Belarusians organize flash mob protests
KIEV, Ukraine — In Belarus, officials are now restricting applause.
Weeks of flash-mob “silent protests” in the capital Minsk and throughout this former Soviet republic of 10 million have left authorities edgy and lashing out at any perceived threats.
The idea behind the rallies is straightforward and elegant: People simply gather in main squares around the country, stand silently and clap.
Since any public opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko’s hardline government is met with crushing repression, organizers have tried to create a form of protest that contains as few overtly political elements as possible — a non-protest protest, so to speak.
The demonstrators mill about the designated spot as if they are just taking an evening stroll or chatting with their friends. Then at the appointed hour — seven o’clock in the evening every Wednesday — they start clapping.
And the rallies have an added, entirely unprecedented, aspect: they are being organized anonymously through social networking sites like Facebook and its Russian equivalent vKontakte. Authorities have struggled to track down the leaders and take the page off the internet, but to no avail.
The organizers’ page on vKontakte is called “Revolution through the social network.”
“The revolutionary hurricane has spread throughout the world,” the site says. “Now Belarus has found the recipe of revolution through social networks. The goal of our meeting is to overcome fear and begin to act!”
Public discontent in Belarus has grown ever since the government, faced with a severe shortage of dollar and euro reserves, was forced to devalue the national currency, the ruble, by nearly 60 percent. Peoples’ salaries and savings were slashed, and prices skyrocketed overnight.
The protests are now in their fourth week and have grown steadily. What started out as a few hundred people in Minsk has increased to a reported 3,000, and spread to other towns and cities.
Lukashenko has promised to snuff out the actions.
“We have the opposition in Minsk on social networks,” he said. “They use the internet to call for strikes. I will look and watch, and then I will strike hard so that they will not get a chance to defect abroad.”
Despite the fact that the demonstrations are more symbolic in nature, and too small to be called a mass movement, they have visibly thrown the authorities for a loop.
Hurricane Fact Page - News
Authorities have struggled to track down the leaders and take the page off the internet, but to no avail. The organizers' page on vKontakte is called “Revolution through the social network.” “The revolutionary hurricane has spread throughout the world
Of note is the fact that the book currently has a perfect 5-star customer rating based on 21 reviews. A retired meteorologist, Buzz Bernard has set his story and its characters in the path of a category 5 hurricane. Readers are raving about the novel,
Nagin writes that as soon as Bahamonde was finished, he pulled out a "one-page action plan on a plain piece of paper" that he had crafted in the solitude of his suite on the 27th floor of the Hyatt, where city officials based their operations after
In fact, there's a story in the news just this week about a New Orleans police supervisor who helped cover up murders committed by other New Orleans police officers during Hurricane Katrina. Officers shot and killed unarmed people and the supervisor
Agee said the students in language arts also got an opportunity to compare the effects of the 2004 Tsunami, which occurred in Japan, to Hurricane Katrina, which occurred in New Orleans in 2005. Jenny Layton, a seventh grade science teacher,
Emergency chief urges RI to prepare for hurricanes - Projo 7 to 7 ...
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Chafee has designated this week as hurricane preparedness week, and the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency has issued a series of tips about handling such storms.
J. David Smith, executive director of RIEMA, said in a news release on Monday that families should develop a plan for emergencies, such as deciding in advance where to go and what to do if family members get separated. They should also have an emergency response kit that will support family members for at least 72 hours.
People should also check on their next door neighbors, Smith said.
RIEMA said that Southern New England gets hit by a hurricane every 10 to 20 years, on the average. Hurricane Earl just missed the area last year.
Further information about hurricane preparedness is available at www.riema.ri.gov.
This week is also National Hurricane Season Preparedness week , as the June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season nears. Find out more about the predictions for this season from the National Hurricane Center.
Continue to the next screen for a Southern New England Hurricane Fact Sheet from the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. - A 6- to 9-foot storm surge occurred in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay, which was not the worst-case scenario for these areas
Fastest observed 5-minute sustained wind speed was 121 mph with gusts to 186 mph during the 1938 Hurricane at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Mass., (elevation about 660 feet)
Greatest 24 hour rainfall was 18.15 inches in Westfield, Mass., during Tropical Storm Diane in August 1955
Four major hurricanes made landfall in Southern New England in the 16-year period between 1938-1954 - More than 80 percent of all tropical cyclones which impact Southern New England pass near the Bahamas
Hurricanes in New England are low frequency but high impact events! It will only takes one direct hit to inflict damage which may take years and several millions, if not billions, of dollars to recover completely.
"Run from the water, and hide from the wind" - Two people were swept out to sea at Acadia National Park in August 2009 due to large waves from distant Hurricane Bill. A 55 year-old man was rescued, but his 7-year old daughter drowned.
Hurricane Fact Page - Bookshelf
Using Internet primary sources to teach critical thinking skills in the sciences
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Graphic animation of the storm's development, sea surface temperatures, message boards, and relief contact information.
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NOAA fact sheet answering quesions about hurricanes and the oil spill: What will happen to a hurricane that runs through this oil slick? Will the oil slick help or ...