via Instagram Since the current cycle of violence emerged, stemming from #Israel's provocations at the #AlAqsa #Mosque, there has been a heightened presence of #Israeli forces in and around the access points to the #Mosque. Pictured here is an elderly #Palestinian woman trying to navigate her way through the matrix of check points in the #OldCity of #Jerusalem. #TAKE_ACTION Your tangible contribution is act of justice and hope. Be the change in the world. Make a difference, click here: bit.ly/Pics_For_Peace #Israeligram #Childdetention #israelioccupation #freepalestine #peace #love #apartheid #israel #streetphotography #steetart #occupation #nonviolentresistance #oppression #Palestine #Hebron #الخليل #المقاومة #فلسطين

C’mon … High heeled shoes with socks! My eyes .. my eyes ... how did this happen? It's a fashion disaster, that's what it is! Dammit, it's anti-sex!

She rolls her eyes at this obvious provocation.

“The right socks with the right shoe is sexy aswell,” she sighs pitifully. “Not everything is about sex.”

But these shoes are sexy and she knows it.

“Sergio Rossi shoes,” she shouts enthusiastically. “One of the best Italian shoemakers. Anybody can make a pair of black heels but there is something about Italian shoemakers that make them look so beautiful but also comfortable.

“You see Sergio Rossi and you just buy them. You can trust the name. It’s a guarantee that they will be comfortable and last forever.

“It’s not comfortable to wear shoes which are not made properly. With Sergio Rossi … no matter how high the heel is, you just feel like you are wearing slippers.”

And this is one woman who knows of what she speaks. There is no hint of reticence when she explains that she owns over 200 pairs of shoes. Today’s footwear was priced at between €400 and €500 when she bought them several years ago in a store.

“It’s an investment,” she advises. “The way they are shaped, the curve, the quality of leather … When I spend this much on a shoe, I know I will wear it. I won’t just throw it away.”

Timelessness is a high priority for an admitted “fashionista.”

Lovingly, she lists the shoe’s highlights. “They are not very high.... between six and eight centimetres. This is a very comfortable height.

“I wear them to work. They are modern with a very classical shape. They will never go out of fashion. They will be in style one hundred years from now.

“Everybody needs a pair of classical shoes. They are a must for any wardrobe. They go with everything."

Goaded, she returns to the socks … at nearly €200 a pop, they merit a stern defence.

“It’s not a new fashion,” she says witheringly. “It’s been out for a couple of years, at least.

"If you look at London Fashion Week, or Milan Fashion Week, or New York Fashion Week, you see socks with shoes on the podiums.

“It’s everywhere. Dolce & Gabbana. Prada .. Gucci all the big names. Their models wear socks with shoes.

“I like it. It’s beautiful. It makes the leg look kind of dynamic and interesting and it’s practical actually.

“And Prada socks ... you can wear them with anything.”

This segueways neatly into a conversation about what it means to be a follower of fashion.

“On the weekends I wear sneakers and jeans like most people but I do make sure that they are Valentino.”

She laughs and responds quickly to the accusation that she is a total “fashion victim.”

For her, it is more than just designer labels or, more immediately, wearing €200 Prada socks with €500 Italian shoes. It is about keeping “pace with the times.”

She adds: “It makes me look modern. I wouldn’t follow anything. There are some trends which I don’t like, or some trends that do not look good on me.

“I don’t have one style. I like many styles. It just has to look good and be modern.

“I just want to look good, period! It puts me in a good mood.

“I’m a fashionista in a good way.”

Panniru Thirumuari Vizaa - Kapaleeswarar Temple , Mylapore .

பன்னிருதிருமுறை விழா

The Shaiva Tirumurais are twelve in number. The first seven Tirumurais are the hymns of the three great Shaivite saints, Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar. These hymns were the best musical compositions of their age.

The first three Tirumurais (meaning parts) of Tevaram are composed by Sambanthar, the next three by Appar and the seventh one is composed by Sundarar. There is a famous saying about the Saiva trio that "Appar sang for me, Sambanthar sang for himself and Sundarar sang of gold". Appar and Sambanthar lived around the 7th century, while Sundarar lived in the 8th century. During the Pallava period these three travelled extensively around Tamil Nadu offering discourses and songs characterised by an emotional devotion to Shiva and objections to Vaishnavism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Sambanthar is a 7th-century poet born in Sirkali in Brahmin community and was believed to be suckled by the goddess Parvathi, whereupon he sang the first hymn. On the request of queen of Pandya Nadu, Sambandar went on pilgrimage to south, defeated Jains in debate, the Jains' provocation of Sambandar by burning his house and challenging him to debate, and Sambandar's eventual victory over them He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva saint. Information about Sambandar comes mainly from the Periya Puranam, the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of the Tirumurai, along with the earlier Tiruttondartokai, poetry by Cuntarar and Nambiyandar Nambi's Tiru Tondar Tiruvandadi. A Sanskrit hagiography called Brahmapureesa Charitam is now lost. The first volumes of the Tirumurai contain three hundred and eighty-four poems of Campantar (in 4181 stanzas), all that survive out of a reputed more than 10,000 hymns. Sambanthar is believed to have died at the age of 16 in 655 CE on the day of his marriage. His verses were set to tune by Nilakantaperumalanar who is set to have accompanied the poet on his yal or lute.

Appar's (aka Tirunavukkarasar) was born in the middle of 7th century in Tiruvamur, Tamil Nadu, his childhood name for Marulneekiar. His sister, Thilagavathiar was betrothed to a military commander who died in action. When his sister was about to end her life, he pleaded with her not to leave him alone in the world. She decided to lead an aesthetic life and bring up her only brother. During boyhood, Appar was very much interested in Jainism and started studying its scriptures. He went away from home and stayed in their monastery and was renamed Darmasena. Details of Appar's life are found in his own hymns and in Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (the last book of the Tirumurai). Appar had travelled to nearby Patalipura to join a Jain monastery where he was given the name Dharmasena. "Seeing the transient, ephemeral world he decided to probe into truth through renunciation." After a while, afflicted by a painful illness, Dharmasena returned home. He prayed for relief at the Siva temple where his sister served and was cured. He was also involved in converting the Pallava king, Mahendravarman to Saivism. This was also the period of resurrection of the smaller Shiva temples. Appar sanctified all these temples by his verses and was also involved in cleaning of the dilapidated temples called uzhavarapadai. He was called Tirunavukkarasu, meaning the "King of divine speech". He extolled Siva in 49,000 stanzas out of which 3130 are now available and compiled in Tirumurais 4-7. When he met Campantar, he called him Appar (meaning father). He is believed to have died at the age of 81 in Tirupugalur.

Sundarar (aka Sundaramurthi) was born in Tirunavalur in a Brahmin family during the end of 7th century. His own name was Nambi Arurar and was prevented from marrying by the divine grace of Siva. He later married a temple girl namely Paravi and a vellala community girl by name Cankili.[17] He is the author of 1026 poems compiled as 7th Tirumurai.

Manikkavasagar's Tiruvacakam and Tirukovayar are compiled as the eighth Tirumurai and is full of visionary experience, divine love and urgent striving for truth. Manickavasgar was the king's prime minister and renounced his post in search of divinity.

The ninth Tirumurai has been composed by Tirumalikaittever, Sundarar, Karuvurttevar, Nampikatava Nampi, Gandaraditya, Venattatikal, Tiruvaliyamutanar, Purutottama Nampi and Cetirayar. Among these the notable is Gandaraditya (950-957 CE), a Chola king who later turned a saivite saint.

Tirumandiram by Tirumular unfolds siddantha (attainment) as a fourfold path - virtous and moral living, temple worship, internal worship and union with Siva. Tirumular worked out an original philosophical system and southern scholl of Saiva siddantha draws its authority from Tirumandiram, a work of 3000 verses. Tirumandiram represents another school of thought detailing agamic traditions, which run parallel to the bhakthi movement. It does not glorify temples or deities as in the case of other Tirumurais.

The eleventh Tirumurai has been composed by Karaikkal Ammeiyar, Ceraman Perumal, Pattinattu p-pillaiyar, Nakkiratevar, Kapilateva, Tiruvalavaiyudaiyar, Nampiyantarnampi, Iyyadigal katavarkon, Kalladateva, Paranateva, Ellamperuman Adigal and Athirava Adigal. Nambi's Tirutottanar Tiruvanthathi followed an exclusive style of mincing Tamil and Sankrit verses in anthati meter similar to Tevaram of the trio. Karaikkal Ammaiyar (550-600 CE)is the earliest of the woman Saivite poets who introduced the kattalai-k-kali-t-turai meter, which is a complicated structural departure from the old classical Tamil meters. The other meter used by Ammaiyar was old venba and also antathi arrangement in which offset of one line or stanza is identical with the onset of next line or stanza.

Periya Puranam (Tamil:பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), the great purana or epic, sometimes also called Tiruttontarpuranam(read as "Tiru-Thondar-Puranam") (the purana of the holy devotees) is a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with West Asia Sekkizhar compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam listing the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, poets of the God Shiva) who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred canon. Sekkizhar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of the Chola King, Kulothunga Chola II.

Raja Raja Chola I (985-1013 CE) embarked on a mission to recover the hymns after hearing short excerpts of Tevaram in his court. He sought the help of Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a priest in a temple. It is believed that by divine intervention Nambi found the presence of scripts, in the form of cadijam leaves half eaten by white ants in a chamber inside the second precinct in Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. The brahmanas (Dikshitars) in the temple opposed the mission, but Rajaraja intervened by consecrating the images of the saint-poets through the streets of Chidambaram.Rajaraja thus became to be known as Tirumurai Kanda Cholan meaning one who saved the Tirumurai. Thus far Shiva temples only had images of god forms, but after the advent of Rajaraja, the images of the Nayanar saints were also placed inside the temple. Nambi arranged the hymns of three saint poets Campantar, Appar and Sundarar as the first seven books, Manickavasagar's Tirukovayar and Tiruvacakam as the 8th book, the 28 hymns of nine other saints as the 9th book, the Tirumandiram of Tirumular as the 10th book, 40 hymns by 12 other poets as the 10th book, Tirutotanar Tiruvanthathi - the sacred anthathi of the labours of the 63 nayanar saints and added his own hymns as the 11th book. The first seven books were later called as Tevaram, and the whole Saiva canon, to which was added, as the 12th book, Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (1135 CE) is wholly known as Tirumurai, the holy book. Thus Saiva literature which covers about 600 years of religious, philosophical and literary development.

Model/Hair: Carolina

Styling/Make-up/Photo: me

Patience : The ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties.

I don't normaly do motivational posters...but I was in the mood for this one.

Please, view large version to appreciate even more!

The Sinking of the S.S. Athenia

by Tonya Allen

The first incident of the U-boat war occurred just hours after the declaration of hostilities between Britain and Germany on September 3, 1939, when Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp, commanding U-30, attacked and sank what he took to be an armoured cruiser. His target was, in fact, the S.S. Athenia, a 13,500 ton passenger liner carrying 1,103 civilians, including more than 300 Americans hurrying home ahead of the clouds of war. This case of mistaken identity set in motion a large-scale cover-up on the part of the Reich, and had far-reaching consequences both for the subsequent conduct of the U-boat war, and for some of the key players in the affair - Lemp, Dönitz, and Raeder.

On the afternoon war was declared, OKM sent three radio messages, at intervals of about an hour, to all Kriegsmarine vessels indicating that a state of war was in force, that attacks on enemy shipping were to commence in accordance with the Prize Rules, and that vessels should feel free to begin hostilities without awaiting provocation. Lemp at that time was patrolling the area north-west of Ireland. Having absorbed these instructions, Lemp spotted a ship on the horizon, heading away from Britain in a north-westerly direction. He ordered U-30 to dive to periscope depth, took a look at the ship, and observed that the vessel was blacked out and zigzagging, and appeared to carry guns on her deck, all indications that she was an armed merchant or auxiliary cruiser, and therefore a legitimate target.

U-30 on the surface

According to the testimony of Dönitz at Nuremberg, Lemp had been specifically warned to be alert for armed merchant cruisers. Believing it was one of these which he had in his sights, but dispensing with the shot across the bow specified in the Prize Rules, he fired two torpedoes, one of which struck squarely, and one which misfired. U-30 dived to avoid the danger that the defective torpedo might circle back toward the U-boat. Surfacing once more and observing that the ship did not seem to be sinking, he fired a third torpedo, but this too missed. (Perhaps this third torpedo was responsible for the claims of survivors that U-30 shelled the Athenia after the initial torpedo strike.) Close enough now to note its silhouette, Lemp compared it with his Lloyd's Register and discovered his mistake. Soon afterwards, U-30 intercepted a plain-language transmission from the stricken ship identifying itself as the Athenia.

Although the Athenia's distress calls had eliminated the need to conceal his position, Lemp did not take the opportunity to make a report. Knowing full well the magnitude of his blunder, he opted to maintain radio silence, and did so until September 14. On this date, eleven days after the sinking of Athenia, he broke radio silence to report damage received in a confrontation with two destroyers following the sinking of British freighter Fanad Head, and to request permission to debark a wounded man in Iceland for medical attention. He still did not mention the Athenia.

He also did not aid the survivors, as the Prize Rules required, although he did do so after sinking S.S. Blairlogie some days later. Probably he had observed the Norwegian Knut Nelson in the area earlier in the evening, and felt that help would soon come to those in the lifeboats. Doubtless he believed that departing the scene before further attention was focused on U-30 was the wisest course.

The Knut Nelson was indeed soon on the scene. Two other merchant ships, City of Flint and Southern Cross, as well as three British destroyers, Electra, Escort, and Fame, aided in rescue operations.

Berlin learned of the sinking from British news broadcasts. The rude surprise of hearing of it in such a way was compounded by despair; the years of effort to erase the world's memory of the unrestricted submarine warfare of the first World War were cancelled out in an instant, in the first hours of the new conflict.

By comparing the location of the sinking with the U-boat deployment charts, it was clear that only one boat could have been responsible. Seeing the phantom of the Lusitania rising again, Hitler decreed that accusations would be confronted with categorical denial. To throw the British off the track still further, the Propaganda Ministry under Göbbels spread the story that the British had torpedoed the liner themselves in a scurrilous attempt to bring the United States into the war. This story was published in Volkischer Beobachter on October 23, fully a month after Lemp had confirmed the truth.

Lemp in the damaged U-30 limped slowly back from Iceland (having landed the wounded man there on Sept 19), arriving in Wilhelmshaven on September 27. He immediately reported to Dönitz that he had sunk the Athenia, and was sent to Berlin for a full debriefing.

The pretence that U-boats had had nothing to do with Athenia's demise was maintained for the duration of the war. The risk of admitting it was too great. Dönitz' own war diary recorded that the only successes of U-30's first mission were S.S. Blairlogie and S.S. Fanad Head. Lemp's own Kriegstagebuch was altered, although clumsily. The original carefully detailed pages were removed, and a false page inserted which did not match the rest of the diary as to handwriting. This new version of events placed U-30 200 miles west of her actual position on September 3.

There remained the matter of the wounded Adolf Schmidt, who had been left in Iceland. Lemp assured Dönitz that Schmidt would not be a security risk. In fact, before he had been taken off the boat, Lemp had made him swear an oath never to speak of the matter. Although he became a prisoner of the British when they occupied Iceland in 1940, and was interrogated repeatedly, he kept his silence. After the war, Schmidt provided testimony that was used at Nuremberg, believing that the oath was nullified by the termination of the war.

Consequences

In spite of initial fears in Berlin, the Athenia did not become another Lusitania; it was not as great a public relations disaster as it first had seemed. However, the very first U-boat success of the war did have far-reaching ramifications.

The next day, September 4, Hitler ordered that under no circumstances were attacks to be made on passenger ships, even in convoy, regardless of nation. This caused confusion as to what sort of vessel it was now permissible to attack. Freighters sometimes carried passengers; passenger ships sometimes carried troops. Were these legitimate targets?

Lemp was not court-martialled for his error, but neither was he promoted from the field as were many of his contemporaries. Thus he met his death in an incident that had far worse consequences for the U-Bootwaffe and the Reich than the sinking of the Athenia - the capture of U-110.

At the Nuremberg Trials, the cover-up and the accusations that the British had staged the sinking came back to haunt Raeder, who was accused of committing deliberate fraud in the Athenia affair.

Of the Athenia's passengers and crew, 112 were killed (93 of them passengers) in the initial explosion or died later as a result of the sinking.

This article was published on 21 Mar, 1999. uboat.net/history/athenia.htm

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9/15/39 Complete Newsreel. THE FRONT PAGE. WAR COMES HOME TO NEW WORLD! ATHENIA SURVIVORS ARRIVE IN AMERICA! -- Freighter "City of Flint" brings 223 rescued passengers of torpedoed liner to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They tell harrowing tales of nightmare off Scotland when ship went down. GERMAN U-BOAT RAIDERS FILMED IN ACTION! -- Last pictures permitted to be made aboard Reich submarines reveal operation of craft that sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping in 11 days. www.cinema.ucla.edu/Prelude/1939.html

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Documentary Portraits, 1978-94

Derek Ridgers

Spirit of Ecstasy, 2020

Gareth Pugh

Painted ply

Taken in the exhibition

Monster

Opening The Horror Show!, Monster begins by delving into the economic and political turbulence of the 70s and the high octane spectacle and social division of the 80s. Against a backdrop of unrest and loud uprising, it charts the origin story and ascent of the individuals who will go on to disrupt, define and destroy British culture, while exploring the monsters which plague society today.

Punk prophet Jamie Reid opens the show by conjuring his Monster on a Nice Roof (1972), painting a prescient picture of the dark skies gathering over Britain. Chila Burman’s If There is No Struggle, There is no Progress - Uprising (1981) and Helen Chadwick’s Allegory of Misrule (1986) refigure social discontent and anxiety in the image of horror, as the socio-political and monstrous collide. In a jarring dislocation of British cultural identity, Guy Peellaert’s David Bowie, Diamond Dogs (1974) and the otherworldly creatures captured by Derek Ridgers’ nightlife photography point to the emergence of the cultural provocation and rebellion that defined an era. Monster revels in a resoundingly British spirit of nonconformity, with a spectacular display of Pam Hogg’s new Exterminating Angel (2021) and works by Somerset House Studios artist and designer Gareth Pugh and the late visionary Leigh Bowery. Elsewhere, Noel Fielding’s Post-Viral Fatigue (2022) shows how the imagery of horror resonates still in our Covid-ravaged contemporary reality. As the nightmarish and otherworldly fills the gallery, a newly commissioned mural by Matilda Moors sees the walls dramatically clawed at by a monstrous hand.

Contributing artists include Marc Almond, Bauhaus, Judy Blame, Leigh Bowery, Philip Castle, Chila Burman, Helen Chadwick, Monster Chetwynd, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tim Etchells, Noel Fielding, Mark Moore & Martin Green, Pam Hogg, Dick Jewell, Harminder Judge, Daniel Landin, Jeannette Lee, Andrew Liles, Linder, London Leatherman, Don Letts, Luciana Martinez de la Rosa, Lindsey Mendick, Peter Mitchell, Dennis Morris, Matilda Moors, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Guy Peellaert, Gareth Pugh, Jamie Reid, Derek Ridgers, Nick Ryan, Steven Stapleton, Ralph Steadman, Ray Stevenson, Poly Styrene, Francis Upritchard and Jenkin van Zyl.

[Somerset House]

The Horror Show! A Twisted Tale of Modern Britain

(October 2022 - February 2023)

Somerset House presents The Horror Show!: A Twisted Tale of Modern Britain, a major exhibition exploring how ideas rooted in horror have informed the last 50 years of creative rebellion. The show looks beyond horror as a genre, instead taking it as a reaction and provocation to our most troubling times. The last five decades of modern British history are recast as a story of cultural shapeshifting told through some of our country’s most provocative artists. The Horror Show! offers a heady ride through the disruption of 1970s punk to the revolutionary potential of modern witchcraft, showing how the anarchic alchemy of horror – its subversion, transgression and the supernatural – can make sense of the world around us. Horror not only allows us to voice our fears; it gives us the tools to stare them down and imagine a radically different future.

​Featuring over 200 artworks and culturally significant objects, this landmark show tells a story of the turbulence, unease and creative revolution at the heart of the British cultural psyche in three acts – Monster, Ghost and Witch. Each act interprets a specific era through the lens of a classic horror archetype, in a series of thematically linked contemporaneous and new works:

Each of the exhibition’s acts opens with ‘constellations’ of talismanic objects. These cabinets of curiosities speak to significant cultural shifts and anxieties in each era, while invoking a haunting from the counter-cultural voices in recent British history. Alongside these introductory artworks and ephemera is an atmospheric soundtrack, conjuring the spirit of the time with music from Bauhaus, Barry Adamson and Mica Levi.

Monster, Ghost and Witch culminate in immersive installations, combining newly commissioned work, large-scale sculpture, fashion and sound installation, with each chapter signed off with a neon text-work by Tim Etchells. The Horror Show! offers an intoxicating deep-dive into the counter-cultural, mystic and uncanny, with the signature design of the three acts courtesy of architects Sam Jacob Studio and Grammy-winning creative studio Barnbrook.

[Somerset House]

The robin has topped a poll of more than 200,000 people to choose the UK's first national bird.

Male robins are noted for their highly aggressive territorial behaviour. They will fiercely attack other males and competitors that stray into their territories and have been observed attacking other small birds without apparent provocation. Such attacks sometimes lead to fatalities, accounting for up to 10% of adult robin deaths in some areas. (S) (C)

www.flickr.com/photos/maoby/sets/72157628458448825/

Lumix GX7, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f1.8

This artistic provocation seeks to estimate the orders of magnitude of critical ecosystem services fundamental to all planetary life processes. It is common to use economic metaphors, which entail specific understandings of value, to describe our relationships with society, the world, and the biosphere. Today’s prevailing economic conventions are unable to recognize the intrinsic value of the ecosystems on which all life depends. In cultures overdetermined by concepts from economics, we are left without adequate discursive instruments to socially or politically address the importance of ecosystem contribution to life on Earth. This experiment consists of 1 square meter of wheat, cultivated in a closed environment. Critical inputs such as water, light, heat, and nutrients are measured, monitored, and displayed for the public. This procedure makes palpable the immense scale of ecosystem contributions and provides a speculative reference for a reckoning of the undervalued and over exploited “work of the biosphere.”

Philipp Gartlehner of the Ars Electronica Center planted barley with the heilp of the Life Support system and after three months, the harvest was ready to be brought in. The cost for growing one square meter of barley indoors accounted for the massive amount of 430 Euro. Another reason why we really have to take care for our ecosystem.

Photo: Ars Electronica - Martin Hieslmair

When I shop at [^.^Ayashi^.^] I walk out with a new hair style for every day of the week...lol Anyone ELSE???

Visit this location at [^.^Ayashi^.^] {Limerence} -MikiNe- [Provocation] main stores in Second Life

Nikon D2H, nikkor AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

PURE PINK PROVOCATION

The following four creatures hail from the planet Foutsbout, located in the Epsilon Octant and being somewhat well–known for having two distinct major biome types that are near–opposites of one another, with two respective humanoid races that are also near–opposites.

• Yerkfod: A bizarre animal that is considered a hybrid of mammal and insectoid and which roams the jungle–wetlands that form the more dominant of Foutsbout's two environment types. It can also sometimes be found in or near the crevices that tend to mark the "boundaries" between regions of wetlands/desert, and into which non–Yerkfods seldom venture. Yerkfods stand about four feet tall and have significant girth, giving them a modestly large overall mass. They are omnivores, and while they are not actively hostile to any type of humanoid, travelers are advised to keep their distance from these creatures whenever possible, for attacks based on situational provocation are fairly common. The most readily visible feature of the Yerkfod is the large, gaping mouth at its front and center, which is flanked by a quartet of hook–spiked appendages that are used to grab, pull and scoop things into the mouth proper (the Orpwapper, another inhabitant of Foutsbout, has a nearly identical mechanism, as elaborated upon in its entry). Above this mouth structure are what appears to be a large snout, and is in fact exactly that, and what appear to be two vicious eyes… but are actually mere muscle bulges that have been deliberately patterned to look like eyes, so as to intimidate enemies. The actual eyes of the Yerkfod are found higher up on its body still, along with an additional nose and a small, circular second mouth. The creature thus has two faces, though it should not be mistakenly considered as having two heads, for it possesses only one brain and is, furthermore, cephalothoracic in shape. At the very top of the creature's body is a "crown" of rugged bumps and thorns, which contributes to protecting the brain, and also growing out from near the top is a secondary set of arms that are raised upward by default and are amphiarthrotic (only slightly movable), being unable to reach directly downward. This uppermost portion of the Yerkfod's body has a physiological makeup characteristic of an insectoid and distinct from the mammalian physiology of the rest of its body, this being the reason for the animal's above–mentioned classification as a hybrid.

The other notable features of the Yerkfod's lower, more mammalian bodily portion include sheets of blue fur covering certain areas as well as the creature's primary sets of arms and legs. The lower, primary arms are fully flexible and rotatable, and are notable for their long, curved claw–like fingers that are nearly impossible to snap in two at any point, being sturdier in this regard than any other part of the animal, and can be used to assist in walking.

Yerkfods generally have durability values ranging from 800 to 1,000.

• Dinkarisan: By far the more advanced and civilized of Foutsbout's dual humanoid species and the more populous by a slim margin, the Dinkarisans inhabit elevated cities of moderately large scope built above large ponds amidst the jungles and other generally lush areas that comprise "their" "half" of the planet. They are tall, lean and very large overall, with some adults exceeding the seven–foot benchmark in height, and have smooth, blue skin comparable in toughness and texture to a Merthaldu's in addition to antennae–based ears. They are particularly "modest", usually being seen wearing heavy, armor–like suits that cover most of their bodies and have certain variable details for denoting rank and/or role. The Dinkarisans possess great intelligence, consistently placing in the top ten on various lists ranking the on–average–smartest mortal races, and have long been closely associated with the knowledge–devoted Uve Mards and Uve Mard Estate of neighboring planet Qollag, sharing the same love of knowledge and beneficial sciences and collaborating with the Uve Mards on various inventive and research projects. One notable series of technologies released under the banner of the Uve Mard Estate to which Dinkarisans contributed greatly was the set of nonlethal yet practically effective weapon models finished in Age 799, from which two armaments, the Pain Radiator and Burn–Fumer, caught on in spades and continue to be used by law enforcement agencies on several planets. This race can also be thanked in large part for many of the advances in the field of chemical medicine treatment that have occurred over the past few centuries, as well as for various efforts made in the name of natural preservation which have collectively saved several animal species from extinction.

Personality–wise, Dinkarisans have several common "quirks", most of which are considered negative, but in a non–immoral way. They tend to suffer from chronic nervousness more severe than what the average person experiences on a regular basis (though rarely to an extreme degree) and frequent stuttering. Most are very shy, especially in terms of sexuality, which is related to their previously–mentioned bodily modesty; based on what data could be gathered without committing extreme mass–invasions of privacy, the Dinkarisan population is indicated to engage in among the least sexual activity of all intelligent populations. This tendency for excessive abstinence is believed to be the primary factor that keeps the otherwise thriving Dinkarisan race's numbers at fairly standard levels, and it has been hypothesized that, if not for their impotence, they would likely be among the Prime Galaxy's most populous humanoid species. Furthermore, it has also been hypothesized, somewhat more questionably, that this trait might have been put in place as a form of population control for them. In any case, in spite of their social and sexual weakness, Dinkarisans generally maintain full competence where they themselves see it as mattering most: in the productive thinker's workplace.

The durability value range for Dinkarisans is rather low and narrow: 600–700. It should again be noted, however, that they are more often than not equipped with majorly protective gear.

• Orpwapper: A segmented, long–bodied arthropod found throughout the harsh, sandstorm–prone deserts that constitute the lesser and more hostile of Foutsbout's two biomes. It is highly carnivorous and will generally attack Janverscamps or other humanoids that cross its path out in the open, but does not pose a threat to those within walled settlements. The Orpwapper's body consists of a series of several connected spherical bulges, at the front of which is the creature's headpiece and at the back of which are its dual, stinger–bearing tails. Each body segment sports a tiny, spike–toed leg on either side, and with all Orpwappers possessing at least a dozen of them, the sheer number of these appendages allows them to collectively, adequately support and carry their owners' bodies despite their tininess. Similar leg setups are found in a handful of other creatures, most of which belong to the insectoid classification; this has led to common misconceptions that the Orpwapper is also an insectoid. Orpwappers' headpieces are perpetually and naturally upright, unlike the rest of their segments, and have three eyes, each situated within separate antenna–like structures, as well as clawed appendages surrounding their mouths; the latter of these traits is shared with the Yerkfod, which is found on the very same planet as the Orpwapper, albeit in different regions. Though the sharing of an unusual, distinctive feature normally exclusive to one creature per planet between two different species on the same world can usually be attributed to limited original gene pools, in the particular case of the Orpwapper and Yerkfod, the trait in question provides distinct benefits to either beast, its inclusion in either of their designs truly "making sense". As for the creature's hindquarters, it, again, consists of two tails of medium length and with large stingers at their ends. The sting of an Orpwapper yields a moderately potent dose of venom which has a high chance of being fatal to Janverscamps, due to their very small size. Whenever either of the creature's stingers is used, it is expended and discarded, only for a new one to regenerate in its place over the next three–to–five days.

Orpwappers are unisexual; any specimen can mate and reproduce with any other specimen besides itself. Their process of mating and reproducing occurs around the Third Cycle of each year and involves depositing a single egg which must be closely guarded by both of its parents for the duration of its pre–hatching development. Young Orpwappers, after emerging from their eggs, grow very quickly and are instinctively impelled and expected to willingly go off on their own within the first cycle of life. If one attempts to continue relying on the protection of its parents for much longer than that, it will be eaten by them.

The "full" lifespan of the Orpwapper is considered to be around twenty years. Specimens vary significantly in size, color scheme and even number of segments, but the "average" durability value for the species in general is held to be 750.

• Janverscamp: A race of small humanoids, only marginally larger than Flufewogs, that make their homes in small, walled cities throughout Foutsbout's desert regions. Considered the planet's "secondary" race, the Janverscamps are a simple and savage people, contrasting greatly to their Dinkarisan "neighbors", whose various attempts at "elevating" them to more desirable standards of living have largely been either ignored or met with violence (more commonly the former). Despite both this and their near–constant fighting among themselves and the various groups and tribes that make up their race, however, they have never engaged in warfare–scale aggression against people of any other race without being provoked. Many parties tend to overlook this fact, with the Janverscamps commonly being spoken of as an "evil" race colloquially while they are much closer to neutrality in reality.

Janverscamps have deeply reddish skin, which, in combination with their "Imp"–like form, has led comparisons to be drawn between them and the Shindoke and Grebeth, two forms of lesser demon to which these humanoids bear a superficial resemblance (a resemblance that has exacerbated the tendencies of many people to consider, think of and speak of them as worse than they actually are). Said skin is very tough and resistant to heat. Three sets of ears are present on Janverscamps' heads; each of these pairs is weaker in function than the average, singular sets of ears found on most other races, but the functionality of all three of them combined effectively gives the diminutive desert–dwellers what amounts to incredibly strong hearing. The eyesight provided by their standardly single pair of optical organs, however, is sub–par. Janverscamp durability values generally start around 300 and rarely go above 600. Theoretically, their racial lifespan is surprisingly long, the oldest recorded members of the species having been close to 100 years old, but in practice, very few Janverscamps live to old age due to their dangerous living environments and tendencies of killing one another, and the average age at death is well under half of the technical maximum.

Janverscamps speak a slightly simplified variation of English, with many "redundant" words being omitted and a few "new" ones being unique to their dialect. Despite their frequently odd wordings, savage nature and what is perceived to be a monstrous appearance, though, their actual voices (in terms of tone and accent) are fairly clear and standard, lacking any scraggly qualities that many might expect. While outdoors, nearly all Janverscamps wear bandana–or–handkerchief–like garments over their faces at nearly all times. This was originally an utmost necessity due to sandstorms and the like, but it has since become entrenched as a tradition of what little culture they have and continues to be as prevalent as ever even after new building techniques have lessened the need for face protection within Janverscamp cities. The "bandana" is also arguably the most recognizable "symbol" of the race among other peoples.

WEAPONS:

• Dinkarisan Jitterpelter

• Janverscampish Crayer Ambiblade

• Janverscampish Horny Bugbarrel

These next four creatures, displayed right of the previous group, are inhabitants of the planet Yorwerad, situated in the central area of the Sigma Octant and having a mild desert environment similar to that of Ergnoplis. Also included is a partial military history of the two humanoid species among these beings.

• Nuupeilad: Though being listed here first, this humanoid species should not be mistakenly taken to be the "primary" race of Yorwerad as opposed to its counterpart race, which should not be considered the more "dominant" people either, for both of the two allied races are officially, and accurately, seen as each other's equal. Nuupeilads are of relatively standard size and posture (~5–6 feet), and have predominantly orangish (with some spots of yellow) skin, rather wide/broad craniums and faces, thick, brown hair that is traditionally braided into separated "tufts". In males, there is a noticeable predisposition to growing prominent facial hair, which is considered highly desirable and indicative of both masculinity and general strength within Nuupeilad culture, starting from early ages. The durability value of a typical member of the race at prime age is about 900.

The Nuupeilads are a devout warrior race with an almost fanatical sense of justice, traits that also apply to their Patmurite comrades, but generally to a slightly lesser degree. Being considerably more able to withstand harsh conditions than their counterparts, they voluntarily occupy most of the more barren regions of Yorwerad while allowing the Patmurites to control most of the milder areas, though there is great overlap between the population concentrations of both races. The city of Jarvelin, located at the near–center of the planet's map, has the largest Nuupeilad population and is widely considered, albeit unofficially, to be the race's capital. Due to tradition–based practice, the Nuupeilad species' population as a whole is almost entirely concentrated on Yorwerad, with only a relative few of them living elsewhere, in contrast to the Patmurites who are much more inclined to "spreading out" (see also the latter race's entry, below).

Nuupeilad designs and architectures reflect the desert–ish environments in which most of them live, and throughout the years, they have taken efforts to preserve the dated aesthetic styles established and used by their people's earlier generations while still implementing newer technologies and techniques. In other words, Nuupeilads may look rather primitive from surface appearances, but they are anything but in practice; they deliberately give their in–actuality–high–tech structures, weapons and gadgets "classic" appearances for the sake of tradition. Usefulness is occasionally slightly compromised for the sake of maintaining this aesthetic style, but the opposite (style being compromised somewhat to optimize function) also occurs about as frequently.

• On Skellen–Yorweraddin Conflicts:

As a highly–developed and fairly large planet in the Sigma Octant, Yorwerad has long been threatened by the Gorlunian Skellen on a consistently frequent basis, and the history of both its peoples is heavily marked, shaped and arguably even defined in large part, by conflict with them. In addition to many smaller skirmishes, five distinct wars, known as the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Skellen Wars of Yorwerad, have occurred between the Skellen pseudo–empire and the cooperating military forces of both of Yorwerad's races. The First Skellen War of Yorwerad took place over a five–day period in Age 248, and is notable for marking the first of only four total "field appearances" of the Skellen Mothership, which had been upgraded for the second time just prior to the battle. It was also the first of the two occasions on which the mothership was "defeated", the vessel retreating at the end of the brief war after being heavily damaged and the majority of the ships within it destroyed. The next two wars were largely standard, unsuccessful invasion attempts on the Skellen's parts, taking place over longer periods than the first but with being less intense compared to it and not involving the Skellen Mothership.

The Fourth Skellen War of Yorwerad was "the big one" for the Nuupeilads and Patmurites, commencing in late Age 660 and ending at a similar point in Age 664's calendar, ultimately lasting just over four years. It was the longest armed conflict to ever involve either the Skellen or the Yorweraddin peoples, and one of the longest in Nava–Verse history altogether, and though not as intense as some other, shorter wars, its total death toll was upwards of 2,000,000, making it among the deadliest wars in Nava–Verse history as well. The Fourth Skellen War of Yorwerad infamously involved several "false ends", calms during which it looked like the fighting would soon stop, only for it to then suddenly resume in full force with the appearance of another wave of attacking ships, as well as a comparable number of proverbial shiftings of the tide, with the upper hand going back and forth between sides many times. At one point roughly midway through the war's length, circumstances appeared to favor the invaders so strongly that Yorwerad was officially declared a Skellen–controlled territory by the aging Skellord Pink, who would die of natural causes within a year following the conflict's eventual end, only for the Nuupeilad–Patmurite alliance to regain the upper hand within the next cycle's time. The war ultimately ended in a most decidedly indecisive manner, with the Yorweraddin races "winning" by default as the Skellen forces made their final retreat, not due to some disastrous defeat in a climactic battle as tends to mark the final turning points of most wars, but merely due to long–term depletion of resources, manpower and willpower after four years of near–continual attacks against a single planetary front. The decision on Skellen leadership's part that continuing to pursue conquest of Yorwerad would be too costly an endeavor was a highly questionable one in terms of rationality (though no decent people are complaining about it), as the forces of the Nuupeilads and Patmurites were on their last metaphorical legs just as much as, if not even more–so than, the Skellen were at the time of the latter side's cessation of full–blown hostilities.

The fifth and, to date, final major conflict between Yorwerad's dual peoples and the Skellen was waged during Ages 780 and 781… with the Nuupeilads and Patmurites as the aggressors, attempting a full–out invasion of Gorlune in revenge for the Skellen's wrongdoings towards not only their planet and peoples but those of many other races as well. What is officially called the Fifth Skellen War of Yorwerad for consistency's sake but which some have proposed renaming as the "Yorweraddin War of Gorlune" marks the only occasion to date on which a serious, competently–coordinated invasion attempt has been made on the Skellen's homeworld, and preparations for it on the part of aggressors had been secretly underway for many years prior to the assault on Gorlune being launched in earnest. Many different individuals among the leaderships of both the Patmurites and the Nuupeilads are considered to share various parts of the dubious "honor" that is responsibility for proposing and coordinating the still–controversial–in–retrospect war. If one person is to be considered the closest there was to a "single" mastermind behind it, though, that person would have to be the Nuupeilad chancellor Shoda Marrmam, who, while not being the first to propose an invasion of the Skellen's planet, provided instrumental support at almost every further point in planning the operation, and formulated some beneficial tactical decisions as well. Furthermore, it is a known fact that the Skellen's disastrous defeat and the destruction of their mothership at Ergnoplis roughly a quarter–century prior and the weakened – both militarily and psychologically – state their kind was in, and still remains in to this very day, as a result provided great amounts of both encouragement and incentive to the Yorweraddin leaders as they formulated the war plan and made the ultimate decision to go through with it.

During the Fifth Skellen War of Yorwerad, Yorweraddin forces were exceptionally ruthless towards their hated enemies. Dividing themselves into several separate sub–armies, they, over several cycles, consecutively conquered several minor Gorlunian cities on the fringes of the heart of Skellen civilization. Almost all of the Skellen in each of these cities were slaughtered, while only moderate casualties were sustained by Nuupeilad–Patmurite attackers, who subsequently mounted a larger assault on Fibilich, one of the five "major" Skellen cities occupying the designated circle of land, known as the "Outer Ring", that surrounded the Skellen capital, Cartlash. The Siege of Fibilich, as it would come to be known, took place during the middle of the Second Cycle of Age 781, and proved to be the "climax" of not only the specific war it was part of, but of the centuries–long Yorweraddin–Skellen meta–conflict altogether, constituting a fierce battle far more intense than any of those that had occurred while pillaging the lesser Skellen cities. The Yorweraddin side eventually won the battle and successfully occupied what was left of Fibilich at that point, but not before suffering casualties far more severe than those sustained in the previous, smaller battles. Over the tense period entailed by the next several days, it was, with aid from various mathematicians and scientists, projected by Patmurite–Nuupeilad leaders back on Yorwerad that, were they to continue their merciless campaign against the Skellen, the Skellen menace could very well be put to an end once and for all by their efforts, but only if they were willing to sacrifice close to the entireties of both their own populations as well as the foundations of their dual, overlapping civilizations. In other words, it was anticipated that, were the war to continue, mutual destruction of both sides and their races would be the end result. A near–unanimous decision to end the war was made by the leaders of both Yorweraddin races shortly after this was established to be the situation. Their forces withdrew from Gorlune, leaving behind numerous warnings, relayed mainly through the accounts of the few Skellen they left alive in the cities they had conquered, that if the Skellen were ever to disturb their planet again, they would resume their own campaign against them in full force and see it through to the bitter end.

Altogether, roughly 300,000 Patmurites and Nuupeilads in total died as a result of the Fifth Skellen War of Yorwerad, and while the number of Skellen they killed is unknowable, it is generally believed and taught to be significantly higher than the aforementioned number lost in the process of slaying them. The greater total number of Yorweraddins lost across all of their world's battles with the Skellen, meanwhile, is estimated at around 3,500,000. Thus far, the Skellen have heeded the parting warnings of the only people to ever be bold enough to invade their homeworld, though only time will tell if this will continue to be the case. More likely than not, the long–term answer will ultimately depend on whether the Skellen are able to regain their full power and collective composure – that which they possessed prior to the destruction of their mothership at Ergnoplis and lost following that crushing defeat – anytime soon.

• Bullywarver: A leathery–skinned flying mammal with a considerably vicious appearance but only a slightly vicious demeanor. The Bullywarver is a larger animal than most, being roughly seven feet in body length/height and having a wingspan of comparable measurements, and dominates much of Yorwerad's undeveloped regions, being at the top of the food chain among the planet's wildlife. The durability value of the average specimen is 1,200. Bullywarvers live alone, and spend more time than not hovering high enough above the ground to be out of the reach of any grounded potential enemies but low enough to have a clear view of the terrain below, and act as both predators and scavengers, killing their own food and eating the remains of already–deceased creatures with more or less equal frequency. When not out in the field, Bullywarvers generally shelter themselves within caves or grottos; they have no permanent "homes", instead merely occupying whichever cavern is presently nearest whenever they need rest, a condition that entails sleeping for several consecutive hours but which occurs only once every several days per individual.

The Bullywarver is most easily identifiable and distinguishable from similar creatures found on various planets by its proportionally massive head, which sports a pair of equally–prominent, point–ended ears, a pair of complexly–structured yet still rather weak eyes, and mouths with many large teeth and dry, cracked lips that are almost constantly parted. The beast's arm–wing setup, meanwhile, is similar to that of the Phiortrask, with the arms being separate limbs originating well below the wings, though this is considered less notable in the Yorweraddin creature's case due to it having a far less humanoid–like overall body shape than the Namyufefian bird. Even though its head is more readily taken note of most of the time due to the universal tendency to fixate one's view of a creature on its head or closest equivalent when initially viewing it, the Bullywarver's lower body is easily its most nonstandard feature of all. Its set of "legs" consists of three synarthrotic, cartilaginous "poles" plus a pair of highly flexible tentacles, the latter of which are positioned in front of the former and are considered more essential to ground locomotion (itself secondary as a whole to flight in the Bullywarver) than the other three supports.

Despite being as ferocious as any predatory creature towards their natural prey, Bullywarvers are hostile neither to Nuupeilads nor to Patmurites, the former of whom have managed to tame the creatures in small numbers and harness these specimens both as traditional war beasts and as trained sentinels used for intimidation. Due to their lack of hostility and greater usefulness as allies, it is generally frowned upon in the overall society of Yorwerad to kill Bullywarvers for resources, though hunting of them, usually by Patmurites, still takes place on occasion.

• Patmurite: The second–listed, but by no means secondary, of Yorwerad's dual, allied humanoid peoples. Patmurites are slightly shorter and physically less robust than their Nuupeilad allies, averaging at just below five feet in measurement and with default durability values ranging from 700 to 800. However, they are much closer to the original human form in shape than their already–very–"standard" counterparts, being considered, along with the Vilvamions, to be major candidates for the distinction of being the most human–like humanoid race in the Nava–Verse and priding themselves, sometimes excessively so, on what they have termed their bodies' "paradigm" quality. Them being so "normal" in this sense, there is relatively little to say about these people's physical forms; they have six fingers/toes on each hand/foot, horn–like structures on the upper–backs of their heads, and little else in the way of noticeable protrusions. The Patmurite's coloration, however, is a much different story. The race is known for visually exhibiting, all over their bodies, recurring patterns and markings of the colors red and blue, as well as related shades thereof, that are often opposite and parallel to one another. Though the reason for this, if any, is unknown, the Patmurites have embraced this strange, and possibly incidental, trait of theirs, making blue and red signature colors of their society and people and reflecting the color schemes of their bodily patterns in their clothing and other designs.

As a society, Patmurites are much more outwardly "modern" than Nuupeilads; they are a high–tech race, and they have no problems with making that visibly evident in their designs. They have an almost (non–sexually) fetishistic affinity for leather and other hide–based clothing, as well as for capes and the prominent inclusion of the color green in their clothing patterns alongside red and blue. Most Patmurites live in areas of Yorwerad's geographic layout where climatic conditions are milder compared to other regions of the planet, this being a quasi–necessity due to their lower tolerance for heat and greater need for water compared to the Nuupeilads. The city officially designated as their race's capital, Bermerdesh, is located a moderately long road trip's distance almost directly South of the unofficial Nuupeilad capital, Jarvelin, and a shorter road trip's distance West of the largest known oasis on Yorwerad. Both routes have been fully paved for many years. The Patmurites, unlike the Nuupeilads (for the most part) and especially as of the past two centuries, have made significant and highly fruitful efforts to establish colonies elsewhere in the Prime Galaxy and integrate their kind and society with those of other advanced races. The overall populations of either Yorweraddin race are both very high and believed to be roughly equal in total, but due to the former phenomenon, there are somewhat fewer Patmurites than Nuupeilads living on the planet today, though not by a great enough margin for there to be any sort of "shortage" of the blue–and–red people on their own homeworld.

Patmurites, like Nuupeilads but to a slightly (and only slightly) lesser extent, place great cultural emphasis on justice, specifically its "punishing the wicked" aspect, a value whose development in both races' cases has been reinforced by, and applied in, their many wars fought together against the evil Skellen (see "On Skellen–Yorweraddin Conflicts" under the Nuupeilad's entry, above). They (again, like their counterparts), have a large, constantly readied military, while civilians are heavily encouraged to undergo a lesser form of training so that they are prepared to spring into militia action in emergency cases. The R–Rider Assaulter, a Patmurite–manufactured model of rifle, is by far the most versatile and consequently most abundant of Yorweraddin weapons among both the species responsible for its manufacture and the Nuupeilads, and in recent years it has also seen proliferation among warriors of other races thanks to interplanetary trade. Other, more negative personality tendencies of many Patmurites include overeating and resulting chubbiness (albeit primarily in lazier "types" of civilians, rather than warriors and other more productive members of society), cockiness and minor beliefs of self–supremacy on the "grounds" of their "paradigm" form. However, these questionable beliefs rarely lead to any actual antagonism of others, being far from radical in nature and extent in most cases.

• Oddgreader: A six–legged creature, not explicitly belonging to any common animal classification such as mammal, reptile, insectoid, etc., that lives in and around the numerous and scattered caves, oases and small forests that can be found across Yorwerad. It is occasionally hunted by Patmurites for purposes of using certain parts of its hide for clothing and related items, and though it has little relevance to the cultures and history of Yorwerad's people beyond this, its sheer uniqueness alone is enough to make it a notable life form. The Oddgreader is herbivorous and passive by default, but is, unlike most other beings for which the same can be said, highly capable of defending itself. While standing on all of its limbs, which is its default posture, this creature is approximately six feet long and half that length in height, and has a durability value of 700–800. It reproduces asexually and may be found in small packs of up to eight individuals.

Oddgreaders are very… well, odd, hence their lack of a clear classification. Each of their three pairs of legs vary wildly in form from either of the others, but all of them are nonetheless fully functional together as a complete set of limbs, giving the creatures both above–average movement speed and great stability. The different parts of Oddgreaders' bodies have varying and various textures (some of which are, again, highly useful resources, primarily for Patmurites), and they lack traditional heads, possessing tube–like mouths that are their only protrusions of note to come from their mostly flat fronts and having single eyes above the tops of said frontal surfaces. Attached to the back of this eye is a thick cord of solid muscle that extends backward, suspended several inches above the Oddgreader's upper back, for more than half of the creature's body length before reconnecting with the rest of the body near the top of the hump that is its posterior segment. This peculiar structure, often referred to as a "Exocerebral Cord", is essential for circulating important bodily fluids throughout the animal's body and especially to and from its brain, which is internally located just below and in back of its eye, and although successfully severing it will kill an Oddgreader, doing so is a much more difficult feat than it might appear to be. The unique tissue that comprises the Exocerebral Cord is not only exceptionally tough, but is one of the fastest–regenerating bodily tissues to exist in any mortal being, and simply cutting the cord in half at one point is insufficient to "successfully" sever it, for it will begin mending itself within moments and stop the leakage of fluid well before enough of it is lost for the creature to perish. There are, in fact, few forms of injury to an Oddgreader's Exocerebral Cord short of it being ripped out entirely from either end that will actually kill the animal, though, that being said, most significant damages to the structure will leave the creature at least momentarily stunned or disoriented, leaving it more susceptible to further harm in the event that it is being deliberately attacked.

The Oddgreader's main attack mechanism, used only when it is significantly threatened or provoked, consists of spewing slimy, acidic projectiles from its mouth. These projectiles are derived from a compacted compound of the creature's digestive juices and internal mucuses, and thus have a limited, replenishing supply based in the quantity of these substances an Oddgreader has inside, and is willing/able to expel from, its body. Their acidity is relatively weak, and for most humanoids, the projectiles' revulsion factor is greater than their probability to inflict serious physical harm. If they are unable to generate these slimy missiles, or if it is more practically convenient to do so in the current situation, as opposed to using them, aggravated Oddgreaders may also attempt to lunge at or tackle enemies, a technique that seems to be the sole application for the dual, horn–like spikes to the sides of their middle–underbellies.

WEAPONS:

• Nuupeiladdin Condemner Cannon

• Patmurite Pitched HeatSkewer

• Patmurite R–Rider Assaulter

• Nuupeiladdin Fusee Shooter

A Red Admiral butterfly ready to flee at the slightest provocation. These critters are F-A-S-T !

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Bombs are an odd species. Their bodies are very volatile, and they have been known to explode with very little provocation - in fact, it's one way they attack their enemies!

Harley Davidson V-Rod to stage another provocation

The column Racing Magazing we are friends car enthusiasts Big Bike legendary Harley.Davidson cool to the touch, with a style Cruiser. (Cruiser), a Harley Davidson V-ROD (VRSCB) 2005.

You ride on Soyuz grant the frequency artist who founded ...

bit.ly/1X6wtDO

Carpenter bees are cool, only the female (pictured here) can sting, but it takes a lot of provocation before it even considers doing so.

www.flickr.com/photos/maoby/sets/72157628458448825/

Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

When I shop at [^.^Ayashi^.^] I walk out with a new hair style for every day of the week...lol Anyone ELSE???

Visit this location at [^.^Ayashi^.^] {Limerence} -MikiNe- [Provocation] main stores in Second Life

An empty canvas?

Not quite....

Concentrate.....

If Salvatore Garau can get away with something similar, so can I.

😉

La provocation de l'art #11

See the full album "Les provocations de l'art" here:

www.flickr.com/photos/38070237@N06/albums/72157648977534655

This artistic provocation seeks to estimate the orders of magnitude of critical ecosystem services fundamental to all planetary life processes. It is common to use economic metaphors, which entail specific understandings of value, to describe our relationships with society, the world, and the biosphere. Today’s prevailing economic conventions are unable to recognize the intrinsic value of the ecosystems on which all life depends. In cultures overdetermined by concepts from economics, we are left without adequate discursive instruments to socially or politically address the importance of ecosystem contribution to life on Earth. This experiment consists of 1 square meter of wheat, cultivated in a closed environment. Critical inputs such as water, light, heat, and nutrients are measured, monitored, and displayed for the public. This procedure makes palpable the immense scale of ecosystem contributions and provides a speculative reference for a reckoning of the undervalued and over exploited “work of the biosphere.”

Philipp Gartlehner of the Ars Electronica Center planted barley with the heilp of the Life Support system and after three months, the harvest was ready to be brought in. The cost for growing one square meter of barley indoors accounted for the massive amount of 430 Euro. Another reason why we really have to take care for our ecosystem.

Photo: Ars Electronica - Martin Hieslmair

in Tokyo

August Macke (1887 à Meschede – 1914 près de Perthes-lès-Hurlus, Champagne, FR) illustre par son œuvre la curiosité d'une jeune génération d'artistes qui, en divers lieux d'Europe, puis d'Amérique, s'engagent dans l'établissement d'une nouvelle perception du monde et d'un nouveau sens de la vie – voire, dans bien des cas, dans la provocation par des scandales délibérément mis en scène :

« Tout cela », écrit Macke en 1913 dans une lettre à un ami, « le cubisme, le futurisme, l'expressionnisme et la peinture abstraite ne sont que les termes d'un changement de direction que notre pensée picturale veut opérer et opère.»

Ses œuvres se caractérisent par la vitalité et la sensualité de la vie.

Cela se reflète dans la force et la beauté des couleurs, qui dépassent souvent les formes picturales individuelles et intérieures pour envahir l'ensemble du tableau. Sans adhérer rigidement à un manifeste artistique ni radicaliser unilatéralement son langage visuel, August Macke reste ouvert à de nombreuses influences et stimulations dans sa pensée artistique, tout en créant une œuvre indépendante qui offre une synthèse exemplaire des caractéristiques spécifiques de l'expressionnisme rhénan. Son regard se tourne ainsi vers l'Occident : vers la France, vers Paris où, dans les œuvres de Robert Delaunay, il estime avoir trouvé une âme sœur.

Avec des peintures, des sculptures et des gravures, la vaste collection Macke du Kunstmuseum Bonn comprend des œuvres de toutes les phases de la création de l'artiste.

August Macke (1887 in Meschede – 1914 near Perthes-lès-Hurlus, Champagne, FR) illustrates through his work the curiosity of a young generation of artists who, in various parts of Europe and later America, were committed to establishing a new perception of the world and a new meaning of life—in many cases, even to provocation through deliberately staged scandals:

"All this," Macke wrote in a 1913 letter to a friend, "Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, and abstract painting are merely the terms of a change of direction that our pictorial thinking seeks to bring about and does bring about."

His works are characterized by the vitality and sensuality of life.

This is reflected in the strength and beauty of the colors, which often transcend individual, inner pictorial forms to invade the entire picture. Without rigidly adhering to an artistic manifesto or unilaterally radicalizing his visual language, August Macke remained open to numerous influences and stimuli in his artistic thinking, while creating an independent body of work that offers an exemplary synthesis of the specific characteristics of Rhenish Expressionism. His gaze thus turned toward the West: toward France, toward Paris, where, in the works of Robert Delaunay, he felt he had found a kindred spirit.

With paintings, sculptures, and prints, the Kunstmuseum Bonn's extensive Macke Collection includes works from all phases of the artist's creative process.

IDN1 1988, IDN2 1989 by Malga Kubiak Archives The Ego Trip 1988, 1989

attention! the ego trip collection is not for minors!

NOTHING FOR MINORS!

music Zbigniew Karkowski

vocals & texts Malga Kubiak

recorded at Chalmers

cast Malga Kubiak

camera Malga Kubiak, Tjell Zachrison

editing Malga Kubiak

cast Malga Kubiak, Peo Soderberg, Tjell Zachrison, Lola Muller, CM von Hausswolff & many others

shark photos Laurie Dammert

shot GBG, NYC, GBG

a

complete review 1995

MISS MESS COMES TO TOWN

Material on Independent Film. Part I / By Mats Olsson

MISS TROUBLE HAS moved to Stockholm. Or perhaps she hasn't. When it

comes to Miss Mess, Maggachacka, Mango Chutney, Marga, or, as sheprefers to be called, Malga Kubiak, its difficult to know what she means by home.

A fabulously romantic woman who doesn't know if she's still a girl, and if she has the right to be. Of all people I've met, no one has attempted to act the part of the total Artist quite like her. Despite the fact that she is a quite nice person, very few have succeeded to such an extent in being provocative. This is not due to more profound strategies. Provocation seems to be innate to her, and its purpose is by no means exclusively to epater les bourgeois. In practice, though, this is what happens. Her victims are not just the pilots of leather

armchair etiquette, or the suburban couch potatoes, but also colleagues, gallerists, journalists, officials, chauvinists, feminists, old friends, premeditating men and prejudiced women; all of them encounter her very

apparition as an offense to the inner calm they've spent a lifetime attaining.

The irony here is striking. The spirit of the times is divided between a longing for the good old days of public projects and an extremely individualistic artistic ethic. In the case of Malga, her means of

expression are pathetic beyond recognition. The simple fact that the word pathetic is generally thought of as negative turns our resistance to her work an auto-ethic anesthesia. By all means - she's not alone in

being a misunderstood artist. Since the ban on absinthe in Paris, very few taken social obstinacy in art to its extremes. Her artistic expression is identical with her own life. She works exclusively with

herself. If other people take part , thye are only background for the superegotism of Miss Mess. This should however be seen as a generous act, as it comes across in her books, films and objects. Problems arise

since we still expect a ritualized interaction in so-called reality. Malga is not the queen of real power. In fact , she's unexpectedly lousy at practical stuff, such as money, layout and aesthetic control. Her art /life/ is maximally charged with sex, drugs, violence, travels, experiences, emotions, and quests. Due to her unfettered techniques of presentation, she retains true pathos. Her passionate abandon creates a secret. What she wants to say is easy to repress, despite the fact that it's much clearer than, for instance, this text.

During the last years, her travels through existence have taken place in the company of a young man, Harry Hoppe, probably the best Swedish poet today. It's hard to tell how you know something like that. I've

never read any of his work. But charismatically speaking this couple seems impeccable.

I'd like to recommend you all to read her latest book Baby Trouble which makes for difficult reading, and is only available on request from the artist. An easier way of becoming acquainted with her work is to see

her latest film , Babe Trouble-Hole, which according to the artist is more of comedy than her earlier films.

It opens at the Zita Theater in Stockholm. What you'll get is a not

entirely non-pornographic reflection on two people loving each other, and some slices of real life as well. If you should happen to bump into them in a bar, I strongly suggest that you buy them drinks. I also

recommend them for the government funding, preferably public art on Riddarholmen. I would like to advice against any kind of violence or trouble-making . And stay aloof from all business involving rock bands, or any other practicalities, if Chaggamacka is in the vicinity.

REVIEW

The Ego Trip Collection

I The Ego Trip Collection ingar b la "Ego", "Super Ego", "IDN1", 2 och 3. orsaken till att jag väljer att ta upp dem tillsammans är att de stilmässigt och innehallsmässigt ligger nära varandra.

Hur ska man beskriva dessa filmer? Trots att jag har sett de här filmerna ett antal ganger är mitt intryck detsamma: ett rasande kaos. Eller som Malga själv kanske skulle uttrycka det: "films about love/ sex/ death/ hate/ life" osv. Det kan lata osammanhängande och diffust, men faktum är att det finns en mycket stark "drive" i dessa videos. detta beror till stor del pa den hetsiga klippningen och den pumpande elektroakustiska musiken av exempelvis Karkowski, kombinerat med Malgas jagade, skrikande diktuppläsning. Mörbultningseffekten är stark, särskilt om man ser filmerna i en mörklagd biograf med maximal volym. I mitt tycke fungerar The Ego Trip mer pa ett direkt fysiskt plan än pa ett intellektuellt. Det är inte lätt att vara distanserad inför denna totalanstormning. Trots den ringa mediala uppmärksamheten har det alltid uppstatt debatt kring Malga Kubiaks filmer varhelst de visats. I stort sett har invändningarna följt samma mönster: "jag har inget emot sex/ jag är inte pryd/ men detta är onödigt/ känns förnedrande. Att det är en kvinna som star bakom filmerna anses intressant nog vara extra graverande. "Hur kan hon ställa upp pa porrindustrins värderingar?".Alla som har läst den här recensionen förstar antagligen, dels pa grund av titlarna, dels pa grund av innehallsbeskrivningen, att det här rör sig om videos som ligger miltals fran det som produceras av porrbranschen, om ni inte har en bild av porrfilm som innefattar assosiativ klippning, skrikande poeter, intervjuer med Nick Cave och extremt brutal musik. Da fragar sig kanske läsaren av denna text om jag kan garantera att ingen blir kat av dessa filmer. Nej, jag kan givetvis inte utfärda nagra sadana garantier. Här förekommer manga bilder av nakenhet, onani och knullande.Men det som skiljer sig absolut mest mellan Malgas videos och vanliga porrfilmer är följande (nu ska jag försöka bli sa pedagogisk som möjligt sa att alla ska första och jag tror att de flesta som läser detta har sett atminstone brottsstycken ur vanliga porrfilmer, det underlättar om ni vill följa med i resonemanget): en porrfilm försöker göra tittaren sa kat som möjligt för att han (jag förutsätter helt dogmatiskt att alla porrkonsumenter är män) ska komma i hag sin kathet och hyra fler p-rullar. Detta gör porrfilmen genom att visa sa mycket sex som möjligt under filmens längd. Det klipps visserligen ocksa i en porrfilm, men da fran en sexbild till en annan sexbild, inte fran en sexbild till en poesiuppläsning, till en tandlös knarkare, till en sexbild, till en polisbil, till Nick Cave. Det är möjligt att en och annan porrkonsument skulle kunna luras till att köpa Malgas videos. Han kommer att bli besviken.

Jag hoppas att jag varit extremt övertydlig i detta resonemang.

Fredrik Gustavsson

Her work is egocentric, exhibitionistic, pretentious, vulgar, obscene, obstinate, banal, painful, pathetic, messy, disturbing and provoking everyone

Mats Olsson, DS Art News, October 1990

Mats Olsson earlier review on malga kubiak film

only fragments are saved

malga kubiak

effektsokeri; stravan efter verkan. hon tycks vara befriad fran dent understrom av elitism som annars ar vanlig hos utovare och konsumenter av extrem och socialt verksamhet. hennes forbluffande odmjukhet raddar henne ocksa fran att fastna i det trask av sekterism som desarmerar uttrycken hos mangen ambitios bildstormare.ett fortjust fnitter fran em hycklande medborgare som fantiserar om spanande uttflykter i mot borgarnas koncentrations-lager-variant av Disney-land gor ingen mensch glad.

tankte nar de anordnade gladiatorspel, vill forsoka forklara behovet av videovald i var tid.

stilloshet; sjalvstandighet stilistiskt ar hennes videor i langa stycken traditionellt avantgardistiska. klicheer som normalt sett ar utfyllnad far for en gangs skull en chans att visa sin potential. en delikat mojlighet ar att hon i framtiden mer kommer att utnyttja de mojligheter till sublim kontrast och sense of wonder som hennes patetik idag antyder. men det ar farligt att forsoka reducera och koncentrera enligt nagons lag mot overdrifter. verk raseras av underbelastning pa ett plagsammare satt an av overbelastning. det ovanstaende galler ocksa det kongeniala ljudarbete som pa mycket hog volym bildar en, paradoxalt nog, mjuk audiosfar att ta sin tillflykt till nar bilderna plagar just dig. musiken av zbigniew karkowski.

..................

speciellt som man tenderar att hela tiden lagga en forsvarsstratego bade for henne och min egen text.det finns ingen hysa en from forhoppning om att autentcitet anda kan existera. malga kubiak videos innehaler foljande,sa hog ljudvolym att de permanent kan skada din horsel,bilder pa skote som aven en spekulativ pornograf skulle tycka vara grova.

mats olsson on malga kubiak art

Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by vimeo.com/user4322168.

Kent State University May 4 Memorial, Kent, Portage County, Ohio

THE MAY 4 SHOOTINGS AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: THE SEARCH FOR HISTORICAL ACCURACY

BY JERRY M. LEWIS and THOMAS R. HENSLEY

On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The impact of the shootings was dramatic. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. H. R. Haldeman, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, suggests the shootings had a direct impact on national politics. In The Ends of Power, Haldeman (1978) states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration. Beyond the direct effects of the May 4, the shootings have certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era.

In the nearly three decades since May 4, l970, a voluminous literature has developed analyzing the events of May 4 and their aftermath. Some books were published quickly, providing a fresh but frequently superficial or inaccurate analysis of the shootings (e.g., Eszterhas and Roberts, 1970; Warren, 1970; Casale and Paskoff, 1971; Michener, 1971; Stone, 1971; Taylor et al., 1971; and Tompkins and Anderson, 1971). Numerous additional books have been published in subsequent years (e.g., Davies, 1973; Hare, 1973; Hensley and Lewis, 1978; Kelner and Munves, 1980; Hensley, 1981; Payne, 1981; Bills, 1988; and Gordon, 1997). These books have the advantage of a broader historical perspective than the earlier books, but no single book can be considered the definitive account of the events and aftermath of May 4, l970, at Kent State University.(1)

Despite the substantial literature which exists on the Kent State shootings, misinformation and misunderstanding continue to surround the events of May 4. For example, a prominent college-level United States history book by Mary Beth Norton et al. (1994), which is also used in high school advanced placement courses.(2) contains a picture of the shootings of May 4 accompanied by the following summary of events: "In May 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen confronted student antiwar protestors with a tear gas barrage. Soon afterward, with no provocation, soldiers opened fire into a group of fleeing students. Four young people were killed, shot in the back, including two women who had been walking to class." (Norton et al., 1994, p. 732) Unfortunately, this short description contains four factual errors: (1) some degree of provocation did exist; (2) the students were not fleeing when the Guard initially opened fire; (3) only one of the four students who died, William Schroeder, was shot in the back; and (4) one female student, Sandy Schreuer, had been walking to class, but the other female, Allison Krause, had been part of the demonstration.

This article is an attempt to deal with the historical inaccuracies that surround the May 4 shootings at Kent State University by providing high school social studies teachers with a resource to which they can turn if they wish to teach about the subject or to involve students in research on the issue. Our approach is to raise and provide answers to twelve of the most frequently asked questions about May 4 at Kent State. We will also offer a list of the most important questions involving the shootings which have not yet been answered satisfactorily. Finally, we will conclude with a brief annotated bibliography for those wishing to explore the subject further.

WHY WAS THE OHIO NATIONAL GUARD CALLED TO KENT?

The decision to bring the Ohio National Guard onto the Kent State University campus was directly related to decisions regarding American involvement in the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States in 1968 based in part on his promise to bring an end to the war in Vietnam. During the first year of Nixon's presidency, America's involvement in the war appeared to be winding down. In late April of 1970, however, the United States invaded Cambodia and widened the Vietnam War. This decision was announced on national television and radio on April 30, l970, by President Nixon, who stated that the invasion of Cambodia was designed to attack the headquarters of the Viet Cong, which had been using Cambodian territory as a sanctuary.

Protests occurred the next day, Friday, May 1, across United States college campuses where anti-war sentiment ran high. At Kent State University, an anti-war rally was held at noon on the Commons, a large, grassy area in the middle of campus which had traditionally been the site for various types of rallies and demonstrations. Fiery speeches against the war and the Nixon administration were given, a copy of the Constitution was buried to symbolize the murder of the Constitution because Congress had never declared war, and another rally was called for noon on Monday, May 4.

Friday evening in downtown Kent began peacefully with the usual socializing in the bars, but events quickly escalated into a violent confrontation between protestors and local police. The exact causes of the disturbance are still the subject of debate, but bonfires were built in the streets of downtown Kent, cars were stopped, police cars were hit with bottles, and some store windows were broken. The entire Kent police force was called to duty as well as officers from the county and surrounding communities. Kent Mayor Leroy Satrom declared a state of emergency, called Governor James Rhodes' office to seek assistance, and ordered all of the bars closed. The decision to close the bars early increased the size of the angry crowd. Police eventually succeeded in using tear gas to disperse the crowd from downtown, forcing them to move several blocks back to the campus.

The next day, Saturday, May 2, Mayor Satrom met with other city officials and a representative of the Ohio National Guard who had been dispatched to Kent. Mayor Satrom then made the decision to ask Governor Rhodes to send the Ohio National Guard to Kent. The mayor feared further disturbances in Kent based upon the events of the previous evening, but more disturbing to the mayor were threats that had been made to downtown businesses and city officials as well as rumors that radical revolutionaries were in Kent to destroy the city and the university. Satrom was fearful that local forces would be inadequate to meet the potential disturbances, and thus about 5 p.m. he called the Governor's office to make an official request for assistance from the Ohio National Guard.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS ON SATURDAY MAY 2 AND SUNDAY MAY 3 AFTER THE GUARDS ARRIVED ON CAMPUS?

Members of the Ohio National Guard were already on duty in Northeast Ohio, and thus they were able to be mobilized quickly to move to Kent. As the Guard arrived in Kent at about 10 p.m., they encountered a tumultuous scene. The wooden ROTC building adjacent to the Commons was ablaze and would eventually burn to the ground that evening, with well over 1,000 demonstrators surrounding the building. Controversy continues to exist regarding who was responsible for setting fire to the ROTC building, but radical protestors were assumed to be responsible because of their actions in interfering with the efforts of firemen to extinguish the fire as well as cheering the burning of the building. Confrontations between Guardsmen and demonstrators continued into the night, with tear gas filling the campus and numerous arrests being made.

Sunday, May 3 was a day filled with contrasts. Nearly 1,000 Ohio National Guardsmen occupied the campus, making it appear like a military war zone. The day was warm and sunny, however, and students frequently talked amicably with Guardsmen. Ohio Governor James Rhodes flew to Kent on Sunday morning, and his mood was anything but calm. At a press conference, he issued a provocative statement calling campus protestors the worst type of people in America and stating that every force of law would be used to deal with them. Rhodes also indicated that he would seek a court order declaring a state of emergency. This was never done, but the widespread assumption among both Guard and University officials was that a state of martial law was being declared in which control of the campus resided with the Guard rather than University leaders and all rallies were banned. Further confrontations between protesters and guardsmen occurred Sunday evening, and once again rocks, tear gas, and arrests characterized a tense campus.

WHAT TYPE OF RALLY WAS HELD AT NOON ON MAY 4?

At the conclusion of the anti-war rally on Friday, May 1, student protest leaders had called for another rally to be held on the Commons at noon on Monday, May 4. Although University officials had attempted on the morning of May 4 to inform the campus that the rally was prohibited, a crowd began to gather beginning as early as 11 a.m. By noon, the entire Commons area contained approximately 3,000 people. Although estimates are inexact, probably about 500 core demonstrators were gathered around the Victory Bell at one end of the Commons, another 1,000 people were "cheerleaders" supporting the active demonstrators, and an additional 1,500 people were spectators standing around the perimeter of the Commons. Across the Commons at the burned-out ROTC building stood about 100 Ohio National Guardsmen carrying lethal M-1 military rifles.

Substantial consensus exists that the active participants in the rally were primarily protesting the presence of the Guard on campus, although a strong anti-war sentiment was also present. Little evidence exists as to who were the leaders of the rally and what activities were planned, but initially the rally was peaceful.

WHO MADE THE DECISION TO BAN THE RALLY OF MAY 4?

Conflicting evidence exists regarding who was responsible for the decision to ban the noon rally of May 4. At the 1975 federal civil trial, General Robert Canterbury, the highest official of the Guard, testified that widespread consensus existed that the rally should be prohibited because of the tensions that existed and the possibility that violence would again occur. Canterbury further testified that Kent State President Robert White had explicitly told Canterbury that any demonstration would be highly dangerous. In contrast, White testified that he could recall no conversation with Canterbury regarding banning the rally.

The decision to ban the rally can most accurately be traced to Governor Rhodes' statements on Sunday, May 3 when he stated that he would be seeking a state of emergency declaration from the courts. Although he never did this, all officials -- Guard, University, Kent -- assumed that the Guard was now in charge of the campus and that all rallies were illegal. Thus, University leaders printed and distributed on Monday morning 12,000 leaflets indicating that all rallies, including the May 4 rally scheduled for noon, were prohibited as long as the Guard was in control of the campus.

WHAT EVENTS LED DIRECTLY TO THE SHOOTINGS?

Shortly before noon, General Canterbury made the decision to order the demonstrators to disperse. A Kent State police officer standing by the Guard made an announcement using a bullhorn. When this had no effect, the officer was placed in a jeep along with several Guardsmen and driven across the Commons to tell the protestors that the rally was banned and that they must disperse. This was met with angry shouting and rocks, and the jeep retreated. Canterbury then ordered his men to load and lock their weapons, tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd around the Victory Bell, and the Guard began to march across the Commons to disperse the rally. The protestors moved up a steep hill, known as Blanket Hill, and then down the other side of the hill onto the Prentice Hall parking lot as well as an adjoining practice football field. Most of the Guardsmen followed the students directly and soon found themselves somewhat trapped on the practice football field because it was surrounded by a fence. Yelling and rock throwing reached a peak as the Guard remained on the field for about 10 minutes. Several Guardsmen could be seen huddling together, and some Guardsmen knelt and pointed their guns, but no weapons were shot at this time. The Guard then began retracing their steps from the practice football field back up Blanket Hill. As they arrived at the top of the hill, 28 of the more than 70 Guardsmen turned suddenly and fired their rifles and pistols. Many guardsmen fired into the air or the ground. However, a small portion fired directly into the crowd. Altogether between 61 and 67 shots were fired in a 13-second period.

HOW MANY DEATHS AND INJURIES OCCURRED?

Four Kent State students died as a result of the firing by the Guard. The closest student was Jeffrey Miller, who was shot in the mouth while standing in an access road leading into the Prentice Hall parking lot, a distance of approximately 270 feet from the Guard. Allison Krause was in the Prentice Hall parking lot; she was 330 feet from the Guardsmen and was shot in the left side of her body. William Schroeder was 390 feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when he was shot in the left side of his back. Sandra Scheuer was also about 390 feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when a bullet pierced the left front side of her neck.

Nine Kent State students were wounded in the 13-second fusillade. Most of the students were in the Prentice Hall parking lot, but a few were on the Blanket Hill area. Joseph Lewis was the student closest to the Guard at a distance of about 60 feet; he was standing still with Four men sit staring at a candle-lit stage, on which there are portraits of the four Kent State students who died as a result of the firing by the Guard.his middle finger extended when bullets struck him in the right abdomen and left lower leg. Thomas Grace was also approximately 60 feet from the Guardsmen and was wounded in the left ankle. John Cleary was over 100 feet from the Guardsmen when he was hit in the upper left chest. Alan Canfora was 225 feet from the Guard and was struck in the right wrist. Dean Kahler was the most seriously wounded of the nine students. He was struck in the small of his back from approximately 300 feet and was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Douglas Wrentmore was wounded in the right knee from a distance of 330 feet. James Russell was struck in the right thigh and right forehead at a distance of 375 feet. Robert Stamps was almost 500 feet from the line of fire when he was wounded in the right buttock. Donald Mackenzie was the student the farthest from the Guardsmen at a distance of almost 750 feet when he was hit in the neck.

WHY DID THE GUARDSMEN FIRE?

The most important question associated with the events of May 4 is why did members of the Guard fire into a crowd of unarmed students? Two quite different answers have been advanced to this question: (1) the Guardsmen fired in self-defense, and the shootings were therefore justified and (2) the Guardsmen were not in immediate danger, and therefore the shootings were unjustified.

The answer offered by the Guardsmen is that they fired because they were in fear of their lives. Guardsmen testified before numerous investigating commissions as well as in federal court that they felt the demonstrators were advancing on them in such a way as to pose a serious and immediate threat to the safety of the Guardsmen, and they therefore had to fire in self-defense. Some authors (e.g., Michener, 1971 and Grant and Hill, 1974) agree with this assessment. Much more importantly, federal criminal and civil trials have accepted the position of the Guardsmen. In a 1974 federal criminal trial, District Judge Frank Battisti dismissed the case against eight Guardsmen indicted by a federal grand jury, ruling at mid-trial that the government's case against the Guardsmen was so weak that the defense did not have to present its case. In the much longer and more complex federal civil trial of 1975, a jury voted 9-3 that none of the Guardsmen were legally responsible for the shootings. This decision was appealed, however, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a new trial had to be held because of the improper handling of a threat to a jury member.

The legal aftermath of the May 4 shootings ended in January of 1979 with an out-of-court settlement involving a statement signed by 28 defendants(3) as well as a monetary settlement, and the Guardsmen and their supporters view this as a final vindication of their position. The financial settlement provided $675,000 to the wounded students and the parents of the students who had been killed. This money was paid by the State of Ohio rather than by any Guardsmen, and the amount equaled what the State estimated it would cost to go to trial again. Perhaps most importantly, the statement signed by members of the Ohio National Guard was viewed by them to be a declaration of regret, not an apology or an admission of wrongdoing:

In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, 1970 should not have occurred. The students may have believed that they were right in continuing their mass protest in response to the Cambodian invasion, even though this protest followed the posting and reading by the university of an order to ban rallies and an order to disperse. These orders have since been determined by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have been lawful.

Some of the Guardsmen on Blanket Hill, fearful and anxious from prior events, may have believed in their own minds that their lives were in danger. Hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation. Better ways must be found to deal with such a confrontation.

We devoutly wish that a means had been found to avoid the May 4th events culminating in the Guard shootings and the irreversible deaths and injuries. We deeply regret those events and are profoundly saddened by the deaths of four students and the wounding of nine others which resulted. We hope that the agreement to end the litigation will help to assuage the tragic memories regarding that sad day.

A starkly different interpretation to that of the Guards' has been offered in numerous other studies of the shootings, with all of these analyses sharing the common viewpoint that primary responsibility for the shootings lies with the Guardsmen. Some authors (e.g., Stone, 1971; Davies, 1973; and Kelner and Munves, 1980) argue that the Guardsmen's lives were not in danger. Instead, these authors argue that the evidence shows that certain members of the Guard conspired on the practice football field to fire when they reached the top of Blanket Hill. Other authors (e.g., Best, 1981 and Payne, 1981) do not find sufficient evidence to accept the conspiracy theory, but they also do not find the Guard self-defense theory to be plausible. Experts who find the Guard primarily responsible find themselves in agreement with the conclusion of the Scranton Commission (Report , 1970, p. 87): "The indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable."

WHAT HAPPENED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SHOOTINGS?

While debate still remains about the extent to which the Guardsmen's lives were in danger at the moment they opened fire, little doubt can exist that their lives were indeed at stake in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. The 13-second shooting that resulted in four deaths and nine wounded could have been followed by an even more tragic and bloody confrontation. The nervous and fearful Guardsmen retreated back to the Commons, facing a large and hostile crowd which realized that the Guard had live ammunition and had used it to kill and wound a large number of people. In their intense anger, many demonstrators were willing to risk their own lives to attack the Guardsmen, and there can be little doubt that the Guard would have opened fire again, this time killing a much larger number of students.

A man and young boy stare up at a May 4th Memorial.Further tragedy was prevented by the actions of a number of Kent State University faculty marshals, who had organized hastily when trouble began several days earlier. Led by Professor Glenn Frank, the faculty members pleaded with National Guard leaders to allow them to talk with the demonstrators, and then they begged the students not to risk their lives by confronting the Guardsmen. After about 20 minutes of emotional pleading, the marshals convinced the students to leave the Commons.

Back at the site of the shootings, ambulances had arrived and emergency medical attention had been given to the students who had not died immediately. The ambulances formed a screaming procession as they rushed the victims of the shootings to the local hospital.

The University was ordered closed immediately, first by President Robert White and then indefinitely by Portage County Prosecutor Ronald Kane under an injunction from Common Pleas Judge Albert Caris. Classes did not resume until the Summer of 1970, and faculty members engaged in a wide variety of activities through the mail and off-campus meetings that enabled Kent State students to finish the semester.

WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PHOTO OF THE YOUNG WOMAN CRYING OUT IN HORROR OVER THE DYING BODY OF ONE OF THE STUDENTS?

A photograph of Mary Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway, screaming over the body of Jeffery Miller appeared on the front pages of newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and the photographer, John Filo, was to win a Pulitzer Prize for the picture. The photo has taken on a life and importance of its own. This analysis looks at the photo, the photographer, and the impact of the photo.

The Mary Vecchio picture shows her on one knee screaming over Jeffrey Miller's body. Mary told one of us that she was calling for help because she felt she could do nothing (Personal Interview, 4/4/94). Miller is lying on the tarmac of the Prentice Hall parking lot. One student is standing near the Miller body closer than Vecchio. Four students are seen in the immediate background.

John Filo, a Kent State photography major in 1970, continues to works as a professional newspaper photographer and editor. He was near the Prentice Hall parking lot when the Guard fired. He saw bullets hitting the ground, but he did not take cover because he thought the bullets were blanks. Of course, blanks cannot hit the ground.

WHAT WAS THE LONG-TERM FACULTY RESPONSE TO THE SHOOTINGS?

Three hours after the shootings Kent State closed and was not to open for six weeks as a viable university. When it resumed classes in the Summer of 1970, its faculty was charged with three new responsibilities, their residues remaining today.

A student holds a candle at night to remember the victims of the May 4th shootings.First, we as a University faculty had to bring aid and comfort to our own. This began earlier on with faculty trying to finish the academic quarter with a reasonable amount of academic integrity. It had ended about at mid-term examinations. However, the faculty voted before the week was out to help students complete the quarter in any way possible. Students were advised to study independently until they were contacted by individual professors. Most of the professors organized their completion of courses around papers, but many gave lectures in churches and in homes in the community of Kent and surrounding communities. For example, Norman Duffy, an award-winning teacher, gave off-campus chemistry lectures and tutorial sessions in Kent and Cleveland. His graduate students made films of laboratory sessions and mailed them to students.

Beyond helping thousands of students finish their courses, there were 1,900 students as well who needed help with gradation. Talking to students about courses allowed the faculty to do some counseling about the shootings, which helped the faculty as much in healing as it did students.

Second, the University faculty was called upon to conduct research about May 4 communicating the results of this research through teaching and traditional writing about the tragedy. Many responded and created a solid body of scholarship as well as an extremely useful archive contributing to a wide range of activities in Summer of 1970 including press interviews and the Scranton Commission.

Third, many saw as one of the faculty's challenges to develop alternative forms of protest and conflict resolution to help prevent tragedies such as the May 4 shootings and the killings at Jackson State 10 days after Kent State.

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MAY 4 SHOOTINGS?

Although we have attempted in this article to answer many of the most important and frequently asked questions about the May 4 shootings, our responses have sometimes been tentative because many important questions remain unanswered. It thus seems important to ask what are the most significant questions which yet remain unanswered about the May 4 events. These questions could serve as the basis for research projects by students who are interested in studying the shootings in greater detail.

(1) Who was responsible for the violence in downtown Kent and on the Kent State campus in the three days prior to May 4? As an important part of this question, were "outside agitators" primarily responsible? Who was responsible for setting fire to the ROTC building?

(2) Should the Guard have been called to Kent and Kent State University? Could local law enforcement personnel have handled any situations? Were the Guard properly trained for this type of assignment?

(3) Did the Kent State University administration respond appropriately in their reactions to the demonstrations and with Ohio political officials and Guard officials?

(4) Would the shootings have been avoided if the rally had not been banned? Did the banning of the rally violate First Amendment rights?

(5) Did the Guardsmen conspire to shoot students when they huddled on the practice football field? If not, why did they fire? Were they justified in firing?

(6) Who was ultimately responsible for the events of May 4, l970?

WHY SHOULD WE STILL BE CONCERNED ABOUT MAY 4, 1970 AT KENT STATE?

In Robert McNamara's (1995) book, "In Retrospect:The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam" is a way to begin is an illustration of the this process. In it he says that United States policy towards Vietnam was "... terribly wrong and we owe it to future generations to explain why."

The May 4 shootings at Kent State need to be remembered for several reasons. First, the shootings have come to symbolize a great American tragedy which occurred at the height of the Vietnam War era, a period in which the nation found itself deeply divided both politically and culturally. The poignant picture of Mary Vecchio kneeling in agony over Jeffrey Miller's body, for example, will remain forever Students gather in a circle, holding hands around a May 4th memorial to remember the victims of the Guard shootings.as a reminder of the day when the Vietnam War came home to America. If the Kent State shootings will continue to be such a powerful symbol, then it is certainly important that Americans have a realistic view of the facts associated with this event. Second, May 4 at Kent State and the Vietnam War era remain controversial even today, and the need for healing continues to exist. Healing will not occur if events are either forgotten or distorted, and hence it is important to continue to search for the truth behind the events of May 4 at Kent State. Third, and most importantly, May 4 at Kent State should be remembered in order that we can learn from the mistakes of the past. The Guardsmen in their signed statement at the end of the civil trials recognized that better ways have to be found to deal with these types of confrontations. This has probably already occurred in numerous situations where law enforcement officials have issued a caution to their troops to be careful because "we don't want another Kent State." Insofar as this has happened, lessons have been learned, and the deaths of four young Kent State students have not been in vain.

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Provocation, scuffle and arrest at Israeli Embassy protest. London, 15.05.2011

The pro-Palestine protest celebrating the Nakba today outside the Israeli Embassy in London was a bad-tempered affair, with rival groups of Arabs and Israelis penned up close to each other, frequently trading insults with each other. The much smaller Israeli section of the protest was infiltrated early on by the EDL (English defense League - an extreme Right-Wing Ultra-Nationalist organisation), though the Israelis seemed quite happy to have them as bed-partners, provoking the tension all afternoon.

The EDF were also gathered across the road all afternoon, and at various points during the protest several of them carried out overtly provocative actions, never completely crossing the line, but clearly hoping maybe to goad the often hot-headed and wound-up younger Arab men into some kind of physical reaction, which, to their great credit didn't happen.

As the pavement at the end of Kensington Court got more and more crowded, a heated argument broke out when a female Palestinian journalist objected angrily to being photographed repeatedly and intentionally by a needlessly antagonistic young Israeli photographer - wearing a blue and white rolled-up scarf around his head with an obvious Star of David motif - who had been aggressively shoving his camera right in her face, taunting and mocking her.

As people started gathering around the photographer, starting to grab his arm and attempting to remove him, a man wearing a red top tried to prevent the manhandling of the by-now isolated photographer, who was actually in no danger as there were several policemen standing and watching less than fifteen feet away, still being screamed at by the Palestinian woman.

A couple of agitated Arabs - no doubt cranked up on adrenaline after all the tribal brinkmanship and general cock-waving - unfortunately mistook the Good Samaritan for an accomplice of the Israeli and they started shoving him, right into a policeman. He tried to back away but got shoved back into the policeman by a girl. Again he tried getting out of the way but another person shoved him again and started to scuffle with him. By now he was shoved into the policeman's chest with nowhere else to go. Next I knew the police swarmed around him, handcuffed him and carried him rapidly over the road to a police van.

Needless to say the antagonistic Israeli photographer, having all the anger of the crowd misdirected towards the Good Samaritan did nothing whatsoever to help him, but he did take the time to photograph him being dragged across the road in handcuffs. Nice. There's a deep moral in there somewhere. What a shithead.

All Photos © 2011 Pete Riches

Do not copy, reproduce or alter any images without my permission

Nikon D600, nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 D

I had to decide whether to work the area near Fort Rock for Prairie Falcons for an hour or to keep moving on to see what presented itself on the Christmas Valley roads. The days are short and I had someone with me. On the excitement scale watching someone stalk wildlife is just a step above watching paint dry. It can be tedious and frustrating. I drove on and did encounter several Golden Eagles but the unseasonably warm weather produced just enough thermal action to prompt them to fly away at the slightest provocation. Oh well, it beats sitting on a couch watching fantastical floral behemoths trundling down a boulevard between indistinguishable high school marching bands.

This happen in the ending of the demostration Dresden Nazi Frei 2012.

Photogallery:

www.rebelarte.info/spip.php?article325

Nikon D200, nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 D

Alice Pasquini

Public Provocations at Colab Gallery (Weil am Rhein - Germany)

www.colab-gallery.com/

June - October

This artistic provocation seeks to estimate the orders of magnitude of critical ecosystem services fundamental to all planetary life processes. It is common to use economic metaphors, which entail specific understandings of value, to describe our relationships with society, the world, and the biosphere. Today’s prevailing economic conventions are unable to recognize the intrinsic value of the ecosystems on which all life depends. In cultures overdetermined by concepts from economics, we are left without adequate discursive instruments to socially or politically address the importance of ecosystem contribution to life on Earth. This experiment consists of 1 square meter of wheat, cultivated in a closed environment. Critical inputs such as water, light, heat, and nutrients are measured, monitored, and displayed for the public. This procedure makes palpable the immense scale of ecosystem contributions and provides a speculative reference for a reckoning of the undervalued and over exploited “work of the biosphere.”

Philipp Gartlehner of the Ars Electronica Center planted barley with the heilp of the Life Support system and after three months, the harvest was ready to be brought in. The cost for growing one square meter of barley indoors accounted for the massive amount of 430 Euro. Another reason why we really have to take care for our ecosystem.

Photo: Ars Electronica - Robert Bauernhansl

Street art is visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned artwork executed outside of the context of traditional art venues. The term gained popularity during the graffiti art boom of the early 1980s and continues to be applied to subsequent incarnations. Stencil graffiti, wheatpasted poster art or sticker art, and street installation or sculpture are common forms of modern street art. Video projection, yarn bombing and Lock On sculpture became popularized at the turn of the 21st century.

The terms "urban art", "guerrilla art", "post-graffiti" and "neo-graffiti" are also sometimes used when referring to artwork created in these contexts.[1] Traditional spray-painted graffiti artwork itself is often included in this category, excluding territorial graffiti or pure vandalism.

Street art is often motivated by a preference on the part of the artist to communicate directly with the public at large, free from perceived confines of the formal art world.[2] Street artists sometimes present socially relevant content infused with esthetic value, to attract attention to a cause or as a form of "art provocation".[3]

Street artists often travel between countries to spread their designs. Some artists have gained cult-followings, media and art world attention, and have gone on to work commercially in the styles which made their work known on the streets.

Week 1.

youtu.be/Y9cm08plR8g

: www.pbase.com/kilkenny_photo_society/edward_dullard

All rights reserved.

In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment.[citation needed]

The thistle has been the national emblem of Scotland since the reign of Alexander III (1249–1286) and was used on silver coins issued by James III in 1470. It is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle, a high chivalric order of Scotland. It is found in many Scottish symbols and as the name of several Scottish football clubs. The thistle, crowned with the Scottish crown, is the symbol of seven of the eight Scottish Police Forces (the exception being the Northern Constabulary). The thistle is also the emblem of Encyclopædia Britannica, which originated in Edinburgh, Scotland. Carnegie Mellon University features the thistle in its crest.

Origin as a symbol of Scotland

According to a legend, an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a thistle, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. Some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs, which marked the beginning of the departure of King Haakon IV (Haakon the Elder) of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles and Hebrides, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years Which species of thistle is referred to in the original legend is disputed. Popular modern usage favours Cotton Thistle Onopordum acanthium, perhaps because of its more imposing appearance, though it is unlikely to have occurred in Scotland in mediaeval times; the Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare, an abundant native species in Scotland, is a more likely candidate.[4][5] Other species, including Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule, Musk Thistle Carduus nutans, and Melancholy Thistle Cirsium heterophyllum have also been suggested.