Monday, October 04, 2010

Hidden Face of Globalization



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In the global economy, corporations demand enforceable laws - intellectual property and copyright laws - backed up by sanctions to protect their products. However, when we ask these same companies, "Can't we also protect the rights of the 16-year-old who made the product?," The companies respond: "No. That would be an impediment to free trade!"

Young garment workers in Bangladesh share their hard experiences working for companies like Disney and Wal-Mart. Where offen they need to work between 16 until 20 hour daily and no one have right to object it. Beside lost thier real life with family, they even also offen dont get the correct salary and get treat badly if someone dare to ask for it. While the same workers from same company in US enjoy all the workers right, get good paid and good life.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Who is fuelling Somalia conflict?



The Somali Republic gained independence on 1 July 1960. Somalia was formed by the union of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland, while French Somaliland became Djibouti. A socialist state was established following a coup led by Major General Muhammad Siad Barre. Rebel forces ousted the Barre regime in 1991, but turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy ensued. The Somali National Movement (SNM) gained control of the north, while in the capital of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, the United Somali Congress achieved control. Somalia had been without a stable central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre fled from the country in 1991.

Subsequent fighting among rival faction leaders resulted in the killing, dislocation, and starvation of thousands of Somalis and led the United Nations to intervene militarily in 1992. In 1992, responding to the political chaos and humanitarian disaster in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched peacekeeping operations to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to the Somali people.

By March 1993, the potential for mass starvation in Somalia had been overcome, but the security situation remained fragile. On 3 October 1993, US troops received significant causalities (19 dead over 80 others wounded) in a battle with Somali gunmen. - Black Hawk Down-

When the United States and the UN withdrew their forces from Somalia, in 1994 and 1995 respectively, after suffering significant casualties, order still had not been restored.

Established in 2004 and internationally recognized, the Transitional Federal Government's (TFG) support in Somalia was waning until the United States-backed 2006 intervention by the Ethiopian military, which helped drive out the rival Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Mogadishu and solidify the TFG's rule.

Following this defeat, the ICU splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military's presence in Somalia.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to withdraw from the country, leaving behind an underequipped African Union (AU) peacekeeping force.

A power sharing deal ensued between an Islamist splinter group led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia Djibouti faction (ARS-D) and TFG Prime Minister Nur Hassan in Djibouti. Al-Shabaab, which had separated from the moderate Islamists of the insurgency, rejected the peace deal and continued to take territories. It was joined by Hizbul Islam, which is an amalgamation of four Islamist group including the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia - Asmara faction.

Another Islamist group, Ahlu Sunnah Waljama'ah, which was allied with the TFG and supported by Ethiopia, continues to attack al-Shabaab and take over towns as well although they have been effective only in the central region of Galguduud, where they ousted al-Shabaab from most of the region.

After the parliament took in 275 officials from the moderate Islamist opposition, ARS leader Sheikh Ahmed was elected TFG President on January 31, 2009. Since then, the al-Shabaab radical Islamists have accused the new TFG President of accepting the secular transitional government and have continued the civil war since he arrived in Mogadishu at the presidential palace in early February 2009.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Communist terrorize Malaya 1948



After World War II the Federation of Malaya was formed through the unification of several former British territories, including Sabah and Sarawak. The negotiations included special guarantees of rights for Malays (including the position of Sultans) and the establishment of a colonial government. These developments angered the PKM/MCP (Malayan Communist Party) , an organization that was composed largely of Chinese members and was committed to an independent, communist Malaya.

The communist party, which had been armed and air supplied by the British during the World War II againts Japan, began a guerrilla insurgency, and on June 18, 1948, emerged from the jungle and under Chin Peng, began their terror campaign to take over the country by force. Thus an intense jungle war began, fought by the British, British Commonwealth and Malay forces against the MCP and on 16 June, they declared a state of emergency after three European planters were murdered by Communists in Perak state. In the two weeks following, hundreds of MCP members were arrested, and the party was declared illegal on 23 July.

In 31 August 1957, Malaya was granted independence from British colonial rule. With independence, the country became a centralised Federation with a Constitutional Monarchy. Each state had its own fully elected State Assembly, its government chosen from the party which had a majority of elected members in the Asssembly. Mean time, during this period, the MCP keep terrorize Malaysia people by engaged in intimidation, including assassination of civilians. Only till Dezember 1989 the MCP finally laid down its arms to Malaysia and Thailand government at Southern Thailand.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Chechnya's forgotten war



Part - 2

Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Moscow-backed president, is reconstructing the country with billions of dollars in aid from the Kremlin. But human rights groups accuse Kadyrov of creating a totalitarian state within a state where officials allegedly use kidnapping, torture and extrajudicial killings against opponents of his government and political observers say his methods are fuelling a simmering Islamic insurgency. We ask: Is Chechnya heading toward another conflict and what impact will this have on Russia's stability?

Sunday, August 01, 2010

War Dance



War/Dance wan documentary film directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine. The film centers on three children - Rose, a 13-year-old choir singer; Nancy, a 14-year-old dancer and Dominic, a 14-year-old xylopphone player.

They are members of the Acholi ethnic group, living in the remote northern Uganda refugee camp of Patongo, which is under military protection from the LRA (The Lord's Resistance Army, is a sectarian religious and military group based in northern Uganda).

The group LRA was formed in 1987 and is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan goverment and it was one of Africa longest-running conflicts. It is led by Joseph Kony and the group is based in apocalyptic Christianity with influenced by a blend of Mysticism traditional religion.

The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, kidnaping, sexual enslavement of woman and children and forcing children to participate in hostilities. Since the LRA first started fighting in 1986 they may have forced well over 10,000 boys and girls into combat, often killing family neighbors and school teachers in the process.

In 2005, the camp's primary school won its regional music competition and headed to Kampala to participate in the annual National Music Competition. War/Dance focuses on three of the eight categories: Western choral performance, instrumental music, and traditional dance, where the students perform the Bwola, the dance of the Acholi. Over the course of three months, the film's creative team observes the three youngsters as they prepare for the event and gain their confidence enough to have them discuss the horrors they have experienced and express their individual fears, hopes, and dreams.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Food Inc



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Food, Inc. is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by agribusiness have many hidden costs and are unhealthy and environmentally-harmful. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. The documentary generated extensive controversy in that it was heavily criticized by large American corporations engaged in industrial food production.

The film's first segment examines the industrial production of meat (chicken, beef, and pork), calling it inhumane and economically and environmentally unsustainable. The second segment looks at the industrial production of grains and vegetables (primarily corn and soy beans), again labeling this economically and environmentally unsustainable. The film's third and final segment is about the economic and legal power of the major food companies, such as food libel laws, whose livelihoods are based on supplying cheap but contaminated food, the heavy use of petroleum-based chemicals (largely pesticides and fertilizers), and the promotion of unhealthy food consumption habits by the American public.

The food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and the environment. There are bigger-breasted chickens, perfect beef-steak, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but in the same time, there also have a new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. And widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.