Thursday 29 March 2012

CASE 395 - Graffitti



Graffiti has been around for thousands of years. Romans wrote on the walls of buildings they conquered and cave men drew illustrations on cave walls, although graffiti has not been in the United States quite that long. Graffiti first became big in New York and spread through other states. It started as tagging or writing your name on a street sign. Then gangs used graffiti as a way to mark territory. Not long after, graffiti became a form of art. It inspired young artists to come out and use this new art as a form of self expression. Whatever mood they were feeling they were able to make somthing beautiful. Lee Quinones, one of many graffiti artists, changed the grimy place near Brooklyn bridge into an incredible gallery of art.

Graffiti started moving from streets to subways and quickly became competitive. Graffiti artists had to compete for space and it inevitably offended property owners. This, and the misunderstanding that all graffiti represented gang activity, led to community pressure on polititions. But still graffiti artists strive to improve their art which is constantly changing. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime. Graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. Within hip hop culture, graffiti has evolved alongside hip hop music, b-boying, and other elements. Unrelated to hip-hop graffiti, gangs use their own form of graffiti to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities.



Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/law enforcement and writers who wish to display and appreciate work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing art form whose value is highly contested, reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.



The earliest forms of graffiti date back to 30,000 BCE in the form of prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs using tools such as Animal bones and pigments. These illustrations were often placed in ceremonial and sacred locations inside of the caves. The images drawn on the walls showed scenes of animal wildlife and hunting expeditions in most circumstances.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti





http://www.graffiti.org/
http://graffiti.playdo.com/
http://www.ukgraffiti.com/ukgv3/index.php
http://nymag.com/guides/summer/17406/

Friday 9 March 2012

CASE 394 - Micro nations and sovereign states



Micronations, or model countries and new country projects or even sovereign nations, they claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations. These nations often exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators.
Micronations differ from secession and self-determination movements in that they are largely viewed as being eccentric and ephemeral in nature, and are often created and maintained by a single person or family group. This criterion excludes entities such as the Republic of China (Taiwan) that have diplomatic relations with other recognized nation-states of the world without being formally recognized themselves by many nation-states or accepted by major international bodies. Some micro-nationalists call their countries Nomadic Countries[1], especially ones that have no land and are based on the Internet.
Micronations are also distinguished from imaginary countries and from other kinds of social groups (such as eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations) by expressing a formal and persistent, even if unrecognized, claim of sovereignty over some physical territory.
Some micronations have managed to extend some of their operations into the physical world by trying to enforce their alleged sovereignty. Several have issued coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals, and other items, which are rarely accepted outside of their own community.



The earliest known micronations date from the beginning of the 19th century. The advent of the Internet provided the means for the creation of many new micronations, whose members are scattered all over the world and interact mostly by electronic means. The differences between such Internet micronations, other kinds of social networking groups, and role playing games are often hard to define.



The term "micronation" to describe those entities dates at least to the 1970s. The term micropatrology is sometimes used to describe the study of both micronations and microstates by micronational hobbyists, some of whom refer to sovereign nation-states as "macronations".

Aerican Empire -1987
Aeterna Lucina - 1978
Antarctic Union - 2008
Aramoana - 1980
Atlantium - 1981
Austenasia - 2008
Avram -1980s
Akhzivland - 1970[
British West Florida - 2005
BjornSocialist Republic - 2005
Conch Republic - 1982
Copeman Empire - 2003
Coral Sea Islands - 2004
Elleore - 1944
EnenKio - 1994
Filettino - 2011
Forvik - 2008
Freetown Christiania - 1971
Frestonia - 1977
Global Country of World Peace - 2000
Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića - 2002
Hay-on-Wye - 1977
Meads in September - 1963
Hutt River - 1970
Republic of Jamtland - 1963
Kugelmugel - 1984
Ladonia - 1980
Lagoan Isles - 2005
L'Anse-Saint-Jean - 1997
Kingdom of Lovely - 2004
Lundy - 1925
Marlborough - 1993
Melchizedek - 1986
Minerva - 1973
Molossia - 1977
Morac-Songhrati-Meads - 1959
Naminara Republic - 2006
New Utopia - 1990s
Northern Forest Archipelago - 1998
Nova Roma - 1998
Perloja - 1918
Peščenica - 1990s
Rainbow Creek - 1979
Redonda - 1865
Rose Island - 1968
Russian Empire - 2011
Saugeais - 1947
Sealand - 1967
Seborga - 954
Talossa - 1979
Užupis - 1997
Vikesland - 2005
Wanstonia - 1994
Waveland - 1997
Wendland - 1980
Westarctica - 1989
Wirtland - 2008



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_micronations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_for_Small_and_Subject_Nationalities
http://www.veneermagazine.com/b/2007/08/deeper_grifting_peter_coffin.html

Tuesday 6 March 2012

CASE 393 - Problem - reaction - solution



The Problem Reaction Solution Paradigm (The Hegelian Dialectic)

1) The government, a corporation or the elite creates or exploits a problem blaming it on others
2) The people react by asking the government for help willing to give up their rights
3) The government offers the solution that was planned long before the crisis

Obviously, it is vital for a government using this technique to keep secret from the public the true cause of the problem. If the public knew that it was the government itself that created the problem, or that there was no real problem, they would not accept the government's solution. Problem-Reaction-Solution only works if the truth is concealed from the public.



"The Party seeks power entirely for its for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that, We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship..." 1984 - George Orwell.



The following false-flag, facilitated, or fabricated attacks are now historical facts, documented and admitted, beyond dispute.

The Burning of Rome, AD64,
The USS Maine Incident, 1898
The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, 1914
The Sinking of RMS Lusitania, 1917
The Manchurian Incident, 1931
The Reichstag Fire, 1933
The Gleiwitz Incident, 1939
The Attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941
Operation Ajax, 1953
Operation Gladio, 1956-1990
Operation Northwoods, 1962
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1964
The Attack on USS Liberty, 1967
The Kuwaiti Baby Killings, 1990
9/11, NY, USA, 2001
7/7 bombings London, 2002

Saturday 3 March 2012

CASE 392 - The history of Thailand



Thailand previously known as Siam has been populated ever since the dawn of civilization in Asia. There are conflicting opinions of the origins of the Thais. It presumed that about 4,500 years. Thais originated in northwestern Szechuan in China and later migrated down to Thailand along the southern part of China. They split into two main groups. One settled down in the North and became the kingdom of "Lanna" and the other one is in further south, which afterward was defeated by the Khmers and became the kingdom of "Sukhothai".

There are conflicting opinions as to the origins of the Thais. Three decades ago it could be said with presumed certainty that the Thais originated in the southern part of what is now China about 4,500 years ago. Recently, however, this theory has been altered by the discovery of prehistoric artifacts in the village of Ban Chiang in the Nong Han District of UdonThani province in the Northeast. From these evidence of bronze metallurgy going back 3,500 years, as well as other indication of a far more sophisticated culture than any previously suspected by archaeologists. It now appears that the Thais might have originated here in Thailand and later scattered to various parts of Asia, including China.

The controversy over the origin of the Thais shows no sign of definite conclusion as many more theories have been put forward and some even go further to say that Thais were originally of Austronesian rather than Mongoloid. What the outcomes of the dispute may be, by the 13th century the Thais had already settled down within the southeast Asia.



Thailand can best be described as tropical and humid for the majority of the country during most of the year. The area of Thailand north of Bangkok has a climate determined by three seasons whilst the southern peninsular region of Thailand has only two.
In northern Thailand the seasons are clearly defined. Between November and May the weather is mostly dry, however this is broken up into the periods November to February and March to May. The later of these two periods has the higher relative temperatures as although the northeast monsoon does not directly effect the northern area of Thailand, it does cause cooling breezes from November to February. The other northern season is from May to November and is dominated by the southwest monsoon, during which time rainfall in the north is at its heaviest.

The southern region of Thailand really has only two seasons -- the wet and the dry. These seasons do not run at the same time on both the east and west side of the peninsular. On the west coast the southwest monsoon brings rain and often heavy storms from April through to October, whilst on the east coast the most rain falls between September and December.

Overall the southern parts of Thailand get by far the most rain with around 2,400 millimeters every year, compared with the central and northern regions of Thailand, both of which get around 1,400 millimeters




Nanchao Period (650-1250 A.D.)
The Thai people founded their kingdom in the southern part of China, which is Yunnan, Kwangsi and Canton today. A great number of people migrated south as far as the Chao Phraya Basin and settled down over the Central Plain under the sovereignty of the Khmer Empire, whose culture they probably accepted. The Thai people founded their independent state of Sukhothai around 1238 A.D., which marks the beginning of the Sukhothai Perio.

:: Sukhothai Period (1238-1378 A.D.)
Thais began to emerge as a dominant force in the region in the13th century, gradually asserting independence from existing Khmer and Mon kingdoms. Called by its rulers "the dawn of happiness", this is often considered the golden era of Thai history, an ideal Thai state in a land of plenty governed by paternal and benevolent kings, the most famous of whom was King Ramkhamhaeng the Great. However in 1350, the mightier state of Ayutthaya exerted its influence over Sukhothai.

:: Ayutthaya Period (1350-1767)
The Ayutthaya kings adopted Khmer cultural influences from the very beginning. No longer the paternal and accessible rulers that the kings of Sukhothai had been, Ayutthaya's sovereigns were absolute monarchs and assumed the title devaraja (god-king). The early part of this period saw Ayutthaya extend its sovereignty over neighboring Thai principalities and come into conflict with its neighbours, During the 17th century, Siam started diplomatic and commercial relations with western countries. In 1767, a Burmese invasion succeeded in capturing Ayutthaya. Despite their overwhelming victory, the Burmese did not retain control of Siam for long. A young general named Phya Taksin and his followers broke through the Burmese and escaped to Chantaburi. Seven months after the fall of Ayutthaya, he and his forces sailed back to the capital and expelled the Burmese occupation garrison.

:: Thon Buri Period (1767-1772)
General Taksin, as he is popularly known, decided to transfer the capital from Ayutthaya to a site nearer to the sea which would facilitate foreign trade, ensure the procurement of arms, and make defense and withdrawal easier in case of a renewed Burmese attack. He established his new capital at Thon Buri on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The rule of Taksin was not an easy one. The lack of central authority since the fall of Ayutthaya led to the rapid disintegration of the kingdom, and Taksin's reign was spent reuniting the provinces.

:: Rattanakosin Period (1782 - the Present)
After Taksin's death, General Chakri became the first king of the Chakri Dynasty, Rama I, ruling from 1782 to 1809. His first action as king was to transfer the royal capital across the river from Thon Buri to Bangkok and build the Grand Palace. Rama II (1809-1824) continued the restoration begun by his predecessor. King Nang Klao, Rama III (1824-1851) reopened relations with Western nations and developed trade with China. King Mongkut, Rama IV, (1851-1868) of "The King and I" concluded treaties with European countries, avoided colonialization and established modern Thailand. He made many social and economic reforms during his reign.

King Chulalongkorn, Rama V (1869-1910) continued his father's tradition of reform, abolishing slavery and improving the public welfare and administrative system. Compulsory education and other educational reforms were introduced by King Vajiravudh, Rama VI (1910-1925). During the reign of King Prajadhipok, (1925-1935), Thailand changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. The king abdicated in 1933 and was succeeded by his nephew, King Ananda Mahidol (1935-1946). The country's name was changed from Siam to Thailand with the advent of a democratic government in 1939. Our present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is King Rama IX of the Chakri Dynasty





http://www.hellosiam.com/html/thailand/thailand-history.htm

Thursday 1 March 2012

CASE 391 - G4S



G4S plc (formerly Group 4 Securicor) is a global security services company headquartered in Crawley, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest security company measured by revenues and has operations in more than 125 countries. With over 630,000 employees, it is the world's second-largest private sector employer (after Wal-Mart Stores). The worlds biggest electronic tagging company for people convicted of crimes.

http://www.cepprobation.org/uploaded_files/pres%20EM09%20G4s.pdf



G4S provides guarding services at various airports including Heathrow Airport, Oslo Airport, Brussels Airport, Schiphol Airport and OR Tambo Airport as well as at various facilities belonging to the US, UK, Canada and European Governments. It also operates custody facilities (including prisons) and electronic security systems. In addition, it provides cash management and logistics services for the main British and European Banks. G4S owns the Wackenhut Corporation, a leading provider of security services in North America. They are also involved in risk management activities, consultancy and support in areas where infrastructure is limited, including services for governments, international peace and security agencies and multi-national corporations. Services also include land-mine clearance, ordnance management and training services. G4S also provides revenue protection services for railway companies across the UK. The company is a contractor in the UK Government's 'Welfare to Work' scheme. It also plans to be the 1st private company to take control of a police station in Lincolnshire, UK with many more planned after this.

Jorgen Philip-Sorensen, 70, is investing heavily in Ecover, the ecological detergent and household cleaning brand. He has retired as chairman of G4S, formerly known as Group 4 Securicor, but retains a stake now worth £334m in the Surrey-based security company. He has sold £260m of shares in recent years and has other interests.

http://jorgenphilip-sorensen.crazybillionaire.org/jorgenphilip-sorensen.php

http://www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk/index.php?/News/police-g4s-to-run-police-station.html
http://www.g4s.uk.com/en-GB/What%20we%20do/Services/Care%20and%20justice%20services/Electronic%20monitoring/