"God has Left the Building"

BUFF DISS Solo Installation

Cantiere San Bernardo

Pisa, Italy

 

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My second stay at this hotel. Anxious for my third. As I left, I was given a paper explaining the 522 year history of the hotel. I scanned it and corrected most typos. Here it is:

 

522 years of the Radisson SAS Schwarzer Bock Hotel

 

Martin Luther, the Christian reformist, was only three years old and America had not even been discovered by Christopher Columbus when the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" (black goat hotel) in Wiesbaden was founded in the year 1486. The hotel is the oldest business in the city of Wiesbaden.

 

1800 years ago the Romans had their settlement, Aquae Mattiacorum, in the quarter where the health springs are located, stretching along the Langgasse from the Kranzplatz to the Mauritiusplatz. The Langgasse and the Kirchgasse are ancient Roman roads and the historical Roman bath system is still concealed under the Kranzplatz. Nowadays the curators of monuments regret that a lot of modern buildings have been constructed over these elegant baths.

 

Roman gravestones and bricks were also discovered during construction work in the cellar of the Hotel Schwarzer Bock. Ruins of a Hypocaustum, a Roman floor heating system, were unearthed as well.

 

The Romans were wise enough to make use of the hot springs, but in the times that followed during the conflicts between the Alemannic and the Frankish tribes in the 3rd century A.D., much was destroyed and partly forgotten. The luxurious bathing customs of the Romans cannot be compared to those of the Middle Ages. Life in the Roman baths took place on an entirely different level, while over 1000 years later landlords prepared hot baths from the spring water for their guests in order to earn a small extra income.

 

In those days, all the tiny houses around the Kranzplatz were probably very similar to each other in their appearance: One storey high and half-timbered, with gables, a yard, livestock,and gardens. The figure 1486, the earliest date the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" is mentioned, is inscribed in the door of the bar in today's Radisson SAS Schwarzer Bock Hotel. Wiesbaden's bathhouses however were mentioned already in the 14th century.

 

And how did the "Schwarzer Bock Hotel" get its name?

 

We want to avoid being too scientific, since the ingenious vernacular of the common people is usually correct in such cases: The first proprietor of the bathhouse was the mayor Phillip zu Bock. Because he had black hair, his house was referred to as the "Schwarzer Bock". In 1486, the year of its founding, Wiesbaden had a population of 36 citizens.

 

It was customary at that time to name the houses after their owners. Only since 1450 the landlords used so-called inn-signs carrying the appropriate emblem. Thus the "Schwarzer Bock" had a sign hanging over the street showing the head of a black goat.

Other bathhouses had eagles, stags, swans, lions, and the like on their signboards. Otherwise little is known of the bathhouses in Wiesbaden in those days.

 

Chronological point of-reference: At this time the Turks besieged Vienna.

 

In the 16th century the small town of Wiesbaden suffered great damage by fires which also destroyed the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock". It is mentioned in historical documents that Hermann Burg rebuilt the house in 1578. Then the Thirty Years' War came; during that time imperial troops as well as Swedes, French, and Spaniards passed through Wiesbaden and the officers were accommodated in the bathhouses. The "Schwarzer Bock Hotel" was a special favourite for the billeting of soldiers. Plundering, murder and incendiarism were the order of the day.

 

At the end of the war there were no more than 51 citizens in the small town of Wiesbaden. It is hard to imagine the poverty in those days.

 

For a long time thereafter, the surviving inhabitants were unable to recover from the terrors of the war. The properties lay vacant, bathhouses were no longer required; who of the 51 people should be interested in bathing? And foreigners were no longer coming to visit anyway. Not until Count Johann restored the "Schwarzer Bock Hotel" along with other houses. But it was not until the year 1662 that we learn of the "Schwarzer Bock Hotel" being in operation once again: It had even been provided with two baths for the public.

 

Chronological point of reference: At this time the English were buying New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renaming it New York.

 

Ten years later Wiesbaden had once again to suffer, this time under the movements of the French troops of Louis XIV. Because of this, Count Johannes was constantly concerned about the welfare of his possessions. The town was fortified with trenches, towers, and gates. When he died in 1677 the worst ravages of the Thirty Years War had been set to rights, and the Hotel Schwarzer Bock is found in the list of bathhouses.

 

The Hotel Schwarzer Bock was redecorated in 1712 and in the same year it was enlarged by the acquisition of a pub named Rindsfuss (cattle foot), next door facing the Spiegelgasse. The "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" flourished and in 1736 got awarded for the designation "Bathhouse of the first order." The hot spring supplied water for 8 houses. This also meant that the proprietors had to reach an agreement in all questions of organisation. This was mainly attended by the landlord of the "Hotel Rose" and the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock", Johann Phillip Schramm. The 8 bath house owners who had the rights to use the water began in 1726 to elect two masters of the spring who were in charge of the supervision, repair and cleaning of the hot spring.

The spring water was not only used for supplying water to the baths, but was also very often sold off to Mainz, Frankfurt and other cities. The hot spring water (149°F/65°C) was filled into double walled barrels, sent off in the afternoon on wagons, and arrived the next morning at its destination at the right temperature.

 

Johann Phillip Schramm, the owner of the Hotel Schwarzer Bock installed a bath for horses to make his house profitable. This was an attraction for the small town.

Here it becomes necessary to mention that in 1730 Reverend Hellmund wanted to connect his paupers’ bath to the hot spring. The 8 bath house proprietors refused him, whereupon he lodged a bitter complaint, because the thermal spring was used for horses.

 

After Schramm had died in 1749 the Hotel Schwarzer Bock passed into the hands of the surgeon and hospital supervisor Johann Daniel Freinsheim. His widow continued running the bath house until 1779. As a result of the following division of the inheritance house and inventory were rated of the town councillor, and this list gives exactly information concerning the furnishings and facilities of the bathhouse.

 

At the same time elsewhere in the world: Czar Peter the Great was ruling Russia, the French Revolution, USA gained independence. Birth of Napoleon. Wiesbaden was now one of the most elegant tourist attractions of Europe.

 

In writing up their marriage contracts, ladies of Frankfurt reserved the rights to take the water at Wiesbaden once a year - without their husbands, of course.

 

The Freinsheims do not appear to have managed the house for a very long time, for it was taken over at the end of the century by the owner of the bathhouse Spiegel (mirror), Ferdinand Daniel Bergmann. He closed down the horse bath and expanded his property and procured additional income through the sale of colonial products, wine, and the profits of a company employing a horse drawn carriage.

 

Each bath house proprietor retained his individual economic resources. Not only that there was fowl fluttering around the large yard, there were also pigs, cows, and horses in the stables. Only gradually the custom of bathing became important. And for a long time there were complaints that the baths were not up to the standards of the time.

 

Proprietor Bergmann passed away in 1818, after having achieved a dignified level of prosperity. His widow continued to run the enterprise for further 4 years and then relinquished it to her son-in-Iaw Christian Bauer. In addition to the bathhouse, Bauer also maintained the post office and a wine tavern. Here we see that the sale of wine always played an important part, which is not surprising considering the proximity of the Rhine wine growing district. Following the advice of the government of Nassau he rebuilt the horse bath with room for 2 horses.

At the same time elsewhere in the world: At this time the emperor Napoleon was

conducting wars in an attempt to gain power over Europe.

 

In 1834 the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" was sold to the Rudolphs, a married couple, who passed the bath house to their daughters in 1860/61. In the meantime the house had grown to 47 rooms and was capable of providing 50 baths daily. The guests in the bathhouse were supplied only with lodging and baths. They were responsible for their own victuals and had to cook their meals on the stoves in their rooms.

 

At the same time elsewhere in the world: Japan decided to open itself to the west, the term socialism appeared for the first time. In 1840 the first railway connected Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.

 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of the most famous guests in the "Schwarzer Bock Hotel" who composed the following lines: "The primary duty of every bather - is not to sit and think but rather - to bend to a higher purpose his wit/and make a merry life of it". The popular writer Dostojewski wrote his novel 'The gambler"- the casino is right around the corner.

 

In 1865 the ownership of the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" was transferred to the merchant Theodor August Schäfer, who had presumably married one of Rudolph's daughters. The address book of the year shows Rudolph as the owner and Schäfer as the landlord of the baths.

 

In 1899 Schäfer acquired in addition the pub "Zur goldenen Kette" (golden chain) next door in the Langgasse.

 

All the bathhouses grouped around the Kranzplatz were of considerable age and were hardly able to meet the demands. Schäfer, too, was aware of this. So the bathhouses got replaced with a modern new building just before the First World War.

 

Once the "Zur goldenen Kette" had merged with the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock", the grounds of the "Schwarzer Bock bathhouse" were discovered to contain all the hot springs, and the owners considered about them being unified into a single spring and redefining it. This way they wanted to simplify the prevailing terms of possession and shares, and to effect an improvement in the hygienic conditions.

 

A proposal relating to this was approved by the town council. The city built the facilities and the cost was divided proportionally among the owners of the bathhouses. The new joint spring received the name "Drei Lilien Quelle" (spring of the three lilies) based on the three lilies found in the Wiesbaden coat of arms.

The new facilities were completed in 1906.

 

Untouched by world history, Wiesbaden was now a city of European format and an internationally cure city. The "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" now had baths with electric light, lifts, and 220 beds-room rate: 5 Mark (2,50 Euro). The Schäfer family continued to improve the house in the following years. In 1911/12 the roof was enlarged.

 

In 1927 the emblem of the black goat appeared for the first time on the letterhead of the hotel stationery. In 1929 the Hotel Schwarzer Bock had 260 rooms, all with running water and still for the price of only 5 Mark (2,50 Euro). Baths on the upper floors were built in addition to those on the ground floor.

 

Then the Second World War came along with bombs and occupation. In 1951 Karl Heinz Schäfer's damaged hotel was returned back to him. Bombs had destroyed the upper floors. The façade remained largely intact, but certain alterations were carried out which now give the house a much more sober look. The projections around the windows disappeared, as well as many other pretty decorations. The roof was completely restructured. On two floors in the Langgasse we can still see the magnificent old facades.

 

After the end of the Second World War the Americans occupied the hotel for another 12 years and left it in a sad state of repair. And once again it was necessary to make plans. In the autumn of 1957 the renovation work was completed and the family Schäfer was able to present a new, modern "Hotel Schwarzer Bock".

 

Nowadays you can still find old parts of the Roman foundations from the 3rd century in the cellar and the historical cellar door with the date 1486 inscribed, is today the entry to our Bar 1486.

 

In 1987 the family Schäfer sold the hotel. New proprietor was Winfried D.E. Völcker. He introduced the "Hotel Schwarzer Bock" as the first German hotel in the Association of Distinguished Hotels of the World, whose most famous member is the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. Völcker had tried to preserve the European and German traditions in spite of all its undeniable risks. But Wiesbaden had been a well-known city within Europe since 1834 and became "Weltkurstadt" ("World Destination for Treatments and Cure") in 1852.

 

In 1995 Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts (now Rezidor SAS Hospitality) with headquarters in Brussels took over the management of the hotel and many issues have been solved since then. The oldest hotel in Germany that has received a certificate of the German Hotel Association, rating the hotel officially as a five star hotel, had been renovated for more than 20 million Deutsche Mark (approx. 10,2 million Euro). All 142 guest rooms offer air conditioning, ISDN telephones, modem connections, free WiFi, and marble bathrooms. The traditional bath house is still an attraction for young and elder people, seeking relaxation and well-being. The restaurant "Capricorne" spoils the guests with regional and international dishes, served in an exceptional atmosphere. Tradition blends with modern arts. The flair of the "Ingelheimer Zimmer" - the event room for special occasions - is created by precious wooden carvings from the 16th century.

 

More information to be obtained from:

 

Radisson SAS Schwarzer Bock Hotel, Wiesbaden

Mr. Christian Hoffmann - Director of Sales & Marketing

Phone: +49 611 155 3610

E-Mail: christian.hoffmann@radissonsas.com

  

Title / Titre :

A student explains the rock garden to a tourist couple, Niagara Falls, Ontario /

 

Un étudiant parle du jardin de rocailles à un couple de touristes, Niagara Falls (Ontario)

 

Creator(s) / Créateur(s) : Chris Lund

 

Date(s) : 1954

 

Reference No. / Numéro de référence : ITEM 4948716, 4950464

 

central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=4948...

central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=4950...

 

Location / Lieu : Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada / Chutes Niagara, Ontario, Canada

 

Credit / Mention de source :

Chris Lund. National Film Board of Canada. Library and Archives Canada, e011175953 /

 

Chris Lund. Office national du film du Canada. Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, e011175953

 

A now thoroughly excited Beth walked up the hill. Her prickling senses becoming more alert with each step. Innocently unaware that she was no longer playing a role in Dare’s game.

 

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We appreciate the courtesy of Chatwick University Archives for letting us use the journals in our research, and for permission to use parts for the genesis of “Dare’s Game”.

Dare’s Game

Beth, eagerly looking for Dare, walked straight into Seth’s cunning snare…..

 

Suffix, circa late 1900’s. It was during this time a fanciful young lady, whom we will call Beth, started a journal which she would faithfully keep over the course of almost 50 years. She led quite an adventuresome life for a lady of that time, and her journals were filled with many tales and observations of her exploits. The following story is derived from events that she penned down in the early years in her journal.

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Beth had known Dare since their childhood. Dare was a handsome free spirited youth only two years her senior, who lived for the games his life had to offer. As his cherished nickname inferred, Dare was always trying to find the thrill out of anything he could think up, relishing to go beyond the pale in anything he attempted. Dare always a little different, harboring feelings and ideas way beyond his years, almost as if he had lived a previous life and retained something from it in his being.

Beth would remember times playing dress up with Dare’s sister Diana in some old gowns of their mothers. It was always then that Dare and his friends seemed to appear and talk them into playing hide n seek, tag or cops n robbers. Dare seemed to take pleasure in cajoling the girls into playing with them in this manner. Eyeing them as they played with a far off look that suggested the game they were playing had more meaning to him than he could ever venture to say. It was hard for Beth to explain it, but she did find it pleasurable (almost erotic using a word whose term she would learn much later) to be observed by him in this way.

One warm fall day Diana and Beth headed down to an old shack located near some railroad tracks at the back of a cornfield. Diana was dressed in a long satin play gown with her mother’s jewelry, which Dare had called rhinestones. Beth, herself dressed in a long flowing dress, loved the way Diana’s jewels twinkled and sparkled as she walked. They were going to pretend the shack was a ballroom and they were one their way to a fancy dance, like Beth’s and Diana’s parents had recently attended. Diana wasn’t supposed to be wearing her mother’s jewelry outside the house, but as a result of Dare’s teasing, had done so anyway.

They had reached the shack, an old white brick building with a wooden roof half fallen in, when a man’s voice suddenly said behind them, what are you two ladies up to? Turning they were confronted by a happily sneering drifter. The grubby man looked around, alone is we, and advanced towards them. The two girls stood petrified, he reached out and probed Diana along her side, pretty dress missy, he said, sparsely toothed mouth grinning like a pumpkin. He suddenly reached up and tore the necklace away from Diana’s throat, sending her falling backwards. Beth screamed bloody murder, as the vagrant turned heel, running off towards the tracks. Suddenly Dare appeared, and Beth, meaning to yell for help, exclaimed instead “help honey” to Dare. Dares eyes took on a very different look, almost of a burning yearning. Beth told him what had happened and he took off down towards the tracks in hot pursuit. For Beth, the look he had given her and the way he had dashed off excited her beyond measure. Even for someone that young, Beth now knew what Dare meant to her. From then on, playing games with Dare took on a heightened meaning for Beth.

But, nothing really changed in their relationship until Beth’s sophomore year of high school. Beth was sixteen at the time, a whimsical being, passionate, innocent, not particularly attractive, but radiating with a love of life. A living free spirit, developing into a very sexual being by the time her and Diana decided to attend their schools prom in their sophomore year. Beth dressed in a fuchsia coloured satin dress with dangling rhinestone earrings that had been” borrowed” from Diana’s Mother, the same ones Diana had been wearing when they had run into the drifter at the shack. Diana slipped into the slinky blue spaghetti strap gown and matching cover-all that she had worn as her cousin’s bridesmaid. She was wearing sapphire costume jewels patterned after the hope diamond. Their parents had given them a hard time when they saw their made up girls in their gowns and finery , admonishing them for looking way too mature. They smiled, consoling their parents fears, and went off on their adventure.

Their eyes were dazzled by the display of lights, the cheerfully student filled room, the band. They had stopped and were letting it all sink in, when Beth felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and came face to face with Dare, who once again had the same yearning fire in his eyes as on that fateful day at the old shack. A veil was lifted from between the two, and Beth spent the whole evening encompassed in Dare’s arms. Soon after that the two had begun seeing much more of one another. Their relationship was still going strong eight years later.

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8 Years Later

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Come on Dare, let’s go to the Riverside, it will be fun she urged. She had been trying to get her fiancé’ to take her to the exclusive five star resorts for some time. And now she had a free overnight room card she had won at work! Dare looked into Beth’s wide, hope filled eyes, knowing her passion for attending these types of affairs. Ever hopeful she would see someone rich. Dare knew how to use this to his advantage. Finally he buckled, all right, only if we play the game afterwards he bargained. She squirmed inwardly with passion, nodding her agreement. Beth found the game exciting, though she would never let on to Dare. And, you must wear the gold bridesmaid gown and jewels you wore to your friend’s wedding last week , he added, a wistful smile lighting up his thin face.. Okay she agreed, trying to sound reluctant, but truthfully feeling multiple tingles of delight.

Dare was handsome, in a scrawny, thin bearded, sort of way ( From an old photo that survives he resembled a young Johnny Depp… the eds), with a witty writers imagination and a playful disposition. He could always make Beth laugh, feeling his excitement as he drew her into his stories and games. She would never admit to it, but found the game delightfully erogenous. She smiled to herself, so Dare had liked the satin gown after all, he had not shown any interest in her wearing it since the wedding. And the jewelry, the small rhinestone pendent and earrings had been pretty, but Beth soon came up with another idea. She would knock his socks off by wearing the glittering diamonds and emeralds that had been inherited from her grandmother. The set had laid collecting dust in a safety deposit box all these years, unworn. She had never told Dare about them, waiting for the perfect occasion. She could just imagine the look in his eyes when he saw her wearing them. Okay then, game on, Beth thought, wickedly sending shivers up and down her spine.

Dare’s Game was based on role playing:

Dare would give Beth money to purchase a new outfit, something rich and shiny, like silk or satin. With the new outfit, Beth would wear the good gold jewelry she had received from Dare on her birthdays. The idea was to acting like a bored rich girl out for a good time, alone and vulnerable.

Dare would be at the hotel bar, waiting for Beth to make her entrance, then make her acquaintance , playing a debonair, suited gentleman with a mysterious past and a hidden agenda. They would make a date later, usually to dance and have drinks.

Then that evening, she would go down to the bar. Dressed in one of the long gowns Dare favored, fitting in with the usual spillover from a wedding reception that had been held in one of the Ballrooms. Sometimes she would wear the rhinestone jewelry they had purchased together at various antique stores. Then Beth would wait for Dare to make his entrance, signaling the time for Dare’s game. He would assume one of several roles, or possibly a new one that Beth had never seen. In the past Dare had played:

A spy who would dance with Beth, then disappear. Sending a note to Beth via a third person that would have her meet him clandestinely in a remote location…

A highwayman who would come across Beth on the castle grounds , usually the resorts empty gardens at night….

A rich millionaire looking for romance…

A kidnapper hired by an evil uncle, who after tying up Beth and removing her valuables would have a change of heart….

A Jewel thief who would be cunningly after her valuables…

A handsome prince rescuing Beth’s damsel in distress ….

Or Dare’s favorite, centered on their old childhood game of cops and robbers. Dare would play the thief, and steal something from Beth, usually while dancing. He would then leave preset clues around the grounds that she would have to follow to catch him.

All of the games usually led to some playful groping and then escalating into the upper echelons of erotic pleasure. Sometimes they never made out of the woods, or barely out of the ballroom. Beth shivered at these thoughts, wishing she didn’t have to wait….

 

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Three weeks later at the Riverside Resort.

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In the Bar:

At the bar, Dare smiled to himself, pleased. He had dropped Beth off to check in by herself. She would change into her new outfit and wear it down to the bar for lunch. She would come in acting like a complete stranger to the area. Dare would make her acquaintance, invite her to lunch, and make plans to see her that evening at the resorts dance room. There were two wedding receptions going on, and that dance room should be filled with well-dressed patrons. Beth would fit right in; clad that pretty gown she had promised to wear.

Dare had been sitting at the bar, thinking about ways to play out the game that evening, when the answer came to him, in the form of a stranger who had come with his drink and sat next to him. The stranger introduced himself as Seth, and shaking Dare’s hand sat on the stool next to him. After they had had couple of drinks, they had become quite chummy. Seth explaining he had come up for one of the weddings, and assumed Dare was doing the same. Seth did not fail to observe Dare’s secretive smile, but did not question it. Their conversation was distracted only when a newcomer appeared at the entrance. Beth walked in, a long flowing silky skirt swishing down to her leather sandals. A shiny, long sleeved satin top fitting tightly along her perky figure, with bright gold jewelry complementing the ensemble. Real gold, Seth observed silently to himself.

Beth went to a table, both men going silent as they watched her move through the room. Good-looking one, that, Seth commented, looking at Dare who was deep in thought as his eyes were fixed on the sexy newcomer. Seth teasingly offered Dare a penny for his thoughts. Dare smiled mischievously, letting lose his plans. Seth listened to the young man, smiling as a light went on in his steal grey eyes. When Dare finished he offered up a suggestion as to how Dare could make it really interesting for Beth. The two co-conspirators worked it out: Seth told Dare about a stone hut and wall that was located on the back nine of the resorts golf course. He suggested that he, Seth, would meet Beth that evening and pass a note onto her from Dare saying that he was in trouble and needed her help, with directions to the spot. Dare liked the idea, and wrote the note on a cocktail napkin, cementing the plan by handing it to Seth.

Off you go old chap, let Uncle Seth take care of his end, he said grinning, giving Dare a sporting clap on the back. With a wink, Dare left his fellow collaborator, and went over to Beth, who had since been seated by a male waiter, now standing drooling over her shoulder as she looked at the menu.

 

Later that same evening, inside the crowded club:

 

Seth had stopped by the bar for a last drink. His business venture had been concluded earlier than he had expected. With the change in his plans, he had checked out early, his kit packed, boot loaded and the car ready. He now sat at the bar Causley watching young lass of about seventeen who had literally ran into him at one of the receptions. He watched her flirting about the club, weaving in and out of the guests. With a long swishing gown flowing provocatively along her lithe figure, abundant, solid white gold chains swinging out in an alluringly eye catching manner as she scurried about. A diminutive gold ring its half caret diamond flickered playfully from the petite pinky it loosely surrounded once again welcomed his contemplation. The lass presented quite an intriguing gold feathered fledgling, just begging to be plucked. He looked around, spying her parents on the dance floor. The father/husband, despite being an excellent dancer, gave him no interest. It was his partner, the wife/ mother, decked out in a iridescent suit and long swishing satin skirt upon which he now was reexamining. He again studied under the bright dance floor lights her fine pearls dangling from her ears, throat, and wrists. But it was the Ladies’ two rings that stole the show for him; an engagement ring with a rock of at least 2 carets surrounded by numerous shimmering half caret stones and a pinky ring similar to her daughters, that proudly displayed a single white solitaire diamond of at least one caret that had garnered his consideration. He also reconsidered the facts that he had been able to garnish about the lady who wore them, and her husband. The wife/mother was a heavy drinker who would not be expected to make any kind of appearance before noon. Hubby was a golfer, who would be out for breakfast at five am before being on the links at 6 am the next morning . At 5 :15 Seth was planning to pay a visit to his suite, and relieve his two ladies of their expensive trinkets. It should be an easy straight forward caper, that had Seth bristling with anticipation at the prospect.

As he was tossing down the last of his drink he remembered about Dare and the note he still had in his pocket. Setting down the empty glass, he pulled the note out and looked at it, kids he smirked, and was preparing to crinkle toss it on the bar and leave, when his eyes caught sight of Beth. He had felt his breath taken away when he saw her. Not at all what he had expected, he would say to Beth much later in the evening. He looked over the note, stirrings of a plan began formulating. All thoughts of the dancing couple and his plans fled his mind, as He rose, throwing a fiver on the bar and went off to intercept Beth.

Seth held Beth in his arms, she was a vivacious little thing he thought, while smiling charmingly into her eyes. She seemed a little apprehensive at first, but had settled right in when he had told her this had been set up by Dare, remember me at the bar with him this afternoon he had consoled her, she had smile brightly into his eyes in answer. He relished in the feel of her warm satin gown, and allowed himself to be mesmerized by the shimmer of her diamonds.

 

It reminded him of the diamonds that had been worn by one of his dance partners earlier that evening at a reception. He had forgotten her name, but not her diamonds, one of which now resided in a hidden compartment of his roadsters boot, along with the diamond pin he had slipped off the satin cape he had cordially help a well-dressed lady put on. He had also shelved his plans for his 5:15 am “meeting” at the golf playing husbands hotel room, Beth’s jewels were a much more lucrative prospect.

 

When the dance had ended he took her to the bar and sat her down, ordering her a drink. She seemed a little perplexed, Seth kissed her gloved hand; wait for it he told her mysteriously, winking into her eyes. Beth had winked back, the fire in her heart reflecting deep in her eyes. Seth left, smiling cleverly to himself as he took in his surroundings. He looked around as he walked away, now where had the little imp gotten off too?

He had decided that the seventeen year old in the long flirting gown would play a very different role in his plans. He approached her, with Dares note and a twenty. Thought for a moment about the pair of thick platinum gold chains dangling from her throat down the open neckline of the girl’s glossy gown, then banished the though, he had bigger fish to filet. The twenty caught her attention and she eagerly listened as he explained to her what to do, pointing out Beth sitting, waiting in earnest at the bar. Wait until she finishes her drink, Seth told her as she listened eagerly. She took the twenty into her hand, the half caret diamond on her pinky ring flashing, and her gold chain bracelets jangled as she grasped it. Seth left, figuring he had about twenty minutes to stop at his car, get a few items from the boot, and put his plan in motion.

Beth had curiously received the note from the attractively shy young lady, clad a slinky gown that made her appear years older. Reading it she folded it and was just getting up when a man wearing a suit came up to her and offered to let her dance with him. It took her some time, before she was finally able to ward him off and leave the brilliantly lit clubroom for the dark, forbidding grounds outside.

Now, a thoroughly excited Beth walked up the hill. Her senses becoming more prickling alert with each step. Innocently unaware that she was no longer playing a role in Dare’s game!

 

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Epilogue:

 

As Seth walked away admiring the shimmery necklace, his thoughts travelled back to the gold burdened impish youngster in the swirling gown, and her pearl and diamond laden mother. Revisiting his original plans he decided that he liked the odds, especially since they would be against him. With the father leaving early to meet his cronies for breakfast the Mother should be still sleeping off her drink induced stupor, the hyperactive girl should still be out cold, but presented no risk if she awoke, he had more rope. The ladies jewels should be lying about in the apartment, or handedly on their persons( the pairs of diamond pinky rings, as well as the multi-diamond engagement ring flashed once again across his memory with all their brilliant glory),as he caught fire with the vision. There could be a safe he reasoned, but with a tied up daughter and a knife in his hand, the mother should have no issue opening it for him, or disclosing anywhere else her jewels may have been hidden . But if there was no safe, and the rings, pearls and solid white gold chains were somewhere in the room, he knew he would be able to noiselessly break in, find and slip the jewels from wherever they were perched, and be safely on his way without even causing the slightest stir from the sleeping woman and her daughter. It was a road Seth had travelled down many times. He prickled at the thought, as he foresightedly tallied up the potential haul while making his way to the car. The Mother/wife’s diamond rings, would easily fetch him at least three grand, probably close five with her pearls and the whelp’s jewelry added in. About a quarter of what he probably would get for the jewels now in his procession, so he mused inquisitively to himself, so ,was it worth the risk of his 20,000 bird in hand? Yes he answered himself, as all too familiar and welcome tingling sensation overwhelmed Seths muscular body. Like Dare, Seth like to play risky games, especially those which promised to be somewhat profitable. It would be a tantalizingly chancy gamble of his own; to wait a safe distance away while things cooled down and then return to break into the un protected sleeping ladies chamber.. He knew just the place to hide , and it would be a perfect spot to watch events unfold around Beth and Dare, while making his plans! It also afforded a nicely secret hiding nook for the ill-gotten gains collected so far that evening in case something went wrong, which it wouldn’t..

 

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The purpose of these chronological photos and accompanying stories, articles is to educate, teach, instruct, and generally increase the awareness level of the general public as to the nature and intent of the underlying criminal elements that have historically plagued humankind.

 

No Part of this can reprinted, duplicated, or copied be without the express written permission and approval of Chatwick University.

 

These photos and stories are works of fiction. Any resemblance to people, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

As with any work of fiction or fantasy the purpose is for entertainment and/or educational purposes only, and should never be attempted in real life.

We accept no responsibility for any events occurring outside this website.

 

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All rights and copyrights observed by Chatwick University, Its contributors, associates and Agents

 

The purpose of these chronological photos and accompanying stories, articles is to educate, teach, instruct, and generally increase the awareness level of the general public as to the nature and intent of the underlying criminal elements that have historically plagued humankind.

 

No Part of this can reprinted, duplicated, or copied be without the express written permission and approval of Chatwick University.

These photos and stories are works of fiction. Any resemblance to people, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

As with any work of fiction or fantasy the purpose is for entertainment only, and should never be attempted in real life.

We accept no responsibility for any events occurring outside this website.

  

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Atheism = NOTHING created EVERYTHING, for NO REASON.

Makes perfect sense .... NOT!

 

www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/20_arguments-gods-existen...

 

If people would only think for themselves - there would be no atheists.

Atheism is anti-logic and anti-science ......

 

Atheism is the rejection of one of the only 2 origins options.

The only two options are:

1. An uncaused, supernatural first cause.

2. An uncaused, natural first cause.

Atheists categorically reject option one, therefore they believe in option two - by default.

Option two (an uncaused, natural first cause) is impossible according to logic, natural laws and the scientific method.

 

Every natural event/effect/entity has to have an adequate cause.

All material/natural entities/events are contingent, they rely on preceding causes.

A natural first cause, cannot be a very FIRST cause because something (which didn't need a cause) must have caused it.

A natural first cause also cannot be the very first cause of the universe because it is woefully inadequate for the effect. An effect cannot be greater than its cause.

So atheism is a set of beliefs which violate the scientific method, ignore logic and defy natural laws.

 

Atheism is akin to a religion because it credits matter/energy with similar creative powers and attributes as those applied to a creator God, which is really just a more sophisticated version of pagan naturalism, which imbued natural entities such as Mother Nature, The Sun or Moon god etc. with creative and magical powers.

 

To explain further ....

If there are only 2 options and one is ruled out as 'impossible' by logic, natural law and the scientific method, then it is safe, indeed sensible, to deduce that the other option is the only possible, and likely one.

 

Anyone who believes in science should know - that the basis of the scientific method is looking for adequate causes for every natural event/effect.

An 'uncaused' natural event is an anathema to science, it cannot even contemplate such a prospect.

If someone was to propose a natural first cause of everything, science would have to ask - what caused it? You cannot claim it was uncaused - that defies the scientific method.

However, if it was caused - if it had a preceding cause, ... then it cannot be the FIRST cause. Because FIRST means FIRST, not second or third.

So the very first cause of everything must be UNCAUSED ... which means, according to science, it CANNOT be a NATURAL cause.

In other words ... it cannot be a contingent entity, it can only be an eternally self-existent, self-reliant, autonomous, infinite, omnipotent entity which is entirely independent of causes, and the limitations that causes impose.

 

Furthermore, the first cause also has to be completely adequate for the effect, the effect cannot be greater than the cause ... so the first cause has to have adequate powers, properties and potentiality to create the entirety of the universe, i.e. nothing in the universe can be superior in any respect to the first cause.

That means the first cause must embody, or be able to create, every property and quality that exists, which includes: natural laws, information, life, intelligence, consciousness, self-awareness, design, skill, moral values, sense of beauty, justice etc.

All proposed, natural first causes - Big Bang's, Singularities, quantum mechanics etc. are not only ruled out because, as contingent events, they cannot be uncaused, they are also grossly inferior to the effect, which definitively rules them all out as credible first causes.

 

To put it more simply ... all effects/events/entities are the result of a combination of numerous, preceding causes, but the very first cause is unique, inasmuch as it is a lone cause of everything.

Everything can be traced back to that single cause, it is responsible for every other cause, entity and effect that follows it. Unlike other lesser or subsequent causes it has to account for the totality of everything that exists. So it cannot be inferior in any respect to any particular property, entity, event, effect, or to the totality of them all.

If we have intelligence then, that which caused us cannot be non-intelligent.

Atheists assume that we are greater in that respect than that which caused us .... that is ridiculous and it defies logic and natural law.

 

What about infinite time?

Time is simply a chronology of natural events. Time began with the origin of the material realm. No natural events ...means - no time. All natural entities, events/effects are contingent, they cannot be self-existent, they rely on causes and the limitations that causes impose. they are not autonomous entities, to propose that is anti-science.

 

Atheists often say: you can’t fill gaps in knowledge with a supernatural first cause.

 

But we are not talking about filling gaps, we are talking about a fundamental issue ... the origin of everything in the material realm.

The first cause is not a gap, it is the beginning - and many of the greatest scientists in the history of science had no problem whatsoever with the logic that - a natural, first cause was impossible, and the only possible option was a supernatural creator.

Why do atheists have such a problem with it?

 

Atheists seem to think that to explain the origin of the universe without a God, simply involves explaining what triggered it, as though its formation from that point on, just happens automatically.

This has been compared by some as similar to lighting the blue touch paper of a firework. They think that if they can propose such a naturalistic trigger, then God is made redundant.

That may sound plausible to some members of the public, who take such pronouncements at face value, and are somewhat in awe of anything that is claimed to be 'scientific'.

But it is obvious to anyone who thinks seriously about it, that a mere trigger is not necessarily an adequate cause.

A trigger presupposes that there is some sort of a mechanism/blueprint/plan already existing which is ready to spring into action if it is provided with an appropriate trigger. So a trigger is not a sole cause, or a first cause, it is merely one contributing cause.

Natural things do only what they are programmed to do, i.e. they obey natural laws and the demands of their own pre-ordered composition and structure. Lighting blue touch paper would do absolutely nothing, unless there is a carefully designed and manufactured firework already attached to it.

 

Atheists invent all sorts of bizarre myths to explain the origin of the universe and matter/energy.

Such as it arising from nothing of its own volition, for no reason.

Or even the utterly, ludicrous notion of the universe creating itself from nothing. Obviously for something to create itself, it would need to pre-exist its own creation, in order to do the creating!

Another idea which seems to be popular with atheists at present, is a continuously, reciprocating universe, one which ends by running out of energy potential and then rewinds itself in an never ending cycle.

 

However, the idea that the universe can simply rewind itself in a never ending cycle, which had no beginning, is complete, unscientific nonsense.

It seems atheists will try anything to justify their naturalist ideology. They apparently have no compunction about completely disregarding natural laws.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics rules out such atheist, pie-in-the-sky, origins mythology.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, the idea of a rewinding universe is tantamount to applying the discredited notion of perpetual motion - on a grand scale, to the universe.

Contingent things don't just rewind of their own accord. The Second Law (not to mention common sense) rules it out. Where does the renewed power or renewed energy potential come from? If you wind up a clock, it doesn't rewind itself after it has stopped. The universe had a beginning and it will have an end. That is what science tells us, it cannot rewind itself.

Such ridiculous atheist musings are just a desperate attempt to wriggle out of the inevitable conclusion of logic, and the Law of Cause and Effect which are the real enemies of atheist ideology.

Atheism is hoisted on its own petard by natural law and science, not by religion. Atheists can’t refute the Law of Cause and Effect which is so devastating to their naturalist agenda, so they regularly invent bizarre scenarios which ignore natural laws, and hope people won’t notice. If anyone does they just brush it off with remarks like “we just don’t know ”.

Sorry, atheists apologists may not know …. but we do know, we certainly know what is impossible …. And we certainly know that you cannot blithely step outside the constraints of natural laws and scientific principles, as atheists do, and remain credible.

 

Atheists are anti-science, because they treat natural law and the whole principle of the scientific method with utter contempt, while they masquerade as the champions of science to the public.

 

A further nail in the coffin of atheist pseudoscience is existence of order.

The development of order requires an organizational element. To do useful work, or to counter the effects of entropy, energy needs to be directed or guided. Raw energy alone actually tends to increase the effects of entropy, it doesn't increase order.

The organizational principle in living systems is provided by the informational element encoded in DNA.

 

Natural laws are a type of information which guide the behaviour of energy and matter, but also serve to limit it. They are an inherent property of matter/energy, natural processes operate only within the confines of natural laws. They cannot exceed the parameters of those laws.

A major problem for atheists is to explain where natural laws came from? In a purposeless universe there should be no regulatory principle at all.

Firstly, we would not expect anything to exist, we would expect eternal nothingness.

Secondly, even if we overlook that impossible hurdle, and assume by some amazing fluke and contrary to logic, something was able to create itself from nothing ….. we would expect the ‘something’ would have no ordered structure and we would expect it to behave randomly and chaotically.

This is an absolutely fundamental question to which atheists have no answer. The basic properties of matter/energy scream …. ‘purpose’. Atheists say the exact opposite.

Furthermore, if we add the accepted, atheist belief; that matter is inherently predisposed to produce life and the genetic information for life, whenever environmental conditions are conducive.

The atheist idea of a random, purposeless, universe is left completely in tatters.

 

It is the atheist ideology that is anti-science, not necessarily individual scientists.

 

There may be sincere, atheist scientists who respect the scientific method and natural laws, but they are wedded to an ideology that - when push comes to shove, does not respect natural laws.

It is evident that whenever natural laws interfere with atheist naturalist beliefs, the beliefs take precedence over the rigorous, scientific method. It is then that natural laws are disregarded by atheists in favour of unscientific fantasies which are conducive to their ideology.

 

Of course, in much day-to-day practical science and technology, the question of violating laws doesn't even arise, and we cannot deny that in the course of such work, atheists will respect the scientific method of experiment and observation within the framework of the Law of Cause and Effect and other established laws of science.

Bizarrely, It is a different matter entirely, when it comes to hypotheses about origins. It then becomes an 'anything goes' situation. The main criteria then seems to be that it doesn’t matter whether your hypothesis violates natural laws (all sorts of excuses can be made as to why natural laws need not apply), all that matters is that it is entirely naturalistic, and can be made to sound plausible to the public.

However, the same atheist scientists would not entertain anything in general, day-to-day science, that is not completely in accordance with the scientific method, they make an exception ONLY with anything to do with origins, whether it be the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or the origin of species.

  

Atheism is not simply passive non-belief, you can only be a ‘genuine’ atheist if you proactively believe in the following illogical and unscientific notions:

 

A natural, first cause of the universe that was ‘uncaused’.

 

A natural, first cause of the universe that was patently not adequate for the effect, (a cause which was able to produce an effect far greater than itself and superior to its own abilities).

 

That the universe created ITSELF from nothing.

 

That natural laws simply arose of their own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.

 

That energy potential at the start of everything material was able to wind itself up from absolute zero, of its own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.

 

That the effect of entropy (Second Law of Thermodynamics) was somehow suspended or didn’t operate to permit the development of order in the universe.

 

That life spontaneously generated itself, of its own volition, from sterile matter, contrary to: the Law of Biogenesis, the laws of probability, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Information Theory and common sense.

 

That the complete human genome was created by means of a long chain of copying mistakes of the original, genetic information in the first living cell, (mutations of mutations of mutations, etc. etc.).

 

That the complex DNA code was produced by chemical processes.

 

That the very first, genetic information, encoded in the DNA of the first living cell, created itself by some unknown means.

 

That matter is somehow inherently predisposed to develop into living cells, whenever conditions are conducive to life. But such a predisposition for life just arose of its own accord, with no purpose and with no apparent cause.

 

That an ordered structure of atoms, guiding laws of physics, order in the cosmos, order in the living cell and complex information, are what we would expect to occur naturally in a purposeless universe.

 

The claim of Dawkins and other atheists to be the champions of science and reason is clearly bogus. They think they can get away with it by pretending to have no beliefs. However, when challenged, they indirectly espouse the unscientific beliefs outlined above, in their futile attempts to refute the evidence for a supernatural first cause. Whenever possible, they avoid declaring those beliefs explicitly, but you don’t need to be very astute to realize that relying on those beliefs is the unavoidable conclusion of their arguments. That is why atheism is intellectually bankrupt and is doomed to the dustbin of history.

 

FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE

The Law of Cause and Effect. Dominant Principle of Classical Physics. David L. Bergman and Glen C. Collins

www.thewarfareismental.net/b/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/b...

 

"The Big Bang's Failed Predictions and Failures to Predict: (Updated Aug 3, 2017.) As documented below, trust in the big bang's predictive ability has been misplaced when compared to the actual astronomical observations that were made, in large part, in hopes of affirming the theory."

kgov.com/big-bang-predictions

 

Evolution is on the rocks - some recent evidence:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/7215 7635944904973/

 

Fossil museum:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/7215 7641367196613/

 

So much for atheism .... What about progressive (macro) evolution?

 

There is no credible mechanism for progressive evolution.

 

Darwin believed that there was unlimited variability in the gene pool of all creatures and plants.

 

However, the changes possible through selective breeding were known by breeders to be strictly limited.

This is because the changes seen in selective breeding are due to the shuffling, deletion and emphasis of genetic information already existing in the gene pool (micro-evolution). There is no viable mechanism for creating new, beneficial, genetic information required to create entirely new structures and features (macro-evolution).

 

Darwin ignored the limits which were well known to breeders (even though he selectively bred pigeons himself, and should have known better). He simply extrapolated the limited, minor changes observed in selective breeding to major, unlimited, progressive changes able to create new structures, organs etc. through natural selection, over millions of years.

Of course, the length of time involved made no difference, the existing, genetic information could not increase of its own accord, no matter how long the timescale.

 

That was a gigantic flaw in Darwinism, and opponents of Darwin's ideas tried to argue that changes were limited, as selective breeding had demonstrated. But because Darwinism had acquired a status more akin to an ideology than purely, objective science, belief in the Darwinian idea outweighed the verdict of observational and experimental science, and classical Darwinism became firmly established as scientific orthodoxy for nearly a century.

 

Opponents continued to argue all this time, that Darwinism was unscientific nonsense, but they were ostracised and dismissed as cranks, weirdoes or religious fanatics.

Finally however, it was discovered that the opponents of Darwin were perfectly correct - and that constructive, genetic changes (progressive, macro-evolution) require new, additional, genetic information.

This looked like the ignominious end of Darwinism, as there was no credible, natural mechanism able to create new, constructive, genetic information. And Darwinism should have been heading for the dustbin of history,

 

However, rather than ditch the whole idea, the vested interests in Darwinism had become so great, with numerous, lifelong careers and an ideological agenda which had become dependant on the Darwinian belief system, a desperate attempt was made to rescue it from its justified demise.

A mechanism had to be invented to explain the origin of new, constructive information.

That invented mechanism was 'mutations'. Mutations are ... genetic, copying MISTAKES.

 

The general public had already been convinced that classical Darwinism was a scientific fact, and that anyone who questioned it was a crank, so all that had to be done, as far as the public was concerned, was to give the impression that the theory had simply been refined and updated in the light of modern science.

The fact that classical Darwinism had been wrong all along, and was fatally flawed from the outset was kept quiet. This meant that the opponents of Darwinism, who had been right all along, and were the real champions of science, continued to be vilified as cranks and scorned by the mass media and establishment.

 

The new developments were simply portrayed as the evolution and development of the theory. The impression was given that there was nothing wrong with the idea of progressive (macro) evolution, it had simply 'evolved' and 'improved' in the light of greater knowledge.

A sort of progressive evolution of the idea of evolution.

 

This new, 'improved' Darwinism became known as Neo-Darwinism.

 

So what is Neo-Darwinism? And did it really solve the fatal flaws of the Darwinian idea?

 

Neo Darwinism is progressive, macro evolution - as Darwin had proposed, but based on the ludicrous idea that random mutations (accidental, genetic, copying mistakes) selected by natural selection, can provide the constructive, genetic information capable of creating entirely new features, structures, organs, and biological systems. In other words, it is macro evolution based on a belief in a total progression from microbes to man through billions of random, genetic, copying MISTAKES, over millions of years.

However, there is no evidence for it whatsoever, and it is should be classified as unscientific nonsense which defies logic, the laws of probability and Information Theory.

 

People are sometimes confused, because they know that 'micro'-evolution is an observable fact, which everyone accepts. However, evolutionists often cynically exploit that confusion by citing obvious examples of micro-evolution such as: the Peppered Moth, Darwin's finches, so-called superbugs etc., as evidence of macro-evolution.

Of course such examples are not evidence of macro-evolution at all. The public is simply being hoodwinked, and it is a disgrace to science. There are no observable examples or evidence of macro-evolution and no examples of a mutation, or a series of mutations capable of creating new structures, organs etc. and that is a fact. It is no wonder that W R Thompson stated in the preface to the 1959 centenary edition of Darwin's Origin of the Species, that ... the success of Darwinism was accompanied by a decline in scientific integrity.

 

Micro-evolution is simply the small changes which take place, through natural selection or selective breeding, but only within the strict limits of the built-in variability of the existing gene pool. Any constructive changes outside the extent of the existing gene pool requires a credible mechanism for the creation of new, beneficial, genetic information, that is essential for macro evolution.

Micro evolution does not involve or require the creation of any new, genetic information. So micro evolution and macro evolution are entirely different. There is no connection between them at all, whatever evolutionists may claim.

Once people fully understand that the differences they see in various dogs breeds, for example, are merely an example of limited micro-evolution (selection of existing genetic information) and nothing to do with progressive macro-evolution, they begin to realise that they have been fed an incredible story.

 

To explain further.... Neo-Darwinian, macro evolution is the ridiculous idea that everything in the genome of humans and every living thing past and present (apart from the original genetic information in the very first living cell) is the result of millions of genetic copying mistakes..... mutations ... of mutations .... of mutations.... of mutations .... and so on - and on - and on.

 

In other words, Neo-Darwinism proposes that the complete genome (every scrap of genetic information in the DNA) of every living thing that has ever lived was created by a series ... of mistakes ... of mistakes .... of mistakes .... of mistakes etc. etc.

 

If we look at the whole picture we soon realise that what is actually being proposed by evolutionists is that, apart from the original information in the first living cell (and evolutionists have yet to explain where that original information came from?) - every additional scrap of genetic information for all - features, structures, systems and processes that exist, or have ever existed in living things, such as:

skin, bones, bone joints, shells, flowers, leaves, wings, scales, muscles, fur, hair, teeth, claws, toe and finger nails, horns, beaks, nervous systems, blood, blood vessels, brains, lungs, hearts, digestive systems, vascular systems, liver, kidneys, pancreas, bowels, immune systems, senses, eyes, ears, sex organs, sexual reproduction, sperm, eggs, pollen, the process of metamorphosis, marsupial pouches, marsupial embryo migration, mammary glands, hormone production, melanin etc. .... have been created from scratch, by an incredibly long series of small, accumulated mistakes ... mistake - upon mistake - upon mistake - upon mistake - over and over again, millions of times. That is ... every part, system and process of all living things are the result of literally billions of genetic MISTAKES of MISTAKES, accumulated over many millions of years.

 

So what we are asked to believe is that something like a vascular system, or reproductive organs, developed in small, random, incremental steps, with every step being the result of a copying mistake, and with each step being able to provide a significant survival or reproductive advantage in order to be preserved and become dominant in the gene pool. Incredible!

If you believe that ... you will believe anything.

 

Even worse, evolutionists have yet to cite a single example of a positive, beneficial, mutation which adds constructive information to the genome of any creature. Yet they expect us to believe that we have been converted from an original, single living cell into humans by an accumulation of billions of beneficial mutations (mistakes).

 

Conclusion:

Progressive, microbes-to-man evolution is impossible - there is no credible mechanism to produce all the new, genetic information which is essential for that to take place.

The evolution story is an obvious fairy tale presented as scientific fact.

 

However, nothing has changed - those who dare to question Neo-Darwinism are still portrayed as idiots, retards, cranks, weirdoes, anti-scientific ignoramuses or religious fanatics.

Want to join the club?

 

What about the fossil record?

 

The formation of fossils.

 

Books explaining how fossils are formed frequently give the impression that it takes many years of build up of layers of sediment to bury organic remains, which then become fossilised.

Therefore many people don't realise that this impression is erroneous, because it is a fact that all good, intact fossils require rapid burial in sufficient sediment to prevent decay or predatory destruction.

So it is evident that rock containing good, undamaged fossils was laid down rapidly, sometimes in catastrophic conditions.

 

The very existence of intact fossils is a testament to rapid burial and sedimentation.

You don't get fossils from slow burial. Organic remains don't just sit around on the sea bed, or elsewhere, waiting for sediment to cover them a millimetre at a time, over a long period.

Unless they are buried rapidly, they would soon be damaged or destroyed by predation and/or decay.

The fact that so many sedimentary rocks contain fossils, indicates that the sediment that created them was normally laid down within a short time.

Another important factor is that many large fossils (tree trunks, large fish, dinosaurs etc.) intersect several or many strata (sometimes called layers) which clearly indicates that multiple strata were formed simultaneously in a single event by grading/segregation of sedimentary particles into distinct layers, and not stratum by stratum over long periods of time or different geological eras, which is the evolutionist's, uniformitarian interpretation of the geological column.

In view of the fact that many large fossils required a substantial amount of sediment to bury them, and the fact that they intersect multiple strata (polystrate fossils), how can any sensible person claim that strata or, for that matter, any fossil bearing rock, could have taken millions of years to form?

You don't even need to be a qualified sedimentologist or geologist to come to that conclusion, it is common sense.

 

Rapid formation of strata - latest evidence:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157635944904973/

 

All creatures and plants alive today, which are found as fossils, are the same in their fossil form as the living examples, in spite of the fact that the fossils are claimed to be millions of years old. So all living things today could be called 'living fossils' inasmuch as there is no evidence of any evolutionary changes in the alleged multi-million year timescale. The fossil record shows either extinct species or unchanged species, that is all.

 

The Cambrian Explosion.

Trilobites and other many creatures appeared suddenly in some of the earliest rocks of the fossil record, with no intermediate ancestors. This sudden appearance of a great variety of advanced, fully developed creatures is called the Cambrian Explosion. Trilobites are especially interesting because they have complex eyes, which would need a lot of progressive evolution to develop such advanced features However, there is no evidence of any evolution leading up to the Cambrian Explosion, and that is a serious dilemma for evolutionists.

Trilobites are now thought to be extinct, although it is possible that similar creatures could still exist in unexplored parts of deep oceans.

 

See fossil of a crab unchanged after many millions of years:

www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/12702046604/in/set-72...

 

Fossil museum: www.flickr.com/photos/101536517@N06/sets/72157641367196613/

 

What about all the claimed scientific evidence that evolutionists have found for evolution?

 

The evolutionist 'scientific' method has resulted in a serious decline in scientific integrity, and has given us such scientific abominations as:

 

Piltdown Man (a fake),

Nebraska Man (a pig),

South West Colorado Man (a horse),

Orce man (a donkey),

Embryonic Recapitulation (a fraud),

Archaeoraptor (a fake),

Java Man (a giant gibbon),

Peking Man (a monkey),

Montana Man (an extinct dog-like creature)

Nutcracker Man (an extinct type of ape - Australopithecus)

The Horse Series (unrelated species cobbled together),

Peppered Moth (faked photographs)

The Orgueil meteorite (faked evidence)

Etc. etc.

 

Anyone can call anything 'science' ... it doesn't make it so.

All these examples were trumpeted by evolutionists as scientific evidence for evolution.

Do we want to trust evolutionists claims about scientific evidence, when they have such an appalling record?

 

Just how good are peer reviews of scientific papers?

www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/60.full

www.examiner.com/article/want-to-publish-science-paper-ju...

 

Piltdown Man and Nebraska Man were even used in the famous, Scopes Trial as positive evidence for evolution.

Piltdown Man reigned for over 40 years, as a supreme example of human evolution, before it was exposed as a crudely, fashioned fake.

Is that 'science'?

 

The ludicrous Hopeful Monster Theory and so-called Punctuated Equilibrium (evolution in big jumps) were invented by evolutionists as a desperate attempt to explain away the lack of fossil evidence for evolution. They are proposed methods of evolution which, it is claimed, need no fossil evidence. They are actually an admission that the required fossil evidence does not exist.

 

Piltdown Man... it survived as alleged proof of evolution for over 40 years in evolution textbooks and was taught in schools and universities, it survived peer reviews etc. and was used as supposed irrefutable evidence for evolution at the famous Scopes Trial..

 

Nebraska Man, this was a single tooth of a peccary. it was trumpeted as evidence for the evolution of humans, and artists impressions of an ape-like man appeared in newspapers magazines etc. It was also used as 'scientific' evidence for evolution in the Scopes Trial. Such 'scientific' evidence is enough to make any genuine, respectable scientist weep.

 

South West Colorado Man, another tooth .... of a horse this time... It was presented as evidence for human evolution.

 

Orce man, a fragment of skullcap, which was most likely from a donkey, but even if it was human. such a tiny fragment is certainly not any proof of human evolution as it was made out to be.

 

Embryonic Recapitulation, the evolutionist zealot Ernst Haeckel (who was a hero of Hitler) published fraudulent drawings of embryos and his theory was readily accepted by evolutionists as proof of evolution. Even after he was exposed as a fraudster, evolutionists still continued to use his fraudulent evidence in books and publications on evolution, including school textbooks, until very recently.

 

Archaeoraptor, A so-called feathered dinosaur from the Chinese fossil faking industry. It managed to fool credulous evolutionists, because it was exactly what they were looking for. The evidence fitted the wishful thinking.

 

Java Man, Dubois, the man who discovered Java Man and declared it a human ancestor ..... admitted much later that it was actually a giant gibbon, however, that spoilt the evolution story which had been built up around it, so evolutionists were reluctant to get rid of it, and still maintained it was a human ancestor. Dubois had also 'forgotten' to mention that he found the bones of modern humans at the same site.

 

Peking Man, made up from monkey skulls which were found in an ancient limestone burning industrial site where there were crushed monkey skulls and modern human bones. Drawings were made of Peking Man, but the original skull conveniently disappeared. So that allowed evolutionists to continue to use it as evidence without fear of it ever being debunked.

 

The Horse Series, unrelated species cobbled together, They were from different continents and were in no way a proper series of intermediates, They had different numbers of ribs etc. and the very first in the line, is similar to a creature alive today - the Hyrax.

 

Peppered Moth, moths were glued to trees to fake photographs for the peppered moth evidence. They don't normally rest on trees in daytime. In any case, the selection of a trait which is part of the variability of the existing gene pool, is not progressive evolution. It is just normal, natural selection within limits, which no-one disputes.

 

  

 

Is macro evolution science? The answer to that has to be an emphatic - NO!

 

The usual definition of science is: that which can be demonstrated and observed and repeated. Evolution cannot be proved, or tested; it is claimed to have happened in the past, and, as such, it is not subject to the scientific method. It is merely a belief.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having beliefs, especially if there is a wealth of evidence to support them, but they should not be presented as scientific fact. As we have shown, in the case of progressive evolution, there is a wealth of evidence against it. Nevertheless, we are told by evolutionist zealots that microbes to man evolution is a fact and likewise the spontaneous generation of life from sterile matter. They are deliberately misleading the public on both counts. Evolution is not only not a fact, it is not even proper science.

  

True story from the trenches of the 1980's.

I'd like you to know there is little planning in my churchcrawling, I see there are one or two churches I had yet to visit, set the sat nav and set off, never sure if the church is open or redundant.

 

St Mary and the Holy Cross is situated on a crossroads, I couldn't miss it, so parked up, got the cameras out and a lady in the car behind got out:

 

"can I help you?"

 

I have come to visit the church.

 

"what for?"

 

I explained the Kent Church Project, gave her a moo card, and she was happy enough.

 

She had come to clean and had a key for the door.

 

Which is handy.

 

Hard to get a good exterior shot due to trees on the south side and the bright sunlight, low at this time of year. I tried.

 

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A most satisfying church in a delightful setting. Originally Norman with plenty of stonework surviving, it was extended in the thirteenth century by the lengthening of the chancel and by the addition of north and south chapels that only run half the length of the chancel. A fifteenth century tower completes the ensemble. There followed years of decline and the chapels became ruinous until two restorations in the nineteenth century. The first was carried out by a local builder, but the second – in 1872- was by the renowned architect William Butterfield who created the character of the church as we see it today. He rebuilt the chapels and chancel windows. The nave windows he beautified by what are known as `Butterfield dumplings` created by cutting away the plaster like a pie crust to show the stonework underneath. Several of his contemporaries did similar things but here he carried it off to great effect. All the stalls and altar rails are his too – and of extremely high craftsmanship. The north chancel window is by Alexander Gibbs to Butterfield`s design. However the east window is a rarity. This is a Butterfield design to be made by the firm of Burlisson and Grylls – the only time it is thought they made a window to his design. A more typical window by the same firm is in the west wall of the church.

  

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Milstead

 

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MILSTED

IS the next adjoining parish south-eastward from Bredgar. It lies on high ground, obscurely among the hills, and surrounded by woods, there being no thoroughfare of any account through it; the situation is not much different from that of Bredgar adjoining to it. The parish is but small, containing about eight hundred acres of land, of which about fifty are wood. The soil in the upper or southern part is poor, consisting partly of chalk, and partly of a red cludgy earth, the whole of which is much covered with flints; in the centre and northern part it is something more sertile and kindly for tillage. The church stands nearly in the middle of the parish, having the mansion of Hogshaws almost adjoining the east end of the church-yard, at the west part of which the parsonage stands. At no great distance from hence northward, in the vale, is all that there is of a village in the parish; near the southeast boundary is Torry-hill, belonging to Mr. Osborne Tylden, who resides in it; near the western boundary is Broadoak forstall, and the hamlet called from it. On this forstall there stands a remarkable large juniper tree, being near fifteen feet high, and near eight feet before it has any branches,

 

THE MANOR OF MILTON claims paramount over the greatest part of this parish, subordinate to which is THE MANOR OF MILSTED, which in the beginning of the reign of Edward I. was in the possession of Thomas Abelyn, who died possessed of it in the 4th year of that reign, then holding it as one messuage, and one carucate and an half of land, in Milsted, and pasture for three hundred sheep in the marsh of Elmele, of the king, in capite, by knight's service. He was succeeded in it by Nicholas Abelyn, who died two years afterwards, holding it by the like service. Soon after which it appears to have come into the possession of the family of Savage; one of whom, John le Siuvage, obtained a grant of free-warren in the 23d year of the above reign, for his lands in Milsted and other places; but before the 20th year of king Edward III. this names seems to have been extinct here; for at the making the black prince a knight, the heirs of John Savage paid aid for this manor. Indeed, it seems from the beginning of that reign, to have been in the name of Mocking, (fn. 1) from which it passed into that of Hoggeshaw, and Elmeline, late the wife of Sir Thomas Hoggeshaw, died in the 50th year of it, possessed of the manor of Milsted, held of the king in capite, as one knight's see.

 

Their son Edmund Hoggeshaw, succeeded to the possession of it, which had now, from their continuing owners of it, acquired the name of Milsted, alias Hoggeshaws, by which it has been known ever since. He died in the 12th year of king Richard II. s. p. upon which Joane, one of his sisters and coheirs, entitled her husband, Thomas Lovel, esq. to it, whose son Thomas, in the 12th year of king Henry IV. held a court for this manor; one of his decendants sold it to Robert Greaves, who died in the 9th year of king Henry VII. holding it in manner as above mentioned, Katherine, wife of George Sole, being his daughter and next heir. Soon after which, it became the property of Roger Wake, who died in the 19th year of king Henry VII. when this manor, with the advowson of the church of Milsted passed by his will to Margaret his daughter, whose husband, John Barnard, esq. entered into the possession of it. At length his grandson of the same name, dying an insant in the 14th year of king Henry VIII. it became vested, by the limitations in the will of Roger Wake above-mentioned, in his right heirs, who conveyed their interest in it to Sir Thomas Nevyle, and he passed it away by sale to Sir Robert Southwell, who in the 4th year of Edward VI. passed away, by fine then levied, the manor of Hoggeshaws, alias Milsted, and the advowson of the church of Milsted, then held of the king in capite, to Thomas Henman, senior, and his heirs. His son, Alan Henman, of Lenham, in the 12th year of that reign, sold it to Thomas Thomson, of Sandwich, jurat, for the use of Agnes, his daughter, who entitled her husband, John Toke, gent. of Goddington, to the possession of it. She survived her husband, and by her will in 1629, devised it to her eldest son Nicholas Toke, esq. of Great Chart, who in 1631, anno 7 Charles I. passed away both manor and advowson to Edward Chute, esq. of Bethersden, whose son George had married Eleanor Toke, his eldest daughter, and he anno 9 Charles I. conveyed it by fine then levied to Richard Tylden, gent. of Great Chart, and William Tylden, then an insant, his son. The family of Tylden had antiently possessions in the parishes of Brenchley, Otterden, Kennington, and Tilmanstone, in this county; one of them William Tylden, paid aid for lands in this county, in the 20th year of king Edward III. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, a branch of them was settled in the parish of Wormsell, one of whom, William Tylden, died there in 1613. His direct descendant, Richard Tylden, esq. of Great Chart, who bore for his arms, Azure, a saltier, ermine, between four phoens, or, purchased this manor and advowson as above-mentioned, whose eldest son William Tylden, gent. was of Hoggeshaws, as was his son Richard, who dying in 1763, was buried with his ancestors in the Tylden chancel, in this church. By Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Osborne, esq. of Hartlip, he left one son RichardOsborne, and three daughters, Hannah married to Edward Belcher, of Ulcomb; Mary to Thomas Bland, clerk, and Philippa, who died unmarried. Richard Osborne Tylden, esq. succeeded his father in this estate, and left his widow surviving (who re-married the Rev. Edward Smith, rector of Milsted, and died in 1776) and by her four sons, Richard, of whom hereafter; Osborne, of Torry-hill, esq. in this parish, who married the only daughter of John Withins, esq. of Surry; the Rev. Richard Cooke, rector of Milsted and Frinsted, and Manby May; and one daughter Elizabeth married to Mr. Valyer Baker, Surgeon, of Sittingborne. Richard Tylden, esq. succeeded on his mother's death to the possession of this manor, and now resides here; he married Miss Catherine Rolse, of Ashford, who died in 1783.

 

The last court held for this manor, being a courtbaron, was in the year 1632.

 

HIGHAM-COURT, now usually called Great Higham, is a manor in this parish, which was antiently the property of a family of the name of Nottingham, whence it acquired, as appears by antient writings, the name of Nottingham-court.

 

They resided at Bayford, in Sittingborne, so early as the reign of king Edward I. Robert de Nottingham, owner of this estate in the reign of Edward III. was sheriff in the 48th year of it, and kept his shrievalty at Bayford, in which year he died, and was found at his death to hold lands in Doddington, Tenham, Milsted, Tong, Bredgar, and Sittingborne, all which descended to his only son John Nottingham, who died s. p. leaving his daughter his sole heir, who marrying Simon Cheney, of Cralle, in Sussex, second son of Sir Richard Cheney, of Shurland, he became entitled to this manor. The Nottinghams bore for their arms, as Philipott says, Gules, two pales wavy, argent; which coat, impaled with Cheney, was in one of the windows of Milsted church. On the roof of the cloysters of Canterbury cathedral, are carved the arms of Nottingham, Gules, on a bend, argent, three escallops, azure; but of what kindred to these of Milsted, I have not found. In his descendants this manor continued down till Richard Cheney, esq. and his son John, in the year 1676, joined in the conveyance of it to Mr. Thomas Lushington, of Sittingborne, whose great-grandson, the Rev. Mr. James Stephen Lushington, is the present owner of this manor. (fn. 2)

 

Charities.

JOHN WIATT, of Milsted, by will in 1722, gave a moiety of several pieces of land in Milsted, Frinsted, and Wormesell, containing about twenty acres, towards the teaching of four poor children of this parish to read and write, vested in the minister and churchwardens, and of the annual produce of 2l. 4s.

 

There are five alms-houses belonging to this parish, on the eastern side of it, next to Kingsdown.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about nine; casually forty.

 

MILSTED is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sittingborne.

 

¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary and the Holy Cross is but small, and consists of one isle and one chancel, with a low square tower at the west end of it, in which hang three bells. On the north side is another small chancel, belonging to the Tyldens, in which many of them lie buried. On the south side there was another chancel, belonging to Higham-court, which was pulled down, by the mutual consent of the proprietor and parishioners in 1672.

 

In the church-yard, near the south porch, there is a very antient tomb-stone, having on it a cross botony, fuchee, carved in relief.

 

The church of Milsted was given by king John to Wydon the clerk, who held it, as appears by the Testa de Nevill, in the next reign of king Henry III. Whether he was lord likewise of Milsted manor I have not found; but from the next reign of king Edward I. to the present time, this church seems to have had the same possessors, and as such, the advowson of it is now the property of Richard Tylden, esq. of Hoggeshaws.

 

In 1578 there were fifty-five communicants. In 1640 eighty-seven, when it was valued at fifty pounds per annum.

 

It is a discharged living in the king's books, of the clear yearly certified value of forty four pounds, the yearly tenths being 17s. 6d. The glebe land consists of only three acres.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp107-112

 

China Town, London

I saw Holy Trinity come up on the Heritage Weekend website, so I thought a nice Sunday afternoon out, a drive, an ice cream, and visit a new church.

 

But turns out that Holy Trinity is the Victorian church the other end of the High Street, and I came to the much older one, which happened to be open, but also explains the rest of the account below......

 

The passing of HM the Queen changed plans somewhat, but I didn't know that.

 

Sittingbourne is not a pretty town. It has a main road driven through the middle of it, and the area around the church, not pretty either. Four Ne'er-do-wells were drinking and smoking in the churchyard, and in time would attract the attention of two PCOs.

 

The blurb talked about visiting the crypt and so on, so I was looking forward to the visit. And upon entering, I was pretty much the only one looking round, in the south aisle a coffee shop had been set up.

 

A woman came up to me and asked:

 

"Are you SFM?", which I assume to be Swale FM, the local radio station.

 

I told her I wasn't. But then I did have my new Tron t shirt on, and and looked like a nerd. The actual nerd came out from behind the organ carrying leads and mics. He was SFM.

 

I introduced the woman to the guy and got on with my shots.

 

A voice behind me asked:

 

"Are you SFM?"

 

Again, I said I wasn't, but there was a guy around who was.

 

It seems a service was being broadcast, and they were setting up equipment, and in time members of the choir arrived and people carrying instruments. Either that or it was the mafia.

 

By then I had my shots, and so we made to leave, as yet more people came into the church, while outside people waited for the service to start.

 

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SITTINGBORNE.

THE next parish westward from Murston is Sittingborne, antiently written Sedingbourne, in Saxon, sœdingburna, i. e. the hamlet by the bourne, or small stream.

 

THE PARISH and town of Sittingborne is situated about forty miles from London, the high road from thence to Dover leading through it. The parish, though rather above the level of the marshes, which bound the northern side of it, from which the ground rises to the town, is still a damp situation, and both from the air and water is not accounted a healthy one, though much more so than several of the neighbouring parishes equally northward, than which it has a more chearful and populous aspect; from the town the ground still keeps rising southward till it joins Tunstall, in the road to which about a quarter of a mile from the town is a good modern house called Glovers, which lately belonged to Thomas Bannister, esq. who resided in it, and died in 1791, and his widow, Mrs. Bannister, now owns it; eastward from which, at about the same distance, are the estates of Chilston and Fulston, and Hysted Forstall, with Golden-wood at the boundary of the parish, part of which is within it, adjoining to Bapchild and Rodmersham. The parish, which is but small, contains little more than eight hundred acres of land, consisting of arable, pasture, orchards, hop ground, and woods. In the upper and western parts it is much inclined to chalk and thin land, but the rest of it is in general a fertile loam, especially about the town, which was formerly surrounded by orchards of apples and cherries, but many of them have been destroyed to make room for plantations of hops, which, however, are not so numerous as formerly, and several of those which remain are kept up only as nurseries for young plantations of fruit trees, to which they must soon in their turn give place. Northward from the town the grounds are entirely pasture and orchards, lying on a descent to the town of Milton and the creek, both about half a mile distant from it; on the latter is a key called Crown key, of great use to this part of the country for the exporting of corn and wood, and relanding the several commodities from London and elsewhere. At a small distance north-west from the town is Bayford-court.

 

It appears by a survey made in the 8th year of queen Elizabeth, that there was then in this parish houses inhabited eighty-eight; lacking inhabitants five; keys two, Crown key and Holdredge key; ships and boats three, two of one ton, and one of twenty-four tons.

 

THE town of Sittingborne is built on each side of the high road at the fortieth mile-stone from London, and stands on a descent towards the east. It is a wide, long street unpaved, the houses of which are mostly modern, being well built of brick, and sashed, the whole having a chearful aspect. The principal support of it has always been from the inns, and houses of reception in it for travellers, of which there are several.

 

The inhabitants boast much of John Northwood, esq. of Northwood, having entertained king Henry V. on his triumphant return from France, at the Red Lion inn, in this town; and though the entertainment was plentiful, and befitting the royalty of his guest, yet such was the difference of the times, that the whole expence of it amounted to no more than 9s. 9d. wine being then sold at two-pence a pint, and other articles in proportion. The principal inn now in it, called the Rose, is perhaps the most superb of any throughout the kingdom, and the entertainment afforded in it equally so, though the traveller probably will not find his reckoning near so moderate as that of John Northwood before-mentioned. About the middle of the opposite side of the town there is a good family seat, which was once the residence of the Tomlyn's, and then for many years of the Lushingtons, several of whom lie buried in this church, of whom a further mention has already been made under Rodmersham manor, which they possessed. At length Thomas Godfrey Lushington left it to reside at Canterbury, and his second son the Rev. James-Stephen Lushington, becoming possessed of it afterwards, sold it to Mr. John May, who resided in it for some time. Since which it has been converted into an inn. At this house, whilst in the possession of the Lushingtons, king George the 1st. and 11d. constantly lodged, whenever they travelled through this town, both in their way to, and return from visiting their German dominions.

 

The church and vicarage stand almost at the east end of the town, near which there rises a clear spring of water in the high road, which flows from thence northward into Milton creek.

 

Queen Elizabeth, by her charter, in her 16th year, incorporated the town of Sittingborne, by the name of a guardian and free tenants thereof; and granted to it a market weekly on a Wednesday, and two fairs yearly, the one at Whitsuntide, and the other at Michaelmas, with many other privileges: which charter was used for several years, and until the queen was pleased, through further favor to grant to it another more ample charter, in her 41st year, by which she incorporated this place, by the name of a mayor and jurats, and regranted the market and fairs, with the addition of a great number of privileges, and among others, of returning two members to parliament.

 

This charter does not appear ever to have been used, or the privileges in it exercised. The market, after having been used for several years, was dropped, and only the two yearly fairs have been kept up, which are still held on Whit-Monday and the two following days, for linen and toys, and on October 10, and the four following days, for linen, woollen, cloaths, hardward, &c. and on the second day of it, for the hiring of servants, both in the town, and in a field, called the Butts, at the back of it.

 

Lewis Theobald, the poet, made famous by Mr. Pope, in his Dunciad, was born at Sittingborne, his father being an attorney at this place.

 

SOME FEW of our antiquarians have been inclined to six the Roman station, called, in the second iter of Antonine, Durolevum, at or near Sittingborne; among which are Mr. Talbot, Dr. Horsley, Baxter, and Dr. Stukeley in his comment upon his favorite Richard of Cirencester; (fn. 1) but they have but little to offer in support of their conjecture, except the distances made use of in one or two copies, which are so different in many of them, that there is no trusting to any one in particular; consequently each alters them as it suits his own hypothesis best. The reader will find more of this subject under the description of both Lenham and Newington.

 

In the year 893, the Danes having fitted out a great number of ships, with an intention of ravaging the coasts of this kingdom, divided them into two fleets; with one of which they failed up the river Limene, or Rother, and with the other, under the command of Hastings, their captain, they entered the mouth of the river Thames, and landed at the neighbouring town of Milton. Near Milton they built a castle, at a place called Kemsley-down, about a quarter of a mile north-east from where the church of Milton now stands, which being overgrown with bushes, acquired the name of Castle rough. King Alfred, on receiving intelligence of these depredations, marched his forces towards Kent, and in order to flop their incursions, some time afterwards built on the opposite or eastern side of the creek, about a mile from the Danish intrenchments, a fortification, part of the ditches of which, and a small part of the stone-work, is still to be seen at Bayford-castle, in this parish.

 

Gerarde, the herbalist, found on the high road near this place,

 

Tragoriganum Dodonæi, goats marjorum of Dodo- næus.

 

Ruta muraria sive salvia vitæ, wall rue, or rue maidenhair; upon the walls of the church-yard here.

 

Colutea minima five coronilla, the smallest bastard sena; on the chalky barren grounds near Sittingborne, (fn. 2) and lately likewise by Mr. Jacob.

 

Hieracium maximum chondrillæ folio asperum; observed by Mr. John Sherard, very plentisully in the road from this place to Rochester.

 

Lychnis saponaria dicta, common sopewort; by him on the same road.

 

Tithymalus Hybernicus, Irish Spurge; between this place and Faversham.

 

Erysimum sophia dictum; found by Mr. Jacob, on the road sides near Sittingborne, and on the Standard Key.

 

Oenanthe cicutæ facie Lobellii, hemlock dropwort, found by him in the water lane between Sittingborne and Milton. (fn. 3)

 

THE MANOR OF MILTON is paramount over this parish, subordinate to which is

 

THE MANOR OF GOODNESTON, perhaps so called from its having been the property of Goodwyne, earl of Kent, who might have secured himself here at Bayford castle, in the year 1052, when having taken up arms against king Edward the Consessor, he raised an army, and ravaged the king's possessions, and among them the town of Milton, which he burnt to the ground.

 

On his death it most probably came to his son king Harold, and after the battle of Hastings into the hands of the crown, whence it seems to have been granted to the eminent family of Leyborne, of Leyborne, in this county. William, son of Roger de Leyborne, died possessed of it in the 3d year of king Edward II.

 

His grand-daughter Juliana, daughter of Thomas de Leyborne, who died in his life-time, became her grandfather's heir, and succeeded in this manor, to which she entitled her several husbands successively, all of whom she survived, and died S. P. in the 41st year of king Edward III. when no one being found, who could make claim to any of her estates, this manor, among the rest of them, escheated to the crown.

 

After which this manor of Goodneston, as it was then called, seems to have been granted by the crown to Robert de Nottingham, who resided at a seat adjoining to this manor, called

 

BAYFORD-CASTLE, where his ancestors had resided for several generations. Robert de Nottingham lived here in the reign of king Edward I. and dates several of his deeds apud castellum suum de Bayford, apud Goodneston. Robert de Nottingham, his successor, who became possessed of the manor of Goodneston as beforementioned, was sheriff in the 48th year of king Edward III. and kept his shrievalty at Bayford, bearing for his arms, Paly, wavy of two pieces, gules and argent, in which year he died, and was found by the inquisition to die possessed of lands at Sharsted, Pedding in Tenham, Newland, La Hirst, Higham in Milsted, Bixle, now called Bix, in Tong, and lastly, Goodneston, with Bayford, in Sittingborne; all which descended to his only son John Nottingham, who died without issue male, leaving Eleanor his daughter his sole heir, who marrying Simon Cheney, of Crall, in Sussex, second son of Sir Richard Cheney, of Shurland, he became, in her right, entitled to it. His grandson Humphry Cheney alienated both Goodneston and Bayford, at the latter end of king Henry VI.'s reign, to Mr. Richard Lovelace, of Queenhyth, in London.

 

His son Launcelot Lovelace was of Bayford, and purchased the manor of Hever in Kingsdown, near Farningham, under which a more ample account of him and his descendants may be seen. His second son William, heir to his eldest brother Sir Richard, who died S. P. at length became possessed of Goodneston, with Bayford, at which he resided, and dying anno 17 king Henry VII. left two sons, John and William Lovelace, esqrs. who possessed this manor and seat between them; the former of whom resided at Bayford, where he died in the 2d year of Edward VI. holding the moiety of this manor in capite, by knight's service, and leaving seven sons, of whom Thomas Lovelace, esq. his eldest son, inherited his interest in this manor and seat. He procured his lands to be disgavelled, by the act passed anno 2 and 3 Edward VI. and afterwards in the 10th year of queen Elizabeth, together with his cousin William Lovelace, by a joint conveyance, alienated Goodneston, with Bayford, to Mr. Ralph Finch, of Kingsdown, in this neighbourhood, whose son Mr. Thomas Finch, of that place, passed it away by sale to Sir William Garrard, who had been lord mayor in 1555, whose ancestors had been of this parish for several generations before, and perhaps were seated at Fulston in it, as many of them lie buried, in the chancel belonging to that seat, in this church. (fn. 4)

 

He died in 1571, and was buried in St. Magnus's church, in London, bearing for his arms, Argent, on a fess sable, a lion passant of the field; which arms, borne by his ancestors, are carved on the roof of the cloysters at Canterbury. After which it descended down to his grandson Sir John Garrard, or Gerrard, as this family now began to spell their name, who was of Whethamsted, in Hertfordshire, and was created a baronet in 1621. He was succeeded in it by his eldest son of the same name (at which time Bayford was become no more than a farm-house, being called Bayford-court farm). He died in 1700, leaving an only daughter and heir Mary, who carried the manor of Goodneston, with Bayford, among the rest of her inheritance, in marriage to Montague Drake, esq. of Shardeloes, in Agmondesham, in Buckinghamshire, who bore for his arms, Argent, a wivern, with wings displayed, and tail moved, gules. In whose descendants it continued down to William Drake, esq. M. P. for the borough of Agmondesham, as his ancestors had been, some few intermissions only excepted, ever since its being restored to its privilege of sending members to parliament, as a borough, anno 21 James I. He died possessed of this estate in 1796, and his heirs are at this time possessed of it.

 

A court baron is held for the manor of Goodneston, with Bayford.

 

CHILTON is a manor situated in the south-east part of this parish, which was formerly accounted a manor, and had owners of that furname, who held the manor of Chilton in Ash, near Sandwich, both which William de Chilton held at his death in the 31st year of king Edward I. one of whose descendants, in the beginning of king Edward III.'s reign, passed it away to Corbie, whose descendant Robert Corbie, of Boughton Malherb, died possessed of this manor of Chilton, alias Childeston, in the 39th year of that reign. (fn. 5) After which it passed by a female heir of this name in like manner as Boughton Malherb, to the family of Wotton, and from them again to the Stanhopes, (fn. 6) in which it continued till Philip, earl of Chesterfield, about the year 1725, alienated it to Richard Harvey, esq. of Dane-court, whose grandson, the Rev. Richard Harvey, died possessed of it in 1772, leaving his widow surviving, since which it has been sold to Balduck, and by him again to Mr. George Morrison, who now owns it, and resides in it.

 

FULSTON, called antiently Fogylston, was a large mansion, situated at a small distance southward from Chilton last-described, which, from the burials of the Garrards in the chancel belonging to this estate in Sittingborne church, seems to have been the early residence of that family in this parish. However that be, in the reign of Henry VIII. it was become the estate and residence of John Cromer, esq. the third son of Sir James Cromer, of Tunstall, who died in 1539, and was buried in this church, leaving his three daughters his coheirs; and in one of the windows of this church were the arms of John Cromer, esq. of Fulston, and his two wives, Guldeford and Grove, and their several quarterings.

 

Probably, by his will, or by a former entail, on his dying without male issue, this seat descended to his nephew Sir James Cromer, of Tunstall, whose grandson, of the same name, dying without male issue in 1613, Christian, one of his daughters and coheirs carried it in marriage to John Hales, esq. eldest son of Sir Edward Hales, of Tenterden, knight and baronet, as has been already more fully mentioned before under Tunstall, and in his descendants it has continued down to Sir Edward Hales, bart. of St. Stephen's, near Canterbury, the present owner of it. The greatest part of this mansion has been pulled down within memory, and a neat farm-house has been erected on the ruins of it.

 

Charities.

JOHN ALLEN, of Sittingborne, by his will in 1615, gave 40s. per annum for repairing the alms-houses in Crown-key-lane, and firing for the poor in them, to be paid out of Glovers, now Mrs. Bannister's.

 

ROBERT HODSOLE, by will in 1684, gave 10s. per annum to the poor, payable every Christmas-day yearly, out of Mrs. Rondeau's land.

 

JOHN GRANT, by will in 1689, gave 20s. per annum, to be paid in corn and bread on January 1, out of Mrs. Trott's farm.

 

FIVE SEAMS of boiling peas are yearly paid from the parsonage, to be distributed to the poor on every Christmas-day yearly.

 

KATHERINE DICKS, by her will, left the sum of 25l. to be put out on land security, the interest of it to be said out for ever in six two-penny loaves, to be given to six poor widows &c. who attend divine service, beginning every year on the first Sunday after Christmas-day, of the annual produce of 1l.

 

The poor annually relieved are about forty; casually eight hundred and fifty.

 

SITTINGBORNE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JU RISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deany of Sittingborne

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Michael, is a large, handsome building, of three isles and two chancels, and two cross ones; at the west end is a tower beacon steeple, in which is a clock, a set of chimes, and six bells.

 

On the stone font, which is an octagon, are the arms of archbishop Arundel, a shield, having on it a cross story; and another with the emblems of Christ's crucifixion on it.

 

On the 17th of July, 1762, the wind being exceeding high, a fire broke out on the roof of this church, occasioned by the plumbers, who were repairing the leads, having left their fire burning during their absence at dinner, which consumed the whole of it, except the bare walls and the tower. Next year a brief passed for rebuilding of it, which with the contribution of the inhabitants, and a gift of fifty pounds from archbishop Secker, they were enabled to set about.

 

This was stopped for some little time by the owners of the three chancels, belonging to the Bayford, Chilton, and Fulston estates, refusing to contribute to the rebuilding of them, and they were at length rebuilt at the same cost with the rest of the church; and the whole of it was afterwards completed and fitted up in a very handsome manner. By the fire the monuments against the walls were destroyed, and most of the gravestones broken by the falling of the timbers. The latter, in the rebuilding of the church, have, the greatest part of them, been most absurdly removed from the graves over which they lay, to other parts of the church, and some even from the church-yard, as it suited to make the pavement complete; so that there is now hardly a guess to be made, where the bodies lie, that the inscriptions commemorate, but the gravestones of the Lushingtons, I believe, were none of them removed. In the south cross chancel belonging to the estate of Fulston, is a monument for Thos. Bannister, gent. obt. 1750, arms, Argent, a cross story, sable. The brass plate, on which the inscription was, for John Crowmer, of Fulston, and his two wives, in this chancel, being loose, there was found on the under side of it one in Latin, for Robert Rokele, esq. once dwelling with the most revered lady, the lady Joane de Bohun, countess of Hereford, Essex, and Northton, who died in 1421, an instance of œconomy which has been discovered at times in other churches.

 

The south-east chancel belonged to the Chilton estate; there are many gravestones of the family of Lushington in it. Dr. Lushington's monument was entirely destroyed at the time of the fire. In the upper part of this chancel is a vault, belonging to the Chilton estate, in which is only one coffin, of Mr. Harvey, who died in 1751, and a great quantity of bonespiled up at one end of it.

 

The archdeacon's court, in which he holds his visitation, is at the upper end of this chancel.

 

The coats of arms in the windows of the church, which were many, were entirely destroyed, and they have been since entirely resitted with modern glass.

 

The middle chancel is the archbishop's, and belongs to the parsonage; in which there is a memorial for Mathew, son of Sir John, and grandson of archbishop Parker, who died in 1645. The north chancel is made use of now as a vestry. The north cross chancel belongs to the Bayford estate. In the north wall of it there is the effigies of a woman, lying at length, in the hollow of the wall, with an arch, carved and ornamented, over her, and midway between the arch and figure, a flat table stone of Bethersden marble: the whole of it seems very antient.

 

In this church there was, before the reformation, a chantry, called Busherb's chantry.

 

The church of Sittingborne belonged to the Benedictine nunnery of Clerkenwell, to which it was appropriated before the 8th year of king Richard II. and it remained part of the revenues of it till its dissolution, in the 31st year of king Henry VIII.'s reign.

 

¶This church thus coming into the king's hands, seems to have remained part of the revenues of the crown till queen Elizabeth, in her 3d year, granted the parsonage of it, with the advowson of the vicarage, the former being then valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. to archbishop Parker. Since which they have continued parcel of the possessions of the archbishopric, and remain so at this time.

 

The parsonage has been from time to time leased out on a benesicial lease, at the yearly rent of 13l. 6s. 8d. In 1643 John Olebury, gent. was lessee; in later times, Cockin Sole, esq. of Bobbing, whose son John Cockin Sole, esq. died possessed of it in 1790, since which this lease has been sold under the directions of his will.

 

In the 8th year of king Richard II. this parsonage was valued at 23l. 6s. 8d.

 

In 1578, on a survey of the diocese of Canterbury, it was returned, that this parsonage was impropriate to the queen's majesty; the vicarage also in her gift; dwelling-houses eighty; communicants three hundred; the tenths twenty shillings.

 

The vicarage is valued in the king's books at ten pounds, the yearly tenths being one pound. In 1640, it was valued at fifty-six pounds. Communicants three hundred and eighty.

 

The vicarage is situated not far from the north side of the church-yard, adjoining to which is the only piece of glebe land belonging to it.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp150-163

 

For great photographs and the low down on the G20 Summit, Protests and Demonstrations visit www.ravishlondon.com/g20

 

The world faces a problem: recession and a spiraling fall in trade. The Economist puts it like this, “Trade is contracting again, at a rate unmatched in the post-war period. This week the World Trade Organisation (WTO) predicted that the volume of global merchandise trade would shrink by 9% this year. This will be the first fall in trade flows since 1982. Between 1990 and 2006 trade volumes grew by more than 6% a year, easily outstripping the growth rate of world output, which was about 3% (see chart 1). Now the global economic machine has gone into reverse: output is declining and trade is tumbling at a faster pace. The turmoil has shaken commerce in goods of all sorts, bought and sold by rich and poor countries alike.” According to the Economist, “The immediate cause of shrinking trade is plain: global recession means a collapse in demand. The credit crunch adds an additional squeeze, thanks to an estimated shortfall of $100 billion in trade finance, which lubricates 90% of world trade.”

According to the Guardian, “On Thursday 2 April Gordon Brown is going to host the G20 summit in London. Leaders from 22 countries will be at the summit. The G20 is an organisation for finance ministers and central bankers, who in the past met once a year to discuss international cooperation in finance. There are 19 countries who are members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The 20th member is the European Union, which is represented by whichever country holds the EU presidency (currently, it's the Czech Republic). These countries represent 90% of global GDP, 80% of world trade and two thirds of the world's population. The IMF and the World Bank also attend G20 meetings, although technically the London event isn't a normal G20 meeting.”

This G20 meeting will be for the leaders of all G20 countries. According to the Guardian the policy agenda developed by the last G20 meeting “did not in fact go much beyond pre-existing international initiatives that had recently been developed in more technocratic international bodies.” According to the Guardian, “On the London summit website, the British government has explained what it hopes to achieve. At the summit, countries need to come together to enhance global coordination in order to help restore global economic growth. World leaders must make three commitments:

• First, to take whatever action is necessary to stabilise financial markets and enable families and businesses to get through the recession.

• Second, to reform and strengthen the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust.

• Third, to put the global economy on track for sustainable growth.

Gordon Brown has argued that the world must avoid protectionism. According to the Economist, “The World Bank says that, since the G20 leaders last met in November in Washington, DC, 17 of their countries have restricted trade. Some have raised tariffs, as Russia did on second-hand cars and India did on steel. Citing safety, China has banned imports of Irish pork and Italian brandy. Across the world, there has been a surge in actions against “dumping”—the sale of exports, supposedly at a loss, in order to undermine the competition. Governments everywhere are favouring locally made goods.” The Economist also says, “Kei-Mu Yi, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, argues that trade has fallen so fast and so uniformly around the world largely because of the rise of “vertical specialisation”, or global supply chains. This contributed to trade’s rapid expansion in recent decades. Now it is adding to the rate of shrinkage. When David Ricardo argued in the early 19th century that comparative advantage was the basis of trade, he conceived of countries specialising in products, like wine or cloth. But Mr Yi points out that countries now specialise not so much in final products as in steps in the process of production.”

Protectionism in itself sounds bad – but it is a policy option available and used in all political economies – including the most liberal. Protectionism can also lead to a more self-sustainable economy, and can lead to the internal development of an economy, which means the economy is less reliant and dependent on external sources of finance. Development will be slower, but it can be more secure and sustainable. It is likely that if countries do operate protectionist policies it will be a short-term opportunist and populist response to workers and unions, but it could be seen as an alternative economic model of development. It worked in Brazil and Argentina during the 1960s and 1970s for a while, until a more neo-liberal and external finance model was preferred.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was reported on Channel 4 News to have told Mr Brown the crisis was caused by "white blue eyed people". This overtly racist remark has been noted, but there has been no visible backlash. It is interesting how the whole agenda about racism never applies to the dominant one, i.e. you can racially slur white people, and white people with blue eyes without anyone batting an eye lid, whereas if you racially slur other ethnic groups you can find yourself battered. I find this state of affairs deeply offensive to the human race in general, and very patronizing to those groups who don’t come from the dominant ethnic group (i.e. its almost to say the whole anti-racist thing is a way of patting you on the head and saying there, there – because when it comes to racism we don’t really give a shit – see the way we couldn’t give a f*** if you slur our own dominant white ethnic group).

The reality is that the summit will represent a reshuffling of position, support and dependencies between the world’s twenty richest countries. Spectators are expecting China to come out feeling puffed up and proud, given that China has faired relatively in recent years, or so we are led to believe. Meanwhile national demonstrations seem to be focusing our attention to the fact that a different way of working is needed. In fact it will be work as usual – the question is who will come out on top.

In anticipation of the G20 summit a demonstration was held in London. 10,000 were predicted to attend the demonstrations. The police reported 35,000. I was there at the demonstration and I don’t believe I saw 35,000 people walk past Big Ben – and I saw it from start to finish. As one commentator, on the Guardian observed, “Apart from the small contingent of student SWP calling 'One solution, Revolution' and about 20 anarchists making noise the spirit was generally depressed and lacking any anger or sense of direction.” Cognitator joked, “Perhaps the police were adding their number to the protesters. As opposed to taking them away as per usual.”

According to the Guardian, “The Put People First march yesterday was organised by a collaboration of more than 100 trade unions, church groups and charities including ActionAid, Save the Children and Friends of the Earth. The theme was "jobs, justice and climate" and the message was aimed at the world leaders who will be gathering for the G20 summit here this week.”

The march started on the Embankment. When I arrived there I walked around desperately finding somewhere where I could have a piss for free. I tried Starbucks and Costa Cofee, but they seemed to have no toilets, I even tried the stamp collectors fayre a subterranean culture of badly dressed old people, with poor eyesight and even worse posture, which was momentary distraction from my full bladder, but which did not provide the answer to my pressing problem as the toilet door was locked and for staff only. Stephen Moss writing for the Guardian said, “Westminster is not a great place for someone like me, who has a weak bladder, to go on a march. The public loos there cost an outrageous 50p a go. The Socialist Worker magazine-seller next to Embankment tube station is on to this in a flash. "50p to have a piss – a lesson in capitalism," he is soon shouting. Later, I'm pleased to see someone has punched a hole in the wooden sign advertising the price.” In the end I walked all the way to the National Portrait Gallery where you can always be assured a good quality toilet seat.

The Guardian continued, “The marchers, estimated at 35,000 by police, accompanied by brass bands and drummers and a colourful assortment of banners and flags, walked the four miles from Embankment to Hyde Park, where speeches from comedian Mark Thomas and environmental campaigner Tony Juniper, and music from the Kooks, made for a party-like atmosphere.”

The Guardian reported, “A group of fewer than 200 anarchists joined the march and were kept isolated and surrounded by police. Chants of "Burn the bankers!" were the closest anyone came to any show of aggression.’ Yes I witnessed this, it was clear that the anarchists, dressed in black, some of them with scarves covering their faces, generally looked cool as fuck, like some post-nuclear vigilante gang, their black signifying the dark depressing reality from which humanity starts, and the point from which they wish to depart. Whether the police presence was heavy is debatable but they certainly had a line of police accompanying them, whereas no other group were honored with such a presence. Of the anarchists Stephen Moss says, “I fall in with some anarchists halfway through the march – a delightful young Greek called Alex and an Italian, who is happy to talk about Bakunin, but is, I sense, a little suspicious of me. The anarchists march together – with the police flanking them in a way they don't with the rest of the march – and I am intrigued that they never shout slogans or bang drums. Their mission is a serious one.” Moss goes on, “Alex tells me a reporter from the Sunday Times has already approached him to ask why anarchists wear masks. "Work it out for yourself – you're a journalist," he'd told him. "People always ask why we wear masks; they never ask about our ideology," he complains. In essence, that ideology is: power corrupts; all elites will be corrupt; so government should be by the people, for the people – a mass movement of the type they claim is emerging in South America. Hezbollah is also mentioned favourably, a movement they see as developing organically. "Organic" is a key word for anarchists, and it would save a lot of aggro and bad press if they were called organicists rather than anarchists.” Good point. But who wants to be called an organicist? And in any case everything is organic really – its just that some organisms develop in a way we or anarchists done like and some do. To call anarchists, organic is to miss the point, anarachists are like Christian, they dream of a reality which transcends human nature as it is and known. Structure, corruption, self-interest and greed underpin all human activity – the question is not how we can do away with it, but how can we manage it in a fair way.

Stephen Moss wrote about the variety of organizations on the march. He said, “Socialist Worker has a three-point strategy: "Seize their wealth," "Stamp out poverty," "End all wars." Sounds good, but I can't work out exactly who "their" refers to. The Socialist party is hot on slogans, colder on the mechanism by which they are put into practice. The likely outcome to the current crisis still appears to be government by Etonians.” Most of these movements are nothing to do with instituting political change. The people involved in them do not want to genuinely change things. Instead what these groups function as is self-help groups for people, for whatever reason, feel that they have been wronged in life, probably at a personal level, and feeling quite hopeless about their personal wrongs, they want to transpose their personal woe on to a faceless, unintelligible other – the government, the state, the capitalist, the rich and the greedy. Its not so much that socialist workers and anarchists want to change things, they know they are completely ineffectual, and too screwed up and traumatized, too aggressive, unintelligent and incapable of engaging people into a different way of organizing; they just want to shout out to people ‘we hurt’. Fair enough.

The TUC don’t seem to be turning up to do anything more than saying ‘there there’ to threatened workers, and stating the downright bloody obvious to the government. Their message is “The importance of this summit cannot be underestimated. Unemployment and deprivation will grow massively over the next two years unless governments work together. People need to know that there is an international solution to this crisis. If the summit suggests that there is not, many will turn to nationalist and protectionist politics with all that implies for the global economy and world peace.” Mind you they do go on to say that, “But while the immediate response to the crisis will be at the forefront of the leaders' minds, the unprecedented Put People First coalition shows there is a huge appetite for a new economic direction. Thirty years of the increasing dominance of the neo-liberal agenda has got us into this mess. The summit must show that the next 30 years need to be about a renewed era of economic growth based on a much fairer share of the proceeds. One that is environmentally sustainable and one that does not end in the burst of yet another financial bubble.” But what are they really saying? Nothing much.

There is of course something about how all of this is just about having a laugh, getting a kick, getting an emotional fix. There’s something very similar to the way that some of the more violent groups get ready for a rumble with the police and football hooliganism. Football hooligans are much more honest about the emotional kick they get from fighting. The protestors pretend that they are doing it for the people. Whatever the so called reasons, it is clear that a lot of protestors enjoy confrontation. They are much more focused on the enemy and combating the enemy than they are on creating peaceful societies. So Stephen Moss makes the interesting observation, “When the march eventually gets to Hyde Park, the anarchists refuse to join the "TUC bureaucrats" for the official rally and hold their own open-platform meeting at Speakers' Corner, dominated by elderly men in hats who talk less about Bakunin than about beating up the BNP and confronting the police on the streets of Whitechapel. It's all a bit depressing (and expletive-filled – I take serious exception to the denunciation of "Oxbridge cunts"), though I like the fact that the elderly men refuse even to use a megaphone – only the ordinary human voice is organic enough.” The media and police have both hyped the April 2009 marches as like the possible end of the British way of life, of democracy, of capitalism. Nothing could be further from the truth, but its like we all want to will it to happen – we all are looking for excitement – war may be bad but peace is fucking boring – I once read.

The Guardian also reported, “Thomas told the Observer he believed the protest marked "the start of a grassroots movement". He added: "This is a moment. This is the first time people have had a chance to come out on to the streets in a big way." But this is nonsense. This was just an opportunity for a plethora of groups, amongst whom there are more differences, and the only thing that can unite them is a general concern for jobs, justice and climate, which incidentally are three themes that unite most of the country, and all the main political parties, to catch the government at a weak moment, and hope to build up support for whatever cause they have, on the back of the anger and desperation amongst people at this time.

The protest ended up in Hyde Park. I didn’t go, it was too cold and rainy, and although I did aim to walk there via a short-cut through Victoria, I ended up taking refuge in Westminster Cathedral, where I saw another procession, of Catholic priests and altar boys, who were holding a service for the Union of Catholic Mothers. I listened to the Catholic priests, they sounded much more happy and at peace with themselves and their surroundings, than the rankerous socialist bile spitting leaders.

People are blaming the bankers, but there is in actual fact no-one to blame for this. The this needs to be qualified too. The ‘this’ is the fact that people are loosing their jobs, consumption will have to be reduced. It is ironic that it is precisely that people are facing the prospect of lower consumption that they are out on the streets protesting against greedy bankers, it is not so much the greed of the bankers that people resent, so much as the increased consuming power of the bankers that they are envious of. The bankers are not to blame for working within a system, which promoted risky investments, a system which was encouraged and deregulated by politicians who realized that whilst the bubble was growing there were huge financial gains to be made from encouraging bankers to reap the rewards both for themselves but through the state through taxation, and politicians who were encouraged by the people who voted them in, who probably formed the majority of people marching in demonstration and protest today, who voted in the governments believing the deregulation of banks not to be a serious enough issue to vote against a government for, and realizing that even if it was a risk, whilst the bubble was growing, they were happy enough to see their elected government ensuring that the country got a share of the pie. We all contributed to this fucking mess – if you can call it a mess – its only a mess for those who no longer have jobs and cannot consume so much – by voting in the government, who deregulated the banks and encouraged the lending of our money several times over to riskier and riskier ventures which in actual fact were not producing anything of material benefit, but were instead relying on house prices going up and up, as more people poured their money into it. Now we are in deep shit, because Gordon Brown has poured what little remaining money we have, and we have on credit into the black hole – it has simply disappeared.

There are some people who are saying the bankers should pay for the crisis they created. It doesn’t work like that – it works by people putting their money into a bank – and entrusting the bank to invest it wisely. Where the bank looses the money – the original investor looses the money. This creates a motivation on behalf of the investor to invest wisely, e.g. on the basis of what we know right now investing in Barclays rather than Lloyds TSB or the Royal Bank of Scotland. However reality begins to change once one’s livelihood is threatened – now it is solely the banker’s responsibility to have invested the money wisely, the public who invest their money into the banks are seen to be helpless, powerless twits, whose securities should have been looked after by a paternalistic and caring banking sector. So for example, according to Fox New, “Berlin police estimated that around 10,000 people gathered in front of the capital's city hall and more than 1,000 in Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, for similar demonstrations under the slogan: "We won't pay for your crisis." Its not a crisis – its just that there are now lots of personal crises – the public didn’t bother to check whether their banks were investing their money properly or wisely and now they are paying for it. But the banks aren’t responsible for this – they really aren’t.

We have two problems. The first was created by the fact that banks lent out our money several times over – so we thought the country was several times as wealthy as it actually was. This led to inflationary pressures especially in the housing market – where the same money was lent to several different people – all investing in housing leading to unrealistic housing prices. We now realize we have a fraction of the wealth we thought we had. This creates deflationary pressures – i.e. where everyone has less money prices are reduced. This problem can be solved by creating a soft deflationary landing to a level where the price of labor and goods reflects the value of the money we have not the value of the money we have and we loaned. This means everyone has to accept lower wages – we can either do this peacefully based around a consensus and agreement between corporations, banks, trade unions or governments – or we can do it aggressively – letting perfectly good companies whose workers refuse to take pay cuts go to the wall – and then watch as millions of unemployed people try to reform and reorganize new companies and enterprises.

 

The second problem is that banks are no longer making such risky investments – so they are not looking to lend their money on to others – which means there is less money to be lent to people – which means less activity and less economy. We have to get used to less activity – but at least the activity will be invested in activities which are genuinely producing material benefit for people – not leading to an apparent generation of wealth – which is the artificial effect of lending x amount of money to people ten times, making it seem that we are ten times as rich as previously – when actual fact we are equally as wealthy – but with prices ten times as high. We should have also let the banks go to the wall – and started again with a heavily regulated banking sector – which was not allowed to lend out peoples’ money irresponsibly. No-one wants to have to feel the pain from this – i.e. the rich bankers who keep their pensions and bonuses, the people who have banked with them who want to keep their savings, and the businesses who are funded by the banks who want to hang on to their business and jobs. So what Gordon Brown is doing, is in the name of the people, funneling money into the banking system, paying for the debts, and thus, keeping the bankers sweet, keeping the investors sweet, keeping the businesses sweet. Who looses out? All of us – the poor! They never really had anything to loose in the first place, however whilst Gordon Brown borrows money to give to the banks so they can lend to businesses and pay bankers bonuses and salaries, we move a step closer to becoming bankrupt – i.e. not being able to borrow any more money because no-one believes we can pay it back. Once we become bankrupt, social services and welfare will be cut.

According to Gaby Hinsliff, “Many economists believe a recovery now requires bursting that artificial bubble and rebalancing the economy so that Chinese consumers are encouraged spend a little more - reducing America's trade deficit - and Americans a little less. Malloch Brown suggests Britons, too, will need to relearn the art of saving.”

According to the Guardian, “But Scotland Yard is expecting a greater challenge on Wednesday 1 April, dubbed "Financial Fools Day", with a series of protests aiming to cause disruption in the Square Mile and elsewhere.” The Guardian says, “On 1 April an alliance of anti-capitalist groups called G20 Meltdown is organising a carnival headed by "Four Horsefolk of the Apocalypse", which will converge in front of the Bank of England. Anarchists are planning to target the second day of the summit at ExCel. Other groups mounting demonstrations include Climate Camp, the Stop the War Coalition, and Government of the Dead. An alternative summit will be held a few hundred yards from the ExCel centre at the University of East London.”

The alternative G20 summit website provides the following manifesto: Can we oust the bankers from power? Can we get rid of the corrupt politicians in their pay? Can we guarantee everyone a job, a home, a future? Can we establish government by the people, for the people, of the people? Can we abolish all borders and be patriots for our planet? Can we all live sustainably and stop climate chaos? Can we make capitalism history? YES WE CAN!

According to the Daily Telegraph, “The G20 conference will lead to a London "lockdown" next week, with parks, roads and businesses closed to keep world leaders safe, Government officials are warning.” The media are really building this up, as an attempt to build readership and sell advertising. Its interesting how a force created by the desire to advertise and promote consumption causes papers to distort and promote a threat and confrontation to the very system upon which it is built. The Daily Telegraph article continues, “Protesters with armed with buckets and spades are among several thousand people who are planning to bring chaos to the heart of central London.Last night it emerged that City workers were being advised to "dress down" next week to avoid drawing attention to themselves.”

To anyone really wanting revolution bear in mind these words from Stephen Moss, “Changing society is hard, and usually starts with a split in the elite. The English civil war and the French revolution both began with a fissure in the governing classes; their falling-out created the space for populist movements to develop. For a grassroots movement to effect change is enormously difficult. It was only possible in Russia in 1917 because of the devastation wrought by war.”

The reality of the demo was perhaps best summer up by ‘one789’ who said, “My experience of the demo, in talking to people and observing, is that no one had any real clue of why they were there. They recognise 'blame the bankers' to be futile and a distraction, think capitalism 'is rubbish' and 'want change', but say nothing beyond that.I at least expected a high degree of frustration and anger, but more than anything what came across was disillusionment and confusion. But then, that's what you get I suppose from such a middle-class yummy-mummy bleeding-heart rally.”

As rabbit95 said, “Be glad we live in a society free enough to protest and where, apart from the police possibly taping your presence at such a demo, there will be no comeback.”

www.g20.org/

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/summit-progress/

www.altg20.org.uk/

www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13362...

www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13362027

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-protests-london

www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/mar/28/g20-protest-...

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2009/mar/28/g20-su...

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/28/g20-protest

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-summit-globalisa...

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/25/g20-q-a

news.google.co.uk/news?q=G20+summit+London+2009&oe=ut...

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5050...

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/29/g20-summit

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/global-update/cp-china/active-...

www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/summit-progress/qu...

www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics...

www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_pol...

  

For great photographs and the low down on the G20 Summit, Protests and Demonstrations visit www.ravishlondon.com/g20

  

   

.… (portrait of devotees of St. Agatha) ….

  

.… (ritratto di devoti di Sant' Agata) ….

   

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Fear of the unknown, the fear of losing own physical or mental health, or worse, having already lost it, possible problems with work (if a work has it), old age advancing, awareness of the existence of a Higher Being, are just some of the reasons that push people to search for a contact with the Divine, with the supernatural, leading them to plead for help, but this is not enough to completely explain the close link fact of absolute devotion and enormous affection that the people of Catania (province) have towards their young martyr Agatha; an entire city partecipate in these days to ceremony and procession, one can not help but ask this question, what binds in such a profound and peculiar citizens to their Patron Saint Agata? Maybe I was lucky enough to capture photographically what is a partial response: a child at a very early age is brought to the window from her mother while passing the float of St. Agatha, so it's easy to understand... the devotion and attachment to the Martyr starts very young , transmitted by their parents as a treasure to be preserved and grow throughout their lives, which leads you in the days of the feast to a great collective.

This is a short-long report I did this year 2016, in the city of Catania (Sicily) in occasion of the feast of her patron saint Agatha, which took place on the 3, 4 and 5 February (this dates commemorates the martyrdom of the young Saint), and on 17 August too (this date celebrates the return to Catania of her remains, after these had been transferred to Constantinople by the Byzantine general Maniaces as war booty, and there remained for 86 years), when the Sicilian city is dressed up to feast, with a scent of orange blossom and mandarins, and its citizens show that they possess an extraordinary love and bond with the young martyr saint Agatha.

The religious sicilian feast of Saint Agatha is the most important feast of Catania, its inhabitants from five centuries, during the three days of the feast in honor of her "Santuzza" (young Saint), create a unique setting, with celebrations and rituals impressive, which means that this event is regarded as the third religious festival in the world (some say the second ...) after the "Semana Santa" in Seville and the "Corpus Christi" in Cuzco, Peru. Unlike other religious holidays, more sober, to Sant'Agata highlights a vocation exuberant typical of the south Italy, who loves to combine the sacred with the profane.

The cult of the young Santa dates back to the third century, when the teenager Agatha was martyred for refusing the roman proconsul Quintiziano. One year after the death of the young Agatha, on 5 February of the year 252, his virginal veil was carried in procession, and it is said it was able to save Catania from destruction due to a devastating eruption of Mount Etna.

The festivities begin with the procession of Candlemas (this year were in greater number, perhaps 14 instead of the 11 years of the other years); the "Candlemas" are giant Baroque wooden "candlesticks" paintings in gold, each representing an ancient guild (butchers, fishmongers, grocers, greengrocers, etc.), which are brought by eight devotees; the "cannalore" (candlemas) anticipate the arrival of the "float" of Saint Agatha during the procession. Devotees, men and women, wearing a traditional garment similar to a white bag, cinched at the waist by a black rope, gloves and a white handkerchief, and a black velvet cap, and it seems that such clothing evoke nightgown with the qule the Catanese, awakened with a start by the touch of the bells of the Cathedral, welcomed the naval port, in 1126, the relics of the Holy which fell from Constantinople. On float, consisting of a silver chariot sixteenth of thirty tons, which is driven by a double and long line of devotees with the robust and long ropes, takes place the bust of Saint Agatha, completely covered with precious stones and jewels. On February 4, the parade celebrates the so-called "external path" that touches some places of martyrdom in the city of Catania; the next day, the 5 instead the procession along the "aristocrat path", which runs along the main street, Via Etnea, the parlor of Catania. On this day the devotees carry on their shoulders the long candles of varying thickness, there are some not very big, others are fairly heavy, but some skim exceptional weights.

  

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La paura dell’ignoto, il timore di perdere la salute fisica o psichica, o peggio, averla già persa, possibili problemi col lavoro (per chi un lavora l’ha) o peggio non averlo dovendo così “inventarsi” la giornata, la vecchiaia che avanza, la consapevolezza dell’esistenza di un Essere Superiore, sono solo alcuni dei motivi che spingono gli uomini a cercare un contatto col Divino, col Sovrannaturale, portandoli ad invocare il Suo aiuto, ma tutto ciò non basta assolutamente a spiegare lo stretto legame fatto di assoluta devozione ed enorme attaccamento che gli abitanti di Catania (e provincia) hanno nei confronti della loro “Santuzza” la giovanissima martire Agata; nel vedere partecipare quella che sembra essere una città intera a questi giorni di rito e processione, non ci si può non porre questa domanda, cosa lega in maniera così profonda e peculiare i cittadini Catanesi alla loro Santa Patrona Agata? Forse ho avuto la fortuna di cogliere fotograficamente quella che è una risposta parziale e certamente non unica alla domanda: un bimbo in tenerissima età viene portato alla finestra dalla sua mamma mentre passa la vara di S.Agata, ecco… la devozione e l’attaccamento alla giovanissima Martire inizia da piccolissimi, trasmessa dai propri genitori (e non solo…) come un tesoro da custodire e coltivare per tutta la vita, che porta che nei giorni della festa ad un fantastico rito collettivo al quale nessun Catanese sembra non possa o non voglia rinunciare.

Questa è un breve e lungo report, da me realizzato nel febbraio di quest’anno 2016, nella città di Catania (Sicilia) in occasione della festa della sua giovane santa patrona Agata, che ha avuto luogo come ogni anno il 3, il 4 ed il 5 di febbraio (questa data commemora il martirio della Santa giovinetta), festa che viene ripetuta anche il 17 agosto (questa data rievoca il ritorno a Catania delle sue spoglie, dopo che queste erano state trasferite a Costantinopoli da parte del generale bizantino Maniace come bottino di guerra, spoglie che ivi rimasero per 86 anni); per questa occasione la città siciliana è vestita a festa con profumi di fiori d'arancio e mandarini, coi suoi cittadini che mostrano di possedere uno straordinario amore e legame con la giovane martire Agata.

Gli abitanti di Catania, oramai da cinque secoli, nei tre giorni della festa in onore della "Santuzza", danno vita ad una scenografia unica, con celebrazioni e riti imponenti, che fanno si che questo evento sia considerato come la terza festa religiosa al mondo (qualcuno dice la seconda ...) dopo la "Semana Santa" di Siviglia ed il "Corpus Domini" a Cuzco, in Perù. A differenza di altre feste religiose, più sobrie, quella di Sant'Agata mette in luce una vocazione esuberante tipica del meridione, che ama unire il sacro col profano.

Il culto della giovane Santa risale al terzo secolo, quando l'adolescente Agata fu martirizzata per aver rifiutato il proconsole romano Quintiziano. Un anno dopo la morte della giovane Agata, avvenuta il 5 febbraio dell'anno 252, il suo velo virginale venne portato in processione, e si narra esso riuscì a salvare Catania dalla sua distruzione a causa di una devastante eruzione del vulcano Etna.

I festeggiamenti iniziano con il corteo delle "candelore", queste sono dei giganteschi e pesanti "candelabri" in legno, in stile barocco, dipinti in oro, ognuna rappresentante una antica corporazione (macellai, pescivendoli, pizzicagnoli, fruttivendoli, ecc.), che vengono portati da otto devoti, le quali "cannalore" durante la processione anticipano l'arrivo della "vara" di Sant'Agata. I devoti, sia donne che uomini, indossano un tipico indumento simile ad un sacco bianco, stretto in vita da una cordicella nera, guanti ed un fazzoletto bianchi, ed infine una papalina di velluto nero, sembra che tale abbigliamento rievochi la camicia da notte con la quale i Catanesi, svegliatisi di soprassalto dal tocco improvviso delle campane del Duomo, accolsero al porto navale, nel 1126, le reliquie della Santa che rientravano da Costantinopoli. Sulla vara, costituita da un carro argentato cinquecentesco di trenta quintali, trainata da una doppia e lunghissima fila di devoti tramite delle robuste e lunghe funi, prende posto il busto di Sant'Agata, completamente ricoperto di pietre preziose e gioielli. Il 4 febbraio, il corteo compie il cosiddetto "giro esterno" che tocca alcuni luoghi del martirio nella città catanese; il giorno dopo, il 5, il corteo percorre il "giro aristocratico", che percorre la strada principale, la via Etnea, salotto buono di Catania. In questo giorno i devoti portano in spalla dei lunghi ceri di vario spessore, ce ne sono alcuni non molto grossi, altri sono discretamente pesanti, ma alcuni sfiorano pesi eccezionali.

 

Twenty-two Transylvania County TIME 4 Real Science students advanced to two different state level science research competitions on March 24-25 in Raleigh-Durham, where they presented the results of 11 different year-long research projects. The team secured 19 state-level awards and will advance 11 students to the national and/or international level.

 

“My favorite part of the science competitions was being able to explain my project to people with minimal background in the scientific field,” said Sam Ballard, a sophomore from Rosman High School (RHS) and a student scientist in the TIME 4 Real Science Program. “When somebody came` over and asked about my project on their own terms, and then began to understand the science behind it, it made me feel so happy.” Ballard and Brevard High School (BHS) freshman Fritz Ruppert worked this year to levitate small particles using ultrasound.

 

“I think it is essential to remember that these science competitions are more than just competitions - they are chances for you, the scientist, to share and demonstrate your research; to show the world your accomplishments and your failures,” said Ruppert, reflecting on the competitions. “While receiving awards is nice, this is the most important part.”

 

As part of the North Carolina Student Academy of Science (NCSAS) Competition, students submit an original scientific paper for review by professional scientists and present their work to these scientists and their peers at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Students also have the honor of hearing from a keynote speaker. This year NCSU Professor Dr. Robert Dunn presented “Six ​keys ​to making ​totally ​new ​discoveries ​in ​biology ​before ​you ​finish ​high ​school.”

 

Research teacher Jennifer Williams said, “NCSAS is my favorite competition. Students get to share their original work and participate in the excitement of a scientific meeting, much like professional scientists do. First place winners also have the opportunity to present at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting alongside scientists from around the world-- a life-changing experience for students passionate about science. This year eight TIME student scientists were selected to present expenses paid at the AAAS meeting in Austin, Texas next year: Aidan Spradlin, Bryce Spradlin, Hannah Lemel, Matthew Bailey, John Nguyen, Sara Megown, Chase Bishop and Alex Eberhardt. Incredible!”

 

At the NCSAS meeting, students have the opportunity to seek leadership roles . This year, BHS sophomore Chase Bishop ran for NCSAS president-elect and defeated seven other candidates from across the state. “It was inspirational to see that people saw me as a leader and voted for me. In football we are told that we are to be the difference, and I hope that I can be that difference not only in the NCSAS but for the world as a scientist,” Bishop said, He will serve for one year as president-elect and then move into the role of president for a year.

 

When most people think of science competitions, the North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair (NCSEF) comes to mind. For this competition, students prepare a trifold poster that displays their research. Judges view the boards without the students and then ask the students to defend and elaborate on their work. After the judging, the public is invited to interact with the students and their projects. Like NCSAS, NCSEF models a key component of a professional scientific meeting, the poster presentation.

 

Emma Dauster, sophomore, said conducting a research project and preparing for NCSEF, “took a lot of hard work and dedication, but being part of the TIME program means always going the extra mile.” Dauster worked with sophomores Cullen Duval and Kylie Evans to study the attraction of mosquitoes to plant and fungal volatiles and win a Grand Award at this year’s NCSEF. The team will travel to Los Angeles from May 14-19 to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). According to ISEF representatives, “Each year, approximately 1,800 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions, and territories are awarded the opportunity to showcase their independent research and compete for on average $4 million in prizes.” Duval says “it still hasn’t really sunk in yet!”

 

Junior A. Spradlin reflected on his experiences during the science competitions, “My group and I had the chance to share our research and contribute to the scientific field. Sharing what we discovered with respected scientists that may use our experiments to stem further research is very fulfilling.” A. Spradlin worked with juniors B. Spradlin and Lemel to design a new, safer method to test for Naegleria fowleri (the brain eating amoeba) in local waters.

 

A. Spradlin added, “As for the competition, I am extremely proud to say that the projects we completed in a small high school lab in Brevard, North Carolina were able to compete with and defeat projects that were conducted in advanced laboratories at Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill.”

 

The TIME 4 Real Science Program is an intensive, inquiry-based school-day course. Students learn about the process of science as they conduct original scientific research into topics of their own choosing. They are supported by both teacher and scientist mentors as they choose a topic of interest, develop a testable question, design a procedure, collect and analyze data and present their findings.

 

“TIME is a class that offers students, who like me have a strong interest in science, the ability to really pursue their passion and curiosity in this field. The TIME science program has opened countless doors and led to experiences that have shaped my personal interest in biotechnology, and science in general, so much so that I am currently pursuing a career in this field,” said B. Spradlin.

 

Current TIME students would like to thank all who have helped with their research during the year including students, teachers, administrators, parents, and numerous scientists and community volunteers. Thanks go to 2016-17 TIME volunteers: Brian Byrd, Neill Cagle, Ora Wells, Ann Farrash, Alan Smith, Inga Meadows, Courtney Long, Scott Stevens, Cindy Carpenter, Jeff Hinshaw, Adam Moticak, Ken Chepenik, Don Wauchope, Gordon Riedesel, David Williams, Jay Case, Sam Farrar, Jeremy Gibbs, and Heidi Bullock. Special thanks go to Dr. Kent Wilcox, without whose help, guidance, and actions the class could not have been possible!

 

The TIME 4 Real Science Program is a partnership between Transylvania County Schools and NC Cooperative Extension. Funding for the students’ trip was provided by generous donations from the Duke Energy Foundation and from TIME alumnus Abby Williams’ 2016-17 community fundraising campaign. Special thanks goes to the campaign donors that helped make this program year possible: George and Elin Abercrombie, Ann Farash and Paul Onnink, Harriett Walls, Donna and Frank Patton, Bruce and Belinda Roberts, Johnny, Elsa and Ben Strickland, Mark and Page Lemel, Pat Montgomery, Jane and Chris Dauster, John and Nancy Strickland, Marion Petterson, Steve and Mary Arnaudin, Jim and Barb Strickland, Ned Steadman, Abby and Erika Williams, Jessica Good, Jodie DuBrueil, Leah Johnson and Dawn Davenport, Kathie and George Williams,Jennifer Frick-Ruppert, Tracie and Daniel Trusler, Kristi Whitworth, Jeremy Gibbs, Frances Bradburn, Mark and Betsy Burrows, Mike Judd, Laura Patch, Mark and Ameran Tooley, Brooke Burrows, Seyl Park and John Burrows.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION or to indicate an interest in volunteering or donating to the program, please visit our website at time4realscience.org or contact Jennifer Williams, BHS Science Instructional Leader and TIME 4 Real Science Co-director, at jwilliam@tcsnc.org .

 

Transylvania County State Level Science Awards:

 

A. Spradlin, B. Spradlin and Lemel: An Evaluation of Local, Thermally Polluted Lakes for the Presence of Naegleria fowleria via PCR Without Hazardous Cultivation: 1st place Biotechnology and AAAS Grand Award (NCSAS); 3rd place Biology B and 2nd place, Water Works Award (NCSEF).

 

Dauster, Evans and Duval: Olfactometer assays to measure the response of Culex quinquefasciatus to plant and fungal volatiles: 1st place Biology A and ISEF Grand Award (NCSEF); 2nd place Behavioral Science (NCSAS).

 

John Nguyen and Matthew Bailey: Oligochaete Populations in Transylvania County Trout Streams: A Risk Assessment of Susceptibility to the Whirling Disease Parasite, Myxobolus cerebralis: 1st place Environmental Science and AAAS Grand Award (NCSAS); Western Representative (NCSEF).

 

Bishop and Alex Eberhardt: Feasibility of Cultivating Arthrospira platensis as a Food Source for Mars Exploration and Colonization: 1st place Earth and Space Science and AAAS Grand Award (NCSAS); Western Representative (NCSEF).

 

Sara Megown: The Antifungal Effect of Plant Extracts on Candida albicans: 1st place Biological Sciences and AAAS Grand Award (NCSAS).

 

Ruppert and Ballard: Particle Manipulation by an Acoustic Levitator: 3rd place Technology and Engineering (NCSAS); 3rd place Army Award, Engineering, (NCSEF).

 

Bain Brown and Nicole Rideout: Screening Kudzu Associated Insects and Fungi for Enzymes with Potential Application in Aqueous Oil Extraction: 3rd place Biological Sciences (NCSAS); Western Representative (NCSEF).

 

Emily Trusler and Elise Poche: Isolation and Identification of Entomopathogenic Fungi for Use in Mosquito Control: 2nd Place Biological Sciences (NCSAS).

 

Carly Tabor and Lily Harris: Megacopta cribraria Attraction to Plant Volatiles: Western Representative (NCSAS).

 

Jasmine Gillespie: Toxicity of Nightshade Plants to the Freshwater Clam Corbicula fluminea: Western Representative, (NCSAS).

 

Caleb Fore: Developing a Cost Effective Solar Array While Capturing Energy for Heating Water: Western Representative (NCSAS).

  

Photo captions:

 

1: Twenty-two Transylvania County TIME 4 Real Science students made an impact at two recent state level science competitions. Eleven students advance to national and international competitions.

 

2: Chase Bishop (left), new president-elect for the NC Student Academy of Science, joins his partner Alex Eberhardt in congratulating another state level NCSAS winner. Chase and Alex studied the potential of using Martian resources to grow Spirulina, a potential source for nutrition in future Martian settlements.

 

3: Kylie Evans and Cullen Duval test mosquitoes in their homemade olfactometer. The team discovered that carnations are strongly attractive to mosquitoes and a new fungus isolated from kudzu repels them.

 

4: Elise Poche counts fungal spores using a hemocytometer and contrasting light microscope to prepare a spore concentration for dosing mosquito larvae.

 

5: Emily Trusler uses DNA analysis to identify entomopathogenic fungi isolated from local soil and tree holes. Trusler and her partner Elise Poche studied the fungi’s potential to control mosquito larvae.

 

6: Jasmine Gillespie prepares a dose of snuff. Gillespie worked with her partner Noah Graham to evaluate the sublethal toxicity of tobacco on golden clams.

 

7: Emma Dauster retrieves mosquitoes for testing. She and her partners Kylie Evans and Cullen Duvall will represent North Carolina at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles next month.

 

8: Sara Megown tests the effect of herbal extracts on Candida albicans, the causative agent of yeast infections. She found that Goldenseal extract inhibits the growth of yeast in a petri dish. She also tested the extract in living wax moth larvae with some promising, if inconclusive results.

 

9: Matthew Bailey works to analyze DNA from oligochaetes collected from local streams. Bailey worked with partner John Nguyen to assess local susceptibility to whirling disease, a devastating trout pathogen.

 

@ 2017, Transylvania County Schools, TIME 4 Real Science. All rights reserved.

 

www.time4realscience.org

b1 IMG_3974

Report info organized and collected by KiskiPlanter

 

Meletios Zafaran of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese explaines how Christians in Syria have been protected in a peaceful country under the al-Assad government. Born and raised in Syria he grew up under the so called dictator Bashar al-Assad which he says makes know sense. He referenced a 2007 Diane Sawyers 1hour long documentary of how successful Syria is, and now Assad is all the sudden called a dictator. ABC news reporter Diane Sawyer walking the streets described the people as having “extreme friendliness” towards her (2007). Zafaran said he came to USA in 2005, and in 2007 he was back there helping a church and his church actually played Christian prayers over loudspeakers in Damascus, Syria. He also pointed out again: Why would Bashar al-Assad use the weapons Obama accuses him of using on the very day UN inspectors are in country. Assad is fighting Alquidia terrorist to protect a country that had strong Christian communities long before Mohammed was born. His point was that Assad kept an environment that had Muslims, and Christians living side by side in peace. Now Obama and the CIA are trying to destroy the peace by funding terrorist there. KiskiPlanter-News September-17-2013

  

Damascus, Syria from the eyes of

9-17-2013 Meletios Zafaran of Syria Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese September-17-2013 Bashar Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad, saudi arabia

 

Meletios Zafaran of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese explains how Christians during the Iraq war were no longer safe in Iraq and had to leave there homes and found refuge in Syria, but now Christians in Syria are in danger if the US, Saudi Military backed rebels over take the Bashar al-Assad government. When Zafaran was there he said just the city of Damascus took in over 1 million Christian refugees from Iraq. It seems to KiskiPlanter-News a repeat of history: Destroy the countries government on false charges(Saying saddam hussein had WMDs) and that power vacuum leads to rise of radical Muslims taking control, thankfully Obama has not been successful in doing to Syria what Bush did to Iraq, fill it with violence. Photo/Report by: “KiskiPlanter-News” September-17-2013

 

Meletios Zafaran was born and raised in Syria, and moved to the USA in 2005. Mr. Zafaran’s parents, 4 brothers, 3 sisters, and cousins still live in Syria. He pointed out it is a lie to call this a civil war because of all the foreign fighters streaming into Syria. For example just this week 369 fighters against the Syrian government were from Afghanistan, including Taliban. These are what Obama McCain Graham must be calling Rebels. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and some African countries also there. These fighters want Sharia law as is very strict in countries like Saudi Arabia. Zafaran came off as how Diane Sawyer described Syrians on her 2007 trip, friendly and peaceful. . Photo/Report by: “KiskiPlanter-News” September-17-2013 Murrysville (South West Pennsylvania)

  

Damascus, Syria from the eyes of

9-17-2013 Meletios Zafaran of Syria Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese September-17-2013 Christians in Syria

  

10,000 Emmons in US Prisons recruiting and training new Muslims to be radical like in Sharia law countries. This operation funded by Saudi Arabian government inside U.S.A. In France about 40% of newborn babies are in Muslim families. Women in Saudi Arabia treated badly under Sharia law, men also in danger if not following social interaction rules set by religious leaders. Info gathered from these men. Both having first hand dealings with these topics, and both literate in Arabic. Photo/Report by: “KiskiPlanter-News” September-17-2013

 

Meletios Zafaran was born and raised in Syria, and moved to the U.S.A. in 2005. Mr. Zafaran’s parents, 4 brothers, 3 sisters, and cousins still live in Syria. For more information about these photo reports is available at "KiskiPlanter"'s Bible studies.

To find more search for KiskiPlanter on internet. Apollo, PA. South West Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

 

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Pres. Obama. wants war in Syria and says he can wage war with who he wants, but says congress can vote on it if they like. The nobel peace prize war hawk does not care what the US constitution, people, US Congress, Russia, or the UN thinks, he is dictator.

 

Adam Kinzinger: Wants War War War!

(Trying to stop more war: KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep. Alan grayson: Some good questions on war in Syria. Seems to be a no vote.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep. Tom Cotton, R,Arkanas. War War War. Weary of people being war weary. Wants war now.

 

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Jaun Vargus. D, California: asks:"Are you being truthful because I because I need you to promise your not lying because people are afraid of anther Iraq". Will likely vote yes since Obama's people said they are telling truth.Vargus is dumbest questioner I saw.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep George Holding: Can we be hurt by retaliation? Can Russia hurt us and is Russia a superpower. Sec of State John Kerry responds that Russia will not get involved.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Brad Schneider D, Illinois. Confused questions. Asks will Russia get involved. Sec of State John Kerry responds No. At one point Kerry says it’s safe.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Randy Weber R. Texas: Says intervention is bad option. Millions to a billion $ per day cost. Asks for guarantee of peace, Sec of State John Kerry responds no guarantee of peace

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep. Ami Bera: Thanks obama for graciously letting congress vote before taking war action. Similar clueless questions like Rep. Castro asked.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

  

Scott Perry R, PA. Asks if Pres. Obama will listen to a no vote to start a war in Syria. Sec of State John Kerry responds Obama will make war regardless of congress.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.D, Hawiie Former Military medical. Says Obama's path has unclear objective, that does not make sense. Looks like a no vote. Thank you.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Ron Desantis. Asks if this strike will scare Assade, what is replacement. Sec of State John Kerry responds Assade is secular; we need rebels that support minority groups.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Rep. Castro, is open to Missile strike. Basically asks Sec of State John Kerry for pre made answers to repeat to his electors. Not a statesmen, just place holder that will vote to war with a total stranger he knows nothing about.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

Luke Messer: Thanks Obama for graciously including the congress in deciding. yes to war, based on the liar Sec of State John Kerry. Nothing to say but blaw blaw.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

  

Rep Doug Collins R. Georgia.Rep Doug Collins R. Georgia. Asks some "take up time" type questions.

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013).

 

Rep. Ted Yoho, R. Flordia: Some good questions on war in Syria. Seems to be a no vote.Thank you!

(KiskiPlanter-News Wednesday September 4, 2013)

 

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Ok here it is. I took one image of the model using the strobes . I had the camera on Auto bracket mode , so the dark frame was taken immediately after that, before the flashes could recharge. The dark frame is for the outside detail coming in through the cracks in the door and the first shot is for the model only. LAter.. I had the model walk out and took a bunch of different exposures of the barn by itself. I used photomatix Image blending to compile them. Strobes were used in that image as well but were moved to different places for each frame to ensure an even distribution. later in photoshop I used the pen tool to vector out the model and created a mask ( Bottom Right) since the hair was really difficult, I chopped it off with the pen tool mask and duplicated the original (1) picture, placed it on top and set the blend mode to either overlay or multiply... whatever one leaves lighter (hair) detail and makes darker areas transparent. Thats how I got the hair edges so finite. A separate mask was also used to get the outside detail from the second image and place it on top of layer 3 so that it appears that My camera has that kind of dynamic range. :) YEah.. I cheated :) other than that, I used the basic retouching like skin smoothing and some toning using curves. whole thing took about an hour and a half.

 

Link to final img

www.flickr.com/photos/40889933@N07/4879681429/in/photostr...

I already spotted Danny in the past but I had let the occasion to photograph her. I couldn't let my chance this time.

I met her in the metro, I waited for her to leave it and follow her until the lift of the station. I asked her about the project and she was suprised that I wanted to photograph her. I explained that her colorful hair and her glasses attracted my attention.

I asked to go with her until the place where she lives with the hope to find an interesting spot where to take the photo.

I asked what she used to do when she was in the work force, assuming she was retired but she still works as a hairdresser (this is not a real surprise...). She explained that she will continue while she isn't tired of doing this job. During the walk, we tried differents backgrounds and she finally found the bush she wanted to be photographed in front of. This was the only one still lit by the sun, all the other ones where in the shadow of buildings.

I took several photos and showed them to her.

She found that her fringe wasn't fine enough and I helped her to arrange it by "mirroring" her with the live view screen. She was satisfied with this last one photo.

 

Danny was really friendly, I like how she looks like, it makes me remind of some Miyazaki's movies!

 

I wanted her email but she is not enough comfortable with computer to retreive her photo. I may took her physical adress, print and send to her the photo since it doesn't cost a lot of money.

 

Thank you danny!

 

This picture is #31 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

The Toronto Plaque website explains the significance of this sculpture, located [i]n front of the parking garage of the building on the east side of Berti Street just north of Richmond Street East", quoting its 2010 Heritage Toronto plaque. Here's what it says:

 

The adjacent York County Coat of Arms and the female figure inside the entrance once adorned the York County Registry Office, formerly located on this site. Commissioned by the County in 1941, the sculptural reliefs were created by Jacobine Jones, a leader in the field of architectural sculpture, who later became the Director of Sculpture at the Ontario College of Art. These sculptures remained with the building when the County left this site in the mid-1960s. Before demolition of the old building in 2008, the sculptures were removed. They were reinstalled on the present building in 2010.

 

"Deeds Speak" was the motto of the 3rd Regiment of York Militia, and has survived the liquidation of old York County to remain the motto of York Regional Police.

 

Wikipedia's article on Jacobine Jones provides a convenient overview of the life of this sculptor, most active in the mid-20th century.

After coming out of prison last summer, Welcome is now a One Man Can Training Assistant. He explains how the project asks questions and encourages men to rethink how they value women and change their lives.

 

“How can I say that I’m gender conscious if I’m still being abusive? How can I say I’m gender conscious if I’m still seeing women as objects rather than our equals? So in order to change, I needed to do this introspection and move myself away from gang activity to understand I could be a loving man and a loving provider, if I just worked on that process.”

 

Background

 

In March 2013 the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women will meet to discuss how to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.

 

This International Women's Day, help demand action by sending a message to global leaders that it's time to put a stop to this worldwide injustice.

 

UK aid is working in 21 countries to address physical and sexual violence against women and girls and will be supporting 10 million women and girls with improved access to security and justice services by 2015.

 

Find out more at www.dfid.gov.uk/violence-against-women-and-girls

 

For more information about the Sonke Gender Justice programme visit genderjustice.org.za/

 

Picture: Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development

 

Terms of use

 

This image is posted under a Creative Commons - Attribution Licence, in accordance with the Open Government Licence. You are free to embed, download or otherwise re-use it, as long as you credit the source as Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development'.

A Mother's love is something

that noone can explain....

Pardoes Promenade 24/06/2020 11h10

Movable matrix information boards once again explain how 'social distancing' works in the waiting areas in Efteling. The signs do not benefit the fairytale atmosphere everywhere, but COVID-19 is therefore far from a fairy tale in 2020.

 

De Efteling

The Efteling is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel in the Netherlands. The attractions are based on elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore.

The park was opened in 1952. It has since evolved from a nature park with a playground and a Fairytale Forest into a full-sized theme park. It now caters to both children and adults with its cultural, romantic, and nostalgic themes, in addition to its wide array of amusement rides.

It is the largest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest theme parks in the world. It is twice as large as the original Disneyland park in California and antedates it by three years. Annually, the park has nearly 5 million visitors. In 2016, it was the third most visited theme park in Europe, behind Disneyland Paris and Europa-Park. Over the years, it has received over 125 million visitors.

 

Location: Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, Netherlands

Opened: 1952

Operating season: Year-round

Visitors per annum: 4.76 million in 2016

Area: 72 ha the park; 276 ha the resort

Rides: Total 35

Roller coasters 6

Water rides 4

[ Source and much more Info: Wikipedia - De Efteling [2019] ]

  

I saw this man walking with a big powerfull dog.

When I approached him I asked about a photo, and than starting immediately

to explain the project. I told him that all over the world people doing Stranger shots etc

He interrupted me and told me“Im not from this world, ok lets start”

That made a smile on my face

I told him to stay at a position and took a few shots.

He was very kind, let me do some close ups and also a few shots from the whole person

+ the dog.

He was very relaxed and I don’t got the feeling that he wanted to finish soon.

That’s very nice.

 

I think he is a realy character. Thank you very much!

 

This picture is #59 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

  

Follow me o Google+

 

plus.google.com/108550045390998168072/posts

Washington, D.C. civil liberties attorney David Rein (right) explains the court martial verdict to defendant Roger Priest’s parents April 27, 1970 at the Washington Navy Yard in a case that stemmed from Priest’s publication of an alternative GI newsletter.

 

From left to right: stepmother Dorothy Priest; father Roger A. Priest, mother Pauline Priest and Rein.

 

Priest received probably the lowest penalty short of not guilty when he was convicted of two minor charges, given reprimand, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge for his newsletter activities.

 

Priest worked in the Navy’s Office of Information at the Pentagon when he published his mimeographed alternative GI newsletter and faced charges of up to six years hard labor, forfeiture of pay and grade and a dishonorable discharge.

 

OM had a print run of 1000 and featured anti-Vietnam War articles and information as well as acting as a “gripe” forum for armed service members.

 

The court martial at the Washington Navy Yard included charges of soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination and making statements disloyal to the United States

 

The Navy charges were all based around the issue of free speech in the military and would become nationally publicized at a time when GIs were increasingly resisting the Vietnam War, including refusal of orders to go to Vietnam and refusal of orders to fight for those who shipped out.

 

Upon appeal, the conviction was reversed and he was granted an honorable discharge.

 

The following excerpts of Roger Priest’s anti-Vietnam War activities and subsequent court martial are from “His crime was speech” by Dale M. Brumfield posted on the Lessons from History site:

 

The Defense Department reported that in 1970, almost 245 underground presses published at least one anti-Vietnam edition on America’s military bases.

 

But it was one fearless sailor working inside the Pentagon, Journalist Seaman Apprentice Roger L. Priest, that pushed hardest against military boundaries and caused the Defense Department the biggest headaches.

 

Roger Priest entered the Navy in October 1967 and was transferred to the Pentagon’s office of Navy Information in January 1968.

 

“I was anti-Vietnam before I got into the service,” Priest told Washington Post writer Nicholas von Hoffman. “I thought I could live this lie … and I’m not even killing, I’m just shuffling papers.”

 

Throughout 1968, Priest became more disgusted with America’s role in Southeast Asia, leading him to create the only underground paper published by someone who actually worked inside the Pentagon. It was published on his own time and with his own funds and was one of the few such papers to use the creator’s real name instead of a pseudonym.

 

“How many more women and children must be burned before the people of the United States realize the horrendous crime they are committing against a peasant people?” he wrote in his paper he called OM — the Servicemen’s Newsletter before later changing it to Om — the Liberation Newsletter.

 

1,000 copies of the first mimeographed issue of OM appeared on April 1, 1969. The next morning, within 90 minutes of arriving at his desk, he was abruptly reassigned to the Navy and Marines Exhibit Center at the Washington Navy Yard. “I don’t care if they send me to the North Pole,” Priest told the Washington Post, “I’ll write my stuff on ice cubes if I have to.”

 

Exercising his First Amendment rights while knowing full well he was placing himself in the U.S. Navy’s crosshairs, Priest published a second edition of OM on May 1, then a third one on June 1, each with a press run of 1,000 copies.

 

Priest also raised the ire of the Navy when he made an antiwar group the beneficiary of his service life insurance and urged other soldiers to do the same. In his case, if he was killed by the Viet Cong in Southeast Asia, the War Resistor’s League would receive his $10,000 payout.

 

OM was unapologetically blunt. “Today’s Pigs are tomorrow’s bacon” stated one headline in issue two that described Joint Chiefs Chairman General Earl Wheeler. OM called Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird “People’s enemy no. 1” and “a practicing prostitute and a pimp.”

 

Other statements appearing in the paper that crossed the Navy included “Our goal is liberation … by any means necessary,” and “Shoot a pig!” A headline in another issue read “Be Free Go Canada,” then listed the addresses of groups in Canada aiding military deserters. The article also explained that “landed immigrant status” was available in Canada to deserters.

 

On June 12, 1969 Priest was interrogated about OM by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Three days later, fourteen official charges were lodged against him, including soliciting fellow soldiers to desert, urging insubordination, making statements disloyal to the United States, using “contemptuous words” against South Carolina Representative L. Mendel Rivers, and worse, not stating in the paper that his statements were his own opinions, and not those of the U.S. Navy.

 

Von Hoffmann wrote on June 25, 1969, that Priest was accused of “everything that’s happened to the Navy except perhaps stealing the [U.S.S.] Pueblo.” Priest also noticed at this time that he was being followed around by civilians in Ford Fairlanes and Plymouth Valiants.

 

“… This whole thing hinges on free speech, freedom of the press,” Priest told von Hoffman. “They’re not talking about my military behavior … they’re talking about what I do on my own free time, outside of the Navy, in my own apartment … in other words my rights as an American citizen.”

 

In July, Priest published a special “Best & Worst” issue of OM in conjunction with a defense fund called LINK, “The Servicemen’s Link to Peace.” On July 21, Priest — holding a sign that read “My crime is speech” — led a demonstration of about 100 people in front of the National Archives building. The next day an article 32 pre-court martial investigation convened at the Naval Air Station in Anacostia.

 

Just over 100 members of the Navy Ceremonial Guard armed with M-1 rifles, live ammo and gas masks stood watch as Navy aviator Commander Norman Mills conducted the proceedings. Priest was represented pro-Bono by Washington Attorney David Rein.

 

“If I can be put away for a number of years in prison for the mere writing of words — an act so basic to the founding of this country that it finds its basis in the First Amendment of the Constitution — then my crime is speech,” Priest said in his opening statement. “But let me tell you this: OM will go on, for others will take up the pen where I leave off.”

 

During this trial, the prosecution admitted that approximately 25 naval intelligence agents were assigned to follow and harass Priest (hence the Fairlanes and Valiants). Furthermore, when a letter found in Priest’s trash was introduced as evidence, ONI special agent Robert Howard testified that the Washington DC department of sanitation provided a truck exclusively for trash pickup at Priest’s apartment building.

 

Attorney Rein said that this activity alone “brought more discredit on the armed services than anything Roger Priest has done.”

 

A furious DC Mayor Walter Washington promised a “full and complete investigation” of the sanitation department when director, William Roeder was quoted as saying “If the police ask us to do this, we cooperate with them.” He later denied making the statement.

 

“City Denies Trash Spying” trumpeted the Washington Post in embarrassing contradiction to the testimony of ONI Agent Howard.

 

Despite the disorganization of the proceedings, Priest was ordered to appear before a general court-martial on charges that he solicited members of the military to desert and commit sedition, and that he published statements “urging insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty by members of the military and naval forces with intent to impair loyalty, morale and discipline.”

 

The combined charges carried a maximum sentence of 39 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

 

During this time Priest kept a low profile at his Navy job, obeying orders and being careful to not break a single regulation. His strategy was to force the Navy to court-martial him only for OM’s contents, which he created on his own time, and not on some extraneous charge that disguised the political nature of his battle.

 

Not to be held down, Priest published “The Court-Martial Edition” of OM in October 1969.

In it, OM bestowed the “Green Weenie” award to the “25+” people “assigned to gather information, interrogate, follow and harass” him.

 

“ONI left no stone unturned or garbage can unmolested, nor did they mind to stoop to entrapment in trying to deny the constitutional rights of free speech and free press to Seaman Roger Priest,” OM declared.

 

By April, Priest had become a hero to other like-minded servicemen across the country. LINK Director Carl Rogers estimated his organization spent over $17,000 in buttons, posters, postage and travel expenses for Priest’s speaking engagements.

 

“No group like ours,” Rogers warned, “can begin to counter the resources and the manpower of the Pentagon … to harass and oppress dissenters.” Rogers also reported, however, that the court-martial had backfired on the Pentagon, resulting in about 10,000 reprints of OM (far more than the original press run of 1,000) and 10,000 “OM” buttons distributed in a little over two months.

 

Priest gained support from the infamous Chicago 7 — Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner

 

Priest also gained an unlikely ally when New York Senator Charles Goodell issued a statement September 5 that said in part, “When Roger Priest enlisted in the Navy, he accepted certain well-defined responsibilities as a soldier. He did not, however, forfeit his constitutional rights as a citizen of the United States.”

 

The court-martial board convicted Priest only on two minor counts of promoting “disloyalty and disaffection among members of the armed forces.” They recommended Priest be reprimanded, reduced to the lowest pay grade and receive a bad conduct discharge, but no jail time.

 

Thrilled with the outcome, Attorney Rein said he would nonetheless appeal the bad conduct discharge.

 

On February 11, 1971, a panel of Navy appeals judges reversed that conviction and awarded Priest an honorable discharge, citing the grounds of reversal on a “technical error” by Judge Raymond Perkins where he failed to explain to the court-martial that disloyalty to the Navy or a superior officer was not the same as disloyalty to the United States.

 

Also, upon review of the case, the reprimand was dropped by Rear Admiral George Koch, commandant of the Washington Naval District.

 

Priest’s case presented a conundrum regarding military dissent: How does a country impress young men into the army to fight a war they ideologically oppose or even outright despise? Are men so profoundly disaffected reliable soldiers?

 

An anonymous columnist proposed a somewhat cynical solution off-record to von Hoffman: “You can’t fight imperialist wars [anymore] with conscript armies. You have to use mercenaries.”

 

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmLuExUi

 

Photo by Ray Lustig. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.

  

OK let me explain, and apologize to Flickr Folks who don't share my love for PLANESPOTTING. I know how crazy this seems. Why all the pictures of the same airline, in this case, FedEx? Well if you look close, you will find a Registration Number that's unique to each airplane. If you type that into Google, you can see that airplane's history, including where it's been flying. I belong to a group Planespotters and they are interested in each individual airplane's history and photographs of it on different days at different airports. So with that, here they are, ENJOY!!!

 

April 17, 2018

Memphis International Airport (MEM), Memphis, Tennessee

Displayed and explained at the Bishop Museum of Science & Nature, Bradenton. My wife has long been an ardent shell collector, with Sanibel Island’s beaches being a good source of material that she has incorporated into art work.

Winter 2012

Sea fables explained /.

London :W. Clowes and sons, ltd.,1883..

biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10985717

Diagram showing the different elements of the Jabulani ball, learn about the technology behind this ball here - www.shine2010.co.za/Community/blogs/goodnews/archive/2009...

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published by Marken & Bielfeld Inc. of Frederick, MD.

 

On the divided back of the card is printed:

 

'The Beautiful Caverns of Luray.

America's greatest scenic attraction,

located at Luray, Page County, in the

famous Valley of Virginia - directly on

the Lee Highway (U.S. 211), ninety

miles west of Washington and fourteen

miles east of New Market, where the

Lee Highway joins the Valley Pike

(U.S. 11).

Descriptive booklet mailed free on

application to Luray Caverns

Corporation, Luray, Va.'

 

Luray Caverns

 

Luray Caverns are just west of Luray, Virginia. The cave system has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878. It is generously adorned with columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and mirrored pools.

 

The caverns are best known for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, where stalactites of various sizes can be tapped to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.

 

Visitors enter the cave via a path that curves downward through the caverns, eventually reaching Dream Lake. The path proceeds to the Wishing Well and a war memorial honouring veterans from Page County.

 

It then ascends to a small passage past the Fried Eggs rock formation and returns to ground level through a smaller passage to the entrance. The entire trek is 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long, and can be completed in 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 

The Discovery of Luray Caverns

 

Luray Caverns were discovered on the 13th. August 1878 by five local men, including Andrew J. Campbell (a local tinsmith), his 13-year-old nephew Quint, and local photographer Benton Stebbins.

 

Their attention had been attracted by a protruding limestone outcrop and by a nearby sinkhole noted to have cool air issuing from it. The men started to dig and, about four hours later, a hole was created for the smallest men (Andrew and Quint) to squeeze through, slide down a rope and explore by candlelight.

 

The first column they saw was named the Washington Column, in honour of the first United States President.

 

Upon entering the area called Skeleton's Gorge, bone fragments (among other artefacts) were found embedded in calcite. Other traces of previous human occupation included pieces of charcoal, flint, and human bone fragments embedded in stalagmite.

 

A skeleton, thought to be that of a Native American girl, was estimated, from the current rate of stalagmitic growth, to be not more than 500 years old.

 

Legal and Financial Issues

 

Sam Buracker owned the land on which the cavern entrance was found. Because of uncollected debts, a court-ordered auction of all his land was held on the 14th. September 1878. Andrew Campbell, William Campbell, and Benton Stebbins purchased the cave tract, but kept their discovery secret until after the sale.

 

Because the true value of the property was not realized until after the purchase, legal wrangling ensued for the next two years with attempts to prove fraud and decide rightful ownership. In April 1881, the court nullified the purchase by the cave discoverers.

 

William T. Biedler (Buracker's major creditor) then sold the property to The Luray Cave and Hotel Company. Under bankruptcy proceedings in 1893, the property was bought by Luray Caverns Company.

 

Early Exploration of the Caverns

 

Despite the legal disputes (or maybe because of them), rumours of the caverns' impressive formations spread quickly. Professor Jerome J. Collins, the Arctic explorer, postponed his departure on an ill-fated North Pole expedition to visit the caverns. The Smithsonian Institution sent a delegation of nine scientists to investigate.

 

Early Publicity

 

The next edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica devoted an unprecedented page and a half to the cave's wonders, and Alexander J. Brand, a correspondent for the New York Times, was the first professional travel writer to visit and popularise the caverns.

 

Early Air Conditioning

 

In 1901, the cool, the pure air of Luray Caverns was forced through the rooms of the Limair Sanatorium, erected on the summit of Cave Hill by Colonel T.C. Northcott, former president of the Luray Caverns Corporation. The Colonel billed the sanatorium as the first air-conditioned home in the United States.

 

On the hottest day in summer, the interior of the house was kept at a cool and comfortable 70 °F (21 °C). By sinking a shaft five feet (1.5 m) in diameter down to a cavern chamber and installing a fan, Northcott's system could change the air throughout the entire house every four minutes.

 

Tests made over successive years by means of culture media and sterile plates were considered to have demonstrated the "perfect bacteriologic purity" of the air, purportedly a benefit to those suffering various respiratory illnesses.

 

This "purity" was explained by a natural filtration process with air drawn into the caverns through myriad rocky crevices, then further cleansing by air floating over the transparent springs and pools, the product finally being supplied to the inmates of the sanatorium.

 

The "Limair" burned down in the early 1900's but was subsequently rebuilt as a brick building. The Luray Caverns Corporation, which was chartered by Northcott, purchased the caverns in February 1905 and continues to hold the property to this day.

 

The temperature inside the caverns is uniformly 54 °F (12 °C), comparable to that of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Luray Caverns remain an active cave where new formation deposits accumulate at the rate of about one cubic inch (16 cm3) every 120 years.

 

Features of the Caverns

 

The cavern is yellow, brown or red because of water, chemicals and minerals. The Empress Column is a stalagmite 35 feet (11 m) high, rose-coloured, and elaborately draped. The Double Column is made of two fluted pillars side by side, one 25 feet (7.6 m) the other 60 feet (18 m) high, a mass of snowy alabaster. Several stalactites in the Giant's Hall exceed 50 feet (15 m) in length. Pluto's Ghost, a pillar, is a ghostly white.

 

The cascades are formations like foaming cataracts caught in mid-air and transformed into milk-white or amber alabaster. Brand's Cascade is 40 feet (12 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and is a wax-like white.

 

The Saracen's Tent is considered to be one of the most well-formed draperies in the world. Flowstone draperies are abundant throughout the cavern and ring like bells when struck heavily by the hand. Their origin and also that of certain so-called scarfs and blankets is from carbonates deposited by water trickling down a sloping and corrugated surface. Sixteen of these alabaster scarfs hang side by side in Hovey's Balcony, three white and fine as crape shawls, thirteen striated like agate with various shades of brown.

 

Streams and true springs are absent, but there are hundreds of basins, varying from 1 to 50 feet (0.30 to 15.24 m) in diameter, and from 6 inches (150 mm) to 15 feet (4.6 m) in depth. The water in them contains carbonate of lime, which often forms concretions, called pearls, eggs, and snowballs, according to their size. On fracture these spherical growths are found to be radiated in structure.

 

Calcite crystals line the sides and bottom of water-filled cavities. Variations of level at different periods are marked by rings, ridges and ruffled margins. These are strongly marked about Broaddus Lake and the curved ramparts of the Castles on the Rhine. Here also are polished stalagmites, a rich buff slashed with white, and others, like huge mushrooms, with a velvety coat of red, purple or olive-tinted crystals.

 

There is a spring of water called Dream Lake that has an almost mirror-like appearance. Stalactites are reflected in the water making them appear to be stalagmites. This illusion is often so convincing that people are unable to see the real bottom. It looks quite deep, as the stalactites are higher above the water, but at its deepest point the water is only around 20 inches (510 mm) deep. The lake is connected to a spring that continues deeper into the caverns.

 

The Wishing Well is a green pond with coins three feet (0.91 m) deep at the bottom. Like Dream Lake, the well also gives an illusion, however it is reversed. The pond looks three to four feet (0.91 to 1.22 m) deep but at its deepest point it is actually six to seven feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) deep.

 

Portions of the caverns are open to the public and have long been electrically lit. The registered number of visitors in 1906 was 18,000, but now, there are 500,000 visitors each year.

Shot back in July of 2016 on an extremely hot day in OKC.

John Lidstone starting to set up the lodge room.

 

This evening I have the pleasure to attempt to explain the Holy Royal Arch, The reason for its being and the arrangement of the Chapter Room. I will try to do this to the best of my ability.

 

First, let me explain that the Supreme Degree of the Holy Royal Arch is the completion of the M.M°. In the M.M°., they inform us that something is lost. Surely then, to the thinking man he must wonder, what is that which is lost. In the Royal Arch that which is lost is found. When the candidate has taken the obligation, a brief history of the R.A., degree, follows which sets the stage for the remainder of the ceremony. Briefly the history is as follows: 400 years after the completion of the Temple by King Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre and Hiram Abiff; the Army of the King of Babylon destroyed this Temple. They took the Jews, except the menial class, into captivity to Babylon. There they were to remain for 70 years.

 

At the end of this period, a Prince of the House of Judah, by the name of Zerrubable, convinced Cyrus, then King of Persia to release the captives. Let them return to Jerusalem, there to rebuild the Temple. King Cyrus, with the Lords help, agrees. The candidates represent men who arrive late, seeking a chance to help rebuild the Temple. They tested them, obligated them and then allowed them to enter the Chapter Room. Here they meet four obstacles. Four veils represent these obstacles, which are coloured, blue, purple, scarlet and white. Each veil has its own Scripture Lesson. The candidates having proven themselves worthy are admitted, and make known their request to help rebuild the Temple.

 

They tell them that due to their lateness, the only job available is clearing away the rubble, for the foundations. They agree and in carrying out their task, they find a cave in which they make an important discovery. This discovery is found later in the ceremony to be that which is lost in the M.M°.

 

The form of the Chapter Room is as you see it here this evening. The Three Principals sit in the EAST. They represent the Copestone of an Arch, i.e., that stone that holds the whole building together. It is to them that the Companions look for light and instruction. You will note six lights, the larger lights placed as an equilateral triangle, the three smaller bisecting the lines of the larger. Thus forming four smaller, but equal, equilateral triangles. These triangles represent the four divisions of Masonry, viz. E.A., F.C., M.M., and Holy Royal Arch.

 

The Twelve banners seen in the Chapter Room, represent the bearings of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, each with their own lessons. The four large banners in the East represent the four divisions of the army of Israel. They consist of a Man, a Lion, and Ox and an Eagle. Christianity adopted these four to represent the four evangelists: The Man shows the humanity of St. Matthew’s Gospel; The Lion the strength and power of St. Mark; the Ox represents the docility and the gentleness of St. Luke; while St. John, whose gospel reaches to greater heights than the others, is aptly represented by the highest flyer of all birds, the Eagle.

 

The V.O.T.S.L., square and compass remind the Companions of their Craft lodge affiliation and the Truth and Justice of God. The sword and trowel remind us of the trials and tribulations suffered by those who rebuilt the Temple. Their enemies were everywhere and they must be prepared to defend themselves always. These tools also remind us to pay due obedience to lawful authority and to resist lawless violence.

 

The sojourners used the pick, shovel and crowbar to clear away the rubble to make a place for the foundations of the Temple. This means to us to clear away the accumulation of ignorance and vice in our own selves. That we may build our own bodily Temple of Morality and Truth. Our ancient brethren considered the triangle on the V.S.L., as a most sacred emblem, it is also the emblem of the Deity.

 

The whole purpose of the Holy Royal Arch is to make its members wiser, happier, and to encourage them to practice the virtues of, Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. Based on the principals brought to us in the V.O.T.S.L..

 

If they ask the question, “Why did the Royal Arch Appear?”, the answer is that a further ceremony, or a separate “Fourth Grade,” was inevitable, and our knowledge of the evolution can best explain this of the three Craft Degrees. If we go back as far as we dare in English Masonic History, to the point where they were evolving the separate grades or degrees. It is almost certain, that the first Masonic ceremony was designed for the Fellow or Fellow-craft, i.e., the fully trained Craftsman.

 

The system of apprenticeship in England makes its first appearance in the 1200s and it is safe to assume that the next degree evolved an admission ceremony for Apprentices. At this stage, and up to the late 1600s, it is certain that the Craft had no more than two admission ceremonies. One Degree for the Apprentice, or Entered Apprentice and the other for the “Fellow Craft, or Master.” Eventually it was inevitable that there would be a demand for a separate ceremony to distinguish the Master from the Fellow Craft. Both were equal in their technical capacity. Nevertheless, the Fellow craft was an employee, and those who were fortunate enough to set up as Masters, would quite naturally have wanted a separate degree to themselves.

 

At this stage all three working grades had separate ceremonies, only one grade remained unrepresented. However, there was still no ceremony for the men who had presided in the lodge. That is for the Masters of the lodges; this ceremony appeared around 1740. This is, of course, an over simplification of the whole story and it represents my own opinions. It is based on historical foundations and the dates mentioned are supported by documentary evidence1.

 

The origins of the R.A. ceremony.

 

If we exclude the minor details, the main body of the Royal Arch Ceremony is based upon two separate stories.

The true Biblical story describing the return from Babylon and the building of the Second Temple.

The ancient legend describing the discovery of a Vault, the Altar and the Sacred Word.

Place of Origin

 

It is impossible to say, with certainty, that the R.A. took its rise in any particular country. It seems possible that the ceremony came to England from Ireland. Several of the earliest references to the R.A. are undoubtedly Irish. When they constituted the first Grand and Royal Chapter of the Royal Arch of Jerusalem (‘Moderns’) in July 1767, The ‘Antients’, who had always counted the ceremony as the ‘root, heart and marrow of Masonry’, had not realized the need for a separate controlling body. Their Grand Chapter minutes begin in 1782, after a series of resolutions in their Grand Lodge in December 1771.

 

Masonry grew by change. It is still changing, right under our very noses. Furthermore, it will continue to change, even after we have all passed on.

 

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. The Aswan Dam was built in Egypt in 1967. It was expected that it would prevent the flooding of the Nile, and produce hydroelectric power. Which it did, but along with the change in the normal flow of the waters came such evils as the loss of the rich silt which for centuries had fertilized the valley. Nutrients were lost with a 97% drop in the local sardine industry. It is estimated that the losses to Egypt due to the Aswan Dam amount to some 550 million dollars per year. Unpredictable results have also happened in Freemasonry. Some adopted changes have proved to be beneficial to the Craft, whereas others have been unexpectedly questionable. The point is that each one of us, one of these days, will be called upon to decide whether to accept or reject some proposed change in our Institution. The decision should be made knowingly, intelligently, and not emotionally. To do so one must be acquainted with the Story of Freemasonry’s evolution, and understand its present structure and mission. It was Confucius who gave the advice “Study the past if you would divine the future. “

 

As an object lesson two innovations in Masonry can be reviewed, one in America, the other in England. Several American Masonic Jurisdictions sent delegates to the 1843 Baltimore Convention. One of the innovations there adopted was that lodge business should be transacted only in a Master Mason’s lodge. The purpose, apparently, was to block impostors. But the result was that Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts were excluded from lodge membership. For instance, Holland Lodge, when under the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, conducted its business in an Entered Apprentice Lodge. Fortunately, some jurisdictions are at this moment attempting to correct that misguided resolution.

 

In England, in the year 1730, there appeared an Exposure called Masonry Dissected, which proved so very popular that many non-Masons bought the six-pence booklet, learned the secrets, and clandestinely conferred degrees for profit. Grand Lodge was very disturbed and reacted by transposing the words of the two Degrees, the purpose being to make it possible to detect impostors. Unfortunately, other results developed. The Grand Lodge, founded only some fifteen years previously, had limited powers. Some lodges in the City of London and the provinces disagreed with the transposition and began, with recent Irish and Scottish immigrants to form irregular lodges which culminated in the creation of a new Grand Lodge of their own, referred to as the Antients.

 

“ This new Grand Lodge, under the leadership of its ambitious and pugnacious Grand Secretary, Bro. Laurence Dermott, introduced ceremonial items that emphasized the gap that was to exist between the two Grand Jurisdictions and give the Antients a supposed superiority over the Premier Grand Lodge The first change was to keep the Words of the First Two Degrees in their original order. Secondly, they adopted a new Substitute Word for the Lost Word of a Master Mason. In the third place, they introduced an esoteric portion called the “Inner Working” into the Installation Ceremony. And finally, the biggest innovation in 18th century Freemasonry was the grafting of the Royal Arch as a fourth degree on to Ancient Craft Masonry.

 

It seems, therefore, that the Premier Grand Lodge’s decision to transpose the words of the first two degrees unwittingly contributed to the start of the rift in the English Craft, which lasted well over half a century. But at the same time it did afford the Antients the opportunity to bring about an almost universal adoption of Royal Arch Masonry.

 

Early references to Royal Arch Masonry are vague, and it is difficult to say when it became a completely separate degree and attained the full development of its present-day ritual and ceremonial. It may be taken as an accepted fact that the Royal Arch ceremony was being worked at York, London and Dublin about the year 1740 in a systematic way. There is a 1744 reference to the Royal Arch as “an organized body of men who have passed the chair.” Later, in 1746, Laurence Dermott was exalted to the Royal Arch in Lodge No. 26, Dublin, Ireland shortly thereafter he emigrated to England. But the really first unchallenged dates of exaltation are 1752 in Ireland, 1753 in America, 1756 in Scotland and 1758 in England. It is of interest to note that the earliest Minutes which definitely re-cords a Royal Arch Exaltation is of “A Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons” in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The historical Minute of December 22, 1753, record that three Brethren were “Raised to the Degree of Royal Arch Mason.” By the way, one month earlier in this same lodge on November 4, 1753, George Washington had been made a Mason.

 

So much for a very sketchy description of the Royal Arch’s evolution and acceptance as a Degree of Masonry. The development and growth of its doctrinal content and ritual is also very hazy. There does not seem to be any evidence to support the statement made by some Masonic scholars that the Royal Arch was originally a part of a Craft Degree. The Master Mason’s Degree does not appear to have been mutilated to provide a separate and additional degree. Some students believe the Royal Arch was compiled in France as one of the many degrees created after the spread of Freemasonry to the Continent of Europe, and then “exported” back into England. However, the prominent Masonic writer, Bernard E. Jones, felt that the arranger, editor or compiler might well have been English. For, it is true, that in the years after the establishment of the 1717 Grand Lodge in London, there were those who found themselves dissatisfied with the simplicity of the teachings of the Craft and embellished it with all kinds of additional ceremonial items and degrees.

 

In that shadowy background from which the Three Degrees of Craft Masonry had emerged, there continued to float around several vague traditions.

 

There were stories of the loss and recovery of vital secrets; of two antediluvian pillars designed to carry and pre-serve the knowledge of Mankind; and in the Graham MS. of 1726 the legend of the loss of knowledge on the (natural) death of Noah. In the 16th and 17th Centuries literature introduced the idea of a Being so dread that His name was not to be mentioned; and in 1726 an advertisement referred to the necessity for a Master to understand well the Rule of Three. It has to be admitted that early references to Royal Arch Masonry are vague, and it is difficult to say when a completely separate and fully developed Degree emerged.

 

Although Royal Arch Masonry gained impetus and definitely established itself as a corollary of the questionable “transposition” decision made by the Premier Grand Lodge in 1730, it is also true that much distress was caused by hasty and uninformed decisions of both the Americans and British. It also seems true that the Royal Arch Degree would have eventually gained recognition and acceptance without the help of a disturbing innovation.

 

In conclusion, a knowledge and an understanding of Freemasonry’s past will help each individual Mason make wise decisions in the future, for the Wisdom of the Ages has already stated that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat the mis-takes of the past. The prophet Hosea (Chapter 4:6) put it this way: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

 

George H. T. French (Texas)

Royal Arch Magazine Winter1984 Vol 14 No 12.

 

It’s that time of the year for each of us to get out into the backyard and begin our preparations of tilling the ground. We must loosen the soil in order to prepare it for growing. We must then plant the seeds in order for anything, other than weeds, to grow and bear fruit. When planting the seeds, we plant them in rows. Thus, it will be easier to cull out the weak and permit the strong to grow and prosper, and the weak to strengthen themselves by our culling.

 

Soil needs to be fertilized for it to keep its strength. There are many ways to fertilize and enrich the soil. A weak plant, in poor soil, can prosper and become the most beautiful flower in the bed and bear the most fruit if it is properly cared for and enriched.

 

Do we not all take pride in these accomplishments of our work and efforts, as much as we enjoy the fruits of our labours?

 

Is it not time for each of us to till that soil in our communities? By our talk and actions, we begin io plant those seeds about the Masonic Fraternity throughout the community. Search out those whom we know to be strong; and those whom we believe will become the strong. If we do not till and sow the Masonic story in the community, then we will never know who can and will be the strength and pillars of our Fraternity in the future.

 

The young men in today’s society are looking for something in which to believe. We have that something for them. But we must make them aware of that something. Sow before them the seeds of Masonry. Then add a little fertilizer each and every day. Don’t drown them with facts or over-fertilize them with figures, but nourish them as you would your favourite rose. Let them know that they must ASK.

 

If you plant the seeds in fertile ground and give the proper amounts of water and fertilizer, you might be pleasantly surprised at the strong and beautiful plant that you could “raise.’

 

Quietly let them know that Masonry is not a “Secret Society,” nor is it a “Religious Club”; but till the soil by letting them know that we are a Fraternity built upon moral lessons taken from the Bible which we teach through allegory or plays.

 

Answer all of their questions, honestly. And if you do not know the answer to a particular question, tell them so, but that you will seek out the answer for them from some Brother more knowledgeable than yourself. By all means let them know you are a Mason and proud of it.

 

It is not time for each of us to break the hold, that the long habits of folly have held us in its grip, and till the soil by speaking freely about the Fraternity? Nurture and enrich the soil by not hiding your pride in being a Mason.

 

Sow the work add a little sprinkling of facts and carefully add your fertilizer of knowledge. Watch with pride, as the Fraternity Grows and Prospers for the Beautification of the World, Our Community.

 

Paul C. Howell, Grand High Priest of Michigan

   

May 20, 2015 - Save A Spot Representatives explain how to make a vehicle reservation to and from the San Juan Islands. For more information on the Save A Spot Program, visit: www.TakeAFerry.com.

NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, left, and Joe Acaba, center, listen as Sergeant Craig Hudson explains the tradition of the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Friday, June 15, 2018 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

how long "Little Guy" was when he was rescued in 1997 and really was a "little guy" only about 10 inches long. "Little Guy" is a Great Basin rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus lutosus). Photo of Frank and "Little Guy" at Boise State University Reptile and Amphibian Workshop September 17 - 18, 2016 by Scott..

 

Something about cake and eating it right ?

A screen grab of a Dec 1957 episode of The Phil Silvers Show that I watched on You Tube. Note the decorative keystone over the fireplace. I have enjoyed watching this old series although his morals do not represent Masonic values.

 

Dick Cavett interviews Phil Silvers in Hollywood in 1981: youtu.be/eg5_zgHtXVc

  

Square and Compasses - This symbolic stone was removed from above the entrance to the Lambton Mills Masonic Temple erected by Mimico Lodge on the north side of Dundas Street in 1882.

 

Masonic Square and Compasses.

 

The Square and Compasses (or, more correctly, a square and a set of compasses joined together) is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry. Both the square and compasses are architect's tools and are used in Masonic ritual as emblems to teach symbolic lessons. Some Lodges and rituals explain these symbols as lessons in conduct: for example, Duncan's Masonic Monitor of 1866 explains them as: "The square, to square our actions; The compasses, to circumscribe and keep us within bounds with all mankind".

 

However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these symbols (or any Masonic symbol) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.

 

Square and Compasses:

 

Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

 

These two symbols have been so long and so universally combined — to teach us, as says an early instruction, "to square our actions and to keep them within due bounds," they are so seldom seen apart, but are so kept together, either as two Great Lights, or as a jewel worn once by the Master of the Lodge, now by the Past Master—that they have come at last to be recognized as the proper badge of a Master Mason, just as the Triple Tau is of a Royal Arch Mason or the Passion Cross of a Knight Templar.

 

So universally has this symbol been recognized, even by the profane world, as the peculiar characteristic of Freemasonry, that it has recently been made in the United States the subject of a legal decision. A manufacturer of flour having made, in 1873, an application to the Patent Office for permission to adopt the Square and Compasses as a trade-mark, the Commissioner of Patents, .J. M. Thatcher, refused the permission as the mark was a Masonic symbol.

 

If this emblem were something other than precisely what it is—either less known", less significant, or fully and universally understood—all this might readily be admitted. But, Considering its peculiar character and relation to the public, an anomalous question is presented. There can be no doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic significance, universally recognized as existing; whether comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue. In view of the magnitude and extent of the Masonic organization, it is impossible to divest its symbols, or at least this particular symbol—perhaps the best known of all—of its ordinary signification, wherever displaced, either as an arbitrary character or otherwise.

 

It will be universally understood, or misunderstood, as having a Masonic significance; and, therefore, as a trade-mark, must constantly work deception. Nothing could be more mischievous than to create as a monopoly, and uphold by the poser of lacy anything so calculated. as applied to purposes of trade. to be misinterpreted, to mislead all classes, and to constantly foster suggestions of mystery in affairs of business (see Infringing upon Freemasonry, also Imitative Societies, and Clandestine).

In a religious work by John Davies, entitled Summa Totalis, or All in All and the Same Forever, printed in 1607, we find an allusion to the Square and Compasses by a profane in a really Masonic sense. The author, who proposes to describe mystically the form of the Deity, says in his dedication:

Yet I this forme of formelesse Deity,

Drewe by the Squire and Compasse of our Creed.

In Masonic symbolism the Square and Compasses refer to the Freemason's duty to the Craft and to himself; hence it is properly a symbol of brotherhood, and there significantly adopted as the badge or token of the Fraternity.

Berage, in his work on the higher Degrees, Les plus secrets Mystéres des Hauts Grades, or The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Grades, gives a new interpretation to the symbol. He says: "The Square and the Compasses represent the union of the Old and New Testaments. None of the high Degrees recognize this interpretation, although their symbolism of the two implements differs somewhat from that of Symbolic Freemasonry.

 

The Square is with them peculiarly appropriated to the lower Degrees, as founded on the Operative Art; while the Compasses, as an implement of higher character and uses, is attributed to the Decrees, which claim to have a more elevated and philosophical foundation. Thus they speak of the initiate, when he passes from the Blue Lodge to the Lodge of Perfection, as 'passing from the Square to the Compasses,' to indicate a progressive elevation in his studies. Yet even in the high Degrees, the square and compasses combined retain their primitive signification as a symbol of brotherhood and as a badge of the Order."

 

Square and Compass:

 

Source: The Builder October 1916

By Bro. B. C. Ward, Iowa

 

Worshipful Master and Brethren: Let us behold the glorious beauty that lies hidden beneath the symbolism of the Square and Compass; and first as to the Square. Geometry, the first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry has been erected. As you know, the word "Geometry" is derived from two Greek words which mean "to measure the earth," so that Geometry originated in measurement; and in those early days, when land first began to be measured, the Square, being a right angle, was the instrument used, so that in time the Square began to symbolize the Earth. And later it began to symbolize, Masonically, the earthly-in man, that is man's lower nature, and still later it began to symbolize man's duty in his earthly relations, or his moral obligations to his Fellowmen. The symbolism of the Square is as ancient as the Pyramids. The Egyptians used it in building the Pyramids. The base of every pyramid is a perfect square, and to the Egyptians the Square was their highest and most sacred emblem. Even the Chinese many, many centuries ago used the Square to represent Good, and Confucius in his writings speaks of the Square to represent a Just man.

 

As Masons we have adopted the 47th Problem of Euclid as the rule by which to determine or prove a perfect Square. Many of us remember with what interest we solved that problem in our school days. The Square has become our most significant Emblem. It rests upon the open Bible on this altar; it is one of the three great Lights; and it is the chief ornament of the Worshipful Master. There is a good reason why this distinction has been conferred upon the Square. There can be nothing truer than a perfect Square--a right angle. Hence the Square has become an emblem of Perfection.

 

Now a few words as to the Compass: Astronomy was the second great science promulgated among men. In the process of Man's evolution there came a time when he began to look up to the stars and wonder at the vaulted Heavens above him. When he began to study the stars, he found that the Square was not adapted to the measurement of the Heavens. He must have circular measure; he needed to draw a circle from a central point, and so the Compass was employed. By the use of the Compass man began to study the starry Heavens, and as the Square primarily symbolized the Earth, the Compass began to symbolize the Heavens, the celestial canopy, the study of which has led men to think of God, and adore Him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe. In later times the Compass began to symbolize the spiritual or higher nature of man, and it is a significant fact that the circumference of a circle, which is a line without end, has become an emblem of Eternity and symbolizes Divinity; so the Compass, and the circle drawn by the Compass, both point men Heavenward and Godward.

 

The Masonic teaching concerning the two points of the Compass is very interesting and instructive. The novitiate in Masonry, as he kneels at this altar, and asks for Light sees the Square, which symbolizes his lower nature, he may well note the position of the Compass. As he takes another step, and asks for more Light, the position of the Compass is changed somewhat, symbolizing that his spiritual nature can, in some measure, overcome his evil tendencies. As he takes another step in Masonry, and asks for further Light, and hears the significant words, "and God said let there be Light, and there was Light," he sees the Compass in new light; and for the first time he sees the meaning, thus unmistakably alluding to the sacred and eternal truth that as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so the spiritual is higher than the material, and the spiritual in man must have its proper place, and should be above his lower nature, and dominate all his thoughts and actions. That eminent Philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, "It is ordained that men of intemperate passions cannot be free. Their passions forge the chains which bind them, and make them slaves." Burke was right. Masonry, through the beautiful symbolism of the Compass, tells us how we can be free men, by permitting the spiritual within us to overcome our evil tendencies, and dominate all our thoughts and actions. Brethren, sometimes in the silent quiet hour, as we think of this conflict between our lower and higher natures, we sometimes say in the words of another, "Show me the way and let me bravely climb to where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease. Show me that way. Show me the way up to a higher plane where my body shall be servant of my Soul. Show me that way."

Brethren, if that prayer expresses desire of our hearts, let us take heed to the beautiful teachings of the Compass, which silently and persistently tells each one of us,

 

"You should not in the valley stay

While the great horizons stretch away

The very cliffs that wall you round

Are ladders up to higher ground.

And Heaven draws near as you ascend,

The Breeze invites, the Stars befriend.

All things are beckoning to the Best,

Then climb toward God and find sweet Rest.”

 

The secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with its traditional modes of recognition. It is not a secret society, since all members are free to acknowledge their membership and will do so in response to enquiries for respectable reasons. Its constitutions and rules are available to the public. There is no secret about any of its aims and principles. Like many other societies, it regards some of its internal affairs as private matters for its members. In history there have been times and places where promoting equality, freedom of thought or liberty of conscience was dangerous. Most importantly though is a question of perspective. Each aspect of the craft has a meaning. Freemasonry has been described as a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. Such characteristics as virtue, honour and mercy, such virtues as temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice are empty clichés and hollow words unless presented within an ordered and closed framework. The lessons are not secret but the presentation is kept private to promote a clearer understanding in good time. It is also possible to view Masonic secrecy not as secrecy in and of itself, but rather as a symbol of privacy and discretion. By not revealing Masonic secrets, or acknowledging the many published exposures, freemasons demonstrate that they are men of discretion, worthy of confidences, and that they place a high value on their word and bond.

 

Masonic Square and Compasses.

 

The Square and Compasses (or, more correctly, a square and a set of compasses joined together) is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry. Both the square and compasses are architect's tools and are used in Masonic ritual as emblems to teach symbolic lessons. Some Lodges and rituals explain these symbols as lessons in conduct: for example, Duncan's Masonic Monitor of 1866 explains them as: "The square, to square our actions; The compasses, to circumscribe and keep us within bounds with all mankind".

 

However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these symbols (or any Masonic symbol) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.

 

Square and Compasses:

 

Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

 

These two symbols have been so long and so universally combined — to teach us, as says an early instruction, "to square our actions and to keep them within due bounds," they are so seldom seen apart, but are so kept together, either as two Great Lights, or as a jewel worn once by the Master of the Lodge, now by the Past Master—that they have come at last to be recognized as the proper badge of a Master Mason, just as the Triple Tau is of a Royal Arch Mason or the Passion Cross of a Knight Templar.

 

So universally has this symbol been recognized, even by the profane world, as the peculiar characteristic of Freemasonry, that it has recently been made in the United States the subject of a legal decision. A manufacturer of flour having made, in 1873, an application to the Patent Office for permission to adopt the Square and Compasses as a trade-mark, the Commissioner of Patents, .J. M. Thatcher, refused the permission as the mark was a Masonic symbol.

 

If this emblem were something other than precisely what it is—either less known", less significant, or fully and universally understood—all this might readily be admitted. But, Considering its peculiar character and relation to the public, an anomalous question is presented. There can be no doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic significance, universally recognized as existing; whether comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue. In view of the magnitude and extent of the Masonic organization, it is impossible to divest its symbols, or at least this particular symbol—perhaps the best known of all—of its ordinary signification, wherever displaced, either as an arbitrary character or otherwise.

 

It will be universally understood, or misunderstood, as having a Masonic significance; and, therefore, as a trade-mark, must constantly work deception. Nothing could be more mischievous than to create as a monopoly, and uphold by the poser of lacy anything so calculated. as applied to purposes of trade. to be misinterpreted, to mislead all classes, and to constantly foster suggestions of mystery in affairs of business (see Infringing upon Freemasonry, also Imitative Societies, and Clandestine).

In a religious work by John Davies, entitled Summa Totalis, or All in All and the Same Forever, printed in 1607, we find an allusion to the Square and Compasses by a profane in a really Masonic sense. The author, who proposes to describe mystically the form of the Deity, says in his dedication:

Yet I this forme of formelesse Deity,

Drewe by the Squire and Compasse of our Creed.

In Masonic symbolism the Square and Compasses refer to the Freemason's duty to the Craft and to himself; hence it is properly a symbol of brotherhood, and there significantly adopted as the badge or token of the Fraternity.

Berage, in his work on the higher Degrees, Les plus secrets Mystéres des Hauts Grades, or The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Grades, gives a new interpretation to the symbol. He says: "The Square and the Compasses represent the union of the Old and New Testaments. None of the high Degrees recognize this interpretation, although their symbolism of the two implements differs somewhat from that of Symbolic Freemasonry.

 

The Square is with them peculiarly appropriated to the lower Degrees, as founded on the Operative Art; while the Compasses, as an implement of higher character and uses, is attributed to the Decrees, which claim to have a more elevated and philosophical foundation. Thus they speak of the initiate, when he passes from the Blue Lodge to the Lodge of Perfection, as 'passing from the Square to the Compasses,' to indicate a progressive elevation in his studies. Yet even in the high Degrees, the square and compasses combined retain their primitive signification as a symbol of brotherhood and as a badge of the Order."

 

Square and Compass:

 

Source: The Builder October 1916

By Bro. B. C. Ward, Iowa

 

Worshipful Master and Brethren: Let us behold the glorious beauty that lies hidden beneath the symbolism of the Square and Compass; and first as to the Square. Geometry, the first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry has been erected. As you know, the word "Geometry" is derived from two Greek words which mean "to measure the earth," so that Geometry originated in measurement; and in those early days, when land first began to be measured, the Square, being a right angle, was the instrument used, so that in time the Square began to symbolize the Earth. And later it began to symbolize, Masonically, the earthly-in man, that is man's lower nature, and still later it began to symbolize man's duty in his earthly relations, or his moral obligations to his Fellowmen. The symbolism of the Square is as ancient as the Pyramids. The Egyptians used it in building the Pyramids. The base of every pyramid is a perfect square, and to the Egyptians the Square was their highest and most sacred emblem. Even the Chinese many, many centuries ago used the Square to represent Good, and Confucius in his writings speaks of the Square to represent a Just man.

 

As Masons we have adopted the 47th Problem of Euclid as the rule by which to determine or prove a perfect Square. Many of us remember with what interest we solved that problem in our school days. The Square has become our most significant Emblem. It rests upon the open Bible on this altar; it is one of the three great Lights; and it is the chief ornament of the Worshipful Master. There is a good reason why this distinction has been conferred upon the Square. There can be nothing truer than a perfect Square--a right angle. Hence the Square has become an emblem of Perfection.

 

Now a few words as to the Compass: Astronomy was the second great science promulgated among men. In the process of Man's evolution there came a time when he began to look up to the stars and wonder at the vaulted Heavens above him. When he began to study the stars, he found that the Square was not adapted to the measurement of the Heavens. He must have circular measure; he needed to draw a circle from a central point, and so the Compass was employed. By the use of the Compass man began to study the starry Heavens, and as the Square primarily symbolized the Earth, the Compass began to symbolize the Heavens, the celestial canopy, the study of which has led men to think of God, and adore Him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe. In later times the Compass began to symbolize the spiritual or higher nature of man, and it is a significant fact that the circumference of a circle, which is a line without end, has become an emblem of Eternity and symbolizes Divinity; so the Compass, and the circle drawn by the Compass, both point men Heavenward and Godward.

 

The Masonic teaching concerning the two points of the Compass is very interesting and instructive. The novitiate in Masonry, as he kneels at this altar, and asks for Light sees the Square, which symbolizes his lower nature, he may well note the position of the Compass. As he takes another step, and asks for more Light, the position of the Compass is changed somewhat, symbolizing that his spiritual nature can, in some measure, overcome his evil tendencies. As he takes another step in Masonry, and asks for further Light, and hears the significant words, "and God said let there be Light, and there was Light," he sees the Compass in new light; and for the first time he sees the meaning, thus unmistakably alluding to the sacred and eternal truth that as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so the spiritual is higher than the material, and the spiritual in man must have its proper place, and should be above his lower nature, and dominate all his thoughts and actions. That eminent Philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, "It is ordained that men of intemperate passions cannot be free. Their passions forge the chains which bind them, and make them slaves." Burke was right. Masonry, through the beautiful symbolism of the Compass, tells us how we can be free men, by permitting the spiritual within us to overcome our evil tendencies, and dominate all our thoughts and actions. Brethren, sometimes in the silent quiet hour, as we think of this conflict between our lower and higher natures, we sometimes say in the words of another, "Show me the way and let me bravely climb to where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease. Show me that way. Show me the way up to a higher plane where my body shall be servant of my Soul. Show me that way."

Brethren, if that prayer expresses desire of our hearts, let us take heed to the beautiful teachings of the Compass, which silently and persistently tells each one of us,

 

"You should not in the valley stay

While the great horizons stretch away

The very cliffs that wall you round

Are ladders up to higher ground.

And Heaven draws near as you ascend,

The Breeze invites, the Stars befriend.

All things are beckoning to the Best,

Then climb toward God and find sweet Rest."

"Soil 2001"

- organic soil

 

Original Narisawa creation and one of the most unexpected, overwhelming and breathtaking bites ever: organic soil from Nagano prefecture. This was not an infusion of soil, mind you - it was, quite literally, suspension of soil. According to www.japantimes.co.jp this dish is made with burdock (gobo) root and is, essentially, a soup. There is also a video interview with Master Narisawa where he explains his food philosophy and faith and briefly touches on the technique involved into making this magnificent dish.

 

In case you are wondering, the texture of this bite was incredibly smooth. Delicate, mineral and earthy taste stimulated imagination more than perception - that is one of the underlying principles of the Japanese art and philosophy.

 

Dr Stuart Clark performing at the Universe Explained at Gorilla, Manchester, on Saturday 20th July 2013

A Fruitland farmer explains a watering method he is using for the first time on a crop of onion seed that he is soon to plant. Because the soil in which onion seed is planted must never dry out, he has has burried a drip line just underneath the soil. This method will keep the soil constantly wet w ith a minimal amount of water. Fruitland, Idaho

 

7/20/2012 Photo by Kirsten Strough

maybe someone can explain to me why this street is called Barefoot Lane. It leads to the market square and the clock tower.

 

So in reality it is Discalced Lane, or rue des Déchaussés, after the religious order. Thank you Martin.