i uploaded darkroom text i made for workshop on my site. it's for beginner and for film continuance in future. please download or print out it freely. its also including minimum darkroom goods for starting. but just it's my way. you better find your best film with best develop time and liquid temperature or developer, matching your photography. フィルム存続のため少しでも役立てればと、おれがワークショップ用に作ったテキストをサイトに載せました。これからフィルム現像を始めようというかたどうぞご参考に。現像に必要な最低限の用具なども記してます。フィルムや現像時間等はおれが通常やってるものなんで、皆さん自分にあったフィルム、現像時間、水温あるいは現像液を見つけてください。

junkunishimura.com/info.html

I fed the sheep. Thought "omg those sunset clouds got wonderful colours from apricot to pink." Ran inside the garage I live in and got camera and tripod. Out again and down to the east of the property. My hands were frozen. They freeze very fast. It took me about 5 minutes to place the tripod and attach the camera. Then those apricot to pink clouds were GONE. Cursing like a coachman I ran towards the north where one last cloud was collapsing colourwise. I took this photograph. But it's not nearly as impressive as the clouds had been 5 minutes before. I got to do this a bit faster in future.

This year, our annual "Stumpy's birthday" photo trip took us to the Yorkshire Dales, and what a glorious weekend we picked for it! It apparently hasn't stopped raining in several days, and everywhere is flooded, including most of the access roads to the hotel! We are praying there won't be much more, or I am going to have to swim home for work on Monday, must remember to pack life jacket in camera bag in future, even the sheep have snorkels!

 

This was one shot I managed to grab before the rain really became something that would have worried Noah.

I thought the man and sheepdog was very apt for the location.

 

We drove miles up one road for a viewpoint, but could only see 10 feet ahead, because of the rain cloud, but I am sure it would have been lovely if we could see it.

 

But not to worry, it still looks like a stunning place, so we will be back when the sun has remembered that it is supposed to join us on our photo trips!

To control Information Technology (IT) costs we think about and act within the enterprise as a whole, in part because we sell enterprise and mid-level solutions. We apply an Enterprise Architecture (EA) strategy which at the top level is comprised of infrastructure and communication considerations. This is not just about technical infrastructure, defined or designed by IT, because it is highly likely that such individual solutions (one offs) will not align to core business strategies (vertical needs verses horizontal needs spanning the whole company).

 

It is not really possible to do this, that is consider the entire company's needs, without significant participation by the business for which we use terms such as Solution Delivery or Product Management. Product and program managers from a solution delivery framework gather information, report back to the business, and return to apply the business strategies to align with short, medium, and especially long term business goals.

 

This business and implementation strategy focus is a change agent, to reduce siloed thinking, and achieve more horizontal capability across units. We reduce multiple applications, which take time to manage and maintain, and where it makes sense, fold them into one. Because we take security and privacy of our customers very seriously, any applications which may be at risk have been identified and are brought up into our standards. The process of combining risk management goals, application and data reduction streams saves money, although the process of so much change at once can be stressful at the unit, project, and personal levels.

 

We seek to empower self-service among our partners, customers and employees, for access to all kinds of information they need, and internally reduce redundant data stores, for example referring to customers by one identifier if possible. This is especially challenging in our partner relationships with multiple data stores that contain similar information about customers which are identified in completely different ways. This is the reason for serious data modeling and tight or loose coupling where needed – to retrieve and move information back to the partner systems. We leverage Microsoft software, and then buy, build, minimize or reuse existing systems.

 

In order to be more successful in our efforts to control IT costs we strive to increase flexibility among existing staff and provide rewards for strategic thinking – this strategic thinking aligns along company-wide goals. We need people with the right skills who work in efficient methods, only including the people who need to be included to make decisions or act. In fact we need to change confrontational and passive aggressive behaviors internally to collaborative personality styles – changing the organizations culture is doable but difficult. For more information I recommend reading "The Heart of Change" by Kotter and Cohen.

 

The technologies we invest in to help control IT costs are our own. We custom write stuff served up on Microsoft servers and plan to use SharePoint as the UI for our new change request tool. We are substantially reducing and eliminating the number of different applications (SQL stored procedures or XML Blobs mostly) we use and maintain on a daily basis. We are moving from C++ to C#/.NET (C Sharp and .Net technologies).

 

We use Microsoft software as our strategy to control IT costs - it is easy to manage, and has great support. Some team members keep an eye on relevant Open Source software as competitive analysis. When we use it, we know not only how but why.

 

Our company is getting the maximum value from its data center investment because we have not invested to the level we need for our infrastructure. We expect to remediate this lack of investment after deploying skilled, thoughtful product managers with the right combination of education and practical experience to assist in this effort through the next couple of years.

 

What is our organization doing to maximize the value from its data center investment? In addition to the other things mentioned we outsource development and support to India, Israel, and developing countries, etc. We also are making use of tax advantaged locations for large savings in transactions.

 

We are adding metrics and measurements by which we evaluate not just personal progress but internal and external customer satisfaction with our IT initiatives on a project by project basis to self-improve.

 

The practices which enable us to maximize value from our IT investment are varied and multifaceted. To maximize ongoing investment we are adding solution delivery strategies, planning ahead, and aligning IT with company-wide goals. Of course in our space we have some unique issues, and as a public company even more so. One thing that may surprise you is some of our projects we do end to end locally because of how critical success is. We leverage our best, most successful local managers to produce projects and design larger scale solutions if we determine it is the best strategy – so in this way we are flexible – we don't just out source everything.

 

We are in the process of reducing the number of applications we need to maintain, and where it is appropriate fold one into another so long as the user interface or back ends do not become unmanageable. We are making over our change request platform from top to bottom which we feel will enable quicker turnarounds on change requests – it is both loosely and tightly coupled where it needs to be. For the presentation layer we choose Microsoft SharePoint.

 

Conversely, what factors are inhibiting our organization from reaping the maximum value from its data center investments? The factors inhibiting the maximum value include a lack of foresight in strategic planning for long term goals –

 

1. Putting temporary things together to just meet immediate needs.

 

2. Focusing on small details and not seeing the big picture.

 

3. Lack of metrics to evaluate progress, process, and client / customer / partner success.

 

4. Unwillingness of team members to change or promote change even when it is in their and the companies' best interest.

 

5. Having too many data centers, identifying customers in too many ways.

 

How important is productivity within the IT function in our efforts to control IT costs and maximize our data center investment? Functionality, capacity, and reliability far outstrip productivity, but that is only because we have already hit very high productivity goals and exceeded them. Here are some of the metrics we examine:

 

Metrics

 

Percentage of project budgeted costs

Scope requirements

Total cost of ownership

Traceability

Defects rate (sev1, sev2, sev3 bugs - zero tolerance for sev1)

Completed requirements

Customer satisfaction scores (cust sats)

Schedule slippage

Flexibility of management styles

End-to-end throughput time per client-side user request

System extensibility

Scalability

Maintainability

Defects per thousand lines of code (KLOC or by function)

Support functionality and documentation availability, and completeness prior to launch

Rates of failure

Restoration (emergency)

Availability

Test effectiveness

Business acceptance

System acceptance (signoff)

Average turn around time for service and change requests

Number of security or privacy defects (last two should be zero tolerance in launch candidates)

Number of post freeze change requests

Among the mandatory metrics used are peer review effectiveness of code, and post mortems and overall customer satisfaction. In other words we do not consider just ontime delivery of products, enhancements, or new functionality.

 

What is our organization doing to improve productivity within its IT function?

Getting the right people – some people grew with us or came to us with deep knowledge from the school of hard knocks – work experience – we seek to capture the most knowledgeable and either increase their education or find those with both practical work experience and advanced degrees. Good thing this is Seattle with its heavily educated population. New programs at the university level such as Informatics and Information Management are producing the people we need – not just MBAs or Master of Comp Sci - because so much of our development work we outsource to India and developing countries, and IT is not traditionally closely aligned with marketing or sales. We do outsource much of the development work as is possible.

 

The undergrad Informatics and Master of Science in Information Management programs at the University of Washington are housed in Mary Gates' Hall, renovated and named in honor of Bill Gate's late mother, it's headed by Mike Crandall (Dublin Core, Microsoft, Boeing). So you can see this is the direction we are going regionally, because that is where the spend is. Another great information school is at the University of California at Berkeley, housed in one of the oldest and most architecturally beautiful collegiate buildings on the west coast, South Hall. On the physical level all Berkeley had to do is add wireless. Excellent academics such as the seminal thinker Dr Michael Buckland are there at Berkeley, and business leaders such as Mitch Kapor. Industry wide I think iSchools are having an effect, adding a more well rounded, even playful culture to high tech operations.

 

Improving and opening the culture is important. Having a shared lexicon is one of the benefits of educated people; those with MSIM (master of science in information management), Informatics, technical MBA degrees can comunicate effectively with highly technical people - this can produce enormous savings and long term cost benefits. Increased, clear, enthusiastic communication saves IT costs.

 

In strategy meetings, for example, we often include Enterprise Architects to assist in stack ranking program and project development, because this helps reduce redundant systems.

 

Our organization's ability to measure the return on investment (ROI) or success of its IT investments is “Fair but mixed,” we want ROI to be easily measureable and this means evaluating the correct things, asking the right questions in the first place, not following other organizations techniques, although we examine them as examples.

 

We are adding ways to evaluate our ROI – we do use business analysis methods. There is always an identifiable way to analyze and measure the relationship of what something costs even if it appears intangible such as Brand protection.

 

Considering the strategic and tactical stuff we are doing, at the core, creativity is what drives our success. Creativity is always a very difficult thing to measure. In fact it could be said that if you try, you are barking up the wrong tree. However creative thinking around practical goals has provided us success. This is where the ideas around flexibility and being very responsive come to play.

 

We have found very very high ROI around outsourced projects because they must be clearly defined within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) compliance.

 

Those people who actually think out of the box are oftentimes not recognized by co-workers and management. Change is perceived as negative among full time staff. We seek to show support for both full time employees and consultants, and change this view and enhance their ability to communicate ideas. That is why our management keeps an open door policy. Unfortunately like any other policies the hazard is that individual managers must believe in our policies around openness and creativity; such self-selecting polices are impossible to enforce.

 

Our organization uses balanced scorecards, Six Sigma and other types of internally derived quantitative value measurement methods to measure the ROI or success of our IT investments.

 

The continued use of these methods we expect will substantially improve the management and measurement of our IT investments. Some of the metrics are at the discretion of the product or program manager, others are mandatory. In part we have some success- at issue is adopting metrics and measurement as well as Enterprise Architecture and engaging with open arms increased strategic thinking and planning.

 

Senior management must come together and present a unified strategy for the entire company – which is a top down management style but it must be embraced from the bottom up. This is within a framework of enforced change as we seek to achieve excellence in all of our business units, especially in core infrastructure – those units which either produce money, or cost money. Some of our key investments we know are lost leaders, but other research will more than make up for those. Enforced change in this context means business units receive minimum budget until they comply.

 

We are still feeling the effects of the changes the Web brings in enterprise directly and for our customers; we continue to learn from the effects of communities and communication via the Web. The opportunities for growth are so enormous that it is all the more important that we curb spending where it is not required and apply it as much as possible to grow in creative arenas which still have huge untapped profit potential. It is not just about money, among hard core technologists – those who really love it – money is secondary in many ways - it’s about the fun stuff technology can bring as well as the benefit to serve humanity that technology brings.

 

High tech, information technology, and software development have made some strides to maturity but we are still learning new things; it will be a learning industry, discovering and inventing stuff for a long time to come.

 

p.s.

Enforced Change is a radically different challenge, and promises different ways of looking at human-to-human, individual-to-corporation, corporate-to-corporate, human-to- computer interactions, etc, which I plan to cover in future articles, so stay tuned!

  

One of my favorite MOCs so far in my collection of 1 : 15 scale cars. The mighty URAL 375D. Lego fans will recognize the color as probably the most accurate, but at the same time the most crazy color choice - olive green. Took me about one year to collect all the pieces and make this happen.

Oh yea - it is fully motorized. Each axle is powered by L-motor. Steering my M-motor (I hate Servo motor for steering). But the most interesting part - each axle uses torsial anti-slip differential. And both rear axles are actually connected - so both rear L-motors power both rear axles. Uhh... I just love the solution and I'll probably try to use it in future MOCs too.

So - hope you like this. And as always - best of creativity to whatever you are doing! 😃 Stay safe!

(for English scroll down)

 

Am 19. Juni 2015 verlegte die Weinkellerei F. W. Langguth Erben aus Traben-Trarbach die Welt der Erben Weine für einen Abend von der Mosel an die Spree und feierte mit „Hot Barbecue“ die erfolgreiche Premiere einer neuen Veranstaltungsreihe. Mit der „Erben Tafelrunde“, einer Serie von Pop-up-Events, möchte das Familienunternehmen Langguth seine Traditionsmarke künftig einem jungen, urbanen Publikum näher bringen. - Ziel von Langguth ist es, den Teilnehmern an den Veranstaltungen ein ungewöhnliches, überraschendes und mit allen Sinnen erfahrbares Markenerlebnis rund um die Erben Weine zu bieten und dadurch die Grundlage für eine emotionale Bindung zu fördern.

 

Die Premiere fand an einem Ort statt, der selbst in Berlin noch als Geheimtipp gilt - ein direkt an der Spree gelegenes, altes Kranhaus (Kranhaus Café) in Köpenick. Den rund 40 Gästen, darunter Mitglieder der wachsenden Markenbotschafter-Community der „Erben Gemeinschaft“ und Berliner Food- und Genussblogger, wurde die An- und Abreise vom und zum Historischen Hafen auf dem solarbetrieben Katamaran SOLON ermöglicht. Getreu dem Motto des Abends „Hot Barbecue: Chili trifft Erben Wein“ war das Programm als kulinarisches Crowd-Pairing-Experiment angelegt, in dessen Verlauf verschiedene Chili-Saucen, präsentiert vom Chili-Fachmann Felix Eichholtz vom Pfefferhaus Berlin mit diversen Weinen aus dem Erben Sortiment kombiniert wurden. Dazu exquisite Barbecue-Gerichte, authentisch zubereitet im „Smoker“ von BBQ-Master Adam Ramirez aus Texas von „The Pit - Real Texas Barbecue“. Anders als beim klassischen Wine-Pairing wurde den Gästen beim Crowd-Pairing pro Gang eine Auswahl aus drei Erben Weinen serviert. Die Idee hinter dem Crowd-Pairing ist, nicht Weinexperten, sondern den Schwarm per Abstimmung entscheiden zu lassen, welche Food-Wein-Kombination am besten zusammenpasst. Für den Veranstalter und die Teilnehmer war der Auftakt der Pop-up-Eventserie am Ende ein voller Erfolg.

 

*** ERSTER GANG ***

 

Truthahnbrust geräuchert an Dreierlei Käse-Dips. Dazu Grim Reaper „Rookie Goblin"

 

Weinauswahl

2014 Erben Patenschaft-Riesling, Trabener Königsberg Riesling feinherb, Mosel

2014 Erben Grauburgunder trocken, Pfalz

2014 Erben Spätlese feinfruchtig, Rheinhessen

 

*** ZWEITER GANG ***

 

Pulled Pork aus dem Smoker an Pariser Blattsalat und Quinoasalat. Dazu „Marie Sharp's „Hot Habanero“ Chili Sauce

 

Weinauswahl

2013 Erben Spätburgunder lieblich, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Dornfelder Rosé halbtrocken, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Exklusiv Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé Réserve trocken, Pfalz

 

*** DRITTER GANG ***

 

Rinderbraten aus dem Smoker an Linsensalat und Schwäbischem Kartoffelsalat. Dazu Suicide Sauces "Habanero BBQ“ Chili Sauce

 

Weinauswahl

2014 Erben Regent fruchtig-süss, Rheinhessen

2013 Erben Exklusiv Dornfelder Barrique trocken, Pfalz

2013 Erben Exklusiv Spätburgunder Réserve trocken, im Eichenholz gereift, Rheinhessen

 

*** VIERTER GANG ***

 

Quark-Joghurt mit Trauben Walnuss Dessert. Dazu

Suicide Sauces "Mango Fire“ Chili Sauce

 

Weinauswahl

2013 Erben Exklusiv Huxelrebe Auslese, fruchtig-süss, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Müller-Thurgau fruchtig-süss, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Spätlese feinfruchtig, Rheinhessen

 

www.erben-wein.de/

____________________________________________________

 

HOT BARBECUE: Chili meets Erben wine

 

On June 19, 2015, the F. W. Langguth Erben winery from Traben-Trarbach moved the world of Erben wines from the Mosel to the Spree for an evening and celebrated the successful premiere of a new series of events with "Hot Barbecue". With the "Erben Tafelrunde", a series of pop-up events, the Langguth family business aims to bring its traditional brand closer to a young, urban audience in future. - Langguth's aim is to offer participants in the events an unusual, surprising brand experience around Erben wines that can be experienced with all the senses, thereby promoting the basis for an emotional bond.

 

The premiere took place at a location that is still considered an insider tip even in Berlin - an old crane house (Kranhaus Café) in Köpenick, located directly on the River Spree. Around 40 guests, including members of the growing "Erben Gemeinschaft" brand ambassador community and Berlin food and gourmet bloggers, were able to travel to and from the historic harbor on the solar-powered catamaran SOLON. True to the motto of the evening "Hot Barbecue: Chili meets Erben Wine", the program was designed as a culinary crowd-pairing experiment, in the course of which various chili sauces, presented by chili expert Felix Eichholtz from Pfefferhaus Berlin, were combined with various wines from the Erben range. These were accompanied by exquisite barbecue dishes, authentically prepared in the "smoker" by BBQ master Adam Ramirez from Texas from "The Pit - Real Texas Barbecue". In contrast to classic wine pairing, guests were served a selection of three heirloom wines per course at the crowd-pairing event. The idea behind crowd-pairing is not to let wine experts decide which food-wine combination goes best together, but to let the crowd decide by voting. The kick-off of the pop-up event series ended up being a complete success for the organizer and the participants.

 

*** FIRST COURSE ***

 

Smoked turkey breast with three kinds of cheese dips.Served with Grim Reaper "Rookie Goblin"

 

Wine selection

2014 Erben Patenschaft Riesling, Trabener Königsberg Riesling feinherb, Mosel

2014 Erben Pinot Gris dry, Palatinate

2014 Erben Spätlese fine fruity, Rheinhessen

 

*** SECOND COURSE ***

 

Pulled pork from the smoker with Parisian leaf salad and quinoa salad. Served with "Marie Sharp's "Hot Habanero" Chili Sauce

 

Wine selection

2013 Erben Pinot Noir sweet, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Dornfelder Rosé semi-dry, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Exklusiv Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé Réserve dry, Palatinate

 

*** THIRD COURSE ***

 

Roast beef from the smoker with lentil salad and Swabian potato salad. Served with Suicide Sauces "Habanero BBQ" Chili Sauce

 

Wine selection

2014 Erben Regent fruity-sweet, Rheinhessen

2013 Erben Exklusiv Dornfelder Barrique dry, Palatinate

2013 Erben Exklusiv Pinot Noir Réserve dry, matured in oak, Rheinhessen

 

*** FOURTH COURSE ***

 

Curd yogurt with grape walnut dessert. Served with

Suicide Sauces "Mango Fire" Chili Sauce

 

Wine selection

2013 Erben Exklusiv Huxelrebe Auslese, fruity-sweet, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Müller-Thurgau fruity-sweet, Rheinhessen

2014 Erben Spätlese fine fruity, Rheinhessen

 

www.erben-wein.de/

When I hit the ACT in 2012 I swung by the SITA yard in Hume a few times to check out what was happening. As per my initial investigation via Google street view, I spotted a number of old Riteway bodied front-lifts parked up inside the gates. However, I also spotted 2 very young looking 6x4 Pegasus/ACCO FLs, one of which features in the picture. It seems the company was in the process of upgrading the fleet, with these two the then latest arrivals. I’m sure by now there are probably no more Riteways left in the ACT C&I fleet, quite likely now a group of these 6x4 ACCOs, maybe even a couple of twin steers. It would’ve been cool to catch one of these trucks in action, but unfortunately I never managed to stumble across one during my visit. I’m also going to miss these signature green bodies and that bright SITA logo in future!

I recently got a tip on a family of Horned Owls... parents and three fledglings. After a missing them on the first trip, I got better intel and found them on a second trip. I had hoped to get a shot of them together, but only found them dispersed in a grove of Eucalyptus trees. Low light conditions and a slow lens forced me to up the ISO to 1000, so there is a bit of noise. Hopefully I can get them together in future excursions.

After many years of planning and consultation, Bus Connects starts its roll-out in Dublin on Sunday 26th September. First to be done is the Howth Road corridor which will be the H-Spine.

 

Route 29A is to become route H1 with no changes. It is planned in future for the H1 to be extended from Baldoyle to Clongriffin. SG 313 is seen in Raheny with a service on the last day of the 29A to Baldoyle. This bus was based in Donnybrook Garage but transferred to Clontarf Garage to ensure enough buses in the new livery for the H Spine launch. 26/06/2021

When you hook up with your girlfriends and end up in a food coma..

 

Seriously though, this photo (and other group self-portraits to be posted over the next few days) has a little story.

In November 2019, I styled, directed, and modelled for a fairly large-scale photographic event over 8 days at The Hacienda London, with a total of 12 models, 16 photographers, countless various behind-the-scenes guys, beautiful vintage & Indian-inspired styling from All About Audrey (see last post) and collectively we raised over £1000 for Battersea Dogs & Cats home in London to help stray & abandoned pets find the forever home they deserve.

It's crazy to think this room was comparatively empty before I installed buckets of dried leaves, rose petals, sackcloth, rugs, all the bohemian table decor and of course a ukelele!

And much more out of shot which will be revealed in future posts, so stay tuned. I'm so excited to be able to share these photos with you as this is by far the largest scaled event I've ever styled & directed!

 

Models: (from top) Jessica Tyalor, Irida S, Roisin Marie, me (in blonde wig), Jade Lyon, Nicole Rayner & Soria Rosee

 

Set design, photography & retouching by me

 

Photography assistance by my wonderful partner, Simone Orsini

 

Clothing by All About Audrey - www.allaboutaudrey.co.uk

 

Location is The Hacienda home studio, Shoreditch, London

Thanks to everyone for your enthusiastic comments on my recent bear series from BC. I will return to the West Coast in future uploads, but for now, some recent prairie shots. The season is slipping quickly toward winter and I've been catching the migratory birds and a bit of fall colour - with a few surprises along the way - while putting a new roof on my house, prepping some images for publication in a couple of magazine articles, winterizing my car, shooting some new assignments, planting garlic, and doing some major garden cleanup. Sometimes I eat and sleep, too...

 

At the end of September I visited friends north of Saskatoon. On the way I stopped at Reed Lake, where there were thousands of snow geese and ducks, a few shorebirds, and hundreds of Tundra Swans. White feathers and fluff floated on the water like foam. If anything, there were too many swans bunched together, but at the edge of the resting flock the numbers thinned out and I was able to find a simple composition. Seven swans. If I were a poet I would jump onto that. Visually, I liked the horizontal banding and the separation between each bird. The light varied that day between cloudy bright and dull, with a little rain at times; there would be sunshine further north. The result? A visual smorgasbord, each new twist and variation offering up different possibilities. More to come!

 

Photographed at Reed Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

A Toyota concept car. Here is some quick info..

 

The Toyota FT-1 concept is a pure performance, track-focused sports car model created by CALTY Design Research, Toyota's North American Design branch. The FT-1 concept is a symbol that captures elements of the emotion and energy we can expect to see in future Toyota vehicles designs. Its design is heavily influenced by Toyota's long sports car tradition that includes vehicles such as 2000GT, Celica, Supra and most recently, FT-86 (Scion F-RS).

 

Shot with a Canon T3i W/ Sigma 18-35 MM F 1.8 DC lens and edited in Lightroom 5

The three pandas at the San Diego Zoo are getting bamboo imported from the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens as part of an effort to diversify their diet. The bamboo, harvested from large stands of bamboo that have grown in the Pasadena-area gardens for many years, represents a diversity of species that are not currently as available in the San Diego Zoo’s own groves.

 

"At the San Diego Zoo, we have been cultivating and harvesting our bamboo for almost two decades," said Michael Schlegel, nutritionist for the San Diego Zoo. "By making use of the Huntington’s resources we are able to give our stands a rest, allowing them to grow more fully for harvest in future years."

 

Zoo horticulturists harvest the Huntington’s bamboo weekly, bringing back about 200 pounds each trip. The variety, amount and quality of the bamboo stands offer high-quality food for the well loved black and white animals in San Diego.

 

"When the zoo dietician contacted us about harvesting some of our bamboo for the pandas, we were happy to help. Thinning the groves is healthy for the plants, and we had plenty of it to spare, especially around our Chinese and Japanese gardens. Some species of bamboo are native to China, and since pandas are finicky about what they eat, it'll be interesting to see if they like those best," said David MacLaren, Curator of Asian Gardens at The Huntington.

I just deleted half my photostream and will probably delete a load more of them... Whilst many of my shots showed an okay composition and /or subject, I think the light was just crap in most of them. I will try to upload better quality images in future.

 

Your favs 'n' follows are much appreciated! :)

Wanna be cool man like him in future

 

Canonet QL1.9

Kodak Proimage100

 

On the way to Geneva

Where am I from? Colax. Ordinary mining colony. There are dozens of them. Not a perfect place, but it could be worse. Atmosphere is inert, put pressure is normal. So oxygen mask is your best friend there. It’s quite cool place: 10-15C at day, just above zero at night. Rocks, sand and dust everywhere. And iron ore. Goode one. It’s only reason for colony to exist. Ore is quite unique; it’s very reach and doesn’t need much refining. The whole subsector gets iron from here. Plus a bit of extra rare metals. Colax isn’t old colony, everything works perfect. Most of industrial processes are automated. So there are not many workers. It will change in future when machines will start to break. More workers to support equipment, more equipment to support life of workers. You understand. But now it’s fine. Mines are in good condition, metal factory too. Sometimes some issues happen in spaceport, but it is normal. Usually it’s quite there, only a few shuttles arrive per week. But when a large cargo ship appears on orbit, it’s total mess. Such ships can’t land due to their size, so small orbital shuttles are used. Lots of them. But number of landing pads is limited. Spaceport works non-stop for several days to process cargo. And if only somebody mixes up container…

This is a continuation of the previous extinct birds plate in www.flickr.com/photos/10770266@N04/5043889621/

 

The species represented here are:

 

1. Alaotra grebe (Tachybaptus rufolarvatus)

This small waterfowl was endemic to lake Alaotra in Madagascar and have the sad "honour" of be the last bird declared extinct. Last record was in 1985 and the bird was declared extinct in march 2010, before that, the last declared extinct bird was the po'o-uli, treated in this same plate (number 5). Form this bird exist only one photograph of an alive bird. Causes of extinction are habitat destruction and introduced predatory fishes. Also hybridation with the widespread Little Grebe (T. ruficollis) played, but as this alwas happened before human destruction of Madagascar, this last fact only can damage a previously damaged population. In the Lake Alaotra also lives an endemic pochard (Aythya innotata) that was declared extinct, but in 2006 I readed that it was rediscovered alive so my hopes for the grebe aumented. However the grebe don't had the same luck as the pochard.

 

2. Red-moustached fruit dove (Ptilinopus mercierii)

This pigeon, as colorful as other fruit doves, lived once in Marquesas islands in Polynesia. This bird had two different subspecies but both are extinct now. It was extinct due to predators introduced by humans: owls, cats and rats.

 

3. Crested shelduck (Tadorna cristata)

This magnific duck lived in eastern Asia. Last reliable record was in 1964 although many sight was reported in recent times, so is slightly possible that the bird is not extinct. Direct hunt and habitat loss are the causes of its extinction.

 

4. Red rail (Aphanapteryx bonasia)

One more of the many Mauritius bird that, as the dodo, was killed after the discovery of the Western Indian Ocean islands by occidental explorers. Rails (family Rallidae) seems to have one of the highest tendence to extinction, probably because many are reluctant to fly, or even unable (the Red Rail was flightless), as well as sensitive to habitat destruction and often chased for food. Red Rail was known from bones, old paintings and descriptions. It was discovered around 1600 and it't known than a number to alive ones was brought to Europe. This bird was extinct by direct hunt for food. Also introduced pigs helped, eating eggs and chicks. Around 1700 the bird was disappeared.

 

5. Po'o-uli (Melamprosops phaeosoma)

This is the last bird species to die with an exact extinction date, the 28th November 2004. As many other Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanididae), that became extinct or are being extincted now, this bird suffered a lot the diseases caused by introduced mosquitoes in Hawaii. It was discovered in 1973 with a population estimated of 200 individuals, but in 2002 only three birds left, one female was captured and brought to a zone where lived the last male. But the female flew away to her own territory in next day. In 2004 was planned to capture the three birds and bring to a recovering center. So the male was captured and brough to the center, but none female could be captured before the male died of avian malaria, three months after captured. Probably these two females died too.

 

6. Bonin grosbeak (Chaunoproctus ferreorostris)

This finch was seen only in Chichi-jima island in the Bonin Islands (Japan). Discovered in 1827, three years after the island was used by whale killers, and in 1854 an expedition don't found the bird anymore, that probably died because of the introduced predators and other destructive animals: pigs, rats, dogs, goats, sheep and cats. Like the Bonin Thrush (Zoothera terrestris), the bird disappeared from these islands, and then, from the world. Now we count with about 10 taxidermy specimens.

 

7. Bachman's warbler (Vermivora bachmani)

A small colorful insectivorous from North America that was not seen since 1988. Probably is extinct due to habitat destruction, but as recently as in 2002 a female bird was filmed in Cuba and could belong to this species.

 

8. Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis)

Almost as well known as the dodo between extinct birds, due to its North American origin and the dramatic, almost impossible to believe, human stupidness of its extinction. This beautiful parrot was the only North American parrot, living even in temperate climates. Flocks of thousands of birds flew in the past in the sky, feeding overall in the fruits of Xanthium strumarium, an invasive weed that grows in cultivation fields. But the humans saw the parakeets in these fields and authomatically thinked that the bird feeds on the plants that they grow, instead of the weeds. So a giant persecution started and farmers killes thousands and thousands of this bird every day. Parrots are amongst most intelligent birds and they have personality and strong feelings. When Carolina parakeets are shot and killed, other parakeets go close to the died bodies trying to reanimate, in an unusual solidary behaviour. Then the farmers kill them more and more and more parakeets come to cry for the deads and are killed again attracting more parakeets etc... this never stop until last parakeet was killed. Last wild Carolina parakeet was killed in 1904, and captive ones lived a bit more, last individual in the world, "Incas", died in Cincinnati zoo in 21th February 1918, while the last female, "Lady Jane", died a year before in same zoo. "Incas" died in the same enclosure than the last Passenger Pigeon (number 13), died four years before. This parakeet breeded very well in captivity and much more could have been done for keep them in worlds zoos. Other causes of extinction was destruction of forest and introduction of european Honey Bee, that takes the nesting places.

 

9. Labrador duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius)

This marine duck of North America had a lifestyle similar to the eiders, harliquin ducks and scoters. The last sight was on 1878, three years before the last preserved individual was shooted. Causes of extinction are not clear, hunt for food is a reason but the bird is reported that don't tastes good. Collectong of eggs and killing for feathers can also be a reason, as well as decreasing of some mollusks by overcollecting.

 

10. Guam flycatcher (Myiagra freycineti)

I choosed this bird because I found good photos of them alive, beucase it's extinction is very recent. The only cause of it's extinction is the introduction of a predator, the Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) . Last sight of this bird was in 1983.

 

11. Raiatea parakeet (Cyanoramphus ulietanus)

Like some other parakeets in this genus, C. ulietanus is gone. It was endemic to Raiatea island in Polynesia. This bird is only known by two collected specimens, and was not seen anymore after 1773. Probably it disappeared due to forest destruction, direct hunt and introduced predators.

 

12. Pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea)

This atonishing duck from India is extinct since 1950's. Always was a rare bird and no much is known about it, probably its evanishing is due to habitat destruction. Last shooted individual was on 1935. Exist a photo of several alive pink-headed ducks in captivity in Foxwarren Park, England, taken about 1925.

 

13. Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)

Probably the most famous extinct bird after the dodo. Similar to Carolina Parakeet in their distribution, habits, and way and date of extinction. Passenger pigeons formed the largest bird focks ever, that can reach even more than TWO BILLION birds!!!!!! The flocks destroy branches with its weight. Despite that, now we don't have none more than taxidermy specimens. The birds was first chased as a cheap meat for slaves and poors, decreasing quickly the number of pigeons, and forest destruction deleted the pigeons habitat. Last wild bird was seen on 1900, and "Martha", the last passenger pigeon, died in Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

Much more info at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon

 

14. Greater akialoa (Hemignathus ellisianus)

As is said in number 5, and in the other plate about the Mamo (Drepanis pacifica), the Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanididae) lost many species and many are disappearing now, and the major cause are the diseases transmited by introduced mosquitoes. The genus Hemignathus count with several olivaceous medium-sized birds with long curved bills, some of them still alive, but mainly extinct. The greater Akialoa was the one with longest bill. It had three subspecies, all of them extinct. Between all subspecies it inhabited islands of Oahu, Lanai, Molokai and Maui. Last record was in 1969, in Kauai. Like other Drpanididae, this species disappeared due to diseases and habitat destruction.

 

15. Robust white-eye (Zosterops strenuus)

This bird was endemic to Lord Howe island, near Australia. Probably it disappeared due to the introduction of black rats in the island. In 1923, the bird was extinct. Another species of white-eye, Zosterops lateralis, are still alive, but the subspecies of Lord Howe island is threatened.

 

16. Slender moa (Dinornis giganteus)

Moas are some of the most fascinating extinct birds. They formed a family of about 12 species of giant flightless birds endemic to New Zealands. The smallest species, Euryapteryx curtus, is not bigger than a chicken, while the biggest, Dinornis giganteus, was the tallest bird ever in human times, more than 3 meters high. Almost all moas was extinct when first Maoris arrived to New Zealand, coming from Polynesian. At least three species: Dinornis robustus, Emeus crassus and Megalapteryx didinus, passed the frontier of the XVI century, and was probably seen by the first Europeans that arrived to the islands in XVII century. Moas evolved in the island due to absence of any large mammal, and was predated by the also extinct Haas't eagle (Harpagornis moorei) before Maoris extincted this eagle.

Moas was scarce even before the arrival of Maoris to New Zealand, and maybe they could be extinct now without human help.

Moas are similar to Kiwis because they lost completely the wings. Is supposed that Kiwis are the closest living relatives. Several bones of many species was founs, as well as some feathers, and even a mummified head of Megalapteryx didinus.

Here can be seen a size comparison between skeletons of Ostrich, the largest living bird, and Dinornis giganteus.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Kiwi,_ostrich,_Dinornis.jpg

 

17 Ryukyu wood pigeon (Columba jouyi)

This nice bird was endemic of Okinawa islands in Japan. It was extinct due to habitat destruction. Last record of this species is on 1904. If any remaining bird left, the complete destruction of the forest of these islands by milician settlement prerpairing for World War II, destroyed for sure the last of these pigeons.

 

18. Liverpool pigeon (Caloenas maculata)

This amazing creature is known by only two taxdermy individuals, one of which is lost, the other is conserved in Liverpool Pigeon and without any kind of location data. Pressumably it was collected in South East Asia, where lives the only close relative today, the Nicobar Pigeon.

 

19. Oahu O'o (Moho apicalis)

Moho is a fantastic genus with 4 species endemic to Hawaii islands, all of theme are already extinct. The O'os species are black, with long and curved bill, yellow plumes in the body and a strange tail. As in Hawaiian honeycreepers (see number 5 and 14), these true honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) suffered the diseases transmited by introduced mosquitoes, as well as habitat destruction, and direct chase for feathers. The Oahu o's (Moho apicalis) was extinct in 1837, the Molokai o's (M. bishopi) in 1904, the Hawaii o'o (M. nobilis) in 1934 and the Kauai o'o (M. braccatus) in 1987.

 

20. Mauritius blue pigeon (Alectroenas nitidissima)

The history is repeated among all these Mauritius, Comores and Seychelles birds. The dodo is the most famous but much more birds of the tropical western Indian Ocean islands was gone at same time. Only three taxidermy specimens rest now. Last specimen shooted was in 1826 and is one of the three remaining stuffed specimens, probably the species only lived few years more. Habitat destruction, direct hunt, and predation by introduced monkeys are probably the causes of extinction.

 

21. Atitlan grebe (Podilymbus gigas)

This bird, very similar to the common and widespread Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) but much bigger and unable to fly, was restricted only to the Atitlan lake in Guatemala. Probably it have the most well documented history of decline and extinction between birds. It also count with the best photo ever made to an alive specimen of an extinct bird now. Causes of extinction are destruction of the nesting areas, introduction of large predatory fishes that compited with the adults for food and chased the chicks, and an earthquacke that reduced the water level of the lake in 1976. The last two birds were seen in 1989.

 

22. Red-headed macaw (Ara erythrocephala)

As said in the other plate for Ara atwoodi, this is only one of the many extinct macaws of the Caribbean islands. Like other macaws, this one from Jamaica is hypothetical due to the lack of reliable registers: it's known only by descriptions. Probably it was hunted for foor and as pet until extinction in early XIX century.

 

23. Choiseul pigeon (Microgoura meeki)

This atonishing bird, as his name says, resembles very much a miniature version of the New Guinean crowned pigeons, Goura spp. It lived on Choiseul island in the Solomon Islands. In 1904 six individuals and an egg was collected and sent to a museum. Causes of extinction are human hunt and predation by introduced cats and dogs.

 

Many more species of birds was extinct by humans between XVI and XXI centuries. This and the other plate are only a small part. Since XVII century the number of extinct birds is of 165. And this is only birds! Counting other animals, plants, fungus, etc. a species are disappearing now EVERY 15 SECONDS!!!!

 

Much more birds species are evanishing now and will do in the future. We must put as many effort as we can for protect them.

Switches/Turnouts/Points are one of the weakest areas in building realistic and reliable layouts. The TLG R40 switch is quite limited in potential configurations and has severe geometry due to its R40 radius. It does not combine to make a crossover at a nominal 16-stud centreline and the diverging route does not integrate into a nominal curve radius. To overcome these limitations, I have designed a switch concept called a "Medium" switch. I chose the name "Medium" because it fits in between the TLG R40 "Short" switch and a (yet undesigned) "Long" switch. The design requirements were as follows:

 

▪ Nominal 8s interval boundaries

▪ Integrates into a 16s centreline crossover without modification

▪ Integrates into a 16s interval radius

▪ 22.5º crossing vee / diverging route angle to support return curves

 

When designing this switch, it became apparent that the 16-stud convention and 22.5º sector angles do not overlap well from a geometry point of view. Designing a switch to make a clean crossover was easy. Designing it to support a return curve back to a 16-stud centreline *and* within an 8-stud lateral grid was not! It turns out that in addition to the switch itself, a new straight track element is required to realign the geometry of return curves back to a nominal 8-stud interval grid. After some analysis of various track configurations, a "2/5 Straight" or "6.5-stud Straight" element was required. In actual fact it is 6.48x studs long for minimal alignment error; however, even at 6.5x it is within the mechanical tolerances of track construction. This element is very nearly the familiar ratio of 2/5 which we use for SNOT building techniques. It is in fact a partial ratio of the standard 16-stud straight, i.e. 2/5 x 16 studs = 6.4 studs. This new straight element makes possible a variety of return curve configurations with several standard (R56, R72, R88) radii as well as providing alignment for stacked yard ladders.

 

In future, I intend to design a so-called "Long" switch which has a diverging route at 11.25º. I haven't worked out all of the geometry; however, I am hoping it will fit within the "system" similar to the "Medium" switch.

 

You can download (at your own risk!) these "add-on" elements for BlueBrick from my website at www.brickdimensions.com/resources/trains.

 

Happy layout planning and feedback/improvements/suggestions/etc. more than welcome!

“So, this is the problem as it was told to me by our friend, Icecap.” Said Sky. “There would appear to be a local fish shortage.”

Sky looked at the expressions of horror on the faces of the other bears before he continued.

“Every week I order Icecap a load of fish when we have our order in for honey, well that used to work quite well but recently it is not working at all.”

“Why is it they do not have fish?” Asked Bertie looking amazed at the news.

“Yes, I thought they always had fish, Sky, is this going to happen all the time?” Asked Barnaby feeling very thankful that fish was not his main food.

“I do not know why they do not have fish, they should, they always did, but now they don’t.” Said Sky.

Every bear looked up as Icecap came and sat beside them.

“I think we need more knowledge about fish and the store so we can discover why we have this problem.” Said Posh Bear.

“Well, I went with Elli to the store in her ellicopter to see what was happening.” Said Icecap. “The problem would seem to be they do not have a fish counter there any longer. They are only going to sell fish wrapped into plastic sealed units in future. I got talking to a bear, nice chap, who was waiting to be owned that had lived there for the time, he was saying that the store had been wanting to get rid of the fish counter for ages as it was expensive to run, then came the big hooman sickness that kept everyone indoors and out of stores. That gave the stores the excuse they needed and so they now only have these small sides of fish sealed in hard plastic.” Explained Icecap.

“I see, that is a problem then, anyone any ideas how we can keep Icecap filled up with fresh delicious fish?” Asked Posh Bear.

“Where do they make fish?” Asked Barnaby.

“In the oceans and sea.” Answered Bertie smiling at the idea of a factory line of hoomans making fish to put in the sea.

“Do we know if there is a spare sea kicking around that we could place in the back garden and then Icecap could just lean out of a window when he wanted to eat and help himself.” Explained Barnaby rather proudly that he had got the answer to the problem before anyone else.

“A good idea, Barnaby, but sadly I think you will not be able to find a spare sea, I am fairly sure they are all taken up and as far as I am aware, there are no plans to make new ones just yet.” Said Sky feeling he needed to add some input to the conversation as he is a genius that everyone looked to, to discover answers to difficult questions.

“I suppose I could go and find a sea or ocean and live there.” Said Icecap looking sad at the idea.

“No, that would never work because they don’t have buzzy things in oceans and seas and so we would have no honey.” Said Bertie. “So, if we can’t go nor can our friend Icecap. We need to find an answer.”

“Could we leave a forwarding address to the buzzy things and then they could … no that would not work as they can’t read bear and we can’t write buzzy thing. There must be a logical answer to this problem…” said Sky, rubbing his head with his paw as he tried thinking of the solution.

“The logical answer is easy; it is the illogical answer that I need.” Said Icecap looking shocked that they had been looking at the problem wrong.

“How do you mean, Icecap?” Asked Posh Bear.

“Well, the logical answer is that I ask Elli to fly me to the sea every so often so I can stock up on fish, it wouldn’t take her long and I know she would do it for me.”

“Yes, I can see that, it is a decent way around the problem.” Said Posh Bear smiling.

“Only, I must balance out my fears of flying with Ellie, against the fish the store does have. I was looking for a better answer to get my fish without asking Elli or having the store fish.” Explained Icecap.

“I think I have the answer.” Said Barnaby looking excited.

“What now, Barnaby, maybe send letters to the fish and ask them to catch a lift with Elli?” Said Bertie giggling.

“No, I must admit that I had not thought of that, Bertie. Good idea that it is, I think my idea is much betterer. We find a different store that does sell fish the way Icecap likes it and go there. His fish doesn’t have to come on the same lorry that our honey does.” Barnaby explained.

“Could we try that, Sky? Could you find another store to get it from?” Asked Icecap.

“I think we should try. Good idea young Barnaby, see I am teaching him well. One day he will be a proper genius just like me.” Said Sky smiling as he saw Icecap looking happier.

  

The Order of Areani was founded long time ago, after King Alphundus was killed and the three brothers split the kingdom, Prince Lorean feared the fate of his father. he formed a special band of knights, called the Areani. These men swore to protect the prince from any danger that might threaten him. The present Order is rather numerous and wields great power within Loreos. The duties of the members are now more varied as well. and their influence is expanding beyond Loreos...

 

Well, I wanted to make something unique, so I thought a spy ring/anti-assassin group would be pretty cool. Expect some neat MOCs in future. ;)

 

A missing filter... Picture or maybe in the air of the time that brews a little anguish, it grinds ideas by dint of filtering the words... the cunning life with a twist. Angel or mill?

  

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in conspiracy theories and misinformation about the scale of the pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.[1][2][3] False information, including intentional disinformation, has been spread through social media,[2][4] text messages,[5] and mass media,[6] including the tabloid media,[7] conservative media,[8][9] state media of countries such as China,[10][11] Russia,[12][13] Iran,[14] and Turkmenistan.[2][15] It has also been spread by state-backed covert operations to generate panic and sow distrust in other countries.[16][17]

 

Misinformation has been propagated by celebrities, politicians[18][19] (including heads of state in countries such as the United States,[20][21] Iran,[22] and Brazil[23]), and other prominent public figures.[24] Commercial scams have claimed to offer at-home tests, supposed preventives, and "miracle" cures.[25][26] Politicians and leaders of some countries have promoted purported cures, while some religious groups said that the faith of their followers and God will protect them from the virus.[27][28][29] Others have claimed the virus is a lab-developed bio-weapon that was accidentally leaked,[30][31] or deliberately designed to target a country,[32] or one with a patented vaccine, a population control scheme, the result of a spy operation,[3][4] or linked to 5G networks.[33]

 

The World Health Organization has declared an "infodemic" of incorrect information about the virus, which poses risks to global health.[2]

 

Types and origin and effect

On January 30, the BBC reported about the increasing spread of conspiracy theories and false health advice in relation to COVID-19. Notable examples at the time included false health advice shared on social media and private chats, as well as conspiracy theories such as the origin in bat soup and the outbreak being planned with the participation of the Pirbright Institute.[1][34] On January 31, The Guardian listed seven instances of misinformation, adding the conspiracy theories about bioweapons and the link to 5G technology, and including varied false health advice.[35]

 

In an attempt to speed up research sharing, many researches have turned to preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv or SSRN. Papers can be uploaded to these servers without peer review or any other editorial process that ensures research quality. Some of these papers have contributed to the spread of conspiracy theories. The most notable case was a preprint paper uploaded to bioRxiv which claimed that the virus contained HIV "insertions". Following the controversy, the paper was withdrawn.[36][37][38]

 

According to a study published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, most misinformation related to COVID-19 involves "various forms of reconfiguration, where existing and often true information is spun, twisted, recontextualised, or reworked". While less misinformation "was completely fabricated". The study found no deep fakes in the studied sample. The study also found that "top-down misinformation from politicians, celebrities, and other prominent public figures", while accounting for a minority of the samples, captured a majority of the social media engagement. According to their classification, the largest category of misinformation (39%) includes "misleading or false claims about the actions or policies of public authorities, including government and international bodies like the WHO or the UN".[39]

 

A natural experiment correlated coronavirus misinformation with increased infection and death; of two similar television news shows on the same network, one took coronavirus seriously about a month earlier than the other. People and groups exposed to the slow-response news show had higher infection and death rates.[40]

 

The misinformations have been used by politicians, interest groups, and state actors in many countries to scapegoat other countries for the mishandling of the domestic responses, as well as furthering political, financial agenda.[41][42][43]

 

Combative efforts

Further information: Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on journalism

File:ITU - AI for Good Webinar Series - COVID-19 Misinformation and Disinformation during COVID-19.webm

International Telecommunication Union

On February 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) described a "massive infodemic", citing an over-abundance of reported information, accurate and false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it". The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivised the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages.[44][45][46] The WHO specifically debunked several claims as false, including the claim that a person can tell if they have the virus or not simply by holding their breath; the claim that drinking large amounts of water will protect against the virus; and the claim that gargling salt water prevents infection.[47]

 

In early February, Facebook, Twitter and Google said they were working with WHO to address "misinformation".[48] In a blogpost, Facebook stated they would remove content flagged by global health organizations and local authorities that violate its content policy on misinformation leading to "physical harm".[49] Facebook is also giving free advertising to WHO.[50] Nonetheless, a week after Trump's speculation that sunlight could kill the virus, the New York Times found "780 Facebook groups, 290 Facebook pages, nine Instagram accounts and thousands of tweets pushing UV light therapies," content which those companies declined to remove from their platforms.[51]

 

At the end of February, Amazon removed more than a million products claimed to cure or protect against coronavirus, and removed tens of thousands of listings for health products whose prices were "significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon", although numerous items were "still being sold at unusually high prices" as of February 28.[52]

 

Millions of instances of COVID-19 misinformation have occurred across a number of online platforms.[53] Other fake news researchers noted certain rumors started in China; many of them later spread to Korea and the United States, prompting several universities in Korea to start the multilingual Facts Before Rumors campaign to separate common claims seen online.[54][55][56][57]

 

The media has praised Wikipedia's coverage of COVID-19 and its combating the inclusion of misinformation through efforts led by the Wiki Project Med Foundation and the English-language Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine, among other groups.[58][59][60]

 

Many local newspapers have been severely affected by losses in advertising revenues from coronavirus; journalists have been laid off, and some have closed altogether.[61]

 

Many newspapers with paywalls lowered them for some or all their coronavirus coverage.[62][63] Many scientific publishers made scientific papers related to the outbreak open access.[64]

 

The Turkish Interior Ministry has been arresting social media users whose posts were "targeting officials and spreading panic and fear by suggesting the virus had spread widely in Turkey and that officials had taken insufficient measures".[65] Iran's military said 3600 people have been arrested for "spreading rumors" about coronavirus in the country.[66] In Cambodia, some individuals who expressed concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have been arrested on fake news charges.[67][68] Algerian lawmakers passed a law criminalising "fake news" deemed harmful to "public order and state security".[69] In the Philippines,[70] China,[71] India,[72][73] Egypt,[74] Bangladesh,[75] Morocco,[76] Pakistan,[77] Saudi Arabia,[78] Oman,[79] Iran,[80] Vietnam, Laos,[81] Indonesia,[73] Mongolia,[73] Sri Lanka,[73] Kenya, South Africa,[82] Somalia,[83] Thailand,[84] Kazakhstan,[85] Azerbaijan,[86] Malaysia[87] and Hong Kong, people have been arrested for allegedly spreading false information about the coronavirus pandemic.[88][73] The United Arab Emirates have introduced criminal penalties for the spread of misinformation and rumours related to the outbreak.[89]

 

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories have appeared both in social media and in mainstream news outlets, and are heavily influenced by geopolitics.[90]

 

Accidental leakage

 

Virologist and immunologist Vincent R. Racaniello said that "accident theories – and the lab-made theories before them – reflect a lack of understanding of the genetic make-up of Sars-CoV-2."[91]

A number of allegations have emerged supposing a link between the virus and Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV); among these is that the virus was an accidental leakage from WIV.[92] In 2017, U.S. molecular biologist Richard H. Ebright expressed caution when the WIV was expanded to become mainland China's first biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, noting previous escapes of the SARS virus at other Chinese laboratories.[93] While Ebright refuted several conspiracy theories regarding the WIV (e.g., bioweapons research, or that the virus was engineered), he told BBC China this did not represent the possibility that the virus can be "completely ruled out" from entering the population due to a laboratory accident.[92] Various researchers contacted by NPR concluded there was "virtually no chance" (in NPR's words) that the pandemic virus had accidentally escaped from a laboratory.[94] Disinformation researcher Nina Jankowicz from Wilson Center indicates the lab leakage claim entered mainstream media in United States during April, propagated by pro-Trump news outlet.[43]

 

On February 14, 2020, Chinese scientists explored the possibility of accidental leakage and published speculations on scientific social networking website ResearchGate. The paper was neither peer-reviewed nor presented any evidence for its claims.[95] On March 5, the author of paper told Wall Street Journal in an interview why he decided to withdrew the paper by the end of February, stating: "the speculation about the possible origins in the post was based on published papers and media, and was not supported by direct proofs."[96][97] Several newspapers have referenced the paper.[95] Scientific American reported that Shi Zhengli, the lead researcher at WIV, started investigation on mishandling of experimental materials in the lab records, especially during disposal. She also tried to cross-check the novel coronavirus genome with the genetic information of other bat coronaviruses her team had collected. The result showed none of the sequences matched those of the viruses her team had sampled from bat caves.[98]

 

In February, it was alleged that the first person infected may have been a researcher at the institute named Huang Yanling.[99] Rumours circulated on Chinese social media that the researcher had become infected and died, prompting a denial from WIV, saying she was a graduate student enrolled in the Institute until 2015 and is not the patient zero.[100][99] In April, the conspiracy theory started to circulate around on Youtube and got picked up by conservative media, National Review.[101][6]

 

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that one of the WIV's lead researchers, Shi Zhengli, was the particular focus of personal attacks in Chinese social media alleging that her work on bat-based viruses was the source of the virus; this led Shi to post: "I swear with my life, [the virus] has nothing to do with the lab". When asked by the SCMP to comment on the attacks, Shi responded: "My time must be spent on more important matters".[102] Caixin reported Shi made further public statements against "perceived tinfoil-hat theories about the new virus's source", quoting her as saying: "The novel 2019 coronavirus is nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits. I, Shi Zhengli, swear on my life that it has nothing to do with our laboratory".[103] Immunologist Vincent Racaniello stated that virus leaking theory "reflect a lack of understanding of the genetic make-up of Sars-CoV-2 and its relationship to the bat virus". He says the bat virus researched in the institution "would not have been able to infect humans—the human Sars-CoV-2 has additional changes that allows it to infect humans."[91]

 

On April 14, the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, in response to questions about the virus being manufactured in a lab, said "... it's inconclusive, although the weight of evidence seems to indicate natural. But we don't know for certain."[104] On that same day, Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin detailed a leaked cable of a 2018 trip made to the WIV by scientists from the U.S. Embassy. The article was referenced and cited by conservative media to push the lab leakage theory.[43] Rogin's article went on to say that "What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington. The cables warned about safety and management weaknesses at the WIV lab and proposed more attention and help. The first cable, which I obtained, also warns that the lab's work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic."[105] Rogin's article pointed out there was no evidence that the coronavirus was engineered, "But that is not the same as saying it didn't come from the lab, which spent years testing bat coronaviruses in animals."[105] The article went on to quote Xiao Qiang, a research scientist at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, "I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. I think it's a legitimate question that needs to be investigated and answered. To understand exactly how this originated is critical knowledge for preventing this from happening in the future."[105] Washington Post's article and subsequent broadcasts drew criticism from virologist Angela Rasmussen of Columbia University, which she states "It's irresponsible for political reporters like Rogin [to] uncritically regurgitate a secret 'cable' without asking a single virologist or ecologist or making any attempt to understand the scientific context."[43] Rasmussen later compared biosafety procedure concerns to "having the health inspector come to your restaurant. It could just be, ‘Oh, you need to keep your chemical showers better stocked.’ It doesn’t suggest, however, that there are tremendous problems.”[106]

 

Days later, multiple media outlets confirmed that U.S. intelligence officials were investigating the possibility that the virus started in the WIV.[107][108][109][110] On April 23, Vox presented disputed arguments on lab leakage claims from several scientists.[111] Scientists suggested that virus samples cultured in the lab have significant amount of difference compare to SARS-CoV-2. The virus institution sampled RaTG13 in Yunnan, the closest known relative of the novel coronavirus with 96% shared genome. Edward Holmes, SARS-CoV-2 researcher at the University of Sydney, explained 4% of difference "is equivalent to an average of 50 years (and at least 20 years) of evolutionary change."[111][112] Virologist Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, which studies emerging infectious diseases, noted the estimation that 1–7 million people in Southeast Asia who live or work in proximity to bats are infected each year with bat coronaviruses. In the interview with Vox, he comments, "There are probably half a dozen people that do work in those labs. So let's compare 1 million to 7 million people a year to half a dozen people; it's just not logical."[94][111]

 

On April 30, The New York Times reported the Trump administration demanded intelligence agencies to find evidence linking WIV with the origin of SARS-Cov-2. Secretary of State and former Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A) director Mike Pompeo was reportedly leading the push on finding information regarding the virus origin. Analysts were concerned that pressure from senior officials could distort assessments from the intelligence community. Anthony Ruggiero, the head of the National Security Council which responsible for tracking weapons of mass destruction, expressed frustration during a video conference that C.I.A. was unable to form conclusive answer on the origin of the virus. According to current and former government officials, as of April 30, C.I.A has yet to gather any information beyond circumstantial evidence to bolster the lab theory.[113][114] US intelligence officers suggested that Chinese officials tried to conceal the severity of the outbreak in early days, but no evidence had shown China attempted to cover up a lab accident.[115] One day later, Trump claimed he has evidence of the lab theory, but offers no further details on it.[116][117] Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, claimed the SARS-CoV-2 virus "likely" came from a Wuhan virology testing laboratory, based on "circumstantial evidence". He was quoted as saying, "I have no definitive way of proving this thesis."[118]

 

On April 30, 2020, the U.S. intelligence and scientific communities issued a public statement dismissing the idea that the virus was not natural, while the investigation of the lab accident theory was ongoing.[119][120] The White House suggested an alternative explanation, along with a seemingly contradictory message, that the virus was man-made. In an interview with ABC News, Secretary of State Pompeo said he has no reason to disbelieve the intelligence community that the virus was natural. However, this contradicted the comment he made earlier in the same interview, in which he said "the best experts so far seem to think it was man-made. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point."[121][122][123] On May 4, Australian tabloid The Daily Telegraph claimed a reportedly leaked dossier from Five Eyes, which alleged the probable outbreak was from the Wuhan lab.[124] Fox News and national security commentators in the US quickly followed up The Telegraph story,[125][126] rising the tension within international intelligence community.[127] Australian government, which is part of the Five Eyes nations, determined the leaked dossier was not a Five Eyes document, but a compilation of open-source materials that contained no information generated by intelligence gathering.[128] German intelligence community denied the claim of the leaked dossier, instead supported the probability of a natural cause.[129][130] Australian government sees the promotion of the lab theory from the United States counterproductive to Australia’s push for a more broad international-supported independent inquiry into the virus origins.[127] Senior officials in Australian government speculated the dossier was leaked by US embassy in Canberra to promote a narrative in Australia media that diverged from the mainstream belief of Australia.[127][128][125]

 

Beijing rejected the White House's claim, calling the claim "part of an election year strategy by President Donald Trump’s Republican Party".[131] Hua Chunying, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, urged Mike Pompeo to present evidence for his claim. "Mr. Pompeo cannot present any evidence because he does not have any," Hua told a journalist during a regular briefing, "This matter should be handled by scientists and professionals instead of politicians out of their domestic political needs."[131][132] The Chinese ambassador, in an opinion published in the Washington Post, called on the White House to end the "blame game" over the coronavirus.[133][134] As of May 5, assessments and internal sources from the Five Eyes nations indicated that the coronavirus outbreak was the result of a laboratory accident was "highly unlikely", since the human infection was "highly likely" a result of natural human and animal interaction. However, to reach such a conclusion with total certainty would still require greater cooperation and transparency from the Chinese side.[135]

 

Anti-Israeli and antisemitic

Further information: Antisemitic canard

Iran's Press TV asserted that "Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran".[14] Similarly, various Arab media outlets accused Israel and the United States of creating and spreading COVID-19, avian flu, and SARS.[136] Users on social media offered a variety of theories, including the supposition that Jews had manufactured COVID-19 to precipitate a global stock market collapse and thereby profit via insider trading,[137] while a guest on Turkish television posited a more ambitious scenario in which Jews and Zionists had created COVID-19, avian flu, and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever to "design the world, seize countries, [and] neuter the world's population".[138]

 

Israeli attempts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine prompted mixed reactions. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi denied initial reports that he had ruled that a Zionist-made vaccine would be halal,[139] and one Press TV journalist tweeted that "I'd rather take my chances with the virus than consume an Israeli vaccine".[140] A columnist for the Turkish Yeni Akit asserted that such a vaccine could be a ruse to carry out mass sterilization.[141]

 

An alert by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the possible threat of far-right extremists intentionally spreading the coronavirus mentioned blame being assigned to Jews and Jewish leaders for causing the pandemic and several statewide shutdowns.[142]

 

Anti-Muslim

Further information: 2020 Tablighi Jamaat coronavirus hotspot in Delhi

In India, Muslims have been blamed for spreading infection following the emergence of cases linked to a Tablighi Jamaat religious gathering.[143] There are reports of vilification of Muslims on social media and attacks on individuals in India.[144] Claims have been made Muslims are selling food contaminated with coronavirus and that a mosque in Patna was sheltering people from Italy and Iran.[145] These claims were shown to be false.[146] In the UK, there are reports of far-right groups blaming Muslims for the coronavirus outbreak and falsely claiming that mosques remained open after the national ban on large gatherings.[147]

 

Bioengineered virus

It has been repeatedly claimed that the virus was deliberately created by humans.

 

Nature Medicine published an article arguing against the conspiracy theory that the virus was created artificially. The high-affinity binding of its peplomers to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was shown to be "most likely the result of natural selection on a human or human-like ACE2 that permits another optimal binding solution to arise".[148] In case of genetic manipulation, one of the several reverse-genetic systems for betacoronaviruses would probably have been used, while the genetic data irrefutably showed that the virus is not derived from a previously used virus template.[148] The overall molecular structure of the virus was found to be distinct from the known coronaviruses and most closely resembles that of viruses of bats and pangolins that were little studied and never known to harm humans.[149]

 

In February 2020, the Financial Times quoted virus expert and global co-lead coronavirus investigator Trevor Bedford: "There is no evidence whatsoever of genetic engineering that we can find", and "The evidence we have is that the mutations [in the virus] are completely consistent with natural evolution".[150] Bedford further explained, "The most likely scenario, based on genetic analysis, was that the virus was transmitted by a bat to another mammal between 20–70 years ago. This intermediary animal—not yet identified—passed it on to its first human host in the city of Wuhan in late November or early December 2019".[150]

 

On February 19, 2020, The Lancet published a letter of a group of scientists condemning "conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin".[151]

 

Chinese biological weapon

India

Amidst a rise in Sinophobia, there have been conspiracy theories reported on India's social networks that the virus is "a bioweapon that went rogue" and also fake videos alleging that Chinese authorities are killing citizens to prevent its spread.[152]

 

Ukraine

According to the Kyiv Post, two common conspiracy theories online in Ukraine are that American author Dean Koontz predicted the pandemic in his 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness, and that the coronavirus is a bioweapon leaked from a secret lab in Wuhan.[153]

 

United Kingdom

 

Tobias Ellwood said, "It would be irresponsible to suggest the source of this outbreak was an error in a Chinese military biological weapons programme ... But without greater Chinese transparency we cannot entirely completely sure."[154]

In February, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee of the UK House of Commons, publicly questioned the role of the Chinese Army's Wuhan Institute for Biological Products and called for the "greater transparency over the origins of the coronavirus".[154][non-primary source needed] The Daily Mail reported in early April 2020 that a member of COBRA (an ad-hoc government committee tasked with advising on crises[citation needed]) has stated while government intelligence does not dispute that the virus has a zoonotic origin, it also does not discount the idea of a leak from a Wuhan laboratory, saying "Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is that laboratory in Wuhan"; the Asia Times reported the story as if it were factual,[155] perhaps unaware of the reputation of the Daily Mail.

 

United States

Further information: Cyberwarfare in the United States and Propaganda in the United States

In January 2020, BBC News published an article about coronavirus misinformation, citing two January 24 articles from The Washington Times that said the virus was part of a Chinese biological weapons program, based at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).[1] The Washington Post later published an article debunking the conspiracy theory, citing U.S. experts who explained why the WIV was unsuitable for bioweapon research, that most countries had abandoned bioweapons as fruitless, and that there was no evidence the virus was genetically engineered.[156]

 

On January 29, financial news website and blog ZeroHedge suggested without evidence that a scientist at the WIV created the COVID-19 strain responsible for the coronavirus outbreak. Zerohedge listed the full contact details of the scientist supposedly responsible, a practice known as doxing, by including the scientist's name, photo, and phone number, suggesting to readers that they "pay [the Chinese scientist] a visit" if they wanted to know "what really caused the coronavirus pandemic".[157] Twitter later permanently suspended the blog's account for violating its platform-manipulation policy.[158]

  

Logo of the fictional Umbrella Corporation, which some internet rumours linked to the pandemic. The corporation was invented for the Resident Evil game series.

In January 2020, Buzzfeed News reported on an internet meme of a link between the logo of the WIV and "Umbrella Corporation", the agency that created the virus responsible for a zombie apocalypse in the Resident Evil franchise. Posts online noted that "Racoon [sic]" (the main city in Resident Evil) was an anagram of "Corona".[159] Snopes noted that the logo was not from the WIV, but a company named Shanghai Ruilan Bao Hu San Biotech Ltd (located some 500 miles (800 km) away in Shanghai), and that the correct name of the city in Resident Evil was "Raccoon City".[159]

 

In February 2020, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested the virus may have originated in a Chinese bioweapon laboratory.[160] Francis Boyle, a law professor, also expressed support for the bioweapon theory suggesting it was the result of unintended leaks.[161] Cotton elaborated on Twitter that his opinion was only one of "at least four hypotheses". Multiple medical experts have indicated there is no evidence for these claims.[162] Conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh said on The Rush Limbaugh Show—the most popular radio show in the U.S.—that the virus was probably "a ChiCom laboratory experiment" and the Chinese government was using the virus and the media hysteria surrounding it to bring down Donald Trump.[163][164]

 

On February 6, the White House asked scientists and medical researchers to rapidly investigate the origins of the virus both to address the current spread and "to inform future outbreak preparation and better understand animal/human and environmental transmission aspects of coronaviruses".[165] American magazine Foreign Policy said Xi Jinping's "political agenda may turn out to be a root cause of the epidemic" and that his Belt and Road Initiative has "made it possible for a local disease to become a global menace".[90]

 

The Inverse reported that "Christopher Bouzy, the founder of Bot Sentinel, conducted a Twitter analysis for Inverse and found [online] bots and trollbots are making an array of false claims. These bots are claiming China intentionally created the virus, that it's a biological weapon, that Democrats are overstating the threat to hurt Donald Trump and more. While we can't confirm the origin of these bots, they are decidedly pro-Trump."[166]

 

Conservative commentator Josh Bernstein claimed that the Democratic Party and the "medical deep state" were collaborating with the Chinese government to create and release the coronavirus to bring down Donald Trump. Bernstein went on to suggest those responsible should be locked in a room with infected coronavirus patients as punishment.[167][168]

 

Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, promoted a conspiracy theory on Fox News that North Korea and China conspired together to create the coronavirus.[169] He also said people were overreacting to the coronavirus outbreak and that Democrats were trying to use the situation to harm President Trump.[170]

 

Hospital ship attack

The hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) deployed to the Port of Los Angeles to provide backup medical services for the region. On March 31, 2020, a Pacific Harbor Line freight train was deliberately derailed by its onboard engineer in an attempt to crash into the ship, but the attack was unsuccessful and no one was injured.[171][172] According to U.S. federal prosecutors, the train's engineer "[...] was suspicious of the Mercy, believing it had an alternate purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover".[173]

 

Population control scheme

See also: List of conspiracy theories § RFID chips

According to the BBC, Jordan Sather, a conspiracy theory YouTuber supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and the anti-vax movement, has falsely claimed the outbreak was a population control scheme created by Pirbright Institute in England and by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. This belief is held mostly by right-wing libertarians, NWO conspiracy theorists, and Christian Fundamentalists.[1][174]

 

Spy operation

Some people have alleged that the coronavirus was stolen from a Canadian virus research lab by Chinese scientists. Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada said that conspiracy theory had "no factual basis".[175] The stories seem to have been derived[176] from a July 2019 news article[177] stating that some Chinese researchers had their security access to a Canadian Level 4 virology facility revoked in a federal police investigation; Canadian officials described this as an administrative matter and "there is absolutely no risk to the Canadian public."[177]

 

This article was published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC);[176] responding to the conspiracy theories, the CBC later stated that "CBC reporting never claimed the two scientists were spies, or that they brought any version of the coronavirus to the lab in Wuhan". While pathogen samples were transferred from the lab in Winnipeg, Canada to Beijing, China, on March 31, 2019, neither of the samples was a coronavirus, the Public Health Agency of Canada says the shipment conformed to all federal policies, and there has not been any statement that the researchers under investigation were responsible for sending the shipment. The current location of the researchers under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is not being released.[175][178][179]

 

In the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, a senior research associate and expert in biological warfare with the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, referring to a NATO press conference, identified suspicions of espionage as the reason behind the expulsions from the lab, but made no suggestion that coronavirus was taken from the Canadian lab or that it is the result of bioweapons defense research in China.[180]

 

U.S. biological weapon

Arab world

According to Washington DC-based nonprofit Middle East Media Research Institute, numerous writers in the Arabic press have promoted the conspiracy theory that COVID-19, as well as SARS and the swine flu virus, were deliberately created and spread to sell vaccines against these diseases, and it is "part of an economic and psychological war waged by the U.S. against China with the aim of weakening it and presenting it as a backward country and a source of diseases".[181] Iraqi political analyst Sabah Al-Akili on Al-Etejah TV, Saudi daily Al-Watan writer Sa'ud Al-Shehry, Syrian daily Al-Thawra columnist Hussein Saqer, and Egyptian journalist Ahmad Rif'at on Egyptian news website Vetogate, were some examples given by MEMRI as propagators of the U.S. biowarfare conspiracy theory in the Arabic world.[181]

 

China

Further information: Cyberwarfare by China, Propaganda in China, and Chinese information operations and information warfare

 

The Xinhua News Agency is among the news outlets that have published false information about COVID-19's origins.

According to London-based The Economist, plenty of conspiracy theories exist on China's internet about COVID-19 being the CIA's creation to keep China down.[182] NBC News however has noted that there have also been debunking efforts of U.S.-related conspiracy theories posted online, with a WeChat search of "Coronavirus is from the U.S." reported to mostly yield articles explaining why such claims are unreasonable.[183] According to an investigation by ProPublica, such conspiracy theories and disinformation have been propagated under the direction of China News Service, the country's second largest government-owned media outlet controlled by the United Front Work Department.[184] Global Times and Xinhua News Agency have similarly been implicated in propagating disinformation related to COVID-19's origins.[185][186]

 

Multiple conspiracy articles in Chinese from the SARS era resurfaced during the outbreak with altered details, claiming SARS is biological warfare. Some said BGI Group from China sold genetic information of the Chinese people to the U.S., which then specifically targeted the genome of Chinese individuals.[187]

 

On January 26, Chinese military enthusiast website Xilu published an article, claimed how the U.S. artificially combined the virus to "precisely target Chinese people".[188][189] The article was removed in early February. The article was further distorted on social media in Taiwan, which claimed "Top Chinese military website admitted novel coronavirus was Chinese-made bio-weapons".[190] Taiwan Fact-check center debunked the original article and its divergence, suggesting the original Xilu article distorted the conclusion from a legitimate research on Chinese scientific magazine Science China Life Sciences, which never mentioned the virus was engineered.[190] The fact-check center explained Xilu is a military enthusiastic tabloid established by a private company, thus it doesn't represent the voice of Chinese military.[190]

 

Some articles on popular sites in China have also cast suspicion on U.S. military athletes participating in the Wuhan 2019 Military World Games, which lasted until the end of October 2019, and have suggested they deployed the virus. They claim the inattentive attitude and disproportionately below-average results of American athletes in the games indicate they might have been there for other purposes and they might actually be bio-warfare operatives. Such posts stated that their place of residence during their stay in Wuhan was also close to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the first known cluster of cases occurred.[191]

 

In March 2020, this conspiracy theory was endorsed by Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.[192][193][194][195] On March 13, the U.S. government summoned Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai to Washington over the coronavirus conspiracy theory.[196] Over the next month, conspiracy theorists narrowed their focus to one U.S. Army Reservist, a woman who participated in the games in Wuhan as a cyclist, claiming she is "patient zero". According to a CNN report, these theories have been spread by George Webb, who has nearly 100,000 followers on YouTube, and have been amplified by a report by CPC-owned newspaper Global Times.[197][198]

 

Iran

Further information: Propaganda in Iran

 

Reza Malekzadeh, deputy health minister, rejected bioterrorism theories.

According to Radio Farda, Iranian cleric Seyyed Mohammad Saeedi accused U.S. President Donald Trump of targeting Qom with coronavirus "to damage its culture and honor". Saeedi claimed that Trump is fulfilling his promise to hit Iranian cultural sites, if Iranians took revenge for the airstrike that killed of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.[199]

 

Iranian TV personality Ali Akbar Raefipour claimed the coronavirus was part of a "hybrid warfare" programme waged by the United States on Iran and China.[200] Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, head of Iranian Civil Defense Organization, claimed the coronavirus is likely a biological attack on China and Iran with economic goals.[201][202]

 

Hossein Salami, the head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed the coronavirus outbreak in Iran may be due to a U.S. "biological attack".[203] Several Iranian politicians, including Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Rasoul Falahati, Alireza Panahian, Abolfazl Hasanbeigi and Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, also made similar remarks.[204] Iranian Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made similar suggestions.[205]

 

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to the United Nations on March 9, claiming that "it is clear to the world that the mutated coronavirus was produced in lab" and that COVID-19 is "a new weapon for establishing and/or maintaining political and economic upper hand in the global arena".[206]

 

The late[207] Ayatollah Hashem Bathaie Golpayegani claimed that "America is the source of coronavirus, because America went head to head with China and realised it cannot keep up with it economically or militarily."[208]

 

Reza Malekzadeh, Iran's deputy health minister and former Minister of Health, rejected claims that the virus was a biological weapon, pointing out that the U.S. would be suffering heavily from it. He said Iran was hard-hit because its close ties to China and reluctance to cut air ties introduced the virus, and because early cases had been mistaken for influenza.[205]

 

Philippines

 

In the Philippine Senate, Tito Sotto has promoted his belief that COVID-19 is a bioweapon.

A Filipino Senator, Tito Sotto, played a bioweapon conspiracy video in a February 2020 Senate hearing, suggesting the coronavirus is biowarfare waged against China.[209][210]

 

Russia

Further information: Cyberwarfare by Russia and Propaganda in the Russian Federation

On February 22, U.S. officials alleged that Russia is behind an ongoing disinformation campaign, using thousands of social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to deliberately promote unfounded conspiracy theories, claiming the virus is a biological weapon manufactured by the CIA and the U.S. is waging economic war on China using the virus.[211][12][212] The acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, Philip Reeker, said "Russia's intent is to sow discord and undermine U.S. institutions and alliances from within" and "by spreading disinformation about coronavirus, Russian malign actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response."[211] Russia denies the allegation, saying "this is a deliberately false story".[213]

 

According to U.S.-based The National Interest magazine, although official Russian channels had been muted on pushing the U.S. biowarfare conspiracy theory, other Russian media elements do not share the Kremlin's restraint.[214] Zvezda, a news outlet funded by the Russian Defense Ministry, published an article titled "Coronavirus: American biological warfare against Russia and China", claiming that the virus is intended to damage the Chinese economy, weakening its hand in the next round of trade negotiations.[214] Ultra-nationalist politician and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, claimed on a Moscow radio station that the virus was an experiment by the Pentagon and pharmaceutical companies. Politician Igor Nikulin made rounds on Russian television and news media, arguing that Wuhan was chosen for the attack because the presence of a BSL-4 virus lab provided a cover story for the Pentagon and CIA about a Chinese bio-experiment leak.[214] An EU-document claims 80 attempts by Russian media to spread disinformation related to the epidemic.[215]

 

According to the East StratCom Task Force, the Sputnik news agency was active publishing stories speculating that the virus could've been invented in Latvia, that it was used by Communist Party of China to curb protests in Hong Kong, that it was introduced intentionally to reduce the number of elder people in Italy, that it was targeted against the Yellow Vests movement, and making many other speculations. Sputnik branches in countries including Armenia, Belarus, Spain, and in the Middle East came up with versions of these stories.[216]

 

Venezuela

Constituent Assembly member Elvis Méndez declared that the coronavirus was a "bacteriological sickness created in '89, in '90 and historically" and that it was a sickness "inoculated by the gringos". Méndez theorized that the virus was a weapon against Latin America and China and that its purpose was "to demoralize the person, to weaken to install their system".[217]

 

COVID-19 recovery

It has been wrongly claimed that anyone infected with COVID-19 will have the virus in their bodies for life. While there is no curative treatment, infected individuals can recover from the disease, eliminating the virus from their bodies; getting supportive medical care early can help.[279]

 

COVID-19 xenophobic blaming by ethnicity and religion

Main article: List of incidents of xenophobia and racism related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

File:IOM - Fighting Stigma and Discrimination against Migrants during COVID-19.webm

UN video warns that misinformation against groups may lower testing rates and increase transmission.

COVID-19-related xenophobic attacks have been made against people the attacker blamed for COVID-19 on the basis of their ethnicity. People who are considered to look Chinese have been subjected to COVID-19-related verbal and physical attacks in many other countries, often by people accusing them of transmitting the virus.[281][282][283] Within China, there has been discrimination (such as evictions and non-service in shops) against people from anywhere closer to Wuhan (where the pandemic started) and against anyone perceived as being non-Chinese (especially those considered African), as the Chinese government has blamed continuing cases on re-introductions of the virus from abroad (90% of reintroduced cases were by Chinese passport-holders). Neighbouring countries have also discriminated against people seen as Westerners.[284][285][286] People have also simply blamed other local groups along the lines of pre-existing social tensions and divisions, sometimes citing reporting of COVID-19 cases within that group. For instance, Muslims have been widely blamed, shunned, and discriminated against in India (including some violent attacks), amid unfounded claims that Muslims are deliberately spreading COVID-19, and a Muslim event at which the disease did spread has received far more public attention than many similar events run by other groups and the government.[287] White supremacist groups have blamed COVID-19 on non-whites and advocated deliberately infecting minorities they dislike, such as Jews.[288]

 

False causes

5G

 

5G towers have been burned by people wrongly blaming them for COVID-19.

 

Openreach engineers appealed on anti-5G Facebook groups, saying they aren't involved in mobile networks, and workplace abuse is making it difficult for them to maintain phonelines and broadband.

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In February 2020 BBC News reported that conspiracy theorists on social media groups alleged a link between coronavirus and 5G mobile networks, claiming that Wuhan and Diamond Princess outbreaks were directly caused by electromagnetic fields and by the introduction of 5G and wireless technologies. Some conspiracy theorists also alleged that the coronavirus outbreak was a cover-up for a 5G-related illness.[33] In March 2020, Thomas Cowan, a holistic medical practitioner who trained as a physician and operates on probation with Medical Board of California, alleged that coronavirus is caused by 5G, based on the claims that African countries were not affected significantly by the pandemic and Africa was not a 5G region.[289][290] Cowan also falsely alleged that the viruses were wastes from cells that are poisoned by electromagnetic fields and historical viral pandemics coincided with the major developments in radio technology.[290] The video of his claims went viral and was recirculated by celebrities including Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, and singer Keri Hilson.[291] The claims may also have been recirculated by an alleged "coordinated disinformation campaign", similar to campaigns used by the Internet Research Agency in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[292] The claims were criticized on social media and debunked by Reuters,[293] USA Today,[294] Full Fact[295] and American Public Health Association executive director Georges C. Benjamin.[289][296]

 

Professor Steve Powis, national medical director of NHS England, described theories linking 5G mobile phone networks to COVID-19 as the "worst kind of fake news".[297] Viruses cannot be transmitted by radio waves. COVID-19 has spread and continues to spread in many countries that do not have 5G networks.[279]

 

After telecommunications masts in several parts of the United Kingdom were the subject of arson attacks, British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the theory that COVID-19 virus may be spread by 5G wireless communication is "just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well".[298] Vodafone announced that two Vodafone masts and two it shares with O2 had been targeted.[299][300]

 

By Monday April 6, 2020 at least 20 mobile phone masts in the UK had been vandalised since the previous Thursday.[301] Because of slow rollout of 5G in the UK, many of the damaged masts had only 3G and 4G equipment.[301] Mobile phone and home broadband operators estimated there were at least 30 incidents of confronting engineers maintaining equipment in the week up to April 6.[301] There have been eleven incidents of attempted arson at mobile phone masts in the Netherlands, including one case where "Fuck 5G" was written, as well as in Ireland and Cyprus.[302][303] Facebook has deleted multiple messages encouraging attacks on 5G equipment.[301]

 

Engineers working for Openreach posted pleas on anti-5G Facebook groups asking to be spared abuse as they are not involved with maintaining mobile networks.[304] Mobile UK said the incidents were affecting attempts to maintain networks that support home working and provide critical connections to vulnerable customers, emergency services and hospitals.[304] A widely circulated video shows people working for broadband company Community Fibre being abused by a woman who accuses them of installing 5G as part of a plan to kill the population.[304]

 

YouTube announced that it would reduce the amount of content claiming links between 5G and coronavirus.[299] Videos that are conspiratorial about 5G that do not mention coronavirus would not be removed, though they might be considered "borderline content", removed from search recommendations and losing advertising revenue.[299] The discredited claims had been circulated by British conspiracy theorist David Icke in videos (subsequently removed) on YouTube and Vimeo, and an interview by London Live TV network, prompting calls for action by Ofcom.[305][306]

 

On April 13, 2020, Gardaí were investigating fires at 5G masts in County Donegal, Ireland.[307] Gardaí and fire services had attended the fires the previous night in an attempt to put them out.[307] Although Gardaí were awaiting results of tests they were treating the fires as deliberate.[307]

 

There were 20 suspected arson attacks on phone masts in the UK over the Easter 2020 weekend.[297] These included an incident in Dagenham where three men were arrested on suspicion of arson, a fire in Huddersfield that affected a mast used by emergency services and a fire in a mast that provides mobile connectivity to the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham.[297]

 

Ofcom issued guidance to ITV following comments by Eamonn Holmes after comments made by Holmes about 5G and coronavirus on This Morning.[308] Ofcom said the comments were "ambiguous" and "ill-judged" and they "risked undermining viewers' trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence".[308] Ofcom also local channel London Live in breach of standards for an interview it had with David Icke who it said had " expressed views which had the potential to cause significant harm to viewers in London during the pandemic".[308]

 

Some telecoms engineers have reported threats of violence, including threats to stab and murder them, by individuals who believe them to be working on 5G networks.[309] West Midlands Police said the crimes in question are being taken very seriously.[309]

 

On April 24, 2020 The Guardian revealed that an evangelical pastor from Luton had provided the male voice on a recording blaming 5G for deaths caused by coronavirus.[310] Jonathon James claimed to have formerly headed the largest business-unit at Vodafone, but insiders at the company said that he was hired for a sales position in 2014 when 5G was not a priority for the company and that 5G would not have been part of his job.[310] He left the company after less than a year.[310]

 

Mosquitoes

It has been claimed that mosquitoes transmit coronavirus. There is no evidence that this is true; coronavirus spreads through small droplets of saliva and mucus.[279]

 

Petrol pumps

A warning claiming to be from the Australia Department of Health said coronavirus spreads through petrol pumps and that everyone should wear gloves when filling up petrol in their cars.[311]

 

Shoe-wearing

There were claims that wearing shoes at one's home was the reason behind the spread of the coronavirus in Italy.[312]

 

Resistance/susceptibility based on ethnicity

There have been claims that specific ethnicities are more or less vulnerable to COVID-19. COVID-19 is a new zoonotic disease, so no population has yet had the time to develop population immunity.[medical citation needed]

 

Beginning on February 11, reports, quickly spread via Facebook, implied that a Cameroonian student in China had been completely cured of the virus due to his African genetics. While a student was successfully treated, other media sources have noted that no evidence implies Africans are more resistant to the virus and labeled such claims as false information.[313] Kenyan Secretary of Health Mutahi Kagwe explicitly refuted rumors that "those with black skin cannot get coronavirus", while announcing Kenya's first case on March 13.[314] This myth was cited as a contributing factor in the disproportionately high rates of infection and death observed among African Americans.[315][316]

 

There have been claims of "Indian immunity": that the people of India have more immunity to the COVID-19 virus due to living conditions in India. This idea was deemed "absolute drivel" by Anand Krishnan, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He said there was no population immunity to the COVID-19 virus yet, as it is new, and it is not even clear whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 will have lasting immunity, as this happens with some viruses but not with others.[317]

 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the virus was genetically targeted at Iranians by the U.S., and this is why it is seriously affecting Iran. He did not offer any evidence.[318][22]

 

Religious protection

A number of religious groups have claimed protection due to their faith, some refusing to stop large religious gatherings. In Israel, some Ultra-Orthodox Jews initially refused to close synagogues and religious seminaries and disregarded government restrictions because "The Torah protects and saves",[319] which resulted in an 8 times faster rate of infection among some groups.[320] The Tablighi Jamaat movement organised mass gatherings in Malaysia, India, and Pakistan whose participants believed that God will protect them resulted the biggest rise in COVID-19 cases in a number of countries.[321][29][322] In Iran, the head of Fatima Masumeh Shrine encouraged pilgrims to visit the shrine despite calls to close the shrine, saying that they "consider this holy shrine to be a place of healing."[323] In South Korea the River of Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province spread the virus after spraying salt water into their members' mouths in the belief that it would kill the virus,[324] while the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu where a church leader claimed that no Shincheonji worshipers had caught the virus in February while hundreds died in Wuhan later caused in the biggest spread of the virus in the country.[325][326]

 

In Somalia, myths have spread claiming Muslims are immune to the virus.[327]

 

Unproven protective and aggravating factors

Vegetarian immunity

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2020)

Claims that vegetarians are immune to coronavirus spread online in India, causing "#NoMeat_NoCoronaVirus" to trend on Twitter.[328][better source needed] Eating meat does not have an effect on COVID-19 spread, except for people near where animals are slaughtered, said Anand Krishnan.[329] Fisheries, Dairying and Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh said the rumour had significantly affected industry, with the price of a chicken falling to a third of pre-pandemic levels. He also described efforts to improve the hygiene of the meat supply chain.[330]

 

Efficacy of hand sanitiser, "antibacterial" soaps

 

Washing in soap and water for at least 20 seconds is the best way to clean hands. Second-best is a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.[331]

Claims that hand sanitiser is merely "antibacterial not antiviral", and therefore ineffective against COVID-19, have spread widely on Twitter and other social networks. While the effectiveness of sanitiser depends on the specific ingredients, most hand sanitiser sold commercially inactivates SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.[332][333] Hand sanitizer is recommended against COVID-19,[279] though unlike soap, it is not effective against all types of germs.[334] Washing in soap and water for at least 20 seconds is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as the best way to clean hands in most situations. However, if soap and water are not available, a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol can be used instead, unless hands are visibly dirty or greasy.[331][335] The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration both recommend plain soap; there is no evidence that "antibacterial soaps" are any better, and limited evidence that they might be worse long-term.[336][337]

 

Alcohol (ethanol and poisonous methanol)

Contrary to some reports, drinking alcohol does not protect against COVID-19, and can increase health risks[279] (short term and long term). Drinking alcohol is ethanol; other alcohols, such as methanol, which causes methanol poisoning, are acutely poisonous, and may be present in badly-prepared alcoholic beverages.[338]

 

Iran has reported incidents of methanol poisoning, caused by the false belief that drinking alcohol would cure or protect against coronavirus;[339] alcohol is banned in Iran, and bootleg alcohol may contain methanol.[340] According to Iranian media in March 2020, nearly 300 people have died and more than a thousand have become ill due to methanol poisoning, while Associated Press gave figures of around 480 deaths with 2,850 others affected.[341] The number of deaths due to methanol poisoning in Iran reached over 700 by April.[342] Iranian social media had circulated a story from British tabloids that a British man and others had been cured of coronavirus with whiskey and honey,[339][343] which combined with the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers as disinfectants, led to the false belief that drinking high-proof alcohol can kill the virus.[339][340][341]

 

Similar incidents have occurred in Turkey, with 30 Turkmenistan citizens dying from methanol poisoning related to coronavirus cure claims.[344][345]

 

In Kenya, the Governor of Nairobi Mike Sonko has come under scrutiny for including small bottles of the cognac Hennessy in care packages, falsely claiming that alcohol serves as "throat sanitizer" and that, from research, it is believed that "alcohol plays a major role in killing the coronavirus."[346][347]

 

Cocaine

Cocaine does not protect against COVID-19. Several viral tweets purporting that snorting cocaine would sterilize one's nostrils of the coronavirus spread around Europe and Africa. In response, the French Ministry of Health released a public service announcement debunking this claim, saying "No, cocaine does NOT protect against COVID-19. It is an addictive drug that causes serious side effects and is harmful to people's health." The World Health Organisation also debunked the claim.[348]

 

Ibuprofen

A tweet from French health minister Olivier Véran, a bulletin from the French health ministry, and a small speculative study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine raised concerns about ibuprofen worsening COVID-19, which spread extensively on social media. The European Medicines Agency[349] and the World Health Organization recommended COVID-19 patients keep taking ibuprofen as directed, citing lack of convincing evidence of any danger.[350]

 

Helicopter spraying

In some Asian countries, it has been claimed that one should stay at home on particular days when helicopters spray disinfectant over homes for killing off COVID-19; no such spraying is taking place.[351][352]

 

Cruise ships safety from infection

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships

 

Claims by cruise-ship operators notwithstanding, there are many cases of coronaviruses in hot climates; some countries in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf are severely affected.

In March 2020, the Miami New Times reported that managers at Norwegian Cruise Line had prepared a set of responses intended to convince wary customers to book cruises, including "blatantly false" claims that the coronavirus "can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise", that "[s]cientists and medical professionals have confirmed that the warm weather of the spring will be the end of the [c]oronavirus", and that the virus "cannot live in the amazingly warm and tropical temperatures that your cruise will be sailing to".[353]

 

Flu is seasonal (becoming less frequent in the summer) in some countries, but not in others. While it is possible that the COVID-19 coronavirus will also show some seasonality, it is not yet known.[354][355][356][medical citation needed] The COVID-19 coronavirus spread along international air travel routes, including to tropical locations.[357] Outbreaks on cruise ships, where an older population lives in close quarters, frequently touching surfaces which others have touched, were common.[358][359]

 

It seems that COVID-19 can be transmitted in all climates.[279] It has seriously affected many warm-climate countries. For instance, Dubai, with an year-round average daily high of 28.0 Celsius (82.3°F) and the airport said to have the world's most international traffic, has had thousands of cases.

 

Vaccine pre-existence

It was reported that multiple social media posts have promoted a conspiracy theory claiming the virus was known and that a vaccine was already available. PolitiFact and FactCheck.org noted that no vaccine currently exists for COVID-19. The patents cited by various social media posts reference existing patents for genetic sequences and vaccines for other strains of coronavirus such as the SARS coronavirus.[360][4] The WHO reported as of February 5, 2020, that amid news reports of "breakthrough" drugs being discovered to treat people infected with the virus, there were no known effective treatments;[361] this included antibiotics and herbal remedies not being useful.[362] Scientists are working to develop a vaccine, but as of March 18, 2020, no vaccine candidates have completed Phase II clinical trials.[citation needed]

 

Miscellaneous

Name of the disease

Social media posts and internet memes claimed that COVID-19 means "Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease 19", or similar, as supposedly the "19th virus to come out of China".[477] In fact, the WHO named the disease as follows: CO stands for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019).[478]

 

Bat soup

Some media outlets, including Daily Mail and RT, as well as individuals, disseminated a video showing a Chinese woman eating a bat, falsely suggesting it was filmed in Wuhan and connecting it to the outbreak.[479][480] However, the widely circulated video contains unrelated footage of a Chinese travel vlogger, Wang Mengyun, eating bat soup in the island country of Palau in 2016.[479][480][481][482] Wang posted an apology on Weibo,[481][482] in which she said she had been abused and threatened,[481] and that she had only wanted to showcase Palauan cuisine.[481][482] The spread of misinformation about bat consumption has been characterized by xenophobic and racist sentiment toward Asians.[90][483][484] In contrast, scientists suggest the virus originated in bats and migrated into an intermediary host animal before infecting people.[90][485]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_related_to_the_COVID...

Processed with CameraBag 2

 

The Kingsmac rose, specially bred to celebrate King's School Macclesfield's 500th anniversary, has won a prestigious international prize. A blushing variegated hybrid in peach, honey and apricot, it has won a Silver Medal at the Hague Rose trials and is tipped to win the top prize in future years. The rose was bred by Fryer’s Roses in Knutsford, one of the top 20 roses breeders world-wide, and was chosen from thousands of entries from across the globe

 

Walthamstow, East London, UK

This looks like how I've felt for the past 3 days.

 

Lost my internet connection and couldn't get it back. My computer was acting really wacky (no surprise there) and sending me all sorts of error messages. I tried everything I could think of. My computer finally told me to basically "forget about it, idiot!"

 

4 computer savvy people were helping me try to sort out my problems. One of them came to my house and spent nearly three hours trying to sort things out. Yah...

 

Finally, one guy told me to unplug the router, while my computer was shut down, wait 5 minutes, reset the router, turn on computer.

 

It worked. That's how simple it was! Stupid Windows! :-P

 

Stupid Wireless! :-P

 

Tomorrow night, a fellow is coming in to hook me up to cable, so this absolute crap will be avoided in future. *sigh*

 

oh. I got this fellow, Jax, in a trade with Licorice Tree. I loved the look on his face! And he has wheels! :-)

 

I'm way behind in visiting ~ and it doesn't look real good until another day or so.

My sincere apologies to all my friends! :-(

~Just thought I'd let you know what's been going on here ~ *yawn* ~ in case you wondered whether or not I dropped off the face of the earth.

I did.

 

But I climbed back on...

© Harshith JV

 

Finding rare bird species has been passion among the birding community for long time. For a "noob" in birding, the rare bird list is very long. Over time that list shortens. For some birds which are not actually rare becomes tough to spot after repeated attempts as they are skulkers, i.e., the birds that are reluctant to come out in open or are busy foragers under the thick tree canopies or bushes. There are other birds which are restricted to particular geographic region and if they are skulkers then it becomes really difficult to spot.

 

In case of Kashmir Flycatcher, their population has really gone down drastically and the IUCN organisation has assigned the status of this bird as 'Vulnerable.' So I place it under this ultra-rare series. This bird is related to and very much similar in behavior and calls of Taiga and Red-breasted Flycatcher. Though I have seen it at Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, this bird has been reported from ever-growing silicon valley of India, i.e., Bengaluru. Maybe it visits some of the IT campuses in the city, you never know!

 

There are many other birds that is similar to Kashmir Flycatcher in terms of declining population in South India: Laggar Falcon, Indian Vulture, Eurasian Oystercatcher, etc. List is very long. Some birds adapt to new changes. But some struggle. Some that struggle now might adapt and recover in future. Hope the Kashmir Flycatcher recovers well along with other struggling birds to new changes in habitat of this planet. All they need is just place/s to breed, migrate, feed and strive.

 

Common names: Kashmir flycatcher, Indian Red-breasted Flycatcher, Kashmir Red-breasted Flycatcher, Himalayan Flycatcher

Scientific name: Ficedula subrubra

IUCN status: Vulnerable

Place: Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

Date: February 26, 2017

 

File name: 3A1A4141.enhanced.upload.JPG

I'm always on the lookout for a good patch of blueberry bushes. Not just to eat. For me, for photography, it's about the color. While their berries may be blue, it's their vibrant red leaves in the fall that keep me on the hunt. I think I have written about this before, but red foliage in the dawn light is one of my favorite colors to photograph. It just glows. There are a few spots that I have bookmarked in my brain to return to in future autumns to see if I can catch that glow.

 

I made this photograph here on my way up South Moat mountain last fall. I started the day at Diana's Bath making photographs of the waterfalls, and then my hiking buddy Chris picked me up and we drove down to the Kanc and left my car at the waterfalls. This car spot allowed us to traverse the Moats from South to North, which is a very nice hike. This photo is not from dawn, but rather from sometime after in the morning. With nice, even light --and blueberry bushes on the brain -- I was able to find this arrangement of tree trunks and boulders on the hillside. Perhaps if I were there before sunrise, the leaves would even glow in the dawn light. Might need to add it to my mental list of blueberry patches to revisit in future falls.

Just trying a new background for taking photos in future

Found image. I am not sure what this photograph represents. Is this a class from a rural background learning a craft that may help them to earn a living in future or is it a group being given an art lesson.

Recycling the Mack Granite model from before but this time with a set back axle. The truck has a push bar at the front so it can lock into other loads I'm building. I've put a lowbed trailer behind it with a Mack RD800. I haven't built a trailer that I'm happy with for the RD800 yet so thought it could be the load for this model! Maybe in future it will have a modular trailer and a ballast body with a generator on.

And speaking of things which are no more, Wednesday 21st December 2022 saw the curtain fall on Marshalls of Sutton on Trent's W22 service, operating between Walton Academy in Grantham, and Coddington via Long Bennington, Fernwood, Balderton and Newark.

 

Started in September 2016, the W22 was designed in collaboration with Walton Girls High School (as it then was), as a quicker way of getting the students to school - whereas previously, students would have to go on a tour of all the other Grantham schools first, the new route ran non-stop from Long Bennington to Walton Girls High School, bypassing Grantham town centre, and allowing everyone about an extra 20 minutes in bed - plus getting them back home 20 minutes faster in the afternoon.

 

Back then, even with the introduction of the W22 and subsequent revisions to the other 22's, all six deckers heading from the Newark area in to Grantham were pretty much full - but unfortunately, over time, numbers have dropped off, with the W22 seeing the largest reduction in students travelling, to the point that a single decker has been utilised for the service for much of this school year so far.

 

Whilst I'm not sure of the exact reason for the overall drop in patronage (nor am I sure anyone would be to put an exact finger on it), I'd hazard a guess that the reasons are a) the schools in the Newark area have vastly improved in the last few years, possibly leading to less parents sending their children to Grantham's schools; b) the opening of the Suthers School on the edge of Newark in September 2020 would've also provided several hundred new places for children in a brand new school, again possibly enticing parents not to send their kids to Grantham; c) some parents may no longer be able to afford the expense of sending their children to Grantham anymore, with an annual bus pass costing many hundreds of pounds; and d) most relevant to the W22, the conversion of Walton Girls High School to become Walton Academy in September 2019, at which point boys began to be accepted into the school for the first time, would presumably have increased the amount of students on roll at the school - but crucially (for the bus) reduced the amount of students from further afield that the school could accept.

 

To that end, it was announced in November that the W22 would come to an end in December 2022, six years after its inception, with students for Walton Academy redirected on to the other 22's from the Newark area.

 

In one final twist to this tale, Walton Academy operate a different school calendar to all the other secondary schools in Grantham, meaning that sometimes, they end up being the only secondary school in the town which is actually open - and in that event, a special timetable comes in to play, in which only the 22A and W22 ran - the 22A operating as usual between Grantham and Claypole, and the W22 operating as usual between Walton Academy and Coddington - but then extending to Collingham in lieu of the 22B. (In future, the 22A will be extended to Newark on such 'Walton Academy only' days.)

 

All the other secondary schools in Grantham closed last week, so today's final journey, operated by Optare Versa OP121 (still in Marchants of Cheltenham's red livery, but with very smart golden Marshalls fleetnames applied) was the 1545 from Walton Academy to Collingham via Newark - probably the first time this variation of the route has been captured on camera... and the last! It's seen here on Kitty Briggs Lane, having just left the school.

Cultural performance of the Pokot people.

 

The Pokot people are categorized under the larger Kalenjin tribes grouping of Kenyan Nilotic speakers because they have oral traditions of a similar origin. They speak the Pokot language. The Pokot people live in the Baringo and Western Pokot districts of Kenya and also in the Eastern Karamoja region of Uganda. The Pokots are dived into two main sub-groups depending of their location and way of life. The two groups are the Hill Pokot who practice both farming and pastoralism, and live in the rainy highlands in the west and in the central south. The second group is made up of the Plains Pokot who living in dry and infertile plains, herd cows, goats and sheep.

As a result of their nomadic lifestyle, adopted by most of the Pokot, they have interacted with different peoples in their history and therefore incorporated social customs of neighbors into their life. The Turkana and the Karamojong of Uganda, who they neighbor, appear to have had the most influence on the Pokot. Those who are cultivators mainly grow corn/maize. Nevertheless, whether a pastoralist or a farmer, wealth among the Pokot is measured by the number of cattle one has. The other major uses of cows are in bride price and barter trade. As long as a Pokot man has enough wealth in terms of cows to offer, marrying more than one wife is allowed.

Dairy products like milk are an important part of the diet of the Pokot. Porridge made from wild fruits boiled with a mixture of milk and blood, a repast rich in nutrients and iron is the staple of the Pokot diet. Using a special arrow, it's shot into the neck of a cow to drain blood without permanently causing harm to the animal.

The Tororot being the utmost god according to the Pokot, prayers and sacrifices are made to him during ethnic festivals and dances that are organized by their elders. Also, the Pokot have diviners who are in charge for maintaining the spiritual balance within their society. Being superstitious and believing in sorcery and sometimes calling on various forms of shielding lucky charms to ward off the ill will of any sorcerers is a part of their tradition. They also worship other deities like the sun, moon and believe in the spirit of death.

Governing within the Pokot community, is through a number of age-sets and association with any particular set is be determined by the age during which a Pokot goes through their initiation into that set group or society. It is typically between the ages of fifteen and twenty for the men while, it is around twelve, for the women. Matrimonial binds for the youngsters are allowed, once the initiation has been accomplished. As well, they begin taking part in the local economic functions. The bonds formed within the initiation groups, are close and are functional in future political ties as they progress through the positions in the tribal organization. At old age, they get a certain degree of status and the esteem that goes with it. Presiding over important tribal decisions, festivals and religious celebrations are the duties among others that elders are in charge of.

The Pokot are quite proud of their culture are bound to hold on to it in the future. Generally, Pokot women wear colorful necklaces and beaded headgears, brass jewelry and big loop type earrings whereas men wear just a few wrap garments and cowhide capes and shirts. They use beaded skirts to distinguish those females who have been initiated from those who haven't. Pokot warriors wear red clay on their hair, special headgears of feathers. Dances are an important aspect of their culture especially during social-cultural events.

 

Lego fw 190D10 designed by Dieter89, looked like no one build his fw before so I did. It’s a great design and learned a lot new technics that I will use in future plane builds.

 

Small easter egg in the back ;)

Standing at the common corridor of a public housing looking across at the executive condominium, I have the feeling how nice would it be if I can upgrade to a condominium like this in future and so I decided to do this 3 frame shift shot of my view.

The vivid colours of twilight facing the Snowdon horseshoe from Nant Gwryd.

 

Bare footed I made my way into the centre of the river to capture this image.. maybe in future I will remind my self that we are still in winter and this river flow is full of melted snow. I could barely feel my toes as I quickly ran back to the car.

The Orion constellation is one of the most brilliant. In legend, it represents a mighty hunter brought down by his own pride.

 

He boasts he could slay all wild animals but he was killed by a scorpion. The constellation's most celebrated feature is the huge nebula 1,500 light years away that lies within the hunter's sword.

 

Amongst the hundreds of stars in the system are two super giants, Betelgeuse and Rigel, 430 and 770 light years away, respectively.

 

Germain, channeled by Lyssa Royal, tells us that Orions are 89% Vegan and 11% Lyran. Note that Vega is a star in the Lyra constellation of stars, whereas the Orions we are interested in are apparently from the Betelgeuse and Rigel star systems.

 

Of the Orions who are Vegan (89%) in nature, most are of the human type - a smaller percentage is nonhuman.

 

Of the Orions who are Lyran stock (11%), most are light-browned skin, and about 10% are Caucasian type with light hair. Although their bodies are water based like ours they have an oily, fatty content acting like a lubricant. Also, as we indicated earlier, the little Greys occupy a small percentage of the Orion population; their origin, Zeta Reticuli, is a neighbor of the Orion constellation.

 

Thus, overall, the genetic differences are quite marked.

 

Orions have a reputation for possessing an aggressive nature and have been involved in many destructive wars. Note that the masculine energy is associated with the evolution of beings from the star systems of Orion, which are related to Earth, whereas inhabitants of the Sirius star system, also very much involved with Earth, carry the feminine energy or polarity.

 

Although there is a symbiosis between consciousness and technology, the Orion races probably pushed this principle to the limit and developed advanced technology (of a type) while still war-waging. The typical scenario was the Light against the Dark; peace-loving Orions opposed by self-serving 'aggressive' Orions.

 

According to Light Network there are three major players in the galaxy:

the Intergalactic Confederation of different star systems throughout the galaxy

the Reptoid Federation, a conglomeration of many reptoid species

the Orion Empire, ruled by one leader

Now within the domain of the Orion Empire, three groups formed, the dominant Orion Empire, the Black League resistance (to the Empire), and the victims of both these groups.

 

Even though this pattern of behavior still operates it is less widespread and many individuals have been awakened since the incarnation in Orion of a great avatar.

 

The authoritarian trait, present on Earth, is not typical amongst ET civilizations and has been acquired from Orion.

 

Many Orions, including the Black League, went to Maldek and settled - this is the planet in our system that was inhabited by many of the so-called fallen angels, who were given the opportunity to reform.

 

As is well known, the civilization failed to turn to a more spiritual path and the planet was destroyed, leaving the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

 

Some sources indicate it was struck (or disturbed) by the huge planet Nibiru as it entered our system in its counter-direction to the other planets. Many of these Dark forces are on Earth at this time; hence the authoritarian nature that pervades this planet, including an enforced reliance on authority.

 

On the positive side, however, the Orions have contributed their mental powers for the development of smoothly running systems on Earth. They beam the yellow ray frequency to earth for the stabilization of the intuitive powers within human consciousness.

 

They are the source for many organizational structures of government, business and industry. Nevertheless this energy is only relevant to Earthman's frequencies, which we shall outgrow and then receive other energies from more advanced races, such as the Lyrans.

 

Of the genetic percentages mentioned above, the smaller group of nonhuman Vegans would cover the Greys and reptilians and accompanying varieties.

 

It is not uncommon for abductees to refer to small aliens (Greys) directed by a single tall alien (reptilian type, or sometimes, Nordic). The Greys tend to be servants or mercenaries for the tall reptilians.

 

These Greys and Dracos are known as the Rigelians (from the Rigel star) and are extremely dangerous.

 

The Orions, who have Vegan characteristics, have particularly striking eyes. In fact their priests, who live twice as long as the general population - about a thousand years - have bright blue eyes, which change to that color as a result of strict spiritual training, involving diet and psychic experience. The common color for the eyes is brown. Their height is usually in the 7 foot- tall category.

 

The duties of these priests is the education in theory and practice of all aspects of relationships for both marital and premarital subjects, including procreation rituals, in which full intimacies occur during a 24-hour stay in the priest's temples as a normal custom. Appearance remains similar from young to old with no senility. Attraction is not physical; awareness of inner-consciousness dominates.

 

In spite of the spiritual implications, there appears still to remain within the Orion civilizations the never-ending conflict between the Orion Empire and the Black League resistance. The Empire appears to be run mainly by the Greys working with a Federation of Draconian Reptilians, with the aim of extending their domination to other planets.

 

These Greys are mainly the ones who negotiate treaties and secret deals with Earth governments.

 

The resistance group have apparently built cities in and within the mountains. The Empire enforces controlled procreation, numbers of children, etc. and also enforces by Orion law that it is 'forbidden to remember'. The resistance group, however, are free from this mental control. The priests would seemingly be either from this category or the victim group.

 

Their customs are bound to rituals; imagination is not very free and children are told of the myth of Earth: of the freedom to be anything.

 

A civilization, particularly expressing what we understand by Orion energy - more masculine - would be the race from planet Vivinau nearer towards the the centre of the galaxy.

 

This is the home of the Warrior League. The Warrior League brings order to their society, and is essentially divided into,

the 'amenable' - people who would not rule and are subsequently trained to be amenable (no resistance, or anarchy, terrorists, protestors)

the 'omnipotent' - those who would rule

The interaction of this race with humans was considered by the Orions to have the purpose of bringing a similarly designed order to us claiming this is a duty on their part given by the 'Creator'.

 

They notice now, however, they are ineffective; their last monitors having visited Earth in 1957 with decreasing influence to the present. They accept that the Creator no longer requires their assistance - their energy - on Earth any more, and that the Creator apparently has other plans.

 

These warriors wonder how we will cope. They apparently operate on the principle of destroying negativity, criminals, terrorists, to bring order, not seemingly recognizing that ultimately rehabilitation is the only way, or simply not reflecting these 'negativities' into the environment from one's own mind.

 

This latter, is clearly the path for humans, hence the Creator's removal of this Orion influence.

 

Zoltec of the warrior league answers questions via channeling in the Explorer Race books. He states that the average height of this race is over 7 feet tall. They have a similar body to humans but tougher skin. They consider humans weak, physically, mentally and emotionally - they utilize the power of passion.

 

Their form and means of help to Earth has been through the so-called men-in-black (MIB).

 

Much has been written about these mysterious 'emissaries'. From the Earth person's viewpoint more negativity seems to be associated with these MIB than positive.

 

But they insist that they have protected us from the negative Sirians and also (ironically) from all such races as the Pleiadians, who are,

'trying to get you to imitate them... they are chaotic.'

Also the MIB influence government decisions by advocating adherence to their successful societal model and that societies which have used that form of government on Earth have survived the longest.

 

Note that they praise and respect the Roman Empire.

 

The MIB are of human size and roughly similar appearance but contain the Orion soul essence. The bodies are cloned by the little Greys who are also in the Orion system. These clones with Orion souls are the MIB.

 

They are sent in small space capsules to Earth; a journey taking about seven years. On arrival they are trained for a year or so in Earth customs, etc., at an Orion station. They apparently cannot stand our weak energy.

 

Zoltec refers to the anarchy from the Black League, which he states originally brought down Atlantis, and he likens them to our terrorists. Prior to Atlantis they were chased from the Orion planets to Maldek, a small planet in our solar system with an ordered civilization according to Zoltec, destroyed by the Black League, now a cluster of asteroids between Jupiter and Mars.

 

According to Zoosh a propulsion fuel was developed to accelerate them beyond light speed for their escape.

 

The fuel, a 'hydrogen-oxygen combinant' was unstable but extremely powerful. It was manufactured in large quantities and was sufficient to destroy the planet. Many of these destructive beings then incarnated on Earth.

 

When asked how they communicate with the Creator, he describes visitations of the 'All-Powerful' in the form of a female warrior of golden light with armor and sword. She is described as the ultimate female; just to be touched with her sword was 'a wonderful thing.' The above Orion warrior material is taken from the Explorer Race books.

 

Clearly the only way the Creator could communicate to these warriors was in a form acceptable to them - virtually in their own making. They appear to be totally blocked of feminine energy or a world in which all problems can be solved harmoniously. In spite of their psychical abilities, their experience, intelligence and technology, they are stuck.

 

If they knew, however, what evolution had in store for them they would misunderstand it and reject it - simply because of the necessary feminine energy.

 

Hence it seems they must have more limited perception in this area than humans. When Zoltec was asked about the future of Orion (and they have advanced technologies for seeing future probabilities, etc.) he replied he didn't want to know. They didn't like what they saw; reminded them of humans - weak.

 

As a final piece of information about the Orions of some interest was the fact that they apparently created the huge cavern under Cape Good Hope. The Shining The Light books describe the size of this as of the order of magnitude as Rhode Island.

 

Following one of the many Atlantis disasters, in which the surface of Earth was not habitable, the Atlanteans, who survived, sent out signals for help.

 

The Orions apparently immediately responded and shortly arrived in a large ship. According to the Zoosh material their technology was such that they built the cavern about 150 miles under Cape Good Hope and did this in about 16 hours - primarily for the Atlanteans.

 

However, their motivations weren't without self-interest. Any opportunity to preserve a connection with Earth was taken advantage of in case they needed to utilize it in the future, such as for resources.

 

Thus they did in fact examine the probabilities for their future which showed they did need the connection with Earth for the next 100,000 years. They thus set up equipment in one 'corner' of the cavern, and protected it with fields, even of a nature to make Atlanteans sick if they came close.

 

After this they left for their home planet in Orion.

 

PIRATE ALIENS

 

It is not uncommon for extraterrestrial civilizations to spawn rebellious members which are ostracized from their native planet.

 

We mentioned in the first chapter a digressive strain from the reptilians race called the Drakon. Here we shall concentrate on small pirate groups, in particular, from the relatively advanced civilizations of,

Orion

Sirius

the Pleiades

These comprise not more than a handful of pirates who revel in plundering planets like Earth and exploring time travel in such linear 3D highly objective realities.

 

Different aliens seek different resources whether it is sea water, sand, quartz, minerals or genetic material, etc.

 

But they have apparently learned that generally it is to their benefit to exercise cooperation with our secret government and negotiate deals with them. Over the years the government has acquired advanced technologies from ETs as a result of these negotiations.

 

A particularly notorious renegade cabal are the Xpotaz. In the Shining The Light books they are referred to as particularly dangerous time travelers. They no longer have a home planet.

 

An example is given in which the Xpotaz, which had established itself by force as go-between for other alien pirate's deals with the secret government, would warn all other rebel parties approaching Earth with a view to acquiring resources.

 

They would threaten them with their 'time beam weapon'; a dreaded device with which few would argue - unless they were contacted first.

 

Nevertheless, along came the Zetas; their first mission to Earth, seeking genetic material. This took place in the 1920s. There were nine Zeta aliens in their spacecraft, which was a product of hundreds of thousands of years of advanced technology.

 

Their intention was to contact Earth's governments, which would be the secret government or One World Government and negotiate a deal for the acquisition of genetic material from humans. A combination of some degree of etiquette or ethics, and cooperation for cover-ups from the public made government contact logical and wise.

 

The Zeta ship's approach to Earth was intercepted by the Xpotaz pirates. These Zetas were given the standard warning that unless they cooperated and conducted negotiations with the government through, and to the benefit of, the Xpotaz they would be subject to the time-beam weapon.

 

It had never been necessary to use it as no aliens were foolish enough to defy the Xpotaz. Nevertheless the Xpotaz were quite ready to use it to set an example to others.

 

Needless to say the Zetas ignored them. One must keep in mind that the Zetas had developed unsurpassed intellect. Their ships were constructed of the same material as their cloned bodies (compressed light, which was a little like plastic), and could - as they did with their bodies - bilocate: appear in two places at once.

 

In addition, on entering their ships, one apprehended that the interior of the craft was greater than the outside dimensions permitted. They were exceedingly advanced, but highly specialized, resulting in an inordinate failure to understand others, combined with a certain naivety and arrogance.

 

Thus they rejected three warnings from the Xpotaz.

 

The time-beam device was directed at the Zeta spacecraft. The ship was transported back in time half-a-billion years at a location better described as the other side of the universe. Channel source Zoosh referred to this as a sad state of affairs. There was no hope of them finding their way home. To this day since the 1920s they are still lost and in fact are not expected even to be rescued within their lifetimes of another 200 years.

 

Underhand deals with the secret government were also negotiated by other pirate aliens such as ones from Orion and Sirius but the most treacherous are the Xpotaz.

 

According to the Shining The Light series of books the Orions contacted our secret government around 1910 and in return for a small laser device, obtained government agreement to turn a blind eye while they took over human bodies by force - this was as per the well-known 'walk-in' procedure, except that most walk-ins are benevolently arranged.

 

This means that the soul entering has agreement with the soul leaving.

 

Generally the departing soul is leaving a dying body and the exchange mechanics are quite complex. The new personality is rarely aware immediately that they have taken over a human body. They have the same memories, karma, ailments, etc. The Orion's purpose in controlling human bodies was of course negative.

 

Thus the government obtained laser technology from aliens. It took them about 30 years to understand and duplicate the laser, culminating in the development of a laser gun.

 

Regarding the Orion renegade's intention to take over (a few) human bodies, it amounted to nothing more than an attempt. The energy for humans was incompatible and the plot failed. Needless to say the government obtained their end of the deal.

 

Now regarding deals from the Sirians, the renegades originally from this planet were few in number, much less than Orion and Zeta Reticuli. Also remember that these pirate aliens in general are outcasts from their home planet - in particular Orion and Sirius but also even a number from the Pleiades (in the case of the Sirians though, these were probably the so-called negative Sirians).

 

The few negative Sirians apparently planned to set up conditions to harness the Earth's core. The government allowed them to utilize their technology involving a very small amount of the core, and in exchange the Sirian pirates gave them a medical chamber which was claimed to heal all ills.

 

The problem was, in using it discreetly in the underground bases, it required an antenna extending above ground level, directed at the sun. The extreme secrecy that the government required prohibited its application. As a result it was used very little.

 

The Zetas themselves did many deals. It is difficult to categorize them as negative or positive since as we have seen in the chapter on the extensive Zeta program there was a higher purpose.

 

The basic arrangement with the secret government was that the government turned a blind eye to the abductions to enable the Zetas to obtain genetic material. The Zetas were also given quartz, which is abundant on planet Earth, but scarce in Zeta Reticuli. In return, the Zetas were apparently almost naively generous.

 

The government would have accepted much less. Again this is an example of the Zeta's over specialization, resulting in a failure to evaluate relative importance and the nature of other beings.

 

The government were given a complete space drive.

 

The Zetas also gave the secret government a crystal technology that would give free energy. Free energy or over-unity energy means the device harnesses not mechanical and chemical energy, but energy from space, cosmic energy or sun light, etc. Every point in our space potentially contains an unlimited amount of energy and certain systems will extract this by resonance.

 

This Zeta system of free energy was achieved by internal reflection of the Sun's rays.

 

As is typical, however, the secret government did not make it available to the masses and kept it for themselves. The government gave them quartz and sand in exchange.

 

The government in fact utilized the device for nefarious purposes. The crystal technology could be used with the secret government time machines (see Montauk material) and genetic experiments to enable them to synthesize the DNA of the Zeta aliens.

 

This technique was successful, resulting in the creation of a slave race of cloned Zeta-type aliens.

 

A method was used to prevent 'normal souls' from entering the bodies - only degenerate beings and consciousness were attracted (note that as stated previously, 'normal souls' wouldn't enter clones anyway).

 

www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_orionzone_16.htm

This was BC (Before Confidence); when I was very apprehensive of stepping out. In those days I stayed in and took plenty of pictures, in various outfits, findng my "style". A couple years after this session I had an image consult, that included a color analysis, with my local BeautiControl consultant. Turns out I'm a Winter and yellows are one of the colors that I should avoid!

I recommend getting an image consult. It really increased my confidence.

There are two other things that had huge positive effects on my confidence; GG friendships and encouagement, and electrolysis. I plan to write about these in future posts.

Rochester is a town and historic city in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is situated at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London.

 

Rochester was for many years a favourite of Charles Dickens, who owned nearby Gads Hill Place, Higham,[1] basing many of his novels on the area. The Diocese of Rochester, the second oldest in England, is based at Rochester Cathedral and was responsible for the founding of a school, now The King's School in 604 AD,[2] which is recognised as being the second oldest continuously running school in the world. Rochester Castle, built by Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, has one of the best preserved keepsin either England or France, and during the First Barons' War (1215–1217) in King John's reign, baronial forces captured the castle from Archbishop Stephen Langton and held it against the king, who then besieged it.[3]

 

Neighbouring Chatham, Gillingham, Strood and a number of outlying villages, together with Rochester, nowadays make up the MedwayUnitary Authority area. It was, until 1998,[4]under the control of Kent County Council and is still part of the ceremonial county of Kent, under the latest Lieutenancies Act.[5]

 

Toponymy[edit]

The Romano-British name for Rochester was Durobrivae, later Durobrivis c. 730 and Dorobrevis in 844. The two commonly cited origins of this name are that it either came from "stronghold by the bridge(s)",[6] or is the latinisation of the British word Dourbruf meaning "swiftstream".[7]Durobrivis was pronounced 'Robrivis. Bede copied down this name, c. 730, mistaking its meaning as Hrofi's fortified camp (OE Hrofes cæster). From this we get c. 730 Hrofæscæstre, 811 Hrofescester, 1086 Rovescester, 1610 Rochester.[6] The Latinised adjective 'Roffensis' refers to Rochester.[7]

Neolithic remains have been found in the vicinity of Rochester; over time it has been variously occupied by Celts, Romans, Jutes and/or Saxons. During the Celtic period it was one of the two administrative centres of the Cantiaci tribe. During the Roman conquest of Britain a decisive battle was fought at the Medway somewhere near Rochester. The first bridge was subsequently constructed early in the Roman period. During the later Roman period the settlement was walled in stone. King Ethelbert of Kent(560–616) established a legal system which has been preserved in the 12th century Textus Roffensis. In AD 604 the bishopric and cathedral were founded. During this period, from the recall of the legions until the Norman conquest, Rochester was sacked at least twice and besieged on another occasion.

The medieval period saw the building of the current cathedral (1080–1130, 1227 and 1343), the building of two castles and the establishment of a significant town. Rochester Castle saw action in the sieges of 1215 and 1264. Its basic street plan was set out, constrained by the river, Watling Street, Rochester Priory and the castle.

Rochester has produced two martyrs: St John Fisher, executed by Henry VIII for refusing to sanction the divorce of Catherine of Aragon; and Bishop Nicholas Ridley, executed by Queen Mary for being an English Reformation protestant.

The city was raided by the Dutch as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch, commanded by Admiral de Ruijter, broke through the chain at Upnor[8] and sailed to Rochester Bridge capturing part of the English fleet and burning it.[9]

  

The ancient City of Rochester merged with the Borough of Chatham and part of the Strood Rural District in 1974 to form the Borough of Medway. It was later renamed Rochester-upon-Medway, and its City status transferred to the entire borough. In 1998 another merger with the rest of the Medway Towns created the Medway Unitary Authority. The outgoing council neglected to appoint ceremonial "Charter Trustees" to continue to represent the historic Rochester area, causing Rochester to lose its City status – an error not even noticed by council officers for four years, until 2002.[10][11]

Military History

Rochester has for centuries been of great strategic importance through its position near the confluence of the Thames and the Medway. Rochester Castle was built to guard the river crossing, and the Royal Dockyard's establishment at Chatham witnessed the beginning of the Royal Navy's long period of supremacy. The town, as part of Medway, is surrounded by two circles of fortresses; the inner line built during the Napoleonic warsconsists of Fort Clarence, Fort Pitt, Fort Amherst and Fort Gillingham. The outer line of Palmerston Forts was built during the 1860s in light of the report by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdomand consists of Fort Borstal, Fort Bridgewood, Fort Luton, and the Twydall Redoubts, with two additional forts on islands in the Medway, namely Fort Hoo and Fort Darnet.

During the First World War the Short Brothers' aircraft manufacturing company developed the first plane to launch a torpedo, the Short Admiralty Type 184, at its seaplane factory on the River Medway not far from Rochester Castle. In the intervening period between the 20th century World Wars the company established a world-wide reputation as a constructor of flying boats with aircraft such as the Singapore, Empire 'C'-Class and Sunderland. During the Second World War, Shorts also designed and manufactured the first four-engined bomber, the Stirling.

The UK's decline in naval power and shipbuilding competitiveness led to the government decommissioning the RN Shipyard at Chatham in 1984, which led to the subsequent demise of much local maritime industry. Rochester and its neighbouring communities were hit hard by this and have experienced a painful adjustment to a post-industrial economy, with much social deprivation and unemployment resulting. On the closure of Chatham Dockyard the area experienced an unprecedented surge in unemployment to 24%; this had dropped to 2.4% of the local population by 2014.[12]

Former City of Rochester[edit]

Rochester was recognised as a City from 1211 to 1998. The City of Rochester's ancient status was unique, as it had no formal council or Charter Trustees nor a Mayor, instead having the office of Admiral of the River Medway, whose incumbent acted as de facto civic leader.[13] On 1 April 1974, the City Council was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and the territory was merged with the District of Medway, Borough of Chatham and most of Strood Rural District to form a new a local government district called the Borough of Medway, within the county of Kent. Medway Borough Council applied to inherit Rochester's city status, but this was refused; instead letters patent were granted constituting the area of the former Rochester local government district to be the City of Rochester, to "perpetuate the ancient name" and to recall "the long history and proud heritage of the said City".[14] The Home Officesaid that the city status may be extended to the entire borough if it had "Rochester" in its name, so in 1979, Medway Borough Council renamed the borough to Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway, and in 1982, Rochester's city status was transferred to the entire borough by letters patent, with the district being called the City of Rochester-upon-Medway.[13]

On 1 April 1998, the existing local government districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were abolished and became the new unitary authority of Medway. The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions informed the city council that since it was the local government district that officially held City status under the 1982 Letters Patent, the council would need to appoint charter trustees to preserve its city status, but the outgoing Labour-run council decided not to appoint charter trustees, so the city status was lost when Rochester-upon-Medway was abolished as a local government district.[15][16][17] The other local government districts with City status that were abolished around this time, Bath and Hereford, decided to appoint Charter Trustees to maintain the existence of their own cities and the mayoralties. The incoming Medway Council apparently only became aware of this when, in 2002, it was advised that Rochester was not on the Lord Chancellor's Office's list of cities.[18][19]

In 2010, Medway Council started to refer to the "City of Medway" in promotional material, but it was rebuked and instructed not to do so in future by the Advertising Standards Authority.[20]

Governance[edit]

Civic history and traditions[edit]

Rochester and its neighbours, Chatham and Gillingham, form a single large urban area known as the Medway Towns with a population of about 250,000. Since Norman times Rochester had always governed land on the other side of the Medway in Strood, which was known as Strood Intra; before 1835 it was about 100 yards (91 m) wide and stretched to Gun Lane. In the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act the boundaries were extended to include more of Strood and Frindsbury, and part of Chatham known as Chatham Intra. In 1974, Rochester City Council was abolished and superseded by Medway Borough Council, which also included the parishes of Cuxton, Halling and Cliffe, and the Hoo Peninsula. In 1979 the borough became Rochester-upon-Medway. The Admiral of the River Medway was ex-officio Mayor of Rochester and this dignity transferred to the Mayor of Medway when that unitary authority was created, along with the Admiralty Court for the River which constitutes a committee of the Council.[21]

  

Like many of the mediaeval towns of England, Rochester had civic Freemen whose historic duties and rights were abolished by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. However, the Guild of Free Fishers and Dredgers continues to the present day and retains rights, duties and responsibilities on the Medway, between Sheerness and Hawkwood Stone.[22] This ancient corporate body convenes at the Admiralty Court whose Jury of Freemen is responsible for the conservancy of the River as enshrined in current legislation. The City Freedom can be obtained by residents after serving a period of "servitude", i.e. apprenticeship (traditionally seven years), before admission as a Freeman. The annual ceremonial Beating of the Boundsby the River Medway takes place after the Admiralty Court, usually on the first Saturday of July.

Rochester first obtained City status in 1211, but this was lost due to an administrative oversight when Rochester was absorbed by the Medway Unitary Authority.[10] Subsequently, the Medway Unitary Authority has applied for City status for Medway as a whole, rather than merely for Rochester. Medway applied unsuccessfully for City status in 2000 and 2002 and again in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year of 2012.[23] Any future bid to regain formal City status has been recommended to be made under the aegis of Rochester-upon-Medway.

Ecclesiastical parishes[edit]

  

There were three medieval parishes: St Nicholas', St Margaret's and St Clement's. St Clement's was in Horsewash Lane until the last vicar died in 1538 when it was joined with St Nicholas' parish; the church last remaining foundations were finally removed when the railway was being constructed in the 1850s. St Nicholas' Church was built in 1421 beside the cathedral to serve as a parish church for the citizens of Rochester. The ancient cathedral included the Benedictine monastic priory of St Andrew with greater status than the local parishes.[24] Rochester's pre-1537 diocese, under the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome, covered a vast area extending into East Anglia and included all of Essex.[25]

As a result of the restructuring of the Church during the Reformation the cathedral was reconsecrated as the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary without parochial responsibilities, being a diocesan church.[26] In the 19th century the parish of St Peter's was created to serve the burgeoning city with the new church being consecrated in 1859. Following demographic shifts, St Peter's and St Margaret's were recombined as a joint benefice in 1953 with the parish of St Nicholas with St Clement being absorbed in 1971.[27] The combined parish is now the "Parish of St Peter with St Margaret", centred at the new (1973) Parish Centre in The Delce (St Peter's) with St Margaret's remaining as a chapel-of-ease. Old St Peter's was demolished in 1974, while St Nicholas' Church has been converted into the diocesan offices but remains consecrated. Continued expansion south has led to the creation of an additional more recent parish of St Justus (1956) covering The Tideway estate and surrounding area.[28]

A church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin at Eastgate, which was of Anglo-Saxon foundation, is understood to have constituted a parish until the Middle Ages, but few records survive.[29]

Geography

Rochester lies within the area, known to geologists, as the London Basin. The low-lying Hoo peninsula to the north of the town consists of London Clay, and the alluvium brought down by the two rivers—the Thames and the Medway—whose confluence is in this area. The land rises from the river, and being on the dip slope of the North Downs, this consists of chalksurmounted by the Blackheath Beds of sand and gravel.

As a human settlement, Rochester became established as the lowest river crossing of the River Medway, well before the arrival of the Romans.

It is a focal point between two routes, being part of the main route connecting London with the Continent and the north-south routes following the course of the Medway connecting Maidstone and the Weald of Kent with the Thames and the North Sea. The Thames Marshes were an important source of salt. Rochester's roads follow north Kent's valleys and ridges of steep-sided chalk bournes. There are four ways out of town to the south: up Star Hill, via The Delce,[30] along the Maidstone Road or through Borstal. The town is inextricably linked with the neighbouring Medway Towns but separate from Maidstone by a protective ridge known as the Downs, a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

At its most limited geographical size, Rochester is defined as the market town within the city walls, now associated with the historic medieval city. However, Rochester historically also included the ancient wards of Strood Intra on the river's west bank, and Chatham Intra as well as the three old parishes on the Medway's east bank.

The diocese of Rochester is another geographical entity which can be referred to as Rochester.

Climate[edit]

Rochester has an oceanic climate similar to much of southern England, being accorded Köppen Climate Classification-subtype of "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate).[31]

On 10 August 2003, neighbouring Gravesend recorded one of the highest temperatures since meteorogical records began in the United Kingdom, with a reading of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit),[32]only beaten by Brogdale, near Faversham, 22 miles (35 km) to the ESE.[33] The weather station at Brogdale is run by a volunteer, only reporting its data once a month, whereas Gravesend, which has an official Met Office site at the PLA pilot station,[34] reports data hourly.

Being near the mouth of the Thames Estuary with the North Sea, Rochester is relatively close to continental Europe and enjoys a somewhat less temperate climate than other parts of Kent and most of East Anglia. It is therefore less cloudy, drier and less prone to Atlanticdepressions with their associated wind and rain than western regions of Britain, as well as being hotter in summer and colder in winter. Rochester city centre's micro-climate is more accurately reflected by these officially recorded figures than by readings taken at Rochester Airport.[35]

North and North West Kent continue to record higher temperatures in summer, sometimes being the hottest area of the country, eg. on the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 33.1 degrees.[36]Additionally, it holds at least two records for the year 2010, of 30.9 degrees[37] and 31.7 degrees C.[38] Another record was set during England's Indian summer of 2011 with 29.9 degrees C., the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK for October.

North and North West Kent continue to record higher temperatures in summer, sometimes being the hottest area of the country, eg. on the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 33.1 degrees.[36]Additionally, it holds at least two records for the year 2010, of 30.9 degrees[37] and 31.7 degrees C.[38] Another record was set during England's Indian summer of 2011 with 29.9 degrees C., the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK for October.

 

Building

Rochester comprises numerous important historic buildings, the most prominent of which are the Guildhall, the Corn Exchange, Restoration House, Eastgate House, as well as Rochester Castle and Rochester Cathedral. Many of the town centre's old buildings date from as early as the 14th century up to the 18th century. The chapel of St Bartholomew's Hospital dates from the ancient priory hospital's foundation in 1078.

Economy

  

Thomas Aveling started a small business in 1850 producing and repairing agricultural plant equipment. In 1861 this became the firm of Aveling and Porter, which was to become the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery and steam rollers in the country.[39] Aveling was elected Admiral of the River Medway (i.e. Mayor of Rochester) for 1869-70.

Culture[edit]

Sweeps Festival[edit]

Since 1980 the city has seen the revival of the historic Rochester Jack-in-the-Green May Day dancing chimney sweeps tradition, which had died out in the early 1900s. Though not unique to Rochester (similar sweeps' gatherings were held across southern England, notably in Bristol, Deptford, Whitstable and Hastings), its revival was directly inspired by Dickens' description of the celebration in Sketches by Boz.

The festival has since grown from a small gathering of local Morris dancesides to one of the largest in the world.[40] The festival begins with the "Awakening of Jack-in-the-Green" ceremony,[41] and continues in Rochester High Street over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

There are numerous other festivals in Rochester apart from the Sweeps Festival. The association with Dickens is the theme for Rochester's two Dickens Festivals held annually in June and December.[42] The Medway Fuse Festival[43] usually arranges performances in Rochester and the latest festival to take shape is the Rochester Literature Festival, the brainchild of three local writers.[44]

Library[edit]

A new public library was built alongside the Adult Education Centre, Eastgate. This enabled the registry office to move from Maidstone Road, Chatham into the Corn Exchange on Rochester High Street (where the library was formerly housed). As mentioned in a report presented to Medway Council's Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 28 March 2006, the new library opened in late summer (2006).[45]

Theatre[edit]

There is a small amateur theatre called Medway Little Theatre on St Margaret's Banks next to Rochester High Street near the railway station.[46] The theatre was formed out of a creative alliance with the Medway Theatre Club, managed by Marion Martin, at St Luke's Methodist Church on City Way, Rochester[47] between 1985 and 1988, since when drama and theatre studies have become well established in Rochester owing to the dedication of the Medway Theatre Club.[48]

Media[edit]

Local newspapers for Rochester include the Medway Messenger, published by the KM Group, and free newspapers such as Medway Extra(KM Group) and Yourmedway (KOS Media).

The local commercial radio station for Rochester is KMFM Medway, owned by the KM Group. Medway is also served by community radio station Radio Sunlight. The area also receives broadcasts from county-wide stations BBC Radio Kent, Heart and Gold, as well as from various Essex and Greater London radio stations.[49]

Sport[edit]

Football is played with many teams competing in Saturday and Sunday leagues.[50] The local football club is Rochester United F.C. Rochester F.C. was its old football club but has been defunct for many decades. Rugby is also played; Medway R.F.C. play their matches at Priestfields and Old Williamsonians is associated with Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School.[51]

Cricket is played in the town, with teams entered in the Kent Cricket League. Holcombe Hockey Club is one of the largest in the country,[52]and is based at Holcombe Park. The men's and women's 1st XI are part of the England Hockey League.[53] Speedway was staged on a track adjacent to City Way that opened in 1932. Proposals for a revival in the early 1970s did not materialise and the Rochester Bombers became the Romford Bombers.[54]

Sailing and rowing are also popular on the River Medway with respective clubs being based in Rochester.[55][56]

Film[edit]

The 1959 James Bond Goldfinger describes Bond driving along the A2through the Medway Towns from Strood to Chatham. Of interest is the mention of "inevitable traffic jams" on the Strood side of Rochester Bridge, the novel being written some years prior to the construction of the M2 motorway Medway bypass.

Rochester is the setting of the controversial 1965 Peter Watkins television film The War Game, which depicts the town's destruction by a nuclear missile.[57] The opening sequence was shot in Chatham Town Hall, but the credits particularly thank the people of Dover, Gravesend and Tonbridge.

The 2011 adventure film Ironclad (dir. Jonathan English) is based upon the 1215 siege of Rochester Castle. There are however a few areaswhere the plot differs from accepted historical narrative.

Notable people[edit]

  

Charles Dickens

The historic city was for many years the favourite of Charles Dickens, who lived within the diocese at nearby Gads Hill Place, Higham, many of his novels being based on the area. Descriptions of the town appear in Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations and (lightly fictionalised as "Cloisterham") in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Elements of two houses in Rochester, Satis House and Restoration House, are used for Miss Havisham's house in Great Expectations, Satis House.[58]

Sybil Thorndike

The actress Dame Sybil Thorndike and her brother Russell were brought up in Minor Canon Row adjacent to the cathedral; the daughter of a canon of Rochester Cathedral, she was educated at Rochester Grammar School for Girls. A local doctors' practice,[59] local dental practice[60] and a hall at Rochester Grammar School are all named after her.[61]

Peter Buck

Sir Peter Buck was Admiral of the Medway in the 17th century; knightedin 1603 he and Bishop Barlow hosted King James, the Stuart royal familyand the King of Denmark in 1606. A civil servant to The Royal Dockyardand Lord High Admiral, Buck lived at Eastgate House, Rochester.

Denis Redman

Major-General Denis Redman, a World War II veteran, was born and raised in Rochester and later became a founder member of REME, head of his Corps and a Major-General in the British Army.

Kelly Brook

The model and actress Kelly Brook went to Delce Junior School in Rochester and later the Thomas Aveling School (formerly Warren Wood Girls School).

The singer and songwriter Tara McDonald now lives in Rochester.

The Prisoners, a rock band from 1980 to 1986, were formed in Rochester. They are part of what is known as the "Medway scene".

Kelly Tolhurst MP is the current parliamentary representative for the constituency.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_Kent

  

'One look - the last, towards the tomb of his Home'

"Ein Blick nach dem Grabe seiner Habe"

 

Peter Fendi (Wien 1796 - 1842 Wien)

The Lay of the Bell, 1832/33

Das Lied von der Glocke

Aquarell, Deckfarben/Watercolour, body colour

Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna

 

The Art of the Viennese Watercolor

Till 13. May 2018

Transparent lightness, brilliant colours, and a generally atmospheric impression are the special qualities of 19th-century Viennese watercolor painting. Virtuosic city views and landscapes, detail-rich portraits, genre paintings, and floral works comprise the rich motivic repertoire featured in this glorious blossoming of Austrian art.

The Viennese watercolor’s heyday was the Biedermeier era: Jakob Alt, Matthäus Loder, Thomas Ender, and Peter Fendi number among its most important artistic figures.

Likewise outstanding are the exquisite works by Rudolf von Alt from his over 70-year career. His masterful watercolours run from the Biedermeier era all the way to the rise of the Secession movement around 1900.

This exhibition presents a veritable parade of exceptionally beautiful pictures, including the ALBERTINA’s own treasures as well as important loan works, all of which pay impressive tribute to the high standing of the Viennese watercolor in the context of 19th century art.

www.albertina.at/en/exhibitions/viennese_watercolour/

 

On view from 16 February until 13 May 2018.

 

The Albertina

The architectural history of the Palais

 

"It is my will that ​​the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".

This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.

It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.

The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.

In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.

1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.

The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values ​​found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:

After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".

This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.

The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.

Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values ​​of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.

This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.

The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.

The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".

Christian Benedictine

 

Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.

 

www.wien-vienna.at/albertinabaugeschichte.php

 

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR KIND COMMENTS AND FAVS........ PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MY PHOTOSTREAM, FOR GENERAL PHOTOS ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM NATURE AND WILDLIFE.

 

I am pleased to inform you that my grey/gray hawk photo was featured as the front cover photo for a quarterly bird magazine in the Tucson area of Arizona, USA.. I took the photo in 2014 whilst visiting friends in Tucson.

 

Its range is throughout Mexico and south eastern USA, within the Sonora desert. To increase the profile of the Gray Hawk along the San Pedro River, where it is currently endangered, the photo will also be featured in future editions.

 

Here is the link to the publication of the magazine, which credits the cover photo to myself:

 

www.tucsonaudubon.org/images/stories/vflycatcher/VF_OND16...

 

Oooooh Whee, TV season for us comic book fans is finally starting up now! But what's this? I watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?! That's right guys, over the summer I caught up on the second half of season 2 and all of season 3 due to many telling me "it got good again." Now I do admit that the second half of season 2 was cool and season 3 was pretty dope due to all the stuff with Hive. Now once it was announced that Robbie Reyes's Ghost Rider was going to be introduced in season 4, I got a little bummed because I'd rather see him have a Netflix series. But once I got over it, I got pretty stoked to watch this premiere! Now did it totally give me faith in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. again? Or was it back to Season 1 basics? Let's check it out!

 

Good: Holy fuck, guys, Ghost Rider was amazing! When his look was first revealed, he looked a little cheap, but he looked incredible this episode! Though I still prefer the look of Nick Cage's version in Spirit of Vengeance, the one good thing about that movie. Anyways, Ghost Rider also did some pretty intense stuff, like some Netflix-level stuff in this episode, so I can't wait to see how he continues in future episodes. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just became a Quake and Ghost Rider show, because I was glued to the screen every time their storyline was on. That leaves me with the rest of the episode. Now we see the repercussions of Civil War with the Sokovia accords so I guess there's a new director now? I don't know, all the new rules stuff was pretty confusing, but I bet I'll understand it in future episodes, but for what it was, it was fine. I was really interested with the things Fitz did in this episodes and I can't wait to see what he and that one scientist (the AI dude, forgot his name, sorry) are going to do.

 

Bad: Honestly the only bad thing about this episode is whenever Ghost Rider wasn't on screen, I just found myself waiting for him. The rest of the episode was Coulson and Mac, who I really like is getting a bigger role, going after these dudes with some weird spirits in a box or something that's most likely going to be tied into Doctor Strange. Anyways, all the other non Fitz and non Ghost Rider stuff was just this basic Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff that's getting kinda boring, so I hope they focus more on Ghost Rider in the future, or hey, give him his own Netflix show!!

 

Overall, I'm definitely going to continue watching purely based on what they're doing with Ghost Rider. But wouldn't it be cool if after this season, they spin off Robbie Reyes into his own Netflix show? It would be awesome to get some intense Ghost Rider action that's based in LA instead of New York! Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent. So just because the Ghost Rider stuff was so amazing yet so limited, I'm going to give he season 4 premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. a 7/10! Man, I can't stop thinking about Ghost Rider now, he was so cool!!!

A prospective screenprint. It would be 10" x 8" and cost $15. If you would like a print of this image here's the deal:

 

If a mere 20 people tell me they will buy a copy of this I will print it. Let me know of your wanting of one either:

 

• In a comment here (not just a fave).

 

• with an @octophant message on Twitter.

 

* with a wall post on the Octophant Facebook Fan Page.

 

I'll be gathering wants through the weekend and printing (if I print it) next week. The edition will be 10 more than the number of wants I receive. You are under no obligation to buy even if you tell me you will. This is just an experiment is using the internet for gauging interest in future printing efforts.

 

So there you go. Want one?

 

(You can also see a larger version...)

I would like to invite participation in this project. If you wish to take part, anonymously if you prefer, please send your `confession' to the following address:

 

Dr John Perivolaris

Grouse Lodge

Dippen

Isle of Arran

KA27 8RW

Scotland

United Kingdom

 

You are free to interpret the term `confession' as freely as you wish. Your `confession' may be textual, photographic, artistic, or object-based, or even a combination thereof.

 

Participation implies that you are willing to have your `confession' included, credited or anonymously, in future online/physical publication and/or exhibition.

I've seen this one on the move a couple of times but was really glad I finally managed to catch it today. I think it's been spotted before by several other Flickr friends but nice to see it still on the go. It's amazingly clean, almost certainly garaged, I wouldn't be surprised if it has been regularly polished too.

 

I left a note under the wiper just incase the owner may decide to sell in future.

 

Same owner since June 1989 and just 45k miles at its last MOT.

Hello everyone! Happy... Sunday!

First of all, this is my friend's Amanda (I swear I never liked this sculpt until I've seen this girl in person. She is INCREDIBLE)in a wig that will be available as a pre-made next week. Made in Error. Thanks Storenvy. (more about that in this post)

 

I haven't posted much here lately. I've been working so hard to sort out all of our packing and preorders and styling videos and apartment hunting and I guess it all got too much for me yesterday and I literally imploded and spent the day in tears, snot bubbles and panic attacks.

 

We have at least applied to a new apartment, conveniently located RIGHT BY A POST OFFICE and after 2 weeks of solid packing til 2am every morning, to get everything ready for posting the second they open in the morning, I'm SO thrilled about that. We're both pretty exhausted and tired and run down and ideally need a couple of days at the end of the next week to relax before we get cracking on the next order. Which I have to admit I am actually really excited about. We've got so much more range and unique wigs to make from the orders placed so far and so I'm really pleased I'll be able to actively post everything we're working on.

 

We learned a lot from this past preorder. We learned just how productive we can be every single day, how long packing really takes and how much storenvy sucks. It was our busiest preorder and we made so many wigs that I can only be proud of us for getting them all done in the allocated time but I realise we really underestimated just how long it would take to get everything out the door. I just wanted to be able to make for everyone who wasn't able to get a wig in the sale and then I suppose I hit my limit. We won't take preorders even half as big as that last one in future and we will go back to premades after this next one currently finishes (Theres still a few days to order those by the way. We'll probably close next friday or Sunday)

 

I have a lot of shipping notices to send out today (it was supposed to be yesterday but I ended up in SUCH a state that I literally didn't have the capability of looking at my screen due to a migraine from hell. I'm much better now though so shipping notices will be sent out and anyone who needs 3 more days for us to remake the wigs that were incorrect will be notified.

 

There are about 15 wigs that got messed up because Storenvy malfunctioned so i'll be working until Wednesday correcting the mistakes and then from Wednesday we'll probably have some premades available from the wigs that were made in error.

 

I will have styling videos up in the next couple of days too. I appreciate that since we have to brush everything down for safe packing, sometimes wigs can look super underwhelming when you receive them and the last thing I want is for people to be disappointed so I've really tried to fit in some recordings of exactly what to do to make your wigs look like they do in our photos in just a couple of minutes.

 

I said I wasn't going to have rambly text updates for a while but theres just been so much going on I feel like I need to just throw it out there. xD

 

We also have our new team member working with us now but I'll talk about that once I've managed to close this last preorder completely. I get in such a state knowing people are waiting but I promise you we're doing our best!

 

Until then have a wonderful remainder of your weekend and an epic week.

  

My next truck. I really like these old Actroses, so I decided to build one. In future I want to build more trucks.

Name: James Currey

Arrested for: not given

Arrested at: North Shields Police Station

Arrested on: 27 July 1905

Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-75-James Currey

 

Images are also available of his accomplices John Curry www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/16091228264/in/album-72157... and Robert Smith www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/19144732584/in/dateposted/.

 

The Shields Daily News for 28 July 1905 reports:

 

“THEFT FROM SMITH’S DOCK. THREE NORTH SHIELDS MEN SENT TO PRISON.

 

At North Shields Police Court today, Robert Smith (48), fireman, 9 Middle Street, Milburn Place; John Curry (39), 25 Front Street, and James Curry (35), 3 West Street, Milburn Place, marine store dealers, were charged on remand with having stolen from Messrs Smith’s Pontoon Dock, on the 25th inst., a quantity of brass valued at £4 17s 1d.

 

John Craigie, foreman fitter with the prosecutors, said that on the morning of the 26th inst. he went into the engine room of the pontoon and missed a quantity of brass. In the afternoon of the same day he accompanied an officer to No.25 Front Street, Milburn Place, and there identified a portion of the stolen metal.

 

James C. Smith, store keeper with Messrs Smith’s Dock Coy. Ltd, said that on the morning of the 26th inst. He missed a quantity of brass, and afterwards went to the Central Police Station. He was there shown a quantity of brass, which he identified as the property of Messrs Smith. The total weight of the metal was 116 lbs and the value was $4 17s 1d.

 

Joseph Garrick, a rigger and stevedore, said that on the 25th inst, he saw Smith and James Curry go into the Aberllelyn Arms in Front Street, Milburn Place. At a late hour on the same night he saw Smith go over the wall of Messrs Smith’s premises, enter the engine room and afterwards leave with a bag of metal. He gave information to the police.

 

PC Cuerton said that at 11.40pm on the 25th inst. he saw John Curry go into his house and at midnight he saw his brother leave the house and walk in the direction of his own.

 

Detective Sergt. Scougal said that at noon on the 26th inst. he went to the house of John Curry with a search warrant and found underneath the bed a quantity of brass, which was identified as the property of Messrs Smith by the witness Craigie. He then proceeded to No. 9 Middle Street, where he saw Smith. He told him he was going to take him to the Bull Ring Police Station, whereupon his wife said: “What’s the matter, Bob?”. Accused replied: “There has been some brass stolen from Smith’s”. Witness charged him with having stolen the brass, and he replied: “I know nothing about it”.

 

At five o’clock the same afternoon he met the two Currys in the Borough Road and told them he was going to take them to the Bull Ring Police Station. They both replied: “It is only a bit of spite because we would not do the same as him”. The following morning he charged the three of the prisoners with the theft. Smith replied: “I have nothing to say”. John Curry replied: “We got the best part of the brass from the saw mills, We only got two small pieces from Smith and gave him a couple of bob for them”. James in answer to the charge said they got most of the metal from the saw mills. Formally charged, the whole of the prisoners pleaded guilty.

 

Mr G.R. Duncan, who represented the accused, said that Smith, who could produce discharges covering a period of twenty years, showing an excellent character, had been employed for some time as a fireman by the prosecuting firm. Unfortunately, having got some drink, he yielded to the temptation while working on the night shift, and in consequence had lost his situation. Both he and his wife were most distressed about it. The two Currys were licensed marine store dealers bearing good characters.

 

The Chairman said the case was too serious to be dealt with under the First Offenders’ Act and the amount involved was too large to permit of a fine being imposed. The prisoners would each be committed for a month".

 

This may not have been Curry's last brush with the courts. The Shields Daily News for 15 November 1907 reports:

 

"WIFE ASSAULT.

 

James Curry, a young man, was summoned for having assaulted his wife on the 9th inst. Complainant said that on the date in question her husband came home drunk and without receiving provocation badly used her, blackening one of her eyes. He was frequently drunk and whenever he was in that condition he ill-treated her, using pokers, chairs and anything else he could lay his hands on. She had him before the magistrates nine years ago and she had then only been seven months married. Defendant promised to behave himself better in future. The Chairman (Coun. Addison) severely repromanded the dfendant in imposing a fine of 10s and costs or 14 days."

 

These images are a selection from an album of photographs of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916 in the collection of Tyne & Wear Archives (TWA ref DX1388/1).

 

(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk.

Preston Bus's final day on the 280 Preston-Skipton. I think BT11UWH is laying over here ready to take the last ever Skipton-Preston service under Preston Bus management at 17.15. The service is to continue uninterrupted but operated in future by Stagecoach.