Waterlilies in Meteer Lake at Pine Knob Park, LaGrange County, Indiana.

 

Pine Knob Park is a 254-acre county-owned park with a lot of natural diversity including woodlands, two lakes, and numerous buttonbush swamps. There are ambitious projects going on there to restore and diversify oak savanna, prairie and wetland habitats. One very significant project yet in its early years is restoring sedge-dominated wetlands around Duff Lake over many acres in a muck and marl filled basin that had been drained many years ago. So far, it appears successful beyond expectations. This park is remarkably user-friendly with numerous trails, many with boardwalk access through or near habitats where visitors would normally never go due to deep water.

 

On the west side of Meteer Lake, there is a short fishing pier into the lake that gives visitors access to both emergent and submergent vegetation that is normally in water too deep to access without hip or chest waders. And along much of the west side of the lake, a boardwalk takes you through forested and shrub swamp, and for a couple hundred feet goes along the edge of an open waterlily and bulrush marsh. Photographic opportunities are not necessarily optimal from these spots, but at least opportunities are possible that would not be otherwise due to inaccessibility.

 

The morning after photographing the small purple fringed orchids elsewhere in LaGrange County, I went to Pine Knob Park at daybreak hoping for lovely landscapes at Meteer Lake against the backdrop of an awesome, colorful sunrise. The awesome sunrise failed to materialize. Apparently, the sunrise gods found out ahead of time that I was coming and convinced the clouds and colors to take a day off. Since I was there, many hours from home, I decided to try making lemonade from the lemons I had been served. Let’s just say the lemonade was not all that good despite a reasonable amount of effort!

 

The photo here is perhaps the best I got from my attempt to make tolerable lemonade from a sunrise that did not meet expectations. It was taken from the end of the fishing pier. This is one of those shots that I like, yet I don’t! It begs for something besides the waterlilies to be the focus of attention, like a waterlily flower, a frog’s head poking above the water line, or even a tuft of bulrushes in just the perfect spot.

 

I processed two different versions of this. In one, I removed the hardly visible underwater stems of the waterlily leaves. THAT was interesting! I think this shot has a bit of an abstract quality to it but at least the stems give it a somewhat visible anchor point. The one with the stems removed had no point of reference for an anchor point so the leaves looked like they may have been floating in the air or outer space.

 

So, to end this long, goofy narrative, do you think this photo has any redeeming qualities whatsoever? As lemonade goes, is it good, mediocre or just plain bad?

 

Scenes from the municipal market in Tucuru, Guatemala.

 

Indigenous women of Guatemala’s Polochic valley are feeding their families, growing their businesses and saving more money than ever before.

 

With the help of a joint UN programme that’s empowering rural women, women's groups in the area have learned to produce shampoo in bigger batches and in different varieties—such as aloe, cacao, avocado and honey—and sell them in local markets.

 

The Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women by FAO, WFP, IFAD and UN Women is working to advance advance gender equality and economic empowerment of women in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda. In Guatemala, the programme started in 2015, with funding from Norway and Sweden, supporting rural women to develop a range of skills, from sustainable agricultural practices to marketing organic shampoo and learning solar engineering. With better knowledge of their own rights and access to skills, credit and income, women participants can make more decisions within their homes and participate in municipal spaces.

 

Read More: www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/7/feature-guatemala-...

 

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Developed by Developers Diversified, Quincy Place Mall opened in August 1990, as a 270,000 ft2 mall anchored by JCPenney, Herberger's, and Walmart.

 

A decades long weak economy and the departures of Walmart, JCP, and Herberger's have left the former industrial hub without a thriving retail destination. The Target behind the mall closed in 2015.

 

Developers Diversified really copied what Dial Properties of Omaha was doing when building this mall. The corrugated ceilings, circular lights, dated colors, and anchor combination match the Walmart, JCP, and Herberger's anchored malls that DP was building elsewhere in the Midwest. The mall was build to replace an ailing downtown pedestrian mall that was foundering even before the loss of Younkers.

(Diversification)

 

En el día Escuela de Manejo, de noche tiendita al aire libre. Hay que buscarle señores / During day Driving School, at night little store. We must seek for it, gentlemen.

One of the vineyards of the renowned champagne house Taittinger in the vicinity of Château de la Marquetterie, Pierry (Épernay), Grand Est (Champagne), France

 

Some background information:

 

Taittinger is a famous producer of champagne. The family-owned company has diversified holdings including Champagne Taittinger, Société du Louvre and Concorde Hotels, whose flagship is the famed Hotel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, as well as the Loire Valley wine-producing firm of Bouvet-Ladubay.

 

Founded in 1734, the Taittinger champagne house is based in the city of Reims. However, it also owns the Château de la Marquetterie in Pierry, a village in the immediate vicinty of the French champagne capital Épernay in the department of Marne. The château was acquired by Pierre Taittinger in 1932, after he had fallen in love with the estate, and is now used for representational purposes, receptions and corporate events. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public. In the vicinity of the Château de la Marquetterie, Taittinger also owns some vineyards where grapes for the company’s champagnes are grown.

 

In 1734, Jacques Fourneaux established a wine-business in Champagne while working closely with the Benedictine Abbeys which, at that time, owned the finest vineyards in the region. The Taittingers were a family of wine merchants who moved to the Paris region from the Lorraine in order to retain their French citizenship after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71.

 

In 1932, Pierre Taittinger bought the Château de la Marquetterie from the wine house of Forest-Fourneaux. It had been used as a command post during World War I and he had been laid up there after suffering a heart-attack during combat. The vineyards of the château had been planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir since the 18th Century. The estate had been developed by Brother Jean Oudart, a Benedictine monk, one of the founding fathers of champagne wine, and later it had belonged to the writer Jacques Cazotte.

 

From 1945 to 1960 the business was run by Pierre's third son François. Under his direction, the Taittinger cellars were established in the Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, built in the thirteenth century in Gallo-Roman chalk pits dating from the fourth century. After François' death in an accident, his brother Claude took over and directed the business from 1960 to 2005. It was during this time that Taittinger became a champagne house of world renown.

 

In 2005, Champagne Taittinger was sold by the Taittinger family, along with its subsidiary, Société du Louvre, to the U.S. private investment firm Starwood Capital Group. Those in the profession (Champagne houses, wine-producers, cooperatives, distributors and customers) proposed that the objectives of short-term profitability, or even medium term, at any price, advocated by the then current managers of the business, were not compatible with the production of Champagne wine of quality, which takes time, trust and a large delegation of authority to the masters of the cellar. In addition, the arrival of investors completely foreign to the culture of Champagne could result in a major breakdown of the equilibrium of the industry.

 

Finally, on 31st May 2006, the Northeast Regional Bank of the Crédit Agricole, in collaboration with Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, bought the business back for 660 million euros. The area covers almost 289 hectares of vineyards and has 12 to 13 million bottles in stock. The Château de la Marquetterie and its cellars were part of the overall purchase. But the Starwood group retained some of the hotels, including the luxury hotels Crillon, Lutetia and Martinez, and the hotel chains Campanile and Kyriad.

 

In the same year, Claude Taittinger retired and his nephew Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger replaced him as head of the business. In 2017, Taittinger became the first champagne house to plant vines in the UK. Champagne Taittinger entered into a joint venture with UK wine agents Hatch Mansfield and bought up land in Chilham, Kent, to plant 40 hectares of vines over the next three years.

 

At the end of 2019, Vitalie Taittinger, who had already been working for the company for twelve years, has become the company’s new president. She undertakes her new responsibilities with the support of Damien le Sueur and her brother Clovis Taittinger, who have both been appointed general managers.

 

Incidentally, the whole Champagne area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. It was named "Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars" and was admitted into the World Heritage List for being the site, where the method of producing sparkling wines was developed.

The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 244 m spire[2]) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building is based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition.

 

As from the '30s Chrysler attempted tp diversify its production with the DeSoto. The name is derived from the 16th century Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto. The make's life was only short lived, disappearing in 1961. A mere 75 models of this convertible version were built.

 

3.773 cc

6 Cylinder

112 bhp

 

Autoworld

www.autoworld.be

Brussels - Belgium

December 2024

All early sources refer to the "sons of heaven" as angels. From the third century BCE onwards, references are found in the Enochic literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls (the Genesis Apocryphon, the Damascus Document, 4Q180), Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben, 2 Baruch, Josephus, and the book of Jude (compare with 2 Peter 2). For example: 1 Enoch 7:2 "And when the angels, (3) the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children." Some Christian apologists, such as Tertullian and especially Lactantius, shared this opinion.

The earliest statement in a secondary commentary explicitly interpreting this to mean that angelic beings mated with humans can be traced to the rabbinical Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and it has since become especially commonplace in modern-day Christian commentaries. This line of interpretation finds additional support in the text of Genesis 6:4 which juxtaposes the sons of God (male gender, divine nature) with the daughters of men (female gender, human nature). From this parallelism it could be inferred that the sons of God are understood as some superhuman beings. The New American Bible commentary draws a parallel to the Epistle of Jude and the statements set forth in Genesis, suggesting that the Epistle refers implicitly to the paternity of Nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth and had sexual intercourse with women.[22] The footnotes of the Jerusalem Bible suggest that the biblical author intended the Nephilim to be an "anecdote of a superhuman race".

 

Some Christian commentators have argued against this view, citing Jesus's statement that angels do not marry. Others believe that Jesus was only referring to angels in heaven.

Evidence cited in favor of the fallen angels interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew: בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים; or "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis chapter 6, in the Book of Job (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. The Septuagint manuscript Codex Alexandrinus reading of Genesis 6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God" while Codex Vaticanus reads "sons". Targum Pseudo-Jonathan identifies the Nephilim as Shemihaza and the angels in the name list from 1 Enoch. The physical members of the Prince's staff had been constituted sex creatures for the purpose of participating in the plan of procreating offspring embodying the combined qualities of their special order united with those of the selected stock of the Andon tribes, and all of this was in anticipation of the subsequent appearance of Adam. The Life Carriers had planned a new type of mortal embracing the union of the conjoint offspring of the Prince's staff with the first-generation offspring of Adam and Eve. They had thus projected a plan envisioning a new order of planetary creatures whom they hoped would become the teacher- rulers of human society. Such beings were designed for social sovereignty, not civil sovereignty. But since this project almost completely miscarried, we shall never know what an aristocracy of benign leadership and matchless culture Urantia was thus deprived of. For when the corporeal staff later reproduced, it was subsequent to the rebellion and after they had been deprived of their connection with the life currents of the system.

77:2.3 The postrebellion era on Urantia witnessed many unusual happenings. A great civilization—the culture of Dalamatia—was going to pieces. "The Nephilim (Nodites) were on earth in those days, and when these sons of the gods went in to the daughters of men and they bore to them, their children were the `mighty men of old,' the `men of renown.'" While hardly "sons of the gods," the staff and their early descendants were so regarded by the evolutionary mortals of those distant days; even their stature came to be magnified by tradition. This, then, is the origin of the well-nigh universal folk tale of the gods who came down to earth and there with the daughters of men begot an ancient race of heroes. And all this legend became further confused with the race mixtures of the later appearing Adamites in the second garden.

77:2.4 Since the one hundred corporeal members of the Prince's staff carried germ plasm of the Andonic human strains, it would naturally be expected that, if they engaged in sexual reproduction, their progeny would altogether resemble the offspring of other Andonite parents. But when the sixty rebels of the staff, the followers of Nod, actually engaged in sexual reproduction, their children proved to be far superior in almost every way to both the Andonite and the Sangik peoples. This unexpected excellence characterized not only physical and intellectual qualities but also spiritual capacities.

 

The matter of Eve’s sincerity amid her fall into sin is arguably more complicated than that of Satan’s. Eve’s sin is precipitated by Satan’s rhetorical seduction when the lone Eve is met by Satan disguised as a serpent who claims he has been given reason and speech by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; and Eve being alone is the result of her unfortunate decision, for the sake of working more efficiently, to temporarily separate from Adam, a separation Adam agrees to despite first warning Eve that Satan is in Eden seeking their destruction. As many critics have noted, had Eve not left Adam’s presence, she would almost certainly have not succumbed to Satan’s rhetoric.10 But Milton’s text does suggest that Eve’s departure, however lacking foresight, was motivated by a sincere desire to work the garden more productively. At the same time, Milton’s text also suggests that Eve’s theological understanding, whatever her sincere motives, is already somewhat compromised by the time she leaves Adam, a factor that contributes to her spiritual vulnerability. Moreover, as Eve prepares to eat the forbidden fruit, and even more so when she encourages Adam to do likewise, she demonstrates, critical attempts to argue otherwise notwithstanding, a corruption of theology and intent that reveals her insincerity in both the senses that this essay has been discussing.

 

Gondwana formed part of Pangaea for c. 150 Ma

Gondwana and Laurussia formed the Pangaea supercontinent during the Carboniferous. Pangaea began to break up in the Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened. In the western end of Pangaea, the collision between Gondwana and Laurussia closed the Rheic and Palaeo-Tethys oceans. The obliquity of this closure resulted in the docking of some northern terranes in the Marathon, Ouachita, Alleghanian, and Variscan orogenies, respectively. Southern terranes, such as Chortis and Oaxaca, on the other hand, remained largely unaffected by the collision along the southern shores of Laurentia. Some Peri-Gondwanan terranes, such as Yucatán and Florida, were buffered from collisions by major promontories. Other terranes, such as Carolina and Meguma, were directly involved in the collision. The final collision resulted in the Variscan-Appalachian Mountains, stretching from present-day Mexico to southern Europe. Meanwhile, Baltica collided with Siberia and Kazakhstania which resulted in the Uralian orogeny and Laurasia. Pangaea was finally amalgamated in the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian but the oblique forces continued until Pangaea began to rift in the Triassic.Space prevents an extensive analysis of Adam and Eve’s lengthy dialogue immediately preceding her departure.11 But of particular interest is the narrator’s comment that Eve, hurt by Adam’s urgings that she stay with him lest she be vulnerable to Satan on her own, “thought / Less attributed to her Faith sincere” (99.319–20).12 It is most significant that Milton’s narrator describes Eve’s faith as “sincere”—a sincerity that falls under the category of “unfeigned honesty”12—because the couple’s dialogue has earlier revealed that Eve, although still unfallen, has already strayed into theological error. Eve specifically speaks erroneously when, responding to Adam’s initial misgivings concerning Eve’s proposed departure, she objects, regarding Satan, that “His violence thou fearst not, being such, / As wee, not capable of death or paine, / Can either not receave, or can repell” (99.282–84). Eve’s error—which Adam, to his loss, fails to specifically confront—is to say that she and Adam are “not capable of death or paine,” a statement that contradicts God’s commandment to Adam that if he eats of the Tree of Knowledge, he “shalt dye” (88.330).References to the offspring of Seth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of Cain are found from the second century CE onwards in both Christian and Jewish sources. e.g. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Augustine of Hippo, Sextus Julius Africanus, and the Letters attributed to St. Clement. It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical Amharic Ethiopian Orthodox Bible: Henok 2:1–3 "and the Offspring of Seth, who were upon the Holy Mount, saw them and loved them. And they told one another, 'Come, let us choose for us daughters from Cain's children; let us bear children for us.'"

Orthodox Judaism has taken a stance against the idea that Genesis 6 refers to angels or that angels could intermarry with men. Shimon bar Yochai pronounced a curse on anyone teaching this idea. Rashi and Nachmanides followed this. Pseudo-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 3:1–3 may also imply that the "sons of God" were human.[34] Consequently, most Jewish commentaries and translations describe the Nephilim as being from the offspring of "sons of nobles", rather than from "sons of God" or "sons of angels".[35] This is also the rendering suggested in the Targum Onqelos, Symmachus and the Samaritan Targum which read "sons of the rulers", where Targum Neophyti reads "sons of the judges". Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians is that the "sons of God" were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth who rebelled, while the "daughters of men" were the unrighteous descendants of Cain, and the Nephilim the offspring of their union.[36] This view, dating to at least the 1st century AD in Jewish literature as described above, is also found in Christian sources from the 3rd century if not earlier, with references throughout the Clementine literature,[37] as well as in Sextus Julius Africanus,[38] Ephrem the Syrian[39] and others. Holders of this view have looked for support in Jesus' statement that "in those days before the flood they [humans] were ... marrying and giving in marriage" (Matthew 24:38).

Some individuals and groups, including St. Augustine, John Chrysostom, and John Calvin, take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the "Angels" who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from the lineage of Seth, who were called sons of God probably in reference to their prior covenant with Yahweh (cf. Deuteronomy 14:1; 32:5); according to these sources, these men had begun to pursue bodily interests, and so took wives of the daughters of men, e.g., those who were descended from Cain or from any people who did not worship God. This also is the view of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, supported by their own Ge'ez manuscripts and Amharic translation of the Haile Selassie Bible—where the books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees, counted as canonical by this church, differ from western academic editions. The "Sons of Seth view" is also the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient works, including Clementine literature, the 3rd century Cave of Treasures, and the ca. 6th Century Ge'ez work The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan. In these sources, these offspring of Seth were said to have disobeyed God, by breeding with the Cainites and producing wicked children "who were all unlike", thus angering God into bringing about the Deluge, as in the Conflict: Certain wise men of old wrote concerning them, and say in their [sacred] books that angels came down from heaven and mingled with the daughters of Cain, who bare unto them these giants. But these [wise men] err in what they say. God forbid such a thing, that angels who are spirits, should be found committing sin with human beings. Never, that cannot be. And if such a thing were of the nature of angels, or Satans, that fell, they would not leave one woman on earth, undefiled ... But many men say, that angels came down from heaven, and joined themselves to women, and had children by them. This cannot be true. But they were children of Seth, who were of the children of Adam, that dwelt on the mountain, high up, while they preserved their virginity, their innocence and their glory like angels; and were then called 'angels of God.' But when they transgressed and mingled with the children of Cain, and begat children, ill-informed men said, that angels had come down from heaven, and mingled with the daughters of men, who bear them giants. In the eastern end collisions occurred slightly later. The North China, South China, and Indochina blocks rifted from Gondwana during the middle Paleozoic and opened the Proto-Tethys Ocean. North China docked with Mongolia and Siberia during the Carboniferous–Permian followed by South China. The Cimmerian blocks then rifted from Gondwana to form the Palaeo-Thethys and Neo-Tethys oceans in the Late Carboniferous and docked with Asia during the Triassic and Jurassic. Western Pangaea began to rift while the eastern end was still being assembled. The formation of Pangaea and its mountains had a tremendous impact on global climate and sea levels, which resulted in glaciations and continent-wide sedimentation. In North America, the base of the Absaroka sequence coincides with the Alleghanian and Ouachita orogenies and are indicative of a large-scale change in the mode of deposition far away from the Pangaean orogenies. Ultimately, these changes contributed to the Permian–Triassic extinction event and left large deposits of hydrocarbons, coal, evaporite, and metals. The break-up of Pangaea began with the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) between South America, Africa, North America, and Europe. CAMP covered more than seven million square kilometres over a few million years, reached its peak at c. 200 Ma, and coincided with the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event.[24] The reformed Gondwanan continent was not precisely the same as that which had existed before Pangaea formed; for example, most of Florida and southern Georgia and Alabama is underlain by rocks that were originally part of Gondwana, but this region stayed attached to North America when the Central Atlantic opened. A large number of terranes were accreted to Eurasia during Gondwana's existence but the Cambrian or Precambrian origin of many of these terranes remains uncertain. For example, some Palaeozoic terranes and microcontinents that now make up Central Asia, often called the "Kazakh" and "Mongolian terranes", were progressively amalgamated into the continent Kazakhstania in the Late Silurian. Whether these blocks originated on the shores of Gondwana is not known.

In the Early Palaeozoic the Armorican terrane, which today form large parts of France, was part of either Peri-Gondwana or core Gondwana; the Rheic Ocean closed in front of it and the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean opened behind it. Precambrian rocks from the Iberian Peninsula suggest it too probably formed part of core Gondwana before its detachment as an orocline in the Variscan orogeny close to the Carboniferous–Permian boundary.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephilim

 

From Turkey to north-eastern India: the Taurides in southern Turkey; the Lesser Caucasus Terrane in Georgia; the Sanand, Alborz, and Lut terranes in Iran; the Mangysglak or Kopetdag Terrane in the Caspian Sea; the Afghan Terrane; the Karakorum Terrane in northern Pakistan; and the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in Tibet. The Permian–Triassic widening of the Neo-Tethys pushed all these terranes across the Equator and over to Eurasia. Antarctica, the centre of the supercontinent, shared boundaries with all other Gondwana continents and the fragmentation of Gondwana propagated clockwise around it. The break-up was the result of one of the Earth's most extensive large igneous provinces c. 200 to 170 Ma, but the oldest magnetic anomalies between South America, Africa, and Antarctica are found in what is now the southern Weddell Sea where initial break-up occurred during the Jurassic c. 160 to 180 Ma. The first ocean floor formed between Madagascar and Africa c. 150 Ma (left) and between India and Madagscar c. 70 Ma (right). Gondwana began to break up in the early Jurassic following the extensive and fast emplacement of the Karoo-Ferrar flood basalts c. 184 Ma. Before the Karoo plume initiated rifting between Africa and Antarctica, it separated a series of smaller continental blocks from Gondwana's southern, Proto-Pacific margin (along what is now the Transantarctic Mountains): the Antarctic Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land, Zealandia, and Thurston Island; the Falkland Islands and Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains (in Antarctica) were rotated 90° in opposite directions; and South America south of the Gastre Fault (often referred to as Patagonia) was pushed westward.[32] The history of the Africa-Antarctica break-up can be studied in great detail in the fracture zones and magnetic anomalies flanking the Southwest Indian Ridge.

  

The first ocean floor formed between India and Antarctica c. 120 Ma (left). The Kerguelen LIP began to form the Ninety East ridge c. 80 Ma (centre). The Indian and Australian plates merged c. 40 Ma (right). East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, began to separate from Africa. East Gondwana then began to break up c. 132.5 to 96 Ma when India moved northwest from Australia-Antarctica.[36] The Indian Plate and the Australian Plate are now separated by the Capricorn Plate and its diffuse boundaries.[37] During the opening of the Indian Ocean, the Kerguelen hotspot first formed the Kerguelen Plateau on the Antarctic Plate c. 118 to 95 Ma and then the Ninety East Ridge on the Indian Plate at c. 100 Ma.[38] The Kerguelen Plateau and the Broken Ridge, the southern end of the Ninety East Ridge, are now separated by the Southeast Indian Ridge.

Separation between Australia and East Antarctica began c. 132 Ma with sea-floor spreading occurring c. 96 Ma. A shallow seaway developed over the South Tasman Rise during the Early Cenozoic and as oceanic crust started to separate the continents during the Eocene c. 35.5 Ma global ocean temperature dropped significantly.[39] A dramatic shift from arc- to rift magmatism c. 100 Ma separated Zealandia, including New Zealand, the Campbell Plateau, Chatham Rise, Lord Howe Rise, Norfolk Ridge, and New Caledonia, from West Antarctica c. 84 Ma.Significantly, Eve can in the same scene first speak words of theological error that help propel her to her fatal encounter with Satan and then, a bit later, be described by Milton’s narrator as having “faith sincere,” even as Eve’s theological purity appears to have slipped. Moreover, Milton’s narrator explicitly stresses well into her subsequent temptation that Eve is “yet sinless” (99.659). And Milton takes pains not to depict Eve’s unwise decision to depart from Adam as defiance. Rather, the confused and insecure Adam, having warned Eve of Satan’s dangerous presence, actually urges Eve to “Go” in her “native innocence” and “relie” on her own “vertue” (9.373–74). Milton’s narrator describes Eve as “yet submiss” as she departs, telling Adam that she leaves “With thy permission” (99.377–78).

 

At c. 126 Ma (left) the Falkland Plateau began to slide past southern Africa and the Paraná-Etendeka LIP had opened the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At c. 83 Ma (right) the South Atlantic was fully opened and the Romanche Fracture Zone was forming near the Equator. The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean divided West Gondwana (South America and Africa), but there is a considerable debate over the exact timing of this break-up. Rifting propagated from south to north along Triassic–Early Jurassic lineaments, but intra-continental rifts also began to develop within both continents in Jurassic–Cretaceous sedimentary basins; subdividing each continent into three sub-plates. Rifting began c. 190 Ma at Falkland latitudes, forcing Patagonia to move relative to the still static remainder of South America and Africa, and this westward movement lasted until the Early Cretaceous 126.7 Ma. From there rifting propagated northward during the Late Jurassic c. 150 Ma or Early Cretaceous c. 140 Ma most likely forcing dextral movements between sub-plates on either side. South of the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise the Paraná and Etendeka magmatics resulted in further ocean-floor spreading c. 130 to 135 Ma and the development of rifts systems on both continents, including the Central African Rift System and the Central African Shear Zone which lasted until c. 85 Ma. At Brazilian latitudes spreading is more difficult to assess because of the lack of palaeo-magnetic data, but rifting occurred in Nigeria at the Benue Trough c. 118 Ma. North of the Equator the rifting began after 120.4 Ma and continued until c. 100 to 96 Ma.[41]

 

In the Early Cenozoic Australia was still connected to Antarctica c. 35–40° south of its current location and both continents were largely unglaciated. A rift between the two developed but remained an embayment until the Eocene-Oligocene boundary when the Circumpolar Current developed and the glaciation of Antarctica began.

 

Australia was warm and wet during the Palaeocene and dominated by rainforest. The opening of the Tasman Gateway at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary (33 Ma) resulted in abrupt cooling but the Oligocene became a period of high rainfall with swamps in southeast Australia.

 

The Tasman Gateway between Australia and Antarctica began to open c. 40 to 30 Ma. Palaeontological evidences indicate the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) was established in the Late Oligocene c. 23 Ma with the full opening of the Drake Passage and the deepening of the Tasman Gateway. The oldest oceanic crust in the Drake Passage, however, is 34 to 29 Ma-old which indicates spreading between the Antarctic and South American plates began near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.[50] Deep sea environments in Tierra del Fuego and the North Scotia Ridge during the Eocene and Oligocene indicate a "Proto-ACC" opened opened during this period. Later, 26 to 14 Ma, a series of events severally restricted the Proto-ACC: change to shallow marine conditions along the North Scotia Ridge; closure of the Fuegan Seaway, the deep sea that existed in Tierra del Fuego; and uplift of the Patagonian Cordillera. This, together with the reactivated Iceland plume, contributed to global warming. During the Miocene, the Drake Passage began to widen and as water flow between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula increased, the renewed ACC resulted in cooler global climate.

 

Since the Eocene the northward movement of the Australian Plate has resulted in an arc-continent collision with the Philippine and Caroline plates and the uplift of the New Guinea Highlands. From the Oligocene to the late Miocene, the climate in Australia, dominated by warm and humid rainforests before this collision, began to alternate between open forest and rainforest before the continent became the arid or semiarid landscape it is today. The closure of the Rheic Ocean and the formation of Pangaea in the Carboniferous resulted in the rerouting of ocean currents which initiated an Ice House period. As Gondwana began to rotate clockwise, Australia shifted south to more temperate latitudes. An ice cap initially covered most of southern Africa and South America but began to spread to eventually cover most of the supercontinent, save for northern-most Africa-South America and eastern Australia. Giant lycopod and horsetail forests continued to evolve in tropical Laurasia together with a diversified assemblage of true insects. In Gondwana, in contrast, ice and, in Australia, volcanism decimated the Devonian flora to a low-diversity seed fern flora – the pteridophytes were increasingly replaced by the gymnosperms which were to dominate until the Mid-Cretaceous. Australia, however, was still located near the Equator during the Early Carboniferous and during this period temnospondyl and lepospondyl amphibians and the first amniote reptilians evolved, all closely related to the Laurasian fauna, but spreading ice eventually drove these animals away from Gondwana entirely.

 

During the Mid- to Late Triassic Hot House condition coincided with a peak in biodiversity — the end-Permian extinction was huge and so was the radiation that followed. Two families of conifers, Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae, dominated Gondwana in the Early Triassic, but Dicroidium, an extinct genus of fork-leaved seed ferns, dominated woodlands and forests of Gondwana during most of the Triassic. Conifers evolved and radiated during the period with six of eight extant families already present before the end of it. Bennettitales and Pentoxylales, two now extinct orders of gymnospermous plants, evolved in the Late Triassic and became important in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. It is possible that gymnosperm biodiversity surpassed later angiosperm biodiversity and that the evolution of angiosperms began during the Triassic but, if so, in Laurasia rather than in Gondwana. Two Gondwanan classes, lycophytes and sphenophytes, saw a gradual decline during the Triassic while ferns, though never dominant, managed to diversify.Nonetheless, Eve continues to listen to Satan’s relentless appeals. As Stanley Fish (2015) has recently argued, “even before she hears Satan’s argument,” Eve should ask, “What part of ‘Ye shall not eat’ (PL 9.662) don’t you understand”? (“Milton” 7). But failing to do so, she is quickly overwhelmed by Satan’s subsequent impassioned speech, a speech that derides God’s injustice, extols the Tree’s wondrous power, and implores Eve—whom Satan calls “Queen of this Universe” (684)—of her need to eat the Tree’s fruit (679–732). The serpent’s rhetorical power—grounded in his insincere claim that his ability to speak came from the fruit, of which he says he ate without dying—combined with Eve’s physical hunger and the assault on her senses caused by the beautiful, delicious-smelling fruit, conspire against her previous adherence to God’s command.

  

The Cretaceous saw the arrival of the angiosperms, or flowering plants, a group that probably evolved in western Gondwana (South America-Africa). From there the angiosperms diversified in two stages: the monocots and magnoliids evolved in the Early Cretaceous followed by the hammamelid dicots. By the Mid-Cretaceous angiosperms constituted half of the flora in northeastern Australia. There is, however, no obvious connection between this spectacular angiosperm radiation and an extinction event nor vertebrate/insect evolution. Insect orders associated with pollination, such as beetles, flies, butterflies and moths, and wasps, bees, and ants, radiated continuously from the Permian-Triassic long before the arrival of the angiosperms. Well-preserved insect fossils have been found in the lake deposits of the Santana Formation in Brazil, the Koonwarra Lake fauna in Australia, and the Orapa diamond mine in Botswana. Dinosaurs continued to prosper but, as the angiosperm diversified, conifers, bennettitaleans and pentoxylaleans disappeared from Gondwana c. 115 Ma together with the specialised herbivorous ornithischians whilst generalist browsers such as several families of sauropodomorph Saurischia prevailed. The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event killed off all dinosaurs except birds, but plant evolution in Gondwana was hardly affected by the event. Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of non-therian mammals with a Gondwanan distribution (South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, and Antarctica) during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene.[65] Xenarthra and Afrotheria, two placental clades, are of Gondwanan origin and probably began to evolve separately c. 105 Ma when Africa and South America separated.

 

The classic treatments of sincerity in the second half of the twentieth century have not emphasized the word’s older theological meaning. Although both Patricia M. Ball (1964) and Lionel Trilling (1972) note, in Ball’s words, that earlier “implications of sincerity were predominantly religious,” with the word being “used to affirm purity of belief, genuine doctrine, freedom from theological duplicity” (1), both Ball and Trilling stress that the effects of Romanticism and subsequent cultural movements brought the word to mean, as it still does in common parlance, “a congruence between avowal and actual feeling” (Trilling 2).1 As we investigate matters of sincerity in John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667, second edition 1674), we must recognize that for the pre-Romantic Milton, sincerity is foremost a theological concern, and thus, that “feeling,” per se, is not a proper measure of a person’s sincerity; for, as events in Paradise Lost reveal, feelings can fluctuate wildly in the human heart and, if followed, lead characters to disobey God and fall into sin. Milton most certainly recognizes and emphasizes, however, a connection between theological purity and the unfeigned honesty of the individual in question. This connection is evident when Milton’s God the Father, speaking to his Son concerning why human and angelic wills must be free, asks, “Not free, what proof could they have givn sincere / Of true allegiance, constant Faith or Love” (3.103–04)?2 The individual angel or human must make the sincere choice to obey faithfully the true God on his terms, and that character cannot offer the Romantic argument that he or she chose disobedience through “sincere” feelings and actions of dissen...neither Satan’s, Eve’s, nor Adam’s decisions to transgress can be considered “sincere” in terms of either the pre-Romantic understanding of sincerity as theological purity or the largely romantic understanding of sincerity as unfeigned honesty. Rather, each character’s respective fall betrays both impious and self-serving motivations that undercut claims to sincerity proffered by either the characters themselves or their critical defenders.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana

   

Anglerfish specimen @ THE DEEP, ArtScience Museum Singapore

 

Anglerfishes are fish that are members of the teleost order Lophiiformes /ˌlɒfiːəˈfɔrmiːz/. They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a fleshy growth from the fish's head (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure.

 

Anglerfish are also notable for extreme sexual dimorphism seen in the suborder Ceratioidei, and sexual parasitism of male anglerfish. In these species, males may be several orders of magnitude smaller than females.

 

Anglerfish occur worldwide. Some are pelagic, while others are benthic; some live in the deep sea (e.g., Ceratiidae) while others on the continental shelf (e.g., the frogfishes Antennariidae and the monkfish/goosefish Lophiidae). Pelagic forms are most laterally compressed, whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed), often with large upward-pointing mouths.

  

Evolution

 

A mitochondrial genome phylogenetic study suggested the anglerfishes diversified in a short period of the early to mid Cretaceous, between 130 and 100 million years ago.

Ranging in color from dark gray to dark brown, these carnivores have huge heads that bear enormous, crescent-shaped mouths full of long, fang-like teeth angled inward for efficient prey grabbing. Their length can vary from 8.9 cm (3.5 in) to over 1 m (3 ft) with weights up to 45 kg (100 lb).

  

Classification

 

FishBase, Nelson and Pietsch list 18 families, but ITIS lists only 16. The following taxa have been arranged to show their evolutionary relationships.

- Suborder Lophioidei

- Lophiidae (Goosefishes or monkfishes)

- Suborder Antennarioidei

- Antennariidae (Frogfishes)

- Tetrabrachiidae (Four-armed frogfishes)[7]

- Brachionichthyidae (Handfishes)

- Lophichthyidae (Boschma's frogfish)[7]

- Suborder Chaunacoidei

- Chaunacidae (Sea toads)

- Suborder Ogcocephaloidei

- Ogcocephalidae (Batfishes)

- Suborder Ceratioidei

- Centrophrynidae (Prickly seadevils)

- Ceratiidae (Warty seadevils)

- Himantolophidae (Footballfishes)

- Diceratiidae (Doublespine seadevils)

- Melanocetidae (Black seadevils)

- Thaumatichthyidae (Wolf-trap seadevils)

- Oneirodidae (Dreamers)

- Caulophrynidae (Fanfin seadevils)

- Neoceratiidae (Needlebeard seadevil)

- Gigantactinidae (Whipnose seadevils)

- Linophrynidae (Leftvent seadevils)

  

Anatomy

 

"Esca" redirects here. For the grapevine disease, see Esca (grape disease).

 

"illicium (fish anatomy)" redirects here. For the plant genus, see illicium.

 

Most adult female ceratioid anglerfish have a luminescent organ called the esca at the tip of a modified dorsal ray (the illicium, or "fishing rod"). The organ has been hypothesized to serve the obvious purpose of luring prey in dark, deep-sea environments, but also serves to call males' attention to the females to facilitate mating. The source of luminescence is symbiotic bacteria that dwell in and around the esca. In some species, the bacteria recruited to the esca are incapable of luminescence independent of the anglerfish, suggesting they have developed a symbiotic relationship and the bacteria are unable to synthesize all of the chemicals necessary for luminescence. They depend on the fish to make up the difference. Electron microscopy of these bacteria in some species reveals they are Gram-negative rods that lack capsules, spores, or flagella. They have double-layered cell walls and mesosomes.

 

In most species, a wide mouth extends all around the anterior circumference of the head, and bands of inwardly inclined teeth line both jaws. The teeth can be depressed so as to offer no impediment to an object gliding towards the stomach, but prevent its escape from the mouth. The anglerfish is able to distend both its jaw and its stomach, since its bones are thin and flexible, to enormous size, allowing it to swallow prey up to twice as large as its entire body.

  

Behavior

 

Swimming and energy conservation

 

Many anglerfish species are deep-sea dwellers, which poses a challenge to ecologists who hope to study and observe the fish. Anglerfish morphology reflects the value of energy conservation for these organisms which often live in extremely prey-scarce environments.[9] Some researchers suggest this is why many ceratioids minimize their energy use by remaining lethargic and using a lie-and-wait hunting strategy.

 

Anglerfish are particularly well suited to conserve energy because they are able to hunt and forage while remaining lethargic, devoting just 2% of energy intake to swimming.

In one rare ROV observation of an in-situ anglerfish, researchers observed several rapid swimming and avoidance behaviors. In 74% of the video footage, the fish was observed passively drifting. Occasionally, it would also exhibit rapid burst swimming. While drifting, the fish weakly beat its pectoral fins in a behavior known as sculling. The sculling behavior observed is suggested as necessary to keep the fish in a neutral position in the water and to counteract any displacing currents. The bursts of fast swimming typically last less than five seconds. The swimming behavior in this video is similar to that seen in other in-situ footage of a ceratioid anglerfish.

 

Another in-situ observation of three different whipnose anglerfish showed unusual upside-down swimming behavior. Fish were observed floating upside-down completely motionless with the illicium hanging down stiffly in a slight arch in front of the fish. Notably, the illicium was hanging over small visible burrows. The observers suggested this is one effort to entice prey and is another example of low-energy opportunistic foraging and predation. When the ROV approached the fish, they exhibited burst swimming, still upside-down.

  

Predation

 

The name "anglerfish" derives from the species' characteristic method of predation. Anglerfish typically have at least one long filament sprouting from the middle of their heads, termed the illicium. The illicium is the detached and modified first three spines of the anterior dorsal fin. In most anglerfish species, the longest filament is the first. This first spine protrudes above the fish's eyes and terminates in an irregular growth of flesh (the esca), and can move in all directions. Anglerfish can wiggle the esca to make it resemble a prey animal, which lures the anglerfish's prey close enough for the anglerfish to devour them whole. The jaws reflexively shut upon contact to the tentacle.

 

Some deep-sea anglerfish of the bathypelagic zone emit light from their escae to attract prey. This bioluminescence is a result of symbiosis with bacteria. Although the mechanism by which they are harnessed by ceratioids is unknown, the bacteria have been speculated to enter the esca from the seawater through small pores. Once within it, they can multiply until their density is such that their collective glow is very bright.

 

Because anglerfish are opportunistic foragers, they show a range of preferred prey with fish at the extremes of the size spectrum, whilst showing increased selectivity for certain prey. One study examining the stomach contents of threadfin anglerfish off the Pacific coast of Central America found these fish primarily ate two categories of benthic prey: crustaceans and teleost fish. The most frequent prey were pandalid shrimp. Interestingly, 52% of the stomachs examined were empty, supporting the observations that anglerfish are low energy consumers.

  

Reproduction

 

Some anglerfish, like those of the ceratioid group (Ceratiidae, or sea devils), employ an unusual mating method. Because individuals are locally rare, encounters are also very rare. Therefore, finding a mate is problematic. When scientists first started capturing ceratioid anglerfish, they noticed that all of the specimens were female. These individuals were a few centimetres in size and almost all of them had what appeared to be parasites attached to them. It turned out that these "parasites" were highly reduced male ceratioids. This indicates the anglerfish use a polyandrous mating system.

 

In certain ceratioids, parabiotic reproduction is required. Free-living males and non-parasitized females in these species never have fully developed gonads. Thus, males never mature without parasitizing a female and die if they are unable to find one. At birth, male ceratioids are already equipped with extremely well-developed olfactory organs that detect scents in the water. Males of some species also develop large, highly specialized eyes that may aid in identifying mates in dark environments. The male ceratioid lives solely to find and mate with a female. They are significantly smaller than a female anglerfish, and may have trouble finding food in the deep sea. Furthermore, the growth of the alimentary canals of some males becomes stunted, preventing them from feeding. Some taxa have jaws that are never suitable or effective for prey capture. These features necessitate that the male quickly find a female anglerfish to prevent death. The sensitive olfactory organs help the male to detect the pheromones that signal the proximity of a female anglerfish.

  

However, the methods by which anglerfish locate mates are variable. Some species have minute eyes unfit for identifying females visually, while others have underdeveloped nostrils, making it unlikely that they effectively find females using olfaction. When a male finds a female, he bites into her skin, and releases an enzyme that digests the skin of his mouth and her body, fusing the pair down to the blood-vessel level. The male becomes dependent on the female host for survival by receiving nutrients via their shared circulatory system, and provides sperm to the female in return. After fusing, males increase in volume and become much larger relative to free-living males of the species. They live and remain reproductively functional as long as the female lives, and can take part in multiple spawnings. This extreme sexual dimorphism ensures, when the female is ready to spawn, she has a mate immediately available. Multiple males can be incorporated into a single individual female with up to eight males in some species, though some taxa appear to have a "one male per female" rule.

  

Parasitism is not the only method of reproduction in anglerfish. In fact, many families, including Melanocetidae, Himantolophidae, Diceratiidae, and Gigantactinidae, show no evidence of male parasitism. Females in some of these species contain large, developed ovaries and free-living males have large testes, suggesting these sexually mature individuals may spawn during a temporary sexual attachment that does not involve fusion of tissue. Males in these species also have well-toothed jaws that are far more effective in hunting than those seen in parasitic species.

 

Finally, some researchers suggest sexual parasitism may be an optional strategy in some species of anglerfishes. In the Oneirodidae, females have been reported in Leptacanthichthys and Bertella, which were parasitized, and others which were not, but still developed fully functional gonads. One theory suggests the males attach to females regardless of their own reproductive development if the female is not sexually mature, but when both male and female are mature, they will spawn then separate.

 

One explanation for the evolution of sexual parasitism is that the relatively low density of females in deep-sea environments leaves little opportunity for mate choice among anglerfish. Females remain large to accommodate fecundity, as is evidenced by their large ovaries and eggs. Males would be expected to shrink to reduce metabolic costs in resource-poor environments and would develop highly specialized female-finding abilities. If a male manages to find a female, then parasitic attachment is ultimately more likely to improve lifetime fitness relative to free living, particularly when the prospect of finding future mates is poor. An additional advantage to parasitism is that the male’s sperm can be used in multiple fertilizations, as he stays always available to the female for mating. Higher densities of male-female encounters might correlate with species that demonstrate facultative parasitism or simply use a more traditional temporary contact mating.

 

The spawn of the anglerfish of the genus Lophius consists of a thin sheet of transparent gelatinous material 25 cm (10 inches) wide and greater than 10 m (33 feet) long. The eggs in this sheet are in a single layer, each in its own cavity. The spawn is free in the sea. The larvae are free-swimming and have the pelvic fins elongated into filaments. Such an egg sheet is rare among fish.

  

Threats

 

Northwest European Lophius spp. are listed by the ICES as "outside safe biological limits". Additionally, anglerfish are known to occasionally rise to the surface during El Niño, leaving large groups of dead anglerfish floating on the surface.

 

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the American angler (Lophius americanus), the angler (Lophius piscatorius), and the black-bellied angler (Lophius budegassa) to its seafood red list, which is a list of fish commonly sold worldwide which have a very high likelihood of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.

  

Human consumption

 

One family, the Lophiidae, is of commercial interest with fisheries found in north-western Europe, eastern North America, Africa, and East Asia. In Europe and North America, the tail meat of fish of the genus Lophius, known as monkfish or goosefish (North America), is widely used in cooking, and is often compared to lobster tail in taste and texture. In Asia, especially Korea and Japan, monkfish liver, known as ankimo is considered a delicacy.

  

Timeline of genera

 

Anglerfish appeared in some fossil record.

  

[Credit: en.wikipedia.org]

So, they need to diversify it seems. Anything to make money?

Picture A New City Of White Plains Police Department Mobile Command Center Manufactured By LDV Inc. (Lynch Diversified Vehicles) A Lynch Company. I Beleive It Was Delivered To The City Of White Plains New York Police Department During 2019. Photo Taken Sunday September 12, 2021.

  

DSC6230

The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 244 m spire[2]) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building is based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition.

 

Investing all your eggs in one basket

  

I am the designer for 401kcalculator.org. I have put all these images in the public domain and welcome anyone to use them however please credit our site as the source if you do:http://401kcalculator.org

EN: The Labourdonnais’ domain is a historic place in Mauritius that has become, over time, a diversified company with several activities all revolving around its exceptional natural and cultural heritage.

The Labourdonnais’ domain takes its essence from the heart of its castle, a true jewel of Mauritian heritage. Built in 1856, Labourdonnais’ castle was inhabited by a Mauritian family for more than 150 years. The beauty and historical character of this superb colonial house, having always aroused the interest of visitors, led to reflection on its cultural and historical highlighting, as well as the promotion of the superb estate in which it was located.

The Labourdonnais’ castle has undergone major restoration work to restore its former character.

The entire estate, and particularly the Labourdonnais’ castle, are true immersions in the art of living of the 19th century in Mauritius. At the bend of a magnificent avenue of intendances leading to the castle, the visitor is invited to discover a magical and cultural place where history, nature, gastronomy and Mauritian know-how meet.

 

FR: Le Domaine de Labourdonnais est un lieu historique à l’île Maurice devenu, au fil du temps, une entreprise diversifiée avec plusieurs activités gravitant toutes autour de son patrimoine naturel et culturel d’exception.

Le Domaine de Labourdonnais prend son essence au cœur de son Château, véritable fleuron du patrimoine mauricien. Construit en 1856, Le Château de Labourdonnais était habité par une famille mauricienne pendant plus de 150 ans. La beauté et le cachet historique de cette superbe bâtisse coloniale, ayant toujours suscité l’intérêt des visiteurs, a entrainé une réflexion sur sa mise en exergue culturelle et historique, de même que la valorisation du superbe Domaine dans lequel elle était implantée.

Le Château de Labourdonnais a connu d’importants travaux de restauration pour lui redonner son cachet d’antan.

Le Domaine tout entier, et particulièrement Le Château de Labourdonnais, sont de véritables immersions dans l’art de vivre du XIXe siècle à l’île Maurice. Au détour d’une magnifique allée d’Intendances menant au Château, le visiteur est convié à la découverte d’un lieu magique et culturel où se rencontrent l’histoire, la nature, la gastronomie et le savoir-faire mauricien.

 

(source: domainedelabourdonnais.com/)

Scenes from the municipal market in Tucuru, Guatemala.

 

Indigenous women of Guatemala’s Polochic valley are feeding their families, growing their businesses and saving more money than ever before.

 

With the help of a joint UN programme that’s empowering rural women, women's groups in the area have learned to produce shampoo in bigger batches and in different varieties—such as aloe, cacao, avocado and honey—and sell them in local markets.

 

The Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women by FAO, WFP, IFAD and UN Women is working to advance advance gender equality and economic empowerment of women in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda. In Guatemala, the programme started in 2015, with funding from Norway and Sweden, supporting rural women to develop a range of skills, from sustainable agricultural practices to marketing organic shampoo and learning solar engineering. With better knowledge of their own rights and access to skills, credit and income, women participants can make more decisions within their homes and participate in municipal spaces.

 

Read More: www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/7/feature-guatemala-...

 

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

The Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre is a mirror to the growth of our city. As our city has modernised, rejuvenated and diversified so has our principal public learning facility.

 

The new $22 million facility which officially opened on 5 April 2014 is the ultimate piece of civic infrastructure and one which will benefit our community for generations to come.

 

The adaptive reuse of the former Town Hall site has resulted in a 3 level facility comprising:

 

A 5,000sqm state-of-the-art National standard Library, containing amongst other things:

- A dedicated Children's Library area;

- A local history section;

- An outdoor reading area;

- State-of-the-art technology; and

- An iconic floor-to-ceiling 'Green Wall' full of living plants;

300-seat Bryan Brown Theatre;

Publicly available function and conference rooms and exhibition areas; and

A café;

Source: The Council

  

Commissioned by Bankstown City Council and designed by fjmt, the Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre sets a new benchmark in sustainable public building design through the adaptive reuse, salvage, recycling and renovation of the existing Bankstown Town Hall. The development serves to revitalise a dislocated site and create a rich spatial experience for community members and visitors. Sustainable design principles and innovative high performance environmental systems informed all design decisions to create this integrated, flexible, state-of-the-art community hub.

The building offers an integrated, inclusive and flexible series of spaces containing; a new library over three levels, a three-hundred seat theatre, community conference facilities, new cafe and community information wall. Public domain improvements for the redevelopment of Paul Keating Park include: addition of an aquatic sculpture garden, new street trees and off-street parking and an all weather bus drop-off zone. The modernised facilities and surrounding public space encourages visitors to exchange ideas, interact spontaneously and participate in community programmes. The BLaKC is committed to establishing a contemporary shared sense of place within the Bankstown civic precinct.

 

Source FjMT

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto

 

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,731,571 in 2016, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,245,438 people (as of 2016) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) proper had a 2016 population of 6,417,516. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

 

People have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by American troops. York was renamed and incorporated in 1834 as the city of Toronto. It was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through both annexation and amalgamation to its current area of 630.2 km2 (243.3 sq mi).

 

The diverse population of Toronto reflects its current and historical role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. More than 50 percent of residents belong to a visible minority population group, and over 200 distinct ethnic origins are represented among its inhabitants. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, over 160 languages are spoken in the city.

 

Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canada's major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Its varied cultural institutions, which include numerous museums and galleries, festivals and public events, entertainment districts, national historic sites, and sports activities, attract over 43 million tourists each year. Toronto is known for its many skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, the CN Tower.

 

The city is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada's five largest banks, and the headquarters of many large Canadian and multinational corporations. Its economy is highly diversified with strengths in technology, design, financial services, life sciences, education, arts, fashion, aerospace, environmental innovation, food services, and tourism.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_St._James_(Toronto)

 

The Cathedral Church of St. James is an Anglican cathedral in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the church of the oldest congregation in the city, with the parish being established in 1797. The cathedral, with construction beginning in 1850 and opening for services on June 19, 1853, was one of the largest buildings in the city at the time. It was designed by Frederick William Cumberland and is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture.

 

The church building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and it is the episcopal seat of the Anglican Church of Canada's Archbishop of Toronto. Royal St. George's College, on Howland Avenue, is the church's choir school and is open to boys in grades 3 through 12.

Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly educated population, a globally competitive agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Argentina's post-crisis move to a more flexible exchange rate regime, along with sustained global and regional growth, a boost in domestic aggregate demand via monetary, fiscal, and income distribution policies, and favorable international commodity prices and interest rate trends were catalytic factors in supporting renewed growth between 2003 and 2007. The economic resurgence also enabled the government to accumulate substantial official reserves (over $44.9 billion as of late Augus

t 2009) to help insulate the economy from external shocks. A higher tax burden, improved tax collection efforts, and the recovery's strong impact on tax revenues supported the government's successful efforts to maintain primary fiscal surpluses since 2003.

 

Global financial turmoil and rapid declines in world commodity prices and economic growth during 2008 and 2009 brought Argentina's rapid rate of economic expansion to an end. In 2009, Argentina has experienced a deterioration of both domestic and international demand, complicating the fiscal situations of both the federal government and the provinces. The global economy’s recovery could ameliorate those pressures.

 

from: www.traveldocs.com/ar/economy.htm

Indigenous women of Guatemala’s Polochic valley are feeding their families, growing their businesses and saving more money than ever before, with the help of a joint UN programme that’s empowering rural women.

 

Pictured: Women from Aldea Campur, in Alta Verapaz, make, market and package their own shampoo, earning extra income for themselves and for their families.

 

“For 1 litre of shampoo, we can get 30 Quetzals,” said Carlotta Sam Pac. “We maintain an accounting book, where we register (each individual group member’s) income, spending and balance. We are saving to have more capital and to produce more shampoo. I used to sell shampoo only within the community. Now we can make better products and sell them in Tucurú and other markets.”

 

The Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women by FAO, WFP, IFAD and UN Women is working to advance advance gender equality and economic empowerment of women in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda. In Guatemala, the programme started in 2015, with funding from Norway and Sweden, supporting rural women to develop a range of skills, from sustainable agricultural practices to marketing organic shampoo and learning solar engineering. With better knowledge of their own rights and access to skills, credit and income, women participants can make more decisions within their homes and participate in municipal spaces.

 

Read More: www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/7/feature-guatemala-...

 

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Scenes from the municipal market in Tucuru, Guatemala.

 

Indigenous women of Guatemala’s Polochic valley are feeding their families, growing their businesses and saving more money than ever before.

 

With the help of a joint UN programme that’s empowering rural women, women's groups in the area have learned to produce shampoo in bigger batches and in different varieties—such as aloe, cacao, avocado and honey—and sell them in local markets.

 

The Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women by FAO, WFP, IFAD and UN Women is working to advance advance gender equality and economic empowerment of women in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda. In Guatemala, the programme started in 2015, with funding from Norway and Sweden, supporting rural women to develop a range of skills, from sustainable agricultural practices to marketing organic shampoo and learning solar engineering. With better knowledge of their own rights and access to skills, credit and income, women participants can make more decisions within their homes and participate in municipal spaces.

 

Read More: www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/7/feature-guatemala-...

 

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

FR :

J'ai revu en profondeur, la soute de fret/de débarquement. J'ai maximisé les détails. J'ai également revu les véhicules de la soute, pour les diversifier.

les 4 véhicules :

1/- Le Space Scooter, grand standard du Classic Space

2/- Le Space Buggy, un tout petit peu différent, et grand standard du Classic Space

3/- Un Heavy Space Buggy avec :

[*] - Mini Parabole de communication

[*] - Caméra

[*] - Capteurs frontaux

[*] - Trousse à outils rouge entre les 2 sièges

[*] - 2 Panneaux de contrôle / d'informations de données

[*] - 2 Sièges en brick build

[*] - Bras articulé à l'arrière

[*] - 2 outils capteurs à main

[*] - 1 conteneur pour mettre des roches

[*] - 1 talkie walkie

[*] - Panneau de contrôle du bras articulé

[*] - Calculateur de charge du bras articulé

[*] - Juge de pression du bras articulé

[*] - 2 extincteurs

[*] - 1 petit outil de réparation entre le bras et les extincteurs

 

4/- Le Space Buggy avec sa remorque composée de :

[*] - 2 bonhommes d'air (airtank)

[*] - 2 sacs

[*] - 1 caméra

[*] - 1 paire de jumelle

[*] - 2 outils capteurs à main

[*] - 1 réacteur dorsal (il se voit mal, car entre les bonbonnes d'air et les sac, et les antennes repliées)

[*] - 1 sac à dos noir (incrusté entre les 2 sacs gris, et légèrement décalé en dessous)

C'est bon, je crois que je suis paré pour l'exploration Lunaire ! :)

 

===============================

EN :

I thoroughly reviewed the cargo / disembarkation hold. I maximized the details. I also reviewed the vehicles in the hold, to diversify them.

The 4 vehicles:

 

1/- The Space Scooter, great standard of Classic Space

2/- The Space Buggy, a little different, and standard of the Classic Space

3/- A Heavy Space Buggy with:

[*] - Mini communication dish

[*] - Camera

[*] - Front sensors

[*] - Red tool kit between the 2 seats

[*] - 2 Control / data information panels

[*] - 2 seats-brick build

[*] - Articulated arm at the rear

[*] - 2 hand sensor tools

[*] - 1 container to put rocks

[*] - 1 Talkie walkie

[*] - Control panel of the articulated arm

[*] - Articulated arm load calculator

[*] - Articulated arm pressure judge

[*] - 2 fire extinguishers

[*] - 1 small repair tool between the arm and the extinguishers

 

4/ - The Space Buggy with its trailer composed of:

[*] - 2 airtanks

[*] - 2 bags

[*] - 1 camera

[*] - 1 pair of binoculars

[*] - 2 hand sensor tools

[*] - 1 dorsal reactor (it is difficult to see itself, because between the airtanks and the bags, and the antennas folded up)

[*] - 1 black backpack (inlaid between the 2 gray bags, and slightly offset below)

It's okay, I think I'm ready for Lunar exploration ! :)

Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. The borough was merged into the new Westmorland and Furness district in 2023. At the tip of the Furness peninsula, close to the Lake District, it is bordered by Morecambe Bay, the Duddon Estuary and the Irish Sea. In 2021, Barrow's population was 55,489, making it the second largest urban area in Cumbria after Carlisle, and the largest in the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority.

 

Natives of Barrow, as well as the local dialect, are known as Barrovian. In the Middle Ages, Barrow was a small hamlet within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness with Furness Abbey, now on the outskirts of the town, controlling the local economy before its dissolution in 1537. The iron prospector Henry Schneider arrived in Furness in 1839 and, with other investors, opened the Furness Railway in 1846 to transport iron ore and slate from local mines to the coast. Further hematite deposits were discovered, of sufficient size to develop factories for smelting and exporting steel. For a period in the late 19th century, the Barrow Hematite Steel Company-owned steelworks was the world's largest.

 

Barrow's location and the availability of steel allowed the town to develop into a significant producer of naval vessels, a shift that was accelerated during World War I and the local yard's specialisation in submarines. The original iron- and steel-making enterprises closed down after World War II, leaving Vickers shipyard as Barrow's main industry and employer. Several Royal Navy flagships, the vast majority of its nuclear submarines as well as numerous other naval vessels, ocean liners and oil tankers have been manufactured at the facility.

 

The end of the Cold War and subsequent decrease in military spending saw high unemployment in the town through lack of contracts; despite this, the BAE Systems shipyard remains operational as the UK's largest by workforce (12,000 employees in 2024) and is now undergoing a major expansion associated with the Dreadnought-class submarine programme. Furthermore, in 2023 it was announced that a new class of nuclear submarine, associated with the trilateral AUKUS military alliance, will be designed and principally constructed in Barrow.

 

Today Barrow is also a hub for energy generation and handling. Offshore wind farms form one of the highest concentrations of turbines in the world, including the second largest offshore farm, with multiple operating bases in Barrow.

 

Barrow and the surrounding area has been settled non-continuously for several millennia with evidence of Neolithic inhabitants on Walney Island. Despite a rich history of Roman settlement across Cumbria and the discovery of related artefacts in the Barrow area, no buildings or structures have been found to support the idea of a functioning Roman community on the Furness peninsula. The Furness Hoard discovery of Viking silver coins and other artefacts in 2011 provided significant archaeological evidence of Norse settlement in the early 9th century. Several areas of Barrow including Yarlside and Ormsgill, as well as "Barrow" and "Furness", have names of Old Norse origin. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the settlements of Hietun, Rosse and Hougenai, which are now the districts of Hawcoat, Roose and Walney respectively.

 

In the Middle Ages the Furness peninsula was controlled by the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of St Mary of Furness, known as Furness Abbey. This was in the "Vale of Nightshade", now on the outskirts of the town. Founded for the Savigniac order, it was built on the orders of King Stephen in 1123. Soon after the abbey's foundation the monks discovered iron ore deposits, later to provide the basis for the Furness economy. These thin strata, close to the surface, were extracted through open cut workings, which were then smelted by the monks. The proceeds from mining, along with agriculture and fisheries, meant that by the 15th century the abbey had become the second richest and most powerful Cistercian abbey in England, after Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. The monks of Furness Abbey constructed a wooden tower on nearby Piel Island in 1212 which acted as their main trading point; it was twice invaded by the Scots, in 1316 and 1322. In 1327 King Edward III gave Furness Abbey a licence to crenellate the tower, and a motte-and-bailey castle was built. However Barrow itself was just a hamlet in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, reliant on the land and sea for survival. Small quantities of iron and ore were exported from jetties on the channel separating the village from Walney Island. Amongst the oldest buildings in Barrow are several cottages and farmhouses in Newbarns which date back to the early 17th century; as well as Rampside Hall, a Grade I listed building and the best-preserved in the town from the 1600s. Even as late as 1843 there were still only 32 dwellings, including two pubs.

 

In 1839 Henry Schneider arrived as a young speculator and dealer in iron, and he discovered large deposits of haematite in 1850. He and other investors founded the Furness Railway, the first section of which opened in 1846, to transport the ore from the slate quarries at Kirkby-in-Furness and haematite mines at Lindal-in-Furness and Askam and Ireleth to a deep-water harbour near Roa Island. The crucial and difficult link across Morecambe Bay between Ulverston and Carnforth on the main line was promoted, as the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, by a group led by John Brogden and opened in 1857. It was promptly purchased by the Furness Railway.

 

The docks built between 1863 and 1881 in the more sheltered channel between the mainland and Barrow Island replaced the port at Roa Island. The first dock to open was Devonshire Dock in 1867, and Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone stated his belief that "Barrow would become another Liverpool". The increasing quantities of iron ore mined in Furness were then brought into the centre of Barrow to be transported by sea.

 

The investors in the burgeoning mining and railway industries decided that greater profits could be made by smelting the iron ore and converting the resultant pig-iron into steel, and then exporting the finished product. Schneider and James Ramsden, the railway's general manager, erected blast furnaces at Barrow that by 1876 formed the largest steelworks in the world. Its success was a result of the availability of local iron ore and coal from the Cumberland mines and easy rail and sea transport. The Furness Railway, which counted local aristocrats the 7th Duke of Devonshire and the Duke of Buccleuch as investors, kick-started the Industrial Revolution on the peninsula. The railway brought mined ore to the town, where the steelworks produced large quantities of steel. It was used for shipbuilding, and derived products such as rails were also exported from the newly built docks.

 

Barrow's population grew rapidly. Population figures for the town itself were not collected until 1871, though sources suggest that Barrow's population was still as low as 700 in 1851. During the first half of the 19th century, Barrow formed part of the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, the population of which shows some of Barrow's early growth from the 1850s:

 

In 1871 Barrow's population was recorded at 18,584 and in 1881 at 47,259, less than forty years after the railway was built. The majority of migrants originated from elsewhere in Lancashire although significant numbers settled in Barrow from Ireland and Scotland, which represented 11% and 7% of the local population in the 1890s. By the turn of the 20th century, the Scottish-born population had increased to form the highest portion anywhere in England. Other notable immigrant groups included Cornish people who represented 80% of the district of Roose's population at the time of the 1881 census. In an attempt to diversify Barrow's economy James Ramsden founded the Barrow and Calcutta Jute Company in 1870 and the Barrow Jute Works was soon constructed alongside the Furness Railway line in Hindpool. The mill employed 2,000 women at its peak and was awarded a gold medal for its produce at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle.

 

The sheltered strait between Barrow and Walney Island was an ideal location for the shipyard. The first ship to be built, the Jane Roper, was launched in 1852; the first steamship, a 3,000-ton liner named Duke of Devonshire, in 1873. Shipbuilding activity increased, and on 18 February 1871 the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was incorporated. Barrow's relative isolation from the United Kingdom's industrial heartlands meant that the newly formed company included several capabilities that would usually be subcontracted to other establishments. In particular, a large engineering works was constructed including a foundry and pattern shop, a forge, and an engine shop. In addition, the shipyard had a joiners' shop, a boat-building shed and a sailmaking and rigging loft.

 

During these boom years, Ramsden proposed building a planned town to accommodate the large workforce which had arrived. There are few planned towns in the United Kingdom, and Barrow is one of the oldest. Its centre contains a grid of well-built terraced houses, with a tree-lined road leading away from a central square. Ramsden later became the first mayor of Barrow,[27] which was given municipal borough status in 1867, and county borough status in 1889. The imposing red sandstone town hall, designed by W.H. Lynn, was built in a neo-gothic style in 1887. Prior to this, the borough council had met at the railway headquarters: the railway company's control of industry extended to the administration of the town itself.

 

The Barrow Shipbuilding Company was taken over by the Sheffield steel firm of Vickers in 1897, by which time the shipyard had surpassed the railway and steelworks as the largest employer and landowner in Barrow. The company constructed Vickerstown, modelled on George Cadbury's Bournville, on the adjacent Walney Island in the early 20th century to house its employees. It also commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design Abbey House as a guest house and residence for its managing director, Commander Craven.

 

By the 1890s the shipyard was heavily engaged in the construction of warships for the Royal Navy and also for export. The Royal Navy's first submarine, Holland 1, was built in 1901, and by 1914 the UK had the most advanced submarine fleet in the world, with 94% of it constructed by Vickers. Vickers was also famous for the construction of airships and airship hangars during the early 20th century. Originally constructed in a large shed at Cavendish Dock, production later relocated to Barrow/Walney Island Airport. HMA No. 1, nicknamed the Mayfly is the most notable airship to have been built in Barrow. The first of its kind in the UK it came to an untimely end on 24 September 1911 when it was wrecked by wind during trials. Well-known ships built in Barrow include Mikasa, the Japanese flagship during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the liner SS Oriana and the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMAS Melbourne. It should also be noted that there was a significant presence of Vickers' armament division in Barrow with the huge Heavy Engineering Workshop on Michaelson Road supplying ammunition for the British Army and Royal Navy throughout both world wars. World War 1 brought significant temporary migration as workers arrived to work in the munitions factory and shipyard, with the town's population reaching to an estimated peak of around 82,000 during the War. Thousands of local men fought abroad during World War I, 616 were ultimately killed in action.

 

During World War II, Barrow was a target for the German air force looking to disable the town's shipbuilding capabilities (see Barrow Blitz). The town suffered the most in a short period between April and May 1941. During the war, a local housewife, Nella Last, was selected to write a diary of her experiences on the home front for the Mass-Observation project. Her memoirs were later adapted for television as Housewife, 49 starring Victoria Wood. The difficulty in targeting bombs meant that the shipyards and steelworks were often missed, at the expense of the residential areas. Ultimately, 83 people were killed and 11,000 houses in the area were left damaged. To escape the heaviest bombardments, many people in the central areas left the town to sleep in hedgerows, with some being permanently evacuated. Barrow's industry continued to supply the war effort, with Winston Churchill visiting the town on one occasion to launch the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable. Besides the dozens of civilians killed during World War II, some 268 Barrovian men were also killed whilst in combat.

 

Barrow's population reached a second peak in of 77,900 in 1951; however, by this point the long decline of mining and steel-making as a result of overseas competition and dwindling resources had already begun. The Barrow ironworks closed in 1963, three years after the last Furness mine shut. The by then small steelworks followed suit in 1983, leaving Barrow's shipyard as the town's principal industry. From the 1960s onwards it concentrated its efforts in submarine manufacture, and the UK's first nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Dreadnought, was constructed in 1960. HMS Resolution, the Swiftsure, Trafalgar and Vanguard-class submarines all followed. The last of these are armed with Trident II missiles as part of the British government's Trident nuclear programme.

 

The end of the Cold War in 1991 marked a reduction in the demand for military ships and submarines, and the town continued its decline. The shipyard's dependency on military contracts at the expense of civilian and commercial engineering and shipbuilding meant it was particularly hard hit as government defence spending was reduced dramatically. As a result, the workforce shrank from 14,500 in 1990 to 5,800 in February 1995, with overall unemployment in the town rising over that period from 4.6% to 10%. The rejection by the VSEL management of detailed plans for Barrow's industrial renewal in the mid-to-late 1980s remains controversial. This has led to renewed academic attention in recent years to the possibilities of converting military-industrial production in declining shipbuilding areas to the offshore renewable energy sector.

 

In a 2002 outbreak of legionellosis in the town, 172 people were reported to have caught the disease, of whom seven died. This made it the fourth worst outbreak in the world in terms of number of cases and sixth worst in terms of deaths. The source of the bacteria was later found to be steam from a badly maintained air conditioning unit in the council-run arts centre Forum 28.

 

At the conclusion of the inquest into the seven deaths, the coroner for Furness and South Cumbria criticised the council for its health and safety failings. In 2006, council employee Gillian Beckingham and employer Barrow Borough Council were cleared of seven charges of manslaughter. Beckingham, the council senior architect was fined £15,000 and the authority £125,000. Following the trials the contractor responsible for maintaining the plant settled a £1.5 million claim by the council for damages. The borough council was the first public body in the country to face corporate manslaughter charges.

 

2006 saw the construction of Barrow Offshore Wind Farm, which has acted as a catalyst for further investment in offshore renewable energy. Ormonde Wind Farm and Walney Wind Farm followed in 2011, the latter of which became the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The three wind farms are located west of Walney Island and are operated primarily by Ørsted (company), contain a total of 162 turbines and have a combined nameplate capacity of 607 MW, providing energy for well over half a million homes. West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm was commissioned in 2014 while Walney was extended in 2018 to again become the world's largest such offshore facility.

 

During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barrow had the highest rate of infection of any local authority in the United Kingdom. This was attributed to various socio-economic factors and a high level of testing also seen in the neighbouring authorities of South Lakeland and Lancaster. Rates fluctuated throughout the year and towards the end of 2020 infection rates were amongst the lowest in country.

 

From the mid 2010's to present, significant investment has taken place at BAE Systems' shipyard in Barrow with an expansion to accommodate the new Dreadnought-class programme. Further to this, commitments associated with the AUKUS submarine programme will safeguard the shipyard's long-term future. Significant investment in renewable energy is also taking place with emerging proposals to repurpose Rampside Gas Terminals to facilitate the storage of carbon in the depleted Morecambe gas fields.

 

In 2023 media reported that Barrow was "torn apart" by false grooming gang allegations, with public demonstrations targeting the local newspaper, the Asian community and police. The scandal was the subject of the 2024 BBC documentary Liar: The Fake Grooming Scandal and the perpetrator Eleanor Williams was duly convicted and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

A couple of years after deregulation, Islwyn Borough Transport diversified into coaching. The initial livery was maroon and cream, but a more contemporary livery was soon adopted. NIB 3264 is a Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen, acquired from Lightfoot of Widnes in 1989. It was originally registered B289 AMG and had been new as a Leyland demonstrator in 1984.

Gestionamos nuestra cadena de valor con el objetivo de alcanzar un crecimiento rentable, diversificado y sostenible.

 

Más info en:

www.repsol.com/es_es/corporacion/conocer-repsol/nuestra-a...

 

We manage our supply chain with the aim of achieving profitable, diversified and sustainable growth.

 

More info at:

www.repsol.com/es_es/corporacion/conocer-repsol/nuestra-a ...

SALEM, Ore. – Husband and wife duo Chris and Elizabeth Miller believe that diversifying their farm is the key to success. That’s why their certified organic farm, Minto Island Growers, includes a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) component, in addition to a farm stand, food truck, and service at the Salem Saturday Market. The farm has been in the family since the 1970s. Since 2010, Chris and Elizabeth have worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to obtain financial incentives and conservation assistance to help them maximize the potential of their organic operation. With funding from the NRCS organic initiative, the Miller’s have upgraded their irrigation equipment to save energy and labor costs; installed a seasonal high tunnel to expand the crop production season; planted cover crops, and more. NRCS photos by Tracy Robillard.

after heavy rain, sunset is diversified

Further diversifying the Bank Holiday selection up Mansfield Road was Stagecoach, who ended up providing three buses in relatively quick succession. The first of these was Pronto MMC 10973, off on an adventure to Chesterfield and seen passing through Carrington on 2.5.22

Intragroup transfers, intragroup diversification and their risk assessment. Haier, Molchanov, Schmutz arxiv.org/abs/1511.06320 #q-fin

The effect of the Chicxulub asteroidal impact on our world was like the Blues Bros tribute to throwing rubber biscuits at walls. "If it don't bounce back, you go hungry, boww - boww - boww."

 

And if your species was not small, non-specialized and widespread, you go extinct. Beneath the globe-spanning iridium-bearing clay layer is 186 million years worth of dinosaurian reign. Above the thin white line is 66 million years of animal, mammalian, avian and insecta diversification. Former Cretaceous-Tertiary or KT boundary has been renamed K-Pg for Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.

 

The KT boundary panel from southern Alberta, Canada on display in the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The clay boundary line from the day the world collapsed has become our planet's most compelling message of unpredictable and unstoppable catastrophe. The KT impact layer is the latest and, by far, the most visible marker out of the ten known global scale mass extinctions found in Earth's rock record.

 

Here's a link to my pix of the much older Sudbury impact event

www.flickr.com/photos/31856336@N03/8031545102/

 

Clydeside Scottish tried to diversify into coach tours helped by the late Robert Greives who was very enthusiastic, and spent many nights putting on presentations for church groups, community events and anywhere else he could get an audience. This is a tour that he organised to the Isle of Mull, and we see 407CLT (B407OSB) following the coast road, whilst in the background we see a ferry of CalMac heading back to Oban Pier. The coach is a Dennis Dorchester / Plaxton Paramount 3500 C55F.

Doig's were originally a coal merchants in Greenock who diversified into coaches. As the selling of coal was seasonal another business was sought to bring in money during the lean summer months.

The company was purchased by leading Glasgow independent MacDowall's and became a subsidiary. MacDowall's claim to fame was as the first Scottish Independent to buy a new Leyland Leopard.

On the death of Mr MacDowall in the early 1960's the Doig's subsidiary was offered for sale as a going concern and was bought by a haulage company by name of S&J Harris, who incidently owned one coach themselves.

The MacDowell family tried to reconstitute the company from their offices in Renfield Street in Glasgow but decided to sell out completely after an offer from S&J Harris to purchase the rest of the business, so all coaches were branded under the title of Doig's Tours (Greenock) Limited, which always seemed strange as the largest part of the company was based in Glasgow.

191HGD was a Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R / Duple (Northern) Alpine Continental C47F purchased new by S&J Harris in 1963 and was almost derelict in 1980 at the Doig's Garage based in Millerston Street in Glasgow, but it was rebuilt to serve as the company tow wagon.

THE AGE OF FLOWERING PLANTS

 

ANGIOSPERM means "seed borne in vessel," while GYMNOSPERM means "naked seed," a reference to the lack of protective structure enveloping the seed. One reason that flowering plants were able to diversify so dramatically and spread during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, or MODERN, the era was the evolution of new structures and tissues such as the carpel, a womb-like vessel that encloses angiosperm seeds and endosperm, a placenta-like tissue that nourishes the young plant as it develop within the seed, Today, angiosperm dominate terrestrial life on the planet. At an estimated 422,000 species, they compose by far the largest group of plants. They grow in greater range of environments, exhibits a wider range of growth habits, and display more variation in form than any living group of plants. In size, angiosperm range from tiny duckweed to eucaplytuses more than 330 ft (100 m) tall.

 

The explosion of angiosperm diversity has gone hand in hand with the proliferation of INSECTS, BIRDS, and OTHER ANIMALS that pollinate their flowers, disperse their fruits and seeds, and eat their leaves.

 

THE ULTIMATE VISUAL REFERENCE TO PLANTS AND FLOWERS OF THE WORLD - Janet Marinelli, Ed-in-Chief

 

Mindanao Tourist Destinations Local/Travel Website and Angelique Ross Kaamiño/TravelEscapade TRAVEL Leisure Cebu/CdO/Butuan

 

FEATURED LINK-

Family Home Stamp Size Garden; Roadside Ornamental Plants, Flowers, Trees and Skyline views and Nature Garden over Barangay 17- Pareja Subdv., Imadejas, Estacio and Luz Village, Butuan City . .

 

STAMP SIZE ROADSIDE GARDEN@ 2nd. St. Pareja, Subdv., Butuan City. -wilfredosrb/photography&Story

 

Mindanao Tourist Destinations created an event.

June 28, 2012 ·

Let us help promote Mindanao Tourism

July 31, 2012

PHOTO TRAVEL- wilfredosrb

I've never managed to take a usable shot of an ant before,until now! I've always been fascinated by these little creatures. I marvel at how well their society is structured (It is better organized than ours I feel!)

  

Ants

 

Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the Cretaceous period, about 140 million years ago, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants.

 

More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified.

 

They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.

 

Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals.

 

Larger colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups.

 

Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" (aner) and one or more fertile females called "queens" (gynes).

 

The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.

 

Ants have colonized almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in most ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass.[11] Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their social organization and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships.

 

Ant societies have a division of labor, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems.

 

These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study. Many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication, and rituals. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents.

 

Their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings.

 

Some species, such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis Invicta), are regarded as invasive species, establishing themselves in areas where they have been introduced accidentally.

 

Link -

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant

I think that goats (Capra aegagrus hircus), are among the animals with the most diversified and expressive faces.

Each one has its own unique facial characteristics and expression.

 

Iceland[4][5] i/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]; see Names for Iceland), officially called Republic of Iceland[6][7][8] and sometimes its counterpart Lýðveldið Ísland in Icelandic (for example this is a part of the name of the Constitution of Iceland, Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands), is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.[9] The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi).[10] The capital and largest city is Reykjavík,[11] with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.

According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island.[12] Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (serfs) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Aid brought prosperity in the years after World War II. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.

Iceland has a free market economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries,[13] while maintaining a Nordic welfare system providing universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens.[14] In recent years, Iceland has been one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. In 2011, it was ranked as the 14th most developed country in the world by the United Nations' Human Development Index,[3] and the fourth most productive country per capita.[15] In 2008, the nation's entire banking system systemically failed and there was substantial resulting political unrest.

Icelandic culture is founded upon the nation's Norse heritage. Most Icelanders are descendants of Norse (particularly from Western Norway) and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is closely related to Faroese and some West Norwegian dialects. The country's cultural heritage includes traditional Icelandic cuisine, poetry, and the medieval Icelanders' sagas. Currently, Iceland has the smallest population among NATO members and is the only one with no standing army.

 

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS

Focal Length: 40mm

Aperture: f/22.0

Shutter Speed : 10 seconds

ISO : 50

Exposure: Manual

Diversifying the DIB: Small Business National Security Showcase June 16, 2022.

Trip to Alaska. Start Point: Vancouver, Canada. Jun/2016

 

Vancouver, is the most populous city in the Canadian provinceof British Columbia.

The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality.[1] The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country, the second largest city on the United States–Canada border, and the most populous in Western Canada. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English.Vancouver is classed as aBeta global city. The City of Vancouver encompasses a land area of about 114 square km, giving it a population density of about 5,249 people per square km (13,590 per square mi).

The original settlement, named Gastown, grew up on clearcuts on the west edge of the Hastings Mill logging sawmill's property, where a makeshift tavern had been set up on a plank between two stumps and the proprietor, Gassy Jack, persuaded the curious millworkers to build him a tavern, on 1 July 1867. From that first enterprise, other stores and some hotels quickly appeared along the waterfront to the west. Gastown became formally laid out as a registered townsite dubbed Granville, B.I. ("B.I" standing for "Burrard Inlet"). As part of the land and political deal whereby the area of the townsite was made the railhead of the CPR, it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated shortly thereafter as a city, in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and Europe. As of 2014, Port Metro Vancouver is the third largest port by tonnage in the Americas (displacing New York), 27th in the world,[9] the busiest and largest in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Greater Vancouver and nearby areas into one of the largest film production centres in North America, earning it the film industry nickname, Hollywood North.

Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life, and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world's most liveable cities for five consecutive years.Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, UN Habitat I, Expo 86, the World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009; and the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics which were held in Vancouver and Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city. In 2014, following thirty years in California, the annual TED conference made Vancouver its indefinite home. Several matches of the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup were played in Vancouver, including the final at BC Place Stadium.

Source: Wikipedia

 

Vancouver, é uma cidade litorânea localizada na Lower Mainland da Colúmbia Britânica, no Canadá. O nome da cidade vem do capitão britânico George Vancouver, que explorou a área na década de 1790. O nome "Vancouver" origina-se do holandês "van Coevorden", denotando alguém de Coevorden, uma cidade nos Países Baixos.

Vancouver é a maior área metropolitana no Oeste do Canadá e ocupa a posição de terceira maior do país e de oitava maior cidade propriamente dita. Segundo o censo de 2011, Vancouver tinha uma população de pouco mais de 603.502 habitantes e a sua Área Metropolitana Censitária excede os 2.313.328 milhões de pessoas. Seus habitantes são etnicamente diversos, com 52% tendo uma língua materna diferente do Inglês.

Serrarias estabeleceram-se em 1867 na área conhecida como Gastown, que se tornou o núcleo em torno do qual a cidade cresceu. Vancouver foi incorporada como uma cidade em 1886. Em 1887, a ferrovia transcontinental foi prolongada até a cidade, para aproveitar o seu grande porto natural, que logo se tornou elo vital na rota de comércio entre o Oriente, leste do Canadá e Londres. O Porto de Vancouver é o maior e mais movimentado do Canadá, bem como o quarto maior porto (em tonelagem) da América do Norte. A indústria madeireira continua sendo sua maior fonte de renda, mas Vancouver também é conhecida como um centro urbano cercado pela natureza, fazendo do turismo a sua segunda maior indústria. É também o terceiro maior centro de produção cinematográfica na América do Norte depois de Los Angeles e Nova York, ganhando o apelido de "Hollywood do Norte".

Vancouver tem sido classificada como "a cidade mais habitável" no mundo há mais de uma década, de acordo com avaliações de revistas de negócios. Ele recebeu muitos congressos e eventos internacionais, incluindo a Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre Assentamentos Humanos de 1976 e a Exposição Mundial de Transporte e Comunicação de 1986 (Expo 86). Os Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno de 2010 e os Jogos Paraolímpicos de Inverno de 2010foram realizados em Vancouver e nas proximidades de Whistler, comunidade a 125 km (78 milhas) ao norte de Vancouver, entre os dias 12 e 28 de fevereiro.

 

Fonte: Wikipedia

Bulbophyllum cf. popayanense in situ. Du genre le plus diversifié au monde avec 2182 espèces actuellement connues. Beaucoup plus commun et diversifié dans le sud-est asiatique y en Afrique, mais également présent en Amérique Latine. En Colombie, environ 10 espèces ont été recensées. Département du Valle del Cauca, Colombie.

 

Bulbophyllum cf. popayanense in situ. From the more diversified genus in the world with 2182 species already known. Much more diversified and common in south-east Asia and Africa, but also present in Latin America. In Colombia, around 10 species have been registered. Valle del Cauca department, Colombia.

 

Bulbophyllum cf. popayanense in situ. Del género más diversificado del mundo con 2182 especies actualmente conocidas. Mucho más común y diversificado en el sudeste asiático y en África, pero también presente en Latinoamérica. En Colombia, alrededor de 10 especies han sido registradas. Departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

The Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 244 m spire[2]) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building is based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition.

THE AGE OF FLOWERING PLANTS

 

ANGIOSPERM means "seed borne in vessel," while GYMNOSPERM means "naked seed," a reference to the lack of protective structure enveloping the seed. One reason that flowering plants were able to diversify so dramatically and spread during the Cretaceous and CENOZOIC, or MODERN, the era was the evolution of new structures and tissues such as the carpel, a womb-like vessel that encloses angiosperm seeds and endosperm, a placenta-like tissue that nourishes the young plant as it develop within the seed, Today, angiosperm dominate terrestrial life on the planet. At an estimated 422,000 species, they compose by far the largest group of plants. They grow in greater range of environments, exhibits a wider range of growth habits, and display more variation in form than any living group of plants. In size, angiosperm range from tiny duckweed to eucaplytuses more than 330 ft (100 m) tall.

 

The explosion of angiosperm diversity has gone hand in hand with the proliferation of INSECTS, BIRDS, and OTHER ANIMALS that pollinate their flowers, disperse their fruits and seeds, and eat their leaves.

 

THE ULTIMATE VISUAL REFERENCE TO PLANTS AND FLOWERS OF THE WORLD - Janet Marinelli, Ed-in-Chief

 

Mindanao Tourist Destinations Local/Travel Website

and Angelique Ross Kaamiño/TravelEscapade TRAVEL/Leisure Cebu/CdO/Butuanon

 

FEATURED LINK-

Calo Horse-Farm and Ecological Landscaping/Seed Bank, propagation, conservation and protection of Nature Garden on the vanishing Flora and Fauna/South East Asian Tour of the Balanghai boat Photos.

 

PHOTO INFO-STORY: -wilfredosrb/butuan city

 

Mindanao Tourist Destinations created an event.

June 28, 2012 ·

Let us help promote Mindanao Tourism

July 31, 2012

PHOTO TRAVEL-STORY: - wilfredosrb

 

ShamWow.

Rumors are traveling currently that Apple is going section of its cloud company from AWS to Google’s Cloud System. We did some asking close to and yes, it does surface that Apple has created some moves to diversify its iCloud storage, tapping Google for some of that company.

This is an...

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GOVERNOR TOMBLIN DELIVERS

FAREWELL ADDRESS TO STATE LEGISLATURE

CHARLESTON, W.VA. (January 11, 2017)-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today

delivered his farewell address to the West Virginia Legislature in the House Chamber at the State Capitol Complex after serving six years as governor and a total of 42 years in public service in the Mountain State.

 

Information on Gov. Tomblin's accomplishments during his six-year

administration can be found here.

 

See below for the speech as prepared for delivery:

 

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the Board of Public Works, justices of

the Supreme Court of Appeals, members of the Legislature, distinguished guests, and my fellow West Virginians, I stand before you today, after six years in the Governor's office and 42 years in this grand statehouse, with a deep sense of gratitude and reflection and an equally profound hope for West Virginia's future.

 

Public service has anchored my life's work-from a young 22-year-old in this very House chamber, to a desk across the hall in the State Senate, the Senate President's podium for 17 years and now as your 35th Governor.

 

It has been the greatest honor-and the greatest reward-to serve the people of this state that we all love. Together, we have put West Virginia first and moved our state forward-even in the midst of tough times, including far-reaching economic shifts, budgetary challenges and historic natural disasters.

 

West Virginians are strongest in the toughest times. We come together. We lift each other up. And we don't just hope for a better future; we fight for it.

 

ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION & JOB CREATION

Working hard is exactly what we've done over the past six years to create new economic opportunities for the Mountain State.

 

We have all seen the dramatic impact of the coal industry's decline in our state. We've seen thousands of jobs lost. Families and communities struggling. People beginning to lose hope.

 

But I believe in-and have fought to reach-the light around the corner.

 

Shortly after becoming Governor, I pledged to go anywhere and meet with anyone to grow our state's economy. Across West Virginia, the country and the globe, we have succeeded.

 

Last year, global giant Procter & Gamble announced it would build its first U.S. manufacturing facility since the 1970s right here in West Virginia in the Eastern Panhandle. This will ultimately be a half-billion dollar investment in the Mountain State and result in hundreds of new jobs.

 

P&G chose our state after an exhaustive search of many others. And as numerous companies have discovered, I know they will find it to be the best decision they've ever made.

 

Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, has expanded continuously-nine times, in fact.

 

Today, Toyota employs more than 1,600 people. And the company has invested $1.4 billion since 1996.

 

Manufacturing jobs, like those at P&G in Martinsburg and Toyota in Buffalo, will be among the most critical to our state's economic future.

 

In my time as your Governor, I have fought for jobs like these and many more. From Amazon in Huntington and Macy's in Berkeley County, to Bombardier Aerospace manufacturing in Harrison County-which just in November announced an expansion of 150 jobs.

 

Companies are finding that when they invest in West Virginia, it pays off.

 

In fact, since 2011, West Virginia has seen more than $15 billion in new investments, spanning 275 projects. We have welcomed more than 60 new companies and secured 215 competitive expansion projects.

 

Over the past six years, investment projects have reached 22 industries and provided West Virginians with more than 12,000 good-paying jobs.

 

Right here in the Kanawha Valley, we have one of the best examples of that remarkable progress.

 

Gestamp has grown beyond the bounds of any of our expectations. Since opening in 2013, Gestamp has tripled production and more than doubled its workforce, now employing nearly 900 West Virginians.

 

I know that one of the fundamental reasons behind their growth has been our ability to transform workforce training in West Virginia for the better.

 

STRENGTHENING WORKFORCE TRAINING & EDUCATION

For example, the Learn and Earn program which we launched in 2012, gives our community and technical college students classroom instruction and hands-on work experience simultaneously. These students earn a competitive salary while giving employers a cost-effective way to recruit and train new employees.

 

Joe Atha is one of these students. A former coal miner, Joe is now a student at BridgeValley Community and Technical College where he is also supporting his family by earning a wage through the Learn and Earn program at Gestamp.

 

Joe is here today with his wife, Rita. Please stand to be recognized... along with Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor of our Community and Technical College System.

 

Through forward-thinking programs like this, we can make a real, lasting difference for West Virginians.

 

That's why I personally convened the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council, which has helped us break down bureaucratic silos and better align classroom learning with the workforce needs of our businesses and industries.

 

We've even started that process in high schools through the Simulated Workplace program.

 

Today, our career technical education classrooms have been transformed into businesses. Medical classes are now clinics. Hospitality programs are now catering businesses and restaurants.

 

And instead of just going to a welding or carpentry class, our students are now part of a construction company, complete with job foremen and safety inspectors.

 

Just last month, we celebrated a heartwarming moment as a result of the hard work of more than 2,000 of these students from 12 high schools across the state.

 

Together with the Department of Education's Career Technical Education division, the West Virginia National Guard and our Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, we presented keys to tiny homes that were designed and built by these students for survivors of the historic floods that hit our state last June.

 

REBUILDING FROM NATURAL DISASTERS

Time and again, in the aftermath of this tragic flooding we have seen the selflessness of West Virginians make a difference for one another.

 

The "Big Hearts Give Tiny Homes" project was a shining example of that West Virginia spirit-one that made an overwhelming difference for 15 families impacted by the flooding, including Brenda Rivers from Nicholas County, whose home was a total loss in the flooding. Brenda now lives in a new tiny home built by students, including Chance Ballard from Spring Valley High School in Wayne County.

 

Please join me in welcoming Brenda and Chance ... along with Dr. Kathy D'Antoni ... whose visionary leadership at the Department of Education has made Simulated Workplace the success it is today.

 

Working hand-in-hand with the federal government and local officials, our immediate response to the flooding was quick and effective. We were able to expedite federal assistance to our communities and families in need. And over the past seven months, we have been able to shift our focus to long-term recovery.

 

Through a public-private approach, we launched the RISE West Virginia program, which in total has provided nearly $2 million to 230 small businesses in the flood-impacted counties-funding that is helping them reopen or continue operations and keep fueling our local economies.

 

I would like to thank, once again, West Virginia native and champion Brad Smith-the CEO of Intuit, one of the world's leading financial software companies-and his wife Alys for their family donation of $500,000, which gave the RISE program its first, needed boost.

 

West Virginia has experienced more than its share of disasters during my time as your Governor-this historic flooding, the Derecho, Hurricane Sandy, Winter Storms Thor and Jonas and the water crisis.

 

Through it all, we have grown stronger, we have improved our emergency response capabilities and we have strengthened public safety.

 

Adversity demands resilience. That's what we have shown in these challenges and many more-including one of the most trying epidemics I believe the Mountain State has ever faced-with the sharp rise in substance abuse and addiction.

 

FIGHTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

That's why in 2011, I issued an Executive Order to create the Governor's Advisory Council on Substance Abuse, made up of representatives of substance abuse prevention, behavioral medicine, law enforcement, child and adolescent psychology, the legal system, residential treatment facilities, the public school system, the faith community and health care.

 

My vision for this Council was a community-driven, ground-up approach to tackling this epidemic. Through community-based task forces in six regions across the state, we have made significant progress and enacted life-saving reforms.

 

We now look at substance abuse as an illness-not a crime.

 

We have decreased the number of meth labs across the state as the result of making it more difficult to obtain pseudoephedrine.

 

We have expanded access to the life-saving drug Narcan to first responders and family members of those struggling with addiction. Last year alone, hundreds of lives were saved as a result.

 

We have substance abuse prevention services in all 55 counties. We have expanded and improved community-based treatment options and recovery services. Across the state, we have 188 crisis detox beds in residential treatment facilities with more sites under development.

 

We have 118 beds designated for youth and postpartum treatment as well as short-term and long-term residential treatment. And we have over 1,000 beds for those seeking help and support through peer and provider recovery homes and facilities.

 

We are working closely with our prisons and correctional facilities to ensure all West Virginians are provided access to substance abuse rehabilitation.

 

In fact, the Division of Corrections operates nine residential substance abuse treatment units in correctional centers across the state and we have expanded this model to our regional jail facilities as well.

 

And-through Justice Reinvestment-we have successfully worked to address substance abuse, which is the root cause of many crimes.

 

Because of that work, we have expanded drug courts, substance abuse counseling and greater supervision after release.

 

And ultimately, we have better controlled incarceration rates, which prevented our state from having to build a new $200 million prison that was projected to be needed because of our previous rising prison population.

 

Just this week, we announced the news that West Virginia reached settlements with two additional drug wholesalers totaling $36 million, which resolves allegations by our state regarding the distribution of controlled substances in West Virginia.

 

This brings the total amount of drug settlement money paid to our state by drug wholesalers to $47 million, which will expand our efforts even further for more law enforcement diversion options, more treatment recovery services and many more efforts to fight this epidemic.

 

I am also deeply proud of the work we have done in creating the state's first 24-hour substance abuse call line, 844-HELP-4-WV, which has received nearly 8,500 calls since it launched in September 2015.

 

The help line provides referral support for those seeking help and recovery services. It's an opportunity for people who are struggling to talk with someone who cares, get connected to treatment options and begin the road to recovery.

 

No caller is ever placed on hold and they are immediately connected with treatment staff representing the best and most appropriate treatment options for them.

 

Administered by First Choice Health Systems of West Virginia, the help line is staffed by certified professionals, many who have overcome addiction themselves and want to help others turn their lives around as well.

 

One young gentleman I met did just that because he picked up the phone.

 

A.J. Walker, a recovering alcoholic and addict, was given the help line number by his brother.

 

A.J. said when he called, he was treated like a person-not like a drug addict-and he found hope. They got him into a detox facility and into recovery, and the help line staff called and checked in on him every step of the way.

  

Today, A.J. is employed by the treatment facility that helped him and he's in school studying to become a substance abuse counselor.

 

A.J. is here today with his brother, Andrew, and Vickie Jones ... Commissioner of our Bureau of Behavioral Health and Health Facilities.

 

A.J. we are so proud of you. And today ... you are giving hope to so many.

 

When I hear stories like A.J.'s, I am incredibly optimistic for West Virginia's future. With economic changes, job losses and families struggling, we have to seize every opportunity before us to become stronger as individuals and as a state.

 

One such opportunity lies in Boone and Lincoln Counties, where I believe we have the chance to revitalize Southern West Virginia and make the Mountain State stronger.

 

EMBRACING THE FUTURE

It was here in this chamber, one year ago during my State of the State Address, where I announced plans for the largest development project in West Virginia's history at the former Hobet surface mine site.

 

Since last year at this time, we have worked every day and we have made tremendous progress on this project, which is now known as Rock Creek Development Park.

 

We have worked with local landowners, who are generously donating land that will result in more than 12,000 developable acres for Rock Creek, which is the size of the city of Huntington.

 

The West Virginia National Guard-Rock Creek's first tenant-is on the ground with newly-expanded operations for maintenance work and training.

 

And we have a long-term strategic plan now in place, which looks at demographics and market trends to help us identify the best investment opportunities for Rock Creek.

 

For generations, our coal miners, workers and their families have kept West Virginia strong. Now, it's our turn to help them.

 

By realizing the full potential of Rock Creek Development Park for job creation and economic diversification, we can build up a region of our state hard hit by the downturn in the coal industry.

 

My vision for Rock Creek started many years ago as I rode my four-wheeler around the hills of Southern West Virginia and saw the possibilities that such an enormous site-with such a great amount of flat land-could have.

 

Embracing opportunities like this takes careful thought and planning, and this public-private project will require some investment by the state. But I believe wholeheartedly that the returns will vastly exceed our investment.

 

That isn't something I say lightly.

 

Throughout my 42 years in public service, fiscal responsibility has been at the heart of every project I've undertaken, every policy I've fought for and every decision I've made.

 

GOVERNING RESPONSIBLY

As a result of much hard work, over the years we have decreased taxes, embraced responsible spending, made great progress toward paying off the state's unfunded liabilities and controlled growth of the state's budget.

 

We have realized milestone tax reforms, including progressive elimination of the food tax, saving West Virginians $162 million each year.

 

We have gradually eliminated the state's business franchise tax and decreased the corporate net income tax-changes that make West Virginia more attractive for business investments.

 

As a result of responsible reforms, last year the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed the 12th reduction in workers' compensation premiums in 12 years. And West Virginia employers have seen a savings of more than $352 million since we privatized the program in 2006.

 

We addressed our Other Post Employment Benefits by dedicating $30 million annually to pay off the $5 billion unfunded liability, which was caused by previous promises that became too expensive to maintain.

 

As I did last year, I present to you today a budget that is balanced, but a budget that requires difficult decisions and thinking about the next generation rather than the next election.

 

I continue to be proud of the fiscal responsibility we have shown not just for the past six years, but over the last generation. Our commitment to paying down our long-term liabilities has not wavered and we have responsibly reduced taxes on both our employers and our employees.

 

Because of our improved fiscal policies, we have been able to refinance bonds that pay for schools, water and sewer lines, college campus improvements and roads to save more than $100 million in the past six years.

 

So when people ask me why I'm so concerned with maintaining our Rainy Day Fund and our bond rating, that's why. It means more schools, more roads and more homes with clean water.

 

As part of tough decisions during tough economic times, we have cut more than $600 million from our budget in the past five years. While we all continue to hope that the coal industry will rebound, that hasn't happened quickly and it likely won't ever return to the levels that we once saw.

 

We continue to work to diversify our economy and I know the improvements we've made will pay long-term dividends in job growth and investment.

 

But we're not there yet, and part of being fiscally responsible means making sure that we can pay our bills without taking the Rainy Day Fund to dangerously low levels or cutting services to the point where we cannot care for our people or educate our students.

 

Therefore, the budget I present to you today includes a 1 percent increase in the consumer sales tax to raise $200 million and elimination of the current sales tax exemption on telecommunications services-a move that would make our system the same as 80 percent of the country.

 

I understand these taxes will not be easy, but asking people to pay a few dollars more now is a far better choice than seeing PEIA cards not accepted by medical providers or going back to the days when we couldn't finance school and road improvements, or even pay the gas bill at the Governor's Mansion.

 

I urge you to consider these responsible actions to balance the budget until the brighter economic picture that we all expect comes into focus.

 

CLOSING

I believe the thing that compelled each of us to public service is our love for West Virginia. And that is the very thing that should compel us to work together.

 

When I became your Governor, I said that we must put West Virginia first.

 

That's what we have done. And I encourage you to continue working together out of that deep devotion to our beloved state-in the coming year and beyond.

 

I am proud of the work that we have accomplished. I look forward to the leadership of Governor-elect Jim Justice and I thank all of you who have worked with me over the years.

 

I thank my cabinet members and agency directors. And I thank my dedicated staff members who have worked every day-not for me, but for the people of West Virginia.

 

It has been the honor of my life to be your Governor-to be West Virginia's Governor. Joanne and I thank the people of West Virginia for your abiding trust, counsel and support.

 

And we look forward-with the greatest hope and optimism-to an even stronger West Virginia.

 

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the great state of West Virginia.

###

  

Photos available for media use. All photos should be attributed “Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor.”

 

GOVERNOR TOMBLIN DELIVERS

FAREWELL ADDRESS TO STATE LEGISLATURE

CHARLESTON, W.VA. (January 11, 2017)-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today

delivered his farewell address to the West Virginia Legislature in the House Chamber at the State Capitol Complex after serving six years as governor and a total of 42 years in public service in the Mountain State.

 

Information on Gov. Tomblin's accomplishments during his six-year

administration can be found here.

 

See below for the speech as prepared for delivery:

 

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the Board of Public Works, justices of

the Supreme Court of Appeals, members of the Legislature, distinguished guests, and my fellow West Virginians, I stand before you today, after six years in the Governor's office and 42 years in this grand statehouse, with a deep sense of gratitude and reflection and an equally profound hope for West Virginia's future.

 

Public service has anchored my life's work-from a young 22-year-old in this very House chamber, to a desk across the hall in the State Senate, the Senate President's podium for 17 years and now as your 35th Governor.

 

It has been the greatest honor-and the greatest reward-to serve the people of this state that we all love. Together, we have put West Virginia first and moved our state forward-even in the midst of tough times, including far-reaching economic shifts, budgetary challenges and historic natural disasters.

 

West Virginians are strongest in the toughest times. We come together. We lift each other up. And we don't just hope for a better future; we fight for it.

 

ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION & JOB CREATION

Working hard is exactly what we've done over the past six years to create new economic opportunities for the Mountain State.

 

We have all seen the dramatic impact of the coal industry's decline in our state. We've seen thousands of jobs lost. Families and communities struggling. People beginning to lose hope.

 

But I believe in-and have fought to reach-the light around the corner.

 

Shortly after becoming Governor, I pledged to go anywhere and meet with anyone to grow our state's economy. Across West Virginia, the country and the globe, we have succeeded.

 

Last year, global giant Procter & Gamble announced it would build its first U.S. manufacturing facility since the 1970s right here in West Virginia in the Eastern Panhandle. This will ultimately be a half-billion dollar investment in the Mountain State and result in hundreds of new jobs.

 

P&G chose our state after an exhaustive search of many others. And as numerous companies have discovered, I know they will find it to be the best decision they've ever made.

 

Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, has expanded continuously-nine times, in fact.

 

Today, Toyota employs more than 1,600 people. And the company has invested $1.4 billion since 1996.

 

Manufacturing jobs, like those at P&G in Martinsburg and Toyota in Buffalo, will be among the most critical to our state's economic future.

 

In my time as your Governor, I have fought for jobs like these and many more. From Amazon in Huntington and Macy's in Berkeley County, to Bombardier Aerospace manufacturing in Harrison County-which just in November announced an expansion of 150 jobs.

 

Companies are finding that when they invest in West Virginia, it pays off.

 

In fact, since 2011, West Virginia has seen more than $15 billion in new investments, spanning 275 projects. We have welcomed more than 60 new companies and secured 215 competitive expansion projects.

 

Over the past six years, investment projects have reached 22 industries and provided West Virginians with more than 12,000 good-paying jobs.

 

Right here in the Kanawha Valley, we have one of the best examples of that remarkable progress.

 

Gestamp has grown beyond the bounds of any of our expectations. Since opening in 2013, Gestamp has tripled production and more than doubled its workforce, now employing nearly 900 West Virginians.

 

I know that one of the fundamental reasons behind their growth has been our ability to transform workforce training in West Virginia for the better.

 

STRENGTHENING WORKFORCE TRAINING & EDUCATION

For example, the Learn and Earn program which we launched in 2012, gives our community and technical college students classroom instruction and hands-on work experience simultaneously. These students earn a competitive salary while giving employers a cost-effective way to recruit and train new employees.

 

Joe Atha is one of these students. A former coal miner, Joe is now a student at BridgeValley Community and Technical College where he is also supporting his family by earning a wage through the Learn and Earn program at Gestamp.

 

Joe is here today with his wife, Rita. Please stand to be recognized... along with Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor of our Community and Technical College System.

 

Through forward-thinking programs like this, we can make a real, lasting difference for West Virginians.

 

That's why I personally convened the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council, which has helped us break down bureaucratic silos and better align classroom learning with the workforce needs of our businesses and industries.

 

We've even started that process in high schools through the Simulated Workplace program.

 

Today, our career technical education classrooms have been transformed into businesses. Medical classes are now clinics. Hospitality programs are now catering businesses and restaurants.

 

And instead of just going to a welding or carpentry class, our students are now part of a construction company, complete with job foremen and safety inspectors.

 

Just last month, we celebrated a heartwarming moment as a result of the hard work of more than 2,000 of these students from 12 high schools across the state.

 

Together with the Department of Education's Career Technical Education division, the West Virginia National Guard and our Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, we presented keys to tiny homes that were designed and built by these students for survivors of the historic floods that hit our state last June.

 

REBUILDING FROM NATURAL DISASTERS

Time and again, in the aftermath of this tragic flooding we have seen the selflessness of West Virginians make a difference for one another.

 

The "Big Hearts Give Tiny Homes" project was a shining example of that West Virginia spirit-one that made an overwhelming difference for 15 families impacted by the flooding, including Brenda Rivers from Nicholas County, whose home was a total loss in the flooding. Brenda now lives in a new tiny home built by students, including Chance Ballard from Spring Valley High School in Wayne County.

 

Please join me in welcoming Brenda and Chance ... along with Dr. Kathy D'Antoni ... whose visionary leadership at the Department of Education has made Simulated Workplace the success it is today.

 

Working hand-in-hand with the federal government and local officials, our immediate response to the flooding was quick and effective. We were able to expedite federal assistance to our communities and families in need. And over the past seven months, we have been able to shift our focus to long-term recovery.

 

Through a public-private approach, we launched the RISE West Virginia program, which in total has provided nearly $2 million to 230 small businesses in the flood-impacted counties-funding that is helping them reopen or continue operations and keep fueling our local economies.

 

I would like to thank, once again, West Virginia native and champion Brad Smith-the CEO of Intuit, one of the world's leading financial software companies-and his wife Alys for their family donation of $500,000, which gave the RISE program its first, needed boost.

 

West Virginia has experienced more than its share of disasters during my time as your Governor-this historic flooding, the Derecho, Hurricane Sandy, Winter Storms Thor and Jonas and the water crisis.

 

Through it all, we have grown stronger, we have improved our emergency response capabilities and we have strengthened public safety.

 

Adversity demands resilience. That's what we have shown in these challenges and many more-including one of the most trying epidemics I believe the Mountain State has ever faced-with the sharp rise in substance abuse and addiction.

 

FIGHTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

That's why in 2011, I issued an Executive Order to create the Governor's Advisory Council on Substance Abuse, made up of representatives of substance abuse prevention, behavioral medicine, law enforcement, child and adolescent psychology, the legal system, residential treatment facilities, the public school system, the faith community and health care.

 

My vision for this Council was a community-driven, ground-up approach to tackling this epidemic. Through community-based task forces in six regions across the state, we have made significant progress and enacted life-saving reforms.

 

We now look at substance abuse as an illness-not a crime.

 

We have decreased the number of meth labs across the state as the result of making it more difficult to obtain pseudoephedrine.

 

We have expanded access to the life-saving drug Narcan to first responders and family members of those struggling with addiction. Last year alone, hundreds of lives were saved as a result.

 

We have substance abuse prevention services in all 55 counties. We have expanded and improved community-based treatment options and recovery services. Across the state, we have 188 crisis detox beds in residential treatment facilities with more sites under development.

 

We have 118 beds designated for youth and postpartum treatment as well as short-term and long-term residential treatment. And we have over 1,000 beds for those seeking help and support through peer and provider recovery homes and facilities.

 

We are working closely with our prisons and correctional facilities to ensure all West Virginians are provided access to substance abuse rehabilitation.

 

In fact, the Division of Corrections operates nine residential substance abuse treatment units in correctional centers across the state and we have expanded this model to our regional jail facilities as well.

 

And-through Justice Reinvestment-we have successfully worked to address substance abuse, which is the root cause of many crimes.

 

Because of that work, we have expanded drug courts, substance abuse counseling and greater supervision after release.

 

And ultimately, we have better controlled incarceration rates, which prevented our state from having to build a new $200 million prison that was projected to be needed because of our previous rising prison population.

 

Just this week, we announced the news that West Virginia reached settlements with two additional drug wholesalers totaling $36 million, which resolves allegations by our state regarding the distribution of controlled substances in West Virginia.

 

This brings the total amount of drug settlement money paid to our state by drug wholesalers to $47 million, which will expand our efforts even further for more law enforcement diversion options, more treatment recovery services and many more efforts to fight this epidemic.

 

I am also deeply proud of the work we have done in creating the state's first 24-hour substance abuse call line, 844-HELP-4-WV, which has received nearly 8,500 calls since it launched in September 2015.

 

The help line provides referral support for those seeking help and recovery services. It's an opportunity for people who are struggling to talk with someone who cares, get connected to treatment options and begin the road to recovery.

 

No caller is ever placed on hold and they are immediately connected with treatment staff representing the best and most appropriate treatment options for them.

 

Administered by First Choice Health Systems of West Virginia, the help line is staffed by certified professionals, many who have overcome addiction themselves and want to help others turn their lives around as well.

 

One young gentleman I met did just that because he picked up the phone.

 

A.J. Walker, a recovering alcoholic and addict, was given the help line number by his brother.

 

A.J. said when he called, he was treated like a person-not like a drug addict-and he found hope. They got him into a detox facility and into recovery, and the help line staff called and checked in on him every step of the way.

  

Today, A.J. is employed by the treatment facility that helped him and he's in school studying to become a substance abuse counselor.

 

A.J. is here today with his brother, Andrew, and Vickie Jones ... Commissioner of our Bureau of Behavioral Health and Health Facilities.

 

A.J. we are so proud of you. And today ... you are giving hope to so many.

 

When I hear stories like A.J.'s, I am incredibly optimistic for West Virginia's future. With economic changes, job losses and families struggling, we have to seize every opportunity before us to become stronger as individuals and as a state.

 

One such opportunity lies in Boone and Lincoln Counties, where I believe we have the chance to revitalize Southern West Virginia and make the Mountain State stronger.

 

EMBRACING THE FUTURE

It was here in this chamber, one year ago during my State of the State Address, where I announced plans for the largest development project in West Virginia's history at the former Hobet surface mine site.

 

Since last year at this time, we have worked every day and we have made tremendous progress on this project, which is now known as Rock Creek Development Park.

 

We have worked with local landowners, who are generously donating land that will result in more than 12,000 developable acres for Rock Creek, which is the size of the city of Huntington.

 

The West Virginia National Guard-Rock Creek's first tenant-is on the ground with newly-expanded operations for maintenance work and training.

 

And we have a long-term strategic plan now in place, which looks at demographics and market trends to help us identify the best investment opportunities for Rock Creek.

 

For generations, our coal miners, workers and their families have kept West Virginia strong. Now, it's our turn to help them.

 

By realizing the full potential of Rock Creek Development Park for job creation and economic diversification, we can build up a region of our state hard hit by the downturn in the coal industry.

 

My vision for Rock Creek started many years ago as I rode my four-wheeler around the hills of Southern West Virginia and saw the possibilities that such an enormous site-with such a great amount of flat land-could have.

 

Embracing opportunities like this takes careful thought and planning, and this public-private project will require some investment by the state. But I believe wholeheartedly that the returns will vastly exceed our investment.

 

That isn't something I say lightly.

 

Throughout my 42 years in public service, fiscal responsibility has been at the heart of every project I've undertaken, every policy I've fought for and every decision I've made.

 

GOVERNING RESPONSIBLY

As a result of much hard work, over the years we have decreased taxes, embraced responsible spending, made great progress toward paying off the state's unfunded liabilities and controlled growth of the state's budget.

 

We have realized milestone tax reforms, including progressive elimination of the food tax, saving West Virginians $162 million each year.

 

We have gradually eliminated the state's business franchise tax and decreased the corporate net income tax-changes that make West Virginia more attractive for business investments.

 

As a result of responsible reforms, last year the National Council on Compensation Insurance filed the 12th reduction in workers' compensation premiums in 12 years. And West Virginia employers have seen a savings of more than $352 million since we privatized the program in 2006.

 

We addressed our Other Post Employment Benefits by dedicating $30 million annually to pay off the $5 billion unfunded liability, which was caused by previous promises that became too expensive to maintain.

 

As I did last year, I present to you today a budget that is balanced, but a budget that requires difficult decisions and thinking about the next generation rather than the next election.

 

I continue to be proud of the fiscal responsibility we have shown not just for the past six years, but over the last generation. Our commitment to paying down our long-term liabilities has not wavered and we have responsibly reduced taxes on both our employers and our employees.

 

Because of our improved fiscal policies, we have been able to refinance bonds that pay for schools, water and sewer lines, college campus improvements and roads to save more than $100 million in the past six years.

 

So when people ask me why I'm so concerned with maintaining our Rainy Day Fund and our bond rating, that's why. It means more schools, more roads and more homes with clean water.

 

As part of tough decisions during tough economic times, we have cut more than $600 million from our budget in the past five years. While we all continue to hope that the coal industry will rebound, that hasn't happened quickly and it likely won't ever return to the levels that we once saw.

 

We continue to work to diversify our economy and I know the improvements we've made will pay long-term dividends in job growth and investment.

 

But we're not there yet, and part of being fiscally responsible means making sure that we can pay our bills without taking the Rainy Day Fund to dangerously low levels or cutting services to the point where we cannot care for our people or educate our students.

 

Therefore, the budget I present to you today includes a 1 percent increase in the consumer sales tax to raise $200 million and elimination of the current sales tax exemption on telecommunications services-a move that would make our system the same as 80 percent of the country.

 

I understand these taxes will not be easy, but asking people to pay a few dollars more now is a far better choice than seeing PEIA cards not accepted by medical providers or going back to the days when we couldn't finance school and road improvements, or even pay the gas bill at the Governor's Mansion.

 

I urge you to consider these responsible actions to balance the budget until the brighter economic picture that we all expect comes into focus.

 

CLOSING

I believe the thing that compelled each of us to public service is our love for West Virginia. And that is the very thing that should compel us to work together.

 

When I became your Governor, I said that we must put West Virginia first.

 

That's what we have done. And I encourage you to continue working together out of that deep devotion to our beloved state-in the coming year and beyond.

 

I am proud of the work that we have accomplished. I look forward to the leadership of Governor-elect Jim Justice and I thank all of you who have worked with me over the years.

 

I thank my cabinet members and agency directors. And I thank my dedicated staff members who have worked every day-not for me, but for the people of West Virginia.

 

It has been the honor of my life to be your Governor-to be West Virginia's Governor. Joanne and I thank the people of West Virginia for your abiding trust, counsel and support.

 

And we look forward-with the greatest hope and optimism-to an even stronger West Virginia.

 

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the great state of West Virginia.

###

  

Photos available for media use. All photos should be attributed “Photo courtesy of Office of the Governor.”

SERA 3502 & 101 tied down in the yard with a train of MoW equipment ~ Fillmore, CA

 

3502 history: ex-FWRY 3502 (Fillmore & Western); ex-ARZC 3502 (Arizona & California); ex-CR 2339 (Conrail); ex-PC 2339 (Penn Central); née-PRR 2339 (Pennsylvania).

 

101 history: ex-FWRY 101 (Fillmore & Western); ex-MMID 101 (Maryland Midland); ex-WW 101 (Winchester & Western); ex-Rails Diversified; ex-Naporano Iron & Metal; ex-METX 413 (Metra / Regional Transportation Authority); ex-CNW 413, née-CNW 4083 (Chicago & North Western).

Guemes Channel.

Built in 2015 by Diversified Marine Incorporated of Portland, Oregon for Harley Marine Services Incorporated.

By the early nineteenth century, as ways of consuming the seaside matured and diversified, there was a growing appreciation of the joys and benefits to be gained by not just being beside the sea but venturing out onto the water itself without the disadvantages and dangers associated with boats.

The West Pier was designed and engineered by Eugenius Birch to attract visitors and survive in the hostile environment of the seashore. Built in 1866, it was a simple and functional structure built out from the sea using dozens of cast iron threaded columns screwed into the seabed and strengthened by a lattice of ties and girders that provide the necessary strength to support the promenade deck whilst allowing seas to pass harmlessly underneath.

Originally the West Pier had an open deck with only six small ornamental houses of Oriental design, two toll houses, glass screens at the pier head to protect visitors from the wind and lamps, with columns decorated with entwined serpents, placed around the perimeter and lit by gas. In 1875 a central bandstand was added and in the 1880′s weather screens the full length of the pier, steamer landing stages and a large pier head pavilion were constructed.

The final building, completed in 1916, was a graceful concert hall. The result was seaside architecture at its finest, designed to attract and entertain holiday-makers with all the pomp and frippery that is the essence of the English seaside resort.

The West Pier story closely follows the changing fortunes of the English seaside holiday. It began simply as a promenade pier where visitors could enjoy the thrill of walking on water; it was the place for the Victorian middle classes to socialise and exhibit their wealth, to see and be seen, to take in the sea air and admire the panoramic views of the land. By WW1 it had evolved into a pleasure pier with a great variety of seaside entertainment both indoors and out. Throughout the twenties it was immensely popular with attractions ranging from paddle steamer excursions, daring high divers and bathing from the pier head to military bands, recitals by the pier’s resident orchestra in the Concert Hall and an all-year-round programme of plays, pantomimes and ballets in the Theatre.

During WWII, the Pier was closed and mined for security reasons and sections were dismantled to prevent enemy landings. When the mines were removed and the pier reopened, after the repair of its war wounds, it completed its evolution into a funfair pier. The Theatre was converted into a restaurant on one floor and on the other the ‘Laughter Land’ games pavilion. The Concert Hall became a tea room, and the delights of the dodgems, helter-skelter, ghost train and miniature racing track could be enjoyed by all.

The pier was shut to the public in 1975 as it was deemed unsafe. A huge storm in December 2002 resulted in the dramatic collapse of the south east corner of the Concert Hall; in March 2003 the Pavilion was destroyed in an arson attack, and in May 2003 the Concert Hall was also burnt out deliberately. 2003 was a catastrophic year for the West Pier and by December 2003, a report concluded that despite the significant damage, given the wealth of salvaged material from the pier and the considerable photographic and video archive, repair and reconstruction of the pier was still viable. Unfortunately funding was not available.

The collapsed Concert Hall, being close to the beach, became a public hazard and in 2010 was removed. However, the skeletal ruin of the pier Pavilion has become an iconic feature of Brighton’s seafront. Its unique desolate beauty makes it much discussed, wondered about and photographed. The Pier has been too dangerous to access since the fires of 2003 and cannot be maintained. Over the coming years it will be reclaimed by nature and will inevitably degenerate and decay. The Trust has no intention of removing the remains unless overwhelming safety issues arise.

In 2006, planning permission was granted to the creators of the London eye to build the i360, an observation tower. It will be sited on the root-end of the pier and will open an exciting new chapter for the West Pier. This new landmark, which will be tied in with the original pier, has now commenced construction. At 175 metres high, and with an observation pod rising to 141 metres, the i360 will be Britain's highest observation tower outside London – taller even than the London Eye. The i360 follows in the spirit of the original pier, inviting visitors to "walk on air" and gain a different perspective of the city, just as they "walked on water" in the past and viewed the city from the sea. Chairman of the Brighton West Pier Trust, which owns the site of the former pier “believes that the Brighton i360 – a 'vertical pier' – is entirely in the spirit of the original pier's history and the best option to replicate its success and ethos." The i360 will restore parts of the original pier to their former glory, including the Victorian tollbooths. Parts of the cast iron supporting structure will be reused in the new visitor centre and an exhibition will enable visitors to learn about the pier's history. The cast iron structure off shore, known as the sea island, will stay but the wreckage of the derelict pier on the beach will be removed. A proportion of ticket revenues from the i360 will also go to the West Pier Trust charity, enabling it to continue promoting the pier's unique heritage.

This part of the plan really appeals to be - in the evenings, the Brighton i360 will transform into the Sky Bar – a chic, modern and accessible venue in which to relax and enjoy a glass of champagne, wine or a cocktail while taking in the stunning night-time views. The ride will be extended to 30 minutes to allow people plenty of time to enjoy their drink!!

The changing weather over a 3 day period is reflected in the photos I took of this fascinating and haunting structure – it looks quite eerie in the fog.

 

Lost Einsteins: Diversifying Innovation

Amy Brachio, Global Deputy Vice-Chair, EY, USA. Kevin Frey, Chief Executive Officer, Generation Unlimited, UNICEF, Generation Unlimited, USA. Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General-elect, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva

Maria Leptin, President, European Research Council, Belgium. Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief, Nature, United Kingdom

 

Tuesday 2 May 2023

14.45 - 15.30

Stakeholder Dialogue

World Economic Forum Headquarters, Eiger

Copyright: World Economic Forum/Jean-Luc Auboeuf

The Growth Summit: Jobs and Opportunity for All 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland