Considering that many Puerto Ricans have been killed and injured in Iraq, it is appropriate and timely to post this topic on Puerto Rico News - Topix. Also, much of Puerto Rico's economic difficulties today are a result of the Cheney-Bush years in the White House. What Washington does concerning the war on terror, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, does have a serious impact on Puerto Rico. It is important that all Puerto Ricans keep well informed and listen to all sides concerning the War on Terror. -- Upfront Yankee.
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: May 21, 2009
President Obama and Dick Cheney conspired on Thursday to propagate a myth. The myth is that we lived through an eight-year period of Bush-Cheney anti-terror policy and now we have entered a very different period called the Obama-Biden anti-terror policy. As both Obama and Cheney understand, this is a completely bogus distortion of history.
The reality is that after Sept. 11, we entered a two- or three-year period of what you might call Bush-Cheney policy. The country was blindsided. Intelligence officials knew next to nothing about the threats arrayed against them. The Bush administration tried just about everything to discover and prevent threats. The Bush people believed they were operating within the law but they did things most of us now find morally offensive and counterproductive.
The Bush-Cheney period lasted maybe three years. For Dick Cheney those might be the golden years. For Democrats, it is surely the period they want to forever hang around the necks of the Republican Party. But that period ended long ago.
By 2005, what you might call the Bush-Rice-Hadley era had begun. Gradually, in fits and starts, a series of Bush administration officials — including Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, Jack Goldsmith and John Bellinger — tried to rein in the excesses of the Bush-Cheney period. They didn’t win every fight, and they were prodded by court decisions and public outrage, but the gradual evolution of policy was clear.
From 2003 onward, people like Bellinger and Goldsmith were fighting against legal judgments that allowed enhanced interrogation techniques. By 2006, Rice and Hadley brought Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in from a secret foreign prison to regularize detainee procedures. In 2007, Rice refused to support an executive order reviving the interrogation program. Throughout the second Bush term, officials were trying to close Guantánamo, pleading with foreign governments to take some prisoners, begging senators to allow the transfer of prisoners onto American soil. (It didn’t occur to them that they could announce the closure of Gitmo first, then figure out what to do with prisoners.)
Cheney and Obama might pretend otherwise, but it wasn’t the Obama administration that halted the practice of waterboarding. It was a succession of C.I.A. directors starting in March 2003, even before a devastating report by the C.I.A. inspector general in 2004.
When Cheney lambastes the change in security policy, he’s not really attacking the Obama administration. He’s attacking the Bush administration. In his speech on Thursday, he repeated in public a lot of the same arguments he had been making within the Bush White House as the policy decisions went more and more the other way.
The inauguration of Barack Obama has simply not marked a dramatic shift in the substance of American anti-terror policy. It has marked a shift in the public credibility of that policy.
In the first place, it is absurd to say this administration doesn’t take terrorism seriously. Obama has embraced the Afghan surge, a strategy that was brewing at the end of the Bush years. He has stepped up drone activity in Pakistan. He has promoted aggressive counterinsurgency fighters and racked up domestic anti-terror accomplishments.
As for the treatment of terror suspects, Jack Goldsmith has a definitive piece called “The Cheney Fallacy” online at The New Republic. He lists a broad range of policies — Guantánamo, habeas corpus, military commissions, rendition, interrogation and so on. He shows how, in most cases, the Obama policy represents a continuation of or a gradual evolution from the final Bush policy.
What Obama gets, and what President Bush never got, is that other people’s opinions matter. Goldsmith puts it well: “The main difference between the Obama and Bush administrations concerns not the substance of terrorism policy, but rather its packaging. The Bush administration shot itself in the foot time and time again, to the detriment of the legitimacy and efficacy of its policies, by indifference to process and presentation. The Obama administration, by contrast, is intensely focused on these issues.”
Obama has taken many of the same policies Bush ended up with, and he has made them credible to the country and the world. In his speech, Obama explained his decisions in a subtle and coherent way. He admitted that some problems are tough and allow no easy solution. He treated Americans as adults, and will have won their respect.
Do I wish he had been more gracious with and honest about the Bush administration officials whose policies he is benefiting from? Yes. But the bottom line is that Obama has taken a series of moderate and time-tested policy compromises. He has preserved and reformed them intelligently. He has fit them into a persuasive framework. By doing that, he has not made us less safe. He has made us more secure.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Personal Essay: An Argument for Puerto Rican Statehood - Latina - 05.20.2009
American citizens enjoy all kinds of rights and privileges that most of us simply take for granted. Think about the presidential election—if you were over 18, did you have any doubt about your right to vote for Obama or any other candidate?
Yet this is not the case for the 2.9 million eligible voters who live on the island of Puerto Rico, despite their status as legal citizens of the United States. Only residents of the 50 states can vote in national elections, and as a commonwealth—poised between statehood and independence—Puerto Rico doesn’t make the cut. Many find this state of affairs outrageous.
Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory for 111 years, yet Puerto Ricans remain second-class citizens. Though excluded from presidential voting and Congressional representation, they were drafted to fight in every U.S. conflict from World War I to Vietnam, when the military became all-volunteer—and they continue to serve. According to Pentagon figures, more than 12,000 island Puerto Ricans have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Juan Perez of Manate, P.R., a proud U.S. soldier, says he hopes to see his voting rights expanded because “if you have to follow the orders of your government, then you should be able to vote for them.” Congressman Jerry Weller (D–Ill.), who supports statehood for Puerto Rico, echoed that view when he recently said, “I believe that if you are eligible to join the United States military and defend our constitution and defend our freedoms, then you should have the right to vote for president.”
Of course, Puerto Ricans themselves have repeatedly voted against both statehood and independence in favor of commonwealth status, which, among other benefits, exempts them from paying federal income taxes. However, the tide may be changing: A pro-statehood governor, Luis Fortuño, was inaugurated in January, and a recent poll reported that 57 percent of islanders now favor statehood.
Even if Puerto Rico doesn’t achieve statehood, Congress can accord voting rights by Constitutional amendment, either by abolishing the electoral college (which ties the presidential election to state-by-state votes) or by defining territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as eligible to hold electoral votes—just like the District of Columbia. Based on population, Puerto Rico could have eight electoral votes, the same as South Carolina and more than 25 smaller states.
As a Nuyorican girl whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, I’ve come to understand the constitutional barrier, but I cannot accept the inaction of Congress, especially while nations like Cuba, Venezuela and Iran have testified in support of the island’s fringe independence movement during anti-colonialism hearings at the United Nations.
Puerto Ricans have done everything their adopted country has asked of them since being acquired by the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Many Puerto Ricans were initially happy to be granted territory status in 1917, assuming that it was the first step to becoming full and equal citizens of this country. It saddens my 79-year-old cousin, Wilfredo Hernandez-Lopez, a retired University of Puerto Rico professor, that so little progress has been made. “All we want is the same equality, rights and obligations as any other citizens within the United States. This situation has caused us great pain,” he says. Another cousin, Anabel Franceschini Rosa, 44, an attorney living in Puerto Rico, explains her frustration this way: “Puerto Rico continues to be the Latina mistress of the United States government. While we have benefited from this relationship in many ways, we’ve also been hurt in the process.”
It strikes me that my fellow boricuas living here on the mainland are fairly quiet about this issue. Juan Conde, 43, a television newsman in Richmond, Va., summed up what may be a common sentiment when he said, “I’m ambivalent about getting involved because I’m the best and worst part of what happens when you come to the States. My assimilation here reduces my concern for what happens there.”
I believe all boricuas should actively push for island voting rights because our combined influence could convince members of Congress that they will be held accountable by their Puerto Rican constituents throughout the country. And we should urge advocacy organizations like the National Council of La Raza to do more to advance the cause.
As the nation celebrates the election of our first African American president, it is my deepest wish that our congressional leaders will hold the door open just long enough to empower Puerto Rico to share in the joy of full constitutional equality. Our nation’s leadership, with respect to civil rights, human rights and the American principle of “liberty and justice for all,” must be demonstrated right here in our own backyard if we are to be taken seriously around the globe.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ten Things You Can Do to Fight World Hunger and to Oppose War in Afghanistan
Our planet produces enough food to feed its more than 960 million undernourished people. The basic cause of global hunger is not underproduction; it is a production and distribution system that treats food as a commodity rather than a human right. In developing countries huge agribusinesses, fat with government subsidies, sell their unsustainable (and sometimes genetically modified) products at a reduced rate, thus making it impossible for local farmers to compete. Farmers who can't compete can't feed their own families or work their own fields. Hunger becomes both the cause and effect of poverty.
Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, says sending food aid is not a sustainable way to end hunger. Rather, people must be empowered to raise their own food. She proposes Ten Things we can do to help solve the world's growing hunger problem.
1 Write letters to the editor and op-ed articles in your local paper calling on the government to cut or end subsidies that encourage large agribusinesses to overproduce grains and dump their surpluses on the developing world at sub-market prices. This ultimately places poor communities at the mercy of volatile global commodity prices. Learn more at The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy for more information.http://tradeobservatory.org/issue_foodSecurity.cfm
2 Ask your representatives in Congress to demand that more foreign food aid be in the form of cash and training rather than food. Farmers in the global South know how to grow food but lack the resources, inputs and tools to farm effectively, develop markets and compete in the world marketplace.https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
3 Learn the specifics of what makes products "fair trade." Buy them where available. Download "Green America's Guide to Fair Trade" for a definition of "fair trade" and a list of organizations that follow these specifications.http://coopamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/orderguide.cfm
4 Conserve energy. With a reduced demand for fuel, global commodity prices--which spiked as the cost of fuel for shipping rose dramatically last year--can remain more stable. This is important because while sending food to poor countries is not the ultimate solution for ending hunger, Food Aid has a role to play due to the desire for variety in food supplies. And, more importantly, natural disasters or political instability will always cause humanitarian emergencies where the flow of aid is crucial.
5 Pressure the Obama administration to come up with a renewable energy policy that does not stress ethanol and other biofuels. As demand for biofuels has grown over the past few years, farmers in the developed and developing worlds have set aside more and more land for fuel production, degrading the environment and reducing food for human consumption.
6 Eat less meat. Every pound of meat produced requires sixteen pounds of grain; food given to farm animals each year could feed the world's hungry with plenty to spare. Search "Diet for a Small Planet" and "We Feed the World".
7 Support grassroots projects that advance sustainable agriculture at the community level. Organizations like American Jewish World Service partner with grassroots organizations in the global South that use sustainable farming techniques.
8 Persuade your local editorial writers to cover hunger in a way that focuses on economic rights rather than food scarcity. Emphasize that the underlying causes of poverty are political instability, joblessness, gender inequality, illiteracy and limited access to education, loss of land, disenfranchisement, forced migration and preventable epidemics. These hamper local food production and sustainable development. Click here for current coverage.
Read "The Politics of Hunger." Remember that global hunger is a local problem, a feminist problem, a socioeconomic problem and, most urgently, a political problem that can be overcome.
http://wfp.org/content/politics-hunger-foreign-affairs
This early period of Obama's presidency is an opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan. It is a chance to become clearer than "out now," while still using the same force in opposing the war. In addition to education on the specifics of the administration's plan and the after-effects in Afghanistan, take these concrete steps to build infrastructure from the bottom up.
1. The immediate demands should be opposition to more troops, predator attacks, human rights abuses and escalating budget costs.
2. Support a regional diplomatic solution (exit strategy), including withdrawal of US/NATO troops and bases. Read Tariq Ali's book, The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power.
3. Demand of Congress and President the same accountability that was demanded of Bush and never won: verifiable casualty figures, transparent budgeting, oversight of contractors, compliance with human rights standards, including women's rights--clear metrics to measure progress towards a defined exit strategy.
4.With these focuses in mind and using United for Peace and Justice as an organizational base:
• assist in doubling their membership
• build a local e-mail list of at least 300 names
• build a coalition (at least a letterhead or leadership alliance) of clergy, academic, human rights, environmentalists, African-Americans and Latinos, labor and other progressive organizations.
5. Criticize Obama's war from within the Obama structure and MoveOn.org. (Since neither of these structures have a focus on the war, contact them or start on a discussion on Afghanistan under another heading).
6. Start or join a group against military recruiters.
7. Build a visible network in your Congressional district. Buy and wear antiwar buttons, T-shirts and banners.
8. Build a local media list and meet with the editorial board.
9. Start Friday night streetcorner pickets. These are the hundreds of groups in every region that hold up placards on Friday nights. This is the heart of the antiwar movement.
10. Support other organizations, such as American Friends Service Committee, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink etc.
Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, says sending food aid is not a sustainable way to end hunger. Rather, people must be empowered to raise their own food. She proposes Ten Things we can do to help solve the world's growing hunger problem.
1 Write letters to the editor and op-ed articles in your local paper calling on the government to cut or end subsidies that encourage large agribusinesses to overproduce grains and dump their surpluses on the developing world at sub-market prices. This ultimately places poor communities at the mercy of volatile global commodity prices. Learn more at The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy for more information.http://tradeobservatory.org/issue_foodSecurity.cfm
2 Ask your representatives in Congress to demand that more foreign food aid be in the form of cash and training rather than food. Farmers in the global South know how to grow food but lack the resources, inputs and tools to farm effectively, develop markets and compete in the world marketplace.https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
3 Learn the specifics of what makes products "fair trade." Buy them where available. Download "Green America's Guide to Fair Trade" for a definition of "fair trade" and a list of organizations that follow these specifications.http://coopamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/orderguide.cfm
4 Conserve energy. With a reduced demand for fuel, global commodity prices--which spiked as the cost of fuel for shipping rose dramatically last year--can remain more stable. This is important because while sending food to poor countries is not the ultimate solution for ending hunger, Food Aid has a role to play due to the desire for variety in food supplies. And, more importantly, natural disasters or political instability will always cause humanitarian emergencies where the flow of aid is crucial.
5 Pressure the Obama administration to come up with a renewable energy policy that does not stress ethanol and other biofuels. As demand for biofuels has grown over the past few years, farmers in the developed and developing worlds have set aside more and more land for fuel production, degrading the environment and reducing food for human consumption.
6 Eat less meat. Every pound of meat produced requires sixteen pounds of grain; food given to farm animals each year could feed the world's hungry with plenty to spare. Search "Diet for a Small Planet" and "We Feed the World".
7 Support grassroots projects that advance sustainable agriculture at the community level. Organizations like American Jewish World Service partner with grassroots organizations in the global South that use sustainable farming techniques.
8 Persuade your local editorial writers to cover hunger in a way that focuses on economic rights rather than food scarcity. Emphasize that the underlying causes of poverty are political instability, joblessness, gender inequality, illiteracy and limited access to education, loss of land, disenfranchisement, forced migration and preventable epidemics. These hamper local food production and sustainable development. Click here for current coverage.
Read "The Politics of Hunger." Remember that global hunger is a local problem, a feminist problem, a socioeconomic problem and, most urgently, a political problem that can be overcome.
http://wfp.org/content/politics-hunger-foreign-affairs
This early period of Obama's presidency is an opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan. It is a chance to become clearer than "out now," while still using the same force in opposing the war. In addition to education on the specifics of the administration's plan and the after-effects in Afghanistan, take these concrete steps to build infrastructure from the bottom up.
1. The immediate demands should be opposition to more troops, predator attacks, human rights abuses and escalating budget costs.
2. Support a regional diplomatic solution (exit strategy), including withdrawal of US/NATO troops and bases. Read Tariq Ali's book, The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power.
3. Demand of Congress and President the same accountability that was demanded of Bush and never won: verifiable casualty figures, transparent budgeting, oversight of contractors, compliance with human rights standards, including women's rights--clear metrics to measure progress towards a defined exit strategy.
4.With these focuses in mind and using United for Peace and Justice as an organizational base:
• assist in doubling their membership
• build a local e-mail list of at least 300 names
• build a coalition (at least a letterhead or leadership alliance) of clergy, academic, human rights, environmentalists, African-Americans and Latinos, labor and other progressive organizations.
5. Criticize Obama's war from within the Obama structure and MoveOn.org. (Since neither of these structures have a focus on the war, contact them or start on a discussion on Afghanistan under another heading).
6. Start or join a group against military recruiters.
7. Build a visible network in your Congressional district. Buy and wear antiwar buttons, T-shirts and banners.
8. Build a local media list and meet with the editorial board.
9. Start Friday night streetcorner pickets. These are the hundreds of groups in every region that hold up placards on Friday nights. This is the heart of the antiwar movement.
10. Support other organizations, such as American Friends Service Committee, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink etc.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Hablan los seis desobedientes civiles
Claridad en la Nación
Perla Franco/CLARIDAD
Qué significó la desobediencia civil en el Capitolio federal para los seis boricuas que la ejercieron exigiendo la autodeterminación e independencia para Puerto Rico?
Un acto de amor, de defensa de la dignidad de este pueblo puertorriqueño, un paso para despertar la conciencia de que Puerto Rico sigue siendo la colonia más antigua del mundo y quiere su autodeterminación e independencia. Ésas fueron algunas de las razones que dieron los siete boricuas, seis de ellos a través de la desobediencia civil la pasada semana cuando se presentaron en las gradas del Congreso norteamericano e hicieron un reclamo de libertad para la nación puertorriqueña.
Excepto Luis Enrique Romero, para los demás era la primera vez que visitaban ese lugar. Pero, ¿cómo describieron las razones que los llevaron allí? A continuación les ofrecemos la respuesta de cada uno de ellos.
Luis Enrique Romero
“ Esto fue un acto de dignidad. La valentía se da en un momento, igual que la cobardía, es un instante, una chispa. Pero cuando se trata de la dignidad, ése es otro parámetro, ésa es otra dimensión. Cuando se ultraja la dignidad uno tiene que actuar para poder dormir bien. Y eso fue lo que hicimos. No fue un sacrificio. Sacrificio hicieron Lolita (Lebrón), Rafael Cancel (Miranda), Irvin (Flores), Oscar (Collazo), y Andresito (Figueroa Cordero) y todos los demás compañeros que han estado presos 20 y más años por la libertad de su patria. Eso sí es un sacrificio de verdad. Pero que nosotros pasemos seis meses en la cárcel no es nada. En la cárcel estamos nosotros aquí. Allá en 35 pies cuadrados y aquí en 100 X 35 con los barrotes sociales, y los barrotes económicos, y los barrotes de la falta de poderes económicos que tiene el país… O sea, ¿cuál es la diferencia? Vivir en un país donde no tenemos libertad ninguna. Pues es por la dignidad de nuestro país por la que teníamos que hacer esto. Era nuestra responsabilidad. Llega un momento en que uno se pregunta cómo puede aportar. Y entonces uno lo analiza y ejecuta”.
Eugenia Pérez Montijo
“ Yo no quiero negar que como un ser humano común sabía que había unos riesgos. El hecho nada más de arresto y cárcel ya era para darle a uno canillera. Pero nunca cuestioné el decir que sí con todo y canillera. Tenía que trabajar con la canillera porque esto iba. Pero además, porque creo que después de la lucha de Vieques, éste es otro Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico descubrió que se puede. Esto es como cuando ahogaron a Diego Salcedo. Y también creo que hay una coyuntura, que las cosas están tocando fondo y la gente está ávida de hacer algo. Hay una nueva dimensión en el país”.
Luis Suárez
“ Cuando me allegué a los compañeros al principio para pedirles su participación fue maravilloso. Cuando se lo dije a Enrique me sorprendió que antes de que yo terminara me dijo que sí. Chavela, que yo no la conocía, me acerqué y dijo que sí. Gracias a Tony, el culpable de la participación de ella es de Tony. Me acerqué a Tony gracias a Luis. No nos conocíamos. Lo cité en Bayamón a una cafetería y allí dialogamos. Y enseguida me dijo ‘vamos a ver cómo acomodamos esto por un compromiso que yo tengo. Pero me interesa’. También tuvimos momentos accidentados porque la que iba para allá era la licenciada Norma Pérez pero el MINH la envió para Cuba a la reunión de los No Alineados y así es que ella me consigue la sustituta que fue Eugenia. Me vi con ella por allá por la (avenida) 65 (de Infantería). Hablamos. Luego le pregunto a Kike (Luis Enrique Romero) el teléfono de Carlos Fonseca y no lo tenía. Se me ocurre llamar a Radio Isla. Me vi con él en Plaza las Américas y me dijo que tenía un problema pero que iba a ver cómo lo resolvía. Y yo le dije móntate que yo te acomodo donde sea, pero móntate. Y me dijo ‘pues vamos a darle pa’lante’. Así que yo me siento con todos ellos bien contento porque eso quiere decir que hay puertorriqueños que están disponibles para esta tarea nueva de desobediencia. Lo que sucede es que hay que presentarles el proyecto. Que lo visualicen. Por eso es que vamos ahora a reclutar 500 puertorriqueños de la Nación y de la diáspora para seguir haciendo actos de desobediencia civil.
Chavela Rodríguez
“ Para mí eso fue un acto de amor para con mi Patria, mi país, para con mi familia misma. Conocemos que el país está pasando por una crisis brutal. No hay líderes. El desempleo… Yo soy una desempleada, me botaron hace poco del trabajo. Y la gente igual que yo no sabe para dónde caminar porque aquí ya no hay salida. Entonces, ¿qué nos toca? Si los que tienen el mando son Estados Unidos pues hasta allá hay que llegar. Para mí fue un gran placer estar con esta gente allí que son grandes en todo. Y mi profesión es cantar y para mí fue maravilloso cantar en ese espacio que tiene una resonancia brutal. Fue maravilloso”.
Tony Mapeyé
“ La experiencia fue ( se le aguan los ojos y guarda un breve silencio)… Mientras los demás estaban hablando me llamó un amigo de Hatillo que es policía y me dijo: ‘quiero que sepas que nunca me había sentido tan bien representado en mi vida como con ustedes’. Y eso me emociona (se detiene nuevamente conteniendo el llanto) porque ése es el pueblo, y el pueblo lo constituyen todos. Los policías, los que no son policías. La colonia nos afecta a todos. A los protestantes, a los estadistas, a los populares, a los independentistas… Y que una persona que yo no sé ni cuanto tiempo hace que yo no lo escuchaba me llame y me diga eso, para mí es sintomático de que tenemos que buscar en el pueblo, tirarnos a la calle.
Las décimas que me envió otro amigo de Guanajuato (México) Guillermo, me dicen que la gente está esperando. Que hay gente honesta con espíritu de entrega verdadera sin esperar nada que no sea la honestidad y el amor. Estoy de acuerdo con todas las expresiones de los compañeros. Yo no puedo expresarlo mejor que ninguno de ellos. Verdaderamente lo que nos animó fue un verdadero sentimiento de amor, de compromiso con nuestro país, con nuestra gente. Quisimos hacer algo con la mayor honestidad posible para sacarnos del letargo en que a veces estamos. Hicimos una cosa que no tenía mayores pretensiones y ha tenido gran repercusión. Ahora tenemos que aprovechar ese impacto, ese espacio que abre esto para poder hacer acciones y concertar iniciativas que verdaderamente nos permitan lograr el objetivo final que es el fin del coloniaje. Porque, sea el destino final que sea para este país, yo voy a vivir aquí. No porque no tenga alternativa de irme a otro sitio. Es porque yo quiero vivir aquí. Y la respuesta que nos han dado los compañeros que nos fueron a recibir hoy al aeropuerto era la misma de los que fuimos allá. Y les comentaba a los compañeros que la vida nos cambia. Nos impone una responsabilidad enorme. La gente no nos ve de la misma forma. Nosotros tampoco vemos a la gente de la misma forma. La vida nos ha cambiado en términos de un compromiso de lucha mucho mayor del que teníamos.
Carlos Fonseca
“ Yo tengo que reaccionar también. Aunque no estuve (en la manifestación sino como observador)tengo que decirte que me siento el hombre más honrado del mundo. Haber acompañado a estos seis seres humanos que fueron a exponer su libertad por la libertad de este pueblo los convirtió para mí en los seres más lindos y valientes que hay en el planeta tierra”.
Ramón Díaz
“Tener miedo es de humanos. Ahora, lo más importante es que tenemos la capacidad de luchar. Que no crea nadie que es que fuimos siete machos. Lo que pasa es que los ideales sacan el valor para afuera. Y tal vez no es uno, sino una fuerza mayor que se va generando en uno, que son los ideales que le permiten a uno hacer estas cosas. Hacía tiempo les decía a los compañeros que este pueblo estaba buscando de qué agarrarse. Y que no me atrevía llegar a Puerto Rico porque había gente que decía que nos iba a esperar. A mí lo que me sorprendió fue la cantidad. En unas condiciones inhóspitas en que había habido inundaciones, la gente fue allí a recibirnos. Y eso nos lleva a nosotros a tener un compromiso mayor, a que el ingenio se multiplique. Y mi consejo a todos los compañeros es que no olvidemos que aquí el enemigo de este pueblo es el coloniaje y hay que hacer incapié en eso. Ése es el reto de todos. Y quiero decir también que tenemos que estar claros en que la libertad no se somete ni a elecciones ni a referendos. Cuando los americanos llegaron a este país no hicieron ningún plebiscito, entraron por las armas. Pero unas semanas antes bombardearon la capital y hubo 118 muertos. O sea, que Estados Unidos no tiene ninguna fuerza moral para hablar de democracia en nuestro país porque todos sus actos han sido de fuerza. Pero nosotros vamos a romper esos actos de fuerza con actos pacíficos. Ésa es nuestra consigna”.
pfranco@claridadpuertorico.com
Asamblea General ONU celebrará Diálogo sobre Puerto Rico
Claridad en la Nación
Redacción de Claridad
El martes 9 de junio del año en curso, la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas celebrará un Diálogo Temático Interactivo sobre Puerto Rico al que serán convocados todos los países miembros de la Asamblea General, informaron a CLARIDAD fuentes cercanas al trabajo de solidaridad con el caso de Puerto Rico en ese foro.
Al presente, según se informó, se está conformando la participación en el panel de presentaciones sobre el estatus de Puerto Rico y sus implicaciones. A la vez, se espera que en el mismo haya espacio para participación de representantes de la sociedad civil y juristas y otras figuras de Estados Unidos.Los Diálogos Temáticos Interactivos se han utilizado recientemente en Naciones Unidas con el objetivo de interactuar y aclarar distintos asuntos sobre alguna situación o tema. En los pasados meses se han celebrado Diálogos Temáticos sobre la Crisis Alimentaria, la Crisis Económica y Financiera y otros. El Diálogo es una actividad que se celebra en la sede de Naciones Unidas aunque no conforma una sesión ordinaria de la Asamblea General.
Es de notar que las vistas del Comité de Descolonización sobre Puerto Rico se celebrarán como de costumbre y este año están fijadas para el lunes 15 de junio, con posible continuación el día siguiente, si fuera necesario,.
El Debate Temático Interactivo de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas sobre Puerto Rico fue anunciado en la recién celebrada Conferencia Ministerial de los No Alineados.
claridad@wnetpr.net
Famed Uruguayan writer Benedetti dies at 88
By RAUL GARCES
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Mario Benedetti, a prolific writer whose novels and poems reflected the idiosyncrasies of Uruguay's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from the country's military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88.
Benedetti died at his home in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, personal secretary Ariel Silva said. He had suffered from respiratory and intestinal problems for more than a year, and was released from the hospital on May 6.
Called "Don Mario" by his friends, the author penned more than 60 novels, poems, short stories and plays, winning numerous honors including Bulgaria's Jristo Borev award for poetry and essays, and Amnesty International's Golden Flame prize.
FILE - In this May 1, 2005 file photo, Uruguayan novelist Mario Benedetti gestures during an interview in Montevideo. Benedetti died on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at age 88, according to his personal secretary Ariel Silva. (AP Photo/Marcelo Casacuberta)
Marcelo Casacuberta
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Mario Benedetti, a prolific writer whose novels and poems reflected the idiosyncrasies of Uruguay's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from the country's military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88.
Benedetti died at his home in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, personal secretary Ariel Silva said. He had suffered from respiratory and intestinal problems for more than a year, and was released from the hospital on May 6.
Called "Don Mario" by his friends, the author penned more than 60 novels, poems, short stories and plays, winning numerous honors including Bulgaria's Jristo Borev award for poetry and essays, and Amnesty International's Golden Flame prize.
His novel "The Truce" (1960) was translated into 19 languages and adapted to cinema, theater and television. Along with "Thank You for the Fire" (1965), it heralded his inclusion in the Latin American literary boom in the 1960s along with Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa and Mexico's Carlos Fuentes.
While Benedetti was renowned throughout Latin America, he never attained the other authors' popularity in the English-speaking world.
Benedetti leaned to the political left and firmly defended the Cuban revolution to the end of his life. In 2006, he joined other Latin American leftist authors in a call for Puerto Rican independence.
Benedetti was born on Sept. 14, 1920, in the city of Paso de los Toros. In 1973 he joined thousands of other Uruguayans fleeing the nation's military dictatorship, spending 12 years in exile in Havana, Madrid, Lima and Buenos Aires.
"I think the only positive thing that came from Uruguay's dictatorship was the spread of Montevideo natives around the world, and I continued writing about them from my various places of exile," he once said.
Later in life, Benedetti would eat lunch most days at a restaurant a few feet (meters) from his house along with his brother Raul and Avila, his secretary.
"Whether or not you liked his books, he was an admirable person who fought for his ideas and kept writing to the end," said his habitual waiter, Miguel Braga.
In 1959, Benedetti traveled to the United States despite concerns by authorities about his ties to a leftist newspaper. He recalled that he had to sign a pledge not to assassinate the U.S. president.
He later became a leader of the March 26 Independence Movement, which joined the leftist Broad Front coalition that took power in Uruguay in 2005.
A widower, Benedetti left behind no wife or children.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Mario Benedetti, a prolific writer whose novels and poems reflected the idiosyncrasies of Uruguay's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from the country's military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88.
Benedetti died at his home in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, personal secretary Ariel Silva said. He had suffered from respiratory and intestinal problems for more than a year, and was released from the hospital on May 6.
Called "Don Mario" by his friends, the author penned more than 60 novels, poems, short stories and plays, winning numerous honors including Bulgaria's Jristo Borev award for poetry and essays, and Amnesty International's Golden Flame prize.
FILE - In this May 1, 2005 file photo, Uruguayan novelist Mario Benedetti gestures during an interview in Montevideo. Benedetti died on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at age 88, according to his personal secretary Ariel Silva. (AP Photo/Marcelo Casacuberta)
Marcelo Casacuberta
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Mario Benedetti, a prolific writer whose novels and poems reflected the idiosyncrasies of Uruguay's middle class and a social commitment forged by years in exile from the country's military dictatorship, died Sunday, his secretary said. He was 88.
Benedetti died at his home in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, personal secretary Ariel Silva said. He had suffered from respiratory and intestinal problems for more than a year, and was released from the hospital on May 6.
Called "Don Mario" by his friends, the author penned more than 60 novels, poems, short stories and plays, winning numerous honors including Bulgaria's Jristo Borev award for poetry and essays, and Amnesty International's Golden Flame prize.
His novel "The Truce" (1960) was translated into 19 languages and adapted to cinema, theater and television. Along with "Thank You for the Fire" (1965), it heralded his inclusion in the Latin American literary boom in the 1960s along with Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa and Mexico's Carlos Fuentes.
While Benedetti was renowned throughout Latin America, he never attained the other authors' popularity in the English-speaking world.
Benedetti leaned to the political left and firmly defended the Cuban revolution to the end of his life. In 2006, he joined other Latin American leftist authors in a call for Puerto Rican independence.
Benedetti was born on Sept. 14, 1920, in the city of Paso de los Toros. In 1973 he joined thousands of other Uruguayans fleeing the nation's military dictatorship, spending 12 years in exile in Havana, Madrid, Lima and Buenos Aires.
"I think the only positive thing that came from Uruguay's dictatorship was the spread of Montevideo natives around the world, and I continued writing about them from my various places of exile," he once said.
Later in life, Benedetti would eat lunch most days at a restaurant a few feet (meters) from his house along with his brother Raul and Avila, his secretary.
"Whether or not you liked his books, he was an admirable person who fought for his ideas and kept writing to the end," said his habitual waiter, Miguel Braga.
In 1959, Benedetti traveled to the United States despite concerns by authorities about his ties to a leftist newspaper. He recalled that he had to sign a pledge not to assassinate the U.S. president.
He later became a leader of the March 26 Independence Movement, which joined the leftist Broad Front coalition that took power in Uruguay in 2005.
A widower, Benedetti left behind no wife or children.
Se Celebra Otra Edición Del Concurso Legislativo "Objetivo: Idiota"
Logo del prestigioso concurso, que permite a nuestros talentos legislativos presentar las ideas más estúpidas que se les ocurran, y que tradicionalmente termina empate
"¡SOBEEEEEEERBIO!", exclamó el licenciado Roberto Sueiro, Presidente del jurado, luego de la estremecedora participación del representante Méndez, quien dio inicio a la emocionante velada sometiendo una nueva medida legislativa que requeriría presentar evidencia de que se radicó la planilla de contribución sobre ingresos para obtener o renovar una licencia de conducir. "¡Esta medida estaría añadiendo un documento más a la lista actual, que incluye dos fotos 2x2, tarjeta de Seguro Social, certificado de nacimiento o pasaporte, recibo de agua, luz o teléfono y un reporte de multas! Inigualable esta presentación. Sin dudas creo que usted está entre los favoritos de la competencia", sentenció Sueiro sobre Méndez, elegantemente ataviado con un traje pagado con fondos del pueblo de Puerto Rico.
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Entre los vítores de sus constituyentes y el elogio unánime de los jueces, el representante por el distrito 36 a la Cámara, Carlos "Johnny" Méndez, obtuvo ayer la más alta puntuación en la espectacular y sumamente competida gala de "Objetivo: Idiota", celebrada en el Capitolio ante un público que abarrotó las gradas aplaudiendo delirantemente las desquiciantes estupideces de sus legisladores favoritos.
El actual líder de la competencia, Carlos "Johnny" Méndez, celebra sus altas puntuaciones durante la gala de anoche: "¡Gracias, mi gente! ¡Yo sabía que podría convertirme en el legislador más mediocre de Puerto Rico! ¡Suck it, Evelyn Vázquez!
A su salida de la tarima, Méndez se expresó satisfecho con su desempeño, y aseguró estar preparado para mejorar su actuación en futuras galas: "Chacho, aquí yo lo que tiré fue medio pocillo na' más. Deja que rompa a añadirle requisitos a esta legislación pa' que tú veas cómo gano esta competencia", dijo sumamente confiado. "De hecho, ya tengo un borrador en el que, además de to' ese chorro de imbecilidades, pedimos: la cuenta de Cable TV, copia de tu matrícula si estudias, y si no estudias, un affidavit en el que declares que eres analfabeta, pruebas de sangre y de orina, fotos 2x2 de tus perros, certificado de buena conducta cuando vas al cine, muestras de ADN, certificación de no deuda en el colmado de la esquina, y una colonoscopía", explicó sobre las posibles enmiendas futuras a su proyecto. "Además, tan pronto sea posible someteremos legislación que requiera a todo conductor tener pegada una copia de su planilla en la parte superior derecha del parabrisas. ¡Eso debería sellar mi triunfo porque es imposible proponer un proceso más diferente que el de otros sitios donde, para renovar, sólo basta proveer el número de licencia y seguro social en una página web y la licencia renovada te llega por correo utilizando la última foto en archivo", aseguró ante la estruendosa ovación de constituyentes que ya creían imposible sorprenderse con nuevas tonterías legislativas que aumentaran la burocracia gubernamental sin ofrecer beneficio alguno a la ciudadanía.
"¡La verdad que esto está soberbio sí!", gritó Tomás Rivera Schatz, Presidente del Senado de Puerto Rico, quien no dejaba de aplaudir de pie la inútil pieza legislativa de su homólogo en la Cámara. "Y yo que pensaba que mientras Evelyn Vázquez respirara, aquí todo el mundo estaba corriendo pa'l segundo puesto. En realidad subestimé la... cómo digo esto... calidad... de la competencia. ¡Y que requerir la planilla! ¡Qué clase de hijuela! ¡Esto está cabronsísimo de verdad! ¡Bravo, Johnny! ¡Bravo!", gritaba con gran emoción en su rostro. Otro que mostró su placer ante esta medida fue José Aponte, ex Presidente de la Cámara de Representantes: "Esta medida es consistente con nuestro lema de que en en este país nunca puede existir demasiada burocracia. ¿Se enteraron que también estaremos requiriendo que todo ciudadano se ponga un chalequito reflector para salir del carro de noche? Y claro, ya estamos legislando para que tengas que conseguir como nueve sellitos de Colecturía, además de comprar el chalequito en presencia de un abogado notario y envíes el recibo notarizado al Centro de Servicios al Conductor antes de que puedas recibir el último sellito de Colecturía que necesitas para empezar el proceso de renovar la licencia. ¡De nada, para servirles!", aseguró el ilustre Representante. "Y ahora, si me perdonan, tengo que empezar a legislar para establecer el Colegio de Vendedores De Chalequitos Nocturnos, ya que OB-viamente tenemos que regular la venta de éstos", aseguró Aponte.
Entre las presentaciones menos favorecidas por el público estuvo la del propio Senador Rivera Schatz, quien se mostró un tanto renuente a demostrar el incuestionablemente demoledor potencial de su proyecto sobre las Alianzas Público-Privadas: "Senador Rivera Schatz, he quedado muy poco impresionado con su presentación. Sabemos que usted puede dar mucho más, ¡pero no entendemos por qué no acaba de decidirse a confesar que lo que busca con las alianzas estas es pasarnos por la piedra inmisericordemente a todos los que no seamos riquitillos! Si no mejora sustancialmente durante la próxima gala, dudamos mucho que cuente con el desfavor unánime del público", se quejó Sueiro, mientras Rivera Schatz sonreía maliciosamente. "Ésa es la idea, Licenciado, ésa es la idea. ¡Si tiro con tó' ahora, ya no podré contar con el factor sorpresa en la Final!", contestó el Senador. "¡Es que verle la cara de pesca'o de freezer a la gente que votó por nosotros cuando ya sea demasiado tarde es la parte más divertida de todo esto!", aseguró el Senador ante los tibios aplausos de los presentes, evidentemente esperanzados en un más devastador desempeño del Senador en la próxima gala.
Mas/more at
"¡SOBEEEEEEERBIO!", exclamó el licenciado Roberto Sueiro, Presidente del jurado, luego de la estremecedora participación del representante Méndez, quien dio inicio a la emocionante velada sometiendo una nueva medida legislativa que requeriría presentar evidencia de que se radicó la planilla de contribución sobre ingresos para obtener o renovar una licencia de conducir. "¡Esta medida estaría añadiendo un documento más a la lista actual, que incluye dos fotos 2x2, tarjeta de Seguro Social, certificado de nacimiento o pasaporte, recibo de agua, luz o teléfono y un reporte de multas! Inigualable esta presentación. Sin dudas creo que usted está entre los favoritos de la competencia", sentenció Sueiro sobre Méndez, elegantemente ataviado con un traje pagado con fondos del pueblo de Puerto Rico.
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Entre los vítores de sus constituyentes y el elogio unánime de los jueces, el representante por el distrito 36 a la Cámara, Carlos "Johnny" Méndez, obtuvo ayer la más alta puntuación en la espectacular y sumamente competida gala de "Objetivo: Idiota", celebrada en el Capitolio ante un público que abarrotó las gradas aplaudiendo delirantemente las desquiciantes estupideces de sus legisladores favoritos.
El actual líder de la competencia, Carlos "Johnny" Méndez, celebra sus altas puntuaciones durante la gala de anoche: "¡Gracias, mi gente! ¡Yo sabía que podría convertirme en el legislador más mediocre de Puerto Rico! ¡Suck it, Evelyn Vázquez!
A su salida de la tarima, Méndez se expresó satisfecho con su desempeño, y aseguró estar preparado para mejorar su actuación en futuras galas: "Chacho, aquí yo lo que tiré fue medio pocillo na' más. Deja que rompa a añadirle requisitos a esta legislación pa' que tú veas cómo gano esta competencia", dijo sumamente confiado. "De hecho, ya tengo un borrador en el que, además de to' ese chorro de imbecilidades, pedimos: la cuenta de Cable TV, copia de tu matrícula si estudias, y si no estudias, un affidavit en el que declares que eres analfabeta, pruebas de sangre y de orina, fotos 2x2 de tus perros, certificado de buena conducta cuando vas al cine, muestras de ADN, certificación de no deuda en el colmado de la esquina, y una colonoscopía", explicó sobre las posibles enmiendas futuras a su proyecto. "Además, tan pronto sea posible someteremos legislación que requiera a todo conductor tener pegada una copia de su planilla en la parte superior derecha del parabrisas. ¡Eso debería sellar mi triunfo porque es imposible proponer un proceso más diferente que el de otros sitios donde, para renovar, sólo basta proveer el número de licencia y seguro social en una página web y la licencia renovada te llega por correo utilizando la última foto en archivo", aseguró ante la estruendosa ovación de constituyentes que ya creían imposible sorprenderse con nuevas tonterías legislativas que aumentaran la burocracia gubernamental sin ofrecer beneficio alguno a la ciudadanía.
"¡La verdad que esto está soberbio sí!", gritó Tomás Rivera Schatz, Presidente del Senado de Puerto Rico, quien no dejaba de aplaudir de pie la inútil pieza legislativa de su homólogo en la Cámara. "Y yo que pensaba que mientras Evelyn Vázquez respirara, aquí todo el mundo estaba corriendo pa'l segundo puesto. En realidad subestimé la... cómo digo esto... calidad... de la competencia. ¡Y que requerir la planilla! ¡Qué clase de hijuela! ¡Esto está cabronsísimo de verdad! ¡Bravo, Johnny! ¡Bravo!", gritaba con gran emoción en su rostro. Otro que mostró su placer ante esta medida fue José Aponte, ex Presidente de la Cámara de Representantes: "Esta medida es consistente con nuestro lema de que en en este país nunca puede existir demasiada burocracia. ¿Se enteraron que también estaremos requiriendo que todo ciudadano se ponga un chalequito reflector para salir del carro de noche? Y claro, ya estamos legislando para que tengas que conseguir como nueve sellitos de Colecturía, además de comprar el chalequito en presencia de un abogado notario y envíes el recibo notarizado al Centro de Servicios al Conductor antes de que puedas recibir el último sellito de Colecturía que necesitas para empezar el proceso de renovar la licencia. ¡De nada, para servirles!", aseguró el ilustre Representante. "Y ahora, si me perdonan, tengo que empezar a legislar para establecer el Colegio de Vendedores De Chalequitos Nocturnos, ya que OB-viamente tenemos que regular la venta de éstos", aseguró Aponte.
Entre las presentaciones menos favorecidas por el público estuvo la del propio Senador Rivera Schatz, quien se mostró un tanto renuente a demostrar el incuestionablemente demoledor potencial de su proyecto sobre las Alianzas Público-Privadas: "Senador Rivera Schatz, he quedado muy poco impresionado con su presentación. Sabemos que usted puede dar mucho más, ¡pero no entendemos por qué no acaba de decidirse a confesar que lo que busca con las alianzas estas es pasarnos por la piedra inmisericordemente a todos los que no seamos riquitillos! Si no mejora sustancialmente durante la próxima gala, dudamos mucho que cuente con el desfavor unánime del público", se quejó Sueiro, mientras Rivera Schatz sonreía maliciosamente. "Ésa es la idea, Licenciado, ésa es la idea. ¡Si tiro con tó' ahora, ya no podré contar con el factor sorpresa en la Final!", contestó el Senador. "¡Es que verle la cara de pesca'o de freezer a la gente que votó por nosotros cuando ya sea demasiado tarde es la parte más divertida de todo esto!", aseguró el Senador ante los tibios aplausos de los presentes, evidentemente esperanzados en un más devastador desempeño del Senador en la próxima gala.
Mas/more at
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
When the husband deserts home
By Fouzia Khan
MARRIAGE is a sacred institution, based on trust, respect and love between two individuals. And when any one of the three criteri is not met, the trouble begins. Such is the story of Kauther Mohammed Ali Uthman, a 38-year-old Saudi woman, who married Mohammed Abdul Qayoom, a 60-year-old Pakistani national, some ten years ago.
“I agreed to become my husband’s second wife as he told me he is a charity worker, who runs many organizations here and in Pakistan. I thought he is a good man and would take care of me in an Islamic way,” Uthman said.
She said that, initially, her husband’s behavior was good and the couple had two sons. However, all was not well when he kept asking her for money that she had inherited.
“He always took money from me citing different reasons. And now he has not come to our house for many months, initially insisting that he was preoccupied with work,” said Uthman.
Her husband, Abdul Qayoom, has not visited his family for the past 15 months, during which Uthman gave birth to their daughter.
“My sons, nine-year-old Abdul Aziz, and seven-year-old Abdul Rahman; and five-month-old daughter, do not have residence permits as they are not under their father’s sponsorship.”
She said that in such a situation the passport department deports the children to the father’s country. “The children do not have any relative there, they do not know anyone in Pakistan,” Uthman said, adding that her husband’s sponsor was unable to find Abdul Qayoom in spite of conducting a search.
If he is not found and is declared missing, Uthman can take the children under her sponsorship, but before she can do that, a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of Abdul Qayoom has to be conducted.
She has registered the complaint with her husband’s sponsor, the police, passport office and the Ministry of Interior. The Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah has also assured her of help and support.
“Uthman must submit an application to the Consulate detailing all her problems, along with relevant documents, so that the Consulate can solve the problem. The Consulate will take appropriate action to locate Abdul Qayoom in Pakistan or in Saudi Arabia,” said Nusrullah Khan, welfare consul at the Pakistan Consulate.
What does the law of the land say about Uthman and her rights over her children?
“In such a situation, she must approach the court and register a case against her husband, alleging that he has been missing since 15 months. If she is able to present her case to the judge, it would be in her favor and the deportation department can then be told that her case is in the court, and so her children would not be deported,” said Faisal Qasar, an eminent lawyer in Jeddah.
“But the one important thing that matters,” he continued, “is what is written in her marriage contract that she has to produce before the court, and accordingly, the case will proceed.”
Saudi Gazette asked an Islamic scholar what must be done in Uthman’s case.
“If she approaches an Islamic court, it will conduct a thorough search for her husband in accordance with the Shariah law. But after an investigation and with enough evidence of his disappearance, the court can dissolve the marriage,” said Sheikh Asim Al-Hakeem of Tayara Mosque.
He said that if the children are non-Saudi, Uthman can approach the Amarah (governor’s office) and register a request.
Meanwhile, Uthman is appealing to one and all to contact her if they know or have seen her husband. Her contact number is: 0564271066. – SG
MARRIAGE is a sacred institution, based on trust, respect and love between two individuals. And when any one of the three criteri is not met, the trouble begins. Such is the story of Kauther Mohammed Ali Uthman, a 38-year-old Saudi woman, who married Mohammed Abdul Qayoom, a 60-year-old Pakistani national, some ten years ago.
“I agreed to become my husband’s second wife as he told me he is a charity worker, who runs many organizations here and in Pakistan. I thought he is a good man and would take care of me in an Islamic way,” Uthman said.
She said that, initially, her husband’s behavior was good and the couple had two sons. However, all was not well when he kept asking her for money that she had inherited.
“He always took money from me citing different reasons. And now he has not come to our house for many months, initially insisting that he was preoccupied with work,” said Uthman.
Her husband, Abdul Qayoom, has not visited his family for the past 15 months, during which Uthman gave birth to their daughter.
“My sons, nine-year-old Abdul Aziz, and seven-year-old Abdul Rahman; and five-month-old daughter, do not have residence permits as they are not under their father’s sponsorship.”
She said that in such a situation the passport department deports the children to the father’s country. “The children do not have any relative there, they do not know anyone in Pakistan,” Uthman said, adding that her husband’s sponsor was unable to find Abdul Qayoom in spite of conducting a search.
If he is not found and is declared missing, Uthman can take the children under her sponsorship, but before she can do that, a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of Abdul Qayoom has to be conducted.
She has registered the complaint with her husband’s sponsor, the police, passport office and the Ministry of Interior. The Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah has also assured her of help and support.
“Uthman must submit an application to the Consulate detailing all her problems, along with relevant documents, so that the Consulate can solve the problem. The Consulate will take appropriate action to locate Abdul Qayoom in Pakistan or in Saudi Arabia,” said Nusrullah Khan, welfare consul at the Pakistan Consulate.
What does the law of the land say about Uthman and her rights over her children?
“In such a situation, she must approach the court and register a case against her husband, alleging that he has been missing since 15 months. If she is able to present her case to the judge, it would be in her favor and the deportation department can then be told that her case is in the court, and so her children would not be deported,” said Faisal Qasar, an eminent lawyer in Jeddah.
“But the one important thing that matters,” he continued, “is what is written in her marriage contract that she has to produce before the court, and accordingly, the case will proceed.”
Saudi Gazette asked an Islamic scholar what must be done in Uthman’s case.
“If she approaches an Islamic court, it will conduct a thorough search for her husband in accordance with the Shariah law. But after an investigation and with enough evidence of his disappearance, the court can dissolve the marriage,” said Sheikh Asim Al-Hakeem of Tayara Mosque.
He said that if the children are non-Saudi, Uthman can approach the Amarah (governor’s office) and register a request.
Meanwhile, Uthman is appealing to one and all to contact her if they know or have seen her husband. Her contact number is: 0564271066. – SG
New US General Vs. Taliban, Pashtuns
The war in Afghanistan has been overshadowed in recent weeks by the crisis next door in Pakistan, but no more. Secretary of Defense Gates has fired the US commander there, General David McKiernan, and replaced him with a counterinsurgency specialist with a spotty track record, General Stanley McChrystal. It's the first time a wartime commander was fired since Harry Truman got rid of General Douglas MacArthur in the Korean War.
Don't expect any quick improvement on the battlefront.
A smart commentary on the dual crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan came from Selig Harrison, a longtime expert on Asia at the Center for International Policy, in yesterday's Washington Post. He raises the critical issue of ethnic Pashtun support for the Taliban. Pashtuns make up about half of Afghanistan's population and dominate the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan. Even though most Pashtuns don't support the Taliban or their extremist ideas, the Taliban are nearly entirely Pashtun in both countries. The US war effort, including air strikes in Afghanistan and drone attacks in Pakistan that kill civilians, are inflaming Pashtun sentiments, and driving Pashtuns and Taliban together.
Harrison ends his piece on this ominous warning:
In the conventional wisdom, either Islamist or Pashtun identity will eventually triumph, but it is equally plausible that the result could be what Pakistani ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani has called an "Islamic Pashtunistan." On March 1, 2007, Haqqani's Pashtun predecessor as ambassador, the retired Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, said at a seminar at the Pakistan Embassy, "I hope the Taliban and Pashtun nationalism don't merge. If that happens, we've had it, and we're on the verge of that."
Meanwhile, writing in the Saudi Gazette, a former CIA station chief in Kabul, Graham Fuller, has a related piece worth reading in its entirety.
Fuller is an expert on political Islam, and a recurrent thesis in his recent work is that moderate Islamists are the antidote to radical and extremist Islamist movements.
He writes:
The Taliban represent zealous and largely ignorant mountain Islamists. They are also all ethnic Pashtuns. Most Pashtuns see the Taliban -- like them or not -- as the primary vehicle for restoration of Pashtun power in Afghanistan, lost in 2001. Pashtuns are also among the most fiercely nationalist, tribalized and xenophobic peoples of the world, united only against the foreign invader. In the end, the Taliban are probably more Pashtun than they are Islamist.
He writes: "US policies have now driven local nationalism, xenophobia and Islamism to combined fever pitch." His prescription is to reduce the pressures that are inflating Pashtun nationalism and xenophobia:
Only the withdrawal of American and NATO boots on the ground will begin to allow the process of near-frantic emotions to subside within Pakistan, and for the region to start to cool down. ... Sadly, US forces and Islamist radicals are now approaching a state of co-dependency.
Fuller also adds his voice to those who assert, like me, that changing Afghan culture won't happen overnight. And in any case, doing so isn't the job of the United States. It certainly isn't the job of General McChrystal.
Don't expect any quick improvement on the battlefront.
A smart commentary on the dual crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan came from Selig Harrison, a longtime expert on Asia at the Center for International Policy, in yesterday's Washington Post. He raises the critical issue of ethnic Pashtun support for the Taliban. Pashtuns make up about half of Afghanistan's population and dominate the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan. Even though most Pashtuns don't support the Taliban or their extremist ideas, the Taliban are nearly entirely Pashtun in both countries. The US war effort, including air strikes in Afghanistan and drone attacks in Pakistan that kill civilians, are inflaming Pashtun sentiments, and driving Pashtuns and Taliban together.
Harrison ends his piece on this ominous warning:
In the conventional wisdom, either Islamist or Pashtun identity will eventually triumph, but it is equally plausible that the result could be what Pakistani ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani has called an "Islamic Pashtunistan." On March 1, 2007, Haqqani's Pashtun predecessor as ambassador, the retired Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, said at a seminar at the Pakistan Embassy, "I hope the Taliban and Pashtun nationalism don't merge. If that happens, we've had it, and we're on the verge of that."
Meanwhile, writing in the Saudi Gazette, a former CIA station chief in Kabul, Graham Fuller, has a related piece worth reading in its entirety.
Fuller is an expert on political Islam, and a recurrent thesis in his recent work is that moderate Islamists are the antidote to radical and extremist Islamist movements.
He writes:
The Taliban represent zealous and largely ignorant mountain Islamists. They are also all ethnic Pashtuns. Most Pashtuns see the Taliban -- like them or not -- as the primary vehicle for restoration of Pashtun power in Afghanistan, lost in 2001. Pashtuns are also among the most fiercely nationalist, tribalized and xenophobic peoples of the world, united only against the foreign invader. In the end, the Taliban are probably more Pashtun than they are Islamist.
He writes: "US policies have now driven local nationalism, xenophobia and Islamism to combined fever pitch." His prescription is to reduce the pressures that are inflating Pashtun nationalism and xenophobia:
Only the withdrawal of American and NATO boots on the ground will begin to allow the process of near-frantic emotions to subside within Pakistan, and for the region to start to cool down. ... Sadly, US forces and Islamist radicals are now approaching a state of co-dependency.
Fuller also adds his voice to those who assert, like me, that changing Afghan culture won't happen overnight. And in any case, doing so isn't the job of the United States. It certainly isn't the job of General McChrystal.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
[Boletín De Última Hora] Lectores De El Ñame Podrán Conocer A Oscar Marrano En Persona; Venta De Tomates Podridos Aumenta
Caguas, Puerto Rico - Luego del anuncio de que Oscar Marrano participará en el 1er Encuentro Nacional de Blogueros de Puerto Rico a celebrarse este miércoles 6 de mayo a las 9 AM, supermercados alrededor de la Isla han reportado un alza en la compra de frutas y vegetales en estado de descomposición.
Oscar Marrano, intrépido reportero de El Ñame y para nada víctima de la gripe porcina que acecha la Isla, formará parte del último panel programado en la actividad, titulado "Los Blogs Como Plataforma Informativa". Marrano aseguró que aceptó acudir a la actividad en representación de El Ñame porque le dijeron que iba a haber desayuno y almuerzo gratis, "y como la piña está agria, hay que aprovechar cualquier oportunidad que se presente de josear comida".
Al enterarse que el controvertible Marrano se personará en el encuentro bloguero a llevarse a cabo en el Centro de Empresas Emergentes en Ciencias y Tecnología en la Urbanización Valle Tolima en Caguas, muchos de sus "fanáticos" comenzaron a atiborrar los supermercados de la Isla para acaparar la mayor cantidad posible de frutas y vegetables podridos, siendo el tomate la selección más popular "por su textura desagradable, su ofensivo olor, y su color sangre de periodista jaquetón herido". El gerente de ventas de la cadena de supermercados Pueblo aseguró que nunca habían visto una venta tan grande de víveres podridos "desde la última vez que regresó Pedro Rosselló a la Isla... ¡pa' esa vez tuvimos que importar vegetales podridos de la República Dominicana y to'!".
Sin embargo, Marrano aseguró no estar intimidado por estas amenazas, aseverando que "no me van a poner más sucio que lo que normalmente estoy yo joseando en mi porqueriza; además, me pienso poner una capita poncho plástica por si las moscas. Y nada, si viene el sicario enviado por Ñanito a meterme las manos, yo simplemente me quito la camisa y le echo a Radamés [Toro, del blog Prisma Digital], quien también será parte del panel". El periodista ñamense exhortó a todos aquellos que lo quieran conocer en persona y que no deseen aventarle alimentos descompuestos, que se den cita este miércoles en el Centro de Empresas Emergentes en Ciencias y Tecnología y que participen del panel de discusión, añadiendo por el contrario que todo aquél que sí desee tirarle comida podrida, que se presente al lugar "el jueves a primera hora".
Entre las personalidades que se darán cita a la actividad para demostrarle a Marrano cuán poca gracia le dieron sus reportajes se encuentra la fiscal federal interina Rosa Emilia Rodríguez, a quien no le gustó que Marrano insinuara que los cargos contra el ex gobernador Aníbal Acevedo Vilá estaban "pegados con chicle PAL". También se rumora que acudirá el nadador olímpico Michael Phelps, a quien Marrano presentó como un mafutero malo que firmaría contratos promocionales valorados en "docemil pejetas". Finalmente, el iracundo ex senador Jorge De Castro Font juró que iba a enviar a alguien a que le diera un tunda a Marrano por las insinuaciones de éste de que Ñañito desataría un huracán de mierda sobre el Capitolio, y de que éste es "buche y pluma no más", asegurando: "¡No hay nadie más macho que yo, y nadie pelea mis peleas por mí! ¡Eso se demostrará claramente el miércoles cuando mi asistente Papo Dos Dientes vaya a esa actividad de vaqueros o como se diga a llenarle la cara de dedos al Marrano ese!".
Oscar Marrano, intrépido reportero de El Ñame y para nada víctima de la gripe porcina que acecha la Isla, formará parte del último panel programado en la actividad, titulado "Los Blogs Como Plataforma Informativa". Marrano aseguró que aceptó acudir a la actividad en representación de El Ñame porque le dijeron que iba a haber desayuno y almuerzo gratis, "y como la piña está agria, hay que aprovechar cualquier oportunidad que se presente de josear comida".
Al enterarse que el controvertible Marrano se personará en el encuentro bloguero a llevarse a cabo en el Centro de Empresas Emergentes en Ciencias y Tecnología en la Urbanización Valle Tolima en Caguas, muchos de sus "fanáticos" comenzaron a atiborrar los supermercados de la Isla para acaparar la mayor cantidad posible de frutas y vegetables podridos, siendo el tomate la selección más popular "por su textura desagradable, su ofensivo olor, y su color sangre de periodista jaquetón herido". El gerente de ventas de la cadena de supermercados Pueblo aseguró que nunca habían visto una venta tan grande de víveres podridos "desde la última vez que regresó Pedro Rosselló a la Isla... ¡pa' esa vez tuvimos que importar vegetales podridos de la República Dominicana y to'!".
Sin embargo, Marrano aseguró no estar intimidado por estas amenazas, aseverando que "no me van a poner más sucio que lo que normalmente estoy yo joseando en mi porqueriza; además, me pienso poner una capita poncho plástica por si las moscas. Y nada, si viene el sicario enviado por Ñanito a meterme las manos, yo simplemente me quito la camisa y le echo a Radamés [Toro, del blog Prisma Digital], quien también será parte del panel". El periodista ñamense exhortó a todos aquellos que lo quieran conocer en persona y que no deseen aventarle alimentos descompuestos, que se den cita este miércoles en el Centro de Empresas Emergentes en Ciencias y Tecnología y que participen del panel de discusión, añadiendo por el contrario que todo aquél que sí desee tirarle comida podrida, que se presente al lugar "el jueves a primera hora".
Entre las personalidades que se darán cita a la actividad para demostrarle a Marrano cuán poca gracia le dieron sus reportajes se encuentra la fiscal federal interina Rosa Emilia Rodríguez, a quien no le gustó que Marrano insinuara que los cargos contra el ex gobernador Aníbal Acevedo Vilá estaban "pegados con chicle PAL". También se rumora que acudirá el nadador olímpico Michael Phelps, a quien Marrano presentó como un mafutero malo que firmaría contratos promocionales valorados en "docemil pejetas". Finalmente, el iracundo ex senador Jorge De Castro Font juró que iba a enviar a alguien a que le diera un tunda a Marrano por las insinuaciones de éste de que Ñañito desataría un huracán de mierda sobre el Capitolio, y de que éste es "buche y pluma no más", asegurando: "¡No hay nadie más macho que yo, y nadie pelea mis peleas por mí! ¡Eso se demostrará claramente el miércoles cuando mi asistente Papo Dos Dientes vaya a esa actividad de vaqueros o como se diga a llenarle la cara de dedos al Marrano ese!".
The accelerator of the modern age
It has often been said that change is the only constant in the 21st Century.
And there is little doubt that the restless tone of these times is something that the web has helped to accelerate.
But the only reason that the net and the web can cope with that punishing pace is thanks to work done four decades ago by British mathematician Donald Davies at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
On 5 August 1968 Dr Davies gave the first public presentation of work he had been doing on a method of moving data around computer networks called "packet switching".
The idea may sound mundane but, said John Pethica, chief science advisor at the NPL, the modern world would be a lot slower without it.
The internet, mobile phone networks and fixed line phones now all use the principles Davies and his team established to cram as much data as they can down the cables and wires making up the world's telecommunication networks.
Clogged pipes
Dr Pethica said the urge to find a better way to handle data emerged when computer networks were almost unheard of.
Donald Davies, NPL
Donald Davies found a way to help networks route data efficiently
At that time making a phone call involved creating a dedicated circuit between the handset of a caller and the person they wanted to chat to.
"A lot of people realised that point-to-point was going to be a big problem, even for telephones even before they thought about computers," said Dr Pethica. "The problem was how you turn it away from that."
The problem with human speech is that most of it is made up of silence - be that the pauses between words, time taken to breathe or gaps when one person waits for another to speak.
Using most of a telephone network to transmit silence is not a very efficient use of that resource. Far better would be to find a way to fill the blank spots with the moments from others calls when those folk were speaking.
Dr Pethica said many in the computer world in the late 60s were thinking about how to solve this problem.
"There were other ideas around, like Paul Baran at Rand, but they were nowhere near as useful as what Donald Davies did in terms of size of packets and nodes," said Dr Pethica.
"It was Donald who had the idea of making a set of nodes that you send packets of data to that find their own way through," said Dr Pethica.
The insight of Dr Davies and his team was to slice data, be that a chat on the phone, an e-mail or a picture, into separate pieces or packets. These are then put on the network and rely on the intelligence of nodes in the network to help them wend their way to their destination. Once there they are re-assembled into the right order.
Future proof
Dr Pethica said Davies' team worked out the mathematics that optimised such an approach - an idea that has proved its usefulness by still being in use today.
Computer research at NPL, NPL
Davies' team proved the concept and built prototype computer networks.
Error correction schemes included in the technology helped it cope with the poor quality of phone lines in use in the late 1960s, said Dr Pethica. In more modern times those schemes help ensure data makes it across the busy lanes of the internet.
Davies and his colleagues went further than just establishing the concept for packet switching - they also build the first computer networks and proved their ideas could work.
"They had a whole series of early computers at NPL that they turned in to a local area network (Lan)," said Dr Pethica. He pointed out that the NPL scientists built such a network far in advance of the day when such things would become the common way to link up machines in an office.
"The important breakthrough that he and his team made was to build the Lan and make it work," he said.
Even before Dr Davies presented his work publicly, news of it had spread through the international computer science community.
As a result he was invited to talk about it to a team from the US Advanced Research Project Agency (Arpa) working on the fledgling internet. The principles he established were rolled in to the technology to make that network function.
Dr Pethica said packet switching idea was developed with an eye on the future and how a computer network might grow. Forty years on the scalability in the Dr Davies insight is still proving its worth, he said.
And there is little doubt that the restless tone of these times is something that the web has helped to accelerate.
But the only reason that the net and the web can cope with that punishing pace is thanks to work done four decades ago by British mathematician Donald Davies at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
On 5 August 1968 Dr Davies gave the first public presentation of work he had been doing on a method of moving data around computer networks called "packet switching".
The idea may sound mundane but, said John Pethica, chief science advisor at the NPL, the modern world would be a lot slower without it.
The internet, mobile phone networks and fixed line phones now all use the principles Davies and his team established to cram as much data as they can down the cables and wires making up the world's telecommunication networks.
Clogged pipes
Dr Pethica said the urge to find a better way to handle data emerged when computer networks were almost unheard of.
Donald Davies, NPL
Donald Davies found a way to help networks route data efficiently
At that time making a phone call involved creating a dedicated circuit between the handset of a caller and the person they wanted to chat to.
"A lot of people realised that point-to-point was going to be a big problem, even for telephones even before they thought about computers," said Dr Pethica. "The problem was how you turn it away from that."
The problem with human speech is that most of it is made up of silence - be that the pauses between words, time taken to breathe or gaps when one person waits for another to speak.
Using most of a telephone network to transmit silence is not a very efficient use of that resource. Far better would be to find a way to fill the blank spots with the moments from others calls when those folk were speaking.
Dr Pethica said many in the computer world in the late 60s were thinking about how to solve this problem.
"There were other ideas around, like Paul Baran at Rand, but they were nowhere near as useful as what Donald Davies did in terms of size of packets and nodes," said Dr Pethica.
"It was Donald who had the idea of making a set of nodes that you send packets of data to that find their own way through," said Dr Pethica.
The insight of Dr Davies and his team was to slice data, be that a chat on the phone, an e-mail or a picture, into separate pieces or packets. These are then put on the network and rely on the intelligence of nodes in the network to help them wend their way to their destination. Once there they are re-assembled into the right order.
Future proof
Dr Pethica said Davies' team worked out the mathematics that optimised such an approach - an idea that has proved its usefulness by still being in use today.
Computer research at NPL, NPL
Davies' team proved the concept and built prototype computer networks.
Error correction schemes included in the technology helped it cope with the poor quality of phone lines in use in the late 1960s, said Dr Pethica. In more modern times those schemes help ensure data makes it across the busy lanes of the internet.
Davies and his colleagues went further than just establishing the concept for packet switching - they also build the first computer networks and proved their ideas could work.
"They had a whole series of early computers at NPL that they turned in to a local area network (Lan)," said Dr Pethica. He pointed out that the NPL scientists built such a network far in advance of the day when such things would become the common way to link up machines in an office.
"The important breakthrough that he and his team made was to build the Lan and make it work," he said.
Even before Dr Davies presented his work publicly, news of it had spread through the international computer science community.
As a result he was invited to talk about it to a team from the US Advanced Research Project Agency (Arpa) working on the fledgling internet. The principles he established were rolled in to the technology to make that network function.
Dr Pethica said packet switching idea was developed with an eye on the future and how a computer network might grow. Forty years on the scalability in the Dr Davies insight is still proving its worth, he said.
Tough times ahead for Hugo Chavez
For those supporters who gathered outside the Miraflores presidential palace to hear President Hugo Chavez's victory address, there was extra feeling in their famous chant: "Uh-Ah, Chavez no se va" - "Chavez is going nowhere."
When President Chavez came out on the balcony to greet them, he was jubilant.
Without a constitutional change he would have had to stand down when his term expires in 2013; instead he had secured the right to stand again for office in the next elections due in 2012, and elections beyond.
"I am ready!" He told them. "With today's victory we start the third historical cycle of the Bolivarian revolution, from 2009 to 2019."
This has been a crucial victory for Venezuela's president. He had a lot riding on the outcome, both personally and politically.
He told voters that his destiny was in their hands and that he would respect their decision, win or lose.
In the end though, he won comfortably, further strengthening his argument that he has the backing of the majority of the Venezuelan people.
President Hugo Chavez
A lot can happen in four years and the road to the 2012 election may well be rocky
The opposition argued that the entire vote was unconstitutional, and unnecessary. Having defeated a similar reform in 2007 their campaign slogan was: "No means No!"
But it is clear that the majority of voters did not agree.
Rather, the government was able to persuade people that what President Chavez called a "small change" to the constitution was important for the country's future.
But what will happen when the smoke of the government's celebratory fireworks clears?
Venezuela is facing a series of economic and social problems which need urgent attention, one of which, the rise in violent crime, has been almost taboo for the Chavez government in recent years.
Government members have questioned the severity of the problem and raised doubts about the murder rate figures.
Social spending
But in his victory speech, Mr Chavez identified the civil security situation as one of his priorities for the rest of his current term in office.
He also promised to "strengthen" the social programmes known as misiones, which provide free healthcare and education in some of the country's poorest areas.
Many economists say though that the next few years will be key as to whether he can sustain his level of social spending.
President Chavez supporter
Venezuelans are being promised improved social programmes
With oil currently around $40 a barrel, Mr Chavez will not be able to depend on the huge oil revenues he enjoyed during the earlier part of last year.
Inflation in Venezuela is already the highest in Latin America at just under 30% a year and there are suggestions that the state-run energy company, PDVSA, is running at a severe loss.
While Venezuelans have shown with this vote that President Chavez still has more than enough support to win another presidential election, a lot can happen in four years and the road to the 2012 election may well be rocky.
But for now, none of that matters to the celebrating "Chavistas" - the president's core supporters.
They are just happy to have now secured the change which had eluded them so narrowly a year ago.
When President Chavez came out on the balcony to greet them, he was jubilant.
Without a constitutional change he would have had to stand down when his term expires in 2013; instead he had secured the right to stand again for office in the next elections due in 2012, and elections beyond.
"I am ready!" He told them. "With today's victory we start the third historical cycle of the Bolivarian revolution, from 2009 to 2019."
This has been a crucial victory for Venezuela's president. He had a lot riding on the outcome, both personally and politically.
He told voters that his destiny was in their hands and that he would respect their decision, win or lose.
In the end though, he won comfortably, further strengthening his argument that he has the backing of the majority of the Venezuelan people.
President Hugo Chavez
A lot can happen in four years and the road to the 2012 election may well be rocky
The opposition argued that the entire vote was unconstitutional, and unnecessary. Having defeated a similar reform in 2007 their campaign slogan was: "No means No!"
But it is clear that the majority of voters did not agree.
Rather, the government was able to persuade people that what President Chavez called a "small change" to the constitution was important for the country's future.
But what will happen when the smoke of the government's celebratory fireworks clears?
Venezuela is facing a series of economic and social problems which need urgent attention, one of which, the rise in violent crime, has been almost taboo for the Chavez government in recent years.
Government members have questioned the severity of the problem and raised doubts about the murder rate figures.
Social spending
But in his victory speech, Mr Chavez identified the civil security situation as one of his priorities for the rest of his current term in office.
He also promised to "strengthen" the social programmes known as misiones, which provide free healthcare and education in some of the country's poorest areas.
Many economists say though that the next few years will be key as to whether he can sustain his level of social spending.
President Chavez supporter
Venezuelans are being promised improved social programmes
With oil currently around $40 a barrel, Mr Chavez will not be able to depend on the huge oil revenues he enjoyed during the earlier part of last year.
Inflation in Venezuela is already the highest in Latin America at just under 30% a year and there are suggestions that the state-run energy company, PDVSA, is running at a severe loss.
While Venezuelans have shown with this vote that President Chavez still has more than enough support to win another presidential election, a lot can happen in four years and the road to the 2012 election may well be rocky.
But for now, none of that matters to the celebrating "Chavistas" - the president's core supporters.
They are just happy to have now secured the change which had eluded them so narrowly a year ago.
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