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How Much is Your Dead Body Worth?
When veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke died in 2004 few suspected that he was yet to uncover his greatest story. What happened to his body as it lay in a funeral home would reveal a story of modern day grave robbery and helped smash a body-snatching ring that had made millions of dollars by chopping up and selling-off over 1000 bodies. Dead bodies have become big business.
Each year millions of people’s lives are improved by the use of tissue from the dead. Bodies are used to supply spare parts, and for surgeons to practice on.
Horizon investigates the medical revolution that has created an almost insatiable demand for body parts and uncovers the growing industry and grisly black market that supplies human bodies for a price.
Demand for body parts fuels booming trade
Like a gallon of gasoline, the price of a human leg is all about supply and demand.
And it’s a seller’s market.
“There’s a lot of money to be made on corpses,” said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the nonprofit Funeral Consumers Alliance. Over the past two decades, the tissue industry has exploded into a billion-dollar business, creating a huge demand for ligaments, tendons, bones and other valuable body parts. But there are simply not enough bodies as companies try to keep pace with an increasing number of procedures that use allografts, or cadaver tissue.
The tissue trade is complicated by a long-standing law that forbids the buying and selling of body parts. The law, however, hasn’t stopped people from doing just that every day.
Here’s how it works. Companies charge fees or “reasonable payments associated with the removal, transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control and storage of a human organ,” according to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984. But these fees are illusory, argues Michele Goodwin, author of “Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts.”
“There’s such a markup that they’re really much more like a payment, not a nominal fee,” she said. “We are talking about business operations that have strict pecuniary interests.”
Money is being made hand (which goes for $350 to $850) over foot ($200 to $400 each), according to the new book “Body Brokers” by Annie Cheney.
But this is an industry unlike others, comprised of a hodgepodge of players, all of them angling to get tissue from the 20,000 people who donate their bodies a year. On one side of the industry sits for-profit companies that process the tissue. On the other, competing nonprofits such as tissue banks that make up the backbone of the industry.
. . . Marketplace dynamics have spurred a race to find suitable donors, and that can lead to trouble. Last year, a New Jersey firm called Biomedical Tissue Services was accused of plundering corpses and selling the parts without donor permission.
BTS has cast a dark shadow over the tissue trade but Goodwin says the case isn’t surprising. She believes there are many more instances of people illegally carving up bodies to fuel a booming trade. It’s supply and demand, she said. “That is how this industry works,” she said. “It’s like needing coal to keep the furnaces going but nobody is asking where the coal is coming from.”
The cost of body parts around the world
Kidneys
Last week, it was widely reported in the US that a suspect in a New Jersey corruption investigation told an undercover officer that he had been trading human organs for 10 years, and that the going price for a kidney was $150,000. It highlighted the notorious and illegal international trade for kidneys, with reports of organs being secured from donors in India and Pakistan for as little as $1,000-$2,000, only to be sold on for huge profit to recipients in the west. In theory, organs such as livers and spleens can also be harvested for saleable material, but reports of this are extremely rare.
I thought I'd take some random people pictures at the park, but this kid was sharp enough to spot me taking his picture!
This is one in a series of test shots of the Tamron 200-500 zoom lens. In total, there are about 40 pictures, and hopefully, you will find these of some value, if you are considering your options for a tele lens for your Nikon DSLR. You can also access this set of test shots from this link:
www.flickr.com/photos/royprasad/sets/72157624364887360/
Nikon D700 + Tamron SP AF 200-500 f/5-6.3 Di LD.
_ND76132
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 23JAN15 - Abdallah bin Bayyah , President, Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, United Arab Emirates captured during the session Securing Open Societies in the congress centre at the Annual Meeting 2015 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 23, 2015.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/Benedikt von Loebell
Secure your place on one of the Cent Cols Challenge 2013 event here --> www.rapha.cc/cent-col-challenge-deposit
The Zoning dept sent me a note to secure the front door; got the house through tax-liens. I let the son of the woman who owned it live there for at least three years (she died) without paying rent, he recently moved out. It smelled like piss inside . . . I didn't see if it had a bathroom or kitchen! (Stupid me!)
UPDATE (June 27, 2009): Got a call from someone interested in buying the house . . . they looked closer and told me it can't be fixed and should be torn down! The City offered to tear it down for me. It's made of adobe, which is hard to restore.
UPDATE (Feb. 22, 2010): Someone started a fire in the house so the City is going to tear it down for free.
UPDATE: The house is no longer there.
Built 1897 for Dr Alexander Stewart Paterson, former Colonial Surgeon, architect Edward John Woods, named “Airlie”, sold by widow to YWCA, re-opened 12 Sep 1913 as girls hostel, in 1984 original residence divided into flats. Now renamed Springhill Lodge.
“A house of 23 rooms is in course of construction in Carrington-street, near East-terrace, for Dr. Paterson (the late Colonial Surgeon), to the design of Mr. E. J. Woods. Every precaution has been taken to secure the stability of this residence. The foundations are of massive cement concrete with a base of Tapley's Hill freestone in cement, and the superstructure is of brick laid in Flemish bond, even in the interior walls. . . The architecture is English of the Elizabethan period, with a broken skyline. There will be balconies and balconettes on three sides, and taken altogether the structure will form one of the finest private residences in the city.” [Advertiser 8 Feb 1897]
“Subsequent to his withdrawal from the control of the lunatic asylums of the State Dr. Paterson went to Europe on holiday trip, and on his return he built the handsome residence in which he lived for the remainder of his life.” [Express & Telegraph 7 Jan 1902]
“A successful garden fete in aid of the Orphan Home, Carrington street, was held on Saturday afternoon, at the residence of Mrs. Stewart Paterson, Airlie, Carrington street.” [Register 15 Dec 1902]
“Mrs. Stewart Paterson and her daughter Mrs. Maclaren are giving an afternoon party at Airlie, Carrington street east.” [Observer 27 May 1905]
“A smart wedding was celebrated at Chalmers Church, North-terrace, on Wednesday, October 10, between Miss Hilda Paterson, daughter of the late Dr. Paterson, and Mrs. A. Stewart Paterson, of 'Airlie', Carrington-street, and Mr. R. R. Black, of Strangways-terrace, North Adelaide, son of the late Mr. W. Black, Victoria.” [Chronicle 13 Oct 1906]
“Mrs. A. S. Patterson entertained a number of friends at an enjoyable garden party at her residence 'Airlie,' Carrington street, Adelaide. . . The many guests spent a pleasant time strolling round the garden, which looked a picture of floral loveliness, the roses being a mass of brilliant colors. . . Afternoon, tea was served in a marquee erected on the lawn, and on small tables prettily adorned with pink and red roses.” [Chronicle 29 Oct 1910]
“The Young Women's Christian Association has purchased the property known as Airlie, on the north side of Carrington street, near East-terrace. It was built by Dr. Paterson, and is still occupied by his widow and family. The house is a commodious structure of two storeys, surrounded by an acre of ground, with lawn, garden, and tennis court. The committee expects to add to the house an extensive annex in the rear, so that the whole will accommodate forty girls. This will be the boarding-home of the association. The present building [Lady Colton Hall] will remain as headquarters, and will be renovated throughout. The removal of the boarding department will relieve the general activities which require the entire building. The plan to build a boarding home adjacent to the present braiding has been abandoned, as sufficient funds had not been secured; also it was deemed preferable to place the boarding-home in a residence street where a garden was possible, and more of a home atmosphere could be maintained. The sum of £3,500 is yet required.” [Advertiser 28 May 1913]
“The two-storied building in Carrington street, recently acquired by the Young Women's Christian Association as a hostel, so as to provide a convenient and desirable, home for girls, and to allow more room for the club work at the headquarters of the institution at Hindmarsh square, was formally opened by Lady Bosanquet.” [Express & Telegraph 12 Sep 1913]
“Y.W.C.A. . . Lady Galway, who is patroness of the association, declared open the Rose Birks wing of the Carrington-street hostel, which is a branch of the association. . . The new wing makes lasting the memory of the late Mrs. Charles Birks, who for years was actively associated with the work of the association, and a brass nameplate on the mantel in the dining-room honors the name of Mrs. W. B. Chinner, who was the first convener of the house committee.” [Advertiser 13 Jun 1914]
“A large gathering assembled at the Y.W.C.A. Hostel, in Carrington street, on Saturday afternoon, when a fete was held in aid of the funds of the institution. The superintendent (Mrs. E. O. Kelsey) personally conducted visitors over the residence, and explained the useful and educational work. Y.W.C.A. efforts were begun in Australia in 1872, and Mrs. Colton was the founder. . . This hostel is really the residential portion of the association, and it meets a great need. Owing to the generosity of the late Mrs. Charles Birks, the late Mr. R. Barr Smith, and others, a large wing was added a few years ago to the original building. Now about 46 girls can be accommodated there. In the present unusual times, when so many girls are taking their brothers' places in business, while those men folk are at the war, the hostel is the more invaluable as a home. These girls board there at reasonable rates, and there are also about 20 University students, and students of other colleges. The hostel is always full, and more accommodation is urgently required.” [Daily Herald 1 Oct 1917]
“The hostel in Carrington street averaged 30 permanent boarders; and in March the Y.W.C.A. Endowment Fund was opened with legacies received from the estates of the late Sir Joseph Verco and Mr. J. W. Grasby.” [News 28 Oct 1935]
“In the 58 years since Mrs. John Colton (later Lady Colton) and Mrs. James Robin formed the nucleus of the Adelaide Y.W.C.A., with a dozen girls whom they taught in Sunday school, and gathered together once a week for social evenings, the association has sponsored many educational, religious and community welfare works. . . The first rooms were taken in Franklin street in 1884. . . Newspaper girls were employed in the streets of Adelaide in 1886, and among these the Y.W.C.A. began its welfare work. . . The first residential accommodation was available to members in 1887, when the association moved to Flinders Chambers. . . Two years later larger rooms in Rundle street were obtained. . . In November, 1900, the Lady Colton Hall was opened. . . The Y.W.CA. residence was established in Carrington street in 1914, and is now the home of 32 girls. Last year more than 200 visitors also stayed at the home.” [Advertiser 7 Jul 1937]
“Y.W.C.A. . . During the last 14 months. 615 persons have been accommodated at the Carrington street hostel, which houses students, business girls, and travelling women and girls.” [Advertiser 16 Aug 1941]
DR A S PATERSON
“PATERSON.—On the 6th January, at his residence, Carrington-street, Alexander Stewart Paterson, M.D., L.R.C.S., aged 66 years.” [Advertiser 7 Jan 1902]
“Dr. Alexander Stewart Paterson. . . received his medical training at Edinburgh University, and came to Australia immediately after he had completed his studies. He became L.R.C.S., Edinburgh, in 1856, and obtained his M.D. degree in the following year. Similar degrees were conferred upon, him by the Melbourne University in 1865, and the Adelaide institution in 1877. In 1863 he was appointed medical officer to the Lunatic Asylum in Victoria, and filled the office with credit for about four years. In April, 1867, he was a successful applicant for the post of Resident Medical Officer of the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum. . . In January, 1870, he was gazetted Colonial Surgeon. . . He also acted as medical officer to the Adelaide Gaol for several years. . . Dr. Paterson married a daughter of the late Dr. Mayo. He has left a widow, five daughters, and two sons. His children are all unmarried.” [Register 7 Jan 1902}
The reimposition of checks at the Schengen area’s internal borders has put one of the greatest and most tangible achievements of the European project at risk, observed most MEPs speaking in a debate with the Commission and the Council on Wednesday. They agreed that, in order to restore the normal functioning of the passport-free zone, the EU’s external borders need to be properly secured.
Read more: www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en
This photo is free to use under Creative Commons licenses and must be credited: "© European Union 2016 - European Parliament".
(Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives CreativeCommons licenses creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu
Contractors secure the Northrop 4A Alpha on a flatbed for transport to the Dulles Collection Center, June 18, 2019. (Smithsonian photo by Jim Preston)
This photo is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use: si.edu/termsofuse.
Luisa Rios is the local coordinator of Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) key partner in the region, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA). “Brazil nuts are one of the most important forest products for export that we’ve got,” she says. “If we want these forests to produce not only today, but for the next 50 years, we need evaluate what is actually happening so that we can improve the best practice guidelines. This can only be done through field research on the ground.”
For the full story see:
www.blog.cifor.org/16627/snakes-thieves-and-falling-nuts-...
Photo by Marco Simola/CIFOR
For more information on CIFOR's research on Brazil nuts in Peru, please contact Manuel Guariguata (mailto:m.guariguata@cgiar.org)
If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org
How can ipad kiosks, iPad lock, iPad Mounts or iPad POS help your business? View more information about ipad security at www.ipadenclosures.com/
Schweiz / Berner Oberland - Jungfraujoch
Aletsch glacier
Aletschgletscher
The Jungfraujoch (German: lit. "maiden saddle") is a saddle connecting two major 4000ers of the Bernese Alps: the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at an elevation of 3,463 metres (11,362 ft) above sea level and is directly overlooked by the rocky prominence of the Sphinx. The Jungfraujoch is a glacier saddle, on the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier, and part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, situated on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch.
Since 1912, the Jungfraujoch has been accessible to tourists by the Jungfrau line, a railway from Interlaken and Kleine Scheidegg, running partly underground through a tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch. The Jungfraujoch railway station, at an elevation of 3,454 metres (11,332 ft) is the highest in Europe. It lies east of the saddle, below the Sphinx station, and is connected to the Top of Europe building, which includes several panoramic restaurants, shops, exhibitions, and a post office. Several tunnels lead outside, where secured hiking trails on the crevassed glacier can be followed, in particular to the Mönchsjoch Hut. The normal route to the Jungfrau and Mönch starts from there.
The Sphinx Observatory, one of the highest astronomical observatories in the world, provides an additional viewing platform at a height of 3,572 metres (11,719 ft), the second-highest in Switzerland. It can be reached by an elevator from the Jungfraujoch. The observatory houses one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric research stations. The Jungfraujoch radio relay station, which is not accessible to the public, is installed west of the Jungfraujoch, on the Jungfrau ridge. It is Europe's highest radio relay station.
Etymology
Swiss and Austro-Bavarian German Joch (lit. 'yoke') is a term for 'ridge between two higher peaks' recorded in the 14th century (Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch "bereits im 14. jahrh. als ortsname: des gotzhus zwing und ban vahet an Rotenhalden und denne die roten bachtalen uf unz an den grat, und den grat obnan hin ob Grüblen hin iemerme, unz an Joch. und ab Joch unz an Stoerben. weisth. 1, 4 (Zürich)").
The name Jungfrau ('maiden, virgin'), which refers to the highest mountain overlooking the Jungfraujoch, is most likely derived from the name Jungfrauenberg given to Wengernalp, so named for the nuns of Interlaken Monastery, its historical owner. However, the "virgin" peak was heavily romanticized as a "goddess" or "priestess" only in late 18th- to 19th-century Romanticism. After the first ascent in 1811 by Swiss alpinist Johann Rudolf Meyer, the peak was jokingly referred to as Mme Meyer (Mrs. Meyer).
Geographic setting
The Jungfraujoch is a snow saddle located directly between the summits of Mathildespitze (west) and Sphinx (east). It is, however, most notably the lowest point between the Jungfrau and the Mönch, respectively third and fourth highest mountains in the Bernese Alps, and the key col of the former. The south side (canton of Valais), almost flat, is constituted by the Jungfraufirn, one of the branches of the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps. From the south, the Jungfraujoch can be relatively easily accessed by mountaineers in two days from the region of Fiesch, via the Konkordia Hut. The north side (canton of Bern) is almost vertical with a difference of height of nearly 3,000 metres from the bottom of the valley at Interlaken, with no easy natural access. For those reasons, the only easy and quick access to the Jungfraujoch is through the 7 kilometre-long tunnel of the Jungfrau Railway, accessed via Kleine Scheidegg on the north side, the railway pass between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.
Administrativelly, the Jungfraujoch is split between the territories of the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen and Fieschertal. Nearly all built infrastructure, including the Jungfraujoch railway station, Top of Europe complex and the Sphinx Observatory, are on the Valais side of the border, therefore in the municipality of Fieschertal. The ridge between the Jungfrau and the Mönch is a major European watershed as well. The north side is drained by the Weisse Lütschine, the Aare and the Rhine. The south side is drained by the Massa and the Rhone.
First crossing
There is a tradition in the Bernese Oberland, supported by some documentary evidence, that a pass existed between Grindelwald and Fiesch in Valais in the late medieval period, later lost to the advancing glaciers. With the early development of tourism in Switzerland and the exploration of the High Alps in the 19th century, there were once again attempts to traverse the great ridge that encloses the head of the Aletsch Glacier, and connecting Fiesch with Grindelwald and Wengernalp. Four such routes were found, with the Jungfraujoch and the Eigerjoch being among the most difficult passes in the Alps, despite the former having a relatively easy southern approach on the Aletsch Glacier.
The first ascent of the north side of the Jungfraujoch succeeded in July 1862, by a party of six English climbers and six Swiss guides: Leslie Stephen, F. J. Hardy, H. B. George, Living, Moore, and Morgan, with Christian Almer, Christian and Peter Michel, Ulrich Kauffmann, P. Baumann, and C. Bohren as guides. The time of ascent from Wengernalp was nine hours.
The party turned back on the first day at a bergschrund, returning on the following day with a ladder 25 ft (7.6 m) in length, carried by Peter Rubi, a porter from Grindelwald. The way lay at first by the rocky buttress of the Mönch, separating the Eiger and Guggi glaciers. From the buttress the route descended a short distance in order to reach the Guggi Glacier, which could be ascended to a plateau. This halting place was reached in about three hours.
Above the bergschrund was a second and smaller plateau which was situated immediately under the long slopes of broken neve that lay below the saddle. The final and very arduous stage in the ascent was a single patch of dark rocks jutted out from the snow in the ridge connecting the Jungfrau with the Mönch. After more than an hour of climbing, a great wall of ice, whose projecting cornice of snow was fringed by long icicles, had to be avoided bearing left in the direction of the Mönch, along the base of the wall by a slippery pathway of ice formed from the dripping from the icicles above. At a point where the pathway thinned out nearly to a point, and was cut across by a transverse crevasse, the wall became low enough to be scaled by the ladder. This was the last serious obstacle: a moderate slope of névé, unbroken by crevasses, then led up to the summit of the saddle.
After reaching the first patch of rocks, a short way below the saddle on the south side, the party divided: George and Moore, with C. Almer and U. Kaufmann went down to the Eggishorn and Fiesch, therefore completing the first crossing of the Jungfraujoch, while the remainder of the party returned to Grindelwald by the Mönchsjoch.
Jungfrau Railway
History
Adolf Guyer-Zeller first thought of the idea of a tunnel in 1893, and at that point, he had planned to have seven stations inside the tunnel before reaching the peak of the Sphinx. The building of the tunnel started on July 27, 1896 and took 16 years to complete.[6] The construction phase was troubled by many problems including monetary shortages, inclement weather and mounting deaths due to construction accidents. The worst accident occurred in 1908, when 30 tons of dynamite accidentally exploded.
When construction finally finished, the railway reached only to the height of the Jungfraujoch saddle, rather than the summit of the Sphinx, and had only two intermediate stations. However, even in its current state, the Jungfraubahn is a significant achievement in engineering and construction, still holding the title for highest railway in Europe.
Railway
The train into the mountain leaves from Kleine Scheidegg, which can be reached by trains from Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The train enters the tunnel running eastward through the Eiger shortly after leaving Kleine Scheidegg.
It runs close behind the Eiger's north face, stopping at Eigerwand, where there is a window about 8 m long and a metre high, halfway up the face. The windows have been placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction, and are also occasionally used as access points, by climbers, and also rescue parties. This window was used for one of the final scenes of a Clint Eastwood spy movie, The Eiger Sanction. There one can get off the train to admire the view before the train continues five minutes later. The tunnel then turns west, heading towards the Jungfrau. There is a second stop at a window looking out on the Eismeer ("Sea of Ice") before the train continues to the Jungfraujoch. The tunnel was constructed between 1898 and 1912; it is about 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) long, with gradients of up to 25%. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer; the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.
The Jungfraujoch complex plays an important role in John Christopher's The Tripods novels.
Climate
Located above the permanent snow line, the Jungfraujoch is officially the coldest place in Switzerland, although other higher locations with no weather station, for example the top of the nearby Jungfrau and Finsteraarhorn, probably experience a more extreme climate. According to Köppen climate classification, the Jungfraujoch has an alpine climate on the border between tundra climate (ET) and ice cap climate (EF) with long, cold winters lasting most of the year and a brief period during summer where the average daily highs rise above freezing.
(Wikipedia)
The Aletsch Glacier (German: Aletschgletscher, German pronunciation: [ˈalɛtʃˌɡlɛtʃɐ]) or Great Aletsch Glacier (Grosser Aletschgletscher) is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about 23 km (14 mi) (2014), has about a volume of 15.4 km3 (3.7 cu mi) (2011), and covers about 81.7 km2 (31.5 square miles) (2011) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. The Aletsch Glacier is composed of four smaller glaciers converging at Konkordiaplatz, where its thickness was measured by the ETH to be still near 1 km (3,300 ft). It then continues towards the Rhône valley before giving birth to the Massa. The Aletsch Glacier is – like most glaciers in the world today – a retreating glacier. As of 2016, since 1980 it lost 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) of its length, since 1870 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi), and lost also more than 300 metres (980 ft) of its thickness.
The whole area, including other glaciers is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
Geography
The Aletsch Glacier is one of the many glaciers located between the cantons of Bern and Valais on the Bernese Alps located east of the Gemmi Pass. The whole area is considered to be the largest glaciated area in western Eurasia. The Fiescher and Aar Glaciers lying on the east have similar extensions.
Except the Finsteraarhorn, all the highest summits of the Bernese Alps are located within the drainage basin of the glacier. The Jungfrau and Mönch constitute the northern boundary; the Gross Fiescherhorn and Gross Wannenhorn lie on its east side; finally the culminating point, the Aletschhorn (4,193 m (13,757 ft)) is located on the west side.
Before reaching the maximum flow, four smaller glaciers converge at Konkordiaplatz:
From the western mouth flows the Grosser Aletschfirn, which runs along the northern foot of the Aletschhorn and Dreieckhorn. The Grosser Aletschfirn is supplied from the north by three notable firns: the Äbeni Flue-Firn, the Gletscherhornfirn, and the Kranzbergfirn. All of these firns have their starting points at around 3,800 m (12,500 ft). From the Äbeni Flue-Firn to the Konkordiaplatz, the Grosser Aletschfirn is 9 km (5.6 mi) long and is on average about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) wide. On the west, the Grosser Aletschfirn connects with the Langgletscher over the 3,158 m (10,361 ft) high glacier pass, the Lötschenlücke, into the Lötschental.
From the northwestern mouth flows the Jungfraufirn. This firn in fact represents the straight continuation of the Aletsch Glacier, yet is the shortest of the four tributary glaciers. It has its origin on the southern flank of the Mönch and at the eastern flank of the Jungfrau with the Jungfraujoch in-between. Up to the Konkordiaplatz, the Jungfraufirn is a scarce 7 km (4.3 mi) long, and returns to flank the Kranzberg in the west and the Trugberg in the east. At its highest point, it is 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, and further down it is still a good 1 km (0.62 mi) wide.
From the northern mouth flows the Ewigschneefäld ("Eternal snow field"), where its starting point takes the east flank of the Mönch. In an elbow, it flanks from Trugberg in the west and the Gross Fiescherhorn and Grünhorn in the east, flowing on to the Konkordiaplatz. Up to here, it is about 8 km (5.0 mi) long and averages about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) wide.
The mouth at the Konkordiaplatz it follows over a rise with a descent from 25 to 30 percent; here, the glacier is sharply split. Against the north is the Ewigschneefäld over the snow-covered pass of the Unners Mönchsjoch (3,518 m (11,542 ft)), connected with the catchment area of the Ischmeer (Wallis German for "Ice Sea"). Through the Obere Mönchsjoch (3,624 m (11,890 ft)) between the Mönch and the Trugberg stands a connection to the Jungfraufirn.
From the east, the smallest firn arrives at the Konkordiaplatz: the Grüneggfirn. Its northern arm begins below the Grünegghorn (3,860 m (12,660 ft)). The southern arm collects its snow and ice in the pot flanked by the Wyssnollen, Fiescher Gabelhorn (3,866 m (12,684 ft)), and the Chamm. Between the peaks Wyssnollen and Grünhörnli another glacier pass, the Grünhornlücke (3,279 m (10,758 ft)), connects to the Fieschergletscher. The Grüneggfirn enters the Konkordiaplatz in a gap between the mountainsides Grünegg to the north and the Fülberg to the south. On the western side of the Fülberg the Konkordia hut (mountain hut) overlooks the whole Konkordiaplatz at an altitude of 2,850 m (9,350 ft).
South of Konkordiaplatz, the glacier runs towards the valley of the Oberwallis (Upper Valais); on the east side, near Bettmeralp, lies a small glacier lake, Märjelensee (2,301 m (7,549 feet)); from the western side used to enter the Mittelaletschgletscher, but since the end of the 20th century the connection with the Aletsch Glacier has been lost. Further down, until about 1880, the Oberaletschgletscher did also enter the Aletsch Glacier at its mouth. But since then both glaciers have been retreating so far that they do not connect anymore (the Upper Aletsch Glacier did retreat about 1.3 km (0.81 mi) from its connecting point with the Aletsch Glacier), but both serve now only as the source of the river Massa. The river flows through the Lake Gibidum (a reservoir, and coincidentally representing the glacier's mouth region in the 19th century, which is a retreat of more than 4 km (2.5 mi)) and a gorge of the same name before reaching the Rhône near Brig.
Tourism
The area of the Aletsch Glacier and some surrounding valleys is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, thus it is protected and the facilities are mostly restricted to the external zones. The region between Belalp, Riederalp and Bettmeralp (which is called Aletsch Region) in Valais gives access to the lower part of the glacier. The Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn are popular view points and are accessible by cable car. The Massa river can be crossed since 2008 by a suspension bridge, thus allowing hikes between the left and the right part of the glacier.
The Jungfraujoch railway station (3,450 m) gives a direct access to the upper Aletsch Glacier as well as the normal route to the Jungfrau. It can be reached only from Interlaken in the canton Bern. Hiking paths pass the Konkordia Hut or the Hollandia Hut, eventually reaching other glaciers in the massif.
On the Riederfurka, at 2,065 metres between Riederalp and the glacier, is located the historic Villa Cassel, former summer residence of many famous and influential guests from the worlds of politics and finance. The house is now one of the centers of the environmental organization Pro Natura, which hosts a permanent exhibition about the site.
Panorama
Also at the mouth of the Konkordiaplatz from the east is the small but important Grüneggfirn (3 km long and averaging 600 m wide). This firn is connected in the over the glacier pass Grünhornlücke (3280 m high) to the Fiescher Glacier in the east.
From the Konkordiaplatz, the Aletsch Glacier has a width of approximately 1.5 km and moves at a rate of 180 m per year to the southeast on course with the Rhône valley, bordering the Dreieckhorn in the west and the great Wannenhorn in the east. It then takes a great right turn and bends ever closer to the southwest, running through the edge of the Eggishorn and Bettmerhorn of the Rhône valley. The lowest part of the great Aletsch Glacier is largely covered with detritus of the lateral and medial moraines. The glacier's toe currently lies about 1560 m high, far beneath the local tree line. From it springs the Massa stream, which flows through the Massa Canyon and is used to generate hydroelectric power. It continues through the upper half of the Brig, eventually entering into the Rhône.
The great Aletsch Glacier shows considerable ice cover. At the Konkordiaplatz, it has an ice cover of more than 900 m, but as it moves to the south, the greater part of the ice melts, gradually decreasing the cover to around 150 m.
The characteristically dark medial moraine, situated almost in the middle of the glacier, runs protracted in two bands from the Konkordiaplatz along the whole length to the glacier's toe-zone. This medial moraine is collected from the ice of three large ice fields, which all run together. The westernmost medial moraine has been named the Kranzbergmoräne, and the easternmost carries the name Trugbergmoräne.
Formation and evolution
The Aletsch Glacier resulted from the accumulation and compaction of snow. Glaciers generally form where snow and ice accumulation exceed snow and ice melt. As the snow and ice thicken it reaches a point where it begins to move due to a combination of gravity and pressure of the overlying snow and ice.
During the last glacial periods, the Aletsch Glacier was much larger than now. 18,000 years ago the lower part of the ridge, between Riederalp and the glacier, was completely covered by ice. Only the summits of the Bettmerhorn, Eggishorn and the Fusshörner were above the glacier. After an important retreat, the glacier again advanced 11,000 years ago during the last glacial period. The glacier reached the Rhône valley, and its ice the Riederfurka. Remaining moraines are still visible in the Aletsch Forest.
Since the last glaciation, the glacier generally retreated. However slight climatic changes happened and, in 1860, the glacier was 3 km longer and the ice level 200 m higher.
As for many other glaciers, records show a major longer-term retreat trend. The Aletsch Glacier receded by 3.2 km (2.0 mi) since 1870, including 1.3 km (0.81 mi) since 1980.[6] A record retreat of 114.6 metres (376 ft) happened in 2006 alone.
Since the end of the Little Ice Age in 1850 the glacier has lost 20 percent of its ice mass, considerably less than other glaciers in Switzerland, which have lost up to 50 percent. This is explained with the large size of the Aletsch Glacier, which reacts much slower to climate change than smaller glaciers. It is however estimated that, by 2100, the glacier will have only one tenth of its 2018 ice mass.
Photo opportunity
On August 18, 2007, photographer Spencer Tunick used hundreds of naked people in a "living sculpture" on the Aletsch Glacier in a photo shoot which he said was intended to draw attention to global warming and the shrinking of the world's glaciers. The temperature was about 10 °C (50 °F) at the time of the photo shoot. The 600 participants on the shrinking glacier said that they had volunteered for Tunick (a collaboration with Greenpeace) to let the world know about the effects of global warming on the melting Swiss glaciers.
(Wikipedia)
Das Jungfraujoch ist mit 3466 m ü. M. der tiefste Punkt im Verbindungsgrat zwischen dem Mönch und der Jungfrau in den Berner Alpen, auf der Grenze zwischen den Kantonen Bern und Wallis. Das Joch ist weit und stark überfirnt. Aufgrund der auch dort stattfindenden Gletscherschmelze sinkt es jedes Jahr im Schnitt einige Dezimeter ab. Es gehört zu den bedeutendsten Reisezielen in der Schweiz. Etwa 1 Million Touristen (Stand 2018) fahren jährlich zum höchstgelegenen Bahnhof Europas.
Umgebung
In der Umgebung des Jungfraujochs befinden sich einige Viertausender der Berner Alpen. Im Nordosten befinden sich der Mönch (4107 m ü. M.) sowie der Eiger (3967 m ü. M.) und im Südwesten die Jungfrau (4158 m ü. M.). Im Süden des Jungfraujochs ist hinter dem Konkordiaplatz das Aletschhorn zu sehen. 200 Meter westlich befindet sich auf dem Grat zur Jungfrau die 3557 Meter hohe Mathildespitze, etwa 600 Meter östlich des Jochs erhebt sich die Sphinx, eine markante kleine Spitze mit einer Höhe von 3571 Metern. Sie trägt eine Aussichtsplattform und ein wissenschaftliches Observatorium (Sphinx-Observatorium). In ihrem Innern befindet sich auf 3454 Metern Höhe die Endstation der Jungfraubahn. Diese Station ist der höchstgelegene Bahnhof Europas (daher der Beiname Top of Europe). Durch einen Stollen gelangt man von hier aus auf die Walliser Seite und zum Aletschgletscher. Der schnellste Aufzug der Schweiz führt auf den Gipfel der Sphinx. Ein im Sommer üblicherweise für Spaziergänger präparierter Weg führt vom Jungfraujoch zur Mönchsjochhütte. Beim Jungfraujoch selbst gibt es für Besucher keine Übernachtungsmöglichkeit. Die Stollen werden nachts verschlossen, so dass auch freies Biwakieren nicht möglich ist.
Passübergang
Als Übergang für Fuss- oder Skitouristen vom Berner Oberland ins Wallis oder umgekehrt besitzt das Jungfraujoch praktisch keine Bedeutung. Der Weg vom Wallis über den Aletschgletscher hinauf ist – von der Spaltengefahr im Jungfraufirn abgesehen – leicht. Der Aufstieg vom Berner Oberland her ist jedoch eine beschwerliche Hochtour (Steileis, G 5-6, zeitweise unmöglich).
Erschliessung
Seit dem 1. August 1912 ist das Jungfraujoch durch die Jungfraubahn erschlossen. Von Grindelwald oder Lauterbrunnen erreicht man mit der Wengernalpbahn die Station Kleine Scheidegg. Diese Station auf 2061 m ü. M. ist die „Talstation“ der Jungfraubahn. Von hier aus muss die Jungfraubahn 9,34 Kilometer bezwingen, davon verlaufen die letzten 7,32 km unterirdisch, bis sie am Jungfraujoch ankommt. Die unterirdische Endstation auf 3454 m ü. M. ist der höchste Bahnhof Europas. Auf ihrem Weg hält die Bahn an zwei Stationen: Eigergletscher (2320 m) und Eismeer (3158 m). Seit dem 11. Dezember 2016 wird die Station Eigerwand (2864 m) nicht mehr bedient.
Bauten und Anlagen
Seit 1912, mit der Eröffnung der Jungfraubahn, wird für das Wohlergehen der Besucher auf dem Jungfraujoch gesorgt. Mehrere Restaurants, aber auch spezielle Aussichtsplattformen und Erlebnisse wurden eigens dafür geplant und realisiert.
Restaurants
Bereits bei der Eröffnung weihte man das provisorische „Touristenhaus“ mit dem höchstgelegenen Restaurant Europas ein. Mit seiner Eröffnung in 1924 ergänzte das neue „Berghaus Jungfraujoch“ – mit Giebeldach und in die Felswand gebaut – dieses Touristenhaus. Es wurde als „Das Haus über den Wolken“ bekannt. Im Erdgeschoss befanden sich eine geräumige Wartehalle mit geheiztem Fussboden, Bahn- und Postschaltern und ein Bazar. Besonders ins Auge stach die „Walliserstube“, die mit der Arvenholztäfelung und Anwendung von Naturstein eine besondere Charakteristik erhielt. Gäste aus aller Welt übernachteten in einem der 18 gemütlichen, holzgetäfelten Schlafzimmer mit Waschbecken und Krügen auf dem Nachttisch. Auf der Aussichtslaube stand man am Ursprung des längsten und grössten zusammenhängenden Gletschers der Alpen, dem Aletschgletscher. 1972 wütete im Berghaus ein Feuer mit erheblichen Folgen: Lediglich das Bahnbüro, die Perronanlage in der rückwärtigen Felsenkaverne sowie die Forschungsstation konnten vor dem Feuer geschützt werden. Nach dem Unglück lud die Jungfraubahn Architekten zu einem Wettbewerb ein, ein neues Gebäude zu entwerfen. Der Gewinner war Ernst E. Anderegg mit dem im Hang eingefügten „Top of Europe“, das 1987 eingeweiht wurde.
Sphinx-Observatorium und Forschungsstation
Bereits vor Baubeginn der Jungfraubahn war die Einrichtung eines Observatoriums und einer meteorologischen Forschungsstation vom Gründer der Bahn, Adolf Guyer-Zeller, geplant. 1931 konnten die Laboratorien für Meteorologie, Glaziologie, Strahlungsforschung, Astronomie, Physiologie und Medizin auf (3571 m ü. M.) mit einem Felsenheim für 13 Forscher eingeweiht werden. 1937 wurde das Sphinx-Observatorium bezogen. 1950 wurde dem Observatorium die Kuppel für astronomische Beobachtungen aufgesetzt, die seither immer wieder den modernsten Erfordernissen der Wissenschaft angepasst wird. Das Forschungsgebäude selbst ist nicht zu besichtigen.
Unterhalb des Sphinx-Observatoriums und östlich des Bahnhofs und der Restaurants befindet sich die Hochalpine Forschungsstation, eine an die Universität Bern angegliederte Forschungseinrichtung der International Foundation High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat. Die Gästezimmer der Forschungsstation sind die einzige Übernachtungsmöglichkeit auf dem Jungfraujoch, aber nur Wissenschaftlern und den Betreuern vorbehalten.
Das Observatorium ist mit einem 111,4 Meter langen Lift erschlossen. Die Aussichtsplattform bietet den Besuchern bei schönem Wetter einen Ausblick bis in die Nachbarländer Frankreich, Deutschland und Italien. 1993 wurde die Sphinx für die Besucher renoviert. Drei Jahre waren nötig, um sie gemeinsam mit der schnellsten Liftanlage der Schweiz, der verglasten Aussichtshalle und der rund um das Gebäude verlaufenden Terrasse fertigzustellen.
Eispalast
Zwei Bergführer begannen in den 30er Jahren eine gewaltige Halle aus dem Gletschereis zu schneiden. In Handarbeit, mit Eispickel und Säge, entstand ein 1'000 Quadratmeter grosses Labyrinth – der Eispalast. Das 1934 begonnene Werk ist nie vollendet worden. Durch die Ausdünstung der tausenden Besucher muss die Grotte auf minus drei Grad künstlich klimatisiert werden. Die Decken und das Gewölbe der Gänge müssen regelmässig nachgehauen werden. 1992 bekam der Eispalast einen neuen Zugang und ist seit 2002 durch den Ice-Gateway erreichbar.
Post
Auf dem Jungfraujoch liegt auch das höchstgelegene Postbüro Europas mit der eigenen Postleitzahl 3801. Obwohl die Postleitzahl gemäss Schweizerischer Post dem Kanton Wallis zugewiesen ist, so befindet sie sich dennoch im Zahlengebiet 38xx der im Tal liegenden Gemeinden des Kantons Bern.
Richtstrahlstation Ostgrat
Am Ostgrat der Jungfrau auf nicht ganz 3700 Meter Höhe befand sich die 2011 abgebaute Richtstrahlstation Ostgrat. Vom Jungfraujoch führen eine teilweise durch den Gletscher geführte Stollenbahn sowie eine einspurige Standseilbahn zur Anlage. In der Mitte der Standseilbahnstrecke befindet sich eine Zwischenstation, welche für Forschungszwecke genutzt wird. Es existieren dort Photovoltaik-Testanlagen.
Versorgung
Die intensive Sonnenstrahlung bietet sich zur Energienutzung an. So wird die tagsüber einfallende Wärme für die Nacht gespeichert. Aber auch die zahlreichen sonst kaum beachteten Wärmequellen – von Lampen über Elektrogeräte bis zur Körperwärme der anwesenden Personen – werden in die Regulierung der Raumtemperatur einbezogen. So gibt es im gesamten Berghaus keinen Heizkörper. Sogar wenn die Sonne nicht scheint und die Aussentemperatur bei minus 30 °C liegt, kann tagsüber auf zusätzliche Heizungen verzichtet werden. Nur nachts wird über die Lüftungsanlage mit elektrischer Energie so viel Wärme zugeführt, dass eine Raumtemperatur von mindestens 18 °C erhalten bleibt.
Brauchwasser wird aus Schnee gewonnen und aufbereitet. In Trockenperioden muss es nach wie vor mit Zisternenwagen auf der Schiene von der Kleinen Scheidegg heraufgebracht werden. Für das Jahr 2012 ist ein neues Projekt geplant, bei dem das Wasser durch Leitungen von der Kleinen Scheidegg mit Druckluft hinauf auf das Jungfraujoch gepumpt wird. Somit können die Zisternentransporte reduziert werden.
Das Abwasser lässt sich nicht mehr in den Gletscherschrund einleiten. Deshalb wurde eine 9,4 Kilometer lange Abwasserleitung ins Tal installiert. Sämtliche Abwässer aus Küchen, Unterkünften und Toiletten können auf diese Weise umweltfreundlich entsorgt werden.
Klima
Auf dem Jungfraujoch herrschen extreme Klimabedingungen. Die mittlere Jahrestemperatur beträgt −6,7 °C mit Schwankungen von −37 °C bis +13 °C. Die Windgeschwindigkeit kann bis zu 260 km/h betragen. Die Sonne scheint jährlich durchschnittlich 1773 Stunden. Zu jeder Jahreszeit muss mit starken Vereisungen, Schneefall und Lawinen gerechnet werden. Die Messstation von MeteoSchweiz liegt auf einer Höhe von 3571 m ü. M.
Tiere
Bis zum Jahr 2009 waren auf dem Gletscher täglich 25 Polarhunde im Einsatz. Auf einer präparierten Piste (rund 500 Meter lang) zogen die Hunde Schlitten mit Besuchern, waren aber auch für Postsendungen und Lebensmitteltransporte von Wengen zum Eigergletscher im Einsatz. Das Rudel galt als das meistfotografierte Motiv auf dem Jungfraujoch.
Für Ornithologen ist die Hochgebirgsregion interessant, da verschiedene Vogelarten zum Teil auch überwintern. Der Schneefink beispielsweise nistet und schläft in den schroffen Felswänden und findet bei den Behausungen der Forscher Futter.
(Wikipedia)
Der Grosse Aletschgletscher ist der flächenmässig grösste und längste Gletscher der Alpen. Er befindet sich auf der Südabdachung der Berner Alpen im Schweizer Kanton Wallis. Die Länge des Gletschers beträgt 22,6 km, die Fläche wird mit 78,49 km² angegeben. Der Aletschgletscher entwässert über die Massa in die Rhone. Die Fläche des gesamten Einzugsgebiets der Massa beträgt 195 km², wovon 1973 etwa zwei Drittel vergletschert waren. Oft werden bei der Flächenangabe der Ober- und Mittelaletschgletscher einbezogen, da diese früher mit dem Grossen Aletschgletscher verbunden waren. Die gesamte vergletscherte Fläche einschliesslich dieser Gletscher betrug 1973 etwa 128 km², für das Jahr 1863 wird eine Fläche von 163 km² angenommen.
Ursprung am Konkordiaplatz
Der Ursprung des Grossen Aletschgletschers liegt in der rund 3800 m hoch gelegenen Jungfrau-Region. Am Konkordiaplatz (♁645905 / 150101), einer 6 km² grossen und nur wenig geneigten Eisfläche, fliessen drei mächtige Firnströme zusammen:
Von Westen mündet der Grosse Aletschfirn, der entlang dem Nordfuss von Aletschhorn und Dreieckhorn fliesst. Der Grosse Aletschfirn wird von Norden her durch drei weitere bedeutende Firne gespeist, nämlich durch den Ebnefluhfirn, den Gletscherhornfirn und den Kranzbergfirn. Alle diese Firne nehmen ihren Ausgangspunkt auf rund 3800 m ü. M. Einschliesslich des Ebnefluhfirns hat der Grosse Aletschfirn bis zum Konkordiaplatz eine Länge von 9 km und ist durchschnittlich fast 1,5 km breit. Gegen Westen ist der Grosse Aletschfirn über den 3173 m ü. M. hohen Gletscherpass der Lötschenlücke mit dem Langgletscher verbunden, der ins Lötschental abfliesst.
Von Nordwesten mündet der Jungfraufirn, der zwar die gerade Fortsetzung des Aletschgletschers darstellt, jedoch der kürzeste der drei Tributärgletscher ist. Er hat seinen Ursprung an der Südflanke des Mönchs, am Jungfraujoch und an der Ostflanke der Jungfrau. Bis zum Konkordiaplatz legt der Jungfraufirn eine Wegstrecke von knapp 7 km zurück und wird dabei im Westen vom Kranzberg, im Osten vom Trugberg flankiert. Er ist in seinem oberen Teil 2 km, weiter unten noch gut 1 km breit.
Von Norden mündet das Ewigschneefeld, das seinen Ausgangspunkt an der Ostflanke des Mönchs nimmt und in einem Bogen, flankiert vom Trugberg im Westen sowie dem Gross Fiescherhorn und dem Grünhorn im Osten, zum Konkordiaplatz fliesst. Bis hierher ist es ungefähr 8 km lang und durchschnittlich 1,2 km breit. Die Mündung in den Konkordiaplatz erfolgt über einen Steilhang mit einem Gefälle von 25 bis 30 %; der Gletscher ist hier stark zerklüftet. Gegen Norden ist das Ewigschneefeld über den firnbedeckten Pass des Unteren Mönchsjochs (3529 m ü. M.) mit dem Einzugsgebiet des Unteren Grindelwaldgletschers verbunden. Durch das Obere Mönchsjoch (3627 m ü. M.) zwischen dem Mönch und dem Trugberg besteht eine Verbindung zum Jungfraufirn. Ferner mündet am Konkordiaplatz von Osten noch der wesentlich kleinere Grüneggfirn (3 km lang und durchschnittlich 600 m breit). Dieser ist nach Osten über den Gletscherpass der Grünhornlücke (3280 m ü. M.) mit dem Fieschergletscher verbunden.
Weiterer Verlauf
Vom Konkordiaplatz aus bewegt sich der Eisstrom mit einer Breite von ungefähr 1,5 km und mit einer Geschwindigkeit von bis zu 180 Metern pro Jahr nach Südosten in Richtung Rhonetal, gesäumt vom Dreieckhorn im Westen und dem Gross Wannenhorn im Osten. Er zeichnet dann eine grosse Rechtskurve und biegt immer mehr nach Südwesten ab, nun durch den Grat des Eggishorns und Bettmerhorns vom Rhonetal getrennt. Der unterste Teil des Grossen Aletschgletschers ist weitgehend durch das Geschiebematerial von Seiten- und Mittelmoränen bedeckt. Die Gletscherzunge liegt derzeit auf rund 1'560 Meter Höhe, weit unterhalb der lokalen Waldgrenze. Aus ihr entspringt der Bach Massa, welcher nach der Massaschlucht und einer Nutzung in einem Wasserkraftwerk, in Bitsch, oberhalb von Naters, in die Rhone (Rotten) fliesst.
Der Grosse Aletschgletscher weist beachtliche Eisdicken auf. Am Konkordiaplatz hat der Gletscher eine Eisdicke von mehr als 900 Metern, gegen Süden nimmt die Mächtigkeit des Eises allmählich auf rund 150 m ab. Charakteristisch sind die beiden dunklen, fast in der Mitte des Aletschgletschers gelegenen Moränenspuren, welche sich ab dem Konkordiaplatz auf der gesamten Länge bis in den Zungenbereich hinziehen. Es sind die Mittelmoränen, die das Eis der drei Hauptfirne voneinander trennen. Die westliche Mittelmoräne wird auch Kranzbergmoräne genannt, die östliche trägt den Namen Trugbergmoräne.
Gletscherschwankungen
In seinem Hochstadium während der Kleinen Eiszeit um die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts erstreckte sich der Grosse Aletschgletscher noch rund 2,5 km weiter talabwärts. Aufgrund der allgemeinen Erwärmung seit etwa 1870 hat er besonders unterhalb des Konkordiaplatzes massiv an Volumen eingebüsst und sowohl an den Seiten als auch im Zungenbereich Flächen von mehreren Quadratkilometern freigegeben. Der einstmalige, in der Neuzeit höchste Gletscherstand kann gut an den noch fast vegetationslosen Seitenmoränen abgeschätzt werden. Seit 1850 hat die Eisdicke um teilweise über 100 m abgenommen. Früher waren auch die Eisströme des Oberaletschgletschers und des Mittelaletschgletschers direkt mit dem Grossen Aletschgletscher verbunden.
In der Senke zwischen dem Strahlhorn und dem Eggishorn liegt der Märjelensee, der im 19. Jahrhundert beim Gletscherhochstand zu einem Gletscherrandsee aufgestaut wurde. Seine wiederholten plötzlichen Ausbrüche durch Gletscherspalten verursachten immer wieder starke Schadenshochwasser der Massa hin zum Rhonetal.
Gegen kurzfristige Klimaschwankungen ist der Gletscher aufgrund seiner grossen Masse relativ immun. Während viele andere Gletscher Ende der 1970er Jahre bis Anfang der 1980er Jahre vorstiessen, reagierte der Aletschgletscher auf die vorübergehende Abkühlung kaum – ebenso wenig wie auf die warmen Jahre seit 1983. Aufgrund der zunehmend extremen Hitze der letzten Jahre zieht er sich aber nun doch – wie alle übrigen Alpengletscher – deutlich verstärkt zurück.
Die relative Trägheit in seinen Reaktionen auf Klimaschwankungen macht den Aletschgletscher auch zu einem idealen Untersuchungsobjekt zur Erforschung der Klimaentwicklung im Alpenraum. Die Längenschwankungen des Aletschgletschers in der Vergangenheit dürften sogar eine Rekonstruktion aller grösseren Klimaveränderungen der letzten 3200 Jahre erlauben. Die Bestimmung der verschiedenen Längenstadien des Aletschgletschers in der Vergangenheit erfolgt durch die Radiokohlenstoffdatierung fossiler Baumstämme, die der Gletscher bei einem früheren Vorstoss einmal überfahren haben muss und nun während seines aktuellen Rückzuges wieder freigibt. Der Befund fossiler Böden und von Wurzelwerk garantiert dabei, dass es sich bei dem Fundort auch um den Wuchsstandort des fossilen Baumes handelt. Durch Zählung der Jahresringe der geborgenen Stämme kann sogar der Zeitraum bestimmt werden, während dessen der Aletschgletscher den Fundort nicht erreicht hat. Mit dieser Methode wurde festgestellt, dass der Aletschgletscher bis etwa 1200 v. Chr. um einiges kleiner gewesen sein muss als gegen Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts. Für die Jahre etwa von 1200 bis 1110 v. Chr., 850 bis 750 v. Chr. und 350 bis 250 v. Chr. sind Vorstösse festgestellt worden. Dabei ist der Aletschgletscher von 900 bis 400 v. Chr. jedoch kleiner gewesen als am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts, genauso wie von etwa 100 v. Chr. bis ins Jahr 250. Um das Jahr 300 ist eine Gletscherlänge vergleichbar der des Höchststandes im 19. Jahrhundert festzustellen.
Laut der letzten Studie der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Juni 2020) schmolz die Oberfläche des Grossen Aletschgletscher zwischen den Jahren 2001 und 2014 um mehr als fünf Meter pro Jahr in den unteren Lagen.
Tourismus
Der Aletschgletscher galt schon früh als besondere Sehenswürdigkeit für Reisende und als willkommenes Untersuchungsobjekt für Forschende. Forschungsstationen gibt es seit 1937 auf dem Jungfraujoch und seit 1976 auf der Riederfurka oberhalb der Riederalp. Durch zahlreiche Luftseilbahnen besonders gut erschlossen ist der Berggrat zwischen dem Riederhorn und dem Eggishorn, der sehr schöne Einblicke in den Zungenbereich und den unteren Teil des Gletschers gewährt. Mit dem Bau der Jungfraubahn auf das Jungfraujoch (auf der Sphinx 3571 m ü. M.) wurde 1912 auch für nicht berggewohnte Leute ein Blick in den oberen Teil des Gletschers ermöglicht.
Am Felshang des Faulbergs östlich des Konkordiaplatzes stehen auf 2850 m ü. M. die Konkordiahütten des Schweizer Alpen-Clubs SAC. Sie dienen als wichtiger Etappenort auf der hochalpinen Gletscherroute vom Jungfraujoch oder vom Lötschental in das Gebiet des Grimselpasses.
UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe
Das Gebiet des Grossen Aletschgletschers ist zusammen mit dem einzigartigen Aletschwald und den umliegenden Regionen seit dem 13. Dezember 2001 Bestandteil des UNESCO-Weltnaturerbes Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch.
(Wikipedia)
Completed on: 10th June, 2009
This was my second (or third) truck trial vehicle.
It was built for Trial 0937, a truck trial competition by Comunidade 0937: www.comunidade0937.com
Unlike previous versions, this one had Power Functions for steering and propulsion. It used a form of limited-slip differentials and only the rear wheels needed suspension. Only the second revision has shock absorbers to increase stability.
More photos:
secure.flickr.com/photos/biczzz/sets/72157634981902143/
Video, testing:
Video, in action at the trial course (by José Carvalho):
My appreciation and thanks to all of you who have faved, commented, and awarded this photograph.
used 500mm f4 with Nikkor 1.4 II Teleconverter
201309230026hq (23 Sept. 2013) --- Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Sept. 23, 2013 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Sept. 26, Kazakh time, and will send Expedition 37 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins and Russian Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
After receiving their signals from space, these NATO installations communicated via terrestrial radio uplinks with microwave stations in order to pass their messages around securely on the ground. Zone Braams maintained these encrypted microwave links with posts to the north, east and south of Belgium in at now-defunct bases in Westrozebeke, Ben Ahin and Spa-Malchamp.
The top-seeded Army West Point Women’s Basketball team won its third Patriot League title with a 69-51 victory over No. 3 Loyola on Saturday evening at Christl Arena. Army secures the Patriot League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will make its third appearance in the dance, following trips in 2006 and 2014.
Army extends its winning streak to 19 games and improves to 29-2. The Black Knights’ 29 win tie the 2009-10 Lehigh squad for the most total wins in Patriot League history. Loyola finishes the year 16-16 after the setback.
Senior Kelsey Minato earned Patriot League Tournament MVP honors for the second time in her career after scoring 25 points and shooting 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Classmate Aimee Oertner and sophomore Janae McNeal joined Minato on the league’s all-tournament team, as Oertner posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, to go along with four blocks, and McNeal totaled 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Sophomore Destinee Morris netted eight points off the bench, while classmate Aliyah Murray and freshman Madison Hovren each contributed four points.
Diana Logan led Loyola with 15 points, while Colleen Marshall and Bri Betz-White also scored in double figures, with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
Minato knocked in a three-pointer 2:28 into the contest to give Army a 5-2 advantage before sinking all three free-throws after being fouled on a long-range attempt with 5:03 to play in the first quarter. Her three foul shots made the score 10-4.
Oertner registered three blocks in the first 2:19 of the evening to limit Loyola’s offense early, as the Greyhounds were held to nine points in the opening frame.
McNeal converted lay-ups on consecutive possessions to cap a 9-0 Army run and extend the margin to 10 points, 14-4, with 3:41 remaining in the first period. The Black Knights went on to outscore the Greyhounds, 13-5, over the final 6:48 of the opening frame, as the hosts led, 20-9, at the end of one.
Logan scored the first seven points of the second quarter to begin a 9-0 run that brought Loyola back to within two, 20-18, with 6:45 left until halftime. Logan buried her second triple of the half to extend the scoring run to 12-0 and give the Greyhounds their first lead of the game, 21-20, with 6:12 remaining in the second period.
Army answered back with 10 straight points of its own, including three-pointers from Minato and Morris, to build the advantage to nine points, 30-21, by the 2:39 mark. Morris drained her second three-pointer of the quarter with 19 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 33-23 heading into the break.
The Black Knights maintained a 10-point advantage until building the lead to 14 after a pair of free-throws from Minato and a bucket from Oertner that came with 4:04 on the clock in the third quarter.
McNeal added lay-ins 22 seconds apart to build the hosts’ lead to 17, 47-30, before seven unanswered points from Loyola brought the Greyhounds back to within 10, 47-37, entering the fourth period.
Oertner netted four quick points to begin the fourth quarter and Minato hit a triple at the 7:59 mark to bring the score to 54-41. Loyola didn’t come any closer than 11 for the last 7:59 of the contest.
“This team has never ceased to amaze me this year,” said head coach Dave Magarity. “It’s mind blowing that we are 29-2 and the way we got here, the teams we beat and we thought we put together a pretty tough schedule with Albany, the conference champion in the America East, Quinnipiac won the MAAC regular season and they were huge wins for us and put us in position to get the one-seed as things worked out for us with the tiebreaker over a great Bucknell team.
“This group of young ladies has just accomplished so much with 99 wins over four years at this level is incredible and they just continue to do what it takes. You don’t want it to turn into a cliché with being a team of destiny, but we put together the right pieces. Janae McNeal and the junior class with Aliyah Murray and the Morris twins, as well, and I consider my coaching staff the best in America. It’s the best coaching staff I’ve ever had and I’ve had some pretty good coaches."
Story by Harrison Antognioni/Army Athletic Communications. Photos by Eric S. Bartelt/Pointer View and John Pellino/DPTMS VID
I was walking down the street in downtown Vancouver and came across this parking/staging area for the new Deadpool movie. Here's what the front section of the secure transport vehicle looks like up close. I can hardly wait for the movie; the last one was so much fun, especially since we locals can play 'spot the landmark' as we watch the movie on the big screen.
A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England,[1] Zimbabwe, the English-speaking Caribbean, Namibia, and South Africa. In modern South Africa, many "shebeens" are now fully legal. The word derives from the Irish síbín, meaning 'illicit whiskey'.
F-Secure Corporation (formerly Data Fellows) is an online security and privacy company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has 20 country offices and a presence in more than 100 countries, with Security Lab operations in Helsinki, Finland and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Through more than 200 operator partners globally, millions of broadband customer use F-Secure services. F-Secure Corp. is publicly traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange under the symbol FSC1V.
F-Secure claims that it was the first antivirus vendor to establish a presence on the World Wide Web. The F-Secure Labs weblog tracks global internet and mobile security threats.
F-Secure competes in the antivirus industry against Avast!, Kaspersky, McAfee, Panda Security, Sophos and Symantec among others.
Two brand new Range Rovers loaded by Wavecrest Ltd in a 40' container for export to the Far East.
www.wavecrest.co.uk for more information
Inside Denny Hall.
I was allowed to go inside the main hospital building of Northern State Hospital for the Insane, as well as the dorm for the training nurses and the chapel. I took over 200 pictures and its going to take me awhile to go through and sort out the good ones. But here are some of the best. I will be uploading more in the near future.
The new Disney Store Classic Evil Queen 12'' doll has been fully deboxed and is posing standing up. She is supported by a metal doll stand (not included with the doll). She is photographed from all angles.
Review of Classic Evil Queen Doll
Her head and face are much more movie accurate than that of the Designer Evil Queen, but don't approach the accuracy (and beauty) of the Mattel Great Villains Evil Queen doll. She has a head that is considerably larger than the Mattel doll, and it does look too large for her body. Also, her hood is a molded part of her head, rather than an actual cloth hood over rooted hair, as in the Mattel doll. Her face doesn't have features as refined or delicate as the Mattel doll, who is has more pronounced cheekbones, a thinner face, and a look of steely evil. The Disney doll has lips that are in an Elvis type snarl, which her mouth slightly open, whereas the Mattel doll has pouty, fuller lips with her mouth closed. The Disney doll's lips are bright red, the Mattel doll's lips are very deep red, almost maroon in color. The Disney doll has a tanned skin tone (a deeper color than my photos show, which were taken with flash rather than natural light). The Mattel doll has a pinker skin color that more closely matches the movie character. They both have small green eyes with heavy eyelids, and thin double arched eyebrows. The Disney doll's left eyebrow is higher than her right, matching the snarl in her upper lip, whereas the Mattel's eyebrows are symmetrical. The Mattel doll's face is more beautiful, elegant and faithful to the movie character, but I like the Disney doll's facial expression.
She has the same body construction as the other 11-12'' dolls in the 2012-2013 Disney Princess Classic Doll Collection, that started with Classic Merida in April 2012. She has neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle joints. Her head is on a ball joint that allows 360 degrees rotation about a horizontal plane, and tilting 10 degrees down, 30 degrees back, and 30 degrees towards the left and right. Her shoulder have ball joints 360 degree rotation in a vertical plane and tilting about 90 degrees from the vertical. Her elbows are also ball joints, that allows 90 degrees tilt inward and 30 degrees outwards. Her wrists are hinge and pivot joints that allow 360 degrees rotation and can tilt 90 degrees backward and 45 degrees forward. Her hips have ball joints that allow rotation about a plane 30 degrees from the vertical, and tilting 30 degrees outward. Her knees are hinge joints that allow tilting 80 degrees backwards and 10 degrees forward. Finally her ankles are hinge/pivot joints like her wrists, allowing 360 rotation, 45 tilt upwards and 80 degrees downwards. She is much more posable than the Mattel doll, who doesn't have articulation in her arms or legs.
Her outfit is consists of a satin dress and cape, that are separate removable pieces. The dress is form fitting slinky dark purple satin. It has very large sleeves that drape over the arms, with gold trim. There is a long belt that is a red rope, that also hangs from her waist. The collar is white satin that is attached to the cape. The full length satin cape is black on the outside and red on the inside, with both layers glued together, making it rather stiff. She has black high heeled shoes, that fit very snuggly on her feet, so I removed the rubber bands that secured the shoes to her feet for shipping. She has a crown made of matte finish gold colored plastic, that is attached to her head via three tabs on the inside of the crown. The tabs are not glued to the corresponding slots in her head, so the crown is removable. The Mattel doll's outfit is much more elaborate and accurate. For instance, her cape is two layers that are sewn together rather than glued, making it much more flexible, with the outer layer black velvet (rather than satin), with white fur trim. Also the robe's clasp has a semi-spherical jewel in a gold ring, whereas the Disney doll has a faceted crystal glued to the cloth clasp. The Mattel doll has polished gold shoes, versus the plain black shoes of the Disney doll. Likewise, the Mattel doll has polished gold crown, versus a matte finish gold crown on the Disney doll. There is also an embossed pattern and white trim on the sleeves, rather than gold stitching on the hem of the Disney doll's sleeves. The Mattel doll has detached purple inner sleeves, which the Disney doll lacks. Finally the belt on the Mattel doll is thicker, with a gold thread embedded in the red rope, with much larger tassels that are very soft, with embedded red tinsel. Overall, the Mattel's outfit looks much richer and truly fit for a Queen.
She has no accessories. So she is missing the heart box that was included with the Mattel Great Villains version of Evil Queen. Nor does she have the poison red apple that is depicted in the box graphics.
First look at the newly released Disney Store Classic Evil Queen 12'' doll. Her look (the doll and her outfit) is based on her appearance in the movie, and is much more movie accurate than the Designer Evil Queen doll (September 2011), who was ''re-imagined'' as a fashion doll.
2012-2013 Disney Princess Classic Doll Collection Evil Queen 12'' Doll
US Disney Store
$14.50, or 2 for $20
Released in stores December 30, 2012
Purchased in store January 3, 2013
Not yet available online
I went to my local DS on Thursday January 3, 2013 and snagged two of the brand new Classic Villain 12'' Dolls, the Evil Queen and Maleficent. They were just released in some stores this past weekend, and are not yet available online. My store did not have the new Jafar yet, but will get him very soon. I also got Mother Gothel, who is in the new ''Posable Arms and Legs'' package so presumably has the new knee and ankle joints that the 2012 Classic Princess dolls have (first introduced with Classic Merida). The new Evil Queen and Maleficent dolls also have the new leg joints. They were all part of the 2 for $20 Disney Princess Classic Doll sale, even though they are brand new releases. I will post photos of all of them boxed, during their deboxing, and fully deboxed, both alone and with other comparable dolls.
Softbox and bracket details from a 36x36 softox I made.
The softbox started as a 60" golf umbrella from Target ($14 but have seen them for $9). Move every other set of ribs over to make a square and secure with duct tape. The fabric then needs to be bunched up where the missin glegs were in order t make it taught again. By taking extra material away, it makes the legs bend more and makes the box deeper. Makign the distance 36" (about a 2.5" overlap in the middle at the point) made a box 16" deep. Once the dimensions where determined, I took the cover off and my wife's grandmother sewed it for me. The overlap tapers from 2.5" at teh point (of the moved leg, whger black and white material meet) to nothing about 2/3 the depth of the seam toward the apex of the material.
I then used spray adhesive to stick on crumpled mylar (emergency blanket from Walmart, 2 required at $3 each). I used Elmer's spray adhesive but in the past I have used 3M super77 and it is much better. The elmer's sucks. Teh mylar was first cut to fit then glued on. I finished that by adding clear packing tape at the seams to keep teh crappy spray adhesive from allowing the mylar to peel off.
I then added teh velcro for the diffusion panels (Ripstop nylon, $7 for a 36"x60" from JoAnne fabric).
Last, I cut the seams at the back to make flash windows, and stitched teh end of teh seam to keep it from unraveling further. I lined the edges of those seams with packing ape also to prevent fraying and mylar peeling.
The bracket is 3/16"x3/4" mild steel from HomeDepot($7 for 48") The bends where done by heating with a torch until cheary red and bending in a vise. Some 1/4" holes and slots where made and 3x 1/4"-20 threads where cut on teh horizontal brace. The knobs where made from a 1/4"-20 connector nut (about 1" long) drilled to accept a 16 peny nailwith the ends peaned over. a 1/4"-20 threaded stud was screwed in and the nut clamped tightly ina vise to rush it and lock the stud in place. An internal star lock washer is used at the pivot joint, between the two steel legs, to prevent slipping. It attaches to a light stand using a 1/4"-20 taped hole that thrads onto the stud at the top of the stand.
The flash arm is adjustable to hold a Sunpak 611, 544 or speedlight (Nikon SB600 or Sunpak 433D/30DX). A double bracket could easitly be made.
Teh umbrella is attached using a 1/2"-1" ground wire clamp from HomeDepot (electrical section, $1.50) One end has a 1/4"-20 thread and the other uses two screws to tighten the clamp. The clamp seperates at one side allowing you to place it around the shaft. I added the wing/lock nut to aid in tightening it to the shaft.
So, total price for a fully adjustable 36"36" softbox with bracket was about $35, and a crap ton of fun!
Secure your place on one of the Cent Cols Challenge 2013 event here --> www.rapha.cc/cent-col-challenge-deposit
New! Velo Lumino AT Saddlelite taillight mount. Securely and discreetly mounts the B&M Toplight Line Small, SON Rear Light, and Supernova E3 2 taillight to the rails of your saddle. Taillight can be positioned above or below the rails.
Available now at velolumino.com
velolumino.com now also sells the B&M Toplight Line Small to go with the mount!
A firefighter works to secure a hose line being used to evacuate water that was flooding in Ralphs in Castaic, CA
Processing - Packer Ed Forbis secures a gate rope on the corral
Grand Canyon, AZ September 19, 2019 - National Park Service staff closed the doors on livestock trailers yesterday, securing 31 bison inside to transfer them to the InterTribal Buffalo Council who will take them on the journey to join their new herd with the Quapaw tribe in Oklahoma.
The transfer of the bison concluded the Grand Canyon National Park's pilot program for corralling and relocating bison from the North Rim.
"It's an historic moment. These are the first bison ever captured and permanently removed from Grand Canyon," said Grand Canyon National Park Bison Project Manager Miranda Terwilliger.
Leading up to the corralling operations, a corral was regularly supplied with food and water to encourage bison to enter freely and increase their exposure to humans.
"It's a passive process. You want to work as quietly and calmly around the bison to keep their stress levels down because they have very little interactions with humans," said Chris Clark, the South Rim lead mule packer who served as the corral boss."
After a large group of bison entered the corral, during the operation period, staff closed the corral gates and began processing them in preparation for shipment. The processing included separating and releasing bison that were too young or too large or old to make the trip. They were guided into a squeeze chute, where the scientists took blood and genetic samples and tagged them per U.S. Department of Agriculture shipping regulations.
"We had an amazing team who worked really well together," said Terwilliger. "We did a lot of mock runs and training in advance with other parks and agencies."
Biologists from the Kaibab National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, Badlands National Park, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the InterTribal Buffalo Council assisted. Also present was a National Park Service veterinarian to oversee the well-being of the bison.
Several additional animals were outfitted with tracking collars and released during the corralling process. The collaring was conducted with the assistance of U.S. Geological Survey scientists for park wildlife biologists to study the bison migratory patterns and population size.
The goal of the pilot program was to capture and relocate up to 100 bison. The pilot program was conducted this year due to the bison migrating to a warmer location on the North Rim from early snowfall last year. There's approximately 600 bison on the North Rim, and Grand Canyon National Park is reducing the size to under 200 over the next three to five years to protect park resources from the impacts of the bison population.
BANGABANDHU SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN
The life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the saga of a great leader turning peoplepower into an armed struggle that liberated a nation and created the world’s ninth most populous state. The birth of the sovereign state of Bangladesh in December 1971, after a heroic war of nine months against the Pakistani colonial rule, was the triumph of his faith in the destiny of his people. Sheikh Mujib, endearingly called Bangabandhu or friend of Bangladesh, rose from the people, molded their hopes and aspirations into a dream and staked his life in the long battle for making it real. He was a true democrat, and he employed in his struggle for securing justice and fairplay for the Bengalees only democratic and constitutional weapons until the last moment. It is no accident of history that in an age of military coup d’etat and ‘strong men’, Sheikh Mujib attained power through elections and mass movement and that in an age of decline of democracy he firmly established democracy in one of the least developed countries of Asia.
Sheikh Mujib was born on 17 March 1920 in a middle class family at Tungipara in Gopalganj district. Standing 5 feet 11 inches, he was taller than the average Bengalee. Nothing pleased him more than being close to the masses, knowing their joys and sorrows and being part of their travails and triumphs. He spoke their soft language but in articulating their sentiments his voice was powerful and resonant. He had not been educated abroad, nor did he learn the art of hiding feelings behind sophistry; yet he was loved as much by the urban educated as the common masses of the villages. He inspired the intelligentsia and the working class alike. He did not, however, climb to leadership overnight.
Early Political Life: His political life began as an humble worker while he was still a student. He was fortunate to come in early contact with such towering personalities as Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy and A K Fazlul Huq, both charismatic Chief Ministers of undivided Bengal. Adolescent Mujib grew up under the gathering gloom of stormy politics as the aging British raj in India was falling apart and the Second World War was violently rocking the continents. He witnessed the ravages of the war and the stark realities of the great famine of 1943 in which about five million people lost their lives. The tragic plight of the people under colonial rule turned young Mujib into a rebel.
This was also the time when he saw the legendary revolutionary Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose challenging the British raj. Also about this time he came to know the works of Bernard Shaw, Karl Marx, Rabindranath Tagore and rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Soon after the partition of India in 1947 it was felt that the creation of Pakistan with its two wings separated by a physical distance of about 1,200 miles was a geographical monstrosity. The economic, political, cultural and linguistic characters of the two wings were also different. Keeping the two wings together under the forced bonds of a single state structure in the name of religious nationalism would merely result in a rigid political control and economic exploitation of the eastern wing by the all-powerful western wing which controlled the country’s capital and its economic and military might.
Early Movement: In 1948 a movement was initiated to make Bengali one of the state languages of Pakistan. This can be termed the first stirrings of the movement for an independent Bangladesh. The demand for cultural freedom gradually led to the demand for national independence. During that language movement Sheikh Mujib was arrested and sent to jail. During the blood-drenched language movement in 1952 he was again arrested and this time he provided inspiring leadership of the movement from inside the jail.
In 1954 Sheikh Mujib was elected a member of the then East Pakistan Assembly. He joined A K Fazlul Huq’s United Front government as the youngest minister. The ruling clique of Pakistan soon dissolved this government and Shiekh Mujib was once again thrown into prison. In 1955 he was elected a member of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly and was again made a minister when the Awami League formed the provincial government in 1956. Soon after General Ayub Khan staged a military coup in Pakistan in 1958, Sheikh Mujib was arrested once again and a number of cases were instituted against him. He was released after 14 months in prison but was re-arrested in February 1962. In fact, he spent the best part of his youth behind the prison bars.
Supreme Test: March 7, 1971 was a day of supreme test in his life. Nearly two million freedom loving people assembled at the Ramna Race Course Maidan, later renamed Suhrawardy Uddyan, on that day to hear their leader’s command for the battle for liberation. The Pakistani military junta was also waiting to trap him and to shoot down the people on the plea of suppressing a revolt against the state. Sheikh Mujib spoke in a thundering voice but in a masterly well-calculated restrained language. His historic declaration in the meeting was: "Our struggle this time is for freedom. Our struggle this time is for independence." To deny the Pakistani military an excuse for a crackdown, he took care to put forward proposals for a solution of the crisis in a constitutional way and kept the door open for negotiations.
The crackdown, however, did come on March 25 when the junta arrested Sheikh Mujib for the last time and whisked him away to West Pakistan for confinement for the entire duration of the liberation war. In the name of suppressing a rebellion the Pakistani military let loose hell on the unarmed civilians throughout Bangladesh and perpetrated a genocide killing no less than three million men, women and children, raping women in hundreds of thousands and destroying property worth billions of taka. Before their ignominious defeat and surrender they, with the help of their local collaborators, killed a large number of intellectuals, university professors, writers, doctors, journalists, engineers and eminent persons of other professions. In pursuing a scorch-earth policy they virtually destroyed the whole of the country’s infrastructure. But they could not destroy the indomitable spirit of the freedom fighters nor could they silence the thundering voice of the leader. Tape recordings of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib’s 7th March speech kept on inspiring his followers throughout the war.
Return and Reconstruction: Forced by international pressure and the imperatives of its own domestic predicament, Pakistan was obliged to release Sheikh Mujib from its jail soon after the liberation of Bangladesh and on 10 January 1972 the great leader returned to his beloved land and his admiring nation.
But as he saw the plight of the country his heart bled and he knew that there would be no moment of rest for him. Almost the entire nation including about ten million people returning from their refuge in India had to be rehabilitated, the shattered economy needed to be put back on the rail, the infrastructure had to be rebuilt, millions had to be saved from starvation and law and order had to be restored. Simultaneously, a new constitution had to be framed, a new parliament had to be elected and democratic institutions had to be put in place. Any ordinary mortal would break down under the pressure of such formidable tasks that needed to be addressed on top priority basis. Although simple at heart, Sheikh Mujib was a man of cool nerves and of great strength of mind. Under his charismatic leadership the country soon began moving on to the road to progress and the people found their long-cherished hopes and aspirations being gradually realized.
Assassination: But at this critical juncture, his life was cut short by a group of anti-liberation reactionary forces who in a pre-dawn move on 15 August 1975 not only assassinated him but 23 of his family members and close associates. Even his 10 year old son Russel’s life was not spared by the assassins. The only survivors were his two daughters, Sheikh Hasina - now the country’s Prime Minister - and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, who were then away on a visit to Germany. In killing the father of the Nation, the conspirators ended a most glorious chapter in the history of Bangladesh but they could not end the great leader’s finest legacy- the rejuvenated Bengali nation. In a fitting tribute to his revered memory, the present government has declared August 15 as the national mourning day. On this day every year the people would be paying homage to the memory of a man who became a legend in his won lifetime. Bangabandhu lives in the heart of his people. Bangladesh and Bangabandhu are one and inseparable. Bangladesh was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s vision and he fought and died for it.
My practical experience, some of new leaders of BNP (retired amla) wants to be leader. They want to show something to Khaleda Zia in strike period. Want to be talk of the day as like Sadek Hossain Khoka. Khoka hold liquid tomato pack with him and blasted in due time while police caught him on the streets. Remember people? Shamsher Mobin Choudhury Beer Bikram Freedom fighter, I salute for his contribution, but I enjoyed his acting on strike period with police SI. He want to be arrested then news will be like this “Beer Bikram Shamsher Mobin Choudhury didn’t relief from the police tortured.
Good attitude but no need to do this simple acting for growing the attraction of Khaleda. Next time he will be foreign Minister if BNP comes to the power.
Exercise Steel Titan 2016.
LH01-2016-001-012.
A soldier with 36 Canadian Brigade Group secures an area as other manoeuvre into position prior to an attempt to breach an occupied building by enemy forces at Canadian Forces Ammo Depot on 24 January 2016..
36 Territorial Battalion Group (36 TBG), a sub component of 36 Canadian Brigade Group (36 CBG), performed urban operations training within the Halifax Regional Municipality from 23-24 January 2016 as part of Exercise STEEL TITAN 2016. Exercise STEEL TITAN was the third 36 TBG training initiative of the 2015/16 fiscal year and tested members of 5th Canadian Division (5 CdnDiv) on close quarter combat and strategy to respond to enemy forces in an urban environment. To find out more about 36 TBG and 36 CBG, visit: www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/36-cbg/index.page. .
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Le 36e Groupe-bataillon territorial (36 GBT), une sous-composante du 36e Groupe brigade du Canada (36 GBC), a participé à une instruction sur les opérations en zone urbaine dans la municipalité régionale de Halifax, du 23 au 24 janvier 2016, dans le cadre de l’exercice STEEL TITAN 2016. L’exercice STEEL TITAN est la troisième initiative d’instruction du 36 GBT de l’exercice financier 2015/16. Il a mis à l’épreuve les compétences des membres de la 5e Division du Canada en matière de combat rapproché et de stratégie d’intervention dans un milieu urbain. Pour de plus amples renseignements sur le 36 GBT et le 36 GBC, veuillez consulter : www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/fr/36-gbc/index.page. .
24 Jan 2016.
Photo by WO Jerry Kean/5 Canadian Division HQ Public Affairs