Here you'll find travel reports about Marion. Discover travel destinations in Australia of travelers writing a travel blog on FindPenguins.
Heute gibt es nichts spektakuläres zu berichten.
Pack up day for Shona today she has been great company but has to go back to work, so now I will have to talk to myself. The photos are from the beach which is only a few steps from the caravan, I went for a fish there tonight but there was too much seaweed.
Fixed the fridge today the thermocouple had died, pretty pleased with myself to diagnose the problem and fix it. Did some other maintenence to the van so I will be ready to head off tomorrow. Perfect afternoon so i will wet a line.
Spent most of the day visiting Mike from the ozclubbies forum he has an interesting history building clubmans. The hospitality from the SA group has been amazing. Went for a walk to the nearby jetty when I got back back to the caravan park.
Has everything you need, alittle costly for the washer and dryer, and wifi doesn't seem to work. But kitchen and entertainment rooms are amazing, the location is to die for.
Right on the beach and the sunset's are insanely beautiful.
No mozzy's or fly to deal with at night which is great!
Nice pub down the road best steak I've had!
Showers and toilets are very well maintained, but for me the shower took almost 5 minutes to get hot?


Lavanya Sharan, Yuanzhen Li, Edward H. Adelson; Image statistics for surface reflectance estimation. Journal of Vision 2006;6(6):101. doi: 10.1167/6.6.101.
Recent work has shown that certain image statistics are diagnostic of the reflectance properties of complex real-world surfaces. We have previously demonstrated that moments and percentile statistics of the luminance histogram of an image are indicative of the diffuse surface reflectance. The same statistics measured on filtered images (center-surround and oriented filters) were also shown to be useful. We have now conducted further psychophysical studies to examine the role of these statistics in reflectance perception. Subjects viewed photographs of opaque, rough real-world surfaces (e.g. crumpled paper, clay) on an LCD monitor against a middle gray background. They rated the diffuse reflectance of each surface with reference to a standard Munsell scale. We find that subjects can, to some extent, estimate the reflectance of an isolated surface in the absence of mean luminance information, contrary to the Gelb effect. Also, the perceived reflectance of complex surfaces is somewhat robust to changes in mean luminance of the image or the surround, a tendency we term as self-anchoring. Black, shiny surfaces tend to 'self-anchor' better than others. A learning algorithm that employs informative image statistics performs very similarly to our subjects at reflectance estimation tasks. Moreover, manipulating such statistics of an image of a real-world surface strongly affects the perceived reflectance. Therefore, taken together, our results indicate that the image statistics capture perceptually relevant information.


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CLEVELAND – Tempting as it might've been for him to obey his thirst Monday night, LeBron James resisted. He's not really a beer guy. So, after avoiding a collision by poaching a beer, it wasn't a problem for James to return the bottle to the pony-tailed arena employee who happened to be walking along the sideline when the man who refuses to surrender the Eastern Conference came prancing along.
"If she had some red wine I would have probably taken a sip," James said.
An inebriated James might be the best hope for his reign to end because, mentally, the four-time MVP has entered an invincible phase, and, physically, he continues to defy gravity and senectitude. He's still able to request Kyrie Irving to throw the ball off the backboard so that he can flaunt his ability to throw down a lefty alley-oop dunk. And while he has often found unusual ways to have fun – such as the time he snuck a French fry off a fan in Oklahoma City – his flirtation with the beer, while out of frustration for blowing an and-one opportunity, hinted at something else: James isn't worried about the Toronto Raptors until they give him a reason to be concerned.
The temptation to go with the Eastern Conference field over James and the Cavaliers this postseason was perhaps stronger than previous years, based on how poorly Cleveland looked after the All-Star break and how awful the defense had been since October. But just as James showed restraint with the beer in his hand, betting against a one-man championship contender who has already overcome the most extreme basketball adversity – down 3-1 to a 73-win team last June – should be approached with similar pause. James has repeatedly made fools of the second-guessers, and his last three postseason failures have come only in the NBA Finals.
James hasn't lost a playoff series in the East since 2010. And second, third, and even fourth chances to get revenge against James haven't fared well for Boston, Chicago, Indiana and Atlanta. But give the Raptors some credit. They elected to go all in while attempting to bring down James. They didn't try to get a lower seed to avoid a second-round matchup against the defending champs. General manager Masai Ujiri went for it at the trade deadline, giving the Raptors the pieces that they lacked when James steamrolled through them in last year's conference finals en route to his legacy-defining third title. Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker have given Toronto an edge, but the newcomers haven't been able to keep their new team from a terrible habit of self-inflicted adversity.
The Raptors have lost 10 straight Game 1's but perhaps needed to come with a different, non-deferential approach to dethroning James. A series-opening win in Cleveland would've meant more for Toronto's confidence – and possibly given an inkling of doubt to the Cavaliers – that this won't be a repeat of what occurred last season. Alas, it was more of the same.
After the morning shootaround, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan walked from the arena to the team hotel, undeterred by the rain showers outside. Lowry joked that he didn't care about the weather outside because he used to play basketball in the rain growing up in Philadelphia. They don't mind making things hard for themselves. Toronto has now lost its past four playoff games at Quicken Loans Arena by an average of 24.7 points.
The Raptors spoke glowingly of James in advance of the series, praising his greatness and the honor of sharing the court with him and refusing to offer any motivational sound bites. And after Monday's loss, they either refused to admit that they saw James handling the beer bottle or denied that it reflected any hint of disrespect. Beating James will require some well-channeled anger, which San Antonio used when it became the only team, in either conference, to exact series revenge over James (with Miami) in the past seven years. But Toronto doesn't appear to have yet reached that point.
James was amused by what the Raptors did to improve their roster, inspired by a team that didn't appear interested in ceding victory. That also stirred him with a desire to crush their spirits with expediency. After poking a Lowry pass out ahead to his All-Star teammate Kyrie Irving in the game's first three minutes, James immediately directed Irving to throw the ball off the glass. ("Or you could say, 'Throw it to the sky.' I like that better," James said.) Irving obliged and could only shake his head in amazement afterward.
"It's just another play in the books for me and 'Bron," Irving said.
This season, these playoffs, James has almost been in open defiance of those who expected him to take it easy in his first truly unburdened season. He shouldn't lead the league in minutes at age 32; shouldn't average more regular-season minutes than 20-somethings Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis when he's already amassed more career minutes than Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Scottie Pippen. And he shouldn't be averaging more postseason minutes, either. But he keeps testing the bounds of his endurance, keeps single-handedly making the Cavaliers' second unit dangerous merely by his presence on the floor, and he gets a little more agitated each time someone asks him if he should let up a bit. "I train my body every single day to be in tip-top shape. I feel real good about where I'm at today. And hopefully, that will continue," James said.
In the first few months of his first season back in Cleveland in 2014, James didn't feel right. He struggled with a balky back and a sore knee, and Cavaliers fans were briefly concerned that their hometown hero had given the best he had to offer to Miami. He griped about minutes, demanded that he'd be used less to preserve himself for the postseason, and expressed concern about his longevity. Now, in the third season of his second Cavs tenure, James wants to consume every available minute. "I'll rest when I retire," James said earlier this season, while repeating variances of that phrase several times afterward.
And that's the thing with James as he's reached a stage in his career when he has no peers. When his primary opponents either are already in the history books or looking at him in the mirror. The Cavaliers haven't necessarily found that switch, but they are winning. (The Dahntay Jones Effect, perhaps?) And an eight-day layoff gave them plenty of time to practice and uncork their best, sustained performance of the playoffs. Rallying from a 26-point deficit to defeat Indiana in Game 3 of the first round is still the moment when James reminded all challengers of the difficulty of defeating him. But a wire-to-wire victory over the Raptors sent another message about what the Cavaliers can look like when they remain focused from the opening tip.
James had a momentary lapse in the third period, when he snatched that beer and contemplated relaxing for the rest of the evening. The crowd applauded. Teammate J.R. Smith, who was standing nearby, had a good laugh but jokingly wondered how people would've reacted had he done the same. Doesn't matter. James is thirsty, no doubt. But while he prefers red wine – and that carbonated beverage that he won't tell anyone to drink in his commercials – his play this postseason suggests that he'd rather wait for the champagne.


I can open the documents I have on excel but can't write or delete anything on them. I have viewed the YouTube video going through the tools menu on libre and completed the steps but when I open the excel document I still can't write or delete.
Seems odd. I open and edit Excel docs all the time. What operating system are you on, what version of Excel are the spreadsheets in, and what version of LO are you using?
Are there any macros or security features in them?
export of recently used files list ?
Where can I find a nice Libreoffice desktop icon? Not so fond of the stock grey one.


text:
package org.apache.druid.segment.virtual;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import nl.jqno.equalsverifier.EqualsVerifier;
import org.apache.druid.jackson.DefaultObjectMapper;
import org.apache.druid.segment.column.ColumnType;
import org.apache.druid.segment.nested.NestedPathFinder;
import org.junit.Assert;
import org.junit.Test;

public class NestedFieldVirtualColumnTest
{
  private static final ObjectMapper JSON_MAPPER = new DefaultObjectMapper();

  @Test
  public void testSerde() throws JsonProcessingException
  {
    NestedFieldVirtualColumn there = new NestedFieldVirtualColumn("nested", "$.x.y.z", "v0", ColumnType.LONG);
    String json = JSON_MAPPER.writeValueAsString(there);
    NestedFieldVirtualColumn andBackAgain = JSON_MAPPER.readValue(json, NestedFieldVirtualColumn.class);
    Assert.assertEquals(there, andBackAgain);
  }

  @Test
  public void testSerdeArrayParts() throws JsonProcessingException
  {
    NestedFieldVirtualColumn there = new NestedFieldVirtualColumn("nested", "$.x.y.z[1]", "v0", ColumnType.LONG);
    String json = JSON_MAPPER.writeValueAsString(there);
    NestedFieldVirtualColumn andBackAgain = JSON_MAPPER.readValue(json, NestedFieldVirtualColumn.class);
    Assert.assertEquals(there, andBackAgain);
  }

  @Test
  public void testBothPathAndPartsDefined()
  {
    Assert.assertThrows(
        "Cannot define both 'path' and 'pathParts'",
        IllegalArgumentException.class,
        () -> new NestedFieldVirtualColumn(
            "nested",
            "v0",
            ColumnType.LONG,
            NestedPathFinder.parseJsonPath("$.x.y.z"),
            false,
            "$.x.y.z",
            false
        )
    );
  }

  @Test
  public void testNoPathAndPartsDefined()
  {
    Assert.assertThrows(
        "Must define exactly one of 'path' or 'pathParts'",
        IllegalArgumentException.class,
        () -> new NestedFieldVirtualColumn(
            "nested",
            "v0",
            ColumnType.LONG,
            null,
            null,
            null,
            null
        )
    );
  }

  @Test
  public void testEqualsAndHashcode()
  {
    EqualsVerifier.forClass(NestedFieldVirtualColumn.class)
                  .withNonnullFields("columnName", "outputName")
                  .withIgnoredFields("hasNegativeArrayIndex")
                  .usingGetClass()
                  .verify();
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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ZAHIR Paulo Coelho
by: Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho's novel The Zahir is about a renowned author who writes about spirituality and once went on a pilgrimage along the road to Santiago. On a return visit, he is suddenly abandoned by his wife, who leaves no trace of herself behind. As the story unfolds the author becomes obsessed with understanding the reason for her desertion. Was she kidnapped, blackmailed, or simply bored with their marriage? His search for her - and for the truth of his own life - takes him from South America to Spain, France, Croatia and, eventually, the bleakly beautiful landscape of Central Asia. More than that, it leads him into a new understanding of the nature of love, the power of destiny and what it really means to follow your heart. ?Suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way we imagine we want to be loved, and not in the way that love should manifest itself - free and untrammelled, guiding us with its force and driving us on.'
368pp, 128mm x 197mm, Paperback, 2006
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ANAM CARA: SPIRITUAL WISDOM FROM THE CELTIC WORLD John O'Donohue £8.99 £9.99
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Cuban women told not to dress in white if they want to attend Mass
"Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:10, New American Bible
Ladies in White marching in Matanzas, Cuba
Eight ladies dressed in white were expelled from the Catholic parish in Aguada de Pasajeros in Cienfuegos by Father Tarciso. The priest who removed them from the Church told them, "you can continue coming to Church because this is God's house, but wear another color." The women are members of a human rights movement known as the Ladies in White who in recent months have faced rising repression at the hands of the Cuban dictatorship.
Unfortunately, one cannot expect much in the way of assistance appealing to the Cuban Cardinal for help in this matter. On June 5, 2015 Cardinal Jaime Ortega in a radio interview claimed that there were no political prisoners remaining in Cuba. Following the announcement by human rights groups in Cuba that at least 71 political prisoners remained in prisons there, the Cardinal requested that a copy of the list be given to him. News of the Cardinal's statements are now circulating in the United States painting him in a negative light.
These are difficult times for Cuban Catholics and for Christians generally in Cuba.
Posted by John Suarez at 12:12 PM 2 comments:
Labels: Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Cuba, Father Tarciso, Ladies in White, political prisoners
Cuban mother denounces her disabled son's unjust imprisonment as blackmail by Cuban regime
"There are political prisoners in Cuba; the son of a member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) was sentenced to 12 years in jail for the sole reason of being the son of a MCL member."- Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, September 23, 2011 interview
Rosa María Rodríguez Gil addresses the UNHRC in Geneva
One day a secret policemen approached Rosa María Rodríguez Gil and demanded that she become an informant spying on other members of the human rights group of which she is a member. She rejected their offer saying that she would not be subjected to blackmail. They warned her that her learning disabled son, Yosvani Melchor Rodríguez, would pay. Three days later he was arrested on March 19, 2010 and held in custody for nine months then subjected to a show trial and given a 12 year prison sentence.
Rosa responded by denouncing the blackmail and demanding the immediate release of her innocent son. Two years later and her son is still unjustly imprisoned and international attention draws some attention to his plight. Early one morning her sister, Dalia Margarita Rodríguez, who is a cancer survivor, gets a phone call they ask her if she is related to Rosa and they ask Dalia her son's name. She answered all their questions truthfully and then they tell her to talk to Rosa and to take care of her son or that he would end up the same way.
Now more than five years after his arrest on June 24, 2015 with her son still in prison, Rosa María Rodríguez Gil addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and called for her son's freedom denouncing Yosvani's unjust imprisonment. In the video above beginning at 2:28:20 you can watch what transpired and below is a transcript of her statement before the Council:
Thank you very much Mr. Chairman,
My name is Rosa Maria Rodriguez Gil, I am a member of the Coordinating Council of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) and I live in Havana, Cuba.
For my activism and commitment to the MCL and Oswaldo Payá, who with Harold Cepero died in circumstances that have not been cleared up; because I refused to collaborate with the Cuban political police, my son Yosvani Melchor Rodriguez, a young man with psychological problems, was arbitrarily arrested, subjected to a show trial, where the prosecution was unable to demonstrate evidence of an alleged crime of trafficking in persons that he did not commit, they sanctioned him to 12 years in prison and he has spent 5 years in the prisons of Cuba.
My son is being punished as a vendetta for my participation in the civic and constitutional campaign for a referendum where the people can freely decide whether if they want democracy.
Not content to kidnap my son, the Cuban authorities denied Yosvani even the right to parole, that all inmate has on the island once they have passed the half way point of the sanction imposed, in this case unjustly.
I come before this honorable forum to ask for justice and that my son Yosvani Melchor Rodriguez be released immediately, that the blackmail and threats against me and against all Cubans who peacefully work for human rights and real change to democracy with the people's participation cease.
In an interview on the same day with Radio República she described how the dictatorship's diplomat interrupted her, along with several anti-democratic states, questioning her credentials when she addressed the Council and how she was able to finish her statement. Rosa María also recalled how others in the council chamber approached her to express their admiration for her courage, some taking pictures with her.
Unjustly imprisoned: Yosvani Melchor
Labels: Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Radio República, Rosa María Rodríguez Gil, Yosvani Melchor
Cuban woman mutilated in deadly machete attack holds State Security responsible
Former People's Assembly delegate pays high price to live free in Cuba
Sirley Ávila León, age 56, mother of two brutally attacked
Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00pm by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thugs" and that she is sure that the aggression "was politically motivated." The attack was severe enough that she suffered deep cuts to her neck and knees, lost her left hand and could still lose her right arm. Although Carrión was the principle assailant, his wife threw her into the mud after he cut off her hand compounding the injury with infection. It was a coordinated attack. Sirley has not recovered from her injuries, her life hangs in the balance but she has been sent home in this critical state without the proper medication.
"She has still not recovered and could lose her right arm." - Hablemos Press
The 56 year old mother of two, small farmer and opposition activist has charged Cuban state security of being behind the deadly attack. She says that they are trying to be rid of her. Furthermore that prior to this attack some of her cows and pigs were attacked with machetes, which she then added "I reaffirm that this is something that was prepared against me for some time."
Sirley Ávila León, an ex-delegate of the People's Assembly (Poder Popular) of Majibacoa, a relatively sparse area of Cuba did something highly unusual in Cuba that got her in trouble. She had represented her community not the dictatorship and been re-elected for three terms. She had gotten the government to establish an elementary school for the few students who lived there. Otherwise they would have had to travel several kilometers daily to get to a school. At the same time transportation in Cuba is also a complicated affair to get around. When in 2012 the regime wanted the school shut down and Sirley began a protracted struggle to keep the school open she was confronted initially by the refusal of anyone to meet with her or the state controlled press to report on what was happening. She broke a taboo when she appealed to the international media and then tried to run in the rubber stamp elections which she then lost after maneuvers by the regime.
Joining the opposition
Sirley crossed another line when she joined the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU in Spanish) which is part of the democratic opposition. In 2013 reports emerged that her son (an ex-official of the counterintelligence) was told by state security to tie her down, declare her insane for dissenting from the system, and have her shipped of to an psychiatric institution. He refused. Sirley denounced this in an UNPACU video on April 14, 2013. The Castro regime has a long track record of using psychiatry as a political weapon and these institutions have also had a record of neglect in which patients have died from exposure. The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba published in 1992 documented the interrelationship between Cuban psychiatry and the Cuban State Security apparatus to target dissidents.
In August of 2013 Sirley was able to document on video harassment from the national revolutionary police when she tried to sell mangoes. She has a small farm and was producing food. A neighbor appeared on camera to defend Sirley and denounce the heavy handedness of the regime while it ignored far more serious crimes. She denounced further harassment and threats on November 8, 2013. At the same time her activism, distributing literature and advocating a democratic transition made her a priority target of the political police who placed eight common prisoners around her home to spy on her while they are supposedly cutting invader species of plants.
Rising repression and violence
Other activists have been the victims of politically motivated machete attacks and women have been targeted with extreme violence by state security. This latest attack is an escalation in the level of violence and points to an ominous trend.
"Sending her home endangers her life further." - Hablemos Press
Will you help her?
Sirley Ávila León is a courageous woman who despite being in great distress continues to demand justice and is asking the international community to help. First, the medical attention has been deficient and she reports that the doctor prescribed medicines that are unavailable on the island and she is asking for help from abroad to get them and food. The principle aggressor has been detained due to the attention brought to the attack, but his wife who also participated in the attack is still free. She believes that the political nature of the attack will make it impossible to obtain judicial defense for the case. "Here they do not want to do anything, that is why I am asking for international help from some lawyer who can advise me "
Labels: Cuba, delegate, machete attack, Osmany Carrión, Sirley Ávila León, State Security
Why US 'Engagement' With Cuba Has Been Deadly for Human Rights Activists
Published in The Daily Signal
Rosa María Payá denounces international indifference
President Obama's engagement policy with the Castro regime, announced in 2009, has led to a massive increase in arbitrary detentions, violence against activists and the deaths of high-profile opposition leaders under circumstances that point to extrajudicial executions carried out by Cuban state security.
The White House not only began to loosen sanctions on the Castro regime in April 2009, but also refused to meet in June 2009 with the winners of the National Endowment for Democracy's Democracy Award, who happened to be five Cuban dissidents that year.
It was the first time in five years the U.S. president did not meet with award laureates. In December 2009, the Castro regime responded to the outreach when it took Alan Gross hostage and the Obama administration responded with initial silence. It took American diplomats 25 days to visit with the arbitrarily detained American.
These signals would have deadly consequences for the Cuban democratic opposition. Rising levels of violence against nonviolent activists and the suspicious deaths of human rights defenders, such as Orlando Zapata Tamayo (2010), Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia (2011), Laura Inés Pollán Toledo (2011), Wilman Villar Mendoza (2012), Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (2012) and Harold Cepero Escalante (2012), followed promptly.
The administration responded to the taking of Gross (2009) and the death of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo on Feb. 23, 2010, by further loosening sanctions on Cuba in January 2011. The number of high-profile activists who died under suspicious circumstances after the second round of loosening of sanctions should give engagement advocates pause in their optimism with the new policy.
Machete attacks by regime officials against activists began in June 2013, the same month as secret negotiations between the Obama administration and the Castro regime started.
On Feb. 3, 2015, Rosa María Payá, in testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued an indictment on the indifference of the US government and the international community:
On 22 July 2012, Cuban State Security detained the car in which my father, Oswaldo Payá, and my friend Harold Cepero, along with two young European politicians, were traveling. All of them survived, but my father disappeared for hours only to reappear dead, in the hospital in which Harold would die without medical attention. The Cuban government wouldn't have dared to carry out its death threats against my father if the U.S. government and the democratic world had been showing solidarity. If you turn your face, impunity rages. While you slept, the regime was conceiving their cleansing of the pro-democracy leaders to come. While you sleep, a second generation of dictators is planning with impunity their next crimes.
Two months later Rosa María Payá, and other activists were harassed first at the airport by Panamanian officials and later at the VII Summit of the Americas because the United States, along with the democracies of the region, invited Raul Castro to the summit. Castro arrived with a huge entourage of state security agents, then proceeded to interrupt and shut down official civil society gatherings at the summit to silence dissent. Cuban pro-democracy activists were physically assaulted in a public park when they tried to lay a wreath before a bust of Jose Marti suffering broken bones and black eyes.
Meanwhile, President Obama shook hands with Raul Castro and declared the goal of regime change in Cuba was no longer U.S. policy. Now, violence in Cuba escalates each Sunday as men and women of the democratic resistance suffering brutal beatings and detentions.
Original version: http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/15/why-us-engagement-with-cuba-has-been-deadly-for-human-rights-activists/
Labels: Cuba, harold cepero, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, Rosa María Payá
The Varela Project: Cuba's Great Charter
To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice. - Magna Carta, June 15, 1215
Today the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta is being observed in the United Kingdom and it is important to look at societies where authoritarian or totalitarian dictatorships continue to systematically deny freedom and how citizens in those societies have appealed for change echoing elements of "The Great Charter." In Cuba, the Varela Project, under the dictatorship of the Castro brothers to date is the most serious challenge where more than 25,000 Cubans petitioned the regime to reform itself in 2002-2003. This led to the dictatorship altering the constitution to prevent amendments that would reform the system, imprisoning scores of petition organizers in March of 2003, and on July 22, 2012 extrajudicially killing Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante of the Christian Liberation Movement who had led the initiative. This citizen's demand remains active and like the Magna Carta was not a single event but a process that is still underway. Below is a translated excerpt of the Varela Project.
CITIZEN PETITION: SUPPORTED IN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
The undersigned at the end of this text, solicit the National Assembly of People's Power to submit to popular consultation, by means of a referendum, each of the following five proposals:
That the necessary changes to the laws are made for preserving the common good and respect for universally recognized human rights and human dignity, guaranteeing citizens:
The right to associate freely according to their interests and ideas, so that they can legally form associations and social, political, economic, cultural, labor, student, religious, humanitarian and other organizations, respecting the principle of pluralism and diversity of ideas present in society.
The rights to freedom of speech and press, in a manner so that people, individually or in groups, can demonstrate and express their ideas, beliefs and opinions through the spoken and written word and by any means of communication and expression.
The laws that guarantee these rights must be implemented no later than sixty days after this referendum is realized.That an amnesty for all detainees is decreed, for those punished and imprisoned for political reasons that have not participated in actions that directly endangered the lives of others. This amnesty law will go into effect no later than thirty days after this referendum is realized.That the necessary changes be made to the laws that guarantee citizens the right to establish both individual private enterprises such as cooperatives, to develop economic activities that can be productive and of service, since they can establish contracts between workers and companies for the operation of these companies, under just conditions, in which no subject can earn income from the exploitation of others' labor.
These new laws should also ensure respect for the rights of workers and citizens, and the interests of society. These new laws should enter into force no later than sixty days after this referendum is held.
Runnymede, England 1215 Havana,Cuba 2002
Labels: Cuba, harold cepero escalante, Magna Carta, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, The Great Charter
The Magna Carta 800 years later
The Great Charter of 1215 that established the Rule of Law
On June 15, 1215 40 barons pressured King John into affixing his seal on The Great Charter (Magna Carta in Latin) at a field in Runnymede, England. This document placed the sovereign under the rule of law and established this principle among English speaking peoples. The Nobles had risen up against the King and through peace negotiations sought this limitation of royal power in response to King John arbitrarily seizing properties and holding nobles hostage in order to raise funds in a failed attempt to take Normandy from the French. The document was originally written in Latin, then translated into French and finally into English.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were directly influenced by this document. A full English translation is available online and below are some key excerpts still relevant in today's British law that resonate the world over:
(1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity. TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
(39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.
(40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
King John had no intention of honoring the Magna Carta but thanks to the work of religious scribes, copies of the document were made and distributed. However, the King appealed to Pope Innocent III who nullified the agreement three weeks later. The Great Charter was issued in 1216 after King John's death by King Henry III. It was not called Magna Carta until 1217 when it was part of a peace treaty agreed at Lambeth. Eight hundred years later the world returns to reflect on what took place at a field in Runnymede where the King sat down with Barons and sealed a charter that would change the course of history.
It is a day also to be dreaded by anyone in a position of power who abuses his authority, of tyrants both petty and grand around the globe because it is a day to reflect on the idea that no one is above the law and that everyone has rights. These principles established among English speaking peoples on June 15, 2015 that today extends to between a fourth and third of humankind living on the planet remains relevant giving hope to the oppressed and worry to the oppressors.
Friends of freedom tomorrow is a day to give a toast in celebration of the 800th anniversary of this important charter of liberty and to our British cousins who brought it into existence while at the same time studying this document and the continuing struggle to preserve our freedoms and extend them where and when possible.
Labels: 800th, Barons, freedom, June 15 1215, King John, Magna Carta, The Great Charter
Carter's embrace of Castro in the 1970s cost American lives
Careful when Castro praises you
Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter in Cuba in 2002
Fidel Castro in 2011 had words of praise for former President Jimmy Carter upon his second visit to Cuba describing him as someone with "enough serenity and courage to deal with the issue of relations with Cuba" and continued:
"His administration was the only one that took some steps to lessen the criminal blockade imposed on our people." ..."The Revolution always appreciated his valiant gesture. In the year 2002, it received him warmly. Now, I reiterated to him its respect and esteem."
Castro also claimed that it was the "extreme fascist right in the United States" that led to President Carter's Cuba policy failing at the time. However, a book written by his chief body guard, Juan Reinaldo Sánchez Crespo, gives a better insight as to how Castro viewed President Carter and how he applied this knowledge at the time.
Book written by Castro's chief body guard
Brian Latell, a former U.S. intelligence analyst and presently an academic at the University of Miami, in a June 8, 2015 oped in The Miami Herald giving an overview of the above book focused on how Castro dealt with the Mariel boatlift during the Carter presidency:
For me, Sánchez's most appalling indictment of Fidel concerns the chaotic exodus of more than 125,000 Cubans in 1980 from the port of Mariel. Most who fled were members of Cuban exile families living in the United States. They were allowed to board boats brought by relatives and to make the crossing to South Florida.
But many of the boats were forcibly loaded by Cuban authorities with criminals and mentally ill people plucked from institutions on the island. Few of us who have studied Fidel Castro have doubted that it was he who ordered those dangerous Cubans to be exported to the United States. He has persuaded few with his denials of any role in the incident.
Yet Sánchez adds an appalling new twist to the saga. We learn that prison wards and mental institutions were not hurriedly emptied, as was previously believed. Sánchez reveals that Castro insisted on scouring lists of prisoners so that he could decide who would stay and who would be sent to the United States. He ordered interior minister Jose Abrahantes to bring him prisoner records.
Sánchez was seated in an anteroom just outside of Fidel's office when the minister arrived. The bodyguard listened as Fidel discussed individual convicts with Abrahantes.
"I was present when they brought him the lists of prisoners," Sánchez writes, "with the name, the reason for the sentence, and the date of release. Fidel read them, and with the stroke of a pen designated which ones could go and which ones would stay. 'Yes' was for murderers and dangerous criminals; 'no' was for those who had attacked the revolution." Dissidents remained incarcerated.
A number of the criminal and psychopathic marielitos put on the boats to Florida went on to commit heinous crimes — including mass murder, rape, and arson.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article23537077.html#storylink=cpy
This episode was a contributing factor, along with a terrible economy, the hostage crisis in Iran that led the American public in 1980 to elect Ronald Reagan president who reversed Carter's policies on Cuba. What should worry citizens of the United States is that Obama's new Cuba policy is a sequel to Carter's 1970s Cuba policy.
Labels: Brian Latell, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, Mariel, Obama
Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports on reforms in Cuba that undermine property rights
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has released a report documenting a worsening situation with regards to religious freedom in Cuba that has been picked up in the media. However, reading through their report one finds that what many Cuba experts have been heralding as one of Raul Castro's reforms has a sinister underbelly that further undermines the already weak area of property rights. Even graves are not protected. The Miami Herald reported on June 9, 2015 that Cuban-American investor José Valdés-Fauli found when he visited the tomb of his maternal grandfather, Jacinto Pedroso, a Cuban businessmen and founder of the Pedroso Bank who had died in 1955 that his mausoleum had been sold, his remains thrown into a mass grave some time after 2013. Below is the excerpt of the Christian Solidarity Worldwide discussing this new legislation that negatively impacts property rights. The added bold for emphasis is mine.
New legislation, Legal Decree 322: the General Law on Housing, was announced on 5 September 2014 and came into force on 5 January 2015.1 The law is meant to regulate private properties, mostly homes, and enforce zoning laws. However, it has reportedly been used by government officials to claim the right to seize church properties and to force the churches into the role of paying tenant. Cuban lawyers have told CSW that although the law does not specifically mention religious groups, government officials have claimed it gives them the authority to expropriate property when they deem it 'necessary.' One legal expert linked to the Cuban Council of Churches and speaking anonymously told CSW that churches of all denominations and in multiple provinces are affected:
"They are applying the law rigorously. In the case of the churches it is worse. They propose to convert the church into a tenant. This has consequences. For example, the 'new owner' is able to decide what the church can or cannot do in this place. That is to say they lose autonomy. They cannot accept this. The situation is complicated."1
The legal expert added that the most vulnerable churches are those to which the government has refused to issue a licence recognising them as a registered place of worship.2 However, at least one historic church property was targeted in the first half of the year. In May 2015 the leadership of the Maranatha First Baptist Church, in the city of Holguin, was informed by provincial Communist
Party and Housing Ministry officials that their property is to be confiscated and their status changed from owners to tenants. The church is affiliated with the Eastern Baptist Convention of Cuba, and over 800 people worship there on a weekly basis. It has held title to the property since 1947 and was officially registered in May 1954. Government officials threatened to confiscate the church property once before in 2011, but backed down after a high profile campaign; now, it seems, they may be attempting to apply the new legislation to justify their actions. Leaders of the church have published an open letter calling for support as they resist government attempts to seize their
property. Other churches have also reported threats of confiscation or destruction of property, which appear to be related to the application of Legal Decree 322. In May Reverend Fausto Polemo was informed by local authorities that his church in the city of Santiago de Cuba would be confiscated and demolished, and that he was prohibited from holding any more services. The church belongs to the Assemblies of God denomination, which is registered and recognized in Cuba. Similarly, Pastors Osmel and Madeleine de Calderón were told that their church in Loma Blanca, Upper Mayarí, Santiago Province and affiliated with the Apostolic Movement,3 must stop holding services. Members of their church have also been approached by government officials, warned to stop attending the church, and told to distance themselves from the couple. Reverend Alain Toledano, another Apostolic Movement leader, was told that his property in the city of Santiago would be confiscated. He has continued to make public calls for the government to clarify the status of his
In May, a Request for Precautionary Measures was filed with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on behalf of Reverend Yiorvis Bravo, another Apostolic Movement leader. In 2013 a Camaguey court sanctioned a government move to expropriate his home, which is also the meeting place of his church. While the case predates the enactment of Legal Decree 322, the tactics
appear identical. Reverend Bravo was approached by Ministry of Housing officials in 2013 who offered to allow him and his family to remain in the property as tenants, if they agreed to submit all church activities for approval in advance. Reverend Bravo refused to comply and remains in the home, but while government officials have not yet made any move to evict the family, they have continued to maintain that the property is now theirs and they reserve the right to evict or relocate the family at any time.
1 More information on the law can be found at www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2014/09/24/cuales-son-las-principales-modificaciones-a-la-ley-general-de-la-vivienda/#.VXCxNM9Viko (Spanish)
2 Because the government has allowed only a handful of new church buildings to be built since the 1959 Revolution, despite massive growth in the churches through the 1990s and 2000s, a huge proportion of Protestants and some Catholics meet in what are usually referred to as house churches. This name is applied to any building where religious services are held and which is not legally registered as a place of worship. While the government mostly tolerated these house churches for
many years, it made it difficult and often impossible to register the buildings as places of worship. This meant that they were technically illegal and always vulnerable to harassment, fines and forced closure.
3 The government has refused to register the Apostolic Movement and considers it to be illegal.
Labels: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Cuba, Legal Decree 322, property rights, religious freedom
Iraqi Christian Relief Council hosts two screenings of "Sing a Little Louder"
This True Story Connects the Lessons of History, Religious Freedom, and the Fight against ISIS
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, June 9, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Catholic Witnesses, and Movie to Movement are hosting two screenings of "Sing a Little Louder," a film about genocide, people of faith, and the mute acceptance of evil.
Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, will offer a short briefing on the current plight of Christians targeted by ISIS. Ms. Taimoorazy grew up in Tehran, is a Fellow for the Philos Project, and is an Executive Producer on this film.
SING A LITTLE LOUDER is a 12-minute film based on the true story of an old man who remembers witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, and the passivity of his parents, pastor, and fellow Christians in the face of ultimate evil. The movie serves as eloquent commentary today, when Christians themselves are the victims of genocide throughout the Muslim world—to the silence of Christians in the West who are privileged with influence, wealth, and power.
Congressman Frank Wolf (Ret.), champion of religious freedom, said, "'Sing a Little Louder' uses a moving personal narrative to convey a powerful message—namely that when confronted with evil in its many manifestations, good people must act. To do otherwise is to be complicit in the suffering of innocents." He added, "We must examine our conscience when confronted with this injustice…"
Executive Producer Jason Jones (Bella, Crescendo, The Stoning of Soroya M.) added, "We must speak out for the vulnerable, wherever they are, whoever they are. Our mission in Movie to Movement is to produce and promote films that highlight the dignity and sacredness of the human person, through the medium of beauty. 'Sing a Little Louder' is a powerful, unforgettable film that does just that."
The Iraqi Christian Relief Council (www.victimsofisis.org) coordinates desperately needed relief for persecuted Assyrian Christians and other minorities menaced by ISIS and other jihadists.
Please join us:
Place: National Press Club, 524 14th Street NW
Date: Wednesday, June 10
Time: 2:00 – 3:00PM EST
Place: CapitalHQ, 340 Madison Avenue
Date: Thursday, June 11
Time: 12:00 – 1:00PM EST
RSVP: Rebecca Karabus rkarabus@capitalhq.com
Labels: "Sing a Little Louder", Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Juliana Taimoorazy
Carlos Alberto Montaner's seven warnings concerning Obama's Cuba policy
What the mainstream press is missing in the Cuba policy debate
Seven final warnings about Obama's new Cuba policy
By Carlos Alberto Montaner, Cuban academic and author
The first warning is that the government of the Castro brothers maintains in 2015 exactly the same vision of the United States that it had when the guerrillas came to power in January 1959.
To them, the huge and powerful neighbor and its purported predatory practices in the economic field are at the root of mankind's basic problems.
The second warning, a consequence of the first, is that that regime, wholly consistent with its beliefs, will continue to try to affect the United States negatively in all instances that present themselves.
Yesterday, it placed itself under the Soviet umbrella. In the post-Soviet era, it built the foundation for the São Paulo Forum and later for the circuit known as 21st-Century socialism, which extended to the countries of the so-called ALBA. Today, it allies itself firmly with Iran and is lining up with the Sino-Russian side in this new and dangerous Cold War being gestated. To the Castros, anti-Americanism is a moral crusade that they'll never renounce.
The third one is that the Cuban dictatorship has not the slightest intention to begin a process of liberalization that might allow political pluralism or freedoms, as these are known among the world's most developed nations.
Opposition democrats are tolerated so long as their movements and communications can be regulated and watched by the political police.
The regime perfectly dominates the techniques of social control. Aside from the conventional police to keep the opposition in check, it has at least 60,000 counterintelligence officers under the MININT [Interior Ministry] and tens of thousands of collaborators. To them, repression is not a dark and shameful behavior but a constant and patriotic task.
The fourth is that the economic system being erected by Raúl Castro has not been conceived to nurture a civil society, a society that someday will magically overthrow the dictatorship. Instead, it is a model of Military Capitalism of State (MCS), whose backbone consists of the Army and the Ministry of the Interior, institutions that control most of the country's productive apparatus.
Within that scheme, as can be surmised from the words of official economist Juan Triana Cordoví, the State (in reality, the military sector) reserves for itself the management and exploitation of the country's 2,500 medium and large businesses, leaving to the self-employed entrepreneurs a large number of small activities that it doesn't care to sustain.
Contrary to the thinking in Washington and among the nongovernmental Cuban sectors that support those economic reforms, Raúl Castro and his advisers assume, correctly, that the self-employed entrepreneurs will be a source of stability for the Military Capitalism of State, not because of ideological affinity but because they don't want to lose the small privileges and advantages they gain.
The fifth one is that the Castro brothers' regime is not at all interested in propitiating the enrichment of foreign businessmen. They despise the capitalists' zest for profiting, which they find repugnant, although they themselves practice it discreetly, somehow.
Investments from abroad will be welcome only and solely if they contribute to strengthen the Military Capitalism of State that they are forging. To the Cuban government, those investments are a necessary evil, like someone amputating his own arm to save his life.
If anybody thinks that that regime will permit the emergence and growth of an independent entrepreneurial fabric, it's because he has not taken the trouble to study the writings and speeches of the officials of the regime or even to examine their behavior.
Real-estate investor and renowned millionaire Stephen Ross was absolutely right when, after returning from a trip to Cuba, he declared that he had not seen on the island the tiniest serious opportunity to do business. In reality, there is none, except in those activities that provide a clear profit for the government or those that are absolutely indispensable for the survival of the regime.
It is obvious that the Castros' priority is to cling to power and not develop a vigorous entrepreneurial fabric that will bring Cubans out of misery. To explain their shortfalls, they have created the alibi of revolutionary austerity and criticism of consumerism (people's attraction to "junk") as a heroic and selfless form of confronting poverty.
The sixth warning is that, in the face of this depressing picture of abuse and insistence on the usual blunders, Washington's rejection of containment and its substitution by engagement (plus cancelling the objective of trying to promote a regime change, as Obama announced in Panama) is a dangerous and irresponsible hastiness that will harm the United States, encourage its enemies, dishearten its allies and affect very negatively the Cuban people, who desire freedoms, real democracy and an end to their misery.
What's the sense of the United States -- and the Catholic Church -- helping to strengthen a Military Capitalism of State, a foe of freedoms including economic freedom, a violator of Human Rights that perpetuates in power a collectivist dictatorship that has destroyed Cuba and today contributes to destroying Venezuela, because it cannot show anything other than what it has done for 56 years?
The seventh warning is that the democratic opposition has never been more fragile and less protected than today, despite the impressive number of dissidents and the heroism they display. It has never been more alone.
Why would anyone take that opposition into account when the United States has renounced regime change and is willing to accept the Cuban dictatorship without demanding anything in exchange?
The United States has renounced to indicating to Havana clearly that true change begins at the moment when the top level of the dictatorship accepts that the first step is to dialogue with the opposition and admit that societies are pluralistic and harbor differing points of view.
What argument can be wielded now by the silent and always cowed reformists in the regime to ask -- sotto voce -- for political and economic changes from the Castros' government when nobody else demands them?
In sum, Obama has made a serious mistake by separating himself from the policy followed by the 10 presidents, Democratic and Republican, who preceded him to the White House.
Nobody can state by decree that his enemy has suddenly turned into his friend and has begun to think along one's lines. That's childish.
It is not a question of criticizing Obama for having essayed a new policy. The problem is that it is a bad policy.
You cannot ignore reality without paying a high price in the end. What's sad is that we Cubans will pay that price.
Excerpts from the lecture Relations Between the United States and Cuba at the New Stage of the Thaw: Common Sense or Irresponsible Hastiness? delivered by Carlos Alberto Montaner at the Interamerican Institute for Democracy in Miami on June 4, 2015.
Translation by Capitol Hill Cubans
Labels: Carlos Alberto Montaner, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Obama Cuba policy, Raul Castro, Seven warnings
We are coming across: Film review and reflection on the plight of Falun Gong
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. - Elie Wiesel
This past Saturday evening the important new documentary, We Are Coming Across, on the plight of Falun Gong in mainland China premiered at the Women's International Film and Arts Festival and the director, Mei Lei, held a question and answer session following the film.
The documentary takes the viewer on a personal journey from the perspective of a young woman becoming aware of the horrors committed against those who practice Falun Gong in mainland China ranging from: imprisonment, extreme torture, extrajudicial killings, and organ harvesting of living "donors."
Falun Gong are a religious minority that in mainland China have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 20, 1999.
Unfortunately since China is a major trading partner these days the practices that go on there are downplayed. Nevertheless they are still reported. For example The Economist on March 14, 2015 in an article titled Spare the Bullet reported: "Transplant operations in China have long relied on organs taken from executed prisoners, a practice that has led to such abuses as the timing of executions to meet organ demand, with no notification of relatives. As by far the world's biggest user of the death penalty, China could count on an abundant—if still far from adequate—supply."
According to The Daily Mail in their April 8, 2015 article titled, Livers, kidneys and even corneas removed from 11,000 live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic every year in China, claims documentary, also reported that Falun Gong were frequent targets of this practice. This "business" allegedly nets the Chinese government $1 billion dollars a year.
Equally as disturbing has been Bodies: The Exhibition where serious allegations have been raised that the bodies put on display are executed political prisoners and Falun Gong members.
My own experience at the UN Human Rights Commission where I was stopped from walking into main chamber of the meeting because I had a copy of a flier of a Falun Gong event spoke volumes to me about the power and influence of the Chinese communists in that organization.
Little wonder that as Communist China has become the number one economy in the world and a superpower that international human rights standards have been in decline over the past decade. It is surely not the only reason why, but definitely a contributing factor.
Another factor is the silence of so many before these crimes.
Labels: Bodies: The Exhibition, China, Falun Gong, human rights, Mei Lei, organ transplants
More than 70 activists violently arrested in Cuba today and why you should care
"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel, Nobel Lecture 1986
Lady in White Ada María López Canino badly beaten today
More than 70 dissidents were violently arrested today in Cuba. Strangle holds were used against nonviolent activists. Lady in White Ada María López Canino was so badly beaten during her arrest by state security that they knocked out one of her teeth. She is a mother of three boys and two girls. The artist, Tania Bruguera, who was accompanying the Ladies in White on their Sunday march was also roughed up during her detention and the marks are visible in the photo below.
Tania Bruguera left bruised by state security
Yesterday, hundreds of Cuban exiles and friends of freedom came out to show their support for Cuba's democratic resistance and opposition to Obama's disastrous Cuba policy in a freedom caravan. Some may question the strategic effectiveness of protesting after 56 years, but they should ask themselves the question: "What is the alternative? Silence?"
Elie Wiesel in his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture made the case that one cannot remain silent before injustice, and that it is necessary to protest. The Nobel Laureate continued the logic of this line of reasoning:
We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers. None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness.
Fifty six years is a long time to protest, and that can be tiring and frustrating but the alternative which is to remain silent before injustice would be terrible. The words of a great Cuban writer and poet speaks to those who would remain silent from across the span of more than a century: "To see a crime calmly is to commit it."
Labels: Ada María López Canino, Cuba, Ladies in White, Tania Bruguera
Tank Man: 26 years later
The power of one person to make a difference
Fuller picture of column of tanks one person stopped on June 5, 1989
Tiananman, China June 5, 1989 The killing had started on the night of June 3rd and intensified in the early morning hours of June 4, 1989 with tanks running over demonstrators. It was bikes versus tanks and the tanks always won.
Until June 5, 1989 when Tank Man appeared and with his moral courage and outrage stood down a column of tanks. 26 years later, we still don't know his name or what happened to him. But we remember how he gave us hope with the power of one person to say: Enough! Stop!
The 2004 Frontline Documentary TheTankMan explores the significance of this act, and attempts to discover what happened. Below the documentary available online:
Labels: Beijing Massacre, China, Frontline, Nonviolence, Tank Man, Tankman, THETANKMAN, Tiananmen Square
26th Anniversary of June 4th Tiananmen Square massacre
Never forget. Never give up.
Today across the world friends of freedom are gathering to remember and honor those who perished in what became known as the Tiananmen Square massacre. In Hong Kong there is a live feed of the event there that starts at 5:00am EST. More information is available here.
Hong Kong university students hold vigil on Tiananmen Square anniversary
Another event starts at 10:30am EST at the Victims of Communism Memorial located on Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenue, Northwest, Washington DC where there is a bronze facsimile of the papier-mâché "Goddess of Democracy" statue that the protestors erected over the course of those fateful days. Dr. Yang Jianli (Initiatives for China) and Marion Smith (Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation) will make remarks and guests are invited to come lay a wreath or flowers to honor the memory of those lives cut short in June of 1989 by the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the orders of the one party dictatorship that still remains in power there today.
Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington DC
Below is a playlist of videos beginning with a song by Chinese rocker Cui Jian who played a concert for the students in Tiananmen Square during the protests and prior to the crackdown. Following the music video is the documentary Tankman, then a live feed to the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong finally the documentary, The Gates of Heavenly Peace (both in English and Chinese).
In memory of those who stood up for their rights, lost their lives and for those still unjustly imprisoned today in China.
Abbreviated Time line of the June 1989 crackdown and massacre
30 May 1989 - Goddess of Democracy is unveiled: During the previous night, students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts assemble the 37-foot-high statue of the Goddess of Democracy, built in two days out of plaster and styrofoam. It stands opposite the giant portrait of Mao Zedong.
2 June 1989 - Hunger strike by Capital Joint Liaison Group: The Liaison Group, now composed solely of intellectuals, decides to stage a series of 72-hour hunger strikes to show the students that others too are ready to put their lives at risk. Literary critic Liu Xiaobo, rock star Hou Dejian, and economist Zhou Duo are among the first to start fasting.
- Communist party elders approve plan to put down the protests by force
The Goddess of Democracy
3 June 1989 - Troops are ordered to reclaim Tiananmen Square at all cost. They begin to open fire upon people blocking the advancement of the army and also on people who are just shouting at the troops. Tanks and armored vehicles move towards the center of the city. An unknown number of Beijing citizens die, succumbing to gun shots—sometimes at point blank—or crushed by tanks and armored personnel carriers. In angry retaliation, civilians throw stones at the soldiers, who shoot back. Some soldiers are attacked and beaten up. Buses and cars are set on fire.
Victims of the massacre
4 June 1989 1:00 a.m. The troops have blocked off all approaches to Tiananmen Square. Various people who witnessed the killings of civilians report to the BWAF and to the students' Command Headquarters, urging them to withdraw.
3:00 a.m. Liu Xiaobo, Hou Dejian, Zhou Duo and a fourth men who began the second hunger strike negotiate with the troops to allow the students to leave the Square.
4:00 a.m. On the square the lights go off. The statue of the Goddess of Democracy is toppled by a tank.
4:30 a.m. The tanks and the troops stationed in the north corner of the Square begin to move forward. Students vote and eventually agree to leave. The soldiers shoot out the students' loud speakers. Led by the Command Headquarters, the students walk away from the Monument to the People's Heroes toward the southeast part of the square. A row of armored vehicles moves slowly toward the monument. Other troops arrive from the west, squeezing the crowd. As the students leave, army tanks crush tents on their way. The student guards are the last to leave, with soldiers about 18 feet behind them firing warning shots.
5:00 a.m. As the students pass Qianmen, residents line the streets and applaud. The army throws tear gas and shoots at students and citizens near the square and in other areas of the capital. Some people are crushed under tanks. The number of victims is not known.
6:20 a.m. Tanks crush retreating students.
5 June 1989 - Final act of defiance. An unarmed men blocks a column of tanks as they rolled towards Tiananmen Square. He's taken away by men in plainclothes. 22 years later his identity remains unknown.
Tankman
Labels: China, Goddess of Democracy, Tiananmen Square massacre
Cuba 2015: State security still murders fleeing refugees
Totalitarian terror remains unchanged in Cuba
Yuriniesky Martínez Reina, in orange, with his dad and son (L). Shot in the back (R)
An extrajudicial execution
On April 9, 2015 a group of men in their 20s and 30s were building a small boat to escape Cuba when they were shot at by the head of state security, Miguel Angel Río Seco Rodríguez, in the municipality of Martí in the province of Matanzas in Cuba. Shot in the back and left for two days in a lagoon, before being found by his brother, was 28 year old Yuriniesky Martínez Reina. Unlike the families of many other victims who are intimidated into silence, Yuriniesky's family spoke out, identified his killer and demanded justice in a video published on April 27, 2015 by Libertad Press.
Not the first time
The extrajudicial killing of fleeing refugees has been an ongoing practice of the dictatorship in Cuba. Well documented cases, prior to this one, included a formal complaint in 1993 by the United States government.
Cuban gunboat patrolling waters near Guantanamo, Cuba
Long term pattern of killing and cruelty
U.S. soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the Guantanamo naval base had been surprised by the sounds of explosions then horrified by what they observed. This led to a formal diplomatic note to the Cuban government by the Clinton Administration. This in turn led to a front page story in The Miami Herald on July 7, 1993 which described what the soldiers had witnessed:
Cuban marine patrols, determined to stop refugees from reaching the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, have repeatedly tossed grenades and shot at fleeing swimmers and recovered some bodies with gaff hooks, U.S. officials charged Tuesday. At least three Cubans have been killed in the past month as Cuban patrol boats attacked swimmers within sight of U.S. Navy personnel at Guantanamo.
A year later on July 13, 1994 the tugboat "13 de marzo" was surrounded, attacked and sunk by regime agents in a massacre that killed 37 Cuban refugees, the majority women and children.
Extrajudicially executed by Cuban government agents on July 13, 1994
Incidentally on December 16, 2014 the day before President Obama announced a new policy on Cuba, and that the White House had been engaged in 18 months of secret negotiations with the Castro regime, the Cuban coastguard rammed and sank a boat with 32 Cuban refugees on board. On this occasion one refugee is missing and presumed dead, Liosbel Díaz Beoto (age 32) while the others were repatriated to Cuba.
Liosbel Díaz Beoto (age 32) Missing, presumed dead
Labels: "13 de marzo" tugboat, Barack Obama, Cuba, extrajudicial killings, Liosbel Díaz Beoto, Yuriniesky Martínez Reina
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How unprincipled engagement with the Castro regime...


"I grew up reading lots of Agatha Christie. I've always loved period dramas, mysteries and crime," says Ms. Fisher star Geraldine Hakewill.
"When the original series was being cast I was just graduating from WAAPA.
Next week her wish comes true, sort of, when she debuts as the star of Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, a much-anticipated sequel to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
Set in the 1960s the series from Every Cloud Productions was developed after London-based star Essie Davis was not available for a new series. Fan campaigns were hungry for more of the original, and Hakewill is not under any delusions about their expectations.
"Of course there were nerves. How do I fill those shoes? The fans are so invested in it. It rivals Wentworth!" she exclaims.
Hakewill plays Peregrine Fisher, the fearless niece of Phryne Fisheer who inherits a windfall when her famous aunt goes missing over the highlands of New Guinea. While the two bear family similarities, Peregrine is also her own woman, fitting for the swinging '60s.
"She is far less refined and elegant," Hakewill explains. "She grew up in a caravan in Western Australia, so she has a very different experience of life. She's slightly more reckless, if that's possible. And she's a real collaborator.
"When there are thing she doesn't know she's not afraid to ask questions or seek help, even though she dives into things all the time. She likes being part of a team to solve the crime.
The Wanted star won the role after a casting call whilst filming with Rebecca Gibney in South Australia.
Set to screen as 4 telemovies, the shoot last last year was intense with Hakewill required for the majority of scenes. It was an eye-opener compared to the rigorous shoot of Wanted, despite it being location-heavy.
"After the third one I was like 'Holy mackerel!'" she laughs.
"I did think a lot about Rebecca juggling being an executive producer and being in every scene. I think she protected me a lot of extra stuff she had to do, like watching rushes.
Ms. Fisher also features Joel Jackson, Catherine McClements, Toby Truslove and Louisa Mignone. Striking the balance between mystery and the trademark Fisher exuberance has been part of the challenge, but viewers can expect more colourful cars, costumes and hairstyles in an era marked by the women's movement and pre-Vietnam.
"It took us a few weeks to figure out what the tone was. We had the original to reference, but it's a different period to the '20s. They wanted to ground us a bit more in the truth of the horror the murders.
"But there is a cheeky and effervescent quality to the franchise we've kept," she assures.
"As an actor you always strive to be truthful so as witty and flirtatious as it is, you're also dealing with people dying. So you don't want to be flippant about it, because it loses any tension.
Surprisingly, Hakewill insists the most challenging scenes are those revealing the killer.
Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries airs 8:30pm Thursday February 21 on Seven.
Is this a new genre arising? Historical, young female detective crime?
I will give it a shot, and I hope it surprises me.
It'll sink without trace in the Thu night timeslot.
I've always seen this as a Sun night show.
I am wondering why they set it in the 60's. Not long ago, but just before DNA.
At least they can still get all their clothes from Op shops , cars from wreckers and music from AM radio. I do hope it goes well.
Also before mobiles and the internet. Those three things (+DNA) have "disrupted" the writing of crime stories and shows, and make it so much more difficult. A lot easier to set the show in the good ol' days.
They should put this on sunday night after MKR.


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UFC 239 Embedded: Vlog Series – Episode 1
Jul 1 Fight
On Episode 1 of UFC 239 Embedded, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones pushes himself hard at an S&C session, then roots for a friend's football team. Challenger Thiago Santos follows his Las Vegas training session with a Brazilian barbecue and singalong. Double-champion Amanda Nunes sharpens her skills at the UFC Performance Institute, then watches her teammate Junior Dos Santos in the main event from Minneapolis. UFC 239 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the two title fights taking place Saturday, July 6 on Pay-Per-View.
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About UFC®
UFC® is the world's premier mixed martial arts organization and the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. UFC boasts more than 300 million fans worldwide, including 70 million social media followers across all of its digital platforms, and its programming is broadcast in over 170 countries and territories to one billion TV households worldwide in 40 different languages. UFC produces more than 40 live events annually and consistently sells out some of the world's most prestigious arenas. Since 2001, UFC has been proudly headquartered in Las Vegas, supported by a network of employees around the world. UFC's current roster of athletes features more than 570 men and women representing over 55 countries. UFC FIGHT PASS®, the world's leading digital subscription service for combat sports, delivers exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand, and original content to fans around the world. UFC was acquired in 2016 by global sports, entertainment, and fashion leader Endeavor, along with strategic investors Silver Lake Partners and KKR, in what is among the largest transactions in sports history. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram: @UFC.
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Wessex Archaeology views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint.
Commitment to clients and other stakeholders.
Commitment to providing the best possible service.
Provides a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint.
Publicises the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact us to make a complaint.
Makes sure everyone at Wessex Archaeology knows what to do if a complaint is received.
Makes sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way.
Makes sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired.
Gathers information which helps to improve the company.
All complaints information will be handled sensitively, following the relevant data protection requirements.
You will be asked for your name, address, telephone number and email address and a brief outline of your complaint only.
Your complaint will be logged and passed to the Complaints Manager who will contact you within 3 working days to discuss the complaint and take details. The Complaints Manager will either investigate the complaint themselves or nominate another senior member of staff to do so.
Any complaint made will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible, usually within 28 working days, and you will receive a letter summarising the results.
If you wish to remain anonymous then please leave details of your complaint which will be logged and passed onto the Complaints Manager.


As a business owner or disaster recovery planner, you probably have provisions in your disaster recovery plan for natural disasters or the loss of your data infrastructure because you expect those types of interruptions to cost you a lot of money. But what about when the power goes out?
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, power outages cost businesses $100 billion a year.
Here are some tips on what to do before, during and after a power outage to prepare your employees and reduce downtime.


Seeking an off-duty professional web developer to create web-based content for a film project/audio series on health and wellness in the film industry. The main project goal will be to re-do the digital (Internet) footprint for our setMD project, which focuses on illness and healthcare on film sets. Tasks will include web development, app creation, coding, UX design, web design, and more. Candidates must have extensive experience in web development and a good design sense.
About the project: This project will consist of a film and audio series focusing on health and wellness in the film industry -- specifically on the unique medical and mental health issues pertaining to the film/television/media workers, and intriguing new technology to assist in a delivery of quality healthcare to those on film sets.
Experience: Must be able to succeed in a small film crew-like environment, where initiative is valued and independent thinking is a must. Individuals must be able to collaborate on all project goals and meet numerous deadlines. Candidates must have strong leadership skills, must be passionate about the physical and emotional health of those in the media industry, and must have a strong desire to spread awareness and help prevent endemic illnesses, as well as injuries.
Interlock Media Inc. is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting environmental and social change through the film, video, and radio mediums. Its mission is to support informed empowerment at the grassroots and community level by producing educational mediaworks; by carrying media techniques and technologies to the community level; and guaranteeing that production is an inclusive and diversified process. Our productions are historical, musical, artistic, and contemporary.


For busy mother and father, finding a great nanny isn't child's play. Nanny-placement brokers-who screen candidates, examine references, match personalities, and set schedules-provide shoppers a useful service by saving them considerable time and worry.… Read More..
With the help of supply chain recruiters out there, then it is very much easy for a number of companies to get the right amount of human resources to go about with the day to day processes or proceedings that they could muster in their own intended time and domain. A focus on the aspect of supply chain recruiting could actually make or break a company in getting all of their products and services translated to the right demographic within the populace. There are bound to be some changes felt in the cost and economic aspect of the industry once the chain of supply would rise up in its own pace in the process. That and the deal with following company guidelines and policy, then every position within the business should be filled with the right people in question. These supply chain recruiters are the real deal as they do intend to give you the employees that could carry out their task with the right quality that you are expecting from such investment. With all of that in mind, you still need to be specific about the type of recruiter that you need to do their business for you.
If you are particular about the things that are trending and relevant in this ever changing world, then logistics recruiters should be the right people that you could invest in. What makes logistics recruiting that much needed among the masses is the fact that these kinds of things are that desirable for the general public to understand and comprehend. Then there's the deal with executive recruiters wherein you could have the right executives or higher ups to get the company up and running for the long term. With executive recruiting in mind, … Read More..
One of the things that you need to have the right balance with when you are starting up a business is the aspect of taking shortcuts. The reason for this happens to be the fact that when you happen to make a mistake in this regard then you are going to end up with a mistake that will truly cost you a great deal in the long run. Regardless of this, it is as well an element that you need not assume and throw away entirely as a result of the fact that there are some really helpful ideas that you can reasonably apply and be sure shortcut measures. The only thing you need to know about the whole issue of shortcuts and how to employ them is that it is not as plain and simple as many would want it to be.
There are those things that you can take shortcuts on and those that you need to just go the long way round with and this is the bit that you need to have gotten right in this regard to have applied shortcuts right. Where this balance has been struck right, as a matter of fact you will be able to save your business the risk it may suffer or face as a result of taking too many shortcuts and at the same time you will benefit from the advantages that come with employing these ideas right in the business. The following are some of the ideas that you can trust for you to be able to know exactly when and where you can use shortcuts in your business.
To start us off, let us take a look at those areas where you will … Read More..
Remember that meetings are in the middle of the challenging things that business persons face in the success journey. Also, it is not simple to prepare an event. Due to that it turns to be trying to have the best meeting when the day comes. However, you need to comprehend that you will face several meetings for you to succeed. If you are yearning for the best when going digital, you need to note that some investors need to see you. But that does not depict that you should undertake all events for you to succeed. Continue reading the article below to have an idea of what you need to do on the internet to minimize the number of meetings that you need to attend.
Registering your organization is one of the things that you can do on the internet to reduce the number of meetings that you need to attend. You should ensure that you keep your corporation on the right side of the law. By doing that, you will benefit from some savings. After authorizing your company on the internet, you will be able to reduce the total transportation, and you will not move to look for tax officials since you will find them online. Ensure you look for the best internet site that will allow you to register your agency on the internet.
Second, while taking a loan, you should look for an organization that will be offering such services on the internet to reduce the number of meetings that you have to attend. While taking out a loan, you should not always meet with a bank manager. In fact, you need to note that there are many organizations who assess and approve loan on … Read More..
Becoming familiar with some new concepts being utilized in the software industry is the first thing that you have to do if you want to be giving some advice to owners of software firms compared with other kinds of businesses. Out of the countless topics out there, the most vital is software licensing along with the many technicalities that are involved in this area of development and sales. However, aside from due diligence and legalities, there are still other aspects that software companies must pay close attention to increase their sales.
When it comes to the current market, if you want to increase your earnings then you either make more sales or charge your clients more for the value of the product that you have given them or even both. However, keep in mind that most software marketers and developers are making the mistake of concentrating too much on getting new clients instead of also thinking about their current clients. There are those that value referral systems where each of their users is given incentives right after their software is shared to others. Even so, until today, the most proven and tested method of ensuring brand awareness is making sure that your clients are all satisfied genuinely. With those things being mentioned, below are some things that you can consider to ensure that your current clients remain loyal, will review your software positively, and will recommend it.
Software developers are often challenged when it comes to choosing between sharing or not sharing to their clients their own source code. The major problem that developers get to encounter when their source code is given to … Read More..
Working as a freelance is among the things that a couple of people are focusing on today knowing that this could earn them some cash without necessarily being employed. However, working as a freelancer could at times turn to be a nightmare to you after you have broken free from the shackles. You might realize that the contacts that you might be having at the moment are not leading to any solid leads for your online work. Joining freelancer at times may not be easier due to the increased number of freelancers who makes competition be much higher. Fighting for the smallest job coming up is among the nightmares you will have to deal with in case you choose to become a freelancer. Incase you are planning to become a freelancer there are three things that are very important and should be put into consideration before making any step.
It is difficult to access loans and credits as a freelancer as compared to when you were employed and you had a steady income. Usingcheck stub generator to proof that you are a responsible borrow is one the things you can use to proof or else you will not have access to any loans however small it would be. A significant number of people will judge you harshly whenever you tell them that you are self-employed or even that you are working as a freelancer as opposed to when you were employed on fulltime basis. As you focus on using check stub generator, it will be much easier for you to show that you have a good financial standing to any creditor who would want to proof it. Check stub generator can be accessed online by simply paying some little cash to enable you or your freelance … Read More..
Most people would rather watch content rather than read about it and this makes using video content as part of the marketing strategy ideal. Another benefit of using video content is that it helps to boost rankings. When you use videos, you are able to get more personal, it helps your audience to also get a glimpse of your work, equipment and top contractors.
Consider also using a social media platform that is ideal for your construction business. Being in the construction business, it is important that you use visuals and graphics to your advantage and you therefore need a social media platform that can help you with this. Take time to do your research and find out between Facebook, Instagram and snapchat which media platform will help express well what you do after which you can post regular content that your audience would like to see.
By embracing local marketing, you can also take advantage of digital marketing. Before people think of construction firms that are far away, they first think of local searches. By adding google maps on your contact list, claiming listing on places like google my business and yelp as well as using location based keywords you easily embrace local marketing.
When you talk of landscape lighting most of the people think of plants as they always dominate this area. But landscaping lighting consists in providing a lighting system on the exterior of your home. This is important as it will help in improving the aesthetic value of your home as well as functional benefits. Today, we are going to discuss some of the significant benefits that landscape lighting play and their explanations.
One of the benefits of landscape lighting is improving the appearance of your home. You find that with landscape lighting will make your home and landscaping visible even after the dark. When they are correctly positioned they will help in making the architectural features of your home to be seen from a distance. As a result, your home will always be looking beautiful even at night as the light will be illuminating your plants as it still appears during the day. With this in place, it will even make your house to stand due to the curb appeal that it causes at night.
Also, we have functionality. To start with it will assist in improving the functionality of the outdoor area. This is essential as it will give you the opportunity to use your front and the backyard long after the setting of the sun. You find that a large number of people utilize such spaces mostly during the day since they don't have landscape lighting. Besides, they will help by giving a lot of light in the landscape of which you will not even feel the effect of night. When you are feeling uncomfortable in the house you can as well dine in the front area.
Besides, it is also necessary for home security. One good thing with landscape lighting is that … Read More..


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Home / What we say / Reports / UKIBC'S 6th Annual Doing Business in India Report: The UK Perspective
UKIBC'S 6th Annual Doing Business in India Report: The UK Perspective
This is the UK India Business Council's sixth annual 'Doing Business in India' Report, in which we outline the point of view of UK businesses and higher education institutions on India's business environment and the ease of doing business.
This report details why companies want to do business in India, the challenges they face in doing so, priorities for the future, and rating of India's business environment. This is done with the aim of uncovering the existing ease of doing business in India and shaping its progression.
The Government of India has identified digital technology, manufacturing, healthcare, education, infrastructure, agriculture and rural development as priorities for the country's development.
The UK and other countries are well placed to support India in these and other areas. Accordingly, it is vital that India continues to improve its business environment to attract and facilitate external support, investment and partnerships.
In the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings, India has made extraordinary – and indeed unprecedented – progress in recent years, rising from 142nd globally in 2014 to 63rd in 2019.
The Government of India has rightly set the goal of reaching the top 50 in the near future and into the top 25 thereafter. So, while India has experienced great success, this report uncovers how this macro-level achievement has translated in reality and what must be done in the future if India is to emerge amongst the top 25 EoDB nations.
Discrepancies between states on regulations, laws, culture, and language are just some of the challenges that the Indian market poses to any active organisation or would-be investor. For this year's edition, UKIBC has also included a section on four Indian states to show the developments taking place at the state-level to facilitate business.
This report highlights the existing challenges and priorities presented in India before concluding with several recommendations to improve the ease of doing business in India.
Authors: Kevin McCole & Kealan Finnegan
Turning to India for Talent: India's highly skilled labour force is the answer to the global talent crunch.
UK India Business Council: Advocating Business Success in 2023
24 Nov 2022 | by Kealan Finnegan
Doing Business in India: The UK Perspective (2022 Edition)
19 Oct 2022 | by Kealan Finnegan
A Bright Future: India's ambitious net zero targets create opportunities for innovators and changemakers
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Insight India