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Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography! Ansel Adams Tribute!
Follow me on Instagram! instagram.com/45surf
John Muir: "When I reached the [Yosemite] valley, all the rocks seemed talkative, and more lovable than ever. They are dear friends, and have warm blood gushing through their granite flesh; and I love them with a love intensified by long and close companionship. … I … bathed in the bright river, sauntered over the meadows, conversed with the domes, and played with the pines."
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life."--John Muir
"I would advise sitting from morning till night under some willow bush on the river bank where there is a wide view. This will be "doing the valley" far more effectively than riding along trails in constant motion from point to point. The entire valley is made up of "points of interest." --John Muir on Yosemite!
Follow me on instagram for more!
Had a great time waking up at 5 AM every day to shoot tunnel view and then driving around down in the valley to Half Dome, Bridalviel Falls, Cook's Meadow and the glorious Cook's Meadow elm tree, Sentinel Bridge, Valley View, Swinging Bridge, and more! Yosemite winters are made for black and whites, and Ansel Adam's ghost haunts the brilliant landscape scenery!
The most epic "Ansel Adams" view is tunnel view where one can see El Capitan, Bridalviel Falls, and Half Dome over magnificent trees, snow, rising fogs, and breaking mists. Enjoy!
Been busy traveling and shooting landscapes and working on my books The Golden Hero's Odyssey about the golden rectangle and divine proportion I use in a lot of my compositions! Also working on my physics book on Dynamic Dimensions Theory! The equation dx4/dt=ic is on a lot of the 45surf swimsuit and shirts and all! :)
Follow me & 45surf!!
www.facebook.com/45surfAchillesOdysseyMythology/
www.facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
My fine art landscape lenses for the A7RII are the Sony 16-35mm Vario-Tessar T FE F4 ZA OSS E-Mount Lens and the Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Lens ! Love the Carl Zeiss and super sharp Sony Glass!
Winter fine art landscapes!
Epic Yosemite valley village winter snowstorm!
Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography
The idiots who lay down the cement for our driveway/garage pad miscalculated the drainage, and rather than going toward the alley the water runs toward our house. Because of this, a little lake develops in the spring when the snow melts. It is sufficiently far away from our house, but right next to the garage. In the spring freeze/thaw cycle, it turns to water, then ice, then water... What yo see here is some icy snow (partly in shadow), ice over cement, and then another layer of ice to the right. You can probably make out an oak leaf in the center/top area, and some odd patterns in the frozen area. I intensified the colors, obviously, but the patterns and colors are all there in reality, just less obvious.
AFS Reenactors
The Auxiliary Fire Service
As the political climate intensified in Europe during the late 1930s, an Act of Parliament was passed to authorise the formation of a voluntary fire service. The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) formed in January 1938 and fire stations were set up in schools, garages and factories.
A recruitment drive was launched, with over 28,000 firefighters needed to support the Brigade's 2,500 officers and firefighters. However, as most young men had joined the army, the AFS welcomed those too old or too young to go to war. It also marked the first time women joined the Brigade.
What equipment did the AFS use?
The firefighters of the AFS were issued with one basic uniform: a steel helmet, rubber boots, trousers and waterproof leggings – although shortages saw some stuck with just Post Office uniforms. The most common piece of equipment used by the AFS was the trailer pump, which was originally towed by taxis.
Historic fires
The Blitz – 57 nights of bombing
The first targeted air raid on London took place on 7 September 1940 and marked the beginning of the Blitz – a period when London was bombed for 57 nights in a row. For many AFS members, this was their first experience of firefighting.
Most of the bombings happened at night, meaning firefighters spent long hours extinguishing fires or dealing with explosions. Bombs on warehouses were especially dangerous due to highly flammable products such as alcohol and paint.
In the first...
22 nights
...of air raids, firefighters fought nearly 10,000 fires.
The heroes with grimy faces
Bombings often occurring while the River Thames was at low tide meaning access to water was made even more difficult. Vehicles became vital in transporting water around the city. Steel frames were fitted to lorries to enable them to carry up to 1,000 gallons of water. Meanwhile, to reduce the workload of the fire service, small fires were dealt with by 'street fire parties' – civilians who were given and taught to use stirrup pumps.
The public's opinion of the fire service changed significantly as a result of the Blitz. During the 'phoney war', firefighters had been thought of as 'army dodgers'. But, in 1940 this attitude changed – our firefighters became known as 'the heroes with grimy faces'.
According to Churchill, the fire service:
...were a grand lot and their work must never be forgotten.
Covid edit.
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in the China pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase on Friday, September 9, 2016 in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. Processed using Macphun's Intensify CK.
I posted more beauty shots from Walt Disney World on my blog.
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE (USAF)
----- AIRCRAFT INFO. -----
Registration: 79-0092
Aircraft: Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt II
Maker: Fairchild Republic
Serial No./ MSN: A10-0356
Delivery date:
Shot Location: CRK/RPLC (Clark Air Base/ Clark International Airport)
---------------------------
On Saturday 12 November, Egyptian activists from all across the UK joined up with protesters in London demonstrating for climate justice, to demand an end to Sisi's murderous dictatorship and the immediate release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian citizen on hunger strike, and at least 60,000 other political prisoners held in appalling conditions in Egyptian prisons.
As COP27 continues, Sisi's government intensifies its repression against civil society, arresting anyone in Cairo and other cities found with any mention of Alaa or other political dissidents on their phones, as well as targeting anyone suspected of planning strikes or protests.
I'm still working on individual captions for each photo - sorry for the delay - but in the meantime I'm reposting an earlier commentary I posted about Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Last weekend on Sunday 6 November, activists gathered outside Downing Street for a candle-lit vigil as British-Egyptian democracy dissident, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, escalated his hunger strike in an Egyptian prison, refusing to take water.
Even prior to his refusal of water from Saturday 6 November, Alaa was already over 200 days into his 100 calorie a day hunger strike in prison in Egypt.
On Tuesday 8 November Sanaa Seif gave a speech to journalists at COP27 - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt.
He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
Please show your support by signing the petition. Let's not fail Alaa. Thank you.
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography! Ansel Adams Tribute!
Follow me on Instagram! instagram.com/45surf
John Muir: "When I reached the [Yosemite] valley, all the rocks seemed talkative, and more lovable than ever. They are dear friends, and have warm blood gushing through their granite flesh; and I love them with a love intensified by long and close companionship. … I … bathed in the bright river, sauntered over the meadows, conversed with the domes, and played with the pines."
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life."--John Muir
"I would advise sitting from morning till night under some willow bush on the river bank where there is a wide view. This will be "doing the valley" far more effectively than riding along trails in constant motion from point to point. The entire valley is made up of "points of interest." --John Muir on Yosemite!
Follow me on instagram for more!
Had a great time waking up at 5 AM every day to shoot tunnel view and then driving around down in the valley to Half Dome, Bridalviel Falls, Cook's Meadow and the glorious Cook's Meadow elm tree, Sentinel Bridge, Valley View, Swinging Bridge, and more! Yosemite winters are made for black and whites, and Ansel Adam's ghost haunts the brilliant landscape scenery!
The most epic "Ansel Adams" view is tunnel view where one can see El Capitan, Bridalviel Falls, and Half Dome over magnificent trees, snow, rising fogs, and breaking mists. Enjoy!
Been busy traveling and shooting landscapes and working on my books The Golden Hero's Odyssey about the golden rectangle and divine proportion I use in a lot of my compositions! Also working on my physics book on Dynamic Dimensions Theory! The equation dx4/dt=ic is on a lot of the 45surf swimsuit and shirts and all! :)
Follow me & 45surf!!
www.facebook.com/45surfAchillesOdysseyMythology/
www.facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
My fine art landscape lenses for the A7RII are the Sony 16-35mm Vario-Tessar T FE F4 ZA OSS E-Mount Lens and the Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Lens ! Love the Carl Zeiss and super sharp Sony Glass!
Winter fine art landscapes!
Epic Yosemite valley village winter snowstorm!
Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography
Hot Sale - Varadero, Cuba
Click here to see this image large.
Back from a family vacation to Cuba where I tested my new Canon G11 and a friend's Canon D10. I'm really amazed with the performance of these P&S and will eventually write a post on my blog to explain why I got the G11 and decided to only bring a couple P&S for my trip instead of my D300.
I now need ot begin the lengthy process of processing my images in order to produce another Blurb book.
Will be catching up with contacts slowly.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2010 Pierre Contant. All rights reserved. Use without permission is prohibited.
__________________________________________________________________________________
pierre.contant@yahoo.com
Kasara ghat (also called as Thal Ghat or Thul Ghat) is a ghat section (mountain incline or slope) in the Western Ghats near the town of Kasara in Maharashtra. The railway line, which passes through the ghat is the steepest in India with a gradient of 1 in 37.
When the day of the full moon comes out, the old town brightened up again by lanterns. The woman takes a break just a very short time to dinner.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, led the United States into World War II and radically changed the lives of 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry living in the United States. The attack intensified racial prejudices and led to fear of potential sabotage and espionage by Japanese Americans among some in the government, military, news media, and public. In February, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War to establish Military Areas and to remove from those areas anyone who might threaten the war effort. Without due process, the government gave everyone of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast only days to decide what to do with their houses, farms, businesses, and other possessions. Most families sold their belongings at a significant loss. Some rented their properties to neighbors. Others left possessions with friends or religious groups. Some abandoned their property. They did not know where they were going or for how long. Each family was assigned an identification number and loaded into cars, buses, trucks, and trains, taking only what they could carry. Japanese Americans were transported under military guard to 17 temporary assembly centers located at racetracks, fairgrounds, and similar facilities in Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona. Then they were moved to one of 10 hastily built relocation centers. By November, 1942, the relocation was complete.
Ten war relocation centers were built in remote deserts, plains, and swamps of seven states; Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Manzanar, located in the Owens Valley of California between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Inyo mountains on the east, was typical in many ways of the 10 camps.
About two-thirds of all Japanese Americans interned at Manzanar were American citizens by birth. The remainder were aliens, many of whom had lived in the United States for decades, but who, by law, were denied citizenship.
www.nps.gov/manz/learn/historyculture/japanese-americans-...
In 1943, Ansel Adams (1902-1984), America's most well-known photographer, documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese-Americans interned there during World War II.
Me taking a photo of Jo taking a photo of the sunrise.... And the sunrise....
iPhone Camera+ app shot post processed on a Mac in Photos and Intensify.
The powerful flow of North Cascade waterfalls makes the Skagit River an excellent hydroelectric resource. The cascades are intensified by a combination of climate and steep terrain, with heavy precipitation, glaciers, and snowfields providing a constant, year-round flow to the watershed.
The 300-ft Gorge High Dam was completed in 1961, turning this section of the Skagit River into Gorge Lake. A short distance upstream are two larger dams and impounded lakes: Diablo and Ross. Gorge Dam fine-tunes the flows from these reservoirs, providing a key link in the hydropower system for Seattle City Light.
The river’s flow turns huge turbines in the powerhouse 2.7 miles downstream, generating electricity that travels through high-capacity transmission lines from these remote mountain lakes to power Seattle and western Washington.
www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2CYA5_gorge-dam-overlook?gu...
Photo of Gorge Lake and Gorge Dam captured alongside State Route 20, the North Cascades Highway, via Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor-X 35-70mm F/3.5 lens. Skagit River. Ross Lake National Recreation Area. North Cascades Lowland Forests section within the North Cascades Region. Whatcom County, Washington. Early August 2018.
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-100 * Aperture: F/11 * Bracketing: None * Color Temperature: 4500 K * Film Plug-In: Kodak Portra 160 VC
Collodion negative. 4x5", new guy. Bottom: not intensified. Top, copper intensification (two different shots: the bottom one has unintentionally slipped from my hand so the collodion has been damaged, you can see a tear in the lower part of the rock)
Scenes like this are why I love Zion National Park.
Shot during a bike ride up the Pa'rus Trail a couple days after our hike through the Virgin River Narrows. The weather was absolutely beautiful. I was shooting rather casually whenever we stopped, and I can't remember if I pulled out the tripod for this or not. A very relaxing day surrounded by some of the most amazing scenery on Earth.
Single frame shot hand held with my Canon 7D and 17-40L. I originally shot this as a 3 frame bracket to be exposure blended, but it turns out that was not necessary. This is a single frame processed in ACR and Intensify Pro with final touch up in Photoshop.
I'm finding that Intensify Pro is excellent at bringing out detail and sharpness without emphasizing noise or producing halos and other artifacts. Absent that plugin I would have gone ahead and blended 2 of the 3 exposures.
As the fighting on Arcadia intensified all factions were well on there way to upgrading their equipment to better deal with the Varangian Guard's technological superiority. One such project dubbed only as "Project Firebird" was being rolled out for the 507th's "Merrill's Marauders", it enclosed plans to develop an air superiority frame capable of unusually transforming from a traditional combat frame into a fighter plane. Blueprints for this frame were stolen from Amber Coast Electronics by Valhallan Industries, seeing as how the Varangian Guard would be doing combat with this new model they quickly sent supplies to Arcadia's moon with plans of their own, the Seraph Pack. Designed as a supplemental weapons pack, it was rolled out for testing on the VMF-06 Paladin Mk.III. These packs replaced the traditional Freya jump jet packs with a fully integrated wing and thruster array, giving the Paladin unsurpassed mobility and complete flight capability, another improvement was the replacement of the Mjolnir E.M. hammers for the devastatingly powerful Tyrfing anti-material beam swords.These new additions to the Paladin make it far more deadly then it was before, and also tip the scale back in Valhallan's hands for control of the sky.
[Awe's fetish for V-tails intensifies]
So yeah, first public DC6 thing, it's a familiar creation with a new twist. Also tried out clear canopies instead of opaque, rendering took four hours. Not sure it's worth it. Fluff time!
During the huge conflict known in some places as the Great International Meltdown of 1940-1946, Cimmeria found itself increasingly on the retreat, on all fronts. This was solely the fault of the Cimmerian National Government; too many resources were expended on the liquidation of Cimmeria's undesirables. This shaky alliance of fascists, ethnic ultranationalists, reactionaries, monarchists, conservatives, angry youths, disgruntled moon-worshipers, conspiracy theorists, and other assorted mayhem-causers finally shifted its focus purely towards external enemies in the spring of 1945, but by then, it was too late to stop the inevitable.
At this time, Cimmeria was losing control of its skies to the Allied Nations (who believed it wasn't okay to liquidate undesirables), so the government cracked the whips on the backs of designers and slave laborers alike to get to work. The Emergency Fighter Program needed a fast, nimble, and cheap plane to deal with the ever-growing bomber fleets. Plan 1042 was selected, a bizarre straight-winged contraption with a turbojet strapped to the back; it could be made of plywood and old clock parts. Pattern I, the production version, went into service in October of 1945. It was soon named the Butterfly by pilots, due to the plane's tendency to look like it was fluttering (a result of stability problems). Pattern II added the down-turned wingtips that stopped this, but the name stuck. The government wanted an even faster plane, though, resulting in the swept-wing, V-tailed Pattern III. It was even harder to fly than the original, but it was pushed into mass production anyway, entering service in mid-June of 1946. The very last of Cimmeria's aluminum reserves were used in its construction. Approximately 23 made it to their units before the general surrender three weeks later.
Of note are the primitive air-to-air missiles the fighter carries. These are wire-guided (thus requiring the plane to stay on a steady course while aiming), and have a flight time of 20 seconds. They were useful against large bombers, but useless against anything else.
MeMe-7 Butterfly: D&C IV fighter
Payload - Guns Only (0)
Agility - Wow! (+1)
Range - 30 minutes (-1)
Speed - Subsonic (0)
Short Takeoff and Landing (+1)
Hard to Fly (-1)
I've deliberately intensified the colours to make it look more of a fairytale image! Rousham and its landscape garden should be a place of pilgrimage for students of the work of William Kent (1685-1748). Rousham represents the first phase of English landscape design and remains almost as Kent left it, one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration, with many features which delighted eighteenth century visitors to Rousham still in situ, such as the ponds and cascades in Venus' Vale, the Cold Bath, and seven arched Praeneste, Townsend's Building, the Temple of the Mill, and, on the skyline, a sham ruin known as the 'Eyecatcher'.
The house, built in 1635 by Sir Robert Dormer, is still in the ownership of the same family. Kent added the wings and the stable block. The south front is almost as Kent left it, but for the replacement of the octagonal glazing with plain glass. This was unfortunately carried out by the architect St. Aubyn when he added the north side of the house in 1876. Kent made alterations to the interior of the house, which retains some 17th century panelling and the original staircases, furniture, pictures and bronzes.
Don't miss the walled garden with its herbacious borders, small parterre, pigeon house and espalier apple trees. A fine herd of rare Long-Horn cattle are to be seen in the park. Rousham is uncommercial and unspoilt with no tea room and no shop. Bring a picnic, wear comfortable shoes and it is yours for the day.
For further information, please visit www.rousham.org/
"Ethnically driven violence intensified in Kenya on Sunday, and police officials said at least 19 people, including 11 children, were burned to death in a house by a mob".
This picture was taken in September 2007 in Kibera (Nairobi - Kenya). Kibera is one of the biggest slums in Africa. There were about 40 children crowded in a small room where the only source of light came from a tiny window. They were as curious about me as I was about them. Their eyes tell the story better than anything I could write...
This picture is dedicated to all those children who lost their lives in Naivasha and elsewhere in Kenya. Innocent victims of nonsense violence.
Row between Stagecoach and FLiXBUS intensifies
A dispute between FLiXBUS and Stagecoach over access to Union Square bus station in Aberdeen for scheduled coach services has escalated after FLiXBUS on 2 June 2023 accused Stagecoach of “deliberate misuse of space to keep out competitors.”
The remarkable claim comes after the row began in early May. FlixBus claimed that its bid for further slots in Union Square was refused by Stagecoach, which manages the bus station. At that time, FLiXBUS threatened to complain to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over the allocation of stand space in the facility.
Allegations made then by FLiXBUS were robustly denied by Stagecoach, which cited health and safety concerns. It fired back by accusing FLiXBUS of making “inaccurate” statements, but FlixBus has repeatedly claimed that Stagecoach’s stake in FLiXBUS competitor Scottish Citylink it at the root of the refusal to permit more FLiXBUS departures.
In early June, FLiXBUS – which is calling the unsavoury debacle a “bus war” – said it has compiled evidence that stand space in Union Square is not being maximised and is “in fact being used largely as a parking facility for coaches and buses rather than a pickup point for passengers.”
FLiXBUS UK Managing Director Andreas Schorling adds the serious allegation that Stagecoach is engaging in “deliberate misuse” of the bus station in a bid to keep out the green coaches, which are operated by McGill’s Buses. FLiXBUS is now seeking an urgent meeting with Aberdeen City Council to seek its support in finding a resolution.
Core to FLiXBUS’s argument is the resulting need for passengers to board and alight at the roadside. In a pointed response, Stagecoach notes that “it is… normal for buses to stop and allow passengers to board from the street in the form of bus stops and bus shelters, which is common across the UK.”
In a further bizarre turn, both FLiXBUS and Stagecoach claim that the other party has not made recent contact. Stagecoach says it has heard nothing from FLiXBUS for “over a month.” FLiXBUS meanwhile claims that it has received no communication from the large group for twice that period. Mr Schorling adds that an attempt by McGill’s to arrange a meeting with Stagecoach has come to nowt.
In a further response to FLiXBUS’s original complaint, Stagecoach says that FLiXBUS has not used the four departure slots that it is allocated and has voluntarily decided to stop at the roadside in Littlejohn Street. A spokesperson has vehemently denied claims that Stagecoach has “forced” FLiXBUS out of the bus station.
They continue: “FLiXBUS has continued to fail to raise these complaints through the [correct channels], yet we are open to discussion via the proper method [rather] than the current, public ‘bus war’ that it is intending.”
Stagecoach continues to carry out recommendations from its safety review of Aberdeen bus station, it says. “A further meeting is scheduled for 14 June, where we will agree the new departure slots available following the redesign of Union Square bus station. Operators will be informed of slot availability after that meeting.”
FLiXBUS legal adviser Prof Peter Watson of PBW Law has hinted that the previously-threatened complaint to CMA will be submitted if the dispute is not “immediately resolved.” Prof Watson claims that it is a matter of public interest that the matter requires “a full and open investigation by CMA.”
So the dispute grows increasingly belligerent and as such, coaches such as 0639 (BV71HYK) continue to drop off and pick up away from the bus station.
Entitled: Empress Gobele Wan-Rong [c1920-1940] by an unknown court photographer [RESTORED]. I retouched out spots, increased the contrast, and intensified the saturation of what looked to be a hand tinted original.
One of the sadder stories that arose from the end of the Qing monarchy was the story of Wan Rong, otherwise known as the Last Empress of China 婉容皇后. She was chosen at the age of 17 to marry a powerless monarch. This beautiful well educated girl from one of Manchuria's best families was to be turned into a wasted emotionally wrecked drug addict by her loveless marriage in 1922 to the last emperor of China, PuYi 溥儀. Cast by the same ill political winds that buffeted her husband, she was rumored to have had an illicit affair with her driver, resulting in a scandalous pregnancy that was hushed up with the murder of the delivered baby and the exile of the paramour. Following the defeat of the Japanese empire and their lost hold of Manchuria, she eventually fell into the hands of communist forces. After a short period, she died in prison reportedly from a combination of malnutrition and opium withdrawal in 1946, at the age of 39.
Despite Wan Rong's seeming fairy tale marriage to Qing royalty, it was to bring her nothing but pain, suffering, humiliation, and an unfortunate early death.
We were on a cruise when Hurricane Dorian intensified. As a result, instead of going to Nassau, we went to Cozumel. Carnival Cruise Line extended the cruise for three days at no extra charge.
Driving home from Port Canaveral to Virginia, we actually drove into the hurricane. Because of the strong wind and rain, we stopped in Florence, SC. We were lucky enough to find a hotel.
Across from our hotel, was a staging area for utility trucks waiting to be sent to areas needing electricity restored.
U.S. will speed transfer of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Pentagon says.
The disclosure came as senators urged the Pentagon to review its assumptions about what it needs to counter Russia.
The Pentagon, in a significant shift, said Tuesday that it will send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine by the fall, after facing scrutiny for initially saying it could take a year or two to procure the powerful weapons and get them to the battlefield.
.
The new plan calls for refurbishing tank hulls already in the U.S. arsenal, officials said. President Biden, under intensifying pressure from Ukrainian officials, agreed in January to pledge 31 M1 tanks as part of a long-term arrangement that afforded German leaders political cover so that they could approve the immediate provision of Leopard battle tanks..
Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said that when the United States promised to provide Ukraine with the Abrams, the intent was to provide its more advanced variant, the M1A2. But, he said, officials continued “exploring options to deliver the armored capability as quickly as possible” and settled on refurbishing older M1A1 variants, allowing for expedited delivery. He did not clarify where it found those hulls in the American arsenal.
“This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later,” Ryder told reporters during a news conference.
Both versions of the tank have a 120mm cannon and machine guns, while the M1A2 typically also includes digital controls, improved sensors and a thermal viewer for the tank’s commander.
Ryder declined to specify on Tuesday where the refurbishment will occur, but officials familiar with the work have said they anticipate it will take place at a government-owned facility in Lima, Ohio. General Dynamics Land Systems operates the plant, the only U.S. factory building tanks.
The Pentagon’s disclosure came as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hold talks in Moscow, where the two leaders promised to deepen ties. The closely watched meeting has fueled concern in the United States and Europe that Beijing will come to the Kremlin’s aid as its military continues to suffer massive losses in Ukraine and its defense industry, hobbled by Western sanctions, struggles to replenish destroyed or expended weapons.
NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that he had seen no proof China is delivering weapons to Russia but said there are signs that Russia has requested them and that Beijing is considering doing so.
In Washington, a bipartisan group of senators urged the Pentagon to conduct an “urgent and comprehensive” assessment of what it would need to counter Russia in Europe should conflict erupt between the nuclear powers. The lawmakers cited Russia’s extensive combat losses, estimated to be approaching 200,000 dead and wounded, and the Defense Department’s current plan to next assess its needs there in 2026.
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“Put simply, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have significantly degraded Russia’s conventional forces over the past year,” their letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. It was signed by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Angus King (I-Maine).
The senators added that Western sanctions have constrained Moscow’s ability to rebuild its conventional forces and that Pentagon officials often cite assessments that could be outdated as justification for not providing Ukraine’s military with certain additional capabilities.
“Russia’s military is not the same as it was in 2021, and shows no signs of returning to its pre-invasion state in the near term,” the senators wrote. “Our European warfighting requirements should reflect this new reality — not in 2026, but now.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions about the senators’ letter.
The administration’s new timeline for transferring tanks to Ukraine follows public remarks by some officials who had indicated that a range of options was being evaluated. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters in February that all of the plans under consideration would take months to complete. One factor, she said, was that some allies already have deals to buy Abrams tanks from the United States.
“Some [options] could presumably get tanks to the Ukrainians more quickly but might, you know, disrupt relations with important allies and partners,” Wormuth said. “So we’re laying all that out.”
The administration initially denied Zelensky’s plea for tanks while noting that the Abrams creates a massive logistical burden on the battlefield, instead supplying Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles and suggesting it would make sense for the Germans to supply its smaller Leopard tank instead. In what has become a pattern while assessing Ukraine’s battlefield needs, Biden eventually relented, assessing that the issue would not be resolved without an American commitment of tanks.
A similar conversation has percolated for months about providing Ukraine with fighter jets. Ukrainian officials have asked repeatedly for American-made F-16s, but the Biden administration has assessed that providing them now does not make sense, considering the training and maintenance they require and the significant threat posed by Russian surface-to-air missiles.
Last week, Poland and Slovakia, both NATO allies, announced that they would provide Ukraine with MiG-29 fighter jets. U.S. officials said that sending MiGs to Ukraine makes more sense because they already are familiar with the aircraft and that the answer on providing F-16s has not changed.
Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with each service and covering combat in Afghanistan. His reporting about the 2021 attack on the Capitol was part of a project that earned the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
[VTEC kicking in yo intensifies]
I really can't stand this car. Maybe 'cause it's hatchback, maybe - 'cause it's FWD. Most likely - both of that reasons. But it must be done 'cause of Initial D.
Renders will be later.
Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography! Ansel Adams Tribute!
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John Muir: "When I reached the [Yosemite] valley, all the rocks seemed talkative, and more lovable than ever. They are dear friends, and have warm blood gushing through their granite flesh; and I love them with a love intensified by long and close companionship. … I … bathed in the bright river, sauntered over the meadows, conversed with the domes, and played with the pines."
"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life."--John Muir
"I would advise sitting from morning till night under some willow bush on the river bank where there is a wide view. This will be "doing the valley" far more effectively than riding along trails in constant motion from point to point. The entire valley is made up of "points of interest." --John Muir on Yosemite!
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Had a great time waking up at 5 AM every day to shoot tunnel view and then driving around down in the valley to Half Dome, Bridalviel Falls, Cook's Meadow and the glorious Cook's Meadow elm tree, Sentinel Bridge, Valley View, Swinging Bridge, and more! Yosemite winters are made for black and whites, and Ansel Adam's ghost haunts the brilliant landscape scenery!
The most epic "Ansel Adams" view is tunnel view where one can see El Capitan, Bridalviel Falls, and Half Dome over magnificent trees, snow, rising fogs, and breaking mists. Enjoy!
Been busy traveling and shooting landscapes and working on my books The Golden Hero's Odyssey about the golden rectangle and divine proportion I use in a lot of my compositions! Also working on my physics book on Dynamic Dimensions Theory! The equation dx4/dt=ic is on a lot of the 45surf swimsuit and shirts and all! :)
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My fine art landscape lenses for the A7RII are the Sony 16-35mm Vario-Tessar T FE F4 ZA OSS E-Mount Lens and the Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Lens ! Love the Carl Zeiss and super sharp Sony Glass!
Winter fine art landscapes!
Epic Yosemite valley village winter snowstorm!
Yosemite Winter Fine Art Landscapes! Sony A7RII yosemite National Park Winter Snow! Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape Photography
subject: magnify
105/365
Constructive feedback if you can, please! :) Be as honest as you can! :D
© Image by JeffreyHuang - All rights reserved. This image may not be changed, used, copied, or altered in any way without my permission and consent.
Just downloaded Macphun Intensify, this photo was processed with a combination of Lightroom and Macphun Intensify.
i am interested in what you all think?
Introduction to Echuca and its history. Population Echuca-Moama 20,500. When captains Cadell of Goolwa and Randell of Gumeracha had a South Australian government sponsored race to reach the Darling River and prove the River Murray was navigable in 1853 they probably did not foresee the huge development of the river boat trade. The River Murray was to be a transportation conduit to the outback and inland areas like the Mississippi River in America. Paddle steamer river boats with shallow drafts were first used in the 1820s along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. They were adapted from rear wheel vessels to side wheel vessels in Australia. A few centres grew into major river ports- Morgan, Milang, Wentworth and Echuca. But Echuca outstripped them all as it was developed shortly after the Victorian gold rushes and it was the closest point on the River Murray to booming Melbourne. Some say Echuca was built upon the entrepreneurship of one man Henry Hopwood who arrived in the area in 1849. He was an ex-convict with big ideas. He began a ferry service across the Murray and later built a pontoon bridge. A government surveyor laid out a town in 1854 which he named Echuca from a local Aboriginal word meaning “meeting of the waters” as Echuca is at the confluence of the Campaspe and Murray rivers and the mighty Goulburn River also enters the Murray just a short distance away. In 1824 the explorer Hamilton Hume named the Murray the Hume River after his father. But in 1830 Charles Sturt after leaving the Murrumbidgee thought he had discovered a new river and he named it the Murray River after his friend in the British Colonial Office, Sir George Murray, Secretary of the Colonies. The Goulburn River was named in 1835/36 by Major Thomas Mitchell on his explorations. He named it after the Frederick Goulburn who was then Colonial Secretary of NSW and he also named the Campaspe River which rises near Mt Macedon. He was obviously thinking of his classical education when he named the Campaspe. Alexander the Great (356 BC to 323BC) of Greece had a famous artist paint one of his concubines and when the artist fell in love with the beautiful Campaspe, Alexander the Great “gave” Campaspe to the artist. Campaspe in the nude or only partially clothed was a popular painting subject in the early 1800s in Britain. Mitchell named Mount Macedon after an ancient Greek King Phillip II of Macedon (359 BC to 336 BC). Because three major rivers meet in the locality of Echuca lakes large flood plains with billabongs abound. One water channel from this area flows north to the Murrumbidgee River and is known as the Edward River. These flood plains along the Murray are now mainly national parks and reserves called the Barmah Lakes and Forests with the first area being declared as such in 1908. Early pastoralists were attracted to this country and many of the River Red gums were felled by woodsmen for railway sleepers across Victoria and NSW. The cycle of flood and drought favoured the River Red gums. The major floods of the River Murray were in 1867, 1870 – the biggest highest flood of the white era – 1916, 1931, 1956 and 1975.
The town grew quickly and in 1858 Henry Hopwood built the Bridge Hotel which he claimed was the best outside of Melbourne. The locals referred to him as King Hopwood although he was transported to Van Diemans Land as a convict charged with theft in 1834. He reached this Victorian part of NSW in 1850. At that time he established the first River Murray ferry service followed by a pontoon bridge in 1857. The ferry fees he charged with his monopoly soon made him a rich man. Because of the commercially strategic location the railway reached Echuca from the gold mining centre of Bendigo in 1864 so that Victoria could capture the Riverina trade through Moama on the NSW side of the Murray. Everything favoured Echuca’s development. Until Federation in 1901 all the independent colonies levied port duties on goods coming into or out of their colonies and Echuca was an important customs town. By the 1870s when more than two hundred paddle steamers regularly traversed the rivers here Echuca expanded with a multi-tiered wooden wharf so that steamers could dock regardless of the river level. The first small wharf was built in 1865 with extensions in the 1870s and this wharf eventually reached over one kilometre long when extended in 1884! As business boomed the town grew with 60 licensed hotels by 1876. The river trade not only transported wool from the pastoralists and supplies but it required extensive supplies of wood for fuel for the steamers, labour, ropes and equipment etc. Echuca was the second port of Victoria after Port Melbourne for tonnage handled in the 1870s. It was the largest inland port in Australia and it vied with Morgan as the main port to handle wool bought down the Darling River by paddle steamer. There were also paddle steamer services from Echuca to Shepparton on the Goulburn River. But the town eventually declined as railways which began Echuca’s boom also ended the importance of the river boat trade in Victoria. The boom was over by 1890 but by then Echuca was an established town with substantial and impressive buildings. The river boat trade persisted into the 1930s but on a much reduced scale. The next boom for Echuca was after World War Two when surrounding land was irrigated for horticulture, viticulture and intensive agriculture.
Henry Hopwood’s Bridge Hotel still stands as does the original Town Hall built in 1868 and designed by architect W.C Vahland from Bendigo. Along the waterfront you can still see the Steam Packet Hotel, the Customs House, the Bond Store (where goods were stored by the government until the duties were paid) and a small part of the great wharf. The fine brick Customs House was built in 1884 with a thin strip of sandstone around the windows and across the brickwork. The Bond Store was also built in red brick with pilasters across the front and a pediment to hide the roof line. The “King of Echuca” Hopwood also built a fine house which he named Apsley House facing Connelly Street. Part of it still remains at the Catholic College. When he died in 1869 the “King of Echuca” was buried in the town cemetery and he was remembered by a memorial pew in the Anglican Church. He became a wealthy man because he negotiated a monopoly of the ferry service across the river with the Victorian government. His contract included his heirs also retaining the monopoly. They eventually sold out to the Victorian government but the days of ferry services ended anyway with the construction of the mighty iron bridge across the Murray. A bridge between two colonies required both to agree and the conflict that the bridge engendered was really a part of the Australian federation story. Both colonies agree in 1864 to pay part of the bridge cost but disagreement emerged over tariffs and import/export duties. The agreement was reactivated after the great Murray floods of 1867 and 1870. Work finally started on the iron bridge in 1875. Heavy iron posts from England were carted by rail from Port Melbourne as there were no NSW railways near the river at that time. In April 1877 a disaster occurred when a crane crashed and collapsed iron and stone pillars. Six men were killed. The bridge opened in December 1878 but it only caused mayhem. NSW had not inspected and signed off on the bridge and travellers were charged a fee for using the “free” bridge. Angry mobs assembled near the bridge and protested several times and the Victorian government considered prosecuting rioters. Finally the bridge opened in April 1879 with no official opening ceremony by either government! Once the bridge was open competition between Moama in NSW and Victorian Echuca intensified. The railway from Deniliquin reached Moama in 1876 adding to the inter-colonial trade rivalry. Echuca reached a population of 5,000 by 1878.
Support for Australian federation came especially from the Riverina/Murray districts like Echuca as they were the most effected by trade tariffs between Victoria and NSW. The Riverina was settled as the main NSW grain producing region in the late 19th century but it was much closer to Melbourne than Sydney. Grain was carted across the border at Echuca. NSW was a free trade colony but Victoria was a protectionist colony. Thus towns developed each side of the river at crossing points – Wodonga and Albury; Wahgunyah and Corowa; Echuca and Moama. The railways were pushed up much sooner from Melbourne than from Sydney and grain was transported by rail from Echuca by the mid-1870s. NSW railway lines only reached Riverina towns in the 1890s and even later. So the Echuca district was directly interested in the benefits of federation especially the abolition of tariffs and customs but the other great issue was the control of the Murray River and its waters. In NSW Sir Henry Parkes pushed for federation and the other colonies waited to see if NSW would push ahead with the idea as their approval was always going to be crucial. Parkes began the push for federation in speeches in 1881 and again more seriously in 1889. The first national constitution convention was held in 1891 in Sydney. In the next couple of years the localised Australian Natives Association formed many more branches and became a national movement. Along the River Murray the Border Federation League was formed in Corowa and soon spread to Echuca/Moama and other regional towns. It was at a meeting of the Border Federation League in 1893 that Dr John Quick of Bendigo moved a motion to provide a process to achieve federation. This was something the arguing statesmen and politicians could not achieve. He moved that colonial parliaments should pass enabling legislation to send delegates to a national convention to adopt a constitution. From this point on the federation movement gained great impetus especially with support from the Riverina and river towns like Echuca. The movement culminated in the inauguration of the Commonwealth on January 1st 1901.
Apart from the River Murray providing a smooth navigable surface for transportation the river flats near Echuca led to the development of the major industry of the town- timber milling. River red gum timer was railed from Echuca all over Victoria for its railways. River red gum railway sleepers were transported down the Murray from Echuca to Morgan to build the Kapunda to Morgan railway in 1878. By 1869 one of several the timber mills in Echuca covered six acres. Logs were taken from the Barham forests and the Goulburn River valley and transported downstream to Echuca. But the Murray provided more for the town. The supply of timber made Echuca one of the major paddle steamer building sites along the Murray. Red gums provided wood for the boats and wood for their boilers. A slipway was soon erected in Echuca and the first steamer rolled into the river in 1864 but one earlier boat, without the assistance of a slipway, was constructed in 1858. Echuca had constructed 48 paddle steamers and 54 barges by 1895. Eighteen of the 48 paddle steamers were built between 1874 and 1878. The boat building stopped in the 1920s. Several foundries in the town produced ship bells and other equipment. The river trade led to wool scouring or fellmongering, boiling down works and tanneries. All these hard manual workers required alcohol and Echuca had several major breweries in the 19th century. The growth of the town surrounded by farmers or selectors led to conflict between the big squatter ad sheep shearers and other labourers. This resulted in the famous burning of the paddle steamer PS Rodney in 1894. Australia suffered a major depression in 1890, banks collapsed as did the price for wool. When pastoralist’s tried to reduce shearer wages conflict and strikes emerged. Shearers unison were first formed in 1891. In Queensland this resulted in violent conflict between unionists and pastoralists and Banjo Paterson’s song Waltzing Mathilda covers this issue. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson and it was first published as sheet music in 1903. Paterson wrote the poem in 1894 while staying at the Dagworth Homestead (near Winton), where in September of that year some shearers went on strike before violence erupted.
Up came the jumbuck( sheep) to drink at the waterhole,Up came the squatter a-riding his thoroughbred;
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee; And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag,
'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUS'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUS
Up came policemen - one, two and three. Up sprang the swagman and jumped in the waterhole,
'Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker bag? Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree;
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.' CHORUSAnd his voice can be heard as it sings in the billabongs,'Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?'
Near Echuca shearers went on strike in 1894 and camped along the river. One camp had 220 men in it by July 1894. They tried to block use of the bridge to Moama and the unloading of trains in Echuca with non-union shearers. In August 1894 trouble flared up. But it was near Pooncarie on the Darling River that a crew of boatmen from Echuca were moored on the banks of the Darling in the PS Rodney with non –union labour for an upstream station. The Rodney was built in Echuca in 1875. The non-unionists on board were thrown overboard and the crew allowed to leave and then the Rodney was set on fire. The news was not appreciated in the workers home town of Echuca. Only half a dozen of the arsonists were arrested, but then acquitted when tried by the Court in Broken Hill. Eventually one was convicted in a second trial in Sydney. By then the trouble had calmed down.
Some Echuca buildings to take note of starting at the entrance to the port of Echuca at Hopwood Place.
•The Bridge Hotel built by Henry Hopwood in 1858. Slate roof, round columns supporting the veranda and French doors which were so popular in the mid 1850s. Upper floor added circa 1875. Closed 1916 and became a residence then owned by the City of Echuca since 1970. Now a café.
•Across Hopwood Park is the Shire Hall/ Courthouse. Facade on Dickson St. Red brick and cement rendered quoins. Open ‘lacework” style balustrade along roof line. Triangular pediment above the door. It has simple Doric columns and porticos. Built in 1870. Architect W Vahland.
•The Star Hotel. Four sets of French windows in the upper floor. Built 1866-70 as offices for Permewan Wright who were carting agents. Sub leased to shipping agents etc. Now a hotel.
•William McCulloch and Co. Classical symmetry and arched doorway and windows and magnificent fan light above door. McCullochs early saw millers and later boat builders. Built in 1859 as a bond store for alcohol and tobacco. Kept by agents until bond tax paid. Used by McCullochs from 1889.
•589 High St. The Shamrock Hotel. One of the 86 colonial hotels in Echuca! Licensed 1870, as single storey hotel. Upper floor added around 1895 with classical small pediment and spire behind it. Note shamrocks in the wooden Edwardian veranda posts.
•The Echuca Hotel. Opened in 1858. The current building erected 1873. Symmetry, pilasters, classical rounded windows. Not a typical Australian pub building.
•In side street on left Leslie St. Former Customs House. Built in 1884 but earlier customs houses. Good brick work and slate roof. Part for the wharf river front buildings.
•Opposite the Customs House is the Steampacket Hotel. Claimed they were dedicated to the eradication of thirst! Built in 1864 as a single storey hotel. Rebuilt in the 1870s. Closed in 1900 and became a boarding house. Architect William Vahland. Return to High Street.
•645 High St. Bank of New South Wales. Erected 1877. Architects Reed & Barnes. Two level loggia with projecting ends and arcaded on lower level. A Greek classical revival style of bank.
•Colonial Bank of Australasia. Built in the classical style in the 1870s. Greek keystones above widows and ground floor doors. Lower windows rounded, upper window rectangular.
•Millewa Chambers. Built as a bond store in 1878. Beautifully restored and painted. Highly decorative with three classical urns on the central roof pediment. Arched symmetry and pilasters beside doors.
•On left is the combined Echuca Town Hall and Petty Sessions Courthouse. Built in 1869. Architects William Vahland and Robert Getzschmann of Bendigo. High St façade dominated by triangular pediment. Central section flanked by side wings. Used as a Courthouse until 1924. In 1954 became the town library only. Turn left here into Heygarth St before returning to High Street. The first section contains the Palace Hotel and the American Hotel. The first building opposite the old Courthouse is the former London Chartered Bank. Perfect symmetry with triangular pediment above central entrance. Architect Vahland. Built in 1882. Later an English Scottish & Australian Bank. Beside it is Dr Crosson’s Private Hospital and residence. Architect was William Vahland. Built 1875 with a cast iron balcony. Return to High St.
•Next is the modern Christ Church Anglican Church entrance but behind it is the original church built in 1865. It has a stained glass memorial window to Henry Hopwood. Architect William Vahland.
•Next left is Anstruther St. Turn left here. On the next corners another hotel built in 1895.On the opposite corner is a classical 19th century bank now the ANZ.
•In front is the Post Office with a three storey clock tower built in 1877. Government architects led by William Wardell designed this Italianate style Post office. An asymmetrical façade with a colonnaded loggia. Similar to Post Offices in Maryborough, Castlemaine, Warrnambool, Hamilton etc. Painted rendered brick. Turn right into Hare St.
•To the right on next corner is the former Presbyterian Church. St Andrews was built in 1901. Architect a local man E Castles. An impressive church with some unusual features – rose window, spire and black and white tiled sections in the gable and turreted tower. Worth the walk. Beyond the church is the Echuca state school no 208. Gothic in style with large windows for lighting. Gables facing street and arched entrance and tower. Built 1874. Some section rebuilt 1890 after a fire. Now return to the Post Office and continue along Hare St.
•Next is St Mary’s Catholic Church. Built in 1875 in red brick with freestone dressings. The tower is unusual with a spire which is almost too narrow, a brick balcony and turrets. Added in 1890.
• The five storey red brick flourmill is located at 2 Nish Street. Built in 1881 for Lawrence Kickham.
•The magnificent railway station one of the best in Victoria is at 104 Sturt St but there is a pedestrian overpass to give access from just beyond the flourmill in Nish Street. The huge locomotive shed was built when the railway opened in 1864. The station was built in 1865 in red brick with granite window sills and cornerstones. Welsh slate imported for the roof slates. The locomotive shed was partly used by the private railway company the Moama and Deniliquin railway which covered the 80 kms to Deniliquin.
•Corner Dickson and Connelly streets. Apsley House built around 1860 as the residence of Henry Hopwood. He died there in 1869. Sold to nuns of St Brigid in 1886 for a convent school.
The shadows were intensified and more pointed during the eclipse. I found the lighting to be intriguing. This abandoned one-room schoolhouse next to where I was set up was one of the reasons I set up where I did.
On Saturday 12 November, Egyptian activists from all across the UK joined up with protesters in London demonstrating for climate justice, to demand an end to Sisi's murderous dictatorship and the immediate release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian citizen on hunger strike, and at least 60,000 other political prisoners held in appalling conditions in Egyptian prisons.
As COP27 continues, Sisi's government intensifies its repression against civil society, arresting anyone in Cairo and other cities found with any mention of Alaa or other political dissidents on their phones, as well as targeting anyone suspected of planning strikes or protests.
I'm still working on individual captions for each photo - sorry for the delay - but in the meantime I'm reposting an earlier commentary I posted about Alaa Abd El-Fattah.
Last weekend on Sunday 6 November, activists gathered outside Downing Street for a candle-lit vigil as British-Egyptian democracy dissident, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, escalated his hunger strike in an Egyptian prison, refusing to take water.
Even prior to his refusal of water from Saturday 6 November, Alaa was already over 200 days into his 100 calorie a day hunger strike in prison in Egypt.
On Tuesday 8 November Sanaa Seif gave a speech to journalists at COP27 - "They are very happy for him to die. The only thing they care about is that it doesn't happen while the world is watching."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXibJ7PUTY
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt.
He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
Please show your support by signing the petition. Let's not fail Alaa. Thank you.
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...