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War Crimes, Gold Mines and Mutiny in the North-East Congo: A Profile of General Bosco Ntaganda
Posted on August 31, 2012 by McGregor
Over 22 years of fighting for a variety of rebel-movements and national governments, General Bosco "The Terminator" Ntaganda has established himself as the leading warlord in the little-known Nord-Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Nord-Kivu region is at the heart of seething Hutu-Tutsi ethnic tensions that have already exploded into one genocide in Rwanda and two vast conflicts in the DRC that have claimed millions of lives. Further contributing to insecurity in the region is the presence of gunmen and insurgents from Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
General Bosco Ntaganda
The commercial and political capital of Nord-Kivu is Goma, situated on the north side of Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda. Goma's political volatility is accentuated by the looming presence just outside the town of Nyiragongo, an active volcano that destroyed 40% of the city in 2002. Goma is also threatened by a vast pool of poisonous gas under Lake Kivu that awaits only a volcano-related event known as a "limnic eruption" to surface and poison everyone in the region (as happened with two similar lakes in Cameroon in the early 1980s, killing nearly 2,000 people). Ntaganda currently operates out of the nearby Virunga National Park, a Mountain Gorilla refuge and a popular haven for various guerrilla movements operating in the Rwanda-Uganda border region.
The Rwandan Patriotic Army
A Rwandan Tutsi, General Ntaganda was forced to flee tribal violence to the eastern DRC with his family from their Rwandan home of Kiningi while still a teenager. In 1990 he began his long military career at age 17 by joining the military arm of the Uganda-based Rwandan Patriotic Front, a movement of Tutsi exiles determined to end Hutu domination of Rwanda and restore Tutsi rule. Ntaganda remained with the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA – built largely around Tutsi deserters from the Ugandan Army) through a difficult campaign against national army units supported by French and Zaïrean detachments. Led by Paul Kagame, the FPA eventually expelled the génocidaire Hutu government in 1994 after a nation-wide massacre had killed some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. Nearly one million Hutu fled across the border into what was then northeastern Zaire, where many have remained as refugees or as members of extremist Hutu Interhamwe militias that have conducted cross-border attacks and carried out atrocities against the local Banyamulenge and Banyarwanda Tutsi communities. With the Tutsis back in power in Rwanda, the RPA became the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF), the new national army.
The failure of President Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaïre to prevent Hutu attacks launched from Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu led to the First Congo War (1996-1997), which ended with Rwanda's invasion of the region and Mobutu's overthrow by Rwandan and Ugandan-supported rebel forces under Laurent Kabila.
"The Terminator" Emerges in the FPLC
After the First Congo War, Ntaganda became military deputy chief of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC). Formed by Thomas Lubanga Dyilo near the end of the Second Congo War (1998-2003), the FPLC was backed by Rwanda and Uganda despite a notorious reputation for human rights abuses, including a 2002 massacres of civilians in Mongbwalu (Ituri district) and the murder of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers in 2005. As an FPLC commander, Ntaganda was directly implicated in the kidnapping of a Moroccan peacekeeper and the killing of a Kenyan peacekeeper as well as being a suspect in the murders of two aid workers. [1] The Second Congo War had begun when Rwanda crossed into Nord-Kivu again in support of the Banyamulenge Tutsi, attacking refugee camps hosting the notorious Hutu militia known as the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR).
Ntaganda took orders from General Floribert Kisembo Bahemuka, who was Lubanga's chief of staff before breaking away from the movement in 2003. Kisembo became a leading general in the Congolese national army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), but after splitting with President Joseph Kabila he was assassinated by DRC troops in May, 2011 (Radio Okapi [Kinshasha], May 1, 2011). As the movement collapsed with Lubanga's arrest by Rwanda and the arrival of a new peace settlement Ntaganda was offered the post of general in FARDC in December, 2004, but declined the offer.
During the period 2002-2003, Ntaganda is accused of running FPLC recruitment and training centers for child soldiers under 15 years of age as well as commanding troops accused of killing 800 civilians in the Ituri district in 2002 as his forces seized control of local gold mines (BBC, May 15). Ntaganda has attempted to downplay his involvement in the FPLC, insisting he was only "the fourth ranking member" of the movement, while suggesting that "Even Thomas Lubanga was just trying to defend himself" (AFP, May 2).
Joining "The Chairman" in the CNDP
Though once close, the relationship between Ntaganda and Lubanga began to deteriorate and Ntaganda decided to leave the FPLC in 2006 for the Nord-Kivu-based Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP), a new movement being organized by Congolese Tutsi General Laurent "The Chairman" Nkunda. Ntaganda became chief of operations as the CNDP's chief-of-staff under Nkunda. It was in this capacity that Ntaganda oversaw the massacre of an estimated 150 civilians at Kiwanja in Nord-Kivu on November 4-5, 2008. UN peacekeepers nearby did not interfere with the massacre according to a report issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (Radio France Internationale, September 10, 2009). The CNDP offensive of late 2008 brought the movement as far as the outskirts of Goma, but though the garrison had fled after looting the city, Nkunda failed to give the order to occupy Goma, causing dissension within the movement (The Times [London], October 30, 2008; AFP, January 7, 2009).
Ntaganda's close CNDP colleague, Colonel Innocent Zimurinda, was the field commander who implemented Ntaganda's orders in the Kiwanja massacre and was further accused of responsibility for a similar massacre at Shalio (Nord-Kivu) the following month during the Kimia II offensive against the FDLR in which some 50 refugees in a camp near a FDLR base were slaughtered, with the survivors reporting gang rapes and mutilation. An FDLR revenge massacre killed 97 ethnic-Tutsis in a neighboring village (BBC, October 16, 2009).
A growing dispute between Ntaganda and Nkunda over the movement's leadership became public in January, 2009, with Nkunda promising Ntaganda would be charged with "high treason" and Ntaganda claiming he had dismissed Nkunda (AFP, January 6, 2009; January 8, 2009; BBC, January 6, 2009).There was speculation at the time that Ntaganda's Bagogwe Tutsi followers from the Masisi region had grown tired of the prominence enjoyed in the movement by Nkunda's Tutsi followers from Rutshuru (AFP, January 8, 2009).
Charged by the ICC
An International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for Ntaganda's arrest for charges relating to the use of child soldiers was filed under seal in August, 2006, but was only made public on April 29, 2008 (AFP, April 29, 2008). Nkunda dismissed appeals to turn Ntaganda over to the ICC, arguing that his military commander was only a "small fish" compared to government officials involved in various atrocities. Nkunda further awarded himself sovereign status when he argued that he was not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and was therefore under no obligation to turn over Ntaganda (Rwanda News Agency, June 21, 2008).
A second warrant released on July 13, 2012 included additional counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, pillaging, persecution and sexual slavery. Thomas Lubanga, Ntaganda's former commander in the FPLC, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the ICC in July for recruiting and using child soldiers in the early 2000's. Two other DRC nationals, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui have already been extradited and await trial in the Hague. Despite the strong possibility he may follow these commanders to the Hague for trial, Ntaganda recently declared: "If the ICC has questions to ask me I can answer them because I don't blame myself for anything" (AFP, May 2).
Ntaganda's Commercial Empire
Wielding ultimate power in Nord-Kivu allowed General Ntaganda to build his own economic structure in the region, one that placed him atop a financial pyramid in which the illegal sale of raw materials and minerals and "taxes" imposed by his men on markets, charcoal production, vehicle checkpoints and anything else that can be taxed have permitted Ntaganda to invest in a flour factory, a bar, a ranch outside Goma and a hotel on the Rwandan border (Le Potentiel [Kinshasha], Februry 7, 2011).
In 2011, Ntaganda is reported to have run a sophisticated gold-sales scam using former NBA basketball star Dikembe Mutombo as a front-man. Mutombo convinced controversial Nigerian-American businessman Kase Lawal (owner of Houston-based energy firm CAMAC) and Houston diamond merchant Carlos St. Mary that 4.5 tons of gold could be obtained in Africa for a hugely discounted $10 million in cash, a third of the real value. St. Mary gave half the money to middlemen in Nairobi, then went on to Goma, where Ntaganda, still a general in the national army, relieved St. Mary of $3 million, with the balance going to the local Customs department. When asked to return the missing cash to DRC Customs, Ntaganda is alleged to have turned in a suitcase containing $3 million in counterfeit bills printed on yellow copy paper and all bearing the same serial number (Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], August 10). [2]
Integration into the Congolese National Army
The CNDP's independent existence came to an abrupt end in what appeared to be a pre-planned scenario in January, 2009, as General Nkunda was arrested by Rwandan authorities on the border with the DRC and Ntaganda stepped up to take control of the movement, announcing that the CNDP would now fight alongside its former FARDC enemy against Hutu rebel movements in the eastern DRC (AFP, October 23, 2010). In a surprising development, former enemies Rwanda and the DRC now began effective joint operations in the northeastern Congo against Hutu rebels, though President Kabila was criticized for "inviting foreign troops" into the DRC (East African [Nairobi], March 2, 2009).
Ntaganda agreed to integrate his forces with FARDC according to the terms of the March 23, 2009 peace agreement, ensuring that Kinshasha would not pursue the ICC warrants against Ntaganda and other CNDP officers. Though officially tasked with reintegration duties at Kinshasha, Ntaganda quickly became a principal planner and advisor on a FARDC offensive against Hutu extremists (though this has been denied by Kinshasha – see Agence Congolaise Presse, October 10, 2009). He was also accused of planning at least eight assassinations of opponents in Nord-Kivu during this time (Jeune Afrique, October 29, 2010). Ntaganda's role as a leading commander in the anti-FDLR Amani Leo operation caused intense embarrassment to the UN's peacekeeping mission, the Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo (MONUC), which was an active participant in the operation.
Until his desertion from FARDC in April of this year, Ntaganda was living openly in a house in Goma and was commonly seen in that city wearing a large cowboy hat and Western-style clothing, playing tennis or dining in Goma's best restaurants (La Flamme du Congo, April 13).
M23 – New Threat in Nord-Kivu
On April 11, President Kabila said he resented international pressure to issue a warrant for General Ntaganda: "We have more than a hundred reasons to arrest him and we don't lack the force or the means to arrest him, but I will not work under pressure from the international community" (AFP, April 12). However, with the ICC fugitive clearly acting as part of the DRC regular army and Kinshasha subsequently risking being cited for complicity in the Ntaganda case, word began to circulate in mid-April that Kabila had finally issued the order to arrest the Tutsi warlord. Though the UN mission had no mandate to arrest war criminals, it pledged to assist government efforts to detain the warlord (Le Potentiel [Kinshasha], April 12; Le Phare [Kinshasha], March 19; April 12). The DRC later clarified that Ntaganda would face charges in Kinshasha first: "He will be judged according to our laws, and it is our justice that will determine if he should be extradited or not… "We have our own grievances against the general Ntaganda, who was associated at one moment with the peace process and who has committed an act of felony, compounded by several blood crimes against both our army and civilians… We intend to catch him and try him in our country" (AFP, May 14). On May 9, government troops discovered 25 metric tons of arms and ammunition on Ntaganda\s farm in the Masisi region of Nord-Kivu, including mortars, recoilless rifles and small arms (Le Potentiel [Kinshasha], May 11; AFP, May 9).
With pressure growing against Ntaganda, ex-rebels of the CNDP integrated into FARDC mutinied in mid-April (La Tempete des Tropiques [Kinshasha], April 11). As the number of desertions increased, Ntaganda at first issued vehement denials of involvement in M23, the armed group formed by the mutineers (AFP, May 2). Colonel Sultani Makenga, a former CNDP commander tied to the 2008 Kiwanja massacre and the 2007 Buramba massacre, was named the official head of M23. Despite Makenga's own record, it was no doubt considered safer to place M23 under his nominal command rather than admit the movement was led by an individual wanted by the ICC. At the time of his desertion in May, Colonel Makenga was the second-in-command of DRC operations against the FDLR. As the mutineers abandoned positions in Nord-Kivu, they were quickly replaced in some villages by members of the FDLR under its Hutu military commander Sylvestre Mudacumura (also charged by the ICC with nine counts of crimes against humanity in July) and an allied militia known as the Patriotic Army for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS) (L'Observateur [Kinshasha], April 5). Not all the men under Ntagana's command joined the mutiny – several hundred appear to have taken advantage of an amnesty offered by FARDC in May (AFP, May 10). President Kabila suspended the joint operations with Rwanda after the scale of the desertions in Nord-Kivu became apparent.
M23 took its name from its principal demand – the full implementation of the March 23, 2009 accord that called for full integration of the former CNDP into the DRC political and military structure. The demand was slightly facetious; during his time in FARDC, Ntaganda created a parallel chain of command in Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu, much to the annoyance of the FARDC general staff (Jeune Afrique, April 3). His Tutsi troops also avoided mixing with other elements of the national army. While M23 spokesmen cited various other reasons for the group's formation, including military mismanagement, poor living conditions and the release of CNDP prisoners, the most important reason was Ntaganda's fear he would soon be brought to trial in the DRC or, worse, be extradited to face the ICC charges. This called for a quick (and apparently well-planned and financed) exit from FARDC, where he was vulnerable, and a return to his loyalists in the hills of Nord-Kivu to flex some muscle and negotiate a new deal with Kinshasha providing for his personal security.
The Addendum to the draft UN Experts Report released in June cites Rwanda for direct assistance to M23 through the provision and transport of weapons and soldiers and direct military intervention in the DRC in support of the mutineers. [3] Despite the growing evidence collected by the UN that Rwanda is supporting Ntaganda and M23, Rwandan president Paul Kagame's denials have grown even louder, recently telling a group of Rwandan officers: that not a single bullet had been supplied to the mutineers, adding that the UN "screwed up the case of the Congo and are instead [trying] to put it on our shoulders" (Rwandan News Agency, August 7; Africa Review [Nairobi], August 7).
In May a DRC government spokesman said they were sure that Ntaganda and his men would not be allowed to take refuge in Rwanda, adding that there were "good reasons" why the warlord had not been arrested earlier: "It was to consolidate the peace process to which he has contributed" (Digitalcongo.net [Kinshasha], May 16).
Despite all the turmoil in Nord-Kivu, some things have changed little. Human rights organizations active in the DRC have reported Ntaganda has returned to the recruitment of child soldiers in Nord-Kivu and the Tutsi warlord's forces are once again poised outside of Goma, where an assault is expected soon by a garrison of 3,000 men reinforced by artillery, mortars, armor and rocket launchers (AFP, May 16; August 6).
Inability to contain Ntaganda may destabilize the regime in Kinshasha, which is already the target of growing protests over FARDC's failures in the northeast and the perceived support provided by Rwanda to M23. However, Rwanda cannot be seen to be supporting a sanctioned individual. If Rwanda has indeed backed Ntaganda, it will be placed in a bind if a Congolese offensive should push Ntaganda and the M23 up against the border. If Rwanda allows Ntaganda to cross into its territory, it will inevitably become the immediate target of international criticism and will open Kagame up to charges of abetting war crimes. If, however, Ntaganda is captured there is a danger he might be extradited to the Hague for ICC prosecution, where he might decide to describe the exact nature of his relationship with Kagame and the Rwandan government. A remaining possibility would be Ntaganda's arrest and quiet imprisonment in the Congo. However, the weaknesses of FARDC, including indiscipline, poor morale and shortages in food, ammunition and salaries do not encourage optimism in this latter result. For the moment, "the Terminator" appears to have the upper hand in Nord-Kivu.
1. Trial Watch, Geneva, http://www.trial-ch.org/en/ressources/trial-watch/trial-watch/profils/profile/761/action/show/controller/Profile.html.
2. See Armin Rosen, "The Warlord and the Basketball Star: A Story of Congo's Corrupt Gold Trade," The Atlantic, March 1, 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-warlord-and-the-basketball-star-a-story-of-congos-corrupt-gold-trade/253813/2/.
3. UN Security Council, S/2012/348/Add.1, "Letter dated 26 June 2012 from the Chair of the Security CouncilCommittee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004)concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo addressed to thePresident of the Security Council,http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2012/348/Add.1.
This article was first published in the August 31, 2012 issue of the Jamestown Foundation's Militant Leadership Monitor.
Posted in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda
Bombs, Assassinations and Kidnappings become Daily Events as the Battle for Benghazi Continues
Though incidents of urban violence continue in a number of Libyan cities, it is the former rebel capital of Benghazi where such attacks have been most intense. Bombings are common, with the central intelligence headquarters in Benghazi being a favorite target. An August 1 blast that caused damage but no casualties was only the latest in a string of attacks on the facility this year (Reuters, August 3). The carnage would be even greater if a large number of powerful bombs had not been discovered and disarmed by security officials in the last week. Many of the bombs carried a charge of 40 kilograms and have been found in places such as a school, the Criminal Investigation Department, the National Security Patrols Department and under a bridge leading to the Tibesti Hotel (Tunisa Live, August 7).
Benghazi (al-Arabiya)
Three armed men suspected of responsibility in a string of failed bombings in Benghazi were killed by security forces in a gun-battle that wounded five members of the Interior Ministry on August 5 (AFP, August 6; Reuters, August 8). Before stepping down when the new General National Congress took over from the Transitional National Council on August 8, interim Prime Minister Abd al-Rahim al-Keib said that the bombings were the work of Qaddafi loyalists and claimed that one such cell was discovered that was "presided over by persons abroad" (Sky News Arabia, August 6).
Assassinations have also become commonplace in Libya as the armed groups controlling the Libyan streets eliminate rivals and dispose of challenges to their influence. Some of these attacks seem to be a settling of accounts for grudges nursed since the Qaddafi era, particularly against those who were part of the security structure. One such assassination was that of Colonel Sulayman Bouzridah, a former official in Qaddafi's central intelligence office who was killed in Benghazi on July 28 despite having joined the rebels during the revolution (Tunisia Live, August 7). Bouzridah was the thirteenth Qaddafi-era security official to be murdered in Benghazi in the past few weeks. Rumors circulate that the murders are being carried out by an unknown group with a death-list of 106 individuals (Libya Herald, July 31).
On July 29, gunmen attacked a convoy escorting Soviet-trained and CIA-supported Major-General Khalifa Haftar, who was nearly killed in a firefight with the Zintan militia at Tripoli Airport in December, 2011. [1] Hafter, who was unhurt, blamed pro-Qaddafi groups for the attack, which occurred shortly after the General had urged Benghazi's rogue militias to cooperate more closely with the new National Army (Libya Herald, July 31; Magharebia, August 2).
Seven Iranian aid workers were kidnapped on their way to Benghazi's Tibesti Hotel on July 31 and are still being held by their captors (Fars News Agency [Tehran], August 6). The delegation was in Libya at the invitation of the Libyan Red Crescent. According to Libyan Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif, the Islamist kidnappers have demanded Iran mediate the release of Libyan prisoners held in Iraq, while some security officials claim the captives are being questioned by their abductors to determine whether their presence in Benghazi was intended to spread Shi'a Islam in the region (AFP, August 1). Iranian officials have criticized their Libyan counterparts for failing to provide adequate security to the Iranian delegation (Fars News Agency, August 2).
In a brazen raid on July 31, gunmen entered a Benghazi prison and freed one of their comrades being held in the murder of General Abd al-Fatah Yunis and two of his aides on July 28, 2011 (AP, August 1; for the murder, see Jamestown Foundation Brief, August 4, 2011). The prison had already been attacked by rocket fire on July 27, the same day a grenade was tossed at the Benghazi Appeals Court (AFP, August 1).
The violence has also spread to Misrata and Tripoli, where attacks with grenades and RPGs have targeted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the military police headquarters respectively. As in the attacks in Benghazi, the identity of the perpetrators remain unknown. The ICRC attack was the fifth of its kind in Libya in the last three months and has resulted in the humanitarian organization shutting down operations in both cities (AFP, August 5; IRNA, August 7). Some uninformed Islamist militants are under the mistaken impression that the ICRC is a Christian religious organization intent on converting Muslims.
The violence in Benghazi seems to be a mix of a settling of accounts, an attempt to rearrange the existing power structure and a demonstration by religious extremists of their determination to bring Libya under an Islamist regime regardless of the outcome of Libya's elections. With a host of well-armed parties with varying agendas responsible for the ongoing violence, it will be extremely difficult for authorities of the new government to bring the situation under control.
1. See Dario Cristiani, "The Zintan Militia and the Fragmented Libyan State," Jamestown Foundation Hot Issue, January 19, 2012; for the attack, see Terrorism Monitor Brief, December 16, 2011; for a profile of Haftar, see Militant Leadership Monitor, March 31, 2011.
This article was originally published in the Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor, August 10, 2012.
Posted in Libya
Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhoood: Alternative Visions of an Islamist Egypt
In late July, Shaykh al-Mujahid Hussam Abd al-Raouf a prominent al-Qaeda ideologue, member of its strategy committee and editor of Vanguards of Khurasan, the magazine of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, presented a lengthy examination of the steps Egyptian president Muhammad al-Mursi should take in transforming Egypt into an Islamic state.
In an article carried on jihadi websites entitled "If I was in Mursi's place and sat on the Throne," Abd al-Raouf suggests the new Egypt should be a self-sufficient state based on social justice and preparation for jihad, both defensive and offensive (Ansar1.info, July 25). According to the shaykh' austere vision of a "New Egypt":
The Islamic Shari'a must form the constitution of the country. It is a powerful force that can overcome any obstacle or challenge to comprehensive reform. Its implementation and progress should be explained in a monthly public broadcast. Senior figures of the old regime should be prosecuted "in all fairness and efficiency" and the funds that were looted in the past three decades should be recovered and deposited in the state treasury, "a battle that will not be easy or short."
There must be a comprehensive change in the lifestyle and behavior of the Egyptian President. This should begin with a move from the opulence of the presidential palace in Heliopolis to much more modest quarters in the suburbs as a first sign that the president intends to follow "a policy of austerity, justice and humility." The presidential palaces, grounds and furnishings should be put up for rent or sale, as should most of the fleets of cars and aircraft, leaving only what is essential for the operations of the president. Further austerity measures should include the abolition of Egyptian embassies in countries that do not have direct political, economic or military ties to Egypt as well as the cancellation of official celebrations and festivals.
All international conventions must be reviewed, according to the rule of law, with an eye to eliminating those conventions and treaties that have created in Egypt a cycle of poverty, underdevelopment and defeatism. Payments on enormous international debts created through usury should be canceled "on the spot." Alternatives to such borrowing should be examined, including interest-free short-term loans, relying on Arab and Islamic solidarity for their provision.
Investment from domestic capital and Arab and Islamic countries should be encouraged to exploit the business advantages offered by Egypt, including security, cheap labor, technical competence and low wages for professionals in comparison to those of Western or Asian countries.
All Islamist political prisoners should be released immediately and the Ministry of the Interior cleansed of all those officials still loyal to the former regime. These steps should be accompanied by a review of the judicial system as a whole, including the qualifications of judges and amendments to the curricula of law schools and colleges.
Rather than be appointed by the president of the republic, the Grand Shaykh of al-Azhar should be elected directly by religious scholars. The awqaf system (religious endowments) and its control by a government ministry should be reviewed and reformed, while salary increases and bonuses to improve the social status of scholars and preachers will encourage academically outstanding students to study Islamic law and the Arabic language.
The Culture and Information sectors should be cleansed of corrupt officials and those promoting apostasy, immorality and vice.
Immorality fostered by tourism is linked to corruption and decadence in Egypt. Given the impossibility of cancelling this sector due to the employment and hard currency it provides, tourism should be "Islamized" by encouraging domestic tourism and visits from other Arabs and Muslims. "Foreigners" would be welcome if they agreed to abide by community ethics and behavior consistent with Islamic law.
Citizens should be held accountable in their observance of the pillars of Islam, such as the performance of prayers, fasting and pilgrimage for those who can afford it. Of special concern should be employees of the state who do not perform prayers or who break the fast during Ramadan.
The problem of male youth unemployment and resultant issues of crime could be eliminated by removing women from the work force. Working women may spend more than their salary on transportation to and from work, nursery fees, meals, clothing and accessories while their children develop mental and physical health issues in their absence. Why not then return women to their homes where they are protected and can avoid mixing with men? In a reversal of the modern assembly-line technique of mass production, the shaykh suggests that women who seek to supplement their husband's income can be trained by television in home production techniques and have raw materials delivered to their homes and finished products picked up later. Uneducated women can pursue sewing, embroidery, knitting and carpet production while educated women can assemble products such as watches and electronic devices.
The performance of government departments and state facilities must be improved, especially government hospitals.
Sectarian conflict must be extinguished in Egypt. According to Abdul-Raouf, the current leaders of the Coptic Church in Egypt continue to follow policies of the late Pope Shenouda III that fuelled sectarian disputes by attempting to create a Christian "state within a state." Christians must not form part of the nation's senior leadership as there are a sufficient number of Muslims with "experience and competence."
All citizens must be provided with food security and adequate housing. Agricultural scientists and scholars of animal production must be employed in efforts to bring self-sufficiency in food to Egypt, which currently relies heavily on foreign imports. With many Egyptians living in slums, shanty houses and tents, the state must dedicate itself to creating new urban communities where borrowing from "Arab and friendly countries" can be used to provide housing to Egyptians with interest-free and affordable payments.
Working from the axiom that people who do not have guns do not have freedom, Egypt should abandon military assistance from the United States "which it does not need" and instead focus on becoming self-sufficient in arms production, even if this means an immediate decline in the quality of available arms. Abd al-Raouf points to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as proof that "miracles" can be achieved with even backwards arms and limited ammunition against the most powerful military forces if Egyptians "put their trust in God." The state must become militarized in preparation for the "epic battles" to come between Muslims and infidels, with military service binding on "every sane adult." As Islam does not acknowledge only defensive jihad, but must sometimes attack in a pre-emptive war "to nip aggression in the bud," the responsible government department must change its name from "the Ministry of Defense."
While new Egyptian President Muhammad al-Mursi is likely to take his advice from the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau rather than al-Qaeda, the document is nevertheless interesting as a detailed proposal of how an Islamist state should be formed and organized according to al-Qaeda, which has been especially weak in dealing with such issues in the past, preferring to devote most of its ideological production to the conduct, aims and methods of global jihad.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Reformation
Shaykh Ibrahim Munir, the Secretary General of the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood (and a close friend of al-Mursi) has identified Egypt's entrenched bureaucracy and the still extant "deep state" power structure as major obstacles to the new president's reform mission:
Shaykh Ibrahim Munir
President Mursi has to overcome obstacles, obstructions, and corrupt concepts that have accumulated during decades of individual pharaoh rule during which loyalty for the person of the ruler was put before loyalty to the country and the people. Thus, what are now called "deep state" practices, which do not distinguish between what is allowed and what is prohibited in dealing with the money, honor, or blood of the subjects, have been formed together with a terrifying backward bureaucracy that destroys any progress and efficiency, and that does not know the meaning of transparency, and regression has taken place in all the state institutions and their cultural, financial, medical, educational, services, and foreign policy actions that are related to the independence and interests of the country (al-Sharq al-Awsat, July 11).
To overcome these obstacles, Shaykh Ibrahim suggests al-Mursi must do three things – surround himself with "a good entourage," overcome the bureaucracy by correcting the culture of those working in it and subject every member of the government at every level to the statutes of the law and constitution.
Internal Dissent
As Egypt's new leaders struggle to form a government, a vast post-revolutionary social upheaval continues. Labor strife persists; the 870 protests and strikes on the nation's railway system alone have cost the state an estimated $120 million (al-Masry al-Youm, August 2).
Al-Mursi will also have to deal with different visions of the New Egypt even within the Muslim Brotherhood movement, whether from "liberal" Islamists like Dr. Abd al-Moneim Aboul Fotouh (a former member of the movement's Guidance Bureau who resigned to contest the presidential election) or voices like former Brotherhood spokesman Kamal al-Halbawi, who denounced al-Mursi's July 12 visit to Saudi Arabia (his first official visit abroad as president), which he described as "an enemy of the Egyptian Revolution" (El-Balad TV, July 31; Fars News Agency [Tehran], July 31).
Al-Mursi, who taught at California State University in the 1980s, is often regarded as a protégé of Khairat al-Shater, the wealthy chief strategist of the Muslim Brotherhood, who sponsored his rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood. His detractors regard al-Mursi as a stand-in for al-Shater, who promoted al-Mursi as a presidential candidate only after his own candidacy was disqualified by the military in April on the grounds that he had recently been in prison, a violation of the election rule that a candidate must not have been imprisoned in the previous six years (Egypt Independent, June 22).
With the vital tourism industry off by a third since the revolution, Egypt is scrambling for ways to restore the nearly 15 million visitors it hosted in 2010. Important tombs of the ancient period that have not been open to visitors for decades are being made available to tourists and a new Egyptian Museum is scheduled to open in 2014. Though the Muslim Brotherhood appears to understand the importance of Egypt's ancient monuments to the national economy as a source of foreign currency, Egypt's Salafists regard all such sites as products of the pre-Islamic jahiliya (time of ignorance) and would just as soon eliminate "idolatrous" visits to Egypt's ancient monuments (see Terrorism Monitor Brief, December 22, 2011). Fortunately for the industry, Salafist efforts to obtain the post of Minister of Tourism were unsuccessful, with the post going to an experienced technocrat, Hisham Za'azou. Nevertheless, efforts are underway by Islamist businessmen to promote Egypt as a center of "Halal Tourism" for families "committed to Shari'a." Approved hotels and tourist facilities would not serve alcohol, would provide halal meat and offer segregated facilities for men and women. [1]
Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, an institution responsible for issuing fatwa-s [religious rulings] under the supervision of Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Goma'a, issued a fatwa earlier this month declaring it was unacceptable for Muslims to eat or drink in public during Ramadan, calling such activity "a violation of public decency" (Daily News Egypt, August 2; Bikya Masr, August 2). Should the government decide to enforce the fatwa it will mark a major change in Egyptian society, where restaurants and cafés typically remain open during Ramadan.
On July 30, al-Mursi released and pardoned over a dozen Islamists imprisoned for trying to kill leading Egyptian officials (Ahram Online, August 1). Al-Mursi has pledged to obtain the release of Shaykh Omar Abd al-Rahman from an American prison, where he is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Egypt has also asked for the release of Egyptian jihadi Tariq al-Sawah, who has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since he was captured in the battle for Tora Bora (AFP, August 2).
Egypt's New Cabinet
The composition of the new cabinet reveals that several of the most important ministries remain in the hands of the pre-revolution power structure. In the Interior Ministry, responsible for internal security, Major General Ahmad Gamal al-Din has been appointed as minister despite being a former aide to the previous and much criticized interior minister, Muhammad Ibrahim (Ahram Online, August 1). The general will have to deal not only with an internal security service that has largely collapsed since the revolution, but one that has been trained for decades to regard Islamism as a major internal security threat to Egypt.
The Nour Party, the most successful of the Salafist groups to take part in the parliamentary elections, has refused to join the new cabinet, rejecting new Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's offer of the Environment Ministry as being "unworthy" of the party (Ahram Online, August 2; al-Masry al-Youm, August 1). Until parliament is reconvened or new elections are held, this effectively leaves the Salafists on the outside of the new government, a situation they are unlikely to tolerate for long. Al-Nour had sought the Ministry of Public Enterprise, which would have given it effective control of nearly 150 state-owned corporations.
Field Marshal Muhammad Hussein al-Tantawi will retain the post of defense minister, which he has held since 1991, thus ensuring there will be little civilian oversight of the armed forces. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has suggested creating a National Defense Council that would include both military and civilian leaders to work out legislation regarding the military and its budget before its presentation to parliament. The president would only have the power to declare war after obtaining the approval of the National Defense Council and parliament, effectively limiting the president's ability to control foreign policy and command the national armed forces (Egypt Independent, August 2).
Muhammad Yusri Ibrahim
Reports that Muhammad Yousri Ibrahim, a leading Salafist and failed parliamentary candidate for the Salafist al-Asala Party, was al-Musri's choice to take over the role of Ministry of Religious Endowments created immediate controversy at all levels in Egypt. Though educated at al-Azhar University, Muhammad Yousri is a noted critic of the institution and his candidacy was quickly opposed by the Grand Shaykh of the Islamic university, Ahmad al-Tayeb, on the grounds that the Minister of Endowments is traditionally chosen by the Grand Shaykh (Daily News Egypt, August 2). Muhammad Yousri is a close associate of Khairat al-Shater and it seems likely that the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the appointment. The ministry is central to the religious direction of the nation as it is responsible for mosques, licensing imams and regulating the substantial endowments of property that fund the religious establishment. The announcement was widely condemned as a sign that Saudi-style Salafism had arrived with the approval of the Muslim Brotherhood and was loudly opposed by the nation's still influential Sufi leadership, which has endured attacks on its shrines from Salafists since the Revolution (Egypt Independent, May 17; al-Masry al-Youm [Cairo], March 30, 2011). Muhammad Yousri is also well-known for leading demonstrations against the Coptic Church. Amidst a deluge of criticism, al-Musri's decision was quickly reversed and the ministry given into the hands of Osama al-Abd, the vice-chancellor of al-Azhar.
The Coptic Question
Despite early protestations of Coptic-Muslim cooperation in the early days of the Revolution, tensions between the Coptic and Muslim communities are now at an all-time high, requiring only a tiny spark to set off street violence that security forces show little interest in controlling. Most recently, major clashes erupted in the Dashour district of the Giza Governorate after a Coptic launderer accidentally burned a Muslim customer's shirt with his iron. The incident soon developed into street riots, looting of Coptic-owned shops and even the attempted arson of the Mary Guirguis Church, which was only narrowly prevented by security forces using tear gas (Ahram Online, August 2; al-Masry al-Youm, August 2; Bikya Masr, August 2). As many as 150 Coptic families may have fled the district. Following the clashes, Christian demonstrators who claim sectarian violence has intensified since al-Mursi became president appeared outside the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis bearing signs that said "Down with the rule of the Supreme Guide [i.e. of the Muslim Brotherhood]" (Ahram Online, August 2).
The interim leader of the Coptic Church, Bishop Pachomius, was critical of the cabinet appointments, which included only one Copt in the Ministry of Scientific Research, which Pachomius referred to as "a semi-ministry." The Bishop, who is filling in as leader until a new Pope can be elected after the death of Shenouda III, also denounced the security services for standing by "with arms crossed" during the sectarian riots in Dahshour (AFP, August 4).
The election of al-Mursi is just the beginning phase of the Brotherhood's 25-year Renaissance Project, a comprehensive effort to bring Egypt's administration, business sector and society in line with Islamic values. The chairman of the project's steering committee is Khairat al-Shater, who appears to be emerging as the real power behind the Egyptian throne.
The Brotherhood's Renaissance Project will inevitably collide with the interests of SCAF and the rest of Egypt's "Deep State" apparatus, which will be exceedingly difficult to dislodge. SCAF still holds supreme power in Egypt and controls all decisions regarding the military. The determination of the Renaissance Project to make the military's large share of the Egyptian economy abide by free-market rules rather than continuing to use free labor (military conscripts) and free natural resources in its industries is certain to create friction (Egypt Independent, July 31). An antagonistic relationship was worsened in mid-June with the implementation of the Supplement to the Constitutional Declaration, which limited the president's powers and increased those of SCAF, including the right to intervene in the drafting of the new constitution (Egypt Independent, August 1). The ongoing political struggle has convinced many experienced technocrats and secular politicians to turn down government appointments, leaving al-Mursi with an inexperienced Prime Minister, no parliament, no vice-president, no power over the military and a corps of advisors with ties to Khairat al-Shater. Control of the most important ministries (Defense, Justice, Finance) remain outside the hands of the Brotherhood and promises of greater representation in the cabinet for women and Christians have been thoroughly dashed. The secular and progressive forces that filled Tahrir Square 18 months ago see too many familiar faces from the old regime in the "new" government and are unlikely to be inspired by the relative unknowns who are new appointments. Though al-Shater denies exerting influence over al-Mursi, Egypt's new president has so far made some questionable decisions in forming his new government and has generally been unable to attract Egypt's most talented and experienced leaders to the new regime. Further decisions of this type risk alienating large numbers of Egyptians, which could make a repeat of the Brotherhood's parliamentary victory earlier this year difficult when Egyptians return to the polls, possibly in December.
1. See, for example: http://www.shouqtravel.com/index.php/en/
This article first appeared in the August 10 issue of the Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor.
Posted in Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood
Mali's Self-Defense Militias Take the Reconquest of the North into Their Own Hands
With the Malian Army still in disarray, the United States urging caution and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanding the formation of a government of national unity before taking military action, a handful of "self-defense" militias from northern Mali are preparing to launch their own reconquest of the regions now controlled by Tuareg rebels and Islamist groups including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The formation for this purpose of a militia coalition known as the Forces patriotiques de résistance (FPR – Patriotic Resistance Forces) was announced at a news conference in Bamako on July 21 (Nouvel Horizon [Bamako], July 23).
Ganda Koy Militia (The Times)
The militias forming the FPR include Ganda Koy (Lords of the Land), Ganda Iso (Sons of the Land), the Forces de libération des régions nord du Mali (FLN – Liberation Forces of the Northern Regions), the Alliance des communautés de la région de Tombouctou (ACRT – Alliance of Communities from the Timbuktu Region), the Force armée contre l'occupation (FACO – Armed Force Against the Occupation) and the Cercle de réflexion et d'action (CRA – Thought and Action Circle). The largest of the groups are believed to be the Ganda Koy, with some 2,000 members, and Ganda Iso, with an estimated 1300 fighters (L'Essor [Bamako], July 26). Ganda Koy militia leader Harouna Touré recently declared; "This war must begin as early as tomorrow with or without the national army" (L'Indépendant [Bamako], July 23). Most of these militias are centered in the Gao region of northern Mali, and are predominantly Songhai, though they also include Peul/Fulani members. After the announcement of a new coalition of militias was made, however, Ganda Iso chairman Muhammad Attaib Maiga issued a statement saying "We do not recognize ourselves as a member of this coalition… We decline any responsibility for the actions that the said coalition will take" (Info Matin [Bamako], July 26).
Another self-defense militia, the "Popular Movement Soni Ali Ber" has been created in Gao by Al-Hadj Tandjina. The movement is named for the first king of the Songhai Empire (c.1464 – 1492) and is intended to "wash [away] the affront of the occupation and recover the flouted dignity and honor of the people of Gao" (L'Observateur [Bamako], July 25). Just outside Bamako, several hundred would-be fighters are training as part of Bouyan Ba Hawi (Songhai for "Death is Better than Shame"), a militia led by Mahamadou Dioura (Jeune Afrique, August 2; Independent August 7).
An officer of Algeria's Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS – Department of Intelligence and Security) has suggested that the defeat of the largely Tuareg Mouvement National de Libération de l'Azawad (MNLA) by the Islamists in Gao is a good development as it will send the Tuareg rebels into the arms of the Malian Army (Jeune Afrique, July 14). However, while MNLA spokesman Moussa ag Assarid recently indicated that the Tuareg rebel movement was ready to fight the "terrorist groups" alongside ECOWAS forces, he was also adamant that they would not fight alongside Malian troops (Le Républicain [Bamako], July 26).
For the Ganda Iso movement of Ibrahim Dicko the real enemy is the MNLA, "which wanted to create a state that we did not recognize. The Islamists, on the contrary, are Muslims like us" (Jeune Afrique, August 3). The Islamists appear to be seeking to divert the anger of the self-defense militias towards the Tuareg of the MNLA by exploiting racial tensions and offering the militias arms to use against the Tuareg. Modern arms appear to be in short supply for the militia fighters, some of whom are training with cudgels rather than Kalashnikovs (L'Essor [Bamako], July 25). The strategy may be working; there are reports (confirmed by both Ganda Koy and Ansar al-Din) that some 400 Ganda Koy fighters based in Douentza have already joined the Islamists of Ansar al-Din (AP, July 15). Ganda Iso took control of Douentza (170 km north of Mopti) on July 13 when it was abandoned by the Islamists but the Malian Army, which has been ordered not to advance beyond Konna, failed to move in to take control at that time.
With the Malian Army having suffered several defeats, the loss of large numbers of defectors to the rebel forces, the staging an unpopular coup and a fratricidal conflict between the "Green Beret" putschists and the "Red Beret" [paratrooper] counter-coup units, desertion has become a major problem in the demoralized military. The Ministry of Defense and Veterans has warned that deserters may be brought before the military courts in accordance with the code of military justice" (L'Essor [Bamako], July 23; L'Indépendant [Bamako], July 23; Nouvel Horizon [Bamako], July 23). According to a member of Special Unit Etia2 (Joint Tactical Echelon) commanded by Colonel al-Hadj Gamou (a Tuareg loyalist); "After the coup, the chain of command gave out. Some subordinates no longer obey their superiors. But it should also be noted that even before the coup, at the command level, there were leadership problems" (PressAfrik.com, July 30). Some Malian troops, rather than focusing on an upcoming campaign against northern extremists and rebels, are using their uniforms to extort money at the Mopti Region checkpoint at Konna from refugees fleeing the Islamist occupation, leading to frequent verbal clashes and further loss of faith in the armed services (L'Essor [Bamako], July 25).
The FPR coalition does not appear to have any official support from the Malian military, but are being sponsored by coup leader Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who has been given "former head-of-state" status in return for stepping aside for a new interim government and is alleged to be providing the militias training facilities and instructors, raising the disturbing possibility he intends to form his own private army (Le Temps d'Algerie [Algiers], July 23; Jeune Afrique, August 2). Both Ganda Koy and Ganda Iso are training close to Sévaré (Mopti Region), where the Malian Army is regrouping. FLN official Amadou Malle asserts that the militia fighters are strictly unpaid volunteers, though it appears some may have been offered places in the Malian military after the northern region has been retaken (L'Essor [Bamako], July 25).
Ganda Koy leader Harouna Touré declared last month that "We are not afraid of death, but we dread shame" (L'Indépendant [Bamako], July 5). Touré insists that the militia coalition was formed without consulting anyone and will not wait for anyone's permission or collaboration to take action. The main objective of the coalition will be to bring a permanent end to the cycle of Tuareg rebellion and reconciliation that places northern Mali in a permanent state of instability (Septembre 22 [Bamako], July 5).
Though the present state of the Malian military would seem to preclude the possibility of bringing the self-defense militias under control, the government is nevertheless concerned that their impulsiveness will precipitate another round of civil war before the new government is prepared. While a government communiqué cited the "highly courageous initiative of the youth," it also affirmed that recovery of the occupied territories in the north is a "task of the state and its divisions" (L'Indépendant, July 25).
Militias such as Ganda Koy have notorious reputations for human rights abuses targeted at specific ethnic groups such as the Tuareg, Arabs and Mauritanians of northern Mali (see Terrorism Monitor, April 20). Unleashing them in the north rather than organizing a multinational response to the Islamist occupation is likely to aggravate the security situation rather than stabilize it and may create a poisonous legacy that will ensure years of retributive violence.
Posted in Mali, Tuareg


Part of 'The man-made world: a foundation course, units 33-4' Open University course.
To show that the forms given to man-made objects are not simply determined by a definition of uses and performances, but by a much more complex mix of knowledge, context, and aspirations and value of the designers.
To introduce and describe some basic activities undertaken by the designers.
To show that a designer operates within a social framework.
To provide some introductory exercises.


The John Doctor Education Prize was established in memory of John Doctor, a Society for Developmental Biology member, who passed away suddenly and prematurely in the fall of 2005. John was very active in the society as a member of the Professional Development and Education Committee (PDEC), a participant in education sessions at regional and national meetings, and as an organizer of the 2004 Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. His enthusiasm and enjoyment for teaching was inspirational for many who met him at SDB meetings.
In 2006, SDB began awarding the John Doctor Best Education Poster Award. In 2016, the PDEC reinvented the award as an education video competition and challenged SDB members to produce engaging videos that teach difficult-to-explain developmental biology topics. The John Doctor Education Prize includes a certificate and a check for $1,000.
Challenge: Produce a short video (up to 5 minutes in length) of your approach to teaching one of the following developmental biology topics to an undergraduate, graduate, or lay public audience: (1) Differential Gene Expression, (2) Body Axes, or (3) Gastrulation. Videos with broad appeal and those demonstrating active learning exercises or hands-on activities are preferred.
Selection Criteria: The presenter or team of presenters must be current SDB members (2019 dues paid). Videos will be evaluated on both the content of the work presented and the quality of the presentation. Videos should be clear, concise, and visually appealing. The presenter should be knowledgeable and engaging. A brief written summary about the video (no more than 3 pages double-spaced) is required with the submission. It should include tips for how the video could be used in the classroom, as well as the intended audience.
Sandra Leal, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS. "A forward genetic screen as a developmental biology laboratory exercise for undergraduates identifies gene candidates that regulate embryonic CNS development in Drosophila." Developmental Biology 356 (2011): A55.
Sally Hoskins, City College of New York, NY. "Demystifying and humanizing research through intensive analysis of primary literature--testing the C.R.E.A.T.E. approach in diverse student populations and topic areas." Developmental Biology 356 (2011): A56.
Judith Thorn, Knox College, Galesburg, IL. "Humanoids: a creative application project for developmental biology courses." Developmental Biology 344 (2010): 438.
Sally Hoskins, City College of New York, NY. "Novel use of primary literature in class promotes critical thinking as well as interest in research careers." Developmental Biology 306 (2007): A66.
Michael Klimkowsky, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO. "Mapping student misconceptions using Ed's Tools, an online analysis system." Developmental Biology 295 (2006): 349.


The Areopagos, meaning either 'Hill of Ares' or 'Hill of the Curses', is a worn rock outcrop just to the west of the Acropolis. The climb to the summit (access free) is rewarded with a beautiful view of the ancient Agora and day or night an anachronistic and peaceful view of the city of Athens.
The lack of visible archaeological remains is compensated for by the many legends and stories that are associated with the Areopagos. Ancient Athenians believed that the war god Ares was tried here for the killing of Halirrhothios, son of Poseidon. (Ares was acquitted after pleading that he had merely saved his daughter Alkippe from being raped by Halirrhothios.) Aeschylus, in his play The Furies (458 BC) situates the trial of Orestes for the murder of his mother Klytemnestra on the Areopagos. Some huge boulders down the path on the East side of the Areopagos may the collapsed roof of the Cave of the Furies, where those acquitted of murder would bring sacrifice. The precinct of this cave also offered asylum to murderers and run-away slaves and was said to contain the tomb of the legendary Oedipus.
From the 7th century BC the Areopagos was the seat of the Council of Elders and supreme court of Athens. Initially, this Council, composed of retired magistrates, constituted the most important political body of Athens. In the course of the late Archaic and Classical periods the power of the Areopagos, which was considered very conservative, was curtailed and its main function then became that of homicide court.
In 51/52 AD the Apostle Paul addressed the council at the Areopagos (Bible, Acts 17, 22-34) and converted one of its members, Dionysios, who then became known as 'the Areopagite'. Saint Paul's "spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city full of statues of the ancient gods; … standing in the midst of the Areopagos he said, 'Men of Athens, I find you in all things excessively daimon-fearing.'" Lower down the north slope, beyond the boulders of the Cave of Furies, are the remains of a 16th century AD church dedicated to Dionysios the Areopagite.
The path to the Cave of Furies and the church, starting at the east side of the Areopagos, leads further down the pleasantly wooded slope to the Agora and Plaka.
Access: free. Steps and rocks VERY slippery ascending and descending so be careful! They built a stairway on the left of the old steps so its only dangerous on the hill itself!


text:
package br.puc_rio.ele.lvc.interimage.geometry;

import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.util.List;

import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;

import org.w3c.dom.Document;
import org.w3c.dom.Element;
import org.w3c.dom.Node;
import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;

import br.puc_rio.ele.lvc.interimage.common.GeometryParser;

import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Geometry;

/**
 * Converts between KML format and InterIMAGE formats.

 * @author Rodrigo Ferreira
 * TODO: Add tile info to the polygons
 */
public class KMLConverter {

	/**
	 * Converts from KML to JSON format.

	 * @param input KML path

	 * output JSON file path
	 */
	public static void KMLToJSON(String kml, String json, List<String> names, boolean keep) {

	}

	/**
	 * Converts from JSON to KML format.

	 * @param input JSON path

	 * output KML file path
	 */
	public static void JSONToKML(String json, String kml, List<String> names, boolean keep) {

	}

	/**
	 * Converts from KML to WKT format.

	 * @param input KML path

	 * output WKT file path
	 */
	public static void KMLToWKT(String kml, String wktFile) {

		try {

			/*Processing input parameters*/
			if (wktFile == null) {
	            throw new Exception("No WKT file specified");
	        } else {
	        	if (wktFile.isEmpty()) {
	        		throw new Exception("No WKT file specified");
	        	}
	        }

			if (kml == null) {
	            throw new Exception("No KML file specified");
	        } else {
	        	if (kml.isEmpty()) {
	        		throw new Exception("No KML file specified");
	        	}
	        }

			GeometryParser geometryParser = new GeometryParser();
			DocumentBuilderFactory dbFactory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
			DocumentBuilder dBuilder = dbFactory.newDocumentBuilder();

			InputStream in = new FileInputStream(kml);

			OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(wktFile);

		    Document doc = dBuilder.parse(in);

		    Element rootElement = doc.getDocumentElement();
		    rootElement.normalize();

		    NodeList placemarks = rootElement.getElementsByTagName("Placemark");

		    if (placemarks.getLength() > 0) {

		    	for (int k = 0; k < placemarks.getLength(); k++) {
			    	Node placemark = placemarks.item(k);

				    Geometry geometry = null;
				    String wkt = null;

				    /*Checking for Point*/

				    NodeList points = ((Element)placemark).getElementsByTagName("Point");
				    NodeList lineStrings = ((Element)placemark).getElementsByTagName("LineString");
				    NodeList polygons = ((Element)placemark).getElementsByTagName("Polygon");

				    if (points.getLength() > 0) {
				    	Node point = points.item(0);
				    	if (point.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
				    		NodeList coordinates = ((Element)point).getElementsByTagName("coordinates");
				    		if (coordinates.getLength()>0) {
				    			String coords = coordinates.item(0).getTextContent();
				    			String[] c = coords.split(",");
				    			wkt = "POINT (" + c[0].trim() + " " + c[1].trim() + ")";
				    			geometry = geometryParser.parseGeometry(wkt);
				    		}

				    	}
				    } else if (lineStrings.getLength() > 0) {

					    /*Checking for LineString*/

				    	Node lineString = lineStrings.item(0);
				    	if (lineString.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
				    		NodeList coordinates = ((Element)lineString).getElementsByTagName("coordinates");
				    		if (coordinates.getLength()>0) {
				    			String coords = coordinates.item(0).getTextContent();
				    			String[] c = coords.split("\\r?\\n");

				    			/*Considering only 2D for now*/
				    			wkt = "LINESTRING (";

				    			boolean first = true;

				    			for (int w=0; w<c.length; w++) {

				    				if (c[w].trim().isEmpty())
				    					continue;

				    				String[] c1 = c[w].split(",");

				    				if (first) {
				    					first = false;
				    				} else {
				    					wkt = wkt + ", ";
				    				}
				    				wkt = wkt + c1[0].trim() + " " + c1[1].trim();
				    			}

				    			wkt = wkt + ")";

				    			geometry = geometryParser.parseGeometry(wkt);
				    		}

				    	}

				    } else if (polygons.getLength() > 0) {

				    	/*Checking for Polygon*/

				    	Node polygon = polygons.item(0);
				    	if (polygon.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
				    		NodeList obis = ((Element)polygon).getElementsByTagName("outerBoundaryIs");

				    		wkt = "POLYGON (";

				    		if (obis.getLength()>0) {

				    			NodeList coordinates = ((Element)obis.item(0)).getElementsByTagName("coordinates");

				    			if (coordinates.getLength()>0) {
					    			String coords = coordinates.item(0).getTextContent();
					    			String[] c = coords.split("\\r?\\n");

					    			/*Considering only 2D for now*/
					    			wkt = wkt + "(";

					    			boolean first = true;

					    			for (int w=0; w<c.length; w++) {

					    				if (c[w].trim().isEmpty())
					    					continue;

					    				String[] c1 = c[w].split(",");

					    				if (first) {
					    					first = false;
					    				} else {
					    					wkt = wkt + ", ";
					    				}
					    				wkt = wkt + c1[0].trim() + " " + c1[1].trim();
					    			}

					    			wkt = wkt + ")";

					    		}
				    		}

				    		NodeList ibis = ((Element)polygon).getElementsByTagName("innerBoundaryIs");

				    		if (ibis.getLength()>0) {

				    			NodeList ls = ((Element)ibis.item(0)).getElementsByTagName("LinearRing");

				    			for (int j=0; j<ls.getLength(); j++) {

				    				wkt = wkt + ", ";

					    			NodeList coordinates = ((Element)ls.item(j)).getElementsByTagName("coordinates");

					    			if (coordinates.getLength()>0) {
						    			String coords = coordinates.item(0).getTextContent();
						    			String[] c = coords.split("\\r?\\n");

						    			/*Considering only 2D for now*/
						    			wkt = wkt + "(";

						    			boolean first = true;

						    			for (int w=0; w<c.length; w++) {

						    				if (c[w].trim().isEmpty())
						    					continue;

						    				String[] c1 = c[w].split(",");

						    				if (first) {
						    					first = false;
						    				} else {
						    					wkt = wkt + ", ";
						    				}
						    				wkt = wkt + c1[0].trim() + " " + c1[1].trim();
						    			}

						    			wkt = wkt + ")";

						    		}
					    		}

				    		}

				    		wkt = wkt + ")";

				    		geometry = geometryParser.parseGeometry(wkt);

				    	}

				    }

				    if (geometry == null) {
				    	//out.close();
				    	//throw new Exception("Geometry not supported or not found");
				    	continue;
				    }

				    if (!geometry.isValid()) {
				    	out.close();
				    	throw new Exception("Geometry not valid");
				    }

				    wkt = wkt + "\n";

				    out.write(wkt.getBytes());

		    	}

		    }

		    out.close();

		} catch (Exception e) {
			System.err.println("Failed to parse KML file; error - " + e.getMessage());
		}

	}

	/**
	 * Converts from WKT to KML format.

	 * @param input WKT path

	 * output KML file path
	 */
	public static void WKTToKML(String wkt, String kml) {

		try {

			/*Processing input parameters*/
			if (wkt == null) {
	            throw new Exception("No WKT file specified");
	        } else {
	        	if (wkt.isEmpty()) {
	        		throw new Exception("No WKT file specified");
	        	}
	        }

			if (kml == null) {
	            throw new Exception("No KML file specified");
	        } else {
	        	if (kml.isEmpty()) {
	        		throw new Exception("No KML file specified");
	        	}
	        }

		} catch (Exception e) {
			System.err.println("Failed to create KML file; error - " + e.getMessage());
		}

	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
I love to share my enthusiasm for photography with others. As well as providing individual tuition, I have run photography workshops for dyslexic people and for teenagers. At present I am running photography workshops in schools for primary age children, this is an initiative for the promotion of photography as a tool to support the National Curriculum.
Two of the children who take part in these school workshops have recently won the RHS Young Photographer of the Year (under 11s). One child was placed 1st and the other placed 3rd, to view the winning photos click here.
Young children love taking photographs; they enjoy using cameras, looking through the viewfinder, using the zoom and the shutter, they engage with enthusiasm in the whole photographic process. They tend to take large quantities of photographs, which means that digital photography is an ideal medium to encourage the children to express themselves visually and creatively.
This is a process that encourages and develops confidence, eloquence and a sense of fulfilment. It is a progressive practice which expands as the children become used to observing and thinking within a visual framework and as they learn to trust their own creative instincts.
Photography can play a key role in supporting a number of areas of the new National Curriculum for key stages 1 and 2, including numeracy, literacy, history, geography, science, art and design, design and technology, IT and PSHE, with subject areas being seemlessly incorporated into the workshops so the children are unaware that they are actually learning.
I am keen to ensure that workshops are run on a flexible basis that fits in with each individual school and its culture. The workshops can be designed to promote photographic expertise and visual thinking or can concentrate on areas of the National Curriculum as required. I am more than happy to design and discuss any projects with you, please do not hesitiate to contact me for further information.
These projects often provide great opputunities to publicise the school and I will write an article for the papers when appropriate.
A collaboration between the South Downs National Park, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, the Towner Gallery and the Flora Twort Gallery led to the fantastic "Our Place" exhibition. Working with children from Amberley First School to produce an interactive replica of Arundel Castle. With jousting knights, a cheering crowd, a working drawbridge and a lighted tower this project incorporated design and technology, art, history and science.
As a part of their arts enrichment week, the entire school took part in a day of workshops at Stedham Primary School, not only learning to take stunning photographs but then turning them into works of art armed only with photo editing software, craft techniques and their imaginations.
Zoom! Click! Capture! What a Photograph! was an amazing exhibition of work of children ranging from age 6 to age 11. It was the endpiece of a series of workshops that explored image guidelines and reinforced these guidelines with activities that included geometry, colour theory, PSHE, and science as well as art and design.
A return to Amberley First School produced a photostory, whereby the children scripted, storyboarded and directed the whole process. This proved to be a very funny story, thereby establishing for themselves confidence in their own fantastic sense of humour as well as developing skills used in creative industries.
As a transition project for year 6 children as they moved from primary to secondary school, the basis of this project was PSHE, exploring the children's concerns, hopes and dreams at this juncture in their lives. The children from Easebourne Primary School created this tree with images from their primary school in the roots of the tree and images of their secondary school hanging as its fruit, indicating that whilst their roots are at Easebourne, the fruits of this will be in their secondary education.


Marilyn Atkinson, Ph.D. is the founder of Erickson Coaching International and the originator of a well-known, comprehensive, Solution-Focused and Outcome-Oriented Coaching model. Her model has actively contributed to the emergence and expansion of Solution-Focused Psychology, and the development of Meta Program Analysis for effective hiring and managerial approaches worldwide. As an Industrial Psychologist she has honed Solution-Focused methods for multiple kinds of corporate engagements, making the tools effective and easy for managers to use.
Marilyn has been a dedicated follower of Milton Erickson for decades and gave his name to Erickson Coaching International in 1985. For the past ten years she has been developing highly effective and specialized coach training programs (ICF ACTP-accredited The Art & Science of Coaching) that are currently being taught in 45 countries.
A former Registered Organizational Psychologist in Canada, Marilyn is also an NLP Master Trainer and specialist in Ericksonian Communications. She began developing formal business coach training programs in the mid-1990s. Since then she has been helping leading global companies and leaders through Solution-Focused and Outcome-Oriented Coaching transformations.
Marilyn has written and co-authored six books, including "The Art & Science of Coaching" Trilogy (Inner Dynamics of Coaching, Step-by-Step Coaching &The Flow of Coaching).


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text:
<?php namespace Laravelerator\Laravelerator;

use Win\DbUtil;
use Input;
use Redirect;
use View;
use Laravelerator\Alg\Manifest;
use Laravelerator\Alg\Template;
use Laravelerator\Laravelerator\Services\Validation\GenerateValidator;

class GenerateController extends BaseController {

	protected $validator;

	public function __construct(GenerateValidator $validator)
	{
		$this->validator = $validator;
	}

	public function fromForm()
	{
		// Set testing defaults here
		$template = Input::get('template', Input::old('template', 'shiphed'));
		$table = Input::get('table', Input::old('table', 'problems'));
		$namespace = Input::get('namespace', Input::old('namespace', 'Shiphed'));
		$schema = Input::get('schema', Input::old('schema', "id : increments\nusername : string(100)\npassword : string(100)\n"));
		$path = Input::get('path', Input::old('path', 'temp'));
		$mock = Input::get('mock', Input::old('mock', 'mock'));

		$templatesAvailable = Template::getAvailable();

		return View::make('laravelerator::controllers.generate.from_form', get_defined_vars());
	}

	public function fromTable($selectedDatabase = null, $selectedTable = null)
	{
		foreach (DbUtil::showDatabases() as $database)
		{
			$databases[$database] = DbUtil::showTables($database);
		}

		$databases = array_except($databases, ['test', 'information_schema', 'performance_schema', 'phpmyadmin', 'mysql']);

		if ($selectedDatabase and $selectedTable)
		{
			$schema = DbUtil::schema($selectedDatabase, $selectedTable);

			foreach ($schema as $schemata)
			{
				$schemaString[] = $schemata['Field'] . ':' . $schemata['Type'];
			}

			$schemaString = implode($schemaString, ",\n");
		}

		return View::make('laravelerator::controllers.generate.from_table', compact('databases', 'selectedDatabase', 'selectedTable', 'schema', 'schemaString'));
	}

	/**
	 * Show the generator results.
	 */
	public function show()
	{
		$input = Input::all();
// dv($input);die;
		if ($this->validator->fails($input))
		{
			return Redirect::action('Laravelerator\Laravelerator\GenerateController@fromForm')
				->withInput()
				->withErrors($this->validator->errors());
		}

		if (Manifest::wasCreated(Input::except('_token')))
		{
			$compiledCommand = compile_command();
			$directories = Manifest::getDirectories();
			$files = Manifest::getFiles();
		}
		else
		{
			$overwrites = Manifest::getOverwrites();
		}

		return View::make('laravelerator::controllers.generate.show', get_defined_vars());
	}

}


Anybody who cooks, whether you are a chef or the cook in your home should and can make these sauces. These sauces are the foundations to a vast number of meals from lasagne to eggs benedict.
While most cooks at home will have any use for a hollandaise or a veloutė, that doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to make them. Any home savvy cook should be able to quickly whip up a bechamel sauce or a simple salad dressing. Sure you can go buy the's at your local shop but those bottles have extra preservatives and sugar. By making them at home you can control the quality of your dish and therefore have a better quality of meal.
Although this may not be the traditional "mother" sauces, these are the ones I think will benefit the average home cook.
This is considered the sauce everyone must know how to make. A bechamel sauce is a traditional white sauce that is used to make lasagne or any other pasta dishes and is great poured over vegetables.
A traditional white sauce consists of flour and butter. Cooking on a low to medium heat to create a roux and adding milk to create a sauce.
Nutmeg is the seasoning added to the white sauce to make the sauce a bechamel.
A vinaigrette is used to dress salads and other greens. A basic rule of thumb is three parts oil to one part acid. For example; three parts olive oil to one part vinegar.
You can also use sherry, lemon juice, red or white wine. Get a bigger flavour by adding dijon mustard, garlic, shallots and honey.
This is very simple to make. All you need is some garlic, onions and some tomatoes. Use fresh tomotoes when they are in season or else use canned. Mix it up a little with some fresh or dried basil, oregano and perhaps a little wine.
So simple to make, barbecue sauce is one of the most American sauces possible. Simply dump all of the ingredients into a pan and simmer until the flavours mould together.
The main ingredients are ketchup, sugar, hot sauce of some kind, Worcestershire sauce and a combination of spices.
Homemade chocolate sauce is usually made with melted chocolate and a form of dairy to thin it down. Pour over ice cream or drizzle on top of your home baking.
In later posts I will go into great detail on how to make each one but for now here is a guideline on the basics sauces to some good home cooking. I will post the links into this post also when they become available but for now. Have some fun experimenting.
Thank you for reading and as always, if you have any questions or comments, please fill them in below.


text:
Кондинское — название населённых пунктов в России:
 Кондинское — село в Шатровском районе Курганской области.
 Кондинское — посёлок городского типа в Кондинском районе Ханты-Мансийского автономного округа.
 Кондинское — название посёлка городского типа Октябрьское Ханты-Мансийского автономного округа до 1957 года.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
HomeTechIMSAs WeatherTech series is going great, but where does it go next?
IMSAs WeatherTech series is going great, but where does it go next?
11 months ago No comment
Enlarge / DPi and LMP2 cars lead the grid at the start of the 2018 Sahlens Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. Brian Cleary/Getty Images
You don't have to follow sports car racing for too long before noticing its a rather cyclical sport. For a few years, everything will be totally awesome with cool cars and great racing. Then it all goes wrong; a bad economy sucks racing budgets dry, a rules change sends competitors elsewhere, or one of any number of other problems arises and interest and excitement evaporate. CanAm, Group C, GTP, and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) each blossomed for a while before circumstances conspired against them. We saw it most recently with the World Endurance Championship. For a few brief years it was the best thing in racing, with 1,000hp hybrid prototypes from Audi, Porsche, and Toyota—now in 2018 it's a mere shadow of where things were just two seasons ago.
Meanwhile, here in the US IMSA's WeatherTech Sportscar Championship appears to be in rude health, attracting a healthy mix of factory-backed cars in the DPi and GTLM class was well as pro-am teams running DPi, LMP2, and GTD cars. We've checked in with the IMSA series a couple of times this year—at the season opening Rolex 24 as well as at the Detroit Grand Prix—and we took a look behind the scenes with Mazda and Multimatic. But at Watkins Glen earlier this summer I caught up with IMSA's president Scott Atherton to talk about where American sports car racing is headed.
Atherton's been involved in the sport for several decades, running several different racetracks before heading up the ALMS in 2000. The ALMS' heyday was probably in the late 2000s, but by 2012 it was in a bit of trouble. NASCAR stepped in to buy it, merged the ALMS with its GrandAm series (which always put on a great show but struggled to attract the fans, mainly due to its low-tech and rather ugly Daytona Prototype cars). I put it to Atherton that his series is now very reminiscent of ALMS' glory days.
For many, the late 2000s were the high water mark for the American Le Mans Series. Factory-backed teams from Acura, Audi, and Porsche are seen here racing at Mid Ohio in 2008. (Coincidentally it was at that race that I wrote my first motorsports feature for Ars. Darrell Ingham/Getty Images
GrandAm gave us some wonderful racing, but not even these cars mothers' would call them attractive. Under the skin they were pretty outdated tube frame designs. Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for ISC
2012 was the final year for the ALMS and GrandAm, before they merged to become what we know know as the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. The two series shared a race weekend at Road America in 2012 and the grids posed for this group shot. Brian Cleary/Getty Images
The merger
Atherton responded: "This is one person's opinion, but candidly it's taken us that long to get back there. It's completely different in terms of what's on track, but I would agree with you, the combination of manufacturer involvement, the caliber of the teams, the caliber of the drivers, the overall energy level and trendline of the championship is very similar."
"You had to have lived through that era, when you had Acura, Audi, and Porsche all competing, and then a handful of really top quality independent teams, most of all Dyson. If you were there, you know, what I'm speaking of," he told me.
For a few years after the series merged in 2013, the ungainly Daytona Prototypes raced against Le Mans-spec LMP2 prototypes, a tricky balancing act for the people who had to write the rules. What's more, it happened with a lot of negativity in the background.
"When we first announced the merger, many of our core fans were very outspoken, opposed to it because they all felt that sports car racing was simply going to become another class of NASCAR. And that's not a negative observation of NASCAR it's just the two are so very different. And the NASCAR approach to racing and the traditional European approach to sports car racing candidly doesn't have a lot in common," Atherton said.
"Without question it was the most difficult process. Anybody who was on the front line would tell you it was the most difficult experience they ever endured and it brought everything to a breaking point. And I think we've all witnessed other examples of things that have had the title merger applied to it and in fact, it was an acquisition where one set of perspectives remained and the other simply quietly went away," Atherton said.
"Whereas when we announced this as a merger, and let's be candid, it was an acquisition—the France family [which owns NASCAR] acquired Panoz Motorsports Group and all that it entailed, but the process was a true merger. What it means is the combination of those two approaches, and if the outward appearance has more of the consistency of the American Le Mans series I can tell you that under the surface the infrastructure is all GrandAm, and it's all NASCAR."
Next year is going to see a few important changes to IMSA's WeatherTech series. There's a new TV deal with NBC Sports. Long-time series partner Continental Tires is leaving at the end of the year, to be replaced by Michelin (which has always been a presence in the GTLM class). And the prototype cars will be split into two classes. For the past two years, IMSA has had to try to performance balance the highly standardized LMP2 cars (which also race at Le Mans) with the factory DPi prototypes, pegging the latter back via the dreaded balance of performance (BOP).
The DPi cars are based on the LMP2 class but OEMs have freedom to use their own engines, control electronics, dampers, and can add styling cues to visually link the race cars to their road machines. All of that should make them theoretically faster, but this year the BOP has been so successful that LMP2 cars have won several of the most recent races. All that changes in 2019. From next year, DPi will be its own class, and let off the leash, with LMP2 remaining an option for pro-am teams but almost guaranteed no chance of an overall win.
For many fans of the sport, DPi cars should be an obvious addition to the French endurance race at Le Mans, particularly after the hybrid LMP1 class there proved to be financially unsustainable. Both Audi and Porsche were spending several hundred millions of dollars a year on LMP1 programs, and other than Toyota, no other OEM has been prepared to consider taking part at that level due to the cost. (By contrast, a factory-backed DPi program would struggle to spend more than $20 million a year.) Meanwhile, there are increasing rumors that we may soon see DPi cars become hybrids, but with standardized systems to prevent the cost escalation seen in LMP1.
I asked Atherton about those rumors, and how IMSA's relationship with the ACO (which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans) is faring. "I think it would be helpful to give you just a brief history of the process we've been involved with. Because you're right, it's an important topic. And it's one that is still very much alive in terms of the opportunity to bring a single technical regulation that would work at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, in the WEC, and what's happening here in the WeatherTech series," he said. "If you go back to the very first sit-down meeting between ourselves and the ACO, that takes you back to September of last year. And there was a vision shared at that time of when we look at the next generation prototype regulations, it makes total sense for all involved that we have a common regulation. By common, meaning the same," Atherton told me.
In the late 1990s, manufacturers like Porsche and Mercedes-Benz twisted the spirit of the rules to give us GT1 cars like these, which bore only the faintest relationship with their road-going relatives. Are we headed back there soon? Porsche
There's no race series for the hybrid McLaren P1 GTR, but some hope the new rules being discussed by IMSA and the ACO will lead to that happening. McLaren
Likewise, the Ferrari FXX-K is a race car with nowhere to race. Ferrari
"At the time that meeting took place, the reality of what had happened in LMP1 was not private information, it was public. There was going to be one manufacturer, Toyota, continuing. So the interest level of all involved, ACO, FIA, IMSA, was at a very high level. And we talked about our definition of what is a sustainable level of budget not only to design, build, create the racing vehicle, but then to compete with it. And the model that's always used is a two car team over a full season," Atherton said. (The budgets being discussed were between €25 and €30 million, that is, $29 million to $35 million, which would be a significant reduction from LMP1 and much closer to—but still more than—it would cost to run in IMSA.)
At first, the ACO's plans sounded like everyone wanted to return to the late 1990s, where road-going supercars were used as a starting point, then evolved into fiercesome GT1 cars. Except this time with hypercars, the idea would be that we could see McLaren P1s and Ferrari LaFerraris race each other at Le Mans, rather than the even more exotic P1s that bear much less resemblance to anything you might see wearing a number plate. Whether this is where we will get to see that is still up in the air; a more likely alternative is an evolution of the DPi concept, with more road car styling cues applied to prototype chassis, and production car engines coupled with standardized hybrid systems.
"The next generation of our top class will make its debut—whether it's with hypercar example or DPI 2.0—in January of 2022," Atherton said. "We're here in 2018. So we have some luxury of time. But when you think that far ahead, knowing what we know today, and if you go to the International Auto Show in Detroit, you go to Geneva, you go to Paris, you go to Los Angeles, every manufacturer is showcasing hybridization, electrification, alternative fuels. So if your mandate is to maintain manufacturer and consumer relevance in technology, then there's no leap of faith involved to say there's got to be hybridization," Atherton told me.
"The question is how you put a wrapper around that such that you don't have the technological arms race that ultimately results in that program coming to an end because the budgets get out of control. And you're always one board meeting away from termination," Atherton said. "That's always been the case. We're very sensitive right now to how our manufacturers who are currently involved with us want to evolve. And we take a lot of our cues from that type of very candid transparent feedback," he explained.
New system shows the earliest life could cooperate despite "cheaters"
Campaigning starts for Nago assembly election; U.S. base in focus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
| Yale-NUS takes distinct approach to science curriculum
Qi Xu
Yale-NUS takes distinct approach to science curriculum
Qi Xu 4:41 am, Oct 30, 2015
At the inauguration of Yale-NUS' new campus on Oct. 12, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Yale-NUS cannot be a carbon copy of Yale if it is to succeed as its own institution of higher education.
Differences between Yale and its Southeast Asian counterpart have become especially apparent as Yale-NUS reviews parts of its Common Curriculum, which some students have argued poses a particular challenge to those without strong backgrounds in science. Yale-NUS has a "Common Curriculum," a set of courses that comprises 38 percent of a Yale-NUS student's education. Unlike Yale's distributional requirements, some Common Curriculum categories only include one class, meaning that those individual courses are compulsory for all students. Two of these compulsory classes are the introductory science modules, called "Scientific Inquiry" and "Quantitative Reasoning." Students must also complete more advanced classes in the categories of Integrated Science and Foundations of Science, although these categories offer more choice in classes. While students have largely expressed support for the introductory modules, the more advanced modules have proven difficult for non-science majors, who say lectures are confusing and grading is inconsistent. Still, faculty and students alike say they support Yale-NUS' continuing efforts to revise its science offerings.
Additionally, although Yale-NUS only offers three majors in the sciences, administrators say these majors are broader than those offered at Yale, offering students more freedom in their academic pursuits.
"I think that including science in the Common Curriculum is essential for making this a 21st-century education … We want to introduce students to all the fields they need to be effective citizens today, and scientific literacy is absolutely essential," Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis said. "This does present some challenges in that students have a variety of backgrounds in science when they arrive, but the payoff is worth it."
ASSESSING THE CURRICULUM
Lewis said that although Yale-NUS does not release course evaluations like Yale does, an internal survey distributed this year showed that students' responses to the compulsory "Scientific Inquiry" module are largely positive. For the more advanced science classes in Integrated Science and Foundations of Science, Pericles said, the problem lies not in the difficulty level, but in the amount of material covered. The course design started out "too ambitious" in that it aimed to cover too much in one or two semesters, he said, adding that these are broadly successful classes but the school hopes to tweak its approach going forward.
Yale-NUS Dean of Faculty and Yale astronomy professor Charles Bailyn '81 said the school has made a "decent start" on incorporating science into the Common Curriculum, although it needs to adjust the sequence of courses.
"I think the balance between science, social science and humanities isn't that different for us than for Yale," Bailyn said. "The really big difference is that we have a Common Curriculum, whereas Yale has a distribution system. That means that we can design science courses that everyone will take. At Yale, some students seem to choose their science courses based on how easy they appear to be, and that's not an option that's available here."
Bailyn is heading a committee to review the school's Common Curriculum. The committee generated an internal report earlier this year based on input from Yale-NUS faculty and students. The report was also examined by an external panel, comprised of Yale and NUS faculty not directly linked to the school, earlier this month.
Bailyn said the external panel will compile a report of its own, and when it is available — most likely in mid-November — the school will release main points from both the self-study report and the external report, although some details will remain confidential. The Yale-NUS faculty will most likely vote on changes to the Common Curriculum in January of next year, Bailyn said.
Several Yale-NUS students interviewed acknowledged that some science classes at their university tried to cover too much ground. They agreed that the school needs time to adjust its first iteration of the Common Curriculum.
Matthew Bolden YNUS '17, an environmental studies major who took three classes in the Integrated Science category, said the courses were well-taught. Although the introductory computer science class in the Integrated Science category covered a good deal of material, he said he did not find it overwhelming or rushed, and the professor was always available for office hours.
But he noted that the science in the Common Curriculum could be generalized to equip everyone with the essential scientific understanding and skills, rather than catering to those who already know they want to pursue scientific research.
"[Science] ought to be part of the Common Curriculum, but that's far easier said than done. For the most part, tertiary science education is designed to churn out researchers. That's all fine and dandy, but it turns away a lot of people." Bolden said. "The Common Curriculum has to grapple with this issue, and I don't think we've quite figured out how to do that yet."
Al Lim YNUS '19, who is taking the mandatory "Scientific Inquiry" course this semester, said that the scope of the module is too ambitious as it covers evolution and cosmology in one semester. Still, he said, despite not having prior experience in these areas, he found the subject matter relatively easy to follow.
BROAD-RANGING MAJORS
Yale-NUS' three science majors are life sciences, physical sciences and mathematical, computational and statistical sciences. The environmental studies major is cross-listed as humanities, sciences and social sciences. The majors are not being evaluated as part of the current curricular review.
Fourteen percent of Yale-NUS' inaugural class declared a science major, a smaller proportion than at other universities in Singapore. At the National University of Singapore, 21.4 percent of incoming freshmen this year were science majors. At the Nanyang Technological University, 16.3 percent of incoming freshmen planned to study the sciences. Additionally, at both NUS and NTU, a significant portion of students chose to study engineering, although that is not an option at Yale-NUS.
Lewis said that although Yale-NUS offers few science majors, each major is broad enough to cover a variety of topics and fields.
"We look at [the majors] more as a framework for studies rather than as a limiting factor," he said. "So in physical sciences a student can study physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology … Life Sciences covers what at Yale are several departments, such as MCDB, E&EB and MB&B." Lewis added that since many of these programs share the same prerequisites, it is possible to cover them in a single major.
Students also have the opportunity to take more advanced courses at NUS in more specialized fields where Yale-NUS might not have a faculty member, Lewis added.
Bailyn agreed that the majors at Yale-NUS are much broader than majors at Yale. For example, Bailyn said, the mathematical, computational and statistical science major — a single science major at Yale-NUS — includes the equivalent of math, computer science and applied math at Yale, as well as parts of statistics.
"So there are many more pathways available to our students than would be the case for any three particular majors at Yale," Bailyn said. "So the range of our programs is not a problem."
Yale-NUS was founded in 2011.