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Monday, May 31, 2010
Day Thirty Four
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Day Thirty Three
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day Thirty One and Two
Yesterday we were in Salamanca all day. This town is 3 hours north of Madrid, and is known for it's university- Universidad de Salamanca- I want to say it's the oldest university in Spain. Anyways, we boarded the bus early yesterday morning, and then slept until reaching our destination. With one stop- Avila. Yeah, pretty sure when we all woke up and saw the walled city in the distance we all wanted to cry a little. If you don't remember Avila...well, let's just say it isn't really worth remembering. The day we were there it was windy, freezing, and felt like mid January. Yeah, let's just say no one even wanted to get off the bus, and as we did, it was STILL FREEZING and we came to the conclusion it is never sunny there. As we spent the next fifteem minutes in the cold, we came to the consensus that Avila is the bane of Spain's existence. Don't go there.
Things got much better when we arrived in Salamanca, unloaded our things in our hotel room, and then went out to explore the city. Aside from it's university, Salamanaca is known for it's Plaza Mayor, which looks almost exactly like the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, only the buildings are made of a different material and it's a little smaller. We walked around the town getting our bearings, and then it was free time. Which was great… aside from the fact that we always get free time right during siesta time, which means no stores are open except for the tourist shops. I could soapbox about for about another paragraph, but I will refain J We passed the time looking at different buildings, eating some lunch, and taking pictures.
After free time it was three hour tour time. Our guide took us around to various buildings, like the Universidad de Salamanca, the Cathedral, and El Palacio de Las Conchas, which now is a public library, but before was a palace with iron shells all over it.. Yeah, I think I missed something in the tour there. We also went to a Monastery, which was pretty cool, We sang "A Child's Prayer" in the chapel for our tour guide too, which was really cool after I got over the fact that we were singing Mormon songs in a Catholic Monastery, people were taking our pictures, and it was WAY out of my singing range, so hitting the notes was a little hard. J "I like it a lot!" was our guide's exclamation at the end. Haha I love Spaniards and their minimal English.
After 7 it was real free time, and we were free until 7:45 the next morning! Brittany and I did a little shopping in the stores which were finally open, and then when we got hungry we got three euro medium Telepizzas. (Like the equivalent of Little Caesars I guess?) We took them to the Plaza, sat on a bench, people watched, and ravenously put away our food in 10 minutes max. The square was hoppin- and it seems everyone else had the same idea about Telepizza because the streets were littered with Spaniards doing the same thing. Guess I've become to think like one of them! haha
Our guide told us the Plaza is beautiful at night, so when we finished eating we found some of our friends, and plopped down on the piedra, waiting for it to get dark. I think those are my favorite times in Spain- the moment we just get to sit and observe the culture that is the Europeans. PS: I've been religiously taking mental notes about how to be a better European. As we waited for something to happen, I joked that once the clock struck 22:00- 10 PM, Americanss, the Plaza would become illuminated. Bam. I couldn't have been more right. As the clock struck 10 lights started going on, and a couple minutes later the plaza was glowing! Everyone was oohing and aahing and it was gorgeous. Wish I coulda brought a sleeping bag.
Another observation I have made here is that life doesn't begin until about 8 PM. Spain takes nightlife to a new level. Everyone is in the streets at nights eating, playing, and watching the various street performers. It's is THE life. Go to Salamanca.
When we got cold and a little tuckered out, we went back to the hotel and had a group bonding night filled with fun, laughter, and The Bachelorette. I mean seriously, is there a better way to bring people together ? I think not. ABC.com, thank you for working overseas.. I foresee many similar hotel room nights.
This morning we woke up, packed up, and headed out for breakfast, after being heckled in the hotel lobby by a slew of drunk Spaniards. "Nightlife" here means "still drunk at 8 AM". Love it. Breakfast was…. Spanish. Crossaint with mermalada and hot chocolate. After eating we got back on the bus and drove to Valladolid, which is the city our director's wife, Mabel, grew up in. Our first stop in this city was an art museum with tons of religious statues and cathedral artwork. I wanna say that this building was a school at some point, too… forgive me for my lack of details, all the history is beginning to run together! All the art was neat though- it was very different from what we've seen thus far, and the sculptures all looked extremely real, down to the curls in their hair and the veins in their necks.
Oh, and you see the holes in these scultures, well, when Saints used to die, they would get a little bit of their bones or other entrails and keep them in these holes. Nice.
After this museum, we went next door to a government building, sat in some governmenty chairs, and took governmenty pictures because you can never have enough pictures.
When our tour finished, it was only noon. We were hungry, and our lunch appointment wasn't until 3. Mabel and Professor Williams took pity on us, and bought us all pastries from a shop along the street. I love it when we bombard poor, innocent shops and clean out all their goods. I think groups like us are the single reason that Spain's economy hasn't been completely pulverized. (Yet)
For free time, Hannah, Kat, and I did NOTHING. And it was glorious. We found some church steps, and sat there for two hours laying in the sun and playing Euro-watch. When I imagined Spain, this is what I pictured doing.... and it was as great as I imagined it to be. As we sat outside we started seeing all these classy people dressed to a T walking in the same direction, so we turned around, and saw that a wedding was about to go down in the church right behind us. So what did we do? Creeped on the guests and bride, played paparazzi, and deciding women in the US should start wearing cooler hats.
When 2:30 hit, we met back up with everyone, boarded the bus, and went to a Bodega for lunch. A bodega is a wine cellar, BTW, so basically we ate in a cave. It was in a hill and everything. The food… well, pictures tell a better story. Let's play the matching game.
Ham, cheese, lots of bread, sausage, tortilla, wild mushrooms, lamb cutlets, and salad soaked in olive oil and vinegar. Yeah, let's just say today's two pastries and a surplus of bread at lunch are going to do me in. I was feeling pretty grossed out about my selection of food until Mabel took pity on me, and suddenly placed in front of me was VEGETABLES! Zuchinni, eggplant, red pepper, and onion all sautéed and delicious. Thank you, Spain. We finished off the meal with these little treasures: Magnum moments. The US should hop to it in this department.
After the restaurant we took time to smell the flowers and take some pics with a random castle.
And now our entire bus is paying for it. I didn't think I had allergies… but me and lots of other people are now suffereing from some seriously itchy eyes and runny nose syndrome. Good think Brittany has community eye drops J Well, now it is back to Alcala, where I hope to burn off some of the bountiful carbs I consumed today in a little match of futbol. Rain, please stay far far away.
Más Tarde: fútbol was great, and tonight we ate onion pizza outisde on the patio. Great day, great night. Tomorrow stay tuned for my adventures in Paella take two.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Day Thirty
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Day Twenty Nine
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Day Twenty Eight
Monday, May 24, 2010
Day Twenty Seven
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Day Twenty Six
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Day Twenty Five
Friday, May 21, 2010
Day Twenty Four
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Day Twenty Three
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Day Twenty Two
Day Twenty One
Class, as I've stated time and time again, was boring. 2 hours of ser vs. estar practice. I think you'd go crazy, too. After class however, it was time to party. I previously wrote that I would tell the story of the India pants when I got some. I believe it is now due time for a good story.
I'm sure you've heard about the fashion in Europe. It's like looking into the future for us Americans basically, because what you see them wearing now is most likely what YOU will be wearing 6 months from now. The first week here, I noticed a trend in women's pants. They all strangely baggy and well, better put, looked just like hammer pants. They had jeans, sweats, and everything in between. I made a mental note that somewhere along the lines of my travels through Spain that I had to pick myself up a pair. Then I found the India store. Maybe it's wrong that I am in Spain and all I want to buy is stuff from the India store, maybe it's just a good little foreshadow of my future travels, all I know is that it is great, and I found my pants. They're blue, 100% silk, and kinda make me wanna yell HAMMER TIME, bollywood style. There are no pictures yet… but when you see them, you will know.
After the purchasing, it was time for my other favorite thing in all of Spain- the pastry that goes by the name of "La Neopolitana". Just writing that makes me salivate a little. These pastries are ambrosia, and I thought they couldn't get any better until Jenessa took me to a new pasteleria where the pastries are served hot, are only 1 euro, and it is maybe 100 yards from my house. Score. Scratch that post about losing weight in Spain.
Lunch was great, but another little observation about Spaniards. They like their food right off the stove, piping hot. Seriously, I burn my tongue every time we eat. I would love to let it cool down a little, but the only issue there is the fact that Pili puts the food on the table, and just watches until we have tried it, waiting for feedback
I might just return to the US with no taste buds. The culprit of the burning yesterday was potato, onion, carrot soup with a name that is escaping me but was delicious, plus fried cauliflower that I managed to choke down.
After lunch we went into Madrid to take a tour of El Palacio Real because it was Free Museum Day here in Spain. The palace was pretty. In every room the curtains matched the walls matched the ceilings matched the pillows. I don't really have much else to offer about it though… my partner had the audioguide, and I had no desire to listen to a monotone voice tell me all about each room. No thanks, I will make up my own stories about the murals on the ceilings!
I had been waiting all trip for the perfect day to go row boating in Retiro… and between the weather and the desire to paddle, we ended up on the metro and down to the park later that afternoon.
4 people, 45 minutes, 4.55 euros. Not too shabby. Things went well on our boat for the first couple minutes. No one fell in, we finally figured out how to stop going in circles, (Diana, it reminded me of our time down the Boise Riv solo when we lacked rowing skills) and we even had some rowing tunes thanks to Rick's ipod. About halfway into our journey we switched drivers, and Brittany became captain. Her first order of business? Row us right into the fountain. In retrospect, I should have known this fountain business was bound to happen even before Rick said, "Hey Brittany! Get Alisha wet!". Not only did Alisha get wet, but for a good solid minute, we were the dumb Americans serving as comic relief to the whole park as we got SOAKED in the little cherub fountain, our boat got an uncomfortable amount of water in the bottom, and Rick managed to drop, and then recover, his iphone into our little pool at the bottom of the boat.
I wish I could have seen it go down, but our other friends took some precious pictures, so once I get my hands on those, you and I too can laugh at our stupidity. My dress was soaked from the waist down, my "stain your feet when soaked" Rainbows did their job, and we managed to get back to shore safely at the end of our 45. PS you just can't tell how extremely wet I am here. Just trust me.
I am just getting all sorts of good stories to add to the Memory Bank.
Well, that's about it for now… we're almost to Cordoba, home of the Muslims. Til then!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Day Twenty
Last night in mid skype session with Jill, the internet pooped out on me, and we haven't been able to get on since. I am currently writing this in word, and will post it tomorrow during class…. Well, actually just kidding! Fernando just fixed it! Whoa…. I was expecting a tragedy right there… life can continue.
Today moved at rapid fire speed. Seriously, it is 10 PM here, and it feels like my alarm was just going off at 8 AM this morning. Slow down, Spain!
Today was an Alcalá day. We had class in the morning.... super painful, by the way. While I think learning about mosque architecture is pretty interesting, the way our teacher talks about it about kills me. After class, Jav and I went exploring in the wilderness of Alcalá! Okay, maybe not exactly wilderness, but a wildlife area. The first week I got here I saw these crazy hills in the distance, and really wanted to go explore them. I didn't think it would be possible until I found someone in my group who wanted to go exploring too! Today, Jav and I were exploring buddies. To get to our wilderness spot we walked through a neighborhood, and then came to this random door in the wall, opened it, and bam. There you were- no more buildings, houses, or billboards, just open field, el Rio Hernares, and lots and lots of wildflowers. It was like walking into our very own secret garden. I loved it!Much to our dismay, we couldn't get to the hills because there was a whole lotta river and a whole lack of bridge. We've come to the conclusion that the only way we are gonna get to those hills is to swim/walk across the dam sometime. Stay tuned. It's happening.
For lunch today we had rice with green olives and other... things? I seriously don't even know what was in the rice, but they dished me up roughly 3 cups of the stuff, and I ate. I'd just woken up and was feeling a little groggy. Oh, the food here. Not gonna lie, I just want some rice and beans. And a real pizza.
After lunch it was laundry time... speaking of which, I should probably go get my stuff off the clothesline... and then I did some homework. For FHE tonight we "learned" flamenco, if that's what you could call it. Basically in a nutshell, we all sucked at dancing, and our instructor told us the moves we were butchering were as basic as she could make them. Haha oh well, the ice cream at the end made all the stomping and wrist twisting worth it! I got some delicious Dulce de Leche. Seriously, it's the best kind.
Tonight was spent at McDonald's, stealing their wireless internet with some friends. We got some homework done, talked, and before we knew it, it was 9:30. We came home, and that's about where we are now.... for dinner I requested Pili make us her version of "stir fry" and it was the BEST THING EVER. Seriously, I love vegetables. ... or maybe I just like it when they're bathing in butter and olive oil. Yum
Bedtime. Hasta ahora
Day Nineteen
Sunday treated me well today.
This morning we woke up, got ready, and had a pleasantly sunny walk to church. It was fantastic to be able to wear sunglasses and actually feel some warmth. Let me just say that Spain is much more enjoyable when the sun shines.
The walk to church was long, but we've basically given up on the buses, seeing as they are unpredictable and the schedules lie. Nope, not bitter.
Spaniards are infamous for being late, so even though we were 5 minutes past 10:30 to our meeting, really we were actually early. When we walked in, the parking lot was still a ghost town, and church didn't really start for another 10 minutes or so. I love how chill everyone is here… even at school our teacher is always the last one to walk in the door!
After church we went home to lunch. I am always scared for Sunday lunch, because the last two weeks its been something creepy. However, today was actually one of the best meals ever. I don't know if it was just good because I hadn't eaten since 9 AM, or if I really did love our "bomba de espinacas", but it was thoroughly enjoyable. Basically this meal was egg with tomato sauce, spinach, cheese, and other vegetables all cooked and lasagna like. Oh it was delicious and I am definitely going to get the recipe. We ate it with potatoes bathing in vinegar and olive oil, and topped it off with our Magnum bars. So good. I am really growing accustomed to eating eggs and potatoes at every meal… good thing I like them. Pili told me today that I am changing the way she cooks- now she eats more vegetables, and is learning how to make different dishes I will like that are "all natural". I think Fernando is missing his carne, but eh, he'll thank me when he doesn't get cardiovascular disease. (the emphysema will probably get him first… this guy smokes like a chimney)
After lunch it was time to enjoy the sunshine. Alisha, Brittany, Natalie, Rick, and I found a park in Alcalá, and sat there for a good three hours until the sun was completely gone. It felt good to have my hair warmed by the sun, sitting in a nice patch of grass, and having nothing to think about but the flies buzzing around from time to time.
It was great, life is great, Spain is great. 2 days until it's off to Córdoba, Sevilla, and Granada for the rest of the week!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Day Eighteen
Friday, May 14, 2010
Day Seventeen
When we first got off the bus in Segovia, we all thought our extremities might fall off. And I am sad to say it didn't get any better all day long. The wind was merciless, the sun wouldn't come out, and it rained a little every half an hour or so. Thank youuuuu, Segovia. However, maybe I'm just a little bitter because I forgot to charge my camera, so I didn't even get to hardly take any pictures :( Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with it. Despite my complaining though, Segovia was a pretty cool city. Some of the highlights were:
This aqueduct (don't let the blue sky fool you.. it was FREEZING) was built by the Romans thousands of years ago as a means to transport water from one side of the valley to another. I was pretty much giddy to see this place, and right as 10 minutes of free time started, I made Jav go climb up to the top with me. II find it fascinating to think that somehow the Romans managed to put this thing together with no mortar or modern machinery, and it still stands today.


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Liberation: In G-B, the 'Che Guevara' of youth makes a comeback
Detained youth activist Baba Jan was finally released from jail on Monday, following the acceptance of his bail plea on Friday. PHOTO: FILE
"We are pleased to see him out of jail after a year," said a party worker. An anti-terrorism court judge on Friday accepted his bail plea in the last of the cases registered against him by the authorities in August last year. Jan was taken from the district jail to the main market in a rally. "He is now free and we thank all those who expressed solidarity with him during his incarceration," Ehsan Ali, his counsel, told The Express Tribune. "We are happy to see Jan out of jail," Wajidullah, a spokesman for Progress Youth Front (PYF), said. He said Jan would be taken to Hunza on Tuesday to celebrate his release.
Jan was granted bail by the same court on June 27. However, he was remanded to police again on charges of "inciting sectarian hatred and promoting anti-government sentiments among prisoners". Jan, who is the chief organiser of Progressive Youth Front (PYF), was among the nearly 100 people, including youth activists, arrested for allegedly ransacking a police station and torching government offices after the death of an internally-displaced man and his son.
On August 11 last year, the police opened fire on the internally displaced persons, triggering violent protest in the peaceful Hunza valley. The joint investigation team tortured him and his comrades for three days.
The protesters were seeking compensation for the loss of their hearth and homes in the wake of a landslide that hit Attabad on January 4, 2010, killing 19 people, blocking the Hunza River and forming a 23km long lake that submerged three villages upstream in Gojal, rendering around 500 people homeless and 25,000 stranded. The lake also disrupted communication and trade between China and Pakistan.
Senate Committee on Human Rights recently called the chief secretary of G-B to explain why the youth leader was tortured and kept in jail. Chairman of the committee, Senator Afrasiab Khattak reprimanded the chief secretary when he termed Jan as an anti-state activist, saying "he has heard a lot of these allegations and had been himself a victim of this kind of treatment."
Progressive parties, student and youth organisations as well as human rights bodies, including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, campaigned for the release of the 32-year-old activist who has become a symbol of struggle in G-B.
The story of Jan and his comrades once again came to the limelight in national media in July after they were shifted from their prison cell to another prison after being tortured.
Rallies were held in foreign countries including Indonesia, France, Switzerland and Australia demanding the immediate release of Jan. Prominent intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali also endorsed the campaign by signing a petition. In G-B, the youth consider him as their 'Che Guevara'.*Additional input by News Desk
Source: The Express Tribune
Baba Jan's message to all supporters
On his release from jail today, Baba Jan asked Comrade Abdul Jalal to convey the following message to all supporters:
1. He wishes to thank all those who have participated in the campaign to secure his release and that of his fellow detained comrades – whether someone signed a petition, wrote a letter, an article, organised or attended a demonstration, a sit-in or a teach-in.
2. We are all learning to campaign more effectively for common causes and this experience will help us in our struggles in the future.
Baba Jan's supporters in Gilgit-Baltistan have organised a rally from Gilgit City to Aliabad in Hunza Valley, his native region. The rally starts at 12 noon from Col. Hassan Market, Gilgit City.
Baba Jan walks free – images from outside Jutial sub-jail, Gilgit City
Finally, after one year and nine days, Baba Jan, organiser of Progressive Youth Front Ggilgit-Baltistan, federal youth secretary of Labour Party Pakistan, walked free from Jutial sub-jail, Gilgit City.
Congratulations to all the supporters of the campaign for the release of the Hunza Five and securing justice for the affectees of the Attabad Lake disaster.
Now, comrades Ameer Khan and Iftikhar Hussain remain in jail. The bail hearing for Ameer Khan is scheduled for September 20, 2012. The legal team defending the Hunza Five will also re-submit the bail application for Iftikhar Hussain, which was rejected last year by the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court.
The achievement of this crucial milestone takes us one step closer to our goals:
1. Dropping of all charges against the Hunza Five
2. Publication of the GB government's own public enquiry into the Aliabad Tragedy of August 11, 2012
3. Prosecution of the civil administration and police of Aliabad involved in the murder by the police in broad daylight of unarmed protesters Sher Afzal Baig and his father Sher Ullah Baig.
Let us also recall that the local administration did not hesitate to use one final cheap trick to detain Baba Jan for an extra 48 hours after the Gilgit-Baltistan Anti-Terrorism Court finally accepted the bail petition on Friday, September 14, 2012. When Baba Jan's lawyers went to Jutial sub-jail from the court to complete the paperwork for his physical release, the jail officials claimed that the file with the previous release orders (Baba Jan was granted once before on June 26, 2012, before fresh charges were brought against) could not be found.
A big vote of appreciation for the legal team who have pursued the cases of the Hunza Five on pro-bono basis for more than a year and whose legal acumen and experience of dealing with our colonial judicial system has finally started to bear fruit.
The anticapitalist left in Switzerland lauches a campaign for the release of Baba Jan
Pakistan : liberté pour Baba Jan et ses camarades !
Militant de gauche au Pakistan, il est arrêté depuis plus d'un an parce qu'il soutient et organise la lutte de paysans pakistanais victimes d'un éboulement qui a causé la disparition de leurs villages. Une campagne internationale exige sa libération.
Baba Jan et ses camarades sont des leaders politiques de la région montagneuse du nord du Pakistan, le Gilgit-Baltistan, membres du Labour Party of Pakistan et du Front progressiste des jeunes dans la région. Leur histoire vous a été brièvement expliquée ici. Nous y revenons aujourd'hui parce que, durant l'été, Baba Jan et un de ses camarades, toujours emprisonnés, ont été victimes de nouveaux interrogatoires, avec tout ce que ce terme recèle d'atrocités. Et parce que la campagne internationale pour exiger leur libération est relancée.
Climat politique et climat tout court
L'histoire est donc, en résumé, la suivante. En janvier 2010, un important glissement de terrain a lieu à proximité de la rivière Hunza, le barrage naturel commençant à former un lac (aujourd'hui appelé la Lac Attabad). Au fur et à mesure que le lac gagne du terrain, les villages sont évacués, sous la menace de leur immersion. Au total, 1000 personnes sont déplacées et 25000 sont coupées de tout contact avec le reste du pays. Face à l'absence de réaction et de mesures gouvernementales, Baba Jan et plusieurs militants demandent le drainage du lac et des mesures permettant de décloisonner la zone. Mais rien n'est fait. Le lac est aujourd'hui une réalité «topographique» de la région. Pour faire taire la contestation, le gouvernement promet des indemnisations. Or ces indemnisations n'arrivent pour la plupart jamais à leurs destinataires; les seules familles qui les aient effectivement perçues sont les familles réputées proches du Pakistan People's Patry: c'est le parti au pouvoir au Pakistan, comme vous l'aviez compris…
Plusieurs manifestations et protestations sont organisées. Au cours de l'une d'elles, le 11 août 2011, deux manifestants (un jeune homme et son père) sont tués par la police. Des enquêtes sont exigées par les protestataires, pour élucider les circonstances de ces assassinats. La réponse du gouvernement est directe: il fait arrêter et emprisonner de nombreux militants et protestataires. Depuis, tout au long de ces derniers mois et sous la pression de campagnes de solidarité, la plupart ont été libérés.
L'accusation est simple: ces militants se seraient rendus coupables de violations de la loi pakistanaise sur le terrorisme. Une accusation pratique et facile à formuler; puisqu'aucun procès n'a eu lieu à ce jour, il n'est pas nécessaire de développer outre mesure et de préciser les véritables chefs d'inculpation.
Nouveaux interrogatoires, nouvelles pressions
Durant l'été, à nouveau, les services spéciaux du régime ont enlevé Baba Jan de sa prison pour «l'interroger». Ils ont notamment exigé de lui qu'il adhère à l'un des partis officiels au pouvoir pour être libéré. Ce qui montre sa notoriété et son importance dans la lutte pour les droits des opprimés au Pakistan et dans cette région particulière du pays, le Gilgit-Baltistan faisant juridiquement partie des territoires du Cachemire disputés avec l'Inde alors qu'elle est gérée de fait par le Pakistan. Baba Jan a refusé. La campagne de solidarité pour exiger sa libération et pour l'indemnisation des familles victimes de l'éboulement de janvier 2010 est donc d'autant plus importante à soutenir aujourd'hui.
Ecrire et pétitionner pour leur libération
Vous n'entendrez parler de Baba Jan, de ses camarades et de leur lutte au Pakistan ni sur les ondes de la Première, ni dans le 19:30 de Darius Rochebin, encore moins dans votre presse quotidienne, bien trop occupée à vous donner des conseils pour résister à quelques jours de grande chaleur. Vous trouverez par contre le matériel pour exiger la libération de Baba Jan et soutenir nos camarades du Labour Party of Pakistan emprisonnés sur Internet. La pétition, déjà signée notamment par Tariq Ali et Noam Chomsky, est disponible en ligne en suivant ce lien. Toute contribution à la campagne pour la libération de ces militants peut être faite et/ou annoncée sur le site de la campagne internationale ou en contactant la Gauche anticapitaliste, qui transmettra.
Source: L'Anticapitaliste
Resistance of the Hunza Five
By Amanullah Kariapper
The tenacious struggle of young activists for Attabad Lake affectees has de-legitimised the conspirators
In January 2010, global climate change manifested itself in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) in the form of a massive landslide that blocked the Hunza River in Gojal valley and created the Attabad Lake. As village after village was submerged, more than a thousand residents of the valley were displaced and over 25,000 people were cut off from the rest of the country as the waters swallowed up the Karakoram Highway. The plight of the Gojalis was ignored.
Baba Jan, an activist of Progressive Youth Front (PYF), toured the country lobbying for the government to drain the lake and create transport facilities for the affected. The government acted too late and the lake is now a permanent feature of the area.
On August 11, 2011, around 200 people protested for the rights of the affected families to receive compensation as the Chief Minister of GB was visiting Aliabad. The police, instructed to remove the protesters by any means, opened fire on the crowd. Their first victim was Sher Afzal Baig, a 22 year-old student. Then, when Baig's father tried to retrieve the body of his son, he too was shot. Both died. The valley erupted in indignation and a police station was burnt down by the protesters.
Baba Jan organised numerous protests to demand an investigation and firm action against the police officers responsible for the killing. The protesters waited for the government to act.
It acted a week later. Arrest warrants were issued for numerous protesters including Baba Jan. While most of those arrested were later released on bail, Baba Jan and four other activists, Iftikhar Hussain, Amir Ali, Rashid Minhas and Ameer Khan, known as the Hunza Five, remained behind bars. Twice they have been picked up from jail and tortured. Baba Jan was beaten with sticks, had his feet crushed under boots, two fingers broken and was denied medical treatment, while Iftikhar Hussain had molten wax dropped on his genitals. The purpose was to extract confessions from the detainees, since the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) admits confessions as evidence.
During an interrogation, the activists were also asked to stop struggling for the rights of the oppressed and join any one of the mainstream parties, the PPP, the PML-N or the MQM!
Meanwhile, a judicial inquiry into the Aliabad Tragedy was conducted. Journalists who have seen it claim it lays the blame on the police force and local bureaucracy for the incident. The findings of the inquiry have, however, been suppressed.
The campaign against this series of injustices took on first a national and then an international dimension. Talks, seminars, protests and a hunger-strike camp were organised across the country and then, as news spread via social media networks to sympathisers abroad, protests were held in Tokyo, Colombo, Jakarta, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Paris and Manila. Human rights organisations also started to take up the issue and the HRCP issued a strong statement of concern while the Pakistani Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Rights demanded explanations from the GB authorities.
On June 26, 2012, the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court was about to accept the bail appeal of Baba Jan, when new charges were filed against him under the ATA. These charges relate to the incident of rioting in Gilgit Jail that happened on April 26, 2012, i.e., two months prior to the filing of these fresh charges!
On July 2, 2012, their legal defence team managed to secure the release on bail of two of the Hunza Five, Amir Ali and Rashid Minhas. On July 23 and on July 29, massive public meetings were held in Nasirabad (Hunza valley) where participants resolved to step up their campaign for justice within GB.
The vested interests of the ruling clique of GB and those of the federal government have succeeded in making a mockery of justice and due process, so that people of conscience who support the oppressed are persecuted as terrorists while policemen who kill unarmed protestors receive official protection and promotions. In this whole process, the draconian ATA has empowered the corrupt elite to deny the detainees their basic rights simply on the strength of unsubstantiated accusations of terrorism.
Rights activists across the country question the very basis of the ATA that assumes the guilt of the accused — in stark contrast to established norms of due process and the basic rights of a citizen. In this, they find themselves in a situation similar to that of the six members of the Labour Qaumi Movement, sentenced to 99 years each by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Faisalabad, for organising a strike in June 2010.
Under the GB Empowerment & Self-Governance Order 2009, judges are appointed to local courts on a three-year contract, with extensions dependent on performance. Given the interminable series of hearing postponements and the impunity with which state agents have repeatedly tortured the PYF activists, the parameters for their "performance appraisals" are open to some scathing criticism.
The powerful intelligence agencies who have been supporting sectarian elements and various defunct jihadi outfits want to eliminate Baba Jan because he is the only leader in the region who has persistently tried to bring the people of various communities living in GB to jointly struggle for their social and political rights. Baba Jan is a major hurdle in the way of these agencies who want to keep the population of GB divided on sectarian lines in order to secure the unaccountable power they need to pursue their regional geo-political agenda.
Local members of the PPP also consider Baba Jan and the PYF to be a potent threat to their new-found authority, as he has become a folk hero, especially among the youth of the entire region. Local members of all the mainstream parties have approached Baba Jan with offers of pardon and high privilege, if only he apologized to the authorities for his stubborn resistance — and joined their party.
The tenacious struggle of these young activists has de-legitimised the conspirators in the eyes of the people of the region, who are now shrugging off their fear and preparing to struggle against the oppressive forces that seek to enslave them.
Source: The News on Sunday
Baba Jan's detention may be lawful but it is not right
Baba Jan two more youth activists are detained in G-B jail for almost a year now; two others were only recently released on bail. PHOTO: FILE
One should read the story of Baba Jan Hunzai, if they're still wary of claims that public administration in Pakistan, particularly away from Punjab and urban Sindh, is colonial in nature.
Baba Jan is a rights activist and leader of the Progressive Youth Front (PYF). He and two more youth activists are detained in Gilgit-Baltistan jail for almost a year now; two others were only recently released on bail. Their crime is agitation against the police for killings of a man and his son at a demonstration in August 2011. This was to demand due compensation for the affected families of massive landslides in 2010 that led to the formation of an artificial lake, now known as Attabad lake, in what used to be a settled area. A judicial inquiry had held the G-B police responsible for the two killings.
There has to be something very wrong with the law if it treats agitation for rights by citizens as a crime and equates activists to terrorists (Baba Jan and four other activists are charged for terrorism). To top that, the police have been extending judicial remand of the Hunza activists to date, since their arrest in September 2011 – denying them their right to a free and fair trial.
The idea of rule of law has been central to recent discourse on high politics and clash of state institutions in the country. Multitudes of bar associations, press clubs and traders' bodies that were on the vanguard of what came to be known as the lawyers' movement will have one believe that rule of law is a desired state-of-affairs.
In theory, rule of law is, indeed, central to the functioning of a democratic society. In practice, however, rule of law becomes problematic when law is used to discriminate between citizens on the basis of their ethnicity, occupation, religion or position within the federation. Such a law, then, is only a tool for the ruling establishment to maintain 'public order' as they define it.
Baba Jan and other activists detained in G-B will, therefore, beg to differ from those praising the virtues of rule of law in Pakistan. For them, and for most people who've dared to challenge Islamabad's hegemony, rule of law has been a 'dawn sans light', to quote from Jalib's idiom.
The demands for rights by industrial workers and landless peasants of Punjab have also been suppressed in the name of rule of law. Like the Hunza activists, powerloom workers of Faisalabad and tenant farmers of Dera Saigol farms in Muridke or Kulyana Estate in Okara have also been charged with the Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, for demanding fair wage and property rights to the lands they till, respectively.
The rule of law, however, has yet to restrain the likes of Malik Ishaq, and his Lashkar Jhangvi, from his ill-designs against a particular sectarian minority. The High Court of Lahore recently set him free, effectively sending out a message that the state considers Ishaq, who carries 70 murder charges, less of a problem to public order than rights activists and labour and peasant leaders.
People like Ishaq are just the tip of the iceberg of those on the right side of rule of law in Pakistan. The iceberg contains anyone with clout or bucks to manipulate the law; for Hunza activists, it is Islamabad's colonial administration of G-B; for Faisalabad labourers it is owners of power looms and for peasants of Dera Saigol and Kulyana Estate, it is the influential Saigol family and the Pakistan Army.
For the most part, legal maxims like rule of law and maintenance of public order in Pakistan have benefited specific groups and interests. Their virtues have yet to trickle down to those on the receiving end of high politics, like Hunza activists. And if history serves any purpose, Baba Jan and other rights activists' detention maybe lawful but it cannot be right, because as the saying goes, when tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a duty.
Read more by Umair here or follow him on Twitter @umairrasheed1
Source: The Express Tribune Blogs, Baba Jan's detention may be lawful but it is not right


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Quite frequently, when you enter your photos into various photo competitions, you are giving away the rights to your photo, due to the small print in the terms and conditions. What most people don't realise, is that you also give away these rights if you don't win the competition. This lets organisations, newspapers and other unscrupulous, money-grabbing twits get away with building up massive photo libraries they can use for free, against the relatively cheap cost of a couple of crummy competition prizes…
In the UK, at least, this is completely illegal. Here's what you need to know about licencing photos, and this also kicks off our series about setting up a photography business – All the blog entries will be tagged with Business, so you can easily go back through the archives and read all the articles!
When you are asked to sign away the rights to your photo, you are doing something quite drastic: This isn't a licencing deal or a 'right to use' the photos, you are actually giving your photos away completely. This means that you can't use them in a portfolio, you can't use them on your website, and you can't sell them.
Of course, when you enter a photography competition, you'll want to win, and as such, you enter the best photos you have. Can you spot the problem yet? Giving away the rights to your best photos is the photographic equivalent of shooting yourself in both your feet just before running the London marathon.
I'm not big on international law, but in the UK, this practice is unlawful: From a publisher's point of view, there are quite a few ways to legally use a photograph (and even more ways to do so illegally, but let's not go into that). These ways include Licencing, Exclusive licencing, Commissioning, and Rights transfer.
Commissioning means that a publisher pays a photographer to take photos specifically for them, which means that they essentially set up a temporary employment contract. The photos taken while under employment of the publishing house belong to the publishing house, who can use, re-use, or sell the rights to the photos as they see fit. In the UK, moral rights (the right to be identified as the creator of a photo, also known as a byline) would have to be negociated separately. If moral rights aren't mentioned, they are forfeited. A commission is usually based on a pre-signed contract that is renewed for the dates required. The photographer will usually be allowed to use the photos for portfolio use, but this depends on the contract.
Licencing involves a company obtaining a licence for the use of a photo. The price will depend on what the photo will be used for, including factors such as print runs, where a publication is published, and the prominence of a photograph. A licencing deal can be done without signing anything – the photographer gets a purchase order form, sends in an invoice with the details of use of the photo, and then everything's fine.
If a licence is breached – such as if a publisher uses the image outside of the licenced space or time – the licence becomes null and void. If this happens, the photo that was originally licenced is suddenly a breach of copyright, and the photographer can rightfully sue the publication. Example: A magazine buys the rights to using a photo for a print run of 10K, on the inside of the magazine, and pays £100 for the licence. The web-editor is a numpty and uses this photo on-line as well, which falls outside of the licence. The photographer can now argue that the licence has been breached, which annuls it, and can sue the publication for the use on the web, and the use in the magazine (which now is illegal, because the contract is breached). Think twice about pissing of a big client like this, however (it might be a genuine mistake, and they'll probably be happy to pull the web story or pay you a little extra for online use) because if you get a reputation of doing this, you're unlikely to do an awful lot of work in the future.
For the sake of this write-up, Royalty free photos are licenced, but they are typically all-use, all-area licences that are valid forever. A photographer can generally command more money for a RF image, but in the longer term, royalty free imaging is a bad financial investment, as you don't get any money for re-use of a photo.
Exclusive Licencing is the same as licencing, above, but has an exclusivity clause, meaning that the buyer of the photo has the right to use the photo exclusively in a certain area for a certain amount of time. To avoid misunderstandings, exclusive licences are usually contracted separately.
Transferring ownership is a different kettle of fish altogether: Instead of licencing the photo but keeping your copyright on it, you are giving it, and all the rights, away to the buyer. Generally, this is a bad idea, unless the photos are worthless to anyone else – including yourself – or if the buyer pays such a sum of money that it becomes worth it. Transfer of ownership can only happen if a contract is drawn up and signed by both parties. The only way this can be reversed is by signing another contract, or by getting a court order re-appointing the photographer as the lawful copyright holder.
So, where do the competitions come in?
Well, a lot of publications have realised that paying for photos costs a lot of money. A photo-heavy supplement can easily cost a couple of thousand pounds in photo licences alone. Someone clever came up with an idea: "Hey, we often use landscape photos, and they are expensive. Why don't we buy a couple of £400 digital cameras, and set up a competition? We get a load of photos we can use for free, and we're actually better off, because the cameras are cheaper than the rights to use good photos!".
So, the contract was drawn up, stating something along the lines of "By submitting your photo to XYZ, you forfeit all rights to the use of this photograph for ever".
The scary bit is that you don't just give them the photo if you win – especially if you walk away empty-handed, you are in danger of getting exploited by the publication.
As a general rule, the least you can do is to read the terms and conditions. It's only fair that a publication should be allowed to use the winning competition entries in connection with the competition itself, or to promote future competitions, but if they think the entries that didn't win are good enough to use, why shouldnt' they get compensation?
In other words: Read the T&Cs very closely. If they seem unreasonable, don't participate in the competition. And never, ever, let them grab the rights of your photos.
Finally, remember that transferring of ownership only ever happens if a contract is signed: If you don't sign anything (and you normally don't, when you send in your submission. A check-box on a website doesn't count, this has to be a proper paper contract), they can't steal the rights to your photos.
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© Kamps Consulting Ltd. This article is licenced for use on Pixiq only. Please do not reproduce wholly or in part without a license. More info.


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The "coolest black-tie wedding ever" is currently featured on the front page of Style Me Pretty. The bride Abby, a NBC creative director, comments, "At the top of our list of must-haves for the big day was an amazing band that would get – and keep – people out of their seats and on the dance floor the entire evening. For us, that meant bringing world-renowned, San Diego-based Bonnie Foster Productions to the Arizona Biltmore. Led by Bonnie Foster herself, the 10-piece band kicked off the evening with Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk (a personal favorite) and later brought down the house with Beyonce, Motown, and a Michael Jackson medley that our guests are still talking about months later".
Click here to read the article and be sure to scroll down to the video!


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Engine Performance
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Hello everyone! and welcome to the seventh week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin´ tour. The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, which readers getting all the permission they´ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! this post is part of The Declaration of You´s Blog Lovin´ Tour, which I´m thrilled to participate in alongside over 200 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here!
My natural instinct is to celebrate. I like to share with people and come together in a joyous life.
|Illustration from http://thisinsignificantlife.tumblr.com/
Celebrations are very important part of my life. I came from a big family and I always remember with joy all the gathering together with the family. Those "little precious moments" are a real treasure for my soul. Also I lived in different countries, with great people from different cultures and I learn a lot. I had good memories of friends coming together to celebrate a moment in life around a table with awesome food, laughs and happiness.
I had some favorite celebratory experiences. One it was my mum 60´s birthday fete. She was very pretty and charming and the place was full of colours, delicious food and friends and family joining together to celebrate her big day. I remember, me and my partner cooking an "English breakfast" with the help of my cousin Yolanda, in the morning, for all the guests. Was very special! The celebration went all day long, with music, laughs and lots of bliss.
Another real and simple celebration was last Sunday when my partner and I harvest our first bunch of own grown potatoes and cooking them simply. Eating them was just a very merry moment!
Some days if I am in a "grey mood" I try to ask myself what is holding myself in that position and if there is no real reason, I try to let that feeling go, listening nice music, drawing, going for a walk or having a chat with my mum or a friend.
My work is also a celebration of myself, sometimes hard others smooth, I try to think positively and keep on going, thinking big. I like to share every success and share my knowledge and achievements with people. We always learn something and if is in a celebration, ever better.
One of my recent mentors, told me once:
"Today is another day in Paradise!" and I add: "let´s do the best of it!"
Celebrations don´t need to be big ceremonies, the small ones are real treasures too :-)
My personal declaration around celebration could be:
"no matter what you are, what you have, where you are... get yourself into a group of people and celebrate little or big occasions because these will bring you what you really need at that moment. And if you are alone, do something for yourself that really pleases you!"
|Photo from http://www.lovehart.co.uk/index.asp
Keep on celebrating and sharing!!


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It snowed last night in Denver. For those who don't live here, the combination of sunshine and a blanket of powder turns the landscape into a sparkling wonderland. Cascades of natural glitter rain down from overhangs and branches and the sheer brightness of things is otherworldly. Looking out the window my eyes open wide, straining to take it all in.
Days like today call for
. Food that'll stand up to the day, put hair on your chest, and take you home. This recipe was an attempt to simultaneously take both Premal and me back. The addition of spicy Indian chili power adds a kick to this traditional Hungarian recipe, and paneer stands up beautifully to the rich gravy. My nokedli--or spätzle--are multi-grain to mimic roti, the whole-wheat flatbread served with most meals in India. Club soda keeps the dumplings light and fluffy, despite the heavier flour.
Parikás Paneer with Multi-grain Spätzle
4 T. (plus more for frying) butter
1 lg. yellow onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (diced)
4 T. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 T. spicy Indian chili powder or 1 t. red chili flakes (optional)
2 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. sour cream
12 oz. mushrooms (sliced)
8 oz. paneer (1/2 inch cubes)
Sautee onion and garlic in butter until translucent. Add paprikas, and stir til roux forms. Gradually add the broth, stirring all the while, contents should resemble a thin gravy. Sir in sour cream. Fry mushrooms and paneer in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan, until golden. Add to gravy, season to taste, and serve over spätzle.
For spätzle
3/4 c club soda
2 eggs
1/2 t salt
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
spätzle maker or small cutting board and medium knife
Set large pot to boil. Mix soda, eggs and salt in medium bowl. Gradually add flour. Mix well. Dough should be very soft and sticky (almost a batter). Let rest ten minutes. Stir.
Here's the tricky part. If you don't happen to own a spätzle maker (but really, doesn't EVERYONE have one?) you'll need to make these dumples the old fashioned way. Take the cutting board and the knife and dip them in the boiling water. Place a large clump of dough on the board and thinly spread part of it all the way to one end of the board. Dip this end and the knife in the boiling water again. Then, using the back of the knife, scrape off thin noodles into the boiling water, re submerging knife and board along the way to prevent sticking. Let dumples boil for several minutes. Strain and toss with a little olive oil. (If this doesn't make sense,
demonstrates the process pretty well--even if it's in German).


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I'm an outdoors person. That's really where I am most happy, so its not surprising that I always gravitated towards landscape photography, in spite of a lot of background in studio work. Somewhere along the way, about 25 years ago really, I developed an interest in "painted-light photography" as a quirky and fun self-experimentation of creative images. Thanks to innovations in digital photography in the last few years, I decided to combine that edgy side of light-painting with the classic passion of landscape photography, and it seems to have created something that makes sense for me. The rugged and often remote "wilds" of the western U.S. are my studio: The unspoiled deserts, mountains, and forests of spectacular wilderness areas, public parklands and in some cases, private tracts, offer a myriad of photo opportunities, while the deep, dark nighttime in these places offer even more: solace, awe, and something akin to a private showing of the majestic natural world that is offered to us. I hope you can see some of that in my work.
Tom Wheeler is an emerging artist in respect to gallery work, but has been passionate about photography in some form or another since childhood. His first photo art class was in 1987 at Stanford University and later took courses at UCLA Extension, Otis College of Art and Design, and Santa Monica College (Photojournalism with the Corsair Weekly and Large Format studio work). He later worked briefly with Our Times (LA Times Section) and also assisted in studios with various LA advertising and magazine photographers. In 2014 he has showed in the CA Open (Nat'l juried-TAG Gallery), The PV Art Center, Gallery 1650 (LA), The South Bay Contemporary Gallery, the LA Center for Digital Art (LA), and is slated for an upcoming solo show at the Vanderbuilt University Saratt Gallery.


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Tuesday, November 5, 2013
The QE Money Suplly did not help Finance private consumption or Investment
NEW YORK – As below-trend GDP growth and high unemployment continue to afflict most advanced economies, their central banks have resorted to increasingly unconventional monetary policy. An alphabet soup of measures has been served up: ZIRP (zero-interest-rate policy); QE (quantitative easing, or purchases of government bonds to reduce long-term rates when short-term policy rates are zero); CE (credit easing, or purchases of private assets aimed at lowering the private sector's cost of capital); and FG (forward guidance, or the commitment to maintain QE or ZIRP until, say, the unemployment rate reaches a certain target). Some have gone as far as proposing NIPR (negative-interest-rate policy).
And yet, through it all, growth rates have remained stubbornly low and unemployment rates unacceptably high, partly because the increase in money supply following QE has not led to credit creation to finance private consumption or investment. Instead, banks have hoarded the increase in the monetary base in the form of idle excess reserves. There is a credit crunch, as banks with insufficient capital do not want to lend to risky borrowers, while slow growth and high levels of household debt have also depressed credit demand.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/on-the-ugly-policy-tradeoff-facing-advanced-country-central-bankers-by-nouriel-roubini#tQlVKVMYyF66b1uP.99
Nouriel Roubini is an American professor of Economics at New York University`s Stern School of Business and chairman of RGE Roubini Global Economics


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In the press
We love it when people talk about us! Here are some things they're saying:
App makes Alaska coastal data available offline: An Anchorage-based group of entrepreneurs is trying to make it a little easier to learn about Alaska's coastline with a new app.
coastview app wins seed funding
We were elated to get the news that the CoastView app had been awarded seed funding from the Alaska Seed Fund! It was a tough competition; over 70 businesses applied and we made it into the top 15% to get an award. It was a real honor to be selected for funding from the National Science Foundation by a team of experienced entrepreneurs and business people. Read about it!
It was a c-c-c-cold day in Alaska when we went out with a photographer to get the picture for this article. But our chattering teeth were worth it. We love how the picture captures the soft glow of the coast in the background. This article by the Small Business Development Center in Alaska talks about the origins of the CoastView mobile app.