text:
Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau — Transcript
Jamie Pow: Hello and welcome — you're listening to the Northern Slant podcast. Northern Slant is an online publication that seeks to showcase a new, diverse Northern Ireland. I'm Jamie Pow and welcome to our second episode.
Today, Northern Slant contributors Julia Flanagan and Alina Utrata sat down with the new US Consul General for Northern Ireland, Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau.
Alina and Julia asked her about her impressions of Northern Ireland, the role the US plays here, and her dream of being invited to a rugby match. Let's take a listen.
Alina Utrata (AU): I'm Alina
Julia Flanagan (JF): I'm Julia
AU: And we're here today at Danesfort, the US Consulate in Belfast talking with the new US Consul General for Northern Ireland Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau. Consul General, thank you so much for speaking with us today.
Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau (EKT): It is such a pleasure. I am very happy to have this be my first interview since I've arrived in Belfast, so thank you for your time.
AU: We're so excited to talk to you. So you've just arrived in Belfast to take up this post which sounds very exciting, so can you tell us a little bit about how you got the news that you were coming to Northern Ireland.
EKT: Oh well see this is great. So in my previous post I was the US Consul General in Lahore, Pakistan — wildly different countries, different places. And when I got the news that I was coming to Belfast I was actually sitting in my office in Lahore and someone had sent me a note and they said, 'oh, I think you're getting Belfast' and I said, 'Belfast is too nice. I'll never get Belfast.'
And this is a true story: so the timing was a little different, so obviously it's 11 hours in front of Washington. I was on my way to a dinner in Lahore, so I'm in my big SUV, we're rolling through the streets, I'm sort of anxious because I had heard informally.
And I got a phone call from Washington patched through the Department of State operation center, our 24 hour operator, and they said 'the assistant secretary is on the line for you'. I got on the line and they said we'd like to offer you the Consul General role in Belfast. And I'm not embarrassed to say that I squealed, because I was so happy that I was coming to Northern Ireland. That's a true story.
JF: Is this your first trip to Northern Ireland?
EKT: No, I'd actually been to Northern Ireland a few times. I was here within the last five years. And we can talk more about this, and the changes in Northern Ireland since I've been here before. I only landed five days ago, but Belfast is such a vibrant, alive city. We were just coming from City Hall today, the sun was out, streets packed with people, the diversity of people, the tourists coming in, the vibrancy of the city center. When you see what Northern Ireland is right now and what it has to offer foreign investors, including investors from my own country, I mean, it is a dynamic growing place.
AU: So Senator Mitchell was on our podcast recently and he reminded us about the important role the US has historically had in Northern Ireland. Twenty years after the GFA was negotiated, how do you see the US's role here today?
EKT: I think that the United States considers Northern Ireland an important place in the world. It's a place where the US has always been an honest and impartial broker and I think we'd like to continue that role; certainly we have deep cultural ties with the people of Northern Ireland.
But we also see the important role that the people themselves here have made to secure and protect the gains made in the Good Friday Accord. The US will continue to support that, that's part of my job here, that's part of my embassy's job in London, certainly the role of the US in Washington as well.
JF: Last year following the general election, the Conservative government went into coalition with the DUP here in Northern Ireland. Recently there has been some criticism of Westminster that when they say they're listening to NI, they're only hearing one side, one voice, the DUP.
From your previous postings — and many of them sound quite challenging — how do you get beyond the gated walls of the US embassy and really get to know people and hear what's on their minds? And how are you planning to engage with the communities here?
EKT: I would say there's two parts: One, it would not be the US's role to make any sort of decision or judgment on the role of how the people of Northern Ireland engage with their elected leaders. That is for the people to determine themselves. It's not our job nor is it our place to say that.
In the second part of your question, in terms of how we get out, frankly it's our number one job. Our job is not only to talk to journalists, but to students, to businesspeople, to people who work in factories, to farmers. One of the things I speak to my colleagues about here in the consulate, is that we need to get out beyond Belfast. You know, Belfast is beautiful.
It would be very easy to stay in Belfast all the time. But we need to go to Derry/Londonderry, we need to go to Antrim, we need to go to Enniskillen, we need to go to Larne, we need to go to Carrickfergus, we need to hit all those little villages the names of which I don't even know yet.
One of the things I want to be very clear about for your listeners is that we'll always say yes to invitations. Ask us to a hurling match, ask us to a football game, ask us to go see rugby. We'll say yes. That's our job. And also because we want to go.
AU: That's good for any of our listeners who are out there who might have invitations…
EKT: You can always hit us on our social media, on our Facebook, Twitter, we are always accessible. And we're part of this community. I cannot tell you how privileged I am to be able to live in Northern Ireland for three years. I have a lot of time. So, you know, invite me places, I will go.
JF: Noted.
AU: So for our listeners who don't really know the intricacies of the US State Department bureaucracy, can you explain a little what your role, the US consul general is, and how that fits into the wider state department and US mission to the UK?
EKT: So the State Department is sort of our ministry of foreign affairs, it's the best way to think about it, it's the foreign office. I'm a career diplomat — the State Department is sort of unique in that we do have political appointees, as well as career diplomats. So I'm a career diplomat, I've served across administrations in different parts of the world. I'm a foreign service officer, which is actually a commissioned office within the State Department.
We have something called worldwide availability, so that means I can serve anywhere in the world doing any job. I won't say and I won't pretend to your listeners that I could do all jobs equally competently, but that's what they say. For our job here at the US consulate, we do a number of things. One is the support of US citizens, especially when they travel overseas, the people who are resident in Northern Ireland as well as tourists. And we hope to see increasing numbers of US tourists here in Northern Ireland.
Second is the support of US businesses. Right now there are over 185 US businesses here. 50% of foreign investment in Northern Ireland is from America. We think that should increase, but we also think it should be two-way. You know, the shared prosperity we have we think is on the upward track, and it should only grow. And part of it is explaining US foreign policy, making sure that we can get beyond the headlines, making sure that not just the politicians, but you know, your shopkeepers, your farmers, also understand where we are on the issues that impact us both.
And part of it is actually going out and showing people that the America they may think they know, is not really the America that may be portrayed in the headlines. We are an enormous country. And we're a very diverse country. I think part of what we do here is make sure that we're sharing that message. And that may be going to rugby matches too. So, not circling back to the thing I really want, but you know.
JF: Obviously the big political question that is pre-occupying both the UK and Ireland at the moment is Brexit. A report came out recently that said that a hard Brexit would threaten peace in Northern Ireland. What do you think the US role is at this pivotal moment, especially with Washington traditionally seen as an honest broker between Northern Ireland, Ireland the UK?
EKT: Again, so Brexit is between the UK and the EU. The US obviously has interests there for American businesses and investment. What we want to see is the UK continue to play a strong role globally, but we also have deep and abiding ties with the EU.
What happens within Brexit is really for the UK and the EU to sort. We do though want full consideration placed on the importance of Northern Ireland and that this is a unique situation, it has a unique heritage, a unique history. These things need to be considered as Brexit is considered.
AU: You've obviously had a lot of very diverse postings as an FSO. And you've served under various administrations, and had to implement a lot of different policies. So how does a shifting of policy between administration and your own views and what you think is right for the US fit in with how you execute your role?
EKT: I think for my colleagues and I here at the consulate within the broader mission around the world, the core of America is America. We represent our country. We take an oath to the Constitution. America is a hugely diverse and complex country. One of the — I'll be honest — one of the gifts that I have of being in this job is explaining that.
And part of that reflects the democracy of our country. America's vote counts. We elect presidents. Our policy changes. That's how democracy works. And if anything that's a good model for the world. Peaceful transitions of policy, the change of policy, career diplomats who are able to articulate and support that policy.
I think that I'm very lucky to be able to work for a country that I believe in, that welcome my ancestors, and that continues to do good things around the world.
AU: The Trump Administration has created a totally unprecedented way of communicating policy, so we have new initiatives announced through tweet, or information can change from day to day.
How do you respond to this way of working, does it feel unprecedented from your position, and for people in Northern Ireland how can we cut through the noise and see where America really stands on certain issues?
EKT: I think President Trump has really revolutionized communication in a way that we see is unprecedented among world leaders. He's a man who understands the power of direct communication, whether through the media, or through Twitter, through I think you've seen recently they've been doing express videos out to people.
You know, this is someone who understands who he's speaking to, which is the American people. He deserves a great deal of credit for that. I also think, though, in many ways it is the evolution of where we are as a global society.
And if you think about it — and I always like when I see journalists do stories like 'what if there was Twitter when JFK was president, how would he have used it?' — I think President Trump has harnessed a lot of the new technology. I think a lot of us are still understanding how that works.
In terms of diplomacy, it's been great as a tool. I mentioned before the Consulate's Twitter and Facebook account. I mean, how else do we get instant feedback? One of my colleagues was telling me, I was at City Hall meeting with the Lord Mayor and I signed the guestbook. Well, someone who came in after me took a photo of what I wrote in the guest book and tweeted it out. Which was hilarious. I just laughed, I mean come on, have you ever seen a more 2018 moment? I didn't know, I just signed a guest book.
But the question is how are we harnessing that? And doing exactly what you asked, which is cutting through the noise. One of the things we're very focused on is being responsive. If you have a question, if you don't understand, are we accessible as Americans?
One thing we always pride ourselves in, Americans love myth-making, we love to tell stories about ourselves. How relatable we are, how accountable we are. Well, you know, put your money where your mouth is. Are we? And social media helps us in doing that. So it's something I'm very focused on as well. It's not sort of that old school diplomacy of like the 1960s where its government-to-government, a bunch of white men in grey suits talking to each other behind closed doors. It's 2018. It's not where we are. Diplomacy and politics and policy has changed. We need to make sure we're changing too.
JF: Do you see any challenges in this growth of social media as well?
EKT: I think one of the things that we all need to be aware of, and I'd love to find out more about it in Northern Ireland, is media literacy. You know, it's one thing that America is really starting to do, Europe is doing some good work on it, I think the UK is too. It's up to consumers to be able to understand if what they're reading is true.
And social media if anything proliferates because information is unfiltered. And as a consumer, and not even people who are adults, you know, 14, 15 year-olds. How are they being informed, how are they being able to make those determinations? It feels like, you know, we're late to that because they're all online. So how do we give them the tools so they can be good citizens?
And this is something that over the next three years you guys will hear me say a lot: is citizens have rights and responsibilities. They have a right to services but a responsibility to make sure that they are contributing to society and part of that is information. So are you making the right choices based on information you know is true?
JF: In NI, we have a lot of women leaders, this week you met Arlene Foster, Michelle O'Neill, Karen Bradley. The paradox of course is that there is a long way to go to achieve true gender equality, and there are a lot of issues with things like domestic violence in the region. Empowering women was obviously something that Secretary Clinton's State Department focused on, so have you worked on that issue previously in your past roles? And does it provide any lessons for NI?
EKT: I think it's an issue that everyone in the world struggles with. In my own country we continue to struggle with the issue of leadership, equality between genders, and also frankly diversity. Diversity is not just skin color, it's sexual orientation, religion, country of origin, it's something I think we all need to be cognizant of.
So I would almost broaden the question to how do we make sure that leadership looks like a country? Look like a population and what does the population or leadership training, or development or educational system of a particular society need to do to make sure you have the leaders you need in the future. So women leadership is obviously a big thing as you mentioned, I met just a range of women leaders this week. Northern Ireland is well ahead of the US in many ways, you've got the leaders of political parties, you've got the Secretary of State. We've been blessed in the US to have some very good women leaders, (but) we still have a long way to go ourselves.
JF: What is your message for young people in NI who are frustrated with the current struggles? There are obviously a lot of challenges, there always are. For a piece I wrote earlier in the year I talked about how confident I was in my generation who are not defined by the past but there are a lot of those younger generations losing faith in the current system. What's your message to them?
EKT: Get involved. You know, this goes back to our conversation on rights and responsibilities. Government doesn't happen to you. As a citizen in a democracy, you are part of government. Even if you're not old enough to vote, you're old enough to get involved.
That's in your neighborhood, in your community, cross community, civic organizations, the third sector is enormous in Northern Ireland. It has a deep and storied history. What are you doing? And I say this to people in my own country, if you don't get involved you can't complain. The responsibility rests with you.
And I think we all, collectively around the world, need to start younger. Because you know, it doesn't start the day you cast your first ballot. It starts the day you realize you're part of a greater society. And for some of us that starts when you're five or six years old. Are you going out on a beach clean up? Are you contributing to a community event? We need to grow leaders. It's not enough to complain. It's never enough to complain.
AU: You mentioned before that you're very excited about going to some rugby matches. But besides that, what are you most looking forward to?
EKT: I think one of the things I'm most excited about is really understanding where this society is going. Where Northern Ireland is going. And that's really talking to the whole spectrum of people, the young people, the religious communities, civil society, politicians, civil servants. What's the vision for Northern Ireland? And how can we help as a partner in this? US places enormous importance on Northern Ireland and we will be there as that future unfolds. What I'd like to do over the next three years is figure out — with the input of the people here — what that future looks like.
Jamie Pow: You have been listening to Northern Slant: the podcast. Northern Slant is an online publication dedicated to to showcasing a new, diverse Northern Ireland and re-setting how we tell Northern Ireland's story.
You can read more online at NorthernSlant.com, tweet at us on Twitter @NorthernSlant or like our Facebook page.
This podcast was produced by Alina Utrata, Julia Flanagan, Jamie Pow and Steve McGookin. A special thank you to everyone at the US Consulate and to Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau for talking to us.
Alina Utrata, Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau and Julia Flanagan at Danesfort, 18 September 2018 (pic: Jamie Pow)
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The housing crisis that insurance juggernaut AIG helped create hasn't hurt its executives — thanks to our tax dollars.
High-level employees for the federally bailed-out insurer can sell their homes at top value — even in this soft real-estate market — when they have to relocate for work.
That's because AIG will cover the difference between the sale price and the asking price.
The stumbling corporate giant admits reimbursing its executives up to $30,000 on home sales.
"It's a common industry practice designed to make sure that we can attract and maintain talented people, and to ensure that we can maintain the viability of our business that will drive our ability to repay the taxpayers," AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto told The Post.
The revelation comes nearly a year after AIG received $180 billion in taxpayer money to avoid insolvency after the mortgage-market collapsed caused partly by the shaky subprime loans that the insurer had backed.
In one example, Dennis Vigneau was hired away last year from insurance company Genworth Financial in Richmond, Va., to become the chief financial officer of AIG's life-insurance arm in Wilmington, Del.
He tried to sell his historic, 1912 two-story, Queen Anne-style home in an upscale Richmond neighborhood for $799,000. But because of the bad economy, the house languished on the market for three months.
Finally, in June, Vigneau was able to dump the property for $620,000 — $100,000 more than he bought it for in 2005, but less than its appraised value.
That's when his new corporate sugar daddy swept in and paid him at least $30,000 more, according to sources.
Even with taxpayers' 80 percent stake in the company, AIG declined to comment on the case.
"I'm not going to confirm or deny that we reimbursed him anything," Pretto said.


text:
Q: A good noun for a two-faced person I'm in need of a word that describes someone who has two personalities (they don't necessarily contrast each other, good/evil).

A: Well, unfortunately, they're usually just called "a two-faced person", and most other words dealing with it are adjectives that in noun form simply refer to the abstract quality of the adjective (a -ness noun, e.g. "deceitfulness") rather than one who has the quality of the adjective.  Let's see what I can come up with though.
"Double-dealer" - One who says one thing and does another, or one who does two things which are diametrically opposed to one another (such as selling weapons to both sides in a war, playing both sides against the middle)
"Fake" - usually slang in this context, one who acts one way but thinks something else.  Like someone who pretends to be your friend to your face, but talks about you behind your back
"Sociopath" - Sociopaths usually display an overt duality of personality, one which acts as a front to cover for their real (completely unemotional and ruthless) personality.  Hence, you get Sociopathic serial killers who live completely normal lives while nobody suspects that they're torturing people to death in their spare time.  However, this refers to an actual medical condition, but it's not uncommon to use.
"Traitor" - One who betrays.
"Turncoat" - A traitor who switches sides, principles, etc.
"Deceiver" - One who deceives.
That's all I can think of right now.

A: You could try duplicitous.

A: Jekyll and Hyde, maybe? This is very much linked to good/evil, though.

A: try janus-faced

*

*Having two faces; two-faced; hence, double-dealing; deceitful.

A: Janus?

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions [...]. Most often he is depicted as having two heads, facing opposite directions: one head looks eastward and the other westward. Symbolically they look simultaneously into the future and the past, back at the last year and forward at the new.

A: A person can be "multifaceted" if you mean that person has more than just two sides. A person who has a set of behaviors and interests out in the world but has a "different" set of behaviors and interests when at home, can probable be seen as "multifaceted." A mother who is a sexy beast in the bedroom and who is also a strong disciplinarian, and also a very quiet person in public, could be described as multifaceted.
I would venture to say "dual-faceted" with the hyphen. Also, "dual-form", "double faceted", "dual sided". A fairly common one is "of two minds". I would like to know more context though.

A: Maybe A Hypocrite?
As in one who is double-faced...
One who says something else but practices something different.
Example:
In public, a person talks about hazards of drinking alcohol.
But, he actually consumes it.

A: How about a Dualist ? or Bimorphic ? How about a flip flopper?
Hell you can talk about a many faced person as them being a Polymorph.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Bohdan Mikolášek (* 2. prosince 1948 Praha) je český folkový písničkář od emigrace v roce 1982 žijící ve Švýcarsku. Jeho píseň Ticho se stala jedním z nejvýznamnějších protestsongů éry po Palachově sebeobětování.

Život
Narodil se v rodině evangelického faráře. Vystudoval elektrotechnické inženýrství na ČVUT v Praze, ale věnoval se především hudbě. Na konci šedesátých let skládal a hrál své písně s poetickými texty Dům kde bydlí láska, Namaluj, brácho Dům, Jarní říkadlo, díky nimž patří k zakladatelské generaci českého folku. Coby mladý úspěšný písničkář vycestoval na turné do Sovětského svazu s Marií Rottrovou. Těžce jej zasáhla okupace Československa a následná smrt Jana Palacha. K tomuto tématu se vyjádřil písní Ticho, která se stala nejznámějším dílem jeho tvorby. V letech 1969 a 1970 měl angažmá v divadle Semafor. V roce 1972 bylo po uvedení písně Ticho na akci Evangelické teologické fakulty Bohdanu Mikoláškovi zakázáno zpívat na veřejnosti.

Po zákazu činnosti byl Bohdan Mikolášek spolu se svou nastávající manželkou Janou, která studovala Evangelickou teologickou fakultu, pod dohledem státních orgánů. I přesto se věnoval hudbě. V roce 1974 se i přes zákaz činnosti stal dvojnásobným vítězem festivalu Porta ve Svitavách, dále také ilegálně založil hudební skupinu spolu s Michaelem Kocábem.

Ačkoliv původně neměl v plánu opouštět Československo, situace ho k tomu donutila a roku 1982 emigroval s celou rodinou do Švýcarska, kde měl známé. Zde vydal v roce 1988 v malém nákladu desku Znovu, která pak v roce 1990 vyšla v reedici v Československu. Později vydal ještě desky Údolí (1994), Ulice (1997) a Didjeridoo. Kromě folkové a písničkářské tvorby se věnuje také skládání soudobé vážné hudby. Je členem Společnosti pro elektroakustickou hudbu. Věnuje se též dirigování a hře na varhany. Na Kirchenmusikinstitutu v Curychu studoval též církevní hudbu.

Od sametové revoluce se často vracel do České republiky. V roce 2019 uspořádal u příležitosti 50. výročí úmrtí Jana Palacha v kostele u Martina ve zdi hudebně liturgický pořad Ticho za Jana Palacha.

Diskografie
 Shut Up: EP, 1971
 Shut Up: EP, 1972
 Znovu, 1988 Švýcarsko, 1990
 Údolí, 1993
 Denra Dürr, Bohdan Mikolášek: Didjeridoo Geschichten, 1994
 Žalm II, 1995
 Ulice, 1997
 Die Nacht war still, 1999
 Písničky psané ve vlaku, 2003
 A. O. 1. 2. 03, 2003
 Je tichá noc, 2004
 Otvírejme brány, 2004
 Willkommen in Buchwiesen, 2005
 Auferstehung: der Achte Tag der Schöpfung, 2005
 Cestacíl. Setkání Praha 2005, 2005
 Zde není. Písně nejen pro velikonoční ráno, 2006
 Ostermorgen 2007. Reformierte Kirche Paulus, Zürich, 2007
 Je tichá noc, 2007

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy

 Osobní stránky Bohdana Mikoláška
 Fotogalerie vzpomínkové akce Ticho spěchá dál... na ETF UK a diskuse k akci na portálu Evangnet

Čeští zpěváci
Čeští písničkáři
Zpěváci folkové hudby a písničkáři
Osobnosti Českobratrské církve evangelické
Narození v roce 1948
Narození 2. prosince
Žijící lidé
Muži

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using DynThings.Data.Models;
using DynThings.Data.Repositories;
using DynThings.Core;

namespace DynThings.WebPortal.Controllers
{
    public class EndPointIOsController : BaseController
    {
        #region ActionResult: Views
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            if (ValidateUserPermissions(true, false) == false)
            {
                return RedirectToAction("Login", "Account");
            }
            ViewBag.IOTypeID = new SelectList(UnitOfWork_Repositories.repoIOTypes.GetList(true), "ID", "Title",0);
            return View();
        }

        public ActionResult Details(long id)
        {
            if (ValidateUserPermissions(true, false) == false)
            {
                return RedirectToAction("Login", "Account");
            }
            EndPointIO io = UnitOfWork_Repositories.repoEndpointIOs.Find(id);
            return View(io);
        }
        #endregion

        #region PartialViewResult: Partial Views

        #region ListPV
        //Get List All
        [HttpGet]
        public PartialViewResult ListPV(string search, long endPointID, long ioTypeID, int page = 1, int recordsperpage = 0)
        {

            PagedList.IPagedList ios = UnitOfWork_Repositories.repoEndpointIOs.GetPagedList(search, endPointID, ioTypeID, page, Helpers.Configs.validateRecordsPerMaster(recordsperpage));
            return PartialView("_List", ios);
        }

        #endregion
        #endregion

    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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It's 32-degrees F in Ferndale this morning and even colder in the elevated areas and to the north. With falling precipitation, this makes for very slick roads and there have been many single-vehicle accidents reported this morning.
Drive and walk carefully if you have to go out.


text:
Collins joins 'Shot Heard Around New York' in protest of SAFE Act
posted by Howard B. Owens in chris collins, Le Roy, news, NY-27, SAFE Act, 2nd Amendment.
About 70 members of rod and gun clubs in Genesee County were at the Northwoods Sportsman Club in Le Roy this afternoon to fire one shot each at noon to protest the SAFE Act and express support for Rep. Chris Collins' bill to block the SAFE Act at the Federal level.
Both Collins and State Senator Micheal Ranzenhofer were on hand to participate in the "Shot Heard Around New York" event at precisely noon today.
Collins said his bill, the Second Amendment Guarantee Act, has a good chance at passage if it gets out of the Judiciary Committee for a vote on the House floor because the NRA has said it will score the vote if it comes to a floor vote.
Even though New York's SAFE Act is the impetus for the bill, many members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, recognize this isn't just a New York issue because their states could also pass bills that violate the Second Amendment.
"I absolutely support the 10th Amendment, states' rights," Collins said. "Some folks have said this is a Federal preemption of sorts, and I've tried to remind them what we're doing here is preventing a state from restricting Second Amendment rights; just like a state cannot restrict First Amendment rights, a state cannot restrict religious freedom, and they should not be able to do as New York has done -- restrict Second Amendment rights."
The bill has not been popular in Albany, Collins said.
"Andrew Cuomo knows this is a real fight because we know how he does things," Collins said. "He threw a tantrum in his office. The report we got back was there were objects being thrown through the area. That's typical of what we've heard of the governor.
"He knows once we get this passed he can sue us all day long, but we're going to make sure it's written in a way that we're simply saying that a state cannot preempt federal law when it comes to restrictions or requirements on long guns."
Ranzenhofer thanks Collins for his efforts.
"Every year issues come before us and we stop a lot of bad legislation from coming through, but we need your help on this particular piece of legislation," Ranzenhofer said. "You know with our governor, he is not going to sign a repeal bill.
"That's why I'm so thankful that Congressman Collins is leading this fight in Congress because when you can't do it directly this is the option that we have, doing it at the Federal level and saying 'New York State, this is not going to happen.' "
Scott Chismar
Last seen: 7 months 1 day ago
Joined: Mar 17 2010 - 1:39pm
Wow. Scary. Anyone who has ever seen Collins in person and looked him in the eyes would wonder if he was stable enough to ever posses a fire arm. How about making a noise heard around the world that had something to do with bringing good jobs to our area, or ending the opiate crisis that is killing our communities?
September 24, 2017 - 9:21am
Tom Frew
Joined: Nov 25 2009 - 12:26pm
I am a SCOPE Member and an advocate for the 2nd Amendment. I appose the SAFE Act vehemently but I cannot support Chris Collins on this endeavor. Levels of government were created to keep the states sovereign. When Federal Government steps in to "override" the states, and we agree to it, we are violating one of the basic foundations of government. The SAFE Act should be battled and possibly defeated locally at the state level. Chris Collins and Senator Ranzenhofer have missed the boat on this fundamental concept.
Last seen: 2 weeks 5 days ago
Joined: Mar 9 2014 - 1:35pm
My first reaction was Collins does not have a good grip or stance. Poser.
Howard B. Owens
Last seen: 5 hours 52 min ago
Joined: Apr 23 2008 - 3:05pm
The 10th Amendment:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The Constitution through the Second Amendment delegated gun rights to the Federal government.
Rich Richmond
I'm an NRA Life Member. I'm a member of Scope. I support Chris Collins effort to defeat the Safe Act on a Federal level.
I wholeheartedly support defeating the Safe Act by any legal means possible.
The boundaries of the Second Amendment don't begin or end at the town; the city or the state borders. New York State has no authority, legal or moral to override the Constitution or suspend or modify of our Constitutional- God-given rights. Given our Trilateral form of New York State government, thinking we can battle and defeat the Safe Act, only on a local or State level is wishful thinking.
Dave Olsen
Last seen: 1 week 11 hours ago
Joined: Oct 12 2008 - 11:48am
You're close Howard, but the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The responsibility of the Federal Government is to protect the right of the individual. That responsibility toward the people of NY State has been shirked since the Sullivan Act in 1911. But hey, close is not bad. (Insert smiley face here)
Brian Graz
Last seen: 45 min 8 sec ago
Joined: Sep 18 2010 - 4:57pm
The SAGA is BS, it's not even needed in most other states, maybe this is why it has so few co-sponsors, and SAGA will make very little improvement to the NYSAFE infringements NYers are stuck with. IMO, this is mainly about Representative Collins getting PR as a champion for the 2nd A. Why didn't he include in his Bill ALL the 2nd Amendment infringements that NYSAFE contains? The SAGA only addresses long guns... WTH. Again I say it's BS.
How many have read the Bill ??? https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3576/text

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At the start of the month, we welcomed Evie into our offices for work experience. At 15 years old, Evie fits neatly into the category of what some fancy intellectual types would call 'Generation Z' i.e. someone who is born in or later than 1995. Yup, we all felt really old that week.
Before her last day, we asked Evie to give us the lowdown on how she uses social media and what she uses it for. She gave us some great insights into the social media habits of Gen Z and how the next generation are using the platforms. You can read what she had to say below! Thanks Evie!
Social media helps me communicate and keep in touch with friends. I have personally rekindled some friendships and arranged to meet up with people through the powers of social media. Stalking your crush's Instagram is also a guilty upside.
Some people may think using social media is a weak way to keep in touch with friends or family because you're not actually talking in person so you're not really having a physical interaction with them. However, this is just a new way of communicating and is an alternative to writing letters. Since around 3500-3200 BC people have written letters to keep in touch, all the way up to around the 90s. However, as technology has advanced, opportunities to write letters have dwindled and it can almost be seen as 'old-fashioned' or 'formal'. Using social media is more of a direct and efficient way of talking to friends.
I check social media everyday to reply to messages and see what's going on in the world. I use both of my social media platforms in slightly different ways even though the platforms are very similar. I mainly use Snapchat to communicate with friends and arrange meetings. I also post 'stories' which disappear within 24 hours. I find these to be a useful and effective way to communicate because it makes it more real and up to date.
There are constantly news stories that are being added to the Snapchat news page. These posts are specifically arranged to be targeted at teenagers and uses our search histories to put out content that Snapchat thinks we will find interesting. My knowledge of the world has broadened since Snapchat has added this feature and my awareness of 'adult' topics had expanded.
I use Instagram for posting photos on my account that I feel reflect my personality and things that I am interested in. I follow celebrities and people I admire on Instagram too; I think this is important because it can challenge you and make you think differently than you do in your everyday life. I'm not really the type of girl that fan-girls over celebs and frequently updates themselves on their life but there are people that I look up to and I particularly like to get inspired by people and feel as if they have influenced me positively.
I was late when joining the world of social media as my parents were quite reluctant to setting me 'free'. All my friends had Instagram and lots were using Snapchat but it didn't appeal to me because I didn't know what it was all about. When I got my first phone I was in year seven but the phone wasn't compatible with Instagram and Snapchat so it was a while until I really got into the use of social media. A year later I got a new iPhone that could download these social media platforms. Like most young teenagers I think I definitely over used the apps and posted too many inspirational quotes to achieve that desired 'Tumblr' façade. This is a phase most people go through when they feel like they are slightly cooler than they actually are. However now, I'd like to think I have calmed down a bit and only post things that I reflect who I am; although maybe I will look back and regret everything that I'm doing right now. But you've got to live in the moment and as long I'm expressing myself as who I am, then that's what counts.
Lately there has been more advertising on social media from new shoes to teeth whitening techniques. Some celebrities are paid to advertise products linked to body image and this can negatively affect teenagers. For example, social influencers like Kim Kardashian have advertised products such as 'appetite suppressant' lollipops. These sweets contain Satiereal, which they say is a "clinically proven safe active ingredient extracted from natural plants". The website claims it makes you feel full, writing: "So, if you snack on them when you're feeling hungry, it'll suppress your appetite for a few hours!" This is having a terrible influence on young girls, especially when they see major influencers like Kim Kardashian promoting these products which imply that having a flat stomach is the ultimate goal. I try to avoid looking at promotions like this and remind myself that these aren't people who live normal lives.
Sometimes I have given into advertising on social media, especially when it comes to clothes and makeup. There have been quite a few times where I have seen something that looks nice or interesting and fell for the attractive way the photo was taken and the promise that I will look like the model as soon as I try it on; I suppose that is the aim for the ad though!
There are many ways in which you can feel better about your body image if you're spending too much time looking at influencer's posts online. Influencers create many unrealistic goals for people and sometimes it's hard to make yourself realise the abnormality of the lives these people lead. You should remind yourself of some of these things from time to time; be conscious about what your body is capable of every day. Keep in mind that the body is the instrument of your life and more than just decoration because lots of people set impractical intentions based on things they have seen on the internet. This could lead to people feeling down because they have not achieved their goals. Always take pride in yourself as a human being and walk tall and proudly. Some people are insecure about their body because of the stereotypes that are based around their gender. Yet this shouldn't affect how you present yourself, as easy it is to say. You should always count your blessings and never worry about your blemishes - lately the media loves to point out the things that you could improve, rather than celebrating things that are positive about ourselves.
If I were to give advice to older generations about social media it would be to give it a go so that they can try and find the appeal for teenagers and can relate to how we use it. Despite its overwhelming popularity and impact on everyday life, many older people still find the thought of using social media very intimidating. I think that by helping grandparents take those first tentative steps to get online, you can play a key role in combating the appalling trend of loneliness that exists among the over 65s. Staying in touch with grandchildren can be critical to an older person's sense of belonging and value. Using social media means they can stay in constant contact with everyday family affairs, no matter how far away they may be living. It's especially useful if they are in a residential care placement, where they may have reduced family contact. As well as staying connected with existing friends, social media allows older people to identify local groups where they can easily connect with people living in the same town. These are just some of the reasons why social media should be used taken up by more people as it is a great tool to take up as long as it's used correctly and in moderation.


text:
Q: Migrate field type from text to keyword on Elasticsearch When I want to change the type of a field from text to keyword with this commande :
PUT indexStat/_mapping/StatCateg
{
  "StatCateg":{
    "properties": {
      "nom_categorie": {
        "type":"keyword","index": true
      }
    }
  }
}

I have this message :
{
  "error": {
    "root_cause": [
      {
        "type": "illegal_argument_exception",
        "reason": "mapper [nom_categorie] of different type, current_type [text], merged_type [keyword]"
      }
    ],
    "type": "illegal_argument_exception",
    "reason": "mapper [nom_categorie] of different type, current_type [text], merged_type [keyword]"
  },
  "status": 400
}

A: OK finaly i see in the doc that it's not possible to change data type of a field :

Updating existing mappings
Other than where documented, existing type and field mappings cannot
  be updated. Changing the mapping would mean invalidating already
  indexed documents. Instead, you should create a new index with the
  correct mappings and reindex your data into that index.

So the only solution is to :

*

*Recreate a new index with good data types

*Reindex the data with the Reindex API

A: Changing the data types (mappings) of an existing index is not supported. in order to do so, create a new index with the correct types (mappings) and reindex your data.
Elastic blogpost about doing this and recommend using a best-practice approach of aliasing your index.

If you DO NOT  have an aliased index
These are the steps required, the next time will be easier with no downtime

*

*Get current mapping of StatCateg

*Create a new index StatCateg_v1 with the correct mappings

*Reindex from StatCateg to StatCateg_v1

*Delete the old index StatCateg

*Create an alias StatCateg_v1 -> StatCateg (so that on next time this will be easier to do without downtime)

Example snippet (in python):
import requests

current_index_name = 'StatCateg'
new_index_name = 'StatCateg-v1'
base_url = 'https://...'
mapping_changes = {
    "nom_categorie": {"type": "keyword"}
}

# ------------------------------------------------
# Get current mapping
r = requests.get('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=current_index_name))
r.raise_for_status()
content = r.json()
mappings = content[current_index_name]['mappings']
mappings['properties'].update(mapping_changes)

# ------------------------------------------------
# Create a new index with the correct mappings
r = requests.put('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=new_index_name), json={
    'mappings': mappings
})
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Reindex
r = requests.post('{base_url}/_reindex'.format(base_url=base_url), json={
    "source": {
        "index": current_index_name
    },
    "dest": {
        "index": new_index_name
    }
})
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Delete the old index
r = requests.delete('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=current_index_name))
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Create an alias (so that on next time this will be easier to do without downtime)
r = requests.post('{base_url}/_aliases'.format(base_url=base_url), json={
    "actions": [
        {"add": {
            "alias": current_index_name,
            "index": new_index_name
        }}
    ]
})
r.raise_for_status()

In case you DO ✅ have an aliased index
These are the steps required, no downtime

*

*Get current mapping of StatCateg_v1

*Create a new index StatCateg_v2 with the correct mappings

*Reindex from StatCateg_v1 to StatCateg_v2

*Swap aliases (StatCateg_v1 -> StatCateg) with (StatCateg_v2 -> StatCateg)

*Delete the old index StatCateg_v1
Example snippet (in python):
import requests

index_name = 'StatCateg'
current_index_name = 'StatCateg_v1'
next_index_name = 'StatCateg_v2'
base_url = 'https://...'
mapping_changes = {
    "nom_categorie": {"type": "keyword"}
}

# ------------------------------------------------
# Get current mapping
r = requests.get('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=current_index_name))
r.raise_for_status()
content = r.json()
mappings = content[current_index_name]['mappings']
mappings['properties'].update(mapping_changes)

# ------------------------------------------------
# Create a new index with the correct mappings
r = requests.put('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=next_index_name), json={
    'mappings': mappings
})
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Reindex
r = requests.post('{base_url}/_reindex'.format(base_url=base_url), json={
    "source": {
        "index": current_index_name
    },
    "dest": {
        "index": next_index_name
    }
})
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Replace old index alias with new
r = requests.post('{base_url}/_aliases'.format(base_url=base_url), json={
    "actions": [
        {"remove": {
            "alias": index_name,
            "index": current_index_name
        }},
        {"add": {
            "alias": index_name,
            "index": next_index_name
        }}
    ]
})
r.raise_for_status()

# ------------------------------------------------
# Delete the old index
r = requests.delete('{base_url}/{index_name}'.format(base_url=base_url, index_name=current_index_name))
r.raise_for_status()


Take a moment to let your mind wander. See where the creative inspiration takes you.
I have a picture of birds flying around my head that I really wanted to attach in response to this, but could not. I can't stop giggling, by the way. Great picture.


text:
Q: No apps showing in Ubuntu Software I just installed a free image of Ubuntu 22.04. All seems well so far apart from the software store. No apps are showing at all in the categories or search.
I followed a lot of steps in this article with reinstalling gnome-software refresh & sudo apt reinstall gnome-software but no change thus far.
I know I can download the apps from terminal but would still like to try and get Ubuntu Software working.
Here are some errors I saw in the terminal and in Ubuntu Software. Any insight would be appreciated.

Kind regards

A: Snapcraft.io was down a little while ago, see Snapcraft System Status. You can see that this is a server issue rather than an issue with your computer by looking at the error message "unexpected HTTP status code 503". HTTP status code 503 means "service unavailable," meaning that the Ubuntu Software app cannot communicate with the servers where the software is because the servers are having an issue.
The services should be operational now, and Ubuntu Software should now be working.


Johannes Moser has earned a reputation for being one of the world's greatest cellists.
Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as "one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists," German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser is a dedicated recitalist and chamber musician who regularly plays at renowned festivals throughout the world. He has also performed with the world's leading orchestras and works regularly with conductors of the highest caliber. Moser is gaining increasing renown for his efforts to expand the reach of the classical genre and is committed to reaching out to young audiences. He recently won his 3rd ECHO Klassik award as Instrumentalist of the Year 2017 for his Russian Recital disk on the label PENTATONE, for whom he records exclusively. Moser was the top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition and a recipient of the prestigious 2014 Brahms prize.
In demand all over the world, Moser is the son of Saskatchewan musical royalty. Moser's mother is Saskatchewan-born soprano Edith Wiens.
Programme features the music of Prokofiev, Debussy, Beethoven, and Brahms.


text:
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I Am Giant - Single Review: Don't Look Back
08 Feb 2018 // A review by Miss_Jukebox
New Zealand's rock darlings, I Am Giant have started their 2018 with a bang – releasing their first new single of the year, Don't Look Back; before they unleash their hotly-anticipated third full-length album, Life in Captivity - which is due out in March. This will be the first full-length release from the band since 2014's Science and Survival.
The song demonstrates the solidarity of the trio - who have undergone a few changes in lead vocalists across the past few years. Long-time guitarist Aja Timu affirmed his place as the band's frontman at the beginning of 2017 and with this single demonstrates his ease and confidence in this role.
It is apparent that the band have set their sights on the same mainstream appeal and success that they have achieved from their previous records. The song is an easy-going track about relationship struggles that harbours a simple and catchy chorus that you'll have stuck in your head long after the song has ended.
The song begins with the pulse of the guitar underpinned by the swift flicker of drums by Shelton Woolright. Timu brings in the verse gently before the song expands with full-blown instrumentation and harmonies. The chorus elongates the pace with drawn out title lyrics that are sure to be chanted by the crowd when the song is performed live. While there isn't anything inherently bad about it, you almost wish that the band raised the bar a little and spun out something more invigorated.
What they do well on the track is match the tenderness of the song's message in the songs production, and utilise moments such as the mellow guitar solo to accentuate some sensitivity.
While this song isn't ground-breaking, or of a sound that is vastly new from the band, its familiarity is bound to be widely enjoyed by fans. Critically, it's almost a shame that the talented trio don't exert their musical prowess more in their song-writing and composition. But why toy with a formula that has worked for them in their career so far?
It will be interesting to see what dimensions Life in Captivity will offer when it is out next month; but going off of this first single it looks like I Am Giant are going to be on heavy radio rotation in 2018.
Review written by Janise Kumar
About I Am Giant
With an impressive 70,000+ loyal fans on Facebook and over 1,000 international members of their 'IAG Army', I Am Giant have amassed a huge worldwide following with four #1 rock singles and a certified gold album in New Zealand, music videos featuring skate and surfing icons Tony Hawk and Kelly Slater, opening for Slash in Australia, a UK tour with Taking Back Sunday, performances at Big Day Out in Auckland and Sydney, opening for Stone Temple Pilots in Singapore, touring throughout Asia several times, and playing the prestigious Viper Room and Mercury Lounge in the US.
Their debut album The Horrifying Truth, was recorded with acclaimed producer Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, The Butterfly Effect). I Am Giant bound together what they describe as "a collection of stories, thoughts, observations and exploration" into a cohesive and hard-hitting explosion of sound and melody. From the first song Purple Heart to closer After The War, the sharp lyrical themes draw the listener into the band's growing awareness of mortality and loss of innocence. The Horrifying Truth is pure, unadulterated rock, with its heart on its sleeve and an unquenchable fire in its soul.
October 2012 saw I Am Giant release The Horrifying Truth in the UK and Europe, where their single Purple Heart won support on BBC Radio One as Zane Lowe's 'Next Hype' , XFM, Kerrang! Radio and Q Radio as well as hitting the No 1 spot on Polish Radio Eska Rock.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for I Am Giant
Life In Captivity
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
Science & Survival
The Horrifying Truth
City Limits/Neon Sunrise
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Age Pryor - Single Review: Burning Sun
15 Nov 2018 // by Miss_Jukebox
Having built a steady portfolio of compositions since the turn of this century, Age Pryor (Fly My Pretties, The Woolshed Sessions, Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra) has inconspicuously become a pillar amongst New Zealand's finest artists. And in the same understated way his career has unfolded so far, his new single Burning Sun retains the unassuming charm and placidity of his sound.
Sola Rosa - EP Review: In Spaces
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The highly-acclaimed, genre-fusing artist Sola Rosa is back with a new EP In Spaces - a stellar addition in the artist's almost two-decade career. In Spaces explores the soundscapes of funk, soul and RnB, pillared by sturdy grooves and commanding vocal performances from a selection of outstanding feature artists.
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Poet and alt-folk singer-songwriter Emily Fairlight has released her latest song The Escape - a bittersweet romantic ballad with plush country/folk vibes. It's a hauntingly beautiful composition that sinks into you with its heartfelt delivery and writing.
The Frank Burkitt Band - Album Review: Raconteur
14 Feb 2018 // by Miss_Jukebox
Peruse through the gorgeous pages of Frank Burkitt's storybook in Frank Burkitt Band's latest album – a beautiful collection of narratives set to folk, jazz, blues and American roots essences. Raconteur is the second full-length album from the band, who formed in Wellington during 2014 after Burkitt, and his partner Kara Filbey (who provides vocals, flute and percussion on the album) moved from Edinburgh.
Lucas O'Connell - Songs to Sleep On Album Review
Music voyager Lucas O'Connell has released a beautiful debut album, Songs to Sleep On that encapsulates his skills to meaningfully personify all that is around him. The album was recorded primarily in Wellington's Surgery Studios under the guidance of his main studio engineer Dr.
Lucie Hill - Little Lapin EP Review
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One look into her bright eyes, Little Lapin will have you mesmerised. Auckland-based Lucy Cioffi in her musical alter-ego Little Lapin has finally released her self-titled debut EP.
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Sarah Conlan, a young country singer/songwriter is part of a country music resurgence happening before our eyes. I always thought of country music as a self-contained genre.
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Hello COMC Nation! We're coming up on the halfway point to the MLB season, and it's just about time for the All-Star game. Sometimes we watch for the Home Run Derby the night before, or we like to check out the Futures All-Star game, or even the Softball game featuring the greats of seasons past.
There's so much pre-game activity that fans can forget there's a game to be played! Well this year COMC has a game to play as well, and everyone is invited.
We're going to have a little contest here during the MLB All-Star weekend, where anyone who follows @checkoutmycards on Twitter can join in the fun, and maybe win themselves some COMC Credit, too.
It's really easy to join in the fun.
Everyone who tweets this phrase will be entered into the contest and assigned a random All-Star. If your All-Star gets chosen as the game's MVP, you'll win $20 in COMC Credit. Remember to include the link *and* the #COMCMVP hashtag.
We'll track all the tweets until 6pm (PDT) Monday, July 15th, and shortly after 6pm, we'll post a list of those who are participating and the player that has been assigned to each contestant. On Wednesday, July 17th, we'll contact the winners via Twitter DM and make arrangements to transfer their winnings to their COMC account.
Depending on the number of participants some All-Stars may be assigned to more than one person. But, no worries…if an All-Star who is assigned to 2 or more contestants wins the MVP, each winner will get $20 of COMC Credit. Splits are for bananas and bowling, not prize money.
So get ready by following the @CheckOutMyCards twitter feed if you don't already! Every day we're posting cool trivia, athlete birthday announcements, and the latest in COMC news.
To ensure as many people as possible can take part in our contest, we're extending the entry deadline until Noon (PDT) on Tuesday, July 16th. Thanks to all those who have already tweeted the winning phrase and enjoy the All-Star game Tuesday night!
Following Topps' strategy of having lame contests to distract the rubes from your awful policy changes and CS?
Hi Glenn; that's not the case at all. We wanted to have some fun with the upcoming All-Star game, and do something to get the members of the COMC Nation involved. FYI, we're currently working on a Blog post to address the whole Beckett Subscription concern, for everyone involved. That'll be out later this afternoon.


text:
La Operación Amanecer Rojo (Operation Red Dawn en inglés), llevada a cabo por tropas del ejército estadounidense el 13 de diciembre de 2003, en ad-Dawr, una pequeña localidad de Irak cercana a Tikrit, supuso la captura del expresidente de Irak, Saddam Hussein. El nombre de la operación es por la película de 1984 Amanecer rojo. La misión fue asignada al Equipo de Combate de la 1.ª Brigada de la 4.ª División de Infantería, comandada por el general de división Raymond Odierno y dirigida por el coronel James Hickey de la 4.ª División de Infantería, en operaciones conjuntas con la Task Force 121, una élite y equipo de operaciones especiales conjuntas encubiertas.

Buscaron dos sitios con el nombre en clave de "Wolverine 1" y "Wolverine 2", fuera de la ciudad de ad-Dawr, pero inicialmente no encontraron a Saddam. Una búsqueda exhaustiva entre los dos sitios señalados dio finalmente con Saddam escondido en un "agujero de araña " a las 20:30, hora local de Irak. El expresidente irakí no se resistió a su captura. Las imágenes de un Saddam descuidado, de larga barba y cabellera, y totalmente aturdido, dieron la vuelta al mundo en los días siguientes.

Antecedentes
Saddam Hussein desapareció de la vista pública poco después de la Invasión de Irak de 2003. El ejército estadounidense lo etiquetó como "Objetivo de alto valor número uno" (HVT1) y comenzó una de las cacerías humanas más grandes de la historia.

Entre julio y diciembre de 2003, la Fuerza de Task forces 121 del JSOC llevó a cabo doce incursiones infructuosas para encontrar a Saddam Husein, junto con otras 600 operaciones contra objetivos, incluidos 300 interrogatorios. El 1º de diciembre de 2003, un ex conductor divulgó el nombre de Muhammed Ibrahim Omar al-Musslit, la mano derecha de Saddam, conocido por TF 121 como "la fuente" o "el gordo". Durante las siguientes dos semanas, casi 40 miembros de su familia fueron interrogados para determinar su ubicación. El 12 de diciembre de 2003, una redada en una casa en Bagdad que se utilizaba como cuartel general de los insurgentes capturó a Omar. Temprano a la mañana siguiente reveló dónde se podría encontrar a Saddam.  Esta inteligencia y otra inteligencia de ex miembros detenidos del Partido Baaz , apoyados por inteligencia de señales de la ISA, finalmente identificaron a Hussein en un complejo agrícola remoto al sur de Tikrit.

Operación
La Operación Amanecer Rojo se lanzó después de obtener inteligencia procesable que identificó dos ubicaciones probables del paradero de Saddam Husein con nombre en código Wolverine 1 y Wolverine 2, cerca de la ciudad de ad-Dawr. El escuadrón C de la Delta Force, operadores de ISA bajo la Task Force 121 y el equipo de Combate de la Primera Brigada de la 4ª ID, llevaron a cabo la operación.  La operación lleva el nombre de la película de 1984 del mismo nombre protagonizada por Patrick Swayze. Los nombres de los sitios de "Wolverine 1" y "Wolverine 2" también son una referencia al grupo insurgente estadounidense en la película, The Wolverines. Las fuerzas involucradas en la operación consistieron en aproximadamente 600 soldados, incluyendo caballería, artillería, aviación, ingenieros y fuerzas de operaciones especiales.

Las fuerzas despejaron los dos objetivos, pero inicialmente no encontraron el objetivo. Luego, cuando los operadores estaban terminando y los helicópteros llamaron para extraerlos, un soldado pateó un pedazo de piso a un lado, exponiendo un agujero de araña; se preparó para lanzar una granada de fragmentación en él, en caso de que condujera a un sistema de túneles insurgentes, cuando de repente apareció Hussein. El operador de Delta lo golpeó con la culata de su carabina M4 y lo desarmó de una Glock 18C.

Hussein se rindió y no ofreció resistencia; fue llevado por un MH-6 Little Bird desde el 160º SOAR al Sitio de Apoyo a la Misión Tikrit, donde fue identificado adecuadamente. Luego fue llevado en un helicóptero MH-60K Blackhawk por el 160º SOAR desde Tikrit a Bagdad y puesto bajo custodia en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Bagdad. Junto con la Glock.un AK-47 y 750,000 dolares que fueron recuperados del agujero de araña.

Captura y Estado de Prisionero de Guerra
Un portavoz del Pentágono dijo que se le dio el estatus ya que era el líder de las "fuerzas militares del antiguo régimen".

Asi mismo Hubo controversia sobre las imágenes de televisión que mostraban a Saddam Husein con un aspecto desaliñado con una larga barba negra y gris bajo custodia y sometido a un examen médico después de su captura para confirmar su identidad, imágenes consideradas por algunos como un fracaso para protegerlo de la curiosidad pública,Un portavoz militar estadounidense, el mayor general Raymond Odierno, dijo que la operación, que involucra a varias unidades combinadas de Estados Unidos, se lanzó dentro de las 24 horas posteriores a recibir un aviso de un miembro del clan de Saddam Hussein.

Su custodia y la de 11 de sus colaboradores fue traspasada al gobierno provisional iraquí meses más tarde, el 30 de junio de 2004.

Véase también

 Guerra de Irak
 Saddam Huseín

Referencias

Amanecer Rojo
Batallas y conflictos sin bajas
Sadam Husein


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But can we trust the Soviet? Is he really on our side? He's a genius, they say, but your neck is on the line and the valley floor glimmers three hundred meters below the tips of those razor-sharp monopoint crampons. How are we to know it's not just another plot to rid the world of one more 21st century capitalist? The febrile mind of Vitaly Abalakov is all that is keeping me from tumbling into the icy maw of the valley, taking the eternal fall where the sky is never bluer and the rope never goes taught. It's a lot of faith to place in a dead Russian. Born in 1905, Vitaly and his brother Yevgeniy would become both prolific first acentionists as well as pioneering inventors of climbing gear and techniques. The first tube chock, the first hauling pulley, retrievable ice screws, tri-cams, indeed much of modern climbing paraphernalia sprung from Vitaly's incredible imagination. Yet this profusion of novelty was to bring him profound sorrow as well as great fame. In 1938, the Soviet Commissariat for Internal Affairs arrested him and many of his climbing team, charging them with the crime of "open public propaganda" in their use of western mountaineering techniques. Several were executed, others faced the gulags. By the 1950's though, as the wheels of cold war realpolitik turned again, Abalakov regained his former status, was showered with accolades and recognised as the true "Father of Soviet Mountaineering". His greatest gift to me, and every other modern ice climber, was the impossibly simple technique that still bears his name: the Abalakov Thread.
 In front of me, I've bored an "Abalakov": two intersecting holes drilled into the ice at 45 degrees, through which a 6mm cord has been threaded. My harness is clipped to this cord, and my whole existence now depends upon the strength of a bootlace thick piece of nylon and the incredible properties of waterfall ice. Lean. Out. On. It. Let the frontal lobes overcome the fearful reptilian cortex of the brain. Trust the Russian. I relax into the harness and hunker down on the anchor. Somewhere down below, the taught jiggling of the rope tells me, Adrian is taking out an ice screw and will shortly climb up to join me on these same thin threads. It's absurd. What are we doing here?
 The helicopter spirals through the air, and in seconds we are at eye level with the jagged peaks of the Remarkables mountain range outside Queenstown. With dazzling precision, the pilot weaves the machine between the snow covered spires and puts us down at the head of Wye Creek in the heart of the range. The walls are thick with columns of blue ice. Seconds later, the helicopter disappears into the early morning sun again, and there is nothing but Adrian, my guide for the next ten days, and me. We walk to a squat, grey rubber tent, the only feature in the barren landscape, and Adrian unzips the heavy door. "Welcome to the office," he says. We drop our packs inside and start to kit up for the first climbs of the trip.
 Ice climbing: space age technology combined with medieval siege warfare. Reverse curved axes and vertical point crampons, sharpened to terrifying edges, bite into the brittle ice. Fuck gravity, we're going higher, they scream. Precision bored ice-screws hang thick from our harnesses. The weaponry of our sport. We hunt at the fringes of the world, those cold places where nature conspires to percolate tonnes of dihydrogen monoxide into terrifying sculptures hundreds of meters high. Frozen waterfalls. Rock just sits, unmoving, unchanging, but these mighty edifices are in constant flux. The ice changes by the year, never quite forming the same way. It changes by the hour, as the interplay of sun, wind and temperature collude to alter texture and stability. It even changes as the climber puts his tools to it; stress fractures radiate as the ice screws bite; a swing with the axe will stick with astounding rigidity one moment, and with the next a huge dinner plate of ice fractures off the surface, to crash down to the slopes below.
 As dangerous as the job of the lead climber is, perched hundreds of feet up on metal points dug mere millimeters into the ice, the job of the belayer below is arguably more so. He pays out the rope vigilantly, ready to hold it fast in the event that the lead climber falls, and yet is subject to a near continual bombardment of ice from above. Thick dinner plates roar past, followed by milk-jug sized slices of icicle. At the end of the day, the bottom of the route is strewn with glassy fragments of ice embedded in the soft snow. Ever wanted to know what it feels like to be in an air raid? Belay an ice climber. "There are three types of fun," Adrian explains, "Type one is where you have fun at the time, and it's fun when you tell people later. Type two fun is where it's not fun at the time, but it's fun when you tell people later. Type three fun is where it's not fun at the time, and it's not fun when you tell people later". I suspect most ice climbing is about Type 2.4. By the end of the second day, Adrian tells me there's nothing left to teach. Like a duck to water. Rock scares the bejeesus out of me, but ice I get. "Let's just go climbing." he says.
 Each day we cruise the walls of the valley, picking off lines here and there. One pitch turns to two, two turns to three, before we rappel back to the bottom of the climb and sit on our packs eating humus and crackers. High above the valley lies the Upper Tier, a cascade of ice which tumbles over a lip at the top of the cliffs, leaving a wide cave behind. There's room here to camp even; on several nights we would glance upwards from our tent to see the headlamps of bivouacking climbers shining out from behind the ice. At the far left-hand side of the formation lies a route named Iron Curtain, which starts with a five meter vertical section with a spectacular drop away below it. Adrian leads it twice; a few days later as my confidence builds, I lead it too. A hundred feet higher up, my arms are burning and my head is spinning. Another Soviet ploy.
 "There's a formation here that's not shown in the guide book." Adrian says, pointing to a leftward sloping route, like three giant jellyfish stacked upon each other. I duck around the bottom of a rock outcrop and start to pay the rope out as he climbs. A cacophony of ice starts to fly overhead, thudding into the deep snow below. "It's a bit brittle!" comes the shout. The bombardment ceases; I dare to stick my head out. A sniper's bullet of ice catches me straight below the eye. Adrian is teetering a hundred feet up, and his axes are hitting the ice with an ominous hollow thud. "How's it look?" "I'm not happy. It doesn't seem to be anchored to anything. I can see a big gap between the rock and the ice." "You want to lower off?" "Yes." A few minutes later Adrian is on the ground. "I can see why that one isn't in the guide book.."
 On the final day, we climb "Trigger Finger", a steep three-pitch route. I lead the first pitch to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine", and the third pitch to the Scarecrow's song from the Wizard of Oz. I would wile away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers, if I only had a brain… The sun arcs across the sky as we look for one final line. A route in the middle of the wall looks unclimbed this season; a cave in the rock some eighty feet above is fringed with thick icicles, a perfect belay point for the second pitch. I cruise up to the cave, drill an Abalakov, and set the anchor. Adrian flashes up behind me and takes the rope taught as I climb out of the comfort of the cave and back into the vertical world. At the base of a three meter pillar of ice, I fire in another screw and clip the rope. Tools high overhead now, gentle kick-taps with the crampons, and I'm there. I reach, plant the axes deep in the sloping ice at the top of the pillar, and step up…
 Bang. Both axes pop, and I'm floating in space. Everything's sky blue, then white, then blue again, and then stops as the rope goes taught and I slump in my harness. Looking up, I see Adrian's head poking out of the cave. "Logging some air time there, dude?" he shouts down. "I'm in Queenstown, I figured I might as well do some bungy jumping," I shout back. Someone's dragging a scalpel point around the inside of my skull. I wait for the stars that are streaming before my eyes to vanish, then climb slowly up the slope and back into the cave. "Fingers and toes all wiggle?" he asks. They do. I need to get back on the horse, so again I climb out of the womb of the cave and back into the cold and vertical world outside. The ice screw at the bottom of the pillar has barely moved, and the Abalakov acts as if nothing had happened. I swing the axe, and pain explodes through my right hand. Back into the cave. The adrenaline has worn off. My hand is swelling through my glove. "I don't think it's broken, but I can't climb on it. I guess this is the end." "Let's rappel off, then." "C'est la vie." "C'est la guerre!" he shouts.
 They say that deep sea fish cannot be bought safely to the surface, so pressurised are they that they will explode. The next day the helicopter reverses its journey, whisking us from the cradle of the mountains and back into Queenstown in a matter of minutes. I catch sight of my reflection in a window. Bearded and glassy eyed, I'm suffocating in the warm, thick air. I'm a deep sea fish in a strange world. Decompression. Back at my hotel, I strip the layers of clothing away for the first time in many days and survey the damage. My right hand is like a baseball catcher's mitt, my knees and elbows are swollen and blue. A huge yellow bruise is rising on my left thigh, and worryingly I have a small axe-tip shaped puncture wound in my left pectoral, which matches a hole in my jacket I'd noticed earlier. I try not to think about it. I pull a beer from the fridge, and stand under the shower for a long time.
 "A friend asked me the other day, if I had the choice between never taking another turn on skis and never swinging an axe again, which would I chose? I told him I'd take the axe every time.The sense of achievement is… it's like nothing else…" Adrian's voice trails off in the dark of the tent. But really, why do we do this? This utterly pointless, often dangerous, always strenuous activity? What is it about a mountain, or a cliff, or a frozen waterfall deep in the hills that compels us to climb it, to walk along its ridges or to see what's at the top? We climb, not because "It is there", but to remind ourselves that "I am here".
 With thanks to all the guys at Adventure Consultants, the pilots of Heliworks, and especially to Adrian, his patience, skill and strong belay hand. And, of course, Vitaly Abalakov, without whom our racks would be twice as heavy.


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You are here: Home	» news section » opinions » Opinion on Manipur Integrity Issue
Articulating History: Rejoinders and Notes on the Horrors of Kuki Rebellion 1917-1919
Richard Kamei *
Recently I wrote an article on Kuki Rebellion titled "To bridge the divide in Manipur, the effects of a long cycle of violence should be accepted [1]" about how the rebellion affected neighbouring Naga tribes especially Zeliangrong.
This aspect has been hardly presented in the existing writings on Kuki Rebellion wherein it has been largely portrayed as a history in isolation from ethnic tensions between Naga and Kuki tribes since nineteenth century.
Kuki Rebellion has been usually portrayed as a heroic act of fighting the Colonial force but this particular 'anti-colonial' narrative ignores the sufferings meted out to Zeliangrong people (a conglomeration of Naga tribes- Zeme, Liangmai, Rongmei and Inpui). How a significant part of historical event has been obscured so far requires a retelling/rewriting experiences of Zeliangrong people from Kuki Rebellion, 1917-1919.
The horrors unleashed on Zeliangrong people cannot be passed off as 'unfortunate', as Mr. SonthangHaokip does in his thesis on "Anglo Kuki relations" [2], or 'circumstantial' as presented in the Statesman Newpaper titled "Misrepresenting the Past" by ThongkholalHaokip [3].
I relied on secondary data like books and archival records to piece them together into a historical account of Zeliangrong people under the shadow of Kuki Rebellion. In doing so, I have presented how events before and after Kuki Rebellion are replete with Naga Kuki ethnic tension and its politics by keeping myself away from making subjective comments.
Historical writing is susceptible to interpretation and reproduction, and the outcome can lead to distortion of original contents. To start with, ThongkholalHaokip's misinterpretation of a particular line from my article is deceptive wherein I wrote based on archival record that "…in the Naga Hills, Kukis took 250 heads from the neighbouring villages" is interpreted into "250 Kabuis in the North Western hills, now in Tamenglong…" in his article.
The archival record I referred to is from the year 1910 [4]. This account of heads being taken is to highlight the existing feud between Kuki and Naga tribes long before the Kuki Rebellion began.
It is with great dismay to put our Zeliangrong Naga history and suffering in the face of wilful distortion of history. While at it, I would also like to point out that there were multiple instances where colonial sources documented number of casualties/deaths. I have found the sources not once but multiple times.
One of many instances being this record in the State Archives of West Bengal, where Major-General W.F. Nuthall, Political Agent, Munipore, in his letter to Lieutenant J. Butler, Deputy Commissioner, Naga Hills in 1871 informed that "…four Nagas from Toofai have this morning come in and reported that on the 21st Boisak (3rd May) their village was attacked by about 450 Kukies from the village of Kooding-mang and its dependencies, who killed ten men, ten women, and eight children of their number, and carried off their heads, together with three women and three children alive, (two females, one male,) besides having burnt eight-seven houses and 100 granaries, and despoiled them of all the cattle and property they could lay their hands upon [5]."
As to how the article "Misrepresenting the Past" reminds us that the effort of Kuki to instil peace is largely forgotten is at best selective writing and at worst distortion of history. The efforts of few Kuki chiefs in reaching out to Naga villages to join them in resisting recruitment for labour corps is remarkable in a sense that a space for alliance against the colonial rule is hardly initiated between the Kukis and the Nagas. However, this effort is subdued later by calculated attacks of Kukis against Zeliangrong Naga.
For instance, as per SonthangHaokip [6] (2011) writings, Tintong, Chief of Laijang initially sought cooperation from Nagas in resisting Labour Corps recruitment, and later he masterminded and took part in raids on Naga villages causing burning of houses and several casualties.
Gangmumei Kamei [7] in his book, the History of ZeliangrongNagas- From Makhel to Rani Gaidinliu (2004), described the genesis of attack on Zeliangrong during the Kuki Rebellion. He wrote that it began with the incident of an attack on some Kukis leading to confiscation of their guns at Rongmei village, Lukhambi. Two Rongmei villages – Awangkhul and Rangkhong came forward to help Lukhambi. Tintong responded with a retaliation by leading a raid on Awangkhul, and they took 30 heads.
Akhui, a Rongmei village led an attack on nearby Kuki village causing a death of dozen Kukis. Tintong then responded with an attack on Akhui village killing 76 persons and burnt down the village. The pattern here reveals that ethnic lines are being drawn leading to ethnic tension.
Sensing the situations of Rongmei villages, Liangmai Naga came to rescue them. Loss of multiple of hundreds of Zeliangrong people and several villages burnt down to ashes, is not a circumstantial incident, it happened with strategic, deliberate and pre planned massacre by Kukis against Zeliangrong people during Kuki Rebellion.
Gangmumei Kamei added that TangkhulNagas were also attacked by Kukis during the Kuki Rebellion. He also wrote that around that time the Kukis had already ceased the use of "the bow and arrow, sword and spear", for they possessed a skill to manufacture "guns, gunpowder and leather canons [8]." The absence of Naga men can also be drawn into this particular event for the fact that many were sent to France as labour corps to help the Allied Forces during World War I.
In the words of Lal Dena [9] (1991), "By the end of April 1918, a series of brutal outrages were committed on their surrounding villages by the rebels and in the next three month 19 villages were raided with the loss of 193 persons killed and 26 missing. The causes of some of these raids were old feuds. In October 1918, 20 Kabui Naga villages were raided and burned with a loss of more than 85 lives.
These raids were mostly carried out by Tindong chief of Layang who declared war with KabuiNagas in retaliation against the latter's raid on the Natjang Kuki village. No wonder the Kabui Naga rebellion in 1930-32 was directed both against the British and Kukis."
After Kuki Rebellion, towards the end of 1919, is marked by introduction of direct administration of hill people under the British, a move which is unprecedented considering how the hills were administered indirectly after the British conquest of Manipur in 1891. The hills come under the rule of three sub-divisions constituted by Chief Commissioner of Assam [10].
Historical writing in this form begs a question to re-examine and bring out dynamics at play and processes surrounding events from the past. In addition to EH Carr's emphasis on the need of historiography [11] as Mr. Haokip reminds us in his article, it will be of great value to extend our ears also to Ronald Aminzade's (1992) [12] take on the role of historical sociologists where he sees it to be a way to bring out diverse patterns, and linkages among events by critically assessing historical accounts. This involves focussing on the causes and consequences of the events, and other processes among events like overlapping and intersection.
Less than ten years later after the Kuki Rebellion, the Zeliangrong movement began under the leadership of Jadonang and later Rani Gaidinliu. The arrest of Rani Gaidinliu by the British came through with the help of Kuki informer. The role of Kuki informer in aiding the arrest of Rani Gaidinliu is corroborated in the writings of Ursula Graham Bower [13].
So, it will be unwise to say that there existed a group which has been forgotten for their effort to initiate peace during the colonial period. Zeliangrong movement is a freedom movement against the British and colonialism, and its rivalry with Kukis.
In Assam State Archives, there is a letter written by W.A. Cosgrave, Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam on February 25, 1931, where he highlighted about the unrest among KabuiNagas in North-west of Manipur state [14] . He noted down that Kuki villages were set up in Naga inhabited areas especially of Kabui and KachaNagas, and they were described as not indigenous who migrated into the region some generations ago.
A description here conveys that the main dispute is around land, and land has been an important factor which is central to formulations of Naga identity. Land is also attached to Naga notions of culture, custom, belief system and rituals. The formation of Naga Club in 1918 and its memorandum (one of the signatories was Kuki [15] ) to the Simon Commission in 1929 are a clear indication of ethnic identity consciousness and its expression back in the early twentieth century.
Scholars from northeast writing on colonial history, must critically look at the British administration, and how they created fault lines and permeated into fault lines to implant their divide and rule policy. The contours of colonialism can be easily identified by people who are at its receiving end.
One must stay vigilant from falling into the trap of colonialism and internalising it, like how Zeliangrong Naga, one of the largest tribes in Manipur is being referred to as "smaller hill communities in Manipur [16]" in T Haokip's writing, is dishonest. A concerted effort to skirt acknowledgement of violence and its excesses on Zeliangrong Naga people during Kuki Rebellion, is an ahistorical approach towards Zeliangrong movement which happened later under Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu.
* Richard Kamei wrote this article for Imphal Times
The author is a PhD at Tata Institute of Social Sciences
This article was webcasted on December 11 2019.


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Iowa governor supports conservation funding
Gov. Reynolds urges lawmakers to fund the trust
The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund would improve water quality for Iowa residents.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Jan. 14, 2020 – Ducks Unlimited and its conservation partners applaud the announcement Tuesday by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds encouraging legislators to improve water quality and soil health by fully funding the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.
"Gov. Reynolds showed strong leadership in her desire to give our children and grandchildren healthier soils, waters and wildlife," said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. "Funding the Trust would give farmers and conservation partners the resources to work cooperatively to make historic improvements on Iowa's landscape."
The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund is a permanent and constitutionally protected funding source overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2010 to conserve Iowa's natural resources. Years later, the Trust Fund sits empty. When funded, it will create a permanent, accountable source of revenue to improve fish and wildlife habitat, soil and water conservation, and quality of life throughout all 99 counties.
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, which produces pet food at three Iowa sites and purchases ingredients from Iowa farms, has committed $1 million to Ducks Unlimited to protect and improve 1,600 acres of wetland and grasslands across Iowa and praised the governor's direction.
"Purina applauds Gov. Reynolds' leadership in working to make Iowa's natural resources more sustainable for future generations of pet owners and outdoor enthusiasts," said Joe Sivewright, CEO of Nestlé Purina PetCare in the Americas. "We have more than 1,000 proud associates working in Iowa, and we're pleased to see the public and private sectors working together with conservation and agriculture groups to promote healthy water, soil and wildlife habitat in Iowa."
The trust would provide significant funding for investments in voluntary soil and water conservation practices and technology that could improve yields and profits on Iowa farms, while conserving essential soil and water resources consistent with Iowa's Nutrient Management Strategy.
Less than 10 percent of Iowa's wetlands remain, which has a serious impact on hunters, outdoors enthusiasts and the economy. More than $2 million is spent every day by Iowa sportsmen and women on hunting and fishing. Over the last two decades, Iowa has lost more than 1.6 million acres of habitat suitable for pheasants, waterfowl and other small game. And more than half of Iowa's waters ranked "poor" and 500 waterways are "impaired."
By funding the trust, state lawmakers will ensure Iowans will benefit from improved waterfowl habitat, more outdoor recreational opportunities and cleaner water.
"Funding the Trust is a win for conservation and will strengthen Iowa's economy and outdoors. We thank Gov. Reynolds for her initiative, and support this effort," Putnam said.
Visit www.ducks.org/fund-the-trust to learn more.
Chris Sebastian
csebastian@ducks.org
@GLARducks
glar
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