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Hispaniolan Eyespotted Geckolet, Hispaniolan eyespot sphaero, Difficult Least Geckko (Sphaerodactylus difficilis)
Sphaerodactylus difficilis, also known as the Hispaniolan eyespot sphaero or difficult least gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae . It is endemic to Hispaniola
Dorsal pattern sexually dichromatic and variable; dorsum (males) pinkish gray, gray, tan, brown, usually with scattered dark brown scales giving a coarse "salt-and-pepper" effect; dark scapular patch usually absent, but if present, usually very restricted and diffusely edged; a pair of small, pale ocelli present or absent (by population); head pattern trilineate but obsolescent and usually absent; head, chin, and throat often with small to large, dark brown to black dots; throat ground-color yellow to orange; venter gray to flesh; dorsum (females) colored and patterned like males, although distinctly lineate in some populations; head with prominent, trilineate, brown pattern on buffy to tan ground; head scales dotted; scapular patch variable (by population) from relatively large, brown, black, with an associated pair of white, buffy, gray ocelli, to small with a single, included ocellus, or both patch and ocelli entirely absent; venter as in males; juveniles with more intense female pattern; iris yellow, tan, brown (from Schwartz & Henderson 1991: 487).
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Lugar de Observacion / Taken: Reserva Científica Loma Quita Espuela, República Dominicana.
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Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Sphaerodactylidae
Genus: Sphaerodactylus
Species: S. difficilis
Binomial name
Sphaerodactylus difficilis
Sphaerodactylus_QtaEspuela_03122021-IMG-0182
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Hi folks, this is Daisy. I have an update on my situation as regards to my HRT, and Madame Tina has insisted I tell you personally.
Due to some staffing issues at my job, I had to fill in for a couple of my people recently, and I was surprised at how difficult it had become for me to perform in the field. In fact, I nearly dropped a heavy object on a coworker at one point. Even though it has only been a few months since I began treatment, it seems my strength has been reduced quite a bit. And if it were to continue, I would not be able to do my job properly, and as I have already found, it could even put my people at risk. Up until now, I have been able to delegate most of the heavy labor, but since it will be awhile before we are able to re-staff completely, I will have to fill in regularly for the time being. And since I never know when something like this might happen again, I have very reluctantly decided to discontinue hormone treatment for the time being.
I really, REALLY hate to disappoint everyone, especially Madame Tina, but it just can't be helped. And of course I hate it for myself too, because I have truly enjoyed the psychological changes in particular the hormones have brought about. There hasn't been enough time I guess for much in the way of physical changes, but I was really looking forward to those as well. 😥
Please know that I truly appreciate all of your wonderful comments and support, and I apologize if anyone feels I have let them down.
All that said, I want you all to know that nothing is going to change otherwise at all. As I hope is clear from pictures like the one above, I am extremely happy and content living the majority of my life as Daisy, and I will continue to do so no matter what. And besides, as Tina has told me in no uncertain terms, after putting in such a huge amount of time and energy making all of this happen, there is no chance she would ever let me quit even I wanted to. And believe me, you don't ever want to find out what she is willing to do to get her way when she makes up her mind about something. So it is a good thing we are both on the same side. 😊
I have loved every minute of the journey Lady Tina and I began three or so years ago, and I wouldn't go back for anything. I love looking and feeling feminine without fear. I love makeup and nylons, and all the other sensual things women get to wear, and I love all the sweet and wonderful comments I get from everyone here, and from so many people out in the world when I'm Daisy. I would never dream of turning back, now or ever, and I fully intend to go back on HRT as soon as my situation allows.
Thank you all, and never give up. Dreams really do come true. It sure helps to have someone like Madame Tina in your corner as I do, but I promise you this: You can do it yourself, if you believe in yourself! 💖💖💖
Daisy 💋💋💋
I builded! On/off project for months in between moving house and 2016 in general. Most of it has an interior too but difficult to photograph so may be do expanded stuff or recycling later.
I builded! On/off project for months in between moving house and 2016 in general. Most of it has an interior too but difficult to photograph so may be do expanded stuff or recycling later.
It's difficult to appreciate the size of the Confederate Memorial Carving from a photograph. The three men on horseback look almost small against the massive side of Stone Mountain. To give some perspective, two school busses could be parked on the back end of Robert E. Lee's horse. This magnificent memorial consists of three acres of chiseled granite making it the largest high relief sculpture in the world. For shear size it even surpasses the better known and more "politically correct" four heads on South Dakota's Mt. Rushmore.
In front is Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. The central and most prominent figure is that of General Robert E. Lee, and behind him is his right hand man, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
The carving, first envisioned in 1912, was not begun until 1923 and was finally completed in 1972. Three sculptors worked on the creation, the first being Gutzon Borglum, who later carved the Mt. Rushmore Memorial in South Dakota. Augustus Lukeman, the second sculptor, did the bulk of the work of carving the three central figures of the Confederacy on horseback. Lack of funding and other problems caused work of the sculpture to remain idle for 36 years. Then in 1958 the state of Georgia purchased the mountain and the surrounding land. Walker Kirkland Hancock of Gloucester, Massachusetts was chosen to complete the carving and work resumed in 1964. A new technique utilizing thermo-jet torches was used to carve away the granite. Chief carver Roy Faulkner did much of the fine carving, completing the work of art with the detail of a fine painting.
Dedication ceremonies for the Confederate Memorial Carving were held on May 9, 1970. Finishing touches to the masterpiece were completed in 1972.
THE THREE CONFEDERATE LEADERS depicted on Stone Mountain were all noble men who were champions of liberty for all people.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE was strongly opposed to slavery and when he inherited slaves through his wife's family he set them free. This was at a time when Union General Ulysses S. Grant was a slaveholder who refused to give up his slaves, continuing to work them throughout the War Between the States and even after the war was ended.
GENERAL STONEWALL JACKSON was a civil rights activist who organized black Sunday Schools through his integrated Presbyterian church in Lexington, Virginia, where African Americans were taught to read and write in preparation for their emancipation -and this was many years before the War Between the States. The black citizens of Lexington, Virginia, later raised money to erect a statue in his honor.
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS had an adapted free black son who lived with him in the Confederate White House in Richmond, Virginia, as a member of his family.
Stone Mountain is the most popular State Park in Georgia, on the outskirts of Atlanta - a Southern city which is a model of racial harmony for the entire nation. I've been to Stone Mountain dozens of times over the years and on every visit I have seen people from every race and ethnticity peacefully enjoying themselves in this beautiful and historic setting.
Check out my CONFEDERATE DIGEST blog: www.ConfederateDigest.blogspot.com
It's difficult to understand sometimes for non-bjd people. But long story short, Narumi sulked for a very long while because he had been all but abandoned for the past 3 months.
No, I have no idea how an inanimate object can sulk, but he somehow managed it -_-;
Ah well, at least he got a shirt (Diverse Designs) out of the whole ordeal. And it's a damn cute shirt on him too. :D
Difficult light under the canopies, hard to make FP4+ look as contrasty as this. No photobooks though.
©Jane Brown2016 All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission
after Elsie had perfected her reindeer face makeup (see previous two photos) she turned to me and said it was time to have my face painted. Oh no, I thought, and held out my hand. Please paint something beautiful on my hand. Taking a photo iwth my left hand only wasn't easy, but I sat down to supper as Grangran and not as something from Elsie's imagination!
National Prime Rib Day Is April 27
Frankly speaking, it is difficult to speak precisely about the time of the appearance of the steak, but it is necessary to say that our ancestors began to eat meat raw many thousands of years ago. And they did it in order to survive in harsh conditions. Frying meat on the fire was initiated when men and women realized that it was much easier to eat that way.
In the middle of the 15th century, the description of the steak appeared in British cookbooks for the first time. After three centuries, the technology of cooking meat on an open fire began to spread throughout continental Europe.
Into the New World, English Herefords and Scottish Aberdeen Anguses were brought in, which, in fact, began to develop the American meat industry. In addition to the United States, steaks have become widespread in all former British colonies, as well as in Latin America, Germany, Italy and France.
Actually, the culture of steak as well as the steak houses was born at the end of the 19th century, and it happened, as you might guess, in America – in Chicago to be more exact.
Interesting Food Facts about Prime Rib
1. A standing rib roast is a prime rib consisting of SEVEN ribs.
2. A scooped & tied standing rib roast will have the bones taken off and then tied back on.
3. A rib eye roast is a boneless prime rib.
4. The beef is cut from the rib section, the largest central area of the steer, located in between the chuck and the short loin, just above the plate.
5. If choosing a prime rib at the butcher, look for a cut that has a bright color and milky white fat.
Fun Fact:
“Au Jus” refers to the drippings that come off the meat during cooking, and it is often served alongside the prime rib.
The prime rib comes from ribs 6-12 of the cow.
Prime rib cooking temperatures are: rare:120°-125°, medium rare: 130°-135°, medium:140°-145° and well done:160°.
Okay, so you've had your 'technical' lesson for today. Now for the fun:
One of Bill the Butcher's customers came in and said he had a bone to pick with him.
20200427 118/366
My TPS365 photo story has come to an end. Like all good Fairy tales there have been good times and not so good times!! Nearly giving up on a few occasions.
This 365 project has given me a visual diary of the year. Many of these pictures would not have been taken if I hadn't taken on this project.
Some days were more difficult than others but I continued to get inspiration by pushing myself to go out of my comfort zone and use a more creative eye.
I tried to look for something new, inspiring me to be more creative with my images. Well some times!!!!! lol
I have learnt more about photoshop and other plugins enjoying building on my own Picketted enhances. (as Marcus would say)
Above all I am inspired by all the other images from the group and on Flickr a world full of inspiration.
Thanks for all your comments and inspiration to keep me motivated.
My wish to you all as Fairy God Mother is keep taking those fab pics and sharing them with me.
I now look forward to next year a little more relaxed with our TPS52 project.
I also want to revisit many images taken this year I didn’t have time to edit to post on flickr.
Happy New Year to you all
P.S You all know what I am going to be doing every day after buying this book in a charity shop today!!!!
Traffic jam on highway 20, Feb 27, 2008. Very slippery road that morning, there was a thin layer of ice under the snow that continued falling. It took 45 minutes more to get to work.
This was a difficult one due to the harsh red lighting that took over the whole image. Converting to Black and White, upping the contrast and reducing the clarity, whilst playing with the red/orange saturation sliders achieved this rather nice monochrome image which hopefully maintains the drama of the moment?
Another difficult choice presented itself during the recent Ensignbus running day. Would you ride on a mark 2 Metrobus or a Duple Caribbean bodied Leyland Tiger? However, as I’d arrived earlier on the Metrobus, it had to be the Tiger :-) . Both are seen in Brentwood. The Tiger was new to Southend as their 250 (A250 SVW) and the Metrobus had been new to Ensign themselves, as one of a batch of 16 new in November 1988. All 16 Metrobuses would pass to CNT Holdings a couple of years later when Ensign sold their LRT tendered work but just this one would be bought back in 1994 and has been owned ever since. That said, it had been off the road for many years until being reactivated and repainted just a few months ago. I think it looks superb.
A difficult anniversary for a lot of people but at this time, five years ago, Mallacoota residents were facing the worst Bushfire in recorded history. This is looking from Maramingo Fire Tower south towards Wingan River, that's Genoa Peak on the left, exactly one day before the fire reached Mallacoota, a distance of 23 kilometres. Started from Lightning that forked into two bolts just before it hit the ground, this is the Pyro cumulus smoke cloud that created its own lightning, sparking more spot fires ahead of the main blaze. Taken at 11.25 am on 30-12-2019.
Which Religion is the ONLY true one?
Because there are so many different religions all with conflicting beliefs, many people find it confusing and difficult to decide which one they should follow.
Would a God really want to make it difficult for us to find the truth? Surely the truth has to be available for all humankind - - - for the simple and humble, as well as the clever, the intellectual and the theologian? So, it makes perfect sense to conclude that it must be possible to discern the truth through simple logic.
Firstly, it is easy to see that God has made his existence clear, through reason and logic to those who are open-minded and genuinely desire to seek the truth. [The evidence for the existence of a single creator God, is overwhelming. i.e. an intelligent, single, first cause, itself uncaused, and not subject to the laws of nature (Supernatural), can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of any truly, open-minded person through simple logic and science… for example, the laws of: Cause and Effect, Biogenesis, Thermodynamics, Information Theory and Intelligent Design... all point to a creator.]
Thus monotheism - - belief in one supernatural, eternal, creator God is easy to deduce by those who are open-minded and really wish to seek the truth.
See: (Atheism revealed as false - why God MUST exist:
www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/24321857975
AND
The real theory of everything...
www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/34295660211
Once we have used reason and logic to establish that the Creator God can only be: one, supernatural and eternal, we know that all non-monotheistic religions are automatically ruled out as intrinsically untrue.
Of course, polytheistic or pagan religions may have some teachings which appear good, but it is obvious that they are all based on a false premise.
The true religion has to profess belief in only one, supernatural God and Creator.
We are left with only three major world religions that are strictly monotheistic.
They are: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
So the true religion has to be one of these three.
It is a fact that these three religions have many important doctrines which conflict with each other, for example; Christians and Jews believe in monogamous marriage, while Muslims believe in polygamy.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, while Judaism rejects Jesus and teaches that the messiah is still to come.
Likewise, although Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet and a messiah, they reject many of His teachings, including His teachings on marriage, divorce, Heaven, drinking wine, love of enemies etc. and, even more importantly, His Divinity and His Crucifixion.
Muslims believe that Muhammad was an authentic prophet while both Jews and Christians would refute that.
God is truth, so as these three religions disagree fundamentally with each other - - - - it is obvious that it is possible for only one of them to be completely true in all its doctrines. So how can we decide conclusively which of these three religions is the only true one?
By asking the following question - - - we know that the Creator of the universe (the first cause of everything) must be infinite (unlimited). So everything about God must be perfect, his love is perfect and without limit (all love existing in the world originated from God), so too is his justice (his justice cannot be cheated).
Therefore if God is infinitely and perfectly just, and we have all offended his infinite majesty by sin, how can anyone hope to be saved?
Only because God is also infinitely merciful and loving.
But here we have an apparent contradiction, perfect justice demands that the full price is paid for every sin, whereas perfect mercy and love demand extreme leniency. - - -
HERE IS THE QUESTION: - - -
How can God overcome the apparent contradiction between His perfect justice and perfect mercy?
To clarify ... How can God (who cannot deceive, nor be deceived) satisfy his infinite justice, which demands a price equal to the *offence, yet at the same time enable us to be saved through his infinite, unfathomable, mercy and love?
*[the seriousness of an offence can be judged to be commensurate with the status of the person offended against. In the army, if a private were to insult a fellow private it would not be considered very serious, but if a private were to insult or disobey an officer this would be much more serious and the seriousness would increase the higher the rank of the officer. A sin against a perfect and infinite God (our Creator) is of the ultimate seriousness. Therefore perfect justice demands infinite reparation for an offence against God].
Christianity is absolutely unique. It is the only religion that has a satisfactory answer to this question. And this question is crucial to salvation. Put the same question to the followers of any other religion and they will be unable to give you a credible answer.
THE AMAZING ANSWER - - - Jesus Christ said “I am the way the truth and the life” and “no one can come to the Father except through Me.” Jesus backed up His claim by suffering an agonising death on the Cross for the salvation of all humanity.
Why?
Atonement.
Animal sacrifice, as practiced in the Old Testament, was an imperfect, forerunner to the prophesied, perfect sacrifice.
Only God, Himself, in His infinite mercy, was able to provide an acceptable ‘scapegoat’ to fully satisfy perfect, divine justice. A pure sacrifice, both fully human and fully divine.
Jesus, although completely innocent of all sin Himself, suffered for the sins of all humankind.
He was crucified, as an atoning sacrifice, for the redemption of His enemies, as well as His friends. We are all sinners and have all offended the infinite goodness of god. No one deserves heaven entirely on their own merit.
Everyone is defiled by sin, and nothing defiled can ever enter heaven. An offence against the infinite goodness of an infinitely loving, but also an infinitely, just God, can only be redeemed by an infinitely, good sacrifice. So only a Divine sacrifice can satisfy the demands of infinite, Divine justice. only the sacrifice of the true, spiritual Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, incarnated as man (as prophesied in the Old Testament) is sufficient to save us all from the consequences of sin, to open the gates of heaven and restore eternal life to the whole human race.
This was even foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Book of Genesis), when God asked Abraham (as a test of his obedience) to sacrifice his only son Isaac on a pile of wood at Mount Moria. This Mount Moria is believed by some to be in the same place as Golgotha, the site of the sacrifice of God’s only Son on the wood of the Cross. God prevented Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice of his son , at the last minute, But, because of his steadfast obedience, Abraham became the symbolic, earthly father of all who follow God.
Because of the Incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus, God became the spiritual Father of all who follow Him.
The Cross of Jesus now represents the new tree of life, because it has restored the possibility of eternal life to the whole human race. Access to the original tree of life was removed from Adam and Eve and the rest of the human race because of original sin. The Cross of Jesus is a restoration of the tree of life. It promises eternal life to those who accept its saving message. The new fruit is the bread and wine of the holy Eucharist.
Only those whose garments have been ‘washed white by the Blood of the Lamb’ are fit to enter heaven. The debt of our sin has been paid by Jesus - and His saving sacrifice is offered as an unsurpassed, loving and free gift to us all. We simply have to gratefully acknowledge and accept that gift in a spirit of humility and repentance.
By His supreme sacrifice, Jesus atoned for every sin ever committed, and thereby opened the gates of Heaven to the whole human race. Without His unique sacrifice, no one of any religion could ever enter Heaven. It matters not whether you are the most devout Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist or follower of any other faith, ultimately you will rely not on any of the rituals or customs of these various religions, but on the sacrifice of Jesus to enter heaven. All who enter heaven do so only with a passport provided by the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice. Without His sacrifice on the Cross you would never get there, whatever your religion. All other sacrifices or religious offerings, rituals etc. are as dirty rags before the Divine majesty of Almighty God, they cannot pay the price for sin that God's perfect justice demands.
This is the unavoidable truth, whether you like it or not.
Of course, we should all have free choice to follow any religion we choose, but once we know that it is only the sacrifice of Jesus that can make us fit to enter heaven and eternal life, we will surely wish to love and follow Him. It would be foolishness indeed for us to choose to follow any religion which refuses to acknowledge this, but would rather pretend that we can redeem ourselves by following its manmade doctrines and rituals.
Death entered the world through the sin of disobedience of one woman and one man (Adam and Eve), but sin was pardoned and eternal life restored through the obedience of one woman (Mary) and the death of one man (Jesus).
The ancient Hebrews used the blood sacrifice of an animal as a symbolic scapegoat to bear the punishment for their sins. The old animal sacrifices of atonement ended with the destruction of the temple. Animal sacrifice was simply a precursor to the only acceptable sacrifice of the true Messiah, Jesus. They were intended to show the necessity of atonement, repentance alone is not sufficient. Atonement for sin is essential. There is no atonement for sin in present day Judaism or in Islam.
Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, (true man and true God) became the real scapegoat who bore the punishment (by His Crucifixion) for the sins of the whole world. His death on the Cross was a perfect, holy, once and for all sacrifice, sufficient to atone for every sin ever committed. It is re-enacted in remembrance, with bread and wine, every day, by Christian priests all over the world. It is known as the Holy Eucharist which is part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. God is reminded at every Mass that Christians trust in the perfect atonement made by Jesus.
Only God Himself could pay the enormous price that God's perfect justice demands for sin, but as it is man who is responsible for sin, in true justice, it is man who should pay the price. Therefore only someone who is both God and man (God made man) would be able to pay the price for sin. So the only possibility of salvation for humankind had to be provided by God Himself, and that is exactly what He did. That is why Jesus has to be God incarnated as man. Those who deny that Jesus is God, or deny the Crucifixion of Jesus, have fallen for the lies of Satan, his false prophets and false religions and, sadly, they deny the only possibility of salvation.
Abraham (the representative, earthly father of all followers of God) showed he was willing, when asked by God, to sacrifice his only son Isaac to God, as reparation for sin (it didn’t happen, because God stopped it at the last moment). And God, our heavenly Father, (who cannot be outdone in love or generosity) offered His only Son (Jesus) as a sacrifice for our sin.
Prophesies from the Old Testament.
Isaiah 53 New International Version (NIV)
1. Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2. He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3. He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4. Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5. But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7. He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9. He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11. After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53 New International Version (NIV)
___________________________________________
Psalm 22 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah
22 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted[b] in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced[c] My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.[d]
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.
Psalm 22 New King James Version (NKJV)
____________________________________________
Babylonian Talmud: "The Messiah --what is his name?...The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, `surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God and afflicted...'" (Sanhedrin 98b)
Midrash Ruth Rabbah: "Another explanation (of Ruth ii.14): -- He is speaking of king Messiah; `Come hither,' draw near to the throne; `and eat of the bread,' that is, the bread of the kingdom; `and dip thy morsel in the vinegar,' this refers to his chastisements, as it is said, `But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities'"
Targum Jonathan: "Behold my servant Messiah shall prosper; he shall be high and increase and be exceedingly strong..."
Zohar: "`He was wounded for our transgressions,' etc....There is in the Garden of Eden a palace called the Palace of the Sons of Sickness; this palace the Messiah then enters, and summons every sickness, every pain, and every chastisement of Israel; they all come and rest upon him. And were it not that he had thus lightened them off Israel and taken them upon himself, there had been no man able to bear Israel's chastisements for the transgression of the law: and this is that which is written, `Surely our sicknesses he hath carried.'"
Rabbi Moses Maimonides: "What is the manner of Messiah's advent....there shall rise up one of whom none have known before, and signs and wonders which they shall see performed by him will be the proofs of his true origin; for the Almighty, where he declares to us his mind upon this matter, says, `Behold a man whose name is the Branch, and he shall branch forth out of his place' (Zech. 6:12). And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he shall appear, without father or mother or family being known, He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of dry earth, etc....in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which kings will harken to him, At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived." (From the Letter to the South (Yemen), quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, pages 374-5)
Rabbi Mosheh Kohen Ibn Crispin: This rabbi described those who interpret Isaiah 53 as referring to Israel as those: "having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers, and inclined after the `stubbornness of their own hearts,' and of their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, of the King Messiah....This prophecy was delivered by Isaiah at the divine command for the purpose of making known to us something about the nature of the future Messiah, who is to come and deliver Israel, and his life from the day when he arrives at discretion until his advent as a redeemer, in order that if anyone should arise claiming to be himself the Messiah, we may reflect, and look to see whether we can observe in him any resemblance to the traits described here; if there is any such resemblance, then we may believe that he is the Messiah our righteousness; but if not, we cannot do so." (From his commentary on Isaiah, quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, pages 99-114.)
Why the Isaiah 53 prophesy cannot refer to Israel.
Why Isaiah 53 cannot refer to the nation of Israel, or anyone else, but must be the Messiah
1. The servant of Isaiah 53 is an innocent and guiltless sufferer. Israel is never described as sinless. Isaiah 1:4 says of the nation: "Alas sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity. A brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters!" He then goes on in the same chapter to characterize Judah as Sodom, Jerusalem as a harlot, and the people as those whose hands are stained with blood (verses 10, 15, and 21). What a far cry from the innocent and guiltless sufferer of Isaiah 53 who had "done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth!"
2. The prophet said: "It pleased the LORD to bruise him." Has the awful treatment of the Jewish people (so contrary, by the way, to the teaching of Jesus to love everyone) really been God's pleasure, as is said of the suffering of the servant in Isaiah 53:10 ? If, as some rabbis contend, Isaiah 53 refers to the holocaust, can we really say of Israel's suffering during that horrible period, "It pleased the LORD to bruise him?" Yet it makes perfect sense to say that God was pleased to have Messiah suffer and die as our sin offering to provide us forgiveness and atonement.
3. The person mentioned in this passage suffers silently and willingly. Yet all people, even Israelites, complain when they suffer! Brave Jewish men and women fought in resistance movements against Hitler. Remember the Vilna Ghetto Uprising? Remember the Jewish men who fought on the side of the allies? Can we really say Jewish suffering during the holocaust and during the preceding centuries was done silently and willingly?
4. The figure described in Isaiah 53 suffers, dies, and rises again to atone for his people's sins. The Hebrew word used in Isaiah 53:10 for "sin-offering" is "asham," which is a technical term meaning "sin-offering." See how it is used in Leviticus chapters 5 and 6. Isaiah 53 describes a sinless and perfect sacrificial lamb who takes upon himself the sins of others so that they might be forgiven. Can anyone really claim that the terrible suffering of the Jewish people, however undeserved and unjust, atones for the sins of the world? Whoever Isaiah 53 speaks of, the figure described suffers and dies in order to provide a legal payment for sin so that others can be forgiven. This cannot be true of the Jewish people as a whole, or of any other mere human.
5. It is the prophet who is speaking in this passage. He says: "who has believed our message." The term "message" usually refers to the prophetic message, as it does in Jeremiah 49:14. Also, when we understand the Hebrew parallelism of verse 1, we see "Who has believed our message" as parallel to "to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed." The "arm of the Lord" refers to God's powerful act of salvation. So the message of the speaker is the message of a prophet declaring what God has done to save his people.
6. The prophet speaking is Isaiah himself, who says the sufferer was punished for "the transgression of my people," according to verse 8. Who are the people of Isaiah? Israel. So the sufferer of Isaiah 53 suffered for Israel. So how could he be Israel?
7. The figure of Isaiah 53 dies and is buried according to verses 8 and 9. The people of Israel have never died as a whole. They have been out of the land on two occasions and have returned, but they have never ceased to be among the living. Yet Jesus died, was buried, and rose again.
8. If Isaiah 53 cannot refer to Israel, how about Isaiah himself? But Isaiah said he was a sinful man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5-7). And Isaiah did not die as an atonement for our sins. Could it have been Jeremiah? Jeremiah 11:19 does echo the words of Isaiah 53. Judah rejected and despised the prophet for telling them the truth. Leaders of Judah sought to kill Jeremiah, and so the prophet describes himself in these terms. But they were not able to kill the prophet. Certainly Jeremiah did not die to atone for the sins of his people. What of Moses? Could the prophet have been speaking of him? But Moses wasn't sinless either. Moses sinned and was forbidden from entering the promised land (Numbers 20:12). Moses indeed attempted to offer himself as a sacrifice in place of the nation, but God did not allow him to do so (Exodus 32:30-35). Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were all prophets who gave us a glimpse of what Messiah, the ultimate prophet, would be like, but none of them quite fit Isaiah 53.
So what can we conclude? Isaiah 53 cannot refer to the nation of Israel, nor to Isaiah, nor to Moses, nor another prophet. And if not to Moses, certainly not to any lesser man. Yet Messiah would be greater than Moses. As the rabbinic writing "Yalkut" said: "Who art thou, O great mountain? (Zech. iv.7) This refers to the King Messiah. And why does he call him`the great mountain?' because he is greater than the patriarchs, as it is said, `My servant shall be high, and lifted up, and lofty exceedingly' --he will be higher than Abraham...lifted up above Moses...loftier then the ministering angels..." (Quoted in The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters, Ktav Publishing House, 1969, Volume 2, page 9.)
Of whom does Isaiah speak? He speaks of the Messiah, as many ancient rabbis concluded. The second verse of Isaiah 53 makes it crystal clear. The figure grows up as "a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground." The shoot springing up is beyond reasonable doubt a reference to the Messiah, and, in fact, it is a common Messianic reference in Isaiah and elsewhere. The Davidic dynasty was to be cut down in judgement like a felled tree, but it was promised to Israel that a new sprout would shoot up from the stump. The Messiah was to be that sprout. Several Hebrew words were used to refer to this undeniably Messianic image. All the terms are related in meaning and connected in the Messianic texts where they were used. Isaiah 11, which virtually all rabbis agreed refers to the Messiah, used the words "shoot" (hoter) and branch (netser) to describe the Messianic King. Isaiah 11:10 called Messiah the "Root (shoresh) of Jesse," Jesse being David's father. Isaiah 53 described the suffering servant as a root (shoresh) from dry ground, using the very same metaphor and the very same word as Isaiah 11. We also see other terms used for the same concept, such as branch (tsemach) in Jeremiah 23:5, in Isaiah 4:2 and also in the startling prophecies of Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12.
Beyond doubt, Isaiah 52:13-53:12 refers to Messiah Jesus. He is the one highly exalted before whom kings shut their mouths. Messiah is the shoot who sprung up from the fallen Davidic dynasty. He became the King of Kings. He provided the ultimate atonement.
Isaiah 52:13 states that it would be the Messiah who will "sprinkle" many nations. What does that mean? What was Messiah's ministry to be toward the nations? The word translated "sprinkle" or sometimes "startle" is found several other places in the OT. The Hebrew word is found in Leviticus 4:6; 8:11; 14:7, and Numbers 8:7, 19:18-19. The references cited all pertain to priestly sprinklings of the blood of atonement, the anointing oil of consecration, and the ceremonial water used to cleanse the unclean. Is Isaiah 52:13 telling us that the Messiah will act as a priest who applies atonement, anoints to consecrate, sprinkles to make clean? (This vision of the Messiah as both priest and king is also found in Zechariah 6:12-13). But, priests were to come from the tribe of Levi and Kings from the tribe of Judah! What kind of priest is he? David told us Messiah would be a priest of the order of Melchizedek (see Psalm 110 and Hebrews chapters 7-9).
Isaiah 53 must be understood as referring to the coming Davidic King, the Messiah. King Messiah was prophesied to suffer and die to pay for our sins and then rise again. He would serve as a priest to the nations of the world and apply the blood of atonement to cleanse those who believe. There is one alone who this can refer to, Jesus, whom millions refer to as Christ, which is from the Greek word for Messiah. Those who confess him are his children, his promised offspring, the spoils of his victory. According to the testimony of the Jewish Apostles, Jesus died for our sins, rose again, ascended to the right hand of God, and he now serves as our great High Priest who cleanses us of sin and our King. Jesus rules over his people and is in the process of conquering the Gentiles. The first century Jewish disciples were willing to die rather than deny they had seen the risen Messiah. Only if one has presupposed Jesus cannot have been the Messiah can one deny that which is obvious. Israel's greatest son, Jesus, is the one Isaiah foresaw.
(c) 1997 Fred Klett
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The many paths to God lie.
‘There are many paths to God‘ has become a politically, correct catchphrase, used by the liberal establishment to imply that all religions and beliefs are equally worthy.
Of course, you don’t need a degree in common sense to work out that this is illogical.
Everybody is aware that even the major religions disagree on many important issues. Therefore, simple logic dictates that they cannot all be right. Where they all disagree on a particular belief (if any are right) it can only be ONE that is right.
It is obvious then that all those religions that are wrong in any belief cannot be equal in merit, or equal as a path to God, as the one that is wholly right. So to insist they are all equally worthy is to be unjustly biased against the one that is true.
Error should never be given equality with truth.
Therefore it is inexcusable that our society should not to make every effort to discern, and then to officially recognise the truth in this matter.
For anyone to contend that ERROR should ever be entitled to equal endorsement and support by the state as TRUTH is unjust, prejudiced, morally reprehensible and downright stupid.
Western civilisation was founded and built on the commendable notion that truth really matters and should be encouraged and supported.
For centuries, it was accepted and agreed by the most learned persons and rulers, that the beliefs of Christianity best represent spiritual truth. Whilst also providing superlative spiritual and social benefits for citizens and society. And therefore it was agreed that Christianity should be entitled to official recognition and special support by society and the state. The traditions, heritage, laws and culture of Christendom were founded on this generally, accepted precept.
It is not hard to understand why?
Christianity really is special.
Jesus Christ taught love, peace and forgiveness.
Jesus is the role model for Christians. Although they are not always completely successful, the teaching and example of Jesus Christ are what every genuine Christian aspires to. Those things are eminently conducive to the moral, spiritual and material good of society. They are the fundamentals of Christianity and a Christian society. We hear a lot today about religious fundamentalism being something bad, but in the case of Christianity the opposite has to be true. The more fundamental a Christian seeks to be, the more like (the Christian role model) Jesus they hope to become.
In a nutshell Jesus taught - love God above all and love your neighbour as yourself. and seek to advance the welfare of all, materially and spiritually - be humble, not proud or envious, be prepared to serve others, not lord it over them - love and forgive even your enemies and do not seek revenge or bear grudges.
Saint Augustine.
“Let those who say that the teachings of Christ are harmful to the State find armies with soldiers who live up to the standards of the teachings of Jesus. Let them provide governors, husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, kings, judges, taxpayers and tax collectors who can compare to those who take Christian teachings to heart. Then let them dare to say that such teaching is contrary to the welfare of the State! Indeed, under no circumstances can they fail to realize that this teaching is the greatest safeguard of the State when faithfully observed.” (“Epis. 138 ad Marcellinum,” in Opera Omnia, vol. 2, in J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, col. 532.)
A major problem today is that the term 'religion' is cynically used by secularists rather than 'religions'. The effect is to lump all religions together and stereotype them as though they are a single entity. Which means if one religion is perceived in some way as not conducive to the public good, people are led to believe that all religions are a problem - that 'religion' is a problem per se. This sort of stereotyping would be unlikely to be tolerated in any other field. But it suits the aims of militant atheists and the liberal, secular, politically correct agenda.
There is no question that the twentieth century was the bloodiest century in the history of the world. It was in this century that the major nations of Christendom began to abandon Christian beliefs, principles and heritage. And, in the misguided name of progress, began to embrace a variety of pagan, atheistic, materialist, Darwinian, Marxist and socialist ideologies. As a result we were subjected to 2 world wars, numerous other wars, including the Spanish civil war, and an horrendous, mass murder as a result of the German nation adopting the national, socialist policies of a crazed, Darwinian inspired, anti-Christian, pagan occultist named Hitler. An even greater, mass slaughter was carried out by atheistic, socialist revolutionaries in pursuit of their proposed ‘paradise on earth‘. The historical record of the twentieth century is absolutely horrendous, the atheistic, Marxist, socialist regimes of; Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were together responsible for the brutal slaughter of an estimated thirty six million people. In addition, we have seen millions of war deaths, countless murders carried out by other, atheistic, socialist regimes and various other tyrannies, and millions of unborn babies callously slaughtered in state approved and funded, abortion mills.
We hear a lot today about equality, which sounds admirable. And true equality certainly is admirable and a God-given right. However, false equality is not admirable, it can be discriminatory against truth, goodness and, if enforced by the state, can result in an evil tyranny. Error should never be equated with truth and evil should never be equated with good.
So what is true equality?
Every human person is of equal value and should be equally respected and cared for, regardless of gender, colour, race, disability, wealth, influence, intelligence or power. That is true equality.
What is false equality?
False equality is the idea that everything any human person does or believes, is equally valid. The idea that all lifestyles, beliefs, traditions or cultures (that are not against whatever the state decides should be legal) are equally valid and worthy of equal respect.
In post Christian, secular society, while it is demanded by supporters of the liberal establishment that all religions, beliefs and lifestyles should be treated by the state as equally worthy, with no preference or special status given to any. In practice, we can see this is completely ignored in one respect, because there is an exception, inasmuch as it is now the beliefs of 'atheism' that actually receive special recognition and status in most, Western nations. This is evident in the state approved and funded, promotion and teaching of the (unscientific) naturalistic beliefs of Darwinian evolution and spontaneous generation of life, as though they are ‘scientific truths’ (they are treated as sacrosanct - with no alternative, scientific views or contrary evidence, permitted in any state funded or approved, educational curriculum).
The modern, secular state's 'enforced' equality demands that all beliefs etc. are treated as equally worthy, regardless of truth or merit. But, in practice, the liberal mind-set is that all beliefs/religions are inferior to the atheist/secularist ideology, which is perceived as the pinnacle of rationality and arbiter of 'scientific truth' which benevolently deigns to grant (a false) equality to every inferior, belief system. And religions should all be grateful that the secular state grants them equality with each other.
All religions and religious beliefs are thus lumped together as
being equal (the crazy with the not so crazy - the logical with the illogical - the true with the patently false) with no intelligent, or logical discernment permitted.
And so we are led to believe by a secular state (which doesn't recognise God) that there are:
‘Many paths to God’ -That all religions and beliefs are equally valid.
But are they?
Anyone who agrees with this automatically rejects the claims of Jesus Christ, who stated; “I am the way, the truth and the life” and “no one can come to the Father except through Me.”
Uniquely, Jesus backed up his claim by suffering an agonising death on the cross as a sacrifice for the salvation of all humanity. The words of Jesus means you cannot be a Christian if you claim or believe there are many paths to God, or that there is any path to God other than through Jesus Christ.
The fact is that Jesus (although completely innocent of all sin himself) suffered for the sins of all humankind, He was crucified for the redemption of His enemies as well as His friends. We are all sinners and have all offended the infinite goodness of God, no one (not even a saint) deserves heaven entirely on their own merit. Everyone is defiled by sin, and nothing defiled can enter heaven. An offence against the infinite goodness of an infinitely loving, but also an infinitely, just God can only be redeemed by an infinitely, good sacrifice. So only a divine sacrifice can pay the price justice demands for our sins.
Only the sacrifice of the true, spiritual messiah, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, incarnated as man, is sufficient to save us all from the consequences of sin, open the gates of heaven and restore eternal life to the whole human race.
Only those whose garments have been ‘washed white by the blood of the lamb’ are fit to enter heaven.
The debt for our sin has been paid by Jesus and His saving sacrifice is offered as an unsurpassed, loving and free gift to us all. We simply have to gratefully acknowledge and accept that gift in a spirit of humility and repentance.
Jesus requested that a remembrance of his sacrifice should be celebrated (the Eucharist). This unites us with Him and His sacrifice, and is the only sacrificial ceremony for sin which is truly acceptable to God. All other sacrifices devised and offered by humans are as ‘dirty rags’ before the divine majesty of the almighty creator.
Only the sacrifice of the true messiah, God made man
(as prophesied by Isaiah in the old testament), is acceptable to God.
By his supreme sacrifice Jesus paid the price for every sin ever committed, and thereby opened the gates of heaven to the whole human race.
Without His sacrifice, no one of any religion could ever enter heaven.
It matters not whether you are the most devout Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist or person of any other faith, ultimately you will rely, not on any rituals and customs of these various religions, but on the sacrifice of Jesus to enter heaven.
All who enter heaven and eternal life do so only with a passport provided by Jesus, without His sacrifice you would never get there.
This is the truth whether you like it or not.
Dr James Tour - 'The Origin of Life' - Abiogenesis decisively refuted.
youtu.be/B1E4QMn2mxk
This sailor beetle (Cantharis rustica) and a whole bunch of its brethren were all over the lawn this day.
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964.
The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere."
In the early 1950s, Bates Wilson, then superintendent of Arches National Monument, began exploring the area to the south and west of Moab, Utah. After seeing what is now known as the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Wilson began advocating for the establishment of a new national park that would include the Needles. Additional explorations by Wilson and others expanded the areas proposed for inclusion into the new national park to include the confluence of Green and Colorado rivers, the Maze District, and Horseshoe Canyon.
In 1961, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was scheduled to address a conference at Grand Canyon National Park. On his flight to the conference, he flew over the Confluence (where the Colorado and Green rivers meet). The view apparently sparked Udall's interest in Wilson's proposal for a new national park in that area and Udall began promoting the establishment of Canyonlands National Park.
Utah Senator Frank Moss first introduced legislation into Congress to create Canyonlands National Park. His legislation attempted to satisfy both nature preservationists' and commercial developers' interests. Over the next four years, his proposal was struck down, debated, revised, and reintroduced to Congress many times before being passed and signed into creation.
In September, 1964, after several years of debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Pub.L. 88–590, which established Canyonlands National Park as a new national park. Bates Wilson became the first superintendent of the new park and is often referred to as the "Father of Canyonlands."
The Colorado River and Green River combine within the park, dividing it into three districts called the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. The Colorado River flows through Cataract Canyon below its confluence with the Green River.
The Island in the Sky district is a broad and level mesa in the northern section of the park, between the Colorado and Green rivers. The district has many viewpoints overlooking the White Rim, a sandstone bench 1,200 feet (370 m) below the Island, and the rivers, which are another 1,000 feet (300 m) below the White Rim.
The Needles district is located south of the Island in the Sky, on the east side of the Colorado River. The district is named for the red and white banded rock pinnacles which are a major feature of the area. Various other naturally sculpted rock formations are also within this district, including grabens, potholes, and arches. Unlike Arches National Park, where many arches are accessible by short to moderate hikes, most of the arches in the Needles district lie in backcountry canyons, requiring long hikes or four-wheel drive trips to reach them.
The Ancestral Puebloans inhabited this area and some of their stone and mud dwellings are well-preserved, although the items and tools they used were mostly removed by looters. The Ancestral Puebloans also created rock art in the form of petroglyphs, most notably on Newspaper Rock along the Needles access road.
The Maze district is located west of the Colorado and Green rivers. The Maze is the least accessible section of the park, and one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States.
A geographically detached section of the park located north of the Maze district, Horseshoe Canyon contains panels of rock art made by hunter-gatherers from the Late Archaic Period (2000-1000 BC) pre-dating the Ancestral Puebloans. Originally called Barrier Canyon, Horseshoe's artifacts, dwellings, pictographs, and murals are some of the oldest in America. The images depicting horses date from after 1540 AD, when the Spanish reintroduced horses to America.
Since the 1950s, scientists have been studying an area of 200 acres (81 ha) completely surrounded by cliffs. The cliffs have prevented cattle from ever grazing on the area's 62 acres (25 ha) of grassland. According to the scientists, the site may contain the largest undisturbed grassland in the Four Corners region. Studies have continued biannually since the mid-1990s. The area has been closed to the public since 1993 to maintain the nearly pristine environment.
Mammals that roam this park include black bears, coyotes, skunks, bats, elk, foxes, bobcats, badgers, ring-tailed cats, pronghorns, desert bighorn sheep, and cougars. Desert cottontails, kangaroo rats and mule deer are commonly seen by visitors.
At least 273 species of birds inhabit the park. A variety of hawks and eagles are found, including the Cooper's hawk, the northern goshawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, the red-tailed hawk, the golden and bald eagles, the rough-legged hawk, the Swainson's hawk, and the northern harrier. Several species of owls are found, including the great horned owl, the northern saw-whet owl, the western screech owl, and the Mexican spotted owl. Grebes, woodpeckers, ravens, herons, flycatchers, crows, bluebirds, wrens, warblers, blackbirds, orioles, goldfinches, swallows, sparrows, ducks, quail, grouse, pheasants, hummingbirds, falcons, gulls, and ospreys are some of the other birds that can be found.
Several reptiles can be found, including eleven species of lizards and eight species of snake (including the midget faded rattlesnake). The common kingsnake and prairie rattlesnake have been reported in the park, but not confirmed by the National Park Service.
The park is home to six confirmed amphibian species, including the red-spotted toad, Woodhouse's toad, American bullfrog, northern leopard frog, Great Basin spadefoot toad, and tiger salamander. The canyon tree frog was reported to be in the park in 2000, but was not confirmed during a study in 2004.
Canyonlands National Park contains a wide variety of plant life, including 11 cactus species,[34] 20 moss species, liverworts, grasses and wildflowers. Varieties of trees include netleaf hackberry, Russian olive, Utah juniper, pinyon pine, tamarisk, and Fremont's cottonwood. Shrubs include Mormon tea, blackbrush, four-wing saltbush, cliffrose, littleleaf mountain mahogany, and snakeweed
Cryptobiotic soil is the foundation of life in Canyonlands, providing nitrogen fixation and moisture for plant seeds. One footprint can destroy decades of growth.
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Canyonlands National Park has a cold semi-arid climate ("BSk"). The plant hardiness zones at the Island in the Sky and Needles District Visitor Centers are 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 4.0 °F (-15.6 °C) and 2.9 °F (-16.2 °C), respectively.
The National Weather Service has maintained two cooperative weather stations in the park since June 1965. Official data documents the desert climate with less than 10 inches (250 millimetres) of annual rainfall, as well as hot, mostly dry summers and cold, occasionally wet winters. Snowfall is generally light during the winter.
The station in The Neck region reports an average January temperature of 29.6 °F and an average July temperature of 79.3 °F. Average July temperatures range from a high of 90.8 °F (32.7 °C) to a low of 67.9 °F (19.9 °C). There are an average of 45.7 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 117.3 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) on July 15, 2005, and the lowest recorded temperature was −13 °F (−25 °C) on February 6, 1989. Average annual precipitation is 9.33 inches (237 mm). There are an average of 59 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1984, with 13.66 in (347 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.63 in (118 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 5.19 in (132 mm) in October 2006. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.76 in (45 mm) on April 9, 1978. Average annual snowfall is 22.8 in (58 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 47.4 in (120 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 27.0 in (69 cm) in January 1978.
The station in The Needles region reports an average January temperature of 29.7 °F and an average July temperature of 79.1 °F.[44] Average July temperatures range from a high of 95.4 °F (35.2 °C) to a low of 62.4 °F (16.9 °C). There are an average of 75.4 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 143.6 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C) on July 13, 1971, and the lowest recorded temperature was −16 °F (−27 °C) on January 16, 1971. Average annual precipitation is 8.49 in (216 mm). There are an average of 56 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1969, with 11.19 in (284 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.25 in (108 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 4.43 in (113 mm) in October 1972. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.56 in (40 mm) on September 17, 1999. Average annual snowfall is 14.4 in (37 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 39.3 in (100 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 24.0 in (61 cm) in March 1985.
National parks in the Western US are more affected by climate change than the country as a whole, and the National Park Service has begun research into how exactly this will effect the ecosystem of Canyonlands National Park and the surrounding areas and ways to protect the park for the future. The mean annual temperature of Canyonlands National Park increased by 2.6 °F (1.4 °C) from 1916 to 2018. It is predicted that if current warming trends continue, the average highs in the park during the summer will be over 100 °F (40 °C) by 2100. In addition to warming, the region has begun to see more severe and frequent droughts which causes native grass cover to decrease and a lower flow of the Colorado River. The flows of the Upper Colorado Basin have decreased by 300,000 acre⋅ft (370,000,000 m3) per year, which has led to a decreased amount of sediment carried by the river and rockier rapids which are more frequently impassable to rafters. The area has also begun to see an earlier spring, which will lead to changes in the timing of leaves and flowers blooming and migrational patterns of wildlife that could lead to food shortages for the wildlife, as well as a longer fire season.
The National Park Service is currently closely monitoring the impacts of climate change in Canyonlands National Park in order to create management strategies that will best help conserve the park's landscapes and ecosystems for the long term. Although the National Park Service's original goal was to preserve landscapes as they were before European colonization, they have now switched to a more adaptive management strategy with the ultimate goal of conserving the biodiversity of the park. The NPS is collaborating with other organizations including the US Geological Survey, local indigenous tribes, and nearby universities in order to create a management plan for the national park. Right now, there is a focus on research into which native plants will be most resistant to climate change so that the park can decide on what to prioritize in conservation efforts. The Canyonlands Natural History Association has been giving money to the US Geological Survey to fund this and other climate related research. They gave $30,000 in 2019 and $61,000 in 2020.
A subsiding basin and nearby uplifting mountain range (the Uncompahgre) existed in the area in Pennsylvanian time. Seawater trapped in the subsiding basin created thick evaporite deposits by Mid Pennsylvanian. This, along with eroded material from the nearby mountain range, became the Paradox Formation, itself a part of the Hermosa Group. Paradox salt beds started to flow later in the Pennsylvanian and probably continued to move until the end of the Jurassic. Some scientists believe Upheaval Dome was created from Paradox salt bed movement, creating a salt dome, but more modern studies show that the meteorite theory is more likely to be correct.
A warm shallow sea again flooded the region near the end of the Pennsylvanian. Fossil-rich limestones, sandstones, and shales of the gray-colored Honaker Trail Formation resulted. A period of erosion then ensued, creating a break in the geologic record called an unconformity. Early in the Permian an advancing sea laid down the Halgaito Shale. Coastal lowlands later returned to the area, forming the Elephant Canyon Formation.
Large alluvial fans filled the basin where it met the Uncompahgre Mountains, creating the Cutler red beds of iron-rich arkose sandstone. Underwater sand bars and sand dunes on the coast inter-fingered with the red beds and later became the white-colored cliff-forming Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Brightly colored oxidized muds were then deposited, forming the Organ Rock Shale. Coastal sand dunes and marine sand bars once again became dominant, creating the White Rim Sandstone.
A second unconformity was created after the Permian sea retreated. Flood plains on an expansive lowland covered the eroded surface and mud built up in tidal flats, creating the Moenkopi Formation. Erosion returned, forming a third unconformity. The Chinle Formation was then laid down on top of this eroded surface.
Increasingly dry climates dominated the Triassic. Therefore, sand in the form of sand dunes invaded and became the Wingate Sandstone. For a time climatic conditions became wetter and streams cut channels through the sand dunes, forming the Kayenta Formation. Arid conditions returned to the region with a vengeance; a large desert spread over much of western North America and later became the Navajo Sandstone. A fourth unconformity was created by a period of erosion.
Mud flats returned, forming the Carmel Formation, and the Entrada Sandstone was laid down next. A long period of erosion stripped away most of the San Rafael Group in the area, along with any formations that may have been laid down in the Cretaceous period.
The Laramide orogeny started to uplift the Rocky Mountains 70 million years ago and with it, the Canyonlands region. Erosion intensified and when the Colorado River Canyon reached the salt beds of the Paradox Formation the overlying strata extended toward the river canyon, forming features such as The Grabens. Increased precipitation during the ice ages of the Pleistocene quickened the rate of canyon excavation along with other erosion. Similar types of erosion are ongoing, but occur at a slower rate.
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Colorado to its east, Wyoming to its northeast, Idaho to its north, Arizona to its south, and Nevada to its west. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.
Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo, and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the mid-16th century, though the region's difficult geography and harsh climate made it a peripheral part of New Spain and later Mexico. Even while it was Mexican territory, many of Utah's earliest settlers were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States via the Mormon Trail. Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, which included what is now Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896 as the 45th.
People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. A 2023 paper challenged this perception (claiming only 42% of Utahns are Mormons) however most statistics still show a majority of Utah residents belong to the LDS church; estimates from the LDS church suggests 60.68% of Utah's population belongs to the church whilst some sources put the number as high as 68%. The paper replied that membership count done by the LDS Church is too high for several reasons. The LDS Church greatly influences Utahn culture, politics, and daily life, though since the 1990s the state has become more religiously diverse as well as secular.
Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, multi-level marketing, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the 2020 U.S. census confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah ranks among the overall best states in metrics such as healthcare, governance, education, and infrastructure. It has the 12th-highest median average income and the least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's water security and impacting the state's economy.
The History of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Utah located in the western United States.
Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of humans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin's swamps and marshes, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including bison, mammoths and ground sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna died, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near the Great Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was mainly composed of cattails and other salt tolerant plants such as pickleweed, burro weed and sedge. Red meat appears to have been more of a luxury, although these people used nets and the atlatl to hunt water fowl, ducks, small animals and antelope. Artifacts include nets woven with plant fibers and rabbit skin, woven sandals, gaming sticks, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. The Great Basin may have been almost unoccupied for 1,000 years.
The Fremont culture, named from sites near the Fremont River in Utah, lived in what is now north and western Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Colorado from approximately 600 to 1300 AD. These people lived in areas close to water sources that had been previously occupied by the Desert Archaic people, and may have had some relationship with them. However, their use of new technologies define them as a distinct people. Fremont technologies include:
use of the bow and arrow while hunting,
building pithouse shelters,
growing maize and probably beans and squash,
building above ground granaries of adobe or stone,
creating and decorating low-fired pottery ware,
producing art, including jewelry and rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs.
The ancient Puebloan culture, also known as the Anasazi, occupied territory adjacent to the Fremont. The ancestral Puebloan culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States, including the San Juan River region of Utah. Archaeologists debate when this distinct culture emerged, but cultural development seems to date from about the common era, about 500 years before the Fremont appeared. It is generally accepted that the cultural peak of these people was around the 1200 CE. Ancient Puebloan culture is known for well constructed pithouses and more elaborate adobe and masonry dwellings. They were excellent craftsmen, producing turquoise jewelry and fine pottery. The Puebloan culture was based on agriculture, and the people created and cultivated fields of maize, beans, and squash and domesticated turkeys. They designed and produced elaborate field terracing and irrigation systems. They also built structures, some known as kivas, apparently designed solely for cultural and religious rituals.
These two later cultures were roughly contemporaneous, and appear to have established trading relationships. They also shared enough cultural traits that archaeologists believe the cultures may have common roots in the early American Southwest. However, each remained culturally distinct throughout most of their existence. These two well established cultures appear to have been severely impacted by climatic change and perhaps by the incursion of new people in about 1200 CE. Over the next two centuries, the Fremont and ancient Pueblo people may have moved into the American southwest, finding new homes and farmlands in the river drainages of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
In about 1200, Shoshonean speaking peoples entered Utah territory from the west. They may have originated in southern California and moved into the desert environment due to population pressure along the coast. They were an upland people with a hunting and gathering lifestyle utilizing roots and seeds, including the pinyon nut. They were also skillful fishermen, created pottery and raised some crops. When they first arrived in Utah, they lived as small family groups with little tribal organization. Four main Shoshonean peoples inhabited Utah country. The Shoshone in the north and northeast, the Gosiutes in the northwest, the Utes in the central and eastern parts of the region and the Southern Paiutes in the southwest. Initially, there seems to have been very little conflict between these groups.
In the early 16th century, the San Juan River basin in Utah's southeast also saw a new people, the Díne or Navajo, part of a greater group of plains Athabaskan speakers moved into the Southwest from the Great Plains. In addition to the Navajo, this language group contained people that were later known as Apaches, including the Lipan, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apaches.
Athabaskans were a hunting people who initially followed the bison, and were identified in 16th-century Spanish accounts as "dog nomads". The Athabaskans expanded their range throughout the 17th century, occupying areas the Pueblo peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Spanish first specifically mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navaho) in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navaho was applied to these same people. Although the Navajo newcomers established a generally peaceful trading and cultural exchange with the some modern Pueblo peoples to the south, they experienced intermittent warfare with the Shoshonean peoples, particularly the Utes in eastern Utah and western Colorado.
At the time of European expansion, beginning with Spanish explorers traveling from Mexico, five distinct native peoples occupied territory within the Utah area: the Northern Shoshone, the Goshute, the Ute, the Paiute and the Navajo.
The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.
A group led by two Spanish Catholic priests—sometimes called the Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the California coast. The expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. All of what is now Utah was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s to 1821 as part of New Spain (later as the province Alta California); and subsequently claimed by Mexico from 1821 to 1848. However, Spain and Mexico had little permanent presence in, or control of, the region.
Fur trappers (also known as mountain men) including Jim Bridger, explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city of Provo was named for one such man, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fated Donner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormon pioneers, first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the time, the U.S. had already captured the Mexican territories of Alta California and New Mexico in the Mexican–American War and planned to keep them, but those territories, including the future state of Utah, officially became United States territory upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, 1848.
Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon pioneers found no permanent settlement of Indians. Other areas along the Wasatch Range were occupied at the time of settlement by the Northwestern Shoshone and adjacent areas by other bands of Shoshone such as the Gosiute. The Northwestern Shoshone lived in the valleys on the eastern shore of Great Salt Lake and in adjacent mountain valleys. Some years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley Mormons, who went on to colonize many other areas of what is now Utah, were petitioned by Indians for recompense for land taken. The response of Heber C. Kimball, first counselor to Brigham Young, was that the land belonged to "our Father in Heaven and we expect to plow and plant it." A 1945 Supreme Court decision found that the land had been treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone had been recognized by the United States or extinguished by treaty with the United States.
Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had to make a place to live. They created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches, and schools. Access to water was crucially important. Almost immediately, Brigham Young set out to identify and claim additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in the Great Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed.
Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community of Bountiful was settled to the north. In 1848, settlers moved into lands purchased from trapper Miles Goodyear in present-day Ogden. In 1849, Tooele and Provo were founded. Also that year, at the invitation of Ute chief Wakara, settlers moved into the Sanpete Valley in central Utah to establish the community of Manti. Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, missionary efforts aimed at western native cultures led to outposts in Fort Lemhi, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada and Elk Mountain in east-central Utah.
The experiences of returning members of the Mormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and the eastern segments of southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, a senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals, and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in Iron County, near present-day Cedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, Las Vegas and San Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southern Arizona.
Prior to establishment of the Oregon and California trails and Mormon settlement, Indians native to the Salt Lake Valley and adjacent areas lived by hunting buffalo and other game, but also gathered grass seed from the bountiful grass of the area as well as roots such as those of the Indian Camas. By the time of settlement, indeed before 1840, the buffalo were gone from the valley, but hunting by settlers and grazing of cattle severely impacted the Indians in the area, and as settlement expanded into nearby river valleys and oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. Brigham Young's counsel was to feed the hungry tribes, and that was done, but it was often not enough. These tensions formed the background to the Bear River massacre committed by California Militia stationed in Salt Lake City during the Civil War. The site of the massacre is just inside Preston, Idaho, but was generally thought to be within Utah at the time.
Statehood was petitioned for in 1849-50 using the name Deseret. The proposed State of Deseret would have been quite large, encompassing all of what is now Utah, and portions of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico and California. The name of Deseret was favored by the LDS leader Brigham Young as a symbol of industry and was derived from a reference in the Book of Mormon. The petition was rejected by Congress and Utah did not become a state until 1896, following the Utah Constitutional Convention of 1895.
In 1850, the Utah Territory was created with the Compromise of 1850, and Fillmore (named after President Fillmore) was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital.
The first group of pioneers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery. Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with this first group in 1847. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade, as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war. In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County. Slavery didn't become officially recognized until 1852, when the Act in Relation to Service and the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners were passed. Slavery was repealed on June 19, 1862, when Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories.
Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants and the federal government intensified after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' practice of polygamy became known. The polygamous practices of the Mormons, which were made public in 1854, would be one of the major reasons Utah was denied statehood until almost 50 years after the Mormons had entered the area.
After news of their polygamous practices spread, the members of the LDS Church were quickly viewed by some as un-American and rebellious. In 1857, after news of a possible rebellion spread, President James Buchanan sent troops on the Utah expedition to quell the growing unrest and to replace Brigham Young as territorial governor with Alfred Cumming. The expedition was also known as the Utah War.
As fear of invasion grew, Mormon settlers had convinced some Paiute Indians to aid in a Mormon-led attack on 120 immigrants from Arkansas under the guise of Indian aggression. The murder of these settlers became known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. The Mormon leadership had adopted a defensive posture that led to a ban on the selling of grain to outsiders in preparation for an impending war. This chafed pioneers traveling through the region, who were unable to purchase badly needed supplies. A disagreement between some of the Arkansas pioneers and the Mormons in Cedar City led to the secret planning of the massacre by a few Mormon leaders in the area. Some scholars debate the involvement of Brigham Young. Only one man, John D. Lee, was ever convicted of the murders, and he was executed at the massacre site.
Express riders had brought the news 1,000 miles from the Missouri River settlements to Salt Lake City within about two weeks of the army's beginning to march west. Fearing the worst as 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3rd of the army then) led by General Albert Sidney Johnston started west, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City and neighboring communities to prepare their homes for burning and evacuate southward to Utah Valley and southern Utah. Young also sent out a few units of the Nauvoo Legion (numbering roughly 8,000–10,000), to delay the army's advance. The majority he sent into the mountains to prepare defenses or south to prepare for a scorched earth retreat. Although some army wagon supply trains were captured and burned and herds of army horses and cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. Starting late and short on supplies, the United States Army camped during the bitter winter of 1857–58 near a burned out Fort Bridger in Wyoming. Through the negotiations between emissary Thomas L. Kane, Young, Cumming and Johnston, control of Utah territory was peacefully transferred to Cumming, who entered an eerily vacant Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. By agreement with Young, Johnston established the army at Fort Floyd 40 miles away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.
Salt Lake City was the last link of the First Transcontinental Telegraph, between Carson City, Nevada and Omaha, Nebraska completed in October 1861. Brigham Young, who had helped expedite construction, was among the first to send a message, along with Abraham Lincoln and other officials. Soon after the telegraph line was completed, the Deseret Telegraph Company built the Deseret line connecting the settlements in the territory with Salt Lake City and, by extension, the rest of the United States.
Because of the American Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory (and their fort auctioned off), leaving the territorial government in federal hands without army backing until General Patrick E. Connor arrived with the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteers in 1862. While in Utah, Connor and his troops soon became discontent with this assignment wanting to head to Virginia where the "real" fighting and glory was occurring. Connor established Fort Douglas just three miles (5 km) east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his bored and often idle soldiers to go out and explore for mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state. Minerals were discovered in Tooele County, and some miners began to come to the territory. Conner also solved the Shoshone Indian problem in Cache Valley Utah by luring the Shoshone into a midwinter confrontation on January 29, 1863. The armed conflict quickly turned into a rout, discipline among the soldiers broke down, and the Battle of Bear River is today usually referred to by historians as the Bear River Massacre. Between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women and children were killed, as were 27 soldiers, with over 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering from frostbite.
Beginning in 1865, Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. Chief Antonga Black Hawk died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress the Ghost Dance of 1872. The war is unique among Indian Wars because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted Timpanogos Utes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and Utah local militia.
On May 10, 1869, the First transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake. The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the state, and several influential businessmen made fortunes in the territory.
Main article: Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century
During the 1870s and 1880s, federal laws were passed and federal marshals assigned to enforce the laws against polygamy. In the 1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church leadership dropped its approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. When Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, it was accepted. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
The Mormon issue made the situation for women the topic of nationwide controversy. In 1870 the Utah Territory, controlled by Mormons, gave women the right to vote. However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with the Edmunds–Tucker Act. In 1867–96, eastern activists promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy. They were Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women. The Mormons promoted woman suffrage to counter the negative image of downtrodden Mormon women. With the 1890 Manifesto clearing the way for statehood, in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of women's suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.
Though less numerous than other intermountain states at the time, several lynching murders for alleged misdeeds occurred in Utah territory at the hand of vigilantes. Those documented include the following, with their ethnicity or national origin noted in parentheses if it was provided in the source:
William Torrington in Carson City (then a part of Utah territory), 1859
Thomas Coleman (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1866
3 unidentified men at Wahsatch, winter of 1868
A Black man in Uintah, 1869
Charles A. Benson in Logan, 1873
Ah Sing (Chinese man) in Corinne, 1874
Thomas Forrest in St. George, 1880
William Harvey (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1883
John Murphy in Park City, 1883
George Segal (Japanese man) in Ogden, 1884
Joseph Fisher in Eureka, 1886
Robert Marshall (Black man) in Castle Gate, 1925
Other lynchings in Utah territory include multiple instances of mass murder of Native American children, women, and men by White settlers including the Battle Creek massacre (1849), Provo River Massacre (1850), Nephi massacre (1853), and Circleville Massacre (1866).
Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks as Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, Utah began to become known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes, and such natural landmarks as Delicate Arch and "the Mittens" of Monument Valley are instantly recognizable to most national residents. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of the Interstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.
Beginning in 1939, with the establishment of Alta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its skiing. The dry, powdery snow of the Wasatch Range is considered some of the best skiing in the world. Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, and this has served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues scattered across the Wasatch Front continue to be used for sporting events. This also spurred the development of the light-rail system in the Salt Lake Valley, known as TRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.
During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s, growth was phenomenal in the suburbs. Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time, and West Valley City is the state's 2nd most populous city. Today, many areas of Utah are seeing phenomenal growth. Northern Davis, southern and western Salt Lake, Summit, eastern Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, and Washington counties are all growing very quickly. Transportation and urbanization are major issues in politics as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas.
In 2012, the State of Utah passed the Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act in an attempt to gain control over a substantial portion of federal land in the state from the federal government, based on language in the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. The State does not intend to use force or assert control by limiting access in an attempt to control the disputed lands, but does intend to use a multi-step process of education, negotiation, legislation, and if necessary, litigation as part of its multi-year effort to gain state or private control over the lands after 2014.
Utah families, like most Americans everywhere, did their utmost to assist in the war effort. Tires, meat, butter, sugar, fats, oils, coffee, shoes, boots, gasoline, canned fruits, vegetables, and soups were rationed on a national basis. The school day was shortened and bus routes were reduced to limit the number of resources used stateside and increase what could be sent to soldiers.
Geneva Steel was built to increase the steel production for America during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had proposed opening a steel mill in Utah in 1936, but the idea was shelved after a couple of months. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and the steel plant was put into progress. In April 1944, Geneva shipped its first order, which consisted of over 600 tons of steel plate. Geneva Steel also brought thousands of job opportunities to Utah. The positions were hard to fill as many of Utah's men were overseas fighting. Women began working, filling 25 percent of the jobs.
As a result of Utah's and Geneva Steels contribution during the war, several Liberty Ships were named in honor of Utah including the USS Joseph Smith, USS Brigham Young, USS Provo, and the USS Peter Skene Ogden.
One of the sectors of the beachhead of Normandy Landings was codenamed Utah Beach, and the amphibious landings at the beach were undertaken by United States Army troops.
It is estimated that 1,450 soldiers from Utah were killed in the war.
Been having an admittedly difficult time feeling particularly driven in any clear direction the last month. This shot rather embodies an unfortunate state of mind. Hoping the funk subsides. Or, rather, that a new inspiration comes by to kick my ass back into gear.
Black and white photography of a woman having difficulties to choose between the numerous gravures of the beautiful places and buildings fo Brussels (Belgium). The photography was taken in the Grand-Place.
© Eliseo Oliveras
Another example of how difficult it was to photograph the Souks of Marrakesh, here the vast contrast range has pushed my D300s to it's limits and then I've had to try and recover detail from the shadows in Lightroom. Still, I like the shot for it's shafts of light and it's more genuinely Moroccan atmosphere.
Click here to see more of my favourite Marrakesh shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/sets/72157631982455891
Seen in Explore, #262, 08/12/12
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, 32 kilometres (20 miles) east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the original theme park of the complex, opening in 1992. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened in 2002. Disneyland Paris celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022; by then 375 million people had visited, making it the most visited theme park in Europe. It is the second Disney park outside the United States, following the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort in 1983, and the largest. Disneyland Paris is also the only Disney resort outside of the United States to be completely owned by The Walt Disney Company. It includes seven hotels: Disney Hotel Santa Fe, Disney Hotel Cheyenne, Sequoia Lodge, Newport Bay Club, Hotel New York – the Art of Marvel, The Disneyland Hotel, and Davy Crockett Ranch.
Disneyland Paris is considered to be the largest single-site employer in France with its 17,000 employees.
Ownership
Walt Disney announced a €1 billion ($1.25 billion) bailout plan to rescue its subsidiary Disneyland Paris, the Financial Times reported on 6 October 2014. The park is burdened by its debt, which is calculated at about €1.75 billion ($2.20 billion) and roughly 15 times its gross average earnings.
Until June 2017, Disney only held a minority stake in the resort. In 2017, The Walt Disney Company offered an informal takeover of Euro Disney S.C.A., buying 9% of the company from Kingdom Holding and an open offer of 2 euros per share for the remaining stock. This brought The Walt Disney Company's total ownership to 85.7%. The Walt Disney company also invested an additional 1.5 billion euros to strengthen and develop Disneyland Paris. In June 2017, Disney completed a tender offer to own over 97% of Euro Disney and then implemented a full buyout of the shares they did not already own. In 2018, after taking full control of Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney reported its plans to invest 2 billion euro ($2.47 billion) in Disneyland Paris. The investment aimed to expand the park with a lake and new themed areas based on Marvel superheroes, Disney's animated movie Frozen and Star Wars. The investment also sought to develop 'new attractions and live entertainment experiences'.
History
Following the success of Disneyland in California, plans to build a similar theme park in Europe emerged in 1966 with sites in Frankfurt, Paris, London or Milan under consideration. Under the leadership of E. Cardon Walker, Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 in Japan with instant success, forming a catalyst for international expansion. In late 1984 the heads of Disney's theme park division, Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, presented a list of approximately 1,200 possible European locations for the park. Britain, France, Italy and Spain were all considered. However, Britain and Italy were dropped from the list due to both lacking a suitable expanse of flat land. By March 1985, the number of possible locations for the park had been reduced to four; two in France and two in Spain. Both nations saw the potential economic advantages of a Disney theme park and offered competing financing deals to Disney.
Both Spanish sites were located near the Mediterranean and offered a subtropical climate similar to Disney's parks in California and Florida. Disney had asked each site to provide average temperatures for every month for the previous 40 years, which proved a complicated endeavour as none of the records were computerised. The site in Pego, Alicante became the front-runner, but the location was controversial as it would have meant the destruction of Marjal de Pego-Oliva marshlands, a site of natural beauty and one of the last homes of the almost extinct Samaruc or Valencia Toothcarp, so there was some local outcry among environmentalists. Disney had also shown interest in a site near Toulon in southern France, not far from Marseille. The pleasing landscape of that region, as well as its climate, made the location a top competitor for what would be called Euro Disneyland. However, shallow bedrock was encountered beneath the site, which would have rendered construction too difficult. Finally, a site in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée was chosen because of its proximity to Paris and its central location in Western Europe. This location was estimated to be no more than a four-hour drive for 68 million people and no more than a two-hour flight for a further 300 million.
Michael Eisner signed the first letter of agreement with the French government for the 20-square-kilometre (4,940-acre) site on 18 December 1985, and the first financial contracts were drawn up during the following spring. The final contract was signed by the leaders of the Walt Disney Company and the French government and territorial collectivities on 24 March 1987. Construction began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed. Plans for a theme park next to Euro Disneyland based on the entertainment industry, Disney-MGM Studios Europe, quickly went into development, scheduled to open in 1996 with a construction budget of US$2.3 billion. The construction manager was Bovis.
In order to provide lodging to patrons, it was decided that 5,200 Disney-owned hotel rooms would be built within the complex. In March 1988, Disney and a council of architects (Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, Stanley Tigerman, and Robert Venturi) decided on an exclusively American theme in which each hotel would depict a region of the United States. At the time of the opening in April 1992, seven hotels collectively housing 5,800 rooms had been built.
An entertainment, shopping, and dining complex based on Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney was designed by Frank Gehry.
With its towers of oxidised silver and bronze-coloured stainless steel under a canopy of lights, it opened as Festival Disney. For a projected daily attendance of 55,000, Euro Disney planned to serve an estimated 14,000 people per hour inside the Euro Disneyland park. In order to accomplish this, 29 restaurants were built inside the park (with a further 11 restaurants built at the Euro Disney resort hotels and five at Festival Disney). Menus and prices were varied with an American flavor predominant and Disney's precedent of not serving alcoholic beverages was continued in the park.
2,300 patio seats (30% of park seating) were installed to satisfy Europeans' expected preference of eating outdoors in good weather. In test kitchens at Walt Disney World, recipes were adapted for European tastes. Walter Meyer, executive chef for menu development at Euro Disney and executive chef of food projects development at Walt Disney World noted, "A few things we did need to change, but most of the time people kept telling us, 'Do your own thing. Do what's American'."
Recruitment/employment
Unlike Disney's American theme parks, Euro Disney aimed for permanent employees (an estimated requirement of 12,000 for the theme park itself), as opposed to seasonal and temporary part-time employees. Casting centres were set up in Paris, London, and Amsterdam. However, it was understood by the French government and Disney that "a concentrated effort would be made to tap into the local French labour market". Disney sought workers with sufficient communication skills, who spoke two European languages (French and one other), and were socially outgoing. Following precedent, Euro Disney set up its own Disney University to train workers. 24,000 people had applied by November 1991.
In 2011, the park provided 55,643 direct and indirect jobs in France. According to Damien Audric, Director of Development and the Environment, Disneyland Paris would generate 63,000 jobs by 2022. Overall, in 2022, Disneyland Paris was still Seine-et-Marne's largest employer.
Controversies
The prospect of a Disney park in France was a subject of debate and controversy. Critics, who included prominent French intellectuals, denounced what they considered to be the cultural imperialism of Euro Disney and felt it would encourage an unhealthy American type of consumerism in France. On 28 June 1992, a group of French farmers blockaded Euro Disney in protest of farm policies supported at the time by the United States.
A journalist at the centre-right French newspaper Le Figaro wrote, "I wish with all my heart that the rebels would set fire to [Euro] Disneyland." Ariane Mnouchkine, a Parisian stage director, named the concept a "cultural Chernobyl", a phrase which would be echoed in the media during Euro Disney's initial years.
In response, French philosopher Michel Serres noted, "It is not America that is invading us. It is we who adore it, who adopt its fashions and above all, its words." Euro Disney S.C.A.'s then-chairman Robert Fitzpatrick responded, "We didn't come in and say O.K., we're going to put a beret and a baguette on Mickey Mouse. We are who we are."
Topics of controversy also included Disney's American managers requiring English to be spoken at all meetings and Disney's appearance code for members of staff, which listed regulations and limitations for the use of makeup, facial hair, tattoos, jewellery, and more.
French labour unions mounted protests against the appearance code, which they saw as "an attack on individual liberty". Others criticised Disney as being insensitive to French culture, individualism, and privacy, because restrictions on individual or collective liberties were illegal under French law, unless it could be demonstrated that the restrictions are requisite to the job and do not exceed what is necessary.
Disney countered by saying that a ruling that barred them from imposing such an employment standard could threaten the image and long-term success of the park. "For us, the appearance code has a great effect from a product identification standpoint," said Thor Degelmann, Euro Disney's personnel director. "Without it we couldn't be presenting the Disney product that people would be expecting."
Opening day and early years
Euro Disney opened for employee preview and testing in March 1992. During this time visitors were mostly park employees and their family members, who tested facilities and operations. The press was able to visit the day before the park's opening day on 12 April 1992.
On 12 April 1992, Euro Disney Resort and its theme park, Euro Disneyland, officially opened. Visitors were warned of chaos on the roads. A government survey indicated that half a million people carried by 90,000 cars might attempt to enter the complex. French radio warned traffic to avoid the area. By midday, the car park was approximately half full, suggesting an attendance level below 25,000. Explanations of the lower-than-expected turnout included speculation that people heeded the advice to stay away and that the one-day strike that cut the direct RER railway connection to Euro Disney from the centre of Paris made the park inaccessible. Due to the European recession that August, the park faced financial difficulties as there were a lack of things to do and an overabundance of hotels, leading to underperformance. The failure of Euro Disney caused the cancellation of several projects like WestCOT, Disney's America, Tomorrowland 2055 at Disneyland and Beastly Kingdom at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
A new Indiana Jones roller-coaster ride was opened at Euro Disney in 1993. A few weeks after the ride opened there were problems with the emergency brakes which resulted in guest injuries.
In 1994, the company was still having financial difficulties. There were rumours that Euro Disney was getting close to having to file for bankruptcy. The banks and the backers had meetings to work out some of the financial problems facing Euro Disney. In March 1994, Team Disney went into negotiations with the banks so that they could get some help for their debt. As a last resort, the Walt Disney Company threatened to close the Disneyland Paris park, leaving the banks with the land.
In May 1992, entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce, approximately 3,000 people, had resigned from their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions. It also reported that the park's attendance was far behind expectations. The disappointing attendance can be at least partly explained by the recession and increased unemployment, which was affecting France and most of the rest of the developed world at this time; when construction of the resort began, the economy was still on an upswing.
Euro Disney S.C.A. responded in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, in which Robert Fitzpatrick claimed only 1,000 people had left their jobs. In response to the financial situation, Fitzpatrick ordered that the Disney-MGM Studios Europe project would be put on halt until a further decision could be made. Prices at the hotels were reduced.
Despite these efforts in May 1992, park attendance was around 25,000 (some reports give a figure of 30,000) instead of the predicted 60,000. The Euro Disney Company stock price spiraled downwards and on 23 July 1992, Euro Disney announced an expected net loss in its first year of operation of approximately 300 million French francs. During Euro Disney's first winter, hotel occupancy was so low that it was decided to close the Newport Bay Club hotel during the season.
Initial hopes were that each visitor would spend around US$33 per day, but near the end of 1992, analysts found spending to be around 12% lower. Efforts to improve attendance included serving alcoholic beverages with meals inside the Euro Disneyland park, in response to a presumed European demand, which began 12 June 1993.
By the summer of 1994, Euro Disney was burdened with $3 billion worth of debt. Disney CFO Richard Nanula and Wall Street financier Steve Norris worked with Alwaleed's business advisor Mustafa Al Hejailan to rescue the overleveraged company. In that deal, Disney's 49 percent stake was reduced to 39 percent, the banks agreed to forego interest payments until 1997, Disney wrote off royalties and fees until 1999, and Alwaleed agreed to pay $345 million for a 24 percent stake in Euro Disney.
1995 turnaround
On 1 October 1994, Euro Disney changed its name to Disneyland Paris. On 31 May 1995, a new attraction opened at the theme park. Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune had been planned since the inception of Disneyland Paris under the name Discovery Mountain, but was reserved for a revival of public interest. With a redesign of the attraction (which had premiered as Space Mountain at the Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom in 1975) including a "cannon launch" system, inversions, and an on-ride soundtrack, the US$100 million attraction was dedicated in a ceremony attended by celebrities such as Elton John, Claudia Schiffer, and Buzz Aldrin.
On 25 July 1995, Disneyland Paris reported its first quarterly profit of US$35.3 million. On 15 November 1995, the results for the fiscal year ending 30 September 1995 were released; in one year the theme park's attendance had climbed from 8.8 million to 10.7 million, an increase of 21%. Hotel occupancy had also climbed from 60 to 68.5%. After debt payments, Disneyland Paris ended the year with a net profit of US$22.8 million.
2000–2017
As of March 2002, Disneyland Paris underwent a second name change to Disneyland Resort Paris. In 2002, Euro Disney S.C.A. and the Walt Disney Company announced another annual profit for Disneyland Paris. However, it then incurred a net loss in the three years following. By March 2004, the Walt Disney Company had agreed to write off all debt that Euro Disney S.C.A. owed to the Walt Disney Company. On 1 December 2003, Euro Disney S.C.A launched the 'Need Magic?' campaign, which lasted until March 2006 to bring new, first-time European visitors to the resort. And by 2005, having been open fewer than fifteen years, Disneyland Paris had become the number one tourist destination for Europe, outselling the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.
In March 2006, Disneyland Resort Paris launched the advertising campaign "believe in your dreams" and paired with the TGV East European Line to encourage European family attendance to the resort. Shortly after announcing a 12% increase in revenues for the fiscal year of 2007, Euro Disney S.C.A. implemented a "reverse split" consolidation of shares of 100 to 1. August 2008 brought the resort's 200 millionth visitor, and made for the third consecutive year of growth in revenues for the resort as well as a record 15.3 million visitors in attendance.
In 2009, the resort demonstrated dedication to the recruitment of new employment positions, especially for the Christmas and summer seasons, which continued in 2010 and 2011 when 2,000 and 3,000 employment contracts being offered, respectively. The 2009 fiscal year saw a decrease in revenues by 7% and a net loss of 63 million followed by stable revenues at 1.2 billion in fiscal 2010. Euro Disney S.C.A. refinanced their debt to Walt Disney Company again for 1.3 billion euros in September 2012.
A study done by the Inter-ministerial Delegation reviewing Disneyland Paris' contribution to the French economy was released in time for the Resort's 20th anniversary in March 2012. It found that despite the resort's financial hardships, it has generated "37 billion euros in tourism-related revenues over twenty years", supports on average 55,000 jobs in France annually, and that one job at Disneyland Paris generates nearly three jobs elsewhere in France.
For the first time in the resort's history, both the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park closed from 14 to 17 November 2015, as part of France's national days of mourning following the November 2015 Paris attacks.
In 2015, Euro Disney announced major renovations for 2015, 2016 and 2017 in preparation for the complex's 25th anniversary.
The Themed Entertainment Association considers Disneyland Paris to be the leading European resort in 2016 with a total of 13,37 million visitors. With two amusement parks and 5800 rooms, it is followed by the Europa-Park resort with 5,6 million visitors and 953 rooms. The Spanish complex PortAventura World completes the rank top three in Europe. It features two themed-parks and a third being under construction, as well as 2100 rooms.
2017–present: Recent Expansions
On 19 June 2017, the resort's operating company, Euro Disney S.C.A, was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, giving them full control of the resort. In December 2018, Natacha Rafalski took over as CEO. On 1 September 2017 the resort's second nature resort opened as Les Villages Nature Paris.
On 26 March 2017, the opening of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue - a new version of Star Tours - marked the start of Disneyland Paris' 25th anniversary. On 31 March, 2017, forums announced plans for Marvel attractions at Walt Disney Studios Park as well as renovations to the Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hotel New York in the next ten years. On 14 May 2017, to celebrate Disneyland Paris' 25th anniversary, the park welcomed actors from Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men Tell No Tales, for the film's European premiere.
On 27 February 2018, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger announced that company would invest €2 billion into the Disneyland Paris resort. The Walt Disney Studios Park will be expanded with three new areas between 2021 and 2025, based upon Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars.
In March 2018, a Disney Parks West regional division was formed with Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and Disneyland Paris under Catherine Powell, outgoing Disneyland Paris president. This mirrors the Disney Parks East regional division consisting of Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Attractions Japan and headed by Michael Colglazier. In September 2019, Powell exited her post as president of the Parks West division, with the division dissolving, and Disneyland Paris transferred to Disney Parks International, while the East region reverted to its prior name.
On 1 June 2019, Disneyland Paris sponsored the Magical Pride Party, an LGBTQ celebration. Previous similar events have taken place at the park since 2014, but were not officially sponsored by Disney.
Natacha Rafalski was promoted from chief financial officer to president for Disneyland Paris in December 2018. On 15 March 2020, in line with other Disney parks and resorts, Disneyland Paris was shut down due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park reopened to the public on 15 July with the rest of the resort. On 29 October 2020, the resort closed again due to a second nationwide lockdown. Disneyland Paris reopened on 17 June 2021.
In 2022,Disney's shares in Villages Nature Paris were sold.
In 2022, Disneyland Paris celebrated its 30th anniversary. In March 2022, in celebration of its 30th anniversary, Disneyland Paris marked its 30 years with a nightly drone show entitled 'Disney D-Light' in partnership with the Bordeaux-based company Dronisos. The visual spectacle was realized with the use of 200 drones. In fact, Disney D-Light won the Park World Excellence Awards' title of the 'Best Live Entertainment of the Year' in 2022.
In the summer of 2022, to mark the park's anniversary in France, Disneyland Paris inaugurated the Marvel Avengers Campus, an area dedicated to the superheroes of the Marvel Universe, with the presence of the actress Brie Larson who plays Captain Marvel.
At the Expo of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), Disneyland Paris' 30th Anniversary Celebration was elected for the 'Most Creative Property-Wide Event,Amusement Parks and Attractions, Including Water Parks, Annual Attendance More than 1 million'.
Entertainment shows
On 8 July 2017, Disneyland hosted its first-ever EDM festival entitled Electroland, in celebration of Disneyland Paris' 25th anniversary. Steve Aoki, NERVO & Michael Calfan were the main highlights of the first edition. The second edition of the festival was held on 29 and 30 June 2018, which featured Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Klingande, Robin Schulz, Bob Sinclair, Mosimann and Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago. The third edition was held over a span of 3 days from 5 July through to 7 July in 2019. The theme of the third edition was based upon Disney's movie The Lion King. The lineup included Steve Aoki, Nervo, Showtek, The Magician, Nicky Romero, Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Nora En Pure etc. Disneyland also announced the fourth edition of the 3-day festival in 2020 starting from 4 July.
Disney Junior Dream Factory
In July 2021, Disneyland Paris launched a new show; Disney Junior Dream Factory, which lasts 20 minutes and whose theme is 'dare to believe in your dreams and they will come true'. The show includes characters like Mickey, Minnie and Timon. It also features characters like Disney Junior's rising stars Vampirina and Fancy Nancy Clancy, joined by the Dream Factory crew. To enable as many people as possible to take part in the story and the theme of the show, Disneyland Paris presents a French sign language version of the show every weekend.
Together
In July 2023, Disneyland Paris introduced its new show 'Together' which includes Dory, Coco, Buzz Lightyear and all the characters from Pixar films.[91] It is a cine-concert that features a live orchestra with actors on stage, music extracted from the movies and original compositions.
Regional impact
Disneyland Paris is considered to be Europe's leading tourist destination. It is also the driving force behind the urban and economic development of the Val-d’Europe conurbation.
Disneyland is also one of Europe's leading private tourist destinations with nearly 15 million visitors every year. After 25 years of its opening, Disneyland Paris recorded 320 million visits in 2017. The same year, it was reported that Disneyland Paris benefited the French economy by €66 billion in added value since its opening in 1992. It was also noted that Disneyland Paris contributed to the French economy through producing 56,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2017.
Besides, Disneyland Paris contributes to the sector of tourism in France. Indeed, tourists visiting Disneyland Paris generate 6% of tourism revenue in France and 17% of sales in the Ile-de-France region. In 2023, it was reported that more than 375 million visitors have been to Disneyland Paris with an average of 50% French and 50% foreign.
It is quite difficult to come up with new photo ideas when you hit the proverbial wall.
This was one of those I have taken and along the line with the post processing I have really badly over done it, and since I deleted the original RAW file I got stuck with it.
So the only option left for me was to delete it and luckily I did not do so.
The new Photoshop CS6 has some great features that my old CS5 did not have.
So playing around in the new Photoshop has produced this.
Quite difficult. I was disappointed to find that the 4 sections don't interlock, although I wouldn't have had a place to assemble it like that. I mixed the bags, and turning pieces over it became apparent that there were too many corners, so I knew it wouldn't all fit together. That said, when the sections are laid end to end, the seams match up pretty well, if not perfectly. Laid out end to end it's over 13 feet long.
Such a difficult day. Had to do something I really didn't want to do, but if I didn't I would be forever haunted and I was never going to be able to live. I'm so sorry, but it really wasn't my fault. I tried to drop it, but it's not me taking it forward.
It's very difficult to convey just how wonderful this pub and hotel on a steep cobbled hill is in just a single photo. The website link has drone footage showing the entirety of this magnificent place. The Mermaid is 600 years old and much photographed , featuring in multitudes of calendars no doubt. Four poster beds if you want to stay the night. Beers are Harveys Sussex Best Bitter and likely St Austell Tribute and/or Adnams Mosaic plus a 'house' beer brewed by Pig & Porter brewery from Tunbridge Wells. I didn't pop in as time was short and I'd been here twice before.
Sarajevo is kind of a difficult subject. Other than the Turkish Fountain in Sebilji square, it's hard to find anything clearly recognizable as Sarajevo. I think for many, Sarajevo is a place in name and connotation, either of the recent war or the 1984 Olympics. Yet summoning up an image, unless you've been, is difficult.
Of my many photos, this one as well as any shows Sarajevo. It's taken from the old Ottoman section, where the streets are medieval and narrow. The rising hill in the distance give a hint as to why Sarajevo was defenseless to the Siege; hills like it encircle the City, placing it at the bottom of a bowl, vulnerable to the pounding of high gun emplacements.
This scene shows also the slightly grotty look that you see all over Bosnia. This is to take nothing away with the true special quality of this place. The layers of history that you see and feel going back hundreds of years rival any major city in Europe. It's a place that needs visitors, needs to be visited so that the name is not just a shorthand for exotic suffering. The sadness is here. It's palpable. But so is a a City that is a joy to experience. Few things bring such peaceful feelings as the sounds of the 4:30 a.m. call to prayer floating through your hotel room, gently waking you. May the peace here continue.
Awwwww yeah! You're looking at Blue Voodoo and its a custom '71 Cadillac Eldorado as part of the "Show Your Age" build challenge over at LUGNuts, baby! That makes me 36 for you peeps who are bad at math, can you dig it? This slick ride belongs to blaxploitation superstar Downtown Action Brown and his best girl Afro-Dite and features gold rims and grille, an outta sight disco paint job, big V-8 Caddy engine and swivel seats! And be sure to check out the record player in the console so your man can play his Al Green, Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes records. Right on, baby! Coincidentally, Downtown Action Brown is the first cat to discover that a record makes a cool sound when you scratch it...every time he goes over a bump! He's just trying to impress the ladies is all, can you dig it? Outta site! Who loves ya, baby?