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www.racked.com/2017/3/14/14782948/gray-clothes-anxiety
“In his short book Black: The Brilliance of a Non-Color, the French philosopher Alain Badiou describes the two absolutes on either side of gray as “the fatal couple of black and white,” suggesting both the colors’ finitude and their closedness. We know what black and white mean, or think we do. In Western fashion, the pair is associated with formality and fraught social circumstance: the baptismal gown, the business suit, the wedding dress, lingerie. “Black is the sign of the offering of an object,” in this case, the body, Badiou writes. Perhaps gray, then, is the color not of being objectified, but of becoming like an object, a stone statue: obstinate and immune.” ―Kyle Chayka
An NIH-funded mouse study suggests that a high-salt diet may impair the brain. A high-salt diet in mice can increase the number of immune cells releasing IL17 (green), which can negatively affect blood flow in the brain.
More information: www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/hold-salt-gut-react...
Credit: Iadecola Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC
NIH funding from: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
I learned that youth doesn't make you immune to cancer as a kid when my best friend died from cancer. Years later as a teenager I started getting sick every morning and going to school late every day. I would tell the school I was sick and they would tell me you can't be sick everyday, as if it was an excuse or lie for being late. One teacher told me I would never amount to any thing simply for being late and in her mind probably lying. My doctor would tell me it was normal for teenagers not to be able to eat, to be nauseous around food, have hunger pains and losing weight. Got to the point where I felt like I was going to die and only then would people take me seriously. You really can be sick every day, be young and get cancer. The only reason I was eventually diagnosed with cancer was because my doctor wasn't in one day and I needed to see someone else, shows the importance of getting second opinions and finding doctors that listen. Now I want to use this experience for something good, and try and publish a book of these images to raise money for cancer charity and created a group of light painters who want to help, check out these amazing light painters.
If your interested in light painting check out this new light painting group Shining Light on Cancer. Thanks.
Immunofluorescent image of immune cells surrounding a skin wound, enriched in the beneficial bacteria S. epidermidis.
Beneficial bacteria on mice skin work with the animals’ immune systems to defend against disease-causing microbes and accelerate wound healing, according to new research from NIH scientists, published in January 2018. These insights may inform wound management techniques.
More info: www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-scientists-find...
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH
via Playground Markings UK bit.ly/1Zkqlr5
"FDA approves Promacta to treat pediatric patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura"
Well what a great night over in Coventry at the premier of Immune.
Staged at the Ego Arts Venue for two nights only, and place on the VIP list rubbing shoulders with the film makers and actors was great fun. As a lover of anything film it would have been a great chance to pop off some shots but I was there to chill out and enjoy the atmosphere of the occasion, But than again.
So not wanting to take over the show with the big 5D III, I opted for my little buddy the M3 with the Canon 580EXII on top of the camera bouncing the flash of the ceiling it worked well.
I love it when people just want to have there picture taken so a big thank you to everybody who participated in doing so.
I was not there to take the photos and wished I had done more, its never easy to put the camera down once I've picked it up.
Created for new Jon Hopkins video in collaboration with Craig Ward thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/microscopic-images-of-fo...
If all pills were gummies I'd love it! With Covid-19 amongst us it is good to keep your immune system healthy and in tip-top condition. It doesn't hurt to keep that inflammation in check too! These are my favourite brand of Gummies! They don't use gluten or sugar in these which is great! They are also Organic so I know it is healthy.
The first humans emerged on Earth about 4 million years ago, but convincing new evidence from studying human evolution has revealed that a small group of these hominines have been genetically modified by former foreign visitors to create the first Homo sapiens.
Daniella Fenton, researcher and author, studied in depth the oldest origins of humanity and its sudden acceleration in brain development nearly 800,000 years ago, this investigation led to a massive revelation.
Homo sapiens are the creation of ancient astronauts who arrived by wormhole from the young cluster of Pleiades stars 780,000 years ago.
The Australian researcher, who specializes in equine lines and gene expression, has discovered many genetic changes that characterize humans as abnormal when compared to modern primate species, some of which are so extreme that they are better explained by advanced genetic engineering.
WhatIn her book Hybrid Humans: Scientific Evidence of Our 800,000-Year Old Alien Legacy, Daniella Fenton highlights a series of profound changes in genes associated with brain size, neural structures and information processing. These changes include genes that suddenly appear formed from what is called "junk DNA" and gene fragments that have been cut, copied and reinserted.
Fenton indicates the mysterious fusion of Chromosome-2 along with these other changes, about 780,000 years ago, as further evidence of extraterrestrial experimentation. This fusion is found in all human types with large brains, including Neanderthals and Denisovians, but not in other primate species.
She explained that the fusion of chromosome-2 should have been the result of a point error that should have disappeared in subsequent generations or perhaps led to a small population of people with 46 chromosomes among a larger number of people carrying 48 chromosomes. Instead, all humans after 780,000 years ago presented this'mutation'. This strongly implies that there was a huge benefit associated with the merger and that it suddenly appeared in a considerable number of individuals, allowing chromosome-2 to become a permanent and dominant trait. This does not correspond to known natural mutations in the human genome.
Fenton explains, "Someone created a whole generation of breeding pairs that fused chromosome-2. The chromosomal modification is such that it has impacts on brain development, the immune system and reproductive processes.
Humans also carry unique changes in the FOXP2 gene that has changed synaptic connectivity and improved our ability to transform new experiences into routine procedures, which has had a huge influence on our ability to produce meaningful speech. Fenton points out that this change is not seen in other primates and it seems that our creators wanted us to be able to quickly form new habitual behaviours.
Fenton says: "It is not only the genetic changes 780,000 years ago that inform us that Homo sapiens is a species created by extraterrestrials, we have also identified physical materials left by these star beings, materials dated at this same particular time in time".
Fenton offers a detailed explanation of why these visitors got stuck here and why they changed the first hominids in his book.
DNA Was Likely Seeded on Earth
Ancient Mythology Describes Wormholes
ET Past Lives Can Provide Objective Data
Shamans Encounter Aliens in Their Altered States
The wreckage of an ET Craft is Revealed
ET Deliberately Bombarded Prehistoric Earth
Earth was not Always in Human Hands
Clear DNA Evidence of Genetic Engineering
“Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. What if it were true? And if so, what if there were clues left behind?”
Thousands of people around the planet claim to have received information from extraterrestrial beings, some of these people even remember living previous lives as non-humans, referring to themselves as – Starseeds.
What if the information these people carry could lead to physical evidence of ancient alien visitation, or identify specific genes implanted into early human ancestors?
Could it be that the star people have already supplied humanity with everything needed to gain full disclosure of the alien presence?
This book offers the definitive answers to these questions and having examined specific claims made by some of these contactees and Starseeds. What we uncovered by following their clues is nothing short of world-changing, paradigm-busting and ushers in a new era on our planet.
We can now reveal to you the specific genetic changes that were carried out to create Homo sapiens 780,000 years ago, including genes that appeared suddenly from ‘junk DNA’ as well as the sudden fusion of chromosome-2. Most spectacular of all your will see photographs of debris from the extraterrestrial mothership that carried the engineers to our planet 780,000 years ago (images are accessed via embedded hyperlinks in the Kindle version).
Contact has occurred, the disclosure is here. Welcome to the bold new future of Earth.
Bruce and Daniella Fenton join us for a fantastic chat about Daniella’s new book, Hybrid Humans – Scientific Evidence of our 800,000-year-old Alien Legacy.
We chat about all the strange coincidences that happened around 800,000 years ago, from the planetary changes, changes in our DNA, crash sites of tektites, and metaphysical/spiritual inner and outer stories of an ET war of sorts. Maybe our deep history is even stranger than we think. We also chat about some of Bruce’s work that led to this research, climate cycles, sunken lands, shamanism, reincarnation, what is shared between neanderthal’s and Denisovans’s, contact through alternate timelines, moldavite and artifacts and much more.
Ancient astronauts travelled through a "wormhole" in the Pleiades star cluster but couldn't survive on Earth, it's claimed.
Extraterrestrials decided instead to "alter the genetic make up" of early human ancestors so they became more intelligent.
The proof is in the fusion of Chromosome-2 around 780,000 years ago based on the book Hybrid Humans written by Daniella Fenton.
Chromosone-2 is found in all large-brained humans, including Neanderthals and Denisovans, but no other primate species.
"The three species went on to become advanced humans with art, culture and increasingly complex technologies," said Mrs Fenton.
"The fusions site in on an active gene which expresses itself in brain structure, immunity and reproductive functions - important systems for upgrading to a new human species.
"Instead of a small number of humans having the fusion and a large group not having it, instead there was a rapid total replacement with all humans on Earth having 46 rather than 48 chromosomes, this tells us it gave enormous benefits to become so dominant.
"Approximately 800,000 years ago human brain size went into a sudden rapid increase in size and complexity which has long been a mystery to archaeologists."
She went on: "This was not the only change at this time and two very extraordinary changes are the sudden appearance of miR-941, which played a crucial role in human brain development.
"The gene is highly active in controlling decision-making and enabling language abilities and appeared suddenly formed out of junk DNA."
What Mrs Fenton claims are the "signature of aliens" is dramatic changes to a neocortex gene called ARHGAP11B – associated with sight and hearing in mammals.
The official explanation for Chromosome-2, the second largest in humans, does not involve aliens.
Researcher JW IJdo concluded Chromosome-2 "marks the point at which two ancestral ape chromosomes fused to give rise to human Chromosome-2."
“Approximately 800,000 years ago human brain size went into a sudden rapid increase in size and complexity which has long been a mystery to archaeologists.”
Daniella Fenton
The Australian author, who studied equine genetic and is a spirtualist and certified shaman, claims to have physical evidence to support the ancient alien theory.
Her husband Bruce is also a writer who worked on the research.
They researched a book called Alcheringa which promotes the theory an alien spaceship exploded in our atmosphere hundreds of thousands of years ago and the survivors, who couldn't survive without the mother ship, engineered Homo sapiens.
Mrs Fenton claims the melted wreckage of the crashed craft explains the mysterious Australites tektite buttons, unexplained dark glass objects thought to be ejected in meteorite impacts.
She claimed that geologists have dated the remains of a 1km sized melted object to around 780,000 years ago.
She added: "According to a NASA study the resulting liquid glass (containing around 80% silica from melted quartz crystal) formed spheres in space which then instantly froze and began to fall into our atmosphere.
"As they entered they heated and melted to form unique button shapes before landing right across Australasia.
"These Australite tektite buttons are unique in the 4.5 billion year history of our planet and remain a total mystery to science because they can’t understand how they formed."
The Hybrid Human theory also believes the alien astronauts arrived from the Pleiades star cluster, thought to contain several thousand stars.It is among the nearest star cluster to Earth and the one which is most visible to the naked eye.
It is believed one planet could exist around the star HD 23514 due to the exceptional number of hot dust particles surrounding it.
Mrs Fenton points to how Pleiades has been referenced repeatedly by various cultures.
She said: "All around the world ancient cultures talk about ancestral beings from the Pleiades and portals that connect those stars with this planet, this includes mythology in Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, American Indians, ancient Egypt, Sumeria and Aboriginal Australia."Amazing cave paintings by Apache Indians which date back thousands of years appear to show aliens and UFOs.
Wilfred Buck, a science educator of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba, Canada, said that Pleiades is our planet's connection to the cosmos.
"We originate from the stars, we are star people," Buck said.
"Once we finish doing what we come here to do, we go back up to those stars."
Another hugely controversial conspiracy theory, by a Dr Ellis Silver, has resurfaced online claiming the human race originated on another planet.
www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/699147/Human-alien-hy...
• In her new book, Hybrid Humans: Scientific Evidence of Our 800,000-Year-Old Alien Legacy, Australian researcher Daniella Fenton suggests that the fusion of Chromosome-2 into human DNA around 780,000 years ago, thus altering the genetic make-up of early humans to make them more intelligent, was an ‘upgrade’ to the human species by extraterrestrials.
• “Approximately 800,000 years ago human brain size went into a sudden rapid increase in size and complexity which has long been a mystery to archaeologists,” said Fenton. “The gene is highly active in controlling decision-making and enabling language abilities. [It] suddenly formed out of junk DNA.” The Chromosone-2 upgrade is only found in large-brained humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, and no other primate species. “The three species went on to become advanced humans with art, culture and increasingly complex technologies,” noted Fenton.
• Mrs Fenton and her husband, Bruce Fenton, previously co-authored a book entitled Alcheringa which promotes the theory an alien spaceship from the Pleiades star cluster exploded in our atmosphere hundreds of thousands of years ago. The survivors, who couldn’t survive without the mother ship, engineered Homo sapiens. In the book they claim that the melted wreckage of the crashed craft explains the mysterious Australites tektite buttons, small dark glass objects found across Australia and Asia that geologists have dated to around 780,000 years ago. Says Mrs Fenton, “According to a NASA study, the resulting liquid glass (containing around 80% silica from melted quartz crystal) formed spheres in space which then instantly froze and began to fall into our atmosphere… As they entered they heated and melted to form unique button shapes before landing right across Australasia.”
Ancient astronauts travelled through a “wormhole” in the Pleiades star cluster but couldn’t survive on Earth, it’s claimed.
Extraterrestrials decided instead to “alter the genetic make up” of early human ancestors so they became more intelligent.
The proof is in the fusion of Chromosome-2 around 780,000 years ago based on the book Hybrid Humans written by Daniella Fenton.
Chromosone-2 is found in all large-brained humans, including Neanderthals and Denisovans, but no other primate species.
“The three species went on to become advanced humans with art, culture and increasingly complex technologies,” said Mrs Fenton.
“The fusions site in on an active gene which expresses itself in brain structure, immunity and reproductive functions – important systems for upgrading to a new human species.
“Instead of a small number of humans having the fusion and a large group not having it, instead there was a rapid total replacement with all humans on Earth having 46 rather than 48 chromosomes, this tells us it gave enormous benefits to become so dominant.
“Approximately 800,000 years ago human brain size went into a sudden rapid increase in size and complexity which has long been a mystery to archaeologists.”
She went on: “This was not the only change at this time and two very extraordinary changes are the sudden appearance of miR-941, which played a crucial role in human brain development.
“The gene is highly active in controlling decision-making and enabling language abilities and appeared suddenly formed out of junk DNA.”
What Mrs Fenton claims are the “signature of aliens” is dramatic changes to a neocortex gene called ARHGAP11B – associated with sight and hearing in mammals.
The official explanation for Chromosome-2, the second largest in humans, does not involve aliens.
Researcher JW IJdo concluded Chromosome-2 “marks the point at which two ancestral ape chromosomes fused to give rise to human Chromosome-2.”
The Australian author, who studied equine genetic and is a spirtualist and certified shaman, claims to have physical evidence to support the ancient alien theory.
Her husband Bruce is also a writer who worked on the research.
Daniella and Bruce Fenton
They researched a book called Alcheringa which promotes the theory an alien spaceship exploded in our atmosphere hundreds of thousands of years ago and the survivors, who couldn’t survive without the mother ship, engineered Homo sapiens.
Mrs Fenton claims the melted wreckage of the crashed craft explains the mysterious Australites tektite buttons, unexplained dark glass objects thought to be ejected in meteorite impacts.
Long-term sunlight exposure is known to be associated with the development of skin cancer, skin aging, immune suppression and eye diseases such as cataracts. Sun exposure has also been associated with the timing of melatonin synthesis and reduced risk of seasonal affective disorder. A number of public health organizations state that there needs to be a balance between the risks of having too much and the risks of having too little sunlight. There is a general consensus that sunburn should always be avoided.
Understanding sunlight and the skin
Too much exposure to sunlight is harmful and can damage the skin. Some of this damage is short-term (temporary), such as sunburn. However, allowing your skin to burn can lead to future problems, such as skin cancer due to long-term skin damage.
There are two main types of damaging ultraviolet (UV) sunlight: UVA and UVB. UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin, damaging the middle layer (the dermis). The dermis contains the elastic tissues that keep the skin stretchy. UVA rays therefore have the effect of ageing the skin and causing wrinkles. UVB rays are absorbed by the top layer of skin (the epidermis). This causes sun tanning but also burning.
Both UVA and UVB rays increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Getting sunburnt is therefore a warning sign that you are putting yourself at risk.
Melanin is the coloured pigment in our skins. When skin is exposed to sunlight, more melanin is produced to help protect the skin against the UV rays. This makes the skin darker - what people refer to as a suntan. Although melanin stops your skin burning so easily, it does not prevent the harmful effects of UV rays.
Who is at risk from the sun?
Everyone is potentially at risk from excessive sun exposure.
People most at risk are those with fair skin, blue eyes, freckles, and red or ginger hair. People with Caucasian (white) skins have less melanin than those with black skins, so are at more risk of burning. However, anyone can get sunburnt, even those with dark skins and higher levels of melanin.
It is not just people who sunbathe who are at risk. Outdoor workers and people simply being outdoors who do not protect their skin are also at risk. This is particularly the case if you live in a country close to the equator, you live or work at high altitude, or you are outside when the sun's rays are strongest (between 11 am and 3 pm).
What are the possible problems from the sun?
Sunburn
Short-term overexposure to sun can cause burning. The skin becomes red, hot and painful. After a few days the burnt skin may peel. A cool shower or bath will help. Soothing creams will help. After-sun lotions cool the skin and contain moisturisers (emollients) to counteract skin dryness and tightness. Any plain emollient can be used on unbroken skin to help with comfort. Paracetamol or ibuprofen will help with pain, if you are able to take them. A mild steroid cream may be advised by a pharmacist or doctor to reduce inflammation in the skin.
You should never allow babies or children to develop sunburn. If they do, you should seek medical advice.
The Thing from Another World 1951
Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!
—Ned “Scotty” Scott
www.popscreen.com/v/7aMWr/The-Thing-from-Another-World Full Feature
www.youtube.com/v/T5xcVxkTZzM Trailer
This is one of the major classics of 50s sci fi movies. Released in April of 1951, it was the first full-length film to feature a flying saucer from outer space, which carried a hostile alien. The budget and the effects are typical B-grade stuff, but the acting and pacing are well above the usual B levels. Kenneth Toby and Margaret Sheriden star. James Arness (more known for his westerns) plays The Thing.
Howard Hawks' early foray into the science fiction genre took advantage of the anti-communist feelings of the time to help enhance the horror elements of the story. McCarthyism and the Korean War added fuel to the notion of Americans stalked by a force which was single of mind and "devoid of morality." But in the end, it is American soldiers and scientists who triumph over the evil force - or the monster in the case of this film. Even today, this is considered one of the best of the genre.
Film review by Jeff Flugel. June 2013
There's not a lot new or particularly insightful I can offer when it comes to discussing the seminal sci-fi flick, The Thing from Another World that hasn't been written about ad naseum elsewhere. One of the most famous and influential of all 1950s creature features, it kicked off more than a decade of alien invasion and bug-eyed monster movie mayhem, inspired a host of future filmmakers (one of whom, John Carpenter, would go on to direct his own version of the story in 1982), and remains one of the best-written and engaging films of its kind.
Loosely (and I do mean loosely) adapted from John W. Campbell's novella, "Who Goes There?," The Thing is legendary director Howard Hawks' lone foray into the science fiction/ horror genres, but it fits comfortably into his filmography, featuring as it does Hawks' favorite themes: a group of tough professionals doing their job with ease, good-humored banter and practiced finesse; a bit of romance with a gutsy dame who can easily hold her own with the boys; and lots of overlapping, razor-sharp dialogue. Featuring a script by Charles Lederer and an uncredited Ben Hecht, The Thing is easily the most spryly written and funniest of all 50s monster movies. In fact, it's this sharpness in the scripting, and the extremely likeable ensemble cast of characters, rather than the now-familiar story and somewhat unimaginative monster design, that makes the film still feel fresh and modern to this day.
There's likely few people out there reading this who don't know the story of The Thing like the back of their hand, but here goes...When an unidentified aircraft crashes close to a remote research station near the North Pole, Captain Pat Hendry (Kenneth Tobey, in the role of his career) and his squad are dispatched there to investigate. Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) heads the scientific contingent there, and he informs Hendry that he thinks the downed craft is possibly "not of this earth." A joint team of soldiers and scientists head out to the crash site and find an actual, honest-to-goodness flying saucer lying buried under the ice.
The spaceship is destroyed while the men try to melt the ice around it with thermite bombs, but they find a lone, 8-foot-tall extraterrestrial occupant frozen nearby and bring the body back to the outpost in a block of ice. Dr. Carrington and his crew of eggheads want to study the thing, but Hendry is adamant that it should be kept as is until he gets word from his superior in Anchorage, General Fogerty. It wouldn't be a monster movie without something going pear-shaped, of course, and before you know it, a careless mistake results in the creature being thawed out of his iceberg coffin and going on a bit of a rampage, taking out a number of sled dogs and a few unsuspecting scientists along the way. The rest of the film details the tense battle between the surviving humans and the coldly intelligent, remorseless alien invader, which seems virtually unkillable, impregnable to cold, bullets and fire...
The set-up for the film, and how everything eventually plays out, might seem overly familiarly nowadays, but in 1951, this was cutting-edge stuff, at least in cinemas. The Thing plays as a veritable blueprint of how to make a compelling "alien monster-on-the-loose" movie. Howard Hawks not being particularly well-versed, or even interested in, science fiction per se likely worked to its benefit, as he ended up making, as he so often did in his other films, what is first-and-foremost a well-oiled entertainment, rather than simply a genre exercise.
Typical of a Hawks film, The Thing is meticulously designed, composed and shot, but in such a way as to appear offhand. Hawks almost never went in for showy camera angles or flashy effects. His technique was nearly invisible; he just got on with telling the story, in the most straightforward, unfussy way. But this easy, seemingly effortless style was very carefully considered, by a shrewd and knowing mind. As Bill Warren, author of one of the best (and certainly most encyclopedic) books about 1950s sci-fi filmmaking, Keep Watching the Skies, notes in his detailed analysis of the film:
As most good movies do, The Thing works in two areas: sight and sound. The locale is a cramped, tunnel-like base; the men are confined within, the Thing can move freely outdoors in the cold. Compositions are often crowded, with more people in the shot than seems comfortable, reinforcing the idea of confinement After the Thing escapes, only the alien itself is seen standing and moving alone.
This feeling of a cold, hostile environment outside the base is constantly reinforced throughout the film, and a real tension mounts when, towards the climax, the highly intelligent Thing, itself immune to the subzero arctic conditions, turns off the compound's heating, knowing the humans inside will quickly die without it. (The freaky, otherworldly theremin-flavored music by Dimitri Tiomkin adds a lot to the eerie atmosphere here.)
As groundbreaking and well-structured as the plot of The Thing was (and is), what makes the film play so well today is the great script and the interaction of a bunch of seasoned character actors, who toss off both exposition and pithy bon mots in such a low-key, believable manner. This is a truly ensemble movie, and the fact that it doesn't feature any big name stars really adds to the overall effect; no one really hogs all the limelight or gets the lion's share of good lines. Hawks was a director who usually worked with the biggest names in the business, but, much as in the earlier Air Force, he was equally at home working with a cast of rock-solid character actors.
All this talk of Howard Hawks as director, when it's actually Christian Nyby who is credited with the job, has long been a source of speculation with fans of the film. Todd McCarthy, in his bio Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, seems to clear the issue up once and for all (though really, after viewing enough Hawks films, the results speak for themselves):
The perennial question surrounding The Thing From Another World has always been, Who actually directed it, Christian Nyby or Howard Hawks? The sum of participants' responses make the answer quite clear. Putting it most bluntly, (associate producer) Ed Lasker said "Chris Nyby didn't direct a thing. One day Howard was late and Chris said,'Why don't we get started? I know what the shot should be.' And I said, 'No, Chris, I think we'll wait until Howard gets here." Ken Tobey testified, "Chris Nyby directed one scene. Howard Hawks was there, but he let Chris direct one scene. We all rushed into a room, eight or ten of us, and we practically knocked each other over. No one knew what to do." Dewey Martin, Robert Cornthwaite and Richard Keinen all agreed that Hawks was the director, and Bill Self said, "Chris Nyby was a very nice, decent fellow, but he wasn't Howard Hawks."
Nyby had been Hawks' editor on a number of films, and Hawks apparently decided to help his collaborator establish a name for himself by allowing him directorial credit on the film. This seemingly altruistic gesture didn't mean that Hawks wasn't involved in virtually every aspect of the making of the film, however, and ultimately, The Thing did little for Nyby's directing career, at least on the big screen (he did go on to a long and busy career directing for numerous television programs, however.)
Bill Self was told at the time that Hawks didn't take directing credit on The Thing because it was planned as a low-budget film, one in which RKO didn't have much confidence. But, as critics have been saying ever since it was released, The Thing is a Howard Hawks film in everything but name. The opening scene of various members of the team bantering is so distilled as to be a virtual parody of Hawksian overlapping dialogue. Even more than Only Angels Have Wings, the picture presents a pristine example of a group operating resourcefully in a hermetically sealed environment in which everything in the outside world represents a grave threat. (3)
In addition to all the masculine camaraderie and spooky goings-on, one of the best aspects of The Thing is the fun, charming little tease of a romance between Capt. Hendry and Nikki (top-billed Margaret Sheridan). Nikki works as Prof. Carrington's assistant and is not merely the requisite "babe" in the film. True to the Hawksian norm, she's no pushover when it comes to trading insults with the men, nor a shrinking violet when up to her neck in perilous situations. Unlike most actresses in 50s monster movies, she doesn't utter a single scream in The Thing
and in fact, it's her practical suggestion which gives Bob, Hendry's ever-resourceful crew chief (Dewey Martin), the notion of how to finally kill the monster. Lederer and Hecht's screenplay hints at the backstory to Nikki and Pat's relationship in humorous and oblique ways, and their flirtation amidst all the chaos adds sparkle to the film but never gets in the way of the pace of the story. One nice little throwaway exchange near the finale encapsulates their verbal give-and-take, as Nikki playfully pokes the temporarily-befuddled Hendry, as his men scurry about, setting Bob's plan in motion.
Nikki: Looks as if the situation's well in hand.
Hendry: I've given all the orders I'm gonna give.
Nikki: If I thought that were true, I'd ask you to marry me.
Sheridan, a former model signed to a 5-year contract by Hawks, is quite good here, but after The Thing her career never really caught fire and she retired from acting a few years later. The closest thing to a star turn in the film is Kenneth Tobey as Capt. Hendry. Tobey racked up an impressive number of credits throughout his nearly 50-year-long career, generally as gruff, competent military men or similar types, and he was always good value, though it's as Capt. Hendry in The Thing that he truly shines. He consistently humanizes the no-nonsense, take charge man of action Hendry by displaying an easygoing approach to command. Most of Hendry's men call him by his first name, and delight in ribbing him about his budding romance with Nikki, and he responds to all this joshing in kind. When things get hairy, Tobey's Hendry doesn't have to bark his orders; it's clear that, despite the friendly banter, his men hold him in high esteem and leap to do his bidding at a moment's notice.
Many of the other members of the cast, while none of them ever became household names, will likely be recognizable from countless other roles in both film and television. Hawks gave Dewey Martin co-star billing in The Big Sky a few years later. Robert Cornthwaite kept busy for decades on stage and television, as well as in supporting roles in films such as Monkey Business, Kiss Me Deadly and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? John Dierkes (Dr. Chapman) and Douglas Spencer (Scotty) both had juicy roles in the western classic Shane, as well as many other movies too numerous to name. Sharp-eyed viewers will also recognize Eduard Franz, Paul Frees (he of the famous voice) and Groucho Marx's right-hand man on You Bet Your Life, George Fenneman, in pivotal roles. And of course we mustn't forget 6' 7" James Arness (years before becoming renowned as Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke) as the hulking Thing.
A quick note on the "remake": John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), a bleak, grisly and brilliant take on the story, was a box-office dud when first released, but has since attained well-deserved status as a modern classic. While most fans seem divided into two camps - those who love the more restrained, old-fashioned thrills of the original, and those who prefer the more visceral, paranoiac Carpenter version - I happen to treasure both films equally and revisit each of them often. The Carpenter version is by far the gutsier, unsettling one, emphasizing as it does the "trust no one," shape-shifting "the alien is one of us" scenario imagined by John W. Campbell, but the Hawks' film is the most fun, with a far more likeable array of characters, working together to defeat an implacable menace. Each has its own clear merits. I wouldn't want to do without either film, and frankly see no need to choose one over the other.
"Every one of you listening to my voice...tell the world. Tell this to everybody, wherever they are: Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”
Acting Credits
Margaret Sheridan - Nikki Nicholson
Kenneth Tobey - Captain Patrick Hendrey
Robert Cornthwaite - Professor Carrington
Dewey Martin - Crew Chief
Douglas Spencer - Ned "Scotty" Scott
Eduard Franz - Dr Stern
Robert Nichols - Lieutenant Ken Erickson
William Self - Colonel Barnes
Sally Creighton - Mrs Chapman
John Dierkes - Dr. Chapman
James R. Young - Lieutenant Eddie Dykes
Norbert Schiller - Dr. Laurenz
William Neff - Olson
Allan Ray - Officer
Lee Tung Foo - Cook
Edmund Breon - Dr. Ambrose
George Fenneman - Dr. Redding
Tom Steele - Stuntman
James Arness - The Thing
Billy Curtis - The Thing While Shrinking
soaked to dry bones
but immune to tears
a sense of fever
and too eager to care
tuned in to a sense of emotion
wont back down to despair
no sense in pulling socks advice
need a touch of tender
not a vampire feeding on sadness
not a martyr desperate for causes
just wanna be a figure of strength
and reassuarnce for i see pain
in the absence of teardrops
still searching for all the cures
and I hope their aint no limits
to prescribe for I'll see the old selves
and hear the chorus of those good souls
An empath is a person who has an acute or highly developed sense of empathy. In the paranormal and in some works of science fiction and fantasy, highly developed empathy is a paranormal or psychic ability to sense the emotions of others. It is distinguished from telepathy, which allows one to perceive thoughts as well. Occasionally empaths are also able to project their own emotions, or to affect the emotions of others.
empath:
The empath's power includes being able to feel another's emotions, and sometimes react to those emotions the way the person actually feeling would. This power does include sometimes projecting the emotions to others. Female empaths are more common, but rarely male empaths have been found. The females are more adept to this power and can control it better, while the males take longer to learn it. This power has been known to take over and cloud the emotions of an empath, leading to seclusion. Only a few empaths are known to be able to control their power fully. (wikipedia)
empathy:
Empathy has many different definitions. These definitions encompass a broad range, from caring for other people and having a desire to help them, to experiencing emotions that match another person's emotions, to knowing what the other person is thinking or feeling, to blurring the line between self and other.[6]
Since empathy involves understanding the emotional states of other people, the way it is characterized is derivative of the way emotions themselves are characterized. If, for example, emotions are taken to be centrally characterized by bodily feelings, then grasping the bodily feelings of another will be central to empathy. On the other hand, if emotions are more centrally characterized by a combination of beliefs and desires, then grasping these beliefs and desires will be more essential to empathy. The ability to imagine oneself as another person is a sophisticated imaginative process. However, the basic capacity to recognize emotions is probably innate[7] and may be achieved unconsciously. Yet it can be trained[8] and achieved with various degrees of intensity or accuracy.
The human capacity to recognize the bodily feelings of another is related to one's imitative capacities and seems to be grounded in the innate capacity to associate the bodily movements and facial expressions one sees in another with the proprioceptive feelings of producing those corresponding movements or expressions oneself.[9] Humans seem to make the same immediate connection between the tone of voice and other vocal expressions and inner feeling.
Empathy is distinct from sympathy, pity, and emotional contagion.[10] Sympathy or empathic concern is the feeling of compassion or concern for another, the wish to see them better off or happier. Pity is feeling that another is in trouble and in need of help as they cannot fix their problems themselves, often described as "feeling sorry" for someone. Emotional contagion is when a person (especially an infant or a member of a mob) imitatively "catches" the emotions that others are showing without necessarily recognizing this is happening.[11]
Stanegate was the Roman road linking the Roman forts at Corbridge (Corstopitum) and Carlisle (Luguvalium). It was built at about the same time as the first fort at Vindolanda. It would also become the northern frontier of Roman territory in Britain until Hadrian's Wall was built just north of it. This is a replica of the only one of its milestones to survive intact (although its inscription is almost gone). Chesterholm is in the background.
It reads:
IMP CAES
TR HADRIANO
AVG PM TR PV
COS III PP
A CORIS
MPXX
Which when expanded becomes:
IMPERATORI CAESARI
TRAIANO HADRIANO
AVGVSTO PONTIFICI MAXIMO TRIBVNICIAE POTESTATIS V
CONSVLI III PATRI PATRIAE
A CORIS
MILLE PASSVVM XX
Coris would be the fort at Coria or Corstopitum (now Corbridge).
Emperor Caesar
Trajan Hadrian
Augustus Pontifex Maximus 5 (years) since assuming the powers* of a Tribune of the Plebs
Consul 3 times, Father of the Country
To Coria
20 Thousand Paces
A Roman pace (two steps) was 5 feet, so a thousand paces was 5000 feet, or 1 Roman mile.
* The Emperors, being patricians, could not actually be Tribunes of the Plebs, but since Augustus, they had held all that office's powers, and personal immunity from violence (their persons were sacrosanct).
Scenes outside the D.C. Federal courthouse as Trump arrives for the appeals hearing on Presidential immunity
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo delivers remarks virtually at the signing of the Enhanced Immunities Agreement with Morocco, from the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C, on September 1, 2020. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]
Created for new Jon Hopkins video in collaboration with Craig Ward thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/microscopic-images-of-fo...
The Arado Ar 234 B Blitz (Lightning) was the world's first operational jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Two Junkers Jumo 004 B turbojets powered this clean, graceful design. Speed made the Blitz virtually immune to attacks from piston-engined Allied fighters. The jet's maximum velocity topped 735 kph (456 mph). Although overshadowed by the more famous Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, the relatively few Ar 234s that reached Luftwaffe units before the end of the German surrender provided excellent (if ultimately futile) service, particularly as reconnaissance aircraft.
Development of the Ar 234 began in 1940. The German Aviation Ministry issued an order to Dr. Walter Blume, technical director of the state-owned Arado concern, to design and build a reconnaissance aircraft propelled by the turbojet engines then under development by BMW and Junkers. Rüdiger Kosin led the design team. Largely free from Air Ministry interference, Kosin created a high-wing monoplane with two turbojet engines mounted in nacelles under the wings. The rear fuselage contained two downward-looking recon-
naissance cameras. To reduce weight and free space for larger fuselage fuel tanks, the initial prototype series dispensed with a conventional landing gear in favor of retractable skids mounted beneath the fuselage and nacelles. The airplane would taxi and takeoff atop a wheeled trolley that the pilot jettisoned as the jet left the runway. Ground crews recovered the trolley and refurbished it for the next flight.
Engine problems repeatedly slowed flight testing the first Ar 234. BMW and Junkers both experienced trouble building jet engines in quantities sufficient for both the Me 262 and
Ar 234 programs. Although Arado completed the Ar 234 V1 airframe in late 1942, the Messerschmitt aircraft took priority and claimed the trickle of flight-ready engines that Junkers managed to turn out. Consequently, the Ar 234 V1 did not fly until July 30, 1943.
Before it flew, the Air Ministry directed Arado to redesign the landing gear and give the jet a bombing capability. Kosin and his team enlarged the fuselage slightly to accommodate a conventional tricycle landing gear and added a semi-recessed bomb bay under the fuselage. To allow the pilot to act as a bombardier, Kosin mounted a Lotfe 7K bombsight in the fuselage floor ahead of the control column, which the pilot swung out of his way to use the sight. A Patin PDS autopilot guided the aircraft during the bombing run. The pilot-bombardier used another periscope sight during shallow-angle, glide bombing.
The first prototype for the revised design, designated Ar 234 V9, flew on March 12, 1944. The bomber version, designated Ar 234 B-0, became the first subtype built in quantity. The Air Ministry ordered 200 Ar 234 Bs and Arado built them at a new Luftwaffe airfield factory at Alt Lönnewitz in Saxony. The factory finished and delivered all 200 airplanes by the end of December 1944 but managed to roll out another 20 by war's end. The initial order had called for two versions of the Ar 234 B: the B-1 reconnaissance aircraft and the B-2 bomber but Arado built only the B-2 version. The company converted B-2 airframes into reconnaissance aircraft.
Plans called for more advanced versions of the Arado jet, including the Ar 234 C powered by four BMW 003 A-1 engines and fitted with a pressurized cockpit. Subvariants of the "C" model included the C-3 multi-role aircraft and the C-3N two-seat nightfighter. However, only 14 Ar 234 Cs left the Arado factory before Soviet forces overran the area. The four-engine Ar 234 was, however, the fastest jet aircraft of World War II. Prototypes for the more advanced Ar 234 D reconnaissance aircraft and bomber with provision for a second crewman were under construction but not completed at war's end.
A Luftwaffe pilot flew the first Ar 234 combat mission on August 2, 1944, when Erich Sommer piloted the V5 prototype on a reconnaissance sortie over the Allied beachhead in Normandy. He encountered no opposition. During his two-hour flight, Sommer gathered more useful intelligence than the Luftwaffe obtained during the previous two months. Virtually immune to interception, the Ar 234 continued to provide the German High Command with valuable reconnaissance until nearly the end of the war. The intelligence gathered, however, allowed German military planners to do little more than delay inevitable defeat.
Only one Luftwaffe unit, KG 76 (Kampfgeschwader or Bomber Wing 76), was equipped with Ar 234 bombers before Germany's surrender. As the production of the Ar 234 B-2 increased in tempo during fall 1944, the unit received its first aircraft and began training at Burg bei Magdeburg. The unit flew its first operations during December 1944 in support of the Ardennes Offensive. Typical missions consisted of pinprick attacks conducted by less than 20 aircraft, each carrying a single 500 kg (1,100 lb.) bomb. The unit participated in the desperate attacks against the Allied bridgehead over the Rhine at Remagen during mid-March 1945, but failed to drop the Ludendorff railway bridge and suffered a number of losses to anti-aircraft fire. The deteriorating war situation, coupled with shortages of fuel and spare parts, prevented KG 76 from flying more than a handful of sorties from late March to the end of the war. The unit conducted its last missions against Soviet forces encircling Berlin during the final days of April. During the first week of May the unit's few surviving aircraft were either dispersed to airfields still in German hands or destroyed to prevent their capture.
The National Air and Space Museum's Blitz, an Arado Ar 234 B-2 bomber carrying Werk Nummer (manufacturer's serial number) 140312, was one of nine Ar 234s surrendered to British forces at Sola airfield near Stavanger, Norway. It is the sole surviving example of an Ar 234. The aircraft had been on strength with 9./KG 76 (Ninth Squadron/ bomber Wing 76) during the final weeks of the war, having served earlier with the unit's eighth squadron. It and three other Ar 234s were collected by the famous "Watson's Whizzers" group of the USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) for shipment to the United States. After flying from Sola to Cherbourg, France on June 24, 1945, the four Ar 234s joined thirty-four other advanced German aircraft aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Reaper for shipment to the United States. The Reaper departed from Cherbourg on July 20, arriving at Newark, New Jersey eight days later. U. S. Army Air Forces personnel reassembled and flew two Ar 234s, including 140312, to Freeman Field, Indiana, for testing and evaluation. The USAAF assigned the foreign equipment number FE-1010 to this Ar 234 for inventory and tracking purposes.
After receiving new engines and replacement radio and oxygen equipment, FE-1010 was flown to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, in July 1946 and transferred to the Accelerated Service Test Maintenance Section (ASTMS) of the Flight Test Division. After flight-testing was completed on October 16, 1946, the aircraft remained at Wright field until 1947, when it was moved to Orchard Place Airport, Park Ridge, Illinois. On May 1, 1949, the USAF (United States Air Force after 1947) transferred the Ar 234 and other aircraft at Park Ridge to the Smithsonian Institution. During the early 1950s, the airplanes were finally moved to a new Smithsonian storage facility at Suitland, Maryland to await restoration.
Restoration of the NASM Ar 234 began during 1984 and was completed in February 1989. Because all of the original German paint was stripped off the airframe before the aircraft's transfer to the Smithsonian, restoration specialists applied markings of a typical aircraft of 8./KG 76, the first bomber unit to fly the Blitz. The museum displayed the aircraft during 1993 in the main museum building downtown as part of an exhibit titled "Wonder Weapon? The Arado Ar 234." It is currently in storage at the Paul E. Garber Restoration and Storage Facility awaiting the completion of the museum's new Dulles Center.
This microscopy image provided by Dr. Carl June, shows immune system T-cells, center, binding to beads which cause the cells to divide. The beads, depicted in yellow, are later removed, leaving pure T-cells which are then ready for infusion to the cancer patients. Scientists are reporting the first clear success with gene therapy to treat leukemia, using the patients' own blood cells to hunt down and wipe out their cancer. They've only done it in three patients so far, but the results were striking: two appear cancer-free up to a year after treatment, and the third had a partial response. Scientists are already preparing to try the approach in other kinds of cancer.
More about Dr. Carl June and his research - www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p2328
Related article: "'Amazing' therapy destroys leukemia in 3 patients" yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/08/Amazin...
it was meant to be a summer break. a family get together in Newcastle England. and it was just that, a relaxing week off work. i went to a local pub down the road from where my family were staying, i forget the name of the pub, but it was in Gosforth, on the main street. it was a nice bar (as most english pubs are i think), it had lots of outdoor seating, and there i was enjoying a couple of pints of guinness (£3.55) when this septuagenarian came along. first thing i should say about him is that he had lost his mind. he was dressed well enough, but it was his behaviour that gave it away (although i am always a little suspicious of men who wear white socks and black shoes together). he brought with him a blue bag that had two litres of milk in it, and a three litre bottle of cider. the fun begins...
he sat down (without buying anything in the bar obviously) and proceeded to 'try' to roll a cigarette, which a child could have done better to be honest. and it took him ages to light the sleeping bag as well. then he did the most amazing thing, he drank the milk (he didnt touch the cider at all) in about twenty minutes. i do not know anyone who could neck this amount of milk and not throw up. he did it in full view of the passers by. only nobody payed any attention to him. he kept staring over at a group of three people his age who were 'normal'. his expression in the picture was one of many aimed at them. i could only describe his face as sadness that was many years old. i later found out from my sister that he was a resident from the local mental institution and that he was a regular face around town. this explained some things, not least why he was clean looking. most mad drunk people i see in ireland are unkempt in appearance. this guy i suspected lost his mind years ago. i could picture him as a school teacher, with a wife, and a family. fortunately for him, he was picked up by the state, who washed him, fed him, and put clothes on his back. i think he lost his wife ten or twenty years ago, and, inconsolable he just drifted away, a shadow of his former self, left to ponder the inevitable.
none of us are immune from life events like these.
The lymphatic system is part of the immune system where cleansing of blood, and the detoxification of our bodies takes place. A huge network of lymphatic vessels recycles blood plasma by removing fluid from the tissues, filtering it, and carrying it back into the bloodstream.
These are foods to add into your diet to boost the lymphatic system:
* Garlic
Garlic boosts immune function and combats harmful microbes. It improves circulation and aids in the cleansing of toxins. It boosts the function of your lymphatic system and contains antibacterial qualities.
* Citrus
Citrus fruits aid hydration, carry powerful antioxidants and enzymes, and help cleanse and protect the lymphatic system.
“We have been unwitting participants in a global gut remodeling experiment over past 100 years.” — Prof Bruce German, UC Davis
David Kyle, Evolve BioSystems at SynBioBeta 2018
• 80% of immune system associated with gut. The gut is the nursery for immune system
• Huge growth in immune disorders in children: Asthma 4x, Allergy 4x, Diabetes 5x
• Breast milk: 15% of its energy not usable by baby – it feeds the microflora in the gut.
• Baby Bif is missing in western babies. Instead, we see opportunistic pathogens, leading to a different pH of stools (5 vs 6 bad). The ph has shifted over 100 years.
The lymphatic system is part of the immune system where cleansing of blood, and the detoxification of our bodies takes place. A huge network of lymphatic vessels recycles blood plasma by removing fluid from the tissues, filtering it, and carrying it back into the bloodstream.
These are foods to add into your diet to boost the lymphatic system:
* Garlic
Garlic boosts immune function and combats harmful microbes. It improves circulation and aids in the cleansing of toxins. It boosts the function of your lymphatic system and contains antibacterial qualities.
* Citrus
Citrus fruits aid hydration, carry powerful antioxidants and enzymes, and help cleanse and protect the lymphatic system.
www.arqueologiadelperu.com/otzi-the-iceman-carried-ulcer-...
BOLZANO, ITALY—Paleopathologist Albert Zink and microbiologist Frank Maixner of the European Academy in Bozen/Bolzano have identified the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach contents of Ötzi, the frozen human remains discovered in the Alps in 1991. As many as half of people today are infected with Helicobacter pylori, which can cause gastritis or stomach ulcers. Ötzi's stomach mucosa is no longer present, so scientists did not expect to be able to recover any traces of the bacterium. “We were able to solve the problem once we hit upon the idea of extracting the entire DNA of the stomach contents. After this was successfully done, we were able to tease out the individual Helicobacter sequences and reconstruct a 5,300-year-old Helicobacter pylori genome,” Maixner explained in a press release. And Ötzi's immune system had reacted to the potentially virulent strain of bacteria. “We showed the presence of marker proteins which we see today in patients infected with Helicobacter,” Maixner added. The genetic makeup of the bacteria has raised more questions, however, and further research is being planned. The study of bacteria living inside the human body may eventually be able to help us understand how humans developed. To read more about Ötzi, go to "Ancient Tattoos."
A drug approved to treat a severe form of asthma dramatically improved the health of people with rare chronic immune disorders called hypereosinophilic syndromes (HES) in whom other treatments were ineffective or intolerable. This finding comes from a small clinical trial led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted through a partnership with the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The results were published online on April 3, 2019 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In this image: Activated eosinophils in the peripheral blood of a patient with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome.
Read more: www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/fda-approved-drug-e...
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/NIH
Three days before the attack.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Date27 February 1967 – 28 February 1969
Location
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
ResultU.S. claim victory
Belligerents
United States
South VietnamFlag of Vietnam.svg North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
LtCol R.J. Schening[1]
Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak
Strength
9,000 Marines
South Vietnam UnknownU.S. estimate: 8-12,000
Casualties and losses
United States 1,419 killed
South Vietnam UnknownU.S. body count: 7,563 killed
168 captured
Military engagements during the Vietnam War
Con Thien (Vietnamese: Cồn Tiên, meaning the "Hill of Angels") was a military base that started out as a U.S. Army Special Forces camp before transitioning to a United States Marine Corps combat base. It was located near the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from North Vietnam in Gio Linh District, Quảng Trị Province. It was the site of fierce fighting from February 1967 through February 1968.
Location
Con Thien is located at 16°54′35″N 106°58′48″E (MGRS 48QYD113703) and was originally established as a Special Forces/CIDG camp on 20 February 1967 at Hill 158 by Special forces Det. A-110.[2] The camp was built by a detachment from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4.[2] and turned over to the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, on 27 July 1967.[2] Together with Marine bases at Gio Linh, Đông Hà and Cam Lộ, Con Thien enclosed the area known to the Marines as Leatherneck Square.[3]: 18 Con Thien was intended to be used as a base for the McNamara Line to prevent People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) infiltration across the DMZ. The firebase was strategically important because it offered unfettered views for 15 km east to the coast and north into North Vietnam. It was also very vulnerable because it was within range of PAVN artillery north of the DMZ which was largely immune to counter-battery fire.[4]
Early Border Operations
Aerial photograph of the base at Con Thien
On 27 February 1967, in response to Marine artillery fire into and the area north of the DMZ (Operation Highrise) PAVN mortar, rocket and artillery fire hit Con Thien and Gio Linh.[5]: 10 On 20 March, the PAVN began shelling Con Thien and Gio Linh, which continued sporadically for the next two weeks.[5]: 17
On 24 March 1st Battalion, 9th Marines began Operation Prairie III where they encountered a PAVN battalion in a bunker complex southeast of Con Thien. After a two-hour fight the PAVN withdrew leaving 33 killed in action. Sergeant Walter K. Singleton was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the attack. 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines operating beside 1/9th Marines encountered an entrenched PAVN Company, killing 28 PAVN including two women.[5]: 18 On 30 March, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines was establishing a night ambush position when it was attacked by a PAVN force, 2LT John P. Bobo was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack.
In mid-April Charlie Company, 11th Engineer Battalion was tasked with clearing a 200m wide strip from Con Thien to Gio Linh, a distance of 10.6 km. The engineers were protected by a task force consisting of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, an AMTRAC (LVT-5) platoon, a platoon of M42 Dusters from the 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery Regiment and some Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units. By 19 April, despite harassment from PAVN mines, small arms, recoilless rifle, mortar and artillery fire the strip was half-completed.[5]: 18
In order to protect Route 561, the supply line to Con Thien from Route 9, the Marines had established two outposts: Charlie 2 was located 3 km southeast of Con Thien and contained artillery and infantry positions, while Charlie 2A (nicknamed the Washout) was on low-lying ground overlooking a bridge.[3]: 44
Attack on Con Thien
At 03:00 on 8 May some 300 rounds of mortar and artillery fire hit the base, while PAVN sappers with Bangalore torpedoes breached the perimeter wire. At 04:00 two battalions of the PAVN 812th Regiment armed with flamethrowers overran the Special Forces base. At the time of the attack the base was defended by Special Forces Detachment A-110, ARVN Special Forces, CIDG and Seabees.[6] A small command element with A and D Companies, 1/4th Marines and several tanks from the 3rd Tank Battalion were providing security for engineers that were clearing a 200 meter wide fire zone around Leatherneck Square.[7] The well-organized attack fell primarily on Company D's northern perimeter with fierce hand-to-hand combat. The outnumbered defenders eventually repelled the attacking forces. A relief column from Company A, 1/4th Marines was sent with an M42 Duster, 2 LVT-5s and 2 quarter ton trucks. The M42 was hit by an RPG-7 and an LVT-5 and one truck were destroyed by flamethrowers and satchel charges. By 09:00 the PAVN had withdrawn leaving 197 killed and 8 prisoners. The Marines had suffered 44 killed and 110 wounded, the CIDG had 14 killed with 2 missing in action, the Special Forces had 4 wounded and the Seabees had 5.[5]: 21 [8] Base commander Captain Chamberlain received the Distinguished Service Cross and purple heart for his valor and leadership in repulsing the attack.[9]
Remilitarizing the DMZ
After the 8 May attack, recognizing that the PAVN were using the DMZ as a sanctuary for attacks into I Corps, Washington lifted the prohibition on US forces entering the DMZ and MACV authorized the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) to conduct combat operations into the southern half of the DMZ.[5]: 23
From 13–16 May, 1/9 Marines cleared Route 561 from Cam Lo to Con Thien fought a well-entrenched PAVN force south of the base. The PAVN subsequently withdrew into the DMZ.[5]: 23
Operations Hickory/Lam Son 54/Beau Charger
Map of Operations Hickory, Belt Tight, Beau Charger and Lam Son 54
III MAF proceeded to plan a series of combined operations with ARVN forces that occurred from 18 to 26 May. Under Operation Hickory 3rd Marine Regiment advanced to the Bến Hải River. Under Operation Lam Son 54 the ARVN 1st Division advanced parallel to the 3rd Marines along Highway 1 while the amphibious Special Landing Force Alpha secured the coastline south of the Bến Hải River under Operation Beau Charger and Special Landing Force Bravo linked up with 3rd Marines under Operation Belt Tight. Once at the Bến Hải River, the forces swept south on a broad front to Route 9.[5]: 23
From 19 to 27 May, when Lam Son 54 ended, the ARVN were in constant contact with the PAVN. The ARVN suffered 22 killed and 122 wounded, while claiming the PAVN suffered 342 killed and 30 captured.[5]: 25
The amphibious element of Operation Beau Charger met no opposition while the heliborne assault dropped into a hot LZ. Only one platoon was landed and it remained isolated until rescued several hours later. Beau Charger continued until 26 May with minimal contact. 85 PAVN were claimed to have been killed.[5]: 25–6
In Operation Hickory, the 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines and 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines advanced north from Con Thien on the morning of 18 May to press any PAVN against a blocking force from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines 3/4th Marines landed by helicopters on the Bến Hải River. At 10:00, 2/26th Marines made contact with 2 PAVN Battalions in bunkers and trenches. The 2/9the Marines joined 2/26th and fought a running battle until nightfall. Five Marines were killed and 142 were wounded, while 31 PAVN were killed. That night 75 radar-controlled airstrikes were called in on the bunker complex. At 07:00 on 19 May after 2 hours of artillery preparation (in which short rounds killed 3 Marines), the 2/26the Marines proceeded to attack the bunker complex, overrunning it by 10:30 and claiming to have killed 34 PAVN.[5]: 26 At 13:30 2/9th Marines met heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire and an M48 tank moved up to silence the PAVN positions with canister fire. 2 M48s were later knocked out by RPG-2 fire and 2/9th Marines suffered 7 killed and 12 wounded.[5]: 27
Company B 1/4 Marines and 3rd Tank Battalion M48s in Operation Hickory II
On 20 May, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines covering the left flank of the operation encountered a PAVN bunker complex and in fighting lasting into 21 May suffered 26 killed and 59 wounded for 36 PAVN dead.[5]: 28 The reserve Special Landing Force Bravo 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines joined the operation on 20 May landing by helicopter northwest of Firebase Gio Linh. They swept the area north to the DMZ meeting minimal resistance but discovering PAVN bunkers and supplies.[5]: 28
On 25 May, Company H, 2/26th Marines engaged a large PAVN Company at the base of Hill 117, 5 km west of Con Thien. Company H joined by Company K, 3/4th Marines made repeated advances up the hill against the PAVN with heavy fighting lasting throughout the day and costing 14 Marines and corpsmen killed and 92 wounded, while claiming 41 PAVN were killed. Marine air and artillery pounded the top of the hill throughout the night, and a new assault was planned for the morning of 26 May, but PAVN fire brought down a UH-1E, injuring the command element, and the assault was postponed until 27 May when Companies E and F, 2/26th Marines and 3/4th Marines secured the hilltop with no resistance.[5]: 29
For the remainder of Operation Hickory the Marines encountered only scattered resistance but discovered and destroyed numerous bunkers, ordnance and rice. Operation Hickory concluded on 28 May; the Marines had suffered 142 KIA and 896 wounded with US claims of 362 PAVN killed.[5]: 30 Lam Son 54, Hickory, Belt Tight and Beau Charger also resulted in the removal of the entire civilian population from the area with the result that it was all now a free fire zone.[5]: 30
Operation Prairie IV
At the conclusion of Operation Hickory, all participating units joined Operation Prairie IV sweeping the area southwest of Con Thien. On 28 May 3/4 Marines ran into a bunker complex on Hill 174, 6 km southwest of Con Thien. Companies M and L attacked the complex but were forced back by small arms, machine guns, 57mm recoilless rifle and 82mm mortars for the loss of 2 Marines killed and 21 wounded. Artillery hit the hill throughout the night and the next day Companies M and I attacked the hill, suffering 5 KIA and 33 wounded without driving the PAVN from the crest of the hill. Companies M and I attacked unsuccessfully again on 30 May suffering 1 killed and 45 wounded. The PAVN abandoned the hill during the night of 30/31 May. Operation Prairie IV resulted in US claiming 505 PAVN killed and 8 captured for 164 Marines killed and 1240 wounded.[5]: 30
Operation Cimarron
Operation Cimarron began on 1 June in the same area with the same units. There was limited contact with the PAVN but many enemy bunkers and supply caches were found and destroyed and several PAVN graves located. Cimarron ended on 2 July.[5]: 30 On 1 July the land-clearing project from Con Thien to Gio Linh was completed, with the clear strip widened to 600m.[5]: 30
Operation Buffalo
On 2 July Companies A and B from 1/9 launched Operation Buffalo, a sweep of the area north of Con Thien. As the infantrymen moved along Route 561 in an area called the "Marketplace" (16.927°N 107.00°E), the PAVN attacked, inflicting severe casualties on Company B. This was the single worst day for the Marines in Vietnam (86 killed). Operation Buffalo concluded on 14 July at a cost of 159 Marines killed and 345 wounded. The PAVN were claimed by US sources to have suffered 1290 killed.
Operation Hickory II
Following the conclusion of Operation Buffalo, III MAF ordered a sweep of the southern half of the DMZ. Operation Hickory II lasted from 14–16 July and resulted in 39 PAVN killed for the loss of 4 Marines dead and 90 wounded.
During July the Army transferred Con Thien to the Marines.
Operation Kingfisher
Operation Kingfisher took place from 16 July to 31 October 1967.
Operation Kentucky
Operation Kentucky took place from 1 November 1967 to 28 February 1969 and resulted in 520 Marines killed and 2698 wounded, while US reports claim the PAVN lost 3,839 killed, 117 captured and an unknown number wounded.
In support of Operation Kentucky, squadrons of the First Marine Air Wing provided air support from 4 January 1968 to 23 March 1968. Air support missions included resupply of ammunition, rations, and other supplies. Numerous medevac missions were flown to transport wounded Marines to medical facilities at Dong Ha and to the hospital ship Repose.[10]
Bombardment
In September 1967 the PAVN started their major shelling of the base hitting it with at least 200 artillery and mortar rounds daily, peaking on 25 September when a reported 1200 rounds hit the base.[5]: 132 From 19–27 September more than 3000 rounds hit the base. In response Marine artillery fired 12,577 rounds, Navy ships fired 6148 rounds and more than 5200 Marine and USAF sorties hit PAVN positions.[5]: 135
The Marine Corps rotated battalions in and out of Con Thien every thirty days. The constant shelling and the threat of a PAVN assault took a psychological toll on the Marines, the base was nicknamed "Our Turn in the Barrel" and "the Meat Grinder", while the DMZ was said to stand for "Dead Marine Zone."[5]: 139
Siege in the media
Con Thien was in the news during the time it was under artillery attack. CBS News broadcast the first footage of the bombardment on 11 September 1967.[11] Time magazine featured the story on the cover of its 6 October 1967 issue, which was instrumental in bringing the reality of Vietnam combat to American readers.[12] David Douglas Duncan's photos of the Marines at Con Thien were featured in the 27 October 1967 issue of Life magazine and in his book War Without Heroes. CBS News broadcast a special report on 1 October 1967, The Ordeal of Con Thien, hosted by Mike Wallace, which featured footage and interviews from the field.
1968
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines took over the defense of Con Thien in mid-December. During the Christmas truce period the Battalion added 11 bunkers and dug a new trench along the forward slope. The troops then sandbagged existing bunkers with a "burster layer" in the roofs, usually consisting of airfield matting to burst delayed fuse rounds. They then covered the positions with rubberized tarps to keep the water out. By the end of the year, all of the new bunkers had been sandbagged and wired in with the new razor wire.[3]: 41 During January the PAVN kept up sporadic fire on the base, firing for 22 of 31 days with each barrage averaging about 30 rounds.[3]: 43 The artillery fire gradually destroyed the minefield and bunkers protecting the northwest of the base, causing regular casualties.[3]: 44
The PAVN 803rd Regiment had relieved the 90th Regiment in the positions facing Con Thien and began to launch regular small scale probes of the Marine defenses. On the night of 14 January, the PAVN tripped a mine and one soldier was left in the minefield; the PAVN made two attempts to rescue their wounded man, eventually succeeding under cover of small arms, recoilless rifles and mortars.[3]: 44 On 22 January, around midday the PAVN bombarded Con Thien with 100 rounds of 82mm mortar, followed by 130 rounds of 152mm shells. 1/4 sustained 2 killed and 16 wounded.[3]: 126 Thirty minutes later, about 1 km north of the base, Companies F and G encountered a PAVN Company which withdrew under cover of 60mm mortar fire; two Marines were killed and 8 wounded for 3 PAVN killed.[3]: 127
In late January, with increasing PAVN pressure on Khe Sanh Combat Base and Route 9, 1st Battalion 9th Marines was transferred to Khe Sanh and 3rd Battalion 4th Marines was moved to the Lancaster area of operations. 2nd Battalion 4th Marines was assigned to take over the 3/4's area of operations northeast of Con Thien, and on 27 January, HMM-361 landed the first units near C-2; by the end of the day the entire battalion was deployed.[3]: 127
On 29 January a Marine observer at Con Thien using a Starlight Scope spotted a PAVN convoy moving about 1 km north of the Ben Hai River and called in artillery air strikes. The PAVN responded by launching five SAM-2 missiles on the attacking aircraft, which proceeded to destroy both the convoy and the SAM site.[3]: 127
By the end of January the defensive positions on the trace line, including C-2, C-2A and Con Thien (A-4), were largely complete, although there was abundant evidence of continued PAVN infiltration across the DMZ.
The Tet Offensive was little noticed at Con Thien and elsewhere along the DMZ; rather it was just the same fighting that had been going on for the previous weeks and months. There was no Tet Truce here, but nor was there a sudden PAVN thrust through the DMZ or frontal assault on Khe Sanh as MACV had expected.[3]: 133
The PAVN continued to pressure the Marines particularly around the A-3 strongpoint between Con Thien and Gio Linh. On 3 March, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines, occupying an outpost on Hill 28 just north of the A-3, intercepted a PAVN battalion attempting to infiltrate the Marine positions. The PAVN encircled the Marines and were only driven back by airstrikes and Huey gunship runs. One Marine was killed and thirteen wounded while killing over 100 PAVN.[3]: 244 On 16 March, Mike Company, 3/3 Marines and Charlie Company, 1/4 Marines clashed with another battalion-sized PAVN force. The two Marine companies called in artillery and air upon the PAVN, the bulk of which disengaged, leaving a company behind to fight a rearguard action. PAVN artillery from north of the DMZ answered the American supporting arms with a 400-round barrage of its own on the Marines. Marine casualties were two KIA and nine wounded for 83 PAVN killed. For the entire month in Operation Kentucky, 9th Marines reported over 400 enemy dead while Marine casualties were 37 KIA and more than 200 wounded.[3]: 244
On 22 May a patrol from Company A 1/4 Marines ran into a PAVN force east of Con Thien. 1/4 Marines attacked east from Con Thien, while 3/3 Marines attacked west from Strongpoint A-3. 3/9 Marines were helicoptered into blocking positions in the south, while 1/9 Marines was helicoptered into blocking positions in the north. The PAVN tried to escape across the trace line but were mowed down by artillery, tank, gunship and fixed-wing fire. The PAVN suffered 225 killed, while the Marines had 23 KIA and 75 wounded.[3]: 308–9
On 6 June, a reinforced platoon from Company E, 26th Marines observed and then engaged a PAVN company while on patrol 1.8 km southeast of Con Thien. Reinforced by the command group and a rifle platoon from Company H, the patrol engaged the PAVN with small arms and 81mm mortars. 14 PAVN were killed and the Marines suffered 14 killed and 11 wounded.[3]: 357
On 7 July, to exploit the results of Operation Thor in the Cua Viet-Dong Ha sector, the 9th Marines began a sweep of the area between Con Thien and the DMZ. On 11 July 4 km northeast of Con Thien, elements of 3/9 Marines discovered a reinforced PAVN platoon in the open. Fixing the PAVN in place with small arms fire, the Marines, with air, artillery, and tank support, launched a coordinated air-ground attack through the area killing more than 30 PAVN. The 9th Marines uncovered and destroyed numerous PAVN fortifications, a few of the positions were lightly defended, but the majority were abandoned. One bunker system discovered 4 km due north of Con Thien spanned more than 1 km and included 242 well-constructed bunkers. Supplies and equipment abandoned included weapons, 935 mortar rounds, 500 pounds of explosives, 55 antitank mines, and 500 pounds of rice. The Marines also found 29 NVA bodies, killed by artillery and airstrikes during the advance on the complex.[3]: 363
On 21 July 2/9 Marines discovered a major PAVN bunker complex 6 km southwest of Con Thien. Composed of 60 A-frame timbered bunkers built into the sides of bomb craters, each with an average overhead cover 10-feet-thick, the system was connected to a large command bunker by a network of interconnecting tunnels. The command bunker featured an aperture overlooking Con Thien and C-2 and documents found in the bunker indicated that the PAVN had been observing and reporting the movement of helicopters, tanks, and trucks entering and leaving Con Thien and C-2.[3]: 365
Early August saw little contact with the PAVN other than an encounter by Company F, 9th Marines with 30 PAVN, 3 km east of Con Thien. In the face of artillery and fixed-wing support, the PAVN broke contact and the Marines began a sweep through the area during which they regained contact. The PAVN again broke and ran, and Company F moved through the area, capturing a number of weapons and counting 11 PAVN dead.[3]: 387
On 15 August, a PAVN company attacked a four-man Marine reconnaissance team southeast of Con Thien near the abandoned airstrip at Nam Dong. The patrol returned fire and requested reinforcement, while simultaneously calling in preplanned artillery fires. Within minutes a platoon from Company A, 1st Marines, accompanied by three M48 tanks, moved out of positions 1 km away and headed south to assist. The coordinated attack, which included more than 150 rounds of 105mm artillery, 40 rounds of 4.2-inch mortar, 75 rounds from the 90mm guns of the tanks, and airstrikes by Marine UH-1E gunships accounted for several NVA dead.[3]: 389
As PAVN activity continued to increase in the eastern DMZ, particularly north of Con Thien, the Marines decided to act. In addition to sightings of enemy tanks, Marine fighter pilots and aerial observers reported spotting trucks, truck parks, camouflaged revetments, storage bunkers, and trenchlines. Of special interest were repeated sightings of low, slow moving lights during hours of darkness which, it was assumed, came from enemy helicopters thought to be resupplying forward positions with high priority cargo such as ammunition and medical supplies or conducting medevacs. On 19 August, after 60 Arclight strikes 2nd Battalion 1st Marines (2/1) assaulted into three LZs in the Trung Son region of the southern DMZ, 5 km north of Con Thien. Supported by a platoon of tanks from 3rd Tank Battalion, 2/1 swept the area but found no evidence of use by VPAF helicopters. During the extraction one CH-46 Sea Knight was destroyed by a command detonated mine, killing 4 Marines. While the assault claimed no PAVN casualties, it did scatter PAVN forces in the area. On the morning of the 19th, Bravo Company, 2/1 and the Army's Company A, 77th Armored Regiment engaged an enemy platoon while supported by M48s from 3rd Tank Battalion, killing 26 PAVN. 6 km southwest of Con Thien Mike Company, 3/9 Marines intercepted a reinforced PAVN platoon, under the cover of airstrikes and artillery they killed 30 PAVN and captured 2. On 20 August 2 PAVN squads attacked Companies G and H, 2/9 Marines with small arms, RPGs, mortars, and artillery. The Marines, supported by 5 M48s from 3rd Tank Battalion forced the PAVN to withdraw northward, leaving their dead. On 21 July, Company I, 9th Marines began receiving sniper fire and within an hour, the company had engaged a PAVN unit of undetermined size firing small arms and grenades. Responding with accurate rocket, mortar, and artillery fire, the Marines forced the PAVN to break contact and withdraw to the north. A search of the area found 14 NVA dead and 12 weapons.[3]: 389
On 24 August at 17:00, Marine reconnaissance team Tender Rancho was moving 7 km southeast of Con Thien near Dao Xuyen, when it surprised a group of 15 bivouacked PAVN troops killing 6. Within minutes the team received a barrage of 82mm mortars and immediately formed a 360-degree security. 90 minutes later gunships arrived on station and informed the team that the PAVN surrounded them. At 19:30 despite receiving 0.50 caliber and 82mm mortar fire helicopters inserted a reinforced platoon from Company D 1st Marines to assist. Meanwhile, additional platoons from Company D, along with Company C, moving overland from the east took up blocking positions north of the encircled reconnaissance team before dark. At daylight on 25 August, Marine helicopters inserted the remainder of Company D. During the insertion a CH-34, while dodging enemy fire, struck a tree breaking off the tail section, killing 3 and wounding 14. With the arrival of elements of 1/3 Marines and Company M, 3/9 Marines later in the day, the Marines effectively cordoned the area, preventing a PAVN withdrawal. During the remainder of the 25th and into the 26th, as Companies C and D, 1st Marines pushed southward toward the other blocking forces, the PAVN made several unsuccessful attempts to break the cordon. By the end of 26 August, after three days of fighting, the US claimed the PAVN had suffered 78 killed while the Marines suffered 11 killed and 58 wounded.[3]: 389–90
On 31 August 1 Marines was relieved of responsibility for the Kentucky area of operations and the Army's 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) took over.[3]: 390
On 4 September, a platoon from Company A, 61st Infantry Regiment was sent to the relief of Company M 3/9 Marines which was engaged in battle with a reinforced PAVN company in bunkers west of Con Thien. Joined by a reaction force from Company C, 61st Infantry, and supported by artillery and airstrikes, the American units claimed to have killed more than 20 PAVN for 6 US killed and 55 wounded in the two-and-one-half-hour battle that followed.[3]: 391
On 11 September, Company D, 11th Infantry engaged a PAVN force of unknown strength from the 27th Independent Regiment occupying bunkers near the "Market Place," 4 km northeast of Con Thien. The Company called for air and artillery strikes while a platoon of tanks from the 1st Battalion, 77th Armored moved up reinforce. At 18:30 the PAVN attempted to break contact, but the artillery prevented their withdrawal. One group of PAVN raised a white flag, so the American gunners ceased fire momentarily to allow the group to surrender, instead the PAVN broke and ran and the artillery barrage resumed. A later sweep of the area found 40 dead PAVN, 7 were captured.[3]: 392
On 13 September following Arclight and naval and land artillery strikes 3 Battalion task forces from the 5th Infantry Division attacked into the DMZ northeast of Con Thien. To the east the ARVN 1st Squadron, 7th Armored Cavalry, supported by two platoons from Company A, 3rd Tank Battalion, simultaneously attacked to the north and northeast of A-2 and Gio Linh. The ARVN achieved almost immediate contact. The Marine tanks providing a base of fire for the advancing ARVN infantry fired 90mm canister and high-explosive rounds and their machine guns to break through the PAVN defenses and claiming to have killed 73 PAVN. Following in the wake of the tanks, and supported by helicopter gunships, the ARVN infantry killed an additional 68 PAVN and captured one. On the left flank, after encountering mines and antitank fire, the three Army task forces joined the action, claiming to have killed 35 PAVN and seizing a large cache of mortar rounds. The allied forces reached their northernmost objectives, turned south, and returned to their bases by late afternoon. The captured PAVN soldier identified his unit as an element of the 138th Regiment which had assumed control of the 27th Independent Regiment's area of operations, due to the heavy casualties suffered by the regiment in recent months.[3]: 393
In late September heavy monsoon rains had swollen the Ben Hai River, forcing remnants of the PAVN 320th Division and independent regiments north across the river, but military intelligence indicated that some groups had been trapped in the south by the rising water. On 26 September Companies B, C, and D, 11th Infantry moved out from positions at C-2 and C-2 Bridge. In coordination with the ARVN 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 2nd Regiment, and the 3rd Marines, the companies moved to a position west of Con Thien and then attacked north across the southern boundary of the DMZ, toward the Dong Be Lao mountain complex. During an 8-day patrol into the DMZ, they encountered minimal opposition from the PAVN rearguard. Searches of numerous bunkers and other complexes indicated that the PAVN had only recently abandoned the positions.[3]: 393
On 11 October a brigade mechanized infantry and tank force, composed of Companies B and C, 61st Infantry and Company B, 77th Armored, engaged a platoon of PAVN in heavily fortified bunkers, 2.5 km northeast of Con Thien. The PAVN used RPGs and 60mm mortars to knock out 3 M48s and one M113. Mines disabled another two M48s and one M113, killing 3 and wounding 20. After five hours of battle 26 PAVN were killed.[3]: 394
Despite heavy rain during October, ground and aerial reconnaissance missions indicated the presence of a sizable PAVN force south of the Ben Hai River between Gio Linh and Con Thien. On 23 October the brigade task force, composed of three companies of the dismounted 1/61st Infantry attacked north from A-3 and Con Thien into the DMZ and then eastward along the Ben Hai River toward the 2nd ARVN Regiment and Company H, 9th Marines which had earlier trapped a PAVN force and claiming to have killed 112. As the task force continued eastward during the 24th, through Kinh Mon, Tan Mon, and An Xa along an abandoned railroad, Company A engaged a PAVN platoon, killing seven. At 08:30 on 25 October, Company A encountered a PAVN battalion in well-fortified bunkers, while Company B came under heavy small arms and mortar fire. By 10:30 the engaged companies had linked up, and while Company A attacked to the northeast against the enemy's flank, Company B assaulted and overran the enemy position, capturing one 82mm mortar, two 60mm mortars, and two 0.50-caliber machine guns. Both companies, later reinforced by Company B, 77th Armor, remained in contact until 18:00 killing 231 PAVN for the loss of 4 killed and 24 wounded.[3]: 395
On 22 October General Abrams, COMUSMACV ordered all construction and planning efforts associated with the anti-infiltration effort halted. Under the new plan, referred to as Duel Blade, allied forces, supported by air, artillery, and naval gunfire, would maintain a mobile posture and actively resist infiltration from the North by maintaining a comprehensive surveillance effort. While ground reconnaissance would be a part of the effort, attended and unattended detection devices or sensors would provide a majority of the surveillance capability. As part of the implementation of Duel Blade the "A" and "C" strongpoint sites considered essential would be used as fire support bases, while those of no value, such as A-3 and C-3, would be closed.[3]: 444
With effect from 21:00 on 1 November the US ceased all offensive operations against the territory of North Vietnam. This prohibition also applied to offensive operations north of the DMZ's southern boundary. General Abrams later sought and obtained authority to send squad-size patrols into the southern DMZ to capture prisoners and obtain intelligence on the PAVN military buildup in the DMZ.[3]: 396
On 1 November, the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, was directed to move from the Kentucky area of operations into an area near Quang Tri City. The 3rd Marines supported by the 3rd Tank Battalion assumed control of the Kentucky area.[3]: 443 As a sign of the reduced PAVN activity in the Kentucky area, by December only Company E, 2/3 Marines was responsible for the security for Con Thien and C-2 Bridge, as well as patrolling and ambushing throughout its assigned 54-square kilometer area.[3]: 449
Vende community, Nigeria: Winifred, 14, is part of Nigerian organisation ADDS’s orphans and vulnerable children programme because she is living with HIV, which means her immune system is weakened. Winifred used to regularly miss school due to illness, but her school marks have improved since she began using the mosquito net that ADDS provided.
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Nasal vaccines induce an immune response concentrated in the mucosal tissues of the airways, where the Covid-19 virus enters the body. Immune cells such as B cells, T cells and others migrate to mucosal tissues, where they can attack invading viruses quickly. B cells in the mucosa also secrete double-pronged IgA antibodies into the mucus lining the airway, where they can help neutralize viruses even before they enter airway cells.
Read more: "What next-gen Covid-19 vaccines might look like"
Tain is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland.
The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic name, Baile Dubhthaich, means 'Duthac's town', after a local saint also known as Duthus.
Tain was granted its first royal charter in 1066, making it Scotland's oldest royal burgh, commemorated in 1966 with the opening of the Rose Garden by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The 1066 charter, granted by King Malcolm III, confirmed Tain as a sanctuary, where people could claim the protection of the church, and an immunity, in which resident merchants and traders were exempt from certain taxes.
Little is known of earlier history although the town owed much of its importance to Duthac. He was an early Christian figure, perhaps 8th or 9th century, whose shrine had become so important by 1066 that it resulted in the royal charter. The ruined chapel near the mouth of the river was said to have been built on the site of his birth. Duthac became an official saint in 1419 and by the late Middle Ages his shrine was an important place of pilgrimage in Scotland. King James IV came at least once a year throughout his reign to achieve both spiritual and political aims.
A leading landowning family of the area, the Clan Munro, provided political and religious figures to the town, including the dissenter the Rev. John Munro of Tain (died ca. 1630).
The early Duthac Chapel was the centre of a sanctuary. Fugitives were by tradition given sanctuary in several square miles marked by boundary stones. During the First War of Scottish Independence, Robert the Bruce sent his wife and daughter to the sanctuary for safety. The sanctuary was violated and they were captured by forces loyal to William II, Earl of Ross who handed them over to Edward I of England.
Tain railway station is on the Far North Line. The station is unmanned; in its heyday it had 30 staff. The station was opened by the Highland Railway on 1 January 1864. From 1 January 1923, the station was owned by the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Then in 1948 the British railways were nationalised as British Railways. After the railways were privatised, the station was served by ScotRail.
Notable buildings in the town include Tain Tolbooth and St Duthus Collegiate Church. The town also has a local history museum, Tain Through Time, and the Glenmorangie distillery.
Tain has two primary schools; Craighill (274 pupils as of April 2011) and Knockbreck (just under 120 pupils as of April 2011). There is also a secondary school, Tain Royal Academy, with 590 pupils as of January 2017.
With conflict looming in the 1930s, an aerodrome large enough for bombers was built next to the town on low alluvial land known as the Fendom bordering the Dornoch Firth.[11] It was home to British, Czech (311 Sqn) and Polish airmen during the Second World War.
It was abandoned as a flying location after the war and converted to a bombing range for the Fleet Air Arm. In 1939 RAF Lossiemouth opened and was used until 1946 when the airfield was transferred to the Admiralty and becoming Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lossiemouth then returning to the RAF in 1972 as an RAF airfield and the Tain range reverted to the RAF. Large parts of the original aerodrome were returned to civilian use after the Second World War and some are still accessible.
Tain Golf Club offers a Championship length links golf course. Overlooking the Dornoch Firth, the course was first designed by Old Tom Morris in 1890.
Tain is represented in the Scottish Football Association affiliated North Caledonian Football League by senior football club St Duthus Football Club during the regular football season.
The Gizzen Briggs are sandbars at the entrance to the Dornoch Firth, and with the right wind, they can be heard at low tide. The so-called "million dollar view" to the north-west of Tain, accessible via the A836 westward towards Bonar Bridge and then the B9176 Struie Road, gives a panoramic view of Dornoch Firth and Sutherland.
Five important castles are in the vicinity – Carbisdale Castle, built for the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland and now a youth hostel; Skibo Castle, once home of the industrialist Andrew Carnegie and now a hotel; Dunrobin Castle, ancestral seat of the Duke of Sutherland (castle and gardens open to the public); Balnagown Castle, ancestral seat of the Clan Ross, restored and owned by Mohammed Al Fayed; and Ballone Castle, restored by the owners of a local crafts business.
Highland Fine Cheeses, run by Ruaridh Stone (the brother of Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone), have a factory at Blarliath Farm, Tain.
Just outside Hill of Fearn near Tain lies the site of the medieval Fearn Abbey.
Tain was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall and Wick in the Northern Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. The constituency was a district of burghs known also as Tain Burghs until 1832, and then as Wick Burghs. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP). In 1918 the constituency was abolished, and Tain was merged into Ross and Cromarty.
Notable people
Saint Duthac (1000–1065), 11th century saint
Sir John Fraser (1885–1947), surgeon
Peter Fraser (1884–1950), 24th prime minister of New Zealand, was born in Hill of Fearn, near Tain.
George MacKenzie (1886–1957), president of the Institute of Banking, 1941–45
Rev John Munro of Tain, 17th-century religious dissenter, was a minister here.
David Robertson (born 1962), former Free Church of Scotland moderator and Christian commentator, grew up in Portmahomack.
Elizabeth Ness MacBean Ross (1878–1915), physician who was raised here and attended Tain Royal Academy.
John Ross (1726–1800), merchant during the American Revolution
Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896), served as Moderator of the General Assembly to the Free Church of Scotland in 1884.
Professor Thomas Summers West (1927–2010), an internationally acclaimed analytical chemist, went to school at Tain Royal Academy.
The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.
The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.
The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.
The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.
Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.
Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".
Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".
Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West. Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way. The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes.
Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities. Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land. In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.
In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.
When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected. This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms. Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.
The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.
Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.
According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".
The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.
For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.
In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.
A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.
Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.
The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.
There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.
Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.
The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.
These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.
The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.
Climate
The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.
Places of interest
An Teallach
Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)
Arrochar Alps
Balmoral Castle
Balquhidder
Battlefield of Culloden
Beinn Alligin
Beinn Eighe
Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station
Ben Lomond
Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Cairngorms National Park
Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore
Cairngorm Mountains
Caledonian Canal
Cape Wrath
Carrick Castle
Castle Stalker
Castle Tioram
Chanonry Point
Conic Hill
Culloden Moor
Dunadd
Duart Castle
Durness
Eilean Donan
Fingal's Cave (Staffa)
Fort George
Glen Coe
Glen Etive
Glen Kinglas
Glen Lyon
Glen Orchy
Glenshee Ski Centre
Glen Shiel
Glen Spean
Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)
Grampian Mountains
Hebrides
Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.
Highland Wildlife Park
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Jail
Inverness Castle
Inverewe Garden
Iona Abbey
Isle of Staffa
Kilchurn Castle
Kilmartin Glen
Liathach
Lecht Ski Centre
Loch Alsh
Loch Ard
Loch Awe
Loch Assynt
Loch Earn
Loch Etive
Loch Fyne
Loch Goil
Loch Katrine
Loch Leven
Loch Linnhe
Loch Lochy
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lubnaig
Loch Maree
Loch Morar
Loch Morlich
Loch Ness
Loch Nevis
Loch Rannoch
Loch Tay
Lochranza
Luss
Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)
Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran
Rannoch Moor
Red Cuillin
Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83
River Carron, Wester Ross
River Spey
River Tay
Ross and Cromarty
Smoo Cave
Stob Coire a' Chàirn
Stac Polly
Strathspey Railway
Sutherland
Tor Castle
Torridon Hills
Urquhart Castle
West Highland Line (scenic railway)
West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)
Wester Ross
This propeller leading edge is immune from corrosion, which is a problem in this climate. It's made out of carbon fiber, and rather expensive, but you get what you pay for.
This unapproved product is sold with fraudulent claims to prevent, treat, mitigate, diagnose, or cure COVID-19. FDA warns consumers to avoid unproven and potentially unsafe products. See the Warning Letter for more information:
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The lymphatic system is part of the immune system where cleansing of blood, and the detoxification of our bodies takes place. A huge network of lymphatic vessels recycles blood plasma by removing fluid from the tissues, filtering it, and carrying it back into the bloodstream.
These are 10 foods to add into your diet to boost the lymphatic system:
* Water
May not be a food item, but essential to life. Drink plenty of clean, purified water. Water keeps the lymph fluid hydrated and flowing smoothly.
* Cranberry
Cranberry is an amazing emulsifier of fat which means it helps break down excess fat for the lymphatic vessels to carry away.
* Leafy greens
That green nutrient has powerful cleansing properties and beneficial effects on the blood and thus on lymph fluid as well.
* Nuts and seeds
The essential healthy fats found in seeds like chia, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado, play a role in fighting inflammation. They also strengthen our inner organs walls.
* Adaptogenic herbs
Goldenseal, Echinacea, and Astragalus are three herbsthat help alleviate inflammation and congestion of the lymph nodes and vessels.
* Garlic
Garlic boosts immune function and combats harmful microbes. It improves circulation and aids in the cleansing of toxins. It boosts the function of your lymphatic system and contains antibacterial qualities.
* Ginger / Turmeric
Both have beneficial effects on digestion and circulation; two systems that are tied directly to the processes of the lymphatic system. Also they help reduce inflammation, thin blood and improve circulation.
* Seaweed
Sea vegetables help the body detox and eliminate excess fluid that can build up in tissues and slow the lymphatic system down.
* Citrus
Citrus fruits aid hydration, carry powerful antioxidants and enzymes, and help cleanse and protect the lymphatic system.
This unapproved product is sold with fraudulent claims to prevent, treat, mitigate, diagnose, or cure COVID-19. FDA warns consumers to avoid unproven and potentially unsafe products. See the Warning Letter for more information:
www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-crimin...
More information is available at www.fda.gov/consumers/health-fraud-scams/fraudulent-coron...
Photo by FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch
This photo is free of all copyright restrictions and available for use and redistribution without permission. Credit to FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch is appreciated but not required.