The family soon learned that when little Rebecca was in one of her moods, frightening and inexplicable things would happen.

Like the time when Fred the mailman became entangled in the clothesline and had to be cut free with the hedge clippers moments before strangulation occured. Or when Aunt Lucy came to visit and found that there were hundreds of needles, pins and razor blades hidden in her bed sheets. Or when an empty box of rat poison was found next to the simmering pot of goulash.

It was understood that you simply did not cross little Rebecca, or you would suffer the dire consequences.

Note the tentative look on her brother, Oscar's face. It was not long after this photo was taken that Oscar volunteered to go away to military school and to sever all ties with the family.

Jules and Chin having a domestic.

Every Scarf should have a pocket. This would increase their usefulness no end. Especially if those pockets had gel warmers in them. Magical even.

 

However, a fondness for flowing or over length scarves must be tempered with the following cautionary tale.

 

Angela Isadora Duncan (May 27, 1877 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer. Born in California, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50.

 

Duncan's fondness for flowing scarves was a contributing factor to her death in an automobile accident in Nice, France, at the age of 50. She was wearing a shawl that was hand-painted silk by the Russian-born artist Roman Chatov, and was a gift from her friend Mary Desti, the mother of American film director Preston Sturges. Desti, who saw Duncan off, reported that she had asked Duncan to wear a cape because it was cold out, and the car was an open-air one, but Duncan would only agree to wear the shawl.

 

On the night of September 14, 1927, Duncan was a passenger in the Amilcar automobile of a French-Italian mechanic Benoît Falchetto, whom she had nicknamed "Buggatti" - thus the reason that many writers have erroneously said she was killed in a Bugatti car.

 

Before getting into the car, she reportedly said to her friend Desti and some companions, "Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire!" ("Farewell, my friends. I go to glory!"), however, according to American novelist Glenway Wescott, who was in Nice at the time and visited Duncan's body in the morgue, Desti admitted that she had lied about Duncan's last words. Instead, she told Wescott, Duncan said, "Je vais à l'amour" ("I am off to love"). Desti considered this embarrassing, as it suggested that she and Falchetto were going to her hotel for a tryst. Her silk scarf, a gift from Desti, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, hurling her from the open car and breaking her neck. Desti claims that she called out to warn Duncan about the shawl almost immediately after the car left. Desti brought Duncan to the hospital, where she was declared dead.

 

As The New York Times noted in its obituary: "Isadora Duncan, the American dancer, tonight met a tragic death at Nice on the Riviera. According to dispatches from Nice, Miss Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement."

 

Other sources described her death as resulting from strangulation, noting that she was almost decapitated by the sudden tightening of the scarf around her neck.

 

The accident gave rise to Gertrude Stein's mordant remark that "affectations can be dangerous".

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

 

www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/4949201/Isadora...

www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/20/WS63f2af5ea31057c47ebaf...

 

Experts take on Russia-Ukraine conflict

Editor's note: Since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine, problems have emerged on all fronts, and the confrontations and conflicts between religions, cultures, and societies have been deepening. The international community should focus on promoting peace talks, encouraging Russia and Ukraine to return to negotiations, and accumulating conditions of an early cease-fire. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

China Daily | Updated: 2023-02-20 07:22

 

Unlike West, China promotes lasting peace

By Benyamin Poghosyan

 

Feb 24, 2022 will likely enter into history textbooks as a day that finally ended the post-Cold War global order marked by the United States' hegemony, and paved the way for the emergence of a new order, although it is too early to assess the features of that new order.

 

Will it be a multipolar world with fewer regulations and wars, or will it be a multipolar world where major powers will manage their competition while cooperating on common challenges such as climate change, pandemics, hunger and transnational crime?

 

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to rage with no light at the end of the tunnel, international community members pursue different policies and strategies.

 

We can identify two primary approaches to the conflict: one is primarily led by the United States and the other by China. The US position is clear: the conflict should continue as long as necessary to defeat Russia militarily, or weaken it significantly and transform Russia into a mid-level power with no resources to shape global developments.

 

The US has rallied the European Union, NATO and its Asian allies such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and others around this goal. There are extreme voices in this camp that call for the de facto destruction of Russia advocating the dismemberment of Russia into several independent states, similar to what happened to the Soviet Union in 1991.

 

To achieve their primary goal of engineering Russia's military defeat, this group forced Ukraine to abandon negotiations with Russia in late March 2022, promising an indefinite flow of modern weaponry to the country to continue the fight against Russia. For this group, the war in Ukraine is an excellent opportunity to weaken Russia, creating "a second Afghanistan" for the Kremlin and potentially triggering domestic instability and even regime change in Moscow in the long run.

 

The US has been using the Russia-Ukraine conflict to strengthen its economic competitiveness against the EU. Recent US actions to increase the attractiveness of its economy, including adopting the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, have led some EU businesses to relocate to the US. The US convinced the EU, especially Germany, to abandon relatively cheap Russian oil and gas while significantly increasing the American LNG exports to Europe.

 

The supply of large amounts of US weapons to Ukraine and the decision by the US' European and Asian allies to significantly increase their defense budgets have created new channels of additional profits for the US defense industry.

 

Thus, by pouring oil on the Ukraine conflict fire, the US has been pursuing several goals — to weaken Russia as much as possible, to increase its economic advantages over the EU, and to end all discussions about "European strategic autonomy" pushed forward by France in recent years. The US is using the Ukraine conflict to reinstate its leadership over the EU and its Asian allies.

 

In this context, the US' interest is in continuing the Ukraine conflict as long as possible. This strategy creates some risks, too, and recently several influential US think tanks, such as RAND Corporation, published reports about the potential dangers of a prolonged war for the US. However, as of now, the mainstream US position has not changed — war should continue until "Russia's defeat", which means war should continue indefinitely.

 

China pursues a different policy. Recognizing the territorial integrity of Ukraine, China simultaneously accepts Russia's security concerns about NATO's enlargement and the US' policy to encircle Russia with a ring of military bases. China calls for the cessation of hostilities, and the launch of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to find a lasting solution to the crisis. While keeping its strategic comprehensive partnership with Russia going and refusing to join the anti-Russia hysteria, China continues to work with Ukraine and thus is well positioned to push forward the idea of peace.

 

Of course, no one is naive enough to hope that the path toward a negotiated solution will be easy. Russia-Ukraine relations started deteriorating during the "Orange Revolution" of 2004. Military activities in 2014-15; no peace, no war in Donbas in 2015-early 2022; and the start of the large-scale conflict in February 2022 have significantly poisoned bilateral relations.

 

For too many Russians and Ukrainians, animosity between the two countries became a norm, while the deaths and destruction deepened mutual mistrust. But the core task of responsible global powers is not to ignite new conflicts or support indefinite wars for selfish geopolitical interests. Global power status does not imply only benefits in terms of influence and economic and military might. It also implies a necessity to promote peace and stability regionally and globally.

 

The Ukraine conflict has become the litmus test for global powers' intentions and behavior, and China has passed it.

 

The author is chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, Yerevan, Armenia.

 

Ukraine crisis: Think deeper or we all lose

By Jan Oberg

 

Whatever other reasons there may be for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a major one is that we live in times characterized by an increasingly dangerous, perhaps fatal, combination of intellectual-moral disarmament and military re-armament. Militarism is now the main factor holding the Western (US-NATO — EU) world together. Militarism is a religion and NATO its church.

 

In different ways, militarists argue that their side is historically innocent and are justified to do what they are doing. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg even said NATO is not a party to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They also argue that they must win, meaning others must lose. The latter is an intellectual fallacy because it is fairly obvious that all parties could also win, all parties could also lose.

 

Those who have studied conflicts and wars know that, over time, warring parties tend to become mirror images of each other and argue alike — with just the roles reversed — and make the same fatal miscalculations and logical fallacies.

 

For Ukrainians, Ukraine must win — win back all its territory and get protected by NATO in the future. For Russians, Russia must win — win national security by controlling Crimea and the Donbas region of Ukraine, and ensure that Ukraine never becomes a full NATO member. For NATO-European Union, NATO must win — in the sense of getting Ukraine into NATO, and pushing Russia into a corner and fatally weakening it so it never again transgresses its borders and is economically destroyed, if not dismembered à la Yugoslavia.

 

These are the parties' completely unrealistically ideal or maximalist goals, illusions, at the war level and the government level. But what about the level of the underlying conflict?

 

Totally obsessed with weapons and war, neither the media nor politicians seem to have the slightest focus on, or understanding of, the underlying conflicts, the root causes of the violence playing out in Ukraine. They do not understand that the solution — not the win — has to do with an understanding of these root causes. They behave like a quack who diagnoses a patient by asking where the pain is and then applies pain boosters or killers, never asking the most relevant questions: Why the pain and where the pain and what's the cure?

 

This obsession, together with the three main parties' goals and dreams/illusions, makes for a very long and utterly destructive war which everybody will lose, not only the people in Ukraine but also in Western Europe and Russia.

 

Only when decision-makers and the media would educate themselves and remove the shroud of conflict — and peace-illiteracy can the focus move to the root causes: What were the conflicts that stood between the parties — the problems which they could not handle peacefully but took to violence to solve — politically, psychologically and militarily?

 

That is the moment when, in the best of cases, we open a new road to intelligent conflict-handling, to a negotiated solution and a sustainable peace. The think-alike militarists on all sides believe that peace will come when somebody wins militarily. But like the mentioned doctor who never opened a textbook in medicine can't re-create health, this thinking cannot re-create peace. Peace never grows out of the battlefield. Any fool can start a war. Restoring or maintaining peace requires neutral professional expertise and empathy.

 

If one or more of the parties stop and begin to think — there can be hope that the war will end and the deep conflicts will be addressed — peaceful coexistence can finally become a possibility.

 

Essentially, Ukraine is about the world's classical dilemma: the mindbogglingly immature realpolitik paradigm with national military "security" based on conventional and nuclear long-range offensive deterrence weapons. Invariably, it will lead to war — which calls for more weapons and leads deeper down into the intellectual and moral quicksand. And eventually someone presses the wrongest of all buttons.

 

The world of security politics is run by peace-illiterate elites of the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, MIMAC. The global military expenditure has never been so high as today. The pace of NATO countries re-armament (already 12 times higher than Russia's before the Ukraine war) has never been so fast. A major war in Europe and the use of nuclear weapons have never looked so probable — while civil society is being starved.

 

If this weapons-obsessed thinking could bring world peace, it would have happened decades ago. The civilizational truth is that the enemy is us. Governments have let militarism loose instead of respecting the world's finest norm in the UN Charter's Article 1 — that peace shall be created by peaceful means. Ask how many military institutes, academies, think tanks, government units, research facilities and associations there are in the world compared with those for peace. No minister or statesman has peace advisers.

 

The discourse on peace — in research, politics and media — has disappeared. If we do not stop to think more deeply we shall all lose — dying as patients of society's cancer called militarism.

 

Let's use the NATO-Russia conflict playing out so tragically in Ukraine to stop and think. Let's make it the last war before it makes this humanity the last.

 

The author is PhD and director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF, Sweden.

 

Conflict does nobody, except US, any good

By Zhao Huirong

 

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict about to enter its second year, it's time to take a fresh look at geopolitics in the Eurasian region. When Russia commenced its "special military operation", it underestimated Ukraine's determination and capability to fight, as well as the degree of Western involvement in the conflict.

 

The failure of the Russian troops to achieve their goals forced them to withdraw from northern Ukraine and shift their focus on key targets. Amid all this, the two sides held five rounds of negotiations.

 

The two sides have been engaged in a tug-of-war and positional warfare in eastern and southeastern Ukraine. Ukraine has carried out counterattacks against Russian troops as Western countries have increased support for the country.

 

The two sides are unable to negotiate due to mutual distrust and hatred, yet both are confident of eventually achieving victory, and are making plans to continue the conflict.

 

The conflict has been dragging on because it is not only a confrontation between Ukraine and Russia over some territory, but also a showdown between Russia, which is seeking regional dominance, and the United States, which is pursuing global hegemony. Basically, the conflict is a zero-sum game.

 

After 2014, Ukraine integrated two issues: joining the Western camp and "gaining true independence from Moscow". On its part, Russia considers Ukraine's choice as a threat to its security and a challenge to its dominance in the Eurasia region. That's why Russia chose to conduct the special military operation in Ukraine to stop NATO's eastward expansion and deter other Eurasian countries from following Ukraine's example.

 

Although Kyiv's decision is influenced by Washington and its army relies on Western support, the West refuses to get directly involved in the conflict. Instead, the Western countries have been providing "slow but steady" material and strategic support for Ukraine in the shape of advanced arms, ammunition and military equipment to fight Russia, because they believe this is the best way to weaken Russia.

 

The US believes that only sustained strangulation (military confrontation, economic sanctions and political isolation) can reduce Russia's national strength, allowing it to lay its hand on the country's abundant resources. And since Putin's administration is still stable, the US has been doing everything it can to prolong the conflict in order to weaken Russia.

 

US President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, indicating Washington's intention of providing long-term military aid for Kyiv, while the European Union's preference for protecting its security and political interests has prompted it to follow the US' strategy.

 

The conflict is likely to intensify in the short term with the Western countries providing more and more advanced weapons to Ukraine and imposing more sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which is supporting Russia politically and strategically. And with NATO's involvement in the conflict likely to deepen, Eastern European will become increasingly militarized.

 

In the medium term, Russia and Ukraine will be engaged in a battle of attrition, because negotiations will not yield concrete results as long as the two parties don't change their rigid stances.

 

And in the long term, the conflict will end only when one side suffers massive losses, runs out of combat power or there is a political upheaval in Russia. And although a cease-fire agreement may be reached at that time, it cannot resolve the territorial issues.

 

The spillover effects of the conflict have intensified bloc confrontation, worsened the international security situation, exacerbated the arms race, and triggered price hikes and inflation, slowing down global economic growth and causing food and energy crises in many parts of the world. The conflict has reshaped the Western political landscape, too.

 

The US wants to prolong the conflict, because that will allow it to consolidate its hold over the EU and strengthen the NATO alliance, while reaping huge profits from energy and arms sales.

 

The US considers China the most important geopolitical challenge and Russia a direct and constant threat to European security, and aims to counter both countries and create a chasm between China and the EU by linking issues associated with China and Russia with the conflict. But the US' hegemonic actions will face growing opposition from its allies and partners in the long run.

 

The conflict has led to unprecedented political cohesion among European countries which, following US-like policies, have accelerated the trend of militarization. For example, Germany changed its pacifist foreign policy and greatly increased its defense budget, while Sweden and Finland have applied to join NATO, which Russia sees as another provocative move.

 

The EU is facing high inflation and a severe energy crisis by banning imports of Russian oil and natural gas. Despite that, the EU prefers to follow in the US' footsteps rather than taking steps to meet the energy and food shortages, which EU citizens want.

 

Besides, Russia's weakening influence in Eurasia has reshaped the regional landscape. For example, while the Russia-Belarus alliance has strengthened, Ukraine and Moldova have been listed as EU candidate countries, and Georgia as a potential candidate country. And with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan promoting unity among Central Asian countries, the geopolitical game in Eurasia is becoming more complicated.

 

The future of Eurasia will largely depend on the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But the fact that the Russian economy shrank by less than 3 percent in 2022, much less than initially forecast, means it is more resilient than expected and Moscow can afford to intensify the conflict in the short term.

 

However, Russia's development environment will continue to deteriorate in the long run, and the structural transformation of its economy will be delayed, with its weakened economy leading to increasing uncertainties.

 

On the other hand, the conflict has consolidated Zelensky's political position and accelerated the accession of Ukraine into the EU, although the country lost some of its territory and its GDP shrunk by one-third in 2022, while more than 8 million Ukrainians have fled the country, making its reconstruction very difficult in the short term.

 

The author is a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Title: Fools Die On Friday.

Author: A. A. Fair.

Publisher: Dell Books.

Date: 1957.

Artist: Victor Kalin.

Strangulation fantasy

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus Panthera. It is most recognisable for its black stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ungulates, such as deer and wild boar. It is territorial and generally a solitary but social predator, requiring large contiguous areas of habitat to support its requirements for prey and rearing of its offspring. Tiger cubs stay with their mother for about two years and then become independent, leaving their mother's home range to establish their own.

 

The tiger was first scientifically described in 1758. It once ranged widely from the Eastern Anatolia Region in the west to the Amur River basin in the east, and in the south from the foothills of the Himalayas to Bali in the Sunda Islands. Since the early 20th century, tiger populations have lost at least 93% of their historic range and have been extirpated from Western and Central Asia, the islands of Java and Bali, and in large areas of Southeast and South Asia and China. What remains of the range where tigers still roam free is fragmented, stretching in spots from Siberian temperate forests to subtropical and tropical forests on the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and a single Indonesian island, Sumatra.

 

The tiger is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. India hosts the largest tiger population. Major reasons for population decline are habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching. Tigers are also victims of human–wildlife conflict, due to encroachment in countries with a high human population density.

 

The tiger is among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. It featured prominently in the ancient mythology and folklore of cultures throughout its historic range and continues to be depicted in modern films and literature, appearing on many flags, coats of arms and as mascots for sporting teams. The tiger is the national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and South Korea.

 

Etymology

The Middle English tigre and Old English tigras derive from Old French tigre, from Latin tigris. This was a borrowing of Classical Greek τίγρις 'tigris', a foreign borrowing of unknown origin meaning 'tiger' and the river Tigris. The generic name Panthera is derived from the Latin word panthera and the Ancient Greek word πάνθηρ pánthēr.

 

Taxonomy

In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the tiger in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific name Felis tigris. In 1929, the British taxonomist Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated the species under the genus Panthera using the scientific name Panthera tigris.

 

Subspecies

Following Linnaeus's first descriptions of the species, several tiger zoological specimens were described and proposed as subspecies. The validity of several tiger subspecies was questioned in 1999. Most putative subspecies described in the 19th and 20th centuries were distinguished on the basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size, hence characteristics that vary widely within populations. Morphologically, tigers from different regions vary little, and gene flow between populations in those regions is considered to have been possible during the Pleistocene. Therefore, it was proposed to recognize only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely P. t. tigris in mainland Asia, and P. t. sondaica in the Greater Sunda Islands. Mainland tigers are described as being larger in size with generally lighter fur and fewer stripes, while island tigers are smaller due to insular dwarfism, with darker coats and more numerous stripes. The stripes of island tigers may break up into spotted patterns.

 

This two-subspecies proposal was reaffirmed in 2015 by a comprehensive analysis of morphological, ecological and molecular traits of all putative tiger subspecies using a combined approach. The authors proposed recognition of only two subspecies, namely P. t. tigris comprising the Bengal, Malayan, Indochinese, South Chinese, Siberian and Caspian tiger populations of continental Asia, and P. t. sondaica comprising the Javan, Bali and Sumatran tiger populations of the Sunda Islands. The continental nominate subspecies P. t. tigris constitutes two clades: a northern clade composed of the Siberian and Caspian tiger populations, and a southern clade composed of all other mainland populations. The authors noted that this two-subspecies reclassification will impact tiger conservation management. It would make captive breeding programs and future re-wilding of zoo-born tigers easier, as one tiger population could then be used to reinforce another. However, there is the risk that the loss of subspecies uniqueness could lead to less protection efforts for specific populations.

 

In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy in accordance with the two-subspecies proposal of the comprehensive 2015 study, and recognized the tiger populations in continental Asia as P. t. tigris, and those in the Sunda Islands as P. t. sondaica. This two-subspecies view is still disputed by researchers, since the currently recognized six living subspecies can be distinguished genetically. Results of a 2018 whole-genome sequencing of 32 samples support six monophyletic tiger clades corresponding with the six living subspecies and indicate they descended from a common ancestor around 110,000 years ago.[14] Studies in 2021 and 2023 also affirmed the genetic distinctiveness and separation of these tigers.

 

The tiger's closest living relatives were previously thought to be the Panthera species lion, leopard and jaguar. Results of genetic analysis indicate that about 2.88 million years ago, the tiger and the snow leopard lineages diverged from the other Panthera species, and that both may be more closely related to each other than to the lion, leopard and jaguar.

 

The fossil species Panthera palaeosinensis of early Pleistocene northern China was described as a possible tiger ancestor when it was discovered in 1924, but modern cladistics place it as basal to modern Panthera.Panthera zdanskyi, which lived around the same time and place, was suggested to be a sister taxon of the modern tiger when it was examined in 2014. However, as of 2023, at least two recent studies considered P. zdanskyi likely to be a synonym of P. palaeosinensis, noting that its proposed differences from that species fell within the range of individual variation. The earliest appearance of the modern tiger species in the fossil record are jaw fragments from Lantion in China that are dated to the early Pleistocene. Middle to late Pleistocene tiger fossils were found throughout China, Sumatra and Java. Prehistoric subspecies include Panthera tigris trinilensis and P. t. soloensis of Java and Sumatra, and P. t. acutidens of China; late Pleistocene and early Holocene fossils of tigers were also found in Borneo and Palawan, Philippines.

 

Results of a phylogeographic study indicate that all living tigers had a common ancestor 108,000 to 72,000 years ago.[27] A 2022 paleogenomic study of a Pleistocene tiger basal to living tigers concluded that modern tiger populations spread across Asia no earlier than 94,000 years ago. There is evidence of interbreeding between the lineage of modern mainland tigers and these ancient tigers. The potential tiger range during the late Pleistocene and Holocene was predicted applying ecological niche modelling based on more than 500 tiger locality records combined with bioclimatic data. The resulting model shows a contiguous tiger range at the Last Glacial Maximum, indicating gene flow between tiger populations in mainland Asia. The tiger populations on the Sunda Islands and mainland Asia were possibly separated during interglacial periods.

 

The tiger's full genome sequence was published in 2013. It was found to have repeat compositions much as other cat genomes and "an appreciably conserved synteny".

 

Hybrids

Captive tigers were bred with lions to create hybrids called liger and tigon. The former born to a female tiger and male lion and the latter the result of a male tiger and female lion. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species. Because the lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, ligers grow far larger than either parent species. By contrast, the male tiger does not pass on a growth-promoting gene and the lioness passes on a growth inhibiting gene, hence tigons are around the same size as either species. Breeding hybrids is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conservation.

 

Characteristics

The tiger has a typical felid morphology. It has a muscular body with strong forelimbs, a large head and a tail that is about half the length of the rest of its body. There are five digits on the front feet and four on the back, all of which have retractable claws which are compact and curved. The ears are rounded, while the eyes have a round pupil. The tiger's skull is large and robust, with a constricted front region, proportionally small, elliptical orbits, long nasal bones, and a lengthened cranium with a large sagittal crest. It is similar to a lion's skull; with the structure of the lower jaw and length of the nasals being the most reliable indicators for species identification. The tiger has fairly robust teeth and its somewhat curved canines are the longest in the cat family at 6.4–7.6 cm (2.5–3.0 in). It has an average bite force at the canine tips of 1234.3 Newton.

 

Size

The tiger is considered to be the largest living felid species. However, there is some debate over averages compared to the lion. Since tiger populations vary greatly in size, the "average" size for a tiger may be less than a lion, while the biggest tigers are bigger than their lion counterparts. The Siberian and Bengal tigers, along with the extinct Caspian are considered to be the largest of the species while the island tigers are the smallest. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest living tiger while the extinct Bali tiger was even smaller. It has been hypothesised that body size of different tiger populations may be correlated with climate and be explained by thermoregulation and Bergmann's rule. Male tigers are larger than females.

 

Tiger fur tends to be short, except in the northern-living Siberian tiger. It has a mane-like heavy growth of fur around the neck and jaws and long whiskers, especially in males. Its colouration is generally orange, but can vary from light yellow to dark red. White fur covers the ventral surface, along with parts of the face. It also has a prominent white spot on the back of their ears which are surrounded by black. The tiger is marked with distinctive black or dark brown stripes; the patterns of which are unique in each individual, The stripes are mostly vertical, but those on the limbs and forehead are horizonal. They are more concentrated towards the posterior and those on the trunk may or may not reach under the belly. The tips of stripes are generally sharp and some have gaps within them. Tail stripes are thick bands and a black tip marks the end.

 

Stripes are likely advantageous for camouflage in vegetation with vertical patterns of light and shade, such as trees and long grass. This is supported by a 1987 Fourier analysis study which concluded that the spatial frequencies of tiger stripes line up with their environment. The tiger is one of only a few striped cat species; it is not known why spotted patterns and rosettes are the more common camouflage pattern among felids. The orange colour may also aid in concealment as the tiger's prey are dichromats, and thus may perceive the cat as green and blended in with the vegetation. The white dots on the ear may play a role in communication.

 

Three colour variants – white, golden and nearly stripeless snow white are now virtually non-existent in the wild due to the reduction of wild tiger populations, but continue in captive populations. The white tiger has a white background colour with sepia-brown stripes. The golden tiger is pale golden with reddish-brown stripes. The snow white tiger is a morph with extremely faint stripes and a pale reddish-brown ringed tail. White and golden morphs are the result of an autosomal recessive trait with a white locus and a wideband locus respectively. The snow white variation is caused by polygenes with both the white and wideband loci. The breeding of white tigers is controversial, as they have no use for conservation. Only 0.001% of wild tigers have the genes for this colour morph, and the overrepresentation of white tigers in captivity is the result of inbreeding. Hence their continued breeding will risk both inbreeding depression and loss of genetic variability in captive tigers.

 

Pseudo-melanistic tigers with thick, merged stripes have been recorded in Simlipal National Park and three Indian zoos; population genetic analysis of Indian tiger samples revealed that this phenotype is caused by a mutation of a transmembrane aminopeptidase gene. Around 37% of the Simlipal tiger population has this feature, which has been linked to genetic isolation.

 

The tiger historically ranged from eastern Pakistan to Indochina, and from southeastern Siberia to Sumatra, Java and Bali. The Caspian tiger lived from eastern Turkey and the South Caucasus to northern Afghanistan and western China. The Tibetan Plateau and the Alborz acted as barriers to the species distribution. As of 2022, it inhabits less than 7% of its historical distribution, and has a scattered range that includes the Indian subcontinent, the Indochinese Peninsula, Sumatra, the Russian Far East and northeastern China.

 

The tiger mainly lives in forest habitats and is highly adaptable. Records in Central Asia indicate that it occurred foremost in Tugay riverine forests and inhabited hilly and lowland forests in the Caucasus. In the Amur-Ussuri region, it inhabits Korean pine and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, where riparian forests provide food and water, and serve as dispersal corridors for both tiger and ungulates. On the Indian subcontinent, it inhabits mainly tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist evergreen forests, tropical dry forests, alluvial plains and the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans. In the Eastern Himalayas, tigers were documented in temperate forest up to an elevation of 4,200 m (13,800 ft) in Bhutan and of 3,630 m (11,910 ft) in the Mishmi Hills. In Thailand, it lives in deciduous and evergreen forests. In Sumatra, tigers range from lowland peat swamp forests to rugged montane forests.

 

Camera trap data show that tigers in Chitwan National Park avoided locations frequented by people and were more active at night than by day. In Sundarbans National Park, six radio-collared tigers were most active in the early morning with a peak around dawn and moved an average distance of 4.6 km (2.9 mi) per day. A three-year long camera trap survey in Shuklaphanta National Park revealed that tigers were most active from dusk until midnight. In northeastern China, tigers were crepuscular and active at night with activity peaking at dawn and at dusk; they exhibited a high temporal overlap with ungulate species.

 

As with other felid species, tigers groom themselves, maintaining their coats by licking them and spreading oil from their sebaceous glands. It will take to water, particularly on hot days. It is a powerful swimmer and easily transverses across rivers as wide as 8 km (5.0 mi). Adults only occasionally climbs trees, but have been recorded climbing 10 m (33 ft) up a smooth pipal tree. In general, tigers are less capable tree climbers than many other cats due to their size, but cubs under 16 months old may routinely do so.

 

Adult tigers lead largely solitary lives. They establish and maintain home ranges, the size of which mainly depends on prey abundance, geographic area and sex of the individual. Males and females defend their home ranges from those of the same sex, and the home range of a male encompasses that of multiple females. Two females in the Sundarbans had home ranges of 10.6 and 14.1 km2 (4.1 and 5.4 sq mi). In Panna Tiger Reserve, the home ranges of five reintroduced females varied from 53–67 km2 (20–26 sq mi) in winter to 55–60 km2 (21–23 sq mi) in summer and to 46–94 km2 (18–36 sq mi) during monsoon; three males had 84–147 km2 (32–57 sq mi) large home ranges in winter, 82–98 km2 (32–38 sq mi) in summer and 81–118 km2 (31–46 sq mi) during monsoon seasons. In Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, seven resident females had home ranges of 44.1–122.3 km2 (17.0–47.2 sq mi) and four resident males of 174.8–417.5 km2 (67.5–161.2 sq mi). Four male problem tigers in Sumatra were translocated to national parks and needed 6–17 weeks to establish new home ranges of 37.5–188.1 km2 (14.5–72.6 sq mi). Ten solitary females in Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve had home ranges of 413.5 ± 77.6 km2 (159.7 ± 30.0 sq mi); when they had cubs of up to 4 months of age, their home ranges declined to 177.3 ± 53.5 km2 (68.5 ± 20.7 sq mi) and steadily grew to 403.3 ± 105.1 km2 (155.7 ± 40.6 sq mi) until the cubs were 13–18 months old.

 

The tiger is a long-ranging species, and individuals disperse over distances of up to 650 km (400 mi) to reach tiger populations in other areas. Young tigresses establish their first territories close to their mother's. Males, however, migrate further than their female counterparts and set out at a younger age to mark out their own area. Four radio-collared females in Chitwan dispersed between 0 and 43.2 km (0.0 and 26.8 mi), and 10 males between 9.5 and 65.7 km (5.9 and 40.8 mi). A young male may have to live as a transient in another male's territory until he is older and strong enough to challenge the resident male. Young males thus have an annual mortality rate of up to 35%. By contrast, young female tigers die at a rate of only around 5%. Tigers mark their territories by spraying urine on vegetation and rocks, clawing or scent rubbing trees, and marking trails with feces, anal gland secretions and ground scrapings.Scent markings also allow an individual to pick up information on another's identity. A tigress in oestrus will signal her availability by scent marking more frequently and increasing her vocalisations. Unclaimed territories, particularly those that belonged to a decreased individual, can be taken over in days or weeks.

 

Male tigers are generally less tolerant of other males within their territories than females are of other females. Territory disputes are usually solved by intimidation rather than outright violence. Once dominance has been established, a male may tolerate a subordinate within his range, as long as they do not live in too close quarters. The most serious disputes tend to occur between two males competing for a female in oestrus. Though tigers mostly live alone, relationships between individuals can be complex. Tigers are particularly social at kills, and a male tiger will share a carcass with the females and cubs within this territory and unlike male lions, will allow them to feed on the kill before he is finished with it. Though the female and male act amicably, females are more tense towards each other at a kill.

 

Communication

During friendly encounters and bonding, tigers rub against each others' bodies. Facial expressions include the "defense threat", which involves a wrinkled face, bared teeth, pulled-back ears, and widened pupils. Both males and females show a flehmen response, a characteristic grimace, when sniffing urine markings. Males also use the flehman to detect the markings made by tigresses in oestrus. Tigers also use their tails to signal their mood. To show cordiality, the tail sticks up and sways slowly, while an apprehensive tiger lowers its tail or wags it side-to-side. When calm, the tail hangs low.

 

Tigers are normally silent but can produce numerous vocalisations. They roar to signal their presence to other individuals over long distances. This vocalisation is forced through an open mouth as it closes and can be heard 3 km (1.9 mi) away. A tiger may roar three or four times in a row, and others may respond in kind. Tigers also roar during mating, and a mother will roar to call her cubs to her. When tense, tigers will moan, a sound similar to a roar but softer and made when the mouth is at least partially closed. Moaning can be heard 400 m (1,300 ft) away.

 

Aggressive encounters involve growling, snarling and hissing. An explosive "coughing roar" or "coughing snarl" is emitted through an open mouth and exposed teeth. Chuffing—soft, low-frequency snorting similar to purring in smaller cats—is heard in more friendly situations. Mother tigers communicate with their cubs by grunting, while cubs call back with miaows. A "woof" sound is produced when the animal is startled. It has also been recording emitting a deer-like "pok" sound for unknown reasons, but most often at kills.

 

Hunting and diet

The tiger is a carnivore and an apex predator feeding mainly on ungulates, with a particular preference for sambar deer, Manchurian wapiti, barasingha and wild boar. Tigers kill large prey like gaur, but opportunistically kill much smaller prey like monkeys, peafowl and other ground-based birds, porcupines and fish. Tiger attacks on adult Asian elephants and Indian rhinoceros have also been reported. More often, tigers take the more vulnerable small calves. When in close proximity to humans, tigers sometimes prey on domestic livestock and dogs. Tigers occasionally consume vegetation, fruit and minerals for dietary fibre.

 

Tigers learn to hunt from their mothers, which is important but not necessary for their success. They usually hunt alone, but families hunt together when cubs are old enough. A tiger travels up to 19.3 km (12.0 mi) per day in search of prey, using vision and hearing to find a target. It also waits at a watering hole for prey to come by, particularly during hot summer days. It is an ambush predator and when approaching potential prey, the tiger crouches, with head lowered, and hides in foliage. The tiger switches between creeping forward and staying still. Tigers have been recorded dozing off while in still mode, and can stay in the same spot for as long as a day waiting for prey and launches an attack, when the prey is close enough. It can sprint 56 km/h (35 mph) and leap 10 m (33 ft).

 

Tiger Reserve

The tiger attacks from behind or at the sides and tries to knock the target off balance. It latches onto prey with its forelimbs, twisting and turning during the struggle. The tiger generally applies a bite to the throat until its target dies of strangulation. Holding onto the throat puts the cat out of reach of the horns, antlers, tusks and hooves. Tigers are adaptable killers and may use other methods, including ripping the throat or breaking the neck. Large prey may be disabled by a bite to the back of the hock, severing the tendon. Swipes from the large paws are capable of stunning or breaking to skull of a water buffalo. They kill small prey with a bite to the back of the neck or skull. Estimates of the success rate for hunting tigers ranges from a low 5% to a high of 50%.

 

The tiger typically drags its kill for 183–549 m (600–1,801 ft) to a hidden, usually vegetated spot before eating. The tiger has the strength to drag the carcass of a fully grown buffalo for some distance, a feat three men struggle with. It rests for a while before eating and can consume as much as 50 kg (110 lb) of meat in one session, but feeds on a carcass for several days, leaving very little for scavengers.

 

Enemies and competitors

Tigers may kill and even prey on other predators they coexist with. In much of their range, tigers share habitat with leopards and dholes. They typically dominate both of them, though large packs of dholes can drive away a tiger, or even kill it. Tigers appear to inhabit the deep parts of a forest while these smaller predators are pushed closer to the fringes. The three predators coexist by hunting different prey. In one study, tigers were found to have killed prey that weighed an average of 91.5 kg (202 lb), in contrast to 37.6 kg (83 lb) for the leopard and 43.4 kg (96 lb) for the dhole. Leopards can live successfully in tiger habitat when there is abundant food and vegetation cover, and there is no evidence of competitive exclusion common to the African savanna, where the leopard lives beside the lion. Nevertheless, leopards avoid areas were tigers roam and are less common where tigers are numerous.

 

Tigers tend to be wary of sloth bears, with their sharp claws, quickness and ability to stand on two legs. Tiger do sometimes prey on sloth bears by ambushing them when they are feeding at termite mounds. Siberian tigers may attack, kill and prey on Ussuri brown and Ussuri black bears. In turn, some studies show that brown bears frequently track down tigers to usurp their kills, with occasional fatal outcomes for the tiger.

 

Reproduction and life cycle

The tiger mates all year round, but most cubs are born between March and June, with another peak in September. A tigress is in oestrus for three to six days, inbetween three to nine week intervals. A resident male mates with all the females within his territory, who signal their receptiveness by roaring and marking. Younger, transient males are also attracted, leading to a fight in which the more dominant male drives the usurper off. During courtship, the male is cautious with the female as he waits for her to show signs she is ready to mate. She signals to him by positioning herself in lordosis with their tail to the side. Copulation is generally 20 to 25 seconds long, with the male biting the female by the scruff of her neck. After it is finished, the male quickly pulls away as the female may turn and slap him. Tiger pairs may stay together for up to four days and mate multiple times. Gestation ranges from 93 to 114 days, with an average of 103 to 105 days.

 

A tigress gives birth in a secluded location, be it in dense vegetation, in a cave or under a rocky shelter. Litters consist of as many seven cubs, but two or three are more typical. Newborn cubs weigh 785–1,610 g (27.7–56.8 oz), and are blind and altricial. The mother licks and cleans her cubs, suckles them and viscously defends them from any potential threat. She will only leave them alone to hunt, and even then does not travel far. When a mother suspects an area is no longer safe, she moves her cubs to a new spot, transporting them one by one by grabbing them by the scruff of the neck with her mouth. The mortality rate for tiger cubs can reach 50% during these early months, causes of death include predators like dholes, leopards and pythons. Young are able to see in a week, can leave the denning site in two months and around the same time they start eating meat.

 

After around two months, the cubs are able to follow their mother. They still hide in vegetation when she goes hunting, and she will guide them to the kill. Cubs bond though play fighting and practice stalking. A hierarchy develops in the litter, with the biggest cub, often a male, being the most dominant and the first to eat its fill at a kill. Around the age of six months, cubs are fully weaned and have more freedom to explore their environment. Between eight and ten months, they accompany their mother on hunts. A cub can make a kill as early as 11 months, and reach independence around 18 to 24 months of age, males becoming independent earlier than females. Radio-collared tigers in Chitwan started dispersing from their natal areas earliest at the age of 19 months. Young females are sexual mature at three to four years, whereas males are at four to five years. Tigers may live up to 26 years.

 

Tiger fathers play no role in raising the young, but he may encounter and interact with them. Resident males appear to visit the female-cub families within his territory. They have when observed swimming with females and their cubs and even sharing kills with them. One male was recorded looking after cubs whose mother had died. By defending his territory, the male is also protecting the females and cubs from harassment by other males. When a new male takes over a territory, cubs under a year old are at risk of being killed, as the male would want to sire his own young with the females. Older female cubs are tolerated but males may be treated as potential competitors.

 

Threats

Major threats to the tiger include habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching for fur and body parts, which have simultaneously greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. In India, only 11% of the historical tiger habitat remains due to habitat fragmentation. Demand for tiger parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine has also been cited as a major threat to tiger populations.

 

In China, tigers became the target of large-scale 'anti-pest' campaigns in the early 1950s, where suitable habitats were fragmented following deforestation and resettlement of people to rural areas, who hunted tigers and prey species. Though tiger hunting was prohibited in 1977, the population continued to decline and is considered extinct in southern China since 2001.

 

In Bangladesh, tiger body parts like skins, bones, teeth and hair are consumed locally by wealthy Bangladeshis and are illegally trafficked to 15 countries including India, China, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and the United Kingdom via land borders, airports and seaports.

 

Conservation

Internationally, the tiger is protected under CITES Appendix I, banning trade of live tigers and their body parts.[1] In India, it has been protected since 1972 under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. In 1973, Project Tiger was founded to gain public support for tiger conservation, and 53 tiger reserves covering an area of 75,796 km2 (29,265 sq mi) have been established in the country until 2022. In Nepal, it has been protected since 1973 under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973. In Bhutan, it has been protected since 1969; the first Tiger Action Plan implemented during 2006–2015 revolved around habitat conservation, human–wildlife conflict management, education and awareness; the second Action Plan aimed at increasing the country’s tiger population by 20% until 2023 compared to 2015. In Bangladesh, it has been protected since 1973 under the Wildlife (Preservation) Act and the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012. In 2009, the Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan was initiated to stabilize the country's tiger population, maintain habitat and a sufficient prey base, improve law enforcement and cooperation between governmental agencies responsible for tiger conservation. Myanmar’s national tiger conservation strategy developed in 2003 comprises management tasks such as restoration of degraded habitats, increasing the extent of protected areas and wildlife corridors, protecting tiger prey species, thwarting of tiger killing and illegal trade of its body parts, and promoting public awareness through wildlife education programs.

 

Global wild tiger population

CountryYearEstimate

India India20233682–3925

Russia Russia2020480–540

Indonesia Indonesia2016400–600

Bangladesh Bangladesh2014300–500

Nepal Nepal2022355

Thailand Thailand2023189

Bhutan Bhutan2023131

Malaysia Malaysia2022<150

China China201855

Myanmar Myanmar201822

Total5,764–6,467

 

In the 1990s, a new approach to tiger conservation was developed: Tiger Conservation Units (TCUs), which are blocks of habitat that have the potential to host tiger populations in 15 habitat types within five bioregions. Altogether 143 TCUs were identified and prioritized based on size and integrity of habitat, poaching pressure and population status. They range in size from 33 to 155,829 km2 (13 to 60,166 sq mi).

 

In 2016, an estimate of a global wild tiger population of approximately 3,890 individuals was presented during the Third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. The WWF subsequently declared that the world's count of wild tigers had risen for the first time in a century.

 

Some estimates suggest that there are fewer than 2,500 mature breeding individuals, with no subpopulation containing more than 250 mature breeding individuals. India is home to the world's largest population of wild tigers. A 2014 census estimated a population of 2,226, a 30% increase since 2011. On International Tiger Day 2019, the 'Tiger Estimation Report 2018' was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The report estimates a population of 2967 tigers in India with 25% increase since 2014. Modi said "India is one of the safest habitats for tigers as it has achieved the target of doubling the tiger population from 1411 in 2011 to 2967 in 2019". As of 2022, India accounts for 75 percent of global tiger population. The Tiger Census of 2023 reports tiger population in India at 3167.

 

In the 1940s, the Siberian tiger was on the brink of extinction with only about 40 animals remaining in the wild in Russia. As a result, anti-poaching controls were put in place by the Soviet Union and a network of protected zones (zapovedniks) were instituted, leading to a rise in the population to several hundred. Poaching again became a problem in the 1990s, when the economy of Russia collapsed. The major obstacle in preserving the species is the enormous territory individual tigers require, up to 450 km (280 mi) needed by a single female and more for a single male. Current conservation efforts are led by local governments and NGO's in concert with international organisations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The competitive exclusion of wolves by tigers has been used by Russian conservationists to convince hunters to tolerate the big cats. Tigers have less impact on ungulate populations than do wolves, and are effective in controlling the latter's numbers. In 2005, there were thought to be about 360 animals in Russia, though these exhibited little genetic diversity. However, in a decade later, the Siberian tiger census was estimated from 480 to 540 individuals.

 

Having earlier rejected the Western-led environmentalist movement, China changed its stance in the 1980s and became a party to the CITES treaty. By 1993 it had banned the trade in tiger parts, and this diminished the use of tiger bones in traditional Chinese medicine. The Tibetan people's trade in tiger skins has also been a threat to tigers. The pelts were used in clothing, tiger-skin chuba being worn as fashion. In 2006 the 14th Dalai Lama was persuaded to take up the issue. Since then there has been a change of attitude, with some Tibetans publicly burning their chubas.

 

In 1994, the Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Conservation Strategy addressed the potential crisis that tigers faced in Sumatra. The Sumatran Tiger Project (STP) was initiated in June 1995 in and around the Way Kambas National Park to ensure the long-term viability of wild Sumatran tigers and to accumulate data on tiger life-history characteristics vital for the management of wild populations. By August 1999, the teams of the STP had evaluated 52 sites of potential tiger habitat in Lampung Province, of which only 15 these were intact enough to contain tigers. In the framework of the STP a community-based conservation program was initiated to document the tiger-human dimension in the park to enable conservation authorities to resolve tiger-human conflicts based on a comprehensive database rather than anecdotes and opinions.

 

The Wildlife Conservation Society and Panthera Corporation formed the collaboration Tigers Forever, with field sites including the world's largest tiger reserve, the 21,756 km2 (8,400 sq mi) Hukaung Valley in Myanmar. Other reserves were in the Western Ghats in India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, the Russian Far East covering in total about 260,000 km2 (100,000 sq mi).

 

Tigers have been studied in the wild using a variety of techniques. Tiger population have been estimated using plaster casts of their pugmarks, although this method was criticized as being inaccurate. More recent techniques include the use of camera traps and studies of DNA from tiger scat, while radio-collaring has been used to track tigers in the wild. Tiger spray has been found to be just as good, or better, as a source of DNA than scat.

 

Relationship with humans

A tiger hunt is painted on the Bhimbetka rock shelters in India and dated to 5,000–6,000 years ago. Thousands of years later, Emperor Samudragupta was depicted slaying tigers on coins. Tiger hunting became an established sport under the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. The cats were chased on horseback and killed with spears. Emperor Akbar participated in such activities and one of his hunts is the subject of a painting from the Akbarnama. Following Akbar, Emperor Jahangir will introduce musket to tiger hunts and eventually, elephant would be ridden. The British East India Company would pay for bounties on tigers as early as 1757 and tiger hunting would continue under British Raj. Tiger killings were particularly high in the 19th and early 20th centuries; as an estimated 80,000 cats were killed between 1875 and 1925. King George V on his visit to Colonial India in 1911 killed 39 tigers in a matter of 10 days.

 

Historically, tigers have been hunted at a large scale so their famous striped skins could be collected. The trade in tiger skins peaked in the 1960s, just before international conservation efforts took effect. By 1977, a tiger skin in an English market was considered to be worth US$4,250.

 

Body part use

Tiger parts are commonly used as amulets in South and Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, the fossils in Palawan were found besides stone tools. This, besides the evidence for cuts on the bones, and the use of fire, suggests that early humans had accumulated the bones. and the condition of the tiger subfossils, dated to approximately 12,000 to 9,000 years ago, differed from other fossils in the assemblage, dated to the Upper Paleolithic. The tiger subfossils showed longitudinal fracture of the cortical bone due to weathering, which suggests that they had post-mortem been exposed to light and air. Tiger canines were found in Ambangan sites dating to the 10th to 12th centuries in Butuan, Mindanao.

 

Many people in China and other parts of Asia have a belief that various tiger parts have medicinal properties, including as pain killers and aphrodisiacs. There is no scientific evidence to support these beliefs. The use of tiger parts in pharmaceutical drugs in China is already banned, and the government has made some offences in connection with tiger poaching punishable by death. Furthermore, all trade in tiger parts is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and a domestic trade ban has been in place in China since 1993.

 

However, the trading of tiger parts in Asia has become a major black market industry and governmental and conservation attempts to stop it have been ineffective to date. Almost all black marketers engaged in the trade are based in China and have either been shipped and sold within their own country or into Taiwan, South Korea or Japan. The Chinese subspecies was almost completely decimated by killing for commerce due to both the parts and skin trades in the 1950s through the 1970s. Contributing to the illegal trade, there are a number of tiger farms in the country specialising in breeding them for profit. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 captive-bred, semi-tame animals live in these farms today. However, many tigers for traditional medicine black market are wild ones shot or snared by poachers and may be caught anywhere in the tiger's remaining range (from Siberia to India to the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra). In the Asian black market, a tiger penis can be worth the equivalent of around $300 U.S. dollars. In the years of 1990 through 1992, 27 million products with tiger derivatives were found. In July 2014 at an international convention on endangered species in Geneva, Switzerland, a Chinese representative admitted for the first time his government was aware trading in tiger skins was occurring in China.

 

Attacks

Tigers are said to have directly killed more people than any other wild mammal. In most areas, the big cats typically avoid humans, but attacks are a risk wherever people coexist with them. Dangerous encounters are more likely to occur in edge habitats, between wild and agricultural areas.[196] Most attacks on humans are defensive, including protection of young. However, tiger do sometimes see people as potential prey. Tigers hunt people the same way they hunt other prey, by ambush and with a killing bite to the neck. A tiger inflicted wound also carries the risk of infection. Man-eating tigers tend to be old and disabled. Those they have been driven from their home ranges and territories are also at risk of turning to man-eating.

 

The Champawat Tiger was responsible for an estimated 434 human deaths in Nepal and India before she was shot by famed hunter Jim Corbett. Corbett recorded that the tigress suffered from broken teeth and thus unable to kill normal prey. Modern authors speculate that feeding on meagre human flesh forced the cat to kill more and more. Tiger attacks were particularly high in Singapore during the mid-19th century, when plantations expanded into the animal's habitat. The number of deaths ranged from 200 to 300 annually in the 1840s.

 

Tiger predation on humans is highest in the Sundarbans. An estimated 129 people were killed between 1969 and 1971. In the 10 years prior to that period, about 100 attacks per year in the Sundarbans. Victims of tigers attacks are local villagers who enter the tiger's domain to collect resources like wood and honey. Fishermen have been particularly common targets. Methods to counter tiger attacks have included face-masks (worn backwards), protective clothes, sticks and carefully stationed electric dummies. These tools have been credited with reducing tiger attacks to only 22 per year in the 1980s. Because of rapid habitat loss attributed to climate change, tiger attacks have increased in the Sundarbans in the 21 century.

 

In captivity

Tigers have been kept in captivity since ancient times. In ancient Rome, tigers were displayed in amphitheaters; they were slaughtered in hunts and used for public executions of criminals. Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan is reported to have kept tigers in the 13th century. Starting in the Middle Ages, tigers were being kept in European menageries. In 1830, two tigers and a lion were accidentally put in the same exhibit at the Tower of London. This lead to a fight between them and, after they were separated, the lion died of its wounds. Tigers and other exotic animals were mainly used for the entertainment of elites but from the 19th century onward, they were exhibited more to the public. Tigers were particularly big attractions, and their captive population soared.

 

Tigers have played prominent roles in circuses and other live performances. Ringling Bros included many tiger trainers in the 20th century including Mabel Stark, who became a big draw and had a long career. She was well known for being able to control the big cats despite being a small woman; using "manly" tools like whips and guns. Another trainer was Clyde Beatty, who used chairs, whips and guns to provoke tigers and other beasts into acting fierce and allowed him to appear courageous. He would perform with as many as 40 tigers and lions in one act. From the 1960s onward trainers like Gunther Gebel-Williams would use gentler methods to control their animals. Tiger trainer Sara Houckle was dubbed "the Tiger Whisperer", as she trained the cats to obey her by whispering to them. Siegfried & Roy became famous for performing with white tigers in Las Vegas. The act ended in 2003 when a tiger named Mantacore attacked Roy during a performance. The use of tigers and other animals in shows would eventually decline in many countries due to pressure from animal rights groups and greater desires from the public to see them in more natural settings. Several countries would restrict or ban such acts.

 

Tigers have become popular in the exotic pet trade, particularly in the United States. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimated that in the US, 5,000 tigers were kept in captivity in 2020, with only 6% of them being in zoos and other facilities approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The WWF argues that private collectors are ill-equipped to provide proper care for tigers, which compromises their welfare. They can also threaten public safety by allowing people to interact with them. The keeping of tigers and other big cats by private individuals was banned in the US in 2022 under the Big Cat Public Safety Act. Those who owned big cats at the time of the signing were expected to register with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service before 18 June 2023. The WWF also estimated in 2020 that 7,000–8,000 tigers were held in "tiger farm" facilities in China and Southeast Asia. These tigers are bred to be used for traditional medicine and appear to pose a threat to wild populations by rising demand for tiger parts.

 

Cultural significance

Tiger-shaped bronze from Zhou-era China, (c. 900 bc)

The tiger is among the most famous of charismatic megafauna. It has been labelled as "a rare combination of courage, ferocity and brilliant colour". In a 2004 online poll conducted by cable television channel Animal Planet, involving more than 50,000 viewers from 73 countries, the tiger was voted the world's favourite animal with 21% of the vote, narrowly beating the dog. Likewise, a 2018 study found the tiger to be the most popular wild animal based on surveys, and appearances on websites of major zoos and posters of some animated movies.

 

While the lion represented royalty and power in Western culture, the tiger filled such a role in Asia. In ancient China, the tiger was seen as the "king of the forest" and symbolised the power of the emperor. In Chinese astrology, the tiger is the third out of 12 symbols in the zodiac and controls the period of the day between 3 am and 5 am. The Year of the Tiger is thought to bring "dramatic and extreme events". The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, representing the west along with the yin and the season of autumn. It is the counterpart to the Azure Dragon, which conversely symbolises the east, yang and springtime. The tiger is one of the animals displayed on the Pashupati seal of the Indus Valley civilisation. The big cat was depicted on seals and coins during the Chola Dynasty of southern India, as it was the official emblem.

 

Tigers have had religious significance, even being worshiped. In Buddhism, the tiger, monkey and deer are Three Senseless Creatures, the tiger symbolising anger. In Bhutan, the tiger is venerated as one of the four powerful animals called the "four dignities", and a tigress is believed to have carried Padmasambhava from Singye Dzong to the Paro Taktsang monastery in the late 8th century. In Korean mythology, tigers are messengers of the Mountain Gods. In Hinduism, the tiger is the vehicle for the goddess of feminine power and peace, Durga, whom the gods created to fight demons. Similarly, in the Greco-Roman world, the tiger was depicted being ridden by the god Dionysus. The Warli of western India worship the tiger-like god Waghoba. The Warli believe that shrines and sacrifices to the deity will lead to better coexistence with the local big cats, both tigers and leopards, and that Waghoba will protect them when they enter the forests. In both Chinese and Korean culture, tigers are seen as a protectors against evil spirits, and their image was used to decorate homes and tombs.

 

In the folklore of Malaysia and Indonesia, "tiger shamans" heal the sick by evoking the big cat. People turning into tigers and the inverse has also been widespread, in particular weretigers are people who could change into tigers and back again. The Mnong people of Indochina believed that tigers could transform into humans. Among some indigenous peoples of Siberia, it was believed that men could have sex with women after transforming into tigers.

 

The tiger's cultural reputation is generally that of a fierce and powerful animal. William Blake's 1794 poem "The Tyger" portrays the animal as the duality of beauty and ferocity. It is the sister poem to "The Lamb" in Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience and he ponders why God would create such different creatures. The tiger is featured in the medieval Chinese novel Water Margin, where the cat battles and is slain by the bandit Wu Song, while the tiger Shere Khan in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 The Jungle Book is the mortal enemy of the human protagonist Mowgli. The image of the friendly tame tiger has also existed in culture, notably Tigger, the Winnie-the-Pooh character and Tony the Tiger, the Kellogg's cereal mascot.

Lacey Gaines turned 20 on Dec 1 and was brutally murdered Dec 7th in her home by strangulation and stabbing. Justice, IL.

The famous "Dutch Angle" shot. Rich did many of these.

Troy and Mariah

 

Strobist:

3 AB800's

2 1/2 power on background

1 1/2 power white shoot through umbrella camera right

Film noir eyes are difficult to make without the right lighting!

NAME RANK DATE OF DEATH

INSCRIPTION /NOTES

 

Fredy GEHRMANN CPL Aug. 8, 1945

Age 24, musician, captured in

Africa on May 9, 1943; died

from a lumber yard accident in

McRee, Georgia

 

Horst GUNTHER L/CPL April 6, 1944

Age 23, locksmith, captured in

Tunisia on May 9, 1943;

murdered at POW camp in

Aiken, South Carolina

 

Friedrich HAMER PVT Aug. 23, 1945

Age 44, laborer, captured in

Aachen, Germany on Oct. 21,

1944; died from a heat stroke

in Twiggs County, Georgia

 

Kurt HOESSLE SGT April 30, 1945

Age 26, gardener, captured in

Africa on April 23, 1943; died

from an accident while on a

wood cutting detail at Elm

Grove Estate, 17 miles north

of Charleston, South Carolina

 

Richard HUTHER PFC Mar. 6, 1945

Age 20. auto mechanic,

captured in Tunisia on May

10, 1943; died from suicide at

POW branch camp in

Waynesboro, Georgia

 

Ludwig JANSON CPL Oct. 3, 1944

Age 24, farmer, captured in

Tunisia on May 11, 1943;

died from suicide at POW

branch camp in Waynesboro,

Georgia

 

Erwin KERZ GEFR [ PVT ] Oct. 23, 1943

Age 34, chauffeur, captured

in Tunisia in 1943; died from

a gunshot wound at Camp

Gordon POW camp

 

Wilhelm KRAUSS GEFR [PVT ] July 3, 1945

Age 19, farmer, captured in

Remiremont, France; died

from a automobile accident

at Myrtle Beach, South

Carolina

 

Josef LACKNER GEFR [ PVT ] Dec. 2, 1944

Age 42, drive / helper captured

in France on Sept. 24, 1944;

died from injury at Fort

Jackson, South Carolina

 

Ernest LINK SGT Feb 13, 1944

Age 23, farmer, captured in

Tunisia on May 8, 1943; died

from an injury at Camp

Gordon POW camp

  

Friedrich MAISE Obergefreiter [ CPL ] Aug. 20, 1945

Age 25, locksmith, captured

in Tunisia on May 11, 1943;

died from injury at Florence,

South Carolina

 

Christian PFEIFER OGEFR [CPL ] July 13, 1945

Age 22, painter, captured near

Florence, Italy on July 30,

1944; died from drowning at

Cheraw State Park, South

Carolina

 

Adolf REICHERT CPL May 9, 1945

Age 23, miller, captured in

Tunisia on May 9,1943;

died form an injury while

working on a pulpwood

detail at Vidalia, Georgia

 

Wilhelm RIECHMANN PVT July 15, 1944

Age 19, butcher, captured in

Tunisia on May 8, 1943;died

from drowning at Myrtle

Beach, South Carolina POW

camp

 

Hans SALMHOFER PFC Nov. 17, 1945

Age 23, Austrian citizen,died

of cancer at Camp Gordon

POW camp

 

Heinrich SCHAFSTALL UFFZ [ SGT ] Feb. 17, 1945

Age 31, Lathe hand, captured

in Grenoble, France on Aug.

24, 1944; died from an

accident involving a tractor

and a trailer at Chatham

Field, Georgia

 

Karl SCHROEDERSECKER STAB-GEFR Oct. 4, 1944

Age 27, factory worker,

[ Specialist 4 ] captured

at Tivoli, Italy on

June 6, 1944; died at

Charleston, South

Carolina

 

Edmund SCHWALBENBERG SGT May 21, 1945

Age 23, auto mechanic,

captured at Viersen/Rhld on

March 1, 1945; died from

wounds incurred in the

North African theater at

Camp Wheeler, Georgia

 

Herman WALTER MED CPL May 7, 1945

Age 43, compositor,

captured in Southern

France on Sept. 9, 1944;

died from suicide at Myrtle

Beach, South Carolina

 

Karl Heinz WERNER Oberstabsarst Feb. 4, 1946

Age 33, physician,

[MAJ ] Captured in Tunisia on

May 9, 1942 died from

suicide at POW camp in

Whitmire, South Carolina

  

Alfred Heinrich ZELLER GEFR [PVT ] Nov. 12, 1944

Age 19, chemical worker,

captured in Brest, France on

Sept. 7, 1944; died from a

rope strangulation at Camp

Gordon POW camp

 

Scrabble leads to strangulation (I didn't even win).

From a set of negatives

KWANTO MARU TRAGEDY.

SEVERE STRUGGLE ALLEGED.

SUGGESTION OF SELF-DEFENCE.

The adjourned inquest concerning the death of the Japanese sailor, Kikutaro Yenome, who is alleged to have been the victim of a revolver shot while the steamer Kwanto Maru was on her way to Auckland, was resumed before Mr. E. C. Cutten, the Coroner, yesterday. Chief-Detective McMahon represented the police, and Mr. M. McGregor watched the proceedings on behalf of the Japanese Consul, and Mr. Say Maki acted as interpreter.

The chief officer said that the boatswain made a statement after he had been locked up to the effect that he killed Yenome in self-defence, but, after his suicide, several letters addressed to different people had been left in his room which put a different complexion on the affair. A letter to his wife and child had not been opened, his compatriots refusing because of the sacredness of such a letter. One to the captain and officers was interpreted as follows: "What I have done seems awful. I am sorry to give everybody so much trouble. I have no right to live any longer. You know why I did not kill myself before—l was a prisoner. I would not have caused so much bother. I am very very sorry, but I deserve my fate. Please do the best you can with my dead body. I beg of you to daughter of the best you can for my wife and child. My wife tried to stop me going to sea; she foresaw my fate. If possible please send my body home. I am worrying very much at heart about my wife and child at home. It is true that I killed Yenome."

The Coroner returned a verdict that Yenome's death was caused by a bullet wound from a shot from a revolver fired by Bojiro Higashibaro, but whether the shot was fired with intent of murder or not there was not sufficient evidence to show.

"MY FATE IS SETTLED."

The circumstances surrounding the death of Higashibaro, boatswain on the Kwanto Maru, who was found hanging and dead an his cabin yesterday morning, were inquired into by Mr. E. C. Cutten, Coroner, this morning. Chief Detective McMahon represented the police. Evidence similar to that given in the previous inquiry was tendered, after which the Coroner returned a verdict to the effect that deceased died about the 9th of December on board the Kwanto Maru, and that the cause of death was strangulation, deceased having hanged himself while confined in hia cabin on suspicion of having murdered another member of the crew.

LAST LETTER TO FRIEND.

LET ALL BE FORGOTTEN.

Deceased wrote four letters prior to his death, one to his wife, one to the captain and officers, one to a sailor, and one to the crew. The letter to the crew, whom he addresses as friends, shows how keenly he felt his position, and is appended:—

"Very dear friend, —Without intention I commit most awful crime, and gave you all trouble and worry, for which I ask all your pardon. I might be able to save my life, but I shall be lost to all, especially to my friend. Our future often make a lot of difference what sort of friend we have—always best to have good friend. You all know I am not person to commit such a awful crime, and know you will believe in one; although I did not intend to kill, I killed, and I do not deserve to live. I ought killed myself right after this occurrence, but I missed my chance. I am locked up, and could do nothing up till now, and gave you all more trouble, for which I apologise. It is more manly to kill by harakiri, and I feel much ashamed to be seen after I killed myself such a miserable way. Trouble after trouble I must give to my friend, and I do not know how to beg your forgiveness. I beg the first and second officer and Murayama Takeuchi and stoker Okamoto will see to my money, etc., and send to my poor wife and child. As I write I feel my heart going to break; my hand so shaky so I beg to leave. There might have been many things I did not please you all, but it is all done, and I am gone. Pity the poor fellow; let all be forgotten.— (Signed) Higashibara."

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19131210.2.35

 

Plot 13: Bojiro Higashibara (34) 9/12/1913 – Sailor

 

unmarked grave

PROSECUTION WANTED.

RESTAURATEUR'S FAILURE.

QUEEN STREET BUSINESS.

CREDITORS' DISSATISFIED.

Statements of a serious nature were made at a recent meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Stamate Angello, restaurant-keeper, of Queen Street. A former employee of bankrupt stated that four or five weeks prior to Angello filing he had seen him take away goods almost daily, comprising cutlery, cruets, and mirrors. The bankrupt was not present at the meeting, which was adjourned until yesterday in order to enable him to attend.

Bankrupt was represented by Mr. Dunbar, while Mr. R. A. Singer appeared on behalf of Mr. Constantine. The official assignee presided.

Mr. Fisher stated that 13 further claims had been made against the estate which were not previously disclosed by bankrupt. The only secured creditors, F. and H. Cooke, upholsterers, had been paid the amount of their claim, £12 10s.

Little Surplus Available.

Mr. Singer: Is there any surplus?

The Official Assignee: At present I have a sum of £42 13s 6d in hand, but against that there is a preferential rent claim of £62 and the wages owing. There is not much hope for the ordinary creditors.

Mr. Singer: Then there is no hope of bankrupt's former employees getting paid No.

There is nothing for anybody except the landlord?—No.

Mr. Fisher said he had received a letter from the ex-employee who had made the allegations concerning the removal of articles from the shop. The man was unable to be present, but he had forwarded a letter in which he affirmed that the charges he had previously made were perfectly correct.

On oath, the bankrupt stated that when he started the business in Queen Street he had £600. Of this sum, £400 was invested in the Post Office Savings Bank and the other £200 in the Bank of New Zealand, Newton branch. He did not keep books, except a wages book.

Articles Taken From Shop.

Mr. Fisher : At the last meeting it was stated that you took away several articles from the shop. Is that true? —I took a few cruets.

When did you take them?—About four weeks before my bankruptcy.

Anything else beside cruets? Yes, on the night I shut the shop I took away a few knives.

Are you sure they were a few —A dozen or more, but not more than two dozen.

Did you take a mirror?— Yes, about three weeks before my bankruptcy.

How many cruets did you take?— Six.

Why did you take them-?—The cruets I took home belonged to the upstairs supper-room, and were not used very often. Have you still got them and the cutlery ? —Yes.

Have you spent much on doctors during the last six months ?—I have been attended by doctors.

A Six Months' Deficiency.

You started the business with £600, and in six months you owe a sum of £223, which means that you have gone back over £800. What has become of the money?—l paid a lot for labour.

Mr. Singer : Yes, you paid £1 to one man for 17 days' work.

Bankrupt stated that three months ago he had been summoned in the Magistrate's Court in respect to the maintenance of his wife, and a statement made at that time showed that he had lost £300 in that three months.

Why did you not close down then? — I was waiting for the oyster season to come in.

How much did your wages bill come to?—£10 per week.

How many hands did you employ?— Seven.

A Creditor: Seven hands and £10 a week in wages.

Mr. Fisher : Have you maintained your wife?

"Mr. Singer : An order was made by the Court against him to pay £1 per week, but he has not paid it.

Mr. Fisher : Why did you not pay it? —She was earning £2 a week as a cook.

"Locked the Back Door."

Then is the only explanation you can give your creditors for the large amount of money expended that you had to pay £10 a week in wages ?—Yes, there was no leakage in the cash takings whilst I was away ill, but there was in the goods.

What did you do when you discovered the leakage of goods?—l locked the back door.

I have been given to understand that you have been spending a lot of money on private pleasure?—No, I have not.

" A Case For Prosecution."

To Mr. Singer, bankrupt stated that he drew £400 from the bank when he started business. He kept the amount about his person, and at times he hid it under the linoleum in his house.

Mr. Singer : Why did you draw all that money from the bank, you did not want it for your business ?

Bankrupt (after some pressing) : Because my wife wanted me to pay her maintenance.

Mr. Singer : If ever there was a case for prosecution this is one. He should be made to disgorge that £400. The creditors should have a balance-sheet showing how the business in Queen Street has been conducted.

Mr. Fisher : You knew in February last that you were going back, and yet in April you bought £60 worth of furniture. Do you think that was honest?— Yes

Mr. Roope remarked that if bankrupt paid a sum of £250 for the business, which was alleged, he had apparently gone back £350 in six months, irrespective of his takings.

It was eventually decided to submit the facts of the case to the Crown solicitor, with a view to the prosecution of the bankrupt.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19160623.2.123

 

BANKRUPT SENT TO PRISON.

Stamate Angello, a bankrupt resturant-keeper, admitted that within a month prior to his bankruptcy, on May 26th, he contracted debts with Andrew and Clark ( £39 15/1), Eaton Bros. (£23 .15/9), and Wheeler. Bros. (£? 12/10) when he had no reasonable or probable expectation of being able to pay same. He also admitted that he had failed to keep proper books of accounts.

Mr. She'ra, for the Official Asignee? stated that Angello was a Greek, who had been born in Turkey, and had come to Auckland in 1908. In December last he bought a restaurant business in Queen Street for £372,. paying £1?? cash. His capital then consisted of £600, and at the date of his bankruptcy his statement, showed a deficiency of nearly £660, so he had gone ''£100 to the bad in six months. He was a man incapable of keeping or understanding proper books of accounts, but the worst feature of the bankruptcy was that he had contracted the debts of £39? and £23 within less than a month of the date of his bankruptcy.

Mr. Mulgan, for defendant, stated that Angello's health had become so bad that he had been unable to properly attend to his business, and he also had ? had domestic trouble. Prior to the Queen Street, venture he had conducted a restaurant business successfully in Karangahape Road, and it was in the hope of being able to pull through in the oyster season that defendant had contracted the debts mentioned.

His Worship remarked that he had some knowledge of Angello's affairs through the medium of maintenance cases, and he was aware that a solicitor's accountant had this year gone into Angello's affairs with the view to maintenance claims. Angello must, therefore, have had a good idea of his position when he contracted th large debts mentioned in the charge. He would, on the one charge respecting the debt contracted with Andrew and Clarke be sentenced to three months' imprisonment, though on account of his health the sentence would be without hard labour. On the other charges defendant would be convicted and discharged.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19160809.2.31

 

SUICIDE AT MOUNT EDEN GAOL.

CORONER'S INQUEST

DEATH BY STRANGULATION.

A coronial inquiry was held yesterday concerning the circumstances attending the suicide at Mount Eden Gaol on Saturday of Stamate Angello, formerly a restaurant proprietor in Queen Street, whose body was found hanging from a strap attached to his hammock.

A. W. Ironside, gaoler, said deceased was received into the prison on August 9, 1916, on a sentence of three months imprisonment, without hard labour, for breaches of the Bankruptcy Act. Deceased, who was due for discharge after November 8, suffered from rheumatism, and walked with two sticks. He had made no complaint as to the treatment he was receiving, but on Friday last complained that he was unable to walk. On Saturday at 1.15 p.m. witness was informed that prisoner had been found in his cell strangled. Deceased had seemed somewhat distressed at a citation in divorce, served on him on Wednesday last at the instance of his wife, but he had given no indication of any suicidal tendency. He was born in Greece, and was 50 years of age. His wife and daughter lived in Auckland.

John William Hutton, warder, saidhe locked deceased in his cell at 11.40 a.m., according to the usual custom. There was nothing uncommon about his manner. Witness attended him all last week, but no mention was made of divorce proceedings.

James Cornelius Kevin, warder, gave evidence as to the finding of deceased hanging with a strap round his neck.

Dr. Stride, prison surgeon, said he had seen deceased weekly, and had treated him for rheumatism. He had never given any indication which might have been treated as evidence of suicidal intent. The cause of death was strangulation. A verdict in accordance with, the medical testimony was returned by the coroner.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19161023.2.29

 

CLAIM FOR MONEY LENT.

JUDGMENT AGAINST ESTATE.

An action brought by Arthur William Lewis (Mr. Dickson), against local deputy Public Trustee (Mr. Johnstone), administrator of the deceased estate of Rhoda Eileen Angello, widow, for the recovery of £103 10s, was heard in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M. For the plaintiff it was stated that deceased, whom he was about to marry, had entered into an agreement to purchase a house. Plaintiff lent £54 to the deceased in order to make up the balance of £185 on account of the purchase of the house. On behalf of Mrs. Angello, he also stated, he paid £4 5s to cover apportionment of rates and insurance. For thirteen weeks he contributed £2 58 weekly in payment of the balance due upon the property. He also bought furniture to the value of £16. Mrs. Angello died during the influenza epidemic. Evidence for the defence was given by Myrtle A. Harding, daughter of deceased, and the beneficiary in the estate. She had objected to the claim. The magistrate gave judgment for plaintiff for £83 5s, with costs £8 18s.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19200908.2.95

 

Plot 26a: Rhoda Ellen Angello (42) 7/11/1918 – Widow – Acute double pneumonia & Pericarditis

Maunsell Alfred George Hardinge (5 months) 18/5/1922

Plot 26b: Arthur Leon Angello (7) 27/3/1910 – Acute Nephritis

Stamatas Angello (adult) 24/10/1916 – Restaurateur – Strangulation – at Mt Eden Gaol

 

unmarked graves

 

DEATHS

ANGELLO. —On March 27, at Rawlingstone Private Hospital. Arthur Leon, only son of Stamates and Rhoda Angello; aged seven years and eight months. Deeply regretted.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19100328.2.2.3

 

ANGELLO.—On November 7, 1918, at her residence, No. 5, Shaddock Street, off Mt. Eden Road, Rhoda Ellen, widow of the late Stamatas Angello, aged 42 years.

The Funeral will leave her late residence on Monday, November 11, at 2.15 p.m., for the Waikumete Cemetery, by motor.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19181109.2.70

there have been many attacks on women through the use of flickr in the past few months. It became completely unacceptable when a beautiful and talented woman photographer in the Female Self Portrait Artists' Support Group was threatened with RAPE and STRANGULATION by a man who was a member of a fetish group which was (it has since been shut down by one means or another) completely unfiltered. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like it when images are not appropriately flagged or filtered, especially since many I know have gotten "snowed out" by flickr because of images flickr deemed "risque". This group had photos of women lying in pools of blood, being hung, strangled, and killed. I DO NOT think it is a good idea for any 13 year old with a flickr account to be able to open that page!

 

This is our campaign for action! that kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable and NO ONE- men or women- should be able to get away with telling a fellow flickr member that they want to rape and strangle them. They should be kicked off immediately- if he did that kind of thing in the real world he would be arrested.

 

My message is this- FUCK HATE! women are not objects and they shouldn't be treated as such. Thanks to all for your time in reading this. keep a look out for my fellow girls, our campaign is growing steadily. Feel free to contribute if you feel so inclined :)

The most central of all Christian rites — the Eucharist or Holy Communion — involves eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ. However understood — symbolically or “literally,” this practice is at once as familiar as it is strange. Millions participate in some form of this ritual regularly — but where did it originate and how can we know?

 

Here is what Paul writes to the Corinthians around A.D. 54:

 

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is [broken] for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

Mark, our earliest gospel, written between 75-80 A.D. has the following scene of Jesus’ Last Supper:

 

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:22-24).

The precise verbal similarities between these two accounts are quite remarkable considering that Paul’s version was written at least twenty years earlier than Mark’s. Where would Paul have gotten such a detailed description of what Jesus had said on the night he was betrayed? The common assumption has been that this core tradition, so central to the original Jesus movement, had circulated orally for decades in the various Christian communities. Paul could have received it directly from Peter or James, on his first visit to Jerusalem around A.D. 40, or learned it from the Christian congregation in Antioch, where, according to the book of Acts, he first established himself (Acts 11:25).

 

What Paul plainly says is easy to overlook: “For I received from the Lord what I handed on to you.” His language is clear and unequivocal. He is not saying, “I received it from one of the apostles, and thus indirectly it came from the Lord,” or “I learned it in Antioch, but they had gotten it by tradition from the Lord.” Paul uses precisely the same language to defend the revelation of his Gospel and how it came to him. He says he did not receive it from any man, nor was he taught it, but swears with an oath, “I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). This means that what Paul passes on here regarding the Lord’s Supper, including the words of Jesus over the bread and the wine, comes to us from Paul and Paul alone! We have every reason to take him at his word.

 

Though it might sound strange to us that anyone would claim to have received by revelation a narrative of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, years after the event, Paul considered that sort of thing a normal manifestation of his prophetic connection with the Spirit of Christ. One of the gifts of the spirit was a “word of knowledge,” and such a revelation could apply to the past, the present, or the future. In the same way Paul claims to have received a detailed scenario of precisely what will happen in the future when Jesus returns. He prefaces his revelation with the claim, “For this I declare to you by the word of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). Paul says that he hears from Jesus. To speculate as to where Paul derived the ideas he claims were given to him by revelation is to enter into his personal psychology to a degree to which we have no access. The task of a historian is to analyze what one might claim, but any attempt to rationally account for what a visionary claims to “see” outside the realm of historical inquiry.

 

Since Paul’s account is the earliest we have of the Last Supper we have to be very careful in reading the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, all of which record a similar account, but were written decades later. In other words we can’t begin with Mark, our earliest gospel, and assume that Jesus actually said these words at the Last Supper, and then go to Paul, who comes after Jesus, as if he is just echoing the primary account. Things are precisely the other way around. We have every reason to believe that Mark got his tradition of the words of Jesus at the last Supper from Paul! Matthew and Luke, who then use Mark as a source, are also, indirectly, just repeating what Paul had said decades earlier.

 

One way of sharpening this is to ask two questions that take us beyond Paul and back to Jesus. Is it historically probable that Jesus held a Last Supper with his disciples on the night before his death? Is it historically probable that Jesus uttered words about the bread being his body and the cup of wine his blood?

 

For the first question we have two independent ancient sources: Mark (who is echoed by Matthew and Luke) and the gospel of John. Both report that Jesus ate such a meal and it is reasonable to assume such is the case. For the second question Paul is our only source reporting that Jesus spoke of the bread as his body and the wine as his blood — since Mark, Matthew, and Luke derive their accounts from him. John reports an intimate meal Jesus had with his disciples but never says anything about words such as these spoken over bread and wine. It is difficult to imagine John, who was aware of the other gospels, leaving such an important tradition out of his gospel except by intention. His silence is essentially his “no” vote on the historical reliability of our single source — Paul.

 

But there is another reason for doubting the historical validity of Paul’s account. Other than Paul, our earliest record of the words spoken at a Christian Eucharist celebration over the bread and the wine come from an early Christian text not in the New Testament called the Didache . In this precious document we seem to have a non-Pauline version of the Last Supper:

 

You shall give thanks as follows: First, with respect to the cup: “We give you thanks, our Father, for the holy vine of David, your child, which you made known to us through Jesus your child. To you be the glory forever.” And with respect to the fragments of bread: “We give you thanks our Father, for the life and knowledge that you made known to us through Jesus your child. To you be the glory forever” (Didache 9:2-3).

This precious text, discovered quite by chance in the library in Constantinople in 1873, provides us with clear evidence that early Christian communities were gathering together for a common thanksgiving meal called the Eucharist, blessing bread and wine, but with no connection whatsoever to the Pauline words associated with the Lord’s Supper that became the norm within Christianity. It is also noteworthy that both Jesus and David are equated in this prayer as “your child,” showing the fully human understanding of Jesus as a bloodline descendant of David and thus heir of his royal dynasty. The Didache as a whole, shows no influence of Paul’s teachings or traditions. It fits well with the broader picture we have seen based on the Q source, the letter of James, and the scattered texts that we can identify from later Jewish-Christian sources.

 

What Jesus said at his Last Supper with his disciples we have no way of knowing but there is evidence he thought of that meal as a “Messianic banquet” to be eaten in anticipation of the their table fellowship in the future kingdom of God. He tells the Twelve:

 

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You are those who have continued with me in my trials: and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:28).

This saying of Jesus is from the Q source, which scholars consider to be the earliest collection of the sayings of Jesus, not from Paul. Notice in Luke it is connected to the Last Supper.

 

Luke relies on his source Mark his Lord’s Supper account, including the Pauline tradition of the words of institution about eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus. But surprisingly, Luke knows another alternative source with no such language! He ends up placing them both into his narrative, juxtaposed one after the other:

 

[Tradition A: Alternative Source] And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22: 15-18)

[Tradition B: Mark Source] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:19-20)

When one reads both traditions as a unit it makes little sense, because Jesus ends up taking the cup twice, but saying entirely different things. When the two traditions are separated each forms a discrete unit.

 

This becomes all the more significant since Luke’s Tradition A fits with what we might expect Jesus to have said in a Jewish Messianic context. Oddly, Mark appears to preserve just a bit of this more primitive Jewish tradition, since Jesus concludes the meal by saying: “Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25). Matthew includes this verse as well, copying it from Mark (Matthew 26:29). The reason it is odd is that it does not fit well with the Pauline “this is my body” and “this is my blood” tradition that Mark makes the center of his Last Supper scene. Jesus is obviously not anticipating one day drinking his own blood with the disciples in the kingdom. Evidently Mark knew something of the two traditions but mutes the one while playing up the other. He was perhaps bothered by the idea of two different scenes of Jesus blessing the cup, but with different words of interpretation, so he drops the first one. Luke leaves them both, juxtaposed, even though they might be seen as contradictory. This convolution of Luke was sufficiently bothersome to some scribes that the Western text tradition (based on the 5th century A.D. Codex Bezae) drops the second cup scene (verses 19b-20) entirely; leaving a contradictory combination of Tradition A and B that makes little sense.

 

Luke’s Tradition A, supported by Mark’s concluding saying of Jesus at the end of the meal, is probably as close as we can get to what Jesus might have said on the last evening of his life. What he expects is a celebratory meal of reunion in the kingdom of God. This idea, often referred to as the “Messianic Banquet,” is described clearly in the Dead Sea Scrolls. When the Messiah comes all his chosen ones sit down at a common table with him, in the Kingdom, with blessings over bread and wine:

 

When God brings forth the Messiah, he shall come with them at the head of the whole congregation of Israel with all his brethren, the sons of Aaron the Priest . . .and the chiefs of the clans of Israel shall sit before him . . . And when they shall gather for the common table, to eat and to drink new wine . . . let no man extend his hand over the firstfruits of bread and wine before the Priest; for he shall bless the firstfruits of bread and wine . . .Thereafter, the Messiah of Israel shall extend his hand over the bread and all the congregation of the Community shall utter a blessing . . .

One thing seems clear. The idea of eating the body and blood of ones god, even in a symbolic manner, fits nothing we know of Jesus or the Jewish culture from which he comes. The technical term theophagy refers to “eating the body of ones god,” either literally or symbolically, and various researchers have noted examples of the idea in Greek religious traditions in which the deity was symbolically consumed. Although some scholars have tried to locate Paul’s version of the Eucharist within the wider tradition of “sacred banquets” common in Greco-Roman society, his specific language about participating in the spiritual efficacy of Jesus’ sacrificed body and blood by eating the bread and drinking the wine seems to take us into another arena entirely. The closest parallels we have to this kind of idea are found in Greek magical materials form this period. For example, in one of the magical papyri we read of a spell in which one drinks a cup of wine has been ritually consecrated to represent the blood of the god Osiris, in order to participate in the spiritual power of love he had for his consort Isis.

 

Jesus lived as an observant Jew, keeping the Torah or Laws of Moses and teaching others to do the same. Jews were strictly forbidden to consume blood or even to eat meat that had not had the blood properly drained and removed (Lev. 7:26-27).

 

The Jewish followers of Jesus, led by Jesus’ brother James, were quite stringent on this point, insisting that it applied equally to non-Jews as well as Jews, based on the prohibition to the Noah and all his descendants after the Flood. They forbade non-Jewish followers of Jesus to eat meat that had been killed by strangling, or to consume any blood (Acts 15:19-20). Paul was admittedly lax on these restrictions and tells his followers they can eat any kind of meat sold in the marketplace, presumably even animals killed by strangulation, so long as no one present happens to notice and object on the basis of biblical teachings (1 Corinthians 10:25-29).

 

Given this background I think we can conclude that it is inconceivable that Jesus would have had his followers drink a cup of wine, even symbolically, as a representation of his blood, or break bread to represent his body, sacrificed for their sins.

 

www.huffpost.com/entry/eat-my-body-drink-my-bloo_b_4449548

This warehouse is used for the storage of evidence from Chicago & Cook County crimes, including those of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Among the grisly artifacts stored here are the door to Gacy's crawlspace where he buried nearly 30 young men and boys, personal items of his victims, a ligature Gacy used for strangulation, and samples of Gacy's blood.

 

Located at 2323 S. Rockwell St.

Vintage postcard in the Bond Girls Series. Claudine Auger in Thunderball (Terence Young, 1965).

 

French actress Claudine Auger (1941-2019) was best known as Bond Girl Domino in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). At 17, she was Miss France 1958 and she became the first runner-up in the Miss World contest. Later she worked mostly in France and Italy.

 

Claudine Auger was born Claudine Oger in Paris, France in 1941. She attended St. Joan of Arc College. At the age of 16, the well-proportioned brunette earned the title of Miss France 1958 and was also the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest. A year later, she married the 41-year-old writer-director Pierre Gaspard-Huit. She attended the Paris Drama Conservatory, where she performed dramatic roles. Still at school, Jean Cocteau cast her as a tall ballerina in his final film Le testament d'Orphée, ou ne me demandez pas pourquoi!/The Testament of Orpheus (1960), about an ageing poet who knows he is dying. She had her first leading lady role in the satirical Swashbuckler Le Masque de fer/The Iron Mask (Henri Decoin, 1962) opposite Jean Marais as the ageing musketeer D’Artagnan. She also starred opposite Pierre Étaix in his Tati-esque comedy Yoyo (Pierre Étaix, 1965). On holiday in Nassau, she met writer-producer Kevin McClory. He recommended her for an audition for Thunderball (Terence Young, 1965), the fourth 007 mission featuring Sean Connery. She auditioned for the role of Domino, the mistress of an international business executive and agent of the evil SPECTRE organization Emilio Largo (Adolpho Celi). Domino was originally to be an Italian woman: Dominetta Petacchi. Auger impressed the producers so much that they re-wrote the part into a French woman, Dominique Derval. Auger later claimed that she related to her character, as she and Domino were involved with older men. Although she took lessons to perfect her English, her voice was eventually dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl. Immediate by-products of Claudine's stardom were a semi-nude Playboy spread and a guest shot on an American TV special starring Danny Thomas and Bob Hope.

 

Thunderball launched Claudine Auger into a successful European film career, but it did little for her otherwise in the United States. In Europe, she reunited with her James Bond director Terence Young for the British-French spy film Triple Cross (1966) with Christopher Plummer. Other trendy sixties films in which she starred were the French-Spanish-Italian thriller L'Homme de Marrakesh/That Man George! (Jacques Deray, 1966), the Italian-French-German caper comedy Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1967), the Italian-French sex comedy Le Dolci Signore/Anyone Can Play (Fausto Saraceni, Luigi Zampa, 1967) opposite Ursula Andress, the French satire Jeu De Massacre/The Killing Game (Alain Jessua, 1967) and the Italian fantastic comedy L'Arcidiavolo/The devil in Love (Ettore Scola, 1968) starring Vittorio Gassman. One of her best films was Reazione a catena/Bay Of Blood (Mario Bava, 1971). This Giallo - an Italian genre of bloody horror-thrillers – is often cited as the grandfather of the modern slasher film. Robert Firsching at AllMovie: “The film's style influenced countless American slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s. Bava also includes strangulation by a telephone cord, a gory axe decapitation, a man speared to a wall, and five other murders. Antefatto was a trendsetting film, and paved the way for literally hundreds of graphically violent imitations.” Auger is the scheming daughter of a murdered Countess (played by film legend Isa Miranda). Her staged suicide forms the basis of the film's plot. With two other Bond girls, Barbara Bach and Barbara Bouchet, she appeared in another Giallo, La Tarantola dal ventre nero/Black Belly of the Tarantula (Paolo Cavara, 1972) starring Giancarlo Giannini. That year she also co-starred with Christopher Mitchum, the son of Robert Mitchum, in the Italian action film Un verano para matar/Summertime Killer (Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, 1972).

 

During the following decades, Claudine Auger kept busy in both the Italian and the French cinema. A classic is the French thriller Flic Story/Cop Story (Jacques Deray, 1975) starring Alain Delon and Jean-Louis Trintignant. She again worked with Jacques Deray on his modern noir Un Papillon sur l'Epaule/A butterfly on the shoulder (Jacques Deray, 1978) starring Lino Ventura. James Travers reviews at Films de France: “In many ways, this is one of Jacques Deray’s most sophisticated and appealing films – the cobweb intrigue is masterfully woven, the detached photography evokes the sense of an unseen deadly threat throughout, and the minimalist script emphasises the feeling of isolation and helplessness of the film’s principal protagonist. It is a satisfying and compelling work, but also a profoundly disturbing one”. In Italy, she appeared in the comedy of errors Viaggio con Anita/Lovers and Liars (Mario Monicelli, 1979) starring Goldie Hawn and Giancarlo Giannini, and the domestic comedy Aragosta a Colazione/Lobster for Breakfast (Giorgio Capitani, 1979). The French comedy L'Associé/The Associate (René Gainville, 1980), featuring Michel Serrault, led in 1996 to a less successful American remake with Whoopi Goldberg. In the UK Auger made Secret Places (Zelda Barron, Judith Lang, 1984) and the British-American production The Summer House (Waris Hussein, 1993) starring Jeanne Moreau. Her last films were the erotic drama Salt on Our Skin/Desire (Andrew Birki, 1993) with Greta Scacchi, and the Spanish comedy Los hombres siempre mienten/Men Always Lie (Antonio del Real, 1995). Later she worked incidentally for TV. After her divorce from Pierre Gaspard-Huit, Claudine Auger was married to businessman Peter Brent until he died in 2008. After a long illness, Claudine Auger passed away on 18 December 2019.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Robert Firsching (AllMovie), James Travers (Films de France), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), les Gens du Cinéma, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Loop pendant made up of pink artisan lampworked centerpiece by Sheri of Teeniebeads, surrounded by silver, pink opalite, and pink glass beads is double-strung with strong nylon coated wire and hanging from an silk cord with lobster-claw clasp.

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This necklace is designed to be strong enough for use as a nursing necklace.

 

What's a Nursing Necklace?

Nursing necklaces are simply a necklace or piece of jewelry that can be worn by moms with small children.

At around the age of 3 or 4 months, babies start to notice their surroundings more, and they often like to pinch, scratch, poke, and yank on hair while breastfeeding or bottle feeding. When babies reach this age, many moms also find their favorite jewelry gets yanked and broken, and all the beads go clattering to the floor.

These necklaces are designed to be interesting and fun for little hands while strong enough to be tugged and yanked. They also provide something fun and pretty to grab without hurting you.

 

But most of all, these necklaces are meant to be nice enough to be worn just as jewelry for its own sake. You do not have to have a baby of nursing age to enjoy these necklaces as jewelry, and in fact, I design each piece with the hope that it will be enjoyed long after baby has grown up. Many of my customers don't have children at all.

 

All of my "nursing necklaces" are tested for strength and interest by my daughter and son.

 

Nursing necklaces would make a great baby shower gift for the new-mother, or for a visiting auntie or grandmother as well!

 

Please note: Nursing necklaces should not be used as teethers or toys, nor should they be left alone with an infant or toddler, as the beads are a choking hazard and the cord is a strangulation hazard.

It is hard to beat your enemy, when your enemy lives within your mind.

 

Fabrizio Mazzaferrata Golosita , more commonly known as Fat Brizio, was a man saturated with inner demons. The demons that he had grown to learn how to temporarily cage - with killing rage and with food. So he overly consumed in both areas.

 

To understand the monster, we have to understand the circumstances of the childhood. Fat Brizio had his fill of being called names, teased, and tormented. The thoughts of being a freak, turned into a robust layer of darkness. That darkness first reared its ugly head in grade school years in what can only be described as pure evil taking hold of his soul as he bludgeoned the life out of his tormentors. It was not long before the darkness had a hold so tight that it creeped inwards until Fat Brizio's entire being was immersed in it. The eating and the weight came shortly thereafter. In times when his mind was idle, there was always food. He received his early cooking knowledge from his mother. His father was a made man so there was always plenty of people, liquor, and food around. As well as there was always a reason to celebrate and eat large. However, while he was told to "mangia, mangia", he was simultaneously told that he was fat and should lose weight. Coming from family members, that played a toll on his psyche.

 

In later years, when he was out on his own and had made a name for himself with the families, Fat Brizio's anger and physical size grew exponentially. He was an enforcer, usually collecting street taxes, until his lifestyle turned more solitary. With great weight, came great pains. His physical pains were only outweighed by his the bitterness of dealing with people and their many forms of idiocy. Nothing carved deeper. It came to the point that hope and ambition could never provide him a savior. So The Outfit started using him in last case scenarios, for he still was the one they were guaranteed could get the job done. The weapons of choice were usually anything blunt and heavy that could be swung. Tire irons, baseball bats, rocks in a sock, hammer, pipe wrench, brick - all were used at one time or another by Fat Brizio as he became quite skilled at the art of bludgeoning.

 

It was February fourteenth and Fat Brizio was sitting down to eat supper. He had prepared three pounds of spaghetti with meatballs that were a half pound each, and had poured a bottle of red wine into an overly large wine glass. Not long after he started to eat, one could hear a click and a strike coming from the dark corner of the kitchen. Fabrizio did not hear a sound for he tended to focus in solely on his meals when he ate. A small glint of flame could be seen from that same dark corner then some smoke. Fat Brizio still took no notice. A tall figure dressed in black, with a grey tie, slowly creeped out from the shadows towards the table - it was The Curmudgeon. In quick but efficient movements, the Lucky was extinguished on Fat Brizio's tongue and piano wire was wrapped around his throat. It was not a quick death. Far from it, since Fat Brizio's neck was too thick. It took much effort to keep a grip on the wooden handles while pulling tighter in order to slice and choke.

 

As the big man struggled, The Curmudgeon had myriad thoughts flashing through his mind. Lack of unconditional love, lack of love, seeing so many people with children yet knowing he will never have any. To murder on the day of Saint Valentine must be what spurred such thoughts as these were not common during his other mobster assassinations. The Curmudgeon was shaken out of his trance by an especially bucking fat man that now necessitated his full attention. Honing in on the task at hand, The Curmudgeon gave it his all as he twisted the piano wire and pulled with Herculanean might. Fat Brizio finally stopped kicking, stopped bucking, stop breathing. The taut wire was released and the seated man collapsed forward into the platter of spaghetti and meatballs, dead. The Curmudgeon silently spoke, "Well, that's that", and playingly slapped the man on the back of the head as he moved sideways out from behind and made his way towards his egress. Before he left, he stopped and turned back towards the table. Viewing the work he had just done, taking it in, and smirking upon seeing the eyeballs bug out of dead head so much. He only lingered like a single puff of smokes lingers - then he was gone.

 

It has been said that when the coppers arrived and set up the crime scene to start gathering evidence and taking photographs, âdat a group of youts, dem broke in and started knicking stuffâ, as stated by a witness in the police report. This was most likely done as a means for souvenirs or to hawk on the street for money. Foreseeably, since they were items from the death of an infamous mobster. Once the coppers cleared out the public, they noticed something that was not there before. They later confirmed with the crime scene photographer after the photographs were developed that it was not there before the youngsters rushed onto the scene. Someone had drawn a broken heart and arrow on the napkin that was around the neck of Fat Brizio. Also, one of the meatballs were missing.

 

Credits:

-The Curmudgeon, played by Valente

- Fabrizio Mazzaferrata Golosita, aka Fat Brizio, played by Kevin "Sensei23" Sullivan

- Fat Brizio paper mache mask, created by Brian Kooser

- Story, Set design, Lighting, Photography, created by Dennis Valente

 

View the entire series of The Curmudgeon.

Accession number: 1588.68A-E

 

Date made: 19th Century

 

Place made: London, England

 

Materials used: leather, metal

 

These objects are anti-garrotte collars. These appeared in response to the London garrotting panics in 1856 and 1862-3, a perceived increase in violent street robbery. Garrotting was a term used for robberies in which the victim was strangled to incapacitate them.

 

The trend of garrotting hit the streets at a time when crime was on the decline, following the establishment of the London Metropolitan Police Force in 1829. It took everybody by surprise, garnering an overenthusiastic media response which, in turn, cultivated widespread panic.

 

Anti-garrotte collars became standard issue in the police and were worn by the first policeman, also known as ‘Peelers’ (named after the founder of the Met, Sir. Robert Peel). Peelers would wear a 4” leather stock inside their high collar to protect them from the threat of strangulation. This regulation stock size was reduced to 2” in 1859. Compared to the collars purchased and worn by the public, these stocks were plain and utilitarian.

 

The museum has five examples of Victorian anti-garrotting collars in its collection. They are made from dark brown leather, close with a buckle to the rear, and feature an additional gullet protector. One collar is stamped with a maker’s mark; WD Bryan Brothers & Co. 9 Dacre Street, Westminster, 1874.

 

Further reading: bit.ly/3cdq2Mz

youtu.be/zXMpFzCLic8 Trailer

 

Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, and Eric Young. Directed by Don Sharp.

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot.

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

 

I thought others might appreciate these tidbits of forgotten history.

 

Please feel free to leave any comments or thoughts or impressions... Thanks in advance!

Warhol drew and painted self-portraits since he was a teenager. He was dissatisfied, to the point of obsession, with the way he looked and was very careful with the way he both presented himself artistically and marketed his image. In these six works (displayed as a group) he shows himself seemingly in a life-threatening situation. The hands of an unseen assailant strangle him, while his eyes are directed heavenward rather like a martyred saint. The predominantly dark colours, some partly obscuring his head, as well as the ‘expressionist’ brushwork, give the paintings a distinctly ominous feel. Warhol was shot and critically injured in 1968 and, although death was a recurring theme in his work since the early 1960s, this experience heightened his fears about dying.

youtu.be/zXMpFzCLic8 Trailer

 

Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, and Eric Young. Directed by Don Sharp.

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot.

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

 

Missouri River Road 224

Maumbury Rings is a Neolithic henge in the south of Dorchester town in Dorset, England. It is a large circular earthwork, 85 metres in diameter, with a single bank and internal ditch and an entrance to the north east. The ditch was created by digging a series of funnel-shaped shafts, each 10 metres deep, which were so closely positioned as to create a continuous trench. Human and deer skull fragments were found in the ditch fill when it was excavated in the early 20th century.

 

Two thousand five hundred years after construction, during the Roman occupation, the site was adapted as an amphitheatre for the use of the citizens of the nearby Roman town of Durnovaria (Dorchester). The entrance was retained and an inner enclosure built in the south west interpreted as being for the use of the performers. The inside of the henge was lowered, with the material produced piled onto the banks.

 

During the Civil War the site was again reused as an artillery fort guarding the southern approach to Dorchester. The site as it exists today is a product of the remodelling during this era - the most significant modification was the large ramp opposite the entrance.

 

Its amphitheatre role was briefly revived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as a place of public execution. In 1685, at the close of the Monmouth Rebellion, Judge Jeffreys ordered eighty of the rebels to be executed here. In 1705 Mary Channing, a nineteen year old woman found guilty of poisoning her husband, was executed by strangulation and burning at the Rings. Thomas Hardy used this event in his poem The Mock Wife, and recorded some details of his research into the event in his personal writings.

 

The monument is now a public open space, and used for open-air concerts, festivals and re-enactments.

  

This guy asked the Venom guy "hey, can you strangle me?" That was weird.

On this site in 1908, George Rock was executed by hanging. A year later, William Hayes met a similar fate. Rock and Hayes killed Deputy Warden John Robinson (ironically my father in laws name) and severely wounded Warden Frank Conley in an escape attempt.

 

Conley surprised the inmates after they had murdered Robinson and fired on them with his ,41 caliber revolver. Both inmates were hit, but the ammunition was defective and Conley was obliged to subdue the murderous men by clubbing them with the revolver. As both Rock and Hayes were armed with knives, Conley suffered numerous knife wounds which which required 103 stitches.

 

Rock and Hayes were executed by an unusual "jerk-up scaffold" utilizing the drop of a 300-pound weight which was supposed to break their necks. But the device failed to break their necks and death was by strangulation. Rock and Hayes were the only inmates executed at this prison.

Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada (28 March 1515 – 4 October 1582), was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, an author of the Counter Reformation and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross.

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV and on 27 September 1970, was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Her books, which include her autobiography (The Life of Teresa of Jesus) and her seminal work El Castillo Interior (trans.: The Interior Castle) are an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practices as she entails in her other important work, Camino de Perfección (trans.: The Way of Perfection).

Pious Catholic beliefs also associate Saint Teresa with the esteemed religious image called Infant Jesus of Prague with claims of former ownership and devotion (Wikipedia).

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The kernel of Teresa's mystical thought throughout all her writings is the ascent of the soul in four stages (The Autobiography Chs. 10-22):

 

The first, or "mental prayer", is that of devout contemplation or concentration, the withdrawal of the soul from without and especially the devout observance of the passion of Christ and penitence (Autobiography 11.20).

 

The second is the "prayer of quiet", in which at least the human will is lost in that of God by virtue of a charismatic, supernatural state given by God, while the other faculties, such as memory, reason, and imagination, are not yet secure from worldly distraction. While a partial distraction is due to outer performances such as repetition of prayers and writing down spiritual things, yet the prevailing state is one of quietude (Autobiography 14.1).

 

The "devotion of union" is not only a supernatural but an essentially ecstatic state. Here there is also an absorption of the reason in God, and only the memory and imagination are left to ramble. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the higher soul faculties, or a conscious rapture in the love of God.

 

The fourth is the "devotion of ecstasy or rapture," a passive state, in which the feeling of being in the body disappears (2 Corinthians 12:2-3). Sense activity ceases; memory and imagination are also absorbed in God or intoxicated. Body and spirit are in the throes of a sweet, happy pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, a complete impotence and unconsciousness, and a spell of strangulation, sometimes by such an ecstatic flight that the body is literally lifted into space . This after half an hour is followed by a reactionary relaxation of a few hours in a swoon-like weakness, attended by a negation of all the faculties in the union with God. The subject awakens From this in tears; it is the climax of mystical experience, producing a trance. Indeed, she was said to have been observed levitating during Mass on more than one occasion.

 

Teresa is one of the foremost writers on mental prayer, and her position among writers on mystical theology is unique. In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences. Her deep insight and analytical gifts helped her to explain them clearly. Her definition was used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us." She used a metaphor of mystic prayer as watering a garden throughout her writings (Wikipedia).

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Los Cuatro Postes (The Four Posts)

 

If you visit the town in the afternoon and, of course, you wish to return to where you set off as you began, you should finish your visit by crossing the bridge over the River Adaja and walking the short distance to the Calvary of Los Cuatro Postes. The view of the town is nothing short of spectacular. And if you go there in the evening, it is particularly magical to see how the town lights up with the walls in the foreground and the Ávila sky changing from blue to black; it is an experience that is not easily forgotten. Seen from here, the cabalistic structure of Ávila, the 'Jerusalem of Castile' as it was called by the poet Avner Pérez, or, if you prefer, the interior Castle of Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, is so visible that it hardly needs explanation.

 

And what is the story behind Los Cuatro Postes? There are two legends, which are not necessarily incompatible.

First of all, around the year 1157, the town's settlers decided to give thanks for the end of the plague that had taken its toll in Ávila and the surrounding area by organising a pilgrimage to the Chapel of San Leonardo. Everyone wanted to go since no one had escaped from the suffering of the mortal disease and they wanted to give thanks for having been allowed to survive. Ávila was left more or less empty and the Muslims, who were constantly attacking from their positions in the South, took advantage of the situation to enter the town and steal anything of value. When they had finished, they fled with their loot.

 

When they were told what had happened, the aldermen Nuño Rabia and Gómez Acedo formed a group of men to go after the rogues, separating the group into two to try and surround the thieves. However, the troops that were not under their command retreated to Ávila and shut themselves inside the town. When they had caught the attackers and recovered what had been stolen, they returned to Ávila and found the entrances to the walls closed and the traitors acting as governors. The new rulers demanded part of what had been recovered to free the town.

Royal intercession was soon to arrive and King Sancho III of Castile intervened, entering the town and throwing the traitors out. He ordered that they were to live outside the walls for the rest of their lives and have no privileges. This was apparently the origin of the mediaeval suburbs.

 

The municipal authorities decided that the original pilgrimage would be repeated each year and the monument known as Los Cuatro Postes was built to make sure that the unfortunate events would not be forgotten.

 

Another legend has it that it marks the place where, as children, Teresa of Jesus and her brother Rodrigo were caught by their uncle when they were on their way to the south to spread the word of God to the infidels, not concerned by the fact that they might be killed in the attempt since that would turn them into martyrs. They had been so heavily influenced by the adventure books they had read that they wanted to have their own.

 

Years later, when Teresa was 'expelled' from the town due to her different interpretation of religion, she stopped at the place as she was leaving and, looking back to Ávila, she took off her sandals and knocked the sand off them, saying, "From Ávila, I take with me not even the dirt'". Fortunately, she later reconciled matters with her hometown.

    

What does History tell us from 1066

 

or how the Privileged Establishment and Aristocracy evolved. PEA for short and they continue to take it.

   

•10,000 French Normans invaded Anglo-Saxon England in 1066 carrying out what was an Outlaw Act.

 

• 5,000 dead Anglo-Saxon bodies were left to rot on the battlefield near Hastings for 10 years.

 

• The Anglo-Saxon King Harold II was butchered by French knights at Hastings gelded and was left

unrecognisable only identified by his wife by marks on his chest.

 

•The French Normans built the Tower of London from 1078 known as the “White Tower” to overawe

the Anglo-Saxon English from rising against the French invaders.

 

•The French Duke William the Conqueror a wanted criminal from Normandy kept over 20% of the land of this country for his own & family. William of Normandy had a far fetched argument over rightful claim to the throne of these lands.

 

•Completely developed the existing Feudal system to support the privileged and aristocracy based on a class structure. What the Normans brought particularly was feudal Land tenure all part of the feudal system.

Visit ...http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110522/feudal_system.htm

 

•Divided and shared the remainder of the country out to his most reliable including Barons (Barons being Responsible members of the Feudal society) giving 50% of the total land away (in the granting of) and 26% to the church. Baron is a French word, so is Parliament this included confiscation of estates and lands. In the 11th Century 90% of the English, Anglo-Saxon lived and worked on the rural land. Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool Manchester didn’t exist as towns. Towns which did exist included Canterbury, York, London, Winchester, Dover, Chester, Norwich, Nottingham, Lincoln and Bristol.

  

Currently in England 2007, 69% of the Land is owned by 0.3% of the population.

 

•“Wills” was a Anglo-Saxon custom of bequeathing belongings to next of kin after 1066 “devising”

(bequeathing) “real property” (Land) by will fell out of use until the 14th century. – BRITISH HISTORY ISBN1 85585 2616 p813

 

•In 1070 what is known as HARRYING OF THE NORTH 150,000 men woman and children were murdered by the French Normans between York to Teesside across to Durham, villages were completely wiped out and whole crops destroyed this equates to over 7% of the population of England all because they refused to be oppressed and ruled by the French speaking ruling class. Before 1070, 500 Norman Knights were killed by the local community near Durham.

 

•The Domesday Survey in 1085 was forced on the populace of all England, London and Winchester were exempt the Domesday survey was never finally carried out in Northumberland, Teesside, or Durham due to the above.

 

•From 1066 England continued to be ruled by 7 French Kings until 1215, King John being the last. John has been referred to as being arguably the worst monarch we have ever had. Murdered his nephew by strangulation, burnt Alnwick to the ground and poss? Morpeth (John was at odds with most of Europe and his Barons)

 

The French ruling class established new government replacing the 11th century Anglo-Saxon Witan, gaining power & coming into their own with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 under King John. The Magna Carta had little relevance to 90% of the population.

 

P.S. Prior to invading England the Normans from Normandy invaded Sicily, begining 11th century where the Mafia originated. Slaves were sent to Sicily from Bristol. Englands new Monarchy had a strong connection including trade with Sicily after 1066.

 

This information can be verified from the Internet and numerous History books.

Here is the House of Lords – over 700 in total - this is the Highest court in the land (judiciary) formed by the French Normans.

www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/mps_and_lords/alphab...

 

William the Conqueror’s nephew was Britain’s wealthiest man in History

www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/william-the-conqu...

www.Learnhistory.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=28,39,89....

 

Establishment in action www.leasehold-outrage.com

 

Ampersand getting his ass kicked, as usual, while Interrobang wonders where he put that paper ball . . .

Cards and prints available for purchase @ www.redbubble.com/people/smilesvssmirks

 

a picnic table was tied around this tree so nobody would steal it a long time ago. I never knew there was such a black market for picnic tables.

Crispina, wife of Commodus

Aureus 180-182, AV 7.35 g. CRISPINA – AVGVSTA Draped bust r., hair in coil at back. Rev. VENVS· FELIX Venus seated l., holding Victory and sceptre; below seat, dove standing l. C 39. BMC 48. RIC Commodus 287. Calicó 2377d (these dies).

Rare. A very elegant portrait work of a skilled master engraver, extremely fine

 

Ex Rollin & Feuardent sale 13 May 1888, de Quelen, 1250 and HSA 22241.

 

The daughter of a nobleman who had campaigned alongside Marcus Aurelius against barbarians on the northern border of the empire, Crispina was reportedly an exceptionally beautiful woman, a fact supported by the portrait of this coin. She was married to the fifteen-year-old future emperor Commodus, but as he steadily became more paranoid and megalomaniacal, their relationship disintegrated, and they both partook in extramarital affairs. In 182 Crispina was banished to the island of Capri where she met her end by strangulation, presumably on the orders of her husband. The official reason given for her severe treatment was her adulterous activities, but more than likely it was because she, along with her sister-in-law Lucilla, was implicated in the failed plot to assassinate Commodus.

 

NAC67, 176

youtu.be/zXMpFzCLic8 Trailer

 

Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, and Eric Young. Directed by Don Sharp.

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot.

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

 

This warehouse is used for the storage of evidence from Chicago & Cook County crimes, including those of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Among the grisly artifacts stored here are the door to Gacy's crawlspace where he buried nearly 30 young men and boys, personal items of his victims, a ligature Gacy used for strangulation, and samples of Gacy's blood.

 

Located at 2323 S. Rockwell St.

youtu.be/zXMpFzCLic8 Trailer

 

Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, and Eric Young. Directed by Don Sharp.

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot.

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

 

Jane strains her neck in order to avoid strangulation at the hands of our tour guide

youtu.be/zXMpFzCLic8 Trailer

 

Starring Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, and Eric Young. Directed by Don Sharp.

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot.

Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

 

To strangle oneself!