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Stockholm's executioner once lived and worked on this street (says Fredo). It may look charming, but many people died here.
Execution on the Old Town Square 21. 6. 1621
23-06-2001 | Olaf Barth, Katrin Bock
Olaf Barth and Katrin Bock now take a look at the events that took place on the Old Town Square 380 years ago.
Execution on the Old Town Square 21. 6. 1621
If you have ever been to Prague, you may have noticed the 27 crosses which have been embedded into the pavement at the foot of the Old Town Town Hall. Perhaps you have wondered about their origin. Well, in the following minutes you will learn more about the context of these crosses. First of all, listen to the Czech writer Alois Jirasek portraying the events at the end of the 19th century in one of his stories:
"In the night of 20 to 21 June 1621, fear and grief prevailed everywhere in Prague, and the roads had become like deserted, for on Prague restrictions had been imposed. Only the clash of the weapons and the heavy steps of foreign soldiers broke through the oppressive silence. On the Old Town Square there was a lot of activity, and boards and beams were unloaded from wagons and carried to the middle of the place, where a scaffold grew by the flickering light of numerous torches. By daybreak a gallows covered with red cloth was towering. At sunrise fulminated a cannon cracker showing that the execution had to begin. On the scaffold dark hooded people were visible, the assistents of the executioner and the gravedigger. Finally, the executioner, Jan Mydláø, also appeared. Immediately the imperial judges took their seats, and the names of the twenty-seven death-condemned noblemen were exclaimed. While foreign soldiers were drumming in the streets of Prague, in the houses people of Prague prayed for their faithful, the 27 men who were either beheaded or hanged at the same time. It is reported that once a year, always in the night from the 20th to the 21st of June, the noblemen and citizens appear on the Old Town Square. Silently they walk over the square to the church, where, kneeling before the altar, they receive the Last Supper in both forms. And as silently as they have come they disappear again."
The Hradschin 1618, in the year of the window-lintel (contemporary engraving)
So far the Czech writer Alois Jirasek about the events of that night 380 years ago, when the leaders of the insurrection of the Estates against the Catholic Habsburgs were judged. 27 nobles, gentlemen and citizens, Czechs and Germans, Protestants and a Catholic then left their lives. They were punished for having joined an uprising against the legal Habsburg emperor which had a religious background, for the Emperor had previously tried to restrict the freedom of religion which had been in force in the Bohemian lands since the middle of the fifteenth century. The revolt had begun on May 23, 1618, with the famous Prague defenestration, and ended with the battle Battle of White Mountain in November 1620, for the Czechs still today a national trauma. In that battle before the gates of Prague the army of the Catholic Habsburgs the Protestant Estates had utterly vanquished. What followed was a relentless persecution of all insurgents, regardless of their social position or nationality. Emperor Ferdinand II used his military victory to strengthen his position in the rebellious Bohemian lands, to suppress the Protestant faith and to break the power of the Estates once and for all.
Procession on the White Mountains (Josef Berka and A. Gustav, around 1800)
All persons who had somehow participated in the uprising of the Estates were punished. The worst punishment experienced three lords, seven knights and 17 citizens, who were executed in the early morning hours of June 21, 1621 on the Old Town Square. The execution took place conforming to the etiquette: first came the lords, then the knights, and finally the citizens. It is said the bloodthirsty torture to have lasted for four hours, while the executioner Jan Mydlar in the proces was to have beaten blunt four swords.
Joachim Andreas Graf Schlick was the first to be beheaded, whose family had grown rich thanks to the silver mines in the west Bohemian Jáchymov valley. Count Schlick had worked for many years at the Saxon court as an educator of the future ruler Johann Georg. During the Bohemian uprising of the Estates, Schlick had been quite active. Among other things, he was one of the participants of the famous 1618 defenestration. Next came Vaclav Budova from Budovec. Since the beginning of the 17th century, he had been strongly committed to the observance of the freedom of belief in the Bohemian lands and had been one of the spokesmen of the insurgents. As the third nobleman, Krystof Harant of Polzice and Bezdruzice lost his head. He had been court musician and companion of Rudolf at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. He was not very interested in politics, but he had been one of the military leaders of the insurgents, which now cost him his head. All three of them, without any doubt, belonged to the intellectual elite of the country, all three of them had been to many places, were well-educated, spoke several languages, and were Protestants.
Among the 7 knights was also the Catholic Divis Cernin of Chudenice. This one had made the fatal mistake of opening the gates of the castle to the representatives of the Estates on the 23rd of May, 1618, who then threw the three representatives of the Habsburg power out of a window in protest against the restriction of the rights of the Protestants.
Jan Jesensky
Jan Jessenius, the rector of the Charles University of Prague, was one of those who got the severest judgement. He was not only beheaded, his tongue had been cut off before, additionally he was also quartered after the execution. Emperor Ferdinand had expressed himself personally for this harsh judgment. The internationally respected scholar, who had carried out the first public autopsy in Prague in 1600, had aroused the wrath of the ruler as he had himself pronounced against the election of Ferdinand for the King of Bohemia as well as published a series of harsh writings against the Habsburgs.
The heads of twelve executed were hanged in iron baskets for deterrence and warning at the Old Town Bridge Tower. From there they were removed only 10 years later, when the Saxons 1631 occupied Prague for a short time.
Ferdinand II.
Emperor Ferdinand II took advantage of the victory over the rebellious Protestant estates, which had dethroned him, the legitimate heir, and elected another one, the "Winter King", Frederick of the Palatinate. 166 nobles Ferdinand had completely dispossessed, another 500 lost a large part of their estates. On the other hand, his faithful were rewarded. Those were given great lands in the Bohemian lands. In addition, monasteries were returned lands that they had lost during the Hussite wars in the 15th century.
The greatest winners were probably Albrecht von Waldstein, Karl von Liechtenstein, and Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg, who were now able to call great domains their own. But also other noble families then settled in the Bohemian lands, like the Trauttmansdorff, Thun, Metternich and Clary families.
Even ordinary citizens and peasants were affected: those who did not convert to the Catholic faith had to leave the country. In 1624 the Catholic faith became the only one recognized in the Bohemian lands - more and more subjects saw themselves forced to emigrate. Some 150,000 people are said to have left the Bohemian lands for religious reasons in the years after the defeat of the Protestant Estates. The probably most famous emigrant of that time is Jan Amos Komensky - Comenius. The pedagogue and bishop of the Unity of the Brotherhood settled down after a few journeys in Holland, where he died in 1670 at the age of 78.
Even in the eyes of most of today's Czechs, the "time of darkness" began with the defeat of the Protestant estates in the Battle of Weissenberg. As such, the almost 300 years of the unrestricted rule of the Habsburgs over the Bohemian countries were designated, which ended only with the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918. The formerly proud kingdom of Bohemia had been degrated to a Habsburg province according to the new regional order of 1627, and had lost most of its rights, including the freedom of faith for which its inhabitants had fought since the death for heresy of Jan Hus in 1415. Today, not only the 27 crosses embedded on the Old Town Square, but also all the magnificent Baroque buildings in the country, are reminiscent of this historic epoch. With these the Catholic Habsburgs showed their Bohemian and Moravian subjects who is the boss in the country.
And so we are already at the end of our trip into the 17th century.
Hinrichtung auf dem Altstädter Ring 21. 6. 1621
23-06-2001 | Olaf Barth, Katrin Bock
Olaf Barth und Katrin Bock werfen heute einen Blick auf die Geschehnisse, die sich vor 380 Jahren auf dem Altstädter Ring ereigneten.
Hinrichtung auf dem Altstädter Ring 21. 6. 1621
Wer von Ihnen schon mal in Prag war, dem sind sie vielleicht aufgefallen, die 27 in das Pflaster eingelassenen Kreuze zu Füssen des Altstädter Rathausturmes. Vielleicht haben Sie sich über deren Ursprung gewundert. Nun in den folgenden Minuten erfahren Sie mehr über die Bewandtnis dieser Kreuze. Hören Sie zunächst einmal, wie der tschechische Schriftsteller Alois Jirasek die entsprechenden Ereignisse Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in einer seiner Geschichten schilderte:
"In der Nacht vom 20. auf den 21. Juni 1621 herrschte überall in Prag Angst und Trauer. Die Strassen waren wie ausgestorben, denn über Prag war Ausgangsverbot verhängt worden. Nur das Klirren der Waffen und schwere Schritte fremder Soldaten durchbrachen die bedrückende Stille. Auf dem Altstädter Ring herrschte reger Betrieb. Bretter und Balken wurden von Wagen abgeladen und zur Platzmitte getragen, wo beim flackernden Licht zahlreicher Fackeln ein Gerüst wuchs. Als es zu dämmern begann, ragte da ein mit rotem Stoff überzogener Galgen empor. Beim Sonnenaufgang donnerte von der Prager Burg ein Kanonenschlag. Ein Zeichen dafür, dass die Exekution beginne. Auf dem Galgengerüst waren dunkle vermummte Gestalten zu sehen - die Henkershelfer und der Totengräber. Schliesslich erschien auch der Henker Jan Mydláø. Alsbald nahmen die kaiserlichen Richter ihre Sitze ein, und die Namen der 27 zum Tode verurteilten Standesherren wurden ausgerufen. Während in den Strassen Prags fremde Soldaten trommelten, beteten in den Häusern die Prager für ihre Getreuen, die 27 Herren, die zur selben Zeit geköpft oder gehängt wurden. Es wird berichtet, dass die hingerichteten Adeligen und Bürger einmal im Jahr, immer in der Nacht vom 20. auf den 21. Juni, auf dem Altstädter Ring erscheinen. Schweigend gehen sie über den Platz zur Kirche, wo sie, vor dem Altar knieend, das Abendmahl in beiderlei Gestalt empfangen. Und so lautlos wie sie gekommen verschwinden sie wieder."
Der Hradschin 1618, im Jahre des Fenstersturzes (Zeitgenössiger Stich)
Soweit der tschechische Schriftsteller Alois Jirasek über die Ereignisse jener Nacht vor 380 Jahren, als die Anführer des Ständeaufstandes gegen die katholischen Habsburger gerichtet wurden. 27 Adelige, Herren und Bürger, Tschechen und Deutsche, Protestanten und ein Katholik liessen damals ihr Leben. Bestraft wurden sie dafür, dass sie sich einem Aufstand gegen den rechtmässigen Habsburger Kaiser angeschlossen hatten, der einen religiösen Hintergrund hatte, denn der Kaiser hatte zuvor versucht, die seit Mitte des 15. Jahrhunderts in den Böhmischen Ländern geltende Religionsfreiheit einzuschränken. Der Aufstand hatte am 23. Mai 1618 mit dem berühmten Prager Fenstersturz begonnen und mit der für Tschechen noch heute ein nationales Trauma darstellenden Schlacht am Weissen Berg im November 1620 geendet. In jener Schlacht vor den Toren Prags hatte das Heer der katholischen Habsburger die protestantischen Stände vernichtend geschlagen. Was folgte war eine unbarmherzige Verfolgung aller Aufständischen, ungeachtet ihrer gesellschaftlichen Stellung oder Nationalität. Kaiser Ferdinand II. nutzte seinen militärischen Sieg, um seine Stellung in den aufständischen Böhmischen Ländern zu stärken, den protestantischen Glauben zurückzudrängen und die Macht der Stände ein für alle mal zu brechen.
Prozession am Weißen Berge (Josef Berka und A. Gustav, um 1800)
Alle Personen, die irgendwie an dem Ständeaufstand beteiligt gewesen waren, wurden bestraft. Am schlimmsten traf es dabei drei Herren, sieben Ritter und 17 Bürger, die in den frühen Morgenstunden des 21. Junis 1621 auf dem Altstädter Ring hingerichtet wurden. Bei der Hinrichtung wurde die Etike gewahrt: zuerst waren die Herren dran, dann die Ritter und schliesslich die Bürger. Vier Stunden lang soll die blutige Tortur gedauert haben, vier Schwerter soll der Henker Jan Mydlar dabei stumpf geschlagen haben.
Als erster wurde Joachim Andreas Graf Schlick geköpft, dessen Familie dank der Silberminen im westböhmischen Joachimsthal reich geworden war. Graf Schlick hatte jahrelang am sächsischen Hof als Erzieher des zukünftigen Herrschers Johann Georg gewirkt. Während des böhmischen Ständeaufstands war Schlick recht aktiv gewesen, unter anderem gehörte er zu den Teilnehmern des berühmten Fenstersturzes von 1618. Als nächstes kam Vaclav Budova von Budovec an die Reihe. Dieser hatte sich seit dem Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts stark für die Einhaltung der Glaubensfreiheit in den Böhmischen Ländern eingesetzt und war einer der Wortführer der Aufständischen gewesen. Als dritter hochgestellter Adeliger verlor Krystof Harant von Polzice und Bezdruzice seinen Kopf. Dieser war am Hofe Kaiser Rudolfs II. Hofmusikant und Gesellschafter Rudolfs gewesen. Für Politik interessierte er sich nicht sehr, doch war er einer der Heerführer der Aufständischen gewesen, das kostete ihn nun seinen Kopf. Alle drei Herren gehörten ohne Zweifel zur geistigen Elite des Landes, alle drei waren weitgereist, hervorragend gebildet, sprachen mehrere Sprachen - und waren Protestanten.
Unter den 7 Rittern war auch der Katholik Divis Cernin von Chudenice. Dieser hatte den verhängnisvollen Fehler gemacht, am 23. Mai 1618 den Repräsentanten der Stände die Burgtore geöffnet zu haben, die dann die drei Vertreter der Habsburger Macht aus Protest gegen die Einschränkung der Rechte der Protestanten aus einem Fenster warfen.
Jan Jesensky
Eines der härtesten Urteile traf Jan Jessenius, den Rektor der Prager Karlsuniversität, der als 16. an die Reihe kam: er wurde nicht nur geköpft, zuvor wurde ihm die Zunge abgeschnitten, ausserdem wurde er nach der Hinrichtung noch geviertelt. Für dieses harte Urteil hatte sich Kaiser Ferdinand persönlich ausgesprochen. Der international angesehene Gelehrte, der 1600 in Prag die erste öffentliche Obduktion durchgeführt hatte, hatte den Zorn des Herrschers erregt, da er sich auf verschiedenen Landtagen gegen die Wahl Ferdinands zum böhmischen König ausgesprochen sowie eine Reihe von scharfen Schriften gegen die Habsburger veröffentlicht hatte.
Die Köpfe von zwölf Hingerichteten wurden in Eisenkörben zur Abschreckung und Warnung an den Altstädter Brückenturm gehängt. Von dort wurden sie erst 10 Jahre später entfernt, als die Sachsen 1631 Prag für kurze Zeit besetzten.
Ferdinand II.
Kaiser Ferdinand II. nutzte seinen Sieg über die aufständischen protestantischen Stände, die ihn, den rechtmässigen Erben, entthront hatten und einen anderen, den "Winterkönig" Friedrich von der Pfalz, gewählt hatten. 166 Adelige liess Ferdinand vollkommen enteignen, weitere 500 verloren einen Grossteil ihrer Güter. Belohnt wurden dagegen seine Getreuen. Diese erhielten grosse Ländereien in den Böhmischen Ländern. Ausserdem bekamen Klöster Ländereien zurück, die sie zur Zeit der Hussitenkriege im 15. Jahrhundert verloren hatten.
Die grössten Gewinner waren wohl Albrecht von Waldstein, Karl von Liechtenstein sowie Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg, die nun grosse Herrschaften ihr Eigen nennen konnten. Aber auch andere Adelsdfamilien setzten damals in den Böhmischen Ländern ihren Fuss, wie die Familien Trauttmansdorff, Thun, Metternich und Clary.
Auch einfache Bürger und Bauern waren betroffen: wer nicht zum katholischen Glauben übertrat, musste das Land verlassen. 1624 wurde der katholische Glaube der einzig anerkannte in den Böhmischen Ländern - immer mehr Untertanen sahen sich gezwungen, zu emigrieren. Rund 150.000 Menschen sollen in den Jahren nach der Niederlage der protestantischen Stände die Böhmischen Länder aus religiösen Gründen verlassen haben. Der wohl bekannteste Emigrant jener Zeit ist Jan Amos Komensky - Comenius. Der Pädagoge und Bischof der Brüderunität liess sich nach einigen Reisen in Holland nieder, wo er 1670 im Alter von 78 Jahren verstarb.
Auch in den Augen der meisten heutigen Tschechen begann damals mit der Niederlage der protestantischen Stände in der Schlacht am Weissen Berg die "Zeit der Finsternis". Als solche werden die knapp 300 Jahre der uneingeschränkten Herrschaft der Habsburger über die Böhmischen Länder bezeichnet, die erst mit der Unabhängigkeit der Tschechoslowakei 1918 endeten. Das einstmals stolze Königreich Böhmen war nach der neuen Landesordnung von 1627 zu einer Habsburger Provinz degradiert worden und hatte die meisten seiner Rechte verloren - auch das der Glaubensfreiheit, für das seine Bewohner seit dem Ketzertod des Jan Hus 1415 gekämpft hatten. Heute erinnern an diese Geschichtsepoche nicht nur die 27 in das Strassenpflaster eingelassenen Kreuze auf dem Altstädter Ring, sondern auch all die prächtigen Barockbauten im Lande. Mit diesen zeigten die katholischen Habsburger ihren böhmischen und mährischen Untertanen, wer der Herr im Lande ist.
Und damit sind wir bereits am Ende unseres Ausfluges in das 17. Jahrhundert.
www.radio.cz/de/rubrik/geschichte/hinrichtung-auf-dem-alt...
Dozens of pickets protesting the pending execution of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg file past the White House February 14, 1953 after Inaugural stands were removed.
A 24-hour vigil had earlier been restricted to East Executive Drive until the stands were removed.
Some of the picket signs read, “Mr. President The Rosenbergs Maintain Their Innocence!” “Afro-American says there are Grave Doubts in this Case!” “Mr. President 3000 Ministers Appealed to your Conscience! Reconsider Clemency for the Rosenbergs!” and “The electric chair can’t kill the doubts in the Rosenberg case.”
The vigil and picketers were seeking clemency for the Rosenbergs who were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the then wartime ally Soviet Union during 1943-44.
The signs read: “Millions All Over the World Plead: Spare the Rosenbergs,” “Wire-write to President Truman today: clemency for the Rosenbergs,” “While doubt of guilt remains commute the Rosenbergs’ death sentence” and “Justice in the United States must not be more vindictive than in other countries.”
The protest was sponsored by the Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs that vowed to organize 24-hour vigils until Truman granted clemency. Picket lines in and around the White House were in fact continuous until the Rosenberg’s execution.
The Rosenbergs and a third man, Morton Sobell, were tried together for passing classified information to the Soviet Union related to an atomic bomb.
Part of the prosecution strategy was to emphasize their ties to the Communist Party at a time when hysteria over communists in the U.S. was at an all-time high during the Cold War and with U.S. troops battling in Korea against forces aided by both the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
The Rosenbergs were convicted, sentenced to death and then executed June 19, 1953 despite an international outcry for clemency. Sobell served 17 ½ years of a 30-year sentence.
The Rosenbergs were the only people executed by the U.S. for espionage during the Cold War and the only U.S. citizen civilians in modern times executed by the U.S. for their role in passing secrets to another country.
The debate over their sentences continues today, with President Barack Obama refusing to grant posthumous clemency to Ethel Rosenberg while he was in office.
The political climate in the U.S. at the time of their arrest and conviction was one of fear--the onset of the Cold War with the Soviet Union following confrontation in Europe and the Soviet Union’s test of an atomic bomb in 1949.
Leadership at many levels of the Communist Party USA were being sentenced to jail for their beliefs while the rank and file members were blacklisted from employment and persecuted during the second red scare.
At the same time, U.S. forces were fighting in Korea against the communist-led regime centered in North Korea and aided by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
While the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II, the U.S. did not share information on the atom bomb project.
The Rosenbergs joined the Young Communist League in the late 1930s. According to his former Soviet handler Alexander Feklisov, Julius began passing classified documents to the Soviet Union while at the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1940.
The prosecution saw Julius’ potential cooperation as a chance to break a larger Soviet intelligence group in the U.S. and believed the only way to break Julius was to expose his wife Ethel to the death penalty. The ploy didn’t work.
In imposing the death penalty, Judge Irving Kaufman noted that he held them responsible not only for espionage but also for the deaths of the Korean War:
“I consider your crime worse than murder... I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-Bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country. No one can say that we do not live in a constant state of tension. We have evidence of your treachery all around us every day for the civilian defense activities throughout the nation are aimed at preparing us for an atom bomb attack.”
Commenting on the sentence given to them, Julius Rosenberg claimed the case was a political frame-up.
“This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be. There had to be a Rosenberg case, because there had to be an intensification of the hysteria in America to make the Korean War acceptable to the American people. There had to be hysteria and a fear sent through America in order to get increased war budgets. And there had to be a dagger thrust in the heart of the left to tell them that you are no longer gonna get five years for a Smith Act prosecution or one year for contempt of court, but we're gonna kill ya!”
An article by Norman Markowitz for Political Affairs in 2008 sums up another point of view.
“These were people who, for ill or for good, admired both Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and President Franklin Roosevelt as advancing the struggle for working-class liberation against fascism. They saw them as helping to bring about more than a “better world,” but a world with a socialist system that fostered equality, peace and social justice. If patriotism in its most simple definition means love of country, this was the America that communists defended and loved, rather than the America of Standard Oil, Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover, the corporate leadership ready and willing to do business with Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese militarists both to make money and fight socialist revolutions.”
This point of view also holds that providing the Soviets with intelligence on the atomic bomb helped ensure that the U.S. would not launch nuclear weapons again after the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945.
The question of the Rosenberg’s guilt has been debated since their arrest. Evidence uncovered in more recent years that convincingly indicates that Julius was involved in espionage. The evidence against Ethel is less convincing and more circumstantial.
Those charged or implicated with the Rosenbergs include:
Julius Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953
Ethel Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953
David Greenglass: served 9 and half years of a 15-year sentence
Ruth Greenglass: not charged, granted immunity
Morton Sobell: served 17 years, nine months of a 30-year sentence
Harry Gold: served 14 years of a 30-year sentence
Klaus Fuchs: served 9 years of a 14-year sentence in Great Britain
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskkQha2c
Photo by Ranny Routt. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
day 85 – Saddam’s execution has haunted me all day.
My TV is set to wake me in the morning; it is a more gentle way to wake up than the insipid beeping of an alarm clock which, as well as waking you, induces a coronary heart attack.
This morning I woke gently to the news that a man had been executed. At 6am Iraq time Saddam Hussein was hanged. I couldn't quite believe it had happened. I sat up and watched the continuous report on BBC news and all I could think of was that one more person had lost a life.
Saddam, from what little I know, was not a nice man. He was directly and indirectly responsible for literally millions of lost lives. His regime tortured and brutalised a nation and his legacy continues to infect what was once the centre of civilisation.
This presents me with a moral problem. I just can not condone capital punishment. It is a brutal way to carry out justice and no one, and I mean no one, deserves to die in that manner. But in taking that stance I am asking for mercy and compassion for a man that showed none to his victims. I have to admit I briefly thought that his death was a good thing but I quickly retracted that thought. In a modern society we should not execute people. Let’s face it, there is no punishment that befits genocide and mass murder and another death does little to help.
The other disturbing thing about this event is the display of the execution on TV. I remember the uproar when terrorists executed Kenneth Bigley by beheading him. They then distributed the video over the Internet. The world was outraged. Are we any different presenting Saddam’s execution? We need to take a step back and think about what we are looking at. I heard someone say “Oh the hanging is on the Internet, Can I look?” I said “Why?” The reply was slightly chilling “Oh I don’t know. It might be interesting, might be fun.” I was taken aback at the thought that someone I know well could actually see the death of another human as entertaining.
I wonder if we will ever learn.
Dublin Bus (Summerhill Depot) Leyland Olympian RH31 parks up on Kildare Street operating the Dublin Bus Ghost Tour, March 2014.
Although AV63 has been completed for the tour more problems mean RH 31 will probably last a little longer on the ghost tour than previously thought.
Douggy Carpool: hey how r u doin
Kaycee Nightfire: ok
Douggy Carpool: wat u doin out there
Kaycee Nightfire: shooting a bear
Guess I'm not going to Disney World anytime soon .....
this painting is part of a series I am working on exploring what it means to be a Catholic in the North of Ireland.
Exécution sans jugement sous les rois Maures de Grenade (Execution without judgement under the Moorish Kings of Grenada)
1870
By Henri Regnault (1843 - 1871)
Oil on canvas, H. 3.02 ; L. 1.46 m
musée d'Orsay, Paris, France
Regnault’s grand canvas still unsettles many visitors to the Musée d’Orsay. Whereas other nearby paintings in the museum have long since lost their avant-garde capacity to disturb viewers’ expectations, Regnault’s canvas has retained its shock value. One major reason for this response is not so much the bloody scene in the foreground as the viewer’s position vis-à-vis this macabre subject. As Linda Nochlin has pointed out, when the canvas is hung at the correct height, the decapitated corpse rests at the viewer’s own eye level.
Mr. Ghassemi-Shall faces imminent execution in Iran. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy issued a joint statement asking Iran to release and halt the execution of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall.
Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was arrested in late May 2008 while visiting his mother in Iran. This arrest took place approximately two weeks after the arrest of his brother, Alborz Ghassemi-Shall.
In November 2009 Hamid’s wife in Canada received reports that both Hamid and Alborz were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death. The legal proceedings were deeply unfair and neither Hamid or Alborz had a meaningful opportunity to defend themselves. His conviction appears to be based on a document of an alleged email exchange between Hamid and Alborz. Hamid has unequivocally stated that the document is a complete fabrication and that he never sent any such message. Testing and analysis by his lawyer reportedly confirm that to be the case.
Hamid and Alborz were in solitary confinement for 18 months until the end of November 2009 when they were transferred to a general population section in Tehran's Evin prison. On 20 January 2010 Alborz died in prison, reportedly of stomach cancer. Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall reported that both he and Alborz were subject to “extreme pressure” during their detention.
Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was sentenced to death. His case has undergone a number of reviews, but the family confirmed in March 2012 that the death sentance has not been lifted.
Take Action
Write the Iranian authorities. Request that they:
Guarantee that Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall will not be executed.
Release Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall immediately unless he is promptly brought to trial on recognizably criminal charges in legal proceedings that fully conform to international fair trial standards.
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Email: info_leader@leader.ir AND tweet @khamenei_ir
Copies to:
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur Street, Vali Asr Avenue, south of
Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran, 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com or info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line, write FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Copies to:
Mr Kambiz Sheikh Hassani
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran
245 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2
Fax: (613) 232-5712
Email: executive@iranembassy.ca
More Background
The Canadian government has sponsored a resolution censuring Iran at the United Nations General Assembly human rights committee, every year since the 2003 torture and death while in custody, of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran. The resolution has expressed deep concern at serious ongoing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The violations include torture, flogging, amputations, stoning, and "pervasive gender inequality and violence against women." Canada has also "particular concern" with the Iranian government's failure to launch a thorough investigation of alleged human rights violations in the wake of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's contested re-election in 2009.
In a new year’s statement on January 1, 2011 the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed deep concern for the “deteriorating human rights situation in Iran.” He expressed particular concern for the uncertain fate of two Canadians of dual nationality who remain in prison in Iran. (Hamid Ghassemi- Shall and Hossein Derakhshan). He further referred to reports that Saeed Malekpour, a Canadian permanent resident, has been condemned to death and that his sentence could be carried out at any time. Minister Cannon encouraged the Iranian authorities to show mercy and compassion to those who are in Iran’s prisons without just cause, and called on Iran to respect its international human rights obligations in law and in practice and to foster a more open dialogue with the international community.
خواهر حمید قاسمی: شما را به خدا نگذارید برادرم را اعدام کنند، حمید حتی فعال سیاسی هم نیست
soundcloud.com/frl-journalist/hamidghasemi
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The Rebels Return Wood Sculptures. Wat Tyler Park, Basildon, Essex.
Full size high quality images available on request.
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale that was published by A. Leconte of 38, Rue Ste.-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, Paris. The photography was by Guy, and the card has a divided back.
La Place de la Concorde
The Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris. Measuring 7.6 ha (19 acres) in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées.
It was the site of many notable public executions, including those of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre in the course of the French Revolution, during which the square was temporarily renamed Place de la Révolution.
History of the Place de la Concorde
The Place was originally designed to be the site of an equestrian statue of King Louis XV, commissioned in 1748 by the merchants of Paris, to celebrate the recovery of King Louis XV from a serious illness.
The site chosen for the statue was the large esplanade or space between the revolving gate the Tuileries Gardens and the Cour-de-la-Reine, a popular lane for horseback riding at the edge of the city.
At the time the Concorde bridge and the Rue de Rivoli did not exist, and the Rue Royale was a muddy lane that descended down to a marsh beside the Seine.
The architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel made a plan for the site, and the square was finished by 1772. It was in the form of an octagon, bordered by a moat twenty meters wide, crossed by stone bridges, and surrounded by a stone balustrade.
At the eight corners Gabriel placed stone stairways to descend into the Place, which was divided into flowerbeds. In the center of the gardens was the pedestal on which the statue stood.
The statue, by Bouchardon, depicted the King on horseback as the victor of the Battle of Fontenoy, dressed as a Roman general, with a laurel wreath on his head.
The four corners of the pedestal were designed with bronze statues by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, depicting the virtues of great monarchs; Force, Justice, Prudence, and Peace.
The statue was dedicated on the 20th. June 1763, but by this time the King had lost much of his popularity. A few days after its dedication, someone hung a placard on the statue, proclaiming:
"Oh, the beautiful statue! Oh, the
fine pedestal!
The Virtues are under the feet,
and Vice is in the saddle!"
On the north side of the square, between 1760 and 1775, Gabriel built two palatial buildings with identical façades. The classical façades were inspired by those created by Charles Perrault, the royal architect, for the facade of the Louvre.
They were originally intended to be occupied by embassies, but in the end the east building became a depot for the Royal furnishings, before becoming the headquarters of the French Navy, the Hôtel de la Marine. The west building was divided into individual properties for the nobility.
The French Revolution
Beginning in 1789, the Place was a central stage for the events of the French Revolution. On the 13th. July 1789, a mob came to the Hotel de la Marine and seized a store of weapons, including two old cannon, gifts from the King of Siam, which fired the first shots during the storming of the Bastille on the 14th. July 1789.
On the 11th. August 1792, the statue of Louis XV was pulled down and taken to a foundry, where it was melted down. A few months later, a new statue, "Liberty", by the sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot, took its place; it was figure wearing a red liberty cap and holding a lance. The Place Louis XV became the Place de la Revolution.
The first executions by guillotine in the square, those of the two thieves who had stolen the royal crown diamonds from the Hotel de la Marine, took place there in October 1792. On the 21st. January 1793, the guillotine was used to execute King Louis XVI. The guillotine was nicknamed 'The National Razor'.
As the Reign of Terror commenced, it was set up again on the 11th. May 1793, midway between the Statue of Liberty and the turning bridge at the entrance to the Tuileries Gardens, and remained there for thirteen months.
Of the 2,498 persons executed by the guillotine in Paris during the Revolution, 1,119 were executed in the Place de la Concorde, 73 in the Place Bastille and 1,306 in the Place de la Nation.
Beside Louis XVI, others executed there included Marie-Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, and Antoine Lavoisier.
In the later days of the Terror, after the 27th. July 1794, the revolutionaries Georges Danton, Maximilien Robespierre and Louis de Saint-Just were guillotined. The last executions, those of the Prairial riot participants, were carried out in the Place de la Concorde in May 1795.
In 1790, early in the French Revolution, the Concorde bridge was constructed, and, at the suggestion of Jacques-Louis David, the statues of the "Horses of Marly" by G. Cousteau, were placed on the north side, at the entrance to the Champs-Élysées.
In 1795, under the Directory, the square was renamed Place de la Concorde as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the revolution.
The Place de la Concorde in the 19th. Century
In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte began to construct the Rue de Rivoli along the edge of the square.
After the Bourbon Restoration of 1814, the name of the square was changed back to Place Louis XV, and in 1826 it was renamed Place Louis XVI. After the July Revolution of 1830 the name was returned to Place de la Concorde.
Under King Louis-Philippe, and his prefect of the Seine, Rambuteau, the square was remade. IN 1832, Jacques Ignace Hittorff was named chief architect of the project.
In October 1835 Hittorff installed the new centrepiece of the square, the Luxor Obelisk, a gift to the King from the vice-pasha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. It was hoisted into place, before a huge crowd, on the 25th. October 1836.
Hittorff commissioned celebrated sculptors, including James Pradier and Jean-Pierre Cortot to make eight statues representing the major cities of France, which were placed in 1838 on columns which had earlier been put in place around the square. A ring of twenty columns with lanterns was put in place at the same time.
Between 1836 and 1840, Hittorff erected two monumental fountains, the Fontaine Maritime on the side of the Seine, and the Fontaine Fluviale on the side of the Rue Royale. The design, with two fountains each nine meters high, was modelled after that of the fountains of Saint-Peter's Square in Rome.
In 1853, under Napoleon III, the deep moats around the square, which had turned into rendezvous-points for prostitutes, were filled in.
Events in the Place de la Concorde
The Place was the entry point for two major international expositions:
-- The Paris Universal Exposition of 1900, which
left behind the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais.
-- The 1925 International Exhibition of Modern
Decorative and Industrial Arts, which gave its
name to Art Deco.
The square was also the site of great national celebrations, including the victory celebrations of the end of the Great War.
Crowds celebrating the August 1944 Liberation of Paris in the Second World War had to scatter from German sniper fire.
The square has experienced violent confrontations, including a demonstration against parliamentary corruption in 1934 which turned violent, with eleven deaths and two hundred injured.
The Luxor Obelisk
The centrepiece of the Place de la Concorde is an ancient Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics. In the 1800's François Chabas produced a full translation of these. They exalt the reign of Ramesses II, and also praise Amun-Ra and Horus.
The obelisk is a monolith carved from a single block of red granite. It is one of two which the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th. century. The other, slightly larger one, stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology available at that time.
On the 26th. September 1981, President François Mitterrand formally returned the title of the second obelisk to Egypt.
The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The Khedive of Egypt, or royal constitutional monarch, Muhammad Ali Pasha, offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk as a diplomatic gift to France in November 1829.
This was in spite of the fact that the obelisks had previously been given to the British, and the fact that the French diplomat arranging the acquisition, Baron Taylor, had been authorized to do so by Charles X, who had been overthrown in July.
The obelisk was taken down and transported to France by a ship custom-built for the transport, the Luxor.
In reciprocation for the gift, France gave a mechanical clock in the 1840's, today known as the Cairo Citadel Clock. The clock has rarely worked since its arrival in Cairo, but in 2021 the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that:
"Egypt is seeking to repair the citadel
clock, one of the oldest of its type in
the world, so that it will work again."
The obelisk arrived in Paris on the 21st. December 1833.
Three years later, it was hoisted into place, on top of the pedestal which originally supported the statue of Louis XVI, destroyed during the July Revolution 1830. In 1839, diagrams explaining the complex machinery that was used for the transportation were added to the pedestal.
The original Egyptian pedestals involved sculptures of baboons with prominent male genitalia, raising their hands to the sun. A fragment of this original pedestal from the rear of the remaining obelisk was brought to Paris at the same time as the obelisk, intended to be displayed with it. Deemed too obscene for public exhibition, it was sent to the Egyptian section of the Louvre.
The raising of the column was a major feat of engineering, depicted by illustrations on the base of the monument. King Louis Philippe dedicated the obelisk on the 25th. October 1836.
The obelisk is 23 metres (75 ft) high, including the base, and weighs over 250 tonnes. Given the technical limitations of the day, transporting it was no easy feat.
The Paris obelisk has a fissure in the original stone that had been tended to in antiquity.
The eastern and western faces of both obelisks are slightly convex, the only two ancient obelisks with this feature, and the reason for this is not understood.
The government of France added a gold-leafed pyramidal cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998, replacing the missing original, believed to have been stolen in the 6th. century BC.
More Recent Events Associated With the Obelisk
Modern events include the following:
-- On the 1st. December 1993, demonstrators from Act Up Paris. an organization dedicated to fighting AIDS, covered the Parisian obelisk with a giant pink condom to mark World AIDS Day.
-- In 1998 Alain "Spiderman" Robert, the French urban climber, illegally scaled the Parisian obelisk without the use of any ropes or other climbing equipment or safety devices.
-- In 1999 as part of Paris's millennium celebration activities, 300 brass disks and nearly 1,000 feet of yellow thermosensitive strips were placed around the obelisk in order to use it as the gnomon of a functioning sundial. They remained until the end of the year 2000.
-- In 2015 Milène Guermont's monumental interactive sculpture PHARES was displayed next to the obelisk for several months, where it was designed to illuminate the obelisk.
The Lone Ranger
So what else happened on the day that Percy posted the card?
Well, on the 3rd. September 1954, the last episode of The Lone Ranger radio programme was broadcast, after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.
Re-runs of old episodes continue to be transmitted to this day.
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Page No. 10, Vol: 1, Issue: 101 D.L No.79 Dated 19/05/2010 The Bengal Post Rs 2.50 The Bengal Post Kolkata Friday October 8, 2010 Page 10 .
WORLD .
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10 die in Karachi shrine attack .
Karachi: Two Taliban sui-cide bombers on Thursday struck venerated Sufi shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in this Pakistani port city, killing at least 10 people and wounding 60 others in the latest in a slew of attacks on sacred places. The blasts occurred this evening in quick succession at the entrance of the packed shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, considered to be patron saint of Karachi and is revered by millions of people. Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to reports. PTI .
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France set to impose burqa ban .
Paris: Frances top legal authority on Thursday approved a law banning full-face veils in public, the last hurdle for the ban, which aims to protect womens rights but has been criticised as stigmatising Muslims. The Constitutional Council, which had previously warned that banning the veil may be unconstitu-tional, said it approved the version of the bill, which has been passed by both houses of parliament, after a final review. PTI .
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US deports nearly 4 lakh immigrants .
Washington: The US gov-ernment has deported a record number of undocu-mented immigrants around 400,000 this year, officials said. Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano and assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, said 392,000 people have been deported by the ICE till September 30. PTI .
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6 Malay fishermen missing .
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police say they are searching for six fishermen whose boat collided with a cargo ship and capsized. Marine Police official Zainul Abidin Hasan said rescuers pulled 11 other fishermen out of the water after receiv-ing an alert that their vessel had crashed into a ship off central Selangor state in the Malacca Strait. Zainul Abidin said the ship continued its journey following the acci-dent, which occurred before dawn on Thursday.PTI .
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Iran hangs eight drug traffickers .
Tehran: Iran has hanged eight drug traffickers in a prison in the southeastern city of Kerman, Fars news agency reported on Thursday. The agency, which published only the first names of the eight, did not say when the executions were carried out or if the condemned were all hanged at the same time. The latest hangings bring the number of executions in Iran to 125 this year. At least 270 people were hanged in 2009. PTI .
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Myanmar ferry toll rises to 19 .
Bangkok: Nineteen people died and three are missing after a boat carrying teach-ers and school children sank in Myanmar, an official said on Thursday, updating an earlier toll. The students were travelling to a football tournament when the over-loaded ferry sank on Wednesday on a river in the flood-prone Irrawaddy Delta region. The latest informa-tion is 19 people were killed and three others missing. About 79 people were on board when the boat sank, according to the official, who did not want to be named. PTI .
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Toxic sludge spill reaches Danube .
Budapest: Hungarys toxic sludge spill, which has killed four people, reached the Danube river on Thursday, threatening to contaminate the waterways ecosystem, a water authority official said. Water alkalinity, a measure of river contamination, was already above normal in the major waterway, the official said. PTI .
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drag the nation backward. Sheikh Hasina has asked her Dhaka: Bangladesh Premier .
The government in March archrival and Opposition .
this year constituted a leader Khaleda Zia not to .
three-member special court push the country into chaos .
alongside a special investi-by continuing to speak .
gation agency and prosecu-against the war crimes trial. .
tion panel to expose the sus-I urge the opposition leader .
pected war criminals to jus-not to throw the country .
tice 39 years after the inde-into chaos by opposing the .
pendence in line with ruling.
Sheikh Hasina Khaleda Zia .
trials of war criminals. Awami Leagues electoral The entire nation wants the opposed to the initiatives of war criminals were released pledges. trials, and the international her Awami League-led gov-after the Liberation War. Officially no list of sus-community is also extend-ernment which has prom-A crucial ally of the main pects is yet to be released ing support for the trials, ised to conduct the trial. opposition in the past BNP-with officials saying the Hasina told parliament late Hasinas comments came led government, fundamen-investigating agency would on Wednesday night. a day after Zia alleged that talist Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on finalise the list after a thor-.
She asked Zia of the governments initiative Wednesday issued a ough enquiry despite a gov-Bangladesh Nationalist in the name of war crimes statement saying since com-ernment instruction asking Party (BNP) to abandon her trial four decades after inde-ing to power nearly two immigration authorities not efforts to save the war pendence had pushed the years ago, the incumbent allow the high-profile criminals, saying only 12 nation towards a confronta-government was creating know war criminals leave per cent of the people were tion afresh while the real unnecessary debates to the country. PTI .
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German .
militants .
training on .
Dhaka lifts a nthrax alert Pak border .
Dhaka: Bangladesh on Thursday lifted a nation- asked to keep a sharp vigil on the bacterial dis- Islamabad: The video at .
wide anthrax red alert, a ease. first seems like many others .
month after it was issued The state-run Institute filmed in Pakistans tribal .
following the spread of of Epidemiology, Disease areas: The bearded militant .
the bacterial disease to Control and Research sits cross-legged on the floor, .
different districts. (IEDCR) and livestock an AK-47 propped against .
The red alert has been ministry said some 500 the wall behind him. .
lifted as anthrax is now people contracted the But as he applauds his three .
under control, a livestock disease as anthrax was companions decision to join .
ministry spokesman said. detected in 12districts, jihad, the words come out in .
Speaking to newsman inflicting at least 104 fluent German: Wir sind die .
livestock minister Abdul cows, of which 37 died . Soldaten Allahs, he says, .
Latif Biswas earlier on The anthrax inflicted We are the soldiers of .
Thursday said despite the people were exposed to a Allah. .
withdrawal, the con- critical state, an IEDCR Between 15 and 40 .
cerned officials were official said. PTI Germans and a smaller con- .
tingent of other Europeans .
are believed to be getting .
militant training in .
US tries to appease Pakistans lawless border .
region, intending to join the .
Talibans fight against Nato .
forces in neighbouring .
Islamabad, says Afghanistan or return to .
Europe and strike at the soft .
underbelly of those coun- .
sorry for air strikes tries. .
Their presence has .
attracted fresh scrutiny after .
a European terror warning .
Seema Sirohi bargain in the war besides based on information from a .
playing fast and loose with German-Afghan captured in .
Washington: The troubled objectives, methods and Afghanistan, and a CIA drone .
US-Pakistan alliance is a case promises. strike on Tuesday that .
of the tail wagging the dog. General Petraeus, under allegedly killed eight .
The United States govern- pressure to show progress, German militants in North .
ment on Wednesday offered has increased drone attacks Waziristan, an al-Qaida and .
multiple apologies to inside Pakistan while bear- Taliban hub that the .
Pakistan for an air strike last ing down on his Pakistani Pakistani army has so far left .
week that killed three counterparts to crack down largely alone. .
Pakistani soldiers resulting on terrorist groups. The German speaker in the .
in Islamabad closing down He has ordered as many as jihad video, Mounir Chouka, .
supply routes for Nato fuel a dozen commando raids a is one of two Bonn-born .
tankers. night across the border to brothers of Moroccan back- .
Terrorists found the lined hunt down terrorists. ground well known for .
up tankers an easy target to Tensions in the fragile appearances in videos made .
destroy as the Quetta police alliance are growing daily as by the Islamic Movement of .
stood by and watched the President Barack Obama Uzbekistan apparently .
flames. With the Torkham faces questions about out- aimed at recruiting more .
crossing in the Khyber Pass comes, progress and the militants from Germany. .
shut down by Pakistan in future of this war effort. A The clip appeared on a .
retaliation, Nato forces were White House report submit- militant website earlier this .
squeezed for supplies and ted to the US Congress ear- summer, a nearly 40-minute .
Washington had no choice lier this week laid out a bleak video telling new recruits of .
but to placate Pakistan, ana- assessment of Pakistans the legitimacy of jihad, or .
lysts said. military effort in combating holy war. .
The apologies came in terrorists. At every border crossing, .
quick succession from senior The report flatly said gen- at every airport and at every .
officials, including from gen- eral Kayanis forces were search, we pray to Allah ... to .
eral David Petraeus, the US avoiding taking on the mili- make these enemies blind, .
commander in charge of the tants. The Pakistani military he says. Allah answered. .
forces in Afghanistan, who continued to avoid military The proof? We are here. .
said he deeply regretted engagements that would put Germans are thought to be .
the loss of life. it in direct conflict with one of the largest European .
US ambassador to Pakistan Afghan Taliban or al-Qaida groups in Pakistans north- .
Anne Patterson praised forces in North Waziristan, west, though information is .
Pakistans brave security according to the report. scant. Most are believed to .
forces and admiral Mike President Asif Ali Zardari be immigrants from Muslim .
Mullen, the chairman of the was seen as out of touch nations or their descendants. .
joint chiefs of staff, called with the people and ineffec- The Germans killed on .
Pakistans army chief, gen- tive in dealing with the many Tuesday were hit by a drone .
eral Ashfaq Kayani, on tele- crises engulfing his country strike in Mir Ali, a town .
phone to offer another apol- from the devastating about 20 miles from the bor- .
ogy. floods to the economic der with Afghanistan. .
General Kayani might downturn. US officials are Reporters who have been to .
have won this tactical battle frustrated but mired in their Mir Ali found Internet cafes .
against the US but anger in own policy of cant live with in the basement of shops .
Washington is mounting Pakistan and cant live with- where militants from all over .
against Pakistan, which has out Pakistan because of the the world watch extremist .
failed to deliver its end of the reality of geography. videos or send e-mails. PTI .
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Former US President and UN special envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, listens to a man who was displaced by the earthquake, at Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday PTI .
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Fonseka loses parliamentary seat .
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Colombo: Sri Lankas for-.
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place. Fonseka is serving a respective constituency in mer army chief Sarath .
30-month jail term the event of the incum-Fonsekas brief stint as an .
imposed by a court martial bents demise or disqualifi-MP has come to a sudden .
after the ruling was cation. end in the wake of his 30-.
approved by President An ordinance in this month imprisonment for .
Mahinda Rajapaksa in his regard also clearly states corruption in defence .
capacity as the com-that if a member is jailed deals, amid reports that .
mander in chief of the he loses his seat immedi-the President may con-.
armed forces of Sri Lanka. ately, sources said. sider pardoning him if a .
He was sent to jail on Fonseka had contested plea is made personally by Thursday last for corrup-the April 8 general elec-.
Sarath Fonseka .
him or a family member. tion in defence deals dur-tions from the Colombo .
Sri Lankan old Fonseka, who leads the ing his tenure as the army district constituency. The Parliamentary secretary opposition Democratic chief. Daily Mirror newspaper, general Dhammika National Alliance (DNA), The Sri Lankan meanwhile, reported that Kithulgoda on Thursday has fallen vacant. Parliamentary system Rajapaksa has said he informed Election Authorities have allows the candidate would only consider a plea Commissioner Dayananda requested the securing the second high-to release Fonseka if it is Dissanayaka that the par-EC to nominate a person est votes to succeed the made by the former army liamentary seat of 59-year-for the seat in Fonsekas elected member of the chief himself .PTI .
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PM race: Nepal stalemate continues .
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Kathmandu: Political .
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which functions as the newspaper, said on uncertainty over a new gov-.
countrys interim parlia-Thursday. ernment in Nepal deepened .
ment. No clear result was with lawmakers failing to .
Of the 145 lawmakers expected after the single elect a new prime minister .
who took part in the voting largest party UCPN-Maoist, for the eleventh time in a .
on Thursday, 40 remained with 238 seats, and CPN-row on Thursday, as the sole .
neutral, while one voted UML with 109 lawmakers, candidate R C Poudyal of the .
against the Nepali Congress the third highest number of Nepali Congress was unable .
leader. The next round of seats, decided to stay away to garner a simple majority. voting will be held on from the election process. .
Madhav Kumar Nepal .
More than three months October 10. Nepali Congress, which after the 22-party coalition June 30, when Nepal stood The Parliaments Business has 114 members, has ruled led by Prime Minister down under intense pres-Advisory Committee (BAC) out the possibility of form-Madhav Kumar Nepal col-sure from the Maoists. 65-has decided to hold the 12th ing the next government lapsed, 11 rounds of polls year-old Poudyal secured and 13th round of prime under the Maoists leader-have so far failed to elect a 104 votes in favour, far ministerial election on ship as the former rebels new leader. below the magic figure of October 10 and 26 respec-have not yet laid down .
The country has been 301 in the 601-member tively, myrepublica online, arms, managed their com-without a government since Constituent Assembly, the website of the Republic batants .
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Do not push Bangla into chaos: Hasina .
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Double-standard slur on China .
over Vietnam boat controversy .
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Hanoi: Vietnams call for China to release a captured fishing boat and nine crew-men points to Beijings con-tradictory policies on mar-itime disputes, analysts said on Thursday ahead of key regional security talks. .
Vietnamese foreign min-istry officials on Tuesday met their counterparts from the Chinese embassy in Hanoi to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the vessel and its crew, the offi-cial Vietnam News Agency reported. .
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US terror alerts politically motivated .
London: A US terror alert Hasan, a veteran diplomat the Americans have definite and specifically at the White travel to the tribal areas for issued this week about al-who is close to Pakistans information about terrorists House. To stitch together indoctrination and training, Qaida plots to attack targets president, suggested the and al-Qaida people, we [the terror plot claims] in a represented a potentially in western Europe was Obama administration was should be provided [with] seamless narrative is non-serious threat. You have politically motivated and playing politics with the ter-that and we could go after sensical, said one well-discussions about all sorts of not based on credible new ror threat before next them ourselves, Hasan said. placed official. things that does not neces-information, senior months mid-term congres-Such reports are a mix-While Abdul Jabbar, a sarily mean there is any-Pakistani diplomats and sional elections, in which ture of frustrations, inepti-Briton, and others killed by thing concrete. European intelligence offi-the Republicans are tude and lack of apprecia-an American drone strike on It is not easy to set up cials said. expected to make big gains. tion of ground realities. 8 September in North groups, said one counter-.
The non-specific US He also claimed President Any attempt to infringe Waziristan, in Pakistans terrorism official. warning, which despite its Obama was reacting to pres-the sovereignty of Pakistan tribal areas, were heard dis-By making it clear that the vagueness led Britain, sure to demonstrate that his would not bring about sta-cussing co-ordinated plots, US drone strikes were pre-France and other countries Afghan war strategy and this bility in Afghanistan, which including possible com-emptive, and were not in to raise their overseas terror years troop surge, which are is presumably the primary mando-style attacks on any way combating an alert levels, was an attempt unpopular with the objective of the American prominent buildings and imminent threat, European to justify a recent escalation American public, were nec-and Nato forces. tourist sites in European officials raised fresh in US drone and helicopter essary. Dismissing claims of a capitals, security and intelli-questions this time attacks inside Pakistan that I will not deny the fact developed, co-ordinated gence officials said the plots directly involving a British have set the country on that there may be internal plot aimed at Britain, France were nowhere near fruition. nationalabout the legality fire, said Wajid Shamsul political dynamics, includ-and Germany, European The officials did not deny of the attacks, which could Hasan, the high commis-ing the forthcoming mid-intelligence officials also the men, and other foreign-be viewed as assassina-sioner to Britain. term American elections. If pointed the finger at the US, born jihadi recruits who tions.Guardian News Service .
It said they were seized almost one month ago while fishing in the Paracels, a South China Sea archipelago occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam. .
The case illustrates Chinas double standard when it comes to this kind of issue, said Ian Storey, a regional security analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. .
He said the seizure of hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen by Chinese vessels in recent years contrasts with Beijings response to the September 8 arrest by Japan of a Chinese trawler captain. His boat collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near in the East China Sea. China issued threats and cut all high-level diplomatic contact with Tokyo. .
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It sent two Chinese fish-eries patrol boats to protect its fishermen near the island. Japan released the captain in late September but Chinas patrol boats did not with-draw until Wednesday, Tokyo said. PTI .
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at Villa Madama in Rome on Thursday Reuters .
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Knight Elkcrown's squire won a fair battle. But no blood was to be spilled, said the bailiff, and the losing squire's life got spared.
Looking at three fists in memorial park "Bubanj" built to commemorate the execution of the citizens of Nis and South Serbia in World War II
This Glacial erratic in Jordbro has an interesting history. For centuries it was used as a place of execution. It has seen many decapitations and hangings. The last person to die here was Anders Gustav Pettersson, who murdered his boss, Fredrik Jaedren, the brutal owner of the old estate Näringsberg. I recently read a book about about the murder story.
I shot this with The Nifty Fifty. It is three photos stitched together.
APRA HARBOR, Guam (March 28, 2018) - A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat, assigned to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam, pulls alongside a Mark VI patrol boat, assigned to Coastal Riverine Group (CRG) 1, Det. Guam, during a towing exercise in Apra Harbor. CRG-1, Det. Guam is assigned to Commander, Task Force 75, the primary expeditionary task force responsible for planning and execution of coastal riverine operations, explosive ordnance disposal, diving engineering and construction, and underwater construction in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy Combat Camera photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Stacy D. Laseter) 180328-N-PP197-0071
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Den of Imagination - Your Miniature Painting Service
We are a registered studio in Torun, Poland. We have been in line of work since 2008. Our still growing staff of painters and sculptors is ready to work on any project you can imagine!
We are credible, solid and reliable. We work best with large commissions and we guarantee fast service.
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Commander's log, date 05.03.2735:
My execution came and went. I had been 'cuffed again, and a hood had been put over my head. I was ready to die. I figured I could at least die with the satisfactory knowledge that I hadn't given away any DDF secrets. But then I heard some screams. They were the screams of the guards, as Jim was decapitating them. He rescued me, and I was quite astounded to see him. After all, I had believed him to be dead. But he explained the situation to me. He had actually come across a DM underwater patrol in the pond. It was the DM underwater patrol's blood I had seen, not Jim's. But he had gotten caught on a rock down there, so it was a while before he surfaced. He found a lone DM soldier and killed him to get weapons. Then he gathered intel and found me. And what a relief that was! Now, Jim and I shall return to base to resume our normal activities.
Jeremy Croup, Commander of the DDF, signing out.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle spoke on the need for recognition of the shameful parts of our history, including such events as the execution of Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner. 2009 Commemoration of indigenous resistance freedom fighters Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, who were the first judicial executions in Melbourne on January 20, 1842.
"Ladies and Gentlemen thankyou for having me here. First I would like to pay my respects to the traditional owners on whose land we are gathered, the Kulin nation, and pay my deep and personal respects to the elders passed and present."
"I bring greetings from the City of Melbourne and I can say it is an honour to be here. I don't want to add much to what Robbie said except to say that awareness of our indigenous history is vital to our understanding of ourselves as a nation and as a people. I think one of the things that we have to understand about that is, its okay to focus on the things which are admirable, but there are also things which are shameful and we need to look at those things which are shameful squarely in the eye. If we are honestly prepared to do that then I believe we can start to make some differences in the way we do understand how we have come to be the people we are and how lucky it is we are standing here together."
"So, I wanted to also pay tribute to Joe Toscano. When I said we often don't know these stories that are right in the midst of our own community. I didn't know this story until Joe made it clear to me and a couple of people who are supporters and carriers of the flame if you like, made this known to me during the course of the Lord Mayoral election campaign and I made the commitment to Joe and others that I would come down here and help you mark this, in a way commemoration, I wouldn't call this a celebration because of what Robbie said, but was very pleased to do so."
"So Joe, thankyou very much for helping to spread those stories and helping us to understand that we need to look our own history squarely in the eye. Thankyou very much for having me down here and I look forward to commemorating these occasions with you with regard to my time as Lord Mayor. Thankyou."
Watch a video of his speech: Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle on commemmorating Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner
Execution Rocks Lighthouse is an active lighthouse, located in the Long Island Sound, protecting mariners traveling those waters.
Image © 2013 Clarence Holmes / Clarence Holmes Photography, All Rights Reserved. The image is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws, and is not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission.
If you would like to use this image for any purpose, please see the available licensing and/or print options for this image on my website or contact me with any questions that you may have.
George's final glimpse of the world before he is thrust mercilessly into the Chamber of the Whirling Blades!
Bronze (AD 54-9)
Almost none of Nero's full-length statues survive. This small bronze gives a rare sense of a complete sculpture. It shows the emperor seated and in full military garb, with a decorated breastplate and cloak. It probably formed part of a larger, multi-figured scene. Nero's pose, with his right arm extended, implies that he was receiving emissaries or prisoners of war. Parallels suggest that the figure was originally attached to a bronze monument.
[British Museum]
Nero: the Man Behind the Myth
(May - Oct 2021)
Nero is known as one of Rome's most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty, debauchery and madness.
The last male descendant of the emperor Augustus, Nero succeeded to the throne in AD 54 aged just 16 and died a violent death at 30. His turbulent rule saw momentous events including the Great Fire of Rome, Boudicca's rebellion in Britain, the execution of his own mother and first wife, grand projects and extravagant excesses.
Drawing on the latest research, this major exhibition questions the traditional narrative of the ruthless tyrant and eccentric performer, revealing a different Nero, a populist leader at a time of great change in Roman society.
Through some 200 spectacular objects, from the imperial palace in Rome to the streets of Pompeii, follow the young emperor’s rise and fall and make up your own mind about Nero. Was he a young, inexperienced ruler trying his best in a divided society, or the merciless, matricidal megalomaniac history has painted him to be?
Nero was the 5th emperor of Rome and the last of Rome’s first dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, founded by Augustus (the adopted son of Julius Caesar). Nero is known as one of Rome’s most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty and debauchery. He ascended to power in AD 54 aged just 16 and died at 30. He ruled at a time of great social and political change, overseeing momentous events such as the Great Fire of Rome and Boudica’s rebellion in Britain. He allegedly killed his mother and two of his wives, only cared about his art and had very little interest in ruling the empire.
Most of what we know about Nero comes from the surviving works of three historians – Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. All written decades after Nero’s death, their accounts have long shaped our understanding of this emperor’s rule. However, far from being impartial narrators presenting objective accounts of past events, these authors and their sources wrote with a very clear agenda in mind. Nero’s demise brought forward a period of chaos and civil war – one that ended only when a new dynasty seized power, the Flavians. Authors writing under the Flavians all had an interest in legitimising the new ruling family by portraying the last of the Julio-Claudians in the worst possible light, turning history into propaganda. These accounts became the ‘historical’ sources used by later historians, therefore perpetuating a fabricated image of Nero, which has survived all the way to the present.
Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December AD 37.
He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger. Both Gnaeus and Agrippina were the grandchildren of Augustus, making Nero Augustus’ great, great grandson with a strong claim to power.
Nero was only two years old when his mother was exiled and three when his father died. His inheritance was taken from him and he was sent to live with his aunt. However, Nero’s fate changed again when Claudius became emperor, restoring the boy’s property and recalling his mother Agrippina from exile.
In AD 49 the emperor Claudius married Agrippina, and adopted Nero the following year. It is at this point that Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus changed his name to Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. In Roman times it was normal to change your name when adopted, abandoning your family name in favour of your adoptive father’s. Nero was a common name among members of the Claudian family, especially in Claudius’ branch.
Nero and Agrippina offered Claudius a politically useful link back to Augustus, strengthening his position.
Claudius appeared to favour Nero over his natural son, Britannicus, marking Nero as the designated heir.
When Claudius died in AD 54, Nero became emperor just two months before turning 17.
As he was supported by both the army and the senate, his rise to power was smooth. His mother Agrippina exerted a significant influence, especially at the beginning of his rule.
The Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all claim that Nero, fed up with Agrippina’s interference, decided to kill her.
Given the lack of eyewitnesses, there is no way of knowing if or how this happened. However, this did not stop historians from fabricating dramatic stories of Agrippina’s murder, asserting that Nero tried (and failed) to kill her with a boat engineered to sink, before sending his men to do the job.
Agrippina allegedly told them to stab her in the womb that bore Nero, her last words clearly borrowed from stage plays.
It is entirely possible, as claimed by Nero himself, that Agrippina chose (or was more likely forced) to take her own life after her plot against her son was discovered.
Early in his rule, Nero had to contend with a rebellion in the newly conquered province of Britain.
In AD 60–61, Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe led a revolt against the Romans, attacking and laying waste to important Roman settlements. The possible causes of the rebellion were numerous – the greed of the Romans exploiting the newly conquered territories, the recalling of loans made to local leaders, ongoing conflict in Wales and, above all, violence against the family of Prasutagus, Boudica’s husband and king of the Iceni.
Boudica and the rebels destroyed Colchester, London and St Albans before being heavily defeated by Roman troops. After the uprising, the governor of Britain Suetonius Paulinus introduced harsher laws against the Britons, until Nero replaced him with the more conciliatory governor Publius Petronius Turpilianus.
The marriage between Nero and Octavia, aged 15 and 13/14 at the time, was arranged by their parents in order to further legitimise Nero’s claim to the throne. Octavia was the daughter of the emperor Claudius from a previous marriage, so when Claudius married Agrippina and adopted her son Nero, Nero and Octavia became brother and sister. In order to arrange their marriage, Octavia had to be adopted into another family.
Their marriage was not a happy one. According to ancient writers, Nero had various affairs until his lover Poppaea Sabina convinced him to divorce his wife. Octavia was first exiled then executed in AD 62 on adultery charges. According to ancient writers, her banishment and death caused great unrest among the public, who sympathised with the dutiful Octavia.
No further motives were offered for Octavia’s death other than Nero’s passion for Poppaea, and we will probably never know what transpired at court. The fact that Octavia couldn’t produce an heir while Poppaea was pregnant with Nero’s daughter likely played an important role in deciding Octavia’s fate.
On 19 July AD 64, a fire started close to the Circus Maximus. The flames soon encompassed the entire city of Rome and the fire raged for nine days. Only four of the 14 districts of the capital were spared, while three were completely destroyed.
Rome had already been razed by flames – and would be again in its long history – but this event was so severe it came to be known as the Great Fire of Rome.
Later historians blamed Nero for the event, claiming that he set the capital ablaze in order to clear land for the construction of a vast new palace. According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, Nero took in the view of the burning city from the imperial residence while playing the lyre and singing about the fall of Troy. This story, however, is fictional.
Tacitus, the only historian who was actually alive at the time of the Great Fire of Rome (although only 8 years old), wrote that Nero was not even in Rome when the fire started, but returned to the capital and led the relief efforts.
Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all describe Nero as being blinded by passion for his wife Poppaea, yet they accuse him of killing her, allegedly by kicking her in an outburst of rage while she was pregnant.
Interestingly, pregnant women being kicked to death by enraged husbands is a recurring theme in ancient literature, used to explore the (self) destructive tendencies of autocrats. The Greek writer Herodotus tells the story of how the Persian king Cambyses kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach, causing her death. A similar episode is told of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Nero is just one of many allegedly ‘mad’ tyrants for which this literary convention was used.
Poppaea probably died from complications connected with her pregnancy and not at Nero’s hands. She was given a lavish funeral and was deified.
Centred on greater Iran, the Parthian empire was a major political and cultural power and a long-standing enemy of Rome. The two powers had long been contending for control over the buffer state of Armenia and open conflict sparked again during Nero’s rule. The Parthian War started in AD 58 and, after initial victories and following set-backs, ended in AD 63 when a diplomatic solution was reached between Nero and the Parthian king Vologases I.
According to this settlement Tiridates, brother of the Parthian king, would rule over Armenia, but only after having travelled all the way to Rome to be crowned by Nero.
The journey lasted 9 months, Tiridates’ retinue included 3,000 Parthian horsemen and many Roman soldiers. The coronation ceremony took place in the summer of AD 66 and the day was celebrated with much pomp: all the people of Rome saw the new king of Armenia kneeling in front of Nero. This was the Golden Day of Nero’s rule
In AD 68, Vindex, the governor of Gaul (France), rebelled against Nero and declared his support for Galba, the governor of Spain. Vindex was defeated in battle by troops loyal to Nero, yet Galba started gaining more military support.
It was at this point that Nero lost the support of Rome’s people due to a grain shortage, caused by a rebellious commander who cut the crucial food supply from Egypt to the capital. Abandoned by the people and declared an enemy of the state by the senate, Nero tried to flee Rome and eventually committed suicide.
Following his death, Nero’s memory was condemned (a practice called damnatio memoriae) and the images of the emperor were destroyed, removed or reworked. However, Nero was still given an expensive funeral and for a long time people decorated his tomb with flowers, some even believing he was still alive.
After Nero’s death, civil war ensued. At the end of the so-called ‘Year of the Four Emperors’ (AD 69), Vespasian became emperor and started a new dynasty: the Flavians.
[Francesca Bologna, curator, for British Museum]
Taken in the British Museum
Yesterday I was a bit under the weather; today, you see how I feel like, by the look of my new creation. Congestion, soar throat.....
London Walk Fenchurch to KingsX glass, window, stained, light, background, church, pattern, abstract, cross, color, religion, mosaic, yellow, colorful, texture, red, style, interior, green, black, decorative, transparent, symbol, textured, design, vector, translucent, orange, cathedral, spectrum, blue, illustration, craftsmanship, chapel, creative, art, shapes, multicolored, lines, white, diagonals, form, irregular, amber, stained-glass, blocks, shape, catholic, christian, backdrop, square, architecture, bright, faith, violet, reflection, brown, concept, decoration, spirituality, religious, ornament, stained glass window, sky, pastel, decline, stylization, sunlight, worship, indigo, craft, image, sunrise, detail, sunset, jesus, artwork, backgrounds, spiritual, arts, colors, fragility, cover, clouds, illuminated, material, indoors, setting, beautiful, spirit, render, gothic, building, sea, christianity, element, holy, crucifix, arch, digital, circle, sacred, christ, pink, vertical, old, star, vibrant, lit, plant, cell, effect, god, divine, celebration, confession, confirmation, eucharist, leaves, colored, crown, culture, flowers, architectural, wall, spotlight, stained glass, the passion, illustrations, lead, anointing, baptism, believe, cartoon, traditional, rose, leaded, father, ornamental, catechist, belief, abbey, unclouded, altar, heritage, inside, indoor, sunny, ray, pray, peace, resurrection, flash, glow, monastery, norman, protection, pard, shade, shiny, toned, stain, opaque, line, curve, back, day, elegance, handmade, eps10, bible, sacraments, reconciliation, seven, sick, stole, son, priesthood, priest, marriage, liturgical, matrimony, orders, penance, symbolic, teaching, scilly, saint agnes, uk, blocks brown, antique, rural, isles, unction, theology, windows, anglican, england, hand, twine, water, field, grass, acute, sun, ocean, template, tracery, web, cloud, angle, broken, part, piece, purple, rainbow, imitation, glaze, contour, crack, decorate, example, technology, structure, convergence, diamond, flower, geometric, connect, communication, advert, ball, blindness, commerce, grilles, icon, round, set, sign, simple, precious, net, jewelry, mark, mesh, modern, sample, shell, artistic, close, closeup, decor, places, ideas, awe, buildings, concepts, defined, elements, gold, crucifixion, death, ethereal, execution, christians, catholicism, graphic, illumination, 3d, bricks, weave, wallpaper, ear, fabulous, fantastic, fantasy, dynamic, corn, substrate, tile, braid, computer, fractal, futuristic, scythe, spin, tongue, tress, plash, plait, generated, kaleidoscope, magical, pigtail, heavenly
Following the modest success of the post-WWII Ralston Tigre MkII, the Ralston company looked to a more ambitious and glamorous execution with the Tigre MkIII, released in 1961.
The basis for the new car, again came from the General Motors' premium division - Cadillac - for the architectural hardware.
The Frame & Underbody was developed from the 1959/60 GM 'C' Bodies - a short-lived production run for GM, hence the availability to the Ralston Company. Wheelbase was set at 130 in (3,302 mm) for the standard sedan, and all the specialty 2-door cars. The long-wheelbase Limousine, Town Car and Specialty models sharing the GM 'D' Body 150 in (3,805 mm) with the Cadillac Series 75 / Fleetwood.
Powertrain was also Cadillac derived, incluing the 390 CID (6.4 Litre) V8 engine. Power was rated the same 345 bhp (257 kW). Cadillac was to retire this engine, with the development of a new engine of the same capacity for 1961.
One notable characteristic of all Ralston Tigre MkIII models are the reverse-opening doors. On all two-door cars, the doors operated on special hinges to move backwards along the body, offering easier ingress and egress for all passengers. For the four-door models, the front doors were conventionally hinged, per the originating GM 'C' and 'D' body vehicles, whilst the rear doors adopted the special hinged mechanism to allow rear passengers easier access. The adoption of GM's body-on-frame chassis permitted the omission of a conventional B-pillar on the four-door cars. A rarity at the time, but shared with the contemporary Lincoln saloons.
Notable styling features for all MkIIIs are the double stacked headlamps (supplemented by the */5th/* headlamp in the middle of the grille on the original MkIIIs). At the rear the tail lamps formed part of a 'rocket pod' assembly, also featuring the trademark Ralston 'X'. On the original MkIIIs this was supplemented by an additional '+' rocket form in the deep bumper treatment which extended all the way up to the trunklid.
Subtle fins graced the tops of the rear fender forms - a styling feature it appeared on the way out for most brands - but seemingly retained for premium brands - Cadillac - Lincoln - Imperial. The fin feature was also framed in chrome, offering the possibility for those customers who wished to choose a second additional colour for the exterior paintwork.
All of this was pre-figured by two concept cars. The 'Vampire' a bubble-top coupe in 1959 and 'Greenacre', a two-door hardtop wagon, in 1960. These two concepts shared the forthcoming platform of the Tigre MkIII (borrowed from the 1959-60 Cadillac).
The Greenacre, shown here displayed many of the features of the forthcoming MkIII, some in more extreme forms than were to appear on the car a year later. Retained from the concept were the basic design (already locked in for production), the 5th 'central headlamp' and the rocket pod tail-lamps - though these took on a more subtle form in the production car. Those items not to make it through to production were the tailfins (these were evidently on the way out of fashion in 1960), white-wall tires, and some of the wilder tri-tone colour patterning.
The 'Greenacre' Hardtop Wagon made it through into the production schedule of body types for 1961, mimicking the detailing of the other Mkii Tigre models. Though labelled as 'Two-Door Hardtop Wagon', they were affectionately known within the company as 'Greenacres'
This Lego miniland-scale Ralston Greenacre Concept (1960) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. In this case Flickr LUGNuts' 95th Build Challenge, - "Designing the Ralston Legacy", - for the design of vehicles under the fictional 'Ralston' company. The models must include a 'X' design feature on the car or bike. A number of Ralston challenge vehicle concepts are possible in this challenge.
My entry for the Vignette 2012 Contest Historic theme. This vignette displays the execution of Murdock. Murdock has stolen food from a towns food reserves that it needed to help bring the folk through the winter. This is a serious crime and is punished by "The Hunger Chain". The thief is chained so that he can almost reach the food and water in front of him. Almost. He will die a slow and terrible death. The Guard ensures that nobody tries to free or kill him. This will teach people not to steal from the food reserves!
f.y.i.: this is a rebuild of an earlier version.
Den of Imagination - Your Miniature Painting Service
We are a registered studio in Torun, Poland. We have been in line of work since 2008. Our still growing staff of painters and sculptors is ready to work on any project you can imagine!
We are credible, solid and reliable. We work best with large commissions and we guarantee fast service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: denofimagination.com/
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/denofimagination
SHOP: shop.denofimagination.com/
TWITTER: Twitter.com/doiStudio
FLICKER: www.flickr.com/photos/97996892@N07/
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INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/doiphoto/