Pirates

History of Piracy
Title: Introduction
Author: Krzysztof Wilczyński (about)

The history of piracy dates back more than 3000 years, but its accurate account depends on the actual meaning of the word ‘pirate’. In English, the word piracy has many different meanings and its usage is still relatively new. Today, some uses of the word have no particular meaning at all. A meaning was first ascribed to the word piracy sometime before the XVII century. It appears that the word pirate (peirato) was first used in about 140 BC by the Roman historian Polybius. The Greek historian Plutarch, writing in about 100 A.D., gave the oldest clear definition of piracy. He described pirates as those who attack without legal authority not only ships, but also maritime cities. Piracy was described for the first time, among others, in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. For a great many years there remained no unambiguous definition of piracy. Norse riders of the 9th and 11th century AD were not considered pirates but rather, were called “Danes” or “Vikings”. Another popular meaning of the word in medieval England was “sea thieves”. The meaning of the word pirate most closely tied to the contemporary was established in the XVIII century AD. This definition dubbed pirates “outlaws” whom even persons who were not soldiers could kill. The first application of international law actually involved anti-pirate legislation. This is due to the fact that most pirate acts were committed outside the borders of any country.

Sometimes governments gave rights to the pirates to represent them in their wars. The most popular form was to give a license to a private sailor to attack enemy shipping on behalf of a specific king – Privateer. Very often a privateer when caught by the enemy was tried as an outlaw notwithstanding the license. Below we tried to outline a selective history of piracy, selective and arbitrary because there is so much that can be said about piracy and it is impossible to tell all. We hope that even this brief introduction will show the spirit and truth about the piracy the way we see it.

 

Antonga Black Hawk

Antonga Black Hawk was a famous leader of the Ute Tribe born in Spring Lake, Utah around 1830. He died on September 26, 1870 from tuberculosis.

The Black Hawk War in Utah began in 1865 and ended in 1872. It was a triangle that involved the U.S. Federal Government, the Mormons and 16 tribes of the the Utes. The Federal Government sought to remove the Mormon Church from the political system in Utah. The Mormon settlers aggressively fought for control over a place they called “Zion”, which was the Ute’s ancestral lands. The Utes and other Native Americans in Utah had been forced off their land and were starving by 1865.

When Chief Wah-Kara died unexpectedly in 1855, Chief Jake Arropeen (Yenewoods) became chief by succession. A botched attempt was made to reach an agreement between the Utes and the Mormons at Manti, when Arropeen was pulled from his horse by John Lowry, believed to be drunk at the time, and this started the war in 1865. Chief Yene-wood being dishonored before his people saw it as the final blow of a long endurance of insults and depredations over nearly 30 years that rallied the Utes under the leadership of Chief Black Hawk to declare war against the Mormons. This marked the beginning of what the whites later dubbed “The Black Hawk War. “Noonch “Black Hawk” then became chief by succession and was able to rally other tribes, who had also been pushed off their lands to join him. The Mormons received no help from the U.S. Government, so they formed militias and quickly built forts. Similar to Kit Carson and the New Mexican Militias, the Mormon militia had a hard time catching the raiders but did kill women and children and destroyed any Ute property they could find. The settlers lost thousands of livestock by raids and nearly 100 settlers lost their lives. While Black Hawk signed a treaty in 1867, it was never ratified, raids continued until the U.S. Government sent in 200 troops in 1872.

Historian John Alton Peterson describes Chief Black Hawk as having “remarkable vision and capacity. Given the circumstances under which he operated, he put together an imposing war machine and masterminded a sophisticated strategy that suggest he had a keen grasp of the economic, political, and geographic contexts in which he operated. Comparable to Cochise, Sitting Bull and Geronimo, Black Hawk fostered an extraordinary pan-regional movement that enabled him to operate in an enormous section of country and establish a three-face war. Black Hawk worked to establish a barrier to white expansion and actually succeeded in collapsing the line of Mormon settlement, causing scores of villages in over a half dozen counties to be abandoned. For almost a decade the tide of white expansion in Utah came to a dead stop and in most of the territory actually receded. Like other defenders of Indian rights, though, Black Hawk found he could not hold his position, and his efforts eventually crumbled”.

1847 is the year the first Mormon pioneers arrived, and it was not until 1865 when the besieged Chief Black Hawk declared war. The white population had dramatically increased to about 50,000. At the same time the Ute population is estimated to have been 15,000 to 20,000. Measles, smallpox and tuberculosis were spreading epidemically among the Indians. The environment was drastically altered from Mormon farming of domesticated crops and animals, seriously interfering with the Utes’ only source of food, as hundreds starved to death.

The Black Hawk War in itself was not a single incident. Over 150 deadly confrontations took place over a seven year period throughout Utah territory and spilled over into Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming as tens of thousands of Mormon Pioneers poured in at the rate of 3,000 a month. Official 1909 government census revealed a huge decline in the Indian population to just 2,400.

Ute history notes that Black Hawk tried to make peace with the “pale-faces” before he died. He visited every village from Cedar City to Payson to plead with the whites to forgive him for the suffering that he and his people had caused them. His dream was that everyone could coexist in peace.

 

Samurai

Samurai (侍 atau 士, Samurai?) adalah istilah untuk perwira militer kelas elit sebelum zaman industrialisasi di Jepang. Kata “samurai” berasal dari kata kerja “samorau” asal bahasa Jepang kuno, berubah menjadi “saburau” yang berarti “melayani”, dan akhirnya menjadi “samurai” yang bekerja sebagai pelayan bagi sang majikan.

Istilah yang lebih tepat adalah bushi (武士) (harafiah: “orang bersenjata”) yang digunakan semasa zaman Edo. Bagaimanapun, istilah samurai digunakan untuk prajurit elit dari kalangan bangsawan, dan bukan contohnya, ashigaru atau tentara berjalan kaki. Samurai yang tidak terikat dengan klan atau bekerja untuk majikan (daimyo) disebut ronin (harafiah: “orang ombak”). Samurai yang bertugas di wilayah han disebut hanshi.

Samurai dianggap mesti bersopan dan terpelajar, dan semasa Keshogunan Tokugawa berangsur-angsur kehilangan fungsi ketentaraan mereka. Pada akhir era Tokugawa, samurai secara umumnya adalah kakitangan umum bagi daimyo, dengan pedang mereka hanya untuk tujuan istiadat. Dengan reformasi Meiji pada akhir abad ke-19, samurai dihapuskan sebagai kelas berbeda dan digantikan dengan tentara nasional menyerupai negara Barat. Bagaimanapun juga, sifat samurai yang ketat yang dikenal sebagai bushido masih tetap ada dalam masyarakat Jepang masa kini, sebagaimana aspek cara hidup mereka yang lain.

[sunting] Etimologi
Perkataan samurai berasal pada sebelum zaman Heian di Jepang di mana bila seseorang disebut sebagai saburai, itu berarti dia adalah seorang suruhan atau pengikut. Hanya pada awal zaman modern, khususnya pada era Azuchi-Momoyama dan awal periode/era Edo pada akhir abad ke-16 dan awal abad ke-17 perkataan saburai bertukar diganti dengan perkataan samurai. Bagaimanapun, pada masa itu, artinya telah lama berubah.

Pada era pemerintahan samurai, istilah awal yumitori (“pemanah”) juga digunakan sebagai gelar kehormat bagi sejumlah kecil panglima perang, walaupun pemain pedang telah menjadi lebih penting. Pemanah Jepang (kyujutsu), masih berkaitan erat dengan dewa perang Hachiman

 

Grand Canyon

Welcome to Grand Canyon National Park

The Grand Canyon is more than a great chasm carved over millennia through the rocks of the Colorado Plateau. It is more than an awe-inspiring view. It is more than a pleasuring ground for those that explore the roads, hike the trails, or float the currents of the turbulent Colorado River.

This canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience. Its beauty and size humbles us. Its timelessness provokes a comparison to our short existence. In its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives.

The Grand Canyon we visit today is a gift from past generations. Take time to enjoy this gift. Sit and watch the changing play of light and shadows. Wander along a trail and feel the sunshine and wind on your face. Attend a ranger program. Follow the antics of ravens soaring above the rim. Listen for the roar of the rapids far below. Savor a sunrise or sunset.

As the shadows lengthen across the spires and buttes, time passing into the depths of the canyon, understand what this great chasm passes to us – a sense of humility born in the interconnections of all that is and a willingness to care for this land. We have the responsibility to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to form their own connections with Grand Canyon National Park

 

BIOLA

Biola termahal didunia

Posted by: bintangmerah on Thursday, May 18, 2006 – 04:07 AM BIOLA TERMAHAL DIDUNIA Sebuah biola Stradivarius memecahkan rekor lelang termahal di balai lelang Christie. Biola ini dikenal dengan julukan “The Hammer” alias “si Palu”. Dinamakan demikian karena pernah dimiliki oleh Christian Hammer, seorang kolektor Swedia pada abad ke 19. Biola Stradivarius ini telah berumur hampir 300 tahun, telah memecahkan rekor harga termahal yang pernah dibayarkan untuk sebuah alat musik. Terjual pada hari Rabu 17 Mei 2006 di balai lelang Christie New York, dengan harga fantastis US$ 3.5 Juta setara dengan 280 Milyar Rupiah. Instrumen musik ini dibuat pada tahun 1707, yang telah mengalahkan harga penjualan sebuah biola Stradivarius yang lain pada tahun 2003, seharga US$ 2.03 Juta. Pembelinya tidak disebutkan namanya, tetapi sumber dari balai lelang Christie New York menyebutkan dia adalah seorang pencinta dan pelindung seni musik klasik. Selama ini biola tersebut dimiliki oleh seseorang, yang sering meminjamkannya kepada orkestra ternama didunia. Lelangnya sendiri berlangsung amat menegangkan, dengan reaksi-reaksi tercengang diperlihatkan oleh para penonton yang menyaksikan lelang tersebut. Tepukan yang amat meriah terdengar pada waktu tawaran mencapai US$ 3 Juta. “Saya harus mengakui bahwa saya hampir tidak dapat bernapas pada waktu menyaksikan lelang tersebut,” kata Kerry Keane, kepala dari departemen instrumen musik balai lelang Christie. Dia mengatakan bahwa biola ini akan terus dimainkan pada konser-konser musik klasik mendatang diseluruh dunia. Antonio Stradivari adalah seorang pembuat biola paling ternama dalam sejarah. Dia telah membuat lebih dari 1000 biola, viola, cello dan violoncellos. Hasil kerja Stradivari yang paling belakangan telah menghasilkan alat-alat musik terbaik yang amat di gandrungi oleh para pemusik dunia. “Biola ini menghasilkan suara indah, yang tidak dapat disaingi oleh pembuat biola manapun,” kata Mr. Keane. “Apabila dimainkan, anda dapat mendengar suara biola ini dari tempat duduk baris paling depan, maupun dari tempat duduk paling murah dibelakang,” Biola “The Hammer” ini dibuat pada masa keemasan Stradivari 1700-1720, yang kemudian dibawa ke Amerika pada tahun 1911. Sebelum lelang, balai lelang Christie memperkirakan harga biola ini antara US$ 1.5 Juta sampai US$ 2.5 Juta

 

TOMATO

Tomato Facts Fruit or vegetable? Whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable has triggered a surprising amount of debate. This has not been entirely academic and in 1887 made its way to the US Supreme Court in Nix v Hedden. The real issues were trade and commercial interests. If tomatoes were deemed to be vegetables, they could be taxed when imported, under the Tariff Act of 1883, thus providing protection for American tomato growers. The Court’s botanical knowledge was sound. Tomatoes are specialised reproductive structures that contain seeds, in other words, they are fruits. It chose pragmatism over botanical truth, however, and ruled in favour of American farmers. ‘Botanically speaking tomatoes are the fruit of the vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans and peas. But in the common language of the people, all these are vegetables, which are grown in kitchen gardens and are usually served at dinner in, with or after the soup, fish or meats and not, like fruits generally, as dessert’. The largest UK tomato glasshouse covers 22 acres and is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. On average each person working in the industry is producing three times more tomatoes per hour than 25 years ago.

 

 

Ninja

Historical garb, technique, and image

There is no evidence that historical ninja limited themselves to all-black suits. In modern times, camouflage based upon dark colors such as dark red and dark blue can be used to give better concealment at night. Some cloaks may have been reversible: dark colored on the outside for concealment during the night, and white colored on the inside for concealment in the snow. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants.

The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the Kabuki theater.[1] Prop handlers would dress in black and move props around on the stage. The audience would obviously see the prop handlers, but would pretend they were invisible. Building on that willing suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theater as wearing similar all-black suits. This either implied to the audience that the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from many prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination.

Ninja boots (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko.

The actual head covering suggested by Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi (in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques) utilizes what is referred to as sanjaku-tenugui, (three-foot cloths). It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head in such a way as to make the mask flexible in configuration but securely bound. Some wear a long robe, most of the time dark blue (紺色 kon’iro) for stealth.

Associated equipment

The assassination, espionage, and infiltration tasks of the ninja led to the development of specialized technology in concealable weapons and infiltration tools.

Specialized weapons and tactics

Ninja also employed a variety of weapons and tricks using gunpowder. Smoke bombs and firecrackers were widely used to aid an escape or create a diversion for an attack. They used timed fuses to delay explosions. Ōzutsu (cannons) they constructed could be used to launch fiery sparks as well as projectiles at a target. Small “bombs” called metsubushi (目潰し, “eye closers”) were filled with sand and sometimes metal dust. This sand would be carried in bamboo segments or in hollowed eggs and thrown at someone, the shell would crack, and the assailant would be blinded. Even land mines were constructed that used a mechanical fuse or a lit, oil-soaked string. Secrets of making desirable mixes of gunpowder were strictly guarded in many ninja clans.

Other forms of trickery were said to be used for escaping and combat. Ashiaro are wooden pads attached to the ninja’s tabi (thick socks with a separate “toe” for bigger toe; used with sandals). The ashiaro would be carved to look like an animal’s paw, or a child’s foot, allowing the ninja to leave tracks that most likely would not be noticed.

Also a small ring worn on a ninja’s finger called a shobo would be used for hand-to-hand combat. The shobo (or as known in many styles of ninjutsu, the shabo) would have a small notch of wood used to hit assailant’s pressure points for sharp pain, sometimes causing temporary paralysis. A suntetsu is very similar to a shobo. It could be a small oval shaped piece of wood affixed to the finger by a small strap. The suntetsu would be held against a finger (mostly middle) on the palm-side and when the hand was thrust at an opponent using the longer piece of wood to target pressure points such as the solar plexus.

Ninja also used special short swords called ninjaken, or shinobigatana. Ninjaken are smaller than katana but larger than wakizashi. The ninjaken was often more of a utilitarian tool than a weapon, not having the complex heat treatment of a usual weapon. Another version of the ninja sword was the shikoro ken (saw sword). The shikoro ken was said to be used to gain entry into buildings, and could also have a double use by cutting (or slashing in this case) opponents.

 

Borobudur Temple

BOROBUDUR TEMPLE

The Borobudur Temple is considered as one of the seven wonders of the world. This temple is located at Borobudur District, South of Magelang, Central Java.

The expression of experts who had been studying Borobudur Temple varied someway. Bernet Kempers’ expression was: “Borobudur is Borobudur”, meaning that Borobudur Temple is very unique in her own way. Nieuwenkamp (an artist) imaginated Borobudur as “a big lotus flower bud ready to bloom” which was “floating” on a lake. Nieuwenkamp’s imagination was supported by N. Rangkuti (1987) that from the air, the Borobudur Temple looks floating. From the geological studies, experts were able to prove that Borobudur area was one time a big lake. Most of the villages around Borobudur Temple were at the same altitude, 235 meters above the sea-level. The same altitude included the Pawon and Mendut temples. Thus the area under 235 meter altitude was below the lake water level.

Based on the inscription dated 842 AD, Casparis suggested that Borobudur was one time a place for praying. The inscription stated a phrase such as: “Kawulan i Bhumi Sambhara”. Kawulan means the origin of holiness, “bhumi sambhara” is a name of a place in Borobudur. Paul Mus stated that Borobudur Temple had the structure of stupa (conical form) with double expression. As a whole, the Borobudur Temple was an open-flat stupa, but on the other hand, the temple expressed the idea of a “closed world”. The latter expression could be felt when one is already inside the temple. Whenever person is inside the temple, his or her view will be limited to high walls full on relieves, the verandah is always squared in such a way that one could not see other parts of the temple, even in a same floor. The same feeling happened if one stood on arupadhatu round platform, he or she will have a wider view only on that level, but are not able to see the lower level nor the upper level like the one on rupadhatu and kamandhatu. It could be said that Borobudur is a symbol of cosmic mountain covered by the sky roof, a specific world that could be reached through isolated alleys as stages. The closed structural design of the temple expressed the concept of a closed world, not just a technical reasons as had been suggested by other experts ( Daud AT, 1987)

Borobudur was built by Sanmaratungga in the 8th century, and belongs to Buddha Mahayana. Borobudur was revealed by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814. The temple was found in ruined condition and was buried.

The overall height was 42 meters, but was only 34.5 meters after restoration, and had the dimension of 123 x 123 meters (15,129 square meters). There were 10 floors. The first floor up to the sixth floor was square form, the seventh to the tenth floor were round form.

Borobudur is facing to the East with a total of 1460 panels (2 meters wide each). Total size of the temple walls was 2500 square meters, full of relief. The total number of panels with relief was 1212. According to investigations, the total number of Buddha statue was 504 including the intact and damaged statues. The temple undergone restoration from 1905 to 1910, and the last restoration was done in 1973 to 1983.

1. Structural Design of Borobudur Temple

Ever since the first excavation, most experts speculated on the exact shape of the temple. Hoenig, in his book “Das form problem des Borobudur” speculate that the original form of Borobudur Temple had four gates and nine floors. The form of Borobudur Temple is similar to temples found in Cambodia. According to Parmenteir, the huge single stupa on top of the temple made the smaller stupas in the lower part looked drowned. Stutterheim who had been studying stupas in India and other parts of Asia concluded that the stupa structure was an Indian origin. The original purpose of stupa building was as storage of Buddha Gautama and other holy priests cremation ash.

According to Stutterheim, the overall form of Borobudur Temple is a combination of zigurat (middle Asian Pyramid) and Indian stupa. Stutterheim opinion was supported by the existence of this type of form in Ancient Javanese literature.

The relief of Borobudur temple started from the base of the temple up to the fourth platform. The relieves at the base contained the story of Karmawibhangga. Under the main panel and above the Karmawibhangga relief, a wide-sized relief was inscripted at the wall. From this point along the alley, the relief did not show story in the sequence, but as a repeating part of the story with the same motives which expressed the world of spiritual beings such as half demonic body (Gandharwa, giants or Yataka, dragon, Sidha or angels and their ladies friends, Apsara and Nagi, all of them are heavenly beings who are tender and beautiful.

Division of panels are: the first panel expressed a heavenly being in sitting position, on both side of this panel are small panel with a small standing statue. This figures are repeated 26 times for each side of the wall. Between the panels is carved three bodies, a male flanked by two women.

2. Relieves at the Walls of the Alley.

There was a long series of main relieves at the first alley, either at the main wall or at the inner side of Kutamara wall. Relieves at the Kutamara wall depicted Jataka’s and Awadana’s, a story of Buddha’s life which expressed as Bodhisatwa, due to his good deeds in the past. Sometimes, Buddha is expressed in the form of animals such as rabbit, monkeys etc. As it was told in animated stories, the story was adopted from Sanskrit book, Jatakamala. Only one third of the relieves were known, the rest was still unclear.

The lower relieves of the main wall contained the same story. The upper relieves also had the same story as the lower one. The story contained the life of Buddha consisting of 120 frames until he began teaching Buddha religion. The first frame began from the South of stairway of the curved gate at the East, and follow the path of the sun (the temple on the right side). The life story of Buddha was adopted from Lalitawistara book.

At the second alley, Jataka and Awadana story were continued on the inner side of Utamara, and on the main wall, story was began with stories adopted from Gandhawyuha. This story was so long that it occupied the main wall and inner side wall of Utamara at the third and fourth alley. The story showed the adventure of a Sudhana who met Bodhisatwa Maytreya (the future Buddha) to have religious lesson from the Buddha. Later on, the Sudhana met with Bodhisatwa Mandjusri, and finally he met with Dyani Bodhisatwa Samanta Badra, who gave the highest wisdom. Most of those stories expressed the use of spiritual strength and unusual happenings.

There were many beautiful ornaments inscripted at the wall of the fourth alley, because the fifth alley did not contained any ornaments. The fifth alley is a transitional alley to the next platform, the round platform. The next round platforms also did not contained any ornaments at all (Kaylan,1959).

 

 

Tournament of Flower

Tournament of Flowers (Akhirnya) Jadi Kalender Nasional [12 Sep 2007, 06:56:05]

Upaya Walikota Tomohon, Jef-ferson Rumajar SE dalam melobi Pemerintah Pusat agar Tourna-ment of Flowers (ToF) 2008 ma-suk dalam kalender nasional, akhirnya membuahkan hasil menggembirakan. Buktinya, iven ini telah disetujui pemerintah pusat, melalui Menteri Kebuda-yaan dan Pariwisata RI menjadi agenda nasional dan masuk dalam ‘Visit Indonesia Year’. Seperti dijelaskan Kepala Dinas Pariwisata dan Kebudayaan Kota Tomohon, Corry Caroles kepada Komentar, Selasa (11/09) kema-rin, Menteri Pariwisata melalui Dir-jen Promosi Dalam Negeri, Titien Soekarya telah menghubungi-nya dan memastikan kalau pelak-sanaan ToF 2008 telah resmi menjadi kalender tetap nasional. “Bahkan beliau meminta agar kami secepatnya memasukkan na-rasi soal pelaksanaan ToF 2008 dan permintaan ini sudah kami tindaklanjuti,” tuturnya. Tak hanya itu, tambah Caroles, dirinya juga su-dah dihubungi Kabag Pemasaran SCTV dengan mengatakan, bahwa mereka akan mengirimkan kru untuk mempromosikan ToF 2008. “Biaya untuk membayar pro-mosi ini bukan dari kami tapi dari Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata RI. Ini harus kita syu-kuri dan banggakan, karena mulai saat ini untuk mempromosikan pelak-sanaan ToF 2008 bukan hanya dari Tomohon saja, tapi sudah menjadi tanggung jawab Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata RI,” pungkasnya.(jok) Sumber : Harian KOMENTAR, 12 September 2007 (Bag.PDE)