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The Spitsbergen Airship Museum (Luftskipsmuseet på Spitsbergen) is a museum located on the island of Spitsbergen in Longyearbyen, the capital of the Arctic Ocean archipelago Svalbard. It has been formally renamed as the North Pole Expedition Museum. It was co-founded by the Italian Stefano Poli and the Norwegian Ingunn Løyning. Plans to open the museum began in 2005. Originally a new building was supposed to be built to house the museum, but following a fallout with one of the share-owners in 2007 this idea was scrapped, and instead the Airship Museum was opened in 2008 in Longyearbyen's former pig farm, which previously had housed the Svalbard Museum as well.

The year of opening was chosen due to its significance as the International Polar Year, the 80th anniversary of the Italia's crash, and the 30th anniversary of polar explorer and aviator Umberto Nobile's death. Several descendants of Nobile, and of Roald Amundsen who died during the rescue of the Italia crew, attended the opening ceremony, which was held on 15 November 2008. In July 2012 the museum was relocated, to a newly constructed building closer to central Longyearbyen.

There is a long history of aviation in modern Svalbard, documented by the Spitsbergen Airship Museum. Exhibits include artefacts from, and information relating to, several major expeditions carried out during the exploration of the Arctic region. Among these exploits are the journeys of airships such as the America (several failed attempts to reach the North Pole, 1906–1909), the Norge (first trip to the North Pole and first flight over the polar cap in 1926), and the Italia (and the subsequent rescue effort following its 1928 crash). Also featured is the 1897 expedition of the balloonist Salomon August Andrée, and the attempts to discover its fate. It attempts to portray these events in a neutral tone, taking no sides. The museum's collection includes a ribbon granted to Nobile by Benito Mussolini, parts of the Norge logbook, aircraft models, international newspaper clippings, and other various objects connected to the expeditions.

See also

 Archaeology of Svalbard
 History of Svalbard
 List of museums in Svalbard

References

External links
North Pole Expedition Museum website

2008 establishments in Norway
Aerospace museums in Norway
History museums in Norway
Longyearbyen
Museums established in 2008
Museums in Svalbard


Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining is a fighting game developed by Studio Saizensen and published by Sega. It features the characters of the famous Shining series. A crossover from the Shining series? Well, Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining does the work for a crossover the characters from Shining Blade and Shining Hearts for this 2D fighting game.
No reviews for Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining (Premium Fan Box) [Limited Edition] yet.
the price for Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining (Premium Fan Box) [Limited Edition] drops.
there are new images or links available for Blade Arcus Rebellion from Shining (Premium Fan Box) [Limited Edition].


Who is on your list to receive Valentine's Cards?
The ideas shown are a great fit for your boyfriend, girlfriend, children, grandparent, co-workers, or even your neighbors.
I'm going on an Alaskan cruise – any photo ideas out there?
love these additional options! Thank you!


This past December I decided that, for once, I didn't want to be cold in winter. So I planned a getaway from Barcelona's low temperatures looking for a warmer new year's eve. The chosen destination was China and, as it has become the common thing to do lately, when I planned the trip I also organized a short visit to Hong Kong to get a feel for the local automotive culture.
First time I came across them on a random Internet blog I didn't know what I was looking at: pictures of cars taken at the same white, nearly aseptic corridor, with a shy driver who bowed down to avoid being recognized.


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The Claypool Lennon Delirium Balances A Classic Sound With Light Madness
By Tom Moon
Published March 5, 2019 at 4:27 PM EST
The Claypool Lennon Delirium's South of Reality is out now.
Just when it seems the shadow of The Beatles can't get any longer and everything in rock has been done before, along come Sean Lennon and Les Claypool, asking the musical question: What if, instead of ducking The Beatles, you embraced the band's tricks — the galumphing marches, the sun-dazed harmonies — and then made them a little weird?
South of Reality is the second album by the duo, who perform as The Claypool Lennon Delirium. As the bassist and chief prankster of Primus, Claypool has always been a bit of a mad scientist, pushing his gawky, tottering funk-metal creations to the brink of absurdity. But he's also a secret pop fan, who says he's spent 30 years trying, with mixed results, to write catchy hooks. In Sean Lennon (famous son of John), Claypool has a collaborator with an instantly recognizable voice, for whom this kind of candy comes naturally.
The two began working together in 2015, after Lennon's band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, toured as an opening act for Primus. They released their debut in 2016, and began work on this follow-up with a week of open-ended jamming they recorded on their phones. Then, each went off and wrote songs built on those riffs.
As with The Beatles, it's clear who the primary composer is on each tune. But Claypool says both multi-instrumentalists felt comfortable offering tweaks and suggestions during the recording. Many of the songs explore a surreal intersection — where the fitful upheavals of progressive rock collide with soaring, blissed-out refrains.
Almost every track on South of Reality is defined by a balance of opposing forces. Lennon and Claypool complement each other in a sweet and savory way just like John and Paul did. Sure, there are echoes of The Beatles (how could there not be?). But these echoes serve as points of musical departure and lead to unexpected, often beautiful, destinations that feel way more 2019 than 1969. Sometimes, the only way out is through.
South of Reality is out now via ATO Records.
Tom Moon
Tom Moon has been writing about pop, rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop and the music of the world since 1983.
See stories by Tom Moon

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hotel Justus is located in the heart of the old town of Riga.
Four-star boutique Hotel Justus is located in the heart of the old town of Riga, literally a few steps away from the famous Dome cathedral, within the architectural area protected by UNESCO as a part of world heritage.
The hotel's site possesses high historical value, since it was part of the plot of land selected by Bishop Albert as the location for his Baltic residence back in 1210. However, the medieval wooden housing was destroyed by the fire in the 17th century, so the architectural ensemble comprising Jauniela Street today dates back to the 18th century. The façade of the hotel itself underwent the last major alteration in 1874. The building hosted a tavern in the early 19th century that was later replaced by typography and lithography services, in the 20th century it was occupied by artisan workshops, pharmaceutical laboratories, and then a cinema gallery and offices.
Charms of architecture and historical atmosphere made this place a favourite shooting spot of Soviet movie-makers. Now the hotel belongs to a small group of friends that has spotted an empty run-down building and revived it with artistic energy.
We guarantee, that Hotel Justus is the best stay in Riga.
Combining stylish surroundings, innovative European menu and attentive service, creates un memorable moments of solitude that can distract you from the city rush and transfer into a world, where you can enjoy the dishes from high quality latvian products.


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Microsoft Moves The Cloud to the Ocean Floor
February 10, 2016 / Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts
By Carlie Bacon
Some like it hot, but datacenters don't. When they get too toasty they crash, making waves in the sea of data storage and access.
Microsoft is making waves of a more useful variety.
The company just launched Project Natick—a research effort that includes underwater data centers. As cloud computing becomes more prevalent, Microsoft aims to improve the ways we manipulate data. The underwater setting provides better cooling, renewable energy, and a more controlled environment than traditional land options.
From August to November of 2015, researchers tested the self-contained prototype, Leona Philpot, about one kilometer off of the Pacific coast of the United States near San Luis Obispo, California. The prototype can operate several hundred feet below the surface, though in this trial it was only about 30 feet deep. Outfitted with over 100 different sensors to track performance and conditions, the first-ever Natick datacenter functioned swimmingly.
Because the Natick datacenters are self-contained and mobile, Microsoft envisions a system where the datacenters can be deployed to areas in greatest need of data access, such as natural disasters and large events like the Olympics. Currently, Microsoft has over 100 datacenters around the world, including Amsterdam, Australia, Brazil, China, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, and numerous locations throughout the United States. These datacenters contain over 1 million servers. Even this global network would be quickly trumped by Natick underwater datacenters, which could be quickly deployed and stationed around the world.
Importantly, this ready access will decrease network latency, the delay in data communication over a network. When a user attempts to retrieve information remotely, the content travels through a network from a datacenter server to the user's device. If a user is far away from the server that is storing the content, that user may experience low-quality service and lagging response times.
While this trial's 1-kilometer distance from the coast was not even close to international waters, it is possible that Natick datacenters' deployment to far-flung areas could involve the high seas, and its mobile nature generally could spark jurisdictional issues. Microsoft is currently embroiled in a Second Circuit case with the United States Department of Justice over whether the U.S. government, under authority of a Stored Communications Act search warrant, can compel the production of data that is stored internationally. It will be very interesting to see how traditional laws evolve to address data being stored in novel ways.
Microsoft also designed the Natick datacenters to help the environment, with renewable energy sources, zero emissions, and no waste products. These perks seem promising, but it remains to be seen whether this new system will be acceptable under environmental legal frameworks. For instance, even though Microsoft reported that the sea life in the area quickly adapted to the Natick center's presence, existing laws, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, may still require testing and approval before any Natick datacenter could be placed underwater long-term.
If Project Natick proceeds successfully, underwater datacenters could be the wave of the future. Let's just make sure that Microsoft researchers deploying the underwater datacenters know to steer clear of coral reef.
Image source: Microsoft.
cloud, Data, datacenter, International Law, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Microsoft, Stored Communications Act
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Can Michael Moore Actually Change Minds About Hillary Clinton?
At an anniversary screening of Bowling for Columbine, the provocative director shared his alarming political predictions.
Fifteen years since its original release, Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine is still as potent and staggeringly resonant as it ever was. How could it not be, when mass shootings and slack gun control laws are still a persistent problem across the country? Days before the 18th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, a man in Cleveland shot another man on Facebook Live, after claiming to have just killed dozens more. Only a few days before that, a man barged into a classroom and killed a teacher (his estranged wife) and an 8-year-old boy in San Bernadino—the same city where, in 2015, 14 people were shot and killed at an office Christmas party.
Both recent shootings weighed heavily on Moore's heart before an anniversary screening of his famous documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday night.
"We could release this film again this Friday, sadly, and it would probably be every bit as relevant," he said while presenting the movie, before rattling off some disheartening statistics about the uptick in mass shootings since Columbine.
After the film, Moore sat down with legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker (still delightfully spry at 91 years old) to discuss the film's legacy, though the conversation more often than not turned to a different troubling topic: Donald Trump. In Columbine, Moore often reiterates that Americans live in a constant state of fear, a national trait that played a big part in the 2016 election.
He continued, saying that he feared that the country was moments away from its "own Reichstag fire," the event that helped solidify the ascent of Nazi Germany.
Pennebaker likened Trump to a man who can't drive, but gets a Ferrari and then races off with it. "With your child in the front seat," Moore quipped.
The conversation did eventually flow back toward gun control. Moore recalled that when he originally made Bowling for Columbine, there were ratings concerns over showing actual footage from the Columbine shooting (the doc shows security-camera footage from inside the school that captures the hysteria in the cafeteria after the shootings began but does not show any of the killings). He then brought up the deadly Sandy Hook shooting, where 20 schoolchildren and six adults were murdered by a single gunman. Moore says that he catches "a lot of grief" for including the Columbine footage, and emphasizes that he feels deeply for the mourning parents and family members. But he also thinks that if there was footage of the Sandy Hook killings, gun control changes would be made.
Though the crowd laughed and applauded, they weren't prepared for Moore's answer.


Montoya, 35, of Paris, Texas, was detained for more than a week before his family could raise the $5,000 it would take to get him released on Thursday, his wife, Cecelia Lopez, said.
Montoya said he had been worried about his 3-year-old, who needs weekly chemotherapy treatments for acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Fortunately for Montoya and his family, people from their church and others quickly rallied to help.
And many of the volunteers and advocates for the 159 undocumented immigrants who were detained came from Fort Worth. They arrived in Paris with a truckload of food and other donated items.
The families who had been left behind needed essentials, such as groceries, diapers and bandages, that their husbands, brothers and sons usually provided.
The raid did more than remove workers from the plant; it also put families in jeopardy, said Mindia Whittier, a member of the grassroots coalition United Fort Worth.
The raid was part of an ongoing criminal investigation into Load Trail, which employs about 500 workers, according to its website. Sumner is located about 100 miles northeast of Dallas and 12 miles northwest of Paris, a town with an estimated population of about 25,000.
Federal officials accused Load Trail workers of using fraudulent identification documents to get their jobs, ICE stated in a news release.
Of the 159 taken into custody, five were processed at the location and released because they were deemed to be sole caregivers to children, according to federal government officials.
The five individuals were given notices to appear in front of federal authorities. According to the Department of Homeland Security, one individual who was detained voluntarily returned to Mexico, another 98 posted immigration bonds and 55 were in ICE custody.
Relatives from many of those families ended up seeking help from RAICES, a group that provides low cost legal help to immigrant families, advocates in Paris said.
The immigration bonds posted by the families of the detainees typically range between $5,000 and $7,500.
Some families had to post bonds for multiple relatives who were swept up in the operation, said Jennifer de Haro, a RAICES immigration attorney. Many of the families found it difficult to come up with that much money, said de Haro, who initially counseled about 15 of those families.
The local contingent organized by United Fort Worth marched and rallied in Paris on Sept. 2, but was just one of the organizations trying to help families disrupted by the immigration sweep. The needs are overwhelming, said Betsy Prado, who works with food distribution and outreach in her father's Paris church, First Baptist En Espanol.
Some of the adults are also frightened because of the risk of deportation, said Beto Prado, First Baptist pastor. Those who have posted immigration bonds or have otherwise been released now have approaching court dates, Prado said.
Volunteers with United Fort Worth are organizing another trip to Paris and have set up a page to raise funds for families in need, Whittier said.


Batman is one of the most popular comic books characters to be created ever. He's human and still one of the best vigilantes and skilled fighters in DC. His intelligence (and also money) is an important part of his crusade against crime too, indeed he's often called "the best detective in the world".
But is he really such an interesting character?
Sometimes people say "his parents died in front of his eyes when he was a child, he inherited their money and he just started dressing as a bat and beating up loonies".
That feels like an oversimplification.
His parents dying in front of him is, of course, a pretty big deal, and it's the sort of thing that could drive you incurably insane -- which happened with some of his enemies. Instead, he channeled his darkness and rage to do something good.
Batman isn't a bad character and he has some of the best, most iconic and most beautiful stories DC could own ('Long Halloween', 'Batman: Heart Of Hush', 'The Man Who Laughs' etc).
Is he oversaturated? Definitely. Unnecessary appearances or overpowered skills are what comics readers don't like. He's strong and has incredible abilities, but at the same time, he shouldn't overthrow every metahuman out there.
Sometimes his best stories like "The Dark Knight Returns" are so often brought up that fans get tired of them. A good story remains a good story, but seeing it over and over -even in different representations- will sooner or later get boring.
And when people say "Batman is overrated" they probably also refer to most Batman characters, who get way more attention than most characters in the DC universe do.
It's a known fact that Batman's villains are very interesting even though most of them are humans. They can be charming, extremely smart, dysfunctional, dark, terrifying but fascinating. But just like with the hero, they are sometimes over used and often find their way into video games, movies or whatever comic series or graphic novel even when it's not necessary.
Batman and his villains aren't bad characters, but comic readers aren't exclusively Batman readers. DC has an incredibly big amount of good characters with huge potential who could make some good entertainment.
All fans want is, not for Batman to be erased from comics, but to remind DC that many other characters exist, too!


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Българо-сръбски договор може да се отнася за:

 Българо-сръбски договор (1904)
 Българо-сръбски договор (1912)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Greenville is a borough in Mercer County, in the Youngstown-Warren metro area.
The latitude of Greenville is 41.404N. The longitude is -80.391W.
It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 945 feet.
The estimated population, in 2003, was 6,434.
Sections below provide additional information and links about Greenville demographics, travel and tourism, nearby airports, cemeteries, the Mercer County economy, education, environment, genealogy, government, historic sites, Sharon area jobs, libraries, maps, museums, newspapers and other media, nonprofit groups, real estate, recreation, religion, transportation, and weather in the 16125 ZIP code.
28% of Greenville residents report German ancestry, and 12% report Irish. For more info on local ancestry groups, see the Greenville ancestry & family history guide.
At the time of the 2000 census, the per capita income in Greenville was $14,969, compared with $21,587 nationally.
17% of Greenville residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.
Median rent in Greenville, at the time of the 2000 Census, was $316. Monthly homeowner costs, for people with mortgages, were $701.
Mercer County supported George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. For more information, see our Greenville political report.
The average commute time for Greenville workers is 16 minutes, compared with 26 minutes nationwide.


Following the media's blame on recent discussion on Bitcoin and crypto bull run, Binance's CEO sarcastically tweets a statement stating that bull run follow bear run, then bull run when quickly said becomes BNB.
There's been the almost eternal hope that the bitcoin price will return to – and maybe even exceed – the $20,000 price it reached in December 2017. Unfortunately, to the dismay of everyone, the bitcoin price is stuck in a spiral downwards — even dragging down the broader cryptocurrency market. The respected chief executive of Binance, Changpeng Zhao who is the owner of a renowned Cryptocurrency Exchange, recently expresses optimism regarding the Bitcoin price.
He told CNBC's crypto trader program about the crypto fluctuating market. He continues saying "bull run" will happen sooner or later. However, most of the media claim it as Changpeng Zhao is predicting the bitcoin bull run is coming soon. The current tweet of Zhao clarifies that it was not prediction instead it was just his belief.
There are many conversations on the fun fact regarding his prediction of the bull run and bear run. Zhao shares a statement in a very sarcastic way dragging the whole concept to BNB and making it a standing point. Everyone with media took this bitcoin bull run statement at a virtual level. He meant to say that it might come as the future in the interview.
Even if I don't know what will catalyze a bitcoin bull run, I am certain it will happen… Sooner or later, something will trigger it.
Changpeng Zhao also thinks Binance, the world's largest exchange by volume, will bounce back from the 90% loss in trading volume since the beginning of the year. He feels the company is still very much healthy.
Compared to January [of 2018], we are probably down 90 percent. So we only have one-tenth of the trading volume compared to what we had in January. But, compared to like a year or two years ago, we're still trading at huge volumes.Business is still okay, we are still profitable, and we are still a very healthy business. Changpeng Zhao, who's also known by the initials CZ, said.
CZ stated that Binance has been experiencing a continuous increase in the number of its active users and bitcoin deposits over the course of 2018.
The major excitement for many Bitcoin users is the Binance announcement that it is opening its doors to institutional investors. The push towards that direction could lay the foundation for capital from other high net individuals.
– Overview of account and trading activity for sub-accounts like login history, open orders, etc.
Another major figure who thinks Bitcoin price will go on a bull run soon is Erik Voorhees, CEO of crypto exchange ShapeShift. He said the rise in U.S. debt could trigger the next surge in the price of Bitcoin.
"When the next global financial crisis occurs, and the world realizes organizations with $20 trillion in debt can't possibly ever pay it back and thus must print it instead, and thus fiat is doomed. Watch what happens to crypto," Voorhees said in a tweet last week.
Do you think will BNB trade volume will increase following CZ tweet? You can subscribe to our newsletter for more latest updates.


Make that 917 examples to hit the road.
There is nothing more heart-wrenching than seeing a phenomenal hypercar get crushed in an accident or consumed by a fire. With only 918 examples of the Porsche 918 Spyder planned to be built by the German automaker, the world has just lost one of its newest units. The 887 horsepower hybrid hypercar caught fire in a gas station, but there's no news about what caused it. What is clear, is that this 918 won't be returning to service anytime soon. Luckily, it seems that nobody was hurt by this incident.


SEATTLE, April 29—Last De cember the Army routinely an nounced that It would shift its lethal nerve gas weapons from a base on Okinawa to an ord nance depot in Oregon.
Nearly five months have passed since that announcement and the gas has yet to be taken off Okinawa. But the proposed shipment has stirred a growing and bitter dispute across the Pacific Northwest.
The Governors of Washington and Oregon have filed a suit in Federal Court, seeking an in junction that would halt the shipments. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a sim ilar suit and another has been brought by a group of private citizens.
The Defense Department agreed last week to delay ship ment until the courts rule. No trial dates have been set, and the court is considering a mo tion to consolidate the suits.
In Portland, Ore., a group that is known as People Against Nerve Gas (PANG) has been formed and 11 supporting chap ters have sprung up across the Northwest. The Seattle chapter has scheduled Nerve Gas Week to begin Monday. It plans semi nars, leaflets distribution and demonstrations‐to gets its mes sage to the public.
Some radicals have let it be known that they are prepared to use their bodies to halt the trains that will carry the gas across Washington into Oregon. Gov. Daniel J. Evans of Washington and others have also said there are rumors that militants plan to fire high‐pow ered rifles at the cars carrying the deadly chemicals.
Dr. Kilgour is chairman of the original PANG group. He believes there is too much risk involved in shipping the gas and that the Army should abandon the idea.
His position has wide sup port. Among those opposing the shipment in addition to Gov ernor Evans and Gov. Tom Mc Call of Oregon are Senators Warren G. Magnuson, Demo crat of Washington, and Mark O. Hatfield and Robert W. Packwood, Republicans of Ore gon. Numerous state and local elected officials have called on the Government to dispose of the gas rather than transport it back to the United States.
Some 200,000 persons in the two states have either signed petitions, written letters or sent telegrams protesting the pro posed shipment.
There are two basic reasons for the concern. One is the na ture of the gas itself. The other is the growing doubt that it can be shipped across Washing ton and into Oregon without accident.
According to informed sources, exposure to nerve gas will kill an individual in less than 15 minutes. Atropine, a white crystaline alkaloid ex tracted from belladonna and other plants, has been effective in combatting the effects of nerve gas but only if it is in jected into the blood stream within seconds of exposure. An individual may be exposed to the gas by breathing it, eating something that has been con taminated and by absorption through the skin.
Although the Army has not said exactly how much gas it plans to transport from Okina wa, informed sources have esti mated that the shipment in volves some 8,000 to 12,000 tons and includes two types of nerve gas and some mustard gas. According to preliminary plans, the gas will be shipped from Okinawa to Bangor, where it will be loaded onto 744 rail road cars — and shipped 340 miles in 127 trains to the Uma tilla Army Depot near Hermis ton, Ore for storage. It is esti mated that 34 days would elapse from departure of the first train to arrival of the last train at the depot. The gas would be shipped in bombs, rockets and projectiles.
Because injections would have to be given within seconds of exposure, Dr. Kilgour said that it is a "hoax" to say that there is any treatment for an exposed population of any size.
The proposed route goes past a number of major cities, in cluding seattle, Tacoma, Olym pia and Vancouver in Washing ton and Portland, Ore.
A major issue in the suit filed by the Governors is the as signment by the Defense De partment of responsibility toi thu states for "contingency evacuation and maintenance of clear tracks." The states main tain that the Defense Depart ment has no authority to re quire the states to perform these duties, which they say are military.
Although no gas has yet been moved from Okinawa, the ships that would transport the weap ons are currently on standby near the island.


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GREENVILLE, S.C., Sept. 11, 2018 – In preparation for Hurricane Florence, Fatz Southern Kitchen is offering services and discounts to help travelers and surrounding communities brace for a week of potentially dangerous weather in the Carolinas.
Fatz will extend operating hours and offer meal delivery service to hotels, shelters and residences. Fatz locations will also offer complimentary Wifi, and many have extra parking for RVs and trailers. There are over 20 Fatz restaurants located on evacuation routes, interstate and highways in the Carolinas that will be stocked and open for business.
Buy One Calabash Entrée, Get One Calabash Entrée FREE – valid anytime with purchase of two beverages.
Buy One Burger, Get One Burger FREE – valid at lunch with purchase of two beverages.
A few exclusions apply and a coupon is required to redeem the offer. Full details and printable coupons can be found on fatz.com/coupons.
Fatz Southern Kitchen was founded in 1988 as Fatz Cafe in Spartanburg, S.C. Thirty years later, the brand is thriving with Southern-inspired, chef-crafted and uniquely craveable food served with genuine Southern hospitality. Fatz Southern Kitchen operates 40 restaurants in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia and is owned and operated by Cafe Enterprises Inc. in Taylors, S.C. To learn more, visit www.fatz.com.


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Mapping the Historic Green Books: The African American Travelers' Guide
by UVA Lifetime Learning
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Speakers: Malo A. Hutson, Louis P. Nelson, Olivia Pettee, Catherine W. Zipf
Virtual Event with Live Captioning
Mapping the Historic Green Books: Architectural History of the African American Travelers' Guide
Join Malo Hutson, Dean, School of Architecture, and Louis Nelson, Vice Provost of Academic Outreach, for an afternoon of conversation with student and alumni volunteers who are spearheading an important digital project to document and map Green Book sites across the country. Made famous by the 2018 film, The Green Book was an annual publication that listed motels, restaurants, and other establishments where African American travelers could stay during the Jim Crow era.
This #faculty #digitalevent is #open to all alumni, friends, and families.
Speaker Biographies
Malo A. Hutson, Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor, School of Architecture
Malo André Hutson, Ph.D., MCP, Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor at the University of Virginia's School of Architecture, is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the areas of community development, climate resilience, environmental justice, and urban health. As a scholar, teacher, and practitioner, he focuses on the nexus of environmental, architectural, and urban equity practices. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the Salzburg Global Fellowship, two Mellon Fellowships, and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Scholar Fellowship, among others. He served as tenured professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University where he was a director of the Urban Planning Ph.D. Program and the Urban Community and Health Equity Lab. He was also the director of project development for Columbia World Projects, a university-wide initiative that mobilizes researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses, and communities to tackle global challenges. Hutson has also held academic leadership appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, serving as Associate Director of the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning (IURD) and the Chair of the Urban Studies Program.
Hutson has worked nationally and internationally on community-centered projects that improve the economic, environmental, political, and social well-being of urban residents. His research and writing have been recognized by numerous awards and grants, and his most recent book, The Urban Struggle for Economic, Environmental, and Social Justice: Deepening Their Roots (Routledge, 2016), explores the efforts by coalitions of residents, community leaders, unions, and others to resist displacement as a result of neighborhood change and gentrification.
As an expert leader in the areas of community development, environmental justice, and urban health, Hutson was invited to participate in the Obama Administration's White House Forum on Environmental Justice, has advised the PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project, and spearheaded a community-driven process for the development of the Oakland Unified School District, among many other projects.
Hutson received his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master of City Planning degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition, Hutson is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program where he was a fellow at the University of Michigan's Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health within the School of Public Health.
Louis P. Nelson, Vice Provost for Academic Outreach, Office of the Provost and Professor of Architectural History, School of Architecture
Louis P. Nelson is Professor of Architectural History and the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach in the Office of the Provost at the University of Virginia. He is a specialist in the built environments of the early modern Atlantic world, with published work on the American South, the Caribbean, and West Africa.
His research engages the spaces of enslavement in West Africa and in the Americas, working to document and interpret the buildings and landscapes that shaped the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Nelson is working on a second collaborative project to understand the University of Virginia as a landscape of slavery.
That important work, combined with the events of August 2017, led to Nelson's co-edited book of essays: Charlottesville 2017: The Legacy of Race and Inequity and increased focus on outreach into the local community. His first-hand experience with the recent conflicts in Charlottesville combined with his enslaved-labor research brings an informed scholarly perspective to global racial issues, historical and present, makes Nelson a sought-after speaker in Charlottesville, across the country, and internationally.
Nelson is an accomplished scholar, with two book-length monographs published by UNC and Yale University Presses, three edited collections of essays, two terms as senior co-editor of Buildings and Landscapes--the leading English language venue for scholarship on vernacular architecture--and numerous articles.
Olivia Pettee, UVA Student, American Studies and Art History
Olivia Pettee is a second-year student at the University of Virginia studying American Studies and Art History. Olivia brings a deep curiosity for storytelling and how it can be used as a tool to create an impact, whether it is through historical, visual, or entrepreneurial means. She is a research assistant for The Architecture of the Negro Travelers' Green Book, a gallery assistant for the Ruffin Gallery, and a consultant for the Speaking Center at UVA.
Catherine W. Zipf, Architectural Historian, '96 and '01
Award-winning architectural historian Catherine W. Zipf studies the underdogs (and the elites when they were underdogs) of American architectural history. With an interest in race and gender, Zipf reconstructs lost or overlooked histories, providing a new, often surprising, viewpoint on the traditional narrative. Recent projects include Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, a book that examines Wright's career before the construction of Fallingwater, and The Architecture of the Negro Travelers' Green Book, a public catalogue of Green Book sites.
Organizer UVA Lifetime Learning
Organizer of Mapping the Historic Green Books: The African American Travelers' Guide
Enriches the intellectual life of UVA's alumni, parents and friends through faculty lectures and online resources.
https://engagement.virginia.edu/learn


Open Black Belt is a web-based martial arts software with student and class management, attendance tracking, rank tracking, mass communication, payment processing, a mobile app, and more. The platform provides users with everything they need to run their dojo, gym, yoga studio, school or facility, and is easily accessible online.
Users can store student information including their names, attendance records, contact info, birthdays and age in a central location. The online payment portal allows students to make payments online, and schools can setup recurring billing. With Open Black Belt, users can quickly search and find members in the system database and make changes to their contact information, as well as track attendance through the student self-check-in tool. Each member gets a unique ID, and barcodes and swipe cards can also be setup.
Open Black Belt provides users with reports which include graphs and charts for insights into the performance of the business. Mass communication tools enable users to send email and SMS messages for notifications, campaigns, and more. The cloud-based solution is also available as on-premise deployment.
I enjoyed the simplicity and minimalist design with open black belt. It was incredibly helpful to have a free option to go in and try it out before I purchased anything. I found it easy to add members and programs and communicate with my members. Ultimately, it lacked some functionality in the payment and point of sale areas. To put this in context, the payment options for recurring billing and such were just getting started with openblackbelt while I was a full member so that may have changed now. I had signed up with openblackbelt as I was tired of mindbody online (too many unused options for me) but the payment integration was still in progress and I was not able to wait to get everything worked out. The merchant processor (Signa pay I think) also lacked POS support so ultimately I had to have two separate programs. This simply became too much hassle to deal with on a consistent basis and I found another place that could do both pretty week.. Overall, I was pleased with openblackbelt. I needed something with a integrated POS option and recurring billing support in one spot, and that was something I had to find elsewhere.
This program serves all my needs for my martial arts program! If I have had an issue, it has been resolved promptly, customer service is,quick and amazing!The ease of use, that it's designed specifically for the purpose of managing my system.
The ease of use, that it's designed specifically for the purpose of managing my system.
Their app isn't ready... yet!
A key part of our dojo!
Open Black Belt Pro has streamlined our student tracking and sign-in practices. We were using the classic "binder" method of storing registration forms and having students check off the date as they attended class. Now, with Open Black Belt, we store our forms in a box and use the "Self Check-in" system with barcodes. We purchased a laptop and barcode scanner gun primarily for this purpose. We are also able to use an iPad during class to make notes on students or to do check-in manually. All of our Senseis can access student information from home to check attendance to help prepare for gradings and other events. The "Customer Support" is second to none! Open Black Belt is constantly asking its users for suggestions and to try new additions to the system. Any time we have needed assistance for something Open Black Belt has responded quickly with easy-to-follow instructions. Joining OBB Pro has proven to be a wise, and affordable, investment for our dojo. We couldn't be happier with Open Black Belt.
Thanks for being such a wonderful customer, we are glad to hear Open Black Belt is an integral part of your school.
Excelent, Easy to use software. I love it.
Layed out nicely. Does everthing I need it to do. Does everthing they claim it can do. I always had everything available at a quick glance and/or click.Ease of use. Very easy to use, interact with and understand.
Ease of use. Very easy to use, interact with and understand.
I can't think of any cons. It did exactly what I needed it to do.
Thanks for the review. We would love to hear your ideas on new marketing tools we can implement for the future. Please feel free to contact us.
Free 30 day Trial available. No credit card needed.
• ID's provided for self-check-in attendance can be created and scanned using a barcode scanner to allow a faster kiosk-based check-in for students.
• Open Black Belt provides multiple email templates to help users save time on drafting an email, whether for a member, group or class.
• Open Black Belt can be accessed via mobile device, allowing users to access important information while on-the-go via their smartphones and tablets.
• Groups can be created to divide members into sections without assigning specific classes. Create sections of members such as Little Tigers, Blue Belts, Brown Belts, and more.
• Open Black Belt can process credit cards and track memberships, and enables students to easily set up recurring billing.
Below are some frequently asked questions for Open Black Belt.
Q. What type of pricing plans does Open Black Belt offer?
Q. Who are the typical users of Open Black Belt?
Q. What languages does Open Black Belt support?
Q. Does Open Black Belt support mobile devices?
Q. Does Open Black Belt offer an API?
No, Open Black Belt does not have an API available.
Q. What other apps does Open Black Belt integrate with?
Q. What level of support does Open Black Belt offer?


text:
The e-invoicing: the evolution to the new format
In January 2013 came into force on "Real Decreto 1619/2012". With this new regulation is intended to give a boost to the invoice in this format, giving it the same treatment as the paper invoice. In order to reduce costs and make more competitive to business.
Written by Paco Ávila on 3 February 2014
In January 2013 came into force on "Real Decreto 1619/2012" laying down the rules governing the invoicing obligations, which also affected the electronic invoice.
We define E-invoicing as one that has been issued and received like telematics form. And also is conditional on the recipient has consented to receive such invoice.
With this new regulation is intended to give a boost to the invoice in this format, giving it the same treatment as the paper invoice. In order to reduce costs and make more competitive to business.
The novelty in terms of electronic invoice that includes this "Real Decreto" is, among other, the unnecessary act of an advanced electronic signature. That is, it's not mandatory the electronic data interchange (EDI), although its use is recommended to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the content of invoice.
In addition to a number of modifications to the electronic invoice, this regulation creates two new types of invoices:
Full and ordinary invoice.
The simplified invoice, which replaces the so-called "tiques". They have a smaller content than the full or ordinary invoices.
Content and requirements of electronic invoicing
The electronic invoice must have the same data requirements as paper invoices. And are:
Number and series. The numbering of invoices within each series will be correlated.
The date of issue.
The name, full name or company name.
Tax Identification Number assigned by the Spanish tax authorities or, where applicable, by another Member State of the European Union.
Description of Operations.
The tax rate.
The tax liability.
The date on which the operations were carried out.
Both paper invoices and electronic invoices must be retained in any means possible to ensure its authenticity and integrity of its contents. So in OpenKM, we have incorporated a module that allows you to manage these types of documents, from validating the digital signature invoice by up to send notifications to those interested.
If you need to know more about this module, you can access our section on Electronic Invoicing or, contact us via the contact form.


text:
H&M's New Collaboration is Stunning
The Swede brand supports a newcomer.
By Kerry Pieri
Courtesy H&M
While the fashion-lovers of the world at large are waiting with bated breath for the Alexander Wang x H&M collaboration to hit stores in early November, the Swede fashion giant is offering up an added dose of high fashion in the interim. The winner of the H&M Design Award 2014, Eddy Anemian, is a 24 year-old student at La Cambre in Brussels with an eye for color and dreamy prints on tailored ready-to-wear. The designer walked with $50,000 euros and the opportunity to sell his pieces at select H&M stores and online this fall after being chosen as the winner by a panel of experts. Judges include H&M's creative head of design Ann-Sofie Johansson, and H&M's creative advisor Margareta van den Bosch, Erdem Moralioglu, Michelle Dockery, Michelle Harper and more chose.
"Eddy's work was very beautiful," Erdem explains of his choice, "The textile techniques used were interesting, as well as the elegant silhouettes he created. The future is very bright for him. I'm excited to see what he will do next." The collection was inspired by Tilda Swinton in the movie I Am Love, and the French painter Ingres.
This is the third year of the H&M Design Award, with students from 32 schools participating. The collection launches on October 23.
More From Trends & Shopping Guides
Wardrobe.NYC Partnered with Levi's on a Collab
Your Ultimate Guide to White Sneakers
Outfit Dissecting with Tracy Georgiou
8 Types Of Bags To See You Through Every Season
It's In the Jeans: Inspiring Celebrity Denim
Meet Pompom, a Bold Post-Workout Brand
These Giant Scrunchies Were Made for Being Extra
Meet H &M's Latest Rising Star
Vacation Mode: Spring Break Shopping
The Extras: Emerald City
Designer Collaboration of the Year: Lanvin for H&M


At long last, we are getting ready to send Sage to the printer in the next month or so. Little did I know that actually writing the poems was only one step on this long, but gratifying, road to a finished book with my collaborative partner Claire Owen.
We've decided to tackle the printing and distribution ourselves partly because we are control freaks, partly because we are on a deadline for the May 2012 exhibition at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and partly because poetry publishing is such a crap shoot, even for a book that isn't four-color, an unusual shape, and based on an 17th century botanical reference book.
It would be great if you can email us and let us know if you are planning to buy a copy (for about $20) so we can figure out how many to print. We hope to have the book in hand by late March. You can email me directly here.
Sage moves from the innocence of childhood and spring (see the opening poem, Air, in my December 2010 post) to the realities of winter, aging...and regret. Here is the poem that opens the last section of the book.


text:
Tag: EU
The North is innovative!
On August 10, 2021 By fstammleIn All, Announcements, Fennoscandia, Theoretical IssuesLeave a comment
our university r&d department just shared an EU report, where Finland and Sweden lead their EU-internal rating for innovativeness.
Nice to see that the North leads the way there! We know that the Arctic is at the forefront when it comes to noticing the changing climate, and people in the North, particularly those who live in close contact with the environment round the year, have proved their impressive adaptability to these changing conditions. Good that this tendency also translates into a national level. If countries in the Arctic can lead innovations towards a better life on our planet, so should anthropology from and on the Arctic aim to lead the way for innovative research on social and cultural diversity and the ways how human social groups thrive in a changing environment!
Of course as anthropologists doing fieldwork with a focus on qualitative long-term participation in people's life, we may be skeptical of the methods of these ratings and reports that base solely on statistical indicators such as numbers of university graduates, share of budgets invested in research, numbers of registered patents and designs, level of broadband internet penetration throughout the country, and the like. We are used to looking beyond these numbers and explain the deeper reasons for the ways in which societies and cultures innovate. Innovation is nothing new. Indigenous and local people in the Arctic have applied innovations as long as they lived in that environment, and continue to do so. We can explain the principles of such processes. Let's live up to this expectation:)


'Women as Lovers' is the sixth studio album by American indie band Xiu Xiu. It will be released on January 29, 2008 by Kill Rock Stars, and shares its title with the Martin Chalmers translation of Elfriede Jelinek's 1975 novel 'Die Liebhaberinnen'.
The album is reported to be "more approachable or communicative on a basic human level" than anything else the band has released. The first track, "I Do What I Want When I Want", was released on December 11 via Pitchfork Media's "Forkcast", and is also available free of charge from Kill Rock Stars' webstore.


The Wooden Bottom Waste Basket has oak plywood tacked to its base both inside and out so that it is bottom heavy - not tipsy. It has several rounds of triple rod waling around a 2" strip of tulip poplar and leather bushel basket handles. The Wooden Bottom Waste Basket is very attractive in the den or boy's bedroom.


Selling my son's green machine drift scooter. Tired of it just sitting in garage. Hardly used and in excellent condition.
$120 each or $200for both. Selling due to upgrade. Message for detales and more photos. . Dont contact via email.
Bars are oversize, Scooter is in good condition, please do not hesitate to ask any questions.
Komplex cocanut design (skateboard) $20 Scooter has been sold.
Custom envy,sacrifice scooter has envy aos v4 deck,turbine wheels and sacrifice rep t bars selling for cheap because need the money.
I have a few scooter parts for sale including the brands razor and crisp.all are all in farely good condition but some are better than other. Prices are : Crisp fork $10 Single envy prodigy s5 wheel $2 Razor small Tbars $5 Crisp small black bars with blue tape as grips $5 MGP madd gear deck and fork free please feel free to contact me on .
GRIT FLUXX PRO SCOOTER - AS NEW UNDER WARRANTY!
This item is a silver and black Bullet hover board. Purchased new 12 months ago. Barely used. Near new condition. Includes charging plug and users manual.


The Battle of Manila was the only urban battle waged by the American Armed Forces in the Pacific during World War II. In the evening of February 3, 1945, American motorized units, with the aid of Filipino guerillas, stormed the gates of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to liberate American and other civilian allies interned there from around the start of the Japanese occupation of Manila on January 2, 1942. The first American air raid over Manila on September 21, 1944, was the prologue to the forthcoming battle that would bring about the destruction of the city that we all then fondly and proudly called the Pearl of the Orient.
Since 1936, my family had lived in Ermita in a house located in the corner of Isaac Peral (now U. N. Avenue) and Florida (now M. Orosa) Streets. My father, George Litton, Sr., had bought this house from the Spanish Moreta family. It was a beautiful three storey Moorish styled edifice with arches, balconies, and a roof garden. The Florida Street side of the house faced the Episcopalian Cathedral of St. Mary and St. John on whose site now stands the Manila Pavilion Hotel.
Ermita was a quaint, distinct, and idyllic residential area. It had a character of its own, different from that of Malate, Paco, or Pasay. It was, in the words of Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, "[A] charming colonial town built by Europeans and Americans…." Many Spanish families lived in Ermita as did other expatriates. It was common to read a doctor's shingle hanging outside his office describing the medical practitioner in Spanish as a "Medico-Cirujano" and signs of "Cuidado por los Perros" hung on the gates of houses so as to warn passers-by that the house was guarded by fierce dogs. Isaac Peral Street was by far the most beautiful street in Manila. Both sides of the street were bordered by wide clean sidewalks and giant Acacia trees whose arching branches formed a tunnel like bower extending from Taft Avenue up to Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard).
I had turned eleven in June of 1944. We were then in the middle of the third year of the Japanese occupation and I was no longer attending school. I did return to La Salle as soon as it had re-opened in 1942, after briefly attending classes at St. Paul in Herran Street (now Pedro Gil). I had to leave La Salle after I had finished the third grade because transportation was getting very difficult. No cars were running as gasoline was not available. I would go to La Salle to attend my classes by taking the tranvia [streetcar] from San Marcelino Street but even that had become very difficult as the tranvias had become always jam-packed. Passengers would hang by the windows or even climb up the roof of the tranvias just to get a ride. My mother transferred me to Santa Teresa in San Marcelino Street, a girl's school run by Belgian nuns that accepted boys up to the fifth grade. Santa Teresa was just a fifteen minute walk from our house. In May or June of 1944, however, the Japanese military took over the premises of Santa Teresa and thus I no longer had a school to go to.
In the early morning of September 21, 1944, I went to Wallace Field to meet my close friend Henry Chu. Wallace Field was the site of the famous annual Manila Carnival. It is now part of the eastern section of Rizal Park. Henry Chu lived in San Luis Street (now T, M. Kalaw) at the Queens Hotel (a precursor to our present motels), which was owned and managed by his father. Our carefree morning was suddenly interrupted by what, at first, we thought were airplanes in practice maneuvers. We suddenly realized that there was something terribly wrong when one plane burst into flames and tracer bullets began to lace the clear Manila sky. I stood in awe, seemingly unmindful of the danger, as I fixed my gaze upon a single engine plane descending very fast, almost at an angle of 90 degrees, and releasing its bombs at a Japanese ship docked at the South Harbor. My friend Henry grabbed my arm and pulled me as we both ran to his father's hotel and into an improvised air raid shelter dug at the ground floor.
There were many more air raids after the first one in September 21. As soon as we would hear the air raid siren announcing an imminent attack, my brothers and I would rush to our roof garden to get a ring side-view of the drama unfolding before our eyes. The air raids became more frequent around the end of October. By then, we had almost daily air raids by American dive bombers and later by a new American fighter-bomber, which we later learned to be the P-38. This fighter-bomber had two engines, one on each of its two separate fuselages, both of which were connected to each other in the middle by the cockpit The skies, during and after an air raid, would be darkened by the mushroom-like puffs of exploding anti-aircraft shells aimed at the raiding airplanes. These shells would rain the ground with deadly shrapnel, which we kids would collect and keep. Around this time, there occurred two tragic incidents that I still clearly remember.
What Frank Stagner did not see was that one of the crew that had bailed out had fallen and drifted towards Ermita and the bay. From our roof garden perch, we could clearly see this hapless American dangling from his chute as it descended and drifted towards Dewey Boulevard. When the chute was nearly overhead and the man strapped to it was clearly visible, we suddenly heard a series of gunshots. The Japanese were shooting this completely helpless man dangling on a parachute! The barbarity of this incident was shocking even to an eleven year old boy! Many years later, after the war had ended, I would learn the fate of the crew of this unfortunate B-24 from Sascha Jean Jansen, nee Weinzheimer, an American friend, interned in the UST, and daughter of the former owner of the Canlubang Sugar Estate.
James T. Litton and his family lived in pre-war Manila and suffered through the Battle of Manila. In 1936 his father, George Litton, Sr. bought a home situated on Isaac Peral Street, right across from the Episcopal Cathedral. Jim has worked tirelessly for the erection of monuments to the memory of the WWII heroes. He is a lawyer and a hardworking member of the "Battling Bastards of Bataan".


text:
Q: Benefits of JavaConfig over XML configurations in Spring? Earlier the configurations used to be in hard coded in the code, later it was externalized to .property files (for sake of avoiding hard coded values, avoiding changing code for the sake of changing configurations..etc) then it moved to XML (for sake of being more standardized, error free..etc)
Now, while reading about @Configuration in Spring 3 , looks like we are again moving back to the initial approach.

Why would we want to hard-code configurations in the code rather than
  having it externalized ?

A: There are some advantages

*

*Java is type safe. Compiler will report issues if you are
configuring right bean class qualifiers.

*XML based on configuration can quickly grow big. [Yes we can split
and import but still]

*Search is much simpler, refactoring will be bliss. Finding a bean
definition will be far easier.

There are still people who like XML configuration and continue to do it.
References:
Java configuration advantages
Some more reasons

A: Correct answer was given here, Other-than that answer, I give one more point
According to the Spring 5 reference

XML-based metadata is not the only allowed form of configuration
  metadata. The Spring IoC container itself is totally decoupled from
  the format in which this configuration metadata is actually written.
  These days many developers choose Java-based configuration for their
  Spring applications.

it means nowadays, people are moving towards java based config
for example: Spring web-mvc config in xml
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" xmlns:mvc="http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-4.0.xsd     http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc-4.0.xsd     http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-4.0.xsd">
    <context:component-scan base-package="controller" />
    <context:component-scan base-package="dao" />
    <context:component-scan base-package="service" />

    <mvc:annotation-driven />

    <bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver">
        <property name="prefix">
            <value>/WEB-INF/pages/</value>
        </property>
        <property name="suffix">
            <value>.jsp</value>
        </property>
    </bean>
</beans>

and same config in java based style
@Configuration
@EnableWebMvc

@ComponentScans({
        @ComponentScan("controller"),
        @ComponentScan("dao"),
        @ComponentScan("service")
})
public class WebMVCConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

    @Bean
    public ViewResolver viewResolver() {
        InternalResourceViewResolver viewResolver = new InternalResourceViewResolver();
        viewResolver.setViewClass(JstlView.class);
        viewResolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/pages/");
        viewResolver.setSuffix(".jsp");
        return viewResolver;
    }
}

what is easy to understand? Obviously, the Java-based config is easy to understand.
people who write codes and others can easily understand java code than XML. and you do not need to know about XML if you only know Java.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Find number of TCP bytes transmitted I have rhel4 and rhel6 hosts.
I can use netstat -s to see information on the number of segments sent/received.  I can use ifconfig to see the number of bytes sent/received on a given interface (for my purposes only one is important, the rest have total transmission 3 orders of magnitude less).
How can I find the total number of bytes transmitted via TCP?
Edit: I do not have root access on the hosts in question.

A: Define a packet filter rule with iptables to count all tcp packets.
Count all incoming packets with tcp protocol:
# iptables -I INPUT -p tcp

Count all outgoing packets with tcp protocol:
# iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp

Show iptables rules including packet counts for incoming packets:
# iptables -nvL INPUT

Show iptables rules including packet counts for outgoing packets:
# iptables -nvL OUTPUT

iptables -nvL shows the packet count and the byte count in the first two columns.
The two defined rules will be the first ones on the top of the list.
If you have a lot of iptables rules, an extra chain could be helpful:
# iptables -N count_in              # create custom chain named 'count_in'
# iptables -A count_in -j RETURN    # append RETURN action to chain 'count_in'
# iptables -I INPUT -j count_in     # insert chain at the top of chain INPUT
# iptables -I count_in 1 -p tcp     # insert rule that matches all tcp packets
                                    # and has no action (does nothing)
# iptables -nvL count_in            # list chain 'count_in' rules

Do the same for the outgoing packets with a custom chain count_out.


text:
IX Водолея (), HD 203177 — одиночная переменная звезда в созвездии Водолея на расстоянии приблизительно 2555 световых лет (около 783 парсеков) от Солнца. Видимая звёздная величина звезды — от +7,61m до +7,5m.

Характеристики
IX Водолея — оранжевый гигант, пульсирующая медленная неправильная переменная звезда (LB) спектрального класса K2 или K2/3III. Эффективная температура — около 4086 К.

Примечания


This beauty is the perfect accent to layer with ANY of our Pretty Hunter Dog Tags - she is the balance of a whole lot of sweet with a big pop of sass! This necklace is a gunmetal base with Black Diamond Swarovski Crystals - necklace is approximately 18".
Made to mix in perfectly with the rest of our Twilight Radiance Collection.


The Aerodynamic Cover prevents odours from entering the RV by creating a vacuum while the vehicle is moving. Low, smooth profile keeps branches and tree limbs from catching and causing damage to the shroud and vent pipe. Inside it has a built in aluminum screen to keep unwanted pests out. Fits vent pipes up to 3 inches. Installs in minutes.
Outer dimension: 7 1/2" x 6 1/4" x 2 1/4"
Inner dimension: 5 1/4" x 4 3/4"


At the heart of our business lies MACS Technology, a magnetic cell separation method based on the use of MACS Columns and MACS MicroBeads. Due to the gentle and effective nature of this method, isolated cell populations of interest are highly viable and pure. They can be used for a wide array of downstream applications including different research as well as clinical applications.


On April 26, The Toronto Children's Chorus welcomes the Gondwana Voices, Australia's national children's choir. Th~ program includes a world premiere, entitled Kungala Rainbird by well-known Australian composer, cellist and choral conductor Stephen Leek. As.well, the choirs will perform music by Hungarian Gyorgy Ligeti and Canadians Imant Raminsh, Keith Bissell and Harry Freedman. We too Often take Jean Ashworth Bartie's choir for granted. As they head toward their . 25th anniversary ·next year, they remain dedicated to high standards, rigorous music education and are Canada's musical ambassadors, forging human connections and friendships with children's choirs all around the world. Next month, in WholeNote's special Choral Edition, I'll have a slightly expanded column, taking a look at a sensational three-choir performance of Berlioz' Requiem, talking with Ruth Watson Henderson as she reaches a life milestone and examining the role of choral music in the lives of Torontonians. Larry Beckwith can be reachedat beckwith@thewholenote.com Mississauga Children's Choir AUDITIONS 2003 - 2004 SEASON are being held in April and May GIRLS AND BOYS (unchanged voices) TRAINING CHORUS Ages 6 - 8 CHILDREN'S CHORUS Ages 8- 12 YOUTH CHORUS Ages 12 - 17 For information or an Audition Appointment Telephone: 905-624-9704 Email: mcc@eol.ca www.mississaugachildrenschoir.com The Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir Music Director David Low Accompanist Susan Ball Spring Concert Guest Soloist Robert Stewart, baritone Claire Preston, accompanist Guest Organist, Peter Merrick Saturday, May 3, 2003, at 7:30pm Eglinton,Saint George's United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. (1 block west of Yonge St., 4 lights south of Lawrence) Tickets: Information: 416-760-8723 The TWMVC proudly draws on the great Welsh tradition of singing hymns and songs born of the mountains and valleys of Wales. Yet . it also emphasizes a multicultural context ifl its broad repertoire: .spirituals, operatic arias, North American folk songs as well as Broadway show tunes. .


Tile and stone walls Holzoboden can bathe a modern look. But furniture bathroom play a crucial role in the design. Who wants to be in the trend, can opt for Badmöbelsets minimalist. The recent trend is clear - the shape and color are at the heart of the design. Doors without handles and sleek style define the designs. Design Top Fiora.
True trendsetters know the color schemes room furniture 2013-12015 certainly appreciate bathroom. Red resigned and was replaced successfully by Orange. This color is particularly useful for small bathrooms - she seems happy and sweet, and focuses on the walls. The yellow color has been applied successfully in recent years. Cabinets frosted yellow can be combined perfectly with light wood furniture. Blue Sky is also the day - in this case, the combination of blue and white is a real eye-catcher. The elegant furniture set up is called Dodo Atma.
The modern bathroom furniture in a minimalist style characterized by angular shapes and a simple but very effective design. The goal is simple - the bathroom should not look cluttered. Furniture ovals show the great room livable bath. They offer an alternative to the pronounced individuality minimalist sets. Vanities and cabinets with curvy edges can act as a link between traditional and modern designs. Atma of bathroom design.


text:
Home » HPC Software » Cloud HPC » Earlham Institute Tests Green HPC from Verne Global in Iceland
Earlham Institute Tests Green HPC from Verne Global in Iceland
September 26, 2016 by staff
Today Verne Global announced that the Earlham Institute (EI) in the UK has selected Verne Global's data centre campus in Iceland to investigate the efficiencies of distributing large-scale genomics and computational biology data analysis. The research institute is renowned for its contribution to the analysis and data-sharing of the highly complex wheat genome that is critical to securing future global food supplies.
As more organizations turn to high performance computing to process large data sets, demand is growing for scalable and secure data centre solutions. The source, availability and reliability of the power grid infrastructure is becoming a critical factor in a data centre site selection decision," said Jeff Monroe, CEO at Verne Global. "Verne Global is able to deliver EI a forward-thinking path for growth with a solution that combines unparalleled costs savings with operational efficiencies to support their data-intensive research."
In this project, a first for a UK academic institution, EI will examine the benefits of migrating a strategic collaborative bioinformatics analysis platform to Iceland via existing academic network providers JANET and NORDUnet.
EI, through Verne Global, will have access to one of the world's most reliable power grids producing 100% geothermal and hydroelectric renewable energy. As EI's HPC analysis requirements continue to grow, Verne Global will enable the institute to save up to 70% in energy costs (based on 14p to 4p KWH rate) and with no additional power for cooling, significantly benefiting the organization in their advanced genomics and bioinformatics research of living systems.
As a leader in the Life Sciences HPC community, EI aims to better understand complex scientific issues and their impact to society by categorizing, processing, and analyzing the DNA of various crops, animals, insects and microbes. This includes their flagship project, bread wheat, which is one of the most perplexing genomes to study, with a genome sequence five times bigger and more complex than the human genome.
One of EI's primary goals is to understand crop genomes so new varieties can be developed to secure food supply in the face of a growing population and environmental change. The cutting-edge, high-throughput DNA sequencing instruments generate large amounts of data, from a few hundred gigabytes to several terabytes per run. The output requires significant computational effort, making the storage, processing, analysis and sharing of the data extremely challenging.
Modern bioinformatics is driven by the generation of ever increasing volumes of genomic data requiring large and collaborative computing resources to help process it quickly and at scale. At EI, we have some of the largest computational platforms for the Life Sciences in Europe and the demand for our computing capability is only increasing, putting pressure on the capacity and operational costs of our existing data centers," said Dr Tim Stitt, Head of Scientific Computing at EI. "We are, therefore, very excited to be partnering with Verne Global in Iceland, who not only can supply medium and high power computing density at significantly lower energy costs, but who can also deliver excellent global network communications and data centre security."
"We are planning to publish a paper on our study, and I hope the impact of our collaboration with Verne Global will be the catalyst for many more academic institutions in the UK and Europe to consider migrating their computing infrastructures to Iceland and benefit from one of the world's most reliable and cost-effective green energy resources. I'm very proud that EI is at the forefront of this shift," Stitt concluded.
Earlham Institute Moves HPC Workloads to Iceland
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The true cost of AI innovation
Verne Global's hpcDIRECT to power RenderNation's high-performance compute
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Filed Under: Cloud HPC, Green HPC, HPC Hardware, HPC Software, Industry Segments, News, Research / Education Tagged With: Earlham Institute, Verne Global
PhD scholarship in Coded Ultrasound Imaging


Franz enters her first season as an assistant coach on the women's track and field team.
Before joining the Jumbo coaching staff, she attended Conencticut College where she was a four-year member of the Camel's track and field and cross country teams and was a captain her senior year. There, Franz was an NCAA DIII National Championship finalist in the 1500m and seven-time national qualifier. She was named to the All-New England team in Cross Country, the mile, 1500m, 800m, 4x800m, 4x400m, and the Distance Medley Relay. At the time of her graduation, she was the school record-holder in the Indoor 800m, Outdoor 800m, 1500m, the Mile, the Distance Medley Relay, and the 4x400m relay.
Franz graduated from Connecticut College in 2017 with a Bachelor's in Economics and Architectural Studies. During her time there she worked as an Equipment Room and Desk Monitor in their athletic department. She was also an intern at HAWI Management, which is a sports management company specializing in managing professional athletes. Franz attended South Hampton High School and graduated in 2013.


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Tag Archives: resource curse
Further remarks on Niger Delta violence and amnesties
The second section of the interview (see post above) focused on the militancy in the Niger Delta and included the following questions and my responses:
1. In your opinion, what are the conditions that drive individuals toward militancy in the Niger Delta?
Poverty alone is not a causal mechanism for insurgency, nor does simply being a weak state cause collective violence. In the Niger Delta it is a two-part dynamic in which poverty amidst vast oil wealth combines with weak state apparatuses to create insurgency. The former creates the incentives and the latter provides the conditions. Niger Deltans suffer from deprivation while seeing that resources, e.g. oil profits, exist that could be bettering their lot, fostering a sense of injustice. It is easy for militant leaders to galvanize this injustice and organize it along ethnic lines due to the often contentious tribal diversity of the Delta. Then, the Nigerian government does not have the capacity or sometimes the will to stop the social disorder, creating a sense of stateless that is conducive to violence.
2. Do you believe these are the same root causes for cultism and other such violent activity in the Niger Delta region?
To an extent, but I do see the insurgency as analytically different from cultism and other forms of collective violence. The particular nature of oil drives militancy, and group violence unrelated to natural resources is in many ways a separate issue. Groups with income flows from control of oil are more likely to attract opportunistic participants, make insurgents like those of MEND primarily economic actors (insurgents have not been ideologically driven for many years, if they ever were). Unlike cultism and other forms of collective violence, militancy requires clear leadership, sustained engagement, access to arms, and it must have a local population on which it can rely on for resources (Weinstein 2006). On the other hand, other collective violence campaigns unrelated to oil can arise more sporadically, use fewer or homemade weapons, and I think can have more porous membership networks.
3. What expectations do you think that the Amnesty Program created for ex-militants and their communities?
From my observations, there was little expectation among the average Niger Deltan that the Amnesty would have a lasting impact on the insurgency in the long-term, because the number of men who could pass through the program was far fewer than the number of unemployed youths attracted to militant engagement. Militants themselves could have been hopeful for personal gains, but that was an individual aspiration.
4. Since after the declaration of the Amnesty Program, have you seen any positive service delivery or infrastructural changes in the region?
No. From what I understand, the Amnesty Program has provided stipends and job training for former militants, but has not affected service delivery for communities.
5.What do you think will happen in the region after the Amnesty Program ends in 2015?
When the Amnesty Program ends in 2015, insurgency will go up to its previous levels since the overall conditions that led to start of insurgency, such as rampant unemployment, have not changed. The problem with the amnesty is that creating some jobs does not stop violence. Job creation temporarily lowers rates of violence because employment pulls non-committed militants away from the movement and simply keeps more men busy so they have less time for violence, but in a region with such poverty and lawlessness there will always be more recruits to replace those who join an amnesty. Obviously if every Nigerian was gainfully employed with a good standard of living then that would presumably end the insurgency, since violence is generally inversely proportional to economic development. For me however, the sheer number of unemployed men in the Delta, surely hovering around 50%, will always outpace any increase in the number of local jobs created with any government program, so as one militant leaves the movement another one will replace him. So, theoretically non-oil jobs would probably end violence but realistically that would be improbably just based on the population number of the Delta. The Amnesty Program has always just been a temporary fix in which insurgents were paid to stop engaging in violence.
Police missing in Niger Delta ambush (bbc.co.uk)
Ex-militants threaten FG over amnesty (vanguardngr.com)
Posted in Democracy, Law, Oil Theory, Violence
Tagged amnesty, Boko Haram, collective action, cultism, economic development, insurgency, MEND, militants, Niger Delta, Nigeria, oil, poverty, resistance, resource curse, unemployment, violence
A very brief chronology of the Nigerian oil economy
A colleague of mine casually asked me yesterday about Nigeria's oil economy after independence. Many isolated events and economic explanations came to mind, but I was surprised when I couldn't give her a succinct chronology. I thought I would write a paragraph or two to remedy this.
More Nigerians slowly moved from subsistence agriculture to private enterprise around independence in 1960. Oil, which had been discovered three years earlier, quickly become the basis of mono-economic growth. Shell had been the first to commercially drill in the country, but other companies such as Mobil and Agip were competing for their own stake. Hopes were high. Oil profitability was greatest during the "Golden Decade" of the 1970s, when Nigeria became the wealthiest country in Africa. Between 1958 and 1974, production rose from just over 5000 to 2.3 million barrels per day and government revenue increased from N200,000 to N3.7 billion. Within two years, state profit increased by almost 50%, to an all-time high of N5.3 billion in 1976. Nigeria bolstered profits when it joined OPEC in 1971, an organization which helped to construct the global petroleum scarcity, and thus the massive profitability of fossil fuels at the time. The economic prosperity was short-lived however.
In accordance with the resource curse, the 1970s oil boom led to a near complete economic crash in the following decade. Nigeria had made an almost total shift away from the traded and diversified agricultural sector to the non-traded sector of petroleum, and projected revenues for petroleum were high. Based on this, President Murtala Mohammed spent and borrowed billions on grand-scale modernization projects. However, such spending and borrowing in a mono-economy proved highly problematic during the sharp decrease in world oil prices under Babangida in the 1980s. Domestic inflation became so high that even basic food stuffs become too expensive for consumers and Nigeria had to default on numerous debts. To create more jobs for Nigerians, the government forced out the thousands of West African workers who had immigrated to the country to take advantage of the employment in the formerly booming economy. Rather than take a conditional IMF loan like Ghana did, the government implemented a controversial Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) that proved unsuccessful. The economic decline was so severe that by 1989 Nigeria was labeled a low-income country and qualified for World Bank assistance.
Despite a slight revival in the 1990s, the economy has yet to recover to early 1970s levels of prosperity. Today, ¾ of Nigerians live below the poverty line, in a country that produces around 1.3 million barrels of oil daily (it was 2.6 million a decade ago). Petroleum accounts for 80% of budgetary revenues and as a result, high inflation has hurt investments for the average Nigerian and made international investment aside from fossil fuels a near impossibility. Few jobs in the oil sector have been created for Nigerians and wealth distribution is grossly unequal. Robert Bates argues the Nigerian oil crisis and subsequent loss of export taxes is what caused the state to become predatory for its income, thus laying the groundwork for today's poor and often corrupt governance.
So, there is the short of it, more or less. There was steady growth of the oil sector in the 1960s, a complete boom in the 1970s that created the "oil state" as we know it, a crash in the 1980s, then a slight improvement in oil revenue in the 1990s that leveled out to what we have today.
Posted in Oil Theory
Tagged Africa, economy, Ghana, history, inflation, Murtala Mohammed, Nigeria, oil boom, oil production, OPEC, resource curse, World Bank
Democracy Now's Video on Kiobel
Along with same-sex marriage and affirmative action, the Supreme Court will re-examine the issue of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) as means for foreigners to sue American corporation in U.S. courts. The new 8-month session began this week and the Kiobel case remains on the docket, in which 12 Niger Deltan petitioners are suing Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum. This case has been discussed in previous posts here.
Tagged courts, democracy, environmental damage, governance, Human rights, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Kiobel, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Ogoni, oil, oil company, resistance, resource curse, Shell, violence
Sons of Iraq vs. Niger Delta Amnesty Program
I have been in correspondence with a Polish conflict researcher who has asked me some interesting questions about the Niger Delta Amnesty Program (NDAP) and that in Iraq, called the Sons of Iraq. Drawn from the Awakening Council, the Sons are Sunni former insurgents in Anbar Province who have been paid stipends by the U.S. military and the Iraqi government to now maintain security against both Shiite and Sunni militants who are still fighting against the American occupation and the new Iraqi political leadership. Although it would seem counter intuitive to arm and pay fighters who had been attacking American forces, the Bush administration reasoned that this tactic would both reduce the number of anti-American militants and help curtail the strength of Shiite forces backed by Iran.
Son of Iraq on patrol.
Niger Delta Amnesty Program
There are similarities between the two efforts. Both in Nigeria and Iraq the governments have created "jobs for the boys" programs that aim to turn insurgents into members of a citizens' patrol, from aggressors against foreigners and the government to defenders of them. Also, both programs are prone to immense instability and fraction, but for different reasons as I explain below.
However, I see immense differences in comparing the Sons of Iraq and the NDAP. These variations between the two seem to be based on 24 years of stable dictatorship, the presence of the American military, the suddenness of political instability, and over millennial religious tensions in Iraq, all of which are not conditions found in Nigeria. In contrast, Nigeria's political history is one of perpetual coups and constant abnegation of foreign interference, and is defined almost solely by its status as an oil state suffering from the resource curse. Some differences that I can note:
1. Iraqi Sons are ideologically and religiously motivated in (large) part. The Sons must battle anti-American Shiites on a large-scale, and there is also infighting between pro-American Sunnis and suspicious-of-American Sunnis within the employment program itself. ND rebels today are not ideologically nor religiously motivated in that same way, but fight to steal oil and kidnap to get money. As opposed to the Sons, ND militants are more like a mafia that uses violence to make money, i.e. they engage in extortion. There would be security issues in Iraq with or without the Awakening, but ND rebels are the ones actually making the security problems to begin with. So, with that said, ND militants receiving Amnesty benefits are absolutely not maintaining any form of security like the Sons, but rather are being paid to stop stealing oil and committing violence. As one of my interview subjects aptly phrased it, "It reduces crime and since we have the money, it is OK. You pay them to reduce the violence in the country." In Nigeria, there is perhaps a price on peace.
2. Transparency: Presumable Awakening fighters trust that U.S. forces will pay them when promised, and the program is comparably fiscally transparent. One of the reasons that Nigerians are suspicious of the NDAP is that a) the government cannot be trusted to pay fighters as on time or even at all, and b) exact amounts being transferred are unclear, so there is probably much more corruption in the ND program in Nigeria than that in Iraq.
3. I don't know exactly how the U.S. pays fighters in Iraq, but a big problem in Nigeria is that the most violent kingpins like Tompolo and Dokubo are being paid huge sums, and then very little is actually being given directly to lower-level fighters. In Iraq I suspect there is more equity in payment amounts among various fighters but in ND the money is concentrated in few hands, and that creates problems when lower-level fighters feel a sense of unfairness that leads to greater violence.
4. In Iraq there is a clear enemy that the U.S. and the U.S.-installed government hope their employment program will weaken: Al Qaeda. In contrast, there is no clear enemy in the Niger Delta Amnesty Program for participants to battle, as the biggest threat is the factitious insurgency itself, the very men being paid and trained in the program.
5. As reported several years ago, the most salient concern for the U.S. and the Iraqi government is that the Sons of Iraq program may backfire and end up just giving newer and better arms to former insurgents who could do an about-face, thus fueling a prolonged civil conflict to a greater degree. They have publicly stated that a priority is disallow the Sons to gain enough power to become an independent authority, which was a possibly after the U.S. made the mistake of disbanding the Iraq military after its invasion. However, although ND militants have firepower that competes with that of the Nigerian military, insurgents there do not seem to have the desire to overtake the military particularly. Relinquishing arms is a large part of the NDAP mandate, with the goal that former fighters gain training abroad to come home as welders, electricians, carpenters, etc. In Iraq the participants receive training to become better fighters against threats to security in Andar, not to have a professional trade that would benefit them after the war ends.
This leads one to wonder about what all the Sons of Iraq (and NDAP participants) will do once their stipends dry up. Years of fighting, and being trained to do so, often do not translate into stability for soldiers when a conflict ends.
Posted in Oil Theory, Violence
Tagged Al Qaeda, civil war, governance, Government Tompolo, insurgency, Iraq, militants, military, Niger Delta, Nigeria, resource curse, Shia Islam, Sons of Iraq, Sunni, violence, war
French oil firm Total SA says natural gas leak ongoing at a plant in Nigeria's Niger Delta
(Photo credit: Gerard Stolk)
The Washington Post, LAGOS, Nigeria — French oil firm Total SA said Saturday that a natural gas leak at one of its plants in Nigeria's crude-rich southern delta may have been going on for weeks.
The leak at its Obite natural gas site has forced the company to evacuate those nearby and led to daily monitoring of air and water surrounding the plant in Nigeria's Rivers state. However, Total's Nigerian subsidiary hasn't made any public statement about the leak since it likely began following an incident March 20, though the company has given near-daily updates about a similar leak at a plant off the United Kingdom in the North Sea.
In a statement, Total's Nigerian subsidiary said workers noticed a mix of water and natural gas bubbling up from an uninhabited site near the Obite plant on April 3. Total said there had been no injuries from the leaks, which it said likely followed the "technical incident" on March 20.
Total spokesman Charles Ebereonwu said Saturday he did not have details of the incident.
"All necessary means to ensure the protection of nearby communities and personnel and to limit the impact on the environment have been immediately mobilized," Total said in a statement on its subsidiary's website dated Thursday. "Strict monitoring of the environment is ongoing and a safety perimeter has been established."
The statement said testing has not found any "toxic elements" in the environment.
Rumors about an accident at a Total operation have circulated in Nigeria for weeks, though the company remained silent. Asked why the company hadn't publicized the Obite gas plant leak, Ebereonwu said Total's Nigerian subsidiary had been posting updates on its website. However, the company has not sent any information to journalists. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with more than 160 million residents, is a top energy supplier to the U.S. The OPEC member nation also has seen foreign oil firms boost production of natural gas in recent years.
However, environmental and industry regulations lag behind spills and violence in its oil-rich Niger Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps about the size of Portugal. Some environmentalists say much as 2.1 billion liters (550 million gallons) of oil have spilled during more than 50 years of production. That would be at a rate roughly comparable to one Exxon Valdez disaster per year in a region where oil still stains beaches and waterways.
Many foreign oil firms blame thieves for much of the oil spills now happening in the region, as they tap into pipelines to steal crude. However, there have been a series of major spills and accidents in the last six months, including a spill by Royal Dutch Shell PLC at its offshore Bonga facility that saw some 40,000 barrels of oil spill.
Total's Obite gas plant exports a capacity of 10.65 million metric cubes of natural gas, and collects oil condensate to mix with crude oil it produces from another area, the company has said. Total operates in the plant in partnership with the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Total said it has stopped production at the Obite plant and shut down its wells.
Posted in Environmental Damage
Tagged environmental damage, fuel, Gas leak, Human rights, Niger Delta, Nigeria, oil company, resource curse
2012 APSA Africa Workshop
Although the deadline for applications has passed, APSA will have its Africa Workshop at the University of Botswana, July 15-27, 2012. The theme is "Local Communities and the State in Africa." The workshop is targeted principally at university and college political science faculty residing in Africa, who have completed their Ph.D. and are in the early stages of their academic career. Up to 22 Africa-based fellows will be selected. Four advanced Ph.D. students residing in the United States will also be accepted. See: 2012 APSA Africa Workshop.
Posted in Democracy, Gender, Law, Oil Theory
Tagged collective action, corruption, democracy, economy, gender, governance, Human rights, Nigeria, protest, resource curse, war
Daily bread v. liberty
A long-standing (but perhaps unnecessary) debate in the field of human rights is that of economic security versus political freedom. States that stress collectivism such as China and some Islamic states, argue on the global stage that without financial security, political freedom is meaningless. They see sound economic conditions as a precondition for the enjoyment of political freedom. What good is the vote if the people have no shoes in which to walk to polling stations? Conversely, advocates of the latter argue that individuals can use free speech and their own autonomy to create the conditions that lead to economic prosperity for themselves and society as a whole. This notion is highly compatible with laissez-faire free markets and cultures of self-sufficiency, e.g. Western European countries and the U.S. It is far better that some people walk barefoot to polling stations on voting day than not have a voting day at all.
Although my interview subjects in rural Nigeria have not heard of this debate, they struggle with it all the same, just framing it in different terms. I asked them a series of questions about how the oppressive military rule of the 1990s, namely that under General Sani Abacha, compares to today's democratic administration, albeit a less-than-flourishing one. It was in the 1990s that many of the most notorious human rights abuses were committed in Nigeria, and Ogonis in particular suffered some of the worst. During this decade Nigerian dissidents were killed, tortured, disappeared by state agents, women were raped as a means of asserting political power, and there was virtually no free speech. Today, endemic corruption debilitates government and for the majority of citizens, Nigeria continues to be a really…unfair place to live. However, political freedom is vastly improved from what it was 15-20 years ago. Surely Nigeria must be a better place for Niger Deltans now than it was then, right?
From the perspective of most of my respondents, it isn't. All but three of my interview subjects said that either there is no change at all now from how the government was under military rule, or even more surprisingly, almost half of them told me that things were better in the 1990s. There are several explanations for this. They may have wanted to make their current conditions seem as dire as possible because they hoped for money after the interview, or because they viewed me as representative of some Western power that could help them. Some research indicates that people tend to remember the "good ol' days" while their current difficulties seem more salient. For my middle-aged research subjects, they may not have had the adult responsibilities or political consciousness to view the state in the same way then that they do currently. For example, a 20-year-old may not think about the importance of fair taxation in the way that that same 40-year-old supporting a family later on thinks about it.
Of those who told me that life was better in the 1990s, there were two types of answers. One smaller group said that society was less chaotic then and the public sphere was more orderly. The strong arm of Abacha ensured that petty thievery was minimized and that economic transactions were regulated. Women described markets where they sold goods as being more organized and predictable. They said they could plan out their family diets better because they knew how much goods would cost in coming weeks and months.
A more common answer though was simply that things were cheaper in 1990s relative to their income. That's it. The women I talked to wanted food, medicine, clothing, and housing to be affordable. They viewed inflation and unstable prices today as infringing on their well-being more than the threat of village pogroms and extrajudicial killings of family members. They care about fair elections far less than they care about the availability of zinc roofing. They care about the number of independent media sources far less than the amount of cassava their naira can buy. Although I think their responses are a reflection of political marginalization of Nigerian women and the widespread notion that politics are a male realm, they also indicate that their current economic conditions are so precarious that they are willing to living under tyranny to be able to purchase more than a day's worth of food at a time.
I haven't done the background reading on this finding yet, and I am sure other research out there has found the same in the global south. It makes me wonder how vastly different human rights deliberations at the EU would be if they weren't dominated by rich men and had a few rural African women present.
Nigeria: Legacies of General Sani Abacha (sahelblog.wordpress.com)
Women roasting cassava for gari.
Posted in Democracy, Gender
Tagged democracy, economy, gender, governance, housing, Human rights, inflation, Niger Delta, Ogoni, poverty, resource curse, taxation, women
Nigeria: Elections and Violence in the Niger Delta
These renewed attacks by MEND indicate that the amnesty program, which offers salaries and job training, was only a temporary palliative. Buying off a few fighters simply opens up positions for new recruits to join MEND. In terms of the elections, it will be interesting to see how renewed violence affects the message that candidates send to voters, although most believe Seriake Henry Dickson already has a win secured.
Sahel Blog
The Niger Delta is back in the news, both for the (alleged?) return of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND – read a backgrounder here) and for the upcoming gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa State, which was the site of a bitter primary election in November. Different sources give different views on how closely the recent oil violence is connected to Bayelsa's electoral calendar. But clearly the Niger Delta is facing renewed political tension and renewed violence at the same time.
Nigeria last held national elections, including gubernatorial contests, in April 2011, but since then various governors have faced court challenges to their legitimacy. Some have won and remained in office, but others have not. On January 27, the Supreme Court removed five governors from office (for the back story, see here). The situation in one of these states, Kogi, is complicated by the…
Tagged democracy, Human rights, Niger Delta, pro-government, resistance, resource curse, violence