Rescue Dogs

After the previous post on the disastrous 9.0 earthquake in Japan this weekend, I found lots of photos of search and rescue teams with dogs. Again, the core Central Asian states are seriously underrepresented - please point me in the right direction if you are in the know. Above, a Japanese dog team is looking for survivors among the destruction at the tsunami-stricken northeast coast. You can see how big ships have been thrown ashore by the mighty waves. Photo by Kazuki Wakasugi. Source: Yomiuri Shimbun

A South Korean rescue dog team arrives in Japan, as seen in the previous post. Source: Reuters

An inhabitant of the town Kesennuma, which suffered terribly under the tsunami, carries his little sheltie. Source: Der Spiegel

Indonesia is another island nation frequently experiencing earthquakes. This photo is from Sumatra 2009. A man is taking several dogs out for a walk in the partly-destroyed city.

Search and rescue dogs arrived in Sumatra from all over the world.

Taiwanese rescue workers with a search and rescue dog assisted with the recovery of survivors in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier this year.

The Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad Nepal is the first-ever of its kind in the country. The squad's tasks include rescue operations at high altitudes and in deep jungles, after avalanches, floods, and serious traffic accidents. Since the project is so new and the working conditions are very difficult, there's a fundraising page with more information. The people involved in the project also run a caste-free school.

Ilya Zaslavski and search and rescue dog Perets arrived in Haiti 2010 from Russia. The Haiti earthquake struck a densely populated region with weak infrastructure, and recovery has been very difficult. The earthquake could inflict lasting damage on an already disadvantaged society, so we shouldn't forget about Haiti. The Red Cross has more information.

Speaking of Russia, I found a cute thread about rescue dog training in Russia by volunteers. If your dog likes to search for things and needs an interesting hobby, this could be a nice idea. Many of the more independent-minded breeds that tend to do naughty things when bored (such as shibas and terriers in the thread) are well suited for this kind of complex task.

Dogs that were injured in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake are being treated at a private shelter in Chengdu.

Rescue dog training in China: The People's Liberation Army tends towards rather showy exercises...

Jumping through fiery hoops... and the handler's arms.

Earthquakes in Asia

Japanese troops save an elderly man whose hometown has been destroyed by the Sendai earthquake and tsunami, magnitude 8.9, on 11. March 2011.

We have been following the news from Japan (live stream here: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/), and our thoughts go out to all the brave people, civilians and officials, who are doing their best to save lives in the greatest earthquake in recent Japanese history. Earthquakes happen all over the world, and we include here some photos of rescue operations during the last 5 years in Asia.

South Korean rescue workers and dogs arrive in Japan. Source: AFP

Source: Reuters. More images at Tagesschau.de (http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/erdbebenjapan122.html)

In 2008, a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China. Here, the famous pandas of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding are being rescued.

The toll on human life was much greater. At least 68,000 people were killed in the 8.0 Ms quake centered on Wenchuan County on 12 May 2008.

Rescue workers help an elderly man.

In contrast to the numerous photos from Japan and China, it is slightly more challenging to find material from the Central Asian countries that have also been suffering from earthquakes during the last decade. These countries have also received less news coverage, globally. Above, rescue workers from the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent Society pose for a group photo in the Alai region of Osh City in 2008. The town Nura and the village Kura were completely destroyed in the magnitude 6.6 earthquake that was felt in in Tajikistan and Xinjang Uighur as well.

Unicef specialist Yang Zhenbo among schoolkids in Sichuan after the earthquake 2008. (Source: Unicef)

And life goes on. See Claudia Janke's impressive photo series after the earthquake in Pakistan 2005. People rebuild their homes and even have time for a quick smile in spite of their difficult circumstances. But healing takes time and comes with a heavy cost - that's why international mutual help and aid always will be necessary.

EDIT: In 2010, the Yushu earthquake hit the Tibetan plateau with a magnitude of 7.1 Ms. Don't miss these images of Tibetan monks as rescue workers.

(The comparison is pretty pathetic, but Ainur has only experienced one "real" earthquake in her life and can only marvel at the survival stories above. Please correct any mistakes you can spot in this post, as it was written in a great hurry and emotional turmoil.)

Turkish Soldiers in Korea

Google provides a huge amount of professional photography from the archives of LIFE Magazine for free. Many of the photos have never been published before. There are some incredible treasures there, colour photography from the early 20th century, intimate portraits, fascinating documents by great masters, all searchable - like these photographs of the Turkish brigade in the Korean War 1950-1953 by Carl Mydans.

Turks At Suwon Front

:)

Traditional dancing

Comics

Pretty girls from home (love the 1950's style!)

Warrior haircut

Tattoo collection

Altaic roots? Turkish soldier and old Korean man

Snow Wash

A mysterious pet - is it a puppy or...?...

There is always time for a Turkish wrestling bout

What did they do in Korea? Here's an excellent article (and cute comments). Most of the soldiers were recruited in the eastern part of Turkey, from little villages in the mountains. Many of them left their homestead for the first time in their lives, when Turkey (which had been neutral in World War 2) decided to show support for the Western powers and join the UN forces in Korea. They had to endure more than almost arctic weather conditions, difficult terrain, a relentless enemy, communication problems with the English-speaking command and cultural shocks:
"The Turks favored a heavy, substantial bread containing non-bleached flour along with thick, strong, heavily sweetened coffee." If the rumours about American bleached toast and dishwater are true, poor Turkish tummies!


Seriously, the Turks made an enduring impression on their Allies, first with their exotic appearance, later with their battle prowess:
"The Turkish soldiers’ fierce appearance, flowing mustaches and great knives were a war correspondent’s dream come true."
There were some blood-curdling stories about them: "Certain Turkish patrols always reported high body counts when they returned from patrols. Headquarters always scoffed at the high numbers, much higher in fact than any other unit, until the Turks decided to bring the enemy bodies back and dump them at headquarters for the body count."
It was also reported: "They really prefer to be on the offensive and handle it quite well [...] They are not as good at defensive positions, and certainly never retreat."

The 1st Turkish brigade suffered heavy losses in the war, and the participation drew criticism in Turkey of political reasons. However - nobody questioned the fact that the soldiers and their officers did the best they could under extremely difficult circumstances.

Red Crescent

From a previous article on the history of the Tatars in Japan, we know that the Japanese Tatars, most pre-war stateless refugees from the USSR, received the opportunity to apply for Turkish citizenship due to their efforts on behalf of Turkish wounded during the Korean War.

I just have to take the liberty and include a portrait of the American photographer himself. I won't guess what Carl Mydans' ethnic background was, but he was too cute to miss :D

Communication

Communication, originally uploaded by floridapfe.

As seen on our previous miniseries "Georgians with pets" (#1 & #2), there's nothing better than handsome men who also take good care of little animals. This photo was taken at the Everland zoo in South Korea, and the little furry creature is a fennec fox.

KINO

1980's... back in the USSR. (All photos from Last.fm)





The guy with the eyebrows on the far right is Yuri Kasparian, currently guitarist in the band U-Piter (Ю-Питер).




We need more Viktor Tsoi. But let's give the other guys in the band a chance, too...



Random Kino facts:
- they started as Garin i giperboloidy in 1981 (named after a 1920's science fiction novel)
- all songs were written by Tsoi, including "Mother Anarchy"
- the band was so popular that after Tsoi's death in 1990, the words “Цой жив!” ("Tsoi is alive!") and “КИНО” spread as graffitti throughout the crumbling Soviet Union
- they were inspired by The Smiths, The Clash, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Duran Duran, and Vladimir Vysotsky (what, you can see that yourself?!)

Here's an interview with journalist Artem Troitsky about the underground rock scene in the last decades before the fall of the Soviet Union, and what went wrong in the 1990's (in German).
I also found a nice blog about Soviet and post-Soviet underground rock and punk bands: Soveticus. Here's an interview with the guy who keeps the blog. He plays in a punk band himself, tells about anti-fa activism in Russia (almost never mentioned in Western media), and even mentions Swedish "proggare"!

Chirayliq Olympics

Some photos from Spiegel.de...


Zhang Xiangxiang - Gold!


Park Kyung-Mo & team - Gold!


Kosuke Kitajima - Gold! Cho-kimochii!


Just to show off how extremely cute Kosuke-san is... as if that's not enough, his website is called "Frogtown"!


Elnur Mammadli beats Wang Ki-chun with an ippon in 13 seconds! Gold - first one ever to Azerbaijan in judo!

Viktor Tsoi

Viktor Tsoi (Виктор Цой) (1962–1990) was a famous Soviet rock singer and leader of the cult band Kino. Tsoi's father was originally Korean, and his mother was Russian. He died tragically in a car accident. Even today, he is considered "the last hero of rock" among many Russians (the title was bestowed on him in an obituary in Komsomolskaya Pravda).
Kino's lyrics were interpreted as political messages for the youth, against war and for the perestroika movement, although Tsoi occasionally denied any political inclinations. The band received very little financial support from the state and the fans spread the songs as samizdat.
The above clip features Kino's song Группа крови ("Blood Type") from the soundtrack of Kazakh director Rashid Nugmanov's debut film Игла ("Needle", 1988). The film dealt with the controversial topic of drug abuse in a never-before seen way in the Soviet Union; Tsoi plays a young man involved in shady business who returns to Alma-Ata (Almaty) to find his girlfriend addicted, and decides to take on the drug-dealers himself. Nugmanov's career from taboo-breaking filmmaker to political dissident is colourful enough to warrant its own Chirayliq post, so stay tuned.

Han Geng and Kola Beldy

Han Geng (Chinese: 韩庚; Korean: 한경; born February 9 1984), a.k.a Han Kyung, is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior. He is a citizen of the People's Republic of China, and he is an ethnic Nanai.

As a member of Super Junior, he contributes his knowledge of Chinese martial arts and traditional dances from not less than 56 minority ethnic groups, according to Wikipedia.
Han Geng's puppy is a Siberian Husky, and is called Rider!
Below, a collection of clips from different Korean and Chinese TV shows. Han Geng performs different dancing styles from various regions in China.

The Nanai inhabit an area that is divided between China and Russia at present. They speak a Manchu-Tungusic language. (The connection to Mongolian and Turkic languages by way of a larger Altaic family is not always agreed on.) The Nanai suffered from persecution in Japanese Manchuria. In earlier days, they were known under the alternative ethnonym "Gold" in Russia. Kola Beldy (1929-1993) was a famous Soviet era singer of Nanai heritage. Below, a video clip of his song "Naryan-Mar", courtesy of YouTube user Pustinnik, who has an amazing collection of film clips from Soviet movies and performances - worth a visit!