text:
Delhiites without masks to pay Rs 2,000, instead of Rs 500: CM Kejriwal
Kejriwal also emphasised that this decision should not be politicised, saying that the Delhi government is not against the festival; the decision taken is in light of the rising cases, and is in the interest of the safety of people
Updated Nov 19, 2020, 8:36 PM IST
As COVID-19 cases rise in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday that the fine for not wearing a mask in public has been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000.
He accredited this development to the carelessness of the people. Addressing a press conference post an all-party meeting, Kejriwal said, "People are wearing masks. But there is leniency as well. We need to tighten the screws. The fine which was Rs 500 so far has been increased to Rs 2,000."
He also requested people to celebrate Chhath Pooja on November 20 at their homes, instead of crowding ponds, lakes, and rivers for the same. "According to experts, if 200 people enter a pond and even if one person is infected with the virus then all those who are in the water will 100 per cent get the virus," added the Chief Minister.
Kejriwal also emphasised that this decision should not be politicised, saying that the Delhi government is not against the festival; the decision taken is in light of the rising cases, and is in the interest of the safety of people. "Delhi is going through a tough phase. This is not the time to play politics and issue statements against political parties but to work together and serve."
Thanking the doctors and healthcare workers for their painstaking efforts to ensure minimal fatalities in the national capital, Kejriwal also made an announcement regarding the functioning of private hospitals in Delhi. While all non-emergency surgeries are to be postponed, the hospitals are to reserve 80 per cent of ICU and 60 per cent of non-ICU beds for COVID-19 patients.
In addition to this, the Delhi government also wants to revert back to its previous restriction of 50 guests for wedding gatherings, taking away the updated relaxation of 200 guests allowed since November 1. This decision taken by the government is awaiting approval from the Lieutenant General.
Also Read: Karnataka eyes 50% market share of country's $100 billion bio-economy by 2025
Also Read: Govt speeds up environment project approvals; appraisals to happen twice a month
Also Read: MSMEs body demands protection against cheap Chinese imports for 660 products
Published on: Nov 19, 2020, 8:10 PM IST
Posted by: Vivek Dubey, Nov 19, 2020, 8:10 PM IST


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Mozilla Will Be Shutting Down Flash Plugin in Firefox 69 This Year
Mozilla is scheduled to release its latest Firefox 69 on 3rd September 2019. In the meantime, Firefox is taking some liberties and is ready to make some changes in the latest version of the browser. Mozilla's plugin roadmap now shows that it has planned to disable Flash by default in Firefox. This initiative of shutting down Flash will be effective sometime this year.
A new bug filing has revealed that this plugin will be completely disabled for Firefox 69. First, it will affect the Nightly builds; that is, the action of disabling the Flash will take place first and work its way down to the Stable Channel. Adobe reportedly will be ending its support for its Flash plugin before 2020 comes to a close.
So Mozilla may be following in the footsteps of Adobe. Mozilla has said that they will be ending their Flash support completely for consumer versions of Firefox in early 2020. However, the Extended Support Release (ESR) version will still have the support until the rest of the year and till the end of the year. Starting from 2021, Mozilla will not load the plugin due to Adobe's lack of security updates.
Flash falls under the category of NPAPI plugins, and for some time, these NPAPI plugins have proved to be a security as well as a performance problem for Firefox users. These plugins are not a necessity of any kind, and as asserted by Mozilla itself, these plugins have become obsolete. To do away with a primitive plugin, Mozilla wanted to evolve and move to a web that does not demand plugins and which primarily runs on web technologies such as HTML5.
To completely obliterate the Flash plugin, Mozilla has been phasing out Flash usage in its browser little by little since June 2016. In a step-by-step procedure, Mozilla first made Flash click-to-activate in Firefox 47, and finally, in Firefox 52, it withdrew support for non-Flash NPAPI plugins.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Various menus available for weddings, including lamb on the spit, roast lamb, chicken pie, beef fillet, lamb shanks – all served with side dishes. Wedding canapes and starters also catered for.
Lamb on the spit, Chicken thighs, Baby potato's, Garlic bread, Roast vegetables & Green salad.
Lamb on the spit, Potatobake, Pot bread with jam and cheese, Roast veg & Green salad.
Lamb Chop, Chicken Kebab, Boerewors, Traditional South African 'Braai Broodjie', Greek Salad, Potato Salad.
Lamb on the spit / Filled chicken breast.
Served with oven roasted vegetables, mixed salad, sweet potato roll and cole slaw.
Chicken pie / Deboned shoulder of pork.
Lamb shanks with a red wine sauce.
Roast lamb / chicken pie.
200g Beef burger with caramelised onions, camenbert cheese, rocket leaves and crispy bacon.
250g Beef Fillet with Chilli Butter.
Sirloin steak / Deboned shoulder of pork.
Served with sweet pumpkin, beet salad, Greek salad and homemade bread with butter, jam and cheese.
Happy with our Menus & Prices and want to book?
Contact us now to book or go to our online quotation system to get a instant quotation.


Working at the Elmwood Park Zoo is fun and rewarding! Our employees enjoy the challenges and fulfilling experiences that result from working for one of the most popular family attractions and fastest growing educational facilities in the Greater Philadelphia area.
painter must be able to use a radio to understand and relay appropriate updates and information.
Assist the zoo in fostering an appreciation of wildlife and their habitat that will inspire active participation in conservation.
Assist management in ensuring safety, cleanliness, and efficiency in all areas of the operation of the zoo.
Be available as per business needs.
Adhere to proper dress attire at all times.
Being prepared to work in various outdoor conditions.
Follow and adhere to all policies and procedures for their specific department and the zoo at all times.
Uses proper radio etiquette, ability to use a multi-channel radio to communicate with other staff members and use appropriate procedures according to radio protocol.
Expected to produce quality, artistic face paints to the public on a daily basis as part of the zoo Guest Services team.
Aid the Guest Services department in identifying and create new face paint designs and opportunities to offer to guests.
Communicate effectively with both adults and children in both group and individual settings while face painting.
Consistent attendance is a job requirement.
Ensure safety standards are followed while applying face paint to guests.
Perform inventory related stock functions as needed including maintaining proper face painting supply levels; ordering face paint supplies as needed and completing and submitting purchase orders for ordered items.
Maintain a clean and organized sales environment, as well as face paint supplies.
Monitor areas of the sales location throughout the day in order to assist guests, maintain location visual standards, and protect facility assets.
Responsible for responding to customer inquiries in regards to admission rates, hours of operations, memberships, birthday parties, group rates, special events, retail items, attractions, etc.
Informs managers of comments, complaints, or concerns.
Operate cash register including the handling of cash and credit card transactions in accordance with department and Zoo guidelines and cash handling policies.
Responsible for basic daily maintenance, cleanliness and organization of department areas.
You must be at least 16 years old to be considered for this position.
Experience with face painting is highly preferred.
Must be able to handle cash and operate POS retail systems.
Must have the ability to perform effectively in a fast-paced environment.
This position requires prolonged standing for two to three hours at a time.
Must be able to lift a minimum of 40 lbs.
Must be able to work outside in a variety of weather conditions.
This role is part-time and requires full availability for any shift and a minimum four days per week; including weekends, nights, and holidays.
License: A valid Driver's license/State ID and second form of valid identification is required. Ability to pass background and child abuse clearances.
This individual should be highly motivated, responsible, and personable and should have a proactive attitude and show leadership skills. This individual will be responsible for adhering to the policies and procedures of the Zoo. For this specific character position, applicants should have prior acting or performing experience. Staff members expected to have an outgoing personality and the ability to problem-solve. Performers have the opportunity to work at a number of locations, either indoors or outdoors, for the Elmwood Park Zoo and Treetop Adventures. Performers mustexhibit a positive, friendly, helpful attitude with guests and coworkers to maintain a quality zoo experience and never break character while in front of the public.
Assist in creating a safe, clean and efficient working environment throughout the Zoo. Be available as per business needs.
Adhere to Zoo confidentiality standards as outlined in the Zoo's Employee Handbook regarding all information regarding customers, animals, business operations, employees, volunteers, and any/all sensitive information.
Interact cordially and communicate clearly with the public.
Perform as one of Elmwood Park Zoo's costumed characters throughout the year and represent the zoo through upbeat and energetic performances, interacting with guests of all ages throughout/outside the zoo.
Stay in character throughout performance times and follow mascot and costume policies and guidelines.
Be available as per business needs, including nights and holidays for events at zoo and in surrounding area, at events such as festivals, sporting games, carnivals, etc.
Fit into Bubby's costume. Approximately 5'8" – 5'11" in height, and 15 inches chest width.
You must be at least 18 years of age to be considered for this position.
You must also have a driver's license and an automobile to perform as mascot at different locations as needed by the zoo.
Prolonged standing for two to three hours at a time or longer.
Ability to withstand frequent appearances in outdoor weather conditions in full costume throughout various seasons.
This role is Part-Time and requires full availability for any shift, including nights and holidays.
Strong communication skills are a must.
Carrying or lifting items weighing up to 50 pounds.
Summary of Responsibilities: This individual should be highly motivated, responsible, and personable and should have a proactive attitude and show leadership skills. This individual assists the Marketing Manager in all aspects of the Zoo's marketing ventures to increase brand awareness and sales. We are looking for outgoing & reliable Brand Ambassadors to join our team. Brand Ambassadors have the opportunity to work at a number of locations, either indoors or outdoors, for the Elmwood Park Zoo & Treetop Adventures. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, collecting costumer data, tabling at events, and conducting giveaways. Must be available to work flexible hours.
Uphold the zoo's mission of fostering an appreciation for wildlife and the environment that will inspire active participation in conservation.
Understand all zoo department policies and procedures.
Assist in creating a safe, clean and efficient working environment throughout the zoo.
Identification:A valid Driver's license/State ID and second form of valid identification is required. Ability to pass background and child abuse clearances.
This individual should be highly motivated, responsible, and personable and should have a proactive attitude and show leadership skills. Guides are expected to have an outgoing personality, ability to problem-solve, and must follow protocol in the health and well-being of our animals. Guides are key members of the Elmwood Park Zoo staff and operate as the "face" of the zoo. The Elmwood Park Zoo Treetop Adventures department operates in a variety of facets, and guides are expected to be trained and knowledgeable in all areas. Adventure guides have the opportunity to work at a number of locations, either indoors or outdoors, throughout the Elmwood Park Zoo. Guides must exhibit a positive, friendly, helpful attitude with guests and coworkers to maintain a quality zoo experience. Responsibilities include operating & balancing a point-of-sale system (POS register), stocking, inventory and light cleaning. Adventure guides also have the opportunity to help guests daily by answering questions, providing information and assisting with special requests. Other responsibilities include assisting with event setups and execution, as well as providing tours and assisting on small programs, such as birthday parties.
• To assist the zoo in fostering an appreciation of wildlife and their habitats that will inspire active participation in conservation.
• Assist management in ensuring safety, cleanliness, and efficiency in all areas of the operation of the zoo.
• Be available as per business needs.
• Follow and adhere to all policies and procedures and safety protocols for the department and the zoo.
• Learn all aspects of the Treetop Adventures experience and follow through with training.
• The ability to answer a multi phone line in accordance to Standard Operating Procedures.
• Ability to use a multi-channel radio to communicate with other staff members and use appropriate procedures according to radio protocol.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Treetop Adventures Managers or Assistant Managers.
• Full availability for any shift, minimum of (3) days per week including nights and some holidays.
• Work Experience: Previous cashier experience and knowledge of Point of Sales register. Previous event planning and execution experience a plus.
This individual should be highly motivated, responsible, and personable and should have a proactive attitude. Ride Operators are expected to have an outgoing personality, the ability to problem-solve, and must show an interest in our mission. Ride Operators are key members of the Elmwood Park Zoo staff and operate as the "face" of the zoo. The Elmwood Park Zoo Ride Operator department operates in a variety of facets, and are expected to be trained and knowledgeable in these areas. Ride operators have the opportunity to work at a number of locations, either indoors or outdoors, throughout the Zoo. Ride Operators must exhibit a positive, friendly, helpful attitude with guests and coworkers to maintain a quality zoo experience. Responsibilities include operating daily inspection of all rides assigned and all seats, tracks, gears, and other pieces of machinery, as well as cosmetic aspects including paint, luster, shine and finish of metal, walkways and access points, straps and seat belts and other safety equipment. Ride operators are expected keep their areas neat and organized. Ride operators must also exhibit the highest standards of safety practices and employ great attention to detail, monitoring the ride and its riders at all times of operation. Ride Operators also have the opportunity to help guests daily by answering questions, providing information and assisting with special requests. Other responsibilities include assisting with small and large event setup, breakdown, and execution, as well as assisting on small programs, such as birthday parties.
• Assist the zoo in fostering an appreciation of wildlife and their habitat that will inspire active participation in conservation.
• Adhere to proper dress attire at all times.
• Being pared to work in various outdoor conditions.
• Follow and adhere to all policies and procedures for their specific department and the zoo at all times.
• Uses proper radio etiquette, ability to use a multi-channel radio to communicate with other staff members and use appropriate procedures according to radio protocol.
• Informs managers of comments, complaints, or concerns.
• Responsible for collecting and scanning of tickets at each ride attraction location assigned, counting and verifying tickets counts at end of shift. Ride operator is also responsible for verifying the legitimacy of each ticket as it is collected for proper assignments, expiration dates, etc.
• Contribute to the basic daily neatness and organization of the department and other areas.
• Responsible for maintaining all safety standards and procedures to ensure safe and enjoyable rides and experiences for all guests.
• Responsible for monitoring all guests while on board of any of the rides or attractions the operator is overseeing during their shift; operator must have great sense of focus and maintain strict attention to keep experience safe at all times.
• This position may require prolonged standing for several at a time.
• Must be able to lift a minimum of 30 lbs.
• Must be able to work inside or outside in a variety of weather conditions.
• This role is part-time and requires full availability for any shift and a minimum of three days per week, including some nights and some holidays. Normal shifts are 9:00AM – 5:30PM with variable night shifts.
• Previous ride operating experience is preferred.
This individual should be highly motivated, responsible, and personable and should have a proactive attitude. Food & Beverage Service Attendants are expected to have an outgoing personality, the ability to problem-solve, and must show an interest in our mission. F&B Attendants are key members of the Elmwood Park Zoo staff and operate as the "face" of the zoo. The Elmwood Park Zoo Food & Beverage Services department operates in a variety of facets, and Attendants are expected to be trained and knowledgeable in these areas. Attendants have the opportunity to work at a number of locations, either indoors or outdoors, throughout the zoo. Food & Beverage Service Attendants must exhibit a positive, friendly, helpful attitude with guests and coworkers to maintain a quality zoo experience. Responsibilities include operating a point-of-sale system (POS cash register), cash handling, stocking, inventory, food prep, cooking, and food expediting. Attendants are expected keep their areas neat and organized and practice safe and clean food service practices at all times. Food & Beverage Service Attendants also have the opportunity to help guests daily by answering questions, providing information and assisting with special requests. Other responsibilities include assisting with small and large event setup, breakdown, and execution, as well as assisting on small programs, such as birthday parties.
• Being able to work in various outdoor conditions.
• Ability to be trained in all aspects of the Food & Beverage Services Department including receiving, stocking and counting inventory, receiving orders and processing payments on a Point of Sale System, assisting with and executing food prep and order, expediting food, and assisting with the daily cleaning of all equipment and machines.
• Responsible for answering basic customer questions, including hours of operations, pricing, etc. and directing questions to appropriate parties within the zoo.
• Assist Food & Beverage Services team with restocking and inventory in F&B locations which includes verifying & stocking all food items when delivered in accordance with SOP and in coordination with Director of Guest Services, Food & Beverage Services Manager & Guest Services Managers.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Director of Guest Services, F&B Manager, or GS Managers.
• This position may require prolonged standing for two to three hours at a time.
• Previous experience in a kitchen or food services atmosphere is preferred.


text:
Рагнарьок  (Ragnarök, "Залезът на боговете") в скандинавската митология е поредица от значими събития, включваща титанична битка, за която било предречено, че ще завърши със смъртта на много богове и герои (в това число Один, Тор, Фрейр, Хеймдалур и Локи), настъпването на различни природни катаклизми, и последващият потоп на земята. Според мита, след Рагнарьок светът отново се появява над водата, обновен и плодороден, оцелелите след битката богове се срещат и земята се населва отново от потомството на две оцелели човешки същества – Лиф и Лифтразир.

За събитията, свързани с Рагнарьок, се говори първо в поетичната Стара Еда, която през 13 век е събрана от различни устни предания, а после и в Снора Еда, написана в проза от Снуре Стурлусон. Популярност им придава и последната от цикъла опери на Рихард Вагнер "Пръстенът на нибелунга", озаглавена "Залезът на боговете" (в оригинал: Götterdämmerung).

Вижте също
 Война между Аси и Вани
 Фимбулвинтер

Скандинавска митология

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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You name it...This is very simple VortexDirect.com product. This one is different than most out there, in that is is somewhat customizable. It can be used with the handles, or without. If the handles are on it, they will fold in, etc.


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Schema Automation
Internal Linking Guide
Semantic SEO Guide
Guide to Entity SEO
InLinks Academy
Launch Log
Entity SEO: the Guide to Understanding
Help, Insights
Entity-based SEO is a new field, full of possibilities, but where solid approaches still need to be developed. This includes the theory, the techniques and the tools for using entities to optimize your site.
For a start let's break down confusion in understanding what SEO entities really are. Many articles have already been published on entities and their role in the evolution of web indexing. For many professionals, however, it remains difficult to understand. Why do entities make it possible to set up a sustainable SEO strategy and how they can be used to improve website performance?
This guide aims to show why you need entities to make your SEO effort more effective and how to use entities to improve on-page SEO, consolidate a site's architecture and improve your traffic acquisition strategies.
What you will find in this guide:
What is an SEO entity?
How Google uses entities?
Use entities to improve SEO
1. What is an SEO entity?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.
From the start, SEOs have mainly focused on keywords to increase traffic.
Entity-based SEO is all about focusing on entities rather than keywords. Put it like that it's simple, but it requires a fundamental change of mindset.
What is a keyword?
In SEO, a keyword is made up of one or more words entered by a user in a search engine such as Google or Bing.
When search engines began, the notion of keywords has formed the basis of natural referencing strategies, with the aim of ensuring the visibility of a page in search engine results, for one or more specific phrases.
Keywords have two basic characteristics:
They carry ambiguity. A keyword can refer to several very different subjects. The keyword "Cookie" can, for example, refer to an edible biscuit or to the information sent by a Web server when a page loads.
A keyword is most of the time specific to a language. The keyword "machine à laver" in French corresponds to "washing machine" in English or "lavadora" in Spanish.
What is an entity?
In general, an entity (or named entity to be more precise) designates a single, well-defined thing or concept which can be linked to a knowledge graph.
Unlike a keyword, which is ultimately just a collection of letters specific to a language, an entity carries meaning and is independent of the language and of the synonymous keywords that designate it.
More precisely, in the SEO world, an entity concerns any subject that can be linked to the knowledge graphs of search engines, such as the Google Knowledge Graph.
We know that Wikipedia acted as a primary trusted seed set for the Knowledge Graph. For simplicity, we can call an Entity any subject that can be attached to a Wikipedia article page, (other than disambiguation or a category pages).
Entity type Keyword synonym Corresponding entity
Person Trump Donald trump
Location Paris Paris, France
Organization Alphabet Alphabet Inc
Event CES Consumer Electronics Show
Concept / Thing SEO Search Engine Optimization
To optimize on-page and on-site SEO, we should be focussing on which underlying entities to use to help a search engine understand the enderlying meaning of the content.
Note: there are other types of entities, such as you, your brand, your company, which while not having Wikipedia pages, can be linked to other Knowledge Graphs (such as Google MyBusiness or Linkedin). However, optimizing these entities will only improve your reputation, not your SEO.
Frequently encountered mistakes regarding entities
There are a lot of errors on the web about entities in SEO. It seems essential to us to remove any ambiguity or confusion here.
Errors encountered in SEO literature
Take, for example, this Search Engine Watch article about optimizing content using entities.
The author suggests that "player", "best basketball shoes" and "basketball" are entities discovered by Google during the analysis of a text on basketball.
Results of the analysis of a text by the Google NLP API
What are the mistakes made here? Best Basketball Shoes certainly does not refer to an entity because there is no Wikipedia page on the subject.
Basketball shoes is also not an entity. This is a synonymous keyword referring to the Entity Sneakers.
Even the word Nike refers to the entity Nike, Inc. This entity was correctly detected by Google NLP, which creates a synonym: the word "Nike" but links to the Wikipedia page of the entity Nike, Inc.
What to remember from this:
Google only lists keywords in its natural language API interface. The entities correspond to the Wikipedia links associated with each word.
Other errors encountered
The example Wikipedia gives on its page regarding named entities is also confusing.
Here is a quote on the Wikipedia page (as of 12 Jan 2021):
…Consider the sentence Trump is the president of the United States. Both Trump and the United States are named entities since they refer to specific objects (Donald Trump and United States). However, president is not a named entity since it can be used to refer to many different objects in different worlds"
Excerpt from Wikipedia (contested)
This claim is wrong for the following reasons:
Trump is a keyword synonymous with the Donald Trump entity (and therefore the word Trump is not in itself an entity, it can also refer, depending on the context, to the Trump entity (card game) in English, or Trump in French)
Likewise, President is a keyword synonymous with the entity President of the United States (identified in the Google Knowledge Graph by the ID / m /060d2), which can be easily disambiguated by analyzing the context of the sentence, especially since this entity is exactly named in the sentence above.
The sentence given as an example by Wikipedia ultimately referred to 3 entities: Donald Trump, President of the United States and United States.
Terminology used by Google: Entities, Topics or both?
As we will see below, Google uses entities in most of its web services (Google Search, Google Discover, Google News and Google Trends in particular).
On the other hand, Google hardly ever uses the term Entity, preferring the term Subject in French or Topic in English, as shown in the screenshots below. All of the "Topics" mentioned are actually Entities.
So it's important to be wary of the way Google names things (but you probably already know that).
2. How does Google use entities?
Why Google uses entities
Before answering the question of "How", it is interesting to first question the "Why". Why are entities today at the heart of Google's algorithms and services and why are they now tending to replace keywords bit by bit?
One reason is obvious. If Google uses entities, it is because these entities make it possible to connect all the world's information together, regardless of the language. Entities make it possible to understand the meaning of this information as well as the centres of interest of its users.
Google uses entities because these entities make it possible to connect all the world's information together, regardless of the language. Entities make it possible to understand the meaning of this information as well as the centres of interest of its users.
By detecting the entities contained in web pages, Google will be able to link two sites talking about the same thing in different languages.
In the example opposite, Google offers, via Discover, an article in English to a French user interested in the "Search engine optimization" entity (and who has previously consulted English sites on the same topic).
We will see that personalization via entities goes far beyond Google Discover.
What Google services use entities?
In its 2018 article " Helping you along your Search journeys " Google already claimed to detect and index the entities contained in all web pages published on the Web, with many key applications.
If we had to summarize all of these applications, we could say that Google uses entities to interpret and categorize web pages, establish relationships between entities (and therefore between web pages), and deliver better answers to questions for Web users.
The Knowledge Graph
As reported by Google, the Knowledge Graph is used by Google Search to help users discover information faster and easier. This Knowledge Graph contains most of the real-world entities such as people, places and objects and is refreshed by a Wikipedia dump every night.
The use of the Knowledge Graph essentially allows Google to:
Present knowledge panels for the entities searched by Internet users,
Refine the results of its other services based on users' interests.
The use of entities allows Google to personalize the results delivered by its search engine, based on the interests of its users and its search history.
Without second-guessing the details of updates to Google's algorithm, many have been focussed on entities:
Google Hummingbird: With this update, Google transformed the way it handled internet users' queries by moving from an approach based on keywords (strings) to an approach based on entities (things).
Google Rankbrain: RankBrain allows Google to better respond to queries that it has never encountered before. This is achieved using entities and an artificial intelligence layer.
Google BERT: This setting uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand search queries, interpret text on web pages, and thus identify entities and relationships that connect them.
Thanks to these successive improvements, Google is now able to reformulate Internet users' requests and, it is probable, also reformulate the content of Web pages.
The search suggestions provided by Google also increasingly include entity suggestions.
Suggestions 1,3,4 & 5 are entity suggestions
By searching for "queen" without using the suggestion, we get a mix of ideas in the results, but using the suggestion box we can obtain a list of results which is quite surprising because it contains no errors (no suggestion of monarchs or films, for example), which clearly shows that Google delivers search results based only on entities and no longer just on keywords.
Unfiltered results for "queen"
Entity based results for "queen" removes her majesty Elizabeth II
As seen above, all the results offered by Google Discover are based on the interests of a user, ie the entities contained in the web pages they use. From these pages, Google builds what it calls the " Topic Layer " (read Entity for Topic), ie the graph of the interests of each user.
Whenever a new article is published on the web that includes one of these areas of interest, Google may suggest it to the corresponding user in Google Discover.
Google offers two types of research on its trends tool:
Searching by "search term", ie by keyword
Search by "subject", ie by the entity.
Here is the example of a trend for the entity /m/060d2 already seen above and accessible at the URL https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F060d2
How does Google detect entities?
The studies that we carried out with InLinks, and in particular through Industry reports, show that Google only detects on average 20% of the entities present in a text.
This result is achieved using exclusively the Google NLP API.
However, our studies show that in many cases Google's API does not directly detect the primary entity in the articles it offers on Google Discover.
It is, therefore, reasonable to think that Google uses different methods to determine the entities present on a page:
An NLP algorithm, similar to its API (their API detects almost 100% of people, places and organizations, but very few concepts/things),
Off-page factors, such as the entities detected in the other pages of the site (acting as contextual entities and allowing an additional step of disambiguation)
On-page factors such as Schema.org markup to explicitly specify the entities present in the page
Principle of detection by Google of entities in a web page
Read more: How to use entities to improve SEO
January 18, 2021 /by Dixon
https://inlinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screenshot-2022-10-30-at-9.57.16-AM.png 278 631 Dixon https://inlinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/White-png-300x60-1.png Dixon2021-01-18 09:03:262022-12-13 15:18:59Entity SEO: the Guide to Understanding
Jahir Rayhan says:
Great read, thanks for pulling all the things together into one article.
Michael Brown says:
Great read! I'm finding it very interesting how SEOs use entities to optimize pages. Would definitely like to see more case studies of the "how", with results.
Dixon says:
Thanks. Here are some Case Stidies for you. https://inlinks.com/category/case-studies/
Tama Dwitama says:
The discussion is so complete, it makes me dizzy to read it
Dan K says:
This is the perfect reminder at the perfect time about Entities and SEO. I had toyed with the NLP demo a while back, and found it helpful to focus my content in bite-sized portions. I drifted away, but thanks to you, I'm refocused. Thank you sir!
That's great news! 🙂 Thanks.
Sandeep Jinagal says:
Awesome article, these days i am too curious to learn entity seo. Still finding more detailed guide on how to implement it.
Tatenda J Rukuni says:
Thank you for the thorough analysis
Clement says:
That's great. Thanks a lot.
Wirtoyo says:
So far, I thought SEO was just a game of keywords, but it turns out that there are so many paradigms that I have to understand from just playing keywords to optimize my website. and I will make this article as a reference in more depth in studying SEO. thank you for the light
Shuvo says:
This is the best article on the use of entities in SEO. Thank you very much, Dixon, for writing such an informative article. It was extremely beneficial to me.
Thanks for article, Dixon. Quick question, what's the difference between entities and word embeddings and how would google use both in search simultaneously? Thanks
I don't understand the phrase "word embeddings", so apologies if my response misses the mark. If you mean "Injecting keywords into an article", I think the main difference is in whether you are simply trying ti trick Google into thinking you know about a topic and actually adding value around a topic. Of course, Entities are also just words… but my point here is that Google is trying to underdstand the Entities… whether you are injecting words or not. The word is (in Google's world) just a descriptor for an underlying thing/person/organization/Event etc and many words may mean the same thing.
Shailendra says:
Great blog Dixon. Detailed analysis. I have been focusing more on entity-based SEO and used your tool recently and got great results.
That's the kind of comment I like to see! 🙂
Oh gosh, Dixon, every time I read something by you, I understand a little more. But this article really summed it up and I think I understand it enough to explain to my clients. Finally! Thank you.
Aleksandr Trigub says:
Thank you for clarifying the essence of SEO. Interesting approach!
ADSN says:
Thanx !! My site follows all above advice !!
Harshada says:
Thanks for sharing the entity-based SEO Blog.
Tejal says:
Wow, it's an informative post. Thank you for sharing such a great blog.
First DigiAdd says:
it's an informative post. Thank you for sharing such a great blog.
Krishna Murari says:
I have my personal website and I'm trying my best to give an "entity home" to my personal name,
I have the page with my name, link my all profile with the page added schema. But still, Google is unable to create my entity on the web. On the search, Google shows my Twitter and GMB listing.
how can I help my entity with it if you have any idea, I will love to know.
Hi Krishna,
Thank you for reading. Putting schema on your web page will only help Google if there are other pages (usually not in your control) helping to reinforce the message that your page is the authoritative home for you. Indeed, Google will be unlikely to consider you as a person of note at all, until there are enough citations and mentions of you elsewhere online. A person that has done a lot of work on this idea is "Jason Barnard", who runs Kalicube.pro. He recommends you continually reinforcing the message of where your identity home lies, by making every refernce to you on the Internet that you can find, link through to your home page. This might include sites like LinkedIn and Cruchbase, for example. Site outside your control are even better, though. It's not easy.
Thank you, Dixon
I also, talk about this to Jason Barnard.
he helps me a lot by adding my website to his tool.
Any recommendations that help me/anyone with citations?
I'm already trying to work on all the sources Jason talks about. (Linkedin, CrunchBase… )
Jason's list is awesome! You can also try his tool, Kalicube.pro. I did and it has helped me to disambiguate.
The biggest challengs, though, is to become "famous" enough to be seen as an entity. It is often easier to develop around topics that are "things" rather than "people", in part because Wikipedia and others have legal responsibilities when storing information about people. This means there needs to be compelling evidence that the persin is in the public eye.
Yunus says:
Thank you Dixon for this helpful guide
Alex Adekola says:
This is a great guide, I am finally able to wrap my head around this entity thing.
Gorish Dua says:
Written in a well-versed manner. Thanks for Sharing.
knowledgeable content
Goran says:
Great blog about SEO entities, thank you for sharing this informative article with us.
shilpi says:
knowledgeable conternt
Rajib Dey says:
Good article to enhance your seo skills.
Inlinks was heavily used as part of my recent SEO campaign, you can check out my case study here tomrileyseo.co.uk/financial-advisor-seo-case-study
Alan Wilfrod says:
Hey Dixon. Great read. Although I couldn't find a free simple tool which helps in finding related entities and creating topics out of them. Your input on this would be highly appreciated
Thanks. Inlinks.net is free for one content brief per month, or you can analyze one page at a time on our hime page without logging in. IBM Watson also has a free entity extraction tool, but in test. ours is stronger (for seo)
Phạm Ngọc Ánh says:
Thanks for the very helpful content. I have a question.
If I'm a non-celebrity and I have a personal blog, ngocanhblog.com, how does Google identify me as an entity and not a virtual person?
Google looks at multiple databases, but only triggers you as an entity when there is a body of evidence, from a range of sources. Jason Barnard at Kalicube maintains a list of datasources that he has seen citing in Knowledge Panels. You can try there to get noticed, But it is not easy. Writing a book helped me.
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The MADV would attach to the space station, and travel to and from the Martian surface via supersonic retropropulsion, which uses rocket engines to slow the lander from supersonic speeds during its descent, according to three Lockheed Martin engineers who discussed the lander in a presentation at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide, Australia. Supersonic retropropulsion is the same approach used by SpaceX in to land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket boosters.
The surface landing vehicle for Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp is shown to the left of the space station in this artist's illustration.
The initial crewed missions to the Martian surface would be "relatively short-duration, science-focused missions," according to a newly-released report from the company (which you can read and download here). Eventually, the reusable lander would allow up to four astronauts to take two-week missions to the ground. The report suggests sending two landers, mostly for redundancy purposes to ensure astronauts don't get stuck on the surface of the planet.
The use of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellant is an integral part of the entire Mars Base Camp (MBC) architecture, the company representatives said. While that water could initially come from Earth, it could later come from water ice frozen on asteroids, in shadowed regions of the moon's surface, from possible sources on Mars' two moons, or from Mars itself. The water would be delivered to the station by a Water Delivery Vehicles (WDVs), which could be operated by a separate commercial entity, the Lockheed Martin engineers said.
The Mars Ascent/Descent Vehicle (MADV), shown in this artist's illustration, is part of Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp architecture.
The crew quarters on the lander would be designed after NASA's Orion human crew capsule for deep-space exploration, which is still in development, but which NASA plans to use in its pursuit of a human Mars mission. Lockheed Martin is NASA's prime contractor for Orion.
Lockheed Martin is developing its Mars habitat design as part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program. The company received $982,039 in funding from the first round of the program.
The MBC also relies on the use of NASA's Deep Space Gateway at the moon, which is likely to be a small orbiting space station. This would serve as a waystation or in-space launching point for crewed missions on the way to Mars.
The MBC architecture would also use of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, currently in development, to get astronauts and components to Mars, the company has said. The MBC space station would consist of multiple separate components, some of which would be launched straight from Earth, while others might undergo some construction in cislunar space.
Mars Base Camp is named after the base camps set up for climbing expeditions to the tops of mountains like Everest. In this case, the "peak" is down on the surface, and the base camp is in orbit, and would serve a similar purpose to those mountain camps: a place for humans to prepare before making their way to the surface of the Red Planet.
"Base camps are not a destination unto themselves," said Rob Chambers, one of the Lockheed engineers who spoke at the conference. "They're a place from which you then set out — in this case, to descend to the surfaces of other worlds."


text:
Twentieth-Century Art (3)
300 BCE–CE 500 (1)
Central Europe (1)
Books, Manuscripts, and Illustration x
Early Christian/Byzantine Art x
Art History and Theory x
Twentieth-Century Art x
Buchthal, Hugo
Annemarie Weyl Carr
(b Berlin, Aug 11, 1909; d London, Nov 10, 1996).
German scholar of Byzantine, East Christian and European illuminated manuscripts. He took his degree in 1933 at the University of Hamburg in the heady community of the Warburg Library (later Institute) under the tutelage of Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl. Immigrating with the Warburg staff and library to London in 1934, he served from 1940 to 1949 as the Institute's Librarian and from 1944 to 1965 as Lecturer, Reader and then Professor of Byzantine art at the University of London. In 1965 he came to the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, becoming in 1970 the first Ailsa Mellon Bruce Professor. He retired in 1975 to London, where he died in 1996.
Buchthal is best known for his Miniature Painting in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1957), which laid the foundation for the now well-established art-historical field of Crusader studies. It exemplifies both his originality and the methods that made his scholarship so durable. Fundamental among these were his holistic approach to manuscripts, giving as much attention to ornament, liturgical usage, text traditions, palaeography and apparatus as to miniatures, and his relentlessly keen visual analysis. Aided by a powerful memory, he worked from original monuments, developing exceptional acuity in dissecting the formal components of their images. Mobilized in his dissertation, published in ...
Byron, Robert
(b London, Feb 26, 1905; d off Stornaway, Feb 24, 1941).
British writer and traveller. His travels in Greece in 1925–7 resulted in two books, The Station and The Byzantine Achievement, in which he presented readers brought up on the culture of Classical antiquity with a novel view of the importance of the civilization of Byzantium and the seminal influence of its art on the later development of European painting. In The Birth of Western Painting he developed this line of thought with a reassessment of El Greco as the 'last and greatest flower of Byzantine genius'. His best-known book is The Road to Oxiana, a record of travels through Persia and Afghanistan in 1933–4 in search of the origins of Islamic architecture and culture. He contributed a conspectus of Timurid architecture and photographs taken on his journeys to the Survey of Persian Art. Although his views were often coloured by personal enthusiasm and prejudices (for example his hatred of the historical writings of Edward Gibbon) a surprising number of his insights into Byzantine and Islamic culture have been confirmed by later scholarship, and he played a major role in bringing these cultures to the attention of educated readers. He was also a founder-member of the ...
Byzantine influence in Western medieval art
Rebecca W. Corrie
In the 20th century, discussion of the relationship between Byzantine art and the art of the Latin West evolved in tandem with scholarship on Byzantine art itself. Identified as the religious imagery and visual and material culture of the Greek Orthodox Empire based at Constantinople between ad 330 and 1453, studies of Byzantine art often encompassed Post-Byzantine art and that of culturally allied states such as Armenian Cilicia, Macedonia, and portions of Italy. As such fields as Palaiologan family manuscripts and wall paintings, Armenian manuscripts, and Crusader manuscripts and icons emerged, scholars identified new intersections between Western medieval and Byzantine art. Subtle comparisons emerged with the recognition that Byzantine art was not static but changed over time in style and meaning, although most analyses identified Byzantine art as an accessible reservoir of the naturalistic, classicizing styles of antiquity. Scholars considering the 7th-century frescoes at S Maria Antiqua and mosaics at S Maria in Cosmedin, both in Rome, and the 8th-century frescoes at Castelseprio and Carolingian manuscripts such as the Coronation Gospels of Charlemagne (Vienna, Schatzkam. SCHK XIII) used formal comparisons with works such as pre-iconoclastic icons at St Catherine's Monastery on Sinai, along with the history of Byzantine iconoclasm, to argue for the presence of Greek painters in the West. Similarly, Ottonian and Romanesque painting and luxury arts, such as ivories, provided examples of the appropriation of Byzantine imperial imagery. Yet the study of works such as the great 12th-century ...


text:
NewsState of the Commonwealth
Ky. Rep. Massie says making lynching a hate crime 'unnecessary'
One of the four congressmen to vote against a measure to designate lynching as a hate crime says he did so because the bill is "unnecessary" and "unconstitutional."
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, said he voted against H.R. 35 because adding "enhanced penalties" for hate crimes "tends to endanger other liberties such as freedom of speech."
"Number one, it's unnecessary. Number two, it's unconstitutional, and number three — and this may be the most important point — I believe that all victims are deserving of equal justice," Massie said. "I do not believe that we should elevate the rights of some victims on what the judge or the jury thinks was going through the mind of the person who committed the crime. That is irrelevant to the victim who is suffering."
The bill, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, comes 120 years after Congress first considered anti-lynching legislation. H.R. 35 is named for 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955.
The House approved the measure 410-4 Wednesday. Representatives Justin Amash, R-Michigan, Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Ted Yoho, R-Florida, also voted against the bill.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill, which the Senate unanimously passed last year.
This story was originally published by WCPO in Cincinnati.


text:
Q: How do I return an array of pointers in a function? So I have an array of pointers that references 3 instances of a class, I need to create a function that gets the references to those 3 instances and returns it into that array.
Here is what I have been trying:
#include<cstdlib>
#include<cinttypes>
#include<random>

//Random number generator
uint8_t rand(uint8_t max){
    std::default_random_engine generator;
    std::uniform_int_distribution<uint8_t> distribution(0,max);

    return distribution(generator);
}

class MyClass{
    //...
}
myClass[100];

MyClass * getReferences(){ //What should the type of this be?
    MyClass * arrayOfPointers[3];

    for(uint8_t i=0;i<2;++i){
        arrayOfPointers[i]=&myClass[rand(2)];
    }

    return arrayOfPointers;
}

int main(){
    MyClass * arrayOfPointers[3]=getReferences();

    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

A: As mentioned you are returning a pointer to a local variable which is incorrect.
Use standard library containers to avoid the pitfalls and woes of C-style arrays.
std::array<MyClass *, 3> getReferences()
{
    std::array<MyClass *, 3> arrayOfPointers;

    for(int i=0; i < 2; ++i) // don't use tiny int types of small for loops. it's not faster and it's harder to maintain
    {
        arrayOfPointers[i] = &myClass[rand(2)];
    }

    return arrayOfPointers;
}

int main()
{
    std::array<MyClass *, 3> arrayOfPointers = getReferences();
}

A: Returning a pointer to a local variable is incorrect in C++. It can lead in memory violation errors. If you want to return an array from the function you should use dynamic memory allocation. MyClass * arrayOfPointers = new MyClass[3];. Don't forget to delete it, after using. delete[] arrayOfPointers;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Vale Verde es un municipio brasileño del estado de Rio Grande do Sul. Se localiza a una latitud 29º47'13" sur y a una longitud 52º11'03" oeste, estando a una altitud de 91 metros.

Posee un área de 334,86 km² y su población estimada en 2004 era de 3 217 habitantes.

Referencias

Municipios en el geoparque Paleorrota
Localidades de Río Grande del Sur


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Welcome back for another weekly Funpost!
Jim Bridenstine became NASA's thirteenth administrator Monday, after reciting the oath of office administered by Vice President Mike Pence. It's not like I regularly watch these ceremonies, but I could have solemnly sworn Bridenstine's oath was different than the standard presidential oath. So in the storied tradition of the Funpost!, I donned my powdered wig and strolled to the library for an afternoon of constitutional law research.
Hmm, at some point, we should really go back and update all the "he" pronouns in America's founding documents. I suggest we call it the Control-F Inclusivity Act.
What's the deal with the "(or affirm)" part? That's for people who take the Bible literally. There's a passage from the Sermon on the Mount saying you shouldn't SWEAR to tell the truth because you're ALWAYS telling the truth. So if that's your belief, you can affirm, but apparently no one ever does that.
An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath: "I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
Sounds like they nailed it, with one exception: both Pence and Bridenstine said "upon which I am about to enter," but the correct phrase is actually "on which I am about to enter. Close enough. I don't think we're going to need a re-do, unlike President Obama's first inauguration, where Chief Justice John Roberts blew it and went off-script.
You may have noticed that the presidential oath does not explicitly include "so help me God." Apparently there is some SPICY HISTORICAL DEBATE on which president first added the phrase. Since the U.S. ostensibly separates church and state, the legal basis for including "so help me God" is that the phrase is optional and comes after the official oath, meaning the Chief Justice could just as easily say "Shall we get lunch?" and the new president could answer, "We shall get lunch."
For non-presidential oaths, "so help me God" is written into the official text. However, from what I can tell there is a loophole allowing you to omit the phrase if you choose to AFFIRM rather than SWEAR. The basis for that dates back to the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Now, my reading of the Judiciary Act is that the God opt-out is only available to judges and court officers. U.S. Code Title 5, Section 3331 seems to have last been updated in 1966, and is derived from an older version. So if we're looking for bona-fide proof of the God exception, we might need to trace that section back through time, or, you know, consult an ACTUAL expert.
Jason, What is a library?
Bob: It's the code base that is available for a programer.


The beautiful cat ran to a neighbors porch, the person living there relaxed the cat and called the Forever Friends Foundation for help.
The cat is friendly so whoever did this the cat trusted, he would let you pet him, hold him, the poor cat did not see what was coming.
"The injuries are straight cuts to both ears. It appears like somebody used scissors or shears" says Debbie who works with the Foundation.
The right ear was were the most pain was since the person began to cut into the cartilage, the left ear close to falling off, they are doing everything they can to treat this poor cat, the cat is about 4 years old.
The cat had gotten out of the owner's house and fell into horrible abusive hands, it was clear no animal did this to the cat, "It's very unfortunate for a poor animal, which can't speak and can't say anything, went through all that pain" says one of the doctors Sandhu.
sadly on Friday afternoon, the cat had his ears amputated to stop infection and pain, he is recovering very well, the Foundation who did the treatment says that donations paid entirely for the cat, and also says the cat will be put up for adoption soon.
How do you feel about this? tell us below!


text:
Home>Associated Press: Auditor could face lawsuit unless state releases records
Associated Press: Auditor could face lawsuit unless state releases records
Mead Gruver (Associated Press)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming's new auditor must provide certain state expenditure and vendor documents within the next 30 days or become part of a lawsuit, a nonprofit group said Friday.
Adam Andrzejewski, chief executive of the group American Transparency, made the ultimatum during the first meeting of a state financial transparency group convened by Wyoming's new governor.
Andrzejewski, whose website posts state and local agency spending information as a public service, has been trying to get the records since 2015 and wants to add the auditor to a lawsuit pressing for the information if she fails to fulfill the request.
Wyoming is one of the last few states that hasn't fully complied with American Transparency's requests.
The seven-person panel includes Gov. Mark Gordon and State Auditor Kristi Racines, both of whom appeared willing to cooperate with Illinois-based American Transparency, also known as openthebooks.com.
Racines said a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit and another group in July prevented her from saying much about the situation but providing the records "is what I will be working on."
Gordon said he is committed to financial transparency.
"I'd love to see openthebooks in Wyoming. We will do our best to make that happen," Gordon said.
Openthebooks.com received some records from the previous state auditor, Cynthia Cloud. Her office initially provided some of the information while arguing that fulfilling the entire request would be too burdensome for employees.
The group still seeks recent, detailed state expenditures, or "checkbook" records, and five years of state vendor records.
Racines won election in November to succeed term-limited Cloud as auditor, both Republicans.
Openthebooks.com has been asking the Wyoming Auditor's Office for vendor data since 2015.
The Equality State Taxpayers Association filed a similar records request last winter. Both groups sued after paying Cloud's office almost $8,000 to process the information but they received only a small fraction of the requested records, the lawsuit said.
Late in 2018, Cloud provided state checkbook data for 2016 and 2017 but the groups still need the vendor records and recent state checkbook records, Andrzejewski said.
Before completing her second term, Cloud sought proposals from potential contractors to develop an online spending transparency system. The auditor's office has received three proposals, which for now remain sealed, Racines said.
A new online system isn't necessary to provide all of the requested records, the taxpayer association's Kevin Lewis said after the meeting.
Openthebooks.com also has been collecting local government and school district spending data in Wyoming over the past several years. School districts are becoming less responsive to the group's public records requests, Andrzejewski said.
By not providing all information requested, state officials have communicated to local officials that such requests can be ignored, Andrzejewski said.


text:
Alternanthera snodgrassii is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.

References

Flora of Ecuador
snodgrassii
Vulnerable plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot


text:
Tag: antiwar
Condi Rice Comes to Town; Press Focuses on her Piano Skills
Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be speaking in Grand Rapids on Monday at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids' annual dinner. As is always the case with these events, they are limited to members of the Economic Club and their guests, with makes it so that ordinary folks generally can't see what these former government officials say. Moreover, when they are in town to speak about their experiences while in government, citizens deserve a chance to know what is said. Ideally, that is a role that media can play.
But, I doubt we'll get much serious coverage from The Grand Rapids Press or the other local media in town. In advance of her appearance, The Grand Rapids Press has focused on her piano skills:
She won't be tickling the ivory, but Economic Club of Grand Rapids officials still are excited to hear from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday. There had been quiet hopes the 1,500-plus attendees would hear a piano performance from Rice, dubbed the world's most prominent amateur musician by The New York Times in 2006. Club Executive Director Lorna Schultz said she was disappointed, but organizers just couldn't work it out. Still, the crowd for the club's 22nd annual dinner will be the fourth largest on record.
You would think that they would focus on her record–particularly as it relates to torture. A group of students at Stanford recently campaigned for Condoleezza Rice–a faculty member–to be prosecuted for war crimes:
As National Security Advisor, Rice authorized waterboarding in July 2002, according to a newly released report of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Less than two months later, she hyped the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq, saying, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." Her ominous warning was part of the Bush administration's campaign to sell the Iraq war, in spite of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency's assurances that Saddam Hussein did not possess nuclear weapons.
For those who want to learn more about Condoleezza Rice's record, a profile of her on SourceWatch.org has a good critical overview of her career, particularly with regard to her role in selling the Iraq War. It's also worth reading recent news articles about her giving specific approval of torture.
Author mediamousePosted on June 21, 2009 Categories NewsTags antiwar, government, grand rapids, iraq, michigan, torture, war crimes, war on terror
Rethink Afghanistan: Civilian Casualties
The footage you are about to see is poignant, heart-wrenching, and often a direct result of U.S. foreign policy. In order to help the refugees whose lives have been shattered by U.S. foreign policy and military attacks, please provide aid through the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. For more on Afghan civilian casualties, watch Director Robert Greenwald on MSNBC's The Ed Show:
Continue reading "Rethink Afghanistan: Civilian Casualties"
Author mediamousePosted on June 20, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, international law, war on terror
National Call-In Day to Demand an Exit Plan for Afghanistan
Fresh off the disappointing passage of more money for the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the anti-war group United for Peace and Justice has declared today a national call-in day to Congress to demand an "exit plan" from Afghanistan.
The group writes:
This week, the House passed the war-funding Supplemental bill, providing $79.9 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With this vote, the House has effectively ratified the escalation of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It has done this without any indication of an 'exit plan' from the Obama administration.
Tackling this problem is Congressman Jim McGovern's bill HR 2404, which would require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress outlining an 'exit plan' for U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan no later than December 31, 2009. Congressman McGovern's bill is gaining support and now has 87 co-sponsors. And we're urging your support now, too.
Today is National Call-In Day to Congress on the McGovern bill and UFPJ urges you to contact your members of Congress to sign-on as a co-sponsor, if they have not already done so. Once you make your calls, please report them back to us here:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/form.php?modin=163
The Congressional Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
United for Peace and Justice goes on to assert that while they were disappointed by the passage of the funding bill, peace activists made it extremely difficult for the White House to get the bill passed.
Author mediamousePosted on June 19, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, congress, legislation, war on terror
Headlines: Supreme Court Denies Post-conviction DNA Testing; Senate Approves $106 Billion War Funding Bill
Iran's Supreme Leader Backs Vote Outcome
In his first public response to days of protests, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has defended Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the rightful winner of last week's presidential election. Addressing thousands of people at Tehran University, the ayatollah appealed for calm and called for an end to the protests calling for a new election. Khamenei's comments come after six days of massive street demonstrations organized by backers of presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. On Thursday hundreds of thousands of Mousavi supporters rallied in Tehran to mourn those killed over the past week. Meanwhile the Iranian human rights attorney and Nobel Peace Prizer winner Shirin Ebadi has called for new elections under the watch of international monitors.
Shirin Ebadi: "I think that if new elections are organised but if there are no international observers, no matter what the outcome of these new elections would be, it could be protested and rejected by one or the other parties."
Senate Approves $106 Billion War Funding Bill
The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved a $106 billion emergency spending bill to expand the war in Afghanistan and to continue the war in Iraq. The vote was 91 – 5. Voting against the war-spending bill was Democrat Russ Feingold, Independent Bernie Sanders and three Republicans: Jim Demint, Mike Enzi and Tom Coburn. The spending bill also includes $420 million for the Mexican government to fight the drug war as well as increased funding for the International Monetary Fund. The House passed a similar war-spending bill earlier this week. Much of the spending bill will go toward expanding the U.S. war in Afghanistan. On Thursday Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted civilian casualties in Afghanistan have become a major strategic vulnerability in that war.
Robert Gates: "It is clear that we need to do much more to overcome what I believe is one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities. The Afghan people must be reassured that US and NATO forces are there as friends, partners and, along with Afghan security forces, their protectors as well."
U.S. Moves Missile Defense System to Hawaii
Defense Secretary Gates has said the U.S. is moving ground-to-air missile defense systems to Hawaii as tensions escalate between Washington and North Korea Robert Gates said that the U.S. is concerned that Pyongyang might soon fire a missile toward Hawaii.
Supreme Court Denies Post-conviction DNA Testing
Prisoners attempting to challenge their convictions have been dealt a major setback by the Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled Thursday that criminals do not have a constitutional right to DNA testing after their conviction. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said it is up to the states and Congress to decide who has a right to testing that might prove innocence long after conviction. In the dissenting opinion, John Paul Stevens wrote QUOTE "there is no reason to deny access to the evidence and there are many reasons to provide it, not least of which is a fundamental concern in ensuring that justice has been done." The Innocence Project says DNA testing has exonerated 240 people nationwide, at least 17 of whom had been sentenced to die.
Court Ruling Limits Workplace Age-Discrimination Lawsuits
The Supreme Court has also issued a ruling that will make it much harder for older workers to win workplace age-discrimination claims. In another 5-4 decision, the court ruled that workers bear the full burden of proving that age was the deciding factor in their dismissal or demotion. The business community praised the decision, while the National Senior Citizens Law Center and AARP sharply criticized it.
Immigrant Rights Group Criticize Lax Sentencing in Penn. Murder Case
Immigrant rights groups are outraged over the sentencing of two white teenagers involved in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant in the town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The teenagers will serve as little as six months in jail. Last month an all-white jury exonerated the two former high school football players of the most serious charges in connection with the fatal beating.
100 U.S-Born Children Filed Suit to Block Deportations Of Their Parents
100 U.S.-born children have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the deportations of their parents until Congress overhauls U.S. immigration laws. The Miami-based American Fraternity organization argues that the constitutional rights of these children are being violated because they will likely have to leave the country if their parents are deported.
14 Anti-Coal Activists Arrested at West Virginia Mine
In West Virginia, 14 anti-coal protesters were arrested Thursday when then attempted to scale a 150-foot-high excavating machine at a mine owned by Massey Energy and unfurled a huge banner that read, "Stop Mountaintop Removal." The piece of equipment, known as a dragline, can remove house-sized chunks of blasted rock and earth. The protest shut down Massey's Twilight Mine for several hours.
LA Teachers End 24-Day Hunger Strike
In Los Angeles, a group of teachers have ended their 24-day hunger strike to protest budget cuts. The teachers said they will now organize a campaign to recall some members of the Los Angeles Unified School Board. Thousands of Los Angeles teachers may soon be fired as the district faces a $700-million budget gap.
Peru's Congress Overturns Land Laws
The Peruvian Congress has overturned two controversial land laws that led to an indigenous uprising and dozens of deaths in the ensuing police crackdown. The laws would have opened large areas of the Peruvian Amazon to logging, dams and oil drilling. Indigenous leader Daysi Zapata praised the decision by the Peruvian Congress.
Daysi Zapata: "Today is a very historic day for all indigenous people and the entire country of Peru. We, the indigenous peoples, are present here because we believe that the demands of the indigenous peoples were just."
Texas Billionaire Stanford Surrenders to FBI
Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford has surrendered to FBI agents. The chairman of the Stanford Financial Group is to appear in court this morning. Earlier this year the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Stanford and his top executives of conducting an $8 billion fraud.
Court Overturns Ban on Military Recruitment of Minors
In California a federal judge has struck down laws in two Northern California cities banning military recruitment of minors. Voters in Arcata and Eureka passed the laws last November.
Senate Apologizes For Slavery
The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a resolution apologizing for slavery and segregation of African-Americans. A disclaimer tacked on at the end of the bill said nothing in the resolution authorizes or supports reparations for slavery.
Aung San Suu Kyi Turns 64
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi turns 64 today. She remains under house arrest. Activists across the world are marking her birthday with vigils and protests.
Hortensia Bussi, 94, Widow of Salvador Allende, Dies
And Hortensia Bussi, the widow of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, has died at the age of 94.
Author mediamousePosted on June 19, 2009 Categories NewsTags antiwar, courts, crime, headlines, senate
Headlines: House Passes $106 Billion War Spending Bill; Obama To Extend Federal Benefits To Gay Couples
House Passes $106 Billion War Spending Bill
The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed a $106 billion spending bill to expand the war in Afghanistan and to continue funding the war in Iraq. 32 anti-war Democrats voted against the measure as did all but five Republicans. The Republicans opposed a part of the bill to increase funding for the International Monetary Fund. The final vote was 226 to 202. Congressman Dennis Kucinich voted against the war funding.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "We are destroying our nations moral and fiscal integrity with the War Supplemental. Instead of ending wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan now by appropriating only enough money to bring our troops home, Congress abdicates its Constitutional authority, defers to the President and asks for a report. That's right. All we are asking for is a report about when the President will end the war.
Dennis Kucinich also criticized the increased funding for the International Monetary Fund.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "There is money too for the IMF, presumably to bail out European banks. Billions for the IMF so they can force low- and middle- income nations to cut jobs, wages, healthcare and retirement security, just like corporate America does to our constituents. And there is money to incentivize the purchase of more cars, but not necessarily from the US because the Buy American Mandate was not allowed. Another $106 billion and all we get is a lousy war. Pretty soon that is all that is going to be about the only thing made in America: war."
UN: Record Of Number Internally Displaced Persons
The United Nations is reporting a record number of internally displaced persons received UN assistance in 2008. 14.4 million people were registered as living under UN care. Another 11.6 million internally displaced persons were left to fend for themselves or receive assistance from other agencies. The total number of internally displaced persons has increased even more since the end of 2008 due to fighting in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
As Protests Continue In Iran, Ebadi Calls For New Election
Anti-government protesters are filling the streets of Tehran again today calling for last week's election results to be thrown out. Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi accuse President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of rigging the election. On Tuesday backers of Mousavi and Ahmadinejad both held massive rallies Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has called for a new election under the watch of international observers.
Obama: U.S. Should Not Meddle In Iranian Elections
In Washington President Obama resisted calls for the United States to take a direct stance on the situation in Iran.
President Obama: "It's not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling, the U.S. president meddling in Iranian elections."
Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized Obama's handling of the crisis.
Sen. John McCain: "He should speak out that this is a corrupt, fraud, sham of an election. The Iranian people have been deprived of their rights. We support them in their struggle against a repressive, oppressive regime. And they should not be subjected to four more years of Ahmadinejad and the radical Muslim clerics."
Iranian Government Cracks Down on Foreign Press & Websites
Meanwhile the Iranian government has revoked press credentials for foreign journalists and ordered journalists not to report from the streets. Much of the video footage from Iran is now coming from Iranian citizens who are posting video to YouTube and other sites.
Amateur video posted on the internet earlier today appears to show members of the Revolutionary Guard firing at a crowd of demonstrators from the roof of their building in Tehran on Monday. Iran's Revolutionary Guard corps said today it will pursue legal action against websites that it claimed were inciting people to riot as well as the people who post material to the websites.
Obama To Extend Federal Benefits To Gay Couples
President Obama is expected to sign a presidential memorandum today to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees but he will stop short of pledging full health insurance coverage. Obama is making the announcement at a time when he is facing growing anger among gay supporters over his administration's recent decision to file a legal brief supporting the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. During the presidential campaign Obama called for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act as well as the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Report: Anti-Gay Killings Jump 28 Percent in 2008
Meanwhile a new report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has found that the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people killed in bias-motivated attacks increased by 28 percent last year. The group documented 29 killings in 2008, the highest number recorded since 1999.
Obama To Outline Major Financial Regulatory Changes
In economic news, President Obama is expected to propose today the creation of an independent and powerful Consumer Financial Product Safety Commission to regulate financial products such as mortgages and credit cards. The McClatchy Newspapers reports that as part of the proposal, the Federal Reserve and other bank regulators would lose their oversight over mortgages, credit cards and other financial products that are sold to consumers. At the same time Obama is proposing expanding the Feds role as the regulator of the nation's largest banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to include other giant financial firms, such as the insurance companies AIG and MetLife.
Report: Unemployment Crisis To Continue Until 2014
Meanwhile a leading economic forecaster is projecting that much of the country will not return to peak employment until at least 2012 and many cities won't return to recent peaks until 2014 or later. Six million jobs have been lost since the recession began 18 months ago.
Carter: Gaza Residents Are Treated "More Like Animals Than Human Beings"
Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that Palestinians in Gaza were being treated "more like animals than human beings." Carter made the comment after touring the Gaza Strip for the first time since the Israeli attack.
Jimmy Carter: "Tragically, the international community largely ignores the cries for help, while the citizens of Gaza are treated more like animals than like human beings."
Jimmy Carter also called for an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel.
Jimmy Carter: "There is no explanation. The responsibility for this terrible human rights crime lies in Jerusalem, in Cairo, in Washington and in the capitals of Europe, throughout the international community. This abuse must cease. The crimes committed against you must be investigated. The walls must be brought down and the basic right of freedom must come to you."
1979 State Dep't Ruling: Israel Settlements "Inconsistent With International Law"
Meanwhile new attention is being paid to a State Department opinion issued during Jimmy Carter's administration regarding Israeli settlements. In 1979 a State Department legal adviser issued an opinion that stated the establishment of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories is "inconsistent with international law." The opinion cited Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power "shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." The legal opinion has never been revoked or revised. On Tuesday Israel's newly appointed ambassador to Washington Michael Oren claimed that Israel does not have the ability to halt all settlement building.
Michael Oren: "This is a country of law, and citizens of the state of Israel have rights under that law and if a person has purchased a house, if a person has taken out a contract for building a house, if a corporation is involved in a construction activity, the Israeli government does not have the right under Israeli law to stop them. If it tries to, they will appeal to the (Israeli) supreme court and, my guess is, the supreme court will view in favor of those appellants."
The future of the Israeli settlements is expected to be discussed at today's meeting in Washington between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman lives in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim.
New Gov't Report: Global Warming Is Unequivocal
A new report by the Obama administration says global warming is "unequivocal and primarily human-induced." The Washington Post reports the study details how climate change will affect certain parts of the United States. In the Northeast, the heaviest rainstorms have become 67 percent heavier since 1958, as warmer weather evaporates more water vapor into the atmosphere to feed storm clouds. Around the Great Lakes, snowstorms could get heavier as ice recedes and exposes more open water. By 2100 parts of the South could experience 150 days a year with temperatures higher than 90 degrees.
Peruvian Prime Minister To Resign
Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon has announced plans to resign following the bloody clashes between indigenous activists and the police. Simon has led negotiations with indigenous groups protesting decrees to foreign oil and gas development in the Amazon jungle. Meanwhile the Peruvian Foreign Ministry has announced that it has granted safe passage to indigenous leader Alberto Pizango to leave Peru for Nicaragua, which has granted him political asylum. On Tuesday Bolivian President Evo Morales accused Peruvian President Alan Garcia of committing genocide.
Evo Morales: "I'm convinced that what happened in Peru is genocide caused the free trade agreement. Privatization hands South America and Latin America's Amazon forests over to multinationals. Now the free trade agreement is causing genocide not just in Latin America, but all over the world."
In other news from Peru, protesters have blocked access to one of the country's largest gold mines. Peru is the world's sixth-largest gold producer.
Mogadishu Police Chief Killed
In Somalia the police chief of the capital Mogadishu has been killed in a day of heaving fighting between government forces and Islamic milittants. More than 250 people have been killed in Somalia over the past month.
Republican Senator John Ensign Admits To Affair
On Capitol Hill, Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada has admitted he had an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer. Ensign was seen as a potential candidate for president in 2012. Ensign is a born-again Christian who was a member of the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes marital fidelity. Ensign had once claimed he never met behind closed doors with women staff members and would not travel alone in a car with a woman who was not his wife. In 2007 Ensign urged Idaho Senator Larry Craig to resign after his arrest in a men's bathroom for alleged lewd conduct.
Trial of Former Democratic Rep. William Jefferson Begins
The federal trial of former Democratic Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana has begun. On Tuesday federal prosecutors told jurors Jefferson had squeezed hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from people who sought his help. Jefferson has been charged with 16 counts, including bribery, racketeering, obstruction of justice and money laundering. In 2005 the FBI raided Jefferson's Capitol Hill home and found $90,000 wrapped in foil and stuffed in food containers in a freezer.
Pioneering Doctor Leo Orris, 93, Dies
Ad doctor Leo Orris has died at the age of 93. He was a pioneer in environmental medicine, and discovered the causative link between tobacco and cancer in 1958.
Author mediamousePosted on June 17, 2009 Categories NewsTags antiwar, barack obama, congress, headlines, healthcare, iraq, lgbt
White House Pressures Anti-War Democrats to Support War Funding Bill
Over the past few weeks–and really years–we've harped on the Democrats unwillingness to mount a serious challenge to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It's critical that someone do that, because for all the talk of them being "Bush's wars," the simple fact is that they wouldn't have been possible without the Democrats' complicity. Most often, this has meant the Democrats' willingness to come through with continued funding for the war.
Last week, we reported that the Democrats have drafted a "compromise" on the current war funding bill that they hope will get anti-war Democrats on board. Rather than add measures that would appeal to those anti-war legislators, the leadership has instead added unrelated measures such as cash incentives for consumers that purchase fuel efficient cars.
Over the weekend, it also came out that the White House is using Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to pressure progressive legislators to support the bill. According to media reports, the administration is targeting freshman members of Congress–many who were elected in part on their anti-war platform–to pressure them to change their votes. The White House is allegedly threatening to pull support from those legislators come reelection time. Emanuel has also reportedly offered to cut deals with Republicans who are willing to support the legislation, saying that the Democrats will go easy on them in the 2010 elections. Obama has also reportedly entered the fray and is calling members of the House to secure their vote.
I think it's pretty telling that the so-called "attack dog" Rahm Emanuel–who many liberals defended as being necessary to push legislation through Congress against obstructionist Republicans–is being used by the Obama administration to target progressive lawmakers. It says a lot about where they are at on foreign policy, although it really isn't much of a surprise. He has been consistently in support of the wars since 2007, but most of his supporters ignored it and hoped that he would somehow change his mind once in office. Clearly, that didn't–and obviously wouldn't–work, but now we're seeing the results of that mistake with the continued support for the war in Iraq and the escalation of the Afghanistan War.
Author mediamousePosted on June 16, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, barack obama, congress, democrats, iraq
Democrats Reach "Compromise" on War Funding Bill
Democratic negotiators have reached a compromise on a supplemental spending bill that will continue to fund the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill–which had become the source of unexpected controversy after provisions to fund the IMF and to ban the release photos showing abused detainees–is now back on track for passage according to several media sources.
The "compromise" has nothing to do with the funding of the two wars–which the Democratic leadership is more than happy to do–but rather it focuses on President Barack Obama's commitment to block the release of the detainee photos. Obama personally intervened in the debate over the bill and said that he will do everything he can to make sure the photos are never released.
A further compromise was reached on the question of trying Guantanamo Bay detainees in the U.S., with the bill giving Obama the ability to order detainees back to the U.S. for trial through September 30. It sidesteps the larger question about what to do with the detainees over the long-term.
The bill also includes $7.7 billion for fighting swine flu, $1 billion dollars to be use for an incentive program to get consumers with inefficient cars to turn them in for vouchers towards more efficient cars, and $5 billion to establish a $100 billion line of credit for the IMF.
What's notably absent from the "compromise" is any discuss of the war funding. There are no measures aimed at curtailing the Obama administration's capacity to maintain the two occupations.
Two anti-war lawmakers in the House of Representatives–Dennis Kucinich and Lynn Woolsey–are calling on opponents of the war to reject the compromise and maintain their opposition to the bill. In a letter sent to their colleagues they write:
Despite the current focus on disagreements over funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the primary intent of this legislation is to continue funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As Members who remain opposed to continued, prolonged or protracted war or occupation on one or more fronts we must make clear our strong opposition and work to defeat this bill. It is notable that attempts to make important changes to the legislation, such as the call for an exit strategy from Afghanistan… have been rebuffed.
Voting down the funds for war honors the mandate to end the war in Iraq that was given to this body by the American people in November of 2006. Furthermore, defeat of the War Supplemental sends a clear message about U.S. priorities at home and abroad.
Sadly, over the past six years Democrats have completely refused to make ending the Iraq War–or even restricting its operation in any substantive manner–a serious issue and instead have repeatedly compromised on funding bills out of fear of appearing as though they don't "support the troops." From Obama–who has pursued a policy that will maintain a U.S. presence in Iraq indefinitely–to Michigan Senator Carl Levin, the Democratic Party has been a willing accomplice to the U.S. war, both before the invasion and during the occupation.
Author mediamousePosted on June 12, 2009 Categories NewsTags antiwar, democrats, iraq
Afghans Discuss Civilian Casualties and the Ongoing Occupation of their Country
Over the past several months, we've regularly posted portions of Brave New Films' documentary Rethink Afghanistan (see parts 1, 2, and 3). Now, the progressive filmmakers have released four new videos that offer a critical perspective on the Afghanistan War–the perspective of Afghan civilians who bear the brunt of the United States' military force.
The videos offer a rare glimpse into the opposition to the war amongst Afghan civilians and what they endure on a daily basis. Unfortunately, their perspectives are all too often ignored by the media and in some cases, the anti-war movement.
I think what is said in these videos is striking and it really needs to be heard–and not just by those that support the war, but also its critics. All too often critics of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War have often adopted a paternalistic attitude and have asserted that they can best decide what citizens of either country want. For example, when I was active in organizing against the Iraq War, it wasn't uncommon to hear "well meaning" liberals go on about how if the U.S. wasn't in Iraq the Iraqis would all kill each other or how a timeline for withdrawal "is better than nothing." Aside from racism and privilege embedded in those statements, it wasn't their choice to make. Sadly, after years of hearing quite clearly from Iraqis that they want the U.S. out of their country–which is what we are now hearing from Afghanistan–there hasn't really been a concerted push for an immediate end to those wars. That's something that really needs to change.
At any rate, I'd strongly encourage you to watch all four videos:
Author mediamousePosted on June 11, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, organizing, war on terror
U.S. Admits Responsibility for Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
For years (ex: this post from 2005), we have been talking about how the U.S. war in Afghanistan has been taking a toll on civilians in the country–a prediction that was first made by the anti-war movement back in 2001.
In recent years, air strikes have continued to devastate the country and target its civilian population. Civilian casualties increased last year and this year there are continued reports of casualties along with an expansion of the use of unmanned drones to carry out attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The killings have become frequent enough that even the Afghani government–which has been fairly uncritical of the U.S.–has been forced to make the attacks an issue.
Last month, there was a U.S. air strike that killed "dozens" (Red Cross estimates put the casualties at 120). At the time, the U.S. blamed the Taliban for the civilian casualties, but it is now admitting that it was responsible:
A military investigation has concluded that American personnel made significant errors in carrying out some of the airstrikes in western Afghanistan on May 4 that killed dozens of Afghan civilians, according to a senior American military official.
The official said the civilian death toll would probably have been reduced if American air crews and forces on the ground had followed strict rules devised to prevent civilian casualties. Had the rules been followed, at least some of the strikes by American warplanes against half a dozen targets over seven hours would have been aborted.
In many cases, it has been suggested that these continued attacks are motivating Afghanis to oppose the U.S. presence–and in some cases–to join insurgent groups. Can you really blame them?
Author mediamousePosted on June 9, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, military, pentagon
Obama's Choice to Lead Afghanistan War Linked to Detainee Abuse
Over the past few weeks, news that the Obama administration had picked Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal to was met by opposition from anti-war and liberal voices who have criticized McChrystal for his ties to both the abuse of detainees and targeted assassinations.
Last week, McChrystal appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was mainly subjected to softball questions that largely side-stepped the issue of detainee abuse and torture. Among those questioning McChrystal was Michigan Senator Carl Levin. Unfortunately, there was much more discussion about the death of former football player Pat Tillman than detainee abuse.
For those who want to learn a bit more about McChrystal and what his selection means for the continued war in Afghanistan, Democracy Now! put together an excellent segment with Marc Garlasco of Human Rights Watch and author Tom Engelhardt. The video is available below:
In addition, readers wanting to learn more about the war in Afghanistan would do well to read Engelhardt's piece, "The Pressure of an Expanding War," that looks at where the war in Afghanistan is headed.
Author mediamousePosted on June 9, 2009 Categories NewsTags afghanistan, antiwar, barack obama, iraq, war on terror