The early Russian trappers were disorganized and rapacious, depleting the stock of fur-bearing animals in many areas and killing or enslaving large numbers of Aleuts. In an attempt to bring order to Russian America, Tsar Paul I in 1799 chartered the Russian-American Company, granting it monopoly trading rights. Under Aleksandr Baranov, who headed the company during 1800-17, the fur harvest was increased substantially, and several settlements were established. New Archangel (later renamed Sitka), founded in 1799, was destroyed by Tlingit Indians in 1802 but was rebuilt in 1804 as the capital of Russian America. At the same time, many Aleuts were then converted to Russian Orthodoxy, notably by Father Innokenti Veniaminoff.

During the first half of the 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company and American traders were very active in Alaska. The rights of these traders and most of the current boundaries of Alaska were established by treaties between Russia and Great Britain and the United States (1824-25).

From 1820 onward, the Russian-American Company, managed in large part by famous Russian admirals and scientists, did much to explore Alaska and assess its resources. The Russians built iron foundries and schools; developed coal mining, trading routes, farming, and sheep raising; followed wildlife conservation methods to preserve the fur-seal population; and carried out smallpox inoculations. As a result of the Crimean War and contacts with American businessmen in San Francisco, the Russian government wished to sell Alaska to the United States. The Russians feared losing Alaska to the British in the event of another war and were thus well disposed to the United States.

After the Civil War, U.S. secretary of state William H. Seward, an expansionist who saw the region as having strategic importance, negotiated (1867) the purchase of Alaska. A treaty of cession was signed by Russia and the United States on Mar. 30, 1867, and, after the treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate, Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on Oct. 18, 1867. The United States paid $7.2 million for Russia's rights in Alaska after a long and bitter debate in Congress. Americans occupied Alaska before the money was paid and moved quickly to take control of the assets of the Russian-American Company, to trade along the Yukon, and to exploit the profitable Pribilof fur-seal trade.

During the early years of U.S. control Alaska was called "Seward's Folly" because it was believed to be useless. Although some economic development was undertaken, the region was generally neglected. It was administered successively by the U.S. War Department, Treasury Department, and Navy before civil government was established by the Organic Act of 1884. The government had little control of Alaska, however, until further laws were enacted in the early 1900s. Fishing grew in importance after 1867, and in 1878 the first salmon cannery was opened. Fur seals were killed in such great numbers that the federal government was obliged in 1910 to take control of the herds to prevent the animal's extermination. (With fur harvesting strictly limited, the number of fur seals increased from about 130,000 in 1910 to more than 2,500,000 in the 1970s.) During the late 19th century, large numbers of whales, sea otters, and walruses were killed. In order to increase the food supply, Sheldon Jackson, a missionary and educator who established schools in Alaska, in 1891 introduced reindeer (from Siberia) to the region.

Juneau was made the official capital of Alaska in 1900, but government offices were not moved there from Sitka until 1906, the same year that Alaskans elected their first delegate (nonvoting) to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1912, Alaska was constituted as a U.S. territory, and Alaskans were able to elect a territorial legislature, whose decisions, however, were subject to veto by the federally appointed governor. In the 1920s and '30s the Alaskan economy grew slowly. In 1923 the Alaska Railroad, running from Seward to Fairbanks, was completed. Also in the 1920s small airplanes, piloted by pioneer commercial aviators, such as Noel Wien, began to link remote areas with the territory's larger towns. An important step in increasing the territory's farm output was taken in 1935, when the federal government set up an experimental agricultural colony in the Matanuska River valley.

During the 1950s and '60s, Alaska's economy continued to expand as the tourist trade grew. Fishing fleets and canning and timber-processing facilities were enlarged and modernized (partly through an influx of much Japanese capital); and an important petroleum industry was established soon after the discovery, in 1957, of major oil fields in the Kenai Peninsula-Cook Inlet region. As the population increased, so did sentiment for statehood. In mid-1958 the U.S. Congress approved statehood for Alaska, and on Jul. 6, 1958, Alaska became the 49th state. Its first governor was William A. Egan, a Democrat, who served until 1966, when he was succeeded by Walter J. Hickel, a Republican. Hickel resigned as governor in 1969 to become U.S. secretary of the interior. One of Alaska's initial U.S. senators was Ernest H. Gruening, a noted public official and an influential leader in the drive for statehood. In 1964 a powerful earthquake struck south central Alaska; Anchorage suffered extensive damage but was quickly rebuilt.

A new era in Alaska began in 1968 with the discovery of great petroleum and natural-gas deposits in the Arctic coastal plain, or North Slope, around Prudhoe Bay. It was decided to send the oil by pipeline from the north coast through the interior to the ice-free port of Valdez, where it would be transferred to oceangoing tankers. Environmentalists objected to the project, contending, among other things, that the ecological balance in the interior of Alaska would be upset, but after considerable debate the U.S. Congress gave its required approval in 1973. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed in mid-1977 at a cost estimated at more than $10 billion. The government of Alaska gained large new revenues from taxes and other imposts levied on petroleum exploitation. Oil wealth spurred the state legislature in 1980 to eliminate the state income tax and to distribute shares of Alaska's oil royalties to its citizens. Court challenges stalled implementation until 1982. Despite the oil depression of the mid-1980s, Alaskans continued to receive their annual dividends.

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 9:32 AM :: 1 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- JULY 6th in History

1912 - Fifth Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweeden opens

1919 - British R-34 lands in New York, First airship to cross the Atlantic

1923 - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics formed

1924 - First photo sent experimentally across the Atlantic by radio US-England

1928 - First all-talking motion picture shown in New York (Lights of New York)

1945 - Nicaragua becomes the first nation to formally accept United Nations' Charter

1945 - President Truman signs executive order establishing medal of Freedom

1958 - Alaska becomes the 49th state

1959 - Saar becomes part of the German Federal Republic

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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Finding Neverland

What inspired children’s author and playwright JM Barrie to create the otherworld of Neverland and its legendary inhabitant, Peter Pan. In the new family film “Finding Neverland”, we find out.

Johnny Depp stars as the influential children’s author who one day stumbles upon a recently widowed mother (Kate Winslet) and her four boys. Barrie becomes infatuated with the innocence and unfathomable appetite the family has for stories. Much to the resentment of Barrie’s neglected wife (Radha Mitchell), Barrie begins spending a lot of time with the widow and her boys. Elite society starts to speculate about Barrie’s behavior and both Barrie’s wife and the widow’s mother (Julie Christie) begin to doubt Barrie’s intentions.

Eventually the story of Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook and the Darling children comes to life inside Barrie’s head. It just took a little inspiration to open his eyes to Neverland.
At first when looking at director Marc Forster’s “Finding Neverland” you may feel that the film looks and feels a lot like an old live-action Disney film from the 60s and 70s. There were some elements of awe and grace that were housed in Disney films of that era including films like “Candleshoe”, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and of course, “Mary Poppins”. What those films from that era lacked was a firm centre in reality.

The beginning of “Finding Neverland” has a lot of the same feel and execution that those beloved Disney films had. What makes the film stand out away from those films is the film’s second half. It is filled with a lot of very real problems and performances. But even when the film is faced with these things it still delivers the magic.
A lot of the magic comes from the once more amazing performance from Johnny Depp who seems to have cornered the market on incredible. His stoic, engulfed and imaginative performance as Barrie is utterly flawless. There isn’t a misstep or departure in the performance and its one of the finest I have seen in a very long time. He physically and literally breathes this character.

Kate Winslet’s performance of the single mother in over her head is memorable and enjoyable but Julie Christie as her mother eats up scenes by the mouthful. Christie is amazing and such a great adversary for the imaginative Depp. When I was to compare these characters I thought back to the movie “Footloose” where Kevin Bacon squares off against the prim and proper John Lithgow. Just as that performance electrified us, so does this.

When it came down to Barrie unleashing his Neverland, I am so glad the filmmakers cast Peter Pan as a woman and reimagined the classic story as Barrie would have seen it in that time period. That in itself is one of the most magical elements of “Finding Neverland”. It is almost like you have been transported back in time to witness the first stage production of “Peter Pan”
Even though “Finding Neverland” isn’t the complete and true story of JM Barrie, it is truly an inspiration and probably the “feel good” movie of the year.

(4 out of 5) So Says the Jaw Breaker.

Check out the movie's website

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 12:57 PM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- Algeria's War of Independence

The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was a period of guerrilla strikes, maquis fighting, terrorism against civilians on both sides, and riots between the French army and colonists, or the "colons" as they were called, in Algeria and the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale) and other pro-independence Algerians. Although the French government of the time considered all Algerian violence, including violence against the French military, to be crimes or terrorism, some French people, such as former anti-Nazi guerrilla and lawyer Jacques Verges have compared French resistance to Nazi German occupation to Algerian resistance to French occupation.
The struggle was touched off by the FLN in 1954, only two years before France was forced to give up its control over Tunisia and Morocco.

The FLN's main Algerian rival — with the same goal of Algerian independence — was the later National Algerian Movement (Mouvement National Algérien, MNA) whose main supporters were Algerian workers in France. The FLN and MNA fought against each other in France and Algeria for nearly the full duration of the conflict.

The FLN estimated in 1962 that nearly eight years of revolution had cost 300,000 dead from war-related causes. Algerian sources later put the figure at approximately 1.5 million dead, while French officials estimated it at 350,000. French military authorities listed their losses at nearly 18,000 dead (6,000 from non-combat-related causes) and 65,000 wounded. European civilian casualties exceeded 10,000 (including 3,000 dead) in 42,000 recorded terrorist incidents. According to French figures, security forces killed 141,000 rebel combatants, and more than 12,000 Algerians died in internal FLN purges during the war. An additional 5,000 died in the "café wars" in France between the FLN and rival Algerian groups. French sources also estimated that 70,000 Muslim civilians were killed, or abducted and presumed killed, by the FLN.

Historian Alistair Horne considers that the actual figure of war dead is far higher than the original FLN and official French estimates, even if it does not reach the 1 million adopted by the Algerian government. Uncounted thousands of Muslim civilians lost their lives in French army ratissages, bombing raids, and vigilante reprisals. The war uprooted more than 2 million Algerians, who were forced to relocate in French camps or to flee to Morocco, Tunisia, and into the Algerian hinterland, where many thousands died of starvation, disease, and exposure. Additional pro-French Muslims (so-called harkis) were killed when the FLN settled accounts after independence. In 2001 General Paul Aussaresses wrote in his book that he was proud to have ordered torture and execution of Algerians during the war. French president Jacques Chirac promptly stripped him of his Legion d'Honneur award.

Today, July 5th, marks Algeria's 43th anniversary of their independence from the French rule that lasted 132 years.

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 10:04 AM :: 2 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- JULY 5th in History

1932 - Oliveira Salazar becomes dictator of fascist Portugal

1940 - Diplomatic relations broken between Britain and Vichy's government in France

1948 - Britain's National Health service Act begins

1950 - Law of return passes, guarantees all Jews the right to live in Israel

1962 - Algeria gains independence after 132 years of French rule

1977 - Pakistan's army, led by General Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq, seizes power

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 9:52 AM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- History of the American Independence Day

“Thus may the 4th of July, that glorious and ever memorable day, be celebrated through America, by the sons of freedom, from age to age till time shall be no more. Amen and Amen.”
Virginia Gazette on July 18th, 1777

Schoolchildren in America learn the basic history of the events surrounding the Fourth of July, but the details of this monumental occasion in American history somehow fall through the cracks.Although July 4th is celebrated as America’s official split from Britain’s rule and the beginning of the American Revolution, the actual series of events show that the process took far longer than a single day.

Taxation without representation! That was the battle cry of the 13 colonies in America who were forced to pay taxes to England’s King George III with no representation in Parliament. As dissatisfaction grew, British troops were sent in to quell any signs of rebellion, and repeated attempts by the colonists to resolve the crisis without war proved fruitless.
The original resolution was introduced by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776, and called for the Continental Congress to declare the United States free from British rule.

On June 11, 1776, the colonies’ Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, formed a committee with the express purpose of drafting a document that would formally sever their ties with Great Britain. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. The document was crafted by Jefferson, who was considered the strongest and most eloquent writer (nevertheless, a total of 86 changes were made to his draft!) The final version, the document that we know as the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, although the resolution that led to the writing of the Declaration was actually approved two days earlier.
The following day, copies of the Declaration of Independence were distributed and, on July 6, The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to print the extraordinary document.

On July 8, 1776, the first public readings of the Declaration were held in Philadelphia’s Independence Square to the ringing of bells and band music. All of this had occurred with some of the delegates to the Congress not even present; New York, for example, did not even vote on the resolution until July 9th. (Did you know that that not a single signature was appended to the Declaration on July 4th. While most of the fifty-six names were in place by early August, one signer, Thomas McKean, did not actually sign the Declaration until 1781.)
One year later, on July 4, 1777, Philadelphia marked Independence Day by adjourning Congress and celebrating with bonfires, bells and fireworks.

The custom eventually spread to other towns both large and small, where the day was marked with processions, oratory, picnics, contests, games, military displays and fireworks. Observations throughout the nation became even more common at the end of the War of 1812 with Great Britain.

On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter, Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote. In it, Jefferson says of the document:

"May it be to the world, what I believe it will be ... the signal of arousing men to burst the chains ... and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. ... For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."

In 1941, Congress declared July 4 a legal Federal holiday. Today, communities across the nation mark this major midsummer holiday with parades, fireworks, picnics and the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner" and marches by John Philip Sousa.

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 3:06 AM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- War of the Worlds

So it’s the end of the world, again. A concept we have been seeing in movies throughout history. But this time legendary director Steven Spielberg examines one of the most classic of sci-fi stories that comes from the heart of science fiction itself. Back in 1898, master sci-fi storyteller HG Wells created a story that shocked Victorian civilization. Wells chronicled man’s last stand against an otherworldly menace from Mars. The book generated a following and has had one ever since.

In 1938, Orson Welles performed a dramatization of the novel which once again shocked a nation and became legendary. The radio program was so effective that it caused mass panic and hysteria. People actually believed that Martians were invading.
Now in 2005, Steven Spielberg tries to recreate the fascination with the classic story and making it more contemporary except maintaining the same impact the original story had on an unsuspecting audience way back when.
In the new adaptation, Tom Cruise stars as Ray Ferrier, a divorced blue-collar docks worker from New Jersey, who has his two kids for the weekend. Ray has fractured relationships with his teenage son, Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and 10-year old daughter, Rachel (Dakota Fanning). Ray isn’t very good at being a father but he keeps trying. Ray’s ability to be a father is put to the ultimate test when a major electrical storm rages across his hometown. Ray seems to be excited by the radical weather but his daughter Rachel is scared stiff.
After a calm in the storm, Ray locks his kids at home and journeys into town where some of the lightning struck. Cracks in the pavements start to appear and the ground gives way as a mechanical three-legged machine arises. The only thing on Ray’s mind is that he has to get home and protect his children. Can Ray save his children from the greatest threat man has ever known? Where does the family flee to during such an over-whelming crisis?

Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds brings the classic story back into our minds by making it seem like it’s about us. Very similar to the way he was able to bring dinosaurs into our time. There are many throwbacks to Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park”. The chills, the excitement and fractured relationships are all here.

The film at times feels like an amalgamation of “Jurassic Park” and “Saving Private Ryan”. The destruction and battles felt very similar. Even after recent breakdowns and romance with the media, Tom Cruise proves that this film lives up to the hype and then some. I just wish Cruise kept his mouth shut and that who he was dating wasn’t the focus of the media blitz.

As for Cruise’s performance in the film, he does a wonderful job as a fractured father and being scared to his wits end. His desperation and struggle is evident if you can get the word “TomKat” out of your head long enough to enjoy him.

Dakota Fanning is brilliant in no matter what she tackles which is such an amazing accomplishment for someone so young. She is brilliant here as well. Her screaming did send shivers down my spine.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed about Spielberg’s direction of this picture is that it seemed so claustrophobic and that feeling made the film feel even more like you were there. The effect was probably done for budget and time constrains for getting the picture done on time but it actually helps the film’s impact.

My only small complaint with the film was that the film itself is like a roller-coaster. All the build up, the raw excitement and then a sudden finish that make roller-coasters what they are. I wish the ending and eventual conclusion would have been drawn out some and showed the humans slowly figuring out how to defeat them. And what was that whole “look at the birds” scene about?

The effects, the tension, the utter desperation throughout the film is utter majesty. Who can’t relate to this man’s struggle? “War of the Worlds” firmly returns Spielberg back to the master of the blockbuster and even reminds us a lot of the great films he has made in the past. This film is probably his best since “Saving Private Ryan”.

(4.5 out of 5) So Says the Jaw Breaker.

Check out the movie's website

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 2:41 AM :: 0 comments

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Monday, July 04, 2005

Quotes of the Week

This week's Category will be "Ability"

- Perhaps the most valuable resultof all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not, it is the first lesson that ought to be learnt, and however early a man's training begins it is probably the last lesson the he learns throughly.
Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)

- Martyrdom ... is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

- It is a great ability to be able to conceal one's ability
Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

- Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

- Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.
Baltasar Gracian

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 9:14 AM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- Just Relaxing

Well for the past three days, all I did was eat, watch TV and sleep (Yes I was actually sleeping now!) well not for too long, I sleep at 5am and wake up at 8am!! I have spent the long weekend at my aunt's place, helped her with the gardening and BBQing and took her out shopping!! I loved that!!

At night when my aunt and cousins are asleep, I would have my notes around me and begin brainstorming for my book, it feels amazing chilling out in an air-conditioned place. For my place I have two fans and its still damn hot!! Nothing beats air-conditioning!! The only thing that pissed me off this weekend was the weather network, they have predicted for days that it will rain heavily on Friday and my friends and I had plans to go to the beach to celebrate Canada day there, playing volleyball and such, But we didn't do that!! It wasn't even cloudy that day!! So we all ended up chillin gin our homes cuz it was too late to make any plans now.

Well for the next weeks I will be working on the documetary exclusively, I have 45 days left to meet my deadline on finishing it, and of course preparing for the fundraising event that Oleg helped organize for August 13th where we will showing the trailer to the public for the first time!! This month will be very exciting and busy!! The way I like it! :)

Posted by Ahmed Arshi :: 1:51 AM :: 0 comments

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