In TEHRAN

Built in 1971 , Azadi tower is the symbol of Tehran with a height of 45 meters. the design of the building is s derivation of ancient Islamic architecture.  Despite State Department warning, the U.S. does not block travel to Iran.

https://www.google.com/search?q=azadi+tower&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=F4Y&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=44ANU4PrKIbZoATwu4LQCQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1120&bih=722#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=bVlIii1KYSJouM%253A%3BIboPO6E4_EJy-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nadiatour.com%252Fuploads%252FAZADITOWER.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nadiatour.com%252Firan-highlights%252FTehran%252F1002%252Fview%252F%3B1024%3B768

"gentle giants"

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is now the world's largest sanctuary for manta rays, after officials were persuaded by evidence that the gentle giants known for delighting tourists are worth more alive than dead.

The government on Friday announced that manta rays within the archipelago's 5.8 million square kilometers (2.2 million square miles) of ocean will be protected from fishing and export. It will take time and cooperation at multiple levels to enforce the ban on poaching in the biggest global shark and ray fishery

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/21/indonesia-manta-ray-tourism_n_4830766.html

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Some folks of failing memories or tender years may ask this question, but many of us still remember.  We remember that in 1976, while our nation was still writhing from the agonies of the Vietnam War disaster and our mega corporations were launching themselves upon the global scene, a strange phenomenon appeared in our neighborhoods.   People were going around screaming

I'm mad as hell and I'm not 

going to take it anymore!

   What happened?

  The 1976 Oscar-winning movie NETWORK is what happened. 

   NETWORK was a biting,  hilarious, prophetic satire of empty minded entertainment mills masquerading as news programs chaired by pontificating talking heads, a biting indictment of an America heedlessly, destructively rushing to global dominance, recklessly driven by a totally out of control financial sector that

cares about nothing except its bottom line and special privileges. 

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=11976254#editor/target=post;postID=6744134812119473239

  

"one of the tallest buildings in downtown Los Angeles"

With 52 floors, Two California Plaza is one of the tallest buildings in downtown Los Angeles. It has been acquired by Hollywood developer CIM Group. (Jay L. Clendenin, Los Angeles Times / February 13, 2014)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20140213,0,7927635.story

Metropolis

When IDS Realty put the long stalled Metropolis development on the market earlier this year, they commissioned a series of renderings showing the approximate size and scope of the project's full build out.  The 6.3 acre site is entitled for a total of 1.65 million square feet of hotel, residential, office and retail uses divided between five towers.  The completed development would include roughly 400,000 square feet of office space and up to 1,676 hotel rooms.  Entitlements also allow for some of those hotel rooms to be replaced with as many as 555 residential units.  The towers could stand as tall as 456-feet above grade.

http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com/2013/10/metropolis-rendered-in-la-skyline.html

A-12 Avenger II

The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Its Avenger II name was taken from the Grumman TBF Avenger of World War II.

The development of the A-12 was troubled by cost overruns and several delays, causing questions of the program's ability to deliver upon its objectives; these doubts led to the development program being canceled in 1991. The manner of its cancellation was contested through litigation until a settlement was reached in January 2014.

The manner in which the program was canceled led to years of litigation between the contractors and the Department of Defense over breach of contract. On 1 June 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the U.S. Navy was justified in canceling the contract. The ruling also required the two contractors to repay the U.S. government more than US$1.35 billion, plus interest charges of US$1.45 billion. Boeing, which had merged with McDonnell Douglas, and General Dynamics vowed to appeal the ruling.  In September 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would hear the two companies' arguments, that the government canceled the project improperly and that the use of a state secrets claim by the U.S. prevented them from mounting an effective defense.   In May 2011, the Supreme Court set aside the Appeals Court decision and returned the case to federal circuit court.   In January 2014, the case was settled with Boeing and General Dynamics agreeing to pay $200 million each to the U.S. Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_A-12_Avenger_II

111 years ago

NEW YORK – April 20, 2011 – The name Porsche has been associated with pioneering automotive engineering innovations since the beginning of the last century. In 1900 Prof. Ferdinand Porsche unveiled his Lohner Porsche, an electric car with wheel-hub motors driving the front wheels. Soon after, this car featured all-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes, another world first. A highlight of his early years as an automotive designer was the Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus that went down in history 111 years ago as the first functional hybrid car.

http://press.porsche.com/news/release.php?id=642

Roller Coaster at the Arcadia Hotel

SAN MARINO (CNS) – The Huntington Library has purchased the extensive photographic collection of Ernest Marquez, a descendant of Mexican land grantees who owned what became known as Santa Monica and Rustic canyons and parts of Pacific Palisades, it was reported today.

Amassed over 50 years, the 4,600-image compilation includes rare photos of 1870s Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

“The group of photographs is the best and most comprehensive collection of its kind in private hands,” Jennifer A. Watts, curator of photographs at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, told the Los Angeles Times.

She declined to reveal the price but said this was the Huntington’s costliest purchase of photographs since the days of Henry E. Huntington.

Above, E.G. Morrison (ca. 1827–1888), Roller Coaster at the Arcadia Hotel, Santa Monica, late 1880s. Albumen print, Ernest Marquez Collection. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. © The Huntington.

https://www.google.com/search?q=roller+coaster+photos+1880&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=B6t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ftvyUsqHKNPYoASXxoLoBA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1120&bih=736#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=3PxxHCBeTNnAZM%253A%3B-r97dUQiXTmZ0M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcbsfwbam.files.wordpress.com%252F2014%252F02%252Froller-coaster-1880s.jpg%25253Fw%25253D625%252526h%25253D352%252526crop%25253D1%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fkfwbam.com%252F%3B625%3B352

“Sleepwalker”

WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — A remarkably lifelike sculpture of a man sleepwalking in nothing but his underpants has made some Wellesley College students a bit uncomfortable, but the president of the prestigious women’s school says that’s all part of the intellectual process.

The sculpture entitled “Sleepwalker” of a man in an eyes-closed, zombie-like trance is part of an exhibit by sculptor Tony Matelli at the college’s Davis Museum. It was placed at a busy area of campus on Monday, a few days before the official opening of the exhibit, and prompted an online student petition to have it removed.

http://kfwbam.com/2014/02/05/man-in-undies-sculpture-causes-stir-at-college/