• Welcome to Maher's Digital World.

New topic Photos

Started by scarface, February 01, 2015, 05:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

humbert

Quote from: scarface on May 22, 2018, 05:52 PM
This morning, I had the bad idea to take my car to go to the 11th arrondissement. I have a bank account over there. I wanted to transfer my account to another branch. But they told me to go to the new bank. I went there for nothing. And it took me an hour only to find a parking space.

That's odd. I don't know how the French (or European Union) banking system works, but here we have no such problem. Bank accounts here are "branchless". I have my account at Wells Fargo. I can to go any Wells Fargo branch in the entire country for services, it makes no difference at all.

Quote from: scarface on May 22, 2018, 05:52 PM
I wish I was able to go to Palestine with humbert and Maher. Well, at least I'm leaving a big town. Maybe aa1234779 finds that the photos are beautiful. But it's also a modern and superficial society.

I've always wondered what it would be like to travel to Qalqilya and meet Maher personally. I think the best way is to fly to Amman and enter the West Bank by road. From what I've been hearing, traveling to Tel Aviv is risky. Risky in the sense that Israeli authorities would probably question my reason for traveling and possibly have me detained and eventually deported. I've heard many horror stories. I don't think I'd ever fly into Tel Aviv, nor ever visit Israel for that matter.


scarface

Quote from: humbert on May 28, 2018, 07:23 AM
That's odd. I don't know how the French (or European Union) banking system works, but here we have no such problem. Bank accounts here are "branchless". I have my account at Wells Fargo. I can to go any Wells Fargo branch in the entire country for services, it makes no difference at all.

I've always wondered what it would be like to travel to Qalqilya and meet Maher personally. I think the best way is to fly to Amman and enter the West Bank by road. From what I've been hearing, traveling to Tel Aviv is risky. Risky in the sense that Israeli authorities would probably question my reason for traveling and possibly have me detained and eventually deported. I've heard many horror stories. I don't think I'd ever fly into Tel Aviv, nor ever visit Israel for that matter.
Well, it depends on the bank. For HSBC it's true, not for Credit Agricole. By the way, a few years ago, Credit agricole hired Connery (connerie) for an ad about Green Banking. But it's mainly greenwahsing as it's still involved in many projects that pollute the environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypjKxGCgO8E

As for Palestine, well, to go there Jordan is probably the easiest way. I heard a story where a man from Italy was expelled because he wanted to cross the border for his humanitarian organization. If you want to cross the Israeli Palestinian border, you can say you are a tourist willing to visit Bethlehem. Or maybe can say you want to go to visit a Jewish friend but you need the right trousers in your suitcase (from the movie "Rabbi Jacob"):

scarface

#132
Today, I'm going to hold a conference about the current exposition of a Tyrannosaurus in Paris
This summer, the Musée national d'Histoire naturelle is going back in time and giving its visitors the opportunity to dive into the Cretaceous period, to discover one of its greatest preserved symbols. Trix, a female Tyrannosaurus rex who is 67 million years old, 12.5 meters long, 4 meters high, and approximately weighed 8 tons during her life, awaits visitors in the nave of the "Gallerie de Géologie et de Minéralogie".
The photos were taken yesterday.



At the place of Concorde



in front of the National Museum of Natural History, near the boulevard St Germain



The garden of the plants



A Turiasaurus femur





the National Museum of Natural History





Inside the museum



an Edmontosorus skeleton





The Tyrannosaurus
Discovered in 2013 in Montana, USA, Trix is the second most complete T-Rex in the world. The original intact skull makes this specimen particularly remarkable.













a few photos taken outside

scarface

#133
Here are a few photos taken today, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Why I went there? because there is a post office open after 6 o'clock (the only one in France till midnight actually) and I had miscellaneous things to do before.


In the background, you can see the Pompidou center.








Here we can see a street artist. But they are very numerous, and I guess only the best talents retain their jobs. If aa1234779 is looking for such a job in the Arabic peninsula, I'm sure there are opportunities for the top-notch artists, orbiting among the most intensely original and inventive ones.

Rue de Turbigo, 2nd arrondissement.








On the way home, rue de Rivoli and then place of Concorde.




Usmangujjar and vasudev may notice I certainly could have taken a more direct route to come back (for example bvd Bonne Nouvelle - bvd Haussmann and then rue de Clichy to reach place de Clichy...).


Note that if some of you want to move to a big town, don't forget that "the bigger the town, the more vulnerable it is". aa1234779 might be wondering if it's an old quote of Bin Laden, not at all, it's Jancovici, a scientist, who says that. For him, the implementation of the "grand Paris" with new metro stations is totally anachronistic.
That's what he says in this conference, in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC0IiJnuB2U
Here is one in English (shadow.97 may deem it as depressing, the subject is interesting, but at least Jancovici is taking it with his own sense of humour): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGt4XwBbCvA

scarface

#134
Today, new photos are available. I know that aa1234779 and some users of the forum are looking closely at the pictures available on the forum.


At the place of Opera, in the 9th arrondissement, some photos taken on 30 June 2018.

As you can see on the photos, there are many tourists at the Opera place. The Galleries Lafayette and the Apple store are in the vicinity.
(If you have time and if you want to use Macos, and you can't afford an expensive mcbook...just follow this tutorial: https://techsviewer.com/install-macos-sierra-vmware-windows/)

Many tourists spend their money here.








A few years ago, in 2014, I ate some seafood at the restaurant Leon de Bruxelles, Boulevard des Italiens, near this place. Some will tell you I'm selfish, but no, I'm rather "shellfish". The photo with the Mango shop is taken on this Boulevard.





we can also see the Rue de Rome and the Saint Lazare Station (with the infantry of Macron).
A bit later we can see the brand new glass prison (courthouse) from the Rue de Rome.
4 years ago, I used to live a few hundred meters away from here, near the train track.







I remember that Daniil was glad to meet "Momo and Koko", 2 bonsais in my previous apartment.





In January 2018, I took these photos in the 13th arrondissement. If humbert and usmangujjar are wondering where it is:



Some photos taken on 1 July 2018, in the vicinity of Porte d'Italie, in the 13th arrondissement, and in the Butte aux Cailles neighborhood.






Apparently an artist forgot his work of art on top of a building.




This photo was taken bvd Blanqui with a Sunday market.


Then we enter the area of the Butte aux Cailles. This neighbourhood is distinguishable from the rest of the 13th arrondissement with its small building and private mansions.






In this photo you can see a Byzantyne church which was built between 1894 and 1912 in a place where there used to be a little wooden chapel. It was constructed by the architect Prosper Bobin, with the financial help of the Lombard family, best known as the Meunier family, owner of the Meunier chocolate factory. The façade, inspired by the "Saint-Trophime d'Arles" church, opens on a portal, framed by little roman chapiter columns decorated with flowers. Initially called Sainte-Anne-de-la-Maison-Blanche, it is only in 2001 that the name will change to Saint-Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles.


A photo of an autolib, the electric car service provided since 2011. But the service disappeared in August 2018, since the accumulated losses are huge and nobody wants to pay.






A few monumental frescoes

C215, in the boulevard Vincent Auriol


Inti, in the rue Lahire


Maher and Aner, in the rue Jeanne d'Arc.


scarface

Tomorrow, maybe there will be a new conference with some photos.


Note that I was wondering if the administrator is not ill. It's ages since I've not seen him on the forum. Maybe one year, probably much more. Perhaps some users of the forum who speak English or Arabic could try to call him in Palestine, I'm sure you have his phone number. You could ask him about the registration problem on the forum. Otherwise Bpefreddie will remain the last registered user for a long time. However it doesn't seem to affect the regular users who keep coming on the forum.

scarface

#136
Tonight, a conference about the museum of the army, also known as Les invalides, which is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.


The invalides entrance.



Portrait of count de La Marck.



Some guns and battle-axes. Most were made in Saint Etienne. Saint Etienne was well known as a center of swords and knives manufacturing beginning in the Middle Ages. In 1665, a Royal Arms Depot was created in Paris to store military weapons made in Saint Etienne. The Royal Arms Manufacture was created in 1764 under the supervision of the General Inspector of the Royal Arms Manufacture of Charleville. 12,000 weapons were being produced each year when the French Revolution began. The city was renamed Armsville during the revolutionary period and production increased to arm the Revolutionary Army. 






Cavalry armor of the Régiment Royal-Allemand cavalerie, a regiment in the French Royal army composed of German-speakers.



Officer from the Esterhazy Hussars regiment. Created in 1764 by Count Valentin-Ladislas Esterhazy (1740-1805), this regiment was originally comprised of 3 squadrons, each having been taken from the Bercheny, Chamborant and Nassau Hussars regiment.






The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies - comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the command of the Duke of Cumberland - and a French army under Maurice de Saxe, commander of King Louis XV's forces in the Low Countries. The battle was one of the most important in the war and considered the masterpiece of Saxe, serving France; Louis XV, and his son, the Dauphin, were present at the battle.



King Louis XV campaigning



Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duke of Richelieu (1696 - 1788), was a French soldier, diplomat and statesman. He joined the army and participated in three major wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Marshal of France.






Charles Gravier, Count of Vergennes  (1719 - 1787) was a French statesman and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, notably during the American War of Independence.






Marquis de La Fayette



Some guns that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805.



Bag that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte.









Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, 1806









Le Vizir, Napoleon 1's first horse, stuffed and on display at the Invalides.









The Battle of Solferino  on 24 June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied French Army under Napoleon III and Sardinian Army under Victor Emmanuel II (together known as the Franco-Sardinian Alliance) against the Austrian Army under Emperor Franz Joseph I. It was the last major battle in world history where all the armies were under the personal command of their monarchs.



German negotiators enter belfort on 16 February, 1871 - 1884, Alphonse de Neuville.
The Siege of Belfort (3 November 1870 - 18 February 1871) was a 103-day military assault and blockade of the city of Belfort, France by Prussian forces during the Franco-Prussian War. The French garrison held out until the January 1871 armistice between France and the German Empire obligated French forces to abandon the stronghold in February 1871.



Alexandre Le Grand, Hannibal and Jules Cesar.






General Napoleon Bonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole. By Antoine-Jean Gros.



Scale Model of the Battle of the bridge of Arcole or Battle of Arcola (15 - 17 November 1796) This battle was fought between French and Austrian forces 25 kilometres southeast of Verona during the War of the First Coalition, a part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
The battle saw a bold maneuver by Napoleon Bonaparte's French Army of Italy to outflank the Austrian army led by Baron József Alvinczi and cut off its line of retreat. The French victory proved to be a highly significant event during the third Austrian attempt to lift the Siege of Mantua.
The French army was far outnumbered by the Austrian forces. But Napoleon Bonaparte decided to lead his troops over the bridge of Arcole: He ran to the bridge to make another effort (the first time Augereau failed and later Napoleon would say "The  marshal had long since ceased to be a soldier; his courage, his first virtues, had raised him very high out of the crowd"), then seized a flag, brought back his troops, rushed toward the enemy between the bullets and screamed "soldiers, follow your general !"
For three days the positions of Arcole were subjected to a bloody struggle; but at last the skill of the maneuvers of Bonaparte prevailed, and the Austrian general withdrew in a disorderly fashion to Montebello after losing twelve thousand soldiers and six thousand prisoners.



Some letters of Napoleon Bonaparte.



The Battle of Borodino, known as Bataille de la Moskova was a battle fought on 7 September 1812 in the Napoleonic Wars during the French invasion of Russia. The fighting involved around 250,000 troops and left at least 70,000 casualties, making Borodino the deadliest day of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's Grande Armée launched an attack against the Imperial Russian Army, driving it back from its initial positions but failing to gain a decisive victory. Both armies were exhausted after the battle and the Russians withdrew from the field the following day. Borodino represented the last Russian effort at stopping the French advance on Moscow, which fell a week later. However, the French had no clear way of forcing Tsar Alexander to capitulate because the Russian army was not decisively defeated, resulting in the ultimate defeat of the French invasion following the retreat from Moscow in October.



The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was a major engagement fought on 21st July 1798 during the French Invasion of Egypt. The French army, under Napoleon Bonaparte, scored a decisive victory against the forces of the local Mamluk rulers, wiping out almost the entire Egyptian army. It was the battle where Napoleon employed one of his significant contributions to military tactics, the divisional square. Actually a rectangle, the deployment of the French brigades into these massive formations repeatedly threw back multiple cavalry charges by the Egyptians.



The Russian Campaign by Swebach.
The Russian campaign that began in June 1812 and ended in mid-December was - in spite of the troops committed to it- a catastrophe for the Grande Armée, which confronted both huge logistical problems as well as the resistance and patriotism of Russian troops. In January 1814, carried by the success of the German campaign, coalition troops penetrated into France. The campaign would prove to be fierce but short. On March 31, Alexander I entered Paris, which was a prelude to Napoleon's abdication on April 6.



The Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August - December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 -1815). Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Villeneuve. The battle took place in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, and the British lost none.
The Redoutable at Trafalgar - 1806. A painting of Louis-Philippe Crépin.








The Dome houses Napoleon's Tomb as well as Vauban's mausoleum, the graves of Napoleon II (also known as "The Eaglet"), Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte (the brothers of Napoleon 1), the Generals Bertrand and Duroc, and the famous Marshals Foch and Lyautey.




















A photo of the Gare de Lyon in Paris, taken from the taverne karlsbrau where I was drinking a glass of grenadine.



scarface

#137
Today, I'm posting a few photos taken in the Louvre, taken on July 14, 2018 (national celebrating the storming of the Bastille)


Place des Victoires, near Le Louvre.








Rue Saint Honoré


Some Algerian Pastries


In front of Le Louvre. Apparently, a welcoming committee is waiting for me.


On the Rue de Rivoli.




In front of the pyramid of the Louvre










Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The monument consists of a statue of a winged female figure "the messenger goddess Victory" and a base in the shape of the prow of a ship, standing on a low pedestal. 220-185 BC


Delacroix - Liberty Leading the People


Delacroix - Scene of the massacre at Chios Greek families awaiting death or slavery framed


Delacroix - The Death of Sardanapalus



Musée du louvre, room 77


Michelangelo - Rebellious Slave with walker


Ingres - La Grande Odalisque.jpg


David - The Lictors Returning to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons


David - The Intervention of the Sabine Women on gallery wall


David - Oath of the Horatii


Théodore Géricault - The Raft of the Medusa


Pieta of Villeneuve les Avignon


Rubens - Arrival or Disembarkation of Marie de Medici at Marseilles


Panel with sphinxes  - Achaemenid Persian Dynasty, 510 BC


Frieze of Griffins - Persia, 510 BC


Frieze of archers - Persia, 510 BC


View of Capital of a column from the audience hall of the palace of Darius 510 BC.





Winged human headed bull (lamassu or shedu) -  Neo Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II, 721-705 BC




scarface

#138
A few months ago, I deleted many messages in this topic. But actually some of them were quite good. Here is one of them. I will repost some old messages if it turns out they were deleted "accidentally".

Today, I’m going to present the most ferocious predator for man. This predator is extremely vicious, because it is attacking at night, and the victim is attacked without its knowing it, in most cases.
I’m going to give you a few tips, so that you can guess which predator is being referred to. I will also give you advice so that you can be prepared to deal with it.
Unfortunately, with climate change, some dangerous species of this predator are migrating northward.


Is it the shark?



No.




Is it Al-Qaeda?


No.





Is it Mister baboon?



No.



You have probably guessed anyway since I already talked about it. This predator is the mosquito. Its sting is not directly lethal, but the mosquito is responsible for the transmission of a whole bunch of diseases, notably dengue and yellow fever, West nile virus, paludism, zika virus, malaria, chikungunya...

Each year as many as 750 000 people are dying because of these diseases, in the world. That’s why it’s important to be very cautious. Don’t leave stagnant water around your house for example, or buy a mosquito net, if needed.

scarface

#139
Today, I'm going to hold a special conference to talk about the water war in the USA.


The years go by and the records follow one another, and it seems nothing  is able to stop climate change. On a global scale, 2017 was one of the hottest three years in modern history, ranking, according to the data used, in the second or third place on the podium.

But the global overheating is all the more remarkable because, this time, it does not stem form the El Niño phenomenon, this natural cycle of warming of the Pacific waters which, every three to seven years, pulls the temperatures up, and the influence of which had been strongly felt in 2015 and 2016. The twelve months of 2017 thus rise to the rank of the most torrid year without El Niño since the beginning of the surveys, at the end of the XIXe century.

A boat in the dry pond of Theewaterskloof (South Africa), in 2017



The wars of the water in the United States


In the middle of the desert, the green lawns of Saint George, Utah.
To power the town of southern Utah in full expansion, the authorities want to pump, using a pipeline of 220 km, Lake Powell water, already half empty due to drought.

Sand Hollow golf near Hurricane, Utah, July 26


The locals used to say that this place is paradise nine months a year, but there are three months of hell. At the end of June, on the road from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, it's hell - the 42-degree temperature only dropped a little when the smoke of a gigantic forest fire overshadowed the sun . The crops are irrigated in the old way, by sprinkling water. Finally, we arrive at the subdivision of Sand Hollow, fifteen kilometers from St. George. A golf course - in fact two, one of eighteen holes and one of nine -, and chic houses.

Sandy Shepperd, 70, arrived in Sand Hollow three years ago. He had his house built for 400,000 dollars (350,000 euros). During summer, he takes refuge in the cooler mountains, but the rest of the year he plays golf in the desert. Nothing very ecological, even if the desert vegetation has been planted to reduce the surface of the "green": the water is not even recycled. The golf is fed by the "natural leaks" of an adjacent tank, which allowed to create a small nautical base. Sandy Shepperd loves his new life and enjoys the company of newcomers. "We're not just with Mormons, like in St. George or Salt Lake City," he says.

Thousands arrive in southwestern Utah, cheaper than California, and more temperate than the north of the state, with severe winters. In 1970, there were only 13,000 in this oasis crossed by the Virgin River, which looks more like a stream than a river . They are now 170,000 in Saint George, in this tree-lined city where young people are gathering in Mexican restaurants, and will probably be 500,000 in 2060.



Okeechobee, the lake that stifles Florida

Dams, pollution, salinity: the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades has been jeopardized to ensure the development of Florida.


At the beginning of the 20th century, a drainage system and canals were organized to dry the Florida marshes. The control of the lake has made it possible to secure the economic development of this state

Lovers of Florida never go there. To get there, one must go for an hour inland, from Palm Beach, the Atlantic seaside resort for billionaires where US President Donald Trump owns his Mar-a-Lago golf course. Or drive for two hours, amid endless sugar cane plantations, leaving the Everglades National Park, the largest swamp in the United States, teeming with alligators, mosquitoes and herons near Miami.

Okeechobee Lake is the key to Florida's ecological system. The future of heavenly beaches, seabed and especially the natural wealth of the Everglades -a World Heritage Site by Unesco- depend on it . The vast expanse of fresh water is the essential source of nutrition for this fragile ecosystem.

When we finally reach it, Okeechobee is not visible, surrounded by a huge dyke. Fishermen are busy, but the serenity is misleading. There is something wrong: we discover a herd of manatees, aquatic mammals that in Florida normally live in salt water. Above all, the waters are seriously polluted.

The fish are gone

Steve Davis, a scientist with the Everglades Foundation, hopes that nuisances related to the lake will soon be resolved. On July 10, the White House authorized the construction of an artificial lake south of Lake Okeechobee. The goal: to clean up its waters and serve as a reservoir for the Everglades during the dry season. Republican state governor Rick Scott praised Twitter for approval of "this project we are fighting for". The file is now on the Congress table. This work  would be a posthumous consecration for George Barley who launched the Everglades Foundation.





Tonight, I'll probably hold another conference. You will discover the Arab world institute and the area of La Défense.