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Home News Gerald Chukuwuma Opens Solo Exhibition At Temple Muse
Gerald Chukuwuma Opens Solo Exhibition At Temple Muse
Gerald Chukwuma portrait photo by Olisa Nwoye
FUNKE OSAE-BROWN
Temple Muse, the luxury concept store, was enveloped in quietness as I stepped in on Wednesday morning. Bottles of exotic wines were neatly arranged while an array of beautiful pieces of art were hanging on the wall. I knew immediately that they were the works of Gerald Chukwuma. I was right. He was seated in a corner having a chat with some journalists as I joined the table.
Chukwuma has been around for some time as a visual artist. The uniqueness of his works and the medium through which he tells his story have made his works enduring statement pieces. Born in 1973, he is a celebrated visual artist and furniture designer with an enthusiastic local and international following. He graduated from the prestigious Nsukka Art School, University of Nigeria, with a first class degree specializing in painting. Chukwuma's bold works using a multitude of found objects have an unforgettable visual language, in which he uses African symbols and patterns in refreshing new ways; he uses a combination of textures, lines, symbols and colours which are laid out on painstakingly etched wooden panels.
Chukwuma has taken part in 20 exhibitions in the last decade in Nigeria, Cameroon, France, Denmark, Holland, and the United States and his works have become auction favourites. His thematic focus is on the complications of life and its impact on everyday people.
Chukwuma's solo exhibition titled 'People's Paradise' is a collection of a diverse body works represented in different mediums including wood panels, sculptures, water colours and mixed media works on canvas. He is an artist who loves to use his works to advocate for equality and social justice. One of his pieces showing at the exhibition entitled: 'Omo Onile' (wood panel) highlights the challenges with housing in the society where majority of the Nigerian population cannot afford to rent or build decent accommodation while the few who can afford to build are faced with the incessant demands from the omo oniles for financial settlement.
"We have the challenge of housing and when government is going to get something done, Omo Onile inflates the price of land," Chukwuma says of the piece. "It is a metaphor to say it is time for us to do something."
Also instructive is his piece, 'Black Gold'. A work rendered in fibre glass which takes a critical look at Africa as a land full of opportunities but everyone's attention is focused on the natural resources. They have been blinded by greed to see alternatives in the other potentials the continent has.
"I thought about Africa in some way while doing the work," explains Chukwuma. "People have potentials in themselves. However, everybody is scrambling for something which they can't see."
Black Gold by Gerald Chukwuma, fiberglass, 21 x 22, 2016 2016
Other interesting work to see at the exhibition is 'Google Map' a series made of discarded recharge cards. It is a series of works detailing different sides of the human experience and life trajectory. And the fact that there is unity in diversity. It took him a year to make. "The pieces are different yet they are together," he says of the series. "What this shows is that we can agree, it doesn't matter what we believe."
Other works you must surely see at the exhibition are 'The Key Factor', the artist's favourite, and 'Not Alone'.
Finally, Chukwuma says creating his wooden panels is a journey and an adventure. "I get different types of wood depending on how I intend to work them, hang them on the wall and then sketch on them. I usually work on several different pieces at the same time. I try to depict different angels of similar themes. I carve, burn, chisel the wood before I paint them and clad them with recycled metals of different colours. Whenever I work on the wood, I think of conflict resolution. I believe people create conflict; it is manmade. So I ask myself, how can I get different panels to agree? Sometimes they match or don't match. What I like is the adventure because you don't know how the materials will juxtapose. I find this exciting."
"Chukwuma's creative genius is not only technically impressive, it is also rich in message and medium," comments Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, the exhibition curator. "His work is filled with intrinsic forms and symbols which clearly express an African aesthetic, but point to universal truths that are understood by everyone."
"We are delighted to host Gerald Chukwuma for our first art exhibition of the year and to be able to continue to provide a platform for cutting edge Nigerian creativity," commented Kabir Wadhwani, director, Temple Muse.
Sponsored by UBS, the global Swiss bank, and Veuve Clicquot of prestigious Champagne House, Möet Hennessy the exhibition which opens today, Monday 21st, March runs until April 30th, 2016 at Temple Muse, Victoria Island, Lagos. To be a part of it you can RSVP by emailing sandraobiago@yahoo.com or calling +234 803 402 1901.
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Temple Muse
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The Bachelor's Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski engaged
By Caroline Overington
He's a bachelor no more.
Sam Wood has announced his engagement to single Mum Snezana Markoski, less than six months after the couple met on the Ten network's The Bachelor.
News Ltd reports that Sam broke the news by posting a photograph of Snez's hand bearing a diamond ring.
"She said YES! When you know, you know. I love you Snezana," Wood wrote, adding: "#CantWipeTheSmileOffMyFace".
Snez followed up with her own post, in which she declared herself the 'happiest girl in the world'.
She has a 10-year-old daughter, Eve, who recently holidayed with the couple in Tasmania.
Reality television,
undefined: Caroline Overington

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Season 3 Episode 8 – Alena Golden of RapTech
We spotted RapTech many years ago as an early Seed Stage business, named BattleMe, in 2017, when they resided at the leading Telefonica backed accelerator, called Wayra.
Unusually the business was born by Alena and her brother, who through their childhood in Belarus grew a love of 80's and 90's US hip-hop which they then combined with their technological expertise.
Consequently, the Technology and Rap Fame platform enables independent Hip-Hop and Rap artists to showcase their talents directly to the community, which, in turn has led to some artists actually getting recording contracts.
Additionally since we first met Alena, the business has scaled into becoming a major scale-up, with both a growing content and tech team of 20 people, resulting in being featured as APP of the day in 163 countries, by Apple.
Balancing this, during the chat, Alena also highlights the stresses of scaling a Technology during the pandemic and how it's not been plain sailing:
1/ Zoom fatigue set in several times- where she didn't really enjoy hours of back to back daily calls – without any breaks.
2/ She also highlights how impersonal her role as a founder has become, like many founders – she's not actually met some of her team face to face, which she really dislikes
3/ Alena is big on team spirit and is super keen to get her team all back together in the office to bounce of each other and stimulate innovation
4/ On diversity, Alena highlighted that the gender balance just magically swung towards more women come into the business during Covid, not by any design though, just by consequence and RapTech now has a 50/50 split
But in general / practical terms – she found doing business successfully in the Pandemic pretty tough – something that the wider Tech press tend to overlook with their extreme focus on mental health !
Net/Net,
RapTech is a real success story led by a great Eastern European female founder, based in London who has overcome many challenges from investors and the industry she and her brother has disrupted.
We hope the podcast provides some useful insight for other founders on how to navigate the UK an US tech ecosystem and globally grow a strong B2C brand and technology business, from the UK…..at the moment.


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In Android Settings select Languages and Input then Text to Speech Output to show the list of Voice Output Apps. In most cases Google-Text-to-Speech is listed. Select the Voice Output App, select settings (It's a gear-wheel icon on some phones) and select Uses system language in the Language menu.


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Tag Archives: paranoia
Politics, Religion
Paranoia deepens wedge between Israelis and Palestinians
By Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Jerusalem
We think of Jerusalem as a divided city and so it is – its Israeli and Palestinian populations are separated by language, religion, culture, politics and history.
And of course they have different political aspirations and territorial ambitions for the Holy City too.
But at times of rising tensions and rising casualty figures like this, the two populations that normally lead parallel lives share something very profound in common.
They are united by their fears for the dangers their families might face and by the deep urge that's within all of us to keep our children safe.
Read more » BBC
See more » http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34602291
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India, International, Pakistan, Politics
India's 'other' war: Jihadi paranoia and ethnic militancy
By Nilim Dutta
The December 23 carnage
It was between 17:00 and 17:50 hours when a series of calls came. It was Dec 23, 2014 and I was in Guwahati, Assam that evening where I was born and have grown up.
"Sir, our people have been killed in an attack in at least two villages in Ultapani area. Their homes have been burnt down."
"Sir, all our people have been killed. All of them."
I asked, "Calm down. Where has this happened?"
"Sir, in Sonajuli in Pabhoi area. Sir, Phulbari 9 & 10."
I immediately communicated it to the top echelons of the security establishment whose responsibility it is to respond to such terror attacks. The calls, however, kept pouring in.
"Sir, another attack in Serfanguri. Our people have been killed there too."
In another hour, it became apparent to me from the steady stream of direct information from the places of occurrence that casualties would exceed 50 and many would be children. India's national media was still oblivious.
For the next 48 hours, I would have little time to sleep or even eat as not only did I continue to manage a steady stream of 'critical' information directly from the ground to help deal with the aftermath, but also responded to numerous calls from terrified villagers across a 300-km stretch of remote border villages, reassuring them or aiding them in any way possible.
One of the worst terror strikes in India in this decade thus took place on Dec 23, 2014 in the North Eastern state of Assam. In a coordinated, near-simultaneous attack on five locations, the farthest of which were at least 300-km apart, terrorists brutally gunned down 81 unarmed civilians belonging to the Adivasi community.
While India's security establishment was preoccupied with creating an alarm about possible terrorist strikes from the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or even Pakistan's 'good terrorists' the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the past few months, this terror attack embarrassingly didn't come from any Islamic Jihadi groups. The carnage was perpetrated by India's own 'good terrorists' who had been treated with kid gloves for decades in spite of being responsible for some of the worst terror attacks India has suffered in the last three decades.
The manufactured paranoia of 'Jihadi' terror
It was in July 2014 that an important minister of Prime Minister Modi's cabinet and a very senior bureaucrat in India's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were both honoured guests to 'launch' a monthly magazine in New Delhi's Press Club of India. No national newspaper appears to have carried this as news and it would have even escaped our attention had it not been for the 'cover feature' of the first issue of the magazine: "Al Qaeda begins hiring in North East".
The 'cover feature' went on to claim that it was in possession of a highly classified intelligence report that recruiters from Al Qaeda were targeting Muslim youth from Manipur and Assam, two of India's North Eastern states, to join the global Islamic terror network. It claimed that in the first batch, Al Qaeda had recruited 17 Muslim youth from Manipur to join the global jihadi network and fight in India, Syria and Iraq. In the second batch, the magazine claimed, 10 Muslim youth from Manipur were recruited.
What made the report believable to even an informed reader was that it carried the names of the 17 Manipuri Muslim youth from Lilong in Thoubal district in Manipur who had reportedly joined Al Qaeda.
What naturally aroused my curiosity was how did a nondescript magazine come into possession of such a 'highly classified intelligence report'? Why did an important member of Modi's cabinet as well as a very senior bureaucrat in charge of 'internal security' in India's North East happen to launch this magazine?
Events took an even more curious turn when people in Lilong, from where Al Qaeda had reportedly recruited the Muslim youth, broke out in protest and burned copies of the magazine. When threat of appropriate legal action was conveyed to the magazine, the publisher and the editor hastily apologised and conveyed that they may have got the names wrong and that they had only published the names based on an intelligence report. They also categorically clarified that they had no intention of casting aspersions on the people of Lilong, particularly its Muslim community.
Months later, many so called 'experts' would cite this dubious report as 'proof' of how Al Qaeda has already made inroads into India's North East, among them the Director of the South Asia Programme of the Washington DC based 'Middle East Media Research Institute' or MEMRI in a piece he had written for The New Indian Express.
The fear regarding India's North East, particularly Manipur or Assam, becoming the hotbed for recruitment by Al Qaeda and sundry jihadi group's intensified after Al Qaeda released a video early in September 2014 where Ayman Al-Zawahiri announced the formation of 'Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent' and mentioned that it "would be good news for Muslims in Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh and in the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, where they would be rescued from injustice and oppression."
With a Hindutva Right government in power at the Centre, this was all that was needed to now ratchet up the fear of 'jihadi terrorism' targeting India even though any such threat had not increased radically by any standards of objective professional assessment.
Imagine offering 'general amnesty' to the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai suburban train blasts on July 11, 2006. Imagine giving those terrorists an 'autonomous council' to rule as reward.
Exactly a month later, on Oct 2, 2014, in a nondescript town called Burdwan in Assam's neighbouring state of West Bengal, a bomb went off in a house killing the bomb makers. India's premier terror investigating agency, National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon took over the case and revealed that the suspects, including the deceased, were active members of Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Some of them were allegedly Bangladeshis living illegally in India.
Continue reading India's 'other' war: Jihadi paranoia and ethnic militancy →
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International, Politics
Noam Chomsky- Is America Over?
Noam Chomsky: The Paranoia of the Superrich and Superpowerful
"Is America over?" It's a standard complaint of those who believe they should have everything.
By Noam Chomsky
[This piece is adapted from "Uprisings," a chapter in Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire, Noam Chomsky's new interview book with David Barsamian (with thanks to the publisher, Metropolitan Books). The questions are Barsamian's, the answers Chomsky's.]
Does the United States still have the same level of control over the energy resources of the Middle East as it once had?
The major energy-producing countries are still firmly under the control of the Western-backed dictatorships. So, actually, the progress made by the Arab Spring is limited, but it's not insignificant. The Western-controlled dictatorial system is eroding. In fact, it's been eroding for some time. So, for example, if you go back 50 years, the energy resources — the main concern of U.S. planners — have been mostly nationalized. There are constantly attempts to reverse that, but they have not succeeded.
Take the U.S. invasion of Iraq, for example. To everyone except a dedicated ideologue, it was pretty obvious that we invaded Iraq not because of our love of democracy but because it's maybe the second- or third-largest source of oil in the world, and is right in the middle of the major energy-producing region. You're not supposed to say this. It's considered a conspiracy theory.
The United States was seriously defeated in Iraq by Iraqi nationalism — mostly by nonviolent resistance. The United States could kill the insurgents, but they couldn't deal with half a million people demonstrating in the streets. Step by step, Iraq was able to dismantle the controls put in place by the occupying forces. By November 2007, it was becoming pretty clear that it was going to be very hard to reach U.S. goals. And at that point, interestingly, those goals were explicitly stated. So in November 2007 the Bush II administration came out with an official declaration about what any future arrangement with Iraq would have to be. It had two major requirements: one, that the United States must be free to carry out combat operations from its military bases, which it will retain; and two, "encouraging the flow of foreign investments to Iraq, especially American investments." In January 2008, Bush made this clear in one of his signing statements. A couple of months later, in the face of Iraqi resistance, the United States had to give that up. Control of Iraq is now disappearing before their eyes.
Iraq was an attempt to reinstitute by force something like the old system of control, but it was beaten back. In general, I think, U.S. policies remain constant, going back to the Second World War. But the capacity to implement them is declining.
Declining because of economic weakness?
Continue reading Noam Chomsky- Is America Over? →
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History, India, Media, News, Pakistan, Politics, Religion
The Next Indo Pak Conflict – Major Amin's prophesies? Is he right?
The Next Indo Pak Conflict
By Agha H. Amin
A brother human being Mr Giani 240 was a catalyst for this reflection on an IndoPak conflict.
At some stage historical forces, greater than main or key decision makers takeover and take states to war. This has already happened! no one can reverse the tide! how it happens and how many major cities may be destroyed is the question?
Mad men on both sides! Extreme suspicion and paranoia! Situation compounded by fear and ambiguity! The Pakistani military an army with a state versus India a state with an army makes the role of Indian army more limited than the Pakistani military who also control foreign policy and internal politics! The Pakistani military is not really qualified foreign policy nor are they statesman! But they think that they are both! This makes it far more dangerous! The Indian state is at a loss to decipher Pakistani intentions! Ambiguity leads to confusion and as the adage goes " Fear made men believe in the worst "! The use of non state actors initiated by the Pakistani military and now in full use by both countries has already gone out of control!Non state actors now have many masters, both state and non state and this complicates apportioning of blame in any incident! Above all population, limited resources, a human psyche deforming rapidly into collective neurosis as well as psychosis is complicating the situation. With man basically irrational, decisions military and political are not made with rational reasons.This was discovered by Freud long ago and discussed in detail in his classic " The Future of an Illusion". As a historian with a unique insight based on personal contact with many key decision makers on the Pakistani side and some interaction with Indians as a contractor in Afghanistan convinces me that a major Indo Pak conflict is not far away. Now the process is in hands of a remote and unknown pilot. Even the major and the key decision makers on both sides cannot reverse it. Although they may decide on the time and space and choice of targets. Why states go to war? A detailed study of history proves that it is for reasons more irrational than rational but nevertheless compelling reason. All is understood if we start from the premise that man is irrational! One thing I know .The Indian and Pakistani nukes will not be wasted and rusted in secret storages! God help us all!
Courtesy: Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28060478/The-Next-Indo-Pak-Conflict-Agha-H-Amin
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Current Issues, News, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Religion, Sindh
Dawn: Nadeem F. Paracha on the shadow of 1980s thinking on Pakistan's military establishment
Thick muck – By Nadeem F. Paracha
The parameters and paranoia of the bygone Cold War just refuses to evaporate from the psyche of Pakistan's military-establishment. That war might have folded with the folding up of the Soviet Union in 1991, but it seems Pakistan's military-establishment is still largely stuck (albeit willingly) in the thick muck that this war threw up in this region in the 1980s.
Continue reading Dawn: Nadeem F. Paracha on the shadow of 1980s thinking on Pakistan's military establishment →
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Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Religion
Mohammad Hanif on Dangerous Duffers
– Pakistan's General Problem
How Pakistan's Generals turned the country into an international jihadi tourist resort
By Mohammad Hanif
What is the last thing you say to your best general when ordering him into a do-or-die mission? A prayer maybe, if you are religiously inclined. A short lecture, underlining the importance of the mission, if you want to keep it businesslike. Or maybe you'll wish him good luck accompanied by a clicking of the heels and a final salute.
On the night of 5 July 1977 as Operation Fair Play, meant to topple Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's elected government, was about to commence, then Army Chief General Zia ul Haq took aside his right-hand man and Corps Commander of 10th Corps Lieutenant General Faiz Ali Chishti and whispered to him: "Murshid, marwa na daina." (Guru, don't get us killed.)
General Zia was indulging in two of his favourite pastimes: spreading his paranoia amongst those around him and sucking up to a junior officer he needed to do his dirty work. General Zia had a talent for that; he could make his juniors feel as if they were indispensable to the running of this world. And he could make his seniors feel like proper gods, as Bhutto found out to his cost.
General Faiz Ali Chishti's troops didn't face any resistance that night; not a single shot was fired, and like all military coups in Pakistan, this was also dubbed a 'bloodless coup'. There was a lot of bloodshed, though, in the following years—in military-managed dungeons, as pro-democracy students were butchered at Thori gate in interior Sindh, hundreds of shoppers were blown up in Karachi's Bohri Bazar, in Rawalpindi people didn't even have to leave their houses to get killed as the Army's ammunition depot blew up raining missiles on a whole city, and finally at Basti Laal Kamal near Bahawalpur, where a plane exploded killing General Zia and most of the Pakistan Army's high command. General Faiz Ali Chishti had nothing to do with this, of course. General Zia had managed to force his murshid into retirement soon after coming to power. Chishti had started to take that term of endearment—murshid—a bit too seriously and dictators can't stand anyone who thinks of himself as a kingmaker.
Thirty-four years on, Pakistan is a society divided at many levels. There are those who insist on tracing our history to a certain September day in 2001, and there are those who insist that this country came into being the day the first Muslim landed on the Subcontinent. There are laptop jihadis, liberal fascist and fair-weather revolutionaries. There are Balochi freedom fighters up in the mountains and bullet-riddled bodies of young political activists in obscure Baloch towns. And, of course, there are the members of civil society with a permanent glow around their faces from all the candle-light vigils. All these factions may not agree on anything but there is consensus on one point: General Zia's coup was a bad idea. When was the last time anyone heard Nawaz Sharif or any of Zia's numerous protégés thump their chest and say, yes, we need another Zia? When did you see a Pakistan military commander who stood on Zia's grave and vowed to continue his mission?
It might have taken Pakistanis 34 years to reach this consensus but we finally agree that General Zia's domestic and foreign policies didn't do us any good. It brought us automatic weapons, heroin and sectarianism; it also made fortunes for those who dealt in these commodities. And it turned Pakistan into an international jihadi tourist resort.
And yet, somehow, without ever publicly owning up to it, the Army has continued Zia's mission. Successive Army commanders, despite their access to vast libraries and regular strategic reviews, have never actually acknowledged that the multinational, multicultural jihadi project they started during the Zia era was a mistake. Late Dr Eqbal Ahmed, the Pakistani teacher and activist, once said that the Pakistan Army is brilliant at collecting information but its ability to analyse this information is non-existent.
Looking back at the Zia years, the Pakistan Army seems like one of those mythical monsters that chops off its own head but then grows an identical one and continues on the only course it knows.
In 1999, two days after the Pakistan Army embarked on its Kargil misadventure, Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed gave a 'crisp and to the point' briefing to a group of senior Army and Air Force officers. Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail, who attended the meeting, later wrote that they were told that it was nothing more than a defensive manoeuvre and the Indian Air Force will not get involved at any stage. "Come October, we shall walk into Siachen—to mop up the dead bodies of hundreds of Indians left hungry, out in the cold," General Mahmud told the meeting. "Perhaps it was the incredulousness of the whole thing that led Air Commodore Abid Rao to famously quip, 'After this operation, it's going to be either a Court Martial or Martial Law!' as we walked out of the briefing room," Air Commodore Tufail recalled in an essay.
If Rao Abid even contemplated a court martial, he probably lacked leadership qualities because there was only one way out of this mess—a humiliating military defeat, a world-class diplomatic disaster, followed by yet another martial law. The man who should have faced court martial for Kargil appointed himself Pakistan's President for the next decade.
General Mahmud went on to command ISI, Rao Abid retired as air vice marshal, both went on to find lucrative work in the Army's vast welfare empire, and Kargil was forgotten as if it was a game of dare between two juveniles who were now beyond caring about who had actually started the game. Nobody remembers that a lot of blood was shed on this pointless Kargil mission. The battles were fierce and some of the men and officers fought so valiantly that two were awarded Pakistan's highest military honour, Nishan-e-Haidar. There were hundreds of others whose names never made it to any awards list, whose families consoled themselves by saying that their loved ones had been martyred while defending our nation's borders against our enemy. Nobody pointed out the basic fact that there was no enemy on those mountains before some delusional generals decided that they would like to mop up hundreds of Indian soldiers after starving them to death.
The architect of this mission, the daring General Pervez Musharraf, who didn't bother to consult his colleagues before ordering his soldiers to their slaughter, doesn't even have the wits to face a sessions court judge in Pakistan, let alone a court martial. The only people he feels comfortable with are his Facebook friends and that too from the safety of his London apartment. During the whole episode, the nation was told that it wasn't the regular army that was fighting in Kargil; it was the mujahideen. But those who received their loved ones' flag-draped coffins had sent their sons and brothers to serve in a professional army, not a freelance lashkar.
The Pakistan Army's biggest folly has been that under Zia it started outsourcing its basic job—soldiering—to these freelance militants. By blurring the line between a professional soldier—who, at least in theory, is always required to obey his officer, who in turn is governed by a set of laws—and a mujahid, who can pick and choose his cause and his commander depending on his mood, the Pakistan Army has caused immense confusion in its own ranks. Our soldiers are taught to shout Allah-o-Akbar when mocking an attack. In real life, they are ambushed by enemies who shout Allah-o-Akbar even louder. Can we blame them if they dither in their response? When the Pakistan Navy's main aviation base in Karachi, PNS Mehran, was attacked, Navy Chief Admiral Nauman Bashir told us that the attackers were 'very well trained'. We weren't sure if he was giving us a lazy excuse or admiring the creation of his institution. When naval officials told journalists that the attackers were 'as good as our own commandoes' were they giving themselves a backhanded compliment?
In the wake of the attacks on PNS Mehran in Karachi, some TV channels have pulled out an old war anthem sung by late Madam Noor Jehan and have started to play it in the backdrop of images of young, hopeful faces of slain officers and men. Written by the legendary teacher and poet Sufi Tabassum, the anthem carries a clear and stark warning: Aiay puttar hatantay nahin wickday, na labhdi phir bazaar kuray (You can't buy these brave sons from shops, don't go looking for them in bazaars).
While Sindhis and Balochis have mostly composed songs of rebellion, Punjabi popular culture has often lionised its karnails and jarnails and even an odd dholsipahi. The Pakistan Army, throughout its history, has refused to take advice from politicians as well as thinking professionals from its own ranks. It has never listened to historians and sometimes ignored even the esteemed religious scholars it frequently uses to whip up public sentiments for its dirty wars. But the biggest strategic mistake it has made is that it has not even taken advice from the late Madam Noor Jehan, one of the Army's most ardent fans in Pakistan's history. You can probably ignore Dr Eqbal Ahmed's advice and survive in this country but you ignore Madam at your own peril.
Since the Pakistan Army's high command is dominated by Punjabi-speaking generals, it's difficult to fathom what it is about this advice that they didn't understand. Any which way you translate it, the message is loud and clear. And lyrical: soldiers are not to be bought and sold like a commodity. "Na awaian takran maar kuray" (That search is futile, like butting your head against a brick wall), Noor Jehan goes on to rhapsodise.
For decades, the Army has not only shopped for these private puttars in the bazaars, it also set up factories to manufacture them. It raised whole armies of them. When you raise Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish Mohammed, Sipahe Sahaba, Sipahe Mohammed, Lashker Jhangvi, Al- Badar Mujahideen, others encouraged by the thriving market place will go ahead and start outfits like Anjuman Tahuffuze Khatame Nabuwat and Anjuman Tahuffuze Namoos-e-Aiyasha. It's not just Kashmir and Afghanistan and Chechnya they will want to liberate, they will also go back in time and seek revenge for a perceived slur that may or may not have been cast by someone more than 1,300 years ago in a country far far away.
As if the Army's sprawling shopping mall of private puttars in Pakistan wasn't enough, it actively encouraged import and export of these commodities, even branched out into providing rest and recreation facilities for the ones who wanted a break. The outsourcing of Pakistan's military strategy has reached a point where mujahids have their own mujahids to do their job, and inevitably at the end of the supply chain are those faceless and poor teenagers with explosives strapped to their torsos regularly marched out to blow up other poor kids.
Two days before the Americans killed Osama bin Laden and took away his bullet-riddled body, General Kiyani addressed Army cadets at Kakul. After declaring a victory of sorts over the militants, he gave our nation a stark choice. And before the nation could even begin to weigh its pros and cons, he went ahead and decided for them: we shall never bargain our honour for prosperity. As things stand, most people in Pakistan have neither honour nor prosperity and will easily settle for their little world not blowing up every day.
The question people really want to ask General Kiyani is that if he and his Army officer colleagues can have both honour and prosperity, why can't we the people have a tiny bit of both?
The Army and its advocates in the media often worry about Pakistan's image, as if we are not suffering from a long-term serious illness but a seasonal bout of acne that just needs better skin care. The Pakistan Army, over the years, has cultivated this image of 180 million people with nuclear devices strapped to their collective body threatening to take the world down with it. We may not be able to take the world down with us; the world might defang us or try to calm us down by appealing to our imagined Sufi side. But the fact remains that Pakistan as a nation is paying the price for our generals' insistence on acting, in Asma Jahangir's frank but accurate description, like duffers.
And demanding medals and golf resorts for being such duffers consistently for such a long time.
What people really want to do at this point is put an arm around our military commanders' shoulders, take them aside and whisper in their ears: "Murshid, marwa na daina."
Mohammed Hanif is the author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008), his first novel, a satire on the death of General Zia ul Haq
Courtesy: openthemagazine
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/international/pakistan-s-general-problem
abbottabadAfghanistanAfpakal-QaedaarmyBhuttoChishticorruptiondirtyEstablishmentextremismfairFATAFundamentalismgeneralsGHQhand-in-gloveHaqqaniIndiaISIIslamabadJamaat-e-IslamiJihadJihadiJudiciaryKayaniMilitaryMullahMusharrafnetworkOmarOperationOsamaPakistanparanoiaPashaplayPoliticsQuettaRawalpindisecurityShuraStateTalibanTerrorTerrorismU.SWashingtonWaziristanworkWorldZiaZulfiqar
Current Issues, India, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Religion
Debate: Feeding Pakistan's Paranoia
When Pakistan Says No to the C.I.A.
Will Pakistan's demand that the C.I.A. curtail its activities be a blow to American efforts to fight terrorism?
Feeding Pakistan's Paranoia
Shuja Nawaz is director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington. He is the author of "Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within" and "Learning by Doing: the Pakistan Army's Experience with Counterinsurgency."
Behind all the talk of a strategic dialogue and strategic partnership between the United States and Pakistan lurks the reality of a persistent transactional relationship, based on short-term objectives that intrude rudely into the limelight every time a drone attack kills civilians inside Pakistan or in the instance when an American "operative" is caught by the Pakistanis after killing two people on the streets of Lahore.
In "Paranoidistan," as the historian Ayesha Jalal has called Pakistan, the public and the authorities are prepared to believe the worst. Conspiracy theories abound, involving the C.I.A., Israel and India, in various permutations. …
…. The United States needs to stop paying the Pakistan army with coalition support funds to fight in the border region and instead provide it adequate military aid in kind, as part of a carefully structured cooperative program to build its mobility and firepower against the militants. Money cannot buy love. ….
– http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/04/12/when-pakistan-says-no-to-the-cia/feeding-pakistans-paranoia
activitiesAfghanistanAfpakAmericanAsiaAtlanticborderbyC.I.A.ConspiracyCouncilcountercurtailDavisdialoguedoingeffortsEstablishmentExperienceextremistsFATAFeedingfightFundamentalistsGHQHaqqaniIndiainsurgencyISIIsrealJihaditsLahorelearningMilitarynetworkObamaobjectivesPakistanparanoiaParanoidistanpersistentRaymondrealitySouthstrategicTalibanTerrorismtheoriesU.Swarswithinworst
Pakistan, Politics
Most countries have an army, the Pakistani army has a country!
Army and country – George Fulton
At first glance, the WikiLeaks revelations about the Pakistani army aren't exactly, er, revelatory. So General Kayani and the intelligence agencies call the shots in Pakistan. Nothing new there, you may be thinking. Everyone knows that. Any foreigner arriving in Pakistan is soon pulled aside and told a couple of pithy lines about the army. One being that the three As run Pakistan — Allah, America and the Army. The other is that whilst most countries have an army, the Pakistani army has a country.
But reading the cables starkly in black and white, one is reminded how truly prevailing the army is to Pakistan's society and long-term survival. The very institution that is supposedly designed to protect us is bringing Pakistan to its knees.
Let's take parliamentary democracy. In theory we have one of those, with elected leaders to do our bidding, but WikiLeaks reminds us otherwise. Zardari wants to implement stiff sanctions on terrorist financing and close down terrorist training camps, but he can't. Why? The unelected and unaccountable military and intelligence agencies won't allow it. We are also told that Kayani planned to pressure President Zardari to resign and replace him with Asfandyar Wali Khan. Er, on whose authority? Sorry, old chum, but I thought that decision fell to the Pakistani people at the ballot box, not a man who wears spaghetti on his shoulders.
The cables also reveal the army's support of the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the faujis' raison d'etre, it's primary reason to exist, the first line in their handbook if you will, to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic? Or perhaps it's to make cornflakes that taste of cardboard?
But the reason for the army's support for the militants is of course our hatred of India. Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Afghan Taliban, despite their continuous killing of our own citizens, are apparently a vital part of our national security. Read that sentence again and it sounds like something from "Monty Python". Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Yes let's threaten India by funding and supporting people who attack India and, er, ourselves. Good job.
In addition, the army's paranoia and cold war thinking has stopped successive civilian governments from making any constructive attempts at long-term peace with India. An economic powerhouse that could bring thousands of jobs to Pakistan remains a foe, thanks to the faujis.
For too long the military/intelligence nexus has been immune to any sort of accountability or criticism. We can judge the judiciary, pillory the politicians and mock the media. But the army receives a free reign. The generals/admirals/air marshals — who can be as corrupt and venal as the political class — rarely receive similar press coverage, despite the fact that the army is the biggest private landowner in Pakistan. They run businesses, residential areas, schools and hospitals but somehow they largely avoid scrutiny. Funny that. …
Read more : The Express Tribune
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Rewarding hate
by Nadeem F. Paracha
The 'educated' today require an education based on facts and truth instead of what they were taught at school as 'history' and 'ethics'
Read more >> DAWN
crimeEducationethicsExtrimismFanaticsFundamentalismHateHistoryIslamIslamabadPakistanparanoiareligiousTaliban


Designed for elk, caribou and moose, the largest of the three new Koola Buck Premium Game Bags is 100-percent cotton and measures 16x60 inches. It is available as either a single pack or in a four pack with suggested retail prices of $11.99 and $29.99, respectively.
The middle-sized Premium Game Bag is a full-body bag for deer, antelope or similar-sized animals. Crafted of a cotton/poly blend, the deer/antelope bag measures 16x72 inches and a single bag retails for $14.99.
The third and smallest of the new Premium Game Bags is designed for deer quarters. This cotton/poly blend bag is 10x50 inches and has a suggested retail of $9.99 for a single bag and $19.99 for a four-pack.


This is one of the most impressive barrow cemeteries in Wiltshire. This group of burial mounds includes an early Neolithic long barrow and several Bronze Age round barrows of various shape.
An aerial view of the Winterbourne Stoke barrow cemetery.
The earliest burial mound in the group is the long barrow, which even today is 84 metres long and some 3 metres high, with clearly visible side ditches. It would have been built between 3750 and 3400BC, making it earlier than the ditch and bank at Stonehenge.
A view of the long barrow under light snow.
The barrow was excavated in 1863 by John Thurnam, who found a male burial at the north-east end. Three further burials, a male adult and two children, were found higher up in the mound. These were probably secondary burials, dating to the Early Bronze Age, inserted into the mound over one thousand years later.
This cemetery includes all the main types of round barrow found in Wessex. The first barrows were built around 2000BC. Two lines of round barrows run in a north-easterly direction from the long barrow. This remarkable group includes pairs of bell, pond and disc barrows as well as 19 bowl barrows. A further cluster of barrows, slightly to the north of the main group, is made up of 5 bowl barrows and a pair of saucer barrows.
This detailed aerial photograph shows three clear disc barrows in the foreground with bowl and bell barrows beyond.
Objects were frequently placed with the remains. These grave goods often included bronze daggers and battle-axes, beads and other ornaments. We believe that they indicate the status of the dead, although it is not clear whether the different types of grave goods indicate gender, age or role - some with special types of equipment may have been shaman's graves.
Most prehistoric barrows in the Stonehenge landscape were excavated in the 19th century. Many of the objects found can be seen in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, Salisbury.
This aerial view shows the largely linear nature of the barrow cemetery.


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Category: Berlin
First pants worn by horse riders in Central Asia 3,000 years ago
On June 4, 2014 By A.P.In archeology, Ötzi the Iceman, Berlin, Cherchen Man, clothes, clothing, German Archaeological Institute, Germany, Mayke Wagner, pants, Quaternary International, Science, Tarim Basin, Ulrike Beck, University of Pennsylvania, Victor MairLeave a comment
Two men whose remains were recently excavated from tombs in western China put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us. But these nomadic herders did so between 3,300 and 3,000 years ago, making their trousers the oldest known examples of this innovative apparel, a new study finds.
With straight-fitting legs and a wide crotch, the ancient wool trousers resemble modern riding pants, says a team led by archaeologists Ulrike Beck and Mayke Wagner of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. The discoveries, uncovered in the Yanghai graveyard in China's Tarim Basin, support previous work suggesting that nomadic herders in Central Asia invented pants to provide bodily protection and freedom of movement for horseback journeys and mounted warfare, the scientists report May 22 in Quaternary International.
"This new paper definitely supports the idea that trousers were invented for horse riding by mobile pastoralists, and that trousers were brought to the Tarim Basin by horse-riding peoples," remarks linguist and China authority Victor Mair of the University of Pennsylvania.
Previously, Europeans and Asians wore gowns, robes, tunics, togas or — as observed on the 5,300-year-old body of Ötzi the Iceman — a three-piece combination of loincloth and individual leggings.
A dry climate and hot summers helped preserve human corpses, clothing and other organic material in the Tarim Basin. More than 500 tombs have been excavated in a graveyard there since the early 1970s.
Earlier research on mummies from several Tarim Basin sites, led by Mair, identified a 2,600-year-old individual known as Cherchen Man who wore burgundy trousers probably made of wool. Trousers of Scythian nomads from West Asia date to roughly 2,500 years ago.
Mair suspects that horse riding began about 3,400 years ago and trouser-making came shortly thereafter in wetter regions to the north and west of the Tarim Basin. Ancient trousers from those areas are not likely to have been preserved, Mair says.
Horse riding's origins are uncertain and could date to at least 4,000 years ago, comments archaeologist Margarita Gleba of University College London. If so, she says, "I would not be surprised if trousers appeared at least that far back."
The two trouser-wearing men entombed at Yanghai were roughly 40 years old and had probably been warriors as well as herders, the investigators say. One man was buried with a decorated leather bridle, a wooden horse bit, a battle-ax and a leather bracer for arm protection. Among objects placed with the other body were a whip, a decorated horse tail, a bow sheath and a bow.
Beck and Wagner's group obtained radiocarbon ages of fibers from both men's trousers, and of three other items in one of the tombs.
Each pair of trousers was sewn together from three pieces of brown-colored wool cloth, one piece for each leg and an insert for the crotch. The tailoring involved no cutting: Pant sections were shaped on a loom in the final size. Finished pants included side slits, strings for fastening at the waist and woven designs on the legs.
Beck and Wagner's team calls the ancient invention of trousers "a ground-breaking achievement in the history of cloth making."
First pants worn by horse riders 3,000 years ago
Vets: Dogs overdose on drug-user poop
On October 26, 2013 October 23, 2013 By A.P.In Berlin, Dogs, drug abuse1 Comment
Vets in Berlin are warning about an increase in the number of pets falling ill and being unable to walk properly after eating the drug-users' faeces in the city's parks.
Parks in the Treptow and Kreuzburg areas of the capital see groups of drug users gathering – some of whom go to the toilet in the bushes. The results of which, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Monday, are proving dangerous for dogs.
Vets told the newspaper that they had seen a rise in the number of dogs being brought in that had eaten human waste. Tests revealed that they had been poisoned by illegal drugs, like heroin, still present in the excrement.
Vet Reinhold Sassnau told the paper that symptoms include dehydration, shaking, an inability to walk properly and a rapid heartbeat. He sees a lot of these cases during his night shifts, he said.
If owners take their dog to a vet in time, the animal can be given an emetic which forces them to vomit up the faeces. If not, treatment can require staying in a clinic for some time to stabilize. Sassnau said fatal cases were rare.
One student, identified only as Malte, told the newspaper that he had to take his 10-year-old dog, Bob, to an emergency vet after walking him through Görlitzer Park, an area well-known for drug-dealing. "We thought he was going to die," he said.
Jörn Bischof, the vet at the Charlottenburg clinic who treated Bob earlier in October, told the paper: "This is becoming more frequent."
He added that although dogs are often tempted to eat waste they come across outdoors, owners should try to train them not to.
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20131021-52497.html
World record solar cell with 44.7% efficiency
On October 1, 2013 September 30, 2013 By A.P.In Berlin, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany, Kebmodee, Science, Solar Energy, solar power, World RecordsLeave a comment
German Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin announced today that they have achieved a new world record for the conversion of sunlight into electricity using a new solar cell structure with four solar subcells. Surpassing competition after only over three years of research, and entering the roadmap at world class level, a new record efficiency of 44.7% was measured at a concentration of 297 suns. This indicates that 44.7% of the solar spectrum's energy, from ultraviolet through to the infrared, is converted into electrical energy. This is a major step towards reducing further the costs of solar electricity and continues to pave the way to the 50% efficiency roadmap.
Back in May 2013, the German-French team of Fraunhofer ISE, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin had already announced a solar cell with 43.6% efficiency. Building on this result, further intensive research work and optimization steps led to the present efficiency of 44.7%.
These solar cells are used in concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), a technology which achieves more than twice the efficiency of conventional PV power plants in sun-rich locations. The terrestrial use of so-called III-V multi-junction solar cells, which originally came from space technology, has prevailed to realize highest efficiencies for the conversion of sunlight to electricity. In this multi-junction solar cell, several cells made out of different III-V semiconductor materials are stacked on top of each other. The single subcells absorb different wavelength ranges of the solar spectrum.
"We are incredibly proud of our team which has been working now for three years on this four-junction solar cell," says Frank Dimroth, Department Head and Project Leader in charge of this development work at Fraunhofer ISE. "This four-junction solar cell contains our collected expertise in this area over many years. Besides improved materials and optimization of the structure, a new procedure called wafer bonding plays a central role. With this technology, we are able to connect two semiconductor crystals, which otherwise cannot be grown on top of each other with high crystal quality. In this way we can produce the optimal semiconductor combination to create the highest efficiency solar cells."
"This world record increasing our efficiency level by more than 1 point in less than 4 months demonstrates the extreme potential of our four-junction solar cell design which relies on Soitec bonding techniques and expertise," says André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, Soitec's Chairman and CEO. "It confirms the acceleration of the roadmap towards higher efficiencies which represents a key contributor to competitiveness of our own CPV systems. We are very proud of this achievement, a demonstration of a very successful collaboration."
"This new record value reinforces the credibility of the direct semiconductor bonding approaches that is developed in the frame of our collaboration with Soitec and Fraunhofer ISE. We are very proud of this new result, confirming the broad path that exists in solar technologies for advanced III-V semiconductor processing," said Leti CEO Laurent Malier.
Concentrator modules are produced by Soitec (started in 2005 under the name Concentrix Solar, a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISE). This particularly efficient technology is employed in solar power plants located in sun-rich regions with a high percentage of direct radiation. Presently Soitec has CPV installations in 18 different countries including Italy, France, South Africa and California.
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-world-solar-cell-efficiency.html
Thanks to Kebmodee for bringing this to the attention of the It's Interesting community.
Topless protest disrupts opening of Barbie house in Berlin
On May 25, 2013 May 22, 2013 By A.P.In Barbie, Barbie doll, Barbie house, Berlin, Christoph Rahofer, Dreamhouse Experience, Event Marketing Services, Human Behavior, Mattel Inc, nudity, Pink Stinks, Ruth Handler, sexism, Stevie Meriel Schmiedel, topless protestLeave a comment
Women's rights protesters disrupted the opening of a giant pink doll's house in Berlin on Thursday, saying the Barbie "Dreamhouse Experience" objectified women.
Promoting the doll made by Mattel Inc, the house allows paying visitors to try on Barbie's clothes, play in her kitchen and have a go on her pink piano. The exhibition will be open until Aug. 25.
A handful of protesters gathered outside the shocking pink house that has been erected in one of central Berlin's greyest areas.
A topless woman, a member of the Femen protest group, who had the slogan "Life in plastic is not fantastic" scrawled across her chest, set fire to a Barbie doll tied to a mini crucifix.
"There's too much emphasis on becoming more beautiful and on being pretty and that puts an awful lot of pressure on girls as well as wasting capacities which they could use to simply be happy or for school," said Stevie Meriel Schmiedel, a founding member of the "Pink Stinks" protest group.
"We're protesting because Barbie would not be able to survive with her figure and yet she is an idol for many girls and that's not healthy," she said.
One placard read: "Dear Barbie – don't just bake cupcakes, eat them too!"
A male protester in a wig, pink shirt and shimmering skirt held a poster reading: "Do you like me now?"
Christoph Rahofer, chief executive of Event Marketing Services, which organised the exhibition, similar to one that recently opened in Sunrise, Florida, said the Dreamhouse Experience was a positive thing.
"It's basically about playing, being amazed and discovering – there's lots of hidden things to be found and it's an interactive exhibition."
The Barbie doll made its debut in 1959, and is named after the daughter, Barbara, of its inventor Ruth Handler, according to Mattel's website.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2013/05/16/20828031.html
Facebook making 1 in 3 people feel worse about themselves
On January 28, 2013 January 26, 2013 By A.P.In 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Berlin, Facebook, Germany, Hanna Krasnova, ScienceLeave a comment
No surprise — those Facebook photos of your friends on vacation or celebrating a birthday party can make you feel lousy.
Facebook is supposed to envelope us in the warm embrace of our social network, and scanning friends' pages is supposed to make us feel loved, supported and important (at least in the lives of those we like). But skimming through photos of friends' life successes can trigger feelings of envy, misery and loneliness as well, according to researchers from two German universities. The scientists studied 600 people who logged time on the social network and discovered that one in three felt worse after visiting the site—especially if they viewed vacation photos. Facebook frequenters who spent time on the site without posting their own content were also more likely to feel dissatisfied.
"We were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from Facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry," study author Hanna Krasnova from the Institute of Information Systems at Berlin's Humboldt University told Reuters. "From our observations some of these people will then leave Facebook or at least reduce their use of the site."
The most common cause of Facebook frustration came from users comparing themselves socially to their peers, while the second most common source of dissatisfaction was "lack of attention" from having fewer comments, likes and general feedback compared to friends.
The study authors note that both men and women feel pressure to portray themselves in the best light to their Facebook friends, but men are more likely to post more self-promotional content in their "About Me" and "Notes" sections than women, although women are more likely to stress their physical attractiveness and sociability.
The authors write [PDF]
Overall, however, shared content does not have to be "explicitly boastful" for envy feelings to emerge. In fact, a lonely user might envy numerous birthday wishes his more sociable peer receives on his FB Wall. Equally, a friend's change in the relationship status from "single" to "in a relationship" might cause emotional havoc for someone undergoing a painful breakup.
So far, it seems that the positive effects of being socially connected supersede the negative consequences of feeling inferior or left out by your circle of friends. But the authors suggest that if the hurtful feelings grow, Facebook and other social media may no longer be a fun way to stay connected with friends, but could become just another source of stress for people.
The research will be presented at an information system conference in Germany in February, called the 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/24/why-facebook-makes-you-feel-bad-about-yourself/#ixzz2J7kynw00
Adoption at sea: sperm whales take in outcast bottlenose dolphin
On January 26, 2013 January 26, 2013 By A.P.In Alexander Wilson, Berlin, bottlenose dolphin, Dolphins, Jens Krause, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Luke Rendell, Nature, Science, sperm whale, Whales1 Comment
A group of sperm whales appear to have taken in a deformed bottlenose dolphin, marine researchers have discovered.
Behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of Berlin's Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries came across the heartwarming scene some 15 to 20 kilometers off the Azores in the North Atlantic, as they observed the dolphin six times while it nuzzled and rubbed members of the group, reports the journal Science.
"It really looked like they had accepted the dolphin for whatever reason. They were being very sociable," Wilson told the journal.
The dolphin's unfortunate deformity — a spinal disfigurement, likely a birth defect, which gives its back half an "S" shape — could help explain how it's come to be taken in by the sperm whale group, explains Science.
"Sometimes some individuals can be picked on. It might be that this individual didn't fit in, so to speak, with its original group," Wilson says, speculating that the deformity could have put the animal at a disadvantage among its own kind — perhaps it had a low social status, or just couldn't keep up with the other dolphins.
Sperm whales swim more slowly than dolphins, notes the journal, and the pod designates one member to "babysit" the calves near the surface while the other adults dive deep.
But what was in it for the sperm whales? There's no obvious advantage, Wilson tells Science.
In fact, as cetacean ecologist Mónica Almeida e Silva of the University of the Azores in Portugal tells the journal, sperm whales have good reasons not to like bottlenose dolphins. "Why would sperm whales accept this animal in their group?" she said. "It's really puzzling to me."
But maybe we shouldn't draw too much from this apparent display of affection: as behavioral biologist Luke Rendell of the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. explained to Science, the briefness of the observation, and its rarity, as well as how little is known about these particular whales, makes it hard to interpret. They might simply enjoy the dolphin's attentions, says Rendell, or "they could just be thinking, 'Wow, this is a kind of weird calf'."
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/26/adoption-at-sea-sperm-whales-take-in-outcast-bottlenose-dolphin/#ixzz2J7iTuEgQ
Musicians' Brains Synchronize During Duets
On December 2, 2012 December 2, 2012 By A.P.In Berlin, BMC Neuroscience, brain oscillations, Christian Gottlieb Scheidler, EEG, electroencephalography, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, guitar, Johanna Sänger, Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, music, Nature, neural activity, Neuroscience, social cognition, Sonata in G Major, Ulman Lindenberger4 Comments
The brain waves of two musicians synchronize when they are performing duet, a new study found, suggesting that there's a neural blueprint for coordinating actions with others.
A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin used electrodes to record the brain waves of 16 pairs of guitarists while they played a sequence from "Sonata in G Major" by Christian Gottlieb Scheidler. In each pair, the two musicians played different voices of the piece. One guitarist was responsible for beginning the song and setting the tempo while the other was instructed to follow.
In 60 trials each, the pairs of musicians showed coordinated brain oscillations — or matching rhythms of neural activity — in regions of the brain associated with social cognition and music production, the researchers said.
"When people coordinate their own actions, small networks between brain regions are formed," study researcher Johanna Sänger said in a statement. "But we also observed similar network properties between the brains of the individual players, especially when mutual coordination is very important; for example at the joint onset of a piece of music."
Sänger added that the internal synchronization of the lead guitarists' brain waves was present, and actually stronger, before the duet began.
"This could be a reflection of the leading player's decision to begin playing at a certain moment in time," she explained.
Another Max Planck researcher involved in the study, Ulman Lindenberger, led a similar set of experiments in 2009. But in that study, which was published in the journal BMC Neuroscience, the pairs of guitarists played a song in unison, rather than a duet. Lindenberger and his team at the time observed the same type of coordinated brain oscillations, but noted that the synchronization could have been the result of the similarities of the actions performed by the pairs of musicians.
As the new study involved guitarists who were performing different parts of a song, the researchers say their results provide stronger evidence that there is a neural basis for interpersonal coordination. The team believes people's brain waves might also synchronize during other types of actions, such as during sports games.
The study was published online Nov. 29 in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
http://www.livescience.com/25117-musicians-brains-sync-up-during-duet.html
Forest Boy
On June 13, 2012 By A.P.In Berlin, Forest Boy, Germany1 Comment
Berlin police on Wednesday released a photograph of the so-called "forest boy," an English-speaking youth who wandered into the German capital nine months ago saying he had lived in the woods for five years with his father.
Investigators have failed to identify him and police are now hoping the image will prompt leads from the public.
The boy has told authorities his father called him "Ray" and that he was born June 20, 1994. However, he claims not to know his last name or where he's from.
"We have checked his DNA against all missing person reports, sent the data to Interpol so that they could check it internationally, but unfortunately without any success," police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said.
Investigators told NBC News that DNA evidence suggests Ray is most likely from a neighboring country, as opposed to the United States. Authorities also believe that English might not be his native language.
The boy was unable or refused to give his family name or any other biographical information when he showed up at the German capital's City Hall on September 5.
English-speaking teen: I lived five years in woods
He said his mother, Doreen, died in a car accident when he was 12 and after that he and his father, Ryan, took to the forest. He said they wandered using maps and a compass, staying in tents or caves overnight.
'Many question marks'
He told authorities that after his father died in August, 2011, he buried him in the forest and then walked five days north before ending up in Berlin. Police told NBC News that they have not been able to find a corresponding dead body.
"There are many question marks," Neuendorf added.
Ray has also quickly adapted to city life and technology, using a laptop and his cell phone with no problems.
Everything gives the impression that he was not far away from civilization for years," Neuendorf told The Associated Press.
The boy is being taken care of by youth services and has been assigned a legal guardian.
Ray is described as being somewhere between 16-20 years old and about 5-foot 11-inches tall. He has dark blonde hair and blue eyes, and three small scars on his forehead, three small scars on his chin and a small scar on his right arm.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/13/12200265-forest-boy-mystery-stumped-german-police-release-photo?lite


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text:
WATCH: Jonathan Bennett and this hunky newcomer are heating up Hallmark's first gay holiday movie
By Editors December 9, 2022 at 3:12pm
Image Credit: The Hallmark Channel
Once again: Candace Cameron Bure, if you're reading, turn back now! You're not going to be happy about this…
After dipping its toes in the sparkling gay water these past few years, The Hallmark Channel is finally delivering The Holiday Sitter, its first-ever holiday movie with LGBTQ+ characters in the lead roles.
The network's been laying the groundwork for this the past few years, especially with The Christmas House ('20), and its sequel ('21)—ensemble family films that prominently feature a gay couple, played by Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder.
Related: Jonathan Bennett used to be trapped in the closet, now he's living the gay dream
Now, Bennett—a.k.a. Mean Girls' dreamy Aaron Samuels—is taking the spotlight in The Holiday Sitter, a Christmas movie based on a story he came up with. Bennett stars as Sam, a bachelor all ready to jet off on a Hawaiian holiday vacation when he gets an urgent call from his sister to come help watch her two kids while she's away.
Sam accepts, reluctantly, and quickly finds himself overwhelmed by his niece and nephew's boundless energy. Enter: The dreamboat of a next door neighbor, Jason (George Krissa), who just so happens to be great with the kids—as well as single and gay.
Sparks fly and, well, you know where this is going, right? These Hallmark holiday movies certainly have a formula, but there's something undeniably special about the fact that this one just so happens to be about two gay men. The nonchalance of it all is refreshing in its own right!
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bennett said the film was inspired by his love of the '80s comedy classic Uncle Buck starring John Candy, which similarly finds an uncle out of his depth when he's suddenly left to care for his nieces and nephew.
Related: Candace Cameron Bure to launch crappy new TV channel that tells stories of "traditional" marriage
And EW also couldn't resist asking Bennett about the aforementioned Bure—a former Hallmark star herself, who has since defected to the Great American Family channel, which she controversially stated will keep "traditional marriage at the core." When asked how Bure's statement made him feel, Bennett responded cordially:
"Well, I can only speak to my experience," he said. "I'm so proud to be part of Hallmark Channel because of the inclusive storytelling they're doing for the LGBTQ+ community with movies like The Holiday Sitter. It feels so good to have a place at the holiday table because The Holiday Sitter is for everyone, and Christmas is for everyone, Hallmark Channel is for everyone. It feels good to see stories that look like mine on screen."
The Holiday Sitter premieres this Sunday, December 11, on The Hallmark Channel. You can watch the trailer below:
And, no, we can't just let you go about your day without alerting you to the fact that Bennett's co-star, George Krissa, is packing a whole lot of muscle underneath those cable-knit sweaters.
Krissa is a Canadian actor, musician, and classically trained singer. He's appeared in a handful of TV and film roles, including Lifetime's Trapped With My Husband, but made his Hallmark debut just a few months ago in Road Trip Romance.
The Holiday Sitter certainly marks Krissa's step up into the Hallmark movie big leagues, and we imagine we'll be seeing a lot more of him on the network and beyond in the future. We'll share a few photos below to prove to you why Krissa is well worth a follow:
A post shared by Jonathan Bennett (@jonathandbennett)
A post shared by George Krissa (@georgekrissa)
Related: The most iconic gay Christmas movies of all time
Read More Trailer Park
Pull up to Queerty's round-up of the latest and greatest previews of the movies, TV, live shows that you won't want to miss.
Entertainment candace cameron bure George Krissa hallmark channel Holiday movies Jonathan Bennett The Holiday Sitter Trailer Park
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Have a very merry marginalized Christmas and a happy victimhood New Year, everyone!
December 9, 2022 at 7:12pm Log in to Reply
Bromancer7
Seriously, WTF is wrong with you?
December 10, 2022 at 11:12am
Is "The Whale" based on your life? Idiot.
December 10, 2022 at 12:12pm
dbmcvey
Like you actually care about gay victims.
December 11, 2022 at 2:12pm
Happy to see two gay lead characters in ANY film, much less the Hallmark channel, but to call this an inclusive product is a bit much. It's still two gorgeous, pumped, preppy and ripped cis-guys and hardly stretches the audience perceptions of the real diversity of the LGBTQ community. But it's Hallmark, so cutesy is as cutesy does and we should all just take it for what it it, holiday fluff to make us forget the realities of life for a good 90 minutes. And for many, that's enough, right?
December 10, 2022 at 1:12pm Log in to Reply
It's inclusive for Hallmark.
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Reality/Docu-Series
Queer for Fear
The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: Titans
Vote now: The 2023 Queerties are officially open
Chace Crawford shows off his hairy pits and abs in grey sweatpants & he's got all 'The Boys' drooling


text:
Precision Dynamics Corporation Acquires MFR Europe and Establishes First European Headquarters
San Fernando, CA (November 16, 2004) – Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC), a global leader in automatic wristband identification, announces the acquisition of its European distributor MFR Europe and its division Visa Band Europe (Brussels, Belgium), now called PDC Europe.
The purchase of MFR signifies PDC's growth as an international corporation and establishes its first-ever European headquarters. MFR represented PDC for over 12 years by managing a network of European and North African distributors marketing PDC healthcare and patron management ID products.
"The purchase of MFR Europe represents a promising future for PDC as a global corporation," says Gary Hutchinson , President and CEO of PDC. "We're proud to inaugurate PDC Europe one year after launching our successful facility in Mexico . Through the hard work and dedication of our employees, partners and distributors, we will continue to expand our Auto ID technologies, advance into new markets, and provide superior quality products and service worldwide."
"It's a great pleasure to be an official business unit of PDC," says Mads Fiig , Managing Director of PDC Europe. "For over a decade, MFR and PDC have worked together to deliver outstanding products and service to the European community. The creation of PDC Europe was the next logical step for extending this partnership."
Mads Fiig , previous director of MFR, has been appointed Managing Director of PDC Europe. PDC's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Nicholas Curtin, will oversee Fiig and the operations of PDC Europe from the company's Global Headquarters in San Fernando , CA .
With nearly 50 years of experience, PDC is the global leader and pacesetter in the development of automatic identification wristband systems. The company introduced the first patient Bar Code ID Wristband System in 1984, the Smart Band® Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Wristband System in 2000, and the AgeBand ™ Electronic Age/ID Verification System in 2004. PDC is committed to 100% quality in service, design, and manufacturing. This is substantiated by their ISO-9001: 2000 and ISO-13485: 2003 certification at their main facility in San Fernando , CA . Plans to establish certification at their new facility in Tijuana , Mexico are underway. For more information, visit www.pdcorp.com
More in this category: « PDC and The St. John Companies Inc. Merge to Create Global Patient Safety Identification Leader	PDC Debuts RFID Products for Patron Management & Healthcare at RFID World »


Why should you consider an unsolicited job opportunity from a recruiter?
Most of the candidates that I reached out to for many of my openings are not active job seekers. If I have done the correct research, my hope is that I am presenting them with an opportunity that is a great match for their background.
Candidates should, at least, be willing to speak with the recruiter to learn more about the company, the specifics of the role, and also the compensation package. Many times, the best opportunities come up when you are not actively looking to make a job move. Also, you are in a much better negotiating position as someone who is actively employed versus someone who is losing their job or has already lost their job.
I have seen too many cases where candidates "pass" on an opportunity because they are "comfortable" in their current job. Unfortunately, some of the same candidates reach out to me months or even years later in a panic because their job is being eliminated because of downsizing or financial instability.
It never hurts to explore a job opportunity presented to you. Worse case scenario is that you spend some time exploring the opportunity to find out that the role is not a match. Best case scenario is that the unsolicited call presents you with a wonderful opportunity to enhance your career. Time very well spent if this is the case!


text:
Carolina's Wright to remain in draft
North Carolina F Brandan Wright signed with an agent and will remain in the NBA draft.
The Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year will be represented by Jim Tanner of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Williams and Connolly.
"I think Brandan is obviously a tremendous talent, and he's got the potential to be a great NBA player," Tanner said Wednesday.
It isn't a surprise that Wright will remain in the draft. Coach Roy Williams said last month that he was 99.99 percent sure the 6-foot-9 forward wouldn't return to campus next season, even though Wright left open the possibility by not initially hiring an agent.
Wright's 7-foot-4 wingspan and deft shooting touch make him an attractive pro prospect. Several online drafts project him as a top-five pick. According to the NBA's sliding rookie salary scale, the fifth pick in this year's draft will receive a guaranteed three-year contract worth $7.9 million.
Wright was the only Tar Heels underclassman this season to turn pro, and he became just the 15th player in school history to leave Chapel Hill early, joining a group that includes Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Vince Carter.
Nelson unsure of future
Coach Don Nelson isn't sure he'll return to guide the Golden State Warriors through the next stage of their resurgence.
And without their beloved Nellie, even the Warriors aren't certain they could duplicate the tantalizing promise they showed late in a memorable season.
Nelson plans to decide by July 1 whether he'll be back for another year with the Warriors, whose surprising playoff run ended Tuesday with loss to Utah. The defeat capped the franchise's first winning regular season and postseason berth since 1994.


Notes: Ha.com/facebook, twitter.com/HeritageAuctions, linkedin.com/company/Heritage-Auctions, HA.com/Careers. World's largest rare coin, currency & collectibles dealer & auctioneer accepting consignments for regularly held sales online & in major cities world wide. Collections purchased outright & accepted for auction.
Specialties: Rare U.S. coins, world coins, ancient coins, medals, currency, political memorabilia, rare comic books, pop culture & illustration art, movie posters & sports collectibles. Accredited Precious Metals Dealer.
Specialties: Pioneer gold, paper currency, patterns, California Fractional gold, U.S. silver, gold, copper, and pioneer minor coinage.
Thomas J. Smith R.C., Inc.
Specialties: Importer and marketmaker in all U.S. gold coins.
Specialties: All U.S. coins, including rare gold, silver and copper coins, bust and seated coinage, patterns, currency, 20th Century Rarities, gold and silver bullion, PCGS and NGC, estates, liquidations and appraisal.
Ron Drzewucki Rare Coins/Modern Coin Wholesale, Inc.
Notes: A professional numismatist for 28 years. Owned St. Louis Rare Coins before joining NGC. Possesses a discriminating eye and has taught several grading seminars and counterfeit detection classes. He is a Life Member of the ANA & ANS and many state associations.
Specialties: Estates, trusts and collections purchased/appraised. Will travel to consult.
Specialties: U.S. gold coins 1795-1933, silver dollars 1794-1935, type, gold and silver commemoratives, pre-1930 cigar box labels.
Specialties: Early copper, silver and gold. Bust Half Dollars. Barber half dollars, colonials, territorials, confederate coinage, Continental dollars, seated dollars, Ten Liberties. All premium quality for the grade. Better date and PQ gold. All key date coins and low mintage issues. Buy and sell all U.S. Numismatic items.
Notes: We are an old-fashioned type of coin shop. That is, we have lots of inventory from inexpensive collector coins to high end investments. We even deal in metal detectors. We also handle other types of collectables like gold nuggets, rocks, gems, minerals, fossils, antique bottles, trade tokens, medals, military memorabilia, antique marbles, pocket watches, currency, vintage jewelry, documents, stock certificates, some rare books, and old handheld collectables. These are items I have collected my entire life, and am familiar with all of it.
Accomplishments: 20+ year Instructor of " Counterfeit and Alteratiion Detection," ANA School of Numismatics and 2016 recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Numismatics Degree. Considered the leading authority on thin film interference (Rainbow Toning on coins) in the country. Cataloger/Author of Utah Trade Tokens. Mormon Gold Coins and Currency Specialist. ANA Past President 1999-2001. "Our shop (3400 sq. ft.) is like a museum except everything is for sale".
Specialties: U.S. coins, gold coins, currency. Wholesale bullion to the trade.
Specialties: Rare U.S. gold, Modern gold, shipwreck territorials.
Specialties: High quality rare coins.
Specialties: Coins, currency, jewelry. Accredited Precious Metals Dealer.
Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm. By appointment only.
Specialties: A collector for over 50 years and an industry professional since 1984, Paul has served the numismatic & precious metals community as a consumer advocate, an industry leader and governmental advisor. Paul is an avid numismatic enthusiast. He enjoys working with collectors and investors, offering free advice on the sale and disposition of estates. Paul also owns and operates Paul Montgomery & Associates, a trusted source for expert services within the numismatic trade. His significant representations include: the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Dept. of Treasury, the Dept. of Homeland Security, various State Attorney's General as well as noteworthy estates and receiverships.
Hours: 9-6 Mon-Fri Call for appointment.
Specialties: U.S. gold coins; Morgan & Peace dollars; gold, silver & platinum bullion.
Specialties: We trade in all types of gold, silver and platinum bullion. We specialize in buying and selling both rare and bullion type coins. Cash offers. We purchase all types of coins from Indian cents to proof gold. We will travel to inspect collections and pay on the spot, or you can take advantage of our Consignment Program.
Specialties: High end certified U.S. coins, rare bust and seated material. Rare date gold.
Notes: B.U. roll deals, all denominations.
Specialties: B.U. U.S. gold dated U.S. gold, B.U. silver dollars.
Specialties: Providing free appraisals and purchasing collections in over 500 banks in a seven state area. Investment quality rare coins. Accredited Precious Metals Dealer.


When gambling on sports on any online sites, it is important to do a complete study for the various terms that show up on a sports betting line or sports line betting. An in-depth knowledge will assist you to quickly engage sports line betting to find yourself in top gear and comfortably drive home along with your winnings.
You will have to take your mouse upon an online tour of numerous bookmakers and open a number of sports books to get an overall idea of their sports line betting since gambling on any sports is otherwise not legal in America. Your internet betting adventures can start with any sports including college football, baseball, basketball, hockey or even professional league matches including those managed through the NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL. How you will bet, whether as a novice enjoying a hobby or as a person who has made it right into a business is immaterial since the main aim is to win most of your bets as this is the only way that you could bet over time.
In order to start betting, you will need to open accounts with numerous bookmakers since this will improve your likelihood of beating the odds (GertGambell.net have superb advice). You can utilize your credit card or select the Moneybookers choice to rotate your money. Most bookmakers or sports books also offer free sport line betting or picks that display the odds on that match, the underdog as well as the favorite and additionally the spread along with the over-under required to make the bet a lot more appealing. An example of a simple money line option will make it easy for you.
A sports line betting that shows as Pittsburgh -130, Seahawks +190 indicates that the match is between Pittsburgh and Seahawks. Since Pittsburgh carries a – sign beside it, that makes it the favored team to win whereas the + sign near the Seahawks causes it to become the underdog.
So, if you bet $100 on the Seahawks, you might win an extra $190 if this underdog team wins and when you bet $130 on Pittsburgh then you can win an additional $100 if this favorite team wins. Hence, you have a greater risk while betting on the underdog even so the winnings too are larger.
You might also notice additional figures beside both the team names or an additional line below that has figures and words within it. This additionally denotes the spread i.e. it indicates the margin through which the winning team must win so that you can win your bet. sports betting half point. The over-under or on denotes the total scores in the particular match and if your over, under or on choices match the final results then you win again. Some effort to correctly study and interpret each sports line betting will aid you to attain an outstanding rate of success while betting.
Thus, whether you bet on college or pro sports, you should take some time out to study sports line betting as this could determine failure or success in the long run. Makes use of the bonuses supplied by most gambling sites to quickly get past the learning curve so that you can get down to winning most of your bets.


Amar chitra katha has online book store for children with comprehensive collections of Indian stories, kids stories, online comics, kids story books, Hindi panchatantra stories, from the great epics mythology, history, literature, Tinkle Digest and many other sources. It is the bestselling children's publication in India. Amar Chitra Katha pays its tribute to some of India's finest achiever across fields.


text:
'use strict';

const Audit = require('../../audits/works-offline.js');
const assert = require('assert').strict;

/* eslint-env jest */

const URL = 'https://www.chromestatus.com';

describe('Offline: works-offline audit', () => {
  it('correctly audits a 200 code', () => {
    const output = Audit.audit({
      Offline: 200,
      URL: {requestedUrl: URL, finalUrl: URL},
    });

    assert.equal(output.score, 1);
    assert.ok(!output.explanation);
  });

  it('warns if requested url does not match final url', () => {
    const output = Audit.audit({
      Offline: 404,
      URL: {requestedUrl: URL, finalUrl: `${URL}/features`},
    });

    assert.equal(output.score, 0);
    assert.ok(output.warnings[0]);
  });

  it('correctly audits a non-200 code', () => {
    const output = Audit.audit({
      Offline: 203,
      URL: {requestedUrl: URL, finalUrl: URL},
    });

    assert.equal(output.score, 0);
    assert.ok(!output.explanation);
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The Gabali (Gaulish: *Gabli) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later Gévaudan region during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Name
They are mentioned as Gabalos or Gabalis by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), as Gabalei͂s (Γαβαλεῖς) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as Gabales by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as Tábaloi (Τάβαλοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD).

The ethnonym Gabali is a Latinized form of Gaulish *Gabloi. It derives from the stem  (cf. Olr. gabul, Middle Welsh gafl, OBret. gabl), initially designating the 'forked branch of a tree', then more generally a 'fork'. The name is related to the Gallo-Latin *gabalottus ('spear'), which may have given the word javelot in French.

The city of Javols, attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Gabalum ('civitas of the Gabali', Javols in 1109), and the Gévaudan region, attested in the 1st c. AD as Gabalicus pagus (Gavuldanum in the 10th c., Gavalda in the 13th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe.

Geography
The Gabali dwelled in the Gévaudan region, on the north-western foot of the Cevennes. Their territory was located south of the Arveni, and north of the Ruteni.

Their chief town was Anderitum (present-day Javols).

History
They were subject, and allied to the Averni. They are mentioned in Book VII of Caesar's Commentaries. During Caesar's conquest of Gaul they were raiding the country of the Provincial Ruteni, and they were among the tribes that sent relief troops to the Gallic army trying to break the siege in Alesia.

Economy
The Gabali were cattle breeder. Many of them were also miners as their region was rich in silver mines.

References

Bibliography

Historical Celtic peoples
Gauls
Tribes of pre-Roman Gaul

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Kevin Durant's 35th Hour, Episode 2: Hard Work Beats Talent
The second episode of Kevin Durant's video series 35th Hour (check out episode 1) has been released. In it, Durant gives viewers an inside look at his 6 a.m. off-season workout, as well as his summer league match-up against an all-star Melo League roster that included LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. We applaud the filmmaker for connecting the dots on how KD's workout translates to performance on the court (look out for the visual effects starting at 8:20). By the way, Durant dropped 59 points in that game.
Like the first episode, episode 2 opens with an inspirational quote: "Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard." Without question, Kevin Durant is one of the hardest working pro basketball players in the world, and he continues to work hard on his game every day.
STACK has been in the weight room with KD, and we've witnessed his determination and will to succeed first-hand. Head over to STACK TV for the footage.
Fun Basketball Drills That Improve Court Skills
Basketball Sizes: A Quick Guide for All Levels of Play


WHO 40th Expert Committee on Drug Dependency (ECDD) Conference is close at hand. It is good to time for reaffirming the current situation in Japan through the questions to the Diet in Japan written by Hiroyuki Arai, a former House of Councilor member and the answers from the government.
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