Reforms at leading news magazine believed to be political http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8076-reforms-at-leading-news-magazine-believed-to-be-political.htmlThe sacking of two directors of news magazine Cambio and the decision to turn the influential weekly into a monthly magazine is widely believed to be the result of critical reporting by the magazine.Luis Fernando Santos, director of Casa Editorial El Tiempo, publisher for Cambio and the country's largest newspaper El Tiempo, explained Wednesday that the magazine was to undergo reforms because of a lack of rentability.
Columnists and journalists in most of the country's media responded sceptically to the news and said that the magazine simly had been too critical of the government and had performing a too independent for the comfort of the Santos family, whose Juan Manuel Santos is a probable presidential candidate and Francisco is vice-President of the Republic.One of the sacked directors of the magazine, Rodrigo Pardo, talking to newspaper El Espectador, agrees with the critics.
El Espectador: The closing of the magazine was a sudden decision that you were told about on the spot or were you informed before?
Rodrigo Pardo: Over the past year I learned that the board was evaluating the so-called business model and that there were concerns about it. On the other hand, rumors came to me about the discomfort caused by the reporting and analysis we did. Cambio in 2009 revealed, among other thing, the links between Guillermo Valencia Cossio with the mafia, the deal between Colombia and the U.S. about the military bases and the agricultural subsidies scandal. I thought these good results would be sufficient for the publisher to decide to proceed with the magazine. I never imagine it being closed and even less me leaving El Tiempo.
EE: For having a policy of being critical and opposing?
RP: Because of us being independent. Maria Elvira and I do not believe in deals between journalists and those in power. Calling Cambio to ask a favor, by a politician, or to negotiate an article, was a waste of time. Unfortunately, the proximity between the government and the media has caused that policy makers and business leaders feel entitled to influence the content and to negotiate approaches
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
US government disrespects and threatens Venezuelan democracy http://www.abn.info.ve/go_news5.php?articulo=219016&lee=17
The US government attacked one more time the Venezuelan democratic system with statements made by officials who irresponsibly accuse Venezuela's foreign policy and threaten the national sovereignty. The president of the Foreign Policy Commission of the National Assembly Roy Daza denounced the statements made by the Director of the US National Intelligence Dennis Blair, when he presented the 2009 Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
This report accuses Venezuela of imposing a populist and authoritarian political model that makes democratic institutions and the Bolivarian foreign policy obstruct the free trade expansion and oppose the free trade treaties.Likewise, he labelled this report as a threat of the US administration against the Venezuelan democracy and security, based on the Monroe Doctrine and opposed to the unrenounceable principle of national security.
“Most of the Latin American countries in the Summit of Mar de Plata, held in November 2005, opposed to the implementation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in the region, since this would have caused the economic bankrupt of our countries and the continuity of the long neoliberal night,” said the deputy. He condemned the denunciations against Venezuela since they are based on the inexistent support to terrorism and drug trafficking, and said that these are just excuses of the US to prepare a military attack against the country.
Mr. Daza recalled that the Bolivarian government openly opposes the imperial US policy and has denounced in international meetings the expansionism and the meddling strategy of Washington over South American countries. “Mr. Dennis Blair cynically and barefacedly meddles in our internal affairs trying to encourage the destabilization plans lead by small groups that try to undermine the bases of our democracy,” he added.
comment:also see...
Dennis Cutler Blair http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Cutler_Blair
The U.S.-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network objected to Blair's possible choice as U.S. intelligence chief. "As Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command from February 1999 to May 2002 Blair was the highest ranking U.S. military official in the region during the final period of violence in East Timor, as Indonesian security forces and their militias killed, looted, and destroyed the country's infrastructure," the group stated, in a press release.
"In April 1999, Blair met in Jakarta with General Wiranto, then the Defense Minister and the commander of Indonesian forces, just days after dozens of refugees in a Catholic church in the town of Liquica, East Timor were hacked to death by machetes by militia members backed by the military. ... Instead of pressuring Wiranto to shut down the militias, Blair promised new military assistance, which the military 'took as a green light to proceed with the militia operation.'"
also see...Bolivia Decries US Intelligence Report http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/february/06/latam-10020604.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands march against health reforms http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8074-thousands-march-against-health-reforms.html
Some estimated 57 thousand Colombians took to the streets on Saturday to protest against a number of controversial health reforms ordered by the government to prevent the country's health care system from collapsing.According to the different local authorities, there were no incidents during the marches that lasted from 10AM until 1PM.
The protesters opposed the social emergency declared by the government to enforce a number of decrees Bogota thinks to need to improve the situation of the health care system and a number of decrees that were issued following the social emergency.The most controversial points in the reform decrees, issued over the last few weeks, have to do with the evaluation of patients’ ability to pay for treatments not included in the Obligatory Health Plan, or POS, and the fact that they will have to use their savings or retirement benefits to cover them.
Also criticized are the economic sanctions and even dismissal of doctors who prescribe expensive medicines or recommend treatments not included in the POS. According to medical associations, this “straitjacket” is a violation of professionals’ autonomy and the very practice of medicine.
The demonstrators consider that the decrees violate acquired rights and cut back medical and hospital care.President Alvaro Uribe, in response to the protests, said that some of the decrees were wrongly formulated and understood and demanded the decrees to be rephrased.
coment-this is supplementation...The Consequences of Neoliberalism COLOMBIA: IN VIVO TEST OF HEALTH SECTOR PRIVATIZATION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD Tony De Groote, Pierre De Paepe,and Jean-Pierre Unger http://www.itg.be/itg/Uploads/Netwerken/HS/doc/4/ref%204.9%20De%20Groote%20T%20et%20al._IJHS_2005_Colombia%20-%20in%20vivo%20test%20of%20health%20sector%20privatization.pdf
The Colombian reform aggravated this situation by undermining people’s attempts to develop community health services (48). This is a familiar feature of administrations in developing countries, when a ruling elite uses its monopoly power to weaken solidarity between rich and poor and so increase income inequality (59).
In conclusion, the skyrocketing costs linked to the Colombian reform cast doubts on the efficiency of the new social security system, more so because the increase in spending is not related to an increase in real access to health services or to improvement in disease control. The impressive increase in public and private funds did not prove to be value for money. The Colombian case seriously undermines claims that the neoliberal international aid policy is evidence-based
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trailer for UNDER RICH EARTH, a Cinema Politica Network Feature Documentary http://vimeo.com/2808761
Under Rich Earth is a story about ordinary people with extraordinary courage. In a remote mountain valley in Ecuador, coffee and sugarcane farmers face the dismal prospect of being forced off their land to make way for a mining project
Their resistance ultimately leads to a remarkable and dangerous stand off between farmers and a band of armed paramilitaries deep in the cloud forest. In a world dominated by news of massacres and terrorism, Under Rich Earth offers a surprising and poignant tale of hope and determination
comment-click the photo above to read story!!!also see..ANOTHER TRAILER-THE COCA-COLA CASE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUb-PAnflqo COCA COLA USES DEATH SQUADS IN COLOMBIA...also see...Report: Vigil in Toronto for the murder of three opposition to mining http://www.solidarityresponse.net/reporte-vigilia-en-toronto-por-el-asesinato-de-tres-opositores-a-la-mineria/
According to a representative of the Toronto Community Response Solidarity, the reason to protest the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is that: "No human rights requirements are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, if reporting requirements reporting, but the current rules on human rights do not exist. The TSX is being sued itself as one of those involved in illegal activities related to exploration at a mine in Ecuador, where the security guards fired on peaceful demonstrators, including women and children. "
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max Keiser Report: John Perkins on Engineered Takedown of US Economy http://beforeitsnews.com/story/16376/Max_Keiser_Report:_John_Perkins_on_Engineered_Takedown_of_US_Economy.html
Interview starts at 14:12. This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the scandals behind Hank Paulson's memoir allegations, Hilary Clinton's threats to cut China's energy supply, and Barack Obama's big, big budget. Keiser also talks to former economic hitman John Perkins about whether or not the United States is now being attacked by economic hitmen.
In this interview John Perkins explains how debt is used as a weapon to take down foreign governments, and how this weapon has been let loose on the American people. Part 2 is also a must watch Max and Catherine go into more detail concerning the conspiracy to steal the wealth of the middle class by using debt to enslave homeowners in a time of falling wages.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disappearing Alaska village takes climate suit to Ninth Circuit http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/83646027.html
In this file photo taken Sept. 11, 2006 and released by the Northwest Arctic Borough, a new sea wall that runs along the seaward side of the village of Kivalina, Alaska is shown. One of Alaska’s most eroded villages wants to revive a lawsuit that claims greenhouse gasses from oil, power and coal companies are to blame for the climate change endangering the tiny community. The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native village of Kivalina, filed the case in federal court in San Francisco in 2008, but it was dismissed in October. Now they’re appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with their opening brief due March 11.
One of Alaska’s most eroded villages wants to revive a lawsuit that claims greenhouse gasses from oil, power and coal companies are to blame for the climate change endangering the tiny community.
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native village of Kivalina, filed the case in federal court in San Francisco in 2008, but it was dismissed in October. Now they’re appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with their opening brief due March 11.Oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC are among two dozen defendants named in the lawsuit. Representatives for the two companies declined to comment Jan. 28.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More than 100,000 March in Support of Chavez in Print This ShareThis
Dwarfing recent opposition protests, more than 100,000 supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez marched in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, yesterday in defence of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ and to celebrate 18 years since Chavez, then a lieutenant colonel, led a failed civilian-military uprising against the corrupt government of former president Carlos Andrés Pérez on February 4, 1992.
The second term of Carlos Andrés Pérez, from 1989-93, (he served previously as president from 1974-79), had been marked by a series of social crises, including a popular revolt, known as the Caracazo uprising on February 27, 1989 against IMF-imposed neo-liberal reforms, which saw up to 3,000 people shot dead by the military and security forces, as well as and two military rebellions (February 4, 1992 and November 27, 1992). In May 1993 Andrés Pérez became the first Venezuelan president to be forced out of office by the Supreme Court for misappropriation of 250 million bolívars of public funds.
“The soldiers of our armed forces remain loyal together with our people, together with the revolutionary government, never again will we be servile instruments of the oligarchy or any imperial power,” he said.“The real students are the children of the people, not the children of the bourgeoisie encouraged by the empire to overthrow the revolutionary government with their little white hands,” Chávez said in relation to the rightwing student groups.
The term “white hands” (manos blancos) refers to a symbol used by the opposition students in there protests. U.S.-backed youth and student movements in the denominated “Coloured Revolutions”, such as in the former Yugoslavia, the Ukraine, among others, who have links with the opposition student organisations in Venezuela, have used the same symbol.US-Venezuelan attorney Eva Golinger has documented extensive funding by U.S. government-linked organisations such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to opposition student groups in Venezuela.
comment-also see...VIDEO-Colored Revolutions: by Eva Golinger A New Form of Regime Change, Made in USA http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/golinger060210.html
John Yoo Renews Claim That President's Authority to Torture Depends on What Is "Necessary" http://www.truthout.org/john-yoo-renews-claim-that-presidents-authority-torture-depends-what-is-necessary56674
Challenged for his 2005 statement that whether the president could lawfully torture a person's child depends on "why the President thinks he needs to do that," undaunted, John Yoo repeated his claim that it would depend on whether the president finds it "necessary."Yoo spoke in Los Angeles Thursday at a program sponsored by the Federalist Society and the Libertarian Law Council..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IOF Arrests International Activists in Violation of Oslo Accords http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=13723
Israeli soldiers raided, last night, a Ramallah apartment to arrest a Spanish and an Australian activist over expired visas in direct violation of the Oslo Accords, Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said, today.
The Israeli army forcefully entered an apartment in the city of Ramallah and arrested two activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) on suspicion of overstaying their visas. The two, Ariadna Jove Marti, a Spanish journalist, and Bridgette Chappell, an Australian student in the Beirzeit University, were then taken to the Ofer military prison located inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where they were handed over to the Israeli immigration police unit “Oz”.
The raid and detention of the two is in direct violation of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which clearly forbids any Israeli incursion into Area A for reasons not directly and urgently related to security. Even the conduct of “hot pursuit” is disallowed in non-security related matters, which overstayed visas are.
Condi and Gorby to launch world leaders' Black Sea cruise http://www.worldleaderstravel.com/trips/global-challenges-in-a-post-perestroika-world.html
NEWS ALERT: Soldiers are committing suicide at an alarming rate http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2010/02/news-alert-soldiers-are-committing.html
This video provides some statistics on just how many returning soldiers and Marines are committing suicide from untreated PTSD and other causes from extended tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Court in Sucumbíos Manipulated by Chevron Once Again Shows Evidence of Company's Abuse of the Law http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1997
The coordinator of the Assembly of People Affected by Texaco, Luis Yanza, showed his indignation over the decision by the deputy president of Sucumbíos' Provincial Court, Nicolás Zambrano, for allowing the abuse of the law and the delay in sentencing in the Chevron case. There are thousands of affected peoples from the Amazon asking Chevron for reparations over serious environmental, health and cultural damages, which were caused by Texaco's oil operations in the region for 26 years.
Judge Zambrano, in his last ruling on February 2nd, gave into demands that the three experts in charge of the latest research on the case present new work plans. The judge granted the request, and gave the experts 8 more days to present their plans. The plaintiffs perceive this as both illegal and inappropriate, given that these experts were legally brought in to the case in December of last year and they have yet been able to begin their labor due to the pressures and obstacles created by Chevron.
Judge Zambrano, in his last ruling on February 2nd, gave into demands that the three experts in charge of the latest research on the case present new work plans. The judge granted the request, and gave the experts 8 more days to present their plans. The plaintiffs perceive this as both illegal and inappropriate, given that these experts were legally brought in to the case in December of last year and they have yet been able to begin their labor due to the pressures and obstacles created by Chevron.
According to Luis Yanza, this is one of many acts of corruption and pressure by the oil company in order to delay the case, and in giving in, the judge has turned into an accomplice. Yanza recalled that the research by the three experts was solicited by Chevron itself in October of 2003, but Chevron never showed interest in their work.
Humberto Piaguaje, leader of the Secoya community, called on Judge Zambrano to not be fooled by the oil company, adding that by accepting Chevron's unreasonable demands, it is leaving 30,000 Ecuadoreans defenseless in the worst environmental crime committed by Texaco.
comment-also see...ECUADOR: HISTORIC TRIAL AGAINST CHEVRON http://chevrontoxico.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indigenous survival and resistance — Australia and Latin America http://www.greenleft.org.au/2010/825/42452
Oscar Perez, a founder of the indigenous organisation Adepu in Chile, spoke of the long history of oppression of indigenous peoples in Latin America, and the strong record of resistance and revolution in response. Perez summarised the story of indigenous resistance to the Spanish colonisers in Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico, and the struggle of the Mayan peoples in Mexico and Central America, against Spanish and US imperialism.
He also stressed the continuing resistance of the Mapuche people of Chile to the theft of their land and culture. Coral Wynter, from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN), pointed to the back cover of GLW, which read: “Avatar is real”. The battle over indigenous land and resources continues in Latin America today, she noted.
But revolutionary governments, like that of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and President Evo Morales in Bolivia, were supporting and defending the rights of indigenous peoples in those countries, she said. The Venezuelan constitution guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples, and the Chavez government has radically improved services to their communities for the first time in the country's history. Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president in its history of Latin America, has based his government on defence of indigenous communities. Not surprisingly, he has the overwhelming support of the majority indigenous population.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands march in major cities across Colombia against social emergency decrees http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/66499-NN/miles-marchan-en-principales-ciudades-de-colombia-contra-decretos-de-emergencia-social/
Thousands of Colombians marched on Saturday in 14 cities and several foreign against the social emergency decrees promoted by President Álvaro Uribe, including the questioning of medical autonomy, the furthering of the health service companies and financial burden by both treatments and examinations of patients.
In the Colombian capital, Bogota, the first stop was outside the Ministry of Social Protection. Terminally ill patients, medical students, doctors and thousands more left to go to express their opposition to the decrees emanating from the Colombian executive. "I feel sad that after having worked, having paid into the health system for me and my wife now they want to take what little we have. This can't be, so I am here freely at this event and I'm angry because it's very sad for my country and my people, "he told teleSUR cameras, Francisco Gutierrez, a user of the health system.
Although President Uribe called on the chains of laboratories and health agencies to rationalize the cost of medicines and treatments, Colombians are still unhappy and ready to form a new national campaign to pressure the Constitutional Court not to adopt these decrees. At the protest, and with just eight years of age, the lens captured Paul, who with his father, Jorge Castillo, as they walked the capital's streets despite his physical limitations caused by cerebral palsy. They demanded the right to treatment.
"You need a range of therapies that allow you to develop the whole motor skills lost in the time of the accident, then that therapy involves physiotherapy, occupational therapy, special education, audiology phone and everything to help the regeneration process to neurologically permitt greater mobility, "said Castillo. Another patient, Gloria Tobar, testified that she has paid for health services since she was 17 years, and now, when you need therapeutic drugs to combat the disease that consumes her, shes given generic drugs and not the ones she requires. For those we must pay with our personal finances.
"I've been paying since age 17 and drugs that give me now are generic. Nestor Alvarez, representative of the High-Cost Diseases Association, ensures that all decrees that when companies seek health providers they have great economic benefits, while providing fewer services to Colombians. "This Saturday, as thousands marched, the president called on officials of his government for drafting social emergency decrees in a confusing manner, resulting in misinformation in the community.
"We adorned with a bit of confusing literature and what we do is create difficulties in assessing the Colombians on an issue as important as the issue of health. Wrangle implementing regulations to make these popular poets and poetry, you mean, "he said. teleSUR - Snail / MM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uranium Mining in the Black Hills Uranium Mining In The Black Hills http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/02/uranium-mining-in-black-hills.html
The planned uranium mine site in the southern Black Hills can impact four aquifers. Powertech, Inc. USA plans to begin uranium extraction in 2011 and operate for 15 years in the permit area of 10,580 acres located in Dewey and Burdock Counties, north of Edgemont, SD. PT plans to drill 4000-8000 wells to a depth of 400-800 feet underground to extract 1 million pounds uranium per year, initially using 4000 gallons of water per minute.
As well as the four aquifers in this area, the site includes the surface water of Beaver Creek and Pass Creek, which empty into the Cheyenne River downstream from the mine site. To permanently store the mining waste of radioactive water and sludge, PT plans to use several evaporation ponds and deep disposal wells. Thirty-eight people currently live within a 6 mile radius of the proposed mine, with a cattle ranch nearby that raises beef for sale as food.
PT plans to locate its’ processing plant in the Burdock area. Once this area is mined out sometime around the year 2026, PT plans to continue to use the area as a yellow cake processing site for uranium extracted from its mines in Wyoming and Colorado, according to PT’s Environmental Protection Agency Aquifer Exemption Application.
Who Is Powertech, Inc. USA? Powertech, Inc. (PT) is a recently formed, foreign-owned uranium exploration corporation from Vancouver, BC, Canada with an office in Denver, CO and Hot Springs, SD. (PT’s parent company is Suez, the giant French-owned multinational corporation.) PT also has ISL mining plans for Wyoming and currently is in the permitting process for ISL uranium mines in both South Dakota and Colorado. PT has completed exploratory drilling in the Dewey-Burdock uranium mine permit areas, which straddles Fall River and Custer counties 12 miles northwest of Edgemont.
PT utilized several thousand drill holes made by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 20-30 years ago when TVA explored and mined the area.From 1951 to 1964, TVA produced 1,500,025 pounds of yellow cake from this uranium deposit. TVA left many uranium drill holes uncapped and abandoned when they left the Black Hills. TVA sold their claims when the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant approached a melt-down, and the horror of Chernobyl happened. PT acquired the property in the Edgemont area in 2005. PT is also preparing to mine uranium southeast of Edgemont in the Plum Creek area
comment-also see this other tribes ordeal few months ago...Americas: Havasupai Gather to Halt Uranium Mining http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2009/08/americas-havasupai-gather-to-halt.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haiti and Media Censorship The Anti-Empire Report http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/haiti-and-media-censorship/
Progressive activists and writers continually bemoan the fact that the news they generate and the opinions they express are consistently ignored by the mainstream media, and thus kept from the masses of the American people. This disregard of progressive thought is tantamount to a definition of the mainstream media. It doesn’t have to be a conspiracy;
it’s a matter of who owns the mainstream media and the type of journalists they hire — men and women who would like to keep their jobs; so it’s more insidious than a conspiracy, it’s what’s built into the system, it’s how the system works. The disregard of the progressive world is of course not total; at times some of that world makes too good copy to ignore, and, on rare occasions, progressive ideas, when they threaten to become very popular, have to be countered.
comment-after reading this keep an eye below for an article on BBC...
Dearborn police chief wanted slain imam's autopsy reports withheld http://www.freep.com/article/201002052100/NEWS01/100205052
Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad asked the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office to withhold the results of an autopsy on a Muslim cleric killed during an FBI raid in October because he was concerned that that the report would fuel "unnecessary public speculation, and accusations."
comment-witholding autopsy reports?so much for protocol...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Counterterrorism Officials Insisted that Crotch Bomber Be Let Into Country http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/
Undersecretary for management at the State Department, Patrick F. Kennedy, told Congress that the State Department wanted to keep crotch bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab out of the U.S., but that intelligence agencies insisted that Abdulmutallab be let into the country.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GMOs contaminate the world- and no one here cares http://www.gmwatch.org/
Ever felt that the approval of GM crops and foods by GM 'regulators' across the world has lacked transparency, due democratic process, and scientific rigour? Then take a look at India for a lesson in how we can begin to take back the power we've given away to corporations and their bought-and-owned politicians and scientists.Over the past week we've put onto our website
(http://www.gmwatch.org/ - Latest News) a stack of documents from independent scientists and other experts submitted to the Indian government, commenting on its Expert Committee's (EC II) recent approval for commercialisation of GM Bt brinjal (aubergine/eggplant).
The approval process appeared to be based on junk science generated by the GM company Mahyco (a subsidiary of Monsanto), who created the GM Bt brinjal in question. Their data was not made fully public or independently evaluated.When the approval announcement met with public outcry, the Minister for the Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, intervened and launched a public consultation and review process.
In response, a group of citizens, independent scientists, and other experts stepped into the knowledge gap to shine a light on the questions and problems around Bt brinjal that Mahyco and its friends in the Indian government didn't want the public to know about. For example, Aruna Rodrigues (lead petitioner in the GM Public Interest Lawsuit in the Supreme Court), with members of civil society, has set up an Independent Scientific Peer Review Panel in an extra-governmental process to do the job that the 'regulator' failed to do.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Committee report assesses work of the BBC World Service http://news.parliament.uk/2010/02/committee-report-assesses-work-of-the-bbc-world-service/
On the World Service’s performance, Committee Chairman Mr Mike Gapes MP said:"The year 2008-09 was a good year for the BBC World Service in terms of its performance. We particularly welcome the unprecedented growth in online audiences, which exceeded all targets."
On BBC Persian television, Mr Gapes said:"We congratulate the BBC World Service on its success in the launch and delivery of BBC Persian television. This provides an invaluable service to the people of Iran and other Farsi speakers in the region by providing an objective news service during a period of great tension.
"We support the ongoing efforts of the World Service to remove the technical blockages imposed by the Iranian government.“We welcome the BBC World Service’s temporary extension of the Persian service to 24 hours of broadcasting and regret that this could not be continued due to financial restraints. We see great value in a 24 hour service and recommend that the BBC World Service make this a top priority for 2009-10."
comment-this is hillarious...first lets look a bit more into who funds bbc persia then some history of bbc persia see ...Constitution and Funding http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/ws_constitution.shtml
BBC World Service operates under the BBC's Royal Charter which is granted by Her Majesty The Queen to guarantee editorial and managerial independence from the Government.Like the rest of the BBC it is accountable to the BBC Trust, appointed under the Royal Charter to act as trustees for the public interest and oversee all BBC activities.
BBC World Service received £70m of extra funding from the UK Government for the three-year period from 2008/2009 to 2010/2011. The announcement was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling during his Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in Parliament in October 2007. The announcement formally confirmed £15m per annum funding for a BBC news and information television channel in the Farsi (Persian) language for Iran which will be launched next year. The go-ahead for the service was announced in October 2006 by then Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown.
also see its history since 1930's...Conference History of the BBC Persian Service http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/files/Conference%20History%20of%20the%20BBC%20Persian%20Service.pdf
“Since 1932, the BBC has carried the British values of impartiality, integrity, quality and creativity across the world. The BBC’s Global News Division, through the World Service’s 43 language services, funded by an ongoing investment by the Foreign Office; BBC World television, funded by commercial revenue; and the international-facing online sites, together reach over 180 million people every week with a dynamic tri-media offer.” (From BBC’s website.)http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070123_html_1930s.shtml
The head of British Legation in Teheran, Sir Reader Bullard, often wrote on the subject. “The success of German Propaganda in Iran and the failure of the British propaganda to make any headway against it have been indicated frequently by the Press Attaché in her reports.”
In a memorandum on 14 August 1940 entitled BBC Broadcasts in Persian, the Foreign Office Eastern Department makes the following suggestions: “It should be emphasized that the following suggestions for the guidance of the BBC in the preparation of material for the news broadcasts in Persian language are intended for the use of regular British officials and they should not be shown or communicated to any Persian speaking official.”
At this stage the line is that Reza Shah should be treated in these broadcasts with due sensitivity and diplomacy. The memo reads: “The Shah is not a popular figure but he is still in complete control and is likely to retain power. While gross flattery of his person or his rule should be avoided, he should be presented as an energetic,modern-minded ruler, under whose rule Iran has made great economic and cultural progress. Iran’s relations with HM Government are excellent. Emphasis might on suitable conditions be laid on the long-standing traditional friendship between the two countries…and care should be taken not to suggest that HM Government has any influence whatsoever on Iranian policy.”
then see...comment-The BBC has been spinning bias lies not only against middle east ,but also latin america...see...BBC's Pro-Israeli Bias http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9307 A Decade of Propaganda? The BBC's Reporting of Venezuelahttp://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog/?p=2085 Researchers at the University of the West of England, UK, have exposed ongoing and systematic bias in the BBC’s news reporting on Venezuela. Dr Lee Salter and Dr Dave Weltman analysed ten years of BBC reports on Venezuela since the first election of Hugo Chavez to the presidency in an ongoing research project, and their findings so far show that the BBC’s reporting falls short of its legal commitment to impartiality, truth and accuracy. Spooks On The Job Selection Panel http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=BBCArchived internal BBC documents from the 1980s, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph under Freedom of Information legislation, have revealed that until the late 1980s the British spy service, MI5, was used to vet existing and potential staff at the public broadcaster. The paper reported that the documents revealed that "at one stage it [MI5] was responsible for vetting 6300 BBC posts - almost a third of the total workforce." The BBC adopted "categorical denial" as its "defensive strategy" to deflect questions about the practice by unions. A March 1, 1985, memo suggested the best approach was "keep head down and stonewall all questions."http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tinker-tailor-broadcaster-spy--bbc-had-mi5-watch-its-staff/2006/07/02/1151778811129.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO-Colored Revolutions: by Eva Golinger
In 1983, the strategy of overthrowing inconvenient governments and calling it "democracy promotion" was born.Through the creation of a series of quasi-private "foundations", such as Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI), Freedom House and later the International Center for Non-Violent Conflict (ICNC), Washington began to filter funding and strategic aid to political parties and groups abroad that promoted US agenda in nations with insubordinate governments.
Behind all these "foundations" and "institutes" is the US Agency for Inter- national Development (USAID), the financial branch of the Department of State. Today, USAID has become a critical part of the security, intelligence and defense axis in Washington. In 2009, the Interagency Counterinsurgency Initiative became official doctrine in the US. Now, USAID is the principal entity that promotes the economic and strategic interests of the US across the globe as part of counterinsurgency operations.
Its departments dedicated to transition initiatives, reconstruction, conflict management, economic development, governance and democracy are the main venues through which millions of dollars are filtered from Washington to political parties, NGOs, student organizations and movements that promote US agenda worldwide. Wherever a coup d'etat, a colored revolution or a regime change favorable to US interests occurs, USAID and its flow of dollars is there
Cambio, one of Colombia’s two main newsmagazines, is going to stop publishing on a weekly basis
Instead, it will be a monthly devoted to lifestyle issues. This is a loss for Colombia; in 2009 Cambio broke two big stories: the existenceof military-base talks between the U.S. and Colombian governments, and the use of an agricultural subsidy program to give cash to some of the country’s biggest landholders http://www.cambio.com.co/paiscambio/847/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_CAMBIO-6185730.html
The “La Silla Vacía” website http://www.lasillavacia.com/historia/6441speculates that the magazine’s abrupt retreat owes to indirect pressure from Álvaro Uribe’s government.
comment-also see...“Agro Ingreso Seguro:” subsidizing the rich http://www.cipcol.org/?p=1137
A Scandal Brews as Colombia Subsidizes Millionaire Farmers https://nacla.org/node/6308
Ecuadorian authorities seized 63 tons of cocaine in 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-ecuador-drugs4-2010feb04,0,7487347.story
That is by far a record, showing the country’s increasing use as a narcotrafficking corridor. By comparison, Colombia seized 203 tons in 2009 http://www.mindefensa.gov.co/descargas2/anexos/5626_Avance_de_la_Politica_de_Defensa_y_Seguridad_-__Excel.xls
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speakers Highlight National Steps Taken to Promote ‘Social Integration’ in Face of Economic Crisis, as Social Development Commission Concludes General Debate http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MUMA-82E3NR?OpenDocument&RSS20=03
Date: 05 Feb 2010 SOC/4760 Commission for Social Development Forty-eighth Session
The economic slowdown had weakened the world's social safety net, but delegates of countries from Nicaragua to Kenya, speaking during the Commission for Social Development's forty-eighth session today, reported some progress in improving the socio-economic situation of their most vulnerable and marginalized citizens thanks to a range of social integration programmes.
Nicaragua's representative, speaking as the Commission concluded discussion on its priority theme of social integration, said that, despite the financial crisis, her country had used a mix of public and private investment to bring everything from food security to decent jobs to free health care services, particularly to traditionally excluded groups.
The Nicaraguan Government was promoting a new model for citizenship that empowered people to design projects for their own communities. The popular "Zero Hunger" Programme had benefited small agriculture producers and issued credits and bonuses to empower women in agribusiness, while health care strategies had led to a reduction in maternal and natal mortality.
Nicaragua was working in solidarity with neighbouring countries to erase discriminatory practices and effect positive social change, she said. A good example of that was the Cuban-Nicaraguan Medical Brigade "Everyone has a Voice" -- which was conducting research on disability in Nicaragua, going house to house to identify physical, mental and genetic disabilities. Once finished, its research would inform Government strategies for health, education and employment to help disabled people. The Government also recently ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Venezuela's representative said it was also partnering with the Cuban Government to improve health care for all -- one of the goals of the 1995 Copenhagen Summit. The two Governments had created a hospital network where thousands of Cuban and Venezuelan doctors provided treatment to almost 25 million people, nearly 90 per cent of the Venezuelan population. The Venezuelan Government's "Barrio" mission -- one of 31 social missions created to meet the citizenry's basic needs in health care, education, food, employment and housing -- had brought health care clinics in low-income communities throughout the country.
The Government believed that, with firm political will, it was possible to reduce poverty, and that belief was the driving force behind the missions' work, she said. Poverty had already dropped from 51 per cent in 2002 to 25 per cent in 2008. The Government had allocated 44.7 per cent of the 2010 federal budget for social programmes to further push down poverty and inequality indicators.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had ranked Venezuela 61st on its Human Development Index of 191 countries, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had declared Venezuela illiteracy free.
comment-Venezuela UN's Millennium Goals http://www.mdgmonitor.org/factsheets_00.cfm?c=VEN&cd=862
Latest statistics: extreme poverty dropped 6% ... poverty at 24.2% http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=88193
News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports: According to National Statistics Institute (INE) president, Elias Eljuri, poverty in Venezuela closed 2009 at 24.2%. Extreme poverty dropped 6%.The figures represent a quadruple reduction compared to figures for 2002 translating into 55% and 25% respectively.Eljuri attributed the results to the President Chavez' social investments ... $330 of 535 billion went to health, education, social security and housing. 75% of oil income has been spent on social matters, especially after royalties in Orinoco oil field shot up from 1 to 30%.
Among other successes, the statistician pointed to unemployment which, he confirms, stands at 6%.The informal economy is no longer dominant standing at 43%. Formerly, it registered at 53% and over.According to the Gini index that measures economic inequalities from 0 to 1, Venezuela registered 0.42% ... the Latin American average is 0.52% making Venezuela's tally the lowest on the continent.By the way, 4 million students at the Bolivarian schools are getting 2 meals a day at school, along with a snack.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow Elite How the World's New Power Brokers Are Upending Our Democracy
Wedel argues in her new book that a group of corrupted elites are destroying the principles that define modern states, free markets and democracy itself.Being in, but not of, an organization enables these players to pursue a “coincidence of interests,” that is, to interweave and perform overlapping roles that serve their own goals or those of their associates.
Because these “nonstate” actors working for companies, quasi-governmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) frequently do work that officials once did, they have privileged access to official information—information that they can deploy to their own ends. And they have more opportunities to use this information for purposes that are neither in the public interest nor easily detected, all the while controlling the message to keep their game going.
FLASHBACK -The following sections of the FAIR web site relevant to Venezuela http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=13
\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miguel Angel Beltran Family asks international supervision in trial http://prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article3581
The arrest of Miguel Angel, is caused by a request for arrest and extradition from Colombia to the Mexican authorities. The application was received by the Central American country's government, which proceeded for that Michelangelo was filed on May 22 to request an extension of their visa, to continue his postdoctoral studies, and reported that they were accused of "criminal behavior abroad ". They immediately proceeded to arrest him, and he shortly after became sick shortly after flying to Colombia, handcuffed and with a hood over his head.
Upon his arrival in Colombia, the Colombian authorities put him before a judge of guarantees, which saw no problem in the way it was carried out, and proceeded to conduct hearings when Michelangelo was ill and incapacitated met by physicians who received him in the airport .The judge then accepted the evidence the prosecution presented that came from defendants computer wich survived the bombing which killed Raul Reyes in Ecuador. Thus, the trial seeks to determine if Miguel Angel Beltran Jaime is the known alias Cienfuegos,wich prosecutors said, is a member of the international front of the FARC, Raul Reyes, with whom he had contact.
Among the actions that would invalidate the process, is torture, crimes against humanity that Professor Miguel Angel suffered when illegally arrested and his extradition to Colombia, other grounds for revocation are: the failures of due process, such as forcing Miguel Angel to appear sick before the audience, going beyond the medical evaluation disabling him for several days, and accepting evidence provided by prosecutors in which there have been irregularities in the chain of custody.
All arguments have been denied and according to Gustavo Garcia, Miguel Angel's lawyer, judges are omitting their constitutional task to defend to protect basic rights of their client and expressing dismay describing how the case: in the second instance the judge denied specialized nullity seven overnight, when such decisions are reported after fifteen or thirty days after filing the required study.
Defense lawyer Miguel Angel says that his client understands the process and is facing trial as a political persecution and despite being accused and treated as a maximum security prisoner, managed to open a library in the maximum security flag national model prison, before being sent unexpectedly to the ward's maximum security prison Picota.
For family, friends and relatives to Michelangelo, the teacher is an excellent scholar and a critic of the establishment, and ensures that the teacher is a victim of the government, that headed by Álvaro Uribe, has become a felony to be in opposition as an academic intellectual,to the political and civil to the State and Democratic Security.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCLAE Calls for Reorganization of the UIS http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/international/2010-02-05/oclae-calls-for-reorganization-of-the-uis/
“The International Union of Students (UIS) —an organization that gathers some 155 student organizations across 112 countries— is in urgent need of restructuring,” said President of the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean of Students (OCLAE) Yordanis Charchaval at a meeting held in Havana on Thursday.Charchaval said that the UIS needs to support national student federations so that they may play a more active role in the social and political struggles in their countries,
and spoke of the importance of spreading more information on the activities of both the OCLAE and the UIE.“We need to gain strength; we have to be as strong as we used to be in the past. The first step towards this goal should be establishing alliances with other student organizations,” she added.OCLAE members also agreed to give more support to progressive and left governments in the region to counteract the effects of the economic crisis and US disinformation campaigns.
comment-backround on- OCLAE http://old.feuu.edu.uy/documentos/otros/oclae/oclae.html
The Latin American and Caribbean Continental Organization of Students (OCLAE) was established on 11 August 1966 by agreement of the Fourth Latin American Students Congress, and mobilizing and coordinating body of anti-imperialist struggles of the student movement in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has played a significant role in promoting actions for reform and democratization of education, eradication of illiteracy, the development of stronger unity and solidarity ties among students of the continent, the conquest and defense of their legitimate rights and claims against the distorting foreign penetration in universities. In keeping with the traditions of struggle of the Latin American and Caribbean students, and a platform widely and deeply democratic, promotes OCLAE intense mobilization against neoliberal policies and foreign debt affecting the region and their impact in contributing to the social ills, notably in the field of education and culture. It is also championed the historic commitment of the student with aspirations of national liberation and independence of peoples and the ideals of peace, in its broadest sense, of all progressive mankind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bolivia Decries US Intelligence Report http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/february/06/latam-10020604.htm
LA PAZ - Authorities of Bolivia's legislative and executive powers rejected on Friday a US intelligence report mentioning the South American nation as one of the countries threatening stability in Latin America.According to ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS) Senator Isaac Avalos, this assertion is yet another act of interference in Bolivia's internal affairs.Avalos described the report as far from reality, as other nations that allegedly threaten the region are more supportive than any other ever, in a clear reference to Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua.
New Deputy Interior Minister Gustavo Torrico said that in 2009, Bolivia registered significant achievements in the war against drug trafficking, without the presence of US elite units or advisors, who used to be devoted to plot against the Executive. On Thursday, President Evo Morales accused the Barack Obama administration of changing policies in order to regain power in some countries in Latin America. "It is no longer by means of coups, but they rather seek internal confrontation, trying to weaken any process of comprehensive transformation in Latin America," stressed Morales.
comment-the us gov is the only one threaning stability not only in region but in the world...see us history of coups in latin ameirca for starters...THE PROOF IS IN THE DOCUMENTS: THE CIA WAS INVOLVED IN THE COUP AGAINST VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CHAVEZ http://www.venezuelafoia.info/english.html
History of U.S. Interventions in Latin America http://www2.truman.edu/~marc/resources/interventions.html
US Empire in Latin America http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/10667
BRAZIL MARKS 40th ANNIVERSARY OF MILITARY COUP DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHED LIGHT ON U.S. ROLEAudio tape: President Johnson urged taking "every step that we can" to support overthrow of Joao Goulart http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB118/index.htm#audio U.S. Ambassador Requested Pre-positioned Armaments to aid Golpistas; Acknowledged covert operations backing street demonstrations, civic forces and resistance groups ISS - Key leaders of Honduras military coup trained in U.S. http://southernstudies.org/2009/06/key-leaders-of-honduras-military-coup-trained-in-us.html
The enduring utility of labels http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/71271
"Under the label of fighting terrorism, the West led by the US has launched wars in distant lands killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Yemen and Iran readily come to mind as actual or potential theatres of war. Somalia, too, is on the list and if the US achieves military success in any, more countries will be targeted in the West’s inexorable drive to grab their resources."
The Source of the Economic Crisis: A Chicago State of Mind http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/71283
This "Chicago" state of mind, Gates argues, had far-reaching consequences that could have been easily foreseen by its advocates. "The results of this purpose-driven ‘operating system’ were guaranteed to concentrate wealth and income and thereby undermine both democracies and markets. By equating personal freedom with financial freedom, we were induced to freely embrace the very forces that now jeopardize freedom," Gates says.
MANIPULATION OF STOCK MARKETS AND CURRENCIES http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2010/02/manipulation-of-stock-markets-and.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Carolina Now Requires ‘Subversives’ to Register, Pay Fee http://rawstory.com/2010/02/south-carolinas-subversive-activities-registration-act-force/
Terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina’s Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.
The state’s “Subversive Activities Registration Act,” passed last year and now officially on the books, states that “every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”
By “subversive organization,” the law means “every corporation, society, association, camp, group, bund, political party, assembly, body or organization, composed of two or more persons, which directly or indirectly advocates, advises, teaches or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States [or] of this State.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO-RT-USA Congress Censors Arab News Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK4_F9KSeqo
Congress passed a bill to label certain Middle Eastern satellite providers of ‘anti-American’ programming as terrorist organizations, in an effort to prevent radical anti-American propaganda from hitting the airwaves. This goes completely against the US tradition of promoting freedom of the press abroad and is flawed for many reasons – plus it will lead to more censorship of Arab media. http://ekawaaz.org/2010/02/06/usa-congress-censors-arab-news-media/
VIDEO-U.S. Activist Comatose, Case Closed Against Israeli Forces http://current.com/items/92075771_u-s-activist-comatose-case-closed-against-israeli-forces.htm
Israel's Justice Ministry has declared that no indictments will be filed against police in the case of American activist Tristan Anderson who was hit by a tear gas canister and left comatose during a demonstration in the West Bank last year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lethal Nato bombing details leaked http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/20102573845766182.html
A deadly airstrike in Afghanistan's Kunduz province last September did not comply with Nato's rules of engagement, according to the military organisation's own investigators.
In a leaked document published by the German newspaper Der Spiegel this week, it was revealed that crucial information was withheld from US pilots by the German military, who ordered the attack that killed scores of Afghan civilians.
Protesters in court for defending heritage http://www.greenleft.org.au/2010/825/42438
HOBART — A group of Aboriginal activists faced court on February 4 over a protest that halted work on the Brighton Bypass in November. Michael Mansell, Jimmy Everett, Sarah Lesley Maynard and Maree Rose Maynard pleaded not guilty in Hobart Magistrates Court to trespassing and contravening the conditions of a notice. Nineteen protesters were charged at the protest. The Brighton Bypass threatens Aboriginal artefacts, some of which are 18,000 years old, in contravention of the Aboriginal Relics Act. The Aboriginal community is demanding the bypass be rerouted to avoid the sensitive sites.
Canadian Polluticians go to Israel to Announce Policies http://ziofascism.net/blog/2010/02/the-jerusalem-effect/
Two years and there is still a news blackout on the existence of Canada’s Israel Allies Caucus, an entity that exists within Canada’s Parliament - presumably to guide the government in a pro-Isr-el direction - something which Canadians have certainly seen with Harper’s codling behaviour towards Isr-eli war crimes during the Gaza atrocity.
It is so hard to get news about the Zionist influence on national politics, that Canadians had to get this information from an Isr-eli paper!
comment-Check this out, too… the biggest story in Canada, that wasn’t! The Israel Allies Caucus http://ziofascism.net/2009/09/the-israel-allies-caucus/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gaia_mia : 2010 OLYMPICS IN CANADA EXPOSED http://www.thefiveringcircus.com/5ring.swf
excellent video exposing the phoney enviromental friendly olympics...it highlights the burden on taxpayers,and the self promotion of its corporate sponsors...THE CORPORATIONS!!!
comment- also see this...Rio de Janeiro: Control of the Poor Seen as Crucial for the Olympics http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2325-rio-de-janeiro-control-of-the-poor-seen-as-crucial-for-the-olympics
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colombian Trade Unionists Win SOLIDAR Award for Struggle for Human Rights http://www.solidar.org/Page_Generale.asp?DocID=13955&thebloc=23686
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. In 2008, 49 trade unionists were murdered, a 25% increase from the year before. This escalation in violence directly contradicts the claims of the Uribe regime that the situation is improving. One of the 49 trade unionists killed was a pregnant teacher by the name of Luz Mariela Diaz Lopez, a member of the Putumayo Educators Association, who was shot on 1 April 2008 in the Guamez valley, Putumayo. Another trade unionist, Emerson Ivan Herrera, was killed alongside her.
The litany of violence does not stop with the killings. Thousands of human rights lawyers, journalists, students, indigenous activists and members of the political opposition have been forcibly disappeared, with torture, death and imprisonment a daily occurrence. Today, 3.6 million Colombians are considered internally displaced people, making it the country with the second highest displaced population in the world. “Impunity for such crimes is almost absolute and this issue remains at the core of the country's human rights crisis. Successive Colombian administrations have allowed the perpetrators of widespread and severe human rights violations to escape punishment and this lack of action by the State has given a virtual green light for the abuses to continue”, said Luis Miguel Morantes Alfonso, President of the CTC.
“Reports show that the situation in Colombia is just getting worse. By awarding the Colombian trade unions with this SOLIDAR Silver Rose Award, we hope to raise awareness of the severe situation and show solidarity with the Colombian trade unions that are carrying out important work to organise Colombian workers: workers who are working under bad conditions, in dangerous working environments, with low salaries, and with no or little social protection”, said Conny Reuter, Secretary General of SOLIDAR.
In addition to the abuse of human rights, Colombian workers suffer from a severe deficit of decent working conditions.“Labour law and policy still exclude more than two thirds of workers from social and worker protection measures, by denying basic workers’ rights to over 12 million people. The law and practices of the Colombian State are contrary to the principles of decent work, leaving nearly 70% of workers in a precarious employment situation”, concluded Percy Oyola Palomá, Deputy Secretary General of the CGT
TRAILER-THE COCA-COLA CASE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUb-PAnflqo
COCA COLA USES DEATH SQUADS IN COLOMBIA...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another poll shows loss of support for Uribe re-election http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8068-another-poll-confirms-majority-support-lost-for-re-election-referendum.html
A second poll published this week on President Alvaro Uribe's potential re-election confirms that the head of state no longer has the support of the majority of Colombians in his bid to stay in power for a third term.CMI and the Colombian National Consultancy Center together conducted the poll, following the judgement of Humberto Sierra, the magistrate appointed by the Constitutional Court to examine the referendum, that the document is unconstitutional.http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8039-key-magistrate-opposed-to-re-election-referendum.html
The results of Friday's poll concur with those of a poll published on Monday, which reported that 47% of Colombians interviewed said they did not think a referendum should be held to change the constitution so that Uribe could stand for a third term as president.The wording of Friday's poll was less specific, simply asking if participants support Uribe's re-election. 54% of respondents answered "no."What is clear from the results of the two polls is that Uribe's popularity is declining. His approval rating has fallen from 66% at the end of November 2009, to less than 50% at the beginning of February 2010.
comment-also see...http://uribewarcriminal.blogspot.com/?zx=e68c3bedd1291522
Afghan Geological Reserves Worth $1 Trillion. No Wonder the US is There http://www.roguegovernment.com/index.php?news_id=19357
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday Afghanistan is sitting on mineral and petroleum reserves worth an estimated one trillion dollars. Karzai said he based his assertion on a $17 million survey being carried out by the US Geological Survey, due to be completed in "a couple of months." Afghanistan has a wide range of deposits, including copper, iron ore, gold and chromite, as well as natural gas, oil and precious and semi-precious stones.
Little has been exploited because the country has been mired in conflict for 30 years. China and India have bid for contracts to develop mines, with the Chinese winning a copper contract. In 2007, China's state-owned metals giant Metallurgical Group Corporation signed a three-billion-dollar contract to develop the Aynak copper mine -- one of the world's biggest -- over the next 30 years. First discovered in 1974, the mine is estimated to contain 11 million tons of copper.
No comments:
Post a Comment