(no subject)

[the_future_modernes]

India Battles the Flu and Recession, Too

BENGALURU, India-- The man sitting next to me at the Bengaluru airport tucked into his Vegetarian Combo Meal with relish. When he was done, he pushed his plate away, wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and then carefully tied a checked handkerchief around his face. The fear of swine flu has turned India, especially its airports, into Zorro land. Indians are masked, kerchief-ed, scarfed against the H1N1 virus.

The uniformed guard checking our hand luggage was wearing a mask. A little girl in a red frilly dress was wearing one. A middle-aged man traveling with work colleagues yanked his mask off, complaining, “It’s too uncomfortable, man. Anyway I am disease-free.” The two Japanese businessmen behind him looked unconvinced and firmly kept their pale blue masks on.

H1N1 claims lives almost every day in India. Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai have all been hit. The government is scrambling to respond. Posters on how to take precautions against swine flu are everywhere from the bulletin board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to the airport bathrooms. My niece had doctors visit her college to tell them the do’s-and-don’ts about swine flu.MORE

Honduras coup gov't attacks the Garifuna people...

[the_future_modernes]

Honduran Garifuna Culture Threatened by Coup

The Honduran de facto coup government under Roberto Micheletti plans to eliminate the Honduran Garifuna people and culture. Micheletti has rescinded the Manuel Zelaya authorization to teach in the Garifuna language in school and to teach the language itself. All scholarships to Garifuna students have been eliminated.

Now, Micheletti, with no opposition from the U.S. State Department, has set Sept. 1, 2009, to take over the Garifuna built and operated hospital and fire its Latin American Medical School (ELAM) trained Garifuna physicians, including Dr. Luther Castillo Harry, its founder.

Dr. Castillo Harry has been targeted for assassination in order to decapitate the Garifuna leadership. The original open assassination strategy has been revised to arrest and imprison Castillo Harry and have him killed in jail as a way of covering his assassination. Dr. Castillo Harry never travels alone; he never sleeps in the same place and keeps his appointments and engagements secret. Targeted assassination of leaders for social change is a strategy to cut off the head of the movement, making it leaderless and more vulnerable to extermination.

The Garifuna doctors were trained at ELAM in Cuba and have served Garifuna and Meskito patients since 2005. Health indicators of these communities have shown considerable improvements since that time and their work is receiving increasing international recognition and support, such as from Project CHIMES under the direction of Bill Camp of the Sacramento Labor Council. The latter group provided funding and other support for the construction of the hospital and is continuing and broadening its support.
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Spain will move forward with prosecuting the United States for torture

[the_future_modernes]

Spain to proceed with torture prosecution of Bush lawyers: Report

A Spanish judge has decided to go ahead with the prosecution of six Bush administration lawyers — including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — who were the architects of the legal framework for President George W. Bush “enhanced interrogation” program, according to a report in the Spanish newspaper Publico. (Original article here; Google translation here.) The six Bush administration alumni targeted in the prosecution are former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; John Yoo, author of the “torture memos”; Douglas Feith, then a deputy defense secretary; Pentagon lawyer William Haynes II; former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; and David Addington, a former chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
According to Andy Worthington at AfterDowningStreet.org, Judge Baltasar Garzon has rejected prosecutors’ request, made last April, to throw the case out. Prosecutors had argued the case was politically motivated.MORE

women on the edge...

[the_future_modernes]

Gunman Attacks Women's Village in Kenya

WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (OneWorld.net) - A gunman attacked a women's village Tuesday in northern Kenya, threatening and chasing women from their homes, an advocacy group reported. The police have yet to take any action to stop the man, the former husband of the village's founder.

The gunman, Fabiano David Lolosoli, allegedly came to the village looking for his former wife. Rebecca Lolosoli founded the village of Umoja Uaso in 1990 as a refuge for Samburu women abused by their husbands. Witnesses say he was threatening to kill her, but she was not at home.

When Ms. Lolosoli founded the village, the deed for the land was in the name of Umoja Uaso. Her ex-husband, a highly connected local businessman, has since succeeded in having the deed changed into Ms. Lolosoli's name, so he now stands a better chance of inheriting the land.

The 48 women living in Umoja Uaso have fled the village, and sources say Mr. Lolosoli is still lurking in the area with his gun. Groups like the Advocacy Project, which supports women's organizations in the region and worldwide, are urging police to protect the women there from further violence, but authorities have yet to take any action.

Sources close to the Advocacy Project say local officials told Ms. Lolosoli that the attack is considered a domestic issue and police would not intervene.MORE

Who is Rebecca Lolosoli?