text:
Home > Climber's Discussion Forum > Topic Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Climber's Forum
Return to Forum List
This thread has been locked
Messages 1 - 20 of total 50 in this topic << First | < Previous | Show All | Next > | Last >>
Dec 13, 2014 - 11:27pm PT
The Cold - Dance Review
Winter Ice Climbing and its Techniques on Kitchener
Jeff Lowe
"To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free…"
— Bob Dylan
Part I — Winter Waltzes
THE dance really started during the winters of 1971 and 1972. Up to that time winter ice climbing in the United States had been a timid affair at best, with climbs such as McCarthy's ascent of Pinnacle Gully on Mount Washington, without chopping steps, marking the limit of adventure. People were aware of the potential for climbing even vertical ice with the new, curved "cheating sticks," yet no one had had the audacity necessary to complete the ascent of a big, steep winter icefall. In March of 1971, however, my brother Greg capped days of practice bouldering on vertical ice with the climb of an obscure but important route on Mahlen's Peak waterfall in northern Utah. Belayed by a partner who seconded on Jümars, he led the 350-foot climb in four pitches. The first pitch is 130 feet of 70° to 90° ice, andthe second pitch is about 75 feet of 50° climbing. But it was on the third lead that a new standard of free-climbing difficulty on ice was established. Over 200 feet off the ground, one is faced with 60 feet of dead vertical climbing, which in turn is topped by 15 feet of gently impending ice; the ice forms an overhanging bulge as it flows over the lip of a large ledge in the underlying rock.
In the 1971 issue of Ascent, Yvon Chouinard wrote about the "Black Gully, Cannon Mountain. A black, filthy, horrendous icicle, 600 feet high, unclimbed." In the winter of 1972, John Bouchard started up using a self-belay. However, since the ice was rapidly melting, he soon stopped belaying and continued the climb unprotected. Several hours later he climbed the last of the bulges to arrive at the top of this climb that had so impressed one of America's best mountaineers.
That same winter Pat Callis and Jim Kanzler and others in Montana were learning the two-step-and-thunk on the Blue and Green Gullies in Hyalite Canyon. In Colorado, too, people were learning the brittle dance, while out in the Valley fugitives from the rock races began shuffling around, crampon shod and with ice axes in hand. Where previously an overgrown cloud of caution had filled the skies of American ice climbing, a new adventurous attitude was blowing in on the winds of a personal understanding of what is possible. Many of those who had tried the colddance were extremely jazzed about the possibility of making great crystal climbs heretofore scarcely dreamed of.
The next winter was a time of maturation of techniques and consolidation of the gains already made. The small ranks of active ice climbers began to swell, but no new climbs were made that surpassed the Black Gully or Mahlen's Peak waterfall in overall boldness, beauty, or difficulty of technical performance required. Mike Weis and I had both been introduced to the possibilities of steep waterfall climbing by my brother in 1972, and by December of 1973 we felt ready to try something really big. Our first inclination was to make an attempt on the Widow's Tears, a 900-foot waterfall in Yosemite Valley with an average angle of about 75°, but calls to the Valley informed us that there was no ice. However, we knew of a fall closer to our home stomping grounds. Bridalveil Fall, in Telluride, Colorado, is only half the height of the Tears, but much steeper. On completion of the climb on January 2, 1974, we had to admit that it had been a good introduction to a new sort of ice climb. Mike and I knew from experience that the brittle ice produced by weeks of sub-zero temperatures would not allow tube screws to be placed, or wart hogs to be driven, without completely cracking up. So we made some pitons out of tubular chromemoly stock and bevelled the tips to the inside. These we found worked very well, fracturing the ice only slightly as they were driven in and freezing solidly in place. Their only drawback was the necessity for chopping them out. With these for protection we pushed the free climbing to our limits and managed to free-climb the entire icefall, only taking rests from pitons in a couple of places. Mike led the crux, which was a three-foot roof with giant icicles drooping from the lip. For 20 feet he climbed the slightly overhanging wall below the roof and then knocked a hole in the curtain of icicles. Next he delicately bridged between the base of icicles on either side of the hole, got the pick of his axe in above the overhang and muscled his way up. Following, it seemed equivalent to 5.10 rock climbing. We were both laughing and amazed at our success when we reached the top; we now knew we would never have to consider any ice climb in terms of aid.
At this point let's break away from a chronological recitation of American events, and look in on the dance they're doing up north in the Canadian Rockies, where the music of commitment does not play so loudly. The technique used for climbing steep ice in Canada is best described by its originator, Bugs McKeith: " faced by pillars of brittle, vertical ice, and lacking the guts to front-point up them, I had attached aid-slings to the shafts of both Terrodactyls and had found that, even on vertical ice, I could relax and spend as much time as I wished clearing rotten ice and placing each axe alternately to my complete satisfaction." * All the big Canadian climbs have utilized this technique, as well as fixed ropes and what is much worse, bolts on some belays. The aid techniques and fixed ropes don't bother me much; they're simply slow and unenjoyably, like climbing in leg irons and trailing a rope that's anchored in fear. But they cause no damage to the mountain, and are therefore a matter of personal choice. The bolts, however, are a different matter. After the pioneer ascent, bolts on an ice climb are not always available for subsequent use, as they are on rock. This is because most icefalls form differently from season to season and even from week to week in the same season. Thus the bolt may be buried under thick ice, unseen and unreachable, during heavy icing, or unreachable and in the wrong place when there is less ice than that encountered on the first ascent. Is each new party to place a new set of bolts, then? That's absurd, of course, and destructive and degrading to the climb. If a climb can't be done without resorting to such tactics, then I don't think it should be made. The big climbs in the Rockies all await first free ascents, and many await first clean ascents, i.e., without the use of bolts.
It's heartening to know that no bolts have been placed on important American ice routes, so that a strong tradition of adventure is developing. Take for example this year's best ice climb: Kevin Worral's and Mark Chapman's first ascent of Widow's Tears. After numerous attempts they finally found climbable conditions and in three days of free climbing with two bivouacs on the climb, they completed America's most beautiful ice climb. They carried no bolts, and this was only the second or third ice climb for either of them! This was the first first-ascent of a Scottish grade 6 accomplished in one continuous push. Another climb made in this style was the Keystone Green Steps, near Valdez, Alaska. John Weilund and I started this 600-foot climb, which consists of six pitches of 75° to 90° ice,on the last day of 1975, and made one bivouac. So the cold-dance is in full swing. From Frankenstein Cliff to June Lake, from Colorado to Alaska, climbers are waltzing on front points in greater and greater numbers.
And the name of the tune they're dancing to is: DON'T FALL OFF THE FLOOR.
Part 11— the Alpine Ballroom
Climbing frozen waterfalls offers the ice climber the same sort of opportunity to sharpen his technique as crag climbing offers the rock climber. But to the alpinist the skills and strength gained on the waterfall are primarily important in their application to major new routes in the high mountains. Actually, normal alpine ice climbing becomes easier for one who has trained on winter icefalls. The proof of this is the first solo ascent of the Black Ice Couloir on the Grand Teton, made by my brother Greg the summer following his ascent of Mahlen's Peak waterfall. And John Bouchard used his experience on the Black Gully to good advantage this summer on his solo climb on the north face of the Grands Charmoz, and on his new solo route this summer on the north face of the Grand Pilier dAngle, on Mont Blanc, one of Europe's most impressive ice walls. Yvon Chouinard and Mike Covington used their winter experience to advantage on the first direct ascent of the Diamond Couloir on Mount Kenya, which has several pitches of nearly vertical ice. In fact Americans experienced in winter ice climbing had one of the best seasons ever in the Alps.
At the same time in the Canadian Rockies, Mike Weis and I were aided by the confidence acquired on Bridalveil Falls and other winter ice climbs in the ascent of a hard new route on the north face of Mount Kitchener. The account of this climb may serve to illustrate that blend of objective hazard, subjective trauma, and technical difficulty that must be overcome in the ascent of a modern alpine ice route. The story of the first ascent of the 3500-foot north face of Mount Kitchener has already been told in the pages of this journal. (A .A .J, 1972, 18:1, pages 66-9.) For those involved, the "Ramp Route," as I call it, was a terribly satisfying experience, and a difficult climb in its own right. But for me at least, the face held an even greater attraction—the great central couloir that falls from the broad summit of the mountain like the tail of a white comet. I doubt if anywhere else in the Rockies there is a couloir of equal size that is at once so beautiful, and steep, and singularly imposing. Perhaps I should add dangerous as well, for it is the natural path for rockfall. Indeed, on my first encounter with the slopes below the couloir, in August of 1970, with my cousin, George Lowe, the weather was warm and the couloir rumbled with the noise of traffic as heavy as Grand Central Station on Christmas Eve. Since that time I have always thought of the big gully as the Grand Central Couloir. For several years following the climb of the Ramp Route yearly attempts on the Grand Central Couloir were made. Brian Greenwood, George Homer, and Bob Beal managed to work a way up the ice and rock buttress to the left of the couloir in 1973. This was actually an attempt on the couloir, but rockfall forced them to follow a more protected line. Then in the winter of 1975 at least two determined attempts were made, doubtless in the hopes that the winter cold would reduce the rockfall. In the end the short winter days, brittle ice, and avalanches confined both attempts to the lower half of the face. Such was the state of affairs when Mike Weis and I arrived at the Ice field's Campground in mid-August. We were back for yet another of our annual attempts. On our first try this year our now traditional bad luck held, and a snowstorm caught us before we crossed the bergschrund. Soon the avalanches were roaring and we were doing a quick-step to get down out of their range. Several days later we were back at it. This time the weather looked as if it might hold. We had also adopted new tactics. We carried minimal food, water, and bivouac gear. Starting up at six P.M., we planned to climb through the night with headlamps and finish the following day. By climbing at night we hoped to be above the zone of bad rockfall by the time the morning sun hit the top of the face. The real climbing began to the left of the lower of the two bergschrunds of the small hanging glacier at the bottom of the wall. The bergschrund itself was impassable without undue exertions. Climbing on ice and rotten snow over ice, we climbed unroped, each with his own thoughts, for four or five hundred feet to about the level of the upper "schrund." At this point the ice got very hard. Mike cried "uncle," so we got out the rope. I'll have to say that I welcomed the added security, too. While the features of the huge amphitheatre at the top of the face gradually darkened to a ragged silhouette, for six or seven ropelengths we moved simultaneously but with two screws between us for safety. At the top of the right-hand rognon in the lower icefield, we had a bite to eat and drink and prepared our headlamps for the dark hours ahead. I said I thought we would bag the climb this time, but Mike cautiously reminded me that "We've barely gotten started." From that point on we belayed each pitch. While the leader stomped slowly up with vision limited to the small circle of light projected by his headlamp, the belayer had time for reflection. To spur his thoughts, he could gaze into the infinite darkness of the valley or peer up at the starry sky, his headlamp turned off to save on batteries. For a while the Aurora Borealis flashed. Then, as the gully narrowed and steepened, we bumped into the lowest of two or three polypropylene lines, remnants of an attempt the previous winter. The eastern sky began to lighten. At the vertical narrowing of the upper couloir, it was six A.M. and full light. We were at the top of the fifteenth roped pitch. The next pitch looked as though it had been borrowed from a hard Scottish gully. It was my lead. Initially it was almost a chimney. I could bridge with the left crampon on rock and the other on ice, while using the axe to whatever advantage it could be put. This moderate going came to an end all too soon. The couloir widened and forced me to climb the thin face of ice and snow directly. With only knifeblades between frozen blocks for protection, the climbing was extremely nerve-wracking. Seldom would the tools penetrate more than half an inch before meeting rock. The crux was climbing out from under an ice mushroom, crammed into the couloir like a huge marshmallow. It took a couple of hours before I had a hanging belay from wart hogs in the rock at the side of the couloir. We had no jümars or hauling rope. Even with his 30-pound pack, after a couple of pendulums from underneath the ice mushroom, Mike pulled himself over the bulge by amazing brute strength. The angle eased now, to a "mere" 65°. The ice was thick and held our points well; we made quicker progress for several pitches. Then we came against the final section of the upper couloir, which had looked well-iced from below but turned out to be steep compact rock, thinly veneered with snow. Luck was with us; we found a narrow ice gully leading out to the right onto the rib that borders the couloir. Several hard leads of mixed snow and ice with one or two short but hard rock steps brought us out onto the summit ice cap, just 200 feet short of our goal. In our thirsty and fatigued condition, time had moved faster than we. Our thirst was greater than our fatigue. With the air scratching at our throats, we climbed the last pitches. The first pitch was ice at a moderate angle, and the other a vertical path on rotten snow through the summit cornice. The last few feet had been as difficult as any and were an exhausting capper to 26 hours of intense climbing. It was eight P.M. when Mike and I stood side by side in the sun's horizontal rays on top.
Then we turned, and with the sun a shimmering red disc at our backs we wobbled through deep snow toward the East Ridge, which was our descent route. We still had several hours to go before we could rest and drink much needed water that trickled from a snowfield in the saddle below the small peak known as K2.
The best dances are sometimes marathons.
Summary of Statistics:
Subject : Various winter ice climbs, their techniques and application to big, alpine ice ascents.
New Route : Mount Kitchener, Canadian Rockies, Grand Central Couloir on North Face, August 1975 (Jeff Lowe, Michael Weis).
http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197632600/The-Cold-Dance-Review-Winter-Ice-Climbing-and-Its-Techniques-on-Kichener
Thanks Jim, marvelous pics. I can only hope you have more.
Your right, I'll have to make it there some day.
I spent the best part of 20 years obsessed with NZ mountains. To put it bluntly, I grew tired of them: hence my interest in Kitchener, Alberta and Robson.
I can't see me making it to the Rockies in the immediate future, but you never know....
nah000
no/w/here
if someone starts a "buy Avery a flight to the canadian rockies" kickstarter, i'm in for $20.
all i want in return is a sweet tr...
and a postcard...
and maybe a t-shirt...
tell you what, get me all of the above and i'm in for a hundy...
as far as this thread goes i'm hoping someone can get joe josephson to pull up a chair...
Stewart Johnson
Dec 14, 2014 - 07:09am PT
Bump for proper climbing content!
Trad climber
I think Greenwood wrote an article about Kellogs to make sure no one ever tried to repeat it.
been poking around a bit, and the gcc sure was the next big thing in the canadian rockies for a few years...
after the north face of mt. kitchener was first climbed via the ramp route in aug. of 1971, by chris jones, gray thompson and jeff lowe there was series of attempts on the grand central couloir by strong teams:
as Bruce mentioned brian greenwood, george homer and bob beal made a successful first ascent of a route to the left of the gcc in 1973 after they were pushed away from their original intent of the gcc by rockfall.
also from jeff lowe's ice world it appears a party including greg lowe made an attempt on the gcc in 1973.
charlie porter and adrian burgess made an attempt probably in late 1974. this was just after porter's first ascent with bugs mckeith of polar circus. [interesting side note: originally porter was calling that escapade a polish circus, and bugs changed the name to polar circus after the climb...] porter had this to say about their attempt on the gcc in an interview for rock and ice:
First a chinook came in and everything melted so we had to come back down. Later I went up with Adrian and Alan, and partway up, Alan's ingrown toenail started bothering him, so we went down. Adrian and I made it up into the narrows of the couloir – quite a ways up – before my ice axe broke and all our ice screws started breaking because it was so cold. After enough equipment had broken, I said, "Let's go down and get some better equipment." Just as we were rapping out, this huge avalanche swept the whole gully with snow and rocks. We were very lucky to have come down when we did.
Aid and Al are very fit climbers who'd had a lot of experience in the Alps, more than the rest of us did at that time. They knew what it was like to be on a big face like Kitchener. It was very instructive climbing with them.
jeff lowe's book also seems to imply there was another party that made an attempt the same year that he and weis ended up making their successful first ascent...
between porter's account above, and a mention by steve shea here on supertopo [about a near avy miss while they were attempting the second ascent], and it's easy to see that the name grand central couloir wasn't [and isn't] even a little bit of an exaggeration...
yah, that'd be the one...
only thing i can find in print is this slightly over the top account from the bozeman daily chronicle:
One of his most memorable climbs was the Grand Central Couloir on Mt. Kitchener in the Columbia Ice Fields on the Alberta-British Columbia border - a climb he did solo.
On the way up, he climbed "The Narrows."
"You get in the upper gully and it's a great gully up there," Josephson said.
Then, only 300 feet from the summit, he fell 50 feet. Yet he managed to summit the face by securing himself to the mountain with a rope.
before i happened across the above while googling, i had always thought joe's infamous solo fall had happened on the top of super couloir on deltaform...
grand central, super... tomahto, tomayto... hahaha...
would still like to hear the rest of the story from the horse's mouth though.
johntp
Amazing pic of Mike
Fat Dad
Tobin Sorenson and Jack Roberts did the first einter ascent (I think). Good article in Climbing mag about that.
Steve Grossman
The funniest part of JoJo's solo is the note that Bubba left on his windshield driving by to check in on him.
I won't even try to paraphrase it and need to get JoJo to fill that detail in.
Plenty of good tales from the Ramp Route too I suspect so it might be worth broadening the discussion.
Ed Hartouni
Tobin Sorensen
"Witlessly Bold, Heroically Dull," Feature on Mount Kitchener, Canada
Climbing 58 page 14
Tarbuster said he'd post the article when the time is right
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1856207&msg=1857811#msg1857811
actually Avery posted the article here:
he could just put in the photo links for this thread too
I've contacted JoJo and he's busy for the next few weeks. But I'm confident he'll contribute something when he has the time.
I agree with Steve, lets include the Ramp Route from now on.
Kitchener: Tobin Sorenson and Jack Roberts
from the 1985 Seventh Edition of The Rocky Mountains of Canada North by Robert Kruszyna and William L. Putnam.
MOUNT KITCHENER (3480m)
3.5 km N of Snow Dome.
FA July 1927, A. J. Ostheimer, H. Fuhrer. W Slopes. Approach via Athabasca Glacier. An easy ascent, but good as a ski mountaineering objective (CAJ 16-21).
Note: The FA was part of a remarkable tour de force. At 1:00 A.M., they left a camp in the E fork of the Athabasca River, climbed the Columbia N Glacier and icefall to the Icefield (11:00 A.M.); North Twin (7:00 P.M.); Stutfield Peak (9:00 P.M.); Mount Kitchener (midnight); Snow Dome (4:00 A.M.) and were headed for Mount Columbia when worsening weather caused them to return to camp (midday), 36 non-stop hours after leaving it.
2. NE Face/Right. As one approaches the Columbia Icefields from the N, along the Banff-Jasper Highway, the brooding NE face of Mount Kitchener dominates the scene, much as the N face of Mount Temple towers over the Lake Louise area. August 1971, C. Jones, J. Lowe, G. Thompson. Cross the Sunwapta River at a narrow gorge just below the upper gravel flats and go over a shoulder into the basin below the face (5 h). A rock buttress splits the 1200m face into two ice slopes, of which the right is taken. Cross the schrund on either extremity and climb easily to ice slope proper. Ice extends some 600m, then 2 rock pitches lead to rightward-trending ice ramp. Follow ramp to summit. A very serious undertaking; 2 bivouacs on FA. V, F7 (AAJ 18-66).
3. NE Face/Rock Pillars. July 1972, B. Beale, G. Homer, B. Greenwood, R. Wood. This route lies on rock immediately to left of the left-hand ice slope. Approach as for route above. Cross schrund at E extremity and ascend snow/ice, initially, keeping just to side of rock. Once on upper ice slope, traverse-to rock on left, which is frequently steep and demanding, and of variable quality. Near summit, traverse left to avoid verglas-coated rock. V; 2 bivouacs on FA.
4. E Ridge. July 1955, F. D. Ayres, D. G. Claunch, R. K. Irvin. From toe of Athabasca Glacier cross moraine and ascend Dome Glacier. Gain a prominent saddle on E ridge over tedious scree slopes. Continue up an elegant snow/ice ridge to an unexpected and invisible 25m gap. Descend out-shelving ledges, then cross cornice (au cheval) to opposite wall (piton). Climb steep, loose pitch to summit snow. 7 h from parking area; II, F4 (AAJ 10-123).
Thanks a lot, Ed.
John Lauchlan and Jim Elzinga(?) did the first winter ascent via the ramp route. Could have been 1978. Tobin and Jack's trip was later but truly amazing -35C
Hopefully JoJo will tell us some stories.
bhilden
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
Great article by Tobin Sorensen on his ascent with Jack Roberts. Thanks, Avery. BTW, Adrian Burgess' twin brother is named Alan. Not sure if Alan or Phil Burgess, no relation, was on the first aborted winter attempt of the GCC.
a synopsis of what's known... so far:
[All?] Routes on and Early Ascents of the N. Face of Mt. Kitchener:
1. Ramp Route: C. Jones, J. Lowe, + G. Thompson [Aug. 1971]
..... FWA: J. Elzinga + J. Lauchlan [1977]
..... M. Chapman + R. Kauk [Sep. 1977]
2. Rock Pillars Route: B. Beale, B. Greenwood, G. Homer + R. Wood [Jul. 1972]
3. Grand Central Couloir: J. Lowe + M. Weis [Aug. 1975]
..... FWA: J. Roberts + T. Sorenson [Jan. 1978]
..... J. Dockery + D. Jenkins [Summer 1979]
..... B. Blanchard + K. Doyle [24 hr. push in 1981]
..... SWA: C. Buhler + G. Cronn [Jan. 1983]
4. Rights of Passage: E. Dumerac + P. Pellet [Oct. 2002]
..... SA: B. Firth, G. Thaczuk + E. Walsh [Jul. 2003]
Published Solos of Grand Central Couloir:
Frank Jourdan [July 1994]
Joe Josephson [1994]
Chris Brazeau: bivy to bivy in 6 hrs! [early 00's?]
Some Early Attempts of Grand Central Couloir:
George Lowe + J. Lowe [1970]
C. Jones + G. Thompson [1971]
Greg Lowe + party [summer 1973]
Adrian Burgess + C. Porter [end of 1974 or beginning of 1975]
L. Bruce + S. Shea [Aug. 1978]
Excellent stuff, nah000,
Don't know what I'd do without your help.
steve shea
Ya, Larry and I tried it August. All of our prior summer Rockies trips had good alpine conditions and we had hoped this would be no different.
We did the approach and bivied on a giant erratic near the base. We did the usual alpine start and were climbing by 1 or 2am. We were using a 90m nine mil and belayed some and moved together with running belays at other times.
I remember not feeling right after just a few hundred feet. Too warm. But we pushed on hoping it was colder up high. We moved slowly, not really sure we should go on. But neither one of us said anything. We got near the headwall and the traverse right. By this time it was clearly melting and very dangerous. Water was dripping off the headwall, we could hear water percolating under the ice we were climbing on. It was just way warm for an alpine climb. So we stopped and with little discussion started to rappel off.
We had an uneventful descent. Once the decision was made we could not wait to get off. We finished our last rappel over the little bergschrund and beat it back to our bivy site. I remember it was just about dawn so we tried to sleep. Just 30 minutes later the entire lower ice/snow field let go. Some of the deposition ran right up to our boulder. The surface we had just spent the last few hours on was now at our feet. What was neve and grey water ice was now black ice all the way to the headwall.
We left with no regrets except for the lousy warm season in the Canadian Rockies. We went to Jasper and tried to empty several bars of Kokanee. We congratulated ourselves on a decision well made based on prior alpine experience. For surely we'd be under that debris. I have never been back to the Rockies for summer alpine climbing. It used to be so good. We used to call it "the poor man's alps". It was much cheaper than going to Europe and the mixed and ice was as good or better with huge mountains and big north walls. The rock not so good. But if it was cold it was as good as it gets.
Our Guidebooks
Check 'em out!
SuperTopo Guidebooks
Try a free sample topo!
SuperTopo on the Web
Recent Trip Report and Articles
The Kohala Ditch Trail: 36ish hrs on foot... to and from the headwaters. [5 of 5]
May 31, 2019; 11:57pm
A Winter Traverse of the California section of the PCT Part 8
Supertopo,A trip report for posterity
May 18, 2019; 7:33am
Balch Fest 2013. Two Days in and Around and On The Flake. The Official Trip Report
Nov 18, 2013; 8:22pm
TR: My visit to the Canoe
Aug 14, 2006; 12:29am
View more trip reports >
Recent Route Beta
El Capitan, West Face
Yosemite Valley, California USA, Apr 30, 2019
Half Dome, Regular Northwest Face
El Capitan, Pacific Ocean Wall Base
Yosemite Valley, California USA, Mar 31, 2019
Mescalito South, Cat in the Hat
Red Rocks, Nevada USA, Mar 16, 2019
View more route beta >


text:
Social Evolution & History→
Volume 17, Number 1 / March 2018
The Developmental State Model in Ethiopia: A Path to Economic Prosperity or Political Repression?
скачать Автор: Abebe, Semahagn - подписаться на статьи автора
Журнал: Social Evolution & History. Volume 17, Number 1 / March 2018 - подписаться на статьи журнала
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30884/seh/2018.01.07
Semahagn Abebe, School of Arts & Sciences, Endicott College
The most significant policy framework that has been shaping the political and economic dynamics in Ethiopia is the doctrine of the developmental state model. The rhetoric is a new form of policy direction that has been advanced by the Government of Ethiopia since the aftermath of the controversial election in 2005. The policy aims at boosting legitimacy of the regime on the ability of the developmental state to deliver roads, schools and exaggerated rates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth. After the adoption of the developmental state model, the political repression against opposition parties, the media and civil society groups has been intensified. The paper explores the implications of the authoritarian developmental policy of the Ethiopian government in deepening political repression in the country.
A new political dispensation began to unfold in Ethiopia since the change of regime in 1991. The Tigreyan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), under its umbrella organization, the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), assumed state power in May 1991. The swift control of state power happened with the blessing of the United States Government in a bid to prevent the kind of chaos that had devastated Liberian and Somalia (Lyons 1996: 122). There were mixed feelings when the new forces entered the capital. On the one hand, there was a huge sense of hope for change, especially among the ethno-regional political forces hoping for an end to what they call 'ethnic exploitation', democratization of the Ethiopian state and prospects of economic development.
The revolution was a complete reversal of the centralization stance and sense of unity that had crystallized for decades. The National Conference on Peace and Reconciliation in July 1991 was organized as the foundation for a transitional period after the regime change. However, the conference had excluded many of the political groups from participation (Solomon 1993: 150; Alemante 1992: 205). The conference largely included selected individuals and over 20 political organizations (Lyons 1996: 123). In 1995, EPRF adopted a new constitution that provides for the establishment of a federal democratic state, multi-party democracy and protection of fundamental and democratic and human rights.
The highly-anticipated promises for democratization and protection of human rights were not realized in the last two decades. A close study of the ideological merits and polices of TPLF/EPRDF is essential in assessing the dynamics of impediments of Ethiopia's transition to democracy and functioning of the federal system. Since 1991, the destiny of the country seems to be closely linked to this organization and its ideological ideals. The party is responsible for the adoption of the highly controversial ethnic federal system and the innumerable Marxist inspired policies that have been used to control all political, social and economic institutions in the country. The polices of TPLF/EPRDF have far-reaching consequences in shaping the country's political discourse. The ideological principles perused by the vanguard party are mainly aimed at preserving the hegemony of the party in decades to come. One of the most important rhetoric that has been regulating the political discourse in Ethiopia is the doctrine of the developmental state. The doctrine is a new form of policy that has been advanced by TPLF/EPRDF, particularly since 2006. The model aims at boosting legitimacy of the regime on the ability of the developmental state to deliver roads, schools and exaggerated rates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth. After the 2005 election fiasco, the regime vigorously emphasized the concept of the developmental state.
In the last few years, the aggressive application of authoritarian developmentalism has had numerous implications for the country's democratization and federalization process. The developmental state rhetoric is now in full swing in light of the huge foreign land-lease deals, exaggerated growth figures, the mega-dam building and the road construction (Abbink 2011: 598). Much of the news pieces and documents released by the state have focused on developmental issues. Other issues related to democracy, maladministration, economic challenges and other relevant issues have been entirely excluded from the media coverage. In addition to the reports of economic growth released by the Ethiopian government, the World Bank and other international organizations affirmed that the country had scored more than an average of seven per cent annual economic growth in the last eight years. The paper explores the impacts of the developmental state policy of the Ethiopian government on the democratization process and protection of human rights. It particularly addresses the impacts of the application of the developmental state model in the last decade on institutional building, multi-party democracy, development of civil society and freedom of expression.
THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE MODEL IN ETHIOPIA
The term 'developmental state' referred to the phenomenon of state-led macroeconomic planning where the state had autonomous political power as well as control over the economy (Caldentey 2008: 27). The model is particularly associated with the leading role played by the government in promoting industrialization in Japan and other Asian countries such as Korea, Malaysia and Singapore (Ibid.: 27). The stra-tegies involved in achieving economic development include 'the active use of subsidies, tariffs, infant industries and other protectionist measures such as distribution of monopoly rights, development of national capacities through research, development, education, training, stimulus to foreign technology acquisition and public – private cooperation practices' (Ibid.: 31).
The inherent backdrop to the theory is that neo-liberal ideals do not work unless some degree of economic development is primarily achieved. According to this assumption widespread poverty and the absence of a democratic civic culture render neo-liberalism incompatible with the realities of poor countries. Democratic reform is only to be undertaken after some degree of economic development has been achieved. Countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia had followed this model before they opened up their systems to a wider democratic political space. For some time, they were largely repressive regimes that focused only on economic development while being less accountable and transparent. It was only after they had reached some degree of economic development that they undertook democratic reforms.
TPLF/EPRDF seems to be attempting to imitate the developmental state model to bring about economic transformation in Ethiopia.
It is believed that TPLF/EPRDF developed the model combining the work of economists such as Mushtaq Khan, Dani Rodrik, Howard Stein, and Joseph Stiglitz on the key role of the state in achieving economic development and the Chinese economic success (Vaughan 2011: 623). Before the doctrine was adopted as state policy in Ethiopia, it first appeared as a scholarly work by the late prime minster. The preliminary draft of Meles Zenawi's change of policy was presented in advance at a development forum organised by the Initiative for Policy Dialogue in 2006. In his draft thesis, African Development: Dead Ends and New Beginnings (2006), the late prime minister indicates that the neo-liberal paradigm is not working in Africa and argues that the best way to achieve development is the paradigm of the developmental state where the state will have strong power and involvement in directing the political economy of the country (Meles 2006: 10). Meles argued that it is difficult to bring about development in the typical time frame of an election term and that there has to be continuity of policy if there is to be sustained and accelerated economic growth. Though many of the South-East Asian countries implemented the developmental state model through restricting democratic rights, Meles argued that it is possible to achieve developmental state ideals without being repressive. He cited the grand coalitions in Japan and in the Scandinavian countries that stayed in power democratically for longer periods.
As the neo-liberal market economy is labelled negatively as rent-seeking or anti-democratic, TPLF/EPRDF claim to have resorted to the developmental state as the only means of economic development in the country (Bach 2011: 650). Under the version of the developmental state doctrine developed by Meles Zenawi, the party and the state become the principal investor and decision-maker in economic matters while the private sector only plays an intermediary role between the two actors (Ibid.: 651). Though the monograph presented by the late prime minister claims that it does not represent the policy of the government, the paradigm shift to developmental state implemented in full swing across the country and it has become the official state policy since 2006. The shift of paradigm to developmental state has brought about radical political and economic measures. Not only has the regime undertaken a number of measures that stifle democratic development such as new laws that restrict the operation of civil society groups and the media as well as anti-terrorism law, other fundamental economic measures related to land lease and private sector investment have been undertaken.
In addition to the huge impact the developmental state paradigm has had on the functioning of the federal system, there are different issues to be raised in relation to the relevance of the model and its possibility in bringing about economic transformation in the Ethiopian context. The primary concern about the use of the model in the Ethiopian context is whether lasting economic development can be achieved through a model that rules out the democratization process. Though Meles Zenawi argued that the developmental state model is not necessarily non-democratic, the experience of the countries that implemented the model, as well as the restriction of the political space in the last few years, indicate that the developmental state model in Ethiopia is implemented through repressive means.
The developmental model, which is aimed at bringing about economic development through undermining democratic values is in direct contradiction with the widely-accepted view that the most important tool for economic development is the existence of a democratic system of government as 'democracies not only out-perform dictatorships when it comes to long-term economic growth, but also outdo them in several other important respects… And they produce more equitable societies. Authoritarian regimes, by contrast, ultimately produce economies that are as fragile as their political systems' (Rodrik 2010). As evidence, the proponents of the democratic model argue that the few countries that developed spectacularly during the past 50 years were under democracy rather than under dictatorship (Przeworski 2004: 21). In most cases, not only are authoritarian governments unable to bring about economic development, or even if they bring about some changes, there is no guarantee such economic promises are sustainable and the gains of economic development may be consumed by the high level of corruption due to the absence of an efficient system of transparency and accountability.
According to scholars, the myth of 'stability' of dictatorships is not also a reality, 'because they rule by force, they are highly vulnerable to any visible signs of dissent … Since in dictatorships policies depend on the will, and sometimes the whim, of a dictator, they exhibit high variances of economic performance. Some generate miracles, some disasters, and many generate both' (Przeworski 2004: 21). Alternatively, scholars recommend turning instead to up-and-coming economic superpower countries like Brazil, India, South Africa, and Turkey, which have already accomplished their democratic transitions and are unlikely to regress (Rodrik 2010). These countries achieved economic development without necessarily denying democratic rights.
The Jasmin revolution that ousted the Tunisian president Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosseni Mubarak, Libya's Ghaddafi and other Middle East countries has proved that the authoritarian developmental rhetoric is not sustainable. Though both Ben Ali and Mubarak had brought about significant economic developments through repressive regimes, growing public consciousness of democracy has resulted in the downfall of entrenched regimes. These are indications that the old style of grip on power in the name of achieving economic development does not work in a technologically developed and interlinked world.
When we assess the success of the Asian tigers that brought about difference through the developmental state model, they were more or less unitary states without complicated heterogeneity as is the case in multinational countries such as Ethiopia. In countries such as China, it is not challenging to maintain stability because of the high degree of linguistic homogeneity and cultural unity. Even in the case of China, without democratic transformation, the lack of institutionalized mechanisms for voicing and organizing dissent will eventually produce conflicts that will overwhelm the capacity of the regime to suppress (Rodrik 2010).
In the African or Ethiopian context, a complicated ethnic and religious diversity needs accommodation through political consensus.
In such countries, the appropriate political means that need to be undertaken is a democratic system of government. However, this does not mean that there exist the necessary conditions that enable these countries to build a full-fledged democracy. Since a high level of poverty and illiteracy are deeply entrenched in sub-Sahara African countries, a well-developed democratic system is not a short-term objective in these countries. However, the other myth that asserts that repressive regimes are much better in bringing about change is a more disastrous option for Africa. Due to the untold repression, the people suffer in many parts of Africa, conflicts and frequent change of regimes have occurred in the last few decades.
In addition to this, despite the absence of a democratic system in the Asian countries that pursued the developmental state model, these governments had some credibility among the middle class who brought about economic transformation. This is because the developmental state model requires a highly qualified bureaucracy and civil service that discharge its responsibility efficiently. In China, for instance, the government has been able to mobilize elites under nationalist rhetoric by mobilizing the people to reassert China's traditional position of dominance in the world. Due to the strategy of raising Chinese nationalism, when the Chinese government opened up its free market system, millions of Chinese came back to their homeland to invest and work there, displaying a high sense of nationalism.
In the Ethiopian context, the regime in power does not have the support of the middle class, the technocrats as well as among Ethiopians in the Diaspora. Significant proportions of expatriates could not be convinced to come back to their country to help the development endeavours due to the huge political deficit. The commitment of the most educated elite is unlikely to be realized without some degree of political consensus and freedom in the country. In addition to this, the regime has a bad record in terms of crediting pan-Ethiopian nationalism which is also an essential element to bring about consensus in the country on the notion of the developmental state model. The economic policy in the country also lacks the framework needed for achieving the developmental state model. The Ethiopian political and economic environment operates as a centrally planned economic system rather than adhering to the principles of the developmental state paradigm. Rather than helping to create a conducive investment environment for the private sector, the regime continues to rely heavily on party-affiliated companies and public enterprises to achieve its developmental objectives.
In addition to the absence of the critical factors needed to implement the developmental state model in the Ethiopian context, the international situation that enabled Asian countries to achieve economic prosperity through the developmental state model has been significantly altered. During the time of the Cold War, due to the fact that Western countries were wary of the expansion of communism, they were generous in terms of providing assistance and facilitating investment opportunities in the regions where they had geopolitical interests. The developmental state in these countries could not have brought about the desired result had it not been for the helping hand of Western powers that were determined to stop the expansion of communism. This situation has been seriously changed since the end of the Cold War. Not only the geopolitical interests have greatly lessened but also the economic crisis in many of the Western countries has restricted the lending hands of the West.
The only economic miracle under the so-called developmental state model after the end of the Cold War is China. But as has been indicated earlier, the degree of homogeneity and the cultural harmony in the country has enabled the regime to bring about economic development without opening up the political space. In many respects, the case of China is an exception rather than the norm. Due to China's exceptional situation, scholars warn that it is dangerous to draw too many conclusions from such specific instances since they are rare and there is nothing to show other to generate them (Przeworski 2004: 20). In addition to this, despite China's impressive economic achievements, it has become clear that economic development cannot be maintained without democratic reform in the end.
THE IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE POLICY ON DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND SEPARATION OF POWERS IN ETHIOPIA
The highly centralized feature the Ethiopian state contradicts the very fundamentals of a democratic federal system of government. Except in the case of former socialist federations where the central party controlled the activities of regional units, diverse party interests coexist within federations. The complex relationships within the ruling party and its ideology are thus the major source of the centralized and patronage relationships existing between the federal and regional governments. It has been observed in the last two decades that the principle that governs the patron-client relationship between the TPLF/EPRDF, regional members and affiliate parties has severely hampered a genuine democratization process in the country (International Crisis Group 2009: 17; Milkias 2007: 285).
The regional governments do not have any discretion to reject the policy adopted by the federal government or the right to devise their own policy framework. In many cases, the regional councils adopt federal policy decisions even without altering the words in federal policy documents. After the policy decisions at federal and regionnal levels are finalized, each local administration is required to implement the policy. According to studies, kebele local administrations have particularly become a useful method of control and political repression. Since the kebele administrations are controlled by cadres of the governing party, 'the kebele chairman and leaders closely follow the TPLF/EPRDF, rather than being representative voices of the community' (Yilmaz and Venugopal 2018: 12).
The adoption of the developmental state policy has significantly contributed for affecting the intergovernmental relations between the central and regional governments. The doctrine assumes a government-led economic development strategy that leads to total monopoly of the entire political and economic system by a single political force. The aggressive application of the model in the last few years has further narrowed down the limited political space by granting unlimited power to the federal government to interfere and control social, economic and political activities in the country. Due to such unprecedented control by the government, much of the economic, social and political activities in the country has forced citizens to be co-opted into the TPLF/EPRDF state and party machinery for jobs or to improve their livelihoods.
In addition to this, the aggressive use of the developmental model rhetoric has suffocated state structures and the intergovernmental relations of the federal system by narrowing down the political space needed for the accommodation of diverse political interests in the country. The recent practices and measures undertaken in relation to ensuring development in the country have been observed in terms of curbing some of the constitutional autonomy of regional governments. In the last five years, the federal government has taken over much of the power of the regions to administer the land through the pretext of delegation of some of their rights to the federal government. At present, the federal government is increasingly controlling agricultural and industrial plots of land in the regions through a dubious process and the land is being distributed to foreign companies by the central government.
The emergence of the developmental state rhetoric in the last few years has also been instrumental in terms of paralyzing the separation of powers principle among the three branches of the state. Primarily, the developmental state doctrine has narrowed down the political space by granting unlimited power to the government to interfere and control social, economic and political activities in the country. In the pretext of executing development projects in health, education and other economic sectors, the government has controlled major economic activities in the country. To eliminate civil society groups and activists that challenge the authoritarian tendencies of the regime, the government has enacted new laws that provide a wider governmental power to crack down dissent. The new laws that have been enacted since 2007 relating to terrorism, land lease, civil society and other measures have increasingly placed the executive branch of the government beyond any control. The parliament is highly dominated by the ruling TPLF/EPRDF while all the other political forces are excluded from the political process. The parliament does not have any control over the overwhelming power of the executive branch of the state. In addition to this, the judicial review power of the courts over the government is very limited due to the lack of clarity of the power of the judiciary over interpreting the constitution and lack of independence of the judiciary.
After the adoption of the developmental state, TPLF/EPRDF has practically used the civil service as a party apparatus. The tendency of compromising the competence of the civil service in favour of political loyalty greatly undermines the effectiveness of the civil service. According to a Human Rights Watch study, the civil service has become highly politicized since 2005, 'Civil servants are subject to propaganda meetings ostensibly to learn about government policy, but in reality this is part and parcel of a process of indoctrination and ultimately a request or threat to join the EPRDF' (Human Rights Watch 2010: 28). As a result, TPLF/EPRDF has produced an army of civil servants who are determined to show absolute loyalty to the party rather than to their job prescriptions or to the public at large.
The way the regime attempts to mobilize public support is through requiring absolute loyalty to its policies without leaving any room for maneuvering. According to studies, non-TPLF/EPRDF members or non-supporters are reportedly more likely to be transferred to undesirable posts and to be bypassed for promotions and there is lack of transparency in staffing decisions (United States Department Human Rights Report 2010). Due to ideologically structured government, civil servants and other professionals are recruited in contradiction to the civil service law that provides that the only criterion to fill a vacancy is the qualification of the person. In the last few years, the trend of compromising quality for loyalty has been on the increase in the various government departments. Despite the fact that the regime does not admit the politicization of the civil service, an interview made with civil servants at federal and regional levels revealed that the most important factor in joining the civil service is loyalty to the ideology of the ruling party while qualifications have a secondary importance. Citizens have also increasingly been co-opted into TPLF/EPRDF state and party machinery for jobs or to improve their livelihoods.
THE IMPACT OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE POLICY ON MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY IN ETHIOPIA
Though TPLF/EPRDF is formally committed to a 'stable multi-party democratic system', its decision-making, organizational principles and discourse reflect the Marxist-Leninist philosophy that has guided the TPLF since its foundation in 1975. Political opponents are always presented by TPLF/EPRDF as 'anti-people' and 'country's enemies'. The various party documents of TPLF/EPRDF indicate that the key to development is a one-party state. The vision that aimed at maintaining hegemony is manifested in various repressive measures taken against opposition party members that include extra-judicial killings, imprisonment and intimidation. Opposition parties are not allowed to operate in rural areas that are considered to be within the power base of the regime, since rural Ethiopia is entirely controlled by the regime. It is unlikely a strong opposition party could emerge without engaging in political activity in rural areas where 85 per cent of the population are residing.
The repressive mechanism used by TPLF/EPRDF has also enabled it to manipulate the country's resources to the disadvantage of opposition groups. Since the ruling party controls government resources, it uses them for advancing party activities while the opposition parties do not have any means to conduct advocacy work. During elections, the ruling party uses vehicles, machinery and staff from government offices for party activities and uses their power to create obstacles to mobilization by opposition parties (Pausewang, Tronvoll and Aalen 2002: 12). It is clear that elections conducted under such an ideological regime will not meet the standards of liberal democracies (Tronvoll 2009: 460).
Since the adoption of the developmental state policy after the 2005 elections, the repression against oppression party members and supporters highly intensified. Not only most of the leaders of the opposition party were imprisoned but also the political space was highly shrunk since 2006. The 2010 general election was undertaken in the absence of any meaningful political participation of opposition parties and the public. In an election held in a very restrictive political landscape, EPRDF claimed to have won 99.6 per cent of the parliamentary seats in 2010. In May 2015, the regime claimed that it won all the 547 parliamentary seats. At present, TPLF/EPRDF controls almost all-political, social and economic life in the country.
THE IMPACT OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE POLICY ON CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN ETHIOPIA
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have become now the most important institutions to build a vibrant democratic society and create a bridge between the government and the public. Ever since the occurrence of famine in the country in the 1970s, there has been a steady increase in the number of CSOs in the country. There had been also some professional and labour associations during the time of Emperor Haile Selassie I. However, the regime change in 1991 led to the creation of significant numbers of professional associations and trade unions. As of 2009, there were 4,700 organizations registered with the federal justice ministry and an estimated 7,000 NGOs are active across the country (International Crisis Group 2009: 20).
Despite the volume in the number of CSOs in the country, the Ethiopian regimes in the past and present encourage only CSOs
that engage in activities related to relief and rural development rather than those that engage in advocacy activities. Government officials and accuse the CSOs of being mouthpieces of opposition parties as well as criticizing them for not engaging in major problems within the country such as degradation and poverty (Milkias 2006: 15). Furthermore, CSOs are also accused of working to please foreign donors as well as the government rather than focusing on advocacy for democratic empowerment and the protection of human rights (Milkias 2006: 26).
The increasing numbers of CSOs suddenly came to a halt in 2005 when they received a serious blow in the aftermath of the elections. The government crackdown on CSOs following the 2005 election crisis was largely due to the increasingly assertive role of CSOs immediately before the election. During the election, due to the unprecedented openness allowed by the regime, many CSOs were engaged in voter education campaigns in many parts of the country. This resulted in the registration and high turnout of voters for the election which helped the opposition that was marginalized during past elections to command higher public support compared to the past. TPLF/EPRDF was not happy about the role of CSOs that gave significantly increased support to the opposition parties among the public.
After the adoption of the developmental state policy in 2006, there has been a total monopoly of the whole system by a single political force, while independent voices in the country are silenced. After the election of 2005, TPLF/EPRDF came up with a new law that restricted the role of CSOs in policy advocacy. The official justification provided by the regime for the new law was to make CSOs more accountable and to prevent foreign powers from meddling in the internal affairs of the country. The CSOs law that was enacted in 2009 gives the government broad powers to oversee, sanction and dismantle entities it considers troublesome. The law makes any work that touches on human rights or governance issues illegal if carried out by foreign non-governmental organizations and labels any Ethiopian organization that receives more than 10 per cent of its funding from sources outside of Ethiopia as a 'foreign' entity. By enacting such a rule, most local CSOs were prohibited from engaging in advocacy, human rights, democratic governance and conflict resolution activities.
The late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's perception of civil society groups is that 'NGOs can only lead to a fragile democracy which does not permit alternative paths to develop. Instead, what Africa needs is a "paradigm shift" from neo-liberalism to an agrarian democracy, where the NGOs would have minimal roles' (Alemseged 2009: 180). The late Prime Minister, who was the architect of the TPLF/EPRDF ideology, further asserted that the 'proliferation of NGOs and domestic voluntary organizations is a form of pluralistic patronage which can only lead to a fragile democracy' (Alemseged 2009: 180). Such perceptions with respect to CSOs are in line with the inherent ideological conceptions of TPLF/EPRDF that restricts the role and scope of CSOs.
THE IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENTAL STATE POLICY ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE MEDIA IN ETHIOPIA
The mass media are often referred to as the fourth branch of government because of the power they wield and the oversight function they exercise in democracies. In the contemporary dispensation, the significant impact of the media has contributed much in terms of holding government actions accountable and demanding the transparency of the state. The role of the media is particularly irrepressible when the other institutions of government such as the legislature and the judiciary are weak or corrupted to facilitate abuse of power. In the Ethiopian context, when TPLF/EPRDF came to power in 1991, a national charter that recognized freedom of speech was adopted and a law was issued on freedom of the press. Soon after the issuance of the law, different newspapers, magazines and books hit the market. Citizens welcomed the trend since the action taken to open up the sector to independent media was a watershed moment, because it had been unthinkable during the past regimes.
However, the distribution of the private press was limited to Addis Ababa and other major cities compared to the role of the electronic media that is by far the most important means of mass media in rural Ethiopia. Despite the call to open up the electronic media to the private sector from the beginning, it took almost a decade for a law to be enacted that regulates private electronic media to be allowed. To date, the broadcasting proclamation is yet to be fully implemented. Only a few FM private radio stations are permitted to operate in the capital city Addis Ababa. Many of those established are allegedly pro-government or shy away from issues they deem unpleasant for the government. Licenses have never been granted to private shortwave radio and television broadcasters that could reach the general public in rural areas. The government provides various justifications for the delays, although the real justification behind this is the threat posed to its grip on power by the free media.
The common accusation directed by the government to the private media is that they were irresponsible and were political activists devoid of neutrality. This accusation may have been partly true in light of the fact that the vocal newspapers received their inspiration from the ideals of the opposition parties. However, the major reason why they were perceived as affiliated to opposition parties seems to have been associated with the substantial violation of human rights in the country and public grievances that motivated them to publish news items critical of the government rather than having a direct attachment to the opposition groups. Such accusations of partisanship are also questionable considering the myth of the notion of independence of the media. As far as the press operates within the limits of the law, whether they function as political activists or supporters of government is largely irrelevant. For instance, how could we justify the independence of The Washington Post or The New York Times? These newspapers are accused of showing partisanship towards either liberal or conservative attitudes. The New York Times is usually viewed as being part of the liberal press, while The Washington Post is viewed as being conservative. The debate on their neutrality will always exist. Such value judgement issues are left to the preference and judgement of the readers rather than to regulation of the law.
Ideals of the developmental state have obviously direct implications a vibrant press. Due to such an ideological sensitivity of the regime and an attitude that considers free media unfriendly to the system, the Ethiopian press has suffered a series of measures undertaken by the government. There have been frequent arrests and trials of editors, reporters and publishers, and the subsequent closure of many publications, often leading to journalists fleeing the country. The critical private media has virtually disappeared following the crackdown on the opposition after the 2005 elections. In addition to this, the Amharic programmes on Voice of America and Deutsche Welle reported that their broadcasts have been intermittently jammed since 2007. The government has also blocked all political Ethiopian websites that are critical of the government.
The most disturbing and sweeping law that undermines freedom of the press is the newly enacted Anti-Terrorism Proclamation adopted in 2009. This proclamation in particular provides a broad and ambiguous definition of terrorism that could be used to criminalize non-violent political dissent. The proclamation provides that any form of support for acts of terrorism entails a serious criminal penalty. Accordingly, whoever publishes or causes the publication of a statement that is likely to be understood by some or all the members of the public as a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement for them to commit, prepare or instigate an act of terrorism is punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to 20 years. The proclamation further provides the intelligence agency with the power to intercept communications by the person suspected of terrorism. Admissible evidence in the case of terrorism in court includes hearsay or indirect evidence or any form of evidence whose source is not to be disclosed. The police may also arrest without a court warrant any person whom they reasonably suspect to having committed or to be committing a terrorist act.
All the rules enshrined under this proclamation potentially violate presumption of innocence, freedom of expression and association, right to privacy and the right of peaceful demonstrations of citizens. The fear that the government may apply the legislation to crack down on dissent has also been confirmed when the government levelled different terrorism charges against many politicians, journalists and civil society activists. Given the bad human rights record of the regime, it invoked the provisions of the anti-terrorism law to crack down on the private media. In fact, a number of newspapers have been closed down and threatened by the Anti-Terrorism Law and many journalists have either fled the country or have been charged and sentenced with harsh penalties.
The most significant impediment to the democratization of the Ethiopian polity and protection of human rights is related to the introduction of leftist ideology in the 1970s that has been firmly maintained by the TPLF/EPRDF. The leftist political ideology, including the recently adopted developmental state policy, is premised on absolute control of all political space. It discourages the establishment of independent political and civil society groups, limits civil liberties and freedom and controls the media. Primarily, it is doubtful if this model could work in the Ethiopian context where an ethnic federal system is in place and there are diverse political interests. Due to the fact that Ethiopia has been following an ethnic federal system to accommodate ethnic diversity, the system could not function properly in the absence of genuine democracy. Since TPLF/EPRDF has adopted a federal system that grants ethnic groups the right to self-determination including secession, arresting ethno-regional demands on the pretext of achieving development has the potential to ignite political instability in the country. The federal system that has been adopted in Ethiopia by its nature functions solely on the basis of consensus and the opening of the political space to various political groups. In addition to this, the developmental state rhetoric that aims at bringing economic development through encircling democracy seems to be out dated since the waves of democracy at the international level have a significant impact on people under repression. Thus, the best possible avenue for Ethiopia's future is the one where economic development and democracy should go hand in hand.
Aalen, L. 2008. Institutionalizing the Politics of Ethnicity: Actors, Power and Mobilization in Southern Ethiopia under Ethnic Federalism. PhD. University of Oslo.
Abbink, J. 2011. Ethnic-based Federalism and Ethnicity in Ethiopia: Reassessing the Experiment after 20 Years. Journal of Eastern African Studies 5: 641–663.
Alemseged, A. 2009. Diversity and democracy in Ethiopia. Journal of Eastern Africa Studies 3: 175–201.
Alemante, S. 1992. Ethiopia: Problems and Prospects for Democracy. William & 30 Mary Bill of Rights Journal 1 (2): 205–26.
Bach, J.-N. 2011. Abyotawi Democracy: Neither Revolutionary nor Democratic, A Critical Review of EPRDF's Conception of Revolutionary Democracy in Post-1991 Ethiopia. Journal of Eastern African Studies 5: 641–663.
Caldentey, E. P. 2008. In Search of the Developmental State. International Journal of Political Economy 37: 27–53.
Chanie, P. 2007. Clientelism and Ethiopia's post-1991 Decentralization. The Journal of Modern African Studies 45: 355–384.
Human Rights Watch Report. 2010. One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia. Report 153/Africa
International Crisis Group. 2009. Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and Its Discontents. Report 153/Africa.
Lyons, T. 1996. Closing the Transition: The May 1995 Elections in Ethiopia. The Journal of Modem African Studies 34: 121–142.
Meles, Z. 2006. African Development: Dead Ends and New Beginnings (unpublished).
Milkias, P. 2006. The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia. A paper presented at the Ethiopian Americans Council Conference on Protecting the Democratic Rights of the Ethiopian people: Reflections and Next Steps. Los Angeles, California, on July 2.
Pausewang, S., Tronvoll, K., and Aalen, L. 2002. Democracy Unfulfilled? In Pausewang, S., Tronvoll, K., and Aalen, L. (eds.), Ethiopia Since the Derg: A Decade of Democratic Pretension and Performance. London: ZED BOOKS.
Przeworski, A. 2004. Democracy and Economic Development. In Zewede, B., and Pausewang, S. (eds.), Ethiopia the Challenge of Democracy from Below. Addis Ababa.
Rodrik, D. 2010. The Myth of Authoritarian Growth. URL: http://www.pro ject-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik46/English.
Solomon, G. 1993. Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia. In Crawford Young (ed.), The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism. University of Wisconsin Press.
Tronvoll, K. 2009. Ambiguous Elections: The Influence of Non-Electoral Politics in Ethiopian Democratization. The Journal of Modern African Studies 47 (3): 449–474.
Vaughan, S. 2011. Revolutionary Democratic State Building: Party, State and People in the EPRDF's Ethiopia. Journal of Eastern African Studies 5 (4): 579–595.
Yilmaz, S., and Venugopal, V. 2008. Local Government Discretion and Accountability in Ethiopia. International studies Program Working Paper 21: 8–38.
United States Human Rights Report. 2010. URL: https://www.state.gov/j/drl/ rls/hrrpt/2010/index.htm.
Abebe, Semahagn
Social Evolution & History →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


i don't know... it doesn't sound much fair to me. it actually made me ragequit the game just a few minutes ago.
-when a player leaves/disconnect he has 5 minutes to reconnect before being considered a leaver. the other players can freely leave the game if this happens.


text:
Q: How-to create a REST service with Google App Engine and Python? I want to create a RESTFUL web service that gets a request via the URL that is accessed and then returns the appropriate document for that client.  For example, if it was a weather app and I wanted to get the weather for Atlanta through a web browser, I would access http://weatherapp.appspot.com/temperature/Atlanta and it would return an HTML document with the information for Atlanta.  I don't want anything that ties into a database as I am just trying to wrap another website via screen-scraping.  Does anyone have any examples on how to get arguments from the url?

A: Using the webapp framework, you can capture regular expression groups and pass them to your handler like this:
class WeatherHandler(webapp.RequestHandler):
  def get(self, location):
    # Do something for location

application = webapp.WSGIApplication([
    ('/temperature/(.*)', WeatherHandler),
])

def main():
  run_wsgi_app(application)

if __name__ == "__main__":
  main()

Any parenthesized groups in the regular expression are collected and passed as positional arguments to the get/post/etc methods on your handler.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The State of Bahrain (Arabic: دولة البحرين) was the name of Bahrain between 1971 and 2002. On 15 August 1971, Bahrain declared independence and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year. The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly, although the subsequent downturn hurt the economy. The country had already begun diversification of its economy and benefited further from Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.
Following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1981 Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organisation, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shī'a cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government. In December 1994, a group of youths threw stones at female runners during an international marathon for running bare-legged. The resulting clash with police soon grew into civil unrest.


text:
José Joaquín Vargas Gómez (Linares, Nuevo León, 28 de septiembre de 1925 - Santa Fe, Ciudad de México, 28 de noviembre de 2009) fue un empresario mexicano, fundador y presidente de Grupo MVS Comunicaciones y de Corporación Mexicana de Restaurantes,  así como pionero de la radio FM en México.

Biografía
Joaquin Vargas Gómez nació el 28 de septiembre de 1925 en la ciudad de Linares, en Nuevo León. Con la ayuda de su tía materna, la familia salió adelante tras comenzar una sedería. En 1937 montaron una casa de huéspedes para albergar a los estudiantes de familias conocidas de Monterrey y Linares. Cursó la secundaria nocturna, ya que se pasaba el día atendiendo la pensión. Estudió en el Heroico Colegio Militar, del cual se retiró con el grado de subteniente. Más tarde, tomó cursos de Administración y de Alta Dirección de Empresas en el Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresa (IPADE).

En 1952 se casó con Gabriela Guajardo Tijerina, con quien tuvo siete hijos: Gabriela, Andrea, Joaquín, Ernesto, Francisco, Alejandro y Adrián (†).

Trayectoria

Radio
Joaquín Vargas Gómez abrió una gasolinería muy cerca del Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México. Tiempo después, mientras viajaba en automóvil por los Estados Unidos, escuchó la banda FM lo que lo sorprendió favorablemente por su fidelidad y por el audio estereofónico, comparado con el sonido monoaural de la banda AM, prevaleciente en México por aquellos días.

El 15 de abril de 1967, Joaquín Vargas introdujo Stereorey, la primera estación de FM en el país. El nombre tuvo su origen en las palabras «stereo» por estereofonía, y «rey», como un homenaje al nombre de la ciudad pionera del FM en México: Monterrey, Nuevo León. En 1969 apertura en León, Guanajuato y posteriormente a inicios de la década de los años 70 se abrieron más emisoras en la Ciudad de México, Acapulco y Puebla, siendo Frecuencia Modulada Mexicana, la concesionaria operadora de esas frecuencias. A finales de esa década, Frecuencia Modulada Mexicana y el Grupo Imagen Comunicación en Radio ubicado en la Ciudad de México, deciden llevar a cabo una alianza para fines de representación comercial de ventas de cinco emisoras, integrándose bajo el nombre de MVS Radio.

Televisión
En 1976 surge Telerey, primer centro independiente de producción y postproducción de televisión en México. En 1980 se realizó la primera transmisión de televisión en vivo desde Acapulco y un año después inició la producción independiente de telenovelas. En 1986 Telerey proporcionó servicios de telecomunicaciones a diversas cadenas europeas durante la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 1986. Más tarde, Joaquín Vargas traería al país el primer sistema MMDS, introduciendo el servicio bajo el nombre de MVS Multivisión.

Reconocimientos
 1987 - Mérito Empresarial
 1989 - Ejecutivo del Año
 1999 - Micrófono de Oro
 1999 - Premio al Mérito Industrial
 2000 - Premio Nacional de la Comunicación
 2004 - Medalla Anáhuac en Comunicación

Muerte
Joaquín Vargas Gómez falleció por causas naturales el 28 de noviembre de 2009 en Santa Fe, en la Ciudad de México.

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 MVS.com.mx/AcercaDe

Nacidos en Linares
Empresarios de México
Fallecidos en Ciudad de México

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Lorna Slater
September 4, 2021 by fastnep
Who is Lorna Slater?
Lorna Slater: Bio, Birthday, Age, Nationality, Ethnicity, parents, siblings, Wiki, Religion
What is Lorna Slater Nationality?
What will Lorna slater do for a living?
Lorna slater: Married, Husband, Kids, Relationship
Is Lorna Slater Married?
Lorna slater: Net worth, Income, Salary, Earning, Wealth
How much Lorna slater net worth?
Lorna slater: Height, Weight, Body Measurements
What is that the Height of Lorna slater ?
Lorna slater: Instagram, Twitter, Social Media
Lorna Slater could be a Canadian-born Scottish politician who is accepted for being the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, aboard Patrick Harvie. She is additionally well recognized for her works electro-mechanical engineer within the renewable energy sector. She began her political career in the 2014 Scottish independence vote whereas she has been associate election candidate for the Scottish Green akin to "The 2016 bibulous Parliament election", "2017 General election", " 2019 European Parliament election".
Slater is also a Project manager at orbital marine power and systems manager at mythical place Resource limited. She was one of 3 girls from Scotland awarded an area on the Homeward sure international leadership development program in 2018. Additionally, Lorna was the candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith body within the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Being a Canadian-born Scottish politician.
For being the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, aboard Patrick Harvie.
lorna slater, scottish politician, Source: @instagram.com/lornagreens
Lorna Slater was born on twenty seventh September 1975 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is of Scottish status and she or he belongs to Scottish-white ethnic background. Similarly, her faith is Christian associated her race is white. Lorna' gift age is forty five that she celebrated back in 2020. As per her birth date, her planetary house is Libra. isopod has not shared any details concerning her family.
Moving to Lorna' education, she gained a twin degree in electro-mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Read more on Benzino, Monica Vaswani, Allen Maldonado and Lasya Manjunath age, wiki, bio, career
Lorna slater jumps off her political career throughout the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, wherever she campaigned in favor of Scottish independence. She has been an election candidate for the Scottish Greens many times whereas the party named her third on the Lothian list at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. whereas within the 2017 general election, she was additionally in an exceedinglyll|one amongst|one in every of} solely 3 candidates fielded by the Scottish Greens, standing for Edinburgh North and Leith.
She took a 25.5 p.c share of initial preference votes, finishing second in a town of Edinburgh Council by-election for the Leith Walk ward in April 2019.
Lorna was co-convener of the Scottish Greens Operations Committee once she was named second on the list of the party' candidates for the 2019 European Parliament election.
Later, she proclaimed her candidacy, via Twitter within the run-up to the 2019 Scottish Greens co-leadership election. Upon winning, she aforesaid that she wished to induce a lot of girls and non-binary individuals elective and to achieve more seats than ever before at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
The results were proclaimed on first August 2019 and Lorna replaced Maggie Chapman because the feminine co-leader (formerly co-convenor). She gained 30.2%, returning second place. As she wasn't a member of the Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens within the Scottish Parliament, till the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Later in the 2021 election campaign, she became a outstanding figure within the lead-up to the Scottish parliamentary election.
In the 2021 election to the sixth Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Greens saw their best result ever. The party gained 8.1% of votes on the regional list, earning eight extra seats.
She stood because the Greens' candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith body in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. She gained 13.1% of the votes, however did not win the seat, returning third. though she was unsuccessful in winning the constituency, she was second on the party list vote for the district and was with success elective as an additional member.
As well, she could be a member of the Scottish Parliament' Economy and truthful Work Committee whereas she is additionally the Scottish inexperienceds' interpreter on Economic Recovery and Green Industrial Strategy.
A image was shared on social media that showed Lorna and alternative members of the Greens on tenth Gregorian calendar month 2021, as well as co-leader Patrick Harvie and MSP for West Scotland Ross Greer, breaching social distancing measures.
Slater was at Bute House with co-leader Patrick Harvie and initial Minister Nicola ganoid to announce a power-sharing agreement in August 2021 when weeks of talks that might see the party in government for the first time within the United Kingdom. There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration. As a part of the agreement, the party would have 2 ministers in the government.
Co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater, Source: @edinburghnews.scotsman.com
Lorna Slater could be a married woman. She has not shared any personal info concerning her husband. It appears that she isn't comfy keeping her personal life hospitable the public. Hope her relationship together with her partner is outstanding until now. reflective on her sexual orientation, she is straight.
Lorna isopod contains a net worth price of around $1 million as of 2021. Her actual quantity of wage has not been disclosed yet. As per her monthly financial gain, she earns nearly $88850 to $151929. She resides an opulent manner from her earning. Her income supply is generally from being a productive politician, & engineer. Lorna has not done any endorsement work yet.
Lorna Slater has a slim body that completely matches her weight and she or he stands at an ideal height. Her usual exercises schedule has radio-controlled her to be in marvelous body posture with acceptable body measurement. Lorna has beautiful brown hair associated black eyes color.
Famous politician lorna is active on social media where she has huge fan following. Her Twitter account has over 500 followers and her Instagram account has more than 2.2k followers as of September 2021.
After moving to Scotland, Lorna worked as an engineer within the renewables sector.
On first August 2019, she was proclaimed as having been elective aboard Patrick Harvie for a biennial term.
In 2018, she was one in all 3 girls from Scotland awarded an area on the Homeward sure international leadership development program.
As well as running for parliament Ms. isopod is associate engineering project manager at Orbital Marine power.
She has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the district since 2021.
Read more Alina Lopez, The Kid Laroi, Alicia Villarreal and Ashanti wiki, bio, career and age
More Facts of Lorna Slater
Canada and Soctland


Verse 1: 'High glory to the old Black Watch, & dauntless Seventy-One / And glory to the Ninety-Two, who have such laurels won. / And honour to the illustrious few who bravely led them on, / To the deathless & the bloodless field of the battle of Balfron.' A note above the ballad states that it should be sung to the air of 'Guy Fawkes'. In addition to mentioning the composer of this song, the introductory text also mentions that 'Copies can only be had in the Poet's Box, 6 St Andrew's Lane, Glasgow'.
Written in the style of a mock-epic, this light-hearted ballad tells the story of a 'battle' that took place in Balfron between Irish navvies and Highlanders on one side, and various Scottish regiments on the other side. These navvies were working on the Glasgow Water Works, which is a pipeline that carries water from Loch Katrine to Glasgow, via Balfron. It appears that the townspeople of Balfron were worried about being overrun by these navvies with their 'foreign' ways and 'alien' language - hence the telegraph to Stirling Castle. Although the troops in Stirling quickly responded to the telegraph and soon arrived in Balfron by train, happily, their services were not needed as the navvies had left the town.
The Poet?s Box in Glasgow operated from 1849 to 1911. Matthew Leitch was the proprietor at 6 St. Andrew Lane?s, a narrow street on the south side of Gallowgate, from 1850 to 1858. His son William Munsie Leitch worked at the same address from 1859 to 1865 and at varous addresses in London Street until 1911. Many of the broadsides published by the Glasgow Poet?s Box were dated and some carried advertisements, not just for printed items but also for shoe blacking and ?soap for lovers?! Like the other ?boxes? in Dundee and Edinburgh, the Glasgow one sold love songs, sea shanties, parodies and dialogues. It is not clear what the connection between the different Poet?s Boxes were. They almost certainly sold each other?s sheets. It is known that John Sanderson in Edinburgh often wrote to the Leitches in Glasgow for songs and that later his brother Charles obtained copies of songs from the Dundee Poet?s Box. There was also a Poet?s Box in Belfast from 1846 to 1856 at the address of the printer James Moore, and one in Paisley in the early 1850s owned by William Anderson.
Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read unfolded. They carried public information such as proclamations as well as ballads and news of the day. Cheaply available, they were sold on the streets by pedlars and chapmen. Broadsides offer a valuable insight into many aspects of the society they were published in, and the National Library of Scotland holds over 250,000 of them.


IP cameras can do a lot more than just produce a video feed. Built-in intelligence enables cameras to perform a number of tasks to reduce the workload for operators, deliver vital business data and increase surveillance efficiency.
By activating motion detection, the camera can trigger an event as soon as something happens in a scene. A built-in tampering alarm will notify the operator if the camera's operation is disrupted.
Figure 6: By activating motion detection, the camera can trigger an event as soon as something of interest happens in a scene.
Another useful application is Cross Line Detection. This detects moving objects that cross a virtual line, making it possible to automatically trigger an event.
The functionality of IP cameras can be extended by adding new applications. The AXIS Camera Application Platform is an open application platform that enables the development of third-party applications, so that they can be downloaded and installed on Axis network cameras and video encoders.
Figure 7: The application Cross Line Detection detects moving objects that cross a virtual line, making it possible to automatically trigger an event.


text:
Home > Images Dated > 2009 > August > 25 Aug 2009
Images Dated 25th August 2009
Choose from 20 pictures in our Images Dated 25th August 2009 collection for your Wall Art or Photo Gift. Popular choices include Framed Prints, Canvas Prints, Posters and Jigsaw Puzzles. All professionally made for quick delivery.
>> August
>>> 1 Aug 2009
>>> 10 Aug 2009
Yacht marina and Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River, Oregon, United States of America
Bridge over the River Usk, Crickhowell, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe
Bight of Neckar River, Mundelsheim, Baden Wurttemberg, Germany, Europe
Rough sea on Reynisfjara black sand beach, near Vik, in the south of Iceland (Sudurland)
Famous Reynisdrangar sea stacks near Vik, south coast of Iceland (Sudurland)
Church at Vik (Vik a Myrdal), south coast of Iceland (Sudurland), Iceland, Polar Regions
A Pacific green turtle, on the beach, Galapagos Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site
Coastal erosion with active landslips in glacial till, Aldbrough, Holderness coast
Coast erosion with active landslips in glacial till, Aldbrough, Holderness coast
Ethnic Kyrgyz men, Madyian hot springs, The Pamirs, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Asia
Smiling man with traditional Kyrgyz hats, Madyian, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Asia
Traditional yurt, Madyian, The Pamirs, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Asia
Featured 25 Aug 2009 Print
Coastal erosion with active landslips in glacial till, Aldbrough, Holderness coast, Humberside, England, United Kingdom, Europe
© Tony Waltham
Aldbrough, Cars, Cliffs, Coast, Color Image, England, Erosion, Europe, Glacial Till, Grass, Holderness Coast, Horizon Over Water, Horizontal, Humberside, Landslips, No People, Ocean, Outdoors, Photography, Travel, Travel Destinations, United Kingdom
Bazaar of Murgab, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Asia
Three smiling girls posing for the camera, Murgab, Tajikistan, Central Asia, Asia
Made in Oregon sign in the Old Town District of Portland, Oregon, United States of America
Chinatown Gate in the Chinatown District of Portland, Oregon, United States of America
Lewis and Clark End of Trail Monument in Seaside, Oregon, United States of America
Lightship at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon
Red squirrel (spruce squirrel) (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Denali National Park
Female willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), Denali National Park and Preserve


From time to time a number of lots become available for sale by current land/homeowners or by the Landowner's Association. If you are looking to purchase some property, be sure to check both Lots For Sale By Forbes and Lots For Sale By Land Owners. In both listings there are a number of great bargains that warrant further consideration.
Before you buy, there are several items of which you should be aware. All lots in Forbes Park are covered by our Covenants and By-Laws. Be sure you read them first to understand your rights and responsibilities should you wish to be a Forbes landowner. Secondly, Landowners are assessed yearly dues per lot to cover the costs associated with maintaining the Park. You are invited to contact the Forbes LOA office to get the current dues rate.
Purchasing land in Forbes does not require construction of a home. If you choose to build, you will be responsible for all utilities: Power to property including clearing right-of-way, septic and well installation.
To locate the lot in Forbes Park, use the Lot Number and the Development Map link on the Home Page to locate the lot. Lot numbers start with the small number on the right (east side) increase to the large numbers on the left (west side). The Unit Number (in Blue) will aid in locating the lot.
IMPORTANT: Forbes Lake of the Ozarks Park Land Owners Association is gated and our roads are private.
If you would like to come to Forbes to view property you must be accompanied by the land owner or their representative. You will also need either a land owner pass or visitor pass to drive through Forbes.
The office hours are Monday thru Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.


Built in 2010, Wood Cabin is a distinct addition to Mirissa and a smart choice for travelers. From here, guests can enjoy easy access to all that the lively city has to offer. With its convenient location, the hotel offers easy access to the city's must-see destinations.
Offering hotel guests superior services and a broad range of amenities, Wood Cabin is committed to ensuring that your stay is as comfortable as possible. The hotel provides car park, free Wi-Fi in all rooms, smoking area to ensure our guests the greatest comfort.
Hotel accommodations have been carefully appointed to the highest degree of comfort and convenience. In some of the rooms, guests can find separate dining area, refrigerator, toiletries, television, non smoking rooms. The hotel offers an excellent variety of recreational facilities, including garden. Wood Cabin is a smart choice for travelers to Mirissa, offering a relaxed and hassle-free stay every time.


There appears to be a bug in the Image editor in Firefox 4. When you attempt to rotate an image 90 the saved thumbnail is distorted. The function works in IE9. I tested on the demo site.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have logged this in our database and we will do our best to fix it in one of the upcoming releases. You can follow the progress of this PITS issue by its Public URL.