How to Spot the Reptilians Running the U.S. Government

AP / The Atlantic Wire

As 12 million Americans "know," the United States government is run by lizard people (or, to be scientifically accurate, reptilians). But they never said whichmembers of the government are the reptilians. So we're here to help.

Piecing together the latest groundbreaking research being conducted by commenters at conspiracy websites, we've been able to isolate a number of prominent individuals who possess reptilian-compatible bloodlines. As "ufochick"writes at DavidIcke.com (Icke is a prominent reptile theorist, as evidenced by his book at right), even if a person has compatible bloodlines, "they will not become a reptilian unless a reptilian entity inhabits their physical body."

Or maybe it isn't important. UnderstandingEvil.com describes how to tell if you're "under assault" by reptilians; "Protector of Mankind" writes at Alien-UFOs.com that you can be a "reptilian/human hybrid." It sort of varies. But according to Icke, this is how it works.

Thousands of years ago, the reptilian beings [from the constellations Orion, Sirius, and Draco] intervened on planet Earth and began interbreeding with humans. Not physically, however, but rather through the manipulation of the human coding, or DNA. Icke states that it is no coincidence that humans have fundamental reptilian genetics within their brain.

Whatever. The point being that it is easy to tell when you have or someone you know has been possessed by a reptile from outer space. While Icke doesn't describe how to spot someone who has been manipulated by/merged with a reptilian — probably to protect his lucrative speaking circuit revenues — others have. The common signs (according to one source):

	"predominance of green or hazel eyes that change color like a chameleon, but also blue eyes"		"piercing eyes"
	"true red or reddish hair"		"a sense of not belonging to the human race"
	"low blood pressure"		"deep compassion for fate of mankind"
	"keen sight or hearing"		"physic abilities" (probably meant "psychic")
	"ESP"		"unexplained scars on body"
	"UFO connections"		"capability to disrupt electrical appliances"
	"love of space and science"		"alien contacts"

Good list! So let's see if we can pinpoint our lizard overlords based on these hints. For example: Who has eyes that are green or hazel or blue but which may change to be different colors? Maybe you.

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	Yes. Obama's eyes are usually not blue or green, but he can maybe change them, so, you know.
	According to his doctors, Obama has low blood pressure.		The Washington Post: "Compassion in Chief"
	The president doesn't wear glasses or a hearing aid.
			This video is conclusive, rational documentation of Obama's unexplained scar.
			Even his telepromptersometimes breaks.
	He loves science, especially kid scientists.

Additional evidence: Barack Obama has an uncanny ability to assassinate flies. That is about as reptilian as you can get.

Verdict: The president is a reptilian.

---

	Biden does have eyes. Blue ones!
	(His hair, when present / not white, was dark colored.)
	His blood pressure is"healthy."		Sure, why not.
	Biden sometimes wears glasses, but not usually.
			Well, he has some explainedscars.
	Three days after Biden took office there was a spike in UFO sightings in his home state.
	Yeah, he likes science.		Biden knows aliens.

Additional evidence: Here is an important video about Biden's reptilian eyes.

Verdict: The vice president is a reptilian.

---

	Yes.		Romney has piercing eyes, that are also clear.
	The doctors signed off on his blood pressure.		Romney cares.
	Yes.		According to the New Yorker, Romney is indeed psychic.
	Nope, according to UFO Digest.
	Romney is a noted arborist.

Additional evidence: In this scientific video, Romney is shape-shifting.

Verdict: Romney is a reptilian.

---

	Yes.
			Not an exaggeration: Gingrich would live at a zoo if he could.
	(He doesn't seem like he has low blood pressure.)
	Yes.		He may be psychic.
	Gingrich clearly has UFO connections, at least on the moon.		Gingrich is "disrupting" the cell phone industry.
	Gingrich has "silly" ideas about science. He loves Google Glass.		Hollywood says Gingrich is an alien.

Additional evidence: Here is your "Gingrich is a reptilian" video.

Verdict: Gingrich is a reptilian.

---

	Cruz has eyes.
	Cruz will also make DC listen.		Conservative site WorldNetDaily posits that Cruz is psychic.
	The senator has opinions about Space Invaders, but that's about it.
	Cruz opposed increased funding for NASA.

Additional evidence: An actual reporter called Cruz reptilian. So:

Verdict: Cruz is probably a reptilian.

---

	Kucinich has eyes.
	His wife has red hair, so we'll count it.
	Kucinich brags about his low blood pressure.		Yes.
	Yes.		(See: UFO.)
	(See: UFO.)
	Shirley MacLaine claims that Kucinich told her he'd seen a UFO and communicated with it telepathically.
	(See: UFO.)		(See: UFO.)

Additional evidence: No additional evidence is needed.

Verdict: Kucinich is probably the king of the reptilians.

---

	Yes.		Rumsfeld has piercing eyes.
	(No.)
	He wears glasses, but seems pretty keen-witted.		There are totally reputableclaims that Rumsfeld worked with psychics while in the Pentagon.
			On his forehead.
	In early 2001, Rumsfeldwarned of a "space Pearl Harbor."		The guy ran Area 51, however indirectly.

Additional evidence: Louis CK basically proved that Rumsfeld is a reptilian in a radio interview.

Verdict: Rumsfeld is a reptilian.

---

Are you a reptilian? Click the icons of any traits that apply to you, and then click "Calculate," below. 

	Do you have green or hazel eyes that change color like a chameleon, or blue eyes?		Do you have piercing eyes?
	Do you have red or reddish hair?		Do you have a sense of not belonging to the human race?
	Do you have low blood pressure?		Do you have deep compassion for fate of mankind?
	Do you have keen sight or hearing?		Do you have physic abilities?
	Do you have ESP?		Do you have unexplained scars on body?
	Do you have "UFO connections"?		Do you have the capability to disrupt electrical appliances?
	Do you have a love of space and science?		Do you have "alien contacts"?

All done? Find out if you're a reptilian: 

هكذا الدنيا

هكذا الدنيا

قال احد الحكماء بعد أن نظر في وجه رجل مهموم: أيها الرجل سأسألك سؤالين وأُريد منك إجابتهما فقال الرجل: اسأل؟ فقال الحكيم: أجئت إلى هذه الدنيا ومعك هذه المشاكل؟ قال الرجل: اللهم لا.. فقال الحكيم: هل ستترك هذه الدنيا وتأخذ معك هذه المشاكل؟  قال الرجل: اللهم لا.. فقال الحكيم: أمر لم تأتِ به، ولن يذهب معك .. الأجدر ألا يأخذ منك كل هذا الهم فكن صبوراً على أمر الدنيا وليكن نظرك إلى السماء أطول من نظرك إلى الأرض يكن لك ما أردت فخرج الرجل منشرح الصدر مسرور الخاطر مردداً أمر لم تأت به ولن يذهب معك لا يستحق أن يأخذ منك كل هذا الهم قال الشافعي دع الأيام تفعــــــــل ما تشــاء ..... وطب نفسا إذا حكم القضاء ولا تجــــــــزع لحادثة الليالي .. فما لحـــوادث الدنيا بقـــــاء     اللهم لاتجعل الدنيا اكبر همنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا تسلط علينا من لا يرحمنا يارب العالمين

 The Canon EOS 70D Sets Its Phase Detection to Stun

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In the Iron Man movies, billionaire Tony Stark developed exoskeleton suits to gain superhero prowess, and refined every generation of his armor with slight upgrades. Up to Mk 7 of his suit, the changes had always been slight and incremental, and in many ways it is the same story with the Canon EOS 70D – the Mk 7 of a successful and evolving EOS DSLR line from the billion-dollar business.
So how does the new tech compare against the EOS 60D? Looking at the brochure it is like another version of the Volkswagen Golf – every generation gains more buttons and dials, more screens, more features, more efficiency and more speed.

With all the exciting new large sensors mirrorless cameras and premium compacts being launched, reviewing the Canon EOS 70D now is like taking the Iron Man’s Mk 7 suit out for a date instead of hanging out with the beautiful Pepper Potts. But then, there will always be guys out there who’d rather hang out with Tony’s high-tech suit than having dinner with his sultry assistant, so this review is just for you!
With the EOS 70D, you have a couple more megapixels at 20MP, increased sensitivity of 1 stop, and slightly increased frames per second at 7fps. It gets more exciting though – the more significant upgrades include a big bump in the AF system (19 points up from 9 points), a touch-screen articulated LCD, built-in Wi-Fi and the much touted ‘Dual Pixel CMOS AF’ technology which promises faster phase detection autofocus.

Here’s a quick run-down on the key features of the new EOS 70D:

• 20.2MP APS-C sensor
• DIGIC 5+ image processor
• ISO 100-12800 standard (ISO 25600 expanded)
• 7fps continuous shooting
• 19-point AF system
• Dual-Pixel CMOS AF
• ‘Silent’ shutter mode
• AF micro-adjustment (Yay it’s back!)
• 1080p 30fps video recording
• 3” articulated touchscreen LCD (1040k dot)
• Integrated Wi-Fi

Body Design and Built Quality

The EOS 70D follows a logical extension to Canon’s double-digit DSLR line-up, so you will feel right at home if you have used the earlier generation cameras. The top deck features dedicated buttons for changing the AF, drive mode, ISO speeds and metering patterns. A new addition is the dedicated focus area expansion control located between the front dial and shutter release button. With 19-points (up from the 9 points of its predecessor), the button lets you access the options of the EOS 70D’s sophisticated AF system.

The mode selection dial sits to the left of the top panel, which has been updated with a central locking button to prevent accidental shifts of modes, and it now rotates 360 degrees. The automated scene modes have been consolidated into a SCN position, freeing up a lot of clutter from the dial. Like most new EOS cameras, the power switch is now located at the mode dial as well.
Located at the back of the camera is the fully articulated LCD panel that packs more flexibility than a Chinese contortionist in a barrel, allowing you to compose your images from virtually any angle for creative perspectives. It seemed like a marketing gimmick, but I realized while shooting that a handful of my images would not been possible or easy without it. With a generous 3” real estate and 104k resolution, the images just seem to pop off the brilliant (pun intended) screen. That the display is clearly visible even in bright daylight really helps in shooting fast.

But an articulating screen is not unique to the EOS 70D – numerous cameras already have that, including its predecessor. It is the successful integration of the articulating screen, high resolution glare-free display, quick control screen and touch screen function that make the EOS 70D such a joy to use. You can change all the key settings very quickly and easily through the well-designed menu display, and that really lets you work fast in the field. The touch sensitive screen also lets you select focus points during video recording or in Live View mode by tapping on the screen to select focus area, which lets you simulate pull-focus techniques like professional videographers. Incidentally, the STM on the new Canon lenses really shine with the pull focus techniques by changing the focus smoothly.
But it’s not all roses and sunshine with the EOS 70D though. The buttons on the back feel slightly mushy, although I’ve never had any real problems operating them. The mushiness probably has to do with the seals for weather resistance, which Canon claims is on par with the 24-year-old EOS-1n. Why is Canon comparing a new camera to a vintage point of reference? It’s akin to McLaren saying their 2013 F1 car has the same durability as Aryton Senna’s 1989 F1 car – it just makes no sense to most people!

It is however the quick control dial and the multi-controller that gave me the most grief while shooting. Unless Darwin believed that Homo Sapiens will evolve to possess more slender fingers, the quick control dial and the multi-controller have become too small and difficult to press or manipulate, to the extent they become plain annoying to use. Fortunately with the new touch screen, I can rely less on the abominable dials. The Canon EOS 70D is built with a polycarbonate body around an aluminum chassis and weighs just 755g (26.6 ounce), which I appreciate after a long day of shooting.

Autofocus Technology

The EOS 70D received a major boost in the speed department when it had a donor transplant from the EOS 7D in the form of the AF sensor. Like it’s speedy cousin, the EOS 70D features a dedicated button to set the AF zones for its sophisticated 19-point autofocusing system, letting you cycle through all the autofocus points selections, from a single AF point, AF point groups, to automatic selection by the camera. Along with the AF module, the EOS 70D can achieve a fast 7 frames/second shoot rate for up to 65 JPEG or 16 RAW files burst, which is blazing fast for most photographers.
But if there’s one phrase that sums up the evolution of the EOS 70D – it’s “Dual Pixel CMOS AF”. It sounds like rocket science, but it is really simple to explain. DSLR cameras focus use phase detection to quickly achieve focus using a beam splitter through a reflex mirror. In Live View or movie recording mode, the mirror is flipped up and the autofocus switches to a hybrid of phase detection and contrast detection. Because of the small number of sensor pixels for detect contrast detection, such hybrid AF usually lag behind pure phase detection AF.

It looks like any other CMOS sensor, except it’s not…

Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology utilizes 80% of its sensor pixels to pull double-duty for image capture and phase-detection. Using their black art of wafer fabrication, the clever engineers at Canon conjured up a solution to split each individual pixel into two separate light gathering photo diodes to capture images and provide phase detection autofocus information simultaneously. With Dual Pixel CMOS AF, there are now enough phase detection pixels to just use phase detection AF exclusively in Live View and movie recording, eliminating the need for contrast AF and thus (theoretically) delivering very fast and accurate AF.

Wi-Fi and other features

The EOS 70 also features integrated Wi-Fi to wirelessly control your camera and to transmit images back to a computer or iOS/Android mobile phone. The EOS Utility offers a comprehensive suite of controls for the EOS, and offers the same functionality wirelessly as it does when connected using cable. You can set the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance and fire the camera wirelessly, making it a great tool for studio photography.
Once the image is captured, you can send the images wirelessly back to your computer. Both JPEG and RAW files can be sent, but if you are concerned about transmission speeds you can configure the EOS Utility to pull only JPEG files wirelessly and leave the RAW files stored in the camera’s memory card, which sounds stonking brilliant for quick previews of your shots on the fly. In practice however, Wi-Fi still struggles with the bandwidth to handle large image transmissions quickly, and I’d rather fall back on good old cable connection when shooting with the EOS Utility (which I adore when shooting in the studio).

Wi-Fi also lets you to see your LiveView wirelessly away from your camera. You feel immensely cool when you rig your EOS 70D above the hoop to capture Kobe Bryant slam-dunking into the net, so you can chat up the cute cheerleader at the sidelines and show off how you use your iPhone to view and trigger the camera wirelessly. Imagine when you retrieve your rigged camera only to find empty frames of the net, because the Wi-Fi was lagging several seconds behind the actual action due to the demands of wireless video transmission. The consolation was that the cheerleader gave you her mobile number, but you pray she doesn’t ask to see your Kobe Bryant shots during the date!

The Canon EOS 70D is extremely well specified with a 1/8000th sec top shutter speed and 1/250th sec flash sync speed. Traditionally cameras featured three-frame bracketing, but the EOS 70D offers up to 7 frames bracketing in a 3 EV range, which will come in useful during post-processing for HDR techniques. Or you can use the HDR Backlight Control to capture three shots at varying exposures and the camera combines them to automatically expand the dynamic range, which is convenient but offers you less control than doing so in post-production.

Does the Canon EOS 70D Deliver in the Field?

Looking at Flickr pool images of grumpy cats, grouchy kids being fed, buildings and cakes – subjects unlikely to challenge the limits of even the decade-old EOS 10D, the EOS 70D should have no problems satisfying the requirements for most photographers. But since you’re reading this review – you are not “most” photographers, are you? I’ve taken the camera for some fast action street photography, which should be a good test for what many EOS 70D users would encounter as high-speed action.


When shooting in the streets, the opportunities come and go in an instant. And having fast AF on the EOS 70D really helps when you only have a split second to spot the photo, compose, focus and fire off the shutter. In most cases, seeing the picture is a reflex action and you are not really thinking about the focus, metering or such parameters. Having a camera that you can depend on lets you focus on spotting the photo opportunities, and the EOS 70D is one such camera you’d want to have with you.
The verdict is very positive, with the camera locking on focus positively and quickly in most instances. Even for moving subjects such as joggers or cyclists, the EOS 70D is able to focus and track them easily. However when the camera goes into “sleep” mode, it takes a second to wake up after you half-depress the shutter release button, before it will actually start focusing. And that was when I lost a handful of opportunities while prowling the streets.

I was at the crossing when I spotted this photo opportunity, and a split second later the pigeon was gone. Shooting in the streets rewards fast thinking and swift reflexes, and it helps if your camera is quick too.

How about the much vaunted Dual Pixel CMOS AF?  When I first tried focusing in LiveView, I was slightly underwhelmed by the autofocus speeds. It took a split-second moment before the camera got the focus, as if the camera was thinking before responding. A bit of online research found that things improve with the default Face-detection AF mode. When activated, the EOS 70D snapped into focus very quickly – especially when there were faces in the scene. Used with a STM lens, the camera focused smartly and smoothly whenever any faces showed up in the scene, which makes it great for most home videos we are likely to make. You can also improve the autofocus speeds in LiveView or movie recording by selecting a smaller autofocus group or selecting specific AF points. Basically you are limiting the sensor’s job by telling it where to focus so they do not need to do the guesswork and slow down the process. When I used specific AF points, the autofocus was significantly faster without the lag in reaction time.

Again, I spotted this split-second opportunity when the boy came by on his skate scooters. He didn’t stop, and I only got two shots before he was out of the frame.

Backlit, fast moving, high contrast, strong flare: nice test subject for the EOS 70D.

In terms of image quality, the EOS 70D is right up there with the best of current APS-C sensor cameras. While 20MP may not be the top dog in terms of resolution, the images certainly deliver the bite with their colours and sharpness. At low ISO speeds, the images from the EOS 70D are punchy, crisp and detailed. Continue to nudge the speeds up to ISO 3200 or even 6400, and the images remain impressive even as noise starts to intrude and colours become slightly muted. It is obvious that the DIGIC 5+ image processor (first seen in the EOS 5D Mk III) is doing a great job. The camera lets you crank it up to ISO 12800, or even ISO 25,600 in expanded range. While I’d only go that far in emergency situations, the EOS 70D delivers class-leading noise control through the entire range to give you the confidence to go where the sun doesn’t shine (pun intended).

Details and textures were still richly retained at ISO 3200

As mentioned, a feature that I did not think I’d appreciate much is the articulating LCD screen of the EOS 70D, but it did turned out to be very helpful in several situations.  The ability to shoot from a high or very low perspective helps to give your images an additional edge in creativity, and here I’ve included a couple of examples where I shot from an ultra-low angle without having to behave like a seal.

Go low: the Vari-Angle LCD allowed me to juxtaposition the “no-feeding” sign close to the seagull.

The grass was barely three-inches tall, but placing the EOS 70D on the ground with the Vari-Angle LCD let me create foreground interest for this image.

Some photographers prefer rangefinders and compact cameras for street photography because SLRs are too noisy with the mirror action and shutter noise. The EOS 70D features Silent Shutter mode that reduces the sound, which should make it stealthier. Except it doesn’t. I was shooting from the hip along a busy city street, of a guy standing five feet away. The moment I pressed the shutter, he confronted me to ask if I just taken a photo of him. So if you intend to be stealthy up-close, ditch the EOS 70D and get a compact camera instead.
The EOS 70D takes the LP-E6 battery – used in the EOS 60D, EOS 7D, EOS 6D and EOS 5D Mk II as well, which is great if you use the EOS 70D as a backup with any of them. The 1800mAh cell is rated for 920 shots, which is pretty close to what I got (843 frames). But when I shot movies and used LiveView sporadically, the total shots went down significantly (probably due to the amount of power required for the Dual Pixel CMOS AF and LCD).

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

Canon introduced stepper motors (STM) for some kit USM lenses to reduce focusing noise during video recording and provide smoother focusing. The EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is one such lens, with a versatile equivalent range of 29-216mm that makes it a convenient choice for travel photography. All images in this review have been shot with the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM to give you an idea of the versatility and quality of this lens.


The EF-S 18-135mm IS STM is quick to focus, making it a good match to the EOS 70D, and it balances well on the camera. It locks on confidently for most scenes, though when it misses it takes about a second to hit infinity before it regains focus again. The EF-S 18-135mm IS STM focuses by wire so you’d need the camera to be powered on and activated to focus the lens manually. While some are divided on the opinion of STM vs. USM on Canon lenses, the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM is virtually silent and provides very smooth focusing in movie recording, and the STM does not feel any slower than a USM lens. My recommendation for people who love videos is to get this STM lens!

The Image Stabilization (IS) on the lens is great, and I’ve come away with sharp images at the long end even at low shutter speeds. IS technology is not a cure-all magic bullet, and you should still practice good shooting fundamentals to maximize the effectiveness of the IS. The lens handles very well on the EOS 70D, thanks in part to the super generous rubber grip zoom ring that covers almost half the lens barrel!

Green blob of flare: The EF-S 18-135mm STM has the propensity to flare with hot spots in image…

…which can be harnessed to your advantage in a creative way as well.

So is the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM a good lens? I’d say it is not among the sharpest lenses I’ve used, but it is pretty impressive for a kit lens covering such a wide focal range. It resolves details well, but there is just the missing bit of crispness that I’d have loved to have. Centre sharpness is commendable, but the corners seem to suffer from a bit of smudging (not sure if it’s a centering issue with my sample). There are traces of chromatic aberration at the edges of highlights, which frankly is only noticeable by pixel peepers. And the lens does flare with a strong light source (either in frame or just out of frame), as you can see in some of the images. In terms of bokeh, the out-of-focus areas can look a tad messy or nervous with some subjects such as foliage.


What bothered me most about the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM is the distortion. The lens exhibits barrel distortion at the wide end, and pincushion distortion at the telephoto end. Usually I’m not a stickler for distortion but when I can spot visible distortions in non-technical (i.e. non brick wall) photographs it does get to me a bit. It should not be a problem to most photographers, but if you photograph a lot of straight lines (architecture, artwork copying etc.), give this lens a miss.
All in all, the EF-S 18-135mm IS STM is fast and reasonably sharp for a kit lens, and it is a wonderful companion lens on a trip. It is not perfect optically, with its propensity to flare and it exhibits a little visible distortion. I’d love it to be a bit wider (24mm equivalent will be great), but it is a great option if you want a compact walk-around lens for your EOS 70D. Taking its price, size, weight and focal length into consideration, it’s definitely worthy of your consideration as a good kit lens to start off with the EOS 70D.

Conclusion

So this obviously isn’t the Mk 42 suit for Tony Stark, but rather the seventh in a line of gradual evolution of Iron Man’s armor. While some may bemoan the lack of revolutionary ideas, the EOS 70D owners may actually find the latest model to be packed with features that make a lot of sense in actual shooting. The enhanced autofocus system was great, and worked in sync with the high burst rates of 7 fps to capture moments which earlier generation of cameras would have missed. And as mentioned, the Dual Pixel CMOS AF did an amazing job of improving autofocus when used in the right situation with the right settings, and it works brilliantly with the touch screen LCD.

Shooting in RAW lets you extract maximum details from shadows and highlights of the EOS 70D images.

Image quality wise, the EOS 70D is a small step up in terms of noise control over its predecessor, by offering an additional stop of speed and better noise control. The new DIGIC 5+ image processor does an excellent job of noise reduction without too much smearing, and the colours are excellent as usual for a Canon EOS. The built-in Wi-Fi is a nice touch and it can be useful for certain photographers, even though the transmission of the images hog up too much bandwidth for it to be useful for me. Still it’s a nice party trick to be able to control the camera from the computer or phone.

The EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens that ships with the EOS 70D is a competent piece of glass that offers fast autofocus and versatile range. It is not the sharpest lens, but I suspect many photographers will not have issues with the images it can deliver. Watch for the bit of flare and distortion though, for they are the Achilles Heel’s in an otherwise good optical performance. That being said, the size, weight and focal range of the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM makes it a strong contender for travel photography.

One of my favorite shots from the EOS 70D test (no it wasn’t a set-up photo!). The little boy refused to leave the chocolate store and kept staring at the window display, and it took me ten minutes before I captured this image with all the elements in place.

So should you buy the EOS 70D? If you are using earlier generations of DSLRs, the EOS 70D should provide compelling reasons to upgrade if autofocus, burst rates and a touch-screen articulating LCD are important to you. If you love to shoot video, then the answer is a resounding yes – the EOS 70D is a fantastic tool for videographers. But if you own the EOS 60D, the EOS 70D does not represent a quantum leap over what is basically an already very competent camera. You’d be better off spending your dough on better lenses, photography lessons/books or travel for better photos. But you’d be passing up the chance to impress that cute cheerleader with the EOS 70D’s Wi-Fi camera control. Tough call…

“Around the World in 2000 Pictures

“Around the World in 2000 Pictures” is a neat project by Alex Profit — the same guy that did “Around the World in 80 Seconds” — in which he takes us on a tour of major world cities (Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, St. Petersbourg, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York and London) through 2000 photographs in stop-motion. He completed the entire project in just 24 days shooting a Canon 5D Mark II. We love the way he uses photographs to transition from one city to another seamlessly.

The Most Honored Photograph

The Most Honored Photograph

Doesn’t look like much, does it? But, depending upon your definition, this photograph, a team effort by 9 men, is the most honored picture in U. S. History. If you want to find out about it, read on. It’s an interesting tale about how people sometimes rise beyond all expectations.

It takes place in the early days of World War II, in the South Pacific, and if you’re a World War II history buff, you may already know about it.

The Screwed Up Pilot

First, let’s get this out of the way. Jay Zeamer wasn’t a photographer by trade. He was mostly a wanna-be pilot. He looked good on paper, having graduated with a degree in civil engineering from MIT, joining the Army Air Corps, and receiving his wings in March, 1941. He was a B-26 bomber co-pilot when World War II started.

His classmates all rapidly became lead pilots and squadron leaders, but not Jay. He couldn’t pass the pilot check tests despite trying numerous times. He was a good pilot, but just couldn’t seem to land the B-26. Landing, from what I’ve read, was considered one of the more important qualifications for a pilot. Stuck as a co-pilot while his classmates and then those from the classes behind him were promoted, he got bored and lost all motivation.

Things came to a head when co-pilot Zeamer fell asleep while his plane was in flight. Not just in flight, but in flight through heavy anti-aircraft fire during a bombing run. He only woke when the pilot beat him on the chest because he needed help. His squadron commander had him transferred to a B-17 squadron in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea where he was allowed to fly as a fill-in navigator and occasionally as a co-pilot. He was well liked and popular — on the ground. But no one wanted to fly with him.

Zeamer finally managed to get into the pilot’s seat by volunteering for a photoreconnaissance mission when the scheduled pilot became ill. The mission, an extremely dangerous one over the Japanese stronghold at Rabual, won Zeamer a Silver Star – despite the fact that he still hadn’t qualified to pilot a B-17.

The Eager Beavers

Zeamer become the Operations Officer (a ground position) at the 43rd Air Group. Despite his lack of qualification, he still managed to fly as a B-17 fill-in pilot fairly often. He had discovered found that he loved to fly B-17s on photoreconnaissance missions, and he wanted to do it full-time. There were only three things standing in his way: he didn’t have a crew, he didn’t have an airplane, and oh, yeah, he still wasn’t a qualified pilot.

He solved the first problem by gravitating to every misfit and ne’er-do-well in the 43rd Air Group. As another pilot, Walt Krell, recalled, “He recruited a crew of renegades and screwoffs. They were the worst — men nobody else wanted. But they gravitated toward one another and made a hell of a team.”

The plane came later. An old, beat-up B-17, serial number 41-2666, that had seen better days was flown into their field to be scavenged for spare parts. Captain Zeamer had other ideas. He and his crew decided to rebuild the plane in their spare time since they weren’t going to get to fly any other way. Exactly how they managed to accomplish their task is the subject of some debate. Remember, there were so few spare parts available that their ‘plane’ was actually brought in originally to be a parts donor.

But rebuild it they did. Once it was in flying shape the base commander congratulated them and said he’d find a new crew to fly it. Not surprisingly, Zeamer and his crew took exception to this idea, and according Walt Krell the crew slept in their airplane, having loudly announced that the 50 caliber machine guns were kept loaded in case anyone came around to ‘borrow’ it. There was a severe shortage of planes, so the base commander ignored the mutiny and let the crew fly – but generally expected them to take on missions that no one else wanted.

The misfit crew thrived on it. They hung around the base operations center, volunteering for every mission no one else wanted. That earned them the nickname The Eager Beavers, and their patched up B-17 was called Old 666.

The Eager Beavers: (Back Row) Bud Thues, Zeamer, Hank Dominski, Sarnoski (Front Row) Vaughn, Kendrick, Able, Pugh.

Once they started flying their plane on difficult photoreconnaissance missions, they made some modifications. Even among the men of a combat air station, the Eager Beavers became known as gun nuts. They replaced all of the light 30 caliber machine guns in the plane with heavier 50 caliber weapons. Then the 50 caliber machine guns were replaced with double 50 caliber guns. Zeamer had another pair of machine guns mounted to the front of the plane so he could remotely fire them like a fighter pilot. And the crew kept extra machine guns stored in the plane, just in case one of their other guns jammed or malfunctioned.

As odd as all this sounds, the South Pacific theatre in the early days of World War II was a chaotic area scattered over thousands of miles with very little equipment. Having a plane with an apparently nutty crew who volunteered for every awful mission not surprisingly made the commanding officers look the other way.

Buka

In June, 1943, the U. S. had secured Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. They knew the Japanese had a huge base at Rabual, but were certain there were other airfields being built in the Northern Solomon Islands. They asked for a volunteer crew to take photographs of Bougainville Island to plan for an eventual invasion, and of Buka airfield on the north side of the island to assess for increased activity there. It was considered a near-suicide mission — flying hundreds of miles over enemy airspace in a single, slow bomber. Not to mention photoreconnaissance meant staying in level flight and taking no evasive action even if they were attacked.

Credit: World Factbook

The only crew that volunteered, of course, was Jay Zeamer and the Eager Beavers. One of the crew, bombardier Joseph Sarnovski, had absolutely no reason to volunteer. He’d already been in combat for 18 months and was scheduled to go home in 3 days. Being a photo mission, there was no need for a bombardier. But if his friends were going, he wanted to go, and one of the bombardier’s battle stations was to man the forward machine guns. They might need him, so he went.

They suspected the airstrip at Buka had been expanded and reinforced, but weren’t sure until they got close. As soon as the airfield came in sight, they saw numerous fighters taking off and heading their way. The logical thing to do would have been to turn right and head for home. They would be able to tell the intelligence officers about the increased number of planes at Buka even if they didn’t get photos.

But Zeamer and photographer William Kendrick knew that photos would be invaluable for subsequent planes attacking the base, and for Marines who were planning to invade the island later. Zeamer held the plane level (tilting the wings even one degree at that altitude could put the photograph half a mile off target) and Kendrick took his photos, which gave plenty of time for over 20 enemy fighters to get up to the altitude Old 666 was flying at.

The fighter group, commanded by Chief Petty Officer Yoshio Ooki, was experienced and professional. They carefully set up their attack, forming a semi-circle all around the B-17 and then attacking from all directions at once. Ooki didn’t know about the extra weapons the Eager Beavers had mounted to their plane, but it wouldn’t matter if he had; there was no way for a single B-17 to survive those odds.

During the first fighter pass the plane was hit by hundreds of machine gun bullets and cannon shells. Five crewman of the B-17 were wounded and the plane badly damaged. All of the wounded men stayed at their stations and were still firing when the fighters came in for a second pass, which caused just as the first. Hydraulic cables were cut, holes the size of footballs appeared in the wings, and the front plexiglas canopy of the plane was shattered.

Zeamer was wounded during the second fighter pass, but kept the plane flying level and took no evasive action until Kendrick called over the intercom that the photography was completed. Only then did he begin to move the plane from side-t0-side allowing his gunners better shots, just as the fighters came in for a third wave of attacks. The third pass blew out the oxygen system of the plane, which was flying at 28,000 feet. Despite the obvious structural damage Zeamer put the plane in an emergency dive to get down to a level where there was enough oxygen for them men to survive.

During the dive, a 20mm cannon shell exploded in the navigator’s compartment. Sarnoski, who was already wounded, was blown out of his compartment and beneath the cockpit. Another crewman reached him and saw there was a huge wound in his side. Despite his obviously mortal wound, Sarnoski said, “Don’t worry about me, I’m all right” and crawled back to his gun which was now exposed to 300 mile an hour winds since the plexiglass front of the plane was now gone. He shot down one more fighter before he died a minute or two later.

The battle continued for over 40 minutes. The Eager Beavers shot down several fighters and heavily damaged several others. The B-17 was so heavily damaged, however, that they didn’t expect to make the several hundred miles long flight back home. Sarnoski had already died from his wounds. Zeamer had continued piloting the plane despite multiple wounds. Five other men were seriously wounded.

Flight Officer Ooki’s squadron returned to Buka out of ammunition and fuel. They understandably reported the B-17 was destroyed and about to crash in the ocean when they last saw it.

The B-17 didn’t quite crash, though. Zeamer had lost consciousness from loss of blood, but regained it when he was removed from the pilot seat and lay on the floor of the plane. The copilot, Lt. Britton, was the most qualified to care for the wounded and was needed in the back of the plane. One of the gunners, Sergeant Able, had liked to sit in the cockpit behind the pilots and watch them fly. That made him the most qualified of the crewman, so he flew the plane with Zeamer advising him from the floor while Britton cared for the wounded.

The plane made it back to base. (Britton did return to the cockpit for the landing.) After the landing, the medical triage team had Zeamer removed from the plane last, because they considered his wounds mortal. Amazingly, the one thing on the plane not damaged were the cameras and the photos in them were considered invaluable in planning the invasion of Bougainville.

Epilogue

All of the wounded men recovered, although it was a close thing for Captain Zeamer. In fact, a death notification was sent to his parents somewhat prematurely. He spent the next year in hospitals recovering from his wounds, but lived a long and happy life, passing away at age 88.

Both Zeamer and Sarnovski were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the mission, the only time in World War II that two men from one plane ever received America’s highest medal for valor in combat. The other members of the crew were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor as an award for bravery.

So, somewhat surprisingly, the most decorated combat flight in U. S. history didn’t take place in a major battle. It was a photo-reconnaissance flight; the flight of ‘old 666′ in June of 1943.

اعجاز علمى يؤكد ان الانسان يعود بعد الموت

بأبي أنت وأمي يارسول الله

=========================

لقد أودع الله في جسد الإنسان ما يثبت أنه سيعود للحياة مرة أخرى بعد الموت.. ..فقد أودع الله تعالى شيئاً عجيباً في جسم الإنسان، وهو جزء صغير جداً في أسفل العمود الفقري يسمَّى بعجب الذنب.

وقد بيَّنت البحوث العلمية الحديثة أن الشريط الوراثي الأولي الذي خُلق منه الإنسان موجود في هذا الجزء المتناهي في الصغر.

والشيء العجيب أن الإنسان بعد موته يبدأ جسمه بالانحلال والتفكك ويفنى الجسد كله باستثناء عجب الذنب هذا.

وقد قام العلماء باختبار هذا الجزء من الإنسان وتعريضه لأقوى العوامل من إشعاعات وسحق وضغط وحرارة وغير ذلك فتبين ثبات هذا العجْب والحفاظ على تركيبه مهما كانت الظروف. وهنا تتجلى عظمة البيان النبوي عن هذه الحقيقة العلمية الثابتة.

عن أبي هريرة ـ رضي الله عنه ـ أن رسول الله صل الله عليه وسلم قال: (كل ابن آدم يأكله التراب إلا عجب الذنب منه خلق وفيه يركب) ]رواه البخاري ومسلم[.
وسبحان من عَلَّم هذا النبي صل الله عليه وسلم! لو لم يكن محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم رسول الله وخاتم أنبيائه فهل من المنطق العلمي أنه كان سيعلم بحقيقة علمية دقيقة لم تنكشف أمام العلماء إلا في نهاية القرن العشرين؟

إن الجزء الذي تحدث عنه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صغير جداً، والشريط الذي بداخله لا يُرى إلا بالمجاهر الإلكترونية المتطورة.

وإذا تأملنا الحديث في قوله صل الله عليه وسلم: (منه خُلِق وفيه يركب) نجد في هذا الكلام العلمي البليغ معجزة علمية.

فلولا هذا الشريط الأولي والذي يحمل برنامج الخلق وتطور الإنسان، لم ينشأ الإنسان!

لأن العمليات التي يتم خلالها خلق الإنسان في بطن أمه وتطوره حتى يكبر ثم يموت، جميع هذه المعلومات موجودة في عجب الذنب وينقلها لكل خلية من خلايا الإنسان.

فإذا ما ماتت خلايا الإنسان بقي هذا الجزء الصغير محفوظاً برعاية الله تعالى حتى لو تعرض لأشدّ أنواع الضغط والحرارة.

وقد قام العلماء حديثاً باختبارات على المادة الوراثية الموجودة داخل خلايا الإنسان وهي ما يسمى بـ (DNA)، وقد تضمنت التجربة وضع بعض من جزئيات هذه المادة في أنبوب داخل حجرة خاصة وتم تعريض هذه العينة لانفجار يماثل الانفجار الناتج عن تصادم مذنب ضخم بالأرض وهذه التصادمات مرت بها الأرض في بدء تكوينها منذ ملايين السنين.

إذن تم تعريض المادة الوراثية إلى أكبر أنواع الضغط والحرارة والأشعة وكانت النتيجة المذهلة أن هذه المادة لم تتأثر! بل بقيت محتفظة بخصائصها وتركيبها.

إذن يمكن القول: إن عجب الذنب مهما تعرض لعوامل فيزيائية ونووية وكيميائية يبقى الشريط الأولي داخله محتفظاً بخصائصه ولكنه يتأثر قليلاً ويغير تركيبه، ولكنه لا يفنى أبداً. و هذا ما نجده في قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (يبلى كل عظم من ابن آدم إلا عجب الذنب وفيه يركب الخلق يوم القيامة) ]رواه مسلم.