The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 130,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
WordPress has made an annual report for 2012 about the statistics of my blog. It is here.
That report has general outlines.
I will continue my series of more detailed blog posts about statistics in 2012 (remember, the year is not finished yet; and I mention country statistics since February 25, 2012, when WordPress started them).
This time, a complete list of all countries where visitors came from.
Systematic Crackdown on Freedom of Expression Continues
Date: 30th December 2012
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights condemns the continued harassment and arbitrary arrest of journalists in Bahrain. Renowned and award-winning photographer, Ahmed Humaidan, (25 years-old) was kidnapped by 15 security officers, in civilian clothing, and is currently being detained.
On the 29th of December, 2012, at approximately midnight and while Ahmed Humaidan and his friends were entering the city center shopping mall, 15 men in civilian clothing, who are believed to belong to the security forces, surrounded Humaidan and abducted him without declaring the location where they were going, nor identifying themselves. His family sought information about him in different police stations and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) without receiving any information. After 19 hours without news on his whereabouts, Humaidan called his family for 20 seconds to inform them that he is alive, and that he is at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) being interrogated without the presence of his lawyer.
Photo: Badges and medals won by Ahmed Humaidan for his photojournalism. Through his photos, Ahmed has documented many moments in the daily protests (See his instagram page for example: instagram.com/ahmedhumaidan and 500px.com/AhmedHumaidan)
Ahmed Humaidan is a member of the FIAP “Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique” and the PSA “Photographic Society of America”.
He won 143 international awards in photographic competitions and he is considered the 2nd highest ranked Arab photographer in winning photography contest, among his awards are:
- Gold Medal in FKNS Grand Prix 2012 – Serbia.
- Gold Medal from FIAP for Hungarian Circuit 2012.
- Honorary Badge from for PSA International Exhibition (Photojournalism Prints) – 2012
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights believes that the arbitrary arrest of Ahmed Humaidan is solely related to his legitimate work as a photographer and his activity in documenting protests and police attacks, which has led to exposing the severe human rights violations by the authorities in Bahrain.
Photo: Photojournalist Mazen Mahdi in an archive photo while targeted by police. In a similar situation, on the 28th of December, 2012, DPA photographer and renowned photojournalist Mazen Mahdi was arrested by police while covering a protest.
“ Being Arrested #Bahrain”
and after his release one hour later he tweeted:
“The reason for stopping me was not participating in anything but for taking pictures .. Apparently @moi_bahrain thinks cameras weapons!”
This was the second time Mahdi was arrested in just the month of December, 2012, which the BCHR believes is an attempt to hinder his work and intimidate him.
The authorities in Bahrain have made targeting journalists a common practice since last year.
Today, another photographer, Hasan Matooq is in prison since 2011 is serving a sentence of 3 years that was handed by military court for allegations of faking photos of injuries.(Read more about his case: bahrainrights.org/en/node/4876).
BCHR demands that the Bahraini government release photographer Ahmed Humaidan, and other detainees imprisoned for their views, and peaceful work as observers of demonstrations, immediately and unconditionally. We demand the Bahraini government to allow the practice of freedom of expression without being targeted.
A time when many people look back at the past year.
We have seen what were the top search terms in search engines, from which internauts discovered Dear Kitty. Some blog in 2012.
WordPress statistics also give the answer to the next question: from which Internet links did people arrive at this blog in 2012? (OK, it is not completely 2012, as the year still has to finish; and I have included the time after 8 December last year, when my blog moved to WordPress).
Henriette Roland Holst (1869 – 1952) organized political meetings with Lenin and Trotsky, and corresponded with Rosa Luxemburg. Her letters, poems and speeches give insight into her deepest dilemmas. Old film footage takes us to those turbulent years.
The title of the film is from a line in Ms Roland Holst’s poetry book De Nieuwe Geboort‘ from 1902.
On 30 December, two days before the end of the Roland Holst Year, I went to see this film.
The film basically limits itself to the years 1891-1927. Turbulent years for Ms Roland Holst and the world indeed. In themselves, hard enough to fit in this 74 minute movie, without additional attention for prequel and sequel.
Still, these limits are a bit problematic. The poetess’ youth in Noordwijk village flashes past in a few seconds. She was born in a liberal Christian family. She was in the liberal Christian Remonstrant church all her life; not mentioned in the film.
The last twenty-five years of her life get a few sentences at the end of the film. As we will see, 1927 as the end of the film leaves the impression of Roland Holst’s life and, more generally, attempts to make the world better, being failures. While on the contrary the title of Henriette Roland Holst’s autobiography is Het vuur brandde voort; The fire kept burning. She published it in 1949, three years before her death. During these last three years, she still campaigned against nuclear weapons and the Korean war.
In Henriette Roland Holst’s life there were many highs and lows from 1891-1927.
1896 was a high again. She married visual artist Richard Roland Holst. William Morris from England was his inspiration. Together with Richard, Henriette wrote a book about English pre-Raphaelite poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Also in 1896, the newly married couple decided to join the young Dutch Social Democratic Workers Party, the SDAP. Together with Herman Gorter. In 1891, the sonnets by avant-garde poet Gorter had inspired Ms Roland Holst’s own work. Gorter in winter skated all the way to meet her in Noordwijk. He advised her to read Italian poet Dante; very good advice, she found out. Gorter advised her to read philosopher Spinoza. Though she considered Spinoza valuable, his writings did not really click with her.
Then, Gorter advised her to read Das Kapital by Karl Marx. He said that book would help her to understand how world economics and politics work. That, in turn, would help her to improve her poetry.
Together with Richard, Henriette read the first volume of Das Kapital. Richard then stopped reading this complex work. But Henriette continued with volumes two and three. She would apply Marxism in her writings on Dutch history and other subjects. In 1947, Amsterdam university would award her a honorary degree for her history books. Being a woman, in her youth she had been unable to go to university.
Like in 1891 a new poetic world had opened for Ms Roland Holst, in 1896 a new political world opened for her. It gave her strength and optimism.
In 1900, she met Rosa Luxemburg who would become her life long friend. Rosa Luxemburg called Henriette “my blonde Madonna”. She predicted a great future for Roland Holst in the international labour movement.
Dutch socialist Vliegen, though, as a right-winger within the party, critical of left winger Ms Roland Holst, still thought: “She certainly is the most talented woman ever in the international social democrat movement”.
Gradually, Richard would find himself on the reformist right wing of socialism. While Henriette was on the revolutionary left wing. This contributed to tension within the marriage.
It was not easy for director Apon to make the film, as there are no film images of Henriette Roland Holst. Nor are there film images of SDAP congresses while she was a member. Ms Apon solved this with other early twentieth century movie clips, giving an idea of Roland Holst’s times.
Henriette’s strength and optimism were sorely tested in 1903.
The Dutch railway workers went on strike. They won. The vengeful rightist government reacted by banning strikes. The socialists tried to stop these anti-democratic anti-strike laws with a general strike. However, that failed to achieve its aim. A bitter pill for Henriette Roland Holst. She tended to interpret political setbacks as her personal failures.
1909 was another low. The right wing of the Dutch social democrats excluded the left wing from the party. Henriette sympathized with the left wing. It included her poet friend Herman Gorter. But she did not want to break with the party majority. After two years she resigned from the Social Democrat Workers Party after all, without joining Gorter’s new Social Democrat Party. Rosa Luxemburg was opposed to that. She wrote to her friend that a bad workers party was still better than no party at all.
A new low in August 1914. World War I broke out. Like with German anti-war socialist artist Käthe Kollwitz, the bloodshed devastated her.
In 1915, new hope and optimism. In Zimmerwald in Switzerland, she was the only Dutch representative at a congress of socialists which wanted to end the war. She discussed this with Lenin, Trotsky and others. The snowy Swiss mountains contributed to inspiration.
Then, in 1917, still more hope and optimism. The czarist regime in Russia, which she detested, fell. Lenin and Trotsky, her fellow Zimmerwald congressists, became more and more prominent.
In 1918, yet more hope and optimism. The world war stopped. The German emperor fled across the Dutch border. Troelstra, leader of the relatively moderate Social Democrat Workers Party, called for revolution. So did the Social Democrat Party, which Ms Roland Holst had joined meanwhile.
She organized a big meeting in an overflowing hall in Amsterdam. Someone in the audience proposed spontaneously to go outside, to demonstrate in the streets. Let us go to the army barracks. Let us ask the soldiers to stop violence benefiting the rich. In Russia and Germany, many soldiers took the side of the revolution. That made the regimes collapse.
Some Dutch soldiers sympathized with the labour movement as well. Unfortunately, that did not include the soldiers at the gate of the Oranje-Nassau barracks in the Sarphatistraat in Amsterdam. They fired at the workers’ demonstration which came to convince them to break with the government. The soldiers’ guns killed four demonstrators, and wounded many more.
So, immediately after the high a new low for Henriette. Next morning she went to the hospital to speak to surviving victims of the bloodbath at the barracks. A wounded nurse told her the military had killed her fiancé and fellow demonstrator. Both were pacifists.
Again a low shortly after this. In early 1919 a German extreme right death squad murdered Henriette´s friend Rosa Luxemburg and many others, dealing a blow to revolutionary perspectives in Germany. Gustav Noske, interior minister and leader of the right wing of the social democrats, condoned the murders.
In 1921, Ms Roland Holst went to Soviet Russia. She found both high and low points there. The international communist women’s congress in Moscow was really inspiring. But the new Bolshevik government also did many things wrong. She met fellow author Maxim Gorky. Gorky told her about the famine in the Wolga region, in the wake of the czarist vs. communist civil war and invasion by British, United States, German, Japanese and other foreign armies. Gorky asked her to organize a relief campaign for the Wolga region people in western Europe. “Don’t wait till the communist party has set up an organizational framework for relief. Start organizing yourself”. Henriette Roland Holst managed to organize a succesful campaign.
Here, I have to criticize Annette Apon’s otherwise good film. The documentary leaves the impression that Ms Roland Holst broke with the Soviet Union and all of Marxism after her 1921 voyage disappointments. However, things were not so simple. From 1921-1927 she kept leaving and rejoining the Dutch communist party. For a time, the film notes in passing, she was a member of the BKSP. The film does not say what the BKSP was. It was a split from the communist party, as the BKSP founders thought that the Communist Party of the Netherlands was too critical of the Russian sister party, and “real” communists should supposedly be uncritical of whatever happened in Russia. The BKSP was a failure. And Henriette rejoined the communist party, becoming editor of its magazine. Until in 1927 she stopped at last with her see-saw membership. She would never join any leftist political party again, though retaining some sympathy for all of them. Very differently from Jacques de Kadt, in the mid 1920s briefly a fellow BKSP member. De Kadt in the 1920s attacked the Dutch Communist Party for not being sufficiently pro-Moscow. During the Korean war he had become a Cold Warrior McCarthyist member of the far right wing of the Dutch labour party, advocating to imprison thousands of Dutch communists in concentration camps.
Henriette Roland Holst kept fighting against Dutch colonialism, fascism and war. The film briefly mentions that when the nazis occupied the Netherlands, she hid Jewish refugees from Hitler’s murder gangs at her nature reserve Oude Buisse Heide.
The film does not mention that during the nazi occupation she wrote in the illegal socialist paper De Vonk, later called De Vlam.
The film does mention her support for Indonesian independence.
It does not mention that Indonesian independence fighters asked her advice while they were in the Netherlands, negotiating about ending the 1945-1949 Indonesian war of independence.
Neither does the film mention her anti nuclear weapons and anti Korean war views of her last three years.
Nevertheless, the many things about this poetess’ life which the film does mention leave a positive impression.
Marjan de Haan in a review thinks that Ms Apon missed the chance for the film to link 1891-1927 to today. I can add that the only real mentions of 2012 in the film are images showing that Henriette´s Oude Buisse Heide is still a beautiful nature reserve. And a mention that postal services now are less efficient than when Ms Roland Holst lived.
The Philippine cobra was previously categorized only as near threatened but the snake’s decline in population led to the downgrading of its conservation status to threatened-endangered.
A highly venomous burly snake averaging a meter in length, the Philippine cobra (Naja philippinensis) thrives in low-lying plains, from thick jungles and forested areas to open fields and grasslands.
The reptile preys mostly on small rodents and frogs and occasionally, other snakes, lizards and birds. Its predators include humans, birds of prey, the king cobra, and the mongoose.
Zubiri said the species are tagged threatened once their habitats have suffered extreme depletion and their populations have fallen to a level below which the species or subspecies will be totally extinct.
He explained that threatened species are further sub-classified either as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.
Zubiri said vulnerable species are under threat from serious adverse factors all over their range and are believed likely to drop to the endangered category in the near future.
A time when many people look back at the past year.
What were the top search terms in search engines, from which internauts discovered Dear Kitty. Some blog in 2012?
WordPress statistics give the answer (OK, it is not completely 2012, as the year still has to finish; and I have included the time after 8 December last year, when my blog moved to WordPress).
This time-lapse shows off CSIRO‘s new telescope, the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), standing tall in Western Australia. ASKAP has been designed to be able to survey the whole sky extremely quickly. This in turn will make possible astronomy projects that could never have been done before.
ASKAP has 36 antennas that work together as one. They are quite spread out, so here only a few are visible together in one frame.
Wallaby and Dingo space surveys expected to find 700,000 new galaxies
Huge radio telescope in Western Australia will help astronomers find clues to mystery of dark energy and galaxy evolution
Sunday 30 December 2012 13.16 GMT
Two Australian sky surveys named Wallaby and Dingo are expected to discover 700,000 galaxies over the course of the new year.
A huge new radio telescope facility in Western Australia will scour vast regions of space to provide clues about galaxy evolution.
The £65m Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (Askap) is located in a remote desert region of Western Australia, 196 miles from the port of Geraldton. It consists of 36 dishes, each 12 metres (39ft) wide, which work together as a single antenna.
Askap will also help astronomers investigate one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark energy. This is the force which appears to be causing galaxies to fly apart at an accelerating rate. Although no one is sure what dark energy is, it is believed to account for 73% of the universe.
Scientists were able to predict Askap’s capabilities by combining its specifications with computer simulations. Dr Alan Duffy, a member of the Askap team from the University of Western Australia, said: “Askap is a highly capable telescope. Its surveys will find more galaxies, further away, and will be able to study them in more detail than any other radio telescope in the world.
“We predict that Wallaby will find an amazing 600,000 new galaxies and Dingo 100,000, spread over trillions of cubic light years of space.”
The telescope will examine galactic hydrogen gas – the fuel that forms stars – to see how galaxies have changed in the past 4bn years.
Askap is a curtain raiser for an even more ambitious project, the Square Kilometre Array (Ska). With receiving stations stretching between South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Ska will be the world’s largest radio telescope when it begins operating in 2019. Its combined antennae will provide radiation-collecting area of approximately 1 sq km.
Qing dynasty~Shunzhi reign period (1644-1661) Qing dynasty~Kangxi reign period (1662-1722) Qing dynasty~Kangxi reign period (1662-1722) Qing dynasty~Kangxi reign period (1662-1722) Qing dynasty~Kangxi reign period (1662-1722) Qing dynasty~Kangxi reign period (1662-1722) Qing dynasty~Qianlong reign period (1736-1795) Qing dynasty~Jiaqing reign period (1796-1820) Qing dynasty~Daoguang reign period (1821-1850) Restored Le dynasty~Canh Hung reign period (1740-1786) Tay Son dynasty~Canh Thinh reign period (1793- 1801)
BEIJING: Archaeologists have excavated about 3,500kg of ancient coins in China’s Inner Mongolia Region, Xinhua reported on Sunday. Most of these coins were in prevalence during the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD).
According to Lian Jilin, a researcher with the regional Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the coins were found in three millennia-old coin pits in the ancient town of Huoluochaideng after police cracked three theft cases.
Most of the coins were “Huoquan“, the coins commonly used in the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), said Lian.
Archaeologists also excavated over 100 casting moulds from the relics of a coin workshop. The moulds are believed to date back to the rule of Emperor Wudi (156 BC-87 BC) of the Western Han Dynasty and the short-lived Xin Dynasty (45 BC-23 AD) founded by Wang Mang.
Based on its size and cultural relics uncovered there, Huoluochaideng town is believed to have been a major town in northern China during the Han Dynasty, said Lian.
The findings are significant in the study of the ancient monetary system and casting technology, he added.
A time when many people look back at the past year.
This blog has many links.
On which of these links did visitors of Dear Kitty. Some blog click most in 2012?
WordPress statistics give the answer (OK, it is not completely 2012, as the year still has to finish; and I have included the time after 8 December last year, when my blog moved to WordPress).
dearkitty.blogsome.com was my old blog site. There are still links to it on this my WordPress blog site. These links do not work any more. I am repairing those links, surely but very slowly