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Caught in the Middle

Caught in the Middle

I still have the press credentials I gathered nearly three decades ago from the Middle East’s various combatants: one from the left-wing Druse militia in Lebanon, one from the right-wing Lebanese Christian militia known as the "Phalange," one from the Palestine Liberation Organization, another from the Israeli government. The only common features are the photos of me in my early 30s: scruffy, glowering, determined to penetrate the veil of secrets.

The press cards remind me of a time when you could be in the middle of the Middle East conflict and imagine that you were covering all sides fairly. And when I say in the middle, I mean that almost literally. Back in the early 1980s, you could interview the PLO in West Beirut in the morning, sneak past the snipers along the "Green Line" at midday, and then interview the Israeli-backed Phalangists that afternoon in East Beirut, even as the two sides were shooting at each other.

Not long ago, I found myself wishing I had one of those old press passes, which carried the implicit message: "Don’t shoot; I’m a journalist!" I had just "moderated" a heated discussion of the Gaza war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The session became a minor international incident when I told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that, because we had run out of time, he could not have another round of comments responding to Israeli President Shimon Peres, whereupon Erdogan walked off the stage. In the aftermath, I received many outraged messages complaining I had censored Erdogan and sided with the Israelis.

For someone who has spent much of his career trying to operate in the middle of the Middle East conflict and working hard to avoid any appearance of bias, it was an unpleasant situation. Trust me, you would not like to examine the e-mails I got or read the articles in the Turkish press about the incident. There are several explanations I could offer about what happened: that we were 15 minutes late, that each of the speakers, and especially Peres, had abused the time limits, and that the organizers had signaled it was time to end the event.

But that only obscures the larger point. At Davos, I found myself in the middle of a fight where there was no longer a middle. My efforts to do what moderators do — let everyone talk for a while and then find a few inches of common ground — blew up in my face.

Gaza is simply one of those problems for which there isn’t much middle ground. Israelis and Palestinians are both convinced not only that they are right, but that the other side is morally bankrupt. Talking about Hamas’s rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, the normally placid Peres was almost shouting at Davos, angrier than I had ever seen him. Erdogan, in turn, was hot with indignation, voicing a rage that is felt across the Muslim world, and furious that I didn’t give him time to express those feelings fully. It’s understandable, what happened. But it’s not a debate that anyone can "moderate."

Looking at America’s troubled role in the Middle East today, I fear the country finds itself in a position similar to mine — trying to act as a moderator in a bitter dispute, to seek a middle where there is no middle. The United States is perceived as siding with the Israelis even as it claims to be impartial. When someone walks off the stage, Americans wonder what went wrong.

The United States may regard itself as outside the conflict, but in the region it’s seen as part of it. During the Bush years, people began to think of America as a combatant, not a mediator; it’s pretty hard to play the honest broker when you have two armies on the ground. The American laissez-passer credentials didn’t work anymore.

So what should the United States do about the Middle East? It has in Barack Obama a new president who says he intends to talk to all sides — to America’s enemies as well as its friends. But what would this mean in practice? Is the damage of the Bush years irreparable, or is there a path that leads somewhere else — not to the elusive middle, but to a new kind of connection?

I know a little about talking with our enemies because I have been doing it for many years. Not my enemies, mind you (journalists aren’t supposed to have any), but my country’s. I talked with the PLO in Beirut when U.S. diplomats were forbidden from doing so. I visited Libyan officials in Tripoli back when the United States was bombing that country’s leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi. I have twice interviewed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah. I have interviewed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria twice as well, most recently last December. And I traveled to Iran in 2006 to interview officials there.

The "enemies list" is, more or less, the same roster of states and radical groups the United States must now engage as it seeks to stabilize the Middle East. And though the American mantra may be that it never negotiates with terrorists, the reality is that it always has, when it’s necessary or useful to do so. To take just one example, at the very time the United States officially refused to negotiate with the terrorist PLO, the Central Intelligence Agency was recruiting the chief of Yasir Arafat’s intelligence service as a U.S. asset — with Arafat’s knowledge.

One remembers the inevitable oddities from these encounters: Arafat’s habit of repeating in his post-midnight Beirut harangues that the Palestinians were "not the Red Indians"; the mad look in Qaddafi’s bloodshot eyes as he stared at me in one of his palaces and then stalked out, refusing to conduct the promised interview; the animation in Nasrallah’s boyish face as he talked about Hezbollah’s grim mission; Assad’s almost plaintive warning in 2003 that the U.S. invasion of Iraq would lead to disaster; the sudden softening of an Iranian hard-liner who, when he learned that I was a novelist, insisted on giving me a book of Persian poetry.

Over all these years, I always felt welcome personally as an American. But nowadays, the Middle East’s leaders don’t seem to need the United States as much. With Arafat and Qaddafi, there was a palpable yearning to connect with Washington, and the assiduous courting of Western journalists that came with it. That’s less true today with Nasrallah, Assad, and the Iranians. They want Washington to come to them.

Indeed, a recurring theme in these many contacts over 29 years is "dignity" — in Arabic, the word is karama. That is what Israeli and U.S. actions have offended, even when the two countries thought they were being generous and just. People in the Middle East want to write their own story; they don’t want to submit to outside pressure, even when they know America is right. They prefer their own bad leaders to the "good" ones the United States would impose.

People in the Middle East want dignity, and they’ll die before they give it up. It’s not something that a mediator can fix. You don’t bargain over a nation’s self-esteem any more than you would haggle over a man’s pride. It’s an odd concept for Americans, who have the wealth and self-assurance not to have to worry so much about saving face. But it’s at the heart of the Middle East conflict.

Take the Palestinians. Since 1967, U.S. diplomacy has been framed around the idea that the United States could negotiate with "nice" Palestinians who would, as a precondition, recognize Israel’s right to exist. For many years, the American partner in that dance was King Hussein of Jordan. But even the PLK, as journalists liked to call the "Plucky Little King," couldn’t find a way to bypass the un-nice Arafat.

Arafat gradually softened his rhetoric and recognized Israel, and he finally agreed in 1993 to the transitional Oslo Accords that created the Palestinian Authority. This experiment proved to be a disappointment. Arafat, always worried about more extreme Palestinians, never made the final deal to create a Palestinian state. Why? Bizarre as it sounds, I think he feared losing his dignity (and perhaps his life) by making a final deal that his critics would say was a sellout.

Today, the nice Palestinian is President Mahmoud Abbas. But to his people, he appears impotent. He has been unable to deliver peace and independence. He can’t stop Israeli settlements in the West Bank or incursions into Gaza. And he can’t deliver a state that would meet minimum Palestinian demands. So power flows toward the more radical Hamas.

It’s hard to comprehend Palestinian support for Hamas until you visit Gaza. It is truly one of the most miserable places on Earth — a tiny, densely packed territory full of sullen people who feed on their victimhood and rage. Even back in the 1980s, it had the feeling of a human rat cage. Palestinians cling to the one prize they possess: the dignity that stems from resistance, embodied more and more by Hamas. The Israelis have tried and failed to break this link. Stubbornness is the weapon of the downtrodden against more impatient adversaries.

I witnessed this fierce Palestinian culture of resistance in 1982 when I lived for a week in the West Bank town of Halhul. In those days, Arafat and the PLO were still the unmentionables — it was forbidden even to display their insignia. But they were everywhere: An old grandmother would slyly show you the PLO flag disguised in the knit cover for a tissue box. A town elder would reveal a PLO map of Palestine (with no Israel) hidden behind a photograph on the wall.

Halhul was a farming town, and its people were passionate about their grapes ("the best in the world," they kept telling me), growing on ancient vines. I returned there in 2003 to visit the man who had let me stay in his house in 1982. He was pleased to see me again, but when I asked about his grapes he became upset. The Israelis had recently built a special road for settlers to commute to Jerusalem, blocking access to the grapes. He couldn’t water or tend the vines, and they were growing wild — while the settlers whizzed home in their cars. It was a daily humiliation.

It’s people like this whom the United States needs to bring into this process — not the nice Palestinians, but the angry ones, the sullen ones, the ones who look at their withered grapes and dream of revenge. As distasteful as it may be, that means talking with Hamas.

A sensible U.S. strategy would be to split Hamas, drawing the more pragmatic and pliable faction into negotiations. And the quickest way to split them, history shows, would be for the United States to begin secret contacts with those who are prepared to discuss a two-state solution. Arab sources have already reported that Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has privately made such a statement. Soon enough, if Mashaal or others accept negotiations, Hamas will start bickering — and the hyperextremists will denounce them as sellouts. That’s just what happened in 1974 when Arafat formalized his secret contacts with the CIA and the more radical factions in the PLO split from Arafat’s Fatah organization.

Which is why, if the United States can find members of Hamas who are ready to talk about the formation of two states, Israel and Palestine, then the U.S. government should start talking with them. The process may legitimize Hamas as a political force, but it will delegitimize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Israelis won’t like it, just as they didn’t like it when the United States started talking with Arafat. But it would create new diplomatic space, not illusory middle ground. There are no "nice" alternatives to this now.

Another adversary the United States will need to talk with is Syria, and the Obama administration has already begun traveling the road to Damascus. But it is not a straight route; rather, it’s a path of mirrors, especially because, even by the standards of the Middle East, the Syrian regime can be so harsh. I saw this in a visceral way back in 1982. The Syrian Army had just crushed the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama, and the only way I could get in was the regular Damascus-Aleppo bus, which passed through the center of town. I will never forget the gasps of the Syrian passengers as they saw the devastation of entire quarters of the ancient city. Syrian tanks had rolled up to houses where members of the Brotherhood were hiding and opened fire, point blank. It was like pictures of the rubble of Berlin in 1945. That was the Assad regime’s message: We will do anything — anything — to survive.

The same toughness drives the regime today. Many Lebanese think Syria used assassination as a political weapon to control Lebanon. The alleged victims include Bashir Gemayel, President René Mouawad, and most dramatically, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Several journalists have also been targets, including Samir Kassir and Gebran Tueni. I spoke at Tueni’s memorial service in Beirut in December 2006 at the request of his father, Ghassan, who was one of my mentors when I was a young journalist in Beirut. Yet I have never stopped visiting Syria, for the simple reason that it’s a place that matters.

When I interviewed President Bashar al-Assad for the first time in January 2003, he was still a neophyte leader, trying to fill his father’s shoes. We met in the guesthouse of the presidential palace on a mountaintop overlooking the dusty sprawl of Damascus. Assad began in fluent English, which he learned as a medical student in London. He talked about the need to modernize Syria, open its economy, and make it a Mediterranean power like Greece or Turkey. Then he switched to Arabic for the interview proper, and the relaxed doctor became more cautious. He didn’t say anything that his hard-line father wouldn’t have endorsed.

When I met Assad again last December, he spoke entirely in English, and he was confident and at ease as he sent feelers to the newly elected Obama administration. He urged Obama to support a Syrian negotiating track, and also Palestinian and Lebanese ones. His blessing for the latter was intriguing because it might open the way for indirect talks between Israel and Hezbollah (which is part of the Lebanese government).

Will Assad break his strategic alliance with Iran, as Israel demands? Probably not, at least not openly. But even a maybe could create new space. In the very act of negotiating with Israel and the United States, Syria would separate itself from Iran. The United States might eventually resume its role of mediator between Syria and Israel. But first there must come something different: U.S. engagement with Syria, in which the two countries explore where their interests converge and where they are opposed. In that act of talking with Syria seriously, the United States would draw the country toward the West.

When I saw Assad in December, I said that when I saw pictures of him and his stylish wife visiting Paris, I could not imagine that his regime was destined to ally with the somber clerics of Iran. He responded that the alliance with Iran was a product of Syria’s strategic position, implying that if Syria’s position changed (meaning that it was no longer threatened by Israel), then its alliances might change, too.

The politics of survival have made the Assad regime a tough adversary, but the hardness of the regime also makes it a potentially serious partner. A government that could level one of its major cities to stop the Muslim Brotherhood knows that, in the end, it must find allies against al Qaeda. That’s the raw self-interest driving the Syrian regime toward negotiations.

When interviewing Hassan Nasrallah, a visitor enters the parallel universe that Hezbollah has created in Lebanon. From its headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a short 15-minute drive through a maze of narrow streets from the city proper, the Shiite militia has built a ministate — with its own military force, intelligence service, telephone network, health and welfare department, television station, foreign ministry… the list goes on. As long as Hezbollah maintains this separate existence, it will remain a destabilizing force.

Hezbollah is one of the unintended consequences of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Israel had imagined it could manipulate the country’s Shiite community, but that was one of the many illusions of the assault. It shattered Palestinian power in south Lebanon, while opening the door for poor Shiites who had been under the PLO’s heel. Tehran sent its best cadres into Lebanon to organize the Shiite militants into what became Hezbollah, and it has proven to be a disciplined and relentless foe. As with many other rising powers in the region, Hezbollah sought to answer the Arab yearning for dignity by defying Israel.

In Nasrallah, that answer has taken shape. He is one of the Arab world’s most charismatic figures, with a piercing intelligence and an unyielding anti-Israeli line. During our first interview in October 2003, I asked if Palestinian militants would ever halt their attacks against Israel. "I can’t imagine a situation, based on the nature of the Israeli project and the nature of the Israeli leaders, where the Palestinians would agree to lay down arms," he replied.

Judging by that inflexible statement, you’d think the only thing Nasrallah would discuss with Israel would be its surrender. Yet that very week, he was negotiating indirectly with Israel about the terms of a prisoner exchange. It was a reminder that what people say and what they do aren’t always the same.

When I interviewed Nasrallah again, in February 2006, he was flexing his muscles. The Lebanese government had questioned Hezbollah’s status as an armed resistance movement, and he had retaliated by pulling his two ministers out of the cabinet, creating political paralysis. I was asking Nasrallah about this crisis when the phone rang. He dickered on the phone with his aides for a few minutes and then told me the stalemate had been resolved. Hezbollah would get to keep its weapons, and its ministers would end the boycott. I went away convinced that disarming Hezbollah would be impossible without a broader settlement with Syria or Iran.

Today, Nasrallah’s movement wants two conflicting things: It demands a strong role in the Lebanese government, but it also insists on maintaining separate "resistance" status. It talks about fighting Israel, but since the summer war of 2006, Nasrallah has been careful not to provoke another attack. When I asked him at the end of our second interview if he could imagine the Middle East changing so much that Hezbollah wouldn’t be on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, he answered: "The whole world will change. This is the law of life." What did that mean? I don’t know, but I cannot imagine that Hezbollah would be more threatening if, as a part of the Lebanese government, it were drawn into a process of negotiation with the United States and Israel.

What’s haunting about Lebanon today is not so much Hezbollah’s uncertain evolution, but the waning U.S. influence in what was once the most pro-American country in the Arab world. The biblical inscription over the gate of the American University of Beirut — "That they may have life and have it more abundantly" — summed up America’s generous image there. Now, too many Lebanese see the United States as part of the problem. When I visited Beirut last December, I wrote that the country had entered a "post-American era." The United States had become so feeble diplomatically that it was unable to break last year’s political impasse over the election of a Lebanese president; the mediator’s role was taken instead by little Qatar.

And then there’s Iran, the hardest nut of all. Even with the U.S. military on its borders in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has defied American power successfully. Through Hamas and Hezbollah, it has projected influence to the shores of the Mediterranean. I cannot imagine a stable security framework for the Middle East that does not include Iran, a point on which I found little disagreement when I visited Tehran several years ago.

A Western visitor imagines Iran as a Muslim version of North Korea — controlled, regimented, hobbling into the future in leg irons. But it’s a far more open and complicated place. I met with editors of competing newspapers who offered sharply differing views about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I visited a dissident ayatollah in Qom who argued that the current regime was defaming Ayatollah Khomeini’s legacy (and insisted on videotaping the conversation for his records). Wandering in the bazaar, I encountered every possible strand of political opinion.

At the famous Friday prayers at Tehran University, people still shout "Death to America," but the crowd looks pretty long in the tooth. Afterward, I asked a younger man what an American should make of all the chanting, and he looked embarrassed. People don’t want to kill Americans, he said — they just don’t like U.S. policies.

So why do Iran’s leaders take such inflexible anti-Israeli and anti-American positions? One answer is that they spout this venom because people pay attention to it. The same logic may drive Iran’s nuclear program. They take it so seriously because the rest of the world does, too.

Like everyone else in the Middle East, Iranians crave respect. Not without reason, they think the United States has manipulated their politics and suppressed their national ambitions. That makes people angry. And yet, every Iranian seems to have a relative who has been successful in the United States. They are funny, charming, prickly, vain, hypocritical, and arrogant. Just like Americans, you might say. What they want — respect, self-confidence, a sense that they have arrived — others can’t give them. But there is a core of rational self-interest in the Iranian regime, and that’s the point of engagement.

The 30-year division between the United States and Iran isn’t working for either side, but attempts to find middle ground have proved futile. America should look instead to walk across the divide. Iran may not be ready to let the United States do so, given how threatening Iranian leaders find contact with the United States. But even an Iranian refusal to meet an outstretched American hand would have a clarifying effect.

I was in Lebanon in 1982 as the Israelis rolled to the gates of West Beirut. I still have one of the pink Arabic leaflets that floated down on the city in the first week of the war that June. The Israeli Army will soon enter West Beirut. Protect yourself and your family. Flee for your life.

But to the consternation of Israeli Gen. Ariel Sharon, Palestinian fighters mostly held their ground. By midsummer, the Israelis were bogged down. To take the city, they would have to destroy it on television — not a viable strategy in modern warfare. By the time Israel finally withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, most Israelis would probably say about the 1982 invasion what most Americans would say about Iraq: It was a mistake.

We sometimes speak of the fight against Muslim terrorism that began after Sept. 11, 2001, as "the long war." The United States is undeniably at war with al Qaeda and related movements whose mission is to kill Americans. But that conflict does not lock it into a general war against Muslim adversaries. Iran also opposes al Qaeda. So do Syria and Hezbollah. Everywhere al Qaeda has been active, it has made new enemies. This war is winnable — especially if the United States can disentangle the other strands.

American leaders must give up the notion that they can transform the Middle East and its culture through military force. George W. Bush tried that. He sought to alter the dynamics of the region by knocking down the tent pole, just as Sharon thought in 1982 that, by going all the way to the PLO stronghold of Beirut, he could transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the Middle East doesn’t lend itself to transformation.

Everything I know about the region tells me that military power will not break the resolve of America’s adversaries. The Israelis have tried that strategy against radical Palestinians for decades, without much success. It turns out that even the most wretched, desperately poor resident of Gaza will sacrifice his home, his job, his security, his life — before he will give up his dignity.

It’s time to try something different, and Obama offered the right formula for it in his inaugural address: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

All wars end. Even people who claim to despise each other eventually find a face–saving way to begin talking. They don’t stay in the middle of a conflict where there is no middle. They move on. That’s what I hope is happening for the United States in the Middle East. America is beginning a serious and sustained process of talking with its enemies. That process means listening carefully and speaking frankly, and giving up, too, the pretense of "moderating." America needs to get out of the elusive middle, step across the threshold of anger, and sit down and talk. Even if these negotiations fail, America will have moved into a different, and better, place.


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Mossad’s Most Dastardly (Alleged) Plots

Mossad’s Most Dastardly (Alleged) Plots

Country: Saudi Arabia

The plot: Israeli scientists are training vultures to spy on Arab countries.

The evidence: This week, Saudi Arabian security forces took into custody a live vulture who was found near the rural town of Hayel wearing a bracelet marked “Tel Aviv University.” While Israeli scientists say the bird was part of a migration study, local residents told the Saudi media that it was most likely part of a “Zionist plot.” Speculation then took off on Saudi websites that Israeli intelligence was training the birds as part of an espionage mission.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University say that a number of the tagged vultures have reached Saudi Arabia since the study began. Most are now presumed dead, but one bird is still flying around the country — no doubt gathering vital intelligence for the Zionist entity — and thus far, the captured “R65″ has shown no willingness to give up his comrade.

Country: Egypt

The plot: Mossad set sharks loose in the Red Sea to destroy Egypt’s tourist industry.

The evidence: Ever since noted Zionist director Steven Spielberg released Jaws in 1975, nothing has been able to put a damper on a tourist season faster than a shark on the loose. That’s exactly what happened this winter when five swimmers were attacked (one fatally) by a shark on Egypt’s Red Sea coast near Sharm El Sheik, a popular tourist destination.

As if that wasn’t enough, some expected this might not be an ordinary shark. Speaking on the popular television program Egypt Today, an expert identified as “Captain Mustafa Ismail, a famous diver in Sharm el-Sheikh,” claimed that ocean sharks don’t naturally live off of Egypt’s coast and that someone must have introduced them to those waters. Ismail claimed that a diver friend in the Israeli resort city of Eilat had recently found a small shark with a GPS tag on its back, indicating that it was being sent to infiltrate the Egyptian coastline.

The governor of Egypt’s South Sinai region added fuel to the fire, saying, “What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark in the sea to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question. But it needs time to confirm.”

However, Egyptian marine biologists dismissed the reports, saying it was “sad” that state television had helped spread the conspiracy theory. As for the shark itself, another (dubious) press report several days later suggested it was killed by a drunken Serbian tourist who landed on its head after cannonballing into the water from a diving board.

The plot: Mossad stages a headbanger’s ball featuring German shock-rockers to embarrass Turks.

The evidence: The 2010 Sonisphere festival in Istanbul was a dream come true for Turkish metalheads, featuring performances from the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Rammstein. But unfortunately, because of the festival’s sponsorship and timing, what should have been an innocent celebration of power chords and screeching vocals became a political flashpoint.

The concert took place the same month as the Gaza flotilla raid, in which nine Turkish activists were killed. Moreover, the concert was organized by the German-based company Purple Concerts, which is run by Israelis. An article in the Turkish daily Vakit sensed the hand of Mossad, arguing that the concert “means to make fun of our citizens who lost their lives at the hands of the Israeli government.”

In particular, the article objected to the serving of alcohol at the event and the presence of the German band Rammstein, which, according to the paper, “encourage[s] violence, masochism, homosexuality and other perversities.” (Because nothing says Zionist conspiracy like angry Germans screaming in front of a big crowd.) Never mind that the Sonisphere tour was also unleashing these same perversities on 10 other countries in 2010.

Country: Iran

The plot: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is an asset of Western intelligence agencies, passing information on to the U.S. and Israeli governments and plotting to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

The evidence: The recent Hollywood film The Social Network suggests that Zuckerberg’s frustration over a college breakup led to his creation of Facebook. But according to an Iranian TV segment that went viral online in November, he had far more sinister motives. The producers did their homework. They note, “According to a report on the website, which belongs to the American government, [Zuckerberg] is originally a Jew.” The video argues that the real purpose of Facebook is “locating people to engage in special operations for Western intelligence agencies.” A photoshopped, nonexistent article from Britain’s Independent newspaper is also cited, claiming that “Facebook is an Israeli spying web site which has a duty to atract [sic] spies in favor of Israel and the U.S.”

Given the attention lavished on Facebook’s role in the 2009 Iranian election protests, it’s not surprising that Zuckerberg would attract some attention from conspiracy theorists in Tehran. But Zuckerberg also received some unwanted attention in Pakistan this year, when a prosecutor launched a blasphemy investigation against him for allowing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to be hosted on Facebook. The site was also briefly blocked in the country. The cartoons are still on the site.

Country: Iran

The plot: Mossad agents, in cooperation with India’s Research and Analysis Wing arranged Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempted Christmas Day plane bombing in 2009.

The evidence: According to a report on Iran’s state-owned Press TV, an Israeli security company arranged for Abdulmutallab to board a plane in Amsterdam without a passport. An “Indian man” was evidently instrumental in arranging Abdulmutallab’s passage, which is no surprise since “Israel and India are very close business partners, especially via their military contracts.” Once onboard the plane, according to the account, another passenger spent the entire flight filming Abdulmutallab, even after he tried to ignite his crotch rocket.

The report, citing the Mathaba news agency, also posits that Abdulmutallab’s home country of Nigeria is “clandestinely controlled by the Israeli army and Mossad” and quotes noted “military analyst and counterinsurgency specialist Gordon Duff, ” (who also believes that WikiLeaks is an Israeli plot) opining that Yemen, where the would-be bomber reportedly trained, has no al Qaeda presence aside from “phony operatives” released by former U.S. President George W. Bush from Guantánamo.

Why arrange for such a plot? The article suggests the goal was to spread “Orwellian-style trauma and project Yemen, as well as the African continent, [as] the brand-new focus of the American so-called ‘war on terror.'” But why Israel and India would want to focus U.S. attention on Yemen and Nigeria rather than on the Palestinians and Pakistan is a little unclear.

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Foreign Policy Blogs

Norway and Germany discuss Arctic energy cooperation

Merkel & Stoltenberg meet in Oslo. (c) Torbjørn Kjos Violence / SMK

Merkel & Stoltenberg meet in Oslo. (c) Torbjørn Kjos Violence / SMK

German Chancellor Angela Merkel traveled to Oslo this week to meet with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the euro crisis and energy issues, including cooperation in the Arctic. This was the pair’s fifth meeting in nine months.

Stoltenberg stressed the importance of German and European companies in assisting with the development of the Arctic region. After his meeting with Merkel, he remarked, “We also touched on the North and the Arctic, and the possibilities inherent in the north, both energy and other resources. Here, I conveyed that it is important that more good effort involved to develop this important region. This applies to Europe as a whole, including Germany and German industry.” Some progress on building collaboration took place this week at a state dinner attended by Merkel, Stoltenberg, and Minister of Petroleum & Energy Ola Borten Moe. Over dinner, representatives from the German energy companies RWE-Dea, Wintershall, Voith, and VNG, which currently operate off Norway, discussed issues with Statoil delegates.

Norway has typically welcome involving non-Arctic states in economic activities in the region. It is even to more political involvement: for instance, it officially supports South Korea’s bid for permanent observer status in the Arctic Council. While diplomatic ties with China have been frosty since the decision by the Nobel Committee to award Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo the peace prize in 2010, there have been reports of regularly occuring secret meetings between Norwegian and Chinese diplomats. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide announced, “The process has been particularly active in recent months. We have got the clear impression that China wants to normalize relations, and that they consider it to be in their interest.” He also commented that he believes the country’s growing interest in the Arctic is behind its newfound friendliness. Willy Lam, a professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, stated in an interview with Aftenposten (translated from the Norwegian): “China has a growing interest in the Arctic, where Norway is a major power. Therefore, they want a normal relationship. In addition, they probably see that their furious reaction against Norway has backfired.”

While Norway probably will not be exporting oil and gas to China anytime soon, Germany, the largest economy in Europe, is a significant buyer of exports. In 2009, Germany relied on imported energy to meet over 60 percent of its needs. Norway was its second bigger supplier of both oil and gas: 16 percent of all oil comes from its northern neighbor, while 33 percent of its gas does (the percentages are approximately the same for the EU as a whole). The number one supplier of fossil fuels is Russia.

Thus, in light of the EU’s energy roadmap to 2050, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a mere 5% to 20% of 1990 levels, and move towards renewables, Statoil is seeking affirmation from Berlin that the country will continue to rely strongly on natural gas, even though production is set to decline by 2020. In 2009, natural gas met 24 percent of German energy needs and oil another 32.9 percent. Renewables (hydro, geothermal, solar and wind) only constituted 2 percent, but the country hopes to increase its share, perhaps to the detriment of Norwegian deficits. For a time, things were looking rosy for German imports of oil and gas. In 2011, partly due to the fallout from the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany announced that it would phase out nuclear power. Yet instead of oil and gas meeting the new gap, the drop in the price of coal in Europe has allowed it to play an important role in the German energy mix.

Stoltenberg commented, “We are of course concerned that lower coal prices have led to increased coal consumption in Europe, which has reduced demand for Norwegian gas, but believe that the gas has a future in Germany.”

Merkel noted that with the low price of coal in Europe, it is difficult to make power plants that run on natural gas competitive. “It is difficult for the new gas-fired power plants in Germany to compete on price with this will change over time.”

Norway also exports excess hydrothermal electricity to Germany. Statkraft is working on a new subsea power cable from Norway to the continent to export even more renewable energy. So while the outlook is rosy for Norwegian hydropower exports, if the country wants to capitalize on the new finds in the Barents Sea, Skrugard and Havis, more work needs to be done to expand the infrastructure for transmitting oil and natural gas from the Arctic, whether by ship or pipeline. While all the excitement is over trying to transport fossil fuels to the east over the Northern Sea Route, Norway cannot lose sight of the existing markets to the south on the continent.

The planned Statkraft cables across the North Sea. (c)

The planned Statkraft cables across the North Sea. (c)

Pipelines from Norway to the continent.

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Mia examines how climate change is reshaping the geopolitics of the Arctic through an investigation of scientific endeavors, transportation and trade networks, governance, and natural resource development. Her masters dissertation investigated the extent of an Asian-Arctic region, focusing on the activities of Korea, China, and Japan in the circumpolar north. Mia's work has appeared in ReNew Canada, Water Canada, FACTA, and Baltic Rim Economies, among other publications.

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Topic: A siren louder than a buzzer (Read 2256 times) previous topic - next topic

I'm playing around with a networked sensor alarm. I've got the sensors (smoke, gas, temperature and humidity).

I want this to replace our smoke alarms by lighting up (LEDs), sending messages (Twitter, EMail, SMS, ...) and making lots of noise.

I know how to light things up and send messages.

But I need to make a lot more noise than I know how to at the moment. I have a KPEG110 piezo buzzer and a COM-11089 PCB mount speaker and I can make tones on these. But this is nowhere near the sort of volume I need for an alarm.

What can I use that I can easily hook up to my Arduino and will fit in a nice tiny form factor?

Thank you in advance for any advice and suggestions.

Yeah, it's probably easier to buy a loud buzzer with built-in drive cktry than build one.
G_M's buzzer is a monster, 90mA and 110 dB!

OTOH, if you're building one yourself, the secret is use a largish drive voltage, and
pulse it at the resonant frequency specified for the device. I have a CEM-1203, 42-ohm
magnetic [not piezo] transducer that I tested recently.

I drove it with a 2N3904 NPN inverter and tried 3.3V, 5V, and 9V. Its resonant frequency
is about 2 Khz, and when driven well off that frequency, the loudness was way down.
Also, at 3.3V the sound was weak, at 5V the volume it was good, but at 9V and 2 Khz,
it was so loud and obnoxious, it drove me out of the room.

So, you just need to choose the design parameters properly. Also, in this case, the currents
were somewhat higher than the Arduino I/O pins can output, so the volume will never be
very high without using the inverter driver ckt. It's all a matter of the right ckt.

If I go for G_M's mini-siren what do I need to put between my Arduino and it?

I assume I have to put something between the 5v out on the Arduino and the Mini-Siren to "boost" the output?

Do I put this magical piece of kit between the line and the Arduino or between the ground and the Arduino?

I'm more used to going the other way and putting resistors between the Arduino and the "weaker" object (LEDs, buzzers, ...).

Maplin will ship to France so I will order a few of these things. But I want to make sure I have everything (hardware) to make this work.

Many thanks all!

Just use a simple transistor, like the first circuit on this page:-
Replace the motor and diode with you siren.

I am a software guy who is (re)learning about the hardware side of electronics slowly but surely.

I haven't worked with transistors or relays yet.

Would this sort of thing do the trick?

How and where would I connect this to the Arduino and the siren? In other words between which pins and +/ground?

Many thanks

I haven't worked with transistors or relays yet.

Good time to start.

How and where would I connect this to the Arduino and the siren?

+5V to siren, other end of siren to NO of relay, COM of relay to ground.

+5V to arduino 5V, Gnd to arduino ground. Input to any output on the arduino, say pin 2.

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Topic: sence current (Read 979 times) previous topic - next topic

I would like to sence the presence of current without measuring the actual value of it...I am looking for a low cost way to know whether current flows in my circuit when a relay is closed...Is there a low cost way to do it non invasively?

a hall effect current sensor would work, they sell models that clamp over the power wire without tapping into it. it would tell you how much current is flowing also.

The problem with a hall sensor is that the current hast to be quite high before it will sense it.
You do not say how much current is flowing so we don't know if a hall sensor is appropriate.

Thank you for your replies...
I want to sense the presence of the current that lights an ordinary 220V AC lamp...

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Topic: Beatseqr v3 -- arduino mega based step sequencer (Read 5133 times) previous topic - next topic

Hey, so i've sufficiently filled in the feature set enough that I feel comfortable posting the results of the new round of prototyping I've done around my hardware interface that you can use as a controller for programmatic visuals or as a step sequencer for music.

Here's the latest demo video:

The basic premise is that it reads all the buttons and sliders and whatnot, then outputs a serial data stream which is picked up by a processing app, which in turn translates those into OSC messages.  From there you can control whatever you like, processing, quartz composer, etc. However, we're bundling a companion app that my collaborating partner has built in Max/msp called "steppa" that creates a MIDI loop for music.  This lets you plug into any modern music app: Logic, Live, Reason, GarageBand, and presumably others.

here's a peek at "under the hood" at an earlier stage... whoopsie... bugs on the PCB  ::) :

and Hello, beautiful... the arduino mega:

So, I'll go ahead and claim that this is an arduino mega shield. :) I'm using eeeeevery pin.

Awesome!  I love it so much!  I would probably buy one if you sold them (do you ;)?).

Three down, two more to build. $399, interested?

Looks like he is doing... Pretty much comparitive to a monome in price. Similar but completely different at the same time...

So, I'll go ahead and claim that this is an arduino mega shield. Smiley I'm using eeeeevery pin.

Nice, very shield like umm maybe not (a bit big perhaps) ;D

It looks like a very neat piece of kit but I am yet to find one like this that is used for an actual reason other than a bit of fun.

How good are you at it? More videos coming soon?

Well, yeah, lots of videos available:

Making drum beats on a computer with this interface *is* a bit of fun. I'm not sure I've seen a too many projects for the arduino that are designed for boring things, so I'm glad it's easy to see that the core purpose of my project is to have fun. That's exactly what it's for. :) And yes, I'd say I'm pretty good at it. :D Most people who put their hands on this project end up having a lot of fun and get pretty good at it pretty quickly.

My band Haptic Synapses has played many performances with this project as the main tool I use along with music software for most of this year now. My bandmate Derek has been using one as his primary tool for almost half the year too. We're working on our third bandmate now.  He's not using one yet, but as soon as I make another one, he'll switch over too. Then we'll have a thing going on.   Check out the music we've recorded http://hapticsynapses.com

Well, yeah, lots of videos available:

Yeah sorry, I saw a few of those when i'd posted up...

I'm not sure I've seen a too many projects for the arduino that are designed for boring things

I suppose :D

It looks interesting, I am glad that it has found a use as a major part in live musical performances. A lot of the devices like this that are made don't seem to be used to their full potential.  ;)

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Old 02-11-11, 01:20 AM   #1
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District 9 bonus disc?

I just cracked open my District 9 DVD that I ordered from CH.
I go the 2 disc edition edition.When I opened it,I was surprised to see that it also includes a 3rd bonus disc.
I thought the bonus disc was a Walmart exclusive...?
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Old 01-04-2004, 04:09 PM   #19
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They have LEDs in just about every color. This guy on ebay, for example, sells them in a variety of colors - LINK

At only $1.99 a bulb, you can't go wrong!

I'm also uncertain why the LEDs behave so strangely. My guess on why it stays lit is that since it consumes signifcantly less power than halogens, when the halogens go out, there is still some current left to 'power' the LEDs.

As for DIY, this is REEEEAL easy. Just pop off the sidemarker, twist the old bulb out, put in the LED ones, then pop the sidemarker back in. I think there's even a video DIY on bimmian's site. You can also check which has a detailed DIY section on changing the sidemarker (which should apply to all E46s as well).
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Old 04-02-2006, 03:48   #1 (permalink)
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Goboy questions...

Hello everyone,

I have been trying for hours trying to get goboy to work on my nokia 6682. I have no idea what to do once I have the goboy program on my phone...I have several rom games but I don't know which directory to put them in so that they will work Can anyone help me. Thanks in advance -
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 Post subject: [youtube] Video Contest
PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:20 am
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I'm looking for an Extension or combination of extensions to create a video contest on my website. I've installed Community Builder for the user profiles but dont have to keep it if there is a better option.

The features that I'd like to have are:

The ability for users to submit [youtube] videos (to enter the contest).

Videos catagorized in groups (contests).

Voting on or rating of videos within those groups (to determin a winner).

Time frames for the voting (a single contest cant go on forever).

The videos submitted by a user will show up on the users profile.

Seperate page will display the vidoes of a specific contest in random order.

I have other featurs that I'd like, but these are the most important. Any suggestions will greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

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[vizio tv]

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Is it possible to port the XBMC software to a VIZIO TV Widget?
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Probably in the future but not yet.
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agentbad Wrote:Probably in the future but not yet.

By in the future do you mean?:

"Because someday TVs in the lineage of these particular Vizio TVs will come with full computers built into them, and we expect to hack XBMC onto those computer." (a statement I agree with)

Or do you mean:

"If given enough time these particular TVs will support XBMC because their little internal computer is powerful enough." (a statement I have seen no evidence of)

If you know of specific work being done to integrate XBMC and TVs please spill the beans!
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I was wondering the same thing. In this last firmware update, they added the capability to access web video.

If I see a certain type of video clip on the internet on my home PC, i click a button and that video is now available in the Web Clips widget on the Vizio.

Seems like some of the smarter programmers can exploit that function and use it as a conduit for PC based XBMC systems.
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View Full Version : 2010 Walk For Lupus Now

09-03-2010, 12:50 PM
I just wanted to know if anyone on here was planning to go to the walk in Louisville, KY or Cincinnati, OH on the 25th this month because I will be going to one of them just not sure which one yet =) Let me know! I'd love to actually get to meet someone in the same boat as me.

09-06-2010, 09:53 PM
Wow, I'm not too far from either (I'm near Indy)... I'll have to google the event...

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You should check it out!!! I'd love to have someone to meet up with me. My family can't come that day because they already had plans so Im taking a few friends with me.


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View Full Version : Activision Game For Shrek 2; Terminates TDK Deal

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"Activision has signed agreement with DreamWorks for videogame rights to the upcoming feature film SHREK 2. Activision has terminated its previously announced co-publishing and co-development agreement with TDK Mediactive following Take-Two Interactive Software's acquisition of TDK. Additionally, TDK has assigned to Activision all of its rights related to future SHREK films. Under the terms of the agreement with DreamWorks, Activision will have the rights to develop and publish games for the console, hand-held and PC platforms for SHREK 2.

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View Full Version : Mental Ray Help: Artifacting

03-05-2005, 12:02 AM

I'm using mental ray for a architectural still rendering, and I'm geting mixed results.
Does any one know the proper settings and ratios for a photon radius, in conjuction to final gather settings. I know the FG settings are suposed to be 10 % of scene size for max radius etc... I can't seem to get a crisp image know matter what I do, large or small radii, more samples, less samples. I just need a point in the right direction.

03-05-2005, 01:22 AM
Try leaving radius to 0 - that sets the radius automatically based on the # of photons, so they get smaller as you add more photons.

The GI by itself will still be a little blotchy even when you get it right, though, until you turn on Final Gathering to smooth it out.

03-05-2005, 01:42 AM
Thanks, I'll give that a try.

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I've seen this node used in rigging, but I'm not quite sure when it's ideal to use it. Thoughts, anyone?

02-02-2011, 02:09 PM
The three things I use it most for is to speed up objects, inverse objects and create stretch systems.

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I have a project reading from XML file and than show it in datagridview. The code works great in win 7 and show the data as needed but when I tried to run in it in win xp, it reads from the file ok but only show the 1st column of the data. I don`t know what the problem is but it is not in the read process (I debugged it line by line) but ofcourse I`m missing something.
What can it be?
I don`t know it has any connection but I`m using win 7 64bits with VS 2008 32bit and win XP and VS 2008.


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Ok this is so frustrating....my Breaking Bad marathon recordings got messed up!

I scheduled a recording of the Breaking Bad marathon, and starting this morning at 6am, all my recordings are all black and just give me the option to delete or keep the recording. I checked the dish alignment based on other topics on this forum and everything checks out. Moreover, recordings which are going on at this very instant are still showing the same symptoms while I am both watching TV and viewing other recordings. Now I checked Channel 254 which is AMC, and I am showing signal loss (error 771) but ONLY for AMC. This doesn't make a lot of sense as to why just one channel is dropping off. I need help to figure this out...


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Mazda 323

  • jjazzjjazz Posts: 7
    It took me several weekends to fix my temperture problem in my 1988 323 Mazda. I had to disassemble the whole dasboard to get to the heater element and I applied air to both input and output to check for blockage. Replaced the thermostat, gasket, and radiator cap. The temperture gauge is operating normally and the heater is blown warm air again. I believe there was air in the system, in the engine coolant system. Thanks to Malcolm.

    Now I have the gasoline usage issue. When I purchased this vehicle it use to go approximately 400 miles on a tank full, and now its about 200 miles or less. I suspect he timing chain is causing this problem, but I need some info from readers out there. When I last checked my timing it was off so I readjusted it. I also checked the RPM, which was fine. Thanks. :confuse:
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    I just purchased a 1988 Mazda 323 & had to have a new water pump & timing belt put on as the water pump starting leaking a few days after I bought it. A new radiator was installed also with some new hoses. The car now idles down & runs really rough at stops or sometimes take offs. Sometimes it seems the whole car will shake during these times. I'm not familiar with this auto & I don't have a trouble shooting book for it yet. Any ideas? Wondering if could be a little out of time since new belt was put on, but thought I would have trouble starting car if this were the case. Thanks.
  • I have a 87 Mazda 323 with 125K miles and it runs upon first start for 5 minutes then just cuts out like I turned off the key. I can start it again a few times for several seconds but then it just dies and wont run for about 10 minutes. I found that I dont have spark during that time so I replaced the spendy distributor and coil but still no luck.
    I will say that the thermostate is sticking but I wouldnt think that would kill the spark. Any suggestions?
  • Hi
    Bought a remote cenrtal locking kit for my wife's car.
    Having trouble fitting it to the standard central locking.
    How do I get to the central locking relay? Where is it?
    Anyone know which wires do what?
  • pike1pike1 Posts: 1
    Hey all..

    Just bought a 1991 Mazda 323 in great shape and agree its a great car for commuting in the city. But a quick question, each car is different so with only a spedometer to go by what is the optimum speeds for shifting into 1-5 gear? Probably a stupid question but humour me.
  • Eletrical problem the car has been haveing. About 2 or 3 weeks ago the car left me stranded in the rain died as I was driveing home. Ok I am some what knowledgable I pulled stock alt and had it tested bad so I replaced the alternator with one from a slavage yard. Drove the car it ran fine till it rained again. Left me straned again. Took car to service station had them do a eletrical anilasis and bad alternator. No problem Iam only out 35 bucks. I replace this one with a new referbed unit from parts supplier. Fully chared battery and armed with my volt meter test new alt. This alt under load was only puting out 9 to 10 volts not enough to run the car let alone charge the battery. Bad alt. Took it back got a replacement. Had alt test at store before I installed it. Fully charged battery alt was puting out 13.5 volts under full load at idle. Drove the car had my wife take it for a spin to an apointment she had no problem. This morning drove the car to work. About 1/4 to work car eletrical started to flicker one and off same simptions it had at first. Turned around and managed to get the car home when it died in my drive way. Battery completly dead. Now I have had the stock alt, 1 salavage yard alt, one bad referbed unit and one that was tested to be good. What is causeing this problem any body know? Is there something to do with the rain? Someting geting wet I dont know about that is suposed to stay dry? does the car have a seperate voltage regulator? Any help would be apriciated. I had a service manual but it is mia so I will be geting a new one. Help I am at the end of my rope and frustrated with the car. I put 1 new clutch, new transmission, 4 new tires, new breaks new muffler and catlitic converter to get this car back on the road 2200 later and I still can not drive the car.
  • Hi. I just got an 87 323, and I want to fix it up. I'm wondering if anyone knows how big of an engine will fit in it? Please help, I've been trying to find out for months!!!

  • Hello, I have a 1988 mazda 323 DX and recently i had to replace the Alternator and now it will hold a charge but now it runs for 20 mins or less then just quits.. but the next day it wil fire right up.. im baffled ive gone through the fuel filters lines and pumps no blockage or problems any were .. if any one could explain wats wrong it would be great..

  • tim51068tim51068 Posts: 1
    My 91 323 has been a helluva car; currently at 205k mi. It has been acting as though it's not getting fuel of late and I figured the cheapest thing I could try was the fuel filter, which I know is way past due. Anyone know what diameter rubber line is correct for this? I bought 5/16" and it is hard to push on w/the whole assembly OFF the car. It's sure to be nearly impossible to get on the steel line under the thing. Any advice greatly appreciated.
  • I just picked up an automatic 1993 323.
    The spedo cable is broken and I am trying to find a replacement. Any place that I should look?
    I also have the flashing "Hold" light. What does that mean and how do I correct it?
    It has 111000 miles and has a little of a rough idle.
    Any recomemdations as to what to look for to correct the idle and hold light?
  • i have a 89 323 I have replaced the altenator about 9 times in the past 6 or 7 years if you can figure it out let me know thanks
  • tinartinar Posts: 1
    I am new to this site. ;) I have 83 mazda 323 DX Hatchback..sitting for over a year. We are going to attempt repair..owner says main problem is electrical. i have been online searching for any and all info re car and this site got the closest but geez...somewhat involved to navigate. chiltons site does not even sell book for 323' appreciate any and all feedback
  • goldfngergoldfnger Posts: 2

    Does anyone have the official suggested tightening torque for a 2001 Mazda 323f 1.6 Petrol (new shape):

    Engine oil drain plug
    Spark plug
    Wheel Nuts

  • goldfngergoldfnger Posts: 2

    I've got a 2001 Mazda 323f 1.6 Petrol (new shape) (110, 000 miles). When I start it up from cold I get a loud clunk. It makes the noise sometimes as soon as it starts up or sometimes up to 2 minutes after its started, while I'm driving. I cant find anything loose and its fine all day long till! Its very perplexing.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks :confuse:
  • snappymoldsnappymold Posts: 4
    My 1993 Mazda 323 has been great for me. Since I first bought the thing when it heats up sometimes from a dead stop it "sputters" as it is accelerating out of first gear. Sometimes it was even sputtering right into third gear. This only seems to happen when it is hot and the revs are low. Once the sputter stops it runs normallly again until the next stop light. Finally this weekend after a soggy camp trip it just died right there and after a few minutes wait it started ran for a few seconds and stalled out again this time for good. What is wrong!! I suspect a fuel pump or filter. The damn thing is still at the campground parking lot so I need some help fast. It turns over fine just doesn't fire. I believe although I did not look it is fuel injected so.....could also be the control for that or......?>
    Please Help :cry:
  • zelsjzelsj Posts: 1
    Has anyone removed the thermostat from a 323 1.6L and was it hard to get out -
  • kcchffankcchffan Posts: 2
    I am having the same troubles, however mine started acting this way after a cooling system leak. any clues or ideas?

    Cat converter? is there a fuel computer? fuel sensor?

    No clue. Please help :confuse:
  • I believe that the ignition module is probably not to blame. I replaced ignitor and engine coil with no success. I believe my problem is the pcm has gone for a [non-permissible content removed]. I bought a new chevy (much easier to work on) instead of replacing the distributor and than probably the pcm anyways. Have you done a diagnostic on it yet? Open the diagnostic box under the hood and jumper the GRN and #10 slots. Than turn off all lights, radio wiper etc. Turn on the key and watch your engiune light. it will flash a series of flashes. This will be a code for a malfunction. You need to determine if you have a spark and if you have power to the coil etc. if you have spark it may be a fuel system malfunction or distributor cap or distributor. Test at the plug wires first. If no spark than you have some form of sensor not sending a signal to the pcm. You may have also disconnected or shorted a wire while fixing your coolant leak. Very first of all chack to make sure your rad is topped up.
  • kcchffankcchffan Posts: 2
    OK, here is the latest, It starts and runs ... if you stomp on the gas the engine will sputter and begin to "backfire" from the air flow meter. :mad:

    Being a resident "shade tree mechanic" I like doing things the hard way. Dramatic pause and now starts the stupid questions..where is the diagnostic box? there are two sets of wire harnesses under the wiper motor, each set has a green wire. :confuse:

    I have check the wires in the area I was dorking around, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Both the coolant resivour and the radiator are topped off. I am open for sugestions :sick:
  • desireebdesireeb Posts: 1
    I've had my 89 Mazda 323 for about 5 years now and it has about 140K. The transmission is going and I’m not sure if it’s worth fixing. I have to check around more regarding price and want to get the entire car checked out to see what else could need work before I make any decisions, but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts. I love my car and I’m still in school, so buying a brand new car would be out of the questions, so my options are either fix what I have or look for another used car…
  • jdog1979jdog1979 Posts: 1
    I have a 1991 Mazda 323. Same thing happened to me. I replaced the oxygen sensor and the engine coolant temperature sensor and the car runs like new, with 190,000 miles on it. Hope this helps.
  • sschmidsschmid Posts: 28
    92 Mazda 323 gas problem. When I fill it it reads full but after about 1/4 tank used it dpos to empty. I am assuming it is the fuel tank sending unit but I have searched on line and cannot find one. Any ideas?? Is this the part I need and where to find one??
  • basiajbasiaj Posts: 1
    A part of my car key remains in my hatch back door lock. It is Mazda 323. Any suggestion?
  • 13131313 Posts: 2
    Hi All,

    I'm trying to buy a manual for my 1989 323. But it seems that both Chilton & Haynes started with the 1990. Are the 1989 models that much different than the 1990+ models?

    I own the 1989 Mazda 323 SE 4 Dr Sedan, it has less than 80,000 miles on it so it's barely broken in. :shades:

    However, the little things that need replacing are getting harder to find so I may have to try using parts from another year, etc. She's a good little donkey and I want to keep her, and if I can fix everything then she's getting a new paint job too!

    Thanks in advance,
  • nhjoenhjoe Posts: 1
    Electronic fuel pump with float is located in the gas tank... Residual dirt / gunk forms after many years, inhibiting the float from functioning properly... Quick fix? Try a pot holed road at a fast speed... only kidding.
    Drain tank... completely... Drop tank, pull fuel pump assy, replace gasket and float device - R&R watch for dirt.
    Good luck ...
  • sschmidsschmid Posts: 28
    Actually according to the book the Fuel pump can be removed from the top of the tank under the back seat. The sending unit as well is right there. I was thinking sending unit as it works to 3/4th tank and then drops like a rock. Since I can't find even a used sending unit i guess cleaning the float would be worth a try. Thanks Susan
  • Hi All,

    I've had this car now for about 3 years and have pretty much gotten the whole 775 dollars out of it that I paid.

    Here's the deal;
    About two weeks ago I noticed the battery was leaking and steaming acid pretty bad. 4 or 5 days went by (while still having same problem) I attempted to start my car after work, it wouldn't start. Finally, had it jumped, made it about 1 city block and wham!, no lights!

    Figured out the ECU over charged that battery, which in turn over charged the Alternator... Well, I replaced all 3, and still, I have no lights.

    No headlights, brake lights, turn signals, dash lights, tail lights, radio.. nothing!

    I still have wipers, and heater is working just fine.

    Thanks so much in advance!
    Tammi :cry: :lemon:
  • hello all,
    I own a 1992 Mazda 323 Hatchback with a 1.6 ltr FI. It's got 172,000kms on the clock (approx. 107,000 miles).
    When I turn left I sometimes hear a thumping from the front passenger side corner. I'm thinking this might be a ball joint or tie rod end but I'm not sure. The car steers fine at low and high speed, doesn't pull in any direction, there's no vibration or wobble or anything like that.
    Is this thumping just my imagination or am I hearing the early stages of a problem? Is there any simple way to check?
  • Hey Baz,

    If I were you I'd have the CV joints checked. Mine did the same thing when they needed replaced. Now, it's doing it again.. I need the other side replaced. lol

    I'm not sure what you'll pay, but, I paid about 275 to have mine done labor included.

    Good luck!

    Oh, and I finally found out the problem to my question.
    Take care,
    Tammi :shades:
  • Hello,

    My son has a 88 Mazda 323 and the front driver's window is stuck. My husband says he can fix it if he had a specs for the door or instructions how to fix it. I'd like to know if someone could scan them and send them to me.

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Saturn Aura New Owner Reports

  • emanresu2emanresu2 Posts: 1
    Its hard to guage the severity of the stumbling issue you are experiencing. If it is enough to visible shake the car and the tach jumps significantly, than there may be something wrong, but if it is an occasional stumble you can feel through the wheel or the floorboards if you pay attention, then you will be told that this is normal. These days practically every car exhibits this stumble at idle - manufacturers program the cars to run as lean as possible without stalling. They do this by continuously leaning the mixture until it starts to stall, then the computer gives it some extra gas and starts the cycle over again. Some manufacturers have longer cycles than others and some, expecially luxury cars mask it better than others, but they all do this. Fixes for this issue would be first to check your gas, is oxygenated or is there ethanol in it? Try buying different or better brand gas from somewhere else for a couple of tanks. This may extend the cycle and reduce occurances of the stumble. If that doesn't work you can ask the service writer at your dealer if they can increase the idle speed. I don't know if how this works on the Aura but is a simple change on some cars. This may cost you a couple of mpgs in city driving but will make the car idle smoothly.
  • sgrmbasgrmba Posts: 1
    I experienced that same behavior in a Toyota Avalon - whining or humming when turning the steering wheel. I have bought 13 cars over the years and this behavior has occurred in various makes. My Avalon also had a problem with the engine 'gelling'. If it got too bad, the only solution was to replace the engine. My advice - never assume that Toyota always makes the best quality cars. I have received more recall notices over the years for my foreign cars than my domestic.
  • sakesake Posts: 11
    I purchased my Aura XR in October of 2006. It is black onyx with the black leather and chrome interior. It has all the upgrades (not that there were that many) including the billet grill, which brings me to my first question...There is a horrible high pitch whining that comes from the grill when it is windy or at speeds over about 50 mph. The grill was replaced once already (because the dealership thought that their sister dealership might have installed it wrong), but the new one makes just as much noise. Saturn says that they are still going to fix it (I am actually taking it in today), but I wanted to know if anyone else who has this grill has been having the same issue?

    Also, I have not had the steering issue that has been mentioned by a few other people, but it does seem to have a rough idle when stopped. My biggest mechanical complaint is that the transmission is very “clunky” – as my husband puts it. I thought that it was just because the car was new and needed to be broken in, but it has 11,000 miles on it now and still does it. I am going to mention it to the dealership today. Any thoughts?

    Lastly, I was wondering what kind of MPG people are getting in the XR? I know that it is rated 20/28, but I drive almost all freeway everyday and I am lucky to see 23 mpg.
  • texvettetexvette Posts: 12
    I purchased a new XR and my wife took delivery. I have noticd the the polycarboniate front and rear caps on the car are nto the same shade of sivler nor do they exhibit the deep pearl look as the sheet metal. I am insisting that they correct this issue, as they are all to be the sme color... this is currentlyint he hands of Saturn factory mgt.

    Other than this small anomoly, I am delighted with the car. I do not have enough miles to asses fuel economy.

    I will provide more feedback on my paint issue as this progress through Saturn.
  • I have not seen the billet grills in the official options list yet. I have seen two aftermarket companies manufacturing these grills and like the look of 12 bars over the stock chrome and black plastic grill.
    Your noise issues makes me wonder if it is a manufacturing problem or a effect of that type grill on this body style.
    I would really like to know who the manufacturer of your grill is.
    Hope you get the problem solved.
  • auraownerauraowner Posts: 7
    I took delivery of an XR about a month ago and have put 1100 miles on it. I'm averaging 17.4 MPG. Since 1983 I've owned nothing but Accords. I love this car. Love the power, styling inside and out and the extreme value. Great buying experience. My wife drives a company 2006 Maxima and she prefers the Aura. Have only seen three Auras since I purchased and I live in car mecca Southern California.
  • texvettetexvette Posts: 12
    Interesting data on the gas mileage..... assuming this is on 10% or less ethanol, I would find 17.4 MPG very unacceptable.... I have only run 2 tanks through mime (XR) so far, and am getting a 23+, on my dialy commute... only about 8 miles of 25 mile commute on freeways... otherwise back roads of New Hampshire.
  • auraownerauraowner Posts: 7
    I would find 17.4 MPG very unacceptable....

    I'm not happy about it. I have 26 mile one way commute with approximately 5 miles of stop and go driving on I-15 in Escondido ten times a week. That's what's killing my mileage, not to mention getting a little too frisky with the go pedal to feel the exhilaration of 252 hp under the hood.
  • texvettetexvette Posts: 12
    We have similar distances to commute.... but I only have a short distance on I-93 in southern NH.... BUT.... shipping all those horse in a frenzy will create quite an appetite!.... although fun....
  • bob919344bob919344 Posts: 29
    Almost 18mpg with stop and go driving with a heavy foot on the pedal with a 252hp engine is seriously NOT bad at all.. Take a look at all the other comarisons out there. Also remember, NO Way will you get what the sticker gets on ANY car. Actually this year every car will have the MPG re-calculated for a more accurate mpg comparison.

    If you get aprox 18mpg in stop and start driving and aprox 25-27 on highway with a 252hp V6 , trust me....Thats good !! For ultimate highway driving mog use the CRUISE!!
    you will get the best mpg always using cruise anytime..

    For the Money you cant beat this car !!!!! no way
  • auraownerauraowner Posts: 7
    For the Money you cant beat this car !!!!
    Agreed. I really love my XR. I'm at a spot in my life where I can afford the fun the 252 horses provide. Money well spent.
  • sakesake Posts: 11
    They did not tell me who the manufacturer was, but said that they didn't think they could fix the noise and that they have not received any other complaints about the grill. I find that interesting considering the fact that it was my salesman that first pointed out the noise (he drove the car from a sister dealership). The head tech said he would ask the manufacturer the next time that they are on site. Regardless, I paid $500 to listen to a high pitched whistle. I am less than pleased and considering the experience that I had with the service department last week, I am seriously thinking about cutting my losses and selling the car.
  • Would you sell the vehicle or return the billet grille (and have the Saturn grille reinstalled)?
  • sakesake Posts: 11
    It is not jus the grill that is an issue – it is more or less the icing on the cake with this car. Saturn has offered to install the stock grille, but I really don’t like it. Part of the selling point on this car was the grille and the fact that there are not many of them with it.
  • texvettetexvette Posts: 12
    Let's see.... you spent $25K or so because you liked the grille on a car and would suffer likely a 20% loss on the purchase by ridding yourself of the Saturn now, so that you didn't have to have an ugly grille on the car... although you cannot see the grille while driving anyway....

    makes sense to me ;)
  • How else have you customized the vehicle?
  • sakesake Posts: 11
    Like I said – the grille is just the icing on the cake. I didn’t buy an Aura just because of the grille – though it was the reason that I bought this specific one. I am disappointed with many things about this vehicle. I can take a 20% loss now or a 50% plus loss if I wait to sell in a year or two. Seems to be I would rather cut my losses and drive something that I enjoy. What do you drive?
  • sakesake Posts: 11
    I just have the grille from Saturn.
  • Karen_CMKaren_CM Posts: 5,049
    A reporter is hoping to talk with consumers who have participated in Saturn’s “Side-by-Side-by-Side” test drive program.

    Please respond to before 4pm Eastern on Friday, August 3 with your daytime contact information and a few words about your experience.

    Community Manager If you have any questions or concerns about the Forums, send me an email,, or click on my screen name to send a personal message.

  • sr71sr71 Posts: 8
    After working for Toyota for 13 years I decided to go take a look at the Aura, and have a good laugh. My first impression was that this is not an American car. (Opel Vectra) I was so impressed that I bought an XE.
  • Since you realized that the Aura is the Better of the 2 cars over the Toyota

    Next time Step up and get the " XR " and see how much better for the few thousand $$ this is over the XE.....not that the XE is not worth the $ but the XR is great !!

    I have had my XR for almost 4 months now after leasing Caddy's for years and years and working for BMW for over 15
    and for the $$$ You cant beat this car !!!! I love it and honestly, when on the highway cruising at 70mph, its a smoother ride than the Caddy ever was. I always had a shimmy in the front and no matter what I did, it was always there, the XR is as smooth as anything I have ever had.

    For the $ you cant beat it..... Only thing missing in the XR is - rear seat vents for AC and a nicer interior door panel ( kind of cheep look and feel ) even with the wood trim. But rear AC should be standard in every car today. Its only a rear vent thats needed from the front like my caddy had and many do, even in this class car.

    enjoy your XE.................. :)
  • texvettetexvette Posts: 12
    I have been carefully tracking the gas mileage on my XR,.. I drive 25 miles one way to work, very little sop and go, but largley back raods, with about 5 miles of I-93 at the end.... even with much care, the best I can muster is 23.7 MPG..... AND if you are prone to make use of horse power, of which it has plenty, you win't do that well..... will wait until I get past 5,000 miles before passing judgemetn, as I have learned with the newer cars, the engine does not really break in to best feul economy until then, at least in m experience....
  • sr71sr71 Posts: 8
    Thanks! We put the Aura on the rack the other day and had a look and the suspension. Very beefy, front and rear. Good geometry. This car is really in the 30k plus range of construction. I see that most of the Opel line is coming to Saturn. I wonder if the Vectra coupe is coming next?
  • dinofdinof Posts: 106
    I own a 2007 Aura XR with just 3150 miles on it
    and have discovered what is a possible defect.
    I have noticed that the plastic rocker panels
    attached to the body just below the doors are
    separating from the metal body they are attached to, creating a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap between the rocker panels and the car body. Dealer had no fix for the problem, and showed me the same "defect" on 2 other Aura XR cars in
    the service area. Service dept. said that the separation was possibly due to temperature changes or vibration.........or was possibly a defect. Has anyone else noticed this problem on their Auras ? Please take a look. Maybe the factory will come out with a fix or redesign.
  • Thought I would post an update so new readers might get an idea of how the Aura is doing after 7 months.

    My 07 Saturn XR started out getting only 17 and 24 MPG or so early on. Now I have over 13000 miles and I have seen over 30 MPG on one 350 mile run on level ground (Washington to Oregon). I averaged over 27 MPG on that 2300 mile trip, mostly interstate driving running 80 mph most of the time. I just got back from Arizona where I drove in the mountains 4-7000 ft. in and out of small towns. The trip went through Phoenix twice and over 700 miles on I-10. This trip was great because I got to use the paddle shifters in the mountains (call this the really fun part) and drive around a lot of small towns. About 2300 miles and my overall average was 26.8 MPG.
    Love how this car handles the mountain roads, more like a German sports coupe than a SATURN. Oh! That's right it is a German Sports Coupe, I forgot, because it doesn't cost what a German Sports Coupe is supposed to costs.

    I am old school when it comes to break-in procedures and that may have something to do with my XR getting better than average MPG's and better than average acceleration (0-60 in 6.0 and 60-100 in 7.6).
    I have over 13000 miles now and the XR is better than ever, and getting better every week.

    Phaeton Driver
  • Love my XR. I have seen many comments relative to steering noise (whining) when turning hard to left or right. I had same issue with a week of driving my car. I took it to dealer who indicated this is a known problem associated with the the hydraulic hose for power steering. A different hose would remedy the problem. The part was ordered and within a day it was installed. I have not had the problem since. I would suggest those that continue having the problem contact saturn customer service and discuss further, it might be as simple as a change in the hose. I am not an expert but my dealer apparently fixed the problem with a change in hose. Good Luck!
  • What color did you get? I have an 07 Saturn XE and I absolutely love it also. It is a Pewter Brown. Rarely see any Aura's around (Albany, New York).
    When I do see one, I get so excited. They're still new and I'm not sure that they sell all that many. I've got the sunroof which has been great during the spring and summer months. Leather interior is nice also.
    I am leasing, so I more than likely will get a new one come my 36 month. Saturn salesman and staff were awesome to deal with too; no hassles - ya either want it or you don't. They don't call ya a half a dozen times like some salesmen do.

    Anyways, glad you're enjoying you XR. Wonder what the difference is between the TWO of them?
  • I also have the Pewter Bronze color. The XR has a bigger engine and some added options, larger wheels and other ameneties. I have black leather which is very nice. THis is likely the nicest car I have ever owned. Looks great, power is excellent. I have scene several Auras around Fort Myers, Florida. Some times they are hard to spot as it looks similar to the Pontiac G6, The Lexus and the Camry. Good luck with your vehicle and enjoy. The XE is also a great model. :shades:
  • Karen_CMKaren_CM Posts: 5,049
    If you haven't done so already, please be sure to rate your dealer!

    Start here:

    Community Manager If you have any questions or concerns about the Forums, send me an email,, or click on my screen name to send a personal message.

  • I was going to wait on the Malibu to come out, but being bored one Saturday, I thought that I would test drive an Aura to get a feel for the car size, performance, ride experience, etc... I never pictured myself buying a Saturn until I drove the Hybrid, XE, and XR. All of these vehicles impressed me. When I started looking at the cost of the comparable Malibu, I had to get a Saturn. I ended up paying $22.8K plus TTL for a 2007 Aura XR. What a great car for the money. Congratulations to GM on a fine vehicle. Watch out competitors.
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Thread: Pumping less while sick

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010

    Default Pumping less while sick

    Hello ladies!

    I currently sick and I noticed my pumping output dropping. I normally nurse on demand except when I am away from baby while he is at daycare. I usually pump every 3 hours, 3 times a day. Usually, I'll get about 5 oz in total per session, which is a couple oz more then I need to give to daycare for one day.

    I've been having a pretty high fever with a runny nose, sore throat, etc, etc... (waiting to hear back from the doc of my last test... to see if I have strep throat) ... anyways, I noticed my pumping output has gone from 5 oz to about 3.5 - 4 oz per session.

    I'm trying to drink as much fluids as possible, and I am home resting as much as possible. My LO is almost 6 months and usually nurses on demand until I started going back to work about 3 weeks ago.

    I know being sick is having an effect on my milk supply. I didn't really pump often before. Only for a few weeks before I started to go back to build a small freezer stash.

    I just wanted to know if others experienced this and was it easy to "bounce back" after a full recovery?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009

    Default Re: Pumping less while sick

    It will definitely bounce back. Drink plenty of fluids, and try to eat at least some. I would also suggest you nurse/pump more often if you can, until your output improves.
    Little SW, Aug '09
    Miss MW, Jan '11
    Sir RW, Oct '12
    3 kids in 38 mos

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010

    Default Re: Pumping less while sick

    I had the same problem back in Jan. I was so afraid that my supply was doomed & I had oversupply. Thankfully it came back & I haven't had any problems. Just keeping nursing as much as possible & you'll be fine!

    Feel better soon!!

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Trouble making MP3s for a SD card for Soundfly FM transmitter

Discussion in 'Digital Audio' started by Jenniferbg, Jan 5, 2013.

  1. macrumors newbie

    Jan 5, 2013
    I'm new to the forum, but I don't see the answer in the archives. Hope you can help!

    I'm having trouble making my AAC files into MP3s to put onto an SD card for use with a Soundfly FM transmitter that plays only MP3s. I have only a basic knowledge of audio file types and conversion, so I'll describe what I _think_ is going on; please let me know if there's some key info I'm missing here.

    For the non-DRM (more recent) files called "Purchased AAC," I right-clicked in iTunes (v. 11 on a Macbook running Mountain Lion) to "create Mp3 version." Then I copied those files (which read as "MPEG"s in the "kind" field, not MP3s---why is that?) to the SD card. In the SD card's list of files, at that point, all these files had the .mp3 filetype, but the card doesn't play in the Soundfly. (There's no other reason it doesn't work, to my knowledge. I put two guaranteed DRM-free MP3s on the disk and it played fine. The problem comes when I try to put a bunch on there at once, and I can't figure out which files are the problem, because they all look to be DRM-free MP3s to me.)

    With the older "Protected AAC" files with DRM, I chose the MP3 encoder option in iTunes's import settings (to remove DRM and make them MP3s), burned those songs to a disc, re-imported them, and copied them to the SD card. No go.

    The Soundfly consistently tells me one or more of these songs aren't DRM-free and/or MP3 files, but I cannot figure out which ones it doesn't like and why. It's driving me crazy! Any help would be appreciated.
  2. macrumors 6502a

    louis Fashion

    Jan 22, 2010
    Arizona, USA
    You may want to ask your question on Computer Audiophile. com.
    The group over there will try to help you. May have to bump your post once.
  3. macrumors 603

    Feb 20, 2009
    "Then I copied those files (which read as "MPEG"s in the "kind" field, not MP3s--"

    How do you have iTunes set up to "import" files?

    Do this:
    - Open iTunes preferences
    - In the "general" pane, click "import settings"
    - Top popup should say "mp3 encoder"
    - Lower popup should give you a quality setting
    - I choose "custom" and then set it up as I wish

    Does that make any difference?

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