From the time of St Augustine's mission to refound Christianity in AD 597 to the reign of Henry VIII, monasteries formed an important facet of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Monasteries were built to house communities of monks, canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England. These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout, although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into the fabric of Medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship, learning, and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some orders, of immense wealth and political influence. They were established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest of areas. Many monasteries acted as the centre of a wide network including parish churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 75 of these religious houses belonged to the Cistercian Order founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century. The Cistercians - or "white monks on account of their undyed habits" - led a harsher life than the earlier monastic orders, believing in the virtue of a life of austerity, prayer and manual labour. Seeking seclusion, they founded their houses in wild and remote areas where they undertook major land improvement projects. Their communities were often very large and included many lay brethren who acted as ploughmen, dairymen, shepherds, carpenters, and masons. The Cistercians' skills as farmers eventually made the Order one of the most rich and influential. They were especially successful in the rural north of England where they concentrated on sheep farming. Boxley is one of the most complete of the group of Cistercian Abbeys which were established as daughter houses by larger monasteries. Of these daughter houses virtually nothing is known other than the layouts of the church and cloisters. Few Abbey precincts survive sufficiently extensively to allow an understanding of the range of agricultural and industrial activities undertaken at such a site to support the community of monks and lay-brethren. The degree of survival and diversity of features in the example at Boxley provide a potentially outstanding opportunity to do so. At the same time, the small scale excavation of parts of the cloisters and church at Boxley means that it is well documented archaeologically.

 

Details

The monument includes the abbey and monastic precinct at Boxley. The remains of the Abbey, which was founded in 1143, are enclosed within an angular wall which preserves the line and many of the features such as door-openings of the original precinct wall, although some of its fabric is clearly recent. The main gatehouse is on the western side, and features Tudor brickwork as well as a quantity of original medieval stonework, showing that it was rebuilt not long before the abbey's dissolution in 1538. Many features of the abbey have been disguised by later landscaping but were identified during small-scale excavations in 1897-8 and 1971-2. Both the east range of the cloister and the south aisle of the church are marked by embankments within the present garden whilst the E-W drain from the latrine has been incorporated into a walled garden. The nave of the church is marked by a former water garden. Further remains of the abbey are considered likely to survive beneath the present ground level, such as stables, granaries and other agricultural buildings, many originally built of timber. Fishponds and other watercourses survive as earthworks at several locations. The main upstanding feature inside the 9ha. precinct is the Hospitium. This building, thought originally to have been a hostel for visitors to the Abbey, is now used as a barn; it is included in the scheduling as well as being listed Grade I. Excluded from the scheduling are the cottages, which are listed Grade II, near the gatehouse, and the present house, which is listed Grade II*, (except the lengths of medieval stone walling of the W range of the cloister), and also the metalling of the access roads and the service trenches below them. The ground beneath each, however, is included. Also excluded from the scheduling are all post-Dissolution stonework used for garden features etc. unless part of repairs to medieval structures.

Are Bees Territorial? Sometimes. If you are a male. And if you are big. I had not really thought in any systematic way about territoriality in bees until I was looking up information about the bee in this picture (Centris adani. Costa Rico, Tim McMahon collector). My literature poke revealed that colleague Gordon Frankie had published on this long ago in the 70s about territoriality in male C. adani. Off hand I can think of territorial males existing in at least some Anthidium, Xylocopa, Centris, Anthophora, Bombus. Makes me wonder if small bees might sometimes also be territorial but we just aren't observant enough to discover that fact. But, I would bet not, probably just a big bee thing. If you are territorial it has to be useful or why bother? Probably has to do with mating opportunities. Which leads to another weak observation: In general, highly territorial males are both praised and denigrated in human society. What is the intersection between those two thoughts? It feels fuzzy, ... but intriguing. If there is not a scientific paper there, there must be at least a novel. Perhaps a high end Romance Novel. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~

 

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

  

Photography Information:

Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

 

We Are Made One with What We Touch and See

 

We are resolved into the supreme air,

We are made one with what we touch and see,

With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,

With our young lives each spring impassioned tree

Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range

The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.

- Oscar Wilde

  

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML

 

Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

 

Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:

www.extreme-macro.co.uk/

 

Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:

www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...

 

Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:

bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf

 

Basic USGSBIML set up:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

 

USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4

 

Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus

www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections

 

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:

  

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:

plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo

or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU

 

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:

www.photomacrography.net/

 

Contact information:

Sam Droege

sdroege@usgs.gov

  

301 497 5840

These cows had systematically moved people away from the riverside as they made their way towards the Viaduct. It was a blistering hot weekend. They stopped under a small group of trees in the shade. A few simply rested and others stepped into the river for refreshment.

 

Various points along the Monsal Trail, Derbyshire in the Wye Valley.

 

My Video on YouTube:

[4K] Monsal Dale. Headstone Viaduct and Waterfall. May 2020

youtu.be/fLyb_FsepzQ

 

Monsal Dale is in the Peak District National Park. It's a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation and part of a European project called Natura 2000.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=araK9j8mN9Y ✨ My Suggestion is to open Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio in a separate window, and listen, and enjoy all the artwork on Flickr. Enjoy! Իմ առաջարկն է բացել Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio-ն առանձին պատուհանով եւ լսել եւ վայելել Flickr-ի բոլոր նկարները: Վայելե՜ք... Mein Vorschlag ist, Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio in einem separaten Fenster zu öffnen, zuzuhören und alle Kunstwerke auf Flickr zu genießen. Genießen! Ma suggestion est d’ouvrir Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio dans une fenêtre séparée, d’écouter et de profiter de toutes les illustrations sur Flickr. Jouir! Mi sugerencia es abrir Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio en una ventana separada, y escuchar y disfrutar de todas las obras de arte en Flickr. ¡Disfrutar! Minha sugestão é abrir a Tomorrowland Live Worldwide Radio em uma janela separada, e ouvir, e desfrutar de toda a obra de arte no Flickr. Desfrutar!

Matchbox pinhole v3 + Fuji Superia X-Tra 800 (expired June 2006)

Prat Primer, Claror, Pic Negre. View from Fontaneda, Sant Julia mountainscape. Sant Julia de Loria, Gran Valira, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

More Fontaneda & Certers, Sant Julia de Loria parroquia: Follow the group links at right side.

.......

 

About this image:

* Medium format 4x3 (645) high quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (20 years 2003-2023)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism editiorials

 

We offer 200.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. 20.000+ visable here at Flickr. Its the largest professional image catalog of Andorra: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). Consistent for additional advanced programming. For smartphones and web-db. REAL TIME!

 

It's based on GeoCoded stock-photo images and metadata with 4-5 languages. Prepared for easy systematic organising of very large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System).

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

 

Wine from Andorra: Celler Casa Auvinya, Auvinya, Sant Julia de Loria parroquia, Gran Valira, Andorra, Pyrenees

 

More Auvinya & Sant Julia parroquia images: Follow the group links at right side.

 

.......

 

About this image:

 

* Full frame format 3x2 quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (10 years decade 2008-2018)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism redactions

 

We offer 100.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. The biggest professional image catalog of Andorra from the newer history: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). HighRes & HighColor GeoCoded stock-photo images including metadata in 4-5 languages. Prepared for an easy systematic organising of large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System). The big stockphoto collection from the Pyrenees.

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

White tailed Sea Eagle - Haliaeetus albicilla

  

While found across a very wide range, today breeding as far west as Greenland and Iceland across to as far east in Hokkaido, Japan, they are often scarce and very spottily distributed as a nesting species, mainly due to human activities. These have included habitat alterations and destruction of wetlands, about a hundred years of systematic persecution by humans (from the early 1800s to around World War II) followed by inadvertent poisonings and epidemics of nesting failures due to various manmade chemical pesticides and organic compounds, which have threatened eagles since roughly the 1950s and continue to be a potential concern. Due to this, the white-tailed eagle was considered endangered or extinct in several countries. However, some populations have recovered well due to some governmental protections and dedicated conservationists and naturalists protecting habitats and nesting sites and partially regulating poaching and pesticide usage, as well as careful reintroductions into parts of their former range. White-tailed eagles usually live most of the year near large bodies of open water, including both coastal saltwater areas and inland freshwater, and require an abundant food supply and old-growth trees or ample sea cliffs for nesting. They are considered a close cousin of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), which occupies a similar niche in North America.

 

White-tailed eagles are of all ages typically perch in quite upright positions on exposed branch, rock or other vantage point, but tend to sit more horizontally on the ground or other level surfaces. They have an ample bill with a relatively high culmen, helping impart a relatively narrow and high crowned facial look, especially compared to Aquila eagles.

 

This eagle breeds in northern Europe and northern Asia. Their European range extends to as far west as southeastern Greenland, northern and eastern Iceland, and the reintroduced populations in some areas of Ireland and Scotland, particularly conserved coastal spots. In mainland Europe, often isolated outposts remain in coastal and western Norway (broadly), northern and southwestern Finland, eastern Sweden, southern Denmark (and some spots in the north),

islands of the Baltic Sea, western Austria, northeastern Germany, northern and eastern Poland, the Czech Republic, much of the east Baltic countries, the non-montane areas of the Ukraine, eastern Slovenia, central and southern Hungary (and adjacent northeastern Croatia),

 

White-tailed eagles may be found in varied habitat but usually are closely associated with water and generally occurs in lowland areas. Although mainly a lowland species, the species is known to live at elevations of 1,500 to 2,300 m (4,900 to 7,500 ft) so long as there is water access in some parts of Central Asia and Siberia. In coastal areas, the species may range from high sea cliffs down to low-lying islands and archipelagos. Especially in winter, many white-tailed eagles often frequent low coastal spots, estuaries and coastal marshes. Several studies have supported that coastal areas are preferred when available during winter. In many areas, white-tailed eagles can seem to switch freely between usually cliff habitat and wooded spots for nesting sites and the center of their home range habitat.

 

White-tailed eagles spend much of their day perched on trees or crags, and may often not move for hours. Perhaps up to 90% of a day may spend perched, especially if weather is poor. Also, they will alternate periods of soaring with perching, especially flying over water or well-watered areas, but do considerably less soaring on average than do golden eagles. Pairs regularly roost together, often near to their nest, either on a crag or tree or crevices, overhung ledges or small isolated trees on a crag.

 

Many studies have reflected that the primary foods of white-tailed eagles are fish and water birds.

 

In Britain, the opinion towards white-tailed eagles became negative in sync with the creation of farmland and commercial fishing, as it was quickly perceived that they were competitors for resources and could deplete the livelihood of flocks for shepherds (despite this being largely untrue) and game animals for gamekeepers. Therefore, laws were passed to facilitate their destruction. Already by the end of the 18th century, down from breeding in all appropriate habitat, the English population was down to only localized breeding, namely in the Isle of Wight, Lundy, Isle of Man and (probably) near Plymouth; within a couple decades the species only remained in the Lake District. Before the advent of firearms, few people in England and Scotland were highly motivated to kill eagles since this could be time-consuming and hazardous process, therefore the British government rose the bounty on eagles to a very high 5 shillings a head by the turn of the 18th century. Unfortunately, eyries in many coastal sites were found to be easily accessible so that destroying or selling eggs was common. Subsequent to systematic persecution, in Greenland 62% of eyries found to be "easily accessible" and only 13% foiled all attempts to reach them. Similar findings were found in sea cliff nests in Iceland, Norway and Scotland. White-tailed eagles are more vulnerable to direct persecution than golden eagles since most nests are highly accessible for white-tailed eagle but not for golden eagles which usually nest in mountainous, precipitously rocky terrain, in contrast to sea cliff nests of which 67-87% were found to be accessible. Before firearms were widely available in Scotland and Norway automatic traps were utilized wherein carrion was laid out to entice an eagle with a person hiding in a near subterranean trap waited until the eagle was distracted, at that point grabbing the eagle by the leg. Petrified by the darkness once drug below, white-tailed eagles apparently offer no resistance once caught. However, habitat had to be favorable and even when conditions were correct, success at capture as such was low. The main driver of declines before firearms and industrialized poisons was habitat alterations. After about the 1840s, firearms became available and declines accelerated considerably, by 1916 the last nesting pair in all of Britain attempted to raise a brood on the isle of Skye. While other ecological factors have been considered in this decline, stringent research has shown the extirpation here was fully correlated to intentional, rapacious predation by man. Many gamekeepers poisoned and shot eagles and destroyed nearly any nest they encountered. A few more enlightened landowners forbade the killing of eagles but there's evidence that the gamekeepers sometimes chose to destroy eagles regardless of the rule of law. On deer forest, eagles were tolerated later than in other British areas, but destructions accelerated there by the late 1800s. Also many white-tailed eagles were poisoned by shepherds who considered it enemy of the flock. Elsewhere in Europe, persecution rates in the 19th and 20th century were just as drastic. In Romania, more than 400 white-tailed eagles were killed in 2 decades by a single hunter. In Norway between 1959 and 1968, an average of 169 eagles were killed annually; with a maximum of 221 in 1961. Around the year 1860, an author estimated that about 400 were being killed annually throughout Germany. Between 1946 and 1972 in eastern Germany, a total of 194 dead white-tailed eagles were found, about half of them shot, after governmental protection of the species had been instituted there.

 

The first attempts at reintroduction in Scotland were in 1959 in Glen Etive, Argyll abortively and then a better informed but also ultimately unsuccessful attempt on Fair Isle in 1968. The isle of Rùm in the inner Hebrides was chosen for the first Scottish reintroduction because of its large size (10,600 ha (26,000 acres)) with access to the isle of Skye (where last native pair known in Britain last bred in 1916) and it is only 24 km (15 mi) from the mainland. Also Rùm hosts large seabird colonies that make for viable prey, including eider, shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), auks and gulls; as well as one of the few in Britain of manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). Furthermore, mainly as a source of carrion, were a population of around 1500 red deer and 200 feral goats; otters and gulls were also numerous and available to kleptoparasitize. The birds to be used for reintroduction were gathered as nestlings from western Norway, as this is the nearest native breeding population. The young eagles were either kept in high grade fowl cages or tethered all within reach of an artificial eyrie, cover and feeding stations. Direct human contact, which the naturally wild young eagles tended to shun anyway, is minimal short of veterinary care. Releases were carried by taking bird out tethered, wearing a leather hood to prevent imprinting and then releasing with a radio-monitor. Most of the eagles, despite no direct parenting, turned out to be competent hunters within a couple of weeks or do well at stealing meals, including from other released eagles. Despite some dying before release due to illness and some found dead subsequent to release, most survived. A total of 95 birds were received for the Rùm reintroductions and 82 were successfully released between 1975 and 1987. The white-tailed eagle now breeds throughout the Western Isles and the mainland coast of Wester Ross. However, a low reproductive output of reintroduced Scottish eagles was recorded in 1996, and it was advocated that additional releases were needed. In August 2008, an additional fifteen chicks raised in Norway were released at a secret location in Fife, in expectation of reintroducing the species to the east coast of Scotland as well. Breeding success of reintroduced birds in Scotland (from 1975-1985 & 1993-1998) is moderate compared overall in species, in 1982-1992: productivity was 0.38, with a mean fledgling number 1.61. In comparison, for the years 1993-2000, productivity was 0.61 and fledgling number was 1.48, while in 2000-2007, productivity was 0.7 and mean fledgling number 1.44. Overall in Britain, there are estimated 36 breeding pairs in 2006 and 40 in 2008. Juvenile survival rates are somewhat low overall compared to other areas. Reintroduction efforts succeeded in the Bohemia area of the Czech Republic as well, where the biologists similarly followed the guidelines of guarding of occupied eyries and provision of safe foods.

 

The white-tailed eagle is also being reintroduced to Ireland, where its Irish name of Iolar Mara (sea eagle) reflects its historic association with the island's long coast. The Irish program was begun in the summer of 2007. Fifteen to twenty young eagles from Norway are being released each spring into the Killarney National Park in the south-west of Ireland. This comprehensive project will last a number of years, with many more eagles being released.

 

Densities of white-tailed eagles have greatly increased in some parts of the range due to conservation efforts. Some threats still remain, notably illegal persecution by gamebird shooting and egg thieves in Scotland.

  

at Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Following, a text, in english, from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia:

Great Egret

For the similar Australasian species, see Eastern Great Egret.

The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret or (now not in use) Great White Heron,[1][2] is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized. In North America it is more widely distributed, and it is ubiquitous across the Sun Belt of the United States and in the rainforests of South America. It is sometimes confused with the Great White Heron in Florida, which is a white morph of the closely related Great Blue Heron (A. herodias). Note, however, that the name Great White Heron has occasionally been used to refer to the Great Egret.

Description:

The Great Egret is a large bird with all-white plumage that can reach one meter in height, weigh up to 950 grams (2.1 lb) and a wingspan of 165 to 215 cm. It is thus only slightly smaller than the Great Blue or Grey Heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. It is a common species, usually easily seen. It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight.

The Great Egret is not normally a vocal bird; at breeding colonies, however, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk.

Systematics and taxonomy:

Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae. Traditionally classified with the storks in the Ciconiiformes, the Ardeidae are closer relatives of pelicans and belong in the Pelecaniformes instead. The Great Egret—unlike the typical egrets—does not belong to the genus Egretta but together with the great herons is today placed in Ardea. In the past, however, it was sometimes placed in Egretta or separated in a monotypic genus Casmerodius.

Subspecies

There were four subspecies in various parts of the world, which differ but little. Differences are bare part coloration in the breeding season and size; the largest A. a. modesta from Asia and Australasia is now considered a full species, the Eastern Great Egret (Ardea modesta). The remaining three subspecies are:

Ardea alba alba (Europe)

Ardea alba egretta (Americas)

Ardea alba melanorhynchos (Africa)

Ecology and status:

The Great Egret is partially migratory, with northern hemisphere birds moving south from areas with colder winters. It breeds in colonies in trees close to large lakes with reed beds or other extensive wetlands. It builds a bulky stick nest.

The Great Egret is generally a very successful species with a large and expanding range. In North America, large numbers of Great Egrets were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes could be used to decorate hats. Numbers have since recovered as a result of conservation measures. Its range has expanded as far north as southern Canada. However, in some parts of the southern United States, its numbers have declined due to habitat loss. Nevertheless, it adapts well to human habitation and can be readily seen near wetlands and bodies of water in urban and suburban areas. In 1953 the Great Egret in flight was chosen as the symbol of the National Audubon Society, which was formed in part to prevent the killing of birds for their feathers.[3][4]

The Great Egret is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Diet:

The Great Egret feeds in shallow water or drier habitats, feeding mainly on fish, frogs, small mammals, and occasionally small birds and reptiles, spearing them with its long, sharp bill most of the time by standing still and allowing the prey to come within its striking distance of its bill which it uses as a spear. It will often wait motionless for prey, or slowly stalk its victim.

Though it might appear that they feed on the parasites of African buffaloes, they actually feed on leafhoppers, grasshoppers and other insects which are stirred open as buffaloes move about in water.

In culture:

The Great Egret is depicted on the reverse side of a 5-Brazilian reais banknote.

"White Egrets" is the title of Saint Lucian Poet Derek Walcott's fourteenth collection of poems.

 

A seguir, texto em português da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

 

Garça-branca-grande

A garça-branca-grande (Casmerodius albus, sin. Ardea alba), também conhecida apenas como garça-branca, é uma ave da ordem Ciconiiformes. É uma garça de vasta distribuição e pode ser encontrada em todo o Brasil.

Dieta:

Se alimenta de presas aquáticas, depois de aproximar-se sorrateiramente com o corpo abaixado e o pescoço recolhido e bicar seu alimento, esticando seu longo pescoço.

Taxonomia:

Subespécies

C. a. modesta - Ásia e Australasia

C. a. alba - Europa

C. a. egretta - América do Norte

C. a. melanorhynchos - África

 

Ipê Amarelo, Tabebuia [chrysotricha or ochracea].

Ipê-amarelo em Brasília, Brasil.

This tree is in Brasília, Capital of Brazil.

 

Text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Trumpet tree" redirects here. This term is occasionally used for the Shield-leaved Pumpwood (Cecropia peltata).

Tabebuia

Flowering Araguaney or ipê-amarelo (Tabebuia chrysantha) in central Brazil

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

(unranked): Angiosperms

(unranked): Eudicots

(unranked): Asterids

Order: Lamiales

Family: Bignoniaceae

Tribe: Tecomeae

Genus: Tabebuia

Gomez

Species

Nearly 100.

Tabebuia is a neotropical genus of about 100 species in the tribe Tecomeae of the family Bignoniaceae. The species range from northern Mexico and the Antilles south to northern Argentina and central Venezuela, including the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Cuba. Well-known common names include Ipê, Poui, trumpet trees and pau d'arco.

They are large shrubs and trees growing to 5 to 50 m (16 to 160 ft.) tall depending on the species; many species are dry-season deciduous but some are evergreen. The leaves are opposite pairs, complex or palmately compound with 3–7 leaflets.

Tabebuia is a notable flowering tree. The flowers are 3 to 11 cm (1 to 4 in.) wide and are produced in dense clusters. They present a cupular calyx campanulate to tubular, truncate, bilabiate or 5-lobed. Corolla colors vary between species ranging from white, light pink, yellow, lavender, magenta, or red. The outside texture of the flower tube is either glabrous or pubescentThe fruit is a dehiscent pod, 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 in.) long, containing numerous—in some species winged—seeds. These pods often remain on the tree through dry season until the beginning of the rainy.

Species in this genus are important as timber trees. The wood is used for furniture, decking, and other outdoor uses. It is increasingly popular as a decking material due to its insect resistance and durability. By 2007, FSC-certified ipê wood had become readily available on the market, although certificates are occasionally forged.

Tabebuia is widely used as ornamental tree in the tropics in landscaping gardens, public squares, and boulevards due to its impressive and colorful flowering. Many flowers appear on still leafless stems at the end of the dry season, making the floral display more conspicuous. They are useful as honey plants for bees, and are popular with certain hummingbirds. Naturalist Madhaviah Krishnan on the other hand once famously took offense at ipé grown in India, where it is not native.

Lapacho teaThe bark of several species has medical properties. The bark is dried, shredded, and then boiled making a bitter or sour-tasting brownish-colored tea. Tea from the inner bark of Pink Ipê (T. impetiginosa) is known as Lapacho or Taheebo. Its main active principles are lapachol, quercetin, and other flavonoids. It is also available in pill form. The herbal remedy is typically used during flu and cold season and for easing smoker's cough. It apparently works as expectorant, by promoting the lungs to cough up and free deeply embedded mucus and contaminants. However, lapachol is rather toxic and therefore a more topical use e.g. as antibiotic or pesticide may be advisable. Other species with significant folk medical use are T. alba and Yellow Lapacho (T. serratifolia)

Tabebuia heteropoda, T. incana, and other species are occasionally used as an additive to the entheogenic drink Ayahuasca.

Mycosphaerella tabebuiae, a plant pathogenic sac fungus, was first discovered on an ipê tree.

Tabebuia alba

Tabebuia anafensis

Tabebuia arimaoensis

Tabebuia aurea – Caribbean Trumpet Tree

Tabebuia bilbergii

Tabebuia bibracteolata

Tabebuia cassinoides

Tabebuia chrysantha – Araguaney, Yellow Ipê, tajibo (Bolivia), ipê-amarelo (Brazil), cañaguate (N Colombia)

Tabebuia chrysotricha – Golden Trumpet Tree

Tabebuia donnell-smithii Rose – Gold Tree, "Prima Vera", Cortez blanco (El Salvador), San Juan (Honduras), palo blanco (Guatemala),duranga (Mexico)

A native of Mexico and Central Americas, considered one of the most colorful of all Central American trees. The leaves are deciduous. Masses of golden-yellow flowers cover the crown after the leaves are shed.

Tabebuia dubia

Tabebuia ecuadorensis

Tabebuia elongata

Tabebuia furfuracea

Tabebuia geminiflora Rizz. & Mattos

Tabebuia guayacan (Seem.) Hemsl.

Tabebuia haemantha

Tabebuia heptaphylla (Vell.) Toledo – tajy

Tabebuia heterophylla – roble prieto

Tabebuia heteropoda

Tabebuia hypoleuca

Tabebuia impetiginosa – Pink Ipê, Pink Lapacho, ipê-cavatã, ipê-comum, ipê-reto, ipê-rosa, ipê-roxo-damata, pau d'arco-roxo, peúva, piúva (Brazil), lapacho negro (Spanish); not "brazilwood"

Tabebuia incana

Tabebuia jackiana

Tabebuia lapacho – lapacho amarillo

Tabebuia orinocensis A.H. Gentry[verification needed]

Tabebuia ochracea

Tabebuia oligolepis

Tabebuia pallida – Cuban Pink Trumpet Tree

Tabebuia platyantha

Tabebuia polymorpha

Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC.[verification needed] (= T. pentaphylla (L.) Hemsley) – Pink Poui, Pink Tecoma, apama, apamate, matilisguate

A popular street tree in tropical cities because of its multi-annular masses of light pink to purple flowers and modest size. The roots are not especially destructive for roads and sidewalks. It is the national tree of El Salvador and the state tree of Cojedes, Venezuela

Tabebuia roseo-alba – White Ipê, ipê-branco (Brazil), lapacho blanco

Tabebuia serratifolia – Yellow Lapacho, Yellow Poui, ipê-roxo (Brazil)

Tabebuia shaferi

Tabebuia striata

Tabebuia subtilis Sprague & Sandwith

Tabebuia umbellata

Tabebuia vellosoi Toledo

 

Ipê-do-cerrado

Texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre.

Ipê-do-cerrado

Classificação científica

Reino: Plantae

Divisão: Magnoliophyta

Classe: Magnoliopsida

Subclasse: Asteridae

Ordem: Lamiales

Família: Bignoniaceae

Género: Tabebuia

Espécie: T. ochracea

Nome binomial

Tabebuia ochracea

(Cham.) Standl. 1832

Sinónimos

Bignonia tomentosa Pav. ex DC.

Handroanthus ochraceus (Cham.) Mattos

Tabebuia chrysantha (Jacq.) G. Nicholson

Tabebuia hypodictyon A. DC.) Standl.

Tabebuia neochrysantha A.H. Gentry

Tabebuia ochracea subsp. heteropoda (A. DC.) A.H. Gentry

Tabebuia ochracea subsp. neochrysantha (A.H. Gentry) A.H. Gentry

Tecoma campinae Kraenzl.

ecoma grandiceps Kraenzl.

Tecoma hassleri Sprague

Tecoma hemmendorffiana Kraenzl.

Tecoma heteropoda A. DC.

Tecoma hypodictyon A. DC.

Tecoma ochracea Cham.

Ipê-do-cerrado é um dos nomes populares da Tabebuia ochracea (Cham.) Standl. 1832, nativa do cerrado brasileiro, no estados de Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo e Paraná.

Está na lista de espécies ameaçadas do estado de São Paulo, onde é encontrda também no domínio da Mata Atlântica[1].

Ocorre também na Argentina, Paraguai, Bolívia, Equador, Peru, Venezuela, Guiana, El Salvador, Guatemala e Panamá[2].

Há uma espécie homônima descrita por A.H. Gentry em 1992.

Outros nomes populares: ipê-amarelo, ipê-cascudo, ipê-do-campo, ipê-pardo, pau-d'arco-do-campo, piúva, tarumã.

Características

Altura de 6 a 14 m. Tronco tortuso com até 50 cm de diâmetro. Folhas pilosas em ambas as faces, mais na inferior, que é mais clara.

Planta decídua, heliófita, xerófita, nativa do cerrado em solos bem drenados.

Floresce de julho a setembro. Os frutos amadurecem de setembro a outubro.

FloresProduz grande quantidade de sementes leves, aladas com pequenas reservas, e que perdem a viabilidade em menos de 90 dias após coleta. A sua conservação vem sendo estudada em termos de determinação da condição ideal de armazenamento, e tem demonstrado a importância de se conhecer o comportamento da espécie quando armazenada com diferentes teores de umidade inicial, e a umidade de equilíbrio crítica para a espécie (KANO; MÁRQUEZ & KAGEYAMA, 1978). As levíssimas sementes aladas da espécie não necessitam de quebra de dormência. Podem apenas ser expostas ao sol por cerca de 6 horas e semeadas diretamente nos saquinhos. A germinação ocorre após 30 dias e de 80%. As sementes são ortodoxas e há aproximadamente 72 000 sementes em cada quilo.

O desenvolvimento da planta é rápido.

Como outros ipês, a madeira é usada em tacos, assoalhos, e em dormentes e postes. Presta-se também para peças torneadas e instrumento musicais.

 

Tabebuia alba (Ipê-Amarelo)

Texto, em português, produzido pela Acadêmica Giovana Beatriz Theodoro Marto

Supervisão e orientação do Prof. Luiz Ernesto George Barrichelo e do Eng. Paulo Henrique Müller

Atualizado em 10/07/2006

 

O ipê amarelo é a árvore brasileira mais conhecida, a mais cultivada e, sem dúvida nenhuma, a mais bela. É na verdade um complexo de nove ou dez espécies com características mais ou menos semelhantes, com flores brancas, amarelas ou roxas. Não há região do país onde não exista pelo menos uma espécie dele, porém a existência do ipê em habitat natural nos dias atuais é rara entre a maioria das espécies (LORENZI,2000).

A espécie Tabebuia alba, nativa do Brasil, é uma das espécies do gênero Tabebuia que possui “Ipê Amarelo” como nome popular. O nome alba provém de albus (branco em latim) e é devido ao tomento branco dos ramos e folhas novas.

As árvores desta espécie proporcionam um belo espetáculo com sua bela floração na arborização de ruas em algumas cidades brasileiras. São lindas árvores que embelezam e promovem um colorido no final do inverno. Existe uma crença popular de que quando o ipê-amarelo floresce não vão ocorrer mais geadas. Infelizmente, a espécie é considerada vulnerável quanto à ameaça de extinção.

A Tabebuia alba, natural do semi-árido alagoano está adaptada a todas as regiões fisiográficas, levando o governo, por meio do Decreto nº 6239, a transformar a espécie como a árvore símbolo do estado, estando, pois sob a sua tutela, não mais podendo ser suprimida de seus habitats naturais.

Taxonomia

Família: Bignoniaceae

Espécie: Tabebuia Alba (Chamiso) Sandwith

Sinonímia botânica: Handroanthus albus (Chamiso) Mattos; Tecoma alba Chamisso

Outros nomes vulgares: ipê-amarelo, ipê, aipê, ipê-branco, ipê-mamono, ipê-mandioca, ipê-ouro, ipê-pardo, ipê-vacariano, ipê-tabaco, ipê-do-cerrado, ipê-dourado, ipê-da-serra, ipezeiro, pau-d’arco-amarelo, taipoca.

Aspectos Ecológicos

O ipê-amarelo é uma espécie heliófita (Planta adaptada ao crescimento em ambiente aberto ou exposto à luz direta) e decídua (que perde as folhas em determinada época do ano). Pertence ao grupo das espécies secundárias iniciais (DURIGAN & NOGUEIRA, 1990).

Abrange a Floresta Pluvial da Mata Atlântica e da Floresta Latifoliada Semidecídua, ocorrendo principalmente no interior da Floresta Primária Densa. É característica de sub-bosques dos pinhais, onde há regeneração regular.

Informações Botânicas

Morfologia

As árvores de Tabebuia alba possuem cerca de 30 metros de altura. O tronco é reto ou levemente tortuoso, com fuste de 5 a 8 m de altura. A casca externa é grisáceo-grossa, possuindo fissuras longitudinais esparas e profundas. A coloração desta é cinza-rosa intenso, com camadas fibrosas, muito resistentes e finas, porém bem distintas.

Com ramos grossos, tortuosos e compridos, o ipê-amarelo possui copa alongada e alargada na base. As raízes de sustentação e absorção são vigorosas e profundas.

As folhas, deciduais, são opostas, digitadas e compostas. A face superior destas folhas é verde-escura, e, a face inferior, acinzentada, sendo ambas as faces tomentosas. Os pecíolos das folhas medem de 2,5 a 10 cm de comprimento. Os folíolos, geralmente, apresentam-se em número de 5 a 7, possuindo de 7 a 18 cm de comprimento por 2 a 6 cm de largura. Quando jovem estes folíolos são densamente pilosos em ambas as faces. O ápice destes é pontiagudo, com base arredondada e margem serreada.

As flores, grandes e lanceoladas, são de coloração amarelo-ouro. Possuem em média 8X15 cm.

Quanto aos frutos, estes possuem forma de cápsula bivalvar e são secos e deiscentes. Do tipo síliqua, lembram uma vagem. Medem de 15 a 30 cm de comprimento por 1,5 a 2,5 cm de largura. As valvas são finamente tomentosas com pêlos ramificados. Possuem grande quantidade de sementes.

As sementes são membranáceas brilhantes e esbranquiçadas, de coloração marrom. Possuem de 2 a 3 cm de comprimento por 7 a 9 mm de largura e são aladas.

Reprodução

A espécie é caducifólia e a queda das folhas coincide com o período de floração. A floração inicia-se no final de agosto, podendo ocorrer alguma variação devido a fenômenos climáticos. Como a espécie floresce no final do inverno é influenciada pela intensidade do mesmo. Quanto mais frio e seco for o inverno, maior será a intensidade da florada do ipê amarelo.

As flores por sua exuberância, atraem abelhas e pássaros, principalmente beija-flores que são importantes agentes polinizadores. Segundo CARVALHO (2003), a espécie possui como vetor de polinização a abelha mamangava (Bombus morio).

As sementes são dispersas pelo vento.

A planta é hermafrodita, e frutifica nos meses de setembro, outubro, novembro, dezembro, janeiro e fevereiro, dependendo da sua localização. Em cultivo, a espécie inicia o processo reprodutivo após o terceiro ano.

Ocorrência Natural

Ocorre naturalmente na Floresta Estaciobal Semidecicual, Floresta de Araucária e no Cerrado.

Segundo o IBGE, a Tabebuia alba (Cham.) Sandw. é uma árvore do Cerrado, Cerradão e Mata Seca. Apresentando-se nos campos secos (savana gramíneo-lenhosa), próximo às escarpas.

Clima

Segundo a classificação de Köppen, o ipê-amarelo abrange locais de clima tropical (Aw), subtropical úmido (Cfa), sutropical de altitude (Cwa e Cwb) e temperado.

A T.alba pode tolerar até 81 geadas em um ano. Ocorre em locais onde a temperatura média anual varia de 14,4ºC como mínimo e 22,4ºC como máximo.

Solo

A espécie prefere solos úmidos, com drenagem lenta e geralmente não muito ondulados (LONGHI, 1995).

Aparece em terras de boa à média fertilidade, em solos profundos ou rasos, nas matas e raramente cerradões (NOGUEIRA, 1977).

Pragas e Doenças

De acordo com CARVALHO (2003), possui como praga a espécie de coleópteros Cydianerus bohemani da família Curculionoideae e um outro coleóptero da família Chrysomellidae. Apesar da constatação de elevados índices populacionais do primeiro, os danos ocasionados até o momento são leves. Nas praças e ruas de Curitiba - PR, 31% das árvores foram atacadas pela Cochonilha Ceroplastes grandis.

ZIDKO (2002), ao estudar no município de Piracicaba a associação de coleópteros em espécies arbóreas, verificou a presença de insetos adultos da espécie Sitophilus linearis da família de coleópteros, Curculionidae, em estruturas reprodutivas. Os insetos adultos da espécie emergiram das vagens do ipê, danificando as sementes desta espécie nativa.

ANDRADE (1928) assinalou diversas espécies de Cerambycidae atacando essências florestais vivas, como ingazeiro, cinamomo, cangerana, cedro, caixeta, jacarandá, araribá, jatobá, entre outras como o ipê amarelo.

A Madeira

A Tabebuia alba produz madeira de grande durabilidade e resistência ao apodrecimento (LONGHI,1995).

MANIERI (1970) caracteriza o cerne desta espécie como de cor pardo-havana-claro, pardo-havan-escuro, ou pardo-acastanhado, com reflexos esverdeados. A superfície da madeira é irregularmente lustrosa, lisa ao tato, possuindo textura media e grã-direita.

Com densidade entre 0,90 e 1,15 grama por centímetro cúbico, a madeira é muito dura (LORENZI, 1992), apresentando grande dificuldade ao serrar.

A madeira possui cheiro e gosto distintos. Segundo LORENZI (1992), o cheiro característico é devido à presença da substância lapachol, ou ipeína.

Usos da Madeira

Sendo pesada, com cerne escuro, adquire grande valor comercial na marcenaria e carpintaria. Também é utilizada para fabricação de dormentes, moirões, pontes, postes, eixos de roda, varais de carroça, moendas de cana, etc.

Produtos Não-Madeireiros

A entrecasca do ipê-amarelo possui propriedades terapêuticas como adstringente, usada no tratamento de garganta e estomatites. É também usada como diurético.

O ipê-amarelo possui flores melíferas e que maduras podem ser utilizadas na alimentação humana.

Outros Usos

É comumente utilizada em paisagismo de parques e jardins pela beleza e porte. Além disso, é muito utilizada na arborização urbana.

Segundo MOREIRA & SOUZA (1987), o ipê-amarelo costuma povoar as beiras dos rios sendo, portanto, indicado para recomposição de matas ciliares. MARTINS (1986), também cita a espécie para recomposição de matas ciliares da Floresta Estacional Semidecidual, abrangendo alguns municípios das regiões Norte, Noroeste e parte do Oeste do Estado do Paraná.

Aspectos Silviculturais

Possui a tendência a crescer reto e sem bifurcações quando plantado em reflorestamento misto, pois é espécie monopodial. A desrrama se faz muito bem e a cicatrização é boa. Sendo assim, dificilmente encopa quando nova, a não ser que seja plantado em parques e jardins.

Ao ser utilizada em arborização urbana, o ipê amarelo requer podas de condução com freqüência mediana.

Espécie heliófila apresenta a pleno sol ramificação cimosa, registrando-se assim dicotomia para gema apical. Deve ser preconizada, para seu melhor aproveitamento madeireiro, podas de formação usuais (INQUE et al., 1983).

Produção de Mudas

A propagação deve realizada através de enxertia.

Os frutos devem ser coletados antes da dispersão, para evitar a perda de sementes. Após a coleta as sementes são postas em ambiente ventilado e a extração é feita manualmente. As sementes do ipê amarelo são ortodoxas, mantendo a viabilidade natural por até 3 meses em sala e por até 9 meses em vidro fechado, em câmara fria.

A condução das mudas deve ser feita a pleno sol. A muda atinge cerca de 30 cm em 9 meses, apresentando tolerância ao sol 3 semanas após a germinação.

Sementes

Os ipês, espécies do gênero Tabebuia, produzem uma grande quantidade de sementes leves, aladas com pequenas reservas, e que perdem a viabilidade em poucos dias após a sua coleta. A sua conservação vem sendo estudada em termos de determinação da condição ideal de armazenamento, e tem demonstrado a importância de se conhecer o comportamento da espécie quando armazenada com diferentes teores de umidade inicial, e a umidade de equilíbrio crítica para a espécie (KANO; MÁRQUEZ & KAGEYAMA, 1978).

As levíssimas sementes aladas da espécie não necessitam de quebra de dormência. Podem apenas ser expostas ao sol por cerca de 6 horas e semeadas diretamente nos saquinhos. A quebra natural leva cerca de 3 meses e a quebra na câmara leva 9 meses. A germinação ocorre após 30 dias e de 80%.

As sementes são ortodoxas e há aproximadamente 87000 sementes em cada quilo.

Preço da Madeira no Mercado

O preço médio do metro cúbico de pranchas de ipê no Estado do Pará cotado em Julho e Agosto de 2005 foi de R$1.200,00 o preço mínimo, R$ 1509,35 o médio e R$ 2.000,00 o preço máximo (CEPEA,2005).

Sispony, La Massana, Vall nord, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

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This is an old systematic camera shot from the 90´s I experimented with photographing miniatures in different surroundings in our garden, this little plastic fellow is in some sort of garden brick arrangement (also known as stone wall to some)

 

The miniature is from the MB / Games workshop collaboration war game for (younger kids) named space Crusade...

 

That is why it has even more extreme proportions than normal 40k figures at the time... 40k figures generally has hands the size of their heads an just a bit chunkier than the more slender human anatomy, actually the Eldar miniatures was the closest to real human anatomy and they were suppose to be aliens :)

 

These guys had an interesting feature that would have been handy for more figures at the time, they had interchangeable guns, this on is armed with a heavy weapon but you could change his gun for a bolter or plasma gun instead...

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain a warrior in the 90ies

 

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Café Frequenters episode 242

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(March 1997, the 20th)

 

Hello Grand & Grand!

Thank you so much for lending me that bill, I promise that I will give you a refund of 205% when I make my first million on my art...

 

I have a new Letter from Stephan for Male-grand but I will send that to the Kingdom Hall, since it is in such a matter, so how is all well I am waiting for my dole cheque so I can start living my luxury life again, for two weeks and then be broke again!

 

Greetings and bless you and your god!

 

/ Johnny daughter of a son

 

Seri perdana bridge,in Putrajaya.

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Simple corniform signs: Mont Bégo

 

Further to the north of Mont Bégo in the Valcomonica petroglyph megasite, can be seen dated corniform signs from the neolithic e.g. the 'roche de la Baita'. As with Mont Bégo, corniform signs can also be seen here linked with yokes - forming an early representation of a 'living tractor' - the kind that will have also been employed for ploughing and during the movement of erratic monoliths, trees and megaliths. Whilst most of the glyphs around the Mont Bégo site are certainly Bronze age, it must be very difficult to say categorically that certain of the more simple examples are not neolithic, with the rule of thumb being that heavily simplified schematic glyphs are neolithic with representational details arriving for the chalcolithic and Bronze age. Thus the above simple signs need to be seen in contrast with more detailed corniform signs (see below). They may be of the later date, they may not. They may have exactly the same 'meaning' as more complicated corniforms - they may not.

 

The importance of the corniform sign to Mont Bégo cannot be underestimated, and there is a statistic that if you factor out unformed marks and scratches and only count 'symbols' and 'representations', then corniforms make up close to 80% of all petroglyphs. Seeing the wide variety of expression within the category of corniform, and it can be said that the ideas associated with the corniform symbol were taken by a diverse population to a zone above the agricultural line and onto bleak but mesmerising geological spaces. Mont Bégo, with it's Vallée des Merveilles and Vallée de Fontanalba was a focus for corniform 'cow signs' and understanding the dynamic range of these signs seems to be a task. For the record, there are plentiful examples of small pecks and scratches, and even when these are included, the statistic for corniforms runs to 46% of the 30,000 or so petroglyphs.

 

Top left: two corniform signs. See how there is no hint of a 'real' structure: these are not direct descriptions of a subject be it a cow-form hut, a stretching skin, a cow's scull, a cow, a tool (with the horns tipped inwards the would not make a pitch fork) or cow/human spirit - the lines seem to have starting to drift towards raw symbols.

 

Top right : The corniform has an appearance of a jubilant humanoid. Under are two 'rouelles' or spoked 'suns'. One has six 'rays' and the other five. Others similar signs can be seen with eight spokes. These are vivid but neither systematic or common to the Mont Bégo site, so however simple and eye catching they may appear, they do not seem to be representative of the site's 'zeitgeist'. The variety of the number of branches suggests to me an informal sign and not a rigorous symbol of, for example, a sun deity. Further to the north in the Valcamonica rock art site, there are seemingly indubitable sun-like petroglyph symbols with the 'rays attached to a central circle dated to the neolithic. These seem to be more conclusively suns, and the above radiants may simply be expressive and jubilant decorations associated with decorated cows and festivals. If they are aligned to a sun God then the position on the rock is small and to the side, so subordinate. With the 'corniform' on the verge of 'dancing', a description of 'festival' and joy on the corner of a vast petrogliphic surface may be a coherent explanation. As with the image top left, excluding a neolithic date for these signs would seem to me to be difficult even though they are surrounded by multiple petroglyphs that are know to be bronze age.

 

Lower left : It is very easy to see that two methods were used to produce this image. 'Pecking' and then 'scratching' with no great innovations from the great paleolithic rock art site of the Coa valley. The rock surface is very hard, and today pecking might involve a hole punch and a hammer - no great change, just a need for a sharp wrist action and eye concentration. The scratching is not always present (some may also be from historical visitors) and involves a repeated action to break the peaks between the pecks and in so doing creating a unified image. This mix of technique may have repeated on a larger scale during the late prehistoric periods for regional earthworks. Studies of some large earthworks show that ditches were first made as a series of pits and then broken through to create the large ditch enclosures we can see today. There are many surfaces where the best way to dig a pit is by driving down many deep holes using a weighted pole with a chiseled end. Adding water can speed up the process by creating shatter pressures and colloids that squirt out on their own. Messy but fast. Once a series of vertical perforations has been made, these can be broken through by levering a large pole, with the rubble of the pit removed. Two pits next to each other in the envisaged line of, let's say, a henge ditch, with the dividing wall battered down and antler picks used to clean up the ruts and imperfections. Today, predictive calculations for the time taken to make prehistoric earthworks are often made using only the final antler picks - as if you cook for one hundred using only a serving spoon - which can lead to dramatic statistics and truly vast numbers of hours required. This can make prehistory look like a repetitive and gruelling adventure in space-time or, force it to approach some of slave based monuments of early civilisation.

 

Lower right : A purely abstract sign again with humanoid overtones - a certain joy. The curling of the horns suggests an animal like a mouflon or a goat rather than a cow. Around Mont Bégo there are rare glyphs that I did not manage to photograph that are understood to be of goats. As with Soay sheep, the mouflon is an archaic variety - an early variety of sheep that has returned to the wild. They are easy to see today and unlike Isards, they retain a slight domestication and can wait to have their picture taken while still looking very wild. A very small corniform is also present top left of this image.

 

In conclusion, within the category of corniform there may be two qualitatively different glyphs with the above examples within the 'simple signs' group.

 

AJM 12.2.19

Since I kind of grew up on the both sides of Øresund the small gap of water between sweden and Denmark I have some Danish friends or had, this is one of my old friends Named: Jesper G.

 

but we usually called him:

 

"Jesper Jolle-mand Goathead asparagus oldemand-Bollemand J. jolly Klavierfinger the goat"

 

or some combination of those words, I think we did some roleplaying with my Swedish friends, yes now I remember we played Magic the gathering and some WH40k !

 

Oh the photo was taken by my old systematic Camera and me!

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain once a gamer

This is me taking a "selfie" with my systematic camera in the park, I guess at the age of 18-20

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain slim, brown and shady

On the way from Roche Plate to Marla.

 

Auf dem Weg von Roche Plate nach Marla.

 

The Cirque de Mafate is a caldera on Réunion Island (France; located in the Indian Ocean). It was formed from the collapse of the large shield volcano the Piton des Neiges.

 

The very remote and inaccessible cirque was settled in the 19th century by maroon slaves (i.e. slaves who had escaped from their masters), then later by poor white laborers. It owes its name to one maroon leader.

 

The cirque is entirely enclosed by mountains, especially tall cliffs, known as remparts, save for the sole river exiting, the Rivière des Galets ("river of the pebbles"). Inside the cirque, there are considerable declivities. The îlets are pieces of more-or-less flat lands, on which the hamlets are located.

 

The name "Mafate" comes from the Malagasy word "Mahafaty", which means lethal, an allusion to the difficulty for accessing the Cirque.

 

The cirque has one village, La Nouvelle, and several hamlets: Marla, Roche-Plate, the Îlet-aux-Orangers, etc.

 

The Cirque is entirely public property, managed by the Forestry service, from which the inhabitants rent inexpensive concessions.

 

There is no main electrical supply. Inhabitants thus produce their own electricity using solar panels (with battery storage), and occasionally diesel generators. However, fuel for the latter must be brought by helicopter at high cost. Because of the reduced available power supply, inhabitants systematically use low-consumption (fluorescent) light bulbs.

 

Similarly, all inhabitants use solar water heaters. These can be supplemented by gas-powered heaters — but gas canisters must also be brought by helicopter.

 

La Nouvelle and hamlets have grocery stores where staples can be bought from. Typically, these stores also provide some limited bar and restaurant services (hot coffee and local fast food, such as samosas).

 

Many inhabitants have opened gîtes (dormitories, WC and showers) where hikers can stay for the night, and often dine, for a fee.

 

La Nouvelle and several of the hamlets have elementary schools. In 2005, the school at Marla reopened with 6 pupils after being closed for an insufficient number of schoolchildren. There are no secondary nor higher education facilities.

 

There are several dispensaries between which a few nurses rotate, as well as scheduled visits of a physician, but no permanent health care facilities. All emergencies have to be evacuated by helicopter. There is no Gendarmerie station

 

One originality of Mafate is that there are no roads. Because of this, it is a major attraction for hikers willing to experience some unspoiled nature, while still benefiting from grocery stores and other amenities. For this reason, with the impending creation of a national park on the heights of Réunion, it seems very unlikely that roads would be ever built.

 

All access, including for supplies, is by foot or helicopter. There are a number of footpaths for accessing the cirque, among which:

 

By the Col des Bœufs ("pass of the oxen"), from the Cirque de Salazie, leading to La Nouvelle. This way is the easiest, since there is a forestry road leading to parking lots at the pass.

 

By the Col du Taïbit from the Cirque de Cilaos.

 

By the Canalisation des Orangers on the heights of Saint Paul (Réunion).

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Cirque de Mafate im französischen Übersee-Département Réunion ist die nordwestliche Caldera des Piton des Neiges. Der Talkessel, der größtenteils auf dem Gemeindegebiet von La Possession liegt, erstreckt sich in Nord-Süd-Richtung über etwa zehn Kilometer und in Ost-West-Richtung über etwa fünf Kilometer. Vom Gipfel Grand Bénare fallen die fast senkrechten Felswände über rund 1600 m ab. Der Cirque de Mafate ist die isolierteste Caldera in der Region, die nur zu Fuß oder per Hubschrauber zu erreichen ist. Die Versorgung der lokalen Ortschaften erfolgt heute hauptsächlich durch Hubschrauber, bis vor wenigen Jahren noch in hohen Maße zu Fuß, meistens über den Pass Col des Bœufs (1956 m), der auf einer gut ausgebauten Forststraße vom Cirque de Salazie erreicht werden kann.

 

Seit August 2010 gehören neben dem Cirque de Mafate auch noch der Cirque de Salazie, der Cirque de Cilaos und der alles überragende Vulkan Piton des Neiges, die alle im Nationalpark Réunion liegen, unter dem Titel Pitons, cirques et remparts de l’île de La Réunion (dt: Gipfel, Talkessel und Steilhänge der Insel Réunion) zum UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe.

 

(Wikipedia)

This is two friends of mine, some two decades ago posing for my systematic Camera in the park...

 

The Blond one is Sue

The Brunette is Madde-Slajjne

 

I do remember that day, wine in the park with friends is always great...

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ Mushroombrain a Parking Friendship of red wine (and or white)

 

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Café Frequenters 223

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...Jean-pirlot was always the odd one out, how come, well he was just strange, not extreme in a ny way just strange not like his father a social-junkie, drinking wine at the cafés chatting with all people about politics or morals or jus anything!

 

..at parties Jean-pirlot would just sit an zip his wine in a corner...

except if anyone happened to put on the record Man-machine by Kraftwerk, then he would dance in front of the loudspeaker defending it from any one trying to change it, he would put it on repeat all night, until he passed out or got distracted long enough to change the music...

  

Fiódor Mijáilovich Dostoyevski (en ruso: Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, romanización: Fëdor Mihajlovič Dostoevskij; Moscú, 11 de noviembre de 1821 – San Petersburgo, 9 de febrero de 1881) fue uno de los principales escritores de la Rusia zarista, cuya literatura explora la psicología humana en el complejo contexto político, social y espiritual de la sociedad rusa del siglo XIX.

Es considerado uno de los más grandes escritores de Occidente y de la literatura universal. De él dijo Friedrich Nietzsche: «Dostoyevski, el único psicólogo, por cierto, del cual se podía aprender algo, es uno de los accidentes más felices de mi vida». Y José Ortega y Gasset escribió: «En tanto que otros grandes declinan, arrastrados hacia el ocaso por la misteriosa resaca de los tiempos, Dostoyevski se ha instalado en lo más alto».

Si bien la madre de Fiódor Dostoyevski era rusa, su ascendencia paterna se remonta a un pueblo denominado Dostóyevo, ubicado en la gubérniya de Minsk (Bielorrusia). En sus orígenes, el acento del apellido, como el del pueblo, recaía en la segunda sílaba, pero cambió su posición a la tercera en el siglo XIX. De acuerdo con algunas versiones, los ancestros paternos de Dostoyevski eran nobles polonizados (szlachta) de origen ruteno que fueron a la guerra con el escudo de armas de Radwan.

Fue el segundo de los siete hijos del matrimonio formado por Mijaíl Andréievich Dostoievski y María Fiódorovna Necháyeva. Un padre autoritario, médico del hospital para pobres Mariinski en Moscú, y una madre vista por sus hijos como un refugio de amor y protección marcaron el ambiente familiar en la infancia de Dostoyevski. Cuando Fiódor tenía once años de edad, la familia se radicó en la aldea de Darovóye, en Tula, donde el padre había adquirido unas tierras.

En 1834 ingresó, junto con su hermano Mijaíl, en el pensionado de Chermak, donde cursarían los estudios secundarios. La temprana muerte de la madre por tuberculosis en 1837 sumió al padre en la depresión y el alcoholismo, por lo que Fiódor y su hermano Mijaíl fueron enviados a la Escuela de Ingenieros Militares de San Petersburgo, lugar en el que el joven Dostoievski comenzaría a interesarse por la literatura a través de las obras de Shakespeare, Pascal, Victor Hugo y E. T. A. Hoffmann.

En 1839, cuando tenía dieciocho años, le llegó la noticia de que su padre había fallecido. Los siervos mancomunados de Mijaíl Dostoyevski (hidalgo de Darovóye), enfurecidos tras uno de sus brutales arranques de violencia provocados por el alcohol, lo habían inmovilizado y obligado a beber vodka hasta que murió ahogado. Otra historia sugiere que Mijaíl murió por causas naturales, pero que un terrateniente vecino suyo inventó la historia de la rebelión para comprar la finca a un precio más reducido. En parte, Fiódor se culpó posteriormente de este hecho por haber deseado la muerte de su padre en muchas ocasiones. En su artículo de 1928, «Dostoyevski y el parricidio», Sigmund Freud señalaría este sentimiento de culpa como la causa de la intensificación de su epilepsia.

En 1841, Dostoyevski fue ascendido a alférez ingeniero de campo. Ese mismo año, influido por el poeta prerromántico alemán Friedrich Schiller, escribió dos obras teatrales románticas (María Estuardo y Borís Godunov) que no han sido conservadas. Dostoyevski se describía como un «soñador» en su juventud y en esa época admiraba a Schiller.

Durante toda su carrera literaria Dostoievski padeció una epilepsia que supo incorporar en su obra. Los personajes presentados con epilepsia son Murin y Ordínov (La patrona, 1847), Nelly (Humillados y ofendidos, 1861), Myshkin (El idiota, 1868), Kiríllov (Los demonios, 1872) y Smerdiakov (Los hermanos Karamázov, 1879-80). Dostoievski también supo utilizar la epilepsia para librarse de una condena vitalicia a servir en el ejército en Siberia. Aunque la epilepsia había comenzado durante sus años académicos como estudiante de ingeniería militar en San Petersburgo (1838-1843), el diagnóstico tardaría una década en llegar. En 1863 viajó al extranjero con intención de consultar a los especialistas Romberg y Trousseau. Stephenson e Isotoff apuntaron en 1935 la probable influencia Psique (1848), de Carus, en la construcción de sus personajes. Por contrapartida, la epilepsia de Dostoyevski ha inspirado a numerosos epileptólogos, incluyendo a Freud, Alajouanine y Gastaut. La de Dostoievski es la historia natural de una epilepsia que en terminología científica contemporánea se clasificaría como criptogénica focal de probable origen temporal. Sin embargo, más allá del interés que pueda despertar la historia clínica de un trastorno neurológico heterogéneo, bastante bien comprendido y correctamente diagnosticado en vida del escritor, el caso de Dostoievski muestra el buen uso de una enfermedad común por un genio literario que supo transformar la adversidad en oportunidad. Una de las ideas capitales en su obra (que un buen recuerdo puede colmar toda una vida de felicidad) guarda una estrecha relación con los momentos de éxtasis que alcanzaba el escritor durante algunos episodios de la enfermedad o en el momento (aura epiléptica) que anunciaba las crisis epilépticas más violentas, tal como fueron descritos en su obra literaria.

Dostoyevski terminó sus estudios de Ingeniería en 1843 y, después de adquirir el grado militar de subteniente, se incorporó a la Dirección General de Ingenieros en San Petersburgo.

En 1844, Honoré de Balzac visitó San Petersburgo. Dostoyevski decidió traducir Eugenia Grandet para saldar una deuda de 300 rublos con un usurero. Esta traducción despertaría su vocación y poco después de terminarla pidió la excedencia del ejército con la idea de dedicarse exclusivamente a la literatura. En 1845 dejó el ejército y empezó a escribir la novela epistolar Pobres gentes, obra que le proporcionaría sus primeros éxitos de crítica y, fundamentalmente, el reconocimiento del crítico literario Belinski. La obra, editada en forma de libro al año siguiente, convirtió a Dostoyevski en una celebridad literaria a los veinticuatro años. En esta misma época comenzó a contraer algunas deudas y a sufrir con más frecuencia ataques epilépticos. Las novelas siguientes —El doble (1846), Noches blancas (1848) y Niétochka Nezvánova (1849)— no tuvieron el éxito de la primera y recibieron críticas negativas, lo que sumió a Dostoyevski en la depresión. En esta época entró en contacto con ciertos grupos de ideas utópicas, llamados nihilistas, que buscaban la libertad del hombre.

Dostoyevski fue arrestado y encarcelado el 23 de abril de 1849 por formar parte del grupo intelectual liberal Círculo Petrashevski bajo el cargo de conspirar contra el zar Nicolás I. Después de la revuelta decembrista en 1825 y las revoluciones de 1848 en Europa, Nicolás I se mostraba reacio a cualquier tipo de organización clandestina que pudiera poner en peligro su autocracia.

El 16 de noviembre, Dostoyevski y otros miembros del Círculo Petrashevski fueron llevados a la fortaleza de San Pedro y San Pablo y condenados a muerte por participar en actividades consideradas antigubernamentales. El 22 de diciembre, los prisioneros fueron llevados al patio para su fusilamiento; Dostoyevski tenía que situarse frente al pelotón e incluso escuchar los disparos con los ojos vendados, pero su pena fue conmutada en el último momento por cinco años de trabajos forzados en Omsk, Siberia. Durante esta época sus ataques epilépticos fueron en aumento. Años más tarde, Dostoyevski le relataría a su hermano los sufrimientos que atravesó durante los años que pasó «silenciado dentro de un ataúd». Describió el cuartel donde estuvo, que «debería haber sido demolido años atrás», con estas palabras:

En verano, encierro intolerable; en invierno, frío insoportable. Todos los pisos estaban podridos. La suciedad de los pavimentos tenía una pulgada de grosor; uno podía resbalar y caer... Nos apilaban como anillos de un barril... Ni siquiera había lugar para dar la vuelta. Era imposible no comportarse como cerdos, desde el amanecer hasta el atardecer. Pulgas, piojos, y escarabajos por celemín.

Fue liberado en 1854 y se reincorporó al ejército como soldado raso, lo que constituía la segunda parte de su condena. Durante los siguientes cinco formó parte del Séptimo Batallón de línea acuartelado en la fortaleza de Semipalátinsk en Kazajistán. Allí comenzó una relación con María Dmítrievna Isáyeva, esposa de un conocido suyo en Siberia. Se casaron en febrero de 1857 después de la muerte de su esposo. Ese mismo año, el zar Alejandro II decretó una amnistía que benefició a Dostoyevski, quien recuperó su título nobiliario y obtuvo permiso para continuar publicando sus obras.

Al final de su estadía en Kazajistán, Dostoyevski era ya un cristiano convencido. Se convirtió en un agudo crítico del nihilismo y del movimiento socialista de su época. Tiempo después, dedicó parte de sus libros Los endemoniados y Diario de un escritor a criticar las ideas socialistas. Estas críticas se fundamentaban en la creencia de que quienes las pregonaban no conocían al pueblo ruso y de que no era posible trasladar un sistema de ideas de origen europeo a la Rusia de entonces, de la misma forma que no era posible adoptar las doctrinas de una institución occidental como la Iglesia católica a un pueblo esencialmente cristiano-ortodoxo. Dostoyevski plasmaría estas convicciones en la descripción de Piotr Stepánovich para su novela Los endemoniados y en la redacción de las reflexiones del starets Zosima en «Un religioso ruso», de Los hermanos Karamázov.

Dostoievski fue acercándose progresivamente a una postura eslavófila moderada y a las ideas del ideólogo del paneslavismo Nikolái Danilevski, autor de Rusia y Europa. Su interpretación de esta filosofía rescataba el papel integrador y salvador de la religiosidad rusa y no consideraciones de superioridad racial eslava. Por otra parte, en su interpretación, la unión rusa y su supuesto servicio a la humanidad no implicaba desprecio alguno por la influencia europea, que Dostoyevski reconocía gratamente. Más tarde trabó amistad con el estadista conservador Konstantín Pobedonóstsev y abrazó algunos de los principios del Póchvennichestvo.

Con todo, posicionar políticamente a Dostoyevski no es del todo sencillo: como cristiano, rechazaba el ateísmo socialista; como tradicionalista, la destrucción de las instituciones y, como pacifista, cualquier método violento de cambio social, tanto progresista como reaccionario. A pesar de esto, dio claras muestras de simpatía por las reformas sociales producidas durante el reinado de Alejandro II, en particular por la que implicó la abolición de la servidumbre en el campo, dictada en 1861. Por otra parte, si bien en los primeros años de su regreso de Kazajistán era todavía escéptico respecto de los reclamos de las feministas, en 1870 escribió que «todavía podía esperar mucho de la mujer rusa» y cambió de parecer.

Su preocupación por la desigualdad social es notable en su obra y, desde un punto de vista cristiano ascético, creía —como luego reflejaría en su personaje Zosima— que «al considerar la libertad como el aumento de las necesidades y su pronta saturación, se altera su sentido, pues la consecuencia de ello es un aluvión de deseos insensatos, de ilusiones y costumbres absurdas», y quizás confiara, como dicho personaje, en que «el rico más depravado acabará por avergonzarse de su riqueza ante el pobre».

En febrero de 1854, Dostoyevski le pidió por carta a su hermano que le enviara diversos libros, especialmente Lecciones sobre la historia de la filosofía, de Hegel. Durante su destierro en Semipalátinsk, planeó también traducir junto a Alexander Vrangel obras del filósofo alemán, pero el proyecto nunca se concretó. Según Nikolái Strájov, Dostoyevski le ofreció la obra de Hegel enviada por Mijáil sin haberla leído.

En 1859, tras largas gestiones, Dostoyevski consiguió ser licenciado con la condición de residir en cualquier lugar excepto San Petersburgo y Moscú, por lo que se trasladó a Tver. Allí logró publicar El sueño del tío y Stepánchikovo y sus habitantes, que no obtuvieron la crítica que esperaba.

En diciembre de ese mismo año se le autorizó regresar a San Petersburgo, donde fundó, con su hermano Mijaíl, la revista Vremya («Tiempo»), en cuyo primer número apareció Humillados y ofendidos (1861), otra novela inspirada en su etapa siberiana. En ella se encuentran, además, varias alusiones autobiográficas, especialmente en lo referente a la primera etapa de Dostoyevski como escritor; se alude en ella, sobre todo, en su primera obra, Noches blancas, con varios guiños a situaciones o personajes específicos. Su siguiente obra, Recuerdos de la casa de los muertos (1861-1862), basada en sus experiencias como prisionero, fue publicada por capítulos en la revista El Mundo Ruso.

Durante 1862 y 1863 realizó diversos viajes por Europa que lo llevaron a Berlín, París, Londres, Ginebra, Turín, Florencia y Viena. Durante estos viajes comenzó una relación con Polina Súslova,27 una estudiante con ideas avanzadas, que lo abandonó poco después. Perdió mucho dinero jugando a la ruleta y, a finales de octubre de 1863, regresó a Moscú solo y sin dinero. Durante su ausencia, Vremya fue prohibida por haber publicado un artículo sobre el Levantamiento de Enero.

En 1864 Dostoyevski consiguió editar con su hermano una nueva revista llamada Epoja («Época»), en la que publicó Memorias del subsuelo. Su ánimo terminó de quebrarse tras la muerte de su esposa, María Dmítrievna Isáyeva, seguida poco después por la de su hermano. Dostoyevski debió hacerse cargo de la viuda y los cuatro hijos de Mijaíl y, además, de una deuda de 25 000 rublos que este había dejado. Se hundió en una profunda depresión y en el juego, lo que siguió generándole enormes deudas. Para escapar de todos sus problemas financieros, huyó al extranjero, donde perdió el dinero que le quedaba en los casinos. Allí se reencontró con Polina Súslova y le propuso matrimonio, pero fue rechazado.

En 1865, de nuevo en San Petersburgo, comenzó a escribir Crimen y castigo, una de sus obras capitales. La fue publicando, con gran éxito, en la revista El Mensajero Ruso. Sin embargo, sus deudas eran cada vez mayores por lo que, en 1866, se vio obligado a firmar un contrato con el editor Stellovski. Dicho contrato establecía que Dostoyevski recibiría tres mil rublos —que pasarían directamente a manos de sus acreedores— a cambio de los derechos de edición de todas sus obras, y el compromiso de entregar una nueva novela ese mismo año. Si ésta no era entregada en noviembre, recibiría una fuerte multa y, si en diciembre seguía sin estar lista, perdería todos los derechos patrimoniales sobre sus obras, que pasarían a manos de Stellovski. Dostoyevski entonces contrató a Anna Grigórievna Snítkina, una joven taquígrafa a quien dictó, en sólo veintiséis días, su novela El jugador, entregada en conformidad con los términos del contrato. El día de su entrega, sin embargo, el administrador de la editorial aseguró no haber recibido el aviso pertinente por parte de Stellovski, ante lo cual Dostoyevski se vio obligado a constatar la entrega —con acuse de recibo legal— en una comisaría.

Dostoyevski se casó con Snítkina el 15 de febrero de 1867 y, tras una breve estadía en Moscú, partieron hacia Europa. La debilidad de Dostoyevski por el juego volvió a manifestarse en Baden-Baden. En 1867, finalmente establecido en Ginebra, comenzó a preparar el esquema de su novela El idiota, que debía publicarse en los dos primeros fascículos de El Mensajero Ruso del año siguiente. Según Anna Grigórievna, Dostoyevski afirmaba sobre esta obra que «nunca había tenido una idea más poética y más rica, pero que no había logrado expresar ni siquiera la décima parte de lo que quería decir». En 1868 nació su primera hija, Sonia, pero murió tres meses después. El hecho fue devastador para la pareja, y Dostoyevski cayó en una profunda depresión. Decidieron alejarse de Ginebra y, luego de una estadía en Vevey, viajaron a Italia. Allí visitaron Milán, Florencia, Bolonia y Venecia. En 1869, partieron hacia Dresde, donde nació su segunda hija, Liubov. Su situación económica era, en palabras de Anna Grigórievna, de «relativa pobreza». Dostoyevski recibió el dinero convenido por El Mensajero Ruso y El idiota, y pudieron —a pesar de verse obligados a utilizar parte de este para pagar deudas— vivir con algo más de tranquilidad que en años anteriores.

En 1870 el autor se dedicó a escribir una nueva novela, El eterno marido, que fue publicada en la revista Zariá. Algunos pasajes de la obra son de carácter autobiográfico. Específicamente, en el capítulo «En casa de los Zajlebinin», Dostoyevski recuerda el verano de 1866 pasado en una casa de campo en Liublin, cerca de Moscú, junto con una de sus hermanas.

En 1871, terminó Los endemoniados, publicada en 1872. La novela refleja las inquietudes políticas de Dostoyevski en esa época. Al respecto, escribió a su amigo Strájov:

Espero mucho de lo que escribo ahora en El Mensajero Ruso, no sólo desde el punto de vista artístico, sino también en lo que respecta a la calidad del tema: desearía expresar algunos pensamientos, aunque por su causa debe sufrir el arte; pero estoy de tal modo fascinado por las ideas que se han acumulado en mi espíritu y en mi corazón, que debo expresarlas aunque sólo pueda lograr un opúsculo; es lo mismo, debo expresarme.

Poco antes de que Dostoyevski comenzara a escribir la novela, la pareja recibió la visita del hermano de Anna, que vivía en San Petersburgo. Este les habló del agitado clima político que se vivía en la ciudad y, especialmente, acerca de un asesinato que había tenido gran repercusión. Ivánov, un estudiante perteneciente al grupo extremista de Sergéi Necháyev, había sido asesinado en una gruta por orden de este, tras alejarse del grupo por rechazar sus métodos de acción. Dostoyevski decidió tomar como protagonista para su nueva novela a Ivánov bajo el nombre de Shátov y describió, siguiendo el relato del hermano de Anna, el parque de la Academia de Pedro y la gruta en la que fue asesinado Ivánov.

Hacia 1871, Dostoyevski y Anna Grigórievna habían cumplido cuatro años de residencia en el extranjero y estaban resueltos a volver a Rusia. Como Anna estaba embarazada, decidieron partir cuanto antes para no tener que viajar con un niño recién nacido. Luego de recibir la parte del pago de El Mensajero Ruso y la correspondiente a la publicación de El eterno marido, partieron hacia San Petersburgo haciendo escala en Berlín.

A los ocho días de su llegada a Rusia nació Fiódor. Dostoyevski hizo un viaje rápido a Moscú, donde cobró lo correspondiente a la parte publicada de Los demonios en El mensajero ruso. Con este dinero les fue posible alquilar una casa en San Petersburgo. Pronto se vio el autor nuevamente asediado por acreedores, especialmente algunos que reclamaban deudas de la época de Tiempo, que le correspondían por la muerte de su hermano. Los acreedores se presentaban algunas veces sin documento probatorio y Dostoyevski, ingenuo, les firmaba letras de cambio.

En 1872 partieron hacia Stáraya Rusa, donde permanecerían hasta 1875. Tras finalizar la novela Los demonios, Dostoyevski aceptó la propuesta de encargarse de la redacción del semanario El ciudadano. En 1873 editó la versión completa de Los demonios, publicada por la pequeña editorial que había fundado con medios propios, ayudado por Anna. El éxito de esta edición fue abrumador. Luego reeditó también varias de sus obras anteriores y comenzó a publicar la revista Diario de un escritor, en la que escribía solo, recopilando historias cortas, artículos políticos y crítica literaria. Esta publicación, aunque muy exitosa, se vio interrumpida en 1878, cuando Dostoyevski comenzó Los hermanos Karamázov, que aparecería en gran parte en la revista El Mensajero Ruso.

En 1874 Dostoyevski abandonó la redacción de El Ciudadano, tarea que no satisfizo sus aspiraciones, para dedicarse completamente a escribir una nueva novela. Luego de evaluar las ofertas editoriales de El Mensajero Ruso y Memorias de la Patria (del poeta Nikolái Nekrásov), decidió aceptar esta última. La novela sería titulada El adolescente y comenzaría a publicarse ese mismo año. Por aquella época, Dostoyevski tuvo fuertes crisis asmáticas, y estuvo un tiempo en Berlín y Ems tratando su afección.

En 1875 nació su cuarto hijo, Alekséi, y el matrimonio decidió volver a San Petersburgo. Durante esa época vivieron del dinero que obtenían por El adolescente. Mientras tanto, Dostoyevski continuaba reuniendo material para Diario de un escritor y frecuentaba con asiduidad reuniones literarias, donde se encontraba y debatía con viejos amigos y enemigos. En 1877, la publicación de Diario de un escritor tuvo gran éxito y, aunque el autor estaba muy satisfecho tanto con los resultados económicos como con la simpatía que el público manifestaba en su correspondencia, sentía gran necesidad de crear algo nuevo. Decidió entonces interrumpir por dos o tres años la publicación de la revista para ocuparse de una nueva novela.

Nekrásov, amigo de Dostoyevski —el primero en reconocer su talento con Pobres gentes y que más tarde editó El adolescente— se encontraba muy enfermo. Una de las veces que fue a verlo, el poeta le leyó una de sus últimas composiciones, «Los infelices», y le dijo: «La escribí para usted». El poeta murió a finales de 1877. Durante su funeral, Dostoyevski pronunció un emotivo discurso, que más tarde ampliaría e incluiría en el último número de Diario de un escritor de ese año, dividido en cuatro capítulos: «La muerte de Nekrásov», «Pushkin, Lérmontov y Nekrásov», «El poeta y el ciudadano: Nekrásov hombre» y «Un testigo a favor de Nekrásov». Al dolor de Dostoyevski por esta pérdida se le agregaría, al año siguiente, el causado por la muerte de su hijo Alekséi. El niño fue sepultado en el cementerio de Bolsháia Ojta.

Dostoyevski y su esposa, consternados, pensaron que no tenían más que hacer en San Petersburgo y regresaron con sus hijos a Stáraya Rusa. Dostoyevski acordó con El mensajero ruso la publicación de una nueva novela para 1879: se trataba de la futura Los hermanos Karamázov. De una bendición recibida por un sacerdote de la ermita de Óptina, tras contarle Dostoyevski lo sucedido con su hijo, surgiría la escena del capítulo Las mujeres creyentes, en la que el starets Zosima bendice a una madre tras la muerte de su hijo, también llamado Alekséi. Por otra parte, la figura del starets Zosima sería creada a partir de las figuras de este sacerdote y de otro a quien el autor admiraba, Tijon Zadonski.

Apenas comenzó a publicarse, Los hermanos Karamázov atrajo fuertemente la atención de lectores y críticos. Dostoyevski solía leer algunos fragmentos de ella en reuniones literarias con una excelente respuesta por parte del público. Muy pronto se la consideró una obra maestra de la literatura rusa y hasta logró que Dostoyevski se ganara el respeto de varios de sus enemigos literarios. El autor la consideró su magnum opus. A pesar de esto, la novela nunca se terminó. Originalmente, según los esquemas del autor, consistiría en dos partes, y los sucesos de la segunda ocurrirían trece años más tarde que los de la primera. Esta segunda parte nunca llegó a escribirse.

En 1880, Dostoyevski participó en la inauguración del monumento a Aleksandr Pushkin en Moscú, donde pronunció un discurso sobre el destino de Rusia en el mundo. El 8 de noviembre de ese mismo año, terminó Los hermanos Karamázov en San Petersburgo.

Dostoyevski murió en su casa de San Petersburgo, el 9 de febrero de 1881, de una hemorragia pulmonar asociada a un enfisema y a un ataque epiléptico. Fue enterrado en el cementerio Tijvin, dentro del Monasterio de Alejandro Nevski, en San Petersburgo. El vizconde E. M. de Vogüé, diplomático francés, describió el funeral como una especie de apoteosis. En su libro Le Roman russe, señala que entre los miles de jóvenes que seguían el cortejo, se podía distinguir incluso a los nihilistas, que se encontraban en las antípodas de las creencias del escritor. Anna Grigórievna señaló que «los diferentes partidos se reconciliaron en el dolor común y en el deseo de rendir el último homenaje al célebre escritor».

En su lápida sepulcral puede leerse el siguiente versículo de San Juan, que sirvió también como epígrafe de su última novela, Los hermanos Karamázov:

 

En verdad, en verdad os digo que si el grano de trigo que cae en la tierra no muere, queda solo; pero si muere produce mucho fruto. Evangelio de San Juan 12:24

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiódor_Dostoyevski

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:Novelas_de_Fiódor_Dostoyevski

  

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский) (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. Dostoevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of philosophical and religious themes. His most acclaimed works include Crime and Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1869), Demons (1872), and The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Dostoevsky's oeuvre consists of 11 novels, three novellas, 17 short stories, and numerous other works. Many literary critics rate him as one of the greatest psychologists in world literature.[3] His 1864 novella Notes from Underground is considered to be one of the first works of existentialist literature.

Born in Moscow in 1821, Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age through fairy tales and legends, and through books by Russian and foreign authors. His mother died in 1837 when he was 15, and around the same time, he left school to enter the Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute. After graduating, he worked as an engineer and briefly enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, translating books to earn extra money. In the mid-1840s he wrote his first novel, Poor Folk, which gained him entry into St. Petersburg's literary circles. Arrested in 1849 for belonging to a literary group that discussed banned books critical of Tsarist Russia, he was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted at the last moment. He spent four years in a Siberian prison camp, followed by six years of compulsory military service in exile. In the following years, Dostoevsky worked as a journalist, publishing and editing several magazines of his own and later A Writer's Diary, a collection of his writings. He began to travel around western Europe and developed a gambling addiction, which led to financial hardship. For a time, he had to beg for money, but he eventually became one of the most widely read and highly regarded Russian writers.

Dostoevsky was influenced by a wide variety of philosophers and authors including Pushkin, Gogol, Augustine, Shakespeare, Dickens, Balzac, Lermontov, Hugo, Poe, Plato, Cervantes, Herzen, Kant, Belinsky, Hegel, Schiller, Solovyov, Bakunin, Sand, Hoffmann, and Mickiewicz. His writings were widely read both within and beyond his native Russia and influenced an equally great number of later writers including Russians like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Anton Chekhov as well as philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. His books have been translated into more than 170 languages.

Dostoevsky's parents were part of a multi-ethnic and multi-denominational noble family, its branches including Russian Orthodox Christians, Polish Roman Catholics and Ukrainian Eastern Catholics. The family traced its roots back to a Tatar, Aslan Chelebi-Murza, who in 1389 defected from the Golden Horde and joined the forces of Dmitry Donskoy, the first prince of Muscovy to openly challenge the Mongol authority in the region, and whose descendant, Danilo Irtishch, was ennobled and given lands in the Pinsk region (for centuries part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, now in modern-day Belarus) in 1509 for his services under a local prince, his progeny then taking the name "Dostoevsky" based on a village there called Dostoïevo

Dostoevsky's immediate ancestors on his mother's side were merchants; the male line on his father's side were priests. His father, Mikhail Andreevich, was expected to join the clergy but instead ran away from home and broke with the family permanently.

In 1809, the 20-year-old Mikhail Andreevich Dostoevsky enrolled in Moscow's Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy. From there he was assigned to a Moscow hospital, where he served as military doctor, and in 1818, he was appointed a senior physician. In 1819 he married Maria Nechayeva. The following year, he took up a post at the Mariinsky Hospital for the poor. In 1828, when his two sons, Mikhail and Fyodor, were eight and seven respectively, he was promoted to collegiate assessor, a position which raised his legal status to that of the nobility and enabled him to acquire a small estate in Darovoye, a town about 150 km (100 miles) from Moscow, where the family usually spent the summers. Dostoevsky's parents subsequently had six more children: Varvara (1822–1892), Andrei (1825–1897), Lyubov (born and died 1829), Vera (1829–1896), Nikolai (1831–1883) and Aleksandra (1835–1889).

Fyodor Dostoevsky, born on 11 November [O.S. 30 October] 1821, was the second child of Dr. Mikhail Dostoevsky and Maria Dostoevskaya (born Nechayeva). He was raised in the family home in the grounds of the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, which was in a lower class district on the edges of Moscow. Dostoevsky encountered the patients, who were at the lower end of the Russian social scale, when playing in the hospital gardens.

Dostoevsky was introduced to literature at an early age. From the age of three, he was read heroic sagas, fairy tales and legends by his nanny, Alena Frolovna, an especially influential figure in his upbringing and love for fictional stories. When he was four his mother used the Bible to teach him to read and write. His parents introduced him to a wide range of literature, including Russian writers Karamzin, Pushkin and Derzhavin; Gothic fiction such as Ann Radcliffe; romantic works by Schiller and Goethe; heroic tales by Cervantes and Walter Scott; and Homer's epics. Although his father's approach to education has been described as strict and harsh, Dostoevsky himself reports that his imagination was brought alive by nightly readings by his parents.

Some of his childhood experiences found their way into his writings. When a nine-year-old girl had been raped by a drunk, he was asked to fetch his father to attend to her. The incident haunted him, and the theme of the desire of a mature man for a young girl appears in The Devils, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and other writings. An incident involving a family servant, or serf, in the estate in Darovoye, is described in "The Peasant Marey": when the young Dostoevsky imagines hearing a wolf in the forest, Marey, who is working nearby, comforts him.

Although Dostoevsky had a delicate physical constitution, his parents described him as hot-headed, stubborn and cheeky. In 1833, Dostoevsky's father, who was profoundly religious, sent him to a French boarding school and then to the Chermak boarding school. He was described as a pale, introverted dreamer and an over-excitable romantic. To pay the school fees, his father borrowed money and extended his private medical practice. Dostoevsky felt out of place among his aristocratic classmates at the Moscow school, and the experience was later reflected in some of his works, notably The Adolescent.

On 27 September 1837 Dostoevsky's mother died of tuberculosis. The previous May, his parents had sent Dostoevsky and his brother Mikhail to St Petersburg to attend the free Nikolayev Military Engineering Institute, forcing the brothers to abandon their academic studies for military careers. Dostoevsky entered the academy in January 1838, but only with the help of family members. Mikhail was refused admission on health grounds and was sent to the Academy in Reval, Estonia.

Dostoevsky disliked the academy, primarily because of his lack of interest in science, mathematics and military engineering and his preference for drawing and architecture. As his friend Konstantin Trutovsky once said, "There was no student in the entire institution with less of a military bearing than F.M. Dostoevsky. He moved clumsily and jerkily; his uniform hung awkwardly on him; and his knapsack, shako and rifle all looked like some sort of fetter he had been forced to wear for a time and which lay heavily on him." Dostoevsky's character and interests made him an outsider among his 120 classmates: he showed bravery and a strong sense of justice, protected newcomers, aligned himself with teachers, criticised corruption among officers and helped poor farmers. Although he was solitary and inhabited his own literary world, he was respected by his classmates. His reclusiveness and interest in religion earned him the nickname "Monk Photius".

Signs of Dostoevsky's epilepsy may have first appeared on learning of the death of his father on 16 June 1839, although the reports of a seizure originated from accounts written by his daughter (later expanded by Sigmund Freud.) which are now considered to be unreliable. His father's official cause of death was an apoplectic stroke, but a neighbour, Pavel Khotiaintsev, accused the father's serfs of murder. Had the serfs been found guilty and sent to Siberia, Khotiaintsev would have been in a position to buy the vacated land. The serfs were acquitted in a trial in Tula, but Dostoevsky's brother Andrei perpetuated the story. After his father's death, Dostoevsky continued his studies, passed his exams and obtained the rank of engineer cadet, entitling him to live away from the academy. He visited Mikhail in Reval, and frequently attended concerts, operas, plays and ballets. During this time, two of his friends introduced him to gambling.

On 12 August 1843 Dostoevsky took a job as a lieutenant engineer and lived with Adolph Totleben in an apartment owned by Dr. Rizenkampf, a friend of Mikhail. Rizenkampf characterised him as "no less good-natured and no less courteous than his brother, but when not in a good mood he often looked at everything through dark glasses, became vexed, forgot good manners, and sometimes was carried away to the point of abusiveness and loss of self-awareness". Dostoevsky's first completed literary work, a translation of Honoré de Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet, was published in June and July 1843 in the 6th and 7th volume of the journal Repertoire and Pantheon, followed by several other translations. None were successful, and his financial difficulties led him to write a novel.

Dostoevsky completed his first novel, Poor Folk, in May 1845. His friend Dmitry Grigorovich, with whom he was sharing an apartment at the time, took the manuscript to the poet Nikolay Nekrasov, who in turn showed it to the renowned and influential literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. Belinsky described it as Russia's first "social novel". Poor Folk was released on 15 January 1846 in the St Petersburg Collection almanac and became a commercial success.

Dostoevsky felt that his military career would endanger his now flourishing literary career, so he wrote a letter asking to resign his post. Shortly thereafter, he wrote his second novel, The Double, which appeared in the journal Notes of the Fatherland on 30 January 1846, before being published in February. Around the same time, Dostoevsky discovered socialism through the writings of French thinkers Fourier, Cabet, Proudhon and Saint-Simon. Through his relationship with Belinsky he expanded his knowledge of the philosophy of socialism. He was attracted to its logic, its sense of justice and its preoccupation with the destitute and the disadvantaged. However, his relationship with Belinsky became increasingly strained as Belinsky's atheism and dislike of religion clashed with Dostoevsky's Russian Orthodox beliefs. Dostoevsky eventually parted with him and his associates.

After The Double received negative reviews, Dostoevsky's health declined and he had more frequent seizures, but he continued writing. From 1846 to 1848 he released several short stories in the magazine Annals of the Fatherland, including "Mr. Prokharchin", "The Landlady", "A Weak Heart", and "White Nights". These stories were unsuccessful, leaving Dostoevsky once more in financial trouble, so he joined the utopian socialist Betekov circle, a tightly knit community which helped him to survive. When the circle dissolved, Dostoevsky befriended Apollon Maykov and his brother Valerian. In 1846, on the recommendation of the poet Aleksey Pleshcheyev,[41] he joined the Petrashevsky Circle, founded by Mikhail Petrashevsky, who had proposed social reforms in Russia. Mikhail Bakunin once wrote to Alexander Herzen that the group was "the most innocent and harmless company" and its members were "systematic opponents of all revolutionary goals and means". Dostoevsky used the circle's library on Saturdays and Sundays and occasionally participated in their discussions on freedom from censorship and the abolition of serfdom.[43][44]

In 1849, the first parts of Netochka Nezvanova, a novel Dostoevsky had been planning since 1846, were published in Annals of the Fatherland, but his banishment ended the project. Dostoevsky never attempted to complete it.

The members of the Petrashevsky Circle were denounced to Liprandi, an official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Dostoevsky was accused of reading works by Belinsky, including the banned Letter to Gogol,[46] and of circulating copies of these and other works. Antonelli, the government agent who had reported the group, wrote in his statement that at least one of the papers criticised Russian politics and religion. Dostoevsky responded to these charges by declaring that he had read the essays only "as a literary monument, neither more nor less"; he spoke of "personality and human egoism" rather than of politics. Even so, he and his fellow "conspirators" were arrested on 23 April 1849 at the request of Count A. Orlov and Tsar Nicolas I, who feared a revolution like the Decembrist revolt of 1825 in Russia and the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe. The members were held in the well-defended Peter and Paul Fortress, which housed the most dangerous convicts.

The case was discussed for four months by an investigative commission headed by the Tsar, with Adjutant General Ivan Nabokov, senator Prince Pavel Gagarin, Prince Vasili Dolgorukov, General Yakov Rostovtsev and General Leonty Dubelt, head of the secret police. They sentenced the members of the circle to death by firing squad, and the prisoners were taken to Semyonov Place in St Petersburg on 23 December 1849 where they were split into three-man groups. Dostoevsky was the third in the second row; next to him stood Pleshcheyev and Durov. The execution was stayed when a cart delivered a letter from the Tsar commuting the sentence.

Dostoevsky served four years of exile with hard labour at a katorga prison camp in Omsk, Siberia, followed by a term of compulsory military service. After a fourteen-day sleigh ride, the prisoners reached Tobolsk, a prisoner way station. Despite the circumstances, Dostoevsky consoled the other prisoners, such as the Petrashevist Ivan Yastrzhembsky, who was surprised by Dostoevsky's kindness and eventually abandoned his decision to commit suicide. In Tobolsk, the members received food and clothes from the Decembrist women, as well as several copies of the New Testament with a ten-ruble banknote inside each copy. Eleven days later, Dostoevsky reached Omsk together with just one other member of the Petrashevsky Circle, the poet Sergei Durov. Dostoevsky described his barracks:

 

In summer, intolerable closeness; in winter, unendurable cold. All the floors were rotten. Filth on the floors an inch thick; one could slip and fall ... We were packed like herrings in a barrel ... There was no room to turn around. From dusk to dawn it was impossible not to behave like pigs ... Fleas, lice, and black beetles by the bushel ...

 

Classified as "one of the most dangerous convicts", Dostoevsky had his hands and feet shackled until his release. He was only permitted to read his New Testament Bible. In addition to his seizures, he had haemorrhoids, lost weight and was "burned by some fever, trembling and feeling too hot or too cold every night". The smell of the privy pervaded the entire building, and the small bathroom had to suffice for more than 200 people. Dostoevsky was occasionally sent to the military hospital, where he read newspapers and Dickens novels. He was respected by most of the other prisoners, and despised by some because of his xenophobic statements.

After his release on 14 February 1854, Dostoevsky asked Mikhail to help him financially and to send him books by Vico, Guizot, Ranke, Hegel and Kant.[55] The House of the Dead, based on his experience in prison, was published in 1861 in the journal Vremya ("Time") – it was the first published novel about Russian prisons. Before moving in mid-March to Semipalatinsk, where he was forced to serve in the Siberian Army Corps of the Seventh Line Battalion, Dostoevsky met geographer Pyotr Semyonov and ethnographer Shokan Walikhanuli. Around November 1854, he met Baron Alexander Egorovich Wrangel, an admirer of his books, who had attended the aborted execution. They both rented houses in the Cossack Garden outside Semipalatinsk. Wrangel remarked that Dostoevsky "looked morose. His sickly, pale face was covered with freckles, and his blond hair was cut short. He was a little over average height and looked at me intensely with his sharp, grey-blue eyes. It was as if he were trying to look into my soul and discover what kind of man I was."

In Semipalatinsk, Dostoevsky tutored several schoolchildren and came into contact with upper-class families, including that of Lieutenant-Colonel Belikhov, who used to invite him to read passages from newspapers and magazines. During a visit to Belikhov, Dostoevsky met the family of Alexander Ivanovich Isaev and Maria Dmitrievna Isaeva and fell in love with the latter. Alexander Isaev took a new post in Kuznetsk, where he died in August 1855. Maria and her son then moved with Dostoevsky to Barnaul. In 1856 Dostoevsky sent a letter through Wrangel to General Eduard Totleben, apologising for his activity in several utopian circles. As a result, he obtained the right to publish books and to marry, although he remained under police surveillance for the rest of his life. Maria married Dostoevsky in Semipalatinsk on 7 February 1857, even though she had initially refused his marriage proposal, stating that they were not meant for each other and that his poor financial situation precluded marriage. Their family life was unhappy and she found it difficult to cope with his seizures. Describing their relationship, he wrote: "Because of her strange, suspicious and fantastic character, we were definitely not happy together, but we could not stop loving each other; and the more unhappy we were, the more attached to each other we became". They mostly lived apart. In 1859 he was released from military service because of deteriorating health and was granted permission to return to Russia, first to Tver, where he met his brother for the first time in ten years, and then to St Petersburg.

"A Little Hero" (Dostoevsky's only work completed in prison) appeared in a journal, but "Uncle's Dream" and "The Village of Stepanchikovo" were not published until 1860. Notes from the House of the Dead was released in Russky Mir (Russian World) in September 1860. "The Insulted and the Injured" was published in the new Vremya magazine, which had been created with the help of funds from his brother's cigarette factory.

Dostoevsky travelled to western Europe for the first time on 7 June 1862, visiting Cologne, Berlin, Dresden, Wiesbaden, Belgium, and Paris. In London, he met Herzen and visited the Crystal Palace. He travelled with Nikolay Strakhov through Switzerland and several North Italian cities, including Turin, Livorno, and Florence. He recorded his impressions of those trips in Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, in which he criticised capitalism, social modernisation, materialism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

From August to October 1863, Dostoevsky made another trip to western Europe. He met his second love, Polina Suslova, in Paris and lost nearly all his money gambling in Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden. In 1864 his wife Maria and his brother Mikhail died, and Dostoevsky became the lone parent of his stepson Pasha and the sole supporter of his brother's family. The failure of Epoch, the magazine he had founded with Mikhail after the suppression of Vremya, worsened his financial situation, although the continued help of his relatives and friends averted bankruptcy.

The first two parts of Crime and Punishment were published in January and February 1866 in the periodical The Russian Messenger, attracting at least 500 new subscribers to the magazine.

Dostoevsky returned to Saint Petersburg in mid-September and promised his editor, Fyodor Stellovsky, that he would complete The Gambler, a short novel focused on gambling addiction, by November, although he had not yet begun writing it. One of Dostoevsky's friends, Milyukov, advised him to hire a secretary. Dostoevsky contacted stenographer Pavel Olkhin from Saint Petersburg, who recommended his pupil, the twenty-year-old Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina. Her shorthand helped Dostoevsky to complete The Gambler on 30 October, after 26 days' work. She remarked that Dostoevsky was of average height but always tried to carry himself erect. "He had light brown, slightly reddish hair, he used some hair conditioner, and he combed his hair in a diligent way ... his eyes, they were different: one was dark brown; in the other, the pupil was so big that you could not see its color, [this was caused by an injury]. The strangeness of his eyes gave Dostoyevsky some mysterious appearance. His face was pale, and it looked unhealthy."

On 15 February 1867 Dostoevsky married Snitkina in Trinity Cathedral, Saint Petersburg. The 7,000 rubles he had earned from Crime and Punishment did not cover their debts, forcing Anna to sell her valuables. On 14 April 1867, they began a delayed honeymoon in Germany with the money gained from the sale. They stayed in Berlin and visited the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, where he sought inspiration for his writing. They continued their trip through Germany, visiting Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. They spent five weeks in Baden-Baden, where Dostoevsky had a quarrel with Turgenev and again lost much money at the roulette table. The couple travelled on to Geneva.

In September 1867, Dostoevsky began work on The Idiot, and after a prolonged planning process that bore little resemblance to the published novel, he eventually managed to write the first 100 pages in only 23 days; the serialisation began in The Russian Messenger in January 1868.

Their first child, Sonya, had been conceived in Baden-Baden, and was born in Geneva on 5 March 1868. The baby died of pneumonia three months later, and Anna recalled how Dostoevsky "wept and sobbed like a woman in despair". The couple moved from Geneva to Vevey and then to Milan, before continuing to Florence. The Idiot was completed there in January 1869, the final part appearing in The Russian Messenger in February 1869. Anna gave birth to their second daughter, Lyubov, on 26 September 1869 in Dresden. In April 1871, Dostoevsky made a final visit to a gambling hall in Wiesbaden. Anna claimed that he stopped gambling after the birth of their second daughter, but this is a subject of debate.

After hearing news that the socialist revolutionary group "People's Vengeance" had murdered one of its own members, Ivan Ivanov, on 21 November 1869, Dostoevsky began writing Demons. In 1871, Dostoevsky and Anna travelled by train to Berlin. During the trip, he burnt several manuscripts, including those of The Idiot, because he was concerned about potential problems with customs. The family arrived in Saint Petersburg on 8 July, marking the end of a honeymoon (originally planned for three months) that had lasted over four years.

Back in Russia in July 1871, the family was again in financial trouble and had to sell their remaining possessions. Their son Fyodor was born on 16 July, and they moved to an apartment near the Institute of Technology soon after. They hoped to cancel their large debts by selling their rental house in Peski, but difficulties with the tenant resulted in a relatively low selling price, and disputes with their creditors continued. Anna proposed that they raise money on her husband's copyrights and negotiate with the creditors to pay off their debts in installments.

Dostoevsky revived his friendships with Maykov and Strakhov and made new acquaintances, including church politician Terty Filipov and the brothers Vsevolod and Vladimir Solovyov. Konstantin Pobedonostsev, future Imperial High Commissioner of the Most Holy Synod, influenced Dostoevsky's political progression to conservatism. Around early 1872 the family spent several months in Staraya Russa, a town known for its mineral spa. Dostoevsky's work was delayed when Anna's sister Maria Svatkovskaya died on 1 May 1872, either from typhus or malaria, and Anna developed an abscess on her throat.

The family returned to St Petersburg in September. Demons was finished on 26 November and released in January 1873 by the "Dostoevsky Publishing Company", which was founded by Dostoevsky and his wife. Although they only accepted cash payments and the bookshop was in their own apartment, the business was successful, and they sold around 3,000 copies of Demons. Anna managed the finances. Dostoevsky proposed that they establish a new periodical, which would be called A Writer's Diary and would include a collection of essays, but funds were lacking, and the Diary was published in Vladimir Meshchersky's The Citizen, beginning on 1 January, in return for a salary of 3,000 rubles per year. In the summer of 1873, Anna returned to Staraya Russa with the children, while Dostoevsky stayed in St Petersburg to continue with his Diary.

In March 1874, Dostoevsky left The Citizen because of the stressful work and interference from the Russian bureaucracy. In his fifteen months with The Citizen, he had been taken to court twice: on 11 June 1873 for citing the words of Prince Meshchersky without permission, and again on 23 March 1874. Dostoevsky offered to sell a new novel he had not yet begun to write to The Russian Messenger, but the magazine refused. Nikolay Nekrasov suggested that he publish A Writer's Diary in Notes of the Fatherland; he would receive 250 rubles for each printer's sheet – 100 more than the text's publication in The Russian Messenger would have earned. Dostoevsky accepted. As his health began to decline, he consulted several doctors in St Petersburg and was advised to take a cure outside Russia. Around July, he reached Ems and consulted a physician, who diagnosed him with acute catarrh. During his stay he began The Adolescent. He returned to Saint Petersburg in late July.

Anna proposed that they spend the winter in Staraya Russa to allow Dostoevsky to rest, although doctors had suggested a second visit to Ems because his health had previously improved there. On 10 August 1875 his son Alexey was born in Staraya Russa, and in mid-September the family returned to Saint Petersburg. Dostoevsky finished The Adolescent at the end of 1875, although passages of it had been serialised in Notes of the Fatherland since January. The Adolescent chronicles the life of Arkady Dolgoruky, the illegitimate child of the landowner Versilov and a peasant mother. It deals primarily with the relationship between father and son, which became a frequent theme in Dostoevsky's subsequent works.

In early 1876, Dostoevsky continued work on his Diary. The book includes numerous essays and a few short stories about society, religion, politics and ethics. The collection sold more than twice as many copies as his previous books. Dostoevsky received more letters from readers than ever before, and people of all ages and occupations visited him. With assistance from Anna's brother, the family bought a dacha in Staraya Russa. In the summer of 1876, Dostoevsky began experiencing shortness of breath again. He visited Ems for the third time and was told that he might live for another 15 years if he moved to a healthier climate. When he returned to Russia, Tsar Alexander II ordered Dostoevsky to visit his palace to present the Diary to him, and he asked him to educate his sons, Sergey and Paul. This visit further increased Dosteyevsky's circle of acquaintances. He was a frequent guest in several salons in Saint Petersburg and met many famous people, including Princess Sophia Tolstaya, Yakov Polonsky, Sergei Witte, Alexey Suvorin, Anton Rubinstein and Ilya Repin.

Dostoevsky's health declined further, and in March 1877 he had four epileptic seizures. Rather than returning to Ems, he visited Maly Prikol, a manor near Kursk. While returning to St Petersburg to finalise his Diary, he visited Darovoye, where he had spent much of his childhood. In December he attended Nekrasov's funeral and gave a speech. He was appointed an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, from which he received an honorary certificate in February 1879. He declined an invitation to an international congress on copyright in Paris after his son Alyosha had a severe epileptic seizure and died on 16 May. The family later moved to the apartment where Dostoevsky had written his first works. Around this time, he was elected to the board of directors of the Slavic Benevolent Society in Saint Petersburg. That summer, he was elected to the honorary committee of the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale, whose members included Victor Hugo, Ivan Turgenev, Paul Heyse, Alfred Tennyson, Anthony Trollope, Henry Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Leo Tolstoy. Dostoevsky made his fourth and final visit to Ems in early August 1879. He was diagnosed with early-stage pulmonary emphysema, which his doctor believed could be successfully managed, but not cured.

On 3 February 1880 Dostoevsky was elected vice-president of the Slavic Benevolent Society, and he was invited to speak at the unveiling of the Pushkin memorial in Moscow. On 8 June he delivered his speech, giving an impressive performance that had a significant emotional impact on his audience. His speech was met with thunderous applause, and even his long-time rival Turgenev embraced him. Konstantin Staniukovich praised the speech in his essay "The Pushkin Anniversary and Dostoevsky's Speech" in The Business, writing that "the language of Dostoevsky's [Pushkin Speech] really looks like a sermon. He speaks with the tone of a prophet. He makes a sermon like a pastor; it is very deep, sincere, and we understand that he wants to impress the emotions of his listeners." The speech was criticised later by liberal political scientist Alexander Gradovsky, who thought that Dostoevsky idolised "the people" and by conservative thinker Konstantin Leontiev, who, in his essay "On Universal Love", compared the speech to French utopian socialism. The attacks led to a further deterioration in his health.

On 25 January 1881, while searching for members of the terrorist organisation Narodnaya Volya ("The People's Will") who would soon assassinate Tsar Alexander II, the Tsar's secret police executed a search warrant in the apartment of one of Dostoevsky's neighbours. On the following day, Dostoevsky suffered a pulmonary haemorrhage. Anna denied that the search had caused it, saying that the haemorrhage had occurred after her husband had been looking for a dropped pen holder. After another haemorrhage, Anna called the doctors, who gave a poor prognosis. A third haemorrhage followed shortly afterwards. While seeing his children before dying, Dostoevsky requested that the parable of the Prodigal Son be read to his children. The profound meaning of this request is pointed out by Frank:

It was this parable of transgression, repentance, and forgiveness that he wished to leave as a last heritage to his children, and it may well be seen as his own ultimate understanding of the meaning of his life and the message of his work.

Among Dostoevsky's last words was his quotation of Matthew 3:14–15: "But John forbad him, saying, I have a need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness", and he finished with "Hear now—permit it. Do not restrain me!" When he died, his body was placed on a table, following Russian custom. He was interred in the Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Convent, near his favourite poets, Nikolay Karamzin and Vasily Zhukovsky. It is unclear how many attended his funeral. According to one reporter, more than 100,000 mourners were present, while others describe attendance between 40,000 and 50,000. His tombstone is inscribed with lines from the New Testament:

 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit. — John 12:24

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Fyodor_Dostoevsky%27s_wri...

 

Systematic fishing haul of about 100 cormorants in a small lake

This is an abandoned building being teared down, the picture is take from the frames/pane of the non-existent window a wall is torn down and though that opening a backyard peeks...

 

I think this picture is taken in Germany probably in Rostock but it could just as well be Berlin???

 

...anyhow it is taken by my old systematic camera from back in the time when people used such :)

 

Peace, Noise and Rubble!

/ MushroomBrain the Urban ruin

 

--------------------------------------------

Café Frequenter episode 159

--------------------------------------------

God Moaning dear Uncle Thord!

Guess where I am? well I am at Floss drinking mourning coffee... Eh no Morning coffee at daytime.. I came to work today and expected to do a double once again according to my schedule, but when I came there, my boss said that I could take free today, since they had made a mistake in the schedule, and that I won´t have to work until Wednesday... Great, so I did some boring stuff at my bank and now I am here having a whole day in Copenhagen without anything to du but what ever suits me and my mood...

 

So here I am smocking a morning cigarette, drinking morning coffee and is planning to order a morning baguette!!!

 

...today I think that I will just wander across Copenhagen aimlessly and especially to places that is still not on my map since I was a youth... perhaps visit some café there or look in the vintage flea market second hand shops....

 

Perhaps I shall go to Ishøj? even though it was close to Vallensbæk and Alberslund I nver really explored that township as a kidling...

 

So you wonder why I haven sent you any of Jimmy´s adventures...

Well I am thinking of scrapping his, he is too dull, perhaps I should have a female working for PET instead or a Gay female spy?

 

...oh Thord Guess who just passed by? you know that blond tweek that usually hangs at your restaurant "jail house" he usually frequents my restaurant too, often at the evening with some very camp friends...

 

Ha, ha, he is nice, he always stops and have a chat with me when I meet him out...

 

well now I am gonna wander about, I decided that I will have my baguette somewhere else, perhaps in Ishøj?

 

Take care dear chef!

/ Johnny old and new in Copenhagen

My Website - Aaron Yeoman Photography

Also Follow Me at 500px * Getty Images * Twitter * Facebook * Google+

 

Lloyd's Building, Lime Street, London, England

 

Another image upload from London Open house weekend taken in the Lloyds building. This time taken from a different perspective to the other upload I did.

 

What really caught my eye in this is the repetition of the the spot lights, I wonder how many they used in this building. When editing this image I did have trouble balancing out the light coming in from the roof compared the the dark part of at the bottom (as I am sure many who have taken photos here before have found the same problem) however I think I have managed to balance it out right.

 

It seems that I have still got quite a few images from the open house weekend still the edit. I am also itching to get back out with my new camera as I have still got a few places I want to visit on my 'to do list.'

 

Anyway, hope you all have a great Friday and weekend.

 

Photo Details

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700

Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM

RAW

f/8

10mm

ISO200

1/15s exposure

 

Software Used

Lightroom 4.1

Silver Efex Pro 2

 

Information

The Lloyd's building (also sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London, and is located at 1, Lime Street, in the City of London, England.

 

It was designed by architect Richard Rogers and built between 1978 and 1986. Bovis was the management contractor for the scheme.[2] Like the Pompidou Centre (designed by Renzo Piano and Rogers), the building was innovative in having its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside, leaving an uncluttered space inside. The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the UK. Like the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the building was highly influenced by the work of Archigram in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

The building consists of three main towers and three service towers around a central, rectangular space. Its focal point is the large Underwriting Room on the ground floor, which houses the famous Lutine Bell. The Underwriting Room (often simply known as the Room) is overlooked by galleries, forming a 60 metres (197 ft) high atrium lit naturally through a huge barrel-vaulted glass roof. The first four galleries open onto the atrium space, and are connected by escalators through the middle of the structure. The higher floors are glassed-in, and can only be reached via the outside lifts.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd's_building

Systematic evaluation of the content of my toffee box.

I am *very* thorough.

 

Strobist:

ST-E2 triggering 2 580EX flashes, one camera left, one camera right, both through diffusers

with only the 400mm lens to hand, made a few setting changes. for this evening sunset.

Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Royal Naval College with a grand vista leading to the River Thames. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James VI and I. Queen's House is one of the most important buildings in British architectural history, being the first consciously classical building to have been constructed in the country. It was Jones's first major commission after returning from his 1613–1615 grand tour of Roman, Renaissance, and Palladian architecture in Italy.

 

Some earlier English buildings, such as Longleat and Burghley House, had made borrowings from the classical style, but these were restricted to small details not applied in a systematic way, or the building may be a mix of different styles. Furthermore, the form of these buildings was not informed by an understanding of classical precedents. Queen's House would have appeared revolutionary to English eyes in its day. Jones is credited with the introduction of Palladianism with the construction of Queen's House, although it diverges from the mathematical constraints of Palladio, and it is likely that the immediate precedent for the H-shaped plan straddling a road is the Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano by Giuliano da Sangallo.

 

Today the building is both a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument, a status that includes the 115-foot-wide (35 m), axial vista to the River Thames. The house now forms part of the National Maritime Museum and is used to display parts of its substantial collection of maritime paintings and portraits.

 

Early history

 

The Queen's House is located in Greenwich, London. It was built as an adjunct to the Tudor Palace of Greenwich, previously known, before its redevelopment by Henry VII as the Palace of Placentia, which was a rambling, mainly red-brick building in a more vernacular style. This would have presented a dramatic contrast of appearance to the newer, white-painted House, although the latter was much smaller and really a modern version of an older tradition of private 'garden houses', not a public building, and one used only by the queen's privileged inner circle. The original building, in fact, was intended as a pavilion with a bridge over the London-Dover road, which ran between high walls through the park of the palace.

 

Construction of the house began in 1616 but work on the house stopped in April 1618 when Anne became ill and died the next year. Work restarted when the house was given to the queen consort Henrietta Maria in 1629 by King Charles I, and the house was structurally complete by 1635.

 

However, the house's original use was short—no more than seven years—before the English Civil War began in 1642 and swept away the court culture from which it sprang. Of its interiors, three ceilings and some wall decorations survive in part, but no interior remains in its original state. This process began as early as 1662, when masons removed a niche and term figures and a chimneypiece.

 

Paintings commissioned by Charles I for the house from Orazio Gentileschi, but now elsewhere, include a ceiling Allegory of Peace and the Arts, now installed at Marlborough House, London, a large Finding of Moses, now on loan from a private collection to the National Gallery, London, and a matching Joseph and Potiphar's Wife still in the Royal Collection.

 

The Queen's House, though it was scarcely being used, provided the distant focal centre for Sir Christopher Wren's Greenwich Hospital, with a logic and grandeur that has seemed inevitable to architectural historians but in fact depended on Mary II's insistence that the vista to the water from the Queen's House not be impaired.

 

Construction of the Greenwich Hospital

 

Although the house survived as an official building – being used for the lying-in-state of Commonwealth Generals-at-Sea Richard Dean (1653) and Robert Blake (1657) – the main palace was progressively demolished from the 1660s to 1690s and replaced by the Royal Hospital for Seamen,[12] built 1696–1751 to the master-plan of Sir Christopher Wren. This is now called the Old Royal Naval College, after its later use from 1873 to 1998. The position of the house, and Queen Mary II's order that it retain its view to the river (only gained on demolition of the older Palace), dictated Wren's Hospital design of two matching pairs of 'courts' separated by a grand 'visto' exactly the width of the house (115 ft). Wren's first plan, which was blocking the view to the Thames, became known to history as "Christopher Wren's faux pas". The whole ensemble at Greenwich forms an impressive architectural vista that stretches from the Thames to Greenwich Park, and is one of the principal features that in 1997 led UNESCO to inscribe 'Maritime Greenwich' as a World Heritage Site.

 

19th-century additions

 

From 1806 the house itself was the centre of what, from 1892, became the Royal Hospital School for the sons of seamen. This necessitated new accommodation wings, and a flanking pair to east and west were added and connected to the house by colonnades from 1807 (designed by London Docks architect Daniel Asher Alexander), with further surviving extensions up to 1876. In 1933 the school moved to Holbrook, Suffolk. Its Greenwich buildings, including the house, were converted and restored to become the new National Maritime Museum (NMM), created by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened in 1937.

 

The grounds immediately to the north of the house were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the cut-and-cover tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. The tunnel comprised the continuation of the London and Greenwich Railway and opened in 1878.

 

Recent years

 

In 2012, the grounds to the south of the Queen's House were used to house a stadium for the equestrian events of the Olympic Games. The modern pentathlon was also staged in the grounds of Greenwich Park. The Queen's House itself was used as a VIP centre for the games. Work to prepare the Queen's House involved some internal re-modelling and work on the lead roof to prepare it for security and camera installations.

 

The house underwent a 14-month restoration beginning in 2015, and reopened on 11 October 2016. One controversial feature was a new ceiling in the main hall created by artist Richard Wright, a Turner prize winner. The house had previously been restored between 1986 and 1999, with contemporary insertions that modernised the building. In some quarters, it provoked some debate: an editorial in The Burlington Magazine, November 1995, alluded to "the recent transformation of the Queen's House into a theme-park interior of fake furniture and fireplaces, tatty modern plaster casts and clip-on chandeliers". It is now largely used to display the Museum's substantial collection of marine paintings and portraits of the 17th to 20th centuries, and for other public and private events. It is normally open to the public daily, free of charge, along with the other museum galleries and the 17th-century Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which is also part of the National Maritime Museum.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Das Queen’s House ist ein ehemaliges königliches Schloss im Londoner Stadtteil Greenwich.

 

Geschichte

 

Inigo Jones entwarf das Haus 1616 ursprünglich für Anna von Dänemark, die Frau von König Jakob I. Nach dem Tod der Königin wurde der Bau jedoch 1619 eingestellt, und Jones baute für den königlichen Palace of Whitehall das Banqueting House. 1629 beauftragte Karl I. Jones, das Haus für seine Gemahlin Henrietta Maria zu vollenden. Die Königin nutzte das 1635 fertiggestellte Haus als Rückzugsraum vom nahegelegenen Palace of Placentia für ihre engere Hofgesellschaft.

 

Nur sieben Jahre später (1642) beendete der Englische Bürgerkrieg die königliche Nutzung des Hauses. Unter der Regierung von Maria II und Wilhelm III. erfolgte der Abriss des alten Palace of Placentia. Christopher Wren erhielt den Auftrag, an dieser Stelle das Greenwich Hospital für Seeleute zu errichten. Maria II. gab Wren jedoch die Anweisung, das Queen’s House in diese Anlage miteinzubeziehen und die Blickachse zur Themse freizuhalten. Die heutige Anlage mit zwei gegenüberliegenden Gebäudekomplexen, welche das Queens House einrahmen, entstand zwischen 1696 und 1752.

 

Seit 1807 diente Queen’s House als Seemannsschule. Seit 1937 ist es Teil des National Maritime Museums. In dem Gebäude werden vorwiegend Marinegemälde und Porträts von Persönlichkeiten der Seefahrtsgeschichte ausgestellt.

 

Der Park von Greenwich einschließlich aller Gebäude wurde 1997 als Maritime Greenwich zum Weltkulturerbe der UNESCO ernannt.

 

Architektur

 

Oberhalb des alten Palace of Placentia verlief durch den königlichen Park die öffentliche Straße von Deptford nach Woolwich. Um vom Schloss in den oberen Teil des Parks zu gelangen, ohne jedoch diese Straße überqueren zu müssen, entwarf Inigo Jones einen geistreichen Plan. Parallel zur Straße sollten zwei rechteckige Gebäudeteile das Erdgeschoss bilden, während der erste Stock durch eine Art überdachter Brücke verbunden wird. Die Straße verlief also durch das Erdgeschoss des neuen Hauses. Nachdem die Straße verlegt wurde, ließ Karl II. 1661 durch John Webb die Seiten verschließen, so dass Queen’s House nun eine kubische Form hat. Für die neue Nutzung als Seemannsschule wurden 1807 von Daniel Asher Alexander neue Seitenflügel östlich und westlich des Gebäudes errichtet, die mit dem Queen’s House durch Kolonnadengänge verbunden wurden.

 

Queen’s House ist eines der bedeutendsten Gebäude der britischen Architekturgeschichte, da es das erste Bauwerk des Palladianismus in England war. Mit dem Bau wurde 1616 begonnen, durch die Bauverzögerung wurde es allerdings erst nach dem Banqueting House fertiggestellt, so dass dieses als das erste Bauwerk im Stil des palladianisch geprägten Klassizismus in England gilt. Inigo Jones hatte zwar die Architektur von Andrea Palladio studiert, aber das Vorbild für Queens House scheint eher Giuliano da Sangallos Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano gewesen zu sein. Während der weitläufige Palace of Placentia mit seiner Fassade aus roten Ziegelsteinen eher unscheinbar wirkte, strahlte das viel kleinere Queen’s House in frischgestrichenem Weiß und ergab so einen beeindruckenden Kontrast. Das Bauwerk gilt mit seinen symmetrischen Proportionen, der hervorragenden Ausführung und der reichen Innenausstattung als ein Meisterwerk des Klassizismus. Das Verständnis für klassizistische Architektur war seinerzeit in Großbritannien wenig verbreitet und Queen’s House erschien den Zeitgenossen als revolutionär. Das Gebäude wirkte stilbildend und galt während der nächsten zwei Jahrhunderte als Vorbild für klassizistische Bauten und Herrenhäuser in ganz England.

 

Inneneinrichtung

 

Hauptraum des Hauses ist die kubusförmige Great Hall mit einem prächtigen, von Nicholas Stone gefertigten Marmorfußboden und einer geschnitzten Holzdecke. Die ursprünglich in der Decke vorhandenen Gemälde von Orazio Gentileschi vermachte Königin Anne ihrer Hofdame und zeitweiligen Vertrauten Sarah Churchill, die sie in ihrem Londoner Stadthaus Marlborough House einbauen ließ. Von der Great Hall führt die berühmte Tulpentreppe in das Obergeschoss. Die Treppe wurde von Jones entworfen und gilt als erste freitragende Wendeltreppe in England. Der Name rührt von der Dekoration im Geländer her, die jedoch keine Tulpen darstellen sollen, sondern Lilien als Reminiszenz an Königin Henrietta Maria aus dem Haus Bourbon. Im Obergeschoss befinden sich das Schlafzimmer der Königin und das Schlafzimmer des Königs, eine Treppe führt von dort hinunter in die Orangerie.

 

(Wikipedia)

行政院農業委員會畜產試驗所 - 桃花心木林 / 夏日的綠樹林 - 和風吹讓人涼

Livestock Research Institute, Council Of Agriculture, Excutive Yuan - Mahogany / Summer green forest - And wind to make people feel cool

Instituto de investigación del ganado, consejo de la agricultura, Excutive Yuan - Caoba / Verano verde bosque - Y el viento para que la gente sienta fresco

家畜の研究所、農業、委員の議会 - マホガニー / 夏の日の緑の林 - 暖かい風が吹いて人を冷たくさせます

Viehbestand-Forschungsinstitut, Rat der Landwirtschaft, Excutive Yuan - Mahagonibaum / Sommer grünen Wald - und Wind, um die Menschen fühlen sich kühl

Institut de recherche de bétail, le Conseil de l'agriculture, yuan d'Excutive - Acajou / Été vert forêt - et le vent pour les gens se sentent fraîche

 

Sin-Hua Tainan Taiwan / Sin-Hua Tainan Taiwán / 台灣台南新化

 

管樂小集 2015/05/09 安平古堡 Fort Zeelandia performances

{ 沉默之聲 The Sound Of Silence 静寂の音 }

 

{View large size on fluidr / 觀看大圖}

 

{My Blog / 管樂小集精彩演出-觸動你的心}

{My Blog / Great Music The splendid performance touches your heart}

{My Blog / 管楽小集すばらしい公演-はあなたの心を心を打ちます}

{Mi blog / La gran música el funcionamiento espléndido toca su corazón}

{Mein Blog / Große Musik die herrliche Leistung berührt Ihr Herz}

{Mon blog / La grande musique l'exécution splendide touche votre coeur}

 

名稱:桃 花 心 木 ( acajou )

學名:Swietenia macrophylla

科別:楝科

原產地:熱帶美洲

用途:行道樹

 

Name: Mahogany (acajou)

Systematic name: Swietenia macrophylla

The branch leaves: Meliaceae

Source area: Tropics Americas

Use: Roadside trees

 

Nombre: Caoba (acajou)

Nombre sistemático: Macrophylla de Swietenia

las hojas de la rama: Meliaceae

Área de fuente: Zonas tropicales Américas

Uso: Árboles del borde de la carretera

 

名称:桃 蕊の木( acajou )

学名:Swietenia macrophylla

科:センダン科

原産地:熱帯のアメリカ

用途:街路樹

 

Name: Mahagonibaum (acajou)

Systematischer Name: Swietenia macrophylla

Die Niederlassungsblätter: Meliaceae

Quellbereich: Tropen Amerika

Gebrauch: Straßenrandbäume

 

Original Caption: Empty Housing In The Ghetto On Chicago's South Side Structures Such As This Have Been Systematically Vacated As A Result Of Fires, Vandalism Or Failure By Owners To Provide Basic Tenant Services. Then The Vacated Buildings, Often Substantially Salvageable, Are Razed And Replaced With Highrise Apartments Which Appeal To Few Members Of The Black Community And Almost None Of The Area's Previous Residents, 05/1973

 

U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-13712

 

Photographer: White, John H, 1945-

 

Subjects:

African-American

Chicago (Cook county, Illinois, United States)

Environmental Protection Agency

Project DOCUMERICA

 

Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=556164

 

Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.

 

For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html

 

Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html

 

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

Use Restrictions: Unrestricted

Funicamp ski resort infrastructure. Els Cortals landscape, Encamp, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees - (c) Lutz Meyer

 

More Els Cortals, Encamp, Vall d'Orient, Andorra, Pyrenees: Follow the group links at right side.

.......

 

About this image:

* Full frame format 3x2 quality image

* Usage: Large format prints optional

* Motive is suitable as symbol pic

* "Andorra authentic" edition (20 years 2004-2024)

* "Andorra camis & rutes" active collection

* Advanced metadata functionality on dynamic websites or apps

* for large metadata-controlled business collections: photo-archives, travel agencies, tourism editiorials

 

We offer 200.000+ photos of Andorra and North of Spain. 20.000+ visable here at Flickr. Its the largest professional image catalog of Andorra: all regions, all cities and villages, all times, all seasons, all weather(s). Consistent for additional advanced programming. For smartphones and web-db. REAL TIME!

 

It's based on GeoCoded stock-photo images and metadata with 4-5 languages. Prepared for easy systematic organising of very large image portfolios with advanced online / print-publishing as "Culture-GIS" (Geographic Info System).

 

More information about usage, tips, how-to, conditions: www.flickr.com/people/lutzmeyer/. Get quality, data consistency, stable organisation and PR environments: Professional stockphotos for exciting stories - docu, tales, mystic.

 

Ask for licence! lutz(at)lutz-meyer.com

 

(c) Lutz Meyer, all rights reserved. Do not use this photo without license.

I'm systematically going through my groups and using them as subject matter. First I read their requirements so the picture is acceptable then I upload just to that group plus the camera group. So far this has been challenging although we all see patterns as photographers I'm not so good at recording them. It's been fun but some of the pictures on this group are amazing and well worth looking at.

General zoology, or Systematic natural history

London,Printed for G. Kearsley,1800-1826.

biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19631438

Atelier de la Mécanique

Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles 2016

„Systematically open?“ – Walead Beshty, Elad Lassry, Zanele Muholi, Collier Schorr

Hoek van Holland , Rotterdam Area , Zuid-Holland , The Netherlands, Holland, Europe.

 

General zoology, or Systematic natural history

London,Printed for G. Kearsley,1800-1826.

biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46350407

This is a morning pic, taken with my systematic camera in the old days...

 

Me and my Danish friend who had come for a visit to Sweden (where I lived then) played Warhammer and RPG all night long only to wake up in the morning for some tea and then play some more, then later visiting other friends to play some magic...

 

on the table you can see, the snouty teapot, Some gaming miniatures and even a cardboard house used a scenery...

 

--------------------------------------------

Café Frequenters episode 131

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

 

Oh Lisa hello again, so soon, I forgot to send you some pages so I will do that now...

 

Interesting bonus information: Bud has been unfaithful with a celebrity on the company party...

Can´t tell you more than that so you will have to read the rest the pages I forgot to send in my last Letter...

 

Take care dear Lisa!

 

/ Johnny the wordy

 

...Jimmy had bent the bars on the Jail by pure force, the kit he was provided with was made in Taiwan, damned those saving cuts at SÄPO!

 

One would expect that they wold buy homegrown spy-equipment don´t you, Jimmy Thought to himself wile walking down the central street towards the café...

 

People stared at him, since after climbing out the barred he discovered that he was on the third floor and not at cellar-level like last time he had been taken to that awful place...

 

Gravity almost at an instant worked on the mass in his body and pulled him downwards towards the street, if he had had more time to think he would have used his coat as a parachute, but instead in got entangled to first a tiny hook that was sticking out on the masonry, then by a banner with the police logo waving proudly in the air all yellow and blue...

 

Then some instants later he landed chest first in to the street asphalt his lungs was inflated and his coat was ripped beyond recognition, that was really a pity, Jimmy thought that was such an expensive coat...

 

...anyhow back to the main storyline!!!

 

Jimmy was walking down the street being eyeballed by strange looking wrinkly elderly people...

 

He viciously eyeballed them back, and put a 5% unnoticeable energy-been shoot in to it that probably would give them a severe headache in about 10-15 min.

 

After walking for 7 min he was finally there at the café, He opened the door, the café was almost empty, well except for a you lad scribbling in his pad...

 

He tried to whisper: "the Demon can read your thoughts!"

 

the young lad stared at him then pretended not to notice him and scribbled some more...

 

Then He said in a louder steadier voice: "Don´t Tell The Demon his plans!"

 

some guy who had been working in the kitchen came out, looked like one of those spooky animals that lives on Madagascar...

 

Then he asked Jimmy if he wanted to buy a cup of coffee and Jimmy shook his head in NO!

 

Then the guy looked at Jimmy like he was some kind of Mongrel Tosser and when out in to his Kitchen again...

 

Jimmy made a last attempt on the Code, He screamed in manic fury: The Demon can´t pick the prettiest flowers!!!"

  

This is a picture taken with my old system camera close to where I lived ones, when I lived there this spot was parking space, shady car business and an abandoned urban wasteland, a gigantic landfill, before I lived there there was a large house called "Gula faran" (the yellow Danger!) named so because it was a big yellow slum-like house...

 

When I was a kid I went to school in this part of the town even though I lived in the suburban "ghetto" of Holma I passed here every morning by bus, one short while there were occupation of the abandoned buildings which the police stormed and force evicted it´s inhabitants...

 

just a short story about nothing :)

 

if you wonder what it is, the picture that is... it is the landfill after a rainfall and a huge pond has formed. and some street stone cubes make tiny islands in the dirty pond...

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain urban wanderer

A Church is just a building, until it’s not; then it becomes a place of historical systematic traumatic experiences of young peoples living memories

...ok they might never have left earth, but the were well travelled since a few times a month I switched country traveling from Sweden to Denmark and back, I had to pack all my little figures and all those heavy rule books, the Rouge Trader book, the two Realm of Chaos volumes, compilation and compendium and loads of White Dwarfs with extra rules... why, because I played the game with friends on both the sides of the Öresund pool...

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain once a rogue trader (or GM) roaming the galaxy

  

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Café Frequenters episode 220

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Johnny was sitting at a local café in Copenhagen Denmark a very hip place, to hip for his style and the coffee was expensive and you couldn´t get an ordinary cup of coffee, so he settled for a latte...

 

He was was writing letters to his Goddess, his tiny and clumsy friend and then he felt observed...

 

He peeks around his shoulder and there was a very hip Dane standing all the latest fashion attire...

 

When the observer felt that he re-observed he said in Danish:

 

- You are from Sweden ain´t ya!

 

- Johnny replied in what he mostly felt as the most comfortable way when communicating with Danes, that is in a mix of Danish and Swedish avoiding any words that could be hard for a dane to comprehend...

He said:

 

- Hello I am Jonny and who are you and how did you know that I am a Swede?

 

- Hello I am Buller, do you mind if I sit down on this stool next to you, I saw you writing in Swedish, so I guessed that you are one of those...

 

- Sure be my guest sit down, I will leave soon anyway, I need to get the train for Vallensbæk before it is to dark...yeah Ok you guess was right,I guess I am a Swede, sort of...

 

- Yeah but what does Guess, mean and what are you gonna do in Vallensbæk? it is not a place a swede would go to, hardly any Dane not living there either...

 

- Yeah well, Vallensbæk is not my final destination, I am taking the bus 300s to Havebyen (the cottage village, where I kind of live, that is sometimes... better get there before it is to dark, since the murder there,you might have read about it in the paper?

 

- Oh there is a lot of kind offs in your life it seems... Yes I know the Rape-murder....but what are all the kind offs?

 

- Well I am not feeling as a Swede, I live there and I know the culture, I was even born there but I feel more at home here in Copenhagen, sometimes we go to England too, our family is from there, but I don´t like it very much, London is cool and all that but we spend most of our time in a tiny town called Skeggy or Skegness full of tourists in the summer and empty at winter... I have dual citizenships English-Swedish!

 

- Oh that is weird, so can I be frank and ask if you smoke pot?do you do speed?

 

- No I don´t, why do you wonder...

 

- Well I thought if you do use drugs, you might be more interested in the proposal I have for you... That is I wondered if you would be interested in being a courier, good money, just to go past the border as you already do quite often...

 

- Ha, Ha Mate, I would be the worst one for that job, the customs, they stop me every second time, they always pick me, so I would end up in prison in a jiffy, ha, ha, ha, but thanks for the offer... gotta dish now, my train is leaving in 5 mini.

Bye!

 

Jimmy ripped the page out of the typewriter and curled it up...

 

he thought to himself: why can´t I get this writing business right, I will start over tomorrow, now for some whiskey!

  

Carretera dels Plans, La Massana city, Vall nord, Andorra, Pyrenees

 

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THE EASTERN GRAY/EASTERN GREY SQUIRREL (SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS)

  

By Paul Williams

  

The Grey (or Gray) squirrel, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. Cute and fluffy little funsters or destructive critters who ruin trees, kill bird chicks and trees and damage our homes... oh and it's their fault we lost our native Red squirrels as well!

  

OK

  

I get it and I see both sides of the story of course. For my part, I am a nature, wildlife and landscape photographer who prefers the company of animals and natural beauty to fellow humans who are systematically plundering Mother Earth's resources and killing off her beautiful creatures at an alarming rate! I believe there is a natural order of things, creatures kill other creatures to survive, they adapt to situations and when mankind encroaches on their territory to make a fast buck, those animals sometimes adapt to survive and the order changes.

  

That is the balance of nature which is ever changing and affected by us..... the dumbest of the great apes. Some species are driven out by others, some may be destined to become extinct, the fittest will survive, and sometime a species will need intervention and help from mankind in order to survive... usually as a direct consequence of mankind's own actions in destroying the animal kingdom's natural habitat of course.

  

I adore these little fellas and at almost sixty years old, I never grew up knowing red squirrels at all. I've seen reds in Scotland and black squirrels in Stanley Park on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, but in my beloved home country of England I have always known and loved the cute little Greys. They visit my garden and give me hours, days, weeks of happiness and wonderful photographic opportunities, and I see them in Parks and forests all around me, so it's time to offer up an insight into the Grey squirrel, much loved, much hated... a sort of Marmite rodent if you will.

  

WHAT EXACTLY IS A SQUIRREL?

  

The word 'Squirrel', was first recorded in 1327 and hails from the Anglo-Norman word 'Esquirel', from old French 'Escurel', which was a reflex for the Latin word 'Sciurus'.The Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is also known as the Eastern Grey squirrel or simply grey squirrel depending on the region of the world it is found. It is a tree squirrel, of the squirrel family Sciuridae including over one hundred arboreal species native to all continents of the world other than Antarctica and Oceania. Tree squirrels live mostly in trees, apart from the flying squirrel. The best known genus is Sciurus, containing most of the bushy tailed squirrels which are found in Europe, North America, temperate Asia as well as central and south America.

  

The scientific classification for the Eastern Grey is:

  

KINGDOM: ANIMALIA PHYLUM: CHORDATA CLASS: MAMMALIA ORDER: RODENTIA FAMILY: SCIURIDAE GENUS: SCIURUS SUBGENUS: SCIURUS SPECIES: SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS

  

They were first noted by German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist - Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788.

  

A mammal and rodent, predominantly herbivorous they are none the less an omnivore with a life span of between two and ten years. They can grow to 70cm in length and weigh up to 8kg. There are more than two hundred and sixty species of worldwide squirrel, the smallest being the African pygmy squirrel at just 10cm in length, whereas the Indian giant squirrel is three feet long! The oldest fossil of a squirrel, Hesperopetes, dates back to the late Eocene epoch period Chadronian period of 40-35 million years ago. The tree squirrels rotate their ankles by 180 degrees, so that the hind paws pointy backwards gripping tree bark which enables them to descend a tree headfirst.

  

Originally native to Eastern and Midwestern United States of America, they were first introduced into the United Kingdom in 1876 in Henbury Park, Macclesfield in Cheshire when Victorian banker Thomas V. Brocklehurst released a pair of Greys that he brought back from a business trip to America after their attraction as pets had waned. Victorians had a penchant for collecting exotic animals and birds of the world, but trends came and went and subsequently animals were simply discarded into the wilderness. There are early records of greys released near Denbighshire in north Wales from private collections. Later introduced to several regions in the UK, they quickly settled and spread, colonizing an area of three hundred miles in a quarter of a century between Argyll and Stirlingshire in Scotland.

  

Introductions of the Greys between 1902 and 1929 (the year of the last recorded introduction), included: Regent’s Park in London, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, Devon, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Hampshire. Grey Squirrels spread into Gloucestershire and eastern Wiltshire with animals coming directly from the United States or from Woburn. One hundred greys were released in Richmond Park in Surrey in 1902, Ninety one into Regent’s Park between 1905 and 1907 and a further ten New Jersey imported greys were introduced into Woburn Park in Bedfordshire.

  

Predators include hawks, weasels, raccoons, bobcats, foxes, domestic and feral cats, snakes, owls, and dogs, African harrier-hawks in Africa and... oh yes, Mankind pretty much everywhere who despise, mistreat, cull or eat it .

  

FACTS, MYTHS AND THAT POXY PARAPOX!

  

The massive decline in native red squirrels blamed upon the spread of the invasive greys has always been perhaps a little harsh as reds were already in a steep decline due to loss of habitat and disease and thus the greys simply took over the areas where the reds were dwindling. It's also a fact that reds were also seen as a plague, branded as pests who killed birds and damaged trees and the culling of reds almost brought them to the brink of extinction. Licenses to kill reds could still be obtained up until the seventies!

  

Reds suffered at the hands of mankind thanks to a combination of agricultural deforestation also linked with war and fuel needs which caused extinction in Southern Scotland and Ireland by the early eighteenth century, way before greys had been introduced. Harsh winters killed off the less hardy red population in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

  

Greys are more adept at finding food and adapting to locations and environments, but also carry the squirrel poxvirus (SQPV) which although not particularly harmful to them, is a serious infection for the reds.

  

Parapox in red squirrels causes swollen lesions around the mouth, eyes, ears and nose also the front paws and sometimes genitals and skin ulcers and kills a red within fifteen days. There is no definitive correlation between the spread of the virus and the spread of the Greys, it actually arrived in several areas before the greys began to colonize there. An epidemic virus was observed in Red squirrels from at least 1900 with isolation attempts failing, and the first case of Parapox in the UK was in 1980 in the county of Norfolk. Greys cannot transmit the virus to reds via saliva or faeces, but reds can between each other from bodily secretions and at animal feeders in gardens. The transmission from greys to reds is though to come from parasites. Eight to ten per cent of reds survive the virus, and there is some evidence that reds are slowly building an evolved resistance.

  

Greys are seen as pests to forest land, stripping bark from trees during May and June, and are also capable of destroying household bins, water pipes, causing roof damage not to mention taking eggs and killing young chicks of ground nesting and songbird populations. They also take from bird feeders and there is a whole industry for creating squirrel proof feeders these days.

  

THE CULLING OF GREY SQUIRRELS

  

Grey squirrels have limited legal protection and can be legally controlled all year round by a variety of methods including shooting and trapping. Methods of trapping and killing include Drey poking and shooting, Tunnel trapping using spring traps set in accordance with BASC’s trapping pest mammals code of practice. They can also be shot using a shotgun or powerful air rifle or up until September 30th 2014 poisoned by Warfarin (Now outlawed).

  

Whilst professional trapping and extermination is hopefully done as humanely as possible, there have been cases, many of them where cost savings have been gained by battering the squirrels to death! Grey squirrels are trapped in ghastly metal contraptions for hours and hours, wearing themselves out frantically trying to escape by gnawing at the metals bars. They bite the floor and scratch at them with their claws and do not get a moments peace or rest through absolute fear. Once the traps are retrieved, each squirrel, terrified will be thrown into a sack and smacked on the head countless times with a blunt instrument. When a mother is slaughtered, her babies who are totally dependent on her, will die a slow death of thirst and starvation.

  

There is an argument for the control of Greys on many grounds but also a counter argument that Culling does not work, and has not on countless times where, once a population of greys have been culled, the nearest group will move back in and claim the land. The university of Bristol concluded that there was little evidence that culling greys to save red squirrels was effective, and that perhaps finding a way of boosting red squirrel immunity to the poxvirus or planting areas of yew trees where reds are known to thrive and spending money on research into positive moves might be a better option.

  

In Ireland, the re-introduction of the Pine marten, a species made extinct originally by the very same land owners who also wish to do the same to the grey squirrel, has seen the rapid demise of the grey and the reintroction of the native reds. Red squirrels are smaller and more nimble than their grey counterparts, and as such can get to the very ends of tree branches where neither the pine martins, nor more importantly the heavier greys can, thus surviving and thriving. As a result in Ireland, the grey squirrel population has crashed in approximately 9,000 km2 of its former range and the reds has become common once more after a thirty year absence... oh and Pine Martens are protected again!

  

In Scotland, Pine Martens exist in areas where Red squirrels thrive, and greys do not. So perhaps there is a lesson here, as in England where there are no pine martens, the greys are prolific breeders. So there is an argument against the barbarity of shooting and poisoning greys, and if, as so many believe, the greys MUST be controlled, how about a more humane and natural method that nature intended.. with re-introduction of predators. Just a thought!

  

So a few facts and figures on the greys and to wrap up, from a purely personal perspective I love these little guys, as I do almost every creature in nature other than those eight legged beasties that shall not be named and for which I have a deep and powerful phobia that borders on paranoia!

  

I could no more harm an animal deliberately than eat a McDonald's McRib (Once saw how they are made and let me just say... eeeuuuuuwwwww!!).

  

They are small, cute, cuddly, furry, they photograph beautifully, have great personality and make me smile. They trust me enough to take food from my hand in parks, and I can't bare the though of ugly, hairy land owners sticking a shotgun in their face and blowing them away! I appreciate they can be a pest, a problem, a menace, that their PR managers might have a bit of a problem winning you over when they flay small chicks alive on your lawn or decimate the songbird population by stealing their eggs.... and perhaps there is a need to keep the population under control and try and re-establish the red population.....

  

Yep I get that....

  

I just hope we can solve the problem more humanely to create a peaceful coexistence of the reds and greys in different areas. A man can dream can't he.

  

Paul Williams June 18th 2021

©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams).

  

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Six metres, at 14:00pm on Monday 20th January 2020, on a beautifully sunny afternoon off Birdcage Walk and Horse Guards Road in the grounds of St James's Park.

  

Situated in the City Of Westminster, the Park spans twenty three Hectares and is the oldest of the Royal Parks of London, with a variety of visiting and nesting birds that include Ducks, Canada Geese and Pelicans.

  

Here we see, Sciurus Carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel or Grey Squirrel), a tree squirrel native to North America and first introduced to the UK in the 1870's.

  

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Nikon D850 Hand held with Sigma OS Optical Stabilization enabled on normal setting. Focal length 175mm Shutter speed: 1/400s Aperture f/8.0 ISO800 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Auto ISO 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points.AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode: Shutter priority mode. Matrix metering. White balance on: Auto1 (8510K). Colour space: RGB. Vignette control: Normal. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)

  

Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.

    

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LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 29.35s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 0m 17.88s

ALTITUDE: 45.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 94.5MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 44.70MB

    

PROCESSING POWER:

  

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00

  

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.1 million human beings were systematically starved and murdered between 1942 and 1945. The death toll includes 960,000 Jews (865,000 of whom were gassed on arrival).

 

Social media is busy today with the hashtag #Auschwitz75 but the concentration camp in southern Poland wasn't actually liberated by the Red Army until 27 January 1945.

 

"Red Army soldiers from the 322nd Rifle Division arrived at Auschwitz on 27 January 1945 at 15:00. 231 Red Army soldiers died in the fighting around Monowitz camp, Birkenau and Auschwitz I as well as the towns of Oświęcim and Brzezinka. For most of the survivors, there was no definite moment of liberation. After the death march away from the camp, the SS guards had left.

 

About 7,000 prisoners had been left behind, most of whom were seriously ill due to the effects of their imprisonment. Most of those left behind were middle-aged adults or children younger than 15. Red Army soldiers also found 600 corpses, 370,000 men's suits, 837,000 articles of women's clothing, and 7.7 short tons (7.0 t) of human hair. At Monowitz concentration camp, there were about 800 survivors and the camp was liberated also on 27 January by the Soviet 60th Army, part of the First Ukrainian Front.

 

Battle-hardened soldiers who were used to death were shocked by the Nazis' treatment of prisoners. Red Army general Vasilii Petrenko, commander of the 107th Infantry Division, remarked, "I who saw people dying every day was shocked by the Nazis’ indescribable hatred toward the inmates who had turned into living skeletons. I read about the Nazis’ treatment of Jews in various leaflets, but there was nothing about the Nazis’ treatment of women, children, and old men. It was in Auschwitz that I found out about the fate of the Jews." In a few articles in Soviet newspapers such as Pravda, following Soviet propaganda, failed to mention Jews in their articles on the liberation."

April 14. Marks the anfal remembrance day. On this day, the Kurdish people remember the cruel and systematically planned extermination operation of the Iraqi baath regime under the leadership of the dictator Saddam Hussein, who massacred over 180.000 people in Kurdistan between 1986 and 1988 and destroyed thousands of villages Became. The Peak of the offensive was the poison gas attack on halabja, where 5.000 people were murdered.

 

May all the victims whose only crime was their identity, may rest in peace. We will never forget you.

 

ذكرى مجزرة الأنفال

 

الأنفال (بالكوردية: کارەساتی ئەنفال) هي إحدى عمليات الإبادة جماعية التي قام بها النظام العراقي السابق برئاسة الرئيس صدام حسين سنة 1988 ضد الكورد في إقليم كوردستان شمالي العراق وقد اوكلت قيادة الحملة إلى علي حسن المجيد الذي كان يشغل منصب امين سر مكتب الشمال لحزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي وبمثابة الحاكم العسكري للمنطقة وكان وزير الدفاع العراقي الاسبق سلطان هاشم كان القائد العسكري للحملة وقد اعتبرت الحكومة العراقية انذاك الكورد مصدر تهديد لها وقد سميت الحملة بالأنفال نسبة للسورة رقم 8 من القرآن الكريم. و(الأنفال) تعني الغنائم أو الأسلاب، والسورة تتحدث عن تقسيم الغنائم بين المسلمين بعد معركة بدر في العام الثاني من الهجرة. استخدمت البيانات العسكرية خلال الحملة الآية رقم 11 قام بتنفيذ تلك الحملة قوات الفيلقين الأول والخامس في كركوك وأربيل مع قوات منتخبة من الحرس الجمهوري بالإضافة إلى قوات الجيش الشعبي وافواج مايسمى بالدفاع الوطني التي شكلهاالنظام العراقي .

  

وقف لحظة فكر ببطئ الان تأمل معي:-

داعش تسمي الكورد بالمرتدين:- السؤال من هو المرتد؟؟؟

المرتد هم من ترك دينه وأصبح تابعا لدين أخر.

السؤال هل نحن خرجنا من الاسلام الشعب الكوردي 90% مسلمين.

أذا هم يقتلون أناس يشهدون الشهادتين.

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قف مرة أخرى فكر ببطئ الان تأمل معي:-

البعثيون سموا الكورد ب (إنفال):- السؤال مامعنى أنفال؟؟؟

الانفال يعني (كافر) أي الذي لايؤمن بالله ورسوله.

السؤال الكورد المسلمون الا يؤمنون بالله ورسوله.

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أسمع لهذه القصة المهمة:-(ملخص قصة تحت الحديث)

 

الصحابي أسامة بن زيد (رضي الله عنه) يقول:-

بعثنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى الحرقة فصبَّحنا القوم فهزمناهم ولحقت أنا ورجل من الأنصار رجلا منهم فلما غشيناه قال: لا إله إلا الله فكفَّ الأنصاري فطعنته برمحي حتى قتلته فلما قدمنا بلغ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: "يا أسامة أقتلته بعد ما قال لا إله إلا الله؟!" قلت: كان متعوذا فما زال يكررها حتى تمنيت أني لم أكن أسلمت قبل ذلك اليوم. [رواه البخاري (4269) ومسلم

 

===ملخص القصة أن الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام بعث الصحابي اسامة بن زيد في حرب على قوم فأنتصر المسلمون ففي المعركة واثناء الصراع تصارع أسامة مع نصراني وقبل أن يقتله تشهد النصراني بالشهادة ولكن أسامة قد قتله ظنا منه بأنه يقولها خوفا وعندما تكلم للرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام عن امر قال يا أسامة قتلت الرجل بعدما تشهد بالأسلام وظل يكررها الى أن يقول أسامة تمنيت لو أني لم أكن قد أسلمت قبل هذا مشهد.

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تصور الان نصراني في المعركة وهو عدو ويقتل بالمسلمين ولكن قبل موته تشهد خوفا فحرم الرسول دمه وهو عدو في الحرب فكيف بمن أتى للدنيا مسلما ويصلي ويصوم ويتشهد بالاسلام كيف يقال له مرتد أو يقال له أنفال؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟

 

Capture One: NT 24 (-Sharpen)

This is me, a self-portrait taken with my old systematic film camera, I guess I was around 20 years old when I snapped it...

 

This was My friend Sue´s favorite picture of me because I looked like Brad Pit on it according to her... (she liked B.P.)

 

The Jumper or pullover I do remember quite clearly it was a hemp-product I bought it somewhere close to studiestræde in Copenhagen on a sale in the hemp product shop...

 

I remember I gave it away years later to someone who really loved it (can´t remember who)

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ Brad Pit, Eh I mean MushroomBrain

 

---

 

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Café Frequenters episode 272

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He came back later with his walker he had mounted arms on it since he took it from the tunnel system in Bulgaria...

 

Then he walked it to the point where he had last fled...

 

Then datta-datta-datta he started the mini-gun splinters of wood was flying through the air...

...the old house was totally holed then he ran out of ammo, well only to the mini-gun the flamer had a full canister of hyper-flammable ammo left...

 

Jimmy Though: this hell gets a really fitting end burning in hellfire....

 

Then he stood there watching the flames for a while, He remembered his childhood at the Saint Hans bonfire, no wait it wasn´t his memory it was Johnny´s!

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published by Pitkin Pictorials Ltd. of North Way, Andover, Hants. The photography was by Albert Watson, and the card has a divided back.

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, KG, GCVO, CD was born Andrew Albert Christian Edward on the 19th. February 1960.

 

He is a member of the British royal family, and the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

 

Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch.

 

Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor, and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War, he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation, and Exocet missile decoy.

 

In 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Their marriage, separation in 1992, and divorce in 1996 attracted extensive media coverage.

 

Andrew served as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for 10 years until July 2011.

 

In 2014, the American-Australian campaigner Virginia Giuffre alleged that, as a 17-year-old, she was sex-trafficked to Andrew by the American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Andrew denied any wrongdoing. Following criticism for his association with Epstein, Andrew resigned from public roles in May 2020, and his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages were removed by Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022.

 

He was the defendant in a civil lawsuit over sexual assault filed by Giuffre in the State of New York. The lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2022.

 

Prince Andrew - The Early Years

 

Andrew was born in the Belgian Suite of Buckingham Palace on the 19th. February 1960 at 3:30 p.m. He was baptised in the palace's Music Room on the 8th. April 1960.

 

Andrew was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Princess Beatrice in 1857. As with his siblings, Charles, Anne, and Edward, Andrew was looked after by a governess, who was responsible for his early education at Buckingham Palace.

 

Andrew was sent to Heatherdown School near Ascot in Berkshire. In September 1973, he entered Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland, which his father and elder brother had also attended.

 

He was nicknamed "the Sniggerer" by his schoolmates at Gordonstoun, because of "his penchant for off-colour jokes, at which he laughed inordinately".

 

While there, he spent six months—from January to June 1977—participating in an exchange programme to Lakefield College School in Canada. He left Gordonstoun in July two years later with A-levels in English, History, and Economics.

 

Prince Andrew's Military Service

 

Royal Navy Service

 

The Royal Household announced in November 1978 that Andrew would join the Royal Navy the following year.

 

In December, he underwent various sporting tests and examinations at the Aircrew Selection Centre at RAF Biggin Hill, along with further tests and interviews at HMS Daedalus, and interviews at the Admiralty Interview Board, HMS Sultan.

 

During March and April 1979, he was enrolled at the Royal Naval College Flight, undergoing pilot training, until he was accepted as a trainee helicopter pilot and signed on for 12 years from the 11th. May 1979.

 

On the 1st. September 1979, Andrew was appointed as a midshipman, and entered Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

 

During 1979 Andrew also completed the Royal Marines All Arms Commando Course for which he received his Green Beret. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on the 1st. September 1981, and appointed to the Trained Strength on the 22nd. October.

 

After passing out from Dartmouth, Andrew went on to elementary flying training with the Royal Air Force at RAF Leeming, and later, basic flying training with the navy at HMS Seahawk, where he learned to fly the Gazelle helicopter.

 

After being awarded his wings, Andrew moved on to more advanced training on the Sea King helicopter, and conducted operational flying training until 1982. He joined carrier-based squadron, 820 Naval Air Squadron, serving aboard the aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible.

 

The Falklands War

 

On the 2nd. April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory, leading to the Falklands War.

 

Invincible was one of the two operational aircraft carriers available at the time, and, as such, was to play a major role in the Royal Navy task force assembled to sail south to retake the islands.

 

Andrew's place on board and the possibility of the Queen's son being killed in action made the British government apprehensive, and the cabinet desired that Prince Andrew be moved to a desk job for the duration of the conflict.

 

The Queen, though, insisted that her son be allowed to remain with his ship. Prince Andrew remained on board Invincible to serve as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, flying on missions that included anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.

 

Andrew's other roles included acting as an Exocet missile decoy, casualty evacuation, transport, and search and air rescue. He witnessed the Argentinian attack on the SS Atlantic Conveyor.

 

At the end of the war, Invincible returned to Portsmouth, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip joined other families of the crew in welcoming the vessel home.

 

The Argentine military government reportedly planned, but did not attempt, to assassinate Andrew on Mustique in July 1982.

 

Though he had brief assignments to HMS Illustrious, RNAS Culdrose, and the Joint Services School of Intelligence, Prince Andrew remained with Invincible until 1983. Commander Nigel Ward's memoir, Sea Harrier Over the Falklands, described Prince Andrew as:

 

"An excellent pilot and a

very promising officer."

 

Prince Andrew's Career as a Naval Officer

 

In late 1983, Andrew transferred to RNAS Portland, and was trained to fly the Lynx helicopter. On the 1st. February 1984 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, whereupon Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as her personal aide-de-camp.

 

Prince Andrew served aboard HMS Brazen as a flight pilot until 1986, including deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Standing NRF Maritime Group 2.

 

On the 23rd. October 1986, the Duke of York (as he was by then) transferred to the General List, enrolled in a four-month helicopter warfare instructor's course at RNAS Yeovilton, and, upon graduation, served from February 1987 to April 1988 as a helicopter warfare officer in 702 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Portland.

 

He also served on HMS Edinburgh as an officer of the watch and Assistant Navigating Officer until 1989, including a six-month deployment to the Far East as part of Exercise Outback 88.

 

The Duke of York served as flight commander and pilot of the Lynx HAS3 on HMS Campbeltown from 1989 to 1991. He also acted as Force Aviation Officer to Standing NRF Maritime Group 1 while Campbeltown was flagship of the NATO force in the North Atlantic from 1990 to 1991.

 

Andrew passed the squadron command examination on the 16th. July 1991, attended the Staff College, Camberley the following year, and completed the Army Staff course. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on the 1st. February 1992, and passed the ship command examination on the 12th. March 1992.

 

From 1993 to 1994, Prince Andrew commanded the Hunt-class minehunter HMS Cottesmore.

 

From 1995 to 1996, Andrew was posted as Senior Pilot of 815 Naval Air Squadron, at the time the largest flying unit in the Fleet Air Arm. His main responsibility was to supervise flying standards and to guarantee an effective operational capability.

 

He was promoted to Commander on the 27th. April 1999, finishing his active naval career at the Ministry of Defence in 2001, as an officer of the Diplomatic Directorate of the Naval Staff.

 

In July 2001, Andrew was retired from the Active List of the Navy. Three years later, he was made an Honorary Captain. On the 19th. February 2010, his 50th. birthday, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

 

Five years later, he was promoted to Vice Admiral.

 

Andrew ceased using his honorary military titles in January 2022. The action came after more than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army veterans signed a letter, requesting that Queen Elizabeth II remove his honorary military appointments in the light of his involvement in a sexual assault civil case.

 

However it was reported that he would still retain his service rank of Vice Admiral.

 

Prince Andrew's Personal Life

 

Personal Interests

 

Andrew is a keen golfer, and has had a low single-figure handicap. He was captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews between 2003 and 2004—during the club's 250th. anniversary season.

 

He was also patron of a number of royal golf clubs, and had been elected as an honorary member of many others. In 2004, he was criticised by Labour Co-op MP Ian Davidson, who in a letter to the NAO questioned Andrew's decision to fly to St. Andrews on RAF aircraft for two golfing trips.

 

Andrew resigned his honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews when the Queen removed royal patronages at several golf clubs. His honorary membership of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club was revoked in the following month.

 

Andrew is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, the senior maritime City livery company.

 

Prince Andrew's Relationship with Koo Stark

 

Andrew met the American photographer and actress Koo Stark in February 1981, before his active service in the Falklands War. In October 1982, they took a holiday together on the island of Mustique.

 

Tina Brown said that Stark was Andrew's only serious love interest. In 1983, they split up under pressure from press, paparazzi, and palace.

 

In 1997, Andrew became godfather to Stark's daughter. When Andrew was facing accusations in 2015 over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Koo came to his defence.

 

Prince Andrew's Marriage to Sarah Ferguson

 

Andrew had known Sarah Ferguson since childhood; they had met occasionally at polo matches, and became re-acquainted with each other at Royal Ascot in 1985.

 

Andrew married Sarah at Westminster Abbey on the 23rd. July 1986. On the same day, Queen Elizabeth II created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh.

 

The couple appeared to have a happy marriage and had two daughters together, Beatrice and Eugenie, presenting a united outward appearance during the late 1980's. His wife's personal qualities were seen as refreshing in the context of the formal protocol surrounding the royal family.

 

However, Andrew's frequent travel due to his military career, as well as relentless, often critical, media attention focused on the Duchess of York, led to fractures in the marriage.

 

On the 19th. March 1992, the couple announced plans to separate, and did so in an amicable way. Some months later, pictures appeared in the tabloid media of the Duchess in intimate association with John Bryan, her financial advisor at the time, which effectively ended any hopes of a reconciliation between Andrew and Sarah.

 

The marriage ended in divorce on the 30th. May 1996. The Duke of York spoke fondly of his former wife:

 

"We have managed to work together

to bring our children up in a way that

few others have been able to, and I

am extremely grateful to be able to

do that."

 

The couple agreed to share custody of their two daughters, and the family continued to live at Sunninghill Park (built near Windsor Great Park for the couple in 1990) until Andrew moved to the Royal Lodge in 2004.

 

In 2007, Sarah moved into Dolphin House in Englefield Green, less than a mile from the Royal Lodge. In 2008, a fire at Dolphin House resulted in Sarah moving into Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with Andrew.

 

Andrew's lease of Royal Lodge is for 75 years, with the Crown Estate as landlord, at a cost of a single £1 million premium and a commitment to spend £7.5 million on refurbishment.

 

In May 2010, Sarah was filmed by a News of the World reporter saying Andrew had agreed that if she were to receive £500,000, he would meet the donor and pass on useful top-level business contacts.

 

She was filmed receiving, in cash, $40,000 as a down payment. The paper said that Andrew did not know of the situation. In July 2011, Sarah stated that her multi-million pound debts had been cleared due to the intervention of her former husband, whom she compared to a "knight on a white charger".

 

Prince Andrews' Activities and Charitable Work

 

The Duke was patron of the Middle East Association (MEA), the UK's premier organisation for promoting trade and good relations with the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Iran.

 

Since his role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment ended, Andrew continued to support UK enterprise without a special role.

 

Robert Jobson said he did this work well and wrote:

 

"He is particularly passionate when dealing

with young start-up entrepreneurs and

bringing them together with successful

businesses at networking and showcasing

events.

Andrew is direct and to the point, and his

methods seem to work".

 

The Duke was also patron of Fight for Sight, a charity dedicated to research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease, and was a member of the Scout Association.

 

He toured Canada frequently to undertake duties related to his Canadian military role. Rick Peters, the former Commanding Officer of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada stated that Prince Andrew was "very well informed on Canadian military methods".

 

While touring India as a part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Andrew became interested in the work of Women's Interlink Foundation (WIF), a charity which helps women acquire skills to earn income.

 

He and his family later initiated Key to Freedom, a project which tries to "find a route to market for products made by WIF".

 

On the 3rd. September 2012, Andrew was among a team of 40 people who abseiled down The Shard (tallest building in Europe) to raise money for educational charities.

 

In 2013, it was announced that Andrew was becoming the patron of London Metropolitan University and the University of Huddersfield. In July 2015, he was installed as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.

 

In recognition of Andrew's promotion of entrepreneurship he was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at Hughes Hall in the University of Cambridge on the 1st. May 2018.

 

He became the patron of the charity Attend in 2003, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Royal United Services Institute.

 

In 2014, Andrew founded the Pitch@Palace initiative to support entrepreneurs with the amplification and acceleration of their business ideas. Entrepreneurs selected for Pitch@Palace Bootcamp are officially invited by Andrew to attend St. James Palace in order to pitch their ideas and to be connected with potential investors, mentors and business contacts.

 

The Duke also founded The Prince Andrew Charitable Trust which aimed to support young people in different areas such as education and training.

 

He also founded a number of awards including Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), a programme to develop the digital and enterprise skills, the Duke of York Award for Technical Education, given to talented young people in technical education, and the Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award, which recognised talents of young people in entrepreneurship.

 

The Duke of York lent his support to organisations that focus on science and technology by becoming the patron of Catalyst Inc and TeenTech.

 

In 2014, Andrew visited Geneva, Switzerland, to promote British science at CERN's 60th. anniversary celebrations. In May 2018, he visited China and opened the Pitch@Palace China Bootcamp 2.0 at Peking University.

 

In March 2019, Andrew took over the patronage of the Outward Bound Trust from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, serving up until his own resignation in November 2019. The charity tries to instil leadership qualities among young people.

 

In May 2019, it was announced that Andrew had succeeded Lord Carrington as patron of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.

 

On 13 January 2022, it was announced that his royal patronages had been handed back to the Queen to be distributed among other members of the royal family.

 

Prince Andrew's Health

 

On the 2nd. June 2022, Andrew tested positive for COVID-19, and it was announced that he would not be present at the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on the 3rd. June.

 

Allegations of Sexual Abuse

 

Andrew was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2008. BBC News reported in March 2011 that the friendship was producing "a steady stream of criticism", and that there were calls for him to step down from his role as trade envoy.

 

Andrew was also criticised in the media after his former wife, Sarah, disclosed that he helped arrange for Epstein to pay off £15,000 of her debts.

 

Andrew had been photographed in December 2010 strolling with Epstein in Central Park during a visit to New York City. In July 2011, Andrew's role as trade envoy was terminated, and he reportedly cut all ties with Epstein.

 

On the 30th. December 2014, a Florida court filing on behalf of lawyers Edwards and Cassell alleged that Andrew was one of several prominent figures, including lawyer Alan Dershowitz and "a former prime minister", to have participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre (then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts), who was allegedly trafficked by Epstein.

 

An affidavit from Giuffre was included in an earlier lawsuit from 2008 accusing the US Justice Department of violating the Crime Victims' Rights Act during Epstein's first criminal case by not allowing several of his victims to challenge his plea deal; Andrew was otherwise not a party to the lawsuit.

 

In January 2015, there was renewed media and public pressure for Buckingham Palace to explain Andrew's connection with Epstein. Buckingham Palace stated that:

 

"Any suggestion of impropriety with

underage minors is categorically

untrue."

 

The denial was later repeated.

 

Requests from Giuffre's lawyers for a statement from Andrew about the allegations, under oath, were returned unanswered.

 

Dershowitz denied the allegations in Giuffre's statement and sought disbarment of the lawyers filing the suit. Edwards and Cassell sued Dershowitz for defamation in January 2015; he countersued.

 

The two parties settled in 2016 for an undisclosed financial sum. Epstein sued Edwards for civil racketeering, but later dropped his suit; Edwards countersued for malicious prosecution with the result that Epstein issued a public apology to the lawyer in December 2018.

 

Giuffre asserted that she had sex with Andrew on three occasions, including a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17, and later in New York and on Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

She alleged Epstein paid her $15,000 after she had sex with Andrew in London. Flight logs show Andrew and Giuffre were in the places where she alleged their meetings took place.

 

Andrew was also photographed with his arm around Giuffre's waist with an Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the background. Andrew's supporters have repeatedly said the photo is fake and edited.

 

Giuffre stated that she was pressured to have sex with Andrew and "wouldn't have dared object" as Epstein, through contacts, could have her "killed or abducted".

 

On the 7th. April 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that:

 

"The sex allegations made against

Andrew in court papers filed in Florida

must be struck from the public record".

 

Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Giuffre are true or false, specifically stating that she may later give evidence when the case comes to court. Giuffre stated that she would not "be bullied back into silence".

 

Tuan "John" Alessi, who was Epstein's butler, stated in a deposition he filed for Giuffre's 2016 defamation case against Maxwell that Andrew's hitherto unremarked visits to the Epstein house in Palm Beach were more frequent than previously thought. He maintained that Andrew "spent weeks with us" and received "daily massages".

 

In August 2019, court documents for a defamation case between Giuffre and Maxwell revealed that a second girl, Johanna Sjoberg, gave evidence alleging that Andrew had placed his hand on her breast while in Epstein's mansion posing for a photo with his Spitting Image puppet.

 

Later that month, Andrew released a statement that said:

 

"At no stage during the limited time I

spent with Epstein did I see, witness

or suspect any behaviour of the sort

that subsequently led to his arrest

and conviction."

 

Andrew did however express regret for meeting him in 2010 after Epstein had already pleaded guilty to sex crimes for the first time.

 

At the end of August 2019, The New Republic published a September 2013 email exchange between John Brockman and Evgeny Morozov, in which Brockman mentioned seeing a British man nicknamed "Andy" receive a foot massage from two Russian women at Epstein's New York residence in 2010. He had realised that:

 

"The recipient of Irina's foot massage

was His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew,

the Duke of York".

 

In July 2020, Caroline Kaufman, an alleged victim of Epstein, said in a federal lawsuit that she had seen Andrew at Epstein's New York mansion in December 2010.

 

In November 2021 Lawrence Visoski, Epstein's pilot, testified in court during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that Prince Andrew flew in Epstein's private plane along with other prominent individuals, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and John Glenn.

 

Visoski stated he did not notice any sexual activity or wrongdoing on the plane.

 

Similarly, Andrew's name was recorded on the 12th. May 2001 by Epstein's pilot David Rodgers in his logbook, and he testified that Andrew flew three times with Epstein and Giuffre in 2001.

 

The following month a picture of Epstein and Maxwell, sitting at a cabin on the Queen's Balmoral estate, around 1999, at the invitation of Andrew, was shown to the jury to establish their status as partners.

 

On the 5th. January 2022, Virginia Giuffre's former boyfriend, Anthony Figueroa, said on Good Morning Britain that Giuffre told him Epstein would take her to meet Prince Andrew. He said:

 

"She called me when she was on the trip

and she was talking about she knew what

they wanted her to do and she was really

nervous and scared because she didn't

know how to react to it".

 

He alleged the meeting had taken place in London. In a court filing, Andrew's lawyers had previously referred to a statement by Figueroa's sister, Crystal Figueroa, who alleged that in her bid to find victims for Epstein, Giuffre had asked her:

 

"Do you know any girls

who are kind of slutty?"

 

The same month, Carolyn Andriano, who as a 14-year-old was introduced by Giuffre to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and was a prosecution witness in Maxwell's trial, said in an interview with the Daily Mail that then 17-year-old Giuffre told her in 2001 that she had slept with Prince Andrew. She stated:

 

"Giuffre said, 'I got to sleep with him'.

She didn't seem upset about it. She

thought it was pretty cool."

 

In an ITV documentary, former royal protection officer Paul Page, who was convicted and given a six year sentence following a £3 million property investment scam in 2009, recounted Maxwell's frequent visits to Buckingham Palace, and suggested the two might have had an intimate relationship, while Lady Victoria Hervey added that Andrew was present at social occasions held by Maxwell.

 

The Duke of York's name and contact numbers for Buckingham Palace, Sunninghill Park, Wood Farm and Balmoral also appeared in Maxwell and Epstein's 'Little Black Book', a list of contacts of the duo's powerful and famous friends.

 

In February 2022, The Daily Telegraph published a photograph of Andrew along with Maxwell giving a tour of Buckingham Palace to Andrew's guests Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey, with a member of the tour party describing Maxwell as:

 

"The one who led us into

Buckingham Palace".

 

Tina Brown, a journalist who edited Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The Daily Beast, maintains Epstein described Andrew behind his back as an idiot, but found him useful. Brown stated:

 

"Epstein confided to a friend that he used

to fly Andrew to obscure foreign markets,

where governments were obliged to

receive him, and Epstein went along as

HRH's investment adviser.

With Andrew as frontman, Epstein could

negotiate deals with these (often) shady

players".

 

In October 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker while serving her sentence in prison, and when asked about her relationship with Andrew, Maxwell stated that:

 

"I feel bad for him, but I accept our

friendship could not survive my

conviction.

He is paying such a price for the

association.

I consider him a dear friend. I care

about him."

 

She also stated that she now believed the photograph showing her together with Andrew and Virginia Giuffre was not "a true image," and added that in an email to her lawyer in 2015 she was trying to confirm that she recognised her own house, but the whole image cannot be authentic as "the original has never been produced".

 

The Newsnight Interview

 

In November 2019, the BBC's Newsnight arranged an interview between Andrew and presenter Emily Maitlis in which he recounted his friendship with Epstein for the first time.

 

In the interview, Prince Andrew says he met Epstein in 1999 through Maxwell; this contradicts comments made by Andrew's private secretary in 2011, who said the two met in "the early 1990's".

 

The Duke also said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein, saying:

 

"The people that I met and the opportunities

that I was given to learn, either by him or

because of him, were actually very useful".

 

In the interview, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre on the 10th. March 2001, as she had accused, because he had been at home with his daughters after attending a party at Pizza Express in Woking with his elder daughter Beatrice.

 

Prince Andrew also added that Giuffre's claims about dancing with him at a club in London while he was sweaty were false due to him temporarily losing the ability to sweat after an "adrenaline overdose" during the Falklands War.

 

However, according to physicians consulted by The Times, an adrenaline overdose typically causes excessive sweating in humans.

 

Andrew also said that he does not drink, despite Giuffre's account of him providing alcohol for them both. Accounts from other people have supported his statement that he does not drink.

 

Andrew said that he had stayed in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor, describing the location as "a convenient place to stay".

 

The Duke said that he met Epstein for the sole purpose of breaking off any future relationship with him. He also said that he would be willing to testify under oath regarding his associations with Epstein.

 

In the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew told Newsnight that his association with Epstein was derived from his long-standing friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of colluding in Epstein's sexual abuse.

 

In July 2022 it was announced that a film would be made of the preparations for the interview and the interview itself. Shooting was planned to start in November 2022. According to Deadline, Scoop is being written by Peter Moffat.

 

The Civil Lawsuit

 

In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of "sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress."

 

The lawsuit was filed under New York's Child Victims Act, legislation extending the statute of limitations where the plaintiff had been under 18 at the time, 17 in Giuffre's case.

 

On the 29th. October 2021, Andrew's lawyers filed a response, stating that:

 

"Our client unequivocally denies

Giuffre's false allegations".

 

On the 12th. January 2022, Judge Kaplan rejected Andrew's attempts to dismiss the case, allowing the sexual abuse lawsuit to proceed.

 

In February 2022, the case was settled out of court, with Andrew making a donation to Giuffre's charity for victims of abuse.

 

The Guardian reported that:

 

"The Queen's decision to strip Andrew

of his royal patronages, honorary military

titles and any official use of his HRH title,

still stands firm."

 

Criminal proceedings in the United States over Virginia Giuffre's claims are still possible but are now unlikely, as Virginia Giuffre died by her own hand on the 24th. April 2025 at a farm in the Neergabby area outside of Perth, Australia, where she had lived for the previous several years.

 

Repercussions

 

The 2019 Newsnight interview was believed by Maitlis and Newsnight to have been approved by the Queen, although "palace insiders" speaking to The Sunday Telegraph disputed this. One of Prince Andrew's official advisors resigned just prior to the interview being aired.

 

Although Andrew was pleased with the outcome of the interview – reportedly giving Maitlis and the Newsnight team a tour of Buckingham Palace – it received negative reactions from both the media and the public, both in and outside of the UK.

 

The interview was described as a "car crash", "nuclear explosion level bad", and the worst public relations crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

 

Experts and those with ties to Buckingham Palace said that the interview, its fallout and the abrupt suspension of Andrew's royal duties were unprecedented.

 

On the 18th. November 2019, accountancy firm KPMG announced it would not be renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew's entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, and on the 19th. November Standard Chartered also withdrew its support.

 

Also on the 19th. November 2019, the Students' Union of the University of Huddersfield passed a motion to lobby Andrew to resign as its chancellor, as London Metropolitan University was considering Andrew's role as its patron.

 

On the 20th. November 2019, a statement from Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew was suspending his public duties "for the foreseeable future".

 

The decision, made with the consent of the Queen, was accompanied by the insistence that Andrew sympathised with Epstein's victims. Other working royals took his commitments over in the short term.

 

On the 21st. November, Andrew relinquished his role as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Three days later, the palace confirmed that Andrew was to step down from all 230 of his patronages, although he expressed a wish to have some sort of public role at some future time.

 

On the 16th. January 2020, it was reported that the Home Office was recommending "a major downgrade of security" for Andrew, which would put an end to his "round-the-clock armed police protection".

 

It was later reported that he had been allowed to keep his £300,000-a-year security and the recommendation would be reviewed again in the future.

 

On the 28th. January 2020, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that Prince Andrew had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors and the FBI regarding the ongoing investigations, despite his initial promise in the Newsnight interview when he said he was willing to help the authorities.

 

Buckingham Palace did not comment on the issue, though sources close to Andrew said that he "hasn't been approached" by US authorities and investigators, and his legal team announced that he had offered to be a witness "on at least three occasions" but had been refused by the Department of Justice.

 

The US authorities denied being approached by Andrew for an interview, and labeled his statements as:

 

"A way to falsely portray himself to

the public as eager and willing to

cooperate".

 

Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, said Andrew could be arrested if he ever returns to the United States, saying:

 

"It is highly unlikely an extradition

would ever occur, so the Prince

would have to be here in the US

and be arrested while he's here."

 

In March 2020, Andrew hired crisis-management expert Mark Gallagher, who had helped high-profile clients falsely accused in Operation Midland.

 

In April 2020, it was reported that the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy would not be played anymore, after all activities carried out by the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust were stopped.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust was under investigation by the Charity Commission regarding some regulatory issues about £350,000 of payments to his former private secretary Amanda Thirsk.

 

According to The Times, senior personnel in the navy and army considered Andrew to be an embarrassment for the military, and believed he should be stripped of his military roles.

 

In May 2020 it was announced that Andrew would permanently resign from all public roles over his Epstein ties.

 

In June 2020, it became known that Andrew is a person of interest in a criminal investigation in the United States, and that the United States had filed a mutual legal assistance request to British authorities in order to question Andrew.

 

Newsweek reported that a majority of British citizens believe Andrew should be stripped of his titles and extradited to the United States. Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in July 2020, Andrew cancelled a planned trip to Spain, reportedly due to fears that he might be arrested and extradited to the United States.

 

In August 2020, anti-child trafficking protesters chanting "Paedophile! Paedophile!" referencing Andrew gathered outside Buckingham Palace, and videos of the protest went viral.

 

In August 2021, royal biographer Penny Junor maintained Prince Andrew's reputation with the public was damaged beyond repair.

 

It was reported in August 2021 that American authorities were pessimistic about being able to interview Andrew.

 

In January 2022, Andrew's social media accounts were deleted, his page on the royal family's website was rewritten in the past tense, and his military affiliations and patronages were removed to put an emphasis on his departure from public life.

 

He also stopped using the style His Royal Highness (HRH) though it was not formally removed. In the same month, York Racecourse announced that it would rename the Duke of York Stakes.

 

Prince Andrew High School in Nova Scotia, which had announced two years earlier that it was considering a name change because the name "no longer reflects the values of the community", stated that it would have a new name at the next academic year.

 

In February 2022, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to fly a union flag for Andrew's birthday. In the same month, the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council announced that they would hold a debate in June 2022 regarding a motion to rename Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus.

 

On the 27th. April 2022 York City Council unanimously voted to remove Andrew's Freedom of the City. Rachael Maskell, York Central MP, said Andrew was the "first to ever have their freedom removed".

 

There have also been calls to remove the Duke of York title.

 

In March 2022, Andrew made his first official appearance in months, helping the Queen to walk into Westminster Abbey for a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh. There was a mixed reaction by commentators to his presence, with some saying that:

 

"It would send the wrong message to

victims of sexual abuse about how

powerful men are able to absolve

themselves from their conduct."

 

Others argued that his appearance was required "as a son, in memory of his father".

 

In June 2022, The Telegraph reported that Andrew had asked the Queen to be reinstated as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, to use his HRH (His Royal Highness) title and to be allowed to appear at official events due to his position as a 'prince of the blood'.

 

In the same month, he took part in private aspects of the Garter Day ceremony, including lunch and investiture of new members, but was excluded from the public procession following an intervention by his brother Charles and his nephew William that banned him from appearing anywhere the public could see him.

 

Andrew's name featured on one of the lists, showing that this was a last-minute decision.

 

In June 2022 Rachael Maskell MP introduced a 'Removal of Titles' bill in the House of Commons. If passed, this bill would enable Andrew to be stripped of his Duke of York title and other titles. Maskell maintains that 80% of York citizens want Andrew to lose all connection with their city.

 

The proposed bill would also enable other people considered unworthy to lose their titles. The bill is due to get its second reading on the 9th. December 2022.

 

In August 2022, it was reported that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures had assessed the security threat against Andrew and concluded that he should keep his taxpayer-funded police bodyguards, at an annual cost estimated to be between £500,000 and £3 million.

 

In early 2021 there were at least two trespassing incidents reported at his Windsor property, and in December he was verbally abused by a woman as he was driving his car.

 

Following the death of the Queen on the 8th. September 2022, Andrew appeared in civilian clothing at various ceremonial events. As he walked behind his mother's coffin in a funeral procession in Edinburgh on the 12th. September, a 22-year-old man shouted "Andrew, you're a sick old man".

The heckler was arrested and charged with committing a breach of the peace.

 

Andrew wore military uniform for a 15-minute vigil by the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall on the 16th. September. Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine of Epstein's victims, was critical of Andrew's public role in the lead-up to the funeral, and stated that:

 

"He is attempting now to see if he

can rehabilitate his image in the public."

 

New York lawyer Mariann Wang, who represented up to 12 Epstein's victims described Andrew's public profile as "quite outrageous. She went on to say:

 

"It is harmful for any survivor of trauma

to see an abuser or their enablers

continue to reap the benefits of privilege,

status and power."

 

Controversies and Other Incidents

 

Prince Andrew as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

 

From 2001 until July 2011, Andrew worked with UK Trade & Investment, part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

 

The post, previously held by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, involved representing and promoting the UK at various trade fairs and conferences around the world.

 

Andrew's suitability for the role was challenged in the House of Commons by Shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant in February 2011, at the time of the 2011 Libyan civil war, on the grounds that he was:

 

"Not only a very close friend of

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, but also a

close friend of the convicted

Libyan gun smuggler Tarek

Kaituni".

 

Further problems arose as he hosted a lunch for Sakher El Materi, a member of the corrupt Tunisian regime, at the Palace around the time of the Tunisian Revolution.

 

Andrew also formed a friendship with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan who has been criticised for corruption and for abuses of human rights by Amnesty International, and visited him both during and after his tenure as the UK trade envoy.

 

As of November 2014, Andrew had met Aliyev on 12 separate occasions.

 

Andrew did not receive a salary from the UK Trade & Investment for his role as Special Representative, but he went on expenses-paid delegations, and was alleged to have occasionally used trips paid for by the government for his personal leisure, which earned him the nickname "Airmiles Andy" by the press.

 

On the 8th. March 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported:

 

"In 2010, the Prince spent £620,000

as a trade envoy, including £154,000

on hotels, food and hospitality and

£465,000 on travel."

 

The controversies, together with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, made him step down from the role in 2011.

 

In November 2020, and following reviews of emails, internal documents, and unreported regulatory filings, as well as interviews with 10 former bank insiders, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Andrew using his royal cachet and role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for helping David Rowland and his private bank, Banque Havilland, with securing deals with clients around the world.

 

The Rowland family are among the investment advisers to Andrew, and he was present for the official opening ceremony of their bank in July 2009.

 

Alleged Comments on Corruption and Kazakhstan

 

As the United Kingdom's Special Trade Representative, Andrew travelled the world to promote British businesses.

 

It was revealed in the United States diplomatic cables leak that Andrew had been reported on by Tatiana Gfoeller, the United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, discussing bribery in Kyrgyzstan and the investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal.

 

She explained:

 

"The Duke was referencing an investigation,

subsequently closed, into alleged kickbacks

a senior Saudi royal had received in exchange

for the multi-year, lucrative BAE Systems

contract to provide equipment and training to

Saudi security forces."

 

The dispatch continued:

 

"His mother's subjects seated around the

table roared their approval. He then went

on to 'these (expletive) journalists, especially

from the National Guardian [sic], who poke

their noses everywhere' and (presumably)

make it harder for British businessmen to

do business. The crowd practically clapped!"

 

In May 2008, he attended a goose-hunt in Kazakhstan with President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

 

In 2010, it was revealed that the President's billionaire son-in-law Timur Kulibayev paid Andrew's representatives £15 million – £3 million over the asking price – via offshore companies, for Andrew's Surrey mansion, Sunninghill Park.

 

Kulibayev frequently appears in US dispatches as one of the men who have accumulated millions in gas-rich Kazakhstan. It was later revealed that Andrew's office tried to get a crown estate property close to Kensington Palace for Kulibayev at that time.

 

In May 2012, it was reported that Swiss and Italian police investigating "a network of personal and business relationships" allegedly used for "international corruption" were looking at the activities of Enviro Pacific Investments which charges "multi-million pound fees" to energy companies wishing to deal with Kazakhstan.

 

The trust is believed to have paid £6 million towards the purchase of Sunninghill which now appears derelict. In response, a Palace spokesman said:

 

"This was a private sale between

two trusts. There was never any

impropriety on the part of The Duke

of York".

 

Libby Purves wrote in The Times in January 2015:

 

"Prince Andrew dazzles easily when

confronted with immense wealth and

apparent power.

He has fallen for 'friendships' with bad,

corrupt and clever men, not only in the

US but in Libya, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,

Tunisia, wherever."

 

In May 2016, a fresh controversy broke out when the Daily Mail alleged that Andrew had brokered a deal to assist a Greek and Swiss consortium in securing a £385 million contract to build water and sewerage networks in two of Kazakhstan's largest cities, while working as British trade envoy, and had stood to gain a £4 million payment in commission.

 

The newspaper published an email from Andrew to Kazakh oligarch Kenges Rakishev, (who had allegedly brokered the sale of the Prince's Berkshire mansion Sunninghill Park), and said that Rakishev had arranged meetings for the consortium.

 

After initially saying the email was a forgery, Buckingham Palace sought to block its publication as a privacy breach. The Palace denied the allegation that Andrew had acted as a "fixer," calling the article "untrue, defamatory and a breach of the editor's code of conduct".

 

A former Foreign Office minister, MP Chris Bryant stated:

 

"When I was at the Foreign Office, it was

very difficult to see in whose interests he

[Andrew] was acting. He doesn't exactly

add lustre to the Royal diadem".

 

Arms Sales

 

In March 2011, Kaye Stearman of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade told Channel 4 News that CAAT sees Prince Andrew as part of a bigger problem:

 

"He is the front man for UKTI. Our concerns

are not just Prince Andrew, it's the whole

UKTI set up.

They see arms as just another commodity,

but it has completely disproportionate

resources. At the London office of UKTI the

arms sector has more staff than all the

others put together.

We are concerned that Prince Andrew is

used to sell arms, and where you sell arms

it is likely to be to despotic regimes.

He is the cheerleader in chief for the arms

industry, shaking hands and paving the way

for the salesmen."

 

In January 2014, Prince Andrew took part in a delegation to Bahrain, a close ally of the United Kingdom. Spokesman for CAAT, Andrew Smith said:

 

"We are calling on Prince Andrew and the

UK government to stop selling arms to Bahrain.

By endorsing the Bahraini dictatorship, Prince

Andrew is giving his implicit support to their

oppressive practices.

When our government sells arms, it is giving

moral and practical support to an illegitimate

and authoritarian regime and directly supporting

their systematic crackdown on opposition groups.

We shouldn't allow our international image to be

used as a PR tool for the violent and oppressive

dictatorship in Bahrain."

 

Andrew Smith has also said:

 

"The prince has consistently used his position

to promote arms sales and boost some of the

most unpleasant governments in the world, his

arms sales haven't just given military support to

corrupt and repressive regimes. They've lent

those regimes political and international

legitimacy."

 

Reactions to Prince Andrew's Election to the Royal Society

 

Andrew's election to the Royal Society prompted "Britain's leading scientists" to "revolt" due to Andrew's lack of scientific background, with some noting he had only a secondary school level of education.

 

In an op-ed in The Sunday Times, pharmacologist, Humboldt Prize recipient, and Fellow of the Royal Society, David Colquhoun opined, in references to Andrew's qualifications, that:

 

"If I wanted a tip for the winner of

the 14.30 at Newmarket, I'd ask a

royal. For most other questions,

I wouldn't."

 

Allegations of Racist Language

 

Rohan Silva, a former Downing Street aide, claimed that, when they met in 2012, Andrew had commented:

 

"Well, if you'll pardon the expression,

that really is the nigger in the woodpile."

 

Former home secretary Jacqui Smith also claims that Andrew made a racist comment about Arabs during a state dinner for the Saudi royal family in 2007.

 

Buckingham Palace denied that Andrew had used racist language on either occasion.

 

Allegations of Ramming Gates in Windsor Great Park

 

In March 2016, Republic CEO Graham Smith filed a formal report to the police, requesting an investigation into allegations that Andrew had damaged sensor-operated gates in Windsor Great Park by forcing them open in his Range Rover to avoid going an extra mile on his way home.

 

The Thames Valley Police dismissed the reports due to lack of details.

 

Treatment of Reporters, Servants and Others

 

During his four-day Southern California tour in 1984, Andrew squirted paint onto American and British journalists and photographers who were reporting on the tour, after which he told Los Angeles county supervisor Kenneth Hahn, "I enjoyed that".

 

The incident damaged the clothes and equipment of reporters and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner submitted a $1,200 bill to the British consulate asking for financial compensation.

 

The Guardian wrote in 2022:

 

"His brusque manner with servants

is well-documented. A senior footman

once told a reporter who worked

undercover at Buckingham Palace that

on waking the prince, 'the response can

easily be "f*** off" as good morning'."

 

Former royal protection officer Paul Page said, in an ITV documentary, that:

 

"Andrew maintained a collection of

50 or 60 stuffed toys, and if they

weren't put back in the right order

by the maids, he would shout and

scream and become verbally abusive."

 

Page later stated in the documentary 'Prince Andrew: Banished' that different women would visit Andrew every day, and when one was denied entry into his residence by the security, Andrew allegedly called one of the officers a "fat, lardy-ass c**t" over the phone.

 

The Duke's former maid, Charlotte Briggs, also recalled setting up the teddy bears on his bed, and told The Sun that when she was bitten by his Norfolk Terrier in 1996, he only laughed and "wasn't bothered".

 

She said that she was reduced to tears by Andrew for not properly closing the heavy curtains in his office, and added that his behaviour was in contrast to that of his brothers Charles and Edward who "weren't anything like him" and his father Philip whom she described as "so nice and gentlemanly".

 

Massage therapist Emma Gruenbaum said Andrew regularly overstepped the mark, making creepy sexual comments when she came to give him a massage. Gruenbaum maintained Andrew talked continually about sex during the first massage, and wanted to know when she last had sex. Gruenbaum said Andrew arranged regular massages for roughly two months, and she believed requests for massages stopped when he realised he would not get more.

 

Finance and Debt Problems

 

It is unclear how Andrew finances his luxury lifestyle; in 2021 The Guardian wrote:

 

"With little in the way of visible support,

questions over how Andrew has been

able to fund his lifestyle have rarely been

answered. In the past he has appeared

to live the jetset life of a multimillionaire,

with holidays aboard luxury yachts,

regular golfing sojourns and ski trips to

exclusive resorts."

 

The Duke of York received a £249,000 annuity from the Queen.

 

In the twelve-month period up to April 2004, he spent £325,000 on flights, and his trade missions as special representative for UKTI cost £75,000 in 2003.

 

The Sunday Times reported in July 2008 that for "the Duke of York's public role,... he last year received £436,000 to cover his expenses".

 

He has a Royal Navy pension of £20,000.

 

The Duke is also a keen skier, and in 2014 bought a skiing chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, for £13 million jointly with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

 

In May 2020, it was reported that they were in a legal dispute over the mortgage. To purchase the chalet, they secured a loan of £13.25 million, and were expected to pay £5 million in cash instalments which, after applying interests, amounted to £6.8 million.

 

Despite claims that the Queen would help pay the debt, a spokesperson for Andrew confirmed that she "will not be stepping in to settle the debt".

 

The Times reported in September 2021 that Andrew and Sarah had reached a legal agreement with the property's previous owner and would sell the house.

 

The owner agreed to receive £3.4 million, half of the amount that she was owed, as she had been under the impression that Andrew and Sarah were dealing with financial troubles. The money from selling the property is reportedly to be used to pay Andrew's legal expenses over the civil lawsuit as well.

 

In June 2022 it was reported in Le Temps, a Swiss newspaper, that the sale of the chalet has been frozen because of a £1.6 million debt that Andrew owes to unnamed people.

 

Law professor Nicolas Jeandin told Le Temps:

 

"A sale is in principle impossible, except

with the agreement of the creditor."

 

In 2021 Bloomberg News reported that a firm connected to David Rowland had been paying off Andrew's debts. In November 2017, Andrew borrowed £250,000 from Banque Havilland, adding to an existing £1.25 million loan that had been "extended or increased 10 times" since 2015.

 

Documents showed that while the "credibility of the applicant" had been questioned, he was given the loan in an attempt to "further business potential with the Royal Family".

 

11 days later and in December 2017, £1.5 million was transferred from an account at Albany Reserves, which was controlled by the Rowland family, to Andrew's account at Banque Havilland, paying off the loan that was due in March 2018.

 

Liberal Democrat politician and staunch republican Norman Baker stated:

 

"This demonstrates yet again that

significant questions need to be

asked about Prince Andrew's

business dealings and his

association with some dubious

characters."

 

Several months after Andrew's controversial 2019 Newsnight interview, his private office established the Urramoor Trust, which owned both Lincelles Unlimited (established 2020) and Urramoor Ltd. (established 2013), and according to The Times was set up to support his family.

 

Lincelles was voluntarily wound up in 2022. Andrew was described as a "settlor but not a beneficiary", and did not own either of the companies, though Companies House listed him and his private banker of 20 years Harry Keogh as people with "significant control".

 

In March 2022 it was reported that on the 15th. November 2019 the wife of the jailed former Turkish politician İlhan İşbilen transferred £750,000 to Andrew in the belief that it would help her secure a passport.

 

The Duke repaid the money 16 months later after being contacted by Mrs İşbilen's lawyers. The Telegraph reported that the money sent to Andrew's account had been described to the bankers "as a wedding gift" for his eldest daughter, Beatrice, though the court documents did not include any suggestions that the princess was aware of the transactions.

 

Mrs İşbilen alleges that a further £350,000 payment was made to Andrew through businessman Selman Turk, who Mrs İşbilen is suing for fraud. Turk had been awarded the People's Choice Award for his business Heyman AI at a Pitch@Palace event held at St. James's Palace days before the £750,000 payment was made by Mrs İşbilen.

 

Even though he won the award through a public vote online and an audience vote on the night of the ceremony, there were concerns raised with a senior member of the royal household that Turk was "gaming the system" and should not have won as "he may have used bots – autonomous internet programs – to boost his vote".

 

Libyan-born convicted gun smuggler, Tarek Kaituni introduced Andrew to Selman Turk in May or June 2019 and held later meetings on at least two occasions. Kaituni, for whom Andrew allegedly lobbied a British company, had reportedly gifted Princess Beatrice with an £18,000 gold and diamond necklace for her 21st. birthday in 2009, and was invited to Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018.

 

Titles, Styles, Honours and Arms

 

19th. February 1960 – 23rd. July 1986: His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew

 

23rd. July 1986 – present: His Royal Highness The Duke of York

 

As of September 2022, Andrew is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne. On rare occasions, he is known by his secondary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

 

In 2019, Inverness residents started a campaign to strip him of that title, stating that "it is inappropriate that Prince Andrew is associated with our beautiful city", in light of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Similar pleas have been made by people affiliated with the village of Killyleagh and the city of York regarding his titles of Baron Killyleagh and Duke of York, with Labour Co-op MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, stating that she would look for ways to make Andrew give up his ducal title if he did not voluntarily relinquish it.

 

In January 2022, it was reported that, while Andrew retains the style of His Royal Highness, he would no longer use it in a public capacity.

 

In April 2022, several York councillors called for Andrew to lose the title Duke of York. Also in 2022, there was a renewed petition to strip him of the Earl of Inverness title.

 

-- Relinquishing of Titles

 

On the 17th. October 2025, following discussions with King Charles, Andrew agreed to cease using his titles of the Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, and his honours, including his knighthoods as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

 

Andrew publicly stated:

 

"We have concluded the continued accusations

about me distract from the work of His Majesty

and the Royal Family."

 

Andrew was to remain a prince following the interactions with his older brother, but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

 

Prince Andrew has been under increasing pressure over his links with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and has faced a series of scandals - in the statement he reiterates:

 

"I vigorously deny the accusations

against me."

 

Andrew's former wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will continue to have the title of Princess.

 

Sean Coughlan of the BBC commented in relation to the latest development:

 

"Andrew might be seen as having to jump before he

was pushed, as the Palace had seemed increasingly

exasperated at the scandals that kept swirling around

him."

 

On the 30th. October 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles III had started the "formal process" to remove his brother's style, titles, and honours. Andrew's name was removed from the Roll of the Peerage the same day.

 

Although this did not revoke Andrew's peerages, it meant that he was no longer entitled to any place in the orders of precedence derived from them, and would cease to be addressed or referred to by any title derived from his peerages in official documents. Letters patent were issued on the 3rd. November officially removing Andrew of the style "Royal Highness" and title "Prince".

 

Andrew will henceforth be known as Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten Windsor.

06 September 2013

  

Metering Mode: Spot

Exposure Bias Value: 0

Exposure Time: 30 sec

ISO Speed Ratings: 3200

F-number: 3.5

Focal Length: 24mm

  

Nikon D700 + Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens on a Gitzo Series 5 Systematic 3 Section Long Tripod GT5532LS + Wimberley WH-200 Gimbal Head + MH-01 Pro: Monopod Head with B2-Pro II

  

for more pictures please visit the links below:

  

www.flickr.com/photos/cvsarabo

  

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Jimi used to have a flat in the bohemian quarters of Möllan (Möllevången) Mila his then girlfriend comes out by the gate and a photographer with a systematic camera (me) snaps a frame of history… probably to either go to the park or one of our favorite cafés…

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/MushroomBrain once a fake inhabitant of the Moulin