductor from using this feature to view ladies ankles, a serious offence, a ‘decency flap’ was provided to cover the holes when not in use.
Djelibeybi's been replacing the beams in the bathroom and creating a new floor for the special floor panel for the shower. It freaks me out watching him working over the drop revealed by his having to remove the underside floorboards. He hasn't fallen through yet. Hoping he doesn't!
On the window you can see a rough mapping out of how we're going to reconstruct that wall
A beggar on the main bridge in Budapest, Hungary. A few minutes later an American tourist walked past her and accidentally kicked over her change cup but didn't have the decency to apologise.
Why. OH WHY would no-one ever have the spine/common fuken decency to tell me that long curly makes me look like a fool...
Nikon F100
Nikon AF-S 24-70 mm f/2.8 G
Fujifilm Pro 400H (@400)
(Developed by Conns Cameras)
Epson V600
I could be richer than you
Or poor
Maybe i've seen the world
Or just my face in the mirror
But My decency , manners and knowledge is not something you can buy
Decency ..
Autor Anonymous
this little bird was being slightly rude because he wouldn't fly away and let me take my picture. at least he had the decency to stand in the center of my shot. i wish he was in the middle on the circle but i guess that'd be asking for too much
Eurasian Green-winged Teal
Anas Crecca crecca/nimia
Eurasian Green-winged Teal, with a horizontal light stripe, and without a vertical stripe on its side. I found it on the Columbia River down from Priest Rapids Dam. For county listers, it ventured between Yakima, Grant, and Benton Counties.
Here's my post to Tweeters, a birding listserv for Washington:
[edit notes: I think that Wanapum Village should have been written Wanapum village; and Simon Martinez Cattle should be Simon Martinez Livestock.]
Eurasian Green-winged Teal
Friday I found what looks to me like a Eurasian Green-winged Teal, the first I've ever seen. It was pretty exciting, but I couldn't share the find immediately, because I found it near a place where two prominent local bird listers have told me they trespass. I tried Friday, and over the holiday weekend, but this morning was finally able to reach the Grant County PUD head of security to alert him that birders with scopes and binoculars and such might be around, and that some might try to stop and bird on the dam. He was very polite and helpful. He made it clear that doing so continues to be prohibited. It is National Critical Infrastructure. Across the dam on the Yakima County side is the Wanapum village, Simon Martinez Livestock Company private land, and Yakima Training Center military site. Visiting without express prior permission continues to be prohibited. Security at Priest Rapids Dam, and the security camera monitor crew have been alerted.
There are plenty of good reasons to not trespass including simple decency, avoiding scaring or angering residents and property owners, avoiding hindering heavy construction and endangering the workers, respecting Yakama Nation sovereignty, and being able to "count" the birds you "get" if you're a lister. From ABA Listing Central -- Code of Birding Ethics listing.aba.org/ethics/ : "Do not enter private property without the owner’s explicit permission. Follow all laws, rules, and regulations governing use of roads and public areas, both at home and abroad."
Another good reason is bird watcher access -- for the rest of us. I was working on getting birders access permission to viewing from the dam embankment a couple of years ago. I stupidly told a local prominent lister that birders are not allowed to stop on the dam and are not allowed to go into the Wanapum village without consent of local residents, and that similarly the Simon Martinez Livestock Company land is private and requires permission from the landowner. Despite reiterating that to him and getting him to acknowledge it, he proceeded to bird on the dam and got kicked off -- politely. The person at Grant PUD with whom I was working on birder access ended the discussion. I'm not a birding expert, but I don't think that listing a Common Tern flitting back and forth across the Yakima / Grant County line, or any other sighting, was worth that. Birding ethics are not defined by what you can get away with.
I once again am working on getting birders access to a viewing location on the dam. It's a dream of mine that I'd value greater than any rare bird find. Please, please, do not muck that up.
If you witness any trespassing or security concerns near Priest Rapids Dam or Wanapum Dam, they ask you call (509) 766-2538 any day at any hour. In the ABA Code of Birding Ethics: "If you witness unethical birding behavior, assess the situation and intervene if you think it prudent. When interceding, inform the person(s) of the inappropriate action and attempt, within reason, to have it stopped. If the behavior continues, document it and notify appropriate individuals or organizations."
My wife Mary Giovanini, Nori dog, and I returned Saturday and relocated the Eurasian Green-winged Teal. This time there were pintails and Mallards, but no American GWTE with it as there'd been on Friday. It was tucked close to shore on the Yakima/Benton side of the Columbia River below Priest Rapids Dam dam. I saw it from the Jackson Creek Fish Camp, at the junction of Grant, Yakima, and Benton Counties, clearly venturing well into each. For listers, if you look across from the day use area, at mid-river you're looking into Benton County. Looking across and upstream a bit to the rocks jutting into the river, Yakima County is to the right, and Benton County is to the left. The Yakima/Benton county line goes from shore there, north upstream at an angle to mid river, where it meets Grant county. The Yakima/Grant line continues mid-river up to the dam. The Priest Rapids Dam spillways are in Yakima. The generators are in Grant. Google Earth shows county lines quite well.
I apologize for not being able to share the find sooner. I hope you can understand and respect my concerns.
I wish I could share this post on BirdYak, a Yakima County bird-related list-serve, but am blocked by Denny Granstrand. Just the same, I'll keep up my efforts to discourage unethical birding. Please don't share a censored or edited version of this on BirdYak.
Red-breasted Mergansers, both Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and plenty of others were there to see too." [end Tweeters post]
Good birding -- Enjoying observing birds, and trying to give eBird and Washington Birder accurate data.
Please always consider the sensitivity of birds, nearby humans, and the environment.
Don't pish or use playback on rare or sensitive birds or in heavily birded areas.
Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others ABA Code of Birding Ethics.
A Beer Check both impromptu and illegal was staged in this Redwood fairy circle while a prayer meeting transpired just across the street. Have TIMMY!! and Hugh Heifer no decency whatsoever?!?
News.com.au ran a story about Banksy today. News.com.au didn't even have the decency to check all the artwork was actually by Banksy, let alone credit the photos to their respective photographers.
If this is your photo, you should write to News.com.au and complain.
News.com.au ran a story about Banksy today. News.com.au didn't even have the decency to check all the artwork was actually by Banksy, let alone credit the photos to their respective photographers.
If this is your photo, you should write to News.com.au and complain.
News.com.au ran a story about Banksy today. News.com.au didn't even have the decency to check all the artwork was actually by Banksy, let alone credit the photos to their respective photographers.
If this is your photo, you should write to News.com.au and complain.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Freedom, Self Expression, All, Inclusive, Acceptance, Acknowledge, Parade, Charlotte, Downtown, Different, Rainbow, Colors, Walk, Cover, Decency, Legal, Normal, Diversity, Proud
Buck Henry and my dad field questions about the S.I.N.A. hoax during a press conference (1962). They posed as moral maniacs wanting to clothe all naked animals for the sake of decency.
“I am one of the last few remaining voices left from a generation of men and women who built a better society for our children and grandchildren out of the horrors of the second world war, as well as the hunger of the Great Depression. Sadly, that world my generation helped build on a foundation of decency and fair play is being swept away by neoliberalism and the greed of the 1%, which has brought discord around the globe. Today, the western world stands at its most dangerous juncture since the 1930s” —Harry Leslie Smith
Harry Leslie Smith (1923–2018) was an English writer and political commentator. He grew up in poverty in Yorkshire, served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and emigrated to Canada in 1953. After retiring, Smith wrote his memoirs and about the social history of 20th-century Britain.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Leslie_Smith
Quoted from obituary of Harry Leslie Smith, vocal critic of austerity, dies aged 95. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/28/harry-leslie-smit...
This year, I will wear a poppy for the last time by Harry Smith🌹
I will remember friends and comrades in private next year, as the solemnity of remembrance has been twisted into a justification for conflict
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-...
p.s. if you are gonna post my copyrighted images elsewhere on the internet at least have the decency to credit me with them or link them back to here, or i'll probably stop posting them or at least start putting big watermarks on them.
I was sat with Val eating our pre-booked breakfast after a very early start to go and see the Datchet Morris Men at the historic site of Runnymede.
I’d parked my camera safely on the edge of the table we were sitting at. Eventually I noticed that the early morning light in the Runnymede café was rather good. This gentleman was sat about three or four metres away with some of his friends (minding his own business, unlike me!) Instinctively I picked up my camera and took his picture.
I only wish I’d had the decency to approach him and mention that I’d taken these two photos of him. They were taken quickly and I put my camera down again. (Sometimes Val gets a bit anxious when I do this, and I can understand why, but if she’s uncomfortable with it I have to live with that!).
I have slightly cropped the two photos to try and get the balance right… and also to get rid of a small bit of the photo on the left that was a distraction.
Again, as is my wont, I’ve also done monochrome versions too.
I can’t add this either of these pictures to my 100 Strangers Project, which is a pity really. I could cheat and not play by the rules of the group, but I’d prefer to stick to them as it would always be on my conscience that I’d broken them!
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard with a divided back.
The Korean Gat
The seated man in the photograph is wearing the traditional Korean gat (Korean: Hunminjeongeum 갓)
A gat is a traditional hat worn by men along with hanbok (Korean traditional clothing) during the Joseon period. It is made from bamboo or horsehair with a bamboo frame, and is partly transparent.
Most gats are cylindrical in shape with a wide brim on a bamboo frame. Before the late 19th. century, only noble class men could wear gat, which represented their social status and protected their topknots.
Robert Neff of the Korean Times has written the following about Korean male headware:
'One of the most important articles of clothing for Koreans in the late 19th. century was the hat. The elderly man with his majestic black horse hair hat, often seen in pictures, is the iconic image of Korean male society during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910).
According to Percival Lowell, an American who stayed in Seoul in the winter of 1883-84:
"No Korean can in decency appear
without it [hat], except only to make
room for some other hat."
It was a sign of manhood, "the most essential of attributes," and a badge of one's position in Korean society.
Lowell seemed amused with the difference between Korean and American culture. In the United States it was considered poor manners to wear a hat indoors, and one would rarely remove one's shoes, but the opposite was true in Korea:
"A man would part with any or all of
his clothing sooner than take off his
hat. On entering a house, he leaves
his shoes outside to await his return,
but he and his hat go in together.
As he sits down to eat, he divests
himself of his outer garments that he
may eat with greater freedom, but his
hat stays on; and so it sticks to him
through life ― a permanent black halo."
There were many types of hats. The iconic hat, the gat, was made from horse hair and bamboo and was black and somewhat transparent.
It had a fairly wide brim that in the past, according to popular legend, was much wider as a means of preventing unrest. Because of its wide brim, conspirators were kept apart, and were unable to whisper their plans to one another.
There was also a large mourning hat made from bamboo. It was designed to hide the face of mourners from others they might encounter on the streets. It was considered a grievous breach of etiquette to look into the face of the mourner.
Early French missionaries used the mourning hat to disguise themselves as they traveled the Korean peninsula before the 1880's. They were able to move about in relative secrecy for no one would attempt to communicate with a mourner.
Court officials' hats had slightly bent-forward ear-shaped horizontal wings. It was said they symbolized the wearer's attentiveness and willingness to "catch every word of command that the King may utter."
As Korea entered the 20th. century, there were many reforms forced on the population. Some were readily accepted and appreciated, but others, especially those that dealt with hair styles and hats, were vehemently opposed.
"A man is much more firmly bound to
his hat than he is attached to his wife.
He may put away the latter; without
the hat, life becomes a hollow mockery,
for the hat makes the man. Without it
he remains forever a boy."
Hats remained a part of male culture throughout the first half of the 20th. century, but have since disappeared. The only exceptions are those worn by elderly males in the Jongno area, or the bright colorful caps that young teens and adults wear while out with their friends. The "permanent black halo" is no more.'
How Japan Took Control of Korea
Erin Blakemore has written the following for history.com in 2018, and updated it in 2023:
In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations; the country would be considered a part of Japan until 1945. In order to establish control over its new protectorate, the Empire of Japan waged an all-out war on Korean culture.
Schools and universities forbade speaking Korean, and emphasized manual labor and loyalty to the Emperor. Public places adopted Japanese, too, and an edict to make films in Japanese soon followed.
Topographical and other postcards of Korea were published with descriptions in Japanese text.
It also became a crime to teach history from non-approved texts, and authorities burned over 200,000 Korean historical documents, essentially wiping out the historical memory of Korea.
During the occupation, Japan took over Korea’s labor and land. Nearly 100,000 Japanese families settled in Korea with the land they had been given; they chopped down trees by the million and planted non-native species, transforming a familiar landscape into something many Koreans didn’t recognize.
Nearly 725,000 Korean workers were made to work in Japan and its other colonies, and as World War II loomed, Japan forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into life as “comfort women”—sexual slaves who served in military brothels.
Korea’s people weren’t the only thing that was plundered during Japan’s colonization—its cultural symbols were considered fair game, too. One of the most powerful symbols of Korean sovereignty and independence was its royal palace, Gyeongbokgung, which was built in Seoul in 1395 by the mighty Joseon dynasty.
Soon after assuming power, the Japanese colonial government tore down over a third of the complex’s historic buildings, and the remaining structures were turned into tourist attractions for Japanese visitors.
As historian Heejung Kang notes, the imperial government also attempted to preserve treasures of Korean art history and culture—but then used them to uphold imperial Japan’s image of itself as a civilizing and modern force.
This view of Korea as backward and primitive compared to Japan made it into textbooks, museums and even Koreans’ own perceptions of themselves.
The occupation government also worked to assimilate Koreans with the help of language, religion and education. Shinto shrines originally intended for Japanese families became places of forced worship.
Historian Donald N. Clark explains:
"The colonial government made Koreans
worship the gods of imperial Japan,
including dead emperors and the spirits
of war heroes who had helped them
conquer Korea earlier in the century.”
This forced worship was viewed as an act of cultural genocide by many Koreans, but for the colonists, it was seen as evidence that Koreans and Japanese were a single, unified people.
Though some families got around the Shinto edict by simply visiting the shrines and not praying there, others grudgingly adopted the new religious practices out of fear.
By the end of its occupation of Korea, Japan had even waged war on people’s family names. At first, the colonial government made it illegal for people to adopt Japanese-style names, ostensibly to prevent confusion in family registries.
But in 1939, the government made changing names an official policy. Under the law, Korean families were “graciously allowed” to choose Japanese surnames.
At least 84 percent of all Koreans took on the names since people who lacked Japanese names were not recognized by the colonial bureaucracy, and were shut out of everything from mail delivery to ration cards. Historian Hildi Kang writes:
“The whole point was for the government
to be able to say that the people had
changed their names ‘voluntarily.’”
The Plundering of Korea by Japan
(a) Historic Korean Artifacts
Koreans accuse the Japanese of plundering hundreds of thousands of ancient Korean artifacts, mostly during their 36-year occupation of the peninsula. Most Japanese consider the issue a dead one, resolved by the 1965 Japan-Korea Treaty, which led to the return of some 1,400 items.
However the treaty was not definitive, as it neglected artifacts in Japanese private collections, as well as those originating in North Korea.
The size of the haul is astounding. Eighty percent of all Korean Buddhist paintings are believed to be in Japan. And, says Seoul art historian Kwon Cheeyun:
"35,000 Korean art objects and
30,000 rare books have been
confirmed to be there, too."
However that is only the tip of the iceberg: vastly more is believed to be hidden away in private collections.
Determining legal ownership is far more difficult than with the art looted by the Nazis. Toshiyuki Kono, a law professor at Kyushu University. states:
"It's almost impossible to trace the
provenance of centuries-old artifacts."
Besides, the Japanese annexation was internationally recognized in 1910, meaning that relocating Korean artifacts within "Japanese territory" was lawful at the time.
To Korea's annoyance, Japan holds many items of particular value. More than 1,000 bronze, gold and celadon pieces owned by the late businessman Takenosuke Ogura now make up the core of the Tokyo National Museum's Korean section.
A lot of precious Korean artifacts are now owned by private Japanese citizens or organizations, which means that the Japanese government can’t just acquire them and hand them back to Korea. So, unless the Korean government offers to actually spend millions of dollars to buy back the artifacts, it is unlikely they will ever be returned.
As well as removing cultural artifacts to Japan, the Japanese also burned countless Korean government buildings and palaces.
(b) Natural Resources
The Japanese also removed vast amounts of Korea's natural resources, including lumber, rice, coal, iron ore and many other minerals.
The land itself was also appropriated by the Japanese; by 1910 an estimated 8% of all arable land in Korea had come under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily, and by 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership had grown to 53%.
Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations. Many former Korean landowners became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight because they could not pay for the land reclamation and irrigation improvements forced upon them. As often occurred in Japan itself, tenants had to pay over half their crop in rent.
Mhaskar- Pick any course, Mhaskar's got it covered
Swartz - Chem Eng mustache of the year 2009-2010. By the way, have you heard of the grad program?
Jones - We still don't know what fugacity is.
Chachuat - At least have the decency to look me in the eyes when you cry during my tests!
Dickson - The LCBO called, they want their plastic bags back.
Hoare - 482 pages single spaced 11 pt font... you're not trying hard enough.
Thompson - Fact #57: My extruder is bigger than yours.
Sheardown - When in doubt, Felder & Rousseau the shit out of it.
Ghosh - I have a PhD in cancelling class
Zhu - Passionate, Inovative, Mac-Daddy, Polymeristic