Ron Paul as an Anti-communist Cold Warrior

by Christian Gomez
Monday, 22 August 2011

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is most distinguishable, on the debate stage alongside fellow GOP contenders, for his opposition to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya. The Texas Congressman advocates the withdraw of U.S. troops from not only Afghanistan and Iraq, but also elsewhere in the world, such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

Rep. Paul has also distinguished himself from other candidates in his consistent statements and beliefs. Unlike most other candidates, he has not flip-flopped — saying now what he has been saying for decades.

Once considered as one of 12 potential leaders of the conservative movement after the age of Reagan, according to the March 1983 issue of Conservative Digest magazine, Ron Paul is now regarded as the Godfather of the Tea Party movement. Still, despite his popularity on the right, and among libertarians, independents, as well as disenfranchised Democrats, Paul is attacked by many due to his foreign policy stance.

The attacks come not from the Left, but rather from fellow Republicans. The insinuation is that he is weak on defense because he supposedly supports Iran’s quest to build a nuclear weapon. Congressman Alan West (R-Fla.) recently came out against Paul, saying:

Let me be very honest. When I was listening to the debate Thursday night and a certain candidate for president stood there and said he didn’t see any problem with Iran getting a nuclear device because everybody else has one — I have to tell you, that’s not the kind of guy you need to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Websites from RedState.com to TrevorLoudon.com create an image that Paul is “Al Qaeda’s Favorite Member of Congress” or that he is the pro-Russia/Communist candidate. When he is not being ignored by the media his detractors take potshots at him, attempting to create a distorted image of Paul as a supporter of totalitarianism and Communism.

More recently a small series of articles have been posted online insinuating that Ron Paul is being backed by Russia and that his election is what Russia and the communists want. Those reading such articles might well come to the same conclusions if they have not dug deeper into Paul's record.

First elected to Congress in 1976, serving a partial term until 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, Ron Paul represented the then-22nd Congressional District of Texas. At the time, the United States was faced by the Cold War threat of Communism and the Soviet Union — a totalitarian state that represented the complete opposite of Paul's libertarian beliefs. Paul was no friend of communism or the USSR — and his record during his tenure in office at the time vindicates his credentials as an anti-communist.

Before Ron Paul’s days as a Cold Warrior are examined, it is first necessary to define and distinguish the ideology of communism versus the ideology of liberty, as advocated by Paul.

What is Communism?
Communism is an inherently collectivist ideology which centers on the breakdown of capitalism and the breakup of society into two main collective classes of people — described as the working class and the capitalist class (i.e. the proletariat and bourgeoisie).

Ignoring human nature’s desire to better oneself and aspire for a better standard and wage of living, communism calls for the creation of a “classless” or “equal” society by which the natural human condition is suppressed by the state as it controls the total means of production (i.e. farms and factories). The state ownership of the means of production is also commonly referred to as socialism.

Although some communists claim their aim is the eventual "withering away of the state," as Karl Marx wrote in his Communist Manifesto (1848), its application first requires that the state be used as the primary tool to control all aspects of human interaction (i.e., life and economics) in order to remove any remnants of “social injustice” or inequality — essentially eradicating those things that distinguish individuals from one another and make people unique. This is to be done by force, resulting in a compulsory state of apparent equality.

Once total or absolute equality, or “social justice,” is achieved, the state can then begin to deconstruct itself and cease to be, theoretically leaving behind a society of equal people living In a “people’s paradise” or “utopia.”

The major fallacy of this belief is that it relies on the state changing human nature, which in reality and in historical application can only be attempted by coercion, repression, and tyranny.

Tyrants, once in absolute power, never cede away their power (this too is human nature). In communism’s state of “transition” from capitalism to anarchy, when the state accumulates total power, there still exist two classes — the masses and the ruling elites (i.e. the ruling Communist Party Politburo). No mechanism exists to check or coerce the equality of this new ruling oligarchy. This is why, no matter how well intentioned the agitators of communist revolution maybe (and in most cases, the "well-intentioned" communists are in the lower ranks, dominated by an elite clique of malintentioned conspirators), their system of government has always led to, continues to lead to, and will always lead to total tyranny by the state – i.e. statism. Hence, actually communism is statism – the total control by the state.

Ron Paul’s Ideology
Communism is the antithesis of individual liberty, the latter of which Ron Paul has championed his entire career in public office. In his book The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), he elaborates his belief on personal freedom:

Freedom means not only that our economic activity ought to be free and voluntary, but that government should stay out of personal affairs as well. In fact, freedom means that we understand liberty as an indivisible whole. Economic freedom and personal liberty are not divisible.

Whereas modern "liberals" advocate government intervention in the market, modern "conservatives" advocate government intervention in social matters, and communists advocate government intervention in or control of both. Ron Paul, on the other hand, advocates that there be no government intervention in either the economy or personal affairs.

Paul is by no means an anarchist; he is rather a constitutionalist — believing in the basic rule of law where government exists primarily to protect one’s rights, which are inherent and derived from our Creator. He believes that we are entitled only to that which we are born with — our life, liberty, and the pursuit to happiness.

Government’s role is not to grant rights or to collect from one to disperse to another, but rather to protect one’s God-given rights to his or her own personhood and property. Government does this by creating laws that protect one’s life and private property from other violators.

These laws are administrated by elected federal and state representatives (i.e., a republic) and enforced by local law enforcement, closest to the people, and also a national military to protect the land from foreign aggression. This is why Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, which delegates specific powers to the Congress, pertains mostly to military or national defense affairs.

Governments are not instructed to protect people from themselves but rather from others that would violate their individual personhood or property. This is the ideology of Ron Paul. By the very nature of these Lockean beliefs, Paul is an ideological anti-statist, anti-collectivist, and henceforth anti-communist candidate, rare qualities among GOP presidential candidates.

Ron Paul on Communism
In regard to communism, Ron Paul stated the following in his book Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (2011):

Communism was based on the belief that only the party established the truth, and it was not rigid; it changed according to political priorities. Without a belief that truth exists apart from what government says it is, peace, prosperity, and progress are impossible.

Considering these anti-collectivist/ anti-communist tendencies and considering also that Ron Paul served in Congress from 1976-77 and 1979 to 1985, it is worth exploring how he handled the menace of the Soviet Union and international communism during the Cold War. We can begin by examining Paul’s position on foreign aid to the Soviet Union.

Ron Paul on Foreign Aid to the Soviet Union
Ron Paul has always maintained a consistent opposition to all foreign aid, but especially to the communist states such as the Soviet Union. At a time when the American people were told by the government that the Soviet Union and Communism represented the greatest threat to the world and free people, that same government (the U.S. government) was propping up that very same threat of communism via the Export-Import Bank.

In a 1980 issue of “The Ron Paul Report,” Congressman Paul gives the example of the “largest truck plant in world, on the Kama River in the U.S.S.R.,” which, as he stated, “produced many of the trucks and armored vehicles used in the [Soviet] invasion of Afghanistan…”

Paul went on to explain that the plant was “built at the expense of the American people.” According to Paul, “The Nixon Administration ruled the project to be in our national interest, and the government’s Export Import Bank loaned the Soviets $154 million at an average interest rate of 6.5%, with the first payment not due for 10 years.”

“The rest of the $342 million financing, loaned at market rates by a syndicate headed by the Chase Manhattan Bank,” Paul elaborated, “was insured by the taxpayer through another government agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.”

This Paul opposed, as it benefited the Soviets at the expense of the American taxpayer. “The Export-Import Bank’s funds come from the U.S. Treasury, and the outlays cause our taxes and inflation rates to go up,” Paul said, adding, “The Soviets get the goods. The big banks and companies get the profits. And the taxpayer gets the bill.”

Paul summed up this policy as “simply a transfer payment from the average American to the well-to-do, with a bonus for our enemies.”

Ron Paul on SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)
In addition to criticizing the policies of President Nixon, Paul also censured the administration of President Jimmy Carter for its support of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, also known as SALT II.

In the October 1979 issue of his “Freedom Report,” Paul criticized U.S. arms reduction agreements with the Soviets:

Over the past twelve years — years of almost constant disarmament negotiations — the Soviet Union has outspent us on military offense and defense by 35% to 40%. This, the greatest military build-up in the history of the world, has led to rough equivalency between the USSR and the USA at best, and, at worst, clear inferiority for America.

Paul condemned the SALT II agreement, saying of it that “this would probably lead to permanent US weakness and the make the Soviet Union the undisputed military superpower in the world.” He continued, “It would be profoundly destabilizing; and far from promoting peace, it would endanger it.”

Paul’s report explained that “President Carter said we would agree to build no heavy ICBMs if the Soviets would only construct 150. The Soviets said no, they wanted 308 to our zero. We 'compromised' at 308, under the leadership of Paul Warnke, head SALT negotiator and George McGovern’s 1972 defense advisor.”

These 308 heavy ICMBs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) were referred to the Soviets as SS-18 missiles, each of which, according to Paul, “is six to seven times as powerful as our best missile.”

Paul also outlined the danger of SALT II and why he opposed it in Congress:

Under SALT, our missiles are allowed three Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicles (MIRVs). This means each missile can carry three nuclear warheads capable of hitting separate targets. SALT gives the Soviets permission to have 10 MIRVs on each SS-18. (SS-18s have been tested with 14 warheads, and many of our military experts believe they are capable of carrying 16.) Under the terms of the treaty, this one aspect of the Soviet warmaking machine can deliver 3,080 giant nuclear warheads, each with the destructive power of one million tons of TNT. These MIRVs equal 181,000 Hiroshima-size bombs.

Unlike many on the Left, and those both sympathetic and apologetic to the aggressions committed by the Soviet Union and international Communism, Ron Paul was a clear opponent of arms reduction agreements that benefited the Soviet Union and the communist world. He challenged the establishment, whether it was the President of his own party, Richard Nixon, or President Jimmy Carter of the Democratic Party, every time they sought to make treaties to bolster the Soviet war-machine and industry at the expense of American taxpayer dollars and national security.

Ron Paul on Nuclear Freeze and the Soviet Union
In addition to standing against SALT, Ron Paul was equally opposed to the nuclear freeze initiative.

During the height of the Cold War socialist radicals, anarchists, and other leftist extremists heavily promoted the idea that the United States and its Western allies should adopt a nuclear freeze initiative that would have placed a halt on the production and deployment of U.S. strategic nuclear forces.

In a reply letter, dated June 20, 1983, to a Mrs. Elizabeth Hey, a constituent of his 22nd Congressional District, Paul stated: “I voted against the nuclear freeze resolution when it was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 4 [1983].”

Paul went on to briefly outline his opposition to the nuclear freeze bill, stating: “The resolution calls for an immediate, mutual, and verifiable freeze. The Soviets, however, have not stated their willingness to freeze nuclear stockpiles.” He continued,

My primary objection to a nuclear freeze treaty with the Soviet Union is that I am unwilling to trust the freedom and independence of the United States to the promises of the Soviet ruling elite. The Soviets have broken almost every treaty they have ever signed, once it was no longer to their advantage to abide by its terms.

Paul also made public his opposition to the freeze two months before, in the April 1983 issue of his “Freedom Report,” in which he stated:

The argument for a nuclear freeze is based on a misconception about the Soviet Union. This view holds that the leaders of the Soviet Union are motivated by the same values as we — the desire for peace. … In reality, the Soviet Union is a totalitarian country ruled by a ruthless elite. The value of individual human life is nothing to the Soviet leaders.

“The American people want peace and freedom; the Soviets desire world conquest,” Paul stated as he went on to further criticize the Soviet Union for its numerous treaty violations:

The Soviet rulers are willing to sign treaties only when they advance their plans for conquest. The Soviets have violated SALT I and other treaties at least 27 times. The use of chemical weapons in Afghanistan is only the latest in the long series of treaty violations. I am unwilling to trust the security of the U.S. to the promises of the Soviet Union. [Emphasis added.]

Although Paul has never been an advocate of increasing the U.S. nuclear stockpile, he did rightfully oppose attempts, such as the “nuclear freeze” initiative,” to formally sign an agreement with the Soviet Union that would have legally bound and prohibited the United States from building such weapons if the need should arise.

Committed then to a sound fiscal policy in the defense budget, as he still advocates today, Paul finished by making a call for less needless weaponry but rather shifting the focus of defense spending to what is, or was, actually needed to defend the U.S. homeland.

“The time has come to stop building more tanks and more nuclear bombs, to stop insisting that our reluctant allies take them, and to start building a defense against a missile attack,” Paul concluded.

Ron Paul on Missile Defense
Recognizing the nuclear missile threat posed by the Soviet Union, Ron Paul, as did also his friend and fellow anti-Communist colleague Rep. Larry McDonald (D-Ga.), supported President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or “star wars” missile defense.

The purpose of SDI, as Reagan stated in his famous televised speech from the Oval Office on March 23, 1983, was “rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”

In an article entitled “Space Warfare” in the December 1, 1983 issue of Congressman Ron Paul Reports, Paul addressed those opposed to SDI; Paul wrote:

Earlier this year, when President Reagan announced plans to develop a space defense system, critics said he was opening a new horrifying era in the arms race: the militarization of space. Such a system, they said, would be “provocative,” forcing the Soviets to build their own “Star Wars” weaponry.

Paul went on to state that, “Nothing could be more misleading,” noting the hypocrisy of the Soviet Union:

Despite the barrage of propaganda from the Kremlin — propaganda that has been scandalously effective at influencing public opinion in the West — space has already been “militarized.” And it is the Soviets that have been the “militarizers.”

Paul concluded his article by paraphrasing and giving the last word to General Daniel O. Graham, “father of the High Frontier space defense concept and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency….” Paul wrote:

In the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviets, General Graham reminds his critics, you’d better believe there will be weapons in space. They’ll be flying right at us. And it is this that those who seek a real defense capability are trying to prevent.

Ron Paul continued to maintain his support for SDI as far late as 1988, when during a televised interview, while running as the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, he was asked, “What about Star Wars/SDI?” Paul replied:

I think that it’s worth doing research on SDI, but I would take the money out of the money we spend overseas. Seventy percent of our military money is spent overseas subsidizing rich allies that should be spent on the defense of this country, such as SDI.

Ron Paul observed that a space-based missile defense such as SDI likely would be a far more effective way of deterring a Soviet missile attack than having to be the policeman of the world with U.S. troops and bases in over 150 countries.

Rather than having to maintain an empire overseas, the United States could still protect and even deter the possibility of Soviet nuclear aggression by the development and deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in space — and this was the position held by Ron Paul.

The Soviet Union was not the only world power seeking to impose Communism on the rest of the world. In addition to the Soviet menace, Ron Paul stood his ground against other communist states such as those in East Asia.

Ron Paul on Communist China
In 1982, Paul strongly condemned the Reagan administration when it decided to extend credit to the People’s Republic of China, via the Export-Import Bank, estimated at $68,425,000. “It is outrageous that the American taxpayers are being forced to subsidize Communist China while domestic programs like Social Security are in jeopardy,” stated Paul at the time.

The following year, in a letter from the Paul's congressional office dated March 11, 1983, he expressed his strong opposition to one of the Reagan administration’s foreign aid bills — S.637, introduced by Senator Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) — which would have amended the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Paul quoted the following provision of S.637, which stated:

The FAA is amended to remove the People’s Republic of China and Tibet (which is administered as part of China) from the category of countries to which assistance is prohibited. As a result of this amendment, the People’s Republic of China would not be considered a "communist-bloc" country…

Paul blasted this proposal in the letter: “The contention that the People’s Republic of China is no longer Communist is ludicrous. There has been no fundamental change in the government in Communist China. It is still a totalitarian, repressive, and collectivist regime.”

“The determination that the People’s Republic of China is non-communist should be an affront to freedom-loving Americans,” Paul added.

Consistent with his free-market principles and opposition to foreign aid, Paul criticized the Reagan administration’s State Department for its aid to Communist China:

Communist China has already received over $125 million in loans and credit since 1981. This includes a $68 million credit through the Export-Import Bank to be used to buy steel making equipment. The Administration claimed that this credit was “in the national interest.” It was certainly in someone’s national interest, but I doubt that it was ours. It is indefensible to be pouring $68 million into the Chinese steel industry when the U.S. steel industry is in such terrible economic straits.

Paul went on to asses the threat of Communist China, identifying China’s ties with the Soviet Union and its territorial ambitions for conquering Taiwan. Paul concluded the letter with the following statement:

There is a saying among Communists that goes something like this: If the Communists were going to hang capitalists, the capitalists would sell them the rope. This is only a half-truth. Nowadays, we’d just give them the rope, “in the national interest.”

Ron Paul and Barry Goldwater on Korea
In a 1980 issue of The Ron Paul Report, Paul quotes Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), who said of South Korea that we should “reassess our military presence” there. Paul continued:

If North Korea decided to take advantage of the domestic turmoil [in South Korea], and invaded, said Senator Goldwater, our 41,000 troops would take the brunt of the attack. Our men are well-armed and well-trained, said the Senator, but they would not be able to stand off a probable North Korean-Red Chinese human flood.

Paul went on to criticize foreign aid, believing in the sovereignty of the South Korean people and military to deal with any threat to their security:

… South Korea’s 620,000-man army, and well-equipped air force and navy, ought to be able to defend the country. We have sent them many billions in military and economic aid.

Ron Paul’s reassessment and eventual call for withdraw of U.S. forces from South Korea was consistent with the views of Senator Goldwater, whose anti-Communist credentials were well known at the time. Paul, like Goldwater, recognized the risk and danger to U.S. national defense by maintaining a permanent presence in South Korea.

Even today, when South Korea is a wealthier and freer country than it was in 1980 — maintaining one of the world’s most advanced military forces, more than capable of taking on the outdated Soviet-era military arsenal of North Korea — it still does not require a U.S. military presence there, which is why Paul continues to advocate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the peninsula.

Conclusion
Despite the distortions and false imagery presented in certain web outlets, the record of Ron Paul is clear as to where he stood on Communism and the Soviet menace of the Cold War. Assertions to the contrary represent inaccurate history and distort the record of the Texas Congressman, who has always unwaveringly championed the cause of individual liberty — since his early days in office as both defender of the Constitution and cold warrior.

Source: The New American.
Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/history/american/8677-ron-paul-as-an-anti-communist-cold-warrior.

شغب في المفرق لليوم الثالث على التوالي

2011-08-21

خبرني - اسلام الحوامده
اندلعت أعمال شغب مجددا في مدينة المفرق شمالي شرق المفرق ليلة الأحد الاثنين لليوم الثالث على التوالي احتجاجا على عدم القبض على فارضي الخاوات في المدينة.
وأقدمت مجموعة من عشائر المدينة على إشعال النيران في المحلات التجارية ومبنى المحافظة، وسط حضور أمني كثيف اضطر فيه الأمن لاستخدام العنف والغاز المدمع لتفريق المتظاهرين.
ميدانيا، تشهد المدينة توترا شديدا اعتبر الأعلى في المدينة خلال الليالي الثلاث الأخيرة، فيما لم يتم يتسن لـ "خبرني" تحديد عدد المصابين نظراً لمحاصرة قوات الأمن لمستشفى المفرق الحكومي، لكن دوي عيارات نارية سمع في سماء المدينة.
وتحاصر قوات الأمن والدرك منزل محافظ المفرق سليم الرواحنة خشية وصول المتظاهرين إليه.
إلى ذلك، تشهد المدينة اعتداءات من المتظاهرين على عدد من منازل تعود لمواطنين يؤكدون أنهم ليسوا أطرافاً في المشاجرات التي أدت إلى أعمال الشغب.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60473.

إسلاميو الاردن يدعون الطغاة للاعتبار من سقوط القذافي

2011-08-22

خبرني- هنأ المراقب العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين الدكتور همام سعيد "الأمة العربية والإسلامية بسقوط طاغية ليبيا معمر القذافي "،لافتاً الى ان "الشعوب ستنتصر مهما طال الزمن".

وقال في تصريح له الاثنين :"تهنئ جماعة الإخوان المسلمين الشعب الليبي العظيم والامة العربية والاسلامية بهذا النصر المؤزر الذي وافق ليلية الثاني والعشرين من شهر رمضان المبارك ليضاف الى قائمة الفتوحات العظيمة التي أظلها الشهر الكريم ،وينضم بذلك ان شاء الله الى معركة بدر وفتح مكة".

واشار المراقب العام الى ان "هذا النصر جاء بعد عشرات الألوف من الشهداء والجرحى وكانت تكاليفه كبيرة مما يعطيه طعماً خاصاً ويجعله انجازاً شارك فيه جميع أبناء ليبيا رجالا ونساءً شيباً وشباناً وقد خرج الشعب الليبي اصلب عودا واشد شكيمة وهو يأخذ اليوم مكانه في طليعة الأمة".

ودعا بشار الاسد وعلي عبدالله صالح الى "الاعتبار من هذا النموذج الصارخ في الطغيان"،لافتاً الى اختلاف تجارب الشعب التونسي مع الطاغية بن علي ،والمصري مع الطاغية مبارك ،والليبي مع القذافي ،واتفاقها في النتيجة .وتابع:" هذه التجارب ضمن فئة الطغاة الذين يستخدمون القوة العسكرية مع شعوبهم وفي ذلك عبرة ".

ونبه سعيد بالقول:"لا اظن ان طاغية كان بشدة هذا ودمويته،وبالرغم من ذلك فقد شاء الله تعالى ان يقلعه من جذوره وان يخرج كأن لم يكن له اي حضور على الساحة الليبية واصبح عبرة لجميع الطغاة".

ولفت سعيد الى ان "مثل هذه التجربة الجهادية لا بد ان تؤدي دورها الكبير في قضايا الامة كقضية فلسطين والوحدة والتحرر من جميع انواع الاستبداد والاستعمار والتبعية"،وتابع:"الحمد لله حمدا كثيرا طيبا على نعمة النصر ورحم الله شهداء ليبيا وشافي جرحاهم ونفع الامة بهلاك الظالمين وجمع الكلمة على الخير والهدى ".

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60488.

أردني ينجح بتصميم شبكة إنذار منزلي عبر الموبايل

2011-08-22

خبرني- اثبت البروفسور الاردني الدكتور خالد عايد بقاعين قدرته على الابداع والانجاز بتسجيله براءة اختراع جهاز انذار عن طريق الهاتف النقال ( الموبايل ) يقوم بتأمين الحماية الامنية في المنازل والمكاتب .

ويجعل هذا الاختراع جهاز الخلوي وفقا لما يقوله بقاعين للصحفية سهير جرادات في وكالة الانباء الاردنية (بترا ) اكثر من هاتف اذ يمكن ربطه بنظام الامن في المنزل او المكتب عن طريق تصميم نظام حماية يتم تحميله في الجهاز الخاص بالشخص ويقوم بالتنبيه عن أي شخص غير مرغوب به يدخل الى المنزل ، اما عبر مكالمة هاتفية صوتية او صورية.

ويضيف ان هذا النظام يحتاج الى تركيب كاميرا في المكان المراد حمايته ، ولا يحتاج الى جهاز حاسوب أو انترنت ، مشيرا الى انه تم تطوير النظام في جامعة ( جلامورجن ) في مقاطعة ويلز البريطانية بعد تسجيله دوليا .

ويلفت الى انه نجح بتصميم النظام وتصنيعه عبر تأسيس شركة منبثقة عن الجامعة تقوم بتسويقه في مختلف دول العالم حيث بدأ الان في بريطانيا ومن ثم سينتقل الى الهند وبعدها الى الاردن ليكون متاحا امام المواطنين واصحاب الشركات .

ويقول انه يمكن من خلال جهاز الموبايل ان تراقب الام صغارها الذين تتركهم في المنزل عند العاملات ، ومتابعة امورهم عن بعد .

ويأمل بقاعين ان ينتشر هذا النظام ليصل الى الاطباء بحيث يمكنهم من متابعة المرضى في منازلهم وخاصة مرضى الضغط والقلب والسكري ليعطي مؤشرا على ارتفاع الضغط ومتابعة الاشخاص الذين يعيشون لوحدهم .

وكانت رحلة البقاعين بدأت من جامعة مؤته عندما كان رئيسا لقسم الحاسوب ، وحاول فيها ان يثبت قدرته على العمل لتكون اول جامعة اردنية يتم ربطها في شبكة الانترنت في العام 1993 بالتعاون مع مركز المعلومات الوطني الا ان مشروعه لم يتم بسبب الروتين وتوقف لينجح فيما بعد بتأسيس مركز التميز للتطبيقات التكنولوجية في مقاطعة ويلز في بريطانيا .

ويسعى الدكتور بقاعين الى تصميم نظام يساعد المصابين في ضعف البصر لتعريفهم على الطرقات واي اماكن يرتادونها عن طريق ربطهم بجهاز هاتف مع الاقمار الصناعية ليتعرفوا على الاتجاهات في الطرق ومعرفة اوقات انطلاق الحافلات، ويكشف عن نيته تصميم نظام يمكن الشخص عن طريق الموبايل من معرفة مواقع ومواعيد انطلاق الباصات خلال السنوات الخمس المقبلة .

ويعكف على انشاء مركز تميز اردني لتطبيقات الحاسوب في المملكة يرعى الإبداع والمبدعين يكون مشابها لمركز التميز الذي يرأسه حاليا في ويلز ويعد من اكبر مراكز الأبحاث في أوروبا في مجال تطبيقات وخدمات الانظمه الخلوية الذكية . ويوضح ان المركز الاردني سيسهم في توسيع نطاق الأبحاث المتميزة وتقديم خدمات الاستشارات وتطوير الانظمة والبرمجيات الخلوية إلى الشركات المحلية والدولية الأمر الذي سيزيد من القدرة التنافسية لهذه الشركات في عالم يتوقع أن يزيد فيه الانفاق على التطبيقات الذكية عن خمسين بليون دولار في عام 2015.

ويبين انه يعمل حالياً على بناء شبكة من العلاقات والإتصالات كمحاولة لنقل بعض من هذه النشاطات العلمية من بحثية أو تطويرية إلى المملكة مشيرا الى انه نظم مؤتمراً دولياً في عمان بالتعاون مع مركز المعلومات الوطني في الجمعية العلمية الملكية في شهر تموز الماضي. يشار الى ان مركز التميز في ويلز تصل موازنته الى 5 ملايين جنيه إسترليني جاءت في أغلبها من تمويل اوروبي ومن الحكومة المحلية في ويلز بالاضأفة إلى مساهمة العديد من الشركات الكبرى في مجال الاتصالات والتطبيقات الخلوية.

يذكر ان الدكتور البقاعين بالإضافة إلى منصبه كبروفسور في الجامعة ومديراً لمركز الأبحاث والتطوير فيها فإنه يشغل العديد من المناصب الدولية كونه رئيساً للاتحاد الأوروبي لجمعيات المحاكاة وتمثيل الأنظمة ورئيساً لما يزيد عن خمسة عشر مؤتمراً دولياً في مجال الإتصالات والتطبيقات الخلوية الى جانب الاشراف على العديد من رسائل الدكتوراه لطلبة اردنيين ً.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60496.

Gator in your tank: Alligator fat as a new source of biodiesel fuel

Washington DC (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat.

Their report documenting gator fat's suitability for biofuel production appears in ACS' journal Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research.

Rakesh Bajpai and colleagues note that most of the 700 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States (2008 data) came from soybean oil.

The search for non-food sources of biodiesel already has identified a number of unlikely candidates, including spent oil from deep fryers in fast-food restaurants and sewage.

The scientists realized that alligator fat could join that list. Each year, the alligator meat industry disposes of about 15 million pounds of alligator fat in landfills.

They showed in laboratory experiments that extracted oil from alligator fat can easily be converted into biodiesel. The oil actually was more suitable for biodiesel production than oil from some other animal fats.

The gator biodiesel was similar in composition to biodiesel from soybeans, and met nearly all of the official standards for high quality biodiesel.

Source: Bio-fuel Daily.
Link: http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Gator_in_your_tank_Alligator_fat_as_a_new_source_of_biodiesel_fuel_999.html.

Jordan urges "peaceful" transition of power in Libya

Aug 22, 2011

Amman - The Jordanian government on Monday called for a 'peaceful and speedy' transition of power in Libya after the downfall of Moamer Gaddafi's regime.

'Jordan is closely watching the rapid developments in Libya and hopes the country will see a speedy and peaceful transition of power,' Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.

Judeh also urged 'a compromise among all political and social forces on a roadmap that permits the setting up of a democratic system of government which enables Libya to play its due role in the Arab world and preserves the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.'

He said that the Transitional National Council has an 'important' role to play in the process of the transition of power.

Jordan was one of the first Arab countries to recognize the opposition council and establish diplomatic ties with the Libyan rebels.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Jordan's main opposition group, congratulated the Libyan people for toppling Gaddafi and his regime.

'We congratulate the great people of Libya and both the Arab and Islamic nations for this brilliant victory,' the Brotherhood's leader Hammam Saeed said in a statement.

Saeed in particular advised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh 'to take a lesson from this outstanding example of despotism.'

Thousands of people have taken part in anti-government protests in Syria and Yemen this year.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1658361.php/Jordan-urges-peaceful-transition-of-power-in-Libya.

Reforestation and Lions in Greece

London, UK (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

As the Greek economy maintains its slide towards default and the global climate continues to change for the worse, one organization, writing in Biotropica, has come up with some novel answers to both problems.

Reforest the country to offset historic deforestation and reintroduce long extinct animals such as lions, boosting the economy through eco-tourism.

The Coalition of Financially Challenged Countries With Lots of Trees (CoFCCLoT) also count the introduction of wild gorillas to Spain and the return of forests in G8 nations back to pre-industrial levels, among its suggestions for global sustainability.

CoFCCLoT of course does not exist. However, argue Erik Meijaard and Douglas Sheil, from the University of Queensland and the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation respectively, this fictitious organization's demands are an example of the effective use of satire to bridge seemingly impassable gaps in the understanding of politically contentious issues.

"Mockery is seldom part of the scientific approach, but it is effective when it comes to sustainability and the environment," said Meijaard.

"Scientists tend to approach problems using objective logic and data, ignoring the emotional content and subjective values. Conservation science is especially vulnerable as it is about values as much as facts."

The use of satire to cut to the heart of a crisis has a noble history stretching back to 1729 and Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal to consider cannibalism as an answer to the economic plight of the improvised Irish community.

It is this tradition, Meijaard and Sheil argue, which should be embraced by climate and conservation communicators today.

In their Biotropica paper Meijaard and Sheil consider a range of issues to compare the demands 'the West' makes of the developing world and how this contrasts hypocritically with how western consumers and politicians view their own actions.

For example it's perceived that 'the West' lambasts developing economies for focusing on cash crops, while remaining firmly attached to the resulting morning cup of coffee.

"An effective use of satire and humor can clarify the social, political or ethical obstacles to which conservation science is often blind," concluded Sheil.

"These obstacles play a major role in the political impasse to combating problems such as climate change. Using satire to force a reader to consider an issue from a surprising new angle, even if that angle is ridiculous, can help bridge the gap in perspectives."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Reforestation_and_Lions_in_Greece_999.html.

Wildlife responds increasingly rapidly to climate change

York UK (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

New research by scientists in the Department of Biology at the University of York shows that species have responded to climate change up to three times faster than previously appreciated. These results are published in the latest issue of the leading scientific journal Science.

Faster distribution changes. Species have moved towards the poles (further north in the northern hemisphere, to locations where conditions are cooler) at three times the rate previously accepted in the scientific literature, and they have moved to cooler, higher altitudes at twice the rate previously realized.

Analyzing data for over 2000 responses by animal and plant species, the research team estimated that, on average, species have moved to higher elevations at 12.2 meters per decade and, more dramatically, to higher latitudes at 17.6 kilometers per decade.

Project leader Chris Thomas, Professor of Conservation Biology at York, said: "These changes are equivalent to animals and plants shifting away from the Equator at around 20 cm per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year. This has been going on for the last 40 years and is set to continue for at least the rest of this century. "

This study for the first time showed that species have moved furthest in regions where the climate has warmed the most, unambiguously linking the changes in where species survive to climate warming over the last 40 years.

First author Dr I-Ching Chen, previously a PhD student at York and now a researcher at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, said: "This research shows that it is global warming that is causing species to move towards the poles and to higher elevations.

"We have for the first time shown that the amount by which the distributions of species have changed is correlated with the amount the climate has changed in that region."

Co-author Dr Ralf Ohlemuller, from Durham University, said: "We were able to calculate how far species might have been expected to move so that the temperatures they experience today are the same as the ones they used to experience, before global warming kicked in. Remarkably, species have on average moved towards the poles as rapidly as expected."

A diversity of changes. These conclusions hold for the average responses of species, but individual species showed much greater variation. Some species have moved much more slowly than expected, others have not moved, and some have even retreated where they are expected to expand.

In contrast, other species have raced ahead, perhaps because they are sensitive to a particular component of climate change (rather than to average warming), or because other changes to the environment have also been driving their responses.

Co-author Dr David Roy, from the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, illustrates this variation among species: "In Britain, the high brown fritillary butterfly might have been expected to expand northwards into Scotland if climate warming was the only thing affecting it, but it has in fact declined because its habitats have been lost. Meanwhile, the comma butterfly has moved 220 kilometers northwards from central England to Edinburgh, in only two decades."

Similar variation has taken place in other animal groups. Cetti's warbler, a small brown bird with a loud voice, moved northwards in Britain by 150 kilometers during the same period when the Cirl bunting retreated southward by 120 kilometers, the latter experiencing a major decline associated with the intensification of agriculture.

How they did the research. The researchers brought together all of the known studies of how species have changed their distributions, and analyzed them together in a "meta-analysis".

The changes that were studied include species retreating where conditions are getting too hot (at low altitudes and latitudes), species expanding where conditions are no longer too cold (at high altitude and latitudes), and species staying where they are but with numbers declining in hotter parts and increasing in cooler parts of the range.

They considered studies of latitudinal and elevational range shifts from throughout the world, but most of the available data were from Europe and North America.

Birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, spiders, other invertebrates, and plants featured in the evidence. For example, I-Ching Chen and her colleagues discovered that moths had on average moved 67 meters uphill on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo.

Co-author Jane Hill, Professor of Ecology at York, said: "We have taken the published literature and analyzed it to detect what the overall pattern of change is, something that is not possible from an individual study. It's a summary of the state of world knowledge about how the ranges of species are responding to climate change. Our analysis shows that rates of response to climate change are two or three times faster than previously realized."

Implications. The current research does not explicitly consider the risks posed to species from climate change, but previous studies suggest that climate change represents a serious extinction risk to at least 10 per cent of the world's species.

Professor Thomas says: "Realization of how fast species are moving because of climate change indicates that many species may indeed be heading rapidly towards extinction, where climatic conditions are deteriorating. On the other hand, other species are moving to new areas where the climate has become suitable; so there will be some winners as well as many losers."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Wildlife_responds_increasingly_rapidly_to_climate_change_999.html.

Eldest Gaddafi son Muhammad gives in

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Libyan opposition forces say the country's dictator Muammar Gaddafi's eldest son Muhammad has surrendered himself to the fighters.

He gave himself up to the revolutionaries in the early hours of Monday after they seized control of Tajura, an eastern suburb of the capital, Tripoli, the Doha-based news channel of Al-Jazeera reported on the Tweeter.

Muhammad Gaddafi was in charge of the main internet provider service for Libya and cut the country loose from the cyber world immediately after the beginning of a revolution against Gaddafi's regime in February.

There are also reports that the dictator's security guards have joined the forces.

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and opposition forces since a revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.

Libya's former Prime Minister Abdessalam Jalloud, who defected from Gaddafi's regime on Friday, has said that it was too late for the authoritarian ruler to strike a deal to quit power and that he would probably be killed.

"I think it would be difficult for Gaddafi to give himself up...I don't think the evolution of the situation in Tripoli will allow him to survive," he said.

The regime would fall in less than 10 days, said the former official, who was among the officers, who helped Gaddafi wrest power in a coup in 1969, but fell out of favor with the ruler in the nineties.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195095.html.

US preparing for unrest, martial law: Ron Paul

Sun Aug 21, 2011

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says that the federal government is preparing for civil unrest and martial law in the United States.

Ron Paul has recently said that H.R. 645 (The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act) could lead to Americans being incarcerated in detention camps during a time of martial law, Infowars reported on August 20.

“Yeah, that's their goal, they're setting up the stage for violence in this country, no doubt about it,” responded Paul.

The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645, first introduced in January 2009, mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.

The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations.”

The bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.

The legislation was referred to committee and did not proceed any further, but it was not rejected in a vote and can be re-introduced at any time in a new session of Congress.

In the aftermath of the UK riots, police departments in the United States are being trained to deal with rioting and civil unrest.

Back in 2008, U.S. troops returning from Iraq were earmarked for “homeland patrols” with one of their roles including helping with “civil unrest and crowd control.”

In December 2008, the Washington Post reported on plans to station 20,000 more U.S. troops inside America for purposes of “domestic security” from September 2011 onwards, an expansion of the militarization of the country in preparation for potential civil unrest following a total economic collapse or a mass terror attack.

The United States has continuity of government plans in place should martial law be declared by the President. However, the details of those plans have been so tightly guarded that even Congressman and Homeland Security Committee member Peter DeFazio (D - OR), who has the necessary security clearance, was denied access to view the material when he requested to do so back in July 2007.

“I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,” DeFazio told the Oregonian at the time, adding, “Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right.”

Congressman Paul has warned about preparations for martial law before, telling the Alex Jones Show, “They're putting their back up against the wall and saying, if need be we're going to have martial law.” Infowars.com.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/195046.html.

Spain encourages Palestinian state

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs hopes that the European Union foreign ministers meeting in early September will bring progress along the road toward the recognition of a Palestinian state.

"There's the feeling that now is the time to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state could become [a] reality," Trinidad Jimenez said, Reuters reported.

"We have to give them some signal, because if we don't it could generate great frustration for the Palestinian people," she added.

The meeting of EU foreign ministers in Sopot, Poland comes ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting later in September.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting to upgrade the Palestinian status and gain full UN membership for his country.

Washington and Tel Aviv remain opposed to the move.

Palestinians have been campaigning to win UN recognition for a state that encompasses the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and illegally annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem) -- the territories Israel captured in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinian 1988 declaration of independent statehood.

UN membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195075.html.

Turkey prepares to impose 'Plan B' against 'Israel'

20 August 2011

On August 23 will be released an UN report about the attack by the Zionist forces on the humanitarian ship Mavi Marmara, which killed Turkish citizens.

According to TV channel HaberTurk, Turkey wants "Israel" before or after the report to apologize, pay compensation to the victims of Jewish terror attack and remove the blockade of Gaza.

However, recent statements by «Israeli» side reduce the likelihood of this. If the requirements are not met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming days will reveal the "Plan B". Turkish media circulated details of "Plan B":

1) Temporary diplomatic mission will be withdrawn called off. Diplomatic relations will be cut

After closing its embassy Turkey has in "Israel" in Tel Aviv a temporary diplomatic mission of Turkey. There is a question of calling off a representative Tolga Uncu. If "Israel" does not apologize Uncu will be called off and no one will be appointed to replace him. Diplomatic relations will be reduced to zero.

2) "Israeli" ambassador will not be granted a visa to Turkey

In September expires term of office of "Israel" ambassador in Turkey Gabby Levin. Turkey will not issue to the new ambassador of "Israel" a visa.

3) Erdogan will visit Gaza

If there is no apology comes, Erdogan will visit the Gaza Strip in September.

4) Support will be granted those who are going to sue "Israel"

Victims of Mavi Marmara will sue the Zionist regime. Turkish Foreign Ministry will legally support this step. "Israel" will be weakened financially and morally.

5) Palestine will be given full support

Turkey will lobby membership of Palestine in the UN. And "Israel" will remain isolated at all international platforms.

6) Military cooperation will end

Turkey annually invited "Israel" to military exercises. After that Turkey will not invite "Israel" to any doctrines, military cooperation will end. Joint projects in the defense industry will not be carried out.

7) Trade sanctions

Turkey will limit economic relations with "Israel", reduce investment in "Israel." Cultural and social ties would be kept to a minimum.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/08/20/15001.shtml.

Labor union members protest in Tunis

2011-08-21

The General Confederation of Tunisian Labor (CGTT) on Saturday (August 20th) organized a protest in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs to denounce its exclusion from social negotiations, TAP reported. Protestors also demanded trade union pluralism in Tunisia and proportional representation in all national structures.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/21/newsbrief-06.

Tunisia recognizes TNC; Libyan refuges celebrate in Tunis

2011-08-21

Tunisia on Saturday (August 20th) changed its official position of neutrality on Libya and recognized the Transitional National Council (TNC) as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people, AFP reported. On Saturday night, Libyan refugees gathered outside the Libyan embassy in Tunis to celebrate the rebels' advance on Tripoli, unfurling a huge rebel flag across the facade of the building.

In other news Saturday, Major Abdessalam Jalloud, a former member of Libya's Revolutionary Command Council, flew from Djerba airport to Italy, TAP reported. The former Kadhafi deputy fled to Tunisia on Friday.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/21/newsbrief-02.

12 militants killed after clashes in Indian-administered Kashmir

SRINAGAR, KASHMIR (BNO NEWS) — The Indian Army on Saturday foiled a major infiltration bid in the Kashmir valley, killing 12 intruders as they were trying to cross over from Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the local daily the Hindustan Times reported.

According to Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Brar, the clashes occurred on Saturday morning at around 1 a.m. local time when Indian troops deployed on the Line of Control near Baktoor village in Gurez Sector of Bandipora district in north Kashmir intercepted a group of militants trying to cross the Kishanganga River in a pneumatic boat.

“This [use of boats] is certainly a new development. The terrorists were also carrying an inflatable dinghy,” the spokesman told the newspaper. In the ensuing gun battle between the parts, 12 militants and an Indian army officer were killed. Two Indian soldiers were injured.

The deceased Army officer was identified as Lieutenant Navdeep Singh who was commissioned in March into the Army Ordnance Corps and was serving in the 15th Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry.

According to the Defense spokesman, five AK rifles, one pistol, two boats, 50 assorted grenades, two radio sets, two compasses and one Global Positioning System (GPS) besides a large quantity of war-like stores were seized during the operation.

“This is the eighth infiltration attempt this month and the biggest so far this year,” Brar added.

In May, General Officer Commanding 15 Corps Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain expressed his fears that infiltration attempts would increase in the coming months from across the Line of Control in Kashmir after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“After the killing of al-Qaeda chief there are fears that Pakistan might try to infiltrate more militants. There are a large number of militants waiting to infiltrate from across the border,” General Hasnain said, as quoted by The Times of India newspaper.

A guerrilla war has been going on between militants and the Indian troops stationed in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided into parts administered by India and Pakistan. Militant groups are usually blamed for attacks, while soldiers have been accused of rights abuses.

The government says more than 45,000 people – including civilians, militants and troops – have died in the region over the past two decades.

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19592/12-militants-killed-after-clashes-in-indian-administered-kashmir/.

Iran sentences American citizens to 8 years in prison for espionage, illegal entry

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) — Iran has sentenced two American citizens to eight years in prison after they were convicted of espionage and illegal entry, prosecutors said on Sunday.

Several non-official Iranian media outlets had already reported on Saturday that the two American citizens were sentenced to prison, but the news was not confirmed until Sunday by Tehran Prosecutor-General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi.

Dolatabadi said Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty, but added that they still have 20 days to appeal the verdict. The news shattered earlier hopes in the United States that Iran would release the two as sentencing took place during the Holy month of Ramadan, which is also a time of forgiveness.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested in July 2009 along with Sarah Shourd when they crossed the border in Iraq’s Kurdistan region into Iran. Iranian prosecutors charged them with entering the country illegally and having links to U.S. intelligence, a claim which the defendants and their families have repeatedly denied.

According to the detained Americans, they were hiking in Iraq when they unknowingly crossed the unmarked border into Iran where they were arrested by border guards. Iranian prosecutors have rejected those claims, saying there is ‘compelling evidence’ that they are spies.

Shourd was released on September 14, 2010, after 14 months of imprisonment. She was released on a $500,000 bail on ‘medical concerns,’ although no details were provided. Shourd has since returned home to the United States and does not plan to return to Iran to face trial.

In response to Sunday’s news, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States is “deeply disappointed” by the sentencing. “We continue to call and work for their immediate release – it is time for them to return home and be reunited with their families,” she said.

It was not immediately clear if Bauer and Fattal would receive credit for time already served.

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19597/iran-sentences-american-citizens-to-8-years-in-prison-for-espionage-illegal-entry/.

Police Arrest Activists Heading to Biden's University Speech

By Helena Zhu
August 21, 2011

When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden stood at the podium and spoke about human rights at one of China’s best universities on Sunday, he probably had no idea how relevant and timely his remarks were.

The American Embassy in China had told the Chinese public that everyone was welcome to “get up close” with Biden—but Chinese police arrested and disappeared residents in Chengdu with different political views who were trying to attend, and erected a phalanx of restrictions to stop everybody else.

Li Zhaoxiu, for example, came under the authorities’ watch when she complained about a government-forced eviction. She wanted to make a short trip with a few friends from nearby Shuangliu County to Sichuan University on Friday, where Biden was speaking, but was blocked on the way by a dozen regime personnel, and then stuffed into a police car and driven away, according to a friend interviewed by Sound of Hope Radio Network.

It was a bitter example of what Biden told an audience of around 400, including about 100 Peace Corps volunteers: that “the “biggest difference” between the United States and China is “what we refer to as human rights.”

Other human rights activists in Chengdu, including Wang Binru, Liu Qiong, and Ren Hengquan, were also planning to attend Biden’s speech, but were arrested at a tea house on Friday. They were slapped with the creative charge of “collective gambling” and will spend two weeks in detention.

Huang Qi, who runs the Tianwang Human Rights Center from his Chengdu home, said in a typed interview on Skype with The Epoch Times that he and his staff members have been receiving hundreds of calls a day recently, most of them regarding Biden’s Chengdu visit.

“It was quite a disaster for rights activists and petitioners who merely wanted to go to Sichuan University to listen to Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi Jinping discuss human rights, democracy, and legal issues,” said Huang, who himself is not long out of jail on political charges.

“But instead of learning democracy, they learned the opposite, which is tyrannical autocracy. Petitioners were imprisoned, relocated, or just disappeared. As for the ordinary residents, they had to deal with a lot of hassle. Many residents couldn’t stay in town, walk in the streets as usual, even the traffic was quite a problem,” he said.

An elderly woman surnamed Feng, who graduated from Sichuan University and has lived there in a residence hall for more than five decades, said that even though Biden was just speaking in a nearby lecture hall, she did not even bother to go.

“Even if I went, I wouldn’t be able to get in,” Feng said in a phone interview. “There were many regulations over who could attend and who couldn’t. The security was very tight.”

In a speech on China-U.S. relations that lasted nearly an hour, Biden told his Chinese hosts, including the next anointed leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, that they should ease trade restrictions, continue to invest in U.S. Treasury bonds, and respect human rights.

“In the long run, greater openness is a source of stability and a sign of strength, that prosperity peaks when governments foster both free enterprise and free exchange of ideas, that liberty unlocks a people’s full potential, and in its absence, unrest festers,” Biden said.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/police-arrest-activists-heading-to-bidens-university-speech-60620.html.

Another World Under the Microscope

By Christy Su
August 20, 2011

Envision a tiny grain of sand, so small one would dismiss it without a second thought. Saying that there is another depth of beauty in something so small is unheard of before. However, Dr. Gary Greenberg of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy dares to explore the unimaginable.

Combining science and art into one, Greenberg unveils never-seen microscopic views of objects like grains of sand, flowers, and food. Dedicated to his work, not only does he invent 3D microscopes and produce photos, but he also holds lectures, writes books, and opens exhibits for viewers to indulge in his wonderful passion. We were able to get an on-line interview with Greenberg and learn more about his work.

The Epoch Times: How did you first decide to incorporate art and science?

Greenberg: At the age of 13, my dad brought me a beautiful stereo microscope, and at the same time, my grandfather bought me a two-volume copy of the complete notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Those two events changed my life, and it was clear to me that art and science should be combined because both are ways to explore nature and human condition.

The Epoch Times: What is your current project right now?

Greenberg: I am currently building a new generation of 3D digital microscopes. These microscopes will be available for sale in 2012 under the trademark Edge-3D. My current research is to study moon sand in 3D from all the Apollo Mission landings.

The Epoch Times: What are the reactions of audiences when they see your work?

Greenberg : Almost everyone who sees my work is taken by the beauty of the natural world. I am able to show them things they would never be able to even imagine. People tell me that seeing images makes them more aware of the hidden aspects of life. The secrets of life are everywhere, but they are hidden until they are discovered. I am happy I am able to help people discover the magnificence of our world.

The Epoch Times: Where does your project inspiration come from?

Greenberg: For me, Nature is endlessly praiseworthy. I am continually inspired by the desire to discover new things and show them to others.

The Epoch Times: What is the highest magnification you have used? And which art piece did you use it on?

Greenberg: The magnification limit of my microscopes is about 1,500 times actual size; however, most of my images of sand, flowers, and food range from 100 times to 300 times. However, when I investigate cells from the body, such are brains cells or cells of the immune system, then I use magnifications of 400 times to 1,000 times.

The Epoch Times: Which art piece do you value the most and why?

Greenberg: That is too difficult a decision to make.

The Epoch Times: Can you describe the process and work involved in creating one piece of art?

I invented and built the 3D microscopes that I use. My company, Edge-3D, has been developing and building high-definition 3D microscopes since 1990. There are many factors that go into making a compelling photograph through the microscope. The quality of the lens, the lighting, the camera, and the type of microscope all make a big difference. Microscopic photographs of three-dimensional objects are difficult to produce because light microscopes have very shallow depth of focus. In other words, the camera can only see a thin section of the object in-focus, with the foreground and background being out-of-focus. I overcome this limitation by photographing a series of images taken at different focus levels.

To produce a fully-focused image, a computer program analyzes each image in the series, selecting the in-focus portions, and discarding the out-of-focus portions of each image in the series. All of the in-focus portions are then seamlessly combined into a single image that is sharply focused from foreground to background. The result of all this technology is a dramatic, more three-dimensional representation of the object

The Epoch Times: What magnification do you use to see the sand particles?

Greenberg: Most of my images of sand are about 150 times actual size. If you go closer than that, then you lose the feeling that it is a grain of sand that you are looking at.

The Epoch Times: So after viewing these different items at higher magnification and seeing them at smaller sizes, do you think there is a limit to how small you can see? Take a grain of sand for example. If you break the sand particle smaller and smaller while increasing the magnification, do you think there is a limit to the different forms of it you can see if technology was not a limit?

Greenberg: Modern microscopes are so powerful, they can zoom into a single atom. These types of microscopes can magnify objects about a hundred million times actual size. As you might imagine, a single grain of sand could look very different, depending on the magnification and the type of microscope used to see it.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/another-world-under-the-microscope-60587-all.html.

Norway Holds National Memorial for Victims

By Alex Johnston
August 21, 2011

Norway on Sunday held a national memorial for the 77 victims who died in the double terrorist attack last month, ending a month-long period of mourning.

Nearly 7,000 people including the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, King Harald, and the presidents of Finland and Iceland as well as other political luminaries, attended the memorial at the Spektrum concert hall in Oslo, according to media reports.

Stoltenberg called on Norwegians to support the families of victims killed during the shooting on Utoya Island and the bombing in Oslo’s government district, which were allegedly carried out by Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist.

“We must invite in those who have gone astray. We must oppose those who want to use violence," Stoltenberg said, according to a translation of his speech posted on the government’s website. “We must meet them with all the arms of democracy.”

Stoltenberg was widely praised for his handling of the aftermath of the incident, which is considered the worst non-wartime attacks in the country’s history. In his speech, the prime minister said that Norway needs to be alert to signs of extremism and create a culture of safety and kindness to prevent it.

Norway will “make an unbreakable chain of solidarity, democracy, safety and security,” he concluded. “That is our protection against violence.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/norway-holds-national-memorial-for-victims-60614.html.

Clashes near Gadhafi compound in Libyan capital

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press | AP
Mon, Aug 22, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Tanks opened fire at rebels trying to storm Moammar Gadhafi's main compound in Tripoli on Monday, although the whereabouts of the longtime Libyan leader remained unknown a day after a lightning advance by opposition fighters who poured into Tripoli capital with surprising ease.

The international community meanwhile called on the longtime leader to step down as euphoric residents celebrated in the Green Square, the symbolic heart of the Gadhafi regime. NATO promised to continue airstrikes until all pro-Gadhafi forces surrender or return to barracks.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, who was in Tripoli, cautioned that pockets of resistance remained and that as long as Gadhafi remains on the run the "danger is still there."

The clashes broke out early Monday at Gadhafi's longtime command center known as Bab al-Aziziya early Monday when government tanks emerged from the complex and opened fire at rebels trying to get in, according to Abdel-Rahman and a neighbor. An AP reporter at the nearby Rixos Hotel where foreign journalists stay could hear gunfire and loud explosions from the direction of the complex.

Tripoli resident Moammar al-Warfali, whose family home is next to the compound, said there appeared to be only a few tanks belonging to the remaining Gadhafi forces that have not fled or surrendered.

"When I climb the stairs and look at it from the roof, I see nothing at Bab al-Aziziya," he said. "NATO has demolished it all and nothing remains."

The Rixos also remained under the control of Gadhafi forces, with two trucks loaded with anti-aircraft machine guns and pro-regime fighters and snipers posted behind trees. Rebels and Tripoli residents set up checkpoints elsewhere in the city.

The rebels' top diplomat in London, Mahmud Nacua, said clashes were continuing in Tripoli, but opposition forces controlled 95 percent of the city. He vowed Gadhafi would be found, saying "the fighters will turn over every stone to find him" and make sure he faced justice.

State TV broadcast bitter audio pleas by Gadhafi for Libyans to defend his regime. Opposition fighters captured his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son was under house arrest.

"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square late Sunday, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Gadhafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Gadhafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.

But Gadhafi's defiance in a series of angry audio messages raised the possibility of a last-ditch fight over the capital, home to 2 million people. Gadhafi, who was not shown in the messages, called on his supporters to march in the streets of the capital and "purify it" of "the rats."

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim also claimed the regime has "thousands and thousands of fighters" and vowed: "We will fight. We have whole cities on our sides. They are coming en masse to protect Tripoli to join the fight."

Gadhafi's former right-hand man, who defected last week to Italy, said the longtime leader would not go easily.

"I think it's impossible that he'll surrender," Abdel-Salam Jalloud said in an interview broadcast on Italian RAI state radio, adding that "He doesn't have the courage, like Hitler, to kill himself."

Jalloud, who was Gadhafi's closest aide for decades before falling out with the leader in the 1990s, fled Tripoli on Friday, according to rebels.

The startling rebel breakthrough, after a long deadlock in Libya's 6-month-old civil war, was the culmination of a closely coordinated plan by rebels, NATO and anti-Gadhafi residents inside Tripoli, rebel leaders said. Rebel fighters from the west swept over 20 miles (30 kilometers) in a matter of hours Sunday, taking town after town and overwhelming a major military base as residents poured out to cheer them. At the same time, Tripoli residents secretly armed by rebels rose up.

When rebels reached the gates of Tripoli, the special battalion entrusted by Gadhafi with guarding the capital promptly surrendered. The reason: Its commander, whose brother had been executed by Gadhafi years ago, was secretly loyal to the rebellion, a senior rebel official, Fathi al-Baja, told The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama said Libya is "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant" and urged Gadhafi to relinquish power to prevent more bloodshed.

"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," Obama said in a statement from Martha's Vineyard, where he's vacationing. He promised to work closely with rebels.

South Africa, which led failed African Union efforts to mediate between the rebels and Gadhafi, refused to offer support to the rebels on Monday, saying it wants to see a unity government put in place as a transitional authority. But speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said she did not envision a role for Gadhafi on such a transitional body, saying he had told AU mediators four months ago he was ready to give up leadership.

Nkoana-Mashabane also said repeatedly that South Africa has sent no planes to Libya to evacuate Gadhafi, has received no request from him for asylum and is involved in no efforts to extricate him.

Nkoana-Mashabane also said, "We don't know his (Gadhafi's) whereabouts. We assume he is still in Libya."

The uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, inspired by successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. A brutal regime crackdown quickly transformed the protests into an armed rebellion. Rebels seized Libya's east, setting up an internationally recognized transitional government there, and two pockets in the west, the port city of Misrata and the Nafusa mountain range.

Gadhafi clung to the remaining territory, and for months neither side had been able to break the other.

In early August, however, rebels launched an offensive from the Nafusa Mountains, then fought their way down to the Mediterranean coastal plain, backed by NATO airstrikes, and captured the strategic city of Zawiya.

The rebels' leadership council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, sent out mobile text messages to Tripoli residents, proclaiming, "Long live Free Libya" and urging them to protect public property. Internet service returned to the capital for the first time in six months.

Gadhafi is the Arab world's longest-ruling, most erratic, most grimly fascinating leader — presiding over this North African desert nation with vast oil reserves and just 6 million people. For years, he was an international pariah blamed for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. After years of denial, Gadhafi's Libya acknowledged responsibility, agreed to pay up to $10 million to relatives of each victim, and the Libyan ruler declared he would dismantle his weapons of mass destruction program. That eased him back into the international community.

Aden supports National Council

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Yemenis have poured into the streets of the port city of Aden in a show of support for the country's newly formed National Council.

On Saturday, the demonstrators chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia and condemned what they called Riyadh's meddling in Yemen's internal affairs, a Press TV correspondent reported.

They also expressed strong opposition to the return of Ali Abdullah Saleh from Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's National Council was unveiled on Wednesday, a day after Saleh said he would return to Yemen soon.

Saleh is currently receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for injuries he sustained during an attack on his palace in early June.

Popular protests against Saleh broke out earlier this year, encouraged by uprisings that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt in January and February.

Hundreds of protesters have been killed and many more injured in the regime's crackdown on Yemen's popular uprising.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194932.html.

Muslim Turks rap Quran courses age ban

Sun Aug 21, 2011

A group of Turkish Muslims have demonstrated in the capital city of Ankara in protest over the age restriction that prevents children under 12 from attending Qur'an courses.

The protesters gathered in Kocatepe Mosque on Saturday, calling for an end to the age restriction law, IRNA reported.

Chanting slogans in support of Quran courses for children, the demonstrators urged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to live up to his commitments.

A spokesman for the protesters said the restriction on teaching Islam's holy book to children was against civil liberties and a violation of human rights.

Turkey's Freedom Association (Ozgur Der), which organized the Saturday protest, has announced plans to hold similar rallies in 20 more provinces across the country.

In July, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said, “We will do what is necessary for Turkey to get rid of such a shame that prevents children learning the book of their own religion. We will change this sloppy law this legislative term and solve the problem.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194986.html.

Jordanians urge Israel envoy expulsion

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Hundreds of Jordanians have rallied near Israel's embassy in the capital city of Amman, demanding the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Jordan.

Late on Saturday, the protesters condemned Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy.

Raising the flags of Jordan, Egypt and Palestine, the demonstrators also demanded the abrogation of Amman's 1994 peace treaty with Tel Aviv, DPA reported.

Israel claims it launched its latest attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to assaults that targeted two buses and a military vehicle near Eilat in southern Israel, in which eight Israelis were killed.

The Israeli offensive claimed the lives of at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 45 others, including children.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak quickly accused resistance groups in Gaza for the attacks and vowed a “full response.”

The democratically elected government of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza, however, strongly dismissed the allegations and warned against any act of aggression on the enclave.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza since the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194953.html.

Pakistan to send more troops to Bahrain

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Pakistan has agreed to dispatch more mercenaries to Bahrain to help Al Khalifa regime's crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf state.

The agreement was reached when Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari met King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during his one-day visit to Bahrain on Wednesday, IRNA reported Saturday.

Manama has been recruiting former soldiers and policemen from Pakistan at a steady rate to strengthen the government's forces.

In many demonstrations Bahraini protesters shouted slogans against Pakistani security forces in Urdu.

Pakistani and Saudi forces have played a major rule in suppressing anti-government protests in Bahrain since the beginning of unrest in the Persian Gulf country.

President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) Nabeel Rajab said Friday that the Pakistani recruits have behaved with a heavy hand toward demonstrators.

"They're told they are going to go to a holy war in Bahrain to kill some non-Muslims or kafir [infidel] or Shias. They are paid well, maybe," Rajab noted.

Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-government rallies throughout the Middle Eastern country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa family.

Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested and tortured in prisons in a government-sanctioned crackdown on protests since the beginning of the demonstrations.

According to the BCHR, there are currently over 1,000 political detainees inside the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194995.html.

Jordan-GCC talks in Sept

Sunday 21/8/2011

The first round of talks for Jordan’s admission to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) will be held between September 10 and 15, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said yesterday.

Judeh is to meet his GCC counterparts in Saudi Arabia to outline a road map for Jordan’s admission to the bloc, he told a private sector panel set up to follow the issue.

In May, GCC leaders decided at a meeting in Riyadh to accept Jordan as a new member. The council comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

Both Jordan and the GCC countries “stand to benefit” from Amman’s admission to the group, Judeh said.

Source: Gulf Times.
Link: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=453936&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17.

A Marine Discovers Islam in Iraq

8/19/11
Eliana Lopez

Before Ibrahim Abdel-Wahed Mohamed left Sea Cliff for a tour of duty with the Marines in Iraq, he was Anthony Grant Vance, the son of American and Panamanian parents who had raised him as a Catholic.

Despite his Christian upbringing, though, he had been curious about Islam since his childhood in Kansas, where he had two Afghani friends. He thought about pursuing anthropology studies to further learn about religion and different cultures, but instead ended up joining the military.

Mohamed felt the pull toward the faith strengthen in Iraq -- "the heart of the Islamic world," as he says -- and he reached out to the Muslim contractors on his base and started learning about the precepts of the Quran.

Convinced that he was being called to Islam, he officially became a Muslim while still serving in Iraq. There he underwent Shahada, a profession of faith where a person testifies in front of others that "there is no god but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God," as the Sunni declaration reads.

His transformation may seem dramatic, but it's not entirely unique. The number of Latinos in the U.S. converting to Islam is growing, and Long Island is no exception.

In 1997, the American Muslim Council counted approximately 40,000 Hispanic Muslims nationwide, but that number could nowadays be closer to 75,000, according to Latino American Dawah Association (LADO), an organization committed to promoting Islam among the Latino community within the United States.

Juan Galvan, a member of LADO, affirms that Latino converts to Islam are increasing. "Many Muslim organizations have stated that the Latino Muslim community tripled or quadrupled after 9/11," he says.

He explains that after the attacks, people wanted to know more about the religion. "Many people came to learn about Islam for the first time. Some people came to hate Islam, and some people came to love Islam."

Mohamed firmly stands with the latter, as one of a small percentage of soldiers who fought in Iraq and returned with a new faith.

In some ways, his roots may have predisposed him to theological experimentation.

Born in Panama to an American Marine father and Panamanian mother, he was baptized and raised as a Catholic. His parents divorced when he was an adolescent, and his father became a Jehovah's Witness. The conversion led his father to retire from the military after 13 years of service, telling Mohamed that once you decide to follow God, "you don't pledge allegiance to a country, but you pledge allegiance to God."

Still, Mohamed followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Marine Corps after he finished high school. As a Marine, traveled around the country, living in California, Virginia, North Carolina and New York, where he finally settled down.

It was working at the military base in Garden City when Mohamed first saw the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, a place that always intrigued him. "We passed by the mosque a couple times and I had the curiosity" he recalls. After several years on Long Island, he was sent to Iraq in 2008.

Two years have passed since Mohamed converted to Islam. Now he lives in Westbury, attends the Islamic Center of Long Island and is pursuing a major in education at CW Post.

He still maintains an open mind when it comes to other religions.

"I'm not here to put anyone else down for their beliefs," he says. "I still believe that there are many lessons to be learned from other faiths."

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliana-lopez/a-marine-discovers-islam-_b_929468.html.

Libyan rebels say they are attacking Tripoli

By DARIO LOPEZ - Associated Press AP
Sun, Aug 21, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby.

Gunbattles and mortar rounds were heard clearly at the hotel where foreign correspondents stay in Tripoli. NATO aircraft made heavy bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

"We planned this operation with NATO, our Arab associates and our rebel fighters in Tripoli with commanders in Benghazi," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the head of the rebel leadership council, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Benghazi, hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, is the rebels' de facto capital.

Abdel-Jalil they said chose to start the attack on Tripoli on the 20th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which fell on Saturday. The date marks the ancient Islamic Battle of Badr, when Muslims first fought for the holy city of Mecca in A.D. 624.

A couple hours after the rebels said they had attacked Tripoli, state television ran what appeared to be a live audio message by Gadhafi. He did not appear on television but sounded like he was calling the message in on a poor phone line which crackled at times. He announced the time and date twice to prove that he was speaking live.

Gadhafi condemned the rebels as traitors and "vermin" who are tearing Libya apart and said they were being chased from city to city — a mirror image of reality.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?"

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny there was an uprising in Tripoli. But he acknowledged that there was some kind of unusual activity.

"Sure there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

If the rebel did indeed attack Tripoli, it would be the first time in the 6-month-old uprising. The rebels made early gains in the revolt, capturing most of the east of the country and rising up in a few other major cities such as Zawiya and Misrata. But Gadhafi's forces fought back and until a week ago, the civil war had been mired in a stalemate.

Last weekend, rebels from the western mountains near the border with Tunisia made a dramatic advance into Zawiya, just 30 miles west of Tripoli, and captured parts of the city.

Gadhafi appeared increasingly isolated as the fighters advanced closer to Tripoli, a metropolis of 2 million people, from the west, south and east and gained control of major supply roads into the capital.

After hard-fought battles for a week in Zawiya, the rebels finally wrested the city's oil refinery, central square and hospital from Gadhafi's forces and drove them out in a major victory on Saturday that clearly swung momentum in their favor.

Hours later, the attack on Tripoli was claimed.

Col. Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid — a nickname for Tripoli. He also said the assault was coordinated with NATO. Haroun told the AP that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment — some are in the Tajoura neighborhood and the other is near the Matiga (international) airport," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Tajoura has been known since the beginning of the uprising in February as the Tripoli neighborhood most strongly opposed to Gadhafi's regime.

Earlier Saturday, the government organized a trip for reporters to the airport to show them it was still in government hands.

A representative for Tripoli on the rebel leadership council told the AP that rebels were surrounding almost every neighborhood in the capital, and there was especially heavy fighting in Fashloum, Tajoura and Souq al-Jomaa.

Those three neighborhoods have been bubbling with discontent ever since the beginning of the Libya uprising. They paid the highest price in deaths when protesters took the streets in anti-Gadhafi protests, only to be met with live ammunition by government militiamen.

"We don't have exact numbers yet, but we are hearing that many fighters have fallen — very likely over 100," said Mohammed al-Harizi.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman visited Benghazi on Saturday.

"Gadhafi's days are numbered," he said. "The best case scenario is for Gadhafi to step down now ... that's the best protection for civilians."

In Benghazi, there were thousands celebrating in the main city square, shooting fireworks and guns into the air, and waving the rebel tricolor flag.

They got support from Abdel-Salam Jalloud, a close Gadhafi associate who defected Friday. Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV from Italy, he told the people of Tripoli, "You must rise up all together, at once," and called on Gadhafi's forces to joint the opposition. "The decisive moment is approaching," he said. "You are protecting a clinically dead regime."

The taking of Zawiya, a city of 200,000, cleared the last major hurdle to a rebel march on Tripoli from the west. Rebels said Gadhafi's troops put up little resistance before fleeing their posts in Zawiya's hospital and multistory buildings around the main square — another sign suggesting that the Libyan dictator's 42-year-old regime is crumbling.

Trucks and cars packed with rebels as well as civilians drove around Zawiya's central square, honking horns, flashing V-for-victory signs and yelling "Allahu akbar" or "God is great!" An ambulance crew posed for photos on the sidewalk while a rebel called through a loudspeaker on his truck, "Zawiya is liberated!"

Still, regime troops kept firing rockets and mortars at the city from positions in the east even after rebels said they drove them out, and thunderous booms echoed across the city. The central hospital was hit by mortar rounds early Saturday, several hours after it was taken by rebels. The attack badly damaged the operating rooms, punching a hole into one of the outer walls. Metal slats from the ceiling were strewn across the floor, and soot-covered the operating tables.

Rebels also claimed that they captured the city of Zlitan, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, after more than two months of fighting.

"Zlitan is now completely liberated after a severe fight, and for the first time I can say we have control over it," Bani told reporters Saturday.

In Zawiya, fighters were bogged down around the central square for much of the week, held back by mortar, rocket and anti-aircraft fire from Gadhafi's troops. However, on Friday afternoon, rebel reinforcements arrived and pushed toward the square and the hospital, driving out regime forces before nightfall, said 21-year-old rebel fighter Mohammed Abu Daya.

The rebels said Saturday that they were now driving Gadhafi's forces even farther east, toward the village of Jedaim on the outskirts of Zawiya.

Gadhafi's forces fired rockets and mortars at the city, killing a doctor his wife and their 9-month-old baby when a mortar hit their home, medics said.

Zawiya's main square was covered with traces of the recent fighting. Nearly every window in the surrounding hotel, banks and government office buildings was shattered, and bullet and shrapnel holes marred every wall. Shelling had collapsed two floors of one of the five buildings near the square that had been used as Gadhafi sniper positions.

The dead bodies of two government fighters lay in the square's central plaza, covered by blankets. Rebels held their breath as they passed the bodies, which some said had been there for days.

Zawiya native Faiz Ibrahim, 42, took great pleasure in walking safely through his hometown's central square. Ibrahim, trained as an engineer, had taken up arms to defend the city early in the uprising, but went underground when Gadhafi's forces retook the town. He came out of hiding as soon as rebels from the south entered the city.

"We praise God that we can come here now that we have liberated the square," he said, his Kalashnikov rifle over his shoulder. "We have to see all the destruction that it took to get them out."

___

Associated Press writers Rami al-Shaheibi in Benghazi and Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this report

In Morocco, students see more than money in summer jobs

Summer jobs enable many young people to find fulfillment while also helping them make ends meet.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/08/11

While groups of young unemployed graduates continue their protests demanding jobs in the public service, there are many still in school who work during the summer holidays.

Taking jobs during breaks from school in Morocco has long been thought of as something working class students did. Now, middle class students and their parents are coming to see the social value of working for your money.

Working during breaks is an opportunity for students to earn income, but also to train for the future by building character traits that lead to success in the job market. For some, it is a deliberate choice. For others, working is necessary to make ends meet during the school year.

Samira Kassimi, a sociologist, explained that summer jobs for young people are nothing new in Morocco for the working class, but are rarely taken by members of the middle class. She said middle class parents who are anxious to build character in their children are beginning to send them to work on their breaks.

Samira Z. is barely 17 but has been working during the holidays for more than five years to buy school supplies for herself and her two younger brothers. When people sympathize with her situation, she simply explains that her work experience will only help her achieve her goal of becoming an investigative journalist.

"Ambition is what sustains you in life," 21-year-old Zakaria Merouane told Magharebia. "I know lots of young people who have plenty of family around them but don't have the experience you need to get by in life." After he gains a degree in business management next year, he plans to take out a young entrepreneur loan and start up his own business.

Summer jobs help young people to boost their confidence by making them feel useful, according to psychologist Selma Chennaoui. "This has positive effects, because they learn about themselves and overcome their fear of the job market and any preconceptions they may have. This makes them more able to thrive," she explained.

"I was shy and I didn't know the value of money. When I worked for just one month, my personality changed," Ahmed Bachiri, 20, said. When Bachiri was 15 years old, his father, who is an engineer, encouraged him to work for a month during the summer holidays. He said he did not understand his father's intentions at first, but is now immensely grateful.

"My friends don't understand. They think it's shameful for a student to work during the holidays. This culture has to change," he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/19/feature-04.