Oh. It turns out he was on a cigarette break. I shouldn’t have called Scotland Yard (London).

The history:

On March 22, 1971, three individuals from New York City stole approximately $1.5 million in artworks and silver items from the Villa Vizcaya, some of which were of historical value. This trio of reputed jewel thieves was arrested on March 25, 1971. Sergeant Tom Connolly from the New York Police Department raided the Manhattan apartment of Vojislav Stanimirovic and his wife Branka, and arrested them. The couple's accomplice, Alexander Karanovic, was also arrested, and all three were charged with suspicion of stolen property and possession of a dangerous weapon. From the Stanimirovic apartment approximately $250,000 of the stolen goods was recovered. Sergeant Connolly stated that included in the theft was a silver bowl that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte and was virtually priceless. According to Sergeant Connolly, the three perpetrators had been under surveillance for four months for unrelated mega jewel burglaries that they had carried out in the Manhattan Diamond District. NYPD Captain Thomas Kissane said that the vast majority of the precious items stolen from the Vizcaya were never recovered.

Linyphiidae Enoplognatha ovata, a Tangleweb spider (Theridiidae) on field garlic Allium oeraceum Many thanks to B. Edman for the spider ID!

Body size: 5-6 mm

Early morning stack shot in beginning of July 2012.

41 natural light exposures combined in Zerene Stacker.

This is the perpetrator behind the entangled earwig I posted earlier (see below).

Canon 5DmkII + Canon MP-E65 @ 0.3s, f/5.6, ISO200

“To Catch A Prey”

Model: Joel Robison

I’m embracing some new changes. For a while I only wanted to create images that spoke from the darkest parts of me. I think when you hang out with people you respect and connect with, they inspire new things in you. That person for me lately has been Joel, another dear friend and fellow photographer. While I embrace making images a little lighter in theme and also in luminosity I can still add dark elements to sharpen its edges. For this image I wanted to juxtapose a bleeding heart searching for it’s next perpetrator while offering it in a whimsical visual.

__________________

Shot with the Sony A7riii and Sony 85 1.4 Lens.

Femicide and Fatal Outcomes

Intimate Partner Homicides: Globally, as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners.

Family-Related Killings: In 2023, around 51,100 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members. This equates to, on average, 140 women or girls killed every day by someone in their own family.

In contrast, only 12% of all male homicides are perpetrated in the private sphere.

This was the first tomb we went to in India and according to our tour guide, he would call this the poor version of the famous Taj Mahal. Seriously if this is poor, my goodness this is pretty darn awesome! It is just magnificent to look at & the details of the artworks on the walls and windows are so very good! If only someone can give me a tomb like that when i die! :P Anyway I have been watching a lot of Indian movies and documentaries lately and recently one called India's daughter. I believe some of you might know about this especially in UK as it has been banned in India. Despite the sad topic of the documentary, I wouldn't put any judgement on this beautiful country just because of those few perpetrators who do not speak on behalf of this nation. I am still very much mesmerised by the people and their culture. With that, I want to say a great International Women's Day to all women out there! Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity!

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About

Morning at Humayun's Tomb, Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India

The Shot

3 exposure shots (+2..0..-2 EV) in RAW with tripod

Camera :: Canon 5D Mark II

Lens :: Canon 24-105mm F/4L

Photomatix

- Tonemapped generated HDR using detail enhancer option

Photoshop

- Added 3 layer mask effect of 'curves' for selective contrast

- Added 1 layer mask effect of 'level' to enhance the architecture

- Added 2 layer mask effect of 'saturation' (reds & yellows) to tone down the ground & architecture

- Added 1 layer mask effect of 'saturation' (cyans) to remove some colour fringing

- Added 1 layer mask effect of 'photo filter' (warm yellow) to slightly tone up the sky

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I wish to dedicate this photograph to the people who lost their lives in the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London, to all the victims wounded and their families, to all the emergency services who came to their aid and to the members of the public who did all they could for their fellow humans.

Religion in itself is a most wonderful thing, no one particular religion but all of them. They all teach a way of life that is peaceful, loving and kind, there are no religions in this world that uphold the ideologies of the terrorist no matter what cause they fight for.

There is no reason in this world that says it is alright to murder innocent ordinary everyday people going about their normal lives. No matter the country they live in or the country they perpetrate their acts of barbarity.

Personally, I am a peace loving man and I wish everyone in the world the opportunity to be able to sleep peacefully in their bed at night, wake up to the dawn of a new day and enjoy what we experience in this life.

There is far too many things in this world that are awful without mankind making it worse. We have a body of nations called the UN, they should be able to bring about peace and stability in the world but we know that they cannot do it alone because there are too many vested interests in wars, violence and destruction.

The people of the world, all human beings of all races, creeds, colours, religions, sexuality or ethnicity, however you choose to identify yourself, if you are a lover of peace and of your fellow human inhabitants of this earth, lets pass on some love.

I urge everyone of you reading this to do just one thing of your choosing to help someone or make someone feel better, make that someone a complete stranger, a simple smile to a lonely person could do more good than donating a million to charity.

I promise you that from this day forward, I commit to doing at least one thing for someone, no matter who they are, no matter what they look like, talk like, smell like or act like, I will endeavour to do a single good thing at least once a day.

Join with me, spread the love!

This photo isn't from Ukraine, and a lost mitten in no way compares to the things that the Ukrainian people must leave behind and do without as they flee Putin's aggression. But this photo from my archives - like almost anything I see these days - reminds me of the terrible suffering being perpetrated there. Hence the selective color change as I post this to the Things Left on Posts (TLOP) group.

LIFE GOES ON BETWEEN THE LINES OF VULNERABILITY AND GOOD HEALTH AS THE LINES BEGIN TO BLUR AND THE GAP BETWEEN THEM CLOSES

My neighbour, Dusty, in the picture. He is 90 years old bless him. Still out walking his little Jack Russell dog, Jack, who is out of sight, tending to his own business in another neigbour's hedgerow, who is also 90 years old … the neighbour, not the hedgerow, though it may well be! ; 0))) Long-lived people here. May it always be so!

“Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don't think you can, hold on.”

― James Frey, A Million Little Pieces

Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dlh-X1fpoQ

DIGNITY – BOB DYLAN

Too late now, in my opinion, BUT :

What the World governments needed was simple … they needed an adviser who was one of the most vulnerable to lessen the impact of this global crisis. 80% of people may only get mild symptoms, 14% may have serious complications, 6% may die. These were the statistics. Surely it would have been better to have the world running at 80% than at zero. Surely it would have made sense that those of us who have underlying medical conditions should have been shielded before now. I am hovering between the 6% and 14%. I am one of the ones who should panic and yet it is mostly the healthy, able-bodied who are panic buying and leaving the vulnerable without basic supplies. STOP BEING SELFISH!!!!!

Witnessed by a friend or on the news (NOT fake news as far as I am aware) :

A wealthy person with a Range Rover crammed with loo rolls and food.

A person at check-out buying 300 loo rolls and 80 tins of soup.

Two sweet, frail old ladies standing outside a supermarket crying their eyes out because there was nothing left on the shelves.

A nurse coming off a 48 hour shift crying because there was no food left. How is she supposed to administer to the sick when she becomes sick herself.

Food Banks closing because there is no food left for the homeless. Shameful that even in my country there are still homeless people who are now made more vulnerable without sustenance.

People coughing and sneezing everywhere instead of staying home! I walked a few steps along the High Street. A mother sneezed not only over me, but over her small child. Perhaps she just has a cold, but even so, it is not acceptable to sneeze anywhere except into a tissue. I side-stepped her too late. She gave me a filthy accusing look as if I was the perpetrator of some great crime! I worry for the child.

STOP PUTTING THE ECONOMY BEFORE HUMAN LIVES!!!!!

Yes, the economy is important, but would locking down the world for 2 weeks from the get-go have been so bad. In retrospect, I think not.

Money cannot bring back to life those who have succumbed to the Coronavirus.

Money cannot comfort those people who have lost loved ones.

The Economy will recover.

Change your way of thinking and adapt :

We need to change, because what we have been doing up to now is not working for the good of all. People are divided, in my opinion, into two distinct groups :

THE HAVES AND HAVE NOTS!!!!!

There are those selfish and greedy people who only think about themselves. They are making this so much harder for everyone. I pray for them.

There are those selfless people who never advertise their kindness. They go about bestowing acts of kindness on all they meet with never a thought for their own health and safety. They are our guardian angels. All that kindness put out to the world is paying dividends now. I thank God for them.

Look to your neighbour. I have a small group of friends and family. We are pooling our resources. Every day we ask of each other, what do you need? Every day we try to fulfil that need. Today, I asked for something I would normally take for granted. I have an elderly cat with a chronic illness who is a fussy eater. He likes salmon, but there is none in the shops, so today when I was asked, what do I need, I said, please, if you see some salmon, Teddy would like some. In return I will give something of what I have to someone who needs it more. Yesterday, I said, could I have cat litter. I received 1 large bag. Today 2 more arrived on my doorstep. Tomorrow another will arrive.

Seemingly, we take so much for granted. We must not. If we are to survive, we must be adaptable. We must think of others. We are asked to observe social distance. We are asked to self-isolate. We are asked to shield the most vulnerable. In fact, we are asked to observe separateness and indeed the most loving gift we can give someone we love right now is to keep our distance, but it does not mean we are not united. In spirit, we are more united now than ever. We are united in our grief. We are united in our struggle. We should be united in our thinking. We can still help others. This is Peace Time, but it is a War of the World. We are fighting an unknown, invisible enemy. We are all in this together and the only way we can combat it is to think as one, so please do not be selfish. If you are sick, stay indoors. One thing we must not share with the world, is this disease. We are fortunate. We can still remain connected without physical interaction. We have telephones. We have the Internet. We have Face Time, Whatsapp, Skype … No need for us to feel alone. Today I have spoken to many people, via text, my landline and through my closed door. I have been brought kitchen rolls, cat litter, soups, cat food, cat treats and even lemonade. I read a blog by a sick man. He said he was off caffeine and only craved sharp drinks. I have been brought tinned spaghetti. There is no pasta left in shops anywhere here! I have even been brought Slimfast protein powder, ha ha ha! Are they saying I'm FAT!! ; 0))) It's the thought that counts and it is nutritious : 0) Yesterday, when I was asked what I needed, I also said, I don't NEED it, but I would like it … dark chocolate with sea-salt. My favourite. Still waiting people … ;-D Just kidding! ; 0)) I am very fortunate. I feel blessed. People are very kind to me; very loving and generous. They are my heroes!! Thanks you guys! You are the best!!!

My prognosis of the situation :

This original statistic allegedly of 80% of healthy people is decreasing. Soon it will reverse if we are not careful. Soon it may become 20% healthy to 80% sick ratio. This disease is indiscriminate. It does not care if you are wealthy or poor, previously of good health or already sick. In my opinion, no-one is safe. Diseases are adaptable. Diseases can mutate. It is imperative that we are prepared. We must look out for ourselves, yes, of course, but we must also look out for each other. This is the true meaning of humanity. The whole world is affected. We must contribute to the good of all now more than ever.

BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION AND NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM.

Welcome to my world. I am prepared. I hope you are too. I hope you will all be well.

I am on day one of a 3 month self-imposed lock down, after making my last outing yesterday to conclude my business. I have supplies which will last about 2 weeks. I am reliant now on friends and family for the other 10 weeks. I already have a sore throat, headache and am sneezing. 3 friends and family also. At the time of writing this there are 33 confirmed cases in my small part of the island and one death. I am trying to remain calm. I have cancelled all of my routine doctor's appointments and hospital appointments, even though the hospital says it is safe to attend. There is a confirmed case at the hospital, so I am taking no chances. With all my chronic illnesses, I am often sick. I have 4 chronic medical conditions and am still awaiting the results of a biopsy. My lungs are permanently scarred from previous pneumonia. I have had a 'flu jab and one for pneumonia, but am told these may not protect me. If you remember, I had a very bad case of the 'flu after Christmas and have been wondering if it was Covid-19. I am very interested to learn that a test may be in the offing to determine whether or not someone has had it in the past before the announcement was initially made, but obviously the priority is to develop a vaccine. At the time of my illness, a close family member was hospitalised with a high temperature and same symptoms. He also has a bad cold at the moment and underlying health conditions. I must eat specific foods which I can no longer obtain. I must rely on medication. I have enough for 4 weeks. It may just be that I am run down because I have not been sleeping enough and have been very anxious. There is no point in panicking any more. I have reached a point where I could no longer remain in that high state of angst. Now I feel very calm. If my journey is to end after all I have already survived, I hope I leave something good behind. I hope I leave this world better than I found it. I have enjoyed being here with you. Thank you for your support, kindness, love and friendship. Thank you for your indulgence and acceptance. I am not the easiest of people, I know … ; 0) Thank you for your letters. Apologies that I still have not replied to all. I have been overwhelmed. I am aware of what a Drama Queen I am! ; 0)) Let us hope that all my fears are unfounded ...

STAY SAFE! STAY WELL! STAY HOME! GOD BLESS X

It is important to remember that this world of ours is still beautiful. I will continue to post pictures from my gardens. Government apparently says if we are sick we should stay 6 feet from our boundaries. This is easy for me, but not for everyone. I realise I am privileged. I realise that this year I may not have to “endure” and hide from the “dreaded” Summer people, but this year it will make me sad and I will undoubtedly miss them. I will continue to write my poems. I will continue to sing (good exercise btw for dodgy lungs like mine : 0) and make videos and create art. I will continue long after I am no longer here … my pages will remain. God willing, so will I …

p.s. On a more positive note … My protective filtering face mask just arrived today on day one of self-isolation! Yay!!!!! Will be handy when talking through the letter box! ; 0)))))) Remember to keep a good sense of humour at all times!! Look after yourselves. Look after yourselves and each other.

DISCLAIMER : The opinions expressed are my own. The information given is to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing this article.

Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission

UPDATE : 24.3.20.

Please sign this petition to protect those working for Holland and Barrett. They have an online shop. It is not essential to keep their stores up and running on the High Street. They are putting their employees health and safety at risk and their customers too. A lot of their customers are among the most vulnerable whom we need to protect. My own family member is being forced to work. He has an underlying medical condition that is also an autoimmune disease. He is one of the vulnerable, but he will lose his job if he stays home. Please help. Stay At Home. Protect Our NHS. Save Lives. Many thanks in advance of your kind help xxx

chng.it/Hf4YCrbVfW

Campanula rotundifolia.

The delicate, nodding blue bells of Harebells are one of the prettiest additions to our hedgerows, grasslands, hillsides, sand dunes and cliffs. As they flower from July to September, they are out long after many of our wildflowers so really make an impact. They also provide a late source of nectar for bees.

But it’s not just the wildlife and people that enjoy harebells. Fairy folk and witches are strongly associated with these flowers in folklore. A patch of harebells is a favourite home for fairies and if one is to walk through such a clump, the fairies cast spells on the perpetrator, giving this flower the names of Dead Man’s Bells and Fairies’ thimbles. In Scotland, this is often the plant referred to as 'bluebell'.

It was murder. I hate our weekly shopping trip to Fort William, especially when our B&B is busy. It can take most of the day, nearly three hours taken up driving to and from the shops. But the traffic congestion, camper vans, mobile homes, cars and people fighting over parking spaces and trolleys. It was almost too much for me. Sat there, outside Home Bargains I had often admired the rugged hillock across from the car park.......something about the shape of it, the scattering of old graves, the motionless bodies of sheep slumbering in the sunshine on the hillside. Little did I realise it had been the site of a fairly significant battle in 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which had gone unmentioned in school history lessons. I left the car and went for a walk under the shadow of Ben Nevis

The Battle of Inverlochy occurred on 2 February 1645, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, when a Royalist force of Highlanders and Confederate Irish troops under the overall command of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, routed and largely destroyed the pursuing forces of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, who had been encamped under the walls of Inverlochy Castle.

After the Covenanter-controlled Scottish Committee of Estates decided to intervene in the English Civil War on the Parliamentarian side, the Royalist party sought to find ways of tying down Covenanter forces in Scotland to prevent them being employed in England. King Charles I had already given a commission to Montrose, a disaffected former signatory of the Covenant, to organise Royalist opposition in Scotland. The project was given impetus when Confederate Ireland, at the instigation of the Earl of Antrim and the Duke of Ormond, aided the Royalists by sending 2,000 experienced troops to Scotland under Antrim's relative Alasdair Mac Colla. The Irish landed at Ardnamurchan on the west coast in early July 1644.

Montrose and a small number of Royalist clansmen linked up with Mac Colla in August. By this time the Committee of Estates had sent armies into the field against them, under the overall command of the experienced general William Baillie. Montrose, however, won surprise victories against government troops at Tippermuir and Aberdeen in September. He then retreated into the Highlands, pursued by a force under the Marquess of Argyll, the head of Clan Campbell and one of the key figures in the Committee of Estates, while Baillie's main army blocked Montrose's path eastward. By late November, the Royalists had added another 1,000 recruits, largely from amongst the men of Clan Donald. Over the winter they conducted a fierce campaign of burning and plundering largely directed against the lands of Argyll himself, and culminating in the sacking of Inveraray. Montrose left Inveraray on 14 January 1645 and headed north. It is believed that he split his army at Glen Etive sending part of it up past Ballachulish while the bulk continued across Rannoch Moor, into Glencoe.

Baillie and Argyll believed that Montrose's force would easily be trapped or dispersed once the difficulty of supplying them in the Highlands in winter took hold. Indeed, by the end of January, Montrose had halted at Kilchummin in the Great Glen, with supplies exhausted and with his forces reduced to less than 2,000 due to sickness and desertions amongst the Highlanders, who were eager to return home with their plunder. At Kilchummin he learned that a large contingent of Northern Levies under the Earl of Seaforth blocked the route northward at Inverness, while Argyll – with a force made up of his own regiment, eight companies of Lowland foot sent by Baillie, and a large number of Clan Campbell levies – was camped to the south of him at Inverlochy. Further south, Baillie and Sir John Urry were assembling further troops.. The Royalists were now effectively trapped.

Montrose decided to face the threat by marching south and attacking Argyll. This course may have been chosen as Argyll's men now threatened the lands of several of Montrose's key supporters. However, he realised that a frontal approach would be quickly detected. What followed was a remarkable flanking march, during winter, across some of the toughest and wildest terrain in the British Isles, partly through snow knee-deep. The Royalists first travelled up the River Tarff to Glen Buck via Culachy, and across the gorge of the Calder Burn to reach the head of the glen, 1000 feet above sea level. They then climbed a further 1000 feet to Carn na Larach, before travelling down Glen Turret and Glen Roy to Keppoch, where the advance guard rested for around three hours in a barn while the main force caught up.

After fording the Spean, and passing through Leanachan Woods, they emerged on the slopes of Ben Nevis above Inverlochy in the early hours of Candlemas Day, 2 February; they had marched around 36 miles in 36 hours.

Montrose's army spent a cold night in the open on the side of Ben Nevis. Argyll was already aware that a small force was operating in the area, having been alerted by pickets driven from Keppoch by the Royalist advance guard. He did not know, however, that he was faced by the entire royal army. Just before dawn on 2 February 1645, Argyll and his commanders were dismayed at the sight that lay before them. As far as they were aware Montrose should still have been 30 miles north.

Argyll did not stay for the battle, having injured his arm in a fall from his horse, and retired to his galley anchored on Loch Linnhe. Command of the government forces was left in the hands of his kinsman Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck, described by Robert Baillie as "a stout soldier, but a very vicious man". Auchinbreck was an experienced veteran recently recalled from the war in Ireland and regarded as the best soldier in Clan Campbell.

Auchinbreck lined up his forces with the left wing anchored on Inverlochy Castle, which he reinforced with 200 musketeers to protect his left flank. In the centre he placed Argyll's regiment, with an advance guard commanded by Gillespie, son of the Laird of Bingingeahds.On the flanks he put the 8 companies of Lowland militia sent by Baillie, under Roughe and Cockburn, while to the rear was a reserve of Campbell clan levies commanded by the lairds of Lochnell and Rarra, along with two light artillery pieces. Unlike at Tippermuir and Aberdeen, where Montrose had annihilated hastily conscripted and poorly trained militias, many of the troops he faced at Inverlochy were veterans of the wars in England and Ireland. Montrose lined his army up only two lines deep to avoid being outflanked, placing the clansmen, under his personal command, in the centre with the Irish on the flanks, the left being commanded by MacColla and the right by O'Cahan. A small troop of light cavalry, led by Sir Thomas Ogilvie of Airlie, protected the Royalist standard.

The fight did not start straight away and instead skirmishes broke out along the line before dawn. This was possibly because Montrose wanted to harry Argyll's men to ensure they did not slip away, whilst hiding his own presence and the full size of his army. Auchinbreck and his officers thought that they were only fighting one of Montrose's lieutenants and not the man himself, believing he was still far up the glen. Wishart, Montrose's biographer, claimed that they only realised Montrose and his cavalry were present on hearing trumpets used as the attack signal. Just before first light, the Royalists launched their attack.

O'Cahan's men advanced first, followed by Mac Colla. The Irish closed rapidly and violently with the regular troops on both flanks. Montrose, in his letter describing the battle, stated that they went quickly to "push of pike and dint of sword". The Irish routed the two wings, exposing Auchinbreck's centre. Montrose then launched the highlanders at Argyll's regiment and the Campbell clansmen; as the first line was driven back on to the second, the latter panicked and broke.[Some of the Lowland foot forming Auchinbreck's left attempted to retreat into the castle, but were blocked by the Royalist cavalry under Ogilvie and driven to the shore of the loch. Auchinbreck was shot in the thigh while trying to rally his men and died shortly afterwards. The remaining Covenanters briefly rallied around their standard, then broke and ran. The battle rapidly became a "massacre perpetrated by one set of feuding clansmen on another". Those who ran towards the loch were slaughtered, while the remainder attempted to escape into the hills. The small garrison in Inverlochy castle surrendered without a fight.

As was common in the battles of the era, the majority of casualties occurred during the rout of the retreating forces, who were pursued at least eight miles from the battlefield. In later years the graves of many of them were pointed out in Glen Nevis Over 1500 Covenanter troops died, while Montrose lost very few men, reputedly as few as between four and eight, the most notable Royalist casualty being Sir Thomas Ogilvie who was hit by a stray bullet and died several days later. Many gentry and tacksmen serving under Argyll were killed, including John Campbell of Lochnell, Colin MacDougal of Rarra, and others. The remaining officers were all captured, although some, such as Cockburn, were shortly released on parole on the promise that they did not take up arms against the Royalists.

On 11 February the Parliament of Scotland found Montrose and 19 of his main followers, including Mac Colla and Graham of Inchbrackie, guilty of high treason in their absence. The following day Argyll himself appeared before Parliament, with his arm in a sling, dismissing the loss as a minor setback. Robert Baillie afterwards wrote that "this disaster did extremely amaze us. I verily think that had Montrose come presently from that battle he should have had no opposition in the Highlands [...] scarce till he had come to Edinburgh. But God in mercy put other thoughts in his heart".

Montrose was able to use this conflict to rally Clan Donald against Clan Campbell. In many respects, the Battle of Inverlochy was as much part of the clan war between these two deadly enemies and their allies as it was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and that is how it was portrayed in Gaelic folklore. After the battle MacDonalds pursued fleeing Campbells up the Lairig Mhor, which is now part of the West Highland Way, killing those they caught. About 12 km from the battle field they stopped and marked the spot by erecting a stone which came to be known as Clach nan Caimbeulach or the Campbell's Stone. Today the place is marked by a rough cairn, or pile of stones

The victory also secured the cooperation in Montrose's campaign of the Marquess of Huntly, whose Clan Gordon levies made him one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland.

Thanks to Wikipedia

Case No: 4240026

Date: 15/12/13

Reporting Officer: Officer Dan Foley

Prepared By: Officer Dan Foley

Incident: Arrest of suspected arms dealer and attempted escape.

Detail of event: Arrest of Irish arms dealer that lead to a footchase and two officers down. Perpetrator taken down by SWAT leader. Well-trained and tough perp, too.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

( Foley) Alright, man. You ready?

(Officer Haynes) Yeah, buddy.

(Captain Wallace) Alright. Weapons in condition one, safeties on. We want this guy alive.

Ready?

Roger that.

Alright. Breaching in 3...

3...

1...

*Crunch*

GCPD! Put your hands where I can se-*BLAM*

*BLAM**BLAM*

Perp went through the back door!

Yep, I got 'im.

I'm coming with you.

(SWAT Officer) Base, we have two men down. Repeat, two men down. We need a medic now for a sucking chest wound, and one for a headshot. They've both got pulses for now, but we need immediate medical attention now...

---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Billy, Steve, look; a GCPD build. Awwwwww yeeeeeah. I mean, not the best build, but it still counts, right?

I don't care. I've still got another build to do; the takedown of this guy. Click-kapow.

Anyways, comments and faves appreciated. Not the best build, so shut up about that; it was a quick 45-minute one.

Le donjon roman de Pouzauges de section carrée est un des plus anciens de la région (XIIe s.). Il domine un système défensif constitué autrefois de 3 enceintes successives. Au XVe s., Catherine de Thouars épouse Gilles de Rais, son cousin et apporte en dot le château de Pouzauges. Il devient une des quelques quarante forteresses appartenant à Gilles de Rais.

Ce dernier, ancien compagnon d'armes de Jeanne d'Arc a été fait Maréchal de France par le roi Charles VII. Retiré des campagnes militaires, il dilapide son immense fortune dans des festivités dispendieuses et se livre à l'Alchimie et à la Magie-Noire avec ses acolytes Eustache Blanchet et Francesco Prelati. On pense qu'ils sont responsables des sacrifices d'environ 150 enfants perpétrés dans les châteaux de Machecoul, Tiffauges, Champtocé. Ils seront condamnés à l'échafaud en 1440. Cette histoire serait à l'origine du conte "Barbe bleue" de Gilles Perrault.

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais

The Romanesque keep of Pouzauges of square section is one of the oldest in the region (twelfth century). It dominates a defensive system formerly consisting of 3 successive enclosures. In the fifteenth century, Catherine de Thouars married Gilles de Rais, her cousin and brought as a dowry the castle of Pouzauges. It became one of some forty fortresses belonging to Gilles de Rais. The latter, former comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc was made Marshal of France by King Charles VII. Retired from military campaigns, he squandered his immense fortune in expensive festivities and indulged in Alchemy and Black Magic with his acolytes Eustache Blanchet and Francesco Prelati. It is believed that they are responsible for the sacrifices of about 150 children perpetrated in the castles of Machecoul, Tiffauges, Champtocé. They were condemned to the scaffold in 1440. This story would be at the origin of the tale "Bluebeard" by Gilles Perrault.

These carvings dating back to 17th century have taken brunt of perpetrators. If the carving was intact, it would have been a beautiful artifact.

After World War 2 memorials were added to the Launceston Synagogue windows to remember family members killed by the Nazis. You can read them for yourself. In the English speaking world the word "holocaust" has become the most common term for this period in which 6 million Jews were slaughtered. But there is in fact a very good reason why many Jews now prefer the term "shoah" שואה .

Professor Zev Garber explains:

"Whereas “holocaust” is inevitably a God-focused word, because of its older meaning, the word Shoah (devastation, destruction) is human-focused and is not loaded with theological overtones. This is why I prefer the name, Shoah.

Using the term shoah, however, puts the focus squarely back on the tragedy of the Jewish genocide and the evil perpetrated by the Nazis. Though this does not absolve us from grappling with the Shoah’s theological ramifications, choosing to call the slaughter of six million Jews by such a human-focused term forces us to consider the very human reality of this most catastrophic event in Jewish and indeed, human history."

www.thetorah.com/article/the-slaughter-of-six-million-jew...

I logged on today, 3-13-23. Someone had deleted the following description, for this photo. It was posted on 3-11-23. I reposted it.

Walking Across Fire Part 3

What you see here, is layers of Walmart employees, Mobbing and Blocking, Koda and I. This aisle is huge, but they occupied every inch of it. This is a perfect example, of conspired Gang Stalking. Acts like this done openly, the Target knowing it’s intentional. Others, unaware, of what is happening right in front of them. Acts like this repeated, all day, every day. Some involved my not know its intent. Others, eager to mob, harass, and bate, a total stranger. Someone they’ve never met, or taken the time to know them. Others, so full of hate, they spend their whole day; performing acts like this, on total strangers. This blocking mob, happened after I told an employee; Koda and I are harassed, every time we come into this store. Again, they will use the excuse; we are doing inventory. Perpetrators, involved in Gang Stalking, will always have some kind of bullshit excuse, and witnesses, to cover their asses. Can you imagine, working with people like this? Being harassed, in the parking lot. Before you even step out of your car. Harassed again, as soon as you step into your workplace. It may be a small act, but you know its intent. Koda, our heavy cart, and I, had to maneuver through mobs like this, throughout the store. The young guy on the left, followed us from section to section. So, did the woman, where my logo is placed. Now, tell me; the Store Manager, is not aware of this. I’m sure the employee I spoke with, told him. The one that told me they have a new manager. Walmart, store managers have never, come to speak to me, when I have asked.

If you do happen to speak out; the retaliation goes over the top. The harassment intensifies. Day and night. You are blasted with intense noise campaigns, during the harassment. You are left sleep-deprived.

First responses, jumping in on the hate, the noise, the intimidation. Aircraft, doing the same. This being done, day after day, by your coworkers, total strangers. This is what I received today, all day, while I was doing maintenance, on our motor home.

I’m under the motor home, doing routine maintenance. I have a back and neck injury, so I’m not moving too fast. A low flying plane goes over, stalls its engine. Gunfire starts, loud trucks pulling in and out of the area, we are staying at. Extremely loud motorcycles, going back and forth. I work my way out from under the motor home. Someone had opened one of the latches, on a cargo door, to the back of the motor home. I take a picture of it. I squirm back under the motor home, to finish my work. The owner of the place, brings people by our area. The same plane circling, stalling again. The gunfire starts again, loud trucks show up. I finished what I was doing, squirm my way out from under it again. There was a bag of large tarps, I had set towards the back of the motor home. Someone had taken them and placed them, behind and far from my solar panels. They were heavy, the wind blowing in the opposite direction. They were placed there, during all the noise, and while I was under the motor home. I took a picture. As I’m putting my things away; the plane comes back, more gunfire, loud trucks, and an ATV driving slowly in circles.

Can you imagine, everyday like this? Not knowing anything about Gang Stalking, Workplace Mobbing. You become overwhelmed. No one believes you. You, yourself, not believing this is happening in the United States of America. Law Enforcement, not doing anything to help. This is how many people are pushed over their emotional, and mental limits. No one helping, or believing that this is happening.

Gang Stalking and Workplace Mobbing, are the root cause of many mass shootings. Don’t let anyone tell you it's not. In our society; there is no shortage of hate, and ignorance. Violence, is not the answer. Educating yourself, and exposure, is. Our government agencies have become so corrupt, they will spend any cost, to keep Americans from knowing the truth.

Gang Stalking, Workplace Mobbing, is thriving in the United States!

I just stepped out for a moment, to let Koda use the bathroom. The Convoy of Hate, comes zooming back and forth on Salome Hwy.

Note: Some people, in my photos, may not be involved in Gang Stalking. Some are unknowingly following instructions from others. The ones that run these programs; are masters of manipulation.

Thanks for visiting my photostream. All content in my photostream; is free to download, copy, share and print. Please, leave my logos on them. The Truth, should be free to all who seek it.

Violence is not the answer, exposure is.

Quizás los aficionados al ferrocarril estemos algo mejor preparados que el resto de los ciudadanos para soportar una cuarentena y un confinamiento con mayor estoicismo y entereza. Habitualmente vivimos largas jornadas en medio de la nada, soportando las inclemencias climáticas, sin tener contacto con otros seres humanos, sin apenas probar bocado y casi sin beber ni agua. A todo esto, si el escenario de tus fotos es España, ya entonces la ausencia de trenes te permite estar a la altura de los naturalistas que siguen los pasos del esquivo y escaso tigre siberiano. Bueno, al menos estos últimos todavía no tienen la desgracia de toparse con los desaguisados perpetrados por los grafiteros... de momento, pero todo se andará....El caso es que por una vez, el trabajo de desparasitado de esta foto ha tenido la virtud de desconectarme momentaneamente del duro momento que nos está tocando vivir. No quiero terminar mi comentario sin mandar un afectuoso saludo a todos los aficionados ferroviarios del mundo entero y muy especialmente a nuestros colegas italianos que están sufriendo esta lacra del coronavirus con una especial crudeza. Ojalá todo esto acabe cuanto antes y podamos retomar nuestras vidas con una razonable normalidad.

Perhaps railroad fans are somewhat better prepared than the rest of the citizens to endure quarantine and confinement with greater stoicism and integrity. We usually live long days in the middle of nowhere, enduring inclement weather, without having contact with other human beings, with hardly a bite to eat and almost without drinking water. To all this, if the scene of your photos is Spain, then the absence of trains allows you to keep up with the naturalists who follow the footsteps of the elusive and rare Siberian tiger. Well, at least they still do not have the misfortune to come across the messed up perpetrators by the graffiti "artists" ... for now, but everything will work .... The fact is that for once, the deworming work of this photo has had the virtue of momentarily disconnecting from the hard moment that we are living. I do not want to end my comment without sending an affectionate greeting to all the railway fans of the whole world and especially to our Italian colleagues who are suffering this scourge of the coronavirus with a special cruelty. Hopefully all this ends as soon as possible and we can resume our lives with a reasonable normality.

Les Mursis sont des habitants semi-nomades du sud de l’Éthiopie, vivant à la périphérie ouest du Parc national de Mago, en bordure de la rivière Omo. Ils forment un des derniers peuples d’Afrique dont les femmes portent des ornements labiaux (labret) et auriculaires en forme de disques plats, d’où leur nom de « femmes à plateau ». Cette tradition qui concerne les femmes adultes et pas les jeunes-filles, est encore répandue mais tend à devenir plus rare.

Les Mursi vivent dans une région reculée d'Éthiopie. Ils la contrôlent, et y vivent en étroite symbiose avec l'environnement. Ils forment un groupe homogène, régi par des dogmes séculaires et des rituels ancestraux. Ils ont peu d'interactions, même pacifiques, avec les autres peuples de la région et combattent farouchement, à coup de lance et de kalachnikov, le vol de bétail et les razzias de femmes perpétrés par d'autres peuples sur leur territoire.

Ils se querellent régulièrement avec les Hamers, desquels ils sont pourtant séparés par un grand territoire de broussailles arides et ils entretiennent des relations tendues avec leurs cousins les Bodi. (Avec l'aide de Wikipedia)

The Mursi are semi-nomadic inhabitants of southern Ethiopia, living on the western edge of Mago National Park, along the Omo River. They are one of the last peoples in Africa whose women wear lip and ear ornaments shaped like flat discs,. This tradition, which concerns adult women and not young girls, is still widespread but is becoming rarer.

The Mursi live in a remote region of Ethiopia. They control it and live in close symbiosis with the environment. They form a homogeneous group, governed by centuries-old dogmas and ancestral rituals. They have little interaction, even peaceful, with other peoples in the region and fiercely combat, with spears and Kalashnikovs, the cattle rustling and raids on women perpetrated by other peoples on their territory. They regularly quarrel with the Hamer, from whom they are separated by a large area of arid scrubland, and they have strained relations with their cousins the Bodi. (With assistance from Wikipedia)

Jessie sez:

" Oh hello there Mr Taxman-Cat! Yes that's indeed correct, I do in fact represent Miss Brushtail Mousie in matters of tax returns. She's not here at the moment, 'cos she is taking a joy-ride with the Fibonacci Meeces Family (all 2584 of them!) in her brand new Rolls Royce Phantom 10 Silver Purr (2021 model of course!).

SHE'S NOT GILTY OF TAX EVASION - if that's what you're thinking! Any money she does make goes DIRECTLY to a meeces mutual assistance charity. Her 2020 fiscal accounts have not been audited by m'self yet, but they should be ready by Nov 4th 2020 IF Biden wins the election. If that doesn't happen, then I is afraid that it might take another 4 years to get them ready for inspection. That's life I'm afraid, but in the meantime just go away please!

Anyways, that last cheese heist that she perpetrated yesterday was a COMPLETE failure, so she is still as poor as a little church mousie!" (Nose getting longer and longer!)

Vertical snow.

Officer, my guess is that the perpetrator has three legs !.

LR2690

Congrats to the people who are the poison and cancer of the world: Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits

I do hope you'll be served just as sweetly as the horrors you perpetrate.

~~~~~~

The photos from the second day at the Kruger Park are now on my blog

The tree at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall was deliberately cut down with a chainsaw by a 16 year old in the early hours of Thursday 28th September 2023. A 60 year old man has now been arrested and is being held for enquiries relating to this act.

This picture was taken in July 2014.

What can possibly be said about this happening. I wonder if we will ever hear from the perpetrators about the reasons for their actions. What could possibly have inspired the action? Who helped in the planning and execution?

Aims? Objectives? Aspirations? Results?

Was this a scream from one generation about the crimes committed by another? Or was it just a mindless, meaningless act of vandalism? I am not trying to justify the action. It has appalled me, but I would like to know why.

In the media this morning there was mention of the fact that the tree may not be dead, and could grow again from the stump. It will surely become a symbol for the future, but in a different way to the one of it being a symbol for the past.

Charles Gesner van der Voort (1916-1991) was part of a group of Dutch bachelors in pre-war Shanghai. Another member of this group was David van Gelderen (1908-1990), originally from Rotterdam. He arrived in Shanghai in 1933, working for Unilever, a merger of the operations of Dutch Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers.

The photo albums of his China years contain many photos of the bachelor life in those days: travel, work, parties, trips within China and to Japan. They also include photos of the bombing of the Unilever factory during the 1937 Japanese attack of Shanghai, membership of the French Special Police and other unique photos.

Like Charles, David was interned in Chapei Civil Assembly Centre by the Japanese from 1943 to 1945.

Being Jewish, internment in Shanghai probably saved David’s life; since all of his family members in the Netherlands were killed by the Nazis.

David married, had two children and continued to work for Unilever. He became member of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRVC, Dutch Reunists Association China).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Xiaoling

"The Ming Xiaoling (Chinese: 明孝陵; pinyin: Míng Xiào Líng; lit.: 'Filial mausoleum of Ming') is the mausoleum of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. It lies at the southern foot of Purple Mountain, located east of the historical centre of Nanjing. Legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the tomb, 13 identical processions of funeral troops started from 13 city gates to obscure the real burying site.

The construction of the mausoleum began during the Hongwu Emperor's life in 1381 and ended in 1405, during the reign of his son the Yongle Emperor, with a huge expenditure of resources involving 100,000 labourers. The original wall of the mausoleum was more than 22.5 kilometres long. The mausoleum was built under heavy guard of 5,000 troops."

Four years after David van Gelderen's visit to Nanjing, the infamous Rape of Nanking took place.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Massacre

"The Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of Nanjing (alternately written as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking) was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (Nanking), at that time the capital of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered disarmed combatants and Chinese civilians numbering an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000, and perpetrated widespread rape and looting.

Since most Japanese military records on the killings were kept secret or destroyed shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945, historians have been unable to accurately estimate the death toll of the massacre. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo estimated that over 200,000 Chinese were killed in the massacre. China's official estimate is more than 300,000 dead based on the evaluation of the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in 1947. The death toll has been contested by scholars since the 1980s.

“…Nanking should be remembered not only for the number of people slaughtered but for the cruel manner in which many met their deaths. Chinese men were used for bayonet practice and in decapitation contests. An estimated 20,000 – 80,000 Chinese women were raped. Many soldiers went beyond rape to disembowel women, slice off their breasts, and nail them alive to walls. Fathers were forced to rape their daughters, and sons their mothers, as other family members watched. Not only did live burials, castration, the carving of organs, and the roasting of people become routine, but more diabolical tortures were practiced, such as hanging people by their tongues on iron hooks or burying people to their waists and watching them get torn apart by German shepherds. So sickening was the spectacle that even Nazis in the city were horrified, one proclaiming the massacre to be the work of bestial machinery.”

The event remains a contentious political issue and an obstacle in Sino-Japanese relations. The Chinese government has been accused of exaggerating aspects of the massacre such as the death toll by many Japanese; historical negationists and Japanese nationalists go as far as claiming the massacre was fabricated for propaganda purposes. The controversy surrounding the massacre remains a central issue in Japanese relations with other East Asian nations, such as South Korea.

The Government of Japan has admitted to the killing of many non-combatants, looting and other violence committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of Nanjing and Japanese veterans who served there have confirmed that a massacre took place. A small but vocal minority in the Japanese government and society have argued that the death toll was military in nature and that no such crimes ever occurred. Denial of the massacre and revisionist accounts of the killings have become a staple of Japanese nationalism. In Japan, public opinion of the massacre varies but few deny outright that the event occurred."

Courtesy Van Gelderen family archives

En ocasiones el "desparasitado" de una locomotora es algo más que una simple eliminación de grafitis y en este caso concreto podemos hablar de una auténtica reconstrucción de la Bitrac. Aquel día del mes de abril mi objetivo era el Intercity pero el Tramesa apareció antes de lo previsto, unos pocos minutos detrás del Alvia que tiene como destino Madrid. Pese al lamentable aspecto que presentaba la locomotora le hice esta foto que me gustó mucho más de lo que esperaba. Tanto, que cada vez que encontraba un poco de tiempo libre lo dedicaba a reparar los desmanes perpetrados por los grafiteros. Prefiero no pensar en la cantidad de horas empleadas en la limpieza de la Bitrac y disfrutar del buen aspecto que presenta el tren en el incomparable marco del Puerto de Orduña.

Sometimes the "deworming" of a locomotive is more than a simple removal of graffiti and in this particular case we can talk about a real reconstruction of Bitrac. This day my goal was the Intercity but the Tramesa appeared earlier than expected, a few minutes behind the Alvia that is destined for Madrid. Despite the unfortunate aspect that the locomotive presented, I took this picture that I liked much more than I expected. So much so that every time I found some free time I dedicated it to repair the excesses perpetrated by the graffiti "artists". I prefer not to think about the amount of hours used in cleaning the Bitrac and enjoy the good appearance of the train in the incomparable setting of Orduña Pass.

The 307-foot-tall Main Building at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1967, this building became the site of the infamous sniper killings of 14 people perpetrated by Charles Whitman.

Happened upon this scene where a number of Boris Bikes had fallen down - don't think the chap in the scene was the perpetrator, but hey, the picture never lies.

I built this MOD for Blocks magazine for their Batman issue. The goal was to take an existing set, in this case the Friends Popstar Bus, and turn it into a Batman vehicle. I chose this set because it perfectly caters to the Lego version of Batman's ego. It allows him to both keep up the business of crime fighting, as well as perpetrate...perform his music anywhere in Gotham.

Seven images in one stop increments, taken with Nikon D600, Tamron 24-70, 2.8 @ f13. Workflow and final edit in Lightroom 5.7, Layer and fusing in Photomatix Pro 5, Color and effects in NIK Collection, Logo in Gimp 2.8. I started with nine images, but the 2+ and 3+ overexposed were blown way out, because of the sun, so I omitted them. The sky was also washed out so I used a ND Filter effect in NIK Collection.

•The truth about Yosemite: www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Sexual-Harassment-Common-in...

With my last post “Decorating a Tree” I used the term “torture”. With the recent Senate Intelligence Committee on CIA Torture; I’d like to elaborate on this. Like so many times before; the CIA lied and said they did not torture, and when it was exposed they called it Enhanced Interrogation. When the Committee’s report said this was torture; the CIA and many Politician tried to justify the use of torture, as the media fell in place and most Americans looked away. Power decoupled from responsibility has become the American way.

Federal Law defines torture as “the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering”. This is also banned by the Convention Against Torture; the International Treaty that the United States ratified in 1994. This requires prosecution of any acts of torture. Acts of torture are prohibited by Federal Law.

A Targeted Individual endures 24/7 Stalking, Harassment, Sleep Deprivation, Street Theater, Gas-Lighting, Workplace Mobbing. These are acts of Conspired Psychological Torture. This is done to US Citizens living on US soil; while our Government and Law Enforcement Look Away. This bombardment of Psychological Torture has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, likelihood of diabetes and cancer. This at the hands of conspired perpetrators involved in Gang Stalking, Community Stalking and Workplace Mobbing. If your son or daughter came to you, said they exposed corruption and illegal activity and are Targeted; would you look away?

Gang Stalking, Community Stalking and Workplace Mobbing are Psychological Torture. These illegal and immoral acts are carried out by residents and contractors; in Yosemite National Park every day, while Yosemite’s Superintendent and Law Enforcement look away.

If you are not familiar with Street Theater and Gas-Lighting; please take the time to research. If you would like ti hear it, put on a good pair of headphones and listen

flic.kr/p/2hJ7Rye

Thank you for taking the time to visit my photostream.

A tribute in pastel created with compassion and prayers by expressionist artist Stephen B. Whatley, for all those murdered in Orlando, Florida in the early hours of June 12; and their loved ones - to represent the eternal and all encompassing love, mercy, compassion, hope & peace that Christ & His Holy Mother have and offer for all communities in the world.

The artist often feels a 'Divine push' - even urgency - to make such works of prayer; and aside from this tragedy perpetrated by hate, ignorance & insanity, an inspiration in making this work was a postcard of a photograph of a statue of Mary, Queen of The Universe Shrine in Orlando, Florida, touchingly sent to him by his beloved young God-daughter Marianna.

This work of art was also created on the Feast day of St Anthony - Saint of A Thousand Miracles - which the world sorely needs.

Peace: Love will overcome hate - Light out of Darkness.

Pastel on paper

23.4 x 16.5in/59 x42cm

www.stephenbwhatley.com

Puerto Limon Express arriving at Felixstowe from Antwerp, Belgium.

Name: Puerto Limon Express

Vessel type: Container ship

Home port: Monrovia

Flag: Liberia

IMO: 9434943

MMSI: 636024483

Call sign: 5LSV3

Length overall: 210.09 m

Beam: 30.25 m

Draught: 11.5 m

Depth: 16.7 m

Gross tonnage: 26,836 ton

Max deadweight: 33,411 ton

Number of holds: 5

20' container capacity: 2,556, of which 500 are refrigerated

Engine: 1 x Sulzer 7RTA-72U

Engine output: 1 x 28912 hp (21,560 kW)

Max speed: 22.2 knots

Builder: Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Ulsan, South Korea

Yard number: 2052

Year built: 2009

Owner: Fair Hope Ltd, Hong Kong, China

Operator: Bocimar International Nv, Antwerp, Belgium

Previous name:

Maersk Niteroi until May 2021

Poseidon Faith, until 2009 when launched

ROBBERY ATTEMPT THWARTED.

Maersk Niteroi was approached by three perpetrators in a small skiff and armed with handguns, who came alongside the vessel 16 miles southwest of Guayaquil, Ecuador, in position 02 30 54S, 80 05 06W, on 28th. August 2018. The crew raised the alarm when they spotted at least one perpetrator attempted to board the vessel. Upon hearing the alarm, the perpetrators aborted the attempt and the skiff moved away. The incident was reported to Guayaquil Port Control and Ecuador Coast Guard.

STORM CUUSED DISCOVERY OF SMUGGLED COCAINE.

140 kg of cocaine, which had been carried within a container aboard the Maersk Niteroi was found in Germany on 6th.January 2014. A container had been loaded with 1,150 kg of bananas and the drugs, which both were destined for Rotterdam, Holland. But the ship suffered a delay of six days due to stormy weather which it encountered coming from Santa Marta in Colombia, from where it had sailed on 10th. December 2013. Due to the delay the receiver of the cargo refused to take it, and ship went on to Hamburg with the drugs still on board, arriving there on 27th. December. Here the bananas were sold and distributed. When employees of a supermarket in Berlin opened seven boxes of bananas they found the bags of cocaine.

The coastal area around the village of Kerlouan in the northern part of the département of Finistère in Brittany, is often referred to as “Pagan Country”. Recently, clever marketers tried to rebrand it “Coast of Legends”, but that didn’t really stick.

The truth is that, for centuries, locals had a bad reputation ranging from extensive contrabanding with England to lighting big lanterns during dark nights to lure passing ships onto coastal rocks and pillaging them the next morning... I am told they tell the same stories in some parts of Cornwall and Devon on the other side of the Manche, and there must be some truth to it.

More recently, and for a good two decades from 1986, one or several persons unknown undertook a series of acts of malevolence, such as cutting mooring lines, drilling holes in hulls, towing boats out to sea in the night and wrecking them on nearby rocks, etc. The perpetrator of those acts was dubbed le Renard des Grèves (“The Fox of the Shores”), acted in general during full moon nights, when the amplitude of the tide is bigger, and was never caught.

This is the lovely house built as a shelter for customs officers watching over the beaches in the old days. Even though, now with Brexit and all... ;o))

We at KlyphRa's Attic stand with the Anti-fascist protesters in Charlottesville. We stand against the terrorism, fascism, and violence perpetrated by members of the so called "Alt-Right".

Not too many generations back, we as a united world, stood up to this movement and the monsters that lead it. Many gave everything to guard against what we see growing yet again. We are the new guard and we MUST hold true to the ideals that others died for.

On this day in 1402 a Welsh army under Owain Glyndŵr won a significant victory over a larger English force at the Battle of Bryn Glas, near the towns of Knighton and Presteigne in Powys. The English were there to crush the war of independence that was being waged by Glyndŵr and his supporters. However, instead of bringing the rising to an end it renewed Welsh enthusiasm in the cause while also inflicting a destabilising blow upon English politics, from which it would take years to recover.

Glyndŵr had declared himself the true Prince of Wales and raised the banner of rebellion in 1400 after Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, had unlawfully seized some of his lands and falsely caused charges of treason to be brought against him. In England, Richard II had just been overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV of England, leaving the kingdom in a precarious position. Most of the nobility in Wales and the Welsh Marches were supporters of Richard, so the opportunity for insurrection was very much alive.

Despite leading a punitive expedition into north Wales, which initially appeared to have suppressed the revolt, Henry had not been able to deal a killing blow. Then in 1401 the Welsh captured Conwy Castle and won a victory at the Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen, boosting the resolve of the Welsh.

Early in 1402, Glyndwr's men ambushed and captured Grey de Ruthyn and held him for ransom. Then in June, Glyndwr moved his men towards Knighton and within 12 miles of Leominster, then an important English garrison and market town in the Welsh Marches.

There he was met by "almost all the militia of Herefordshire" under the command of Sir Edmund Mortimer. Mortimer was uncle to the young Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, who both had a better hereditary claims to be King of England than Henry. However, Sir Edmund had so far loyally supported the new king. In any case, as a substantial holder of lands in Wales and on the borders, Mortimer had already suffered from the depredations of Glyndŵr's rebels and appeared to have much to lose should the revolt continue.

It's estimated that Mortimer had around 2,000 men under his command and so he sought to face Glyndŵr's smaller force in a decisive battle. Although the location was only just inside Wales, Glyndŵr undoubtedly had many local informants and sympathisers, and was therefore able to hatch a plan that would counter these odds. He had also probably been able to summon reinforcements from other parts of Wales, which moved rapidly over hill tracks, and was therefore far stronger than Mortimer realised. It's estimated that Glyndŵr was able to deploy around 1,500 men on the day.

Though always a risky tactic, Glyndŵr divided his army. Part of the army, including many archers armed with the powerful longbow, was placed on the slopes of the hill. The remainder were concealed in a valley to the left of the hill, camouflaged by thick foliage.

​

Mortimer's army formed up and advanced up the slope, against the Welsh archers clearly in view. With the advantage of height, Glyndwr's archers outranged Mortimer's (themselves armed with longbows). As Mortimer's men-at-arms tried to close with Glyndwr's archers, the Welsh troops who had been concealed in the valley emerged to attack Mortimer's right flank and rear.

At some stage, contingents of Welsh archers in Mortimer's army defected, and loosed arrows against their former comrades. It's not known whether their defection was planned in advance, or whether they chose to back Glyndŵr in the middle of the battle as the likely winner. Their action contributed to the confusion of Mortimer's army which, attacked from the steep slopes above, and from their flank and rear, was destroyed. The slaughter was said to be horrendous, and accounts put the numbers killed at between 200 and 1,100. Among those killed were Sir Walter Devereaux of Weobley, and Sir Robert Whitney, who was Henry IV's Knight-Marshal.

The outcome was one of the greatest Welsh victories against an English army in the open field; an English county levy had been utterly overwhelmed by the Welsh. News of it brought many Welshmen who had hitherto been undecided to openly support Glyndŵr. On the English side, it resulted in some panicked appointments of officers and hasty reinforcements of garrisons all over Wales.

Mortimer was captured in the battle. Henry, who was in financial difficulties, made no effort to ransom him. Mortimer subsequently renounced his allegiance to King Henry IV, put forward his nephew's claim to the throne of England and married Glyndŵr's daughter Catrin.

t was claimed by contemporary accounts that immediately after the battle, many English corpses were mutilated by Welsh women camp followers in revenge for the punitive expeditions of Henry IV in the previous years, which had been marked by many acts of brutality and rape. Whether these mutilations took place remains open to debate, as some historians suggest it was a story perpetrated by the English parliament to portray the Welsh as savages. According to the historian Philip Warner, the English dead lay unburied, and the stench caused the area to be avoided for months.

I built this MOD for Blocks magazine for their Batman issue. The goal was to take an existing set, in this case the Friends Popstar Bus, and turn it into a Batman vehicle. I chose this set because it perfectly caters to the Lego version of Batman's ego. It allows him to both keep up the business of crime fighting, as well as perpetrate...perform his music anywhere in Gotham.

Blatant 'Illegal dumping' or 'fly tipping' on Cut A Thwart Lane near the village of Woodham Walter in the County Essex (UK).

Fly tipping is a criminal offence in the United Kingdom and is generally committed in order to avoid paying landfill tax.

Fly tipping can incur fines of up to £20,000 and/or 6 months imprisonment.

Not that the potential penalties have put off the perpetrators who unashamedly dumped this lot on this pleasant Essex country lane.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_dumping

Photograph taken by and copyright of my regular photostream contributor David and is posted here with very kind permission.

It’s been three days since Harvey beat Robin with a bat, and two days since Dick left, things have gone back to the way they were, so has Gotham. I decided to take a swing around the city to get my mind off it, but that didn’t work. In a way he made it bearable, Gotham to be exact his joy, and sense of humor is what I wanted to preserve, but now it’s gone out the gates, and all that’s left is loneliness, you know he showed me that a crime fighter’s life doesn’t have to be dark and horrible, bound to his work till the day he dies. I have no idea as to where I should start looking, or where he even is, I checked Haley’s but he never showed up. If things get worse I may ask Selina to help me, we had a relationship for a couple weeks before Dick came around, she didn’t know I was Batman, I didn’t know she was Catwoman, but eventually I figured it all out. Old memories begin to flow in, It was funny how he could go from beating up criminals, to watching Family Guy, I have to say, the times we watched it together weren’t that bad, we also watched Star Trek Enterprise a lot, they say a normal American Family spends a lot of time around the TV. As I swing around Gotham the bat signal lights up in the sky, and I head for that direction, until suddenly I get an alert from Wayne Tower security, and stop on a building to check it, but what It says shocks me, intruder alert at Wayne Tower unauthorized personal detected. I don’t waste any time, and head straight for the tower, at top speeds I swoop down into the tower, I can’t waste any time.

“Alfred, patch into the security footage in Wayne Tower, assuming you got the alert, and if so, patch it into the footage from that room” I let him do the work as I search for the perpetrators.

“Sir it appears that several children broke in, and knocked out several guards.”

“Alfred, what did they take?”

“I’m not sure sir, and the worst part, there was a man that greeted the boys, it was Deathstroke” that caught me off guard, I forgot about him, he disappeared after Dick got beaten by Harvey, looks like he’s still in town.

“What happened to the footage after that?”

“It appears that he shot the camera, but looking at all the other footage, the burglars made it out with nothing.”

“Well it looks like Bruce Wayne will have to check out the inventory department tomorrow, but why would someone randomly break in, to get nothing, I wonder just what this all means, what does Deathstroke have planned?” Deathstroke seemed to have taken interest in Robin back when he first showed up, now he won’t be getting to him, but one advantage I have now, with Robin not here I won’t hold back, I’m coming for you Deathstroke, and there nothing you can do to stop me.

Last light on the remains of the MV Dayspring wreck washed-up on the shores at Caol, Fort William.

First trip out with the new ipHone 16 Pro, so I had to perpetrate a cliché...

“Fissure”

Amsterdam, Netherlands

April 2050

[REDACTED]

On April 18, known petty criminal Kaden Veldhoen went off grid after reports surfaced of theft of various fertilizers and farming equipment from Veldhoen’s place of employment, Fedco Garden Supply. Following police investigation, his last recorded IP address was linked to the Roeterseiland district of Amsterdam. Because of the potential hazards posed by the stolen goods and the disappearance of Veldhoen, Dutch police collaborated with EFU forces to hunt him down. Around sunset on April 20th, EFU forces were closing in on an apartment complex above a grocery store after a tip came in that a suspicious man had been in and out of a vacant unit multiple times. Then the worst happened. A homemade fertilizer bomb detonated, destroying the building and taking innocent lives. Infantry immediately sprung into action, but with no sign of the perpetrator, the only thing that could be done was continue the search. Without Veldhoen, there are no answers.

In order to protect the safety of Europe, him and his motive must be found. For now, this event is the fissure of a much larger story.

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Runaway/69/123/24

"Maple Tunnel: Follow the maple-filled waterway, get close, walk straight ahead and find out where it will take you. Don't stop now, keep walking, let your feet and soul come together as one. The sweet whispers of the maple leaves brush against your ears, 'Stay a while, stop and listen to the stillness of the water... Do you remember the last time you smiled? What made you smile? Tell us about it! TELL US! Most visitors seem to take a long time to get out of the maple tunnel, it's a mystery what kind of spirit keeps it.

In this poetic and magical way the authors of this wonderful SIM,. will give you the possibility of a journey where you will find yourself.

I am certain that somehow, they (the authors) have done justice with the unjustifiable evil that humanity has punished our planet. In reality we already know who are the perpetrators who, because of their insane search for power (money) and using any kind of slogan,... insult our intelligence. They have and will continue to destroy our only place to be liveable.

First of all, I would like to thank Zalindah.Resident who invited me to this beautiful trip.

I extend my greetings and congratulations to

Bambiᵔᴥᵔ (norahbrent)

Zalindah.Resident

Sapphire Jewel (sapphirejolla)

In this case they are the three people who have put their souls at the service of us enjoying this beautiful place.

I will leave you a kind of gift from a great Indian chief, Noah Seathl, Chief of the Suwamisu Tribe. SEATTLE (USA)

It happened in 1854. The fourteenth president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, of slave and expansionist tendencies, sent a letter to Chief Seattle, of the Suwamish tribe, to buy from him the northwest territories that today form the state of Washington. The response of the Indian chief was not long in coming. That same year he gave a speech addressed to the territorial governor Isaac I. Stevens, known today as Chief Seattle's Response.

"The great chief of Washington sends words, he wants to buy our land. The great chief also sends words of friendship and blessings. This is kind of him, since we know that he has very little need of our friendship. But we will consider his offer, because we are sure that if we do not act this way, the white man will come with his guns and take our land. The great chief of Washington can count on the word of the great chief Seattle, as can our white brothers count on the return of the stations. My words are like the stars, they hide nothing.

How can the sky or the heat of the earth be bought or sold? This idea is foreign to my people. If we do not yet own the freshness of the air or the radiance of the water, how can you buy it from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this land is sacred to my people. Every shining pine thorn, every sandy shore, every corner of the dark forest, every clear, buzzing insect, is sacred in the memory and experience of my people.

We know that the white man does not understand our customs. For him, one piece of land is the same as another, for he is a stranger who comes at night and takes from the land what he needs. The land is not his sister, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it he moves on. He leaves the tombs of his parents behind, and does not care. Thus, the tombs of his parents and the birth rights of his children are forgotten. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind a desert. The sight of his cities hurts the eyes of the redskin man. But perhaps it is because the redskin man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the cities of white men. No place to hear the leaves in the spring or the buzzing of insects' wings.

But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand, and the noise seems to insult my ears. I ask myself: what is left of life if man cannot hear the beautiful cry of the night bird, or the arguments of the frogs around a lake at sunset? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind riding on the surface of a lake, and the smell of the same wind washed away by the midday rain or impregnated with the fragrance of the pines. Air is precious to redskin. Because all things share the same breath, beasts, trees and man. The white man seems not to notice the air he breathes. Like a man who is dying for many days, he is indifferent to his pestilence

"If I decide to accept, I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of this land as brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen thousands of buffalo rotting in the prairies, abandoned by the white man who passed by on the train and killed them for sport. I am a savage and do not understand how the railroad can be more important than the buffaloes we kill just to survive. What will become of man without the animals? If all the animals disappeared, man would die of great spiritual loneliness, because whatever happens to the animals also happens to man. All things are related. Whatever hurts the earth, will also hurt the children of the earth. Our children have seen their parents humiliated in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. And after defeat they turn their days into sorrows and soil their bodies with strong food and drink.

It matters little where we spend the rest of our days. There are not many left. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the sons of the great tribes that once existed on this earth or who walked in small bands through the forests will be left to mourn at the graves of a people who were once powerful and so full of hope.

One thing we know and the white man may one day discover it: Our God is the same God. You may think now that you own him, just as you wish to own our land. But you cannot. He is the God of man and his compassion is the same for the white man as it is for the redskin. This land is precious to him, and to harm the land is to heap contempt on its creator.

The white man will also pass, perhaps faster than other tribes. Continue to soil your bed and one day you will end up sleeping on your own waste. When the buffaloes are all slaughtered, and the wild horses all tamed, and the secret corners of the forests are filled with the smell of many men ( and the views of the mountains are filled with talking wives), where will the bush be? Where will the eagle be? Disappeared. That is to say, goodbye to what grows, goodbye to what is fast, goodbye to the hunt. It will be the end of life and the beginning of survival.

"The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.

- Chief Seattle

We would perhaps understand if we knew what the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children in the long nights of winter, what visions burn in his mind so that they may desire tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man's dreams are hidden from us, and because they are hidden, we will go our own way. If we accept, it will be to secure the reservation that we have been promised. There we may be able to live the few days left to us, as is our wish.

When the last redskin has disappeared from the earth and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud crossing the prairie, these shores and prairies will still contain the spirits of my people; for they love this land as the newborn loves the heartbeat of his mother. If we sell our land to you, love it as we have loved it. Take care of it, as we have taken care of it. Hold in your minds the memory of the land as we gave it to you. And with all your strength, with all your will, keep it for your children, love it as God loves us all. One thing we know: our God is the same God as yours, this earth is precious to him. And the white man cannot be excluded from a common destiny.

-Noah Seathl, Chief of the Suwamisu Tribe SEATTLE (USA)

""Túnel de Arce: Sigue el camino de agua lleno de arce, acércate, camina recto y descubre a dónde te llevará. No te detengas ahora, sigue caminando, permite que tus pies y tu alma se unan como uno solo. Los dulces susurros de las hojas de arce rozan tus oídos, 'Quédate un rato, detente y escucha la quietud del agua... ¿recuerdas la última vez que sonreíste? ¿Qué te hizo sonreír? Cuéntanoslo! DÍNOSLO! La mayoría de los visitantes parecen tardar mucho en salir del túnel del arce, es un misterio de qué tipo de espíritu lo guarda"".

De esta forma poetica y magica las autoras de este maravilloso SIM,. te daran la posibilidad de un viaje donde te econtraras con vos mismo.

Tengo la certeza que de alguna manera , ellas ( las autoras) han hecho justicia con el injustificable mal, que la humanidad ha castigado a nuestro planeta. En realidad ya sabemos quienes son perpetradores que por su insasiable busqueda del poder ( dinero) y utilizando cualquier tipo de eslogan,... que insultan nuestra inteligencia. Han y seguiran destruyendo nuestro unico lugar para ser vivible.

Agradezco en primer lugar a Valarie Muffin Meow (zalindah) quien me ha invitado a este hermos viaje.

Hago extensivo mi saludo y felicitaciones a

♫Bambi (norahbrent)♫

Valarie Muffin Meow (zalindah)

Sapphire Jewel (sapphirejolla)

En este caso ellas son las tres personas que han puesto sus almas al servicio que nosotros podamos disfrutar ese hermoso lugar .

Les dejare una especie de regalo que un gran jefe Indio,—Noah Seathl, Jefe de la Tribu Suwamisu. SEATTLE (EE. UU.)—

Sucedió en 1854. El decimocuarto presidente de los Estados Unidos, Franklin Pierce, de tendencia esclavista y expansionista, envió una carta al jefe Seattle, de la tribu Suwamish, para comprarle los territorios del noroeste que hoy forman el estado de Washington. La respuesta del jefe indio no se hizo esperar. Ese mismo año dio un discurso dirigido al gobernador territorial Isaac I. Stevens, conocido hoy como la Respuesta del jefe Seattle.

"El gran jefe de Washington manda palabras, quiere comprar nuestras tierras. El gran jefe también manda palabras de amistad y bienaventuranzas. Esto es amable de su parte, puesto que nosotros sabemos que él tiene muy poca necesidad de nuestra amistad. Pero tendremos en cuenta su oferta, porque estamos seguros de que si no obramos así, el hombre blanco vendrá con sus pistolas y tomará nuestras tierras. El gran jefe de Washington puede contar con la palabra del gran jefe Seattle, como pueden nuestros hermanos blancos contar con el retorno de las estaciones. Mis palabras son como las estrellas, nada ocultan.

¿Cómo se puede comprar o vender el cielo o el calor de la tierra? Esta idea es extraña para mi pueblo. Si hasta ahora no somos dueños de la frescura del aire o del resplandor del agua, ¿cómo nos lo pueden ustedes comprar? Nosotros decidiremos en nuestro tiempo. Cada parte de esta tierra es sagrada para mi gente. Cada brillante espina de pino, cada orilla arenosa, cada rincón del oscuro bosque, cada claro y zumbador insecto, es sagrado en la memoria y experiencia de mi gente.

Nosotros sabemos que el hombre blanco no entiende nuestras costumbres. Para él, una porción de tierra es lo mismo que otra, porque él es un extraño que viene en la noche y toma de la tierra lo que necesita. La tierra no es su hermana, sino su enemigo, y cuando él la ha conquistado sigue adelante. Él deja las tumbas de sus padres atrás, y no le importa. Así, las tumbas de sus padres y los derechos de nacimiento de sus hijos son olvidados. Su apetito devorará la tierra y dejará detrás un desierto. La vista de sus ciudades duele a los ojos del hombre piel roja. Pero tal vez es porque el hombre piel roja es un salvaje y no entiende. No hay ningún lugar tranquilo en las ciudades de los hombres blancos. Ningún lugar para escuchar las hojas en la primavera o el zumbido de las alas de los insectos.

Pero tal vez es porque yo soy un salvaje y no entiendo, y el ruido parece insultarme los oídos. Yo me pregunto: ¿qué queda de la vida si el hombre no puede escuchar el hermoso grito del pájaro nocturno, o los argumentos de las ranas alrededor de un lago al atardecer? El indio prefiere el suave sonido del viento cabalgando sobre la superficie de un lago, y el olor del mismo viento lavado por la lluvia del mediodía o impregnado por la fragancia de los pinos. El aire es valioso para el piel roja. Porque todas las cosas comparten la misma respiración, las bestias, los árboles y el hombre. El hombre blanco parece que no notara el aire que respira. Como un hombre que está muriendo durante muchos días, él es indiferente a su pestilencia.

Si yo decido aceptar, pondré una condición: el hombre blanco deberá tratar a las bestias de esta tierra como hermanos. Yo soy un salvaje y no entiendo ningún otro camino. He visto miles de búfalos pudriéndose en las praderas, abandonados por el hombre blanco que pasaba en el tren y los mataba por deporte. Yo soy un salvaje y no entiendo como el ferrocarril puede ser más importante que los búfalos que nosotros matamos sólo para sobrevivir. ¿Qué será del hombre sin los animales? Si todos los animales desaparecieran, el hombre moriría de una gran soledad espiritual, porque cualquier cosa que le pase a los animales también le pasa al hombre. Todas las cosas está relacionadas. Todo lo que hiere a la tierra, herirá también a los hijos de la tierra. Nuestros hijos han visto a sus padres humillados en la derrota. Nuestros guerreros han sentido la vergüenza. Y después de la derrota convierten sus días en tristezas y ensucian sus cuerpos con comidas y bebidas fuertes.

Importa muy poco el lugar donde pasemos el resto de nuestros días. No quedan muchos. Unas pocas horas más, unos pocos inviernos más, y ninguno de los hijos de las grandes tribus que una vez existieron sobre esta tierra o que anduvieron en pequeñas bandas por los bosques, quedarán para lamentarse ante las tumbas de una gente que un día fue poderosa y tan llena de esperanza.

Una cosa sabemos nosotros y el hombre blanco puede un día descubrirla: Nuestro Dios es el mismo Dios. Usted puede pensar ahora que usted es dueño de él, así como usted desea hacerse dueño de nuestra tierra. Pero usted no puede. Él es el Dios del hombre y su compasión es igual para el hombre blanco que para el piel roja. Esta tierra es preciosa para él, y hacerle daño a la tierra es amontonar desprecio al su creador.

Los blancos también pasarán, tal vez más rápidos que otras tribus. Continúe ensuciando su cama y algún día terminará durmiendo sobre su propio desperdicio. Cuando los búfalos sean todos sacrificados, y los caballos salvajes amansados todos, y los secretos rincones de los bosques se llenen con el olor de muchos hombres ( y las vistas de las montañas se llenes de esposas habladoras), ¿dónde estará el matorral? Desaparecido. ¿Dónde estará el águila? Desaparecida. Es decir, adiós a lo que crece, adiós a lo veloz, adiós a la caza. Será el fin de la vida y el comienzo de la supervivencia.

"La Tierra no nos pertenece, nosotros pertenecemos a la Tierra."

– Jefe Seattle

Nosotros tal vez lo entenderíamos si supiéramos lo que el hombre blanco sueña, qué esperanzas les describe a sus niños en las noches largas del invierno, con qué visiones le queman su mente para que ellos puedan desear el mañana. Pero nosotros somos salvajes. Los sueños del hombre blanco están ocultos para nosotros, y porque están escondidos, nosotros iremos por nuestro propio camino. Si nosotros aceptamos, será para asegurar la reserva que nos han prometido. Allí tal vez podamos vivir los pocos días que nos quedan, como es nuestro deseo.

Cuando el último piel roja haya desaparecido de la tierra y su memoria sea solamente la sombra de una nube cruzando la pradera, estas costas y estas praderas aún contendrán los espíritus de mi gente; porque ellos aman esta tierra como el recién nacido ama el latido del corazón de su madre. Si nosotros vendemos a ustedes nuestra tierra, ámenla como nosotros la hemos amado. Cuídenla, como nosotros la hemos cuidado. Retengan en sus mentes la memoria de la tierra tal y como se la entregamos. Y con todas sus fuerzas, con todas sus ganas, consérvenla para sus hijos, ámenla así como Dios nos ama a todos. Una cosa sabemos: nuestro Dios es el mismo Dios de ustedes, esta tierra es preciosa para él. Y el hombre blanco no puede estar excluido de un destino común."

—Noah Seathl, Jefe de la Tribu Suwamisu. SEATTLE (EE. UU.)—

Fake Blue Hemimorphite. The mineral is hydrated zinc silicate. These highly unsusual specimens from the Ojuela Mine at Mapimi in Durango, Mexico, were offered for sale at the mineral show in Tucson in 2020. Over the decades, miners at the Ojuela Mine have occasionally found single pockets of mineral rarities. Hemimorphite, which normally occurs as clear or white crystals, has been known to occur in blue forms . However, these crystals were so bright and details about the discovery were so deficient that they immediately aroused suspicians of fakery. Upon close examination, it appeared that the color was a coating on the superficial layer of the crystals, and that it had adhered to the crystal surfaces in an uneven fashion. Spectrographic analysis revealed that the color was, in fact, the dye Phthalocyanine Blue BN, a commercially created coloring agent used for dyes and paints.

It is a sad fact of mineral collecting that fakes, marketed as valuable rarities, occasionally show up on the market. In recent years the creation of fakes, many originating in China or India, has become more sophisticated and detection has become more difficult. Fortunately, the fakery affects primarily very expensive high-end specimens. It just isn't economically worthwhile for the perpetrators to fake minerals that are affordible to average collectors.

The Himba are Bantu people settled in northern Namibia, mainly in the Kaokoveld. Traditionally Himbas are tinged with red skin ointment made of animal's fat and hematite powder. This ointment protect themselves from the heat of the sun, dry air, insects

In 1904, the Herero peoples to which they belong, and Nama people were victims of the first genocide in history, perpetrated by the Germans settlers in Namibia: 85,000 people were exterminated between 1904 and 1907.

The 'Perpetrator' class Heavy Assault Frame (Previously code-named 'Defender') by Tornoxys Ltd.

Here we see another common loadout, the twin Siege Cannons. A mainstay of Tornoxys Ltd., these artillery weapons really benefit from the enhanced stabilization offered by the legs of the 'Perp'.

The Librarian Ghost of Raglan Castle

Some visitors have been startled by fleeting glimpses of what they describe as a bardic figure, beckoning to them from the vicinity of the wing over which the library was once situated. He is thought to be the ghost of the castle’s librarian who, as the Civil War siege ebbed toward its inevitable conclusion, hid the valuable books and manuscripts in a secret tunnel beneath the castle. His fears proved well founded, for one of the first acts perpetrated by the enemy was the destruction of Raglan’s magnificent and priceless library. The fate of the librarian is unknown, but his guardian spirit still watches over his hidden cache of literary treasures.

The Himba are Bantu people settled in northern Namibia, mainly in the Kaokoveld. Traditionally Himbas are tinged with red skin ointment made of animal's fat and hematite powder. This ointment protect themselves from the heat of the sun, dry air, insects

In 1904, the Herero peoples to which they belong, and Nama people were victims of the first genocide in history, perpetrated by the Germans settlers in Namibia: 85,000 people were exterminated between 1904 and 1907.

Circular Quay has many interesting street performers putting up shows over the weekend. This guy was juggling everything from apples and knives to chainsaws and fire!

This was taken just before the grand finale where he juggled fire, knives and an apple (that is being thrown to him in this shot) while he was suspended on a cycle 15 feet off the ground! The ropes which held the cycle up were being handled by members of the crowd.

Foolhardy or pure talent?

See more black on blue.

#2 on Explore

2008

Arjun Purkayastha • travel & fine art photography •

When the dishonourable fell, Odin would not accept them in his Great Hall of Valhalla. He cursed them to become Draugar, animated corpses with supernatural powers. Upon seeing the state of the modern world, Odin formed a Legion of the Damned who had to atone for their past by punishing the present in a manner akin to their original crimes. These are their tales and their penances.

Tales of Odin’s Legion of the Draugar: Astrid’s story

Astrid was not unpopular with her people. Certainly, as her name suggests, she had a goddess-like physical beauty. But that was her downfall. She would spend all day looking at her reflection in a small rectangular block of polished obsidian*. So obsessed was she with her own image that she took zero notice of her misbehaving children. And even when it was pointed out to her by other villagers she demonstrated nought in the way of parental control. Odin, who could not abide such irresponsible behaviour, vowed there would be a reckoning. However, instead of delivering instant divine retribution, he allowed her to grow old with her offspring. As her looks faded, people saw the ugliness within, and her children, bereft of a caring role model whilst young, showed little love and thoughtfulness to her needs in the latter stages of her life. Many years she spent as a sad, lonely, bitter lady; all because of her few years of vanity and a lifetime of abdication of responsibility.

Now, as a draugr, she is cursed to seek out ways to force wayward parents to endure long periods of living hell with their offspring. School holidays were her invention. Her zenith, however, was a curse modernly known as the pandemic lockdown. Oh how the bad parents suffer, yet they still do not learn. Bad parenting appears to be a problem even the gods cannot fix.

* Roughly a millennium later, archaeologist would dig up this artifact and notice that, coincidently, it was almost exactly the same dimensions as an iPhone 15 Pro Max**.

** They also noted that a piece of mirror-like volcanic glass in the ancient times would cost almost as much as an iPhone 15 Pro Max today. Scandalous***!

*** Recent digs have unearthed a runic stone inscription that declared that this price-hiking monopoly was unholy and a crime against the Norse people. As such, the perpetrators would be punished by the Aesir. Herr Jobs’s ghost is currently presiding in a lower dimension of Hel.

A bit about the photo:

The was a fun evening’s collaboration with my fellow banter- and photo-buddies, the beautiful Mya on/off and the elusive shutterbug_uk2012

The photo was old-school smoke generators and flashes (goodness only knows what people who were driving past thought). A hint of basic photoshop adjustments to control exposure and contrast.

My apologies:

I’m sorry for not looking at, appreciating, and commenting on the excellent posts from my usual Flickr buddies. Events seem to have overtaken me. I hope to put this right soon

There was a robbery at the local Catnip farm and the only clues to the perpetrator was a blue fur ball, so we called in all the usual suspects.

A little bit of fun for week 22