text:
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Bogk House Drawings
In the last decade of his life, architect Frank Lloyd Wright described his Frederick C. Bogk House (1916-17) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as "a good house from a good period for a good client."
The Bogk House was significant to Wright because it represented a synthesis of ideas he had employed in some of his most important projects up to that time. Echoes of commissions such as the Midway Gardens (1914) in Chicago, Ill., with its strategic use of sculpted decoration, and the Unity Temple (1905-1908) in Oak Park, Illinois, with its formal, respectful and monolithic street façade are clearly evident in the Bogk House design, which incorporates these strategies to establish a suitable public face separate from the private interior of a middle-class family home.
Designed for Frederick C. Bogk, a prominent Milwaukee businessman and city alderman, the house was the only custom-built, single-family residence Wright designed in Milwaukee. An admirer of Wright's Avery Coonley House (1907) in Riverside, Illinois, Mrs. Bogk encouraged her husband to select Wright as the architect for a new home they wished to build in the Water Tower District north of the city.
The drawings of the Bogk House—cre-ated by Wright and his draftsmen in just a fewmonths prior to his departure for Japan in late 1917 to begin work on the Imperial Hotel (1923)—provide insight into the architect's design process as demonstrated by several versions of Wright's approach to the façade and to the first-floor plan. In the perspective drawing of the living room, one of the earlier and more fully rendered sketches for the Bogk House, one can easily see decorative elements in the fabrics and surfaces Wright employed in the interior and for the window designs of the Coonley House.
The decorative elements of the Bogk House façade, broad overhang, substantial lintel over the screen of windows facing the street, along with a small raised terrace flanked by temple urns cast from concrete and impressed with geometricized organic forms would be repeated in a variety of ways (including the green hipped roof) in his Imperial Hotel design.
Perhaps more significant in the Bogk design was Wright's emphasis on a free-flowing, open design for the first floor, a design strategy that would become a hallmark and the heart of Wright's domestic interiors and Usonian designs for the remainder of his career.
These details and others can be seen in the Figge's unique collection of Bogk House drawings on display in Gallery 201.
This exhibition will be on view June 19-September 28, 2013.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
And I'm Melissa Block. The verdict is in for John Edwards, and it's a good one for the former presidential candidate and one-time vice presidential nominee. The federal jury in Greensboro, North Carolina acquitted him on one of the six counts he faced in his corruption trial and deadlocked on the five others. The judge declared a mistrial on those counts. Edwards was accused of using almost a million dollars from two donors to cover up his extramarital affair with his pregnant mistress. After today's verdict, flanked by his elderly parents and his daughter, Kate, Edwards spoke outside the courthouse.
JOHN EDWARDS: I am responsible. And if I want to find the person who should be accountable for my sins, honestly, I don't have to go any further than the mirror. It is me, and me alone.
BLOCK: North Carolina Public Radio's Jeff Tiberii has been following the trial and he joins me now from Greensboro. And Jeff, pretty remarkable appearance by John Edwards after this verdict came in, an appearance of contrition.
JEFF TIBERII, BYLINE: Absolutely. I did not expect him to speak for this long. He spoke with his elderly parents and his daughter at his side. He spoke about his children. He spoke about really looking in the mirror, taking responsibility, and not pointing a finger or even raising a finger in any particular direction.
BLOCK: And he did mention - he thanked his children, including his - what he called his precious daughter, Quinn, the child who was born from his affair with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
TIBERII: And there have been all kinds of things written about the affair, the daughter, Quinn, that he had with Rielle Hunter, now more than four years ago. In anything that I've read or seen, I've never seen him make a statement quite like that about Quinn.
BLOCK: Well, Jeff, let's walk back through the day. The jury had come back at one point saying that they had a verdict, and it turned out to be a partial verdict. What happened?
TIBERII: About 2:45, Melissa, the jury came in. They had sent a note back, it said - we have finished our deliberations and have reached a decision on counts one through six. In all actuality, they had reached a decision but not a verdict on counts one through six. They were deadlocked on five of these counts. They had only reached a unanimous verdict on one count, which was count three.
BLOCK: And that count, in particular, why don't you tick through what that one was that they at least agreed on, and before they deadlocked on the others.
TIBERII: Count three, Melissa, was illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from Bunny Mallon. They found John Edwards not guilty. And all the legal experts said of the six counts, that was the weakest. So, when we heard at about 3:00 that the jury had a unanimous decision on count three, we all felt - okay, they're leaning not guilty and mistrial, because we just thought if they were going to convict on that count, they would likely convict on all of the counts.
Count three was the illegal campaign contributions from Bunny Mallon, as I mentioned. Of the five other counts, one was a conspiracy count, one related to illegal campaign contributions from Bunny Mallon, the 101-year-old donor from Virginia, from 2007. There were a couple of counts about campaign contributions from Fred Baron. He was a wealthy attorney from Dallas who was a big Edwards supporter. He has since passed away, since all of this played out. And there was one count pertaining to filing illegal campaign finance reports with the FEC. So, they were deadlocked on all of them except for that one count relating to Bunny Mallon.
BLOCK: Well, Jeff, describe the reaction in the courtroom as this verdict came in.
TIBERII: As it came in, it was relatively calm. Shortly thereafter, the one image to kind of take from that moment was Edwards' elderly parents, Bobbie and Wallace, just squeezing his hand, really squeezing his hand when that not guilty was read. Right after the judge went to recess a few minutes later, he turned around, big hug for Kate, big hug for both of his parents. Turned to the lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, kind of squeezed his shoulders and his neck and Abbe looked back - and he didn't know it was John Edwards at first - looked back and he just said, come here. And he stood up and he gave him a big hug. And it was, you know, a series of hugs at that point.
And then, interesting, the media leaning in and really trying to get anything they could from Bobbie and Wallace, trying to get them to make some kind of statement. And his father just pointed to his smile and says, this says it all, and left it at that.
BLOCK: The question now for prosecutors, Jeff, briefly, is do they pursue a retrial on the counts on which the jury deadlocked.
TIBERII: Right, Melissa, and I think that's a longshot. This was an iffy, tough case to try to begin with. They didn't win it, they didn't come close to winning it - deadlocked on five counts and an acquittal on the sixth. And I think, I do not expect to see this case retried. But, again, you never know.
BLOCK: Okay, Jeff Tiberii of North Carolina Public Radio in Greensboro. Thanks so much.
TIBERII: Thanks, Melissa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
TerraTec Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity
A DVB-T USB device from TerraTec.
It is supported under Linux.
Features two tuners, and have two antennas. You'll have adapter0 and adapter1 in /dev/dvb, which you can use separately.
The Diversity option is a hardware based feature that allows for the device's two receivers to be configured in a combined use mode to achieve better reception on a single channel. The diversity feature of the DiBcom demodulators is currently not implemented in the Linux-DVB drivers, so only the dual tuner configuration is presently supported on such devices [1].
It seems that either this tuner stick does not have a very sensitive tuner, or the small antennas that come with it are simply insufficient for real-life use, unless one lives next door to a broadcast tower and has a direct line-of-sight to it. It is thus likely that an external antenna with a builtin amplifier is needed when this tuner is used.
Components Used
Two identical looking devices are known. They can be distinguished by their USB ID:
- The first device has USB ID 0ccd:005a. It is supported by the official sources (see below).
- The second device has USB ID 0ccd:0081. It is supported by the official sources since 14.01.2009 – make sure your sources are up to date.
Note: 0ccd is the Vendor USB ID (VID) of TerraTec, while 005a and 0081 are the Product USB ID (PID) of the sticks.
Other Images
Making it Work (generic for all dib0700)
August 21, 2008 - New firmware file fixing the last cause for i2c errors and disconnects and providing a new, more modular i2c request formatting.
You will need the dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw firmware file in /lib/firmware or the relevant place for your distribution.
You may need to change the name of the file to dvb-usb-dib0700-1.10.fw or create a link until the driver code reflects that change.
For archival purposes: dvb-usb-dib0700-1.10.fw firmware file
August 29,2008 - Issues with Firmware 1.20. Some issues have been found with the latest version of the firmware. Users may wish to continue to use 1.10 unless they have patched their v4l-dvb code with dib0700_new_i2c_api.patch.
November 15,2008 - Issues with Firmware 1.20.
- The above mentioned dib0700_new_12c_api.patch is not available discretely but is now rolled into the mercurial drivers
dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw firmware fileis now stable for reception, but remote control functionality is broken; any key press is repeated until the next key is pressed. The only way to get remote control functionality presently is to roll back to 1.10 firmware and suffer the occasional disconnect.- The mercurial drivers have been changed so they now load 1.20 firmware. To revert to 1.10 firmware you need to rename your firmware file to dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw or provide a link of that name.
- To avoid spurious remote control signals with 1.20 firmware, you need to edit /etc/modprobe.d/options or from Ubuntu onwards /etc/modprobe.d/options.confand add:
options dvb_usb disable-rc-polling=1
November 28,2008 - i2c errors. Changes were made to the remote control drivers on November 16,2008 to correct the repeat key problem. The card is generally stable for dual tuner reception and remote control function with Firmware 1.20.
November 10,2009 - mt2060 I2C write failed. Possible regression of a driver bug raised against Ubuntu running 2.6.27-14 and 2.6.31-2.17 causing mt2060 I2C errors in MythTV useage with firmware 1.20. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/397696 Recommend check the kernel extensions listed here for Low Noise Activation and rc_polling are loaded with correct config file name for your distribution, EIT listings information is turned off until a suitable delay (500ms-1000ms)is added to a single card (not both) and the card has correctly been added to the database as two tuners (no additional NULL entries) in the mythtv recordcard table.
It requires the dib0700 driver. Just use Mercurial by following the How to Obtain, Build and Install V4L-DVB Device Drivers instructions.
Forcing the activation of LNAs (Low Noise Amplifier)
You may have to force LNA to get this card working:
In /etc/modprobe.d/options add:
options dvb_usb_dib0700 force_lna_activation=1
Disabling the remote control sensor
You may want to disable the remote control sensor if you are using another one and want to avoid error messages in the logs:
In /etc/modprobe.d/options add:
options dvb_usb disable_rc_polling=1
All relevant kernel modules options
In /etc/modprobe.d/options add:
options [module name] [option name]=[setting]
Get the parameters list using
modinfo [name of kernel module]
The debug values are bit fields, with each bit representing a different category. Add values to turn on multiple debugging categories.
- debug
- Turn on debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- buggy_sfn_workaround
- Enable work-around for buggy SFNs
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (disabled)
- debug
- Turn on debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- force_lna_activation
- Force the activation of LNAs (Low Noise Amplifier), if applicable for the device
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (automatic/off)
- dvb_usb_dib0700_ir_proto
- Set IR protocol
- Values: integer 0=NEC, 1=RC5, 2=RC6
- Default: 1
- debug
- Set debugging level
- Values: integer (bitmap) 1=info, 2=fw, 4=fwdata, 8=data
- Default: 0 (none)
- debug
- Set debugging level
- Values: integer (bitmap) 1=info, 2=xfer, 4=pll, 8=ts, 16=err, 32=rc, 64=fw, 128=mem, 256=uxfer
- Default: 0 (none)
- disable_rc_polling
- Disable remote control polling
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (enabled)
- force_pid_filter_usage
- Force all DVB USB devices to use a PID filter, if any
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (disabled)
- dvb_net_debug
- Enable debug messages
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (disabled)
- frontend_debug
- Turn on frontend core debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- dvb_shutdown_timeout
- Wait n seconds after close() before suspending hardware
- Values: integer
- Default: 0
- dvb_force_auto_inversion
- Set whether INVERSION_AUTO is forced on
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- dvb_override_tune_delay
- Wait n milliseconds for lock after a tuning attempt
- Values: integer
- Default: 0
- dvb_powerdown_on_sleep
- Turn LNB power off on sleep
- Values: integer
- Default: 1 (enabled)
- cam_debug
- Enable verbose debug messages
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- debug
- Turn on debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0
- dvbdev_debug
- Turn on device debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
- debug
- Turn on debugging
- Values: integer
- Default: 0 (off)
Remote control support
Using evdev
As long as the evdev module is loaded, a remote that is recogniced as hid device will be treated as a usb keyboard and this means that you can avoid using lirc.
However, many of the keys on your remote may generate keycodes which are not mapped to anything, by default.
In X you can use xev to find the keycodes and xmodmap to map them to useful symbols. Unfortunately, some keys may generate keycodes that X doesn't recognize at all and the device does not support keymaps, or this would be easy to fix.
Using LIRC
Usually remote controls in linux are managed by the lirc software collection.
To get lirc up and running you need to configure some things.
- Settings for the hardware
- Where does lirc get its input from? aka. the DEVICE. E.g. /dev/input/event3
- How to handle the input? aka. the DRIVER. E.g. devinput
- Settings for mapping driver output generated by your remote (a bunch of hex numbers) to key names (something like 0..9, Volume+, Next, Record)
- Settings for mapping key presses to actions (usually located in your .lircrc)
Mythubuntu case
On mythubuntu 10.10, you just have to add this line in /etc/udev/rules.d/65-persistent-hauppauge.rules
SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2040", ATTRS{idProduct}=="8400", SYMLINK+="lirc0"
Device/driver settings
Find the IR receiver's device by looking in the dmesg output for a line similar to:
input: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /class/input/input4
Additionally, the IR receiver will be listed if you execute the command:
cat /proc/bus/input/devices
For example:
I: Bus=0003 Vendor=2040 Product=9950 Version=0100 N: Name="IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver" P: Phys=usb-0000:07:01.2-1/ir0 S: Sysfs=/class/input/input4 U: Uniq= H: Handlers=kbd event4 B: EV=3 B: KEY=14afc336 284284d00000000 0 480058000 219040000801 9e96c000000000 90020000000ffd
In this example, the remote control gives output into /dev/input/event4.
The event number depends on your particular system and can vary.
Eventually this event number can even vary at every reboot.
You could create a new udev rule in /etc/udev/rules.d/65-persistent-hauppauge.rules.
KERNEL=="event*", ATTRS{name}=="IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver", SYMLINK+="input/dvb-ir"
This would make IR receivers handled by the usb_dvb framework always always be linked to /dev/input/dvb-ir.
But Linux systems running recent udev will automatically create non-varying names, a nicer and automatic way of providing a stable input event name:
$ ls -la /dev/input/by-path/ total 0 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 140 2008-02-07 20:31 . drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 280 2008-02-07 20:31 .. lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 2008-02-07 20:31 pci-0000:00:1a.1-usb-0:2:1.0-event-kbd -> ../event1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 2008-02-07 20:31 pci-0000:00:1a.1-usb-0:2:1.1-event-mouse -> ../event2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 2008-02-07 20:31 pci-0000:00:1a.1-usb-0:2:1.1-mouse -> ../mouse1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 2008-02-07 20:31 pci-4-1--event-ir -> ../event4 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 2008-02-07 20:31 platform-pcspkr-event-spkr -> ../event3
LIRC will use it without needing a special kernel module. use the dev/input (or devinput. Check this with the command "lircd --device=help".) driver and specify the input event device in /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf # # Arguments which will be used when launching lircd LIRCD_ARGS="" #Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file #START_LIRCMD=false #Try to load appropriate kernel modules LOAD_MODULES=true # Run "lircd --driver=help" for a list of supported drivers. DRIVER="dev/input" # If DEVICE is set to /dev/lirc and devfs is in use /dev/lirc/0 will be # automatically used instead REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/input/by-path/pci-4-1--event-ir" MODULES="" # Default configuration files for your hardware if any LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf" LIRCMD_CONF=""
If you have REMOTE and TRANSMITTER sections in your hardware.conf file, they should look like this:
#Chosen Remote Control REMOTE="Terratec Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity" REMOTE_MODULES="" REMOTE_DRIVER="devinput" REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/input/by-path/pci-1-5-event-ir" REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf" REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS=""
#Chosen IR Transmitter TRANSMITTER="None" TRANSMITTER_MODULES="" TRANSMITTER_DRIVER="" TRANSMITTER_DEVICE="" TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_CONF="" TRANSMITTER_LIRCD_ARGS=""
Remote key setup
See device specific section below or try [2].
Sample .lircrc
A sample .lircrc can be found LircrcExample here.
Keys repeated twice
But there is still the problem of the key repeats for it, so that each keypress will be repeated twice. The patches, as mentioned above, may not work, but a workaround is possilbe. It is described in http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4253678
Simply add config = echo " > /dev/null before the main config in .mythtv/lircrc or .lircrc
begin prog = mythtv button = Mute config = echo " > /dev/null config = | ... end
So each 2nd keypress will be suppressed. This works in some application but not others (e.g. vlc).
Alternatively there is a patch for the kernel driver that solves it, it can be found here.
Finally if that doesn't work and you have the silver remote (A415-HPG-WE-A ) then changing the lircd.conf line as follows can prevent the duplicate key presses. This has the side-effect of disabling key repeats for the remote entirely. Change toggle_bit_mask 0x80000000 to toggle_bit_mask 0x00000000
Note: do not try to comment out (using #) any line in this file, or lirc won't work anymore.
Do NOT do this:
#toggle_bit_mask 0x80000000 toggle_bit_mask 0x00000000
Replace the original line instead.
Specific to the Model
Specific Remote control support
The remote is supported at least in the Mercurial repository (see Drivers section above).
TerraTec gray-orange remote
Apparently this remote is sold with (at least) the TerraTec Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity, TerraTec Cinergy 2400i DT, and TerraTec Cinergy T USB XXS.
The dvb-usb-dib0700 module needs to be loaded with the option dvb_usb_dib0700_ir_proto=0 to set the IR protocol to NEC (which is used by this device).
The following keycodes should work with it, specify them in /etc/lirc/lircd.conf:
# Please make this file available to others # by sending it to <email@example.com> # # this config file was automatically generated # using lirc-0.8.2-CVS(dev/input) on Tue May 8 23:40:09 2007 # # contributed by Heinrich Schwietering # # brand:Terratec_ # model no. of remote control: # devices being controlled by this remote: Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS # begin remote name Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS bits 16 eps 30 aeps 100 one 0 0 zero 0 0 pre_data_bits 16 pre_data 0x1 gap 135987 toggle_bit_mask 0x80000000 begin codes onoff 0x0074 home 0x0066 dvdmenu 0x008B subtitles 0x0172 teletext 0x0184 delete 0x006F 1 0x0002 2 0x0003 3 0x0004 4 0x0005 5 0x0006 6 0x0007 7 0x0008 8 0x0009 9 0x000A 0 0x000B av 0x0182 ab 0x00A5 tv 0x0179 dvd 0x0185 video 0x0189 music 0x0188 pic 0x019A up 0x0067 down 0x006C left 0x0069 right 0x006A ok 0x0160 epg 0x016D info 0x0166 back 0x009E vol+ 0x0073 vol- 0x0072 play 0x00CF mute 0x0071 ch+ 0x0192 ch- 0x0193 red 0x018E green 0x018F yellow 0x0190 blue 0x0191 rec 0x00A7 stop 0x0080 pause 0x0077 last 0x0195 fr 0x00A8 ff 0x009F next 0x0197 end codes end remote
Note: the most recent model of this remote requires four different codes (replace them in above list).
ab 0x00AD ff 0x00D0 last 0x019C pic 0x0177
Should you need to quickly test all possible keycodes, just use this script to generate a list, which you can copy/paste to your lircd.conf file:
for (( i = 1; i < 512; i++ )); do x=`printf %#06X $i`; echo code$x $x; done
The result looks like this:
code0X0001 0X0001 code0X0002 0X0002 code0X0003 0X0003 code0X0004 0X0004 ... code0X01FC 0X01FC code0X01FD 0X01FD code0X01FE 0X01FE code0X01FF 0X01FF
Copy these keycodes just after the begin statement of your lircd.conf file. You can leave the original keycodes, duplicated values are not a problem. Once lircd is restarted, run the irw program and press your remote keys to show the missing codes:
# irw 00000000000100ad 00 code0X00AD Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS 00000000000100d0 00 code0X00D0 Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS 000000000001019c 00 code0X019C Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS 0000000000010177 00 code0X0177 Cinergy_Hybrid_t_USB_XS
Sample Kernel Output
From 2.6.23-tuxonice-r6 (gentoo) with drivers compiled from repository 11th Feb 08:
$ dmesg | grep -i dvb dvb-usb: found a 'Terratec Cinergy DT XS Diversity' in cold state, will try to load a firmware dvb-usb: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-usb-dib0700-1.10.fw' dvb-usb: found a 'Terratec Cinergy DT XS Diversity' in warm state. dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer. DVB: registering new adapter (Terratec Cinergy DT XS Diversity) DVB: registering frontend 0 (DiBcom 7000PC)... dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer. DVB: registering new adapter (Terratec Cinergy DT XS Diversity) DVB: registering frontend 1 (DiBcom 7000PC)... input: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /class/input/input6 dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 150 msecs. dvb-usb: Terratec Cinergy DT XS Diversity successfully initialized and connected. usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_dib0700
User Experiences
See the talk page.


text:
On February 27, 2007, Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) and Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, met with Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic (1993–2003), world renowned human rights activist, and playwright.
"This year marks the 30th anniversary of Charter 77's founding, a movement that was dedicated to compelling the communist government of Czechoslovakia to abide by the international human rights agreements it had freely adopted, including the Helsinki Final Act," observed Chairman Hastings. "I was delighted to be able to personally share with President Havel the deep respect I have for him, for the movement he helped to found, and for his continuing leadership on human rights issues around the globe."
Former Commission Chairman Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Czech Ambassador Petr Kolar also participated in the discussions, which touched on issues including Russia, China, Cuba, and developments in the Middle East.
Havel was briefly in Washington early this year at the Library of Congress' John W. Kluge Center. Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington hosted meetings on Capitol Hill with Havel and Members of Congress. Havel addressed a joint session of Congress in 1990 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.
The Charter 77 movement was founded in Czechoslovakia in 1977, originally with the support of approximately 240 signatories, each of whom signed a card stating, "I agree with the Charter 77 declaration of January 1, 1977." The original cards have since been discovered in the Czechoslovak secret police archives.
In January, the National Museum in Prague mounted an exhibit of materials related to the Charter 77 movement. In addition, the Washington-based National Security Archives (affiliated with George Washington University), in conjunction with the Prague-based Czechoslovak Documentation Center, released a compilation of documents about the Charter 77 movement, including now-declassified State Department and CIA reporting.
Statements made by current and former leaders of the Helsinki Commission on the occasion of the 30 th anniversary of Charter 77, as published in the Congressional Record, are printed below.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, as Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, I am privileged to add my voice today to those honoring Vaclav Havel, Czechoslovakia's first post-communist President, and the Charter 77 movement which, 30 years ago, he helped to found.
Three decades ago, the Charter 77 movement was established and its founding manifesto was formally delivered to the Communist regime in Prague. The goals of the Chartists – as signatories came to be known – were fairly straightforward: "Charter 77 [they stated] is a loose, informal and open association of people of various shades of opinion, faiths and professions united by the will to strive individually and collectively for the respect of civic and human rights in our own country and throughout the world – rights accorded to all men by the two mentioned international covenants, by the Final Act of the Helsinki conference and by numerous other international documents opposing war, violence and social or spiritual oppression, and which are comprehensively laid down in the U.N. Universal Charter of Human Rights."
The phrase "people of various shades of opinion" was, in fact, a charming understatement regarding the diversity of the signatories. Founding members of this movement included Vaclav Maly, a Catholic priest banned by the regime; Vacla Benda, a Christian philosopher; former Trotskyite Peter Uhl; former Communists like Zdenek Mlynar and Jiri Hajek, both of whom were ousted from their leadership positions in the wake of the 1968 Soviet attack that crushed the Prague Spring reforms; and, of course, Vaclav Havel, a playwright and dramatist. Notwithstanding the many differences these people surely had, they were united by a common purpose: to compel the Communist regime to respect the international human rights agreements it had freely adopted.
Interestingly, the Charter 77 movement was never a mass dissident movement – fewer than two thousand people ever formally signed this document. But, to use a boxing analogy, Charter 77 punched above its weight. Its influence could be felt far beyond the number of those who openly signed on and, ultimately, in the battle of wits and wills with the Communist regime, Charter 77 clearly won
And most importantly, Charter 77 – like other human rights groups founded at roughly the same time in Moscow, Vilnius, Warsaw and elsewhere – looked to the Helsinki process as a vehicle for calling their own governments to account. Although it is sometimes said that the Helsinki process helped to bring down communism, it is really these grass roots movements that gave the Helsinki process its real meaning and its true legitimacy.
Thirty years ago, a small, courageous band of people came together and said, "We believe that Charter 77 will help to enable all citizens of Czechoslovakia to work and live as free human beings." Today, we remember their struggle and praise their enduring contributions to democracy and human rights.
March 13, 2007
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, 30 years ago, the Charter 77 movement was established with the simple goal of ensuring that the citizens of Czechoslovakia could "live and work as free human beings." Today, as cochairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, I join with my colleagues in celebrating the founding of Charter 77 and honoring those men and women who, through their personal acts of courage, helped bring freedom to their country.
When the Charter 77 manifesto was issued, three men were chosen to be the first spokespersons of this newly formed movement: a renowned European philosopher, Jan Patocka; Jiri Hajek, who had been Czechoslovakia's Foreign Minister during the Prague Spring; and the playwright, Vaclav Havel. They had the authority to speak for the movement and to issue documents on behalf of signatories
Tragically, Jan Patocka paid with his life for his act of bravery and courage. After signing the charter and meeting with Dutch Ambassador Max van der Stoel, he was subjected to prolonged interrogation by the secret police. It is widely believed this interrogation triggered a heart attack, resulting in his death on March 13, 1977.
In spite of the chilling message from the regime, Jiri Hajek and Vaclav Havel continued to work with other chartists, at tremendous personal cost. Two-hundred and thirty signatories were called in for interrogation; 50 houses were subjected to searches. Many supporters lost their jobs or faced other forms of persecution; many were sent to prison. In fact, the harsh treatment of the Charter 77 signatories led to the creation of another human rights group, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted, known by its Czech acronym, VONS. In October 1979, six VONS leaders including Vaclav Havel, were tried for subversion and sentenced to prison terms of up to 5 years.
Perhaps the regime's harsh tactics reflected its knowledge that, ultimately, it could only retain control through force and coercion. Certainly, there was no perestroika or glasnost in Husak's Czechoslovakia, no goulash communism as in neighboring Hungary. And so, the regime was threatened by groups that might have seemed inconsequential elsewhere: by the psychedelic band, "Plastic People of the Universe;" by a musical appreciation group known as the Jazz Section; by environmentalists, historians, philosophers and, of course, playwrights.
Mr. President, 1989 was an extraordinary year–a year in which the regime sought to control everything and, in the end, could control nothing. In May, Hungary opened its borders. In June, free elections were held for parliamentary seats in Poland for the first time in decades. By August, 5,000 East Germans were fleeing to Austria through Hungary every single week. Demonstrations in East Germany continued to rise, forcing Eric Honecker to resign in October. On November 9, the Berlin Wall was breached.
But while Communist leaders in other countries saw the writing on the wall, authorities in Prague continued to believe they could somehow cling to power. Ironically, the regime's repressive tactics were part of its final undoing.
On November 17, 1989, significant student demonstrations were held in Prague. Human rights groups released videotapes of police and militia viciously beating the demonstrators and these tapes were rapidly and widely circulated through the underground. Shortly thereafter, VONS received credible information that a student demonstrator had been beaten to death. The alleged death so outraged Czechoslovak society that it triggered massive demonstrations. Within days, Czechoslovakia's Communist regime collapsed like a house of cards.
As it turned out, no one had actually been killed during the November 17 protests; the story of the student death had been concocted by the secret police to discredit VONS but was all too believable. As concisely stated by Mary Battiata, a reporter for the Washington Post, "….. a half-baked secret police plan to discredit a couple of dissidents apparently boomeranged and turned a sputtering student protest into a national rebellion." On December 29, Vaclav Havel–who had been in prison just a few months earlier–was elected President of Czechoslovakia by the Federal Parliament.
Jan Patocka once wrote, "The real test of a man is not how well he plays the role he has invented for himself but how well he plays the role that destiny assigned to him." It seems that destiny had a particular role for Vaclav Havel, not one that he invented or envisioned for himself, but one that he has played with courage and grace, with dignity and honor. Today, we honor Vaclav Havel and the Charter 77 movement he helped to found.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Charter 77 movement. Along with other colleagues from the Helsinki Commission, which I had the privilege of Chairing and Co-Chairing from 1985 to 1994, I rise today to commemorate Charter 77's extraordinary accomplishments, and to praise Vaclav Havel, a founding member of the Charter 77 movement and Czechoslovakia's first President after the fall of communism.
Twenty years ago this month, I led a Congressional delegation to Czechoslovakia – my first trip to that country. At that time, I was assured by Czechoslovak Government officials that Charter 77 was only a small group, and there was no need to have a dialogue with its members. In an apparent effort to underscore their point, the regime detained several Chartists to keep them from meeting with our delegation: Vaclav Havel, Petr Uhl and Jiri Dienstbier were all arrested in Prague; Miklos Duray was prevented from traveling to Prague from Slovakia; and although Petr Puspoki-Nagy made it to Prague, he was also immediately detained on his arrival.
Although I was deprived of the chance to meet these individuals in person, I was already well aware of their work. In fact, the Helsinki Commission's second hearing, held in February 1977, published the full text of the Charter 77 manifesto at the request of one of our witnesses, Mrs. Anna Faltus. We owe a special debt of gratitude to the late Mrs. Faltus, who worked tirelessly for decades as an advocate for a free Czechoslovakia. To this end, she made sure that the documents of Charter 77 and the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted were quickly translated and widely disseminated to policy makers and human rights advocates. Her effort made it possible for the Helsinki Commission to publish (in 1982 and in 1987) selected and representatives texts of the Charter 77 movement.
Looking back, the breadth of those documents is truly remarkably, touching on everything from the legacy of World War II to the country's economic situation; from contemporary music to nuclear energy. But the common thread that bound these diverse statements together was a commitment to promote and protect "the right of the individual to know and act upon his rights." This right was freely adopted by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic when Gustav Husak fixed his signature to the Helsinki Final Act in 1975.
It was, of course, with great interest that I discussed Charter 77 , first with Czechoslovak officials during my February 1987 trip to Prague, then with Czechoslovak parliamentarians visiting Washington in June 1988 (a delegation which included Prague Communist Party boss Miroslav Stepan), and then with the Czechoslovak delegation to the 1989 Paris Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension. In these meetings, as well as in correspondence with the Czechoslovak Ambassador to the United, I was told that Charter 77 didn't represent public opinion. I was warned that siding with Charter 77 would not help bilateral relations, and I was assured that democracy was coming soon to Czechoslovakia – "socialist democracy."
Needless to say, I was not convinced by my interlocutors: I was not convinced that Augustin Navratil was actually being treated for a mental health condition, rather than being persecuted for his religious activism. I was frankly disgusted when the Czechoslovak delegation to the Paris meeting baldly lied about Jiri Wolf, telling us he had been released early from his prison sentence as a "humanitarian" gesture, and then shrugging with indifference when they were caught in their lie. Most of all, I did not believe that Vaclav Havel was a criminal and Charter 77 merely an "insignificant" group.
In fact, in 1989 Senator Dennis DeConcini and I nominated Vaclav Havel for the Nobel Peace Prize. As Senator DeConcini said, "[i]n spite of relentless harassment by the authorities, including imprisonment, repeated detentions, house searches, and confiscation of property, Havel has remained active in the struggle for human rights. . . Havel is now in prison, but he is not alone in his cause. In a dramatic move. . . over 700 of his colleagues – playwrights, producers, artists, and actors – signed a petition calling for his release and the release of others [similarly imprisoned]. For these people, like many others in his country, Vaclav Havel has become a symbol of an enduring and selfless commitment to human rights."
Madam Speaker, on this 30th anniversary of the founding of the Charter 77 movement, I rise to commend and remember the courageous men and women, signatories and supporters, who paved the way for the peaceful transition from communism in Czechoslovakia and restoration of Europe, whole and free. On this anniversary, I give special tribute to Vaclav Havel, playwright and president, and his singular role in leading his country to freedom.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, Edmund Burke once said that, "all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Thirty years ago, good men and women came together, and together, they ultimately triumphed over evil.
In 1987, I traveled to Czechoslovakia with a Helsinki Commission delegation led by my good friend, STENY HOYER, who was then Chairman of the Commission. We traveled there just ten years after the Charter 77 movement had been formed and, amazingly, in spite of persecution and imprisonment, they had managed to publish 350 documents during its first ten years. And it was clear during my visit to Prague that this organization was having an impact, especially when the communist authorities went to the trouble of preventing five independent activists, including Vaclav Havel, from meeting with us.
In spite of this, our delegation was able to meet with several other Charter 77 signatories and sympathizers: Libuse Silhanova, Josef Vohryzek, Father Vaclav Maly, Zdenek Urbanek, and Rita Klimova. Libuse Silhanova, then serving as a Charter 77 spokesperson, described her fellow Chartists as "ordinary people who happen to be part of a movement." For a group of "ordinary people," they certainly accomplished extraordinary things.
One of the most notable of these "ordinary people" was the playwright Vaclav Havel, who is today the sole surviving member of Charter 77's first three spokespersons. At a time when most Czechoslovaks preferred to keep their heads low, he held his up. When others dared not speak out, he raised up his voice. While others hid from communism in their apartments and weekend cottages, he faced it down in prison.
In 1978, Havel wrote a seminal essay entitled, "The Power of the Powerless." In it, he proposed a remarkably conspiratorial concept: the idea that those repressed by the Communist Lie actually had the power to "live for truth," and that by doing so, they could change the world in which they live.
One of the people who read this essay was Zbygniew Bujak, who became a leading Solidarity activist in Poland. Bujak described the impact of Havel's message:
This essay reached us in the Ursus factory in 1979 at a point when we felt we were at the end of the road. Inspired by KOR [the Polish Workers' Defense Committee, which preceded Solidarity], we had been speaking on the shop floor, talking to people, participating in public meetings, trying to speak the truth about the factory, the country, and politics. There came a moment when people thought we were crazy. Why were we doing this? Why were we taking such risks? Not seeing any immediate and tangible results, we began to doubt the purposefulness of what we were doing. Shouldn't we be coming up with other methods, other ways?
Then came the essay by Havel. Reading it gave us the theoretical underpinnings for our activity. It maintained our spirits; we did not give up, and a year later – in August 1980 – it became clear that the party apparatus and the factory management were afraid of us. We mattered. And the rank and file saw us as leaders of the movement. When I look at the victories of Solidarity, and of Charter 77, I see in them an astonishing fulfillment of the prophecies and knowledge contained in Havel's essay.
Vaclav Havel's essay was not just the product of clever wordsmithing; it was an act of singular heroism. In fact, shortly after writing "The Power of the Powerless," Vaclav Havel found himself in prison, again. And it should be remembered that others, including philosopher Jan Patocka, Havel's close friend, and Pavel Wonka, paid with their lives for their opposition to the Czechoslovak communist regime.
Vaclav Havel is a man who has always been guided by the courage of his convictions. Remarkably, his courage did not fade upon his assumption of the presidency. Indeed, he is all the more heroic for his steadfast commitment to human rights even from the Prague Castle. From the beginning, he was a voice of reason, not revenge, as he addressed his country's communist and totalitarian past. In 1993, he rightly identified the situation of Roma as "a litmus test for civil society." And not only has he raised human rights issues in his own country but reminds the world of the abuses taking place in Cuba and China.
Throughout his presidency, he pardoned those faced with criminal charges under communist-era laws that restrict free speech. In 2001, he spoke out against the parliament's regressive religion law, which turned the clock back on religious freedom. And he has reminded other world leaders of our shared responsibility for the poor and less fortunate the world over.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of Charter 77, I want to join my colleagues from the Helsinki Commission in honoring Vaclav Havel and all the men and women who signed the Charter, who supported its goals, and who helped bring democracy to Czechoslovakia.
March 07, 2007
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today I wish to join my colleagues from the Helsinki Commission in commemorating the founding of the Charter 77 movement 30 years ago, and praising Vaclav Havel, one of Charter 77's first spokesmen and the first post-Communist President of Czechoslovakia.
Many aspects of Vaclav Havel's biography are well known. His advanced formal education was limited by the Communist regime because of his family's pre-World War II cultural and economic status. By the 1960s, he was working in theater and writing plays. But by 1969, the Communist regime had deemed him "subversive," and his passport was confiscated.
In 1977, he took the daring step of joining two others – Jan Patocka and Jiri Hajek – in becoming the first spokesmen for the newly established "Charter 77" movement. This group sought to compel the Czechoslovak Government to abide by the international human rights commitments it had freely undertaken, including the Helsinki Final Act.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Vaclav Havel was repeatedly imprisoned because of his human rights work. His longest period of imprisonment was 4 1/2 years, 1979-1983, for subversion. After this, Havel was given the opportunity to emigrate but, courageously, he chose to stay in Czechoslovakia. By February 1989, Havel had come to symbolize a growing human rights and democratic movement in Czechoslovakia and, that year, the Helsinki Commission nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Remarkably, in November 1989, the repressive machinery of the Communist regime – a regime that for five decades had persecuted and even murdered its own citizens – collapsed in what has come to be known as the "Velvet Revolution."
To understand just how repressive the former regime was – and therefore how stunning its seemingly sudden demise was – it may be instructive to recall the first measures of the post-Communist leadership, introduced in the heady days of late 1989 and early 1990. First and foremost, all known political prisoners were released. Marxism-Leninism was removed as a required course from all school curricula. Borders were opened for thousands of people who had previously been prohibited from traveling freely. Control over the People's Militia was transferred from the party to the Government. The Federal Assembly passed a resolution condemning the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Approximately 40 Ambassadors representing the Czechoslovak Communist regime were recalled. Newly appointed Foreign Minister Jiri Dienstbier announced that the "temporary" 1968 agreement allowing Soviet troops to remain in Czechoslovakia was invalid because it was agreed to under duress and that Soviet troops would withdraw from the country. The Politburo announced it would end the nomenklatura system of reserving certain jobs for party functionaries. The secret police was abolished. Alexander Dubcek, leader of the 1968 Prague Spring, was elected Chairman of the Federal Assembly on December 28 and, a day later, Vaclav Havel was voted to replace Gustav Husak. In February 1990, Vaclav Havel addressed a joint session of Congress.
Charter 77 paved the way for all of these things, and more: for Czechoslovakia's first free and fair elections since 1946, for the normalization of trade relations between our two countries, and for the Czech Republic's accession to NATO. Not surprisingly, the work of Charter 77 continues to inspire, as is evidenced by the adoption of the name "Charter 97" by human rights activists in Belarus, who are still working to bring to their own country a measure of democracy and respect for human rights that Czechs have now enjoyed for some years.
I am therefore pleased to recognize the 30th anniversary of the Charter 77 movement and to join others in honoring Vaclav Havel who remains, to this day, the conscience of the global community.