Black Women and their obsesion with long hair!Black Women and their obsesion with long hair!

• Added by Yawewe News on November 27, 2010 at 10:32am
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NewsChannel 5 reporter Rochelle Ritchie's drastic change

Reporter Goes Natural During Sweeps, Ratings Go Up

November 27, 2010 at 5:43 PM

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An African American female television reporter decided to let her straightened hair "go natural" during sweeps week and let viewers see the transformation process. Rochelle Ritchie of WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla., called "The Big Chop" a success, and ratings confirmed that. The station put up a web page with her two stories and related ones.

News director Jeff Brogan told Journal-isms that the ratings for the 11 o'clock news on Nov. 17, which featured Ritchie's second piece of the day, increased from the lead-in show and stayed at the high point during the broadcast. That is "not an easy thing," he said. The "share" of the audience numbered 11 at 10:45 p.m., rose to 14 from 11 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. and stayed there from 11:15 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., he said. The seven-minute piece aired at 11:15.

When Ritchie explained the story to him, said Brogan, 33, who is white, "I had no clue this was an issue," he said of the chemical straightening of hair or the wearing of wigs and weaves. "I never heard about it, and I had African American friends. I instantly bought into this" story. "I had not seen this story done. It brings up a safety concern," he said. Brogan said his only worry was insensitive audience reaction, but all the feedback was positive, he said.

Ritchie shared her own back story via e-mail with Keonte Coleman, assistant professor in the Journalism & Media Studies Department at Bennett College, who posted her comments on his website:

“Making the decision to go natural was not an easy one, especially being a black female reporter. After graduating Western Kentucky University in 2004, I accepted an editor position at a local tv station in my home of Lexington, KY. I had sent out tons of resume tapes hoping to one day be a reporter. But I didn’t get one interview with my relaxed shoulder length hair. One day an anchor, black female, told me I needed to get extensions if I wanted to land a job. I got extensions and made a new tape with my new look and I started getting calls immediately. From there the belief that I needed extensions in order to be hired set in. I spent more money on my hair than anything. In six years I spent $9600, my student loans are $9500, so that should give you an idea of where my priorities were.

"The story about going natural developed while I was having a conversation on the phone with a friend at work. My producer heard me saying, 'I am going natural, I am tired of wigs, weaves and relaxers.' She (producer) asked me what I meant by that and I showed her YouTube videos of black women who were on the journey of going natural. She was stunned and said, 'Rochelle that would make a great story for sweeps.' I pitched the idea and with her support as well as our female anchor they allowed me to do it. My news director’s response was great. His only concern was just keeping up with the process of my story and hair. My general manager is a great guy and totally supported me as well.

"The fear of getting a new job with my new look does not scare me because I believe my work and passion for this business will shine through.

"I have had such an AMAZING response from the community. People of all genders and races have completely supported me with positive feedback. Of course if there were any negative emails my news director does not send those to me. But personally I haven’t gotten one email or Facebook comment that was negative. A matter of fact many of my white and Latino colleagues say I look more professional. I believe this as well. I feel I look more polished and sharp. I also feel like I think better without all that fake hair on my head! lol….

"For my 'black female reporter hopefuls' I say let your work show your ability to be a good, excuse me a great reporter. My story is a way for me to pave the way for black women’s hair to be acceptable not just in the professional world but on TV! I would say if you are natural. Keep it neat. And if you are worried about getting a job the fabulous thing is we can straighten our hair for the interview and go back to our beautiful curls when we leave.

"Do I have any regrets? Yes I do. I regret denying my natural beauty. I regret falling into the belief that I needed to look a certain way to get into this business instead of believing in my ability as a reporter. I regret allowing someone to cover me up. But no more! This is me, Rochelle Ritchie a natural, professional and happy television reporter. And I feel more confident now than ever before and look forward to climbing the ladder of success with all my kinky curls.”

"Good Hair" on the TV News Set (Oct. 7, 2009)

Courtland Milloy Creates Buzz Tracing Issues to Race and Class

Washington Post Metro columnist Courtland Milloy Jr. sparked attention far outside the Washington area when he dissected the racial dimensions of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's September primary defeat for reelection and this month took on the portrayal of black men in Tyler Perry's movie "For Colored Girls." Now Milloy is the cover story in the Washington City Paper.

"If he’s not quite a mouthpiece for a black agenda in the District, he’s the closest thing to it at the Post — or anywhere else in the local mainstream media, for that matter, Rend Smith wrote. "Milloy’s column cuts against the usual conventional wisdom in journalism these days, giving readers a mirror of an urban, poor D.C. instead of the wealthy suburbs advertisers would probably prefer. And while the newspaper lavishes attention on its new iPad incarnation, and courts Facebook and Twitter like a desperate teenaged boy chasing after a crush, Milloy almost gleefully stays away from the trend.

"Like the late Herb Caen in San Francisco, he’s an old-school journalist doing an old-school job: the Metro columnist writing about, and for, the city’s downtrodden. For decades, that was a generally quiet, low-impact job. But following a mayoral campaign that pitted rich against poor in dramatic new ways this fall, Milloy’s knack for reducing post-modern problems to their race-and-class roots has suddenly made him a controversial, buzz-generating columnist — the man that the supposedly liberal class of newcomers to D.C.’s gentrifying neighborhoods love to hate.

"In the steadfastly non-gentrified neighborhoods that Milloy covers, though, he’s rarely seen as incendiary."

The piece also asserts that in the 1970s, your Journal-isms columnist "was known for opening his Dupont Circle house up for late-night get-togethers that catered to the black media elite." (!)

>via: http://www.theroot.com/blogs/diversity/reporter-goes-natural-during-sweeps-ra...

Haiti election a 'massive fraud'

CBC News witnesses blatant ballot-box stuffing

Last Updated: Sunday, November 28, 2010 | 9:32 PM ET

CBC News

GO HERE FOR PHOTO ESSAY REPORT ON THE ELECTIONS

Haiti's immediate future appears unclear after a dozen presidential candidates called for the annulment of Sunday's general election, citing widespread fraud.

Michel Joseph Martelly, Mirlande Manigat, Charles-Henri Baker and Jean Henry Ceant were among the candidates who attended an afternoon news conference to denounce what they called "this massive fraud."

Link: Live coverage from the CBC team in Haiti

______________________________________

Eyewitness account

Stanley Lilavois, 36, a Canadian citizen of Haitian descent, helped his mother vote in Port-au-Prince on Sunday — a relatively "smooth" process, he said.

"But the only thing I noticed is there were not [many] people that are going to vote," said Lilavois.

He said a number of people were either not on the voter list or were told to go to other polling stations, which in some cases were located in different cities.

"So there's been … people arguing about it and not happy about the situation," said Lilavois, a Toronto native, who could not vote because he is Canadian.

He also claims representatives of President René Préval approached his father at a polling station and asked him who he was going to vote for.

"What I'm worried most about is that between now and tomorrow, the people might get really angry about the situation and start causing chaos."

 

______________________________________

 

 

Candidate Anne Marie Josette Bijou read the statement on behalf of the 12 of 18 presidential candidates who signed it.

Their statement, read to a cheering crowd, calls for people to take to the streets to peacefully protest against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council, known as the CEP.

As if in response, thousands spilled onto the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, the second-largest city, after polls closed. Polls across the country were to officially close by 4 p.m. local time, but there was no way of independently verifying if that was the case.

Several thousand Martelly supporters sang and danced, claiming victory despite having no way to verify their convictions, said the CBC's David Common, reporting from Port-au-Prince.

The CEP had earlier acknowledged problems with the voter lists but said immediately after the candidates' news conference that the election would continue.

Representatives of the major international donors to the election, including the ambassadors of the U.S., Canada, France and the European Union, met after the candidates' declaration to discuss the situation, said Organization of American States Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, who is in Haiti to monitor the elections.

"We are all concerned about the possibility of violence because we don't want to see people lose live in a process that should be democratic," Ramdin said.

 

GO HERE FOR VIDEO REPORT ON VOTING FRAUD

 

An OAS report on the voting would not be released for several weeks, he said.

While there were sporadic incidents of violence, there did not appear to be any major skirmishes or damage to property. However, a ballot box was stolen and its contents strewn about in the capital's Cité Soleil slum.

Several marked ballots could be seen on the ground. Many of them were votes for Martelly, said the CBC's Paul Hunter, reporting from Port-au-Prince.

'It was unbelievable'

Hunter said he had witnessed numerous occasions of electoral fraud.

"It was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it," said Hunter.

"We saw ballot stuffing. We heard voters who were intimidated into voting for a candidate. And we saw thugs, gangs of thugs, going into polling stations, grabbing stacks of ballots, marking them with the candidate of their choice."

That candidate, said Hunter, was Jude Celestin of the INITE party, which was set up by outgoing president Préval, who has completed his two-term limit. Celestin was the only major candidate to not to sign the statement calling for the annulment of the election.

There were numerous reports of people being unable to vote.

Haitians argue during a protest outside a voting centre in downtown Port-au-Prince. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

"Some of the people we have spoken with have gone to three, four or five voting stations in order to be able to vote and have been turned away each time," said Nicole Phillips, an attorney for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, an advocacy group observing the election.

"I can't imagine how these elections can possibly be seen as legitimate, not just what we have seen today, but what we have seen in the past," she said. In the days leading up to the elections, many voters tried unsuccessfully to obtain the national identity card that is necessary to cast a ballot.

Late polls

Most polls opened an hour or more after their 6 a.m. start time. Confusion reigned at many of the estimated 11,000 polling stations: Observers from dozens of parties crowded voting areas and furious voters were turned away from stations where poll workers could not find their names on lists.

Phillips also said there have been reports of people unable to find their names on the voting lists, only to discover names of deceased acquaintances on official records.

Haiti election by the numbers

Registered voters: 4.7 million

Presidential candidates still running: 18

Parliament seats up for grabs: 99

UN officers keeping the peace: 12,000

People killed by cholera before vote: 1,500

Turnout in 2006 election: 59%

About 12,000 United Nations troops and police, plus 9,500 local police, have been deployed to protect polling stations.

Voters will select a new parliament, a third of the senate and a new president to replace Préval.

Final tally due Dec. 20

The leading candidates for president are thought to be: Martelly, a singer known for his Kompas dance music and on-stage antics; Manigat, a Sorbonne-educated wife of a former president; and Jude Celestin, who has been endorsed by Préval.

There are 15 other candidates running for the country's presidency.

Preliminary official results will be available Dec. 7, with a final tally on Dec. 20. It is unlikely any candidate will secure the necessary 50 per cent of the vote to avoid a run-off election between the top two contenders, which would take place Jan. 16.

More than 1.3 million people remain homeless in the Caribbean country months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that ravaged the country. Many lost their identification in the rubble and some of those killed in the quake are still on registration lists.

More than 4.7 million voters are registered.

Critics have questioned the wisdom of holding an election while a cholera outbreak spreads through the country. An estimated 1,500 people died in recent weeks due to the outbreak.

Haiti election coverage

With files from CBC's Amber Hildebrandt and Paul Hunter, and The Associated Press

__________________________________________________________

EnlargeAssociated Press

Supporters of Haiti's presidential candidates Michel Martelly and Charles-Henri Baker ride atop a pick up truck during a demonstration against the general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Twelve of the 19 candidates, including Martelly, endorsed a joint statement denouncing Sunday's voting as fraudulent and calling on their supporters to show their anger with demonstrations against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Demonstrators run to protest against the general elections after a news conference by twelve of the nineteen presidential candidates in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Nearly all the major candidates endorsed a joint statement denouncing Sunday's voting as fraudulent and calling on their supporters to show their anger with demonstrations against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Electoral workers pick up unmarked ballots from the ground after a polling station was stormed allegedly by supporters of presidential candidate Michel Martelly during the country's general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday Nov. 28, 2010. Nearly all the major presidential candidates have backed a statement calling for the cancellation of the election and asked for people to take to the streets to protest allegations of fraud.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Haiti's presidential candidates, from left: Leslie Voltaire, Mirlande Manigat, Michel Martelly, Charles-Henri Baker, Jean Henry Ceant, Jacques-Edouard Alexis, Garaudy Laguerre, Anne Marie Josette Bijou and Wilson Jeudy react at the end of a news conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Twelve of the 19 candidates endorsed a joint statement denouncing Sunday's voting as fraudulent and calling on their supporters to show their anger with demonstrations against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council.

EnlargeAssociated Press

A police officer pushes voters against a wall covered with posters depicting presidential candidate Jude Celestin during general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Haitians are going to the polls in the midst of a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,600 people and hospitalized thousands as it still recovers from the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Haiti's presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady whose husband was deposed by the military in 1988, is helped as she arrives at her polling station during general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010.

Associated Press

Haiti's presidential candidate Jude Celestin, the head of the state-run construction company who is supported by current President Rene Preval, dries sweat from from his face upon his arrival to a polling station to cast his vote during general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010.

EnlargeAssociated Press

An electoral worker stands to protect the ballot boxes as fellow worker hides under the desk after the polling station was stormed allegedly by supporters of presidential candidate Michel Martelly during the country's general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday Nov. 28, 2010. Nearly all the major presidential candidates have backed a statement calling for the cancellation of the election and asked for people to take to the streets to protest allegations of fraud.

EnlargeAssociated Press

An electoral worker in charge of security reacts while collecting unmarked ballots from the ground after a polling station was stormed by alleged supporters of presidential candidate Michel Martelly during the country's general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday Nov. 28, 2010. Nearly all the major presidential candidates have backed a statement calling for the cancellation of the election and asked for people to take to the streets to protest allegations of fraud.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Supporters of presidential candidate Michel Martelly march in protest toward a polling station during the country's general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday Nov. 28, 2010. Nearly all the major presidential candidates have backed a statement calling for the cancellation of the election and asked for people to take to the streets to protest allegations of fraud.

EnlargeAssociated Press

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots next to a wall covered with posters of presidential candidate Jude Celestin, of the INITE party, during general elections in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. Haitians are going to the polls in the midst of a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,600 people and hospitalized thousands as it still recovers from the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HaitiNovember 28, 2010, 08:19 pm ET

Haitians wrapped up their election in discord Sunday, with nearly all the major presidential candidates calling for the vote to be voided over fraud and reports that large numbers of voters were turned away across the quake-stricken country.

The day ended with crowds surging through the streets protesting problems with the balloting, while others held impromptu celebrations to cheer for their candidates.

Twelve of the 19 candidates for president endorsed a joint statement denouncing the voting as fraudulent and calling on their supporters to show their anger with demonstrations against the government and the country's Provisional Electoral Council, known as the CEP.

The statement included all of the major contenders but one: Jude Celestin, who is backed by the Unity party of President Rene Preval.

"It is clear that Preval and the CEP were not prepared for elections," said candidate Anne Marie Josette Bijou, who read the statement to a cheering crowd that sang the national anthem and chanted "Arrest Preval!"

The CEP had earlier acknowledged problems with the voter lists but said immediately after the candidates' news conference that the election would continue.

Even so, the united front of so many candidates could cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election, the first since a January earthquake destroyed much of the capital, leaving more than a million people still stranded in crowded tent encampments.

The call for protests could also spark violence, especially with tensions already high following a series of deadly clashes earlier this month between U.N. peacekeepers and demonstrators who suspected them of bringing a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak.

Thousands of people surged onto the streets of Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, the second-largest city, after polls closed. People danced in the streets, carrying posters of their candidates and chanting their names. Most of the people in both cities seemed to be celebrating presidential-candidated-turned-musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly.

Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators near an electoral office in the Delmas section of the capital but there were no immediate reports of major violence. As darkness fell, there were still thousands of people marching in the streets. U.N. peacekeepers stood guard in trucks near the ruins of the National Palace.

Lawyer Jean-Henry Ceant, running for president on the "Love Haiti" ticket, dismissed the notion that the calls for protests could result in bloodshed. "The only one responsible for the violence is President Rene Preval," he said.

The Haitian government had no immediate response to the criticism.

Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-American singer whose own bid for president ended with an August disqualification, joined a convoy led by two candidates — Martelly and factory owner Charles Henri-Baker — to CEP headquarters, where they hoped to meet with officials. U.N. peacekeepers and police deployed extra forces and barricades ahead of the march.

Representatives of the major international donors, including the ambassadors of the U.S., Canada, France and the European Union, met after the candidates declaration to discuss the situation, said Organization of American States Assistant Secretary-General Albert Ramdin, who is in Haiti to monitor the elections.

"We are all concerned about the possibility of violence because we don't want to see people lose lives in a process that should be democratic," Ramdin said.

An OAS report on the elections would not be released for several weeks, he said.

Bijou told The Associated Press that she had photos and "documentary evidence" of election fraud but walked away when asked for further details.

Voters throughout the country showed up at polling stations only to find them closed hours after their scheduled opening, or to be turned away because their names were not on lists. At one station, even Celestin was turned away.

There were also sporadic reports of violence and intimidation, as well as a ballot box being stolen and its contents strewn about in the capital's Cite Soleil slum.

In the town of Grande Riu Du Nord, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Cap-Haitien, youths sacked a polling station and scattered thousands of ballots. Photos obtained by the AP showed that some of the ballots apparently had been filled out. More were burned in a road. The motives in the attack were unknown.

It was not yet clear whether the problems were the result of orchestrated fraud or merely disorganization made worse by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Voters and candidates said Preval, who was barred from running for re-election, was trying to sway the vote in favor of Celestin.

"Preval did this on purpose because they know we want to vote for Martelly," said Fanes Francky, a voter turned away from his voting station in the Delmas section of the capital.

Voter rolls were filled with the dead, and many living citizens were struggling to figure out if and where they could vote.

Observers from dozens of parties crowded voting areas and furious voters were turned away from stations where poll workers could not find their names on lists.

"I don't know if I'm going to come back later. If I come back later it might not be safe. That's why people vote early," said Ricardo Magloire, a Cap Haitien radio journalist whose polling station at a Catholic school was still not taking ballots after people had waited more than an hour.

At another voting place in the St. Philomene neighborhood, a woman complained that young men were taking advantage of the chaos to vote multiple times. The allegation could not be confirmed because a crowd of one candidate's supporters swarmed around two AP journalists and forced them to leave the area, threatening a photographer.

One man was shot to death at a polling place in rural Artibonite, Radio Vision 2000 reported, though no details were available.

Ninety-six contenders were competing for 11 Senate seats and more than 800 more were seeking to fill the 99-seat lower house.

But the focus is on the presidential contest. Nineteen candidates were on the ballot, though many Haitians believed the race came down to a man who was not: Preval.

The laconic leader twice sailed into office bolstered by supporters of his former ally, ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But in Preval's second term, those voters branded him a traitor for not returning Aristide from exile.

Frustrations also grew among the jobless masses as Haiti's economy continued to be one of the world's worst. When the earthquake struck on Jan. 12 and a stunned Preval hid from sight, impatience turned to anger that has fueled anti-government protests.

As his replacement, Preval backed Celestin, the little-known head of the state-run construction company whose dump trucks carted many of the quake's estimated 300,000 dead to mass graves. His well-funded campaign included airplanes trailing banners with his name and dropping leaflets that flutter like yellow-and-green birds over tent camps for people made homeless by the quake.

A text message sent to Haitian cell phones Saturday summed up the primary message of Celestin's campaign: "Let's assure stability." His campaign workers already refer to him as "The President."

Some opinion polls put Mirlande Manigat, 70-year-old former first lady whose husband was helped to power and then deposed by a military junta, as a more popular contender.

Martelly, known for jazzy, sarcastic dance music, had thousands of urban youths toting his pink signs and shouting to "Vote for the bald head!"

Some Aristide supporters were expected to back Ceant. Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party was disqualified on an unexplained technicality, sparking threats of a boycott by supporters.

The victor gets a five-year term at the helm of a disastrous economy and leadership of an increasingly angry and suffering population worn down by decades of poverty, the earthquake, a recent hurricane and now a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,600 people.

Yet there is an unprecedented opportunity: the new president will oversee the largest capital spending spree in Haiti's history, the $10 billion pledged in foreign reconstruction aid after the quake. Very little of the money has been delivered so far, as many donor nations are waiting to see who will take over the government.

Donors also want to see if how the election goes off — and the results are deemed fair.

Preliminary results are not expected until Dec. 7, and all but the most confident supporters of individual candidates expect to see a run-off for races at all levels.

———

Associated Press writers Jonathan M. Katz reported this story in Port-au-Prince and Ben Fox in Cap-Haitien. AP writer Jacob Kushner in Port-au-Prince also contributed to this report.

 

 

>via: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131642287

US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomatic crisis

• More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies
• Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies
• Saudi king urged Washington to bomb Iran

Read the full coverage of the US embassy cables

• David Leigh
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 November 2010 18.13 GMT

The release of more than 250,000 US embassy cables reveals previously secret information on American intelligence gathering, and political and military strategy. Photograph: Rex Features

The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.

At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables – many designated "secret" – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN leadership.

These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches, which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowers' website, also reveal Washington's evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.

These include a shift in relations between China and North Korea, high-level concerns over Pakistan's growing instability, and details of clandestine US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen.

Among scores of disclosures that are likely to cause uproar, the cables detail:

• Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, with officials warning that as the country faces economic collapse, government employees could smuggle out enough nuclear material for terrorists to build a bomb.

• Inappropriate remarks by Prince Andrew about a UK law enforcement agency and a foreign country.

• Suspicions of corruption in the Afghan government, with one cable alleging that vice-president Zia Massoud was carrying $52m in cash when he was stopped during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. Massoud denies taking money out of Afghanistan.

• How the hacker attacks which forced Google to quit China in January were orchestrated by a senior member of the Politburo who typed his own name into the global version of the search engine and found articles criticising him personally.

• Allegations that Russia and its intelligence agencies are using mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations, with one cable reporting that the relationship is so close that the country has become a "virtual mafia state".

• The extraordinarily close relationship between Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, which is causing intense US suspicion. Cables detail allegations of "lavish gifts", lucrative energy contracts and the use by Berlusconi of a "shadowy" Russian-speaking Italiango-between.

• Devastating criticism of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan by US commanders, the Afghan president and local officials in Helmand. The dispatches reveal particular contempt for the failure to impose security around Sangin – the town which has claimed more British lives than any other in the country.

The US has particularly intimate dealings with Britain, and some of the dispatches from the London embassy in Grosvenor Square will make uncomfortable reading in Whitehall and Westminster. They range from political criticisms of David Cameron to requests for specific intelligence about individual MPs.

The cables contain specific allegations of corruption, as well as harsh criticism by US embassy staff of their host governments, from Caribbean islands to China and Russia. The material includes a reference to Putin as an "alpha-dog" and Hamid Karzai as being "driven by paranoia", while Angela Merkel allegedly "avoids risk and is rarely creative". There is also a comparison between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Adolf Hitler.

The cables names Saudi donors as the biggest financiers of terror groups, and provide an extraordinarily detailed account of an agreement between Washington and Yemen to cover up the use of US planes to bomb al-Qaida targets. One cable records that during a meeting in January with General David Petraeus, then US commander in the Middle East, Yemeni president Abdullah Saleh said: "We'll continue saying they are our bombs, not yours."

Other revelations include a description of a near "environmental disaster" last year over a rogue shipment of enriched uranium, technical details of secret US-Russian nuclear missile negotiations in Geneva, and a profile of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who they say is accompanied everywhere by a "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse.

Clinton led a frantic damage limitation exercise this weekend as Washington prepared foreign governments for the revelations, contacting leaders in Germany, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, France and Afghanistan.

US ambassadors in other capitals were instructed to brief their hosts in advance of the release of unflattering pen-portraits or nakedly frank accounts of transactions with the US which they had thought would be kept quiet. Washington now faces a difficult task in convincing contacts around the world that any future conversations will remain confidential.

As the cables were published, the White House released a statement condemning their release. "Such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world who come to the US for assistance in promoting democracy and open government. By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals."

In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We condemn any unauthorised release of this classified information, just as we condemn leaks of classified material in the UK. They can damage national security, are not in the national interest and, as the US have said, may put lives at risk. We have a very strong relationship with the US government. That will continue."

The US ambassador to Britain, Louis Susman, said: "We have briefed the UK government and other friends and allies around the world about the potential impact of these disclosures … I am confident that our uniquely productive relationship with the United Kingdom will remain close and strong, focused on promoting our shared objectives and values."

Sir Christopher Meyer, who was British ambassador to the US in the Blair years, thought the leaks would have little impact on diplomatic behaviour. "This won't restrain dips' [diplomats'] candour," he said. "But people will be looking at the security of electronic communications and archives. Paper would have been impossible to steal in these quantities."

The state department's legal adviser has written to the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and his London lawyer, warning that the cables were obtained illegally and that the publication would place at risk "the lives of countless innocent individuals … ongoing military operations … and co-operation between countries".

 

The electronic archive of embassy dispatches from around the world was allegedly downloaded by a US soldier earlier this year and passed to WikiLeaks. Assange made it available to the Guardian and four other news organisations: the New York Times, Der Spiegel in Germany, Le Monde in France and El País in Spain. All five plan to publish extracts from the most significant cables, but have decided neither to "dump" the entire dataset into the public domain, nor to publish names that would endanger innocent individuals. WikiLeaks says that, contrary to the state department's fears, it also initially intends to post only limited cable extracts, and to redact identities.

The cables published today reveal how the US uses its embassies as part of a global espionage network, with diplomats tasked to obtain not just information from the people they meet, but personal details, such as frequent flyer numbers, credit card details and even DNA material.

Classified "human intelligence directives" issued in the name of Clinton or her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice, instruct officials to gather information on military installations, weapons markings, vehicle details of political leaders as well as iris scans, fingerprints and DNA.

 

The most controversial target was the UN leadership. That directive requested the specification of telecoms and IT systems used by top officials and their staff and details of "private VIP networks used for official communication, to include upgrades, security measures, passwords, personal encryption keys".

PJ Crowley, the state department spokesman in Washington, said: "Let me assure you: our diplomats are just that, diplomats. They do not engage in intelligence activities. They represent our country around the world, maintain open and transparent contact with other governments as well as public and private figures, and report home. That's what diplomats have done for hundreds of years."

The acting deputy spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, Farhan Haq, said the UN chief had no immediate comment: "We are aware of the reports."

 

The dispatches also shed light on older diplomatic issues. One cable, for example, reveals, that Nelson Mandela was "furious" when a top adviser stopped him meeting Margaret Thatcher shortly after his release from prison to explain why the ANC objected to her policy of "constructive engagement" with the apartheid regime.

"We understand Mandela was keen for a Thatcher meeting but that [appointments secretary Zwelakhe] Sisulu argued successfully against it," according to the cable. It continues: "Mandela has on several occasions expressed his eagerness for an early meeting with Thatcher to express the ANC's objections to her policy. We were consequently surprised when the meeting didn't materialise on his mid-April visit to London and suspected that ANC hardliners had nixed Mandela's plans."

The US embassy cables are marked "Sipdis" – secret internet protocol distribution. They were compiled as part of a programme under which selected dispatches, considered moderately secret but suitable for sharing with other agencies, would be automatically loaded on to secure embassy websites, and linked with the military's Siprnet internet system.

They are classified at various levels up to "secret noforn" [no foreigners]. More than 11,000 are marked secret, while around 9,000 of the cables are marked noforn.

More than 3 million US government personnel and soldiers, many extremely junior, are cleared to have potential access to this material, even though the cables contain the identities of foreign informants, often sensitive contacts in dictatorial regimes. Some are marked "protect" or "strictly protect".

Last spring, 22-year-old intelligence analyst Bradley Manning was charged with leaking many of these cables, along with a gun-camera video of an Apache helicopter crew mistakenly killing two Reuters news agency employees in Baghdad in 2007, which was subsequently posted by WikiLeaks. Manning is facing a court martial.

In July and October WikiLeaks also published thousands of leaked military reports from Afghanistan and Iraq. These were made available for analysis beforehand to the Guardian, along with Der Spiegel and the New York Times.

A former hacker, Adrian Lamo, who reported Manning to the US authorities, said the soldier had told him in chat messages that the cables revealed "how the first world exploits the third, in detail".

He also said, according to Lamo, that Clinton "and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available in searchable format to the public … everywhere there's a US post … there's a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed".

 

Asked why such sensitive material was posted on a network accessible to thousands of government employees, the state department spokesman told the Guardian: "The 9/11 attacks and their aftermath revealed gaps in intra-governmental information sharing. Since the attacks of 9/11, the US government has taken significant steps to facilitate information sharing. These efforts were focused on giving diplomatic, military, law enforcement and intelligence specialists quicker and easier access to more data to more effectively do their jobs."

He added: "We have been taking aggressive action in recent weeks and months to enhance the security of our systems and to prevent the leak of information."

________________________________________________________

• Chris Fenn
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 November 2010 18.30 GMT

K’naan – “Wavin’ Flag”

feat. Canada (Young Artists For Haiti Mix)

K’naan has gotten together some of Canada’s finest in music to produce a new mix of his mega hit “Wavin Flag” in order to raise funds and awareness for Haiti. It’s not bias when I say this is far superior to the “We Are The World” remake for Haiti. Listen to them both and honestly tell me which one is better. “Wavin Flag” sounds appropriate, inspiring, and not as corny as “We Are The World” (though granted, it’s still kind of corny). Yes, the song does run into the same problem of voice blending that World encountered, and yes, unless you’re Canadian you won’t recognize half of the artists in this song, but it’s still a song I encourage everyone to take a listen to. Some of the artists in this line-up include K’naan of course, Kardinal, Metric’s Emily Haines, Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard, Avril Lavigne, Jully Black, and Sam Roberts.

The two most outstanding moments in the song were Drake’s section and Bieber’s outro. Instead of having a mass of rappers laboriously laying down a half-hearted verse, the song opted for quantity over quality and left it all to Drake to spit a really sincere verse about how just because the devastation in Haiti might not be a “hot story” any more in the news, we have to place ourselves in their shoes and not forget that the relief effort is far from over. I also applaud whoever thought of getting Bieber to sing the chorus lines “When I get older / I will be stronger…” at the end because that was well thought of. Call that Justin’s reconciliation for that cringe-inducing intro he sang on “We Are The World”.

Anyways, this is getting really lengthy (blame it on the patriotism), so just enjoy the song.

Buy the song off iTunes here.

Willis Barnstone Translation Prize

 

$1000 for a Translated Poem
Final Judge: Willis Barnstone

This award is named in honor of the distinguished American poet and translator Willis Barnstone, and we are delighted that he has agreed to serve as the final judge for our ninth competition.

Guidelines for Submissions: The competition welcomes submissions of unpublished translations of poems from any language and time period--ancient to contemporary. The length limit for each translation is 200 hundred lines. Please staple the translation to a copy of the original which identifies the original poet, and put the name, address, email address, and phone number of the translator (or translators) on the back of the translation page. Also, since entries will not be returned, please include an SASE if you wish to be notified of the contest results.

Please note: Translations of poems for which the translator has not secured the rights-to-publish are eligible for the contest, but only translations of poems in the public domain or with the rights secured can be considered for publication in The Evansville Review.

Limit: Ten submissions per translator.

Entry Fee: $5 for the first poem; $3 for each subsequent poem. Please make checks payable to the "University of Evansville."

Postmark Deadline: December 1, 2010.

Please send translations to:
Willis Barnstone Translation Prize
The Evansville Review
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, Indiana 47722

 

 

Odes to the Olympians - Featuring Athena, or Minerva

Tapestry of Bronze Fall 2010 Contest

The Tapestry of Bronze is sponsoring a series of poetry contests to celebrate Greek and Roman mythology and the Olympian gods. The subject of the sixth contest is Athena (also known as Minerva), the Goddess of Wisdom, Warrior and Weaving. The deadline is November 30, 2010.  

All poems remain the property of the authors. However, Tapestry of Bronze reserves the right to post winning poems and those receiving Honorable Mention on the Tapestry of Bronze website. Furthermore, interest has been expressed in setting the poems to music.
 

E-mail your poem (no more than 30 lines) to the following address: tapestryofbronze@yahoo.com    

Do NOT e-mail any ATTACHMENTS! Paste the poem into the e-mail instead. Don’t get fancy with your formatting – pretty pictures and peculiar fonts are distracting and may irritate the judges. Please limit your creativity to your poem.

MAKE SURE your poem is about Athena / Minerva.   

Please include your real name, and your alias if you have one. Make sure we can respond to your e-mail.

If you are an adult (18 or over), simply indicate that you’re an adult!

If you are are under 18 please include your birth date.  If you are under 13, then we need the permission of your parent or guardian.  So, when you send us your poem, please also include their e-mail address too. (If your age is 13 to 17 you may get parental permission but we don’t need it.)

For more on our privacy policy go here.

Entries will be evaluated by the owners of the Tapestry of Bronze and additional experts at their discretion. No cost to enter, but each contestant can only enter once, so take time to make your poem your best!

The first prize winner in each age group (“Under 18″ and “18 and Over”) will receive $50. Honorable Mentions may be awarded as well, but without cash prizes.

Check out the winning entries and the honorable mentions of prior contests!

Odes to Zeus/Jupiter

Odes to Hera/Juno

Odes to Poseidon/Neptune

Odes to Demeter/Ceres

Odes to Hermes/Mercury

Concerned that you don't know enough about the Olympians to write poems about them? You can explore these websites:

Parada's Greek Mythology Link: A tremendously detailed resource

Theoi Greek Mythology: Exploring Classical mythology in Literature and Art

Timeless Myths: Greek myths and others as well

Several have wondered, who are we and why do we do this?  What exactly is this “Tapestry of Bronze?”

First, we sponsor this contest because we want to encourage excellence and creativity.  We’re using the same method used by the Greeks back in Classical Athens: competition.  Instead of olive wreaths, we offer money and certificates for prizes.  We especially want to encourage the under 18 because we want to support educators and students in our own small way.

Second, the Tapestry of Bronze is a series of interlocking novels.  They are set in the Bronze Age of Greece – several generations before the Trojan War.  This was known to many as the “Golden Age of Heroes,” but to us they seem to be made of bronze and not gold.  Our series is a tapestry, because the books tie together, but one book may focus on one character while another focuses on another.  Each book can be enjoyed separately, or the books can be enjoyed together.

Right now they’re only available in Greek, from Kedros in Athens.  But hey, if the Greeks are willing to read what we write about them, it’s only a matter of time until our agent finds publishers in other languages.

If you want to learn more about us and our projects, click below to

Return to Home for Tapestry of Bronze

Boating Writers International

 

2010 Writing Contest Open for Entries

BWI is accepting entries to its 18th Annual Writing Contest that recognizes excellence in boating, fishing and travel journalism.

There are 17 categories that each will award $500 for first place, $300 for second and $200 for third place winners. The newest category, “Original Online Content,” recognizes the best blogs, articles, videos, photos, podcasts, and social media streams.

The Contest is applicable to the broadest spectrum of boating, outdoor and travel writers, and offers $17,000 in cash awards during the first round of judging that will be paid to 51 winners in 2010. Entries must be received at BWI headquarters (not postmarked) by December 15, 2010. 

Categories and sponsors for 2010 are:

• Boating Columns – sponsored by KVH Industries, Inc.
• Boating Lifestyles – sponsored by Boats.com/Yachtworld.com
• Boating Profiles – sponsored by ZF Marine
• Boating Travel or Destinations – sponsored by Couplemate Trailer Parts
• Boating Adventures – sponsored by Discover Boating
• Boat/Engine Care and Maintenance – sponsored by Interlux Yacht Finishes
• Electronics – sponsored by Jeppesen Marine
• Ethics and Environment – sponsored by Thetford Marine
• Fishing – sponsored by Suzuki Motor Corporation
• Boating Issues, News and Analysis – sponsored by Mercury Marine
• The Business of Boating – sponsored by Home Port Marine Marketing
• Seamanship, Rescue & Safety – sponsored by Sea Tow Services International
• Technical Writing – sponsored by Dometic Marine
• Boat Tests – sponsored by Volvo Penta
• Gear, Electronics and Product Tests – sponsored by Xantrex Technology Inc.
• Megayachts – sponsored by Awlgrip North America
• Original Online Content – sponsored by National Marine Electronics Assn.

BWI members are allowed two submissions to the contest without charge; non-members can enter the contest at $35 for each submission ($35 is the same cost as an annual Active membership in BWI).

Each category will be judged by four active journalists in the first few weeks of the New Year. Cash awards and presentation plaques are presented to the winners at the Miami International Boat Show in February, 2011.

Click here to download the contest brochure, with complete rules, and the entry form.

New Publication – Art in the Caribbean: An Introduction

Posted on September 27, 2010 by blackatlanticresource| Leave a comment

Anne Walmsley and Stanley Greaves
ART IN THE CARIBBEAN: AN INTRODUCTION
New Beacon Books, London, 2010

The Caribbean’s defining characteristic of fragmentation – geographical and historical – continues to obstruct cultural understanding and exchanges within the region.  A forum such as the Caribbean Artists Movement was possible amongst writers and artists only while resident in Britain.  Caribbean literature travels more easily than art, if dependent on translation.  With no such language barriers Caribbean art, in reproduction at least, is potentially accessible region-wide. The internet ‘revolution’, especially, now enables wide access to reproduction of artworks and information about art and artists.  Yet opportunities for a broad sense of the region’s art inheritance and details of contemporary practice are minimal. Our book aims to provide such opportunities, for students and for all with an interest in the region’s art.

ART IN THE CARIBBEAN: AN INTRODUCTION is centred on a virtual Gallery, a selection of forty artworks made in the region since the 1940s, reproduced full-page with accompanying text. Here, for example, are works which reflect both the deep-rooted cultural traditions of Haiti’s black majority (a painting based on vodoun practices, an oil-drum cut-out sculpture of a carnival figure) and another in which its contemporary artists’ embrace of international media is evident (an installation of television monitors showing street scenes and newspaper reports). Here, too, is a painting which reflects the Afro-Cuban cultural inheritance of Wifredo Lam, foremost Caribbean artist, made in Cuba after his enforced return home during WW2; a poster from the early days of the Cuban Revolution; an installation of small, flimsy boats from the 1990s.  A sculptural work from Suriname incorporates Maroon art traditions of the Ndjuka;  an installation from Martinique suggests the island’s continuing colonial, sugar-based status.  Works from Anglophone countries – the majority, given the book’s main Caribbean readership – span cultures of the Maya and Garifuna (Black Carib) of Belize and the East Indians and Lokono (Arawak) Amerindians of Guyana, by way of portrait sculpture in Barbados, the festival arts of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, and much more.

Artworks in the Gallery are further contextualised in the book’s other main section, Historical Background.  This serves as an outline of art-making in all parts of the Caribbean region, in all periods:  Pre-Columbian, Colonial and Early Independence,  divided into areas colonized by the Spanish, French, British and Dutch; Modern and Contemporary, divided by country or group of countries.  This part, too, is fully illustrated, with smaller images. A Time Line sets out the main historical events and art developments, again by period and area. A Glossary of Art Terms, a Select Bibliography and a listing of Illustrations complete the book.
The Authors
Anne Walmsley is a British-born researcher and writer, specializing in Caribbean arts, with experience of secondary school teaching and educational publishing in the region.

Stanley Greaves is a Guyanese-born artist and art teacher whose art educational posts have ranged from secondary school to art college and university, in Guyana and Barbados.

Book specifications
Publication 15 October 2010
192 pp, 21 x 21 cm, colour images throughout
ISBN 9781873201220
price £20.00

Individual and trade orders to:
New Beacon Books
76 Stroud Green Road, London N4 3EN, UK
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7272 4889 Fax. +44 (0) 20 7281 4662
Email: newbeaconbooks@btconnect.com
Website: www.newbeaconbooks.co.uk

Zimbabwe: Jacob Zuma - Polygamy vs Promiscuity

Fay Chung

13 February 2010

---

FOR some weeks the press has been regaled with reports about President Jacob Zuma's recent marriage, his fifth, and the recent birth of his daughter out of wedlock, his twentieth child. This is a familiar story in Zimbabwe too, where many rich and powerful men do indulge in both polygamy and promiscuity. Generally these rich men are involved with girls and women from poorer families.

These girls and women, and often their families as well, welcome their liaison with rich and powerful men. This is their opportunity to improve their financial and social position in the world.

Many poor men also indulge in both polygamy and promiscuity, as having many "wives" may be seen as a prestigious status symbol. Some people think this is good, as it is part of our "traditional culture". Others think it is very bad, as it is fuelling the spread of HIV and Aids.

This is a good time for all of us to examine this "traditional culture". Culture does develop according to the needs of the people, of society and of the times.

Clinging to an inherited culture may be good or bad, as a cultural trait may be progressive or it may be retrogressive. There are many aspects of Zimbabwean culture which are wonderfully progressive.

There is no doubt that polygamy and promiscuity remain prestigious status symbols for men in Zimbabwe.

BuaNews

President Jacob Zuma at his inauguration.

Having more than one wife is still taken as a symbol of wealth and power by some Zimbabweans, both men and women.

A man may be admired for having many wives, particularly if they are beautiful and talented. They are objects of admiration and envy. However, a woman who is promiscuous is not praised.

She is regarded as a shameful person, a disgraceful person, a sinful person, a despised person, and even a criminal person.

Yet sexually transmitted diseases, including the much feared HIV/Aids, are spread by promiscuity, whether of men or of women. Why should men be praised for promiscuity, and women be condemned for the same behaviour? Should the rules of society not be more equitable?

In traditional societies everywhere, marriage was used as a way of cementing social relations.

It is a well known phenomenon that the kings and queens of Europe are related to each other, as marriage formed social cement which united the different nations.

The same thing happened in Africa, where a king or chief would marry a wife from every clan or from every district, in this way ensuring that the nation or the ethnic group remained closely bound together by blood. This is common in all feudal societies.

Modern societies are larger than the small kingdoms of the Middle Ages in Europe and Africa.

So the idea of linking polygamy to national and tribal unity can no longer be utilised as a good reason for its continuation.

Citizenship in the modern world is not due to the fact that everyone is a blood relation. Unity in today's world can no longer be based on marriage or polygamy.

Thus African polygamy can be seen as a hangover from the Middle Ages which does not serve the same purposes, social unity, that it served then.

In fact, it can be said that perhaps polygamy today serves social disunity. Yet there must be important social and economic considerations for its continuation in modern Zimbabwe and modern Africa.

For the poor, obviously it is economically and socially useful for a poor family to become linked up with a rich and powerful family.

Since more than three quarters of the population are poor, it is not surprising that there is a lot of energy spent by girls and women, often backed up by their families, to become involved with rich and powerful men. Hence the thousands of small houses.

Is a girl or woman who goes for marriage and polygamy for economic reasons equal to a maid servant?

Should society recognise the status of the wife or girl friend in the "small house"? And is the man who marries what is called a "trophy wife", that is a wife whom he can show off, rather like how he shows off his fine Mercedes Benz, treating his wife like a prize possession rather than like a human being?

Is polygamy good or bad for society? Why do we condemn a prostitute for selling her body for money when other women may be praised for doing the same thing through "small houses"? Is polygamy good for society? Are the known sexual practices of President Zuma good for society, for example?

In Zimbabwe, it is a well known fact that many women who are "small houses" may in fact entertain a number of other "husbands" or boyfriends.

This is generally economic necessity, as they may find it difficult to survive with only one source of income. It is unusual to find the many wives being absolutely faithful to their shared husband.

It is difficult for the husband to police them all, especially when they number a dozen or a hundred. Thus the idea that the many "small houses" are faithful is happy fiction, but problematic in reality.

The women who seek such positions are many, and they are of all ages and all social classes.

What are their values? What are the values of Zimbabwean society as a whole? Is the current high level of corruption not linked to the need to support many wives, many "small houses", and a few dozen children? Can a Big Chef really afford to support all these people without some form of corruption?

A responsible father of say three wives and twenty children needs a pretty high income, not possible when you are earning the minimum wage or even a ministerial salary. How to do it? How is it done?