text:
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Arab Risings and The Media
This video is produced by Al Jazeera which has its own agenda on the Arab Risings.
Hama Hammami of PCOT in Tunisia provides us with an analysis of Al Jazeera the voice of the Qatari elite.
"Qatar is playing a dangerous role under the umbrella of USA; it is a government that serves America's agenda, and also has direct relations with Israel. Qatar's intentions are not patriotic," Hammami said.
Hammami also asserted that Qatar is attempting to guide moderate Islamic parties, which are popular in Qatar, toward the political choices of the USA.
"Qatar is conditioning popular Islamic parties to serve American and Western interests, and they are managing to achieve that end through the messages that Ennahda is sending to America and Western society. Ennahda is basically assuring the west that the relationship between Tunisia and the West will not change. I do not have concrete proof but this is my political analysis.".
New Years Greetings from Democracy and Class Struggle
New years greetings from Democracy and Class Struggle to friends in the Occupy Movement in British Isles and worldwide.
Greetings to comrades in Britain and around the world - dare to struggle dare to win.
Friday, December 30, 2011
New Years Greetings from Communist Organisation of Greece (KOE)
Dear Comrades and Friends,
For the New Year 2012, we wish you health, and courage in the struggles!
We thank you for your solidarity - We shall overcome!
Querid@s Camaradas y Amig@s,
Por el Año Nuevo de 2012, le deseamos salud, y coraje en la lucha!
Gracias por su solidaridad - ¡Venceremos!
Cher(e)s camarades et ami(e)s,
Pour le Nouvel An 2012, nous vous souhaitons santé, et du courage dans les luttes!
Merci pour votre solidarité - Nous vaincrons!
Дорогие товарищи и друзья!
Для Нового года 2012, мы желаем вам здоровья и мужества в борьбе!
Мы благодарим вас за вашу солидарность - Мы победим!
Liebe Genossen und Freunde,
Für das neue Jahr 2012, wir wünschen Ihnen Gesundheit und Mut in die Kämpfe!
Wir danken Ihnen für Ihre Solidarität - Wir werden siegen!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sanity from George Galloway - No to War with Iran - Stop this madness !
This is not a current interview but the arguements from George Galloway against the "intelligent" pro war attack Iran supporter in Britain resonate in this current crisis.
Dire Straits - US Provoking War with Iran
Israeli Newspaper Haaretz says 2012: The year that could bring a U.S. strike of Iran
Two American warships have crossed through the Strait of Hormuz without incident despite Iranian threats to close the strategic oil route, the US Navy said Thursday.
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay "conducted a pre-planned, routine transit through the Strait of Hormuz" on Tuesday, said Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Lieutenant Rebecca Rebarich.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Competition on the Corner - Kim Il-Sung and Nation of Islam - by Mumia Abu Jamal
This was first published here by Enaemaehkiw Túpac Keshena
The following is an extract from Mumia's book We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party.
Competition on the Corner
The 3rd Avenue El in the Bronx was a major thoroughfare in the borough, and as such was a prime site for one trying to sell The Black Panther.
I had recently been assigned to the Bronx office and in an attempt to sell my 50 copies, I chose a stop on the line where the foot traffic would be quite heavy, as people descended from the elevated train ride. At roughly the same time, another young Black man elected to stop at the busy corner with the intention of selling his wares.
His wares were essentially the same as mine—newspapers. There, however, the similarity ended, for it was clear from his product that competition was inevitable.
The young man wore a dark-green iridescent suit and a brightly colored bow tie. His hair was cut close to his scalp in the "hustler" style, with a thin part cut in, his face shaved hairless. He carried with him a multi-colored plastic shopping bag that appeared to be filled with copies of Muhammad Speaks.
As I surveyed his wares, he was surveying mine. We looked at each other and understood that neither would relinquish the corner to the other.
And so, we began selling in earnest.
Shouts of "Help Us Free Huey!" mingled with "Salaam Aliekum, brother!" as we struggled to sell our product.
"Yo, brother! Find out what's happenin' that the white power structure ain't gonna tell ya! Check out The Black Panther—only a quarter!"
"Salaam Aliekum, Sister! Come on back to your own! Read Muhammad Speaks! Twenty-five cents!"
For nearly an hour the sales continued, fed and famished by the flow of passerby debarking from the trains hissing to a stop overhead. After a while, we got into a conversation:
"Brother, you got to get with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and stop following those devils like Marx and Lenin and 'em."
"Well, bro'—you should get with the Minister of Defense, Huey P. Newton, and the Black Panther Party."
"You should follow a Black man, brother, not some Jews like Marx and Lenin!"
"We revolutionaries, brother, and we study about revolutionaries from around the world. We don't care what race they is."
"I can see that, brother," glancing at a copy of The Black Panther, pointing to a cover picture of an Asian, full-haired man. "Who is that, brother?"
"That's Kim Il-Sung, the leader of North Korea, and a revolutionary."
"You see what I'm saying, brother? Here you go talking 'bout another guy! He ain't got nothin' to say to Black people, brother!"
"Well, if that's so, brother, why he in yo paper Muhammad Speaks?"
"What you talkin' bout, brother?" he asked, seemingly stunned by the question.
I read and studied his paper quite regularly, for its layout, news, and commentary, but I doubted if he ever read any of ours. This seemed only logical for someone assigned to the East Coast Ministry of Information office, and I remembered reading this week's issue of Muhammad Speaks.
"Check it out, brother, in yo international news section."
In disbelief, he turned the pages until, sure enough, an article appeared bearing a photo of Kim Il-Sung. He looked at it, and then turned to me, smiling.
"Yes sir, brother. Yessir. Um-humm."
"And what we learned from him was the idea of Juche, a Korean word that means self-reliance!"
Comrade Kiran denounces Prachanda in 12 page Central Committee Document
Democracy and Class Struggle is publishing this report from the Himalayan for information purposes. We hope someone translates the full 12 page document into English so we can see in detail all the 40 plus charges brought against Prachanda by Comrade Kiran.
This document and the activities of Comrade Kiran are also a demonstration of the nature and character of the opposition to Prachanda and Bhattarai and may help us to better understand whether the Kiran/Badal opposition is genuine or if has some comrades have recently said that Comrade Kiran is merely the red fraction of the bourgeoisie within the UCPN Maoist.
Prachanda says the Maoist Party is dying and Kiran says it is being born anew in the struggle against revisionism, opportunism and liquidationism.
2012 will be a make or break year for the Maoist Movement in Nepal, we wish Nepalese Maoist comrades success in their difficult struggle.
Dare to struggle dare to win.
Report by TIKA R PRADHAN
KATHMANDU: Unified CPN-Maoist Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya today presented a political document to counter Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal's aka Prachanda's paper on major issues of ideology and working style.
In his 12-page political document presented at party's ongoing Central Committee meeting at party headquarters in Paris Danda, Baidhya has claimed that there was no possibility of concluding the peace and constitution-drafting processes as per the aspirations of the people.
Referring to Prachanda aka Dahal, Baidhya said the leadership never made any attempt for the preparation of 'people's revolt'. "He is the centre of all negative attitudes, problems and interests that have cropped up in the party," said Baidhya, accusing Dahal of trying to divert major issues by writing baseless issues in his document.
On Dahal's comment that the party was gradually dying, the senior vice-chairman, who is also one of Dahal's teacher, has claimed that a new party was in the making within the Unified CPN-Maoist in the wake of serious deviation from the original party line.
Baidhya added that it would be difficult to establish harmony in the party if the leadership failed to take the path of transformation.
Baidhya said the political document of Dahal was inspired by 'rightist opportunism' which can never resolve the crises in the party.
"Dahal, despite the party's decision to withdraw, has given up all the party stances regarding drafting of 'a pro-people constitution' and supported the cause of the capitalist agents. Therefore the significance of the Constituent Assembly is on the wane," he said.
"Party leadership was reluctant to withdraw the cases of people's war, tried to throw out peasants from the land they had occupied without any proper alternative and deprived workers of their rights," accused Baidhya. "In such a condition, it's not good to remain in the government."
He claimed that all the party decisions made by the first meeting of CC after Palungtar plenum have been reversed. "The four-point deal, agreement to hand over keys of containers and seven-point agreement are some of the examples," he said. Baidhya tried to convince that there was still the possibility of 'people's revolt'. "The revolution for new people's democracy is still essential and possible, and if the party can make effective arrangement for preparations, there are strong bases for people's revolt. People will be forced to take to the streets if the parties fail to draft a pro-people constitution."
Baidhya also urged the leadership to properly manage financial discipline in the party and make all the transactions transparent.
In his 12-page political document presented at party's ongoing Central Committee meeting at party headquarters in Paris Danda, Baidhya has claimed that there was no possibility of concluding the peace and constitution-drafting processes as per the aspirations of the people.
Referring to Prachanda aka Dahal, Baidhya said the leadership never made any attempt for the preparation of 'people's revolt'. "He is the centre of all negative attitudes, problems and interests that have cropped up in the party," said Baidhya, accusing Dahal of trying to divert major issues by writing baseless issues in his document.
On Dahal's comment that the party was gradually dying, the senior vice-chairman, who is also one of Dahal's teacher, has claimed that a new party was in the making within the Unified CPN-Maoist in the wake of serious deviation from the original party line.
Baidhya added that it would be difficult to establish harmony in the party if the leadership failed to take the path of transformation.
Baidhya said the political document of Dahal was inspired by 'rightist opportunism' which can never resolve the crises in the party.
"Dahal, despite the party's decision to withdraw, has given up all the party stances regarding drafting of 'a pro-people constitution' and supported the cause of the capitalist agents. Therefore the significance of the Constituent Assembly is on the wane," he said.
"Party leadership was reluctant to withdraw the cases of people's war, tried to throw out peasants from the land they had occupied without any proper alternative and deprived workers of their rights," accused Baidhya. "In such a condition, it's not good to remain in the government."
He claimed that all the party decisions made by the first meeting of CC after Palungtar plenum have been reversed. "The four-point deal, agreement to hand over keys of containers and seven-point agreement are some of the examples," he said. Baidhya tried to convince that there was still the possibility of 'people's revolt'. "The revolution for new people's democracy is still essential and possible, and if the party can make effective arrangement for preparations, there are strong bases for people's revolt. People will be forced to take to the streets if the parties fail to draft a pro-people constitution."
Baidhya also urged the leadership to properly manage financial discipline in the party and make all the transactions transparent.
Vice-chair's charges
• Dahal centre of all evils
• Pro-people constitution impossible
• Leadership failed to
prepare groundwork for revolt
• Dahal's document smacks of rightist
• Dahal's paper cannot
resolve current crises
• Parliamentary quicksand drowning the party
• Pro-people constitution impossible
• Leadership failed to
prepare groundwork for revolt
• Dahal's document smacks of rightist
• Dahal's paper cannot
resolve current crises
• Parliamentary quicksand drowning the party
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A New Communist International ? The thoughts of Comrade Harsh Thakor
Comintern Poster
I think that the Revolutionary Internationalist movement contributed to the setback of the Shining Path Movement and Nepal by launching attacks on Stalin and some of the fundamental Marxist Leninist Tenets.It was premature to form such an organisation with inadaequate development of proletarian parties worldwide and the Communist Movement.Some of the most significant writings opposing the R.I.M.were of the late Comrade Harbhajan Sohi in his writings on 'Invincibility of Mao Tse Tung Thought.'
Remember the Chinese Communist Party never advocated the formation of an International learning the lessons of the experience under Stalin.Since the fall of proletarian power in the C.C.P. there is no Socialist base in the World. History remembers that despite the achievement of C.P.C under Mao ,the party did not go towards establishing he Communist International or establishing an International Organisation. Instead it stressed for he Communist Parties of the camp to apply he universal truths of Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of their country. It emphasized that other countries should not copy the Chinese Experience to-to but apply the Chinese experience in accordance to their own condition.
The main reason for the C.P.C's caution was Imperialism was devising through its local regimes new forms of neo-colonial rule and only a native communist party could analsye and review such situations. An outside force could not grasp the concrete reality. Thus the necessity of political independence of each country's communist party.
Chauvinistic tendencies may also develop under Communist Parties .The more developed and advanced may act chauvinistically and deliver big-brother treatment to the less developed or successful parties.
The victory of a revolution in a country under the leadership of a Communist Party indicates that certain crucial contemporary problems of he revolutionary movement have been resolved by it ,and thus the experience can be passed on to Communist Parties of othe Countries.At present there is no such party in the World.The ideological political struggle against Oppurtunism within the revolutionary Camp is firce and bitter in each country.
A dialectical process involving unity of Communist Parties is required. Mutual exchange has to take place Actual experience should be shared, which would pave the way for more advanced forms of collective positions on issues and ralying of more forces worldwide. Mutual Exchange and Common stands, bilaterally and laterally,and multilateral platforms on the basis of the general line are required
Today in India and in other Countries the reorganization of he Communist Party is still in the process of being realized It is crucial to struggle to implement the correct line and establish its content with opportunism. In this process Communist revolutionaries have to strive to achieve unity on the basis of settling various line questions in connection with the revolutionary practice of the masers of the Indian people.
A 2 line struggle should be struggled against the trend of the formation of R.I.M itself to advance the International Communist Movement.Remember even the C.P.I.(Maoist) or erstwhile P.W group were never part of the R.I.M,nor The Communist party of Phillipines,who are still positively struggling as a revolutionary force.
The International Unity of Communists requires the defeat of Revsionism and Centrism
The impetuous rise of class struggle in the world has exposed the subjected
capitulation of prachandist revisionism in Nepal and the disappearance of
the leading role of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement - RIM.
It has appeared that the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) - CPN (M), being
a RIM member, has raised in the name of Maoism against Marxism Leninism
Maoism, clutching a revisionist platform of renunciation of destroying the
old reactionary state, of betraying the People's War by renouncing to it, by
disarming the people, by dismantling the bases of popular power already
conquered and by dissolving its People's Liberation Army in the reactionary
army of exploiters, and finally by merging with the revisionist party Mashal
in the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) - UCPN (M), and by
compromising with all others opportunist parties to defend the class
dictatorship of the landlords, the bourgeoisie and imperialism, and to serve
to run over the people.
It is likewise evident that the Committee of the RIM has, remaining silent
facing the revisionist line and the betrayal carried out by the CPN (M),
resigned in practice the role of being the international leading center, and
compromising the prestige of the RIM. It has cost a high price to the world
revolution and the international unity of the communists, allowing the
coexistence of opportunistic trends within the RIM, by the incorrect method
of restrict the lines struggle, and hiding the discussions to the
International Communist Movement - ICM and to the world proletariat.
Hence, facing the new problems caused by the deep world contradictions of
imperialism in the last decades, both the CPN (M) and the Revolutionary
Communist Party of the United States, seeing only the living appearance of
imperialism without going to the very agonizing core of capitalism, have
reached to the same revisionist conclusion: to declare null and void the
principles of revolutionary Marxism, and insufficient the universal theory
of Marxism Leninism Maoism to solve the problems of the revolution in this
century and, therefore, declared it overstepped in its "novel" revisionist
theories, made today under the ostentatious name of "Avakian's new
synthesis". Contrary to its hopelessness pessimism in the proletariat and in
the revolution, the new problems of our times have unleashed the world
forces of work against the imperialist parasitism, showing the orphanhood of
a world communist leadership, and with it the urgency for the international
unity of the marxist leninist maoists.
Against such a need that requires to differentiate and to break completely
with opportunism, rises again the familiar centrist tendency known in the
history of communist movement for its "conciliator" role between Marxism and
revisionism. A centrist tendency, headed today by the Communist Party
(Maoist) of Italy, direct continuation of the centrism in the RIM yesterday,
and mainly in its Committee.
In the open bourgeois degeneration of prachandism, the centrists, who
yesterday praised his theory, ignored the treason in Nepal and supported
bourgeois parliamentarism of the PCNU (M), declare today themselves to be
against Prachanda, but actually without breaking with prachandism.
They remain supporters of a fraction of prachandism that no longer
recognizes Prachanda as leader, but Kiran. They repudiate the current
symbolic acts of Bhattarai and Prachanda in the surrender of the revolution,
but deny the revisionist nature of the party and escape its responsibility
in the real political betrayal of People's War conducted in the Peace
Agreement of 2006.
Centrism both reconciles and calls "red" a fraction of the revisionist right
in Nepal, and fights angry against the revolutionary communists whom are
called "dogmatic-revisionists" and "opportunistic liquidators" for their
struggle against revisionism and centrism.
It fears the complete rupture, ideological, political and organizational,
with the revisionist line of the UCPN (M), a condition without which it is
not possible to conceive a true revolutionary line in Nepal, able to return
to the People's War and lead it, to conquer the triumph of the Revolution of
New Democracy in the whole country.
Before the visible collapse of the RIM, centrism that yesterday gave
legitimacy to the silent complicity, now denies that the RIM was defeated by
the revisionist line which it was unable to fight in their midst, and
attempts to revive it with the support of UCPN (M), but without the hegemony
of the RCP, USA.
Thus, centrism hides the main danger that represents revisionism for the
unity of the ICM, minimizing its treason to the world proletariat and its
outrages against the people of Nepal, opaque the vision of the communists
and prevents the workers of the world to clearly understand the role of
revisionism in the defeat of their political movement, contributing to keep
them away from the political problems of their revolution.
It is our unwavering commitment to fight for the international unity of the
Marxist Leninist Maoists, which requires the demolition of the false
revisionist theories and the eclectic positions of centrism, drawing a deep
demarcation between Marxism and opportunism in the whole general line of the
International Communist Movement, as firm foundation of unity to build the
new International that has to lead the grandiose battles of the world
proletarian revolution against imperialism and all its lackeys.
December 26th - 2011
Arab Maoists
Colectivo Odio de Clase - Estado Español
Parti Communiste Marxiste-Léniniste-Maoïste - France
Partido Comunista del Ecuador Sol Rojo
Partido Comunista del Perú - Base Mantaro Rojo
Partido Comunista Popular Maoísta - Argentina
Partido Comunista (Marxista-Leninista) de Panamá
Proletarian Party of East Bengal (PBSP) (Maoist Unity Group)/Bangladesh
Unión Obrera Comunista (MLM) - Colombia
December 26th Chairman Mao Zedong's birthday - Without Communist Party there would be no new China - Afrikan brother sings for Mao Zedong
Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.
Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.
The Communist Party works hard for the people.
The Communist Party - it strives to save China.
It pointed the people the road to liberation.
It leads China toward brightness.
It adhered to the War of Resistance for over eight years.
It improved the people's living.
It established guerrilla bases.
It practiced democracy, bringing many advantages.
Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.
Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.
Méiyǒu Gòngchǎndǎng jiù méiyǒu xīn Zhōngguó.
Méiyǒu Gòngchǎndǎng jiù méiyǒu xīn Zhōngguó.
Gòngchǎndǎng xīnláo wèi mínzú.
Gòngchǎndǎng tā yīxīn jiù Zhōngguó.
Tā zhǐ gěi le rénmín jiěfàng de dàolù.
Tā lǐngdǎo Zhōngguó zǒuxiàng guāngmíng.
Tā jiānchí le kàngzhàn bā nián duō.
Tā gǎishàn le rénmín shēnghuó.
Tā jiànshè le díhòu gēnjùdì.
Tā shíxiàn le mínzhǔ hǎochùduō.
Méiyǒu Gòngchǎndǎng jiù méiyǒu xīn Zhōngguó.
Méiyǒu Gòngchǎndǎng jiù méiyǒu xīn Zhōngguó.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Christmas Truce 1914 - Lenin's view
The truce began on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.
The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the "No Man's Land" where small gifts were exchanged — whisky, jam, cigars, chocolate, and the like. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently-fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm: The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
The truce spread to other areas of the lines, and there are many stories of football matches between the opposing forces. The film Joyeux Noël suggests that letters sent home from both British and German soldiers related that the score was 3-2 in favour of the Germans.
Lenin, the leader of the working class revolution in Russia, heard about the Christmas truce. He pointed out that if there were organizations prepared to fight for such a policy among the soldiers of all the belligerent nations, there might have been a quick end to the world war in favor of the working masses. Lenin wrote, "Try to imagine Hyndman, Guesde, Vandervelde, Plekhanov, Kautsky and the rest [leaders of so-called socialist parties that supported the world war] – instead of aiding the bourgeoisie (something they are now engaged in – forming an international committee to agitate for fraternization and attempts to establish friendly relations between the socialists of the belligerent countries, both in the trenches and among the troops in general. What would the results be several months from now?"
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Tunisian Communist Leader Hama Hammami Accuses Qatari Regime of Being "An Enemy to Tunisia and Arab World"
Hama Hamami, leader of Communist Workers Party of Tunisia (POCT), claimed yesterday that "The Qatari regime is an enemy to Tunisia and the Arab World," referring to Qatar's alleged involvement in the guiding of democratic uprisings of 2011 in North Africa and the Middle East.
Qatar's role in the "Arab Spring" has been a source of controversy among politicians and citizens across the Arabic-speaking world.
Many have claimed that the tiny Gulf emirate has been promoting its agenda through its television channel Al Jazeera, while others have claimed that Qatar has broader motives for backing and supporting Islamist parties.
The Tunisian Islamist Party Ennahda, whose historic election victory solidified its hold on the largest share of seats in the Constituent Assembly, was accused of having affiliations with, and accepting financial aid from, Qatar.
The extent of political and economic Qatari involvement in Tunisia's affairs has been a large point of contention in Tunisia since the revolution. Hamma Hamami, leader of POCT, stated that Qatar is playing a dangerous game, and is only serving its own agenda. He also added that Qatar is an agent of USA and Israel.
"Qatar is playing a dangerous role under the umbrella of USA; it is a government that serves America's agenda, and also has direct relations with Israel. Qatar's intentions are not patriotic," Hamami said.
Hamami also asserted that Qatar is attempting to guide moderate Islamic parties, which are popular in Qatar, toward the political choices of the USA.
"Qatar is conditioning popular Islamic parties to serve American and Western interests, and they are managing to achieve that end through the messages that Ennahda is sending to America and Western society. Ennahda is basically assuring the west that the relationship between Tunisia and the West will not change. I do not have concrete proof but this is my political analysis."
Hamami also referred specifically to Al Jazeera, claiming that during the electoral campaign the network was 90% pro-Ennahda.
When asked about Qatar's support for Tunisia economically, he said that Tunisia does not need financial aid as much as it needs a, "political economy."
"Tunisia is a self-sufficient country that is rich with natural resources – it is not about having money. A good example is Libya: The country was rich but they were living in awful conditions," he added.
"The revolutions were authentic, but the USA wants to orient these new democratic movements in their own direction," he added.
Samir Dilou, an Ennahda member who is rumored to hold the post of the Human Rights and Transitional Justice Minister (and to be spokesperson of the upcoming Government) disagreed with Hamami.
"I respect what he said, but I do not agree with him. It is his political opinion and it lacks any concrete proof."
He added that Tunisia's relations with Qatar are no different from Tunisia's relations with other Arab countries.
"Our relations with Qatar are nothing but friendly, just like any other Arab country. We want what's in our nation's best interest, and if that involves having economic relations with Qatar, or any other Arab country, then we will not be against it. We welcome all Arab investors."
When asked about Al Jazeera being Pro-Ennahda, he replied,"We actually protested against Al Jazeera before because some of its broadcasts were anti-Ennahda. We respect media but Al Jazeera is sometimes right and sometimes wrong."
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Children of Tahrir Square - Inspiring Children and the hope of Egypt
Egyptian children and a teacher talk about the revolution (Note: this was shot before the military's recent attacks on protesters)
Comrade Kiran's new interview by New Democratic Peoples Front
Picture Comrade Kiran
December 16th
Q. Your experience with the formulation of national constitution in the last two years and the resistance by the reactionary parliamentary right wingers like Nepali congress. How do you sum it up in retrospect?
A. Our experience of Constituent Assembly for the last two years and our co-work with parliamentarian parties, including Nepali Congress, has been very complicated and bitter. In this whole process, intense ideological struggle is going on between two mutually contradictory trends: whether to build a new national army by integrating PLA in a dignified manner or make them surrender by disarming them and whether to attempt writing people's constitution with anti-feudal and anti-imperialist content or write a parliamentarian constitution based on status quo. In this struggle our party is becoming weaker day by day.
In this course, a serious two-line struggle is taking place on the evaluation of different compromises and agreements reached from the past to now.
Q. Indian Maoists, your counterpart from India, were skeptical over your participation in the parliamentary path without the overthrow of the then existent state structures. Your party chose to restructure the state apparatus by participating in the bourgeoisie state legislature. How do you see it in retrospect?
A. Our party had initiated and conducted the great people's war to establish new democratic state power by destroying the old one. However, without accomplishing this task we took a course of compromise and adopted a policy of restructuring the state. We take it as our limitation and obligation. It is natural for the Indian Maoists to be skeptical of our party. Our party's practice in the days to come will provide correct answer to the doubt that the Indian comrades have expressed or will justify its irrelevance or relevance.
Q. Your nation is sandwiched between two giant powers of the south Asia, i.e. India and china. Your party saw India as more harmful than China against your revolutionary tide. Later, Prachanda, your party chairman was becoming more friendly to India shirking anti Indian stance. How do you explain this duality?
A. Yes, our country is sandwiched between two giant powerful countries of the south Asia, like India and china. We want to maintain a good neighbourly relation and go ahead by honouring each other's national integrity and reverence with both of these countries. There are various unequal treaties, including the treaty of 1950, between Nepal and India. But, there are no such unequal treaties with China. In this sense, we oppose the expansionist attitude of the Indian ruling classes. However, we are not opposed to Indian people. We want to abrogate unequal treaties and sign up the new ones that are based on common interest and mutual equality of both the countries.
I don't think it will be appropriate to look at chairman comrade Prachanda's view and practice upon India as dualist. Because, it may be perhaps a question in which he showed his limitation or shortcoming in properly paying attention to the dialectical relation between diplomacy and politics.
Q. Does your party still view India as expansionist state in south Asia endangering the national aspirations of the regional entities?
A. Yes, we still think so. This position of ours is pointed only towards the Indian ruling classes, which are in minority. We look at the entire Indian people from the viewpoint of equality and think that they are our friends for Nepalese revolution.
Q. At the time of participation in election process, the armed overthrow was given a goby suggesting peaceful transition to power. You were putting forward the fusion theory to mobilize the urban upsurge.
A. Yes, we chose this way or that way a path of peaceful electoral process by diverting our attention from the path of destroying the old state power in an armed manner. Here, we have a number of shortcomings, limitations and obligations, we summing up all this mercilessly want to go ahead.
So far as the concept of fusion adopted to organise urban insurrection is concerned, it is correct and needs further explanation. In view of the development of information technology and imperialist globalisation we are trying to develop a concept of fusion in which some of the tactics of armed insurrection are incorporated into the protracted people's war, which is principal. It is necessary to pay attention to both of its aspects: further study and practical implementation. A danger of the party being dipped in the swamp of right revisionism is growing and we are careful on it. Thanks.
From : New Democratic People's Front (www.ndpfront.net/)
Interview by: Suthagar & Peter
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wukan Wukan ! No to Land Grabs in China
The following video below is a short version of the Chinese Film on Wukan above with English Translation and subtitles.
Timeline for Wukan Struggle
1993: Wukan Hong Kong Industrial Development Co., Ltd. is established; The Wukan government begins selling village land.April 3rd, 2009: A leaflet appears in Wukan village entitled, "A letter to fellow townsfolk of Wukan — We're not 'Dead Village Slaves.'" More village land is sold, the village government alters the elections as the majority of the villagers discuss the issue of the leaflet.April 3rd, 2009: More than 20 young people from Wukan travel to petition Guangdong provincial government leaders, soon arriving in Guangzhou's Zhongshan Park to plan the formation of the "Wukan Hotblooded Youth Group." The group members go on to petition eleven provincial, city, county-level city, and small-town governments.March 14th, 2011: Five Wukan village representatives take their sixth petition to the Guangdong Provincial Complaints Bureau, then decides to send a specific delegate to seek audience for the purpose of developing collective representation.September 21st, 2011: Three thousand villagers gather in Wukan (a coastal town on the East China Sea in Lufeng County, Shanwei Prefecture, Guangdong Province) to discuss a series of problematic incidents in the area. They collectively petition the Lufeng County Government, inquiring about arrangements regarding Jade Laurel Garden (Bi Gui Yuan). As they return home, a group of villagers numbering around a dozen smash a group of Jade Laurel Garden workers' dormitories and some materials belonging to the Tranquil Industrial Park (Tai Gongye Yuan). That evening three youths from Wukan are arrested by the local police.September 22nd, 2011: Wukan villagers convene a village committee to confront the problems, but the local police arrive and intervene. Soon afterwards, three to four hundred municipal police enter Wukan. A clash between the police and the people breaks out around Jin Gang street and Xinhua Fourth Road, causing over 10 people to be heavily injured and resulting in 12 police and government vehicles damaged or even flipped.September 23rd, 2011: Thirteen self-appointed village delegates have discussions with city government officials. The government promises to abolish the villagers' debt, return land, and to elect three special groups to enter the village and conduct an investigation.September 28th, 2011: The Wukan village committee organizes elected representatives to go to the National People's Congress, the villagers call into question the [earlier] illegal elections.November 11th, 2011: Four thousand villagers provide signatures and march to the Lufeng Municipal Government with their petition. Lufeng Mayor Qiu Jinxiong personally appears to address the demands and urges the protestors to return home.
Xue Jinbo - Martyr of Wukan
The residents' democratically elected village leaders said they had managed to extract initial concessions from senior provincial leaders to their immediate demand for the government to release three villagers detained in recent weeks.
They also received a promise of a full investigation into the death in police custody of village leader Xue Jinbo on December 11, the return of his body and a guarantee that elected village leaders would not be considered criminals.
"They gave a positive response to our suggestions and agreed to release our three young people within two days," said Lin Zuluan, a village representative.
Picture Yang Semao
Guangdong's deputy Communist Party secretary Zhu Mingguo told Wukan village protest leader Yang Semao on Wednesday that four villagers being held by police would be released over the next few days, Yang told The Associated Press.
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At helloBCN hostel we believe that choosing a hostel is not just about choosing a place to sleep. We want to make your experience in Barcelona unforgettable. We've created an environment to help you meet other travellers so you'll never be on your own and our friendly staff are always available to give you tips on the best things to see and do in Barcelona.
We've included in the price everything you need for a comfortable stay - large security lockers, breakfast, sheets, internet and use of the guest kitchen, so you don't have to worry about 'hidden extras' when you arrive! If you don't want to bring a towel, no worries; we have some for rent.
Theres many local supermarkets and specialty food stores (eg. fruit and vegetables, bakery) nearby to help you keep within your budget.
And we're opened 24 hours so won't lock you out!
You're sure to make loads of new friends and travel companions in our bar - open from 7pm! Join us for one of our group outings to the coastal village of Sitges, or on a guided bike tour of Barcelona (seasonal). Or challenge other guests to a game of table tennis (ping pong) or Twister right here in the hostel.
We also give tour advice and make reservations for our guests. Find out from our friendly staff the best way to get to know Barcelona - on bike, bus or just walking through the many narrow streets!
If you've got more time, discover Catalunya! For example, you can go hiking, rock climbing or general sightseeing at magical Montserrat or sea kayaking on the Costa Brava.
And if you're not tired after partying all night and sightseeing all day, we have a gym with modern equipment to help you stay in shape.
Were located only 10 minutes walk from Las Ramblas and only two minutes walk to the metro/ bus stop (Paral.lel), offering easy access to all tourist attractions including La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Casa Batll, La Pedrera, Montjuic (from which you can enjoy the panoramic views of Barcelona or just chill out in the magical bar at the Migdia lookout), and of course the beach! Were also a stone's throw from some of the coolest clubs in Barcelona!
Please read out T&Cs below.
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subset: commoncrawl


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When it comes to shooters (and their bullet-hell cousins) I am hardly an expert, but I do enjoy a good SHMUP from time to time. Though I tend toward the side-scrolling variety like Gradius or Macross: Do You Remember Love, I did play more than a little 1942 back in the day. But hands-down my favourite shooter of the top-down sub-genre is Ikaruga — a game that only has one weak point: it ends.
The fan-made game RefleX is a lot like Ikaruga in the sense that the key to the game is your defence rather than simply shooting forward and dodging bullets. But while Ikaruga is centered around changing your ship's polarity — and thus weapon immunity — RefleX is built around your small ship's shield.
The shield is capable of stopping any enemy energy weapon in the game. However, while some energy weapons simply dissipate when they hit the shield, others — namely any and all blue lasers — reflect off your shield and destroy any hapless enemy vessels nearby. This includes everything from heat-seekers to enormous boss beam cannons.
Of course, this shield isn't without its weaknesses. Any physical object, be that a missile or another ship, can pass right through your shield to wreck your ship. Luckily, ships and missiles can be destroyed with your main guns.
But the biggest weakness is that the shield has only enough power to stay active for about five seconds. Also, while your main guns don't deplete shield energy, as long as they are firing, your shields won't replenish. And the lower your remaining shield power, the less bullets your guns fire.
Thus the whole game is centered around choosing when to shoot, when to use the shield, and when to dodge and recharge. Simply put, it's a lot of fun.
To see RefleX in action, check out the video above.
RefleX was released and originally sold for PCs at Comiket 74 in 2008. A free demo of the first four levels can be downloaded from the official site (or directly from here for those who can't read Japanese).


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PERTH (Reuters) - Searchers have time and tide against them as they narrow the hunt for a missing Malaysian Airlines jet using final "pings" from flight recorders soon to fall silent. Finding the boxes will be just the start of a challenge to pluck wreckage from the ocean that may stretch technology to its limits.
For the second time since flight MH370 disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur on March 8, experts are having to rely on metronomic whispers from the plane's electronic systems to try to track it down. It was satellite pings that led searchers on the path south to the Indian Ocean where an Australian ship picked up possible pings from the recorders on April 5.
Now, they are searching blindfolded in one of the most murky, noisy and isolated spots on earth, 4.8km underwater where the jet is assumed to have crashed with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.
On Wednesday, Australian officials said two new ping signals had been detected the previous day. The recorders' batteries are now about two days past their regular lifespan.
Finding the recorders won't just help locate the jet. They record cockpit data that could help explain what happened to the plane and why it flew thousands of kilometres off its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route.
"Now that 30 days have passed we are in bonus time," said Mr Anish Patel, head of Florida-based pinger maker Dukane Seacom.
"The units are certified to last 30 days but there is a small design margin... (of) a few extra days of power."
The first priority for search crews will be to cling onto the electronic signals long enough to narrow the area for more thorough sonar research.
Australian ship Ocean Shield is using a 'Towed Pinger Locator' sent by the United States Navy - described by France as the most capable of its kind after it was used in the ultimately successful search for an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic in 2009.
"The problem is not localising it, the problem is finding where to look in the first place," said Mr Mike Davis-Marks, a former submarine commander in Britain's Royal Navy.
It's a slow and exhausting process.
Operators must separate a ping lasting just 9.3 milliseconds - a tenth of the blink of a human eye - and repeated every 1.08 seconds from the natural cacophony of the ocean, as well as disturbances from other search vessels.
"The ocean is a noisy place," said Mr Davis-Marks, former commander of a sister vessel to British hunter-killer submarine HMS Tireless, which has been dispatched to assist in the search.
"There is noise from everything, whether it's the ambient noise of the weather at the surface, or marine life like whales or the snapping noise of shrimps, not to mention other sea transport and low-flying aircraft."
Plotting pings from the recorders is a comparatively simple task in shallow waters. At depths of up to 4,500m, the challenge is acute.
Not only is that twice the range of the recorders' pinger, but the deeper the water, the harder it is to juggle vertical and horizontal angles, with the risk that readings become blurred.
The range of the pinger is limited because it uses a relatively high frequency of 37.5 KHz. In water, high-frequency sounds travel shorter distances, meaning the pinger signals can travel only 2,000m to 3,000m.
To bring the US Navy's bright yellow ping detector within range of its target, the Ocean Shield's crew plays out a long cable to position it at depth. But experts say this can reduce the manoeuverability of the ship and hence the speed of operations.
Standing by to take over as soon as the search area is narrowed sufficiently is an American underwater robot called Bluefin-21.
It will build up a detailed acoustic image of the area using sophisticated 'sidescan' sonar, hoping to repeat its success in finding a F-15 fighter jet which crashed off Japan last year.
If it detects possible wreckage, it will be sent back to photograph it carefully in underwater conditions with extremely low light. But building up the necessary mosaic of thousands of high-definition photos in the undersea gloom can be a long and frustrating task.
On one occasion during the search for Air France's lost Flight AF447, in waters almost as deep as the southern Indian Ocean, a remote vehicle investigated signs of wreckage, only to find sea shells instead.
Even with new pings, the prospects for retrieving MH370 wreckage quickly may be slim. The search for the Air France jet took almost two years in total.
Nor, with doubts hovering over the distribution of roles in a Malaysian investigation, is it clear how the final recovery phase would be tackled, even if the lost Boeing 777 is found.
The search for AF447 was only completed after a cash crisis that saw investigators trade down to a cheaper ship and accept indirect contributions from Airbus and the airline.
The US Navy says it has not yet been asked to help with salvage, but experts say the Remora 6000, designed by naval contractor Phoenix International, which lifted the black boxes, wreckage and bodies from AF447, remains one of the few options.
The unmanned vehicle's history is a roll-call of deep-sea operations, including viewing the Titanic and recouping a Turkish F-14 Tomcat fighter, a Japanese rocket and an Israeli submarine.
However, AF447 was found on a flat plain near a mountainous ridge. Given the Indian Ocean depth and terrain, any MH370 retrieval operation may be more difficult.
Such deep-sea skills do not come cheaply, adding to what is already expected to be the costliest search in aviation history, likely stretching to hundreds of millions of dollars. The final recovery stage of the search for AF447 cost 6 million euros (S$10.3 million) in total - equating to more than US$250,000 (S$313,000) per day.


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GS News Update: Xbox One and Xbox 360 Games With Gold Titles for July
Xbox owners will get access to four games for free this July including Guacamelee and Gotham City Impostors.
Xbox owners will get access to four games for free this July including Guacamelee and Gotham City Impostors.
Gotham City Impostors is now free-to-play on Steam.
The Arkham Asylum map is now available as a free download for Gotham City Impostors in the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network and coming soon to PC.
The latest Gotham City Impostors update features the "East End" map, a new "Bounty Hunter""mode and more character voice customization!
Here's a trailer for the free DLC pack for Gotham City Impostors, available now for the Xbox 360 and the near future for PS3 and PC systems.
Attach the battery quick before the Joker impostors take you out in this clip from Gotham City Impostors.
Check out some more gameplay from Gotham City Impostors.
A player uses skills to see through walls and go invisible.
Two teams try to make each other crazy.
A player uses a heavy body with wings to drop death from above.
Teams fight to get a battery to the psych warfare station.
Teams battle on the mean streets.
Players go at each other.
This week, we feature titles BurgerTime World Tour, Shank 2, Gotham City Impostors, Catherine, Top Spin 4, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, the Jak and Daxter: Collection, ...
Gotham City Impostors is now available!
This week we look at The Darkness II, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Resident Evil: Revelations, Gotham City Impostors, and Shank 2.
The public console beta for Gotham City Impostors is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network.
This week, we feature great demos for Gotham City Imposters, The Darkness II, and UFC Undisputed 3, as well as call out new Liberation and Piazza maps for Call of ...
Batmans and Jokers vie for control of gasblasters on Amusement Mile.
Batmans and Jokers vie for control of gasblasters in Crime Alley.
We check out what happens when people think they are superheroes.
Join the multiplayer beta for Gotham City Impostors!
This third animated video in the series shows off the impressive arsenal of gadgets and firearms wielded by the Bats and the Jokerz as they vie for supremacy in Gotham ...
Here's another Gotham City Impostors animated video chronicling the latest tensions between the Bats and Jokerz.
Check out this animated trailer featuring the dual lifestyles of Batman and the Joker in Gotham City Impostors.
Take a look at the Gotham City Imposters demo from the PAX 2011 show floor.
Sean McInnis and Guy Cocker brave the crowds of a Gamescom weekend to bring you a tour of Hall 8.
Jody takes center court to update you on Grand Slam Tennis 2, Age of Conan F2P, an exclusive Gotham City Imposters trailer, and more!
Behind every superhero and supervillain is an impostor or two.
The imposters are out in force in this action-packed CGI trailer.
GameSpot AU speaks to Gotham City Impostors associate producer Lucas Myers about the game's premise, utilizing Monolith's No One Lives Forever-styled humor, and the Psychological Warfare multiplayer mode!
This week on Crosshairs, we come to you LIVE from the E3 show floor, giving your our impressions on the new hardware, as well as interviews with the lead game ...
Homer tours the Warner Brothers booth on the floor of E3 2011.
Check out the announcement trailer for Gotham City Impostors.


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Prisoners of the Sun
This adventure was the first story published in TINTIN magazine when it was launched on 26th September 1946, and heralded the opportunity for the continuation of an adventure which had been interrupted two years earlier. Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock fly to Peru in search of Professor Calculus, who has involuntarily committed sacrilege, and has been condemned to suffer the ultimate punishment.
Test your knowledge
Hergé regularly visited the Cinquantenaire museum, part of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, when conducting research for his stories. In this museum he saw a model of a 'portrait vase' also known as a 'stirrup vase' because it has a stirrup-shaped handle through which one could pass a rope to attach it and other similar vases on to the llama. This vase dates back to the Mochica culture and was the inspiration for the vase drawn on page 45 of the adventure.
When drawing the scenery for The Temple of the Sun, Hergé was inspired by several real places, including the Sacsayhuaman fortress, the Tiwanaku site and also the sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
This ancient Inca city, today in ruins, lies high up on the Andes and was used as a model for one of the main scenes, the sacred site where the Incas set up the sacrificial altar.
He also found an image of a mummy's head from the Chancay culture, which he incorporated into the design of the cover for Prisoners of the Sun and which also appears on page 45.
Origins of the book's title page
In Wiener's book Hergé also discovered an illustration of the god, INTI, which he used for the book's title page and in the illustration of the grand hall where Tintin, Haddock and Zorrino found themselves when they manage to get inside The Temple of the Sun.
This "God with Sticks" is the deity who adorns the Sun Door of Tiwanaku.
The National Geographic
The February 1938 issue of the National Geographic magazine provided Hergé with lots of useful information, particularly how to draw the Grand Priest when he presided over a sacrifice, the parade of young virgins of the Sacred Temple, and the snake dance preceding the sacrificial fire. This magazine was also useful for the scenery inspired by the Sacsayhuaman and Machu Picchu sites.
The highest railway in the world
Hergé owned a copy of the illustrated Encyclopedia of Railways, published by Librairie Hachette in 1927, which gave him plenty of information about the Peruvian railways locomotive and train.
Jacobs, an invaluable friend
Jacobs assisted Hergé in many ways in his quest for accuracy and realism, including posing for Hergé. For example, Hergé made a striped poncho which he asked Jacobs to wear whilst he drew him. Jacobs also spent many hours in the Cinquantenaire museum researching South America and the Incas, in search of convincing detail for the adventure. Some of the results of this research were eventually used by E. P. Jacobs in the Blake and Mortimer adventure, The Atlantis Mystery.
Calculus constantly out of sync
Professor Calculus is completely oblivious to what is going on around him throughout the entire adventure. At the most critical moment, when he and his friends await immolation on the sacrificial altar, he thinks that he is watching some historical cinematic drama.
The eclipse
Hergé borrowed various elements from Gaston Leroux's book Wife of the Sun, for the crucial eclipse scene, in the same way that La Fontaine borrowed from Aesop. He was equally inspired by the text from the book Christopher Columbus by C. Giardini, published by Dragaud, Paris, in 1970, in which the author describes how the Spanish succeeded in forcing the natives to submit completely thanks to a lunar eclipse which had been announced in a calendar.
It is also interesting to point out a mistake regarding the eclipse. In the book the eclipse moves from right to left, whereas in reality it should travel from left to right because Peru is in the southern hemisphere. This mistake was pointed out to Hergé by a child who wrote a long letter expressing his dissatisfaction.
The Thom(p)sons: dowsers
The Thom(p)sons introduce a new innovation to their methods of detection. Following the example of Professor Calculus, they resort to dowsing, but without much success. Thanks to this technique they become actors in a running gag, where their divinations echo the actual situation of our hero.
If Tintin and his friends are tied to the stake, the Thom(p)sons look for them in a desert. When Haddock dances for joy on the stake and is engulfed by the logs, the Thom(p)sons look for them in a bumper car ride...
Fitting the format: a big job
In order to make the story fit the standard 62 page book format, Hergé had to do a huge amount of work reformatting and editing the frames which had appeared in Tintin magazine. Amongst the main scenes which didn't feature in the book, was one where Haddock dispenses with the enormous gold nuggets he had collected in his pockets, and another where he draws a chalk portrait of Tintin on a wall.
For the curious and the nostalgic, it should be noted that the original version of Prisoners of the Sun was re-edited under the title La malédiction de Rascar Capac, tome 2: Les secrets du Temple du Soleil in 2014 by Casterman and Moulinsart Publishing.


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While I probably had more experience with the Windows 8 Developer Preview than almost anyone--I used it as my primary PC platform for several months until the release of the Consumer Preview--it didn't take much time with that version of the OS to realize that something was missing. And that's because it was missing. Yes, Microsoft had nearly fully realize the touch experience for Windows 8 in the Developer Preview, because that was essentially a new interface paradigm for most users and the company wanted to get it right. But users of PCs with traditional keyboards and mice--i.e. almost everyone--noticed that the Developer Preview was quite lacking. And the complaints pored in as expected.
Folks, it's all fixed.
In the Consumer Preview, Microsoft presents, for the first time, a nearly complete look at how this system will work and perform on PCs of all kinds, including new slate-like devices, of course, but also traditional desktop PCs and laptops. And while the touch interfaces in Windows 8 were mildly updated for the Consumer Preview, the mouse and keyboard interfaces were dramatically updated and now work as well, and as seamlessly, as do the touch interfaces.
In this article, I'd like to explain how the common Windows 8 touch-based user eperiences work with the mouse and keyboard.
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview presents a new, consistent method for access the Charms, a set of system commands that are always available, no matter what you're doing (using the Start screen, a Metro-style app, or the desktop. To access the Charms via touch, you swipe in from the right side of the screen.
Mouse: To access the Charms with a mouse, mouse into the top right or bottom right corner of the screen. The Charms will appear in preview mode, as shown here, because it's possible that you targeted that general area for another reason (such as to access a scroll bar).
To enable the normal Charm display, move the mouse cursor towards the left center area of the screen. (That is, if you're in the top right corner, move down, and if you're in the bottom right corner, move up.) To access a Charm, simply click it.
Keyboard: To display the Charms from the keyboard, tap WINKEY + C.
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview includes a new and consistent way to switch between running apps courtesy of a new UI called the Switcher. With touch, you can invoke the Switcher by using a fairly complex gesture: You swipe in from the left side of the screen, and when the first app thumbnail appears, swipe back toward the left. If you do it just right, the Switcher appears, like so:
Mouse: To access the Switcher with the mouse, simply mouse into the upper left corner of the screen. This will trigger a new Back action, displaying a thumbnail of the previous app in the Back stack; click it to switch to that app. But if you want the full Switcher interface, simply mouse down from the Back thumbnail, along the edge of the screen.
Keyboard: To display Switcher with the keyboard, tap WINKEY + TAB (and repeatedly tap TAB to move between the available choices). Or, you can switch between running apps using the ALT + TAB keyboard combination as before.
While the Windows 8 Consumer Preview finally kills off the old Start button, it's been replaced by a new Start tip that lets you access the Start screen, or the previously chosen app, from anywhere in the system. You access this interface with touch by invoking the Charms and tapping the Start icon, or you can use the hardware Windows key button on the device, or the PC keyboard.
Mouse: To access the Start tip, mouse into the lower left corner of the screen.
You can click this tip to invoke the Start action. However, power users will want to check out the unique right-click menu which is only available from the mouse:
Keyboard: To access the Start action from the keyboard, just tap the WINKEY button. Or, tap CTRL + ESC.
With a touch-based system, you typical tap the screen once to select an item or tap and hold (what's sometimes called a "long tap") to get more information about an object. These actions have mouse- and keyboard based equivalents too, of course.
Mouse: To select an item with the mouse, click the left (primary) mouse button once. On the desktop, you often need to double-click to trigger an application or other object. To get more information about an object, right-click it.
Keyboard: You can select items the keyboard using Enter. (Navigate with the arrow keys.) To get more information about an object, press the Spacebar.
To scroll through a Metro-style app or the Start screen, you typically swipe the screen from left to right or vice versa.
Mouse: There are a number of ways to scroll with the mouse. If you move the mouse around the screen in a Metro-style environment like the Start screen, an onscreen scrollbar will appear; you can click or drag that to scroll. Conversely, you could use a new Windows 8 feature called Push Scrolling. To invoke Push Scrolling, simply move the mouse cursor against the edge of the screen. If you move the cursor quickly, the screen will scroll quickly in that directly; do so slowly and it will scroll slowly.
Keyboard: You can scroll slowly in any direction using the arrow keys. Or to scroll quickly , use PGUP or PGDN.
Windows 8 offers a new zoom effect that is invoked by pinching the screen with your fingers.
Mouse and keyboard: To emulate pinch zoom with the mouse and keyboard, hold down the CTRL key and use the mouse wheel.
Close a Metro app
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a fun new way of closing Metro-style apps: Simply swipe down from the top of the screen, all the way to the bottom. As you drag, you'll see the full app window change to a large thumbnail, keep dragging to the bottom and it will close.
Keyboard: To close the current Metro-style app with the keyboard, use the standard ALT + F4 keyboard combination. Note that there will be confirmation, and the app will close immediately.
App Bar
To bring up the App Bar on the Start screen in any Metro-style app, you use an edge UI: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen or swipe down from the top.
Mouse: To display the App bar, right-click.
Keyboard: To display the App bar, type WINKEY + Z.


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Space Junk
There are several thousand trackable objects in near-Earth space. These objects are baseball size or larger and can be tracked by ground-based radars. Of these thousands of items, only a few hundred are operational spacecraft. The rest is space junk! This space junk or orbital debris includes things such as hatches blown off space modules, garbage discarded into space from past space stations, or satellites that are no longer in use.
In addition to the thousands of trackable objects, there are millions of flecks of paint, metal or plastic that are currently in space. Much of this smaller space junk has come from the explosion of rocket stages or the explosion of satellites and their parts. Unfortunately, the past 50 years of space exploration have generated a lot of junk that poses a significant threat to spacecraft now in orbit.
Human-made debris orbits at a speed of roughly 28,000 km/hr (17,500 miles/hour)! Think of the damage even a small speck of paint could do if impact occurred at such high speeds. Even an object as small as 1 cm in diameter has enough kinetic energy to disable a medium-sized spacecraft!
Space junk is particularly a problem for long duration Earth-orbiting spacecraft, especially the International Space Station (ISS). On a list of hazards for the ISS compiled by the NASA Safety Office, the threat of impacts by micrometeorites and orbital debris ranked #6 out of 10 hazards. NASA uses mainly preventative measures when it comes to dealing with space junk, and that means heavy shielding of the ISS and other spacecraft.
Spacecraft must be designed to withstand hypervelocity impacts with pieces of space debris. Testing must be done on the shielding used for future spacecraft. Such experiments were actually undertaken in the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The LDEF was deployed in orbit April 1984 by the Shuttle Challenger. It was retrieved 5.7 years later. During this time the LDEF was designed to take meteoroid and debris surveys involving many different materials.


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Completion in GTA Vice City
To obtain completion in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the player must complete all of the missions and objectives listed here.
Story Missions
- The Introduction
Gang missions
Asset missions
- (Spend $300 Inside the "Dance Room")
- Distribution (sell 50 "ice creams")
Street races
Assassination missions
Hyman Memorial Stadium missions
Sparrow missions
- Four Chopper Checkpoints missions
Off-Road missions
Remote controlled vehicle missions
Other missions
Vehicle missions
- Pizza Boy (Complete Level 10)
- Paramedic (Complete Level 12)
- Firefighter (Complete Level 12)
- Vigilante (Complete Level 12)
- Taxi Driver (Complete Total 100 Fares)
- Collect 100 Hidden Packages.
- Complete 35 Rampages.
- Complete 36 Unique Jumps.
- Buy all 15 properties.
- Rob all 15 stores.
When completion is achieved in the game, the following rewards are given:
- 200% max Health
- 200% max Body Armor
- Replenishing ammunition for all weapons
- The ability to recruit three bodyguards at the Vercetti Estate
- The "Frankie" outfit inside the Vercetti Estate
- Double vehicle strength for any vehicle Tommy Vercetti drives


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Quick Shopping Cart® helps you quickly and easily build a professional, high-quality, online store, usable as either its own dedicated website (www.best-widgets.com) or as a subdomain linked from your existing website (www.shop.best-widgets.com). All you need is a domain name.
You can design the look of your store, add products to your catalog, and select shipping, payment, and tax options. After you set up your store, you can publish it, and you're in business. RSS feeds keep your customers up to date on new offerings. There are several plan options designed to meet the needs of any size online business.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Candidates for Municipal offices shall be nominated (without regard to political party affiliation) by a petition form supplied by the City Clerk (this form will be released on August 6, 2019 at 7:30am). Nomination petitions may be circulated and signed beginning on day 91 prior to the election (August 6, 2019) and ending on day 71 prior to the election (August 26, 2019). Each nomination petition shall be filed with the City Clerk no later the 5:30 p.m. on Monday August 26, 2019.
View all calendars is the default. Choose Select a Calendar to view a specific calendar.


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I am still obsessed with finding empty frames to decorate walls in my study! If you have a large wall that you'd like to decorate with empty frames there is some seriously cool inspiration online. If you're looking to master the art of framing, here's a taste of what I've found:
Frames The Large Empty Wall
Decorate a finished foyer wall with empty frames from Classically Amber. Amber gives you a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own wall.
How to use Empty Frames to Decorate the Wall
Fancy Frame Work with empty frames from Interior Designer Serge Van Lian on StyleWhipped. Her advice is to hang a bunch of quirky looking empty pictures on the wall just as they are, using any random order or placement.
The Sabby Nest has several fabulous empty frame collage ideas for you walls that will inspire you to decorate one of your own walls. My favorite is this photo by Mimi Charmante of Kasey's Amazing home.
Check out these cool suspended empty frames to decorate walls in All Things G&D guest room. She gives you a complete rundown on how she completed the project and how she laid it out.
Art of Framing the Walls
Dwellings and Decor has several links that will inspire and teach you how to incorporate this latest trend into your own home.
I adore the book page butterflies accented inside the empty frames. Just gorgeous! She painted all of the garage sale pictures accumulated over the years and then collaged them on the walls. The paper butterfly's are just cutouts from book pages stuck on with a bit of foam tacky tape.
I love how these red empty frames pop in this darling craft room from I Am Mama. What's really cool, is that the bottom middle frame is actually a WINDOW from her craft room into her play room! {{genius!}} This way Mama can keep an eye on the kiddos while she crafts. Doo-od that is cool.
I'm re-posting this from August as I came across a few more fabulous empty frame wall collages that I just had to show you. I hope you enjoy these wall photos, I think they're beautiful.
More DIY Decorating Ideas:
- How To Make A Headboard {16 Free Patterns}
- 12 Beautiful Crafting Rooms {diy}
- Broken Jewelry Letter Craft
Do you have a large wall you'd like to decorate?
Creating Memories that Endure,
I'm Linking to these Fabulous Women:
Skip To My Lou
Tatertots and Jello
Blue Cricket Design
Todays Creative Blog
Tip Junkie


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February 9-11, 2003
University of Michigan
This workshop will bring together leaders in learning science and resource design with faculty who have demonstrated a strong interest in resource development in the geosciences. The workshop goal is to foster collaboration between these two communities in order to increase the number of high-quality geoscience teaching and learning resources available on-line. The program will include discussion of the major lessons learned in resource design through research on learning, classroom use, and product evaluation; activities designed to teach principles of instructional design in a geoscience context; development of strategies supporting faculty in developing quality on-line resources; identification of common interests, common problems, opportunities for further collaboration among participants; and development of a plan for continuing activities to foster the use of design principles in creating effective web-based resources. This workshop is one of the 2002 emerging themes offerings which are designed to move critical ideas and concepts into the main-stream of geoscience education. Participants are sought who are leaders in the field and are committed to participating in follow-on activities.
- Cathy Manduca (Carleton College)
- Nancy Songer (University of Michigan)
This workshop is part of the program On the Cutting Edge: Workshops for Geoscience Faculty, supported by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers and DLESE with funding provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation-Division of Undergraduate Education.


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Blog| 10 May 2011 | THE HOBBIT, 2 Elves and another Wizard
Martin Freeman has left The Hobbit.
This is not another April Fool, just a May Fact. Before signing as Bilbo, Martin had agreed to make three 90-minute TV films in London, again playing Dr Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes. No worries: he'll be back in Middle-earth after our first hiatus, during which Peter Jackson will have spare time to edit the scenes already completed. The rest of the cast remains on duty for another few weeks, working on hobbit-less sections of the film. These involve dwarves of course but also elves, with Hugo Weaving back for a stretch as Lord Elrond.
Hugo was recently onstage as Astrov in Chekov's Uncle Vanya for the Sydney Theatre Company, whose director, Cate Blanchett, played Yelena. Before she returns as Galadriel, they will reprise their production at Washington DC's Kennedy Center in August. I shall miss the revival, because of my own play, Eduardo De Filippo's The Syndicate at Chichester Festival Theatre and a short UK tour.
Another slim-line elf returning from LOTR, is a local: New Zealand's actor/comedian/singer Bret McKenzie. Last time, he was an extra at Rivendell, the elven Last Homely House in the East. Under a tree at the Council of Elrond, he silently witnessed the forming of the Fellowship. Wordless maybe but not unnoticed by fans of the beautiful, who gave him the acronym F.I.G.W.I.T. ("Frodo Is Great! Who Is That?") I confess Gandalf didn't take much notice, distracted by the main action that involved all the main characters.
I only joined Bret's fan-base, when he joined up
with Jermaine Clement in their hilarious tv series Flight of the
Conchords. Now he is briefly back in Rivendell as a
senior official at Elrond's Court and he has a name "Lindir", which
means "singer". Tolkien has plenty of songs in The Hobbit
but the script doesn't indicate that Lindir will be singing any of
them. If, as he promises, Bret makes a Conchord feature film
ere long, I shall angle for a non-speaking part as BIGWIT.
("Bret Is..." etc.)
And there's another wizard in town, preparing to
make his appearance as Radagast the Brown, the eccentric friend of
Gandalf's, played by
McCoy who was last in Wellington in 2007,
King Lear's Fool in the
Royal Shakespeare production in which I was his nuncle, now
Sylvester's nick-name for me. This week he has been trying out
his make-up and costume. At the prospect of our scenes
together, Nuncle couldn't be happier.
Ian McKellen, Wellington, 10 May 2011


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Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunday Features Mark Martin And Return Of Chris Myers
The NASCAR on FOX gang returns after the mess of Daytona to nice weather and smooth sailing in Phoenix, AZ.
Chris Myers returns to TV after dealing with the tragic passing of his teenage son in a traffic accident. Michael and Darrell Waltrip will be with Myers on the pre-race show.
Mike Joy will call the race that features Mark Martin starting from the pole. Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds will be alongside in the TV booth. Steve Byrnes, Matty Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren are the pit road reporters.
This week features Jeff Hammond rolling out his roving reporter role at a short track. Not exactly the location for unique stories, keep an eye on how often Hammond is seen in the telecast and what topics he chooses to address.
The pre-race show starts at 2:30PM and the green flag is at 3:15PM. MRN carries the radio coverage and will once again be streaming coverage for free at motorracingnetwork.com on both the website and mobile version as well.
We will be hosting our live chat on Twitter. Use the #TDP1 hashtag to see our conversation and add #TDP1 to your comments to join the conversation. You can see my account at twitter.com/thedalyplanet to start if you are new.
There will be a full post up immediately after the race for your long-form TV comments on the NASCAR on FOX telecast from PIP. Thanks everyone!
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"In the text Towards a Definition of Project Art one can possibly locate where Kinmont's aesthetic-ethical concerns line-up specifically with contemporary critical discourse about the social practices of art. Pablo Helguera proposes in his lecture/book, Education for Socially Engaged Art, that one of the central questions for the socially engaged artist is whether (and why) they should venture into the complex disciplines of education, anthropology, and social service. In Kinmont's work, art can model the kinds of practices and behaviors that one would otherwise want from a larger sociopolitical and economic sphere. Art can also present a kind of micro-politics—a space where aesthetic decisions can undergird and affirm political or social ones."
Click here to download PDF


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VICTORIA – Roadside suspensions and vehicle seizures for drivers blowing as low as 0.05 per cent blood alcohol have helped cut B.C. drinking and driving deaths by half, Attorney General Suzanne Anton said Monday.
Government statistics show average fatalities from drinking and driving have fallen to 54 a year from a previous five-year average of 112, since the law took effect in September 2010. Anton said the program is so successful that other provinces are moving in the same direction.
Anton wouldn't comment on court challenges to the program, which imposes penalties on people who test in the "warn" range below 0.08, where they are subject to impaired driving charges.
"If there have to be changes made to it, we will be making those, but the program is good, it saves lives and that's what's important," Anton said.
The "immediate roadside prohibition" program replaced most impaired driving charges with administrative penalties, including a three-day driving ban and a $200 administrative fee for those who blow between 0.05 and 0.08, if the police officer has reason to believe the driver is impaired.
For those who blow in the "impaired" range of 0.08 or higher, police have the option of imposing a 90-day driving ban, a $500 penalty and impounding the vehicle for 30 days instead of laying a charge. Towing and impounding a vehicle can result in a $700 bill, and a $1,400 mandatory "responsible driver program" may also be required before the driver's licence is returned.
The government terms the measure "Alexa's Law," after four-year-old Alexa Middelaer, who was feeding horses at the roadside in Delta when she was struck by an impaired driver and killed in 2008.
"After decades of stagnant progress on reducing the number of preventable deaths caused by drinking and driving, as a community we've made significant and sustained changes," said Laurel Middelaer, Alexa's mother, who has been an advocate on the issue since the tragedy.


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General submissions are now OPEN. We are open from September 1st till May 1st. Click here for more information.
Prairie Schooner publishes short stories, poems, imaginative essays of general interest, and reviews of current books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We read submissions from September 1st to May 1st of each year. All submissions should be typed, and all prose should be double-spaced. Use standard fonts and formatting, including margins of at least one inch, and include your name on each page of the manuscript. We do not consider work that has been previously published anywhere, including online publications, and we do not read simultaneous submissions.
For poetry, send a selection of 5-7 poems contained within a single document. For fiction, essays, and reviews, send only one selection at a time (though book reviews may consider two or three books in conversation). All unsolicited manuscripts must be submitted through Submittable or regular mail in hard copy; e-mailed manuscripts will not be read. Please allow 3-4 months for a reply.
We prefer electronic submissions via Submittable, but we also accept hard copy submissions. Hard copy submissions should follow the above guidelines, and should be printed single-sided. A self-addressed, stamped envelope, must accompany the submission, which may be sent to the attention of the editor at:
Prairie Schooner
110 Andrews Hall
Lincoln, NE 68588-0334
We encourage you to read Prairie Schooner before you submit. Why not subscribe? Or, consider purchasing back issues, sample copies, or the current issue.
Authors whose work is accepted for publication grant Prairie Schooner first North American serial rights, and in return, contributors receive three copies each of the issue in which their work appears, in token payment.
Prairie Schooner Book Prize Contest:
For information on submitting a book-length manuscript to our Book Series competition, which runs January 15 to March 15 each year, please click here.
Annual Prairie Schooner Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest:
Each year from May 15 to August 1, Prairie Schooner accepts submissions to the Summer Creative Nonfiction Contest, open to all types of creative nonfiction essays, up to 5,000 words. The entry fee is $20. Winner receives $1,000 and publication in the following Spring issue. Entries include a cover letter with the submission's title and your contact information, your name and contact info shouldn't appear anywhere on the manuscript, and, finally, multiple submissions are encouraged, but an entry fee must be paid for each submission.


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Samsung's First Galaxy S III Commercial Now Live, Creeps Me Out
I know, all we really care about is the possibility of the Galaxy S III coming to T-Mobile and how much it will cost? Until we get answers to those pressing questions, we'll continue to hype up Samsung's newest flagship device. To aid in that, we're giving you a first-look at Samsung's first TV commercial, and it's rather creepy. The Galaxy S III will "recognize who you are," and "follow your every move," and know when "you're asleep." I feel like Skynet starts with the Galaxy S III. Check out the 60 second spot and let us know what you think.


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Antares has announced that Auto-Tune Phone for iOS is now available. Produced in collaboration with NewHula, this enables you to make calls in an Auto-Tuned voiced over VoIP (meaning that it's compatible with not just the iPhone but also the iPad and iPod touch) and can also be used to process the voice of the other caller.
Of course, we've seen an Auto-Tuning app before in the shape of Smule's I Am T-Pain, but it appears that this new app is now the official Antares-endorsed solution.
Auto-Tune Phone is available now for the introductory price of £1.49. That includes 30 minutes of call time - you can buy more time as an in-app purchase.
Auto-Tune Phone press release
Antares Audio Technologies has announced the availability of Auto-Tune Phone, the first (and only) iPhone app that lets users use the genuine Auto-Tune Vocal Effect live on real-time phone calls. Developed by NewHula Inc. and incorporating Antares' world-standard pitch detection and correction technology, Auto-Tune Phone uses VoIP rather than the cellular network, allowing it to work on iPad and iPod Touch as well as the iPhone.
With Auto-Tune Phone, users can apply the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect just to their voice or to both theirs and the person's they're calling. Users can also record their calls and share them with their friends and the world via Facebook, Twitter & SMS.
Auto-Tune Phone key features:
- Genuine Antares Auto-Tune technology
- The ability to call any number in North America
- The ability to apply Auto-Tune to the caller's voice or to the call recipient's as well
- A free practice area where users can hone their Auto-Tune skills
- The ability to record calls and share them on Facebook, Twitter, and via SMS
- Includes 30 minutes of free outbound calling time
- More calling time available via in-app purchase for only pennies a minute
"It's been great working with the talented folks at NewHula to bring Auto-Tune Phone to the iOS community," said Marco Alpert, Antares VP of Marketing, "Based on the fun we've been having with it here, we're confident that it will inspire whole new categories of telephonic amusement. Frankly, the mind boggles at the possibilities."
More Auto-Tune Phone information is available at the NewHula web site:
Auto-Tune Phone is available now on the iTunes App Store at an introductory price of $1.99. It includes 30 minutes of free outbound calling time, with more available via in-app purchase for only pennies a minute.
- Level up your vocals with the best autotune plugins


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Advanced Search
Windows Server 2008, Microsoft's delay-plagued next-generation server OS, is being delayed yet again.
An entry on the Windows Server team blog today announced the delay of release to manufacturing (RTM) from late this year to some time in the first quarter of 2008. Such a delay could conceivably put off commercial availability until the second quarter or later, although Microsoft doesn't see that happening.
Microsoft is currently slated to "launch" three major server products -- Windows Server 2008 (code-named Longhorn Server), SQL Server 2008 (code-named Katmai) and Visual Studio 2008 (code-named Orcas) -- on Feb. 27, 2008 in Los Angeles. How will the delay affect the launch? According the blog, not at all. "The answer is simple: it doesn't. We'll be there in LA on February 27 and at venues around the world in the following days and weeks," writes the unnamed author.
The reasons for the delay were unspecified, but the blog entry points to high standards as the culprit. "We would rather spend a little more time to meet the high quality bar that our customers and partners deserve and expect. As one of our leading program managers, Alex Hinrichs, told me, "It's like a brisket ... it just needs a little more time to bake," the blog entry said.
Today's announcement marks the latest in a growing list of embarrassing retreats for Windows 2008. In a June 5, 2007 posting on the same site that today announced the delay, a somewhat defensive entry asserted that there would be no Windows 2008 delay. "Today we noticed a couple articles which have incorrectly speculated about a Windows Server 2008 delay. Actually, we remain fully on track for Windows Server 2008's release to manufacturing in the second half of 2007, with general availability following after that as usual," the poster, identified only as "Helene," wrote.
Windows 2008 is currently in beta 3 testing and, according to the blog, is doing very well. The author mentions that there have been more than 300,000 downloads of beta 3, and that the company's chief Web site, Microsoft.com, has been running entirely on Windows 2008 since even before beta 3.
Even despite that allegedly strong showing, problems continue to dog the successor to Windows Server 2003. Windows 2008 has already had a number of important technologies either delayed or killed outright in order to meet production schedules that have themselves suffered numerous delays.
One of those technologies, Windows Server Virtualization, had three key components stripped out, Microsoft announced in May. "We adjusted the feature set of Windows Server virtualization so that we can deliver a compelling solution for core virtualization scenarios while holding true to desired timelines," Virtualization Strategy General Manager Mike Neil wrote at the time.
Microsoft also indicated, as reported previously, that there will be at least one release candidate (RC) following the beta period, before the product is RTM'ed.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.
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18 September 2012
LONDON – US President Barack Obama has vowed to avenge the murder of J. Christopher Stevens, America's former ambassador to Libya. How he proposes to do this is unclear – historical precedent is of little use.
In 1864, the Emperor of Abyssinia took hostage the British consul, together with some missionaries, in the country's then-capital, Magdala. Three years later, with Emperor Tewodros still refusing to release them, the British dispatched an expeditionary force of 13,000 troops, 26,000 camp followers, and 44 elephants.
In his book The Blue Nile, Alan Moorehead described the expedition thus: "It proceeds first to last with the decorum and heavy inevitability of a Victorian state banquet, complete with ponderous speeches." Yet it was a fearsome undertaking. After a three-month journey through the mountains, the British reached Magdala, released the hostages, and burned the capital to the ground. Emperor Tewodros committed suicide, the British withdrew, and their commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Napier, was made Baron Napier of Magdala.
Today's great powers have relied on similar methods, also heavy with rhetoric, against puny opponents, but with far less convincing results. The United States put 500,000 troops into Vietnam in the 1960's, but withdrew before North Vietnam overran the South in 1975. The Russians began pulling their 100,000 troops from Afghanistan in 1987, after nine years of fighting had failed to subdue the country.
Now, 25 years and $500 billion later, roughly 100,000 NATO troops, mainly American, are about to leave Afghanistan, with the Taliban still controlling much of it. Meanwhile, the US has withdrawn 150,000 troops from Iraq, after nine years of frustration.
The evidence is clear: big countries can lose small wars. So, if massive use of force fails, how is a big country, believing that its interests or moral duty compel it to intervene in the affairs of a small one, to do so successfully?
Gillo Pontecorvo's brilliant 1966 film The Battle of Algiers spelled out the dilemma for the occupying colonial power. The FLN (National Liberation Front) uprising against French rule in Algeria started in 1954 with assassinations of policemen. The French at first responded with orthodox measures – more police, curfews, martial law, etc. – but the insurgency spread amid growing atrocities by both sides.
In 1957, the French sent in paratroopers. Their commander in the film, Colonel Mathieu (based on General Jacques Massu), explained the logic of the situation from the French point of view. The way to crack the insurgency was not to antagonize the people with oppressive, but "useless" measures; it was to take out the FLN's command structure. Eliminate that and the result would be a leaderless mass.
This required the use of torture to identify and locate the leaders, followed by their capture or assassination. Torture was illegal, but, as the Colonel explained, "If you want France to stay, you must accept the consequences."
Colonel Mathieu is the unsung hero of current counter-insurgency orthodoxy, which requires a minimum military presence in the target country, mainly of intelligence agencies like the CIA and "special forces." Through "rendition," a captured suspect can be handed over to a friendly government to be tortured, and, on the basis of the information thus gathered, "kill lists" can be compiled.
The killing of Osama bin Laden last year required an actual hit squad to verify its success, but normally assassinations can be left to drones – unmanned aircraft, mainly used for surveillance, but which can be armed with computer-guided missiles. Not surprisingly, the US is the leading developer and user of drones, with a fleet of 7,500. An estimated 3,000 drone killings have taken place, mostly in Pakistan, but also in Yemen and Somalia.
The other half of the counter-insurgency strategy is to win the "hearts and minds" of populations that are susceptible to terrorist propaganda. The Americans did this in Vietnam by pouring in consumer goods and building up infrastructure. They are doing the same in Iraq and Afghanistan. The civilian side of "nation building," it is reckoned, will be made easier by the absence of a heavy-handed foreign military presence.
Trying to win hearts and minds is certainly an improvement over bombing or shooting up the local population. But the new way of conducting "asymmetrical warfare" does raise uncomfortable ethical and legal issues. The United Nations Convention on Torture explicitly forbids "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment," so their use must be denied. Also, assassination by drones inevitably leads to the killing of innocent civilians – the very crime that defines terrorism.
Even putting aside moral and legal questions – which one should never do – it is doubtful whether the strategy of torture and assassination can achieve its pacifying purpose. It repeats the mistake made in 1957 by Massu, who assumed that he faced a cohesive organization with a single command structure. Relative calm was restored to Algiers for a couple of years after his arrival, but then the insurgency broke out again with redoubled strength, and the French had to leave the country in 1962.
Today, the international community similarly misconceives the nature of the "war" that it is fighting. There is no single worldwide terrorist organization with a single head. Insofar as Al Qaeda still exists at all, it is a Hydra that sprouts new heads as fast as the old ones are cut off. Trying to win "hearts and minds" with Western goods simply corrupts, and thus discredits, the governments established by those intervening. It happened in Vietnam, and it is happening now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We are being driven slowly but ineluctably to the realization that the people whom we are fighting will, to a significant extent, inherit the shattered countries that we leave behind. They are fighting, after all, for their peoples' right to (mis)manage their affairs in their own way. Blame the French Revolution for having bequeathed to us the idea that self-government is always better than good government.
Robert SkidelskyRobert Skidelsky, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University and a fellow of the British Academy in both history and economics, is a working member of the British House of Lords. The author of a seminal three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, he began his political career in the Labour party, before helping to found the short-lived Social Democratic Party and eventually becoming the Conservative Party's spokesman for Treasury affairs in the House of Lords. He was forced out of the Conservative Party for his opposition to NATO's intervention in Kosovo in 1999.
See online: Big Countries, Small Wars


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KALAMAZOO--Lane and street closures will re-route traffic from Western Michigan University's Waldo Stadium through downtown Kalamazoo Thursday, May 24, for the Girls on the Run 5K run and walk presented by Eaton Corp.
The detours will be in place prior to the start of the event at 6:30 p.m. and remain until 8 p.m. An expected 2,200 girls ages 8 to 12 will leave Waldo Stadium and head downtown on South Street on their 3.1-mile journey through the downtown streets then back on West Lovell to Waldo Stadium. Traffic will be routed around the downtown area to the east.
Street closures
- In-bound Stadium Drive between Howard and South streets
- Oakland Drive between Howard and Lovell and South streets
- Westnedge Avenue between Michigan Avenue and Vine Street
- Park Street between Crosstown Parkway and Michigan Avenue
- South Burdick Street between Michigan Avenue and Lovell Street
Additionally, lane closures will occur on South, Burdick, Vine, Dutton, Rose and Lovell streets.
Girls on the Run is a national program and is in its 10th year in the greater Kalamazoo area. The 5K is the culmination of the 10-week program. Girls will celebrate their successes, affirm the lessons they have learned and share their enthusiasm for running and healthy living with members of the community.
For more information, visit girlsontherunkazoo.org or contact Carrie Hybels at firstname.lastname@example.com or (269) 491-2663.


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A block-long sinkhole opened up in a residential neighborhood in northeast Baltimore, sucking in multiple cars and forcing the evacuation of several houses, officials said.
The fire department tweeted on its official Twitter account that a sinkhole opened up Wednesday afternoon in the first block of 26th Street. The sinkhole opened next to railroad tracks used by CSX.
The block of rowhouses was evacuated, and a building inspector called. The fire department said no injuries had been reported.
.@justin_fenton 26th St btwn Charles and St Paul collapsed onto rail tracks pic.twitter.com/WyZRGjZorl — Gold Solid Gold (@GoffSolid) April 30, 2014
CSX suspended rail traffic, according to a fire department tweet. Transportation officials were said to be conducting an analysis of the street.
@lukebroadwater @BaltimoreBrew this just happened: corner of 26th and St. Paul pic.twitter.com/ydWg3mAfPu — Gretchen LeGrand (@GretchenLeGrand) April 30, 2014
According to one witness, the site looked like a landslide had occurred.
Rain had drenched central Maryland for more than 24 hours.