Female Archaeologist Risks Life to Expose Massive Looting in Egypt

Story at TribLive/USWorld

Egyptologist risks life, career to expose looting
By Betsy Hiel

Published: Saturday, June 15, 2013, 9:13 p.m.Updated: Monday, June 17, 2013

ABU SIR AL MALAQ, Egypt — Monica Hanna's reputation as an archaeologist has grown far beyond her native Egypt — but not without risk.

 

Shawn Baldwin | For the Tribune-Review

Dr. Monica Hanna, an Egyptian archaeologist, surveys the burial grounds in Abu Sir
al Malaq. 'You see dogs playing with human bones, children scavenging for pottery
and painted sarcophagi. You also find very well mummified fragments.
It is very macabre,' Hanna says. Hanna is a leader in exposing the looting
of Egyptian antiquities.

 

As she and several journalists documented looting at an ancient burial site here, several men – one with a shotgun slung over a shoulder — threatened her.

 

“I heard one man say, ‘Beat her and take her camera,' ” Hanna said afterward.

 

When the men phoned for police, she hid her camera's memory card in her shirt. After 45 minutes of argument, she was allowed to leave.

 

“The locals, who are a part of the looting, don't want the photos out there because then their business stops,” she explained.

Hanna, 30, is a leader in exposing the antiquity-looting that has exploded since Egypt's 2011 revolution. She appears on Egyptian television debating government officials, takes reporters to looted sites, and encourages Egyptians to protect their heritage. To Nigel Hetherington, an archaeologist and co-founder of Past Preservers, which connects academia and media on archaeological issues, she is “amazing … a revolutionary in the true sense of the word.”

 

“She is out to get the bad guys and harness the feeling the Egyptians have of their own heritage, and turn it into actual force for good,” he said.

 

When she was 14, Hanna took a school trip to the Egyptian Museum, which holds some of the country's best antiquities, including the King Tut collection. [Wonder how much of it is actually real antiquities these days?  Could all be fakes, sold by the Islamists to fund their foreign jihads and to buy bread for the restless 'natives.']

 

“I sneaked inside the mummification lab” and saw its director at work, she recalled. “I was fascinated, and I asked him if I could come and help.”

 

She volunteered twice weekly after school; a year later, she helped with mummy restorations. “I helped repair the toes of Thutmose III,” a pharaoh who ruled Egypt nearly 3,500 years ago.

She graduated from American University in Cairo with a bachelor's degree in Egyptology and archaeological chemistry, then earned a master's degree in teaching English, followed by a doctoral degree in archaeological sciences from the University of Pisa, Italy. She is doing post-doctoral studies at Humbolt University, Berlin.

 

Not everyone appreciates her work; she often receives threatening phone calls: “People say that I am foreign-paid, that I have a foreign agenda, or that I am doing this for personal glory.”

 

A policeman told her uncle that she should stop because “she is bothering really big people.”

 

Salima Ikram, Hanna's former teacher and head of American University's Egyptology unit, is not surprised by the threats: “That means she is doing her job well. She is scaring some of the syndicate people who live around and feed off of the antiquities.”

 

Hanna concedes she may be risking her career: “I might not get future permits to work on archaeological sites from the antiquities ministry. But, then, it's ethics versus career — if I cannot talk about this, then I really have no place to teach my students one day that we have done our best to protect our heritage.”

 

She is working with three groups to monitor archaeological sites; a website will allow people, including tourists, to anonymously report damaged antiquities. Her commitment arose, she said, because foreign archaeologists were afraid of losing work permits if they spoke up and antiquities inspectors who reported looting were usually ignored.

 

“If we Egyptians don't protect our heritage, who will?” she asks. [Who, indeed?]

 

Hetherington said Hanna “brings a model of archaeological heritage-management that is severely lacking here … (she) can empower the younger generation to take control of this mess.”

 

Her work “is a service not just to Egypt … because Egypt's heritage is part of the world heritage,” adds Ikram, her former teacher.

 

Betsy Hiel is the Tribune-Review's foreign correspondent.

'Lidar' Uncovers Mayan City in Mexico

'Lidar' in the news again -- this time, aiding the discovery of unexplored Mayan ruins in Mexico.

From The Latin American Herald Tribune
Caracas,
Wednesday
June 19,2013

Vast Mayan City Discovered in Southeast Mexico Jungle

MEXICO CITY – Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown Mayan city in the southeastern state of Campeche, which for its vast extension and characteristics is believed to have been a seat of government some 1,400 years ago, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH, said.

A team of experts headed by Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Sprajc has christened the site Chactun.

“It is one of the largest sites in the Central Lowlands, comparable in its extent and the magnitude of its buildings with Becan, Nadzcaan and El Palmar in Campeche”, Sprajc said in a statement released by INAH.

The complex covers more than 22 hectares (54 acres).

Based on the number of monuments, at least ten of them with inscriptions, the city is believed to have been the seat of government for a extensive area during the period of 600-900 A.D., the researcher said.

The INAH-backed exploration is financed by the National Geographic Society and two private companies: Austria’s Villas and Slovenia’s Ars Longa.

Down through the centuries, Chactun remained hidden in the jungle on the north of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. According to Sprajc, it forms part of an area covering more than 3,000 sq. meters (1,150 sq. miles) that has remained a “total blank” on the Mayan archaeological map.

The millennial metropolis is one of the nearly 80 sites detected by the Southeast Campeche Archaeological Recognition Project, launched in 1996. EFE

********************************************************

At Archaeology Magazine
June 19, 2013

Maya City Discovered in Mexico

CAMPECHE, MEXICO—A large Maya city dubbed Chactún, or Red Stone, has been discovered in the jungles of Mexico’s Central Lowlands, in an area once used by loggers, but only recently explored by archaeologists equipped with aerial photographs and images created with LIDAR. The size of the city and its pyramids, palaces, ball courts, and plazas suggest that it was a long-term seat of government some 1,400 years ago. “It is one of the largest sites in the Central Lowlands, comparable in its extent and the magnitude of its buildings with Becan, Nadzcaan, and El Palmar in Campeche,” explained Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Sprajc. The name of a ruler, K’inich B’ahlam, has been found carved on one of the ten stelae unearthed so far at the site. Archaeologists suspect that Chactún will help them understand the relationships between other nearby Maya cities.

Standing Man Defines Turkish Defiance...Where's the Woman???

Are the women sent home at dusk, fearing rape in this park-like area, similar to what Egyptian and foreign women were subjected to during the "revolution" in Egypt a few years ago, the same revolution that everyone cheered about?  Ha! Look who took over there, you fools!

Erdem Gunduz (C) stands in a silent protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul early June 18, 2013. Gunduz, a Turkish man, has staged an eight-hour silent vigil on Istanbul's Taksim Square, scene of violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters in recent weeks, inspiring hundreds of others to follow his lead. Gunduz said he wanted to take a stand against police stopping demonstrations near the square, Dogan news agency reported. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
(TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)

Turkey, as is Egypt (and many others in the "Middle East") is a country out of balance.  A country out of balance cannot long prevail.  It may take some time, but eventually, this country --  it's system -- will fall.  A country that began in equality but has degenerated to inequality cannot prevail in the long run.  HIStory shows us that this is true (despite HIStory's best efforts to hide the truth from us).

So sad.  And yet, after more than six thousand years of recorded HIStory, we still haven't learned the most fundamental of lessons!  If the genders are not equal, there IS no equality.  Without equality, a system will fail.

It may take what seems like a long time in today's 24/7 world, but it WILL, ultimately, fail. 

Fundamentalists of all political and religious persuasions, your Days Are Numbered. Of that, I am one hundred percent certain.  I may not live to see it, but I think your end is closer than you think - if you're thinking with anything other than your penises.  Sadly, it appears that you do not understand the true meaning behind the tale of the "Handwriting On The Wall." Here is my paraphrase of the rendering into modern English:  YOU have been weighed in the scales (of Justice) and have been found wanting.  YOUR days are numbered.

This doesn't just apply to Turkey.  We've got the same kind of war going on right here in the United States. 

'Standing man' inspires silent protests in Turkey

By Daren Butler | Reuters – 10 hrs ago

Celebrating at the Holler House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

..Hola darlings!

Friday night (June 14) I was out with those wild and crazy and - did I say wild, cougars ladies that I ride the bus with on the way home from the office in the evenings.  They are so much fun - and good supportive friends, too. 

Most of my readers are not familiar with my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.  The Holler House bar is housed in a building that was built in or around 1908.  It houses private residence space on the upper floors, a 2-lane bowling alley in the basement, and a small bar on the first (ground) floor) with private rooms in the back.  It is located on South 21st (or is that 20th?) Street and West Lincoln Avenue in an old area of Milwaukee's southside, right across the street from a part of the eastern border of the venerable (and quite beautiful) Forest Home Cemetery.

The building/bar has been owned by the same family since it was first built.  Right now, the current owner (who married into the family), Marcy, is in her late 80's.  I had not met her, or visited the Holler House, until this past Friday evening.  She is a beautiful woman, let me tell you -- she would have been stunning in her younger years.  One of the Bus Ladies - JoAnn a/k/a Ginger Snap (snap fingers here, cuz she's a Spicey Cookie), has been hanging out there for years and so I've heard a lot about the Holler House over the past three years or so, since we've gradually built up the Crazy Cougars - okay, some of them don't like the term "cougars" but personally I think it's quite fitting.

Back to Holler House --  A recent fire inspection of  the Holler House noted the presence of flammable materials hanging from the ceiling.  Said flammable materials consist of various sizes and all types of women's brassieres, the oldest ones hanging up there since women's liberation finally took hold in old-fashioned Milwaukee in the 1970s.  The story is that one wild and crazy night some female bar patrons, and Marcy, decided to take them off, take them off, take them ALL OFF, and the bras ended hanging up on various other decorations (I use that term loosely) hanging and/or tacked on to the ceiling and beams that span the width of the room that houses the bar.

The fire inspector issued a citation to the Holler House to remove the flammable material.  Marcy, the owner, objected.  But as things unfolded, her time to appeal the citation expired prior to when she sought "official" help.  Being a law-abiding citizen, Marcy had one of of her relatives remove the offending materials so she would not run the risk of incurring hefty daily fines for violation of the removal order. She then turned to her local alderman and, with the help of friends, contacted local media.  This is one savvy lady.  One thing led to another and both Alderman and media took up the complaint on her behalf.  After all, Marcy argued, those same bras had been hanging up there since the 1970's, and no one ever complained about them being flammable (or inflaming, har :)) before. 

Justice has prevailed, TA DA!  The order was reversed and rescinded.  YAY MILWAUKEE COMMON COUNCIL!  YAY PUBLICITY IN THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL/SENTINEL AND LOCAL NEWS STATIONS! YAH ALDERMAN BOB DONOVAN FOR HELPING!  The story even made Reuters! 

And so Friday tonight, in celebration of being able to once again go back to the way things were before, in a very special celebration, the bras were re-hung, and folks were encouraged to bring in their own bras, donated or purchased, or a selection from Holler House's own extensive collection, to be hung or re-hung from the ceiling of the Holler House Bar!  A fund-raiser, YAY!  Two local charities close to our hearts, the Hope House and the ABCD Foundation, Melodie Wilson's foundation (Wilson was a former Miss Wisconsin and Miss America contestant, she was a popular local news anchor for many years but, sadly, died of breast cancer at too young an age, leaving young children behind).  One could hang a bra, or have it hung on your behalf, for a $5 donation.  Five bucks could also purchase a memorial tee shirt.  Such a deal!  Tees were a hot commodity.  Check out the tee I bought -- I hung it on a hanger from my dinette chandy to get a good photo of it:

(Please ignore my messy dinette - I was not expecting to take photos in there last Friday night and the tabletop is cluttered with mail and bills -- got to get around to paying them soon...  On a happy note, I purchased a MEDIUM shirt, LARGE is now too big for me to wear, yippee!)

The Holler House jukebox is FABULOUS!  It wasn't long before all of us were out in whatever space we could find dancing and grooving. But let me tell you, darlings, the music is LOUD. 

I had my camera along but, sadly, most of my pictures are not very good - and no group shot of all of us together:  JoAnn, Darlene, Anni, Thelma, Michele, Dodi, and me. Here are some of my photos:

In the photo above, Santa Claus (you'll see him in some later pictures when his face isn't stuffed into hanging brassieres) is up on a ladder hanging my bra -- a satin black underwire Olga bra from the days when I was a svelt 34C (I'm now, sadly, a 38D).

In this photo, our bus buddy Thelma (Thelma and I visited Las Vegas - her first visit ever - in April) is coming down from the ladder after having hung up her own donated black bra. She's so cute!  She is too young to be a cougar, she is an "honorary cougar."

Unfortunately, the photo above did not turn out very well, but it's the only photo I've got of our bus buddy Michele, hanging a Holler House bra.

The photo above was taken from the stair landing going down to the two bowling lanes down in the Holler House basement.  The Holler House was opened in 1908 and has the two oldest sanctioned lanes authenticated by the United States Bowling Congress (I think that is what it is called).

Ginger Snap (a/k/a JoAnn) took this photo of me (left), Anni (middle) and Dodi (right), downstairs at the Holler House lanes.  Anni has on one of the Great Bra Re-Hanging tee shirts.  I am holding a glass of Chardonnay, and Dodi is holding a cocktail.  I have no idea what Anni is holding - maybe a pussy coin purse?  She doesn't drink anything except soda.  Oh, maybe it's a soda glass.  The wall on the right side of the pic was reconstructed some years back to eliminate some foundation problems, and many of the concrete blocks now sports autographs of patrons, fans, and famous and not-so-famous bowlers.  It was a hoot reading some of them -- we were careful not to go on to the lanes themselves, we stayed on the approaches.  Those approaches were rebuilt a few years back, funded by the Bowling Congress, bless it's heart! 

There's Thelma striking a pose with a ball - a bowling ball - BOWLING BALL, PEOPLE!

Here's a video taken on Friday June 14, 2013 by one of our local television stations, WTMJ-TV Channel 4  and broadcast on the 10 PM news.  About 28 seconds into the actual video (after commercials) you get a glimpse of a group of women inside the bar, including little Anni in a green wig (she looks a little like a lepruchan) and the backs of several of our heads, including mine (I think), LOL!  Woo woo - our 15 minutes of fame!  Later in the video there is a glimpse of Ginger Snap a/k/a JoAnn can be seen descending from the ladder.

The Holler House's wonderful fund-raiser and the events leading up to the Great Bra Re-Hanging made the news in The Chicago Tribune, 90 miles to our south.  The article featured a separate link to several nice and clear (unlike mine and JoAnn's) photographs. 

And now you're going to see Santa in his summer garb, courtesy of The Chicago Tribune:

 Heh heh heh!  As I and Thelma were both there for the hanging of our respective black bras, I can tell you with 100% certainty that my donated bra is covering the right arm of the lady up on the ladder and Thelma's donated bra is partially covering the left arm of said lady.  Our bras will go down in herstory...  One of our friendly local busdrivers on the route we take to/from work is on the far right.  In the lower right hand corner, you can just see Pepper Spray staring into the camera -- is that a "V" for Victory sign she's making - or a "come hither" signal with her hand...

Photo above from The Chicago Tribune, an outshot shot of the Holler House.  Like I said, just a small neighborhood bar. 

And in this photo you can see our irrepressible Pepper Spray up on the ladder giving a campaign speech (she's running for President of the United States in 2016) and in the lower left hand corner a demure Ginger Snap laughing her ass butt off.  ELECT PEPPER SPRAY PRESIDENT IN 2016!  She intends to run as a Wisconsin Born-Again Republidem, offering a new, refreshing political alternative to the old boring do-nothing snores in Congress who currently control our "New Normal" USA. 

HEY - YOU WANT NORMAL?  Come visit the Holler House in good ol' Milwaukee, darlings :)  JanXena certified! 

Latest Technology Helps Uncover Lost City Covered by Jungle

This is cool - "lidar."  There are a lot of articles about this discovery, I selected this one.

This video, by Damien Evans of Sydney University, shows some of the on-land treks into the area revealed by the "lidar" data -- it's absolutely fascinating and worth watching -- a little less than 10 minutes long, so lots of information:

June 17, 2013

Archaeologists Discover “Lost City” in Cambodian Jungle

By Sarah Pruitt

For more than a millennium, its temples, canals, roads and statues remained buried under dense jungle undergrowth in the mountainous Phnom Kulen region of northwestern Cambodia. Now, a team led by archaeologist Damien Evans of Sydney University has used the airborne light-scanning technology known as Lidar to unearth the ancient city of Mahendraparvata, thought to be around 1,200 years old. Part of the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire that ruled much of Southeast Asia from about A.D. 800 to 1400, the city lies some 25 miles west of the famous 12th-century Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat, and appears to predate it by some 350 years.

The area around the mountain known as Phnom Kulen has been revered as a holy place for centuries, welcoming thousands of pilgrims seeking to bathe and perform spiritual rites there. In the 1970s, the region was a stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist regime that tried to revive the agricultural glory of the Angkor era to disastrous effect, including the deaths of more than 1 million people from overwork or starvation and the execution of hundreds of thousands more. Land mines continue to litter the region, making exploration and excavation of the region difficult and dangerous.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on June 15, Evans and his small team of archaeologists found the outline of the ancient city confirmed to be Mahendraparvata by making a detailed map of the area using Lidar laser-scanning technology. In 2009, Lidar technology was used to reveal terraced farming systems and roads in the ancient Maya city of Caracol in Belize, Central America. It was also used at Stonehenge and other archaeological sites in Europe, but had never before been used for archaeological work in tropical Asia. To conduct their project, the University of Sydney team had to seek high-level clearance from the Cambodian government in Phnom Penh.

Evans and his team strapped the scanning equipment to helicopters, which then flew at an altitude of 800 meters and methodically criss-crossed 370 square kilometers of northwest Cambodia, collecting billions of data points and about 5,000 digital aerial photographs. Lidar technology works by firing laser impulses at the landscape, after which a sensor measures how long it takes each pulse to bounce back. Through repetition, the measurements create a detailed picture of the landscape.

Several weeks ago, Evans and his team noticed something unusual: the laser imagery showed a landscape that was completely clear of vegetation. When they went to confirm the Lidar findings, they found the ruins of six previously unrecorded temples, as well as ancient canals, dykes and roads. Subsequent searches revealed another two dozen hidden temple sites. A number of the temples had been looted, but at least two were intact. In addition, the team found a cave with historically revealing carvings, used by holy hermits who flourished during the Angkor period. The light-scanning data also revealed hundreds of mysterious earth-covered mounds, measuring several meters high, scattered across the city; these could be tombs for the dead, although that hypothesis is still unconfirmed.

A one-legged guide named Heng Heap joined Evans on the arduous jungle expedition, along with a reporter and photographer from Fairfax Media. Heng Heap, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, was able to guide the team through dense growth and avoid land mines scattered over landscape he knows intimately. His own village, Anglong Thom, lies in the middle of the “lost city,” and he had been aware of some of its structures, but not all. The upcoming excavation of Mahendraparvata is expected to provide work—in the form of clearing vegetation and preserving historical sites—for local villagers, many of whom are undernourished.

It is not known yet quite how big the city was, as the Lidar search covered only a circumscribed area, and Evans told reporters that “there is a lot of work to be done to discover the extent of this civilization.” Archaeological research—including analysis of sculptured caves and river beds—indicates that the region encompassing the lost city remained occupied throughout the Angkor period (between the ninth and 16th centuries). Angkor Wat, the temple complex constructed in the 12th century by the Khmer ruler Suryavarman II, was first “discovered” by Westerners in the 1860s, but had been used by local peoples for religious purposes for centuries before that. It has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Reflecting on possible reasons for Mahendraparvata’s demise, Evans suggested that the “severe environmental impact of deforestation and the dependence on water management” may have led to its downfall, as the city may have become “too successful to the point of becoming unmanageable.” [Hey China - hint hint...]

Chinese Subway Contractor Destroys Ancient Tombs

Now you see 'em, now you don't!  Once gone, they're gone forever. 

Of course, contractors are doing the same thing here in the USA every day, you just don't read about it in the press because not enough people give a damn.  Have you ever read of a construction contractor on U.S. soil being brought up on criminal charges for violating federal (and state) laws on deliberately destroying historical artifacts?  I'd like to hear about it!  We didn't send one fricking asshole to jail for their criminal activities in causing the Second Great Depression 2007 and ongoing still, so I I seriously doubt the government is chasing after any contractor for destroying ancient burial sites or entire villages for that matter.

One wonders if this Chinese contractor will be slapped with a tiny fine because of public outcry, and then of course, the Chinese central government will enact yet more restrictions on the internet and ban more sites and more news. 

From The South China Morning Post

Work on Guangzhou Metro Line 6 destroys five ancient tombs
Mimi Lau in Guangzhou
Monday, 17 June, 2013, 5:51am 

Guangzhou Metro is facing a public outcry after contractors destroyed a group of ancient imperial tombs in the Menggang district during construction of Line 6 of its subway system.

The tombs, ranging from 2,200 to more than 3,000 years old and still being studied by archaeologists, were wrecked by excavators on Friday night.

The protected site, on the eastern slope of Da Gong mountain, had been sealed off by the Guangzhou Archaeology Research Centre, with warning signs posted and red lines marking the protected area. It was fine when archaeologists left on Friday but had been torn up by the time they returned on Saturday.

"Yesterday we were still conducting archaeological excavations, but all five tombs were gone this morning," said an archaeologist quoted by Southern Metropolis Daily yesterday.

One of the archaeology technicians responsible for the site, Miao Hui , said: "At least five of them were destroyed … this time. They date from the late Shang dynasty to the Warring States. This is not the first time the construction company has destroyed ancient tombs. The area they dug up was sealed by red lines. They even specifically moved our archaeological tools aside before blazing in."

A foreman hired by the centre said the site was impossible to miss. "We have begun working with one of the tombs and used plastic film to cover the unfinished site. It's a very large and obvious target, it's impossible that the workers could miss it."

Yesterday's reports in most Guangzhou media put the number of tombs at five, while Xinhua reported on Saturday that six tombs were destroyed.

A manager for Guangzhou Metro's construction agent said the workers were confused by unclear warning signs and markings left by the archaeologists.

A Guangzhou Metro spokesman said the construction work had already been approved by the archaeology centre, according to Southern Metropolis Daily.

However, it was reported that the centre wrote to the company last month to say the site had not been cleared for construction.  The research centre's director, Zhang Qianglu , said the slope's densely packed tombs had significant historical value.

The subway project is reported to have destroyed more than a dozen ancient tombs in the first five months of the year.

The damage has triggered an outcry online, with internet users describing it as outrageous and shameless. One said she did not believe it was simply a mistake. "The constructor has never taken the historical relics seriously. If you are not sure where to dig, why don't you ask? They must be severely punished, otherwise we'll only see more cultural relics being destroyed."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Guangzhou subway work destroys five ancient tombs.

2013 Milwaukee Summer Challenge

Hola!  I'll get right to it.  Here are the final standings for Milwaukee Summer Challenge II.

No chess femmes participated in the M/E section.

In the U2000:

Pair | Player Name                    |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)      | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | JAMES S ELLIS                  |4.5  |W   4|D   7|W   8|W  11|W   2|
   WI | 10314372 / R: 1904   ->1961 
    2 | ANUPAMA SHASHIKALA RAJENDRA    |4.0  |W  15|W  14|W   5|W   9|L   1|
   WI | 14061227 / R: 1891   ->1928 
 18 | ANNE E ULRICH                  |2.0  |B    |L  11|W  19|L   6|L  12|
   WI | 13498420 / R: 1442   ->1461
Anupama finished in second place, losing her only game - how dramatic was that, heh, the two leaders going into the final round! She won a Goddesschess prize of $75 for her efforts in addition to her Section prize.

In the U1500:

Pair | Player Name                    |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)      | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | ALENA HUANG                    |4.5  |W   8|W   6|W   7|W   2|D   3|
   WI | 13713450 / R: 1496   ->1552 
    2 | SABRINA HUANG                  |4.0  |W   9|W   3|W   6|L   1|W   4|
   WI | 13713465 / R: 1347   ->1432 
    3 | SUSANNA G ULRICH               |3.0  |W   4|L   2|H    |W   7|D   1|
   WI | 13498414 / R: 1337   ->1382 
    4 | DIVYA PANDEY                   |3.0  |L   3|B    |W  10|W   5|L   2|
   WI | 14537158 / R: 1199   ->1215 
 7 | RITIKA PANDEY                  |2.5  |W  11|W   5|L   1|L   3|D   6|
   WI | 14537164 / R: 1339   ->1324   
How cool is that!  Four of the five chess femmes who played in the event finished in the top 4 spots (I think.  Allen becker is trying to teach me how they actually rank the players but I just don't get it.  I do not understand why a player is put into a final position by rating rather than based on tie-breaks!)  Alena Huang won a Goddesschess prize of $50 in addition to her Section prize. 

Yet to be determined is the M/E winner of the Goddesschess Best Game Prize of $50.  That will be determined some time later this week. 

Looking forward to next year.  I think a change of Goddesschess' prize structure is in order.  Some photos from Milwaukee Summer Challenge II:

Anne Ulrich on the right.

More photos at the Southwest Chess Club's blog (scroll to bottom of post). 

Milwaukee Summer Challenge II

Happy Father's Day to all the dads!  You've got a fabulous warm, sunny (albeit humid) day here in Milwaukeeland and I hope you will have a wonderful time today.

Standings through Round 3 are in on the 2013 Milwaukee Summer Challenge hosted by my adopted chess club, Southwest Chess Club.  The final two rounds of action are today, beginning at 10 a.m.  Things will wrap up in plenty of time for everyone to get home and enjoy grilling out or going to their favorite restaurant for a father's day treat!  Here are the standings for the chess femmes thus far - and I'm showing the leaders in each section, too, for comparison purposes:

No female players in the M/E Section

U2000 Cross Table (23 players):

 No.    Name                         St Rate 1     2     3     Score  
 1. Rajendra, Anupama (4).........  WI 1872 W19   W10   W7      3.0
 11. Ulrich, Anne E (23)...........  WI 1470 -B-   L4    W20     2.0

U1500 Cross Table ( 11 players):

 No.    Name                         St Rate 1     2     3     Score  
1. Huang, Alena (1)..............  WI 1496 W10   W7    W3      3.0  
2. Huang, Sabrina (4)............  WI 1347 W9    W6    W7      3.0
 3. Pandey, Ritika (3)............  WI 1371 W11   W5    L1      2.0  
 4. Pandey, Divya (10)............  WI 1082 L6    -B-   W8      2.0
 6. Ulrich, susanna G (6).........  WI 1343 W4    L2    -H-     1.5

U1000 Cross Table (9 players):

 No.    Name                         St Rate 1     2     3     Score  
1. Hogg, Neil (4)................  WI  864 W9    W8    W4      3.0

9. Moore, Chelsea (9)............  WI  223 L1    -H-   L5      0.5

Milwaukee Summer Challenge II

Hola everyone!

The second Milwaukee Summer Challenge is taking place this weekend - started to day, in fact!  June 15-16, 2013. 

Results/standings aren't in yet for the first rounds of the Summer Challenge.  A scholastic tournament was scheduled against the Summer Challenge (which itself was requested to move it dates and that seems to have siphoned off some chess femmes who otherwise might have chosen to play in the Summer Challenge.  That's too bad, because Goddesschess put up some nice prizes again, and a $50 best game prize for the players in the M/E Section (a closed section) as well.  This year, all of the players in that section are guys - we spread the Goddesschess love when we can :)

However, we had enough chess femmes playing to activitate the prizes (sure hope I've got these right!):

U2000--2:   Anupama Rajendra 1872; Anne Ulrich 1470

U1500--4:  Alena Huang 1496; Ritika Pandey 1371; Sabrina Huang 1347; Divya Pandey 1082; Susanna Ulrich

U1000--3:  Chelsea Moore 223

Stay tuned!

Unique Gold Female Figurine Found in Denmark Field

From sciencenordic.com

This little lady is TINY.  4.2 centimeters equals 1.65354 inches - about the size of a smallish pawn chess piece! 



Close-up of the golden figurine. Note the belt and the rings around the
feet and the arms. (Photo: René Laursen)

Unique gold figurine of naked woman found in Denmark

June 12, 2013 - 06:12

 

A small figurine depicting a slim, naked woman was recently found in a Danish field. Strangely, this is the fifth in a series of tiny golden human figurines found recently in the area.

 

By: René Laursen, Bornholm Museum

 

A field on the Danish island of Bornholm has in recent years been the site of many surprising archaeological finds. The most recent one of these was of a golden figurine of a naked woman. The small, heavily arched figurine is only 4.2 cm tall and weighs 3 grams, has many details and bears the mark of quality craftsmanship.

Stretched arms and sagging breasts

The woman has a long and slender body, which may have been made out of a thin bar of gold. The head is elongated with a protruding jaw and incised hair. The breasts are sagging and below both shoulders are notches, indicating that her arms have been tied around her body.

The arms are stretched and the thumbs are pressed against one another, while the other fingers are facing downwards. On the stomach is a more clearly incised belt decorated with a zig-zag pattern, and the private parts are clearly visible between the short and thin legs.

Possibly a symbol of fertility and health

The golden woman appears to be either standing on her toes or jumping up athletically with the insteps stretched. And above the elegantly shaped feet, the calves and knees are clearly visible.
When viewing the figurine from the front, it is tempting to associate the naked, buxom, athletic female figure with fertility and health.

Remarkably, the back side has ten prominent ‘teeth’, something that has never been seen before.
Naked female figurines are a rarity in Nordic Iron Age art, where male figurines dominated.

The fifth figurine in the series

The golden woman is the fifth in a series of small, golden human figurines from the Smørenge field on Bornholm. The first four are all believed to depict men, while there is no doubt about the gender of the last addition to the series.

The first figurine was found in the spring of 2009, together with a number of other finds, including several gold-foil figures, while the next three appeared in spring 2012.

Common to all the five figurines is that the heads are plastically formed, but otherwise there is a great deal of variation.

The plough separated the figurines

The five figurines were probably buried in the same place, individually or collectively, at some point during the 6th century AD, i.e. the Migration Period.

Three of them were found within five metres of each other, while the other two were found 10-15 metres further away. Presumably it was the plough that separated them.

This location may have been chosen due to the presence of one or more springs.

Only an excavation would give more information about the characteristics of the place, and such plans have now become a high priority.
------------------------
This article is reproduced on this site by kind permission of Skalk, a Danish periodical with articles about Danish prehistoric and medieval archaeology, history and related topics.

Tomb of "Saka Princess" Uncovered

Kazakhstan archaeologists discover Saka princess tomb

Monday, 03.06.2013, 15:13

 

Kazakhstan archaeologists found a tomb of a “Saka princess”, Tengrinews.kz reports citing head of the expedition TImur Smagulov.

The burial site of the high-ranking young woman was discovered during reconstruction of Taskesken-Bakty road in Urdzhar region of East-Kazakhstan oblast. An expedition made of professors and students of Semipalatinsk and Pavlodar pedagogical institutes discovered the stone tomb-chest with remains of the young woman at the depth of 1.7 meters under a burial mount.

The things found in at the burial site certify that the woman was from a distinguished tribe. According to the archaeologists, the golden head wear that looks like Kazakh Saukele (national headgear of women) is the most valuable item for the research. “The pointed golden head wear with zoomorphic ornaments has the top that looks like the arrows and is decorated with a spiral made of golden wire and jewels. A similar head wear used to be part of the official costume of the Saka tribe chieftains. It is quite possible that the woman was a daughter of a king of Saka Tigrakhauda tribe,” Timur Smagulov said.

 

I think this might be the flattened out gold crown.

According to him, it is quite possible that young Tomiris who later became a warrior-queen used to wear a similar head wear. According to the expedition’s members, ceramic and wooden vessels, as well as bones of a sacrificial sheep were also discovered in the tomb. Pieces of blue and green clothes remained on the woman’s remains. Golden earrings and a stone altar were found next to her head.

“According to the preliminary information, the tomb of the “Urdzhar princess” is dated 4th or 3rd century B.C.,” Smagulov said. According to him, a similar tomb discovered in Issyk burial mount (the "Golden Man").
Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz

Further details about the 'princess' are revealed in a companion article:

Beheaded skeleton discovered next to Saka princess's tomb

Thursday, 06.06.2013, 19:07

Kazakhstan archaeologists have discovered a beheaded human skeleton next to the tomb of the “Saka princess”, Tengrinews.kz reports.

A famous restorer Krym Altynbekov has arrived to the archaeological site to prepare the remains for transportation to a laboratory in Almaty for further study. After the tests the anthropologists will be able to date the burial site more precisely.

According to the archaeologists, another tomb was discovered next to the tomb-chest. It contained a beheaded human skeleton without the right hand. The experts supposed that this could be a sacrifice place but stressed that it was only a guess. Besides, the scientists said that the second body was buried quite carelessly and was merely covered with rocks. It is quite possible that it was done intentionally to confuse potential tomb raiders.

According to the experts, the burial itself is dated around 3-4 century B.C.. It was discovered during an archaeological check made before reconstruction and repairs of a local road. The remains of the “princess” were only several meters away from the road.

The discovery is valuable, according to the archaeologists, because the remains are well preserved and the tomb-chest is intact and in quite a good condition. The discovery was called the “Saka princess” because of a Saukele headgear discovered it in. In its making and appearance it is similar to the one of Issyk’s Golden Man discovered in 1969. Clay and wooden wares containing sheep bones and jewelry were discovered as well. The woman was around 170 cm tall.

The works on cleaning the tomb-chest are being made by Alkei Margulan Archeology Institute. They have only found the remains and the head dress of the “Saka princess” so far. They do not preclude that there are more discoveries on the way.

By Daniyar Bozov

2013 Las Vegas International Chess Festival

The Open attracts a lot of talent from around the country and the world because of the possibility of taking clear first place and the $10,000 top prize.  What usually happens, though, is a whole lot of players split prizes because they finish "tied."  That happened this year; Tatev Abrahamyan was the highest-finishing female player, tying with players 12 through 22 with 4.0.  From the score, it looks like Tatev played her usually uncompromising fighting chess, scoring 4 wins and 2 losses! 

Here is the top finisher (GM Wesley So) and the femmes whose names I was able to pick out from the Open final standings -- hope I didn't miss anyone!

There were 91 players but as the event went on many of the players at the bottom of the rankings dropped out:

No. Ttl Name                     St  Rate Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6 Prize                         
  1 GM  So,Wesley                CAN 2728   5 W 19 D 26 W  9 W 25 W 12 D  4 $2,175
22 WGM Abrahamyan,Tatev         CA  2407   4 L 26 W 19 W 18 L 14 W 47 W 50 $114  
45 WFM Labedz,Patrycja Anna     TX  2267   3 L 12 W 73 L 31 L 76 W 86 W 71
46 FM  Melekhina,Alisa          PA  2267   3 L  3 W 74 D 29 D 26 L 30 W 72
 55 WFM Chiang,Sarah             TX  2243 2.5  -H- W 52 L 28 L  9 L 61 W 82
71 WIM Gutierrez,Paloma         AZ  2212   2 L 15 L 77 L 52 W 81 W 83 L 45

You can find all of the results for sections here. 

3rd China Women's Masters

3rd Women Masters

Fri 31st May 2013

Sun 9th Jun 2013

Wuxi

CHN

10 Players.

9 Rounds.

SRR

Time Control: 90m:30m+30spm(1)

Results at Chess Results

3rd Women Masters Wuxi CHN Fri 31st May 2013 - Sun 9th Jun 2013. Category: 9. Ave: (2451)
Rk	Name	Title	FED	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts	TPR
1	Tan, Zhongyi	WGM	CHN	2483	#	=	1	=	1	0	=	1	1	1	6.5	2613
2	Gunina, Valentina	IM	RUS	2514	=	#	=	=	=	1	0	1	=	=	5	2486
3	Huang, Qian	WGM	CHN	2469	0	=	#	=	=	=	=	=	1	1	5	2491
4	Guo, Qi	WGM	CHN	2439	=	=	=	#	=	=	1	0	=	=	4.5	2452
5	Ding, Yixin	WGM	CHN	2427	0	=	=	=	#	=	1	=	=	=	4.5	2453
6	Shen, Yang	IM	CHN	2397	1	0	=	=	=	#	1	0	0	=	4	2413
7	Zhang, Xiaowen	WGM	CHN	2367	=	1	=	0	0	0	#	0	1	1	4	2417
8	Wang, Jue	WGM	CHN	2401	0	0	=	1	=	1	1	#	0	0	4	2413
9	Ju, Wenjun	WGM	CHN	2544	0	=	0	=	=	1	0	1	#	=	4	2397
10	Javakhishvili, Lela	IM	GEO	2464	0	=	0	=	=	=	0	1	=	#	3.5	2369

Alexandra Kosteniuk Defends Thesis to Earn Advanced Degree

Exciting news came my way early this morning.  GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, 12th women's world chess champion, who continues a full-time chess career while raising a family, successfully defended her Master's thesis at Moscow State Academy of Physical Education and Sport about the pre-school pedagogical technology for chess that she developed and is using in her chess school in Moscow (where kids from 3 to 7 years old study chess and prepare for school).  Read more.  The photo on the right is from AK's website.  It looks like the set-up for defending one's thesis is similar in Russia as it is here in the US -- you face a panel of professors tossing non-stop questions at you about your paper and you have to think on your feet!  Congratulations to GM Kosteniuk on her fine achievement.  She is an inspiration and an excellent role model for all of us, young and the young at heart :)

Alexandra joins the ranks of many chessplayers who have earned advanced degrees and gone on to careers in teaching, psychiatry, business, investment banking, mathematics, and many other fields.

Saving Priceless Manuscripts from the Barbarians

3 June 2013 Last updated at 19:40 ET

How Timbuktu's manuscripts were smuggled to safety

By Naveena Kottoor BBC World Service

When Islamist rebels set fire to two libraries in Timbuktu earlier this year, many feared the city's treasure trove of ancient manuscripts had been destroyed. But many of the texts had already been removed from the buildings and were at that very moment being smuggled out of the city, under the rebels' noses.

"These manuscripts are really precious to us. They are family heirlooms. Our history, our heritage," says Dr Abdel Kader Haidara, owner of one of Timbuktu's biggest private libraries, containing manuscripts dating back to the 16th Century.

"In our family there have been generations and generations of great scholars, great astronomers, and we have always looked after these documents."

When Islamist rebels took over Timbuktu last year, looking after the documents began to look like an impossible task.

Under their strict interpretation of Islam, the rebels soon began destroying shrines they considered "idolatrous". The documents held in Timbuktu since its glory days as a centre of Islamic learning in the 13th to 17th Centuries were equally vulnerable.

As a precaution, Haidara and other big book-owning families, together with officials of the state-run Ahmed Baba Institute, had already removed most documents from major collections, hiding them in private homes.

After the destruction of the shrines, it became clear a more radical approach was necessary.

"We realised we needed to find another solution to take them entirely out of Timbuktu itself," says Haidara. "It was very difficult. There were loads of manuscripts. We needed thousands of metal boxes and we didn't have the means to get them out. We needed help from outside."

With approval from 35 key families, Haidara went in search of funding, which he secured from the Prince Claus Foundation in the Netherlands and the German Foreign Office, among others.

But there was a major problem - the rebels often searched vehicles leaving Timbuktu, and if they found manuscripts they would certainly confiscate or destroy them.

"It was very risky. We evacuated the manuscripts in cars, carts and canoes," says Haidara, who launched the operation in October, frequently concealing the metal boxes under crates of vegetables and fruit.

"One car could only take two or three metal boxes at the most. So we did it little by little."

The cars headed for Bamako, via Mopti, the last government-controlled town in Mali during the Islamist occupation of the North.

The canoes - part of local transport in northern Mali for centuries - travelled to Bamako on the river Niger, via Djenne.

When in January of this year the insurgents torched two libraries belonging to the Ahmed Baba Institute, as they were retreating from Timbuktu, the covert rescue operation was already half-complete - and the libraries themselves had been all but empty for months.

Haidara estimates that only a few hundred manuscripts were destroyed.

In Bamako, however, the papers now face threats of a different kind.

Having been preserved for centuries in a dry desert climate, they now find themselves in the tropics, with the rainy season about to start.

"The houses are not air-conditioned and in comparison humidity in Bamako is much higher than in Timbuktu," says Dr Michael Hanssler of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to assess the condition of the documents.

It's impossible for air to circulate around the documents as long they are stored in metal containers. Mould usually develops at humidity levels of 60%, and levels as high as 80% are expected in July and August.

Efforts are now under way to renovate a building in Bamako that will have proper storage facilities. Windows are currently being bricked up in order to protect the manuscripts from daylight, insects and heat.

There will also be a workspace where experts can restore the documents and digitise them for scholars worldwide to study.

All I can say is OHMYGODDESS. Why?  My most fervent wish is that the ignorant bastards who did this
will be found, de-balled and strung up for the vultures to slowly peck to death.

"The manuscripts of Timbuktu have always been an aspiration for scholars working on the intellectual history of Africa," says Eva Brozowsky, a German paper restoration specialist, who examined six of the chests in Bamako in April.

The 2,000 documents she had access to were from Islamic North and West Africa, but also from the Middle East, and covered commerce and diplomatic relations as well as commentaries on the Koran, jurisprudence and Arabic linguistics.

"This is an untapped treasure trove of unthinkable value, nobody quite knows what's hidden in these chests," adds Hanssler, whose foundation is supporting the restoration efforts financially and logistically.

The manuscripts have never been kept in optimal conditions, Hanssler says.

"Some of the documents have been damaged in the past by insects or water. Others have suffered from being exposed to dry air in Timbuktu, and the leather covers have become brittle and have cracked."

The manuscript paper itself - thought to have originated from the region around Venice in Italy - has aged substantially. As a result the documents have become fragile and fragmented, and some of the writing has faded.

Haidara himself estimates that about 20% of the manuscripts are severely damaged and extremely fragile, while another 20% are damaged, but less severely.

While the security situation in northern Mali remains uncertain the manuscripts should stay in Bamako, he says, but he won't hear of them being taken out of the country.

"The day there is a lasting peace in Timbuktu we will return them to Timbuktu. But until that time comes we must preserve them well - put them in boxes, restore them, catalogue them and digitise them."

When they go back, it won't be in canoes or under piles of vegetables, and hopefully many will be in better condition than when they left.

Dr Abdel Kader Haidara was interviewed on the BBC World Service programme Newshour.

Hurricane Sandy Victims Complaining About Insurance Premium Hikes

DUH!

After Sandy, a new threat: Soaring flood insurance

After Sandy, a dire choice: Lift home or face sky-high insurance, but many can't afford either

By Katie Zezima and Meghan Barr | Associated Press – 8 hrs ago

 

Okay, let me see if I've got all my ducks in a row here.  (1) YOU live on a coastline known to be frequented by storms, some of them SEVERE storms.  (2) YOU live NEAR the shoreline or (3) YOU live on a river that is known to have experienced storm surge in past history.  (4) YOUR house is built on STILTS.  (5) YOU got wiped out by Hurricane Sandy.  (6) Federal taxpayer dollars were poured into YOUR state to help YOU recover from the devastation.

Am I on storm track so far, heh?

(7) YOUR insurance premiums are now skyrocketing.  (8) YOU ALL ARE BITCHING ABOUT IT!

Where have these people been all their lives?  We had massive flooding all up and down the Mississippi River in the 1990s.  It was SO bad the government all neo-cons, Nazis and Tea Party nut cases love to hate finally said enough is enough, we're not gonna pay you suckas if you insist on rebuilding here anymore, and bought out thousands of land owners so the stupid fricks would be prevented from making the same mistake of rebuilding in a flood zone yet ONE MORE TIME.. 

We ALSO experienced Hurricane Andrew that devasted wide swaths of Florida and other states in 1992. Up to that point, Andrrew was the most devastating and costly hurricane EVAH.

Oh, don't forget Hurricane Katrina where everyone around the world was witness to hundreds of suffering souls holed up inside the Superdome in New Orleans begging for help while our Fearless Leader "I'll Fly Over and Wave Hello" -- President George W. Bush fiddled as people died in front of our eyes on live television. 

Followed by - let's see, what should I pick next?  Do I dare mention the ongoing drought conditions in the southwest of the United States and the near depletion of the Ogalla Water Aquifer which, once gone, will be gone for about 50,000 years or so?  But hey, don't tell that to the farmers growing crops we don't need in the middle of desert!  We're getting all of our produce from MEXICO these days, heh heh heh.  By the way, has anyone connected the dots as to why there has been a substantial increase in deadly salmonella outbreaks in the United States since NAFTA??? 

Continuing on with my Sunday night rants, see the two posts below. 

FRIGGING DUH!

While Egypt, and Ethiopia are Doing War Posturing Over the Blue Nile, Europe is Drowning...

See post below about the Ethiopian dam being constructed on the Blue Nile, and the Islamist government of Egypt's response thereto (foolish, foolish - making threats war).

Meanwhile, in other news of global climate change, there is ongoing massive flooding in Europe, going on for the past two weeks now, I believe.  But what do we give a hoot here?  Well, we should start giving a hoot, because what's going on in Egypt, and Europe, WILL impact us sooner than later.  It's not just about Moore, Oklahoma, people.

Thousands of Germans evacuate as dam on Elbe river breaks

By Martin Schlicht and Oliver Keck | Reuters – 2 hrs 38 mins ago

By Martin Schlicht and Oliver Keck

 

MAGDEBURG/GROSS ROSENBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Thousands of people left their homes in eastern Germany on Sunday as a dam burst on the swollen River Elbe and swathes of farmland were flooded in an attempt to spare towns, with meteorologists forecasting more rain.

In Magdeburg, one of the oldest cities in eastern Germany and a regional capital, some 23,000 people were asked to evacuate as water levels in the Elbe rose to a record 7.48 meters, around 5 meters above normal and surpassing the level reached in devastating floods in 2002.

"We helped yesterday to carry sandbags to secure the town. The mood is very depressed and frightened because many people have to leave their homes," said resident Liane Nagen.

There have been at least a dozen deaths as a result of floods that have hit Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic over the past week.  Officials said more than 8,000 people were evacuated by bus from towns and villages around Aken, south of Magdeburg. Some took their pets or farm animals with them.

A dam at the confluence of the River Elbe and the River Saale south of Magdeburg burst despite attempts to stabilize it. A dike was also breached, and a crisis unit said the high waters were likely to put further pressure on dikes in coming days.

Holger Stahlknecht, Interior Minister for the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Magdeburg is located, said air and land surveillance would be stepped up in response to a threat from a previously unheard-of group calling itself the Germanophobic Flood Brigade to attack the sodden dikes. [What?]

More than 36,000 people were evacuated across Saxony-Anhalt. In Brandenburg, a largely rural state that surrounds the capital Berlin, some residents were evacuated and flooding of uninhabited areas was planned.

In Hungary, the Danube was also set to reach record levels in the capital Budapest on Sunday night and Prime Minister Viktor Orban said dikes had been strengthened at critical points to protect the city from flooding.  The deluge reached Hungary on Friday but so far authorities, soldiers and thousands of volunteers have managed to defend the villages and towns along the Danube, piling more than three million sandbags beside its dikes. [Won't make a difference in the end...]

Carmaker Suzuki, one of Hungary's main exporters, said it would will halt production at its plant in Esztergom, north of Budapest, on Monday because of the floods.

GERMAN ELECTION FACTOR

The damage from the floods in Germany could amount to more than 6 billion euros ($7.93 billion), according to the Cologne Institute for Economic Research. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces an election in September, has promised 100 million euros ($130 million) in aid for flooded areas.

"We'll do everything humanly possible when it comes to reconstruction. Germany is sticking together in an admirable way at the moment and it should stay like that," she said.

She has been seen visiting flooded regions and speaking to victims and helpers, unlike her Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Peer Steinbrueck, who told German state television on Sunday he would not get involved in a "rubber boot competition".

"When the worst is over, I'd like to sit down with those affected and discuss in concrete terms what kind of help we can give," he said, adding that he wanted to create an ombudsman to coordinate aid for the victims of flooding. [OHMYGODDESS - WHAT A STUPID FOOL!]

The pair's response to the flooding could affect their respective chances in the election on September 22. During the floods of 2002, decisive crisis management by SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder gave him a boost in the polls which helped him win a second term.

Along with citizens and emergency services, around 11,000 German soldiers were helping fight the flood waters on Sunday. The situation in cities like Dresden and Halle and in the state of Bavaria had improved. ($1 = 0.7564 euros)

(Reporting by Reuters TV and Nadine Schimroszik; writing by Michelle Martin in Berlin; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Water Wars? The Damn Dam...

Well, we all knew it was coming, sooner or later.

Unfortunately, the totally disfunctional Islamic government now in charge of the "new" Egypt doesn't know it's ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to diplomacy. Tsk tsk! Yeah, nothing like fundy politicians going on television saying they're go to war with Ethiopia if E goes ANY further with its construction of a massive damn across a portion of the Blue Nile.  Surely Cheops is rolling in his grave (WHEREVER IT IS) right now...

Well, we ain't seen nothing yet.  As the world continues to suffer through more drastic climate changes thanks to the shift in the Jet Stream and the melting of the Polar Ice Caps, to name just a few well-documented changes that didn't just "creep" up upon us over thousands or even hundreds of years but are happening right here and now, within the average person's lifetime, Ha!  If I live to be 100, as I'd planned previously (I'll wait and see how things are going...) perhaps Mars won't look so forbidding to mankind after all...  Meanwhile, I am sure to be entertained by the antics of the idiots in Cairo.

From Yahoo News

'No Nile, no Egypt', Cairo warns over Ethiopia dam

By Shadia Nasralla | Reuters – 1 hour 26 minutes ago

 

By Shadia Nasralla

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister, vowing not to give up "a single drop of water from the Nile", said on Sunday he would go to Addis Ababa to discuss a giant dam that Ethiopia has begun building in defiance of Cairo's objections. [Right, dude.  Way to start negotiations from the get-go -- we won't give us a SINGLE DROP OF WATER.]

Speaking to Egypt's state news agency MENA two days after the Ethiopian government flatly rejected a request [? request? More like a threat of war if construction was not halted] from Cairo to halt the project, Mohamed Kamel Amr said Egyptians view any obstacle to the river's flow as a threat to national survival.

"No Nile - no Egypt," he said, highlighting the pressure on the Egyptian government, whose popularity is wilting in the face of economic troubles, to prevent the hydro power plant cutting already stretched water supplies for its 84 million people. [How about reinstituting the birth control programs that were very popular under the former regime, you dildo heads?]

Last week, Ethiopia summoned the Egyptian ambassador after politicians in Cairo were shown on television suggesting military action or supporting Ethiopian rebels - a mark of the threat felt in Cairo from the plan to dam the Blue Nile, the tributary that supplies the bulk of water downstream in Egypt.
"Egypt won't give up on a single drop of water from the Nile or any part of what arrives into Egypt from this water in terms of quantity and quality," Amr told MENA, noting that Egypt has little rain and is effectively desert without its great river.

Speaking at a news conference, he declined to detail the action Egypt might take next but noted Ethiopian assurances that Africa's biggest hydro station would not cut water supplies.

"We have a plan for action, which will start soon," Amr said. "We'll talk to Ethiopia and we'll see what comes of it. Ethiopia has said it will not harm Egypt, not even by a liter of water. We are looking at ... this being implemented."

Countries that share the Nile have long argued over the use of its waters, repeatedly raising fears that the disputes could eventually boil over into war. Egypt, struggling with a shortage of cash and bitter internal political divisions following a 2011 revolution, called on Ethiopia to stop work after engineers began diverting the course of the Blue Nile late last month.

In Addis Ababa, a government spokesman called that request a "non-starter" and dismissed threats from Cairo of "sabotage" and "destabilization", saying attempts by Egypt under its previous military rulers to undermine Ethiopian leaders had failed.

The possible downstream effects of the $4.7-billion Grand Renaissance Dam, some 40 km (25 miles) from Ethiopia's border with Sudan, have been disputed and full details are unclear.

While letting water through such dams - of which Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia already have several - may not reduce its flow greatly, the filling of the reservoir behind any new dam means cutting the river's flow for a time. Evaporation from reservoirs can also permanently reduce water flowing downstream.

Now 21 percent complete, the new dam on the Blue Nile will eventually have capacity of 6,000 megawatts and is central to Ethiopia's plans to become Africa's leading exporter of power.

Sudan, which borders Egypt and Ethiopia and also gets much of its water from the Nile, said it supported the project. [Okay, so where was the Egyptian government when this dam project was on the drawing board, and before construction even began?  Were there no consultations, no negotiations going on before hand -- I don't believe that for a second!]

"The Grand Renaissance Dam brings many benefits and blessings for us," Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman told reporters in Khartoum.

He gave no details, but Sudanese officials have said the dam will enable Ethiopia to export power to Sudan, a country with frequent outages and one of its closest allies in Africa.
(Editing by Alastair Macdonald, Tom Pfeiffer and Kevin Liffey)

*************************************************************

P.S.  Did I forget to mention that the Islamist government in Cairo probably wouldn't hesitate to start a war it cannot possibly win, if only to rally the populace behind it -- you know, life and death of our country and all that jazz.  An obvious ploy to try and distract the populace from the increasingly deteriorating conditions going on around them around them.  Hmmm, no bread, no problem.  Hmmm, no free-spending average-Joe AMERICAN and ENGLISH tourists, no problem.  Waiting in lines to fill up with adulterated gasoline, no problem.  No garbage pick-up, no problem.  No clean wate rto drink, no problem.  No water to grow our crops -- whoa, now that's a problem...  Hey yeah, Abdul, our government frigging sucks and can't see the pyramids for the mounds of garbage being piled up all around them in the desert, but they want us to go to war over our water rights.  Okay, let's go, dude.  Geez, where is the Hind of Hinds when we need her...