The idea that ideas can be dangerous// La Idea de que las ideas pueden ser peligrosas. // Die Idee, dass Ideen gefährlich sein können.

DANIEL GILBERT Psychologist, Harvard University The idea that ideas can be dangerous Dangerous does not mean exciting or bold. It means likely to cause great harm. The most dangerous idea is the only dangerous idea: The idea that ideas can be dangerous. We live in a world in which people are beheaded, imprisoned, demoted, and censured simply because they have opened their mouths, flapped their lips, and vibrated some air. Yes, those vibrations can make us feel sad or stupid or alienated. Tough shit. That's the price of admission to the marketplace of ideas. Hateful, blasphemous, prejudiced, vulgar, rude, or ignorant remarks are the music of a free society, and the relentless patter of idiots is how we know we're in one. When all the words in our public conversation are fair, good, and true, it's time to make a run for the fence. Source: THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2006

Italien: Banken akzeptieren Parmesan als Kredit-Sicherheit // Italia: los bancos aceptan el Parmesano como garantía crediticia.

Wer in Italien weder Schmuck noch Immobilien als Sicherheit für einen Kredit zu bieten hat, kann bei ein paar Banken im Norden des Landes auch Parmesan-Käse beleihen. In der Emilia Romagna akzeptieren vier Geldinstitute den beliebten Hartkäse als Sicherheit. Allein das Bankhaus Credito Emiliano hat nach eigenen Angaben 400.000 Parmesan-Laibe ihrer Kunden eingelagert. Die jeweils 40 Kilogramm schweren Käseräder werden demnach mit je 300 Euro bewertet.

Die Bank betreibt für den Käse ein eigenes Lagerhaus, den zweijährigen Reifeprozess überwacht für das Geldhaus William Bizzarri. Zahlt ein Kunde seinen Kredit nicht zurück, werde dessen Parmesan verkauft, erzählt Bizzarri. Die Bank geht dabei kein Risiko ein: Sollten die Parmesan-Preise gefallen sein, fordert sie die Differenz vom Kreditnehmer zurück. Diese kann mit Geld beglichen werden oder mit Parmesan. Das Finanzierungssystem geht auf die 50er Jahre zurück. Es hilft den Käseherstellern, während der zweijährigen Reifezeit des Parmesan finanzielle Engpässe zu überbrücken.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Quien en Italia no tenga ni joyas ni patrimonio immobiliario para ofrecer como garantía de un crédito bancario, puede en el norte del país ofrecer queso Parmesano. En Emilia Romagna hay cuatro bancos que aceptan el apreciado queso como seguridad crediticia.

Según propias referencias solamente el Banco de Crédito Emiliano tiene 400.000 quesos parmesanos almacenados. Cada queso, que pesa unos 40 kilos, está valorado en 300 €.

El banco tiene un almacén propio, el proceso de maduración está a cargo de William Bizarri. Cuando el cliente no paga se vende su parmesano cuenta Bizarri. El banco no corre ningún riesgo ya que si el precio del Parmesano baja, el banco exige la diferencia resultante al tomador del crédito. Esta se puede abonar con dinero o con Parmesano. Este sistema financiero tiene su orígen en los años 50 y ayuda a los fabricantes del queso durante los dos años de maduración del mismo en fases de escasez financiera. 

Quelle: 
http://de.news.yahoo.com/2/20090814/tts-italien-banken-akzeptieren-parmesan-c1b2fc3.html

Traducido del Alemán al Español por mi.

The 9 Types of Intelligence

One of the smartest people I know can’t spell worth beans (or, benes as I am pretty sure she would write) and has a particular “way” with foreign-based words (sorbet is soibert; café au lait is coffee oh loddy). Meanwhile, my friend who can speak five languages is entirely flummoxed when it comes time to calculate the tip for a waiter.

So what’s going on with these two brainiacs—am I, simply, surrounded by idiot savants?  Not according to Dr. Howard Gardener who developed the theory of multiple intelligences, going beyond the IQ test to discover the many ways humans are smart.  He identified intelligent abilities including language, music, spatial reference, kinesthesia, naturalistic, and possibly existential intelligence. Gardner’s definitions include ways to improve your weaker areas—strengthening your brain. Learning—even about learning—reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s says the American Academy of Neurology.

These are Gardner’s nine types of intelligence, as described in A Better Brain at Any Age (Conari, 2009) by Sondra Kornblatt.:

1. Linguistic intelligence reflects the ability to read, write, tell stories, and learn languages, grammar, and syntax. Strengthen this ability by studying a new language, improving vocabulary, and writing.

2. Your friendly computer programmer has logical-mathematical intelligence. She’s comfortable with numbers, logic, reasoning, and abstractions. To increase logical ability, get a book of logic games, knit a sweater, and learn computer programming. Or watch a movie on video, and stop it to predict what will happen.

3. Those with strong musical intelligence are sensitive to sounds, tones, rhythms, pitch, musical keys, and structure of the songs (from verse and chorus to symphonies). Borrow different types of music CDs, sing with the radio, be quiet and listen to the sounds around you.

4. Those with strong spatial intelligence can imagine, understand, and represent the visual-spatial world. They may have a good sense of direction, hand-eye coordination, and visual memory. Some people, for instance, can visualize how furniture fits in a room without measurements, or buy a scarf that matches the blue in a blouse at home (perfect “chromatic pitch.”) To strengthen your spatial intelligence, be a backseat driver and provide directions for a trip, fit the groceries in the bag or the car, play with jigsaw puzzles and mazes, build some Lego’s, or sculpt some clay.

5. Remember Gene Kelly performing “Gotta Dance!” in Singing in the Rain? He had bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, as do athletes, builders, actors, or surgeons (if they have fine motor skills). Yoga is a great way to increase this ability. Make crafts or build, ride a bike, dance, and learn tai chi or other sports.

6. Someone with interpersonal intelligence is good at organizing people and is aware of moods and motivations. He or she can communicate and lead well. To get more people skills, practice active listening—that is, repeat back what you think someone said. Learn about the types of personalities with the Myers-Briggs test (psychological preferences such as extraversion and introversion) or the Enneagram (a theory of nine personality types—possibly centuries old).

7. Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to be self-aware and explore emotions, goals and motivations. This perspective on the human condition is used by writers, philosophers, psychologists, and theologians. To improve your intrapersonal intelligence, “know thyself”—write in a journal, meditate, try the personality tests mentioned above.

8. Individuals with green thumbs and “horse whisperers” have naturalistic intelligence. They are sensitive to nature and may easily recognize and classify species. To get more naturalistic intelligence, expose yourself to the great outdoors: plant a seed, volunteer at an animal shelter, take a walk with a naturalist at the park, read about classifications of animals (kids’ books can be a great place to start).

9. Spiritual or existential intelligence fits all Dr. Gardner’s criteria except for association with a specific brain specialization—though this intelligence could be a whole-brain function. Those with this ability explore questions about life, death, and what lies beyond the subjective perspective. Prayer and meditation increase whole-brain communication and lessen the blood flow to the parietal lobes (which give a subjective sense of time and space). Explore what lies beyond through inquiry, reading, or talking with others.

posted by Melissa Breyer Aug 30, 2009 at Care2:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-9-types-of-intelligence.html

BLANK CUBAN TICKER SENDS SIGNAL

REVIEW
Category:	Other

By Marc Frank in Havana           
Published: July 27 2009 01:01 | Last updated: July 27 2009 01:01


The US has turned off a Times Square-style news ticker – a source of irritation for the Castro government – at its diplomatic mission in Havana that since 2006 streamed propaganda and news into the night, western diplomatic sources said.

The measure is the latest in a series of initiatives by the Obama administration as it seeks to engage Cuba and to end 50 years of enmity viewed in Latin America and the Caribbean as a relic of the cold war.

“It is a beginning – and it is encouraging. It has to do with the atmosphere. It suggests that we are moving toward a more normal diplomatic relationship,” said Wayne Smith, who opened the US mission’s Interests Section under President Jimmy Carter.


The crimson ticker – five feet high and running through 25 windows of the Swiss embassy building that hosts the US mission on Havana’s sea-side drive – began to stream messages on January 16 three and a half years ago, to mark Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday at the height of tension with the Bush administration.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up,” was the ticker’s first message.

Then president Fidel Castro dug up the mission’s parking lot a few feet from the front door in response, to replace it with 138 flag polls reaching 100ft in the air to conceal the ticker. Mr Castro also marched a million people by in protest and erected billboards around the building depicting the Bush administration as linked to anti-Castro terrorists. All contact between Havana-based US diplomats and the Cuban Foreign Ministry was declared at an end until the ticker ticked no more.

It is believed the ticker was turned off late last month.

“That they turned off the ticker is important – and that nobody has noticed is significant, too,” a western diplomat said.

“The Cubans could have howled victory – but [they] said nothing, indicating they are serious about improving relations.”

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some local contact may have resumed already. Easing of travel restrictions for US and Cuban diplomats in each other’s capitals was expected soon. US diplomats stationed in Havana and Cubans in Washington are currently restricted to a 25-mile radius from the Interests Sections.

It appears the standoff about the US mission – an attraction for tourists and a symbol of relations with the Bush administration – is winding down. The Cuban government took the billboards down soon after Barack Obama took office. There have been no marches past the building since Raul Castro took over from his ailing brother Fidel in February last year.

The US broke off relations with Cuba in 1961 and declared a trade embargo in 1962. Interests Sections were established in Washington and Havana in 1977. The US is the only country in the western hemisphere that does not have normal relations with Cuba.

The Obama administration has lifted restrictions on Cuban American travel to the Communist-run Caribbean island and the sending of remittances. Immigration talks, called off by the Bush administration, resumed this month. Cuba has expressed interest in broadening discussions to include drug trafficking, human smuggling and disaster preparedness.

“We’re . . . seeing if, as we change some of the old approaches . . . we [see] movement on the Cuban government side,’’ Mr Obama told reporters.

Mr Smith was in Havana last week to lead a delegation on disaster co-operation, particularly after hurricanes. Among its members were Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, former commander of the Joint Task Force Katrina, and Stewart Simonson, former assistant secretary for emergency preparedness of the Department of Health and Human Services from 2004 to 2006.

General Honore, who advocates normal relations, said the delegation was well-received: “Everyone should stop looking in the rear view mirror. A failed state so near to home is not in our interest.”

He said turning off the ticker was a good thing and it would be better if the two countries looked forward by working on a host of security related issues from immigration to drug trafficking and coping with the hurricanes that regularly pass over Cuba on their way to the United States.

“Peace and prosperity are in the interest of both countries as we are neighbours and there are now many Cubans in the United States,” he said.





Source: 
© The Financial Times Limited 2009
Photo: I found it online sometime ago... probably a work from Andy Warhol.



See this one too. That one is a very important first step:
USA AGREES TO END CUBA'S O.A.S. EXILE
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1e764c8e-508d-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html

Farrah Fawcett und Michael Jackson tot// Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away.

REVIEW
Category:	Other

1. MEHR ALS EIN ENGEL

Farrah Fawcett wurde berühmt als einer der drei "Engel für Charlie". Die Rolle prägte sie und den Stil der späten siebziger Jahre. Doch ihr Leben hatte viele weitere Stationen – ein Rückblick in Bildern: http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/27/bg-farrah-fawcett?2

Die amerikanische Schauspielerin Farrah Fawcett ist im Alter von 62 Jahren ihrem Krebsleiden erlegen. Als Ikone der siebziger Jahre bleibt sie einem großen Publikum in Erinnerung.

Sie wirkte so natürlich, so sportlich, so strahlend, dass man meinte, man kenne sie. Das nahm die Frauen für sie ein. Dabei war Farrah Fawcett nun wirklich nicht das Mädchen von nebenan. Dazu war ihre Schönheit zu atemberaubend. Das nahm die Männer für sie ein.


Quelle:
http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/27/bg-farrah-fawcett?1
© ZEIT ONLINE 25.6.2009 - 23:43 Uhr




2. DER "KING OF POP" IST TOT.
Michael Jackson überraschend gestorben


Der US-Pop-Star Michael Jackson ist tot. Er starb überraschend im Alter von 50 Jahren in Los Angeles. Der Gerichtsmediziner Fred Corral bestätigte dem US-Nachrichtensender CNN den Tod des "King of Pop". Eine Autopsie sei für morgen angesetzt.

Übereinstimmenden Medienberichten zufolge erlitt Jackson kurz nach 12:00 Uhr Ortszeit in seinem Haus einen Herz-Kreislauf-Stillstand, Wiederbelebungsversuche blieben vergeblich. Trotzdem sei er ins Krankenhaus gebracht worden, wo er am Nachmittag (Ortszeit) für tot erklärt wurde. Unmittelbar nach Bekanntwerden des Todes versammelten sich hunderte Fans bestürzt und schockiert vor dem Krankenhaus. Auch vor dem Haus des Sängers trafen trauernde Fans ein.
........................................
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Comeback-Tournee war geplant

Am 13. Juli sollte er in London das erste von einer Serie von 50 Comeback-Konzerten geben, die bis März 2010 geplant waren. Die Karten für den Auftritt in London waren innerhalb von Minuten verkauft. Der Tourneeauftakt war um eine Woche verschoben worden - angeblich aus organisatorischen Gründen. In den vergangenen Jahren waren immer wieder Sorgen über seinen Gesundheitszustand laut geworden.

Der Sänger war zweimal verheiratet und hinterlässt drei Kinder.


Quelle:
http://www.tagesschau.de/kultur/michaeljackson104.html
Tagesschau 26.06.2009 01:53 Uhr

Eine Karriere in Bildern
http://www.einslive.de/includes/bildergalerie.jsp?gal=1184&kap=1&img=1#anker

LIU XIAOBO: Chinese dissident formally arrested // Chinesischer Bürgerrechtler angeklagt // Handelsblatt & The Times Online

REVIEW
Category:	Other

June 24, 2009
Jane Macartney in Beijing


China’s most prominent dissident has been arrested formally after more than six months in detention at a secret location near Beijing on charges that could bring a lengthy prison term.

Liu Xiaobo had been held virtually incommunicado under “residential surveillance”, being allowed only two visits from his wife, since he was taken from his Beijing home on December 8 – a day before publication of a document that he co-authored calling for democracy in China.

State media said: "Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as spreading of rumours and defaming of the Government, aimed at subversion of the State and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years." The arrest was made by the Beijing Public Security Bureau today.

It said that Mr Liu, 53, had confessed to the charges. This is the first time the long-time critic of the Government has faced such serious charges. He could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years, his lawyer Mo Shaoping, said. He told The Times that he would demand an immediate meeting with Mr Liu.

Mr Liu's wife, Liu Xia, told The Times that the police came to her home in western Beijing this morning and handed her a formal document notifying her of the charges against her husband. “They have just been to my home. I am very worried and must speak to our lawyer,” she said.

Mr Liu was a well known and outspoken literary critic in the 1980s but sprang to international fame for his role during the student-led demonstrations centred in Beijing in the spring of 1989.

Mr Liu, along with a famed Taiwanese pop singer and two other intellectuals, joined the students in Tiananmen Square on June 2 in a hunger strike in support of their demand for greater freedom of speech and more democracy and to call for an end to corruption. He was with the students when tanks rolled into the heart of the city on the night of June 3 and 4 and helped to persuade the demonstrators not to make a stand and to leave the square without loss of life. Hundreds were killed elsewhere in the city in that crackdown.

He was detained for nearly two years in Beijing's notorious Qincheng prison, where China’s most prominent political leaders and dissidents have been held in the past few decades, but was not formally charged.

He continued to voice his criticism of the authorities and the Communist Party system. He was sentenced to three years of re-education through labour in the 1990s because of his repeated calls to the Government to reconsider its verdit that the student demonstrations were “counterrevolutionary”.

He was among the 303 initial signatories of Charter 08, a manifesto consciously modelled on the Charter 77 drawn up by Vaclav Havel in the former Czechoslovakia, but is the only one to have been detained. Since his arrest several thousand people have added their names to the charter that demands democracy in China.

Ms Liu told The Times in a recent interview:: “Xiaobo had thought he might be taken in for the anniversary of June 4 but he didn’t think that Charter 08 would cause his arrest.” She issued an appeal last week asking President Obama to raise his case.

Mr Liu's case has drawn intense international criticism, with the European Union and the United States demanding his quick release.

Novelists such as Salman Rushdie and the Italian Umberto Eco, as well as Nobel laureates in literature including the Irish poet Seamus Heaney, have also campaigned for him to be set free.






 


Source from Timesonline,com: 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6566723.ece

Photo source: Reuters____________________________________________________________________________

24.06.2009, 11:31 Uhr
Demokratiebewegung


Die chinesischen Behörden haben Anklage gegen einen der prominentesten Bürgerrechtler des Landes, den Schriftsteller Liu Xiaobo, erhoben. Dem 53-Jährigen wird vorgeworfen, Gerüchte verbreitet und die Regierung diffamiert zu haben.
Liu Xiaobo, eines der prominentesten Mitglieder der chinesischen Demokratiebewegung, wird angeklagt. Quelle: ReutersLupe


HB PEKING. Dem vor einem halben Jahr inhaftierten Liu werde vorgeworfen, Gerüchte verbreitet, die Regierung diffamiert und sich damit eines Umsturzversuches schuldig gemacht zu haben. Das berichtete die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua unter Berufung auf die Polizei.

Nach seiner Festnahme im vergangenen November hatten 150 Intellektuelle aus aller Welt - darunter die Schriftsteller Umberto Eco und Salman Rushdie - den Bürgerrechtler unterstützt und seine Freilassung gefordert. Der 53-jährige Liu war wenige Tage vor der Veröffentlichung der sogenannten "Charta 08" verhaftet worden. In dem Papier hatten die 303 Unterzeichner dargelegt, wie sie sich den Reformprozess in China hin zu einer liberalen Demokratie vorstellen. Gleichzeitig wird in der Charta, die dem Vorbild der "Charta 77" aus der früheren Tschechoslowakei folgt, ein Mangel an Freiheit, Gleichheit und Menschenrechten in China beklagt.

Neben Liu Xiaobo sind mindestens 100 weitere Unterzeichner der Erklärung verhaftet oder verhört worden. Der Schriftsteller wird nach Informationen der chinesischen Menschenrechtsorganisation China Human Rights Defenders an einem geheimen Ort unter Hausarrest festgehalten. Lius Anwalt dürfe seinen Mandanten nicht mehr vertreten, da er selbst die "Charta 08" unterzeichnet habe.

Die US-Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Right Watch sieht in der Festnahme des Schriftstellers den signifikantesten Fall des Vorgehens gegen Dissidenten in China seit zehn Jahren. Nach Darstellung der chinesischen Führung werde alle Fälle die Menschenrechte betreffend "im Einklang" mit dem Gesetz behandelt. Alle internationalen Appelle werden als "Einmischung" betrachtet.

Liu Xiaobo ist einer der bekanntesten Kritiker des kommunistischen Machtapparats in China und der Regierung seit Jahrzehnten ein Dorn im Auge. Ungeachtet aller Einschüchterungen durch die Staatssicherheit hat der Schriftsteller immer wieder seine Stimme für politische Reformen, Demokratie und Meinungsfreiheit erhoben. Obwohl Dissidenten während der Olympischen Spiele 2008 nicht mit ausländischen Journalisten sprechen sollten, war Liu Xiaobo zu Interviews bereit. Er kritisierte die Unterdrückung von Anwälten und Bürgerrechtlern im Zusammenhang mit den Spielen.

Vor einem halben Jahr wurde er festgenommen. Die offizielle Anklage wirft ihm jetzt einen Umsturzversuch vor. Er soll Gerüchte verbreitet und die Regierung diffamiert haben. Die Festnahme des bekannten Schriftstellers hatte im vergangenen November international eine Welle an Protesten ausgelöst. 150 Intellektuelle aus aller Welt, darunter die Schriftsteller Umberto Eco und Salman Rushdie setzten sich für eine Freilassung des 53- Jährigen ein.

Der im Dezember 1955 in Changchun in Nordostchina geborene Liu Xiaobo zählt seit zwei Jahrzehnten zu den wichtigsten Denkern der stark dezimierten Demokratiebewegung in China. Er steht seit 2003 dem chinesischen Pen-Club unabhängiger Schriftsteller vor.

Im Moment wird Liu Xiaobo Berichten zufolge an einem geheimen Ort unter Hausarrest gehalten. Doch er saß auch schon im Gefängnis: Bereits nach der blutigen Niederschlagung der Demokratiebewegung am 4. Juni 1989 kam Liu, der damals für seine Literaturkritiken und philosophischen Schriften bekannt war, fast zwei Jahre in Haft. Er hatte das Vorgehen der Studenten verteidigt und eine Aufklärung des Massakers gefordert. Liu verlor dabei auch seinen Posten als Dozent an der Universität. Nach seiner Haftentlassung wurde er wieder in der Dissidentenszene aktiv. 1996 landete er für drei Jahre in einem Umerziehungslager.

Mit der Entwicklung des Internets in China wurde Liu Xiaobo einer der profiliertesten Kritiker der chinesischen Blockaden von Webseiten und der Verfolgung systemkritischer Internetautoren. Die internationale Organisation Reporter ohne Grenzen zeichnete ihn 2004 mit ihrem Preis für Pressefreiheit aus.

Nach den Unruhen der Tibeter im März vergangenen Jahres forderte Liu zusammen mit anderen Bürgerrechtlern einen Dialog der Regierung mit dem Dalai Lama und echte Religionsfreiheit auch in Tibet. Dennoch wandte er sich gegen Forderungen nach einem Boykott der Olympischen Spiele in Peking. In einem Interview mit der Deutschen Presse-Agentur dpa wies Liu damals die überzogenen Hoffnungen im Westen zurück, dass die Spiele in China zu mehr Freiheit führen könnten. "Für solche Veränderungen wären vielmehr politische Reformen nötig."

Liu Xiaobo zählt zu den Mitorganisatoren der "Charta 08", einer Petition für mehr Freiheit und Demokratie in China. Der Name des Appells lehnt sich an die "Charta 77" aus der früheren Tschechoslowakei und deren gleichnamige Bürgerbewegung an. Kurz vor Veröffentlichung der "Charta 08" zum 60. Jahrestag der Allgemeinen Menschenrechtserklärung der Vereinten Nationen wurde Liu Xiaobo im vergangenen Jahr verhaftet.

 





Quelle von Handelsblatt:
http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/chinesischer-buergerrechtler-angeklagt;2389713;0

Foto Quelle: Reuters

Financial Times: China orders Google to restrict searches

REVIEW
Category:	Other

Breaking News Last updated: June 19 2009 14:37

China has ordered Google to suspend part of its search operations on its local website, in a show of force which could disrupt the company’s growth in the country and underscores the political risks of operating in China.


State media said on Friday that the authorities had “punished” Google China for linking to pornographic content. On Thursday, in a “law enforcement talk”, the government announced that Google China would be punished with orders to suspend foreign webpage searches and automated keywords, Xinhua, the official news agency, and China Central Television, the main state broadcaster, said.


Source:
http://link.ft.com/r/TWK799/QXZ6E/ULNSN/DGOKU/UEMPK/28/h

FOTO : I found it in Google at www.wilsonsalmanac.com/book/dec28.html


Child Soldiers: Today, as many as 300,000 children under the age of 18 serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some are as young as eight years old.
The participation of child soldiers has been reported in 33 on-going or recent armed conflicts in almost every region of the world.

Now or never in IRAN // AVAAZ.ORG

Review
Category:	Other

17th Juni 2009, 11:55


Iran is on a knife-edge, with millions of voters taking to the streets in outrage as evidence mounts that the government may have massively rigged and stolen Thursday's election. The regime has cracked down brutally on the protesters and is imposing a blackout on Iranian society -- shutting down domestic and international media, the internet and even text-messaging.

The voice of Iranians may have been silenced at the polling booth, now the regime is attempting to silence them everywhere else. Facing beatings and gunfire, the opposition is organising mass demonstrations and a general strike. We can’t afford to let the regime dismiss the voice of the people -- the truth must be heard.


Avaaz is urgently organising a rigorous “exit poll” of Iranian voters and a media effort to publicise it -- working with an international polling firm to do a telephone survey of Iranian citizens to ask how they voted. We urgently need 10,000 Avaaz members to pitch in a small amount each to raise $119,000 in the next 24 hours and give Iranians a powerful new way to be heard -- follow this link to view video from the streets of Tehran and support this exit poll to find out the truth.


Public polling in Iran is heavily restricted, and no-one else is mobilizing fast enough to fund an international exit poll. It's urgent that we pitch in. A telephone poll won't be 100% accurate, but the difference between opposition and government claims is massive -- a rigorous poll can show which claim is remotely near the truth.

Unlike Western organizations, Avaaz's global network has a strong membership in Iran and across the Middle East. Backed by a respected polling firm, our effort will be harder to dismiss by Iranian conservatives. We'll send the poll results to the media and help our members in Iran to rapidly and virally spread the news despite the regime's blackout.

Messages have been flooding in from our Iranian members -- from Fariba: “20.000.000 people have lost their votes for peace and human rights. The government wants to use this votes for every thing but PEACE. Avaaz is a Persian word too and means voice -- hear our ‘avaaz’”. From Mahmoud: “The government has stolen the vote the people. The people in the street are beaten badly by the police. Now now now do not lose the time”. Stand with Iranians now and help their voices be heard:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/iran_vote_truth/

This election matters to us all. Iran is a major regional power, and the international community is seeking diplomatic engagement that holds a key to peace in the Middle East. But hawks and extremists on all sides want war instead: a conservative coup in Iran could destroy all our hopes.

The conservative Guardian Council, headed by a key Ahmadinejad ally, is reviewing the vote over the next 9 days -- our poll can be ready before they give their verdict, to counter any further rigging and the violent purge that could follow.

There is a real possibility that democracy will prevail. Ultimate power in Iran lies with Ayatollah Khamenei, who may have backed the rigging -- but he is hired and fired by the Assembly of Experts, chaired by ex-President Rafsanjani who has condemned vote-fixing. If Rafsanjani and allies can get enough votes on the Assembly this week, they can press to re-open the results, even to remove Khamenei from power. A scientific opinion poll could be a powerful piece of evidence.

In the next 72 hours, the Iranian people will try once again to be heard. Let’s help make sure their voices are not silenced -- follow this link to see their courage and donate now to help fund the exit poll:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/iran_vote_truth/

With hope,

Ricken, Graziela, Paul, Pascal, Alice, Brett, Paula, Milena, Raj, Raluca, Taren and the whole Avaaz team
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sources:

1. The Guardian: "Iran's regime cracks down on opposition and media", 16 June 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/16/iran-protests-election-recount

2. Al-Jazeera: "Supreme Leader Under Pressure", 15 June 2009
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009616184556951795.html

3. "Evidence that the Iranian Presidential Election Was Stolen", Juan Cole, 13 June 2009
http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html

4. More detailed analysis by a polling expert of "fishy numbers" in the results announced by the interior ministry:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/iran-does-have-some-fishy-numbers.html

5. One of many active live-blogs:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

6. IranElections - live, unfiltered updates via Twitter from Iran and around the world

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23iranelection
____________________________

FOTO source:
It is a painted work from IMAN MALEKI You can see much more from him
at http://www.imanmaleki.com/index.htm

HSI: STOP TROPHY HUNTING OF BEARS IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST

REVIEW
Category:	Other

Stop the trophy hunting of bears in the Great Bear Rainforest ahead of the 2010 Olympics

Help end the trophy hunting of bears by contacting the premier and VANOC

There is no sport in trophy hunting: each year, trophy hunters slaughter black and grizzly bears with rifles and crossbows for entertainment. Unless we act now, there may one day be a Great Bear Rainforest without bears.








Contact British Columbia's premier and the Olympic organizing committee today!

June 4, 2009

Dear Reader,

Each year in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, black and grizzly bears are cruelly killed by trophy hunters as they emerge from hibernation and forage for food. Orphaned cubs are left behind, condemned to a slow death by starvation. Even threatened grizzlies are not protected from those who kill for entertainment -- nearly 90 percent of all grizzly bears killed in the province of British Columbia are killed by trophy hunters.

Now, with the 2010 Winter Olympics drawing closer, animal advocates around the world have a unique opportunity to save the bears.

Seventy-eight percent of British Columbians -- including the indigenous peoples of Coastal First Nations -- want the trophy hunt to end. So far, the government has ignored public will. But the pending Olympic Games are shining a spotlight on British Columbia’s animal welfare and conservation practices, and global pressure may force the government to take action. We need the BC government to know that the trophy hunt for bears in the Great Bear Rainforest is damaging Canada's international reputation, and causing a major loss in support for the Olympic Games.

The senseless trophy hunting of bears in the Great Bear Rainforest is opposed by Coastal First Nations, animal protection organizations, conservation groups, and the overwhelming majority of British Columbians. Please stand with us to protect these bears and their cubs from a cruel fate.

TAKE ACTION:

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/hsi_bc_bears_olympics/w36ew8x2ajnbbemj?


Please contact the British Columbian government and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and let them know that you will consider avoiding the Olympic Games as long as the trophy bear hunt continues in the Great Bear Rainforest. Please act now -- your voice is vital to saving the bears.

Thank you for all you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Andrew Rowan
President & CEO
Humane Society International


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Source:
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Humane Society International | 2100 L Street NW | Washington, DC 20037 USA
info@hsi.org | 301-258-3010 | www.hsi.org

FOTO: © Ian McAllister/pacificwild.org