Studey Shows Future LEaders focus on Globalization and Sustainability
http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2010/06/22/Study-Shows-Future-Leaders-Focus-on-Globalization-and-Sustainability.aspx?Page=1
What do future leaders say differently to CEO's
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/ceo/ceostudy2010/futureleaders.html
Capitalizing on Complexity
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/ceo/ceostudy2010/
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Migration and Development
4/28/2010
Issue Update: Migration is a right linked to development
For Guatemalan Migrants, “American Dream” Ends in Frustration
By Oscar Rene Oliva
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=355628&CategoryId=23558
GUATEMALA CITY – The hopes of most of the thousands of Guatemalans who daily set off in search of the “American dream” end in frustration, with the migrants deeper in debt than they were before they left their country.
“We have seen some very sad cases (of immigrants forcibly repatriated from the United States) who have taken out loans that they can’t pay back since after being deported. Many have been bilked and lost all they owned,” Erick Maldonado, secretary of the government council charged with looking out for emigrants, known as Conamigua, told Efe.
He said traffickers charge each migrant between $4,000 and $6,000.
“It’s a profitable business, but it’s hard to detect the traffickers because they’re often camouflaged among the migrants,” Maldonado said.
The Conamigua official said he was worried because “more and more of the people who emigrate are very young, above all women” who become potential victims of organized crime.
Women, he said, “are highly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and white slavery.”
“Children are taken to serve as beggars, gum vendors or clowns, and Guatemala is not free from that kind of exploitation,” he said.
A recent study by Mexican authorities revealed that 80 percent of Central Americans who go through that country en route to the United States are exploited, Maldonado said.
Another negative aspect of this phenomenon is having families disintegrated and culturally uprooted, he said.
“We as a government cannot tell people not to migrate, because it is a right that is linked to development,” he said, while complaining that emigrants do not invest their earnings but use them for the subsistence of their families and to buy luxury goods.
“This is evident when you go out in the countryside and see little adobe huts with television sets getting programs on Sky and Direct TV, which loses sight of the effort people have made to go to the United States and send dollars back home,” he said.
Unfortunately now the (emigrant’s) family expects remittances to be sent and that creates a certain dependency, because they’re just waiting to get that $100 or $200,” Maldonado said.
The remittances, according to the Conamigua secretary, don’t go to pay for children’s education because once kids are big enough to work, “they don’t study any more because their expectations are to follow in the footsteps of mom or dad” by emigrating.
Despite the risks and the constant deportations in handcuffs, during the flight, Guatemalans will not stop pursuing the “American dream,” Maldonado said.
In 2009 alone more than 27,000 undocumented immigrants in the U.S. were deported and “unfortunately we ascertained that all came back in handcuffs, which were removed shortly before landing,” he said.
The sending of remittances from the United States, which last year reached $3.9 billion, benefits more than 30 percent of Guatemala’s 13 million people.
Issue Update: Migration is a right linked to development
For Guatemalan Migrants, “American Dream” Ends in Frustration
By Oscar Rene Oliva
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=355628&CategoryId=23558
GUATEMALA CITY – The hopes of most of the thousands of Guatemalans who daily set off in search of the “American dream” end in frustration, with the migrants deeper in debt than they were before they left their country.
“We have seen some very sad cases (of immigrants forcibly repatriated from the United States) who have taken out loans that they can’t pay back since after being deported. Many have been bilked and lost all they owned,” Erick Maldonado, secretary of the government council charged with looking out for emigrants, known as Conamigua, told Efe.
He said traffickers charge each migrant between $4,000 and $6,000.
“It’s a profitable business, but it’s hard to detect the traffickers because they’re often camouflaged among the migrants,” Maldonado said.
The Conamigua official said he was worried because “more and more of the people who emigrate are very young, above all women” who become potential victims of organized crime.
Women, he said, “are highly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and white slavery.”
“Children are taken to serve as beggars, gum vendors or clowns, and Guatemala is not free from that kind of exploitation,” he said.
A recent study by Mexican authorities revealed that 80 percent of Central Americans who go through that country en route to the United States are exploited, Maldonado said.
Another negative aspect of this phenomenon is having families disintegrated and culturally uprooted, he said.
“We as a government cannot tell people not to migrate, because it is a right that is linked to development,” he said, while complaining that emigrants do not invest their earnings but use them for the subsistence of their families and to buy luxury goods.
“This is evident when you go out in the countryside and see little adobe huts with television sets getting programs on Sky and Direct TV, which loses sight of the effort people have made to go to the United States and send dollars back home,” he said.
Unfortunately now the (emigrant’s) family expects remittances to be sent and that creates a certain dependency, because they’re just waiting to get that $100 or $200,” Maldonado said.
The remittances, according to the Conamigua secretary, don’t go to pay for children’s education because once kids are big enough to work, “they don’t study any more because their expectations are to follow in the footsteps of mom or dad” by emigrating.
Despite the risks and the constant deportations in handcuffs, during the flight, Guatemalans will not stop pursuing the “American dream,” Maldonado said.
In 2009 alone more than 27,000 undocumented immigrants in the U.S. were deported and “unfortunately we ascertained that all came back in handcuffs, which were removed shortly before landing,” he said.
The sending of remittances from the United States, which last year reached $3.9 billion, benefits more than 30 percent of Guatemala’s 13 million people.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Reshaping Civil Discourse Online
4/25/2010
Issue Update: Comment review, editing, or learning civil discourse?
Reader comments: Can't live with 'em ...
by Rob ORegan
http://emediavitals.com/blog/17/reader-comments-cant-live-em?utm_source=ABM+Vital+Guide&utm_campaign=bcd800e5a7-nl_vg_abm_04222010_user-generated-content&utm_medium=email
Allowing site visitors to add comments to articles, blogs and other digital content has become accepted practice for most digital content publishers. Reader comments are an effective way to engage a community and increase site “stickiness.” But they can also become, as blogger Peter Scheer notes, a “cesspool” that is “stuffed with the rants and invective of people who have too much time on their hands (and too little gray matter between their ears.)”
Particularly vexing to publishers are comments from readers who flame behind a cloak of anonymity. This is why many media sites are considering new ways to encourage (or require) registration for anyone wishing to add their two cents to an online discussion. (I've been pushing to ban anonymous comments from our site.)
“Anonymity is just the way things are done. It’s an accepted part of the Internet, but there’s no question that people hide behind anonymity to make vile or controversial comments,” Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington told the New York Times. “I feel that this is almost like an education process. As the rules of the road are changing and the Internet is growing up, the trend is away from anonymity.”
Issue Update: Comment review, editing, or learning civil discourse?
Reader comments: Can't live with 'em ...
by Rob ORegan
http://emediavitals.com/blog/17/reader-comments-cant-live-em?utm_source=ABM+Vital+Guide&utm_campaign=bcd800e5a7-nl_vg_abm_04222010_user-generated-content&utm_medium=email
Allowing site visitors to add comments to articles, blogs and other digital content has become accepted practice for most digital content publishers. Reader comments are an effective way to engage a community and increase site “stickiness.” But they can also become, as blogger Peter Scheer notes, a “cesspool” that is “stuffed with the rants and invective of people who have too much time on their hands (and too little gray matter between their ears.)”
Particularly vexing to publishers are comments from readers who flame behind a cloak of anonymity. This is why many media sites are considering new ways to encourage (or require) registration for anyone wishing to add their two cents to an online discussion. (I've been pushing to ban anonymous comments from our site.)
“Anonymity is just the way things are done. It’s an accepted part of the Internet, but there’s no question that people hide behind anonymity to make vile or controversial comments,” Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington told the New York Times. “I feel that this is almost like an education process. As the rules of the road are changing and the Internet is growing up, the trend is away from anonymity.”
Friday, March 5, 2010
Accountability or Black Mail?
Amnesty Bill Shows Depth of Corruption
Amnesty bill blasted as symptom of corrupt culture
By Tim Rogers
http://www.nicatimes.net/nicaarchive/2010_02/0212101.htm
"MANAGUA, Nicaragua – An attempt by opposition Liberal lawmakers to pass a big-tent amnesty law that would include all ex-government officials from the past three administrations has produced audible moans from political pundits and a venomous counterattack by the ruling Sandinista Front.
The proposed amnesty law is being billed by Liberals as an attempt to undercut President Daniel Ortega's efforts to use the judicial system as a political weapon to blackmail his opponents."
Amnesty bill blasted as symptom of corrupt culture
By Tim Rogers
http://www.nicatimes.net/nicaarchive/2010_02/0212101.htm
"MANAGUA, Nicaragua – An attempt by opposition Liberal lawmakers to pass a big-tent amnesty law that would include all ex-government officials from the past three administrations has produced audible moans from political pundits and a venomous counterattack by the ruling Sandinista Front.
The proposed amnesty law is being billed by Liberals as an attempt to undercut President Daniel Ortega's efforts to use the judicial system as a political weapon to blackmail his opponents."
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Online Political Activism dependent on inside, full time political research and organizers
Campaign for America's Future is doing alot of teaching through participation. They have opportunities to sign petitions, provide information on how and who to call, set up local events and inform about nationwide events. I find the clarity and simplicity of teaching people how to be an activist online and in person to be very interesting. Also, there is no political party demands on volunteers, they just have to act on an opportunity. I see this type of teaching as having the possibility to be sustainable political development because once people know who to call or visit they can continue even without the organization. But, getting the DC scoop on what senator or representative is doing, saying or voting in which direction is impossible for the nonpolitically employed Jane/Joe on the Street. So, without this organization to keep tabs on what is happening in the capitals, the activism could not be sustained.
Campaign for America's Future is many organizations: Democracy in Action, Campaign for America's Future, OurFuture.org,
Sign up for their newsletter at:
http://caf.democracyinaction.org/o/11002/t/43/content.jsp?content_KEY=39
Campaign for America's Future is many organizations: Democracy in Action, Campaign for America's Future, OurFuture.org,
Sign up for their newsletter at:
http://caf.democracyinaction.org/o/11002/t/43/content.jsp?content_KEY=39
Mexican Reversal of Union Strength in Energy Industry
SME calls for general strike and civil disobedience
Mexico News and Analysis
Produced by the Mexico Solidarity Network
February 8-14, 2010
On Saturday, the Electrical Workers Union (SME) in conjunction with striking mineworkers called for a general strike and civil disobedience in response to the Calderon administration's labor policies. SME is struggling to recover 44,000 jobs lost when Calderon closed the government-owned Central Light and Power (LFC) last October, while the mineworkers suffered a blow from the courts this week after striking at the Cananea mines for two and a half years. The situation at Cananea is particularly tense after a federal court supported a move by Grupo Mexico, owner of the mine, to end its relationship with the union. Mineworkers braced for army or police intervention at the mine entrance. Labor attorney Arturo Alcalde called the court decision, "brutal. We are witnessing a cleansing operation by the federal government in support of Grupo Mexico, but the most depressing thing is that the Federal Courts supported this monstrosity. I have been a labor attorney for 40 years and I've never seen such a grotesque decision from a judicial point of view. It's a gross maneuver that will do away with the union, the collective contract and the strike and, as if this wasn't enough, it will dismiss the workers with only minimal indemnification."
Meanwhile, the Federal Electrical Commission (CFE), another government-owned entity that took over LFC operations, began to install new electrical meters that would force consumers to pre-pay for electricity, much like pre-paid cell phone cards. The move is apparently an effort by the Calderon administration to head off an expected consumer boycott of electrical bills to protest rapidly rising charges and in support of SME.
In related news, the wall of a canal crumbled in the southwest part of Mexico City leaving thousands of homes drenched in sewer water. Officials blamed the break on excessive rainfall, but many experts noted the canal is emptied by massive pumps that have been sporadically without electricity since the closure of LFC. Flooding also forced officials to shut down the Mexico City-Puebla highway for nearly a week.
Mexico News and Analysis
Produced by the Mexico Solidarity Network
February 8-14, 2010
On Saturday, the Electrical Workers Union (SME) in conjunction with striking mineworkers called for a general strike and civil disobedience in response to the Calderon administration's labor policies. SME is struggling to recover 44,000 jobs lost when Calderon closed the government-owned Central Light and Power (LFC) last October, while the mineworkers suffered a blow from the courts this week after striking at the Cananea mines for two and a half years. The situation at Cananea is particularly tense after a federal court supported a move by Grupo Mexico, owner of the mine, to end its relationship with the union. Mineworkers braced for army or police intervention at the mine entrance. Labor attorney Arturo Alcalde called the court decision, "brutal. We are witnessing a cleansing operation by the federal government in support of Grupo Mexico, but the most depressing thing is that the Federal Courts supported this monstrosity. I have been a labor attorney for 40 years and I've never seen such a grotesque decision from a judicial point of view. It's a gross maneuver that will do away with the union, the collective contract and the strike and, as if this wasn't enough, it will dismiss the workers with only minimal indemnification."
Meanwhile, the Federal Electrical Commission (CFE), another government-owned entity that took over LFC operations, began to install new electrical meters that would force consumers to pre-pay for electricity, much like pre-paid cell phone cards. The move is apparently an effort by the Calderon administration to head off an expected consumer boycott of electrical bills to protest rapidly rising charges and in support of SME.
In related news, the wall of a canal crumbled in the southwest part of Mexico City leaving thousands of homes drenched in sewer water. Officials blamed the break on excessive rainfall, but many experts noted the canal is emptied by massive pumps that have been sporadically without electricity since the closure of LFC. Flooding also forced officials to shut down the Mexico City-Puebla highway for nearly a week.
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