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In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty at the hands of a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey,...
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In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty at the hands of a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
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At the center of 12 Years a Slave is Solomon Northrup, whose story will likely be sold to you - by those boasting of this movie's power - as the pinnacle of human tragedy. A free black man living in New York during the first half of the 19th century, Northrup is kidnapped, taken from his wife and children, transported below the Mason-Dixon line, and sold into slavery. Where he remains for the following 12 years. Intelligent, compassionate, sophisticated, and ostensibly closer in upbringing and psychology to any of us watching the feature than the lifelong slaves we'll meet along the way, we're suggested to identify immediately with Chiwetel Ejiofor's lead character, to assign our heightened sympathies to his new sweep of tragedy, to feel that what happened to Solomon is beyond the traditional horrors of this dark period of American history. But Solomon's familiarity doesn't serve to separate him from the rest of the men and women robbed of their lives and humanity in 12 Years a Slave, but instead to escort us right into the midst of this universal nightmare. It places us among the enslaved souls - it's not just in body that they are prisoners - more effectively than any other film that has attempted to emanate these themes.
Spanning Solomon's decade of enslavement with domineering patience, the movie is able to make everything in this corrosive old world so vivid. Hurdling between hope and hopelessness, survivalism and principle, Solomon (called Pratt by his slaveowners and fellow workers) struggles to figure out how to make it not only through but past his plantation days and return to his family. It is a mission that never quite reaches impossibility to him as the time crawls on, as he is dealt the sort of tragedies the man he once was - a violinist, community fixture, and father of two - seemed happy to refrain from imagining, while men and women miles to the south of him were living within them.
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This will that we never see quite fade from Solomon's eyes comes from his having something very real to hope for, to live for. It is, more than the characteristics with which we can comfortably identify, what makes him 12 Years a Slave's hero. But as piercingly sad as Solomon's story is, his is not the most tragic. Through Solomon - who is not only an effectual confidant to us but to many other characters in the film as well, slaves and slaveowners alike - we are invited into a world entirely barren of his sort of drive: the heart of fellow slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o), a dutiful young woman and the target of her master's (Michael Fassbender) unrelenting lust. In Solomon's story, we cry over the idea of him never returning home to his family. Of him incurring tortures so malignant as to eviscerate the very man he was at the beginning of our time with him. In the story of Patsey, with whom we spend quite a good deal of time once she is introduced upon Solomon's transport to Edwin Epps' (Fassbender) plantation, we cry because there is hardly any spirit left to destroy. And trust me, the crying is inevitable.
In a film filled with scenes of physical torment so mortifying that they'll promise to rob you of breath and a settled stomach, it is a testament to director Steve McQueen and his cast that the elements that truly stay with you are the internal horrors. Young Patsey's destitute heart. Even the pangs of Epps, starved for any semblance of self-worth as he claws at the souls of himself and every living being around him. There's nary a corner of this film that is not drenched in the bottomless sorrow intrinsic of the era. The very fabric of 12 Years a Slave is hopelessness.
And at the center of that is Solomon - the river of hope coursing through this broken terrain. Although we'll face his narrative with reflexive gasps, it is his story to which we align because we can see hope in it. Something to fight for, something to live for. It is because of Solomon, because of Ejiofor's ma
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The battle in Syria is being fought by rebel fighters who lack many of the basics typically associated with warfare: helmets, a large supply of ammo, and military planning.
"I was with one fighter who had 11 bullets, and he was, like, roaming as a freelance fighter along the front line trying to pick up a fight somewhere," journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad tells Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies.
Abdul-Ahad describes the situation in Syria as fluid and complicated. A correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian, Abdul-Ahad reported for the PBS Frontline documentary The Battle for Syria, which airs Tuesday.
"There is chaos, there is no military planning, there is no organization," he says. "Most of the skirmishes happen like a game of cat and mouse: The tank is the cat. When the tank moves down street, the rebels disperse, run away, try to ambush the tank, they go from a corner to a corner. Meantime, there is shelling [and] mortars raining on them."
Abdul-Ahad has covered conflicts in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq for the past nine years — and he says he hasn't seen such disorder and violence since reporting on Fallujah during the Iraq War in 2004.
"In other conflicts, you meet people and then you hear they died after a few weeks, months, years," he says. "In Syria, you meet someone in the morning and they die at the end of the day. As one of the officers was saying: 'The only thing we have plenty of to spend is men.' "
The Battle for Syria is an up-close look at insurgents fighting government forces in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.
Abdul-Ahad says most of the fighters he has met — some of whom are jihadis, secularists or Salafists — are "just driven by the spirit of the Arab Spring, the spirit of the revolution ... fighting to topple [Bashar] Assad because they wanted a form of dignity. They were tired of being ruled like sheep, enslaved by one family, one ruling party."
Ghaith says he sees the recent protests and violence in Egypt and Libya as manufactured events by Salafists [ultra-conservative Muslims] looking to drive religion into daily political life.
He says if the film that insulted the Prophet Muhammad were the motivation behind the demonstrations, there would have been millions of Muslims in the streets of Cairo and Libya, not just hundreds or thousands.
"There are so many grievances against the West, but [they're] not necessarily the reason for these demonstrations. We are not entering a new era of anti-American feelings," he says.
Interview Highlights
On Syrian rebels posing as Salafists, followers of an ultra-conservative sect of Islam
"They are very, very restrictive in the way they interpret Islam. They have a very specific ideology ... You see them as probably 30-40 percent of all the fighting that happens in Syria. ...
"Why? Because most of the support is coming again from the Gulf countries, from Saudi, from Qatar, who really espouse these ideologies. And again, they [Syrian rebels] really have to take money from these countries because no one else is giving them money. I've met Syrian rebels who grow beards, who espouse this very conservative radical rhetoric when they speak. In reality, they drink, they take drugs, they have nothing to do with Islam, but they have to adopt this ideology to get money and support."
On the crowds demonstrating sadness over Ambassador Stevens' death
"[There are] far more people in Libya, in Tunis, in Cairo — especially in Libya — who support what the ambassador was doing in Libya than the people storming the embassy or killing the poor guy.
"But the reality is, those guys, these Salafists, most of these demonstrations were led by the Salafists — and the Salafists were totally outfitted by this Arab Spring. They were posing as the opposition to these oppressive regimes, they were saying for a long time — they and other Islamists — they were saying that Islam is the solution, that Islam provides the path for the revolution. And then, suddenly, you see those masses pouring into these streets calling for democracy. They didn't call for Islam ... the revolution was never about having an Islamic state."
On the American approach to Syria
"I think [the U.S. is] taking the worst approach at the moment. They are not openly supporting the rebels, while they are, from under the table, coordinating with the rebels, letting their allies send them a trickle of weapons — the weapons are neither enough for the rebels to win nor for them to be defeated.
"So you have this prolonged conflict and mainly because of — not only the West, but the whole international community — paralysis of the Syrian situation. For months, the activists, the people were demonstrating in the streets, but no one wanted to touch the Syrian uprising because they feared it might change the balances in the Middle East. ...
"So I think a big opportunity was missed when the activists were not supported, with the paralysis of the international community, allowing Russia, China and Iran to play a huge, big role in this conflict, allowing the Saudis and Qataris to sponsor militias and send weapons. So [the U.S. is] neither supporting the rebels, nor ... stopping this conflict."
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who has the day off. Our guest, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, is an Iraqi-born journalist who spent the last nine years reporting on some of the most dangerous conflicts in the Middle East. He began in journalism as a translator working with reporters from the British publication The Guardian, who were covering the war in Iraq. He soon did his own reporting on the sectarian war there and has since spent time with the Taliban in Afghanistan, with al-Qaida in Yemen, with resistance fighters in Libya and, most recently, with rebels fighting the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
His stories paint intimate portraits of those engaged in conflict, and he sometimes paid a price for getting so close to the action. He was captured by the Gadhafi regime in Libya and kidnapped by militants in Afghanistan. Abdul-Ahad is now a correspondent for The Guardian, and his reporting is featured in a new "Frontline" documentary called "The Battle for Syria." The film gives an up-close look at insurgents fighting government forces in the city of Aleppo. It premieres on PBS stations tonight.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad spoke to me yesterday from Istanbul. Well, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, welcome to FRESH AIR. Was it difficult to get to the front line in Syria?
GHAITH ABDUL-AHAD: No, no, getting to the front line is very easy, unlike any other conflict. Syria, you know, you just cross the border from Turkey, you take a car, you have to wait in different outposts for the rebels until you reach the front lines. So logistically, it's very easy: You just meet the rebels and you drive with them.
Having said that, it is a very, very tough front line, you know, one of the toughest I've seen. I've been covering wars for the last 10 years. I haven't seen anything like this since Fallujah, probably, and that up to 2004.
DAVIES: In what way? What makes this particularly striking?
ABDUL-AHAD: There is no front line in the sense of a front line that is a line defending - people defending the line, people attacking, people coming back. It's a very, very fluid situation. People are fighting over, you know, streets, alleyways. They move from one building to the other. So the whole concept of front line is misleading in a way.
You wake up in the street one morning, and the rebels would advance a couple of streets. Then end of the day, they would lose these two - it's very, very fluid situation. And of course you have the snipers, you have the shelling, you have the planes. It's very, very complicated and difficult.
DAVIES: And we should explain the context here. You were, for this front line, in the city of Aleppo, which is a large city in northwestern Syria, right, relatively close to the Turkish border, right?
ABDUL-AHAD: It's in the northern part of Syria. It's close to the Turkish border. It's not the biggest city, and I think it's second after Damascus. It's the commercial hub of Syria. It's an ancient city, so you have - you know, the fighting was taking place in the new suburbs of Aleppo. But the heart of Aleppo is this ancient city there that's been there for thousands of years.
DAVIES: Right. So this was house-to-house, street-to-street fighting or I guess building-to-building because a lot of these were large apartment buildings that we see in the documentary. Did the rebels immediately trust you? Do they welcome journalists?
ABDUL-AHAD: Yes, the rebels on this stage in the fight, and I have to stress in this stage of the fight, where they really welcomed journalists, and they really want to, you know, show what's happening, so they would take you in. They would let you accompany them. And I think they would let you accompany them in a very dangerous way.
So unlike other, you know, front lines when, you know, the commander will tell you no, no, you can't go to the front line, and your job as a journalist is to keep pushing to go to the front line, in Syria, you want to go to the front line, here you go. You walk down that street.
So there is nothing holding you back from actually falling into the hands of, you know, the regime or someone else, and that's also another challenge, I think, in this - not only in Syria but in this, you know, Arab Spring conflicts; Libya, Syria. There are no restraints to where you can go and what you can do.
DAVIES: Now, the rebels that we see in your documentary, none of them have helmets. It seems to me few, if any, have ballistics vests. They have mostly hand-carried weapons. Do you want to just describe maybe one of the firefights, one of the encounters in the city of Aleppo with the government forces?
ABDUL-AHAD: Dave, not only they don't have helmets and flak jackets, they don't even have enough ammunition. I was with one fighter who had 11 bullets, and he was, like, roaming as a freelance fighter along the front line trying to pick up a fight with someone. So they're very, very unequipped.
There's one skirmish when the rebels hear about an army unit moving down the road, and they want to go and attack them. They go in the middle of the street, which is very, very courageous, on the back of a pickup truck, firing machine-gun fire. And there is chaos. There is no military planning. There is no organization.
Most of the skirmishes happen like a game of cat and mouse. The tank is the cat. When the tank moves down the street, the rebels disperse, run away, try to ambush the tank. Meantime, there is shelling, mortars raining on them, the buildings themselves kind of being attacked by the tank, and then they fire an RPG. Sometimes they go into the middle of the street, the RPG launcher wouldn't work. Sometimes they get killed.
In other conflicts, you meet people, and then you hear they died after a few weeks, months, years. In Syria, you meet someone in the morning, and they die in the end of the day. It was this - you know, as one of the officers was saying, the only thing we have plenty of to spend is men.
DAVIES: And you said that some of the rebels have less experience, military experience, than the journalists. Did you ever find yourself wanting to say, hey, wait a minute, you don't want to be out there, or take the other side of the street or something like that?
ABDUL-AHAD: You know, of course you're a journalist, you're there to monitor. It's not my job to intervene in a military conflict. But, yes, I mean, you hear kind of like mortars falling down, and you have to pull the people around you and say, you know, maybe we should go under a building or hide somewhere.
At one point, it was very, very - you know, I don't want to use the word pathetic, but it's really pathetic. You stand in the street, and there's this, you know, jet fighter kind of circling overhead. And they go and hide under a tree. You know, it's really sad, I mean, as if the tree would stop, you know, the shelling or the shrapnel. It's just this sense of fear that, you know, robs everyone, and you just want to hide. You just want to shrink.
So even the tree, which will absolutely do nothing, it's - for them it's a form of cover. As I said, because most of them are civilians, farmers, they're very, very courageous. They go into the middle of the street to fight. But they have no vision of what happens after they take that street. There is no military planning. There are no commanders.
Even in this front line, where I spent most of the time, 150 fighters probably belong to a dozen units. There is no overarching commander or plan for this front line.
DAVIES: The fighters that you did meet and talk to, what motivated them?
ABDUL-AHAD: Some of them were Salafists, some of the jihadis, some secular. Most of them were just driven by, you know, the spirit of the Arab Spring, the spirit of the revolution. They were revolutionaries fighting to topple Assad because they wanted a form of dignity. They were tired of being ruled like sheep, enslaved by one family, one ruling party.
We've heard so much about this kind of - you know, these kind of regimes in Iraq and Libya and other places, and Syria is a typical, you know, Mukhabarat state, a secret police state. So they are really fed up with that, and they're driving fighting to drive that regime out of - you know, they're fighting to - I don't know, a sense of liberation, to liberate themselves, democracy, if you want to call it.
Now within that frame of mind, you have all different kind of groups and movements. You have Islamists fighting for a form of Islamic state. You have seculars. But mainly it's fighting for - they call it a revolution of dignity.
DAVIES: You know, one of the things that you hear and read about the Syrian resistance is the presence of al-Qaida and other jihadists there. I'm sure it's hard to tell, given, you know, how dispersed the fighting is, but what's your sense of how strong a current the jihadi fighters represent in the Syrian resistance?
ABDUL-AHAD: The jihadis are a strong current, in a way, you know, stronger than what we saw in Libya, in a way totally different from Yemen, the revolution in Yemen. Yet, they are - they are one segment within different elements of the fight. Unlike in Iraq, where the jihadis, you know, owned the resistance when they became the umbrella - al-Qaida became the umbrella, and most other groups entered, you know, fought within that umbrella - in Syria they are a smaller group.
Everyone is armed. So the jihadis are not the strongest element in the street. Last week, there was a skirmish between a jihadi group and a, quote-unquote, "secular group," and the jihadi commander was killed. So they are not the strongest element, yet they are a very strong element in the battle. But again, you have to remember, the Syrians, at this moment they are desperate for support from anyone.
Again, we saw it in Iraq. We saw in Libya. We saw it in other places. They are so desperate that they are, you know, firing old ammunition smuggled from Iraq. They are buying weapons at exorbitant prices. So when a bunch of jihadis, foreigners, come with lots of cash, with weapons and with expertise, and they offer their help, they would be mad to say no.
They would - you know, take their support now, and we figure out in the future. Of course it's a very, very dangerous strategy, but that's what they have.
DAVIES: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian. We'll talk more after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, our guest is Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. He is a veteran correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian. He has reported widely on conflicts in the Middle East. He has recently been reporting from the conflict in Syria. His work is featured in a new "Frontline" documentary, which airs on PBS stations tonight.
You also reported from eastern Syria, far from Aleppo, and you reported on an al-Qaida group there. Was the situation similar there, where you saw the jihadi fighters being a small but significant part of the opposition?
ABDUL-AHAD: Yes, it was a very similar situation in eastern Syria. But in eastern Syria, you had - you saw less foreigners. Most of the foreigners were there who came from Saudi, though the shared border, or came from Iraq, or, you know, a few of them came from Yemen. One came from Afghanistan.
In Aleppo, it's different because - because it's closer to the border of Turkey, so it's very easy for the foreigners, the Chechnyans, the Turks, you know, even British, you know, crossing the border was a very easy, you know, just a hike across the hills.
But in eastern Syria, al-Qaida has existed there for a longer time. They've been there since the Iraq war. Some of the bases of al-Qaida in Iraq actually were in eastern Syria. Many of the young men in eastern Syria fought in Iraq. So, sort of al-Qaida in eastern Syria is more, has existed there for a longer time than northern Syria. Northern Syria is a newer phenomenon.
DAVIES: And when you were in eastern Syria, what was your sense of the popular support that the al-Qaida forces got?
ABDUL-AHAD: They have popular support in eastern Syria. Again, these are tribes very similar to the Iraqi tribes. They're very Sunni. They're very conservative. So it's easier for al-Qaida to exist in their midst. It's easier to spread the Salafi-jihadi ideology, and that's very, very dangerous, of course.
In northern Syria, the culture is different. The people are more tolerant, you know, multicultural, multiracial there. So al-Qaida is a distinctive group. Their Salafi ideology is very, very distinctive from the rest of the population. In eastern Syria, they are spreading, you know, faster, easier, and they have been there for a long time now.
DAVIES: And you've used the term Salafi several times. That's a traditional kind of fundamentalist kind of current of Islam?
ABDUL-AHAD: That's, you know, what we can call them, the ultra-conservative. You know, they are very, very restrictive in the way they interpret Islam. They have a very specific ideology. Of course not all the Salafis are jihadis, but all the jihadis are Salafis. And if we're talking about that issue now, then we have to look into the whole map of the resistance in Syria, and we see - we were talking about the foreigners and the jihadis, but if we talk about the Salafis in general, the ultra-conservative, you see them as a, you know, probably 30, 40 percent of all the fighting now happening in Syria is a sort of Islamic in some way or some sort.
Why? Because most of the support is coming, again, from the Gulf countries, from Saudi, from Qatar, who really espouse these ideologies. And again, they really have to take money from these countries because no one else is giving them money.
I've met Syrian rebels who grow beards, you espouse this very conservative, radical rhetoric when they speak. In reality, they drink, they take drugs, they have nothing to do with Islam. But they have to adopt this ideology to get money and support.
DAVIES: Wow, so they're in effect posing as religiously observant in order to promote the opposition?
ABDUL-AHAD: Dave, 90 percent of all the battalions in Syria have a very Sunni conservative name not because 90 percent of the fighters are ultra-conservative Islamists, although this is what the Syrian regime and others would like to portray it, but because the support is coming through specific channels, and one of these channels are the Saudis.
So you need to adopt a name. You can't go and fight and call your name like, I don't know, the secular fighters, and expect money to come from the Saudis. You have to adopt a very religious outlook, religious beards and ideology and names just to get the support that you need.
DAVIES: You mentioned that help is coming from Saudi Arabia and that some of the rebels in effect kind of market themselves to the - as the kind of groups they think that the Saudis would like to support. Is that money from the Saudi government, from private organizations or religious groups?
ABDUL-AHAD: Different sources of funding, you know, the Saudis are providing different sources of funding. So you see Syrian ex-pats working in Saudi Arabia, (unintelligible) Syrians. You see Syrian individuals, religious organizations, and I really suspect with, you know, a lot of Saudi government support.
I've met rebels who have met Saudi or Qatari officials. I don't see money coming out of Saudi without the Saudi government consent, especially after, you know, 9/11 and the whole issues of funding. And it's a very strange thing because I don't see the Saudi and the Qataris as this, you know, democracy-loving regimes. Yet they are playing a big role helping the rebels in Syria.
And that's a - you know, that's creating all this cynical look toward the Syrian revolution. Many people in the Middle East think of it as a Saudi proxy war against Iran. And that's a very, very sad thing for the rebels and for the revolution itself.
DAVIES: In the documentary, we see some of the unit commanders in Aleppo, where you were near the front lines, arguing with each other about how to proceed pretty intensely. I mean, do you see this ever getting more coordinated?
ABDUL-AHAD: There are attempts to coordinate these attacks. So you have the - you know, a couple of battalions, bigger battalions have been created in the past few months. Of course you have the Farouq in Homs. They have existed as a, you know, as a bigger battalion for more than a year now. There is the Towhid Brigade, which is a collective of smaller battalions, Islamic battalions.
You have bigger organization, but still you don't have one commander, for example, for Aleppo. You don't have one commander for one front line. And it's like - it's how do you call it - it's an exercise in democracy. Every single, you know, rebel operation is an exercise of - in democracy. You see guys arguing, no, we fire the RPG now, no we fire the bullets now. No, we go that street.
And sometimes these skirmishes, these attacks, unfold over, like, many, many hours because people arguing. You know, George Orwell, in his book "Homage to Catalonia," he was basically describing a very similar scene between all these international leftist volunteers when they fought in Spain in the 1930s.
You know, how do you move from becoming a revolutionary into becoming a disciplined fighter?
DAVIES: So you see a lot of passion, not much organization. Do you see this as a movement that could win?
ABDUL-AHAD: It's a - I mean, I am sure Syria will not go back to the way it was, you know, two years ago. Definitely, it will take a long time. I do see them winning because there is no way back for those people. They have left everything. They have decided to come and become fighters and fight in the streets of Aleppo.
The longer the fighting takes, the more people will be killed, the more fragmentation happens in the society. So it's a very, very, very difficult situation. I don't see them losing. I see them winning, probably, but in a very long time.
DAVIES: You know, I have to say one of the things that we in the West have heard a lot about what's going on in Syria is indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the government in response to protests and resistance. And it was interesting to me in watching your "Frontline" that here you see government army, infantry, engaging in this neighborhood-to-neighborhood, block-to-block fighting. Is it significant that the government is sending its forces in to contest the rebels in a city, rather than simply bombing from the air?
ABDUL-AHAD: Well, the government have been sending troops for the past - you know, almost for the past two years. And if they can do it by troops, they will do it by troops. They've been always sending tanks and troops and, you know, government-sponsored militias. But when we went in the countryside of Syria, of Aleppo, you see, you know, most of the towns and the villages have been, you know, quote-unquote, "liberated" by the rebels.
But the government still maintains specific bases in this middle of this liberated countryside. And every night, they start, you know, shelling the villages and towns around them, lobbing shells. I don't know if it happens out of their frustration or because they just want to, you know, antagonize the rebels, scare the population. But they do is systematically not only in Aleppo, everywhere in Syria.
In the neighborhoods of Syria, you know, I stood with rebels around a street corner. They had, you know, very, very little ammunition. There were government troops in the end of the street. They had tanks, and they had, you know, obviously lots of ammunition. But they are incapable of driving to the end of the street and retaking the street. I don't know why, because they don't have the same morale like the rebels, because they are scared of the rebels, because they are conscript soldiers, and they don't see why should they fight and get killed in the street.
But that's the situation. You see a bigger army, well-equipped, with lots of ammunition, incapable of taking - of re-taking neighborhoods in Aleppo or in different parts of Syria, from rebels who are less numbered and far less equipped.
DAVIES: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a correspondent for The Guardian. His reporting is featured in a new "Frontline" documentary called "The Battle for Syria," which premieres on PBS stations tonight. I'm Dave Davies, and this is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross, who has the day off. We're speaking with Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, an Iraqi-born journalist who spent the past nine years covering wars and conflict in the Middle East. He has reported on al-Qaida camps in Yemen, Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and rebels in Libya and Syria. He's featured in a new Frontline documentary called "The Battle for Syria," which premieres on PBS stations tonight.
We've seen a wave of anti-Western violence recently, of course in a number of countries in the Middle East and in Cairo and in Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. You wrote recently that this has little to do with the film which insulted the Prophet Muhammad. What's really going on here?
ABDUL-AHAD: Well, initially the kind of - the demonstration be it in Cairo, be it in Libya, these are manufactured events. You know, a bunch of clerics would like to drive religion in the daily political life. They would seize on an event. They will take the opportunity provided by this idiotic film and then they will create an event, and that event will provide them with power, with a reason to go into the street and, you know, lead the masses, so to speak. That's the initial kind of couple of days. Once that happened, you see all the, you know, grievances that people in this region have against the West coming up to the surface and people start demonstrating for everything - from poverty, unemployment, anger against regimes, into the West support Israel, the - you know, Obama's drone wars, the Iraqi war, Afghanistan, all these things collectively provide the, you know, the pretext, the reason for the anger you see in the streets.
Is it about the insulting of the prophet? I don't think so. Why you see only, you know, hundreds, thousands demonstrating in the streets? Why don't you see 100 million people, you know? There are millions of Muslims around the world, so there are so many reasons for people of this region to be angry at the West. And no, it's not enough for Obama to have this new relationship with the Arab world, it's not enough. The grievances go, you know, longer and deeper.
DAVIES: So are we in for an era of anti-American and anti-Western hostility?
ABDUL-AHAD: I don't think we ever ended the first era of anti-Western, you know, anti-colonialism, to enter the new era. It's there. It will always bubble to the surface.
DAVIES: You know, the days after the attacks that killed Ambassador Stevens, the New York Times reported that far, far larger crowds turned out to demonstrate sadness at his death and some support for the U.S. What do you make of that report?
ABDUL-AHAD: Well, of course it's true. You know, far more people in Libya, in Tunis, in Cairo who, you know, who actually support - especially in Libya, who support, you know, what the ambassador was doing in Libya, than the people who went, you know, storming the embassy or killing the poor guy. But the reality is those guys, those, you know, the Salafists were, you know, most of these demonstrations were led by the Salafists, and the Salafists were totally outfitted(ph) by this Arab Spring. They were, you know, posing as the opposition to these oppressive regimes. They were saying for a long time - they and other Islamists - they were saying that Islam is the solution, that Islam provides the path for the revolution. But the revolution was never about having an Islamic state. How - you know, those Salafists want to come back into the surface and they find in this film as an opportunity, be it in Libya, they find in the Jihadi movements in Syria now as an opportunity for them to come on the surface. So you have to see it within the, you know, the prism of that thing. It's not - again, there are so many grievances against the West, but not necessarily the reason for these demonstrations. We are not entering a new era of anti-, you know, American feelings, it has nothing to do with the American elections, it has nothing to do with the Obama administration. It has to do with the Salafists agitating and frustration in the streets of the Middle East pouring into the streets.
DAVIES: You know, a big question for American policymakers is whether it should be - intervene more directly in the conflict in Syria, I mean, you know, to supply weapons or create a no-fly zone. And, you know, there is this very touchy question. As you say, there are many grievances against the West in many Muslim countries and a lot of resentment at American troops being in mostly Muslim countries. And, of course, we saw this horrific bloody sectarian war that followed the U.S. invasion in Iraq. What's your read of what the American approach - what American approach might be most productive in Syria?
ABDUL-AHAD: I don't know what most productive would be for the Americans to do in Syria, but I think they are taking the worst approach at the moment. They are not, you know, openly supporting the rebels, while they are from under the table letting - coordinating with the rebels, letting their allies send them a trickle of weapons. The weapons are neither enough for the rebels to win, nor for them to be defeated. So you have this prolonged conflict and mainly because of not only the West, but the whole international community, paralysis over the Syrian situation.
For months the activists, the people who were demonstrating in streets, but no one wanted to touch the Syrian uprising because they feared it might change the balances in the Middle East. Then the Syrians decided to, you know, pick up arms and start fighting and move it into an insurgency and now suddenly you have an insurgency under your hand and you don't know what to do. And the next step we'll have a civil war and no one would know what to do. So I think a big opportunity was missed when the activists were not supported, with the paralysis of the international community, allowing Russia, China, Iran to play a huge, big role in this conflict, allowing the Saudis and Qataris to sponsor, you know, militias and send weapons. So you're neither supporting the rebels nor you're, you know, stopping this conflict. It's a worse situation you have at this moment. So to be honest, I don't know what's the perfect solution. I - all what I see on the ground now is a mess.
DAVIES: We're speaking with Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. He is a correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian.
We'll talk more after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, our guest is Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. He is a correspondent for the British newspaper the Guardian. He is Iraqi born and has reported widely on conflicts in the Middle East. His reporting on the conflict in Syria will be featured in a new Frontline documentary which airs on PBS stations tonight.
I'd like to hear little bit about your own experiences. As I understand it, you got into this business by initially translating for Western journalists in Iraq? Is that right?
ABDUL-AHAD: Yes, it was the day after Baghdad fell in 2003, and I, you know, claimed that I was a British journalist and walked through - I don't know, 10 American checkpoints into the palace - what's now the Green Zone. I really wanted to see the palace of Saddam; how did the live, who were those people who ruled us for so long? And then on the way out I hitched a ride with, you know, with a Western journalist, James Meek with the Guardian, and he's now one of my greatest friends - and I started working as his assistant translator, and I just realized I love this. I love to, you know, meet people and talk and then tell a story. I think, you know, that day I stopped being an architect and I think I started the process of being a journalist.
DAVIES: Tell us a little bit about your life before then. I mean how did you learn to speak English so fluently?
ABDUL-AHAD: I was an architect in Baghdad. I studied architecture. I finished school and I decided, you know, to dodge military service and not to join the army. And I spent, you know, many years in Baghdad just changing my apartment, moving from one place to the other, faking ID cards and stuff. And that's, you know, probably that experience helped me a lot later when I became a journalist. I learned English in 2001-2002. I was, you know, tired of reading history, and my history - and I'm sorry to say that, but most of our history books are driven either by ideology or by, you know, we rarely read honest Arab history books in Arabic. So I decided to learn English to read about my history in another language and things start moving from there.
DAVIES: Wow. You know, I'm sure your fluency in Arabic was an enormous edge in a lot of the reporting that you've done. But I also imagine that people detect regional accents and dialects. And I wonder if there are times when you're in, you know, Yemen, or Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or Libya, where people can hear that you're an Iraqi and whether that makes that difference.
ABDUL-AHAD: Sometimes you wish you are a foreigner, I tell you. Sometimes you wish you're American in certain conflicts. You know, in Syria, for example, it's not very good to be an Iraqi. The Iraqi government is taking a huge standing on the side of the government, they are supporting the government, so it's not very good to be Iraqi. The same thing in probably Yemen and other places. But then it's a thing you learn in Iraq. You learn how to switch your accent. For example, during the civil war in Iraq, you know, when you reported in western Baghdad, you have to speak with a Sunni dialect. When you crossed the lines and you go report in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, you have to switch your accent and you speak like a Shia. The same thing happens in all of all these, you know, situations with civil wars. I know Lebanese friends, Lebanese journalist who, you know, had to switch their accents the Lebanese civil war. Same thing happening now in Syria, for example. If you're Alawite, if you're a Sunni, how do you cross a checkpoint? I think it's a skill you learn very early in your life, how to pass a checkpoint. It's a very, very difficult and dangerous situation. And I saw it in front of me in Aleppo this time. I saw a man coming into the rebels thinking they were the government soldiers and start praising the government and denouncing the rebels. And he was, you know, taken and beaten up and tortured.
DAVIES: So you look at your career. I mean you've covered these horrific events in Iraq. I mean you were among the al-Qaida in Yemen. You were with the Taliban in Pakistan, was kidnapped. While you were covering the conflict in Libya, you were captured by the Gadhafi regime and held for, I think, about two weeks, right?
ABDUL-AHAD: Yes.
DAVIES: I have to ask, because - why do you continue to do this risky stuff? Do you think about maybe it's time to do something a little more conventional?
ABDUL-AHAD: Well, I would love to cover the wine industry in South of Spain, but I don't see that...
ABDUL-AHAD: ...making a very interesting story. You know, I mean there is something very interesting in these places, that those guys do have a very interesting story to tell. It's very - most of the time they're kind of put in a corner and then their story is told in a very conventional way - if we can say that. I'm very, very interested in who those guys are. Why do you become a fighter with al-Qaida in Yemen? Because there is some local politics going on in the background. It's not because you woke up one morning and you decided to become an al-Qaida fighter and go attack the United States. Why do you become a Taliban fighter? Why do you fight in the streets of Aleppo if, you know, if you really love food and you have kids and want to spend time with your family? There is something that drives those men to become fighters, and I want to tell that story, in a way. I don't know if I've succeeded in doing that, but this is what I aspire to.
DAVIES: Well, I think a lot of your writing is, in fact, quite personal and you really take us inside the homes and streets and minds of these folks that you meet. Have you become more cautious? Have you learned how to stay out of more dangerous situations?
ABDUL-AHAD: You know, when I first started covering Iraq or covering the war in Iraq, the sounds of bullets were just a backdrop to what you're doing in the streets. Now in Aleppo, in Syria, like every bang is associated with a metal object flying somewhere and you really want to keep your head down. So I would love to say that I am more cautious now, but in the end of the day this is a war situation. And you know, you think you're in control but reality is you're there in the middle of all these different elements
DAVIES: So you got into journalism after the American invasion and you saw such horrific things happen to your country. I'm wondering kind of what - I don't know, it's a big question, but what's your take on where Iraq has come and where it is today? Do you spend time there?
ABDUL-AHAD: Yes. Of course I spend time in Iraq. You know, one thing you do when - and I think I was very lucky in - in that is, I looked at Iraq as, you know, as an outside experience. I was Iraqi. I grew up in Iraq all my life. I'm Iraqi. I speak the language. But when I covered Iraq, I tried to do it as a foreigner covering a foreign country. I - otherwise, you know, I would be too passionate. I would be too angry. I would be too frustrated, and I will just - I won't be able to do it.
So I tried to see it as a different country, as a foreign country, as what happens to the people when their country is occupied, when the fighting happens in the streets and when a regime like this is installed. So I think Iraq now is in a very, very bad place. It's a mafia state. It's ruled by, you know, by a very, very corrupt mafia.
And I don't mean only the prime minister and his party. I mean even the opposition are no better. Everyone is corrupt. You have this clique of politicians, army generals, their bodyguards, their militia commanders who have total monopoly on the state, the wealth of the state.
I mean, we're talking about a country with a budget of $100 billion in the past few years, yet when you drive in the streets of Bagdad, it's the same miserable, it's the same festering garbage, the same sewage overflowing in the street. The corruption is massive. There is no state of law, you know. No one is immune.
You can be detained in the street, tortured, captured, interrogated. You confess to whatever crime they tell you to confess, and then your family has to pay a huge bribe to get you released. So it's a horrible state. I'm more scared when I cover Iraq than I am, you know, in Syria or in Libya.
DAVIES: How much of this do you lay at the feet of the U.S. invasion?
ABDUL-AHAD: You know, people ask me when I'm in the Middle East, and this is my dilemma. Sometimes I really hate it. And they always ask me this same question, you know, every taxi in every other Middle Eastern country, they ask you the same question. Oh, you're Iraqi. So was it better under Saddam or after the American occupation?
And as if you don't have any choice - either a mad dictator or a crazy occupation, you know? You should have a third choice. Of course I blame the American occupation. Of course I blame them for many things. You know, the occupation itself is a crime. Who can occupy a country in this day and age? Yet to blame everything happening now and put it at the feet of the Americans is unfair.
This is a long history of coups and corrupt state and corrupt dictators and, you know, Saddam and before Saddam and after Saddam and the invasion of Kuwait. And the - so the Americans share part of the blame, like every other player in the history of Iraq. They are not the sole perpetrator of the miserable situation now in Iraq.
The Iraqis themselves, you know, they voted for these political parties, and they voted on a sectarian basis. So they do share a part of the blame, too. But the occupation was a disaster.
DAVIES: You've had a fascinating cultural journey yourself, and you wrote an interesting piece about - it might've been the first time you went to London, I think, and you went to the Glastonbury music festival. What was this like for you, coming from a place like Iraq and experiencing London?
ABDUL-AHAD: It's still a fascinating thing for me when I go to a place and I see a huge crowd of people just having a good time. This is a fascinating thing. I mean, I just have this huge smile on my face, be it Glastonbury, be it anywhere else in the world.
When you see a huge crowd of people, even in Istanbul, you know, on a beautiful, sunny day, you see families, people taking their baskets, their food, their, you know, grilling equipment and filling the park, side streets, this - you know, it's an amazing feeling to see a huge group of people just having a good time.
The way I see it, the way I saw it in my country, whenever you see a huge crowd of people, it's always associated with some form of anger or some form of demonstration or even religious expression in a very, very violent way. So this is still my cultural shock when I see a massive amount of people just having a good time.
DAVIES: Well, let's hope it happens in Iraq some day.
ABDUL-AHAD: I hope so.
DAVIES: Well, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, I hope you stay safe, and I want to thank you so much for speaking with us.
ABDUL-AHAD: Thank you, and thank you for having me.
DAVIES: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a correspondent for The Guardian. His reporting is featured in the new "Frontline" documentary "The Battle for Syria," which premiers on PBS stations tonight. Coming up: Kevin Whitehead reviews jazz pianist Brad Mehldau's new trio album of pop covers. This is FRESH AIR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Today's forecast
Today will be sunny with a high of 55 degrees and no expected rain. South winds will blow at 16 mph. Overnight lows will drop to 32 and be followed on Friday with mostly cloudy skies, a high of 54, a 10 percent chance of rain and South winds at 13 mph. Overnight lows of 44 will lead to a high of 55 on Saturday in partly cloudy skies. Winds will be SSW at 21 mph and there's a 20 percent chance of rain on Saturday.


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Soy poderosa, and my voice matters. That's the final push from now until Election Day. However, there is more to activism than just voting, and that's evident in the work being done in Texas led by several poderosas from our Latina Advocacy Network (LAN).
From September 24 to 29 they held various events in Texas, starting with a health fair. It took place in an activist's home, and over 35 people attended and 9 registered to vote. Can you imagine the energy in the room and the desire to make a difference? Participants learned how critical it is to ensure their voices are heard, whether it is through voting or through speaking with friends or family members about the importance of voting.
After discussing the importance of voting, everyone enjoyed one another's company by playing lotería, or bingo, and eating a home-cooked meal. These are the moments that matter the most, being able to connect with activist on a personal level and share stories. It's also fun (duh)! Voting is not a sole person's decision, or one voice being heard. That person will be voting for thousands who are not being listened to. How can one vote without knowing the issues affecting the community they are representing?
One of the Texas LAN leaders, Lucy Felix (who was featured on our Poderosa profiles), participated in a White House briefing on Wednesday the 25th of September to talk about the work they are doing around the Rio Grande Valley. This was her experience:
The White House briefing was an unforgettable experience! As part of the panel I spoke about the importance of promotoras and all the work being done in the Valley. It was as if all the stories of the women I've worked with were united in one, and their challenges and success were expressed through me. For me, it is an honor to be able to speak about how PODEROSAS we are and how privileged I am to work with them! There are no words to express how much potential and desire for change there is every time we get together and successfully execute an event in which we educate others and grow more as leaders. Seeing all these women transform into even bigger fighters that want to create a better society and change many of the broken systems is the best gift God has ever given me! I also want to thank the Latina Institute for allowing us to participate in such amazing events that really highlight how extraordinary all these women are.
And finally, to finish off the week, the Texas LAN held two more community gatherings in which dozens of people participated and registered to vote as well. It's not enough for politicians to simply say nice things on TV — there are people like Lucy on the ground, making sure that our communities have the information they need to make an informed choice in the voting booth. The Texas LAN will continue to hold more events until Election Day — contact us to get involved!
Regardless of our identities, our voices matter and we have the power to influence those around us. With our actions and stories we are able to change minds and hearts. Texas is pushing hard to not only educate the community, but to lift the voices of Latinas everywhere.
Are you interested in taking part of the Soy Poderosa and my voice matters campaign? There may be an event in your state! Contact us!
The Community Mobilization Team


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Goulds 4AI1H1K3 3656 S Group Series Centrifugal Pump, Size 2 1/2 x 3 - 7, All Iron, Close Coupled, 3 HP, 115/230 Volt, 60 hz, Single Phase, MV Mechanical Seal, ODP - Open Drip Proof Motor, 3500 RPM
Goulds 4AI1H1K3 3656 S Group Series Centrifugal Pump, Size 2 1/2 x 3 - 7, All Iron, Close Coupled, 3 HP, 115/230 Volt, 60 hz, Single Phase, MV Mechanical Seal, ODP - Open Drip Proof Motor, 3500 RPM
|Adapter Material
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text:
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
An Actuality
30 comments:
- manik sharma said...
Good to have you back..Hope you are recovering well..Wish you well
- 17 April 2012 at 03:16
- ACravan said...
Checking on you every morning here, nothing could make me happier than seeing this. It's been an eventful time since your accident, feeling and reflecting on your trauma being one of the main events. Welcome back from Caroline, Jane, me and many cats, dogs, birds and fish. You must be so pleased to be back at work and Angelica must be so relieved. And speaking as a lawyer, I hope you're taking steps to address the behavior of the Freeway Feeder Felon (if she's not considered a felon in California, she should be) driver who ran you down. Holding her accountable for her actions is also part of the so-called social safety net. Curtis
- 17 April 2012 at 03:40
- TC said...
Manik, what a dear person you are to remind me that friendship exists in the universe!
To you and to the other kind souls whose visits to this blog have provided the encouragement and inspiration that's been essential to keeping it going over the years, apologies for the recent silence here.
Last month there was posting here concerning the automotive culture under whose hegemony we all, like it or not, must live and/or die. Perhaps the malevolent speedway fates were a bit irked.
Two weeks ago, while crossing with a green light in a pedestrian crosswalk at an intersection a half block from my home, I was run over by a driver turning at speed off the major thoroughfare out front, and suffered serious injuries. The thoroughfare in question is a freeway feeder, and on it, drivers seem to assume freeway manners (or is that an oxymoron?), while pedestrians must go in fear, at the risk of being maimed or killed. There have been numerous fatalities in the immediate vicinity resulting from car-to-human collisions. (Our longtime next door neighbour was killed crossing in a pedestrian walkway just in front of the house.) In my case the city Fatal Accident Investigation Team was summoned, and I was rushed to the East Bay Trauma Center at Highland Hospital. In the triage unit there I had emergency head surgery, followed by a long, long night night of many scans and procedures.
In January Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney assured the American public that, "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there."
It would be good for the state of the Perishing republic if someone were to take Mr Romney -- to whom words like "poor" and "concern" obviously signify quite differently than they do to those to whom he would so blithely dare refer -- by the hand and walk him through the vale of woes and lamentation which he would have the insouciance and audacity to call a "safety net".
Coincidentally a very interesting feature-length documentary about Highland Hospital is due for imminent release.
This two minute clip offers a shudder of recognition, for those who have been there -- and possibly also a quick shot of useful information, for those who should thank their stars that they have not.
"Highland Hospital, located in East Oakland at 31st Street and 14thAvenue, is a county-run, public hospital that serves as the major trauma center for the greater Oakland area, as well as providing the bulk of non-emergency medical care to uninsured patients in Alameda County. The hospital is the source of primary care for some 250,000 patients. Almost every adult in the area who suffers a traumatic injury is transported to Highland Hospital, whether or not they are insured. The emergency room sees about 80,000 visits annually. Doctors and nurses juggle 236 beds—balancing limited resources in a delicate triage system to provide care to a community desperately in need. The tension between trauma and acute care builds in the waiting room at Highland Hospital, resulting in long, frustrating periods—sometimes as long as twelve hours—spent waiting for basic medical attention."
To speak of a generally afflicting social issue in propria persona risks stressing the personal unduly, but the medical remains ongoing, trying, uncertain, tiresome and the outcome uncertain -- as might be said, for that matter, of the big everything.
But while we're here for the moment... er, on with the show.
- 17 April 2012 at 03:59
- TC said...
long, long night night
"Going out to get the Times."
"Going out to get the Times."
- 17 April 2012 at 04:08
- Conrad DiDiodato said...
Welcome back, Tom
It's nice to see TOM CLARK at the top of my daily sites to read
- 17 April 2012 at 04:17
- TC said...
Curtis and Conrad, many thanks, great to hear from you both.
- 17 April 2012 at 04:45
- Nin Andrews said...
I am so relieved to see you here Tom. We have all missed you. I can not imagine the pain--and the healing road ahead. I do hope you can rest and rest and rest.
Hit by a car once on a bike, and with a helmet on, I have only a distant inkling of this horrible event.
I am reduced to my version of prayer. Not sure it works, but . . .
But what a wonder to see you here again! Please be well!
- 17 April 2012 at 04:46
- vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras) said...
All I can say--apart from seconding all these best wishes sent your way by dear friends--is "It's about time"!
- 17 April 2012 at 05:18
- TC said...
Sweet to hear your voice, Nin.
Well, I wish I had been wearing a helmet!
I am put to shame in this moment to recall that for these many decades there has been a blind man who navigates that same corner in order to get to and from the places one must go. His bravery always silences my own self-woes. But he certainly does wear a helmet at all times. Among other protective armour. And the long white stick.
Ah yes, rest. I'm very Yikes! and Yegads! (i.e. cowardly) about the saving of one's life through medical intervention, even at the so-called "best of times" -- so all this worrisome present display of prospective entry into further adventures in powerlessness is what, to put a nice name on it, might be called new country for me.
Once able to fiddle with notebook and keyboard these past few nights I have diverted myself by taking consolation in a poem I have long loved, and, as it seemed in some curious accidental way to fit the moment, have now translated it and posted it here.
- 17 April 2012 at 05:21
- Lally said...
Tom, I hope you didn't mind that I posted about what happened and many sent regards and well wishes, through comments, email and in person. It's great to see/hear your voice again here as illuminating and insightful as ever. Much thanks to any and all who helped you, especially A.
- 17 April 2012 at 05:49
- email@example.com said...
Tom, I'm totally delighted to see you "back"
all best wishes
- 17 April 2012 at 06:04
- TC said...
"It's about time" prompts me to muse aloud here, before the cracked dawn, that the ambulance trip to the faraway hospital, with side of head being held on by emergency responders, had seemed to go by "in no time".
And the poor woman who after all these never easy years certainly deserves of life something better than the privilege of having been allowed (due to lack of other transport) to ride in the front of the ambulance on such a trip, to recall that the vehicle was going very fast, through the night.
Saving my life.
She reports that as the vehicle careened on this noble mission through the night streets of deep Oakland, the woman driver of the response team had suddenly cried out.
"'Look at that! A raccoon!"
The raccoon, says Angelica, was fleeing the screeching vehicle by diving into a storm drain.
- 17 April 2012 at 06:08
- Marcia said...
Wonderful to see your post this morning. Welcome back. I hope your recovery is going well. I remember the dangerous intersection well - and the crossing in front of your house where cars have no regard for anything but speed and their own interests.
How perfect for your return to all of us today - your lovely translation of the Brecht poem. Take care. Marcia
- 17 April 2012 at 06:08
- TC said...
Michael, Simon, Marcia, such lovely company. We're both very grateful for friends like you.
- 17 April 2012 at 06:24
- Issa's Untidy Hut said...
I'm smiling here, all the way out in Pittsburgh, yet I know that you are still going through so much. So, your kindness to us all is very much appreciated and, even more so, making sure you take care of yourself in the coming days, weeks, and months would of course better still.
The Brecht is stunning in its quiet power.
- 17 April 2012 at 06:35
- TC said...
Thanks, Don. Our belwether!
Blogger has been going crazy with hacking and virology and memory loss and every other sort of problem this morning (my sympathies!), but it turns out perhaps some things can still be counted on.
- 17 April 2012 at 07:22
- STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...
Ah so good to see you're back -- I was just thinking about you in the minute before I clicked the screen, thinking to write to say we were thinking of you and hoping you were 'on the road' back to recovery, and here you are. Those elderberry trees, the branches and berries and Brecht's poem (think for some time whether he will go inside to get his glasses, to see them better, your account of being struck, "sudden glancing blow . . . the small rain drops on his skin as the paramedics cut away his clothes" --- THANK YOU FOR THIS. Johnny and I send our love.
grey whiteness of fog against invisible
ridge, song sparrow calling from branch
in foreground, sound of wave in channel
other present, passage when
time moves through it
as something, the beginning
of friendship, and so
silver line of sun reflected in channel,
white cloud in pale blue sky on horizon
- 17 April 2012 at 07:29
- TC said...
Out of commission here but not out of mind's eye, those beautiful photos you've sent -- cloud/ridge and Buddha's Birthday.
Temporality, a serenity.
Love from us both to you and of course Johnny,
time moves through it
as something, the beginning
of friendship
- 17 April 2012 at 07:37
- Anonymous said...
I will join the chorus of friends welcoming you back and celebrating your unmatched resilience, Tom. You have been missed. I recall you writing, either here or in an email (I forget which), about this very freeway feeder situation near your house, the constant menace it posed, and how it had taken down one of your neighbors. So awful, not least because it could be so avoidable. Alas . . . May you continue to build strength and mend. We the living are not yet ready to figure out a way forward without you.
- 17 April 2012 at 08:09
- TC said...
We the memory-bereft, soft-tissue challenged, perhaps not so prematurely fossilized who are currently about to embark on the parlous seas of an ultrasound diagnostic adventure gratefully salute you.
- 17 April 2012 at 08:41
- Annie said...
Learning this morning of your injury and the whole traumatic experience produced a wild oscillation from stunned horror to relief and back to concern. I am amazed and thankful that you are back in your inimitable form. And your astute shotgunner's reportage of the raccoon tale once again inspires my humble admiration—such equanimity surely must restore us all from this wobble in our orbit. All love and healing to you both,
- 17 April 2012 at 09:39
- Ed Baker said...
the only thing worse
than that Little Old Lady
driving the car that hit you
would have been
that if that Dawg that attacked you
some time back
had been driving the car !
hang in.
- 17 April 2012 at 10:03
- TC said...
Many thanks, and you're right about the shotgunner.
Every little bit of attention to the world as it is seems to help stabilize the wobble.
You old super-sleuth, how did you find out -- IT WAS!
(Actually, I have been unable so far to ascertain her identity.)
- 17 April 2012 at 14:02
- Nora said...
I'm so sorry to hear about this, Tom. Glad you're still with us, and hopefully on the mend.
- 17 April 2012 at 16:01
- Elmo St. Rose said...
the bad news is it still hurts,
the good news is you are now
more of a 1st degree relative
of Frank O'Hara....
the knee bone is connected to
the thigh bone...the thigh bone
is connected to the hip bone, the
hip bone is connected to the back
bone...the back bone is connected
to the poetry bone now rising
and shining
- 17 April 2012 at 18:00
- TC said...
Wonderful to hear from you, brightening the dark before the dawn.
Always reassuring to have the poetry doctor in the house (said he, on the uneasy runway to the Vascular Imaging Lab).
- 18 April 2012 at 04:23
- gamefaced said...
whew tom. what a relief you're still with us.
that hospital must be one of the many locales hell occupies on earth.
- 18 April 2012 at 07:19
- TC said...
I am happy too, to be here with you.
About that hospital, you've got your infernal geography about right.
More human suffering than ought ever to be jammed into a single space.
- 18 April 2012 at 10:23
- Anonymous said...
You're back!!! Tom! And, so well loved; I among those whose life would be lessened, changed, by your absence here at blog central.
I am joyeous that you are ok. I recently took a spill on a tennis court of all things, after long long absence and going at breakneck speed. Lucky. My partner said I looked like Boris Becker, in horizontal mode and up until the last moment seemed I was going to get that ball after all.
I'm sad that you were struck by a car, Tom. Serious stuff. More so than asphalt tennis court and racket akimbo. in joy, Donna
- 20 April 2012 at 13:39
- TC said...
Thanks Donna. It's a good thing your partner can't see my head. It looks like a large red strawberry mashed at 120 mph by a Boris Becker forehand. Or as the doctor charmingly put it -- "something out of a horror movie".
- 21 April 2012 at 06:17


text: I wonder what the cassel haters are saying after the past 2 games about cassel. I for one will admit i was wrong on bowe though. The last 2 games he has stepped up and i am taking back what i said it would be a big mistake if we lossed him. He's finally coming through for kc


text:
Journey to the South Pacific
Journey to the lush tropical islands of remote West Papua, where life flourishes above and below the sea. Join Jawi, a young island boy, as he takes us on a journey of discovery to this magical place. Home to more than 2,000 species of sea life, this exotic locale features the most diverse marine ecosystem on earth. An uplifting story of hope and celebration, Journey to the South Pacific highlights the importance of living in balance with the ocean planet we all call home. Narrated by Cate Blanchett.
Tickets are currently unavailable for this event.
Please contact The Tech at (408) 294-TECH (8324).


text:
|Send News. Want a reply? Read this. More in the FAQ. News Forum - All Forums - Mobile - PDA - RSS Headlines Twitter
Peter Molyneux tweets about a name change for his upcoming game/gullibility experiment, saying it is now known as "Curiosity:Whats [sic] inside the cube." Eurogamer notes this was to make the game stand out better from NASA's Curiosity rover on Google searches, and that the designer humorously adds: "Not what i voted for but ho hum. I wanted to call it 'Cube of Duty'."
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text: Four sided Internal Overflow is 10"x 10", has a 1.5" Pre-filter Assembly and two 1/2" Return assemblies with T swivle discharge flares. Used for tanks up to 24" tall.This overflow is incorporated into the center of your tank. It is used in conjunction with a Wet-Dry Trickle filter. The overflow has a Pre-Filter Assembly, which is a layer of filter material wrapped around a standpipe. This is called mechanical filtration, it is what traps particles of debri. Additionally, this internal overflow includes two Return Assemblies, this is used to mask the hose that brings the water from the Wet-Dry filter pump below back into the tank. It comes with barbed fittings below the tank and two T swivle discharge nossles that are 2 inches below the water level. The overflow is black by default unless YOU specify otherwise. All bulkheads are included and all bulkhead holes are pre-drilled. Overflow also comes with a cover. See Internal Overflow in out Library Section for more information.


text:
The context
About half of all Indonesians live on less than two dollars a day. Employment growth has been slower than population growth. Public services remain inadequate by middle-income standards, and health indicators are poor. The island is also one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world.
Our work
- Economic opportunity: Providing technical assistance, training and financial services to microfinance institutions throughout the country and helping spice farmers earn more income
- Health: Raising awareness and supporting mothers to practice and promote exclusive breastfeeding
- Water: Improving sanitation and hygiene in crowded urban areas with a mobile sludge removal service
- Disaster preparedness: Identifying and mapping areas at risk and helping those communities plan, train and practice how to respond when disasters occur
- Emergency response: Maintaining a response team ready to quickly deploy and provide immediate relief to survivors during the critical first months after a disaster strikes
Indonesia: Cities and climate change: Mercy Corps joins the global discussion
Next week London will host the Planet Under Pressure conference, a gathering designed to discuss solutions to the global climate challenge.
Indonesia: Neighborhood cleanup, one toilet at a time
I recently met Mr. Ripan, a hardworking skilled builder in West Jakarta, Indonesia. He is the Head of Village within the neighborhood of Kali Deres and a big proponent of his community members installing toilets in their homes.
Indonesia: Neglected springs go from trickle to lifeline
Padang is one of the world's most vulnerable cities to earthquakes. Indonesia's capital city is situated on a highly active fault line — the same one that triggered the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. And it is inevitable that another quake will hit in the future.
Indonesia: Healthier babies in Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods
Did you know that a father holding his infant on his shoulder at the end of the day may be the best way to soothe a cranky child? The baby is often comforted by the father's heartbeat and his calm demeanor, which relieves a tired and stressed mother after a long day of infant care.
India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya: Mercy Corps can't do it alone
It takes a lot to make a difference for people in 41 countries around the world. Mercy Corps can't do it alone.
Indonesia: Uneasiness after sectarian violence in Ambon
It has been over a month since conflict erupted again in Ambon, bringing back memories of the religious conflict which for many was a terrible but distant memory.
Indonesia: Old wounds reopened in Ambon
"Ambon manise," (am-bone mah-nee-say) muttered the bewildered project coordinator of Mercy Corps's Spice Up the Deal Project, as we stood watching midnight fires erupt in Ambon City below us.
Indonesia: Kid-friendly food carts take on child malnutrition
The slums of Jakarta, Indonesia are home to some of the poorest families in Asia. The city — one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with more than 28 million people — has dozens of such places, where thousands of people live cramped in close quarters.
Indonesia: Retooling Mentawai and helping it grow again
Indonesia's Mentawai Islands have a very hot and arid climate but, because of high rainfall and minimal pests, it is great for agriculture. When the tsunami hit last October, Mentawai residents ran from the waves with only the clothes on their backs. Most tools and crops were lost.
Indonesia, West Bank and Gaza: VIDEO: Let youth lead the way
This week marks the start of the Global Citizen Corps (GCC) International Youth Gathering in Doha (July 23-28), where they'll discuss five key issues that are central to the GCC curriculum: environment and climate change, education, food


text:
The issue: Canton Ex-Newsboys
The issue: Canton Ex-Newsboys
At this time of the year we are reminded of how lucky we are, how much we have to be thankful for and that many of our neighbors might not be as lucky. Our community is — and always has been — a generous one. We routinely give to many local charities and extend a helping hand to those in need.
Tomorrow, the Canton Ex-Newsboys Association will be hawking their newspapers to raise money for shoes and clothing for local schoolchildren, just as they have done every year for the past 53 years.
The Ex-Newsboys' motto is "That No Child Shall Miss School for Need of Shoes or Clothing," and since 1960 the Newsies have raised more than $3 million for coats, shoes and other clothing for kids in Stark County.
Karl 'Butch' Kraus Jr., president of CENA, points out that every dollar raised goes to the children of Stark County. The Ex-Newsboys are not paid; this is a labor of love and they generously donate their time and energies all year to make sure kids have the basics to attend school. They estimate they have helped more than 45,000 children through the years.
Of course, the Ex-Newsboys can't do this alone. They have partnered with a number of local businesses, including The Repository, to make this event the success it has become. It takes a village, and the Newsies have pulled this coalition together, year after year, at great personal expense to benefit the children. Last year they raised more than $168,000 in their one-day newspaper sale.
So please be generous; a pair of shoes might not seem like a lot to some, but it can make the difference for many of our children.
In addition to giving financially, please consider becoming an Ex-Newsboy. You do not have to be an ink-stained journalist or newspaper carrier, you just need to be 18 years of age with a passion for helping your neighbors and friends.
If you are interested, please call 330-454-9461, ext. 1667, or visit their website at www.cantonexnewsies.com.


text:
Residents of a northwest Denver neighborhood were checking their homes and cars for bullet holes after a Wednesday afternoon shootout and chase that left a Denver police sergeant wounded.
One suspect is dead. Three others were injured — one critically wounded — and in custody. A man believed to be the fifth and final suspect was arrested Wednesday night.
The short chase ended when a red Dodge pickup crashed into a tree near West 39th Avenue and Osage Street.
Witnesses said people in the truck, during the chase, were throwing items in the truck at pursuing officers just before the crash.
A female suspect was injured in the crash, and another person was bitten by a police dog.
Multiple police sources identified the injured officer as Sgt. Robert Motyka, who was hit in the shoulder.
"Thank God he is going to be OK," Denver Police Chief Robert White said. "He is in good spirits."
White told reporters that Adams County authorities had warned Denver to watch for a red truck in connection with a "mini-crime spree," including a case of domestic violence and reports of gunfire.
As night fell, he said his officers were still putting together the pieces of several crime scenes.
Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said the alert for the truck was issued after an incident before noon in the 2400 block of 101st Way after a man threatened another man with a handgun. There had been a death reported at the house that morning, but the death is not believed to be suspicious.
Barnes said the gunman fled in the red truck, along with at least two other people, a man and a woman.
Later, the same truck was associated with reports of gunfire in Montbello and Aurora.
Denver Detective John White said the confrontation between the truck's occupants and Denver police began near West 34th Avenue and Mariposa Street just before 3:30 p.m., followed by a pursuit of about six-tenths of a mile along busy residential and commercial stretches of Mariposa, West 38th Avenue and Osage.
Rosa Bonilla said she came out of her house near West 36th Avenue and Osage when she heard the sound of dozens of police cars.
She saw a red truck barreling down the street with two of its tires shot out. In the truck bed, she saw a chubby man in a white hooded jacket sitting on what looked to be sandbags. His right hand was gripping a small gun.
Not far away from Bonilla were two young children.
"I just saw the gun in his hand, and that's when I started yelling at the kids (to get out of the way)," she said. "He was sitting down. He had the gun in his right hand. He looked like he was trying to reload it."
Bonilla's screams prompted her neighbor Aundreaa Willis to come outside. She could smell "horrible" burning rubber; tire marks stained the street. She watched as dozens of squad cars sped into view.
Clay Schmitt was in his backyard at West 36th and Osage when he heard gunfire and saw a truck driving down the street with a man in the bed, hurling computer parts and hubcaps at the nearly two dozen squad cars that were following behind.
"I had guessed at that point he was out of bullets and he was doing whatever else he could," Schmitt said. "It was just cop car after cop car doing 60 mph."
Bruce Mason was working with a crew on a sewer line near Navajo Street and West 38th when he heard what he thought were tires popping. He turned to see the pickup crash into a tree and one man run away from the crash, firing shots.
When Mason saw bullets hitting the pavement, he and his co-workers ran for cover. Mason said he was the only one who got a good look, because the others were working below street level.
Traffic was snarled in the area for hours as police investigated a sprawling crime scene and set up a wide perimeter to find the man who ran away. The man who slipped away was described as about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and wearing a white hoodie.
Wednesday night, police said they had arrested a fifth suspect. John White said he was a man police had talked to earlier and developed more information on him as the night went by.
As the Adams County Sheriff Department brought dogs to help in the search, neighbors gathered to share information and concern for the safety of the neighborhood.
"Your heart just stops when you hear this crazy stuff," said 26-year-old Lena Marquez, walking with her 4-year-old daughter, Trina, a few blocks from the crime scene as helicopters buzzed overhead. "It can happen anywhere. Seriously, I wonder what kind of world our kids are going to live in."
Denver Post staff members AAron Ontiveroz and Yesenia Robles contributed to this report.


text:
Welding begins on TriMet's Portland-Milwaukie ProjectWritten by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
Crews began welding together the first section of rail for TriMet's Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project in Oregon.
Welders will connect two, 80-foot lengths of rail by a thermite welding process that superheats aluminum, iron oxide and alloy elements to produce molten steel and permanently join the rails. Each 80-foot rail weighs more than 3,000 pounds.
In all, more than 29 miles of rail will be installed along the 7.3-mile project. Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo, Colo., manufactured the rail.
The project is currently 30 percent complete. In downtown Portland, utility relocation is complete; civil construction on SW Lincoln is two-thirds complete and concrete deck placement for the Harbor Structure is under way. As it pertains to the light-rail bridge,
nine of 10 concrete pylon sections of the West Tower are complete; the permanent concrete cap for the tenth pylon will be placed after the bridge cables are installed next year and pylon concrete pours for the East Tower are under way. In South East Portland, utility relocation continues; structure construction is under way at SE Powell Boulevard, Harold Street and the access ramp between SE Tacoma Street and McLoughlin Boulevard. In Milwaukie, utility relocation continues and Kellogg Lake bridge is under construction. In Clackamas County, construction is under way along the Trolley Trail and at SE Park Avenue, the southern terminus of the project.
The project is creating up to 14,500 direct and indirect jobs during the life of the project.
The 7.3-mile project is the region's sixth MAX construction project to be built and extends from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University in Downtown Portland to South Waterfront, SE Portland, Milwaukie and North Clackamas County. The line is expected to open September 2015.


text:
Click on the headline to see a sample of the features available in the Hockessin Community News print edition, now available at local stores.
The Jan. 25 print edition of the Hockessin Community News includes the following features:
• Education guide, a special section.
• Feature story on Red Clay School District's new "EDtv" educational cable-access channel at McKean High School, where students can learn about communication careers and post their content.
• Preview of Sanford School's production of "The Sound of Music."
• Coverage of the "Invention Convention" at Hagley Museum.
• Reminder about the Miss Hockessin Pageant in February.
• Coverage of the grand re-opening of the Lantana Square ACME, with a feature story about 47-year ACME employee John Donahue.


text:
Shakira's domination in America has dwindled since she became a hip-swiveling goddess of festive pop hits like "Whenever, Wherever" and "Hips Don't Lie."
Already a superstar in her native Colombia, the multitalented singer-songwriter-instrumentalist took the American pop scene by storm when she made her U.S. language debut in 2001 with personal, rich songs about romance and more. But her recent albums haven't matched the spark, edge and charisma from her work a decade ago, and her new self-titled release, while enjoyable at times, doesn't showcase this Grammy-winning, Golden Globe-nominated superstar in the right light.
"Shakira," her tenth album, features the 37-year-old taking a back seat as lead songwriter and producer, and that doesn't come off as a wise move. "Dare (La La La)," helmed by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and others, sounds like a Jennifer Lopez song, and that's not a compliment (sorry, Jenny). While Shakira's stint as a judge on "The Voice" has been pleasurable to watch, her duet with fellow mentor Blake Shelton on the country-feeling "Medicine" is a bore, though it was co-written by Academy Award nominee and hit country songwriter Hillary Lindsey.
Even the duet with Rihanna, the up-tempo lead single "Can't Remember to Forget You," comes off as a cry for a pop hit. The song lacks energy though two superstars are part of it, and the collaboration feels forced (Rihanna and Shakira are both signed to Roc Nation management).
The album's lyrics also lack emotion and depth. It's a far stretch from Shakira's earlier songs, such as her Latin pop breakthrough "Estoy Aqui (I'm Here)" or the part-gritty, part- bouncy "La Tortura." The new album follows in the footsteps of her last two albums, 2009's "She Wolf" and 2010's "Sale el Sol," which have bright spots, but still didn't carry the oomph and appeal of her earlier work.
Shakira does move the needle a bit on the reggae-laced "Cut Me Deep," which features the band Magic! Nasir Atweh, the band's lead singer, is part of the songwriting duo The Messengers, who have penned hits for Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and Pitbull.
"Spotlight," co-written by Lindsey and produced by Greg Kurstin, sounds arena-ready, which is excellent for an entertaining performer like Shakira. And the album's most honest moment is "23," a sweet ode to her 1-year-old son's father, soccer player Gerard Pique, who is 10 years younger than Shakira (he was 23 when they met). She co-wrote the simple guitar tune with Luis Fernando Ochoa, who collaborated with Shakira on her third album and major label debut, 1996's "Pies Descalzos."
Full-blown reunion please?


text:
Portland tops Ionia in Coaches vs. Cancer game
The Portland girls basketball team outscored Ionia 27-17 in the second half Tuesday night to pick up a 48-36 victory in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer pink game between the two squads.
The Raiders held a slim 21-19 lead at the break, but turned up the defense in the second half, holding the Bulldogs to only one basket in the third quarter. On offense, Portland went on a 15-2 run to take a 36-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
"We just needed to challenge the kids defensively and they just needed to go out there and show a little enthusiasm and intensity and I think the kids responded in the third quarter and late in the fourth," Raider coach Ray Kimball said. "I think both teams were very bland with there game plan and didn't want to show a whole lot with districts coming up."
Portland and Ionia will meet in the semifinals of districts on Feb. 27 at Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg High School.
With Tuesday's game being the last home game for Lady Dawg seniors Erika Ketchum, Kendra Nickell and Megan Nickell, it was fitting that one of them got the Bulldogs going early on.
Kendra Nickell scored the first five points of the game for Ionia as part of a 7-0 run.
Portland countered with back-to-back 3s to spark a 13-0 run that was snapped by Ionia junior Sarah Swartz's basket with two seconds left in the opening quarter.
Portland extended their lead to 17-12 in the second, but Ionia got a boost from junior Taylor Bovee and Swartz, who successfully converted on three-point plays on back-to-back possessions to give Ionia the lead. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that was the last time they would lead in the contest.
"We struggled in the third quarter to score then we turned the ball over a few times and they capitalized on those turnovers," Ionia coach Andy Barr said. "When you are playing a good team like Portland you have to take care of the ball."
Madison King led Portland with 16 points while Kelsey Spitzley finished with 12.
Ionia was led by Swartz, who finished with 13 points and Bovee finished with 10.
Despite the loss, Barr said he was proud of how his players got involved in raising funds for the American Cancer Society and the Ionia Relay for Life with their efforts leading up to this game.
"I think our girls did a nice job raising a lot of money for our community," he said. "I think that's something that it's important for them to be involved in community activities and our girls do a nice job of getting involved in the community."
Ionia (11-8) will finish the regular season in Owosso on Friday night.
Portland (16-3) will travel to Stockbridge on Friday for their regular-season finale.


text:
Sanford fourth grader Kylie Sokoloff is turning 10 years old this summer. However, Kylie isn't looking for gifts this year. Instead, she was hoping that her friends would come over and help her with a project impacting girls her age in Africa.
Turning 10 years old is a milestone birthday. Finally, it's double digits. Most kids want to celebrate with their friends and family, eating cake and ice cream and opening lots of presents picked out especially for the occasion.
Sanford fourth grader Kylie Sokoloff saw her birthday as an opportunity to do more than blow out candles on a cake or open presents.
"I have everything I need but I know other people don't," said Kylie. "Plus, I think every girl needs a pretty dress."
So, looking for a way for Kylie to celebrate her birthday and fulfill her desire to give other little girls a small piece of what she already has, Kylie's mom Jennifer Brooks and grandmother Andrea Sokoloff (also known as Mom-Mom) starting scouring the internet.
"When I first found out that Kylie wanted to celebrate by giving back to the community, I was at a bit of a loss," said Brooks. "Should we go with a clothing drive? A soup kitchen? Then, being the modern grandma that she is, Mom-Mom went online and found a few charities. The one that really stood out was the Little Dresses for Africa."
The charity they found, Little Dresses for Africa, is a non-profit faith-based charity that collects easy-to-make pillowcase dresses that are sent to impoverished regions in Africa. According to the organization's website, more than 1 million dresses have been distributed to 43 African countries.
"My mom is really good at sewing and I'm learning to sew so we thought this would be perfect," said Kylie. "This is actually my first time to do charity work. It makes me feel really good knowing that I'm helping other people."
And, while Kylie is pleased that she might have an impact on little girls on the other side of the ocean, she's also making an impact right in her community by inspiring her friends to donate their time and efforts, too.
Classmate Hannah Davenport is one of Kylie's friends who found inspiration in the idea.
"I was so amazed that Kylie didn't want any presents," said Davenport. "I immediately told my mom and dad, 'I want to go to this party. I want to help the community, too.'"
Brooks said that while this may be Kylie's first foray into charity work, her enthusiasm about this project wasn't a complete surprise.
"Kylie is creative and she loves all things art, design and fashion," said Brooks, "I know that I might have a biased opinion of my kid, but she's also truly compassionate. She's just a quirky, smart, artistic kid with a big heart."
The whole project also brought on a whirlwind of emotions for Brooks who found herself proud of her daughter and touched that so many people wanted to be involved. Aside from the girls that attended Kylie's party and all the help that Mom-Mom provided, the party wouldn't have been complete without the help of Nancy Watson, a neighbor's grandmother who brought her sewing machines all the way from North Carolina and patiently put the finishing touches on all 20 dresses.
The dresses only took about an hour and a half to finish, thanks to Brooks's pre-party preparations, and the rest of the night was dedicated to traditional slumber party chaos: pizza, birthday cake and lots of playing.
However, the girls really seemed to take the message of the project to heart and several girls indicated that they were hoping to throw similar parties when their birthdays rolled around.
"This is my favorite birthday party ever," said Kylie. "I think I'm going to do this every year. Maybe next year, I'll make even more dresses."


text:
What Sold Today?
March 28, 2014
What SOLD in Sussex County TODAY?
Sold March 28, 2014
Shows All Sales Posted by All Brokers on the MLS Today
Info. from the Sussex County Association of Realtors MLS
Dreaming of Summer?
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What Sold Last Month?
Sign Up for our MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER and Find Out!
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Award Winning in Real Estate Sales Every Year for 10 Years
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email@example.com ~~ 302-344-9002


text:
|Send News. Want a reply? Read this. More in the FAQ. News Forum - All Forums - Mobile - PDA - RSS Headlines Twitter
Develop has Gabe Newell's take on some EA games not being sold on Steam, like the recently removed Crysis 2 and the upcoming Battlefield 3. In spite of the indications from EA that this is a result of Steam policy, Valve's managing director seems to indicate this decision is EA's as he takes an upbeat approach to the underlying conflict being a matter of showing "EA it's a smart decision to have EA games on Steam." Here are a few quotes from an upcoming interview that cover the topic:
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