From Tanzania Corespondent Lute Wa Lutengano…

Late Monday afternoon I left office and was rushing to a downtown shop to fetch rims of my eye glasses. You see at my age I need the services of extra eyes to be able to see like a normal human being. My mobile contraption, that is my car, rattled along Seth Benjamin a.k.a. East Africa road towards the roundabout with mounted elephants near the DC’s office.

But I could not reach it.

The place was jam-packed with thousands of seemingly very angry Arushans. They had overtaken all the open space and the ‘desert garden’ between the roundabout and the Municipal Council offices and spilled onto the Boma road to the Clock Tower area.

Fearing for the unknown I made a sudden u-turn and drove back to office where I securely parked my un-insured contraption. Knowing that I can never abandon my routine of reading my papers in the evening I decided to make a second attempt to reach the opticians shop, but now using a taxi.

I hailed one just outside my office and boarded it. It was in worse shape than my contraption. But Juma, the cab driver, told me not to worry. Even when I pointed to him the huge and now hysterical masses in the area, Juma was unperturbed. He actually explained that, in case of unrest, the angry masses would go for the sleek and posh cars because they believe those belong to those who want to snatch from their jaws the victory of their Member of Parliament for Arusha.

Apparently Juma was also a supporter of the assembled group for he went on to loudly complain why it was taking more than 18 hours to compile and announce the winner for the Arusha seat. He wondered why it had taken only a few hours to do the same for the elections of Ward Counsellors.

He likened the impasse to a time bomb which may unleash bloodshed in the centre of Arusha if for one reason or another foul play was suspected to have been committed in the whole process by the authorise and thus denying their candidate’s victory. He was of the view that they may even physically attack their candidate and his family if he consents to having lost the elections. No surrender, he concluded gloomily.

I had nothing to add but mumble something to the effect that I was in total agreement with all his views.

To make matters worse I could not collect my spectacles from the optician as his shop like many others in downtown Arusha was closed. Apparently most of shops had not opened last Monday for fear of the unknown.

Driving back we had to again pass through the huge mass of people. My heart jumped a beat, pumped faster and I felt some butterflies fluttering in my stomach when I noticed some of those in the group had hidden machetes, long knives and clubs inside their garments.

It could feel the tension in the air. It seemed all of Arusha was about to go up in flames. I swore I will immediately sneak out with my contraption and using back roads rush back home and go straight to bed.

Juma parked his cab and told me in almost threatening words that I had to part with 7,000/- for the trip. In appreciation of the mood I could not haggle as is always the case. I was on the verge of fishing out the ‘msimbazi’ note when the car radio spluttered out some news flash; the Election Returning Officer for Arusha has just announced that Godbless Lema of Chadema has won the Arusha seat!

Suddenly Juma waved me off saying he did not need my cab fare and instead urged me to go and buy myself a beer and ‘nyama choma’ with it. Honking loudly he zoomed off. Somehow his ramshackle of a cab had also suddenly come to life.

From Philippines Congressman Mong Palitino…

They are the propagandists of the new government but they will deny it not because they are ashamed of their jobs but it has more to do with their rejection of the term propagandist. Propaganda is a taboo word for them since it is associated with overzealous militants. PNoy communicators (com men or commies for short) seem to be squeamish individuals who feel uncomfortable with boring names like public information officer or media bureau. But having a fancy name (Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office) does not modify their distinguished but sometimes odious task: defend the president at all times and at all costs; deodorize the stink coming from the palace; and confuse/mislead the public to hide the real state of affairs.

I’m surprised that nobody complained when Malacanang announced that Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro and other Cabinet heads will undergo a ‘media handling’ seminar. Is media relations a delicate matter that needs to be ‘handled’? Truth articulation is an issue of ‘media handling’? Is this transparency?

What is wrong with the word propagandist? Marcelo H. Del Pilar and company and the 1896 revolutionaries called themselves propagandista. Senator Claro M. Recto launched the second propaganda movement in the 1950s. Activists have no problem with the propagandist branding since they willingly recognize that their political work involves the advocacy of a specific ideology. It is the liberaloids and reactionaries who refuse to be called propagandists because of their naïve but dangerous belief that they are not espousing any ideology.

PNoy’s Communications Group is a smart repackaging of an old function of the state. It targets the networked citizens who are always eager to communicate with public servants even if the conversation is virtual. The danger is to confuse delivery of information with competent public service. The greater danger is to equate political opinion with decisive political action. Beware, PNoy’s commies are sophisticated obscurantists who want to turn politics into “a mere passive commentary on current affairs, a kind of collective extension of reading newspapers.” (Alain Badiou).

The transformation of journalists-who-advocate-objectivity into PNoy commies is proof of the undeclared partisanship of media personalities. Behind every truth-seeking media reporter is a political animal raring to come out of the closet. A journalist needs to take political sides in order to convert truth into a powerful weapon of the public. Opinion pales in comparison with political action. A TV reporter or newspaper columnist who proposes a tax boycott but is not backed by a political group is only guilty of advocating an interesting but futile rant. The words of a journalist acquire materiality only if they are fused with political practice.

But do not assume that the only career option of journalists who finally want to effect change in society is to seek a post in the Palace or in one of its satellites. The other option is to follow a better just path: serve the people. This is what Satur Ocampo and Tony Zumel did in the 1970s: prominent media personalities who joined the underground revolution. Instead of defending discredited politicians or clinging to the bureaucratic state machine, journalists can choose to become the spokespersons and leaders of the people’s movement.

Pierre Bourdieu was right when he said that “there are people who exchange ideological services for positions of power” but there are also truth messengers who prefer to lend their skills in the service of the powerless.

Journalists (especially those working in the provinces) often speak to truth and many times they lose their lives fulfilling this sacred duty. But they cease to carry the seal of freedom of thought the moment they unabashedly join the party in power. Their claim to independent thinking is finally exposed as a sham. Worse, they relinquished their dignified position as public intellectuals to become defenders of the putrid status quo. When they articulate the imperative for pagbabago, they no longer mean it.

It is useful to borrow the words of Antonio Gramsci when he distinguished a diplomat from an active politician. Gramsci wrote that the diplomat “inevitably will move only within the bounds of effective reality, since his specific activity is not the creation of some new equilibrium, but the maintenance of an existing equilibrium within a certain juridical framework” while an active politician is someone “who wishes to create a new balance of forces.”

PNoy’s commies are the glorified ‘diplomats’ of the modern era who are “full of idle speculation, trivial detail, and elegant conjectures.” Meanwhile, Ocampo and Zumel are good examples of journalists who became ‘active politicians’ – “men of powerful passions, partisans, creators, initiators.”

Before the hostage blunder, the tact of the PNoy commies was to package the new president as an everyday man. Make him complain against tax deductions (even though his net pay is P63,000. Compare it to the financial assistance received by farmers from Hacienda Luisita). Make him follow traffic rules. Make him lose his wangwang privileges. Allow an MMDA cop to issue a traffic ticket to PNoy’s sister Kris. Remove his face in government billboards (but continue posting yellow ribbon tarpaulins and pagbabago streamers).

The spin to make the hasyendero son a champion of the ordinary masa is suffocating. Please make him more human but not through token, insincere gestures. Bumenta na yan sa Hollywood.

But after the hostage tragedy, I’m sure PNoy’s handlers will change their strategy. To address the lingering doubt on his competence as a leader, they are expected to present PNoy as a new leader with political will. Good luck with that. Just a minor appeal: stop the unfunny acting.

*Of course they are not communists. Magpapacheeseburger ako nang major major kung komunista ang mga yan. Anyway, I subscribe to Sartre’s opinion of anti-communists.

“ Mr. Speaker, we are now in chapter 11. Members of
Congress are officially presiding over the greatest
reorganization of any bankrupt entity in history”…
Congressman James Traficant March 17th 1993

I’m afraid that those words uttered by congressman James Traficant, back in 1993 were true. In fact this was not the first time that the United States and its citizens were secretly in official bankruptcy. It was actually our fourth bankruptcy.

We have been bankrupt right from the start. It’s how banks prefer their patrons, because they can charge them high interest rates and get away with requiring all sorts of servitude, that they would never get away with under prosperity. In 1776 we won our “independence” from England, but we were financially bankrupted by the costs of the war. We took a loan and entered into a bankruptcy agreement with the Bank Of England. The terms of this agreement required us to give our new found property rights over to the bank. Thus the Bank Of England owned the United States Of America
.
The Civil War also created another bankruptcy opportunity for the international bankers. The European bankers helped ferment the war, and then cashed in on our weakened state. In return for our solvency they would extract their pound of flesh! They would do this by dismantling the constitution of one of the major countries whose existence challenged the authority of the crown.

Shortly after the Civil War, congress passed The Act of 1871, which threw out our real constitution, replaced it with the corporate constitution, and created the District Of Columbia. The new country would be called THE UNITED STATES (in all capital letters) as opposed to The United States Of America. The Constitution for the united states of America, as it was once written, was changed to THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The capital letters were placed into the constitution and the name of the country for very specific reasons. The people who drafted the changes where changing the government from a republic to a corporation. In a Republic we each had fixed, sovereign rights, that could not be changed by the majority, or the whims of the powerful. As a corporation however, we now only had “privileges”, which would be subject to change by forces outside the individual.

You are also a corporation. Bet you didn’t know that! I know, I was shocked when I found out. They don’t tell you this in school. However if you look on your birth certificate, drivers license, or any other legal certificate from the government, you will see your name in capital letters. The reason for this is so that the owners of the United States Corporation can own you.

The government does not work for the people. It is beholden to the corporation. The center of the corporation is The District Of Columbia. The lawmakers there work for the corporation, not you and me anymore. The corporation controls the democrats and the republicans. They may try and fool people who do not really understand, but once you know these facts they will no longer be able to fool us.

In 1909 there was a major down turn in the economy ( probably purposeful shrinkage of the money supply ) and the banksters took advantage again by creating the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. The foreign owners ( hypothecated ) were given the right to all land, and all people, inside the United States Of America, as security. In exchange they would issue us credit, and print as much money as we would need. At least that was the plan that was sold to congress. The bank’s shareholders ( some foreign families ) were given title to everything within the United States, and we the people, would be listed as the beneficiaries, by way of a birth certificate. This certificates would be a commodity. Your birth certificate is given specific monetary value and traded on the stock exchange. The red numbers on your birth certificate correspond to your stock number that is traded on the stock exchange.

You didn’t know you where traded on the stock exchange? I didn’t know either, for the longest time, but it’s true. In fact it is estimated that you are worth between 1-2 million dollars. You can read more about this later in the final chapters where I talk about the Freeman Movement.

In 1933, after the banks restricted the money supply, causing the stock market to crash, and the great depression; congress passed The Emergency Banking Act. This dissolved the United States of America, it’s sovereign authority, and all of it’s governmental bodies. From that day on, the United States Of America would exist in name only.

Authority was turned over to the International Monetary Fund ( linked to the Rothschild’s ). The International Monetary Fund is the “center” of all the central banks around the world. Through similar schemes they have acquired the rights and legal title to most of the property and people around the world.

I find it so sad that politicians have through the ages, sold their countrymen’s freedom and prosperity out to the highest bidder. By doing this they have traded our children’s lives away in exchange for immediate personal fortune. This was true of colonial politicians, like Alexander Hamilton, and even the Joe Liberman’s, Nancy Pelosi’s, and Harry Reid’s of our day.

From Dr. Kazi Kearse PsyD…

Kazi can be found on Facebook, his blog and liveperson.com

From Indonesia / Bangladesh Corespondent Rezwan…

This is a story of any developing country where the rich and powerful reign and the the people do not exercise or do not have their equal right.

I was surprised to see some street vendors trying to sell a photocopy version of an edition of Tempo news magazine (in Bahasa) . I did not understand what the vendor was saying but the news was allover in the media in the following days. It turned out that on 28th of June Tempo published a report on huge bank balances of certain high police officials and the cover showed a caricature of a policeman holding ropes tied around three pigs. The report titled “Fat Account Police Officers” analyzed central financial transaction reports and found that there are tens of billions of Indonesian Rupiah transferred from unspecified third parties in the accounts of at least seven high-ranking police officials.

The officers implicated in the article include Insp. Gen. Budi Gunawan, the head of internal affairs and a former adjutant to the president during the Megawati Soe-karnoputri administration; former Mobile Brigade chief Insp. Gen. Sylvanus Yulian Wenas and lecturer at the Police Leadership School Insp. Gen. Bambang Suparno and former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji.

What followed can be the plot of a thriller: the magazine publications were purchased outright by groups making the edition unreachable to readers and the police threatened to sue Tempo (which they dismissed later) on charges of disrespectfully making caricatures of them. The police interpreted the Tempo report as depicting the police force as animals especially swine, which is forbidden to Muslims. But people are cleverer than them – the photocopy editions were in circulation in the following weeks and Tempo decided to reprint the edition. Widespread protests followed and the president was under pressure to announce an investigation.

On 6th of July the corruptors divulged their power by throwing a number of Molotov Cocktails in Tempo office. The National police spokesman said that the attack was intended to shine a bad light on the police as if the staffs orchestrated the attack. Later in the month four ‘Tempo” staffs were interrogated by the police as if they were the suspects. One staff received threat from a third party.

Not only that Tama Satrya Langkun of Indonesian Corruption Watch, who contributed to the report was brutally assaulted and stabbed.

According to public demand the police investigated into 23 suspicious bank accounts of police officers and only found 2 problematic accounts. Indonesian police also claimed that they have made progress in the investigation of the attack on Tempo magazine and the anti-corruption activist.

However people are calling for independent police probe to authenticate such claims. The president said there is no need to involve other organizations such as anti-corruption commission (KPK).

The conclusion of the story can be perceived by many. You can fill in the gap with your experience. Unless there are a radical upheaval of people asking for accountability, justice and equality, the rich and powerful will continue to do what they do and get away with their crimes.

Ridiculous court decisions financed by large corporations and industries seem to not only be increasing in number, but also be ever-more transparent in their intent – the recent block of President Obama’s moratorium on deep-water drilling by a Federal Court is no exception. Even more preposterous is the support of the State of Louisiana for the overturning of the drilling ban, despite the ongoing ecological disaster that very state is currently experiencing at the hands of an industry they so blatantly choose to support.

The problem of Deepwater Horizon surrounds a search for profits over safety and a complete disregard of federal regulation, not any sort of accident or event otherwise removing BP, Transocean, and Halliburton from positions of culpability – who’s to say that this is an isolated incident? Given the vicious, highly litigious, heavily lobbying industry that is Big Oil, it’s very easy to assume that such practices are being carried out on other oil operations in an effort to maximize their bottom line. This is the simple reason for the temporary ban on deep-water drilling, a mere six months, allowing regulators and other oversight bodies to ensure the proper construction and operation of facilities that have the potential for disaster of comparable, or greater, proportions.

It should come as no surprise, sadly, that the judge responsible for this despicable and utterly shortsighted ruling, Martin Feldman, was appointed by Ronald Reagan, the founder of the deregulatory and anti-government era, and has a personal investment in the success of American oil operations. This sort of personal investment is the very reason for recusal, and yet the illustrious Judge Feldman didn’t see fit to behave in the official and unbiased fashion for which he is employed – instead, he chose to continue the precedent of conservative judges claiming neutrality while making sure he, his friends, and his ideological interests benefit in the greatest possible way from his rulings from the bench. This type of behavior can be expected to continuously resurface as healthcare reform is challenged by irrational litigatorselection results don’t suit the conservative fringe.

Worringly, however, is the response of Louisiana: a state with an anti-Obama governor who vehemently opposed the very existence of the federal government suddenly demanded extreme government intervention, while also supporting the classic conservative financier known as Big Oil in their efforts against the President. Why would a state ravaged by the abhorrent behaviors of an oil company also litigate for those same companies to continue operating as if nothing happened? The state’s ecology is in dire peril and its people are losing their way of life, yet Big Oil must, apparently, be defended, lest a Republican-led state appear to be too pro-regulation, or in favor of anything President Obama does. This is hypocrisy at best, and extreme ignorance at worst.

The Gulf Spill should not be a politicized event, simply due to its nature and magnitude, but the GO(B)P are doing absolutely everything in their power to make it so. Extreme partisanship continues to be the political stance of Republicans, and it’s doing nothing but embarrass them on the national stage – perhaps they should continue, so that not only are Democrats in a better electoral position come November, but Eric Holder will have a number of opportunities to ensure that intelligence, in the end, rules the day.

Kyle can be found on his blog, on Facebook, via email, or on Twitter.

From Kyle Brady…

From Indonesia Correspondent Rezwan…

Bangladesh has become the second country in Asia after Pakistan to block the entire Facebook domain. On 28th May, 2010 Friday at around 8:30 the ban was executed on charges of malicious propaganda against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hurting religious feelings reports [bn] blogger and journalist Biplob Rahman at MuktoMona blogging platform. However the site was still accessible via mobile (m.facebook.com).

Newspapers soon confirmedquoting high officials of Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) that Facebook was temporarily blocked.

Earlier, the BTRC had directed internet data service handlers Mango Telecom and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd to find a way to block antisocial contents posted by Facebookers.

But the two companies failed to fix the problem, which prompted the government to block the entire prophet, said the official, asking not to be named. The Daily Star

According to Facebook there are around 900,000 Facebook users in Bangladesh and 60% of them are aged between 18-24 years. Many netizens, like Sukanta Rai at Prothom Alo Blog had this question in mind:

What did Facebook do can anybody tell me?
S. M. Mahbub Morshed at Sachalayatan informs:

After publishing perverted imagesof Hasina and Khaleda (The Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition) in the second most popular site in Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion (RAB – a special force) arresteda youth named Mahbub Alam Rodin. Bangladeshis could not access Facebook soon after that.

Chitpotang at Unheard Voices blog wonders whether a threat from some religious parties prompted the government to take this decision:

That’s the “official” eyewash. What’s the real reason? Hmm, could it have something to do with Naya Diganta and Khatme Nabuwwat, Amini, et al’s return in the form of exportingPakistan’s Facebook ban for the Mohammed Cartoon Contest? The threats to hold a rally the day after BNP’s June rally that will be even bigger? As usual AL (Awami League) responds in only way it knows to an Islamist/Rightist threat, cave in immediately.

However Aminul Islam Sajib at Life with technology says:

Although the BTRC is saying that the site has been blocked for hosting anti-religious and pornographic contents, I feel that the site is blocked mainly for the reason that caricatures of two political leaders were shared on the site. The government could take necessary steps to remove those contents. Instead they are blocking us for their own interest and trying to make us understand that the reason is something else (anti-religious stuffs). Don’t they know that there are over hundreds of proxies such as hidemyass.com, redfish.tk (giving you the links so that you can still access the network) to gain access to Facebook. So, why ban Facebook? Banning Facebook does not block people’s access to the site. It’s like a showdown that we have banned Facebook on grounds of being abused.

The Bangladeshi netizens are astonished and outraged by all these drama. Bloggers like and https Shahriar at Cadet College Blog are explaining how to easily circumvent the ban by using https and other web proxies. However, Aranya Anam at Amar Blog warns[bn] netizens to be cautious about using proxy sites and provides some useful links.

Haseeb at Sachalayatan names the ban[bn] as “commerce of sentiments”.

Arup Rahee at Somewherein comments:

The Facebook ban is not a solution. If somebody criticizes, caricatures or opines against somebody/something, banning the media is not a solution against that – it is being proven across history.

Samir Kumar Ghosh says:

Before banning Facebook. If the government issued some alerts and some warnings – it would have been more effective.

However there were some opinions supporting the ban. Guru Bhai at Somewherein says:

When these youths should have been spending their time playing in the field or doing their home work, they spoil their time doing virtual dating (or similar things) using social networking – which is shameful for a sovereign country.

Twitter users are also expressing their reactions:

taslimanasreen: Is banning contagious !! Pakistan banned facebook ! Now Bangladesh !

julu_vai:govt. in bangladesh, by closing facebook for their own personal anger, are causing needless pain to millions. Where is my Freedom of speech?

kowsheek: Finally govt realised that facebook is injurious for pm’s health. #bangladesh

DarthShayan:People from #Bangladesh need to make a stand. We always let the political ppl dominate us. Is Bangladesh not a democracy with freedom?

A Facebook group named Withdraw the ban on Facebook in Bangladesh has been created. Kajal Abdullah at Somewherein reports that offline protests are also materializing.

Protests have been started already. Some students of Dhaka University (DU) have arranged a large protest in front of the Raju monument at midnight. They have warned that if Facebook ban is not withdrawn soon the students of DU will take up human chain and other form of protests.

Nazrul Islam at Sachalayatan says:

We want a democratic government which allows freedom of speech – ensures everybody’s freedom of expression. This government has come into power promising a digital Bangladesh. But we are witnessing that it knows nothing about the term ‘digital’. Our government does not know that these bans are not effective – there is nothing sillier than these in today’s world. If anybody wants he/she can access Facebook or everything on the internet. Still the government goes for another ban.

They will perhaps be forced to withdraw this ban within a few days. But this will remain as a bad mark in the government’s tenure.

First Published in Global Voices Online

The onset of life will always be a traumatic and life-shaping event. Our Bangladeshi correspondent and political activist know only as Rezwan takes RELATIVITY OnLine inside the fragile birth of a struggling democracy, unfolding within the borders one of our planet’s most impoverished countries.  It’s always in our most early days that we are most susceptible to sickness and suffering. The hobbled and humble nation of Bangladesh is no different.     

This past December 29th was the first anniversary of the landmark election that brought Bangladesh back to the path of Democracy.

So what change has this one year brought to Bangladesh? We have many young and energetic ministers who’ve promised a lot, but have yet failed to deliver up to the people’s expectations. The good thing is that they are not corrupt (not yet) like their predecessors and perhaps we need to give them more time. Furthermore, the government is yet to show any success in the energy sector and in the securing Bangladeshi labors’ laws.

The government has created a lot of controversy in the meantime, with its implementation of daylight savings time and its illogical rolling back (did they think of the technological challenges like changing the time of mission critical computer systems synchronizing with the world?), the indiscriminate renaming of major installations of the country for political motives (do these guys really care how tough and costly is it to change the name of the major international airport in all the records of the world?), and with the home minister sounding like the notorious BNP one.

The BNP has not learned from their past mistakes and are taking the same path of making the democratic process dysfunctional. They are not going to the parliament and taking the path to destabilize the country. The are reinstating their corrupt leaders.Their corrupt leaders like Nazmul Huda now vows to take revenge against those people who detained and questioned him. They think that Bangladesh is like their kingdom because they are powerful. Who are you to ask for their accountability?

Meanwhile, religious parties like Jamaate Islami is shrewdly trying to cash in on anti-Indian politics. Their recent politics includes honoring liberation war heroes, whereas they were in fact against the liberation of Bangladesh. They also are doing their best to stop the trial of war criminals. Other religious parties are harping on the Tipaimukh issue to publicize their agenda. The strategy is simple - play with people’s emotions and establish political Islam.

So - the Bangladesh political scene is returning to its old shape. Much time was wasted talking about reforms inside political parties and Bangladesh politics in general.  All in all we are slowly headed back to square to square one.

From Rezwan…