7 Point Agenda For New York City

My Back Against The Wall

I love this city so much, I figured I would set a few things straight. This list is by no means comprehensive, and the order of things mentioned is kind of random. But here goes:

(1) Superior Management. The self-made billionaire Mayor has set the standards rather high. Followup Mayors will have big shoes to fill. Most of the time it is simply about delivering, basic delivery. Is the garbage being picked up?

(2) Political Reform. Inject democracy and transparency at all levels. Where Bloomberg has lacked is he has not done much house cleaning in the political department. He likes to say he switched parties because as a Republican candidate he would not be beholden to various Democratic interest groups. That is a sad thing to say about the dominant party in the city that is perhaps the progressive capital of the country and the world. Mike plain gave up. He did not even try.

Expand voting rights. There are 1.2 million New Yorkers right now who can't vote. That is wrong.

(3) Crime Control. Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime. For a big city, this might be the number one concern. This is about tough love. Like Amitabh Bachchan said once, "I will save my compassion for the tsunami victims." This is about declaring a War On Domestic Violence. This is about pay increase for police officers. This is about engineering a better ethnic and gender composition of the police. This is about community policing. This is about better fighting organized crime. You play by their rules. You get organized too. You go after the big dogs. Big city should not automatically mean a high crime rate. Rudy did pretty good in this department. But his excesses were unnecessary. He got carried away.

(4) The Subway. Long term it is a good idea to increase the total number of miles the subway runs. Good thing work has started on the Second Avenue subway. A long term view also has to be taken in terms of the outer boroughs. There is a major need to upgrade the subway. Filth is not a status symbol like some New Yorkers complain when they are in DC: "This Metro is not dirty enough." The subway is magic on wheels. It is the subway that gives the city its name as "the city that never sleeps." How can the experience be enhanced? Paint every inch of wall that the subway riders see. Brighten things up. The current scenario leads to depression among some New Yorkers who might already be on the edge. If people do spend so much time on the subway, let's try and make it a pleasant experience. All train stations should similarly be beautified. They should be made pleasant. Put up art work on the walls. Play some soft, soothing music. Take the noise out. We should get rid of the wheels. Trains can be made to float on air. The technology has been around a while. Summary: Enhance the sight, take away the sound, take away the stink.

Public transportation has to be enhanced overall. There is the bus, and there is the cab. We need to also have something in between those two. And cabbies should be allowed to keep more of the money they make. The city takes out too much. That is racism. Mostly brown folks are at the receiving end.

(5) Wireless Broadband. This is a nobrainer. The sooner this happens the better. I would push for free, ad supported type. This more than any single thing would be like New York City 2.0. This is the next subway, only better.

This will also allow us to think in terms of next generation jobs, companies, industries.

(6) Education. Lifelong. Ahead of the state and national curve.

(7) Health. Universal. Ahead of the state and national curve.

In The News
New York City News

Washington Post

Nor'easter slams New York City amNewYork, New York - 9 hours ago New York City opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations, and ferry service to Fire Island was canceled due to the storm. ... National Guard Sent to Flood-Prone Areas of New York State KNX1070 Storm Cancels Flights in New York & New Jersey NewsChannel 9 WSYR all 430 news articles »

Smart Destinations introduces New York City Explorer Pass e-Travel Blackboard (press release), Australia - 1 hour ago New York City Explorer Pass comes in two versions, Choose 3 or Choose 5. Customers have their choice of admission to the city’s most well-known attractions, ... Get your all access ticket to New York City with Smart Destinations e-Travel Blackboard (press release) all 2 news articles »

NanoBusiness 2007, Nanotechnology’s Foremost Business Conference ... Nanotechwire.com, PA - 39 minutes ago The NanoBusiness Alliance today announced that its 6th annual NanoBusiness 2007 conference will be returning to New York City next week, being held at the ... NanoBusiness 2007, Nanotechnology’s Foremost Business Conference ... Business Wire (press release) NanoBusiness 2007, Nanotechnology's Foremost Business Conference ... American Digital Networks (press release) The New York NanoBusiness Alliance to Spotlight Area ... Nanotechwire.com all 6 news articles »

WHDH-TV

New York City leaders upset about German army video reference to ... Brandon Sun, Canada - Apr 14, 2007 NEW YORK (AP) - New York City officials say they are saddened and frustrated to learn that a German army instructor was caught on video telling a soldier to ... Fury at German army instructor's 'black New Yorker' comment Irish Examiner New York Leaders Angered By Offensive German Military Video Deutsche Welle German army in racist video scandal MWC News all 446 news articles »

New York City City kicks off immigrant celebration week amNewYork, New York - 4 hours ago ... the city's fourth annual Immigrant History Week, a five-borough celebration of the people who make New York unique among all the cities of the world. ...

New York Times

Think You Know Panorama New York City? Gothamist, NY - 9 hours ago The Queens Museum of Art's panorama is a to-scale model of New York City: One inch equals 100 feet (the Empire State Building is 15 inches tall) and was ... The Night of the Know-It-Alls New York Times all 2 news articles »

DOUG AITON INTERVIEW: Ben Graham on the Jets and New York City Geelong Advertiser, Australia - 4 hours ago He was away from his wife and daughters and struggling to train with the New York Jets while trying to arrange such essentials as a social security number, ...

HealthNews-Stats (press release)

Adult circumcision a tough sell, even for a lower HIV risk International Herald Tribune, France - 13 hours ago Because of these unknowables, no domestic medical authority, from the New York City Health Department to the American Urological Association, ... New York City considers promoting circumcision New Scientist (subscription) all 8 news articles »

Flowers Bloom with Springtime Delight in New York City Fast Pitch! (press release) - 17 hours ago New York City is beautiful year-round, but especially so during the spring months when Central Park is in bloom and the warm weather has beaconed friendly ...

WRAL.com

Storm Cancels Flights in New York And New Jersey WRAL.com, NC - 13 hours ago A flood watch was posted for the New York City region, as the weather service forecast 2 to 4 inches of rain Sunday with wind gusting to 50 mph. ...

Wash Mugabe Away With A Revolution

Spread Democracy, Revolution

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is the stinkiest head of state on the planet right now. That jerk has to be pushed out of power. The sooner the better. To his credit, he lead his country's independence from Britain. He is also on record expressing active empathy with some of the inner cities in America. Inner city blacks do have it tough in America, and not all African heads of state act like they know that. But then it is down the slope thenon. This guy's has been a rule of terror for two and half decades now. If he does not like you, he will send bulldozers to raze your shantytown. His mismanagement is so total, Zimbabwe's economy has actually been shrinking. A low growth rate is one thing, but to actually go ahead and shrink?

Spread Democracy, Revolution

This is one of those dictators who actually conducts elections. I would not be surprised if he also challenged Bush to a televised debate like Saddam did. He is up for reelection in 2008 again.

Spread Democracy, Revolution

The opposition in Zimbabwe is disunited. That is a big problem. And their strategy seems to be to beat him at the polls. That is a misguided strategy. In a country where the opposition leaders get beat up like they were petty criminals in a pre-rule of law country, the regime does not hold elections. It rubber stamps the status quo.

Spread Democracy, Revolution

The goal of the opposition has to be to create a unity platform and then shoot for a mass movement. Mugabe's 2008 polls must be boycotted. Instead the demand should be to organize an all party government that would hold elections to a constituent assembly that will give the country a new constitution.

Spread Democracy, Revolution

The ground rules are broken. The constitution is faulty, big time.

Zimbabwe: The Constitution Is Faulty
Zimpundit: Zimbabwe

South Africa should offer this guy a bungalow somewhere he can spend the rest of his days.

On The Web

Robert Mugabe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mugabe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Mugabe - President of Zimbabwe
BBC News | AFRICA | Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe strongman
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Mugabe's descent into dictatorship
Mugabe: Blogs, Photos, Videos and more on Technorati
The wasteland - inside Mugabe's crumbling state | Special reports ...
Robert Mugabe News - The New York Times
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe Critics Face Beatings - New York Times

In The News

Mugabe: Freedom fighter or dictator? The Tide, Nigeria
Robert Mugabe: terrorist or liberator? New Zimbabwe.com
Zimbabwe: The End is Nigh for Mugabe AllAfrica.com
Southern Africa: Mbeki Has Moral Obligation to Help Ease Out Mugabe AllAfrica.com
Archbishop Pius Ncube says Mbeki won’t succeed with Mugabe SW Radio Africa, Zimbabwe
Zimbabweans pray under heavy police guard Independent Online
Mugabe Must go African Path, MN
President Mugabe is accused of torturing opposition figures. Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya
Torture continues more than 600 abducted (14-04-07) The Zimbabwean
Opposition on collision course with security services New Zimbabwe.com
Tsvangirai believes Zim solution rests in crisis talks The South African Star (subscription)
Zimbabwe: Until Death Do US Part - the Mugabe Vow AllAfrica.com, Washington
Zimbabwe: Ndlovu Must Stop Talking Nonsense AllAfrica.com
South African clerics attack SADC inaction over Mugabe SW Radio Africa, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe police watch but allow prayer meeting Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
Mugabe suspected of supressing inflation figure Telegraph.co.uk, UK
Zim inflation data a no-show News24
Zimbabwe: UK MP to grill minister over ZANU officials' kids in UK ZimDaily, UK
Zimbabwe: Mugabe, Central Bank Governor clash ZimDaily Battle lines have been drawn between Zimbabwe’s embattled President Robert Mugabe and the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono after the central bank chief blasted Mugabe’s claims that Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is a result of sanctions imposed on the country by the West. ...... The ageing Mugabe who has ruled the country since independence in 1980 has refused to accept blame for the poor performance of the country’s economy always pointing at British and American leaders Tony Blair and George Bush and accusing them of sabotaging Zimbabwe’s economy in order to effect regime change. ...... Gono blamed the chaotic land reform program, rampant corruption within government, and poor policies by government as the major causes of the economic meltdown adding that those tasked with the responsibility of running government ministries and the land reform program had proved incompetent. ...... questioned the prudence of Mugabe’s decision to unilaterally withdraw the country’s membership from the Commonwealth as well as antagonizing Western governments at a time when the country was in dire need of foreign currency injections from friendly Western countries. ........ the Look East Policy was fast proving to be a monumental flop ....... Gono is now impatient with Mugabe because of his penchant for political expediency at the expense of pragmatic economics. ....... Gono was hoping that ZANU PF’s central committee was going to deal decisively with Mugabe’s costly political brinkmanship by choosing a new presidential candidate for ZANU PF in 2008’ presidential elections. ...... The beleaguered Mugabe has responded by unleashing a terror campaign against his critics in order to silence them. .... It is yet to be seen how Mugabe well known for his vindictiveness and detest for criticism is going to deal with Gono’s latest utterances.
Zimbabwe: Mutambara's 2007 independence message ZimDaily Fellow Zimbabweans, 18th April 1980 is an important day that marked the end of colonial and imperialist rule in our country. ..... No single individual delivered us from bondage. It was a collective effort. Across the length and breath of this country and in neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania, our sons and daughters came together, with a single purpose- to free Zimbabwe. For the record; Yes, Robert Mugabe was part of the liberation war effort. ..... in that war he was a spineless coward who could not even fire a pistol. To this day he does not even know how to return a soldier’s salute. ....... the people of Zimbabwe do not owe Robert Mugabe anything. We owe ourselves as a people. ...... We live in an undeclared state of emergency where our basic freedoms and liberties of assembly, speech, movement, and association are heavily curtailed by repressive legislation. Political rallies, marches and demonstrations are banned. ...... The transformation of the police into a criminal sadistic brutal force is worse than anything we ever saw under the Smith regime. .......Zimbabweans live in a state of collective fear of violence, hunger, destitution, diseases and arrest. Basic and essential commodities are either unavailable or unaffordable. School fees, property rates, rentals and agricultural inputs are beyond reach. ....... The crippling fuel crisis, erratic and inadequate power supply, destruction of commercial agriculture, food shortages, and lack of housing are devastating the population. ...... Inflation has soared to record levels of over 2000%, unemployment is above 85%, while poverty levels are above 90%. Life expectancy is 34 years for women and 37 years for men. ...... Robert Mugabe and ZANU(PF) have failed the people of Zimbabwe. They have become a negation of the principles and values of the liberation war. Consequently, not only was Mugabe a mindless but lucky coward, he has become a despot running out of luck. ........ On our Independence Day we refuse to be patronized by a sick old man who has become a negation of the liberation struggle. This man has become a sellout. ....... just an unimaginative dictator who brutalizes Africans and denies them basic human rights and economic opportunities. ........ These are revolutionary times that demand soldiers and cadres. Zimbabwe must become the leading democracy in Africa characterized by people-centered social development and economic growth. Our GDP and per capita income should be in the top three in Africa. ........ leaders in the genre of Lee Quan Yew of Singapore, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Indira Gandhi of India, Angela Merkel of Germany, Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. ...... The skills required for nation building are very different from those required to fight colonialism and imperialism. A new generation of leaders is required to take our country to the next level. ...... The time has come to pass the baton from liberation struggle leaders to globalization savvy nation builders. The issues of technocratic capacity and technical solutions have never been more critical. ....... Zimbabwe must become a globally competitive economy that rivals such nations like Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. We need creative dreamers and parallel thinkers who do not fear globalization, but rather thrive on chaos and uncertainty. ...... External players can assist and facilitate, but the buck stops with us. We cannot outsource our emancipation to foreigners. We shall be our own liberators. We shall be masters of our own destiny and complete the unfinished business of the liberation struggle. ....... Let us spurn ZANU(PF)’s divide and rule tactics. A united front inspired by a single candidate principle is a categorical imperative in every election (Presidential, Parliament, Senate, Council). ....... Let us continue with the spirit of cooperation in pursuit of a new constitutional and electoral law framework to ensure that our next elections are measurably free and fair.
Zimbabwe: Prof. Mutambara, where is Plan B, CD and E? ZimDaily, UK President Mugabe ... he has only 2 deliverable plans at his disposal namely: Plan A which encompasses state violence, dirty works and intimidation; Plan B which involves electoral fraud, the patronage system, vote buying and other forms of legalized manipulations. ..... Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai ... Plan A: elections which were neither free nor fair and Plan B: mass protests which were always a still birth whose increasing costs on opposition supporters’ lives are becoming visible everywhere. ..... If Zimbabweans are convinced and sure that President Mugabe is: (1) a brutal dictator who is denying us freedom and democracy; (2) a failed ruler who is destroying our economy and lives; (3) an unfeeling and very old man who has nothing more to offer; (4) a selfish former revolutionary leader who is just obsessed with hanging on to power in order to keep his controversial legacy intact and (6) that his actions are equal or more evil than those of Ian Smith, then we are more than justified to adopt whatever course(s) of action that shall set us totally free once again. ....... Zimbabweans are highly educated and smart people .... The ordinary cowards are the ones who argue that wars to bring about democracy can only be fought in Palestine, Iraq, Darfur, DRC, Angola, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, etc. Therefore it is better for Zimbabweans to die from man made poverty, misery, hunger and cold blood murders than in an armed uprising. ....... Today President Mugabe, his newly found police – cum – politician Wayne Bvudzijena, Dydimus Mutasa, Kasukuwere are running clandestine hit squads only to turn their faces and blame the MDC for obvious reasons – to justify their brutality and elimination of opposition voices. ..... the life threatening political situation in our country ..... the idea of one opposition one candidate under Plan A in 2008.

Study: Climate change could bring new US Dust Bowl CNN International
Southwest could become Dust Bowl, study warns Arizona Republic
US: climate change brings drought to Southwest Xinhua
Grim news on climate change China Daily
"Report Confirms Climate Change Is a Fact" Spiegel Online
Emissions Already Affecting Climate, Report Says New York Times
Clinton gladly plays the gender card Chicago Tribune lining up the support of feminist elites and stoking excitement in teenage political neophytes. .... Clinton ahead of her male rivals among women in every early primary and caucus state. ..... 42% of likely primary voters among Democratic women, compared with 19% for Sen. Barack Obama ..... her openly gender-based strategy also explores new political territory. It is aimed at tapping into her loyal female base for energy and money ...... Clinton is quickly locking up the top echelon of women's movement leaders ..... EMILY's List and NOW .... ready campaign cash and PAC structures that fund media campaigns targeting women, voting and fundraising databases, and operatives who can aid in primary day turnout. ..... unmarried and working class women — a growing segment of economically stressed voters .... Clinton is trying to cultivate single and working women by championing equal pay, economic relief and comprehensive national healthcare, talking up their concerns in webcasts and town hall meetings. But scoring points with harried female voters may require more than the sisterly patter that pervades Clinton's campaign "conversations." ...... She has to be tough, but not too tough. She has to show she cares but she's still in charge. ....... Clinton's relaxed demeanor, her chatty references to her ex-president husband and her supporters' chants of "you go, girl" have all given the events the breezy air of an "Oprah" telecast ....... building a formidable women's apparatus ...... Clinton's support among women's movement leaders is "deep and long-standing" ...... Vital Voices, a nonpartisan group that promotes the fortunes of international female leaders .... When Melissa McPheeters, an epidemiologist in Ann Arbor, Mich., gets new e-mail from the Clinton campaign, she promptly forwards the messages to 100 female friends around the country.

Obama Slowly Plans Health Care Proposal ABC News Obama noted that in previous campaigns, presidential candidates have offered detailed proposals without building that political support ..... Obama said he's not wedded to any specific system, but he thinks the plan he'll eventually support will offer universal coverage and will squeeze efficiencies out of the health care system. It also will stress preventive programs, such as weight control. ... "The status quo is unsustainable," Obama said. "Standing pat is not an option." ...... "The government is already covering half the people" ...... rejected suggestions that higher taxes are inevitable in a revamped health care system. ..... Obama said he was surprised that few at the meeting were willing to scrap the system. ..... Obama said videos of discussions will be posted on his campaign Web site.
Obama slowly plans health care proposal Charlotte Observer
Obama moving cautiously on health care plan KWWL
Clinton's standing among blacks on the line CNN she changed her mind after Clinton voted to support the U.S.-led war in Iraq. .... Obama reported 100,000 donations, compared with the former first lady's 50,000. ... "This election makes you think very differently because it's not about 'Oh, which white man?"' ..... she supports him "without apology" to the former first couple. ..... Obama will not get votes because of his color any more than Clinton will get votes for being a woman ...... there's an awful lot of stupid black people out there who voted for Bush ... black women voters, who tend to be organized and loyal
Clinton's standing among blacks is on the line Boston Globe
Giuliani trails Clinton in NY, tied with Obama amNewYork
Clinton still tops among New York voters Politics on the Hudson
Obama Nearly Matches Clinton In Presidential Fundraising Voice of America

French Train Sets Rail Speed Record New York Times 357 miles (574.8 kilometers) an hour .... 150 meters per second .... a reduced number of train cars and larger wheels ..... the speed could serve as a selling point in Asia .... High-speed trains are a potentially lucrative market in developing countries — China and India are the biggest markets, with China spending about 15 billion euros a year on its rail sector, while India is looking at developing a high-speed train network. ... national television broadcast live images from the train. ..... The Maglev from Japan holds the world record for a train with a speed of 581 kilometers (361 miles) an hour recorded in 2003; it uses electromagnetic technology, where the train does not actually touch the rail. This technology is more costly, typically runs shorter distances and is less compatible with existing rail networks. .... High-speed trains have not caught on in the United States as they have in Europe, where TGV is generally considered to provide faster transportation than air travel for train trips of less than 3 hours.

Ehud Olmert's Moment Time a favorable rating of 3% ... Given the poll's margin of error, it was possible Olmert had no support beyond his extended family. ..... Israel's less than triumphant war against Hizballah last summer ..... "I know I'm unpopular," he told the nation mournfully in a recent speech. .... the Bush Administration's desperate desire to wring good news from the mess it has caused in the region. ..... the collision between a grand geostrategic scheme and implacable tribal realities ...... the prospect of an alliance of moderate Arab states, and Israel, against the growing influence of Iran ..... an unresolvable religious conflict," a reference to Hamas' refusal, on Islamic grounds, to acknowledge the possibility of a Jewish state. ..... The Saudi path is a dead end. .... Syria gets back the Golan Heights. Israel gets recognized. Hamas gets the boot.
Banking Goes Mobile "I look forward to the competition trying to keep up with us." ..... all information sent between the phone and the bank has 128-bit encryption ..... Available for more than two years in Japan and much of Europe
Poll: A Surprising G.O.P. Edge for '08 an uptick in the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats ..... Hillary Clinton loses to John McCain, 42%-48%, and to Rudy Giuliani 41%-50% ..... Clinton maintains a 7% edge over Obama ... Obama still loses: 43%-45% to McCain, 44%-45% to Giuliani ...... most voters have made up their minds about her, both pro and con. ..... Edwards has surged among Democrats since he announced that his wife Elizabeth's cancer had recurred. In a three-way matchup, Clinton polls 38% among registered Democrats, versus 30% for Obama and 26% for Edwards.
Supreme Warning on Global Warming Automobile emissions contribute about 25% of America's greenhouse gas emissions but wasted energy in homes and offices have an even greater effect. ....... the people most at risk from climate change live in [poor] countries that have contributed the least

Clinton Fundraising Numbers Are More Style Than Substance ABC News 50,000 donors contributed the $26 million. .... under campaign fundraising laws, she cannot touch any money donated for the general election unless she wins the primary. If she loses the primary, all the general election contributions must be returned.
Obama Distances Himself From Jesus Sculpture CBS2 Chicago
Sculpture of Obama as Jesus causes stir Times of India
Leveraging Strength: Comparing Obama and Clinton's Donor Numbers Huffington Post the story of the first quarter Democratic presidential numbers is not one of dominance by Hillary Clinton, but the extremely strong showing by Barack Obama. ...... Obama has not yet released his official numbers yet, but the word is that it's going to be somewhere in the $20-23 million dollar range. At minimum he has kept pace with Clinton and it's conceivable that once Clinton's general election donations are purged from her number that Obama will have exceeded her fundraising for the quarter. ......... Obama had 83,531 donors and Clinton received money from 50,000 people. John Edwards, who I'm going to otherwise ignore in this post, had 40,000 contributors. ...... Clinton has over 250,000 people in her database and Obama has 78,000 ..... Obama had 7% more donors than he had in his donor universe ....... Clinton's strategy stretching back to her 2006 Senate campaign has been to find victory through shock and awe with the volume of her war-chest ...... it means that her network is tapped out ..... Obama did something truly remarkable this quarter -- keep pace with the Clinton machine and in many respects outperformed her. The lack of a fundraising institution didn't hurt Obama this quarter and he'll be better prepared to leverage his growing database in the next one. ...... At some point soon the conversation may have to shift from being about how Obama kept up with the Clinton behemoth to how the Clinton institutional machine kept pace with the Obama phenomenon. .... Traditionally big donor fundraising drops off after the first quarter as that's when most people max out their contribution. The story for second quarter fundraising may well be about the rise of the Obama machine and the fall of Clinton.
Romney Raises $23 Million; Rudy $15 Million NewsMax.com
Supreme Court Joins Global Warming Debate WMDT
Standoff in Ukraine as prime minister defies president's order International Herald Tribune
The Captured Britons: Advantage Iran? TIME
WiMAX to Go Live in Warwick BusinessWeek With more homeworking made possible, a reduction in office desk space could allow the council to make money by leasing office space it no longer needs. ... 20 per cent of council employees said they would not need desk space if the advantages of the WiMax network were fully realised. ..... experiment with wireless CCTV cameras and applications such as a mobile community library and home health services. ..... with Leamington Spa's computer games industry, the local economy is very technology-based, making the ability to offer WiMax even more appropriate.
World Cup organizers downplay safety concerns after soccer ... International Herald Tribune
Microsoft Releases Emergency Windows Patch PC World

Hillary Clinton Raises $26 Million to Set Record ABC News campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle .... $6 million of the $26 million were raised through "grassroots" efforts. Of that, $4.2 million was raised on the Internet.

Google seeks world of instant translations Stuff.co.nz see our Arabic-English output, then they say, that's amazing ..... Och showed a translation of an Arabic internet news site into easily digestible English. ..... Languages without considerable translated texts, such as some African languages, face greater obstacles. ...... the muscle work is performed by machines. ..... Google chairman Eric Schmidt also sees broad political consequences of a world with easy translations. .... "What happens when we have 100 languages in simultaneous translation? Google and other companies are working on statistical machine translation so that we can on demand translate everything all the time" ..... "Many, many societies have operated in language-defined communities where they really don't understand and are not particularly sympathetic to other peoples' views because of the barrier of language. We're about to have that breakthrough and it is a huge thing."
Google moves into translations TVNZ
Tower of Google uses stats for translation Register Google dreams of a world where hundreds of languages can be simultaneously translated by machines which compare texts using statistics rather than applying grammatical rules. Statistical machine translation uses a computer to compare two documents - one in the original language and one translated by a human. It finds patterns and links between the two and uses them to create its own future translations. ..... "The more we feed into the system the better it gets." .... They have one of the world's best translators, especially for Arabic and Mandarin .... the development was important for Google because documents on the web are increasingly in languages other than English.

Darfur: A Clear Case For External Intervention

Transparency is not enough. People already know all over the world. And the genocide continues unabated. Political mechanisms have to be developed such that if a government anywhere engages in genocide, that automatically triggers counter action by some global body or coalition of governments elsewhere. There has to be a muscular counter strike to prevent the collapse of basic human decency.

Darfur has been going on for too long. We have become numb. It has become background noise.

It was said about the Nazi Holocaust: never again. Then Rwanda happened, and the battle cry was, never again. And now Darfur has been in your face.

Darfur is a major statement on a lack of a global political infrastructure. Apparently people there have not had the option to call 911. The rest of us express concern, dispatch statements of solidarity, but all that we end up saying is that there is not much we can do, that the people at the receiving end are basically consigned to being helpless. The rest of the world does not care, does not know to care, does not have the mechanism to care.

The mechanism is lacking.

What is the best we can hope for?

(1) Expose. The old media and the new media could do a super job of plain exposing. Get all the gory details out. That helps. Human rights organizations should continue doing the good job they have been doing. Perhaps they should get more graphic in how they present themselves. They should seek to reach a wider audience.

(2) Lobby. Citizen activists should pressure their lawmakers and leaders to do something.

(3) Muscle. Military action should be threatened.

(4) Make Peace. The political work of making peace might normalize things, but that would require intense, sustained engagement by a major power, like Bill Clinton in Ireland. Some second rung power could also pull it. Maybe India and China should jump in and boost their global credentials. This is a major case of statelessness. A defensive state has let nonstate actors run amok, sometimes by design, at other times with no actual participation. Amnesty can only be thought of in terms of a comprehensive peace and assured justice for the future, and only as the price to be paid to bring an end to future murders and rapes and lootings. The Janjaweed are posing as a non state actor, kind of like the Al Qaeda on the global scene. But how non-state are they really? How do you politically and militarily counter the Janjaweed?

(5) Engage. Perhaps the nearby regional powers should do a better job of engaging the evil doers in power in Sudan. Maybe they can try and talk some sense into their heads. Maybe carrot and stick approaches will take us somewhere.

(6) Cultivate. Dream up new global mechanisms - legal, political - for situations like this one.

(7) Depose. Is there any way regime change can be brought about? Options should be explored. The Sudanese government is clearly the guilty party. These people have to go.

(8) Provide. While the peacemakers try to make sense out of the situation, the aid agencies must provide food, water, medicine, shelter and safety to the hilt to the displaced. Safe zones have to be created. People in the war zone should know they have the option to get out. That hope has to be there.

(9) Create. Peace making efforts have failed so far because attempts have been made to soothe warring factions. The goal should not be that the factions stop competing for power. The goal should be to transform the competition so it is no longer military, but rather political, electoral. Perhaps peace talks should be held, there should be a ceasefire, and elections to a constituent assembly should be organized. The primary challenge seems to be one of building a state where one does not seem to much exist.

The solution like in Iraq is political. If our primary thrust is to be to seek a political solution, we will also be more likely to navigate the local political contours better.

On The Web

Darfur conflict - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia After fighting worsened in July and August 2006, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region. ..... The UN estimates that the conflict has left as many as 450,000 dead from violence and disease. ..... As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006. ..... In March 2007 the U.N. mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur
Darfur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Save Darfur
Darfur: A Genocide We can Stop
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict More than two million people are living in camps after fleeing almost four years of fighting in the region ...... Sudan's government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against the region's black African population ...... Sudan also rejects moves by the International Criminal Court to name and then try war crimes suspects. ...... There are two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), although the peace talks were complicated by splits in both groups, some along ethnic lines. .... admits mobilising "self-defence militias" following rebel attacks but denies any links to the Janjaweed, accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from large swathes of territory. ...... following air raids by government aircraft, the Janjaweed ride into villages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they can find ....... UN-backed attempts to get some 50 key suspects tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. ...... The Janjaweed patrol outside the camps and Darfurians say the men are killed and the women raped if they venture too far in search of firewood or water. ...... Some 200,000 have also sought safety in neighbouring Chad, but many of these are camped along a 600km stretch of the border and remain vulnerable to attacks from Sudan. ...... Many aid agencies are working in Darfur but they are unable to get access to vast areas because of the fighting. ...... there has been a dramatic increase in violence and displacement since the deal was signed. ....With the peace deal looking unworkable and amid fears of renewed "all-out war" ...... an area the size of France ...... Sudan has resisted strong western diplomatic pressure for the UN to take control of the peacekeeping mission.
Human Rights Watch: Africa : Crisis in Darfur
Sudan: Darfur Destroyed
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In The News

US diplomat visits Sudan's war-torn Darfur Raw Story, MA
Positive signs in Darfur?Monsters and Critics.com
Africa: Ban Ki-Moon to Hold Darfur Crisis Talks With Head of ... AllAfrica.com
Darfur needs peace, not peacekeepers Los Angeles Times the double-think of balkanized minds branding as disaster in Iraq what they recommend for Darfur's salvation ...... Without a political solution brokered by the international community, there will be no peace to keep and even less to impose. ...... there are up to 15 rebel factions fighting the government — and increasingly, each other. ...... some rebels have begun raping women from their own tribes. ...... Most of the bloodshed in Darfur took place between the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2005. The same international community that is being urged to intervene in western Sudan was, at that time, helping negotiate peace between the government in the north and rebels in the south to put an end to the longest-running civil war in independent Africa — 21 years — that left an estimated 1.5 million dead. ........ our support should be realistic and honest — and not, in the end, helpless posturing. ...... In the absence of a peace agreement to monitor, what right do we have to demand that anyone — be they our children or U.N. blue helmets from the Third World — go and die in Darfur?
Darfur Crisis Comes To Google Earth InformationWeek, NY
Museum, Google Zoom In on Darfur Washington Post
Delusions of Darfur Chicago Tribune government-sponsored genocide in Darfur ...... Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, addressed a Nation of Islam convention in Detroit via satellite in February. The United States is exaggerating the problems in Darfur to justify an Iraq-style occupation, he told the crowd. There's no need for United Nations peacekeepers because the current African Union force is doing "fantastically well." He described the situation in Darfur as "quite calm." ........ "It is not in the Sudanese culture or people of Darfur to rape. It doesn't exist."
Google maps the Darfur crisis- Internet users can now ... ReliefWeb (press release)
China's "turnaround" on Darfur links to Spielberg: report Hindu, India
Has China changed its "see no evil stance" on Darfur? Foreign Policy (subscription)
Darfur Collides With Olympics, and China Yields Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Darfur Collides With Olympics, and China Yields Tuscaloosa News (subscription)
Militia Talks Could Reshape Conflict in Darfur New York Times, NY Adam Shogar, a commander of the Sudan Liberation Army, the non-Arab rebels at the center of the Darfur conflict, stretched a coal-black arm at Yassine Yousef Abdul Rahman, his copper-skinned, brown-eyed counterpart from an Arab insurgent group, studying him carefully with midnight eyes. ....... “The government fear is if the Darfur Arabs unify and move against them, that is a decisive switch in the balance of power” ....... “Should they shift against the government, then the government is in deep trouble.” ....... The struggle in Darfur has often been portrayed as one between Arabs and black Africans, nomads and farmers, with the former bent on slaughtering the latter. But the conflict has never been that simple. ....... Sudan’s central government in Khartoum views them as marginal and expendable ....... Arab tribes have found themselves victims of non-Arab militias armed by Chad’s government ...... and set off a broad conflict in one of the most unstable parts of the world. ...... The main perpetrators of some of the worst atrocities have been government-sponsored Arab militias that have come to be known by a local epithet for bandits, janjaweed. ...... its own military, weakened by a long civil war in the south and made up largely of non-Arab recruits, could not be relied on to crush the rebellion among non-Arab tribes in Darfur. ........ the relationship between the central government, dominated by three small Arab tribes living along the Nile, and Darfur’s Arabs, who claim a heritage going back to the Prophet Muhammad, is often antagonistic ....... Darfur’s Arabs have long been the stalwarts of the main opposition Umma Party, perhaps the largest and most popular political party in northern Sudan. ....... in the 1980s and ’90s, as the government sought to exercise greater control over Darfur. Political and traditional leaders at the state and tribal level were replaced by Arab candidates closer to the government. ....... “For centuries we have had friendship and exchange with the Fur people and other African tribes. Now we are seen as killers.” ....... the reality that the various tribes of Darfur need one other more than they need the government. ....... But even as the relationship between tribes begins to shift, slowly, back toward its traditional balance in Darfur, Chad is descending deeper into interethnic conflict. ....... black Africans living in squalid, makeshift camps. ....... much of the violence is between Arab and non-Arab Chadians. ....... “Are politics going to destroy centuries of friendship?” ....... 140,000 Chadians have been displaced in interethnic fighting in the past year ....... 10 villages of Arab families have been displaced in the latest fighting, fleeing toward Darfur against the advance of Dadjo militias. ....... Arming local militias is seen as an expedient way of dealing with border security problems, but the experiences of Darfur and the civil war in southern Sudan have shown that once militias are unleashed, they are nearly impossible to control ...... one of the most important messages he plans to bring to the Security Council is the complexity of the conflict here. ....... “It is a political problem, and it needs a political solution.”
Lopez, Molina, Etc. Set for Where's Darfur? Benefit, 4/23 Broadway World, NY
Darfur refugees will return home PRESS TV, Iran
Goodlatte: US can play role in Darfur Staunton News Leader, VA
OU students, author discuss Darfur Norman Transcript, OK
UK accused of collaborating with Sudan over Darfur refugees Sudan Tribune, Sudan
Probe Of Sexual Violence, Disappearances In Darfur Scoop.co.nz
Home Office 'collaborating with Sudan over refugees' Independent
Darfur governor expects return of displaced people after ... People's Daily Online, China