text:
Ten Postcards
Postcards are short stories, each one a time capsule, a seed to grow and a fruit to retrieve at the receiver's end. I have lots of them and every so often I'd make my journey through the albums, jumping from images to writings, revisiting years, places and events that, if I were not this occasional excavationist, would have been forgotten and buried with time.
Many said we should have discarded 2020, a year so unproductive, so damaging and so wasted away. On reflection, I am really in awe about where we stand, right in the time of a pandemic (and still living relatively at ease)! In the beginning, we thought it was going to last for just a few months, then a few more months, then many more months and extending to another year. The uncertainties leave us hanging with discomfort and fear. Unlike distress and anxiety, our pockets are not that deep.
Retracing the few postcards I received in 2020, I especially like the Sugar cane stems postcard that Glenn sent me in April. Since I mistook the plants for bamboos, it was even better, like collecting fresh breeze, coming along with the sweet sound of music. And winding back to the Winter of 2019, I received a minimal yet very beautiful card from Irina. It came not as a postcard, but as a greeting card tucked inside an envelope. Snow! The first impression I had was snow, and the tire tread patterns on snowy streets. It seemed relevant. But upon further investigation, I spotted them as impressions made by placing twigs on paper and running through a printmaking press. Irina has been playing with print making for years, she is adventurous and, never shies away from experimentation.
In late Autumn 2019, while Ka-sing was away in Hong Kong, our friends Zunzi 尊子, a political cartoonist, his wife Chanya 陳也, a writer and their son Yud came to Toronto. We met up for dinner at Nunu, an Ethiopian restaurant just around the corner on Queen Street West. When Ka-sing and I left Hong Kong, their son was not yet born. It was wonderful to see him now as a delicate teenager. After they went back to Hong Kong I received a postcard from Chanya:
"Holly, me + son has returned to Hong Kong, old Zun was still minding his show business in the West Bank of America. News indicated that Toronto has big snowfall, hope your door hasn't been blocked off yet! :) From Seymour Road to Gladstone Avenue, the way you treated us is still with the same old warmth. Thx! Hoping to meet again. Take care, say hello to Ka-sing. Chanya 17 Nov. 2019."
The postcard Chanya sent was probably a memorial card for the June-fourth Tiananmen incident. One might not have any idea what the numbers 87( )5( ) mean. The Chinese characters literally mean "Forbidden to say doesn't mean to have forgotten". A silent but unyielding way to protest against autocracy. However, on the first day of our existence we knew it as an involuntary birth, its young roots subject easily to, and affected heavily by fair or adverse weather. Destiny has never been on our hands.
The Winter of 2019 looked vastly different from this coming one. We won't be able to enjoy coffee on the patios worry-free, like these two friends chatting, just a foot or two apart. In fact, it is advised, better no contact, better not to meet at all. This makes the card Shelley sent us last year all the more memorable. For many years, Shelley has made drawing an integral part of her life. She draws everyday, producing endless stories of our city and its inhabitants. Her works are light, whimsical, reflecting our inner and outer lives with child-like metaphorical strokes.
Back in the Summer of 2012, I received what looked like a promotional thing but turned out to be a postcard from Irina. The postcard was sent from St. John's Newfoundland, where Irina and Gary spent the Summer there in a B&B, in exchange of the free stay they had to perform the host's duty, like house keeping, and cooking breakfast for guests. On the card she wrote:
"Roughing it on the Boat House - not hot, ocean traffic. Helping with the Rock Bottom B&B. Brought wrong clothes overwhelmed with the heat - looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again soon. Regards from much water - Irina + G"
Irina's writings is pure pleasure. I can imagine her sipping a cup of coffee as she wrote, with a box of water colours on the side, she signed it with her iconic, Greek and Picasso inspired goddess profile. And on the front of the picture postcard, you can see the Admiral's Adventure B&B nestled under the cliff of a hill. Oh Summer, do you have to go?
Years ago, I believe it might be around early Autumn, Han Xu sent me a postcard that he drew. The drawing was the Little Free Library on Close Avenue, the street where he lives. He was full of happy spirit, so was the scene depicting the small, bird-house like library with some books inside, standing in the centre against the sumptuous backdrop of green and gold. He wrote a few cheery words on his thoughts:
"Every time walk towards in anticipation. Every time arrive at happy encountering. Every time return in hope of revisiting." (The picture: On Close Avenue, passing by a library)
Then a few months later, towards the New Year, another card from Han Xu arrived. It was a New Year's card, with a bonsai pine celebrating January, celebrating New Spring. He wrote and signed his name Han Xu 韓旭 in Chinese, decorated it with a small square red seal.
In June 2004 a postcard came from the Hauptbanhof of Zürich, but I recognized the picture as the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Yes indeed, in the foreground was a sculpture by the Taiwanese sculptor Chu Ming. The sculpture or the 'man' was practising Tai Chi in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The photographer and the sender of the postcard was PK (Leung Ping -Kwan 梁秉鈞). Around that time he was in Zürich University as a visiting scholar. His daughter Anwen was also with him in the trip. Taking place more or less the same time was his photography exhibition and poetry reading East West Matters in Bern and Frankfurt. In the card he wrote briefly:
"Greetings from Anwen and Ping-Kwan in Zürich! Anwen is coming soon!"
Ka-sing almost got to meet him in Paris, as they collaborated on the Poetry and Photography exhibition 'De ci de là des choses'. It did not happen because he was busy taking care of the gallery in Toronto. In any case, the exhibition proceeded without Ka-sing. Nevertheless, 'De ci de là des choses' was arranged to exhibit again in 2006 at Saorge Monastery in the Southern part of France, which Ka-sing, giving a second chance, was still unable to attend.
"Iris, we saw these big cats in Canada. There are way too many people who love cats in North America. But it won't be easy for you to find them on streets, since almost all of them live in people's sweet home. These two big cats just wander off for a stroll and discovered by us. They agreed to give this picture to the little girl in Hong Kong who really really loves cats - as a gift. Love from mommy Toronto uncle Fai's home Dec 26, 1991."
We bought this card when we visited uncle Fai (Tommy Li) in Toronto 1991, six years before we moved to Canada. Oh, right now, at this very moment of writing and to my surprise, I just find out that this Blue Tigers drawing is by Blair Drawson, an illustrator friend whom we met after we immigrated to Toronto! After we set up the galleries on Gladstone Avenue, we had even shown his lovely work of Birds. Small small world.
This cat postcard sent by Glenn was not dated, the barely visible mail press mark facing the cat also bears no date. But I remember it came before the Sugar Cane postcard, so it must be in 2019. Sometime that year, Kai and Glenn came over for dinner. After dinner I showed him a book called From the Ocean of Paintings: India's Popular Paintings 1589 to the Present. He was surprised to find an image of an almost identical cat of the postcard he sent me weeks ago. Well, there is more story behind. This genre of drawing comes from West Bengal, Kalighat, where this particular iconography of the cat is served as an illustration of the proverb "Fair game" and as a satire on the hypocrisy of some devotees of Vishnu who professed to be vegetarians but in fact consumed meat in private. There are many versions of the calico cats. They may be holding different kinds of fish, a mouse, a prawn or even a parrot. In the postcard Glenn obtained from the gift shop of V&A the cat is holding a fish in its mouth, whereas in my book, the cat is holding a prawn, which at first glance and again out of my usual carelessness, I mistook it for a green carrot.


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As with most of the OT writings the author of the book of Esther (Esther meaning "star") is not mentioned. The Jewish historian Josephus names Mordecai as author of the book. Chapter 10:2-3 however speaks against this, for the author would hardly have written likewise of himself. On the other hand chap. 9:20 explicitly mentions that Mordecai wrote these things. Other sources ascribe the book of Esther to Ezra or Nehemiah.
In any case the author was a Jew whose heart was set on the fate of the people of Israel. Besides he had an excellent knowledge on the situation at the Persian court. This very fact was fully acknowledged by the Greek historian Herodotus and by the excavations of the past hundred years.
The events of the book of Esther occurred during the reign of King Ahasuerus, Xerxes I. (Persian: Khschayarscha).
Ahasuerus reigned from 485 to 464 BC. His predecessor was King Darius (522-485 BC) who is mentioned in Ezra 4:5. His successor was Artaxerxes I. (Ezra 7:1 and Nehemiah 2:1). The events mentioned in Esther therefore happened between Ezra chapter 6 and chapter 7. This is why many presume that the book was written in the second half of the fifth century BC.
In the Hebrew Bible the book of Esther is placed in the third main part, that is the "writings" (hebr. ketubim). The book belongs to the so-called five "scrolls" (hebr. megilloth), which are still read today at certain feast days in the synagogue. Esther is read during the Purim feast on 14th and 15th Adar (February/March). Hence it belongs to the best-known OT-books with the Jews and it is also the book, which has the oldest copies. The book of Esther has served the Jewish people as support of their national hope and especially so in the days of persecution.
This book particularly teaches us the invisible care of God for those of His people who preferred to stay in the land of exile although they could have returned to Palestine since the days of King Cyrus of Persia (see book of Ezra). Jehovah watched with tender goodness and care over this large part of the Jews, which He could no longer recognize as His people in front of the world. He hid Himself before them as it were. This is why God is not mentioned once in this book. Already in the antiquity the Jews had considered this striking characteristic as fulfilment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 31:18.
In His providence God brings the young Jewess Hadassah (Esther) to the Persian court. She succeeds in preventing the threatening destruction of all her race by Haman, who was set above all the princes. Haman is hanged and Esther's cousin Mordecai, the pious Jew and Haman's opponent, receives his position. After the Jews' revenge upon their enemies the days of Purim (pur = Persian: lot) are established in remembrance of these events.
Queen Vashti typifies the wife out of the nations (heathen) who is rejected because she does not behave according to her position. After that Esther becomes the Jewish wife and queen who comes to honour (compare Romans 11). In Mordecai we see a picture of Christ who is despised and hated to start with but later becomes head over his people Israel and head of the whole world.
According to Numbers 24:7 and 1 Samuel 15 , Agag seems to have been the title of the kings of the Amalekites. - Saul, the son of Kish, spared Agag, King of the Amalekites, and was rejected by God for his disobedience (1 Samuel 15). Mordecai who was a son of Kish as well (Esther 2:5) arranged the execution of Haman, the Agagite (Esther 3:1). By this he fulfilled the judgment of God and attained great honour.


text:
Jah Cure Reveals SHOCKING Info Before Being Locked Up – Video
Made in JamaicaOctober 10, 2021
A video has been circulating recently featuring detained reggae artiste Jah Cure, who had some very interesting accomplishments to tell his fans about. The video gives a unique perspective as it allows one to see the state of mind the entertainer was in before him being arrested on October 2nd for an alleged stabbing incident that took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands the day before.
This particular video was done in France at one of his shows on a European Tour he was doing, as was revealed by the "True Reflections" singer, who also emphasized in his fan talk moment, that the song "Longing For" was his favourite and the first to be recorded out of prison.
Burying himself in the sharing of his accomplishments, Jah Cure went on to let his followers know that he is the first human being to have recorded hit music from prison illegally.
That move according to Jah Cure produced the big "Longing for" which the entertainer stated went number 1 in many countries worldwide, with his second favourite song "True Reflections" following the same suit. Cure also highlights that he is the only artiste to ever shoot a music video in prison and have it released.
In his talks, the singer ecstatically rolled out information that might have surprised his followers as he revealed that the machine that facilitated the recording was smuggled in the prison by a warden, who he referred to as "Simo" who assured him that everything was good to go for him to start recording.
Jah Cure also highlighted in the video that his number one hit "Longing for" has been a long time favourite for rappers such as Drake, French Montana and Chris Brown who he said personally expressed to him over the phone that the song was his favourite.
Not only was the song getting love from the international artiste, according to Jah Cure, the track also managed to gain the top spot position for his songs with the highest streams.
The very expressive singer also spoke to the fact that he is the first young reggae artiste in modern times to have been nominated for the grammy, speaking to the fact that he attained such an accomplishment before the likes of Chronixx, Protoje and Koffee. The entertainer was very blunt in making his point that he was there before them, by explaining that when he got nominated for a grammy there were all elders in the lineup.
In recent times, the singer spoke about his recent album being nominated for a Grammy however when the research was done it was his second to last album "The Cure" released in 2015, nonetheless his last album had Billboard success.
Where the Billboards are concerned, Jah Cure did talk about that, as he outlined that he has been one of the few Reggae artiste to be on the charts for 37 weeks straight.
Going further in his talks, the singer expressed to the ones who were watching the video that the fans have to be updated.
Closing off his video, Jah Cure gave thanks to Downsound Records Ceo, Joe Bogdanovich who did songs such as "Great Man" while incarcerated.
Other accomplishments, "The Cure," said he had under his belts were Mobo Awards and Soul Train nominations however, the now locked up entertainer said he was focusing on shining the light through the darkness and to all those ones who have been styling him, the singer told them he is holding it out.
Holding it out is really something Jah Cure seems to be doing at this point since his manager for one year, Nathan Cowen stated in an update on the artiste that he was "okay", after being remanded for 14 days, for allegedly stabbing Nicardo 'Papa' Blake, the leader of the Roots Vibes promotion group.
So far no detailed information has been released about the entertainer's situation but there have been public assumptions by vloggers and persons following the case, that the singer can potentially be convicted of attempted manslaughter if found guilty.
The singer will also spend his 43rd birthday in jail which is tomorrow October 11th.
Watch his chat below.
A post shared by 𝕁𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕔𝕒 𝔻𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕘𝕒𝕖 (@yaadstars)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tina Hassel (born 11 May 1964) is a German broadcast journalist. Since July 2015 she has been director of the capital studio of ARD, the German public broadcasting association.

Early life and education
Born in Cologne, Hassel studied at the universities of Cologne and Bordeaux and earned a Magister degree in Germanic studies, history and political science.

Career
While still a student, Hassel began working for radio and TV stations in Germany and France.

Hassel worked at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) from 1990 to 1994, initially as a volunteer and then starting in 1992 as an editor and presenter. From 1994 to 1999, she was the Paris correspondent of WDR's parent organization ARD. From November 2001 to May 2012, she was a presenter on , the world news program on ARD's Das Erste TV channel. In addition, in December 2001 she became foreign head at WDR. She then headed ARD's studio in Washington, DC from July 2012 to June 2015.

On 1 July 2015, Hassel succeeded Ulrich Deppendorf as director and chief television editor at the ARD capital studio in Berlin, the first woman to hold the position. In this capacity, she is also the presenter of Bericht aus Berlin (Report from Berlin). Among others, she has interviewed Prime Minister Theresa May (2018) and Chancellor Angela Merkel (2020, and 2021).

Criticism
In January 2018, while reporting for ARD on the Alliance 90/The Greens party convention, Hassel tweeted in a manner that was criticized as lacking in neutrality.  of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung characterized the tweets as "a salvo of delighted squeals", Alexander Will in , as part of a "massive media flanking action" for the party, and  of Die Zeit took her to task for lacking the "professional, dispassionate distance" that ought particularly to be demonstrated by publicly financed, government-supported media. Hassel rejected the accusation that the tweets had been insufficiently neutral.

Personal life
Hassel is married and has three children. She is a patron of Kinderhospiz Bethel, a children's hospice in Bielefeld, and is a member of Atlantik-Brücke.

References

Television people from Cologne
University of Cologne alumni
University of Bordeaux alumni
German radio presenters
German women radio presenters
German television journalists
German women television presenters
German television presenters
German women television journalists
German broadcast news analysts
1964 births
Living people
ARD (broadcaster) people
Westdeutscher Rundfunk people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
Q: Is it possible to set environment variables for exactly one test? Given something like this:
it('uses env variables correctly', function(done) {
    assert.equal(process.env.x * process.env.y, 10);
});

I would like to set the x and y environment variable for this one test only. Is that possible?

A: Here is a very common pattern (as answered by Leonid Beschastny).
describe('env', function () {
  let envCache

  // mocking an environment
  before(() => {
    envCache = process.env;
  })

  // running tests
  it('reads env variables correctly', () => {
    process.env.x = 2
    process.env.y = 5

    assert.equal(process.env.x * process.env.y, 10)
  })

  // process.env is not just a plain object
  it('should convert undefined to a string', () => {
    process.env.UNDEF = undefined

    assert.equal(process.env.UNDEF, 'undefined')
  })

  // Trying to restore everything back
  after(() => {
    process.env = env
  })
})

There is a problem here, however. process.env is not a normal object, and you are replacing it with a normal object. If the second test is run in isolation, it will pass, as that is how process.env is supposed to work. If instead we run the whole test suite, the second test will fail!
Setting up your tests like that will cause different behaviors based on how you run the test. This is a very bad thing.
Instead you should use delete to clear the values, and then reassign them like so:
describe('env', function () {
  let envCache

  // mocking an environment
  before(() => {
    envCache = process.env;
  })

  // running tests
  it('reads env variables correctly', () => {
    process.env.x = 2
    process.env.y = 5

    assert.equal(process.env.x * process.env.y, 10)
  })

  // process.env is not just a plain object
  it('should convert undefined to a string', () => {
    process.env.UNDEF = undefined

    assert.equal(process.env.UNDEF, 'undefined')
  })

  // Trying to restore everything back
  after(() => {
    Object.keys(process.env).forEach((key) => { delete process.env[key] })
    Object.entries(envCache).forEach(([ key, value ]) => {
      if (key !== undefined) {
        process.env[key] = value
      }
    })
  })
})

This will keep the behavior more consistent, in case someone forgets that you shouldn't assign a key of process.env to be undefined instead of deleting them.

A: Here is the most common approach:
describe('env', function () {
  var env;

  // mocking an environment
  before(function () {
    env = process.env;
    process.env = { x: 2, y: 5 };
  });

  // running tests
  it('uses env variables correctly', function (done) {
    assert.equal(process.env.x * process.env.y, 10);
    done();
  });

  // restoring everything back
  after(function () {
    process.env = env;
  });
});

A: This one worked better for me.
In this case you'll not need to re-define the other environment variables that you may need in your test.
describe('fake env', () => {
  let envOrig;
  before(() => {
    envOrig = JSON.stringify(process.env);
    process.env.test = 'info';
  });

  after(() => {
    process.env = JSON.parse(envOrig);
  })

  it('check fake env', () => {
    expect(process.env.test).to.equal('info');
  })
});

describe('real env', () => {
  it('check real env', () => {
    expect(process.env.test).to.be.undefined;
  })
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Urdesa es un barrio de la ciudad de Guayaquil, Ecuador. En sus inicios en los años 50, se manejó un concepto de grandes casas para la clase alta con amplios jardines, sin cerramientos. Poco a poco lo que empezó como una ciudadela fue ganando atención de los ciudadanos y cada vez se fue poblando más, haciendo necesario reducir el tamaño de las casas para optimizar los espacios.

Actualmente se ha convertido en un área muy comercial, que permite disfrutar de un sinnúmero de restaurantes, tiendas, centros comerciales y varios tipos de negocios.

Prólogo
El análisis territorial desarrollado a continuación, está enfocado en el barrio Urdesa, ubicado al norte de la ciudad de Guayaquil perteneciente a la parroquia Tarqui. Mediante la exploración con enfoque cuantitativo a uno cualitativo, dónde a través de testimonios obtenido en redes y un análisis realizado a profundidad de levantamientos previos de información del sector, hemos logrado definir la situación actual, enfatizando en su capacidad de evolución dentro de diferentes aspectos como comunidad y asentamiento.

Para una eficiente y profunda obtención de resultados, analizamos el sector en cuatro diferentes partes para poder finalmente unirlas y sacar un análisis de la suma de estas partes como un total definitivo. El desarrollo de este trabajo nos pone en frente una realidad latente, la cual nos permite realzar y poner en valor un sector tan importante como el de Urdesa, mediante la narrativa que nace de un proceso de reconstrucción histórica con una visión clara de un asentamiento mejorado aplicando una planificación urbana por parte de la Urbanizadora del Salado S.A. La importancia de la obtención de datos reales a partir de los testimonios, la información y noticias del sector es lo que da cabida a poder conocer de mejor manera lo que en verdad representa Urdesa.

Introducción
El origen del nombre de Urdesa proviene de la constructora que fundó este barrio entre 1955 y 1957: Urbanizadora del Salado S.A. Es considerado como uno de los barrios del norte de Guayaquil, a pesar de que en un inicio era considerado como centro de la ciudad, en la actualidad viene a ser el centro geográfico debido al desmesurado crecimiento horizontal que ha tenido la ciudad en los últimos años.

Su ubicación es privilegiada al contar con un contexto natural, que en un inicio era más extenso y vivo, pero que ahora cuenta con una mínima parte que se sigue manteniendo en esencia poderosa siendo el Estero Salado su límite fronterizo con el resto de barrios. Por tal razón, Urdesa era concebido como un plan habitacional para la clase media y alta de aquellos años. Su evolución permitió convertir este sector en uno en el que converja la vivienda con el comercio y los servicios que poco a poco fueron apareciendo con el pasar de los años.

Tras ofrecer como propuesta un sitio de hermosos jardines, sin cerramientos, rellenos de suelo, bordillos, calles pavimentadas, canalización de agua potable, aguas lluvias, aguas servidas e instalaciones eléctricas; automáticamente la diversidad empezó a florecer en Urdesa estableciendo negocios comerciales, iglesias, centros educativos, centros de salud y muchos otros que han dado cabida a un incremento productivo y del estilo y calidad de vida de estas personas. Sin embargo, el panorama que presentaba el sector fue degradándose poco a poco con las diversas actividades que se empezaron a dar gracias a la intervención de nuevos lugares de recreación como también la integración del estero a la vida de sus pobladores. Con las actividades antrópicas dadas con constancia desde la contaminación, excesiva pesca en el estero, deforestación y caza, el entorno natural de Urdesa fue perdiendo brillo hasta reducirse a lo que hoy en día conocemos. Por esta y más razones se realizará un análisis urbano estructural, que buscará describir y evaluar la realidad de Urdesa desde el pasado hasta la actualidad, con la finalidad de demostrar la degradación del barrio con relación a cada aspecto estudiado para emprender una nueva visión para Urdesa y su población: una Urdesa mucho más sostenible y resiliente, que pueda disminuir los efectos negativos de la actividad actual del barrio y la ciudad teniendo como resultado un equilibrio entre su población, y las diferentes escalas que abarca el barrio como también la ciudad en la que se emplaza.

Objetivo general y metodología
Como objetivo general, buscamos realizar un análisis urbano estructural del barrio Urdesa en relación con aspectos de uso de suelo, productividad, análisis de situación actual, ecología, etc. que permitan evaluar el estado del barrio con respecto a su evolución desde su fundación hasta el presente. La distribución del trabajo fue desde un aspecto más cuantitativo hasta llegar a uno más cualitativo. Este análisis se lo repartió en cuatro diferentes partes dividiéndolas y llegando así a un equilibrio en su investigación. Además se repartió el trabajo de forma equitativa tratando de abordar de forma total cada aspecto y criterio del índice para completar el análisis urbano estructural de Urdesa. Finalmente se dio la suma total de información de cada parte para hablar de Urdesa como barrio total conformado por diferentes factores y elementos.

Ubicación y delimitación del área de estudio
El barrio Urdesa se encuentra en el norte de la ciudad de Guayaquil en la parroquia Tarqui. Su delimitación es al NORTE con el Liceo Cristiano de Guayaquil y el barrio la Albrada, al SUR con la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil y el barrio Bellavista, al ESTE con el Policentro y la ciudadela Kennedy, y al Oeste con el Estero Salado y Mapasingue.

Antecedentes históricos de Urdesa
El barrio Urdesa viene su nombre de la constructora Urbanización del Salado S.A, que fue la que construyó el barrio, de encuentra ubicado en el norte de la ciudad de Guayaquil, nació como un proyecto habitacional para la clase media y alta alrededor del año 1957. Debido al crecimiento horizontal de la ciudad en los últimos años, el que se considera centro de la ciudad en verdad venga a ser el Este al tener la ciudad límite con el río guayas, es por esta razón que hoy en día Urdesa ha tenido que ser utilizado como ruta o intermediario para llegar a diferentes destinos, lo cual ha ocasionado la congestión de tráfico.

La propuesta a presentar buscar elaborar un análisis de Urdesa que permita describir la situación actual del barrio y de su comunidad desde un enfoque de sostenibilidad y resiliencia. Para esto, se combina la tecnología de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) y el uso de indicadores de sostenibilidad y resiliencia urbana. En particular, los estándares urbanísticos serán los indicadores que se utilizarán para realizar esta evaluación Actualmente Urdesa es un barrio que ha recuperado su esplendor con la adecuación de los parterres y calles adoquinadas como parte del proyecto del Municipio de Guayaquil de regeneración urbana, iniciado en 2004. Por más de 40 años está zona supo mantenerse residencial y solo en las avenidas principales de dio paso al comercio.

Tipo de asentamiento
Guayaquil empezó en 1950 un proceso de modernización y ampliación hacia el Norte y Noroeste de la ciudad, dando paso a terrenos de haciendas pertenecientes a la Junta de Beneficencia. Resultando en la partición y comercialización de terrenos como Urdesa y Miraflores. El 5 de mayo de 1955 se envía una solicitud al Municipio de Guayaquil y nace legalmente el proyecto de Urdesa. Este mismo año se establecieron urbanizaciones dirigidas a estratos medio y alto de la sociedad, entre estas la Urbanización del Salado (Urdesa), el cual adquirió 300 hectáreas por un valor de S/15´000.000, vendiendo en su mayoría terrenos urbanizados y ciertas viviendas ya construidas. Urdesa está rodeada en su mayoría por dos brazos del Estero Salado, fue construida sobre cascajo y relleno sanitario pues el terreno estaba en parte sobre manglar y fango. Actualmente Urdesa tiene una extensión de 3.71km² dividido en tres zonas, Urdesa Central, Lomas de Urdesa y Urdesa Norte. Urdesa tiene límites a norte con Cerro San Eduardo y Ceibos; al sur Kennedy y Kennedy Norte, Atarazana.

Medio físico
Asoleamiento

En torno a donde se encuentra el sector de Urdesa de acuerdo a SunEarthTool.com se muestra la siguiente información. Solsticio de verano es el 21 de junio, marcando así el inicio del verano con el día más largo del año. Equinoccio donde el sol se ubica en el punto central de Este a Oeste solsticio de invierno el 21 de diciembre marcado como el día más corto del año.

Vientos

Los vientos predominantes van en dirección del oeste al suroeste, con una velocidad de 9 km/h.

Temperatura

El mes con mayor porcentaje de temperatura ha sido abril con un promedio de 31 °C. El mes con el promedio de temperatura más baja es agosto con 21 °C. Los meses de marzo a mayo son los meses más calurosos del años, en cambio de junio a septiembre son los meses más fríos del año.

Radiación

Ecuador se encuentra en una zona donde el porcentaje de radiación solar es alto. Guayaquil tiene un promedio de 7200-2100wh/m/día que lo convierte en un espacio con radiación UV alta.

Humedad

Guayaquil anualmente sobrepasa los niveles máximos de humedad que la OMS considera saludables, mayores al 70 %, por ejemplo El 24 de enero del 2021 Guayaquil tuvo una humedad del 98% y se mantuvo así todo el día.

Precipitación

En promedio, hay una probabilidad del 63 % de que la precipitación total será 1,00 milímetro en Guayaquil en todo el día 24 de febrero, y se prevé que toda será lluvia. Como referencia, la probabilidad más alta del año de precipitación diaria es el 64 % el 13 de febrero, y la probabilidad más baja es el 0 % el 22 de agosto.

Ecosistema original

Antes de que la Urbanización del Estero Salado fuera diseñada y construida, toda esa zona era zona de manglar, y bosque que quedaba a alas afueras de Guayaquil. Posterior a que se planteo este proyecto se cortaron los árboles de la zona y se hizo el tramado del proyecto. Antes el agua del estero salado no presentaba ningún tipo de contaminación y la población de mangle era alta, donde cubría todo el perfil del estero. Se podía encontrar animales como garzas blancas, cangrejos, jaibas y otras especies de animales como cocodrilos.

Ecosistema actual

Actualmente el sector conocido como Urdesa posee diferentes estilos constructivos, esta cubierto casi en su totalidad por concreto, donde había árboles ahora hay casas o locales comerciales. También el estero cambio, se empezó a contaminar, por las diferentes actividades residenciales, comerciales y humanas que se realizan continuamente en la zona. La contaminación del estero actual llegó a tal punto que se empezaron a sedimentar los diferentes residuos, donde se han encontrados plásticos, desechos orgánicos y químicos.

Tipo de asentamiento
Según la Ordenanza Sustitutiva de Edificaciones y Construcciones del Cantón Guayaquil, el barrio Urdesa cuenta con ocho zonas, entre residenciales, comerciales y servicios, de equipamientos, mixtas, etc. Se especifican sus códigos y usos de suelo a continuación:

Zona Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo 2A  <ZR - 2 (A)>

Zona Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo 3C  <ZR - 3 (C)>

Zona Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo 2B   <ZR - 2 (B)>

Zona Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo 3A    <ZR - 3 (A)>

Zona Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo 3B    <ZR - 3 (B)>

Zona Mixta Residencial Compatibilidad Tipo D  <ZMR (NC) 4D>

Corredores Comerciales y de Servicios  <CC - V>

Compatibilidad Zona de Equipamiento Comunal  <ZEQ>

Equipamiento
De acuerdo al mapeo realizado dentro del sector de Urdesa hay una gran variedad de equipamiento, para el beneficio de los habientes, siendo así que hay sectores donde hay más equipamiento de un tipo que de otro, el que se encuentra en menor cantidad son las áreas verdes seguidos de los de culto. En mayor cantidad encontramos residenciales.

Viabilidad
El sector de Urdesa Cuenta con tres vías principales, la Av. Las monjas, la Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada y la Av. Las Aguas, entre estas hay conexiones mediante las vías secundarias y terciarias que generan diferentes recorridos en el interior de este sector. Dentro de las vías principales se encuentran diferentes paradas de buses para facilitar el desplazamiento para los peatones.

Espacio público
El espacio público de esta zona es diferente en sus respectivo sectores, por ejemplo las veredas del sector cercano a la av. Víctor Emilio son amplios pero en las calles secundarias su tamaño en mucho menor. De ahí tiene diferentes parques como el Parque Jerusalén o el parque Urbanor 1. Además, también encontramos callejones que dividen las manzanas y permite la circulación peatonal en la zona.

Tipos de edificaciones predominantes
Urdesa cuenta con tres zonas reconocibles, Urdesa Central, Lomas de Urdesa y Urdesa norte. Urdesa Central se ha convertido en una zona de uso mixto, residencial y comercial, ubicando la mayoría de locales comerciales y restaurantes en las cuadras cercanas a las vías principales y viviendas en su mayoría de entre uno y dos plantas en las manzanas más lejanas. Lomas de Urdesa presenta un terreno en pendiente donde predominan los condominios de viviendas y urbanizaciones cerradas. Por último Urdesa Norte es una zona residencial mayoritariamente compuesta por viviendas de entre una y dos plantas.

Estructura urbana

Caracterización de la morfología urbana
En este sector de la ciudad se encuentra un mezcla de tramados, primero en el área conocida como Urdesa central hay un tramado en forma circular que tiene como eje central la iglesia de la Rotonda, pero a su vez del lado del estero frente a lo que es la Kennedy hay un tramado rectangular con manzanas rectangulares. En el sector Oeste de Urdesa central las manzanas tienen una forma un poco más orgánica debido a que continúan siguiendo la curvatura de la parte central.

Después en la parte del sector de Lomas de Urdesa por su topografía se genera una retícula con calles que llegan a ninguno lugar, manzanas de diferentes tamaños y formas más abstractas obviamente porque se tuvo que ajustar a los diferentes niveles de topografía. En relación con Urdenor la retícula que sigue no es ortogonal y es debido a que en el centro hay una sección con topografía irregular, por ello es que las manzanas y calles se fueron generando alrededor de este punto haciendo que haya calles rectas, inclinadas o con ligeras curvas.

Análisis de accesibilidad
Accesibilidad al espacio público

○ Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada.- Intercepta las diferentes calles y avenidas de Urdesa, y es una calle donde la mayor parte es de comercio y mixta, donde pasan varias líneas de buses.

○ Dr. Otto Arosemena Gómez.- Calle que delimita la mayor parte de Urdesa y es un espacio residencial.

Accesibilidad a equipamientos y servicios

Los equipamientos y servicios que se encuentran en Urdesa, tiene una circulación directa en las vías principales de Urdesa, tomando en cuenta la educación y el comercio en todo Urdesa, donde se toma como referencia las diferentes calle y avenidas principales que conectan a los diferentes puntos comerciales y de educación que se encuentran en la zona.

Análisis de caminabilidad
Flujos peatonales

○ Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada.- A pesar de tener esta calle un flujo vehicular constante, posee variedad de comercios tanto mixtos como informales, farmacias, almacenes de ropa, panadería, electrodomésticos, entre otros. Gracias a estos negocios esta calle a lo largo del día es activa y por ende presenta flujos peatonales.

○ Dr. Otto Arosemena Gómez.- Esta calle se encuentra dentro del área de estudio donde se logra apreciar que es una vía principal en la cual la mayoría son residencias, y esto hace que sea una variable muy importante para el flujo peatonal.

○ Av. Luis Plaza Dañin.- Se encuentra dentro del área de estudio donde se logra apreciar que es una vía importante en la cual se encuentra varios locales comerciales lo cual genera que haya un flujo peatonal constante y que sea una zona activa, también es una calle residencial lo cual genera que haya lujo peatonal también en la noche.

○ Dr. Enrique Ortega Moreira.- Es una calle con un flujo peatonal lento o bajo ya que esta calle es en su mayoría residencial y por la topografía irregular hace que la mayoría de las personas anden más en vehículos.

Análisis de la jerarquía vial
Transporte público, privado y flujos de tráfico

En el barrio Urdesa, tenemos varias calles que pasan las líneas de buses para llegar a Víctor Emilio Estrada son: RUTA 10, RUTA 108, RUTA 112, RUTA 52, RUTA 54, RUTA 66. En el barrio Urdesa, tenemos la calle principal Otto Arosemena Gómez en la cual pasan varias líneas de buses: RUTA107, RUTA 27, RUTA 98, RUTA C1A.

Análisis de riesgos y vulnerabilidades
Urdesa es un sector residencial como comercial. Y como en muchas otras partes de Guayaquil, esta no es ajena a la delincuencia. En sus inicios la concepción del barrio era tener todo puertas abiertas, donde los cerramientos eran sobrevalorados y no había la necesidad de tener un control de seguridad ya que no existía. Sin embargo, con la evolución del sector, la delincuencia fue apareciendo poco a poco efectuándose en forma de robos y asaltos a las personas que viven o circulan en la zona.

Según el diario el Expreso, afirma que "cada mes le roban a al menos 21 personas en Urdesa": una cifra preocupante ya que la constancia de inseguridad implica a poner en riesgo la calidad del sector. Entre los casos que más se pueden evidenciar son robos o asaltos a personas y vehículos. En el registro del 2020 (durante pandemia) entre los meses de enero a julio se registraron 151 delitos. No obstante, la policía nacional indica que solo se tratan de aquellos delitos denunciados por sus pobladores, lo que da cabida a entender que existen más casos.

Según los pobladores, ellos prefieren "no llamar o denunciar a las autoridades por la falta de eficiencia en el trabajo de ellos". Además, sus habitantes aparte de comprender la situación tan peligrosa que se vive, que no es únicamente el delito de hurto sino también el asesinato, ellos conocen las horas en las que se efectúan los robos. Según diario el Expreso, "las horas en las que más se reportan robos son de 18H00 a 19H00 y de 23H00 a 23h59". Estos datos dan mayor repunte en los días miércoles y viernes, días en los que se recomienda esencialmente no llevar pertenencias expuestas, propiedades lujosas, etc.

Análisis del proceso de ocupación del borde del estero

Impacto ambiental de actividades antrópicas
Urdesa se encuentra limitado por los brazos del estero en el sur y en el este, y con el cerro donde actualmente es Lomas de Urdesa. Su ubicación privilegiada dio cabida a actividades antrópicas desde la pesca, la exploración, deforestación, navegación por el estero y la caza. Esto causó un gran impacto en las últimas décadas reduciendo considerablemente su biodiversidad y transformándolo en un sitio de concreto y pavimento con dos pequeños cuerpos de agua.

Contaminación del agua
La contaminación proviene de las descargas de aguas residuales, de las zonas urbanas, tanto industriales, domésticas y comerciales. Las empresas encontradas a las orillas del de todo el Estero Salado, sumaban 929, de las cuales el 42 % eran industriales. El 63 % corresponde a las que elaboran productos alimenticios y bebidas que descargan más aguas residuales. Y dentro de estas podemos encontrar los distritos comerciales y residenciales del sector. Un 39% de los habitantes del sector reconocen que el Estero Salado es una potencial fuente de turismo y de purificador de ambiente. Sin embargo las principales causas de contaminación se debe a un 21% por falta de limpieza y a un 79% por botar basura.

Contaminación del aire
Urdesa al contar con zonas comerciales y residenciales, este proporcionado un al porcentaje a la contaminación del aire con un total de 6.8 toneladas de dióxido de carbono (CO2) al año. Podemos observar gran congestión vehicular en sus avenidas y calles principales, lo que además incrementa su contaminación por los gases emanados como también el ruido que emanan los carros. Las emisiones de CO2 en la urbe provienen un 39% del transporte vehicular, 25% de residuos, 16% de las zonas residenciales, 14% de empresas y un 6% de comercios e instituciones.

Pérdida de la biodiversidad del estero
Durante las últimas décadas, la serie de actividades antrópicas ha causado un desequilibrio en el ecosistema del sector. Se sabe que con anterioridad el estero contaba con especies de gran variedad de peces y cangrejos, como también la existencia de aves de varias especies. Sin embargo, a causa del proceso de ocupación y lotización del sector inició una degradación del medio natural de forma radical y negativa que tiene sus repercusiones en la actualidad. Se conoce que desde los inicios del sector, las personas que lo habitaron tendían a sobrevivir a partir de la pesca, la caza y cierta recolección de frutos con algunos de los árboles introducidos. Sin embargo su impacto fue mayor tras empezar a hacerlo con constancia y que además la deforestación generó un desequilibrio para las especies voladoras y terrestres. La contaminación del agua a partir de sustancias química ha tenido gran repercusión en la salud del agua del estero como también para el hábitat de sus especies. Se puede afirmar que existen mutaciones en estas volviéndolas peligrosas para el consumo humano lo que representa un riesgo extra no solamente para la naturaleza, sino para el mismo ser humano.

Historia
El nombre de Urdesa viene de la constructora Urbanizadora del Salado S.A., que fue la que construyó el barrio. Nació como un proyecto habitacional al norte de Guayaquil desarrollado por el ingeniero Julio Vinueza, el aviador Ernesto Estrada y el constructor Jacobo Ratinoff para la clase media y alta alrededor del año 1957. El terreno en que ahora se ubica era propiedad de la Junta de Beneficencia de Guayaquil y fue comprado por la constructora por un valor de 15 millones de sucres.

Se comenzó a poblar con grandes casas como un espacio residencial para la alta sociedad, mostrando hermosos jardines, sin cerramientos; además atrajo la atención de muchos arquitectos por ofrecer rellenos, bordillos, calles pavimentadas, canalización de agua potable, aguas lluvias y aguas servidas e instalación eléctrica. El Colegio Alemán Humboldt Guayaquil abrió sus puertas en 1958 en este barrio, siendo la primera escuela de la zona. Se encontraba en la Víctor Emilio Estrada, donde hoy está un Supermercado de la cadena Mi Comisariato. Sin embargo, tan sólo diez años más tarde el ya entonces colegio se trasladó al nuevo barrio Los Ceibos.

Para el comienzo de los años noventa, muchas de estas grandes casas fueron cercadas por motivos de seguridad. Con el paso del tiempo, las nuevas edificaciones ya no fueron casas grandes, eran casas más pequeñas, dejando de ser un barrio exclusivamente para la alta sociedad.

Urdesa Norte es la zona menos antigua y surge como proyecto con viviendas de menor costo que en el resto de Urdesa. Fue rápidamente poblado en torno a los años ochenta, y para el comienzo de los noventa se prolongó la Av. Rodrigo Chávez (calle 6.ª) hasta Urdenor en la intersección con la Av. Juan Tanca Marengo. Sus calles son más estrechas y los terrenos más pequeños.

Poco a poco la ciudadela fue creciendo, y hoy en día es uno de los barrios con más movimiento y tráfico de la ciudad a pesar de estar considerado como residencial. En los últimos años se ha incrementado la aglomeración de vehículos en las horas pico y comercios han hecho que ciertos moradores busquen otro sector para vivir.

El Barrio

Es considerado como un barrio del norte de la ciudad, y aunque en un principio así lo era, en la actualidad viene a ser el centro geográfico debido al desmesurado crecimiento horizontal de la ciudad en los últimos años; el que es considerado centro de la ciudad vendría a estar ubicada al Este al tener la ciudad límite con el Río Guayas, pero mantiene su denominación por aspectos históricos.

Es por tanto que Urdesa ha tenido que ser utilizado como ruta para llegar a diversos destinos, ocasionando la congestión del tráfico. La distribución "circular" de Urdesa Central (desde un mapa se aprecia un semicírculo), hace que los conductores prefieran recorrer el cerro de Lomas de Urdesa, o las calles 5.ª (Carlos Cueva T. e Isabel Herrería H.) y Guayacanes, que vendrían a ser la ruta más corta entre el puente del Policentro y el otro extremo: Miraflores/Mapasingue.

La principal arteria del barrio es la avenida Víctor Emilio Estrada denominada por el cabildo porteño como el principal corredor comercial de la zona, que a lo largo de "la Víctor" (conocida así por sus moradores y visitantes), cuenta con numerosos restaurantes, agencias bancarias, locales de comercio, servicios, bares, discotecas, licorerías y demás. Los primeros residentes de Urdesa llaman aun a la Víctor Emilio Estrada "La Principal".

Una característica de este sector es que se decidió nombrar a ciertas calles siguiendo el orden alfabético pero con nombres de árboles. Así, a partir de la calle Circunvalación (Norte y Sur) que rodea a Urdesa Central bordeando el Estero Salado, se pueden encontrar las siguientes calles: Acacias, Bálsamos, Cedros, Dátiles, Ébanos, Ficus, Guayacanes, Higueras, Ilanes, Jiguas, Laureles y Mirtos.

Actualmente Urdesa es una zona que ha recuperado su esplendor con la adecuación de los parterres y calles adoquinadas como parte del proyecto del Municipio de Guayaquil de Regeneración Urbana, iniciado en 2004. Por más de 40 años esta zona se supo mantenerse como residencial y solo en las avenidas principales se dio paso al comercio.

Actualmente existen ordenanzas municipales que prohíben letreros o vallas publicitarias en calles no permitidas, destinándose su uso exclusivamente residencial, así como la circulación de vehículos pesados por cualquiera de sus sectores.

En el año 1997 se expidió una ordenanza municipal durante la alcaldía de León Febres-Cordero que obligó a una cantidad considerable de vecinos del barrio a modificar las fachadas de sus casas, específicamente a las cercas y rejas, que gran parte de ellas estaban por fuera del perímetro del terreno, usando, por consiguiente, espacio público de la vereda (acera). Ocasionó al comienzo molestias, pues los gastos de albañilería para mover unos centímetros (incluso hasta metros) la cerca es tarea complicada e implicaba gastos. El plazo para hacer las reformas sería hasta el 8 de septiembre del mismo año, de lo contrario el Municipio se encargaría de demoler cualquier construcción dentro de los 5 metros que debe de haber entre la calle y el comienzo de la casa, cercamiento o reja.

Finalmente, a la actualidad, las fachadas exteriores de las casas permanecen uniformes y las quejas han quedado olvidadas, aunque se observan vestigios de cercas no reformadas correctamente y el desnivel en el suelo al cambiar de parcela, por lo que se recomienda caminar con cuidado en calles como Circunvalación Norte y Sur.

Calles y sectores

El barrio se divide en tres sectores: Urdesa Central, Lomas de Urdesa y Urdesa Norte. Urdesa Central tiene como límites Urdesa Norte, Kennedy, sector de la avenida Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola, Miraflores y Mapasingue Este. Urdesa Norte con Urbanor, Urdenor, Urdesa Central y Lomas de Urdesa así como con Kennedy Norte frente al Estero Salado.

El Bosque Protector Sendero de Palo Santo sirve como pulmón del barrio.

Las Lomas de Urdesa se han podido liberar de la profusión de comercios, justamente por la ubicación de la mayoría de sus viviendas en condominios situados en las laderas del cerro en las que se asienta este sector del barrio.

En Urdesa Central, se encuentran los principales corredores comerciales del barrio que son: la avenida Víctor Emilio Estrada y la avenida presidente Juan de Dios Martínez Mera (antiguamente conocida como avenida Las Monjas).

También están las calles Circunvalación Norte y Sur (Otto Arosemena Gómez y Jorge Pérez Concha, respectivamente), Olmos en el sector de Las Lomas,
Guayacanes, avenida del Rotarismo (anteriormente avenida Las Lomas), Ilanes, Costanera y Las Aguas (estas dos últimas terminan en Mapasingue Este); que son varias de las principales arterias de la ciudad.

Las principales arterias viales de acceso a Urdesa son: avenida Juan Tanca Marengo, avenida Carlos Luis Plaza Dañín, avenida Segunda (Miraflores), avenida Juan de Dios Martínez Mera (Las Monjas), avenida John F. Kennedy, avenida Raúl Gómez-Lince (Las Aguas) y calle Ilanes (puente Albán Borja).

Servicios

Cuenta con todos los servicios básicos: agua, electricidad, alcantarillado y teléfono; además de infraestructura para servicios de televisión pagada, internet, gas por tubería, entre otros. Las series telefónicas del servicio ofrecido por la Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) son: 238xxxx, 288xxxx y del 2610000 al 2614999 (código de área Guayas +593-4 o 04). La central se encuentra en la calle primera y avenida Las Monjas (Pdte. Juan de Dios Martínez Mera). Otras operadoras de telefonía fija no se rigen en colocar series por zona al no trabajar con centrales telefónicas zonificadas, por tener otras tecnologías (Setel, Claro).

Tanto Urdesa Central como Urdesa Norte fueron edificadas sobre cascajo y relleno sanitario, pues originalmente el terreno era fangoso y poblado de manglares que rodeaban las ramificaciones del Estero Salado. Esto ha ocasionado que a lo largo del tiempo se presenten problemas por inundaciones que se dan, inclusive sin lluvias, cuando el estero crece en exceso por mareas altas, provocando su desbordamiento. Obras del municipio en el año 1998 debajo del puente que une las Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada y Av. John F. Kennedy, redujeron efectos de los aguajes. La obra consistió en aumentar el diámetro y cantidad de tuberías bajo dicho puente que actuaba anteriormente como embudo al bajar la marea.

En el barrio hay varios centros comerciales pequeños entre los que destacan: el más antiguo, C.C. Urdesa (con una cadena de supermercados), C.C. Plaza Triángulo, C.C. La Quinta, entre otros más pequeños. Los tres mencionados están separados por no más de 100 metros entre sí, en la Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada.

En el extremo sur de la Av. Las Monjas, se halla el C.C. Aventura Plaza, que no pertenece al perímetro de Urdesa por estar justo al cruzar el puente, pero igualmente se atribuye su inclusión dentro de la ciudadela por estar justo a lado de su fin. En este centro comercial se encuentran bares, restaurantes, tiendas y otros comercios. Al igual que el C.C. Aventura Plaza no se encuentra dentro del perímetro de Urdesa marcado por el estero Salado, el C.C. Albán Borja, que conectado mediante un puente que se prolonga desde la calle Ilanes, hacen de su recinto parte de Urdesa, en donde se ubican también la Universidad Casa Grande, Condominio La Tienda, Edificio Movistar Guayaquil e Hipermarket.

En la intersección de las calles Todos los Santos, Av. Víctor Emilio Estrada y Av. del Rotarismo (Av. Las Lomas) está situada la Iglesia de la parroquia San Antonio María Claret, comúnmente conocida como La Iglesia Redonda. En la administración de la parroquia, está la sede de la fundación "Es Justo y Necesario", que acoge a niños de escasos recursos. Existen también otros templos pertenecientes a otras religiones o sectas.

Existe La Agrupación Cívica y Cultural de Urdesa (ACCUR), que es una fundación que organiza diversos eventos culturales, además de abogar por los intereses de los moradores de Urdesa. Su sede está en la calle primera #899 entre Higueras e Ilanes.

Entretenimiento

En Urdesa existen varios locales de entretenimiento, restaurantes reconocidos a nivel local como Blu, Anderson, La Riviera, Villa Delizia, Asia de Cuba, Sake, Matsuri, Isao, El Patacón, El Aguacate, La Tasca de las Monjas, La Tasca Vasca, Red Crab, La Parrilla del Ñato, Mochica, Piazza Gourmet, Crépes de Nico, entre otros. También hay restaurantes de comida rápida con una masiva clientela como: El Capi, Burger King, Sánduches El Bigote, La Gauchita, Las Empanadas, Los Meros Tacos, Naturissimo, Juan Valdez, Sweet & Coffee, Pan Empresarial, Cream Factory, Sorbetto, Fragola, El Gordo y el Negro, Frutabar y los cuantiosos locales de comida árabe como: Al Malek, Javivi, El Arabito, Jerusalén, Al Amir, Beirut y otros, que hacen de Urdesa un verdadero centro gastronómico.

Se hallan varios locales de entretenimiento como discotecas y lounges como Privé, Recoleta, Chappus, y varios de los locales del C.C. Aventura Plaza. Supermercados, sucursales bancarias, oficinas, sedes consulares, peluquerías, SPA, lavanderías, locutorios, llanteras, tiendas de ropa, gimnasios, inmobiliarias y una gran variedad de comercios que hacen de Urdesa uno de los barrios más completos, diversos y desarrollados de la ciudad de Guayaquil.

Su situación geográfica es privilegiada, ya que se encuentra nada menos que en pleno centro geográfico de Guayaquil, siendo al momento de su construcción un extremo de ésta, pero debido al constante crecimiento horizontal de la ciudad, queda actualmente en una de las zonas más céntricas al igual que la ciudadela Kennedy, Miraflores, Ferroviaria, entre otros barrios. A pesar de ser una ventaja la ubicación cercana a la mayoría de barrios en cualquier dirección, ésta ubicación genera graves problemas de tránsito vehicular durante las horas pico laborables, sobre todo en sus ejes principales: Víctor Emilio Estrada, Las Monjas, Guayacanes, quinta, sexta, Las Aguas, Circunvalación e Ilanes, que junto con los semáforos pésimamente programados, hacen del tráfico colas largas para salir y entrar del barrio.

Véase también
 Ciudad de Guayaquil
 Barrios de Guayaquil
 Sectores de Guayaquil
 Provincia del Guayas

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Guayaquil en el siglo XX
Barrios de Guayaquil
Ciudadelas


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ISAS Global Speaker Series – THURSDAY 3rd December
Join Industry Specialists for an intimate evening as they share their experiences and tips about working abroad.
Esteemed Speakers include:
Prof Jeff Kroeker
Dr. William R.Holmes
Mr. Andy Edelmeier
Time: 5-6:30pm
Venue: C.K Choi Building, Conference Room
1855 West Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z2
http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index_detail.php?show=y,n,n,n,n,y&bldg2Search=n&locat1=478
Attire: Business Casual
Only 50 spots available
RSVP with your name, year, option to isas.events@gmail.com to secure your spot. Entrance to event will be $2 and collected at door.
A few Bios are included below:
Andy Edelmeier
Andy is President of Braemar West Capital, a private investment and consulting firm based in Vancouver. He is a former investment banker in London and New York. From 2003 to 2006 he was a Partner at Strata Partners, a London-based corporate finance boutique where he advised on private and public equity financings. Prior thereto online pokies he was head of the European Technology Private Equity Group at Credit Suisse First Boston where he com/6rCoeAaxMKI can't believe it took justin bieber tour this long to be sent to Azkaban. raised institutional and private equity capital. Between 1992 and 2000 he was a Vice President at JP Morgan Chase (Chase Manhattan) where he worked in the Acquisition Finance and Private Equity groups. Earlier in his career Andy was a Senior Consultant with Deloitte & Touche Management Consultants in Vancouver . He has an MBA from London Business School and a BBA from Simon Fraser University.
Dr. William R. Holmes
Dr. William Holmes is the Executive Director of the Undergraduate Program in the Not surprisingly, private health insurers cheered on the Republicans while doing whatever they could to block Democrats from creating a public affordable-health.info system. Faculty of Business Administration and Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Previously, he spent five years in Dubai as the Dean of Business for a network of colleges in the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Holmes" career has spanned the corporate and educational sector and has included assignments in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. After a career in Corporate Services with a major Canadian financial institution, he embarked on an academic career, earning a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Southern Queensland, a MBA from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Philosophy (Ethics) from the University of Waterloo. He holds the Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) designation and is a candidate for the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. His research interests include ethics in business, corporate environmental policy and sustainability in business.


Uses of CRO is probably the most versatile tool for the development of electronic circuits and systems.
The Uses of CRO allows the amplitude of electrical signals, whether they are voltage, current, or power, to be displayed as a function of time.
The CRO depends on the movement of an electron beam, which is bombarded (impinged) on a screen coated with a fluorescent material, to produce a visible spot. If the electron beam is deflected on both the conventional axes, i.e. X-axis and Y-axis, a two-dimensional display is produced.
The beam is deflected at a constant rate relative of time along the X-axis and is deflected along the Y-axis in response to an stimulus, such as a voltage. This produces a time-dependent variation of the input voltage.
The oscilloscope is basically an electron beam voltmeter. The heart of the oscilloscope is the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) which makes the applied signal visible by the deflection of a thin beam of electrons. Since the electron has practically no weight, and hence no inertia, therefore the beam of electrons can be moved to follow waveforms varying at a rate of millions of times/second. Thus, the electron beam faithfully follows rapid variations in signal voltage and traces a visible path on the CRT screen. In this way, rapid variations, pulsations or transients are reproduced and the operator can observe the waveform as well as measure amplitude at any instant of time.
Since it is completely electronic in nature, the oscilloscope can reproduce HF waves which are too fast for electro mechanical devices to follow. Thus, the oscilloscope has simplified many tests and measurements. It can also be used in any field where a parameter can be converted into a proportional voltage for observation, e.g. meteorology, biology, and medicine.
Uses of CRO is thus a kind of voltmeter which uses beam instead of a pointer, and kind of recorder which uses an electron beam instead of a pen.


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Keenlinks
My First-Ever Friendsgiving
Joker: Review
Jeff Smith's Bone Book 5 Rock Jaw Master of the Eastern Border Finally Gives Our Starring Protagonist a Role of His Own
Jeff Smith's Bone Book 4 The Dragonslayer Dedicates too Much Time to Subplots and Fails to Significantly Enhance the Main Story
Jeff Smith's Bone Book 3 Eyes of the Storm Kicks Smith's Epic Story into High Gear, Stumbling Only Slightly Along the Way
Jeff Smith's Bone Book 2 The Great Cow Race Stands Wonderfully on its Own but Adds Little to the Overall Narrative
Jeff Smith's Bone Book 1 Out from Boneville is a Great Start to an Epic Fantasy in Comic Form
Hunted vs Spider-Island How Nick Spencer's First Major Amazing Spider-Man Storyline Compares to Dan Slott's
The Issues of Today: Venom: Separation Anxiety
—by Nathan on August 14, 2019—
Allow me to provide some context for today's storyline before we begin analyzing the main narrative: between "Nights of Vengeance" and our upcoming series, Venom starred in a four-issue storyline that took place over in the "Web of Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man" titles. Called "The Exile Returns" and written shortly after the infamous "Clone Saga" began, the story was Venom's first altercation with Ben Reilly's Scarlet Spider, with the Peter Parker-cloned hero doing what his spidery predecessor was unable to do up until then: defeat Venom. As in, render him immobile enough for the authorities to apprehend him.
"Separation Anxiety" will continue almost directly from where "The Exile Returns" ended with a captured Venom transported to a secret lab tucked away in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, far from his newfound home of San Francisco.
Venom: Separation Anxiety
Writer: Howard Mackie
Penciler: Ron Randall
Issues: 1-4
Eddie Brock and the symbiote have been separated, pulled apart from one another, their bond severed. For a character who, in so many series up to this point, revels in being the conjoined monster made of man and alien, this is already a fantastic example of progress. For so long, we've been witnessing little in the way of "character development" where Venom is concerned. He's violent, he wants to eat brains, he beats up muggers and protects "innocents." The writers have blessed him with these characteristics and let him run as wild as he can while remaining contained to those parameters. Areas of potential development have been largely left undisturbed. You think, just once, Eddie would have learned a lesson, found some reason to change or grow after all he's been through. But no.
Yet here, the dynamic shifts. As much as I tend to rag on Howard Mackie as a writer (oh, the fun I will have when I review "The Clone Saga" and his later Amazing Spider-Man work), I applaud his writing here. He has Eddie and the symbiote brought to two separate locations. While the symbiote undergoes testing at the hands of eager scientists, Eddie remains a prisoner. Both entities, in their own way, mourn the separation. The concept is a radical and welcoming departure from the previous tales we've encountered.
Mackie then entertains a captivating idea by having Eddie Brock, slowly, come to his senses. At the same time, the symbiote is shown despairing its separation from Eddie. I think Mackie realized that other writers took the "unification" of Eddie Brock and the symbiote for granted. The two are together, there can't be Venom without one half of the whole. As such, the idea of "Venom" is treated, in previous stories, as a single character. For a while, "Venom" felt like just an alter ego for Eddie Brock. He's Eddie with a mask, Eddie with a codename. What Mackie does is give the characters time to develop individually, not together. Eddie typically refers to his symbiote as his "other," like it's a part of him. Though this does give the Venom a certain "Jekyll and Hyde" feel to his character, allowing for themes of identity to play out, Mackie takes it one step further: what if Jekyll and Hyde were removed from each other? What is Jekyll without Hyde, and vice versa? How would each react?
Eddie slowly realizes he's become a murderer. He doesn't necessarily feel overwhelmingly guilty about it, at least not yet, but perhaps removed from the symbiote's "influence," he begins to see the depths of his actions. Meanwhile, the symbiote rails at the thought of being away from Eddie. While Eddie sees a bit more clearly without the symbiote tied to him, the alien cannot think of anything but reunion. Mackie, thus, creates an engaging dichotomy between the two. We have an Eddie Brock able to assert himself as character, torn away as he is from his constant obsession with "protecting innocents," and we have a symbiote that may appear more malevolent that previously believed. Okay, yeah, it's an alien parasite that once almost bonded permanently to Spider-Man, I know it's not inherently a "good guy." But Mackie seems to indicate the symbiote is more than a mindless parasite that instinctively grafts itself to a host. It has a brain, it thinks, it has emotions. In this instance, our "Mr. Hyde" isn't just another persona of "Dr. Jekyll." This Mr. Hyde is his own monster.
The rest of the story suffers somewhat from the typical silliness one commonly finds within the pages of a comic. For example, Daily Bugle reporter Ken Ellis, who spent "The Exile Returns" trying to get a scoop on the Scarlet Spider, manages to not only locate this hidden facility in the mountains but also disguises himself as a scientist and successfully sneaks in. A tiny fraction of my mind wants to appreciate that Mackie took threads introduced in "The Exile Returns" and continued them here, working to create a level of continuity not yet seen between Venom-related stories. But Ellis' inclusion dips towards the far-fetched end of plot points, and considering he doesn't do a whole lot to impact this series, the character's importance is minimized and his usefulness wasted.
The story does have a main thrust that works—centering on the symbiote's attempts to reunite with Eddie after he's kidnapped by the five symbiotes created by the Life Foundation in "Lethal Protector." The symbiote's half of the story gives us several interesting sequences that sees the alien lifeform make its way closer to Eddie. At one point, Mackie has the symbiote "commandeer" another human in a fascinating "sci-fi horror" moment that genuinely fleshes out the symbiote's abilities and intentions in its pursuit. "Not Eddie" it thinks, almost as if it's irritated at the thought of bonding with anything but Brock. Again, Mackie does a nice job at turning the symbiote into an actual character, something other writers just flat-out neglect to do.
On Eddie's side of things, the five faceless alien-wearing goons from "Lethal Protector" are named (e.g. "Donna" is "Scream") and allowed some backstory that grants them additional heft as characters. Mackie also gives them a mission and even adds a subplot when some of the five symbiotes and their hosts start dying. A murderer is afoot. I won't reveal who the killer is here, but I should mention that the conclusion to this particular subplot becomes obvious from almost the start, leading to an underwhelming solution to what might have been an interesting mystery.
(It also made me think of the "Deleter" subplot from "Metroid: Other M," so thanks for that flashback, Mackie. shivers)
I don't want to go over too much of the story, as there is the aforementioned murder mystery, but I want to conclude with revealing that, as expected, Eddie and the symbiote are reunited by story's end. However, Eddie says, things are going to be different between them. "I need to know how much of what I've done in the past was because of you…and how much of it was me," Eddie tells the symbiote in the concluding panels. Again, it's fantastic development from Mackie. Eddie realizes this "symbiosis" hasn't been a real partnership between him and the alien. He needs time to wrestle, time to think.
With "Separation Anxiety," Mackie takes hold of a character who started to become stale for me and refreshed him in my mind. Despite some extraneous elements, such as the murder mystery, which could have been made heftier or removed completely, and despite some lingering questions I would have loved answered—who is this faceless organization that shipped Venom to the mountains and why? How the heck did Ken Ellis reach their base? Why doesn't Eddie even consider returning to San Francisco?—"Separation Anxiety" marks a shift in the right direction. We're going from "mediocre Venom" to "surprisingly entertaining Venom." Whether future creators maintain the momentum Mackie's instigated here remains to be seen, but should it continue accelerating, I think future Venom stories will be more rewarding than their earlier counterparts.
Comic One-Liners:
Ron Randall gives our first issue a glorious two-page splash panel where Eddie is led into the base he's held captive in. The ship he's on is surrounded by guys with guns in jetpacks or other motorized vehicles. It's completely over-the-top and a surprisingly amusing image, seeing all these dudes with all this firepower guarding one guy.
A female scientist asks "Doctor Ellis" if she can see his identification, and that moment is fantastic. It reminded me of all those movies where people sneak in to heavily guarded places with crappy costumes and identities, and somehow, the bad guys are dumb enough to not notice. Well, not this lady. Someone give her a raise!
When the facility is under attack from the symbiotes, Ellis dives for cover. "Eat your heart out, Urich!" he thinks. Wonderful little detail to Spidey continuity. Mackie didn't need Ellis to say anything, but he instead opted to make a reference. Just one of many little strands you can use to tighten the bonds between the many worlds of the Marvel Universe.
—Tags: Comics, Issues of Today
© 2020 Keenlinks


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Q: Access denied while opening PDF on SMB share I can't open a PDF file on a SMB share. (Acrobat Reader tells me: "Access denied").
This problem only concerns to one file in a folder. The other files are accessible w/o troubles.
I don't understand why I can copy this file on my local PC and open it w/o troubles.


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The History of Ulster
The Scottish Scare
Introduction of the Linen Industry into Ulster - The Scottish Covenanters - Sympathy with them in Ulster - The Earl of Antrim's Proposals - Fears of a Scottish Invasion - The "Black Oath" - The Lord Deputy depletes Derry - A New Parliament votes Generous Supplies - Declarations of Loyalty - Wentworth rewarded with the Earldom of Strafford - He raises an Irish Army - His Good Opinion of the Irish People.
Many of the acts of Wentworth, our attention being devoted to Ulster, do not concern us. His methods of government, being applied to the whole country, have been dwelt upon on account of their affecting Ulster as well as the other provinces, and as showing the general trend of events.
In one particular Wentworth's actions greatly influenced the well-being of the northern province: he introduced "the making and trade of linen cloth", "the rather", he wrote, "in regard the women are all naturally bred to spinning, that the Irish earth is apt for bearing of flax, and that this manufacture would be in the conclusion rather a benefit than other to this kingdom. I have, therefore," he adds, "sent for the flax seed into Holland, being of a better sort than we have any, sown this year a thousand pounds' worth of it (finding by some I sowed last year that it takes there very well); I have sent for workmen out of the Low Countries and forth of France, and set up already six or seven looms, which if it please God to bless us this year, I trust so to invite them to follow it, when they see the great profit arising thereby, as that they shall generally take to it, and employ themselves that way, which if they do, I am confident it will prove a mighty business, considering that in all probability we shall be able to undersell the linen cloths of Holland and France at least twenty in the hundred." Thus Ulster owes to the government of Wentworth the establishment of one of her most important manufactures, the Deputy himself contributing £30,000 out of his private fortune towards the experiment.
Such were the arts of Peace in Ulster, the arts of War were soon to be displayed. It will be remembered that Chichester, in a desperate attempt to clear the country of idle swordsmen and youths who would not work, shipped them away to Sweden, and that later, in James's time, recruiting in Ireland by rulers on the Continent was permitted. The evil results of this laxity were now evident. The descendants of the old native Irish chiefs, now men of broken fortunes and ready to follow any desperate courses that held out hopes of recovering them, conspired together, and communicated with their kinsmen serving in the armies of Sweden, Spain, and elsewhere.
Wentworth, from the day he was appointed Lord Deputy, had looked with alarm at the policy of the preceding reign, and he more than once expressed his belief that the men who thus in foreign warfare became experienced soldiers would one day return to be dangerous enemies at home. Intelligence reached him of some Irish "that nest them- selves in Flanders", who "hold intelligence and correspondence with their countrymen in Ulster, and continually practise and plot their return by arms".
The troubles in Scotland at this time (1638), caused by attempts to enforce uniformity in religious doctrines, produced much agitation in Ulster, which contained a large proportion of Scots. It was commonly reported in England that the Scots in Ulster amounted to 40,000, and that they were in close communication with their brethren in Scotland, and were prepared to support them in their resistance to Charles's plan of forcing English church government on his northern subjects.
The extent of this agitation may be gathered from a letter written to Wentworth on the i8th of October, 1638, by Henry Leslie, Bishop of Down, in which the writer says: "Since His Majesty hath been pleased to condescend so far unto them in Scotland by his last proclamation, against which, notwithstanding, they have protested, there is such insulting amongst them here, that they make me weary of my life. . My officers have been lately beaten in open court. . . . They do threaten me for my life; but, by the grace of God, all their brags shall never make me faint in doing service to God and the King."
The Lord Deputy could not fail to be alarmed at the agitation in Ulster, and his uneasiness was now increased by an appeal for arms from a hot-headed, irresponsible nobleman. In the last rebellion in the north the Scottish-Hibernian clan of the MacDonnells, or MacDonalds, had rendered considerable service to the Crown, and, as we have seen, their chief, Randal MacSorley MacDonald, in recognition of these services, had been granted large tracts of forfeited lands in Ulster, had been created Viscount Dunluce by James, and, later, was raised by Charles to the Earldom of Antrim. The son of this chief, also a Randal, was on his father's side a descendant of the famous Sorley Boy, and he was a grandson of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, his mother having been a daughter of that great Irish chieftain.
Antrim, though educated in England and married to the widow of Buckingham, had been "bred in the Highland way, and wore neither hat, cap, shoes, nor stockings till seven or eight years old", and a Highlander he remained to the end. On the Scots assuming an attitude hostile to the Crown, Antrim declared that the Earl of Argyll threatened to attack his estates, and he begged both Charles and Wentworth to supply him with arms, "to be kept in a store-house in Coleraine, because it would be too far for me and my tenants to send to Knockfergus if there were any sudden invasion".
As Antrim was a favourite of the Queen, Charles acquiesced, and requested Wentworth to favour the Earl, who was a Roman Catholic, "as much as any one of his profession in religion". When Antrim repaired to Dublin Castle and saw the Lord Deputy in pursuance of his request, "I desired to know", said Wentworth, "what provision of victual his lordship had thought of, which for so great a number of men "(Antrim had asked for 20,000)" would require a great sum of money. His lordship said he had not made any at all, in regard he conceived they should find sufficient in the enemy's country to sustain them, only his lordship proposed to transport over with him ten thousand live cows to furnish them with milk, which he affirmed had been his grandfather's play." The absurdity of Antrim's proposal may be gauged from the fact that he stated that, when all other resources failed, his men could "feed their horses with leaves of trees, and themselves with shamrocks". His proposal therefore came to naught.
The fear of a Scottish invasion of Ulster was universal. The Scottish Covenanters held Wentworth to be their most formidable enemy, and the Lord Deputy was well aware of the fact. As a safeguard the Viceroy proposed that the Scot- tish Covenant should be met by a new and very stringent oath, whereby the Scots of Ulster should be bound not only to obey the King implicitly, but to renounce all other covenants. To this proposal, notwithstanding the fact that such an oath, having no Parliamentary sanction, was illegal, Charles gladly assented. The oath, which is still known in Ulster as the Black Oath, was enforced by royal prerogative only, and it registers the low-water mark of liberty of thought under the English constitution.
The manner in which the Black Oath was exacted was very reprehensible. Some took the oath under compulsion; others, forsaking their farms and cattle, hid themselves in the forests to avoid taking it; while a large number fled to Scotland. The Roman Catholics had many grievances, but they were not required to take the Black Oath, and thus escaped an ordeal to which all their Scottish neighbours in Ireland were subjected. "We are content'*, said one, "with our advantage that my Lord Deputy permits to go out under his patronage that desperate doctrine of absolute submission to princes; that notwithstanding all our laws, yet our whole estate may no more oppose the prince's deed, if he should play all the pranks of Nero, than the poorest slave at Constantinople may resist the tyranny of the Great Turk."
The Earl of Argyll now sent agents to incite the Scots of Ulster to rise in the cause of the Covenant; but the ships on which they embarked were taken, and a plot to betray the castle of Carrickfergus into the hands of the Scots was discovered in time, and the principal agent in the plot executed.
But whatever else the Lord Deputy might have in hand, he was always on the look-out for money wherewith to replenish the Exchequer. Casting about for some new source from which to add to the revenue, which he had already increased by his skilful methods to an annual sum of ;8o,ooo, Wentworth bethought him of the Ulster Plantations; and having his attention drawn especially to Londonderry by the complaints of Sir Thomas Phillips of Limavady, he found that the great Corporation had not fulfilled the law's requirements, and he therefore commenced Star Chamber proceedings against the Corporation of London. The matter occupied the attention of the Court for three years, when, after an offer from the Londoners of £30,000 to close the case, which was refused, the matter ended by the charter being declared forfeited and a fine of £70,000 being imposed.
"The Londoners", wrote Howell, that charming gossip, 4 'have not been so forward in collecting the ship-money, since they have been taught to sing heigh-down-derry, and many of them will not pay till after imprisonment, that it may stand upon record they were forced to it. The assessments have been wonderfully unequal and unproportionable, which is very ill taken, it being conceived they did it on purpose to raise clamour through the city."
Wentworth now suggested to the King that His Majesty should "be pleased to reserve" Londonderry "entire to yourself, it might prove a fit part of an appanage for our young master the Duke of York. It may be made a seigniory not altogether unworthy His Highness; and for so good a purpose I should labour night and day, and think all I could do, little." James Duke of York's experience of Derry proved to be of a different kind to that thus proposed.
Matters proceeded thus until in 1640 we find another Irish Parliament appealed to for subsidies, under the pressure of the Scottish rebellion, and a voluntary contribution, headed by ^20,000 from Wentworth himself, raised to meet the immediate wants of the King. Though not a warm nor generous patron, Charles could not fail to recognize so much devotedness on the part of Wentworth, and accordingly he was rewarded, on the i2th of January, 1640, with the titles of Baron Raby, of Raby Castle, in the County of Durham, and Earl of Strafford. He was shortly afterwards elected a Knight of the Garter, and was invested with the higher dignity of Lord - Lieutenant of Ireland, a title which had not been bestowed on any Governor of Ireland since Devonshire's time.
As on the previous occasion, the Irish Parliament was loyal and liberal in the extreme, and voted four entire subsidies, some of the members protesting, with characteristic warmth, that six or seven more ought to be given, and others declaring that their "hearts contained mines of subsidies for His Majesty".
The temper of this Parliament is somewhat puzzling, for we learn from the Report of the Privy Council that the members seemed "in a manner to contend one with another who should show most affection and forwardness to comply with His Majesty's occasions, and all of them expressing, even with passion, how much they abhor and detest the Scotch Covenanters, and how readily every man's hand ought to be laid to his sword, to assist the King in the reducing of them by force to the obedience and loyalty of subjects. ..."
The Lords exhibited the same spirit of loyalty as the Commons, and, on the motion of the Earl of Ormonde, they passed a resolution to congratulate the Lower House on the temper it had shown in this pressing emergency, and to signify the desire that both Houses should join in the declaration. They proposed to appoint a conference to arrive at some agreement for joint action by the two branches of the Irish legislature.
The Commons, however, became suddenly jealous of their privileges; it was their sole right to grant money, and they refused to comply with any form which might imply an acknowledgment that the Upper House had shared in the merit of the grant.
The Lords now determined not to be behindhand in professions of zeal and loyalty, and therefore published a separate declaration of their devotion to the royal cause, similar in substance to that issued by the House of Commons; and thus both Houses expressed like sentiments "published in print for a testimony to all the world and succeeding ages that as this kingdom hath the happiness to be governed by the best of kings", so therefore "they are desirous to give His Majesty just cause to account of this people amongst the best of his subjects".
Strafford could now congratulate himself on the success of his efforts to serve the Crown, especially as in the preamble of the Subsidy Bill he had been referred to as a "just, wise, vigilant, and profitable governor". He still had enemies, but he contented himself by saying: "God forgive their calumnies, and I do". He now proceeded to raise an Irish army of 8000 foot and 1000 horse, which were ordered to Ulster on pretence of garrisons being required for Carrickfergus, Londonderry, and Coleraine. The forces assembled at Carrickfergus, ready to be transported to England; and, having left everything in readiness and appointed his friend, Sir Christopher Wandesford, Lord Deputy, with instructions to collect the subsidies and continue the levies of soldiers, which were made without difficulty, the Lord -Lieutenant hastened over to England, still exulting in what he believed to be the temper of the whole people of Ireland.
"In few words," Strafford wrote on board ship to Secre- tary Windebank, " I have left that people as fully satisfied, and as well affected to His Majesty's person and service, as can possibly be wished for, notwithstanding the philosophy of some amongst you then in the Court, who must needs have it believed, true or false, that that people are infinitely distasted with the present Government, and hating of me, which error I can very easily remit unto them, considering, that thereby the truth will be more clearly understood unto all, and in conclusion the shame fall upon themselves."
Strafford's belief in Irish loyalty is further expressed by his adding: "And this I am able to assure His Majesty, that I find the people as forward to venture their persons, as they had been to open their purses, and enlarge their engagements towards the instant occasion, infinitely disdaining His Majesty should be so insolently proceeded with, and unworthily provoked by those covenanters: to which only I will add thus much (if truth may be spoken without offence to such as would have it thought to be otherwise), that not only the standing officers and soldiers of that army, but the Irishry themselves also, will go (to speak modestly) as willingly and gladly under my command, as of any other English subject whatsoever".
The truth of the closing statement was never tested, for the raising of forces in Ireland to join the Royalist troops in a vain attempt to subdue by force the hostility of the powerful Parliamentary party cost both minister and monarch their heads, and the forces raised by Strafford in Ireland never left the country. In raising these troops he was acting contrary to his oft-expressed opinion that the training of Irish- men as soldiers was a menace to the State. And such it proved to be.