Sounding Circle

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

TIME Chooses Dr Cynthia as Asian Hero 0 comments

30 Apr 2003 @ 19:05 Message from the Burmese American Democratic Alliance. Note: Quotes paraphrased for easier reading. Network Media Group TIME Chooses Dr Cynthia Maung as Asian Hero April 25 (NMG) Dr Cynthia Maung was chosen as an 'Asian Hero of World' reputed Time Magazine in its 2003, 28th April issue. Under the given title 'Healer of Broken Souls', Time describes Dr. Cynthia as a hero of Asia for 2003, who was also the laureate of Ramon Magsaysay Award, regionally known as Asia's Nobel Prize, while she is currently operating in a remote hospital in Mae Sot where refugees and Burmese immigrant workers have come for free heath care for years. Dr Cynthia disclosed to NMG on her new award. 'I, myself and all of my co-workers along with others who are dedicated to uplifting the health and education of the community are really appreciative and proud of this award.' Rejecting to go abroad or resettle in another country, she said 'because it will take time to reconstruct Burma and address the illness, and the Thai government is now ready to cooperate with some of our efforts in health matters, I decided to stay in the border area until we have accomplished our goals.' While asking if she has a plan to produce little Cynthias, she said 'Yes, I've a plan for the future.' She also said 'For the long run, I have a plan to build potential and capacity for them regarding development, public relations and education which is the main factor resources to uplifting the health concerns.' Dr Cynthia Maung, a medical doctor who is 43 years old, was born in a small village on 6 December 1959 in Burma's Mon State near Moulmein. She was fourth among 8 brothers and sisters. After she got her medical degree, she took care of her Karen people in small village in Karen State. She fled to Thailand crossing the jungle routes during the 8-8-88 uprising after the Burmese military government shot and killed groups of students and activists. After she had arrived to Thailand, she began taking care of refugees and immigrant workers with a handful of syringes and needles. Because of her commitment and hard-working endeavors for needy peoples and Burmese immigrant workers for more then ten years, five international awards have been adding up including Ramon Magsaysay (Asia's Nobel Prize), Jonathan Mann Award from the United States for Heath and Human Rights and the John Humphery Freedom Award from Canada. Along with Dr Cynthia, Time Magazine has chosen 19 recipients from 15 countries in Asia as Asia's Hero for 2003. TIME also gives honors on this year to those health workers who are fighting against SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

No oil for blood: A post-war boycott in the making 0 comments

30 Apr 2003 @ 18:50 Online Journal By Paul Rockwell Online Journal Contributing Writer April 20, 2003—Along with anti-war marches, demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, and street battles with U.S.-backed police, spontaneous boycotts against U.S. and British goods are taking place in cities throughout the world, from South Africa to Pakistan. The impact of an international consumer boycott against the invading powers—a post-war as well as anti-war boycott—could be massive. A coalition of anti-war groups in Pakistan, where fast-foods are popular, launched a boycott against McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Australia, where tens of thousands of demonstrators brought Melbourne to a standstill, "Not-in-Our-Name" activists called for an international shutdown of U.S. business. South African protesters in Cape Town called for a boycott of all American and British goods. Demonstrators also demanded that Denel, a South African contractor, cancel all contracts that supply military components to the U.K. and the U.S. Similar calls for economic action have been issued in Egypt, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Chile, and the U.K. Targeting consumer-dependent industries and companies heavily involved in the military-industrial complex, South Africa Indymedia recently called on the world to "take aim at the only thing that can bring Bush to his knees: the American economy." Like Gandhi's historic boycott of British textiles, when the people of India manufactured their own clothing, today's boycotts are promoting creativity and self-reliance in the Mideast. Sales of Pepsi and Coca Cola are plummeting as Islamic nations create alternative cola drinks called Zam Zam and Mecca Cola. Local manufacturers cannot keep pace with the demand from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Mecca Colas have already turned up in Britain. Recently peace groups distributed 36,000 bottles of Mecca Cola at Hyde Park in London. The Iranian government has banned ads for U.S.-manufactured goods. Full Story

FCC To Let Media Bosses Rule Your Airwaves 0 comments

30 Apr 2003 @ 18:41 American Free Press Iron-Fisted Monopolists Clobbering Opposition FCC to LET MEDIA BOSSES RULE YOUR AIRWAVES It looks like we have to do it again and stop the media manipulators from taking monopolistic control of the public airwaves. By James P. Tucker Jr. The Federal Communications Commission blinked in the face of public outrage (AFP, Feb. 3, 2003) but plans a new attempt to cement the media monopoly this spring. FCC Chairman Michael Powell told reporters March 4 that although he expects much op position, he hopes to relax restrictions on media monopolies by late May or early June. This will pave the way for multinational corporations to continue buying up the last vestiges of independent newspapers around the United States. “I perfectly expect that in an item of this magnitude and controversy, there will be hard-won results,” Powell said. “I think the media environment will have to be partially liberalized if you include all the factors you have to look at.” Meanwhile, still another study shows that relaxing regulations that prohibit giant media companies from buying up too many local broadcast outlets and dominating the marketplace would result in poorer news coverage. A newly released five-year study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that television stations owned by smaller companies produced higher-quality newscasts than those owned by media moguls “by a large margin.” Fourteen local TV reporters and producers throughout the country examined 23,806 news stories from 172 stations, evaluating content, community interest, and whether stories showed “enterprise and courage” or were “fair, balanced and accurate,” among other things. Their opinions, in turn, were sorted through by academics and compared with Nielsen ratings. The entire report can be found on the group’s web site (www.journalism.org). “The data raises serious questions about regulatory changes that lead to the concentration of vast numbers of TV stations into the hands of a very few large corporations,” the study said, echoing other studies reported in AFP. “The findings strongly suggest that this ownership structure, though it may prove the most profitable model, is likely to lead to further erosion in the content and public interest value of the local TV news Americans receive,” it said. The study examined 61 station owners in five categories based on size, location and other factors. They included owners with three or fewer stations, those with TV stations and newspapers in the same region, independent network affiliates, publicly traded companies and conglomerates with dozens of properties. Data revealed that small stations did better jobs on the heavily watched 11 p.m. Eastern newscasts. “Smaller owners were 20 times more likely [than] large owners” to receive an A grade from their evaluators on their late-night news, a fact that confounded researchers. “Larger companies are capable of producing high-quality newscasts,” it said. “Yet, for some reason, they often fail to do that when most are watching.” The study answered its own question about the reason for low quality from big companies: profits. Big owners can pressure their stations to tone down controversial reports or produce weak, one-size-fits-all stories that could be used around the country. Smaller stations also received higher grades for their substance. They offered longer stories, included reporters rather than video footage alone and offered a wider range of sources for their material.

Afghanistan Reclaims Its Drug Crown 0 comments

30 Apr 2003 @ 18:36 Asia Times Online April 26, 2003 Afghanistan reclaims its drug crown By Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI - In the one-and-a-half years since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the initiation of rule under the US-supported administration of Hamad Karzai, the country has once again become the center of the world's poppy cultivation and the focus of associated mafias who have reopened smuggling routes closed by the Taliban. According to Pakistani narcotics intelligence agents, the world's many international drug cartels have become active in the region, notably those from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan itself, all of them attracted by the abundance and low price of the cultivated opium. Recently, a United Nations-funded anti-narcotics agency reported that Afghanistan had regained top spot as the world's largest producer of opium in 2002, with 3,400 tons generating revenue of more than US$1.4 billion. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (ODC) has urged the world community to do more to help eradicate poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. It says that official anti-drug efforts have failed to stop widespread cultivation of poppies in Afghanistan, which are used to make opium and its derivative, heroin. A senior representative of the ODC, Thomas Zeindl-Cronin, outlined the report at a news conference in Pakistan recently. "About 3,400 tons of opium were produced in Afghanistan in 2002, making Afghanistan again the largest opium producer in the world. This is an international problem since heroin originating from Afghanistan is sold in many countries around the world," he said, adding that "over three-quarters of the heroin sold in Europe originates from Afghanistan". Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had significantly dropped during the latter years of Taliban rule, which imposed extremely harsh punishment on poppy growers. But now UN officials say that poppy cultivation is on the rise again due to the instability caused by the war - which has overshadowed anti-drug efforts. Despite the fact that the transitional government of Karzai has banned cultivation, processing, trafficking and consumption of opiates in the country, UN officials say that more enforcement is needed. They advise the government to urgently develop a "comprehensive" and "coordinated" national drug control policy in line with international treaties for the elimination of opium poppy. It also urges donor countries to provide necessary funds to Karzai to beef up his eradication campaign. The resurgence of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has changed the dynamics of the world opium market. During the Taliban regime, existing smuggling routes to Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were badly affected, and gradually South American poppy fields and laboratories filled the vacuum. However, due to high demand and short supply, the price of the finished drugs was high. And access for the South American products to Asia and Africa was difficult and costly, which also had an impact on the market. The clamping down on poppy production in Afghanistan adversely affected the economies of two of the smaller of the seven states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Ajman and Raasul Khaima. These two had a big users' market, and narcotics intelligence reports indicate that drugs from Pakistan were routed through them for sea transport to Europe, Australia and the Americas. From 1996 to 2001, Mexican drug cartels were regarded as the cheapest heroin producers, mainly because of the low grade of their heroin. Recently they have improved their quality and made their products more powerful than ever. However, despite these improvements and several years of hegemony, the Afghan-Pakistan-based drug cartels have bounced back and the South American cartels are expected to feel the pinch. The new Afghan products are on sale in the markets of the UAE for 50 US cents per gram (heroin). The same product then becomes available on the US markets at a cost of another 10 cents a gram. This rate is almost half the price of South American goods. This development in the region will give a boost to the black economies of Afghanistan and small Arab states, and could also attract South African and Thai-based drug cartels back into the business. In Afghanistan the return of the poppy culture will play into the hands of the warlords, who are again able to finance their armies with drug money.