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Sunday, January 4th, 2009 Domingo, 4 de enero, 2009

Listing countries where elections have been mixed with violence and repression, Human Rights Watch said western powers, especially the United States and European Union, have accepted elections in countries that don’t respect human rights, for political reasons and benefit. Listado de los países donde las elecciones se han mezclado con la violencia y la represión, Human Rights Watch dijo potencias occidentales, especialmente los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea, han aceptado las elecciones en países que no respetan los derechos humanos, por razones políticas y de prestaciones.

The group said the west has continued to prop up fragile democracies, or those that purport to be, such as Kenya, where waves of killings have followed a disputed election, and Pakistan, where elections are coming up after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. El grupo dijo que el oeste ha seguido para apuntalar las democracias frágiles, o aquellos que pretenden ser, como Kenia, donde las olas de asesinatos han seguido una disputa electoral, y Pakistán, donde las elecciones se viene después del asesinato del líder de la oposición Benazir Bhutto . The group also said that countries including Bahrain, Jordan, Nigeria, Russia and Thailand have taken on the belief that elections are equal to democracy. El grupo también dijo que países como Bahrein, Jordania, Nigeria, Rusia y Tailandia han adoptado en la creencia de que las elecciones son iguales a la democracia. In its annual report, the group said that Washington, Brussels and European capitals “play along” with the notion that a country can have democracy simply by holding elections. En su informe anual, el grupo dijo que Washington, Bruselas y capitales europeas "juego" con la idea de que un país puede tener simplemente la democracia mediante la celebración de elecciones. “It’s now easy for autocrats to get away with mounting a sham democracy,” said Kenneth Roth, the group’s executive director. "Ahora es fácil para los autócratas salirse con a montar un simulacro de democracia", dijo Kenneth Roth, director ejecutivo del grupo. “That’s because too many Western governments insist on elections and leave it at that.” “They don’t press governments on the key human rights issues that make democracy function - a free press, peaceful assembly, and a functioning civil society that can really challenge power,” Roth said. "Esto se debe a que demasiados gobiernos occidentales insisten en elecciones y salir en eso". "Ellos no presionan a los gobiernos sobre las principales cuestiones de derechos humanos que hacen funcionar la democracia - la libertad de prensa, de reunión pacífica, y un funcionamiento de la sociedad civil que puede impugnar el poder, "dijo Roth. The report said grave human rights abuses have fueled humanitarian crises in Somalia and the Ogaden region in Eastern Ethiopia, where millions of people are suffering. El informe dice graves violaciones de los derechos humanos han alimentado las crisis humanitarias en Somalia y la región de Ogaden en Etiopía oriental, donde millones de personas están sufriendo.

The report documented manipulations of elections. El informe documenta las manipulaciones de las elecciones. It said Chad, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Uzbekistan committed “outright fraud,” while governments controlled the electoral machinery in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Malaysia, Thailand and Zimbabwe. Dijo el Chad, Kazajstán, Nigeria y Uzbekistán cometido "fraude", mientras que los gobiernos controlaban la maquinaria electoral en Azerbaiyán, Bahrein, Malasia, Tailandia y Zimbabwe. Belarus, Egypt, Cuba, Iran and Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories blocked or discouraged opposition candidates. Belarús, Egipto, Cuba, Irán e Israel en los territorios palestinos ocupados bloqueado o desalentado los candidatos de la oposición. Russia and Tunisia were cited for stifling the media, and China and Pakistan undermined the rule of law, the report said. Rusia y Túnez fueron citados para sofocar los medios de comunicación, Pakistán y China y el Estado de Derecho, según el informe. “Many of these tactics are illegal under domestic and international law, but rarely do outside powers call governments to account for it,” the report said. "Muchas de estas tácticas son ilegales en virtud del derecho nacional e internacional, pero muy pocas veces fuera de las competencias de llamada a los gobiernos a cuenta de él", señala el informe.

“Established democracies are often unwilling to do so for fear of losing access to resources or commercial opportunities, or because of the perceived requirements of fighting terrorism.” “It seems Washington and European governments will accept even the most dubious election so long as the ‘victor’ is a strategic or commercial ally,” it said. "Democracias establecidas a menudo son reacios a hacerlo por temor a perder el acceso a los recursos o de oportunidades comerciales, o debido a la percepción de las necesidades de la lucha contra el terrorismo". "Parece que Washington y los gobiernos europeos a aceptar incluso la elección más dudosa siempre y cuando el" vencedor "es un aliado estratégico o comercial", dijo. In Kenya, rival political sides halted talks over disputed elections and vicious ethnic clashes after the killing of an opposition legislator, but said they would keep talking while would keep killing each other. En Kenya, rival político partes detenido conversaciones sobre las elecciones en disputa y los enfrentamientos étnicos vicioso tras el asesinato de un legislador de la oposición, pero dijo que seguir hablando mientras se mantenga matar unos a otros.

The country remained tense and volatile and violence continued to reign while political parties have battled for more than a month over who won the presidential elections. El país sigue siendo tensa y volátil y la violencia siguió reinando, mientras que los partidos políticos han luchado durante más de un mes en que ganó las elecciones presidenciales. Nasser Ega-Musa, a United Nations spokesman, said both parties had “a general desire to continue the negotiations and a willingness not to be distracted and derailed,” by the shooting death of David Too. Nasser Ega-Musa, un portavoz de las Naciones Unidas, dijo que ambas partes habían "un deseo general de continuar las negociaciones y la voluntad no se distraiga y descarrilado," la muerte por los disparos de David Demasiado.

The human rights report also said China has clamped down on the media as it is preparing to hold the Summer Olympics Games in August. El informe sobre derechos humanos también dijo que China ha abra a los medios de comunicación, ya que se está preparando para celebrar los Juegos Olímpicos de verano en agosto. Foreign journalists who were given the right to interview Chinese have been harassed, detained or intimidated to prevent them from doing reports on the country’s poor human rights records. Los periodistas extranjeros que se les dio el derecho a la entrevista chino han sido hostigados, intimidados o detenidos para impedir que hagan informes sobre los pobres del país en materia de derechos humanos. It said the construction boom to prepare for the Olympic Games has involved an estimated one million construction workers under harsh and unsafe labour conditions, but that trade with China is more important to the US and the EU than human rights. Se dijo que el auge de la construcción para preparar los Juegos Olímpicos ha supuesto un estimado de un millón de trabajadores de la construcción en duras y peligrosas condiciones de trabajo, pero que el comercio con China es más importante para los EE.UU. y la UE de los derechos humanos.

Have Your Say: EU and US said to favour elections over human rights Danos tu opinión: la UE y de EE.UU. dice que las elecciones en favor de los derechos humanos
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Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 Sábado, 3 de enero, 2009

Tens of thousands of protesters are due to voice their anger at the Gaza bombing blitz in a series of rallies across the UK. Decenas de miles de manifestantes se debe a expresar su enojo por la ofensiva en Gaza, el bombardeo de una serie de manifestaciones en todo el Reino Unido.

Up to 20,000 people - including the singer Annie Lennox and Respect MP George Galloway - are expected to march along the Embankment in London before walking to Trafalgar Square to call for an immediate end to the Israeli attacks. Hasta 20.000 personas - entre ellos la cantante Annie Lennox y Respeto diputado George Galloway - se espera que a lo largo de marzo del Embankment en Londres antes de caminar a Trafalgar Square para exigir un cese inmediato de los ataques israelíes.

The demonstration is the biggest of at least 18 organised across the country. La manifestación es la más grande de por lo menos 18 organizados en todo el país.

Former model Bianca Jagger and singer Lennox have backed the protests, calling on American President-elect Barack Obama to speak up against the bombardment. Bianca Jagger ex modelo y cantante Lennox han respaldado las protestas, pidiendo a electo Presidente de los Estados Unidos Barack Obama de hablar contra el bombardeo.

Other rallies will take place at Blytheswood Square, Glasgow; Bedford Square, Exeter; Princes Street, Edinburgh; Bristol city centre; Bold Street, Liverpool; Norwich Forum; Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square; Queen Victoria Square, Hull; Tunbridge Wells town centre; Leeds Art Gallery; All Saints Park, Manchester; Grey’s Monument, Newcastle; Castle Square, Swansea; St Sampson’s Square, York; Morrisons, Caernarfon; Bradford city centre; and Sheffield town hall. Otras manifestaciones se llevarán a cabo en Blytheswood Square, Glasgow; Bedford Square, Exeter, Princes Street, Edimburgo, Bristol centro de la ciudad; Bold Street, Liverpool, Norwich Foro; Portsmouth Guildhall la Plaza Reina Victoria Plaza, Hull, Tunbridge Wells centro de la ciudad; Galería de Arte de Leeds, de Todos los Santos Park, Manchester; Monumento de Grey, de Newcastle; Castillo Plaza, Swansea, la Plaza de San Sampson, York; Morrisons, Caernarfon; el centro de la ciudad de Bradford y Sheffield ayuntamiento.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone and comedian Alexei Sayle also added their support to the campaign to end the violence. Ex alcalde de Londres Ken Livingstone y cómico Alexei Sayle también añadió su apoyo a la campaña para poner fin a la violencia.

Speaking at a press conference in central London, Ms Jagger said: “I would like to make an appeal to President-elect Obama to speak up. Hablando en una conferencia de prensa en el centro de Londres, la Sra. Jagger dijo: "Me gustaría hacer un llamamiento al Presidente electo Obama a hablar.

“People throughout the world were hopeful when he was elected and we must appeal to him to ask for the immediate cessation of the bombardment of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.” "La gente en todo el mundo tenían esperanzas en que fue elegido y tenemos que recurrir a él para pedir el cese inmediato de los bombardeos de la población civil en la Franja de Gaza".

Lennox spoke of her shock at watching scenes of the bombing on television. Lennox habló de su conmoción por ver escenas de los bombardeos en la televisión. She said: “A few days after Christmas I came downstairs, put the television on, and saw smoke pyres coming from buildings and I was shocked to the core because I was thinking as a mother and as a human being.” Ella dijo: "A los pocos días después de Navidad he venido abajo, ponga en la televisión, y vio humo procedente de los edificios piras y me sorprendió el centro porque estaba pensando como madre y como ser humano."

Comedian Sayle said he was speaking out because it was important for Jewish voices to be heard. Humorista Sayle dijo que estaba hablando, porque es importante que los judíos voces sean escuchadas. He said: “I want to feel proud of Israel, I want to be proud of my people but I am ashamed.” Dijo: "Quiero que se sientan orgullosos de Israel, quiero estar orgulloso de mi pueblo, pero estoy avergonzado".

Have Your Say: Rallies to protest Gaza bombing Danos tu opinión: manifestaciones para protestar contra los bombardeos de Gaza
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Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 Sábado, 3 de enero, 2009

Have Your Say: Guantanamo intake unacceptable, says Malcolm Turnbull Danos tu opinión: Guantánamo ingesta inaceptable, dice Malcolm Turnbull
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Friday, January 2nd, 2009 Viernes, 2 de enero, 2009

By Francis A. Boyle Por Francis A. Boyle

The United Nations General Assembly must immediately establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) as a “subsidiary organ” under UN Charter Article 22. La Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas debe establecer de inmediato un Tribunal Penal Internacional para Israel (ICTI), como un "órgano subsidiario" Carta de las Naciones Unidas en virtud del artículo 22. The ICTI would be organized along the lines of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was established by the Security Council. El CITI se organizarán a lo largo de las líneas del Tribunal Penal Internacional para la ex Yugoslavia (TPIY), que fue establecido por el Consejo de Seguridad.

The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine–just as the ICTY did for the victims of international crimes committed by Serbia and the Milosevic Regime throughout the Balkans. El objetivo de la CITI sería la de investigar y enjuiciar los crímenes de guerra israelíes, crímenes de lesa humanidad y genocidio contra los pueblos del Líbano y Palestina-al igual que hizo el Tribunal a las víctimas de los crímenes internacionales cometidos por Serbia y el régimen de Milosevic en los Balcanes.

The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine–just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans. El establecimiento de ICTI proporcionaría algunos pequeños grado de justicia a las víctimas de crímenes de guerra israelíes, crímenes de lesa humanidad y genocidio contra los pueblos del Líbano y Palestina-al igual que el Tribunal ha hecho en los Balcanes. Furthermore, the establishment of ICTI by the UN General Assembly would serve as a deterrent effect upon Israeli leaders such as Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni, Defense Minister Barak , Chief of Staff Ashkenazi and Israel’s other top generals that they will be prosecuted for their further infliction of international crimes upon the Lebanese and the Palestinians. Además, el establecimiento de CITI por la Asamblea General de la ONU sería un efecto disuasorio sobre los dirigentes israelíes, como el Primer Ministro Olmert, el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Livni, el ministro de Defensa, Barak, Jefe de Estado Mayor de Israel y asquenazíes otros altos generales que van a ser procesados para su posterior imposición de los crímenes internacionales a los libaneses y los palestinos.

Without such a deterrent, Israel might be emboldened to attack Syria with the full support of the Likhudnik Bush Jr. Neoconservatives, who have always viewed Syria as “low-hanging fruit” ready to be taken out by means of their joint aggression. Sin esta disuasivo, Israel podría envalentonado para atacar a Siria con el pleno apoyo de la Likhudnik neoconservadores de Bush Jr., que siempre han considerado a Siria como "de bajo colgantes de frutas" listo para ser tomado a cabo por medio de su agresión conjunta. If Israel attacks Syria as it did when it invaded Lebanon in 1982, Iran has vowed to come to Syria’s defense. Si Israel ataca a Siria como lo hizo cuando invadió el Líbano en 1982, Irán ha prometido venir a la defensa de Siria.

And of course Israel and the Bush Jr administration very much want a pretext to attack Iran. Y, por supuesto, Israel y la administración Bush Jr mucho quieren un pretexto para atacar a Irán. This scenario could readily degenerate into World War III Este escenario podría fácilmente degenerar en la III Guerra Mundial

For the UN General Assembly to establish ICTI could stop the further development of this momentum towards a regional if not global catastrophe. Para la Asamblea General de la ONU para establecer CITI podría detener el desarrollo de este impulso hacia la regionalización si no catástrofe mundial.

Have Your Say: An Israeli War Crimes Tribunal Danos tu opinión: Un israelí Tribunal de Crímenes de Guerra
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Friday, January 2nd, 2009 Viernes, 2 de enero, 2009

Strong voices for peace have left us this year, people who used their art for social change, often at a high personal price. Las voces de la paz nos han dejado este año, la gente que utiliza su arte para el cambio social, a menudo a un alto precio personal.

Odetta was a legendary folk singer of the civil rights movement. Odetta fue un legendario cantante popular del movimiento por los derechos civiles.

Considered the “Queen of American Folk Music,” Odetta introduced audiences worldwide to African-American folk, blues and gospel music. Considerada la "Reina de la Música Popular de América", Odetta presentó a audiencias de todo el mundo afro-americanas folk, blues y música gospel.

New Year’s Eve was her birthday. Víspera del Año Nuevo era su cumpleaños. She would have been 78. Ella habría sido 78. When Rosa Parks was asked which songs meant the most to her, she replied, “All of the songs Odetta sings.” Rosa Parks cuando se le preguntó que significaba que la mayoría de las canciones para ella, respondió: "Todas las canciones Odetta canta".

Odetta sang “Oh, Freedom,” an African-American slave spiritual, at the 1963 March on Washington. Odetta cantaba "¡Oh, Libertad", un esclavo africano-americano espiritual, en marzo de 1963 en Washington. Early on, she attracted the interest of Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger. Al principio, le atrajo el interés de Harry Belafonte y Pete Seeger. Her voice, her talent with the guitar and the natural style in which she maintained her hair—later to be dubbed “afro”—set her as an icon of the civil rights movement. Su voz, su talento con la guitarra y el estilo natural en el que mantiene su pelo-más tarde a ser denominado "afro", su conjunto como un icono del movimiento de derechos civiles. She told an interviewer in 2003: Le dijo a un entrevistador en 2003:

“When I first started, I would sing these prison songs … it got to a point where doing the music actually healed me … it was music from those who went before. "Cuando empecé, me gustaría cantar estas canciones ... la cárcel llegó a un punto en el que hace la música realmente me curaron ... fue la música de los que fueron antes. The music gave them strength, and the music gave us strength to carry it on.” La música les dio fuerza, y la música nos dio fuerzas para llevarlo adelante ".

She inspired Bernice Johnson Reagon, an early member of the SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) Freedom Singers. Ella inspiró Bernice Johnson Reagon, uno de los primeros miembros del SNCC (el Comité Coordinador Estudiantil No Violenta) Libertad Cantores. She had been suspended from college in Albany, Ga., for civil rights protests, then went on to Spelman College, where historian Howard Zinn and his wife, Roz, took her to folk music concerts by Joan Baez and Odetta. Ella había sido suspendido de la universidad en Albany, Georgia, protestas por los derechos civiles, pasó a Spelman College, donde el historiador Howard Zinn y su esposa, Roz, la llevó a conciertos de música folk Joan Baez y Odetta.

Reagon recalls the first time she heard Odetta: Reagon recuerda la primera vez que escuchó Odetta:

“In Georgia, where I grew up in the country, the roads were built by chain-gang labor. "En Georgia, donde creció en el país, las carreteras fueron construidas por la cadena de las bandas de trabajo. I knew the sound, because as the men worked, they sang. Sabía que el sonido, ya que los hombres trabajaban, cantaban. But I never thought I’d hear it coming from a concert stage … when she sang prison songs or work songs. Pero nunca pensé en venir a escuchar un concierto ... cuando cantó canciones prisión o de trabajo canciones. … She was just what I needed to begin my life as a freedom fighter and as a Freedom Singer.” ... Fue justo lo que necesitaba para comenzar mi vida como un luchador por la libertad y la libertad como una cantante ".

Reagon later went on to found the women’sa cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Reagon más tarde pasó a fundar el grupo women'sa capella Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Another great liberation singer we lost this year was Miriam Makeba of South Africa, known as “Mama Afrika.” She sang against apartheid, then went into exile for decades. Otro gran cantante liberación hemos perdido este año fue Miriam Makeba, de Sudáfrica, conocida como "Mama Afrika". Cantó contra el apartheid, y luego fueron al exilio durante décadas. Belafonte helped her, too, gain recognition. Belafonte le ayudó, también, obtener el reconocimiento.

In 1968, she married SNCC-leader-turned-Black-Panther Stokely Carmichael, for which she was blacklisted in the US until the 1980s. En 1968, se casó con SNCC líder convertido en Negro-Panther Stokely Carmichael, por la que fue en la lista negra en los EE.UU. hasta la década de 1980.

Soon after her death, I asked the Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu about Makeba. Poco después de su muerte, me preguntó el Premio Nobel de la Paz Desmond Tutu sobre Makeba. The South African archbishop smiled: “Her singing, her voice, helped many people to know a little bit more about the vicious apartheid system. El arzobispo sudafricano sonrió: "Su cante, su voz, ayudó a muchas personas a saber un poco más sobre el vicioso sistema de apartheid. She was just a tremendous human being, a great loss to us and to Africa.” Ella era sólo un gran ser humano, una gran pérdida para nosotros y para África. "

Also blacklisted in 1968 was singer and actress Eartha Kitt, who died at age 81 on Christmas Day. También en la lista negra en 1968 fue la cantante y actriz Eartha Kitt, quien murió a la edad de 81 el día de Navidad. In 1968, she was invited to a celebrity luncheon at the White House by Lady Bird Johnson, who asked Kitt about urban poverty. En 1968, fue invitada a una celebridad almuerzo en la Casa Blanca por Lady Bird Johnson, quien pidió Kitt acerca de la pobreza urbana. Kitt replied: “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. Kitt respondió: "Usted enviará lo mejor de este país fuera a ser fusilado y mutilado. They rebel in the street. Se rebelan en la calle. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.” The first lady reportedly burst into tears. Ellos no quieren ir a la escuela porque va a ser arrebatado fuera de sus madres para ser disparado en Vietnam. "La primera dama presuntamente irrumpieron en lágrimas. For years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas and was investigated by the FBI and CIA. Durante años después, Kitt realizado casi exclusivamente en el exterior y fue investigado por el FBI y la CIA.

Born out of the Deep South and South Africa, these women’s voices sang out, from concert halls to protest rallies. Nacidos fuera de la profundidad del Sur y Sudáfrica, las voces de estas mujeres cantaban a cabo, desde salas de conciertos a los mítines de protesta. Another voice we just lost sang out from the written page. Otra voz que cantaba sólo perdieron a partir de la página escrita. Harold Pinter died on Christmas Eve in London. Harold Pinter murió la víspera de Navidad en Londres. Though too sick to travel to Stockholm to collect his Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, he sent a video address: “The majority of politicians … are interested not in truth but in power. Aunque demasiado enfermo para viajar a Estocolmo a recoger el Premio Nobel de Literatura en 2005, envió un vídeo dirección: "La mayoría de los políticos ... no están interesados en la verdad sino en el poder. … To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance. ... Para mantener ese poder es esencial que la gente permanezca en la ignorancia. … What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies.” Pinter was referring to US policy from Guantanamo to Iraq. ... Lo que nos rodea, por lo tanto, es un vasto tapiz de mentiras ". Pinter se refiere a la política de EE.UU. de Guantánamo a Iraq.

As these icons are laid to rest, their voices continue to inspire millions. En estos iconos se establecen para el descanso, sus voces siguen inspirando a millones de personas. Barack Obama will soon take the reins of the most powerful nation on Earth, promising change. Barack Obama se tome pronto las riendas de la nación más poderosa de la Tierra, que promete el cambio. But it will now take the actions of those millions, heeding these echoes of the past and transforming them into their own voices, to effect real change. Sin embargo, tomará ahora las acciones de aquellos millones de personas, atendiendo estos ecos del pasado y su transformación en sus propias voces, a efecto un cambio real.

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column. Denis Moynihan ha contribuido la investigación para esta columna.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. Amy Goodman es la presentadora de "Democracy Now", un diario internacional de TV y la radio de noticias hora saldrá al aire en más de 700 estaciones en América del Norte. She was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the “Alternative Nobel” prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in December. Fue galardonado con el premio Right Livelihood 2008, llamado el "Nobel Alternativo" premio, y recibió el premio en el Parlamento sueco en diciembre.

© 2008 Amy Goodman © 2008 Amy Goodman

Have Your Say: Amy Goodman: Voices of Resistance Sing On Danos tu opinión: Amy Goodman: Voces de la resistencia a cantar en
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Friday, January 2nd, 2009 Viernes, 2 de enero, 2009

Have Your Say: Private firm may track all email and calls Danos tu opinión: Privado empresa puede rastrear todo el correo electrónico y llamadas
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Thursday, January 1st, 2009 Jueves, 1 de enero de 2009

Today I am deleting all the content from my Myspace account and leaving only this notice. Hoy estoy borrando todo el contenido de mi cuenta de MySpace y dejando sólo este aviso. I’ve been inspired by the He sido inspirado por la Franklin Street Statement Declaración de Franklin Street and y Identi.ca and I realize that a free/libre/open source internet is still possible, but it will require us to stop supporting corporate websites such as myspace. y me doy cuenta de que una prensa libre / libre / código abierto en Internet todavía es posible, sino que nos obligan a dejar de apoyar a las empresas, tales como sitios web de myspace. Here are some good reasons to delete your Myspace page, and support alternatives not run by corporations. He aquí algunas buenas razones para eliminar tu página de MySpace, y el apoyo de alternativas no ser dirigidos por las corporaciones.

1. I’m tired of being free labor for the Fox corporation. Estoy cansado de estar libre de trabajo para la Fox corporación. The right wing Fox news corporation owns myspace, and I’m not going to support them any longer by giving them my content, my writing and images and information about who my friends are, for free. El ala derecha de Fox News Corporation es propietaria de MySpace, y no voy a apoyarlos más dándoles mi contenido, mis escritos y las imágenes y la información sobre quiénes son mis amigos, de forma gratuita. I don’t support war, the way the Fox corporation has, and I don’t want to provide them with more money to spread more pro-war propaganda. No apoyo la guerra, la manera en que la sociedad haya Fox, y no quiero que les proporcione más dinero para difundir más a favor de la guerra de propaganda. According to their license, Myspace has full rights to use my content things like advertisements for Myspace. De acuerdo a su licencia, Myspace tiene plenos derechos para usar el contenido de mi cosas como la publicidad de Myspace.

2. I actually care about my friends, and don’t want to screw them over my making them a “friend” on Myspace. De hecho, me preocupo por mi amigos, y no quieren tornillo a través de mi toma de un "amigo" en Myspace. By using myspace, I’m forcing my friends to sign up for a corporate owned, ad ridden, heteronormative web service if they want to stay in touch with me. Mediante el uso de myspace, me estoy obligando a mis amigos para registrarse en una empresa de propiedad, plagada de anuncios, heteronormativo servicio web si quieren mantenerse en contacto conmigo. The way that we don’t want to delete our accounts because we want to stay in touch with friends or fans of our bands just shows how dependent we already are on Myspace’s corporate controlled environment. La forma en que no queremos borrar nuestras cuentas porque queremos estar en contacto con amigos y fans de bandas de nuestra sólo muestra cómo dependientes que ya están en Myspace corporativa del medio controlado. We’re forced into a compulsory relationship we don’t want because we want to “keep in touch” with our friends? Estamos obligados a una relación obligatoria no queremos porque queremos que se "mantiene en contacto" con nuestros amigos?

3. I’m tired up updating so many websites because Myspace refuses to be interoperable with other websites. Estoy cansado de la actualización de tantos sitios web Myspace, porque se niega a ser interoperables con otros sitios web. Myspace and sites like it do not allow you to download your data or automatically send it to other social networking sites because they want to force you into the jail of their website. Sitios como myspace y que no le permiten descargar automáticamente sus datos o enviar a otros sitios de redes sociales porque quieren obligar a usted en la cárcel de su sitio web. Why? ¿Por qué? Why don’t we demand open social networking standards and the ability to download our own content? ¿Por qué no exigimos estándares abiertos de redes sociales y la capacidad de descargar nuestro propio contenido?

4. I have a good Free/Libre/Open Source alternative, my own blog. Tengo un buen Free / Libre / Open Source alternativa, mi propio blog. You can read about what I’m up to at Usted puede leer acerca de lo que estoy hasta en http://technotrannyslut.com , free of ads for bad movies and music, free of binary gender choices and heteronormative options for your relationships. , Libre de anuncios de películas y música mala, libre de género binario heteronormativo opciones y opciones para sus relaciones. Sites like Identi.ca provide ethical, non-corporate controlled alternatives to sites like Twitter. Identi.ca proporcionar sitios como ético, no las empresas controladas por las alternativas a sitios como Twitter. You can keep up with my status on Identi.ca, and sign up for your own microblog, here: Usted puede seguir el ritmo de mi estado en Identi.ca, y crea tu propio microblog, aquí: http://identi.ca/djlotu5 Help create a well known list of alternatives like Identi.ca/Twitter , Opensim/Secondlife, if you now of any, by Ayudar a crear una conocida lista de alternativas como Identi.ca / Twitter, Opensim / secondlife, si ahora de todo, por posting a comment here publicar un comentario aquí :

Actually, even better than deleting your account, just delete all the content and post a notice like this one. De hecho, incluso mejor que la supresión de su cuenta, basta con borrar todos los contenidos y publicar un aviso como éste.

This is just the beginning, I’m planning on getting off of Facebook and other web services as well, and I hope you do too. Esto es sólo el principio, estoy pensando en bajar de la web de Facebook y otros servicios, y espero que usted también. We can have an internet that is Free/Libre/Open Source, but only if we stop supporting the corporate, locked down options we’ve been using all of these years. Podemos tener una Internet que es Free / Libre / Open Source, pero sólo si dejamos de apoyar a las empresas, bloqueado por las opciones que hemos estado usando todos estos años. As these services become more a part of our lives and get into our phones and our everyday communications, it is critical that we fight for our freedom. Ya que estos servicios sean más una parte de nuestras vidas y en nuestra vida cotidiana y nuestros teléfonos comunicaciones, es fundamental que la lucha por nuestra libertad. The Free/Libre/Open Source movement needs to expand from just writing software, into creating networks of servers and services, like Indymedia has done for so many years. El Free / Libre / Open Source movimiento debe ampliar a partir de software de escritura, en la creación de redes de servidores y servicios, como Indymedia ha hecho durante tantos años. Software alone is not enough in a networked service ecology, where servers, cables, wireless networks, infrastructure that we all control is essential if we want freedom. El software por sí solo no es suficiente en una red de servicios ecología, donde los servidores, cables, redes inalámbricas, la infraestructura de control de todos los que es esencial si queremos libertad. I hope to see you back on the Free/Libre/Open Source internet. Espero verle de nuevo sobre el Free / Libre / Open Source Internet. Bye. Adiós.

Via A través de techno tranny slut tecno tranny puta

Have Your Say: Why You Should Delete Your MySpace Account Danos tu opinión: ¿Por qué usted debería eliminar de su cuenta de MySpace
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 Miércoles, 31 de diciembre de 2008

By Por Hywel Trewyn Hywel Trewyn

CALLS to put Welsh on new ID cards are at last to be considered by the Government. INVITA a poner en galés nuevas tarjetas de identificación por fin a ser considerado por el Gobierno.

The U-turn follows pressure from language campaigners who say it would be an insult if English-only cards were issued in Wales. El siguiente cambio de sentido la presión de activistas que dicen que el idioma no sería un insulto si Inglés-sólo se emitieron tarjetas de Gales.

The Welsh Language Board yesterday welcomed an announcement that UK Border Agency officials will at least review the idea of producing bilingual cards available for Wales. El idioma galés Junta acogió ayer un anuncio de que funcionarios de la Agencia de Fronteras del Reino Unido, por lo menos, examinar la idea de producir tarjetas bilingües disponibles para el País de Gales.

It is a reversal on policy from earlier this year, when the Home Office said it had “no intention to include Welsh on identity cards”, arguing the language “was not an official language of the EU.” Se trata de un retroceso en la política de principios de este año, cuando el Ministerio dijo que "no tenía intención de incluir en el documento de identidad de Gales", con el argumento de la lengua "no es una lengua oficial de la UE."

But the WLB has always argued including Welsh on cards issued in Wales was essential – the same as for driving licences and passports. Sin embargo, la WLB siempre ha defendido incluyendo tarjetas emitidas en galés en el País de Gales es esencial - la misma que para los permisos de conducción y pasaportes.

And they are sending a clear message to the Government that Welsh people would see it as an insult if a Welsh option was excluded from the cards, which will eventually be distributed to every British citizen. Y se está enviando un claro mensaje al Gobierno galés que la gente lo ven como un insulto si una opción galés fue excluido de las tarjetas, que será distribuida a cada ciudadano británico.

WLB chair Meri Huws said: “If the Welsh language does not appear on Identity Cards, I don’t believe they will reflect the true identity of the people of Wales, and their linguistic identity in particular. WLB presidente Meri Huws dijo: "Si la lengua galesa no aparece en el documento de identidad, no creo que refleje la verdadera identidad de la gente de Gales, y su identidad lingüística en particular.

“Therefore it is essential that all ID cards issued in Wales are fully bilingual, as is the case with driving licences. "Por lo tanto, es esencial que todas las tarjetas de identidad emitidas en el País de Gales son completamente bilingüe, como es el caso de los permisos de conducción.

“I welcome the fact that the Home Office is now considering how to include the language on cards issued in the future, and look forward to hearing a statement on this issue soon.” "Me congratulo por el hecho de que el Ministerio está estudiando la manera de incluir la lengua de tarjetas emitidas en el futuro, y miramos adelante a oír una declaración sobre esta cuestión en breve."

And the WLB stance was supported by Caernarfon Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams: “The first drafts of the proposed ID cards had the Union Jack on them. WLB y la postura fue apoyada por Caernarfon Plaid Cymru GP Hywel Williams: "Los primeros borradores de la propuesta de tarjetas de identidad tenía el Union Jack sobre ellos. This would have been wholly unacceptable to people living in Wales. Esto habría sido totalmente inaceptable para las personas que viven en el País de Gales. I understand now there’s not going to be the Union flag.” Entiendo que ahora no va a ser la bandera de la Unión. "

Mr Williams has tabled a number of questions asking the Government what steps have they taken to provide bilingual ID cards in Wales and the rest of the UK and for Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy about which steps he has taken to guarantee that Welsh will be on the cards. Sr. Williams ha presentado una serie de preguntas al Gobierno qué medidas han adoptado para proporcionar tarjetas de identidad bilingüe en el País de Gales y el resto del Reino Unido y de Secretario galés Paul Murphy sobre las medidas que ha tomado para garantizar que se galés en las tarjetas .

Now, following a consultation period, it seems there is a glimmer of hope that they will be bilingual. Ahora, después de un periodo de consulta, parece que hay un rayo de esperanza de que serán bilingües.

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: “There will be no Welsh headings on the first wave of identity cards to be issued to workers in critical locations in Manchester and London City airports. Un portavoz de la Agencia de Fronteras del Reino Unido dijo: "No habrá partidas galés en la primera tanda de tarjetas de identidad que se expide a los trabajadores en lugares críticos en la ciudad de Manchester y Londres aeropuertos. International Civil Aviation Organisation rules state that travel documents must have headings written in English and French. Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional reglamentación establece que los documentos de viaje deben tener títulos escritos en Inglés y francés.

“As we roll out ID cards across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we will review the inclusion of Welsh on the cards.” "Al implantar las tarjetas de identificación a través de Inglaterra, Gales, Escocia e Irlanda del Norte, que se examinará la inclusión del galés en las tarjetas."

A previous linguistic battle was won after the census was forced to include a Welsh tick box for Welsh people. Una batalla lingüística anterior fue ganado después de que el censo se ha visto obligado a incluir una casilla para galés galés personas.

The first identity cards were distributed to foreign residents living in the UK last month and will then be distributed to the general population of the UK in stages, dependent upon status, over the next three years. El primero se distribuyeron las tarjetas de identidad a los residentes extranjeros que viven en el Reino Unido el mes pasado y se distribuirá a la población general del Reino Unido en fases, dependiendo de la condición, en los próximos tres años.

People working in “sensitive” jobs like at airport employees will be given the cards first, then young people who want them from 2010 and from 2011 they will be available to everyone. Las personas que trabajan en "sensibles" en el aeropuerto de puestos de trabajo como empleados se les dará las cartas en primer lugar, a continuación, los jóvenes que lo deseen a partir de 2010 y que a partir de 2011 se pondrá a disposición de todos.

Have Your Say: Government considers Wales as ID card guinea pigs Danos tu opinión: Gobierno considera Gales como tarjeta de identificación de los cobayos
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 Miércoles, 31 de diciembre de 2008

By Kaya Burgess Por Kaya Burgess

The Labour administration in 1978 believed the introduction of ID cards would be “unacceptable” and “objectionable” in the fight against illegal immigration, confidential documents released today show. La administración del trabajo en 1978, cree que la introducción de tarjetas de identificación sería "inaceptable" y "objetable" en la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal, los documentos confidenciales a conocer hoy muestran.

The comments were in a draft statement due to be given to the Commons by Merlyn Rees, the Home Secretary, who wrote that the introduction of identity cards “would require major changes in practices and powers reaching far beyond immigration control”. Los comentarios fueron en un proyecto de declaración debido a la posibilidad de los Comunes por Merlyn Rees, el Ministro del Interior, quien escribió que la introducción de las tarjetas de identidad "se requieren grandes cambios en las prácticas y competencias mucho más allá de alcanzar el control de la inmigración".

He added: “In the past such changes have been contemplated only in war: the Government does not believe they could be justified on immigration grounds alone.” Añadió: "En el pasado, esos cambios sólo se han contemplado en la guerra: el Gobierno no cree que podría estar justificada por motivos de inmigración por sí solo."

The comments were later edited out of the final speech he delivered to the House, as a struggling Labour Government tried to resist the calls from Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher for more draconian measures to tackle illegal immigration. Las observaciones fueron posteriormente editados fuera de la final de discurso que pronunció ante la Cámara, como una lucha del Trabajo Gobierno trató de resistir a los llamamientos de líder de la oposición de Margaret Thatcher para más medidas draconianas para hacer frente a la inmigración ilegal.

In a secret discussion between Prime Minister Callaghan and the Whips on March 8 1978, a Downing Street aide wrote: “It was claimed that many Asian immigrants were very frightened. En un debate secreto entre el Primer Ministro y el Callaghan Peitschen el 8 de marzo de 1978, un ayudante de Downing Street, escribió: "Se alegó que muchos inmigrantes asiáticos estaban muy asustados.

“There was bitter opposition to the tactics adopted by Mrs Thatcher… and that resentment should be exploited by the Government.” "Hubo amarga oposición a las tácticas adoptadas por la señora Thatcher ... y el resentimiento que debe ser aprovechada por el Gobierno."

Ministers stuck by their pledge not to introduce quotas on immigration as they did not want the “objectionable” measure of requiring everyone to carry identification papers. Ministros pegados por su promesa de no introducir cuotas de inmigración, ya que no desea que la "inaceptable" la medida de exigir a todos a llevar documentos de identificación.

The confidential Government documents also discussed ways to expose “the fraudulent nature of Mrs Thatcher’s approach”, although a personal note written by Mr Callaghan warned that the Government’s response to Select Committee recommendations was too lacklustre. Los documentos confidenciales Gobierno también discutió la forma de exponer "el carácter fraudulento de planteamiento de la señora Thatcher", aunque una nota personal escrita por el Sr. Callaghan advirtió de que la respuesta del Gobierno a las recomendaciones del Comité de Selección es demasiado débil.

He said: “We seemed to be accepting few recommendations – mostly ones to do nothing.” Dijo: "Nos parecía ser la aceptación de algunas recomendaciones - la mayoría de los que no hagan nada."

Have Your Say: 1978: Labour opposed ID cards to curb illegal immigration Danos tu opinión: 1978: Trabajo se opuso a las tarjetas de identificación para frenar la inmigración ilegal
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Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 Martes, 30 de diciembre de 2008

• Unrest caused by bad economy may require military action, report says – ‘Pervasive public health emergencies’ may require call on military 29 Dec 2008 A US Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
• Flu watchdog lab planned 29 Dec 2008 ‘The idea is to strengthen our surveillance against the dreaded bird flu and be ready with a disease control plan if it strikes.’
• Jakarta ends stand-off on bird flu vaccines – Indonesia’s health minister accused the US of trying to use bird flu samples to create a biological weapon . 24 Feb 2008
• DoD to carry out ‘military missions’ during pandemic, WMD attack 23 Oct 2007
• DoD to ‘augment civilian law’ during pandemic or bioterror attack 11 May 2007
• Scientists Recreate 1918 Flu and See Parallels to Bird Flu –In 2005, US Army scientists reconstructed Spanish flu virus by extracting genetic fragments from the bodies of victims exhumed from the Alaskan permafrost. 18 Jan 2007
• KBR awarded Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M 24 Jan 2006 KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton Co., said Tuesday it has been awarded a contingency contract from the Department of Homeland Security to supports its Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the event of an emergency.
• Rumsfeld’s growing stake in Tamiflu –Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing . 31 Oct 2005 The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it’s proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that’s now the most-sought after drug in the world. Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)’s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million , according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.
• Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004 Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice.

Have Your Say: US, Japanese Researchers Mix Samples of 1918 Flu Pandemic to Recreate Deadly Code
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Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

The Independent - We’ve got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don’t care any more – providing we don’t offend the Israelis. It’s not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel’s side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand force.

Ever since 1948, we’ve been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis – just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist “death wagon” will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be “liberated”. And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise “restraint” – as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery. Hamas’s home-made rockets have killed just 20 Israelis in eight years, but a day-long blitz by Israeli aircraft that kills almost 300 Palestinians is just par for the course.

The blood-splattering has its own routine. Yes, Hamas provoked Israel’s anger, just as Israel provoked Hamas’s anger, which was provoked by Israel, which was provoked by Hamas, which … See what I mean? Hamas fires rockets at Israel, Israel bombs Hamas, Hamas fires more rockets and Israel bombs again and … Got it? And we demand security for Israel – rightly – but overlook this massive and utterly disproportionate slaughter by Israel. It was Madeleine Albright who once said that Israel was “under siege” – as if Palestinian tanks were in the streets of Tel Aviv.

By last night, the exchange rate stood at 296 Palestinians dead for one dead Israeli. Back in 2006, it was 10 Lebanese dead for one Israeli dead. This weekend was the most inflationary exchange rate in a single day since – the 1973 Middle East War? The 1967 Six Day War? The 1956 Suez War? The 1948 Independence/Nakba War? It’s obscene, a gruesome game – which Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, unconsciously admitted when he spoke this weekend to Fox TV. “Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game,” Barak said.

Exactly. Only the “rules” of the game don’t change. This is a further slippage on the Arab-Israeli exchanges, a percentage slide more awesome than Wall Street’s crashing shares, though of not much interest in the US which – let us remember – made the F-18s and the Hellfire missiles which the Bush administration pleads with Israel to use sparingly.

Quite a lot of the dead this weekend appear to have been Hamas members, but what is it supposed to solve? Is Hamas going to say: “Wow, this blitz is awesome – we’d better recognise the state of Israel, fall in line with the Palestinian Authority, lay down our weapons and pray we are taken prisoner and locked up indefinitely and support a new American ‘peace process’ in the Middle East!” Is that what the Israelis and the Americans and Gordon Brown think Hamas is going to do?

Yes, let’s remember Hamas’s cynicism, the cynicism of all armed Islamist groups. Their need for Muslim martyrs is as crucial to them as Israel’s need to create them. The lesson Israel thinks it is teaching – come to heel or we will crush you – is not the lesson Hamas is learning. Hamas needs violence to emphasise the oppression of the Palestinians – and relies on Israel to provide it. A few rockets into Israel and Israel obliges.

Not a whimper from Tony Blair, the peace envoy to the Middle East who’s never been to Gaza in his current incarnation. Not a bloody word.

We hear the usual Israeli line. General Yaakov Amidror, the former head of the Israeli army’s “research and assessment division” announced that “no country in the world would allow its citizens to be made the target of rocket attacks without taking vigorous steps to defend them”. Quite so. But when the IRA were firing mortars over the border into Northern Ireland, when their guerrillas were crossing from the Republic to attack police stations and Protestants, did Britain unleash the RAF on the Irish Republic? Did the RAF bomb churches and tankers and police stations and zap 300 civilians to teach the Irish a lesson? No, it did not. Because the world would have seen it as criminal behaviour. We didn’t want to lower ourselves to the IRA’s level.

Yes, Israel deserves security. But these bloodbaths will not bring it. Not since 1948 have air raids protected Israel. Israel has bombed Lebanon thousands of times since 1975 and not one has eliminated “terrorism”. So what was the reaction last night? The Israelis threaten ground attacks. Hamas waits for another battle. Our Western politicians crouch in their funk holes. And somewhere to the east – in a cave? a basement? on a mountainside? – a well-known man in a turban smiles.

Have Your Say: Fisk: Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, and Lessons of History are Ignored
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Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

leninology.blogspot.com

I warned you months ago: the magic word is ‘Sderot’ . Any amount of barbarism can be justified by the frankly risible rocket attacks on southern Israel. The Israeli propaganda line, repeated with dogged fanaticism by its apologists everywhere, is that Israel performed an immense act of goodness in withdrawing its colonies from Gaza, and the native ingrates actually responded by sending a spray of Qassam rockets aloft in celebration. To add insult to injury, the bleeders even used former ’settlement’ buildings to launch the rockets from. Such beliefs have to be encouraged to justify such outrageous proposals as the levelling of Gaza . Before this gets out of hand and people start using the rockets to justify some sort of “holocaust” , let us at least bear the facts in mind for a while.

The Qassam rockets were being used as one component of an array of military tactics deployed by Gazan groups before the pull-out, the Gush Katif colonies being the prominent target. This was a response to a wave of violence and expulsions in which, for example, 13,350 residents of Rafah had their homes and life belongings destroyed in the year preceding the withdrawal, courtesy of Israeli tanks and Caterpillar bulldozers. Parts of Gaza came to resemble Grozny. The Israelis frequently attacked ambulances, at one point using the argument that UNRWA had allowed Qassam rockets to be loaded on board one such vehicle (this turned out to be a lie, but it is still repeated on many a media outlet and website). The vast majority of casualties from their use date back to the period of formal colonialism. After the withdrawal, the rate at which these were used diminished dramatically. Their use has spiked in response to serial atrocities against Palestinians, such as the slaughter of the Ghaliya family on the Gaza beach, (in which Hamas broke an eighteen month unilateral ceasefire ).

There were few such rockets fired during the six-month ceasefire, even though Israel didn’t respect its terms, but their use was increased again as Israel broke the truce on November 4th (burn that date into your brain and remember it next time someone tells you that those nasty Hamas thugs wouldn’t renew the ceasefire). Now, there are legitimate arguments about both the efficacy and ethics of using such weapons. To my mind, they have very little going for them as a tactic of resistance. But the apparently widespread belief that Qassam rockets are the vindictive and jubilant response of sneering Palestinian jihadists to Israeli mushiness is not justified by any evidence. In fact, if the aim were truly to end Qassam rocket fire, the logical option would to be engage in a unilateral ceasefire and invite Hamas to enter into a process of dialogue. But that brings us to another myth, the myth of Hamas rejectionism, which is for another post.

Have Your Say: The Qassam rockets myths
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Monday, December 29th, 2008

By NORM KENT

He picked for Vice President one of the major architects of the Drug War.

He picked for Chief of Staff one of the chief opponents of medical marijuana.

He is talking about picking for the Drug Czar spot a conservative candidate who has been a congressional leader fighting drug reform.

He has promised to put an end to raids on medical dispensaries in California, but he has not said he will broadly support the Hinchey-Rohrbacher Amendment which would let states decide the issue.

He has moved from once supporting marijuana decriminalization to publishing comments that he cannot overuse ‘political capital’ on the issue.

He has now appointed for Attorney General a candidate who has a long history of opposing drug policy reforms and who has in court supported mandatory minimum sentencing and civil forfeiture.

Allen St. Pierre, the Executive Director of NORML, summed it up best about Mr. Obama’s appointments thus far: “So Far, Not So Good:” His thought-provoking article appears on the NORML.com website at its blog.

From summarizing why the selection of Joe Biden as Vice President caused him ‘digestive tumult’ to tracing Rahm Emanuel’s anti-drug policies for the past decade, the article captures a snapshot of what was routine politics as usual for the players soon to be in power.

When it comes to our 44th President, some of his positions on marijuana were once encouraging. But as Mr. Obama has moved towards the national limelight, there is a new found frustration for reformers. It seems the President to be is moving from the left to the middle. And as Loudon Wainwright once wrote in a popular song, the only things you see in the middle of the road are dead skunks and yellow lines. Still, I am not alarmed yet. It is way too early, and there is still room and reason for optimism.

Commencing your administration in the face of a national economic crisis at home while American soldiers are at war abroad can focus your priorities on other issues outside the need for weed. We have seen what happened to Bill Clinton when he tried, too early in his administration, to advance the cause of gay rights by banning discrimination against homosexuals in the military. He started a firestorm which burnt up valuable first months of his presidency.

We do know this though, and it is a challenging start. Rather decisively, on the official administration website, at www.change.gov , the following statement appears:  President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

What can we then expect of Mr. Obama once he becomes President?

I think there are many encouraging things.

First, in his past he has acknowledged the broad failures of the drug war, declaring in 2004 that it was an “utter failure” which needs to be rethought.

Second, as an African-American in an urban community, few people will be as sensitive as Mr. Obama to the exhaustive legal toll this drug war exacts on minority communities. The arrests come quicker, the prosecutions are more frequent, and the sentences are longer. Drug arrests have been tools to deny poor people driver’s licenses, scholarships and federal welfare benefits, causing innocuous conduct to endure catastrophic consequences for otherwise decent people.

Third, the President is ‘with it’. His telling comments to a group of students when asked whether he ‘inhaled’ marijuana were “Of course, I thought that was the whole purpose.”

Those remarks are a reflection of the candor and commitment of Mr. Obama to address the issue in a new light. He did not play a game of Clintonian holier-than-thou cover-up. With the same self-deprecating qualities that he shared with the nation when he called himself a ‘mutt,’ Mr. Obama implied in tone and substance that marijuana may not be as bad as we have been hearing from the government for too many decades.

Last week, the website Change.gov asked the public to provide them with a list of the top public policy questions facing America. Visitors to the site were then asked to vote on which questions should take priority for the incoming administration.

After receiving nearly 100,000 total votes on more than 10,000 separate public policy issues, the most widely voted on question for Obama is:

“Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the US”

Maybe Rahm Emanuel has turned a corner as well. Rahm is politically smart if nothing else, so I hope that he’ll follow his boss’ lead in the area of criminal justice reforms. Also, to his credit, after voting years against Hinchey-Rohrbacher Amendment in 2007, as member of Congress from Illinois, Rahm voted in favor of holding back federal funding from law enforcement (read DEA) to raid or harass medical marijuana cultivators and dispensaries.

I know I have been unsuccessful in getting my own liberal Congresswoman from South Florida, Debbie Wasserman-Schulz, to even support this effort. Maybe Mr. Emanuel will influence her and dozens of others. It will take leadership from the oval office. That can only happen when the people in office are looked upon as enlightened reformers rather than being weak on crime.

Politically, I know such polls as the one the administration inaugurated here are instrumental in turning mindsets. If we can show politicians that it is ‘safe’ to support drug reform, even popular, we can suddenly find them on our side. To their credit, outstanding philanthropists like Peter Lewis and George Soros have been national leaders in helping bring public opinion out of the closet. These are men whose voices may be heard by the new administration. And I am here for them too if they need me. My number is listed. So too is Barney Frank, the influential Massachusetts congressman who has long supported decriminalization legislation.

The truth is that people who support decriminalization have always been a silent majority afraid to speak out. But give them a secret ballot box, and in state after state, you see massive support for medical marijuana and a more enlightened approach to marijuana reform. Perhaps the President, in his own unique disarming way, can lead a new path. He has surrounded himself with educated leaders who also have been willing to speak candidly in favor of decriminalization including new Cabinet nominee Bill Richardson.

We do not need a new Drug Czar, either. This is America. Czars are for Russia. What we need is the appointment of an educator, a scientist, a doctor, a constitutional rights lawyer to pave the way to a new era of drug enlightenment.

At the last NORML Board of Directors meeting, one issue we raised was one many of us within the drug reform movement can support. It has been three decades since the Shafer Commission released its national study on marijuana, which Nixon immediately trashed. Perhaps a new Blue Ribbon Commission, with decades more research behind it, and years of medical marijuana evidence, can look into new recommendations for the 21st century.

On one hand, such a Presidential panel would buy time for the new administration to get settled in with more pressing priorities. But it would also give drug reformers a national platform to address so many issues that have been, forgive me, cultivated- since the Shafer Commission, from forfeiture laws to raids on dispensaries, from the THC content of marijuana to medicinal initiatives. It is time to look again at marijuana with a scholarly and clinical eye instead of with SWAT teams and law enforcement raids.

Correspondingly, it is also time for the national drug reform organizations to speak with a singular voice and work together for a common purpose. There needs to be a unity of purpose, and leaders from the Marijuana Policy Project, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Drug Policy Alliance, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, and a host of other respected reform organizations, too many to mention here, should hold their own meeting to develop a common theme with a collective initiative. We need to work together to send a message that is enlightened and progressive, convincing legislators and the executive branch that we are responsible and right..

The drug reform movement needs to act in a way that President-elect Obama has asked all of us to move towards: not to be tied to the politics of the past and the way things have always been done, but to engage hope by broadening our constituency and reaching out to others. Within the drug reform movement, fratricide must come to an end. We must bury the hatchet on our own rivalries, and move forward with a common purpose. We defeat ourselves by ourselves when we do not.

Our cause is just, and our goals have always been righteous. We may have only ourselves to blame if we cannot achieve now what we have fought so long for. I would say our time is now, but I thought that in 1976 when the Attorney General of the United States, then Ramsey Clark, said we should see an end to unjust marijuana laws before the end of the decade. I think we are overdue. Together, let us do better than we have already done.

We have a President who is willing to listen, a Congress that is willing to learn, and a public that is salivating for a better solution.

Norm Kent is a criminal defense lawyer from Fort Lauderdale who serves on the Board of Directors for NORML www.norml.com He can be reached at Norm@normkent.com , and his law office website is www.normkent.com

Have Your Say: What Will Obama Do About Cannabis?
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Monday, December 29th, 2008

By Venezolana de Televisión

“The Kingdom of Heaven is not a kingdom or life in the clouds. Either it exists here or else it exists nowhere,” President Chávez issued a wake-up call during the last Sunday program of 2008. “It’s on earth, and that is why Christ came here and was born among the poor, in the manger.”

The head of state in Venezuela noted that the capitalist system throughout its history has distorted Jesus’s message to the poor about the Kingdom of Heaven, with the sole purpose of exploiting the impoverished majorities in favor of the minorities who enjoy the wealth of the world.

The Christ child was born on earth, poor and human, to fight and make this planet truly the kingdom of heaven, of equality and justice, not to be poor in life and to win glory in the afterlife, Comandante Chávez said during the last Aló Presidente broadcast of the year, speaking from El Valle where he inaugurated a new People’s Clinic.

“The message of Christ, who said the Kingdom of Heaven is that of the poor, has been very often manipulated. In this way they have for centuries manipulated the poor of the world, to make them quietly accept exploitation.”

“Christ was born to call on us to create, here on earth, the Kingdom of Love,” Chávez explained, adding that this kingdom has no other name than socialism.

The president reminded the audience that socialism comes from what is social, as capitalism proceeds from capital.

“Socialism is the doctrine, science, of development of what is social. Capitalism is the immoral art, science, and technology of development of capital or growth of capital — (for capitalism) what matters is that even while people die of hunger capitalists accumulate capital.”

The president stressed that therein lies the key to understanding the confrontation that began again, in which Venezuela has become the center of the battle between socialists and capitalists, “between people becoming more politically conscious every day and those who exploited them forever.” He said that that is why the issue of the constitutional amendment is of vital importance as it will allow Venezuela to go farther on the socialist path, the truly human and democratic path, for the happiness of the Venezuelan people.

To conclude the last Aló Presidente of the year, the president wished the best for Venezuelan families, urging them to enjoy Christmas and New Year’s Eve with love, moderation, and simplicity so they can continue in 2009 the work of making Venezuela a great nation of justice and equality.

Have Your Say: Chávez: Capitalists Have Manipulated the Message of Christ to Exploit the Poor
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Monday, December 29th, 2008

The first day of what Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak assures us will be a “long and difficult” war in the Gaza Strip has come and gone, leaving at least 300 Gazans dead , over 700 wounded, and one Israeli civilian killed and four wounded in retaliatory strikes . The number of Gaza civilians dead is not currently known, but the attacks centered around police stations and killed a large number of Palestinian security forces.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak hit out at calls to cease the attacks and renew the ceasefire, saying “ for us to be asked to have a ceasefire with Hamas is like asking you to have a ceasefire with al-Qaeda .” Except of course that up until a week ago Israel did have a six month long ceasefire with Hamas which Minister Barak repeatedly defended from the more hawkish opposition members.

But the time for an unpopular peace is over in Israel, and police are being dispatched to crack down on those protesting against the unpopular war that has followed.

Meanwhile, as Gazans count their dead and tend to their wounded in a chaotic scene , Hamas and the assorted militant factions that reside in the strip are vowing revenge. Hamas says “ all options are open ” in responding to the attacks, while Islamic Jihad is ordering all its fighters to respond to “ the Israeli slaughter .”

Those still calling for peace between the belligerent factions appear for now to have little traction, and the war is liable to continue to escalate.

Have Your Say: Over 300 Killed in Gaza as Attacks Continue
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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 1:09 am and is filed under Contributions & Guests . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.

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