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When I was an active #ultimatefrisbee player myself, I was baffled that this sport, that is played without referees, gathered and forged a community of amazing, strong people with a similar understanding of ethics and social values.
Some of them remain close friends till now.#UltimatePeace brings together youth from Israel & the Westbank to play Ultimate Frisbee together, and as a side effect, build friendly and respectful #relationships to power the peace of tomorrow.
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🐢💤 A groundbreaking revelation: to appear productive, perfect the art of AI-generated emails with unnecessary em dashes. 🤖✍️ Tune into the riveting saga of people who discovered that their colleagues are actually brilliant automatons. 😊👌 Because why actually work when you can just baffle everyone with punctuation? 🤯📧
https://nooneshappy.com/article/appearing-productive-in-the-workplace/ #AIemails #Productivity #Hacks #EmDashes #WorkplaceHumor #Automation #HackerNews #ngated -
Others in the Trump inner circle who made their fortunes via privately held ventures include treasury secretary
#Steven T. #Mnuchin, who got a great deal during the financial crisis on IndyMac, a mortgage lending bank,
thanks to our government’s penchant for the socialization of risk and privatization of profit when entities considered “too big to fail” go into a state of distress.Mnuchin and his fellow investors, a group that included liberal donor and hedge-fund honcho George Soros, changed the company name to #OneWest and began to aggressively foreclose on homeowners.
The bank earned Mnuchin and his partners a profit of $1.6 billion in its first year of operation,
even as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was preparing to take a hit of nearly $11 billion “on bad loans that the Pasadena institution made before it was sold last March and renamed OneWest Bank,” according to E. Scott Reckard of the Los Angeles Times.Then there’s commerce secretary #Wilbur #Ross, worth $2.5 billion according to Forbes, who started a second career in 2000 with the creation of his eponymous investment company,
which he later sold to Invesco for a reported $375 million.#Reed #Cordish, special assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives, is a scion of the family that owns privately held Cordish Companies,
involved in gaming and entertainment.
He’s said to be tight with Jared Kushner.#Sonny #Perdue, Trump’s secretary of agriculture, founded the private company Perdue Inc., a trucking outfit,
with his wife, Mary, who was reported in 2005 to be the company’s sole shareholder.
(An official at Perdue Inc. declined to confirm to The Baffler whether this is still the case.)And, while not a rich guy himself, CIA director #Mike #Pompeo founded a private company called #Thayer #Aerospace in the late 1990s with help from Koch Venture Capital, an arm of Koch Industries.
A Pompeo aide told the Washington Post that the Koch investment amounted to only 2 percent,
but there’s no way to really know, since the transaction took place between two privately held companies.
He later became president of #Sentry #International, another private company, before his 2010 run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he won, again with an assist from the Koch brothers.
He’s also a climate-change denier—an appealing trait in a public official if you’re a fossil fuels magnate looking to buy one -
A quotation from Ambrose of Milan
To avoid dissensions we should ever be on our guard, more especially with those who drive us to argue with them, with those who vex and irritate us, and who say things likely to excite us to anger. When we find ourselves in company with quarrelsome, eccentric individuals, people who openly and unblushingly say the most shocking things, difficult to put up with, we should take refuge in silence, and the wisest plan is not to reply to people whose behavior is so preposterous.
Those who insult us and treat us contumeliously are anxious for a spiteful and sarcastic reply: the silence we then affect disheartens them, and they cannot avoid showing their vexation; they do all they can to provoke us and to elicit a reply, but the best way to baffle them is to say nothing, refuse to argue with them, and to leave them to chew the cud of their hasty anger. This method of bringing down their pride disarms them, and shows them plainly that we slight and despise them.
[Sed etiam ille cavendus; est, qui videri potest, quicumque inritat, quicumque incitat, quicumque exasperat, quicumque incentiva luxuriae aut libidinis suggerit. Quando ergo aliquis nobis convitiatur, lacessit, ad violentiam provocat, ad iurgium vocat: tunc silentium exerceamus, tunc muti fieri non erubescamus. Peccator est enim qui nos provocat, qui iniuriam facit et nos similes sui fieri desiderat.
Denique si taceas, si dissimules, solet dicere: Quid taces? Loquere, si audes; sed non audes, mutus es, elinguem te feci. Si ergo taceas, plus rumpitur; victum sese putat, inrisum, posthabitum atque inlusum.]Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
De Officiis Ministrorum [On the Duties of the Clergy], Book 1, ch. 5, sec. 17-18 (AD 386)Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/ambrose-saint/32739/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #stambrose #anger #argument #calumny #disdain #dismiss #goad #ignore #insult #irritation #mute #provocation #quiet #scorn #silence #vexation
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This week's Top 5:
- Bottles ashore, The New Yorker
- Benches awaiting, Places Journal
- Boundlessness disputed, Quanta Magazine
- Books aplenty, Cabinet
- Batons bought, The Bafflerhttps://longreads.com/2026/05/01/top-5-608/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
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Help needed to photograph and record #JoshuaTrees!
Joshua Trees bloomed earlier than usual – and it spells trouble for iconic succulent
By Chris Nesi
Published Jan. 25, 2026, 10:13 p.m. ET"Southern California’s famed Joshua trees are flowering months ahead of schedule, baffling scientists and raising fears about the future of the species.
"The #MojaveDesert succulents typically bloom between February and April, timing their flowers to the arrival of the #YuccaMoth — the only insect capable of pollinating them.
"The moth lays its eggs inside the flowers, producing fruit whose seeds are later spread by rodents.
"This year, however, the trees’ familiar white-and-yellow blooms began appearing on late October, sparking concerns that the early flowering could disrupt the delicate relationship between the trees and their sole pollinator — and threaten the species’ ability to reproduce."
[...]
"Yoder suspects this year’s early rains may have triggered the premature bloom. His Yoder Lab is now asking members of the public to help document the phenomenon by uploading photos of Joshua trees in bloom to #iNaturalist, allowing scientists to gather data on whether the early flowering affects fruit production.
" 'We’re looking for as many folks out there as possible to help observe this phenomenon,' Yoder said.
Read more:
https://nypost.com/2026/01/25/us-news/early-bloom-of-joshua-trees-could-spell-trouble-ahead/#EarlyBloom #ClimateChange #CitizenScientists #JoshuaTreeFlowers #Naturalists
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Help needed to photograph and record #JoshuaTrees!
Joshua Trees bloomed earlier than usual – and it spells trouble for iconic succulent
By Chris Nesi
Published Jan. 25, 2026, 10:13 p.m. ET"Southern California’s famed Joshua trees are flowering months ahead of schedule, baffling scientists and raising fears about the future of the species.
"The #MojaveDesert succulents typically bloom between February and April, timing their flowers to the arrival of the #YuccaMoth — the only insect capable of pollinating them.
"The moth lays its eggs inside the flowers, producing fruit whose seeds are later spread by rodents.
"This year, however, the trees’ familiar white-and-yellow blooms began appearing on late October, sparking concerns that the early flowering could disrupt the delicate relationship between the trees and their sole pollinator — and threaten the species’ ability to reproduce."
[...]
"Yoder suspects this year’s early rains may have triggered the premature bloom. His Yoder Lab is now asking members of the public to help document the phenomenon by uploading photos of Joshua trees in bloom to #iNaturalist, allowing scientists to gather data on whether the early flowering affects fruit production.
" 'We’re looking for as many folks out there as possible to help observe this phenomenon,' Yoder said.
Read more:
https://nypost.com/2026/01/25/us-news/early-bloom-of-joshua-trees-could-spell-trouble-ahead/#EarlyBloom #ClimateChange #CitizenScientists #JoshuaTreeFlowers #Naturalists
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Help needed to photograph and record #JoshuaTrees!
Joshua Trees bloomed earlier than usual – and it spells trouble for iconic succulent
By Chris Nesi
Published Jan. 25, 2026, 10:13 p.m. ET"Southern California’s famed Joshua trees are flowering months ahead of schedule, baffling scientists and raising fears about the future of the species.
"The #MojaveDesert succulents typically bloom between February and April, timing their flowers to the arrival of the #YuccaMoth — the only insect capable of pollinating them.
"The moth lays its eggs inside the flowers, producing fruit whose seeds are later spread by rodents.
"This year, however, the trees’ familiar white-and-yellow blooms began appearing on late October, sparking concerns that the early flowering could disrupt the delicate relationship between the trees and their sole pollinator — and threaten the species’ ability to reproduce."
[...]
"Yoder suspects this year’s early rains may have triggered the premature bloom. His Yoder Lab is now asking members of the public to help document the phenomenon by uploading photos of Joshua trees in bloom to #iNaturalist, allowing scientists to gather data on whether the early flowering affects fruit production.
" 'We’re looking for as many folks out there as possible to help observe this phenomenon,' Yoder said.
Read more:
https://nypost.com/2026/01/25/us-news/early-bloom-of-joshua-trees-could-spell-trouble-ahead/#EarlyBloom #ClimateChange #CitizenScientists #JoshuaTreeFlowers #Naturalists
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Help needed to photograph and record #JoshuaTrees!
Joshua Trees bloomed earlier than usual – and it spells trouble for iconic succulent
By Chris Nesi
Published Jan. 25, 2026, 10:13 p.m. ET"Southern California’s famed Joshua trees are flowering months ahead of schedule, baffling scientists and raising fears about the future of the species.
"The #MojaveDesert succulents typically bloom between February and April, timing their flowers to the arrival of the #YuccaMoth — the only insect capable of pollinating them.
"The moth lays its eggs inside the flowers, producing fruit whose seeds are later spread by rodents.
"This year, however, the trees’ familiar white-and-yellow blooms began appearing on late October, sparking concerns that the early flowering could disrupt the delicate relationship between the trees and their sole pollinator — and threaten the species’ ability to reproduce."
[...]
"Yoder suspects this year’s early rains may have triggered the premature bloom. His Yoder Lab is now asking members of the public to help document the phenomenon by uploading photos of Joshua trees in bloom to #iNaturalist, allowing scientists to gather data on whether the early flowering affects fruit production.
" 'We’re looking for as many folks out there as possible to help observe this phenomenon,' Yoder said.
Read more:
https://nypost.com/2026/01/25/us-news/early-bloom-of-joshua-trees-could-spell-trouble-ahead/#EarlyBloom #ClimateChange #CitizenScientists #JoshuaTreeFlowers #Naturalists
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The thread about the baffling naming of Leith railway stations; know your North Leith from your Leith North; which South Leith is which and whether Leith Walk West or Leith Walk East is westmost!
This thread was originally written and published in September 2019.
We went to visit Trinity House expecting to find some treasures of Leith maritime history, but we were surprised to find some local railway history hidden round the back too, a bench from South Leith Railway Station which closed way, way back in 1903.
South Leith station benchSo let’s go on a little #NowAndThen visual trip down memory lane to South Leith station. The view is taken from Constitution Street looking east along the trackbed, what is now Tower Street. The tall remnant of buildings behind were part of the first Leith gas works, before they moved to Granton with the Edinburgh gas works. The station building is on the right, with the single platform behind it.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on FlickrThis was the first railway station in Leith, and was originally named as such when it opened in 1832 as an extension of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This line ran from St. Leonards in Edinburgh to Midlothian, Leith being accessed by a reverse junction near Niddrie. This was the so-called “Innocent Railway“, in Scotch Gauge of 4ft 6in and horse drawn throughout. Looking the other way towards the Shore (and a prime example of that dreadful noughties architectural fad for oversized and inappropriate corner rotundas) we see Leith’s old Tower in the distance down Tower Street. Notice that the railway was not quite aligned with the modern Tower Street, but parallel. This continuation of the line beyond Constitution Street gave access to the east side of the port and its industries.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on Flickr.The station was on the sea front when it was built, with Leith Sands beyond and the high tide line beyond that. The railway providing a new boundary between land and shore as Leith crept northwards into the Forth. This station was handy for the Shore, where the steamers left from at the time, but was quickly swallowed up by seaward extensions of the docks and became increasingly inconveniently positioned. In 1845 the North British Railway bought over the Edinburgh & Dalkeith and set about converting their new possession into standard gauge and steam power. However, they were not interested in passenger traffic here – it was routes South from Edinburgh that had caused them to buy the E&DR – and closed South Leith to passengers in 1846. The line remained open for dock traffic, always it’s primary purpose as it had been built as a direct connection to the Midlothian Coalfield.
OS 1849 Town Plan. Tower Street (blue), Constitution Street (yellow) and South Leith Station (orange)The naming of Leith’s railway stations was always a bit confusing. For a relatively small place, it had a lot of various stations and they were often duplicated due to the competing nature of the North British (NBR) and Caledonian Railways (CR), who fought petulantly with each other for access to the lucrative docks and industrial traffic. To add confusion, when most of these stations were first named, Leith was two distinct municipal parishes; South Leith and North Leith. These are ancient names, referring to the banks of the river of Water of Leith on which they lie, geographically they are more east and westerly of one and other than south and northerly. At various times there were stations called Leith, Leith Central, South Leith, North Leith, Leith North, Leith Citadel, Leith East, Leith Walk, Leith Walk West and Leith Walk East! (And that’s not counting those stations in the Leith boundaries which don’t have “Leith” in their name.)
An animated timeline of railways and railway stations in Leith, from 1830 – 1990. Dock, mineral and private sidings omitted for clarity. © SelfThe next station to open in Leith was North Leith in 1846. It was opened as a branch of the Edinburgh, Leith & Granton Railway, which ran from Canal Street Station (at right angles to the present day Waverley), through the Scotland Street Tunnel to Trinity and on to a rail ferry at Granton Docks. The NBR bought this railway too in 1862 and experimented with calling the station variously Leith Citadel or Leith North, before settling back on North Leith. They re-opened the old Edinburgh & Dalkeith Leith station in 1859 as a single platform called South Leith.
The next arrival was that of the Caledonian Railway, who opened a station called Leith in 1869 on a rather circuitous line around the North and West of the city from Princes Street Station via Roseburn and Newhaven. It would be renamed North Leith in 1903. To get around the confusion of two rival North Leith stations being a few hundred metres from each other on the same street, most maps stuck with Leith for the Caley station and North Leith for the NBR. To locals it would just have been the Caley and North British stations.
Railway Stations of Leith on the NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe North Leith muddles would be solved in 1947 when the ex-NBR station, by now 24 years in the LNER grouping, was closed to passenger traffic. Rather pointlessly, 5 years later the ex-Caley North Leith was renamed Leith North, and the ex-NBR North Leith goods station once again became Leith Citadel!
The renaming of the Caley station was not the only change on the Leith railway map in 1903; this was the year the North British opened their (far too) vast station at Leith Central – which of course was well to the south of South Leith… It’s arrival resulted in the closure of the latter station for the second and final time. Leith Central was on a fairly short branch from Waverley via Abbeyhill, but could never match the electric tramway on speed, frequency, convenience and on proximity to destinations, so it always struggled for patronage. Leith Central was the last major railway terminus built in Scotland, and had a short life, closing in 1952 after a fairly unintense life. It had been built more as a symbol of the NBR‘s dominance and a blocker to the Caley opening a passenger station in the centre of Leith than anything else.
Leith Central Station at the bottom. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThose grand Caley plans were the Leith New Lines, a very expensive and winding route around Leith to connect the eastern and western sides of the Docks. Large goods stations were opened at Bonnington, Leith Walk, Restalrig and South Leith; where it caused confusion with the NBR South Leith goods station. The Caley had wanted to provide passenger stations too; the platforms and some other structures for these were actually built, at Victoria Park in Trinity and above street level on Leith Walk on the Gordon Street railway arches. After Leith Walk, the intention was a costly branch to Princes Street station from a junction near Lochend via tunnels under Calton Hill and cut-and-cover tunnelling of Princes Street itself. None of these plans came to fruition though, the NBR‘s massive Leith Central meant it would have been a costly folly (which Leith Central admittedly also was).
The Leith New Lines. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe two parallel, neighbouring South Leith Goods stations of the NBR and Caley happily co-existed side-by-side into the 1950s, when British Railway in their wisdom renamed the ex-NBR station Leith South and ex-CR station Leith East. The latter closed in the 1970s, the former lasted into the 1990s, its yard (South Leith Yard) is still technically in use, but has not seen any traffic in the best part of 10 years.
The last set of Leith-named stations were those of Leith Walk – none of which are actually in Leith by any definition later than the 18th century! Leith Walk passenger station was opened by the NBR in 1869 when they built a diversionary line from Waverley station to Trinity via Abbeyhill to avoid the awkward Scotland Street tunnel. Passenger stations were added along the line, including where it passed under Leith Walk at Shrubhill. An enormous goods yard was provided on the east side of the Walk. When the Caley opened their Leith New Lines in 1903, they also provided a goods yard for Leith Walk, further to the north. Both were called Leith Walk (goods) so inevitably were referred to as the North British or Caley to differentiate them.
The Leith Walk. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe passenger station closed in 1930, another victim of competition from the electric tramway. After nationalisation, the ever wise British Railways decided to rationalise matters and renamed the ex-NBR station Leith Walk East and the ex-Caley station Leith Walk West. This makes perfect sense in principle to a naming committee in a far off office, except it results in Leith Walk East being more westerly than Leith Walk West on account of Leith Walk not running on a true north-south axis! Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to the names of Leith’s railway stations!
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site (including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget) by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur
#NowAndThen #CaledonianRailway #Caley #EdinburghDalkeithRailway #NorthBritishRailway #RailwayStations #Railways #transport #Transportation #Written2019
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The thread about the baffling naming of Leith railway stations; know your North Leith from your Leith North; which South Leith is which and whether Leith Walk West or Leith Walk East is westmost!
This thread was originally written and published in September 2019.
We went to visit Trinity House expecting to find some treasures of Leith maritime history, but we were surprised to find some local railway history hidden round the back too, a bench from South Leith Railway Station which closed way, way back in 1903.
South Leith station benchSo let’s go on a little #NowAndThen visual trip down memory lane to South Leith station. The view is taken from Constitution Street looking east along the trackbed, what is now Tower Street. The tall remnant of buildings behind were part of the first Leith gas works, before they moved to Granton with the Edinburgh gas works. The station building is on the right, with the single platform behind it.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on FlickrThis was the first railway station in Leith, and was originally named as such when it opened in 1832 as an extension of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This line ran from St. Leonards in Edinburgh to Midlothian, Leith being accessed by a reverse junction near Niddrie. This was the so-called “Innocent Railway“, in Scotch Gauge of 4ft 6in and horse drawn throughout. Looking the other way towards the Shore (and a prime example of that dreadful noughties architectural fad for oversized and inappropriate corner rotundas) we see Leith’s old Tower in the distance down Tower Street. Notice that the railway was not quite aligned with the modern Tower Street, but parallel. This continuation of the line beyond Constitution Street gave access to the east side of the port and its industries.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on Flickr.The station was on the sea front when it was built, with Leith Sands beyond and the high tide line beyond that. The railway providing a new boundary between land and shore as Leith crept northwards into the Forth. This station was handy for the Shore, where the steamers left from at the time, but was quickly swallowed up by seaward extensions of the docks and became increasingly inconveniently positioned. In 1845 the North British Railway bought over the Edinburgh & Dalkeith and set about converting their new possession into standard gauge and steam power. However, they were not interested in passenger traffic here – it was routes South from Edinburgh that had caused them to buy the E&DR – and closed South Leith to passengers in 1846. The line remained open for dock traffic, always it’s primary purpose as it had been built as a direct connection to the Midlothian Coalfield.
OS 1849 Town Plan. Tower Street (blue), Constitution Street (yellow) and South Leith Station (orange)The naming of Leith’s railway stations was always a bit confusing. For a relatively small place, it had a lot of various stations and they were often duplicated due to the competing nature of the North British (NBR) and Caledonian Railways (CR), who fought petulantly with each other for access to the lucrative docks and industrial traffic. To add confusion, when most of these stations were first named, Leith was two distinct municipal parishes; South Leith and North Leith. These are ancient names, referring to the banks of the river of Water of Leith on which they lie, geographically they are more east and westerly of one and other than south and northerly. At various times there were stations called Leith, Leith Central, South Leith, North Leith, Leith North, Leith Citadel, Leith East, Leith Walk, Leith Walk West and Leith Walk East! (And that’s not counting those stations in the Leith boundaries which don’t have “Leith” in their name.)
An animated timeline of railways and railway stations in Leith, from 1830 – 1990. Dock, mineral and private sidings omitted for clarity. © SelfThe next station to open in Leith was North Leith in 1846. It was opened as a branch of the Edinburgh, Leith & Granton Railway, which ran from Canal Street Station (at right angles to the present day Waverley), through the Scotland Street Tunnel to Trinity and on to a rail ferry at Granton Docks. The NBR bought this railway too in 1862 and experimented with calling the station variously Leith Citadel or Leith North, before settling back on North Leith. They re-opened the old Edinburgh & Dalkeith Leith station in 1859 as a single platform called South Leith.
The next arrival was that of the Caledonian Railway, who opened a station called Leith in 1869 on a rather circuitous line around the North and West of the city from Princes Street Station via Roseburn and Newhaven. It would be renamed North Leith in 1903. To get around the confusion of two rival North Leith stations being a few hundred metres from each other on the same street, most maps stuck with Leith for the Caley station and North Leith for the NBR. To locals it would just have been the Caley and North British stations.
Railway Stations of Leith on the NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe North Leith muddles would be solved in 1947 when the ex-NBR station, by now 24 years in the LNER grouping, was closed to passenger traffic. Rather pointlessly, 5 years later the ex-Caley North Leith was renamed Leith North, and the ex-NBR North Leith goods station once again became Leith Citadel!
The renaming of the Caley station was not the only change on the Leith railway map in 1903; this was the year the North British opened their (far too) vast station at Leith Central – which of course was well to the south of South Leith… It’s arrival resulted in the closure of the latter station for the second and final time. Leith Central was on a fairly short branch from Waverley via Abbeyhill, but could never match the electric tramway on speed, frequency, convenience and on proximity to destinations, so it always struggled for patronage. Leith Central was the last major railway terminus built in Scotland, and had a short life, closing in 1952 after a fairly unintense life. It had been built more as a symbol of the NBR‘s dominance and a blocker to the Caley opening a passenger station in the centre of Leith than anything else.
Leith Central Station at the bottom. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThose grand Caley plans were the Leith New Lines, a very expensive and winding route around Leith to connect the eastern and western sides of the Docks. Large goods stations were opened at Bonnington, Leith Walk, Restalrig and South Leith; where it caused confusion with the NBR South Leith goods station. The Caley had wanted to provide passenger stations too; the platforms and some other structures for these were actually built, at Victoria Park in Trinity and above street level on Leith Walk on the Gordon Street railway arches. After Leith Walk, the intention was a costly branch to Princes Street station from a junction near Lochend via tunnels under Calton Hill and cut-and-cover tunnelling of Princes Street itself. None of these plans came to fruition though, the NBR‘s massive Leith Central meant it would have been a costly folly (which Leith Central admittedly also was).
The Leith New Lines. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe two parallel, neighbouring South Leith Goods stations of the NBR and Caley happily co-existed side-by-side into the 1950s, when British Railway in their wisdom renamed the ex-NBR station Leith South and ex-CR station Leith East. The latter closed in the 1970s, the former lasted into the 1990s, its yard (South Leith Yard) is still technically in use, but has not seen any traffic in the best part of 10 years.
The last set of Leith-named stations were those of Leith Walk – none of which are actually in Leith by any definition later than the 18th century! Leith Walk passenger station was opened by the NBR in 1869 when they built a diversionary line from Waverley station to Trinity via Abbeyhill to avoid the awkward Scotland Street tunnel. Passenger stations were added along the line, including where it passed under Leith Walk at Shrubhill. An enormous goods yard was provided on the east side of the Walk. When the Caley opened their Leith New Lines in 1903, they also provided a goods yard for Leith Walk, further to the north. Both were called Leith Walk (goods) so inevitably were referred to as the North British or Caley to differentiate them.
The Leith Walk. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe passenger station closed in 1930, another victim of competition from the electric tramway. After nationalisation, the ever wise British Railways decided to rationalise matters and renamed the ex-NBR station Leith Walk East and the ex-Caley station Leith Walk West. This makes perfect sense in principle to a naming committee in a far off office, except it results in Leith Walk East being more westerly than Leith Walk West on account of Leith Walk not running on a true north-south axis! Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to the names of Leith’s railway stations!
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site (including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget) by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur
#NowAndThen #CaledonianRailway #Caley #EdinburghDalkeithRailway #NorthBritishRailway #RailwayStations #Railways #transport #Transportation #Written2019
-
The thread about the baffling naming of Leith railway stations; know your North Leith from your Leith North; which South Leith is which and whether Leith Walk West or Leith Walk East is westmost!
This thread was originally written and published in September 2019.
We went to visit Trinity House expecting to find some treasures of Leith maritime history, but we were surprised to find some local railway history hidden round the back too, a bench from South Leith Railway Station which closed way, way back in 1903.
South Leith station benchSo let’s go on a little #NowAndThen visual trip down memory lane to South Leith station. The view is taken from Constitution Street looking east along the trackbed, what is now Tower Street. The tall remnant of buildings behind were part of the first Leith gas works, before they moved to Granton with the Edinburgh gas works. The station building is on the right, with the single platform behind it.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on FlickrThis was the first railway station in Leith, and was originally named as such when it opened in 1832 as an extension of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This line ran from St. Leonards in Edinburgh to Midlothian, Leith being accessed by a reverse junction near Niddrie. This was the so-called “Innocent Railway“, in Scotch Gauge of 4ft 6in and horse drawn throughout. Looking the other way towards the Shore (and a prime example of that dreadful noughties architectural fad for oversized and inappropriate corner rotundas) we see Leith’s old Tower in the distance down Tower Street. Notice that the railway was not quite aligned with the modern Tower Street, but parallel. This continuation of the line beyond Constitution Street gave access to the east side of the port and its industries.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on Flickr.The station was on the sea front when it was built, with Leith Sands beyond and the high tide line beyond that. The railway providing a new boundary between land and shore as Leith crept northwards into the Forth. This station was handy for the Shore, where the steamers left from at the time, but was quickly swallowed up by seaward extensions of the docks and became increasingly inconveniently positioned. In 1845 the North British Railway bought over the Edinburgh & Dalkeith and set about converting their new possession into standard gauge and steam power. However, they were not interested in passenger traffic here – it was routes South from Edinburgh that had caused them to buy the E&DR – and closed South Leith to passengers in 1846. The line remained open for dock traffic, always it’s primary purpose as it had been built as a direct connection to the Midlothian Coalfield.
OS 1849 Town Plan. Tower Street (blue), Constitution Street (yellow) and South Leith Station (orange)The naming of Leith’s railway stations was always a bit confusing. For a relatively small place, it had a lot of various stations and they were often duplicated due to the competing nature of the North British (NBR) and Caledonian Railways (CR), who fought petulantly with each other for access to the lucrative docks and industrial traffic. To add confusion, when most of these stations were first named, Leith was two distinct municipal parishes; South Leith and North Leith. These are ancient names, referring to the banks of the river of Water of Leith on which they lie, geographically they are more east and westerly of one and other than south and northerly. At various times there were stations called Leith, Leith Central, South Leith, North Leith, Leith North, Leith Citadel, Leith East, Leith Walk, Leith Walk West and Leith Walk East! (And that’s not counting those stations in the Leith boundaries which don’t have “Leith” in their name.)
An animated timeline of railways and railway stations in Leith, from 1830 – 1990. Dock, mineral and private sidings omitted for clarity. © SelfThe next station to open in Leith was North Leith in 1846. It was opened as a branch of the Edinburgh, Leith & Granton Railway, which ran from Canal Street Station (at right angles to the present day Waverley), through the Scotland Street Tunnel to Trinity and on to a rail ferry at Granton Docks. The NBR bought this railway too in 1862 and experimented with calling the station variously Leith Citadel or Leith North, before settling back on North Leith. They re-opened the old Edinburgh & Dalkeith Leith station in 1859 as a single platform called South Leith.
The next arrival was that of the Caledonian Railway, who opened a station called Leith in 1869 on a rather circuitous line around the North and West of the city from Princes Street Station via Roseburn and Newhaven. It would be renamed North Leith in 1903. To get around the confusion of two rival North Leith stations being a few hundred metres from each other on the same street, most maps stuck with Leith for the Caley station and North Leith for the NBR. To locals it would just have been the Caley and North British stations.
Railway Stations of Leith on the NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe North Leith muddles would be solved in 1947 when the ex-NBR station, by now 24 years in the LNER grouping, was closed to passenger traffic. Rather pointlessly, 5 years later the ex-Caley North Leith was renamed Leith North, and the ex-NBR North Leith goods station once again became Leith Citadel!
The renaming of the Caley station was not the only change on the Leith railway map in 1903; this was the year the North British opened their (far too) vast station at Leith Central – which of course was well to the south of South Leith… It’s arrival resulted in the closure of the latter station for the second and final time. Leith Central was on a fairly short branch from Waverley via Abbeyhill, but could never match the electric tramway on speed, frequency, convenience and on proximity to destinations, so it always struggled for patronage. Leith Central was the last major railway terminus built in Scotland, and had a short life, closing in 1952 after a fairly unintense life. It had been built more as a symbol of the NBR‘s dominance and a blocker to the Caley opening a passenger station in the centre of Leith than anything else.
Leith Central Station at the bottom. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThose grand Caley plans were the Leith New Lines, a very expensive and winding route around Leith to connect the eastern and western sides of the Docks. Large goods stations were opened at Bonnington, Leith Walk, Restalrig and South Leith; where it caused confusion with the NBR South Leith goods station. The Caley had wanted to provide passenger stations too; the platforms and some other structures for these were actually built, at Victoria Park in Trinity and above street level on Leith Walk on the Gordon Street railway arches. After Leith Walk, the intention was a costly branch to Princes Street station from a junction near Lochend via tunnels under Calton Hill and cut-and-cover tunnelling of Princes Street itself. None of these plans came to fruition though, the NBR‘s massive Leith Central meant it would have been a costly folly (which Leith Central admittedly also was).
The Leith New Lines. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe two parallel, neighbouring South Leith Goods stations of the NBR and Caley happily co-existed side-by-side into the 1950s, when British Railway in their wisdom renamed the ex-NBR station Leith South and ex-CR station Leith East. The latter closed in the 1970s, the former lasted into the 1990s, its yard (South Leith Yard) is still technically in use, but has not seen any traffic in the best part of 10 years.
The last set of Leith-named stations were those of Leith Walk – none of which are actually in Leith by any definition later than the 18th century! Leith Walk passenger station was opened by the NBR in 1869 when they built a diversionary line from Waverley station to Trinity via Abbeyhill to avoid the awkward Scotland Street tunnel. Passenger stations were added along the line, including where it passed under Leith Walk at Shrubhill. An enormous goods yard was provided on the east side of the Walk. When the Caley opened their Leith New Lines in 1903, they also provided a goods yard for Leith Walk, further to the north. Both were called Leith Walk (goods) so inevitably were referred to as the North British or Caley to differentiate them.
The Leith Walk. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe passenger station closed in 1930, another victim of competition from the electric tramway. After nationalisation, the ever wise British Railways decided to rationalise matters and renamed the ex-NBR station Leith Walk East and the ex-Caley station Leith Walk West. This makes perfect sense in principle to a naming committee in a far off office, except it results in Leith Walk East being more westerly than Leith Walk West on account of Leith Walk not running on a true north-south axis! Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to the names of Leith’s railway stations!
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site (including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget) by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur
#NowAndThen #CaledonianRailway #Caley #EdinburghDalkeithRailway #NorthBritishRailway #RailwayStations #Railways #transport #Transportation #Written2019
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The thread about the baffling naming of Leith railway stations; know your North Leith from your Leith North; which South Leith is which and whether Leith Walk West or Leith Walk East is westmost!
This thread was originally written and published in September 2019.
We went to visit Trinity House expecting to find some treasures of Leith maritime history, but we were surprised to find some local railway history hidden round the back too, a bench from South Leith Railway Station which closed way, way back in 1903.
South Leith station benchSo let’s go on a little #NowAndThen visual trip down memory lane to South Leith station. The view is taken from Constitution Street looking east along the trackbed, what is now Tower Street. The tall remnant of buildings behind were part of the first Leith gas works, before they moved to Granton with the Edinburgh gas works. The station building is on the right, with the single platform behind it.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on FlickrThis was the first railway station in Leith, and was originally named as such when it opened in 1832 as an extension of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This line ran from St. Leonards in Edinburgh to Midlothian, Leith being accessed by a reverse junction near Niddrie. This was the so-called “Innocent Railway“, in Scotch Gauge of 4ft 6in and horse drawn throughout. Looking the other way towards the Shore (and a prime example of that dreadful noughties architectural fad for oversized and inappropriate corner rotundas) we see Leith’s old Tower in the distance down Tower Street. Notice that the railway was not quite aligned with the modern Tower Street, but parallel. This continuation of the line beyond Constitution Street gave access to the east side of the port and its industries.
Original source: Kenneth G. Williamson on Flickr.The station was on the sea front when it was built, with Leith Sands beyond and the high tide line beyond that. The railway providing a new boundary between land and shore as Leith crept northwards into the Forth. This station was handy for the Shore, where the steamers left from at the time, but was quickly swallowed up by seaward extensions of the docks and became increasingly inconveniently positioned. In 1845 the North British Railway bought over the Edinburgh & Dalkeith and set about converting their new possession into standard gauge and steam power. However, they were not interested in passenger traffic here – it was routes South from Edinburgh that had caused them to buy the E&DR – and closed South Leith to passengers in 1846. The line remained open for dock traffic, always it’s primary purpose as it had been built as a direct connection to the Midlothian Coalfield.
OS 1849 Town Plan. Tower Street (blue), Constitution Street (yellow) and South Leith Station (orange)The naming of Leith’s railway stations was always a bit confusing. For a relatively small place, it had a lot of various stations and they were often duplicated due to the competing nature of the North British (NBR) and Caledonian Railways (CR), who fought petulantly with each other for access to the lucrative docks and industrial traffic. To add confusion, when most of these stations were first named, Leith was two distinct municipal parishes; South Leith and North Leith. These are ancient names, referring to the banks of the river of Water of Leith on which they lie, geographically they are more east and westerly of one and other than south and northerly. At various times there were stations called Leith, Leith Central, South Leith, North Leith, Leith North, Leith Citadel, Leith East, Leith Walk, Leith Walk West and Leith Walk East! (And that’s not counting those stations in the Leith boundaries which don’t have “Leith” in their name.)
An animated timeline of railways and railway stations in Leith, from 1830 – 1990. Dock, mineral and private sidings omitted for clarity. © SelfThe next station to open in Leith was North Leith in 1846. It was opened as a branch of the Edinburgh, Leith & Granton Railway, which ran from Canal Street Station (at right angles to the present day Waverley), through the Scotland Street Tunnel to Trinity and on to a rail ferry at Granton Docks. The NBR bought this railway too in 1862 and experimented with calling the station variously Leith Citadel or Leith North, before settling back on North Leith. They re-opened the old Edinburgh & Dalkeith Leith station in 1859 as a single platform called South Leith.
The next arrival was that of the Caledonian Railway, who opened a station called Leith in 1869 on a rather circuitous line around the North and West of the city from Princes Street Station via Roseburn and Newhaven. It would be renamed North Leith in 1903. To get around the confusion of two rival North Leith stations being a few hundred metres from each other on the same street, most maps stuck with Leith for the Caley station and North Leith for the NBR. To locals it would just have been the Caley and North British stations.
Railway Stations of Leith on the NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe North Leith muddles would be solved in 1947 when the ex-NBR station, by now 24 years in the LNER grouping, was closed to passenger traffic. Rather pointlessly, 5 years later the ex-Caley North Leith was renamed Leith North, and the ex-NBR North Leith goods station once again became Leith Citadel!
The renaming of the Caley station was not the only change on the Leith railway map in 1903; this was the year the North British opened their (far too) vast station at Leith Central – which of course was well to the south of South Leith… It’s arrival resulted in the closure of the latter station for the second and final time. Leith Central was on a fairly short branch from Waverley via Abbeyhill, but could never match the electric tramway on speed, frequency, convenience and on proximity to destinations, so it always struggled for patronage. Leith Central was the last major railway terminus built in Scotland, and had a short life, closing in 1952 after a fairly unintense life. It had been built more as a symbol of the NBR‘s dominance and a blocker to the Caley opening a passenger station in the centre of Leith than anything else.
Leith Central Station at the bottom. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThose grand Caley plans were the Leith New Lines, a very expensive and winding route around Leith to connect the eastern and western sides of the Docks. Large goods stations were opened at Bonnington, Leith Walk, Restalrig and South Leith; where it caused confusion with the NBR South Leith goods station. The Caley had wanted to provide passenger stations too; the platforms and some other structures for these were actually built, at Victoria Park in Trinity and above street level on Leith Walk on the Gordon Street railway arches. After Leith Walk, the intention was a costly branch to Princes Street station from a junction near Lochend via tunnels under Calton Hill and cut-and-cover tunnelling of Princes Street itself. None of these plans came to fruition though, the NBR‘s massive Leith Central meant it would have been a costly folly (which Leith Central admittedly also was).
The Leith New Lines. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe two parallel, neighbouring South Leith Goods stations of the NBR and Caley happily co-existed side-by-side into the 1950s, when British Railway in their wisdom renamed the ex-NBR station Leith South and ex-CR station Leith East. The latter closed in the 1970s, the former lasted into the 1990s, its yard (South Leith Yard) is still technically in use, but has not seen any traffic in the best part of 10 years.
The last set of Leith-named stations were those of Leith Walk – none of which are actually in Leith by any definition later than the 18th century! Leith Walk passenger station was opened by the NBR in 1869 when they built a diversionary line from Waverley station to Trinity via Abbeyhill to avoid the awkward Scotland Street tunnel. Passenger stations were added along the line, including where it passed under Leith Walk at Shrubhill. An enormous goods yard was provided on the east side of the Walk. When the Caley opened their Leith New Lines in 1903, they also provided a goods yard for Leith Walk, further to the north. Both were called Leith Walk (goods) so inevitably were referred to as the North British or Caley to differentiate them.
The Leith Walk. NBR (olive) and CR (blue) railways, later the LNER and LMS © SelfThe passenger station closed in 1930, another victim of competition from the electric tramway. After nationalisation, the ever wise British Railways decided to rationalise matters and renamed the ex-NBR station Leith Walk East and the ex-Caley station Leith Walk West. This makes perfect sense in principle to a naming committee in a far off office, except it results in Leith Walk East being more westerly than Leith Walk West on account of Leith Walk not running on a true north-south axis! Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to the names of Leith’s railway stations!
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site (including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget) by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur
#NowAndThen #CaledonianRailway #Caley #EdinburghDalkeithRailway #NorthBritishRailway #RailwayStations #Railways #transport #Transportation #Written2019
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Berliner VerfGH weist Prüfung des Videoüberwachung-Begehrens zurück
Auch "unbehebbare Mängel" müssen diskutiert werden
https://www.aktion-freiheitstattangst.org/de/articles/7434-20201027-berliner-verfgh-weist-pruefung-des-videoueberwachung-begehrens-zurueck.htm
#BAFF #VerfGH #Berlin #Grundrechte #Menschenrechte #Lauschangriff #Überwachung #Vorratsdatenspeicherung #Videoüberwachung #Rasterfahndung #ZentraleDatenbanken #Freizügigkeit #Unschuldsvermutung #Verhaltensänderung #Datenskandale #Volksbegehren #verfassungswidrig #CDU #Gutachten #HU #ILMR -
Nach dem Messerangriff in Aschaffenburg stellen sich viele Fragen, wenn es um psychisch kranke Geflüchtete geht.#Psychisch #krank #Zuwanderer #Geflüchte #Migranten #Unterstützung #psychischeErkankung #Betreuung #Hilfe #Begleitung #Psychotherapie #BAFF #Asylbewerber
Psychisch kranke Geflüchtete: Fragen und Antworten -
Starfleet Command is baffled that this even needs to be said: Don’t be a Nazi. Don’t do Nazi salutes. Don’t flirt with Nazi ideology. Don't like it? Consider yourself unfit for duty. We will have O'Brien beam you directly into the nearest star. ~Lt. GK #NazisAreBad #ZeroTolerance #LLAP #SPO
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These decrepit senior citizen Democrats are still playing by a rulebook that Newt Gingrich incinerated in 1995.
Then they're baffled when they keep losing to openly corrupt idiots.
#Biden #Pelosi #DeadwoodDems #Hoyer #Clyburn #Nadler #Neal #FascistEnablers #uspol #uspolitics #Jeffries #WassermanSchultz #Schumer #Durbin #resistance #FascistTakover
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GENE CLARK
White Light
2023 Spain Ltd. Edition reissueA phenomenal note-perfect songwriting masterpiece for a fine Saturday afternoon.
It baffles my mind that this album was only a commercial success in the Netherlands when it came out in ‘71.
Sure.
NOW it’s recognized as the stroke of genius that it is, but how could have people missed it back then?More than anything else, White Light shows that Clark was the true heartbeat of The Byrds.
The lyrics are poetry, the music absolutely sublime. Incredible countrified melodies. Just amazing on all fronts.Listen to his take on “Tears Of Rage” and tell me his isn’t the best version.
I dare you.
#vinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #vinylcollection #retro #vintage #art #music #geneclark #thebyrds #country #countryrock #folk #1970s #70s #70smusic
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After watching Dodgers two-way standout Shohei Ohtani baffle their pitching staff during Game 3 of the World Series, the Blue Jays have made a bold decision: they are done pitching to baseball's biggest star. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2025/10/29/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-walking-ohtani/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #baseball #mlb #shoheiohtani #daveroberts #johnschneider #losangelesdodgers #torontobluejays #worldseries
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Dear Pammy, I was not getting the message - Way of Cats https://www.patreon.com/posts/141820866
In retrospect, any baffling behavior becomes a cat explanation.
#ManyFacesOfPickle #BudBudTheSpud #DearPammy #CatsOfMastodon #CatsOfTheFediverse #Catstodon #CatLovers #CatAppreciators #Humane #Rescue -
Dear Pammy, I was not getting the message - Way of Cats https://www.patreon.com/posts/141820866
In retrospect, any baffling behavior becomes a cat explanation.
#ManyFacesOfPickle #BudBudTheSpud #DearPammy #CatsOfMastodon #CatsOfTheFediverse #Catstodon #CatLovers #CatAppreciators #Humane #Rescue -
CNN Reliable Sources - Rogan's guest Mike Baker sounded baffled by #PamBondi & co. company's of the matter. "The mob wants to eat," he said, "and they've been throwing #red #meat to the mob about #Epsteinfiles' now for years." #Rogan interjected, "It's part of how they got #elected." And now, Baker said, "the #mob is oddly bipartisan because it's got the Dems" too, referencing the #Democratic leaders who have charged #Trump with #coverup #maga #corruption #crimes #politics #gop #congress #doj
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How bumbling Hatton Garden heist gang was really snared as leader blames DOG and security expert reveals baffling errors https://www.allforgardening.com/1686243/how-bumbling-hatton-garden-heist-gang-was-really-snared-as-leader-blames-dog-and-security-expert-reveals-baffling-errors/ #crime #DigitalFeatures #EXCLUSIVES #features #GangstersAndCriminals #garden #MetropolitanPolice #police #SunClub
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At some point the cabinets were painted Pepto Bismal Pink, followed by Vivid Pea Green, and then Mustard Yellow. It’s like doing archeology, localized entirely within this kitchen.
Altho at every point when we’ve encountered a baffling design choice by previous residents, and I ask why, Why, WHY?! The only answer that makes sense is “it was the cheapest option.” Like the MDF doors not covering the openings at the top. 💀 :scremcat: -
Stavo vedendo che recentemente #Burioni ha pubblicato un nuovo libro.
Per pubblicizzarlo, il traino di marketing vedo che è stato questo articolo sugli episodi di cancro in aumento tra gli under50, apparso sul #WallStreetJournal pochi giorni fa, che ha fatto il giro del mondo e quindi in Italia abbiamo tutte le rubriche che si occupano di salute che ne parlano e ovviamente rilanciano le frasi preoccupate di Burioni (che tra l'altro non è #oncologo, ma vabé) 1/N
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/cancer-young-people-doctors-baffled-49c766ed
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Il 18 gennaio 1945 prese avvio la missione Morristown
Durante il mese di agosto ‘44, precisamente il 4, prese avvio la battaglia di Firenze, che durò fino al primo giorno del mese successivo. In tale occasione, le truppe dell’OSS operarono in diretto contatto con le forze partigiane locali.
Oltre ad aiutare la resistenza, l’OSS ebbe tra gli obiettivi anche quello di recuperare molta documentazione tedesca, per analizzare lo “stato dell’arte” dei nazisti, prima che venisse distrutta dagli stessi nazisti.
In un incontro con Donovan, Corvo suggerì al fondatore dell’agenzia di intelligence di iniziare a raccogliere materiale e documentazione in chiave antisovietica.
Inoltre, Corvo, vista la grande presenza di documentazione in Italia in quanto ex alleata della nazione nipponica, intraprese anche una raccolta di informazione nei confronti del Giappone.
Ad agosto prese avvio anche la missione Mangosteen, la quale divenne il contatto ufficiale con il Comitato Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia.
A questa missione venne affidato il Tenente Icardi, accompagnato da Tullio Lussi, un italiano appartenente all’ORI con il compito di far da guida al tenente statunitense. Lussi venne scelto per il suo ottimo rapporto di amicizia con Enzo Boeri che, nel mentre, era divenuto vicecapo del CLNAI. Alla missione Mangosteen venne incorporata l’operazione Chrysler, la quale avrebbe dovuto paracadutare le forze degli Operational Group, nella stessa area della prima missione. A capo della missione Mangosteen-Chrysler fu posto il capitano Holohan.
In generale, tra l’agosto 1944 e il successivo mese di dicembre, vennero create numerose missione da parte dell’Office of Strategic Service in Nord Italia, queste, che analizzeremo in un capitolo apposito, furono la dimostrazione di come si fossero evolute rapidamente le politiche e i ruoli all’interno del comando Alleato.
L’OSS tramite il suo apporto fondamentale nella liberazione del Centro-Sud Italia si era dimostrata pronta e all’altezza in tutte le situzioni nella quale si era ritrovata, alimentando e accrescendo – di conseguenza – il proprio rispetto all’interno dell’Alto Comando.
L’apporto della Moral Operation Branch fu determinante per rendere più efficaci le missioni nel Nord Italia. Peraltro, ricordiamolo ancora una volta, il ruolo di questa sezione fu determinante anche per la liberazione di Roma dove giocò un ruolo fondametale.
Il mezzo principale di divulgazione delle notizie venne individuato nei partigiani, soprattutto nelle donne e nei bambini, poiché, nell’immaginario tedesco e fascista, destavano meno attenzione.
Ottenuti i giornali falsi e i volantini di propaganda tramite lanci alleati, questi ultimi, li facevano circolare lasciandoli “casualmente” in osterie, bar, tram, latrine e luoghi pubblici ben frequentati.
In aggiunta all’azione partigiana prendeva al via l’operazione Cornflaxe, richiamata nel capitolo precedente, che mise in seria difficoltà il sistema postale nazi-fascista.
Il rapporto dell’Office of Strategic Service a riguardo recità così:
“He [Tassinari] personally smuggled a copy of the plans in the soles of his shoes to the OSS in Siena, and from there the plans were rushed to General Clark’s G-2. The plans showed that the weakest spot in Kesselring’s defenses was at Il Giogo Pass, at the juncture of his Tenth and Fourteenth Armies. Clark therefore shifted the main attack of his II Corps eastward to the area indicated by the partisan intelligence. If Clark were to break through to the foot of thev mountains, he would be in position to trap and destroy Kesselring’s forces by cutting the flatland Route 9 from Bologna to Milan.” <88
Queste informazioni, considerate le migliori a disposizione, vennero implementate anche da delle riprese eseguite con una cinepresa nei pressi della zona, che il 17 settembre 1944, sarebbe poi divenuta quella di attacco.
Per le fonti di cui abbiamo consocenza, questo evento, individua la prima volta nella storia dove una missione militare è stata pianificata anche grazie all’ausilio di immagini, andando così a rivoluzionare il metodo di preparazione e pianificazione della stessa guerra.
Nonostante le numerose missioni, verso la fine dell’autunno del ’44, gli Alleati trovarono nuove difficoltà nello sfondare le linee nemiche. Per tale motivo, insieme alla volontà della riorganizzazione generale delle forze Alleate, il generale Harold Alexander, il 13 novembre, diramò su Radio Italia Combattente un messaggio nel quale, pur esprimendo forti ringraziamenti alla resistenza italiana per l’aiuto nella lotta contro le truppe nazifasciste, considerate le cattive condizioni meteo tipiche del Nord Italia, durante i mesi invernali, le missioni di approvvigionamento si sarebbero interrotte per poi riprendere alla fine dell’inverno.
Bisogna sottolineare come la dichiarazione di Alexander si limitasse alle sole missioni di approvigionamento estese, lasciando invece proseguire tutte le missioni dietro le linee nemiche già in atto, poiché utile strumento per destabilizzare le truppe nemiche in un momento di “pausa”.
Per tale motivo, tra il 15 e il 30 novembre, furono paracadutati nuovi ingenti rifornimenti in buona parte del Nord Italia, rifornimenti recuperati dagli agenti dell’OSS e dai gruppi partigiani.
La prima missione di approvvigionamento delle truppe dietro le linee nemiche, dopo il blocco del mese di dicembre precedente, fu fatta il 16 gennaio, per rifornire la missione Lobo. Il 18 gennaio prese avvio la missione Morristown, la quale venne paracadutata per distruggere alcuni obbiettivi della missione precedente Orange nell’area piemontese.
Il sostegno dell’OSS ai partigiani e ai propri agenti fu enorme, basti pensare che solamente nel mese di febbraio e indipendentemente dal credo politico dei gruppi partigiani, vennero paradutate ben 778.990 libbre, circa 400 tonnellate, di beni dietro tutte le linee nemiche.
Il primo aprile Corvo e Scamporino si incontrarono con il generale Cadorna <89 e Ferruccio Parri <90 a Roma. Lo scopo di tale incontro fu quello di stabilire il ruolo del CLNAI dopo la fine della Seconda guerra mondiale. Parri e Cadorna tennero un incontro simile quattro giorni dopo con i rappresentati del SOE. Il Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia, a partire dal 26 aprile, prese il ruolo di organo di Governo straordinario del Nord Italia. Nel febbraio del 1946 il CLN centrale assunse i doveri del CLNAI fino al 21 giugno 1946, quando l’organizzazione venne sciolta, lasciando spazio al nuovo governo.
Le missioni dell’OSS terminarono in Italia subito dopo il 25 aprile, quando le numerose missioni alleate e il gran numero di partigiani, si unirono in un insurrezione generale portando alla ritirata delle truppe naziste e fasciste.
Donovan stesso, appena finito il conflitto, donò due aerei di medicinali al CLNAI così da potersi “sdebitare” visto l’enorme aiuto conferito durante la guerra.
La presenza dell’OSS in Italia cessò definitivamente il 24 maggio, quando tutti gli uffici furono posti in disuso e la maggior parte delle truppe era già rientrata in patria. Il 24 maggio i due direttori sul campo della Sezione Italiana del ramo Secret Intelligence dell’Office of Strategic Service, Max Corvo e Vincent Scamporino, rientrarono a Washington.
[NOTE]
88 Egli [Tassinari] personalmente trasportò di nascosto una copia dei piani nelle suole delle scarpe all’OSS di Siena, e da lì i piani furono inviati in tutta fretta al G-2 del generale Clark. I piani mostravano che il punto più debole delle difese di Kesselring era il Passo del Giogo, all’incrocio tra la Decima e la Quattordicesima Armata. Clark spostò quindi l’attacco principale del suo II Corpo d’Armata verso est, nell’area indicata dai partigiani. Se Clark fosse riuscito a sfondare fino ai piedi delle montagne, sarebbe stato in grado di intrappolare e distruggere le forze di Kesselring, tagliando la strada pianeggiante n. 9 da Bologna a Milano.
89 Raffaele Cadorna (1889-1973) è stato un generale e un politico italiano, figlio del generale Luigi Cadorna. Fu il comandante del Corpo Volontari della Libertà durante il Secondo conflitto mondiale.
90 Ferruccio Parri (1890-1981) è stato un partigiano italiano e il primo Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri (21 giugno 1945-10 dicembre 1945).
Matteo Paglia, Ex pluribus unum. Come l’Office of Strategic Service ha rivoluzionato il sistema d’intelligence statunitense, Tesi di laurea, Università degli Studi di Genova, Anno Accademico 2024-2025Come sopra visto, tra la fine del ’43 e gli inizi del ‘44, lo spionaggio americano in Italia sviluppò elementi più spiccatamente diplomatici, mentre attenuò quelli militari. In particolare, il prestigio del SI dell’OSS che collaborò con l’Intelligence Division (G-2) della V Armata americana, nella trasmissione al XV Gruppo d’Armate e all’AFHQ di significativi rapporti sulle missioni compiute dietro le linee nemiche, crebbe, mentre la Research & Analysis (R & A) redasse interessanti rapporti sugli sviluppi della situazione economica e politica in Italia. La Morale Operations Branch (MO), altresì, pose in essere una massiccia campagna volta a minare il morale delle truppe dell’Asse in Italia e
incrementare la simpatia per la causa alleata presso i civili italiani. L’OSS intensificò, così, i suoi contatti in Italia, reclutando agenti ovvero instaurando contatti con informatori occasionali di varia estrazione sociale e politica, da alcuni esponenti di spicco dei sei partiti antifascisti che composero il CLN di Roma, quali Pietro Nenni, storico segretario del Partito Socialista (PSI) e editore dell’”Avanti!”, Giuseppe Romita, leader socialista, che a Roma, nel luglio 1942, aveva rifondato il PSI; Emilio Lussu, fondatore e leader del movimento Giustizia e Libertà, il repubblicano Ugo La Malfa, il repubblicano Randolfo Pacciardi, il liberalsocialista e azionista Prof. Guido Calogero, a ministri e sottosegretari dei Governi Bonomi, a cominciare dallo stesso Primo Ministro, a Francesco Cerabona, ministro delle Comunicazioni e socialdemocratico, a Benedetto Croce, filosofo e liberale nonché ministro del primo governo Bonomi, a Marcello Soleri, liberale e ministro del Tesoro, a Palmiro Togliatti, leader del Partito Comunista (PCI) e ministro senza portafoglio, a Giuseppe Saragat, leader socialista e ministro senza portafoglio e, ancora, Guido De Ruggiero, azionista e ministro dell’Educazione, Stefano Siglienti, azionista e ministro delle Finanze, Umberto Tupini, cristiano-democratico e ministro della Giustizia, Alcide de Gasperi, leader del partito della Democrazia Cristiana (DC), Renato Morelli, liberale e sottosegretario per gli italiani all’estero, Carlo Sforza, ministro senza portafoglio, Alberto Cianca, azionista e ministro senza portafoglio, Visconti-Venosta, sottosegretario agli Affari Esteri, Antonio Pesenti, comunista e sottosegretario alle Finanze, Mario Palermo, comunista e sottosegretario alla Guerra, Pietro Mancini, ministro dei Lavori Pubblici, nonché dirigenti sindacali, quali Giuseppe Di Vittorio, elemento comunista del Direttorio della CGIL, Oreste Lizzadri, membro socialista del direttorio della CGIL, Achille Grandi, membro cristiano-democratico della CGIL, a esperti economici e finanziari, quali il Dott. Ugo Baffi, direttore dell’ufficio Ricerca della Banca d’Italia e, infine, funzionari e ufficiali civili dell’Allied Control Commission (ACC) e della Psychological War Branch (PWB) dell’OSS.
Michaela Sapio, Servizi e segreti in Italia (1943-1945). Lo spionaggio americano dalla caduta di Mussolini alla liberazione, Tesi di Dottorato, Università degli Studi del Molise, 2012#1943 #1944 #1945 #alleati #americani #Chrysler #fascisti #Firenze #Italia #Lobo #Mangosteen #MatteoPaglia #MaxCorvo #MichaelaSapio #missione #Morristown #OfficeOfStrategicService #Orange #ORI #OSS #partigiani #Piemonte #Resistenza #tedeschi #VincentScamporino
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Day 13 of my #SnagTights #SnagVentCalendar. The inevitable happened and I got this one as well.
As with the other participants the model “mocksy scallop” baffles me! Why the black “CENSORED” stripe? What do you wear something like this with?
The most feasible thing I could think of was my trousers with the long slit in the legs?PS: yes, I know my legs need a shave, but it is winter and I postpone that until it is warm again!
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Dragon Ball Z Taiketsu with Andrew Young (Behold!)
Gather ‘round, Dragon Ball devotees and gluttons for punishment! This week on Play Comics, we’re subjecting ourselves to the digital equivalent of getting hit by Frieza’s Death Beam repeatedly-Dragon Ball Z Taiketsu for the Game Boy Advance. Imagine taking the most explosive anime franchise in history and cramming it into a game with all the fiery intensity of a damp firecracker. Spoiler alert: This isn’t a battle for glory-it’s a battle for survival against one of the most bafflingly awful licensed games ever conceived.
Joining me in this masochistic quest is Andrew Young from Behold!, who’s agreed to lend his expertise (and his remaining sanity) to dissect this pixelated travesty. Together, we’ll answer the burning question: How did a game about planet-destroying superhumans end up feeling as thrilling as watching paint dry on Master Roshi’s houseboat? Hint: It involves more clipping issues than Yamcha’s career and combat mechanics flatter than Krillin’s scalp.
From animations that resemble a PowerPoint presentation gone rogue to a soundtrack that sounds like a kazoo orchestra trapped in a washing machine, Taiketsu doesn’t just drop the ball-it spikes it into the core of the Earth, unleashes a Spirit Bomb of disappointment, and then forgets to animate the explosion. Whether you’re here for the schadenfreude or just morbid curiosity, grab your Dragon Radar and a stiff drink. This episode’s gonna hurt. A lot.
Learn such things as:
- What happens when the developers are put not only behind the 8 ball, but also in front of a really high cliff on a windy day and that cliff is made of ice?
- So I guess games really do need a story don’t they? Even if it’s just a hand wave at one.
- Is this the new worst representation of the comic source material?
- And so much more!
You can find Andrew by looking at the Behold! account on Twitter or of course the Behold! website. You should especially check out the episode looking at X-Men 97 because I love that series and need something good in my life, and the episode looking at Fan4stick because it has me in it.
If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.
If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.
Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.
You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicscaston Twitter and in the Play Comics Podcast Fan Groupon Facebook.
A big thanks to the Kickstarter campaign for I Brought A Gorilla to a Gunfight and the Kickstarter campaign for Starlite for the promos today.
Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who forgot that this game exists and is now on a mission to destroy me because I brought this fact back to light.
#AndrewYoung #Android16 #Android18 #Atari #Broly #Frieze #FutureTrunks #GameBoyAdvance #Goku #Gotenks #ImprefectCell #JumpComics #Krillin #MajinBuu #Nappa #PerfectCell #Piccolo #Shueisha #SuperBuu #Taditz #Vegeta #VizMedia #WebfootTechnologies
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Why haven't U S. #campuses erupted in #protest over this? I am utterly #baffled #students seem to be #sleepwalking through #fascism https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/universities-trump-administration?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other #trump #ComradeKrasnov
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@quixoticgeek 💯! It's baffling that most newly built houses aren't built to the #PassiveHouse standard.