View allAll Photos Tagged it_support
Meet Zinaida my Stranger 107.
I was standing in out of the rain under a covered section beside the entrance to a Bookshop and Stationary Store on O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland
Zinaida came out of the Store and we made eye contact. Zinaida gave a friendly smile. Straight away I asked Zinaida to participate in my Human Family Strangers project. Zinaida readily agreed.
I showed Zinaida my previous strangers in my Flickr Album on my phone.
Zinaida is from Moldova but lives in Lisbon in Portugal. She had only just arrived in Ireland for the weekend. She was waiting to meet a friend who was coming to Ireland from the UK.
Zinaida works in IT Support in a Company in Lisbon. She speaks six languages and had very good English. She listed Tennis and learning languages as her hobbies.
For the photo it was raining heavily so options were limited to the sheltered area outside the Store. It got Zinaida to stand against a Pillar so she was facing the light. I took a few shots.
I gave Zinaida my contact card and also got her email to send her the photo.
I sent the photo to Zinaida and got a lovely thank you reply.
Thank you Zinaida for participating in my Human Family Strangers Project. Zinaida is my Stranger 107 submission to the Group
Visit the Human Family Strangers Group here to see more portraits and stories: www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily
//What a disaster
William Saunderson-Meyer says the floods just another blow to a province that was already on its knees
KwaZulu-Natal has declared a provincial state of disaster to try to cope with the devastating floods of the past week.
This is normally a temporary mechanism of which the primary purpose is to facilitate speedy national government assistance to hard-pressed provincial and local authorities. It also triggers the release of emergency funds from the National Treasury.
But in KZN’s case, they might as well make it permanent. This is a province that has been on its knees for some time and it ain’t getting up any time soon.
After all, KZN hasn’t even staunched the bloodied nose it suffered nine months ago. That’s when one wing of the African National Congress government — the Radical Economic Transformation followers of former president Jacob Zuma — tried to bury the other — the so-called reformists led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
KZN hasn’t even properly tallied the body blows it suffered then. The official estimates for the insurrection were 45,000 businesses affected, R50bn in economic damage, 129,000 jobs lost, and 354 killed.
These estimates are probably on the low side. For example, the number of people who were killed in the mayhem doesn’t include the many whose bodies were simply never found and counted.
And the true economic cost is incalculable. There’s been substantially increased emigration of minorities, cancelled investment, and the loss of international confidence in KZN as a safe tourist destination. In at least a dozen small, country towns, all the business infrastructure was destroyed, paradoxically by the very people who worked and shopped in those buildings.
Now the floods. The death toll is over 300 and still rising. Some 6,000 homes have been destroyed and road, water sewage and electrical infrastructure uprooted. As I write this, roaming mobs are opportunistically plundering container depots, stranded trucks, abandoned homes and vulnerable businesses, reportedly unhindered — as was the case during last year’s riots — by the police and army.
Naturally, no disaster is complete without a scapegoat. Ramaphosa, as is his style, was quick off the mark to finger the culprit — climate change.
“This disaster is part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here,” Ramaphosa told reporters while inspecting a devastated Durban. “We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”
What balderdash. Whatever role climate change may or may not have played in the larger scheme of things, it’s nonsense to pin on it responsibility for the plight of KZN. That lies with the ANC government.
First, this was not an unforeseeable bolt from the heavens. The forecasters warned months back that this was likely to be an exceptionally wet summer because of the La Niña weather pattern that occurs every few years.
There are also historical precedents for extreme weather in KZN, which a prudent administration would have taken note of.
In 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina wreaked havoc in a swathe from Mozambique, through Swaziland to KZN. Although the current downpour is worse, the scale is nevertheless in the same ballpark.
This latest storm — as yet unnamed — dumped 450mm of rain on Durban in 48 hours. Domoina let loose 615mm in 24 hours on Swaziland and northern KZN.
But the true difference between those events, 38 years apart, lies in the lack of preparedness on the part of today’s authorities. In 1984 the SA Air Force deployed 25 helicopters to airlift people to safety. In the 2000 Mozambique floods, 17 SAAF helicopters rescued more than 14,000 people.
This time, according to a News24 report, the SA Police Service and the SAAF, combined, have been unable to put a single chopper in the air. The erosion of South Africa’s military means that of the SAAF’s 39 Oryx helicopters, only 17 are serviceable.
Durban-based 15 Squadron has not a single helicopter available for search and rescue — they are reportedly primarily used as VIP transport — but two SAAF choppers supposedly have been despatched from Gqeberha to help. The SAPS airwing has only one serviceable helicopter but “the pilot on duty has been booked off sick”.
Second, throughout the province, local government is also in a state of disaster and unable to do its job. The scale of the KZN impairment can be measured in the flood destruction of homes.
Some 4,000 shanties have been destroyed, many because officialdom was too lax to forbid building on the floodplain and against precariously unstable hillsides. Another 2,000 of the homes swept away were so-called RDP houses, shoddily built during the kickback-and-steal bonanza of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme of the late 1990s.
In Durban, the eThekwini metro is bloated and inert. It carries a rates and services debt of R17bn, of which R1bn is owed by the national government.
Durban is also infamously corrupt. Former mayor Zandile Gumede — along with 21 co-accused — is facing fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges in connection with a R320m municipal tender.
Yet at the weekend, even as the rain was bucketing down, she won the ANC’s regional leadership contest hands-down, despite the party’s supposed “step-aside when accused” rule.
The ANC-aligned Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has no illusions about the party it supports. It issued a statement calling on the government to ensure that unlike the plundering of Covid-19 emergency relief funds, the KZN disaster funds were not stolen or misused.
Fat chance. The ANC has already announced that its parliamentary constituency offices in KZN would become “hubs for humanitarian support” and appealed for the donation of relief supplies. Watch the trousering by the ANC’s public representatives of anything that the public is dumb enough to leave with them.
It’s in KZN where the ANC’s brazen indifference to the law and antipathy towards the Constitution is at its most obvious and most destructive.
On Monday, Zuma's corruption trial once again failed to take off in the Pietermaritzburg High Court when he successfully blocked the process with another round of delaying legal actions. His lawyers also had some carefully threatening words for the judiciary in a separate Supreme Court of Appeal action.
They urged SCA President Mandisa Maya to reconsider the dismissal of his latest corruption prosecution challenges. They warned that last year’s deadly July unrest was “in part, traceable to a perceived erroneous and unjust judicial outcome” that put Zuma briefly in prison for contempt of court.
“When such conceived mistakes are committed, the citizens (wrongly) feel entitled to resort to self-help…”
Floods, fires and locusts are devastating but at least happen relatively rarely. The ANC, alas, is a seemingly unending plague.
On our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef on our holiday in Australia, July 25, 2014 Queensland, Australia.
It would have been wonderful to have been able to gone snorkelling but I am claustrophobic so couldn't. We did go in the submarine they have that goes under water to look at the corals and fish which was great but the glass was all scratched up so the photos didn't turn out too well.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Alert! New Outfit release!
This gorgeous set is available in 13 Colors. With a price of 199L$ each color or 1049L$ for the Fatpack
It comes with 2 types of metals which are GOLD and SILVER
The colors are the following:
✨Black (Bottom right)
✨Blue
✨Grey
✨Light Blue
✨Lilac
✨Lime
✨Pink (Top left)
✨Purple
✨Red (Top Right)
✨Rose (Bottom left)
✨Tan
✨White
✨Yellow
And it supports the following bodies:
✨Maitreya (Lara)
✨Legacy (Classic & Perky)
✨/Reborn (+Waifus)
✨Kupra
✨K.Erika
You can find this beauty right here:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EDGE%20Paradise/30/82/23
What are you waiting for? Come and try it Yourself!
Tested on Reborn (+Waifus)
On our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef on our holiday in Australia, July 25, 2014 Queensland, Australia.
It would have been wonderful to have been able to gone snorkelling but I am claustrophobic so couldn't. We did go in the submarine they have that goes under water to look at the corals and fish which was great but the glass was all scratched up so the photos didn't turn out too well.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef
On our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef on our holiday in Australia, July 25, 2014 Queensland, Australia.
It would have been wonderful to have been able to gone snorkelling but I am claustrophobic so couldn't. We did go in the submarine they have that goes under water to look at the corals and fish which was great but the glass was all scratched up so the photos didn't turn out too well.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
This is the arch that leads into the enclosed area on the south side of the castle. The key-stone contains the initials SDC for Sir Duncan Campbell and his LHL for his wife Lady Henrietta Lindsay, together with the date 1681. Added more than a century after the castle was built, by which time Scotland was generally becoming a less violent place to live, it supports my theory that this enclosure was a walled garden more than a courtyard.
Still open invitation: If someone can find this, and show me a timestamped photo, or newspaper with this, etc. I will donate $500 to the charity of that person's choice, in their name. Unless it supports something abhorrent like white supremacy. because f*** that nonsense.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
The AC-47 was a United States Air Force C-47 Skytrain (the military version of the DC-3) that had been modified by mounting three .30 in (7.62 mm) General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft. Other armament configurations could also be found on similar C-47 based aircraft around the world. The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot's yoke, where he could control the guns either individually or together, though gunners were also among the crew to assist with gun failures and similar issues. Its primary function was for close air support for ground troops, both U.S. and South Vietnamese. Once called into action, it could loiter, orbiting the designated target, sometimes for hours, providing suppressing fire. Coverage given by a Spooky was over an elliptical area approximately 52 yd (47.5 m) in diameter, placing a projectile within every 2.4 yd (2.2 m) during a 3-second burst.
Moreover, the plane carried 24,000 rounds of ammunition. Its large ammunition supply made the AC-47 unpopular with those on the receiving end of its fire, and extremely popular with the troops it supported (who nicknamed it Puff, the Magic Dragon; named after the Peter, Paul and Mary folk song). In addition to the miniguns, it carried flares, which it could drop to light up the battleground.
AC-47Due to the age of its base airframe, the aircraft was very vulnerable to ground fire. Consequently, further gunship designs, the AC-119 gunship and the AC-130 gunship were developed, based around newer cargo airframes.
When the AC-47 was introduced, it was the first of its kind in service and there were no preceding designs to gauge how successful the concept would be. When requests for additional gunships began to come in, the USAF found itself in a precarious situation. It simply did not have enough miniguns initially to fit additional aircraft after the first two conversions. The next four aircraft were in fact equipped with 10 .30 in (7.62 mm) AN/M2 machine guns. However, it was quickly found that these weapons, using ammunition stocks from WWII and Korea, jammed easily, were extremely dirty in terms of gases produced from firing, and even in ten-gun groups could only provide the density of fire of a single minigun. When additional miniguns arrived, all four of these aircraft were retrofitted to the standard armament configuration.
The mounting hardware initially used on the AC-47 simply used SUU-11/A gun pods that were installed on locally fabricated mounts for the gunship application. Eventually, Emerson Electric developed the MXU-470/A, a purpose built mount, which replaced the gun pods, and was also used on subsequent gunship aircraft.
My Mother in Law brought round her laptop for some IT support. It arrived in a Morrisons shopping bag with a towel over the top. Top prize for disguise.
Bangassou (Est de la RCA), 11 juillet 2021 : Des organisations féminines de trois arrondissements de Bangassou en apprennent davantage sur le mandat de la MINUSCA, en l’occurrence ses actions de protection des civils dans la préfecture du Mbomou, son rôle dans la mise en œuvre de l’Accord politique pour la paix et de réconciliation en RCA, et son appui au processus électoral.
Bangassou, (Eastern CAR), 11 July 2021: Women’s organizations from three districts of Bangassou learn about MINUSCA’s mandate, namely its actions to protect civilians in the Mbomou prefecture, its role in the implementation of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR, and its support to the electoral process.
I received an email from a coworker about a retiring professor trying to retrieve data off of old computers. Our central IT was unable to assist due to the age of the machines. The professor was trying to move files from a Mac OS X 10.2, 10.4, and NeXT computer. My heart skipped a beat after that reading that last one. Moving the vintage Mac files would be no problem because I keep those tools handy. I restore vintage Apple //, Macintosh, and other hardware as a hobby.
If you don't know what a NeXT computer is, it's this insanely expensive computer built by Steve Jobs after he was ousted from Apple in the 1980's. It ran Unix, had a gorgeous graphical user interface, and if you use OS X today it is still the foundational basis for the operating system. It was lightyears ahead of anything else out there at the time. Have you ever visited a website before? The first webpage was served on a NeXTcube.
I've never seen a working NeXT computer before though. I saw one in Berlin in a museum and read about them extensively, but I had no idea that our university actually had them.
I immediately went to the professor's office and he showed me what he was trying to do. We talked a little bit about vintage hardware and I told him that I'd never seen a working NeXT before. I was a little hesitant to respond because day-to-day we're flooded with tickets IT support isn't really my thing. Sometimes users, especially tenured professors, need a delicate approach because of their demands. This person could not have been more affable, kind, and good hearted. After talking a while he said he would rather have the hardware saved than go to scrap per university policy.
In the interest of archiving his data and this magnificent hardware I will be cooperating with him to save this NeXT computer. I've also agreed to save the Mac Cube and Power Macintosh G3. Twist my arm. They'll become archive computers if anyone needs a WordPerfect 3.5 file converted. Yes, people still have those.
I decided to document everything in place before moving it all to a secure location. That includes the NeXT computer, original manuals, flyers, software, printers, accessories, and even the original boxes.
The plan is to document EVERYTHING in detail. So stay tuned for future updates.
You can follow me as I post future updates:
Website: kenfager.com
Twitter: kenfagerdotcom
Instagram: kenfager
Flickr: kenfagerdotcom
Mingle Media TV and our Red Carpet Report team with host Corinne Henneberry were on hand for the at the 3rd Annual Reality TV Awards held at the Avalon in Hollywood.
This year’s Realty TV Awards received over 1.1 million votes for nominees in 21 Categories online and honored Heidi and Spencer Pratt “Speidi” by inducting them into the inaugural Reality TV Hall Of Fame.
Giving Good: 10 % of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Wodnsky Heart Foundation - for more info visit www.wodynskiheartfoundation.org.
Get the Story from the Red Carpet Report Team, follow us on Twitter and Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/RedCarpetReportTV
www.youtube.com/MingleMediaTVNetwork
About Realty TV Awards
The 3rd Annual Reality TV Awards is the industry's leading reality awards show event embracing the spirit of fun and camaraderie as it supports, examines and redefines the art of reality in media by rewarding excellence and encourage experimentation. For more info, please visiit www.RealityTelevisionAwards.com
@RealityAwardsTV (Twitter/Instagram) #RTVAs
www.RealityTelevisionAwards.com
www.facebook.com/RealityTVAwards
For more of Mingle Media TV’s Red Carpet Report coverage, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook here:
www.facebook.com/minglemediatvnetwork
www.flickr.com/MingleMediaTVNetwork
Follow our host, Corinne on Twitter www.twitter.com/CorinneMusic
Taken at the stroke of sunset this large landmark of Essex, the BT Radio tower at Kelvedon Hatch stands in silhouette against the sky.
The structure is now naked compared to the amount of Dish Aerials it supported in the long distnace microwave days. Of course satelite and fibre optic technology have taken over.
Just call us and we provide you the service at your home within 24 hours. We know your time is precious. Our expert will work till your satisfaction.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
KZN - What a disaster
William Saunderson-Meyer says the floods just another blow to a province that was already on its knees
KwaZulu-Natal has declared a provincial state of disaster to try to cope with the devastating floods of the past week.
This is normally a temporary mechanism of which the primary purpose is to facilitate speedy national government assistance to hard-pressed provincial and local authorities. It also triggers the release of emergency funds from the National Treasury.
But in KZN’s case, they might as well make it permanent. This is a province that has been on its knees for some time and it ain’t getting up any time soon.
After all, KZN hasn’t even staunched the bloodied nose it suffered nine months ago. That’s when one wing of the African National Congress government — the Radical Economic Transformation followers of former president Jacob Zuma — tried to bury the other — the so-called reformists led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
KZN hasn’t even properly tallied the body blows it suffered then. The official estimates for the insurrection were 45,000 businesses affected, R50bn in economic damage, 129,000 jobs lost, and 354 killed.
These estimates are probably on the low side. For example, the number of people who were killed in the mayhem doesn’t include the many whose bodies were simply never found and counted.
And the true economic cost is incalculable. There’s been substantially increased emigration of minorities, cancelled investment, and the loss of international confidence in KZN as a safe tourist destination. In at least a dozen small, country towns, all the business infrastructure was destroyed, paradoxically by the very people who worked and shopped in those buildings.
Now the floods. The death toll is over 300 and still rising. Some 6,000 homes have been destroyed and road, water sewage and electrical infrastructure uprooted. As I write this, roaming mobs are opportunistically plundering container depots, stranded trucks, abandoned homes and vulnerable businesses, reportedly unhindered — as was the case during last year’s riots — by the police and army.
Naturally, no disaster is complete without a scapegoat. Ramaphosa, as is his style, was quick off the mark to finger the culprit — climate change.
“This disaster is part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here,” Ramaphosa told reporters while inspecting a devastated Durban. “We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”
What balderdash. Whatever role climate change may or may not have played in the larger scheme of things, it’s nonsense to pin on it responsibility for the plight of KZN. That lies with the ANC government.
First, this was not an unforeseeable bolt from the heavens. The forecasters warned months back that this was likely to be an exceptionally wet summer because of the La Niña weather pattern that occurs every few years.
There are also historical precedents for extreme weather in KZN, which a prudent administration would have taken note of.
In 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina wreaked havoc in a swathe from Mozambique, through Swaziland to KZN. Although the current downpour is worse, the scale is nevertheless in the same ballpark.
This latest storm — as yet unnamed — dumped 450mm of rain on Durban in 48 hours. Domoina let loose 615mm in 24 hours on Swaziland and northern KZN.
But the true difference between those events, 38 years apart, lies in the lack of preparedness on the part of today’s authorities. In 1984 the SA Air Force deployed 25 helicopters to airlift people to safety. In the 2000 Mozambique floods, 17 SAAF helicopters rescued more than 14,000 people.
This time, according to a News24 report, the SA Police Service and the SAAF, combined, have been unable to put a single chopper in the air. The erosion of South Africa’s military means that of the SAAF’s 39 Oryx helicopters, only 17 are serviceable.
Durban-based 15 Squadron has not a single helicopter available for search and rescue — they are reportedly primarily used as VIP transport — but two SAAF choppers supposedly have been despatched from Gqeberha to help. The SAPS airwing has only one serviceable helicopter but “the pilot on duty has been booked off sick”.
Second, throughout the province, local government is also in a state of disaster and unable to do its job. The scale of the KZN impairment can be measured in the flood destruction of homes.
Some 4,000 shanties have been destroyed, many because officialdom was too lax to forbid building on the floodplain and against precariously unstable hillsides. Another 2,000 of the homes swept away were so-called RDP houses, shoddily built during the kickback-and-steal bonanza of the government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme of the late 1990s.
In Durban, the eThekwini metro is bloated and inert. It carries a rates and services debt of R17bn, of which R1bn is owed by the national government.
Durban is also infamously corrupt. Former mayor Zandile Gumede — along with 21 co-accused — is facing fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges in connection with a R320m municipal tender.
Yet at the weekend, even as the rain was bucketing down, she won the ANC’s regional leadership contest hands-down, despite the party’s supposed “step-aside when accused” rule.
The ANC-aligned Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has no illusions about the party it supports. It issued a statement calling on the government to ensure that unlike the plundering of Covid-19 emergency relief funds, the KZN disaster funds were not stolen or misused.
Fat chance. The ANC has already announced that its parliamentary constituency offices in KZN would become “hubs for humanitarian support” and appealed for the donation of relief supplies. Watch the trousering by the ANC’s public representatives of anything that the public is dumb enough to leave with them.
It’s in KZN where the ANC’s brazen indifference to the law and antipathy towards the Constitution is at its most obvious and most destructive.
On Monday, Zuma's corruption trial once again failed to take off in the Pietermaritzburg High Court when he successfully blocked the process with another round of delaying legal actions. His lawyers also had some carefully threatening words for the judiciary in a separate Supreme Court of Appeal action.
They urged SCA President Mandisa Maya to reconsider the dismissal of his latest corruption prosecution challenges. They warned that last year’s deadly July unrest was “in part, traceable to a perceived erroneous and unjust judicial outcome” that put Zuma briefly in prison for contempt of court.
“When such conceived mistakes are committed, the citizens (wrongly) feel entitled to resort to self-help…”
Floods, fires and locusts are devastating but at least happen relatively rarely. The ANC, alas, is a seemingly unending plague.
In their Ebola Treatment ward, the Monrovia Medical Unit continues to combat Ebola. Thanks to USAID, the MMU has the needed equipment, trained professionals, and management systems to handle the disease; the MMU was created by USAID to provide support for healthcare and aid workers in Liberia, and is currently treating two healthcare workers for Ebola in its 25 bed facility.With each health institution it supports, USAID is committed to building back stronger so this Ebola crisis is the last; already Liberia’s Ebola’s rates have been reduced by 90 percent. Photo by Neil Brandvold, USAID
This photo was taken on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, from a semi submersible craft one metre underwater. Apologies for the picture colour & sharpness, but I thought the pictures were interesting enough to post anyway.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).
The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.
It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.
Due to its vast biodiversity, warm clear waters and accessibility from the tourist boats called "live aboards", the reef is a very popular destination, especially for scuba divers. Tourism on the Great Barrier Reef is concentrated in the Whitsundays and Cairns due to their accessibility. These areas make up 7% of the Park's area.
Many cities along the Queensland coast offer daily boat trips. Several continental and coral cay islands are now resorts, including the pristine Lady Elliot Island. As of 1996, 27 islands on the Great Barrier Reef supported resorts.
Approximately two million people visit the Great Barrier Reef each year.
A variety of boat tours and cruises are offered, from single day trips, to longer voyages. Boat sizes range from dinghies to superyachts. Glass-bottomed boats and underwater observatories are also popular, as are helicopter flights. By far, the most popular tourist activities on the Great Barrier Reef are snorkelling and diving, for which pontoons are often used, and the area is often enclosed by nets. The outer part of the Great Barrier Reef is favoured for such activities, due to water quality.
Saltwater crocodiles live in mangrove and salt marshes on the coast near the reef.
Around 125 species of shark, stingray, skates or chimaera live on the reef.
Close to 5,000 species of mollusc have been recorded on the reef, including the giant clam.
49 species of pipefish and 9 species of seahorse have been recorded.
At least seven species of frog inhabit the islands.
215 species of birds (including 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds) visit the reef or nest or roost on the islands. 1.4 to 1.7 million birds use the area to breed.
30 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef.
Large populations of dugongs live there.
More than 1,500 fish species live on the reef.
As well as 17 species of sea snake.
The islands of the Great Barrier Reef also support 2,195 known plant species, the plants are propagated by birds.
400 coral species, both hard corals and soft corals inhabit the reef.
Yes, this defies a lot of serious theological research. But hey, it supports my point that I should grow my hair out!
A unique Red Cross Red Crescent project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has been exploring the use of climate information in health programming in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Vietnam. For “Health Risk Management” (HRM) in Kenya, project sites were chosen in Nyando province, near Lake Victoria (pictured) – an alluvial plain vulnerable to endemic malaria, devastating floods and diarrhoeal disease. It supported work by the Kenya Red Cross Society to improve water and sanitation, and raise awareness of hygiene practices like handwashing, better handling of kitchen utensils, and better construction methods for pit latrines. The picture shows Esther Akiro, with a washing up bowl for her family's kitchen utensils. (Photo: Nancy Okwengu/IFRC-Climate Centre)
Mingle Media TV and our Red Carpet Report team with host Corinne Henneberry were on hand for the at the 3rd Annual Reality TV Awards held at the Avalon in Hollywood.
This year’s Realty TV Awards received over 1.1 million votes for nominees in 21 Categories online and honored Heidi and Spencer Pratt “Speidi” by inducting them into the inaugural Reality TV Hall Of Fame.
Giving Good: 10 % of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Wodnsky Heart Foundation - for more info visit www.wodynskiheartfoundation.org.
Get the Story from the Red Carpet Report Team, follow us on Twitter and Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/RedCarpetReportTV
www.youtube.com/MingleMediaTVNetwork
About Realty TV Awards
The 3rd Annual Reality TV Awards is the industry's leading reality awards show event embracing the spirit of fun and camaraderie as it supports, examines and redefines the art of reality in media by rewarding excellence and encourage experimentation. For more info, please visiit www.RealityTelevisionAwards.com
@RealityAwardsTV (Twitter/Instagram) #RTVAs
www.RealityTelevisionAwards.com
www.facebook.com/RealityTVAwards
For more of Mingle Media TV’s Red Carpet Report coverage, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook here:
www.facebook.com/minglemediatvnetwork
www.flickr.com/MingleMediaTVNetwork
Follow our host, Corinne on Twitter www.twitter.com/CorinneMusic
See that pole in the middle? Since the introduction in Wales of the default 20mph urban speed limit and until recently, it supported a warning beacon that displayed your speed and either thanked you or advised you to slow down. The point being, while there are several of those all over the country, this one was especially useful because this is a quite-steep downhill stretch coming out of an open 60-limit, and about to get steeper as can be seen. Furthermore, for anyone unfamiliar with the area achieving that 20 is nigh impossible because those limit signs only become visible at pretty-much the last minute. I can't help but wonder whether this is going to become a revenue opportunity, a Tourist Tax if you like, although it could well nail a few locals too if they don't want to be "rear-ended". I thought the idea was not to make money but to save lives.
I am aware too that elsewhere in the immediate area at least one beacon has ditched the "thank you" but kept the "slow". The gloves may be coming off.
A family pickets the Buckingham community center in Arlington, Va. June 9, 1941 after a strike was called by the Laborer's Union in a contract dispute over wages and benefits.
The strike was called by the Laborers’ District Council, Alexandria, an affiliate of the AFL after the management of the 1800-unit apartment complex refused to respond to a contract offer submitted a month before by union officials.
Painters, porters and yardmen joined the strike causing delays in trash and garbage collection. The interracial strikers were pressing for increased wages, vacation, a paid sick leave plan and a closed union shop.
While the workers were both black and white, the apartment complex was for whites-only and would be the target of a year-long effort at integration 25 years later.
The Buckingham Civic Association, representing 4500 tenants at the complex, adopted a resolution supporting “the position of the striking employees” and called on management to meet with the union and engage in collective bargaining.
The Arlington Labor Non-Partisan League called for public support saying that workers faced “intolerable working conditions.”
The League was initiated by the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1936 and though opposed by the American Federation of Labor, many affiliates of the AFL joined. It was named non-partisan because it supported both Republicans, Democrats or third party candidates that were pro-labor. Differences between its leaders caused its dissolution later in 1941.
After a scuffle between a striking worker and a supervisor, a heavy police patrol was instituted in the area.
The strike was settled after five days with the workers winning a pay increase and a new “welfare plan” that would aid workers when they were unable to work due to injury or illness.
The strike gives an idea of how widespread labor unions were by representing workers at apartment complexes where few have union representation in the 21st century.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsmGa6cGE
The photographer is unknown. The image is a Washington Daily News photograph that is part of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
after waitin for long for one butter roti, i got two rotis, no butter...so in a minute the waiter whisked the plate away put butter n gave it away...but how to retain the rukhi sukhi-ness of roti??
view picture. as you can see i've cut out a part n turned the roti over to reveal the dry side. if only it supported transparency like beryl :p
So, how does it support itself on those itty bitty branches?
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/07/17/life-in-plastic-toy-review-water-...
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The main reason for having the table is to make it easy to use a netbook computer.
In April 2012 I made improvements::
1. The front table support was replaced by a leg assembly clamped to the floor where the two floor panels are sitting. That eliminated the need to install the support assembly when setting up the table)..
2. The table support at the other end was eliminated, replaced by an alteration to one of my plywood travel boxes.When the altered box is sitting atop another, it supports the table. That eliminated having to handle and store the support.
3. The stool was replaced by a smaller and lighter one, making it easier to handle..
4. The table was made five inches longer to create more working room.
These changes made the user happier.
All table photos (and background information) appear in a set of photos of the table.
La U.S. 66, también conocida como U.S. Route 66, Route 66 (Ruta 66), The Main Street of America (La calle principal de América), The Mother Road (La carretera madre) y la Will Rogers Highway (Carretera de Will Rogers), formó parte de la Red de Carreteras Federales de Estados Unidos. Una de las rutas federales originales, la U.S. 66 se estableció el 11 de noviembre de 1926, aunque no se señalizó hasta el año siguiente (...). La Ruta 66 fue objeto de muchas mejoras y cambios de trazado, muchos de ellos afectaron bastante a la longitud de la carretera, uno de ellos fue el traslado del final de Los Ángeles a Santa Mónica. Contrariamente a la creencia generalizada, la Ruta 66 nunca llegó al océano; acababa en lo que era el inicio de la U.S. 101, lo que es hoy la intersección de Olympic Boulevard con Lincoln Boulevard. Nunca estuvo en la intersección de Ocean Boulevard con Santa Monica Boulevard, a pesar de que haya una placa dedicatoria de la Ruta 66 como la Will Rogers Highway (Carretera de Will Rogers) allí.
La Ruta 66 fue el principal itinerario de los emigrantes que iban al oeste, especialmente durante las tormentas de polvo de los años 30, y sostuvo la economía de las zonas que la carretera atravesaba. La gente que prosperó durante la creciente popularidad de la carretera fue la misma que años más tarde luchó por mantenerla viva cuando empezó a construirse la nueva Red de Autopistas Interestatales de Estados Unidos.
La U.S. 66 (Ruta 66) fue descatalogada (es decir, oficialmente retirada de la Red de Carreteras de Estados Unidos) el 27 de junio de 1985 después de decidirse que la carretera ya no era relevante y haber sido reemplazada por la Red de Autopistas Interestatales de Estados Unidos. Partes de la carretera que discurre a través de Illinois, Nuevo México y Arizona han sido señalizadas con letreros de "Historic Route 66" (Ruta Histórica 66) y ha vuelto a aparecer en los mapas de carreteras de esta forma.
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U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup, originally recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946, and later performed by such artists as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Manhattan Transfer and Depeche Mode) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.
Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, changing its path and overall length. Many of the realignments gave travelers faster or safer routes, or detoured around city congestion. One realignment moved the western endpoint farther west from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.
U.S. 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". It has begun to return to maps in this form. Some portions of the road in southern California have been redesignated "State Route 66", and others bear "Historic Route 66" signs and relevant historic information.
En: Wikipedia
with a noise maker and confetti!!!
Hope you like it.
It's a heavily decorated white cup of coffee with a space inspired theme. Hope you like it.
Support it on Tumblr
This is Paul Newman's Sabre Liner. It supports his racing teams and other entrepaneurial activities. There were a ton of private jets here for the Rose Festival and the races @ PIR. This Mooney is also real slick!
In late 1975, the RNZAF began looking for a replacement for it's, soon to be retired, Bristol Freighters and Douglas C-47s, and in January 1976 a small team of RNZAF officers, led by Group Captain I. M. Gillard, travelled to Britain to inspect the stored Andovers at Kemble.
In June 1976, the NZ Government approved the purchase of 10 ex RAF Andovers from Britain for the price of $13 million.
XS600 was chosen as one of the aircraft to be part of the deal and, following an overhaul, it was handed over to the RNZAF at RAF Brize Norton on 27 April 1977.
XS600 arrived at RNZAF Base Whenuapai following it's delivery flight from the UK on 24 May 1977 and was brought on charge with the RNZAF's No. 1 Squadron at Whenuapai as NZ7621 on the same day.
NZ7621 was the ninth of 10 Andovers that the RNZAF acquired.
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No. 41 Squadron RNZAF, Singapore in 1977, April 1977
'You call, we haul’ is motto
Wing Commander G. A. Parkinson, commander of No. 41 Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F., claims with pride that the squadron has served overseas longer than any other New Zealand unit.
The squadron has been based continuously at Singapore since 1955 — a total of 22 years next month. Before that, the squadron helped to fly New Zealand prisoners of war home from Japan; it took part in the Berlin Air Lift in 1949, and it supported British forces operating against terrorists in the Malayan jungle. Today, the squadron is equipped with four Iroquois helicopters and three Bristol freighters. It divides its time between transport, tasks for the New Zealand Government and diplomatic posts, support for other New Zealand forces in South-East Asia, and support and training for Singapore and Malaysia as part of New Zealand’s military assistance programme.
Its aircraft have flown to Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, South Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, often carrying aid or disaster relief. The motto of the squadron, “Korero, Ka Oti,” is translated officially as “Speak, and it shall be done.” But the unofficial translation — “You call, we haul” — is a fair description of the squadron’s work.
Nearly half the flying time of the Bristol freighters is spent on missions for Malaysians, Australians, and Singaporeans. About a quarter of the helicopters’ flying time is spent the same way. As part of the Five Power Defence Agreement, No. 41 Squadron shares Tengah Air Base in Singapore with Australian and Singaporean squadrons. Many of the 115 men in the squadron also share accommodation with Australians or their Singaporean hosts; houses for married airmen are scattered among Singaporean housing, and the squadron is proud of its close formal and informal ties with the host country.
Houses for the married staff, built 20 years ago by the British, stand in tree-lined streets with names like Spitfire Road and Sycamore Crescent. About 60 children from New Zealand and Australian families attend the New Zealand primary school near Tengah. The squadron’s pre-school also caters for Singaporean children.
But the squadron sometimes feels isolated from the main New Zealand force in Singapore, 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, and from force headquarters, both of which are based about 10 miles away.
From the housing at Tengah to the nearest shopping centre is about eight miles; during the day the area round the airport is a noisy place with almost continuous landings and take-offs by high performance fighters from the R.A.A.F. and the Singapore Armed Forces.
The squadron claims its men are trained when they come from New Zealand for their two-year tour in Singapore. But the squadron also welcomes the opportunity to train in an environment quite unlike that found in New Zealand. Most aircrew carry out survival exercises alone in the jungle once a year. The helicopters use a flat, marshy area in eastern Malaysia for special exercises; and the squadron practices deploying to other parts of South-East Asia.
But a question mark hangs over No. 41 Squadron. Its faithful Bristol freighters — clumsy, even ugly in appearance — have served the squadron, and New Zealand and its allies, well for 20 years. They are still reliable, but they are wearing out and they are due to be phased out of operations by the end of this year.
They will have to be replaced, for as long as New Zealand has a significant presence in South-East Asia it will need "work ‘ horse” supply aircraft, even though Malaysia and Singapore are expanding their air transport capabilities. Officially the squadron does not know what aircraft it may have a year from now. Unofficially, aircrew hope that some of the Andover transports which New Zealand has just acquired will be sent to Tengah.
One Andover visited Tengah earlier this year on a proving flight. Three or four would be needed to maintain New Zealand's air transport capability the area. There is no certainty that so many could be spared from duty in New Zealand. No 41 Squadron believes it will remain in the area for some time. But its 115 men — and its 24 air crew especially — would like to know what aircraft they will be flying in 12 months time.
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'The Press' dated the 14th of April 1977 has a feature on No. 41 Squadron in Singapore.
A jungle airdrop, and then back for morning tea.
By NAYLOR HILLARY, who recently visited New Zealand forces based in Singapore.
Bristol Freighter NZ5911, of No. 41 Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F., with 1000lb of supplies to be dropped by parachute, took off from Singapore at 9.30 a.m. “We get you overseas in five minutes,” said the pilot, as the aircraft crossed the narrow strip of water dividing Singapore and Malaysia. The flight was bound for a drop zone which, according to the pre-flight briefing, was a clearing near a river junction in the Malaysian jungle 60 miles north. The letter “A” picked out in marker panels' and a yellow smoke flare would mark the spot.
From 500 feet up, travelling at 120 miles an hour, the jungle flashes past in a confusing blur of green. Thick forest conceals the contours of the hills; streams vanish and reappear; each clearing — greyish red with tailings from old tin mines — looks the same as every other clearing.
“It’s a big drop zone — 100 yards square,” said the navigator, Flight-Lieutenant J. H. Seward. “We’ve had to drop on a zone 30 yards square with trees 150 feet high all round it.” Up in the cockpit the crew — Flight-Lieutenant A. R. Marbeck and Flight-Lieutenant M. McGeorge — found the zone without difficulty. One circuit for a quick look, and the aircraft came down to 250 feet. The pilot positioned the aircraft for the run over the zone and then left it to the navigator, lying prone in the forward nose compartment, to give the order to drop to the Army despatch party waiting by the open door of the aircraft. Five runs, with about 200lb of rations hurled out on each run — the weight limited to what the launchers could manhandle. On the final circuit the five parachutes could be seen, collapsed in a neat line in the clearing, and tiny figures in jungle green were trotting towards them.
The supply drop was not merely being turned on for the benefit of visiting journalists on board the Bristol. The supplies were for the men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, who were acting as ‘'enemy” in Exercise Merbuk last month, deep in the jungle. The weather was fine with a distant heat haze. But conditions are not always so good. Cloud forms quickly over the rolling jungle hills; haze can cut visibility to less than two miles. In real operations accurate timing is essential for a ground recovery party does not like to linger near a clearing.
The Bristols fly low to stay out of the busy commercial air corridors round Singapore, so low that on the return to Tengah the chimney of the new Senoko oil-fired power station, 660 feet high, towered over the Bristol as it crossed the north coast of Singapore Island. Flying time from Singapore, back to Singapore, was a little over an hour. The crew and passengers, after their overseas trip, were back in time for morning tea.
rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/30460/41-squadron-rnzaf-singap...
Photo: Brian Coulter
By Eric Lafforgue. The Baining fire dance is the most impressive performance i've seen in my photographer life!
The dance is very complicated to see, as the clans do not want to perform at any time. The dance is only performed at night time, the women MUST NOT touch the masks.
A big fire is set in the middle of the village, and then 40 dancers will wear the giant mask to jump on the fire, and also dance on it, supported by 20 musicians. The main thing is aslo to give a kick in the fire, as you can see on the picture, and the main job for me was to avoid the projections!
The dance can last for a night.
During the dance, the dancers take some kids with them and go into the fire: it is the best way to cure them!
Painstakingly built from entirely natural rainforest material, the masks worn by the dancers are said to represent the spirits of plants and animals. Of varying sizes and styles, the masks are painted using colours created from special bush materials and plants.
Galim village, East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea.
a home-made SPDIF (digital audio) switch.
it supports 3 optical inputs and 1 coax input. for outputs, it has dual coax/opto (concurrent, same output).
it does not decode any data, it simply switched data at TTL levels and outputs the analog pulse train. just a simple physical repeater (not even really a bridge).
selection is via a 2-bit binary TTL 'address' placed on a molex connector. select 00, 01, 10, or 11 to pick inputs 1 thru 4.
total cost is under $20 in parts (well under that).
in this photo, coax in and coax out is being auditioned on my 'popcorn hour'.
I can hear sound coming from the other end. I guess it works ;)
Alexander ist großer Iron Maiden Fan, was unschwer an den Cover-Figuren zu erkennen ist. Glückwünsche der Kollegen zum 3-jährigen Mitarbeiter-Jubiläum sind am Bildschirm verewigt und eine kleine Kabelwüste zieht sich über Tisch. Technische Utensilien zählen einfach zu dem täglichen Werkzeug unserer IT-Jungs.
Alexander is a big Iron Maiden fan, which you can't miss when you look at his figurines straight from their album covers. He's affixed the congratulations from his colleagues on his three year anniversary to his screen, while some small cable snakes slither across his desk. Of course these technological tools are an essential part of our IT guy's workday!
030520-N-0295M-008.At sea with USS Milius (DDG 69) May 20, 2003 -- The guided missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) proudly displays her large American flag during a practice sea power demonstration for USS Constellation's upcoming “Tiger Cruise.” USS Constellation (CV 64) Carrier Strike Force is returning home from deployment in which it supported Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain. (RELEASED).
On our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef on our holiday in Australia, July 25, 2014 Queensland, Australia.
It would have been wonderful to have been able to gone snorkelling but I am claustrophobic so couldn't. We did go in the submarine they have that goes under water to look at the corals and fish which was great but the glass was all scratched up so the photos didn't turn out too well.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.
The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.It is one of the seven wonders of the natural world. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef
Samsung Galaxy Tab has a brilliant 7.0 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen and 16M colors combination.The Samsung Galaxy Tab has a 3.21.3 MP camera with resolution of 2048 x 1536 Pixels.It runs on a ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1 GHz processor; PowerVR SGX540 graphics and 512 RAM internal memory is 32 with 32 external memory Support.It supports all major connectivity options like Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, 3G with HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps.
On a walk around the city to see what I may find March 24, 2014 Christchurch New Zealand..A beautiful Autumn day.
One hundred giant eggs were hidden in secret locations throughout Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch overnight to kickstart an Easter egg hunt.
Dozens of volunteers helped to hide the eggs - which have been decorated by people including Dick Frizzell, Dame Trelise Cooper and Colin Mathura-Jeffree - for the Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt that runs until April 22.
It supports the Starship Foundation, a charity supporting the national children's hospital.
Each egg has a unique code on it that can be texted in to win the overall prize, a 340g 18ct Whittaker's Gold Slab made by Partridge Jewellers.
The giant eggs will be auctioned off for the Starship, 80 on Trade Me and the rest at a gala event on April 16.
Whittaker's will also give at least $150,000 to the Starship from sales of its Peanut Slabs and other chocolate during the hunt.
Starship Foundation chief executive Brad Clark said extraordinary creativity had gone into the eggs - "from realism to abstract, to dinosaurs hatching, stainless-steel sculpture, a bunny biplane and so much more".
www.thebigegghunt.co.nz/eggs-and-artists/
All about our Earthquakes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake
This is the Flight Deck. It is where pilots will remotely fly Quarterhorse, Hermeus' first aircraft. The Flight Deck has been designed from the ground up to support off-grid stand-alone operations in austere environments. It supports a pilot, payload operator, four operational analysts, and multiple jump-seats for observers. The dedicated high-performance computing center, HPCC, has an isolated climate control zone to insure all flight-critical equipment is protected.
charismathics exhibits at Infosecurity Europe, London, UK - 19-21 April 2011
www.charismathics.com/products/software/ienigma/
Get rid of your standard authentication media, your smart card, your USB token, your reader and be free to move around with your inseparable companions only, your smart phone and your laptop. With them alone you can fully benefit of strong authentication mechanisms thanks to iEnigma® by charismathics®. The latest cutting edge technology delivered with a completely new user experience. Stop waiting for the IT administrator to set some weird architecture for you, do it independently yourself with some few clicks from your smart phone.
Organizations have enforced smart card authentication in recent years; however this technology is perceived as cryptic and cumbersome by many. iEnigma by charismathics simplifies strong authentication by using smart phones instead. The software is compatible with most PKI applications on computers and smart phones, maintaining the exact security standards. With iEnigma the user can log into his system, sign emails and documents, encrypt communications just as before, saving on buying other hardware and opening new ranges of use cases.
iEnigma is a mobile PKI security solution, absolutely unique and thus patented. Comparable products are either OTP or password based. Companies did not invest in architectures securing the communication between smart phone and laptop or mirroring the strong authentication and digital signature functionalities like a smart card does. With iEnigma, charismathics has translated standard APIs into Bluetooth language, reproducing the exact PKI authentication environment. Providing full TMS compatibility, enabling secure PIN entry and secure channel messaging by default, the software is immediately available for Windows Mobile. iEnigma will soon run on Android, RIM and Apple, also supporting NFC enabled units.
iEnigma simplifies strong authentication opening it to wider range of user groups. Already using smart cards, iEnigma enhances IT security by design, maintaining compatibility to investments made before. Introducing strong authentication, it extensively saves on hardware and is more flexible to use. Organizations save on constantly lost or damaged hardware.
iEnigma bridges user credentials from phones into computers, encrypting the communication channel, allowing PIN entry on the smart phone itself, thus enhancing the security compared to standard smart cards. By supporting applications on the phone, it works remotely as well. The full PKI compatibility allows for unchanged internal processes.
iEnigma re-invents the smart card and is the first strong authentication product that incorporates the expected permutation of corporate IT systems. Supporting common smart phone platforms, it supports applications both on the computer and the smart phone, putting all credentials together in a secure data container on the phone, whether it is the key chain, flash memory, SIM card or additional secure microSD cards such as the Secure Element for NFC operations. All current products are proprietary or represent a niche - no one offers an iEnigma-like 2-in-1 solution and with side benefits such as: full PKI compatibility; significant reductions in hardware cost by replacing tokens and readers using the phone instead; allowing encrypted communication; secure PIN entry; flexible credentials manageable by the user. iEnigma makes full use of the advantages of smart phones and is still fully compatible with all standard processes, APIs, cryptography algorithms and identity management systems. There is no other product opening the range of contactless authentication applications for PKI, such as in hospitals or transportation or payment schemes. The simple user interface opens up strong authentication to small organizations and the single user, reducing identity thefts and phishing attacks within day-to-day use.
Paul Rohrlich, the Science Attache at the Embassy and several Embassy staff members visited two schools, at the invitation of Mr. Farid Hamdan, National Coordinator for GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) program in Israel. The schools, Al-Biader elementary School, in Hure Village, and Ramon Elementary School, in Mitzpe Ramon were chosen due to their continued excellence in providing consistent meteorological, ecological data to the GLOBE program. The official guests received a warm welcome by the mayors of both towns, the principals, teachers and students. They were then shown how the GLOBE program impacts the schools and the communities as a whole.
The GLOBE program is a worldwide hands-on school science and education program sponsored by the U.S. Government in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation. It supports student, teacher, and scientist collaborative "Earth System Science Projects" that study and record geophysical indicators in their country. The students’ results are uploaded into a NASA-operated database available to the global science research community.
In support of the program, the Embassy recently provided a small grant for schools to acquire data-collecting equipment. Upon visiting, both schools had the forward vision of making environmental stewardship a multi-disciplinary, affective objective. The visit left Embassy staff optimistic that future generations will make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep our planet healthy.
Ailsa Craig lies nine miles offshore, rising to 1,109 feet. The dramatic seacliffs are home to the third largest gannetry in the UK - comprising 36,000 pairs - with a supporting cast of guillemots, razorbills, black guillemots and increasing numbers of puffins.
It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area because it supports 73,000 breeding seabirds. It dominates the outer Clyde; often referred to as Paddy's milestone, it lies halfway between Glasgow and Belfast.