Thursday, April 30, 2009

Global citizenship quote

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

- Thomas Paine

Court slaps Obama for liberty grab

Contrary to everything he stood for in the election campaign, Obama tried to claim for his office the sweeping state secret powers sought by the Bush Administration. Today a US court ruled that it would tolerate no such nonsense:
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit brought by five men who say they had been tortured as part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s “extraordinary rendition” program could proceed, dealing a blow to efforts by both the Bush and Obama administrations to claim sweeping executive secrecy powers.
The defense lawyer explained how high-handed the government had been:
We had not asked the government for a single piece of evidence when the CIA barreled into court and insisted the entire case had to be thrown out.
The position of the Obama Administration was creepy, as it had been claiming as "state secrets" information that was already in the public domain.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Financial crisis quote

Krugman in the NY Times:
Why, after all, did bankers take such huge risks? Because success — or even the temporary appearance of success — offered such gigantic rewards: even executives who blew up their companies could and did walk away with hundreds of millions. Now we’re seeing similar rewards offered to people who can play their risky games with federal backing.
Even the temporary appearance of success offered gigantic rewards. That's the problem with the financial system in a nutshell. You can be running your institution into the ground, but as long as you do whatever it takes to keep your stock price high from one quarter to the next you will get richly rewarded.

Are you a financial manager? Then you just have to play well in the only game everyone scores, and that's about making short-term market gains. If you look to the long-term viability of your institution, behave more cautiously than the herd, you won't risk enough and earnings will slow. And so your job will go to someone who is more aggressive. So you do the sensible, common, and obvious thing: you play a relatively short-term game, knowing that any serious long-term pain will be the taxpayer's burden.

NY Times wins Jotman's Fox News Award

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

- Ron Suskind, New Yorker,

This week Jotman's Fox News Award* goes to The New York Times for dutifully referring to "water-boarding" as an "enhanced interrogation technique."

On Sunday Times' editor Doug Jehl explained why the paper has refused to call water-boarding "torture."
I have resisted using torture without qualification or to describe all the techniques. Exactly what constitutes torture continues to be a matter of debate and hasn’t been resolved by a court. This president and this attorney general say waterboarding is torture, but the previous president and attorney general said it is not. On what basis should a newspaper render its own verdict, short of charges being filed or a legal judgment rendered?
On what basis! History perhaps? Sullivan blogs that knowing how to "read" should provide a person with the intellectual tools necessary to figure out for himself whether or not water boarding is a form of torture. Although this question -- does history not count? -- explains why the editor's defense is sheer nonsense, it does not explain why the editor ignores history. In spite of history, in spite of his literacy and education, the editor of the "paper of record" awaits a court's legal judgment. How could this be?

Recall that the president** had declared "either you are with us or against us" on Nov. 6, 2001. The message was clear. Ever-obedient to truth power, the New York Times, as with the rest of the US news media, got the message. If it ever came to a choice between American power and historical truth, the newspapers would side with the government. Had not the attacks of 9/11 "changed everything?"

Also recall that another contemporary water-boarder, Pol Pot, had given Cambodia its own Year Zero (1975). Ultimately, perhaps the appeal of a Year Zero is the appeal of torture.

People will say anything to get torture to stop. And that's the whole point. Tortured, prisoners admit to what you want them to admit to; the confessions of the tortured become the building blocks for the invention of a new reality. Last week a report provided just such a rationale for the initiation of torture during the Bush-Cheney administration. Columnist Frank Rich summed it up like this:
The report found that Maj. Paul Burney, a United States Army psychiatrist assigned to interrogations in Guantánamo Bay that summer of 2002, told Army investigators of another White House imperative: “A large part of the time we were focused on trying to establish a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq and we were not being successful.” As higher-ups got more “frustrated” at the inability to prove this connection, the major said, “there was more and more pressure to resort to measures” that might produce that intelligence.

... there were no links between 9/11 and Iraq, and the White House knew it. Torture may have been the last hope for coercing such bogus “intelligence” from detainees who would be tempted to say anything to stop the waterboarding.
Torture may well have helped the Bush regime to invent a justification for the Iraq war. But newspaper editors helped them get away with it, dutifully pushing the reset button on history.

*Jotman's Fox News Award is a feature at
Jotman.com that began early 2008. It goes to a media organization that has gone the extra mile during the course of the week to make the public more stupid. (Otherwise corrupting the ethic of creativity and global citizenship.) Previous winners listed here.
** Apparently almost every US newspaper editor's "Commander in Chief," despite the fact that according to Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution, this designation only refers to a president's relationship to US armed forces personnel during wartime (more here)

What Xu taught me long ago

Some years ago, strolling through through Chicago's Grant Park, Xu had summed up what she conceived to be the main problem with her country.

"China is a country ruled by men not law" she said.

My friend was a member of the class of '89 at Beijing University. She had stood arm in arm with her classmates beside a replica Statue of Liberty which they had erected in Tienanmen Square.

Why Lady Liberty? Xu and her fellow students knew America to have been the first country on earth designed around the rule of law. In 1989 people around the world still viewed the United States as the highest embodiment of that ideal.

A lot has been said about torture over the past week, but I think there has been altogether too much focus on celebrity personalities; on the individuals who may be implicated in crimes: Of course, I'm talking about George Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Yoo, and other administration officials. It is important that we look at these men the way Lady Justice sees them.

In America, Liberty's sister, Justice, is almost always pictured wearing blindfolds. The social status, the skin color, the gender, and political affiliation of the individuals implicated in crimes is completely irrelevant to her. As Thomas Paine wrote, "in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other." Before the law, every man is the equal of every other man.

Power tends to corrupt, leading some people to behave with disregard towards the rights of others. The founding fathers understood this aspect of human psychology. They had read about the excesses of Roman emperors Commodus, Elagabalus, Caligula, Domitian and Nero,* and been appalled by the actions of George III. That's why they made high office holders take an oath to always faithfully defend the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution stipulates "due process of law"; the Eighth Amendment prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments." Article IV of the Constitution states:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties, made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land...
Among those treaties and laws that all officials of the United States have sworn to uphold are the Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. These conventions were enacted in much the same spirit as the US Constitution; they reflect the recognition that power corrupts, and those wielding power -- even in times of war -- must be held to account for their actions by laws.

Americans and global citizens alike, observing where crimes appear to have been committed, can inform the US Department of Justice. The sequence of events, who ordered what, whether suspects' actions might have been justified by extenuating circumstances,** all these are matters for the courts to determine.

Because torture is a crime. And where serious crimes have occurred, every attempt must be made to bring about justice. It really is that simple, in a nation ruled by law, so Xu taught me long ago.
_______
* "... the Founding Fathers read the Twelve Caesars and mined it for negative information about the emperors..." writes Carl J. Richard in Greeks and Romans bearing gifts.
** Section 2.2, Convention Against Torture: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."

Map for tracking swine flu


View H1N1 Swine Flu Outbreak in a larger map

The US has just declared a "public health emergency" with 12 confirmed cases.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

How to protect yourself in a swine flu pandemic

Updated

In the event of a global pandemic of a deadly strain of the influenza virus, popping Vitamin C isn't going to save your life. Frequent hand-washing, while useful, cannot keep an airborne virus at bay.

This post concerned how best to protect yourself during a future deadly influenza outbreak. It and the accompanying article may be worth another read about now...

Upate
Judging by the comments of CDC spokespersons quoted in this CNN report, the US government is still not informing the public of the most effective safety measures .

Blogging the swine flu epidemic in Mexico

Updated

Jessica Uribe is a blogger living in Mexico City. Today she wrote in an email:
As you know Mexico is now declared on swine flu epidemic and today the World Health Organization declares the epidemic as a public health emergency.

The streets in Mexico are empty, nobody want to go outside and everybody is scared.

Mexican government says there are just 20 deaths confirmed because of the swine flu, but all of us know that there are a lot more.
I met Jessica in London at the G20 Summit. Jessica informs us she is posting updates about the Swine flu epidemic on her blog VivirMexico. It sounds as if many bloggers in Mexico are concerned that the media may be scaring people too much.

We are posting updates from Mexican bloggers about the situation in Mexico here.

Update:
Latest Mexico city death toll may be 200 reports Veratec, a US based organization that has been monitoring the situation closely.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

What Obama could learn from Cheney


I took the above photo of Dick Cheney. I'll say this for Cheney: unlike the current occupant of the White House, the former VP has spoken with a sense of conviction on the topic of torture. Seizing the vacuum of national leadership on the issue, Cheney is on the offensive, promising to stand up for anyone who followed his orders. That's what a leader says. Thanks to Obama's "let's move on" blather regarding the most serious crimes, Cheney is actually staking out some moral ground for himself (call it "honor among thieves"). I can't think of anyone associated with the Obama Administration who has shown Cheney's tenacity on the other side of the debate. And I think that's appalling.

Who would have imagined it would come to this?

Watch this video of Shepherd Smith. When a Fox News anchor is speaking out against the crimes of the Bush Administration more forcefully than any high-profile Democrat, you have to wonder what all that talk about "change" was really about:



Shepherd Smith understands that his country is not only a place, but an idea. In connection with this issue, Smith is also to be commended for his use of a four-letter word here.

US torture timeline

Here's a useful resource for tracking the key developments since the US first became a "torturing country" six or seven years ago.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Why does Coke taste better in Thailand?

Is American Coke different than Thai Coke? I have discussed this seemingly trivial question with Thai friends.

"American Coke is too sweet" is a familiar complaint about the US coming from Thais who visit. Their verdict: Coca-Cola tastes better in Thailand than in the United States. Most processed American foods are too sweet, in my opinion.

Is it that there just more sugar added to American Coke? Or is something else going on here?

Actually, the taste difference likely concerns the fact that two kinds of sugar are used. Whereas Thai Coke is sweetened with cane sugar, American Coca-Cola contains mainly "high fructose corn syrup." Corn syrup and cane sugar have different chemical compositions.

Moreover, recently studies have shown that the health effects of fructose, sucrose, and glucose may be markedly different. Today the NY Times reported:
Some research has suggested that consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, used as a sweetener in a wide variety of foods, may increase the risk of obesity and heart disease. Now, a controlled and randomized study has found that drinks sweetened with fructose led to higher blood levels of L.D.L, or "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides in overweight test subjects, while drinks sweetened with another sugar, glucose, did not.
Interestingly, the article concluded with a quote from someone highly critical of the the findings of the most recent study:
John S. White, a biochemist who has published widely on nutritive sweeteners and was not involved in this study, said that the experimental setup did not reproduce a real-life diet. The study did not test high-fructose corn syrup, he said, and judgments should not be made about it from the findings.
The background the Times provided its readers about this expert was woefully insufficient. On a previous occasion the NY Times ran an article raising concerns about corn syrup, John S. White responded with a letter to the paper (a lucky few get quoted authoritatively and get their letters published). On July 9, 2006 White wrote:
I am a scientist with 25 years in the food industry, including involvement in research leading to the replacement of sucrose with high-fructose corn syrup in carbonated beverages.
As White himself makes clear,* he is not a mere "biochemist" but a "food industry" insider. He is an "integral player in the application of high fructose corn syrup to carbonated beverages and in the introduction of crystalline fructose to the food and beverage industry" according to Corn Annual -- an industry journal that evidently embraces higher conflict of interest disclosure standards than the NY Times.

Health concerns aside, I do hope that US soft drink makers return to using sugar instead of corn syrup in the future. Sugar cane is a major cash crop in the developing world, and many third world farmers have long been penalized by US agriculture subsidies. Is corn syrup economically competitive with cane sugar? My brain has its doubts about this. But my taste buds know the difference.
_____
Note: It's funny that I happened to write two posts concerning Coca Cola today. Here's the other one.
* My point here is not to criticize John S. White, who has identified his potential own conflicts of interest in the past.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Simon Berry, global citizen

Jotman's Creative Global Citizen of the Month award for April goes to an extraordinary blogger: Simon Berry, founder of the Cola Life Campaign.

I sat next to Simon for the bus trip back to the hotel after the G20 Summit. From what I had already heard of Simon's story, this blogger sounded to be the embodiment of the JOTMAN.COM moto -- "creativity and global citizenship." An empty bus seat presented the chance I had been waiting for to talk with Simon about his innovative project.

Simon told me about his "Ah-ha! moment." He said that the initial idea sprung to mind while participating in an online discussion forum:

"What if Coca Cola was to use their distribution channels to distribute rehydration salts?"

For me, Simon's idea clicked right away. I had just returned from Africa where --probably -- a salad I had eaten had led to a situation where for a week -- between trips to the bathroom -- I was throwing pinches of salt into one bottle of Coca-Cola after another. (Jotman's idea of a rehydration drink).

Poor Simon got to hear almost the whole story of Jotman's dysentery.

"But we moved on from this concept," said Simon, continuing, "What we realized was that dehydration salts were but one kind of useful item that could be freely distributed with the Coca Cola."

"Besides rehydration salts, what?" I asked as the driver announced that our bus was about to pass the Tower of London.

"We tailor the contents of the package to the needs of the people in a particular region," Simon replied. "I'll show you."

Simon reached into a bag he had stuffed under the seat, and pulled out a rectangular white box, the shape of a tiny farmyard barn. Simon held the package flat-side up, with the angled "roof" of the small box facing down.

"See you slip the package between the lined-up Coke bottles like this."

It was ingenious. Simon then opened the trojan horse to reveal its potentially life-saving contents. I saw that the box contained an assortment of items: rehydration salts, bandages, some kind of pills, and -- yes -- Trojans.

"These are examples of the kinds of things that could be distributed widely in Africa, dependent on the most urgent needs of people within a particular country."

Simon would take this vision to Facebook, where the Cola Life group now has well over eight thousand members. Simon has also approached executives at Coca-Cola. Cola Life's campaign is finally starting to pay off.

Today, I learned from Simon that he had just received this message from Euan Wilmshurst who is Stakeholder Engagement Manager for the Coca-Cola Company:
The response to Simon’s question is easy. Yes, we are planning to run trails of the ColaLife idea before the end of the year. I think I have allowed myself enough wriggle room there.
Congratulations to Simon, members of the Cola Life campaign, and Coca-Cola! Well beyond the aims of Cola Life project, you have demonstrated that by taking a creative approach to global citizenship, every one of us can make a difference.
___________
  • Click here to view reports of past winners of Jotman's "Creative Global Citizen of the Month" awards.
  • More about the Cola Life campaign here. Berry's blog is here; recent interview with the BBC is here.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Government cover-up of deaths in Bangkok?

2 updates

As reported here, a tightening of censorship measures by the Myanmar junta followed the September 2007 crackdown in that country. The regime evidently did not want the whole story about the crackdown -- which may have been far more deadly than initial reports suggested -- to spread.

How to account for the hastily-implemented censorship of dozens of websites following the army crackdown in Thailand? What are we to make of claims that casualties in Bangkok were higher than has been officially acknowledged? Might the answers to both questions be connected? Is this déjà vu?

The Thai government claims there were no fatalities during the army crackdown against the Red Shirt protesters last week. For the most part, the Thai news media has not questioned the government's assertion.

However, Australian blogger John Le Fevre of Photo Journ recently interviewed a Thai monk who claimed to have firsthand knowledge that the Thai government's version of the story is incorrect (hat-tip Fonzi). Sajja, his actual name and face concealed, described only as the "head monk of a city temple," told Le Fevre that he went to "the Din Daeng area around 6.00am on April 13 after hearing reports of clashes earlier that morning between the Thai army and red shirt protesters." Sajja said:

“I was standing about 200 meters away and the soldiers started shooting at people who were on the street. They were not wearing red shirts and there was no protesting happening at the time.



“I saw people falling down when the army was shooting at them and others run away. One of those who fell down was a monk and there was also some children there. I don’t know which temple the monk was from. I saw the soldiers pick about 10 people up off the ground and load them into a large pale-blue, almost white coloured van and then they hosed the blood off the road,” he said.

Le Fevre says the monk told him that the people who were loaded into the truck made no sound that he could here.


Blogger Fonzi of Thailand Jumped the Shark has long been skeptical of the Thai government's account of the crackdown. Fonzi has pointed to the Thai government's decision to censor dozens of websites associated with the Red Shirts movement which he listed here (via Prachatai). Concerning this list Bangkok Pundit observed, "They are .... the same sites which have been providing video and pictures alleging government wrongdoing." Also odd, notes Fonzi, was this report in the Bangkok Post:

Security agencies are keeping a close watch on a group they suspect of feeding lies to international media outlets on the recent red shirt riots.



Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayagorn said members of the group had left the country in recent days to disseminate a "different version of events and accounts" to the international media.

"What are they afraid of?" asks Fonzi.



To return to the monk's allegations, Le Fevre knows of three video reports (here, here, and here) that were taken by Thai TV networks around Din Daeng in Bangkok. The first one, according to Le Fevre, "appears to substantiate claims of people being at least injured at Din Daeng by the Thai military." Concerning the question of unreported killings, Bangkok Pundit suspects that media silence on fatalities could be due to the relative absence of reporters present "during the initial crackdown before 5am." Referring to the video Le Fevre described, BP blogged: "There is at least one instance on video of the military taking away people during that crackdown who did not appear to be moving (see at 1:40 onwards in this YouTube video)." Watching the video over on a large screen, BP is not convinced the people are motionless and therefore likely dead. Might one of the trucks in the video be the "large pale-blue, almost white coloured van" described by the monk? Here is the video:





BP also points to a Bangkok Post report that stated that police were "investigating claims that two men whose bodies were found gagged and bound in the Chao Phraya river were red-shirt protesters." Many Thai police had been quite sympathetic to the Red Shirt protesters, whereas the army tends to be most supportive of the government, and was responsible for the crackdown.



The truth tends to get out. If protesters had been shot and killed, it would seem to be in the government's interest to come clean about what happened. Thailand surely does not want to be mistaken for Myanmar.



Update 1:
IPS (h/t BP) reports that a senior television journalist in Thailand told IPS on the condition of anonymity: "My boss was told by a powerful person not to run pictures damaging to the military or to the government."

Update 2
New Mandala blog has just posted The crushing of the red shirts by Nick Nostitz. Essentially, it is a war correspondent's eyewitness, blow-by-blow account of violent clashes and protests on the streets of Bangkok during late March and early April. Here is what Nick had to say regarding the question as to whether the army killed some Red Shirt protesters:
Red Shirts are convinced that a number of their members have been killed (and I have strong suspicions that they are not too wrong in this assessment, but have no evidence or proof whatsoever). The government has to organise an official and neutral inquiry. And it has to stop lying that only fake bullets were used, and only fired into the air. I have photos of bullet holes, where I have seen soldiers firing. The bullet that passed a few meters above my head in the leaves of a tree under which I was hiding in the early hours at Din Daeng was not a fake bullet or sprung out of my imagination, and given the distance and angle of the shooter from the military lines, the difference of the elevation of the muzzle was not more than a few centimeters. This was clearly a shot fired in the direction of the crowd and not into the sky. I have seen soldiers refilling their magazines with copperhead bullets. They were not fake bullets.
Also of interest were some of the things Nick heard about on the street; his observation about the strong animosity that developed between Thai journalists and the Red Shirts, and how he thinks the tension got out of hand.

I produced a summary of some insights I gleaned from reading Nick's extraordinary story here. This list will surely make you want to go to New Mandala to read the whole post.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Conscience and the draft

"Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful." - William Shakespeare

"Freedom lies in being bold." - Robert Frost

This is a time for righteous indignation. reflection, not retribution. I share respect the utter revulsion strong views and outrage emotions that reports of torture these issues evoke. We have put many innocent people been through hell. a dark and painful chapter in our history. At But at a time of great deficits challenges and justified anger at the banks, disturbing disunity, everything stands to be nothing will be gained by holding the corrupt and powerful to account. spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. Our national greatness is embedded in America's ability to right its course in concert with our core values, and to move forward with confidence. That is why we must fight resist the forces that weaken us, divide us, and come and instead come together on behalf of our common future.

The United States is a nation of laws. Our leaders must My administration will always act in accordance with those laws, and with an unshakable commitment to our ideals. That is why we have released these memos, and that is why further steps must be taken we have taken steps to ensure that the crimes actions described within them never take place again.



- Barack Obama

Pining away

Russian physicians claim to have found a fir tree growing inside a man's lung.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Obama on track?

When I first heard about Obama's plans to build a high speed rail network I thought: Great! I fully support this kind of initiative. But looking closer, I'm not impressed:
"The plan is no surprise, with $8 billion coming from January's economic stimulus package and $5 billion potentially coming from Obama's budget over the next five years.
Only $13 billion for high speed passenger rail over five years? Look at it this way: the stimulus package approached $800 billion. Not even 1% of this spending will go into such a smart and environmentally-friendly transportation initiative!

As usual, Obama's thinking is more or less on the right track, but he continues to think small and move too slow. These times call for a for bolder approach.

Thai yellow shirts' leader shot-up near tourist district

Updated
One of the most prominent men in Thailand narrowly escaped assassination this morning.

About 5:00am a vehicle carrying a leader of the movement that shut down Bangkok's airports in November, Sondhi Limthongkul, was massively shot-up while the newspaper mogul was on his way to work in the historic tourist area of Bangkok, near Khao San Road.

The Nation reported that the incident occurred when "a group of men riding on a pickup opened fire on his vehicle." According to police, there were "one hundred" cartridges found at the crime scene. Sondhi was rushed to the hospital with bullet wounds to his arm and his driver was also injured.

Given the description of the attack, it's amazing Sondhi survived.

Sondhi, a graduate of UCLA and Utah State, was an old business partner and supporter of former Thai PM Thaksin until 2005 when their relationship soured. Sonthi then became a vocal opponent of Thaksin.

Update:
This is looking much worse than first reported. Nation (h/t Shark):
Sondhi Limthongkul is in serious condition after being shot as a bullet hit his left skull. The bullet is still in his skull, causing bleeding inside his brain, Vajira Hospital Director Dr Chaiwun Charoenchoktavee said Friday

Those horrible creatures

I wrote about these things on my travel blog today.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Paying for protesters

The "yellow shirts" who shut down two Bangkok airports in November were well funded. It should also come as no surprise if some wealthy people had been funding the "red shirts" who brought Bangkok to a standstill over the weekend. If it could be shown that former Thai PM Thakin's fortune made its way into the pockets of red shirt demonstrators, that would hardly be of surprise to anyone.

Yet the popularity of a newly released video indicates that Thaksin may be uniquely vulnerable to such a charge.

Jotman suggests why this may be the case and presents the wildly popular [but misleading] "smoking gun" video here.
____
Some background posts on the yellow and red shirt movements.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Black Songkran

As "Songkran," the new Thai New Year dawned in Bangkok, the Thai army moved in against the "red shirt" protesters who had taken over strategic points throughout the capital city. I have been tracking* the observations of live-bloggers such as Fonzi, Bangkok Pundit, and Nirmal Ghosh (who was on the streets of Bangkok). Two themes surface in these reports.

First, they note a discrepency between Thai government claims about casualties, and stories coming from reporters and spokesmen for the "red shirt" movement. Fonzi blogs, "The Reds are claiming a cover up. I have read at a couple websites that the mainstream media has been told to black out any contrary evidence to what the government is spouting." Second, the bloggers raise questions as to how the government can possibly heal the divisions that this violent crackdown has brought about. Bangkok Pundit asks:
What can the government do now to restore law and order? And then after that? The latter question is probably the more difficult one now.
Nirmal Ghosh commented late this morning:
This is the start of an urban-based guerrilla war, with Reds armed with sticks, stones and firebombs. It's hard to see the Democrat Party winning any election after sending the army onto the streets.
It's beginning to look as if the HM the King may have no option but to become personally involved. Neither side in the conflict would dare oppose the will of the monarch who alone retains the prestige and authority necessary to bring about a reconciliation of the parties.
____
*To view Jotman's compilation of reports from Thailand's live-bloggers, check out THERELIVE.
Photo: By Jotman -- taken in 2008 -- depicts celebrants a much brighter Songkran: This Songkran, the guns fired in the streets were real.

Tbilisi protest timeline

In western countries, direct democracy ordinarily works like this: The people elect a leader. That person is either re-elected or not at the end of a term. . . .

Georgia, on the other hand, has had three presidents since independence in 1991, none of whom ever completed their elected terms. Zviad Gamsakhurdia was ousted in a coup d'etat in 1991; Eduard Shevardnadze ousted in the Rose Revolution in 2003; and Misha Saakashvili stepped down in 2007 and called for early elections after global condemnation for his decision to use brutal force against protesters compelled him to. He was controversially re-elected in January 2008 with 52% of the vote.

- Paul Rimple, Georgia's iron lady Nino Burjanadze, Tbilisi Blues
Thailand is not the only country where large groups of protesters are demanding the ouster of a national leader. Protests also erupted this past week in Tbilisi where thousands demanded the resignation of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. At our other website, THERELIVE.COM, we are tracking on-the-scene reports from citizen journalists in Georgia.

In order to put recent reports out of Georgia in some kind of context, I jotted the following timeline of events occurring so far in April in Tbilisi:

  • Mid March-April 1 - opposition plasters Tbilisi with signs.
  • April 4 - Saakashvili had planned to open Mtatsminda Park, hailed as "Tbilisi's Disneyland." Some kids wrote the word "disgrace" at the entrance into the park. "Several dozen police attacked the group immediately, beating the young men, sprayed paint in the faces of others and confiscated their cars." Saakashvili canceled his visit to the openning.
  • April 8 - Big protest planned for 9th: "organizers estimate that around 100,000 people will turn out and say they will camp out until their demands are met. . . [protest] scheduled for Thursday afternoon in front of the parliament building in central Tbilisi. The leading opposition party in Parliament, the Christian Democrats, won't take part."
  • April 9 - 60,000 anti-government protesters gather.
  • April 10 - deadline set by protesters for Saakashvili's resignation. More protests.
  • April 11 - 3rd day of protests, numbers decline. There is a late-night attack on protest site blamed on government (described by Georgia bloggers here , here, and here; Reuters here). Outraged, the opposition changes plan to call off Sunday protest.
  • April 12 - Government issues statement claiming "No police or other municipal or Government personnel were involved in any way in the incident" The protests -- which went ahead -- were described as "small."
  • April 13 - "Opposition leaders asked citizens of Georgia to gather in front of the Parliament Monday at 3 p.m., April 13. They plan to announce their future acting plans."
The Ministry of Internal Affairs statement of April 12 (see above) continued: "The Government is committed to allowing the demonstrations to continue, and to protecting the civil liberties of the protesters, including their right to freedom of expression. The MIA’s policy of maximum restraint will continue, as it has during the first three days of peaceful demonstrations."

Other timelines:
Caucasus protest timeline by Mapreport (interesting resource)
Georgia after Communism timeline by CIPDD (events up until 2006)
Georgia-Russia Conflict Timeline by RUSI (especially good for 2008 events).
Georgia Russia conflict timeline by Jotman (goes way back)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Thaksin calls for overthrow of Thai government

Update
Former Thai PM Thaksin has called for the overthrow of the Thai government following a week of mass demonstrations by "red shirt" UDD protesters. Al Jazeera reports that Thaksin said:

"The troops who have already come out can come and join the Red Shirts to help us to get democracy for the people.

"This is a golden minute. We will make history and there will be no more coups in Thailand. We have to help achieve democracy for all of us."

The network reports that Thaksin said that if the government cracks down on the protesters, he may return to Thailand. The correspondent reports seeing a policeman put on a red shirt, and wonders if the government isn't losing control of the situation.

An AP report quotes Thaksin as having said:

"Now that they have tanks on the streets, it is time for the people to come out in revolution. And when it is necessary, I will come back to the country," he said in a telephoned message to followers who surrounded the prime's minister office.

Who are the Red Shirts?
An article in the Nation (via Bangkok Pundit) describes "3 factions of red shirts": 10,000 rural Thais from the north and northeast, people against the Democratic Party led government, and Thaksin supporters. Bangkok Pundit comments, "Finally, a story which reports on the fact that the majority of the protesters are really from Bangkok and nearby provinces."

More
At my other blog, THERELIVE, you will find links to the reports of brave bloggers have been reporting live from the streets of the Thai capital.

UPDATE
The words Thaksin used -- whether he called for a revolution -- have been the subject of some debate. Thai historian
Somsak Jeamteerasakul translates Thaksin's remarks as follows:
I would like to invite all sides: Let join hands. Take this opportunity to make a People’s Revolution in order to bring about the true democracy to the people. Don’t let this use of force [against the people] continue any longer.
Click here to read an informative discussion about this question.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Seven bloggers

I photographed the above-pictured bloggers at the G20 summit in London. Who are they? What did they have to say about the experience? 1) Vikki Chowney of Bitch Buzz: "it was the diversity of the group that made the few days and coverage of it so rich.";
Rowan Davies of Mums Net: "Security clearance involved being bussed to a deserted industrial site in docklands. It felt very much as though we were all going to be shot"; Dave Walker of Church Times twittered: "G20voice bloggers driving around Docklands in coach entirely lost."
2) Sam Graham-Felsen of Blue State Digital: "Many of the bloggers I’ve spoken to here say that media access for bloggers is unheard of in their countries"; Cheryl Conte of Jack and Jill Politics: "It was cool to be there and see the respect and admiration he commands. Def one of my proudest moments as an African-American and like Obama, one of very few in the room." 3) Daudi Were of Mental Acrobatics: "Coming from Kenya where our former president . . . looted Kenya for over 20 years stashing away billions in these tax havens, my position is not that surprising." 4) Todd Lucier of Canada's Climate Cafe: "We’re getting access to people that has traditional media’s mouth watering!"

Blogger Richard Murphy makes history

"This is Richard Murphy with the G20 Voice bloggers . . . "

With these words Richard made history on April 2, becoming the first blogger ever to ask a question of a world leader at a global summit.

Murphy is an expert in "offshore tax havens." In an article posted shortly after the London summit at Tax Research UK Murphy wrote:
. . . if the political climate has changed, and it appears it has, then that process of closing tax havens can be completed. And today is probably the first time that could be said.
From the floor of the press conference room I filmed Gordon Brown's answer to Murphy's historic question which concerns an issue that cuts right to the heart of the world financial crisis.



Photo by Jotman.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

So near, yet so far away


This photo by Jotman shows Kady O’Malley of Inside the Queensway, a popular Canadian politics blog, at the G20 summit in London on 2 April. Kady -- shown standing on the patio area above the River Thames -- is looking through the barrier that divides the side of the ExCeL Convention Center accessible to journalists (the "Media Center") from the zone where world leaders have gathered. Cut off from the outside world by a massive security operation, bloggers and other media people were effectively prisoners of the ExCeL for the day. Fortunately, they provided us with food and beverages.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

From superpower to star power at the G20


"I'm in love!" said a British reporter at the end of Obama's presentation. Yes, it was a lot like love.

It had been President Obama's debut at a major global summit. American and British negotiators had obviously not achieved what they had sought in terms of stimulus spending from Germany and France. The superpower may have been willing to lead, but even close American allies in the G20 were not about to sign up to any new American-led initiative -- at least not just yet.

One slightly enigmatic phrase by Gordon Brown -- unthinkable less than a decade ago -- seemed to have pegged what was on everyone's mind.

"The old Washington Consensus is over. . . " proclaimed the prime minister of America's closest overseas ally.

Gordon Brown no doubt meant "big C" consensus, but -- judging by questions later asked of other world leaders -- it might just as easily have implied consensus with a "small c." This summit seemed to mark the end, not of any specific Washington agreement, but the entire postwar era in which American leadership went unquestioned. It was as if the most harsh unspoken truth had just been shouted aloud from the friendliest foreign shore.

Yet the Americans had one card up their sleeves that every other G20 nation -- save for a brilliantly orchestrated performance by Gordon Brown -- sorely lacked. And it only took two words to ignite the fuse.

"Hello everybody!" said Obama.

One blogger told me that on hearing those two words everyone in the room was awestruck.

"Collectively we all gasped," the blogger told me.

While Obama was making his way onto the stage in Press Room 1, I was stuck in Press Room 5 waiting for the president of India to finish answering a question about Pakistan. That's the moment when applause followed by Obama's voice boomed through the curtain walls.

The quiet spoken President Singh was no match for star power. What kept those two dozen Indian journalists bolted to their seats? Couresy? National pride? I will never know, but five questions later -- as Singh scanned the room for another lucky reporter -- I made a break for the door, dodging laptop bags and crossed-legs.

Holding my camera, I crawled onto the carpet at the foot of the stage where Obama was now answering questions.

The expressions on the faces of journalists pleading to be picked by Obama caught my eye. The global news media representatives -- with whom I had spent the whole day -- suddenly resembled kids at a rock concert.



In the past hour, I been in the presence of the leaders of Canada, Australia, Italy, and France. But this was something else. It certainly had little to do with the stage or the packed auditorium. It was the relaxed figure at the front of the room. Natural. Joking with us. Even the secret service guy who I shared the carpet with seemed at ease in this environment. By contrast, Stephen Harper's press conference had been a staring contest with two grouchy Canadian Mounties; Sarkozy's session resembled a rugby scrum; Kevin Rudd's felt like a contract-law seminar; Silvio Berlusconi's seemed to be some kind of seance.

But Obama was one of us!

Even having to hear the simpleton questions of several American journalists failed to break the spell. Members of the US press seemed to be asking the kinds of questions you would ask if you no idea about the specific issues that had been on the table at the summit. It's as if some American reporters believe journalism means asking questions as simple-minded as you presume your viewing audience to be.

But Americans are smarter than their media. The proof was staring us in the face.

All photos by Jotman.

Bloggers talk climate change at the G20


"This is so brilliant having bloggers in the front row" exclaimed Todd Lucier of Climate Cafe.

No sooner had Bob Geldof finished giving exclusive interviews to G20 bloggers than Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change dropped by to talk with us. Thirty-nine year old Miliband comes across as energetic and engaged. Personally, I found the discussion something of a reality-check.

What could be more obvious than the need use the crisis as an opportunity to invest in climate and environment friendly technologies and infrastructure? That's certainly the way I think.

Yet, Miliband was forthright that a lot more needed to be done to build a consensus that stimulus spending could be a way to achieve environmental goals.

"We've still got massive work to do to see that people see that you can do both together" said Miliband.

Most of us can easily see that economics-as-usual has proven environmentally ruinous; we understand that if countries are going to put themselves into debt to stimulate recovery and growth - levying a tax on the young and future generations -- then it's just common sense that governments invest in sustainable ways of life.

To be told that at such a basic level we have work to do! Time is slipping away.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Obama speaks at G20


Photos by Jotman. Top: Obama speaking at the press conference. Left: police patrol across from the ExCeL convention center. Right: Londoners wait outside No. 10 Downing Street.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

My question to Bob Geldof

Jotman's question for Bob Geldof: "Is Obama showing enough leadership?"

"I don't know. I don't f--cking know."

"Well, if you were in Obama's shoes, what would you do?"

Watch the video to hear Geldof's passionate 2 minute response (coming soon).

Bob Geldof at the G20


"Is that Bob Geldof?" I asked a journalist. I was referring to a man with long grey hair wearing a beige sports jacket.

"Yeah, that's Geldof. Be careful, he is not happy. He's going around telling everyone here to f--- off."

Photo by Jotman.

Putting climate change on Asia's development agenda

Prior to a press conference by Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury (UK), I spoke with Prof. Kenny Tang, a UK-based Malaysian expert on climate change policy in Asia.

Kenny echoed some familiar sentiments about any proposed stimulus spending: namely, the fear that stimulus spending might mitigate climate change, but could instead exacerbate the problem.

"There is a lot of ignorance in Southeast Asia about climate change. For example, they don't know about claiming carbon credits," said Kenny.

Kenny says that the lions' share of carbon credits are being claimed by China.

When I suggested to Kenny that developing world governments ought to build urban mass transportation infrastructure, Kenny noted that countries should also address how they build new infrastructure. He cited the need for ensuring that future projects embrace environmentally-sound building materials, etc.

Climate change talk in Southeast Asia must amount to more than "greenwashing" Kenny told me.

Inside the press conference hall, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms (website) was asked about climate change.

Timms responded, "We need to keep the focus on the longer-term problems the world is encountering such as climate change and poverty. This crisis presents a very big opportunity to bring together recovery and green investment."

Timms added that he would leave it to a minister -- Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change -- to elaborate on the topic. Hearing this, I thought that so long as the finance ministry leaders are asking the environment ministry to elaborate on climate change measures, this is as fair an indication as any that environmental concerns are not anywhere near the top of any summit's agenda.

In terms of the summit outcome, Timms noted firstly, "the biggest expansionary push in history" and secondly, progress on "tax havens."

Concerning the first point, it remains to be seen whether the expansionary spending -- why didn't he use the word stimulus? -- went beyond anything that had not already been agreed well before the conference.

Timms also said that the G20 nations had agreed to "at least double IMF funding." Timms said that Mexico's agreement to accept IMF funds was a signal that there was no longer any "stigma" attached to accepting IMF loans -- with Mexico having agreed to take advantage of an IMF loan despite being "a strong economy."

One reporter asked Timms about whether France and Germany were cooperating with the UK and US initiative to push for greater stimulus spending across the G20.

Timms replied that all countries had a "shared interest in a successful summit outcome." I think it will be a successful outcome; I am very optimistic." But then Timms added more starkly: "We all know in the 1930s what the consequences were, what they could be again."
_____
Photos: by Jotman. First photo shows Asian climate change policy expert Prof. Kenny Tang meeting with the UK Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms; second photo shows Timms speaking at the press conference.

Update: It looks like nothing whatsoever will be decided at the summit concerning climate change; summit leaders would leave it up to the IMF to decide to what extent climate change would factor into stimulus spending.

The G20 Voice bloggers make history


The above picture shows UK photo-blogger Carole Edrich (webwandering.net) and some of the fifty other G20 bloggers. They are seated at the long desk in the media center assigned to G20 Voice. As far as anyone knows, this is the first time bloggers have been invited to a major world summit meeting.

The idea was the brainchild of Oxfam's Karina Brisby. She told me that she was inspired by the "blogger's tent" set up at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

In January Oxfam ran Katrina's idea past some contacts at Downing Street, and the UK government apparently thought the project sounded "edgy enough" that they gave it the go-ahead.

Since getting approval, Oxfam and G20 Voice staff have worked tirelessly to make this blogging milestone a huge success.

The Media Center at the G20

It's 09:00 in London, 04:00 in New York City, and 15:00 in Bangkok

There live, at the G20 summit in London.

I just arrived in the Excel Center where the G20 meeting is to begin shortly (it's running 30 minutes late). The G20 Voice bloggers have been allocated a long desk in the center of the "print" section of the Media Center. You could fit two 747 jets inside the media center area of the conference center alone! There are 2,800 journalists and 50 bloggers reporting on the event from inside the summit media center.

At one end of our table is a platform on which about 40 TV cameras are set up. Behind this platform is the "video" section of the media hall. The journalists have small rooms in which they are expected to work. Personally, I think it's nice to be where we are, in the open.

To get here, our bus took us from our hotel to a security zone located some distance away from the Excel Center. First we had our passports checked, and then were taken to a second security point where we received our actual press passes. At that point we got onto a "clean bus" and this vehicle drove us inside the Excel convention center.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Obama's "mobilization network"

Interesting talk by Sam Graham-Felsen who was chief blogger for the Obama campaign.*

Here's what the Obama campaign blog achieved:
  • 200,000 offline events organized
  • 1.2 billion minutes of video consumed
  • $500 million raised online
Sam highlighted the major problem facing the Obama team: How to transform enthusiasm for the candidate into an actual victory? The key lay in organizing people.

Sam said, "Given that our organizing must be bottom up -- our boss was a community organizer -- we internalized our leader's enthusiasm for organizing people into victory."

With regards to its online aspect, Sam spoke about some of the major principles that the campaign stood by until the end:
  • "This campaign is not about Barack Obama, it's about the movement for change."
  • "We cared about authenticity. . . . Bringing that authenticity into the website -- the blog -- was key. Sam discussed the stories of various Americans he interviewed and featured on the blog. The campaign's (and the blog's) intention, Sam notes, was to highlight Obama's supporters and their lives.
  • "Goals never about money, but about people. Not raising 2,000,000 dollars by a set date, but getting 75,000 donors."
  • "We wanted everything online to have an offline purpose. It was not a social network but a mobilization network."
Sam said, "Within 24 hours of setting up the website, we had 1,000 groups. Most of the super-active groups were using the MyBarackObama.com website to organize themselves. " He added that "by the time the election rolled around, these groups had been around for a year. They had trained themselves. This was in marked contrast to the other campaigns."

Another important outcome of the website was that some Obama.com diarists became famous and popular.

A Controversy

What happened when some supporters on the website took issue with the candidate? The FISA bill rebellion presented such a challenge to Obama.com.
  • Never considered censoring the group.
  • Obama wrote a personal note directed to the protest group. Note was respectful of the group's point of view. Gave supporters a sense of a 2-way conversation.
  • Incident shows that "many of your critics are in fact your supporters."
I blogged about Obama's controversial FISA bill vote here.
____
* Sam is now with Blue State Digital.

Why the G20 must address symptoms, not just causes

I found myself nodding in profound agreement with this statement made by one blogger at the G20 blogger's workshop. Daniel Kaufmann, who blogs on corruption and global governance, said:
If Germany continues to deny the need for fiscal expansion than that may have far more negative implications for developing countries than anything else we are discussing. This maybe more important than anything we are talking about for developing nations in particular.
Indeed, efforts to brace the impact of the crisis on the developing world -- increased aid and providing larger IMF loans etc. -- are imperative, but such measures address only the symptoms, not the cause, of the global financial crisis. The obstinacy of Germany and France in relation to stimulus spending is troubling. If there is inadequate stimulus to get the global economy moving, then where is the money for supporting the poorest countries going to come from?

Paul Hilda (shown in photo right) UK campaign director for Avaaz.com, the world-wide citizen's advocacy group said: "My concern about stimulus is that such spending seems likely to go into projects that will further degrade the environment."

Paul believes that more time -- six months or so -- was needed to define and orchestrate the appropriate kinds of stimulus spending.

My own hope is that a commitment to break ground on long-term infrastructure projects -- particularly public transportation networks serving urban areas -- could provide the kind of stimulus that would be environmentally prudent. Moreover, various such needed infrastructure plans -- plans for new train corridors and subway routes -- are on the drawing boards in city halls around the world.