Daniel Ortega is quite the little tyrant. The source of the latest irritation from Managua is Ortega’s attempt to ban two minor political parties, dissident break-away factions of the Sandinista Party, and bar them from participating in November’s municipal elections. At first he faced a hunger strike by a former guerrilla and heroine of the Sandinista Revolution Dora María Téllez. Now he faces Facebook Protests. Via the Miami Herald:
A new brand of subversive is being born in a country with a history of traditional guerrilla movements: clean-cut youths who wear Hollister shirts and conspire on Facebook.
The cyber-revolution was inspired by a hunger strike launched this month by 1970s rebel leader Dora María Téllez, of Nicaragua’s old-school revolutionary left, to protest what she calls the ”dictatorial intentions” of President Daniel Ortega’s government. At issue is a ruling by the Supreme Electoral Council to eliminate two minority political parties in the November municipal elections.
A small and unlikely group of students from well-to-do Managua families showed their solidarity through the simple gesture of forming a Facebook group called ”We Support Dora María Téllez.” Within a week, more than 1,200 people had joined the Internet group, and the movement began to show signs of transcending the confines of cyberspace in a nation where citizens can vote at age 16.
The Facebook group posted daily Internet messages calling on its members to show up for nightly demonstrations at Téllez’s protest camp at the main traffic roundabout in downtown Managua.
A bit of a hypocrite, Daniel, or just another tyrant?
At the time, I railed against it, a year of Latin in prep school. But vero, it served me well on my verbal SATs and over the course of my lifetime adding power and force to my vocabulary and allowing me to learn Romance languages with relative ease.
Now the valde junior Senator from Illinois has his valde own great seal for his Obamaland with its valde own Latin motto, vero possumus which translates as “in truth to be able.”
His “yes, we can” should translate as etiam nos es validus or better still etiam, sic licet.
To which I say, haud nos mos non, discedo commodo. Quam stultus es vos?
The Netherlands joins Portugal and Croatia as teams that breezed through the first round only to see their hopes dashed in the quarterfinals. In the case of the Dutch, it is a mighty blow to defeat in succession, Italy, France and Romania only to fall to Russia 1-3 in extra time.
From the off Russia never allowed Marco van Basten’s previously imperious side space and attacked with vigour. Roman Pavlyuchenko’s 56th-minute volley seemed to have won the game but with four minutes remaining Ruud van Nistelrooy headed an equaliser. However, Russia dominated the additional half-hour and the tireless Arshavin set up substitute Torbinski to restore the advantage from close range in the 112th minute. The No10 added another himself to set up a semi-final against Spain or Italy in Vienna on Sunday, although Torbinski and Denis Kolodin will miss that match through suspension.
Russia started sharper in the second half, Arshavin nearly scoring with a swerving free-kick and a minute later Semak sent in a cross from the left that Pavlyuchenko gleefully turned in. Russia were allowing the Netherlands little of the ball and attacking at pace, Van der Sar using instinct and one hand to keep out an Aleksandr Anyukov strike. The goalkeeper also saved when Pavlyuchenko was sent through while Torbinski was unfortunate not to turn the ball in soon after. It seemed the Oranje’s campaign was over but with four minutes left Wesley Sneijder curled in a free-kick for Van Nistelrooy to head in and force an extra half-hour.
However Russia were unbowed, Shemskov forcing a diving stop from Van der Sar while Arshavin struck over and Pavlyuchenko’s dipping shot was only kept out by the crossbar. Arshavin then burst through and crossed for Torbinski, only for Van der Sar to again block. The second extra period continued in the same vein, Pavlyuchenko just failing to turn in Arshavin’s cross but finally the breakthrough came when the FC Zenit St. Petersburg playmaker sent over another looping centre for Torbinski to volley in. Four minutes later Arshavin sealed a semi-final place with the goal his play deserved as his shot deflected in off John Heitinga, confirming that the Netherlands would follow fellow group winners Portugal and Croatia home.
Can there now be any doubt that the Russian bear is back with pride after twenty plus years of hibernation?
Russia was the first winner of the UEFA European Championship in 1960 and the runner-up in 1964 when Spain won its only title. Spain plays Italy tomorrow in the last quarterfinal match. The winner will play Russia.
For more on the matches and the tourney, please visit Euro2008.
It’s the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere (we don’t discriminate on the basis of hemisphere here). Those in southern climes can take solace in that the days will start to get progressively longer. Male emperor penguins can take solace that their mates are heading back with bellies full for the soon to hatch chicks. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a day for major celebrations especially in northern Europe.
The exact date of each solstice changes by a few days each year - this is largely a consequence of our calendar system where we count years of 365 or 366 days, but the Earth takes 365.256 days (the sidereal period) to complete one orbit of the Sun. The exact orbital and daily rotational motion of the Earth, such as the ‘wobble’ in the Earth’s axis (precession), also contributes to the changing solstice dates.
The solstices occur because the rotation axis of the Earth is tilted by an angle of 23.5 degrees from the vertical. If the Earth’s rotation was at right angles to the plane of its orbit around the Sun, there were be no solstice days and no seasons. Around 21 June, the Sun is at its most northerly declination (+23.5 degrees). This corresponds to the northern summer solstice and marks the longest day of the year for northern hemisphere observers. In contrast, this is the date of the southern winter solstice and marks the shortest day of the year for southern hemisphere observers. Six months later, the Sun is at its most southerly declination (-23.5 degrees) and the solstices are reversed in each hemisphere.
The exact time of the soltice varies each year as well. In 2008, the soltice occurs on June 21, at 00:00 UT. Universal time (UT) is simply the number of hours, minutes, and seconds which have elapsed since midnight (when the Sun is at a longitude of 180°) in the Greenwich time zone. In 2009, the soltice will occur at 05:47 UT June 21, 2009.
Here’s a QuickTime Movie showing the Earth’s wobble through one year.
And from the Los Angeles Times, a look at solstice celebrations around the world.
I never though I’d write a title like that! Via Le Monde, Bülent Ersoy, 56, is a Turkish transsexual singer. She is immensely popular across the entire country, especially among the working class. She is now risking 18 months in prison for her call to pacifism on television, on behalf of Turkish mothers.
She did so in the midst of a wave of patriotism, last February, as Turkish troops launched an assault against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan. Taking everyone by surprise, as she was hosting the Turkish version of American Idol (I guess crappy television programs are the stormtroopers of cultural globalization), she declared “I am not a mother and I will never be” but that if she had had sons, she would have refused to send them “to their graves.” She continued, in front of the live audience, “Our children continue to be sent there, there are only tears, blood and funerals and we continue to propagate the same cliches [the nationalist and vengeful slogans]. Why can’t we find a solution?”
The very next day, a prosecutor in Istanbul filed charges against her for “inciting the hatred against the armed forces” as well as demeaning military service. Such charges carry a maximum of three years in prison.
This has to be understood in the context of Turkey. Turkey is a democracy but the military is a very strong institution that has long dominated political life. It plays a central role in maintaining national unity through mandatory conscription for all men. As the proverb says, “every Turk is born a soldier.” Conscientious objection also carries a prison term. However, in recent years, there have been calls against military propaganda and the military establishment.
This is not the first time that Bülent Ersoy gets in trouble with the authorities. Until 1988, she was banned from public performances by the military regime because of her “social deviance.” Apart from her singing, she has made headlines for her marriages and divorces with much (much) younger men.
How special, he even has a motto in Latin. I either live in a parallel universe or the absurdity of Barack Obama grows by the day. From the New York Times:
At a discussion with a dozen Democratic governors in Chicago on Friday morning, each of the governors was identified with a small name plate but Senator Barack Obama sat behind a low rostrum to which was attached an official-looking seal no one had seen before.
It is emblazoned with a fierce-looking eagle clutching an olive branch in one claw and arrows in the other and is deliberately reminiscent of the official seal of the president of the United States. Around the top border are the words “Obama for America;” across the bottom is the campaign’s Web address. It also contains the logo of the Obama campaign, variously interpreted as a sunrise or a view down an open road.
Just above the eagle’s head are the words “Vero Possumus,” roughly translated “Yes we can.” Not exactly E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), the motto on the presidential seal and the dollar bill. Then again, Mr. Obama is not the president.
I must ask, what colour is the sky in Obamaland? Symbols matter because they so often get misused and this one sends off a Roman Imperial connotation, there is nothing about unity or democratic values in that symbol. It’s all about Obama. And use the eagle of the official seal of the President of the United States in his campaign is simply the height of arrogance. Is he playing games or is he just a narcissist?
I, too, have a motto. It’s facta non verba. Actions not words. It also sums up why I can’t support Barack Obama. He is just words, an empty suit, devoid of working class values, it’s all about image and no substance and really all about him. While he plays at Emperor of Obamaland, I am going to set out to elect a real-life person as President who actually wants to do the hard work that job requires and not play at being one with such nonsense. Is he a Roman farce or a Greek tragedy? I can’t decide.
This is an irregular report on energy issues and energy news from around the world. There is more data and posts filed in the Energy and Peak Oil Category.
Thoughts from the Pit of NYMEX
China to Raise Energy Prices
China said this week that it would raise fuel and electricity prices, a move that could add to the nation’s already high inflation rate but cut consumer demand and thus help lower global crude oil prices. From the Los Angeles Times:
China, which has been keeping fuel costs for consumers below market rates with billions of dollars in subsidies, said retail gasoline prices as of today would rise more than 16% and diesel prices would jump 18%. Many analysts have criticized the subsidies, saying they distorted the market and discouraged consumers and industries from conserving energy.
The announcement, made through the official New China News Agency, appeared to have an immediate effect in global markets, as crude prices for July delivery fell $4.75, or 3.5%, to settle at $131.93 a barrel in New York futures trading.
Saudi Arabian Oil Production: Can the Saudi Open the Tap? The Oil Drum looks at the feasibility of Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to increase production. How realistic is it to expect Saudi oil fields to increase production? Saudi Arabia accounts for about 11% of US Imports. Canada and Mexico supply more.
Below the fold stories on Dutch Natural Gas Production, Natural Gas Prices in Europe, Electricity Prices in Europe, Iraqi Exports of Natural Gas, Nigerian Delta Insecurity and India blames oil speculation for the rise in global oil prices.
Here is the Saturday, June 21st, 2008 edition of interesting reads and events from around the world.
Zimbabwe Election Update
The International Herald Tribune reports that Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is considering whether to pull out of the June 27 presidential run-off election, fearing it will be a charade. Meanwhile the BBC reports that Mugagbe remains defiant.
The Battle for Kandahar
An operation by local and international troops appears to have cleared Taliban fighters from the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second largest city in a report from the Financial Times. Below a report from Qatar’s Al-Jazeera on Afghan President Karzai’s plan to strike at the Taliban strongholds in Pakistan:
Thai Protests Aim To Topple PM Sundaravej
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will not resign, a spokesman said on Saturday as thousands of protesters besieged his office, vowing to stay until they forced the government from power. The Washington Post has the full story with analysis.
A Canadian View on McCain’s Trip to Ottawa
John McCain flew to Ottawa this week. Toronto’s Globe and Mail provides a Canadian perspective.
Japan-ASEAN Trade Pact
Japan ratified a free trade accord with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Saturday as the country’s divided parliament ended its session. Agence France Presse reports that under the deal, about 90% of trade between Asia’s largest economy and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, which has a combined population of 550 million, will be tariff-free within 10 years.
Conspiracy To Murder
A British author says a senior official from the Rwandan war crimes tribunal flew to London last week to question Linda Melvern about the secret confessions of a 1994 Rwandan genocide organiser the then PM Jean Kambanda that she obtained for inclusion in her recently-published book, Conspiracy To Murder. More from the Saudi Gazette.
Sarkozy: No To EU Expansion without New Treaty
European Union leaders were in Brussels on Thursday night to discuss what to do after the Ireland “no” to the Lisbon Treaty. French Presidnent Sarkozy was clear that enlargement must be put on hold. Der Spiegel provides the coverage.
Via Le Monde, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1820 (full text in pdf) at the end of a debate on “women, peace and security” presided by US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Let me quote a few chosen excerpts from this important resolution. The resolution
“1. Stresses that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of war in order to deliberately target civilians or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace and security. (…)
2. Demands the immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians with immediate effect. (…)
3. Demands that all parties to armed conflict immediately take appropriate measures to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms of sexual violence. (…)
4. Notes that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide, stresses the need for the exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes. (…)
7. Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to implement the policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations. (…)
10. Requests the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations agencies, inter alia, through consultation with women and women-led organizations as appropriate, to develop effective mechanisms for providing protection from violence, including in particular sexual violence, to women and girls in and around UN managed refugee and internally displaced persons camps. (…)
12. Urges the Secretary-General and his Special Envoys to invite women to participate in discussions pertinent to the prevention and resolution of conflict, the maintenance of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding.”
This is very strong language. The resolution also includes the possibility of deferring suspects of sexual violence in war to the International Criminal Court.
