#Mount Balfour

[thorsenmark]

I Caught a Glimpse of a Turquoise Lake Amongst the Tall Mountains (Banff National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views across a forest of evergreens to more distant ridges and peaks of the Waputik Range at Hector Lake Viewpoint. This is in Banff National Park along the Icefields Parkway.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Eli Lake

Just over a year ago, the entire world woke up to news of a massacre.

We all know the horrid tale. Waves of gunmen—some on paragliders, others on motorcycles—attacked families at kibbutzim and young people attending a music festival. The marauders filmed their murders on GoPro cameras. They burned families alive in their safe rooms, raped and mutilated their victims, and took hostages back to Gaza on golf carts. 

Why did they do it? 

This is how Al Jazeera journalist Marc Lamont Hill ascribed the motivation: “Before October 7, the people of Gaza didn’t have one minute of self-determination.” Never mind that Israel pulled out of the territory in 2005. Hill calls this fact “a right-wing lie that we’ve got to dissect with the truth, which is that for a hundred years there’s been a settler colonial project.”

For progressives, October 7 was a jailbreak from an open-air prison. 

But for the belligerents, it was Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: an act of jihad, or holy war. 

That’s what Hamas said shortly afterward, anyway. On October 10, they released a communiqué, which explained that the purpose of this massacre was “to bolster the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of the open aggression of the occupation, thwart its schemes and dreams of Judaizing Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and achieve victory for the just cause of our Palestinian people and our struggle for the liberation of our land, prisoners, and sanctities.” 

It’s worth lingering on that phrase, “Judaizing Jerusalem and al-Aqsa.”

Because it reveals something very important about the Israel-Palestine conflict: that much of this is not about a country; it is about an ancient city. The world knows it as Jerusalem. The Palestinians call it Al-Quds. In the middle of this city is a large hill known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or noble sanctuary. Here, there are two great mosques: Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa. This, Muslims believe, is where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven in a dream.

And if you listen to Hamas, they’ll tell you that there is a plot by the Jews to destroy Al-Aqsa and build a third Jewish Temple where it now stands. 

That is a lie.

It’s been 57 years since Israel won the territory in the Six-Day War—plenty of time to Judaize Temple Mount. And though there are a few on the fringe of Israeli politics who speak fanatically about the desire to build a third temple, every government since Jerusalem was reunified has entrusted the mosques on top of the mountain to the guardianship of a Jordanian religious agency known as the Waqf.

Muslims, not Jews, remain the custodians of Al-Aqsa. 

But it’s worth understanding where this lie came from.

Palestinian nationalism has taken many forms over the past century, from Maoism to Islamism, but this one theme persists: Jews have no place in their ancestral homeland, and they threaten the third holiest site in Islam. You hear it over and over again in the history of Palestinian revolts. And it stems directly from one man.

Born in 1895 to one of Jerusalem’s great families, he could trace his lineage back to the prophet Muhammad himself. He was a seminary school dropout, an antisemite, and a Nazi collaborator—and the first leader of Palestine. His name was Haj Amin al-Husseini. And while Palestinians today are embarrassed by his legacy, it’s a legacy that explains many of the pathologies that still afflict their leaders—from the celebration of spectacular violence to the rejection of compromise.

The story begins in 1920, just three years after the British adopted the Balfour Declaration, by which the empire promised to facilitate the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.

The British became the protectorate of Palestine in 1920, but they did not conquer or covet the land; it had been entrusted to the empire through the League of Nations. Before the British Mandate, Palestine had belonged to the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed after World War I. There had never been a Palestinian state as such.

But there had been Arab nationalism—both as a backlash against the Ottoman empire, and as a movement based on shared language, culture, and geography, according to Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

And the first birth pangs of a Palestinian national movement began as a rejection of the Balfour Declaration—and specifically, the Zionist Jews returning to Palestine to create a Jewish state. It’s at this volatile moment that a young Haj Amin al-Husseini came onto the scene.

On April 4, 1920—which, in the Christian calendar, was Easter Sunday—Jerusalem’s Muslims were celebrating the festival of Nabi Musa, which involves marching to the tomb of Moses near Jericho.

A crowd chanted: “Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs.” 

Al-Husseini, who was only 23 years old at the time, stood on a balcony in the Old City, held up a photograph of King Faisal of Syria, and shouted: “This is your king.”

King Faisal was one of the first independent Arab leaders to emerge after World War I, and at the time, many Palestinians considered the territory to be southern Syria.

The crowd then descended on the Jewish quarter of the old city, bearing knives and clubs. In the ensuing pogrom, five Jews and four Arabs were killed. All told, 211 Jews and 33 Arabs were wounded in the riots. 

[librawritesstuff]

Here in America review: TheStage.co.uk (paywall)

Via ShaunEvansFans FB

David Edgar’s cerebral drama about artists trying to survive in a time of political repression

Set in a 1950s America caught in the grip of anti-communist paranoia and political persecution, David Edgar’s knotty new drama centres on a fraught conversation between superstar dramatist Arthur Miller and infamous Broadway director Elia Kazan. Directed by James Dacre, the play sees both men called to testify before the House Un-American Activities committee, with Kazan questioning his commitment to the left-wing ideals he held in his youth, and Miller laying out a robust argument for showing solidarity with blacklisted artists.

Edgar ably captures his famous subjects’ complexities and contradictions, nailing their honed intellectualism and overweening egos. Their dialogue is intricate and at times impenetrable, full of veiled references and snarky remarks. Both men take delight in presenting the other with ethical paradoxes, giving their debates a slippery circular feel.

Dacre sets a rattling pace, perhaps losing some of the text’s nuances among the rapid-fire dialogue, but effectively establishing a taut, noirish mood of unspoken menace. Intense emotions simmer under a deceptively placid surface of conversations about games of Scrabble or the Hollywood studio system.

Charles Balfour’s severe lighting adds to the threatening feel, pinning the actors in cold white beams or gilding them with golden haloes. Sudden blackouts or the flickering white of camera flashes add to the oppressive mood. Simon Kenny’s stark set is left almost completely bare, with just a pair of curved benches and a drift of blackened leaves hinting at a chilly Connecticut setting. A concealed plinth rises at certain moments, creating an intimidating witness stand for informants to mount before they give their testimonies. Its surface is decorated with rows of glowing stars, like a monochrome American flag.

As Kazan, Shaun Evans displays a gruff, harassed edge, justifying testifying against his friends as an expedient act of self-preservation. Despite continually clashing with Michael Aloni’s Miller, the two share a clear brotherly affection, and Evans conveys visible anxiety about compromising the relationship. For his part, Aloni gives Miller a believable air of infuriating insouciance, balanced by deeply held convictions. Although he remains detached and sardonic, he is driven by disgust at the unfairness and injustice he sees all around.

Faye Castelow is strong as Kazan’s deeply conservative wife Day, her prim manners and frosty condescension giving way to wide-eyed haranguing as she lays out an articulate, if inherently flawed, argument for unrestrained capitalism supported by a repressive, restrictive government. And Jasmine Blackborow plays a ghostly Marilyn Monroe, capturing her distinct mannerisms, magnetism and fragility. Repeatedly interrupting Miller and Kazan’s pompous posturing to pose inconvenient questions about their own unethical choices, she provides an incorruptible moral compass at the heart of this intriguing, if unwieldy play.

[omgkalyppso]

OC Masterlist

If I forget any of them I apologize. Last updated March 10th.

If you open this and regret it you can press J to skip this post on desktop.

Baldur's Gate 3 / D&D:

Étoile - high elf oath of devotion oathbreaker paladin of Auril Borgakh - orc hunter ranger Meabh - wood half-elf assassin rogue dark urge Zavorys - mephistopheles tiefling oath of devotion paladin of Lathander Uleri - deep gnome illusion wizard Upton - bronze dragonborn fighter Voriya - seladrine drow draconic bloodline sorcerer dark urge Cemryt - mephistopheles tiefling bard Aoibhinn - hill / gold dwarf hunter ranger / monk Orboloth - lolth-sworn drow druid dark urge Determination - asmodeus tiefling tempest domain cleric of Selûne Yar'sul - githyanki barbarian Baudelaire - wood half-elf archfey warlock dark urge Arilemn - elven aasimar arcane archer fighter Serenity - high half-elf asmodeus tiefling college of swords bard Naimh - hill / gold dwarf horizon walker ranger Anivine - asmodeus tiefling life domain cleric of Lathander Artie - zariel tiefling oath of ancients paladin Zoltan - bronze dragonborn druid dark urge Namanyla - wood elf oath of ancients paladin, head of Adventurer's Guild in Baldur's Gate Anastasia - human vampire spawn, Leon's branch Jarnarei "Joy" - zariel tiefling, blacksmith clerk, Cal's partner Nephemir - asmodeus tiefling, baker, Lia's lover Vanora - water genasi unholy death knight, Umberlee's Chosen Tybalt - werewolf ranger, Malar's Chosen Gillian - werewolf fighter, Tybalt's wife Zavael'ahn - talosian drow sorcerer, Talos' Chosen Chri'dalto - zariel tiefling great old one warlock Vandren - high elf turned fiend, college of whispers bard Mordeimos "Atonement" - zariel tiefling monk Bedivere - Zevlor's summoned mount Blbxrl - Fimbrul Devil loyal to Mephistopheles in Raphael's service Yakrayat - Rakshasa Demon imprisoned in Avernus Nev - asmodeus tiefling sold soul during Descent Into Avernus Rohn - asmodeus tiefling sold soul during Descent Into Avernus Sozican - white dragon who has an albino drow guise

Fire Emblem:

Fodlan:

Faedolyn - fe3h My Unit / Byleth oc Zoran - Faedolyn's genderfluid brother Avery - few3h My Unit / Shez oc Almanzor - Dimitri's cousin / Rufus' son Josiane - ex or ongoing Rufus lover Lucanus - Dimitri's cousin / Rufus' son Paulette - ex Rufus lover Eugénie - Felix's mother / Rodrigue's wife Évrard - Blaiddyd bastard impersonator / Rufus idolizer Armand - Rodrigue's brother Violaine - Armand's wife Jocelyn - Armand's son Fabrice - Armand's second son Dijana - Faedolyn's mother Balfour - Faedolyn's father Enok - Zoran's father Adrijan - Fae and Zoran's uncle / Dijana's brother Taisiya - Dimitri's mother Imelda - Mercedes & Jeritza's mother / Dimitri's aunt / Taisiya's sister Cocytus - Avery's adoptive mother / Agarthan kidnapper Othello - Avery's father Rosalind - Avery's mother Peregrine - Almanzor's wife Huguette - Peregrine's daughter Apolline - Peregrine's second daughter Rebecca - Claude's mother Régimbald - Lorenz's father Agneth - Lorenz's mother / Ionius IX's sister / Edelgard's aunt Ayane - Lorenz's mother when not Edelgard's cousin Philomène - Évrard's best friend Herschel - Hilda's father Hanna - Hilda's mother Ionius VIII - Ionius IX & Agneth's father Eurybia - Ionius IX & Agneth's mother Serge - Rodrigue's chief of staff Wilmar - Lorenz's chief of staff Olive - Ashe's sister / Oren's twin Oren - Ashe's brother / Olive's twin Luzia - Dedue's sister

Almyra:

Sarim - Claude's brother Sara - Claude's sister Asmaa - Claude's sister Shahid* - Claude's brother Sajad - Claude's brother Rumaisa - Claude's sister Shohreh - Sarim's wife Ami - Sara's (second) husband Yaser - Asmaa's husband Isabelle - Rumaisa's girlfriend Imran - Shahid's partner Samiya - Shahid's wife Hadiya - Shahid's mother Rahim - Claude and siblings' father / King of Almyra Noor - Sarim and Shohreh's daughter Ana - Sarim and Shohreh's second daughter Farid - Sarim and Shohreh's son Ben - Sara and Ami's son Alain - Sara and Ami's second son Tamara - Geralt's childminder Vera - Nader's childminder Miri - Sadaf's childminder

OT5 kids:

Halvard - Lorenz and Hilda's son Lorencia - Lorenz and Hilda's daughter Nader - Claude and Fae's son / Geralt's twin Geralt - Claude and Fae's second son / Nader's twin Sadaf - Claude and Fae's daughter Baldovin - Lorenz and Hilda's second son Diana - Avery and Fae's daughter Simon - Claude and Fae's third son

Fankids:

Blythe - Dimitri and Marianne son Elspeth - Sylvain and Felix daughter Keegan - Caspar and Ashe daughter Fernan - Dedue and Mercedes son Idoya - Dedue and Mercedes daughter in merciesyldue configuration Nicodème - Sylvain and Dedue son in merciesyldue configuration

Ylisse:

Evalynn - fe:a My Unit / Robin oc Morris - prime timeline Morgan Lucy - prime timeline Lucina Miradonna - fe:a My Unit / Robin oc or Plegian oc Noravanna - Miradonna and Vaike daughter

Creatures:

Ghaymah / Honor - Claude's wyvern / cat Haris - Faedolyn's wyvern Unnamed - Hilda's first wyvern (dies in war) Braith - Hilda's second wyvern (dies in war) Unnamed - Hilda's third wyvern Magic - Lorenz's horse / dog Cookies And Cream "Cookie" - Zoran and Jeritza's cat Smoked Peach Skewer "Smokey" - Zoran and Jeritza's cat Justice - Caspar and Ashe kitten Chivalry / Tapeworm - Caspar's kitten Moonlight Knight "Mimi" - Sitri's cat Galahad - Ashe's cat Paladin - Ashe's cat Meatball - Caspar's cat Inferno - Caspar's cat Knives - Caspar's cat Dragon - Nader's cat / Claude's childhood cat Little Monster - Hanna (Hilda's mother)'s cat Noraxia - Holst's cat / wyvern Nidhogg - Holst's cat / wyvern Vigil - Sylvain's horse Lady Caramel de Bushels of Apples - Ferdinand's horse Cinnamon Brambleberry Racer - Sylvain and then Felix's horse

Skyrim:

Meldiara - stealth and bow dunmer dragonborn Wylla - sword and shield imperial dragonborn werewolf Oretia - sword and shield imperial Farknir - nord sorcerer, Meldiara's brother Drynlof - nord sorcerer, Meldiara and Farknir's father Vigdna - nord civilian, Farknir's mother Ninayne - dunmer civilian, Meldiara's mother

Dragon Age:

Aerynne Aeducan - dual sword warrior, Paragon Farasuta Tabris - dual weapon rogue, Warden-Commander Illusen Amell - entropy healer, fugitive Galadriel Cousland - dual weapon rogue, Queen of Fereldan Wylla Brosca - two-handed warrior, Warden-Commander Maeve Mahariel - two-handed warrior, sacrificial lamb Marian Hawke - blue dual weapon rogue Kalyppso Hawke - blue dual weapon rogue Illusen Hawke - purple force mage healer Ursula Hawke - red sword and shield warrior Samaire Cadash - tempest rogue Aneirin Lavellan - assassin rogue Tarren Lavellan - champion warrior Olwen Lavellan - rift mage Mildred Trevelyan - knight-enchanter mage Wylla Cadash - reaver warrior

Mass Effect:

Jolene Shepard - Paragade, colonist, war hero, vanguard Victoria Shepard - Renegade, earth-born, ruthless, adept Celeste Shepard - Paragon, spacer, war hero, engineer Josephine Shepard - Renegon, colonist, war hero, sentinel

FFXIV:

Sawyer - midlander hyur, monk / bard wol Sybille - wildwood elezen, scholar, Sawyer's interpreter Turold - Sawyer's father / Borgakh's husband

Original Setting / Stolen from Setting:

J - vampire jazz pianist from a sci fi future Theo - supernatural investigator Nova - magnetic presence for supernatural creatures

[scotianostra]

On May 29th 1679 Covenanters under Sir Robert Hamilton take Rutherglen before evading government troops.

This was another of those declarations that Covenanters liked to do every now and then, in this one they announced that it was a lawful act to kill King Charles II.

Around seventy to eighty armed and mounted Covenanters rode into Rutherglen and read out a declaration, originally known as the Rutherglen Testimony which condemned the acts which made conventicles and support for the Covenant illegal. It had been planned to affix it to the cross in Glasgow, but the presence of Claverhouse and his soldiers made them change their mind and Rutherglen was chosen instead. The day was supposedly identified as one on which to celebrate the restoration of Charles II, but the Covenanters at Rutherglen extinguished the bonfires which had been lit to mark the event. A copy of the declaration was then affixed to the marked cross and the Covenanters rode off towards the moors for protection.

They were led by Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston, 2nd Baronet, John ‘Burleigh’ Balfour, and James Russell. and local outed minister, Rev John Dickson. Rev Thomas Douglas led the crowd in prayer and Hamilton read out the seven parts of the declaration which denounced episcopacy and the royal supremacy. The King’s statutes, including the Act of Supremacy, was taken from the market cross and burned in a fire lit by the Covenanters. Within a short period of time, the Covenanters were met at Drumclog, by the soldiers under John Graham of Claverhouse.

I will cover the Battle of Drumclog on its anniversary later this week.

Here is an extract from the declaration......

‘As the Lord hath been pleased to keep and preserve his interest in this land, by the testimony of faithful witnesses from the beginning, so some in our days have not been wanting, who, upon great hazards, have added their testimony to the testimony of those who have gone before them, and who have suffered imprisonments, finings, forfeitures, banishment, torture, and death from an evil and perfidious adversary to the church and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in the land. Now we being pursued by the same adversary for our lives, while owning the interest of Christ, according to his word, and in the national and solemn league and covenants, judge it our duty (though unworthy, yet hoping we are true members of the church of Scotland) to add our testimony to those of the worthies who have gone before us, in witnessing against all things that have been done publicly in prejudice of his interest, from the beginning of the work of reformation, especially from the year 1648 downward to the year 1660. But more particularly those since, as 1. Against the act recissory, for over turning the whole covenanted reformation. 2. Against the acts for erecting and establishing of abjured prelacy. [66] 3. Against that declaration imposed upon, and subscribed by all persons in public trust, where the covenants are renounced and condemned. 4. Against the act and declaration published at Glasgow, for outing of the faithful ministers who could not comply with prelacy, whereby 300 and upwards of them were illegally ejected. 5. Against that presumptuous act for imposing an holy anniversary day, as they call it, to be kept yearly upon the 29th of May, as a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the king’s birth and restoration; whereby the appointers have intruded upon the Lord’s prerogative, and the observers have given glory to the creature that is due to our Lord Redeemer, and rejoiced over the setting up an usurping power to the destroying the interest of Christ in the land. 6. Against the explicatory act, 1669, and sacrilegious supremacy enacted and established thereby. 7. Lastly. Against the acts of council, their warrants and instructions for indulgence, and all other their sinful and unlawful acts, made and executed by them, for promoting their usurped supremacy. And, for confirmation of this our testimony, we do this day, being the 29th of May 1679, publicly at the cross of Rutherglen, most justly burn and above mentioned acts, to evidence our dislike and testimony against the same, as they have unjustly, perfidiously, and presumptuously burned our sacred covenants. And, we hope, none will take exception against our not subscribing this our testimony, being so solemnly published; since we are always ready to do in this as shall be judged necessary, by consent of the rest of our suffering brethren in Scotland.

The pic is of a memorial plaque at Rutherglen Mercat Cross.

[agesinmotion]

OCTOBER 30TH

Imagine the world shifting in a single day, October 30!

In 637, the powerful city of Antioch falls to the Rashidun Caliphate, marking a major win in the early Islamic conquests.

On this day in 1905 Russian Tsar Nicholas II, facing mounting unrest, grants civil liberties and opens the doors to the first parliament, setting the stage for massive change.

By 1917, the British government greenlights the Balfour Declaration, shaping the future of the Middle East.

In a darker pact of 1939, the USSR and Nazi Germany divide Poland, redrawing Europe's borders with tragic consequences.

Then in 1961, the Soviet Union detonates the colossal Tsar Bomba, unleashing a mind-bending explosion and marking a terrifying peak in the nuclear era.

Each moment is a ripple in history, echoing into our present.

[palestinianfreedom]

Overview of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The purpose of this post is to help those who may not have full understanding of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the past context around it. As it is, the situation changes every day and the history goes back 70 years, so it is nigh impossible to encapsulate its entirety within a singular blog post. That being said, I hope people can use this post as a starting point to launch further research and education into the genocide in Palestine.

Historical Context

The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be traced back to the late 19th century, with the rise of national movements, including Zionism and Arab nationalism. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the British government, endorsed the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which led to an influx of Jewish immigrants to the region.

Following World War II and the Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel in 1948. The establishment of Israel, and the war that followed and preceded it, led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who became refugees.

After 1948, 150,000 Palestinians remained in Israel and were eventually granted citizenship. However, they were subjected to military rule until 1966. After the conquest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, Israel began its military control over Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Since its creation, Israel has acted as a colonizer state violently oppressing the Palestinian people on their own land. Hamas, in turn, was formed in response to this violence as a way to fight back against the oppression.

Present Day

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel and took hundreds of Israeli hostages, releasing about half of them in November in exchange for a four-day ceasefire and the freedom of a hundred Palestinian prisoners. However, Israel's response to the initial attack is still ongoing: committing active genocide against all Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Within a month after the attack, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) had killed approximately 12,000 Palestinians (compared to the 1,200 Israeli casualties in the initial attack). Since then, that number has nearly tripled, reaching over 30,000 dead and 70,000 wounded Palestinians as of April 2024.

Of those killed, >100 were journalists, >400 were medical staff, and >13,000 were children. In fact, 72% of Palestinian casualties have been women and children.

[paddy603]

US On High Alert Amid Israel-Iran Shadow War: Origins Of Conflict Explained; The roots of Iran-Israel shadow war trace back to the overthrow of Iran's last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1979.

In fact having read" The Modern Middle East " by Jeremy Bowden. He was the BBC's Middle East correspondent based in Jerusalem between 1995 and 2000[2] and the BBC Middle East editor from 2005 to 2022.

In his book I was reminded that this all started back in 1890 when Herzl an Austro Hungarian Jew was talking with a fellow scholar and former Mayor of Jerusalem during the Ottoman period. Talks with Yusaf Diya al-Din al-Khilidi about the prospect of introducing Jews from Europe back into the then Palestine. (renamed Syria-Palestinia by the Romans when the Jews were sent into exile.

In 1948 the reality of that conversation and the Balfour agreement, all changed as Israel became a state. But if peace were ever to come, Israel would first have to survive the military campaign to eliminate it — five Arab armies attacked on May, 15, 1948, Israel’s first full day of independence. Hence that conflict has never been quelled but continued to fester as with these latest threats from Iran, Lebanon and Syria with threats from Hezbollah, and Hamas to annihilate Israel.

In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, there’s an intriguing incident where Jesus encounters a fig tree that is full of leaves, despite it being too early in the season for fig trees to be so lush. Upon closer inspection, Jesus finds that the tree bears no fruit. In response, He curses the fig tree, saying, “May you never bear fruit again!” Later, the disciples discover that the tree has withered.

This seemingly puzzling event holds deeper symbolism:

1. Israel: The fig tree represents the nation of Israel. Just as the tree bore leaves but lacked fruit, Israel would experience periods of fruitlessness despite its advantages 2. Jesus’ action serves as a parable, 3. foreshadowing the judgment that would befall Jerusalem.

A prophecy that He goes on to explain in it's fulfilment of when Israel's return to their land: The phrase “this generation shall not pass” appears in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s part of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount of Olives, often referred to as the Olivet Discourse. Let’s delve into its meaning: The specific passage containing this phrase is Matthew 24:34. Jesus responds to His disciples’ questions about the signs of His coming and the end of the age.

"Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near.

Context

The Lesson of the Fig tree.

Jesus declares, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). The phrase “this generation” refers to those living during that time. A generation is generally regarded as three score and ten, seventy years. Is that generation not ours Israel became a state in 1948 I was born in 1949 my generation, surely that makes one think when will this happen who will start the war on Israel.?

"Iran gives USA a chilling warning to 'stay away so you won't get hurt' as it vows revenge on Israel. 'Stay away so you won't get hurt,' Iran warned the US after vowing to get revenge for a strike widely attributed to Israel which killed Iranian military staff at the country's consulate in Syria." By Benjamin Lynch News Reporter & Charlie Jones News Reporter 16:57, 6 Apr 2024 UPDATED 00:21, 7 APR 2024. The Mirror.

Tensions mount between Iran, Israel amid Vienna nuke talks, Analysis; TEHRAN, Dec. 25 2021 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) completed on Friday the final stage of the five-day “Great Prophet 17” military drills, sending through the words of its commanders a warning message to Israeli threats.

The threat of war seems so much closer now as one mad man is threatening the world with his finger poised on the Nuclear button to our Annihilation. Wars and rumours of wars, climate change, warnings of financial collapse, famines and floods. All of these are happening now so what happens next?

"And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Matthew 24:6-8.

"Ezekiel ch. 38,39 prophecy is looking to be fulfilled in our lifetime. The Middle Eastern invasion led by Iran, Russia, and Turkey is on the horizon. Jesus is returning for His Church (the Rapture) sooner than we realize. Be watchful and ready." Val Waldeck,

Many of today’s Bible prophecy teachers and students are devoting a lot of their attention to the prophecies written over 2500 years ago in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This increased interest is driven in large part by a general consensus among them that the details of the prophecy are drawing near to fulfilment. This article will take a look at the final fulfilment of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The following time periods will be examined to see which one best fits the descriptions provided by the Hebrew prophet. Most think that time has come and that prophecy about to be fulfilled in our time.

The Iranian regime has spent billions of dollars on weapons and fighters shipped to Syria since the start of the Syrian revolution in March 2011. It has also financed a large part of the economy in the regime-controlled parts of Syria through loans and credit lines worth billions of dollars. The Assad regime would have collapsed were it not for this Iranian support.

One result of this heavy Iranian involvement in the war in Syria has been a change in the nature of the relationship between the Syrian and the Iranian regimes. From historically being mutually beneficial allies, the Iranian regime is now effectively the dominant force in regime-held areas of Syria, and can thus be legally considered an “occupying force,” with the responsibilities that accompany such a role.

Another book that highlights the volitivity of the Middle East is in Jeremy Bowen's own story on the "Modern Middle East." I also to tended to question David Cameron's return as Foreign Secretary with his past failed handling of Middle Eastern states at war and in crisis during his premiership.

He made a total hash of Libya by deposing Gadhafi and not helping to bring about change to fill the political void left in his absence. The same in working with Baraka Obama with their failed bid to remove Bashur Al Assad from power in Syria. In the end unable to get the backing of his Parliament to enter the war to then actually being mocked by Bashur Al Assad who is still in power thanks to the Russian's backing him.

Will War in Ukraine Further Destabilize Syria? Where are Israel in this Conflict?'

Israel has increasingly gone public with its support for Ukraine while avoiding public condemnation of Russia, the primary backer of the Syrian regime, which is classified by Israel as an enemy state on its northern border.

Israel against Gaza where do they fit in? As one who studies the regional conflicts I have to ask has the world once again taken it's eye off what we are not seeing with this conflict. How will it end?

Are Russia and Israel on a collision course with Iran threat and Israel's conflict with Syria? To repeat "Iran warned the US after vowing to get revenge for a strike widely attributed to Israel which killed Iranian military staff at the country's consulate in Syria." By Benjamin Lynch News Reporter & Charlie Jones News Reporter 16:57, 6 Apr 2024 UPDATED 00:21, 7 APR 2024. The Mirror.

Recent Russian statements have prompted speculation about Moscow's response to Israeli strikes in Syria. If there's a shift, it could pose problems for the US, as the situation between Israel and Russia is also very fragile and complicated.

There is reason to believe that violence in Ukraine and global geopolitical wrangling could spiral into other parts of the world—including Syria that both Iran and Russia think they have a right to as well as Russia's claim to Ukraine.

NATO Boss' 'Compromise With Putin' Remark Shocks Zelensky As Russian Army Advances At Frontline.

Avery recent statement from NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said "Ukraine may have to agree to some kind of compromise with Russia to end the conflict. In an interview with the BBC published on April 6, Stoltenberg said "It was up to Ukraine to choose when and under what conditions to seek peace with Russia." He also added, "At the end of the day, it has to be Ukraine that decides what kind of compromises they’re willing to do." Watch INTERNATIONAL NEWS.

The fact that one man—one man—is responsible for this huge geopolitical shift is deeply significant. It wouldn’t have happened without him using his power and having the will to step out and shake the nations, But does this imply bible prophecy is actually the case here and he is that Prince of Rosh, or is it is simply more conspiracy speculation.“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him’” Ezekiel 38:1-2

As one who studies the bible maybe the world needs to refocus on what next. For as we normalize relations with Iran due to our need of oil and as a result the United States' willingness to renegotiate the Iran Nuclear deal have we taken our eye off the eye of the storm to come.

Jesus said of this time "Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28

[xtruss]

Illegal Regime of the Terrorist Fascist Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell— Forever Palestine Conflict!

A Brief History in Maps and Charts! As Gaza Reels From Terrorist 🐖 Isra-hell’s Devastating Bombardments, Here’s a Brief History of the Conflict Using Maps and Charts.

— By Mohammed Haddad & Alia Chughtai | Published: 27 November 2023

Map of the Forever Palestine 🇵🇸 before “Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐗 ” were illegally given space to live by the “War Criminal US, UK, Germany, France and the West” in Forever Palestine 🇵🇸.

Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, including 10,000 women and children, in over 50 days, making it the deadliest war for the besieged Palestinian enclave till date.

Israel has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire as a four-day humanitarian truce comes to an end on November 28. It is unclear whether the truce will be extended.

The devastation of Gaza and the mounting death toll has triggered worldwide protests, bringing the decades-long issue to the centre-stage of global politics.

The Bloody British Bastards’ Balfour Declaration

The Isra-helli-Palestinian issue goes back nearly a century when Britain, during World War I, pledged to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine under the Balfour Declaration. British troops took control of the territory from the Ottoman Empire at the end of October 1917.

Jewish (The Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐗) Immigration To Forever Palestine 🇵🇸

A large-scale Jewish migration to Palestine began, accelerated by Jewish people fleeing Nazism in Europe. Between 1918 and 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 6 percent to 33 percent.

Palestinians were alarmed by the demographic change and tensions rose, leading to the Palestinian revolt from 1936 to 1939.

Meanwhile, Zionist organisations continued to campaign for a homeland for Jews in Palestine. Armed Zionist militias started to attack the Palestinian people, forcing them to flee. Zionism, which emerged as a political ideology in the late 19th century, called for the creation of a Jewish homeland.

The UN (Illegal) Partition Plan

As violence ravaged Palestine, the matter was referred to the newly formed United Nations. In 1947, the UN adopted Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, handing over about 55 percent of the land to Jews. Arabs were granted 45 percent of the land, while Jerusalem was declared a separate internationalised territory.

The city is currently divided between West Jerusalem, which is predominantly Jewish, and East Jerusalem with a majority Palestinian population. Israel captured East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967 along with the West Bank – a step not recognised by the international community.

The Old City in occupied East Jerusalem holds religious significance for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. It is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount.

In 1981, the UN designated it a World Heritage Site.

The Nakba

Leading up to Israel’s birth in 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes by Zionist militias. This mass exodus came to be known as the Nakba or catastrophe. A further 300,000 Palestinians were displaced by the Six-Day War in 1967.

Israel declared the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980, but the international community still considers it an occupied territory. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The Oslo Accords

In 1993, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, which aimed to achieve peace within five years. It was the first time the two sides recognised each other.

A second agreement in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three parts – Area A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority, which was created in the wake of the Oslo Accords, was offered only limited rule on 18 percent of the land as Israel effectively continued to control the West Bank.

Isra-helli Illegal Settlements and Checkpoints

However, the Oslo Accords slowly broke down as Israeli settlements, Jewish communities built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, grew at a rapid pace.

The settlement population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem grew from approximately 250,000 in 1993 to up to 700,000 in September this year. About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The building of Israeli settlements and a separation wall on occupied territories has fragmented the the Palestinian communities and restricted their mobility. About 700 road obstacles, including 140 checkpoints, dot the West Bank. About 70,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits cross these checkpoints in their daily commute.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law. The UN has condemned settlements, calling it a big hurdle in the realisation of a viable Palestinian state as part of the so-called “two-state solution”.

Illegal Blockade of Gaza

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Hamas group came to power. The siege continues till date. Israel also occupies the West Bank and East Jerusalem – the territories Palestinians want to be part of their future state.

Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting its supplies of electricity, food, water, and fuel in the wake of a surprise Hamas attack inside Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed in that attack.

Illegal 🐖 Isra-hell and Forever Palestine 🇵🇸 Now

This is what Israel and Palestine look like now.

Today, about 5 million Palestinians live in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 1.6 million Palestinians are citizens of Israel. This makes up about half of their total population. The other half lives in other countries, including Arab countries. There are about 14.7 million Jews around the world today, of which 84 percent live in Israel and the United States. The rest live in other countries including France, Canada, Argentina and Russia.

Here is an account of Palestinian and Isra-helli lives lost to the violence between 2008 and 2023.

— Data Compiled By Sarah Shamim

— Source: Al-Jazeera English

[gen2book]

You wanted a murder 2011

Performance for: 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, 16-26/06/2011 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale (Artistic Directors: Ai WeiWei and Seung H-Sang), 02/09 – 23/10/2011

The performance, “You wanted a murder”, was conceived in response to an invitation by curatorial collective N as part of the Australian contribution for the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. A set of written instructions describing the performance was given to N who was in charge of executing the script and documenting the action with one single photograph – taken by a team operating a custom-made camera Obscura mounted on a truck.

This performance questions one of the claims made by Bernard Tschumi in his Advertisements for Architecture (1976-1977) series: “To really appreciate architecture you may even need to commit a murder”, further examining, as Tschumi states, “the dissociation between the immediacy of spatial experience and the analytical definition of theoretical concepts”. “You wanted a murder” avoids the usual space of the gallery or theatre and uses the street as a setting. ‘[T]he event’ – a fundamental architectural concept forwarded by Tschumi – is inverted, literally turned against him through the symbolic staging of a murder. The script calls for the character, B.T., to be run over. In doing so, the truck with the camera obscura is not only implicated as the witness but also the weapon.

The performance is significant to the architectural field as it speculates on the death of ‘the event’. The potential of the confrontation between the human body and the physical space is diminishing to the benefit of what Francois Ascher describes in Metapolis (1995) as “hyperplace”: a space with n-dimensions, combining physical and virtual dimensions based on hypertext structure and telecommunications technologies.

Script for performance: You wanted a murder. / 09.01.2011, 12:00 am / Chippendale, NSW, Australia / from Regent Street turn left into Wellington Street / pull over near number 39. Do not turn off engine / read again written instructions given to you / wait / soon, B.T. (you will recognize him) will be walking towards you, coming from Balfour Street / high acceleration to hit and run over B.T. near number 19 / stop truck 4 meters away from the body and document event / leave the scene

[nataliesnews]

High court demonstration and israel today 14.9.2023

The soldiers of the Yom Kippur war demonstrating

Sunday was a very fraught day. There was a march against the new laws which are coming up today. People came from all over the country. It started off at the university. I sat there and said to the woman next to me that I felt as if the sword of Damocles was hanging over us. We then walked to the High Court and from there to the home of Netanyahu. I was very lucky at the Knesset as it was packed and very difficult to get through and knowing that we would be walking a few kilometers I had not wanted to take my accordion chair  which is heavy. I was struggling through the crowd when a man who evidently remember me.....as usual I have no clue who he was ....stopped and said he would try to get me into the enclosure. I managed to struggle after him ....and I do mean struggle.....and he called a woman over ....I can't remember the name....but she is a captain in the navy and said that the high Court had made it possible for her to get  where she was.

But she said she had not seen me since Balfour and immediately let me in and I had the best seat of all in the crowd with all the photographers and those recording the proceedings. It is a very frightening period. I cannot write to you all that is happening here but the police are becoming  more and more dictatorial. This is Orlie Bar Lev who remembered me from Balfour. She was the compere of the meeting and always in red with red boots.

Coming back I took a taxi and here too someone I knew helped me as there was chaos and I was very tired. It was dafke a woman taxi driver and we chatted on the way home. She showed me that she had an alarm with which she was attached to the police if she had any problems  but so far had had no reason to use it. When we got home I paid her and was on my way to the lift when I heard her calling me and she said I had had an extra 50 shekel in the one note. I phoned her this morning and said that she had been the first light in a dark day.

This is no century to grow old in. Modern medicine is not kind to the old. Nor is the age of automation. When I am told may you live to120 I tell people it is a curse. Everything has become so alienated from humanity. I went to the bank to pick up a bankbook. Two old people like myself came in and had trouble using a computer to take out a number. Eventually another client helped us. Three clerks, only two were working. The days when one simply had to wait for your turn were better however much we complained then. I asked where the numbers were ....there were only three of us waiting.  When I asked one of the clerks  passing by, she asked me in a very unfriendly way  if I had ordered a meeting and for what day. I do not exactly look as if I am a young woman. I told her I am 84 and wanted to direct her to sign saying that people over 80 do not have to book a time but can come in at any time. Another client told me I would be called  when my turn came. I was not. Eventually I went up to one of them and was told that she would call me. . I waited for 45 minutes even though the two  of them were not busy. 

I have started Arabic lessons again with Suha. I have not gone for a few years as to get to Mount Zion meant two buses and to walk.  Also, this  was the main reason,  on the day that I went to the checkpoint. I can see that I really missed  out at that time but my conscience would not let me do so as Shlomit and I are the only people who go there once a week. Shlomit also did not want to change the day.. But this time they had to move and to where? Kiryat Ha yovel and dafke at Beit Giora where I started my life in Jerusalem. It is 10 minutes from Nofim. It was then a home for those making aliyah and now it is a home for the lone soldier. It will be a while before I catch up with the group even though I have been with other teachers. One woman said she remembered the rusks which I used to bring. Anyhow I said to Shlomit that this time I did not want to miss out as we are going out after the lesson. 

I phoned my friends who are leaving. I feel sick at the thought and wonder how they will make out in their new life. But when I look at the news....

\This is why I say that Israel is becoming more and more dictatorial.

@Mistaclim

Zaina Abdu, 18 years old from Jebel Mokbar, Jerusalem. Today she started serving 6 months of detention in Ramla prison, after 8 months of house arrest, and all this for writing posts on social networks. Meet Xina Abda. 18 years old. Resident of Jebel Mukhabernt n. In the verdict, it is claimed that the content of the posts she uploaded constitutes incitement to violence. Yesterday she appeared in Ramla prison to serve her sentence.  "I did not see the sun and we also paid four thousand NIS... The occupation forces would come to my parents' house to check if I was there.  could not continue my studies because of the house arrest. The most beautiful moments for any girl were stolen from me. My parents suffered because they had to be at home with me." No coverage in the Israeli media." The terrorist settlersattacked and wounded a Palestinian shepherd yesterday afternoon with an iron rod and they were not called in for questioning.

But not only facebook is forbidden but also being arrested for putting up signs.  See the PDF below about Ben Gvir and Kahanism

 And some more pictures of the police violence which hs been adopted from America at other demonstrations. 

And this was horrible and reminds one very specificaly of the Nazis.

Solduers with dogs, entered the houses of the extended Ajloni family in the neighborhood of Khalat al-Kaba in the south of the city of Hebron. The soldiers threatened with their weapons the 26 family members who were staying there at that time, and imprisoned them in one of the apartments. They handcuffed the hands of three family members, including a 17-year-old boy, blindfolded them and took them to another apartment. Then the soldiers separated the remaining men from the women and children, who were kept in the living room, and conducted a body search on their bodies in a separate room.

After that, the soldiers led one of the women to the room where her children, aged four to seven, were sleeping. The children woke up at her cry, and two soldiers with facial expressions prevented the mother from approaching them and threatened to bite her with a dog they were holding if she did not completely undress in front of them. Thus the mother was forced to undress and walk around naked in front of them, in front of her frightened children. After she got dressed, the soldiers moved her children to the living room and her to another room, then led to a strip search of three other women and a 17-year-old girl. The soldiers gradually separated all 13 children, aged three months to 14 years, from their parents and kept them in the living room for twenty minutes under guard.

Around 5:30 the soldiers left the place, then the tenants found two family members locked in a room in one of the apartments with their hands handcuffed and their eyes covered. Harbi Ajloni, 37, was not found in the apartment, and only later did his wife, Diala Ajloni, 24, find out that the soldiers arrested him and took him with them. He was taken to Ofer prison on suspicion of possessing a weapon and his detention was extended for 35 days and then for another 40 days. The tenants also discovered that the soldiers stole gold jewelry weighing 150 grams and NIS 2,000 that they kept in their homes in cash. That same day they filed a complaint with Kiryat Arba police and the next day the jewelry stolen by the soldiers was returned to them, under the pretext that it was taken by mistake.  

There was no mistake....they not look at what they were confiscating?

Sorry this is no way to start the new year but this is the Israel that there is today.

[thorsenmark]

Across the Canadian Rockies (Banff National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the west while taking in views across a forest of evergreens to more distant ridges and peaks of the Waputik Range at Hector Lake Viewpoint. This is in Banff National Park along the Icefields Parkway. In composing this image, I decided on a more leveled-on view with the horizon. I felt I could capture a view looking over and across the forest to the more distant mountains. I liked how there was that little sliver of the lake to highlight a contrast between the forest and mountains.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

There is no doubt that there were some friendships between some Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem and throughout the Arab world, but to use them as evidence of widespread acceptance of Jews as equals or near-equals is not only flawed reasoning but utterly false. 

The evidence that Jews were treated horribly is irrefutable.

Here are just some examples from my own articles here over the years.

W. B. Lewis, 1824:

The Jews at Jerusalem, (I speak even of European Jews) are liable to be stopped by the lowest of the country, who, if he pleases, may demand money of them as a right due to the mussulman ; and this extortion may be practised on the same poor Jew over and over again in the space of ten minutes. The Jews are fond of frequenting the tombs of their forefathers, especially on particular days, to read their prayers of remembrance of the dead. Here advantage is taken of them again. They are rudely accosted and pilfered, and if resistance is made, they are beat almost to death, and this not by common highwaymen or Bedouin Arabs, but by men they may have been in the habit of seeing and talking with every day. 

The book "Stirring Times: Or, Records from Jerusalem Consular Chronicles of 1853 to 1856" by James Finn, British consul to Jerusalem, describes the financial extortion Muslims practiced on Jews:

In times gone by these native Jews had their full share of suffering from the general tyrannical conduct of the Moslems, and, having no resources for maintenance in the Holy Land, they were sustained, though barely, by contributions from synagogues all over the world. This mode of supply being understood by the Moslems, they were subjected to exactions and plunder on its account from generation to generation (individuals among them, however, holding occasionally lucrative offices for a tune). This oppression proved one of the causes which have entailed on the community a frightful incubus of debt, the payment of interest on which is a heavy charge upon the income derived from abroad.

…Notwithstanding these glimpses of honorary distinction the Jews are humiliated by the payment, through the Chief Rabbi, of pensions to Moslem local exactors, for instance the sum of 300£. a year to the Effendi whose house adjoins the ' wailing place,' or fragment of the western wall of the Temple enclosure, for permission to pray there; 100£. a year to the villagers of Siloam for not disturbing the graves on the slope of the Mount of Olives ; 50£ a year to the Ta'amra Arabs for not injuring the Sepulchre of Rachel near Bethlehem, and about 10£ a year to Sheikh Abu Gosh for not molesting their people on the high road to Jaffa...

[thebahamaatlas]

Route #1 Bus Route - Nassau Bahamas

Route 1 jitney route. This route starts downtown and extends into central New Providence. This map is useful for travelling downtown to Marathon Mall. Stops: East Hill street/East Street/Bay Street/Mackey Street/Rosetta Street/Mount Royal Avenue/Madeira Street/Mackey Street/Wulff Road/Claridge Road/Balfour Avenue/East Street/East Hill Street Depot/Shirley Street/Princess/Duke/Bay Street Points of Interest on route* - Downtown -Princess Margaret Hospital - Local Services (Convenience Stores, Gas Stations etc.) - Marathon Mall

Need to use this offline?

Get the digital map

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Ex-Policeman Accused As Drug Dealer,” Border Cities Star. December 1, 1932. Page 3. --- Two Others Are Charged ---- Three Pounds of Opium Imported and Sold, R.C.M.P. Says ---- Trio Remanded ---- Albert Chevalier Former Riverside Officer; Bail $3,000 ---- Albert Chevalier, former Riverside policeman, was one of a trio arrested at East Windsor by Royal Canadian Mounted Police on dope deal- ing charges, last night. Chevalier, 32 years old, gave his address as the Mitchell Hotel, Detroit.

TWO OTHERS HELD The other two taken into custody were Hector Lucier, 28, of 118 St. Like road. East Windsor, and Adolph Lefaive, 46, of 1356 Balfour boulevard. Sandwich East. They were arrested on St. Luke road, near Lucier's home in East Windsor.. 

The trio appeared in Sandwich police court today and ball was set in each case at $3,000 cash. Sergt. Weeks, of the mounted police, asked that the charges be put over one week to allow time to prepare the prosecution in the three cases. 

Chevalier and Lucler were charged with violating the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, November 16, by selling three pounds of powdered opium to one Otto P. Johnson, said to be an undercover agent for the mounted police. Lefalve was charged under the same act with importing three pounds of powdered opium into Canada, at Walkerville,

5500 WORTH OF OPIUM It was said that the opium involved in the case was worth $500 at booting prices. Sergt. Weeks refused. to comment on the case. It is under- stood, however, that the mounted police do not consider that the alleged opium dealing operations of the three. under arrest were very extensive. Police believe that the arrest of the three "nipped in the bud" the beginning of a dope-running ring in the Border district.

BAIL CUT REFUSED B. Coote, Windsor barrister, represented Chevalier when he appeared before Magistrate Smith at Sandwich today. Mr. Coote argued for a reduction of the $3,000 cash bail. 

Sergt. Weeks pointed out that while the minimum for the offences charged was six months in jail, with a fine of $200, the maximum penalty was seven years. Magistrate Smith agreed that the ball should be high, pointing out that Chevalier was a resident of Detroit now and might return there, easily. 

Lefaive, it was said today, is employed with a Detroit drug firm. He is the member of the trio charged with importing the opium into Walkerville. Lucier is an employe of the Walkerville and Detroit Ferry Company.

[scotianostra]

On December 3rd 1894 Robert Louis Stevenson died on Samoa aged just 44.

It was less than a month ago I posted about his birth so this post is less about his works and life, more  to do with stuff you might not know.

How many of us have been pronouncing his name wrong? He changed ‘Lewis’ to ‘Louis’, but continued to pronounce it ‘Lewis’. He also dropped the ‘Balfour’ middle name, although he would later use it as the surname for David Balfour, the protagonist of Stevenson’s adventure novel, Kidnapped

Despite likely battling with tuberculosis for most of his adult life, a bout of malaria nearly killed Stephenson in California shortly before his marriage to Fanny Vandergrift Osborne in 1880. This bout of poor health preceded some of his most iconic works, including Treasure Island  and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Half of Stevenson’s original manuscripts are currently missing. The manuscripts are believed to have been sold off by the Scots writer’s descendants around World War I, a time which saw the writer’s works fall out of fashion. Among the missing works are the original copies of The Black Arrow, The Master of Ballantrae and Treasure Island, I wonder if any will ever turn up?

Despite his success as a writer, Stephenson began to study piano and composition at the age of 36. He also took up playing the penny whistle two years later and went on to write 123 original compositions. Stevenson’s musicianship was not as sought-after as his literature – only three compositions were ever published.

Having travelled to the American state to marry Osborne, Robert was honoured with a park in his name. The mountainous area was the location of a cabin where Stevenson and his new wife spent their honeymoon in 1880. Although nothing of the cabin remains, it has been marked on the trail to the summit of Mount Saint Helena in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, California.

And finally, while he was living on Samoa  Stevenson discovered that the 12-year-old daughter of Henry Clay Ide, the US Commissioner to Samoa, had her birthday on Christmas Day and disliked this. All her friends had a birthday and Christmas Day (and so two lots of presents!), whereas she had to make do with one special day each year. Stevenson nobly signed away all ‘rights’ to his birthday to the girl, as a letter of 1891 makes clear:

‘I … Have transferred, and do hereby transfer to the said A. H. Ide, All and Whole of my rights and privileges in the 13th day of November, formerly my birthday, now, hereby, and henceforth, the birthday of the said A. H. Ide, to have, hold, exercise and enjoy the same in the customary manner, by the sporting of fine raiment, eating of rich meats and receipt of gifts, compliments and copies of verse, according to the manner of our ancestors.’

What a nice man, but I will continue to mark his birthday on the date he was actually born!

Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, died on this day 1894 at age 44 and, per his wishes, was buried atop the nearby Mount Vaea. After his wife, Fanny, passed away twenty years later, her ashes were brought from California and interred beside her husband’s remains.

Although Stevenson only lived in Samoa for four short years before his death, the local people embraced him and his family. To this day he is remembered with much fondness by the Samoan people who referred to him as "Tusitala" which means "Writer of Tales"

Through the dedication of the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum Preservation Foundation, the beautifully restored home and gardens opened to the public in 1994, one hundred years after his death, it is now known as the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum.

Stevenson’s family home is the most popular tourist attraction on the island of Samoa, although it may only see a few outside visitors each day. The staff run a guided tour of the home, which is kept as it looked at the time of Stevenson’s death. On fair weather days, visitors can also take a hike to the top of the hill and pay their respects at the author’s burial site.

Under the wide and starry sky Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me : Here he lies where he longed to be ; Home is the sailor, home front sea, And the hunter home from the hill.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

Pics are of RLS on Samoa , his extended “family”, his home and grave.