Making Money

Another day, another honking big funding for another online start-up (and yet another broken embargo too!).

It’s like Groundhog Day in Silicon Valley as usual.

Today, Cambridge, Mass.-based HubSpot wins tech’s version of the lottery, grabbing $32 million from Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and also Salesforce.com.

It is unclear what the valuation for HubSpot is now, although it is likely high given it has raised $65 million now.

HubSpot makes marketing software for businesses, who use it to find prospects and generate leads, along with tools to analyze the process. It claims it has “4,000 customers, over 50 percent market share, five million leads managed, and 70 million page views tracked monthly.”

The Series D financing included HubSpot’s existing venture investors–General Catalyst Partners, Matrix Partners, and Scale Venture Partners–and part of it will be used to cash out existing shareholders. In previous rounds, the start-up has raised $33 million.

Here is the official press release:

Sequoia, Google Ventures, and Salesforce.com Invest $32 Million in HubSpot

Marketing Software Company Attracts New Strategic Investors

CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire – March 8, 2011)–Today, for the first time ever, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and Salesforce.com all invested together in one company, providing HubSpot with a Series D round of financing through a $32 million investment. HubSpot provides all-in-one marketing software used by over 4,000 businesses to get found by more prospects, convert them into leads and sales, and analyze the entire marketing process.

“The fundamental way that people shop, learn, and buy has changed radically in the last few years. HubSpot helps transform the way businesses market from outbound marketing (cold calls, email blasts, and direct mail) to inbound marketing (Google, blogs, social media, mobile, etc.),” said Brian Halligan, co-founder and CEO of HubSpot.

Sequoia Capital has a long history of partnering with founders to help them build long-term, multi-billion dollar companies, including Google, LinkedIn, AdMob, YouTube, Yahoo!, Apple, and Oracle. “We back companies that are transforming their industries,” said Jim Goetz, General Partner at Sequoia Capital. “HubSpot is the emerging category leader in the SaaS marketing sector. Their customer base exceeds that of all the other relevant marketing software companies combined, including Eloqua, Marketo, Genius, and Manticore.”

“Today, every company needs to succeed in search, social, sales, and marketing–I can’t think of a more powerful trifecta than Google, Salesforce.com, and HubSpot. With 4,000 customers, HubSpot is already a clear marketing leader–now, with this new infusion of capital and recognition by Google’s venture arm and Salesforce.com, HubSpot has a great opportunity to separate itself from the pack and become the leading marketing platform in the small and medium business space,” said Brent Leary, co-founder of CRM Essentials.

Google Ventures Partner, Rich Miner (formerly co-founder of Android) said, “We agree with HubSpot’s belief that search engines, social media, and mobile devices have fundamentally changed how businesses should market themselves. We’re thrilled to support their efforts to help thousands of small and medium businesses reach potential customers.”

Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO of HubSpot commented, “We founded the company based on a simple premise: Businesses want an easy-to-use, complete and integrated marketing platform that helps them get more leads and customers. We plan to use this new capital to further invest in this ambitious vision and further our existing lead in the marketing software category.”

Surface Encounters

NFL draft 2011: No NFLPA event on first or second night of draft

The NFLPA will not stage an alternate event head-to-head versus the NFL on the first night of the draft, instead opting for a three-day celebration that will not interfere with the televised airing of the selection process on April 28 and 29.

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Jon Stewart Calls Out NBC <b>News</b> For Not Reporting on GE&#39;s $0 Tax <b>...</b>

On Friday, The New York Times reported that General Electric paid no U.S. federal income tax in 2010, despite earning $14.2 billion in profits. While.

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URGENT: Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant: TEPCO <b>...</b>

URGENT: Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant: TEPCO. TOKYO, March 28, Kyodo. Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday ...

Surface Encounters

Apple advertises its products as magical. They’re at the intersection of “technology and the liberal arts,” Steve Jobs said today. Something that moves your heart, not just your lust for technology. Will consumers still buy that in 2011?

The big picture question of the day is whether Apple has done it again. With the original iPad, Apple crushed its rivals, taking more than 90 percent of the tablet market in 2010 and selling more than 15 million units. Jobs predicted today that 2011 will be the year of the iPad 2. Based on what I have seen today, I think he’s mostly, but not entirely, right.

Competitors will discover that Apple has a lot of inherent financial advantages, including being a low-cost leader. That may not sound intuitive, but I believe it has to be true. It is selling so much volume of its products that it can get discounts on parts and manufacturing services that no one else can get.

When it sells its products in stores, it also doesn’t have to give away 20 percent of the margin to a retailer. That is a huge financial advantage. Carriers are also willing to subsidize the costs of Apple products in a way that they won’t with other tablet vendors. All of these things may explain why the Motorola Xoom, a very cool product, is selling for $800 while Apple has priced its new devices at $499 to $829, (and dropped the price of the old iPad to $399). Apple has also left very little room for rivals here, since it has signed up both AT&T and Verizon. Perhaps there is room for rivals to sell $199 machines, but users probably aren’t going to like them.

Those are reasons why any cool Apple mobile product could beat other rivals. But Apple has also done some smart things with the iPad 2. It has created another rev of its microprocessor, the A5, which has two cores, or computing brains. And it has nine times faster graphics than its old A4 chip. Since Apple designs this chip itself, it doesn’t have to give away much margin to a chip design firm. It only has to give a small margin to a chip manufacturer such as Samsung to make the chips.

Apple has also custom-designed the A5 to run Apple applications on a device with a 10-hour battery life. Apple should have an edge there, as it won’t sell the A5 to rivals. But if this is an advantage, it isn’t likely to last long, as Nvidia is being very aggressive with a new quad-core chip that it could sell to any Android rivals.

The design of the iPad 2 is where Apple has more advantages. The iPad 2 will have faster web-browsing with a new version of Safari. It has two cameras that will inspire a lot of video and photo-related apps. The availability of the Mac applications — iMovie, Garage Band, and Photo Booth — on the iPad 2 will make a lot of users happy. More interesting features will come with new releases of the iOS, or Apple’s operating system in the fairly near future.

There are some users who won’t like the restrictions of Apple’s ecosystem. If they want universal serial bus (USB) and SD card ports, they are out of luck. Apple didn’t change the resolution of its screen either, leaving it at 1024 x 768. Competitors could add these options and put emphasis on them as selling points. (Critics are disappointed that Apple did not improve the display, but that’s a big cost issue others have too).

Apple has also made great improvements in the feel of the product. It’s 33 percent thinner, 2 ounces lighter, and it has a wonderful new screen cover that doubles as a stand for the device. (It wakes up the device when you peel it back and it has micro-fibers that clean the screen when the cover is on).

Now here is why Jobs is not entirely right. Apple has come up with a stunning machine at prices that the competitors will have a hard time beating. But it is almost inevitable that Android-based tablets will gain market share on Apple.

So far, I don’t see the Android machine that will beat the iPad 2. But the potential is there, given ingredients such as Android 3.0, Nvidia Tegra 2 chips and other fast microprocessors, and 4G LTE. The latter is the main weakness in Apple’s armor.

LTE is fast, with a minimum speed on Verizon at around 12 megabits a second and actual speeds running much higher than that now. Getting access to 4G LTE is as big a benefit as having access to lots of cool apps, from my point of view. Right now, the timing of the still-young LTE technology means that Apple cannot yet put it into its mass-produced, lowest-cost tablet computers.

If LTE costs come down sometime soon, then Apple can launch a new version of the iPad to incorporate the technology. But it’s not a simple upgrade, as it means that the hardware of the machine — including the radio chip — has to change. And for now, LTE chips are larger than their 3G equivalents, so the heat dissipation and product size are affected. In other words, LTE can force Apple to redesign the iPad.

Apple can do that. But Android tablet makers might be able to move faster than Apple directly into the 4G LTE tablet market. If they do that, then they will have found a scenario where they could steal a march on Apple. Apple is not likely to let that gap last for a long time, but it might be enough for Apple to lose some share this year.

Apple’s leadership position in this market will be hard to beat, but the collective weight and reach of Android rivals could erode it. And here’s a sobering thought: If Apple eventually winds up with only 30 percent of the tablet market, it could still be No. 1, and its place as the largest technology company in the world will not be at risk.

Check out Apple’s overview video on the iPad 2 and Jobs’ comments on technology and the liberal arts below.

Next Story: Loot Drop banks on talented game designers as it takes on social gaming’s giants (exclusive) Previous Story: Electric car startups to square off against Big Auto competition

For Apple, the mobile market is a cash cow. The company’s iPhone and iPad are proving to be the top mobile companions for people around the globe. Apple has sold over 100 million iPhones. Its iPad sales have hit 15 million. The company understands the mobile market and it knows how to capitalize on it.

But what about the living room? It has the Apple TV, sure, and the Mac mini is often times connected to an HDTV, but what else has Apple done to push the envelope in the living room? It still hasn’t launched the long-rumored television we keep hearing about, and it seems that offering a game console — a hope for many Apple fans over the past few years — won’t happen.

I fully realize that Apple can’t be everything to every customer. It delivers computers, smartphones, tablets, personal media players, two operating systems, wireless routers, and much more. But I also realize that Apple is an entertainment company. It’s about trying to give people more opportunity to enjoy their lives through technology. And it would only make sense if it doubled down on the living room.

Let’s turn our attention to the Apple TV for a minute.

Prior to its announcement in September, rumors were running rampant over what the former “hobby” would offer. Folks thought it would deliver gaming, interface with DVRs, include Apple’s App Store, and much more. They thought it would be a sizable update over its predecessor.

Instead, Apple offered a stripped-down alternative.

The second-generation Apple TV comes with the ability for users to stream Netflix content. It has Flickr and Internet radio. And it allows users to stream their music over their home network to their televisions. It offers movies and television shows, as well, but most would agree that it’s slim pickings for now.

At that event in September, Steve Jobs said that Apple’s research showed customers didn’t want everything a company could pile into a device. They simply want the ability to consume the content they enjoy without the fuss that might come along with something like Google TV-based devices.

But by delivering the bare minimum, Apple did itself no favors. The company took the easy way out and pretended like it no longer views the living room as a hobby. The only issue is, the Apple TV is still a hobby. It’s a device that lacks all the functionality we’ve come to expect from Apple — a company that typically prides itself on offering the best value for the cash. And at least so far, it leaves me wanting more.

So, what am I looking for? I want to see Apple improve the Apple TV by bringing its App Store to the platform. I’d also like to see some kind of gaming component come to the device, either through the App Store or as part of a more-capable platform.

And perhaps most importantly, I’d like to see Apple think beyond its set-top box and deliver products that try something new. I’m not sold on the possibility of Apple offering a groundbreaking television, but if it can surprise me, I’m all for it.

Simply put, I’m looking for Apple to be Apple. Right now, it’s just like every other company in the living room; it’s content to have a presence but not dominate.

That needs to end.

No single company can stake claim to the living room right now. Steve Jobs just needs to take advantage of that void and do something special.

But first, he needs to take the living room — and its revenue potential — seriously.

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

What is your social media brand? Do you have one? Sure, many small business owners and entrepreneurs are coming around to the enormous importance of social media as a marketing, customer service, and, yes, even sales tool. But if you haven’t thought about how social media can define your brand, you are probably missing a HUGE part of what social media tools can do for your business. Here’s more…

Tools & Techniques

Creating a great brand with these blog tools. Tools that improve the look and functionality of your blog also improve your brand. A well-maintained small business blog is one of the most obvious and least expensive branding tools at the entrepreneur’s disposal even more so than social media channels like Facebook and Twitter because of how a blog can be customized to fit your needs and personality. This list of tools is a great way to start. EpicLaunch

What Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi can teach you about social media. One of the stars of the hit reality show “Jersey Shore”, “Snooki” is a perfect example of personal brand, but social media entrepreneurs could also learn much about building their own online presence from Snooki. Being yourself and using a simple, short tag to indelibly brand your identity are also great techniques in social media. One site is already trying to apply the starlets techniques in the social media space. Brand-Yourself

Tito Philips doesn’t want your comments on his blog! At least, not if they’re the wrong kind. And the wrong kind would be comments left for no other purpose than to get the blogger and his/her readers to visit your blog and perhaps comment on it in return. Why is comment trading bad? Don’t get Tito started! There are many ways to engage in social media marketing. Be sure you understand and respect some of the attitudes you may face. Blogging Bookshelf  

News & Trends

The best of the best. Want to get a look at arguably the 20 best Facebook fan pages for business on the planet? By now you should know the value of a Facebook fan page to your branding efforts. What’s also true, however, is that not all Facebook sites are created equal. If you want to take your social media marketing to the next level, have a look at this list of cream of the crop sites. Inc.com

Even churches use social media marketing! In this article on the growing market for tech services among religious organizations, we learn that many churches have also already entered into the social media space. As houses of worship, particularly huge mega-churches, expand and build congregations, it’s easy to see how social media can work as a marketing tool here as well. Is your religious organization using social media for branding? WSJ

Tips & Tricks

20 tips that will make you a Twitter star. Among the tools popular in the new digital space is Twitter. The microblogging platform can be used for business or non-business purposes and it can be the key to your small business’s success. Learn how to use Twitter like a pro and you may be surprised at the benefits your small business gains as a result. Global Copywriting

Valuable lessons in social media. Gary Vaynerchuk, author of The Thank You Economy and a successful social media entrepreneur in his own right, has many insights to share with small business leaders seeking a new way to define their brands in an age of social communications. Read some of the takeaways Vaynerchuk shares with those trying to define their businesses with social media. E-Marketing Associates

Success Stories

Doubt the power of FB to create brand for almost anyone? You won’t after you read the story of Princeton English Professor Jeff Nunokawa and “Jeffbook”, a collection of 3,221 brief literary essays on Facebook, that have created an incredible cult status for Nunokawa in the process. His motivation? Not too different from those of most marketers. Nunokawa simply started sharing where he knew his audience already spent lots of their time. The results speak for themselves. Fast Company

Increase exposure with niche social media. Blogger Mavis Nong talks about the importance of niche social media sites including social bookmarking sites as a key method of creating exposure for your online business. Mavis talks about her experience with our sister site BizSugar.com (thanks for the shout out! ) and explains how smaller more focused social sites can sometimes have a surprising impact even larger than the big guys. Attraction Marketing Online

Opportunities

Sponsors wanted for new SugarTone Sweet Business Blogging Contest. Put the power of social media to work for your brand. We’re looking for sponsors to help with a brand new blogging contest involving two of the fastest growing small business communities on the Web, BizSugar.com and Bloggertone.com. Learn more about the contest by reading the full announcement and get in touch today! BizSugar Blog

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  The Shorty Awards - Honoring the best of Twitter and social media
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  A 2.5 Year-Old Uses an iPad for the First Time
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  50% of Tweets Consumed Come From Only 0.05% of Twitter Users [STUDY]
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  NYTimes.com's Plan To Charge People Money For Consuming Goods, Services Called Bold Business Move | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
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Surface Encounters

autosport.com - NASCAR <b>News</b>: Raikkonen to compete in NASCAR

Former Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make a surprising move to NASCAR this year, the Finn joining the series with a new team.

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

Q&amp;A: How dangerous is the plutonium found at Fukushima power plant <b>...</b>

Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations in the crippled Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Co. The following are questions and answers regarding the potential health hazard of the highly toxic ...

Surface Encounters

Making Money Fast

Crossposted with TomDispatch.com

Talking about secretaries of defense...

Oh, we weren’t?

Well, let’s.  After all, they’re in the news. 

Take former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld who, on leaving government service -- and I hope you don’t mind if I mangle a quote from General Douglas MacArthur here -- refused to die, or even fade away.  Instead, he penned Known and Unknown, a memoir almost as big as his ego and almost as long -- 832 pages -- as the occupation of Iraq, which promptly hit the bestseller lists (making the American reader a Known Unknown). 

Now, Mr. Known Knowns, etc., is duking it out on Facebook, Sarah-Palin-style, with “the chief gossip-monger of the governing class,” the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward.  Amusingly enough, Woodward has just savaged Rumsfeld for pulling a Woodward in his memoir by playing fast and loose with reality.  He posted his review at the Best Defense (as in, you know, a good offense), the war fightin’ blog of former Washington Post reporter and bestselling author Tom Ricks.  Small world down there in Washington!

It’s enough to make you nostalgic for... well, I have no idea what. 

Meanwhile, present Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, officially preparing to fade away later this year, hit the news as well.  His much-hinted-at retirement now seems like the Titanic looming on the military-industrial horizon.  (Take note, New York publishers and literary agents: Gates wrote a memoir the last time he faded away as CIA Director.  That was back in the Neolithic Age of the elder Bush.  It came out in 1996 and was titled From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.  Still, chalk that effort up to another century and start preparing the contracts for Into the Shadows, The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Two More Presidents and How They Didn’t Win Much of Anything.)

To be exact, Gates made news by going to West Point to speak to the cadets in what was plugged as the first of a number of “farewell” addresses.  (The second came a week later at the Air Force Academy.)  In the process, he made the headlines for quoting -- somewhat oddly -- General Douglas (the original fader) MacArthur.

Now, give Gates credit.  The man has superb speechwriters who channel both his obvious intelligence and his sometimes-mordant sense of humor.  (Hint for Hillary: When he leaves the scene, you should grab any wordsmiths he lets loose.  It would help if you laced some self-deprecating humor, however borrowed, into those statements of yours that ­blank [fill in the country, tyrant, or protest movement] must do what you say and then that you just repeat when whoever or whatever predictably doesn’t...)

Examined Heads

...Oh sorry, I dozed off.  What was I saying?

Something about old soldiers?

Anyway, here was the eye-popping quote that everyone picked up and highlighted from Gates’s address:  “But in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.”

“Have his head examined”: strong words indeed, not to say strong advice for his successor!  As quoted, it did sound like a late-in-term awakening on America’s wars.  After all, the Secretary of Defense had to know that it would be the money paragraph, the one reporters would carry off, in a speech significantly about other matters. 

Quoted by itself, it also had to seem like a mix of a mea culpa, a j’accuse aimed at his former boss, President George W. Bush, and his predecessor Rumsfeld, and a never-again statement about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan he’s been overseeing since 2006 and, in the case of Afghanistan, expanding since 2008. 

Those four words from MacArthur seem to tell the only tale worth telling.  Supreme Commander, southwest Pacific area, during World War II, “emperor” of occupied Japan, and commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War until cashiered by President Harry Truman, MacArthur later urged President John F. Kennedy not to get involved in a “land war on mainland Asia” -- that is, in Vietnam.

As Christian Science Monitor reporter Brad Knickerbocker typically wrote, Gates’s “recollection of Gen. MacArthur’s famous warning -- given to President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as the U.S. buildup in Vietnam was beginning -- was a sober message for the young men and women about to become the next generation of U.S. military commanders.”  Gates, in other words, was citing a “famous” example of how MacArthur used his hard-won experience in a terrible, stalemated war in Asia to try to stop another disastrous war a decade later.  A flattering analogy, one might say.

There's only one problem: it just wasn’t so.  MacArthur’s “famous warning” came not in 1961, but in 1950.  As Michael D. Pearlman explains in his book Truman & MacArthur: Politics, Policy, and the Hunger for Honor and Renown, MacArthur made that comment soon after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea.  He believed they were only conducting a “reconnaissance-in-force.” On June 26th, 1950, MacArthur, writes Pearlman, “was ‘astonished’ to receive directions to resist the invader.  ‘I don’t believe it.  I can’t understand it.’  John Foster Dulles, who favored a prompt military response, recorded him saying that anyone thinking of throwing American forces into the breech ‘ought to have his head examined.’” 

MacArthur’s urge, then, was prospective, not retrospective -- a gut reaction that has, in the last decades, Gates’s decades, been notably absent in Washington.  There’s no way of knowing whether this was clear to Gates or his speechwriter, but under the circumstances it was an odder phrase to quote than the reporters covering his address imagined, for it highlighted an essential problem with Gates and the rest of Washington’s global wrecking crew.  For them, the idea of going in has seldom been an alien one.  It’s going in the wrong way that bothers them -- and the problem (as Gates essentially admitted in his speech) is that you only know it’s the wrong way afterwards.

That striking quote of his, read in the context of his full speech, leaves a somewhat different taste behind.  Even the assumed prohibition against future Iraq- and Afghan-style wars is more cryptic than you might imagine.  The best Gates can do is this: “The odds of repeating another Afghanistan or Iraq -- invading, pacifying, and administering a large third world country -- may be low.”  Low, but not evidently nil in a world where all options always remain “on the table.”

Of course, his real focus at West Point was on quite a different kind of conflict.  He was there, in a sense, on a business trip to the future as the deliverer of prospective bad news to the future officers of the U.S. Army.  Their leaders, he wanted to tell them, were about to lose an intra-service struggle for the fruits of the still-growing but increasingly embattled Pentagon budget in economically fierce times.

In terms of future funding, and so future war-fighting, their service, he was there to tell them, was not well positioned.  “The Army,” he said, “also must confront the reality that the most plausible, high-end scenarios for the U.S. military are primarily naval and air engagements -- whether in Asia, the Persian Gulf, or elsewhere.”

(Note to journalists in a collapsing industry: it’s not often that a long-gone beat comes back, but that’s the case here.  In the 1950s, the services fought bitterly for shares of a far more limited military budget.  In fact, for a funds-starved Army in the early 1960s, Vietnam was, in budgetary terms, its breakout moment.  Now, budgetary war in Washington, missing-in-action for decades, is back, so the Secretary of Defense insisted.)

At West Point, but not at the Air Force Academy, think of Gates, then, as the Grim Reaper of military careers, telling the cadets that their future wouldn’t be in giant, never-to-be-used tank forces and that he was worried about just how they would indeed be employed.  As if to emphasize his point, on the very same day, another fading warrior, retiring Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey, Jr., was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, even though dreaming of a future “sipping Coronas [and] watching sunsets on the beach in Scituate [Massachusetts].”  There, he was to give his own valedictory to the Association of the U.S. Army and the “Defense Industry,” while making a most un-Gatesian plea for that same pot of gold. 

Wielding an infamous Vietnam-era phrase, the general worried that unnamed government types already “think they see the light at the end of the Afghanistan tunnel” and so were clamoring to cut the Army’s budget, even though the U.S. remains in an “era of persistent conflict.” He then issued this warning:

A Nation weary of war, struggling to get its domestic economy going again, looks to cash in on a ‘Peace Dividend’ and drastically cut back on defense. But, we've seen time and again that a ‘Peace Dividend’ is, at best, a mirage and, at worst, a danger to the long-term security of our Country, our allies and our interests... [W]e simply cannot afford to dismantle this incredible Army that we have so painstakingly built over the past decade.

“We Have Never Once Gotten It Right”

Let’s assume that, after so many years overseeing the Afghan War, Gates may, in fact, be a somewhat chastened man.  Perhaps there is evidence of this in his carefully articulated reluctance (as well as that of Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen) to do the American thing and throw the U.S. military at any problem -- in this case, a no-fly-zone over Libya. It’s certainly evidence that General Casey and the Secretary of Defense agree on one thing: They are dealing with a “stressed and tired” force.  After two wars in a single decade, with a Global War on Terror thrown in, the thought of launching yet another campaign “in another country in the Middle East” might well leave any Secretary of Defense feeling sour.

Of course, given the twin disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan, who on Earth would want to repeat them?  Gates does seem, however provisionally, to be sidelining the recent Holy Grail of the U.S. Army and its key commander, General David Petraeus: counterinsurgency, or COIN.  If there are to be no more major land wars in Asia, then evidently U.S. soldiers won’t be spending much time “protecting the people” and “nation-building” either. 

However briefly, Gates offered the cadets a glimpse of a different war-fighting future (one that sounded eerily reminiscent of Donald Rumsfeld’s once bright and shiny vision of a faster-than-lightning, “net-centric” Army lite). “The strategic rationale for swift-moving expeditionary forces, be they Army or Marines, airborne infantry or special operations,” Gates said, “is self-evident given the likelihood of counterterrorism, rapid reaction, disaster response, or stability or security force assistance missions.” 

In other words, instead of “shock and awe,” “regime change,” and long-term occupations, he now imagines “counterterror” as well as air force and naval operations against “terrorists, insurgents, militia groups, rogue states, or emerging powers” that would be so decisive and effective as to “to prevent festering problems from growing into full-blown crises which require costly -- and controversial -- large-scale American military intervention.”

It sounds brilliantly un-Afghan, doesn’t it?

In other words, Gates seems to have a better idea of how, in the future, to go in.  What his speech lacked was any suggestion, no less analysis, of how to get out of the war that remains, for the months to come, his responsibility. 

Recently, journalist Dexter Filkins wrote a review of Bing West’s new book, The Wrong War, in the New York Times.  As much as anything else, it offered a devastating portrait of counterinsurgency (“a new kind of religion”) in Afghanistan as a failed faith.  Filkins, who covered both Iraq and Afghanistan for the Times, concludes that counterinsurgency has failed big time in the Afghan context, creating only a “vast culture of dependency: Americans are fighting and dying, while the Afghans by and large stand by and do nothing to help them.”  Gates may well agree.

Filkins also seems unconvinced that slipping more COINs in the Afghan slot machine will improve the situation significantly.  (“[N]othing short of a miracle will give [Americans] much in return.”)   For all we know, Gates may agree with this, too.

Here’s the catch: Nearly 10 years into our second Afghan War, Filkins simply can’t seem to imagine a way out of the failed effort, or much else but more of the same.  It’s there that the discussion simply ends for him, as it does for the Secretary of Defense, as it does, generally speaking, for Washington. 

Gates himself is now preparing to depart (some might say jump ship) with his war still at a boil.  At West Point, he had advice galore for the next Secretary of Defense, and yet it’s striking that his speech avoided a serious look at Afghanistan and how to end his war.  He was perfectly willing to offer the cadets a window into the future on a range of subjects -- on almost anything, in fact, but that war. 

When it came to his primary responsibility, however, all he offered was this fragment of a sentence, a reference assumedly to American contingency-based drawdown plans to remove “combat troops,” but not tens of thousands of trainers and other forces by the end of 2014: “...after large U.S. combat units are substantially drawn down in Afghanistan...”  (In his subsequent address to the Air Force Academy, he denied that anything he said at West Point was an attack on "the wisdom of our involvement in Afghanistan.")  

The Secretary of Defense was clear on one thing: it's a joke to imagine that you can predict the future trajectory of war, American-style.  “And I must tell you,” he said in his second most quotable set of lines, “when it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect.  We have never once gotten it right, from the Mayaguez to Grenada, Panama, Somalia, the Balkans, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq, and more -- we had no idea a year before any of these missions that we would be so engaged.”

And yet he still dreams of those future “swift-moving expeditionary forces” heading towards places which will surely maintain that “perfect record.”

Of course, it’s worth remembering that not everybody got everything wrong.  In response to most of those wars, there were antiwar movements, large or small, that said: wrong place, wrong time, wrong idea, get out.  And not all of this happened retrospectively either.  In the specific case of Iraq, for instance, an enormous antiwar movement preceded the war and offered this piece of clear advice in no uncertain terms: don’t do it!

That movement was right.  The war-makers were wrong.  Yet no one from that movement is taken seriously in the mainstream media or in Washington to this day.

Here’s something important to remember: Vietnam did not start out as “Vietnam,” nor Iraq as “Iraq,” nor Afghanistan as “Afghanistan.” The fabulous dreams of doing it right always precede the horrific wars and, time after time, those in power never seem to feel MacArthur’s urge not to do it.  Somehow, they never imagine that, sooner or later, disaster and blowback will be in the offing, though based on recent history that’s the only reasonable prediction to make in such circumstances.

Almost a decade after we invaded Afghanistan and “triumphed,” our latest “wise men” -- in Washington and in the media -- are still at a loss.  The inability to win or be reasonably successful over so many years has, by now, penetrated almost, but not quite, never quite, to the core, leaving them bereft of solutions, except for continuing without serious hope.  And when it comes to this, too, for those who remember Vietnam, there’s nothing new under the sun.

Unexamined Heads

The problem isn’t that no one can predict the next war.  It’s that so many heads in Washington go unexamined.  As a result, our leaders are desperately behind the learning curve of Americans generally. 

Perhaps this is the moment to offer a simple future lesson for the Secretary of Defense -- if not the one who will leave office in 2011 with the Afghan War still roaring along, then the next one -- and here it is: it doesn’t really matter whether you go in big with tanks and counterinsurgency-style nation-building on the brain or small with a counterterror-lite footprint backed by air power. 

The issue Gates, like his peers, still focuses on is how to go in better.  The issue that needs to be focused on isn’t the “how to” but the going in. 

The lesson that Washington still seems incapable of drawing from its endless experience of such wars in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is this: don’t go in, because the Age of Intervention is over.

It really doesn’t matter whether ours is “the finest military in the world,” as Gates assured the cadets, or "the finest fighting force that the world has ever known" as our presidents have taken to saying.  It doesn’t matter that the U.S. Army is battle-hardened and that it has years of counterinsurgency experience under its belt.  It doesn’t matter whether we favor the Navy and the Air Force over the Army in our future wars.  What matters is going to war.  What matters is the illusion that military power is our key problem-solver, our go-to position of choice.

It’s time, once and for all, to lock the gates.  It’s time to use the U.S. military only in the genuine defense of this country. 

It doesn’t seem like the hardest lesson in human history to grasp, but it has been: don’t go in.  This isn’t a utopian’s recipe, but a realist’s.  You just have to remind yourself that your intervention will never turn out the way you fantasize or plan, no matter what your fantasies or plans may be.

Let me say it one more time because I know no one’s listening: don’t do it. 

Afterward, write your 832-page books, enjoy your honors, duke it out with journalists, but when you’re Secretary of Defense, your job is to defend America against the urge to intervene.  Intervention doesn’t work.  Not in the long run, often not in the short one either.  Not these days.  Not at all. 

Your job is somehow, in a Washington that can’t imagine such a thing, to turn ever again into never again.

Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project, runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com.  His latest book is The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s (Haymarket Books). To listen to a TomCast audio version of this post, read by Ralph Pochoda, click here or download it to your iPod, here.

[Note of thanks to: Jim Peck for helping spark this one, Ralph Pochoda for reading the TomCast audio version so sonorously, and the indispensible Christopher Holmes for applying his remarkable proofreading eye not just to this piece but to every TomDispatch piece.  A deep bow to all three.  In addition, for those of you eager to keep up on American war and fast-moving events in the Middle East, be sure to check out three sites that I find invaluable and visit daily: Juan Cole’s Informed Comment website, Paul Woodward’s War in Context website, and of course Antiwar.com.]

Copyright 2011 Tom Engelhardt

Emil Motycka grew up on a hobby farm—just a few modest acres of land, nothing too fancy. He loved getting his hands dirty, a lesson his father taught him at an early age. He wasn’t ashamed to be called a "farm boy."

"When I was younger my dad would take me past construction sites or farms and talk with the guys, and they'd throw me up on the big machines and let me drive them," Motycka says. "I just thought that was the greatest thing ever."

Back in the third grade, Motycka's teacher prompted his students to find a way to pay for college, should their parents be unable. Emil says he always enjoyed the outdoors and heavy machinery, so lawncare and landscaping naturally "fit the puzzle."

Motycka took his classroom assignment a step further, launching Motycka Enterprises, mowing lawns and groundskeeping for money. He continued his business throughout middle school and high school, enjoying decent success, until one major contract with a school district fell through, causing major money woes.

"They ran out of money, and the state requires they break any contracts," Motycka explains. "I had some equipment on loan, and I had to learn how to fix that."

Motycka had too many eggs in one basket, and his basket broke.

"I think that actually scared me away from business," Motycka admits. "I threw out a lot of money I had saved to get it going, and I learned fast how hard it is to find and hire good people. It all kinda crumbled on me."

Once enrolled in the University of Colorado, Motycka decided to re-enter his old lawn care business.

"The hourly job option wasn't going to pay for what I needed, so I decided to go back to what I knew made money," he says.

After repurposing his company and focusing on target markets and pricelines, Motycka Enterprises began to finally take off.

"I learned to diversify," Motycka says. "Today, instead of just serving one customer, we do a couple hundred customers, so if I lose one, or one doesn't pay, at least I'm not out of cash flow."

While his business was successful, Motycka always had a full schedule. When he wasn't in class, he was working.

"Being the owner and founder, it was hard for me to step away," Motycka says. "It's kinda like my baby."

In his senior year, one of Motycka's professors finally challenged him to force himself out of the equation. Having finally learning to delegate his many responsibilities outward, Motycka hasn't looked back.

"That's actually made the business grow three or four times over," Motycka says.

Motycka is enjoying greater success, making about $250,000 to $300,000 annually, but Motycka Enterprises, LLC is still growing. Recently, Motycka has acquired about seven smaller groundskeeping businesses, and he's looking to add more. His next challenge? Rebrand all of them under one name.

"Buying out companies gives a better return on investments than blindly doing marketing campaigns, in my opinion," Motycka says. "I'm trying to diversify into other maintenance services just to have that year-round, different market."

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SEO Services Vancouver For A Better Marketing Solution

 

When you begin your personal website there are lots of ways you'll have to sell it off and something the best way is to use Search engine optimization Vancouver if you happen to be in that area. The SEO or search engine optimization services would be the top way of getting more traffic to your site and therefore making more sales.

 

Now, you need to know that you will not use SEO service if you're no online business - but then again, if you don't have an online presence if you are a offline business, then you'll not make it very far.

 

It is a well known fact that if you are planning to really make it in the offline world you must have an online business. This really is something that all people are learning hard way. One thing that you ought to also know is the fact that it's not as simple as just establishing the web site and leaving it to complete its things.

 

You can do this in all sorts of ways, however these companies usually take advantage of multiple techniques to create an ideal marketing technique online. You will be able to employ them to write articles for you personally, post on forums and blogs, create meta tags and meta descriptions, cleanup the code, add alt tags towards the images and much more.

 

It is very important that you do this because otherwise the company you have worked so hard for could wind up losing all the money. When you have a website that you want to create, then you will also use the expertise of an SEO company, which means seo company. What the corporation does is actually take the best areas of your site, look into the code, create keywords and write various articles and documents to ensure that your site is placed close to the top of the list for that major search engines like google.

As a result the Search engine optimization company cannot only improve your traffic, but also ensure that your site is fully optimized for that search engine spiders that will be introduced to it. These spiders are used to analyze your site and place it in certain positions determined on certain keywords.

 

If you want to make use of the SEO services Vancouver then all you've got to do is discover the top companies. It's through these that the SEO gets done effectively and efficiently. With so many SEO companies to select from you have to be sure that the main one you're going for is reliable. You should be in a position to ask for a failure of what you want, and the company should also be able to tell you know long they've been operating for. This will limit their email list to reveal the top ones.

 

Search engine optimization Offered by Different Vancouver Web Companies

The Vancouver SEO company services are very beneficial for business growth because they provide quality services. If you're planning to create a website for the internet business, then you've come to right article as I is going to be explaining below how Search engine optimisation Vancouver company services can increase your website ranking making it popular.

Before that, you need to know what Seo is. It's not that complicated and i am sure you're going to get a grasp from it reading my article. The primary goal of SEO is to have more traffic aimed at your website and audience. It is a good decision to select a Vancouver SEO company that specializes in this sort of work, so that your website could be listed in search engines.

There is no reason for you having a website without any website ranking whatsoever as you won't have any business and profits to survive. It's a very tough atmosphere available because there are a lot of internet business people exactly like you, who want their share of pie. You must be aware of the truth that nearly 85% of web traffic could be got from internet websites.

Whenever a user types in a keyword or keywords for what he/she wants to know in various sites, these use crawlers to get websites using the relevant content and index them based on algorithms. It's not necessary to be worried about the algorithms which these websites use as that isn't important.

To appear in the first page from the google listing, you will have to hire professionals and experts who can do the needful to keep your site one of the good books in these websites. These professionals can optimize your site content to ensure that your website gets increased traffic.

Once the traffic gets high, it's a sign that you are getting a service that will enable you to get more revenues. SEO Vancouver company do the following to create your site appear inside the first page of search engine results.

Use keywords that are popularly utilized on search engines like google in your website content.
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SEO Vancouver company also perform site diagnostics that is a significant part in online optimization as research and analysis on finding keywords is the way to start a SEO campaign. So, be sure you choose the best SEO Vancouver company.

Are you searching for more info regarding SEO Vancouver? Visit http://www.seo4vancouver.com/seo-services.asp today!

 

What to anticipate When Getting a Roofing Contractors

When the time comes to correct or substitute your roof, it can be a challenging task to find somebody that is actually competent to do the job. There are lots of roofing companies available, however the types who will perform a congrats for a reasonable cost are not often simple to find. If you're in the market for the service provider, use the ideas beneath with regard to meeting with and hiring the correct one.

Job interview as well as Discussion

The majority of roofing companies offer totally free consultations. This is particularly important, because it provides them a chance to evaluate what your homes roof requirements, also it gives you an opportunity to assess them. As with all businesses, trust your instincts about the individuals you let upward onto your roofing. No matter exactly how great the contractor's status or recommendation, he should start by showing you with a company card. If a contractor occurs looking as well as speaking within an unprofessional method, chances are that the job he is going to perform will also be unprofessional. This is not to express that you ought to anticipate contractors to arrive in suits. They will be climbing in your roofing, so the majority of will be dressed in jeans as well as function boots or even athletic shoes. If the actual service provider seems to be interested in talking upon their cell phone during your roof than he's in analyzing your roof's needs, that may be an additional indication that he's not really the one to do the job. For the legal safety, be certain that the actual contractor has sufficient legal responsibility insurance coverage.

Roofing Evaluation

Expect the service provider is going to be going up on your roof. In fact, any contractor who not want to go up in your roof to evaluate the issue should be immediately discounted. Those who are serious about their own work will possibly create a drawing of your roof's surface and mark problem areas onto it as they undergo their evaluation, or even they'll consider photos or video clip of the surface while they're available online for. This is a very essential action, since it enables you to see exactly what the troubles are as well as know how they'll be set.

Estimate

The next step would be the written estimate. The contractor will take out his loan calculator and come track of a written estimate. Some contractors will go out to their vehicle or even van as well as write up the proposal, while some may crisis the actual amounts for the job in front of you. Once you are given the proposal, make sure that you understand exactly which products will be used, how long the job will take and when you will find any additional or concealed expenses that could occur throughout the repair from the roofing. The contractor will be able to answer all of these concerns with ease as well as forewarn you of any extra expenses that might be incurred should the roof's ethics be damaged within.

After you have obtained a few written estimations from roofing companies, assess what every organization or service provider is willing to offer you for the price. Do not always discount the highest bid, because occasionally the greatest bet will actually function as the contractor who does the task correctly. Additionally, be skeptical of prices for bids which are not nearly as expensive others. They may be using inferior items or be untruthful concerning the chance of concealed costs. Most importantly, trust your instincts as well as go with the actual service provider who makes you feel most comfy regarding giving over your hard earned money.

 

Seven Uyghurs Sentenced to Death

2011-03-23

Critics of the sentences say China has politicized the robberies as acts of terrorism.

 

AFP

A Uyghur man walks past armed Chinese security forces in Urumqi, July 17, 2009.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered the executions of seven ethnic minority Uyghur men convicted of "violent" crimes, official media said on Wednesday.

 

The death sentences were handed down by the Supreme People's Court in recent days, according to state media in the regional capital, Urumqi.

 

The men were accused in connection with three separate attacks late last year in the Silk Road city of Kashgar, according to the news website Urumqi Online.

 

According to another website, the Xinjiang-based Tianshan news site, Aimaiti Tuheti, Yiming Dawuti, and unnamed "others" killed a security guard at a pedestrian mall as part of a failed Aug. 7 robbery attempt.

 

In a separate incident on Oct. 12, it said, Nuermaimaiti Aobulikasimu and 11 others broke into a house, bound and killed the couple living in it, and took their possessions.

 

It said the group also broke into the homes of two brothers, robbed them, and killed six people in a Nov. 11 attack in Kashgar.

 

The report gave no information about the victims or the schedule for the executions.

 

Three of the men were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, a sentence that is normally commuted to life imprisonment in China's judicial system.

 

They were convicted of deliberate homicide and armed robbery by the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court in the first instance.

 

'Strike hard' campaign

 

A Han Chinese resident of Urumqi surnamed Yang said a reference to "terrorism" in official news reports on the case showed that it was being politicized by the authorities, who have launched a series of "strike hard" campaigns in Xinjiang following deadly ethnic violence in July 2009.

 

"There is an implied political meaning; that they were somehow engaged in separatist activities or ethnic divisions," said Yang.

 

Exile Uyghur groups said the trials had been conducted behind closed doors, with scant opportunity for public scrutiny.

 

"The entire process against these men, from the trial through to the judgment, was opaque," said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

 

"There was also very little reasonable evidence to convict them on a legal basis, because all the evidence came from one side of the case," he said.

 

"We strongly condemn the Chinese government for continuing to pursue their policies of ethnic division," said Raxit.

 

"We are also strongly opposed to the death penalty in this case."

 

Earlier cases

 

Last month, the Supreme Court sentenced four Uyghurs to death for alleged involvement in an Aug. 19 bomb attack in Xinjiang’s western Aksu city.

 

The World Uyghur Congress pointed to concerns over lack of transparency in those cases too.

 

The Aksu blast left eight people dead, including two of the bombers, and 15 wounded after a man riding a three-wheeled vehicle threw explosives at a group of uniformed patrolmen. Four Uyghurs were arrested shortly after the attack.

 

State media characterized the cases as acts of terrorism and unrelated to longstanding ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the region.

 

Exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer has warned that attacks like those in Aksu will continue to occur until Beijing addresses the underlying source of tension in the region.

 

Millions of Uyghurs—a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim—populate Central Asia and Xinjiang.

 

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

 

Those frustrations erupted in July 2009 in deadly riots that left nearly 200 people dead, by the Chinese government's tally.

 

At least 26 people, mostly Uyghurs, were sentenced to death in the aftermath of the riots, many of whom have been executed, according to state media.

 

China is believed to execute more people each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined, although the government does not publish official figures.

 

Rights groups say Beijing may execute as many as several thousand prisoners annually.

 

Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

 

New training scheme

 

China on Wednesday also announced a training scheme which places ethnic minority graduates from Xinjiang in work elsewhere in China.

 

Governments of the destination cities will spend 450 million yuan (U.S.$ 69 million) for the program, while Xinjiang will spend 400 million yuan (U.S.$ 61 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The program targets some 60,000 jobless college graduates in Xinjiang, around 80 percent of whom are from ethnic minorities, and 60 percent of whom are women.

 

However, some commentators see the move as an attempt to assimilate non-Han Chinese into mainstream Chinese culture.

 

"From the point of view of ethnic minorities, the graduate work scheme is really taking the cream of youth from the minorities and using them to 'further cultural development,'" wrote one ethnic minority user on a popular microblogging service.

 

"In fact, the culture that is being advanced is Han culture, and this group of young people will have been totally brainwashed," the microblog update said.

 

An Urumqi resident surnamed Li agreed.

 

"They have run senior high school schemes like this before during the past few years," he said.

 

"Whether it's high-schoolers or graduate training programs, these are measures that are aimed at thought control and brainwashing, and the 'Partification' of their education," he said.

 

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

 

Wikileaks and the Uyghur

through henry upon Dec Twenty, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

If it were actually uncertain, info acquired by the whistleblower web site, Wikileaks, offers confirmed Chinese language government fears more than its continued control of the region this calls Xinjiang, which is also referred to as East Turkestan. The actual leaked cables through U.Utes. diplomats demonstrate the actual extent to which Chinese language authorities attempt to convince governments worldwide to consider it's position upon problems affecting Uyghurs. The cables additionally show the U . s . States' concerns as well as views concerning the on going repressive measures in the region.

Most illuminating associated with Chinese government pressure are the cables directed in order to Chinese language anger, or the specter of Chinese ire, within the release of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to third countries. The December 29, 08 cable relates how Chinese language Helper International Minister Liu Jieyi met using the U.Utes. Ambassador to China in order to voice Beijing's powerful competitors associated with launch in order to any kind of nation apart from China, which when the U.S. do certainly accede for this request it would "avoid harm to bilateral relationships and to cooperation ‘in important areas'". In addition, a February '09 cable television describes how the Chinese Ambassador in order to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded as the actual possible release of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees as "an unfriendly behave toward us" along with a "slap in the face". The Ough.S. federal government stood firm in not releasing the detainees to The far east illustrates the actual extent from the politicized nature of the Chinese language judicial system. Legitimate issues over terrorism tend to be understandable, however in the actual U.Utes. government's view the detainees would most likely encounter torture as well as delivery if they came back to China

Chinese government stress regarding the actual Uyghur Guantánamo detainees was not only applied to the actual Ough.S. federal government, but additionally to New Zealand along with a handful of Western government authorities that were considering resettlement. Albania, Germany as well as Finland, as well as Eu member states just about all have the symptoms of borne the impact of Chinese language federal government unhappiness. Regarding Indonesia, that was initially willing to consider 2 Uyghurs upon solely relief grounds, Uyghur Guantánamo cases were much less better than additional detainees because of the negative effects taking Uyghurs would have on relationships with The far east. The May Eight, 2009 cable television applies exactly how "German Ambassador Erina Schaefer documented that Indonesia had knowledgeable The far east of the Ough.S. request to simply accept some Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo and had been subsequently warned by The far east of ‘a large burden on bilateral relations' if Indonesia had been to simply accept any detainees".

The actual diplomatic wires additionally discuss the actual unrest within Urumchi, the actual local capital, within July '09. A This summer 13, 2009 cable television discussing bulk occurrences within China says:

"Ethnic riots such as those who work in Xinjiang This summer 5-7 and in Tibet within 03 of 2008 vary markedly within origin and nature from bulk incidents, XXXXXXXXXXXX emphasized to PolOff [Political Officer] on XXXXXXXXXXXX. Each present severe trouble for the actual Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX said, however the Party leadership would not hesitate to spread out fireplace on Uighurs or Tibetans when they deemed this essential to restore purchase. Mass incidents pose a different kind of threat, he said, as the management is ‘afraid' to fire on Han rioters for anxiety about sparking huge open public outrage that would turn against the Party."

This is a relaxing viewpoint, particularly when 1 views the evidence presented by 50 percent reports launched this year by the Uyghur Individual Privileges Task (UHRP) and Amnesty International which detail eyewitness accounts of the utilization of deadly live fireplace against Uyghur protestors in July 2009. In addition, the observation which fire wouldn't be deployed against Han Chinese language protestors has resonances for the various strategy taken through Chinese language security forces in Urumchi in order to Han Chinese language protests in September '09. During individuals protests, then Celebration Secretary, Wang Lequan, addressed demonstrators, that had required that he inform them regarding government responses in order to protection concerns. An identical ask for to meet with the Party Secretary by Uyghur demonstrators within July was not fulfilled.

The broader consequences of the unrest additionally noticed a brief discussion about the effect it might possess upon Iran-China relationships, as well as on relations along with Australia following Globe Uyghur Our elected representatives Leader, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, spoke in the National Push Club in Canberra in August 2009. In the latter case, the Chinese federal government "privately warn[ed] a major Aussie bank which sponsors the National Push Membership to make use of it's impact to block a Kadeer talk there".

The actual U . s . States' concerns about the situation within the Uyghur region are available via in the wires. Inside a discussion on plan path within Tibet, Ough.Utes. authorities explain that it'll end up being impossible for Chinese language frontrunners to adopt the much softer collection "if they appear like they are doing this under international pressure". The actual cable television out dated 04 16, 2008, one month following the outbreak of unrest in Tibetan areas, also relayed the observation "that household stability continues to be leadership's main concern above all else, which means there will ‘almost surely' be absolutely no rest of the current hard collection upon Tibet or perhaps in locations such as Xinjiang." The info contained in the cable television additionally sheds gentle on the extreme level of sensitivity with which the Chinese government sights territorial integrity, and the possible drip over associated with unrest from Tibet.

The prospect of solutions to tensions within Tibet and Xinjiang arising from civil society are debated in a February Twenty-four, 08 cable. Whilst suggesting that China's economic success increases it's resistance to democratic reform, the actual cable television also discusses exactly how Chinese language frontrunners see the usefulness of "a limited growth of civil culture, including enhancements in the rule of law and a stronger part with regard to authorized beliefs, NGOs, non profit organizations and other actors within places that bring about sociable balance and do not problem Communist Celebration rule." This is a notable alternation in considering, that has observed U.S. officials market the idea which Chinese financial improvement, as well as economic relationships with The far east will bring in regards to a progressively democratic culture; however, much more belief appears to be placed in a grassroots movement compared to one which starts in the top levels of the Chinese language government. Nevertheless, the actual cable television concludes which "[i]n places for example Tibet as well as Xinjiang, the fear associated with separatism leads to tighter limitations on the development of civil culture." This approach is viewed as counter-productive by the recognized, that suggests that the Ough.Utes. federal government "should continue to express...serious issues more than Beijing's individual privileges record and appeal to China's growing awareness which higher regard with regard to human privileges, religious independence and also the guideline of law assists to promote the improvement as well as social balance which The far east seeks in addition to to enhance China's worldwide picture." This type of strategy would consider substantial diplomatic abilities considering "China's paranoid concern the Usa secretly promotes routine alter as well as ‘separatists' in Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The cables offer insight into the actual daily company of diplomacy that is rarely owned by everyone, which is fascinating to note the amount of function done nowadays upon Uyghur problems. The significance of the part of the us as a monitor of Uyghur individual privileges conditions in personal conversations is made obvious, as well as contrasts using its sensible open public stance. The staff from the Uyghur Individual Rights Project is well aware of the pressure the Chinese federal government exerts on Uyghur activists; still, the facts associated with Chinese language federal government stress upon it's counterparts is actually illustrative from the degree that Chinese language authorities make an effort to suppress contrary narratives. With increased facts in the future from Wikileaks, issues more than Uyghurs might not get the head lines, but the wires possess get rid of new light on the documentation of individual rights problems in the Uyghur area.

 

Wikileaks and the Uyghur

through holly upon Dec 20, 2010
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

If it had been actually in doubt, info obtained through the whistleblower website, Wikileaks, has confirmed Chinese federal government fears over its continued charge of the location this calls Xinjiang, also is referred to as East Turkestan. The leaked out cables through U.Utes. diplomats demonstrate the actual degree that Chinese authorities make an effort to convince government authorities globally to adopt it's stance upon issues impacting Uyghurs. The wires additionally display the U . s . States' concerns and views regarding the ongoing repressive measures in the area.

Most lighting associated with Chinese federal government stress are the wires directed in order to Chinese frustration, or even the specter associated with Chinese language ire, within the release of Uyghur detainees in Guantánamo to 3rd nations. A December 29, 08 cable relates how Chinese language Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi met with the U.S. Ambassador in order to The far east in order to voice Beijing's powerful competitors of launch to any kind of country apart from China, and that if the U.S. did indeed accede to this ask for it might "avoid injury to bilateral relations and also to co-operation ‘in important areas'". Furthermore, the Feb '09 cable television describes how the Chinese language Ambassador in order to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the possible discharge of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees because "an unfriendly behave towards us" and a "slap in the face". That the U.S. federal government stood company within not releasing the actual detainees in order to China demonstrates the actual degree of the politicized nature from the Chinese language judicial program. Genuine concerns over terrorism tend to be understandable, but in the actual Ough.Utes. government's observe the detainees might most likely face torture and delivery if they came back to The far east

Chinese language federal government stress in regard to the Uyghur Guantánamo detainees wasn't just applied to the U.S. federal government, but also in order to New Zealand and a number of European government authorities which were thinking about resettlement. Albania, Germany and Finland, in addition to Eu member says just about all have the symptoms of paid for the actual brunt associated with Chinese federal government unhappiness. In the case of Germany, that was at first willing to think about two Uyghurs upon purely relief reasons, Uyghur Guantánamo cases had been less better than other detainees due to the unwanted effects accepting Uyghurs would have upon relations with China. A Might Eight, '09 cable relates how "German Ambassador Erina Schaefer documented which Indonesia experienced knowledgeable The far east from the Ough.Utes. request to simply accept some Uighur detainees held from Guantánamo coupled with already been consequently cautioned through The far east of ‘a large load on bilateral relations' if Germany had been to accept any kind of detainees".

The actual diplomatic wires also discuss the unrest within Urumchi, the regional capital, in This summer '09. The July Thirteen, 2009 cable television talking about bulk incidents within The far east says:

"Ethnic riots such as those who work in Xinjiang This summer 5-7 and in Tibet within 03 of 2008 vary substantially within source as well as nature from mass incidents, XXXXXXXXXXXX stressed in order to PolOff [Political Officer] on XXXXXXXXXXXX. Each present severe trouble for the Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX said, however the Celebration leadership would not hesitate to spread out fireplace upon Uighurs or Tibetans if they deemed it essential to restore order. Bulk occurrences present another kind of risk, he explained, as the management is actually ‘afraid' to fireplace upon Han rioters with regard to fear of causing huge public outrage that would change from the Celebration."

This can be a relaxing opinion, especially when 1 considers the evidence presented by 50 percent reports launched this season by the Uyghur Individual Rights Task (UHRP) and Amnesty Worldwide that fine detail eyewitness company accounts of the utilization of lethal live fire against Uyghur protestors in July 2009. Additionally, the declaration that fireplace wouldn't be deployed towards Han Chinese protestors has resonances for that different approach taken through Chinese language security causes within Urumchi to Han Chinese language direct orders within September '09. During individuals direct orders, then Party Secretary, Wang Lequan, tackled protesters, that had demanded that he inform them regarding federal government responses to security issues. A similar request to satisfy with the Celebration Assistant through Uyghur demonstrators within This summer wasn't fulfilled.

The actual wider repercussions from the unrest also saw a brief discussion on the impact it might possess upon Iran-China relations, and on relations with Australia after Globe Uyghur Our elected representatives President, Microsoft. Rebiya Kadeer, spoke at the Nationwide Push Membership in Canberra within July 2009. In the second option situation, the Chinese government "privately warn[ed] a significant Aussie financial institution which vendors the nation's Press Club to make use of it's influence to block a Kadeer speech there".

The U . s . States' issues concerning the situation within the Uyghur area are available via within the wires. Inside a dialogue upon plan direction in Tibet, U.S. authorities explain that it will end up being impossible for Chinese language frontrunners to consider a much softer collection "if they appear like doing this under worldwide pressure". The cable out dated April Sixteen, 2008, one month after the outbreak associated with unrest in Tibetan regions, also relayed the actual declaration "that domestic balance remains the leadership's top priority above all else, which means there will ‘almost surely' end up being no relaxation from the present hard collection upon Tibet or perhaps in places such as Xinjiang." The info included in the cable television also storage sheds light about the severe sensitivity that the Chinese government sights territorial ethics, and also the possible spill more than of unrest through Tibet.

The chance of solutions to tensions within Tibet and Xinjiang as a result of civil culture tend to be discussed inside a February 24, 2008 cable. Whilst recommending that China's financial achievement increases it's potential to deal with democratic reform, the actual cable television additionally talks about exactly how Chinese frontrunners begin to see the effectiveness associated with "a limited growth associated with civil culture, including enhancements in the rule of law and a stronger role for approved religions, NGOs, non profit organizations and other actors within places that bring about sociable stability and don't problem Communist Party guideline." This can be a notable alternation in considering, that has seen U.S. officials market the idea that Chinese language economic improvement, and economic relationships with The far east will bring in regards to a progressively democratic society; however, more belief seems to be put into a grassroots motion than one which begins from the best quantity of a Chinese government. Nonetheless, the cable television concludes that "[i]n places for example Tibet and Xinjiang, the fear associated with separatism leads to tighter limitations on the development of municipal culture." This method is viewed as counter-productive through the recognized, who suggests that the U.Utes. federal government "should continue to express...serious concerns more than Beijing's human privileges report and attract China's growing consciousness that greater respect for human rights, spiritual independence and also the guideline of regulation will serve to promote the development as well as social balance which China seeks as well as to improve China's worldwide picture." This type of strategy might consider considerable diplomatic abilities thinking about "China's weird concern that the United States secretly promotes routine alter and ‘separatists' in Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The actual wires provide insight into the daily company of diplomacy that's rarely owned by everyone, and it is interesting to notice the quantity of work done nowadays upon Uyghur problems. The significance of the part of the United States like a monitor of Uyghur individual rights conditions within personal conversations is made clear, and contrasts with its sensible public stance. The staff from the Uyghur Individual Rights Task is actually well aware of the pressure the Chinese government puts on Uyghur activists; still, the facts of Chinese language government pressure upon it's counterparts is illustrative of the degree which Chinese language officials make an effort to suppress contradictory stories. With more facts in the future from Wikileaks, issues over Uyghurs might not grab the headlines, but the wires possess shed new light about the paperwork associated with individual rights conditions in the Uyghur area.

 

Seo And Marketing with articles Will Place You On The 1st Page

Search engine optimization and article marketing are a couple of the strongest strategies that you can use to promote your website and get the revenue and success that you desire for your web business. These two everything has been around for a really very long time already but they still remain to be really effective. In reality, these have helped lots of people free themselves from your traditional methods for money-generating options of society.

In this article, I will be showing the ways on what you can properly execute seo and article promotion for the betterment of the small business web site. In addition, I will be also discussing the different points you need to consider when you're using these two internet marketing strategies to promote your website and get customers. Even though article promotion and Search engine marketing have been in existence for a long time already, you have to know that the trends and choices regarding how they are carried out are continually changing, and that's why you should keep yourself up to date with this stuff through the help of Search engine marketing forum sites to be able to quickly adjust and discover ways to make your strategies far better.

In the past article marketing to various web sites used to be so simple the effects that they produce for web-sites really was powerful. However, stuff has changed a whole lot today. These days submitting the identical article to different websites is no longer recommended because engines like google have now changed with a huge extent in how they rank pages. They no more rank contents which can be identical like they utilized to in the past. This is one of the best examples of changes that happens to web marketing trends. This change has given birth to wide plethora of methods that internet marketers are using today. Nearly all of online marketers now produce articles and submit them in really popular article submission sites and await targeted prospects to make their pages. Be thought of as that most reliable Search engine marketing strategy that can be used. Aside from being effective, this also delivers favorable benefits regularly. The only problem with this particular technique is how the caliber of traffic you will get using this will not be so good unless you do proper market and keyword research beforehand and use in-links. You first need to attend to these two things before you decide to submit your posts so that you won't find yourself losing considerable amounts of targeted visitors. This means that you need to practice good amounts of diligence if you would like your advertising initiatives to work.

Apart from articles, you may also use blogging, which can be another really powerful kind of online marketing strategy today because it's highly favored by the major search engines. In this technique, you are able to choose to produce a single web log that specifically targets your selected market or you can give rise to other weblogs which can be labeled as experts inside your niche.

Learn effective Vancouver search engine marketing techniques in the Vancouver SEO website.

Roofing Companies Vancouver British Columbia

There are numerous things to consider when looking for the roofing contractor. Price tag, experience, along with referrals are a few of the things you will probably be concerned about. Continue reading for even other great ideas.

• Finding a Roofing Contractors

Before searching for a roofing contractor, make sure you have a standard idea of the project that you need to did. By no means is it necessary to be an expert. If you have a new Roof Qualification, read it completely to find the information about your present roof. If you do not have a Ceiling Certificate, refer to documents agreed upon during final to locate your homes roof Inspection sheet. These files should provide everything you need to be familiar with your roof. Prior to contacting any roofing contractor, you have to have a list of demands and features to help you make a decision exactly who is acceptable for your covering project. Be sure you write down every single potential roofing contractor's answers and also check all of them against one another. If there are any mistakes, be sure to be aware this and take this into consideration when creating a final decision. There are no uncomplicated ways to choose a roofing contractor, in case you take pay attention to to the details provided, your chances of a successful roofer project are usually greatly increased.

One of the best strategies to finding a roofers is by word of mouth. Try wondering a friend or relative that has had covering work performed, and has been satisfied with the work. Get the brand of the organization and their particular contact data. If you have not sure of mouth referrals, attempt first hunting in the telephone book and internet based. A large advertisement or expensive website just isn't necessarily a sign of the top quality of work, but sometimes be a excellent tool with regard to measuring how long and dedication they have used in their respective profession. In addition, try discovering current worksites and appear at the roofing work that's done or perhaps the process of becoming finished. If you are visually satisfied, ask the property manager for your name of the roofing contractor as well as their make contact with information.

• Background Research

When looking for any roofing contractors, it can be imperative to 1st do your own background research. While looking in the phonebook or on the web is a suitable destination for a find a builder, finding pertinent information on these types of businesses will probably be found in several other areas. Initial, check with locations like the Better Business Bureau, city, point out, and county public records, and also local licensing agencies. Ask your roofing contractor if they are a part of any roofing contractor associations. These kind of precautions will certainly mitigate your own risks. Furthermore ask them what forms of roofing they specialize in. In addition ask your roofing contractor concerning any extended auto warranties they offer on their own installed roofing. Find out what precautions they choose to use avoid damage done to other parts of the home through workers. Things such as gutters, siding, and chimneys are close in proximity and therefore susceptible to unintended damages.

Be sure all of this details are included in your composed contract. Find out if you need a roofer permit and/or choice from your property owners association before hand. These organizations will let you know that is responsible for obtaining these allows and authorizations. If it is the duty of the roofer, also have this included as part of your contract. When it is your responsibility, get explained permits and permissions collated with all the estimated roofer project and still have it plainly posted or perhaps readily available.

• Licensing and Professional references

Roofing Contractors are not required to be accredited in all states. Contact neighborhood licensing businesses that rule general development contractors to get a list of needs. Once you have acquired the requirements, create a list of in depth questions to ask the potential roofing contractor. This simple listing should quickly help you to discount the competent from the not qualified roofing building contractors. Qualified building contractors should be able to quickly answer questions or even tell you that they need to do more research ahead of giving the definitive response.

Even if a new roofing contractor offers all necessary licensing, you should ask to view pictures of completed roofer jobs and also speak to happy clients. Use a list of inquiries handy to ask recent consumers, such as the dynamics of the employment, timeliness, and overall satisfaction. Make sure these are current clients as well as cross reference if possible. In the matter of commercial roof covering, make sure that the particular roofing contractor is bonded. Looking at these references is another included measure of stability to restrict the list involving potential roof covering contractors.

Search engine optimization Through Article marketing

Articles could be an extremely powerful form of Search engine optimization on your company web site. Quality written articles manage to enhance your websites SERP and add quality for your company website. Writing informative keyword rich articles is important in gaining new backlinks in your business website. Articles can and may be written on topics which can be unique in your business or industry. The articles can discuss a range of issues and ideas with your industry. Articles offering people using a resource are invariably probably the most popular and quite a few likely forms of articles that will lead to backlinks to your website.

Focus your articles in your potential readers or customers. Seo articles should address real questions that are asked by current or best buyers. Each article you're posting for you company ought to include detailed analysis and Seo keywords which can help associate your site with all the content seen in your website. Focus your posts on around 3 keywords and stray at their store. Consistency is important when writing Search engine optimization articles. If you are covering Vancouver Seo make sure your always come up with information highly relevant to the keyword.

Give all of your Search engine optimization Articles an engaging Title which will persuade folks to learn and bookmark your posts. Ideally, the articles you are writing find yourself as links using their company websites which might be similar to yours. This can help improve the power of every link and can assist your SERP. Make sure you end each article using a keyword anchored link (see Easy Small enterprise Search engine optimization). This link will increase your rankings on the internet and other major search engines for the keyword attached to the link. Submit the articles to some submitted article directory and Voila! Before very long, your web site could possibly be on the first page of Google.

Appreciate your reading. Can't wait to see your Search engine optimization articles!