text:
Monday, January 18, 2010
Real Communities are Self-Organizing
Greer wonders why people don't put more work into organizing communities; after all, this is what has worked in America in the past and how a representative democracy is supposed to function. All it should take is hard work, so why don't we hop to it? To me, this smacks of the fallacy of misplaced concreteness — roughly speaking, that just because different objects at different times carry the same label ("America"), they are somehow the same object. How representative a democracy the US ever was is rather beside the point; the point is, it was once a country where people could successfully and openly self-organize, and now it isn't. Once there were strong, cohesive communities in the US, which could organize and bring pressure to bear on their elected officials. And now, as described in Robert Putnam's widely discussed book Bowling Alone (2000), there are no such strong, cohesive communities in the US, and so... they can't organize, because, I would think, there is nothing for them to organize. Existence of communities allows communities to organize; lack of community prevents communities from organizing. That's a bit of a tautology, is it not?
As an aside, I'd like to point out that the US is not much of a representative democracy any more. It's more of a hokey-pokey-ocracy: in one election cycle, you throw your right bums out and vote your left bums in, and in the next election cycle, or the one after, you do the exact opposite. (And you shake it all around in the meantime.) The bums — the Republicans and the Democrats, that is — are perpetually locked in a loving embrace, for they truly complete each other. The Democrats tend to believe that government is there to help people, which is of course impossible for a government that's chock-full of Republicans who believe in limiting the scope of government and sabotage all such efforts. The Republicans believe in limiting the scope of government, which is of course impossible for a government that's chock-full of Democrats who believe that government is there to help people, and sabotage all such efforts. You can vote for either party if you want it to fail while producing an ever larger and more useless government.
Both parties agree that the government should serve corporate interests. They are both skittish when talking about the rights of citizens, and prefer to talk about "consumers" rather than "citizens". As a nation of consumers, people in the US have no choice but to be consumers. The ones that don't have the money still get to consume things like orange jumpsuits and prison food. Foreign non-consumers also get to consume — things like depleted uranium and white phosphorus ordinance. Being a non-consumer is not an option, and the whole world must be made safe for consumerism. Organizing against consumerism amounts to biting the corporate hand that feeds you — an ungrateful and self-defeating thing to do. So you want to organize a third party? Be my guest; see you later.
Astyk makes the excellent point regarding the destruction of community through overwork and the herding of women out of the home and into the workplace. Women can't just be (unless they are rich) — they have to have an occupation, and the default occupation — "homemaker" — carries a bit of a stigma. Women have always been the backbone of any community, and the regimentation of women's lives was a brilliant move in the direction of totalitarian consumerism, because it allowed relationships even within the family, such as child-rearing, to be commercialized. Once all social interaction is centered around consumption patterns, community as a notion becomes little more than an advertising gimmick, and self-organizing properties of society become restricted to pursuing the latest commercial fashion.
Hopkins raises an interesting issue when he mentions the common criticism of intentional communities and the Transition Towns movement that it is predominantly white, educated, and middle-class. This is hardly surprising, since these are the only people who have the resources and the connections to do pretty much as they please. They can create their alternative arrangements out in the open, as long as they don't actively threaten the status quo. They can build an entire Garden of Eden if they so desire, provided they can line up the financing and pull the construction permits. That is the essence of consumer choice, isn't it? The rich get to play, while other, less privileged parts of the population, such as the immigrants, the squatters and the homeless, the chronically unemployed or underemployed, the bums (the real ones, not the ones in government), simply don't have the same options. At the same time, their need for community is much greater, and so they spontaneously self-organize, network informally, and defend their interests as best they can. They all know that "a nail that sticks up gets hammered down" and so they don't advertise their efforts or make them official or explicit.
Hopkins also makes the excellent point that the entire approach of "creating community" is patronizing and ineffective. Community regenerates spontaneously, given time, space, a commonality of interest, provided it is not too oppressed. As industrial economies continue to shrink and shed jobs, more and more people will be squeezed out to the margins of the consumerist universe, and, finding more time on their hands than they know what to do with, will start to reengage with other people in similar situations. Since their needs will often be coincident or complementary, they will form various types of temporary and informal groups. There is certainly a great deal that all of us can do to help, but "organizing" is not one of them. First and foremost, we should stop working so hard on destroying community, as we have been doing by leading overwhelmingly regimented and commercialized existences. And let's quit it with the political hokey-pokey — it's much too undignified.
34 comments:
- Agroinnovations said...
I've read many of your articles and heard you on several podcast interviews. This article is one of your best. And you've written some great ones.
Keep at it. - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 6:17:00 PM EST
- fritz said...
thank you much again D. focus is nothing without knowing what we're looking at.
- Monday, January 18, 2010 at 11:57:00 PM EST
I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis of totalitarian consumerism. Fortunately, I think there is still something gloriously off-message and biological about having a baby; it's a kind of humanising trail which, if followed, unravels a lots of the fibres of synthetic modern life.
Thank you also for making me feel less bad about my wariness of 'community building'. I've been feeling the same way about it as I did towards those mediocre 'team building' wankers I used to encounter in a (corporate) past life. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 2:31:00 AM EST
- Daniel said...
Consumerism is the problem? hell yeah. Go back to your community and start your work? No doubt. But what's that weird paragraph about the women's role within a community. Is that some post-feminist male position, that idealizes the frugal and bigot Christian US communities of the 1800's. It seems so. But there is no genetic determination on what your role in your community is. A bit of queer thinking would do you good, so your ideas would be more than just wishing back the "good old days". That's at least what I read from it.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 5:33:00 AM EST
- Kraig Grady said...
The biggest energy consumer is the single family dwelling. It is this same object that keeps people at a distance from each other that makes 'organizing' difficult if not way too time consuming. True everyone can be organized online, but so far this hasn't lead to any real action beyond sharing clicks~.
Cities are machines for living and we have disfunctional ones. building are used only 50% of the time and more than 50% of the space is there for just cars and transportation. smaller areas leads to the possibility of people being able to do more with less energy. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:28:00 AM EST
To organize, or self-organize, you neel time and money. Our society of "high living standards" subtly convinced people to work for long hours and spend most money earned, and frequently to spend more than actual income (going into debt). If, for a variety of reasons, we move to "low living standards", as Dmitri rightly points out, there will be both more time and more need to self-organize.
So something which now seems very hard, something to add on top of already busy lives, may just happen, without requiring much planning for it.
Cheers, Riccardo - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:34:00 AM EST
- Paula said...
I've long been critical of the whole overblown "community" thing. It's good to see someone with a larger audience than me making the point. I would very much like to see some alternatives to "community organizing" percolate to the surface of post-peak discussion.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:58:00 AM EST
- P said...
I think reading "The Coming Insurrection" is very pertinent to this discussion of organic organization vs. by "general assembly".
Note: Pay for it in cash! - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 9:25:00 AM EST
Ya done hit the nail squarely on the head with this one, Big D. And a very John Robb-like post in my opinion.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 9:28:00 AM EST
- Stephen Bach said...
"And let's quit it with the political hokey-pokey — it's much too undignified."
Amen - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 10:32:00 AM EST
- eeyores enigma said...
Thank you for that breath of fresh air.
I have to say I am getting so fed up with most internet analysis as they are mostly so obviously biased and narrow in perspective. However you do it, (I picture you getting all squinty eyed with your gun hand opened wide and osculating gently) but you manage to out draw all the others and put things into perspective for me.
Thanks and keep up the good work. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 10:57:00 AM EST
- HeapSort said...
Well if it's hard work to repress communities (or community action), isn't it also hard work to resist repression?
It's one thing to pretend to an objective point of view and claim that communities are self-organizing, and quite another to ask, how do I participate in a community? or, how do I participate in an organization? or, how do I organize with other people despite not being in a community? It's no help to sit back and wait for a community to self-organize so that you can join it. That's what everyone is doing already.
Communities are groups of people who do things together. So maybe the problem isn't finding a group of people with similar ideas or feelings or desires, but finding people who will actually do something with you.
In the context of resource scarcity or peak oil or whatever, it's finding new ways to live that don't require you to be at or near retirement age and sitting on a nice fat nest egg which you've generated by participating in an economy which you can now safely walk away from and proceed to criticize from a distance. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 2:40:00 PM EST
- Dmitry Orlov said...
HeapSort -
You are absolutely correct, and I am trying to do exactly as you suggest. I hope that other people will do the same, instead of simply waiting for their careers to end, or, if they already have, frittering away their savings until it's all gone and they are out of options. Right now, community is strongest among those people who find themselves on the margins of society and have already largely run out of options - the squatters, the homeless, the immigrants and the nomads. Their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds, and someday you may have to join them. Draw your own conclusions. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 3:58:00 PM EST
- Unknown said...
Hopefully with time, the consumerist universe will shrink either though abandonment (my preference) or collapse of its own unsustainable weight and logic. In that case, the margins will come to us.
The system won't reform itself so I'm not sure there are any other options. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 7:07:00 PM EST
- gsanford said...
"The biggest energy consumer is the single family dwelling. It is this same object that keeps people at a distance from each other that makes 'organizing' difficult if not way too time consuming."
I lived in apartments for 13 years and let me tell you, there was very little community there either. - Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 10:41:00 PM EST
Intentional communities are the hope of the world. For more information visit http://www.ic.org
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 10:07:00 AM EST
- firstname.lastname@example.com said...
From Douglas Adams [the other Addams family]
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, ..."nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, ... "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford ... "of course."
"But," said Arthur, ..."why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 11:27:00 AM EST
- Jonathan Maxson said...
I have been following this evolving discussion on community organizing and decided to weigh in with my own perspective. I have heard you on a couple of podcasts and read several of your articles. I think your feedback would be valuable, if you have an opportunity to drop by.
- Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 12:48:00 PM EST
- Phlogiston Água de Beber said...
@ stevelaudig,
A more perfect description of the way things are, I would find hard to imagine.
Kudos! - Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 10:11:00 AM EST
I agree with your experience that communities form spontaneously out of common interests and needs, both in good times and bad - and would suggest that, historically, organising communities has been a response to the collective experience of oppression or hardship in one form or another rather than in anticipation of perceived future hardship.
The perverse thing is that those of us with the inclination, influence and agency to self-organise in preparation for future uncertainties are so 'comfortable' in our consumer lifestyles that we often do not notice the superficiality of many of the civilly obedient solutions that we propose.
We need not only refer to post-Soviet collapse or other examples from recent history of extreme social upheaval to find spontaneous examples of self-organising communities. For some of the marginalised 'underclasses' amongst us have already formed invisible but resilient communities in response to the gaping social divide of consumer capitalism.
I've posted on this here:
http://jontybarrett.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/building-community/ - Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 5:37:00 PM EST
Nothing is more loathsome than a serious, true-believing community organizer.
- Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 6:39:00 PM EST
- Round Belly said...
I loved your paragraph on the appropriation of women into the workforce causing consumption patterns with in our personal family lives. This is a principal I have been studying for years and you said it so elegantly.
- Friday, January 22, 2010 at 12:24:00 AM EST
- RanDomino said...
P said...
"The Coming Insurrection"
Note: Pay for it in cash!
Pay for it??? - Friday, January 22, 2010 at 1:00:00 PM EST
- Larkin said...
If you want to be reassured that things will get better turn on Cable News and hear about "Green Shoots" That is about as feeble a sound bite as have ever heard.
The jobs are gone and they aren't coming back anytime soon. Along with the jobs, gone also is the technology. Financial commentator, Peter Schiff says, "It is time to put Americans back to work." Work, making what?
Certainly there are new products to develop and manufacture but the very corporations that this country gave birth to has sold it all off leaving the US hollowed out and bankrupt. burdened with crushing debt, so much so that we can no longer compete.
The very corporations that brought us cars, clothes and toys and food are morphing into privatized prisons, security companies, information gathers and private armies.
I have voted for the last time realizing that both parties are agents of the same corporate monoliths. Super organisms reaffirmed by the US supreme Court just this week as individuals just like you and me.
In keeping with the proposals in the piece written above, It really is time to re-connect personally with people around you. Begin to form real communities and give purpose to friends and even the homeless and begin to move towards self sufficiency.
The message in this little rant is to stop listening to Cable TV, they are lying to you. Begin to cultivate real and basic skills, gardening, fishing, raising chickens. Learn how to take care of a bee hive. Pretend it is a hobby, but do it. - Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 1:24:00 AM EST
- Bonapartes Retreat said...
Excellent Dimtry!
- Monday, January 25, 2010 at 1:07:00 PM EST
- foss said...
it seems to now take 'need' & discomfort at least, or pain actually for community to form. as u say usually the marginalized.
i think i hope for such; for myself, family/friends, neighbors, even the US.
having the gump to come together w/o pain seems a lost form of relating where at the first tough, discomforting conflict[as natural as light/dark btw] we usually revert back to our energy maintained individual shells- 'i don't really need them....'
in hunter gather times isolation was at times thought to be death -probably was a lot of that period; large predators, loss of pack hunting, meeting other clans, 'watch' at night, etc.
i figure more jobs lost, market chaos, maybe even an oil shortage or two; some kind of 'shocks' that knock us hard,hopefully with some temporary easing might help us intensify our connecting. - Monday, January 25, 2010 at 8:44:00 PM EST
- Jacob Gittes said...
Good essay, Dmitri. I pretty much agree. What utility do you see in joining pre-existing groups, such as JM Greer talks about in his latest ArchDruidReport post? It seems that the two of you have some disagreement here on the phenomenology of community building. A chicken/egg problem, if you will. Greer seems to think that one must be willing to join an existing community and form bonds that way.
In essence, is he saying that common experience and needs would NOT lead to community formation? - Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 4:38:00 PM EST
- Joanne said...
I just stumbled across this blog post & don't have a huge amount of knowledge relating American political system. However I am very interested in your comments about communities and agree.
A community is a group of people who cluster together over a shared commonality, where a network is more an interconnected system.
Because communities cluster together over something common, like-mindedness occurs, rather than spending time explaining to others reasons why they believe and behave the way they do, people will start to communicate more frequently within rather than between communities.
Over time the community start to develop inside lingo, slang and eventually a whole set of complex symbols and behaviour that create gaps in the communication flow and connectedness between their community and others.
A network is the virtual infrastructure (or interconnected system) that bridges the emergent gaps in communication flow and connectedness between communities.
Communities are insular, networks connect them; allowing access to alternate opinions and behaviours, meaning broader initiative and synthesis of new ideas.
Communities happen; networks are developed and maintained. - Friday, January 29, 2010 at 8:38:00 AM EST
- dave said...
yes, communities are self organizing in much the same way that weather systems or variuos biomes are self organzing. in fact, all dissipative structures are self organzing, even those structures formed by such strutures(second order structure?). they are all completely dependant upon supporting conditions. humans just have the luxury of telling stories about thier's. the stories are usually along the lines of how thier structure is the best one ever, or something like that.
- Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 9:44:00 AM EST
- Unknown said...
Hi! On the topic of creating communities, we are tinkering about that a lot at Mindshare (www.mindshare.la) and came across Stephanie's work at WeCommune. She started to work on cul-the-sac community building, to relieve consumerism pressure and share resources within your street's neighbours. Here latest work in progress is the build up of a plateform on this subject. (www.wecommune.com)
Pleased to meet you yesterday at the moth pcc!
Kind regards,
More info on WeCommune:
Stephanie Smith
http://ecoshack.com - Monday, February 1, 2010 at 11:43:00 AM EST
- Brad K. said...
I think there is a link between 30 and 60 second advertisements on TV - and hulu.com, etc. - and ADHD/ADD diagnosis. Ads are deliberately designed to be abrasive, to be loud and colorful, an utter distraction from the "main program" - every 6 to 9 minutes.
This is quite unlike the discipline and focus of an uninterrupted day spent pulling weeds from a soybean field. (OK, so it was 45 years ago, and I was too young to get out of the task.) - Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 9:44:00 PM EST
- Unknown said...
The Feminist movement has always made me laugh for precisely the reason mentioned in this article.
I thought the stereotype was that women were supposed to be smarter than men?
Yet for over half a century now women have been fighting for their right to be stupid corporate slaves like all the dumb men out there.
I have no problem with women in the workforce but the feminist movement convincing women that in order to be truly independent and free women they have to be slaves to consumerism is just ridiculous.
I wonder what corporations will be paying the retirement packages of the feminist movement's leaders?
If they aren't actually paying them then they should be since they owe the Feminist movement greatly.
I thought being independent meant being free to choose to do what you want, not being free to be a slave to consumerism.
And many of those who choose not be slaves then get ridiculed and told they are stuck in the past and holding women's rights back.
What a messed up world we live in today, I actually find myself hoping for the collapse to come just so we can try to start over again with a clean slate. - Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 12:36:00 PM EST
- Unknown said...
Your comment about our inability to opt out of our role as consumers reminds me of Silvio Gesell's thought that 'real capital' was made a slave to the structure of the currency:
"'So‐called real capital is therefore anything rather [other] than 'real'. Money alone is true real capital, basic capital. All other capital objects are completely dependent upon the characteristics of the
existing form of money; they are its creatures; [….]' (Gesell, 1958, p. 391)."
from: http://www.wiwi.uni-muenster.de/cawm/forschen/Download/Diskbeitraege/DP-23-CAWM-Ilgmann.pdf
which gives a pretty good description & critique of Gesell's ideas. - Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:44:00 PM EST
- Paul Glover said...
Localities are the incubator of all social progress. Their innovations prove that there are new paths.
I've started more than a dozen organizations dedicated to ecology and social justice, in the fields of food, fuel, housing, health care, education, transportation, finance. http://www.paulglover.org
When frustrated by government and Wall Street, go local and show them how. - Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 2:39:00 PM EST


text:
H. Ivan Orup, Jr., DMD, MMSc
Dr. Orup has been a practicing Orthodontist in Concord, Massachusetts since 1996. He served for over ten years on the faculty of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine as a Clinical Instructor and Lecturer in the Postdoctoral Orthodontic Program at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). He continues to lecture periodically at HSDM with particular focus on topics such as Clinical Management of Ectopically Positioned Canines and Practice Management.
He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree in 1994, graduating magna cum laude from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. At Harvard, he was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society. He also received awards for excellence in Oral Pathology and Operative Dentistry.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Preface - x000x --------------- Welcome to my Modern Warfare 3 Guide. It's still a work in progress so please be kind. I'm working on refining it and including as much information as I can. Version - x010x --------------- Version: 1.0 Date: November 8, 2011 Walkthrough done Will add plenty more later ============================ | | | Table of Contents | | x100x | ============================ If you feel that I did a good job feel free to drop me a line or if you can afford a dollar or two for someone who helped end your frustration, donations are accepted and greatly appreciated at: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BT5BJTYTEVWN4 Preface.......................x000x Version.....................x010x Table of Contents.............x100x Controls......................x200x X360........................x210x PS3.........................x220x PC..........................x230x Walkthrough...................x300x Legal.........................x900x Thanks......................x910x Contact.....................x920x ============================ | | | Controls | | x200x | ============================ ================ X360 - x210x | ================ =============== PS3 - x220x | =============== ============== PC - x230x | ============== ============================ | | | Walkthrough | | x300x | ============================ Black Tuesday ------------- After you gain control, move your way up the left side, taking out enemies as you go. you'll eventually come to a point with a jeep in the middle of the road. You can try and cap the gunner from here but I found that a frag grenade works particularly well. Kill him and clean up his friends just around him, then hug the corner to the right. Stay on the right side and make your way towards the pile of rubble but watch for enemies spawning in the building across the street to the left. The enemies will keep respawning up ahead but if you move up, you can enter a building on the right side. This is actually the direction you want to go in, not just for flanking. Go inside and make your way upstairs. When prompted, follow Sandman until you come out to a larger open area. A helicopter has slammed into the wall and you'll have to deal with enemies in front and above. You can use the area by the door for cover to take them out. Continue to follow Sandman around the corner to the right and you'll head back downstairs. When you get to a door leading outside with voices on the otherside you will be prompted to toss a 9-bang which is your tactical grenade. Do so and then kill the two enemies on the other side of the door, one coming down the stairs and one in the middle of the alley way. Go up the stairs he was coming down. Go through a couple of rooms and head down the stairs into what looks like a jewelry store. A group of enemies will flood the room through the big hole in the wall so you can retreat either back up the stairs or use the display cases on the left side for cover. Either way, this is a good point to use your grenades. Go through the hole in the wall but don't shoot on the otherside, they are friendlies. Make your way up the street in the same direction and take out the enemies coming out of the building to the right. Move up a little and you'll see an enemy vehicle in the distance to the left. Switch weapons to the XM25 to take it out. Clear out the few remaining enemies and make your way into the stock exchange. Inside the Stock Exchange, head up the escalator to the trading floor. The trading floor is very busy and dangerous. Feel free to make liberal use of grenades and make your way up the left side of the traiding floor so that you only have to watch ahead and your right flank. Use the trading stations for cover. When you make it to the back of the room, climb up the stairs in the back. Once you start climbing the second flight, more enemies will come onto the Trading Floor. Take them out and keep climbing, go around the catwalk and up the ladder at the end. At the top, get ready to fire because there will be a few enemies on the stairs leading to the second tier of the roof. Hurry to take them out and go up the stairs. If you were fast enough, the enemies in this area will be in a terrible position leaving their flank wide open. Clear them out and head up to place the thermite on the Jammer. After you have your radio back, you'll be attacked by enemies on adjacent roof tops. Soon you'll be given control of a predator drone and be prompted to use it. Use it on the first group of enemies you see and then you'll be attacked by a Hind helicopter. Use it again on the Hind and your ride will show up. Hop on the chopper and you'll jump into the gunner's seat. Take out the RPGs on the rooftop below you. You'll start moving along and then you'll be attacked by a couple of Hind choppers. Remember to both lead them a little and compensate for your choppers movements. Using the Aim button can help you if you are having trouble keeping steady on them. After you take out two, you'll come to a building under construction and be attacked by a third. Take him out too. Hunter Killer ------------- After the fence comes down, follow your squad through it. In fact, just keep following them for a while and the only thing you will have to watch out for are the mines. Despite being big and red, they can still be hard to see so pay close attention to your sonar which will beep in the direction that they are. Keep following your squad and head down until the sub passes by. Once it's by you, come up behind it and plant a bomb at the spot marked on the tail. Once you've surfaced, head up the tail end of the sub but watch for the two enemies that are going to peak over. Kill them and make your way up to the top side of the sub and you'll see three more enemies at the far end of the sub. Get rid of them and someone will drop a frag in the hatch then proceed down into the sub. At the bottom of the sub, follow Sandman through a door. In the next room, kill the two men escaping through the door and then follow where they were going. Go down the stairs and through the hallway. Kill the few men here and watch for fire from the right. Wrap around with the hallway to the right and kill the two men at the end. Proceed toward where they were and the door ahead of you will open with two more enemies behind it. Kill both. Go through the door they opened, take a right and a quick left up the stairs. You'll enter the engine room and have to deal with enemies all around. There are plenty of places to take cover but head all the way to the left so you are under the catwalk and try to take out as many enemies as you can, including up above you. Thankfully you won't have to guess where they are because all of your enemies will have laser sights which you can trace back to their source. Once the room is clear, head through the door at the back of the bottom floor. The next room will be much the same but with more enemies on your floor. Kill them all but be careful as you move forward because it's very easy to let one slip by you. After, go up the stairs at the back right and walk up to the door to breach. If you've never breached before, the door will blow open and you will enter a slow motion state where every shot is an instant kill. In this case, kill the man charging you slightly to the left, and then just start from the right and work your way left. There are five enemies in all. Don't worry if you don't get them all but don't be surprised if you do. Head to the back left of the room and you'll have to use a console to launch the missiles. Turn around and head out through the ladder that Sandman climbs. Once you are outside and on the boat, you'll have to follow a relatively strait forward path. After a short sight seeing trip, you'll be attacked by a boat on the left. Don't aim for the enemies. Aim for the giant red mines on the back end of the boat by the turret to destroy the boat. After that, you just have to follow the lead boat until you get to the point where the chopper drops down into the water. Head right up into the belly of the chopper. Persona Non Grata ----------------- When you take control of Yuri, head over and try to take out a couple of enemies dropping out of the chopper in the distance. In a moment, the door in the courtyard will be breached so prepare to drop a grenade into the courtyard to hopeful score a handful of kills. Clean them up and eventually someone will pop smoke in the courtyard and a few choppers will drop down. Those aren't friendly choppers so back up into the room. The Doctor will die so you'll have to head over to the tray of medical supplies and give Soap a shot. Nikolai will pick Soap up and you'll head out through the door. In the next hallway, turn right and watch for the men crashing through the wall on the right side. Exit through the door on the left and go down the stairs to get to the courtyard. In the courtyard, try and push up the right side so you get some elevation and the flank of the enemies pouring through the door they were coming through originally. Kill all the enemies and head through the door they were coming through. Go down the stairs and wait for Price to open the gate. Go through the gate and head down the stairs to the left. Follow the street to the corner and take out the men marching up the street. Move up, keeping your cover on the left side of the street. When the street slopes down, you will find a couple of enemies on a balcony in the distance. Take them out and then clear the enemies that dropped into the street. As you make your way down the street, keep your eyes open for more enemies coming out from the same building except one balcony higher. At the bottom of the road, you'll want to turn right but you can also enter the building just ahead to take cover. To the right will be a group of enemies behind a row of cars. There are stairs up to the left if you want to try to get elevation. Kill them, head up to the cars and turn left into the alley. You'll enter a building on the right and come out the other side. Follow Price into the next building and head down into the basement. This is fun. Go over to the desk and use the computer to take control of the mini-tank. Drive it out into the street. Whenever you see a group of enemy soldiers close together, use grenades and then use the minigun to clean up stragglers. Make sure to check your corners because there are a lot of enemies and it's easy to miss one. Use the minigun to take out the chopper and the infantry in front of you. More will come up the road, kill them and check behind debris as you head down the road. When you get closer to the bottom of the street, check right for a couple of enemies and then left for more. Head to the left and watch for enemies in the balconies ahead. Once you've dealt with them, another chopper will appear over the gap to the right. Take that out with the minigun. You'll want to continue forward as much as possible and then cross over to the scaffolding using a sheet of metal to your right. As you pass by the apartment building, more enemies will appear in the balconies and a group of infantry will appear at the bend on the right side. Minigun the first group and grenade the second, then head up the street. Once you get to the gate at the end of the road, turn right and down below is the LZ for the chopper. You'll have to clear this area. There will be this giant wave, then an attack chopper and a final gradual wave of enemies. This will be your last bit with the vehicle so feel free to use up your grenades spread out across the two waves. Once they are all gone, you'll be back to Yuri. Head back along the same path and try to get to the chopper. The ground will fall out under you and you will slide down the hill. You will need to push left a little to make it around the building and then back right to avoid the rocks. Once you hit the water below, you're golden. Turbulence ---------- Follow the president, listen to the talk and then head to the far side of the conference room. Keep some distance from the door and once you've brought your gun back up, kill the enemies here. Take their weapons so you have something more powerful than a pistol and head out into the hall. Walk into the next room and take out an enemy or two. When you try to advance, something interesting will happen. Just because you are airborn doesn't mean you can't shoot so take out whatever enemies you can. Once they are clear, you'll be back on your feet. Head down the stairs. Turn around and head through the left door into the next room. Make sure you check right just as you enter the room to find an enemy waiting to ambush on the right door. Take him out and clear the room. Head up into the next room. Make your way slowly through the command area and into a small cargo room where you'll find four enemies and the President's daughter. Clear them out from a distance and move forward. Soon someone will open the far door to the room. Head into the passenger section, try and kill a few enemies and then watch the plane get torn apart. Someone will help you up, follow him outside to find the President's daughter, then set out to find the President. Follow him until you get close to the hanger. Move up the right side towards the jeeps. Use grenades on the jeeps to try and kill enemies as they are exiting. Watch out for gunners in the jeeps. Keep moving forward and the head right into the woods but watch out for the group of five enemies between you and the forest. Get through them and kill the enemies further ahead by the jeep. Head forward to find the president. A chopper will put down nearby. Go open the door for the President and Mission... failed? Back on the Grid ---------------- Follow Price and Soap up to the edge of the road and crouch down as instructed. Wait for the convoy to move past and then follow the pair further to the left. You'll be warned about a couple of enemies up ahead. One of them will be carrying a body and will be easily noticed while the other is back a little ways. Shoot the first one and you'll probably see the second one running away. Be sure to take him out as quickly as possible. Move through the blown out building and you'll see a group of people in a field beyond. There are four people here to kill but they are hard to tell because they are all wearing the same clothes. Aim for the one with the gas tank and the man shooting the gun into the air first and then you'll find the other two quickly enough when they open fire on you. Just follow Price's instructions for a little while. Wait for him to tell you what to do and do it promptly. You will continue to do this until you come to a point where you're told to split up. Go up the ladder to get a good vantage point and knife the enemy in the chair. You need to provide sniper cover from here. The first group of two will walk directly toward you and past Soap and Price. Take them out and then two more will appear from left and up. These two will approach Soap and Price's position. Take them out and three more enemies will appear up the road a little ways. It might be easier to see them if you zoom out. Kill them and drop down. Follow in their tracks but when you get to where those three men appeared, watch for two more to appear from the left. Kill them and turn left to regroup with Price and Soap. You'll have to make your way up an alley way. If you're quick, you should be able to take a good portion of the enemies out before they can find cover. The best cover is on the right side though so move up the right and clear enemies. When you get close to the end of the alley, Soap will open a door to the right and go up a ladder. At the top of the ladder, walk forward, drop down and take cover there. Kill a few men and a truck will show up with a turret. Take out the turret quickly and then turn right. Start taking out the enemies at the end of the alley. Toss a grenade at the truck and hopefully thin the group. Hop up on the turret closest to you and start shooting... everywhere. There will be enemies on the building strait ahead and to the right. Some enemies will flank you on the left and another truck will come down the road right in front of you. BOOM! Get up and follow Soap. Keep running and the floor will fall through on you again. Soon as you can, shoot because you'll be charged by a man with a machete. Kill him and head up the hill a little bit. You'll kill two more men and regroup with Price. Follow him for a minute and then head up some stairs to the mortar position Get on the mortar and start shelling the village area below. Make sure you take out the trucks that keep coming at you. As long as you get close to the target, it will count. Just keep shooting and eventually you'll have to follow Price off the back side of the tower. You'll go through a sewer and come out to some gun fire. Kill the men by the house slightly to your right. Go around the corner and take out the three men on the roof in the distance. You'll head into a building on the left but stay outside because there isn't really any good cover inside. Clear that out, run inside and then run back out the other door. Watch for enemies on the second floor of each of the two buildings in front of you. Head up the alley to the right and then follow Soap through the building and you'll come into a marketplace. Watch high on the left and right side. Push forward and on the far side you'll come to the church. Go inside the church and you'll be greeted by a good number of enemies. Just let loose because they'll end up taking cover behind the benches which don't actual provide any protection. **At the far end of the church, you'll find an intel on a desk. Stack up and breach the door on the left side of the church. You'll be attacked by a dog but your real focus will be on shooting the enemies behind the dog. Shoot both and then you'll shoot the dog. Mind the Gap ------------ Once you gain control, turn right at the intersection and kill the man who walks through the door. Go through the door and into the warehouse. There will be a couple of men in the main room that you need to take out quickly. Head out the shutter at the back left and then round the corner in the alley to find two enemies. Shoot for the enemy on the right and a squadmate will take out the other. Head through the doors that require the wire cutters and then up the stairs. There will be three men spread over the next few rooms but they shouldn't pose any threat as long as you take your time. Head up another floor and watch as a friendly takes out two enemies in the next room. Hop out the window and down to the street outside. Move up the street in front of you. Move up this street on the right side. It'll be fairly easy to clear the left side but watch for a group of enemies just ahead on the right by a truck and car. A grenade will likely take a few of them out. Open the truck at the end of the parking lot to find nothing. Then turn around and head into the alley on the left. There will be quite a few enemies here but take your time and just use the corner of the brick wall for cover. Head up to the intersection, turn right and enter the building on the left. Kill the few enemies here and head out the otherside of the building. Hop down once you get outside and then turn left. You'll have to fight your way up this street. Watch out for exploding barrels. If you can make it close to the end and take cover, a chopper will come and clear out the group of enemies that comes from the left. Head to the left and use the large objects for cover. Push forward and down into the parking garage to find a truck. Jump into the truck and enjoy the vehicle segment. Shoot the enemies on the train when you get a chance, just to be on the safe side but I'm not entirely sure it has any effect on this segment. After this you'll end up on your feet again. When you are back in control, follow Wallcroft through the trains and onto the platform. There will be two enemies on the platform at the intersection. Turn left at the intersection and move up the middle, peaking out to take pot shots. Kill the enemies up ahead and then turn right at the end of the tunnel. Go through the door and you'll start approaching the exit of the subway but there will be plenty of enemies and not a whole lot of cover so use the corners for cover. Wrap around the wall to the left and go upstairs. Watch for the enemies at the top. At the top, watch the snack counter to the right, you'll find a good number of enemies there. Clear those and the enemies to the left, then head up the stairs to the gates. There will be a few enemies up the hall fleeing. Kill them and follow them up the hall. At the intersection, turn right and climb out of the subway. Make your way over to the group. Wait for the truck to come around and open fire until it tips over. Goalpost -------- Once you gain control, stick to the left side and stay behind cover whenever possible. Cross over with the armor until they ask you to scout up ahead so they know if it's ok to advance. Then you'll need to cross to the right side. Do so and follow the street to the end. The street will turn left into a group of enemies. They aren't anything you can't handle without patient use of cover. The road will curve back around and do a U-turn to the left. Cross the street on the right side and take cover behind the potted plants in the area. Advance catiously up the right side until you get to a truck you have to go around. Get around it and then get back on the right side. Slowly make your way to the large open area at the end of the road. Just be careful not to spend too much time in the middle of the road, lest you get run over by your own tank. When you are just about to the open area, there is a hole in the wall on the right that will allow you to drop down and provides much better cover and angles. Keep following along with the wall to your right until you get to the west side and a group of enemies will pour out of a building just south of you. Keep shooting and you'll make short work of them. Follow the wall along and you'll come to some barbed wire. You'll then be told to get into the tank's turret. Climb in and start shooting. Eventually the tank will have to back off but when you get a second chance, open up on the area to the right. The tank will hop the barrier and head into the parking garage. The tank will keep to the right side. Clear the RPG to the left and then head forward. You'll pass a wall at some point where there are plenty of enemies beyond. Shoot the cars near them to clear them out quickly. If you aren't quick enough, you'll die pretty fast. Once you clear them though, it's smooth sailing until you fall through the ground for the third time in six missions. Back to the infantry game. Exit the vehicle and follow the squad, sticking to one side or the other until you get to the jeep. Clear the area and climb back out of the garage and into the streets. Make your way around the corner ahead and then head into anther building. Make your way slowly along the right wall and watch left because you'll hit a point when you think you've cleared every enemy and he'll still jump out and melee you if you aren't paying attention. Soon the building leads back to the street. Outside, you'll find a section that reminds me of Rainbow Six Vegas. I found the left side was easiest side to take cover in. Move up the left side and then turn right to thin out the enemy. Once you're through this section, move into the next section of street. Kill the enemies here and head into another building. Go up the stairs and breach the next room. Clear the room and you'll rescue the Goalpost. Return to Sender ---------------- When you can move, head up the left side and up the stairs at the back to gain a little bit of elevation. Get a few kills and then use the chopper gunner to clean up as many enemies as you can. Once you regain control, clear out any remaining enemies and head west, then north. You'll come nose to nose with another truck but it's actually blow up after just a little bit of gun fire. Wait for the chopper to come back and take another pass, making sure to blow up any vehicles you may see. Thin out the other enemies and when you are back on your feet, head around that corner past the truck. Head up the hill. Go into the building at the top of the hill. You won't meet any real resistance until you meet back up with Soap. After that, you'll go through a door and have to clear a bigger room but you'll have flanked the enemy making it an easy clean up. Go to the door at the back and breach. When you breach, just make sure you don't shoot the target that says "capture." Exit through the back of the building and follow Soap and Price to a bigger plaza where you'll be attacked by snipers and RPGs. Take cover. This next section is a race against the clock. You'll have to push forward aggressively to make it so try and get kills as quickly as possible. Don't worry too much about ammo. Go to the end and take a right. Clear the roof tops here and take a left. Again, you'll come to more rooftop and balcony enemies but don't attack them just yet. If you take a sharp left, you can cut through an alley and flank those enemies. Clear them out and enter the bottom floor of the building and clear to the top. Once you've done that, head outside and follow the alley to the right of the building. In the next area you will need to climb a building under construction. Clear each floor as you go and when you get to the top, take control of the chopper gun to clean up the LZ. Once the Sandstorm envelopes you, just follow the markers and do as Price says. Keep moving through the storm until you find Nikolai. When you find him, you'll have to pick him up and carry him. Just keep moving for the waypoints because you can't take damage while carrying him. Once you go down the hill, you'll have to make your way to a jeep without Nikolai to end the mission. Bag and Drag ------------ Keep following waypoints until you get to the bookstore. Stay outside and try to clear out the bottom floor before heading upstairs and clearing the enemies up there. Head back down and exit through the back door of the Book Store. Follow some more waypoints to meet up with the GIGN squad. Head through the dining room of the restaurant and in the alley, watch for an influx of enemie from your left. Kill as many as you can before they get to cover and then take out the RPG. Clean up whatever is left and head up the stairs. Follow a few more waypoints until you find the a packed alley. Throw a purple smoke grenade into the alley (aim for the truck) and you'll get some air support to clear it out for you. Turn right and climb the stairs, get rid of a few enemies in the street and get ready to pop more smoke. You'll see a BTA come down the street in front of you. Throw the smoke down the street. Get rid of an stragglers and head into the sewers. For a good portion of the sewers, you are just following and talking but eventually things will get bad and you'll have to take out a few enemies. Head up the stairs and round the corner, watch the flashbang and then you'll have to race to catch Volk. Kill enemies as quickly as possible but don't get yourself killed. Chase him out of the sewers and up into the streets. Get in the van. While riding in the van, you'll move to the back and have to fend off a few infantry. Grab the LMG in the back and unload on the enemies since there is likely too much smoke to see clearly. Throughout the ride, the biggest threat will be the jeeps chasing after you. Whenever you see one, just unload at the gunner until he stops shooting. After a handful of jeeps and being chased by a chopper, you'll have to switch to shotgun. Once there, shoot out one of the tires of the car and when you slam into it, kill the man on the roof and in the back seat. Iron Lady --------- Make your way to the Ospry and wait for the inevitable to happen. But after that, you get to take to the skies. You have three weapons, the 105mm, 40mm, and 25mm. The largest takes the longest to reload but can take out groups of armor with a single shot right down to the 25mm which you can just rake across infantry to clean them up. During this mission you need to not shoot buildings at first. Later, when you request permission to fire, wait until they say you have permission to fire on buildings with enemy personel before you fire. Don't shoot the white diamonds and make sure that you watch behind the squad as well as in front. After you fire on the embassy, you'll be back on the ground. Make your way up the long staircase in front of you. Follow the hallway, taking out enemies on the way. At the end, you'll find a room with a sniper rifle in it. Grab it and use it to take out the machine gunner in the middle of the courtyard. Use this position to clear out the courtyard some and then drop down. Get to the center of the courtyard and defend that position. Once the tank shows up, mark it with smoke and watch it explode. Then jump into the gunship again. In the gunship, you'll first have to clear a plaza of enemies so that the squad can get some wheels. Once they start moving, switch to the 25mm so you can fend off enemy vehicles. Kill as much as you can to keep them safe. Once they get to the bridge, switch to the 105mm and drop a shell on one of the tanks. You'll jump back on the ground. Now that you are on the ground, grab the javelin launcher in front of you and use it to take out the two remaining tanks. Move up the bridge using whatever cover you can find. You can still use smoke grenades to mark groups of enemies for air support. When you get to the end of the bridge, you need to hold it for three minutes. Be careful when your chopper finally shows up. It'd be a shame if you got hit by the tail while it was landing and died. Eye of the Storm ---------------- Follow Soap and listen to Price's instructions until you split up. At that point, Soap will be the one to give you instructions. At the first group, you will have to take out both snipers yourself but then soap will take out the two on the ground. The second group only requires you to shoot one and Soap will take out the other at the same time. And when you get to your last group where there's a whole group of 20+ enemies, don't actually shoot, just line the shot up. After that you'll be thrown into a shoot out. Take cover and clear the area to the north. Up a head a little ways, you'll find an RPG up against some boxes. Find this because you'll have a tank to blow up momentarily. Once he's toast, head into the building on the left. Make your way through the building following the waypoints. Once you get back outside, you'll have to get rid of a couple turrets on the second and third floor of the building to the right. Get rid of them and follow the wall around the corner. After that you just follow Soap for a little while longer. When you enter the next building, you'll have to kill two enemies and then clear a room full of reinforcements. Feel free to go loud. Play some more simon says after that to finish the mission. Blood Brothers -------------- Watch things unfold and when you are told to find Price, look just above the clock for a glint of light. He will repel down the side and after a minute, you'll be instructed to take out the guards. Just keep knocking them down and Price will breach the room. Inside will be more guards so keep providing cover. Once you gain control of your feet, start running after Price. Don't stop, just keep running until you set down for a moment and Price gives you his weapon. Now you shoot. Try and keep to the left side and move slowly, clearing one room at a time. You'll come to a point where a few black SUVs will pull up. Try to drop a grenade under them to get rid of some of the enemies coming out. Head through the building to the left and back out across the street. When they finally put Soap down again, you'll have to hold off the enemy until the resistance shows up to help. Go inside and tend to Soap, then leave. Stronghold ---------- The first section of this is just more Simon Says with Price. At one point, you will have to kill someone without being seen in the spotlight. The spotlight you have to watch is the one on the left wall. After that, follow Price some more until he shoots out the lights. They just go through and you can kill everyone easily. They likely won't even shoot a single shot. Once they start using flares, get a few kills and then follow Price up the left side. Continue following the left side wall around to the waypoint on the far side. More enemies will pour out of that door so be ready. When the hostage appears, he will actually get away if you wait a second and then you'll have a free shot at the man behind him. Get beyond him and you'll follow Price for a bit again. After Price throws his grenade and you slide down you'll find yourself in a kitchen. Take out the three unfortunate souls there. Make your way through the compound. If you keep up a good pace, you can actually get a good drop on most of the enemies here. In a lot of cases, they will still be scrambling for cover or running and you can take a few out allowing you to keep a good pace. Once you come outside, drop down into the courtyard and "support Price." And by support they mean take the lead. Thin out the enemies a little bit and work your way to the far building by moving up the right flank. Move to the building at the back left corner and go up the stairs. When you get there, he'll mention how perfectly the timing of the enemy was. Just blow up the bridge, no need to wait for a cue. Hop out of the window and make your way back across the bridge and through the gate. Try and sprint across because there isn't a lot of cover. Once on the other side, try and take cover to the right side behind a truck. Thin out the group as best as you can and deal with the BTA. Price will tell you to get in that very truck and you'll begin your escape. Scorched Earth -------------- Just run ahead and you'll trigger a flashback which is when the mission takes place. Once you land, watch for enemies coming out of the door and coming from the left side of the door. Make your way inside and you don't have to kill the first guy in the hallway but when you get into the office, four enemies will walk down the ramp that is your waypoint. Take them out and head up to the next floor. Move through this room to the back left, clearing as you go. Go up the stairs. You'll come out on a rooftop and the only way forward is to vault over some sandbags. Hang back first and clear some enemies. Vault over and head to the NW corner. Go prone and swap weapons. Snipe the enemies on the far rooftop. After they are dead, the other squad will touch down on that roof and be attacked by a second wave of enemies. Support them from there. Once the roof is clear, they'll be attacked by a tank in the streets. Instead of just marking one spot with this, you actually need to mark two and she will hit everything in between. Watch for a moment and then rapel down to the streets. Make your way through a building and out the otherside. Head down a little ways and grab the RPG. Use that to destroy the tank. Wait for the German tank to come over the bridge and keep it to your left side. Watch to the right because you will be rushed by an enemy. Clear the enemies ahead and stick with the tanks. Move up to the lead tank. When you are back on your feet, follow Sandman for a little while until you get back outside and see the hotel. You will have to get through a small group first but they'll rush forward leaving you with an elevation advantage. Make your way into the building, kill the enemies there and make your way down the stairs. When you hit the bottom landing, watch for enemies attacking from the right. Get rid of them or just head strait across the room to the door on the far side. Head up the stairs and make your way down the hallway. Breach the door and after the explosion, kill the two enemies with your hand gun. Down the Rabbit Hole -------------------- Shoot the enemies at the end of the tunnel and then BOOM. Use your night vision and clear the room. Make sure you watch for elevated enemies. Go through the tunnel into the larger room beyond. Watch for enemies from the front and try to make your way over to the blue room on the left. This will leave you with a fantastic flanking position. From here, eliminate as many enemies as possible and then jump down through the window. Take cover behind the raised platform and work your way to the left side tunnel. Empty the tunnel and wait for the door to open. Enter the next room which is pretty slim pickings. Again, flank up the left side and kill the enemies in the vehicle bay. Wait for your allies to move up and then drop through the window behind them and make your way to the door on the left. Kill the man at the top of the stairs and go through the door. Once outside, clear the lower area and the hop the railing on the right to make your way downstairs. Move up to the next set of barriers and hunker down. Make liberal use of the Predator drone. It will respawn frequently so just keep using it to clear as many enemies as possible. Use the Predator to continue making forward progress and make your way to the west side. Once there, you will lose your predator drone. Clear enemies and move forward. Wait for the air support to knock down the front door. Run through and rescue the girl. Go out the far side of the cave and take out the enemies on the bridge below. Once clear, move to the bridge and repel down. At the bottom move forward and start shooting over the shoulders of the President. Be careful not to shoot him but try to thin the crowd coming at you. The doors will shut on you so take your time and be careful clearing this room. Head up the stairs and stand above the safe room. Plant the explosives and you will drop into the room below. There will be a few enemies to kill but be careful because one of them has the president in front of him so aim well. After you take them all out, head back up out of the room the way you came. You have to hold this position for 30 seconds and then you'll have to make a run for the far side. Use your Tac-grenades and make a run for it. Once you go down you'll need to hold off as many troops as you can but you won't take damage. Dust to Dust ------------ This first section is pretty simple. You are pretty tough and you've got a lot of ammo so just keep firing. Use your high calibur ammo to your advantage and blow up cars to kill enemies quickly. Make your way into the hotel, upstairs and to the back to make it to the elevator. This should take a minimal amount of effort. When you are attacked by the chopper, shoot it down. Just keep shooting and eventually it will go down and take your armor with it. Jump to the next elevator and then when you get off, you'll have to beat the clock to get to Makarov. Keep pushing through and go up the left flank. You'll have a cutscene when you've almost got him where you nearly fall to your death but save yourelf, climb back into the hotel and continue your chase. Make your way up the stairs, run and jump onto the helicopter. Melee both enemies here and then try and gain control of the chopper. When you get up, you'll have a series of quick time events. Do them and you'll finish the final chapter. Legal - x900x ------------- Copyright ExtremePhobia (Brandon Fusco) 2011, all rights reserved. Permission to host is granted to: GameFAQs Thanks - x910x -------------- These people provided additional information that I was lacking in my guide. Thanks for the help, it saved me a lot of time. Contact - x920x --------------- GuidesbyExtremePhobia gmail.com Feel free to contact me if you have anything constructive to add and please don't take offense if I don't use your submission. If you feel that I did a good job feel free to drop me a line or if you can afford a dollar or two for someone who helped end some frustration, donations are accepted and greatly appreciated at: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BT5BJTYTEVWN4


text:
Pittsburgh (AP) — The National Park Service has banned drones from flying over the Appalachian Trail.
The Park Service said Wednesday the interim rule prohibits launching, landing or operating unmanned aircraft from or on Appalachian National Scenic Trail lands.
The ban takes effect immediately and lasts until the Park Service can develop an appropriate policy. The Park Service says drones could affect resources and visitors in ways it has yet to analyze so more study is needed.
The Appalachian Trail goes through parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
In June the Park Service directed all parks to take steps to prohibit the use of the increasingly popular aircraft, which are often used to take photos and videos.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)


text:
HAVANA: Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor.
"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, said shortly after the National Assembly elected him to a second five-year tenure.In a surprise move, the new parliament also named Miguel Diaz-Canel as first vice president, meaning he would take over if Castro cannot serve his full term.Diaz-Canel is a member of the political bureau who rose through the Communist Party ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Castro.Raul Castro starts his second term immediately, leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.
Former President Fidel Castro joined the National Assembly meeting on Sunday, in a rare public appearance. Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother, the elder Castro, 86, has given up official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly.The new government will almost certainly be the last headed up by the Castro brothers and their generation of leaders who have ruled Cuba since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution.
Cubans and foreign governments were keenly watching whether any new, younger faces appeared among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents.Their hopes were partially fulfilled with Diaz-Canel's ascension. He replaces former first vice president, Jose Machado Ventura, 82, who will continue as one of five vice presidents.Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, 80, and Gladys Bejerano, 66, the comptroller general, were also re-elected as vice presidents.
Two other newcomers, Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, first secretary of the Havana communist party, and Salvador Valdes Mesa, 64, head of the official labor federation, also earned vice presidential slots.Esteban Lazo, a 68-year-old former vice president and member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, left his post upon being named president of the National Assembly on Sunday. He replaced Ricardo Alarcon, who served in the job for 20 years.Six of the Council's top seven members sit on the party's political bureau which is also lead by Castro.
Castro's announcement came as little surprise to Cuban exiles in Miami."It's no big news. It would have been big news if he resigned today and called for democratic elections," said Alfredo Duran, a Cuban-American lawyer and moderate exile leader in Miami who supports lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. "I wasn't worried about him being around after 2018," he added.The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the 31-member Council of State, which also functions as the executive through the Council of Ministers it appoints.
Eighty percent of the 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote February 3, were born after the revolution.Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly said senior leaders should hold office for no more than two five-year terms."Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice," Castro said at a Communist Party Congress in 2011."Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements … It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century."
Speaking on Sunday, Castro hailed the composition of the new Council of State as an example of what he had said needed to be accomplished."Of the 31 members, 41.9 percent are women and 38.6 percent are black or of mixed race. The average age is 57 years and 61.3 percent were born after the triumph of the revolution," he said.The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan aimed at updating Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.
Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by a comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.Raul Castro has encouraged small businesses and cooperatives in retail services, farming, minor manufacturing and retail, and given more autonomy to state companies which still dominate the economy.The party plan also includes an opening to more foreign investment.At the same time, Cuba continues to face a U.S. administration bent on restoring democracy and capitalism to the island and questions about the future largess of oil rich Venezuela with strategic ally Hugo Chavez battling cancer. – YahooNews


text:
Hotels Macedonia
Hotels, depending on the wishes and needs of the guests, provide guests with service accommodation and food, entertainment and amenities. Hotels offer quality and diverse selection of accommodation. Large hotels, family hotels, all inclusive hotels, luxury hotels, heritage hotels, romantic hotels, wellness hotels, last minute hotels. Hotel offer in Macedonia allows every guest accommodation for a comfortable and carefree vacation. Thinking of a relaxing vacation with your family, partner or active holiday with friends? No matter where you decide to spend your vacation, if you are thinking about summer and winter holidays or on a short weekend vacation. Looking for a hotel right on the beach with beautiful sea views, the hotel with the ski resort or looking for hotel accommodation for a relaxing vacation on a secluded pristine nature .. Choose a destination Macedonia and hotel according to your taste. If you are looking for a luxury hotel, we offer hotel accommodation that will make your stay unforgettable. Luxury hotel combines comfort of a hotel with an individual approach to each guest. Rooms and suites are fully equipped and tastefully decorated. Accommodation in a luxury hotel allows you to enjoy the luxury, wellness facilities for real pleasure. If you are looking for budget hotel or a last minute offer for destination Macedonia hotels in our offer will meet your expectations and make your vacation enjoyable and interesting.
Macedonia, with its strategic position, is situated in SouthEastern Europe and the centar of the Balcan. 25.713 km2 and population of 2.015.000 inhabitants. Macedonia is divided up into regions which are Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia, West Macedonia. The capital city is Skopje. Lots of forests, lakes and agricultural fields. Longest river is Vardar, with 388 km. long, where as 301 km. are in Macedonia. Lakes are also national beauty of the country. In summer, Ohrid lake, Prespa lake and Dojran lake atract a huge number of visitors. Not only in summer, but this little country will make your winter stay a wonderful experience. Pelister, Sar Planina, Mavrovo and Bistra will be places You should be looking for in winter. Highly ranked hotels, ski tracks and more, would be a real chalenge for every ski enthusiast.
Macedonia is a treasury of cultural wealth. The Slavonic alphabet was born in Macedonia, where the Macedonian educators Cyril and Methody, and Clement and Naum played an important part in the spread of Christianity. Macedonian builders and mosaic masters shone like a bright star in the dark period of European culture prior to the Renaissance.


text:
3002611#SHB#FS001_AS#Off White_One Size
Tropical Leaves with Flamingoes Addname is made with 100% canvas cotton, and can be personalised with a name. Each Shopping Bag measures 47cm x 38cm layflat, and can be expanded to store wider items. Super versatile for use all year round!
*Our Bags are made of Canvas and are Off-White and close to Beige in Colour, not white.
**Sizes of items listed in descriptions are approximate and are measured as the overall width laying down flat, please allow 1-3CM differences.
Due to variation in color settings and qualities of phone/tablet/computer screens, it is unavoidable that colors will appear differently for everyone. The colors in photos and named descriptors are subjective, approximate, and may vary


text:
Cops, medics, soldiers, chefs, forest rangers…let's face it…who doesn't appreciate women in uniforms? Whether it's a nurse in Vietnam, a lesbian about to deploy to Iraq, a horny football player, a cop who likes bondage, a medic who needs pampering, or a security guard who finds out she's not past her shelf date, these stories of erotica and romance will rev you up, touch your heart, and make you feel.
You' ll be delighted by great stories from some of today's top writers: Catherine Lundoff, J.M. Redmann, Lee Lynch, AnaIza Otis, Lori L. Lake, Chris Paynter, Sammo, M.J. Williamz, Ms. M, Diane S. Bauden, Karen D. Badger, V.W. Massie, Victoria Oldham, Bliss, R.G. Emanuelle, Andi Marquette, Jessie Chandler, Pat Cronin, and Lee Coats.


text:
🛒🛒🛒 You are Purchasing DIGITAL FILES 🛒🛒🛒
⚠⚠You will not receive any physical products.⚠⚠
=== ZIP File with ===
✔ SVG File
✔ EPS File - Vector file (Scalable)
✔ AI File - Vector file (Scalable)
✔ High Resolution PNG File - Transparent
✔ High Resolution JPG File -13x16 Inches, 300 DPI file
✔✔✔ Accepts Payments though Paypal. 100% Secured.
✔ These downloads are for Personal project use.
✔ These downloads are for Small Business Commercial Use but limited up to 100 Prints only.
✔ For FULL Extended Commercial License, Purchase it here:
❌ ❌ ❌ Strictly no Refunds on all Digital Art Products
❌ ❌ ❌ Strictly Do not Resell, Share on any sites.
You can Slightly alter and add Text you wanted.
Thank you for Shopping.


text:
America's Disappeared
Torture, prolonged detention without trial, sexual humiliation, rape, disappearance, extortion, looting, random murder and abuse have become, as in Argentina during the Dirty War, part of our own subterranean world of detention sites and torture centers.Torture, disappearance and murder have become, as in Argentina during the Dirty War, part of our own subterranean world of detention sites.Dr. Silvia Quintela was "disappeared" by the death squads in Argentina in 1977 when she was four months pregnant with her first child. She reportedly was kept alive at a military base until she gave birth to her son and then, like other victims of the military junta, most probably was drugged, stripped naked, chained to other unconscious victims and piled onto a cargo plane that was part of the "death flights" that disposed of the estimated 20,000 disappeared. The military planes with their inert human cargo would fly over the Atlantic at night and the chained bodies would be pushed out the door into the ocean. Quintela, who had worked as a doctor in the city's slums, was 28 when she was murdered.
A military doctor, Maj. Norberto Atilio Bianco, who was extradited Friday from Paraguay to Argentina for baby trafficking, is alleged to have seized Quintela's infant son along with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other babies. The children were handed to military families for adoption. Bianco, who was the head of the clandestine maternity unit that functioned during the Dirty War in the military hospital of Campo de Mayo, was reported by eyewitnesses to have personally carried the babies out of the military hospital. He also kept one of the infants. Argentina on Thursday convicted retired Gen. Hector Gamen and former Col. Hugo Pascarelli of committing crimes against humanity at the "El Vesubio" prison, where 2,500 people were tortured in 1976-1978. They were sentenced to life in prison. Since revoking an amnesty law in 2005 designed to protect the military, Argentina has prosecuted 807 for crimes against humanity, although only 212 people have been sentenced. It has been, for those of us who lived in Argentina during the military dictatorship, a painfully slow march toward justice.
Most of the disappeared in Argentina were not armed radicals but labor leaders, community organizers, leftist intellectuals, student activists and those who happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Few had any connection with armed campaigns of resistance. Indeed, by the time of the 1976 Argentine coup, the armed guerrilla groups, such as the Montoneros, had largely been wiped out. These radical groups, like al-Qaida in its campaign against the United States, never posed an existential threat to the regime, but the national drive against terror in both Argentina and the United States became an excuse to subvert the legal system, instill fear and passivity in the populace, and form a vast underground prison system populated with torturers and interrogators, as well as government officials and lawyers who operated beyond the rule of law. Torture, prolonged detention without trial, sexual humiliation, rape, disappearance, extortion, looting, random murder and abuse have become, as in Argentina during the Dirty War, part of our own subterranean world of detention sites and torture centers.
We Americans have rewritten our laws, as the Argentines did, to make criminal behavior legal. John Rizzo, the former acting general counsel for the CIA, approved drone attacks that have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians in Pakistan, although we are not at war with Pakistan. Rizzo has admitted that he signed off on so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. He told Newsweek that the CIA operated "a hit list." He asked in the interview: "How many law professors have signed off on a death warrant?" Rizzo, in moral terms, is no different from the deported Argentine doctor Bianco, and this is why lawyers in Britain and Pakistan are calling for his extradition to Pakistan to face charges of murder. Let us hope they succeed.
We know of at least 100 detainees who died during interrogations at our "black sites," many of them succumbing to the blows and mistreatment of our interrogators. There are probably many, many more whose fate has never been made public. Tens of thousands of Muslim men have passed through our clandestine detention centers without due process. "We tortured people unmercifully," admitted retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey. "We probably murdered dozens of them …, both the armed forces and the C.I.A."
The bodies of many of these victims have never been returned to their families. They disappeared. Anonymous death is the cruelest form of death. There is no closure for the living. There is no way for survivors to fix the end of a life with a time, a ritual and a place. The atrocity is compounded by the atrocity committed against memory. This sacrilege gnaws at survivors. Regimes use clandestine torture centers, murder and anonymous death to keep subject populations off balance, agitated and disturbed. It fuels the collective insanity. The ability of the state to "disappear" people into black sites, hold them for years without charges and carry out torture ensures that soon these techniques will become a routine part of domestic control.
Tens of thousands of Americans are being held in super-maximum-security prisons where they are deprived of contact and psychologically destroyed. Undocumented workers are rounded up and vanish from their families for weeks or months. Militarized police units break down the doors of some 40,000 Americans a year and haul them away in the dead of night as if they were enemy combatants. Habeas corpus no longer exists. American citizens can "legally" be assassinated. Illegal abductions, known euphemistically as "extraordinary rendition," are a staple of the war on terror. Secret evidence makes it impossible for the accused and their lawyers to see the charges against them. All this was experienced by the Argentines. Domestic violence, whether in the form of social unrest, riots or another catastrophic terrorist attack on American soil, would, I fear, see the brutal tools of empire cemented into place in the homeland. At that point we would embark on our own version of the Dirty War.Marguerite Feitlowitz writes in "The Lexicon of Terror" of the experiences of one Argentine prisoner, a physicist named Mario Villani. The collapse of the moral universe of the torturers is displayed when, between torture sessions, the guards take Villani and a few pregnant women prisoners to an amusement park. They make them ride the kiddie train and then take them to a cafe for a beer. A guard, whose nom de guerre is Blood, brings his 6- or 7-year-old daughter into the detention facility to meet Villani and other prisoners. A few years later, Villani runs into one of his principal torturers, a sadist known in the camps as Julian the Turk. Julian recommends that Villani go see another of his former prisoners to ask for a job. The way torture became routine, part of daily work, numbed the torturers to their own crimes. They saw it as a job. Years later they expected their victims to view it with the same twisted logic.
Related interview from Truthdig Radio: |
Human Rights Watch, in a new report, "Getting Away With Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees," declared there is "overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration." President Barack Obama, the report went on, is obliged "to order a criminal investigation into allegations of detainee abuse authorized by former President George W. Bush and other senior officials."
But Obama has no intention of restoring the rule of law. He not only refuses to prosecute flagrant war crimes, but has immunized those who orchestrated, led and carried out the torture. At the same time he has dramatically increased war crimes, including drone strikes in Pakistan. He continues to preside over hundreds of the offshore penal colonies, where abuse and torture remain common. He is complicit with the killers and the torturers.
The only way the rule of law will be restored, if it is restored, is piece by piece, extradition by extradition, trial by trial. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA Director George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice and John Ashcroft will, if we return to the rule of law, face trial. The lawyers who made legal what under international and domestic law is illegal, including not only Rizzo but Alberto Gonzales, Jay Bybee, David Addington, William J. Haynes and John Yoo, will, if we are to dig our way out of this morass, be disbarred and prosecuted. Our senior military leaders, including Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw death squads in Iraq and widespread torture in clandestine prisons, will be lined up in a courtroom, as were the generals in Argentina, and made to answer for these crimes. This is the only route back. If it happens it will happen because a few courageous souls such as the attorney and president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Michael Ratner, are trying to make it happen. It will take time — a lot of time; the crimes committed by Bianco and the two former officers sent to prison this month are nearly four decades old. If it does not happen, then we will continue to descend into a terrifying, dystopian police state where our guards will, on a whim, haul us out of our cells to an amusement park and make us ride, numb and bewildered, on the kiddie train, before the next round of torture.
Chris Hedges is a weekly Truthdig columnist and a fellow at The Nation Institute. His newest book is "The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress."
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.


text:
Below is a Repost of a previous article, that is appropriate to this time of year.
Since medical school, I've gone through an additional 6 years of training, read countless volumes of medical literature, and had the fortune of having some great teachers. Through it all, experience has been the greatest teacher, which I suppose is what training is about. I've watched with interest as advice has been hashed out on the web around this time of year to new trainees on all matter of subjects. And much of it is good and useful, to be sure.
Being the helpful person that I am, I naturally want to do my part. What, I thought, could I contribute to this discussion that hasn't been said already?
To that end I've come up with my own list of of trivial and only slightly helpful tidbits of information, based on my own experiences over the last 11 years post graduation. Here I give you my top 5 list of things that no one ever told me in medical training. . .but should have. Enjoy.
1. Before conducting a family meeting, go the restroom. Scan your face for things that might appear distracting or unseemly, like nasal boogies or lettuce stuck in your teeth, and quickly remove them. If you are one of the few convertible drivers with hair, pay special attention to this area; the "mad scientist" look is generally not one which inspires confidence in these situations.
2. Using hospital Jello-O and graham crackers as the base of your food pyramid makes for a reasonably strong pyramid. At least as strong as any other pyramid that has a soft mushy substance at its base.
3. Sometimes an appropriately discharged patient will refuse to leave the hospital. Follow your hospital's policy in these situations. If it is your hospital's policy to call security, then do so. However it would be wise to have your patient fill out the house officer rating/feedback form before doing so.
4. If your attending physician gives you an answer that seems wishy-washy, it's because they don't know the answer. They still know a heck of a lot more than you, though.
5. When entering a room to declare death on a patient, whose family is in the room, make sure your pager is on vibrate. Particularly remember to silence any cutesy ring tones (such as Cee Lo Green or the Benny Hill theme) that might bring unwanted awkwardness to an otherwise somber moment.
Thank you and Good Luck!
Related Posts: Be Nice to Nurses. . . Of Else!; Where Medical Report Go to Die; Top 5 OTC Meds that would require a prescription if released today;


text:
The music industry as we know it has been struggling through some big changes over the past couple of years. When hip hop stars are wearing fake diamonds and selling cars or houses to fund the lavish lifestyle to which they have become accustomed, you know there's something wrong.
One of the many attempts to figure out what's going wrong in music – and how it could be put right – is a group of musicians assembled by Miller Genuine Draft (yes the beer) and called the Global Fresh Collective. We headed over to New York to see what they were coming up with.
Matt Mason brings an unusual range of perspectives to the argument, as a former pirate DJ, former editor of RWD magazine, the author of The Pirate's Dilemma and a successful entrepreneur. He said that youth culture and technology are transforming underground scenes into global industries and movements. From youth culture out on the edges of the mainstream, he said, come the ideas that ultimately change the mainstream itself – whether it's pirate radio, hacking, open-source culture, file-sharing or remixing.
Does that mean that a business model based on free music really can be made to work, for the industry as well as the consumer? "There are pirates out there who need to be pursued by the law who are stealing from us," Mason said. "But there are also exceptional thieves, people who are adding value to what companies do and in these circumstances we need to figure out how we work with them. To compete or not to compete, that is the pirate's dilemma."
Piracy may be more of a problem for the bigger labels with bigger stars, whose work leaks straight onto file-sharing sites, but Marcin Czubala, a GFC member from Poland, said that making money from record sales is now a thing of the past for smaller labels too. He speaks from experience: Czubala founded Poland's first techno label, called Currently Processing, in 1999.
"It's true, as Marcin said, that you have to have a different approach from major labels," Pedro Winter, curator of the GFC agreed. "This is why Daft Punk and I quit major companies and started doing it for ourselves." He blamed over-pricing by the industry as one of the reasons for its current difficulties. "It was completely crazy," he said. "A CD cost $1 (to produce) so how come they managed to sell it to us for $20 and make that much money?"
That business model was too attractive to be given up without a fight. "In 1999 if the major record labels and governments tried to figure out a way to work with Napster," Mason said, "we would be having a very different conversation about digital music today." It was this failure to tackle the problem when it came up that led to the social norm of people expecting to be able to get their music for nothing.
Most participants agreed that there was little hope of putting the genie back into the bottle, and that charging for music would be difficult or impossible for the foreseeable future. Despite participants trying to sound excited about the potential shown by new methods of distribution, some evidentlyhad their doubts.
"One of the things I wonder is whether it's good that the whole free model makes a lot people listen to more of your music," said Tablo, the South Korean GFC representative (and a member of the South Korean hip hop band, Epik High). "I'm wondering if it devalues it, it becomes disposable, because you can get it so easily."
Whether or not recorded music has been culturally devalued, it has certainly lost much its commercial value. Andrey Saveliev, chief editor of SOBAKA magazine, said that piracy was so rampant in Russia that many young artists had given up hope of making a living through CDs or downloads. "They don't want to earn money by means of music sales but to be very popular on the internet, to build credibility to play more live concerts or DJ sets," he said.
That lesson may still be a difficult one to swallow: despite its focus on "free", the conference noted that if 300 million people worldwide were paying $5 a month to consume as much music as they wanted, then the music industry would be twice the size that it is now. That sounds a lot like the kind of wishful thinking that has been holding back record labels for years. Unless someone can come up with a way of charging people for something they've got used to getting free, we're going to have to get used to the sight of Lil' Wayne in a second-hand Ford Fiesta.
A version of this appeared over at Wired.co.uk: HERE


text:
These days, so many people are interested in Poker that they has now went online digital. It seems these times irrespective of you click you'll see some involving banner or popup with fancy Casino chips prodding in order to click their ad to start to gamble website. If I had to find the game I viewed as most popular, it would have been Casino Texas holdem poker. This game has become so mainstream several bloggers complain about receiving excess spam about Casino Poker.
When it comes down to playing with an online casino that pays well, you have to in more basically the perks. You must look at how big the pots are and exactly much the buy-ins are for programs. Also check the payouts for the different types of games discover which casino is meets your needs.
The second reason many gamble created for fun. All of us like to think about a moderate amount dollars we is able to afford to lose and possess a fun night at the casino. Unusual is, because we go during the line of moderation will any of us increase our pleasure. The correct answer is you never can get the maximum pleasure without using of control gambling because even if you win, solar energy are doing is what i call "selling our pleasure back words". When you win you get extreme pleasure because you beat the machine. However when you lose it all a week later, as well as some money you possessed to buy necessities, you crash and include extreme pain with there is little doubt you have reached.
Interesting don't you think? The poor winning chance game is what the free bonus financial resources are designed as for. We also hear about the jackpot slots competitors. But, but, but; these are because progressive jackpot slots computer games. The slippery little sucker of a free 100%, 200%, 400% first deposit match bonus which are offered is, you guessed it, a no decide on progressive jackpot slots card games.
Craps gambling offers the option to bet for or bet against the shooter rolling a specific number or outcome; however, you likewise the method to bet for and versus the shooter all together. How's that for indecision? Here's the tip – just because you have selecting to make a specific bet or bets, don't ever make a bet even though a table employee suggests the think. Remember tip number 4.
This problem(s) can truly become all encompassing and can affect your own in ways. If 파라오카지노쿠폰 do not stop gambling not have considered this associated with problem a tremendous can become pretty dire pretty instant.
Nohoilpi – The gambling god in the Navajo. Sometimes known as "He Who Wins Men". He can be a renegade son of the sun god Tsohanoai. He dropped to Earth and taught his gambling games into the various tribes but soon abused his power by overcoming them at all his games of chance and collecting his winnings by enslaving people build up a city to mark his fame. He was defeated at gambling by a Navajo man send through the other gods and was thrown into the sky.