text:
[Note: Otherwise stated, the film stills presented in this post are extracted from the following documentaries:
1. "Riding the Tiger" (2001), produced by the Singapore Ministry of Information and the Arts.
2. "The Undeclared War" (1998), produced for the BBC, directed by Robert Lemkin.
3. "SOE: Arms and the Dragon" (1984), produced by the BBC.]
Straits Times, 7 January 1946, Page 3
Guerilla Leaders Decorated by Supremo. Campaign Medals Awarded.
"On the wide stone steps of Singapore's Municipal building, in which the historic surrender was signed, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander, pinned the Burma Star and 1939-45 Star to the proud breasts of 16 leaders of the Malayan Resistance Movement, at an impressive ceremony yesterday. Three were Malays, the remainder Chinese.
In the uniform of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, 11 saluted the Supremo with the clenched fist, Communist style.
Official spectators who were privileged to get a closer view of the ceremony saw the faces of these fearless men relax in a smile as the Supremo congratulated them. The other five gave the ordinary salute. Last to receive his decoration, Wang Siang Pu was conspicuously attired in an indigo blue uniform with a khaki cloth for headgear.
"Thousands of local residents and service personnel crowded round the enclosure at the padang in which stood the guard of honour formed by the 1st Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)…
"…They were entertained to 15 minutes' martial music by the 52-piece band of the Royal Marines.
"Five minutes to the hour at which the Supreme Allied Commander was due to arrive, the guerillas, accompanied by Col. R. N. Broome [Richard Broome of Force 136] and another British officer drove up in four open cars, escorted by two traffic police motor cyclists and two M.P. motor cyclists.
"The crowd was hushed with impressive silence as the Supremo, preceded by a police pilot car and an escort of two police and two military police motor cyclists, stepped from his car to take the general salute as the clock tower [of the Victoria Memorial Hall] chimed noon.
"Followed by three staff officers and the officer commanding the guard of honour, the Supremo inspected the guard before making a speech expressing appreciation for the help given by the Malayan Resistance Army. He took opportunity also to explain the duties of South East Asian Command and what the Command had been able to do to relieve the food situation.
"Newsreel and Press cameramen, who had been busy shooting pictures for the last half hour, turned their cameras in the general direction of the Municipal steps as Col. Broome called out in Mandarin the names of the Chinese heroes to be decorated. It was a proud moment not only for these men but for the movement which they led with such success. Disbanded by not forgotten, Malaya's resistance movement returned to take the credit which it so richly deserved.
"Not so well known in town, perhaps, as in the village and jungle, where their courage and gallantry had made them dreaded enemies of the Japanese, these honoured guerillas had come from all over Malaya to receive their decoration.
"Some were from Perak Central HQ of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army. Some came from Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Kuantan and Johore. They represented thousands of their comrades up and down the Malay Peninsula, who suffered incredible privations and torture. Many of their members made the supreme sacrifice so that Malaya might be free.
"The 16 leaders of the Movement, decorated at yesterday's ceremony were: Chen Ping, Liew Yau, Chan Yeung Pan, Lau Wei Chung, Fook Lung, Lao Wong, Chen Tien, Lin Chang, Chuan Seng, Siew Lit, Wu Chye Sin, Tan Siau Yau, Che Yeop Mahidin, Bahari, Abdullah bin Taami, Wang Siang Pu."
(Source: Straits Times, 7 January 1946, Page 3. Additional information in italics and square brackets mine.)
Piqued by an interest in the Malayan resistance movement during the Japanese Occupation, I went in search of information regarding the 16 award recipients, based on the names in the list from the Straits Times report. The following is a summary of what I found out.
(The Straits Times report had provided rough romanised versions of the actual Chinese or Malay names of the award recipients. Therefore, I have included in my summary more popularly used versions of the names, and where appropriate, with chinese characters.)
The 16 "Burma Star and 1939-1945 Star" recipients:
1. Chen Ping (Chin Peng, 陈平)
Member of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) Central Military Committee (High Command) during the World War II Japanese Occupation. He was also the MPAJA's Liaison Officer with Force 136 during the war.
Born in Setiawan, Perak in 1924, Chin Peng is a Fujian Hakka. He joined the MCP in 1940, and served as a Perak Local Committee member and Secretary of a Local Committee. He later emerged as the Secretary-General of the Communisty Party of Malaya in June 1947. From 1962, he directed the party from China.
Above: Chin Peng at the decoration ceremony in 1946.
Above: Chin Peng was dubbed "Public Enemy No. 1" and was the most wanted man by the British authorities during the Malayan Emergency between 1948 and 1960. A huge sum was offered for his capture and this was publicized in the Straits Times in May 1952.
Above: Film-still from "The Undeclared War"(1998). Chin Peng in the 1990s, living in exile in Hatyai, southern Thailand.
Above: Chin Peng and the other Burma Star recipients were treated to a gala cocktail party at the Government House (now the Istana) after the awards ceremony at the Municipal Building. Here, they were seen exiting the building. Walking ahead of Chin Peng (in the centre of the frame and looking in the camera) is Lau Yew, next in the list of the award recipients…
2. Liew Yau (Lau Yew, Liu Yau, 刘尧)
Chairman of the MPAJA Central Military Committee (High Command) during the war. ABA).
Born in Hainan Island in 1915, Lau Yew joined the CCP in 1931. In 1936, he travelled to Singapore to escape the nationalist government police. In July 1937, he joined the Anti-Enemy Backing-Up Society and directed one of its departments organised by shop clerks. He joined the MCP in Feb 1940 and received training at 101 Special Training School in Dec 1941 [More information about this school will be shared in a later post on a BBC documentary "SOE: Arms and the Dragon". 101 Special Training School was set up by a British special operations branch based in Singapore, which was called 'SOE', short for "Special Operations Executive".]
After the war, Liu Yau emerged as the president of the MPAJA Ex-Service Comrades Association and head of the Malayan People's Anti-British Army (MPABA). He was later betrayed by his own bodyguard and killed in a police raid in Kajang, Selangor barely a month into the Malayan Emergency in July 1948.
Above: Admiral Mountbatten pinning the Burma Star and 1939-1945 Star on Liu Yau.
3. Chan Yeung Pan (Chow Yeong Ping, 周洋滨)
Commander, 1st Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Ulu Yam, Selangor. He later defected to the British forces after the declaration of the (Malayan) Emergency in June 1948.
4. Lau Wei Chung (Liao Wei Chung, 廖伟中)
Commander, 5th Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Simpang Pulai, Perak. Also known as Colonel Itu by Force 136 officers, so named because of his SOE radio call sign E-2.(SOE – Special Operations Executive, a secret WWII British special operations unit.) He was arrested at the start of the Emergency and banished to China, where he would die in the 1980s.
5. Fook Lung (Deng Fuk Loong, 邓福隆)
Commander, 2nd Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan.
6. Lao Wong? (老汪)
I was not able to trace anyone by the name of "Lao Wong" among the Malayan resistance forces. But if I may speculate, it is possible that "Lao Wong" refers to Wang Ching or (Wong Ching, 汪清), commander of the 6th Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in West Pahang. This speculation is based on the fact that most commanders of the MPAJA Independent Regiments at the end of the war were named more or less accurately among the Burma Star recipients in the Straits Time report and in other scholarly writings, except Wong Ching and Lin Tian, the 3rd Independent Regiment Commander.
(24 Dec 2012; Update: I read in 郭仁德《神秘莱特》about some members of the MCP Pahang State Committee who were imprisoned by the British in Kuala Lumpur and were planning a prison escape before the Japanese invasion in 1941. And "老汪(清)" is one of those identified in the book. I surmised that this 老汪 a.k.a. 汪清, is the same MCP/MPAJA cadre that would receive the Burma Star from Lord Mountbatten in Jan 1946. So, my earlier speculation was indeed correct.)
7. Chen Tien (Chen Tian, 陈田)
Commander, 4th Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Johore Bahru, South Johore.
Chen Tian was born in Singapore in 1923. In 1941, he joined the MCP. After the war, he became the Chief Editor of "Combatant's Friend" (战友报), a newspaper published by the MPAJA Ex-Service Comrades Association. He became a member of the MCP's Political Bureau, was concurrently Chairman of its Propaganda Department and participated in the 1955 Baling Conference and peace talks to put an end to the ongoing armed conflicts during the Malayan Emergency. In 1961 he went to China where he died in 1990.
8. Lin Chang?
Similar to the earlier speculations over the identity of "Lao Wong", I was not able to trace anyone by the name of "Lin Chang" among the Malayan resistance forces, but I am guessing that "Lin Chang" may refer to Lin Tian (or 林田), commander of the 3rd Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in North Johore.
(This speculation may seem a little far fetched since "Chang" and "Tian" are obviously different and distinguishable. I made the guess because the other seven commanders of the MPAJA Independent Regiments at the end of the war (including "Lao Wong", ie. Wong Ching, based on my speculation above) were listed among those presented with the Burma Star. It would be strange to leave the last regiment commander out of the recipient list. Besides, the Straits Times report had revealed that 11 of the award recipients "saluted with a clenched fist, Communist style." The eleven were probably – 1 from the pro-communist faction of the Dalforce, namely Wang Siang Pu; 2 from communist-led MPAJA Central Military Committee, namely Chin Peng and Liu Yau; and following the thread of my argument, all 8 MPAJA Independent Regiment Commanders. Therefore, I dare say that "Lin Chang" in the Straits Times report actually referred to "Lin Tian" the 3rd Regiment Commander. It could have been an error on Straits Times' part.)
9. Chuan Seng (Chuang Ching, 庄清)
Commander, 7th Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Sungei Riau, near Kuantan, Pahang.
10. Siew Lit (Ho Siew Lit, 何小力)
Commander, 8th Independent Regiment of the MPAJA Open Army at the end of the war. Headquartered in Kedah.
11. Wu Chye Sin (吴再新, alias Wu Beng Chye)
A member of Force 136, a special operations unit under the command of SOE, tasked to carry out sabotage of a limited tactical nature in enemy occupied territories. He participated in Operation Gustavus I, the first infiltration mission conducted by Force 136, aimed at seting up an espionage network in Malaya. They first landed on Pangkor Island, Perak, in May 1943.
He was recruited by Lim Bo Seng, and underwent training in Chung King, China and Poona, India at the Eastern Warfare School.
12. Tan Sian Yau (Tham Sien Yen, 谭显炎, alias Han Lay Boon)
A member of Force 136. He also participated in Operation Gustavus I.
13. Che Yeop Mahidin (Yeop Mahidin bin Mohamed Shariff)
Leader of Pahang Wataniah (or Gerila Wataniah Pahang). Before the war, he was an Assistant District Officer in Kuala Lipis. When World War II broke out, he formed an anti-Japanese resistance group called the "Pahang Wataniah", which had a strength of about 250 men and was assisted by Force 136, which assigned Major J. D. Richardson to help train the unit. He later helped establish the Rejimen Askar Wataniah, the military reserve unit of the Malayan Army.
He is also the cousin of Abdullah CD (Che Dat Anjang Abdullah), who was once a member of KMM (Kesatuan Melayu Muda) but later fought under the MPAJA, and became a Malay MCP leader, in command of the 10th Regiment of MNLA (Malayan National Liberation Army) in Temerloh, Pahang.
14. Bahari (Haji Bahari bin Haji Sidek)
A member of the Malay Section of Force 136. He was a student in Mecca before World War II broke out, and had been recruited by Force 136 in India and became an agent under the Malay Section of Force 136, which was headed by Major Tengku Mahmood Mahyideen, a son of the last ruler of Pattani. As opposed to Wu Chye Sin and Tham Sien Yen who had arrived by submarine when they infiltrated Malaya, Haji Bahari parachuted into the Malayan jungle in Grik, Perak.
15. Abdullah bin Taami?
(named as "Abdul Abdullah bin Ta'ani" in other sources, such as "colonialfilm.org.uk".)
I still have no idea who he was.
16. Wang Siang Pu?
A member of Dalforce, a Singapore Chinese volunteer army which had fought the invading Japanese forces in Feb 1942 before the British surrender. I had briefly written about Dalforce in an earlier post.
Besides being singled out in the Straits Times report for donning an indigo blue uniform and with a khaki cloth for headgear (which was the standard attire for Dalforce soldiers), "Wang Siang Pu" had not appeared in any of the resources that I have accessed during the writing of this post. Guess I have to read more then….
Above: A photograph of Admiral Mountbatten and the medal recipients on the steps of the Municipal Building (now the City Hall). The person with the distinctive headscarf that I have marked with a red circle is Wang Siang Pu from Dalforce. The ten representatives of MPAJA are the eight soldiers that stood on the left side of the photograph and the last two on the right which I have marked with an orange circle. All ten of them wore the MPAJA uniform with the five-cornered cap. The remaining five recipients from Force 136 and other Malay resistance movements wore berets.
In Chin Peng's "My Side of History" (published in 2003), he gave an account of his experiences with regards to the decoration ceremony at the Municipal Building on 6 Jan 1946:
"The BMA [British Military Administration] booked us into lavish accommodation at the famed Raffles Hotel. On January 6, escorted by motorcycle outriders, we were driven a short distance down the road, past St. Andrew's Cathedral, to the Municipal Building, now the City Hall. There, the Royal Marine Band was already playing. In our military uniforms, we were ushered to a position on the padang immediately in front of the Municipal Building steps. A British flag-draped podium had been placed in the centre of a landing halfway up the flight of steps that led to the building's main doors. To the left of the podium stood a small table on which rested a cushion. On top of the cushion lay our medals." (Additions in italics and square brackets mine.)
Chin Peng was rather critical of the BMA's intent for such an awards ceremony:
"Why, you might ask, had the British gone to so much expense and trouble to honour us so publicly, nearly five months after Japan's surrender? After all, on September 12, 1945, 16 of our guerrillas had already participated — prominently positioned — in the official victory celebrations staged at the same venue. [I wrote about the event with accompanying archival film-stills in an earlier post.] Furthermore, arrangements had been finalised for a special MPAJA contingent to participate in the June 8, 1946, Victory Parade in London. Was this January 6 display another propaganda exercise? Was it aimed at smothering us with attention in the hopes our resolve to pursue an anti-colonial stand would be undermined? If so, Admiral Mountbatten and his High Command had been badly advised." (Additions in italics and square brackets mine.)
And Chin Peng was also indignant that they, the MPAJA representatives, were treated in a similar fashion to the pro-Kuomintang Force 136 agents or resistance "fighters", that they had received decorations identical to the MPAJA representatives:
"On hand with us outside the Municipal Building that morning were two Kuomintang Chinese, three Malays and a single Chinese Dalforce representative in separate groupings. They were to receive decorations identical to ours. Was this some kind of misguided gesture demonstrating Britain's willingness to treat all political persuasions equally? Or get things racially correct? Declassified documents now reveal that it was John Davis [of Force 136] who had pressed for CPM [Communist Party of Malaya] operatives to be given awards immediately after the cessation of hostilities. But it had taken the system a long time to become convinced about the merits of Davis' suggestion. His idea was not popular when first presented. In all probability it would have been shelved had civil disturbances throughout Malaya not been on the increase. Some quarters must have decided matters would improve if we got placated." (Additions in italics and square brackets mine. Emphasis in italics mine.)
By Chin Peng's suggestion, the awards ceremony is conjured up as a propaganda exercise by the British with the intention to placate the Malayan Communist Party and their united front organisations, and attempt to alleviate anti-colonial sentiments. But the British had to accommodate other factions in the WWII resistance movement in the awards ceremony so that they cannot be accused of bias. I mean, surely they cannot be seen to forsake locally-born operatives under Force 136's command, a British-directed special ops organisation. If Burma Stars are to be awarded to the MPAJA soldiers, the British are obliged to offer the same Stars to their very own Force 136 members, though the British must have surely acknowledged, behind the scenes, that the communist-led MPAJA was the most, if not the only, potent Malayan resistance force to be reckoned with during the Japanese occupation.
So, who are the MPAJA, the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, the WWII Malayan resistance group at the centre of the events of which the filmic, pictorial and textual information this post is attempting to present?
I have compiled a series of quotes from numerous sources that attempt to uncover, especially for myself, a student of Malayan/Singaporean political history, what constitutes the MPAJA, their motives and intents, their role in history and their relationship with the colonial masters whom they had to join hands with to fight the Japanese, but ultimately contend with for political control over the Malayan peninsula…
- 马来亚人民抗日军退伍同志会总会稿,1946年8月5日。
第一独立队 1942年1月1日 雪兰尔州
第二独立队 1942年1月11日 森美兰州
第三独立队 1942年1月20日 柔佛州北部
第四独立队 1942年1月30日 柔佛州南部
第五独立队 1942年12月1日 霹雳州
第六独立队 1943年8月13日 彭亨州西部
第七独立队 1944年9月1日 彭亨州东部
第八独立队 1945年8月初 吉打州
(摘自《大战与华侨》, 新加坡南洋出版社,1947年。)
The three-star flag of the MPAJA 1st Independent Regiment. The MPAJA is also popularly known as the "Bintang Tiga" army (Bintang – Star; Tiga – three).
"Not long after the outbreak of war in the Far East, the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had put up a proposal to the Government that the Chinese should be allowed to form a military force to fight the Japs, and that it should be armed by the British. The C.-in.C. (Commander-in-Chief) at first refused to allow this, but as the war situation rapidly deteriorated he eventually gave permission for the organisation (SOE; Special Operations Executive) to train and use a certain number of Chinese selected and supplied by the Malayan Communist Party. Where necessary, sanction for their release from jail for this purpose was also given."
(Source: Spencer Chapman,The Jungle is Neutral, 1st edition 1997, Marshall Cavendish Editions, Singapore, 2009. pp. 13. Additions in italics and parenthesis mine.)
"Because of its anti-Japanese policy, the MCP was well placed to exploit the situation to its advantage when the Japanese attacked Malaya on 8 December 1941. The MCP immediately repeated its offer of aid to the British. After Japanese troops made a rapid advance in Malaya, secret contacts were established between MCP officials and the British police, during which they discussed terms including the release of communist detainees. The underground MCP came out publicly in a statement to support British defence measures, and its supporters vied with those of the Kuomintang to exhort Malayan Chinese to renew their pledges of assistance to the British. In this campaign Tan Kah Kee, the pro-left Singapore Chinese leader, took the lead. Communists joined with other Chinese groups to call on the government to raise a Chinese militia to assist in the defence of Singapore. As British military reverses were reported, including the sinking of the British warships Prince of Wales and Repluse, the British government and the War Office in London gave approval to accept the MCP offer. On 15 December some leftist political prisoners were released from detention.(…)
"On 18 December, when the MCP had still not heard from the British authorities, the Central Executive Committee held a meeting in Singapore and decided to "go ahead and rely on the people's efforts alone" in mobilizing a local defence force. That very day, the British contacted the MCP and accepted its offer."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.59. Emphasis in italics mine.)
"Down in Singapore there followed a frantic rush to salvage whatever was possible of the CPM offer (Communist Party of Malaya, otherwise known as MCP or Malayan Communist Party). Special Branch senior officer, Innes Tremlett, who spoke fluent Cantonese and was the controller of agent Lai Te (Secretary General of CPM but an agent of the British), arranged the December 19 (1941) Geylang rendezvous between the CPM Secretary General and the SOE's Frederick Spencer Chapman (…). Also present at these crucial deliberations was Special Branch Police Inspector Wong Ching Yok. The meeting took place in a room above a charcoal dispensing shop used as a Party safe-house.
"The SOE, operating in Singapore under the cover name Oriental Mission, offered to accept as many communist recruits at its 101 STS (Special Training School) on the island (Singapore) could accommodate. Chapman, at that time, was the commanding officer of the school. The British further agreed that those communists under arrest and wishing to volunteer would be promptly released from jail. The first of a series of courses would begin on December 22 at the school's Tanjong Balai headquarters, a commandeered mansion located on a small promontory at the mouth of the Jurong River.(…)
"The plan was to train and arm these volunteers to operate in guerilla units. Where possible, they would be placed in jungle hideouts ahead of the Japanese advance."
(Source: Chin Peng, My Side of History, Media Masters Pte Ltd, Singapore, 2003. pp.65. Additions in italics and parenthesis mine.)
Lai Te (or "Lai Teck"; 莱特), Secretary-General of the Malayan Communist Party (1939-1947). He was also an agent for the British Detective Bureau and during the Japanese Occupation years, an agent for the Japanese Military Police, the "Kempeitai". An elusive figure by most accounts, he had been branded as a traitor by many MCP cadres and was rumoured to be murdered in Bangkok for his misdeeds.
"On 21 December the training of the MCP recruits at 101 STS began. Individual courses lasted ten days and a total of seven classes, consisting of 165 enthusiastic party members selected by the MCP, rushed through the training programme. The graduates became the nucleus of the MPAJA.
"The original British plan was for each MCP "stay-behind" party to be led by a British officer to ensure that British instructions and policy were carried out. However, owing to the rapid advance of the Japanese, this was not possible and the first class of MCP graduates of 101 STS was hurriedly sent out to Selangor in early January to work on its own. The second class went to Negri Sembilan and the third to north Johor. The fourth and final classes infiltrated through Japanese lines into south Johor on 30 January 1942. Each group eventually established liaison with the State Committee of the MCP in the area where it operated. From March onwards the groups were recognized by the MCP's CEC (Central Executive Committee) as the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Independent Regiment of the MPAJA respectively."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.61. Emphasis in italics; additions in italics and parenthesis mine.)
"The 165 communist graduates of the 101 STS thus formed the first organized military force of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army as well as the backbone of the guerrilla army after 1945. The first four regiments were as follows:
First class of 15 men – the 1st Independent Regiment
Second class of 35 men – the 2nd Independent Regiment
Third class of 60 men – the 3rd Independent Regiment
Fourth class of 55 men – the 4th Independent Regiment
"Despite being born admist the disintegration of British defence the MPAJA went on to put up what was often the only armed resistance against the Japanese occupying forces and their collaborators. The Japanese were from the start aware of the potential problems that the guerrillas would pose. Immediately after the occupation of Singapore many frontline troops were transferred 'upcountry' to Malaya for mopping up and anti-guerrilla operations."
(Source: Ban Kah Choon & Yap Hong Kuan, Rehearsal for War: Resistance and the Underground War against the Japanese and the Kempeitai, Horizon Books, Singapore 2002. pp.102. Emphasis in italics mine.)
Locations of the eight Independent Regiments of the MPAJA.
"These regiments were called independent units as each of them was an independent operational unit functioning in a strategically defined and specific area. Complete operational freedom was given to the regimental commander who was expected to conduct operations within his zone according to the political, military and geographical terrain of his area. A regiment was in turn divided into anything from two to five companies. Each of these was also given the same operational freedom of manoeuvre although a certain amount of control was maintained through the regimental headquarters. Day-to-day operations were, in fact, carried out at the company level for the most part. These companies were designated as patrols. (…) Each Independent Regiment with its five to six patrols comprised between 400 and 500 men."
(Source: Ban Kah Choon & Yap Hong Kuan, Rehearsal for War: Resistance and the Underground War against the Japanese and the Kempeitai, Horizon Books, Singapore 2002. pp.117.)
"第二阶段由1943年中至1944年中,这段时期主要在人民群众中组织了"抗日同盟会" [MPAJU; Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Union]、"抗日后备队",他們积极为抗日军筹措资金、粮食(主要是杂粮)、医药等,基本扭转了粮食、药物供应的困难。同时,抗日军从战爭中学习战争,建立了较为稳定的根据地,因此在战斗上,不但能对付日军的扫蕩,也能组织力量进攻日军据点。(。。。)
(摘自:曾冠彪《人民的抗日劲旅:简述"马来亚人民抗日军"》; 收录于:新马侨友会编,《马来亚人民抗日斗争史料选辑》,香港见证出版有限公司出版,香港,1992,pp.7-8.)
"During the first year and a half of its existence, the MPAJA fared badly, lacking food, capable leadership, and sufficient training and experience in guerrilla warfare. Japanese terrorism prevented people of all races from helping the guerrillas. One-third of the guerrilla force was said to have died during this period.
"The second period, from mid-1943 to mid-1944, saw the MPAJA improve its organization, food supplies, communications system, and military training; consequently, it was said to have increased four times in size.
"The third period, from mid-1944 until the end of the war, was one of consolidation and growth and the establishment of close MPAJA-Allied cooperation. The MPAJA henceforth received supplies of arms, medicine,, and money from the headquarters of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) under Admiral Mountbatten based in Colombo."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.61-62.)
"1943年2月,马共在雪兰莪州召开三中执委会,有部分党、军代表參加,会议决定了党在抗日民族解放战争时期的三大任务,正式通过了"抗日九大纲领". "抗日九大纲领" 第一条就是"驱逐日本法西斯出马来亚,建立马来亚民主共和国"。此外,还制定了马来亚人民抗日军的军旗、军帽、军礼、军歌、军纪等。以紅花大地綴三顆金星为军旗(左上角三顆金星象征马来亚马、华、印三大民族团結一致),以五角型帽顶、前配三顆紅星军帽,以举右手握拳齐额为军礼,以西班牙反法西斯战歌"紅旗歌"为军歌。抗日军的军纪在各独立队成立时已先后制定了出来。在这次会议中统一规定了四条紀律:一、絕对服从指揮。二、严守军事秘密。三、没收敌产归公。四、愛护群众利益。同时也制定了八项注意。以上这些决定,使马来亚人民抗日军有了明确的政治纲领和最高行动准则,使部队有了統一的旗帜、标志和严明的紀律。"
(摘自:曾冠彪《人民的抗日劲旅:简述"马来亚人民抗日军"》; 收录于:新马侨友会编,《马来亚人民抗日斗争史料选辑》,香港见证出版有限公司出版,香港,1992,pp.6.)
Film-stills from BBC's "The Undeclared War". MPAJA soldiers wore five-cornered caps sewn with three red stars, which represented the three major races of a unified Malaya that communist literature extolled – the Chinese, Malays and Indians. And they saluted with a clenched fist.
"There was no class distinction in the MPAJA. The common form of address was "comrade". Even the chairman of the Central Military Committee was addressed as comrade, but discipline was tight. Though the MCP organized the MPAJA, many of its members were not communists. The link between the MCP and the MPAJA was political education.
"An MPAJA camp usually emphasized military practice and drilling, political education, cooking, propaganda, collection of food supplies, and cultural affairs. Mandarin, the Chinese national language, was the lingua franca of the MPAJA and was used in all correspondence and official statements. Concession to the Malay, Tamil and English languages were made in some of the propaganda newssheets published by the MPAJA's propaganda bureau."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.65.)
Film-stills from BBC's "The Undeclared War". Re-enactments of life in an MPAJA camp. Military practice, drilling and political education.
"The MPAJA's main link with the local population in the areas where it operated was the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Union (MPAJU). The MPAJU fed the guerrillas, raised funds, collected clothes, fighting materials, food, and gathered intelligence. It also arranged guides to take MPAJA patrols through unknown territory and formed corps of couriers. The MPAJU pursued an "open" policy of recruiting people of all races, classes, religions, and political creeds who were opposed to the Japanese regime. It therefore absorbed Chinese (who constituted the majority of its supporters) but also aborigines, Malays, Indians, and others. It welcomed within its ranks businessmen, KMT members, Chinese secret society members, and even government officials."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.67. Emphasis in italics mine.)
An MPAJA/MPAJU recruitment poster.
"参加游击队,打日本鬼子去!" (Join the Guerrillas, Fight the Japanese Devils!)
"On 24 May 1943 the first Force 136 reconnaissance party, consisting of Col. John Davis and five Chinese agents, arrived in a submarine off the Perak coast and landed in Malaya. This operation was code-named Gustavus I. Other groups were introduced in the same manner, in operations Gustavus II, III, and IV, the last taking place on 12 September 1943. Besides Davis, the other officers were Capt. Richard Broome and Maj. Lim Bo Seng, a Malayan KMT member and agent of the Chinese government in Chungking. Their subordinate staff was all KMT Chinese trained in wireless operations and intelligence work. Force 136 was attempting to set up its own intelligence service by using KMT agents. This is evident because only after the KMT agents had been established in cover jobs in Ipon was contact made on 30 Septmber with Chin Peng, presentative of the Perak MPAJA headquarters."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.75.)
Film-still from BBC's "SOE: Arms and the Dragon". Force 136's John Davis (center), Tham Sian Yen (left), and Wu Chye Sin.
Film-still from the documentary "Riding the Tiger". A Force 136 soldier, wearing the round badge with the Force 136 crest on his sleeve.
"On 1 January 1944 Lai Tek and Chin Peng, both representing the MCP, MPAJU, MPAJA, arrived at the Force 136 camp and held talks with the three Force 136 officers (Davis, Broome and Lim Bo Seng), who had now been joined by Major F.S. Chapman, a member of one of the original "stay-behind" teams left in Malaya after the fall of Singapore and who was co-opted into the Force 136 team. The three Force 136 officers described themselves as representatives of Admiral Mountbatten, the British Supreme Allied Commander for Southeast Asia.
"It was agreed that in return for arms, money, training and supplies the MPAJA would cooperate with and accept the British Army's orders during the war with Japan and in the period of military occupation thereafter. The British also agreed to finance the MPAJA with 150 taels of gold (about 3,000 British sterling a month) and instructed that all arms would have to be handed back after the Japanese defeat. The policy of Southeast Asia Command, which controlled Force 136, was to arm the guerrillas, place them under the control of British officers, and prepare them for the time of an Allied invasion. Political matters were excluded from the agreement. Both sides agreed that no question of post-war policy would be discussed."
(Source: Cheah Boon Kheng, Red Star Over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1941-46, 4th edition, NUS Press, Singapore, 2012. pp.75.)
(摘自:曾冠彪《人民的抗日劲旅:简述"马来亚人民抗日军"》; 收录于:新马侨友会编,《马来亚人民抗日斗争史料选辑》,香港见证出版有限公司出版,香港,1992,pp.9.)
Film-still from BBC's "SOE: Arms and the Dragon. Weapons and supplies are air-dropped into the Malayan jungle for MPAJA and Force 136's retrieval and use.
"会议还要求各独立队扩大队伍,抽调少量干部战士作为基础,大量吸收后备队員(或自卫队员)入伍,成立新队,接受英军联絡官驻队,成为与英军合作的部队(称为新队); 原有的队伍(称为老队)不与英军接触,保持其独立性,另建立參謀本部領导;
"老队共48个中队,独立分队有2个,人数約5400人。 新队共21个中队,人数約4500人。 以上中队合计69个,人数約9900人,加上遍布全马各州的抗日后备队、自卫队等武裝组织,共約15000人."
(摘自:曾冠彪《人民的抗日劲旅:简述"马来亚人民抗日军"》; 收录于:新马侨友会编,《马来亚人民抗日斗争史料选辑》,香港见证出版有限公司出版,香港,1992,pp.10.)
Part 1 – The Surrender.
Part 2 – The Parades.
This is Part 3 – The Decoration Ceremony.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Four men arrested after planting what they thought were explosives near a synagogue and community center and plotting to shoot down a military plane were bent on carrying out a holy war against America, authorities said Thursday.
The suspects were arrested Wednesday night, shortly after planting a 37-pound mock explosive device in the trunk of a car outside the Riverdale Temple and two mock bombs in the backseat of a car outside the Jewish Center, a few blocks away, authorities said.
Police blocked their escape with an 18-wheel truck, smashing their tinted SUV windows and while apprehending the unarmed suspects.
At a news conference outside the Bronx temple, Police CommissionerRaymond Kelly quoted one of the men as saying, "If Jews were killed in this attack … that would be all right."
James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, all of Newburgh, were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, the U.S. attorney's office said.
"They stated that they wanted to commit Jihad," Kelly said. "They were disturbed about what happened in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that Muslims were being killed."
An official told The Associated Press that three of the men are converts to Islam. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation. Three of the defendants are U.S. citizens and one is of Haitian descent, officials said.
Payen occasionally attended a Newburgh mosque. His statements on Islam often had to be corrected, according to Assistant Imam Hamin Rashada, who met Payen through a program that helps prisoners re-enter society.
The defendants are due in federal court Thursday in suburban White Plains.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin said the defendants planned to detonate a car with plastic explosives to destroy the temple and Jewish center.
They also planned to shoot Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles at planes at the Air National Guard base inNewburgh, about 70 miles north of New York City.
The FBI and other agencies monitored the men and provided an inactive missile and inert C-4 to an informant for the defendants.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Kelly met privately with congregants Thursday inside the Riverdale Temple.
"The shock and being floored was followed by relief," David Winter, executive director of the Riverdale Jewish Center, said afterward.
Bloomberg warned against stereotypes, emphasizing that the temple is open to people of all faiths, including a Muslim girl who sometimes prays there.
Kelly said the temple may have been chosen because of "convenience" — it is near a highway. He said the suspects had scouted the location twice before.
Kelly said the uniformed officers who flooded the neighborhood were there to improve residents' "comfort level," even though "No one was at risk. This was a very tightly controlled operation."
"It's a little scary being so close to home, but you have to just move on sometimes," said Maria Patuhas, 18, a senior at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, across the street from the temple.
Officials told The Associated Press the arrests came after a nearly yearlong undercover operation that began in Newburgh.
"This latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. The mayor is expected to appear at Riverdale Jewish Center morning services with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
The defendants, in their efforts to acquire weapons, dealt with an informant acting under law enforcement supervision, authorities said. The FBI and other agencies monitored the men and provided an inactive missile and inert C-4 to the informant for the defendants, a federal complaint said.
In June 2008, the informant met Cromitie in Newburgh and Cromitie complained that his parents had lived inAfghanistan and he was upset about the war there and that many Muslim people were being killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by U.S. military forces, officials said.
Cromitie also expressed an interest in doing "something to America," they said in the complaint.
In October 2008, the informant began meeting with the defendants at a Newburgh house equipped with concealed video and audio equipment, the complaint said.
Beginning in April 2009, the four men selected the synagogue and the community center they intended to hit, it said. They also conducted surveillance of military planes at the Air National Guard Base, it said.
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, issued a statement praising law enforcers "for their efforts in helping to prevent any harm to either Jewish institutions or to our nation's military."
"We repeat the American Muslim community's repudiation of bias-motivated crimes and of anyone who would falsely claim religious justification for violent actions," the statement said.
Rep. Peter King, the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, was briefed on the case following the arrests.
"This was a long, well-planned investigation, and it shows how real the threat is from homegrown terrorists," said King, of New York.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said if there can be any good news out of this case it's that "the group was relatively unsophisticated, penetrated early and not connected to any outside group."
"The shocking plan to blow up a Jewish house of prayer with what the jihadist terrorists thought were C-4 explosives is dramatic proof that the dangers from such fanaticism have not passed and that American Jewsmust maintain their vigilance," said a statement released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group.
The defendants were jailed Wednesday night and couldn't be contacted for comment. The FBI didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking information on whether the men had lawyers.


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text:
BT is such a big name in all things telephonic that its new Digital Vault online back-up system comes as no surprise. What's more surprising is the level of versatility on offer, as well as the fact that you get up to 2GB of storage space without paying a monthly subscription. Even so, for the paltry sum of £5, your server space allocation jumps to 20GB, which is a more useful amount.
The paid-for option also comes with the automatic Backup Manager program. This software provides a simple, wizard-based approach to sorting out your back- up and restore procedures but, rather than having backups completed at a certain time of day, the software scans your chosen folders at intervals of your choosing, between two minutes and 60 minutes, uploading modified files on a rolling basis.
Another nice touch is that you can store and share files in separate areas of your digital vault - for example, photos, videos, music and documents - keeping everything nicely organised and easily accessible.


text:
Chesterfield Sofas
Traditionally British! Chesterfield sofas are well known beyond the borders. And it's not surprising this world famous sofa design is still so popular: timeless buttoned back and classic curves.
Whether you are looking for a traditional Chesterfield sofa for the study or a modern velvet sofa for your lounge, we have a great collection of button design sofas in all colours and sizes.
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And therein lies the real beauty of the Chesterfield; a grand stylish piece of upholstery fit for the Earl himself, but also a very homely and surprisingly comfortable sofa.
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text: WPF Sample in IronRuby talking via C# to Wesabe July 23, '07 Comments [12] Posted in eFinance | Programming | Ruby | Web Services | XML | XmlSerializer Sponsored By John Lam and team have released their first drop the IronRubySource code. It's super-pre-alpha so don't hate, but it's looking pretty sweet, if you're a burgeoning Ruby-head like myself. There's incomplete support for some of the cooler Ruby syntax things, but I have full confidence that it's only going to get better. All the underpinnings are there. John also announce that the team will host IronRuby source on Rubyforge (which is quite the coup, actually) and that they'll be taking external contributions very soon (this being the open part of open source.) Not every sample (initially) will look and feel and smell good like Ruby, and this one is no exception. You might remember that last week I did a quicky Wesabe client in C# and put it up on Google Code. We've got four folks up there improving the code, which is cool. Today, Shady the intern and I decided to do a sample in IronRuby that would call the C# Wesabe client API and display some account data via WPF. This is part of my new plan to take over Money and Quicken's business and you can tell from the hours of intense UI design that Shady and I did, that my plan is inevitable. We started from ScottGu's HelloWorld sample, and slogged creatively coded our way forward. Here's how it went. First, get the IronRuby source and upzip. Open on Visual Studio 2005 command prompt and compile the DLR and IronRuby by running build.cmd. All the interesting stuff will show up in bin/release, including the IronRuby equivalent of IRB, the interactive Ruby Interpreter. You can run this from the command line and try things out interactively if you like. We used Notepad2 with Ruby Support for our editor, although I'm deeply digging "e" the TextMate for Windows and will likely move over to it for my text editor of choice when I start at Microsoft in September. Next, we tried to add a require statement to bring in the Wesabe library. You run a IronRuby app (today, in this build) by running rbx.exe YourApp.rb. We put our .rb text file in one folder and had rbx.exe in another, so when we added our wesabelib.dll we had to add it to the same folder that rbx.exe was in, otherwise the Assembly load would fail. You can also put things in the GAC and get to them there. Just remember that Fusion will load from the same folder rbx.exe is in, not the folder that your program is in. For debugging, we used the classic "got here" debugging of old, via the standard MessageBox, so we added a requre for Windows Forms also and a constant as a alias for the MessageBox class:require 'System.Windows.Forms, Version=188.8.131.52, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' require 'wesabelib, Version=126.96.36.199' MessageBox = System::Windows::Forms::MessageBox As this build is a pre-Alpha, likely created in the dark of the night just hours ago, there's all sorts of weirdness and stuff that didn't "just work." The naming integration with .NET is persnickety at best. The C# Wesabe client had a lowercase class called "wesaberest" that IronRuby just couldn't see, so I changed it to uppercase and aliased it with a constant.#this build of IronRuby doesn't like Class Names that are lowercase, # so I made mine Uppercase Wesabe = Wesaberest As I said, The Wesabe client API that we created is written in C#, and returns a array of Account objects. In the click event of a button, we pass in the username and password from our TextBox and PasswordBox respectively and store our Account object. Our goal is to spin through the list of Account objects in the Array, but there's a few gotchas, again because of the pre-alphaness. First, we can't use for because in Ruby for is a sugar syntax on top of "each" that assumes an each method exists. Each isn't implemented yet, but the plan is to have for syntax just work over IEnumerable things. Second, we can't index into arrays because the [] operator isn't implemented yet, but we can call GetValue(), which is the same thing.#in the future we'll be able to index into CLR arrays... #oneAccount = myAccounts[i] oneAccount = myAccounts.GetValue(i) Thirdly, in IronRuby there's FixNum, which is a DLR extension of Integer and there's MutableStrings, that have private StringBuilder. A lot of this will be hidden in the future, but in this build I had to be aware of some of the impedance mismatches as I tried to coerce my numbers into strings for output. For example, none of these worked, but I expect they will one day. Lastly, currentBalance is a float (System.Single) and IronRuby wouldn't respect it's ToString method, so I changed the value to a System.Double and all was fine. Here's some failed attempts at String Concatenation. Notice the "secret" call to to_clr_string. Those should all go away and the Ruby types should marshal cleanly in most cases. Note that I'm assuming a lot, and in some cases basing these assumptions on my chats with John, but also as educated guesses as to how it ought to work.#Ruby string concatenation works fine... my_message.content = "scott" + " hanselman" #Attempt0 my_message.content = oneAccount.name + oneAccount.currentBalance.to_string("C").to_clr_string #Attempt1 my_message.content = oneAccount.name + "$" + oneAccount.currentBalance.to_s.to_clr_string #Attempt2 my_message.content = System::String.Concat("$" + oneAccount.currentBalance.to_s.to_clr_string) #Attempt3 #There's a name conflict when trying to use the StringBuilder: # System.MemberAccessException: uninitialized constant ScriptModule::Text s = System::Text::StringBuilder.new s.Append(oneAccount.name) s.Append("$") s.Append(oneAccount.currentBalance.to_s.to_clr_string) my_message.content = s.to_string At this point, I just added a new property called "DisplayString" in the Wesabe Account class and moved on. As for the loop we used a while. It's not clean, but it's clean enough:my_button.click do |sender, args| a = Wesabe.getAccounts(text_user.text,text_password.password) myAccounts = a.Items i = 0 accounts_listbox.items.clear while (i < a.Items.Length) oneAccount = myAccounts.GetValue(i) #GetValue is on System.Array i+=1 #needed for the while # Create new label my_message = Label.new my_message.font_size = 36 my_message.content = oneAccount.DisplayString #Add the Label to the ListBox accounts_listbox.items.add(my_message) end end There's a couple of ways to make this even more clean, and those ways will come. I'll update this sample as the new features roll into IronRuby. I think it'd be nice to add some charts and graphs, make the whole thing a ClickOnce app, etc. Probably, for now, it'll be easier in C#, but it was fun to hack it together in today's drop of IronRuby and the interns learned something. You can get my source for this Ruby App, along with a custom build of the Wesabe client (with my changes) here. Remember to get the IronRuby source, compile it, then copy the Wesabe client to the bin\release folder (or move the .rb files into there along with the Wesabe dll). I've left all the comments in the source for fun. Download Wesabe IronRuby WPF Client Sample Technorati Tags: Ruby, WPF, Sample, Wesabe, IronRuby « Blue Badge | Blog Home | John Lam presenting at PADNUG on Thursda... » About Scott Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author. About Newsletter Sponsored By Hosting By Comments [12] Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or use the Permalink


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Mustang MonthlyHow To Engine
How To - Bench-Bleed A Master Cylinder
Make the most of your brake bleeding experience by beginning off car
There aren't many of you who haven't bled a Mustang's braking system while replacing or repairing your own brakes. Here's why you should bench-bleed a master cylinder prior to installation. Bench-bleeding off the car primes the bore with fresh brake fluid, eliminating air prior to installation to prevent the air from entering your Mustang's brake hydraulic system. It also prevents master cylinder piston jamming because you can observe the process hands-on in a vice.
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text:
New Player Guide
From Outscape Wiki
Please note: while this guide has been recently updated, many of the other wiki pages are awaiting updates. Some screenshots and information may be outdated due to the number of recent changes.
Welcome to the Player's Guide for Outscape's Alpha! This guide is for anyone that wants to find out more about Outscape as well as the Alpha players that have been invited to test the game and help get it ready for Beta.
Before jumping in and playing, we strongly recommend blitzing through this page - it'll get you up and running as quickly as possible (for Beta there will be an interactive in-game tutorial).
If you have any questions or feedback please let us know on the forum.
You can get help and advice from other players in the in-game chat, the Discord channel or the forum.
- 1 Getting started
- 2 Welcome to the galaxy
- 3 First things first
- 4 Exploring the home star system
- 5 Home planet
- 6 Taking action
- 7 Battlestations!
Getting started
Before you can begin playing you will need to:
- Install Outscape via Steam using your Steam key (emailed out to invited players)
- Join a galaxy
Welcome to the galaxy
Your fledgling empire will begin with a home planet, as well as a single colonizer and two scouts fully fueled. This home planet will already have a population of 150,000 citizens (already taxed and generating an income for your empire) and a handful of structures.
In the above image, the home star system is in the middle of the circle. The icons below the name of the star system indicate there are: one planet colonized by the player (blue circle), five planets not colonized (white circlea), and two ships belonging to the player (triangle). This visibility of the galaxy is provided by the scanner on the home planet.
Are you alone?
Your view of the galaxy may appear quiet at the start of the game, but that doesn't mean other players aren't close!
- While in a star system, a ship can only be seen by another player if they also have a ship in the same star system
- While a ship is orbiting a planet, it can only be seen by another player if they have a ship in the same planetary orbit
Therefore, your ships won't expose your position if they are alone in a system - even while moving between planets - and you can hide from other ships in the same system while orbiting a planet. Travel between star systems - across deep space - can be seen by other players if they have scanner coverage of that area.
Of course, you and other players could be using cloaking technology...
Scanner coverage
The image above shows the player's scanner coverage.
- The outer circle represents the entire range. Stars and fleets within this range can be detected.
- The inner circle, sensor range, can provide additional intel on objects. For star systems, the planets can be seen. For fleets, the owner, number of ships and how they are equipped is available.
To the right of the image above a UFO is marked in red. This shows that another player's fleet has been detected, but because it isn't within sensor range, no information other than its position is available. If it moved within sensor range (the inner circle), the fleet owner and fleet composition would be known.
Main UI
Hovering the mouse cursor over any of the main UI elements at the top of the screen will reveal a popup with additional info (this goes for most things in the game).
First things first
When first entering the galaxy, a notification pops up briefly at the bottom of the screen. Clicking a notification will open the galactic news panel. You can also open this panel by clicking the notification icon in the bottom left of the UI (next to the chat icon).
Clicking notifications will usually take you to the object that the notice is about. In this case, one of the notices mentions the home planet, and the other is a recommendation to begin researching technology.
Researching technology
Research is something you should always have ticking over in the background. Any time your laboratories aren't researching a new technology is wasted. You can open the research screen at any point by clicking the research icon in the top right of the main UI.
Each technology has a difficulty which determines how long it will take to research. A few take only a few minutes to complete and are a good place to start (colony deployment is a great early technology to unlock as it will enable you to build colonization vessels).
The speed at which research can be performed is determined by the total science power of the empire (constructing additional laboratories in the future will increase science power - research centers first needs to be unlocked).
Holding the left mouse button and dragging will move your screen, you can also use WASD or the arrows keys to move as well, finally you can move your cursor to the edge of the map to scroll. If you hold your right mouse button and move you will change your 3-D orientation allowing you to see things from a different perspective. Using the mouse wheel you can zoom in and out of the map.
Hovering over the name of a star system will reveal information about that star system (if it is within sensor range), or that it has been unexplored. You can double left click to move into that system, or single left click to bring up a list of planets if within sensor range. You can choose a planet to zoom down to.
When you start zooming in to the game it's easy to lose your bearings at first. There is usually a button in the bottom right corner which will take you back to the previous screen (these back buttons are sometimes missing, the backspace key is a useful way to move to a previous screen, or mouse scrolling out).
You can find out more here: Navigating to stars and planets (there's a couple of videos to help). As your empire grows, it can be quicker to navigate around your empire using the galaxy overview.
Exploring the home star system
After navigating to the home star system, the home planet is identified by special label with the emblem of the civilization next to its name. Non-colonized planets don't have this label. At the start of the game, you should also see several ships in orbit of the home planet.
Clicking any planet in the star system will open the planet management screen for that planet (you can quickly change to another planet by clicking it from the list on the left). For planets not colonized, the information available about the planet will be very basic.
Occasionally, you will see a non-colonized planet with a native population. Colonizing such a planet can provide a huge boost to income due to the taxes that can be collected.
If you have a ship in orbit of the planet, it is possible to see more info e.g. resource deposits and surface resources. Any ships in orbit of the planet are shown in a list to the left of the planet. Clicking the I icon to the right of the planet name opens the panel showing more info about the planet including the total mineral deposits and their densities.
Moving a ship within a star system
To move a ship into a planet's orbit: click the ship to select it, the mouse cursor will then change into a destination selector, and clicking within the orbit of a planet will send the ship there. You can also click the planet itself which will open a context menu, exploring it being one of the options.
Collecting surface resources
When a ship is in orbit of a planet, it is possible to transfer any surface resources from the planet to the ship - even if the planet is not yet colonized.
Clicking the ship in the planet management view will open the transfer screen. The colony's resources are on the right. Click one to select and send it to the ship.
Early game ships cannot carry many resources, so you will need to make a few journeys around the system to collect all of the freely available surface resources to bring back to your home planet (or build a freighter).
Home planet
The planet management screen for a planet colonized by the player looks a little different. Details of the colony are on the right and there may be a shipyard present on the left (the home planet has a shipyard, other planets need to build one if required).
The colony section shows the colony reserves of the main five resources (hover each to find out more about them) and the rate at which they are being mined (if they are). Further to the right shows the civilization populations, the science power and credits generated by the colony, along with the power supply and consumption rate.
Colony populations and happiness
A colony is affected by its happiness (not all civilizations are affected by happiness e.g. Syntis). It affects population growth and normal colony operations. If happiness becomes too low, population growth stalls and rioting can begin (which can lead to the destruction of colony structures).
Hovering the population will reveal data related to happiness, employment and population growth.
Clicking a population will open their management screen where you can adjust the tax rate and view more details on the population's happiness. Clicking the I icon next to happiness will show a breakdown of the contributors to happiness.
If there is a second civilization populating the planet, they will be listed in the above image next to the other population. You can toggle between them by clicking.
Structure desirability
Some structures are undesirable e.g. mines. To counter their negative impact on happiness, desirable structures can be researched and constructed (researching social psychology unlocks one such structure).
Structures require citizens to operate correctly. If there isn't enough population to operate all colony structures a labour shortage occurs. Each civilization has a certain tolerance for a labour shortage. Once this is reached, colony structures will fail until the population grows to a significant level or a structure is dismantled.
Likewise, if there are too many citizens and not enough structures to provide employment, unemployment levels can decrease happiness.
Structures and other objects in the game can be recycled/dismantled. This will destroy the object, but return a large proportion of the resources used in construction back to the colony.
If priorities change suddenly, or a unit is no longer required, recycling can come in very handy.
The army size is determined by the number of constructed military bases. Each military base constructed adds a number of defensive troops to the army. If the planet is invaded, the army will attempt to fend off the invasion.
Home guard
If no military bases are constructed a colony will not be entirely defenseless if invaded. A proportion of the population automatically form a home guard which will contribute to the defense of the colony (in addition to any army present). The size of the home guard is affected by happiness.
Taking action
Resource management
Your home planet has each of the main five resources ready to use in its stockpiles. These resources are enough to enable you to build a small number of structures and ships only.
Additional resources will be required to expand. They can be collected from the surface of other planets or extracted from within a planet by constructing mines.
Most planets will only have a couple of resources available. When evaluating a resource deposit for mining, also consider the density. A low density means a mine will extract at a lower rate than if the density was higher, so the presence of a resource alone might not make it suitable for mining.
Structure construction
A colonized planet will have structures which can be viewed by clicking the constructed structures button from the main planet management screen. For each structure, the number in the top right indicates the tech level and the number in the bottom left the quantity constructed.
Structures consume power. When a colony's power supply has been reached, additional power generators need to be constructed to be able to construct additional structures.
Additional structures can be constructed by clicking the construction queue icon on the main planet management screen or one of the empty structure construction slots. Hover a structure to find out more or click to select it. More structures will become available as they are unlocked via research.
If a resource is lacking for the construction of the selected structure, it will be marked with a red warning triangle in the cost to build section.
Personnel states how many citizens are required to operate the structure. Depending on the size of the population, construction can either reduce unemployment or increase a labour shortage.
Commonly used structures
- Mines: are used to extract mineral resources from the planet
- Laboratories: decrease the time it takes to complete research
- Farms: increase the population size that can be supported and boost growth rates (more citizens increases income)
Before leaving the home star system to explore, it's a good idea to first fully scout it.
- Are there any native populations?
- Do any of the planets have a good resource supply that should be mined?
- Are there any surface resources that can be freighted back to the home planet?
One important consideration when deciding if a planet should be colonized for the purpose of mining, is whether the planet's environment would be hospitable to your civilization. If not, colonizing the planet would result in the citizens quickly dying.
It is possible to later research efficient terraforming which will enable you to gradually adjust a planet's environment to that preferred by your civilization which will enable them to thrive.
Leaving the home star system
Ships and fleets can be sent to explore other star systems. Ships are able to travel at warp speed without using fuel (free warp) but progress is slow. Using fuel (olzine), fleets can move much faster. To use fuel, ships need to be equipped with fuel tanks which need to be filled with olzine.
Once a valuable planet has been identified, the next step would be to colonize it to be able to take advantage of its resources (mining) or any native population (apply a tax).
Before being able to construct a colonization vessel and attaching a colonization module to it, the technology colony deployment needs to be researched.
Unlocking this technology will enable you to use a colonization hull and the colonization module. Once a colonization vessel has been constructed, it can be ordered to move to and colonize the target planet. It is automatically filled with 2,000 citizens once construction is complete.
While it can be a good idea to reduce costs early in the game and adding only the minimum required ship parts, adding a cargo hold to a colonization vessel could speed up development of the planet to be colonized, by carrying the minimum resources that would be required to construct the first couple of structures.
Colonization consumes the colonization vessel, so target planets for colonization should be chosen carefully. If there was a native population a tax rate will need to be manually applied.
Ship construction
Before constructing a ship, a blueprint must be designed using the ship designer (accessed via the main UI at the top of the screen).
To begin blueprint design a hull must be selected. Not all parts are compatible with all hulls, and only those compatible with the selected hull will be shown.
For example, in the above image a colonization hull has been selected and the colonization module attached. If another hull is selected, the colonization module wouldn't be available in the parts list.
Once additional colonies have been formed, constructing a freighter will make moving resources between them much easier.
Clicking the shipyard icon on the planet management screen will open the available blueprints that can be built by the shipyard.
Ordering construction of a ship is similar to that for structures and multiple ships can be added to the construction queue. Newly created ships appear in orbit of the planet.
Once you begin playing, it won't be long until you spot movement from other players. They could be making a multi-hour journey to explore a neighboring star (high probability of being seen), or very brief journeys between planets in their own star system (very low probability of being seen). If you've noticed them, it's likely they've noticed you - or will do very soon - and not all players will have peaceful intentions!
Defending your home planet
When it comes to protecting your empire, it pays to be proactive, particularly with your home planet. Waiting until you see an enemy fleet a couple of hours away could have disastrous consequences!
The four primary defensive strategies to consider are:
- Building military bases
- Placing military fleets in orbit
- Laying minefields
- Intercepting incoming enemy fleets
To successfully capture a planet, a ship must reach a planet's orbit, defeat any ships also in orbit, and have their invading assault troops overwhelm any home guard and army (defensive troops related to military bases) the planet has.
Building military bases
Building a military base will provide your planet with trained defensive troops that will automatically attempt to fend off any invasion (a home planet starts with a military base, but you will need to unlock the technology to build any more). The more there are, the harder a planet will be to capture.
Placing military fleets in orbit
It's a good idea to have an armed fleet either in orbit of your planet or at least close by. Before any assault troops can be launched to start a ground invasion, any fleets in orbit of the planet need to be defeated.
Fleet guard mode
A fleet will automatically attack an enemy entering the same orbit. If there are multiple fleets defending an orbit, the strongest fleet will attack first.
Laying minefields
Minefields are an excellent defensive solution but can take a long time to gain access to via research. Minefields can be detected and swept by the relevant ship parts.
Intercepting incoming enemy fleets
The most proactive measure you can take to protect planets is to intercept any possible invaders before they have a chance to get close.
Patrolling your borders will enable you to spot a potential issue early. If you have time to head them off, then you can intercept and hopefully either deter them from encroaching any further, or defeat them in a battle!
If it looks like you might not be able to reach them in time, you might have to send your patrol directly to the planet. If your fleet arrives in time, it can fortify the planet from its orbit. If you're too late, and the worst-case scenario has already happened (your planet has been conquered), if your fleet has a population onboard, you can at least launch a countering ground invasion of your own in an attempt to take back your colony!
Conquering a planet
If another civilization is proving to be a thorn in your side, conquering a significant planet of theirs would have huge upsides:
- Neutralize the threat
- Annex the population, infrastructure, income and resources
- Gain notoriety and the respect of other players
Launching a ground invasion
Conquering and capturing a planet can be achieved by launching a successful ground invasion. If the planet has a large population, conquering it will require a very large invasion force of assault troops.
To be able to launch a ground invasion, you need to equip a ship with an assault troop carrier and transfer citizens to it to serve as assault troops (at the moment, defensive troops related to military bases are separate, but we intend to make troops a single resource which can be used to defend or attack).
For a ground invasion to succeed, a ship with assault troops on board needs to reach a planet's orbit, which should be clear of any defensive fleets, and overcome the army + home guard that are defending the planet.
How long it takes for the invasion to succeed or fail will depend on how balanced the invasion force is versus the defending colony. You'll get a notification letting you know when it's over - and possibly a new planet to rule! Just make sure to do a better job holding on to it than the previous ruler...


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By Jeff Karoub
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) — The North American Truck of the Year is the Ram 1500 pickup.
The winner was unveiled Monday morning at Cobo Center in Detroit.
Car finalists are the Cadillac ATS, Ford Fusion, and Honda Accord. Truck/utility finalists were the Ford C-Max, Mazda CX-5, along with the Ram.
Forty-nine automotive journalists vote on the winning vehicles from the selected list of finalists.
A vehicle must be all new or substantially changed to be eligible.
This is the 20th year for the awards. Organizers accept no advertising, though carmakers try to capitalize on the marketing value of the honors.


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A Massachusetts principal dressed as Lady Gaga and milked a cow on Wednesday after he lost a bet with his student body.
In September, Justin Vernon, principal of the Roger Clapp school in Dorchester, allowed his kindergarten through fifth grade students to come up with a suitable punishment for him if they managed to read 10,000 books during the school year.
They did.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"Of course they wanted to yell out the most ridiculous thing possible," Vernon told WHDH-TV in Boston. "So milking a cow came out, dressing like Lady Gaga, there were other options that came out but this is the one that stuck."
On Wednesday, Vernon, indeed was on the edge of glory, donning a platinum blonde wig and extracting milk from a cow. The students watched and screamed like paparazzi.
Parents said the idea proved to be fantastic motivation.
"My daughter's reading went through the charts because of it," Theresa Davis told WHDH.


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Liquor bottles, power tool and butcher knife lead to Phippsburg man's arrest
Joshua Robinson Sr. charged with burglarizing Bath restaurant
A Phippsburg man accused of breaking into a Bath restaurant early Monday morning and stealing numerous bottles of liquor is free on bail.
Bath police arrested Joshua Robinson Sr., 27, on charges of burglary and theft, according to Lt. Robert Savary. Police believe Robinson broke into Beale Street Barbecue at 215 Water St.
The burglary was discovered after an officer on patrol in the area saw a man behind Smith Cleaners near the corner of Center and Water streets, Savary said. When the officer approached to investigate, he spotted a number of liquor bottles on the ground next to the man, along with a power tool, butcher knife and some wax paper.
While searching the area, police noticed that a window was open and a screen removed from Beale Street Barbecue. Police said they later learned that the liquor and other items had come from the restaurant.
Savary said police don't think Robinson had a chance to drink any of the liquor he has been charged with stealing, although they believe Robinson had been drinking at local bars before his arrest.
Robinson was arrested and posted $1,000 cash bail. He is due to appear in West Bath District Court in November.


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A young man I recently met had some words tattooed on his arms.
A young man I recently met had some words tattooed on his arms.
"What's that say on your arms?" I asked him.
He held up one arm and I saw one big word, "Poetic," which I read aloud.
He held up the other arm and in big words, I read aloud, "Hustla."
"Poetic Hustla," he said.
"What in the sam hill is a hustla?" I said, "and what makes it poetic?"
"Hustler," he said, repeating, "It's hustler."
"Hustler?" I said. "Well, they misspelled it; you ought to get that fixed or get a refund from the tattoo parlor."
"It's slang," he said.
"Well," I said, "in my book, it's misspelled. You won't find 'hustla' in the dictionary. You really ought to get that fixed. It's embarrassing."
"It's in The Urban Dictionary," he said.
"That isn't a real dictionary," I said, being familiar with that particular website. "A real dictionary will have the word 'Webster' in the title, or 'Oxford English.'"
He glared at me and walked away.
I have that effect on people. I didn't mean to make him mad. I was just trying to help him, for I know how embarrassing a misspelling or typo can be. I've been writing for over 30 years. I have no doubt that I have read more words than most of you, and I'm certain I have written more words than all but a handful of you. I've made a few mistakes along the way, because mistakes happen, no matter how hard we try to avoid them.
Heck, I find mistakes in library books all the time. I used to make corrections to the library books, like marking up a galley proof, but I found out the librarians frown on that practice so I quit.
It seems to me I find more errors in newspapers, magazines and books nowadays, and I think it is because we rely on computers. Also, I suspect English is not taught as thoroughly and as deeply as it was in the previous century.
I got into a discussion one day at lunch with a woman who said schools do not teach English nowadays; instead, they teach language arts. I hope she just misunderstood what her children were telling her. At Rolla Board of Education meetings, the administrators usually say "English language arts." If they formally drop the word "English," from that title, I will raise some hell.
Let me make a prediction. Fifty years from now, the English language, at least in its written form, will be unrecognizable to people like me who were born in the previous century. Of course, we will be dead, so we won't recognize it; I know that. What I mean is, if we could somehow live another 50 years and maintain some sense about us, we would not recognize written English.
Here's my logic: Even though modern Americans use the English alphabet to communicate, they don't write, they haven't learned to write and they can't write. Many young people I have run across can barely speak a coherent sentence, so I know they can't write one. They use abbreviations and slang only; that practice has become so commonplace that these shortcuts are found in all forms of writing.
I am not opposed to slang or colorful language. If you've read my column over the years, you'll know that I will often use slang or colloquialisms. I've started many columns off with "Boy, howdy" and slipped in references to "some ole boy."
I don't mind some use of offbeat expressions to enrich a piece of writing, but I'm sick of seeing "ur" for "your" and "r" for either "are" or "our."
I'm also sick of seeing signs in foreign languages in the United States, but that's a topic for another day.
Say good-bye to English. In 50 years, you or your grandchildren will be writing in a mish-mash of what used to be English churned with the language of immigrants, whipped up with urban slang and frosted with digital expressions and shorthand. If I live to be 110, I won't be able to read it. I'll have to ask for ancient texts from the 1950s and '60s to do any real reading.
Good grief, I sound like my parents and grandparents!
I really am an old goat.
Maybe I'll have "Ole Gote" tattooed on one arm and "Tru Dat" inked on the other.


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Earlier this year I had the amazing opportunity to spend a week with Ryan Neil at his bonsai garden just outside Portland, OR. The week consisted of being surrounded by some of the most awesome native material I've ever seen. Each day was spent in the workshop with Ryan and his French apprentice JP, styling one ancient tree after another. Here are just a few of the photos from my week.
Day 1: Amazing bonsai and rain, welcome to Portland.A combination of jet lag and excitment led to this first photo taken at 4 a.m. The workshop was filled with tress with many others on-deck.
A massive California Juniper (right) and Sierra Juniper (left) dominated the workshop. The Sierra Juniper became my main project tree for the week. The dead wood on the Ca Juniper was unreal.
Day 2. The Garden
Day 3: Project tree
Before we started working on our project tree, Ryan had JP and I draw three different design options. Ryan's apprentice, JP is a graphic artist by trade which showed in his sketches.
Once we decided on the design, JP began cleaning the dead wood.
Once the wood had been cleaned, Ryan began setting the major branches in place.Once the structural branches were set in place I continued wiring the smaller branches. This took the better part of several days.
I can't wait to see this tree in a pot.
Day 4: Snow This morning I awoke to the garden covered in several inches of snow. I quickly grabbed my camera and got the following pictures.
This was one of my favorite trees in the garden.
I think this was my favorite tree in the garden. I kept coming back to it over and over through out the week. The dead wood curving over the lip of the pot was so cool. It reminded me of Capt. Hook.
The back of the tree was just as impressive as the front.
Day 5: The Greenhouse
The greenhouse contained trees that had recently repotted or wired. This tree was very special because it came from John Naka's collection. Even though I get to work on the 6 Naka trees at the Museum, I still have goosebumps when seeing any tree from the Naka collection.
It also contained less hardy trees like California Oaks and Redwoods.
Just a few Redwoods for one gnarly forest planting.
Ponderosa pine grafted with Japanese Black Pine
Watch Ryan's grafting technique here.
Day 6: Here comes the sun.
Day 7: Photoshoot
At the end of the week it was time to assess all that we got done.
This was another tree I wired during the week.
I want to thank Ryan for his generosity and hospitality in inviting me to his place. I have been to numerous bonsai gardens but Bonsai Mirai is a truly magical place. If your wanting to take you bonsai skills to the next level, plan a trip to spend a week at Bonsai Mirai.


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When panic set in that we need to start planning for Pesach we emailed Mara to come to our rescue. Mara from Kosher on a Budget is the queen of budget and planning, but even more so she has a gift of explaining things so clearly that it makes the process so much easier - CookKosher
With Passover just three weeks ago, it's time to get serious about making your lists – and check them off. In addition to your cleaning, shopping and cooking to-do's, here's one more indispensible list for Passover: Seven ways to save money.


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Tom Snee, Office of Strategic Communication, 319-384-0010 (office), 319-541-8434 (cell)
Gangnam Style and substance
Gangnam Style and substance
Gangnam Style and substance
Gangnam Style cd artwork.
Sure, it's got a good beat and you dance to it, but Gangnam Style is more than your usual pop trifle about never getting back together or calling me, maybe.
"There's something else going on here that explains its popularity," says Mark Archibald, assistant director for global community engagement in the Tippie College of Business, who discussed the song's world conquest over lunch with about 50 Tippie students Tuesday. "It's a reminder of how many times we come across a cross-cultural context in our daily lives that we don't understand."
The song, by 34-year old veteran South Korean pop star Psy*, has become a global sensation since it was released in July, an especially remarkable feat in the United States because all but a few of the lyrics are in Korean. It's a typical example of the kind of Korean pop song known as K-Pop, a mash-up of a thousand different styles from around the world—rap, hip hop, R&B and Latin, traces of traditional Korean, and big chunks of '90s techno. Psy blends his influences so seamlessly that in Korea, the country's official unofficial anthem for this year's London Olympics, it makes perfect sense that the song starts with an '80s hair band guitar lick and ends with bagpipes.
*short for Psycho; real name, Park Jae Sang
Mark Archibald
Gangnam Style in particular is a gift for club DJs. Propulsive and beat heavy, it's the song they hold back for that time of night when the dance floor starts to drag and they need a killer that'll get people moving again because nobody doesn't like this song. Not the most ardent metal head, not the most too-cool hipster, not the most cowboy-booted country boy/girl. Anyone who says they don't like this song is lying.*
*oh, maybe some classical music aficionados can truthfully claim to dislike it, but come to think about it, they're probably lying, too.
Gangnam Style succeeds because it hits the sweet spot for a pop song, with memorably operatic music that betrays Psy's love of Freddy Mercury and Queen, club-ready beats and hooks, and a mesmerizing flow by a charismatic performer. It's proving durable over time, too, a song that's still surprisingly listenable even after you've heard it for the 9,458th time, a level of oversaturation that for most other songs would drive people to commit crimes. Especially notable is that it's become one of the stand-out pop songs in a year of stand-out pop songs, with Gotye and fun, proving the genre can also be art, and Carly Rae Jepsen redefining the concept of the summer hit.
And then there is the video, the virality of which started the phenomenon over the summer. Wild and manic with its candy colors, flying whipped cream and confetti, an exploding man, and borderline NSFW-ness, its iconic horse dance has spawned a million YouTube videos of its own. If you haven't seen it yet,* watch it now and join with the 722,762,395** million others who already have.
*what's wrong with you?
**as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday
Archibald says the video, especially, is an example of the song's cross-cultural barrier breaking. To an American audience, it's a bunch of random Koreans doing goofy things, but to South Koreans it's a parade of A-list celebrities, with cameos from well-known comedians, reality show hosts and Psy's fellow K-Pop stars.
And Psy also understands the culture of international business, Archibald says. Clearly someone who knows something about marketing, Psy has appeared on any U.S. TV show that will have him, from Ellen to Today to the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. In a recent address at Oxford University that Archibald showed on Tuesday, Psy says he decided early in his career in 2000 to make humor, self-deprecation, and ridiculousness* his own musical brand because, while he was a talented composer and musician, he wasn't as thin and attractive as South Koreans like their pop stars to be.
*he was, in fact, so humorous, self-deprecatory, and ridiculous that the South Korean government banned the sale of his first two albums to minors for violating Korea's conservative moral standards. "I'm not moral," Psy admits at Oxford.
"Funny moves, funny dance, funny song, so that people can laugh," he tells his Oxford audience.
But Archibald points out that, at least in Gangnam Style, the ridiculousness masks a serious theme, too, as the song is a veiled criticism of South Korea's version of the 1 percent. Gangnam is a neighborhood in Seoul where the country's nouveau riche live in conspicuous ostentation, and Archibald points out that while the area makes up only .007 percent of South Korean territory, its residents account for 7 percent of its GDP.
And so the over-the-top ostentatiousness of the song and video owe as much to Psy's criticism of Gangnam residents who flaunt their wealth during a global economic slowdown as it does to his obsession with Bohemian Rhapsody.
"What does it say about classes in South Korea when people are buying bright yellow leather suits?" Archibald says.
But for all of that, the horse dance will be Gangnam Style's legacy, a staple of high school dances and wedding receptions for generations to come. Archibald admits to having attempted the dance in his office, with the door closed, of course.
"I can do it for a few seconds," he says. "But then I lose track of the steps."


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Item #3034
54 days. A true gourmet French "filet" bean produced for the French restaurant trade. Slender, tender, and stringless.
Item #3082
54 days. Large crops of delicious golden pods are easy to harvest and renowned for holding their tender texture.
Item #3139
50 Days. Upright plants make it easy to reach right in and grab a handful of beans. Disease resistant with great flavor!
Item #7618
60 days. Stunning violet-purple pods magically turn an emerald green after cooking. Tender and stringless.
Item #3108
66 days. This old favorite has delicious full-bodied flavor. Heavy yields ensure plenty for freezing to enjoy.
Item #3020
55 days. The candystripe beet. When cut, beautiful red & white interior rings are revealed. They look like peppermints!
Item #3150
48 days. Considered the best beet for greens, Early Wonder also has very tasty beets and produces a quick supply.
Item #3014
65 days. Create gourmet salads and side dishes in a rainbow of jewel-tone colors. Sweet, nutritious, easy to grow.
Item #3132
60 Days. Sweet, nutritious, easy to grow. The rich taste of homegrown beets will win you over!
Item #7613