Tidin Rennur by Sissel

Tíðin rennur */ **Time passes*/ 1892 by/ */Fríðrikur Petersen (1853-1917)./** *Time passes like a flowing river. We are all drifting without oars towards the waterfall. Who has the will and power to lead my little boat safely to the heavenly shore. Onward, in the name of the Lord, I am sailing my little boat. The heavenly shore is in front of my bow.

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem

The only historical event connecting Alexander the Great with the Jews is his visit to Jerusalem around 332 BC, which is recorded later by Josephus in a somewhat fantastic manner. According to "Ant." xi. 8, §§ 4-6, Alexander went to Jerusalem after having taken Gaza. Jaddua, the high priest, had a warning from God received in a dream, in which he saw himself vested in a purple robe, with his miter—that had the golden plate on which the name of God was engraved—on his head. Accordingly he went to meet Alexander at Sapha ("View" [of the Temple]). Followed by the priests, all clothed in fine linen, and by a multitude of citizens, Jaddua awaited the coming of the king. When Alexander saw the high priest, he reverenced God (Lev. R. xiii., end), and saluted Jaddua; while the Jews with one voice greeted Alexander. When Parmenio, the general, gave expression to the army's surprise at Alexander's extraordinary act—that one who ought to be adored by all as king should adore the high priest of the Jews—Alexander replied: "I did not adore him, but the God who hath honored him with this high-priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea, promising that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians." Alexander then gave the high priest his right hand, and went into the Temple and "offered sacrifice to God according to the high priest's direction," treating the whole priesthood magnificently. "And when the Book of Daniel was shown him [see Dan. vii. 6, viii. 5-8, 20-22, xi. 3-4], wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks [] should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that he was the person intended, and rejoiced thereat. The following day Alexander asked the people what favors he should grant them; and, at the high priest's request, he accorded them the right to livein full enjoyment of the laws of their forefathers. He, furthermore, exempted them from the payment of tribute in the seventh year of release. To the Jews of Babylonia and Media also he granted like privileges; and to the Jews who were willing to enlist in his army he promised the right to live in accordance with their ancestral laws. Afterward the Samaritans, having learned of the favors granted the Jews by Alexander, asked for similar privileges; but Alexander declined to accede to their request. The historical character of this account is, however, doubted by many scholars (see Pauly-Wissowa, "Realencyklopädie," i. col. 1422). Although, according to Josephus ("Contra Ap." ii. 4, quoting Hecatæus), Alexander permitted the Jews to hold the country of Samaria free from tribute as a reward for their fidelity to him, it was he who Hellenized its capital (Schürer, "Gesch." ii. 108). The Sibylline Books (iii. 383) speak of Alexander—who claimed to be the son of Zeus Amon—as "of the progeny of the Kronides, though spurious."

Space Shuttle - Last two launches announced

Video Link http://vimeo.com/4759960

Picture credit: National Geographic

Official launch dates targeted for remaining shuttles

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
Posted: July 1, 2010

After assessing payload processing issues and projected traffic to and from the International Space Station, NASA managers Thursday formally retargeted the program's final two missions for launches Nov. 1 and Feb. 26.
The shuttle Discovery, which had been scheduled for launch Sept. 16 on mission STS-133, is now targeted for liftoff at 4:33 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1.
The shuttle Endeavour, which had been targeted for launch around Nov. 26, was reset for takeoff at 4:19 p.m. EST on Feb. 26, 2011

Sequoias Trees

Giant Sequoias from Miklos Kiss on Vimeo.

In my travels out west, the majestic sequoias trees were the most fascinating. The splendour of these great trees rivaled the Grand Canyon. I guess the fact that's it a living organism makes the difference.

Norway - Colorful Splendor

Troms NorwayTroms NorwayLofoten Nordland

Northern NorwayHaram

Here are some more of my favorite pictures of the splender of Norway.

Scenes from western Norway

First two pictures is the Bergen-Flesland Int'l Airport. Next is Alesund, Norway.  The next two are two views of  Bergen, Norway. Next is Sunndalen, then Trondhiem and last is Trollstigen.

Roses are red my love

   A time for Us

A Time for US from SaBinh on Vimeo.

The million dollar highway

http://vimeo.com/6676546   Part 1

You are looking at the edge of the pavement. From there it's straight down.

 

http://vimeo.com/7086520    Part 2
Highway 550 in Colorado. Hit the wall or do the fall. No room for error. The edge of the pavement is the edge of the drop. A fantastic road to drive. This road goes from Durango to Silverton, Colorado.

Cable Stayed

This is what happens when an engineer turns fashion designer.

America - From sea to shining sea

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from Bryan Cady on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/6517564
  Link to Video

Cape Hatteras or Point Reyes National Seashore; horizontal or vertical, each has a beauty of it's own.

Norway's Hardangerbrua Bridge

Hardangerbrua 25. juni from FPV-Leif on Vimeo.

Construction has began. Hardangerbrua Bridge is bridge under construction which will cross the Hardangerfjord in southwestern Norway. It will replace today's ferry connection.

The bridge will be about 1380 metres long, with a main span of 1310 meters. It will be a suspension bridge, the eighth longest spans in the world. The small difference between length and span is because the fjord quickly becomes very deep, so the towers is been built on land. close to the fjord. Each tower will be 186m tall, been built on land they will reach 200m above the sea level. There will be 2 lanes for traffic and one lane for bicycles and pedestrians. The sailing height under the bridge will be 55 m.

Due to very steep mountains on each side of the fjord the road have to run into a tunnel immediately after the bridge. There will be a 2.4km long tunnel on the southern side, and a 800m long tunnel connecting to an existing 7.5km long tunnel on the northern side of the fjord. Construction of these tunnels started in February 2009. The construction of the bridge itself will start in 2010 when the tunnels are completed. They hope to have the bridge opened in the end of 2013.