A view looking south on N. Dye from E. Jackson St. at the east side of the Virden Square. Nearly all of the commercial buildings in this block date to the late 19th and early 20th century.

 

While most of Virden is situated in Macoupin County, the northern most part of the city is in Sangamon County. The Macoupin County portion of Virden is part of the St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Sangamon County portion is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Virden was 3,249 at the 2020 census.

Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination :-)

Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

 

HFF!! a little statistical humor for these infinitely unusual times ;-)

 

narcissus, 'Sweet Smiles', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina

 

― George Orwell "1984"

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvHbke-fYKM

 

Sony α7SII+Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.8 AIs

© Ivan Herrador

Streefkerk is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and lies on the southside of the river Lek, about 20 kilometres east of Rotterdam.

 

In 2004, the town of Streefkerk had 2600 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.37 km², and contained 628 residences. The statistical area "Streefkerk", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 2,600.

 

Streefkerk was a separate municipality until 1986, when it became part of Liesveld. The latter has been part of Molenwaard since 2013.

Each of the blocks on the four sides of Virden's large square are divided by an alleyway. This view shows the north half of the 100 block of N. Springfield St. on the west side of the square. Nearly all of the commercial buildings in this block date to the late 19th and early 20th century, although the facades of all of them have been modified over the years.

 

While most of Virden is situated in Macoupin County, the northern most part of the city is in Sangamon County. The Macoupin County portion of Virden is part of the St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Sangamon County portion is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Virden was 3,249 at the 2020 census.

The classical style building of the former Henry National Bank is located in downtown Henry on Edwards at the corner of 3rd St. The bank was granted a charter in 1903. In 1904 an advertisement published in the local newspaper revealed the bank's motto as "The Bank of the People."

 

Henry is a city in Marshall County, Illinois. The population of Henry was 2,320 at the 2020 census. The city is considered part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its slogan, "Best Town in Illinois by a Dam Site," is derived from the city's distinction of having the first lock and dam built on the Illinois River.

Larger on white

 

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

 

Exposure settings: f/4, 0.002 sec (1/640), ISO 100, 12 mm

Location: Sellingerbeetse, Groningen, the Netherlands.

 

Sellingerbeetse is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Vlagtwedde, and lies about 21 km northeast of Emmen.

 

The statistical area "Sellingerbeetse", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 210.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellingerbeetse

 

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

metronome of swing ...

 

;-) ...

 

ƒ/8.0 50.0 mm 1/125 640

 

_NYC2546_pt2

Van Wert is a city in and the county seat of Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio. The population was 10,846 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Van Wert Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Lima-Van Wert-Wapakoneta, Ohio Combined Statistical Area. Van Wert is named for Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Major John André in the American Revolutionary War.[8] A center of peony cultivation, Van Wert has hosted the annual Van Wert Peony Festival on and off since 1902. Van Wert is home to the first county library in the United States, the Brumback Library. It also has a thriving community art center the Wassenburg Art Center and the award-winning Van Wert Civic Theatre.

 

Es una ciudad y un concelho del interior de Portugal, capital del distrito homónimo. La ciudad tiene una población de 34 000 habitantes. Es parte de la región estadística del Centro y de la comunidad intermunicipal de la Beira Baixa. La ciudad toma nombre de un castillo que actualmente se encuentra en ruinas. Su nombre, literalmente significa castillo blanco.

 

It is a city and a concelho in the interior of Portugal, capital of the homonymous district. The city has a population of 34,000. It is part of the statistical region of the Center and the inter-municipal community of Beira Baixa. The city takes its name from a castle that is currently in ruins. Its name literally means white castle.

 

C'est une ville et un concelho à l'intérieur du Portugal, capitale du quartier homonyme. La ville compte 34 000 habitants. Il fait partie de la région statistique du Centre et de la communauté intercommunale de Beira Baixa. La ville tire son nom d'un château actuellement en ruines. Son nom signifie littéralement château blanc

  

of red dressed women ...

 

;-) ...

 

ƒ/6.3 24.0 mm 1/500 200

 

_NYC5500_pt2

Once a historic coal mining town and ghost town, Madrid is now a creative community with over 40 shops and galleries lining New Mexico State Road 14.Madrid is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census and 204 in 2010. Today,

Oakland California is across the bay from San Francisco and like all big cities it never sleeps. One can only prayer to be at the right place at the right time. If not you could be another statistic . Homicide rates and crime is high. It always has been . It was rough growing up many moons ago and even more so now.

This image reminds me of some that you get with edge-detecting artistic filters, but the curious thing is that it is created just using ‘statistical’ stacking and blend modes, with a little general tonal adjustment.

 

Five captures were stacked in Affinity Photo though you can do the same in Photoshop. My initial objective in taking the images was to get rid of the pedestrians that were wandering around. If you stack a number of images using the Median function then provided the pedestrians are moving about you can usually get rid of them without any selections and painting. The median function works by taking the most common value for a particular pixel in the stacked images and using that in the result.

 

But then my brain aroused itself from its usual torpor (concerning!) and asked ‘what if I just….’ (extremely worrying!). So I tried some of the other stacking functions, some of which gave interesting results.

 

This image is a combination of a Median stack, with no pedestrians, and Variance stacks which had dark ghosts of the people wandering about, blended together a number of times using various blend modes. Some of the ghosts appeared twice in different places :)

 

But what you really want to know is where the images were taken (I realise that I’m kidding myself). This is the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford. It joins two parts of Hertford College across New College Lane. It’s named after the famous Venice bridge. Cambridge also has a Bridge of Sighs so I am sure there was a bit of rivalry going on as there often is between these two universities.

 

I was a bit disappointed to discover that this particular bridge was relatively new, constructed in the 20th century (around 1914 - the Cambridge one predates it by almost 90 years).

 

As it’s heavily processed I thought I would post it for Sliders Sunday.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Easter and happy Sliders Sunday :)

Today is World Elephant Day...

 

It's a day worth celebrating and making efforts to save them. Did you know their numbers have dropped by 62% over the last decade, and they could be mostly extinct by the end of the next decade?

 

It's a shocking statistic for such an iconic animal. Please visit the website below and do what you can...

 

worldelephantday.org

Statistically about 10% of Brewer's Blackbird females have a white eye. I find it even more infrequent. Englebright Lake, Nevada Co, California on 21 February 2018.

Amazing statistic of the New York City is that in Manhattan alone there are an estimated 280,000 dogs residing on the island and double that quantity in the outer boros of Queens and Brooklyn. Being smitten by dog love myself the proud owner of the two sweet mixed breed pooches, I often find my ‘street’ photography is of lovable canines. In the largely concrete jungle that is Manhattan, it’s amazing to see dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds being walked. In the few green spaces on the island, many include dog parks within their confines. I seen dogs in the dogs as early as 5 AM (I walk my guys that early if I have to go into the office early or drive my youngest daughter to the train station) and in Washington Square Park after mid-night. Manhattan in particular poses challenges because a larger portion of the population relies primarily on public transportation, unlike us NY suburbanites in northern Jersey, north New York counties (Rockland and Orange) and Long Island, many don’t own motor vehicles. Owning a canine is a wonderful rewarding experience, but also is a large responsibility that requires forethought . My kids and I having moved in the last year, number 1 on the list is, places that will accept pets, then the question is how big. Well Manhattan those queries resonate even more, even if you find a dog friendly building, the bathroom situation, how do you walk the dog? Full time job? Going to be difficult. That’s why budgeted into the care and upkeep of a pooch dog walkers are a must. Added cost is also a factor, the vets, the groomers, tend to charge a bit more. That why it’s important when considering a dog, that a lot of consideration is taken with all the factors that play into having a loyal four legged companion. This consideration and calculation does not happen some times and the city sponsored and private animal shelters in New York City are full of dogs who at first seemed like a good idea, but then reality set in and became sadly expendable. Dogs are loyal, full of love and always happy to see you, I’ve had my two for 8 and 7 years and adore them. They require attention and time, they are living creatures and if they don’t get a decent amount of attention, they will act up.

I love capturing dogs living and interacting in the city. This dog was a bit tired and was on the lap of his female caretaker happy as could be in Washington Square Park people watching; totally cool.

Captured on an Olympus E-5 with an Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm F4.0-5.6 zoom lens processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

 

Be the black sheep but not a statistic

May not know who you are but you know what you got

So hang on to the absurd

Hey, have you heard?

Hope's not a four-letter word

 

Taken at Sunnys

With this post I am beginning a new series on Delavan, a city in Tazewell County, Illinois. This Central Illinois community is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Delavan's population at the 2020 census was 1,924. Delavan, a rural, agricultural community, derives its name from Edward C. Delavan (1793-1871), a wealthy businessman from Albany, New York who devoted much of his fortune to promoting the temperance movement.

 

The photos in this short series will focus on the Delavan Commercial Historic District. When the district was added in 1991 to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), 20 of the 26 buildings listed were contributing properties.

 

The oldest buildings in the district, two simple brick commercial structures, were built around 1860. The remaining buildings were mainly built later in the 19th century, with a few built during the early 20th century. The buildings mostly have either Italianate or vernacular commercial designs, as was typical for commercial buildings of the period. Several of the buildings feature decorative metal elements such as storefronts, cornices, and window treatments. One notable exception to this design trend is the Masonic Hall at 401 Locust Street, which has a Queen Anne design featuring a large turret. This building will be featured in a future post.

  

This first photo was taken from the intersection of Locust and Fourth St. looking north at the west side of the 300 block of S. Locust St. The buildings in this block are:

 

323 S. Locust (left, on the northwest corner of Locust and Fourth St)

This building, erected in 1880, housed the Baldwin Bank which operated until 1932. A post office was located in the rear of the building in the early 1900s. Recently renovated as a distillery, the building is currently for sale.

 

321 S. Locust (second from corner)

Also erected in 1880, this building is part of 323 and is very similar in cornice and window treatment. The building housed a restaurant operation for many years with numerous proprietors. It later became a shoe store, and then an insurance agency.

 

319 S. Locust (third from corner)

This single story building originally was occupied by a drug store. Over the years it has been home to two groceries, including an A&P (think frosted cinnamon raisin bread), two paint stores, and the Delavan Community Historical Society which occupies the space today.

 

317 S. Locust (fourth building from corner)

This building was constructed in 1902 as a men's clothing store. A decade later the building was repurposed as a shoe store. The building also was the home of two appliance stores, including one that sold televisions. The local telephone exchange once had offices on the second floor. A sign hanging in front of the building tells us it was recently used as The Harvest Cafe, but that business is now permanently closed.

 

313-315 S. Locust (two-story red brick building fifth from corner)

This highly versatile, circa 1888-1910 building has two store fronts. In the early 1900s this was a harness shop, followed by a mortuary, then a restaurant, a Catholic parish center, and was temporarily used by the Tazewell County National Bank while their new building was being erected. More recently one side of the building was occupied by the now closed Hometown Wine & Spirits, while the other side is a bar and restaurant known as The Exchange.

 

311 S. Locust: Built in the early 1900s, this building was once the Savoy Theatre. In later years it was a hardware store, drug store, grocery store, Ben Franklin store, and a flower shop.

 

Up to this point, all of the aforementioned buildings are contributing properties in the historic district. Now for the two non-contributing properties:

 

307-309 S. Locust: This two-story building with a modern, light tan facade, was built in 1900 and saw use as a succession of hardware stores into the early 1970s. It then became a variety store, and now is a Maytag Appliance Store. The remodeling of the front facade is the reason for the building's non-contributing status.

 

301 S. Locust: The final property on this block, a one-story tan-brick building built for First Farmer's State Bank on the southwest corner of Locust and Third St., is non-contributing due to being more recent construction.

 

2001 Land Rover Defender

2.5D 110TD5 SW/12 5M minibus

2495cc diesel 4WD

Central Auckland Statistical Area, Auckland, New Zealand

Madrid in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census and 204 in 2010. Today, Madrid has become an artists' community with galleries lining New Mexico State Road 14 (the Turquoise Trail). It retains remnants of its history with the Mineshaft Tavern and the Coal Mine Museum.

Lead mines in the area around Madrid captured the interest of Roque Madrid in the 17th century. It is unclear whether the current name of the community comes from that of earlier residents or the capital of Spain. The dominant English pronunciation of the name differs from that of the Spanish capital, with emphasis on the first syllable: MAD-rid. Coal mining began in the area around 1835.

Anthracite coal breaker and power house buildings, Madrid, circa 1935. Anthracite coal was preferred for passenger trains, as it burned cleaner.

The coal deposits were called the Cerrillos Coal Bank following the arrival in early 1880 of the New Mexico & Southern Pacific Railroad (as the AT&SF in New Mexico was organized), named after the nearby mining and railroad town of Cerrillos Station. After a dozen years at the Coal Bank of wildcat, unpermitted, and unorganized mining the AT&SF acquired the property on December 10, 1891, and through purposefully-created subsidiaries solidified its control. The Cerrillos Coal & Iron Co. developed the layout for the town, mines, and facilities, and the Cerrillos Coal Railroad Co. built the 6.25 mi standard gauge spur from the AT&SF main line at Waldo Junction.

In late August 1892, the spur finally terminated at the relatively new mining camp of Keeseeville (an illegal trespass settlement, however one whose 20-acre plat had been approved by Santa Fe County). At the site of Keeseeville, which the Cerrillos Coal Railroad co-opted, the town of Madrid was built. More accurately the Cerrillos Coal Railroad transported-in, section by section, prefabricated wooden miner's cabins from as far away as Topeka, Kansas; there were insufficient carpenters and suppliers in the region to provide the instant infrastructure that was needed for the town.

Madrid celebrated its "founding" in 1895. Since the town was for the next 80 years wholly owned by a series of corporations, the town itself was never incorporated. In the late 1940s, the demand for coal withered: Natural gas gradually replaced coal as the preferred home-heating fuel, and the AT&SF was replacing its coal-fired steam locomotives with diesel-electrics. By 1954 the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company ceased to operate and most of the residents moved away. The railroad spur was removed shortly thereafter.

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists nine key symptoms of narcissism. To be diagnosed, a person must exhibit at least five of these traits:

 

Grandiose sense of self-importance

Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

Belief that they are “special” and unique

Need for excessive admiration

Sense of entitlement

Interpersonally exploitative behavior

Lack of empathy

Envy of others or a belief that others are envious of them

Demonstration of arrogant and haughty behaviors or attitudes

 

He ticks all the boxes, does he not? He should be in therapy before his lunacy becomes the new normal. Leica M8, Voigtlaender NC 1.4/35.

Januari 8...statistical one of the coldest days of the year in Holland...in my younger days I was scating at that time of year and three months later the daffodils started blooming....

Gravitation is just a Statistical Phenomena ...................................................

 

"fall" (change the American noun into the English verb or reverse)

 

... dancing with the reflections of light in the wind...

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=16FdJrrAWSo

  

I Believe I Can Fly"

 

I used to think that I could not go on

And life was nothing but an awful song

But now I know the meaning of true love

I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

 

If I can see it, then I can do it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

 

[1]

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

I think about it every night and day

Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar

I see me running through that open door

I believe I can fly

I believe I can fly

I believe I can fly

 

See I was on the verge of breaking down

Sometimes silence can seem so loud

There are miracles in life I must achieve

But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

 

If I can see it, then I can do it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

 

[Repeat 1]

 

Hey, cuz I believe in me, oh

 

If I can see it, then I can be it

If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

 

[Repeat 1]

 

Hey, if I just spread my wings

I can fly

I can fly

I can fly, hey

If I just spread my wings

I can fly

Fly-eye-eye

  

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,056. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauderdale-by-the-Sea,_Florida

Statistically it looks like February is going to be the one of the coldest on record in Toronto...Low tonight -31C (-24F) with the windchill - and statistically I'm just about done with winter...

Happy Fence Friday! HFF

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It lies about 51 miles (82.1 km) northeast of Orlando, 86 miles (138.4 km) southeast of Jacksonville, and 242 miles (389.5 km) northwest of Miami. In the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 61,005. It is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, which was home to 590,289 people in 2010. Daytona Beach is also a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida.

 

The city is historically known for its beach where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach in restricted areas. This hard-packed sand made Daytona Beach a mecca for motorsports, and the old Daytona Beach Road Course hosted races for over 50 years. This was replaced in 1959 by Daytona International Speedway. The city is also the headquarters for NASCAR.

 

Daytona Beach hosts large groups of out-of-towners that descend upon the city for various events, notably Speedweeks in early February when over 200,000 NASCAR fans come to attend the season-opening Daytona 500. Other events include the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 race in July, Bike Week in early March, Biketoberfest in late October, and the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race in January.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytona_Beach,_Florida

Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. As of 2019, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales is located in central Florida, west of Lake Kissimmee and east of Tampa.

 

The land around the present city was surveyed in 1879 by Sidney Irving Wailes, who changed the name of a lake, then known as Watts Lake, to Lake Wailes.

 

The city of Lake Wales was established near the lake in 1911–12, planned by the Lake Wales Land Company. The spelling Wales was used for the city, although the lake is still generally spelled Lake Wailes. Allen Carleton Nydegger, a Civil Engineer, was contracted by the Lake Wales Land Company to plot out the community of Lake Wales. He and his crew camped on the shores of Crystal Lake and spent months plotting out the new community. In 1925 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a new line from Haines City joining lines to Everglades City. A depot was opened on this line at Lake Wales. The City of Lake Wales was officially incorporated in April 1917.

 

In 2004, Lake Wales endured the effects of three hurricanes which came through the area: Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne. The three hurricanes brought hurricane-force winds to the Lake Wales area within a space of 44 days. In 2017, Hurricane Irma brought more hurricane-force winds to Lake Wales.

 

The town lies near the geographical center of the Florida peninsula. Lake Wales is located on the Lake Wales Ridge,[8] a sandy upland area running roughly parallel to both coasts in the center of the peninsula. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.0 square miles (36 km2), of which 13.4 square miles (35 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (4.71%) is water.

 

Lake Wales is located in the humid subtropical zone of the (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). In 2004, the eyes of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne all passed near the town. Virtually all physical damage has been restored.

 

Local attractions in the area include:

 

*Bok Tower Gardens

 

*Camp Mack's River Resort

 

*Spook Hill, an optical illusion which makes a car in neutral appear as if it is traveling uphill (gravity hill)

 

*The commercial historic district in the heart of the old town contains important examples of architecture from the period of the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The district's tallest building, the Hotel Grand, has been boarded up for many years but has been purchased and is in the process of being restored.

 

*The Lake Wales Museum and Cultural Center is a history museum funded by a public-private partnership. It offers exhibits and artifacts from the pre-Columbian era to modern.

 

*Grove House, the visitor's center for the agricultural cooperative Florida's Natural (located across from the company's processing plant).

 

*Chalet Suzanne This attraction has closed.

 

The Shrine of Ste Anne des Lacs

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wales,_Florida

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

This past Wednesday I did something that I have not done in several months. I dragged my carcass out of bed and drove to be in “my spot” at Muscatatuck NWR for daybreak. So much has changed there over the years. The roads are much better but several fields that once provided the best hunting area for its raptors are now covered with thousands of saplings. If this growth continues, I will have little to no reason to make the drive…a sad reality.

 

One thing that hasn’t changed is my ability to make noise. I have a favorite, time tested and proven noise that I make when no one else is around. It has made coyotes, deer, eagles, elk, seals, bear, mink and otters stop in their track and look at me. Direct eye contact provides the best of photo ops! I hope to someday cross paths with a Honey Badger to see if it works…we all know they don’t care!

 

Early Wednesday I spotted bevy of 5 otters hunting one of the creaks on Muscatatuck. They were heading away from the bridge I was on, but knowing the refuge, I knew they would pass under another one further south if they maintained their course. I also knew that they would take several play, rest and eating breaks along the way. There was no way to estimate their arrival at the next bridge.

 

I made a few laps around the refuge, checking to see if they had made it yet, nothing. The entire time I was questioning myself with if I even wanted to photograph the otters. When you do the math, statistically I have photographed any single otter at Muscatatuck several times over the years, maybe even as a pup. I reminded myself what a blessing it is just to see them.

 

On my third and final lap, I could see the ripples in the water and bubble paths…a sure sign that otters were hunting below. I extended my monopod, steadied my stance and waited. Within seconds three otters surfaced as if they were synchronized swimming. I swung my lens in the area of the closest one and took a few shots. It noticed me right away and was in the process of staring me down to determine my threat level when I decided to make my noise. Instantly it opened its mouth as if to smile…I know…anthropomorphism at its best!

 

No matter how much things that we cannot control change, we can all still make our noise!

 

Adventure before dementia!

 

(statistical analysis)

STATISTIC time

 

Between 2001 and 2019, an estimated 33,000 Afghan troops and police and 31,000 Afghan civilians were killed. More than 3,500 troops from the NATO-led coalition were killed during that time, and 29 countries were represented among the dead.

 

since the beginning of the 21st century

war has broken out

amongst just a few

nations:

 

the Democratic republic of Congo

 

Civil war in Syria

 

Yemen

 

Nigeria Boko Haram

 

Iraq

 

Afghanistan

 

Darfur

 

Ukraine

  

Few Americans even know about this

nor care nor even know where these nations are situated!

  

a protest

March

about 25 years ago

in

Manhattan

 

Photography’s new conscience

linktr.ee/GlennLosack

linktr.ee/GlennLosack

  

glosack.wixsite.com/tbws

 

Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,535.

One of the wealthiest towns in the state, Cape Elizabeth is the location of Portland Head Light, which is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. Since 1999, it has hosted the Beach to Beacon 10K road race which starts at Crescent Beach State Park and ends at Portland Head Light.

Cape Elizabeth has a single community school department. The Cape Elizabeth High School's team name is the "Capers".

Statistical truth has been revealed: French people gained 2,5 kg (5 pounds) during the Covid19 lockdown and I gained less than one pound, an evidence that this world is unfair. Ask to people in African slums, they will confirm.

 

Location: Dya's scent of the Carribean

威尼斯（威尼斯語︰Venezsia；義大利語︰Venezia；弗留利語︰Vignesie；拉丁語︰Venetia；英文：Venice）是義大利東北部著名的旅遊與工業城市，也是威尼托地區的首府。人口約271,251人（2004年1月1日）。威尼斯與帕多瓦組成大帕多瓦-威尼斯地區（人口約1,600,000人）。別名「亞得里亞海的女王」、「水之都」、「面具之城」、「橋之城」、「漂浮之都」、「運河之城」、及「光之城」，Luigi Barzini曾在紐約時報形容它「無疑是最美麗的人造都市」，時代線上也稱讚威尼斯是歐洲最浪漫的城市之一。

威尼斯市區涵蓋義大利東北部亞得里亞海沿岸的威尼斯潟湖的118個島嶼和鄰近一個半島。這個鹹水潟湖分布在波河與皮亞韋河之間的海岸線。

威尼斯曾經是威尼斯共和國的中心，十字軍進行十字軍東征時也曾在這裡集結，而且也是13世紀至17世紀末一個非常重要的商業（尤其是香料貿易、糧食與毛皮貿易）與藝術重鎮。後來因為土耳其人對地中海東邊的控制促使歐洲國家尋找其他航線的慾望，威尼斯因此失去了大部分的重要性與影響力。Venice (English /ˈvɛnɪs/ ven-iss; Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen); Venetian: Venesia [veˈnɛsja]) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges.[1] These are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork.[1] The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

In 2014, 264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is only a statistical metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante," "Serenissima," "Queen of the Adriatic," "City of Water," "City of Masks," "City of Bridges," "The Floating City," and "City of Canals."

Candler is an unincorporated community in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It lies on North Carolina Highway 151 and U.S. Routes 19, 23, and 74 Business, at an elevation of 2,122.7 feet (647 m). The ZIP code of Candler is 28715. The community is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. This mountain community nestles in Hominy Valley, approximately halfway between Asheville (to the east) and Canton (to the west) via Interstate 40 (about 20 minutes either way). Mt. Pisgah, with access to the Blue Ridge Parkway, stands to the south, Asheville to the east, and Newfound Gap to the north. Most or all of Candler lies within the district of Enka High School, a public secondary school. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candler,_North_Carolina)

 

Hominy Valley Youth Cheerleading

www.facebook.com/HVYLCheerleading/?fref=ts

Facebook Car Show Event page:

www.facebook.com/events/115598782192149

 

This image was created from multiple exposures blended together in Photoshop CS6 layers using the "Lighten" blend mode. All exposures were taken with a single Paul C. Buff Einstein strobe with a 22" beauty dish attached to a Elinchrom boom arm and a 3-stop B&W ND filter attached to my lens. If you send me a FlickrMail message, I'll be more than happy to send you some information on mostly how I photograph this style and what equipment I use, along with some YouTube video links that help explain this process.

 

Please have a look at my automotive photography album: www.flickr.com/photos/kenlane/albums/72157634353498642

Today 17 babies will die, the tragic victims of stillbirth or neonatal death. This is a statistic that is seeing no signs of decreasing, and behind each number is a family rocked to the foundations by the death of their baby.

 

This shocking figure, the loss of 6,500 babies every year, is something the public is not generally aware of. Most people think stillbirths don’t happen in the 21st century. Yet stillbirth in the UK is 10 times more common than cot death.

 

At Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, we feel this number of deaths is totally unacceptable. We have launched the Why17? campaign to raise awareness of this devastating loss and to ask the question:

 

“Why are 17 babies a day dying and what can be done to halt this national tragedy?”

 

“I just want to raise awareness of stillbirth. I had no idea that this could happen to me

 

1) Follow this link, fill in your details to email your MP to make them aware of the parliamentary launch of Why17? on March 4th 2009: www.why17.org/Get-Involved/Contact-your-MP.html

 

2) Add your name to the list of supporters (petition) : www.why17.org/Pledge-Your-Support.html

 

3) Make a contribution: donate online; buy a window sticker / wristband / balloon; or plan a sponsored event. More ideas here: www.why17.org/Get-Involved.html

 

A Fishing Vessel that was built in 1979 sailing under the flag of Cook Is.

 

Her carrying capacity is 777 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 6.9 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 82.25 meters and her width is 13.5 meters.

 

Viaduct marina,

Central Auckland Statistical Area, Auckland, New Zealand

Today 17 babies will die, the tragic victims of stillbirth or neonatal death. This is a statistic that is seeing no signs of decreasing, and behind each number is a family rocked to the foundations by the death of their baby.

 

This shocking figure, the loss of 6,500 babies every year, is something the public is not generally aware of. Most people think stillbirths don’t happen in the 21st century. Yet stillbirth in the UK is 10 times more common than cot death.

 

At Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, we feel this number of deaths is totally unacceptable. We have launched the Why17? campaign to raise awareness of this devastating loss and to ask the question:

 

“Why are 17 babies a day dying and what can be done to halt this national tragedy?”

 

“I just want to raise awareness of stillbirth. I had no idea that this could happen to me

 

1) Follow this link, fill in your details to email your MP to make them aware of the parliamentary launch of Why17? on March 4th 2009: www.why17.org/Get-Involved/Contact-your-MP.html

 

2) Add your name to the list of supporters (petition) : www.why17.org/Pledge-Your-Support.html

 

3) Make a contribution: donate online; buy a window sticker / wristband / balloon; or plan a sponsored event. More ideas here: www.why17.org/Get-Involved.html

"Sault Ste. Marie (/ˌsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ SOO-seint-ma-REE) is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 14,144 at the 2010 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It is the central city of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chippewa County and had a population of 38,520 at the 2010 census.

 

Sault Ste. Marie was settled as early as 1668, which makes it Michigan's oldest city and among the oldest cities in the United States. Located at the northeastern edge of the Upper Peninsula, it is separated by the St. Marys River from the much-larger city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two are connected by the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, which represents the northern terminus of Interstate 75. This portion of the river also contains the Soo Locks, as well as a swinging railroad bridge. The city is also home to Lake Superior State University.

 

For centuries Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native Americans had lived in the area, which they referred to as Baawitigong ("at the cascading rapids"), after the rapids of St. Marys River. French colonists renamed the region Saulteaux ("rapids" in French).

 

In 1668, French missionaries Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquette founded a Jesuit mission at this site. Sault Ste. Marie developed as the fourth-oldest European city in the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains, and the oldest permanent settlement in contemporary Michigan state. On June 4, 1671, Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson, a colonial agent, was dispatched from Quebec to the distant tribes, proposing a congress of Indian nations at the Falls of St. Mary between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Trader Nicolas Perrot helped attract the principal chiefs, and representatives of 14 Indigenous nations were invited for the elaborate ceremony. The French officials proclaimed France's appropriation of the immense territory surrounding Lake Superior in the name of King Louis XIV.

 

In the 18th century, the settlement became an important center of the fur trade, when it was a post for the British-owned North West Company, based in Montreal. The fur trader John Johnston, a Scots-Irish immigrant from Belfast, was considered the first European settler in 1790. He married a high-ranking Ojibwe woman named Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of a prominent chief, Waubojeeg. She also became known as Susan Johnston. Their marriage was one of many alliances in the northern areas between high-ranking European traders and Ojibwe. The family was prominent among Native Americans, First Nations, and Europeans from both Canada and the United States. They had eight children who learned fluent Ojibwe, English and French. The Johnstons entertained a variety of trappers, explorers, traders, and government officials, especially during the years before the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.

 

For more than 140 years, the settlement was a single community under French colonial, and later, British colonial rule. After the War of 1812, a US–UK Joint Boundary Commission finally fixed the border in 1817 between the Michigan Territory of the US and the British Province of Upper Canada to follow the river in this area. Whereas traders had formerly moved freely through the whole area, the United States forbade Canadian traders from operating in the United States, which reduced their trade and disrupted the area's economy. The American and Canadian communities of Sault Ste. Marie were each incorporated as independent municipalities toward the end of the 19th century.

 

As a result of the fur trade, the settlement attracted Ojibwe and Ottawa, Métis, and ethnic Europeans of various nationalities. It was a two-tiered society, with fur traders (who had capital) and their families and upper-class Ojibwe in the upper echelon. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, however, the community's society changed markedly.

 

The U.S. built Fort Brady near the settlement, introducing new troops and settlers, mostly Anglo-American. The UK and the US settled on a new northern boundary in 1817, dividing the US and Canada along St. Mary's River. The US prohibited British fur traders from operating in the United States. After completion of the Erie Canal in New York State in 1825 (expanded in 1832), the number of settlers migrating to Ohio and Michigan increased dramatically from New York and New England, bringing with them the Yankee culture of the Northern Tier. Their numbers overwhelmed the cosmopolitan culture of the earlier settlers. They practiced more discrimination against Native Americans and Métis.

 

The falls proved a choke point for shipping between the Great Lakes. Early ships traveling to and from Lake Superior were portaged around the rapids[8] in a lengthy process (much like moving a house) that could take weeks. Later, only the cargoes were unloaded, hauled around the rapids, and then loaded onto other ships waiting below the rapids. The first American lock, the State Lock, was built in 1855; it was instrumental in improving shipping. The lock has been expanded and improved over the years.

 

In 1900, Northwestern Leather Company opened a tannery in Sault Ste. Marie. The tannery was founded to process leather for the upper parts of shoes, which was finer than that for soles. After the factory closed in 1958, the property was sold to Filborn Limestone, a subsidiary of Algoma Steel Corporation.

 

In March 1938 during the Great Depression, Sophia Nolte Pullar bequeathed $70,000 for construction of the Pullar Community Building, which opened in 1939. This building held an indoor ice rink composed of artificial ice, then a revolutionary concept. The ice rink is still owned by the city." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

Hans Memling 1435-1494 Bruges

Flowers in a jug. Fleurs dans une cruche. 1485

Madrid Thyssen-Bornemisza.

 

LE BEAU FAIT DU BIEN

 

Le monde est là pour être goûté; la réalité est là comme un banquet qui s'offre, l'art n'est rien d'autre que l'exaltation de la saveur cachée des choses.

François CHENG. (« Toute beauté est singulière » « D’où jaillit le chant » et « Shitao, la saveur du monde »)

  

L'Art ? Exprimer "ce grand paquet de choses vivantes".

PAUL CLAUDEL.

 

Tout manque d’harmonie entre l’être et les choses, entre la vie et ses lois, même chez les grands hommes, ne tient pas à leur grandeur : il tient à leur faiblesse.

ROMAIN ROLLAND Vie de Michel Ange 1908

  

L'art de tous les temps et dans toutes les sociétés est un moyen pour les élites d'imposer une religion (sacrée) ou une idéologie (profane, laïque). L'art est donc un intéressant révélateur de la pensée philosophique et morale qui inspire les élites d'une société donnée en un temps donné. Ces religions ou idéologies peuvent différer beaucoup quant au bénéfice que les peuples vont, ou non, en retirer. Certaines sont propices à l'établissement de civilisations au long cours (Egypte ancienne, Antiquité greco-romaine, Christianisme, Hindouisme, Bouddhisme, Islam....) d'autres sont plus ou moins rapidement mortelles ( Sociétés Aztèque et Inca, Communisme, National-Socialisme).

En effet certaines idéologies, sacrées ou profanes, conçues par les élites, ont été, à plus ou moins court terme, acceptées et totalement partagées par les peuples qui y ont adhéré sans réticence. Elles peuvent alors s'imposer totalement sans heurter les sentiments et les libertés des populations, ou tout au moins d'une majorité largement significative, voire faire l'unanimité à l'intérieur de leur société durant une longue période de temps.

D'autres idéologies par contre ont été imposées par les élites, mais n'ont pas suscité l'adhésion unanime ou majoritaire des peuples qui sont entrés en résistance, passive ou active avec plus ou moins de succès au bout d'une période plus ou moins longue.

Il est possible de rencontrer dans l'histoire du monde une autre situation: celles d'idéologies, sacrées ou laïques, souvent de provenance étrangères, qui ont été adoptées, ou auraient été adoptées, par des peuples, mais ont été combattues par les élites idéologiques et politiques du pays.

  

Après un passage par les salles d'art contemporain des musées d'Occident, nombreuses sont les personnes qui éprouvent un véritable soulagement, et disent leur plaisir, leur sentiment de bonheur, de plénitude en revenant à l'art ancien ou à l'art moderne (1850-1950), bref aux Beaux Arts.

Un philosophe anglais actuel, Roger Scruton (Youtube) ose rappeler que le Beau est important pour l'homme.

Effectivement le Beau fait du Bien. Il n'est pas question ici de haute philosophie ni de s'interroger sur les relations, correspondances et différences entre le Beau et le Bien, le Laid et le Mal, mais d'un constat d'expérience et d'une proposition de bon sens

C'est un fait, le Beau fait du Bien, et c'est la raison pour laquelle il faut s'inquiéter, et ne pas hésiter à protester contre un art contemporain qui impose le Laid comme critère de ses choix.

Il ne faut pas se laisser intimider par le totalitarisme d'une conception de l'art qui fait du mal à la majorité d'une population. 70% puisque les statistiques montrent que c'est le pourcentage de la population, en tout cas française, qui se désintéresse de l'art contemporain.

Il faut s'inquiéter de l'existence et de la légitimité d'une élite qui impose aux peuples d'Occident des laideurs, prône et adore sur ses modernes autels dressés dans des salles d'art contemporain immenses comme des cathédrales, ce Laid qui nous veut du mal.

Remplacer la religion du Beau par celle du Laid n'est pas innocent, c'est un projet pervers.

Et quand ce projet ajoute encore à sa nocivité le Non-Sens et l'Absurdité il faut oser dire non, cela suffit, c'est une violation de nos consciences et une atteinte à notre conception de la vie et tout simplement à notre environnement.

Ce choix des élites a des effets pervers, non seulement sur les visiteurs des musées, mais aussi ailleurs que dans nos espaces d'art contemporain, par l'exemple qu'il propose aux peuples en justifiant le laid et le non sens. Par contagion.

Il faut constater qu'en dehors des cercles officiels, dans les classes moyennes, est clairement apparu, en peinture, sculpture, en photographie même, après les années 1960, un courant se voulant artistique, mais très orienté vers l'expression du laid et de l'absurde. Dans le portrait et la représentation de l'homme et de la femme notamment. Cette fascination pour le laid, qui se répand, est certainement l'expression d'un malaise existentiel, d'une désespérance quotidienne située à un niveau plus global: celui de la société occidentale contemporaine.

C'est un fait que l'art des rues, populaire et spontané, est généralement plus divers, plus imaginatif, plus beau et plus porteur de sens que l'art élitiste, officiel et dirigé des musées d'arts contemporains.

Mais c'est aussi un fait que les rues de nos villes et nos grandes voies de circulation sont le lieu d'expression d'un vandalisme du beau et du sens, d'une volonté de provocation et d'un mépris flagrant des autres. Le Non-art n'existe pas que dans les musées d'art contemporain, il est aussi très présent dans nos rues et parfaitement toléré et même encouragé dans certains quartiers. Pas les "beaux quartiers" bien sûr, qui sont protégés. Ce non-art des rues emprunte beaucoup à l'exemple donné par le non-art des élites.

Le poisson commence de pourrir par la tête, mais le poisson finit par pourrir tout entier.

 

BEAUTY IS GOOD FOR YOU

 

The world is there to be tasted; reality is there as a banquet that is offered, art is nothing more than the exaltation of the hidden flavor of things.

François CHENG. ("All beauty is singular" "From where the song springs" and "Shitao, the flavor of the world")

 

Art? Express "this great package of living things".

PAUL CLAUDEL.

 

Any lack of harmony between being and things, between life and its laws, even among great men, is not due to their greatness: it is due to their weakness.

ROMAIN ROLLAND Life of Michel Ange 1908

 

The art of all times and in all societies is a means for the elites to impose a (sacred) religion or an ideology (secular, secular). Art is therefore an interesting revealer of the philosophical and moral thought that inspires the elites of a given society in a given time. These religions or ideologies can differ a lot as to the benefit that peoples will or will not withdraw. Some are conducive to the establishment of long-term civilizations (ancient Egypt, Greek-Roman antiquity, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam ...) others are more or less rapidly mortal (Aztec and Inca society, Communism, national Socialism).

Indeed, certain ideologies, sacred or secular, conceived by the elites, have been, more or less short term, accepted and totally shared by the peoples who adhered to it without reluctance. They can then impose themselves completely without hurting the feelings and freedoms of the people, or at least a largely significant majority, even unanimity within their society for a long period of time.

Other ideologies, on the other hand, have been imposed by the elites, but did not generate the membership unanimous or majority of peoples that came into resistance, passive or active with more or less success after a shorter or longer period.

It is possible to encounter a different situation in the history of the world: those of ideologies, sacred or secular, often of foreign origin which have been adopted, or would have been adopted by peoples, but were fought by the elites ideological and political of the country.

 

After a passage through the contemporary art galleries of the museums of the Occident, many people are experiencing real relief, and say their pleasure, their feeling of happiness, plenitude by returning to ancient art or to Modern Art (1850-1950), in brief at the Fine Arts.

A current English philosopher, Roger Scruton (Youtube) dares to recall that the Beautiful is important for humans.

Indeed Beauty is good for you . The point is not highly philosophical. It is not a question of interrogate the relations, correspondences and differences between Beauty and the goodness, the ugly and the Evil, but to note and recall a fact of experience and a proposition of common sense.

It is a fact, Beauty does good, and that is why we must be concerned, and not hesitate to protest against a contemporary art that imposes the Ugliness as a criterion of its choices.

We must not be intimidated by the totalitarianism of a conception of art that hurts the majority of a population. 70% since statistics show that it is the percentage of the population, at least in France, that is losing interest in contemporary art.

We must be concerned about the existence and legitimacy of an elite that imposes ugliness on the peoples of the West, advocates and adores on its modern altars erected in huge contemporary art rooms like cathedrals, this ugliness that wants to hurt us.

Replace the religion of beauty with that of the ugly is not innocent, it is a perverse project.

And when this project adds to its harmfulness the Non-Sense and the Absurdity, one must dare to say no, it is enough, it is a violation of our consciences and an attack on our conception of the life and simply to our environment.

This choice of elites has perverse effects, not only on visitors to museums, but also elsewhere than in our contemporary art spaces, by the example he proposes to the people by justifying the ugly and nonsense. By contagion.

It must be noted that outside the official circles, in the middle classes, clearly appeared, in painting, sculpture, in photography even, after the 1960s, an artistic current, very oriented towards the expression of the ugly and The absurd. In the portrait and representation of man and woman in particular. This fascination with the ugly, which is spreading, is certainly the expression of an existential malaise, of a daily despair situated at a more global level: that of contemporary Western society.

It is a fact that the art of the streets, popular and spontaneous, is generally more diverse, more imaginative, more beautiful and more meaningful than the elitist, official and directed art of contemporary art museums.

But it is also a fact that the streets of our cities and our great roads are the place of expression of a vandalism of the beauty and meaning, a will to provoke and a blatant disregard for others. Non-art does not exist only in museums of contemporary art, it is also very present in our streets and perfectly tolerated and even encouraged in certain neighborhoods. Not the "uptown" of course, which are protected. This non-art of the street art borrows much from the example given by the non-art of the elites.

The fish begin to rot by the head, but the fish ends up rotting whole.

  

Built in 1900 according to Realtor.

 

"Sault Ste. Marie (/ˌsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ SOO-seint-ma-REE) is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 14,144 at the 2010 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It is the central city of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chippewa County and had a population of 38,520 at the 2010 census.

 

Sault Ste. Marie was settled as early as 1668, which makes it Michigan's oldest city and among the oldest cities in the United States. Located at the northeastern edge of the Upper Peninsula, it is separated by the St. Marys River from the much-larger city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two are connected by the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, which represents the northern terminus of Interstate 75. This portion of the river also contains the Soo Locks, as well as a swinging railroad bridge. The city is also home to Lake Superior State University.

 

For centuries Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native Americans had lived in the area, which they referred to as Baawitigong ("at the cascading rapids"), after the rapids of St. Marys River. French colonists renamed the region Saulteaux ("rapids" in French).

 

In 1668, French missionaries Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquette founded a Jesuit mission at this site. Sault Ste. Marie developed as the fourth-oldest European city in the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains, and the oldest permanent settlement in contemporary Michigan state. On June 4, 1671, Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson, a colonial agent, was dispatched from Quebec to the distant tribes, proposing a congress of Indian nations at the Falls of St. Mary between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Trader Nicolas Perrot helped attract the principal chiefs, and representatives of 14 Indigenous nations were invited for the elaborate ceremony. The French officials proclaimed France's appropriation of the immense territory surrounding Lake Superior in the name of King Louis XIV.

 

In the 18th century, the settlement became an important center of the fur trade, when it was a post for the British-owned North West Company, based in Montreal. The fur trader John Johnston, a Scots-Irish immigrant from Belfast, was considered the first European settler in 1790. He married a high-ranking Ojibwe woman named Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of a prominent chief, Waubojeeg. She also became known as Susan Johnston. Their marriage was one of many alliances in the northern areas between high-ranking European traders and Ojibwe. The family was prominent among Native Americans, First Nations, and Europeans from both Canada and the United States. They had eight children who learned fluent Ojibwe, English and French. The Johnstons entertained a variety of trappers, explorers, traders, and government officials, especially during the years before the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.

 

For more than 140 years, the settlement was a single community under French colonial, and later, British colonial rule. After the War of 1812, a US–UK Joint Boundary Commission finally fixed the border in 1817 between the Michigan Territory of the US and the British Province of Upper Canada to follow the river in this area. Whereas traders had formerly moved freely through the whole area, the United States forbade Canadian traders from operating in the United States, which reduced their trade and disrupted the area's economy. The American and Canadian communities of Sault Ste. Marie were each incorporated as independent municipalities toward the end of the 19th century.

 

As a result of the fur trade, the settlement attracted Ojibwe and Ottawa, Métis, and ethnic Europeans of various nationalities. It was a two-tiered society, with fur traders (who had capital) and their families and upper-class Ojibwe in the upper echelon. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, however, the community's society changed markedly.

 

The U.S. built Fort Brady near the settlement, introducing new troops and settlers, mostly Anglo-American. The UK and the US settled on a new northern boundary in 1817, dividing the US and Canada along St. Mary's River. The US prohibited British fur traders from operating in the United States. After completion of the Erie Canal in New York State in 1825 (expanded in 1832), the number of settlers migrating to Ohio and Michigan increased dramatically from New York and New England, bringing with them the Yankee culture of the Northern Tier. Their numbers overwhelmed the cosmopolitan culture of the earlier settlers. They practiced more discrimination against Native Americans and Métis.

 

The falls proved a choke point for shipping between the Great Lakes. Early ships traveling to and from Lake Superior were portaged around the rapids in a lengthy process (much like moving a house) that could take weeks. Later, only the cargoes were unloaded, hauled around the rapids, and then loaded onto other ships waiting below the rapids. The first American lock, the State Lock, was built in 1855; it was instrumental in improving shipping. The lock has been expanded and improved over the years.

 

In 1900, Northwestern Leather Company opened a tannery in Sault Ste. Marie. The tannery was founded to process leather for the upper parts of shoes, which was finer than that for soles. After the factory closed in 1958, the property was sold to Filborn Limestone, a subsidiary of Algoma Steel Corporation.

 

In March 1938 during the Great Depression, Sophia Nolte Pullar bequeathed $70,000 for construction of the Pullar Community Building, which opened in 1939. This building held an indoor ice rink composed of artificial ice, then a revolutionary concept. The ice rink is still owned by the city." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Now on Instagram.

Bonxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components, as defined in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Bonk Disorders, DSM-IV code 1248.16.

 

These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry. Bonxiety is a generalized mood condition that can often occur without an identifiable triggering stimulus.

 

Explore #72 on Friday, August 6, 2010. Thank you all!

Butterfly Garden of Wisconsin

www.butterflygardensofwisconsin.com/Butterfly_Gardens_of_...

 

Appleton is a city in Outagamie (mostly), Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles (160 km) north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 72,623 at the 2010 census. Of this figure, 60,045 resided in Outagamie County, 11,088 in Calumet County, and 1,490 in Winnebago County. Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area. Appleton is home to the two tallest buildings in Outagamie County, the Zuelke Building and the 222 Building, at 168 and 183 feet, respectively. Appleton serves as the heart of the Fox River Valley, and is home to the Fox Cities Exhibition Center, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Fox River Mall, Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, Appleton International Airport, and the Valley's two major hospitals: St. Elizabeth Hospital and ThedaCare Regional Medical Center–Appleton (better known as "Appleton Medical Center"). It also hosts a large number of regional events such as its Flag Day parade, Memorial Day parade, Christmas parade, Octoberfest, Mile of Music, and others.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleton,_Wisconsin

Musings from my diary.

For some reason, I watched the Polish singers Tulia sing Metallica’s nothing else matters on YouTube. It just popped up on my YouTube feed one day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=09NqLjHJtGQ

It didn’t turn out to be folk music, like l thought, but it was very good. But be warned that my YouTube music feed changed, and so did my You Tube news feed after watching it. I am still doing statistical analysis on the You Tube algorithm or feed l now get. And my assessment of You Tube is not that flattering.

I am debating with myself if it is a political song, as they sung it. It didn’t seem to be a political song at first, and the possibility that it is political isn’t why l liked it. It just seemed to be a unique cover, of a song l like. But on reflection it could have been sung for political reasons.

I considered that the four young ladies were doing a stone wall. A very polite, f@$k you, to everyone who had criticised Poland, recently.

Days later l am still considering what l saw, and l do it with ignorance from half a world away.

Today it seemed significant that the young polish ladies wore traditional head scarfs with flowers when they were dressed to impress their native Poles. Was it ironic that Poles were being criticised for it and yet other nations are lorded for their tribal displays? So, l wrote, and thus, I considered what l had been seeing.

It appeared to me that the way they had sung it, that it was possibly a song of rebellion, with the connotation of the flowers being vivid Polish sociological mathematics…

It looked to be in contrasted with the west. In the west they had sent their men to war in Afghanistan, for a war on terror that morphed into a war for woman’s and homosexual rights. No one had been sent to war by Poland recently, yet they were the ones being accused of idealistic nationalism.

Unlike the Polish ladies, westerner’s male and female didn’t offer a flower in the hair, but they expected religious like unquestioning self-sacrifice. They didn’t offer a Polish Catholic young lady’s flower. One that involved marriage and children, they didn’t even offer the childless sixties western variant, they offered nothing. Some expected their men to die, if need be, for a cause that they had not initially been sent to war for.

The song raised a lot of considerations for me, especially with the current populist narrative being propagated in the media about Poland. One reporter even going as far as to extrapolate that Poland was on a new religious crusade… Ironically it seemed to me that the atheist left was expecting Christians to follow the example of Christ and martyr themselves for their causes, but the Christians could not defend their own. It appeared to me, that some young Polish ladies might know how to tribally motivate their men and woman better than some of their western counterparts, who were offering nothing for some who would give the ultimate sacrifice for their efforts. Some in the west seemed to be treating their citizens of democratic nations like expendable mercenaries, slaves, or as those that should suffer intellectual sub servitude. Was it like ancient Rome? Were the polyamorists and atheists watching the metaphoric lions eat defenceless Christians, who were being deprived of any defence? Were those calling for an end to Polish democracy sitting outside the arena with no skin in the game? l considered that they were purveying an event, as if it was being called like a sporting match fit for a Roman arena, with thumbs up and thumbs down, and it seemed inhumane.

Four young Polish ladies had produced a lot of thought for a cover of a western Heavy Metal tune. The only conclusion l could come to, was it was a good cover, and unlike Metallica, Tulia couldn’t be accused of selling out.

  

Regression is meant here in two senses: downgrading, and multivariate statistical cause-and-effect analysis. Quite a few variables in the complex chain of causes and effects concerning climate change come together in this (lucky) shot of the Rotterdam port-industrial complex, the largest of its kind in Europe. Among these are main actual causes, among which are the clearly visible mass exhaust of CO2 and heat (the complex is by far the largest heat source in the nation) and the massive production of fossil fuels (we look at the largest refinery complex in Europe), as well as main climate change effects by the way of massive local rainfall ('aqua bombs', one is just passing here), rising river levels (shown here: the Rhine) and the rising sea level (the North Sea lying here just over the horizon).

The area shown is at triple risk of climate change. Water surges can come either from the river or from the nearby sea (and most possibly from both, acting in tandem), whereby the eventual inundation of large scale chemical and electric production facilities could produce widespread network disruption, energy shortages and severe pollution effects.

Yes, there is a great barrier near the sea that can be closed in an emergency, but nevertheless, let us all prey for serious breakthroughs in the current Paris climate negotiations!

Stuart is a city in and county seat of Martin County, Florida, the United States. Located on Florida's Treasure Coast, Stuart is the largest of four incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population was 15,593 in the 2010 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

 

Stuart is frequently cited as one of the best small towns to visit in the US, in large part because of Stuart's proximity to the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.

 

When Stuart was incorporated as a town in 1914, it was located in Palm Beach County. In 1925, Stuart was chartered as a city and named the county seat of the newly created Martin County.

The city of Stuart is known as the Sailfish Capital of the World, because of the many sailfish found in the ocean off Martin County.

 

Data originated from this website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart,_Florida

 

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION

 

Exerpts by Niles Eldredge

  

There is little doubt left in the minds of professional biologists that Earth is currently faced with a mounting loss of species that threatens to rival the five great mass extinctions of the geological past. As long ago as 1993, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimated that Earth is currently losing something on the order of 30,000 species per year — which breaks down to the even more daunting statistic of some three species per hour. Some biologists have begun to feel that this biodiversity crisis — this “Sixth Extinction” — is even more severe, and more imminent, than Wilson had supposed.

  

Extinction in the past

 

The major global biotic turnovers were all caused by physical events that lay outside the normal climatic and other physical disturbances which species, and entire ecosystems, experience and survive. What caused them?

 

The previous mass extinctions were due to natural causes.

First major extinction (c. 440 mya): Climate change (relatively severe and sudden global cooling) seems to have been at work at the first of these-the end-Ordovician mass extinction that caused such pronounced change in marine life (little or no life existed on land at that time). 25% of families lost (a family may consist of a few to thousands of species).

 

Second major extinction (c. 370 mya): The next such event, near the end of the Devonian Period, may or may not have been the result of global climate change. 19% of families lost.

 

Third major Extinction (c. 245 mya): Scenarios explaining what happened at the greatest mass extinction event of them all (so far, at least!) at the end of the Permian Period have been complex amalgams of climate change perhaps rooted in plate tectonics movements. Very recently, however, evidence suggests that a bolide impact similar to the end-Cretaceous event may have been the cause. 54% of families lost.

 

Fourth major extinction (c. 210 mya): The event at the end of the Triassic Period, shortly after dinosaurs and mammals had first evolved, also remains difficult to pin down in terms of precise causes. 23% of families lost.

 

Fifth major extinction (c. 65 mya): Most famous, perhaps, was the most recent of these events at the end-Cretaceous. It wiped out the remaining terrestrial dinosaurs and marine ammonites, as well as many other species across the phylogenetic spectrum, in all habitats sampled from the fossil record. Consensus has emerged in the past decade that this event was caused by one (possibly multiple) collisions between Earth and an extraterrestrial bolide (probably cometary). Some geologists, however, point to the great volcanic event that produced the Deccan traps of India as part of the chain of physical events that disrupted ecosystems so severely that many species on land and sea rapidly succumbed to extinction. 17% of families lost.

  

How is The Sixth Extinction different from previous events?

 

The current mass extinction is caused by humans.

 

At first glance, the physically caused extinction events of the past might seem to have little or nothing to tell us about the current Sixth Extinction, which is a patently human-caused event. For there is little doubt that humans are the direct cause of ecosystem stress and species destruction in the modern world through such activities as:

 

-transformation of the landscape

 

-overexploitation of species

 

-pollution

 

-the introduction of alien species

 

And, because Homo sapiens is clearly a species of animal (however behaviorally and ecologically peculiar an animal), the Sixth Extinction would seem to be the first recorded global extinction event that has a biotic, rather than a physical, cause.

 

We are bringing about massive changes in the environment.

 

Yet, upon further reflection, human impact on the planet is a direct analogue of the Cretaceous cometary collision. Sixty-five million years ago that extraterrestrial impact — through its sheer explosive power, followed immediately by its injections of so much debris into the upper reaches of the atmosphere that global temperatures plummeted and, most critically, photosynthesis was severely inhibited — wreaked havoc on the living systems of Earth. That is precisely what human beings are doing to the planet right now: humans are causing vast physical changes on the planet.

  

What is the Sixth Extinction?

 

We can divide the Sixth Extinction into two discrete phases:

 

-Phase One began when the first modern humans began to disperse to different parts of the world about 100,000 years ago.

 

-Phase Two began about 10,000 years ago when humans turned to agriculture.

 

Humans began disrupting the environment as soon as they appeared on Earth.

 

The first phase began shortly after Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and the anatomically modern humans began migrating out of Africa and spreading throughout the world. Humans reached the middle east 90,000 years ago. They were in Europe starting around 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals, who had long lived in Europe, survived our arrival for less than 10,000 years, but then abruptly disappeared — victims, according to many paleoanthropologists, of our arrival through outright warfare or the more subtle, though potentially no less devastating effects, of being on the losing side of ecological competition.

 

Everywhere, shortly after modern humans arrived, many (especially, though by no means exclusively, the larger) native species typically became extinct. Humans were like bulls in a China shop:

 

-They disrupted ecosystems by overhunting game species, which never experienced contact with humans before.

 

-And perhaps they spread microbial disease-causing organisms as well.

 

The fossil record attests to human destruction of ecosystems:

 

-Wherever early humans migrated, other species became extinct.

 

-Humans arrived in large numbers in North America roughly 12,500 years ago-and sites revealing the butchering of mammoths, mastodons and extinct buffalo are well documented throughout the continent. The demise of the bulk of the La Brea tar pit Pleistocene fauna coincided with our arrival.

 

-The Caribbean lost several of its larger species when humans arrived some 8000 years ago.

 

-Extinction struck elements of the Australian megafauna much earlier-when humans arrived some 40,000 years ago. Madagascar-something of an anomaly, as humans only arrived there two thousand years ago-also fits the pattern well: the larger species (elephant birds, a species of hippo, plus larger lemurs) rapidly disappeared soon after humans arrived.

 

Indeed, only in places where earlier hominid species had lived (Africa, of course, but also most of Europe and Asia) did the fauna, already adapted to hominid presence, survive the first wave of the Sixth Extinction pretty much intact. The rest of the world’s species, which had never before encountered hominids in their local ecosystems, were as naively unwary as all but the most recently arrived species (such as Vermilion Flycatchers) of the Galapagos Islands remain to this day.

  

Why does the Sixth Extinction continue?

 

The invention of agriculture accelerated the pace of the Sixth Extinction.

 

Phase two of the Sixth Extinction began around 10,000 years ago with the invention of agriculture-perhaps first in the Natufian culture of the Middle East. Agriculture appears to have been invented several different times in various different places, and has, in the intervening years, spread around the entire globe.

 

Agriculture represents the single most profound ecological change in the entire 3.5 billion-year history of life. With its invention:

 

-Humans did not have to interact with other species for survival, and so could manipulate other species for their own use

 

-Humans did not have to adhere to the ecosystem’s carrying capacity, and so could overpopulate

 

-Humans do not live with nature but outside it.

 

Homo sapiens became the first species to stop living inside local ecosystems. All other species, including our ancestral hominid ancestors, all pre-agricultural humans, and remnant hunter-gatherer societies still extant exist as semi-isolated populations playing specific roles (i.e., have “niches”) in local ecosystems. This is not so with post-agricultural revolution humans, who in effect have stepped outside local ecosystems. Indeed, to develop agriculture is essentially to declare war on ecosystems - converting land to produce one or two food crops, with all other native plant species all now classified as unwanted “weeds” — and all but a few domesticated species of animals now considered as pests.

 

The total number of organisms within a species is limited by many factors-most crucial of which is the “carrying capacity” of the local ecosystem: given the energetic needs and energy-procuring adaptations of a given species, there are only so many squirrels, oak trees and hawks that can inhabit a given stretch of habitat. Agriculture had the effect of removing the natural local-ecosystem upper limit of the size of human populations. Though crops still fail regularly, and famine and disease still stalk the land, there is no doubt that agriculture in the main has had an enormous impact on human population size:

 

-Earth can’t sustain the trend in human population growth. It is reaching its limit in carrying capacity.

 

-Estimates vary, but range between 1 and 10 million people on earth 10,000 years ago.

 

-There are now over 6 billion people.

 

-The numbers continue to increase logarithmically — so that there will be 8 billion by 2020.

 

-There is presumably an upper limit to the carrying capacity of humans on earth — of the numbers that agriculture can support — and that number is usually estimated at between 13-15 billion, though some people think the ultimate numbers might be much higher.

 

This explosion of human population, especially in the post-Industrial Revolution years of the past two centuries, coupled with the unequal distribution and consumption of wealth on the planet, is the underlying cause of the Sixth Extinction. There is a vicious cycle:

 

-Overpopulation, invasive species, and overexploitation are fueling the extinction.

 

-More lands are cleared and more efficient production techniques (most recently engendered largely through genetic engineering) to feed the growing number of humans — and in response, the human population continues to expand.

 

-Higher fossil energy use is helping agriculture spread, further modifying the environment.

 

-Humans continue to fish (12 of the 13 major fisheries on the planet are now considered severely depleted) and harvest timber for building materials and just plain fuel, pollution, and soil erosion from agriculture creates dead zones in fisheries (as in the Gulf of Mexico)

 

-While the human Diaspora has meant the spread, as well, of alien species that more often than not thrive at the detriment of native species. For example, invasive species have contributed to 42% of all threatened and endangered species in the U.S.

  

Can conservation measures stop the Sixth Extinction?

 

Only 10% of the world’s species survived the third mass extinction. Will any survive this one?

 

The world’s ecosystems have been plunged into chaos, with some conservation biologists thinking that no system, not even the vast oceans, remains untouched by human presence. Conservation measures, sustainable development, and, ultimately, stabilization of human population numbers and consumption patterns seem to offer some hope that the Sixth Extinction will not develop to the extent of the third global extinction, some 245 mya, when 90% of the world’s species were lost.

 

Though it is true that life, so incredibly resilient, has always recovered (though after long lags) after major extinction spasms, it is only after whatever has caused the extinction event has dissipated. That cause, in the case of the Sixth Extinction, is ourselves — Homo sapiens. This means we can continue on the path to our own extinction, or, preferably, we modify our behavior toward the global ecosystem of which we are still very much a part. The latter must happen before the Sixth Extinction can be declared over, and life can once again rebound.

  

© 2005, American Institute of Biological Sciences. Educators have permission to reprint articles for classroom use; other users, please contact editor@actionbioscience.org for reprint permission. See reprint policy.

 

Paleontologist Dr. Niles Eldredge is the Curator-in-Chief of the permanent exhibition “Hall of Biodiversity” at the American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at the City University of New York. He has devoted his career to examining evolutionary theory through the fossil record, publishing his views in more than 160 scientific articles, reviews, and books. Life in the Balance: Humanity and the Biodiversity Crisisis his most recent book.

 

www.gc.cuny.edu/directories/faculty/E.htm

   

Articles and Resources on The Sixth Extinction

 

Consequences of the Sixth Extinction

The article “How Will Sixth Extinction Affect Evolution of Species?,” on our site, describes how the current loss of biodiversity will affect evolution in the long run.

www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/myers_knoll.html

 

BioScience Article

“Global Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.”

Habitat destruction has driven much of the current biodiversity extinction crisis, and it compromises the essential benefits, or ecosystem services that humans derive from functioning ecosystems. Securing both species and ecosystem services might be accomplished with common solutions. Yet it is unknown whether these two major conservation objectives coincide broadly enough worldwide to enable global strategies for both goals to gain synergy. In this November 2007, BioScience article, Will Turner and his colleagues assess the concordance between these two objectives, explore how the concordance varies across different regions, and examine the global potential for safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services simultaneously. Read the abstract, or log in to purchase the full article.

caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1641/B571009

 

Biodiversity in the next millennium

American Museum of Natural History’s nationwide survey (undated) “reveals biodiversity crisis — the fastest mass extinction in Earth’s history.”

cbc.amnh.org/crisis/mncntnt.html

 

National Geographic

A 2/99 article about the Sixth Extinction, with views from several leading scientists.

www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9902/fngm/index.html

 

Extinction through time

Find out about cycles of life and death and extinction patterns through time.

www.carleton.ca/Museum/extinction/tablecont.html

 

Is Humanity Suicidal?

Edward O. Wilson asks us why we stay on the course to our own self-destruction.

www.well.com/user/davidu/suicidal.html

 

A Field Guide to the Sixth Extinction

Niles Eldredge writes in 1999 about a few of the millions of plants and animals that won’t make it to the next millennium. The second link takes you to the site’s main page, entitled “Mass Extinction Underway — The World Wide Web’s most comprehensive source of information on the current mass extinction,” which provides links to numerous other resources.

www.well.com/user/davidu/fieldguide.html

www.well.com/user/davidu/extinction.html

 

Global Environment Outlook 3

The United Nations Environment Programme released this major report in May 2002. The report collated the thoughts of more than 1,000 contributors to assess the environmental impact of the last 30 years and outline policy ideas for the next three decades. It concluded that without action, the world may experience severe environmental problems within 30 years. The entire report can be read online or purchased online.

www.unep.org/geo/geo3/index.htm

 

Test your environmental knowledge

A 1999 survey showed that only one in three adult Americans had a passing understanding of the most pressing environmental issues. How do you measure up? Explanatory answers provided.

www.youthactionnet.org/quizzes/global_environment.cfm

 

World Atlas of Biodiversity — interactive map

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the firstWorld Atlas of Biodiversityin August 2002. This link takes you to their online interactive map that helps you search for data about species/land/water loss, extinction over time, and human global development. Click on the “?” for a help page that explains how to interact with this map.

stort.unep-wcmc.org/imaps/gb2002/book/viewer.htm

 

The Sixth Great Extinction: A Status Report

Earth Policy Institute’s 2004 update on the status of loss of biodiversity.

www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update35.htm

  

Books

 

» The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Countsby The American Museum of Natural History (New Press, 2001).

 

» The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of of Life and the Future of Humankindby Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin (Doubleday and Company, 1996).

  

Get Involved

 

The Biodiversity Project

You can choose a way to get involved in protecting biodiversity — from educational resources to community outreach.

www.biodiversityproject.org/html/resources/introduction.htm

 

The Nature Conservancy

Select a state from the menu and find out how you can become an environmental volunteer in that state.

www.nature.org/volunteer/

 

Information for Action

“This website explains the environmental problems & offers solutions to fix them. There are many valuable resources available” including lobbying info, contacts database, & news updates.

www.informaction.org/

 

Harmony

“Harmony Foundation is all about education for the environment. We offer publications and programs… ‘Building Sustainable Societies’ offers innovative training for educators and community group leaders to support local action on important environmental issues.”

www.harmonyfdn.ca

 

Earth Talk: Environmental advocacy for professionals

This discussion community and learning network seeks to contribute to global ecological sustainability by enabling communication connections between those working on behalf of forests, water, and climate.

www.ecoearth.info/

 

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Tiger Illustration by Dorothy Lathrop from

"Fierce-Face: The story of a tiger" by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1936)