Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

International conference on Grassroots in the City: Urban Movements and Activism in Central and Eastern Europe

Conference venue: Södertörn University, southern Stockholm, Sweden

Dates: 24-25 May 2013

The conference seeks to gather researchers working in the field of social movements and civic activism in the urban environment of Central and Eastern Europe. The aim is to discuss the prerequisites for, and forms of, collective action in cities in this social context.

Theme and rational

Why a focus on collective action in cities? Conflicts in the city are illustrative not only of

GEOINT (geographical intelligence) 2012 is the largest open gathering of intelligence-related participants (contractors, government employees, directors of intel agencies) I know of. This year it is being held in Orlando, Florida and it closes out tonight. Here are some pictures of the event so far.

The main presentation room looking at the stage and the main screen. Presentations here are recorded and appear on geointv.com.

Views of the massive exhibition hall.

Somebody brought a missile from the Cuban missile crisis!

The meeting is organized by the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation. Here’s their huge banner in the atrium of the Gaylord Palms hotel.

..and what was below that banner!

Part Two

(To read Part One first, click here.)

A disastrous encounter

Before going to work in the morning, Samir takes a long busride to go to the shelter. Until about two weeks ago, he was going by car, passing through a number of checkpoints. At a checkpoint, the guards stopped him, and asked where he was going and what he was doing. His explanation about feeding animals sounded improbable to the impatient guards, who beat him, causing significant head injuries, and threatened to arrest him. “Miraculously,” he writes, he was let go.

Aside from the shock and trauma of being beaten, the clearly visible injuries to his face and head now make him stand out, so that being inconspicuous is no longer an option.  Next time he drove to the cat shelter, he was stopped at every checkpoint.

This was rapidly becoming a disaster, since if he were…