Blood brotherhood

Blood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together. The process usually provides a participant with a heightened symbolic sense of attachment with another participant.



An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow.
The essence of a divine oath is an invocation of divine agency to be a guarantor of the oath taker's own honesty and integrity in the matter under question. By implication, this invokes divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in their sworn duties. It therefore implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of one's duty, such as in testimony to the facts of the matter in a court of law.
A person taking an oath indicates this in a number of ways. The most usual is the explicit "I swear," but any statement or promise that includes "with * as my witness" or "so help me *," with '*' being something or someone the oath-taker holds sacred, is an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of scripture or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred witness through their action: such an oath is called corporal. However, the chief purpose of such an act is for ceremony or solemnity, and the act does not of itself make an oath.

Tea Makers and Coffee Machines

In 1822, the first espresso machine was made in France. In 1933, Dr. Ernest Illy invented the first automatic espresso machine. However, the modern-day espresso machine was created by Italian Achilles Gaggia in 1946. Gaggia invented a high pressure espresso machine by using a spring powered lever system. The first pump driven espresso machine was produced in 1960 by the Faema company.




Traditionally the tea is served three times, and the amount of time the tea has been steeping gives each of the three glasses of tea a unique flavor, described in this famous proverb:

Le premier verre est aussi amer que la vie,
le deuxième est aussi fort que l'amour,
le troisième est aussi doux que la mort.

The first glass is as bitter as life,
the second glass is as strong as love,
the third glass is as gentle as death.




The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. The consumption of tea in India was first clearly documented in the Ramayana (750-500 BC). For the next 1000 years, documentation of tea in India was lost in history. Records re-emerge during the 1st century AD, with stories of the Buddhist monks Bodhidharma and Gan Lu, and their involvement with tea. Research shows that tea is indigenous to eastern and northern India, and was cultivated and consumed there for thousands of years. Commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production.



Moroccan mint tea is a green tea with mint leaves.
Moroccan-style mint tea is now commonly served all through the West Arab World (North Africa). It is served not only at mealtimes but all through the day, and it is especially a drink of hospitality, commonly served whenever there are guests. Unlike Moroccan food, cooked by women, this tea is traditionally a man's affair: prepared by the head of the family. It is served to guests, and it is impolite to refuse it.



The first great coffeemaker 1927

In 1927 the first large coffee machine from WMF heralded a technical revolution. It worked with vapour pressure and was the machine where the parts directly getting into contact with coffee were made of Cromargan. The strong points of the machine were its fastness and its ease of operation. This machine already applied two brewing processes: the pressureless brewing process and the “express” process working with pressure and being distinctly faster.

Snipers of the Soviet Union during WWII

Snipers of the Soviet Union during WWII short documentary with interviews.

Snipers of the Soviet Union played an important role mainly on the Eastern Front of World War II, apart from other preceding and subsequent conflicts. In World War II, Soviet snipers used the 7.62x54R rifle cartridge with light, heavy, armour-piercing (B-30), armour-piercing-and-incendiary (B-32), zeroing-and-incendiary (P3), and tracer bullets. Most Soviet WWII snipers carried a combat load of 120 rifle cartridges in the field. Unlike the militaries of other nations, these snipers could be men or women. In 1943, there were over 2,000 women functioning in this role.



Major Ivan Mikhaylovich Sidorenko (September 12, 1919 – 1987), with over five hundred confirmed kills.



Sergeant Fyodor Matveyevich Okhlopkov (March 2, 1908 - May 28, 1968), credited with as many as 429 kills.



Major Lyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko (July 12, 1916 – October 10, 1974), credited with 309 kills, and is regarded as the most successful female sniper in history.



Captain Vasily Grigorevich Zaytsev (March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991), between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev made 242 verified kills.

Knights of the Desert

They call themselves variously Kel Tamasheq or Kel Tamajaq - Speakers of Tamasheq, Imuhagh, Imazaghan or Imashaghen - the Free people, or Kel Tagelmust - People of the Veil. The name Tuareg was applied to them by early explorers and historians, since Leo Africanus (c. 1494 – c. 1554?).

Ahmad Shah Massoud - The Lion of Panjshir

Nickname:
"Lion of Panjshir"
Place of birth:
Bazarak, Panjshir, Afghanistan
Place of death:
Takhar Province, Afghanistan
Years of service:
1978-2001
Rank:
Commander, Minister of Defense
Commands held:
Prominent Mujahideen commander during the Soviet war in Afghanistan,
Defense Minister of Afghanistan and commander of the anti-Taliban United Islamic Front
Battles/wars:
Soviet war in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan

Awards:
National Hero of Afghanistan and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Wikipedia about Ahmad Shah Massoud



Ahmad Shah Massoud (احمد شاه مسعود- Aḥmad Šāh Mas'ūd; September 2, 1953 – September 9, 2001) was a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the name Lion of Panjshir. His followers called him Āmir Sāhib-e Shahīd (Our Beloved Martyred Commander). His followers not only saw him as a military commander but also as a spiritual leader."Lion of Panjshir", is a rhyme and play on words in Persian, which alludes to the strength of his resistance against the Soviet Union, the mythological exaltation of the lion in Persian literature, and finally, the place name of the Panjshir Valley, where Massoud was born. The place name of "Panjshir" Valley in Persian means (Valley of the) Five Lions. Thus, the phrase "Lion of Panjshir", which in Persian is "Shir-e-Panjshir," شیر پنجشیر is a rhyming play on words, with the connotation "Lion of the Five Lions".






Widely seen as a guerrilla genius - his country's Che Guevara, with charisma and beard to match - Massoud successfully played David to the Soviets' Goliath in the 1980s. - Sebastian Junger Under Fire by Ted Chamberlain, National Geographic




Massoud's personal mysticism led him to fight without hatred, bitterness, or spirit of revenge, regarding armed conflict only as an imposed and necessary evil in order to defend his people's freedom, certainly not as an end in itself to be enjoyed as bloodlust or intoxication with power. He always provided protection for humanitarian relief in the most difficult and dangerous circumstances, looked for reconciliation with defeated enemies, and invariably treated his war prisoners with humanity and dignity. To this I was witness ... Such moral integrity in the midst of warfare ranks Massoud as one of the very few « philosopher kings » in history, that is, men who have been forced to wage war so as to protect their nation and people, but who detested war in itself and sought no personal political gain. - Thoughts on Commander Massoud by Princeton University Prof. Michael Barry




Massoud was named "The Afghan who won the cold war" by the Wall Street Journal. He defeated the Soviet Red Army in the Panjshir. The Soviet Union's defeat was not only a defeat in Afghanistan, but led to the collapse of the Soviet system and was followed by the liberation of the Central Asian and Eastern European countries from Moscow's control. His struggle against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan earned him the name "Lion of Panjshir".

Massoud's tomb in Bazarak in the Panjshir Valley.


The mausoleum of Massoud is now a national visiting site located in the Panjshir Valley, north of the capital Kabul.



"For me, north, south, Persian, Pashto is absolutely meaningless. In our home we can talk in every language." - Ahmad Shah Massoud

Simo Häyhä - outstanding warrior

Nickname:
White Death
Place of birth:
Rautjärvi, Finland
Place of death:
Hamina, Finland
Allegiance:
Finland
Years of service:
1925 – 1940
Rank:
Corporal during the war, promoted to Second Lieutenant afterwards
Unit:
Infantry Regiment 34
Battles/wars:
Winter War (1939–1940, between Finland and the Soviet Union)

Awards:
I. Cross of Liberty, 3rd class and 4th class;
II. Medal of Liberty, 1st class and 2nd class;
III. Cross of Kollaa Battle



Simo Häyhä (www.wikipedia.org)(Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsimɔ ˈhæy̯hæ]) (December 17, 1905 – April 1, 2002), nicknamed "White Death" (Russian: Белая смерть, Belaya Smert; Finnish: valkoinen kuolema; Swedish: den vita döden; German: der weiße Tod) by the Red Army, was a Finnish sniper. Using a modified Mosin-Nagant in the Winter War, he has the highest recorded number (505) of confirmed sniper kills in any major war.


On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the lower left jaw by a Russian soldier during combat. The bullet tumbled upon impact and exited his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his head was missing".

The bullet had crushed his jaw and blown off his left cheek. Nonetheless, he made a full recovery and became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder after World War II, and hunted with Finnish president Urho Kekkonen.

When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good shooter, he answered, "practice." When asked if he regretted killing so many people, he said "I did what I was told to as well as I could." Simo Häyhä spent his last years in Ruokolahti, a small village located in southeastern Finland, near the Russian border.

Legends in Black and White

They do not need names,they do not need stories, they will remain unknown. But their gaze reveal the structure of the soul and unveil the sorrow and joy of life.


the Falconer


a Kamikaze pilot


Bedouin Sheikh


Love and Courage


Military caravan...


May be a little color...

inside Alger Cafe


Arabesque