Death of A Dictator

The self-styled 'King of Kings' is dead, killed as he fled the country he once ruled with an iron, albeit flamboyant, fist.

Gadhafi Confirmed Dead

Theatre becomes real, in a somewhat frighteningly timely manner (for this production, at least)...

It's a nervous epilogue.

Modern Day Lear

Let's hope the play doesn't repeat here...

Tripoli Falls to Libyan Rebels

Hostages

hostage, person held by another as a guarantee that certain actions or promises will or will not be carried out. During periods of internal turmoil, insurgents often seize hostages; recent examples include seizures of Americans and other foreigners by militants in Iran (1979-81) and Lebanon (1980s). Military forces often take hostages among civilians in an occupied country, in order to ensure the delivery of requisitions, to discourage hostile acts, or to take reprisals for hostile acts committed by unknown persons. In World War II, thousands of hostages were executed throughout Europe by the German authorities in an attempt to crush resistance movements. The Geneva Convention of 1949 forbade entirely the taking of civilian hostages. Criminals, especially when confronted by police, sometimes take hostages as "human shields" or as bargaining assets. In 1998 it was revealed that Israel was holding Lebanese hostages solely for use in prisoner exchanges or other deals with Lebanese guerrillas; their detainment was condoned by Israel's supreme court.

     Ancient military custom regulated the behavior and treatment of hostages; originally a hostage was a person who had been delivered by one authority to another as a token of good faith, and was generally treated as an honored guest. However, he might be imprisoned or even executed if the agreement guaranteed by his person was broken. The code of honor was often very strictly observed in feudal times; thus, during the Hundred Years War, when the hostages sent to England in exchange for the release of John II of France escaped, King John felt bound to return to captivity in England. Until the 18th cent., hostages were often exchanged when treaties were concluded.

"Hostage is a crucifying aloneness. It is a silent, screaming slide into the bowels of ultimate despair. Hostage is a man hanging by his fingernails over the edge of chaos, feeling his fingers slowly straightening. Hostage is the humiliating stripping away of every sense and fiber of body and mind and spirit that make us what we are. Hostage is a mutant creation filled with fear, self-loathing, guilt and death-wishing. But he is a man, a rare, unique and beautiful creation of which these things are no part." - Brian Keenan

"We are all hostages, and we are all terrorists. This circuit has replaced that other one of masters and slaves, the dominating and the dominated, the exploiters and the exploited. It is worse than the one it replaces, but at least it liberates us from liberal nostalgia and the ruses of history." - Jean Baudrillard

"Neither dead nor alive, the hostage is suspended by an incalculable outcome. It is not his destiny that awaits for him, nor his own death, but anonymous chance, which can only seem to him something absolutely arbitrary. He is in a state of radical emergency, of virtual extermination." - Jean Baudrillard

"People are capable of doing an awful lot when they have no choice and I had no choice. Courage is when you have choices." - Terry Anderson

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/hostage#ixzz1SfgPyqZ8

Gun Work

Briefing from Rachel:

- This will vary due to staging needs, but ideally anyone with a gun should be six or more feet away from the person they are guarding/about to shoot. Any closer and the prisoner has the chance to take the weapon. If the prisoner acts up or makes a move, the soldier would actually move further away to prepare to fire and clarify the shot.

- For a prisoner of war, the fight is over. Traditionally, when a prisoner behaves their life is no longer at risk. If a prisoner does act up, chances are very good they will be shot to provide an example for other prisoners and to flatten possible rebellion.

- To frisk a prisoner, the soldier will always hand their weapon to a fellow solider and then conduct the search.

- Prisoners are also soldiers and may potentially be looking for an opportunity to snatch a weapon.

- Behavior with a weapon (shouldering, handing it off to someone) depends on proximity to and security of prisoners.

 - Be aware of firing angles - what is the possibility that you will hit a fellow soldier?

- Always keep both hands on the gun, until you make a deliberate decision to shoulder or hand off your weapon.

Tying up prisoners:
- Practice tying 'knots', becoming very familiar with the action of tying someone up - it should feel like second nature.
- You do not need actual knots, just loops that you can tighten.

Firearms Training video

Four Rules:

1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

—Jeff Cooper

*Gun Safety and Mindset*
NRA Gun Safety Rules


DEA Agent wounds himself during safety demonstration (requires YouTube sign-in)
Finger on trigger results in accidental discharges

Prisoners of War

Recommended movies:

"Hunger" starring Michael Fassbender - directed by Steve McQueen

"Hunger takes place in 1981 Ireland when there was considerable trouble brewing between the British and the IRA. Many members of the IRA were thrown into prison for committing what were deemed terrorist acts. The film focuses specifically on the Maze prison whose inmates participated in extreme protests in an effort to restore their Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners – what would essentially give them the rights of POWs. Unfortunately, neither side was willing to budge, resulting in some of the worst prison conditions you could ever imagine. Fortunately for viewers, Hunger does not dwell on the political details so much as it wants to present a visceral story on the lengths people will go to get their voices heard." -Flix Picks


Trailer
Excerpts from film
To Buy


"Casualties of War" starring Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.


Trailer
Clip, Clip
To Buy

POW executed in 1950

POW's - the Wikipedia article includes extensive lists of movies, articles, news reports and books describing the captures/arrests, imprisonment, and further experiences of prisoners of war.

Rehearsal Notes #3

A man tells of his experience having his tongue cut out: - Here
Tongue cut out - with images
Blog of a cancer victim with tongue removed

Comments:
"I've read about your concern with your partner's situation. I'm really sorry about the situation you are forced to be in. I can surely understand the anxiety in facing the future being tongueless. If it makes you feel better, I had a total glossectomy myself in 2008. Life has been tough but manageable. You just adjust to your new life without tongue. I have a slurring speech but understandable especially to your closed ones and a lot of time even strangers. However, nowadays, I can manage phone conversations as well and its difficult sometimes. 

Drinking, I can drink but it has to be done very slowly to prevent choking. I take most of my food through a PEG tube. I've been on the tube since March last year. You just have to keep positive and think of other ways in looking at life. I mean, there a lot more other things in life besides eating and drinking. For me now, its eat to live and not live to eat."http://rdoc.org.uk/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/46510549/m/303301373



The main concern about or response to violent tongue removal seems to be the excessive bloodloss that follows. Consider the idea that immediately after Warrington's tongue is cut out the stump might have been cauterized in order to keep him alive.

There is no definitive consensus on whether or not a person can speak after losing their tongue. It may depend on how much of the muscle was cut out, the amount of bloodloss and infection, and the personal determination of the individual. The person's ability to make sound of some kind does not seem to be in question, but actual speech (at some level of clarity) could be a matter of time and healing as well as several other mitigating factors.

Medical illustration of tongue removed

Sorry. Bad joke.

Rehearsal Notes #2

Military Communication Hand Gestures - Here
Parade March - Here - Commands, Movement
Chinese People's Liberation Army military review - YouTube, Part 2

Stances:
Commonwealth of Nations countries allow four states of alert:

1.    Attention: standing straight, eyes forward, chest out, shoulders back and down, knees straight but not locked, heels together, feet at a 30-degree angle (540 mils). All muscles are rigid. The hands are held in tight fists with the thumbs aligned with the seam of the trousers.

2.    At Ease: a modified position of attention in which the left foot is moved to shoulder width (typically measured as exactly 12 inches) and the hands are placed behind the back with arms fully extended. The right hand is placed inside the left with all fingers together and pointing rigidly downwards. U.S. military usage is "Parade Rest."

3.    Easy: Legs remain at At Ease position, arms are brought to the sides to a more natural standing position. Member may relax their muscles and make minimal movements. U.S. usage is "At Ease," however a common mistake in U.S. military practice confuses "At Ease" with "Rest" (below).

4.    Relax: Legs remain at position at ease, member may make more significant movements or look around. Members may not move the feet. If the troops are not being addressed by a commander, they are generally allowed to talk quietly. U.S. usage is "Rest."

Cradles - Possible designs? (Minus the frame - perhaps the Carpenter has left it on his cart...)

Well, we do hear that Johnny Carpenter is "very good"....