Tuesday, 22 March 2011

John Caelan from the website The Swamp Post has created a couple of time-lapse videos that map protests from December 18 to March 7, 2011, where the protests and uprisings can be seen spreading out into different countries.
On a comment on his website in response to a reader's question he explains how he got the data by searching results of protest and uprising reports from mainstream media.

Generally, the methodology was to sift through the first 1000 results of a news search on any given day and mine the unique events. All of that was copied into Excel by day–the locations were mined from the articles manually, and the icons were the chosen by the best average of reporting, as reporting the actual count of people at any gathering is both intrinsically difficult, regardless of skew involved parties tend to apply. Each day’s sheet was turned into a .csv, and imported into the mapper, which is a free thing from Zee Maps, ’cause I’m poor. The day would be copied, new events added, events older than 5 days deleted, events older than 2 days turned to gray. Each event remains in color for two days, mostly to account for the crossover of timezones.

Mr Caelan, however, is aware of the unreliability of these results in showing worldwide trends, as he explains in a comment on this page. Because protests have caught the attention of mainstream media, he says, this map shows how reporting on uprisings or protests has increased, although not necessarily the quantity of protests themselves.
To find out more about the uprisings shown on the videos, there's also an interactive map where you can click on the different icons and read information on the protest that was recorded at that point.
Via

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Gaddafi regime fed names of jihadists to the CIA and to Britain

Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program

1
First, you must train your cat to use a home-made cardboard litter box, if you have not already done so. (If your box does not have a one-piece bottom, add a cardboard that fits inside, so you have a false bottom that is smooth and strong. This way the box will not become soggy and fall out at the bottom. The grocery store will have extra flat cardboards which you can cut down to fit exactly inside your box.)
Be sure to use torn up newspaper, not kitty litter. Stop using kitty litter. (When the time comes you cannot put sand in a toilet.)
Once your cat is trained to use a cardboard box, start moving the box around the room, towards the bathroom. If the box is in a corner, move it a few feet from the corner, but not very noticeably. If you move it too far, he may go to the bathroom in the original corner. Do it gradually. You've got to get him thinking. Then he will gradually follow the box as you move it to the bathroom. (Important: if you already have it there, move it out of the bathroom, around, and then back. He has to learn to follow it. If it is too close to the toilet, to begin with, he will not follow it up onto the toilet seat when you move it there.) A cat will look for his box. He smells it.

2
Now, as you move the box, also start cutting the brim of the box down, so the sides get lower. Do this gradually.
Finally, you reach the bathroom and, eventually, the toilet itself. Then, one day, prepare to put the box on top of the toilet. At each corner of the box, cut a little slash. You can run string around the box, through these slashes, and tie the box down to the toilet so it will not fall off. Your cat will see it there and jump up to the box, which is now sitting on top of the toilet (with the sides cut down to only an inch or so.)
Don't bug the cat now, don't rush him, because you might throw him off. Just let him relax and go there for awhile-maybe a week or two. Meanwhile, put less and less newspaper inside the box.

3
One day, cut a small hole in the very center of his box, less than an apple-about the size of a plum-and leave some paper in the box around the hole. Right away he will start aiming for the hole and possibly even try to make it bigger. Leave the paper for awhile to absorb the waste. When he jumps up he will not be afraid of the hole because he expects it. At this point you will realize that you have won. The most difficult part is over.
From now on, it is just a matter of time. In fact, once when I was cleaning the box and had removed it from the toilet, my cat jumped up anyway and almost fell in. To avoid this, have a temporary flat cardboard ready with a little hole, and slide it under the toilet lid so he can use it while you are cleaning, in case he wants to come and go, and so he will not fall in and be scared off completely. You might add some newspaper up there too, while you are cleaning, in case your cat is not as smart as Nightlife was.

4
Now cut the box down completely until there is no brim left. Put the flat cardboard, which is left, under the lid of the toilet seat, and pray. Leave a little newspaper, still. He will rake it into the hole anyway, after he goes to the bathroom. Eventually, you can simply get rid of the cardboard altogether. You will see when he has got his balance properly.
Don't be surprised if you hear the toilet flush in the middle of the night. A cat can learn how to do it, spurred on by his instinct to cover up. His main thing is to cover up. If he hits the flush knob accidentally and sees that it cleans the bowl inside, he may remember and do it intentionally.
Also, be sure to turn the toilet paper roll around so that it won't roll down easily if the cat paws it. The cat is apt to roll it into the toilet, again with the intention of covering up- the way he would if there were still kitty litter.
It took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, Nightlife. Most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. Do it very slowly and don't confuse him. And, remember, once the box is on the toilet, leave it a week or even two. The main thing to remember is not to rush or confuse him.

Good luck. Charles Mingus

The Stoner Arms Dealers

Court-Martial Set for Soldier Seen Posing With Body of Afghan Victim

The court-martial of a U.S. Army soldier charged with killing civilians in Afghanistan begins Wednesday at a base near Seattle, days after a German magazine published photographs of him and at least one of his co-defendants posing with a corpse of one of their alleged victims.
Der Spiegel published three photographs said to show two U.S. soldiers accused of being part of a rogue "kill team" last year during their tour in Afghanistan. Perhaps the most damaging image appears to show Army Spc. Jeremy Morlock smiling as he lifts the head of a dead, bloodied Afghan maThe U.S. Army, which issued a statement of apology Monday, plans to investigate the release of the photos. Spokesman Col. Thomas Collins said the photos had been "sealed under a protective order" as part of the trial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the base near Seattle hosting the trial.Spc. Morlock, 22, of Wasilla, Alaska, is one of 12 soldiers charged with an array of offenses stemming from an incident last year when the Army says three Afghan civilians were murdered by members of the 5th Stryker Brigade operating in the Maiwand district of Kandahar Province.
He has agreed to plead guilty to murder, conspiracy and other charges and to testify against his co-defendants in exchange for a maximum prison sentence of 24 years, the Associated Press reported.
Der Spiegel also published a photo that displayed the corpses of several Afghan civilians believed to have been killed by U.S. soldiers despite no indications they were combatants.
As the Army apologized, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked the phones to her counterparts in Kabul to limit the damage of a potential public-relations debacle. Although different in kind than the dozens of images from Iraq's Abu Ghraib penitentiary in 2004, the photos of U.S. soldiers grinning with a corpse are certain to offer enemies of the Kabul regime a propaganda coup.
"The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our Soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations," the Army said in its statement.
Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, apologized after American helicopters killed nine Afghan children who were mistaken for insurgents in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. The U.S. military is investigating another incident in which Afghan officials said two Afghan civilians were killed by U.S. helicopters in the same province.
Marc Hujer, the Der Spiegel reporter who filed Monday's story, declined to comment on how the news organization acquired the photos. Mr. Hujer said the magazine wouldn't compromise its sources by detailing how the photographs were obtained. He would not comment on whether they could have been received from other soldiers serving in Afghanistan.According to press reports, soldiers have told investigators that such photos of dead bodies were passed around like trading cards on thumb drives and other digital storage devices.
Of 12 defendants, only Spc. Morlock and four others have been charged with premeditated murder. The others faced charges such as assault and drug use; proceedings have concluded for five of those seven defendants, with five convicted and confined, and facing likely discharge.
Joel Millman and Dion Nissenbaum @'WSJ'

"We apologize for the distress these photos cause"

Deadliest drone strike, but not the last

A day after the dramatic release of CIA operative and double murderer Raymond Davis as a result of a complex “blood-money” deal brokered primarily by Pakistani and American intelligence agents, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked a tribal jirga in Dattakhel in a remote part of North Waziristan, killing 48 innocent tribesmen, including children, and causing injuries to 50 people.
This was the deadliest strike by US drones in Pakistan’s tribal areas since June 18, 2004, when the first-ever such attack killed the local Taliban commander Nek Mohammad and sabotaged the first peace deal that Pakistani authorities had controversially made with the militants in South Waziristan. Scores of civilians had already lost their lives in the previous 232 US drone attacks also. But the one in Dattakhel on March 17 was the first time that nobody doubted that those slain, wounded and maimed were all civilians. The victims had gathered to resolve an issue concerning the monetary share of their respective sub-tribes and clans from the lease of a jointly-owned hill containing a chromites mine.
A section of the Western media did try to create doubts about the identity of those present in the jirga, held in the open space near the banks of river Tochi, by pointing out that one Sharbat Khan who died in the attack had links with the local Taliban. However, this claim had no leg to stand on because everyone knew Sharbat Khan, the contractor who had leased the chromites mine for Rs8.8 million and had been summoned by the jirga to explain as to when and how he was planning to pay the lease money to different sections of the Madakhel Wazir sub-tribe that owned the Khar Sangi hill. Even if there happened to be a Taliban fighter or sympathiser in the jirga on that fateful day, no government or military would order bombing a gathering of more than 150 people discussing a mundane issue in the open just to kill one suspected militant. They weren’t doing military training or finalising plans to infiltrate the nearby Afghan border to attack the US-led Nato forces. That kind of gatherings aren’t held in the open, and everyone in South and North Waziristan is aware of the constant overhead presence of drones carrying out surveillance and searching for targets...

Continue reading

Rahimullah Yusufzai @'The International News'

War is sport, sport is war

David Rodigan vs Toddla T - On The Floor! - Live at Red Bull Studios

At 15 David Rodigan started DJing at school dances and youth clubs, and more than 40 years later he doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Whether it's collecting soundboy scalps on the clash circuit, juggling dubplates other selectors would sell their grandmas for, or edutaining entire generations of dancehall revellers worldwide with his legendary sets and speeches, the "Gentleman Rudeboy" is a true reggae rocker for life. Even when he started studying economics and drama, and went on to pursue a serious acting career in the 70s, Roddy always kept his passion for music alive as a record salesman and, of course, DJ. And when he finally obtained a resident slot on Capitol Radio in 1979, the fiyah was fully ignited: since then Rodigan has become a true legend in the reggae world, a respected father figure to many an aspiring soundboy, and a dreaded dominator in countless dubplate battles. He still hosts a Monday night slot on Kiss FM, while constantly touring the globe without even a suggestion of fatigue. This back-to-back set sees him cut the plates alongside Sheffield Steel City boy Toddla T. Weaned on the teat of bashment from a young age Toddla T rolled through his early years with ears glued to the speakers of his folks' hi-fi. Making beats, bass, blunts, and girls filled his adolescence until he was crowned as inhouse studio boff at Sheffield's Kenwood Studios at the grand old age of 19. Working on material for DJ Cash Money, Roots Manuva and Steve Edwards, amongst others, let him polish his craft until the studio shut, and he dived headfirst into distilling his own bass heavy wonk until it was ripe for dissemination. One half of digi duo Small Arms Fiya (along with fellow beat doctor/loafer Monkz), Toddla is contantly bringing the ruckus to the deadly dancehall table with a series of killer plates demolishing dimly lit basement boogies.
Listen:
Part 1 & Part 2
@'Red Bull Music Academy'

Dismissed as a joke, Twitter revolutionises the way we communicate

UK: War on Drugs Has Failed, Say Former Heads of MI5, CPS and BBC

(GB2011)

Gaza Strip: Israel launches air strikes

At least 17 people have been injured by a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.

There were reports of up to nine explosions in Gaza City, and in the north and south of the territory.
Witnesses say militant training camps operated by Hamas were targeted, as well as a workshop and cement factory.
On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired dozens of mortars into southern Israel in what was reportedly their heaviest such barrage in two years.
Among those wounded in Monday's air strikes were seven children, Palestinian medical officials said.
The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City says warplanes could be heard over the Gaza Strip for more than an hour.
Many buildings belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, had been evacuated in anticipation of strikes, he says.
Air strikes in Gaza are not uncommon, but this seems to be one of the heaviest since Israel's major military offensive between December 2008 and January 2009, our correspondent adds.
More than 1,300 Palestinians as well as 13 Israelis were killed.
@'BBC'

Fighting Gaddafi - BBC Panorama 2011-03-21

As the world unites against Colonel Gaddafi, Panorama reveals the real story behind the country's revolution. Using remarkable new footage, it tells how a group of young professionals bravely stood up to 42 years of dictatorship.
Reporter Paul Kenyon travels across the front line to uncover how the Libyan military fired on unarmed protestors and tracks down the man accused of ordering the shooting - Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saadi.