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Pentagon Carves Africa Into Military Zones
Last year the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General William Ward, said the Pentagon had military partnerships with 35 of the continent's 53 nations, "representing U.S. relationships that span the continent." [1]
That number has increased in the interim.
As the first overseas regional military command set up by Washington in this century, the first since the end of the Cold War, and the first in 25 years, the activation of AFRICOM, initially under the wing of U.S. European Command on October 1, 2007, then as an independent entity a year later, emphasizes the geostrategic importance of Africa in U.S. international military, political and economic planning.
Africa Command's area of responsibility includes more nations – 53, all African states except Egypt, which remains in U.S. Central Command, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), which is a member of the African Union but which the U.S. and its NATO allies recognize as part of Morocco, which conquered it in 1975 – than any of the Pentagon's other Unified Combatant Commands: European Command, Central Command, Pacific Command, Southern Command and Northern Command (founded in 2002).
The U.S. is alone in maintaining regional multi-service military commands in all parts of the world, a process initiated after World War Two as America pursued its self-appointed 20th century manifest destiny as history's first worldwide military superpower.
Until October 1, 2008 Africa was overwhelmingly in the European Command's area of responsibility, with all African nations assigned to it except for Egypt, Seychelles and the Horn of Africa states (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan) overseen by Central Command, and three island nations and a French possession off the continent's eastern coast (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion) placed under Pacific Command.
The month before AFRICOM began its one-year incubation under U.S. European Command in 2007, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Ryan Henry said, "Rather than three different commanders who have Africa as a third or fourth priority, there will be one commander that has it as a top priority." [2]
The Pentagon official also revealed that Africa Command "would involve one small headquarters plus five 'regional integration teams' scattered around the continent" and that "AFRICOM would work closely with the European Union and NATO," particularly France, a member of both, which was "interested in developing the Africa standby force". [3]
The Defense Department official identified all the key components of Africa Command's role and adumbrated what has transpired in the almost three-year interim: By subsuming nations formerly in the areas of responsibility of three Pentagon commands under a unified one, the U.S. will divide the world's second most populous continent into five military districts, each with a multinational African Standby Force trained by military forces from the United States, NATO and the European Union.
Later the same month, the Pentagon confirmed its earlier disclosure that AFRICOM would deploy regional integration teams "to the northern, eastern, southern, central and western portions of the continent, mirroring the African Union's five regional economic communities…."
The Defense News website detailed the geographic division described in Defense Department briefing documents issued in that month:
"One team will have responsibility for a northern strip from Mauritania to Libya; another will operate in a block of east African nations – Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar and Tanzania; and a third will carry out activities in a large southern block that includes South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola….
"A fourth team would concentrate on a group of central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Congo [Brazzaville]; the fifth regional team would focus on a western block that would cover Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger and Western Sahara, according to the briefing documents." [4]
The five areas correspond to Africa's main Regional Economic Communities, starting in the north of the continent:
-Arab Maghreb Union: Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
-East African Community (EAC): Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
-Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
-Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS): Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe.
-Southern Africa Development Community: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Africa's far northeast, in and near the Horn of Africa, is in a category of its own, having long been subordinated to the U.S.'s Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) based in Djibouti where the Pentagon has approximately 2,000 personnel from all four branches of the armed services. The Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa area of operations takes in the African nations of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda as well as Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to Seychelles, the CJTF-HOA is expanding its purview to include Comoros, Mauritius and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
Three years ago it was reported that the Pentagon had already "agreed on access to air bases and ports in Africa and 'bare-bones' facilities maintained by local security forces in Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia." [5] That is, in northern, eastern, western, central and southern Africa.
The U.S. has maintained its military base in Djibouti, Camp Lemonnier, since 2003, established a naval surveillance facility in Seychelles last autumn, and has access to base camps and forward sites in Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mali, Rwanda and other nations throughout the continent.
AFRICOM, as noted above, plans a central headquarters on the continent – its current headquarters remains in Stuttgart, Germany, although Djibouti's Camp Lemonnier functions as a de facto one in Africa – with five regional satellite outposts in northern, southern, eastern, western and central Africa.
The African Standby Force is nominally under the control of the African Union, but its troops are being trained and directed by the U.S., NATO and the military wing of the European Union.
The website of the African Standby Force (ASF) contains links to the following sites:
-ASF Headquarters (Addis Ababa)
-Eastern
-Western
-Southern
-Central
-Northern [6]
The African Union's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is also one of the nations – Liberia and Morocco are others – that has been discussed as a potential site for AFRICOM main headquarters on the continent.
African Standby Force: Trained By U.S. Special Forces, Modeled After NATO Strike Force
Each of the five geographical units listed above is to supply a contingent of up to brigade size (4,000-5,000 troops by NATO standards) for the African Standby Force that is projected to be launched this year.
Two days before U.S. Africa Command was established on October 1, 2007, the American armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that "The command, scheduled to become operational this week, will focus much of its activity on helping to build the fledgling African Standby Force.
"It is hoped the force, being organized by the Ethiopia-based African Union, or AU, will be ready by 2010. It would consist of five multinational brigades based in the giant continent. Each brigade would perform missions in its given region, such as peacekeeping when the need arose.
"Gen. William E. Ward, nominated to become the first AFRICOM commander, last week told the U.S. Senate in writing that U.S. troops would help the brigades come to life."
Ward, earlier head of NATO's Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia in 1996, said in his own words, "AFRICOM will assume sponsorship of ongoing command and control infrastructure development and liaison officer support. It would continue to resource military mentors for peacekeeping training, and develop new approaches to supporting the AU and African Standby Forces." [7]
This February a NATO website detailed the North Atlantic military bloc's role in complementing AFRICOM efforts to build the African Standby Force:
"NATO began providing support to the AU Mission in May 2005 based on specific requests from the AU. NATO nations supported [the] AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) by providing airlift for 32,300 personnel….NATO continues to support the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM) through the provision of strategic sea- and air-lift for AMISOM Troop Contributing Nations on request. The last airlift support occurred in June 2008 when NATO transported a battalion of Burundian peacekeepers to Mogadishu.
"Joint Command Lisbon is the operational lead for NATO/AU engagement, and has a Senior Military Liaison Officer at AU HQ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. NATO also supports staff capacity building through the provision of places on NATO training courses to AU staff supporting AMISOM, and support to the operationalisation of the African Standby Force – the African Union's vision for a continental, on-call security apparatus similar to the NATO Response Force." [8]
The NATO Response Force (NRF) completed what was described at the time as its final validation in the two-week, 7,000-troop Steadfast Jaguar military exercises in the African island nation of Cape Verde in 2006.
Africa was the testing ground for the NRF and the NRF is the model for the African Standby Force:
"Since June 2007, NATO has assisted the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) by providing airlift support for AU peacekeepers. This support was authorized until February 2009 and the Alliance is ready to consider any new requests from the AU. NATO also continues to work with the AU in identifying further areas where NATO could support the African Standby Force." [9]
"NATO is also providing, at the AU's request, training opportunities and capacity building support to the African Union's long term peacekeeping capabilities, in particular the African Standby Force." [10]
Since the Berlin Plus agreements between NATO and the European Union in 2002, the military components of both organizations not only overlap and complement each other, but are being integrated at a qualitatively higher level for overseas missions like those in and off the coasts of Africa.
Three years ago French General Henri Bentegeat, then Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, met with EU defense ministers in Germany and an account of his comments included: "The European Union's drive for a stronger global military role includes an upgrading of ties with the United Nations, NATO and the African Union….In addition to last year's military mission in Congo and logistical help for African Union forces in Darfur, Bentegeat said the EU wanted to help an ambitious AU programme to create a standby force for peacekeeping missions." [11]
Even before AFRICOM was activated as a separate military command in the autumn of 2008, U.S. European Command was conducting large-scale multinational military maneuvers in various regions of Africa to train units for the five regional brigades that will form a unified, continental African Standby Force.
Starting in 2006 U.S. European Command (and subsequently Africa Command) has conducted annual Africa Endeavor multinational communications interoperability exercises – frequently in nations on the strategic Gulf of Guinea – with the participation of the armed forces of African, NATO and European Union nations. Africa Endeavor 2007 was held in Ghana and the contributing countries were the U.S., Algeria, Angola, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda and Zambia. It was jointly run by U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command and the nascent U.S. Africa Command.
"AE [Africa Endeavor] fosters better collaboration in the Global War on Terrorism and supports the deployment of peacekeepers in Sudan and Somalia.
"Furthermore, AE assists in establishing critical communication links to enhance the African Standby Forces's developments in command, control, communications and information systems (C3IS) and strengthens national, regional, continental and partner relationships…." [12]
Africa Endeavor 2008 was held in Nigeria and included military personnel from 22 African and European nations as well as the U.S.
"During the course of the exercise, participating nations and organizations also continued their efforts to develop standard practices and procedures for the African Union and its African Standby Force." [13]
In 2005 the U.S. launched the first of regular Flintlock multinational military exercises to initiate and expand the Pentagon's Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI), formed in the same year, to train the military forces of Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia. Washington's NATO allies Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain are also involved in the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative.
The exercises are run by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe. (In 2007 NATO announced that its Special Operations Coordination Center would be headquartered at the same Kelley barracks on the U.S. base in Stuttgart where AFRICOM headquarters are located.)
An account of the initial 2005 operation divulged that "The U.S. government reportedly plans to spend $500 million over five years to make the Sahara Desert a vast new front in its war on terrorism….During the first phase of the program, dubbed Operation Flintlock, 700 U.S. Special Forces troops and 2,100 soldiers from nine North and West African nations [participated]." [14]
This year's 22-day Flintlock 2010, launched on May 2, includes 600 U.S. special forces and 150 counterparts from Britain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain.
"The objective of Flintlock 10 is to develop military interoperability….Centered in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, but with tactical training conducted in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria, Flintlock 10 will begin 2 May and end 23 May, 2010….Flintlock 10 looks to build upon the successes and lessons learned during previous Flintlock exercises, which were conducted to establish and develop regional relationships and synchronization of efforts among the militaries of the Trans-Saharan region.
"This exercise will take place in the context of the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP). Supported by the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and the Special Operations Command (SOCAFRICA), the exercise will provide military training opportunities…." [15]
AFRICOM recently announced that the Special Operations Command Africa "will gain control over Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara (JSOTF-TS) and Special Operations Command and Control Element – Horn of Africa (SOCCE-HOA)," [16] to centralize special forces activities in Africa.
Efforts to create the proposed African Standby Force brigade in the north of Africa have floundered for several reasons. Egypt is not member of the Maghreb Union nor is it in AFRICOM's area of responsibility. Libya is one of the most vocal opponents of AFRICOM. There is residual tension between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara, which Algeria recognizes as an independent nation. But Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia are all members of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue partnership program.
AFRICOM's plans for regional military intervention contingents are proceeding more favorably in the east, west and south. In June of 2008 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conducted a military exercise, Jigui 2008, in Mali with its fifteen member states, and "for the first time, the regional force exercise involved the African Union, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the multinational Standby High Readiness Brigade based in Denmark (SHIRBRIG) and the Ethiopia-based Eastern African Standby Force (EASTBRIG).
"All the exercises were supported by the host governments as well as France, Denmark, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union.
"Jigui 2008 is consistent with previous training programmes of ECOWAS and is within the framework of the African Union (AU) Standby Force, which seeks to have ready by 2010 one force by each of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa.
"The ECOWAS target is to create a 2,770-man Task Force of the 6,500 troops of the regional force which will be available under the control of the AU [African Union]." [17]
A year before Senegal hosted military maneuvers with several other West African nations – Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, the Republic of Guinea (Conraky) and Mali – to "test the (troops') deployment ability" with military aircraft, vehicles and ships provided by France "ahead of the planned creation of an ECOWAS standby force."
The participating states were trained to "form the western battalion of the 6,500-men intervention force which ECOWAS wants to set up by 2010.
"Army chiefs of ECOWAS member countries agreed in June 2004 to create the permanent 6,500-man force, including the 1,500-strong rapid reaction unit for troubleshooting missions." [18]
Jigui 2009 was held in Burkina Faso with the participation of U.S. Army Africa, the Vicenza, Italy-based Army component of AFRICOM.
Last month ECOWAS held a field training exercise in Benin, Exercise Cohesion Benin 2010, which "aimed to evaluate the operational and logistics readiness of the Eastern Battalion of the ESF, which is part of the overall preparation for the operationalisation of the African Standby Force by December 2010." [19]
In October of last year the Kenyan press reported on Western involvement in building the African Standby Force brigade on the eastern end of Africa:
"Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish officers will assist the region in the ongoing establishment of a united military force to deal with conflicts on the continent.
"Once functional, the East African Standby Brigade (EASBRIG) will be deployed to trouble spots within 14 days after chaos erupts, to restore order….The brigade will have troops from 14 countries.
"The experts from the European countries…are based at the EASBRIG headquarters, at the Defence Staff College in Karen, Nairobi.
"Vice-Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi said the foreign experts would help fast-track the process of setting up the standby brigade." [20]
EASBRIG consists of troops from Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, and through the Eastern African Standby Brigade Coordination Mechanism is moving toward the consolidation of the eastern wing of the African Standby Force.
The East African Standby Brigade is to be headquartered in Kenya, and last November a field training exercise was held for it in Djibouti where the U.S. has its main military base in Africa and France has its largest anywhere abroad. A Rwandan news source wrote of it months afterward: "The historical exercise brought together approximately 1,500 troops, police and civilian staff from 10 countries working side-by-side for the first time." [21]
The most immediate site for the use of the East African Standby Brigade is Somalia, where member states Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya are already involved. EASBRIG will also be available for operations in Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic as well as against Eritrea. In March of last year AFRICOM chief General William Ward "cited three areas of current conflict on the continent, including border disputes between Eritrea and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa and in North Africa [with] the Western Sahara, and clashing in the Democratic Republic of Congo."
Speaking of the command he heads, Ward added, "the United States was able to lend assistance to Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and to a lesser degree…the Central African Republic." [22]
The European Union, already involved in the first naval operation in its history, European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta, in the Horn of Africa, has deployed a military mission to Uganda to train 2,000 Somali troops to defend the Western-backed Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.
Africa Partnership Station: U.S. Warships Patrol African Coasts
In recent years U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa has developed the Africa Partnership Station (APS) as a naval component of AFRICOM. Its first deployment took the APS to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo, all on the Gulf of Guinea except for Senegal which lies to the north of it.
In the same year, 2007, NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1, with one warship each from Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and the U.S., started a circumnavigation of Africa with stops in the Gulf of Guinea and ending with "exercises in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Somalia…." [23]
At the time Admiral Henry Ulrich, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, said, "The Global Fleet Station concept is 'closely aligned' with the task to be provided by the still-developing U.S. Africa Command," [24] and later announced the departure of the USS Fort McHenry and the High Speed Vessel Swift for a seven-month deployment to the Gulf of Guinea in November of 2007 as part of the Navy's Global Fleet Station program. The Africa Partnership Station is one of several Global Fleet Stations recently set up by the U.S., others being assigned to the Caribbean Sea and Oceania. "As a dock landing ship, the Fort McHenry is designed to help get U.S. personnel onto 'hostile shores,' according to the Navy." [25]
Phil Greene, director of Strategy and Policy, Resources and Transformation for U.S. Naval Forces Europe, added that the USS Fort McHenry would have a multinational staff, "partnering with nations such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and others who have an interest in developing maritime security in that region." [26]
In fact the USS Fort McHenry first arrived in Spain "to take on passengers from several European partners – Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany, among them – before heading to the Gulf of Guinea," where it was joined by the High Speed Vessel Swift to "transport students as well as trainers during visits to Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe." [27]
In 2007 U.S. warships visited Mozambique for the first time in 33 years and Tanzania for the first time in 40.
As part of Africa Partnership Station port visits last year, the guided-missile destroyer Arleigh Burke traveled to Djibouti, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania and South Africa, in the last case holding a week of joint exercises with one of the nation's warships.
In February of 2009 "for the first time the U.S. Navy [had] warships on each side of the African continent as part of Africa Partnership Station's ongoing teaching mission with African nations." [28] To wit, a frigate in Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania and an amphibious transport dock in Senegal.
The month before a U.S. frigate became the first Navy warship to anchor off Equatorial Guinea's mainland city of Bata "as part of the Navy's Africa Partnership Station initiative," after visits to Cape Verde,
Senegal, Benin and Sierra Leone on its way to Tanzania and Kenya.
The U.S. charge d'affaires in Equatorial Guinea was quoted as offering one reason for the visit: "It's the third largest oil- and gas-producer in sub-Saharan Africa, with a significant foreign investment footprint…." [29]
"The October 2007 initial deployment of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) to the Gulf of Guinea and the coincident rollout of A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower signaled a strong American commitment to leveraging U.S. sea power….The APS is a Global Fleet Station (GFS) sea base designed to assist the Gulf of Guinea maritime community in developing better maritime governance….The Global Fleet Station, born out of a need for military shaping and stability operations…is a proven concept for this mission in such areas as the Gulf of Guinea and the Caribbean basin." [30]
Currently AFRICOM is leading the Phoenix Express 2010 maritime counter-insurgency exercise in the Mediterranean Sea with Morocco and Senegal among other African nations.
Paralleling NATO's almost nine-year Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean which patrols the northern coast of Africa from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Gibraltar, the U.S. Navy now regularly roams the African coastline from where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean down to the strategic oil-rich Gulf of Guinea and all the way south to Cape Town, then north again along the entire Indian Ocean coast to the Red Sea. Africa is encircled by U.S. and NATO warships.
Pentagon Builds Surrogate Armies To Control Africa Region By Region
On the mainland, the Pentagon has transformed the armed forces of Liberia, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia into military surrogates on both ends of the continent. Since 2006 "a U.S. State Department-led initiative…has completely rebuilt the military in Liberia," according to AFRICOM. [31]
Last October the commander of U.S. Army Africa, Major General William B. Garrett III, visited Rwanda (whose military is a U.S. and British proxy) and "stressed that the US army is interested in strengthening its cooperation with the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF)." Garrett confirmed that the U.S. was ready to send more advisers and trainers for the Rwandan army and added, "Likewise, we hope that the Rwandan Defence Forces can also participate in our exercises. So we are hoping to increase the level of cooperation between the US and the Rwandan Defense forces." [32]
Earlier in the year AFRICOM's General Ward also visited Rwanda, where he "met with Rwandan defense leaders and watched displays of Rwandan Defense Force (RDF) capabilities during a two-day visit April 20-21, 2009." [33]
Late last year Ward visited Morocco, a U.S. military partner for several decades, where he had paid two visits the preceding year, and "discussed bilateral military cooperation and opportunities to strengthen
partnership between the Royal Armed Forces and the U.S. Army."
Recently U.S. Marines trained Moroccan troops in Spain ahead of 12-nation naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea.
This April 28 Ward paid his third visit to Botswana, "where he discussed ongoing regional security efforts and potential future military-to-military activities with the BDF [Botswana Defence Force]….The BDF and U.S. military conducted 40 cooperation events together in 2010."
The following day the AFRICOM chief paid his first visit to Namibia where "he met with Namibia's National Defense Force officials to discuss potential future cooperation activities." [34]
On April 27 Brigadier General Silver Kayemba, chief of training and operations for the Ugandan People's Defense Force (UPDF), visited Washington to meet with Major General William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
The Ugandan general was quoted saying on the occasion, "This visit strengthens our relationship with the U.S. Armed Forces, particularly with U.S. Army Africa. We are looking forward to even closer cooperation in the future." [35]
Under an Africa Partnership Station program, a 130-troop Security Cooperation Marine Air Ground Task Force has been training military forces in Ghana, Liberia and Senegal. The marine commander in charge, Lieutenant Colonel John Golden, said, "This is the cutting edge of phase zero counterinsurgency," an aspect of "military-to-military training in a very austere environment in areas where there hasn't been a lot of U.S. military presence in the last 235 years." [36]
A report by the Stars and Stripes on May 2 disclosed that "At a remote military base in the jungle city of Kisangani, an elite team of U.S. troops is attempting to retrain a battalion of Congolese infantrymen."
The feature laid emphasis on the humanitarian facet of the operation as reports on AFRICOM activities generally do, but also contained these excerpts:
"There are economic and strategic incentives to bringing more security to the Congo, which is rich in natural resources such as cobalt, a key component in the manufacturing of cell phones and other electronics. The country contains 80 percent of the world's cobalt reserves….An April 2009 report to Congress by the National Defense Stockpile Center made clear that ensuring access to mineral markets around the world is of vital interest to national security." [37]
The U.S. is not dragging almost every nation in Africa into its military network because of altruism or concerns for the security of the continent's people. AFRICOM's function is that of every predatory military power: The threat and use of armed violence to gain economic and geopolitical advantages.
1) U.S. Department of Defense, March 18, 2009
2) Agence France-Presse, September 12, 2007
3) Ibid
4) Defense News, September 20, 2007
5) Xinhua News Agency, May 28, 2007
6) http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/AUC/Departments/PSC/Asf/asf.htm#]
7) Stars and Stripes, September 30, 2007
8) North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
9) North Atlantic Treaty Organization, March 11, 2009
10) North Atlantic Treaty Organization, February 18, 2010
11) Deutsche Presse-Agentur, February 28, 2007
12) United States European Command, April 18, 2007
13) United States European Command, July 29, 2008
14) United Press International, December 28, 2005
15) U.S. Africa Command, March 31, 2010
16) U.S. Africa Command, April 30, 2010
17) Ghana News Agency, June 23, 2008
18) Agence France-Presse, November 29, 2007
19) Afrique en ligne, April 19, 2010
20) The Nation, October 29, 2009
21) The New Times, May 4, 2010
22) U.S. Department of Defense, March 18, 2009
23) Business Day (Nigeria), July 25, 2007
24) Stars and Stripes, June 14, 2007
25) Stars and Stripes, October 16, 2007
27) American Forces Press Service, October 15, 2007
28) Stars and Stripes, February 1, 2009
29) Stars and Stripes, January 20, 2009
32) The New Times, October 20, 2009
34) U.S. Africa Command, May 1, 2010
36) Marine Corps Times, May 3, 2010
37) Stars and Stripes, May 2, 2010
Filed under World Tagged with adrican union commission, africa, African union, africom, Angola, armed forces stars and stripes, ASF, cape verde, cold war, ECCAS, ECOWAS, Flintlock 10, general william ward, Henri Bentegeat, Horn of africa, joint task force, Liberia, Lybia, Madagascar, mauritania, Morocco, nato, Niger, Nigeria, pentagon, pertnership, regional economic communities, regional integration teams, regional military command, SADC, Sierra Leone, silver kayemba, South Acrica, Southern Command, surrogate armies, Tanzania, TSCTI, Tunisia, united nations, united states, Us European command, US navy, USAFRICOM, USS Fort McHenry, washington, Zimbabwe
The Geopolitical Hegemony of the Anglo-Saxon Empire in Latin America
The Military Presence to Maintain Neo-colonialism, Instability and Poverty
By obtaining its independence, the colonies were preparing for what will inevitably come: the road to development and modernization. Many countries, was suggested, would be developed quickly; politically and economically. But these nations soon realized the sad reality. The dream would not be realized. Underdevelopment in Latin America found strong allies: the colonizers and their new social, economic and military agendas to ensure that those who had recently proclaimed its independence did not come out of their reach.
The Anglo-Saxon empire, mainly supported by a banking system without military or economic boundaries, swallowed the first semi-democratic bastions left in the planet now known as G7, and once these were controlled, it was a matter of time before the rest of the planet was well absorbed. Working through proxy governments like the United States, Canada, France, Spain, England, Italy, Australia, Colombia and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan, the empire used mainly three tools: the model of dependence, foreign aid and military hegemony .
With the dependency model, the empire was guaranteed, and still is today, that countries could not compete with their former owners. The unit includes illegal policies of protectionism, subsidies, establishing trading programs (FTAA, NAFTA, CAFTA)-to flood markets with cheap products, which together amount today to a perpetual trade imbalance tilted to favor bankers. This resulted in the fact that developing countries were never competitive in international markets and rather remained as subjects of the Anglo-Saxons to a greater degree. Developing countries continued to be territories where the globalist-controlled developed nations got their materials to perpetuate their development, while taking advantage of third world countries' cheap labor to strengthen the corporatist system that has ruled the planet for nearly 200 years.
With financial aid, the corporatists inflicted a second blow that destroyed more dependent countries on the intentions of reaching the much desired development. When third world countries failed to develop, it just seemed like a great idea to borrow money to boost their economies towards development. However, the trojan horse with this new method was to keep the borrowing countries deep indebted to prevent their development. Most of the money from the World Bank, IMF and governments dominated by European bankers were given as loans. These loans are so attractive because of the time is provided for the repayment, but at the same time are brutal due to their high interest rates of 30%, 40%, etc., which makes it mathematically impossible to pay the accrued interests, let alone the capital. This effectively tied up the wings of any development momentum the third world had. Along with high-interest loans, the agreements contained in them also requires the adoption of austerity policies that further restrict governments from encouraging development; less money is spent on education, health, infrastructure, creation of projects that in turn generate jobs, etc.. Also attached to these limitations exists an obligation on the part of the debtors to pass on the debt to three or four generations to ensure that countries cannot allocate resources and/or plan ahead.
While the globalists plundered -and continue plundering resources-, developing are also the markets for selling finished products with added value, which transformed them not only in slaves, but also in mindless consumists molded through the Madison Avenue hollow propaganda. Then, a third strategy was implemented. The creation of military conflicts in the region by where corporatists simply collapsed large areas, almost the entire continent. This is very clear in Latin America today. The U.S. proxy government, led through the decades by various puppets of the Anglo-Saxon empire, flooded Latin America officially and unofficially, using his terrorist organizations like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). They used for operations in countries like Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Argentina and others to create resistance movements to destabilize the nations. This is one of the most common strategies used to create divisions among the people who end up eating away any country that shows a vestige of independence. The corporatists also ensure that only their pawns are elected presidents in these countries. Only those who attend the most famous universities in the U.S. and Europe, where they are indoctrinated or bribed, have a real chance to "steer" the destinies of their people.
The existence of common understandings through these governments ensures access to the country, establishing policies that assure more underdevelopment and the continued plundering of more resources. Today, the bankers who control the U.S. government has established military bases throughout Latin America. Along with this armies, the implementation of aid packages and coporatist policies, have also secured access to unlimited sources of energy, water and biodiversity. Some of the most influential are: the Plan Colombia, the FTAA, Plan Puebla Panama, and soon in 2010, the new carbon emissions agreement to be negotiated in Mexico under the command of the Prince of change, Barack Hussein Obama .
The military hegemony and the exercises that assure it are practiced in various countries by the Southern Command, which is an American paramilitary organization that for years has eaten away the independence and sovereignty of all countries in which it operates. Its main purpose is to train Latin American militaries to fight "terrorism"; that deluded idea created during the administration of George Bush and that is based on the assumption that Islamic extremists want to destroy the American dream and that if it was achieved, we would all suffer. Military exercises are conducted throughout Latin America, with recruits from countries like Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia. The most notorious example of these military exercises took place in 2001 when international troops invaded the Argentine territory of Salta to practice against suspected insurgents. New military bases are opened each year through the signing of new agreements for the establishment of more bases in Latin American and Caribbean territories. "The plan of economic and political domination, which has spearheaded the U.S. military dominance, goes also to monitor and control the dynamics of popular movements in the region or, as the Mexican teacher Ana Esther Cecena calls, deter, prevent the enemy from forming. "
The creation of military and naval bases is the daily bread for more and more Latinos. The facilities vary in names and sizes: the Tres Esquinas, Colombia; Iquitos, in Peru, Manta in Ecuador; Palmerola, Honduras; Comalapa, El Salvador, Queen Beatrix, on the island of Aruba, Liberia, Costa Rica. Resistance by many Latino citizens has had few positive results. In Brazil and Argentina, the banker controlled Washington, DC has developed a possible handover of the base of Alcantara, installed in Brazilian territory, and the possibility of installing a base in Misiones, on the triple border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil is almost a reality as well. The military hegemony not only consolidates the imperialist war power, but also enables the control of resources in the region. As bankers have done it in Asia, Latin America is also a source of precious materials. The 21st century colonialists who are the same for the past two centuries, have sacrificed the lives of millions of people in their desire to grab more territory. The United States in particular, has mechanisms of domination and overexploitation of the FTAA and NAFTA policies promoted by the IMF and World Bank, which are agencies of the Anglo-Saxon imperialist power. And why is there so much interest in what Latin America can provide? "Latin America and the Caribbean possesses 11 percent of the world oil reserves and produces nearly 15 percent of the oil extracted in the world," cites the website visionesalternativas.com. "In addition, Latin America accounts for about 6 percent of natural gas reserves, large coal reserves – enough for about 288 years of exploitation – and abundant hydro-energy resources, estimated at over 20 per cent the global potential.
The Latin American natural wealth should be added to the fact that the globalists seek to implement more comprehensive policies in order to get more control over the population. Brazil, for example, has already adopted the RFID technology to impose property taxes on animals and in 2010 for the identification of individuals. Also in Brazil, the president recently signed a law that transferred huge tracts of land in the Amazon to the hands of the UN. A new "green police" also limits the development of projects and land use for food crops, thereby jeopardizing the supply of products to local and international markets. Mexico is currently the country with the continent's most oppressive government where citizens are targeted by the military and paramilitaries, both groups are funded and controlled by the United States in order to ensure easy traffic of drugs to North America. Mexican cartels that do not obey the imperialists are exterminated and those who do pay their share of the goods and profits are free to murder anyone who opposes their reign. Just as in Afghanistan and Colombia, the U.S. army trained and armed Southern Command, controls the planting, harvesting and selling of tons of drugs that are then sent in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and of course in Latin America. The proceeds are then laundered through the big banks on Wall Street. The Anglo-Saxons have also hijacked the continent through the imposition of restrictions on commerce and military agreements between Latin American countries and other competitors such as China and Russia.
And what is the common denominator of imposing economic, political and military rules on the continent? The result is very clear. All you have to do is to review the overall state of the countries to realize that the objective of limiting or nullifying the development has been reached. According to the World Bank, the external debt only from the Mercosur countries increased from $185 million in 1990 to $325 million in 2005. The crime continues to increase in countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, where gangs and drug cartels control populations on the outskirts of the metropolis, and remains highly stable in Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti and others. But perhaps the clearest result of policies imposed on Latin America is the underdevelopment in which all countries are maintained. No country in this block is considered to be developed after having proclaimed themselves independent nations for decades. Poverty in Latin America has gotten worse in many countries due to their internal and regional conflicts as well as corrupt governments that serve the globalists.
A recent study by ECLAC, an organization of the UN reveals that at least 182 million people live in poverty in Latin America, and the number of those living in extreme poverty reached 12.9 percent. The study reveals that the number of people regarded as poor increased due mainly to higher inflation and higher food prices. The poverty rate is divided into four groups. The first highlights countries whose levels are below 22% such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica, the second poorest group includes Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, the third and even poorer has Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Peru, and the fourth is composed by the worse off countries such as Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay.
Neo-colonialism does not allow developing countries to prosper, that's a fact. The patent monopoly, control of natural resources and energy sources stop any progress. The use of military and paramilitary terrorism by globalists also stifles the nations and makes them victims of a system that is aimed at undermining the sovereignty and independence of any State. However, there is another fact that does not help in implementing development policies in Latin America. The legal and illegal choice of tyrants like Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Fidel Castro in Cuba, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and puppets like Oscar Arias, Ernesto Cedillo, Luis Inacio da Silva, Kristina Fernandez, Felipe Calderón, Alvaro Uribe and many others, contributes to all countries in Latin America continued in the hands of the imperialists. The tyrants, restrict progress because of their thirst for power denies their people the real benefits of development. Venezuela and Cuba are hit daily with attacks on freedom of speech, assembly, property rights and others. The puppets also limit development because they follow directly and indirectly imposing on the continent the plans that seek to restrain their countries from developing at all costs. It is a deadly combination of corruption and selfishness.
We must remember that the Anglo-Saxon plan's main objective is to increase their control over the rest of the planet, and thereby promote and impose their policies on the nations of Latin America and beyond by using their own governments or organizations such as Mercosur, the North American Union, the African Union, Asian Union and of course the UN, the European Union, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization. The only way to start the path to development is thus breaking any existing relationships with these organizations to which all countries subject their decisions.
No organization has power over any country. This power that seems so hard to break is only valid if people let it rule them. In Iceland for example, Congress is about to vote on a measure to not pay external debt incurred in with the World Bank and IMF which was created through their illegal schemes of development loans. In the U.S., member states have and continue to proclaim their independence from the federal government which is bound to them by the system of slavery of the globalists. In Europe, at least half of the countries question the installation of malicious scanners at airports under the pretext of terrorism. When we understand that we are free to do what our Constitution allows, and that this is the only document that governs each of our lands, is when we will hold the Anglo-Saxon imperialists at bay. Therefore, progress, independence and freedom are realistic and achievable goals that are will come when each of the citizens as individuals make the decision to educate themselves, to understand how to the globalists deceive them with names, ideologies, political parties, false choices and even with religious extremism to keep them as slaves. No individual, no ideology, no political party, no politician or religion is the solution to progress by itself. The solution begins with each one of us first as thinking individuals and groups of active citizens demanding their governments the results for which they were elected.
Sources for this article include but are not limited to the following:
United States Imperialism in Latin America
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/40/index-dca.html
US Interventions in Latin America Since 1823
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2003/US-Interventions-1823.htm
Neocolonialism: a bibliography
http://science.jrank.org/pages/7920/Neocolonialism.html
U.S. Military Aid Before and After 9/11, Region Breakdown
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/militaryaid/regiondetail.aspx?REGION=Western Hemisphere
The Bush Effect: U.S. Military Involvement in Latin America Rises, Development and Humanitarian Aid Fall
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1105-21.htm
Qué es el ALCA?
http://www.visionesalternativas.com/militarizacion/geoestrategia/alca.htm
El Plan Puebla Panama
http://www.visionesalternativas.com/militarizacion/geoestrategia/ppp.htm
El Plan Colombia
http://www.visionesalternativas.com/militarizacion/geoestrategia/pcolom.htm
La Triple Frontera
http://www.visionesalternativas.com/militarizacion/geoestrategia/3front.htm
US Navy Deploys Around Latin America
http://rinf.com/alt-news/war-terrorism/us-navy-deploys-around-latin-america/3375/
Honduras deal a boost for US influence in Latin America http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2009/1030/p06s19-woam.html
US Navy Re-establishes Fleet for Caribbean, Latin America http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_Navy_re_establishes_fleet_for_Ca_04242008.html
US builds up its bases in oil-rich South America
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-builds-up-its-bases-in-oilrich-south-america-1825398.html
US launches major military exercises in the Caribbean as a warning to Venezuela and Cuba
http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/us_military_exercises_venezuela_cuba.htm
Filed under World Tagged with afghanistan, African union, aid package, anglo-saxon empire, asian union, banking system, Banks, Brazil, CAFTA, canada, cheap labor, CIA, coal, collapse, Colombia, colony, Communism, congress, constitution, corporatism, currency, deflation, dependence, developing countries, drug trafficking, drug war, economic, Economy, exploitation, Fascism, feudalism, financial reform, France, FTAA, G7, GATT, George Bush, globalism, globalist, IMF, independence, inflation, interests, Iraq, Italy, Latin America, loans, mexico, Military, military bases, NAFTA, natural gas, NAU, neocolonialism, North American Union, Obama, Oil, Plan Colombia, poverty, proxy government, resources, Socialism, Southern Command, spain, terrorism, UN, Unites States, War, WHO, World Bank, WTO


Are you interested in becoming a Lemon Dot Associate?
Successful registration as a Lemon Dot Associate enables us to consider you for contracting opportunities with Lemon Dot HR Consultancy Limited.
Registration does not constitute a contract and does not guarantee any form of engagement with the Company. The decision to accept or reject registration will be made by the Company and is final.
To apply for registration, please download this registration form to complete and send it with your CV to us via email or post this to us at Lemon Dot HR Consultancy Ltd, Berryhill, Long Street Galhampton, Somerset, BA22 7AZ.
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Top seeds expect plenty of competition in Pink and White Lady Classic
The Nixa Lady Eagles and the Ozark Lady Tigers own No. 1 seeds in their divisions of the Pink and White Lady Classic....
Top seeds expect plenty of competition in Pink and White Lady Classic The Nixa Lady Eagles and the Ozark Lady Tigers own No. 1 seeds in their divisions of the Pink and White Lady Classic.... Check out this story on news-leader.com: http://sgfnow.co/K91G71
By Steve Koehler ; Published 11:07 p.m. CT Dec. 26, 2013
Nixa, under first-year coach Jennifer Perryman, has a No. 1 seed entering the Pink and White Tournament.(Photo: Bruce E. Stidham/For the News-Leader)Buy Photo
The Nixa Lady Eagles and the Ozark Lady Tigers own No. 1 seeds in their divisions of the Pink and White Lady Classic. But, to their coaches, they might as well not be given the honor.
The tournament gets under way today at Drury University.
Said Nixa first-year coach Jennifer Perryman, "This has to be a hard tournament to seed because girls basketball is pretty good across the board this year."
Ozark first-year coach David Brewer is like many other coaches this year whose teams have faced a number of postponements due to wintry weather in December.
In short, it's been difficult to gauge his team's true strengths, even though Ozark has one of the area's top players in Hannah Cook, an Alabama signee.
"Without those (other) tournaments you just don't get to know your personnel," Brewer said. "We've been trying to make some adjustments with the new offense. We competed pretty well, but we're still not executing like we'd like to."
Nixa plays Carl Junction at 9:30 a.m. today at Weiser Gym, and Ozark plays Central at the same time at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
The local teams are joined in the field by Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside, DuPont Manual of Louisville, Ky.; and Miller Career Academy of St. Louis. They were given either No. 2 or 3 seeds in order to help with travel.
Defending White Division champion Republic is a No. 4 seed in the White Division, and Class 2 state champion Crane is No. 4 in the Pink.
The tournament field also features last season's Class 3 quarterfinalist, Ash Grove, which returns much of its roster; as well as Class 2 state placers in recent years, Marionville and Skyline.
The tournament has other notable names such as Parkview's Aubrey Buckley, a Missouri State signee; Krystaline McCune, a 6-foot-4 poster player for Dupont Manual; and Marshfield's Lauren Aldridge, a University of Kansas signee.
"If you look at our bracket, you could take the seeds away, and it might be a coin flip each game," Perryman said. "With our particular division, I don't think the seeds mean a whole lot."
"Our first game is going to be a battle," Perryman added. "Carl Junction is a good team. They're kind of the sleeping giant in the area because, geographically, they're a little further out, so people aren't as familiar with them."
To advance to the finals, Nixa would also likely need to get past Crane or Kickapoo.
The Lady Eagles lost 65-43 to Crane in the Stephanie Phillips Classic earlier this month and have defeated Kickapoo twice already this season.
"With this bracket we're in," said Perryman, "we have to play our best every day to get to that final game."
Meanwhile, Ozark took a couple of tough losses in the Fort Smith Tournament of Champions and has beaten Glendale.
Fort Smith Northside recently placed second in the Tournament of Champions and is the No. 2 seed in the White Division.
Cook is leading the team, averaging 21.3 points a game, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Makensi Taylor is averaging 10.5 points a game.
"Hannah's shooting well as is Makensi. We need some others to step up. It's been a big change offensively for the team," Brewer said. "As a coach when you go into a successful place, changes are harder to sell since they've been successful."
Semifinals are Monday, and championship games are Tuesday night at the O'Reilly Center.
Pink and White Lady Classic
When: Today-Saturday, Monday-Tuesday
Where: Weiser Gym and O'Reilly Family Event Center on the Drury University campus
Tickets: $5 for students, $7 for adults
Read or Share this story: http://sgfnow.co/K91G71

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Semi-formal high school event with DJ Paradigm. Proceeds support CAM Raleigh and The Food Ark.
Image: Ann Thaden, Franco La Costa, 2017. Watercolor and water based oils on Canson Mix Media Paper. Photo courtesy of the artist.


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A 14612 Irtish (ideiglenes jelöléssel 1998 SG164) a Naprendszer kisbolygóövében található aszteroida. Eric Walter Elst fedezte fel 1998. szeptember 18-án.

Jegyzetek

Kapcsolódó szócikkek
 Kisbolygók listája (14501–15000)

A Naprendszer kisbolygói

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Comprehensive list of Roxboro, North Carolina based commercial and residential companies offering quantity, land, property, building & construction surveying services.
Summit Consulting - Engineering, Architecture, and Surveying, PLLC is a multi-disciplined engineering, architectural, and surveying company with offices situated in Hillsborough, Durham, and Roxboro, North Carolina and Blackstone, Virginia. Summit supplies excellence in professional solutions to a huge array of private customers and public agencies.
Caption describing picture or graphic. Established in 1983, ENT Land Surveys. is a complete-service Land Surveying firm that specializes in tiny-to-medium projects in Orange County and surrounding jurisdictions. Our experience can assist you avoid several of the pitfalls that can create the subdivision approval process difficult and intimidating.
We aim to supply prompt, courteous & professional service. FREE QUOTE S.D. Puckett and Associates. is a complete service Land Surveying company whose Corporate Headquarters is situated just outside the Research Triangle Park in Durham, N.C. The company has been surveying in the greater Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill region and statewide for almost 30 years.
Boswell Surveyors. provides a complete array of land surveying, planning and mapping services to customers throughout N-central North Carolina. Our firm was established in 1984 as a partnership between brothers. What started as a partnership has evolved into a corporation based on delivering the client with quality service in a timely manner.
Our company has been successful by focusing on a number of specialty areas where our team possesses a top level of knowledge. Withers & Ravenel has a proven history demonstrating environmentally sensitive and socially responsible design practices. Send an RFP, RFQ, or just a request to speak with our staff.
Geotek Mapping's GIS Division focuses on planning and implementing citywide utility mapping projects. We are expert GIS project managers with unrivaled knowledge in developing meaningful GIS layers for government departments & agencies such as water distribution, sanitary sewer, transportation, environmental, solid waste disposal, and stormwater.
ASD Surveying. is a land surveying company with a huge amount of knowledge. Anthony DiBona, president and operator, has over 20 years knowledge in all kinds of surveying. ASD Surveying has been operating since October of 2003. We are committed to serving our client's requirements. Our mission is to supply professional quality service to assist our customers become more successful.
I need side marks to put fence up maybe every 100ft or 200ft I need this done fast.


The Mobility Aids Centre have just arrived back from visiting NuStep Inc!
Employees Ollie Lansell and David Watling spent time meeting the team and learning all about their products at the company's headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The highlight was undoubtedly seeing just how exactly their fabulous range of products are manufactured and assembled.
David & Ollie received a warm welcome at NuStep HQ.
Ollie and David both agree it was a fantastic experience and are looking forward to strengthening the relationship between the two organisations.
As the UK's only official supplier, The Mobility Aids Centre are really looking forward to enriching the lives of thousands with such great products. Whether you're looking for equipment for general fitness or for rehabilitation and therapy purposes, NuStep and their unique low impact, complete workout systems are not to be missed.


Alitalia advertising deck produced by Premier Portfolio International Ltd.
The reverse has advertising for Cymaco motor spares who have branches in Uruguay.
A pack specially designed for a sandwich bar and cake shop. The jokers show a pile of sandwiches.


PU Leather Multi-functional 8 Insert Grids Watch Display Jewelry Case Storage Box, Necklace Bracelet Collection Organizer Bin.
Seeking the best box jewelry storage organizer black with good quality and affordable price from DHgate Canada site. We provide a variety of cheap tea box storage supplied by reliable sellers around the world. It's our pleasure to provide an online platform and connect you and display storage boxes for jewelry that is on sale. Enjoy your options across our presentations and find the good storage box case aluminum from ca.dhgate.com with free delivery to Canada.


Simsville 3-bedroom Pool View VIEWING FLEXIBLE. DON'T MISS. VIEW TODAY BEFORE IS GONE!!!!
With separate maid's room and maid's toilet in its own corner.
Apt is on high floor, bright and breezy.
Nice Cosy and well kept. Fully furnished.
Spacious living and dining rooms with floor to ceiling windows.
Kitchen and yard areas are well defined.
Utility room is spacious and functional.
Call Grace Lee @ 94233118 for viewing appointment.
Paya Lebar MRT Station, EastWest & Circle line  Bus stop is at condo door step.
Hey Grace Lee! Would like to check the availability for Simsville, 2 Geylang East Avenue 2 (For RENT S$3,600 - 3 Bedrooms, 1,238 sqft, S$2.91 psf). Please acknowledge. Thank you!


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EO Global Android App
Home >> Portfolio >> EO Global Android App
The project was about developing an Android version of EO global, an app for the members of Entrepreneurs' Organization.
The EO Global application is developed for the EO members. The app would be used by global network of Entrepreneurs' Organization having more than 7,300 business owners coming from 42 countries. The EO Global application entails listing of over 116 chapters (cities across the world) and shows the upcoming events (if any) depending upon the chapters(cities).
We have designed the pages according to the requisites of Android devices. Users need to log in to the app to access its features and functionalities. The integrated calender allows the users to schedule all the upcoming events. Users can connect with each other using their LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook profiles. They can view the profile details other users using the app. They can make their own groups and save events. Additionally we have integrated the official EO API that is used in place of Synapse web-service to communicate with the server.
https:play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eo


English is the official first language of Belize. There are volunteer positions, and jobs available for professional teachers and educators. Contact American TESOL Institute for further details on obtaining a teaching position in Belize.
The only English-speaking country in Central America, Belize was a British colony for more than a century and was known as British Honduras until 1973. It became an independent nation in 1981. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Sistema de Integracion Centroamericana (SICA) and considers itself to be culturally both Caribbean and Central American.
TESOL Certification for Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages in Belize.


Modelling is a silly, crazy business.
I love playing around with vintage fabrics and lace.
There've been times when I've bought a whole pound of cheese and walked down the street and eaten it in one go.
I'm a fun person. I like cracking jokes and being completely nerdy.
Some designers retain a sense of humour about what they do, but others are deathly serious and have no life outside of it; they're lying awake night after night constructing dresses in their heads.
So many times I've wanted to crack up, standing there stiff while seven women are crawling round my toes fixing hems and the designer's having a freak-out because the denim cuffs are crooked. I'm on the verge of hysteria.
I was once stranded on a broken-down boat in shark-infested waters in the middle of the Indian Ocean for five days before we were rescued while doing a 'Vogue' shoot.
I always loved the style of Jean Seberg, Jane Birkin and Marilyn Monroe.
I would love to photograph Stephen Hawking. I am just fascinated by science, I really am.
I don't look at fashion the way other people do.
I like people who dress quirkly and differently. Like in womenswear, thank god for Helena Bonham Carter!
Women can explore so much in dressing. But if I was a guy I would wear vintage suits constantly. With crazy ties!
I felt like I was in the best photography school in the world - I had Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Richard Avedon and Irving Penn teach me.
It's really intimidating to go on the beach in a bikini.
If I have an hour in a city, I go to vintage stores first because it's so much cooler to find a piece that is unique. I love the thought of some girl having worn it before and living her life in it.
Denmark is like a secret little place with its own special language.


Not to brag, but I have the BEST dog ever! Okay, perhaps you know someone or you are the one saying this about your own pup! Mr Caleb came into my life while I was fostering dogs through Rocketdog Rescue in 2006. He was extremely shy, terrified of any noise, not potty trained and didn't know how to walk on a leash. A month after fostering, I was able to find him a home but unfortunately that didn't last and a week later I was picking him up. As I walked in to pick him up, our eyes locked up and his demeanor changed from sad to happy. After that night we bonded for life. Some weeks later I couldn't resist and ended adopting him.
He is a mix rat terrier/chihuahua with very interesting markings. He knows how to dance with me (yes, I am not kidding!), he smacks you with his paw if he demands your attention and when upset you'll see him laying on his bed instead of curling next to you on the bed. Every chance he gets he will approach another small dog to sniff hello and occasionally will whimper from far when he sees cute fuzzy terriers.
I am so lucky Mr Caleb picked me to be his owner. He taught me so much about patience, love and friendship. Many times I say hes taught me more than I've taught him.
Do you share a similar story?


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Home / GERMAN AWARDS: / GERMANY – KYFFHÄUSERBUND MEDAL
GERMANY – KYFFHÄUSERBUND MEDAL
This oval-shaped and gilt-toned medal was for a veteran's group or association (Bund), in which veterans joined to enjoy the company of other veterans of the Great War. The obverse has a flag and the dates "1914-1918."…
Width: 1in
This oval-shaped and gilt-toned medal was for a veteran's group or association (Bund), in which veterans joined to enjoy the company of other veterans of the Great War. The obverse has a flag and the dates "1914-1918." The reverse of the medal has the name of the Bund along with a quote from von Hindenburg. This example comes complete with an original ribbon that is tied in a hint of a bow. This would indicate it was worn by a woman if it is indeed a bow and not just randomly tied. Also, the original safety pin with which this veteran affixed the decoration to a garment is present.
1.75 × 1 in
BAVARIA – LONG SERVICE AWARD – 2nd CLASS – LANDWEHR
Bavarian Long Service Award Class 2nd Class, consisting of a blue and white ribbon that is mounted with a schnalle (buckle)….
Width: in
Length: in
Superb condition.
BAVARIA – LONG SERVICE AWARD – VETERAN -TWENTY-FOUR-YEARS
Gold toned Veterans Shield for Twenty-Four-Years Long Service in the Bavarian Army, measuring 1 ½ " x 2 3/4″….
Gold toned Veterans Shield for Twenty-Four-Years Long Service in the Bavarian Army, measuring 1 ½ " x 2 3/4″. The award is seldom-seen. It was designed to be stitched to a tunic. For that purpose, it displays four sets of double holes (two holes per set). It is a stamped award that we are offering today for the first time.
GERMANY – ORDER PILLOW – ORDENKISSEN
This is a reproduction of the famous Ordenkissen (Order Pillow) used in WW I. They were used at combat-stricken German officers' funerals. [Funeral photographs of PLM-winning pilots Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann in particular show a fellow officer walking ahead of the casket, holding before him the dead officer's Ordenkissen displaying the orders and decorations each had been awarded…
Height: 4in
Width: 10in
Length: 16in
This is a reproduction of the famous Ordenkissen (Order Pillow) used in WW I. They were used at combat-stricken German officers' funerals. [Funeral photographs of PLM-winning pilots Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann in particular show a fellow officer walking ahead of the casket, holding before him the dead officer's Ordenkissen displaying the orders and decorations each had been awarded. The Ordenkissen was also placed in front of the pilot's casket at the church wherein his final services were held. The Ordenkissen played an important part in the rituals for burying an officer who had died for his Emperor and Fatherland]. I had this Ordenkissen constructed many years ago to display decorations at militaria shows. As I no longer attend shows, it is surplus to my needs. It is made of black velvet surrounded by a red rope-like trim and measures 16″ x 10″ x 4." In the accompanying photos I will show you the Ordenkissen with and without decorations. (Needless to say what is displayed on the Ordenkissen is NOT a part of the sale)! It is a marvelous way to display decorations and badges, whether they are authentic or reproduction.


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What's Wrong with Methoprene?
by Helen Roussel
Suffolk County's Vector Control Weakens Coastal Resiliency
What is Methoprene?
Methoprene is a slow-acting bio-chemical growth inhibitor that is used by municipalities to control mosquitoes. Brand names of pesticides containing methoprene include Altosid™, Apex™, Diacan™, Dianex™, Kabat™, Minex™, Pharorid™, ZR-515 and Precor™.
Methoprene is an endocrine disrupter used to target mosquitos and control diseases by disrupting growth hormones and development of larvae - read about it HERE [1]. Evidence indicates methoprene impacts non-target species[2].
How does methoprene impact non-target species?
Research evidence indicates that methoprene effects the development of species that share similar evolutionary traits [3]. The arthropod phylum encompasses not only mosquitos but crustaceans and all other insects. Crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs are impacted by methoprene [5]. Lobster larvae has been found to be affected even by low levels of methoprene, and studies have shown that 80% of blue crab larvae is similarly affected after 10 days. And the shells/structure of both species as adults is altered, resulting in delayed molt and death[6]. The similarity in findings does indicate that methoprene affects the development of many species of arthropods impacting their ability to survive.
A more hidden impact is the depletion of food webs [7],which impacts a wider variety of species such as birds and fish, starving them as there is less food. Loss of habitat is also a major factor. Furthermore, zooplankton (a critical source of food which almost all oceanic organisms is dependent upon) is to a large degree made up of crustaceans and therefore is impacted by methoprene [8]. Zooplankton is especially important around Long Island as zooplankton feeds on phytoplankton and is critical in retaining the balance in the marine food web (keeping levels of phytoplankton stable). An imbalance of phytoplankton is said to contribute to blue-green algae blooms [9].
Fig. 2 — Food Webs
An interactive food web showing how fish (for instance) have indirect effects on populations in and around wetlands. Nature Education (2017).
Zooplankton is critical for a healthy marine environment. NASA (2017)
What About West Nile Virus (WNV)?
Data of human cases of WNV in Suffolk County indicate that infections occur in urban and suburban areas and not in wetlands.The map below shows areas sprayed with methoprene. The map below shows 5 areas where WNV occurred, and only in the area identified as Cluster 5are there significant wetlands. WNV occurs in urban and suburban areas where American Robins (the main reservoir for WNV) and Culex pipiens mosquito (the bird to human WNV bridge) can be found. Furthermore, WNV is driven by shifts of feeding behavior that is influenced by the migratory patterns of American Robins (the preferred host for Culex pipiens) [12].
Fig. 3 — Combined map with overlays (Rochlin, 2011), (EPA, 2008).
What Can Be Done to Prevent the Spread of Mosquito-borne Disease?
As climate change continues to alter our environment, WNV and other previously unknown diseases will continue to appear. The Culex pipiens (house mosquito) lays its eggs in polluted fresh water and degraded wetland areas around homes and built-up areas. Artificial vessels and containers that are left around in people's yards collect water which becomes polluted and creates the perfect environment for the Culex pipiens to lay its eggs.
Currently educational information includes mowing wetland plants in dry basins in urban and suburban areas. However, studies in 2016 indicated that the practice actually increases the problem. Degraded urban and suburban wetland areas are turned into mosquito breeding grounds because wetland plants are mowed [13] or cut and the dead plant does not absorb water which therefore puddles. Removing plants also means there is less habitat for birds and other potential mosquito predators.
Why are wetlands being sprayed with methoprene?
Please see the 'biting mosquito, complaint map' below which, illustrates that the majority of the complaints originate from people who live or are on vacation in wetlands areas. There is some correlation between complaints and methoprene spray locations, but absolutely no correlation between WNV outbreaks and methoprene application. Tourism spending is worth $5.5 billion [14] per year and development on wetland areas continues. As a result of over-development of wetland areas, there is less and less habitat for mosquito predators and increasing water quality issues.
The quick fix of applying pesticides is a response to phone call complaints and not a response to a threat of WNV.
Compare the 'biting mosquito complaint map' to the Water Quality Impairments map (The Nature Conservancy, 2017) Figure (5) which indicates that there are multiple issues that require sustainable approaches to deal with the impact of human activity on Long Island.
Applying methoprene to degraded waterways is a poor quick-fix solution that increases the overall cost to biodiverse communities, wetland health and ultimately human health and the economy.
The funds need to be better spent; Rachel Carson once said "In nature nothing exists alone". Long Islands wetlands need a multi-faceted approach and an alternative nature-based scientific approach. Healthy wetlands are buffers that protect the mainland from sea level rise, floods and severe weather events (impacts of climate change).
Fig. 4 — Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Plan: Biting Mosquito Complaints Map
Fig. 5 — Long Island Water Quality Impairments and 2000-2004 Cluster Hotspot Boundary and Aerial Larvicide Locations (2017).
The Social-ecosystem is Important - What is the Solution?
The health and welfare of Long Island's socio-economic systems are inextricably dependent on healthy wetlands and healthy urban and suburban environments. Healthy ecosystems provide clean water, air and food. Wetland ecosystems support a robust tourism industry as well as serving as a buffer zone between the impacts of climate change and inland areas. Wetlands and estuaries provide food and habitat for many species of marine fish. The effects of climate change will continue to yield severe floods, increased run-off, droughts and more powerful hurricanes, which will further degrade water quality and increase algae blooms and disease. It is critical to move toward he use of less chemicals and instead adopt approaches that lead to habitat restoration that will enable ecosystems to return to levels that sustain the life around them.
Wetlands:
Restoration of and more rigorous protection of dune areas and wetland areas are needed. Certain types of development (such as hardening of coastal shorelines) weakens resilience. Read about how healthy wetland areas saved more than $625 million in property damage during Hurricane Sandy [15] by absorbing flood water [16].
Predator breeding projects and habitat restoration programs for predator insects, birds and fish need to be established. This would attract more tourists, control mosquitos and improve the health of wetlands.
Disease Control:
Urban and Suburban Disease Control:
Stop the practice of cutting down wetland plants such as reeds
Increase habitat restoration in degraded urban and suburban wetland areas
Encourage predators by launching habitat gardens for degraded areas, bird, bat and dragonfly breeding and enrichment projects
Public school education programs on mosquito-borne diseases and how to prevent them as well as more public information on maintaining biodiverse gardens
Read the study [17] that demonstrates how wetland plants in urban and suburban areas should NOT be mowed as it creates the perfect habitat for mosquitos including Culex pipiens / WNV carrying mosquitoes: read an article about it [18]
Fig. 6 — Andrew Mackay (2015)
WE NEED HABITAT RESTORATION PROGRAMS
WE NEED RESILIENT INTACT COASTLINES AND DISEASE FREE ENVIRONMENTS
[1] National Pesticide Information Center (2017), 'Methoprene'[online]. Available at:
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/methogen.html
[2] Beyond pesticides (2017), 'Pesticides that disrupt endocrine system are still unregulated by EPA' [online] Available at:
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/gateway/health%20effects/endocrine%20cited.pdf
[3] Tree of Life (2017),'Arthropoda' [online]. Available at: http://tolweb.org/Arthropoda/2469
[4] Garcia R. N., Chung K.W., Key P.B., Burnett L.E., Coen L. D., Delorenzo M.E., (2014), 'Interactive effects of mosquito control insecticide toxicity, hypoxia, and increased carbon dioxide on larval and juvenile eastern oysters and hard clams', Pubmed [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24531857
[5] Walker A. N., Bush P., Puritz J., Wilson T., Chang E.S., Miller T., Holloway K., Horst M. N., (2005), 'Bioaccumulation and Metabolic Effects of the Endocrine Disruptor Methoprene in the Lobster, Homarus americanus' Pubmed [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21676752
[6] Horst M.N., Walker A.N., (1999),'Effects Effects of the Pesticide Methoprene on Morphogenesis and Shell Formation in the Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus', JSTOR, [online]. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1549293?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
[7] Pratt S. E., (2007), 'Are Pollutants Disrupting Marine ecosystems?', Oceanus Magazine [online]. Available at:
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/are-pollutants-disrupting-marine-ecosystems
[8] Olmstead A.W., LeBlanc G.L., (2001), 'Low Exposure Concentration Effects of Methoprene on Endocrine-Regulated Processes in the Crustacean Daphnia magna' Toxilogical Sciences [online]. Available at:
https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/62/2/268/1663640
[9] Suffolk County Government (2017) 'Harmful Algae Blooms' [online. Available at:
http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/HealthServices/EnvironmentalQuality/Ecology/MarineWaterQualityMonitoring/HarmfulAlgalBlooms.aspx
[10] Garcia R. N., Chung K. W., Key P. B., Burnett L.E., Coen L. D., DeLorenzo M. E., (2014), 'Interactive Effects of Mosquito Control Insecticide Toxicity, Hypoxia, and Increased Carbon Dioxide on Larval and Juvenile Eastern Oysters and Hard Clams [online]. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00244-014-0002-1
[11] New York State Government (2017), 'Governor Cuomo Announces $10.4 Million Effort to Improve Long Island Water Quality, Restore Shellfish Populations and Bolster Resilience of Coastal Communities' [online]. Available at: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-104-million-effort-improve-long-island-water-quality-restore-shellfish
[12] Kilpatrick A.M., (2011),'Globalization, land use, and the invasion of West Nile virus', PubMed [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22021850
[13] Science Daily (2015), 'Mowing dry detention basins makes mosquito problems worse'[online]. Available at:
[14] Long Island association (2016) http://www.longislandassociation.org/news/details/news-release-10-20-2016
[15] Narayan S., Beck M. W., Wilson P., Thomas C. J., Guerrero A., Shepard C. C., Reguero B. G., Ingram J. C., Trespalacios D. (2017) ' The value of coastal wetlands for flood damage reduction in the Northeastern USA', Nature [online]. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09269-z
[16] Akan N. (2017) 'Wetlands stopped $625 million in property damage during Hurricane Sandy. Can they help Houston?', PBS News Hour [online]. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/wetlands-stopped-650-million-property-damage-hurricane-sandy-can-help-houston
[17] Mackay A. J., Muturi E. J., Ward M. P., Allan B. F., (2016) 'Cascade of ecological consequences for West Nile virus transmission when aquatic macrophytes invade stormwater habitats' [online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27039521
[18] Entomology Today (2015), ' Mowing grass in water-detention basins increases mosquito populations' [online]. Available at: https://entomologytoday.org/2015/07/23/mowing-grass-in-water-detention-basins-increases-mosquito-populations/
Connecticut banned methoprene spraying in 2013
It's time for New York State to do it's part to protect our coastal waterways
Contact members of the New York State Senate and Assembly and ask them to support NYS Senate & Assembly bills A6336/S.4819.
Find your State Senator & Assembly-member here: https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator
and here: http://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/.
For more information visit: Methoprene.info


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Richard Bonte and Hamilton Harcourt Fleming III portray a very disturbing vision of 1920's Hollywood.
Set against the surging stock market in Roaring Twenties Los Angeles and New York, it is the frenzied but tenuous love story of Michael Green, the only surviving member of "The Three Cousins (Vol. 2)" as a budding producer in his twenties—and Carla Signori, the very talented black and white Italian actress—on their way up the social ladder in turbulent Hollywood.
Carla wants to grow old with the love of her life.
Michael wants to be King of the Hill.
Will their mixed-race relationship survive?


Paul Oyer explains how Nobel Prize-winning economic theories can help you find true love online in his book "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating". He is the Fred H. Merrill professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
This entry was posted in Dating, Dating Advice, Online Dating and tagged Economics, Stanford Business on February 4, 2014 by admin.


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Careers at ESA
Our Navigation Facility
Prof. Dr. Werner Enderle
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ESA Missions and Programmes
In-depth: Sentinel POD
In-depth: GOCE
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Mission overview
The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is the first Earth Explorer core mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched on 17 March 2009 from Plesetsk, Russia. The mission was dedicated to high-resolution gravity field determination and carried, as primary instrument, a three-axis gradiometer for determining the gravity field with a state-of-the-art accuracy of 1 mGal and the geoid with an accuracy of 1 cm, both at a spatial resolution of 100 km. In addition, the mission was equipped with two 12-channel dual-frequency LAGRANGE GPS/GLONASS Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instruments (SSTIs), each consisting of an independent receiver and antenna. The measurements of the main onboard GPS receiver (SSTI-A) allowed for Precise Orbit Determination (POD) of the satellite and for gravity field recovery of the low degree and order terms.
As part of the activities carried out by the Navigation Support Office at ESOC, precise ephemerides of the GOCE satellite have been reconstructed for the entire reentry phase based on the available GPS observations of the onboard LAGRANGE receiver. During the last days of the mission, after GOCE ran out of fuel, it slowly decayed before finally reentering the atmosphere on 11 November 2013. The GPS observations availability during the entire reentry phase provided a unique opportunity for POD to investigate the accuracy of a fully-dynamic approach. The objective was to test the software POD capabilities when accurate non-gravitational forces modeling are included. This was necessary because of the highly aerodynamically perturbed environment expected during the satellite reentry. All the GPS data available from the moment the thruster was switched off on the 21 October 2013 to the last available telemetry downlink on the 10 November 2013 have been processed, for a total of 21 daily arcs. The analysed period is shown in the figure below, where the green arc defines the period during which GPS observations were available. The results were published and presented in the work of Gini et al. [1].
GNSS processing steps
For the reentry period a dedicated sequence has been defined and implemented within the ESA/ESOC NAvigation Package for Earth Observation Satellites (NAPEOS) software, as shown in the following flowchart.
To start the sequence an a-priori orbit was necessary to initialize GOCE's ephemerides and dynamical parameters. For the first day of the analysed period, 21 October 2013, the Precise Science Orbit (PSO [2]) was used. For the initialization of the following days, the daily arc propagated from the previous day was used instead. An orbit fit of the positions from the a-priori orbit is then performed using 2 different modeling strategies for the non-gravitational forces (aerodynamics and radiation pressure): 1) the standard flat-plate model, where a constant projected area is used to model these forces, and 2) the more accurate ARPA model, based on a ray-tracing technique, described in [3]. As a further step, the GPS data are pre-processed based on the fitted orbit in order to filter the observations and initialize the receiver clocks. After this step an initial orbit determination is performed using only the GPS code information as input. This allows a better initialization of the dynamical parameters and initial state. A meter-level a-priori orbit is also computed as input for the following steps. The GPS data are then pre-processed again based on the new a-priori orbit, filtering the available observations. As a last step the GPS code and carrier-phase data are processed in order to compute the most accurate orbit and parameters.
Results for the reentry phase
The results obtained by this processing chain are shown in the following figures, in terms of post-fit RMS of the GPS carrier-phase residuals on the left and as orbital difference with respect to the PSO solutions on the right.
As seen in the figures, the first 16 days show a GPS carrier-phase post-fit RMS between 6 and 14 mm, which then progressively increases up to about 80 mm for the last days with both the flat-plate and ARPA non-gravitational models. This is caused by the aerodynamic accelerations which are progressively increasing with the orbital decay. At an altitude of about 230 km, the aerodynamic forces are not as intense as at the end of the reentry, and the aerodynamic model can adequately absorb these effects. On the other hand, during the last days of the reentry, the aerodynamic effects become significant, causing attitude instabilities. During this last highly-perturbed orbital arcs the aerodynamic models cannot accurately absorb these effects. On the last analysed day, the flat-plate modeling behaved badly, leading to non-convergence of the batch algorithm.
As a validation of the procedure adopted to recover the orbits during the reentry, the computed ephemerides were compared to the PSO solutions. These solutions are based on a reduced-dynamic approach and do not model the non-gravitational perturbations. These perturbations are instead absorbed by empirical accelerations. The result can be seen in the previous figure, on the right-hand side. The PSOs are available until the 5th of November 2013 (Day of Year 309). As can be observed, the difference between the PSOs and the solutions computed with the flat-plate model is around 10 cm for the first 8 days, while with the ARPA model, for the same period, it is around 9 cm. Starting on the 29th of October (Day of Year 302) the difference becomes higher, showing a jump on the DOY 303, reaching the level of about 17 cm for the last day. On the DOY 303 an satellite attitude instability takes place in the yaw angle and this is even more evident in the comparison between the ARPA and flat-plate orbits, which show on DoY 303 a jump to about 7.5 cm, while the average distance is about 4.8 cm.
The following figure gives the idea of how the aerodynamic forces acting on GOCE were growing exponentially during the reentry, highlighting the need for a more accurate modeling of the these forces for the fully-dynamical POD processing adopted for GOCE.
The GPS data of the GOCE on-board LAGRANGE receiver were successfully processed and daily orbital arcs were recovered for all the observed period of the reentry phase, for a total of 21 daily arcs. It has also been possible to further test the ARPA software and its computed non-gravitational forces during the non-drag-free reentry, demonstrating its improvements on the POD solutions.
The post-fit RMS of the undifferenced carrier phase residuals shows values between 6 and 14 mm for the first 16 daily arcs. It then increases with the decrement of the orbit altitude, reaching a level of about 80 mm on the last available day, at an altitude of about 130 km. The estimated empirical accelerations reach higher values at the end of the observed reentry as the altitude of the satellite decreases and the aerodynamic forces increase. With the ARPA modelling, a reduction of these empirical accelerations is observed, with an average decrement of about 20% in the along-track and 40% in the cross-track directions. While the flat-plate aerodynamic model does not take into account all the satellite surfaces, their properties and their interaction with the airflow, the ARPA model significantly reduces this mis-modelling.
The computed final orbits were compared to the Precise Science Orbits, showing a progressively increasing difference as the altitude decreases. The orbits based on the flat-plate model show a difference of about 10 cm for the first 8 days, while the ones based on ARPA shows a value of about 9 cm. For both models a quick jump in the orbital difference is visible for the following days, reaching a value of about 17 cm for the last available PSO. An average difference between the ARPA and flat-plate solutions of about 5 cm has been computed, showing the significant difference between the two modelling approaches.
[1] Gini F., Otten M., Springer T., Enderle W., Lemmens S., and Flohrer T., PRECISE ORBIT DETERMINATION OF THE GOCE REENTRY PHASE, 5th international GOCE user workshop, Paris 25-28 November 2014
[2] Bock H., Jäggi A., Meyer U., Visser P.N.A.M., van den Ijssel J., van Helleputte T., Heinze M. and Hugentobler U.; 2011b: GPS-derived orbits for the GOCE satellite. J. Geod., 85, 807-818, doi:10.1007/s00190-011-0484-9.
[3] Gini F., Bardella M., Casotto S.; 2014: Precise Non-Gravitational Forces modelling for GOCE, Advances in the Astronautical Sciences Spaceflight Mechanics Volume 152
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Whitecaps Conclude Regular Season With 11-10 Nail-Biting Win Over Mariners
Michael Curry's two-run home run in the eighth inning proved to be the difference in Brewster's 11-10 victory over Harwich (c) Marielle McLoughlin 2017
By: Aodhán Doyle
BREWSTER, MA- In most games, an eighth inning two-run home run to extend a lead to five runs wouldn't have much of an impact.
Thursday's contest between the Brewster Whitecaps and Harwich Mariners at Stony Brook Field wasn't like most games, however.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Brewster (21-21-2) designated hitter Michael Curry (Georgia) deposited a two-run home run into the trees in left field, giving the Whitecaps an 11-6 lead.
"I was 0-3 going into that at-bat and I just told myself to be loose," said Curry. "I felt like I barely swung, really, and I just caught some barrel and gave it a poke."
What was thought by many to just be icing on the cake, turned out to be so much more.
Harwich (15-28-1) came charging back in the top of the ninth, scoring four runs and capitalizing on a pair of Brewster errors.
The errors allowed two Mariners to reach base, setting the stage for back-to-back home runs from Josh Smith (LSU), his second of the game, and Cobie Vance (Alabama) to cut the Brewster lead to just one.
Drew Reveno (St. Louis) got Jordan Verdon (San Diego State) to fly out to left field, ending the game and making Curry's home run the game winner.
The battle of division rivals featured plenty of offense, with Harwich recording 13 hits and Brewster 11.
"I think we're just putting quality at-bats together at the right time and we're being a cohesive unit," said Brewster catcher Mickey Gasper (Bryant). "We're just trying to get good pitches and we're going to take our walks, but we're going to get our hits when they're there and we're just trying to situationally execute."
After falling behind 3-0, Brewster took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the second.
A.J. Graffanino (Washington) put the Whitecaps on the board with an RBI-single and then Chandler Taylor (Alabama), after falling behind 0-2 in the count, battled back to draw a bases loaded walk, cutting the Harwich lead to 3-2.
A wild pitch from Mariners starter Jacob Billingsley (Mississippi State) brought home Graffanino to tie the game and then Gasper delivered the big blow of the inning, a two-run triple to right-center, capping a five-run frame for the Whitecaps.
"I saw a couple people on base and I just wanted to shorten up and get a hit for the team, get some runs in," said Gasper. "I got a good pitch to hit and I was just able to capitalize."
Brewster's other big inning came in the bottom of the fifth, when Harwich's lack of control did them in.
Darius Hill (West Virginia), who went 2-4 on the day, tied the game at six with an RBI-double to center and advanced to third on a passed ball.
The Whitecaps retook the lead 7-6 when Hill scored on a passed ball, before Graffanino delivered again, this time tripling to right-center, scoring Zack Gahagan (UNC) and making it 8-6 Brewster.
Graffanino went 2-2 on the day with two runs scored and two runs driven in.
Brewster tacked on another when Kyle Datres (UNC) reached on an infield single that scored Graffanino.
"I'm just taking time when I'm sitting on the bench and going over my approach," said Gahagan, who finished the day 2-3 with two runs scored on his 22nd birthday. "Reassessing the approaches that I struggled with at the beginning and just taking it into the game."
"A lot of it at first was timing. I got away from the timing and just started to think about pitches. Right now I'm just hunting the fastball and I'm getting them. I've just got to make good contact and I've been able to get some hits and get on-base."
Harwich would hit two batters in the inning, allow two passed balls, and throw a wild pitch.
Up until the top of the ninth, the Mariners' only offense came in the form of two three-run innings, one in the top of the first and the other in the third.
The Mariners jumped on Whitecaps starter Matt Beck (LSU) early, with center fielder Antoine Duplantis (LSU) setting the tone from the get-go with a ground-rule double in the first at-bat of the game before scoring on a wild pitch.
A Nick Dalesandro (Purdue) RBI-groundout brought home Smith gave Harwich an early 2-0 lead, while Ryne Ogren (Elon) brought home the third Mariners run with an RBI-single.
Then in the third, Smith launched his first home run of the game off Beck, a two-run shot, which tied the game at five, before Harwich catcher Brad Debo's (NC State) RBI-single gave the Mariners a 6-5 lead.
Neither starting pitcher lasted long, with Beck going just two and two-thirds innings and giving up six earned runs on six hits, while walking four and striking out just one. Billingsley, on the other hand, managed just two innings and gave up five earned runs.
Luckily for Whitecaps coach Jamie Shevchik, the Whitecaps won the battle of the bullpens, with Conor McNamara (Marist) and Reveno combining for the last six and one-third innings.
McNamara (1-0) was stellar, allowing just two hits in three and one-third scoreless innings, striking out one, and earning the win, his first in the Cape League.
After Christopher Gau (Jacksonville) tossed a perfect frame, Cole Aker (UNC), Theo Rodliff (Stony Brook), and Brian Christian (Northeastern) surrendered the final six runs for the Mariners, with Aker (1-4) taking the loss.
Before the game, the Whitecaps handed out their individual regular season awards.
Gasper, who finished the season batting .305 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in, which ranked second in the league, was named team MVP and received the Coaches' Captain Award as well.
"It's special. It's an honor," Gasper said. "I'm proud of myself, but I'm thankful for everyone that's helped me along the way. The coaching staff, my dad's been here all summer working with me. The coaching staff grinds, and there have been a lot of people along the way that have been helping me and it's a really good moment in my life."
Taylor, who tied for the league lead with nine home runs, was named the Offensive Player of the Year, while Graffanino received the Defensive Player of the Year.
Pitcher Tony Locey (Georgia) was named the Best Teammate/10th Man, and Joe Molettiere (Monmouth) took home the Opportunity Award, presented to a player who starts the season on a temporary contract and makes the most of their opportunity.
With the win, Brewster finished the regular season with a .500 record. Entering the game, the Whitecaps needed either a win or a Chatham loss to secure the number three seed in the Eastern division playoffs.
WHAT'S NEXT: With the regular season concluded, Brewster gets ready to face the three-time defending champion Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the first round of the Eastern Division playoffs. Game one is on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Red Wilson Field.
"The pressure is on them, not us, going into the playoffs, that's for sure," said Shevchik. "If I had to choose anybody who's going to knock them off the throne, I'm happy that we're at least going to have a crack at it."
In six matchups, Y-D won the season series 4-1-1.