Hurricane Sandy, now classified as a post-tropical storm, is more than 1.600 km wide and could be the largest storm in U.S. history.
As strong winds are pressing sea water into the densely populated region of New York / New Jersey, heavy floodings are expected in that area and all over the East Coast. At the time this blogspot came into being, increasing floodings were still not reaching their highest tide.
According to New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, 375.000 people need to leave their homes.
TV screenshots are showing a partially flooded bridge crossing river Hudson in lower Manhattan N.Y. and a damaged crane that is dangling in front of a newly built residence for the very rich.
Other pictures are showing heavy floodings in the federal state of Connecticut. 360.000 people have been evacuated there.
Even deer was caught in the floods.
West Virginia's governor has declared the state of emergency as his state is expecting a blizzard that might bring heavy snowfall.
About 8.1 million homes and businesses in 13 federal states are without electricity [UPDATE on the same day based on official sources]. U.S. President Obama has declared the state of emergency and sent troopers of the National Guard for assistance.
A car tunnel in New York Manhattan in the evening of October 30 [Source: People's Network, Beijing]:
Facing the damage that hurricane Sandy has inflicted on North America, it appears rather incredible from the outside that any election propaganda whatsoever could still trouble the night of U.S. citizens. However, here is what Al-Arabiya put into their headlines on October 31 and in the aftermath of a historical catastrophe, the provocative picture of a smiling Osama Bin Laden belonging to the article:
لقطات أوباما في فيلم بن لادن تقض مضجع الجمهوريين
Views of Obama in a Bin Laden film are troubling the night for citizens.
فيلم عن عملية مقتل زعيم تنظيم القاعدة يبث قبل يومين من الانتخابات الأمريكية
A film [showing] the operation that killed the leader of Al-Qaeda organization is being propagated on the eve of U.S. elections.
Maybe some can't imagine such floodings in their dusty countries.
سفن إيرانية في سواحل السودان بعد ضربة إسرائيل
Iranian ships at the coasts of Sudan after Israeli blow.
[Source: Al-Arabiya, October 30, 2012]
سفينتان ايرانيتان في بورتسودان لإرسال رسالة (سلام وصداقة)ـ
Two Iranian ships in Port Sudan delivering
a message ("of peace and friendship")
رست سفينتان ايرانيتان في بورتسودان ، أمس 29 اكتوبر .ـ
وقالت وكالة ارنا (*) الايرانية الرسمية نقلاً عن مصدر رسمي في البحرية ، ان مدمرة وحاملة طائرات هليكوبتر وصلتا يوم الاثنين إلى السودان لضمان ( أمن الطرق الملاحية) ولإرسال (رسالة سلام وصداقة) .ـ
Two Iranian ships anchored in Port Sudan yesterday October 29.
The office of Iran's official [press agency] IRNA (*) made known that, according to an official maritime source, a destroyer and a helicopter carrier [should have] arrived in Sudan on Monday in order to assure (the security of sea routes) and to deliver (a message of peace and friendship).
[Source: Hurriyat Sudan Online, October 30, 2012. Logo below !]
As to the assault on Yarmouk military compund, the Sudanese minister of information, Ahmed Bilal Uthman, is quoted in an article published by the Yemen Economist on October 29, 2012:
و أوضح عثمان أنه تم تدمير 60% من المصنع بشكل كلي, و 40% بشكل جزئي, و "أن السلطات السودانية كانت قد بدأت بالعمل على نقل المصنع إلى مكان خارج العاصمة, إلا أن الإسرائيليين علموا بذلك و بادروا بالقيام بالضربة"ـ
Uthman clarified that a total destruction of 60% of the fabrication [facilities] took place while 40% were only partly destroyed. [He added] " that Sudanese authorities have begun the task of shifting the factory to a place outside of the capital so that the Israeli could note it and hasten to the execution of a [military] blow ".
إلى ذلك, قالت جماعة مراقبة غير حكومية, إن تحليل صور الأقمار الصناعية لمصنع الأسلحة السوداني الذي اتهمت الخرطوم "إسرائيل" بقصفه الأسبوع الماضي, يشير إلى أن هذا الموقع ربما أصيب بقصف جوي متلما يقول السودان.ـ
Such, the non-governmental surveillance community (*) can analyze satellite pictures from the Sudanese arms factory which "Israel", being accused by Khartoum, blew in its attack last week. [Pictures] indicating that this place is probably struck by an air raid as Sudan is saying.
(*) The "non-governmental surveillance community" mentioned above should include a private initiative co-founded by U.S. actor George Clooney and decided to detect traces of local militia atrocities in South Sudan from satellite pictures. For that goal a "sentinel satellite" was hired. By chance, the result of last week's Israeli air raid has been detected as well by this satellite (below pictures).
Last Wednesday, October 24, heavy explosions rocked the Sudanese capital when a small unit of Israeli warplanes attacked an arms factory in the outskirts of Khartoum. The Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex is being considered to provide arms for Hezbollah and Hamas. It is allegedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Today, October 28, Al-Arabiya published photos provided by "Sentinel Satellite" and that are showing the area before and after the air raid.
The shelling [fully] destroyed two buildings and 40 [Bedouin dwellings (*)]. It ruined 21 [further] buildings and left a crater of 16 m diameter and 6 m depth.
(*) An interpretation of the Arabic expression can be found later in the original text:
الغارة استهدف الحاويات البادية في الصورة إلى اليسار
"The raid targeted desert (dwellings) on the left side of the [satellite] picture", however remainings of the bombing indicate the direction of the attacker's main target. The view point of the observer deciding whether this is the right or left side of the image, at least some Bedouin dwellings should be situated in the middle of a tree population that was left as a crater after the shelling.
On the same day, October 28, 2012, Al-Arabiya published a historic review on Arabic leaders calling for war with Israel by using the following headlines:
قادة عرب باعوا شعوبهم "أوهام الحرب" مع إسرائيل
Arabic leaders sold their peoples the " illusions of a war " with Israel.
بدءاً من جمال عبدالناصر مروراً بالقذافي وصدام وحافظ الأسد وابنه بشار
Beginning with Gamal Abdel-Nasser and passing to Gadhafi, Saddam, Hafiz Al-Assad and his son Bashir.
An unusual visitor access to "blueprint news" activated from Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, in Vietnam: The reference link might appear coincidentally but if not the idea behind could be rather sophisticated ...
Visitor access to the above news item from Darfur, the Republic of South Sudan that became independent only recently:
Unspecified visitor access from North Sudan. The satellite image is showing Khartoum and Port Sudan:
A "splendid mixture" of visitors to "blueprint news" on October 31, 2012:
Above: A commander of the Free Syrian Army talking to Al-Jazeera from Djebel Az-Zaouia.
دمشق تعلن التزاما مشروطا بالهدنة ابتداء من صباح الغد و حتى الإثنين
Damascus declares to observe the conditional armistice that should begin tomorrow morning (*) and last until Monday.
(*) This news was released on Thursday October 25 by Al-Jazeera TV, Arabic channel. The armistice should therefore begin today October 26, 2012. Whether that is realistic or not depends on the firm will of both sides and their ability to reduce manifold military activity in Syria as shown in the below maps:
Above: Military activity in the region of Aleppo and Idlib.
Above: Military engagements in the neighbourhoods of Damascus.
مواقف متباينة من هدنة عيد الأضحى
Different Positions on an Armistice at the Feast of Sacrifice
المجلس العسكري: سنلتزم بالهدنة مع احتفاظنا بحق الرد على أي خرق من قبل قوات النظام
The Military Council [of Syria]: We will observe the armistice while guarding the right to repulse any violation whatsoever from the side of regime forces.
Above: Musdafa al-Sheikh, president of the Military Council of Syria.
The Military Council is part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and formally heading it. Logo of the FSA:
الجيش الحر يعلن التزامه بهدنة عيد الأضحى
The Free [Syrian] Army declares to observe the armistice at the Feast of Sacrifice.
القيادة المشتركة للجيش الحر: سنلتزم بالهدنة إذا ما التزم النظام السوري بشروطنا المعلنة لوقف إطلاق النار
The collective command of the Free [Syrian] Army: We will observe the armistice as long as the Syrian regime is not engaging under the conditions for a ceasefire announced by us.
جبهة النصرة و أنصار الإسلام: نرفض وقف إطلاق النار و الهدنة لا تعنينا جملة و تفصيلا
The "Front for Victory" and "Ansar al-Islam" [i.e. Supporters of Islam]: We reject a ceasefire and an armistice that are not regarding us all in detail.
First results from an opinion poll among registered voters of both parties who actually watched the last public debate between U.S. presidential candidates Obama and Romney tonight, October 22-23, at 04:16 GMT.
Obama (48%) is winning the debate against Romney (40%) while it is being considered that Republican voters in favor of Romney might have been in the majority of all those who watched the show and participated in the opinion poll.
Obama seeming only slightly more "likable" (48% vs. 47%) but stronger leader (51% vs. 46%) than Romney, both are considered able to handle the job of a commander-in-chief (Obama 63%, Romney 60%).
Kremlin-near Russian oil giant Rosneft is buying British Petroleum's TNK-BP for $12.3 bn and stake in Rosneft. The new nine-member board of Rosneft will therefore include two BP members. According to Bloomberg financial TV, the whole British-Russian deal will amount to $55 bn, thus making it the third-biggest oil transaction.
Rosneft has proven oil reserves of 22.8 bn barrels. It is needing BP's know-how to tap arctic oil reserves in Siberia.
According to the Chinese service of BBC and other sources, one of China's most successful authors, Mo Yan 莫言 has obtained the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature. His best known story "Clan of the Red Sorghum 红高粱家族" even found its way to the cinema. The film based on Mo Yan's 1987 novel was released in 1988. In that year it was presented at the 38th Berlin Film Festival and won the most appreciated Golden Bear Award under its new title "Das Rote Kornfeld / The Red Corn Field". It was then that Mo Yan became known outside of China together with film director Zhang Yimou.
A Chinese film poster for "The Red Corn Field"
referring to the Golden Bear Award obtained at
the 38th Film Festival in West-Berlin. PR China
never had ideological problems with West-Berlin.
The following text is a short excerpt from the beginning of Mo Yan's masterpiece "The Red Corn Field" 红高粱家族, presented in my own translation and based on the original Chinese version I found on the internet. Sometimes brackets are added to mark expressions used for a better understanding or to avoid useless repetition of words. - Ulysses -
In 1939, as early as August 9 according to the ancient calendar, my father was just 14 years old when he belonged to a gang of local bandits. He later followed troops under the command of legendary hero Yu Zhan Ao and who became famous everywhere at the time he "glued" a motorized unit of the Japanese [army] in a highway ambush.
Grandma, wrapped in a double-layered jacket, saw them off at the end of the village. Commander Yu said: "Stand upright !". Grandma stood upright. And she told my father: "Bean officer ! You listen to what your adoptive father is saying." [My] father didn't say a single word. He looked at grandma's tall body and smelled the hot fragrance escaping from within [her] double-layered jacket. Suddenly, he felt a cold threat and shivered, his stomach making a rumbling noise for some moment. Commander Yu patted father's head and said: "Let's go, son."
Heaven and earth being in chaos and the scenery remaining indistinct, a disorderly clatter of footsteps from numerous troopers resounded in the distance. Father was facing [the fact] that he was caught in a curtain of blue and white fog blocking his view. All he heard was the sound of footsteps made by the troopers, neither seeing their bodies nor their shadows. Father closely pulled at a corner of commander Yu's [uniform], both of his legs moving fast. Now, grandma resembled a [safe] shore that became more and more distant with every step away while the fog seemed like the [waves of the] sea appearing more and more turbulent when approaching them. Father's gripping of commander Yu therefore seemed like gripping the side of a boat.
Like this, father hurried towards his own [black] tombstone which carried no inscription and was towering aloft in the middle of a thoroughly red sorghum field at
his native place. On his grave mound, withered grass is already rustling [in the wind]. Now, there is a boy with his naked backside and who has lead along a snow-white goat to this place. While the goat is neither tightened nor occupied to nibble at the grave mound's grass, the boy is standing on the tombstone, urinating in a most furious manner. Then he is singing heartily [of what sounds like]: Chinese sorghum
is getting red -- The Japanese are coming -- All fellow countrymen prepare yourselves well -- Start firing the cannons --
The following excerpt can be found in the last part of the book. Some Japanese names have been translated into Chinese Pinyin syllables:
Among archives material of Zha Huang township in Japan's Hokkaido region there was a record telling: "In the morning of 1st October 1949 near Qing Tian Tian village which belongs to Zha Huang township, a peasant woman following river Zhen Zi [ or: the path
of chastity 贞子 (zhenzi) ] was harvesting rice in the middle of a mountain valley when she met with a savage [ chin. Ye 野 (wild) + 子 (son) = son of the wild ] who sullied ....." Such was the information. It was Mr. Ya [ jap. Ya 野 ], one of my Japanese friends, who helped me to gather and translate it into Chinese. The so-called "savage" in that material seemed to indicate my father. The purpose of quoting this piece of information is in order to explain when and where one important incident took place that appeared in father's narrations. In autumn 1943, my father was seized for manual labour and arrived on Hokkaido in Japan at the end of the same year. In spring 1944, when bright mountain flowers were in full bloom he escaped from the workers' camp. In the mountains he led a life that was half of a human and half of a beast until the first of October 1949 when he had already spent more than 2.000 days and nights in the mountain forests. Now, on the day I depicted, in addition to the great fog that came before dawn and made him more easily and more vividly recall that fervent life he had previously led in his former country, a life which belonged to him and to his family as well, the day had no special significance [for him]. The matter occurring at noon [then required] another way of thinking and a different view.
The above translated excerpts are presenting the historical frame of Mo Yan's plot in his masterpiece "The Red Cornfield". Yet, this novel is more than a diary of war but a colorful and vivid description of a single human character who is serving as a symbol for generations of people in their eternal struggle of life.
On October 24, 2012, a Chinese comment tried to cope with the different aspects of Mo Yan's novel:
《红高粱家族》：布满奇思狂想的历史真实
The Clan of the Red Sorghum: Proclaiming completely strange ideas from wild thinking about historical authenticity.
Having developed from medium-length to full length, the novel "Clan of the Red Sorghum" [or: Red Corn Field] is still up to now Mo Yan's most representative and symbolic work. That symbolic character being probably related to his own person.
Editor's remark: Very early at the beginning of the novel, "storyteller" Mo Yan is indicating that the boy singing a ferocious song of war on top of that nameless tombstone might be regarded as Mo Yan himself who is telling us the story of his father and his clan.
The book cover for one edition of "The Red Corn Field" (left) and Mo Yan's latest bestseller "The Frog 蛙" (right) that appeared in 2011:
A Russian translator of literature and high-ranking researcher at the Far-Eastern Research Institute, [...], indicated that he was quite happy Mo Yan was able to obtain the Nobel Prize for Literature. He said: "Reading "The Red Corn Field" and "The Frog", one should say, the powerful and skilled plot of the film was able to reach [its] success, howelse could be the merits of Mo Yan's original work."
Earlier, the writer Gao Xingjian 高行健, originating from mainland China and living abroad in France, had obtained the year 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature, thus becoming the first Chinese writer to win that prize.
[Chinese text quoted from BBC's Chinese website on October 11, 2012.]
Visitor access point to "blueprint news" from Paris, France. Somewhere here, Gao Xingjian should be living and working. I learnt that Gao personally participated in the French translation of his books and is selling his innovative calligraphies with remarkable success:
Mo Yan (* 1955) is originating from a small village in China's Shandong province where good news from the Nobel Prize Committee in Stockholm reached him.
莫言兄长：农家孩子走到这一步不容易
Another Chinese source is saying about Mo Yan: "It was not easy for the son of a farmer to arrive at that point."
[Chinese text quoted from sohu.com on October 11, 2012. Further information cited from other public sources.]
Reader's comment on a Chinese website honouring Mo Yan:
感慨啊，鲁迅和老舍可以瞑目啦，中国终于出个诺贝尔文学巨匠
A sigh of relief ! Lu Xun and Lao She would probably have died content as China finally brings about a great master of literature and who is worth the Nobel prize.
Comment by Ulysses:
Lu Xun who introduced a new style of writing literature at the beginning of the 20th century and Lao She, one of the most remarkable writers at the beginning of Communist rule in China, are being regarded as milestones in the long tradition of Chinese literature. The above mentioned Gao Xingjian, first Chinese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, has never become so popular in mainland China like Mo Yan already is. This might be due to Gao's writings referring much closer to the "dark chapters" of Communist China's history. Once being accused of "rightism" soon after the beginning of his career, it was his personal experience that finally made him leave PR China. As a consequence, only short comments could be found on official Chinese websites at the time when Gao obtained his year 2000 Nobel Prize, and his main writings were distributed on privately maintained Chinese websites like some kind of underground literature. However both authors, Mo Yan and Gao Xing Jian, are excellent narrators who vividly and most colourful describe the national tribes of China and the sceneries they live in.
The following Chinese text has been translated from yesterday's regular press conference of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While the island dispute between China and Japan is still topping China's political agenda, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Germany offers a pleasant contrast. The ministry's spokesman Hong Lei (above picture) was answering a relevant question:
问：德国外长韦斯特维勒将于10月11日至13日来华访问。请介绍有关情况及当前中德关系。
Question:
Germany's foreign minister Westerwelle is going to visit China on October 11-13. PLease, give an evaluation of the situation relevant to current Chinese-German relations.
答：应杨洁篪外长邀请，德国外长韦斯特维勒将于10月11日至13日来华出席第三轮中德外长级战略对话。
Answer:
Responding to foreign minister Yang Jiechi's invitation, Germany's foreign minister Westerwelle is going to visit China on October 11-13 in order to attend the third round of strategic talks on foreign minister level.
Current Chinese-German relations are developing very well. Both countries are preserving close contact and relations on a high level. In April this year, prime minister Wen Jiabao went to Germany in order to attend the Hannover industrial fair's opening ceremony [and] China's partner country activities, [thus] further propelling the development of both countries' relationship. In August [chancellor Merkel] paid her second visit to China within a year in order to attend the second round of Chinese-German governmental consultations. Both parties have reached manyfold common insight into politics, economy as well as other important fields [which is] emphasizing a joint advance to future prospects within a strategic partnership.
This year is marking 40 years of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, the activities of a "Chinese Culture Year" just being staged in Germany. Developing even closer tied Chinese-German relations conforms to the fundamental interest of both countries and both of its peoples. China is ready for joint efforts together with Germany [in order to] deepen mutual trust in politics, to advance a cooperation in all fields for mutual benefit and to promote a continued forward-looking development of both countries' relations. China is convinced that foreign minister Westerwelle's visit will bring further support for the development of a strategic partnership that is looking into the future.
Headline:
Turkey releases a Syrian plane after confiscation of suspicious payload.
الطائرة كانت في طريقها من موسكو إلى دمشق وعلى متنها 35 راكباً
The plane was on its way from Moscow to Damascus with 35 passengers on board.
According to the Turkish news agency Al-Anadoul, four Turkish F-4 fighters should have downed the Syrian Airbus A-320 with an alleged payload of weapons. This happened after Turkey's foreign minister had said: "the gist of some intelligence [report] informs us that the plane is not respecting the rules of civil aviation":
"
تلقينا معلومات مفادها أن الطائرة لا تحترم قواعد الطيران المدني
"
Syrian government TV confirmed that Turkish aviation authorities had forced the plane to land in Ankara.
[Source: Al-Arabiya on October 10, 2012]
As to the subject of Who Arms Syria, you are invited to refer to another blogspot of mine.
Today's news are about South Korea intending to increase the radius of application for their medium range missiles from 300 to 800 km. This has become possible after South Korea signed a deal with the U.S. government. While Seoul is explaining that step with the need to reach all areas of North Korea in case of war, South Korea's neighbours Japan and China are not amused as both countries' are now, as well, within the range of missiles from the Southern part of the Korean peninsula. This comes at a time when all East Asian nations (China, Japan, North and South Korea) are involved in some kind of island dispute and are therefore suspiciously observing each other.
The tensions between East Asian countries can be felt in another press report from China confirming an earlier report from Japan about Chinese warships intending to pass through Okinawa waters on their way to the Pacific. The Chinese source People's Network is citing an official report by Japanese defence authorities informing on October 4 that seven Chinese warships had left their seaports the same day between 6 and 7 p.m.. Japanese media published the official news immediately and People's Network in China reacted promptly next day, October 5, saying that all seven vessels would pass Okinawa without leaving international waters. However, pictures included in the Chinese article are not showing Chinese warships but four vessels obviously belonging to Japan's navy:
UPDATE for October 7 further down => Including complete interview with Ahmadi Nejad ! Latest NEWS UPDATE on October 15
Today, Al-Jazeera published the preview of an interview taken with Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad. It should have been recorded during his visit to the United Nations in New York. As to the subject of Syrian armament, Ahmadi Nejad rejected U.S. allegations of Iran sending weapons to the Assad regime over Iraqi airspace. Instead, he pointed out that any military support in this conflict for any of both sides, government and opposition, would only lead to tribal war that should destroy Syria's integrity.
Ahmadi Nejad might be a liar or not, his words seem to have the truth when it comes to arming Syria, especially when he said something like: "There are many in line before us who have always armed Syria".
I still remember another graduate who left university about the same time like me and who had something to do with material sciences. On some occasion I heard that his new employer had sent him to Syria on a German Airforce plane that took off for Damascus regularly once a week carrying military advisers and arms specialists. Because of that regular flight the plane was reportedly nicknamed "Damascus Airways". That was around 1980 under the rule of Hafiz Al-Assad who had since been regarded as being even more cruel than his son who followed him in office, until Bashir Al-Assad only recently blew the fuse and topped his father.
At first, such news of military cooperation between Syria and NATO member Germany took me by surprise because Syria was considered an ally to the Soviet empire at that time. I understand they still have a Russian naval base. Furthermore, German arms exports are very much restricted by law (what we call "Kriegswaffen-Kontrollgesetz"). Later I came to think that any Western nation, providing military equipment and being driven by the forces of an international market, would try to sell their stuff even to the devil. So, it cannot be Russia, China or Iran alone that are to be blamed for weaponry trafficking.
Citing videos and witness accounts, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report Syrian government forces were using cluster bombs. The report says the bombs are Soviet-made, but it also says it's unclear how or when Syria may have acquired them. The Syrian government has declined all allegations.
Russia questioned the report's veracity. "There is no confirmation to this," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, according to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency. "There are loads of weapons in this region, including in Syria and other countries of the region, and arms are supplied there in large quantities and illegally."
