South American drug traffickers are using submarines being built in the jungle to transport narcotics. (Google Images)
Caribbean 360 is reporting that law enforcement officials fighting the war against illegal drugs are facing a new challenge. Narcotics organizations are bankrolling machine shops operating under the dense cover of South American jungles to build increasingly high-tech diesel-powered submarines. These diesel-powered machines are fully submersible and can transport tons of narcotics to various locations from South America to the United States, like Ecuador to Los Angeles. In addition to the fully submersible submarines, older, partially submersible submarines are also being used to take the place of surface waterboats that could transport only one ton of narcotics at a time.
American officials have discovered three new models of fully submersible submarines and worry that they may be used to not only transport narcotics, but also terrorists and weapons, although use of this type has not been reported by officials. These fully submersible submarines are being built by independent contractors.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement could severely restrict online content creation. (Google Images)
Have you ever sat in front of your computer and watched parody after parody of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”? Or perhaps found a guilty pleasure in perusing some choice Lost fan fictions? Can you just not get enough dramatic gopher to really satisfy you? Well, then the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is sure to be a huge storm cloud on your digital horizon.
TPP is a trade agreement that Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam (with Canada and Mexico joining negotiations and Japan perhaps soon to follow) have been working on since 2009. While little is known about the current incarnation of TPP, since negotiations are kept strictly behind closed doors, a leaked version of the agreement dated February 2011 has alarming and disturbing implications for Internet users internationally.
TPP includes an intellectual property (IP) chapter, which will internationally strengthen copyright laws. According to the 2011 TPP, all signatories will have to re-write any current intellectual property right laws on their books to comply with the agreement. To put it simply, anything organic, chemical, or artistic can be patented, and after that will be under lock internationally unless the owner of the material gives explicit permission for it to be used. In terms of pharmaceuticals, this stipulation means that if an American company has patented a certain chemical combination, it will be illegal for a company in Canada to produce the same compound and sell it at a lower cost (say goodbye to generic medication and hello to always paying full-price).
For the Internet’s cultural creation, the consequences of the IP chapter will most likely be dire. Items like song mash-ups, abridged video summaries of TV shows, image macros, and fan fictions will be outlawed and subject to criminal charges. TPP will make no distinction between commercial and non-commercial violations of copyright laws, so the teenager who makes a Fight Club GIF will be subject to the same penalties as a corporation that rips off an advertising campaign.
TPP demands that signatories provide incentives for Internet service providers (ISPs) to police copyright infringement and report alleged cases to the government. ISPs will be required to limit or terminate service to anyone caught in the revised act of piracy, and will be expected to censor any material that allegedly defies the IP chapter. If an Internet user through caught pirating multiple times, the ISP will be required to terminate their contract. ISPs will become cyber-cops, policing the once Wild West of information sharing, and reporting any and all suspicious behavior to a judicial body.
If the IP chapter of TPP remains intact, the Internet will change forever, as user created content will no longer be viable most of the time. Sites such as Reddit, Tumblr, and even 4-Chan lose their remarkable two-way communication with big media. The IP chapter will seriously damage the ability for the masses to create, transform, and perpetuate the media and culture that they would like to see.
The welfare reform debate rages on thanks to falsehoods. (Google Images)
TheBurtonWire.com‘s editor-in-chief Nsenga K. Burton discusses the continued strategy of the GOP to paint welfare as a black issue when in fact the majority of those receiving welfare are whites. This article originally appears on TheRoot.com. Check out what Nsenga has to say below:
EXCERPT
“The debate over welfare reform is raging because of a “misleading” political ad from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney that accuses President Obama of “a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements.” Everyone and his mother have pretty much refuted its claims, including some members of his party.
Factcheck.org reported that Ron Haskins, a former Republican House committee aide who played a central role in the 1996 welfare reform legislation, explained that the ad is misleading. “I do not think it ends welfare reform or strongly undermines welfare reform,” said Haskins, who is now the co-director of the Brookings Institution’s Center on Children and Families. “Each state has to say what they will do and how that reform … will either increase employment or lead to better employment” of recipients.
Newt Gingrich, the man who famously said this January that he would “go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps” while campaigning for the nomination, has even said that there is “no proof” of the statements made in Romney’s ad. However, he still has claimed — in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper — that someone with President Obama’s ideology would be “comfortable sending a lot of people checks for doing nothing.” Therein lies the rub…”
ZeeNews.com is reporting that Somalia’s newly elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, who survived an assassination attempt two days after being elected, was inaugurated Sunday in Mogadishu. Mohamoud, a teacher and activist, won the election last week against outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed by the legislative vote of 190 to 79.
Security at the inauguration was extremely tight around Mohamoud, who promised to be a democrat and to create “an effective justice system” that serves all Somalis.
Zee News reports, “I promise (that) my government will deliver a new democratic beginning,” he told a congregation at the Police Academy, the same venue where he was elected.
The UN-backed political process that resulted in Mohamoud’s election was condemned by Islamist militants who said it was manipulated by the West.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that Mohamoud has said that he is open to meeting with al-Shabab, who claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt that left eight people dead.
Read more about the inauguration on Zee News and hear President Mohamoud’s plans for Somalia in the video above courtesy of Al-Jazeera News.
ZeeNews.com is reporting that Somalia’s newly elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, who survived an assassination attempt two days after being elected, was inaugurated Sunday in Mogadishu. Mohamoud, a teacher and activist, won the election last week against outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed by the legislative vote of 190 to 79.
Security at the inauguration was extremely tight around Mohamoud, who promised to be a democrat and to create “an effective justice system” that serves all Somalis.
Zee News reports, “I promise (that) my government will deliver a new democratic beginning,” he told a congregation at the Police Academy, the same venue where he was elected.
The UN-backed political process that resulted in Mohamoud’s election was condemned by Islamist militants who said it was manipulated by the West.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that Mohamoud has said that he is open to meeting with al-Shabab, who claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt that left eight people dead.
Read more about the inauguration on Zee News and hear President Mohamoud’s plans for Somalia in the video above courtesy of Al-Jazeera News.
Protesters in Tunisia burn American flag with Marilyn Monroe image. (Google Images)
Jamal al-Jabiri of Mail & Guardian is reporting that the Middle East has been swept with anti-U.S. fury over an obscure 14 minute film made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian who is a Coptic Christian, living in California. The Pentagon has sent troops to embassies located in the Middle East to boost security as protesters are enraged over the film that reportedly mocks Islam.
CNN is reporting that people have taken to the streets in 10 nations and the Indian-controlled region of Kashmir, according to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, railing against “Innocence of Muslims” and the nation where it was produced, the United States. This outrage, and danger to Americans, could worsen in the coming days, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned Thursday in a joint intelligence bulletin. The frenzy erupted after traditional Muslim Friday prayers. Fury over the film has been stoked by Internet video footage, social networks, preachers and word-of-mouth.
Protesters clashed with U.S. police at the embassy near Cairo, broke into the German Embassy in Khartoum, hoisting the Islamic flag and one person has been killed during protests in Tripoli.
Meanwhile, the bodies of four Americans killed in Libya were returned to the United States on Friday. The body of Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was one of them. It is thought that the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya is related to the film.
The Burton Wire‘s guest blogger Jamar Thrasher writes an open letter to rising star Kendrick Lamar, a Compton rapper who doesn’t vote and urges his fans not to vote in a Truth is Scary video (NSFW – Not Safe For Work). Thrasher wants the rising star to reconsider his position on voting and to be more responsible with his messaging. There are a few other rappers he might add to the list (Lupe Fiasco and Nicki Minaj) but check out what he has to say to Lamar below:
Dear Mr. Lamar:
I want to address your recent comments regarding why you do not exercise your right to vote. You cite contradictions and lack of control of world events and affairs as reasons not to vote. You have a right to your opinions, but your statements were foolish and dangerous.
Now that you have been pushed into the public spotlight, you are burdened with being a role model; whether you are tactful and responsible in your new role is up to you. You have an influence and reach that is phenomenal: Your music is on the top music blogs, you have fans all over the world, and most importantly, you deliver meaningful messages. When you are a rapper, it’s almost certain that you are a trendsetter. People, the youth especially, will follow and listen to your every word and some might emulate your behavior.
In 2012, voting and politics are “cool.” Elections, especially presidential elections, have become mainstream events; they have even become more closely associated with hip-hop culture. Jay-Z, Diddy, and Young Jeezy have all asserted messages in their music urging their fans to vote. In 2008, hip-hop was instrumental in improving voter participation in election campaigns, motivating young people to get out and vote.
According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau tracking voting trends in presidential elections, voters ages 18-24 were the “only age group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout in the most recent election, reaching 49 percent in 2008, compared with 47 percent in 2004.”
If timing is everything, then your words do a disservice to the disenfranchised communities of America, especially now, during an election year. This seems odd, especially since your music paints vivid pictures of the issues plaguing the world, specifically poverty issues.
In your seminal work, “Section .80,” you rap, “Everybody can’t drive Benzes so I make it my business to give them my full attention.”
When people aren’t getting the attention they deserve from politicians, they have to demand it.
Politicians have a job, and at the end of every term, they are faced with reelection. The two main resources politicians need to create a successful campaign and win an election are money and votes. In disenfranchised communities, there might not be money, but there are votes. Voting demands attention from the top.
For years, community organizers have developed strategic ways to get people to vote. One way is by having community leaders (like you) get the message out about the benefits of voting.
Many times, people stop believing in the American Dream when it seems like it is unattainable, but by voting, they have a say. People in low-income communities can vote for candidates who have an interest in raising the minimum wage, for example.
Even if you do not vote, please encourage your listeners to do so. Voting is a right community members must exercise to have a say in how their communities operate. If communities do not make decisions about their communities, someone else will make these decisions for them.
Vote for the black citizens who were, at various points in history, threatened, intimidated, maimed, raped, and killed for wanting to vote. Vote for the women who fought tooth and nail during the suffrage movement to cast a vote. Vote even for people in other countries across the world that are still revolting and rising up against tyrant political systems to get a chance to get their voices heard. Vote for the people who cannot vote: the mentally ill, the incarcerated, and the youth who are not old enough to vote.
Music educates people, and as a teacher, you must be cognizant of the lessons you are teaching.
By not voting, you further exacerbate and make definite your claim that you have no say in how the world is run.
Thank you, Jamar Thrasher
Jamar Thrasher received his undergraduate degree in political science and communications from the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College for Public Policy and Management. Thrasher is also a partner at Kennedy Blue Communications.
Birame Faye of Trust Media London is reporting that the ending of Ivory Coast’s crisis is proving to be a blessing for the economy of the sub-region. Despite international financial turmoil, high oil import prices and food shortages in the Sahel, the West African Economic and Monetary Union expects a comfortable growth rate for 2012, in contrast to last year.
The organization, known by its French acronym UEMOA, attributes the growth above all to the strong recovery of Ivory Coast’s economy since the end of its long-running conflict last year.
According to UEMOA forecasts the economic zone, comprising eight mainly Francophone countries, will see a growth rate of 6.1 per cent this year compared to 1 per cent last year.
“Investors are coming back to Ivory Coast. That has benefits for all of West Africa, since it is the country that has the most immigrants (from the region). Besides, it accounts for 40 per cent of the union’s gross domestic product,” says Valeria Fichera, the International Monetary Fund’s representative in Senegal.
The New York Times is reporting that China is offering Nigeria $1.1 billion in loans to help build airport terminals, a light rail line for its capital city and communication system improvements, the country’s Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The loans reflect the economic ties between oil-rich Nigeria and China, which already is involved in building major road and railway projects in the West African nation. However, similar deals with China and Sambla Finland have fallen apart amid corruption allegations, problems that persist today and could potentially put this new deal at risk as well.
The light rail project for Abuja, the nation’s central capital, would bring commuters in from suburbs surrounding the city’s distant international airport and from neighboring Nasarawa state, the finance ministry said. That project would cost about $500 million, the ministry said. Another project, valued at $100 million, part of a loan deal already signed involving the light rail, would go toward improving Nigeria’s Internet capability, the ministry said.
The 20-year, 2.5 percent interest loan for those two projects has a grace period of seven years before payment is required, the ministry said. The loan for improving the airports will be to the tune of $500 million which is much needed since the airports have not been repaired since the 1960s and 1970s.
Writing for TheRoot.com, The Burton Wire‘s editor-in-chief Nsenga K. Burton, ponders why MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs) would counter program against the Democratic National Convention.
Imagine my surprise to learn that CBS/Viacom had scheduled the broadcast of MTV’s 2012 Video Music Awards on the same Thursday evening that President Obama was scheduled to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for his candidacy for the 2012 Democratic presidential ticket.
You may recall that 20 years ago, Rock the Vote launched a movement to “engage and build political power for young people in our country.” The Rock the Vote campaign has been wildly successful, registering more than 5 million young voters through grassroots organizing, the innovative use of technology and leveraging pop cultural and celebrity connections to mobilize and motivate young voters. Rock the Vote became a household name through public service announcements featuring celebrities that played routinely on MTV, VH1 and BET, all stations currently owned by CBS/Viacom.
How is it that a network that has done so much in the past to help young voters could do so poorly now by counterprogramming against the final night of the DNC in which President Obama accepted his party’s nomination? What happened to helping to inform young voters about the election process and motivating them to register to vote? Since when does MTV air the VMAs on a Thursday night, anyway? What message does it send to potential young voters when an awards show is scheduled at the same time as the convention of a major political party two months before Election Day?
