Bandera representativa de la Conga Los Hoyos del siglo pasado.

 

La Conga es la expresión artística más emblemática y extendida de Santiago de Cuba durante los Carnavales. En ella convergen ritmos afrocubanos con influencias europeas y asiáticas, creando una vibrante fusión cultural. Los instrumentos esenciales de la Conga incluyen tambores, campanas y la distintiva corneta china, que aporta un sonido único. Mientras los músicos recorren las calles tocando con energía, cientos de personas se unen al cortejo, bailando y entonando estribillos populares que resuenan en la celebración. En Santiago de Cuba destacan varias comparsas de Conga, entre ellas Paso Franco, San Agustín, San Pedrito y, especialmente, Los Hoyos, la más célebre y antigua, fundada en julio de 1902.

 

The Conga is the most iconic and widespread artistic expression in Santiago de Cuba during Carnival. It blends Afro-Cuban rhythms with European and Asian influences, creating a vibrant cultural fusion. The essential instruments of the Conga include drums, bells, and the distinctive Chinese cornet, which adds a unique sound. As musicians march through the streets playing with energy, hundreds of people join the procession, dancing and singing popular refrains that echo through the celebration. In Santiago de Cuba, several Conga comparsas stand out, including Paso Franco, San Agustín, San Pedrito, and, most notably, Los Hoyos, the most famous and oldest, founded in July 1902.

 

© Guenter

 

▄▀▄▀▄The Toasters en Chile ▀▄▀▄▀

KIDAL, le 28 juin 2013. Le Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général et chef de la MINUSMA, Bert Koenders, s’est rendu aujourd’hui à Kidal, en compagnie du Haut Représentant de l’Union africaine et chef de la MISMA, M. Pierre Buyoya, dans le cadre d’une rencontre avec l’amenokal de Kidal (le chef traditionnel) Intalla Ag Attaher, des représentants du Mouvement National de Libération de l’Azawad (MNLA), du Haut Conseil pour l’unité de l’Azawad (HCUA) ainsi que des membres de la société civile.

Au cours de ces discussions, le RSSG a tenu à rappeler l’importance de l’accord préliminaire de paix signé récemment à Ouagadougou.

Photo: MINUSMA / Olivier Salgado

Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at grid reference ST486501, 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip.

 

The parish includes the larger village of Draycott. South of the A371 the parish includes an area of the Somerset Levels, extending to the River Axe. North of the A371 the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills rise to an area of the parish on the Mendip plateau. The parish is therefore an area of high biodiversity supporting local rare species of plants and animal life.

 

Close to the village is Westbury Camp, which represents the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement and has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

Rodney Stoke was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Stoches, meaning 'a stockaded settlement' from the Old English stoc. In 1291 the place name was recorded as Stokgifford. The Giffords were Saxon nobility at the time of Edward the Confessor with Walter Gifford (then spelt Gifard) as the Earl of Buckingham.

 

The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred.

 

The village was the home of, and is probably named after, Sir John Rodney (d. 1400). However Ekwall indicates that Stoke Gifford was held by Richard de Rodene in 1303.

 

The first Baron Rodney was George Brydges Rodney (1718/19–92), a British naval admiral of Napoleonic times.

 

It is one of the nine Thankful Villages in Somerset which suffered no fatalities during World War I. There is a memorial window in the Parish Church together with a new plaque that testifies to the village's enduring pride in their good fortune.

 

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

 

The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wells Rural District, which is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

 

Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

 

The village is in the 'Rodney and Westbury' electoral ward. The ward starts in the north west at Draycott and passes through Rodney Stoke to end at Westbury-sub-Mendip. The total population of the ward as at the 2011 census was 2,127.

 

It is also part of the Wells county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

 

The land is noteworthy for its importance as a flight corridor and feeding ground for the Greater Horseshoe Bat. Cheddar Complex, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies to the north and Mascalls' Wood, an ancient woodland and Somerset Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, lies to the west. The cross roads may be the site of an old Roman road.

 

Close to the village is the Rodney Stoke nature reserve, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

 

The church of St Leonard, was built around 1175 and is a Grade I listed building. The interior of the church contains a screen, bearing the date 1624, the gift of Sir Edward Rodney, which includes a representation of the martyrdom of St Erasmus, who was killed by having his entrails removed.

 

Notable residents

Edward Rodney (1590–1657), MP for Wells and Somerset at various times between 1621 and 1642, lived in Rodney Stoke and was buried there.

John Rodney (died 1400), MP for Somerset, 1391–1393, lived in Rodney Stoke.

Frances Southwell (died 1659), courtier and wife of Edward Rodney, lived in Rodney Stoke.

Thomas Tremlett (1834–1894), first-class cricketer, was born in Rodney Stoke.

 

Somerset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east and the north-east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, and the county town is Taunton.

 

Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq mi) and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset.

 

The centre of Somerset is dominated by the Levels, a coastal plain and wetland, and the north-east and west of the county are hilly. The north-east contains part of the Cotswolds AONB, all of the Mendip Hills AONB, and a small part of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB; the west contains the Quantock Hills AONB, a majority of Exmoor National Park, and part of the Blackdown Hills AONB. The main rivers in the county are the Avon, which flows through Bath and then Bristol, and the Axe, Brue, and Parrett, which drain the Levels.

 

There is evidence of Paleolithic human occupation in Somerset, and the area was subsequently settled by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the later medieval period its wealth allowed its monasteries and parish churches to be rebuilt in grand style; Glastonbury Abbey was particularly important, and claimed to house the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The county is also the location of Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's major music festivals.

 

Somerset is a historic county in the south west of England. There is evidence of human occupation since prehistoric times with hand axes and flint points from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, and a range of burial mounds, hill forts and other artefacts dating from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The oldest dated human road work in Great Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BCE.

 

Following the Roman Empire's invasion of southern Britain, the mining of lead and silver in the Mendip Hills provided a basis for local industry and commerce. Bath became the site of a major Roman fort and city, the remains of which can still be seen. During the Early Medieval period Somerset was the scene of battles between the Anglo-Saxons and first the Britons and later the Danes. In this period it was ruled first by various kings of Wessex, and later by kings of England. Following the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy by the Normans in 1066, castles were built in Somerset.

 

Expansion of the population and settlements in the county continued during the Tudor and more recent periods. Agriculture and coal mining expanded until the 18th century, although other industries declined during the industrial revolution. In modern times the population has grown, particularly in the seaside towns, notably Weston-super-Mare. Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries are based in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the acreage of apple orchards is less than it once was.

 

The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods saw hunter-gatherers move into the region of Somerset. There is evidence from flint artefacts in a quarry at Westbury that an ancestor of modern man, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, was present in the area from around 500,000 years ago. There is still some doubt about whether the artefacts are of human origin but they have been dated within Oxygen Isotope Stage 13 (524,000 – 478,000 BP). Other experts suggest that "many of the bone-rich Middle Pleistocene deposits belong to a single but climatically variable interglacial that succeeded the Cromerian, perhaps about 500,000 years ago. Detailed analysis of the origin and modification of the flint artefacts leads to the conclusion that the assemblage was probably a product of geomorphological processes rather than human work, but a single cut-marked bone suggests a human presence." Animal bones and artefacts unearthed in the 1980s at Westbury-sub-Mendip, in Somerset, have shown evidence of early human activity approximately 700,000 years ago.

 

Homo sapiens sapiens, or modern man, came to Somerset during the Early Upper Palaeolithic. There is evidence of occupation of four Mendip caves 35,000 to 30,000 years ago. During the Last Glacial Maximum, about 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, it is probable that Somerset was deserted as the area experienced tundra conditions. Evidence was found in Gough's Cave of deposits of human bone dating from around 12,500 years ago. The bones were defleshed and probably ritually buried though perhaps related to cannibalism being practised in the area at the time or making skull cups or storage containers. Somerset was one of the first areas of future England settled following the end of Younger Dryas phase of the last ice age c. 8000 BC. Cheddar Man is the name given to the remains of a human male found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge. He is Britain's oldest complete human skeleton. The remains date from about 7150 BC, and it appears that he died a violent death. Somerset is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from about 6000 BCE; Mesolithic artefacts have been found in more than 70 locations. Mendip caves were used as burial places, with between 50 and 100 skeletons being found in Aveline's Hole. In the Neolithic era, from about 3500 BCE, there is evidence of farming.

 

At the end of the last ice age the Bristol Channel was dry land, but later the sea level rose, particularly between 1220 and 900 BC and between 800 and 470 BCE, resulting in major coastal changes. The Somerset Levels became flooded, but the dry points such as Glastonbury and Brent Knoll have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunters. The county has prehistoric burial mounds (such as Stoney Littleton Long Barrow), stone rows (such as the circles at Stanton Drew and Priddy) and settlement sites. Evidence of Mesolithic occupation has come both from the upland areas, such as in Mendip caves, and from the low land areas such as the Somerset Levels. Dry points in the latter such as Glastonbury Tor and Brent Knoll, have a long history of settlement with wooden trackways between them. There were also "lake villages" in the marsh such as those at Glastonbury Lake Village and Meare. One of the oldest dated human road work in Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BC, partially on the route of the even earlier Post Track.

 

There is evidence of Exmoor's human occupation from Mesolithic times onwards. In the Neolithic period people started to manage animals and grow crops on farms cleared from the woodland, rather than act purely as hunter gatherers. It is also likely that extraction and smelting of mineral ores to make tools, weapons, containers and ornaments in bronze and then iron started in the late Neolithic and into the Bronze and Iron Ages.

 

The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Neolithic period and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. There are numerous Iron Age Hill Forts, which were later reused in the Dark Ages, such as Cadbury Castle, Worlebury Camp and Ham Hill. The age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but is believed to be from the Neolithic period. There is evidence of mining on the Mendip Hills back into the late Bronze Age when there were technological changes in metal working indicated by the use of lead. There are numerous "hill forts", such as Small Down Knoll, Solsbury Hill, Dolebury Warren and Burledge Hill, which seem to have had domestic purposes, not just a defensive role. They generally seem to have been occupied intermittently from the Bronze Age onward, some, such as Cadbury Camp at South Cadbury, being refurbished during different eras. Battlegore Burial Chamber is a Bronze Age burial chamber at Williton which is composed of three round barrows and possibly a long, chambered barrow.

 

The Iron Age tribes of later Somerset were the Dobunni in north Somerset, Durotriges in south Somerset and Dumnonii in west Somerset. The first and second produced coins, the finds of which allows their tribal areas to be suggested, but the latter did not. All three had a Celtic culture and language. However, Ptolemy stated that Bath was in the territory of the Belgae, but this may be a mistake. The Celtic gods were worshipped at the temple of Sulis at Bath and possibly the temple on Brean Down. Iron Age sites on the Quantock Hills, include major hill forts at Dowsborough and Ruborough, as well as smaller earthwork enclosures, such as Trendle Ring, Elworthy Barrows and Plainsfield Camp.

 

Somerset was part of the Roman Empire from 47 AD to about 409 AD. However, the end was not abrupt and elements of Romanitas lingered on for perhaps a century.

 

Somerset was invaded from the south-east by the Second Legion Augusta, under the future emperor Vespasian. The hillforts of the Durotriges at Ham Hill and Cadbury Castle were captured. Ham Hill probably had a temporary Roman occupation. The massacre at Cadbury Castle seems to have been associated with the later Boudiccan Revolt of 60–61 AD. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around 409 AD.

 

The Roman invasion, and possibly the preceding period of involvement in the internal affairs of the south of England, was inspired in part by the potential of the Mendip Hills. A great deal of the attraction of the lead mines may have been the potential for the extraction of silver.

 

Forts were set up at Bath and Ilchester. The lead and silver mines at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills were run by the military. The Romans established a defensive boundary along the new military road known the Fosse Way (from the Latin fossa meaning ditch). The Fosse Way ran through Bath, Shepton Mallet, Ilchester and south-west towards Axminster. The road from Dorchester ran through Yeovil to meet the Fosse Way at Ilchester. Small towns and trading ports were set up, such as Camerton and Combwich. The larger towns decayed in the latter part of the period, though the smaller ones appear to have decayed less. In the latter part of the period, Ilchester seems to have been a "civitas" capital and Bath may also have been one. Particularly to the east of the River Parrett, villas were constructed. However, only a few Roman sites have been found to the west of the river. The villas have produced important mosaics and artifacts. Cemeteries have been found outside the Roman towns of Somerset and by Roman temples such as that at Lamyatt. Romano-British farming settlements, such as those at Catsgore and Sigwells, have been found in Somerset. There was salt production on the Somerset Levels near Highbridge and quarrying took place near Bath, where the Roman Baths gave their name to Bath.

 

Excavations carried out before the flooding of Chew Valley Lake also uncovered Roman remains, indicating agricultural and industrial activity from the second half of the 1st century until the 3rd century AD. The finds included a moderately large villa at Chew Park, where wooden writing tablets (the first in the UK) with ink writing were found. There is also evidence from the Pagans Hill Roman Temple at Chew Stoke. In October 2001 the West Bagborough Hoard of 4th century Roman silver was discovered in West Bagborough. The 681 coins included two denarii from the early 2nd century and 8 Miliarense and 671 Siliqua all dating to the period AD 337 – 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and Julian and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome.

 

In April 2010, the Frome Hoard, one of the largest-ever hoards of Roman coins discovered in Britain, was found by a metal detectorist. The hoard of 52,500 coins dated from the 3rd century AD and was found buried in a field near Frome, in a jar 14 inches (36 cm) below the surface. The coins were excavated by archaeologists from the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

 

This is the period from about 409 AD to the start of Saxon political control, which was mainly in the late 7th century, though they are said to have captured the Bath area in 577 AD. Initially the Britons of Somerset seem to have continued much as under the Romans but without the imperial taxation and markets. There was then a period of civil war in Britain though it is not known how this affected Somerset. The Western Wandsdyke may have been constructed in this period but archaeological data shows that it was probably built during the 5th or 6th century. This area became the border between the Romano-British Celts and the West Saxons following the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD. The ditch is on the north side, so presumably it was used by the Celts as a defence against Saxons encroaching from the upper Thames Valley. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxon Cenwalh achieved a breakthrough against the British Celtic tribes, with victories at Bradford-on-Avon (in the Avon Gap in the Wansdyke) in 652 AD, and further south at the Battle of Peonnum (at Penselwood) in 658 AD, followed by an advance west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett.

 

The Saxon advance from the east seems to have been halted by battles between the British and Saxons, for example; at the siege of Badon Mons Badonicus (which may have been in the Bath region e.g. at Solsbury Hill), or Bathampton Down. During the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, Somerset was probably partly in the Kingdom of Dumnonia, partly in the land of the Durotriges and partly in that of the Dobunni. The boundaries between these is largely unknown, but may have been similar to those in the Iron Age. Various "tyrants" seem to have controlled territories from reoccupied hill forts. There is evidence of an elite at hill forts such as Cadbury Castle and Cadbury Camp; for example, there is imported pottery. Cemeteries are an important source of evidence for the period and large ones have been found in Somerset, such as that at Cannington, which was used from the Roman to the Saxon period. The towns of Somerset seem to have been little used during that period but there continued to be farming on the villa sites and at the Romano-British villages.

 

There may have been effects from plague and volcanic eruption during this period as well as marine transgression into the Levels.

 

The language spoken during this period is thought to be Southwestern Brythonic, but only one or two inscribed stones survive in Somerset from this period. However, a couple of curse tablets found in the baths at Bath may be in this language. Some place names in Somerset seem to be Celtic in origin and may be from this period or earlier, e.g. Tarnock. Some river names, such as Parrett, may be Celtic or pre-Celtic. The religion of the people of Somerset in this period is thought to be Christian but it was isolated from Rome until after the Council of Hertford in 673 AD when Aldhelm was asked to write a letter to Geraint of Dumnonia and his bishops. Some church sites in Somerset are thought to date from this period, e.g., Llantokay Street.

 

Most of what is known of the history of this period comes from Gildas's On the Ruin of Britain, which is thought to have been written in Durotrigan territory, possibly at Glastonbury.

 

The earliest fortification of Taunton started for King Ine of Wessex and Æthelburg, in or about the year 710 AD. However, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle this was destroyed 12 years later.

 

This is the period from the late 7th century (for most of Somerset) to 1066, though for part of the 10th and 11th centuries England was under Danish control. Somerset, like Dorset to the south, held the West Saxon advance from Wiltshire/Hampshire back for over a century, remaining a frontier between the Saxons and the Romano-British Celts.

 

The Saxons conquered Bath following the Battle of Deorham in 577, and the border was probably established along the line of the Wansdyke to the north of the Mendip Hills. Then Cenwalh of Wessex broke through at Bradford-on-Avon in 652, and the Battle of Peonnum possibly at Penselwood in 658, advancing west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett. In 661 the Saxons may have advanced into what is now Devon as a result of a battle fought at Postesburh, possibly Posbury near Crediton.

 

Then in the period 681–85 Centwine of Wessex conquered King Cadwaladr and "advanced as far as the sea", but it is not clear where this was. It is assumed that the Saxons occupied the rest of Somerset about this time. The Saxon rule was consolidated under King Ine, who established a fort at Taunton, demolished by his wife in 722. It is sometimes said that he built palaces at Somerton and South Petherton but this does not seem to be the case. He fought against Geraint in 710. In 705 the diocese of Sherborne was formed, taking in Wessex west of Selwood. Saxon kings granted land in Somerset by charter from the 7th century onward. The way and extent to which the Britons survived under the Saxons is a debatable matter. However, King Ine's laws make provision for Britons. Somerset originally formed part of Wessex and latter became a separate "shire". Somersetshire seems to have been formed within Wessex during the 8th century though it is not recorded as a name until later. Mints were set up at times in various places in Somerset in the Saxon period, e.g., Watchet.

 

Somerset played an important part in defeating the spread of the Danes in the 9th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 845 Alderman Eanwulf, with the men of Somersetshire (Sumorsǣte), and Bishop Ealstan, and Alderman Osric, with the men of Dorsetshire, conquered the Danish army at the mouth of the Parret. This was the first known use of the name Somersæte. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that in January 878 the King Alfred the Great fled into the marshes of Somerset from the Viking's invasion and made a fort at Athelney. From the fort Alfred was able to organize a resistance using the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

 

Viking raids took place for instance in 987 and 997 at Watchet and the Battle of Cynwit. King Alfred was driven to seek refuge from the Danes at Athelney before defeating them at the Battle of Ethandun in 878, usually considered to be near Edington, Wiltshire, but possibly the village of Edington in Somerset. Alfred established a series of forts and lookout posts linked by a military road, or Herepath, so his army could cover Viking movements at sea. The Herepath has a characteristic form which is familiar on the Quantocks: a regulation 20 m wide track between avenues of trees growing from hedge laying embankments. The Herepath ran from the ford on the River Parrett at Combwich, past Cannington hill fort to Over Stowey, where it climbed the Quantocks along the line of the current Stowey road, to Crowcombe Park Gate. Then it went south along the ridge, to Triscombe Stone. One branch may have led past Lydeard Hill and Buncombe Hill, back to Alfred's base at Athelney. The main branch descended the hills at Triscombe, then along the avenue to Red Post Cross, and west to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor. A peace treaty with the Danes was signed at Wedmore and the Danish king Guthrum the Old was baptised at Aller. Burhs (fortified places) had been set up by 919, such as Lyng. The Alfred Jewel, an object about 2.5 inch long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné-enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton. Believed to have been owned by Alfred the Great it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fit into the hole at its base and been used while reading a book.

 

Monasteries and minster churches were set up all over Somerset, with daughter churches from the minsters in manors. There was a royal palace at Cheddar, which was used at times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot, and there is likely to have been a "central place" at Somerton, Bath, Glastonbury and Frome since the kings visited them. The towns of Somerset seem to have been in occupation in this period though evidence for this is limited because of subsequent buildings on top of remains from this period. Agriculture flourished in this period, with a re-organisation into centralised villages in the latter part in the east of the county.

 

In the period before the Norman Conquest, Somerset came under the control of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and his family. There seems to have been some Danish settlement at Thurloxton and Spaxton, judging from the place-names. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, and large areas were owned by the crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence.

 

This period of Somerset's history is well documented, for example in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser's Life of Alfred.

 

This is the period from 1066 to around 1500. Following the defeat of the Saxons by the Normans in 1066, various castles were set up in Somerset by the new lords such as that at Dunster, and the manors was awarded to followers of William the Conqueror such as William de Moyon and Walter of Douai. Somerset does not seem to have played much part in the civil war in King Stephen's time, but Somerset lords were main players in the murder of Thomas Becket.

 

A good picture of the county in 1086 is given by Domesday Book, though there is some difficulty in identifying the various places since the hundreds are not specified. The total population given for the county, which had different boundaries to those today, was 13,399, however this only included the heads of households, so with their families this may have been around 67,000. Farming seems to have prospered for the next three centuries but was severely hit by the Black Death which in 1348 arrived in Dorset and quickly spread through Somerset, causing widespread mortality, perhaps as much as 50% in places. It re-occurred, resulting in a change in feudal practices since the manpower was no longer so available.

 

Reclamation of land from marsh in the Somerset Levels increased, largely under monastic influence. Crafts and industries also flourished, the Somerset woollen industry being one of the largest in England at this time. "New towns" were founded in this period in Somerset, i.e. Newport, but were not successful. Coal mining on the Mendips was an important source of wealth while quarrying also took place, an example is near Bath.

 

The towns grew, again often by monastic instigation, during this period and fairs were started. The church was very powerful at this period, particularly Glastonbury Abbey. After their church burnt down, the monks there "discovered" the tomb of "King Arthur" and were able rebuild their church. There were over 20 monasteries in Somerset at this period including the priory at Hinton Charterhouse which was founded in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury who also founded Lacock Abbey. Many parish churches were re-built in this period. Between 1107 and 1129 William Giffard the Chancellor of King Henry I, converted the bishop's hall in Taunton into Taunton Castle. Bridgwater Castle was built in 1202 by William Brewer. It passed to the king in 1233 and in 1245 repairs were ordered to its motte and towers. During the 11th century Second Barons' War against Henry III, Bridgwater was held by the barons against the King. In the English Civil War the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham. Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in the town, the castle and its valuable contents were surrendered to the Parliamentarians. The castle itself was deliberately destroyed in 1645.

 

During the Middle Ages sheep farming for the wool trade came to dominate the economy of Exmoor. The wool was spun into thread on isolated farms and collected by merchants to be woven, fulled, dyed and finished in thriving towns such as Dunster. The land started to be enclosed and from the 17th century onwards larger estates developed, leading to establishment of areas of large regular shaped fields. During this period a Royal Forest and hunting ground was established, administered by the Warden. The Royal Forest was sold off in 1818.

 

In the medieval period the River Parrett was used to transport Hamstone from the quarry at Ham Hill, Bridgwater was part of the Port of Bristol until the Port of Bridgwater was created in 1348, covering 80 miles (130 km) of the Somerset coast line, from the Devon border to the mouth of the River Axe. Historically, the main port on the river was at Bridgwater; the river being bridged at this point, with the first bridge being constructed in 1200 AD. Quays were built in 1424; with another quay, the Langport slip, being built in 1488 upstream of the Town Bridge. A Customs House was sited at Bridgwater, on West Quay; and a dry dock, launching slips and a boat yard on East Quay. The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater Town Bridge by 400 to 500 tonnes (440 to 550 tons) vessels. By trans-shipping into barges at the Town Bridge the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and (via the River Yeo) to Ilchester.

 

This is the period from around 1500 to 1800. In the 1530s, the monasteries were dissolved and their lands bought from the king by various important families in Somerset. By 1539, Glastonbury Abbey was the only monastery left, its abbot Richard Whiting was then arrested and executed on the orders of Thomas Cromwell. From the Tudor to the Georgian times, farming specialised and techniques improved, leading to increases in population, although no new towns seem to have been founded. Large country houses such as at Hinton St George and Montacute House were built at this time.

 

The Bristol Channel floods of 1607 are believed to have affected large parts of the Somerset Levels with flooding up to 8 feet (2 m) above sea level. In 1625, a House of Correction was established in Shepton Mallet and, today, HMP Shepton Mallet is England's oldest prison still in use.

 

During the English Civil War, Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, although Dunster was a Royalist stronghold. The county was the site of important battles between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, notably the Battle of Lansdowne in 1643 and the Battle of Langport in 1645. The castle changed hands several times during 1642–45 along with the town. During the Siege of Taunton it was defended by Robert Blake, from July 1644 to July 1645. This war resulted in castles being destroyed to prevent their re-use.

 

In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth led the Monmouth Rebellion in which Somerset people fought against James II. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, puritan soldiers damaged the west front of Wells Cathedral, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and the furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave. They were defeated in the Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland, the last battle fought on English soil. The Bloody Assizes which followed saw the losers being sentenced to death or transportation.

 

The Society of Friends established itself in Street in the mid-17th century, and among the close-knit group of Quaker families were the Clarks: Cyrus started a business in sheepskin rugs, later joined by his brother James, who introduced the production of woollen slippers and, later, boots and shoes. C&J Clark still has its headquarters in Street, but shoes are no longer manufactured there. Instead, in 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form Clarks Village, the first purpose-built factory outlet in the United Kingdom.

 

The 18th century was largely one of peace and declining industrial prosperity in Somerset. The Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelt the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. However, farming continued to flourish, with the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society being founded in 1777 to improve methods. John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 but found that methods could still be improved.

 

Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington. He is commemorated on a nearby hill with a large, spotlit obelisk, known as the Wellington Monument.

 

In north Somerset, mining in the Somerset coalfield was an important industry, and in an effort to reduce the cost of transporting the coal the Somerset Coal Canal was built; part of it was later converted into a railway. Other canals included the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, Westport Canal, Grand Western Canal, Glastonbury Canal and Chard Canal.[9] The Dorset and Somerset Canal was proposed, but very little of it was ever constructed.

 

The 19th century saw improvements to Somerset's roads with the introduction of turnpikes and the building of canals and railways. The usefulness of the canals was short-lived, though they have now been restored for recreation. The railways were nationalised after the Second World War, but continued until 1965, when smaller lines were scrapped; two were transferred back to private ownership as "heritage" lines.

 

In 1889, Somerset County Council was created, replacing the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions.

 

The population of Somerset has continued to grow since 1800, when it was 274,000, particularly in the seaside towns such as Weston-super-Mare. Some population decline occurred earlier in the period in the villages, but this has now been reversed, and by 1951 the population of Somerset was 551,000.

 

Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight, as it was here in 1848 that the Victorian aeronautical pioneer John Stringfellow first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible through his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage. North Petherton was the first town in England (and one of the few ever) to be lit by acetylene gas lighting, supplied by the North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company. Street lights were provided in 1906. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by the provision of an electricity supply.

 

Around the 1860s, at the height of the iron and steel era, a pier and a deep-water dock were built, at Portishead, by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway to accommodate the large ships that had difficulty in reaching Bristol Harbour. The Portishead power stations were coal-fed power stations built next to the dock. Construction work started on Portishead "A" power station in 1926. It began generating electricity in 1929 for the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department. In 1951, Albright and Wilson built a chemical works on the opposite side of the dock from the power stations. The chemical works produced white phosphorus from phosphate rock imported, through the docks, into the UK. The onset of new generating capacity at Pembroke (oil-fired) and Didcot (coal-fired) in the mid-1970s brought about the closure of the older, less efficient "A" Station. The newer of the two power stations ("B" Station) was converted to burn oil when the Somerset coalfields closed. Industrial activities ceased in the dock with the closure of the power stations. The Port of Bristol Authority finally closed the dock in 1992, and it has now been developed into a marina and residential area.

 

During the First World War hundreds of Somerset soldiers were killed, and war memorials were put up in most of the towns and villages; only a few villages escaped casualties. There were also casualties – though much fewer – during the Second World War, who were added to the memorials. The county was a base for troops preparing for the 1944 D-Day landings, and some Somerset hospitals still date partly from that time. The Royal Ordnance Factory ROF Bridgwater was constructed early in World War II for the Ministry of Supply. It was designed as an Explosive ROF, to produce RDX, which was then a new experimental high-explosive. It obtained water supplies from two sources via the Somerset Levels: the artificial Huntspill River which was dug during the construction of the factory and also from the King's Sedgemoor Drain, which was widened at the same time. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to resist a potential German invasion, and the remains of its pill boxes can still be seen, as well as others along the coast. A decoy town was constructed on Black Down, intended to represent the blazing lights of a town which had neglected to follow the black-out regulations. Sites in the county housed Prisoner of War camps including: Norton Fitzwarren, Barwick, Brockley, Goathurst and Wells. Various airfields were built or converted from civilian use including: RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II), RAF Weston-super-Mare, RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), Yeovil/Westland Airport, RAF Weston Zoyland, RAF Merryfield, RAF Culmhead and RAF Charmy Down.

 

Exmoor was one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. and is named after its main river. It was expanded in 1991 and in 1993 Exmoor was designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. The Quantock Hills were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1956, the first such designation in England under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The Mendip Hills followed with AONB designation in 1972.

 

Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station constructed between 1957 and 1962 and operating until ceasing generation in 2000. Hinkley Point B is an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) which was designed to generate 1250 MW of electricity (MWe). Construction of Hinkley Point B started in 1967. In September 2008 it was announced, by Électricité de France (EDF), that a third, twin-unit European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) power station known as Hinkley Point C is planned, to replace Hinkley Point B which was due for closure in 2016, but has now has its life extended until 2022.

 

Somerset today has only two small cities, Bath and Wells, and only small towns in comparison with other areas of England. Tourism is a major source of employment along the coast, and in Bath and Cheddar for example. Other attractions include Exmoor, West Somerset Railway, Haynes Motor Museum and the Fleet Air Arm Museum as well as the churches and the various National Trust and English Heritage properties in Somerset.

 

Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries take place in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the number of apple orchards has reduced.

 

In the late 19th century the boundaries of Somerset were slightly altered, but the main change came in 1974 when the county of Avon was set up. The northern part of Somerset was removed from the administrative control of Somerset County Council. On abolition of the county of Avon in 1996, these areas became separate administrative authorities, "North Somerset" and "Bath and North East Somerset". The Department for Communities and Local Government was considering a proposal by Somerset County Council to change Somerset's administrative structure by abolishing the five districts to create a Somerset unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009. However, support for the county council's bid was not guaranteed and opposition among the district council and local population was strong; 82% of people responding to a referendum organised by the five district councils rejected the proposals. It was confirmed in July 2007 that the government had rejected the proposals for unitary authorities in Somerset, and that the present two-tier arrangements of Somerset County Council and the district councils will remain.

Marble busts of the earliest chief justices have been returned to their original locations in the room. In order of service, those represented are: John Jay (1789-1795), John Rutledge (1795), Oliver Ellsworth (1796-1800), and John Marshall (1801-1835).

  

Gallery Wall Clock

 

•Clock, Gallery Wall

•by Simon Willard

•Mahogany dial, gilded frame, metal, paint, 1837

•Overall measurement

oHeight: 51 inches (129.54 cm)

oWidth: 37 inches (93.98 cm)

oDepth: 5 inches (12.7 cm)

•Inscription (etched on the exterior of the brass movement): Made by Simon / Willard in his 85th / year 1837 / Roxbury July / the 4 [?]; and (engraved on the brass pendulum face) MADE BY / SIMON WILLARD, / in the 85th year of his age. / BOSTON, JULY, 1837.

•Cat. no. 54.00002.000

 

This clock is located in the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Senate wing of the Capitol.

  

Preserving Punctuality: The Old Supreme Court Clock

 

On the morning of March 31, 2009, time stopped in the Old Supreme Court Chamber. The minute hand of the 1837 Simon Willard gallery clock was found lying on the mantel below the clock, broken in two pieces where an old repair had given way. Fortunately, plans for conservation treatment of the clock were underway in the Office of Senate Curator, because a condition assessment of the Senate’s historic clocks done the previous year indicated its movement was in urgent need of repair. A conservator was quickly enlisted to conserve the clock.

 

The conservator arrived at the Senate on May 29 to remove the clock’s movement and transport it to his workshop in Massachusetts. First, he carefully removed the clock’s dial, revealing the beautifully made brass movement. The gallery or banjo style of clock was invented by Simon Willard in the late 18th century as an alternative to the tall case (or grandfather) style of clock. His ingenious design made it possible for the weight and other clock parts to fit within a 24-inch diameter space and still run for eight days between windings.

 

After the conservation work was completed and the minute hand was repaired, the clock was reassembled in the Old Supreme Court. During its six-week absence, the Curator’s Office received many inquiries about why the clock was gone. The level of interest expressed inspired the Curator to revisit the clock’s history and search for evidence to verify some of the popular stories told in the Capitol about Simon Willard’s gallery clock.

 

The clock currently hangs above the fireplace in the Old Supreme Court Chamber. Over the years it has moved location several times, but it has always maintained its association with the Supreme Court. When the clock was delivered in 1837, it was placed in the Supreme Court Chamber in Capitol (S-141). In 1860 the Supreme Court moved upstairs to the present-day Old Senate Chamber, and the timepiece was transferred to the Clerk of the Court’s Office, now part of the Republican Leader’s Suite. In 1935, when construction on the Supreme Court building was complete, the Willard clock traveled across the street and was placed in the Clerk’s file room. The restoration of the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol during the 1970s brought the clock back to its original location in S-141.

 

Today, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney is credited with requesting the Simon Willard clock; however, early reports state that Justice Joseph Story was responsible for the order. An 1888 article from Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly entitled “The United States Supreme Court and the New Chief Justice” highlights Justice Story’s frustrations with “laggard” justices and states his response to this problem: “I’ll fix this,’ said Mr. Justice Story, ‘and we’ll get a clock that we can all go by.’” The article continues: “Mr. Story was one of the prompt ones. And he had this clock made.” Other early 20th-century articles credit Justice Story with the purchase of the clock, but a 1935 article from The Evening Star Washington attributes, for the first time, the ordering of the clock to Chief Justice Taney. The article refers to the timepiece as the “Old Taney Clock” and ascribes frustrations to Taney, not Story. Justice Story served on the bench from 1812 until his death in 1845, and Chief Justice Taney held his position from 1836 to 1864. The clock was ordered in 1836, so the dates of service of both justices make it possible that either could have been responsible for requesting the clock.

 

Modern accounts also credit Chief Justice Taney with having the clock set five minutes fast to improve the timeliness of the associate justices. Today the clock is still set five minutes ahead in honor of this practice. However, historical accounts describe the clock’s timekeeping as either one or two minutes ahead of the hour and attribute the desire to improve punctuality to either Justice Stephen Field or Justice Story. The 1935 Evening Star Washington article recalls that the clock was set two minutes ahead to ensure that the justices arrived at the bench in timely fashion. Another article, “Centenary of a Clock,” from a 1937 issue of the New York Times Magazine, states: “Long ago it hung in the robing room of the justices and there was a change made in the mechanism—tradition says by Justice Stephen J. Field. Since then it has struck its one note at exactly one minute before the hour of twelve, thus warning the black-gowned justices to be ready and waiting to ascend the bench precisely at noon.”

 

Although we have no primary sources (such as an invoice for work to adjust the clock mechanism or a firsthand account of setting the clock fast) to verify the truthfulness of these claims, the articles lead one to reasonably assume that the clock was set ahead at a calculated increment during its time in the Capitol. The report written by the conservator after he completed treatment of the gallery clock interprets its history on the basis of physical evidence preserved on its parts. While reassembling the clock, he mentioned that the movement is aligned so that it strikes one minute before the hour, rather than right on the hour. If you are watching when the clock is about to strike, you can see this for yourself. Perhaps there is something to the 1937 story, and over the years the one-minute change has grown to five. The Curator’s Office continues to search for historical evidence to help interpret this exquisite artifact that is an integral part of our nation’s history. With proper care and conservation, the Willard clock will continue to be a valued centerpiece in the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol.

  

Justice

 

•Justice

•by Carlo Franzoni (1788-1819)

•Plaster, 1817

•Overall Measurement:

oHeight: 53.25 inches (135.3 cm)

oWidth: 127.25 inches (323.2 cm)

•Unsigned

•Cat. no. 25.00001.000

 

After the British burned the U.S. Capitol on August 24, 1814, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe immediately oversaw reconstruction efforts. As part of this project, he engaged Italian sculptor Carlo Franzoni to create the only piece of permanent decoration in the new Supreme Court Chamber: a relief sculpture of Justice. The piece was to be mounted directly opposite the bench and the seats of the justices.

 

Two preliminary sketches exist for the figure of Justice, but it is unknown whether they date from before or after the damage to the building by the British. The sketches depict some of the same iconographic details seen in the Justice relief, although the final figure and composition are different. The drawings appear to be by either Giuseppe or Carlo Franzoni. Giuseppe, Carlo’s older brother, had actually been engaged by Latrobe to model Justice for the pre-fire Capitol in 1809. It is not known if Giuseppe Franzoni’s Justice was ever completed, because that version of the Supreme Court Chamber, along with the Senate and House Chambers, was destroyed. Giuseppe Franzoni died suddenly in 1815; the following year, Carlo arrived from Italy to work on the Capitol.

 

Carlo Franzoni apparently began executing the relief of Justice shortly after his arrival, because payments were made to various models, beginning in 1816, for sitting for the sculpture. Mary Ann Warren and Eliza Wade each received a payment of $25, while Prince Williams received $10 “for my boy Henry sitting 10 times for Mr. Franzoni.” It is unknown why Franzoni used three models, as only the figures of Justice and the Genius appear in the final composition. The plaster frieze was completed in 1817 and placed in a semicircular lunette on the west wall of the Supreme Court. The work has yet to be restored to its original appearance, although a preliminary physical investigation indicates the early presence of jade green and royal blue paint instead of the current azure background coloring.

 

Franzoni also produced the brilliantly imaginative and successful Car of History for the House of Representatives. The deserved fame of this work and its much more prominent location have unfortunately diminished the reputation of Justice. Charles E. Fairman, curator of the Capitol in the early 20th century, even insinuated that the relief might not be by Franzoni. A comparison of the distinctive and confident modeling of the drapery in the two works, however, leaves little doubt that one artist is responsible for both. Carlo Franzoni died unexpectedly at the age of 30 on May 12, 1819, only three years after arriving in the United States. His remains, and those of his brother Giuseppe, are interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Washington, D.C.

 

More on Justice

 

One of the oldest works of art in the Capitol is the plaster relief Justice by Italian artist Carlo Franzoni. This allegorical group, located in the Old Supreme Court Chamber, is dominated by the figure of Justice dressed in classical attire, with scales upraised in her left hand and her right hand resting on an unsheathed sword. The sculpture displays Franzoni’s thorough understanding of visual iconography and personification. Justice is the leader among the “cardinal” virtues (the others are Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance), because she regulates the actions of citizens individually and in society. In Franzoni’s relief, as is customary, she holds scales—signifying impartiality—and a sword, emblematic of her power.

 

The absence of a blindfold, which has become a ubiquitous element in western portrayals of Justice, makes this depiction distinctive. As early as the 16th century, Justice was portrayed blindfolded to reflect impartiality. In his 1789 treatise Iconology, George Richardson defined the meaning of this symbolism: “The white robes and bandage over her eyes, allude to incorrupt justice, disregarding every interested view, by distributing of justice with rectitude and purity of mind, and protecting the innocent.” [1] Why Franzoni chose an unconventional approach is unknown. One American writer in the late 19th century, in discussing another unblindfolded image of Justice in the Capitol, surmised “that with us justice is clear-sighted respecting the rights of all.” [2]

 

Franzoni’s relief features two birds. The first is an owl, a principal attribute of the Roman goddess Minerva, signifying wisdom. (As a war goddess, Minerva was the defender of just causes.) In Renaissance art, the owl is often perched on a stack of books to symbolize learning. But here, the owl is carved on the front leg of Justice’s chair while, instead, an American eagle perches on law books. The eagle’s head turns back toward Justice, whose head turns toward a nude, winged Genius. The guardian spirit of the new nation, the Genius holds and points to a tablet inscribed “The Constitution of the U.S.” Behind the Genius’s head is a sunburst, symbolizing Truth, whose light reveals all.

 

1.Vivien Green Fryd, Art and Empire: The Politics of Ethnicity in the United States Capitol, 1815-1860 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992), 179.

 

2.Ibid., 180.

At this moment, 2020, Tesla represents almost 50% of all electric cars in The Netherlands. But at the time of this photograph Tesla was still an exclusive car and very uncommon on our roads.

 

Here a Model S is being protected by a fine and well fitting suit.

The Tesla Model S was designed by Franz von Holzhausen. The first deliveries to the NL took place in Aug. 2013. At this moment some 6900 Model S are registered in our country.

 

Production Model S: 2012-present.

 

Oostzaan, Zuideinde, Aug. 23, 2016.

 

© 2016 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved

The reliefs represent a figure playing a double-flute (diaulos?), two klinai with three reclining male banqueters each, a figure playing a kithara, and an attendant at a large cauldron on a stand, and two dogs.

Winter 2009, revetment plaque 4.D.6.E ("Revetment plaques with flat top fascia/cavetto with concave tongues/painted band/figured frieze with banquet in relief/invisible ground line"), part of Roof 4-5 (Portico Building A in Zone F at Acquarossa [Roof F:8], 560 B.C.)

Dated by Winter to 560-550 BCE.

 

Acquarossa was the site of an Etruscan settlement, of unknown name, that flourished between ca. 625 and its destruction after 550 BCE. The site was excavated by the Swedish Institute at Rome principally from 1966 to 1978 (See Acquarossa at Pleiades; PECS (Perseus); Swedish Institute at Rome; acquarossa dot org; en.wikipedia).

 

On display at the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Viterbo - Rocca Albornoz (MiBACT; Città di Viterbo; TripAdvisor)

Los Botargas y Mascaritas protagonizan el Carnaval de Almiruete: Las Botargas y las Mascaritas son los verdaderos protagonistas de los Carnavales de Almiruete (Guadalajara). El carnaval es preparado por los Botargas y Mascaritas durante todo el año. Las máscaras son uno de los símbolos más característicos del carnaval y representan motivos campestres y pastoriles. Llegada la fiesta, las Botargas ataviadas con polainas, cencerros, abarcas, garrote, sombreros de diverso colorido atraviesan los campos y se aproximan al pueblo, para entrar en él bajo un ensordecedor estruendo provocado por los cencerros. Las Botargas dan vueltas al pueblo haciendo sonar sus cencerros y en un momento dado recogen a las Mascaritas que salen de una de las casas del pueblo. Una vez juntos vuelven a la plaza cargados de pelusa ellos y confetis y papelillos de colores ellas, esparciéndolos entre los asistentes, acto lleno de risas y alegría distintivo de este Carnaval.

 

El carnaval comienza a las 16 h. del sábado cuando, tras el toque del cuerno, aparecen los Botargas bajando en fila por alguno de los cerros que rodean el pueblo. Previamente, los Botargas se han vestido en un lugar secreto, ayudados a disfrazarse por antiguos botargas. Al llegar al pueblo, comienzan a desfilar en fila de a uno o por pares por las calles del pueblo. Hacen sonar sus cencerros acompasadamente, manteniendo el paso, aunque ese orden al desfilar no quita que alguno de los asistentes pueda recibir algún susto o remojón en las fuentes del pueblo. Tras dar dos o tres vueltas a la plaza, los Botargas reanudan su recorrido por las calles para recoger a las Mascaritas, que les esperan en una casa del pueblo que sólo conocen los Botargas. En ese momento, cada Mascarita se empareja con un Botarga, y reanudan juntos su desfile por las calles, con las caras ocultas tras sus máscaras. En la última vuelta al pueblo, las Mascaritas recogen confeti, y los Botargas los juncos con la pelusa que, al llegar a la plaza, arrojarán a los asistentes como símbolo de fertilidad. A continuación, Botargas y Mascaritas se quitan las caretas, que ya no volverán a utilizarse ni en este ni en carnavales venideros. Los Botargas cambian el gorro blanco por el sombrero negro, y llenan el botillo de vino que ofrecen a los asistentes. Estos, si los Botargas se despistan, pueden “robarles” el botillo y salir corriendo por el pueblo y fuera de él, hasta que los Botargas le atrapen y le lleven a la taberna, donde deberá invitar a los Botargas que le hayan cogido. Mientras, en la plaza, hay bailes populares, a la vez que aparecen otros personajes característicos del carnaval de Almiruete, como la Vaquilla y el Oso con su Domador. Cada uno en su papel, estos personajes asustan y provocan a los asistentes. Aunque el protagonismo del carnaval lo tienen Botargas y Mascaritas, todo el que quiera puede disfrazarse como lo haría en cualquier otro carnaval. Cuando pasa la tarde y hace rato que es de noche, los Botargas y Mascaritas van casa por casa del pueblo pidiendo el somarro. El somarro consiste normalmente en comida, que disfrutarán al llegar la noche en una cena a la que sólo asisten Botargas y Mascaritas. Del mismo modo que los lugares en los que se disfrazan, los Botargas y Mascaritas cenan en una casa presuntamente secreta, con el fin de que los que no se disfrazan no les quiten la cena o les tapen la chimenea.

 

LOS BOTARGAS (mozos) llevan cubierta la cara con una careta figurativa, hecha normalmente por cada uno, en madera cuero o cartón, coloreada, con apariencia de animales, de elementos vegetales, o como duendes, diablos y otras fealdades. Cada año se elaboran caretas nuevas para la fiesta. Están vestidos con un gorro alto, en forma de mitra blanca con adornos policromos, camisa y calzón también blanco, llevando los mismos adornos. En el pecho y espalda llevan cruzada una faja negra, y encordados en la misma cintura, por la espalda, cuatro o cinco grandes cencerros armonizados. Calzan abarcas, en su mano lleva una garrota y se protegen las piernas con polainas negras de pastor.

 

LAS MASCARITAS (mozas) de Almiruete, son los otros personajes de la fiesta. Por su elegante y delicada indumentaria contrastan vivamente con la apariencia agreste de los Botargas. Son, sin duda, en su apariencia actual, una representación más evolucionada del carnaval. Llevan también la cara cubierta, con un lienzo pintado que las hace irreconocibles. Sobre su cabeza un sombrero de campo, de amplio vuelo cubierto de tela blanca y adornado con flores. Traje del mismo color, con falda de amplio vuelo, y como adorno, flores y brotes de hiedra. Sobre él, un delantal con remates de puntillas del mismo color, y un amplio mantón de vivos colores por los hombros. Usan guantes, medias y zapatillas blancas

 

VIDEOS: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhOGO1Wd2-Sr7f9NjjwDPu8ZDC...

 

Autor: José-María Moreno García. Fotógrafo humanista y documentalista. Una de las mejores formas de conocer la historia de un pueblo es a través de sus imágenes; en ellas se conserva no sólo su realidad tangible, calles, plazas, monumentos, sino también sus costumbres, fiestas, tradiciones, lenguaje, indumentaria, gestos y miradas, que nos dicen sin palabras como se vivía, cuales eran sus esperanzas y temores, qué había en su pasado, qué esperaban del futuro. Uno de los objetivos más ambiciosos es recuperar y catalogar todo el material gráfico existente en nuestra familia desde 1.915, para después ponerlo a disposición de vosotros, que la historia volviera a sus protagonistas, y los que aún siguen con nosotros pudieran disfrutar con ello. VISITA La colección "CIEN AÑOS DE FOTOGRAFÍA FAMILIA MORENO (1915-2015)" en www.josemariamorenogarcia.es y www.madridejos.net

 

SI ALGUIEN NO DESEA APARECER EN EL ÁLBUM POR FAVOR COMUNICALO A josemariamorenogarcia@gmail.com

Near Rockwell & Cortland in MLD hood. YLOCs from Mozart/Cortland came thro first in green, then MLDs went over it in black, then the C's came back again in orange. D's also drop Spanish Lords & Insane Orquestra Albany (Gang Graffiti)

Le Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général et chef de la MINUSMA, se félicite de la signature d'un accord préliminaire à l’élection présidentielle et aux pourparlers inclusifs de paix entre le Gouvernement du Mali, le Mouvement national pour la libération de l'Azawad (MNLA) et le Haut Conseil pour l'unité de l'Azawad, le 18 Juin à Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso. MINUSMA / Blagoje Grujic

This statue represents Drusus Minor in its maturity, and dressed as a Roman general. In the years 17-20 AD, Tiberius sent him to Illyricum, not only to teach him the art of war, and to make him popular with the soldiery, but to remove him from the dissipations of the city. It is not easy to determine the exact scene of his operations, but he succeeded in fomenting dissension among the Germanic tribes, and destroyed the power of Roman enemies. For these successes an ovation was decreed to him by the senate. This statue may represent Drusus in the acme of his military fame.

 

Drusus Caesar (13 BC – 14 September 23 AD), commonly called by modem writers Drusus Minor, to distinguish him from his uncle Drusus Major, the brother of Tiberius, was the son of the emperor Tiberius by his first wife, Vipsania, who was the daughter of Agrippa by his first wife, Pomponia, the daughter of Atticus.

He married Livia (Livilla), the sister of his cousin Germanicus, after the death (4 AD), of her first husband, Caius Caesar, the son of Agrippa and Julia, Augustus’ daughter; but his wife was neither so popular nor so prolific as Agrippina, the wife of Germanics.

However, she bore him three children—two sons, who were twins, and a daughter. Of the twins, one died shortly after his father, and the other, Tiberius, was murdered by the emperor Caligula.

Ancient sources (Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio) concur that, with Livilla as his accomplice, Sejanus, Tiberius' Praetorian Prefect, poisoned Drusus (23 AD).

 

Roman marble sculpture

About 20 AD

From Sant’Antioco Island, Sardinia

Cagliari Archaeological Museum

Angkor Wat or "Capital Temple" is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, present-day Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.

 

Breaking from the Shiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.

 

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds" (Sanskrit: वाट vāṭa ""enclosure").

 

HISTORY

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

 

According to one legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.

 

According to the 13th century Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113-C. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.

 

In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kilometers to the north.

 

In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually moved from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."

 

In the mid-19th century, the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:

 

"One of these temples - a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo - might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

 

Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, found it difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site. There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead there is the evidence of the monuments themselves.

 

Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was interrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period other than the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues.The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863. From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride sui generis but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937. Angkor Wat's aesthetics were also on display in the plaster cast museum of Louis Delaporte called musée Indo-chinois which existed in the Parisian Trocadero Palace from C. 1880 to the mid-1920s. The splendid artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the Angkor region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country that had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time.

 

ARCHITECTURE

SITE AND PLAN

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples and the later plan of concentric galleries. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction - prasavya in Hindu terminology - as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services. The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower. It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.

 

A further interpretation of Angkor Wat has been proposed by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.

 

STYLE

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture - the Angkor Wat style - to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime has been suggested. The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of power, unity and style." Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple. Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work. Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.

 

FEATURES

OUTER ENCLOSURE

The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper. Under the southern tower is a statue of Vishnu, known as Ta Reach, which may originally have occupied the temple's central shrine.Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas, including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres, which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.

 

CENTRAL STRUCTURE

The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu.

 

Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and the two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.

 

The outer gallery measures 187 by 215 m, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called Preah Poan (the "Hall of a Thousand Gods"). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.

 

North and south of the cloister are libraries.

 

Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 by 115 m, and may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount Meru.

 

Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods. This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m to a height of 65 m above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four. The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above ground level.

 

DECORATION

Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Higham has called these, "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".

 

From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hindu mythology.

 

On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice). It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst"). and a battle between the Hindu gods and asuras. The north-west and south-west corner pavilions both feature much smaller-scale scenes, some unidentified but most from the Ramayana or the life of Krishna. Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of apsaras and devata; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory. Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images (30–40 cm) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately 95–110 cm) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewelry and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.

 

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

The stones, as smooth as polished marble, were laid without mortar with very tight joints that are sometimes hard to find. The blocks were held together by mortise and tenon joints in some cases, while in others they used dovetails and gravity. The blocks were presumably put in place by a combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding. Henri Mouhot noted that most of the blocks had holes 2.5 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep, with more holes on the larger blocks. Some scholars have suggested that these were used to join them together with iron rods, but others claim they were used to hold temporary pegs to help manoeuvre them into place. The monument was made out of millions of tonnes of sandstone and it has a greater volume as well as mass than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Angkor Wat Temple consumes about 6 million to 10 million blocks of sandstone with an average weight of 1.5 tons each. In fact, the entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use limestone quarried barely half a km away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried 40 km (or more) away. This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km to the northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 kilometres crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres upstream and against the current along Siem Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres. However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2012 a shorter 35-kilometre canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.

 

Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels even roofs are carved. There are miles of reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hair styles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1000 square metres of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers. While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under 1.2 m, this took about 60 days to carve. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. The labor force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artifacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power.

 

ANGKOR WAT TODAY

The Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple between 1986 and 1992. Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site. The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) is working to protect the devatas and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts. Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002, while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005. World Monuments Fund began conservation work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008 after several years of conditions studies. The project restored the traditional Khmer roofing system and removed cement used in earlier restoration attempts that had resulted in salts entering the structure behind the bas-relief, discoloring and damaging the sculpted surfaces. The main phase of work ended in 2012, and the final component will be the installation of finials on the roof of the gallery in 2013. Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration and radiation resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external Preah Khan samples, while the alga Trentepohlia was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan. Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 2004 and 2005, government figures suggest that, respectively, 561.000 and 677.000 foreign visitors arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia for both years. The site has been managed by the private SOKIMEX group since 1990, which rented it from the Cambodian government. The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some graffiti; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance - as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples - although most work is carried out by foreign government-sponsored teams rather than by the Cambodian authorities. Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years UNESCO and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and APSARA, organized seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism". Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasized the importance of providing high quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture. In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large amounts of tourists. The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features. Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems. It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat. Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern over the charming nature and atmosphere of their town being compromised in order to entertain tourism. Since this charming local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture. At the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012, both parties have agreed Borobudur and Angkor Wat to become sister sites and the provinces will become sister provinces. Two Indonesian airlines are considering the opportunity to open a direct flight from Yogyakarta, Indonesia to Siem Reap.

 

WIKIPEDIA

REPRESENT Festival Tübingen 2016 im Sudhaus

 

2016 Michael Lamertz

 

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29/11/2011 - Nos meses de outubro e novembro, a FIB estabeleceu contato oficial com duas importantes organizações nacionalistas do continente europeu: Nation, da Bélgica Francófona, e Action Française, da França. Os intercâmbios da Frente Integralista Brasileira (FIB) com o exterior visam apresentar o Integralismo e a FIB às pessoas em diversas nações nos diferentes continentes, bem como conhecer e aprender com aqueles que lutam por causas similares nos mais diversos países.

 

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Perguntas e respostas para as dúvidas mais comuns.

 

1 – O que é um lançamento imobiliário?

É a abertura de vendas de um empreendimento imobiliário, após o Registro de Incorporação. O início das vendas é acompanhado de eventos, ações promocionais e anúncios na mídia.

 

2 – Qual a vantagem de se comprar um imóvel no seu lançamento?

Quando você compra um imóvel no lançamento, você pode escolher a unidade mais adequada à sua preferência, além de encontrar, nessa fase de vendas, as melhores condições de preço e de forma de pagamento.

 

3 – O que significa comprar um imóvel na planta?

Significa comprar um imóvel quando ele está sendo lançado. Ou seja, o imóvel não se encontra pronto. Ele será construído e, após um prazo que usualmente varia de 18 a 36 meses, dependendo do tipo de imóvel, será entregue pela Incorporadora ao proprietário. Por isso que se diz que o imóvel comprado na planta é um bem de entrega futura.

 

4 – Que cuidados deve-se tomar para comprar um imóvel na planta?

Verifique se realmente o imóvel escolhido atende às suas necessidades no que diz respeito a tamanho, localização, infra-estrutura de lazer oferecida e a sua planta. Planeje seu futuro e analise se o valor e a forma de pagamento deste imóvel se encaixam na sua capacidade de pagamento. Verifique se o projeto do empreendimento encontra-se aprovado, e o seu Memorial de Incorporação registrado. Compre apenas de Incorporadoras e Construtoras saudáveis, com tradição e credibilidade.

 

5 – Como sei se devo confiar numa Incorporadora?

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6 – Como posso obter informações adicionais sobre uma Incorporadora?

Hoje em dia, muitas Incorporadoras têm capital aberto na Bolsa de Valores. Por esse motivo, devem divulgar seus resultados trimestralmente. Você pode encontrar o balanço dessas empresas nos seus respectivos sites. Uma outra forma, seria verificar se as obras em andamento da Incorporadora contam com financiamento bancário para suprir as despesas de construção. Além de o próprio financiamento ser uma maior garantia de que a obra será entregue, os bancos só o concedem às empresas que estão com boa saúde financeira.

 

7 – A responsabilidade de entrega do imóvel é da Incorporadora ou da Construtora?

Ainda que a Incorporadora possa contratar uma Construtora para a execução das obras, a obrigação de entregar a unidade autônoma cabe sempre à Incorporadora, que assume essa responsabilidade pelo exercício de sua atividade, que é prometer entregar unidades autônomas em contrapartida do recebimento de preço certo e ajustado.

 

8 – O que encontro em um estande de vendas?

O estande de vendas é usualmente construído no local onde será erguido um empreendimento imobiliário. Nele, encontram-se expostos a maquete do projeto, plantas e imagens dos apartamentos e das áreas comuns, bem como, na maioria das vezes, o apartamento modelo decorado. No estande, encontram-se também os corretores de imóveis treinados para apresentar o empreendimento.

 

9 – Para que serve o apartamento modelo decorado?

O apartamento modelo decorado, geralmente construído nos estandes de vendas, tem como finalidade mostrar em escala real as características da planta do apartamento, apresentando também uma sugestão de decoração.

 

10 – O que é um imóvel na planta?

É o imóvel comercializado durante a fase de lançamento, ou seja, antes do início da construção.

 

11 – O que é Memorial de Acabamento?

Memorial de Acabamento é a relação dos materiais de acabamento que serão utilizados na construção do imóvel. Esse memorial deve ser apresentado e rubricado pelo comprador no ato da compra do imóvel.

 

12 – O que é área privativa?

É a área de um imóvel, medida em metros quadrados, de uso exclusivo de seu proprietário, ou seja, a área interna dos apartamentos delimitada pela superfície externa das paredes.

 

13 – O que é área comum?

É a área que pode ser utilizada por todos os moradores de um condomínio. Como exemplo temos o salão de festas, lobby de entrada, piscina, playground, entre outros.

 

14 – As áreas comuns são entregues equipadas e decoradas? Qual a vantagem disso?

Existem empreendimentos que são entregues com suas áreas comuns já decoradas e equipadas. Esse procedimento é vantajoso, pois se evita que, logo nos primeiros meses após a instalação do condomínio, os moradores tenham que arcar com despesas adicionais para realizar esses serviços. Vale verificar, na hora da compra, se a decoração será cobrada à parte do preço do imóvel. Existem situações em que isso é realizado e outras, em que não.

 

15 – O que é a corretagem imobiliária?

Corretagem é uma comissão paga ao corretor de imóveis pelos serviços de intermediação imobiliária.

 

16 – Para quem devo pagar o valor da corretagem?

A corretagem deve ser paga à imobiliária ou ao corretor de imóveis que tenha realizado a intermediação da aquisição do seu imóvel. Tal comissão somente será devida à imobiliária ou ao corretor se a compra do imóvel for concretizada, isto é, após a assinatura do contrato de compromisso de compra e venda.

 

17 – O que é Incorporação Imobiliária?

Ato de empreender um projeto imobiliário. É o meio pelo qual alguém (pessoa física ou jurídica) se compromete a construir um edifício, ou conjunto deles, com diversas unidades autônomas, sendo-lhe permitido comercializar as unidades que o comporão, antes ou durante a fase de construção do empreendimento. Para que a Incorporação Imobiliária produza efeitos e permita a venda das unidades imobiliárias autônomas, é necessário o seu registro no Ofício de Registro de Imóveis competente, que inclusive dá segurança ao adquirente quanto à condição técnica e idoneidade do incorporador, à legalidade do projeto, às características e metragens do imóvel, bem como às regras de convivência em condomínio. É o processo que permite a comercialização legal de um empreendimento que ainda se encontra na planta.

 

18 – Qual a lei que rege as Incorporações Imobiliárias?

É a Lei Federal n◦ 4.591 de 1964 que dispõe sobre as Incorporações Imobiliárias.

 

19 – O que é o Memorial de Incorporação?

É o documento jurídico que explica o objeto da incorporação, detalhando suas áreas privativas e comuns, forma de utilização, características e dados do empreendimento e de seu projeto, informações e documentos da incorporadora e todos os demais requisitos legais exigidos, estes, detalhados no artigo 32 da lei 4.591/64, entre outros. Tal documento deve ser arquivado no Cartório de Registro de Imóveis.

 

20 – Por que é essencial o registro da Incorporação Imobiliária para venda de unidades ainda não construídas?

A lei brasileira determina que o incorporador somente poderá negociar unidades autônomas em edifícios em construção ou a construir após o registro do Memorial de Incorporação. A razão de tal exigência está no fato de a incorporação pressupor a aprovação do projeto de construção, a regularidade documental da propriedade e a regularidade da situação documental do incorporador, o que se traduz em segurança jurídica ao adquirente de coisa futura.

 

21 – Que documentos devo verificar antes de assinar um contrato?

É importante que você verifique se o imóvel encontra-se com o projeto devidamente aprovado e com o alvará emitido pela respectiva Prefeitura Municipal. Também é fundamental que se verifique a certidão de matrícula do imóvel, onde deve constar que a sua Incorporação Imobiliária está devidamente registrada. Vale verificar também a minuta da convenção de condomínio arquivada no registro do Memorial de Incorporação, em que constam as futuras regras condominiais.

 

22 – Quando vendo um imóvel, a que tributação estou sujeito?

Quando se vende um imóvel com lucro, ou seja, quando o valor da venda for maior que o valor da compra, existe a incidência de 15% de tributação sobre essa diferença (ganho de capital). Esse imposto deve ser pago através de DARF. Existe isenção de imposto caso o imóvel vendido tenha valor inferior a R$ 440.000,00, seja o único bem do contribuinte e o mesmo não tenha vendido nenhum imóvel nos últimos cinco anos. Existem outras regras específicas que podem ser consultadas no regulamento do Imposto de Renda da Receita Federal.

 

23 – O que é Tabela Price?

É um sistema de financiamento em que as parcelas são iguais, sendo a amortização declinante e os juros crescentes. Também conhecido como Sistema Francês de Amortização.

 

24 – O que é Sistema SAC?

É um sistema de financiamento em que as prestações são decrescentes, com amortização constante e juros decrescentes.

 

25 – O que é o índice de correção?

É o índice pactuado em contrato para atualização monetária dos valores envolvidos no mesmo.

 

26 – O que é INCC?

Elaborado pela Fundação Getúlio Vargas, o Índice Nacional de Custo da Construção afere a evolução dos custos de construções habitacionais. É usualmente utilizado para correção dos contratos de aquisição de imóveis, aplicado durante o período de construção.

 

27 – O que é IGP-M?

Calculado pela Fundação Getúlio Vargas, o Índice Geral de Preços é divulgado no final de cada mês. É usualmente utilizado para correção dos contratos de aquisição de imóveis, aplicado sobre as parcelas com vencimento após a entrega das chaves do imóvel, em contratos que prevêem pagamentos diretamente à Incorporadora.

 

28 – O que é TR?

É a Taxa Referencial de Juros utilizada para a correção da Caderneta de Poupança. É também utilizada na correção das parcelas de pagamento de imóveis adquiridos por financiamento bancário nas parcelas pós-chaves.

  

29 – Qual o índice de correção normalmente utilizado na aquisição de um imóvel na planta?

Quando se compra um imóvel com financiamento provido diretamente pela Incorporadora, na maioria dos casos, se utiliza como índice de correção das prestações o INCC no período compreendido entre a aquisição do imóvel até a conclusão das obras, ou, ainda, até a data prevista contratualmente. Após a sua conclusão, o índice de reajuste passa a ser o IGP-M, acrescendo-se 12% ao ano, sistema Price. Quando se compra um imóvel com financiamento bancário, adota-se, usualmente, o INCC no período compreendido entre a aquisição do imóvel até a sua entrega, ou seja, durante o período de construção. Após a sua conclusão e devido repasse do financiamento ao Banco Financiador, o índice de reajuste passa a ser a TR, acrescida de uma taxa de financiamento previamente estabelecida pelo mesmo.

 

30 – Qual a melhor forma de pagamento de um imóvel?

A melhor forma depende exclusivamente de sua receita. Você deve analisar qual fluxo de pagamento melhor se adapta à sua renda familiar. Hoje em dia, existem vários financiamentos junto a instituições financeiras com prazo de pagamento em até 30 anos e com taxas de juros muito atrativas. Normalmente, os apartamentos vendidos nos lançamentos imobiliários já contam com um banco parceiro que oferece essa condição aos compradores. Nos estandes de venda, os corretores conseguem, rapidamente, simular o valor da parcela mensal, dependendo do prazo do financiamento. Pesquise e avalie o melhor fluxo de pagamento de acordo com a sua capacidade financeira.

 

31 – Comprar um imóvel pensando na sua aposentadoria é uma boa estratégia?

Sim. Além de utilizar o imóvel como uma fonte de renda, através dos aluguéis, no longo prazo, a sua valorização vem superando a inflação.

 

32 – O que é carência para entrega do imóvel?

Ao adquirir um imóvel na planta, você é informado sobre o prazo de conclusão da obra. A carência é um prazo adicional, usualmente de 6 meses, utilizado caso ocorra alguma eventualidade na execução do empreendimento.

 

33 – Quando compro um imóvel, é possível modificar a planta e o acabamento do mesmo?

Algumas Incorporadas permitem que seus clientes escolham alternativas de planta e acabamentos que mais se adaptam às suas necessidades. A escolha por essas opções não precisa ser realizada no momento da compra, durante a fase de lançamento. Usualmente, estipula-se um prazo no qual o cliente pode solicitar a execução dessas modificações. As mudanças solicitadas podem acarretar custos adicionais ao comprador.

 

34 – O que é compromisso de venda e compra de imóvel?

É o contrato particular ou público pelo qual alguém se compromete a adquirir um imóvel de outra pessoa (física ou jurídica), que se obriga a transferi-lo após o recebimento do preço ajustado, observadas as condições ali pactuadas. Com a assinatura do contrato, o comprador passa a ser titular de direitos aquisitivos do imóvel, e a lei assegura direito real do comprador em face do vendedor para exigir a efetiva transmissão do imóvel.

 

35 – Quais as cláusulas essenciais que devem constar num contrato de compra e venda de imóvel?

No contrato de venda e compra são essenciais as cláusulas que disponham sobre: as características do imóvel e do empreendimento onde está inserido, preço e forma de pagamento, forma de cálculo da correção monetária, quando for o caso, incidência de juros, índice e quando de sua aplicabilidade, penalidades a que esteja sujeito o comprador na hipótese de inadimplemento e atraso no pagamento do preço na forma ajustada, prazo de entrega das unidades e demais obrigações assumidas pela Incorporadora.

 

36 – Qual a diferença entre contrato de compra e escritura definitiva?

O contrato de venda e compra é o instrumento pelo qual uma das partes se compromete a vender à outra determinado imóvel, por determinado preço e condições. O contrato, ou promessa de venda e compra, pode ser efetivado por instrumento particular (e, nesse caso, há que se observar a presença de duas testemunhas, avaliação da qualificação das partes) ou por instrumento público (escritura de promessa de venda e compra) que, nesse caso, é lavrado pelo Cartório de Notas, que tem fé pública. Por outro lado, a escritura definitiva de compra e venda é o instrumento pelo qual alguém transmite definitivamente um bem imóvel a outro, muitas vezes em cumprimento a um contrato (promessa) previamente assinado. A escritura definitiva de uma unidade autônoma é lavrada quando a mesma está devidamente concluída, ou seja, com a averbação da construção do empreendimento junto ao Cartório de Registro de Imóveis competente.

 

37 – Por que há necessidade de se registrar a escritura definitiva do imóvel?

Para que se opere efetivamente a transferência da titularidade do imóvel, é necessário o registro do título de transmissão perante o competente Cartório de Registro de Imóveis, conforme determina o art. 1245 do Código Civil Brasileiro.

 

38 – O que é DIMOB e quem deve emiti-la?

DIMOB é a Declaração de Informações sobre Atividades Imobiliárias que empresas imobiliárias, construtoras e incorporadores devem emitir para a Receita Federal, informando os detalhes das transações imobiliárias realizadas, destacando especialmente a identificação dos contratantes e do imóvel, data, valor da operação e comissão cobrada.

 

39 – O que é DOI e como funciona?

DOI é a Declaração sobre Operações Imobiliárias que os cartórios devem emitir à Receita Federal para informar as operações imobiliárias anotadas, averbadas, lavradas, matriculadas ou registradas nos Cartórios de Ofício de Notas, Registro de Imóveis e de Títulos e Documentos, envolvendo bens imóveis, destacando a identificação dos contratantes e o valor da operação imobiliária, para fins de apuração de eventual imposto a recolher (ganho de capital).

 

40 – Qual a importância de constar no contrato todas as condições contratuais e o preço efetivamente pago?

O contrato é o instrumento pelo qual estará regrada toda e qualquer obrigação assumida entre as partes, vendedor e comprador, e perdurará até a quitação final dessas obrigações. Dessa forma, na hipótese de necessidade de qualquer questionamento futuro e, especialmente, de necessidade de se submeter ao Poder Judiciário dúvidas ou conflitos a serem solucionados, o contrato celebrado será o instrumento utilizado como base dessa avaliação. Daí a importância de que todas as tratativas e acordos estejam devidamente previstos no contrato celebrado.

 

41 – O que é "Habite-se"?

O Habite-se é o auto de conclusão da obra edificada em conformidade com os projetos aprovados. O Habite-se é expedido pelo poder público municipal e autoriza a utilização do imóvel.

 

42 – O que é averbação da construção e quando ocorre?

Com a conclusão das obras, é necessário averbá-la junto à matrícula do imóvel (empreendimento). Isso é realizado com a apresentação, perante o Cartório de Registro de Imóveis competente, do "Habite-se" e da Certidão Negativa de Débitos perante o Instituto Nacional de Seguridade Social (CND_INSS). Somente após a análise pelo Oficial Registrador, que normalmente ocorre dentro de até 30 (trinta) dias contados do protocolo dos referidos documentos, é efetivada a averbação da construção junto à matrícula do imóvel.

 

43 – O que é Alvará de Obra (Alvará de Execução)?

O Alvará de Obra é a licença para construção emitida pela municipalidade em conformidade com o projeto legal do empreendimento. A construção só pode ser iniciada com esse alvará em mãos.

 

44 – Quais as leis brasileiras que regem o condomínio?

As regras sobre condomínio podem ser encontradas nos artigos 1.331 a 1.358 do Código Civil (Lei 10.403/02) e na Lei 4.591/64, primeira parte, nos artigos cujo conteúdo não foi alterado ou regulado pelo Código Civil.

 

45 – O que é a Assembléia Geral de Instalação de Condomínio?

É a primeira reunião dos condôminos, juntamente com a empresa que administrará o condomínio, e também com a presença da Incorporadora. É nessa reunião que, usualmente, elegem-se o síndico, o subsíndico e os conselheiros do condomínio.

 

46 – Quem pode ser o síndico?

O síndico pode ser qualquer morador, desde que eleito pelos condôminos, para defender os interesses dos mesmos. O síndico também pode ser terceiro, não-morador, desde que devidamente contratado pelo condomínio para tal fim.

 

47 – O que é taxa de condomínio?

É a despesa que deve ser custeada por cada condômino, a partir da instalação do condomínio, calculada através do rateio da previsão mensal de gastos comuns no condomínio. Essa despesa é composta de despesas ordinárias (gastos mensais rotineiros) e extraordinárias, quando devidamente aprovadas em assembléia ou por determinação da administração do condomínio, quando for o caso.

 

48 – É possível saber qual será a taxa do condomínio do empreendimento?

Sim. Nos lançamentos de empreendimentos imobiliários, usualmente a Incorporadora, com o auxílio de uma empresa administradora de condomínios, faz uma estimativa do custo por apartamento. Vale se informar para verificar se o custo do condomínio do imóvel desejado está adequado ao seu orçamento.

 

49 – Como são elaboradas e como saber quais as normas que regerão o condomínio quando o empreendimento ficar pronto?

A Convenção de Condomínio e Regimento Interno são as normas que regerão o condomínio, que são elaboradas de acordo com as peculiaridades do condomínio e em conformidade com o disposto no Código Civil Brasileiro. Um dos requisitos para o registro do Memorial de Incorporação é o arquivamento da minuta da Convenção de Condomínio que regerá o dia-a-dia desse empreendimento quando concluídas suas obras. Com a averbação da construção, é registrada a Convenção de Condomínio nos moldes da minuta arquivada quando do registro da incorporação imobiliária. Eventuais alterações introduzidas na respectiva minuta da Convenção de Condomínio após o registro da incorporação deverão ser objeto de ciência e aprovação pelos adquirentes, e a juntada da nova minuta ensejará a re-ratificação do registro da incorporação imobiliária. A cópia dessa minuta deve ser disponibilizada ao cliente quando da celebração do contrato para aquisição de unidade do empreendimento.

 

50 – Quais os tipos de vagas de garagem e como identificá-los em cada caso?

As vagas de garagem podem ser áreas comuns ou unidades autônomas. As vagas comuns são indeterminadas e integrantes da área comum da unidade autônoma, cujo uso é definido pela convenção de condomínio. As vagas autônomas são independentes e não integram a área total das unidades autônomas, estando delas desvinculadas e possuindo áreas e frações ideais próprias e matrículas individualizadas, estando sujeitas a tributação pelo IPTU.

 

51 – O que é número de contribuinte e quando ele será atribuído ao meu imóvel?

O número do contribuinte é o número de identificação fiscal do imóvel atribuído pela Prefeitura para identificação deste. Via de regra, e dependendo da localidade, diante da averbação da construção e especificação do condomínio, a Incorporadora, mediante requerimento, solicita à municipalidade a abertura de inscrição fiscal de cada unidade autônoma do empreendimento, de modo que cada uma seja tributada individualmente. Todavia, essa é uma prerrogativa da municipalidade, e tal procedimento varia de uma cidade para outra.

 

52 – O que é a Matrícula de um Imóvel?

Pode ser feita uma comparação dizendo que a Matrícula do Imóvel é a sua "certidão de nascimento". É o documento de identificação do imóvel em que constam todos os seus dados, tais como, descrição, características e metragens, histórico das aquisições e vendas, dados dos antecessores e atuais proprietários, existência de ônus e gravames, identificação fiscal do imóvel, etc.

 

53 – Quais órgãos aprovam a execução das obras de um empreendimento?

O projeto do empreendimento que será composto por unidades autônomas é aprovado pela Prefeitura local, que emitirá o alvará de construção, permitindo o início das obras. Além disso, se necessário, o projeto deverá igualmente ser aprovado pelo Corpo de Bombeiros, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente, órgãos estaduais e federais, tudo dependendo da área onde se encontra e de suas peculiaridades.

 

54 – O que é fração ideal de terreno?

É o percentual ou quota parte que uma unidade autônoma representa sobre o terreno em que será construído o empreendimento imobiliário.

 

55 – É obrigatória a contratação de seguro para eventuais danos havidos durante a execução das obras?

Sim, conforme previsto no Decreto-Lei nº 73/1966, artigo 20, é obrigatória a contratação de seguro de responsabilidade civil pelo construtor de imóveis em zonas urbanas por danos a pessoas ou coisas. Tal seguro tem por finalidade cobrir possíveis danos que possam ocorrer a terceiros e à própria construtora durante a execução da obra. A contratação do referido seguro de responsabilidade civil deve ser efetivada, e os valores segurados deverão ser compatíveis com o vulto do empreendimento e constar da respectiva apólice.

 

56 – O que significa uma empresa ser "S.A."?

Uma empresa consiste num conjunto organizado de meios com o propósito de exercer uma atividade, a fim de oferecer e produzir bens e/ou serviços, e pode ter diversos tipos societários, sendo as sociedades limitadas e as sociedades anônimas os exemplos mais comuns atualmente. Sociedade anônima (S.A.), também conhecida como sociedade de capital, é disciplinada pela Lei 6.404/76 e é representada por títulos denominados ações, que são livremente negociáveis, de modo que qualquer pessoa pode ingressar na sociedade mediante a aquisição de ações. A sociedade anônima pode ser classificada de duas maneiras distintas: (i) sociedade anônima aberta, onde os valores mobiliários (ações, debêntures, etc.) podem ser negociados na Bolsa de Valores ou (ii) sociedade anônima fechada (companhias cujas ações não são negociadas publicamente e que, geralmente, pertencem aos fundadores, familiares ou a um grupo pequeno de investidores). Para tornar-se sociedade anônima de capital aberto, é necessária a aprovação pela Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), órgão do governo federal responsável para tanto. A Gafisa, por exemplo, é uma sociedade anônima de capital aberto e sempre pautou sua conduta pela ampla divulgação de informações disponíveis a respeito das atividades da Companhia, tendo sempre adotado políticas de relacionamento com o mercado baseadas no princípio da transparência. A Gafisa disponibiliza a seus investidores informações de forma transparente, indispensável no processo de fidelização dos investidores que já acreditam na Companhia e na captação de novos investidores no mercado. A Gafisa é a primeira incorporadora residencial brasileira a ter ações listadas na Bolsa de Nova York (NYSE), com elevados padrões de Governança Corporativa. Em razão da maior publicidade a que estão submetidas as empresas de capital aberto, bem como das regras cada vez mais rígidas das Bolsas de Valores, as empresas de capital aberto tendem a ser cada vez mais eficientes, buscando melhores resultados do que as de capital fechado.

 

57 – O que é o saldo devedor?

Saldo devedor é o valor restante para quitação total de um imóvel. O saldo devedor é reajustado mensalmente de acordo com os índices e juros pactuados no contrato.

 

58 – O que é Carta de Crédito?

A Carta de Crédito é um documento concedido por uma instituição financeira ao comprador de um imóvel com o seu crédito já aprovado. Esse documento pode ser utilizado para a aquisição de qualquer imóvel que esteja pronto com a averbação de sua construção realizada.

 

59 – O que é Alienação Fiduciária?

É o instrumento no qual se transfere um imóvel do devedor para o credor em garantia do pagamento da dívida. O devedor permanece com a posse para uso próprio do bem. Quando a dívida é quitada, a propriedade é consolidada em nome do antigo devedor.

 

60 – O que é hipoteca?

Hipoteca é direito real de garantia que o devedor confere ao credor sobre um bem imóvel.

 

61 – O que é repasse bancário?

Repasse bancário é a captação de recursos em instituição financeira para quitação do imóvel junto à construtora.

 

62 – Quando inicio o processo de repasse bancário?

As instituições financeiras, para liberação do crédito, exigem a legalização do imóvel para tê-lo como a garantia do pagamento da dívida, seja pela hipoteca ou pela alienação fiduciária. A legalização do imóvel constitui uma série de atos concatenados, a partir da conclusão de construção, com duração média de 90 dias. As cartas de crédito fornecidas pelas instituições financeiras têm validade média de 90 a 180 dias, dessa forma, o início do processo de repasse bancário deve ocorrer de 60 a 30 dias antes da conclusão da construção.

 

63 – Quais documentos são necessários para contratar o financiamento bancário?

A documentação pode variar de acordo com a instituição financeira. Mas são sempre solicitados documentos do vendedor, do imóvel, além dos documentos pessoais e de comprovação de renda do comprador.

 

64 – O que é análise de crédito?

Análise de crédito consiste no estudo das condições de venda do imóvel e características do comprador, visando a assegurar que a operação seja realizada de acordo com parâmetros e políticas de crédito aceitas pelo mercado bancário, de modo a viabilizar o repasse no futuro, lembrando que não é aceito na análise de crédito a existência de restrição cadastral. A análise de crédito sempre ocorre em dois momentos, o primeiro no ato da compra e depois no momento do repasse.

 

65 – Quais os documentos necessários para comprovar renda?

Para comprovar renda, geralmente são solicitados os três últimos holerites, informes de imposto de renda ou extratos de movimentação bancária.

 

66 – O que é Behavior?

Behavior é a comprovação da capacidade de pagamento por meio do histórico de pagamento em dia.

  

67 – É possível utilizar o FGTS na compra de um imóvel?

Para utilização do Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço, é necessário cumprir alguns pré-requisitos dispostos na regulamentação, tais como:

• Não possuir outro imóvel, seja ele quitado ou financiado.

• Morar ou trabalhar na localidade do imóvel.

• Comprovar tempo de trabalho mínimo de 3 (três) anos sob regime do FGTS.

• Avaliação do imóvel não superior a R$ 350.000,00.

• Utilização do FGTS para quitação do imóvel.

 

68 – Como é feita a assessoria para fins de contratação de financiamento e qual seu objetivo?

A assessoria para fins de contratação de financiamento é efetivada por uma empresa especializada que auxilia no processo de análise de crédito, documental e jurídica, visando a agilizar e assegurar a perfeita formalização dos contratos de crédito imobiliário, segundo os requisitos legais e normativos vigentes, além dos parâmetros e políticas estabelecidos pela instituição contratante.

 

69 – Quais os custos com o processo de repasse?

Os custos com o processo de repasse serão por conta do adquirente e incluem assessoria, emolumentos e imposto de transmissão do bem imóvel, ou seja, serão as mesmas despesas que teria após a quitação do preço, quando solicitasse a escritura definitiva, o ITBI, emolumentos de escritura e registro, que variam conforme o valor de cada imóvel.

 

70 – O que significa ITBI?

Trata-se do Imposto de Transmissão de Bens Imóveis. Ele é cobrado pela Prefeitura sempre que há a transferência de propriedade de qualquer bem imóvel. Essa taxa varia de acordo com a cidade na qual o imóvel se encontra, e seu recolhimento é de responsabilidade do comprador.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point delivers the world’s premier international academy military skills competition. Forty-nine teams representing four U.S. service academies, 14 international military academies and 16 ROTC programs compete in the 51st annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., from April 12-13, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by CDT Ellington Ward)

Décor représentant des femmes au travail sur la partie centrale de la façade de l'immeuble de la section C de la Karl-Marx-Allee (coté nord)

 

Cette partie de la Karl-Marx-Allee a été conçue par l'architecte Richard Paulick qui a été retenu à l'issue d'un concours lancé le 25 avril 1951 par le conseil de Berlin.

 

Le boulevard Staline (Stalinallee) devait refléter les traditions artistiques de Berlin et la richesse de la nouvelle société socialiste.

 

Richard Paulick a utilisé des colonnes doriques au rez-de-chaussée supportant une terrasse, un toit plat et a su jouer sur les avant-corps et les arrière-corps pour alléger la masse du bâtiment.

 

Le Prix national de la République démocratique allemande (RDA) a été attribué à l'architecte Richard Paulick en 1969. Richard Paulick a reconstruit en 1969 le Kronprinzenpalais (Palais du Prince Héritier), situé à côté du Staatsoper sur l’avenue Unter den Linden, surplombant Bebelplatz et le palais adjacent Prinzessinenpalais (Palais des Princesses).

 

voir aussi l'album sur la Karl-Marx-Allee de 2011 (dalbera)

www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/sets/72157627379377269/with...

 

Photo Annie Dalbéra

Huile sur toile, 50 x 81 cm, 1879 (W 556).

 

Représente la Seine prise par les glaces en 1879, vue de depuis la rive de Vétheuil, avec au fond Lavacourt et, à droite, l'extrémité de l'île de bouche ou Musard (cf. D Wildenstein).

 

A la suite des grands froids de l'hiver 1879-1880, La Seine entièrement gelée devient soudainement le sujet de prédilection de Claude Monet. Catastrophe naturelle sans précédent, cette "débâcle" fascine l'artiste qui manifeste un intérêt grandissant pour les phénomènes atmosphériques. Les conditions climatiques extrêmes n'empêchent pas l'artiste de travailler sur le vif comme en témoignent ses propos : "Je peignis [...] sur la glace [...]. La Seine était complètement gelée et je m'installai sur le fleuve, m'efforçant de plier mon chevalet d'une manière quelconque. De temps en temps, on m'apportait une bouillote. Mais pas pour les pieds : je n'avais pas froid, c'était pour mes doigts gourds qui menaçaient de laisser échapper le pinceau."

 

Cet hiver d'une exceptionnelle rigueur devient une source d'inspiration fructueuse pour l'artiste qui réalise plusieurs compositions spectaculaires où les effets diffèrent seulement selon l'angle de vue adopté et l'heure choisie : une série de dix-sept toiles de la Seine prise dans les glaces voit ainsi le jour, l'artiste en achevant certaines dans son atelier : La Débâcle, Les Glaçons, L'Hiver près de Lavacourt et "Coucher de Soleil sur la Seine, l'hiver" confirment ainsi la fascination croissante de Monet pour la modification des formes et des couleurs sous l'emprise de la lumière.

 

La facture enlevée de cette composition, le rythme frénétique du geste pictural, la touche fragmentée sont autant d'éléments qui témoignent de la détermination de l'artiste à capter la nature d'une pâleur hivernale et changeante. Les effets de la lumière sur cette nature glaciale aux tonalités froides, préoccupation chère aux impressionnistes, retiennent ici toute l'attention de Monet qui différencie par son pinceau la surface brumeuse de l'eau, le mouvement des blocs de glace, ou encore cette silhouette sombre et solitaire qui semble se libérer de l'emprise des glaces.

 

La Seine est le motif principal de cette composition tout comme celui des autres toiles de cette série : "C'est la Seine qui occupe le premier plan dans toute sa largeur, tandis que pour contrebalancer cette plage horizontale, s'élèvent, à l'arrière plan, des arbres dont les lignes verticales se réfléchissent sur l'eau. Le fleuve charrie les glaçons disloqués dont les facettes brillantes accrochent et renvoient la lumière, fournissant un merveilleux prétexte à l'artiste pour rendre sur la toile des reflets irisés, abordés auparavant sur l'eau, la neige ou encore sur le givre" (cf. Hommage à Claude Monet , Catalogue d'exposition de la Galerie Nationale du Grand Palais, Paris, 1980). Glacé par la rigueur du climat, l'artiste se doit d'immortaliser le plus rapidement possible le spectacle qui s'offre à lui, usant de la dextérité de son pinceau pour saisir le caractère éphémère de cette nature hostile.

 

Ces toiles aux tonalités hivernales, empreintes de douce mélancolie, ont suscité maints commentaires. Selon certains auteurs, elles sont à l'image des préoccupations morales et matérielles qui habitent l'artiste veuf depuis peu. D'autres, y voient la préfiguration de ce qui fera la renommée de Monet estimant que cet agencement de taches colorées, posées sur l'eau, annoncent les Nymphéas de Giverny. Certains enfin considèrent que cet ensemble de toiles aux effets changeants selon les éclairages du jour préfigure les "séries" futures de l'artiste. Enfin, en 1893 durant sa période de Giverny, l'artiste reprend ce thème de la Débâcle, illustrant à quel point celui-ci répond toujours à ses recherches picturales, plus d'une décennie après ses premiers essais près de Lavacourt (cf. Sotheby's).

 

Merci Michelangelo pour la photo :

www.flickr.com/photos/47934977@N03/9065567190/in/photostr...

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the D. R. Congo, Martin Kobler, decorates a peacekeeper from the Beninese battalion during a medal parade ceremony in Kalemie, Katanga province, January 2014. Photo: MONUSCO/Myriam Asmani

 

Le Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo, Martin Kobler, décore un casque bleu du bataillon béninois lors d’une cérémonie de remise de médaille en janvier dernier à Kalemie, province du Katanga. Photo : MONUSCO/Myriam Asmani

El Presidente de la República, Ollanta Humala, se reunió con el gobernador del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, el representante del Gobernador del Estado de Utah, Harvey Scott, y con presidentes y representantes de diversas universidades de Estados Unidos.

Agricultural model that represents a scene showing two oxen pulling a plow driven by a farmer

 

Wood

Dynasty 12 (1991-1783 BC)

 

@Museu_Egipci

 

#Tut

V register of officers and scribes, represented behind the image of Princess Seshseshet / Idu.

 

• V-VI dinastía. Reinados de Unis-Teti.

• Ubicación: Saqqara. Sector norte del Complejo piramidal del rey Unis.

Mastaba de Seshseshet / Idut. Habitación II (B de Macramallah). Pared oeste (7). V registro tras la imagen de la princesa.

• Material:

• Dimensiones:

• Conservación: In situ.

 

BIBLIOGRAFÍA:

 

- Porter and Moss. “Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings”. III. Part 2. (1978), p. 617-619. Pl. LXIII.

 

ENLACES:

 

REFERENCIAS:

 

Texto: Juan Rodríguez Lázaro.

Foto: Juan Rodríguez Lázaro. Tomada el 1 de mayo de 2010.

 

La représentation diplomatique du Panama en France se résume à trois bureaux : le consulat général à Marseille (port Méditerranée), le consulat honoraire à Bordeaux (port Atlantique) et l’ambassade à Paris...

 

Le Panama : un paradis fiscal bien connu pour délivrer des pavillons de complaisance à la sinistre réputation...

Si la plupart des bateaux qui battent pavillon panaméen ne passent pas par le Panama, par le biais de son pavillon de libre immatriculation ou de « complaisance », le Panamá possède la première flotte de marine marchande du monde.

N'importe quel navire, quel que soit son âge, son tonnage et la nationalité du propriétaire, peut demander une immatriculation panaméenne et bénéficier ainsi d'une législation sociale, fiscale et maritime particulièrement "souple".

Créé en 1925 par les Etats-Unis, onze ans après la mise en service du canal, le registre panaméen est géré par l'autorité maritime de Panamá, relayée par une soixantaine de consulats panaméens à travers le monde (à Marseille, par exemple....). Procédure d'enregistrement rapide et peu coûteuse, exonérations fiscales et anonymat (cher aux armateurs très peu scrupuleux) expliquent le "succès" du pavillon.

Selon le guide du Petit Futé sur le Panama (2012-2013), "avec plus de 8 000 navires représentant environ 180 millions de tonnes brutes de marchandises, le registre rapporte à l'Etat Panaméen 60 millions de dollars de droits d'immatriculation et à peu près autant en ressources indirectes (avocats, assurances, hypothèques navales...). En fait, les emplois créés dans le pays sont bien plus nombreux dans le secteur juridique qu'à bord des navires. Les Panaméens ne représentent même pas 1 % des 300 000 marins de toute nationalités qui naviguent sous drapeau panaméen ! Suite aux trop nombreuses catastrophes maritimes impliquant des bateaux mal entretenus arborant des pavillons de complaisance, l'organisation maritime internationale tente de faire pression sur les Etats pour améliorer la sécurité. Le Panama, dont plus du tiers de la flotte a plus de vingt ans, a adopté des mesures importantes en matière de contrôle des navires mais de gros efforts restent à faire."

Le pays est considéré par beaucoup comme un paradis fiscal en raison de l'application du principe de territorialité : seuls les bénéfices réalisés sur le sol panaméen sont imposés, et non ceux réalisés à l'étranger et transférés dans le pays. Le Panamá est aussi devenu l'une des places financières les plus importantes d'Amérique latine avec son centre bancaire international (CBI) créé en 1970, au moment où les pétrodollars abondaient. Le CBI s’est développé grâce à l’utilisation depuis 1904 du dollar étasunien. ainsi qu'à des règles strictes de confidentialité. Aujourd'hui le CBI constitue la 4' place bancaire mondiale et génère 14 % du PIB. Des lois récentes limitant le montant des dépôts d'argent liquide et l'usage de prête-noms ont permis au CBI de sortir des listes noires et grises en matière de blanchiment d'argent. Le blanchiment s’est vraisemblablement déplacé vers le secteur de l'immobilier qui vit aujourd'hui un important mouvement spéculatif....)".

 

Consulado général de Panama. Quai des Belges, Angle de la place Gabriel Peri, drapeau pavillon dans le vent.

The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake in Mazda of Japan and Aston Martin of England. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.

The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (in 1967 with a different body, though). It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965). That car used the Gurney Weslake engine with the special alloy heads made by Weslake.

The car was named the GT (for Grand Touring) with the 40 representing its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large displacement Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 L or 4.0 L.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkIVs, numbered GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname.“

The Ford GT90 was a concept car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was unveiled in January 1995 at the Detroit Auto Show as "the world's mightiest supercar". Claimed performance included a top speed 253 mph (409 km/h) from a 720 hp (537 kW) quad-turbocharged V12 engine, the exhaust of which was claimed to be hot enough to damage the body panels, requiring ceramic tiles similar to those on the space shuttle to prevent this.

The mid-engined car was a spiritual successor to the Ford GT40, taking from it some styling cues, such as doors that cut into the roofline, but little else. All angles and glass, the Ford GT90 was the first Ford to display the company's "New Edge" design philosophy. The GT90 was built around a honeycomb-section aluminum monocoque and its body panels were moulded from carbon fiber.

The GT90 was built by a small team in just over six months and, as a result, borrowed many components from another high profile stablemate—the Jaguar XJ220. The all-round double wishbone suspension and the five-speed manual gearbox came from the Jaguar, while the engine was a siamesed 4.6L DOHC V8 block (from the Lincoln Mark VIII) with 2 cylinders cut off.

The GT90's 48-valve V12 was a six-litre engine which, if Ford had ever produced it in volume, might have produced up to 720 hp (537 kW), thanks to four Garrett AiResearch T2 turbochargers. The engine was based on the Ford Modular engine. Two Lincoln V8 engines each had portions removed, namely the last pair of cylinders from the rear of one engine and the first pair of cylinders from the front of the other engine and the cut down engines were welded together. In total, this yielded a 90-degree V12, with 90.2 mm bore and 77.3 mm stroke.

Jacques Nasser, then a Ford executive and eventually CEO, was very proud of the car, and kept a model of it on his desk, as seen in a documentary on the U.K. television network Channel 4 on the Firestone tire incidents.

In the Top Gear episode first broadcast on October 26, 2003, Jeremy Clarkson stated "I actually drove this and it was horrid. It had a top speed of 40 (mph) and it handled like it was in a cartoon".

 

The flags representing the crew members of Expedition 34/35 are seen at Moscow Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia on December 21, 2012. The Soyuz TMA-07M with Expedition 34/35 crew members, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan two days earlier. The Soyuz crew members will be greeted by Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA and Russian Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Yevgeny Tarelkin, who have lived in the orbital laboratory since October. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

here is a bit of explanation behind that picture; the world has change! so many different way to represent that and I guess I took my personal experience into consideration for that assignment. Once upper the time, the incandescent bulb was our main source of lighting ... and even heating! we used it everywhere; today, our government (Europe, USA or Canada) Banned them; they are basically taking out of the retail store to be replace by CFL (beurk) or LEDs. This is probably my Lighting design profession that orient my brain and make a light bulb bleeding.

In the past, we use to take film photography.... and them the digital came out ... and a bunch of hipster people went back to vintage technology as polaroid or much ore photo analog Photo Booth!. Some hipster geek also develop app that slog digital photo takers to look vintage through filter!

the Third element of my picture is the newspaper. Well 10 years ago when internet became popular everybody announced the end of the newspaper; well today ironically, there is more and more newspaper and the top it of all, they are free!

anyway what I try to show in my shot was that even if the world has change, it is not always for something better, newer and a more advance technology! The world is also looking back in the past!

on Instagram ift.tt/2iMMG11

As beautiful and exotic as the land she represents, Thai Barbie doll is ready to perform a traditional dance, called the Lacon, in her ceremonial costume. Her headdress resembles a golden Wat (temple). Her shiny green cape has golden and red highlights and her multicolored skirt has a golden belt and sash. She has golden bracelets on each arm and her feet are bare, just like a Thai dancer!

Representing Cumberland Motor Services, the erstwhile local operator which was acquired by Stagecoach in 1987, are Leyland Olympian/ Alexander F805 FAO, Leyland Lynx F251 JRM and Bristol VRT PHH 149W (new as KRM 431W). Only the VR ever carried this livery; the other two were delivered new in Stagecoach stripes.

Model "Trailer Tr2b" is build with LEGO® in scale 1:17,5 and motorized using LEGO® Power Functions. It is not build after a specific brand or type of trailer. This build represents the well known typical US style tandem axle drop deck semi-trailer.

The trailer features: solid axle suspension on all axles, three sets of lights, king pin, remotely controlled landing gear and parking break and many details.

Also can you build it yourself. To do so you can buy the building instructions and check the inventory/parts lists!.

 

This specific trailer utilizes the same suspension system on both axles as used for the truck models. In order to connect and disconnect this semi-trailer to and from a semi-truck it has a landing gear installed. The landing gear is remotely operated and when lowered the parking break is enabled the same time. The so called king pin is the pin that actually connects to the truck's fifth wheel. It is also the pivoting point for the truck and trailer combination.

 

It has an all aluminum floor installed which is basically build using modified plates 8 x 8 "with grille. The overall width of the trailer is 18 studs, minus two tiles one on both sides leaves 16 studs for the floor itself. Divid this by two makes eight studs on each side. The studs of these plates make them "sticky", this to prevent the load from sliding and it could further more be used to attach loads. The trailer's total length and both main and upper deck had to be adjusted to the use of these 8 x 8 plates.

Finally the floor/deck is outlined with the decks frame which also holds the "winches" and retroreflective strips.

 

Nigerians protest against fuel subsidy loss at London embassy - 06.01.2012

 

Around 200 Nigerian students and emigres representing "Nigerian Students In Diaspora", "Nigerians In Diaspora" and their supporters protested on 06.01.2012 outside the Nigerian High Commission on Northumberland Avenue against the abolition by the government of Nigerian president Goodwill Jonathan of fuel subsidies which has seen the average price of petrol in Nigeria since January 1st 2012 rocket - with no prior warning - from $0.40 per liter to $0.89 per liter with black market prices as high as $1.25 per liter, which, in a country where the national average wage is around $2 per day, with two-thirds of Nigerians living on less than $1.24 a day and pre-January inflation at 10.5%, is having an immediate negative impact on the cost of living for millions of Nigerians.

 

Transport fares have already increased by 150% causing huge resentment amongst the general population who regard it as a devaluation of the minimum wage, triggering protests in several Southern cities and towns, including Lagos (on January 3rd), Ilorin and Kano (on January 4th) which provoked a violent response from government forces which resulted in several injuries and one death after protesters blocked access to gas stations.

 

The largest producer of oil on the African continent, Nigeria nevertheless lacks the infrastructure to refine oil to make petroleum and so imports $16 billion of fuel a year. The fuel subsidies have been adding a further $7.5 billion to the budget, and the Government - which is accused by activists and Human Rights Watch of squandering and stealing much of the nation's vast oil wealth, leaving very little for health services and education - now claims that this money would be better spent on improving national infrastructure and social programs. Most Nigerians, however, are convinced this is little more than a lie to further enrich the corrupt politicians and government officials at their expense.

 

Speaking earlier this week, Minister of Petrol Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke said "We are looking not in fact at necessarily at subsidy removal, if you want to call it. It is actually a subsidy transfer, because we are looking at the real benefits to the economy and to Nigerians, that can be handed over to Nigerians, that all Nigerians across the spectrum will feel and see from the get go".

 

Following talks in the capital Abuja on Wednesday 4th January Nigeria's two main unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress called for nationwide demonstrations and labour strikes starting on Monday 9th January unless the government restores the subsidy which is, they say, the only tangible benefit that ordinary Nigerians receive from the huge oil wealth flowing through the government's coffers. Despite being quickly labelled as "Hooligans" by the government, the unions say the mass rallies, street protests and general strikes targetting oil production sites, sea and air ports, banks and markets will be peaceful, and have advised ordinary Nigerians to stockpile supplies for their basic needs, including food and water.

 

The tension is further exacerbated by a presidential declaration of a state of emergency in fifteen locations relating to the long-running conflict with Southern militant group Boko Haram who, since 2009, have been attacking the oil industry and government in the North for many years as they demand more oil wealth is shared with the poor communities. The militants had carried out a bombing campaign recently to mark the end of a three-day deadline which Boka Haram had given for Southerners living in Northern Nigeria to move away, and had caused explosions in the Northern cities of Maiduguri and Damaturu, though there were no casualties. In a separate incident gunmen attributed to Boka Harem shot and killed two people in Damaturu, and on Christmas day they infamously bombed a catholic church in the capital, Abuja.

 

Community leader Chief Okoro Samson, a community leader in Delta state, said last week that the rising costs come at a very bad time in Nigeria: “Just take a walk around the city and you know everyone is angry. You risk demonstration in this country and protests are breaking out. You can't contain it because the terrorists, the so-called Boko Haram, will take advantage of it and launch their attacks everywhere,” he said.

 

The fuel subsidy protests continued on Tuesday in Lagos, which has not experienced the attacks of Boko Haram in the north. For many in the south, the enemy is the government of President Jonathan. Seun Kuti - son of legendary musician, the late Fela Kuti - addressing protesters in the southern city of Lagos said this week "Goodwill Jonathan is Nigeria's only terrorist. We cannot agree to this kind of financial IMF terror. Nigeria cannot pay the same price of petrol as Americans. We don't have American minimum wage".

 

Media Contact and General Query:

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And +447438348346

  

All photos © 2012 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my written permission.

Hi-Res versions of these files are available for license on application. NUJ rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Manufactura Musica @ Represent Festival Balingen 2018

 

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Compass tattoos have also represented the ideal of following one’s dreams. It is symbolic of staying your course in life and to not give up no matter how rough things may seem. The compass will guide you where you need to be. While the compass tattoo isn’t the most popular of all of the motivational tattoo designs out there, the message can be pretty clear if the tattoo is done correctly.

While the compass tattoo is not normally thought of as a popular “lucky charm” tattoo, it’s not hard to see why someone might give their tattoo this meaning. It is the type of tattoo you can look at when you have lost your way and use it to turn yourself around. When someone gets the compass tattoo to represent luck, they will usually get additional designs around it to make the meaning a bit more clear.

Compasses give many a sense of security concerning their direction. We trust and understand the magnetic guidance that’s provided by the compass. Others use the compass on their body to symbolize remaining on course when faced with hardship. The compass can also be compared with the North Star as its placement stays reliable and static. The home can be located by a compass as well, and it’s because of this many travelers and adventurers adorn themselves with the compass tattoo. Compass tattoos can be embellished with globes and nautical stars as to adequately portray this meaning. Widely seen as a protective ornament, the compass has for a long time been held in high esteem by many. Military servicemen and women have used it as a symbol of their loyalty and reliance to their branch in the military. It can also be associated with being a religious symbol. As the compass has been entrusted for centuries, it’s an ancient symbol of security and safety. Anchors, axes, boots and seabirds can be used to symbolize a hiking or naval background. The compass can be utilized as a bringer of luck and inspiration. People who get lost can use it to bring themselves inspiration. Since it is a practical tool, the compass is used as a symbol of luck like other practical tools, for example, horseshoes. Because it’s always pointing to the north and never changes, many view it as a beacon of inspiration. In times of urgency or need, we are always inspired by insights and epiphanies and a compass is a good example. A compass without a direction indicator can show a broken compass. One with a wildly spinning arrow can mean confusion or uncertainty. One with a considerable long chain can show attachment to the associated meaning. For instance, a chain connected to a religious item and a compass could indicate that the person gets their direction and guidance from that religion. A broken face plate can mean a lack of dependence on such tools. A compass that’s moldy or water filled can show age or self-reliance.

Tienda ley humaya.

 

Promotora . Karla lobo amado

 

03/02/11.

Representing Realities, one of Humboldt’s Place-Based Learning Communities measure trees in the Arcata Community Forest. To view more photos from Move-in Week, please visit flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3FTk

Nigerians protest against fuel subsidy loss at London embassy - 06.01.2012

 

Around 200 Nigerian students and emigres representing "Nigerian Students In Diaspora", "Nigerians In Diaspora" and their supporters protested on 06.01.2012 outside the Nigerian High Commission on Northumberland Avenue against the abolition by the government of Nigerian president Goodwill Jonathan of fuel subsidies which has seen the average price of petrol in Nigeria since January 1st 2012 rocket - with no prior warning - from $0.40 per liter to $0.89 per liter with black market prices as high as $1.25 per liter, which, in a country where the national average wage is around $2 per day, with two-thirds of Nigerians living on less than $1.24 a day and pre-January inflation at 10.5%, is having an immediate negative impact on the cost of living for millions of Nigerians.

 

Transport fares have already increased by 150% causing huge resentment amongst the general population who regard it as a devaluation of the minimum wage, triggering protests in several Southern cities and towns, including Lagos (on January 3rd), Ilorin and Kano (on January 4th) which provoked a violent response from government forces which resulted in several injuries and one death after protesters blocked access to gas stations.

 

The largest producer of oil on the African continent, Nigeria nevertheless lacks the infrastructure to refine oil to make petroleum and so imports $16 billion of fuel a year. The fuel subsidies have been adding a further $7.5 billion to the budget, and the Government - which is accused by activists and Human Rights Watch of squandering and stealing much of the nation's vast oil wealth, leaving very little for health services and education - now claims that this money would be better spent on improving national infrastructure and social programs. Most Nigerians, however, are convinced this is little more than a lie to further enrich the corrupt politicians and government officials at their expense.

 

Speaking earlier this week, Minister of Petrol Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke said "We are looking not in fact at necessarily at subsidy removal, if you want to call it. It is actually a subsidy transfer, because we are looking at the real benefits to the economy and to Nigerians, that can be handed over to Nigerians, that all Nigerians across the spectrum will feel and see from the get go".

 

Following talks in the capital Abuja on Wednesday 4th January Nigeria's two main unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress called for nationwide demonstrations and labour strikes starting on Monday 9th January unless the government restores the subsidy which is, they say, the only tangible benefit that ordinary Nigerians receive from the huge oil wealth flowing through the government's coffers. Despite being quickly labelled as "Hooligans" by the government, the unions say the mass rallies, street protests and general strikes targetting oil production sites, sea and air ports, banks and markets will be peaceful, and have advised ordinary Nigerians to stockpile supplies for their basic needs, including food and water.

 

The tension is further exacerbated by a presidential declaration of a state of emergency in fifteen locations relating to the long-running conflict with Southern militant group Boko Haram who, since 2009, have been attacking the oil industry and government in the North for many years as they demand more oil wealth is shared with the poor communities. The militants had carried out a bombing campaign recently to mark the end of a three-day deadline which Boka Haram had given for Southerners living in Northern Nigeria to move away, and had caused explosions in the Northern cities of Maiduguri and Damaturu, though there were no casualties. In a separate incident gunmen attributed to Boka Harem shot and killed two people in Damaturu, and on Christmas day they infamously bombed a catholic church in the capital, Abuja.

 

Community leader Chief Okoro Samson, a community leader in Delta state, said last week that the rising costs come at a very bad time in Nigeria: “Just take a walk around the city and you know everyone is angry. You risk demonstration in this country and protests are breaking out. You can't contain it because the terrorists, the so-called Boko Haram, will take advantage of it and launch their attacks everywhere,” he said.

 

The fuel subsidy protests continued on Tuesday in Lagos, which has not experienced the attacks of Boko Haram in the north. For many in the south, the enemy is the government of President Jonathan. Seun Kuti - son of legendary musician, the late Fela Kuti - addressing protesters in the southern city of Lagos said this week "Goodwill Jonathan is Nigeria's only terrorist. We cannot agree to this kind of financial IMF terror. Nigeria cannot pay the same price of petrol as Americans. We don't have American minimum wage".

 

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Representing my trip to Pisa in 2016 is the Palazzo Pretorio which was the Governor's Office.

 

Originally built in the late 18th Century, it has been reconstructed over the years because of damage, so what you see today is generally more recent.

 

The river flowing in the foreground is the Arno which stretches from the Apennines and through Florence.

 

Pisa, Tuscany

25th October 2016

  

20161025 IMG_6201 adj

Cupisnique Culture: stirrup spout bottle representing sacred animals

Formative Period (1250 BC - 1 AD)

Lima: Museo Larco

www.museolarco.org/catalogo/ficha.php?id=43712

 

In early cultures, like Cupisnique, the gods were represented as animals. This stirrup spout bottle represents supernatural feline fangs and wings.

Fifty-seven teams representing U.S. and international military academies and ROTC programs put months of preparation and training to the test during the 48th annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competition April 11-12 at West Point, hosted by the U.S. Military Academy’s Department of Military Instruction. The defending champions from 2013, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, claimed another victory as their Blue squad earned the Reginald E. Johnson Memorial Plaque. The companies of 1st Regiment earned the Sandhurst Trophy with the best aggregate score among the four regiments in the Corps of Cadets. The Company H-3 team won the Sandhurst Streamer as the highest placing team among the 36 competing from the Corps of Cadets. Photo by Mike Strasser/USMA PAO]\

 

Costa Rica Independence Day Parade in San Vito. One of the schools presented children in costumes representing all the provinces of Costa Rica plus "Norteamericanos" (from the USA). Also included was a little girl in her Guaymí costume.

François Clouet, familiarly known as Janet, was the son of the painter Jean Clouet and trained with his father in the active family workshop. The Clouet were originally from the Low Countries, possibly Valenciennes, while Jean Clouet is recorded as working in France from 1516. François succeeded his father as court painter and valet de chambre on Jean’s death in 1541 and continued to serve other members of the house of Valois, including Henry II and Charles IX.While he was particularly noted as a portraitist, François Clouet also produced allegorical and mythological compositions and worked on temporary decorative schemes to celebrate major events. His work features elements derived from the School of Fontainebleau, combined with Italian and German ones, all synthesised through the use of a typically French style. The style of the School of Fontainebleau is particularly evident in one of his most famous works, Lady in the Bath (National Gallery of Art,Washington), while Italian influence is to be seen in one of his finest portraits, that of his friend Pierre Quthe (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Finally, German elements can be detected in his approach to the full-length portrait of Charles IX (Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna).

 

Relatively little is known about the earlier history of the present panel. Before it was acquired for the Villa Favorita in 1957 it is mentioned in a private collection in a château in central France. The painting was unpublished until 1945 when Adhémar included it in his study of 16th-century French genre painting.

Clouet looked to literary sources for his composition, representing three famous figures from the Commedia dell’Arte: the procuress, the lover and the courtesan who is the object of his affections. The latter, depicted nude, is covered with a delicate, almost transparent veil and occupies the centre of the composition with the old procuress holding a letter on the left and the lover on the right. The connections between the figures are emphasised by the interaction of the gazes: the old woman looks at the young man, while he looks at his beloved and she looks directly at the viewer. The treatment of the nude woman’s face and body and the type of courtesan that this figure represents have been compared with the principal figure in a panel now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Her oval face, fine, precise eyebrows, and large, slightly slanting eyes all recall the Washington figure, as does the form of the nose and mouth, the decorative band in the hair and the hairstyle. The man has been compared to the figure of Charles IX in the portrait now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

 

At least two other versions are known of this work, one in a French private collection by an anonymous, late 16th-century artist, with the figures depicted half-length rather than bust-length, as here; and the other in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, that only includes two of the three figures. The present panel has been dated to around 1570 towards the end of the artist’s career.