Engineers Tom Huber (behind MIRI) and Mick Wilks (inside black ISIM Structure) check that MIRI is integrated precisely. The engineers have to make sure that MIRI, the only instrument on the Webb telescope that 'sees' mid-infrared light, is precisely positioned so that it and the other instruments can glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before.

Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Text Credit: NASA/Laura Betz

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Engineers worked meticulously to implant the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module, in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

For more information, visit: www.jwst.nasa.gov

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Photograph taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 07:46am), at an altitude of Two metres, at 07:38am on Tuesday December 9th 2014 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

This view looks onwards towards Kingsgate Bay and the impressive architecture of Kingsgate Castle which was built in the 1760's.

A very chilly morning on the beach, around One degree, and a bracing wind that pounded flesh and bones, but well worth the one and a half hour journey there to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

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Nikon D800 18mm 1/60S f/3.5 iso200 RAW (14Bit) AF-S single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 15.47s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 31.26s

ALTITUDE: 2.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 16.70MB

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Rauðasandur (Red Sand) is precisely that: a beach with endless red sand. Well, not endless but 10 km is a lot. The magnificent hues of the sand differ with daylight and weather, and the beach is the biggest pearl in a string of coves with sand ranging in colours from white through yellow through red to black, and in coarseness from very fine to sole-hurting chips of seashells. (visitwestfjords.is)

The Westfjords or West Fjords is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative district. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a 7-km-wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður. The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by steep hills. These indentations make roads very circuitous and communications by land difficult. In addition many of the roads are closed by ice and snow for several months of the year. (wiki)

Bullocks of Cheadle: (P485 HBA) a Northern Counties Palatine 1 bodied Volvo Olympian. Or more precisely a dealer stock Olympian at the time here when captured but became Bullocks P485HBA a few months later.

In this photo which was taken in the yard of Gilbraith's Commercials in Chorley who were a Volvo dealer we see this vehicle parked up as dealer sales stock at the time. It had Northern Counties body number which we checked at the time, and when checked later against those which arrived for Bullocks it became the vehicle mentioned in the title. In the windscreen can be seen a sheet of A4 paper which warned against the starting of this vehicle as the Turbo Charger had been removed from the vehicle at the time of this vehicle.

In this photo just to the left we see one of the pair of East Lancs bodied Volvo Olympians (either M788 or M789 NBA) which were part of a cancelled order built to the shorter chassis length incorrectly for Delaine Buses of Bourne, both of which ended up with Bullocks and is seen here being returned to Volvo for some minor warranty work.

Also to the right we see a former Yelloway Duple Dominant bodied AEC Reliance which was by then was with Tyrer's Tours, and a GM Buses Atlantean just to the right, which I think was a GM Buses North example but don't have any other notes to check now.

© Christopher Lowe.

Date: 28th May 1996.

Ref No. 0001146.

This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 07:39am), at an altitude of One metres, at 07:29am on Thursday January 28th 2016 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

I set off at 05:00am on a clear morning, the moon and the stars out to dazzle in temperatures around five degrees, on a pleanst hour and half long journey to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

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Nikon D800 23mm 1/100s f/3.5 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Nikon back focus button enabled. AF-C Continuous point focus with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 18.24s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 13.35s

ALTITUDE: 1.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 13.80MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

This Thirteen seconds long exposure was taken at an altitude of Twenty three metres, in the height of the golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 06:38am), at 05:50am on Thursday 29th October in the grounds of Foots Cray Meadows, beside Five Arch Bridge over the River Cray in Bexley, Kent, England.

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Nikon D800 32mm Thirteen seconds long exposure. f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14-bit) AF-S single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Auto Active D-lighting.

Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter.Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL15 batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 34.96s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 50.96s

ALTITUDE: 23.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED Jpeg FILE: 17.39MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Bossy, el Border Collie, atrapando la pelota.

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Bossy, The Border Collie, catching the tennis ball.

It's precisely 4:20 in this picture.

Totally accidental.

This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 07:56am), at an altitude of One metre, at 07:39am on Sunday January 11th 2015 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

I set off at 05:30am on a very chilly morning, around two degrees, and a bracing wind that pounded flesh and bones, but well worth the one and a half hour journey there to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

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Nikon D800 45mm 1/100s f/2.8 iso125 RAW (14Bit) -2.7EV compensation. AF-S single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance. Auto Active D-lighting.

Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF.Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 20.26s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 7.69s

ALTITUDE: 1.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 36.50MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.4 24/11/2016). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

MISS SL ♛ France was inspired by the rooster. It is the symbol of France or more precisely that of Vigilance and Work, the song of the rooster waking the peasants for their day of work or warning of a night incursion. He is often depicted wearing a Phrygian cap, a symbol of freedom and citizenship,

but it disappeared during the First Empire, Napoleon I preferring the imperial eagle because "the rooster has no strength, it cannot be the image of an empire like France". It was during the July monarchy (1830-1848) that the rooster made a strong comeback in popular imagery. King Louis-Philippe even signs an ordinance placing the rooster on the flags and buttons of the National Guard's clothing, and the tricolor flags of the army are summoned.

MISS SL ♛ France is wearing a feather corset and pants from her own store, Belle Mode, and adds shoes by Mogul, shoulder pieces by Zibska, Merry Rooster Harpy by Bare Rose and fishnet pantyhose. She completes her ensemble with jewelry by RealEvil Industries

The date of the church’s construction was not precisely known until 1969, particularly as the pisanie (inscription) is partly deteriorated.

That year, the parish priest discovered a petition from the Christians of the Broșteni district to the Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia.

Authored by Manul "Cavaful", head of the shoemakers’ (cavafi) guild, the document asks permission for building a church on the land of the late Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, in accordance with his will.

It is dated July 1815, and construction probably started on August 15, a date mentioned on the inscription.

The structure was probably erected by summer 1816, and was completely finished by November 1817, as attested by a document of that date.

Repairs were carried out in 1868, 1891 and 1906, while the painting was redone in 1929.

Thorough repairs took place in 1949–1950 and 1957.

Repainting was done under Patriarch Justinian, whose portrait appears among the ktetors.

The 1930 parish house was demolished in 1985 to make way for the surrounding apartment blocks.

The church has two spires, one above the nave, the other, the bell tower, above the narthex.

The iconostasis is carved in wood and gilt.

The facades are simple, with a classical cornice and pediment on the western side, painted with three panels of saints’ icons.

Saint Haralambie, whose relics are here, awaits them every day.

The church, in the shape of a cross, was built between 1815 and 1817 on the land left by Hagi Dumitrache Papazoglu, by Maria and Manea Cavafu, the latter being the elder of the tanners in the Broşteni slum.

Over time, the church was repaired several times.

Among the objects of historical or documentary value, the very old icons stand out (the oldest is from the 17th century), but also the iconostasis, which is carved in wood and gilded.

The current painting dates from 1986, made by a certain Gheorghe.

Well, more precisely, you can hold my hand......but this hat is humiliating....:-) !! No self respecting igauna should be this cute. And, obviously I was taking the photo....and did not care to hold his hand. LOL

This Eight second long exposure was taken at an altitude of Forty three metres, in the magic of Twilight, prior to Sunrise which was at precisely 04:47am, at 01:59am on Thursday 3rd July 2014 off Lullingstone Lane next to the Lullingstone Roman Villa and overlooking the field adjacent to Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

There is something about twilight that has always seduced my senses and appealed in photographic terms. The beauty and richness of the hues, the wonder of nature, and this morning a badger who came through the undergrowth and sat twelve feet form me for a short while as his eyes could not make me out until I tried to turn the camera and capture him.....

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Nikon D800 56mm 8 Second exposure f/2.8 iso160 RAW (14 bit) Nikon RC-DC2 remote shutter release. AF-S Single point focus. Aperture Priority mode. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 51.64s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 49.06s

ALTITUDE: 43.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 11.65MB

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal." -- Toni Morrison, from The Nation

Share if you'd like :)

Lady luck certainly smiled on me on this occasion. The forecast before I went to bed was for full rain precisely at the time of this working at Carlisle. Unperturbed, I rose at a reasonable hour to find a clear sky but with clouds starting to form. With over an hour to go before the allotted passing time I foresaw what the situation would probably be, but how wrong I was to be........Taking my spot in good time, after a wait of around 30 minutes I could hear the class 37 being worked hard before Dalston, about 10 minutes away from me and just at that time the sun climbed over a bank of cloud, but would it last? Unbelievably it did! The cattle go about their business enjoying the fresh succulent grass shoots following recent rainfall in Cumbria, as Direct Rail Services 37612 rounds the curve at Blackwell Hall heading the 6L65 Sellafield to Carlisle Yard. The trailing load, from a Sunday track possession at Silecroft, comprised 'Falcons' with spoil and 'Coalfish', some empty and some with unused ballast. As it turned out, this was the first of a few images that I managed to secure of this working, just before the sun disappeared for the day.

© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission

At precisely 13:43 33021 arrives at Reading with the 1E63 Poole - Leeds service.

Note the good old-fashioned clock to keep the passengers informed.

Fossil Nummulites.

Nummulites were living organisms comprised of a large, single cell.

Could something as relatively simple as a single cell be your ancestor, and the ancestor of every other living thing?

It seems an incredible story, but that is precisely what evolutionists believe, and want you to believe.

How do evolutionists think the 'miraculous', natural transformation, from a single cell to you, me, and every other living thing, occurred? Where do they think the enormous amount of new, genetic information, which would be required, came from?

They claim the transformation, from microbes to humans, was a natural, evolutionary process, occurring gradually over many millions of years.

How?

Through an incremental, accumulation of billions of beneficial, constructive mutations, preserved and made dominant in the gene pool by natural selection.

In other words, it was achieved through an incredibly long series of fortuitous, genetic, copying MISTAKES.

A chain of continuing improvement and progression, with every, naturally selected, new (beneficial?) mistake adding to all the previous mistakes.

That’s it.... that is the only mechanism they have for the origin of all the genetic information in every living thing. An extremely long chain of beneficial, constructive mistakes. With the ultimate result that the complete genome, of every living thing, is comprised entirely of a long accumulation of billions of such ‘wonderful’ mistakes.

Wow!

Everyone knows mutations are not desirable. They are genetic mistakes which cause damage, deformities and illness. They are something to be feared and avoided if possible. Who ever heard of mutations being regarded as a good, progressive and constructive thing? They are deleterious and detrimental.

Unsurprisingly, truly beneficial, constructive mutations have not been observed in nature.

Much ado is made about the evolution of so-called ‘superbugs’, in most cases, this is merely the selection, emphasis and increased dominance of traits already existing in the gene pool. Microbes will always remain microbes, they cannot change into anything else by such a selective process.

If you were to type out a literary work, and make numerous, typing errors, would you expect any of the errors to improve the original work?

This Neo-Darwinian proposal (evolution by natural selection of mutations), which was cobbled together to rescue the failed, classical Darwinism from its information deficit, is completely illogical and unscientific.

The law of entropy belies the idea that there is any natural mechanism for such evolutionary progression and improvement.

The Law of Cause and Effect refutes any proposal which entails an effect being greater than its cause....

Common sense tells us that mistakes are not a credible mechanism for improvement or progress.

And Information Theory tells us that constructive information does not arise from random, natural processes.

However, this amazing, litany of creative mistakes is not the whole of the fantastic, progressive, evolution story....

How did the story begin?

Where did this common ancestor - the first, single, living cell come from?

Was it just another gigantic mistake?

Well... according to the purveyors of this evolution story....

Once-upon-a-time, long, long ago, in some naturally, accumulated mix of chemical goo, the first, single living cell just spontaneously generated itself from sterile matter (abiogenesis); in direct violation of the well established, Law of Biogenesis, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the Law of Cause and Effect and Information Theory.

Double wow!

Nice story, but....

They also want you to believe all of this incredible, goo-to-you, evolution story is irrefutable, ‘scientific’ fact.

And, if you dare to doubt or question the credibility of their story, you are likely to face intense criticism, ridicule and scorn.

Is this a just modern version of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’?

Evolution timescale refuted by field & experimental evidence.

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/albums/72157635944...

Evolution - the garden path of lies.

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/37233250890

EVERY proposed, natural origin of the universe scenario is demonstrably false

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/32557999087/in/dat...

The poison in our midst - progressive politics

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/47971464278/in/alb...

The true facts about climate change - they would prefer you didn't know...

www.flickr.com/photos/truth-in-science/49018053463/in/dat...

Precisely modeled Subway Sapporo Station.

Exhibited in Ōdōri Station, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan.

地下鉄さっぽろ駅が精巧に再現されています。

大通駅に展示されていました。

I know there's 20 odd other photos precisely like I've posted before.

s204 Der Berg Ararat 4830 Garten56 Die Gartenlaube Illustrirtes Familienblatt. Redigiert von Ferdinand Stolle u. August Diezmann Jahrgang 1856. Leipzig Verlag von Ernst Keil.

On Mount Ararat.

We stand on Mount Ararat in Armenia , to take in all of Asia Minor, the battlefield, fallen Kars, the Russian-Turkish border, through a telescope across the Black Sea, Crimea, and the now silent, smoking ruins of Sevastopol—the entire Eastern Question and the history of ancient humanity, which here, as it were, raises its monument, 17,261 feet above sea level and 10,000 feet above the surrounding highlands, with a panoramic view. First, we examine the still quite well-preserved Noah's Ark, into which he entered with "all sinful beasts and children" on Sunday, November 30, in the year 2349 BC, whereupon it began to rain on Sunday, December 7. It rained so heavily that the ark drifted over the highest mountains until, as is well known, it finally came to rest on Mount Ararat, allowing the new humanity to disembark and descend. The ark is 547 feet long, 91 feet wide, and 54 feet high. It has a weight of 72.625 tons. Noah lived in it with all his belongings for 13 months and 18 days, as he was only able to disembark on Friday, December 18th, of the following year, after the ark had come to rest on Mount Ararat on Wednesday, May 6th. The Earth was then 1656 years old, for it had only been completed on Sunday, October 23rd, in the year 4004 BC, and is therefore now in its 5858th year. As for these dates and years, they are established as dogma of the High Church, at least in England, by a decree of Parliament , after being calculated by Bishop Wilkins, brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He so convincingly persuaded the revolutionary Parliament of the truth of these research findings that it sanctioned them as articles of faith of the High Church. This parliamentary decree has remained in force to this day, just as the prohibition against wearing thread-covered buttons on one's coat, the prohibition against publishing anything from parliamentary debates, and a thousand other parliamentary decrees that still have the force of law, yet which no one dares to even consider anymore, have not been repealed. This is also proof that freedom and unfreedom cannot be enforced by laws. Everything that exists as freedom in England is entirely prohibited by law, but freedom lives and draws its strength from the surrounding sea, from the ancient Germanic character of the people, and since it truly lives, it cannot be so easily inconvenienced, or at least not killed, by clever legislation of special interests that would have long since ruined England if their laws had been followed.

The Ark of Noah, measured by Bishop Wilkins and precisely defined by law in terms of length, height, width, and tonnage, still stands intact atop Mount Ararat. This, at least, is a legally established article of faith among the ancient Armenian bishops. One can also hear it as a settled matter among the people down below. The English believed it too. At least, I recently read in an English newspaper that several ascents to the highest peak of Ararat by credible men had proven that the Ark of Noah was not only no longer intact, but had vanished altogether.

When I think of this Western creation mythology, I think of the Eastern mythology of the ancient Indians, which at least corresponds to the new geological research, according to which our Earth Having orbited the sun for at least 25 million years, the Earth is approaching much closer. All Brahmins and seers whose writings trace back to times as far as 12,000 BC give the human- inhabited Earth a lifespan of 15 million years, which they divide into four periods. The first, the Golden Age, lasted 1,728,000 years. During this time, God Brahma was born, and humans, all twice the size of Goliaths, lived to an average age of 400 years. The second period lasted 1,296,000 years, during which the Rajahs and various vices were born and nurtured by humans, so that they only lived to an average age of 300 years. The third period, lasting 8,064,000 years, saw vice become more dominant, and humans, who lived to an average age of only 200 years, experienced further decline. The last period in which we live, of which 4,027,280 years have already passed (or so the students of the ancient Brahma sages claim), has reduced people through vices to a quarter of their former size and original lifespan.

On Mount Ararat, these colossal Indian periods appear more human and plausible to us than our narrow-minded legends, which we adopted from the ancient Jews since we could not offer any of our own. From here, everything appears infinite to our unconstrained gaze, and the entire Eastern question, with its five dots under the question mark, scarcely a flytrap. For here, since Noah, even according to Calvisius, who still specifies in our folk calendars precisely how long it has been since the creation of the world each year, at least fifty peoples and empires lie buried. They all flourished beside and above one another, shone and reigned supreme over the earth, and then died. The bare summit of Ararat calmly watched as one after another blossomed around its base and spread out, as if it wanted to conquer the whole world, and as it vanished without a trace before a single day had passed for it, a mountain touched only by geological years. He also looked down, unperturbed and unperturbed, on the bloody scenes, the clouds of thunder and steam that war had recently been trying to hurl up to his lofty head, and he didn't let the peace conferences in Paris give him any grief, not least because in his youth, grief over the bloody rise and fall of states around him had already left him completely bald. If he were to concern himself with diplomacy now, the fall of Kars alone would have left him with no hair at all.

No, up here we are free from the petty squabbles, intrigues, and cruelties of civilization and barbarism, between which, from such a high vantage point, there is no difference at all. Up here one sees only the physiognomy of the earth's surface and its patches of beauty—cities and villages in general and in overall impressions; to the northeast, the great chain of the Caucasus, from which the Arax visibly winds its way forth; the Russo-Persian border with the fortress of Yerevan; northwest, Gumri and Kars; all around, rolling hills and mountains, sometimes bare, sometimes densely wooded and overgrown with blossoms, but throughout devoid of people and culture; only that the telescope occasionally shows us, looking down, a gilded wagon, shaded with blue silk curtains and slowly rumbled over hill and dale by oxen, in which a small part of the harem of some blue-clad, white-turbaned Old Turk seeks to breathe fresh air.

We glance once more at the Russian-Persian border, where the summit of Zengui, with its fortress-castle atop it, offers an all the more attractive focal point for the eye, as the Russian border fortress of Yerevan, the ancient capital of Georgia, nestles picturesquely below. Inside, the most beautiful girls, the most precious pearls for Turkish harems, form the most piquant contrasts amidst their own filth and the street's grime. The girls dream of the great washing to which they are subjected before they go to market, and of the market where they are sold, just as sweetly and rapturously as our fairest maidens dream of the golden ring and the headdress.

under which they yearn. Although the Russian government does not tolerate the sale of girls, since the parents are poor, the girls beautiful, their longing to be sold is great, and the price that the agent in Trebisond, the export port, charges for these Georgian women is high, even the strict Russian law cannot prevent such transactions. The city of Yerevan is incredibly dirty and cramped, and its approximately 10,000 inhabitants live, in part, truly in piles of filth or among ruins, witnesses to various sieges and bombardments, the latter of which cost the Russian General Godovich the greater part of his army in 1808 before he reached Tbilisi again during the retreat. The most remarkable relics of Yerevan's past are Christian churches, half their nave underground, where the first persecuted Christians held their services. Later, when the pursuing Roman sword and the even more cruelly pursuing crescent moon had fallen, the Christians built open churches atop their subterranean places of worship, without destroying the old cellar temples. Such semi-subterranean churches can still be found in various other places in Asia Minor, this paradise of humanity, if it hadn't always been sharpening swords to prevent one another from enjoying it.

Erivan with the Zengui mountain fortress.

Asia Minor has become a ruin, like the paradise of European Turkey. Only when the crescent-shaped saber fully rounds into the purring wheel of industry and culture, when the long Cossack lance forms spokes, and bayonet and barrel lie flat as the track for the steam-powered journey of peace and insight, of joining the union of nations and shared human interests, when the shame-covered, beautiful woman of this paradise is no longer sold and no longer yearns to be sold, but rather, heart for heart, love for love, recognition for recognition, to be won by the beautiful, free, educated, and industrious man, only then, when man has rediscovered his own honor and dignity and finds it reflected, enhanced, in a beautiful woman, the educator of the future, only then will peace and freedom, happiness and sources of joy for humanity return here, and not through Parisian peace conferences, however they may turn out. Diplomacy, with its arsenals of cunning and force, can certainly ruin much, but it can create nothing. That is something people themselves must and will achieve, unless they are overly exploited for the politics of guns and swords, swept away from the plow to the curse, from house to tent, from blessing to sword, from steering their own affairs to operating control machines for insatiable cannons. Had the million people now sacrificed to the Eastern Question been allowed to live, they alone could have generated the capital needed to solve it through their diligence. Now that million is gone, and now 100 million are missing—the sum it cost to kill them. The peace treaty from Paris, however brilliant it may be, is always merely a receipt for these millions of wasted capital and lives.

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Auf dem Berge Ararat.

Wir stehen auf dem Berge Ararat in Armenien, um uns ganz Kleinasien, den Kriegsschauplatz, das gefallene Kars, die russisch-türkische Grenze, durch ein Fernrohr über das schwarze Meer hinweg, die Krim und das nun still gewordene, aus Ruinen rauchende Sebastopol, die ganze orientalische Frage und die Geschichte der alten Menschheit, die hier gleichsam ihre Denksäule in die Höhe streckt, 17,261 Fuß über dem Meeresspiegel und 10,000 Fuß über dem umliegenden Hochlande mit einem Panoramablicke anzusehen. Zunächst nehmen wir die noch ganz gut erhaltene Arche Noäh in Augenschein, in welche er mit „all sündhaft Vieh und Menschenkind“ Sonntags am 30. November des Jahres 2349 vor Christi Geburt einzog, worauf es Sonntag am 7. December zu regnen anfing. Es regnete so arg, daß die Arche über den höchsten Bergen dahin schwamm, bis sie bekanntlich auf diesem Berge Ararat wieder festen Fuß faßte, und die neue Menschheit aus- und herabsteigen ließ. Die Arche ist 547 Fuß lang, 91 breit und 54 hoch. Sie faßt 72,625 Tonnen Gewicht. Noah lebte darin mit allem Zubehör 13 Monate und 18 Tage, da er erst am 18. December, Freitags, des folgenden Jahres, aussteigen konnte, nachdem die Arche Mittwochs, am 6. Mai, auf dem Berge Ararat stehen geblieben war. Die Erde war damals 1656 Jahre alt, denn sie war erst Sonntag den 23. Oktober des Jahres 4004 vor Christi Geburt fertig geworden, und steht deshalb jetzt im 5858sten Jahre. Was diese Daten und Jahreszahlen betrifft, so stehen sie wenigstens in England durch Parlamentsbeschluß als Dogma der Hochkirche fest, nachdem sie Bischof Wilkins, Schwager Oliver Cromwell’s, ausgerechnet hatte. Er wußte das revolutionäre Parlament so sehr von der Wahrheit dieser Forschungen zu überzeugen, daß es dieselben als Glaubensartikel der Hochkirche sanctionirte. Dieser Parlamentsbeschluß ist bis jetzt eben so wenig aufgehoben, wie der, daß Niemand übersponnene Knöpfe auf dem Rocke tragen, daß Niemand etwas von den Parlamentsverhandlungen veröffentlichen darf und tausend andere Parlamentsbeschlüsse, die noch gesetzliche Kraft haben, und an welche gleichwohl Niemand mehr zu denken wagt. Dies ist zugleich ein Beweis, daß Freiheit und Unfreiheit nicht durch Gesetze erzwungen werden können. Was es in England Freies giebt, ist durchweg gesetzlich verboten, aber das Freie lebt und schöpft aus dem Meere ringsum, aus dem alten germanischen Volkscharakter, und da es wirklich lebt, kann es durch pfiffige Gesetzgebung von Sonderinteressen, die England längst ruinirt haben würden, wenn es nach ihren Gesetzen ginge, nicht so leicht incommodirt, wenigstens nicht todt gemacht werden.

Die vom Bischof Wilkins gemessene und durch’s Gesetz des Parlaments in Länge, Höhe, Breite und Tonnengehalt genau bestimmte Arche Noäh steht noch wohlbehalten auf der Spitze des Berges Ararat. Dies ist wenigstens ein gesetzlicher Glaubensartikel der alten armenischen Bischöfe. Auch kann man ihn unten beim Volke als ausgemachte Sache hören. Die Engländer glaubten’s auch. Wenigstens las ich erst neulich in einem englischen Blatte, daß mehrere Besteigungen der höchsten Spitze des Ararat durch glaubwürdige Männer erwiesen hätten, die Arche Noäh sei nicht nur nicht noch wohlerhalten, sondern überhaupt gar nicht mehr da.

Ich denke bei dieser unserer abendländischen Schöpfungs-Mythologie an die morgenländische der alten Indier, die wenigstens den neuen geologischen Forschungen, nach welchen unsere Erde mindestens schon ihre 25 Millionen Jahre um die Sonne herum marschirt ist, viel näher kommt. Alle Brahminen und Seher, deren Schriften auf Zeiten bis 12,000 Jahre vor Christi Geburt zurückführen, geben der von Menschen bewohnten Erde eine Zeit von 15 Millionen Jahren, die sie in 4 Perioden eintheilen. Die erste, das goldene Zeitalter, dauerte 1,728,000 Jahre. In dieser Zeit wurde Gott Brahma geboren, und die Menschen, alle von doppelter Goliathsgröße, wurden durchschnittlich 400 Jahre alt. Die zweite Periode dauerte 1,296,000 Iahte, während welcher die Rajah’s und verschiedene Laster geboren und von Menschen erzogen und gepflegt wurden, so daß sie es durchschnittlich nur noch bis auf 300 Jahre brachten. Die dritte Periode von 8,064,000jähriger Dauer brachte das Laster mehr zur Herrschaft und Größe und Tugend der Menschen, die nur noch 200 Jahre lebten, mehr in Verfall. Die letzte Periode, in der wir leben und von welcher schon 4,027,280 Jahre verflossen sind (wie wenigstens die Schüler der alten Brahma-Weisen behaupten) hat die Menschen durch Laster bis auf ein Viertel ihrer ehemaligen Größe und ihrer ursprünglichen Lebenszeit zurückgedrängt. Auf dem Berge Ararat erscheinen uns diese kolossalen indischen Perioden menschlicher und wahrscheinlicher, als unsere engherzigen Sagen, die wir von den alten Juden angenommen haben, da wir keine eigenen geltend machen konnten. Alles erscheint von hier aus dem nach keiner Seite eingeengten Blicke unendlich, und die ganze orientalische Frage mit ihren fünf Punkten unter dem Fragezeichen kaum als Fliegenkleckserei. Liegen doch hier seit Noah, selbst nach Calvisius, der in unsern Volkskalendern noch jedes Jahr genau angiebt, wie lange es her sei seit Erschaffung der Welt, wenigstens fünfzig Völker und Reiche begraben. Sie alle blühten neben und über einander empor, strahlten und thronten über die Erde und starben. Der nackte Araratgipfel sah ruhig zu, wie eins nach dem andern emporblühte um seinen Fuß herum, und sich ausbreitete, als wollt’ es die ganze Welt erobern, und wie es spurlos verschwand, ehe ihm, der nur von geologischen Jahren berührt wird, ein einziger Tag dahingegangen war. Er sah auch auf die blutigen Scenen, Donner- und Dampfwolken, die der Krieg neuerdings bis nach seinem erhabenen Haupte emporzuwirbeln suchte, unbewölkt und ungerührt herab, und um die Friedens-Konferenzen in Paris läßt er sich schon deshalb keine grauen Haare wachsen, weil er in seiner Jugend im Gram über das blutige Entstehen und Vergehen von Staaten um ihn her bereits ganz kahlköpfig geworden. Wollte er sich jetzt noch über die Diplomatie bekümmern, würden ihm allein durch den Fall von Kars alle Haare ausgefallen sein.

Nein, hier oben sind wir frei von den kleinlichen Listen und Ränken und Grausamkeiten der Civilisation und Barbarei, zwischen denen von einem so hohen Standpunkte aus gar kein Unterschied ist. Hier oben sieht man nur noch die Physiognomie der Erdoberfläche und deren Schönheitspflästerchen von Städten und Dörfern im Allgemeinen und in Totaleindrücken, nordöstlich die große Kette des Kaukasus, aus welchem sich sichtbar der Arax hervorschlängelt, die russisch-persische Grenze mit der Festung Erivan nordwestlich Gumri und Kars, ringsum Gebirgs- und Hügelwellen bald kahl, bald dicht bewaldet und überblüht, aber durchweg menschen- und kulturöde, nur daß uns das Fernrohr nach unten zuweilen einen vergoldeten, mit blauseidenen Vorhängen beschatteten, von Ochsen langsam über Stock und Stein gerumpelten Wagen zeigt, in welchem ein Stückchen Harem irgend eines blauen, weißbeturbanten Alttürken frische Luft zu schöpfen sucht.

Wir blicken noch einmal nach der russisch-persischen Grenze, wo der Gipfel des Zengui mit einem Festungsschlosse auf seiner Spitze einen um so anziehenderen Haltpunkt für das Auge bietet, als sich unten die russische Grenzfestung Erivan, alte Hauptstadt Georgiens, malerisch herumlagert. Inwendig bilden die schönsten Mädchen, die kostbarsten Perlen für türkische Harems, in ihrem eigenen und der Straßen Schmutze die pikantesten Contraste. Die Mädchen träumen von der großen Wäsche, der sie unterworfen werden, ehe sie auf den Markt kommen, und von dem Markte, auf dem sie verkauft werden, eben so süß und schwärmerisch, wie unsere holdesten Jungfrauen vom goldenen Ringe und der Haube,

Gitter umgeben ist, wodurch die Seite des Platzes zu einer Art Vorhof gebildet wird, wo sich die Haufen spielender Frauen aufhalten, denen ihres Geschlechtes wegen der Eintritt in den Raum, wo die Geschäfte gemacht werden, untersagt ist, die durch ab- und zugehende Börsenmakler (Courtiers) mit dem Geldmarkt in Verbindung gesetzt, ihre Geschäfte besorgen lassen. Werfen wir, bevor wir in das Innere des Heiligthums treten, einen Blick auf diese Schaar, die der zarteren Hälfte des Menschengeschlechtes angehört. Die Einleitung zu dem weitumfassenden Staatsspielhause kann unmöglich passender sein. Alles an diesen Weibern ist widrig, ihr Anzug ist schmutzig und vernachlässigt, die Gesichter, unschön und von der niedrigsten Leidenschaft, der Habsucht, entstellt. Nirgends eine Spur von Jugend, von Gefühl, von einer besseren Regung. Man möchte, Gott weiß, was darum geben, daß diese Geschöpfe nicht auch wie die anderen, die man bewundert oder verehrt, Frauen genannt würden. Sie sind den untern Volksklassen angehörig, gewesene Köchinnen, die gut einzukaufen verstanden, Wirthschafterinnen bei Junggesellen, die für sich gewirthschaftet oder Frauenzimmer, die ein noch viel schlimmeres Gewerbe gegrieben. Nur hier und da sieht man auch eine elegante Frau, die in irgend einem abgelegenen Winkel verborgen lauert. Doch gehört diese Erscheinung zu den Seltenheiten; denn die Frauen in Paris, welche in höhern gesellschaftlichen Sphären sich bewegen, spielen wohl auch sehr häufig auf der Börse, allein sie vermeiden zum Mindesten die unsaubere Berührung mit diesen Kameradinnen und halten ihre Leiber, wenn schon nicht ihre Seelen, von dem unpoetischen entwürdigenden Schauplatz der Spekulation fern.

Nun steigen wir über fünfzehn Stufen einer Treppe, welche die ganze Breite der Vorderseite einnimmt, empor und gelangen an einen prachtvollen Portikus, von dem aus zwei Haupteingänge in die innere Halle führen. Wir treten in diese ein und sind überrascht von dem, was da zu hören und zu sehen ist, ob wir gleich schon zum dreißigsten oder gar fünfzigsten Mal das furchtbare Haus besuchen; wir können uns, das fühlen wir, an diese Scene unmöglich gewöhnen. Man denke sich Hunderte von Stimmen, die durcheinander brüllen und einander zu übertönen suchen, ohne daß ein Wort oder auch nur ein artikulirter Laut zu unterscheiden ist; dann Hunderte von Menschen, die umherrennen, jeden Augenblick erschüttert oder einer Erschütterung gewärtig, fortwährend gespannt und erwartungsvoll die Augen weit aufgerissen, schreiend und überschrieen, bald in Verzweiflung, bald in Siegesrausch, ohne Rücksicht für Anstand und Ziemlichkeit aller Würde, aller Gemessenheit entäußert, ohne andere Eingebung als der brutalen Leidenschaft, die losgebunden umherragt, man denke sich einen Sumpf voll Stürme und man hat eine leise Vorstellung von diesem Schauspiel.

Doch auch über dieses Chaos gibt es eine Herrschaft, auch dieser Wildheit läßt sich gebieten. Diese babylonische Verwirrung wird, wie einst die venetianische Republik von Dreien regiert. Gegen zwei Uhr sah ich einen hochgewachsenen Mann in der Halle erscheinen, seine Haare sind bereits grau und mit röthlichblonden untermischt, welche die ursprüngliche Farbe derselben anzeigen; an den Augenbrauen hat die Zeit noch nicht so arg gebleicht, als ob sie dächte: mit diesem dürftig vorhandenen Vorrath werde ich in einem Nu fertig. Unter diesem röthlichblonden Schatten zwinkern zwei verloschene in die Runde gezogene Augen von unbestimmter Farbe, die Einen so seltsam anblicken, ohne daß man in ihnen etwas gewahrt. Die Nase, von beträchtlichem Umfange, scheint im Herabfallen wie zufällig an dem Gesichte von hellem Teint hängen geblieben zu sein, und unter derselben zieht sich ein Mund mit wulstig aufgeworfenen Lippen fast durch die ganze Breite des Gesichtes. Der Kopf sitzt etwas tief in den Schultern; die Haltung des ganzen Körpers ist voller Zwang, unfrei. Der Gang nachlässig unsicher, es sind die Schritte sich selbst überlassen. Kaum war der Mann eingetreten, so wendeten sich alle Blicke nach ihm; die große wilde Bewegung gerieth auf einen Augenblick in’s Stocken. So mag der erste Eindruck gewesen sein, als Napoleon I. am 18. Brumaire in die Nationalversammlung trat; und doch wiederholt sich der Besuch des röthlich-grauen Mannes häufig. Herr Rothschild, Herr James Rothschild, der Baron Rothschild! hörte man von allen Seiten mehr oder weniger laut ausrufen. Die sich nähern Umgangs mit der Finanzhoheit erfreuen, umringten ihn rücksichtsvoll, die Anderen machten ehrerbietig Platz. Nun sprach der Börsenfürst mit seinen Vertrauten und jeder lauschte, ob ihm nicht ein Wörtchen aus seinem Munde zu hören vergönnt wäre. Einer frug den Andern, was er denn gesprochen, der Ueberlegene. Die Papierkäufer zitterten, bei dem Gedanken, daß er verkaufen, die Verkäufer, daß er kaufen, würde. Einige stellten sich in die Nähe des Barons und stierten ihn an, als wollten sie aus seinen Zügen herauslesen, ob er das Drücken oder Heben der Actien beabsichtige. Allein wie alle Gottheiten hüllt sich der Baron Rothschild in Geheimniß. Andere Spekulanten haben ihre bestimmten Agents de Changes und Courtiers (offiziell beglaubigte und unbeglaubigte Mäkler), Herr von Rothschild wechselt fortwährend die Instrumente seiner Operationen, so daß Niemand zu errathen vermag, was er ausführt und wohin er zielt; selbst vor den von ihm Beauftragten sucht er seine Absicht so gut es geht zu verbergen. Eines Tages ließ er zwei Courtiers, die Herren Paton und Dreyfuß, zu sich bestellen; sie kamen die Befehle entgegen zu nehmen. Der große Baron fragt sie, ob sie sich auf Bilder verstehen; die überraschten Mäkler erklären, daß ihnen schöne Bilder gefallen. Der Baron laßt ein prächtiges Oelgemälde in einem goldenen Rahmen herbeibringen und vor den Berufenen aufstellen. „Wie gefällt Ihnen dieses Werk, meine Herren?“ fragte er die Berufenen, die auf Alles eher, denn eine ästhetische Berathung gefaßt waren und die einander verwundert und verlegen anblicken. Sie loben, in der Voraussetzung, daß es der Mächtige so haben will. „Es werden dreißig tausend Franken dafür verlangt. Sie müssen mir helfen das Geld gewinnen, gehen Sie, und kaufen Sie ein Jeder achtzigtausend Franken Rente.“ Sie gestehen Beide, daß sie die Art und Weise der Auftragertheilung irre geführt, daß sie nicht wüßten, was sie von dem Allen denken sollten und daß sie einen so großen Auftrag nach dieser seltsamen Einleitung nicht erwartet hätten. An dergleichen diplomatischen Streichen ist das Geschäftsleben des Herrn James von Rothschild überaus reich.

Herr von Rothschild blieb, bis die Glocke das Ende der Börse ankündigte; dann verließ er mit einem Gefolge, das sich ihm freiwillig anschloß, das große Staatsspielhaus, Gruppen zurücklassend, die alle Möglichkeiten besprachen, welche den Baron hierher geführt haben konnten, obgleich dergleichen Besuche sehr häufig vorkommen. Sie unterhielten sich ferner von seinem Aussehen, von den Falten, die sich auf seinem Gesichte neu gebildet, sie zählten die Jahre seines Alters nach, zergliederten seinen Charakter und sein Wesen, sie schätzten sein Vermögen, wobei ihre Blicke von der unheimlichen Glut der Habsucht und des Neides erglänzten.

„Hundert Millionen Franken und mehr hat der eine Mann für sich allein im Vermögen,“ sagte ein alter Courtier in einer Art Begeisterung. „Mir schwindelt bei dem Gedanken, und doch geht und trägt sich der außerordentliche Mann wie andere Menschenkinder; er ist nicht stolz, er spricht mit Unsereinem, wie mit seines Gleichen und mit deutschem Accent. Das finde ich wunderschön, das finde ich erhaben.“

„Ich danke ihm nicht dafür, daß er mit Unsereinem spricht,“ sagte ein Jüngerer, mit vollem schwarzen Bart, „es ist auch keine gar so große Ehre; außerdem thut er es nur, weil es ihm Geld einträgt. Alles zielt auf Gewinn bei dem Manne, darum ist er auch so reich; er handelt, ich selbst habe die Erfahrung gemacht im sans Courtage, und wenn er einen Abzug machen kann, unterläßt er es gewiß nicht.“

„Die Laune eines großen Herrn,“ versetzte der alte Courtier; er konnte sich nun einmal nicht überreden, daß an dem Besitzer so großen Reichthums etwas zu tadeln sei. Bis vor einigen Jahren war Herr von Rothschild Alleinherrscher der pariser Börse; er glich dem alten Jupiter; wenn er die Locken seines Hauptes schüttelte, dann erbebte die Finanzwelt in ihren Grundfesten. Seither aber hat er in der französischen Kreditanstalt (Credit mobilier) eine mächtige Rivalin erhalten; ihr stehen die Brüder Emil und Isaak Pereire vor, gleichen Stammes wie Herr von Rothschild; während dieser blos der Erbe und Vermehrer des großen Reichthums ist, sind sie die Gründer des ihrigen. Die Gebrüder Pereire zeigen sich nie auf der Börse, sie sind dafür zu gebildet, zu anständig; sie haben ihre Agenten, welche auf dem Aktientummelplatz ihre Geschäfte oder vielmehr die Geschäfte der Anstalt ausführen. Sie sind Beide Anhänger des Simonismus, und als

solche haben sie die Geldfrage, welche doch so tief in die gesellschaftlichen Zustände eingreift, zum Gegenstand ihrer Forschung gemacht. Emil Pereire schrieb seiner Zeit finanzielle Artikel, die große Beachtung fanden; so ward er bekannt, so kam er in Berührung mit Geldleuten, so kam er empor. Ein eigenthümlicher Zug dieser großen Unternehmer ist es, daß sie sich mit der literarischen und Kunstwelt im Zusammenhang erhalten. Besonders befreundet sind sie mit dem Dichter Beranger.

Bei Gelegenheit einer großen Aktienunternehmung schickten sie dem greisen Sänger hundert Stück Aktien zu, die einen reinen Gewinn von fünfzigtausend Franken bereits abwarfen. Der Poet kam athemlos mit der Sendung gelaufen und frug, gänzlich unerfahren in solchen Dingen, was denn die Papiere zu bedeuten hätten. Herr Isaak Pereire erklärte, daß, da doch die Aktien für das Publikum bestimmt seien, man ihm auch einige zugeschickt hätte. Damit war aber die Sache noch nicht abgemacht. Herr Beranger verlangte nähere Erklärung über die Vortheile, welche man ihm durch die Betheiligung zukommen ließ, und als er von fünfzigtaufend Franken Gewinn hörte, erschrak er beinahe und rief: „Was soll ich mit so viel Geld anfangen?“ Er bestand darauf, daß die Aktien zurückgenommen würden. Herr Isaak widersetzte sich dem Ansinnen, bis durch eine Ausgleichung dem Streit ein Ende gemacht wurde, die darin bestand, daß sich Herr Beranger entschloß, zehn der angebotenen Aktien anzunehmen.

Während Baron Rothschild, umgeben von seinen Getreuen, in der Halle dastand, und den Blick weithin schweifen ließ über das Gewühl, ungefähr wie ein Feldherr, der dem Gewürge einer Schlacht zusieht, bemerkte man in einem andern Theile des Saales einen Mann von kleiner Gestalt, schwarzen Haaren und Augen derselben Farbe, über die sich dunkle und dicke Brauen wölben und die klug und durchdringend blicken. Sein Anzug ist auffallend elegant, aber der Haltung fehlt die Feinheit, den Bewegungen Freiheit und Anmuth. Auch um diesen Mann war ein Häuflein gesammelt, aber freilich nicht zu vergleichen mit der Schaar um den Baron. Alle Augenblicke näherten sich ihm Courtiers mit den weißen Täfelchen, auf denen alle Schwankungen der Course verzeichnet stehen, und welche er einer raschen Uebersicht würdigte. Als nun der Ausruf: „der Baron Rothschild ist da!“ rasch sich verbreitend bis hierher dringt, verfärbt sich der kleine Mann ein wenig und beißt unmerklich in die Unterlippe, ohne ein Wort zu sagen. - Dieser Mann ist Herr Mires, die dritte Macht, oder besser gesagt, die Macht dritten Ranges auf der Börse. Ob er gleich, wie aus dieser Bezeichnung hervorgeht, keineswegs mit den beiden andern zu vergleichen ist, so bleibt doch sein maßgebender Einfluß außer allem Zweifel, und es giebt eine ganze Masse von Spekulanten, die sich nach ihm richten und die, um mich eines hier seit der letzten politischen Umwälzung sehr in Gebrauch gekommenen Ausdrucks zu bedienen, seinem Sterne folgen.

Herr Mires ist ein Parvenue im ganzen Umfang der Bedeutung des Wortes; aber gerade durch sein rasches Emporkommen steht er der Masse von Börsenspielern am nächsten, sie sieht in ihm ihre Hoffnungen verkörpert. Die Herren Pereire wurden von Talenten getragen, Herr von Rothschild hat schon auf der Höhe das Licht der Welt erblickt; aber Herr Mires ist reich geworden durch die Gunst des Zufalls, des Glückes, durch Mittel, auf die zu zählen Jeder die gleiche Berechtigung hat. Noch vor wenig Jahren redigirte Herr Mires ein unansehnliches Blättchen des Namens „l’Audience“, das die Verhandlungen in den Gerichtssälen wiedergab. Der Redakteur bot nichts dem Blatte und das Blatt nichts dem Redakteur. Für Beide war die Verbindung zu unersprießlich, als daß sie sich nicht hätten scheiden sollen. Im Jahre 1848 gelang es Herrn Mires, sich zum Bevollmächtigten mehrerer Eisenbahnaktionäre zu machen, und er wurde mit der Aufgabe betraut, die Interessen derselben gegenüber den Unternehmern zu vertreten, da die Stürme des verhängnißvollen Jahres die Aktien tief unter Pari gedrückt. Was that Herr Mires, wie erfüllte er seine Sendung? Weit mehr seinen eigenen Vortheil, als den seiner Clienten im Auge, kaufte er die fast werthlos gewordenen Papiere um niedern Preis, und verlangte von den Unternehmern die Pariauszahlung derselben; er rechnete nämlich auf den Druck, welchen seine drohende Stellung als Bevollmächtigter der Aktionäre auf die Beutel der Unternehmer ausüben würde. Er mißbrauchte mit andern Worten die ihm von den Aktionären übertragene Gewalt. Indeß erwies sich diese Quelle, mit wie viel Gewandtheit sie auch ausgebeutet wurde, nicht sehr ergiebig, und Herr Mires blieb mit seiner zahlreichen Familie in so bedrängter Lage, daß er von Manchem seiner Bekannten ein Fünffrankenstück zu borgen sich gezwungen sah, um nur dem dringendsten Bedürfniß für den Anblick abzuhelfen. Erst unter der Präsidentschaft Louis Napoleon’s ward Herr Mires nach mehreren vergeblichen Versuchen, nach langem Umhertappen von einem glücklichen Gedanken auf den rechten Weg zum Glück gebracht.

In Verbindung mit Herrn Miot kaufte er ein kleinen Zeitungsblatt, das „Journal de Chemin de fer“ an sich, und aus diesem unscheinbaren, theils industriellen, theils literarischen Gebiete, das allerdings mit Umsicht bebaut wurde, schossen in wenig Jahren Millionen, viele Millionen auf. Herr Mires gehört heut zu Tage zu den reichsten, unternehmensten Leuten nicht nur von Frankreich, sondern von ganz Europa. Doch glaube man nicht etwa, daß es die Abonnentenzahl gewesen, welche das Zeitungsunternehmen in so hohem Grade gefördert; es war der gewonnene Einfluß, der sich so furchtbar an Erfolgen zeigte. Abgesehen davon, daß jede Eisenbahngesellschaft die Leiter der Eisenbahnzeitung mit gewinnbringenden Aktien bedachte, vermochten diese durch ihr Organ auf den Gang dieses Aktiengeschäften selbst einzuwirken, eine Gewalt, die sie gehörig zu benutzen verstanden. Herr Mires ist ein Spekulant, der in Allem macht, also auch in Journalistik, die ihm als Leiter zur Höhe des Glückes gedient. Seine Eisenbahnzeitung besitzt er noch immer, außerdem aber ist er Eigenthümer der beiden bonapartistischen Organe „Pays“ und „Constitutionel“. Auch er hat mäcenatische Anwandlungen, und erweist sich unterstützend und hülfreich gegen Künstler und Literaten. So kaufte er z. B. Herrn von Lamartine, der immerfort mit Geldnoth kämpft, den „Civilisateur“, eine Vierzehntagsschrift, für 100,000 Franken ab, ob sie gleich kaum die Hälfte werth ist. Ueberhaupt thun die Geldleute in Parin gern dadurch aristokratisch, daß sie sich Künstlern und Schriftstellern gefällig zeigen. Die Mode bringt es so mit sich, und es ist zudem ein erprobtes Mittel, sich populär zu machen. Auch brauchen sie Leute von Geist und Bildung für ihre Salons, welche sonst gar zu langweilig und wahrscheinlich verödet blieben. Selbst Herr von Rothschild, der für gar nichts Sinn hat, als für Geld und Gewinn, giebt sich gern als Beschützer der Künste und Wissenschaften kund. Wie manches Tausendfrankenbillet wanderte aus dem Hotel Rothschild, Rue Lafitte, in die Tasche des kürzlich dahingeschiedenen Dichters Heinrich Heine. Doch wissen Eingeweihte, daß diese Großmuth keineswegs aus einem freien Gefühle des Herzens, sondern aus der Furcht vor dem schonungslosen beißenden Witze des berühmten Schriftstellers entsprang. Denn Herr von Rothschild ist gegen Angriffe der Presse sehr empfindlich.

Der Einfluß dieser Börsenmatadore beschränkt sich nicht nur auf hie Geschäftswelt, sondern greift tief in alle Verhältnisse des gesellschaftlichen Lebens ein, und die Gunst dieser Herren verhilft zu Stellen und Aemtern. Wer Paris und seine Zustände kennt, wird begreifen, was hier Menschen vermögen, die Einem hunderttausend Franken durch ein Wort gewinnen machen können. Welcher Franzose widersteht einer durch solche Mittel unterstützten Fürsprache!

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Na planini Ararat

Stojimo na planini Ararat u Armeniji kako bismo teleskopom promatrali cijelu Malu Aziju, ratište, pali Kars, rusko-tursku granicu, a preko Crnog mora i Krim i sada utihnuli Sevastopolj koji se puši u ruševinama. Gledamo cijelo istočno pitanje i povijest staroga čovječanstva, koja ovdje uzdiže svoj spomenik, 17.261 stopu iznad razine mora i 10.000 stopa iznad okolne visoravni.

Najprije razgledavamo još uvijek dobro očuvanu Noinu arku, u koju je on ušao sa "svim grešnim blagom i ljudskom djecom" u nedjelju, 30. studenog 2349. godine prije Krista, nakon čega je u nedjelju, 7. prosinca, počela padati kiša. Padala je tako silno da je arka plovila iznad najviših planina dok se, kao što je poznato, nije ponovno učvrstila na ovom brdu Araratu i pustila novo čovječanstvo da siđe. Arka je duga 547 stopa, široka 91 i visoka 54 stope. Nosi 72.625 tona težine. Noa je u njoj sa svim priborom živio 13 mjeseci i 18 dana, jer je mogao izaći tek u petak, 18. prosinca sljedeće godine, nakon što se arka u srijedu, 6. svibnja, zaustavila na planini Ararat. Zemlja je tada bila stara 1656 godina, jer je bila dovršena tek u nedjelju, 23. listopada 4004. godine prije Krista, te se stoga sada nalazi u svojoj 5858. godini.

Što se tiče ovih podataka i brojki, oni su barem u Engleskoj odlukom parlamenta utvrđeni kao dogma Anglikanske crkve, nakon što ih je izračunao biskup Wilkins, šogor Olivera Cromwella. On je uspio uvjeriti revolucionarni parlament u istinitost tih istraživanja toliko da ih je on sankcionirao kao članak vjere. Ova odluka parlamenta do danas nije ukinuta, baš kao ni ona da nitko ne smije nositi presvučenu dugmad na kaputu ili da nitko ne smije objavljivati ništa o parlamentarnim raspravama... To je ujedno dokaz da se sloboda i nesloboda ne mogu iznuditi zakonima.

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Kontrast Istoka i Zapada

Razmišljam, uz ovu našu zapadnjačku mitologiju o stvaranju, o onoj istočnjačkoj starih Indijaca, koja je barem mnogo bliža novim geološkim istraživanjima prema kojima naša Zemlja kruži oko Sunca već najmanje 25 milijuna godina. Svi brahmani i vidovnjaci daju Zemlji naseljenoj ljudima starost od 15 milijuna godina, koju dijele u četiri razdoblja.

Na planini Ararat ovi nam se kolosalni indijski periodi čine ljudskijima i vjerojatnijima od naših uskogrudnih legendi koje smo preuzeli od starih Židova jer nismo mogli istaknuti vlastite. Odavde sve izgleda beskonačno, a cijelo "istočno pitanje" sa svojih pet točaka pod znakom upitnika čini se jedva kao mrlja od muhe. Ovdje leži pokopano barem pedeset naroda i carstava. Goli vrh Ararata mirno je promatrao kako jedno za drugim cvjeta oko njegova podnožja i širi se kao da želi osvojiti cijeli svijet, i kako nestaje bez traga prije nego što je njemu, kojeg dotiču samo geološke godine, prošao ijedan jedini dan.

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Pariška burza: Hram spekulacije

S Ararata se selimo u Pariz. Silazimo niz petnaest stepenica i ulazimo u veličanstveni portik koji vodi u unutarnju dvoranu Burze. Iznenađeni smo onim što se tamo čuje i vidi. Zamislite stotine glasova koji urliču jedni preko drugih, stotine ljudi koji jure uokolo, čas u očaju, čas u pobjedničkom zanosu, bez obzira na pristojnost, vođeni brutalnom strašću.

No, i nad tim kaosom postoji vlast. Oko dva sata vidio sam visokog čovjeka kako ulazi u dvoranu; kosa mu je već siva, nos znatnog opsega, usta široka. Čim je ušao, svi su pogledi bili uprti u njega. "Gospodin Rothschild, gospodin James Rothschild, barun Rothschild!" čulo se sa svih strana. Kupci papira drhtali su pri pomisli da će on prodavati, a prodavači da će kupovati. Pokušavali su mu pročitati s lica namjerava li obarati ili dizati cijene dionica. Ali, kao i sva božanstva, barun Rothschild se umata u tajnu.

Barun Rothschild je dugo bio apsolutni vladar pariške burze, nalik starom Jupiteru; kad bi protresao uvojke svoje glave, financijski svijet bi se tresao u temeljima. No, u posljednje vrijeme dobio je moćnu rivalku u Francuskoj kreditnoj ustanovi (Crédit Mobilier), koju vode braća Emile i Isaac Pereire. Oni su obrazovaniji, bave se književnošću i umjetnošću, te su prijatelji pjesnika Bérangera.

Treća sila na burzi je gospodin Mirès, "parvenu" (skorojević) u punom smislu riječi. On je postao bogat srećom i slučajem, a posjeduje novine poput Journal de Chemin de fer, Pays i Constitutionnel. On koristi svoje medije kako bi utjecao na cijene dionica željeznica.

Utjecaj ovih burzovnih matadora ne ograničava se samo na poslovni svijet, već duboko zahvaća u sve odnose društvenog života. Naklonost ove gospode pomaže u dobivanju položaja i službi. Tko poznaje Pariz i njegove prilike, shvatit će što mogu ljudi koji jednom riječju mogu donijeti dobit od sto tisuća franaka! Koji bi Francuz odolio zagovoru potpomognutom takvim sredstvima!

Photograph taken at an altitude of Six metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 07:00am), at 07:01am on Sunday 21st September 2014 off 1st Street and Beacon Avenue, from the concourse above the shoreline in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Here, we are looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.

The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.

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Nikon D800 145mm 1/800s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 54.79s

LONGITUDE: W 123d 23m 38.68s

ALTITUDE: 6.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 9.84MB

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HP Pavillion P6-2388EA Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD 7570 graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Any employee of the Bristol Omnibus Co. was entitled to a try-out at the Company's driving school, irrespective of previous experience. My previous experience amounted to precisely none. I had last ventured onto the roads at the age of 12 in control of a bicycle. Even then, I'm not sure that the word "control" precisely describes my method. I just rode where I liked when I felt like it and expected everyone else to defer to me. The same method may still be seen in use today among cyclists who don't have the excuse of being children. But cycling wasn't really for me; it was far too energetic, and I disliked riding into a strong wind ...one so felt like turning around and going back the other way.

Actually the Company had approached me, not the other way around. I had been a conductor for six years, but now one-man operation was coming in and the Company was eager to train conductors as drivers. I thought it would be an amusing lark, an agreeable break from routine and a good skive. It was quite a shock to find myself, two weeks later, in the cab of a bus ...nothing like the ones I'd trained on... going out to pick up my first cargo of humanity. This was in the mid 1970s, when everything was inefficient and most people had to work their way up a six month waiting list to take their driving tests.

In after years I did sometimes wonder about the wisdom of giving people PSV licences after two weeks' experience of driving and roadcraft. After a couple of narrow squeaks, which still have the power to make me break out in a muck sweat when I think of them, I learned that cockiness was not an option. I'd say it took me a year to feel thoroughly confident.

This was the vehicle on which I passed my test. It was a Gardner-engined Bristol LD-type Lodekka new in 1959. It had originally belonged to the "country" fleet, which meant that it had Bristol's labyrinthine 5-speed "crash" gearbox with its three neutral positions and no way out of 5th except back through 4th ...a ticklish business for a novice driver. Some of the training buses then in use were painted in a livery of cream with orange lettering and "lining out", but a new General Manager had recently been appointed. He had come from the Eastern National company and introduced a number of Eastern National practices, including this colour-scheme for training vehicles. Friday 27th August 1976.

This Popular Mechanics article is the best I have found. I recommend subscribing to Popular Mechanics.

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The NATO phonetic alphabet is a universally adopted spelling code.

It helps agencies, businesses, services, aviators, and civilians communicate more clearly and precisely.

Familiarizing yourself with the letters could help you spell out your name over the phone while paying bills or placing food orders.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Standing in front of the cashier in the take-out line, you tell them your name so you can pick up that pizza you called in 20 minutes ago. The confused cashier tells you, “Hmm, I don’t have an order for ‘Kim.’ Someone just picked up an order for ‘Jim,’ and I have one here for ‘Tim.’”

Usually, that kind of communication snafu is a minor inconvenience. In this case, you’ll either mistakenly take the order for “Tim,” or you’ll place your order again and suffer a minor delay in getting your grub.

💡Don’t miss the best in science, tech, aviation, and engineering—join Pop Mech Pro.

But it could be far more dire if such a miscommunication were to occur while giving an emergency dispatcher a street name, or while giving instructions to a pilot making an emergency landing. To prevent such communication errors, agencies, businesses, services, and civilians around the world use the NATO phonetic alphabet.

The NATO phonetic alphabet is the universally adopted spelling alphabet, or code, used to clearly and precisely communicate words or letters both within the same language and across languages. It is important for both speech perception and word recognition, Meghan Sumner, a linguistics professor at Stanford University, tells Popular Mechanics.

“Many sounds are highly confusable within a language,” Sumner says. For example, the sounds “th” and “f” are very similar (thin, fin) and easy to confuse, as are “m” and “n” sounds, she explains. “Especially in contexts that are noisy or when you can’t see the talker,” such as over a radio with background noise or interference. The NATO phonetic alphabet helps avoid ambiguity and makes it clear what the letters are, she says.

In the mid-1950s, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) became the first group to approve and use the new alphabet, hence its name. However, several other variations preceded it.

In the 1920s, a special agency of the United Nations, called the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), produced the first official version of a phonetic alphabet. This version primarily used names of cities and countries across the globe: Amsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca, Denmark, and so on. In 1941, the U.S. Army and Navy established the “Able Baker alphabet,” named after the first two code words. The British Royal Air Force adopted the same alphabet two years later.

According to NATO’s history of the phonetic alphabet, these earlier versions were criticized for their English bias because people from non-English speaking countries may be unfamiliar with the words used in those phonetic alphabets, potentially adding to the confusion when trying to communicate.

“Across languages, speakers might hear a sound, but map it onto a different sound category in their own language, especially in contexts of background noise,” Sumner says. For example, the Spanish pronunciation of the letter “P” sounds very similar to the English pronunciation of the letter “B.” This could cause issues when communicating names of people or places to someone who may not be familiar with those names in the other language, she says.

If customer service reps often get the spelling of your name wrong, you can use the NATO phonetic alphabet to fix that. Take a look at the the list below and write out your full first and last name using the codewords that correspond to each letter. Jot it down on a sticky note or in a note on your phone so that you never have to scramble again. Problem = solved.

In response to the criticism that the alphabet was too English-centric, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)—an airline trade association based in Montreal—proposed a new alphabet that only included words with sounds common to English, Spanish, and French. This version came into effect in 1951 for non-military aviation only, and included many of the same words used in today’s NATO phonetic alphabet. But the IATA alphabet at that time was still a little confusing. For example, “C” was “Coca,” and “X” was “eXtra,” which doesn’t even start with “X.”

By the mid-1950s, NATO recognized the need for a singular, universally-adopted phonetic alphabet, so the organization launched a review of the Able Baker alphabet, led by the U.S. and the U.K. As the review dragged on, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) began considering a proposal to change the words for four letters in the IATA version (“C,” “M,” “U,” and “X”), and debated over whether or not to change Nectar to November for “N.”

Then in April 1955, NATO jumped in and announced it would be officially adopting the proposed revised IATA alphabet as of January 1, 1956. Just a few months later, the ICAO also approved the revised version, now known as the NATO phonetic alphabet. A few years later, the ITU (the organization first to adopt a phonetic spelling alphabet) also adopted the NATO alphabet, making it the universal phonetic alphabet for all military, civilian, and amateur radio communications.

Not only does the NATO phonetic alphabet aid in communication that is strictly audio (without the assistance of visual aids), but it also helps avoid incorrect word recognition, Sumner says, “and the best example of this is my last name.”

People often read the word “summer” when they see her name, and hear the word “summer” when she says her name. That’s because when we start to read or hear words, our brain activates potential words for us, Sumner explains. Once the wrong word is already activated, it becomes extremely difficult to correct, she says.

Sumner uses a number of tactics to help people get her name correct. “Sometimes, I do nothing and hope,” she says. “But in situations that matter, where getting the letters right is critical, the NATO alphabet helps.”

Correction, March 10, 2022: A previous version of a graphic in this story misspelled the NATO phonetic alphabet entries for “A” and “J.” The correct spellings are “Alfa” and “Juliett.”

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Kimberly Hickok is a freelance science writer with a degree in marine biology from Texas A&M University, a master's degree in biology from Southeastern Louisiana University and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has been published by NBC, Science, Live Science, Space.com and many others. Her favorite stories are about health, animals and obscurities.

Sergiu Pasca arrived at his Stanford lab on October 28, 2025, dressed like a scientist from another era. The navy suit, the precisely knotted tie, the substantial black frames all evoked that postwar period when researchers believed they could decode the fundamental mysteries of life itself. But the work happening in his laboratory at the Clark Center represents something thoroughly contemporary: growing human brain tissue in dishes to understand psychiatric disease.

The photograph captures him surrounded by the tools of his trade. Molecular models sit on the desk before him, physical representations of the chemical architecture underlying consciousness itself. Framed certificates hang shadowed on the wall behind. Everything arranged with precision, yet something in his expression suggests the restless intelligence that drives breakthrough science.

Pasca has accomplished what many thought impossible. His assembloids, organized clusters of human brain cells that recapitulate specific regions and their connections, have fundamentally altered how neuroscience approaches mental illness. These aren't merely collections of neurons floating in culture medium. They're structured tissues that develop recognizable features of cortex, striatum, thalamus. More remarkably, when fused together, they form connections that mimic how different brain regions communicate in living humans.

The implications ripple outward. For the first time, researchers can watch human brain development unfold in real time, introduce genetic variations linked to autism or schizophrenia, and observe the cellular consequences. No need for autopsy tissue or animal models that approximate but never fully capture human neurobiology. The actual substrate of human thought, grown from stem cells, available for study.

He came to this work through an unusual path. Born in Romania, trained in medicine before turning to research, Pasca brought a clinician's attention to human suffering alongside a scientist's appetite for mechanism. His early papers on Timothy syndrome, a rare genetic condition causing autism and heart defects, revealed how calcium channel mutations disrupted cortical development. But it was the assembloid work that established him as a pioneer.

By his late thirties, he was directing his own center, publishing in Science and Nature, being recognized with awards typically reserved for researchers decades older. The compression of achievement suggests not just talent but a particular kind of obsessive focus. He had found his problem: how brains build themselves and what goes wrong in psychiatric disease.

The assembloid studies have yielded concrete insights. In certain forms of autism, the difficulty lies not in individual neurons but in how brain regions communicate. His team fused cortical and striatal organoids and watched the connections form aberrantly in tissue carrying autism-associated mutations. Other work revealed how neural stem cells in schizophrenia patients show accelerated maturation, potentially explaining the timing of symptom onset.

This represents detective work at the cellular scale, tracking developmental divergences that manifest years later as a child who cannot speak or an adult who experiences psychosis. The molecular models on his desk aren't decorative but essential: they represent the chemical reality underlying every thought, every perception, every psychiatric symptom.

What makes Pasca's approach distinctive is its philosophical grounding in experimental rigor. By creating these miniature brain circuits, he's solved one of neuroscience's oldest problems: access to living human tissue during the critical period when circuits form. The assembloids provide a window into processes previously hidden, happening in utero or early childhood, long before symptoms appear.

The work has practical applications. Pharmaceutical companies use assembloids to test drug candidates on actual human brain tissue. Clinicians may eventually use patient-derived organoids to predict treatment response. But the deeper contribution is conceptual: a new way to think about brain development and its vulnerabilities.

That October afternoon, photographed in his laboratory, Pasca embodied a particular type of scientist. The formal attire speaks to seriousness of purpose. The molecular models and certificates frame achievement already substantial. But the eyes suggest someone still engaged with fundamental questions, still building toward insights not yet realized. He's made brains in dishes not as spectacle but as tool, a means toward helping people whose brains diverged from typical developmental trajectories.

His career will likely be defined by this work. The questions he's pursuing couldn't be more urgent: What causes autism? Why does schizophrenia emerge in early adulthood? Can we intervene earlier, more precisely? The answers are taking shape in his lab, one assembloid at a time, grown from stem cells into structures that think but cannot yet speak.

Photograph taken at an altitude of Seven metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:31am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Here, I am standing beside the wooden decked viewing platform, looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.

These Canada Geese, along with many other small groups, fly across the lake from East to West every morning and back again every evening at Sunset, and I love to watch the classic Vee formations and listen to the honking as they pass me by. In flight, a group of Geese are called, a Skein.

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Nikon D800 116mm 1/500s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.80s

LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.85s

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Nine metres, in the magic of the Golden hour around sunrise at 05:41am, (sunrise was at precisely 06.15am) on Saturday 6th September 2014 off the Patricia Bay Highway 17, on Lochside Drive close to Frost Avenue and the Lochside Waterfront Park, in beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Here, we are looking over towards Mt Baker in Washington State, USA from beautiful Sidney by the sea on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as Koma Kulshan, (pronounced kō-ō’mah’ kool-shän’),she is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States, standing 3,286 metres tall and was first ascended in 1868, her last eruption recorded in 1880.

The name Mount Baker first appeared in print in Captain Vancouver’s 1798 narrative of his voyage around Vancouver Island. Legend has it that his third-lieutenant, Joseph Baker, was the first to spot the mountain while they sailed into Dungeness Bay on April 30th, 1792. Also known by the Lummi as Kwud-Shad, and Koba (meaning 'high mountain always covered with snow', was the Skagit name.

These Canada Geese, along with many other small groups, fly across the lake from East to West every morning and back again every evening at Sunset, and I love to watch the classic Vee formations and listen to the honking as they pass me by. In flight, a group of Geese are called, a Skein.

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Nikon D800 70mm 1/1000s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

LATITUDE: N 48d 38m 15.77s

LONGITUDE: W 123d 24m 12.83s

ALTITUDE: 8.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.0 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

At precisely 8.32 plus 26 minutes, Corail Lunéa (nowadays, it's just Lunéa, but back then, the train category was still Corail Lunéa) no. 5799 «Val de Durance» from Paris-Austerlitz arrives at its final station, Briançon at the foot of the Montgenèvre pass. From Valence-Ville onwards, the train has been hauled by BB 67558 and (probably) 67330. It is one of the sparse moments of animation on the line Veynes - Briançon. Briançon, 21-05-2009.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin

Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is on the east coast of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, and is bordered on the south by the Wicklow Mountains. It has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin), as of 2016, was 1,347,359, and the population of the Greater Dublin area was 1,904,806.

There is archaeological debate regarding precisely where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Later expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.

Dublin is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha −", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Guinness

Arthur Guinness (24 September 1725 – 23 January 1803) was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist.

At 27, in 1752, Guinness's godfather Arthur Price, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel, bequeathed him £100 in his will. Guinness invested the money and in 1755 had a brewery at Leixlip, just 17 km from Dublin. In 1759, Guinness went to the city and set up his own business. He took a 9,000-year lease on the 4-acre (16,000 m2) brewery at St. James's Gate from the descendants of Sir Mark Rainsford for an annual rent of £45.

Guinness's flowery red signature is still copied on every label of bottled Guinness.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Storehouse

Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors.

The Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness. The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission, which was €18.50 on 15 October 2018 with discounts depending on dates and times, described as "overpriced" by Condé Nast Traveler. In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present-day brewing process.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Brewery

St. James's Gate Brewery (Irish: Grúdlann Gheata Naomh Séamuis) is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a British company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Guinness Draught.

Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at IR£45 (Irish pounds) per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.

There is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness

Guinness is a dark Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850 million litres (220,000,000 US gal). It is popular with the Irish, both in Ireland and abroad. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is still the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth annually.

Guinness' burnt flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.[6]

The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932. In 1997, Guinness Plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based out of London.

Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty nine metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:28am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

Just to the far left you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 70mm 1/25s f/5.6 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.59s

ALTITUDE: 49.0m

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

"To possess the world in the form of images is, precisely, to re-experience the unreality and remoteness of the the real." Susan Sontag, On Photography

Anthropologists tend to downplay the meaning and significance of the few ancestral mummies or desiccated corpses that can still be found in the central highlands of West Papua (Irian Jaya, Indonesia).

This corpse is kept in the sleeping loft of a Dani men’s house where it has dried and turned shiny black from smoke rising from the ground floor, perhaps for more than a century but more likely around 60 to 70 years. It is adorned with fresh barkcloth neck strips and a long koteka or penis gourd. Ornamental wrist bands of pandanus fibres are worn by the Dani guardian.

Dani corpses are normally cremated during elaborate funeral rites. It is likely that this corpse was not cremated because it was of a man of great importance, a venerated "big man" or leader of a major political alliance at a time not so long ago when ritual warfare was a constant and ubiquitous part of everyday Dani life.

The desiccated corpse may be perceived by the Dani as having supernatural value, a way to placate the ghosts. Ethnographic accounts tend to suggest this but the ethnographers seem reluctant to draw any clear definitive conclusions.

There is little evidence that it is the object of organized ancestral worship more common in other Melanesian cultures. At the very least today, it is a "sensational" photo op staged for tourists and other passing strangers.

The indigenous peoples of West Papua migrated from southeast Asia and the Australian continent about 30,000 to 50,000 years ago during the Ice Age when sea levels were lower and distances between islands shorter.

Western "first contact” with West Papua's Grand Valley Dani was established in 1938 during American-led botanical and zoological expeditions to the central highlands, less than sixty years before this photograph was taken.

~~~

Ethnographic efforts at demystifying Dani neolithic cultural practices and ritualized warfare in the region are associated with the early ground-breaking 1961 Harvard-Peabody Expedition. They include anthropologist Karl Heider’s accounts in “The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of West New Guinea,” Aldine Publishing (1970) and “Grand Valley Dani: Peaceful Warriors” (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology), Wadsworth Publishing (1996); also filmmaker Robert Gardner’s classic ethnographic documentary, “Dead Birds” (1965) and Peter Matthiessen’s “Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in Stone Age New Guinea,” Viking Press (1962).

Noritsu Koki QSS-31 digital film scan, shot with a compact semi-automatic point-and-shoot Pentax camera, circa 1996.

Documentary Portraiture | National Geographic | BodyArt

Wonder - is not precisely Knowing

Wonder - is not precisely Knowing

And not precisely Knowing not -

A beautiful but bleak condition

He has not lived who has not felt -

Suspense - is his maturer Sister -

Whether Adult Delight is Pain

Or of itself a new misgiving -

This is the Gnat that mangles men -

Emily Dickinson

Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty nine metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:24am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

To the far left you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 105mm 1/60s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Or perhaps is it more precisely the Waverley Cemetery

www.bap.de/start/musik/songtexte/titel/verdamp-lang-her --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghi2xReyFYA&feature=related --- www.worldvision.de/unsere-arbeit-wie-wir-arbeiten-entwick... ---

Bap Colognian (Kölsch) pronunciation: [/bap/] is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and Wolfgang Ambros.

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne, Germany by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981 they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (English: Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word Papa for dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-times nickname. BAP ist eine Kölschrockband um den Frontmann Wolfgang Niedecken und gilt als eine der erfolgreichsten Rockbands deutscher Sprache. Von den 23 BAP-Alben erreichten 19 die Top 10, zehn wurden sogar Nummer 1 der Charts.Die Gruppe um Sänger und Songschreiber Wolfgang Niedecken besteht seit 1976. Die Band traf sich zu Beginn in wechselnder Besetzung, um „einen Kasten Bier leerzuproben“.[1] Der erste Auftritt erfolgte 1977 im Mariensaal in Köln-Nippes mit zwei akustischen Gitarren (Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans Heres) und Perkussion (Afro Bauermann). Das erste Album, Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder. erschien 1979, die Band bestand zu dieser Zeit aus Wolfgang Niedecken, Hans „Honçe“ Heres, Wolfgang „Gröön“ Klever, Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker, Wolfgang „Wolli“ Boecker und Bernd Odenthal. Die zweite LP Affjetaut folgte 1980, wie die Debüt-Platte noch unter der Bezeichnung „Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP“, da Niedecken sich bereits als Solo-Künstler mit Gitarre und Mundharmonika als „Bob Dylan der Südstadt“ einen Namen gemacht hatte; beide Platten wurden noch beim Kölner Independent-Label Eigelstein Musikproduktion veröffentlicht.

Der Bandname BAP entstand aus Niedeckens Spitzname, der seinen Vater so nannte. Diese Aussprache entstammt der Herkunft der Familie aus Rheinland-Pfalz, und weil sie vom kölschen „Pap“ abwich, entstand so Niedeckens Spitzname.[2] Als ein erster Auftritt geplant wurde, für den mit einem Plakat geworben werden sollte, musste ein Bandname erdacht werden. Hans Heres schlug dem Veranstalter vor, „BAPP“ zu nehmen.[3] Da sich die Bandmitglieder aber einig waren, dass „BAPP“ – mit zwei „P“ geschrieben – auf der Bassdrum nicht gut aussah, wurde einfach ein „P“ gestrichen.[4]

Der musikalische und inhaltliche Stil der BAP-Songs wird wesentlich von Bob Dylan, den Kinks und den Rolling Stones geprägt. Auch Bruce Springsteen, mit dem Sänger Wolfgang Niedecken eine persönliche Freundschaft verbindet, gilt als wichtiger Orientierungspunkt für BAP. Verschiedene BAP-Lieder, vor allem melancholische (z. B. Helfe kann dir keiner, Paar Daach fröher) zeigen in den Arrangements und der Stimmung deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit Stücken von Wolfgang Ambros, etwa von dessen Album 19 Class A Numbers. Die Texte beschäftigen sich oft mit gesellschaftlichen oder persönlichen Problemen.1979 fanden unter dem Bandnamen "Wolfgang Niedeckens BAP" erste Auftritte außerhalb von Köln und der näheren Umgebung statt; so zum Beispiel auch anlässlich der Bundesgartenschau 1979 in der Bonner Rheinaue.[5] Im Mai 1982 machte BAP ihre erste professionell organisierte Deutschlandtournee. Im Mittelpunkt standen Songs des aktuellen Albums Für Usszeschnigge, das 1981 als erstes beim Major-Label EMI-Electrola erschienen war. Für den Wechsel von Eigelstein zur EMI mussten BAP in der lokalen Kultur-Szene viel Kritik einstecken, wurden jedoch mit Platz 1 in den deutschen Album-Charts prompt belohnt.

Im Sommer 1982 folgten verschiedene Auftritte im Rahmen von Großveranstaltungen und Fernsehproduktionen: Rockpop In Concert für das ZDF in der Dortmunder Westfalenhalle 1, Demonstration gegen die Nachrüstung der NATO am 10. Juni 1982 (Zehnter Juni) auf den Bonner Rheinwiesen, Vorprogramm der Rolling Stones am 4. und 5. Juli 1982 im Müngersdorfer Stadion in Köln und als erste deutsche Band bei einem Festival des WDR-Rockpalast am 28. August 1982 auf der Loreley-Freilichtbühne.

Nach Erscheinen des vierten Albums Vun drinne noh drusse war die Band zwischen Oktober 1982 und Oktober 1983 sieben Monate lang unterwegs. Neben Deutschland standen auch Konzerte in Österreich, der Schweiz und den Benelux-Ländern auf dem Programm. Insgesamt wurden etwa 130 Auftritte gespielt. Die Tournee endete mit einem Konzert im Kölner „Stollwerck“. Das vom Abriss bedrohte Bürgerhaus Stollwerck erhielt die Einnahmen dieses Konzerts zur Finanzierung seiner weiteren Arbeit. Am 28. Mai 1983 spielte BAP auf einem Festival im niedersächsischen Schüttorf im Vorprogramm von Rod Stewart und am 22. Oktober 1983 auf einer weiteren Großdemonstration gegen die NATO-Nachrüstung im Bonner Hofgarten.

Für den Januar 1984 war – nach langen Verhandlungen mit der staatlichen Künstleragentur – eine Tournee mit 14 Konzerten in 13 Städten der DDR geplant. Im Vorfeld der Tour zeichnete das DDR-Fernsehen ein Interview mit Wolfgang Niedecken inklusive zweier Unplugged-Versionen von BAP-Liedern auf. Dieses wurde später jedoch sinnentstellend verkürzt gesendet. So entschloss sich Niedecken, einige politische Statements, die der Band wichtig waren, in einem eigenen Lied darzustellen. Es wurde als Deshalv spill’ mer he betitelt und erstmals auf dem letzten „West-Konzert“ vor der Tour in Wolfsburg gespielt. Als die Band bereits in Ost-Berlin im Hotel Unter den Linden war, gab es am Vorabend des ersten Konzerts heftige Auseinandersetzungen über dieses Lied mit der DDR-Seite. Als die Band sich weigerte, es von der Setlist zu nehmen, kam es zum Eklat. Die Tournee wurde abgebrochen, bevor das erste Konzert auf dem Boden der DDR gespielt werden konnte. In einer Sendung des DDR-Fernsehens war die Ansage eines Moderators während eines Konzerts im Berliner Palast der Republik zu sehen, zu dem BAP geladen war. Er nannte als Begründung ihrer Absage, die Band wolle „nicht unter dem Symbol der weißen Taube auf blauem Grund auftreten“.[6]

Die Tournee zum Album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier begann am 15. und 16. Juni 1984 mit zwei Konzerten im Archäologischen Park in Xanten. Sie wurden vom ZDF aufgezeichnet und später in einer Zusammenfassung gesendet. Die Tour dauerte bis zum Februar 1985 und übertraf von der Zuschauerresonanz her noch die von 1982/83.

Am 2. März 1986 begann in Lohmar bei Köln die Tournee Ahl Männer, aalglatt. BAP spielte zunächst einige Konzerte im ländlichen Raum, bevor die Band am 15. März 1986 in der Essener Grugahalle bei der 17. und letzten Rocknacht des WDR-Rockpalast auftrat. Die Rocknacht, bei der auch Jackson Browne und Big Country auftraten, wurde wie schon das Festival auf der Loreley 1982 via Eurovision von vielen europäischen Radio- und Fernsehstationen ausgestrahlt.

Von April bis Juli folgten zahlreiche weitere Konzerte. Wegen der anhaltenden Popularität wurden teilweise auch größere Hallen ausgewählt. So fanden die „Heimspiele“ der Kölner Band erstmals in der bis zu 8000 Zuschauer fassenden Kölner Sporthalle, der damals größten Veranstaltungshalle der Domstadt, statt. Bei dieser Tournee gab es mit Christian Schneider erstmals auf einer Tournee einen Gastmusiker, weil die zum Teil sehr komplexen Keyboard-Arrangements des neuen Albums live mit nur einem Keyboarder nicht zu realisieren gewesen wären. Schneider spielte neben Keyboards bei einigen Stücken auch Saxophon. Den letzten Auftritt der Tour absolvierte die Band am 26. Juli 1986; genau drei Monate nach der Atomreaktor-Katastrophe von Tschernobyl auf dem legendären Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival gegen die Wiederaufbereitungsanlage von Wackersdorf in Burglengenfeld.

Nach Ende der Tournee 1986 legte BAP eine kreative Pause ein (u. a. bedingt durch bandinterne, künstlerische Meinungsverschiedenheiten), die Wolfgang Niedecken zur Veröffentlichung seines Albums Schlagzeiten und zu einigen Solo-Konzerten nutzte. BAP stand erst im September 1987 bei zwei Festivals wieder auf der Bühne, um sich auf eine Tournee durch China vorzubereiten. Diese Tournee ist im Buch BAP övver China dokumentiert.

Das Album Da Capo wurde von Oktober bis Dezember 1988 zunächst bei einer ausgedehnten Hallentournee präsentiert. Bei dieser Tournee legte BAP die Scheu vor den ganz großen Konzertarenen endgültig ab. So standen auch die Frankfurter Festhalle und die Münchener Olympiahalle auf dem Programm. Im Sommer 1989 folgten weitere Konzerte, teilweise auch im Rahmen von Festivals gemeinsam mit Joe Cocker. Eines dieser Events fand in der Berliner Waldbühne statt.

Auch die Tournee 1991 wurde in mehreren Teilen durchgeführt. Kurz nach der Vollendung der deutschen Einheit standen im Januar 1991 zunächst die ersten Konzerte der Band auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR auf dem Programm. Anschließend ging BAP in Westdeutschland auf Club-Tour und absolvierte eine Reihe von Auftritten in beschaulichem Rahmen, zumeist in kleinen Hallen. Das Konzert im Kölner E-Werk wurde aufgezeichnet und später auf dem Album Live – Affrocke veröffentlicht.

Im Mai und Juni 1991 folgte eine Tournee ausschließlich durch die größten deutschen Konzerthallen und bei verschiedenen Open-Air-Festivals. Als Gast bei den Konzerten trat Julian Dawson auf. Am 26. Januar 1994 startete die Tournee zum im August 1993 erschienenen Album Pik Sibbe. Nach wie vor war die Nachfrage in der BAP-Hochburg Köln groß, in einigen anderen Städten blieben die Zuschauerzahlen etwas hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Die folgende Tournee zum Album Amerika begann im November 1996. Der Tourneestart in Koblenz wurde für den WDR-Rockpalast mitgeschnitten und später im Fernsehen ausgestrahlt.

Mit dem Ausstieg von Bassist Steve Borg und von Gründungsmitglied Manfred „Schmal“ Boecker verließen zwei Musiker die Band, die BAP über viele Jahre mitgeprägt haben. 1999 stieg auch Gitarrist Klaus „Major“ Heuser aus, der während 19 Jahren Bandmitgliedschaft die überwiegende Zahl der Lieder komponierte. Außerdem verließ Keyboarder Alexander „Effendi“ Büchel die Firma BAP. Diese Abgänge und die darauf folgenden Neubesetzungen veränderten den musikalischen Ausdruck von BAP nachhaltig.

Zu den Gründen für den Ausstieg von Major sagt Wolfgang Niedecken rückblickend im März 2011:

„Der Major ist ein toller Gitarrist. Aber er wollte, dass BAP international ausgerichteten Radio-Pop spielt. Ich wollte beim Kölsch-Rock bleiben. Beide Positionen waren nicht vereinbar. Ich bin ihm dankbar, dass er selbst gegangen ist. Ich hätte ihn nämlich nie rausgeschmissen.[7]“

Als Neuzugang an den Keyboards stieg Michael Nass bei BAP ein, der zuvor in den 1980er Jahren in der DDR-Musikszene musikalisch sehr aktiv war, u. a. bei P 16 und später in Liselotte Rezniceks Frauenband Mona Lise. Gitarrist wurde Helmut Krumminga. Im Sommer 2001 gab BAP vor der eigentlichen Aff un zo-Tour ab Herbst 2001 zwei Vorabkonzerte, darunter das „Konzert an der toten Brücke“ (Soda-Brücke) in Euskirchen, das auch vom WDR aufgezeichnet und wenige Tage später in der Sendung Rockpalast gesendet wurde. Das Album selbst stieg wie der Vorgänger Tonfilm auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein.

Im Januar 2006 war die Kölnarena zwar anlässlich des Starts der Jubiläumskonzerte zum 30-jährigen Bestehen der Band mit 25.000 Zuschauern an zwei aufeinander folgenden Tagen fast ausverkauft. Bei anderen Auftritten hatte man sich von vorneherein durch die Wahl kleinerer Konzertorte angepasst.

Auch das im Mai 2008 erschienene Album Radio Pandora stieg auf Platz 1 in die deutschen Charts ein. Im Winter 2008 startete die Tournee dazu, am 2. Weihnachtstag gab es das Heimspiel in der Köln-Arena (Lanxess-Arena); sie dauerte (mit Unterbrechungen) bis zum Sommer 2009, wobei die Band von Anne de Wolff (Violine, Bratsche, Gesang) und teilweise von Rhani Krija (Percussion) begleitet wurde.

Für November 2011 war der Start der aktuellsten Tournee geplant. Aufgrund einer schweren Erkrankung Wolfgang Niedeckens wurde der Start der Tour auf Anfang Mai 2012 verschoben.[8][9][10]

Auslandsauftritte [Bearbeiten]

BAP ist im Laufe der bisher 35-jährigen Bandgeschichte in vielen Ländern der Welt aufgetreten. Nachdem sich die Bandmitglieder anfangs kaum vorstellen konnten, dass ihre kölschen Texte außerhalb des Rheinlandes verstanden würden, durften sie erleben, dass ihre Platten weit darüber hinaus gekauft wurden. Tourneen waren dadurch auch im Ausland möglich.

Die ersten Auftritte außerhalb Deutschlands waren im Dezember 1982 in der Schweiz (Basel und St.Gallen)[11] und bis Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Österreich, Luxemburg, Belgien und Dänemark (Roskilde-Festival). Seitdem gehören Auftritte in diesen Nachbarländern zum Bestandteil jeder Tournee.

Spätere Fernreisen wurden zumeist als Begleitung zu künstlerischen oder politischen Themen organisiert; häufig war nicht die komplette Gruppe unterwegs; manchmal auch nur Wolfgang Niedecken alleine oder in Begleitung von Musikern seiner Solo-Projekte:

Mit einigen Gästen tourte BAP im Oktober 1987 vier Wochen durch China. Acht Auftritte wurden in Peking, Shanghai und Kanton absolviert.[12]

Wolfgang Niedecken spielte 1987 auf Einladung der Kulturstiftung Casa de los tres Mundos (ein Projekt des Schauspielers Dietmar Schönherr, des Produzenten Peter Reichelt und des Kulturministers Ernesto Cardenal) mit seiner Complizen-Band in Nicaragua.

In ähnlicher Zusammensetzung spielten Wolfgang Niedecken & Complizen 1988 in Mosambik eine kleine Tour.

Die politischen Veränderungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow machten es möglich, dass BAP im Mai 1989 je drei Konzerte in Moskau und Wolgograd gab.[13] Dort kamen die Musiker auch mit Fans aus der DDR ins Gespräch. Nachdem die BAP-Tour durch Ostdeutschland 1984 abgesagt wurde, war der Umweg über die UdSSR die einzige Möglichkeit, als DDR-Bürger mit der Band zu sprechen.

More info and other languages available at:

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAP

Personalized Device Types on Google’s Cloud Platform enable you to select precisely how several CPU cores and how a lot memory you want in a virtual equipment to run your applications. Google to start with introduced this function previous November and now it is taking it out of beta.

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I found it pretty challenging to work out precisely where this garage was. All my efforts pointed to it having been on Station Road North or possibly on the High Street adjacent to Station Road North. Yesterday Dan Lockton posted an image of much the same location showing an Ultramar garage on the High Street opposite Station Road North. Later on it would be branded Total and currently it is an Esso site and if it is the same place as this then it has finally returned to Esso after maybe forty or fifty years. It may also be of course that the garage was moved to a location very nearby to update the facilities where that might not have been possible at the original site. You can see Dan's photo below, first comment, and here's the Streetview showing it when it was Total branded.

www.google.com/maps/@51.2652877,-0.1522164,3a,75y,259.5h,...

Edit Update:- Thanks to Steve Terry's comment on the other image of this place I have posted now identified as being where these flats are now right next door to the railway station and its car park.

www.google.com/maps/@51.2644504,-0.1507554,3a,75y,10.6h,9...

Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty two metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:28am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

Just right of centre, you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 70mm 1/60s f/3.2 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 52.09s

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

"...the gasworks beyond, stand precisely: crystals grown in morning's beaker, stacks, vents, towers, plumbing, gnarled emissions of steam and smoke..."

- Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

Original: farm4.static.flickr.com/3325/3186774461_5c982e96c7_o.jpg

Some days, the photo is just about remembering. Some days are perfect precisely because they don't mean to be.

Some days, you wake up heavy and drag your ten-ton heart from moment to moment, and you're so good at it now. Dragging.

Some days, some moments, as soon as you've stopped trying to shake yourself free of them, the anchors fall away. You float upwards, gasping, looking around, not sure what you're coughing yourself up into, only hoping you can stay.

Some days you come home and fill your hands with dirt. Marvel at its richness. Plant herbs. Walk to poetry shows. Talk to strangers. Stay out too late waiting with a trembling heart for a poet you never thought would visit a city so far north it gets blizzards in April. Cry when he talks about God. Shake his hand. Hear him tell you, "You have the gentlest personality. I write something different in every book. I don't know why I'm writing this for you, but I have to. Here it is. I mean it so much I'm writing it twice." It says, Hailey. Holy. Hell yeah.

Some days, you don't need to know why. You take the words you're given. They want to save you. You let them try.

I don't recall precisely when, but it was at least 1 year ago that I sat down for a day, collected photos of the model and reverse engineered a large part of this model www.flickr.com/photos/origamijoel/2683628160/in/photostream by Joel Cooper.

After having gotten some Elephant hide recently, I took the time to go back and pick the task back up.

This is, for the most part, more of a test fold than anything. So it's far from perfect. There are also differences between his multiple renditions, so there may be some discrepancies.

Unfortunately, due to few good photos showing the right side of the model (the figure's left), the process of reverse engineering essentially came to a stand-still.

I started doing work on figuring out this model www.flickr.com/photos/origamijoel/5381763421/in/photostream and it's ended up being much more of a challenge than I initially anticipated, but the process is still a lot of fun for me :)

This photograph was taken at an altitude of Thirty one metres, in the height of a misty and ethereal golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:40am on Tuesday 20th June 2017, off Rectory Lane in the grounds of Foots Cray Meadows, over the River Cray in Bexley, Kent, England.

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Nikon D7200 16mm 1/20s f/4.0 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Size L (6000x4000). Auto focus AF-C with 3D-tracking enabled. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.Auto Active D-lighting.

Nikkor AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED. Phot-R 77mm UV filter.Nikon MB-D15 Battery grip pack. Nikon EN-EL battery (2). Manfrotto 055Xprob Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections. Manfrotto 327RC2 Magnesium Ball Head. Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Hoodman H-EYEN22S soft rubber eyecup. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 32GB Class 10 SDHC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Expert Shield screen protector for D7200. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 29.05s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 24.04s

ALTITUDE: 31.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 69.00MB

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Nikon D7200 Firmware versions A 1.10 C 1.02 (9/3/17) L 2.015 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.4 24/11/2016). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:28am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

Just to the far right you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 70mm 1/15s f/5.6 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. Manual focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 52.14s

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Charter School Cardigan in Sage

Colorful Cottontail Tee

Precisely Plaid-matic Skirt

A Graham Old Time Bootie in Cherry

www.modcloth.com/modstylists

Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty four metres, prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:10am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane and overlooking a blanket of morning mist as it rolled across the River Darent in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

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Nikon D800 23mm 1/13s f/2.8 iso200 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point mode. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 6.71s

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty two metres, in the thick blanket of mist prior to the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:42am), at 03:23am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane beside the Lullingstone Roman Villa in Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

Just to the far right you can see the Eynsford Viaduct. This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 175mm 1/25s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) Mirror up. AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 21m 52.09s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 11m 48.53s

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PROCESSED FILE: 10.46MB

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HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

A point of view which is readily lost sight of - if one has even

thought of it - when defending those who refuse the celestial Messages, is precisely the very appearance of the Messengers; now, to paraphrase or to cite some well-known formulas, "he who has seen the Prophet has seen God"; "God became man in order that man might become God".

One has to have a very hardened heart not to be able to see this upon contact with such beings; and it is above all this hardness of heart that is culpable, far more than ideological

scruples.

The combination of holiness and beauty which characterizes

the Messengers of Heaven is, so to speak, transmitted from the human theophanies to the sacred art which perpetuates it: the essentially intelligent and profound beauty of this art testifies to the truth which inspires it; it could not in any case be reduced to a human invention as regards the essential of its message. Sacred art is Heaven descended to earth, rather than earth reaching towards Heaven.

A line of thought close to this one which we have just presented is the following, and we have made note of it more than once: if men were stupid enough to believe for millenia in the divine, the supernatural, immortality -assuming these are illusions- it is impossible that one fine day they became intelligent enough to be aware of their errors; that they became intelligent, no one knowing why, and without any decisive moral acquisition to corroborate this miracle. And likewise: if men like the Christ believed in the supernatural, it is impossible that men like the Encyclopedists were right not to believe in it.

Sceptical rationalism and titanesque naturalism are the two great abuses of intelligence, which violate pure intellectuality as well as a sense of the sacred; it is through this propensity that thinkers "are wise in their own eyes" and end by "calling evil good, and good evil" and by "putting darkness for light, and light for darkness" (Isaiah 5:20 and 21); they are also the ones who, on the plane of life or experience, "put bitter for sweet", namely the love of the eternal God, and "sweet for bitter", namely the illusion of the evanescent world.

---

From the Divine to the Human by Frithjof Schuon

Stained glass Masonic Square and Compasses hang at the foot of my bed.

Masonic Square and Compasses.

The Square and Compasses (or, more correctly, a square and a set of compasses joined together) is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry. Both the square and compasses are architect's tools and are used in Masonic ritual as emblems to teach symbolic lessons. Some Lodges and rituals explain these symbols as lessons in conduct: for example, Duncan's Masonic Monitor of 1866 explains them as: "The square, to square our actions; The compasses, to circumscribe and keep us within bounds with all mankind".

However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these symbols (or any Masonic symbol) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.

Square and Compasses:

Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

These two symbols have been so long and so universally combined — to teach us, as says an early instruction, "to square our actions and to keep them within due bounds," they are so seldom seen apart, but are so kept together, either as two Great Lights, or as a jewel worn once by the Master of the Lodge, now by the Past Master—that they have come at last to be recognized as the proper badge of a Master Mason, just as the Triple Tau is of a Royal Arch Mason or the Passion Cross of a Knight Templar.

So universally has this symbol been recognized, even by the profane world, as the peculiar characteristic of Freemasonry, that it has recently been made in the United States the subject of a legal decision. A manufacturer of flour having made, in 1873, an application to the Patent Office for permission to adopt the Square and Compasses as a trade-mark, the Commissioner of Patents, .J. M. Thatcher, refused the permission as the mark was a Masonic symbol.

If this emblem were something other than precisely what it is—either less known", less significant, or fully and universally understood—all this might readily be admitted. But, Considering its peculiar character and relation to the public, an anomalous question is presented. There can be no doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic significance, universally recognized as existing; whether comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue. In view of the magnitude and extent of the Masonic organization, it is impossible to divest its symbols, or at least this particular symbol—perhaps the best known of all—of its ordinary signification, wherever displaced, either as an arbitrary character or otherwise.

It will be universally understood, or misunderstood, as having a Masonic significance; and, therefore, as a trade-mark, must constantly work deception. Nothing could be more mischievous than to create as a monopoly, and uphold by the poser of lacy anything so calculated. as applied to purposes of trade. to be misinterpreted, to mislead all classes, and to constantly foster suggestions of mystery in affairs of business (see Infringing upon Freemasonry, also Imitative Societies, and Clandestine).

In a religious work by John Davies, entitled Summa Totalis, or All in All and the Same Forever, printed in 1607, we find an allusion to the Square and Compasses by a profane in a really Masonic sense. The author, who proposes to describe mystically the form of the Deity, says in his dedication:

Yet I this forme of formelesse Deity,

Drewe by the Squire and Compasse of our Creed.

In Masonic symbolism the Square and Compasses refer to the Freemason's duty to the Craft and to himself; hence it is properly a symbol of brotherhood, and there significantly adopted as the badge or token of the Fraternity.

Berage, in his work on the higher Degrees, Les plus secrets Mystéres des Hauts Grades, or The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Grades, gives a new interpretation to the symbol. He says: "The Square and the Compasses represent the union of the Old and New Testaments. None of the high Degrees recognize this interpretation, although their symbolism of the two implements differs somewhat from that of Symbolic Freemasonry.

The Square is with them peculiarly appropriated to the lower Degrees, as founded on the Operative Art; while the Compasses, as an implement of higher character and uses, is attributed to the Decrees, which claim to have a more elevated and philosophical foundation. Thus they speak of the initiate, when he passes from the Blue Lodge to the Lodge of Perfection, as 'passing from the Square to the Compasses,' to indicate a progressive elevation in his studies. Yet even in the high Degrees, the square and compasses combined retain their primitive signification as a symbol of brotherhood and as a badge of the Order."

Square and Compass:

Source: The Builder October 1916

By Bro. B. C. Ward, Iowa

Worshipful Master and Brethren: Let us behold the glorious beauty that lies hidden beneath the symbolism of the Square and Compass; and first as to the Square. Geometry, the first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry has been erected. As you know, the word "Geometry" is derived from two Greek words which mean "to measure the earth," so that Geometry originated in measurement; and in those early days, when land first began to be measured, the Square, being a right angle, was the instrument used, so that in time the Square began to symbolize the Earth. And later it began to symbolize, Masonically, the earthly-in man, that is man's lower nature, and still later it began to symbolize man's duty in his earthly relations, or his moral obligations to his Fellowmen. The symbolism of the Square is as ancient as the Pyramids. The Egyptians used it in building the Pyramids. The base of every pyramid is a perfect square, and to the Egyptians the Square was their highest and most sacred emblem. Even the Chinese many, many centuries ago used the Square to represent Good, and Confucius in his writings speaks of the Square to represent a Just man.

As Masons we have adopted the 47th Problem of Euclid as the rule by which to determine or prove a perfect Square. Many of us remember with what interest we solved that problem in our school days. The Square has become our most significant Emblem. It rests upon the open Bible on this altar; it is one of the three great Lights; and it is the chief ornament of the Worshipful Master. There is a good reason why this distinction has been conferred upon the Square. There can be nothing truer than a perfect Square--a right angle. Hence the Square has become an emblem of Perfection.

Now a few words as to the Compass: Astronomy was the second great science promulgated among men. In the process of Man's evolution there came a time when he began to look up to the stars and wonder at the vaulted Heavens above him. When he began to study the stars, he found that the Square was not adapted to the measurement of the Heavens. He must have circular measure; he needed to draw a circle from a central point, and so the Compass was employed. By the use of the Compass man began to study the starry Heavens, and as the Square primarily symbolized the Earth, the Compass began to symbolize the Heavens, the celestial canopy, the study of which has led men to think of God, and adore Him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe. In later times the Compass began to symbolize the spiritual or higher nature of man, and it is a significant fact that the circumference of a circle, which is a line without end, has become an emblem of Eternity and symbolizes Divinity; so the Compass, and the circle drawn by the Compass, both point men Heavenward and Godward.

The Masonic teaching concerning the two points of the Compass is very interesting and instructive. The novitiate in Masonry, as he kneels at this altar, and asks for Light sees the Square, which symbolizes his lower nature, he may well note the position of the Compass. As he takes another step, and asks for more Light, the position of the Compass is changed somewhat, symbolizing that his spiritual nature can, in some measure, overcome his evil tendencies. As he takes another step in Masonry, and asks for further Light, and hears the significant words, "and God said let there be Light, and there was Light," he sees the Compass in new light; and for the first time he sees the meaning, thus unmistakably alluding to the sacred and eternal truth that as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so the spiritual is higher than the material, and the spiritual in man must have its proper place, and should be above his lower nature, and dominate all his thoughts and actions. That eminent Philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, "It is ordained that men of intemperate passions cannot be free. Their passions forge the chains which bind them, and make them slaves." Burke was right. Masonry, through the beautiful symbolism of the Compass, tells us how we can be free men, by permitting the spiritual within us to overcome our evil tendencies, and dominate all our thoughts and actions. Brethren, sometimes in the silent quiet hour, as we think of this conflict between our lower and higher natures, we sometimes say in the words of another, "Show me the way and let me bravely climb to where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease. Show me that way. Show me the way up to a higher plane where my body shall be servant of my Soul. Show me that way."

Brethren, if that prayer expresses desire of our hearts, let us take heed to the beautiful teachings of the Compass, which silently and persistently tells each one of us,

"You should not in the valley stay

While the great horizons stretch away

The very cliffs that wall you round

Are ladders up to higher ground.

And Heaven draws near as you ascend,

The Breeze invites, the Stars befriend.

All things are beckoning to the Best,

Then climb toward God and find sweet Rest.”

The secrets of Freemasonry are concerned with its traditional modes of recognition. It is not a secret society, since all members are free to acknowledge their membership and will do so in response to enquiries for respectable reasons. Its constitutions and rules are available to the public. There is no secret about any of its aims and principles. Like many other societies, it regards some of its internal affairs as private matters for its members. In history there have been times and places where promoting equality, freedom of thought or liberty of conscience was dangerous. Most importantly though is a question of perspective. Each aspect of the craft has a meaning. Freemasonry has been described as a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. Such characteristics as virtue, honour and mercy, such virtues as temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice are empty clichés and hollow words unless presented within an ordered and closed framework. The lessons are not secret but the presentation is kept private to promote a clearer understanding in good time. It is also possible to view Masonic secrecy not as secrecy in and of itself, but rather as a symbol of privacy and discretion. By not revealing Masonic secrets, or acknowledging the many published exposures, freemasons demonstrate that they are men of discretion, worthy of confidences, and that they place a high value on their word and bond.

Masonic Square and Compasses.

The Square and Compasses (or, more correctly, a square and a set of compasses joined together) is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry. Both the square and compasses are architect's tools and are used in Masonic ritual as emblems to teach symbolic lessons. Some Lodges and rituals explain these symbols as lessons in conduct: for example, Duncan's Masonic Monitor of 1866 explains them as: "The square, to square our actions; The compasses, to circumscribe and keep us within bounds with all mankind".

However, as Freemasonry is non-dogmatic, there is no general interpretation for these symbols (or any Masonic symbol) that is used by Freemasonry as a whole.

Square and Compasses:

Source: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

These two symbols have been so long and so universally combined — to teach us, as says an early instruction, "to square our actions and to keep them within due bounds," they are so seldom seen apart, but are so kept together, either as two Great Lights, or as a jewel worn once by the Master of the Lodge, now by the Past Master—that they have come at last to be recognized as the proper badge of a Master Mason, just as the Triple Tau is of a Royal Arch Mason or the Passion Cross of a Knight Templar.

So universally has this symbol been recognized, even by the profane world, as the peculiar characteristic of Freemasonry, that it has recently been made in the United States the subject of a legal decision. A manufacturer of flour having made, in 1873, an application to the Patent Office for permission to adopt the Square and Compasses as a trade-mark, the Commissioner of Patents, .J. M. Thatcher, refused the permission as the mark was a Masonic symbol.

If this emblem were something other than precisely what it is—either less known", less significant, or fully and universally understood—all this might readily be admitted. But, Considering its peculiar character and relation to the public, an anomalous question is presented. There can be no doubt that this device, so commonly worn and employed by Masons, has an established mystic significance, universally recognized as existing; whether comprehended by all or not, is not material to this issue. In view of the magnitude and extent of the Masonic organization, it is impossible to divest its symbols, or at least this particular symbol—perhaps the best known of all—of its ordinary signification, wherever displaced, either as an arbitrary character or otherwise.

It will be universally understood, or misunderstood, as having a Masonic significance; and, therefore, as a trade-mark, must constantly work deception. Nothing could be more mischievous than to create as a monopoly, and uphold by the poser of lacy anything so calculated. as applied to purposes of trade. to be misinterpreted, to mislead all classes, and to constantly foster suggestions of mystery in affairs of business (see Infringing upon Freemasonry, also Imitative Societies, and Clandestine).

In a religious work by John Davies, entitled Summa Totalis, or All in All and the Same Forever, printed in 1607, we find an allusion to the Square and Compasses by a profane in a really Masonic sense. The author, who proposes to describe mystically the form of the Deity, says in his dedication:

Yet I this forme of formelesse Deity,

Drewe by the Squire and Compasse of our Creed.

In Masonic symbolism the Square and Compasses refer to the Freemason's duty to the Craft and to himself; hence it is properly a symbol of brotherhood, and there significantly adopted as the badge or token of the Fraternity.

Berage, in his work on the higher Degrees, Les plus secrets Mystéres des Hauts Grades, or The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Grades, gives a new interpretation to the symbol. He says: "The Square and the Compasses represent the union of the Old and New Testaments. None of the high Degrees recognize this interpretation, although their symbolism of the two implements differs somewhat from that of Symbolic Freemasonry.

The Square is with them peculiarly appropriated to the lower Degrees, as founded on the Operative Art; while the Compasses, as an implement of higher character and uses, is attributed to the Decrees, which claim to have a more elevated and philosophical foundation. Thus they speak of the initiate, when he passes from the Blue Lodge to the Lodge of Perfection, as 'passing from the Square to the Compasses,' to indicate a progressive elevation in his studies. Yet even in the high Degrees, the square and compasses combined retain their primitive signification as a symbol of brotherhood and as a badge of the Order."

Square and Compass:

Source: The Builder October 1916

By Bro. B. C. Ward, Iowa

Worshipful Master and Brethren: Let us behold the glorious beauty that lies hidden beneath the symbolism of the Square and Compass; and first as to the Square. Geometry, the first and noblest of the sciences, is the basis on which the superstructure of Masonry has been erected. As you know, the word "Geometry" is derived from two Greek words which mean "to measure the earth," so that Geometry originated in measurement; and in those early days, when land first began to be measured, the Square, being a right angle, was the instrument used, so that in time the Square began to symbolize the Earth. And later it began to symbolize, Masonically, the earthly-in man, that is man's lower nature, and still later it began to symbolize man's duty in his earthly relations, or his moral obligations to his Fellowmen. The symbolism of the Square is as ancient as the Pyramids. The Egyptians used it in building the Pyramids. The base of every pyramid is a perfect square, and to the Egyptians the Square was their highest and most sacred emblem. Even the Chinese many, many centuries ago used the Square to represent Good, and Confucius in his writings speaks of the Square to represent a Just man.

As Masons we have adopted the 47th Problem of Euclid as the rule by which to determine or prove a perfect Square. Many of us remember with what interest we solved that problem in our school days. The Square has become our most significant Emblem. It rests upon the open Bible on this altar; it is one of the three great Lights; and it is the chief ornament of the Worshipful Master. There is a good reason why this distinction has been conferred upon the Square. There can be nothing truer than a perfect Square--a right angle. Hence the Square has become an emblem of Perfection.

Now a few words as to the Compass: Astronomy was the second great science promulgated among men. In the process of Man's evolution there came a time when he began to look up to the stars and wonder at the vaulted Heavens above him. When he began to study the stars, he found that the Square was not adapted to the measurement of the Heavens. He must have circular measure; he needed to draw a circle from a central point, and so the Compass was employed. By the use of the Compass man began to study the starry Heavens, and as the Square primarily symbolized the Earth, the Compass began to symbolize the Heavens, the celestial canopy, the study of which has led men to think of God, and adore Him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe. In later times the Compass began to symbolize the spiritual or higher nature of man, and it is a significant fact that the circumference of a circle, which is a line without end, has become an emblem of Eternity and symbolizes Divinity; so the Compass, and the circle drawn by the Compass, both point men Heavenward and Godward.

The Masonic teaching concerning the two points of the Compass is very interesting and instructive. The novitiate in Masonry, as he kneels at this altar, and asks for Light sees the Square, which symbolizes his lower nature, he may well note the position of the Compass. As he takes another step, and asks for more Light, the position of the Compass is changed somewhat, symbolizing that his spiritual nature can, in some measure, overcome his evil tendencies. As he takes another step in Masonry, and asks for further Light, and hears the significant words, "and God said let there be Light, and there was Light," he sees the Compass in new light; and for the first time he sees the meaning, thus unmistakably alluding to the sacred and eternal truth that as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so the spiritual is higher than the material, and the spiritual in man must have its proper place, and should be above his lower nature, and dominate all his thoughts and actions. That eminent Philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, "It is ordained that men of intemperate passions cannot be free. Their passions forge the chains which bind them, and make them slaves." Burke was right. Masonry, through the beautiful symbolism of the Compass, tells us how we can be free men, by permitting the spiritual within us to overcome our evil tendencies, and dominate all our thoughts and actions. Brethren, sometimes in the silent quiet hour, as we think of this conflict between our lower and higher natures, we sometimes say in the words of another, "Show me the way and let me bravely climb to where all conflicts with the flesh shall cease. Show me that way. Show me the way up to a higher plane where my body shall be servant of my Soul. Show me that way."

Brethren, if that prayer expresses desire of our hearts, let us take heed to the beautiful teachings of the Compass, which silently and persistently tells each one of us,

"You should not in the valley stay

While the great horizons stretch away

The very cliffs that wall you round

Are ladders up to higher ground.

And Heaven draws near as you ascend,

The Breeze invites, the Stars befriend.

All things are beckoning to the Best,

Then climb toward God and find sweet Rest."

Photograph taken at an altitude of Forty nine metres, in the magic of the Golden Hour around sunrise (Sunrise was at precisely 04:38am), at 03:13am on Thursday 19th June 2014 off Lullingstone Lane overlooking a blanket of morning mist as it rolled across Eynsford Viaduct in the village of Eynsford, Kent, England.

This impressive nine-arched red-brick viaduct is a prominent feature on the line to the 'Bat & Ball' station. The structure was built by the independent ''Sevenoaks Railway'', incorporated in 1859 to link the ''Chatham'' main line with the market town of Sevenoaks. And first services began on 2nd June 1862. The viaduct has nine arches of 30-foot span, and rises to a height of 75-feet above the valley and the River Darent.

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Nikon D800 21mm 1/3s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14 bit) AF-S Single point focus. Manual exposure. Matrix metering.

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 22m 6.92s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 12m 11.36s

ALTITUDE: 49.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 29.08MB

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Processing power:

HP Pavillion Desktop with AMD A10-5700 APU processor. HD graphics. 2TB with 8GB RAM. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.90 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit