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We should be highly sceptical of air strikes against Syria
By Geoffrey Payne | Wed 25th November 2015 - 11:12 am
There is a famous saying by Albert Einstein I am sure you are all familiar; "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
And now we contemplate another military intervention in the Middle East…
Of course the experience of Iraq shows the consequences of getting it wrong. But Afghanistan was also a failed policy. And under our watch in government, Libya too. Yet whilst much has been said about Iraq, little has been said about Libya. Perhaps we have not come to terms of what we did there, and the hellhole that Libya has become?
The fundamental problem we have is that we seem incapable of being objective in judging whether what we would like to do would actually work, by which I mean do more good than harm. The reason appears to be that we confuse the reasons to do things with our ability to do things. There is no shortage of reasons why we should bomb Syria. Indeed there are plenty of reasons to bomb Saudi Arabia for their human rights record, or China for genocide in Tibet. But at least in those cases we are aware of our limitations, which are not just military but economic as well. So we happily trade with them instead.
One of the few Tory MPs I respect is Rory Stewart who once said rather brutally; "We are not morally obliged to do what we cannot deliver". I would add to that that we ARE morally obliged to be as objective as possible to work out what we can deliver. The moral outrage over the bombing in Paris has made objectivity very hard to do. What if having looked at the options objectively each one that involves military action will make the situation worse? The evidence that this may be the case comes from the previous failures; we are always wise after the last event, but never before the next one.
There is another added factor that makes this situation an ominous one. The complexity of it all. After all the Russia attacks on Syria took the US completely by surprise. Do we really think we can persuade Turkey not to attack the Kurds, or do we just hear what we want to hear? If they are going to be put in charge of the so called "safe zones" in Syria that could lead to all out war. I would like anyone who is making these kind of decisions to have a thorough understanding of the history, culture and politics of the region and make their case accordingly in Parliament or the US Senate. But that hasn't happened yet.
There are many countries involved in Syria and the tension is building up, with no sign of anyone wanting to back down. There are striking similarities to the build up of the first world war. For that reason, my hope is that Parliament will stop the Tory warpath in its tracks.
* Geoff Payne is the former events organiser for Hackney Liberal Democrats
Read more by Geoffrey Payne or more about syria.
This entry was posted in Op-eds.
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paul barker 25th Nov '15 - 11:40am
I could not disagree more if I tried. All this whataboutery is irrelevent, the Islamist coalition has laid down the gauntlet to the West & any hesitation now will be read by them & Russia as a comfirmation that we can be pushed & pushed & will always retreat. The situation in Syria is complex & any eventual peace will involve the defeat of The Assad Regime ( & its Allies) & IS & the involvement of helpful regional players but thats no excuse for not taking some action now. Inaction will make the suffering worse & expose us to more attacks.
Richard Underhill 25th Nov '15 - 11:55am
The quotation is only attributed to Einstein. It is unlikely that he would have said anything that so conflicts with practical experience. Think of a production line of motor cars, made in different colours, with different engines, different options on luxury appointments, etcetera. Is it any wonder that a BMW 7 series has a higher fault rate than a BMW 3 series?
Jayne Mansfield 25th Nov '15 - 12:02pm
It is truly depressing Geoffrey.
I have been reading posts on here hoping to find comments from wise heads like your own but too often, there have been posts from people who do not see the danger involved in making symbolic gestures such as adding a few of our own war planes to the already overcrowded mix.
There are those who speak of putting ,' boots on the ground'. We had boots on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq and we have a resurgent Al Quada and the growth of ISIS. Whose boots are we suggesting should be on the ground? There seems to be a reluctance from Muslim countries with the money, the weapons and the, often western trained soldiers , who are capable of mounting such a fight.
David Cameron speaks of 'cutting the head off the snake'. Entering a snake pit seems more like a fitting analogy. It seems quite clear that the many actors involved have different ideas of what they consider would be a 'successful outcome'.
Please Liberal Democrats, don't cause any more fear and death to the people of Syria, or create yet more angry, vengeful groups to take the place of those we now have. We need to deal with the underlying problems through hard negotiation, not rush into what has been the knee jerk reaction of recent times, with its underlying belief that one can bomb people into agreeing a mutually beneficial , if not ideal, outcome to long term hatreds and divisions.
Christopher Haigh 25th Nov '15 - 12:18pm
War mongers may be pushing the world into a major crisis here. The US through NATO wish to remove Assad as their policy objective (must be opposing globalisation or something). The Russians want to keep Assad because of their MEDITERRANEAN base in Syria. The Saudis seem to a caliphate in the region and finance IS. The Turks seem to want to stir up hostility between NATO and Russia. We would be best trying to get done International Conference set up to sort this mess out.
Glenn 25th Nov '15 - 2:07pm
I couldn't agree with this article more and I'm quite annoyed with the idea that anyone who points to the dismal failures in in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan and of the equally dire consequences of "the Arab Spring" can be dismissed as indulging in whataboutery.
Eddie Sammon 25th Nov '15 - 3:18pm
You make some good points, especially about objectivity and the lack of previous successes, but I think people are overcomplicating it. We have an enemy that has attacked us and our allies and let's not forget: they attacked us just for helping the Kurds defend themselves. We did not start bombing them first.
So we have this dangerous, fundamentalist, expansionist enemy and we should attack its military infrastructure. We don't need to even remove them from the region completely at the moment, although that is the desired end-goal. We just need to send a message that we won't settle for being attacked for helping people escape their subjugation.
I think we've got defence policy a bit wrong. There isn't much of an element of surprise anymore. By the time we attack them they would have been able to protect a lot of their infrastructure. Cameron should have done a limited strike without permission from parliament.
I still recommend supporting Cameron in the vote, but my ideal plan is a bit different to everyone's. It is most similar to what France and Obama have been doing.
Gordon 25th Nov '15 - 3:22pm
Well said, Geoff, particularly the reference to WW1. A complex pattern of alliances, mixed motives and misunderstandings could indeed drag us into a conflagration like no other. It has been reported, for instance, that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a treaty whereby, if the Saudis were under threat, Pakistan would make an emergency airlift of nukes to them. True? I don't know, but the risks are so high we should tread very carefully.
For a serious account of how dangerous the cross-currents are I suggest everyone should read the following article based on some serious investigative journalism.
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/europe-is-harbouring-the-islamic-state-s-backers-d24db3a24a40#.vkorts8wk
Eddie.
With the Russians. Americans and French bombing with far larger air forces and Aircraft carriers that actually have aircraft on them, what do you think a couple of extra Tornados are going to do and who would they surprise.? By the time we attack everything hittable has ready been hit multiple times. My Grandfather and uncles were in the RAF. Proud as I am of my family the RAF does not have special weapons or tactical gifts that the Americans, French and Russians lack. It's pure tokenism, doing some damaging and irrelevant for the sake of being seen to do something.
Geoffrey Payne 25th Nov '15 - 8:58pm
Thank you for your responses. Paul – I do not think you have really tackled the points I made in my article. Richard – interesting aside. Jayne – I agree (although I wish I didn't). Chris and Glenn – I agree. Eddie – the opposite problem – too much simplification – was the mistake we made elsewhere. I do not think the situation could possibly be more complicated in Syria as Gordon and Glenn point out. The link provided by Gordon I found to be very thought provoking and alarming. I would like to see the allegations verified from other sources. You cannot take anything at face value.
The limitation on the number of words prevented me from making another key point. The terrorists have seen what happens when they do things like their attacks in Paris. They know the west will retaliate. They were taught a lesson after 911 when the US invaded Afghanistan. It was a lesson they enjoyed very much and they want more lessons like that. Which is why they attacked Paris. It is of course a trap, and as night follows day the west falls into it.
Alistair 25th Nov '15 - 9:49pm
Is Eddie volunteering to fight? Or send a loved one? Syria is turning into a proxy war, which we should not be involving ourselves in. We should fix Afghanistan Iraq and Libya before we destroy infrastructure and kill in Syria. Except we cant fix those other countries, we dont have the capability. The days of the British Empire are long gone, someone needs to let Cameron know.
Chaps, I'm not asking for a major war – for starters why should Britain do all this heavy lifting whilst other countries do hardly anything?
I believe in an active defence policy. Some don't and that's fine, but it is the hawk ideologues that you need to worry about – not the pragmatists.
Glenn 25th Nov '15 - 10:38pm
Ddie,
I understand your point, but I'd argue that pragmatism actually suggests not blundering deeper into a mess that has actively worsened the situation in the Middle East for nearly 25 years, actually increases the threat to the UK and brings nothing to the table anyway. There is virtually no chance of getting an agreement that satisfies all of the parties involved and every chance that things will go even more pear shaped. Let's be honest, we can't even solve issues in away that satisfies about half the British public about the EU let alone getting Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Russia and the US to put a full stop to this endless fiasco. A couple of extra bombing runs by a few Tornados will do nothing and someone needs to pull the plug on our involvement. Sadly. I think Cameron and well meaning guys like you will get their way and the meddling and failures will drag on for decades. Me I'd just put a few extra officers on airport patrols and advise tourists against entering certain countries.
A Social Liberal 25th Nov '15 - 11:10pm
Gosh, Iraq gets more press in a debate on Da'esh!
Now Jayne Mansfield says that we should have sorted Iraq and Afghanistan out before we left. I doubt she will concur with what I have to say.
I agree, we should have sorted the out. However, we should have done the right thing to start off with – which meant leaving the Iraqi civil service, police etc in place after winning the war instead of having a policy of deba-athification. Directly after the war we should also have kept the numbers of troops in theatre at the levlels of the later surge. This carrot and stick approach would have had two outcomes, it would give many of the baathists a stake in the new administration (and therefore denying AQ in Iraq – and Da'esh after it – many of it's early recruits) and, in regards to troop numbers, preventing the terrorists from gaining room to begin their operations.
Now, you probably are muttering that we shouldn't have invaded in the first place. Well consider this. Saddams mass graves would have gained more than 200,000 by now , the Marsh Arabs and Khrds would possibly be extinct, he would have probably have further destabilised the region by invading a third country and would have used his Scud Bs (and possibly bought North Korean technology to increase accuracy) to further attack Israel – He did, after all, try to build a super-gun to attack them and fired Scud Bs at Tel Aviv.
nigel hunter 25th Nov '15 - 11:16pm
It s true we are entering a WW1 scenario, a war, followed by a carve up that has partly led to the present mess.. Yes ISIS only needs a couple of suicide bombers to turn the west upside down and get days of free publicity and the west falls into their plans of further air strikes with Cameron not wanting to be left out Yes, just increase border controls and advise people about certain countries. Equally you have a greater chance of being run over by a bus than meeting a terrorist. Go about life day by day as normal. Make CONCRETE plans to contain the territory ISIS has now and attack all forms of funding.
Islam is a religion like all others, non perfect, that also counts for agnostics and atheist who believe in their thoughts. Islamists terrorists are still fighting past wars ,their ideology is ancient out of date and they will not get their way through violence. All countries concerned including A Should be seen to be isolating them in the territory they have.rab states .
Andrew McCaig 26th Nov '15 - 12:48am
The UK is already doing plenty of "heavy lifting" against IS.
According to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27838034 we had flown the largest number of sorties (up to 8th Oct) after the USA. The largest number of coalition sorties have been in Iraq anyway.
Adding our planes to the huge number flying around over Syria will make absolutely NO practical difference to the situation on the ground and I am sure our allies are quite happy that we are carrying our fair share of the overall load by bombing Iraquis. It is purely and entirely a political gesture and what is more the main purpose is to embarrass the Labour Party by getting Corbyn to oppose it in the aftermath of the Paris bombings. On the other hand flying over Syria does risk it being one of our planes that gets shot down by the Russians, or by the rebels who I am sure will soon be getting ground to air missiles (Turkey will be supplying the Turkmen if nothing else…).
The situation was quite different in 2014 of course. Then the Commons vote was on airstrikes in Syria against the Assad regime, which were not part of a campaign against IS and were completely different in purpose from airstrikes in Iraq. Parliament was very wise then to keep us out of the completely chaotic Syrian conflict, where frankly there are few forces on the ground we would actually be friends with if they won. Parliament would be wise to do the same next week.
Eddie Sammon 26th Nov '15 - 2:40am
I tell you what I wouldn't vote for: the strategy that looks the one preferred by English speaking security experts, especially some of the hawks: ally with an al-Qaeda affiliate to defeat Assad and Daesh.
I can see why local Syrians might prefer this option, as they see it as better than Daesh or Assad, but what is in it for us?
Cameron's plan for airstrikes is broadly right, but any plan for regime change in an effective alliance with al-Qaeda just isn't worth western money and possibly blood.
Found an English speaking security expert saying what I've been thinking: "the Nusra Front is a wolf in sheep's clothing" and "al-Qaeda is al-Qaeda".
Assad, Daesh and al-Nusra are all bad. Not just as simple as being against Assad and Daesh. This guy is a visiting fellow at Brookings Doha:
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62063
John Marriott 26th Nov '15 - 8:35am
A friend of mine has sent me an 'amusing' caption yesterday. Sorry if some of you serious contributors think that now is not the time to jest; but it does, in a way contain an interesting message. On a black and white photo of 'The Iron Lady' are superimposed the following words: " If I was still in power…ISIS would now be WAS WAS".
Mick Taylor 26th Nov '15 - 9:26am
I agree broadly with the anti UK involvement posters on this thread. I would recommend that the pro war contributors (and anyone else) read this statement by the Quakers on terrorism. It says it all: http://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-responding-to-terrorism
Geoffrey Payne 25th Nov '15 – 8:58pm My father had served in the RAF in Iraq during the League of Nations mandate, albeit as a new recruit he was not responsible for the policy of peace-keeping by bombing dissident villages. The UK was skint after World War I and the subsequent depression. Both the price and the demand for oil were much lower than now.
Carving out new nations from the former Ottoman Empire was crudely done, yet again, so some Kurds found themselves in Iraq, some in Syria under a French mandate, some in what became Turkey, some in adjoining territory.
They aspire to unity and, a long time ago, federal conference supported their ambition in an emergency motion, albeit to be achieved by peaceful means. A Chinese diplomat passing by looked at a map and declared it was impossible. He may have been right, because asking the former Soviet Union to surrender territory at that time seemed unlikely.
Federal conference has recently held a fringe meeting on Kurdistan. Lord Clement-Jones was on the panel, having visited the peaceful region, which was looking to stimulate trade. No new policy was made, merely an attempt at being understood. Nadhim Zahawi MP was also present, from our coalition partners.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford-on-Avon_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29)
When the Pentagon persuaded Turkey to provide the USAF with an airbase, Turkey increased its attacks against Turkish Kurds. The UK is providing some military materials and air cover to Iraqi Kurds who provide boots on the ground and would like more, but if the UK provides more it risks destabilising the government in Baghdad. An autonomous region with its own army might aspire to full independence.
Comparisons with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the German Empire are valid to the extent that they happened at the same time and for similar reasons. The solutions may be different.
J George SMID 26th Nov '15 - 11:28am
I think the gist of our position is in the following paragraph in the article: Quote: The fundamental problem we have is that we seem incapable of being objective in judging whether what we would like to do would actually work, by which I mean do more good than harm. The reason appears to be that we confuse the reasons to do things with our ability to do things. There is no shortage of reasons why we should bomb Syria. Indeed there are plenty of reasons to bomb Saudi Arabia for their human rights record, or China for genocide in Tibet. But at least in those cases we are aware of our limitations, which are not just military but economic as well. So we happily trade with them instead. Unquote.
That said, the problem is not in our intellectual ability to analyse, evaluate and decide on the issue. This is not a strategic situation, this is a brawl. Anybody who has ever been involved in a pub punch-up, street fight, or indeed in any heated argument, knows that the actions of the adversaries are driven by emotions and by the dynamics of the fight. Not by 'objective in judging'. The dynamic is such that Russia, China, Saudi Arabia are the dominant bullies. They have an interest in the preserved status quo. So have we. ISIS is the small guy jumping out and hitting out indiscriminately – he wants to change the status quo. Bombing is the appropriate response to ISIS state of mind. Bombing will help but will not do.
Gordon 26th Nov '15 - 11:31am
Geoff – I totally agree we should be careful about taking things at face value. For me that article passed the 'smell test' with flying colours in that it was highly congruent with what I already knew from multiple sources when I came across it.
Someone absolutely determined to explain things away for political reasons could do so to a point by exploiting the fog of war and wilful blindness but one thing absolutely cannot be explained away – the ISIS oil trade that has netted them close to a billion dollars by most estimates. Convoys of road tankers stretching for tens of kilometres and travelling across open desert are the easiest of sitting ducks. Yet somehow the US didn't notice them for over a year until the Russians embarrassed them into doing so. Even then it was the Russians who took the most out. (The US claimed some but PBS used Russian cockpit video to illustrate the story. Hmmm!)
Pull on that road tanker thread and the establishment narrative unravels very quickly. Once again, we are being lied to by the War Party.
Andrew McCaig 26th Nov '15 - 12:23pm
One other point:
It would seem pretty obvious that in any multi-nation military campaign you would assign different sectors to different countries. That way you reduce the risk of "friendly fire" incidents and cut down on the costs of maintaining multiple bases of operations. I would have thought the Americans would much prefer Britain to focus on Iraq and not join the already crowded airspace over Syria. No doubt they would like us to fly more sorties over Iraq so they could save some money.
The exception would be if we had some unique capability that the USA did not have – but I doubt that is the case for an aerial campaign…
It really makes no military sense for the UK to start bombing Syria and I think it is absolutely disgraceful that Cameron is proposing this illogical action mainly to try and gain political advantage
Richard Underhill 26th Nov '15 - 12:34pm
Andrew McCaig 26th Nov '15 – 12:23pm David Cameron is not Harold Wilson.
Andrew McCaig 26th Nov '15 - 1:15pm
Richard Underhill,
Self-evidently true, but otherwise typically cryptic!
David Raw 26th Nov '15 - 2:33pm
@ Richard Underhill
Harold Wilson did us great service by keeping us out of the Vietnam debacle.
Ian 26th Nov '15 - 8:28pm
Broadly agree with the article. The trouble is that our politicians live in one of the few worlds where there is greater cost in appearing to do nothing than there is in doing something dumb.
@ a social liberal,
Obviously I didn't make myself clear in my post.I have always been opposed to British involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I am well aware that those who wanted the war in Iraq, rather than accepting that it was a mistake, now argue that we withdrew too quickly. I am not one of them.
I would like to hear from any military man who thinks that ISIS can be defeated by an air war. As for those who argue that there needs to be , boots on the ground', I posed the question, whose boots? We are told that there are approximately 70,000 non extremist individuals in Syria who could fulfil that role. Really?
A Social Liberal 27th Nov '15 - 12:23am
I agree with the thrust of your last paragraph. Da'esh cannot be defeated by air power on it's own, and yet – even with air support from first of all the arab/US coalition and latterly the inclusion of the French – neither Syrian government nor Free Syrian Army bayonets indeed nor even the Khurds have made inroads into territory held by Da'esh.
However, I am not making a bid for western intervention using our troops, for two reasons. First, It would give Da'esh recruiters the possibility of pointing to our troops and screaming 'crusaders'. Second, it would send the wrong message to the government and supporters of Assad that we somehow supported their regime.
So, what can we do to defeat Da'esh. To my mind there are certainly three things to attain that aim.
* First . Give the Free Syria Army the heavy weapons it needs to adequately oppose Da'esh. These are not fundamentalists, but the Syrians who demonstrated for democracy and only turned to arms in desperation after Assads crackdown. Similarly, give the Khurds the wherewithal to adequately prosecute their war against the terrorists.
*Second. Train volunteers from amongst Syrian refugees to British Army standards, arm them and have them return to Syria in the same way as the Free French and Free Poles fought for freedom in the Second World War.
*Third. There is no decent opposition to Da'esh in Iraq. Yes, the Peshmerga recently cut the Raqqa-Mosul road but since that bit of news came out we have heard nothing. Because of the silence we do not know if it was a surprise attack that succumbed to a Da'esh counterattack or if they managed to heavily reinforce those troops and kept Mosul cut off.
Until we hear to the contrary it is best to assume the worst. Also, despite some of the best troops in the region opposing Da'esh in Iraq (including British SF) no inroads are being made. Therefore, in order to defeat them we must support Iraq's request and send an expeditionary force with adequate support and fight them on the ground, alongside the Iranians and Iraqis. I doubt it will take more than a combined Para/Royal Marine force with heavy armour support (and of course decent top cover – note, more than eight aged aircraft) and a decent logistics train to do it.
Jayne Mansfield 27th Nov '15 - 10:52am
@ Social liberal,
I am sure that we both want the same ends, although I view ISIS as a bunch of pathological criminals rather than as an army. Medieval though they may be in their disgusting behaviour, they are very clever propagandists who are able to make use of modern technology.
We have used our brave troops in an attempt to sort out the politics of the Middle East before, and it doesn't work. It just plays into the grievance narrative of those who consistently use such interventions to point at he faults of others ( the West), as a way of distracting attention from their own.
In the Middle East, Muslims are killing Muslims. They have continued to do so despite our training of troops in Iraq etc.
Your suggestion of training refugees was mooted by General Dannett. It seems to me that the difference between the current problem and the enemy that the Poles of the Free Pole army faced, is that for the latter, there was a clear understanding of who the enemy was, there was not this maelstrom of sectarian differences and hatreds, with the double dealing and the hypocrisy that takes place relating to the Middle East. Nor , as far as I understand the proxy element that pertains there.
A Social Liberal 27th Nov '15 - 8:21pm
Yes, I am certain we have the same wishes.
Your post shows mistakes in your analysis though.
For instance, you refer to the two times our troops have been used to 'sort out the politics of the Middle East'. They weren't used for that, they were used to take down two dictatorships which were, in the first case offering succur to an organisation which deliberately targeted civilians and had murdered thousands upon thousands throughout the world. In the second case they were used to remove an administration which had killed hundreds of thousands. Now, you might say it was predicated on WMD in Iraq, you might state that non were found. This is what Hans Blix said in a report to the UN just over a month before the invasion.
"We have now commenced the process of destroying approximately 50 litres of mustard gas declared by Iraq that was being kept under UNMOVIC seal at the Muthanna site. One-third of the quantity has already been destroyed. The laboratory quantity of thiodiglycol, a mustard gas precursor, which we found at another site, has also been destroyed."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/14/iraq.unitednations1
However, this is not my point. Invasion and defeat of those dictatorships were the reason for the invasions. Afterwards the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan chose their own governments. That the countries remain in turmoil is because of malevolent forces refusing to acknowledge the decision of the majority, exacerbated by our governments inability to plan for the post hostilities period. We have got it right in the past with muslim countries – Bosnia and Kosovo and with countries of other religions from Malaya to Sierra Leone.
You, and others, mistake the enemy. Da'esh are terrorists and they HAVE employed the normal tactics of terrorism. However, by and large in both Iraq and Syria they are not fighting an asymetrical war but a more normal campaign where they have taken territory and are holding it by force of arms. That they have got the upper hand with three different nations armies shows that Da'esh are competent in fighting a conventional war.
I am sorry but you simplify the campaigns in Central Europe and the politics therein. I don't wish to go to much into the politics of different groups fighting on both sides as it will divert from the main thrust of my argument. If you want more information get my email from admin and I'll discuss it offline
Richard Underhill 27th Nov '15 - 8:53pm
David Cameron is not Harold Wilson.
Andrew McCaig Self-evidently true, but otherwise typically cryptic!
David Raw Harold Wilson did us great service by keeping us out of the Vietnam debacle."
I apologise for the brevity. David Raw is right, that is what I meant.
Thank you for taking so much effort in your response. You sound like a soldier. That is not a criticism, it is simply that I have listened to arguments from former military personnel in my family and I detect a similarity. – an important certainty and lack of doubt necessary for the job, that we non military personnel are not blessed with.
What I believe or think is unimportant. I have reached the same conclusion as Max Hastings, one of the commentators I have been following. " The die is cast -we are going to join the bombing of Islamic State in Syria'. Mail online.
ah, thanks. I must admit I was about 9 when he was doing that and not playing very close attention!
I did have a look on Wikipedia and found that some people thought he was in the pay of the Russians, so perhaps there is some connection there with today! (non-specific!)
Andrew McCaig 28th Nov '15 - 1:12am
@ Social Liberal..
I think there are a few problems with your proposals…
Firstly, if we arm the "Free Syrian Army" with heavy weapons, the Russians will bomb them to pieces to stop them fighting Assad. Plus it is not entirely clear who they are or even whether they still exist.
If we arm the Kurds with heavy weapons the Turks will bomb them to pieces…
If we train the refugees they could join anyone or alternatively may simply be disarmed by Islamist groups as the US-trained "moderate rebels" were..
The reality is that different players in Syria want very different outcomes, and in those circumstances yet more weapons are unlikely to be a solution. Unfortunately, poking a wasps nest rarely ends well.
I tend to share the opinion voiced elsewhere on these pages that the biggest problems in Syria are Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and unless we can stop those two countries from supplying and aiding ISIL/Daesh, they will never be defeated. And then the next problem would be what to do about Assad, Iran and Russia.
expats 28th Nov '15 - 9:06am
A Social Liberal …
You forget to mention, in your reference to 'successful' interventions, that their common factor was external 'boots on the ground'….
No nation, be it the US, UK, France, etc. makes any reference to the PBI; in fact, they all run like rabbits when any mention of such action is made….
As for your definition of successful operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya???? "If the 'operation was a success then the patient certainly died"…The average citizen in Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc., wants safety, housing and food for his family; political activists want 'regime change'…If you believe the 'average citizen' is better served after outside interference than before then you are not living in the same world as me, or them…
Low mood over, it is not over until the 'Fat lady sings', and am considerably bucked up by a piece by Matthew Parris in today's Times, (The bombs away brigade are on autopilot), and a poll showing that there is not majority support for Cameron's determination to make the mistakes of the past.
@ Expats @ Andrew McCaig,
May I draw your attention to the work of the Oxford Research Group, in particular a briefing paper by Professor Paul Rogers who is based just down the road from you in Bradford, Andrew. 'Islamic State's plan, and the West's trap.)
Andrew McCaig
You seem under a misapprehension. FSA are ALREADY being bombed by the Russians, they were the Russians favourite target until their airliner got blown up. Similarly with Turkey bombing the Khurds – it's already happening. As for the supposed continuation of Saudi support for Da'esh – if this is so, why were the Saudis bombing them in Syria until the war in Yemen came up – where Saudi is bombing fundamentalists including . . . . Da'esh.
Expats – if the patient died it was because of the post operative care and not the operation. Afghanistan and Iraq is where it is today because of the blunders of politicians in planning for the post war period, starting with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to fight the war in Iraq and carrying on with the removal of troops too early from that theatre. It is noticable that after Petraeus and Kilcullens Iraq Surge asymetric warfare in the country declined to the point where it was almost non existant, that the same thing happened in Helmand Province shows that the Surge strategy was a success.
As for your assertion that outside intervention doesn't work, those previous interventions you pointed out which needed similar outside intervention obviously DID work. The difference between those and Iraq/Afghan is the political planning for the post war period.
Finally Jayne.
This would be the Prof Paul Rogers who lectures on Peace Studies at Bradford University? I was going to try for the Peace Studies course but decided not to after reading the Pie in the Sky prospectus
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When catching up means losing out (Charley Hasted)
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Creeting St Peter - I am, if only for a little while, the possessor of a narrow, but extensive, hat collection
Good summary from William Francis. Have you read Keith Middlemass's series? They're a bit dated, but very interesting....
John Grout
We should not be surprised that people who are the subjects of a debate want to be part of it - it's also not unsurprising that they won't want to debate, p...
Andrew Melmoth
@Simon McGrath But that's not the whole story. The government can set the redistribution rules in an effort to tilt the system in their favour. For instance ...
Matt McLaren
Thanks for your thoughts Richard. As you say, others will make their own judgements about what is said above. I'm very keen to work with others to improve th...
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Some interesting points here but redrawing constituency boundary are done by an independent body - nothing to do with the Govt...
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Shares of Netflix Inc. pared some gains in morning trade Wednesday, after billionaire investor Carl Icahn tweeted that he sold the last of his holdings in the streaming video service. The stock was up 1.8%, but had been up as much as 3.7% at an all-time intraday high of $706.24 earlier in the session. The stock got a boost after Netflix announced late Tuesday that it would enact a 7-for-1 stock split. The latest regulatory filings showed that Icahn owned 1,411,926 shares of Netflix as of March 31. That made Icahn the ninth-largest shareholder, according to FactSet. Icahn also said in his tweet that he believes Apple Inc.'s stock represents the same opportunity we said Netflix shares offered several years ago. Apple's stock climbed 1.8% in morning trade. Netflix's stock, which is still on track to close at a record high, has doubled year to date, while Apple shares have surged 17% and the S&P 500 has gained 3%.


Small-scale soft actuators and stimuli-responsive materials have been the subject of intensive research because of the potential applications as artificial muscles in soft robots. Recently, NiOOH/Ni(OH)2 has been identified as a promising actuating material that can expand or contract as a redox reaction occurs between the oxyhydroxide and hydroxide states . This material can be used as an active coating on a thin substrate to achieve a "skin-effect" actuator that flexes with large movements. However, the performance and durability of such a design are limited by the interfacial strength between the active and passive layers.
In this work, we demonstrate that, a new design of the skin-effect actuators, made by electrodepositing a few microns' thick of the NiOOH/Ni(OH)2 active material on top of a gold-sputtered nano/micro-porous polycarbonate membrane, can exhibit unprecedented device strains with excellent stability and durability, due to the enhanced mechanical interlocking provided by the nano/micro pores on the passive substrate. For an actuator strip 15 mm long, 3 mm wide and 12 mm thick, a bending curvature as large as 1.3mm-1 about the width axis (i.e. a radius of curvature of 0.77 mm over the 15 mm length), with cumulative angular deflection > 1000° (i.e. 2.8 revolutions) at the free end, can be achieved in an alkaline electrolyte environment under a triggering voltage of less than 1 V. Under cyclic potential triggering, the actuation response is fast and stable. Although the intrinsic actuation strain of the NiOOH/Ni(OH)2 material is only about 0.2%, and actually, higher strains are not desirable as the elastic limit would be exceeded, the work density is high at 27 kJ/m3, which is comparable to mammalian muscles. The present results also demonstrate that the typical largest actuation curvature has a linear relationship with the thickness or plating time of the actuating layer, in good agreement with Stoney's theory.
Under higher scanning frequencies of the triggering potential corresponding to actuating cycles shorter than 5 s, the motion of the actuator mimics well the muscle-like motion of a fishtail. The ultra-large deformation, low triggering voltages, and ease and low costs to fabricate, are significant merits of the present material system that justify its future developments in soft robots and other biomimetic devices.


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Millard-Mendez
Rob Millard-Mendez has been teaching sculpture, woodworking, and design for over 20 years. His work has been published in many books and magazines, including 500 Chairs by Lark Books, American Craft and Sculpture magazine. His work has been shown in over 500 exhibitions, including shows in each of the 50 states and internationally, and he has won over 90 awards for his art and teaching. Rob makes complex, narrative objects out of wood and other materials, and his work can be found in a number of private and public collections.
Rob's Workshop
Design: Defining Your Style Through Elegant Form with Rob Millard-Mendez (Tues to Sat) May 31 – June 4, 2022
Jeff Miller

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Www.digitalplayspace.com - Frog Stuffed Animal Walmart. An animation is defined as a visual shift in a spectacle with respect to time. The visual shift in the scene is not only linked to the shift in the positioning of the thing, but also with its own shape, color, transparency, texture and structure. An important thing about cartoon is that it usually signifies the hand drawn or artificially drawn sequence of images, which contrasts to the pictures where actors performances with real-world scenes have been recorded.
Cartoon is rapidly becoming a very popular career choice for those interested in combining their love for art with their love for calculating. With pictures like Monsters Inc. and Cars holding the interest of kids and adults alike, so it's not surprising that animation technicians are becoming popular after.
Similar to Frog Stuffed Animal Walmart, In case you were to talk to lots of people what their favorite productions have been little doubt every single would have their particular person lists. You would probably be surprised in the range of animated kinds that could be incorporated. So if who at any time stated that cartoons are for youths? They are something that touches the hearts of the youthful and previous for both gender.
3D Cartoon animation has appear up as considered one of by far the most endorsed systems in the present pc age. It is a sort of graphic imaging that has taken in excess of 2d or scale design puppets too as drawings which were usually called stop motion animation. About the years, there was an at any time growing interest in cartoon films as well since the utilization of 3D cartoon animation within the media for endorsement of brand name names that has initiated far better and more advanced imaging software's available in the market. This really is similar to Frog Stuffed Animal Walmart.
This text talks with regard to the big difference of cartoon and anime, and the definition of every in various types. Anime, generally from Japan, demonstrates by itself to be a good deal further and perfectly thought-out in plot and character development than those of cartoons.


Well, I finally got around to revamping my blog. I hope to get back into the habit of posting more often. I took the opportunity to switch to another blog engine (Hugo) and also to switch my SCM from github to gitlab.


One of the hardest parts about being gluten free is that you can't just go out for dinner with your friends without checking the menu first. And if the menu doesn't have anything that's gluten free, you can't go there unless you don't order anything (it's really no fun just sitting there while your friends talk about how good the free bread is).
With this collection of gluten free copycat recipes, you'll be able to enjoy some delicious meals similar to the ones you've been missing out on ever since you started eating gluten free. From those Red Lobster biscuits everyone keeps talking about to tacos from Fuzzy's, we've got you covered with some of the best copycat recipes around. All of these recipes are gluten free and they'll taste so similar to the real things that you'll look around for the waiter to order seconds before you realize you're still in your kitchen.
It's much easier to make copycat recipes at home when you have the right tool. Our friends at AllFreeCopycatRecipes are giving away a perfect Swiss Diamond Fry Pan to help you make all your restaurant favorites. Find out more below!
Bonus: Swiss Diamond Fry Pan Giveaway!
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Aldous welcomes OFT decision to call for evidence on price fixing
Waveney MP Peter Aldous today welcomed the decision of the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) to issue a call for information on the UK petrol and diesel sector.
Petrol prices have risen by 38% between June 2007 and June 2012, and diesel prices by 43% over the same period. In light of the continuing public concern about pump prices the OFT study aims to identify and tackle competition problems in the sector by inviting the industry, motoring groups and consumer bodies to submit information.
Mr Aldous is supporting the OFT decision to explore a number of claims about how the UK fuel sector is functioning. This includes an examination as to whether:-
reductions in the price of crude oil are being reflected in falling pump prices;
supermarkets' and major oil companies' practices may be making it more difficult for independent retailers to compete with them;
there is a lack of competition between fuel retailers in countryside areas of the UK, such as Waveney;
concerns about price co-ordination and the structure of fuel markets of other national competition authorities are relevant in the UK.
Commenting on the move, Mr Aldous said:
"I am very aware that high fuel prices are a burden on people in the Waveney area, where wages are lower than the national average and in travelling to work people have no alternative but to use the car.
The UK oil market has not been investigated since 1998, despite the fact that British petrol and diesel prices are among the highest in Europe and I look forward to the results of the OFT review and the consequent recommendations on how we can move forward."
Over the next six weeks, the OFT will be collecting data and is due to publish its findings in January 2013.
Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill
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U.N. observers in Syria count more than 92 bodies in Houla carnage
The United Nations' observers in Syria on Saturday confirmed that more than 92 people, including dozens of children, were killed in what activists said was an artillery barrage by government forces in the town of Houla, in the province of Homs.
"This morning U.N. military and civilian observers went to Houla and counted more than 32 children under the age of 10 and over 60 adults killed," the head of U.N. team monitoring the ceasefire – which has yet to take hold – said.
"The observers confirmed from examination of ordinances the use of artillery tank shells," Major General Robert Mood said in a statement, without elaborating. "Whoever started, whoever responded and whoever carried out this deplorable act of violence should be held responsible."
In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded "the Government of Syria immediately cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers."
Ban condemned the Houla carnage as "appalling and brutal" breach of international law."
Britain said Saturday it was consulting urgently with its allies on "a strong international response."
"We will be calling for an urgent session of the UN Security Council in the coming days," Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement after United Nations monitors confirmed reports of the killings in Houla.
Syrian state television aired some of the footage disseminated by activists, calling the bodies victims of a massacre committed by "terrorist" gangs.
The bloodied bodies of children, some with their skulls split open, were shown in footage posted to YouTube purporting to show the victims of the shelling in the central town of Houla on Friday. The sound of wailing filled the room.
A British-based opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said residents of Houla were fleeing in fear of more shelling.
The reports of the carnage, which could not be confirmed independently, underlined how far Syria is from any negotiated path out of the 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
A member of the fragmented exile group that says it speaks for Syria's political opposition said Assad's forces had killed "entire families" in Houla in addition to the shelling.
"The Syrian National Council (SNC) urges the U.N. Security Council to call for an emergency meeting … and to determine the responsibility of the United Nations in the face of such mass killings," SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani said.
Opposition activists said Syrian forces had opened fire with artillery on Friday after skirmishing with insurgents in Houla, a cluster of villages north of the city of Homs, itself battered by shelling.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the violence as a "massacre," and said he wanted to arrange a meeting in Paris of the Friends of Syria, a group that brings together Western and Arab countries keen to remove Assad.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, has blamed the Syrian government for much of the "unacceptable levels of violence and abuses" occurring every day in violation of a U.N.-backed peace plan.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council, Ban cited the government's continuing use of heavy weapons, reports of shelling and "a stepped-up security crackdown by the authorities that has led to massive violations of human rights by government forces and pro-government militias."
Ban lamented that there has been only "small progress" on implementing the six-point plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, who is scheduled to brief the Security Council on Wednesday.
Ban called on the government to keep its pledge to immediately stop the violence, pull heavy weapons and troops out of populated areas, allow humanitarian workers to help needy civilians and end human rights abuses.


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The Herald (Everett)
Get The Herald Everett essential facts below. View Videos or join the The Herald Everett discussion. Add The Herald Everett to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
The Herald Everett
The Everett Herald
Sound Publishing
Josh O'Connor[1]
Phillip O'Connor
1800 41st St., Suite S-300
Everett, Washington, U.S.
43,392 Sunday
37,601 Daily (Friday) [2]
heraldnet.com
The Everett Herald is a daily newspaper based in Everett, Washington, United States. It is owned by Sound Publishing, Inc. The paper serves as a major news source for residents of Snohomish County.
Newsboys for the Everett Daily Herald, c. 1929
The Daily Herald was first published on February 11, 1901, by S. A. Perkins and S. E. Wharton.[3] An earlier newspaper known as the Herald had been established in 1891 and ceased publication during the Panic of 1893.[4] The second incarnation of the Herald, originally named the Everett Independent, was sold to James B. Best in 1905.[5] The newspaper established a satellite news bureau for southern Snohomish County in May 1954, which later became the Western Sun edition in 1970.[6] The Best family owned the newspaper until it was sold in 1978 to the Washington Post Company.[7][8]The Daily Herald's website, HeraldNet.com, was launched on January 5, 1997.[7]
For years, The Daily Herald was an afternoon paper.[8] It is now a morning paper.[4] The newspaper also acquired a chain of weekly newspapers under The Enterprise in southern Snohomish County, which it operated from 1996 to 2012.
On February 6, 2013, the Washington Post Company announced it was selling the paper to the Sound Publishing division, based in Everett, Washington, of Black Press, based in Victoria, British Columbia.[9]
Notable court cases
In March 1983, The Daily Herald lost an appellate court case in the State of Washington in which it sought to quash a subpoena allowing a judicial review of confidential material gathered for articles it had published in 1979 on the cult activities of Theodore Rinaldo, who had since been convicted on charges of rape, indecent liberties and assault.[10]The New York Times reported that the court had ruled that "criminal defendants could force reporters to reveal confidential sources if the information was crucial to the case" and characterized the loss as "a major defeat for the news media".[11]The Daily Herald took the Appeals Court decision to the Washington Supreme Court[10] in State v. Rinaldo 102 Wn.2d 749 (1984), which was heard en banc with the result that the subpoena itself was quashed on the basis that Rinaldo had not met the threshold requirements to compel such an inspection,[12] while upholding the Court of Appeals ruling in general.[13]
^ "Executives". Sound Publishing. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved 2018. As president of Sound Publishing, O'Connor is also the publisher of The Daily Herald (Everett) and oversees the company in its primary leadership role.
^ "The Washington Post Company Newspapers: The Herald". The Washington Post Company. Archived from the original on 2004-02-22. Retrieved .
^ Brown, J. D. K. (November 1908). "Snohomish County Newspapers". The Coast. Seattle: The Coast Publishing Company. XVI (5): 311. OCLC 81457448. Retrieved 2020 – via Google Books.
^ a b Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. pp. 212-213. ISBN 978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC 861618089.
^ "Looking back: Journalism in early Everett". The Everett Herald. September 28, 2019. Retrieved 2020.
^ Riddle, Margaret (August 9, 2006). "Snohomish County -- Thumbnail History". HistoryLink. Retrieved 2020.
^ a b "HeraldNet: About The Daily Herald and HeraldNet.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-16. Retrieved .
^ a b Muhlstein, Julie (March 2, 2011). "In 30 years on the job, only headlines seem similar". The Herald. Retrieved 2012.
^ "Daily Herald Co. being sold to Sound Publishing". Retrieved .
^ a b "'Invidiously destructive' decision". Tri-City Herald. March 30, 1983. Retrieved 2012.
^ "Around the Nation: Newspaper Loses Appeal On Confidential Sources". The New York Times. March 22, 1983. Retrieved 2012.
^ "State v. Rinaldo, 689 P. 2d 392 - Wash: Supreme Court 1984". Google Scholar. October 18, 1984. Retrieved 2012.
^ "Court extends non-disclosure for reporters". The Spokesman-Review. October 19, 1984. Retrieved 2012.
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W'day = Monday-Thursday; W'end = Friday-Sunday. Surcharge SG$65/night on 30May16-02Jun16. Surcharge SG$165/night on 15-18Sep16. Surcharge SG$95/night on 31Dec16.
W'day = Monday-Thursday; W'end = Friday-Sunday. Extra bed add SG$88. Surcharge SG$65/night on 30May16-02Jun16. Surcharge SG$165/night on 15-18Sep16. Surcharge SG$95/night on 31Dec16.
W'day = Monday-Thursday; W'end = Friday-Sunday. Extra bed add SG$108 Incl.BF. Surcharge SG$65/night on 30May16-02Jun16. Surcharge SG$165/night on 15-18Sep16. Surcharge SG$95/night on 31Dec16.


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Home / 2009 / December / Priorities in Sacramento leave...
Priorities in Sacramento leave students drowning in debt
Matthew Palm, commissioner of academic affairs for the UCSC Student Union Assembly
By Matthew Palm
From the vantage point of a television viewer or newspaper reader, the events surrounding the UC Regents' vote to raise fees for undergraduates 32 percent must appear to be vivid allusions to the student protests of the 1960s. In fact, they are just the opposite.
The UC students of today struggle not against "the machine" as Mario Savio termed it; rather, we lobby and demonstrate so that we can stay at the university, so that our younger siblings will have some affordable college prospects left by the end of this recession.
How did we get to this point, where students feel compelled to hold sit-ins outside of class so that they can afford to still sit in class?
Missing from much of the commentary surrounding the recent fee hike vote is acknowledgment of the fact that every Regent save the Student Regent voted for the fee hikes. Even Eddie Island, often praised for his concern for students, voted for the first time as Regent in favor of a fee hike.
Why would Regents sympathetic to students and parents vote for one of the largest fee hikes in UC history? The answer is actually very simple: Funding from the State of California has declined from $15,860 per student in 1990 to just $9,560 per student in 2008 (dollars adjusted for inflation). As a direct result of this, undergraduate student fees more than doubled from 2001 to 2009, forcing my generation of Californians to pay more for school than any class before us. Each new entering class seems to face new challenges as each year we are burdened with higher costs.
How do we deal with educational costs deemed inconceivable a generation ago? Many students, like me, work more than 20 hours a week while studying as full time students. In 2005 and 2006 (when fees were considerably lower than they are now), 12 percent of undergraduate students reported working more than 20 hours a week. According the university, 51 percent of students graduated in debt during the 2006-07 school year, with the average debt burden being just under $15,000.
When California had a booming economy, graduates could more easily handle this burden. Today we are graduating into a state with a 12.5 percent unemployment rate and a much larger underemployment rate. This is why so many of my peers burst into tears in front of television news cameras at the Regents meeting in November at UCLA, begging the board not to strain us or our families with any more debt.
As a senior looking back on my four years here, I am genuinely questioning how someone could carry so much stress, work so much, and still successfully manage to delve as deeply into our wonderful curriculum as our professors would like.
We want to be here, we want to learn, and we want to get an education and make a meaningful impact in the world. But constant financial strain coupled with bleak job prospects make our desires that much harder to attain. As my mother tells me on almost a weekly basis now, "Matt--don't forget, there are only 24 hours in a day."
Unfortunately, decades of disinvestment from higher education by the state leave my peers and I fending for ourselves while at the same time the state continues to funnel tax dollars into expanding prisons. If the saying that public budgets reflect public values holds water, then right now I must question if California's government is expecting my little brother to end up in prison instead of college. This may sound inflammatory, but right now prison funding is a greater portion of our state budget than funding for all three segments of public higher education combined. Again, these misbalanced priorities in Sacramento leave California students drowning in debt.
Every dollar invested in the UC is said to yield three dollars for the state. We are an economic machine and a long-term source of prosperity for California. Can we say the same about prisons?
Please take a minute to contact your state representatives and strongly encourage them to make public higher education a real priority again.
Matthew Palm in a fourth-year history major at Kresge College and commissioner of academic affairs for the UCSC Student Union Assembly.


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On December 17, 1944, the second day of the Battle of the Bulge, Hermann Langer was 12 years old.
After being separated from their unit and walking through the forest, between 15 and 16 hours, a group of 11 American black GI's crossed the meadow in the direction of the Langer's house. One of them held a white flag and only two of them had a rifle. They were wet, hungry, desperate and visibly worn out. In the farm, they got something to eat and Mathias Langer tried to make them understand that a small way (trail), at the back of the house, was a way to lead them to Meyerode.
They had not finished eating when a bunch of SS emerged from a car. The black Americans quickly left the house with their hands up and were commanded to stay in a line in front of the house. Later, they had to sit down on the wet soil of a slope, along the path at the back of the house. They shivered and Mathias Langer suggested the shelter of a hanger. Strict refusal of the SS. "They will feel warm when they'll run in front of our car" they said. Hermann saw a German shaking his head reproachful.
Before dark, the prisoners got the order to run in front of the car. After ca 1 km away, they were tortured and massacred in a small path.
Soon Wereth sat in the area of the combats and everyone entrenched oneself.
On Dec. 26, an airplane, flying low, left a bomb in front of the Langer's house. Herman, 12 Years old then got wounded as well as his brother Leo (9) and two of his sisters (6 month and 17 years).
Plenty of snow began to fall and covered the bodies of the victims. Herman thought first the bodies were taken away but on the first day of February, the first time he went to church after the combats, he saw them, partly uncovered by the melting snow. And for all his life, the faces of these soldiers remain in his mind.
Fifty years later, Hermann erected a small stone cross on the exact spot where the eleven black GI's lost their life. Making this, he never wanted to be honored or well-known, no. Hermann's issue, unlike some other, was to pay tribute to these soldiers he and his family met in December 1944 and to inform young people about dictatorship and tyranny.
At this time, joking with his brother in law, he said: "I will be very surprised if, one day, an American came here to see this cross. Who knows, maybe, if one comes, he would give us a Chicklet like the GI's did in 1944!"
Thank you so much, Hermann.
God bless you, God bless your family.


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Marvel Announces a New Comic Series
Marvel announced a new comic series, "Amazing Fantasy", that throws some of our favorite heroes into a fantasy world. The series will be written by Kaare Andrew, best known for Spider-Man Reign, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon, and 2020's Wolverine. Confirmed characters include Spider-Man, Captain America, and Black Widow.
The books look like old worn Dungeon and Dragons books. The covers look like heavy metal albums. The "Amazing Fantasy" title is a historical properety for Marvel. Most notably, Spider-Man made his debut in "Amazing Fantasy" #15.
"Red Room Black Widow, teenage Spider-Man, World War II Captain America — the most iconic versions of your favorite Marvel characters from across time and space all wake up on an island of intrigue, darkness and…Amazing Fantasy. Are they dead? Are they dreaming? Or have they truly been transported to another fantastical realm? And is there any way for them to return home? This isn't just a love letter to your favorite Marvel eras, it's a reinvestment in the seminal characters you've always loved, plucked from their quintessential timelines."
Comic Synopsis
You can grab the first "Amazing Fantasy" on July 28th!
Source: Marvel Blog
Images from Marvel
Alexa Now Works with Xbox
Ludwig's Marathon Stream Concluded


Very nice apartment, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets, recent and very well located, Gueliz semlalia area, 5th and last floor with elevator, south facing terrace with plancha and sofa, with magnificent views of the Atlas. Fully equipped kitchen with American fridge and dishwasher, beautiful lounge with lighted bar.
Villa haitam Villa individuelle avec piscine privée, chauffée pour 40€ par jour en plus (voir conditions) .


Today, June 30, 2009, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual Acreage and Grain Stocks reports. These reports provide useful information about planted acreage and amounts of grain in inventory.
The acreage report indicates planted corn acreage is up one percent from 2008 to an estimated 87 million acres. Besides 2007 this is the largest planted acreage since 1946. Traders were expected either for corn acreage to stay the same or decrease, therefore, we may see an initial decrease in corn price. For Kentucky, planted corn acreage is up 10,000 acres to 1.22 million acres from 2008. Corn stocks are estimated to be up 6 percent from last year to 4.27 billion bushels.
For soybeans, U.S. producers have planted an estimated 77.5 million acres – a record and up 2 percent from 2008. This amount of planted acreage is less than trader expectations, which may positively affect prices. For Kentucky, planted soybean acreage is up 60,000 acres to 1.45 million acres from 2008. Soybean stocks are estimated to be down 12 percent from last year t o 597 million bushels.
For winter wheat, NASS estimates planted acreage at 43.4 million acres, six percent lower than 2008. Of which 8.4 million acres are Soft Red Winter. For Kentucky, planted winter wheat acreage was down 50,000 acres to 530,000 acres from 2008. All wheat stocks are estimated to be up 118 percent from last year to 667 million bushels.
Even with this information, corn, soybean, and wheat prices can still be influenced by a number of factors, especially yields. There is still a lot of the growing season left to put downward pressure on yields. You can reach Cory Walters at cgwalters@uky.edu.
Soybean aphid has been showing up in the upper mid-west for several weeks. This pest can be a big problem in soybean production, but has not historically been so in Kentucky. We hope, and in the short run expect, that this will remain the same, at least for 2009. It is however, important to remember that this pest can and does infest Kentucky grown soybeans. If its' biology and/or short term weather patterns change then we may see more of this pest than we wish.
As of this writing we have not found any soybean aphids in our sentinel plot system. The aphid suction traps in Lexington and Princeton have not caught any soybean aphids. Additionally, I have not received any reports from agents or consultants (who often find the first aphids).
So, at present wer are in good shape with reference to soybean aphid. I see no reason, except late plantings, to assume that anything other than the norm will occur this season. However, you should keep your eyes open! You are encouraged to report soybean aphid finds to doug.johnson@uky.edu. I will use your information to keep us all informed.
For more complete stories see Kentucky Pest news at: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/kpn/kpnhome.htm.
Last week, I posted an image of a corn plant and said that it was possibly deficient in Mn. Dr. John Grove quickly met me with some corn plants with similar symptoms: yellow or chlorosis between the veins and green along the veins. Image of those plants are below.
Corn plants from four N rates (0, 67, 133 and 200 lbs/acre, respectively).
In each case, the interveinal chlorosis is N deficiency. The symptoms are much more evident as N rates get lower, but observing this chlorosis does not mean that yields are limited. Even in corn from 200 lbs N/acre, slight interveinal chlorosis is evident.
Photo: Possible Mn defiency in corn, which is most likely due to weather and not lack of Mn in the soil.
Believe it or not, corn has emerged on 96% of the acres in Kentucky which is right in line with the five-year average, according to the Kentucky Crop and Weather Report. While emergence is on track, planting was not, and management decisions need to be adjusted.
Preplant nitrogen fertilizer and preplant herbicides may have been lost to the heavy rainfalls. Farmers may need to sidedress additional N and apply postemegernce herbicides. Because of the late planting, farmers will have a smaller window to make these postemergence applications.
Corn planted April 1 will likely reach V6 growth stage in 35 days, while the same hybrid planted May 15 will reach V6 in about 22 days. Corn planted even later will reach V6 earlier.
Many postemergence herbicide labels have restrictions for V6 corn. Corn will need about 20 to 40 lbs of N/acre through about V6. If additional N has not been applied by V6, then yield losses can be expected.
Determining how much N fertilizer or herbicide was lost from the heavy rains is not easy. A calculation for N fertilizer lost is available in the Corn and Soybean Newsletter from April. Assessment of herbicide losses are more of a case-by-case assessment.
In addition, the rapid growth and wet weather can result in some transient nutrient deficiency symptoms...symptoms where weather has more to do with nutrient deficiency that availability of the nutrient. Normally in these cases, the best cure is sunshine and warm weather. Often farmers will spray a foliar fertilizer over the top and a couple days later the crop turns greener, but it may not yield any more. We always suggest to leave a test strip, and take both the treated and non-treated areas to yield.
As always, consult your county agents for more information.
The barley contest is new this year and is being administered by the University of Kentucky, but is fully sponsored through Osage BioEnergy, a company interested in turning barley into fuel ethanol.
The wheat yield contest is administered by the University of Kentucky and is sponsored by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, Kentucky Small Grain Growers and several agribusinesses.
While the entry forms are different, the rules are very similar for the two contests. Contact your county extension agent if you have questions/comments about either contest.
The USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report for June 7, 2009 indicates that soybeans planting is 48% completed, well below the 5-year average of 71%. About 32% of the soybean plants had emerged.
Normally, for full season soybeans, we suggest that a final stand of 100,000 plants per acre is sufficient for maximum yield. However, we are getting later into the season. For full season soybeans planted today or later, farmers may want to increase the goal of a final stand to 140,000 plants per acre. Double-crop soybeans (soybeans planted into wheat stubble) should attempt to get a final stand near 160,000 plants per acre. In addition, any soybeans being planted today or later should be in row widths of 15 inches or less.
The recommendation for the higher target population and narrow rows, is because a fundamental principle for higer yields is getting full canopy closure when the soybeans flower. These later planting dates require more soybean plants per acre and narrow rows to get to full canopy closure by the time the soybeans flower.
The Wheat Science IPM Group Newsletter was released on June 4, 2009 with the latest information for mangaing wheat with Fusarium head blight (or head scab) this season.
A recent report from Dr. Clayton Hollier with Louisiana State University (LSU) documented the first find of soybean rust (SBR) on soybean in Louisiana and the U.S. for 2009. The find was in a soybean sentinel plot at the R4 (mid-pod) stage. That is a fairly early stage for a first find of SBR and it is cause for some concern (but NOT alarm). Usually, the first find of SBR in soybean for the year is made in beans that are at a later stage of development (late R5 or later).
According to a crop consultant I spoke with in southern Louisiana, this is the first time that SBR has been found in soybean BEFORE his growers had a chance to make fungicide applications. His point was not that they have "missed the boat", but rather to indicate the earliness of this find relative to what they are used to seeing in southern Louisiana. To back up his statement, he told me about a rather large kudzu patch near an local apartment complex that LSU scientists regularly monitor, and that historically has developed massive SBR infections later in the summer. He said that patch is now heavily infected and is showing profuse sporulation. The weather conditions in much of Louisiana have been favorable for SBR for quite some time. So, this earlier than usual find does not come as a great surprise.
The US, from south to north, has a great many acres planted later than normal this year. This could increase the crop risk for SBR, but not necessarily so. We could have a late season dry period that shuts the disease down; or not. Time will tell, and I cannot rule anything in or out at this time. Thus, I encourage you to stay tapped into trusted sources of SBR information. As I learn more details, I will be certain to pass them along.
Proper prior planning! This is the essence. Let there be no doubt that preventing a problem in stored wheat is by far more effective and economically sound than solving a problem that could have been prevented.
Prepare bins two weeks ahead of time.
Insure your bins are in good repair. Even small holes will allow insect entry. Be sure the roof does not leak!
Do not store with carryover grain.
Thoroughly clean all equipment from the combine to the bin to avoid seeding the newly harvested grain with insect pests.
Consider fumigation of areas below perforated floors and in aeration ducts. Get a professional fumigator to do this dangerous task, correctly. Save your life and money in that order.
Treat the insides and around the outsides of bins with an approved insecticide.
Bin dry wheat if possible at 12 to 12 ½ % moisture.
Move air through the grain to reduce temperature any time that is possible until the grain temperature is below 50 F. Consider installing automatic fan controllers.
If you use an insecticide applied to the grain, make sure it is labeled for that purpose. If you use a grain dryer do not apply insecticide before the grain moves through the dryer and until the grain has cooled after exiting the dryer.
Check your grain regularly. At a minimum look in the hatch and use your nose to perform a "sniff test" to detect out of condition grain. Insect traps can be a good indicator of problems if you will learn to use them. Do not wait until delivery time to look for insects. That is often too late for any remediation.


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Buhari says 2016 difficult year for Nigeria
Home Buhari says 2016 difficult year for Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration's commitment to transparency and accountability has reduced the economic hardships that would have resulted from the falling oil revenue.
Buhari, who stated this while receiving the executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, regarded 2016 as a difficult year for Nigeria.
Before assuming office, Buhari recalled that crude oil which was selling for about $100 per barrel later crashed to $37, and now hovering between $40 and $45.
He said the development has turned Nigeria into a poor nation, but said the commitment of his administration to transparency and accountability is not making Nigerians to realize there was a severe shortage of resources.
{jssocials}
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San Francisco business owner complains to city officials about homeless
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - There's a grassroots push to have City Hall dismantle an expanding tent city in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.
The owner of a health club in the area created flyers with the office number and email address of the mayor and every city supervisor.
He's hoping all of the phone calls and emails will get city leaders to finally take action.
The lack of progress on homelessness in San Francisco is evident on every corner near the Fitness SF where tents, tarps and shopping carts line the sidewalks.
"Every intersection, wherever you look is just overrun with homeless people," said Sebastyn Jacovics.
He owns the gym at the corner of 9th and Division and told KTVU the situation seems to get worse every month.
"What's going on is just not acceptable. We need a plan. We need a plan of action that works," Jacovics said.
The increasing encampments are testing the limits of tolerance for people in the neighborhood, who report seeing drinking, drug dealing, defecating, urinating and aggressive panhandling.
"You wouldn't see this downtown. You wouldn't see it at City Hall. You wouldn't see it anywhere else. They're pushing it out here," said gym member Harvey Woodmansen. "It's just not right."
District Supervisor Jane Kim says steps are being taken to confront the festering problem.
"The city has opened up a new center on Pier 80 to specifically address the encampments that we're seeing on Division Street. They've started doing outreach to provide them with an alternative."
But Jacovics says outreach alone isn't enough.
He wants results.
"We just need the city to make it a priority and to help these people, to help our city, to help everyone," said Jacovics.
It's about compassion he said - helping people get safe shelter.