ERDC collaborates with the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and others to solve significant projection and protection challenges facing Soldiers in A2AD environments. ERDC’s force projection research is focused on developing and demonstrating technologies for planning and conducting forcible entry operations with nonexistent, damaged or destroyed infrastructure to ensure that the joint force can operate in any environment, at any time, regardless of terrain. Recent successes include demonstration of rapid airport and seaport repair solutions; terrain surfacing kits for unmanned aircraft landing strips, helicopter landing zones, and logistics over shore operations; and remote monitoring technologies and decision support tools for assessing critical infrastructure and littoral zones. To protect facilities that allow the U.S. to project force into denied areas, ERDC is exploring advanced materials and unique structural components that are incorporated into structural hardening solutions, as well as decision support tools that aid vulnerability assessments of critical facilities and mission impact.

A one-off, this little car was allegedly actually used for a number of years. I don't suppose the brakes were very impressive, but it has one heck of a cooling system for its Indian V-twin motorcycle engine.

 

The combination of essentially nonexistent braking and a food processor for a front bumper may have made this unpopular with local pedestrians.

"may the smell of burning oil & defeat live on forever in our hearts"

 

Betty the Barina was a car, she was a car in the same way that a Turd Sandwich is still a sandwich.

 

Betty I will miss your faulty CV joints, your nonexistent brake pads, the one working indicator, the window winder that snapped off in my hand one evening, the windscreen wipers that only had 2 settings; fast and super fast and had to be turned off by timing it just right that you flicked the switch when they got to the bottom. I will miss the smell of burning oil and melting clutch, the big coolant stain on the passenger side floor (my bad), the non-existent air-conditioning, the shitty shitty shitty radio & its coat hanger aerial. Most of all, I'll miss the massive oil stain you were creating on our garage floor.

 

Betty the Barina, may you continue to piss people off in car heaven!

 

PS - Betty was still going strong when we traded her in and bought a new car today!

I had to include this photo for old times sake. I found this Gameboy while I was home over Thanksgiving break. I could not believe how unfortunate the images and graphics were, and for the color? More like nonexistent color! Video games today have become so much more advanced over the last 15 years from when I received this as a Christmas gift.

Chloe Brynn Wedlock

 

Born September 3rd, 2010

 

4lbs 9oz and 18" long. Tiny but healthy!!

 

The hospital we are in has Internet but they apparently block everything that I would need. I can't get photos to upload from my computer to Flickr, iTunes store won't connect, and AIM is nonexistent. We finally get to go home today though. Staying in a room for 3 days can make you extremely stir crazy.

 

Hopefully there will be better photos on here soon. For now, the iPhone is all I have that can reach the outside world.

The idea of developing and running your home business may be interesting; however, there will still be challenges to surmount. If you truly want to run a successful home business, use the following advice to your advantage.

 

When you launch your home-based business, email your family members, pals and colleagues to let them understand about your new venture. Give them something free of cost or offer a fantastic price cut to get them considering your new business. Encourage them to spread the word about your new business. There is nothing quite as effective as personal referrals.

  

Before you start selling anything, you should make certain to find out what the price variety for it is in the current market. Consider the prices of comparable products, and purpose to slightly undercut the competition. It is very important to bear in mind that no matter what, you should highlight the good aspects of your business and not the adverse aspects of other businesses.

  

Find a forum to join that's major topic is home business. You will be able to interact with other company owner. Other people running a home business will understand your situation. They will be the best people to share information with and receive good advice from.

  

If you aren't sure what you would like to do, look online for home business suggestions. But enjoy out. The Internet is also an area where scams abound. Be careful. Always check to see if the information you want is available somewhere else free of cost. You should also enjoy out for complex scams that offer access to nonexistent work for a fee, or tuition for on the internet courses that are ineffective. If an offer sounds unbelievable, it's probably a scam.

  

Develop a detailed home business plan. Your business plan isn't repaired; you can change it in response to market realities, or even put it aside. However, your plan will work as a guide map when you're getting started, and will be a convenient tip of what you 'd like to accomplish with your business. Your business plan should be continually progressing.

  

Keep an accurate accounting of all financial records of your business. If the IRS wants to audit your business, things will be a lot much easier if you have specified records available. These records can also give you a clear peek of how you are doing month to month.

  

Your family requires to be supportive of your home business. Establishing a home business can be incredibly time consuming, and often comes with a fantastic bargain of stress. If your family members are not ready to help and support you, even just by giving you alone time to work, you will not be able to successfully run a home business.

  

Promote your home business by utilizing SEO strategies. For people who wish to market online to a large network of individuals, SEO work is essential. Many different tips exist for carrying out SEO on your own, and there are many resources out there that can assist you.

  

As pointed out, being your own boss and following your dreams is very interesting to many people. Performing the tips shared here will help make a home business prosper in a big way.

  

It is crucial to bear in mind that no matter what, you should highlight the good aspects of your business and not the adverse aspects of other businesses.

 

A good protective step you can take when establishing a home business is to rent a PO box and use it as your business address. It can be a good idea to set up your own home business network to conveniently connect with other businesses. Talking improperly about rivals is never good business; simply build up your own business.

 

To keep track of your business, open a checking account strictly for the business. www.empowernetwork.com/webmillionaire/blog/best-home-base...

“The problem isn’t dying; the problem is figuring out how to live.” – Glenn Villeneuve ~ Alaskan survivalist living a subsistence lifestyle sixty-five miles above the Arctic Circle

 

It is understandable that we are afraid of death, it is one of the most humanistic emotions that we have. It is this fear that allows us to survive. But if all we are doing is just surviving, we are missing out on really living. The worst thing is not dying, it’s never really living at all.

Time will come and go without ever waiting for us to figure out what we are supposed to do with this life that we are given. It needs to be our goal to fathom our purpose as soon as possible in life so that we can take full advantage of as many days as possible.

There are many people all over the world who do not have the luxury to do anything else but survive. They struggle every day to stay afloat; they live life one breath at a time. It is our responsibility to those people to not waste a single second of our lives, to stop focusing on the bad and realize how much good we have around us. But no one can do that for us, no one can wake us up out of the dreary daze that has overtaken us. When need to wake up tomorrow, splash cold water on our face, and exclaim that this is my day, this is the day when I will truly live.

There are a lot of things to be afraid of, but what should top that list is wasting even one second worrying about the rest, instead of living for the best. The one thing that we have complete control over is how we deal with what life throws at us. We can curl up in a ball, we can put our heads in the sand, or we can embrace each moment like it may be our last. We owe it to those who do not have fresh food and water to drink, who do not have a roof over the heads and a bed to sleep in at night, to love each day, and to love each person we come across, because we have so much to be thankful for.

How do you live each day? Are you worried about dying, or are you worried about never truly living? People may remember how we died but they will never forget how we lived. The greatest joy in life comes from helping others realize how amazing their life can be, and we do this by being a living example of how great life really is.

If you’re not sure yet whether you’re living, or just surviving, concentrate on one thing: the person standing next to you. The best way to take full advantage of the moments you are given is to embrace your neighbor like you want to be embraced. When we focus on love, we do not waste a single day. It is your time to shine, your time to finally start living.

When we do it together nothing can stop us from figuring out how to live. Failure is nonexistent when we put our efforts into those around us. Love never fails, and neither do you. Live a life unshackled by the chains of unrelenting time, because now you have broken free.

(The Kenai River called Kahtnu in the Dena’ina language, is the longest river in the Kenai Peninsula of south central Alaska.)

#GlennVilleneuve

#QuoteOfTheDay

#LifeBelowZero

#StartLiving

#LoveOneAnother

@LifeBelowZeroPT

 

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 54. Photo: Mills.

 

Scottish actor John Stuart (1898-1979) was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He appeared in two films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

 

John Stuart was born John Alfred Louden Croall in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1898. He began his stage and screen career directly after World War I service in The Black Watch. He made his film debut in the drama The Lights of Home (Fred Paul, 1920). Other silent films were the drama If Four Walls Told (Fred Paul, 1922) starring Lillian Hall-Davis, the comedy The School for Scandal (Bertram Phillips, 1923) with Queenie Thomas, and the comedy We Women (W.P. Kellino, 1925). Stuart was a very popular leading man in British silent films, though it's hard to gauge that popularity since many of his best films of the 1920s, such as A Sporting Double (1923), Constant Hot Water (1924) and Tower of London (1926), are either inaccessible or nonexistent. He appeared in a silent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The Pleasure Garden (1925) was Hitchcock’s directorial debut. Based on a novel by Oliver Sandys, the film is about two chorus girls at the Pleasure Garden Theatre in London and their troubled relationships. Glamorous American star Virginia Valli played the lead. The film was shot in Italy and Germany in 1925 and shown to the British press in March 1926. But it was not officially released in the UK until 1927, after Hitchcock's film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog became a massive hit in February 1927. Stuart worked several times with director Maurice Elvey. Very popular was their World War I drama Mademoiselle from Armentieres (Maurice Elvey, 1926), featuring Estelle Brody. The film opened in London in September 1926 and was still playing in cinemas around the country until well into 1927. It was reportedly the most profitable British film of 1926 and made an instant star of Brody. The two stars were reunited in the drama Hindle Wakes (Maurice Elvey, 1927), whose skilful use of location is considered to give the film a documentary realism feel very unusual in British films of the period. Brody and Stuart co-starred again in Mademoiselle Parley Voo (Maurice Elvey, 1928), a sequel to their earlier hit Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1926), and equally successful. Both films refer to the popular First World War song Mademoiselle from Armentières.

 

John Stuart’s first sound film, Kitty (Victor Saville 1929) was another successful production. Kitty was initially planned and filmed as a silent, but on its original completion Saville decided to reshoot the latter part with sound. As no suitable facilities were yet available in Britain, Saville, Estelle Brody and Stuart travelled to New York to shoot the new sequences at RKO Studios. The film was released in the form of a silent which switched to sound after the halfway point. Stuart’s next film, Atlantic (1929) was one of the first British films made with the soundtrack optically recorded on the film (sound-on-film). Atlantic was directed and produced by Ewald André Dupont. Three versions were made, an English and a German language version, Atlantik, which were shot simultaneously, and later a French version was made. In England, Atlantic was released in both sound and silent prints. The film was originally made as Titanic but after lawsuits, it was renamed Atlantic. The White Star Line, which owned the RMS Titanic, was still in operation at the time. The final scene of the film was filmed as a shot of the liner sinking but it was cut at the last minute as it was feared it would upset Titanic survivors. Then Stuart worked for a second time with Alfred Hitchcock, although indirectly. Elstree Calling (1930) is a lavish musical film revue directed by Andre Charlot, Jack Hulbert, Paul Murray, and Hitchcock at Elstree Studios. It was Britain's answer to the Hollywood revues, such as Paramount on Parade (1930) and Hollywood Review of 1929. Stuart was not appearing in the segments directed by Hitchcock. They worked together again on Number Seventeen (Alfred Hitchcock, 1932), in which Stuart played the lead. The film is about a group of criminals who committed a jewel robbery and put their money in an old house over a railway leading to the English Channel, the film's title being derived from the house's street number. An outsider stumbles onto this plot and intervenes with the help of a neighbour, a police officer's daughter. On its initial release, audiences reacted to Number Seventeen with confusion and disappointment. Stuart then played Sir Henry Baskerville in the mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles (Gareth Gundrey, 1932), based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle and scripted by Edgar Wallace. He was the co-star of Brigitte Helm in The Mistress of Atlantis (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1932), the English language version of the German-French adventure and fantasy film L'Atlantide/Die Herrin von Atlantis (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1932) based on the novel L'Atlantide by Pierre Benoît.

 

John Stuart starred with Benita Hume in the drama Men of Steel (George King, 1932). It was made at Nettlefold Studios under the so-called quota quickie system for distribution by United Artists. In 1927, The Cinematograph Films Act was designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It introduced a requirement for British cinemas to show a quota of British films, for 10 years. The result of the act was the 'quota quickie', a low-cost, poor-quality film commissioned by American distributors operating in the UK purely to satisfy the quota requirements. During the 1930s Stuart appeared in a lot of these films. memorable are the drama The Lost Chord (Maurice Elvey, 1933) with Elizabeth Allan and Jack Hawkins, the comedy This Week of Grace Chord (Maurice Elvey, 1933) starring Gracie Fields and Henry Kendall, and the Anglo-Italian aviation drama The Blue Squadron (George King, 1934) with Esmond Knight. Stuart co-starred with Fritz Kortner and Nils Asther in Abdul the Damned (Karl Grune, 1935), set in the Ottoman Empire in the years before the First World War where the Sultan and the Young Turks battle for power. He also worked often with director George Pearson, like in the thriller The Secret Voice (1936), and appeared in several parts of the long-running Old Mother Riley series. During the war years, Stuart’s parts became smaller or better said, he matured into character parts. He played a supporting part in the thriller Headline (John Harlow, 1944) with David Farrar as a crime reporter who searches for a mystery woman (Anne Crawford) who has witnessed a murder. Another example is the Gainsborough melodrama Madonna of the Seven Moons (Arthur Crabtree, 1945) starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. In 1946 readers of the Daily Mail voted the film their third most popular British movie from 1939 to 1945. During the following decades he played government officials and police inspectors in B-films like the mystery The Ringer (Guy Hamilton, 1952) starring Herbert Lom, and the Science-fiction film Four Sided Triangle (Terence Fisher, 1953). Memorable are the war film Sink the Bismarck! (Lewis Gilbert, 1960) with Kenneth More, the Science-fiction film Village of the Damned (Wolf Rilla, 1960), and the suspense film Paranoiac (Freddie Francis, 1963) from Hammer Films starring Janette Scott and Oliver Reed. Stuart now only played bit roles. His last part was a cameo in Superman (Richard Donner, 1978). In 1979, John Stuart died in London at the age of 81. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. An accomplished writer, John Stuart penned his autobiography, Caught in the Act, in 1971. His son Jonathan Croall is writing a book about the screen idols of the 1920s, including John Stuart.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Not very good but they are my new favorite nonexistent couple :] comment if you take/use it please :)

for Pavla

www.behance.net/gallery/21033047/Nonexistent-Vodka

The C-208 is loaded with double 8" LF/MF and a single high energy 2" HF driver. Each enclosure is constructed of high grade birch ply-wood and is custom fitted with steel fly hardware that has been test rated for a 7:1 static load, hanging up to 16 enclosures in a single array. Our user friendly hardware allows for hanging and ground stacking applications, permitting the user to stack up to six enclosures.

 

All C-208 enclosures are hand wired using premium 14 gauge wire and Neutrik brand NL8 connectors. All drivers are built with cast fame baskets for strength and longevity. Our compression drivers have replaceable titanium diaphragms for superb sound quality, performance and durability. We use a standard phase plug design to control the isophasic wave form as well as a wave guide system for smooth coverage and coupling. Our components are designed and built to a commercial standard and have a proven track record on tours ranging from stadiums to festivals of up to 30 shows per month with practically a nonexistent failure rate.

 

All C-208 enclosures are equipped with a removable back panel that can be disconnected and replaced by an internal TVi multi channel "Class D" power amplifier module. Each power amplifier has a built in multi-channel processor that has been chamber tuned for the C-208 to achieve a flat response curve with pre set limiters, DSP and crossover points. One amplified C-208 enclosure will also power one additional non-powered C-208 enclosure in tri amp mode by daisy chaining an NL8 cable.

We found Andrew Linn drifting around in the almost nonexistent breeze in his Puddle Goose, using plans from Michael Storer as inspiration, but adding significant personal touches.

First shots with Sony DSC-HX200V using panorama setting. Camera auto stitches five frames.

 

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

Russian infantry training with flamethrower sappers.

 

It is not clear if the flamethrower is a static or portable model. In the center of the photo, sappers in heavy fireproof suits can be seen.

 

They appear to be waiting to take turns at the flamethrower; one is seen running to the right.

 

The flameproof overalls were copies of the British Suit, Anti-liquid Fire, Pattern 3023/1918.

 

Photos of Russian flamethrower sappers in action are virtually nonexistent.

Dylan next to the Apollo 11 (?) command module at the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. May have been a Gemini capsule -- memory imperfect, notes nonexistent

On the Greenbush Line.

 

So why is this station called a "junction" when there's only 1 line here? And why is it called Nantasket (old name for the town of Hull) when it's located in Hingham? "Nantasket Junction" is the historic name for this station when it was on the Old Colony RR (and later the NY, NH & H RR Old Colony division.) It was a junction of the Boston-Scituate line (same one as the current Greenbush line) and the now-nonexistent Nantasket Line that went from here to Pemberton Point at the northern tip of Hull.

Photographs by Paul Russell

 

Learn more about Steve's work: visitsteve.com/

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

(from the SPACES catalog)

 

Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, “Can I talk to you about Jesus?”

 

The word “capitalism” is a red flag. And for good reason—pretty soon either some dude is talking your ear off about “The System” or aggressively confronting you about taxes. Ugh.

 

At the same time, capitalism is discussed every day using euphemisms like “jobs,” “job creation,” “the business climate,” and discussing whatever “crisis” is deemed relevant; a housing crisis, financial crisis, social security crisis, tax crisis, or fill- in-the blank crisis. But the whole is rarely a topic of frank discussion—much less alternatives or meaningful reform.

 

As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself. The idea that “there is no alternative” to the way our world works takes away our ability to dream. As citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions on order to move on to new and better visions for the future.

 

But what to do? Start a conversation about capitalism and friends edge away slowly, and strangers even faster.

 

This is what art is for. This is what art does well. It creates a space where new ideas and perspectives can be explored. A space unlike any other.

 

Throughout my artistic career I’ve challenged myself to take on difficult subject matter in ways that are engaging and fun. I’ve found humor and popular culture can open doors to difficult but worthwhile subjects and enable us to envision and move toward new, utopian futures.

 

The sign starts here in Cleveland and will tour the US leading up to and beyond the 2012 presidential election. People who vote will be given the opportunity to have their portrait taken and give a short statement about why they voted the way they did. There will be a book, website, and videos that document people’s interactions and thoughts.

 

I’m excited that this piece takes on what for most Americans is a taboo, or even nonexistent subject: whether global, hegemonic capitalism actually works for most people. But whew, talking about that is boring! And telling people what to think is worse! This sign gets passers by to participate in deceptively simple vote (True/ False) which only pretends to offer resolution. Every aspect of the interaction draws them in to more complex questions and conversations, leading to new thoughts and ideas about a better world!

 

For 50 years it has been unacceptable, politically, in the United States to ask what is basically a straightforward question. We have a particular economic system, it’s called capitalism. We have every right as a society to ask of that system, is it working? Is it working for us? Do the benefits and the costs balance themselves out in a way that says, do we want to keep this system? Or that says, we want to change this system? Or that says, we ought to look at an alternative system. We’ve been afraid to ask that question. We’ve been afraid to have public debates—that’s the legacy of the cold war. We can’t afford anymore to not do that. We have to raise the question.

  

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.

 

The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.

 

The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.

 

In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.

 

The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds

.

Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.

 

In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.

 

The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.

Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.

The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.

 

Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.

 

However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)

Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)

Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215

Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)

Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)

 

Powerplant:

1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,

delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,

driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with

a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)

Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)

Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)

Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks

Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)

Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)

Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6

Recommended Mach limit 0.8

 

Armament:

4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG

A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks

or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber

  

The kit and its assembly:

A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.

 

For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.

 

For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).

The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.

  

Painting and markings:

I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.

 

To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.

 

The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.

 

Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.

The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.

  

A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D

 

Stopped by the "Store Closing" sale last weekend. This store was depressing even before Sears announced it was closing. It's only worse now.

 

The sale just began, so the discounts were still pretty weak on most everything, and almost nonexistent (10%) on things like appliances and tools. Don't bother....

On the road to Cut Spring, after the Dome Fire. View is looking southeast toward Kessler Peak and the Ivanpah Mountains. In the foreground is a mostly incinerated landscape of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana), Mojave Yucca (Yucca schidigera), Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa), and Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata) with poor to nonexistent chances of ever returning to its former state. Time will tell.

There's a lot disturbing about the current era of American history, but one of the most troublesome trends is the seeming increase in the number of people who claim willingness to take arms against the government in some sort of full-scale rebellion. These people illustrate the adage about not knowing history. They'd do well to educate themselves about what happened during the winter of 1777-1778, when a bunch of disorganized yahoos who'd gotten themselves in the middle of a war decided to hole up at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. (Of course, the yahoos would eventually win that war, in part because they weren't going up against people with missiles and F-22s.)

 

A Patriotic American would likely take umbrage at my description of George Washington's Continental Army as "disorganized yahoos," but it doesn't take a very close read of history to see that this is exactly what they were. They'd emerged as a fighting force from numerous bands of colonial militias made up largely of local weekend warrior types, men who had day jobs but stood ready to play soldier after-hours if they needed to defend their specific corner of their specific colony. But the militias of Massachusetts had performed well enough when fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775 that in June the Continental Congress in Philadelphia stopped arguing about things long enough to turn them into an actual army. They did this mostly by saying, "Hey, militia guys! You're an army now." They didn't really add any money for training or equipment or anything, because despite our affection for the phrase, "Freedom isn't free," Americans have a long tradition of not wanting to pay for anything.

 

The Patriots fought through the winter of early 1776 and into the spring and summer. They crossed the Delaware River near Trenton in December, 1776, and spent that winter camped in Morristown, New Jersey. They fought again through the summer and fall of 1777, when they lost Philadelphia to the British. Then winter came on strong, and Washington's army was forced to settle down in about as unreasonable a place as they could find. Washington put them atop a couple of forested hills near the site of an old iron forge, and they set about building what shelter they could.

 

Of course, they'd been running around New Jersey and Pennsylvania now for a year and a half, and they were tired and worn. Their gear was falling apart. Their clothes were shredded, and only a third of them had shoes. Supply lines were tenuous, and there wasn't much supply to send anyway, so they lived mostly on flour and water paste. Starvation and disease ran rampant through the camp. Morale was nonexistent, and desertions were common. Of 12,000 soldiers who camped at Valley Forge that winter, 2,500 would never see the spring.

Day 16: After falling into a pattern of taking photos of things in and around the house, I was determined to make today's shot something outdoors. Since Sunday is the day my coed recreational softball team plays, I took my camera to the field looking for something to capture. After the softball game, we stayed at the park to test out a friend's new portable commercial grill. We had tacos with three types of meat (carne asada, al pastor, and chicken) and several varieties of salsa. Luckily for me, as we were enjoying our tacos just before sunset, the skies over our field turned a pretty reddish-orange shade. Unfortunately, I took dozens of shots but was not quite able to capture the real-life beauty of the sky. After initially failing to get the shot right in post-processing, I uploaded an SOOC shot. After doing so, I couldn't shake my unsatisfied feeling, so I spent a couple of hours with Lightroom 3 tutorials and getting to know the software better. This updated photo represents my best attempt to salvage my shot.

 

P.S. I've only been using Lightroom 3 for a month. I'm a total newbie to serious photo-editing software. In that sense, this project is allowing me the opportunity to develop my almost nonexistent post-processing and photo-editing skills.

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by Delittle, Fenwick & Co. of York. The card was printed in England.

 

It was posted in Hastings using a ½d. stamp on Tuesday the 21st. March 1905. It was sent to:

 

Miss Brent,

103, Malpas Road,

Brockley,

London SE.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Sun Inn,

Tackleway,

Hastings.

Dear Cis,

Having a rest at the

place where you got

sunburnt.

Very nice weather at

present.

Yours truly,

Harry."

 

The Sun Inn

 

Alas, the Sun Inn is no more.

 

The Sun Inn was formerly a beer house called the Cutter Foam, first licensed in the 1860's.

 

It burnt down in the early hours of the 26th June 1873, the fire being discovered by a fisherman named Swaine who happened to be passing.

 

Fortunately, the occupants were rescued without injury. The two adjoining buildings which were at one point considered to be at risk were saved.

 

The pub was rebuilt and re-opened as the Sun Inn in 1876.

 

In 1878 Breeds Brewery, to whom the pub was tied, would not transfer the licence to a landlord who had been in situ for 12 months, because they believed that he had not conducted business in a proper manner. The landlord in his defence said:

 

“The house was a brothel

before I took over.”

 

Stephen Blundell became the landlord in 1880.

 

In 1939 licensee J. M. Walker acted as unpaid Air Raid Warden for the area, but he had gone by 1944 when a London bus driver applied for the licence.

 

He left his job without permission, and in court said that after his wife died, running a household was too much to cope with.

 

He moved to Hastings, and finding the Sun Inn needed a landlord, he applied. His story was reported as:

 

‘Busman Gets a Place in the Sun’.

 

The license changed hands again in 1945, when Stephen Charles Sherwood took over from Percy Charles Standing.

 

Tackleway is a narrow street and delivery lorries found access difficult. Also it was proposed to redevelop the area under the Holford Plan. For these two reasons the Sun Inn closed in 1970. John Cornelius was the licensee at the time of the pub's closure.

 

The Grover Shoe Factory Disaster

 

So what else happened on the day that Harry posted the card?

 

Not a lot, but the day before, Monday the 20th. March 1905, was the day of the Grover Shoe Factory Disaster in Brockton, Massachusetts

 

The Grover Shoe Factory disaster was an industrial explosion, building collapse and fire that killed 58 people and injured 150 when it leveled the R. B. Grover shoe factory

 

Following a boiler explosion, the four-story wooden building collapsed and the ruins burst into flames, incinerating workers trapped in the wreckage.

 

The Grover disaster brought new attention to industrial safety and led to stringent safety laws and a national code governing the safe operation of steam boilers.

 

-- The R. B. Grover Shoe Factory

 

The R. B. Grover shoe factory was one of a number of shoe factories in Brockton, a town that employed 35,000 shoe workers.

 

The wooden building, shaped like a letter E, occupied half a city block at the corner of Main and Calmar Streets. Grover made the popular Emerson brand shoe, and business had been good enough to add a fourth floor.

 

The factory was heated using steam radiators, with the steam being produced by coal-fired steel boilers installed in a brick boiler house attached to the wooden factory as the crossbar of the E.

 

When the fourth floor was added, the original boiler was replaced by a larger one, and the old boiler, 17 feet (5.2 m) long and six feet (1.8 m) in diameter, was left in place as a backup.

 

Since the new boiler could meet the factory's demands on its own, the old one was seldom used; and when used, was used reluctantly.

 

Grover's chief engineer David Rockwell, who had a first-class engineer's license and twelve years experience, did not trust it.

 

-- The Explosion

 

The new boiler had to be flushed out as part of its regular maintenance, so Rockwell temporarily put the old boiler back into service.

 

Early that cold damp Monday, he fed its coal fire and put the boiler to work heating the building for the arriving day-shift workers.

 

At 7:45 a.m. the plant manager telephoned Rockwell in order to ask about some strange noises coming from the radiators along one wall. Rockwell had just stepped out of the building, but his assistant assured the manager that everything was in order.

 

A few minutes later, the old boiler exploded, rocketing up through three floors and the roof.

 

-- Collapse and Fire

 

The flying boiler knocked over an elevated water tower at one end of the building, and its full tank smashed through the roof, causing that end of the building to immediately collapse, with the floors pancaking and the walls falling in on top of them.

 

Many workers who survived the initial explosion and collapse were trapped by broken beams and heavy machinery. Burning coals thrown from the boiler's fire pit landed throughout the debris, starting fires that were fed by broken gas lines.

 

The factory's more than 300 windows, now blown out, created a chimney effect in the parts of the factory still standing, resulting in a fire hot enough to melt iron pipes and radiators.

 

The wooden floors, treated nightly with linseed oil in order to keep the dust down, burned quickly. High winds helped spread the fire to nearby storage sheds and neighboring buildings, including a hardware store and a rooming house.

 

The Campello neighborhood's district firehouse shared a city block with the factory, and its firefighters arrived quickly, as did many local citizens.

 

Using long timbers as levers, they were able to lift some of the wreckage and rescue some workers before the flames reached them. Local newspapers recount many acts of heroism in the rescues made that day.

 

Barrels of naphtha, a volatile industrial solvent related to gasoline, were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house. The shed was set afire by the burning coals and the naphtha exploded, throwing sheets of flame onto the wreckage and driving rescuers away.

 

-- Escape

 

Between 300 and 400 workers were in the factory at the time of the explosion. Workers in the sections that were still standing escaped down stairways or climbed to the roof; others had to jump from windows because the explosion had knocked some fire escapes off the building.

 

About 100 workers escaped unharmed and 150 were injured. A number who were only slightly injured went home without reporting their injuries.

 

Police later related the story of a worker so dazed that he left the scene, applied for a job at another shoe factory, worked all day, then went home to find his family mourning him.

 

-- Death

 

An immediate search was made for the chief engineer. Rockwell was at first reported as among the injured, then could not be found, then at one point was reported as having left town.

 

From her kitchen window, Mrs. Rockwell had seen him sitting in a chair near the boiler house window five minutes before the explosion.

 

A search of the boiler house the next day turned up a charred body, a bent watch, two rubber heels and a torn piece of clothing identified by Mrs. Rockwell as belonging to her husband.

 

Survivors were asked to register their names with the police. Body collection began that afternoon, with only bone fragments to be found toward the rear of the factory where the fire was worst.

 

As families arrived looking for missing workers, grief-stricken relatives ran back and forth between reading the latest survivor lists and watching the recovery of bodies.

 

Due to the extreme heat of the fire, only a few bodies could be positively identified. Thirty-nine unidentified victims were buried in a ceremony at Brockton's Melrose Cemetery three days later. The disaster's 58th. victim, Hiram Pierce, died on the 15th. April 15.

 

-- Financial Assistance

 

On the day of the fire, the leatherworkers union announced that the injured would be paid $5 weekly (equivalent to $170 in 2023) until they recovered, and that the families of the dead would receive $100 (equivalent to $3,391 in 2023) for each family member killed.

 

Civic leaders created the Brockton Relief Fund, which collected and distributed nearly $105,000 in cash assistance to the families (equivalent to $3,560,667 in 2023).

 

Factory owner Robbins Grover worked for the rest of his life in order to secure financial aid for the families of those who died.

 

-- Causes of the Explosion

 

An assistant engineer who had been with Rockwell five minutes before the explosion stated that when he left, the boiler gauges showed steam pressure to be in the safe range, and the boiler to have plenty of water.

 

The state Inspector of Boilers checked the boiler's fusible plug and determined that the explosion was not caused by a lack of water.

 

Rockwell's wife stated that for the previous few days her husband had been irritable because he had to operate the boiler at "a pressure it was unequal to".

 

A factory official stated that he was at a loss to account for the explosion, and when told of Mrs. Rockwell's remarks, said that the amount of pressure on the boiler was not a matter in which factory officials interfered.

 

He added that:

 

"The engineer took his orders in this matter

from the Hartford Boiler Insurance Company,

and if he overworked that boiler, he did it

without our knowledge.

We do not even know why he used the old

boiler this week instead of the newer one".

 

(The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company provided regular inspection and testing to customers of its insurance program, as well as on-site engineering services, resulting in something of a shared responsibility with boiler owners for safe operation.)

 

One Grover executive speculated that the explosion might have been caused by a recently installed safety device. C. E. Roberts, a manager of Hartford Steam Boiler, stated:

 

"So far as I have been able to learn, there

appears to have been no carelessness in

the handling of the boiler, and the explosion,

in my opinion, was caused by a defect that

was impossible to discover."

 

-- The Inquest

 

A coroner's inquest was convened. A Grover representative testified that the boiler was inspected in December and found to be in apparent good condition.

 

Several employees testified that David Rockwell seemed capable of attending to his duties that morning.

 

Boiler inspectors who examined the ripped-open boiler reported finding a crack in one of its riveted, lap jointed seams.

 

Experts characterized the boiler, built in 1890, as old technology likely to have a short service life under high pressure. Thousands of similar boilers were then in use in the United States.

 

On the 29th. March 1905 the district attorney stated that the accident was due to a hidden defect in the boiler, and that no criminal charges would be filed.

 

As to civil liability, two weeks later a judge ruled that the explosion was caused by a defect that could not have been discovered, and held the company blameless.

 

He also found that the various insinuations made against chief engineer Rockwell were untrue.

 

-- The Engineering Study

 

An engineering study begun as part of the inquest brought new facts to light. At least two barrels of naphtha were stored in a wooden shed directly behind the boiler house.

 

The study said that without the naphtha explosions, the number of deaths would have been only about one-quarter of the actual.

 

When the naphtha exploded, it crushed one side of the factory building, pinning more workers under beams and machinery. A second outbuilding containing naphtha caught fire after about fifteen minutes and there was a second naphtha explosion, showering hundreds of gallons of the flaming liquid on the burning wreckage.

 

Engineers estimated the force of the boiler explosion as equal to 660 pounds (300 kg) of dynamite.

 

-- Bankruptcy

 

Although his factory was insured, Captain Grover was financially ruined. The R. B. Grover Company declared bankruptcy and assigned its remaining assets, more than 30 Emerson shoe stores scattered around the country, to its creditors.

 

-- Legacy of the Disaster

 

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) had been founded in 1880 in response to the boiler explosions that had become common as the use of steam power expanded during the Industrial Revolution.

 

Between 1880 and 1890 there were over 2,000 boiler explosions in the United States. By 1890, some 100,000 boilers were in service, many of them unsafe.

 

Inspections were rare, and operating guidelines almost nonexistent. Steam pressures were regularly cranked up to produce additional work.

 

The Grover disaster, coupled with another fatal Massachusetts shoe factory boiler explosion the following year in Lynn, brought new cries for improved industrial safety.

 

A new governor demanded prompt action, and a Board of Boiler Rules was formed, drafting a simple three-page set of rules. After the ASME helped overcome manufacturer objections to "needless government interference", Massachusetts passed an Act Relating to the Operation and Inspection of Steam Boilers in 1907.

 

The Massachusetts laws eventually led to passage of a national boiler safety code.

 

-- A Subsequent Explosion

 

Safety improved, but the Massachusetts fatalities would not be the last. Twenty-three people were killed and 94 injured in 1962 when a boiler exploded and ripped through a New York Telephone Company cafeteria at lunchtime.

 

A city agency later determined that the boiler had been improperly maintained and operated.

For FGR: Ads For Nonexistent Products

 

Have you ever had difficulty determining the difference between shit and shinola?

Well, I have, and I’ve found a solution, thanks to a collaboration between Ronco and Apple. Together, they've developed an app for your iPhone that solves the puzzle once and for all.

Simply take an iPhoto of the suspect items and load them into the Ronco “Sniffer” application on your iPhone. Thanks to decades of military research, the Sniffer converts the iPhotos to digital representations of iShit and iShinola, then almost immediately displays the results on your iPhone in an easy to understand format with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

All I can say is thank you, Ronco and Apple, for making my life so much easier!

Yeah, there's an app for that!

 

This is an actual customer's testimonial. No actors were paid for this advertisement.

 

Carpenter bees (the genus Xylocopa in the subfamily Xylocopinae) are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bee in 31 subgenera.[1] Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers (except those in the subgenus Proxylocopa, which nest in the ground). Members of the related tribe Ceratinini are sometimes referred to as "small carpenter bees".

In several species, the females live alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a sort of social group. They use wood bits to form partitions between the cells in the nest. A few species bore holes in wood dwellings. Since the tunnels are near the surface, structural damage is generally minor or nonexistent.

Carpenter bees can be important pollinators on open-faced flowers, even obligate pollinators on some, such as the Maypop (Passiflora incarnata), though many species are also known to "rob" nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollas.

 

change.org/lgbthatecrime

Somewhere on the train ride from Kandy to Haputale. Communication was almost nonexistent and only nonverbal, but I really think they wanted to have a photo taken. Bit shaky because there wasn't much light :-/ (I added some brightness with gimp...)

And unfortunately we didn't manage to get a written address where to send it to....

Very cool house but fugly outside, no garage or driveway. Unclear if it's properly heated or insulated, it was 45 degrees in there and we want to go for a second tour when the heat is on. This is the huge dining room, pillars to the left lead to similarly enormous living room w/ tiny weird carpeted "office" room (barely big enough to hold a toy chest and a chair.

 

I don't know, this place has other issues. Upstairs bedrooms have short ceilings (like 7 feet instead of 8, but you feel squished) and crappy/nonexistent closets. Carpet upstairs needs replacing. We wouldn't get approved for a loan until a banister is put in on the stairs. There is no driveway, no garage. No basement for storage, but we could easily use an extra upstairs bedroom for storage, like we do now. Exterior could be painted from its hideous mustard color to be a bit more palatable. Yard is wet, mossy and dark, not suited for gardening, can't do much about that.

HELP!! The label says this is from Tsumeb, where pyromorphite has been noted once or twice, but is thought to be almost nonexistent. Does anyone have any thoughts on what those brown transparent crystals might be?

This fighter doesn't exist. It has an ejectable seat, flick fire missiles and other missiles. I know, lots of missiles, here's a video of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd5H6bZNybU

This Mustang convertible will be a major undertaking to restore. The floor pans were mostly nonexistent. There was no instrument cluster or dash in the car. Amazingly, at the end of the show, it was started and driven, hopefully to a trailer, leaving the aroma of stale gas being burned.

Naysayers claim that public transportation in Florida is almost nonexistent, but the PSTA begs to differ.

 

US 19 at 118th/Bryan Dairy, Pinellas Park.

This slideshows star is a field of barley or wheat and Tara hill in the background. Its in Coolgreany, Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. I walk by this most days with my dog. Its made up of about 60 photos thoughout the seasons. Music is a free download from YouTube called "Where Silence is Nonexistent - A Himitsu" to help pass the time.

Used my Huawei p30 for the photos.

Tortola, British Virgin Islands. 110v. 60hz current used despite the English made transformers & insulators.Taken 1971. This voltage, nonexistent in America, is common in UK.

The line for the Main Bar is always long, but the line for the Front Bar is nonexistent. Really people?

UPDATE: The store that housed this exhibt was burned down. Google The Wilde Collection, Houston TX to read the story. The child mortality rate in Victorian England was high; with a quarter of babies dying before their first birthday. For a select few, the ritual of séance became the only method of extending their cruelly short parenthood. Out of all spirit contact, child spirits were the most difficult to engage. With a limited or nonexistent vocabulary, conventional methods such as talking boards were not feasible. The child spirit was no different than a living child; shy and scared of initial interaction with unknown adults. New methods had to be devised to lure child spirits into the circle so that they could, once again, be reunited with their bereaved parents. Due to this problem, Hungarian spiritualist, Ciprian Zaharie, felt compelled to create an unusual and never before devised method for child spirit communication: the Christening Doll.

 

Many in contemporary society would see this as morbid, during Victorian times, Zaharie’s Christening Doll was one of the most sought after gift for the new mother. The doll would be given to the mother bald, with no eyes or teeth. Once the baby arrived and the new mother saw their eye color, she would take it to the doll maker where they will install the eye color to match her child’s. Once the child got their first haircut, the mother would again take it back to the doll maker for them to root the baby’s hair into the dolls head. The same was repeated when the baby lost their baby teeth. Inside the doll, was a tin compartment where the mother would place the physical nine month mother child attachment: the umbilical cord. This process was to give the Christening Doll, as much likeness and energy of the child, much like voodoo dolls.

 

Every day, the new mother would set aside a special time of the day for the baby to play with the doll and no other toy. As a child becomes attached to a toy in life, it can equally become as attached in death. Scheduling playtime with the doll would ensure that it would become the child’s favorite toy and they would, more easily be attracted to play with it even after their untimely death.

Yorgui Teyrouz is a pharmacy student at the Lebanese American

University. He’s been a scout for 15 years. He also served in the Red

Cross in 2003 for a year.

Yorgui is the founder of Donner Sang Compter (DSC), and he has

been working to better the blood donation cause in Lebanon for the

past 5 years. Lebanon lacks a national blood bank, or any public

blood donation service and awareness about the importance of

voluntary blood donation is often nonexistent. DSC is composed of

young volunteers from various social and professional backgrounds.

Their job is to raise awareness about voluntary blood donation

across the Lebanese territory: from schools and universities, to

churches and mosques, to movie theatres and even nightclubs.

Along with awakening young people to the vital importance of the

selfless act itself, DSC is encouraging them to become voluntary

blood donors. The service is completely free of charge and relies

solely on the registered donors’ selfless efforts to help save a life.

When he’s not donating blood, running his NGO or studying, Yorgui

goes camping and loves to discover new places in Lebanon. His

activities are all about friends and team sports. Reggae music keeps

him smiling and is a part of his daily life.

This series of photos shows our cruise ship's journey along the Fiordland coast between Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and then our looping route in one entrance to this enormous fiord and out another. The reaction of my fellow passengers to this magnificent New Zealand scenery was, in itself, wonderful to observe.

•Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. Doubtful Sound was named 'Doubtful Harbour' in 1770 by Captain Cook, who did not enter the inlet as he was uncertain whether it was navigable under sail. It was later renamed Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers. There are three distinct arms to the sound, which is the site of several large waterfalls, notably Helena Falls at Deep Cove, and the Browne Falls which have a fall of over 600 metres. The steep hills are known for their hundreds of waterfalls during the rainy season. Access to the sound is either by sea, or by the Wilmot Pass road from the Manapouri Power Station. Most areas of the sound itself are only accessible by sea however, as the road network in this area of New Zealand is sparse or nonexistent, as is the human population. Doubtful Sound is unusual in that it contains two distinct layers of water that scarcely mix. The top few meters is fresh water, fed from the high inflows from the surrounding mountains, and stained brown with tannins from the forest. Below this is a layer of cold, heavy, saline water from the sea. The dark tannins in the fresh water layer makes it difficult for light to penetrate. Thus, many deep-sea species will grow in the comparatively shallow depths of the Sound.

Suspended Animation Classic #350

Originally published September 3, 1995 (#35)

(Dates are approximate)

 

The X Files; Los Omnipotents

By Michael Vance

 

The silliness called Psychobabble is psychology based on faulty or nonexistent science. Now, there’s a new babble in town.

 

A confusion of myths from Atlantis to Zulus with wings – our metaphysical beliefs from all times and nations – that I now label metababble is hot.

 

And metababble is kept in “The X Files”.

 

Government agents Mulder and Scully investigate metababble on television and in a new comic book. In current issues, they travel to St. Elias, Alaska. Atlantic is buried under the ice there.

 

In Atlantis, someone has rediscovered that eating a person gives the eater the eaten’s knowledge. This ancient myth of cannibalism is given veracity by the new discovery that all knowledge is stored in human DNA. Adding to the silliness, Aztecs and Toltecs have also become the Lost Tribe of Israel.

 

This is metababble, fun unless taken seriously.

 

Taken with a grain of salt is the art of this series. It’s clean, interesting storytelling with one major fault. Neither Scully nor Mulder look like Scully or Mulder.

 

Also salty is the written word. Stefan Petrucha has done his homework according to a long list of reference materials. He understands that adding layers of myth makes metaphysical confusion almost believable and a fun read.

 

In addition, unfolding plot, and characterization are intriguing. Much is promised in this half of the two-part “shocker”, “Silent Cities of the Mind”.

 

But you won’t be shocked. You won’t throw this in the “round” file, either.

 

Taken with a large grain of salt is the price of “The X Files”, which follows the standard rules of packaging like page count and paper quality. Why is it so high?

 

#8/22 pages, $2.95 from Topps Comics/writer: Stephan Petrucha; artist: Charles Adlard/available in comics shops, on newsstands, and by mail.

 

MINIVIEW: “Los Omnipotents” [El Wendigo]. Comics articles and a long, well drawn, futuristic comics drama filled with ugliness and violence. For mature, Spanish reading comics fans.

  

Jos is wading through the swamp of Pick Naming Conventions and nonexistent standards.

Day 68 of the 365 Journey. As I drove to work this morning, I looked at thermostat and it read 72 degrees. As it was only 6:30 in the morning, everything screamed SCORCHER! Had there only been a slight breeze it would have made the outrageous heat a tad bit bearable. However as it was, the breeze was nonexistent. After work I rushed home, grabbed the hose, and sprayed myself as if I was one of the puppies trying to avoid overheating. The title was originally “TRIPLE DIGITS”, however something about it just screamed “NIKE AD”. HAHA, so there ya have it!

 

(DISCLAIMER:Not affiliated with NIKE in any way shape or form)

 

Tomorrow should be about 10 degrees cooler…..WHEW!

 

Strobist:

Shutter Speed 2s

Aperture F32

ISO 100

Focal Length – 40mm

White Bal – Auto

Lighting – Flashpoint Monolight 1220 at 2/5 Power with 45’’ Shoot thru Umbrella at at subject 85 Degrees (approx 5ft forward).

  

I was visiting Fredericksburg for the weekend and decided I had to make it a point to document some N&W CPL signals before they're inevitably gone. I left Fredericksburg at 7 am, drove through almost two straight hours of violent downpours, and finally landed here. Cell service was nonexistent which I hadn't initially considered. My navigation didn't work so I had to use my internal compass to find exactly where this location was. Lo and behold at 8:40 the rain stopped and I found them. I stood there a good while admiring how fascinatingly ginormous they are in person. I'm hoping to make it back down soon with enough time to actually see a train pass these.

 

Here we're looking south. It appears NS did some clearing of brush to our right recently perhaps to clear for maintenance access. It makes for a great shot for those looking to catch something here.

  

1993 Suède Sweden Svezia

Tiens qui est-ce donc ?

Who's that ?

Ma dai, lei è anche lì !!!!!

 

Escapade en train à Blåhammaren, dans le nord de la Suède, près de la frontier norvégienne.

Il est conseillé de savoir lire une carte et utiliser la boussole, car les sentiers ne sont pas bien marqués et on ne rencontre quasi personne ... le temps peut aussi changer brusquement : en qq minutes on passé de l'été à l'hiver avec de la neige (meme en plein mois de juillet).

 

Week-end close to the Norwegian border, in the north of Sweden, at Blåhammaren.

It is recommended to be able to read a map and use a compass because the paths are almost nonexistent ... the weather can also change within minutes going from Summer into Winter (with snow mid of July).

 

Camminata vicina al confine con la Norvegia, a Blåhammaren (2 giorni).

Saper leggere una mappa e utilizzare una bussola è d'obbligo perché i sentieri non si vedono bene. E non c'è molta gente da incontrare ! Subito il meteo può anche cambiare da estate a inverno con neve a metà luglio !

This station in Norton was once a stop on the Taunton Branch Railroad. It's a pretty early station, built in 1853. This station is only 4 miles from where I live if you were to travel along the nonexistent rail line (half that distance is now a bike path) -- it would have been a quick ride even on a slow old steam train. (It's only slightly farther traveling along the roads, but less fun.)

 

This station has been recently been restored and is now for sale as a private home, asking price $409,000. It has previously held a post office, a glue factory, a bakery, and a bistro (not at the same time...) Its role as a passenger station ended in 1938, although the railroad line continued to exist until 1965.

 

The real estate ads that I found for this building online do mention that it used to be a train station. I'm not sure why the for sale sign has been pulled out -- according to all the websites, it's currently for sale. Next, I might have to pretend to be a potential buyer so I can get a real estate agent to show me the interior :)

  

Memory is at once existent and nonexistent. Memories rest in our minds until the time we must recall them. Memories seem solid. KNOWN. But they are so fragile that in a moment they are gone. SHATTERED. They shift with the light that colors events and change as others move into their space. Our friends can only experience our memories from the angle we give them. Memories leave marks in our brains of the stops along our paths -- a mark for each moment -- yet some are so deeply imbedded that we cannot recall them. THEY WAVER, yet we base our lives on our memories.

zirconia28.wordpress.com/

Stivan, a small settlement on Adriatic Sea island Cres in Kvarner bay, is an almost abandoned place. Incredibly stony ground, almost nonexistent arable soil, not close enough to the sea shore to be of interest for tourists, offers little to survive. Some old fig trees and olive trees and sheep, this is all one can rely on. But it is situated in a great landscape, in an open, rather flat (as the whole south part of the island) Mediterranean landscape, harsh, wind-swept and sunny, with mild spring and autumn climate and hot summers. Yet, 200 years ago men was capable not only to survive here but also to live full lives and to build large stony farmhouses like this one on my pictures. Now it is a ruin worth nothing, defeated by time and overtaken by Wulfen's Spurge (Euphorbia wulfeni).

L to R, per Anna: Erik, Anna's friend, Anna (with butterfly dress), Anna's brother, Toby the dog (on the pink leash), Anna's sister

Ed Coates writes:

 

The crew of this ancient 'boat appear not to be too troubled by the almost nonexistent slipstream acquired at a stately ninety knots. Although originally built (in 1925) with wooden hulls, the 11 Southampton Is were rebuilt as Mk IIs with metal hulls early in the 1930s. Some 60 were used by the RAF in the 1925-1936 era. Many were based at RAF Seletar, Singapore. In addition to the RAF squadrons, some 20 or so Southamptons were sold abroad, including a civil passenger model for Japan.

 

See also: www.aviastar.org/air/england/supermarine_southampton.php