By night, I love this little town!!! Lights everywhere, the pollution, but also... The smell of the city. Great!!!
THOR #7
Story of the God of Thunder by JM Straczynski!!! The search of the asgardians arrive at end, the god of Thunder is on the way of vengeance, and it's very hard for the bad guy!!! Great new serie for my favorite Marvel characters!!! By a great author, I'm ready for the next!!!
Ásatrú
Ásatrú originated as a second (or third) revival of Germanic paganism in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið was founded on summer solstice, 1972, and was recognized as an official religion by the Icelandic government in 1973, largely due to the efforts of Sveinbjörn Beinteinssson. Around this time, Stephen Mac Nallen, a former US military, began publishing a newsletter titled The Runestone independently of the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið in the US. He also formed an organization called the Ásatrú Free Assembly, which was later renamed the Ásatrú Folk Assembly which is still extant. Else Christensen's Odinism, which is sometimes identified with the term Ásatrú, originated around the same period. An offshoot of McNallen's group is the Ásatrú Alliance, headed by Valgard Murray, publisher of the "Vor Tru" newsletter. The Ásatrú Alliance held its 25th annual "Althing" gathering in 2005.
The Icelandic government has recognized the Ásatrú as an official religion shortly after its inception. Other Scandinavian governments have begun to recognize Germanic Neopagan organizations as religious communities with official status.
The Icelandic government has recognized the Ásatrú as an official religion shortly after its inception. Other Scandinavian governments have begun to recognize Germanic Neopagan organizations as religious communities with official status.
Groups and practitioners also exist now all around the world. Recognizing or not in officialy by governements.
Omega Flight!!!
The original Omega Flight
The name of Omega Flight was originally used by a group of super-villains assembled with the specific purpose of killing the original Alpha Flight - particularly its founder, the original Guardian.
Delphine Courtney, the robotic assistant to Jerome Jaxon (a bitter ex-boss of James McDonald Hudson aka Guardian) recruited superhuman operatives to join Omega Flight as part of Jaxon's revenge scheme against Hudson. Recruits primarily came from members of the then disbanded Beta and Gamma Flights. It included Wild Child, Box (controlled by Jerome Jaxon), Diamond Lil, Flashback and Smart Alec.
The group reappeared several times throughout the series run, in different incarnations, with membership including Bile, Brain Drain, Dark Guardian, Miss Mass, Sinew , Strongarm, Technoir and The Master.
Post-Civil War
The team emerges from the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover event. The lineup includes elements of the original Canadian super-team Alpha Flight as well as other superheroes, mostly American superheros on loan from S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to Iron Man. The team roster includes U.S. Agent, Arachne, Beta Ray Bill, Talisman and Michael Pointer as the new Guardian.
In the first issue of the limited series, former Alpha Flight member Sasquatch acts as recruiter for the team. After his attempts at recruiting Talisman are initially rebuffed, Sasquatch is forced to battle the rampaging Wrecking Crew alone, and is defeated. Upon learning of her friend's capture, Talisman accepts the offer to join Omega Flight, even for a temporary basis. As the Wrecking Crew carve a path of destruction towards Toronto, driven by a series of mysterious visions, Talisman joins up with USAgent and Arachne in Ottawa, but not before lambasting Iron Man and blaming him for the supervillain crisis that has engulfed Canada. Somewhat concerned about the presence of Americans on a Canadian superhero team, Elizabeth reacts violently when she learns that Michael Pointer, the man who killed Alpha Flight as the Collective, has become the new Guardian.
Meanwhile, the Wrecking Crew (along with the captured Sasquatch) storm into the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, drawn there by the visions. Also present in the museum is Simon Walters, the human avatar of Beta Ray Bill, who has also been receiving the visions leading him to the ROM's exhibit on the Great Beasts. Opening a portal to the Realm of the Great Beasts, the Wrecking Crew is further empowered by Tanaraq, who also summons a horde of Surtur demons to aid the Crew in destroying the world. Spurred into action, Walters unveils himself as Beta Ray Bill and engages the villains, who ultimately prove too strong for the Korbinite warrior to handle. As the Wrecking Crew and the Surtur demons spill out onto the streets of Toronto, Talisman, Arachne and USAgent arrive to confront them. While Omega Flight is capable of holding off the villains and their demonic allies with the assistance of Beta Ray Bill, the situation takes a turn for the worst when Tanaraq possesses and empowers Sasquatch. The team is saved by the eleventh-hour intervention of Pointer, who devestates the ranks of demons and even throws away the Wrecking Crew, but refuses to kill the possessed Sasquatch even as his life is threatened by him.
With no other viable options left, Talisman uses the power of Shaman's medicine bag to exorcise Tanaraq's hold over Sasquatch and the Wrecking Crew, draining them of their newfound powers. Seizing the bag, Beta Ray Bill lures the demons back into the Realm of the Great Beasts, forcing Guardian to seal the portal behind him, effectively sacrificing himself to save the planet. With Tanaraq's plot foiled and the Surtur demons locked away, Omega Flight is able to defeat the Wrecking Crew and finally bring them into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. After the battle, the team finally begins to establish itself as a functioning unit; Guardian is able to move past his guilt over his role in the Collective incident, USAgent finally retrieves his genuine shield from the Purple Man, defeating the villain in the process, Sasquatch helps out with the reconstruction efforts in Toronto, Talisman retires from active duty to serve as her tribe's shaman, and Arachne decides to remain with the team. The series ends with Beta Ray Bill locked in eternal combat with the Surtur demons in the Realm of the Great Beasts, truly trapped in the nightmare plane but seemingly oblivious to his situation.
The name of Omega Flight was originally used by a group of super-villains assembled with the specific purpose of killing the original Alpha Flight - particularly its founder, the original Guardian.
Delphine Courtney, the robotic assistant to Jerome Jaxon (a bitter ex-boss of James McDonald Hudson aka Guardian) recruited superhuman operatives to join Omega Flight as part of Jaxon's revenge scheme against Hudson. Recruits primarily came from members of the then disbanded Beta and Gamma Flights. It included Wild Child, Box (controlled by Jerome Jaxon), Diamond Lil, Flashback and Smart Alec.
The group reappeared several times throughout the series run, in different incarnations, with membership including Bile, Brain Drain, Dark Guardian, Miss Mass, Sinew , Strongarm, Technoir and The Master.
Post-Civil War
The team emerges from the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover event. The lineup includes elements of the original Canadian super-team Alpha Flight as well as other superheroes, mostly American superheros on loan from S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to Iron Man. The team roster includes U.S. Agent, Arachne, Beta Ray Bill, Talisman and Michael Pointer as the new Guardian.
In the first issue of the limited series, former Alpha Flight member Sasquatch acts as recruiter for the team. After his attempts at recruiting Talisman are initially rebuffed, Sasquatch is forced to battle the rampaging Wrecking Crew alone, and is defeated. Upon learning of her friend's capture, Talisman accepts the offer to join Omega Flight, even for a temporary basis. As the Wrecking Crew carve a path of destruction towards Toronto, driven by a series of mysterious visions, Talisman joins up with USAgent and Arachne in Ottawa, but not before lambasting Iron Man and blaming him for the supervillain crisis that has engulfed Canada. Somewhat concerned about the presence of Americans on a Canadian superhero team, Elizabeth reacts violently when she learns that Michael Pointer, the man who killed Alpha Flight as the Collective, has become the new Guardian.
Meanwhile, the Wrecking Crew (along with the captured Sasquatch) storm into the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, drawn there by the visions. Also present in the museum is Simon Walters, the human avatar of Beta Ray Bill, who has also been receiving the visions leading him to the ROM's exhibit on the Great Beasts. Opening a portal to the Realm of the Great Beasts, the Wrecking Crew is further empowered by Tanaraq, who also summons a horde of Surtur demons to aid the Crew in destroying the world. Spurred into action, Walters unveils himself as Beta Ray Bill and engages the villains, who ultimately prove too strong for the Korbinite warrior to handle. As the Wrecking Crew and the Surtur demons spill out onto the streets of Toronto, Talisman, Arachne and USAgent arrive to confront them. While Omega Flight is capable of holding off the villains and their demonic allies with the assistance of Beta Ray Bill, the situation takes a turn for the worst when Tanaraq possesses and empowers Sasquatch. The team is saved by the eleventh-hour intervention of Pointer, who devestates the ranks of demons and even throws away the Wrecking Crew, but refuses to kill the possessed Sasquatch even as his life is threatened by him.
With no other viable options left, Talisman uses the power of Shaman's medicine bag to exorcise Tanaraq's hold over Sasquatch and the Wrecking Crew, draining them of their newfound powers. Seizing the bag, Beta Ray Bill lures the demons back into the Realm of the Great Beasts, forcing Guardian to seal the portal behind him, effectively sacrificing himself to save the planet. With Tanaraq's plot foiled and the Surtur demons locked away, Omega Flight is able to defeat the Wrecking Crew and finally bring them into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. After the battle, the team finally begins to establish itself as a functioning unit; Guardian is able to move past his guilt over his role in the Collective incident, USAgent finally retrieves his genuine shield from the Purple Man, defeating the villain in the process, Sasquatch helps out with the reconstruction efforts in Toronto, Talisman retires from active duty to serve as her tribe's shaman, and Arachne decides to remain with the team. The series ends with Beta Ray Bill locked in eternal combat with the Surtur demons in the Realm of the Great Beasts, truly trapped in the nightmare plane but seemingly oblivious to his situation.
Super-Adobe
Invented by Nader Khalili, California architect/author and founder of the Hesperia, California-based CEI (Cal Earth Institute). It is similar to rammed earth: Wet soil under pressure (mixed with a little cement) turns into a sturdy and long-lasting building material. Khalili's innovation is to pump the soil into bags that are continuous coils and bind them with barbed wire.
These small changes accomplish big things. The bags and steel reinforcement make the results proof against earthquakes, a way to avoid devastation such as regularly occurs in Iran. The steel wire adds tremendous amounts of tensional and shear strength -- something lacking in many traditional forms of earth-based construction. Because the bags are a continuous loop, you may fill them by machine instead of by hand, reducing construction labor to something comparable to traditional stick-built construction.
The steel in the barbed wire is less than the steel in nails used for traditional wood-frame buildings. There is less plastic in the sandbags than in the vapor barriers often used in conventional construction. There is less cement mixed in with the sub-soil dirt than is typically used in normal foundations, probably less than is often used in internal plastering alone. And since the bulk of the home is built from on-site dirt, you don't need to truck in huge amounts of construction material.
Further, the only machinery used for the foundation and shell phase of construction is digging out the subsoil dirt and pumping it into the bags. This technique can be used for the entire rough shell -- foundation, floor, walls, roof, even rough cabinetry and built-in furniture. It can then be insulated and finished by conventional or low-impact techniques, as you please.
Super adobe is sturdy and durable -- an earthquake-safe variation on a technique that has been know to last centuries in Iran. How sturdy? In Hesperia, the consultants who tested one for earthquake safety still don't know the limits of super-bloc strength. They intended to test one to destruction, but their bulldozer was not powerful enough to destroy it, no matter how hard they tried.
That Khalili is a poet as well as an architect probably influenced his choice of materials. He himself has said that he likes the fact that sandbags and barbed wire, often instruments of war, are used to create beautiful spaces for people to live in.
Think about the embedded energy saved by this technique -- reductions in steel, plastic, cement, and wood boards. It saves the power needed to transport these things, along with construction electricity and fuel. Durability means you replace buildings less often -- more conservation; all this occurs before you have made one mill, factory, or plant more efficient.
Of course there are plenty of buts with this technique. It more or less depends on curves --domes, vaults, arches, and so on. That is not going to fit in with your average suburban neighborhood. It is not suitable for buildings over a couple of stories. And of course it is not a recognized technique. It cannot be used to its full technical potential until building codes recognize it. At the moment, any super-adobe building has to jump through the usual experimental techniques hoop -- basically convincing one building department at a time.
So it is a nibble rather than a bite. Still, this is how global warming will be solved -- adding up many little things rather than doing one or two big things. And the potential is significant. The story limitation is not a major problem; a high percentage of new U.S. buildings are one or two stories high. Laws can be changed. The visual appearance is harder to get around, but there are always rural areas where your neighbor does not care what your building looks like. There are also heterogeneous areas where something unconventional and dramatic will fit; also, there is more leeway for the unusual looking in commercial buildings than in residential; and many of them are one or two stories.
Lastly, there is the potential to use super-adobe to construct building parts. For example, if it really works as well as concrete in foundations for one and two story buildings, that is a huge potential savings in Portland cement. Similarly, while making a building entirely in the form of vaults or domes and curved structure is probably going to look weird in most neighborhoods, you can fit a vault or dome as one element in a rectangular structure. Even in my little town, if you go into the area where mansions congregate up in Tumwater, you can see rich folks homes that incorporate domes and other curves just for the drama.
The steel in the barbed wire is less than the steel in nails used for traditional wood-frame buildings. There is less plastic in the sandbags than in the vapor barriers often used in conventional construction. There is less cement mixed in with the sub-soil dirt than is typically used in normal foundations, probably less than is often used in internal plastering alone. And since the bulk of the home is built from on-site dirt, you don't need to truck in huge amounts of construction material.
Further, the only machinery used for the foundation and shell phase of construction is digging out the subsoil dirt and pumping it into the bags. This technique can be used for the entire rough shell -- foundation, floor, walls, roof, even rough cabinetry and built-in furniture. It can then be insulated and finished by conventional or low-impact techniques, as you please.
Super adobe is sturdy and durable -- an earthquake-safe variation on a technique that has been know to last centuries in Iran. How sturdy? In Hesperia, the consultants who tested one for earthquake safety still don't know the limits of super-bloc strength. They intended to test one to destruction, but their bulldozer was not powerful enough to destroy it, no matter how hard they tried.
That Khalili is a poet as well as an architect probably influenced his choice of materials. He himself has said that he likes the fact that sandbags and barbed wire, often instruments of war, are used to create beautiful spaces for people to live in.
Think about the embedded energy saved by this technique -- reductions in steel, plastic, cement, and wood boards. It saves the power needed to transport these things, along with construction electricity and fuel. Durability means you replace buildings less often -- more conservation; all this occurs before you have made one mill, factory, or plant more efficient.
Of course there are plenty of buts with this technique. It more or less depends on curves --domes, vaults, arches, and so on. That is not going to fit in with your average suburban neighborhood. It is not suitable for buildings over a couple of stories. And of course it is not a recognized technique. It cannot be used to its full technical potential until building codes recognize it. At the moment, any super-adobe building has to jump through the usual experimental techniques hoop -- basically convincing one building department at a time.
So it is a nibble rather than a bite. Still, this is how global warming will be solved -- adding up many little things rather than doing one or two big things. And the potential is significant. The story limitation is not a major problem; a high percentage of new U.S. buildings are one or two stories high. Laws can be changed. The visual appearance is harder to get around, but there are always rural areas where your neighbor does not care what your building looks like. There are also heterogeneous areas where something unconventional and dramatic will fit; also, there is more leeway for the unusual looking in commercial buildings than in residential; and many of them are one or two stories.
Lastly, there is the potential to use super-adobe to construct building parts. For example, if it really works as well as concrete in foundations for one and two story buildings, that is a huge potential savings in Portland cement. Similarly, while making a building entirely in the form of vaults or domes and curved structure is probably going to look weird in most neighborhoods, you can fit a vault or dome as one element in a rectangular structure. Even in my little town, if you go into the area where mansions congregate up in Tumwater, you can see rich folks homes that incorporate domes and other curves just for the drama.
Bran Van 3000, Rainshine
Rainshine
Want some water?
No, I think I'm okay.
Rainshine.
I don't care how sick you say it's gonna get,
My big ass bubble has not busted yet.
Because I feel,I feel fine, I feel fine.
Yes I feel,
I feel fine,
I feel fine.
Yes I feel,
I feel fine,
I feel fine.
Yes I feel,
I feel fine.
New time again, dis a new time again,
For de time now, de dodge a man him come through and then,
Me no want no war, me say between no man,
'Cause this hear time dodge a no work for satan.
Lord have mercy,
Lord have his mercy.
Lord have mercy,
Lord have his mercy.
You know what?
I've got nothing to complain about.
My breath is bad,
But my beer is stout.
So take my hand and let us jump about,
'Cause we got nothing to complain about.
The sky is grey,
I think it's gonna rain.
But that's okay,
'Cause hell, I like the rain.
So join me here in this here
refrain,
And shut your shit,
And don't complain.
What?
'Cause we got nothing to complain about,
And you got nothing to complain about.
So c'mon,It ain't that difficult to figure out,
That we've got nothing to complain about.
So c'mon.A man a shot upon him, life through the dark,
When you check it out, it's a natural fact,
Jah jah have good judgement when you do all you want,
And if...You can speak of babylon while you're around me,
'Cause every single little thing I see astounds me.
Rainshine...
Inna this time, me no fight 'gainst no man,
Me no want no man come try to test dodge,
'Cause when you check it out and go upon one mission,
And God and the Father and me inspiration.
Me test upon a mission and a one-way plan,
Me no want no man try disrespect me fashion,
'Cause when you check it out and put inspiration,
And that is how a you go reach Mount Zion.
I feel magical, mystical, motherful, logistical.
Lord have his mercy.
Magical, mystical, motherful, logistical,
Magical, mystical,
Magical,
Magical, mystical.
Look around X3
On the ground X2
There's a finger on my blister.
Allison Dot, Make it happen...
Make it happen
How does it feel to know that this is real
How does it feel to know that this is real
How does it feel to know that this is real
How does it feel to know that this is real
How does it feel
How does it feel
We could make these things happen
We could make these things happen
Two Irelands... Peace???
LONDON - Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Tuesday became the first leader from Ireland to address the joint houses of the British Parliament, praising Britain and its departing leader, Tony Blair for promoting peace in Northern Ireland.
He warned, however, that the week-old coalition of British Protestants and Irish Catholics in Belfast represents a fragile start to healing communal divisions following four decades of bloodshed that claimed 3,700 lives.
"We must sustain our hard-won achievements on Northern Ireland," Ahern said. "Remembering where we have come from, we must never, ever take for granted the stability and the hope that is taking root."
Ahern became the 31st foreign leader to get the opportunity to address the combined houses since the tradition began in 1939. He received a standing ovation recognizing his critical role in the peace process.
In a speech that covered eight centuries of Anglo-Irish conflict to this month's power-sharing breakthrough in Belfast, Ahern said the past decade of peacemaking overseen by himself and Blair had shown the world "that even the seemingly intractable can be overcome."
Blair said he had met many great world figures "but I've never met a bigger one than Bertie Ahern."
Blair and Ahern both gained power in 1997 and worked together in a search for peace in Northern Ireland, a part of Blair's United Kingdom. They signed a landmark 1998 peace pact in Belfast and oversaw several summits with Northern Ireland leaders from 1998 to 2006. And they were on hand last week in Belfast when a Catholic-Protestant administration was formed. Blair, 54, has announced he will step down on June 27, while Ahern, 57, and his Fianna Fail party face a struggle to retain power in a May 24 election. Ahern's audience included about 400 lawmakers from both houses, including seven former British secretaries of state for Northern Ireland stretching back to 1972. Among the approximately 100 guests were Sir John Major, Blair's Conservative Party predecessor as prime minister, and former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds. Their summits and joint peace declaration in December 1993 spurred an Irish Republican Army's cease-fire and opened the diplomatic door to the IRA's political partners, Sinn Fein, which has evolved today into the biggest Catholic-backed party in Northern Ireland.
The predominantly Catholic south of Ireland won de-facto independence from Britain in 1922 following a two-year guerrilla war, and several months after a Protestant-dominated government took control of another new state, Northern Ireland. Initially called the Irish Free State, the south became the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Anglo-Irish relations plumbed depths during the 1930s, when the two countries boycotted each others' coal and beef exports; during World War II, when Ireland remained neutral and expressed sympathy to Nazi Germany over the death of Adolf Hitler; and during the 1970s rise of Irish Republican Army violence over Northern Ireland. Relations have gradually improved since 1973, when the United Kingdom and Irish Republic both joined the European Community and became diplomatic equals on a wider stage.
In 1985, in a bid to quell IRA violence, they forged a treaty on cooperation over Northern Ireland that, at the time, infuriated the province's Protestant majority — but, in retrospect, laid the foundation for 1990s peacemaking between Britain and the IRA's Sinn Fein allies.
He warned, however, that the week-old coalition of British Protestants and Irish Catholics in Belfast represents a fragile start to healing communal divisions following four decades of bloodshed that claimed 3,700 lives.
"We must sustain our hard-won achievements on Northern Ireland," Ahern said. "Remembering where we have come from, we must never, ever take for granted the stability and the hope that is taking root."
Ahern became the 31st foreign leader to get the opportunity to address the combined houses since the tradition began in 1939. He received a standing ovation recognizing his critical role in the peace process.
In a speech that covered eight centuries of Anglo-Irish conflict to this month's power-sharing breakthrough in Belfast, Ahern said the past decade of peacemaking overseen by himself and Blair had shown the world "that even the seemingly intractable can be overcome."
Blair said he had met many great world figures "but I've never met a bigger one than Bertie Ahern."
Blair and Ahern both gained power in 1997 and worked together in a search for peace in Northern Ireland, a part of Blair's United Kingdom. They signed a landmark 1998 peace pact in Belfast and oversaw several summits with Northern Ireland leaders from 1998 to 2006. And they were on hand last week in Belfast when a Catholic-Protestant administration was formed. Blair, 54, has announced he will step down on June 27, while Ahern, 57, and his Fianna Fail party face a struggle to retain power in a May 24 election. Ahern's audience included about 400 lawmakers from both houses, including seven former British secretaries of state for Northern Ireland stretching back to 1972. Among the approximately 100 guests were Sir John Major, Blair's Conservative Party predecessor as prime minister, and former Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds. Their summits and joint peace declaration in December 1993 spurred an Irish Republican Army's cease-fire and opened the diplomatic door to the IRA's political partners, Sinn Fein, which has evolved today into the biggest Catholic-backed party in Northern Ireland.
The predominantly Catholic south of Ireland won de-facto independence from Britain in 1922 following a two-year guerrilla war, and several months after a Protestant-dominated government took control of another new state, Northern Ireland. Initially called the Irish Free State, the south became the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Anglo-Irish relations plumbed depths during the 1930s, when the two countries boycotted each others' coal and beef exports; during World War II, when Ireland remained neutral and expressed sympathy to Nazi Germany over the death of Adolf Hitler; and during the 1970s rise of Irish Republican Army violence over Northern Ireland. Relations have gradually improved since 1973, when the United Kingdom and Irish Republic both joined the European Community and became diplomatic equals on a wider stage.
In 1985, in a bid to quell IRA violence, they forged a treaty on cooperation over Northern Ireland that, at the time, infuriated the province's Protestant majority — but, in retrospect, laid the foundation for 1990s peacemaking between Britain and the IRA's Sinn Fein allies.
Two Korea... A new hope for peace?
MUNSAN, South Korea - The divided Koreas sent trains lumbering through their heavily armed border for the first time in more than half a century Thursday, reaching another symbolic milestone in a reconciliation process often hindered by the North's nuclear weapons ambitions.
Firecrackers and white balloons filled the skies near the border as a five-car train started rolling north on a restored track on the west side of the peninsula. On the eastern side, a North Korean train crossed into the South on another reconnected rail line where it was greeted by children bearing flowers.
It was the first train crossing of the 2.5-mile-wide no man's land dividing the two sides since inter-Korean rail links were cut off early in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The trial run was the latest symbol of a historic reconciliation that the longtime foes began pursuing with the first-ever summit of their leaders in 2000. That summit has led to a series of exchange projects, including the opening of cross-border roads that thousands of South Koreans cross each year as tourists, or to work in special enclaves in the North.
The detente has often stalled, mainly because of tensions over North Korea's nuclear programs. Thursday's one-time test run came after repeated delays since the rail lines were linked in 2003.
"It is not simply a test run. It means reconnecting the severed bloodline of our people. It means that the heart of the Korean peninsula is beating again," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said at a ceremony at Munsan station, about 8 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, before boarding the train.
The two Koreas "should not be derailed from the track or hesitate" in their moves toward unification, North Korean Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung said.
However, Kwon also repeated the North's claims that outside powers — usually a reference to the United States — were the main obstacle to reconciliation between the Koreas.
"Even at this point, challenges are continuing from divisive forces at home and abroad who don't like reconciliation and unification of our people," Kwon said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun watched the event live on television, hailing it as a "result of building trust consistently with patience," his office said.
South Korean soldiers in camouflage uniforms opened the barbed wire-topped gates to the DMZ on the western track to allow the South Korean train to pass through the zone that stretches across the entire 156-mile width of the peninsula.
Not long after, the North Korean train arrived in the South with one railcar bearing a sign that read, "The car that great leader and comrade Kim Il Sung boarded in person on Aug. 9, 1968" — referring to the North's late founder and father of current leader Kim Jong Il.
The trains, each carrying 150 people from both sides, returned to their origin later Thursday.
While the rail crossing symbolized reconciliation for some, it was a reminder of loss for others. A dozen South Koreans whose relatives allegedly have been abducted by North Korea staged a protest outside the Munsan station, demanding Seoul do more to bring their loved ones home.
"I wish the train would come back with my son if he is still alive," said Lee Kan-shim, 72, bursting into tears as police kept her from the site.
One of the passengers on the South Korean train, Yang Hyun-wook, head of the Seoul office of the Korea Railway Corporation, said the journey would be emotional.
"I think it should have happened earlier, but I hope this will be an opportunity for South and North Korea to become one," Yang, 55, said before boarding.
Yang Seok-hwan, 75, who was born just south of the border in an area where no civilians are now allowed, thought he would be able to take the train when some community officials asked him to attend the ceremony.
"I'm disappointed. I thought I could take the train if I came here," he said. "My hometown is just over there, but I haven't seen it for 50 years. I want to see my hometown again before I die."
It remains unclear when regular train service between the two Koreas could start. North Korea's communist government is extremely reluctant to allow many foreign influences into the country as it seeks to maintain its grasp on power.
The Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty — leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
The two Koreas resumed their rapprochement after North Korea agreed in February to take initial steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs.
Pyongyang failed to shut down its sole bomb-making reactor by a mid-April deadline under that agreement with the U.S. and other regional powers. The North has said it will not move to disarm until a separate dispute over frozen funds is resolved, but that has been held up by technical issues involved in transferring $25 million in its accounts.
Outside the Munsan station, about 40 people set pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il aflame.
"They are all Reds," said a 78-year-old protester who would only gave his family name, Kim, while holding a sign that read, "Down With Kim Jong Il."
"We're lavishing aid to the North so that they can invade us more easily," he said.
It was the first train crossing of the 2.5-mile-wide no man's land dividing the two sides since inter-Korean rail links were cut off early in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The trial run was the latest symbol of a historic reconciliation that the longtime foes began pursuing with the first-ever summit of their leaders in 2000. That summit has led to a series of exchange projects, including the opening of cross-border roads that thousands of South Koreans cross each year as tourists, or to work in special enclaves in the North.
The detente has often stalled, mainly because of tensions over North Korea's nuclear programs. Thursday's one-time test run came after repeated delays since the rail lines were linked in 2003.
"It is not simply a test run. It means reconnecting the severed bloodline of our people. It means that the heart of the Korean peninsula is beating again," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said at a ceremony at Munsan station, about 8 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, before boarding the train.
The two Koreas "should not be derailed from the track or hesitate" in their moves toward unification, North Korean Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung said.
However, Kwon also repeated the North's claims that outside powers — usually a reference to the United States — were the main obstacle to reconciliation between the Koreas.
"Even at this point, challenges are continuing from divisive forces at home and abroad who don't like reconciliation and unification of our people," Kwon said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun watched the event live on television, hailing it as a "result of building trust consistently with patience," his office said.
South Korean soldiers in camouflage uniforms opened the barbed wire-topped gates to the DMZ on the western track to allow the South Korean train to pass through the zone that stretches across the entire 156-mile width of the peninsula.
Not long after, the North Korean train arrived in the South with one railcar bearing a sign that read, "The car that great leader and comrade Kim Il Sung boarded in person on Aug. 9, 1968" — referring to the North's late founder and father of current leader Kim Jong Il.
The trains, each carrying 150 people from both sides, returned to their origin later Thursday.
While the rail crossing symbolized reconciliation for some, it was a reminder of loss for others. A dozen South Koreans whose relatives allegedly have been abducted by North Korea staged a protest outside the Munsan station, demanding Seoul do more to bring their loved ones home.
"I wish the train would come back with my son if he is still alive," said Lee Kan-shim, 72, bursting into tears as police kept her from the site.
One of the passengers on the South Korean train, Yang Hyun-wook, head of the Seoul office of the Korea Railway Corporation, said the journey would be emotional.
"I think it should have happened earlier, but I hope this will be an opportunity for South and North Korea to become one," Yang, 55, said before boarding.
Yang Seok-hwan, 75, who was born just south of the border in an area where no civilians are now allowed, thought he would be able to take the train when some community officials asked him to attend the ceremony.
"I'm disappointed. I thought I could take the train if I came here," he said. "My hometown is just over there, but I haven't seen it for 50 years. I want to see my hometown again before I die."
It remains unclear when regular train service between the two Koreas could start. North Korea's communist government is extremely reluctant to allow many foreign influences into the country as it seeks to maintain its grasp on power.
The Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty — leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
The two Koreas resumed their rapprochement after North Korea agreed in February to take initial steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs.
Pyongyang failed to shut down its sole bomb-making reactor by a mid-April deadline under that agreement with the U.S. and other regional powers. The North has said it will not move to disarm until a separate dispute over frozen funds is resolved, but that has been held up by technical issues involved in transferring $25 million in its accounts.
Outside the Munsan station, about 40 people set pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il aflame.
"They are all Reds," said a 78-year-old protester who would only gave his family name, Kim, while holding a sign that read, "Down With Kim Jong Il."
"We're lavishing aid to the North so that they can invade us more easily," he said.
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