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Syrian Conflict Reaches Beyond Borders
The civil war in Syria is attracting fighters from all over, threatening the region's tenuous stability. Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group tells Fresh Air that "a war in Syria with regional spillover has now become a regional war with a Syrian focus."
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Other segments from the episode on June 4, 2013
June 4, 2013
Guest: Robert Malley
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. The civil war in Syria has become a regional conflict that is attracting jihadis from all over, increasing religious and ethnic tensions in other Muslim countries, threatening whatever stability exists in the region, creating a new set of problems for Israel and creating complex options for the U.S.
The Assad regime has been strengthened by fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. So far, over 80,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war. We asked Robert Malley to talk about the consequences of this widening war. Malley is the International Crisis Group's program director for Middle East and North Africa. He directs teams of analysts in Syria, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and the Gulf.
(technical difficulties) reporting that both sides in the Syrian conflict are becoming increasingly brutal. Does that surprise you?
ROBERT MALLEY: No, I think that the curb of brutality has been, in a sense, since the very beginning, you know, one side has massively more power than the other. That's the regime side. So they tend to be guilty of far more of the atrocities. But both sides have now been engaged in acts that are almost indescribable, from acts of cannibalism to the execution of entire families.
GROSS: Both sides?
MALLEY: Both sides, yes, and I think, you know, human rights organizations and other have now documented that it's both sides. Again, you can't put them on the same plane because one side has far, far more power to exact those kinds of brutalities than the other. But at this point I think it's hard to deny that the two sides are engaged in actions that are repelling ordinary Syrians who really don't know - many of them don't know which side to turn to anymore.
GROSS: Let's look at what both sides in the Syrian civil war stand for now and what they want. President Assad, what does he want in addition to maintaining power?
MALLEY: I'm not sure there's much more he wants. I mean, this is a regime that whose preoccupation - if you're talking about the regime, there's some of its supporters that want other things, but the regime itself is intent on survival. Survival is victory, and victory is survival. And if they could live to fight another day, that's good enough for them.
Now again, there's some of its supporters who are rallying to the regime or backing the regime not out of any love or illusion about what the regime stands for but because, as we were just discussing, they see what's happening on the other side.
Perhaps they believed some of the excessive propaganda of the regime, but they also see what the other side is doing, and among the other side, and it's too simplistic to say that there are two sides - there are many sides in this conflict - but what they see on the opposition are some Islamists, some people who are very sectarian.
And so if you're a member of a minority community in Syria, you may not like the regime, you may fear the opposition even more. And so what they're fighting for to the extent they're fighting is to make sure that they don't fall under the rule of a regime that would be more sectarian, more Sunni Islamist and therefore more detrimental to minority rights.
GROSS: And who are the minority groups?
MALLEY: Well, there are several. The Alawites, which is the group that Bashar al-Assad and most of the top officials of the regime belong to, they're...
GROSS: They're Alawite Muslims.
MALLEY: Alawite Muslims, although some Muslims consider them heretics. They are considered by some to be an offshoot of Shiism, although the Shiites don't really consider that to be the case. So it's complicated, but they are today allied more with the Shiite axis and against the Sunnis. You also have Druze, you have Christians. So it's a pluralistic, multi-confessional society, although the vast majority are Sunnis.
The struggle didn't begin necessarily as a sectarian war, but it clearly and perhaps inevitably has morphed into one, and for the most part poses the minority Alawite community, roughly 10 to 12 percent, although there hasn't been any census recently, and on the other side the majority Sunnis. But there are many in between, some minority groups that feel closer to the regime and others who have allied with the Sunnis. It's not black and white. Not all minorities are on one side or the other.
GROSS: My impression is that the conflict in Syria started, you know, with people opposing the Assad regime, his - is it fair to call it a dictatorship?
MALLEY: I think that's fair, yes.
GROSS: OK, and then it kind of broadened into something more resembling an Islamist rebellion because you have now Islamists coming from all over the region. The rebels have support from groups including al-Qaida in Iraq. So what is the evidence that the rebels in Syria are becoming more Islamist?
MALLEY: Well, I mean, this is a multi-layered conflict. There is at one level an uprising by ordinary citizens against a regime that has been authoritarian, corrupt, disrespectful of basic human rights. But added to that have been several other layers of conflict. There is a sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Alawites and then a conflict both by - of Islamists against the regime but also of Islamists within the opposition against non-Islamists or different shades of Islamists within the opposition.
Superimposed upon it, there's a regional war between Sunnis and Shiites, between Persians and Arabs, and perhaps even superimposed upon that is now a cold war between - or a newly minted cold war between the U.S. and Russia. So the Islamist factor is a real one, and I think again all reports indicate that Islamists have gained greater power within the opposition but partly because they are the best, the most willing to fight and to sacrifice, but also because in periods of despair - we've seen this historically - people tend to turn to religion and to different forms of religion, and in this case the Islamists offer some solace, some refuge for people who living under absolutely intolerable, unacceptable, unspeakable conditions.
The Islamists also - some of the most extreme Islamists have had the ability to raise funds in Gulf Arab countries. Some of them have also been the best organized on the ground in terms of caring for people. Some of these groups, it may sound paradoxical, but some of the most sectarian groups, the most Islamist groups, are the ones who have been able to take care of those who they more or less govern in the areas that are more or less liberated and do it in a less corrupt, less violent, less chaotic way than the less Islamist group.
So it is clear that over time the most extremist, radical wing of the Islamists, those who go under the label of the Nusra Front, which is an offshoot and an ally of al-Qaida, they have gained in potency because they are better armed, they are better resourced, they have - they're better fighters, they're more mobilized, and so they attract more people to them.
They don't dominate the opposition. It's a very pluralistic, disorganized, chaotic opposition, but over time they have put their imprint on the opposition more than others.
GROSS: An Egyptian sheikh living in Qatar issued a fatwah, calling on Muslims around the world to support the Syrian rebels. He said this last week. And he called Hezbollah and Iran, quote, "more infidel than Jews and Christians." How do you interpret that?
MALLEY: Well, it is what I was saying earlier. This has become not just a war within Syria. It's become a regional, sectarian civil war. I mean, perhaps the best way to put it is to say that a war - what was a war in Syria with regional spillover has now become a regional war with a Syrian focus. And that sort of captures where we are today. Syria is the battleground; it's not the sole actor in this conflict. You now have many others who are engaged, and in particular this conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, this, you know, long-lasting conflict but which has not manifested itself violently that much over the - in recent history is now manifesting itself with a vengeance.
In Syria, what Sheikh Qaradawi, the cleric you referred to, said was extraordinarily sectarian in tone but, you know, matched by some of the sectarian pronouncements that other clerics on the other side have been saying. But what he said, and he's a very influential cleric, was quite frightening.
GROSS: But I'm also hearing to call groups of Muslims more infidel than Jews, that's a pretty strong statement coming from a sheikh in Qatar, isn't it?
MALLEY: Sure, sure, it is, and I think, you know, when Hezbollah, now the Shiite movement in Lebanon, is fighting Sunnis in Syria, in its own way it's saying that the fight against certain Sunni groups in Syria has taken primacy over the fight against Israel, who they're not fighting.
So, you know, they're waging the fight they can fight in the arena where they think they can prevail, and to that extent they're putting the Israeli question in brackets. You know, by saying that they're more infidel than the Jews, obviously he's saying that Jews are infidels as well, but he's saying that the priority fight today is against the unbeliever Shiite, and that's the fight that's the focus in Syria right now, which doesn't mean that they're prepared to ally themselves with Israel.
I mean, let's not be under any illusion regarding that; that the priority for them today, and the priority on both sides, is to fight one another, not to fight Israel.
GROSS: My guest is Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program. We'll talk more about the widening war in Syria after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert Malley, he's the director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa program. So you were saying that the war in Syria is not really like a regional war. Let's look at Lebanon, which has become involved in this war. Hezbollah has entered the fight in support of Syria's President Assad. Why has the leader of Hezbollah chosen to support Assad?
MALLEY: Well, first, I think we really need to sort of our mental grid, our political compass. This is not a war that's being fought by nation-states. Borders are being erased. Borders are becoming liquid in a way. And as you said, Hezbollah's fighting in Syria. We could also say that some Sunnis in Lebanon are fighting in Syria, as well.
Some Syrian Sunni rebels are firing back into Lebanon against Hezbollah at targets. Iraqi Shiites are fighting on behalf of the regime, just as Iraqi Sunnis are trying to help their co-religionists in Syria. So I think you have to think of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq as one giant integrated area of conflict in which national boundaries count much less than sectarian confessional boundaries.
And in the case of Hezbollah - and I think Hassan Nasrullah - the head of Hezbollah, sees in the fight in Syria a sort of preemptive war against his own movement and believes that if they lose in Syria, not only does he lose an ally, not only does he lose a conduit, a channel through which he's received weapons - Iran delivers weapons to Hezbollah through Syria - but he will have lost the first round in what he believes is a long-lasting fight.
Now in his mind the fight is against Sunni Islamists, it's against Israel, it's against the United States, but putting that aside, what matters for him, it's almost like President Bush's version or Nasrallah's version of President Bush's preemptive war. We have to wage war in Syria to defeat our enemies there because if we don't, if we lose Syria, we will be much more vulnerable to the next round of attacks, which could be waged by the U.S., could be waged by Israel, could be waged by Sunni Islamists. It doesn't matter. But we have to fight where we can at a time when we have more power because otherwise we're going to be much more vulnerable.
GROSS: What has Hezbollah sent in terms of men or weapons to Syria in support of Assad, and what kind of retaliation have the rebels waged across the border into Lebanon?
MALLEY: It's hard to - you know, the numbers are in the thousands, again according to Western officials and now according even to some people close to Hezbollah who are saying that they have several thousand in one particular village on the border of Syria and Lebanon, which is a crucial strategic crossing point for weapons in both directions.
And now claims that Hezbollah fighters are massing in the northern, most populated city of Aleppo, which is a crucial target, a crucial city for the opposition, which has been trying to occupy and which has made real progress. But there's now reports - again, these are some media reports and some others - that Hezbollah fighters are trying to come to the help of the regime to try to dislodge the opposition from Aleppo.
We don't know the numbers, let's say several thousand, and they are much more professional than the regular Syrian troops and certainly more professional than the militias that have been organized by the Syrian regime and even reports of Hezbollah fighters being, to say the least, disappointed, disillusioned and sometimes quite shocked by how unprofessional, amateurish their Syrian counterparts are.
So they're better, they're better fighters, they're more professional, they have a greater sense of hierarchy. And so where they fight, the regime seems to do better. But of course now there is retaliation by some of the Sunni opposition groups which are targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon firing from Syria, again showing that borders become increasingly meaningless because on both sides the war is being waged against the other.
Hassan Nasrallah had a statement recently in which he said we in Lebanon may disagree about which side we back in Syria, but let's fight that war in Syria, not in Lebanon, to which the Sunni rebels responded if you think you could fight in Syria and we're not going to respond and retaliate in Lebanon, think again.
So this really, of course, does have the risk of reigniting the civil war, the 15-year civil war in Lebanon that only ended in 1990. It could well reignite it. No matter where the conflict goes in Syria, the risk is very, very grave that Lebanon will relive one of its darkest chapters.
GROSS: That would be so tragic. That war went on for so long.
MALLEY: Well, and it's not only there. Iraq as well is just barely recovering from its sectarian civil war, and you're seeing increasingly mobilization of Shiite and Sunni communities in Iraq not only because of what's happening with Syria. There are problems in Iraq that were festering before the Syrian conflict began, but Syria is certainly heightening the stakes for Prime Minister Maliki, the Shiite prime minister of Iraq.
The notion that the Sunnis would gain power in Syria is viewed as a very, very dangerous threat, and for the Sunnis in Iraq, the notion that their co-religionists in Syria may prevail emboldens them and gives them a sense perhaps this is a time where they can exact revenge, as well.
GROSS: You were describing how the Syrian civil war has expanded into other countries and that it's really not about nation-states, it's about the groups within those states and, you know, Shiite siding with Shiite and Sunni siding with Sunni across national boundaries. What does this mean for Israel?
In some ways you could say Israel's enemies are at war with each other. Where does that leave Israel?
MALLEY: I think Israel has been in a very ambivalent position from the outset for many reasons. I mean, in some ways, as you say, to see your foes bleeding each other is not necessarily the worst outcome. On the other hand, it's caught between on the one side the Assad regime, which has been supporting Hezbollah, which is close to Iran and therefore is an enemy of Israel.
I mean, objectively, even though the border between Israel and Syria has been the calmest of any of Israel's borders, it nonetheless is a fact that the Syrian regime has been helping Hezbollah, and Hezbollah has been at war with Israel. The Syrian regime is allied with Iran, which is viewed by Israel as a threat.
So they don't - there's no love lost between the regime in Damascus and Israel. On the other hand, the opposition, some of its elements may be more or less acceptable, but there is this strong Islamist trend. There's a strong al-Qaida wing. That's not good news for Israel. I mean, if they were to prevail, or if they were at least to prevail in parts of Syria, if they were to prevail, if they were to have a position of influence on the border areas of Israel, that would be bad news, as well.
So there's another factor, as well, which we really have to bear in mind as we try to, as I say, come to terms with a new region. I mean, this is not - this is a region which is not what it was three years before the Arab uprisings. It's certainly not what it was, like, 10 years ago. Israel has looked at its neighbors, and Syria in particular, with two principles in mind.
One is the notion of red lines. There are certain actions, if you take them, we will strike; we, Israel, will strike. So if chemical weapons or sophisticated weapons are transferred by the Syrian regime to Hezbollah, Israel will strike as it has struck in the past. That's one principle of its policy.
The other one is the notion of an address. They think they can deter the Syrian regime because it's a regime that has interests, has a stake in its own survival, so they are the address. They are the ones you're going to threaten if they do cross the red line.
What's happening now with this erasing of borders and with this very, very strong alliance between Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, is that both those principles are called into question. What does it mean to say the red line is a transfer of weapons when Hezbollah, Syria and Iran's military machines are integrated? Who's transferring what to whom? It doesn't make sense anymore.
Hezbollah's weapons are Syria's weapons are Iran's weapons when it comes to Syria. So that's the first issue that becomes difficult for Israel to grapple with. The second is the notion of an address. The more the Syrian regime disintegrates, becomes a collection of militias, a fighting force more than a state, the harder it is to deter. I mean, what are the targets? Who is the address to whom you're addressing your threats?
So it may well be at some point that Israel finds itself dragged into this war because it can no longer conduct its strategy the way it used to, which is by dictating red lines and threatening central addresses. The address is now becoming much more decentralized, and the red lines are becoming much harder to enforce because, as I said, it's much harder to know who has the weapons and where they're being transferred.
GROSS: It seems Israel really has no side to support in the Syrian civil war.
MALLEY: That's a very good question. I think it applies in some ways to more than Israel. It applies to the West as a whole. It's hard - you know, they're not - there's not one side that is pristine. Now there may be a side that is morally superior, that is more appealing, but there's no doubt that there's now both ugliness on both sides and dangers on both sides.
Again, I'm not - it's not a matter of moral equation. One could be far worse than the other. But nonetheless, if you're sitting in Jerusalem, if you're trying to make a decision, and you're trying to weight the alternatives, the survival of the Assad regime weakened on the one hand, yes, but still it would be a victory for Iran and Hezbollah, or the victory of the opposition which would be a blow for Iran but could empower Islamists at a time when Islamists are gaining ground in Egypt, when they're gaining ground in Tunisia, when they're gaining ground in Libya.
If they're gaining ground in Syria, could Jordan be that far behind? And then Israel is facing something that it may consider far more dangerous than what it's facing today. So yes, I think it's a very difficult decision for Israel, and I think Israel has so far tried to stay out of the conflict as much as possible, has sent messages through intermediaries to the Syrian regime saying we're not after you, we're after some actions that you're taking, for example the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah. But we don't have a stake in this struggle, whether you survive or lose, according to the Russians' messages that are being conveyed. But no, this is - you know, in a way Israel is caught between a rock and a hard place.
GROSS: Robert Malley will be back in the second half of the show. He's the director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. We're talking about how the civil war in Syria has widened into a regional war, and what the consequences are in the region and for the U.S. My guest is Robert Malley, the director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program.
You were discussing how Israel really doesn't have a side that it can support because both sides pose potential threats to Israel. Let's extend that to the West in general and the United States in particular. What are the potential problems that the United States faces in deciding what if any further action to take in Syria?
MALLEY: Well, first I think, yes, the United States, the administration has a side. There's no doubt about it. It has a side. It has affinities with the opposition. It doesn't want to see the regime continue. President Obama said in August 2011, a few months into the uprising, when he said President Assad has to go.
So I think there's no ambiguity about which side the U.S. is on. They may not be - there's more ambiguity in the case of Israel. In the case of the U.S., I don't think there's any ambiguity. The question in my mind, one of the things that we have to be careful about, that we have to bear in mind is, is we may have a stake in whether the Assad regime continues or not. But do we have a stake, or should we have a stake in the broader Sunni Shiite confrontation? Should we take sides in this religious war which it has now become? Should we take sides in this war, not against Iran's policies, but against Iran per se? I mean, there is antipathy towards Iranians, which or Persians that Arabs want to contain and suppress any Iranian influence in the region. Again, we have legitimate problems with the shape of Iranian rule, the character of its regime, with the nuclear program, but do we have a problem with Iran per se as some of the Sunni Arab states do?
So this is one of the major problems I think in devising a policy, is this entanglement between our fights, our legitimate fights and the fights that others want us to be dragged into. Others want us to be dragged into the sectarian struggle between Sunnis and Shiites in which I would argue we don't have a stake. We don't want to take sides.
GROSS: Who are the others you're talking about?
MALLEY: Whether it's Sunni Gulf Arab states. I mean, many those were - many were - supporting the opposition in Syria have an agenda which is their agenda, which is to end, to suppress Shiites in the region, to suppress Iran's influence in the region. That's the agenda. I mean, you mentioned the Egyptian cleric who lives in Qatar. He was expressing a view that others had, which is this is a fight to the death against Shiites. That is not America's fight.
In the case of Iraq, we helped the Shiites come to power - as, you know, they were the majority. So we don't have anything against Shiism, per se. We don't have anything against Iran per se. We have something against specific policy. And that's how do we, how can we be smart enough to be part of a struggle but not, but be part of our struggle, defending our interests and not letting us be dragged into a fight in which we don't have a stake? People are trying to drag us into their wars. And that's, I think that's really one of the main issues we have to bear in mind.
GROSS: Well, some people here want us to get involved in the war. Senator McCain has been urging military intervention.
MALLEY: Right. And that's a - but I mean I think Senator McCain would say he's doing this because he wants to help the people of Syria have a more democratic, productive future. I mean, he has - obviously, he also wants to weaken Iran, but he has, you know, his view and I think it comes from a very a valid concern, which is the extraordinary death toll. And we didn't speak about the refugee crisis and, you know, one-and-a-half million refugees, more or less, four million, if not more, displaced persons out of a population of a little over 20 million. I mean, we're really talking one of the most catastrophic humanitarian disasters we're facing. So it's understandable that some people want to act.
What I'm saying is we have to be careful about understanding that this is not - in its entirety it's not our war. There may be pieces of it that are our struggle but this is not a war in which we have a real stake. There is enough reason to be cautious, to think hard. To think also what are the interests that we are pursuing? And there's a whole list that we could be pursuing. Ending the violence and the killing; very noble effort to try to try to end the slaughter. Or is the goal to end Iranian influence in Syria? Is it to avert regional instability? Is it to promote democracy? Is it to minimize or end the - to make sure that chemical weapons are neither used nor transferred? Is it to make sure that jihadists don't have a hold in Syria? Is it to limit Russian influence? All of these interests arguably are defensible. All of them can be justified. But you can't pursue each and every one of them simultaneously because they are in conflict with one another.
If, for example, your goal were strictly to end the violence and the killing, then maybe you'd be prepared to agree to some form of compromise that would entail some degree of continuation of elements of the current regime and some degree of continuation of Iranian influence in Syria - if your only goal was let's end the violence. If your goal is to end Iranian influence and to deal Iran a real blow in Syria, then certainly, you can't accept that. Your goal then is to defeat Iran and Syria.
So we need to decide before we jump to whatever action we're going to take: what are our priorities, what resources are we prepared to expend in order to achieve them, and what is the likelihood that by expending these resources we're going to get the result we want? Again, that doesn't prejudge the outcome of this thinking process, but it means that we can't want everything at all times and think we can achieve them because these are competing interests and some of them should take priority over others.
GROSS: So you've just spelled out some of the problems we'd face with military intervention. Secretary of State John Kerry wants to organize an international peace conference to resolve the civil war in Syria. But he says we're late, it's a little late to be starting this. Again, getting back to what you were saying about this is really widening into a conflict of militias and sectarian fighting that crosses national boundaries. So what are the odds that your traditional peace conference with heads of states or their appointees would reach any lasting agreement?
MALLEY: Nobody has ever lost any money betting on failure in the Middle East in general, so obviously, there's room for skepticism. I think what Secretary Kerry's intuition was - and I think it's the right one - you know, again, it's not, doesn't mean that Geneva is going to succeed. There's every reason to believe that it's going to fail. But given how complex the situation is on the ground, given how regional the conflict has become, given how global it has become, what you feel you need to have is an agreement between Russians and Americans on what the outcome needs to look like and then you try to expand the circle of getting others to buy into it. We're not there yet. We're not there yet.
GROSS: Why start it that way? Why started, you know, not getting Assad to the table but getting Russia to the table?
MALLEY: Because if Assad has Russia completely on his side, completely on his side, he won't budge. There's no reason for him to budge. You could say the same about the opposition. But clearly, it's the case of Assad. If he feels that he has Russia - let alone Iran and Hezbollah strongly backing him - he has no reason whatsoever to compromise. So there needs to be an understanding between Russia and the U.S. at a minimum. You know, ideally it would involve others as well, but let's start with what is more manageable, and even that's hard, and hasn't been achieved yet, an understanding on what the outcome, the endgame would look like, what does it mean for the survival of the Syrian state? What does it mean for the army? What does it mean for the political system and the fate of individuals as well, Bashar among them? If they could reach an agreement there, then perhaps they could each exercise pressure on other allies of the respective sides and then on the sides themselves.
GROSS: During the Cold War, there were a lot of regional wars, especially in Africa, that were proxy wars for Russia and the United States. Is it starting to look that way again, like there's a potential of this becoming a proxy war where the U.S. and Russia are on opposite sides and that could lead to lead to very bad relations between the U.S. and Russia?
MALLEY: It's a good question and certainly, there are echoes of it. I mean, even if you really want to stretch the analogy of the Russians sending advanced anti-air missiles to Syria is that echo of the Cuban Missile Crisis, where the Russians are going to say, we will send these missiles, unless you commit not to attack Syria? And President Putin of Russia does seem to have sort of a Cold War streak in him. And my sense is the Russians see Syria not so much, it's not so much for them about Syria; it's about Western intervention in third countries, it's about revenge for the humiliation that Russia has suffered over the years, it's also about the fear of Sunni Islamism. I think Russians truly believe that the U.S. is being naive in allowing or acquiescing, or condoning the rise of Sunni Islamists through democratic means in the region. The Russians see them as a mortal threat in their own neighborhood. So I think there's a lot of that. But one of the themes I think that is that runs through Moscow's attitude in this is a very anti-American notion that the U.S. can't be allowed to win this regime change fight in Syria.
So yes, you're right. I don't think we're going to go back to the Cold War. Russia doesn't have the means. Russia doesn't have the means to conduct that kind of fight. But certainly, it looks more like that than it's looked for some time.
GROSS: My guest is Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa program. We'll talk more about the widening war in Syria after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Robert Malley. He's the director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa program, and we're discussing how the conflict in Syria is becoming a widening war in the Middle East.
How do you see what's happening in Syria and the spread regionally of that conflict being connected to the Arab Spring?
MALLEY: First of all, I think we should bury the term Arab Spring once and for all. I mean, it never was the right term. It didn't happen in the spring. It doesn't have any of the springtime elements one in the West would associate it with, and it wasn't exclusively Arab because Kurds were involved. So I think what we're seeing is a confluence of upheavals in the Arab world, one of which is a sentiment of a repulsion, disgust and revolt against authoritarian regimes, which is the one that most people focused on, particularly in the West, at the beginning because it was the most positive one. But all these elements, all these other elements, have now glommed onto it and there is a sectarian struggle, there is this regional struggle, there is this newly-minted Cold War, there's this jihadist - I mentioned.
So there are positive elements. There are many frightening elements. I just think we have to stay away from a simplified prism of seeing it simply through - merely through the lens of the Arab uprising, which does conjure up more positive images and neglects and ignores all these other dimensions, which were very, very quickly present.
My colleague, Hussein Agha and I wrote two years ago, early on in the uprising, we wrote a piece which we called "The Arab Counterrevolution," pointing to all these other factors, and then eight months ago a piece called, "This Is Not A Revolution," trying to make the point that you can't simply look at this as a Revolution. We were, it's sort of a take on the French painter Magritte's painting of a pipe, in which he said this is not a pipe, but they said this is not a Revolution but it's also not a Revolution.
There are many other things that are happening and I think we have to be aware of them and I think at this point many are, and not simply try to look at it as a democratic uprising by people who are fed up with totalitarian rule. That's one element. Unfortunately, today it's no longer the more dominant one.
GROSS: So when you look at the Syrian conflict and see how it is widening to different religious groups in other countries, what are some of your worst fears of what might happen?
MALLEY: We touched upon a number of them already. I mean, whether we spoke about Lebanon, the most fragile both far of Syria's neighbors. Iraq, which again, just still licking its wounds from its own sectarian civil war. Jordan, we didn't mention Jordan, but certainly, Jordan, which has always been relatively fragile is looking with great alarm at what is happening to its north because instability in Syria could trickle down into Jordan and it's itself a very fragile concoction that doesn't quite, you know, hold together, given the divisions between Islam, Islamists between Palestinians and Transjordanians. And, of course, you could and Turkey, which has gone through its own convulsions. But, you know, you could weave extremely catastrophic scenarios which are not wholly unrealistic. We spoke about Israeli intervention. You could imagine Iran, if it feels like things are really taking a turn for the worse, pouring in troops directly into - more directly - and in greater number into Syria. You could imagine Iraqi Shiite militias coming in and then again Sunni militias fighting it out.
It's almost impossible to end this worst-case scenario exercise. I'm not saying they're the most likely, but certainly the ingredients are there for the kind of regional conflagration that some people have been speaking about for some time. They thought it would be launched more - it would be triggered by an Israeli-Iranian confrontation, and that is one of the layers of what's happening, certainly. But you now have this old Sunni-Shiite sectarian fight, which is metastasizing and which could take on - and what's hard to see is what's the endpoint? Because neither side can accept the victory of the other. So either there's going to be - and this again is where this notion of diplomacy is so key, and it's hard to do in the abstract and it's hard to do when the balance of power is what it is today, with President Assad feeling quite emboldened.
But only a diplomatic settlement in which all sides' core interests are respected is one that could put an end - at least a temporary end - to this conflict because each side is viewing it as so existential, that they cannot accept defeat.
GROSS: So, say the conflict leads to another civil war in Lebanon and increased sectarian fighting in Iraq and other countries. In your description, there are still civil wars within countries. But at the same time, you're discussing a war that, you know...
MALLEY: Transcends boundaries.
GROSS: ...transcends boundaries. Exactly. So do you see, you know, like Sunnis in Iraq fighting Shia in Lebanon? I mean, do you see this all morphing...
MALLEY: It's...
GROSS: ...into one big regional sectarian war?
MALLEY: There are certainly signs of it already. I mean, we've mentioned Hezbollah fighting across the border in Syria. There are Lebanese fighting in Syria on the Sunni side. There are Iraqi Shiites fighting to protect Shiite shrines in Syria, but they may do more than that, and there are jihadists. We didn't mention this phenomenon - I mean, that's probably not the right term - of jihadi tourism, of jihadists who are flocking to Syria because it has become the location, the arena, of choice for the Islamist fight, for the jihadist fight.
It is - it's already surpassing Iraq in terms of the number of jihadists who are - foreign fighters who are coming in. I was just in Europe and the Europeans are alarmed by how many of their own are now going to fight in Syria and then coming back. And Syria is much, much easier of access than Iraq ever was for jihadists. In Iraq, there was only one country through which they could go, really, which was Syria.
Syria's borders are - I mean, on Syria's borders are many countries that are allowing or can't do anything to prevent jihadists from coming in: Turkey, Lebanon, perhaps Iraq. So Syria is not just going to be a place, location, for this transnational war between Sunnis and Shiites, but jihadists also are finding it a very attractive place to wage war.
And as you say, this - it could potentially, as already we're seeing signs of it - the borders become simply passageways, gateways that fighters have to go through in order to wage the fight in any one of the arenas. But there are factors of restraint - let's not forget them - that each of these actors has limitations. Each of them knows that if it goes too far, it may be courting disaster.
So there's some degree of self-restraint, but the factors that are pushing towards greater regional conflict at this point seem stronger ones.
GROSS: The pressures towards greater regional...
MALLEY: Greater regional confrontation.
GROSS: Yeah.
MALLEY: I mean, so far, those are the ones that seem to be prevailing, even though, I mean, we could go through each actor one by one and understand and see why they wouldn't have an interest in seeing this happen, but wars often happen against the better judgment of its protagonists.
GROSS: Robert Malley, thank you so much for talking with us.
MALLEY: Thank you.
GROSS: Really appreciate it.
MALLEY: I enjoyed it very much. Thank you.
GROSS: Robert Malley is the director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa program. Coming up, our TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of "Arrested Development." Six years after being cancelled on Fox TV, it's returned with new episodes on Netflix. This is FRESH AIR.
Our TV critic David Bianculli was on vacation when Netflix unveiled all 15 episodes of its new revival of the cult sitcom "Arrested Development." He was able to dive in anyway, watching all the episodes in a row in one overnight binge-fest the morning Netflix made it available. Series creator Mitch Hurwitz advises against watching the new "Arrested Development" that way, but our critic begs to differ.
DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: When Mitch Hurwitz and his collaborators began making the Fox sitcom "Arrested Development" 10 years ago, it was so loaded with jokes - in-jokes, recurring jokes, and just plain bizarre jokes - that it rewarded viewers who watched more than once. But even though it won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series one year, not enough viewers bothered to watch it even once, so the show was cancelled in 2006 after three seasons.
And that would've been it, except for a loyal cult following that built up once the show was released on DVD and the Internet. So, finally, on Memorial Day weekend, "Arrested Development" was reborn with 15 new episodes released all at once. I binge viewed them all immediately and loved watching them that way. It's the structure of this new season of "Arrested Development" that impresses me the most.
Like Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," it's got a season-long story arc, as well as tightly sculpted plot twists within each installment. And "Arrested Development" tries something even more daring, by focusing each episode primarily on a specific character from the large and talented ensemble. This allows the show to revisit the same moments from various points of view in a way that becomes its own running gag.
Hidden identities, sudden surprises, perplexing mysteries, they're all unfolded slowly in intertwined fashion, like some sort of comedy double helix. And watching everything in one sitting helps to make those connections even clearer. It also helps to watch in large doses, because the season's plot doesn't fully reveal itself until episode four. That's when Jason Bateman's Michael Bluth - the sane center of a mostly insane family of misfits - is approached to make a movie about his unusual relatives.
He sorely needs the money. At the time, he's driving one of those photo-taking Google Maps cars, and is excited to pursue the offer. But here's where it all gets complicated and illustrates how "Arrested Development" is so wonderfully twisted. While Michael is driving in his Google car, the lawyer who phones with the movie offer is played by recurring cast member Henry Winkler.
Later in the same scene, Winkler is defended by another lawyer played by Scott Baio, both of whom became famous on the '70s sitcom "Happy Days," playing, respectively, the Fonz and Chachi. And the Hollywood producer-director who is seeking to make a movie about Michael's family? That's Ron Howard, the "Happy Days" star who not only is one of the executive producers of "Arrested Development," but also serves as its narrator.
RON HOWARD: (as narrator) Michael was driving a car from a company that shows every private residence in the country. But it's also a company that won't let us show the car that takes those pictures. In fairness to them, it is their property. (as narrator) If you want to know what the company is...
JASON BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Save it. We're just going to blur it anyway.
HOWARD: (as narrator) ...all you have to do is something it.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Barry, you still there?
HENRY WINKLER: (as Barry) So I got a really interesting call from Ron Howard, of all people. He's directing now, apparently, and wants to meet at in his office in, get this, Beverly Hills.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Why does Ron Howard want to meet with me?
WINKLER: (as Barry) Well, I don't know. His office didn't say. And if you don't mind, I'm a little busy with a case of my own.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Did you get any other information?
WINKLER: (as Barry) Apparently, he directed a movie called "Cocoon."
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Sorry, I was unclear: about why he wants to meet with me.
WINKLER: (as Barry) I don't know. You want me to tell him to go (beep) himself? I can tell Ron Howard to go (beep) himself. I can tell him to shove it up his (beep). I just can't do it now. Because I'm in front of a jury.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Barry, I will meet with him. You're in front of a jury right now?
WINKLER: (as Barry) Oh, and the looks I'm getting. Gotta go.
BIANCULLI: Since each cast member gets to take center stage for at least one episode, it seems almost unfair to single out any of them, except for Bateman, whose dry delivery is the gravity that keeps this whole enterprise from spinning off into space. But it would seem just as unfair not to heap extra praise upon Jessica Walter and Portia de Rossi as Michael Bluth's mother and sister, respectively, for their fully committed, truly funny work here.
So much about these new "Arrested Development" shows had me laughing out loud and often. Sometimes it was the revival of a running gag I'd forgotten about, like the use of the music from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to indicate sadness. Or the simple use of the phrase: get this. And get this: These 15 shows are loaded with guest stars, from Kristen Wiig and John Slattery to recurring players Liza Minnelli and James Lipton.
And Ron Howard even shows up onscreen, playing himself. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but after all these years since being on camera on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days," Ron Howard still knows how to deliver a punch line. Here he is, portraying himself, explaining his movie idea to Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman. And at the same time, Howard does double duty during the scene in his regular role as narrator.
HOWARD: (as himself) Really, I've been dying to figure out a way to do something about the market crash, ever since my partner Brian Grazer was tipped off that it was three months away from happening.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) What's that?
HOWARD: (as himself) But I never had a face to put on it, until now. You. Your wife is dying. You're trying to hold your family together.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Oh, gosh. No, no, no. My wife died years before any of this.
HOWARD: (as himself) Oh, gee. I think it's a lot more fun if we see her die.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) That is fun.
HOWARD: (as himself) And, by the way, then it gets a fantastic part for a leading lady. In fact, my girl Rebel would be great in that part.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Your girl?
HOWARD: (as himself) Rebel Alley. She's an actress. You know her.
(as narrator) He didn't.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) I do. Yes, of course I do. Your girl, huh?
HOWARD: (as himself) Well, we kind of like to keep that quiet.
(as narrator) Michael assumed that by my girl, Ron was referring to his mistress.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) So I can see why you're telling me on the lam, huh?
HOWARD: (as narrator) But Ron was actually talking about his daughter.
(as himself) You probably think I'm terrible for even mentioning her to you.
BATEMAN: (as Michael Bluth) Oh, no, no. I'm not one to judge. I'm sure you've all got girls up here in Hollywood.
HOWARD: (as himself) Brian's got two boys.
BIANCULLI: It'll be very interesting to see at the end of the TV year if Netflix's "Arrested Development" earns its way into one of the nominated spots for a Best Comedy Emmy. It's eligible, and it's been there before. And even though it's no longer on TV as we used to define it, it deserves to be nominated again.
GROSS: David Bianculli is founder and editor of the website TV Worth Watching, and teaches TV and film history at Rowan University in New Jersey. Tomorrow on our show, we'll feature the interview I just recorded with the creator of "Arrested Development," Mitch Hurwitz. You probably won't be surprised to hear he's really funny.
Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.


text:
Old world charm is infused through the gleam dress, with a custom delicate 3D
broderie anglaise and rouleau loop covered buttons. A high-stand collar, gathered
shoulders and a subtle blouson sleeve that finishes in a buttoned cuff adds to this
elevated aesthetic. A gathered drop waist ensures a relaxed off the body fit. Team
yours with your favourite boots to deliver a romantic take on the season
Please note that we do not offer refunds unless the item is faulty. Please make sure you are happy with your selection before purchasing. If there are any issues or doubts, we do offer store credits and exchanges.
To find out more please take the time to read our full returns policy prior to purchasing your Florence & Marabel item. (Return T&C's).
Please note that the below size chart is a general guide based on Australian standard sizing.
Some brands may vary from these measurements and we strongly suggest referring to their own website for more information. If you are between sizes or need assistance selecting the proper size, please call us on 07 4564 8385 or email [email protected].
Don't forget if you make the wrong choice, you can exchange your item for another size if available.
Letter Sizing |
Australian Sizing |
6 - 8 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
Zoe Kratzmann |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Denim Sizing | 25 - 26 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
The following size chart is a guide to assist you to select your size.
Measurements are indicative of body measurements and not our garments' measurements.
All measurements below are in centimeters. You will require a tape measure, with measurements best taken while wearing underwear and with the assistance of someone to help position the tape accurately. Areas are as follows:
Bust - Around the fullest part of your bust
Waist - Around the narrowest part of your torso
Hips - Around the fullest part of your bottom and thighs
If you are unsure of your clothing size, please follow these simple measuring instructions below to help find your correct size. If still unsure then please contact our store on 07 4564 8385 for further assistance.
The information below refers to a conversion between standard Australian shoe sizing and European sizing.
If you are unsure of your shoe size, please contact our store on 07 4564 8385 for further assistance.
The following fit descriptions are used to describe the general fit of a garment.
Slim fit
Slim fit clothing refers to any garment that fits the wearer close to the body. Pants, shirts, and other garments in this style don't have extra fabric hanging or draping anywhere. People with lean body types especially appreciate the closer fit because it can give them a more tailored look. Slim fit garments are also suited for petite sizes.
When purchasing a slim fit garment you may need to buy a size up from your usual size.
Regular fit
Regular fit clothing tends to skim most body types comfortably; regular fit pants and shirts have a little extra fabric. Any garment identified as regular fit will generally fit to standard size measurements.
Regular fit garments should be bought in your usual size.
Easy fit
Garments identified as easy fit will be loose and you may be able to wear a size above or below your standard size. If you want an easy fit garment to fit closely buy a size down or if you want it to fit loosely buy a size up.
Loose fit
Loose fitting garments are generally oversized and are often a one size fits all sizing. With contemporary trends some loose fitting garments may also be sized so choose your normal size if you want to achieve the look of the design or size down for achieve a more regular look.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Getting started with OE-Classic
NOTE: This page refers to OpenEmbedded-Classic. The Classic version of this software is no longer supported and has known security issues, including many CVEs that are highly dangerous such as Heartbleed and Redpill. For new projects, you are strongly recommended to use the latest version of OpenEmbedded-Core. See Getting started for current setup instructions for OE-Core. |
Setting up the toolchain and doing a build
Before starting to configure your OE installation by following the instructions on this page make sure you have read how OE fits in with your host distribution and the required software for compilation.
Directory Structure
The base directory of your Openembedded environment (/stuff/) is the location where sources will be checked out (or unpacked).
- You must choose a location with no symlinks above it
- If you work in a chrooted environment and have ccache installed it is highly recommended to 'su - <username>' after you have chrooted. Compilation may fail because ccache needs a valid $HOME, which is usually set when using a user account. It is recommended that ccache is not installed on systems used to build OpenEmbedded as it has been known to introduce other subtle build failures.
To create the directory structure:
$ mkdir -p /stuff/build/conf $ cd /stuff/
Obtaining BitBake
To start using OE, you must first obtain the build tool it needs: bitbake
It is recommended to run bitbake without installing it, as a sibling directory of openembedded/ and build/ directories. Indeed, as bitbake is written in python it does not need to be compiled. You'll just have to set the PATH variable so that the BitBake tools are accessible (see Setup the environment section).
Getting a working bitbake
Bitbake switched from a svn repository to a git one, and the former is stuck at version 1.8.13, so when you try to build you may face an error: "Bitbake version 1.10.2 is required and version 1.8.13 was found". In that case please fetch released version or use git repository.
Which version is safe to use? Last release one is always working. When OE changes require newer version of BitBake metadata is changed and you will get message like above.
One note for those who want to play with development versions of BitBake - Python 2.6 may be required by newer versions. This can be a problem for some Linux distributions.
Basically the easier and faster solution (at the moment I'm writing) is to get release one.
wget http://download.berlios.de/bitbake/bitbake-1.10.2.tar.gz
Using releases
Visit BitBake homepage and download tarball with latest release. For normal usage we suggest using 1.8.x (stable branch) versions. Unpack it to /stuff/bitbake/.
Obtaining OpenEmbedded using Git
Note: Once upon a time OpenEmbedded was using Monotone for version control. If you have an OE Monotone repository on your computer, you should replace it with the Git repository.
Note: These are only brief instructions. For a longer description about using Git with OpenEmbedded refer to Git and GitPhraseBook.
The OpenEmbedded project resides in a Git repository. You can find it at git://git.openembedded.org/openembedded.
Web interface is: http://cgit.openembedded.org/
To obtain Openembedded:
- Install git
- Go to the base directory of your OpenEmbedded environment
$ cd /stuff/
- Checkout the repository (use one of our mirrors)
$ git clone git://github.com/openembedded/openembedded.git
or for the firewall challenged try https proto
$ git clone https://github.com/openembedded/openembedded.git
or http proto
$ git clone http://github.com/openembedded/openembedded.git
This is the data you'll be using for all the work.
Updating OpenEmbedded
The .dev branch of OE is updated very frequently (as much as several times an hour). The distro branches are not updated as much but still fairly often. It seems good practice to update your OE tree at least daily. To do this, run
$ git pull --rebase
(note: this must be done in the directory created by the checkout of openembedded. On this page, this directory is /stuff/openembedded, but my checkout generated a directory /stuff/openembedded. Check the name of your subdir, and use the name on your machine in the following examples)
Create local configuration
It's now time to create your local configuration. While you could copy the default local.conf.sample like this:
$ cd /stuff/ $ cp openembedded/conf/local.conf.sample build/conf/local.conf $ vi build/conf/local.conf
It is actually recommended to start smaller and keep local.conf.sample in the background and add entries from there step-by-step as you understand and need them. Please, do not just edit build/conf/local.conf.sample but actually READ it (read it and then edit).
For building a .dev branch, in your local.conf file, you should have at least the following three entries. Example for the Angstrom distribution and the Openmoko gta01 machine:
BBFILES = "/stuff/openembedded/recipes/*/*.bb" DISTRO = "angstrom-2010.x" MACHINE = "beagleboard"
If you choose to install OE in your home directory, modify local.conf to refer to the OE paths as /home/<username>/ rather than ~/. It does not find the *.bb packages otherwise.
Setup the environment
One of the four command sets below will need to be run every time you open a terminal for development. (You can automate this in ~/.profile, /etc/profile, or perhaps use a script to set the necessary variables for using BitBake.)
If you followed the recommendation above to use BitBake from Git:
$ export BBPATH=/stuff/build:/stuff/openembedded $ export PATH=/stuff/bitbake/bin:$PATH
If you installed BitBake:
$ export BBPATH=/stuff/build:/stuff/openembedded
Alternative syntax for those using the tcsh shell (e.g FreeBSD):
$ setenv PATH "/stuff/bitbake/bin:"$PATH $ setenv BBPATH "/stuff/build:/stuff/openembedded:"$BBPATH
Start building
The primary interface to the build system is the bitbake command (see the bitbake users manual). bitbake will download and patch stuff from the network, so it helps if you are on a well connected machine.
Note that you should issue all bitbake commands from inside of the build/ directory, or you should override TMPDIR to point elsewhere (by default it goes to tmp/ relative to the directory you run the tools in).
Here are some example invocations:
Building a single package (e.g. nano):
$ bitbake nano
Building package sets (e.g. task-base):
$ bitbake task-base
Special note for task-base: you may need additional setup for building this very one task. More details in ZaurusKernels
Building a group of packages and deploying them into a rootfs image:
$ bitbake x11-gpe-image
$ bitbake x11-image
$ bitbake opie-image
(NOTE: kergoth says it will take around 10GB of disk space to build an opie or gpe image for one architecture.
sledge says: You can reduce it to ~4GB by INHERIT += "rm_work")
(NOTE: if you are using your custom kernel - set "Use the ARM EABI to compile the kernel (AEABI)" option in "Kernel Features")
See the /stuff/openembedded/recipes/meta/ directory if you're curious about what meta/task and image targets exist.
Building a single package, bypassing the long parse step (and therefore its dependencies--use with care):
$ bitbake -b /stuff/openembedded/recipes/blah/blah.bb
See Useful targets for a description of some of the more useful meta-packages. You will typically need at least one of the base images (bootstrap-image, opie-image or gpe-image), and if and only if you're building for an OpenZaurus target requiring an installer image (such as C3000), an additional pivotboot-image.
Output of the build process (temporary files, log files and the binaries) all ends up in the tmp directory. Most interesting is probably the tmp/work/ directory. Just have a look around the DirectoryStructure.
Images generated by building package groups like opie-image or pivotboot-image are placed in the tmp/deploy/images/ directory. Individual ipkg packages are put in tmp/deploy/ipk.
Adding Packages
- Create bbfile.
- Try building it locally.
- Fix eventual problems.
- Send .bbfile or an OePatch to the openembedded-devel mailing list. Please note that changes should comply with the commit policy.
Try to solve problems first by checking that you have done everything right, that nothing has changed from this description and that you have the latest code (see GitPhraseBook). Look also in the log file (referenced in any error message you will receive). If you still have problems, try checking PossibleFailures and common build errors. Above links are dead, you can try the Category:FAQ. If problems persist, ask on IRC or in the openembedded mailing list.
The Openembedded metadata is changing constantly. This implies several things:
- Once you have a "known good" version that works well on your system, keep it! To update, clone a new copy; don't overwrite that working version until it's known to be safe.
- To resolve build problems, "git pull" is your good friend. Many times, the issues will already be fixed in the current tree.
- Not all metadata updates cause the local caches to update correctly. Sometimes you'll need to remove the ".../tmp" work directory and rebuild from scratch.
- Similar issues apply to the package sources you download.
Portability issues
Make sure to set TARGET_OS to something other than linux in local.conf if your host isn't linux.
GNU extensions to tools are often required. Symlink GNU patch, make, and cp (from fileutils), chmod, sed, find, tar, awk into your OE development path.
FreeBSD 4 users: Perl 5.0 is too old. A more recent perl must be available as /usr/bin/perl. Unfortunately just having more recent perl in the path isn't good enough. Some scripts are hard-coded for /usr/bin/perl. You can test for which perl you're using by typing perl -v. see /usr/ports/UPDATING for instructions on updating perl. Don't forget to do a use.perl port as instructed in /usr/ports/UPDATING
FreeBSD users: Set BUILD_OS in local.conf to freebsdN where N is your major version number. At least the cross gcc wants this.
FreeBSD users: The build process of glibc uses a very long command line at some places. Increase ARG_MAX to at least 131072, by editing /usr/sys/sys/syslimits.h and recompile your kernel (and reboot).
Productivity notes
Use the interactive bitbake mode ("bitbake -i") to speed up work when debugging or developing .bb files. Remember to run "parse" at the prompt first. Go!
If you want to save some compile time or are interested in additional tweaks to local.conf take a look at the Advanced configuration page.


text:
Introduction to the Economic Census
Introduction to the Economic Census
The economic census is the major source of facts about the structure and functioning of the Nation's economy. It provides essential information for government, business, industry, and the general public. Title 13 of the United States Code (Sections 131, 191, and 224) directs the Census Bureau to take the economic census every 5 years, covering years ending in "2" and "7".
The economic census furnishes an important part of the framework for such composite measures as the gross domestic product estimates, input/output measures, production and price indexes, and other statistical series that measure short-term changes in economic conditions. Specific uses of economic census data include the following:
- Policymaking agencies of the federal government use the data to monitor economic activity and to assess the effectiveness of policies.
- State and local governments use the data to assess business activities and tax bases within their jurisdictions and to develop programs to attract business.
- Trade associations study trends in their own and competing industries, which allows them to keep their members informed of market changes.
- Individual businesses use the data to locate potential markets and to analyze their own production and sales performance relative to industry or area averages.
The economic census is conducted on an establishment basis. A company operating at more than one location is required to file a separate report for each store, factory, shop, or other location. Each establishment is assigned a separate industry classification based on its primary activity and not that of its parent company.
All results of the 2002 Economic Census are available on the Census Bureau Internet site (www.census.gov) and on compact discs and digital versatile discs (CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs) for sale by the Census Bureau. The American FactFinder system at the Web site allows selective retrieval and downloading of the data. For more information, including a description of reports being issued, see the Web site, write to the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-8300, or call Customer Services at 301-763-4636.
The economic census has been taken as an integrated program at 5-year intervals since 1967 and before that for 1954, 1958, and 1963. Prior to that time, individual components of the economic census were taken separately at varying intervals.
The economic census traces its beginnings to the 1810 Decennial Census, when questions on manufacturing were included with those for population. Coverage of economic activities was expanded for the 1840 Decennial Census and subsequent censuses to include mining and some commercial activities. The 1905 Manufactures Census was the first time a census was taken apart from the regular decennial population census. Censuses covering retail and wholesale trade and construction industries were added in 1930, as were some service trades in 1933. Censuses of construction, manufacturing, and the other business service censuses were suspended during World War II.
The 1954 Economic Census was the first census to be fully integrated, providing comparable census data across economic sectors and using consistent time periods, concepts, definitions, classifications, and reporting units. It was the first census to be taken by mail, using lists of firms provided by the administrative records of other Federal agencies. Since 1963, administrative records also have been used to provide basic statistics for very small firms, reducing or eliminating the need to send them census report forms.
The range of industries covered in the economic censuses expanded between 1967 and 2002. The census of construction industries began on a regular basis in 1967, and the scope of service industries, introduced in 1933, was broadened in 1967, 1977, and 1987. While a few transportation industries were covered as early as 1963, it was not until 1992 that the census broadened to include all of transportation, communications, and utilities. Also new for 1992 was coverage of financial, insurance, and real estate industries. With these additions, the economic census and the separate census of governments and census of agriculture collectively covered roughly 98 percent of all economic activity. New for 2002 is coverage of four industries classified in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing sector under the SIC system: landscape agricultural services, landscaping services, veterinary services, and pet care services.
Printed statistical reports from the 1997 and earlier censuses provide historical figures for the study of long-term time series and are available in some large libraries. CD-ROMs issued from the 1987, 1992, and 1997 Economic Censuses contain databases including all or nearly all data published in print, plus additional statistics, such as ZIP Code statistics, published only on CD-ROM.
More information about the scope, coverage, classification system, data items, and publications for each of the economic censuses and related surveys is published in the Guide to the 2002 Economic Census at http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/index.html. More information on the methodology, procedures, and history of the censuses will be published in the History of the 2002 Economic Census at http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/g02chist.htm#START.


text:
Back in 2005, when I was a reporter based out of TIME's Hong Kong office, I spent more time than I care to remember in the backyard chicken farms of Asia. This was the time of the H5N1 avian flu, which broke out regularly in chickens and occasionally (with fatal effects) in human beings and which always seemed to be one click of the genetic lock away from threatening the entire world. To prevent that mutation from happening — one of that would have allowed the deadly H5N1 virus to spread easily from person to person, like a human flu virus — health officials in affected countries would do their best to track and eradicate outbreaks as they occurred in animals, often by simply culling an afflicted flock.
But there was always one country where that plan never quite worked: China. Chinese chicken farmers had an unfortunate habit of prophylactically dosing their birds with Tamiflu, the only antiviral drug that showed any effectiveness against H5N1. (U.S. preparations for a possible bird-flu pandemic included stockpiling millions of doses of the drug.) As a result, it became that much more difficult for health officials to track H5N1 outbreaks because Tamiflu-dosed chickens could still get infected and spread the virus but without showing the symptoms that would set off medical alarm bells. And overusing Tamiflu also eroded its effectiveness as over time the H5N1 virus was able to develop a resistance to the drug. Had an H5N1 human pandemic ever occurred, we may well have been helpless.
In the years since, you might have hoped that Chinese farmers had learned to be a bit more judicious when it comes to dealing out high-end human drugs to their animals — but that's not the case. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that China, already the world's largest producer and consumer of antibiotics, is heavily using the drugs in animals as a way to enhance growth and prevent disease in crowded conditions. And just as happened with the overuse of Tamiflu, China's animal drug addiction is leading to increasing antibiotic resistance, which in turn could lead to serious problems for people who depend on those drugs to fight infections. "It's urgent that we protect the effectiveness of our current antibiotics because discovering new ones is extremely difficult," said Zhu Yongguan, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the lead author on the PNAS paper. "Multidrug resistance is a global problem and must be addressed in a comprehensive manner."
It's no secret that Chinese farmers use high levels of antibiotics in animal feed. The question for researchers is whether that might be a direct cause of increasing antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. For the PNAS paper, researchers actually sifted through the manure-enriched soil found near three large-scale Chinese pig farms, searching for the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes. (The medicine tends to be poorly absorbed by the animals, and so much of it does end up in the manure.) It wasn't hard to find them. Researchers counted 149 unique antibiotic-resistant genes, some at levels 192 to 28,000 times higher than control samples. Since the manure is often sold as fertilizer or washes downstream into rivers, those antibiotic-resistant genes can spread to other forms of bacteria, decreasing the overall effectiveness of the drugs in human beings.
But Chinese farmers are hardly alone in their reliance on drugs, as new numbers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week showed. In 2011, 29.9 million lb. of antibiotics were sold in the U.S. for meat and poultry production — nearly four times the amount sold to treat sick people. And most of the animals taking the drugs likely aren't sick; as in China, the antibiotics are used for growth promotion and to help the pigs or chickens survive crowded conditions on industrial farms.
At least that's what we think — producers of meat and poultry aren't required to report how they use the drugs, which drugs they use, on which animals and in which quantities. That makes it difficult for scientists to directly connect the heavy use of antibiotics in animals with antibiotic resistance in people. In a New York Times story last year, one public-health researcher compared the lack of data collection to "facing off against a major public health crisis with one hand tied behind our backs." But efforts by the government in the past to more tightly regulate antibiotics in animals have met with failure, thanks in part to powerful agriculture interests.
There's some hope: last year the FDA issued draft guidelines that would ask the pharmaceutical industry to change labeling and marketing practices so that antibiotics would be used only on sick animals, rather than for growth promotion on healthy ones. But even those guidelines would only be voluntary. In China and in the U.S., drugs are likely to remain a part of commercial meat production — and the rest of us may pay the price.


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Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
Jimi Hendrix
Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
Island Studios, London Studio Recording Jimi was recruited by Stephen Stills to lend guitar to his upcoming debut solo release, Stephen Stills (Atlantic Records, 1970). Jimi added lead guitar to the track "Old Times, Good Times" and also recorded some additional tracks with Stills that remain unreleased.
Olympic Studios, London Studio Recording Hendrix returned to Olympic Studios, the recording facility where his first two albums Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold As Love were recorded to record with Love. Invited by Love founder Arthur Lee to contribute to their album, Hendrix and percussionist Remi Kabaka joined Love in recording "The Everlasting First," which would later be issued as part of False Start (Blue Thumb, 1970). In addition, Hendrix took part in an extended instrumental jam session as well as a version of his own composition, "Ezy Ryder."
Are You Experienced. Bold As Love Arthur Lee Ezy Ryder Olympic Studios Recording Remi Kabaka The Everlasting First
Now a solo artist, Noel Redding begins recording the album Nervous Breakdown at New York's Sound Center Studios. Redding was joined by vocalist Roger Chapman (Family), Paul Caruso, organist Gerry Guida (Big Three) and fifteen year old drummer Steve Angel. The sessions included recordings of "Walking Through The Garden," (previously recorded by Fat Mattress) and Eddie Cochrane's "Nervous Breakdown." Also recorded were "Everything's Blue," "Highway," "Eric The Red," "Wearing Yellow," and "Blues In ¾." Ever industrious, Redding copped support from many friends who joined the bassist in the studio including Lee Michaels, Neil Landon and even the doorman from the Penn Garden Hotel (on bagpipes no less).
Gerry Guida Nervous Breakdown Noel Redding Paul Caruso Recording Roger Chapman Sound Center Studios Steve Angel
Hendrix joined his former bassist to add guitar to Redding's own "My Friend." The song remains unreleased however, as despite his best efforts, Redding's self-financed project never saw commercial release.
Working alone, Jimi arrived at the Record Plant intent on realizing a more traditional Delta blues arrangement of "Midnight Lightning" than he had previously attempted. Singing and playing live as he sat on a chair, Jimi utilized a finger picking style he rarely incorporated on his recordings. The song's slow beat was accented, in the tradition of such blues men as Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker, by the steady tapping of his foot on the floor. One of his favorite blues themes, Jimi would later make several attempts to complete a group version with Cox and Mitchell that summer at Electric Lady. Sadly, his untimely death in September 1970 came before "Midnight Lightning" and many other scintillating works in progress could be completed.
Hendrix began this session joined by an unidentified drummer [likely Steve Angel] and together the two players recorded a quick rendition of "Bleeding Heart". This was followed by three takes of "Midnight Lightning." Bassist Billy Cox joined the session and s the tandem ran through four takes of "Bleeding Heart," the later of which was flagged as the master and later transferred to Jimi's own Electric Lady Studios where additional guitar and a new drum part were overdubbed by Jimi and Mitch Mitchell. Although Jimi never fully completed "Bleeding Heart" prior to his death, it has since been issued as part of First Rays Of The New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997).
billy cox Bleeding Heart Midnight Lightning Recording Steve Angel


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Available in Several Beautiful Finishes These New "BM" Series of CRL Pull Handle/Towel Bar Combinations with Metal Washers are provided with all the hardware needed for installation. They are constructed of 1.5 mil thick heavy brass tubing. Each set consists of a pull handle and towel bar, along with decorative metal back-up washers and plastic protective washers to protect against glass-to-glass contact. The "BM" Series Pull Handle/Towel Bar Combinations come in eight stock finishes with custom finishes available upon request. Color: Antique Bronze Tube Diameter: 3/4 in (19 mm) Metal Washer Diameter: 1-1/4 in (31.75 mm) Minimum Order: 1 Each Specifications: 3/4 inch (19 millimeter) diameter brass tubing (1.5 mil thick) 1-1/4 inch (31.8 millimeter) diameter metal washers Glass Thickness Range: 1/4 to 1/2 inch (6 to 12 millimeter) Hole Diameter Required: 1/2 inch (12 millimeter) Center-to-Center Hole Spacing: Six Inch Pull = Six Inches (152 millimeters) Eight Inch Pull = Eight Inches (203 millimeters) 12 Inch Towel Bar = 12 Inches (305 millimeters) 18 Inch Towel Bar = 18 Inches (457 millimeters) 24 Inch Towel Bar = 24 Inches (610 millimeters).
Available in Several Beautiful Finishes | Provides a Functional Pull Handle for Inside the Shower Enclosure, Along with a Convenient Towel Bar for the Outside | Attractive Metal Washers


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In a demonstration, a bucket is filled with beet juice at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Butler, Pa., maintenance facility, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014.
Because rock salt is largely ineffective below 16 degrees, road salt is mixed with additives, such as beet juice and cheese brine, to keep it working in temperatures as low as minus 25. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A splash of beet juice, a dollop of molasses, a squeeze of cheese brine. In the coldest weather, the recipe for safer roads often goes beyond the usual sprinkling of salt.
Across the nation's snow belt, transportation officials are in the market for cheap and environmentally friendly ways to make rock salt work better by keeping it on the roads longer and melting ice at lower temperatures.
Plain salt is largely ineffective below 16 degrees. Additives can keep it working in temperatures as low as minus 25.
"This winter, it's been a godsend to be able to do that," said Leland Smithson, the ice and snow expert at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "It's been so cold."
In Milwaukee, road crews are experimenting with plentiful cheese brine, a leftover from cheese making. New York and Pennsylvania are among states trying sugar beet juice, while molasses and potato juice are flavoring roads elsewhere.
"It's all about availability," said association spokesman Tony Dorsey. "States are using whatever they can find that works, especially in low temperatures."
Many of the food derivatives are in commercially marketed products with names such as Ice Bite and Magic Salt, but in Milwaukee, transportation officials are mixing their own brew. As part of a pilot program, the city's fleet operations manager, Jeffrey Tews, has sent trucks to some of Wisconsin's 140 cheese plants to pick up brine, which is used to pre-wet the roads and rock salt. (Mozzarella and provolone have the best salt content.)
City officials are looking at whether the brine, free except for transportation costs, can replace the 70-cents-a-gallon liquid calcium chloride now used as a pre-treater and melting enhancer. In addition to wetting the salt, making it stay on the roads better, the brine is believed to lower the temperature at which the salt works.
The brine's got a bit of a cheesy smell up close, Tews says, but in the few times it's been used, no one has complained.
"We're taking a product that normally would have been disposed of and repurposing it," Tews said. "It could be economical. It's too soon to project."
The New York State Thruway Authority began a pilot program three years ago using another waste item — sugar beet juice from the sugar refining process. Scientifically speaking, carbohydrates in the beet juice help prevent ice from bonding to the road.
Used to pre-treat both the road and salt, the mixture of 80 percent brine and 20 percent beet juice also keeps the salt from scattering as much. That reduces by about 30 percent the amount of salt needed, officials said, which in turn cuts corrosion on vehicles, roads and vegetation.
This winter, crews plan to use 100,000 gallons of the beet-brine mixture on the 570-mile Thruway system. And officials promise the brownish mixture (no, it's not beet red) won't stain the roads.
"Molasses or beet juice, these materials are all very thick and they allow the liquid brine to stick to the salt without activating the salt," said Rob English, president of Chemical Solutions Inc. of Franklin, Mass., which produces ice melting products including molasses-containing Magic Salt.
Smithson said additives have been used for about 10 years and predicted more on the horizon as chemists experiment with whatever is available.
Wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, technology used to drill for natural gas using high volumes of fluid, is among substances being looked at, he said, though it's not believed to be in use anywhere.


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One of my favorite things about the expo is the shopping, of course. Here are a few key purchases:
I bought some white tonal striped silk from Haberman Fabrics, and some bright green basket weave wool from The Wool House to make a blouse and pencil skirt. And then I found the perfect vintage green buttons for the blouse!
In fact, I found lots of great vintage buttons! Most are from Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods.
I stocked up on my favorite pins: Clotilde glass head pins in red and white. Also: adhesive thimbles!
An expo must: purchasing fusible stay tape from Emma Seabrooke.
Anyway, it's great to be back and working on my book again. Henry has been following me around since I got home--I think he missed me!


text: We believe that the bug you reported is now fixed; the following changes were made to the overrides... Concerning package packer... Operating on the unstable suite Changed section from devel to utils Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed. If you have further comments please address them to 872974 at bugs.debian.org. This message was generated automatically; if you believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive administrators by mailing ftpmaster at ftp-master.debian.org. Debian distribution maintenance software pp. Luca Falavigna (the ftpmaster behind the curtain)


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Anatomy of a Broadcaster: Ryan Ruocco
Anatomy of an Insider: Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports and The Athletic
Anatomy of an Insider: Jeff Passan
Anatomy of a Broadcaster: Kevin Kugler
Anatomy of an Analyst: Kurt Warner
Barrett Sports Media's Top 20 Major Market Sports Radio Stations of 2023
Barrett Sports Media's Top 20 Mid Market Sports Radio Stations of 2023
Barrett Sports Media's Top 20 Major Market Program Directors of 2023
Barrett Sports Media's Top 20 Mid Market Program Directors of 2023
Barrett Sports Media's Top 20 Major Market Afternoon Shows of 2023
Day Spent With: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Day Spent With: FOX Sports 1
Day Spent With: Direct Results
Day Spent With: Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata of WFAN
Day Spent With: ESPN Radio
Eavesdropping: Mind the Game with LeBron James and JJ Redick
Eavesdropping: K&C Masterpiece, 105.3 The Fan
Eavesdropping: Talkin' Baseball, Jomboy Media
Eavesdropping: McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, JOX 94.5
Eavesdropping: 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, FOX Sports Radio
Industry Guest Column: Howard Balzer Recalls the First NFL Draft on ESPN
Industry Guest Column: Connor Onion Gets Called Up to the Show
Industry Guest Column: Andy Furman's Radio Do's and Don'ts
Guest Column: What Can A Fantasy Football Bet Teach Our Promotions Department?
Remembering Tom Bigby by Craig Carton
Meet the Bettors: Todd Fuhrman, CBS Sports HQ and Bet the Board
Meet the Bettors: Ben Mintz, Barstool Sports
Meet the Bettors: Mike Francesa, BetRivers
Meet The Bettors: Jeremy Stein, SportsGrid
Meet the Bettors: Ariel Epstein, Fanatics
Meet the Market Managers: Chad Boeger, Union Broadcasting Kansas City
Meet the Market Managers – Chris Soechtig, iHeartMedia, Tampa Bay
Meet the Market Managers: Dave Fleck, KSE Denver
Meet The Market Managers: Keith Barton, Max Media Virginia Beach
Meet the Market Managers: David Yadgaroff, Audacy Philadelphia
Meet the Podcasters: Mina Kimes, ESPN
Meet the Podcasters: Greg McElroy, Omaha Productions
Meet the Podcasters – Adam the Bull, Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show
Meet The Podcasters: Bonnie Bernstein, Walk Swiftly Productions
Meet the Podcasters: Chris Jericho, Talk is Jericho
Seller to Seller: John Goforth, Magellan AI
Seller to Seller: Sales Meeting
Seller to Seller: Dave Barnett, iHeartMedia Tampa/Miami
Seller to Seller: Scott Speropoulos, Audacy Memphis
Social Studies: Amanda Anderson, ESPN Sr. Director of Social Media
Social Studies: Tyler Webb, Co-Founder Uncle Charlie Marketing
Social Studies: JuJu Gotti, Meadowlark Media
Social Studies: Karlo Sy Su, ESPN Los Angeles
Social Studies: Mason Burgin, Front Office Sports
750 The Game Wins Mornings and Middays, 1080 The Fan Takes Afternoons in Portland Winter Ratings Book
SportsRadio 610 Finishes Ahead in Houston Winter Ratings Book
107.5 The Fan Lands Top-3 Finish in Mornings in Indianapolis Winter Ratings Book
105.7 The Fan Gains Three First Place Finishes in Baltimore Winter Ratings Book
104.5 The Zone Gets Strong Quarter From 3HL, 102.5/106.3 The Game Gains Ground in Nashville Winter Ratings Book
Where Are They Now?: Sandy Penner, Former WFNZ and WDAE Sports Radio Host
Where Are They Now?: Casey Stern, Former SiriusXM Broadcaster and Turner Sports Studio Host
Where Are They Now: Glenn Ordway, Former WEEI Host
Where Are They Now?: Mike North, Legendary Chicago Sports Radio Host
Jason Barrett Podcast: Fred Jacobs, Jacobs Media
Jason Barrett Podcast: Matthew Berry, NBC Sports
Jason Barrett Podcast: Jeff Smulyan, Never Ride a Roller Coaster Upside Down
Jason Barrett Podcast: Damon Bruce, 95.7 The Game
Jason Barrett Podcast: Rich Eisen, NFL Network
Would You Recommend Someone Pursue a Career in Radio Right Now?
Bill Riley Exiting Host and PD Role at ESPN 700 to Become Utah's Director of Broadcasting
RJ Choppy on NBA Finals Ratings: 'This is the New Reality of TV Ratings in the NBA'
Fred Toucher: If Sean Grande is Not Retiring After Sign-Off Message, He is a 'Pretentious Lunatic'
Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms Reunite on WFAN
Tom Brady: I Don't Want to Disappoint FOX, NFL Fans
Jake Peavy Feels the Connection to Baseball and Willie Mays at Rickwood Field
Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Draws 8.5 Million Viewers Across North America
NBA Finals Game 5 Averages 12.2 Million Viewers on ABC
Final Round of U.S. Open Averages 5.9 Million Viewers on NBC, Peacock
Kevin Kelly, Former AEW Announcer, Says He Is Suing the Company
Jake Marsh Leaving Barstool Sports to Pursue Play-by-Play Opportunities
Stephen A. Smith: Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson 'Were Truly an A-Team'
NASCAR to Continue 'Radioactive' on YouTube
Dan Le Batard: TNT Sports Will Try and Talk Charles Barkley Out of Retirement
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to give culturally relevant stories a voice on this iconic platform."
"My sense is there'll be somewhat a return to normalcy," he said referring to the overall look of the league and how players wear their jerseys.


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Fort Wayne, IN
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Fort Wayne, IN
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