I am drinking Imperial Beer in Washington Bar, in Limon, Costa Rica. The beer was cold, and good after walking through the city on a hot day. Imperial is the largest selling beer in the country. Draft beer seems to be almost nonexistent in Central America or the Caribbean, at last at places I have seen. Just about every day in Costa Rica is a hot day.

A slightly early Independence Day (Fourth of July) fireworks show over Lake Monona in the heart of the Wisconsin capital.

* Fireworks pictures in a sense are double exposures, at least multiple exposures.

* My ISO was set at 100. Nothing higher is needed or even desirable.

* White balance set to auto because in raw capture it does not matter.

* The technique used (and it's an old one) was to hold the shutter open for 10, 20, or 30 seconds at a time.

* The aperture is adjusted in the opposite direction to keep the exposure uniform. In this case I found that 10 seconds at f/8 worked well. 30 seconds at f/16 captured more bursts, but if the action was very heavy then too many bursts made for a busy, messy picture. I had to keep changing the settings.

* The camera was in full manual mode (otherwise it would change the exposure and focus).

* Because the display was 2 miles away the camera only needed to be focused at infinity.

* Solidly mounted on a sturdy tripod and tripped with an electronic cable release to insure there is no camera movement.

* Vibration reduction turned off (otherwise the VR would "hunt" for nonexistent movement and smear the shot). I nearly forgot this but I made a couple of test exposures early on and realized immediately that they were smeared due to the VR.

* I also turned off the Long Exposure Noise Reduction when I realized that it was doubling the time for the picture to load, and I knew I could minimize any noise in Lightroom. As it turned out little noise reduction was necessary beyond the standard.

* I worked in live view and kept the auto review on for two seconds for each shot to insure that I was getting what I thought I was getting. It’s enormously reassuring!

* With the shutter open for longer periods, more individual bursts are recorded on each frame. You have to shoot a lot of frames and hope to luck out. There is no way to plan it. You open the shutter, the stuff goes up, at the end of the time the shutter closes and you've got what you've got. I think I made about 75 exposures to get 19 that were good. The rest were trashed.

* Despite some 75 extended exposures, live view, and constant instant reviews, the battery at the end of 45 minutes of fireworks still had 60% charge. Turning off the noise reduction undoubtedly helped, plus made the shoot more efficient; no waiting.

Jim Jarmush

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On December 4, 1826 the Genesee County Board of Supervisors met in Bethany for the purpose of establishing a County Poorhouse. A brick building, originally a stagecoach tavern, located near the corner of the Bethany Center Road and Raymond Road was the site selected, as it represented the geographical center of the county. (Wyoming County wasn’t established until 1841.) In 1828 Genesee County constructed a stone building attached to the Poorhouse for the confinement of lunatics and a repository for paupers committed for misconduct. The insane were also housed at the County Home until 1887 when the Board of Supervisors agreed to send “persons suffering with acute insanity" elsewhere in the state.

The Genesee County Poor Farm aka The County Home, was a self sufficient working farm and woods, spanning over 200 acres, providing food and fuel, thus the actual cost to care for each person was low, about $1.08 per week per resident, back in 1871.

Residents were referred to as inmates (no matter why they were housed there) and those physically able-bodied would work the farm and many actually built and made wares to sell to help offset some of the living expenses. The raising of Holsteins, pigs, draft horses, chickens and ducks, raising vegetable and fruit crops, canning jams, jellies, meats, were all part of the chores, there was a bakery and even a wood shop where coffins were made (for use as needed and for sale to local mortuaries).

The County would bury those who had no family, and records indicate there was once a cemetery located on the property, but the particulars are almost nonexistent. An 1886 Proceeding states “The burying ground we have improved by building a fence in front and grading and leveling the ground as much as could be done without injury to the graves.”

The cemetery for the County Poorhouse has faded away as the stones crumpled, the grass grew and the forest replanted. No one was around to care for those who had so long ago been forgotten. These people, though they were poor, ill and sometime abandoned, do deserve to be remembered. An actual cemetery register or plot map has yet to be discovered.

A memorial site was created in the Genesee County Park and on June 6, 2004 when five headstones, dated from 1887 to 1888, were returned to the County. The Genesee County Historians dedicated a historical marker honoring those who died while living in the County Home from 1827 until the facility was closed in 1974 (residents were relocated to new facilities in Batavia).

It seems to happen that once in a great while a figure of profound depth and purity blossoms within a major religion, summarizing, expanding, and living through example its most cherished aspects. Ibn al-‘Arabī, known as al-Shaykh al-akbar, “The Greatest Master”, born in Mucia, Spain in 1165, is arguably such a figure for Sufism. An extremely prolific figure, Ibn al-‘Arabī wrote hundreds of works (estimates range from 250 to over 800!), some of which are still today widely considered to be classics. His thinking ranged from the practical to the scientific, to the metaphysical and to the sublimely spiritual, and his ability to weave together and expound upon all of these aspects is unparalleled, prompting a prominent scholar of Sufism and Ibn al-Arabī’s work, William Chittick, to declare him “the most influential thinker in the second half of Islamic history” (Chittick, 1994). Running through most of his works, in some explicitly and others only implicitly, is his “most famous idea” (Chittick, 2007): wahdat al-wujūd, or “The Oneness of Being”. Trying to come to terms with this concept is essential for an understanding of Ibn al-‘Arabī’s contribution to Sufism; this essay is an attempt to briefly explore this concept and its implications for Sufism.

Ibn al-‘Arabī never explicitly used the term wahdat al-wujūd in his writings, although he did use a variety of similar terms (Chittick, 1994), such as ‘ain al-wujūd, the essence of existence (Neusser, 2005). The word wujūd is translated both as ‘being’ or ‘existence’ and as ‘finding’ or ‘to be found’. Ibn al-‘Arabī’s use is complex enough to encompass both of these meanings, and more besides. Yet the primary aspect of wujūd, for Ibn al-‘Arabī is always its absolute unity. In this sense, Ibn al-‘Arabī seems to be in agreement with the Vedic sentiments of the Upanishads, wherein the oneness of existence takes primacy over any multiplicity.

However, whereas the working out of this concept in Hinduism finds its ultimate expression in Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism), where the world and all its seeming multiplicities are taken to be the equivalent of empty illusions, Ibn al-‘Arabī takes a different tack, affirming also the many-ness of reality along with its oneness (Chittick, 1994). So in speaking of wujūd (existence), it is possible for Ibn al-‘Arabī to see it from multiple viewpoints.

The primary aspect of wujūd, as already indicated, is its absolute oneness. This can be called wujūd mutlaq, absolute existence, in contrast to the wujūd of the manifest, contingent world, which can be called wujūd mustafad, or borrowed existence. For Ibn al-‘Arabī, in the most ultimate sense, there is only the oneness of Allah, but this does not mean that the manifest multiplicity of the created things of the universe, including human beings, is an existence-less illusion. Rather, the beingness of the manifest world is, as it were, borrowed from the only true existence – that of Allah. Thus we have, from our human perspective, the tanzih nature of God, in which Allah is absolutely unlike any particular part of manifest creation. On the other hand, we have the tashbih nature of God, in which Allah is like the manifest creation.

Self-existence and reality can only be attributed to the transcendent nature of God, which is necessary and cannot not exist. Allah is without parts, and is a singularity of nondelimited perfection – there is only a single wujūd. This transcendent nature is unknowable, for to know it would be to have a knower and a known, but no such separation can exist within wujūd, understood in this higher sense.

Ibn al-‘Arabī is not simply a transcendent mystic, content to leave the manifest world behind. Rather, he appeals strongly to reason, and takes pains to clarify as best he can the way in which the manifest world relates to the unmanifest, transcendent reality of wujūd. This is a complicated but central aspect to Ibn al-‘Arabī’s thinking; in fact the bulk of his works deal less with God’s transcendence than with his manifestation.

How then, if the only thing that has any real existence to it is the unity of God, can we explain the apparent multiplicity of the created world? What must be the nature of creation such that it can actually appear to us while not either making God dissectible into separate parts or taking the ground of being out from underneath the cosmos? Ibn al-‘Arabī answers that the things of perception have no separate existence apart from the ultimate wujūd of God. They cannot exist without ‘borrowing’ their wujūd from the only possible source: God. In this way, the wujūd of the manifest world is actually more of a metaphor than a reality; separate existent entities seem to have their own wujūd but do not – they exist by the continual creating will of Allah, and have no self-existence without Allah.

The metaphor that Ibn al-‘Arabī uses to describe this situation identifies God with Light, as stated in the Koran (24:35). The only thing that exists is Light – but this light becomes reflected and refracted into an infinite number of seemingly independent rays. Just as an individual ray of light may seem obviously separate from another: “this ray is red; that one is blue”, objects appear to us to have separate existence. But in pointing out the separateness of the objects we are not seeing their reality. In fact, the objects qua objectivity have no reality, and in this sense are described as nonexistent (‘adam). The nonexistence of the objects is precisely their nature. This is like the separate ray of red or blue light, which in fact cannot have any existence apart from the original Light itself, which is in fact the only thing which has existence in the first (and last) place. Every reflected or refracted ray is another veil through which the manifestation of God appears – but none of these manifestations themselves partake of their own existence, which is the sole domain of Allah. Ibn al’Arabī does distinguish between absolute nonexistence, which is nothingness in the most direct sense of the term, and relative nonexistence, which describes all that is approached as not God – i.e. the universe and its constituents. In this way, the manifest universe can be understood as an intermediary realm between absolute existence (wujūd mutlaq) and absolute nonexistence. It is the gray area that Ibn al-‘Arabī describes as “He/not He”, as it partakes of both ultimate existence and nonexistence simultaneously.

Therefore, in one sense when we see the things of the world, we are in fact seeing only the wujūd of God. Additionally, God, who “encompasses all things in knowledge” (65:12), has ‘in mind’ as it were, even all the potential objects of the cosmos. God’s knowledge of these things is immutable, fixed, and absolute; this knowledge corresponds to the object’s entire reality. But neither the manifest nor the unmanifest plurality of objects requires God Himself to be of a plural nature – just as all of the colors of light are contained in the primal Light of God as a singular unity, upon which they depend for their entire existence.

Apart from the ultimacy of wujūd, the relative nonexistence of the manifest world occurs as a continuum, stretching away from God towards ultimate nonexistence. Each “thing” is, as described by Ibn al-‘Arabī, a “locus of manifestation” of God. Each locus of manifestation is nonexistent in itself, but contains rather the properties or effects of the object, which ultimately derive from God. Thus, when we encounter the things of the universe, we are in actuality finding only God’s wujūd. Just as a single breath may contain many words, the “Breath of the All-merciful” may give rise to many objects – but some of these objects partake of a greater part of wujūd than others.

Even though God’s breath doesn’t need to contain words, He speaks in His overflowing generosity, and all the world is created. Multiplicity is real because God speaks many words – an infinite number of them, in fact, corresponding to the infinity of manifested objects. What characteristics the objects have depends upon the words God speaks. Thus there are ninety-nine different names of God (The Merciful, The Abaser, The Guarantor, etc.) which act as intermediaries between existence and nonexistence. Things of the manifest world are formed out of the conflation of any number of these names with any amount of purity. These ninety-nine names are all aspects of the one name: Allah, which encompasses all possible names in every possible way, both manifest and non-manifest.

Within this situation, the human being also exists as a relatively non-existent entity, described by a concatenation (with relative purity) of the names. In some people and at some times, one or another of the names becomes more manifested and understood than the other names. According to Ibn al-‘Arabī, the goal of a spiritual seeker is to manifest all of the ninety-nine names with equal perfection and harmony, thus becoming “the Perfect Man”. Humans are unique among beings of the world because they have the potential to comprehend and manifest allof the names, because God taught Adam all the names (2:30); all other things (minerals, plants, animals, angels) are created within known and fixed stations. If this perfection is achieved, the human would be a manifestation of what Ibn al-‘Arabī calls the “Muhammadan Reality” (Chittick, 1994), where instead of being stationed within any one or combination of names, the human stands equally within all the names at once: the “Station of No Station”. In order to achieve this state, rather than try to manifest all the divine names, which can lead to an arrogance of assuming that “I am like God”, it is better to try to get rid of all the particularly human attributes, so that what is left is the wujūd of God alone. The path of this struggle is one of surrendering oneself to God, of submission (islam) to God.

As we can see, the concept of wahdat al-wujūd is a central aspect of Ibn al-‘Arabī’s thought. Although he did not initially conceive of the idea, Ibn al’Arabī’s portrayal and discussion of the oneness of being clarified and brought to new light one of the most foundational aspects of Islam. According to Chittick, wahdat al-wujūd “is the most famous single theoretical issue in Sufi works of the later period, especially in the area under Persian influence.” (Chittick 2007). The concept was not universally accepted however, and was attacked by scholars such as Ibn Taymiya (d. 1328 C.E.), who actually did much to associate the concept with Ibn al-‘Arabī (Chittick 2007).

elements.spiritalchemy.com/articles/IbnArabi.html

This view of a "farmyard" street in the Bo-Kaap dates from 1943.Motorized traffic were obviously nonexistent. That tree is trying its best to be a tree!

A radioactive fossil Transformer, though hilariously based on the (as we now know) nonexistent Dracorex. It's a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus.

I created this video in one night using Windows Movie Maker (which I was forced to use by the professor and hated because it kept crashing).

Not the best footage or editing, but considering my formal training on editing is pretty close to nonexistent, it's not too shabby.

Roundup of my observations reporting on Dorchester, MA.

Perak occupies one of the more hillier regions of Peninsula Malaysia - so it is not too difficult to enjoy mountain views in this region.

Apart from the famous mountains of the Titiwangsa Range, the northern parts of the state is dotted with isolated mountain ranges.

I noticed that visibility was quite good today, and was amazed at the well-defined peaks of Mt. Bubu that is 50km away from Kampar. On your average day such a clear view is nonexistent due to haze. I paused for a moment as I made my way down the cycling track from Prima@Kampar to Kampar Putra.

This Mt. Bubu is the one in Ulu Kenas, and not the one part of the G7 mountains.

They Live, We Sleep

Artist Statement

“We are living in an artificially induced state of consciousness that resembles sleep. The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent.

They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it.

They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices ...their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness.

We have been lulled into a trance.

They have made us indifferent, to ourselves, to others; we are focused only on our own gain. They are safe as long as they are not discovered ...that is their primary method of survival.

Keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated...they are dismantling the sleeping middle class.

More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.”

– They Live

This photographic body of work is inspired by John Carpenter’s 1988 film, “They Live.” The movie was also credited by Shepard Fairey “as a major source of inspiration for his own subversive brand of street art.” They Live was the basis for his use of the word ‘OBEY’ that became his main campaign and a popular clothing brand consequently.

The protagonist of the movie, an unemployed drifter named "Nada," accidentally comes across a box of sunglasses. After putting a pair on, he realizes that they are quite special. He sees the world in black and white and discovers that it's not what it seems. The series of images I have created are like those unique sunglasses that Nada stumbled upon, aim to show the world to the viewer for what it truly is. I hope they will help people to take into consideration what they sacrifice by blindly following self-serving governments and corporations’ agendas.

Through this photographic project my intent is to encourage people to be more aware of the habitual ways of living that we have been thoughtlessly following for most of human history. It seems as though the human race would have learned by now to not put their trust in the hands of the misguiding ruling class. Unfortunately most of the humanity is still in the state of mindless consumerism and simply does not realize that their decisions, their entire lives are being manipulated.

Shorebird habitat is nearly nonexistent at Cardinal Marsh this spring due to high water levels. This dunlin (left) & Wilson's phalarope (right) found a tiny spot to search for food on their way to the Far North.

Plumber is coming on Friday to fix plumbing under the sink. Electrician coming one day this week to put up light above nonexistent mirror.

In the rural village of Navala, technology is nonexistent and cameras are extremely rare. These little girls asked me to take their picture and then show it to them on the screen of my digital camera. They were so interested in the pictures that we repeated this process over and over. We giggled with delight every time and enjoyed the game immensely. These girls and their families hosted me during my stay in the village, and taught me how to appreciate every little moment. Although I may have shown them how a camera lens views their home, they truly taught me a new way in which to view the world.

This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!

I took these photos in December 2019.

Gannetgul is the second largest human kingdom. It is a land of political intrigue and religious fervor. The gulls established a theocracy centuries ago, placing church officials in positions of political power. Over time, this has lead to a xenophobic and corrupt society of social climbers and conspirators. Kings don't rule for long on the throne of Gannetgul.

To the east is the small land of Grey Fogg. A wild and dangerous land populated by the proud barbarians known as the morni. Over the years, the morni and the gulls have warred over land and religion, these battles have culled the population of the morni to the point where they are nearly nonexistent.

my craft mojo has been sort of nonexistent lately. I haven't been liking anything I've designed recently, so I haven't stitched anything in weeks. this was getting sort of frustrating, so I stitched up this cute little fella that I actually drew a couple of months ago.

I'm feeling a little better now. aargh.

this guy went off to brighten up Miss Ang's office after her promotion.

Don't worry about following route signs, they're mostly nonexistent. The young lady is signaling the bus behind us to stop. ($5 if you can locate one sign.)

Taken in Picadilly Circus, the place where anyone and anything is normal, people can be who they are, and the contrasts between the tourists, the artists, the locals and the "weirdoes" is nonexistent.

This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!

I took these photos in December 2019.

This was my first time actually plane watching at Miami International Airport (MIA). I checked some spotter websites to find some good locations. They recommended The Holes as being an "official" site so we checked it out. I was pretty disappointed; there was a lot of construction going on and parking was nonexistent. My wife dropped me off. The area is totally exposed. Even though it was December it was pretty hot - no shade, no place to sit, no other people around. The holes are actually pretty small so it's hard to get a lens through the hole. Arrivals were almost impossible to shoot but you could see planes taxiing by for takeoff. After an hour I was cooking so we bagged it. We then went to the area close to the El Dorado furniture store. Much better. There were a bunch of spotters from around the world there. It was a great atmosphere. Nicely shaded, safe, close to some stores and a lot of good traffic to watch. I saw a bunch of planes from airlines I had not seen before, including some airlines I had not heard of. Some of the planes didn't show up on Flight Radar 24 so they were very pleasant surprises. All in all a very good day and I'd love to go back there!

I took these photos in December 2019.

I'm not a food blogger, and my culinary skills are so modest as to be virtually nonexistent. But I love good food. And until the chef starts her own food blog, attention must be paid. For more about this magnificent treat that T whipped up for brunch today, see Letter from Here.

Photography Note: Nikon P7000 in food scene mode. Diffuse, indirect natural light from the windows. Very lightly tweaked in Photoshop, but the original looked great straight out of the camera, thanks to the food mode's on-screen white balance slider.

As our favorite checkout girl rang us up at the register, I looked at our tiny $1.87 haul -- one large organic carrot, one red pepper, and a bunch of spring onions for a cashew seitan stir-fry -- and was quite happy.

Not happy that we had resisted ice cream (that evoked more of a stiff self-satisfaction). Happy that for the past two and a half years we have not had to engage in the horror that is the weekly shopping trip with the car, loading up on random things and hoping that somehow, through some alchemy, the nonexistent post-work imagination and energy you have will transform the odds and ends you bought on impulse as you wandered through the aisles into five neat, delicious, healthy meals. In the end, where did it get us? The sad liquefying cucumber in the corner. The limp broccoli. The rumbling stomachs and pizza ordered at the last minute, all willpower and vision gone.

Life is definitely better today. Cooking life, anyway.

It's finally raining in California! The first potent storm of the season finally gives the state a good soaking, including SoCal where rain was virtually nonexistent so far this season. I miss driving in the rain! Right after I was done with work, I went straight to observe the rainy weather. Due to all this rain, localized flooding was possible in flood-prone areas. Surely, we are having a weather pattern that was completely opposite of last month's epic dryness. Is it now safe to say that California's rainy season is finally here?

(Video footage taken from around San Jose, CA on Monday evening, January 8, 2018)

Weather update/forecast:

A powerful storm had battered California with heavy rain, mountain snow & gusty winds. A connection of subtropical moisture was present and had helped aid in bringing heavy rain to parts of the state. Heavy rain fell around NorCal Monday and into early Tuesday morning with approximately 3.50 inches of rain around San Francisco & Sacramento. While rainfall was forecast to be more sporadic over NorCal for the duration of the storm, heavy rain was more intense in Central/SoCal into Tuesday night. T-storms with small hail & lightning weren't out of the question as the low pressure system itself drifted inland with the added atmospheric instability. Gusty winds have continued to kick up along the coast and over the mountains as the storm drifted inland. Sporadic power outages were possible... This widespread rainfall had put a dent in the state's precipitation deficits, as well as put an end to the wildfire season at last. Looking ahead, more rain was on the horizon. Is the state's rainy season finally starting to kick in despite a slow start? Fingers crossed...

Many of the tropical butterflies have distinctive seasonal forms. This phenomenon is termed seasonal polyphenism and the seasonal forms of the butterflies are called the dry-season and wet-season forms. How the season affects the genetic expression of patterns is still a subject of research. The dry-season forms are usually more cryptic and it has been suggested that the protection offered may be an adaptation. Some also show greater dark colours in the wet-season form which may have thermoregulatory advantages by increasing ability to absorb solar radiation.

The wet-season form has large, very apparent multiple eyespots whereas the dry-season forms have very reduced, oftentimes nonexistent, eyespots. Larvae that develop in hot, wet conditions develop into wet-season adults whereas those growing in the transition from the wet to the dry season, when the temperature is declining, develop into dry-season adults. This polyphenism probably has an adaptive role. In the dry-season it is disadvantageous to have conspicuous eyespots because they blend in with the brown vegetation better without eyespots. By not developing eyespots in the dry-season they can more easily camouflage themselves in the brown brush. This minimizes the risk of visually mediated predation. In the wet-season, these brown butterflies cannot as easily rely on cryptic coloration for protection because the background vegetation is green. Thus, eyespots, which may function to decrease predation, are beneficial for Satyrine butterflies like the Bushbrown to express.

Pu'er, Yunnan, China

see comments for wet season form......

Raymond Curbello, Assistant Manager in Physical Plant, began working at USF in 2005 as an Automotive Equipment Mechanic. In 2007, Ray was promoted to Assistant Manager in recognition of his leadership abilities, superior customer service skills, and technical solutions. Raymond leads his team in providing a service to the University by maintaining and repairing vehicles and equipment campus-wide. He also oversees the operation of the campus-wide waste management program. Raymond is always coming up with better and more creative ways to service the campus with a limited budget.

Ray has built a very high performing team. His leadership abilities have resulted in an area committed to excellence in service, customer satisfaction, and quality of work. Ray has the respect of his subordinates. He has created an environment resulting in almost nonexistent turnover in his department. The nature of the department’s work is inherently dangerous. Raymond demonstrates diligence in keeping the safety of students and employees in the forefront.

In a letter of support for Ray’s nomination, Joshua Broer, Facility Manager in the College of Arts and Sciences said: “Not only has Ray shown our College that he is a top-notch manager when it comes to day-to-day vehicle maintenance tasks, he has often gone above and beyond that role in terms of finding creative ways to save our College and its respective departments from excessive costs. Ray is a model of customer service and perhaps more than any other reason deserves this award for that quality.”

I keep forgetting i have this contract on my back to lose my head (ego) and become annillated within the remembrance of the horizantal and vertical (AQAL)

all quadrants - all levels - manisfestation of our destiny thingy -- and allow for the subsistence of the REAL, of which, (alas) i am only a relative (nonexistent) thing -- AND -- can you tell me why am eye soa prickly... and forgive me for it?

HU is! NOT is?

Part two of a request I received to compare scans of old negatives with scans of prints produced from said negatives. See part one here: www.flickr.com/photos/itendswithtens/4255417525/

Plustek Opticfilm 7300 at 3600dpi, no sharpening or grain reduction, color untouched beyond basic histogram tweaking. Scanned to uncompressed TIFF through Silverfast, then compressed to JPEG with RIOT optimization plugin for Irfanview, quality set to 88% with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. Full compression quality and chroma sampling produce a file too large to upload to Flickr (lots of grain means lots of random data, which makes the image that much harder to compress), so I did what I had to. The difference is effectively nonexistent.

As intense as the grain is in this, I was surprised to find that there's noticeably more detail represented here than at 1800dpi; one even begins to see the delicate vertical lines on the outer skin of the towers here, which don't show up at lower scan resolutions. Scanning a poorly stored negative after over twenty-six years will naturally come with the danger of scratches, yes, but the detail level does go up appreciably.

Same subject matter as the Scanjet sample, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City as they appeared sometime in 1982.

Vitis (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce wine. The study and cultivation of grapevines is called viticulture.

Most cultivated Vitis varieties are wind-pollinated with hermaphroditic flowers containing both male and female reproductive structures, while wild species are dioecious. These flowers are grouped in bunches called inflorescences. In many species, such as Vitis vinifera, each successfully pollinated flower becomes a grape berry with the inflorescence turning into a cluster of grapes. While the flowers of the grapevines are usually very small, the berries are often large and brightly colored with sweet flavors that attract birds and other animals to disperse the seeds contained within the berries.

Grapevines usually only produce fruit on shoots that came from buds that were developed during the previous growing season. In viticulture, this is one of the principles behind pruning the previous year's growth (or "One year old wood") that includes shoots that have turned hard and woody during the winter (after harvest in commercial viticulture). These vines will be pruned either into a cane which will support 8 to 15 buds or to a smaller spur which holds 2 to 3 buds.

Description

Flower buds are formed late in the growing season and overwinter for blooming in spring of the next year. They produce leaf-opposed cymes. Vitis is distinguished from other genera of Vitaceae by having petals which remain joined at the tip and detach from the base to fall together as a calyptra or 'cap'. The flowers are mostly bisexual, pentamerous, with a hypogynous disk. The calyx is greatly reduced or nonexistent in most species and the petals are joined together at the tip into one unit but separated at the base. The fruit is a berry, ovoid in shape and juicy, with a two-celled ovary each containing two ovules, thus normally producing four seeds per flower (or fewer by way of aborted embryos).

Other parts of the vine include the tendrils which are leaf-opposed, branched in Vitis vinifera, and are used to support the climbing plant by twining onto surrounding structures such as branches or the trellising of a vine-training system.

In the wild, all species of Vitis are normally dioecious, but under domestication, variants with perfect flowers appear to have been selected.

The genus Vitis is divided into two subgenera, Euvitis Planch. have 38 chromosomes (n=19) with berries borne on clusters and Muscadinia Planch. 40 (n=20) with small clusters.

Wild grapes can resemble the single-seeded Menispermum canadense (moonseed), which is toxic.

Species

Most Vitis species are found mostly in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in North America and eastern Asia, exceptions being a few in the tropics and the wine grape Vitis vinifera which originated in southern Europe and southwestern Asia. Grape species occur in widely different geographical areas and show a great diversity of form.

Their growth makes leaf collection challenging and polymorphic leaves make identification of species difficult. Mature grapevines can grow up to 48 centimetres (19 inches) in diameter at breast height and reach the upper canopy of trees more than 35 metres (115 feet) in height.

Many species are sufficiently closely related to allow easy interbreeding and the resultant interspecific hybrids are invariably fertile and vigorous. Thus the concept of a species is less well defined and more likely represents the identification of different ecotypes of Vitis that have evolved in distinct geographical and environmental circumstances.

The exact number of species is not certain. Plants of the World Online states 81 species are accepted, but lists 84. More than 65 species in Asia are poorly defined. Approximately 25 species are known in North America and just one, V. vinifera has Eurasian origins; some of the more notable include:

Vitis aestivalis, the summer grape, native to the Eastern United States, especially the Southeastern United States

Vitis amurensis, native to the Asian continent, including parts of Siberia and China

Vitis arizonica, The Arizona grape is native to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico.

Vitis berlandieri, native to the southern North America, primarily Texas, New Mexico and Arkansas. Primarily known for good tolerance against soils with a high content of lime, which can cause chlorosis in many vines of American origin

Vitis californica, the California wild grape, or Northern California grape, or Pacific grape, is a wild grape species widespread across much of California as well as southwestern Oregon

Vitis coignetiae, the crimson glory vine, a species from East Asia grown as an ornamental plant for its crimson autumn foliage

Vitis labrusca L., the fox grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the Eastern United States and Canada. The Concord grape was derived by a cross with this species

Vitis riparia, the riverbank grapevine, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern United States and north to Quebec

Vitis rotundifolia (syn. Muscadinia rotundifolia), the muscadine, used for jams and wine. Native to the Southeastern United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico

Vitis rupestris, the rock grapevine, used for breeding of Phylloxera resistant rootstock. Native to the Southern United States

Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine. Native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia.

Vitis vulpina, the frost grape, native to the Eastern United States, from Massachusetts to Florida, and west to Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas Treated by some as a synonym of V. riparia.

Plants of the World Online also includes:

Vitis acerifolia Raf.

Vitis amoena Z.H. Chen, Feng Chen & WW.Y. Xie

Vitis baihuashanensis M.S.Kang & D.Z.Lu

Vitis balansana Planch.

Vitis bashanica P.C.He

Vitis bellula (Rehder) W.T.Wang

Vitis betulifolia Diels & Gilg

Vitis biformis Rose

Vitis blancoi Munson

Vitis bloodworthiana Comeaux

Vitis bourgaeana Planch.

Vitis bryoniifolia Bunge

Vitis × champinii Planch.

Vitis chunganensis Hu

Vitis chungii F.P.Metcalf

Vitis cinerea (Engelm.) Millardet

Vitis davidi (Rom.Caill.) Foëx

Vitis × doaniana Munson ex Viala

Vitis erythrophylla W.T.Wang

Vitis fengqinensis C.L.Li

Vitis ficifolia Bunge

Vitis flavicosta Mickel & Beitel

Vitis flexuosa Thunb.

Vitis girdiana Munson

Vitis hancockii Hance

Vitis heyneana Schult.

Vitis hissarica Vassilcz.

Vitis hui W.C.Cheng

Vitis jaegeriana Comeaux

Vitis jinggangensis W.T.Wang

Vitis jinzhainensis X.S.Shen

Vitis kaihuaica Z.H.Chen, Feng Chen & W.Y Xie

Vitis kiusiana Momiy.

Vitis lanceolatifoliosa C.L.Li

Vitis longquanensis P.L.Chiu

Vitis luochengensis W.T.Wang

Vitis menghaiensis C.L.Li

Vitis mengziensis C.L.Li

Vitis metziana Miq.

Vitis monticola Buckley

Vitis mustangensis Buckley

Vitis nesbittiana Comeaux

Vitis × novae-angliae Fernald

Vitis novogranatensis Moldenke

Vitis nuristanica Vassilcz.

Vitis palmata Vahl

Vitis pedicellata M.A.Lawson

Vitis peninsularis M.E.Jones

Vitis piasezkii Maxim.

Vitis pilosonervia F.P.Metcalf

Vitis popenoei J.L.Fennell

Vitis pseudoreticulata W.T.Wang

Vitis quinlingensis P.C.He

Vitis retordii Rom.Caill. ex Planch.

Vitis romanetii Rom.Caill.

Vitis ruyuanensis C.L.Li

Vitis saccharifera Makino

Vitis shenxiensis C.L.Li

Vitis shizishanensis Z.Y.Ma, J.Wen, Q.Fu & X.Q.Liu

Vitis shuttleworthii House

Vitis silvestrii Pamp.

Vitis sinocinerea W.T.Wang

Vitis sinoternata W.T.Wang

Vitis tiliifolia Humb. & Bonpl. ex Schult.

Vitis tsoi Merr.

Vitis wenchowensis C.Ling

Vitis wenxianensis W.T.Wang

Vitis wilsoniae H.J.Veitch

Vitis wuhanensis C.L.Li

Vitis xunyangensis P.C.He

Vitis yunnanensis C.L.Li

Vitis zhejiang-adstricta P.L.Chiu

There are many cultivars of grapevines; most are cultivars of V. vinifera. One of them includes, Vitis 'Ornamental Grape'.

Hybrid grapes also exist, and these are primarily crosses between V. vinifera and one or more of V. labrusca, V. riparia or V. aestivalis. Hybrids tend to be less susceptible to frost and disease (notably phylloxera), but wine from some hybrids may have a little of the characteristic "foxy" taste of V. labrusca.

The Latin word Vitis is feminine,[19] and therefore adjectival species names take feminine forms, such as V. vinifera.

Ecology

Phylloxera is an American root aphid that devastated V. vinifera vineyards in Europe when accidentally introduced in the late 19th century. Attempts were made to breed in resistance from American species, but many winemakers and customers did not like the unusual flavour profile of the hybrid vines. However, V. vinifera grafts readily onto rootstocks of the American species and their hybrids with V. vinifera, and most commercial production of grapes now relies on such grafts.

Commercial distribution

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world is dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be used as a sweetener for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.

Domestic cultivation

Grapevines are widely cultivated by gardeners, and numerous suppliers cater specifically for this trade. The plants are valued for their decorative foliage, often colouring brightly in autumn; their ability to clothe walls, pergolas and arches, thus providing shade; and their fruits, which may be eaten as dessert or provide the basis for homemade wines. Popular varieties include:-

Buckland Sweetwater' (white dessert)

'Chardonnay' (white wine)

'Foster's Seedling' (white dessert)

'Grenache' (red wine)

'Muscat of Alexandria' (white dessert)

'Müller-Thurgau' (white wine)

'Phoenix' (white wine)

'Pinot noir' (red wine)

'Regent' (red wine)

'Schiava Grossa' (red dessert)

'Seyval blanc' (white wine)

'Tempranillo' (red wine)

The following varieties have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

'Boskoop Glory' (dessert/wine)

'Brant' (black dessert)

'Claret Cloak' or 'Frovit' (ornamental)

'New York Muscat' (black dessert)

'Purpurea' (ornamental)

Uses

The fruit of several Vitis species are grown commercially for consumption as fresh grapes and for fermentation into wine. Vitis vinifera is the most important such species.

The leaves of several species of grapevine are edible and are used in the production of dolmades and Vietnamese lot leaves.

Culture

The grapevine (typically Vitis vinifera) has been used as a symbol since ancient times. In Greek mythology, Dionysus (called Bacchus by the Romans) was god of the vintage and, therefore, a grapevine with bunches of the fruit are among his attributes. His attendants at the Bacchanalian festivals hence had the vine as an attribute, together with the thyrsus, the latter often entwined with vine branches. For the same reason, the Greek wine cup (cantharos) is commonly decorated with the vine and grapes, wine being drunk as a libation to the god.

The grapevine has a profound symbolic meaning in Jewish tradition and culture since antiquity. It is referenced 55 times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), along with grapes and wine, which are also frequently mentioned (55 and 19, respectively). It is regarded as one of the Seven Species, and is employed several times in the Bible as a symbol of the Israelites as the chosen people. The grapevine has a prominent place in Jewish rituals: the wine was given a special blessing, "creator of the fruit of the vine", and the Kiddush blessing is recited over wine or grape juice on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. It is also employed in various parables and sayings in rabbinic literature. According to Josephus and the Mishnah, a golden vine was hung over the inner chamber of the Second Temple. The grapevine is featured on Hasmonean and Bar Kokhba revolt coinage, and as a decoration in mosaic floors of ancient synagogues.

In Christian iconography, the vine also frequently appears. It is mentioned several times in the New Testament. We have the parable of the kingdom of heaven likened to the father starting to engage laborers for his vineyard. The vine is used as symbol of Jesus Christ based on his own statement, "I am the true vine (John 15:1)." In that sense, a vine is placed as sole symbol on the tomb of Constantia, the sister of Constantine the Great, and elsewhere. In Byzantine art, the vine and grapes figure in early mosaics, and on the throne of Maximianus of Ravenna it is used as a decoration.

The vine and wheat ear have been frequently used as symbol of the blood and flesh of Christ, hence figuring as symbols (bread and wine) of the Eucharist and are found depicted on ostensories. Often the symbolic vine laden with grapes is found in ecclesiastical decorations with animals biting at the grapes. At times, the vine is used as symbol of temporal blessing.

In Mandaeism, uthras (angels or celestial beings) are often described as personified grapevines (gupna).

It's hard to post anything today. I'm so sick of how we as a nation can't deal with issues of mental health and guns in this country in any kind of effective way. Are we willing to just accept this because nobody has the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and make some meaningful changes? Are we so callous that we can continue to ignore the problem of underfunded (or nonexistent) mental health systems in this country?

How many more will have to die before we stand up as a nation and try to do something?

My heart goes out to all of the people who have been scarred by this tragedy.

"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic – their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground..."

The original colors, shapes, and styling of my dad's locomotive shed. He built in the mid 1990's, before Bricklink using many multiples of sets bought at a toy store. He added the second track in 2003, and may have had help from Bricklink then.

The roof is non-removable and features are nonexistent except for it's simplistic beauty.

In 1943, the chief of the German Luftwaffe (Air Force), Hermann Göring, allocated half-a-million Reich Marks to the brothers Reimar and Walter Horten to build and fly several prototypes of the all-wing and jet-propelled Horten Ho 229 ('aitch-oh-two-two-nine'). Numerous technical problems beset the project and the only wing to fly with jet power crashed during its third test flight; nonetheless, the airplane remains one of the most unusual combat aircraft tested during World War II.

The idea for the Horten H IX, as designer Reimar Horten called it, grew first in the mind of Walter Horten when he was serving in the Luftwaffe as a fighter pilot in 1940 during the Battle of Britain. Horten was the technical officer for JG (Jadgeschwader or fighter squadron) 26 stationed in France. The nature of the battle and the tactics employed by the Germans spotlighted the design deficiencies of the propeller-driven Messerschmitt Bf 109, Germany's most advanced fighter airplane in service at that time. Pilots had to fly across the English Channel or the North Sea to fulfill their missions, primarily escorting German bombers and attacking British fighters, and Walter Horten watched his unit lose many men over hostile territory at the very limit of the Bf 109's range. Often after just a few minutes in combat, the Germans frequently had to turn back to their bases or run out of fuel, and this lack of endurance severely limited their effectiveness. The Messerschmitt was also vulnerable because a single, liquid-cooled engine propelled it. One bullet could puncture almost any part of the cooling system, causing the engine to overheat and fail in just a few minutes.

Walter Horten came to believe that the Luftwaffe needed a new fighter designed with performance superior to the Supermarine Spitfire, Britain's most advanced fighter. The new airplane required sufficient range to fly to England, the capability to loiter for a useful length of time and engage in combat, and then to return safely to base. He believed that a twin-engine aircraft enhanced all of these attributes.

Reimar had experimented with piloted all-wing aircraft since 1933, using his skills as designer and aerodynamicist to overcome several of the limitations that had always plagued the all-wing configuration. The new fighter needed a powerful, robust propulsion system to give the airplane the highest speed, but also to absorb damage and continue to function. The Nazis were already developing the jet turbine power plant in great secrecy, but Walter's role as JG 26 technical officer gave him access to information about the work. Walter knew that jet propulsion would appeal to Reimar because he could add it to all-wing configuration more easily, and achieve far greater performance by doing so, than was possible with reciprocating engines.

Reimar began to think seriously about the jet wing at the end of 1940. Fiercely independent and lacking the proper intellectual credentials, Reimar worked outside the mainstream German aeronautical community whenever he could. The authorities denied him access to wind tunnels to test his ideas, in part because of Reimar's youth and lack of advanced education, so he developed his designs using flying models and piloted aircraft. He had already successfully flown more than 20 aircraft by 1941 but a jet-propelled wing would be heavier and faster than any previous wing. To minimize the risk of experimenting with such an advanced aircraft, Reimar built and tested several interim designs, each one moderately faster, heavier, or more advanced in some significant way than the one before it.

Reimar built the Horten H V b and H V c to evaluate the all-wing layout when powered by twin engines driving pusher propellers. He began in 1941 to consider fitting the Dietrich-Argus pulse jet motor to the H V but this engine had drawbacks and in the first month of 1942, Walter gave his brother dimensioned drawings and graphs that charted the performance curves of the new Junkers 004 jet turbine engine (this engine is also fitted to the following NASM aircraft: Messerschmitt Me 262, Arado Ar 234, and Heinkel He 162). Later that year, Reimar flew the H VII, which was similar to the H V but larger and equipped with more powerful reciprocating engines. The H VI sailplane also figured into the preliminary aerodynamic design of the jet wing after Reimar tested the sailplane with a special center section.

Walter Horten used his personal connections with important officials to keep the idea of the jet wing alive in the early stages of its development. At the beginning of 1943, Walter heard Göring complain that Germany was fielding 17 different types of twin-engine military airplanes with similar, often mediocre, performance, but spare parts were not interchangeable between any two of these designs. He decreed that henceforth he would not approve for production another new twin-engine airplane unless it could carry 1,000 kg (2,210 lb) of bombs to a 'penetration depth' of 1,000 km (620 miles, penetration depth defined as 1/3 the range) at a speed of 1,000 km/h (620 mph). Asked to comment, Reimar announced that only a warplane equipped with jet engines had a chance to meet those requirements.

In August Reimar submitted a short proposal for an all-wing aircraft that came close to achieving Göring's specifications, who then issued the brothers a contract, and demanded the new aircraft fly in 3 months! Reimar responded that the first Horten IX prototype could fly in six months and Göring accepted this schedule after revealing his desperation to get the new fighter in the air with all possible speed.

Reimar designated each of his major wing designs with Roman numerals. When the H IX became an official Luftwaffe experimental project, it became known as the Ho 229 and each prototype received a Versuch (test or experiment) sub-designation, abbreviated V, and followed by a number, as in Ho 229 V1 for the first prototype Horten jet wing. The third prototype was designated the Ho 229 V3. In September 1944, Göring selected Gotha to mass-produce the Horten jets.

All versions of the Ho 229 resembled each other in overall layout. Reimar swept each half of the wing 32 degrees in an unbroken line from the nose to the start of each wingtip where he turned the leading edge to meet the wing trailing edge in a graceful and gradually tightening curve. There was no fuselage, no vertical or horizontal tail, and with landing gear stowed (the main landing gear was fixed but the nose wheel retracted on the first prototype Ho 229 V1), the upper and lower surface of the wing stretched smooth from wingtip to wingtip, unbroken by any control surface or other protuberance. Horten mounted elevons (control surfaces that combined the actions of elevators and ailerons) to the trailing edge and spoilers at the wingtips for controlling pitch and roll, and he installed drag rudders next to the spoilers to help control the wing about the yaw axis. He also mounted flaps and a speed brake to help slow the wing. When not in use, all control surfaces either lay concealed inside the wing or trailed from its aft edge. Parasite or form drag was virtually nonexistent. The only drag this aircraft produced was the inevitable by-product of the wing's lift. Few aircraft before or after the Ho 229 have matched the purity and simplicity of its aerodynamic form but whether this achievement would have led to a successful and practical combat aircraft remains an open question.

Building on knowledge gained by flying the Horten H V and H 'VII, Reimar designed and built the piloted glider version, the Ho 229 V1, which test pilot Heinz Schiedhauer first flew 28 February 1944. This aircraft suffered several minor accidents but a number of pilots flew the wing during the following months of testing at Oranienburg and most commented favorably on its performance and handling qualities. Reimar used the experience gained with this glider to design and build the jet-propelled Ho 229 V2.

Wood is an unorthodox material from which to construct a jet aircraft and the Horten brothers probably preferred to use aluminum but Reimar certainly was capable of designing the outer wing panels to be built with wood and the center section with welded steel tubes, having designed and built nearly all of his wings this way. Reimar's calculations showed that he would need to convert much of the wing's interior volume into space for fuel if he hoped to come close to meeting Göring's requirement for a penetration depth of 1,000 km (620 miles). Perhaps Reimar lacked either the expertise or the special sealants to manufacture such a 'wet' wing from metal. Whatever the reason, he believed that an aluminum wing was unsuitable.

As they developed the Ho 229, the Horten brothers measured the wing's performance against the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. According to Reimar and Walter, the Me 262 had a much higher wing loading than the H IX and it required such a long runway to take off that only a few airfields in Germany could accommodate it. The Ho 229 wing loading was considerably lower and this allowed it to operate from airfields with shorter runways. Reimar also believed, perhaps naively, that his wing could take off and land from a runway surfaced with grass but the Me 262 could not. If this had been true, a pilot flying the Ho 229 would have had many more airfields from which to fly than his counterpart in the Messerschmitt jet.

Successful test flights in the Ho 229 V1 led to construction of the first powered wing, the Ho 229 V2, but poor communication with the engine manufacturers led to lengthy delays in finishing this aircraft. Horten first selected the 003 jet engine manufactured by BMW but then switched to the Junkers 004 power plants. Reimar built much of the wing center section based on the engine specifications sent by Junkers but when two motors finally arrived and Reimar's team tried to install them, they found the power plants were too large in diameter to fit the space built for them. Months passed while Horten redesigned the wing and the jet finally flew in mid-December 1944.

Full of fuel and ready to fly, the Horten Ho 229 V2 weighed about nine tons and thus it resembled a medium-sized, multi-engine bomber such as the Heinkel He 111. The Horten brothers believed that a military pilot with experience flying heavy multi-engine aircraft was required to fly the jet wing and Scheidhauer lacked these skills so Walter brought in veteran Luftwaffe pilot Lt. Erwin Ziller. Sources differ between two and four on the number of flights that Ziller logged but during his final test flight, an engine failed and the Ho 229 V2 crashed, killing Ziller.

According to an eyewitness, Ziller made three passes at an altitude of about 2,000 m (6,560 ft) so that a team from the Rechlin test center could measure his speed from the ground using a special instrument called a theodolite. Ziller then approached the airfield to land, lowered his landing grear at about 1,500 m (4,920 ft), and began to fly a wide descending spiral before crashing just beyond the airfield boundary. It was clear to those who examined the wreckage that one engine had failed but the eyewitness saw no control movements or attempt to line up with the runway and he suspected that something had incapacitated Ziller, perhaps fumes from the operating engine.

Walter was convinced that the engine failure did not result in uncontrollable yaw and argued that Ziller could have shut down the functioning engine and glided to a survivable crash landing, perhaps even reached the runway and landed without damage. Walter also believed that someone might have sabotaged the airplane but whatever the cause, Walter remembered "it was an awful event. All our work was over at this moment." Ziller's test flights seemed to indicate the potential for great speed, perhaps a maximum of 977 km/h (606 mph). Although never confirmed, such performance would have helped to answer the Luftwaffe technical experts who criticized the all-wing configuration. At the time of Ziller's crash, the RLM had scheduled series production of 15-20 machines at Gotha.

Horten had planned to arm the third prototype with cannons but the war ended before this airplane was finished. Unbeknownst to him or Walter, Gotha designers substantially altered the V3 airframe as they attempted to finish it. For example, they used a massive nose wheel compared to the unit fitted to the V2, and Reimar speculated that the 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) design bomb load may have influenced them, but he believed these alterations unnecessary.

The U. S. VIII Army of General Patton's Third Army found the Ho 229 prototypes V3 through V6 at Friedrichroda, Germany, in April 1945. Horten had designed airframes V4 and V5 as single-seat night fighters and V6 would have become a two-seat night fighter trainer. The V3 was approximately half finished and nearest to completion of the four airframes. Army personnel removed it three days later and shipped it to the U.S., and the incomplete center section arrived at Silver Hill (now the Paul E. Garber Facility, Suitland, MD) about 1950. There is no evidence that any wing sections were recovered at Friedrichsroda, however members of the 9th Air Force Air Disarmament Division found a pair 121 km (75 miles) from this village, and these wings might be the same pair now included with the Ho 229 V3.

In 1983, Reimar wrote in Nurflugel: Die Geschichte der Horten-Flugzeuge 1933-1960 (Herbert Weishaupt, 1983) that he had planned to sandwich a mixture of sawdust, charcoal, and glue between the layers of wood that formed large areas of the exterior surface of the Ho 229 jet wing to shield, he said, the "whole airplane" from radar, because ""the charcoal should absorb the electrical waves. Under this shield, then also the tubular steel [airframe] and the engines [would be] "invisible" [to radar]"” (p. 136, author translation). Reimar was describing a process for reducing the radar energy reflected from the wing, lowering its radar cross-section, or RCS, so that the jet wing would be more difficult to detect by an adversary using radar, and therefore able to carry out its mission with greater stealth.

When interviewed in the mid-1980s, Reimar further claimed that he had specifically used wood to build a substantial portion of the Ho 229 because the material did not reflect radar energy. Asked to explain the background to these actions, the designer replied that "we made it of our own inspiration," without direction from the RLM, to mask the wing from detection during attacks on Allied ships equipped with air-search radar. Reimar had first written about RCS in the article, ""Ala Volante Caza "Horten IX"" (Flying Wing Fighter Horten IX), published in the May 1950 issue of Revista Nacional de Aeronautica (National magazine of Aeronautics published in Argentina).

Following the heightened interest in all-wing aircraft after the public unveiling of the USA's Northrop B-2 bomber on 22 November 1988, and fueled by Reimar's recent claims, some writers extrapolated from the similarity of the B-2 to the Ho 229 (both all-wing aircraft) to conclude that Reimar had designed the first stealth aircraft because he used an all-wing layout and purposefully reduced the Ho 229 jet wing's RCS. Examples of this writing are Stealth Bomber - Invisible Warplane (Motorbooks, 1989) by Bill Sweetman, and David Baker's article, "In Valleys of Shadow - The Black World of Stealth (Part One)."

They apparently did not believe that Reimar shaped the Ho 229 solely for aerodynamic reasons, that the jet was simply one in a long line of all-wing Horten aircraft, and that there exists no physical or documentary evidence to support Horten's claims. His story is weak for several other reasons. Allied ships were equipped with air-search radar; however, these were low-priority targets for the Luftwaffe compared to the waves of heavy bombers that had pounded Germany day and night from the beginning of summer 1943. Germany needed vast numbers of interceptors capable of penetrating the screens of Allied fighters protecting the bombers, not long-range strike aircraft with low RCS. Oddly enough, neither Reimar nor Walter Horten mentioned to Allied intelligence specialists immediately after the war the RCS techniques that Reimar claimed in 1983 he applied to the Ho 229 during the war, a peculiar omission in light of Reimar's strong interest in resuming his work with an Allied aviation firm. Finally, if the Ho 229 was as speedy as Reimar estimated, why would the aircraft need to evade radar detection when it could outrun any Allied fighter?

When Phase II at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opened on 15 March 2011, the H IX V3 outer wing panels were on public view in the new workshop. NASM collections care specialists are working now to prepare to move the wing's center section to Phase II later in 2013.

lounging by the nonexistent pool at our hotel

Most evening are like this at this location. It's a really clear night... no clouds at all, and the winds are essentially nonexistent. Reflections are great, and the birds continue to arrive in increasing numbers as the darkness closes in. We're looking westward as the sun dips below the distant background.

IMG_7340; Sandhill Cranes

Warm and cozy knit stockings for your elfin feet! Great for those long, cold days and nights making toys in Santa's workshop! On sale for a limited time at Santa's Sale Shack!

*Legs not included.

For FGR: Ads for Nonexistent Products.

For GTWL theme Holidays!

3-Inch Ordnance Rifle

•Fires 10 lb. projectiles

•Lightest and strongest rifled tube

•Weight: 1,726 pounds

•Range: up to 1,830 yards

•Approximate number at Antietam:

Confederate: 40, Union: 9

Model 1861 3-inch Ordnance Rifle

Unquestionably the best rifled gun of its day was the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle. Originally called "Griffin Guns," after their designer, John Griffen, the Ordnance Rifles were often mistakenly called "Rodman Guns" because of their superficial resemblance to the large Rodman coastal defense smoothbores. In fact, however, there was no connection.

Wrought iron was expensive and had been difficult to work with, which explains why it wasn't successfully developed earlier for artillery. But in 1854, Griffen modified a procedure then being used in the production of wrought iron for lighthouse construction.

The new technique resulted in an enormously strong gun tube. When first tested in 1856, the Griffen Gun amazed the representatives of the Ordnance Department. Griffen himself challenged them to burst the piece. After more than 500 rounds with increasing charges and loads, they finally succeeded only by firing it with a charge of seven pounds of powder and a load of 13 shot which completely filled up the bore!

The bursting problem was solved. What plagued the Parrott was virtually nonexistent in the wrought iron gun. Only one Ordnance Rifle is known to have burst during the entire Civil War (a gun in a Pennsylvania battery burst at the muzzle - the safest place for a gun to burst if it must do so) while firing double canister during the Battle of the Wilderness.

The "3-inch wrought iron rifle" had a slightly greater effective range than the Parrott and compared favorably even with the British Whitworth for accuracy. "The Yankee three-inch rifle was a dead shot at any distance under a mile," said one admiring Confederate gunner and it was quite effective at a mile and a half.

On top of all of this, the gun was a hundred pounds lighter than the Parrott (800 lbs to the Parrott's 900) which made it highly mobile. For just this reason, it was the preferred weapon of the Horse Artillery (that is, those batteries working with cavalry and therefore requiring maximum mobility).

The Ordnance Rifle, not to put too fine a point on it, was a nearly perfect field piece. The absolute epitome of muzzle-loading artillery, it remained the primary rifled field gun in the U. S. inventory well into the 1880's when it finally gave way to steel breechloaders. About a thousand of these remarkable guns were produced for the Union army. Lacking the technology, the Confederates did not produce them.

In summary, then, there were but seven pieces of artillery which did the bulk of the cannoneer's work during the Civil War. These were the Model 1841 6-pdr and 12-pdr guns, the Model 1841 12-pdr and 24-pdr howitzers, the Model 1857 Light 12pdr gun-howitzer, the Model 1861/ 1863 Parrott (which, for our purposes, can be considered as a single type), and the Model 1861 Ordnance Rifle.

The last two of these, in particular, demonstrate the tremendous advancement in artillery made during the four years of the war. The leap from smoothbores to rifles was the first necessary step in the development of modern artillery.

Indeed, the gap between even the best of the smoothbores and the least effective of the rifles serves to illustrate the old truism that our great l9th century bloodletting was, at one and the same time, the last 18th century war and the first 20th century war.

Antietam Battlefield-Sharpsburg Md

OMG the honking.

I hope the chaos and NOISINESS of the streets in the old quarter are clear in this 30-second video. The honking just never ever ever quits. There are no lights. There are no crosswalks. You just . . . go.

The basic premise of driving in Ha Noi seems to be defensive to the extreme--no one trusts any other driver on the road, so you honk continuously to inform everyone that you're there. And then you basically just say a prayer and jump into the fray. See that guy who crosses on the diagonal at the beginning? He barely looks around.

I have a bunch more videos to share--ones where we cross the street! Also notice just how freaking CLOSE the scooters and people get to me. I'm in the street, sure (there's nowhere else to be--sidewalks are practically nonexistent or covered with scooters or vendors), but I'm against the parked scooters.

Wharfinger building area, Eureka waterfront, Humboldt County, CA. Juvenile Heermann's have been almost nonexistent in CA this year, according to Alvaro Jaramillo (see this message: digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=905162) so it was good to see this bird today.

Barn is located in Mendon Ponds Park, at the intersection of Clover St and Pond Rd, Mendon, NY (near Rochester)... next to the Nature Center.

Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.

Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.

Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov

Natalia Younan (pink), a wildlife and fish coservation major, gather the sex of the Red Eat Slider for Sidney Woodruff's research in the Arboretum on June 8, 2022.

The project involves assisting Dr. Brian Todd and Ph.D. Student Sidney Woodruff in a research study evaluating how native species respond to the removal of non-native species and waterway restoration. The research objectives are to investigate the abundance and population demography of the native Western pond turtle (Actineymys marmorata) and population response in growth and demography from the removal of non-native red-eared sliders. Natural populations of the Western pond turtle are found in the UC Davis Arboretum where red-eared sliders occupy the same ecological niche in high densities. Natural populations of Western pond turtles are found in the nearby South Fork of Putah Creek where the presence of non-native turtles is extremely low or nonexistent. This work can highlight the importance of waterway restoration in building a more resilient ecosystem while supporting the recovery and conservation of native species.

Providing this opportunity will allow undergraduate students to be involved in wildlife conservation research under the supervision of a graduate student mentor and PI while also supporting the objectives of this study and the restoration of the UC Davis Arboretum.

Akron-Canton Regional Airport (CAK) is a commercial Class C airport located in the city of Green, in southern Summit County, Ohio (a very small portion of both runways extend into Stark County,) roughly 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Akron, 10 nautical miles (19 km) northwest of Canton, and 10 nautical miles (19 km) northeast of Massillon. The airport is jointly operated by Summit County and Stark County.

The airport has two runways - 7,601, and 8,204 feet (2,317 and 2,501 m) long, both 150 feet (46 m) wide.

In 2005, 1.43 million passengers flew through Akron-Canton, three times the number ten years earlier. It is one of the fastest-growing airports in the Midwest, and attracts passengers from the Akron/Canton area and Cleveland metropolitan area. The number of passengers who use the airport has grown every year since 1995 except 2001 (because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks which slowed air travel nationwide).

The airport markets itself as "A better way to go", noting the ease of the Akron-Canton Airport in comparison to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport some 40 miles (64 km) north. The airport essentially serves as a secondary "reliever" airport for Northeast Ohio. Although much of the growth is commercial, over 75% of traffic is general aviation, which is all but nonexistent at nearby Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron-Canton_Regional_Airport

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...

This is one of two Cambodian Buddhist temples in NYC, the other being Wat Jotanaram in the Bronx. I was surprised to find this temple sitting at the end of a block of large Victorian houses; in fact, the temple itself resides in one of those houses. Take a look!

The two gentlemen on the right were standing outside when I passed by. We struck up a halting conversation built on their modest English and my nonexistent Khmer. They invited me inside to see the sanctuary and meet the temple's monk (the gentleman on the left, in case you couldn't tell). Before I knew it, the conversation had turned toward my singlehood; the idea of fixing me up with a Cambodian girl was proposed and roundly lauded by my new friends.

However, before I had a chance to unwittingly and irrevocably signal my matrimonial intentions with an absentminded gesture, like in some bad movie, the clock struck four: it was time to pray. For the next forty-five minutes, the five of us (there was one older woman, as well) sat on the floor in the same asymmetrical pose that the fellow on the right is holding in this picture (occasionally switching legs), with hands raised, palm-to-palm, at chest level. My companions sang what was essentially one continuous chant, which sounded something like this. Even for a total outsider, it was quite entrancing at times.

Before I left, they invited me to attend their three-day-long Khmer New Year's celebration in April. As it happens, I will be out of town for those very same three days. But hey, there's always next year — and I'll still be walking then, after all!

JUT Art Museum

【A Nonexistent Place】Artist Talk：The World of Leandro Erlich

While sis was bargaining with a hat vendor for a good deal, I strike a "conversation" with this man with my close to nonexistent Spanish. He showed me he was reading an old Western novel. He pointed and complimented on my beautiful "teeth" which I realized maybe he meant my smile. When I asked if I can take picture of him, he gladly put a cigar in his mouth and looked straight into the camera. Most Cubans were really happy to have their pictures taken and weren't shy in front of the camera. I hope they never change.

Last Tuesday we said goodbye to the Alero. After moving to Virginia in October, and getting another car in December, it hadn't even been driven 100 miles. Plus, dealing with the worsening coolant leak was problematic. So rather than see what we could get for it, we decided to donate it to a charity called Vehicles for Change, which provides transportation to low-income families who need a car to get to work or to carry children and family around town. (In most areas of the USA public transportation is either substandard or nonexistent, which makes bettering one's life very difficult when one does not have a car.)

Due to the high mileage the Alero didn't qualify to be rehabilitated as a program vehicle, but it will be sold and the proceeds go to benefit the program. I'm satisfied with that arrangement--it still does good for the program. And hopefully it may have some life left yet, as someone who is mechanically inclined and could fix the coolant and oil leaks on their own could end up with a serviceable vehicle for not a lot of money.

Still, we were kind of sad to see the car go. Dawn owned this car for almost 10 years, and I drove it most of the time for the last year or 2. As much as the constant repairs annoyed me for a long while, in the end, I grew to like the car. It was reliable for me last summer when it was my only transporation, and it got me from Raleigh to Richmond without any trouble. And for that I'll always be grateful.

Farewell and good luck--hopefully there are more miles to travel yet!

024

Fortune Global Forum 2018

October 16th, 2018

Toronto, Canada

3:30 PM

THE NEW GLOBAL CONSUMER: DOING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY

The digital economy is no longer part of the economy. It is the economy. How can traditional brick-and-mortar firms reinvent themselves, their supply chains, and their marketplaces to avoid the fate of brands once thought of as everlasting but which are now nonexistent? And how are new platforms – from e-commerce to shared services – rewriting the rules of the game? A conversation on how businesses can manage expectations for digitally empowered customers, and how technology is being used to enhance the customer experience.

Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid al Futtaim

Andrea Stairs, General Manager, Canada and Latin America, eBay

Ning Tang, Founder and CEO, CreditEase

Moderator: Phil Wahba, Senior Writer, Fortune

Photograph by Stuart Isett/Fortune

Bosnia was the biggest culture shock that I have experienced. Upon exiting the plane in Sarajevo, the public transit was the least convenient of any city we've been too. Nonexistent from the airport. This led us to stubbornly walking for a good distance, then happening upon this nice little restaurant.

Acting like the bratty kids from the U.S. that we are, we didn't bother learning any languages beyond our own for this trip. Most Bosnians do not know English. This was the first time we experienced that. There is also an incredible amount of evidence from the civil war that tore it apart. Over 20 years ago.

This led us to try a beer on the menu we haven't seen yet. Happened to be non-alcoholic.

So here we are acting bratty and sad because our beer isn't what we liked, while there is a guy missing an arm in the frame.