In the small hours of last Thursday, July 10, the Brazilian Senate passed the ‘Digital Crimes Bill’, which typifies the cyber-crimes punishable by law and stipulates penalties accordingly. The proposal will now be proceeding to the House of Representatives for a review of the last amendments, and the next step is its approval or veto (in full, or any of its articles).
Thanks to the pressure from many fronts, the initial draft proposed by Senator Eduardo Azeredo, which gathered unanimous rejection by the blogosphere, has been re-written for the better. The demand for user identification before they can take any action on the Internet, such as blogging, e-mailing or chatting, has been dropped, and some advances have even been made with the inclusion of an article to criminalize online racism.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Brazil: Bloggers question the 13 new cyber-crimes
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Furor over Bush lawyer's racism in deportation case of Nigerian minister
A top Bush administration pardon lawyer was fired for making racist remarks in the case of a beloved Brooklyn minister facing deportation, the Daily News has learned.
"This might sound racist, but [the applicant] is about as honest as you could expect for a Nigerian. Unfortunately, that's not very honest," pardon attorney Roger Adams said as he recommended President Bush deny clemency to the Nigerian immigrant under consideration.
That Nigerian turned out to be Park Slope minister Chibueze Okorie, sources familiar with the case told The News.
Adams was forced out in January because of his anti-Nigerian comments.
The top lawyer "appeared to have improperly considered one applicant's Nigerian origin when deciding not to recommend clemency for that applicant," according to a scathing report in December by the Justice Department's inspector general.
Iraqi Kurds block vote on election plan
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Kurdish leaders blocked a vote on the country's proposed provincial election law Tuesday when they walked out of parliament, leaving the legislature without a quorum.
The dispute centers on Kurdish demands for a referendum in the
oil-rich city of Kirkuk on whether it should become part of the Kurds'
semiautonomous region in northern Iraq.
The Kurdish snub left only 133 lawmakers in the 275-seat
legislature. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene Thursday, but it is
unclear whether the Kurds will clear the way for the provincial
elections planned for Oct. 1.
Truth/Reconciliation: Morehouse on My Mind
I have never walked across the stage on the Morehouse College campus green to receive my degree. On the first day of our indoctrination in 1986, who would have thought I would end up as one of those missing in action four years later? The upperclassman speaking prophesized: “Look to your left and your right. Four years later, one of these brothers will not be here,” and in 1990 one of those brothers was me. I was an “out” gay man at Morehouse College. On my would-be graduation day, I contemplated what
looked like a dismal future, by Morehouse standards—no Morehouse degree and no respect from the men that made up my peer group.
A recent article in the Los Angles Times, by Richard Fausset, bookends the recent history of homophobia and gay awakening at Morehouse with the heinous 2002 baseball-bat beating of a Morehouse student, Greg Love, by a dormitory mate, Aaron Price, and the historic “No More ‘No Homo’ ” events organized by Michael Brewer and members of the campus organization, Safe Space, in April 2008. For me, this recalls memories that I had put away, but which provide the foundations of my life as a scholar and activist. The fact that homophobia at Morehouse is not unique or unusual with respect to heterosexism and homophobia in society at large should be obvious. The institution represents rather, the “perfect storm” of homophobia —racial and class anxieties of “exceptional Negroes,” masculine gender trouble, class conflict and fundamentalist religious baggage [or as some might say, “heritage” or “tradition.”] These seas roil and skies open up in an international climate of heterosexism and misogyny. Homophobia at Morehouse is therefore instructive, dramatic and sad, but not rare in our world.
African leaders revel in largesse while people live in poverty
Private jets, Bugatti cars, a shark-filled aquarium and enough bank accounts to paper the new luxury yacht - the extraordinary capacity of some African leaders and their families for apparent self-enrichment has been laid bare in a French lawsuit over allegedly stolen state money.
Following an inquiry last year by the French fraud body OCRGDF, an
anti-corruption campaign group has accused a string of African politicians
of plundering vast sums from the often struggling economies of their
countries.
Inhabitants of Gabon or the Republic of Congo who have ever wondered what
happens to their precious oil and mining revenues don't need to look any
further than Paris and the French Riviera.
Has SA betrayed Mandela's legacy?
Nelson Mandela celebrates his 90th birthday on Friday as a widely revered statesman, but South Africa faces a host of problems that challenge the dream he embodies of a harmonious rainbow nation.
Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years but forgiving of his former captors, is hailed as a shining example of the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
His smile and sense of humour have made him a treasured international icon. He is rare among African leaders in agreeing to give up power quickly, after only one term following the 1994 end-of-apartheid elections.
He transcends races and opinions in South Africa itself, acclaimed by all sides of society, including white South Africans whose rule he fought to overthrow.
Yet his birthday comes at a time of crisis in the country under the rule of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, widely attacked for failures in fighting Aids, poverty, a major power crisis, violent crime and the disaster in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Latoyia Figueroa (1981-2005)
It's been three long years since Latoyia and Nyla Figueroa's untimely death in 2005. She was missing on July 17, 2005. Her case has brought the attention regarding missing people of Color around the nation and the world. May she and her daughter rests in peace.
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