#Toledo city paper

[readyforevolution]

WHEN BLACK-MEN RULED THE WORLD

Some Things You Did Not Know About the Moors of Spain

1. The Spanish occupation by the Moors began in 711 AD when an African army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian peninsula ‘Andalus’.

2. A European scholar sympathetic to the Spaniards remembered the conquest in this way:

a. The reins of the Moors horses were as fire, their faces black as pitch, their eyes shone like burning candles, their horses were swift as leopards and the riders fiercer than a wolf in a sheepfold at night . . . The noble Goths [the German rulers of Spain to whom Roderick belonged] were broken in an hour, quicker than tongue can tell. Oh luckless Spain!

Quoted in Edward Scobie, The Moors and Portugal’s Global Expansion, in Golden Age of the Moor, ed Ivan Van Sertima, US, Transaction Publishers, 1992, p.336

3. The Moors, who ruled Spain for 800 years, introduced new scientific techniques to Europe, such as an astrolabe, a device for measuring the position of the stars and planets. Scientific progress in Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geography and Philosophy flourished in Moorish Spain.

4. Basil Davidson, one of the most noted historians recognized and declared that there were no lands at that time (the eighth century) “more admired by its neighbours, or more comfortable to live in, than a rich African civilization which took shape in Spain”

5. At its height, Córdova, the heart of Moorish territory in Spain, was the most modern city in Europe and the world. The streets were well-paved, with raised sidewalks for pedestrians. During the night, ten miles of streets were well illuminated by lamps. This was hundreds of years before there was a paved street in Paris or a street lamp in London. Cordova had 900 public baths – we are told that a poor Moor would go without bread rather than soap while the then

Queen of England never had a bath!

6. The Great Mosque of Córdoba (La Mezquita) is still one of the architectural wonders of the world in spite of later Spanish disfigurements. Its low scarlet and gold roof, supported by 1,000 columns of marble, jasper and and porphyry, was lit by thousands of brass and silver lamps which burned perfumed oil.

7. Education was universal in Moorish Spain, available to all, while in Christian Europe more than ninety-nine percent of the population were illiterate, and even kings could neither read nor write. At that time, Europe had only two universities copied from Spain, the Moors had seventeen great Universities! These were located in Almeria, Cordova, Granada, Juen, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo in which the majority of the lecturers were women.

8. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, public libraries in Europe were non-existent, while Moorish Spain could boast of more than seventy, of which the one in Cordova housed six hundred thousand manuscripts.

9. Over 4,000 Arabic words and Arabic-derived phrases have been absorbed into the Spanish language. Words beginning with “al,” for example, are derived from Arabic. Arabic words such as algebra, alcohol, chemistry, nadir, alkaline, and cipher entered the language. Even words such as checkmate, influenza, typhoon, orange, and cable can be traced back to Arabic origins.

10. The most significant Moorish musician was known as Ziryab, the Blackbird who arrived in Spain in 822. The Moors introduced earliest versions of several instruments, including the Lute or el oud, the guitar or kithara and the Lyre. Ziryab changed the style of eating by breaking meals into separate courses beginning with soup and ending with desserts.

11. The Moors introduced paper to Europe and Arabic numerals, which replaced the clumsy Roman system.

12. The Moors introduced many new crops including the orange, lemon, peach, apricot, fig, sugar cane, dates, ginger and pomegranate as well as saffron, sugar cane, cotton, silk and rice which remain some of Spain’s main products today.

13. The Moorish rulers lived in sumptuous palaces, while the monarchs of Germany, France, and England dwelt in big barns, with no windows and no chimneys, and with only a hole in the roof for the exit of smoke. One such Moorish palace ‘Alhambra’ (literally “the red one”) in Granada is one of Spain’s architectural masterpieces. Alhambra was the seat of Muslim rulers from the 13th century to the end of the 15th century. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

14. It was through Africa that the new knowledge of China, India, and Arabia reached Europe. The Moors brought the Compass from China into Europe.

15. The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon in Portugal (named “Lashbuna” by the Moors) and the rest of the country until well into the twelfth century. They were finally defeated and driven out by the forces of King Alfonso Henriques. The scene of this battle was the ‘Castle of St. George.’

Beginning in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years, the Inquisition was infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution of Jews and Muslims. Its worst manifestation was in Spain, where the Spanish Inquisition was a dominant force for more than 200 years, resulting in some 32,000 executions.

[dormarunt]

So I was cleaning out my frankly obscene number of drafts and I found this one, obviously made before the spinoff came out:

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What I’d like to see in the Berlin spinoff - Andres de Fonollosa is not called Andres de Fonollosa. Not yet, at least. And maybe he’s not called Marquina anymore either. Maybe de Fonollosa was just a cover, and the Berlin we have this series is a whole different identity.

...which could make sense, since Pedro Alonso himself said that he takes each season’s Berlin as a completely different character.

Also it would make sense for the whole de Fonollosa identity to be fake, or at least “for show”, because - and i hate to be like “ooh canon this canon that” - but during the first heist, when the police looked into him, they said he has no known contacts and the guy’s been married. He's fathered (at least) a child. He’s gotten five divorces and I don’t think he means make-believe ones but the legal kind, with lawers and papers and such. So maybe he didn’t marry Tatiana as Andres de Fonollosa but Andres SomeOtherFakeName, and his son is, in fact, Rafael YetAnotherFakeName (possibly, unless he put his real name in his birth certificate and the kid is Rafael Marquina.) What I’m saying is-- please, give us something. And it would be super if it made sense, too.

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Aaaaaaaaand not only did we not get any explanation into why he's calling himself Berlin other than the implied "everyone has code names"** but he presents himself to Camille as Andrés de Fonollosa.

**Which would mean that if the gang had chosen anything else than cities for code names back in the Toledo house, we might have met this formidable character as a number. I vote for Mr Six, because his love life is a real-life exemplification of the 5+1 trope (5 times Andres de Fonollosa believed in love and the 1 time it was real)

[carlosivan]

HELIO

Helio: El Taller de Mike is a group exhibition of artists living and working in Mexico City who have employed the use of traditional heliogravure in their practice.

Dating back to the 19th century, heliogravure is a photographic printing process where a copper plate is exposed to a film-positive, then etched, and run through a traditional printing press that leaves an image on paper. As technology and access rapidly increased — particularly the speed of silver-gelatin printing and consistently evolving smartphone technology of the 21st century — heliogravure began to lose popularity, becoming an antiquated and somewhat obsolete process.

However, Heliogravure has seen a resurgence in recent years, and particularly in Mexico City as the workshop of artist and photographer Miguel Counahan has operated as a collaborative space for artists to learn the medium and process, and apply it to their own work.

Helio: El Taller de Mike, is divided into two parts. The first is an exhibition of work by artists selected to visually interpret the soujourn of a Stoic — a narrative journey of the artist Miguel Counahan himself. The second section illustrates the physical process of heliogravure itself through a selection of images, copper plates, positives, and tests done by all the artists who have passed through the studio, El Taller de Mike.

Curated by Leslie Moody Castro

Artists on show: Mike Counahan, Eunice Adorno, Silvana Agostoni, Tomás Casademunt, Fernando Etulain, Guillermo Espinosa, Gerardo González, Pilar Goutas, Fernanda de Icaza, Magali Lara, Carlos Iván Hernandez, Andrea Martínez, Rafael Martinez, Fabiola Menchelli, Alejandro Pintado, Jorge Rosano, Carla Rippey, Uriel Salas, Miguel Angel Salazar, Martin Soto Climent, Laureana Toledo, Yvonne Venegas, Mariana Yazbek, Sergio Yazbek, and Tamara Goutas.

Artishock

[chorusfm]

Ben Folds Announces New Tour

Ben Folds has announced some new tour dates. Emmy-nominated, multi-platinum selling music artist Ben Folds announces the return of his popular “Paper Airplane Request Tour,” performing solo shows across the US starting May 30, 2024. What initially began years ago as a request for songs as encores will once again be a central element in Folds’ shows when he engages audiences to make their song requests via paper airplanes. “The last time I did this on tour the response was overwhelming, with literally hundreds of paper airplanes with song requests being launched on cue from fans at the start of the second half of each of my concerts,” said Folds. “It’s the purest, most low-tech form of engagement that creates a special bond with my audiences.” Folds, who released his most recent album “What Matters Most” to critical acclaim, has been in studio in recent months working on his first holiday album targeted for release later this year. He’ll also be featured in a special PBS broadcast this spring that spotlights his ongoing “Declassified: Ben Folds Presents” concert series he curates as Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. MAY 30 – CHARLESTON, SC – CHARLESTON MUSIC HALL 31 – AUGUSTA, GA – BELL AUDITORIUM JUNE 1 – PEACHTREE CITY, GA – THE FRED 2 – PELHAM, TN – THE CAVERNS 4 – CHARLOTTE, NC – BELK THEATER 6 – SAVANNAH, GA – DISTRICT LIVE 7 – VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – SANDLER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 8 – ROCKY MOUNT, VA – HARVESTER PERFORMANCE CENTER 9 – PITTSBURGH, PA – 3 RIVERS ARTS FESTIVAL 11 – RICHMOND, VA – LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN 21 – LOWELL, MA – LOWELL SUMER MUSIC SERIES 22 – GREAT BARRINGTON, MA – THE MAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 23 – HAMMONDSPORT, NY – POINT OF THE BLUFF CONCERT PAVILION 25 – KENT, OH – THE KENT STAGE 27 – TOLEDO, OH – PERISTYLE THEATER 28 – POTESKEY, MI – BAY VIEW JOHN M. HALL AUDITORIUM 29 – KALAMAZOO, MI – KALAMAZOO STATE THEATRE JULY 30 – BOISE, ID – MORRISON CENTER AUGUST 2 – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO – STRINGS MUSIC PAVILION 5 – BOULDER, CO – CHAUTAUQUA AUDITORIUM 6 – BEAVER CREEK, CO – VILAR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/ben-folds-announces-new-tour-2/

[gogeorgettes]

February News: What's Happening at Georgette's?

It's February, the month of love! Now is a great time to stop in at Georgette's and grab something cute for your loved one from our gift shop or to sit down for a friendly lunch with someone you care about. Our Maumee bakery carries all the delightful pastries and cakes you need to make an impression before, on, or after Valentine's Day.

Georgette's Sweet Treats Baked Daily

There are several tasty treats we bake daily for our visitors. Some of the products we bake in store include:

Classic sugar cookies

Fresh pies

Cinnamon rolls

Cookies

Rice Krispie treats

Doughnuts

Muffins

Scones

Cheesecake

Carrot cake

In fact, did you know that our carrot cake won the 2013 Toledo City Paper Dessert Challenge? We also have a best-selling option: Our muffins. They come in flavors such as poppyseed, cranberry nut, blueberry, and mocha chip.

Whether you're in the mood for a decadent blueberry scone or you want to pick up a blueberry pie for dinner at home, we can help fulfill your order and get you the satisfying sweets you're looking for.

Want to Stop in for a Bite?

We'd love to have you stop in for a bite to eat. Each morning, we serve up breakfast favorites such as the sunrise muffin, avocado toast, and quiche. Or, join us for lunch and have dishes like an Italian panini, Reuben, BLT, or Greek feta chicken wrap.

Our soups will help warm you up through the chilly month of February and beyond. We suggest trying a cup of soup with a seasonal salad. We have over a dozen soups on rotation, so stop in to see what's on the menu today, and you may find:

Chicken noodle soup

Herb tomato soup

Stuffed green pepper soup

Creamy butternut squash bisque

Each one of these is sure to bring you warmth as you stop in to get out of the cold.

Interested in Working at Georgette's?

We can't let the month go by without asking if you're hoping to work at Georgette's.

If you're looking for a fulfilling job that can make you feel your best while helping others, why not come and join our Maumee bakery? At Sunshine Communities, we run Georgette's, a coffee and gift shop in Uptown Maumee that brings the best of people together to serve warm meals and comfort foods.

At Georgette's, we need compassionate team members who are interested in food service and hoping to have a role in healthcare to care for those with disabilities. We are always looking for people who want to make a difference, who are enthusiastic, and who are caring. Of course, while skills and education are important, we are also interested in meeting those who are willing to learn to help make a positive change in our community. Reach out to us if you're interested in applying! Or, if you want to support us, stop by our lunch cafe in Maumee to grab a bite to eat or shop for a gift for someone you love.

Source URL :-  https://sites.google.com/view/georgettes096/home

[blastikmusik]

sunny side down 642

TOLEDO - Jesus Bathroom Wild Nothing - Histrion Bedlocked - All Over Again Wild Nothing - Basement El Dorado Fetch Tiger - Fun Guy SEE TAI - Hey Boy Meagre Martin - Amerika Allegra Krieger - Living in the City is So Beautiful BÜNNI - You Can Drug Me If You Want To Baby a.s.o. - Love in the Darkness Goodvibes Sound - I've Been Here Before Dirty Nice - Lined Paper Daydreams Shuttle - One More Job Maz - Little Fury Things Vyva Melinkolya - 222 Olefonken - Cousteau

[stephaniesolheim]

Stephanie Solheim

Meet the Team! Stephanie Solheim - Marketing Specialist Stephanie is a dynamic leader in the digital marketing and SEO industries, known for her exceptional work as the owner of Grow With Meerkat, a full-service agency with clients across the United States. With a passion for creativity and innovation, Stephanie has helped her agency win the prestigious "Toledo City Paper's - Best of Toledo Award" three times in a row, earning her recognition as one of the top professionals in the field.

Digital Marketing Agency

[konmarkimageswords]

Mystical Experience of St. John of The Cross

Juan de Yepes y Alvarez was born on June 24, 1542, at Fontiveros, a small village about twenty-four miles northwest of Avila in the district of Old Castille, Spain. At the age of twenty-one, Juan begged admittance to the Carmelite Order of Santa Ana, and was accepted as a monk in that contemplative Order. A year later, he made his profession, taking the name of Fray Juan de San Matias. But, since he required yet more education to be ordained as a priest, he was sent to the university of Salamanca for a year, where he studied scholastic philosophy and theology; and finally, in 1567, at the age of twenty-five, he was ordained. It was just at this time that Juan met the nun, Mother Teresa de Jesus, who was then a woman past fifty years of age, and who was later to be recognized as a saint and known to the world as Teresa of Avila.

At Avila, some years before this meeting, Mother Teresa had founded the reformed Order of Carmelite nuns, called the Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites, which was more strictly ascetic and more given to a life of contemplation than the parent Order. She had been searching for a few monks to serve as confessors and guides to her nuns in a second convent to be established at Medina; and, learning of Fray Juan through another priest, Antonio de Heredia, she met with him, and convinced him to join the new, more primitive, Order. This Juan did gladly, for he had been dissatisfied with the laxity of his own Rule and was eagerly searching for a means to enter into a life more given to solitude and the way of prayer. There, he took a new name: Juan de la Cruz, “John of the Cross.”

The success and expansion of the Reformed Order was not, however, without its troubles. The spreading fame of the ascetic Order called forth much resentment and opposition from the conservative elements of the Church. Especially fierce was the opposition of the Friars of the Calced, or unreformed, Carmelite Order, who felt that they were being devalued, or even replaced, by the new Order. In retaliation. Fray Juan and some of his brother monks were kidnapped by the Calced Brothers and were imprisoned in a Calced priory. There, Juan was flogged mercilessly, and then taken blindfolded to the city of Toledo―that infamous bastion of the Inquisition. There, a trial was held, presided over by Tostado, in which Juan was found guilty of rebellion and contumacy and condemned to an unspecified term of imprisonment. He was thrown into a closet, six feet by ten feet, which had served as a privy to an adjoining guest-chamber. This was in December of 1557. His home for the next nine months was this small stone privy-closet, lit only by a small hole at the top.

He was given a board covered by a rug to lie on and was fed on scraps of dry bread and an occasional sardine. He was given no bath or change of clothes during this entire time, so he became covered by lice and sores. During the winter months, he endured freezing cold, and in the summer months the stifling heat. On Fridays, which were Feast days, he was taken to the refectory where the friars sat at their table and made to kneel in the center of the room, taking a bit of dry bread and water like a dog. At this time, the Prior would admonish and taunt Juan with reproaches, after which all the monks would in turn strike him vigorously across his bared shoulders with a cane. Juan bore all this without a word.

It was during this nine-month period in his tiny cell that Juan wrote down, on scraps of paper given to him by a sympathetic jailer, the verses which were to comprise his most famous and exquisite poetry on the “dark night” of the soul, and its union with its Lord. It was there, in this most wretched physical state, that his mind, freed from all but God, his only solace, experienced that illumination which he calls the “divine marriage” of the soul and God. Much later, when he was asked by a nun if any consolations had been given him during his imprisonment, he replied, “My daughter, one single grace of those that God gave me there could not be paid for by many years of prison.”

The desire for God, says Juan, “is the preparation for union with Him…. If a person is seeking God, his Beloved is seeking him much more. And if a soul directs to God its loving desires, God sends forth His fragrance by which He draws it and makes it run after Him.

What God communicates to the soul in this intimate union is totally beyond words. One can say nothing about it just as one can say nothing about God Himself that resembles Him. For in the transformation of the soul in God, it is God who communicates Himself with admirable glory. In this transformation, the two become one, as we would say of the window united with the ray of sunlight, or of the coal with the fire, or of the starlight with the light of the Sun….

The soul thereby becomes divine, becomes God, through participation, insofar as is possible in this life The union wrought between the two natures, and the communication of the divine to the human in this state is such that even though neither changes their being, both appear to be God.

Having been made one with God, the soul is somehow God through participation. Although it is not God as perfectly as it will be in the next life, it is like the shadow of God. Being the shadow of God through this substantial transformation, it performs in this measure in God and through God what He, through Himself, does in it. For the will of the two is one will, and thus God’s operation and the soul’s is one.

In the inner wine cellar I drank of my Beloved; and, when I went abroad Through all this valley, I no longer knew anything, And lost the herd which I was following.

There He gave me His breast. There He taught me a sweet and living knowledge; And I gave myself to Him, Keeping nothing back. There I promised to be His bride.

Now I occupy my soul And all my energy in His service; I no longer tend the herd, Nor have I any other work Now that my every act is love.

…What more do you want, O soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness, and kingdom ―your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you.  Desire Him there, adore Him there.  Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, nor enjoy Him more securely, nor sooner, nor more intimately than by seeking Him within you.”

(Quoted from The History of Mysticism by Swami Abhayananda)

https://imere.org/third-party-story/mystical-experience-of-st-john-of-the-cross/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/st-john-of-the-cross

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/745922

[vintageimageryx-blog]

1876 Vintage Toledo Panoramic Birdseye Map: Old Map of Toledo, Stunning Housewarming gift idea, New Toledo Home Owner gift Map art Decor by VintageImageryX

9.00 USD

1876 Vintage Toledo Panoramic Birdseye Map: Old Map of Toledo, Stunning Housewarming gift idea, New Toledo Home Owner gift Map art Decor Introducing the stunning Panoramic Map of Toledo, Ohio from 1876! The perfect housewarming, new apartment, or new home owner gift. This beautiful wall art piece will add a touch of Toledo décor to any room. The map is a bird's-eye view, showing the city from an oblique angle, with street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. The harbor is bustling and highlights major points of interest such as the city's many churches, freight elevators, and the depot of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, making it an ideal Map of Toledo. This vintage Toledo map was created by Albert Ruger, the first American panoramic artist. Ruger immigrated to the United States and honed his skills as a mason before becoming a successful panoramic artist. He settled in Battle Creek, Michigan and published numerous city panoramas in partnership with J.J. Stoner of Madison, Wisconsin. This Toledo Ohio Print is a must-have for those interested in vintage maps and Toledo gift ideas. It makes for a unique and meaningful realtor gift art piece, too! Get your hands on this historic and exquisite old map of Toledo today! FREE GIFT WITH EVERY PURCHASE!!!!! NEED A CUSTOM SIZE ?!?! Send us a message and we can create you one! a beautiful map for any decor - more of our antique maps you can find here - https://ift.tt/cHjGrud ◆ S I Z E *You can choose Your preferred size in listing size menu 8” x 12” / 20 x 30 cm 13” x 19” / 33 x 48 cm 16” x 24” / 40 x 61 cm 18” x 27” / 45 x 69 cm 20” x 30” / 51 x 76 cm 24” x 36” / 61 x 91 cm 28” x 42” / 71 x 107 cm 32” x 48” / 81 x 122 cm 36” x 54” / 91 x 137 cm 42” x 63” / 107 x 160 cm 48” x 72” / 122 x 183 cm 60" x 90" / 152 x 228 cm ◆ P A P E R Archival quality Ultrasmooth fine art matte paper 250gsm. ◆ I N K Giclee print with Epson Ultrachrome inks that will last up to 108 years indoors. ◆FRAMING: NONE of our prints come framed, stretched or mounted. Frames can be purchased through a couple of on line wholesalers: PictureFrames.com framespec.com When ordering a frame make sure you order it UN-assembled otherwise you could get dinged with an over sized shipping charge depending on the size frame. Assembling a frame is very easy and takes no more than 5-10 minutes and some glue. We recommend purchasing glass or plexi from your local hardware store or at a frame shop. ◆ S H I P P I N G All Items are Shipped 2-3 Day Priority Mail domestic for fast delivery. Prints are shipped insured in a strong white colored triangular tube for safe and secure shipping. ◆ INTERNATIONAL S H I P P I N G all items are shipped First Class USPS international All International buyers are responsible for any duties & taxes that may be charged per country.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.15

69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months. 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the "Holy Catholic faith". 1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey, London. 1582 – Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1759 – The British Museum opens to the public. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence. 1782 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage. 1815 – War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates. 1818 – A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light. 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly. 1865 – American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy. 1867 – Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent's Park, London, collapses. 1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly). 1876 – The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl. 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta. 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball. 1908 – The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women. 1910 – Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 99 m (325 ft). 1911 – Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded. 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising. 1919 – Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150. 1934 – The 8.0 Mw  Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people. 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio. 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road. 1943 – World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins. 1943 – The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington County, Virginia. 1947 – The Black Dahlia murder: The dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles. 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist government. 1962 – The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece. 1962 – Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy. 1966 – The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état. 1967 – The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10. 1969 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5. 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria. 1970 – Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya. 1973 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam. 1975 – The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal. 1976 – Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison. 1977 – Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people. 1981 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa. 1991 – The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm. 1991 – Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system. 2001 – Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online. 2005 – ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon. 2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off. This becomes known as "The Miracle on the Hudson" as all 155 people on board were rescued. 2013 – A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others. 2015 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the Swiss franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets. 2016 – The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle. 2018 – British multinational construction and facilities management services company Carillion went into liquidation – officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK" 2019 – Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19. 2019 – Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230. 2020 – The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Japan. 2021 – A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesia's Sulawesi island killing at least 105 and injuring 3,369 people. 2022 – The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupts, cutting off communications with Tonga and causing a tsunami across the Pacific.

[eretzyisrael]

This refugee’s heart still belongs in Egypt

Viviane Bowell used her free time during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 to write her memoirs of her country of birth, Egypt. From Egypt with love is a deeply personal, thoughtful work with not a trace of bitterness. Lyn Julius reviews the book in Times of Israel:

In 1956, one of the famous hit songs of the time was ‘Que será será. The song is indelibly associated with the Suez crisis in a 14-year old Jewish girl’s memory.  It may have been a footnote in most history books, but the  crisis of 1956 turned Viviane Bowell’s life upside down.

Viviane  was a shy and awkward teenager, cocooned from the outside world by her parents. She  only spoke French and Arabic. Within a month of the Franco-British-Israeli attack on the Suez Canal,  the family was forced to leave their native Cairo. Jews of British and French nationality were punished as  ‘collateral damage’ in politics. Viviane’s mother was British, and it soon appeared that any Jew (Viviane’s father was stateless) was fair game for expulsion. Viviane’s parents signed a ‘voluntary’ paper ‘donating’ their property to the Egyptian state. They left with 20 kg and 20 Egyptian pounds in their pockets while their tearful servants bid them goodbye. From a warm, dusty and bustling metropolis they were catapulted in the bleak British midwinter into a Gloucestershire hostel serving pork sausages and boiled cabbage. Resettled  in London,  her parents never spoke about Egypt, yet only socialised with other Egyptian Jews.

It was during the coronavirus lockdown that Viviane decided to set down what he remembered of Egypt. The manuscript was originally intended for her grandson but then became a popular self-published memoir.

There has been an explosion of memoirs by Jews from Egypt, mostly middle class Jews  displaced by the Suez crisis. Viviane Bowell appears to have read most of them. She conjures up a rich picture of the Cairo of her youth, the fellucas on the Nile, the grand avenues, the department stores, the famous tea room Groppi, where her parents met for the first time, the languid summers on the beach in Alexandria. She includes some important historical context, as well as interesting diversions into superstitions and the popular songs and films of the time.

Viviane’s family on her father’s side, the Chouchans,  was Ladino-speaking Sephardi, originally from Toledo via Istanbul. Her mother’s family, the Gubbays, were Arabic-speakers from Aleppo in Syria. They typified the Jews of Egypt, drawn from disparate corners of the Ottoman empire, most relatively recent arrivals attracted by the opening of the Suez canal in 1869. But the Jews lived in Egypt, says Viviane,  ‘like a grafted limb’ – of Egypt, yet  apart from it.

In charting the gathering storm leading up to her uprooting Viviane dwells on the events of 25 January 1952. The Free Officers’ Revolution does not largely figure in Jewish memoirs  – but it was a seminal moment. It began as a reaction to 40 policemen killed by the British. Viviane watched from her apartment balcony as a furious crowd  swept down her street, setting  fire to large sections of Cairo –  including Groppi, the Cicurel and Orosdi Bak department stores, Barclays Bank, cinemas, cafes, banks, and the Shepheard Hotel – where British officers used to sip their gin slings. The red tarboush worn by effendi(gentlemen) was abolished overnight and substantial sectors of the economy nationalised. Five thousand Jews left between 1952 and 1956. But Viviane’s family would not have left had they not have been forced to.

Unlike many other  memoirs, Viviane’s  examines the psychological effects of uprooting on her later life. ‘From Egypt with love’ tries to make sense of how her ambivalent relationship with her parents impacted on her. In many ways  she was a repressed feminist.  Her failure to  break free of traditional ties resulted in a  succession of missed opportunities,  a broken marriage and a nervous breakdown.

Visiting Cairo 40 years later, Viviane hardly recognises her home city, yet acknowledges that ‘the past defines us and makes us who we are today.’ Her story is that of 850,000 Jews driven from Arab countries. There is an irrepressible optimism about the book – The refugees were survivors, not victims.. ‘A calamity is only a calamity when your response to it is to accept victimhood,’ she writes.  Although her family lived in a social bubble,  her heart still belongs in Egypt. In this thoughtful, deeply personal  and well-researched memoir,  there is no trace of bitterness,  just an acceptance, and a certain cheerful fatalism: ‘Que será será’.

To Egypt with love : memories of a bygone age by Viviane Bowell (2021)

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

I feel like you'll have a hilarious and hot take on this question, so I would like to know: What do you think would be the most obnoxious Christmas traditions of the main RiverFamilies? Feel free to imagine a time before serial killer dads, drug dealing mothers and of course - horror of horrors - Hiram getting sick (I mean, thank the lord he is okay #prayforHiram).

#prayforHiram You’re killing me! 😂😂😂 What an incredible ask! I feel that whatever these people are doing, it must be obnoxious! I can’t possibly do this justice, but I’ll try my best! Thank you so much, @lucivar ! I hope you enjoy it!

Obnoxious Christmas Traditions of the RiverFamilies

The Andrews’ Christmas Gifting Tradition

In an effort to instil the true meaning of Christmas to little Archie, the Andrews are regularly participating in the Southside’s toys for tots drive, by sharing little Archie’s 3 favourite things. Which, at the tender age of 5, were: empty pens (for spitballs!), potato stamps and paper cup phones (Betty showed him how to make those and they’re totally AWESOME!). Archie continues this honoured tradition when he has his own family. When Veronica offers to foot the bill for 5th Ave. FAO Schwarz’s best toys, Archie explains to her how the Southsiders would be very offended if they thought they were given “handouts”. Judging by their looks, Veronica thinks they already find the Andrews’ gifts quite obnoxious.

The Jones’ Christmas Decoration Ride

Before Gladys took Jellybean and fled to Toledo, she and FP used to get drunk on spiced store-bought eggnog and ride to the other side of the tracks to ruin join the Northside’s Christmas Parade, jackets and bikes ludicrously decked with Christmas lights. It may or may not have been the reason the Neighbourhood Watch was created. When Jughead is an adult (and maybe a bit bitter that Yale didn’t give him a spot after Bret got to prison), he revives the family tradition and rides around Yale campus during winter break with his helmet decked with two shiny red Christmas balls, green garland around his neck and Betty at his back, prim and proper in her pink peacoat and lavender earmuffs. He feels ridiculous but also quite smug and decides to keep it up. A few years later, it becomes a huge success with four-year-old Julie Rosalie Jones. It’s another matter altogether for sixteen-year-old Julie Rosalie. Jules doesn’t know what’s worse: her dad’s traditional Christmas riding apparel (that year consisting of a plastic blinking snowman glued on top of his helmet) when he rides home from work at the exact same time that Tobby Davies comes to pick her up for the Winter Formal. Or her mom discussing curfew with Tobby while polishing her Glock P80 with her Christmas apron (the one with the little frogs with the Santa hats).

The Blossom’s Christmas Carol Panto

As proposed by @lucivar herself: “Cheryl and Jason doing like a feral Dickensian Christmas play with heinous costume changes”. Cheryl gets the idea at the age of eight. It’s a Charles Dickens meets Phantom of the Opera meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre kind of thing. Penelope regrets making Cheryl sit through the latter. Or allowing any of the former really. Cheryl and Jason play all the roles. All the costumes are in shades of red. It’s a pantomime. It becomes a fixed feature of the Riverdale Christmas Tree Lighting at Pickens Park and everyone is expected to applaud. When Cheryl becomes head of the Vixens, the entrance of the Ghost of Christmas Past is revised into an elaborate cheerleading routine. (Polly was very excited about it, until Jason disappeared and she was sent to the Sisters of Quite Mercy.) After Jason’s death, the Christmas Carol Panto is the thing Cheryl misses the most. She is ecstatic when she discovers on senior year that, thanks to taxidermy, she can finally share the experience with her beloved Antoinette. Afterwards Toni makes sure every little bit of Jason is burned to ashes. When Juniper and Dagwood are eight, Polly revives the tradition.

The Coopers’ Christmas Carol

Nothing says passive-aggressive better than Hal and Alice dragging little Betty and little Polly to go banging on doors at 7 o’clock in the morning on the day before Christmas with manic smiles on their faces in order to “regal” their neighbours with their special arrangement of “Away in a manger”. Betty wouldn’t have continued with it, if Alice and Polly hadn’t told young Julie Rosalie all about it. So now Betty and Jughead make sure that every Christmas Eve Jules wakes up grandma Alice and auntie Polly by singing out-of-tune on the phone any and all Christmas carols. Young Jules is a fast learner with a powerful set of lungs and if Betty uses FBI resources to mask the caller id so that her mother always picks up, that’s nobody’s business. When Jules is seven, they even spend the holidays in Riverdale, so that Jughead can film Alice waking up screaming Jules singing for granny Ali for posterity.

The Lodge’s Reindeer Sleigh (with real reindeers)

There’s nothing Hiram Lodge loves more than flexing his muscles, both literally and figuratively. So, when his little princess asks for a Christmas ride down 5th avenue “in Santa’s real sleigh, daddy!”, a new tradition is born. (Of course, if Papa Poutine had agreed to take the reindeers back, it would have been just a one-time event). When Hiram returns to Riverdale, this tradition evolves into the Lodges riding their reindeer sleigh at the head of the Northside’s Christmas Parade. Which wouldn’t be so bad but for the horrendous smell or reindeer shit left behind. After Hiram’s final conviction and imprisonment (#prayforHiram), the city council asks Veronica to retire the reindeer sleigh. She refuses to budge in the face of such blatant sexism (since only female reindeers keep their antlers in December, Santa’s reindeers are all girls) and counter-proposes to hire unemployed Southsiders to do the clean-up. Archie thinks it’s an excellent idea, which should have been enough warning. 

[latristereina]

There are fifteen personal letters exchanged between Isabel and Fernando in the years 1474-1502, that survived to our times, the originals are stored at the Archivo General de Simancas. Their original language is Castilian. Thirteen of them were written by Fernando and two by Isabel. They were gathered in the work titled Cartas autógrafas de los Reyes Católicos de España don Fernando y doña Isabel que se conservan en el Archivo de Simancas, 1474-1502, transcribed and analyzed by Amalia Prieto Cantero, published in Isabel la Católica en la opinión de españoles y extranjeros: siglos XV al XX. Apéndices. Tomo 3 by Vicente Rodríguez Valencia.

I translated only eight of them, six from Fernando to Isabel and two from Isabel to Fernando. I don’t plan on translating more, considering it’s not an easy task in itself, especially for a non-native speaker like me, who translates from her third to her second language respectively, and as much as modern language isn’t a problem, the language and grammar they used in the XV and XVI centuries is a whole new ballgame, some constructions and words are either hard or impossible to comprehend even for some native speakers.

Fernando to Isabel:

My Lady

After having the other note written, I received a letter from the King, my Lord [John II of Aragon], which I send to Your Ladyship. By which you will see how the matters in Enna are, and how he orders me to come with all the people of this kingdom to the aid of this city. Seeing this I cannot express my sorrow; I think that if I were in hell, I would suffer much less than I do now, and so many times I wish death upon myself that I think I may fulfill my thoughts, I do not know why our Lord gave me so much good and so little time to enjoy it, since, for three years, I have not been with Your Ladyship at times even seven months in a row. Now I have demonstrated and I say that I have to go to make them move quicker in order to do the service, which cannot be faster than before Christmas, and if during this time Your Ladyship could make the King [Henry IV of Castile] call me to be sworn in [he is referring to the swearing-in as the Princess heiress of Castile and her consort], I would quickly come, but otherwise, I do not think I would have an excuse for the King, my Lord [John II of Aragon]. However, I will do everything that is in my power to be able to come, but this bad honor [charge of Lieutenant in Aragon which did not let him join his wife] makes me feel so bad that what I am saying does not make sense. I beg Your Ladyship for the Archbishop [of Toledo] and Cardinal [Mendoza] to help in this matter, I do not ask Your Ladyship because you have enough yourself, and do not Your Ladyship think that I need something more than your order [to come to Castile], under different circumstances, I would come, but for now, other reasons are required for me to leave. I beg Your Ladyship to forgive me because being angry and disturbed, I do not know what I am saying, even with all that, I will delay my departure until I get a response from Your Ladyship, which I beg you to be soon, and it is how this slave of Your Grace concludes, The Prince-King [Prince of Aragon and king of Sicily].

Zaragoza, [1 December 1474]

My Lady

At last, now it is clear which of us two loves best, judging by what others write to me about Your Ladyship, you can be happy [while] I cannot sleep… There are so many messengers over there that come without letters [from you], not for lack of paper and not for not knowing how to write, but for insufficient love and haughtiness, for you are in Toledo and I in small villages, but someday we shall return to our first love. If you do not want to make me kill myself, you should write and tell me how you are… There is nothing more to be said about the matters from here, except what Silva will tell you and what Fernando del Pulgar has already said. I beg Your Ladyship to believe Silva and to write to me and not to forget about the Princess, who, for God’s sake, is not to be forgotten, as well as about her father, who kisses the hands of Your Ladyship and is your servant.

The King

Tomorrow, on Wednesday, I am going to Medina.

Tordesillas, [16 May 1475]

My Lady

It took me one day to pass from Valladolid to Cabia, and I decided to come to this city only because I knew it would be of no harm to rest here; I informed people of the city (city of Burgos) about the arrival, upon which the Bishop of Burgos escaped along with others, who are not much at our service. These of the city sent emissaries to me, begging me not to enter (the city) until after the meal, and I did so. Given the little time they had, the reception they gave me was marvelous and with so many people, and with such great love, that it is not an earthly thing, the love they have for us, but a Godly one. I must tell Your Ladyship that I never saw a thing that I would like more than this city nor more honorable. I saw las Huelgas and la Iglesia Mayor which in their way are miraculous. Tomorrow I will go to kiss the hands of King Don Juan for Your Ladyship and for myself*, and for the love of friar Alonso, I will go to see the Monastery of San Pablo. In two days I will depart and soon I will arrive at Valladolid. […] for what is in the letters that I got, I kiss the hands of Your Ladyship. Because I am tired, I do not respond except to what Your Ladyship tells me about how it was necessary for us to see each other, if it had not been for this city, I would have already gone, but the hurry was such that the Cardinal and the Constable put on me, that I could not do so. It seems to me that it is very necessary and that Your Ladyship ought to come because in getting together we help each other more than anything in life, and now is the time that all our power should be jointly exerted. Tired, I finish, kissing the hands of Your Ladyship.

Your servant: The King

Burgos, [12 June 1475]

*he meant la Cartuja de Miraflores where Isabella’s father was buried

My Lady

I have put off writing until the night, in order to see the people that came; infantry has come and the Constable with very good and many people; others have come except for the Admiral and the Marquis of Astroga. The people of the Count of Lemos, the Viscount of Palacios, the Count of Castro have not come, and now the Marquis of Santillana wrote to me that he and the Duke of Alburquerque would join me on Sunday, and they begged me not to move until then; given all of this, it seems to me that for us to go with more ease, in order to not detain anything until arrival in Toro, we should not depart tomorrow; either Your Ladyship from there or I from here, considering  the distress you felt about the people [distress there would not be enough people at their service], Alonso de Quintanilla is already in Mojados; it is what the situation looks like over here, but if Your Ladyship orders otherwise, I shall do it with few or with many. God knows how it weighs on me that I will not see Your Ladyship tomorrow, for I swear by your life and mine that never have I so loved you. And I finish with more desire to serve Your Ladyship more than ever.

Real of Tordesillas, Monastery of Saint Thomas, [14 July 1475]

In regards to what Your Ladyship wrote to me about the two fractions that are being formed, I knew about them before, Your Ladyship will take care of it better than I being here.

Without date or direction.

Amalia Prieto Cantero’s commentary: This note touches upon some negotiation that was being conducted by the Queen or tendencies that she noted at the Court, in regards to which, the King was in favor of Doña Isabel resolving it on her own because she could do it better than him. The sense is obscure and imprecise. Perhaps by the two fractions he meant tendencies of the nobles.

Isabel to Fernando

My Lord

I kiss the hands of Your Lordship a hundred thousand times for such care that you have to know about me, and I have already written to you that I am well and I had that fever no more nor I have felt any bad thing afterward, and even though Your Lordship had already known this by my letter, procure for your life, and since in this case there should not be any hesitation at all, I ask you to answer me after you receive this courier; I beg you to let me know what you determine, and on what day the siege is to take place, where you would like it to be. May our Lord help you to determine and act, and aid Your Lordship in everything and guard you more than me, and I finish by kissing [your] hands, and all our children kiss them, and they are well. At Córdoba, on 18 May [1486]

My Lord

May our Lord continue with the victory He has granted to Your Lordship in the conquest of these suburbs until He gives you the city and the entire kingdom. This has been a marvelous thing and the most honorable in the world; now it seems well how the Moors are doing in Loja who die while defending it [Loja] and our people do it [die] as well. The dead weigh on me heavily but they could not have gone better employed nor could have died better people in their professions than Pedro Valenciano and Velasquillo. I cannot forget Velasquillo and how he was afraid to die such honorable death, it is enough the madness was good for he knew how to live and how to die. All that Your Lordship has ordered has been done and people were summoned, even more than it was said in the memorial, and because I thought the term given for them to depart was too late, although they say that it cannot be less, I ordered people of this city and these of Master of Calatrava to depart [from here] tomorrow; we were doubting whether they should take sacks with supplies or not, because to take them more time was needed, and still it was agreed that they would take them for we do not know if el Real is that well provided; and from now on I will do everything, I want to know what should be done and on what day for we do not want to err in anything. Regarding Alhama, the mayor commander had already talked about it with the Master, and what is done, Your Lordship will see in this memorial. I marveled a lot at the concert of the Moorish Kings which is so disadvantageous to them. In order to leave the Kingdom, it would be better to concert with us and I hope that God’s mercy lets this happen, for him to leave the Kingdom it would be good to have a treaty with him, if Your Lordship were to grant him [Boabdil] Baza and Guadix and their lands in act of perpetual truce, so that they could be his, although Your Lordship won all the Kingdom, maybe the necessity in which he is, would make him agree and hand it over. Pardon, Your Lordship, for I speak of matters that I do not know, it might cause damage, they might become arrogant, thinking there was some necessity for it to happen, for they are fickle, they rise and fall quickly. May God tear them down, and the desire for it all to be done without risk or work of Your Lordship and all your army makes me rave. For now there is nothing to be said about matters from here, except that we all are well, and I close by kissing the hands of Your Lordship, May our Lord guard you, and give you victory as I wish. At Córdoba, on 30 May [1486].

Amalia Prieto Cantero's commentary: At the end of January 1487 the Monarchs left Salamanca for Córdoba, in order to finalize the campaign of Málaga and locations in its proximity, which had been planned since the previous year. At the beginning of March their Highnesses had already reached the city of Córdoba. The men at arms, who had been summoned, gathered at  las Yeguas River. The King’s departure from Córdoba, to lead the said men, took place on 7 April - on Saturday - on the eve of Palm Sunday, in direction of la Rambla. According to the chroniclers, Fernando del Pulgar and Mosén Diego de Valera, the night before the King’s departure, at 2 a.m, there was an earthquake in the city, particularly noticeable on the terrain of the Royal Palaces. And even though some people saw in this occurrence a bad omen, the King did not alter his plans. Although las Yeguas River was the destination of the King’s trip, it had its first phase at la Rambla, where the King spent the night with his army, and from where he wrote his wife a letter that is being analyzed, dated on Palm Sunday. In the text of the missive we can discover an extraordinary emotional state in which the King was, although dominated with great effort, to uplift his spirits. It could be a consequence of the impression the earthquake caused in him, coupled with the fact it took place shortly after he left his wife and children in Córdoba. In the letter Don Fernando tried to console his wife with the hope of quick reunion at some place, where they would be together with much joy, and expressed the anguish that he had gone through that night, being alone, already separated from his family, the anguish he had overcome with great strength of will…Such expressions, like many others in the analyzed letters, display the affection of the Monarch for his wife and confirm the judgment of the historian Vicens Vives about Don Fernando, endowed with great ability to love or hate, reserve and dissimulation, among other qualities.

My Lady

I beg you to let me know how you are, and be very merry, because I hope that with our Lord’s help, I will soon send for you, to beg you to come to me, so we can be together with much joy. It pained me, I could not sleep this night of solitude, but I do not dare to think of sad things. The last night don Alonso de Aguilar came over here, for I had summoned him, to go to the sierras of Loja and Antequera, in order to provide them with more guards; he told me that yesterday an alhaqueque* from Málaga had come to his house with a few hostages. He [alhaqueque] said they had been split over my departure, and 300 Gomeres* went displeased to Vélez; I do not know why they did so, I reckon all this quarrel happened because they wanted to provide for Vélez, apparently thinking it was not done well. Our Lord will save their thoughts. I beg Your Ladyship to let me know how my children are and I kiss your hands. May our Lord protect you more than anyone else.

At la Rambla, Palm Sunday [8 April 1487]

*alhaqueque - a person who managed contracts and at times purchased the freedom of captives and set them free, or acted as a courier between Christian and Arabic population

*Gomeres - inhabitants of la Gomera

@ablooms, @kittyparr, @eyes-painted-with-kohl, @daario-naharis

[theoutcastrogue]

The silver mines of Potosí

[from Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano]

Entrada del Virrey arzobispo Morcillo en Potosí (1718), by Melchor Pérez de Holguín

They say that even the horses were shod with silver in the great days of the city of Potosí. The church altars and the wings of cherubim in processions for the Corpus Christi celebration in 1658, were made of silver: the streets from the cathedral to the church of Recoletos were completely resurfaced with silver bars. In Potosí, silver built temples and palaces, monasteries and gambling dens; it prompted tragedies and fiestas, led to the spilling of blood and wine, fired avarice, and unleashed extravagance and adventure. The sword and the cross marched together in the conquest and plunder of Latin America, and captains and ascetics, knights and evangelists, soldiers and monks came together in Potosí to help themselves to its silver. Molded into cones and ingots, the viscera of the Cerro Rico—the rich hill—substantially fed the development of Europe. “Worth a Peru” was the highest possible praise of a person or a thing after Pizarro took Cuzco, but once the Cerro had been discovered Don Quixote de la Mancha changed the words: “Worth a Potosí,” he says to Sancho. This jugular vein of the viceroyalty, America’s fountain of silver, had 120,000 inhabitants by the census of 1573. Only twenty-eight years had passed since the city sprouted out of the Andean wilderness and already, as if by magic, it had the same population as London and more than Seville, Madrid, Rome, or Paris. A new census in 1650 gave Potosí a population of 160,000. It was one of the world’s biggest and richest cities, ten times bigger than Boston—at a time when New York had not even begun to call itself by that name.

Wealth flowed like water. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, showed his gratitude by bestowing on Potosí the title of Imperial City and a shield with the inscription: “I am rich Potosí, treasure of the world, king of the mountains, envy of kings.” The Cerro was the most potent of magnets. Hard as life was at its base, at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet the place was flooded with treasure hunters who took the bitter cold as if it were a tax on living there. Suddenly a rich and disorderly society burst forth beside the silver, and Potosí became “the nerve center of the kingdom”. By the beginning of the seventeenth century it had thirty-six magnificently decorated churches, thirty-six gambling houses, and fourteen dance academies. Salons, theaters, and fiesta stage-settings had the finest tapestries, curtains, heraldic emblazonry, and wrought gold and silver; multicolored damasks and cloths of gold and silver hung from the balconies of houses. Silks and fabrics came from Granada, Flanders, and Calabria; hats from Paris and London; diamonds from Ceylon; precious stones from India; pearls from Panama; stockings from Naples; crystal from Venice; carpets from Persia; perfumes from Arabia; porcelain from China. The ladies sparkled with diamonds, rubies, and pearls; the gentlemen sported the finest embroidered fabrics from Holland. Bullfights were followed by tilting contests, and love and pride inspired frequent medieval-style duels with emerald-studded, gaudily plumed helmets, gold filigree saddles and stirrups, Toledo swords, and richly caparisoned Chilean ponies.

In 1579 the royal judge Matienzo complained: “There is never a shortage of novelty, scandal, and wantonness.” Potosí had at the time 800 professional gamblers and 120 famous prostitutes, whose resplendent salons were thronged with wealthy miners. In 1608 Potosí celebrated the feast of the Holy Sacrament with six days of plays and six nights of masked balls, eight days of bullfights and three of fiestas, two of tournaments and other dissipations.

Cerro Rico del Potosi, the first image in Europe. Pedro Cieza de León, 1553

While metals flowed unceasingly from Latin American mines, equally unceasing were the orders from the Spanish Court granting paper protection and dignity to the Indians whose killing labor sustained the kingdom. The fiction of legality protected the Indian; the reality of exploitation drained the blood from his body. From slavery to the encomienda of service, and from this to the encomienda of tribute and the regime of wages, variants in the Indian labor force’s juridical condition made only superficial changes in the real situation. The Crown regarded the inhuman exploitation of Indian labor as so necessary that in 1601 Philip III, banning forced labor in the mines by decree, at the same time sent secret instructions ordering its continuation “in case that measure should reduce production.”

In three centuries Potosí’s Cerro Rico consumed 8 million lives. The Indians, including women and children, were torn from their agricultural communities and driven to the Cerro. Of every ten who went up into the freezing wilderness, seven never returned. In their communities the Indians saw “many afflicted women returning without husbands and with many orphaned children” and they knew that “a thousand deaths and disasters” awaited them in the mines. The Spaniards scoured the countryside for hundreds of miles for labor. Many died on the way, before reaching Potosí, but it was the terrible work conditions in the mine that killed the most people. Soon after the mine began operating, in 1550, the Dominican monk Domingo de Santo Tomás told the Council of the Indies that Potosí was a “mouth of hell” which swallowed Indians by the thousands every year, and that rapacious mine owners treated them “like stray animals.” Chiefs of Indian communities had to replace the constantly dying mitayos with new men between eighteen and fifty years old. The mitayos’ jail—a shapeless mass of ruins—can still be seen at the entrance to Potosí.

Freezing outdoor temperatures alternated with the infernal heat inside the Cerro. The Indians went into the depths “and it is common to bring them out dead or with broken heads and legs, and in the mills they are injured every day.” The mitayos hacked out the metal with picks and then carried it up on their shoulders by the light of a candle. Outside the mine they propelled the heavy wooden shafts in the mill or melted the silver on a fire after grinding and washing it.

The mita labor system was a machine for crushing Indians. The process of using mercury to extract silver poisoned as many or more than did the toxic gases in the bowels of the earth. It made hair and teeth fall out and brought on uncontrollable trembling. The victims ended up dragging themselves through the streets pleading for alms. At night 6,000 fires burned on the slopes of the Cerro and in these the silver was worked, taking advantage of the wind that the “glorious Saint Augustine” sent from the sky. Because of the smoke from the ovens there were no pastures or crops for a radius of twenty miles around Potosí and the fumes attacked men’s bodies no less relentlessly.

— Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of a Continent (transl. Cedric Belfrage, Monthly Review Press, 1973; abridged excerpts)

[gogeorgettes]

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Our lunch café has something for everyone. For breakfast, visitors can try some of our great breakfast sandwiches, such as the Sunrise Muffin, our Quiché, avocado toast or an egg and avocado panini (among other excellent choices).

We sell coffee from morning until close, too. We're excited to offer single-serve cups of our seasonal, buckeye, French roast, Georgette's, Georgette's decaf and Jamaican me crazy coffees. We also sell some of our coffees by the bag. Opt for the Anniversary blend or one of several other options to keep our coffee on hand when you're on the go.

If you have time to sit with us and have lunch in our café, you're going to love your special drink options. Pick up a specialty cold brew, smoothies, frappés or cappuccinos. We also serve other favorites, such as:

Hot cocoa

Mexican coffee

Café mocha

Pour-over brews

Blended iced coffee

Italian soda

Of course, no meal is complete without one of our specialty dishes. Some current items on our menu include:

Mac and cheese

Italian paninis

Pick-two combos

BLTs

Monterey spinach melts

Greek feta chicken wraps

Roast beef sandwiches

Ham sandwiches

Ham, egg or tuna salad

Of course, this list isn't all-inclusive, and the menu is always changing with the seasons.

For those looking for lighter fare, we do offer soups and salads in our lunch caf￩ as well. You can try our chipotle chicken club salad or strawberry spinach seasonal salad. We have an excellent pick-two option for people who want soup and a sandwich/salad as well. Make sure to ask us about our soups of the day when you come in to see us.

No meal will be complete without one of our sweet treats. Remember that we have carrot cake (and it's the winner of the 2013 Toledo City Paper Dessert Challenge). We also have Rice Krispy treats, doughnuts, cookies and so much more.

Please take the time to review our menu, which we have uploaded online. If you're in a hurry, you can place your order in advance. We'll have it waiting for you when you arrive. Just give us a call at 419-891-8888.

We are excited to be your favorite local lunch cafe. Whether you want to host a special event or stop in for a quick brunch, we're here and waiting to serve you.

Source URL:- https://sites.google.com/view/georgettesse/home

[notinnewhall]

Jean Laurent or, in Spanish, Juan Laurent  (1816 -1886) was a French photographer from Garchizy in the Burgundy region who moved to Spain in 1843 and settled in Madrid. He worked as a box and paper maker, creating luxurious boxes for pastries and marbled paper for book bindings. In 1855, having done work coloring photographs, he became interested in photography, and soon opened a portrait studio on the Carrera de San Jerónimo, near the Congress of Deputies. He established himself quickly and from 1861 until 1868 he was able to use the title "Photographer of her Majesty the Queen". He took a vast variety of subjects including city views, architecture, historic monuments, old master paintings and local inhabitants of all social classes. He also opened a store in Paris, devoted exclusively to selling his photographs of Spain and Portugal. In 1866, together with the Spanish photographer, José Martínez Sánchez (1808–1874), he patented "Leptographic Paper" one of the first collodion printing-out papers available commercially.

Juan Laurent - Paysans, Zamora, ca 1863, albumen print, 9 1/2 in x 13 1/4 in, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2014.269.

Juan Laurent - Demi-armure de l'infant Ferdinand, Armeria de Madrid, 1868, albumen print, 10 in x 13 in, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2009.092.

Juan Laurent - La Puerta del Sol, Toledo, ca 1868, albumen print, 9 1/2 in x 13 1/4 In, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2014.479.

Juan Laurent - Ventana de la Sala de las Dos Hermanas, Alhambra, Granada, 1871, albumen print, 9 3/4 in x 11 1/2 in, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2012.414.

Juan Laurent - Picador, ca 1866, leptographic print, 4in x 6 in, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2014.317.

Juan Laurent - Portrait de Marie de Medicis by Peter Paul Rubens, 1865, albumen print, 8 1/8 in x 9 3/8 in, The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2015.387.

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