By Eurasia Review

By Peter Kelley

Research in recent years has suggested that young Americans might be less creative now than in decades past, even while their intelligence — as measured by IQ tests — continues to rise.

But new research from the University of Washington Information School and Harvard University, closely studying 20 years of student creative writing and visual artworks, hints that the dynamics of creativity may not break down as simply as that.

Instead, it may be that some aspects of creativity — such as those employed in visual arts — are gently rising over the years, while other aspects, such as the nuances of creative writing, could be declining.

The paper will be published in Creativity Research Journal in January 2014. The lead author is Emily Weinstein, a doctoral student in the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Katie Davis, UW assistant professor, and fellow researchers studied 354 examples of visual art and 50 examples of creative writing by teenagers published between 1990 and 2011. The question they pursued, Davis said, was “How have the style, content and form of adolescents’ art-making and creative writing changed over the last 20 years?”

The artwork came from a monthly magazine for teens, the writing from a similar annual publication featuring student fiction. The researchers analyzed and coded the works, blind as to year, looking for trends over that time.

The review of student visual art showed an increase in the sophistication and complexity both in the designs and the subject matter over the years. The pieces, Davis said, seemed “more finished, and fuller, with backgrounds more fully rendered, suggesting greater complexity.” Standard pen-and-ink illustrations grew less common over the period studied, while a broader range of mixed media work was represented.

Conversely, the review of student writing showed the young authors adhering more to “conventional writing practices” and a trend toward less play with genre, more mundane narratives and simpler language over the two decades studied.

Still, Davis said, it’s too simple to just say creativity increased in one area and decreased in another over the years.

“There really isn’t a standard set of agreed-upon criteria to measure something as complex and subjective as creativity,” she said. “But there are markers of creativity — like complexity and risk-taking and breaking away from the standard mold — that appear to have changed.”

The researchers also note that the period of study was a time of great innovation in digital art, with new tools for creative production and boundless examples of fine art a mere click or two away, serving to inform and inspire the students in their own work.

Davis said that while previous research has typically studied creativity in a lab setting, this work examined student creative work in a more “naturalistic” setting, where it is found in everyday life.

She added that with data from such a naturalistic setting, researchers cede a degree of control over the characteristics of the sample being studied, and the findings cannot safely be generalized to all American youth.

“It remains an open question as to whether the entire U.S. has seen a decline in literary creativity and a parallel increase in visual creativity among its youth over the last 20 years,” Davis said. “Because society — indeed any society — depends on the creativity of its citizens to flourish, this is a question that warrants serious attention in future creativity research.”

The paper’s other co-authors are Zachary Clark and Donna DiBartolomeo, former graduate students at Harvard.

The findings are also discussed in Davis’ recent book with Howard Gardner, “The App Generation.” The research was funded by the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation.

The article Examining Claims Young Americans Are Less Creative Than Decades Past appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

Enhanced extracts made from special antioxidants in spearmint and rosemary improve learning and memory, a study in an animal model at Saint Louis University found.

“We found that these proprietary compounds reduce deficits caused by mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease,” said Susan Farr, Ph.D., research professor geriatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Farr added, “This probably means eating spearmint and rosemary is good for you. However, our experiments were in an animal model and I don’t know how much — or if any amount — of these herbs people would have to consume for learning and memory to improve. In other words, I’m not suggesting that people chew more gum at this point.”

Farr presented the early findings at Neuroscience 2013, a meeting of 32,000 on Monday, Nov. 11. She tested a novel antioxidant-based ingredient made from spearmint extract and two different doses of a similar antioxidant made from rosemary extract on mice that have age-related cognitive decline.

She found that the higher dose rosemary extract compound was the most powerful in improving memory and learning in three tested behaviors. The lower dose rosemary extract improved memory in two of the behavioral tests, as did the compound made from spearmint extract.

Further, there were signs of reduced oxidative stress, which is considered a hallmark of age-related decline, in the part of the brain that controls learning and memory.

“Our research suggests these extracts made from herbs might have beneficial effects on altering the course of age-associated cognitive decline,” Farr said. “It’s worth additional study.”

The research, which was supported by the VA Medical Center in St. Louis, was conducted in conjunction with Kemin Industries, which manufactures specialty ingredients for vitamin/dietary supplements or that can be added to food to enhance its nutritional and health benefits.

Established in 1836, the School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: infectious disease, liver disease, aging and brain disease, cancer and heart/lung disease.

The article Can Certain Herbs Stave Off Alzheimer’s Disease? appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

(CORDIS) — Researchers at EU-funded project MODE-GAP (‘Multi-mode capacity enhancement with PBG fibre’) are working to boost the internet’s capacity by developing and testing advanced fibre technologies.

Their work could be the building blocks for the high-capacity access networks needed for channelling new applications such as high-definition TV, interactive gaming, and video-on-demand directly via fibre to subscribers.

Today’s telecommunications networks rely on single-mode optical fibres (SMFs) for signal transmission. These fibres are responsible for the enormous bandwidth now available, making possible the recent explosion of broadband communications.

But SMFs do have a physical limit, beyond which no more information can be squeezed through a single ray of light.

And with the growth in demand for broadband showing no signs of diminishing, there will come a time when demand outstrips even SMF capacity. When that happens, internet services will be increasingly difficult to access at the required speed.

MODE-GAP coordinator Ian Giles of the University of Southampton says the project team is addressing the problem by investigating the use of few-mode fibres (FMF), which have additional light pathways within a single fibre.

“When you look at the problem of SMF capacity limits, the simple solution may seem to be to increase the number of fibres in the network, but when you do this you also get increased cost and increased energy usage,” he says.

He adds: “These pathways or ‘modes’ are essentially independent, so different information can be transmitted along each mode. The fibres use a form of ‘spatial-division multiplexing’, utilising the spatial dimension to increase transmission capacity.”

Along with investigating FMF solid-core fibres, the MODE-GAP team is researching the application of novel hollow-core photonic bandgap fibres (HC-PBGF), which could provide further capacity. The team is also considering using a new wavelength range as another way of boosting capacity.

Although the research is still underway, Giles says the project team has already produced significant results.

“For both types of fibres, we have shown a transmission capacity six times greater than what is currently achievable with SMF fibres,” he says. “This headline transmission result is fully supported by the development of components and sub-systems required to build a network. World-leading results have also been achieved by the project in many of the supporting technology areas.”

Giles says he believes the project has achieved more than the sum of work of the individual researchers.

“With projects of this type, and MODE-GAP in particular, it would be difficult for any independent state to leverage the broad base of expertise and investment required to achieve a positive result in a limited timescale,” he says. “EU-funding of collaborative research such as this enables a group of European experts to work together focussed on very specific problems.”

Meanwhile, he adds, exploitation of the work undertaken within MODE-GAP is of critical importance: “On the components level, there have been several spin-out products already. The objectives of the project will be met and, from a systems perspective, the results will provide a very solid platform for future product development.”

For Giles and other MODE-GAP researchers, the potential broadband ‘capacity crunch’ they are addressing is a global problem that could affect anyone using the internet.

“A solution to the problem will benefit everyone,” he says.

Jim Somers, CEO of Eblana Photonics Ltd., an Irish SME partner in the project, explains that the project is focused on achieving a 100 fold increase in the amount of data and voice that can be transmitted through telecommunications networks.

In addition, he says that through this project Eblana Photonics has now developed the next generation laser components that will be used in such systems.

Somers says: “Eblana is one of only a handful of companies in the world capable of designing and producing such lasers. This project has also spawned several new product additions to our portfolio which in turn have played a key role establishing our company in the industrial marketplace and significantly increasing our sales and employment figures over the last three years.”

MODE-GAP received EUR 8.3 million in EU funding and will be completed in September 2014.

The article Pioneering Advanced Fibre Technologies For Next-Generation Internet appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

(CORDIS) — Cybercrime presents a significant threat to individual privacy, commerce and national security. In order to tackle this cross-border threat properly, agents involved in managing and monitoring cyber-risk-critical assets need to be able to cooperate and co-ordinate their prevention strategies.

To this end, an innovative new platform for sharing cyber-security information has been developed through an EU-funded project. The results of the project, entitled CLOUDCERT, will be presented at the project’s final conference on 22 November. It is expected that the project will contribute significantly to the protection of sensitive and potentially vulnerable infrastructure, and thus improve the health, safety and welfare of all citizens.

Platforms enabling coordinated cross-border responses already work well for handling malicious activity on the traditional Internet. However, the advent of Cloud Computing has created a new set of challenges for security professionals in securing the platforms that deliver the cloud.

Cloud computing describes a variety of computing concepts that involve a large number of computers connected through a real-time communication network such as the Internet. The phrase also more commonly refers to network-based services such as email, which appear to be provided by real server hardware, and are in fact served up by virtual hardware, simulated by software running on one or more real machines.

The CLOUDCERT project first of all set about identifying what kind of information could be exchanged and analysed techniques for handling sensitive information and transmission. The business models of Cloud Computing encourage many tiers of providers and customers within a single virtual infrastructure. Coordinating appropriate and efficient incident response without impacting continuity of operations for other customers or without violating laws and contractual agreements presents a real challenge.

The team then examined existing tools for collecting information, and identified probable security risks. Security requirements for the processing, storage and transmission of information – while preserving its integrity and confidentiality – were also identified.

From this initial work, the team was able to develop and implement an online collaborative tool that could allow agents involved in fighting cybercrime to exchange information in a secure and coordinated manner.

The project consortium is made up of Spain’s National Institute for Communication Technologies (INTECO), the National Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CNPIC) of the Ministry of the Interior (Spain), Indra (Spain), ZANASI and Partners (Italy) , Europe for Business (United Kingdom) and the ICSA Foundation (Italy).

The EU has supported this project through a specific programme entitled ‘Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence Management of Terrorism and Other Security-Related Risks’, which falls within the ‘Security and Safeguarding Liberties’ framework programme.

The article Providing A Platform For Coordinated Response To Cloud Cybercrime appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Peter Tase

Besnik Mustafaj was born on September 23, 1958 in the city of Bajram Curri, in northern Albania. He studied French Literature at the University of Tirana and after the fall of the communist dictatorship in Albania, he was nominated as the first Ambassador of Post-communist Albania to France, Portugal, and Spain. As Ambassador, he led the bilateral negotiations in opening the Albanian Embassy in Spain and contributed towards strengthening cooperation with France and Portugal. He was appointed as Albania’s Foreign Minister in the first government led by Sali Berisha in September 2005, and has served as a Member of Parliament in three legislatures. Currently, he is the President of the Albanian Forum for the Alliance of Civilizations in Tirana, Albania.

A well-respected writer as well as a politician, Mr. Mustafaj has composed essays, prose and poetry, which have been published in various collections: Motive të Gëzuara (Delightful Designs), 1978; Gjinkallat e vapës (The Cicadas of Heat), 2005; Legjenda e Lindjes Sime (The Legend of My Birth), 1998. Among his volumes in prose are: Një sagë e vogël (A Little Saga), 1995; Daullja Prej Letre (The Paper Drum), 1996; Boshti (The Void), 1998. Mr. Mustafaj has also authored a volume of essays entitled: Fletoria Reservat: shënime jashtë valixhes diplomatike (The Preserved Notepad: Remarks Out of a Diplomatic Briefcase), 1995 and 2011. His works have been translated into English, Italian, French, German, Bulgarian, and Turkish.

Tase: You have served as the first Ambassador of post-Communist Albania in France. Can you describe some of the challenges that you had to face as head of a diplomatic post representing a country in its first years of democratic transition and pluralist government?

Mr. Besnik Mustafaj as Foreign Minister of Albania (2007)

Mustafaj: It was a multidimensional challenge. First of all, it was an extraordinary challenge for me. I was not even 34 years old. Neither in school nor in practice had I learned anything about diplomacy. During the 10 years following my university graduation, I had worked as professor of Ancient Greek and Latin literature in the public university, and at the same time I was the managing editor in the cultural section of a daily newspaper. I had never worked in government. I did not have the preparation of a diplomat nor the mentality of a government official. It is astounding and surprising to think how I accepted that great responsibility. There are perhaps two explanations that complement each other.

In particular, my young age and lack of experience did not teach me to have doubts in myself, but provided courage to the level of foolishness. I was also one of those who led the rally of protesters who were overthrowing one of the cruelest dictatorships in the world. Participation in a revolution is a unique adventure for a person. He enters a road that can lead him to victory, but there are greater chances that he will end up moving towards death. This face-to-face situation with extreme risks creates a certain euphoria that sometimes persists even after the end of the revolution. I was, apparently, under the influence of this euphoria when I made the decision to lead the Albanian mission in Paris.

This euphoria naturally vanished as soon as I wore the suit of the Ambassador. Then, I truly understood the situation I had just entered. Albania was emerging from an isolation that lasted half a century. Everything had to be built up from ground zero. Although diplomatic relations with France existed, we did not inherit a single official agreement of bilateral cooperation. It needed to be accomplished, and quick. This meant the drafting and signing between the two countries of hundreds of documents related to political, diplomatic, economical, cultural, and scientific cooperation. It was a great deal of work.

However, it did not only involve technical work. Through its long isolation, Albania, although in the heart of Europe, had remained a forgotten country. There is nothing worse for an ambassador than receiving from his counterpart questions like: Where is your country located? Hundreds of times I had to make basic geographic explanations to my counterparts: Albania is in southeast Europe, north of Greece, in front of Italy and so forth. I am referring to well-educated people who are very well-informed. But they thought of Albania as a former Soviet Republic hidden in the mountains of the Caucasus. Confidence had to be earned with such people so they would accept my country as a partner. Gaining their sympathy was crucial in order to use their power and fast track the process of signing the bilateral agreements. We had no time to waste. I must say, that besides the drafting of agreements, there was also a great deal of work to be done in “public relations.”

The embassy that I was heading did not cover France only. I was also non-resident Ambassador to Spain and Portugal, with whom we had just recently established diplomatic relations. The same tasks completed with France needed to be addressed with these two European countries, which were very important for us not only in establishing bilateral relations but also given their position as member countries of the European Council, NATO, and the European Union. In such international institutions we aspired to become members as soon as possible, Portugal’s and Spain’s support towards our membership in NATO and the European Union was crucial and very important. With these two countries we intensified our diplomatic relations through their respective embassies in Paris; however, communication with Spain and Portugal was much easier than that with France. Both of these countries had spent most of the twentieth century under dictatorships and it was natural for them to understand even better the challenges of a young democracy such as our country. After two years, in 1994, we opened an embassy in Madrid, Spain. However, I continued to be Albania’s non-resident Ambassador in Portugal until July, 1997, a time when I resigned from Foreign Service in order to become a Member of Parliament.

In order to fully answer your question, it must be added that all this work was managed with a limited budget. On my team there were only two diplomats, until a third foreign officer and a driver joined us later. Every day I would answer the phone to people who wanted to speak with the Ambassador’s secretary. They would not believe that I did not have a secretary. They became confused on the other side of the telephone when I told them with whom they were speaking and they could not find a word to excuse themselves for disturbing me. I wanted to laugh many times.

Communism left the country in very poor economic shape. To give an example: in August 1992, when I took up the position, my salary was $470 USD a month. You can imagine the salary of the rest of my team! This poverty not only affected the daily lives of the diplomats, it also brought many bothersome challenges to the functioning of the embassy itself. I will give you another example: the first French person that I received at the office of the Ambassador was the landlord of the building where our embassy was headquartered. The Albanian government did not pay the embassy’s rent for 13 months in a row and I had to negotiate with the landlord. What was I going to do when the embassy’s bank account was empty? A challenging start for such a beautiful mission, right!

But all these difficulties are not going to be faced by any other generation of Albanian diplomats, and these will remain as fascinating memories.

Tase: How would you describe bilateral relations between Albania and the United States through the last 20 years?

Mustafaj: The restoration of diplomatic relations between the Albanian Government and the United States in the beginning of 1991 was for the Albanian people an authentic return to their long lasting fondness for this country [the US], violently disavowed for 45 years.
After it ascended into power, one of the first actions of isolationism undertaken by Enver Hoxha’s Stalinist government was the one-sided brutal interruption of all relations with the United States.

The deep gratitute the Albanian nation has always nurtured towards the American people is fundamentally related to the defining role that president Woodrow Wilson and the United States played in the defense of Albania’s territorial integrity, and its independence proclamation at the end of the World War I. Our Stalinist regime was convinced that the great affection for the United States in the hearts of every Albanian was simultaneously tied to the sacred American values which refuse a reconciliation with tyranny at every cost. In order to defend his regime, our dictator broke these diplomatic ties with Western countries right at the beginning, blindly hoping that he was cutting apart forever all the ligaments that connected our two nations. But history proved that he failed. In Spring 1991, right after the first democratically-held elections, Albania was visited by US Secretary of State James Baker III, who was welcomed in Tirana’s main square by one million Albanians or one third of Albania’s population. It was an inconceivable crowd. In June 2007, our country was visited by US President George W. Bush, and his visit was indeed an extraordinary celebration by all Albanians across the country.

Therefore, in these two decades of bilateral diplomatic relations, the United States has mentored and carefully supported the Albanian people with great affection through a very difficult process of developing the rule of law, the promotion of free markets and enterprise, and the integration of NATO and the EU. Albania is a European country and its major future objective is to become a member of the European Union. On Albania’s long democratic transition, the United States has encouraged and assisted the Albanian government in implementing substantial legislative reforms that will assist its full integration into the European Union. By the same token, Washington has played an exceptional role in supporting the legitimate and decisive solution on the final status of Kosovo. To summarise, in these two decades, the United States has regained the privileged status of becoming a strategic ally not only for the Republic of Albania, but for all Albanians in the Balkans who reside in the Republic of Kosovo, and the Republics of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. In as little time as two decades, Albania’s strategic relations with the US have prospered tremendously.

Tase: What are some accomplishments of Albanian Foreign Policy during your tenure as a Foreign Affairs Minister?

Mustafaj: I was confirmed as a Foreign Minister in the first Berisha government established by the June 2005 general elections. Our great objective was to rapidly pressure ahead the integration of Albania into NATO and the EU. These two processes, vital for the future of democracy in Albania, were almost suspended by the previous administration, whose lack of reforms had further deteriorated the communication with our European and US Partners. Without getting into details, it must be emphasized that our objective was accomplished. Within a few months, in February 2006, with the presence of European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, the Association and Stabilization Agreement of Albania and the European Union was signed in Tirana. Equally important, in April 2008, at the NATO Summit of Bucharest, Albania was invited to became a full member country of NATO. In the meantime, I had resigned as a foreign minister a few months earlier and did not have the privilege of participating in the conclusion ceremony of this process, for which I worked for a long time with great passion.

Another matter of great priority was the situation in Kosovo. In Fall 2005, the UN Security Council decided to open negotiations for the final status of Kosovo and appointed former Finnish President, Maarti Ahtisari, as the leader of the negotiating team. Albania had to play a special role in this process. I was fully immersed in it, and encouraged the Albanian leaders of Kosovo to favor the negotiations; I encouraged them to be realists in their initial requests and become truly cooperative with the international community. I was convinced that independence was inevitable and the best choice for the future of Kosovo as well as for sustained peace in the Balkans. I was one of the first to articulate that the feasible solution would be “conditioned independence.” Kosovo’s majority population would accomplish their dream – their country’s independence – but, this majority would respect the rights of Serbian minorities in the future. While agreeing to conditions, the majority of Albanians in Kosovo showed that they were ready for independence. I am delighted to know that my prediction came true in the closure of this process.

Tase: What are some of the fundamental challenges that Sali Berisha’s administration is facing with Albania’s integration in the European Union?

Mustafaj: Mr. Berisha’s government is currently facing major challenges, such as: a war against corruption; the implementation of fair competition in a free market system; transparency; developing efficient, non-political public administration personnel elected on the basis of merit; and implementing reforms to ensure an independent justice system and an effective war against organized crime. This list of recommendations is not mine, but comes from the European Commission, which is monitoring the recent developments in Albania. In its quarterly assessments, the European Commission noted a rising level of criticism of Berisha’s government for its inability to face these challenges. Indeed, I am worried by this low performance.

Tase: You spent a month in Milwaukee. What do you think of UWM’s English as a Second Language program, the city’s urban development, and its suburbs?

Mustafaj: A month in Milwaukee was a great opportunity for me to become familiar with the ESL program at UWM as well as visit the city and surrounding neighborhoods. I have repeated to many people how I enjoyed my visit and I am leaving with a desire to return again.

Of course, you expect a more detailed response. As you may know, I retired from politics in order to dedicate myself to writing and other exciting projects, which I enjoy more than politics. One of these projects is my role as Senior Adviser for International Cooperation to the President of American University in Tirana. This is a new, private university with a great ambition to become, very soon, one of the top universities in southeastern Europe. Our goal is that in the near future, the official teaching language at the American University of Tirana will be English. Therefore, we need a English language preparatory program for new students. ESL programs are suitable for such a purpose. Once I return to Albania, I will inform the president of American University of Tirana about this positive experience. I believe that it will be a window of opportunity to open such a program in Albania. I am convinced that we would gain value by implementing this program in cooperation with an American university that has extensive experience and qualified human resources. Thousands of Albanians, mainly young students, pass TOEFL examinations every year. The American University of Tirana can be established as a center of preparation for such an exam. Launching an ESL program goes beyond the needs of our university; indeed, it will benefit Albanian society as a whole.

Albanian society is young and at the beginning of its road towards developing freedom. Almost one third of Albanians are students. Our capital, Tirana, has experienced rapid growth in the last 20 years. Its number of inhabitants have quadrupled as a result of the freedom of citizens to move towards the nation’s capital; under dictatorship the right to change your residence location without a government permission was prohibited by law.

We have experienced a true revolution in terms of the urban development of Tirana and its suburbs. It is hard if not impossible to guide such a dynamic evolution in a proper direction through politics alone. It is necessary to gather the efforts of all factors of civil society that are part of this development. Schools in general and universities in particular are determining factors for urban development. In this context, faculty and staff at the American University of Tirana are aware that it should immediately reposition itself away from the traditional role of an institution headed towards the future through educating young generations that will lead our country tomorrow. Instead, we aspire for our university to become an integral part of today’s urban and cultural development in the capital and its provinces. Precisely from this point of view, we are interested to know firsthand the experience of a university such as UWM, as well as other American universities with whom we hope to establish partnershipa in fields of scientific research as well as to intertwine lectures focused on the challenges currently confronted by Tirana.

This would be an immense help in accelerating the modernization of our country, but I also believe that it would be fruitful for partnering universities here in the United States. American students would have a new experience and also share their experience with a generation of young Albanians, opening a window to their interest to study in the United States. As a former diplomat, I would add that it is in the long-term strategy of the United States to support the formation of new elites in partner countries as a way of fostering and establishing strong ties of pro-American friendship in the world.

Tase: What can the Albanian Government learn from the US administration to improve its domestic policy?

Mustafaj: Your question reminds me again of the recommendations of the European Union to the Albanian govenment. The United States and European Union member countries depend on the same values. Therefore, the Albanian government, in order to improve its domestic policy, can refer to the long history of US governments that established reforms to guarantee the rule of law, and drafted vital legislative reforms for improving the lives of all citizens.

The article Interview With Besnik Mustafaj, Former Foreign Minister Of Albania appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Shenali Waduge

If the international community were to raise the issue of the lack of effective legislative protection for animals in Sri Lanka incorporating modern standards of treatment of animals, in addition to their never-ending spotlight on the country’s human rights track record, Sri Lanka’s politicians and law makers will have nowhere to turn. We will become a pariah state overnight in world councils and will be placed in the same category of ‘failed’ states that lack a moral and ethical foundation for proper governance. We must realize even now that the subject of animal welfare can no longer be sidelined without paying a heavy price particularly in respect to a country’s international image.

With over 70% of the population being Buddhist it is a national shame that our elected representatives have fallen shy of enacting the Animal Welfare Bill tabled in Parliament in 2010 as a Private Member’s Bill and which has its genesis in the Animal Welfare Bill drafted and approved by the Law Commission in 2006.

It is disgraceful and morally indefensible that our law makers have descended to this low level of indifference and neglect towards the welfare of animals. Due to our pro- crastination, we have moved very close in this respect to several Islamic nations like Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan that by deliberate choice refuse to provide legislative protection to animals. In their view, animals are there to serve the needs of man (and woman) as prescribed in their religious texts and therefore how one treats animals is none of the business of the state. To us in Sri Lanka these are unenlightened attitudes which go against the grain of Buddhist thinking and practice, but it is the sad reality of today, that it is these unenlightened views that increasingly shape both public policy and law making in this country. A far cry from the noble principles of governance prescribed in the Dasa Raja Dharma (Ten Royal Qualities) and Avihimsa (non- harm to other living beings) being one of them.

While our law makers drag their feet over this proposed new bill of law, thousands of animals both in captivity and wilderness continue to suffer and die. In turn, Sri Lanka has unnecessarily gained huge amounts of negative media coverage, tourist literature critical of treatment of animals in Sri Lanka and condemnation from animal welfare groups based locally and overseas because of our Parliament’s almost total disregard for animal welfare. The Parliament of Sri Lanka has further become conspicuous in comparison to the legislatures in several other countries by the marked absence of voices in Parliament dedicated to the noble advocacy of calling consistently for better treatment and protection of animals.

The need to enact the Animal Welfare Bill is further strengthened by an international Petition sponsored by the Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA) which was launched in the USA recently and gathering momentum the world over, calling for the immediate enactment of the Animal Welfare Bill in Sri Lanka.

http://dharmavoicesforanimals.org/petitions/

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Justice excludes animal welfare from law reform initiatives

It is relevant to pose the question, what sort of legislative reform is the Ministry of Justice supposed to be undertaking when the primary legislation in Sri Lanka governing the protection and welfare of animals to this day is an antiquated statute enacted in 1907 during the British colonial era i.e. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, where the maximum punishment for a heinous crime committed on an animal is a mere Rs. 100 (less than one US Dollar)? This is hardly a deterrent to combat animal cruelty.

What explanation can the Ministry of Justice give for this wanton neglect of an important area that is deserving of law reform attention given Sri Lanka’s close association historically and culturally with care and concern for the welfare of all living creatures.

At present three countries offer specific protection in their respective states Constitutions for the protection of animals, namely India, Germany and Switzerland. The Constitution of India prohibits the slaughter of cows and declares the existence of a fundamental duty on the part of every Indian Citizen to have compassion for living creatures. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany imposes a responsibility on the State to enact appropriate legislation to protect the natural foundation of life and animals. The Federal Constitution of Swiss Confederation recognizes animals as sentient beings and places a responsibility on the State to legislate for the protection of animals.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka

In contrast, the Constitution of Sri Lanka h as failed to establish or declare animal welfare principles. This is a huge disappointment. Despite Buddhism’s clear acceptance of the sentience of animals and Arahant Mahinda’s resounding call to King Devanampiyatissa in their very first encounter at Mihintale, 2300 years ago in the following words:

““Oh! Great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the peoples and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it.”

which had a dramatic impact and together with other Buddhist moral injunctions helped formulate the ethical foundations of public policy and governance strenuously followed by all 180 Buddhist kings who ruled Sri Lanka, the post – independence Government s of Sri Lanka have miserably failed to live up to the high ideals followed by the pre-colonial rulers of Sri Lanka.

The Mahavamsa (Sri Lanka’s ancient chronicle) records in great detail the noble conduct of our past rulers and extols righteousness, justice, piety and the need to strive for human perfection with love and compassion towards all, both human and non – human.

There is no need for any further delay in the enactment of the Animal Welfare Bill. We must not allow the religious bigotry of a few with different, dangerous and extremist beliefs and agendas including members in the Cabinet to stand in the way of t he State establishing a Dharmishta society where a Buddhist Social Order prevails like in the days of our ancient Buddhist Kings who upheld righteousness and projected themselves as role models of piety to the subjects.

The article Sri Lanka’s National Shame: Lack Of Effective Modern Legislation To Protect Animals appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , who is now in Sri Lanka to attend CHOGM 2013 met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre this Friday evening.

According to the Sri Lanka government, Prime Minister Cameron expressed his satisfaction on the manner CHOGM 2013 has been organized. He said he did not believe the idea of boycotting the meeting as some proposed.

Referring to his visit to the North today, the UK Prime Minister noted that much progress has been made since the end of the conflict four years ago. He described holding elections to the Northern Provincial Council as a very positive step toward reconciliation.

However, he said that there are still several concerns to be addressed relating to displaced persons, land issues, military presence in the Province and devolving powers to the newly elected Council.

President Rajapaksa, in response, explained that an enormous amount of work has been done in terms of resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the conflict. In order to reach consensus on political matters a Parliamentary Special Committee (PSC) has been established for all parties concerned to air their views and reach a settlement.

“The PSC is the best forum for the purpose”, observed the President.” As it is now only four years since the end of the conflict the country needs some more time to overcome all major challenges”, he stressed.

William Hague, Foreign Secretary and John Rankin, the UK High Commissioner in Sri Lanka accompanied Prime Minister Cameron.

The article UK Prime Minister Cameron Meets Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Rwandan President Paul Kagame met on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 this evening (Nov. 16) at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre (SBMEC).

President Kagame thanked President Rajapaksa and the government for the arrangements that have been put in place for hosting CHOGM. The two leaders continued to discuss matters affecting both their countries.

“We have a good understanding of some of the issues,” President Kagame said while noting that he looks forward to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

President Rajapaksa invited President Kagame to return to Sri Lanka for an official visit to which the Rwandan President replied by saying that he would be “happy to be back” to get a better understanding of the country.

Several other dignitaries from Rwanda accompanied President Kagame.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Mr. Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga and Secretary of the Minister of External Affairs Mr. Karunatilake Amunugama accompanied President Rajapaksa.

The article Leaders Of Sri Lanka And Rwanda Meet On Sidelines Of CHOGM 2013 appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By SA News

The South African Revenue Services (Sars) has seized the assets of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir as well as that of his family and companies linked to him.

The court order was served on Krejcir this afternoon.

Sars this week obtained a court order placing all of Krejcir’s assets – and those of his family and associates – under the control of a curator, following a preservation order issued by the high court in Pretoria.

Sars acted in terms of the Tax Administration Act based on the view that Krejcir owes more than R59-million in taxes, penalties and interest.

The court order also granted seizure of control of the assets of 15 other entities linked to Krejcir, including his wife and son.

The seizures form part of a provisional preservation order –obtained yesterday — which is pending a hearing on 2 December.

The article South Africa Seizes Assets Of Czech Fugitive Radovan Krejcir appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By SA News

Hostilities between government troops and the main opposition party, Renamo, in Mozambique could have a negative impact on regional stability, International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim has warned.

Speaking to reporters during a regular briefing on international developments, Ebrahim stressed South Africa’s conviction that only dialogue can solve the current situation of confrontation.

He said South Africa insists on peace, stability and security in that country.

In recent weeks, there have been sporadic clashes between Renamo and the military.

The former rebel movement is at loggerheads with the Frelimo government, accusing it of not honouring the Rome peace agreement they signed in 1992. Renamo is demanding the scrapping of the existing electoral law, arguing that it allows the government to rig elections. Renamo has lost all the elections since it laid its arms down to stop the 16-year civil war against Frelimo, which has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Renamo also accuses Frelimo of discriminating against its party members and sympathisers, all accusations rejected by President Armando Guebuza’s government.

There have been fears that people’s safety could be compromised if they visit that country. However, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Mozambique, Charles Nqakula, last week assured South African tourists that the southern parts of Mozambique are safe to travel.

Ebrahim advised South Africans who are working or studying in Mozambique to add their names on the Registration of South Africans Abroad (ROSA) system.

There has been an outcry from all corners of Mozambique, including religious groups and politicians, that Guebuza and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama must meet to resolve the crisis for good.

But there is doubt about the whereabouts of Dhlakama since he fled an attack on his bush home in Satunjira in the central province of Sofala on October 21.

It was on that basis that Guebuza had invited Dhlakama for talks in Maputo last week, but Dhlakama did not appear and it is unclear whether the invitation ever reached him.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders have expressed concerns and strongly condemned the acts of violence perpetrated by Renamo.

Madagascar gears up for second round of elections

Meanwhile, the South African government has commended the peaceful manner in which the elections were held in Madagascar.

South Africa also called upon all political and other stakeholders in Madagascar to demonstrate political maturity and tolerance going into the second round of the presidential and legislative elections on 20 December.

Pretoria said this was a crucial period to successfully conclude the full implementation of the SADC Roadmap, restoring constitutional normalcy in Madagascar.

Madagascar is set to hold a second round of presidential elections after no candidate won over 50 percent in last month’s first round vote.

Candidate Jean Louis Robinson took the lead with 21.1 percent in the first round, followed by Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who garnered 15.9 percent, according to the Independent National Election Commission (CENIT)

“Government wishes to call on all stakeholders and the people of the Republic of Madagascar to approach both the second round of the presidential elections and the simultaneous legislative elections on 20 December 2013 in the same constructive, calm and responsible manner in order to foster national unity, nation building, reconciliation and political tolerance in the interests of the greater good of the Malagasy nation,” said Ebrahim.

The article South Africa Reiterates Call For Mozambique Talks appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Trend News Agency

By Nana Kirtzkhalia

The current president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili left presidential residence a day before the expiration of the term of his office.

Inauguration of the new Georgian president, the representative of “Georgian dream” coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, will take place on Sunday in Tbilisi.

Saakashvili’s administration leaves the residence together with him.

“All our things has been taken out, this is our last working day in the residence”, – head of the presidential administration Andro Barnovi said.

Earlier, Saakashvilli and his family left a state paid cottage in the suburbs of Tbilisi and moved into an apartment. Saakashvili announced that he temporarily leaves the politics.

The article Georgia: Mikheil Saakashvili Leaves Presidential Residence appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By IDN

By Ramesh Jaura

More than 50,000 nuclear weapons have been eliminated since the historic Reykjavík Summit between the then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his counterpart from the erstwhile Soviet Union  Mikhail Gorbachev, which culminated into a groundbreaking Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in December 1987. But 17,300 nukes remain, threatening many times over the very survival of human civilization and most life on earth, as the 2013 Nagasaki Appeal points out.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) estimates that nine countries possess nuclear weapons: United States (7,700 warheads), Russia (8,500), Britain (225), France (300), China (250), Israel (80), India (between 90 and 110), Pakistan (between 100 and 120) and North Korea (10).

Five European nations – Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Turkey – host U.S. nuclear weapons on their soil as part of a NATO nuclear-sharing arrangement. Roughly two dozen other nations – Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, and Spain – claim to rely on U.S. nuclear weapons for their security. Furthermore, there are some 40 nations with nuclear power or research reactors capable of being diverted for weapons production.

According to experts, the spread of nuclear know-how has increased the risk that more nations will develop the bomb. And this despite the fact that “the danger of nuclear annihilation, by accident, miscalculation or design continues to cast a dark shadow over humanity’s future”.

In addition, states the Nagasaki Appeal, the failure of the nuclear weapon states to achieve more progress toward a nuclear weapons free world is undermining the legitimacy of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The Appeal warns: “The nuclear weapon states’ repeated delays in fulfilling their ‘unequivocal’ commitment to nuclear disarmament has discredited the nonproliferation regime and may destroy it.”

The landmark Nagasaki Appeal emerged from the 5th Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, November 2-4, 2013 in Nagasaki – the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack along with Hiroshima 68 years ago. Citizens of Nagasaki have continued their tradition of convening such Global Citizens’ Assemblies, which they have held every few years since the year 2000.

Participants in the Assembly included representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and scientists from Japan and abroad. They heard again the voices of hibakusha, survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and their urgent appeal that the elimination of nuclear weapons becomes a reality while they are still alive. They also listened to hopeful voices of young people accepting responsibility for achieving and maintaining a world without nuclear weapons.

An eminent participant and speaker – as in previous four meetings as an invited guest of the city of Nagasaki – was David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, who has participated in the drafting of all the Nagasaki Appeals.

Krieger said in an email comment forwarded to IDN: “The 2013 Nagasaki Appeal is an extraordinary document. It reflects the spirit of Nagasaki, the second of two atomic bombed cities on the planet, and the desire of its atomic bomb survivors to assure that Nagasaki remains the last city ever to suffer such a tragedy. I believe the Appeal should be read by every citizen of Earth and studied by young people everywhere.”

One highlight of the Appeal, said Krieger is that it takes note of the nuclear power accident at Fukushima, Japan in March 2011: “The fear and suffering of Fukushima citizens for their health and life renewed our recognition of the danger of radioactivity, whether from nuclear weapons or nuclear energy. The experiences of Fukushima and the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima have shown us that the effects of nuclear disasters are uncontrollable in time and space,” states the Appeal.

Reasons for hope

Despite “daunting challenges,” the Appeal finds there are reasons for hope, among which is the renewed international attention to the devastating humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. It also found that reliance upon nuclear deterrence for national security is “delusional,” in a world in which human security and global security are threatened by nuclear weapons, said Krieger.

Describing the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, the resolution adopted in November 2011 by the Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement identified the need to “conclude … negotiations to prohibit the use of and completely eliminate nuclear weapons through a legally binding international agreement.”

The humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons have been discussed in the United Nations General Assembly since 2010, and at preparatory committee meetings for the 2015 NPT Review Conference. Moreover, the government of Norway hosted an international conference in Oslo in March 2013 on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. A follow-on meeting, will be hosted by the government of Mexico in February 2014.

Krieger highlighted another aspect of the Nagasaki Appeal, which calls for “a series of concrete actions, including commencing negotiations on the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons; the US and Russia taking unilateral and bilateral nuclear disarmament measures; phasing out of reliance on nuclear weapons in the security policies of all countries; having greater citizen participation in nuclear abolition campaigns; establishing new nuclear weapon-free zones; aiding the victims of Fukushima; and learning the lesson that humanity cannot continue to rely upon nuclear energy any more than it can rely upon nuclear weapons.”

The Appeal states: “The accident at Fukushima has taught us that we cannot continue to rely upon nuclear energy.” It recalls that Senji Yamaguchi brought the hibakusha’s experience of the atomic bomb to the United Nations in 1982, when he declared: “No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis, No more Hibakusha, No More War!”, adding: The accident at Fukushima requires the addition of “No More Fukushimas!”

The Appeal also offers some specific advice to the Japanese government based upon its special responsibilities as the world’s only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons, said Krieger. “These responsibilities include: coming out from under the US nuclear umbrella; providing leadership to achieve a nuclear weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia; demonstrating leadership for nuclear weapons abolition; and seeking and welcoming international assistance in controlling the radiological crisis at Fukushima.”

The Appeal points out that leaders of 532 local authorities in Japan have expressed support for a nuclear weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia, as did 83 Japanese and South Korean parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in a joint statement on July 22, 2010. In September 2013, the President of Mongolia indicated his country’s interest in exploring the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia at the United Nations General Assembly.

To demonstrate leadership, says the Appeal, Japan should take advantage of the opportunity presented by the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Hiroshima in April 2014. Japan, it says, should also urge political leaders and government officials who will participate in the G20 Summit that will be held in Japan in 2016 to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Further: The participants in the Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly pledge to continue “utmost efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons”, and aver: “Nagasaki must be the last A-bombed city.” This, notes Krieger, is a necessary goal for humanity and for the future. “It is the great challenge that confronts all of us living on the planet in the Nuclear Age. Nagasaki is doing its part to lead the way. They need our voices and our commitment to succeed.”

Concrete steps

For this to become reality, the Appeal recommends a series of tangible steps – most of which have been proposed by Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda in his peace proposals – including:

The call for negotiations on the comprehensive prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons to start in 2014, and for these negotiations to be supported by the NPT Review Conference in 2015 and the High Level Conference proposed to take place no later than 2018.

Significant reductions by the U.S. and Russia in their strategic and non-strategic, deployed and un-deployed nuclear stockpiles through bilateral or unilateral measures, and halt on development and modernization of nuclear weapons systems by all nuclear-armed countries, paving the pathway to reallocating USD 100,000,000,000 per year to meeting social and economic needs.

Phasing out the role and significance of nuclear weapons in the military and foreign policies of nuclear-armed countries and those countries that rely on nuclear umbrellas, and stigmatizing nuclear weapons, by enacting national legislation and divesting from nuclear weapons industries.

Greater citizen participation and the engagement of young people around the world in campaigns for the elimination of nuclear weapons, such as Mayors for Peace, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND), the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons (Abolition 2000), the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

Ramesh Jaura is global editor of IDN and its sister publication Global Perspectives, chief editor of IPS Germany as well as editorial board member of Other News. He is also executive president of Global Cooperation Council,board member of IPS international and global coordinator of SGI-IPS project for strengthening public awareness of the need to abolish nukes.

The article Nagasaki Meet Recommends Concrete Steps For Nuke Abolition – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Latinamerica Press

The Colombian state apologized to victims of the operation to recapture the Palace of Justice which had been taken by the guerrilla organization April 19 Movement (M19) in 1985.

During the 49th period of extraordinary sessions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which took place in Brasilia from Nov. 11-14, the director of the National Agency of Juridical Defense of the Nation, Adriana Guillén, recognized the responsibility of the state regarding the events 28 years ago which are known as the “Palace of Justice Holocaust .”

“The Colombian state apologizes to the victims and their families,” said Guillén. “We profoundly regret that state acts and failure to act have deepened the wounds caused by the events.”

On Nov. 6, 1985, during the so called Operation Antonio Nariño for the Rights of Man, 35 members of M19 occupied the Palace of Justice and took around 350 hostages. The incursion was immediately met by the army which started a recapture operation that lasted 27 hours and resulted in the building’s destruction.

During the operation about a hundred people lost their lives, among them judges, senior civil servants, clerks, visitors and guerrilla fighters, while 12 people disappeared. In 2005 a truth commission (TC) was formed which held M19, the then president Belisario Betancur (1982-86) and the army responsible for the events. The latter’s action was considered as “disproportionate “ and according to the TC it did not try to save the hostages.

Punishment for people involved

According to the report of the TC it was proven that persons detained alive by the military died or disappeared.

“Once the catastrophe was over, the military did not only impede that basic procedures of criminal investigation were conducted but burned corpses, washed others, took away their clothes, and ordered some fire fighters to take them away from the site of crime together with material proof some of which was just swept away, thus destroying traces and important evidence. Later on the corpses were brought to a forensic institute in a chaotic manner diverging thus from basic technical norms, where it was also not permitted to conduct all the necessary autopsies as it was ordered to move them to mass graves,” stated the TC.

The president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, José de Jesús Orozco welcomed the “partial recognition” of the Colombian state concerning its responsibility in the events although he pointed out that “concrete juridical consequences of this recognition are still outstanding .”

“The current approach of the Colombian state is positive,” but “incomplete” and it [the state] is still not done with answering “the imperatives of justice and of human rights,” he said. “It is confirmed that after the recapture of the Palace physical and psychological torture took place. The cases of torture and forced disappearances continue to be unpunished [and] although some military have been condemned no punishment has been imposed until this day.”

Pilar Navarrete, wife of one of the 12 missing people demanded sentences for people responsible for these deeds.

“It can’t be denied that executions, torture, forced disappearances and concealment evidence was undertaken deliberately,” she stated at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The article Colombia Government Apologizes For Palace Of Justice Holocaust appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

Pakistan’s government should ensure that its proposed National Refugee Law meets international standards for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said. Pakistan has hosted 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees for more than 30 years, while another 1 million remain unregistered.

In July 2013, the Pakistani government created a cabinet committee on Afghan refugees to implement the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees, a regional policy arrangement with Afghanistan, Iran, and the United Nations refugee agency. The strategy supports repatriation, sustainable reintegration, and assistance to host countries of Afghan refugees. However, the Pakistani government has not released any details of its proposed refugee law nor has it made a commitment to ratify the UN Refugee Convention, which sets standards for the treatment of refugees.

“The Pakistani government has an opportunity with its proposed refugee law to create a legal framework to protect millions of people,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director. “This law is an important test of the government’s commitment to ensure that domestic legislation meets international standards.”

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which took office in June, has announced several measures to protect Afghan refugees in the country. These include extending Proof of Registration Cards cards for Afghan refugees, which had been due to expire in June, until December 2015. The cards, which act as proof of legal residence and refugee status, permit access to banking services, driver’s licenses, and overseas money transfers. The government also instructed Pakistan’s provincial governments and law enforcement agencies to avoid harassing Afghan refugees by accepting existing refugee cards as valid until updated cards were issued.

The 1951 convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol provides various protections for refugees, including a prohibition on the return of refugees to any territory where their life or freedom would be threatened. The convention has been ratified by 145 countries.

“The safety and security of refugees in Pakistan boils down to one registration card,” Hasan said. “In extending these cards for 30 months, the new government has shown a willingness to treat refugees humanely and with dignity. It should now take the next step and establish legal protections.”

The article Pakistan: New Refugee Law Should Meet Global Standards, Says HRW appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Eurasia Review

A normally fragile quantum state has been shown to survive at room temperature for a world record 39 minutes, overcoming a key barrier towards building ultrafast quantum computers.

The research, published in the journal Science, was led by Mike Thewalt (Simon Fraser University, Canada), with involvement from researchers at UCL and Oxford University, and material provided from collaborating institutes in Berlin.

In conventional computers data is stored as a string of 1s and 0s. In the experiment quantum bits of information, known as qubits, were put into a state of superposition in which they can be both 1s and 0 at the same time – enabling them to perform multiple calculations simultaneously. This is normally only possible at very low temperatures.

In the experiment the team used a system in which silicon is ‘doped’ with phosphorus atoms, and information is encoded in the phosphorus atoms’ nuclei. Raising the temperature from -269 °C to 25 °C, the scientists discovered that the superposition states survived at this balmy temperature for 39 minutes. Outside of silicon the previous record for such a state’s survival at room temperature was around two seconds.

“For a few years we’ve known that the nuclear spins for dopant atoms in silicon can be used as a long-lived memory for electron spins, a bit like a computer’s hard disk,” says UCL’s John Morton (London Centre for Nanotechnology), a co-author of the research. “This work shows that removing the electron away from the dopant atom allows the information in the nuclear spin to live even longer – as long as three hours.”

The team even found that they could manipulate the qubits as the temperature of the system rose, and that they were robust enough for this information to survive being ‘refrozen’ (the optical technique used to read the qubits only works at very low temperatures). 39 minutes may not sound particularly long, but since it only takes a tiny fraction of a second to run quantum computations by flipping the spin of phosphorus ions (electrically charged phosphorus atoms), many millions of operations could be carried out before a system like this decays.

“This opens up the possibility of truly long-term coherent information storage at room temperature,” said Mike Thewalt (Simon Fraser University), the lead researcher in this study.

The team began with a sliver of silicon doped with small amounts of other elements, including phosphorus. They then encoded quantum information in the nuclei of the phosphorus atoms: each nucleus has an intrinsic quantum property called ‘spin’, which acts like a tiny bar magnet when placed in a magnetic field. Spins can be manipulated to point up (0), down (1), or any angle in between, representing a superposition of the two other states.

The team prepared their sample at -269 °C, just 4 degrees above absolute zero, and placed it in a magnetic field. They used additional magnetic field pulses to tilt the direction of the nuclear spin and create the superposition states. When the sample was held at this cryogenic temperature, the nuclear spins of about 37 per cent of the ions – a typical benchmark to measure quantum coherence – remained in their superposition state for three hours. The same fraction survived for 39 minutes when the temperature of the system was raised to 25 °C.

“These lifetimes are at least ten times longer than those measured in previous experiments,” says Stephanie Simmons (University of Oxford), who collaborated in the study. “We’ve managed to identify a system that seems to have basically no noise. They’re high-performance qubits.”

There is still some work ahead before the team can carry out large-scale quantum computations. The nuclear spins of the 10 billion or so phosphorus ions used in this experiment were all placed in the same quantum state. To run calculations, however, physicists will need to place different qubits in different states.

The technology also has potential applications outside of computing.

“Quantum mechanics tells us that is physically impossible to make a true copy of a quantum state – which has led to proposals for fundamentally unforgeable banknotes based on keeping quantum systems in superposition states,” says John Morton. “Although quantum money remains a long way off, if these record-breaking coherence times of nuclear spins in silicon could be extended further, they could find use in ultra-secure authentication devices.”

The article Quantum State World Record Smashed appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Arab News

By Alsir Sidahmed

The fast-emerging social media has played a crucial role in the so-called Arab Spring. It is a popular belief that Facebook played a crucial role in the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

Due to the ongoing turmoil in the Arab Spring countries, social media through its real-time coverage has become a major source of information. Despite its growing popularity, social media can in no way be called journalism. That is why, while using crude material provided by social media, most media outlets issue a disclaimer as in most cases the authenticity of the material could not be ascertained.

However, social media reports find their way through as they fill in for the missing link i.e. field reporting, which is almost absent in the countries in turmoil. In the past, foreign media used to fill in the gap. Gone are the days when the foreign media outlets were willing to spend. Interest in foreign news coverage is constantly declining as people in London, New York and Paris are more interested in local news that shape and affect their lives, while at the same time even major news organizations are feeling the pinch the of economic crisis that has greatly affected their performance to such an extent that some went out of business completely. Some have gone online like Newsweek and the Christian Science Monitor. Of late the prestigious Washington Post brand name was bought for only $250 million.

These circumstances have forced many major western media outlets to rely on freelance journalists or local reporters as a way to cut spending. Coverage of what is going on in Syria, for instance, comes mainly from those freelancers. But this attitude comes with a price. And the price in this case is the lack of credible information. One good example is despite the flow of social media news it was not clear who is to be blamed for using chemical weapons in Syria. It took a professional journalist C. Chivers of the New York Times to sniff through the international inspectors’ reports and pinpoint the real culprit, which turned out to be Assad’s regime.

That is why Chivers told a recent conference: “What social media provide is information and journalism is what you do with it.”

Social media is looked at with suspicion for two main reasons. First, it does not apply strict regulatory professional measures to ensure balance, accuracy and other basic rules before releasing reports. The second reason is the growing trend to use social media as a tool for political activism and to lobby for a certain cause. With such an attitude it is easy to highlight or suppress some aspects of the story depending on how that information in the story is serving or undermining the “noble” cause of the activist, who is using Facebook or other tools to further his/her cause.

In the absence of credible information from local media outlets or foreign correspondence or freelancers who cannot cover all the aspects of a certain event, people are left with hardly anything concrete to rely on to know what is happening around them. A quick look at any of the Arab Spring countries could summarize the whole scene in one word “polarization.” Political struggle in those countries is running high and every piece of news is used to support or undermine one viewpoint.

That leads to confusion, which is compounded by the fact that comments in media outlets or by politicians is based on this very unreliable information, which adds to the confusion and that helps explain part of the dilemma engulfing these countries. It is difficult to see democracy flourish in an environment where credible information is sidelined.

In this respect it seems democracy is more than opening up to different views. It is more about allowing more space for accurate, balanced and more professional reporting.

Email: asidahmed@hotmail.com

The article Social Media Vs. Journalism – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Arab News

By Abdulrahman Al-Zuhayyan

When the decision to clamp down on illegal workers in Saudi Arabia was taken, the authorities were fully aware of the magnitude of the problem. They knew very well that there are thousands of expatriates who had either been smuggled into the country, overstayed their Haj or Umrah visas or failed to renew their Iqamas for various reasons. Keeping in view the situation the relevant departments braced for the action and increased their workforce and capabilities to cope with any kind of situation. By the way, this also included construction of decent facilities to house the illegals once they get caught or surrender.

However, the Kingdom had given ample time to the illegals to rectify their status. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah granted a seven-month grace period to these expatriates. At the end of this amnesty, the government machinery swung into action and started carrying out raids on various establishments.

The whole exercise is being carried out without any discrimination against any specific ethnic group. Whatever happened in the Manfouha district in Riyadh has shocked both the Saudis and expatriates.
It is just like any other area in Riyadh. However, majority of the residents in this area are Ethiopians. As part of the ongoing action, when the inspection teams visited the area, it emerged that it was a hub of hundreds of illegal Ethiopians. Instead of complying with the law, they created unrest that resulted in the death of a Saudi and an Ethiopian.

The course taken by Ethiopians was provocative and could have earned the ire of the local population. But no Saudi retaliated.

Commenting on the riots in Manfouha, an expatriate said: “The best part about these riots is that there was no backlash from the Saudis. This shows how much the Saudis respect and follow Islamic values. Nowhere in the world an expat gets away by doing such things. Even the US is prone to racial/revenge attacks on foreigners. The Saudis truly are God-fearing people. Hats off and stay blessed.”

Subsequent events show that the Ethiopians are in a state of denial. They have infiltrated into the country and reportedly committed various crimes. Despite all that the Saudi government and Saudis forgot those crimes and provided them with an opportunity to leave the country without facing the music.

Unfortunately, the Ethiopians paid back the Saudis by creating unrest and leveling allegations against the host country. They accused Saudis of raping Ethiopian maids, brutality against workers and of non-payment of dues. Raping or manhandling anyone is an unacceptable behavior in Saudi and non-Saudi households. Saudis treat their domestic workers as family members. Saudis have been accused of the unthinkable. People leveling such baseless allegations are devoid of moral values. Moreover, this view is inconsistent with the history and religion of this country. The claim that Saudis do not pay their workers on time has become a cliché since the 1980s when Iraq-Iran war broke out due to which the Saudi economy was affected. Yet, it remains a frequent rant, despite the current economic prosperity.

As Saudis, we know that hardly any worker would waive the least amount of his/her monetary entitlement due to the convenient accessibility to plea before the administrative governor of the region or to lodge a complaint at any police station, which are instructed to respond quickly to such cases. Likewise, rape and physical abuse are serious criminal acts with social and legal implications. One would be deterred from engaging in these acts because of the social stigma attached to such behaviors.

Most probably, for these reasons, some maids and workers may have leveled such allegations as a threat to sort out differences with their employers. It is not to say that such incidents can never occur. But nobody has the right to generalize on the basis of isolated incidents.

Diplomatic missions have a key role to play in this regard particularly in the backdrop of the Ethiopian drama. The missions should work in tandem with the Saudi authorities to resolve such issues.

Email: Al_Zuhayyan@Yahoo.com

The article Saudi Arabia: More Efforts Needed To Avoid Another Manfouha – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By COHA

By Erika Johnson

More than a month after the Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador closed down the office of El Salvador’s most important human rights archives, Tutela Legal, and dismissed the employees, the issue of ensuring appropriate custody of the records has yet to be resolved. This article aims to follow up on an earlier report by COHA Senior Research Fellow Frederick B. Mills and Research Associates Thomas Abbot and Ian Kowalski. [1]

In the days and weeks following this surprise closure, public outcry has brought international attention to the inexplicable action taken by the Archdiocese. In the wake of Archbishop José Escobar Alas’ refusal to reverse his decision or to transfer custody of the records to an appropriate human rights body, the families of victims and survivors may be stripped of access to testimonials and other documentation related to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Salvadoran public is crying out for justice, and the nation’s government appears to be listening—at least to an extent. On October 18, a search of the location where the records are currently being stored was conducted after the Salvadoran Attorney General’s office obtained a warrant. The examination specifically targeted 34 of the approximately 50,000 documents for their importance. [2] El Salvador’s Human Rights ombudsman, David Morales, complained that no one from his office was present for the search.

Archbishop Escobar Alas and the Attorney General’s office finally reached an agreement on the need to protect the documents, but there is much debate over what to do with them. El Salvador’s Secretary of Culture attempted to declare the archives “cultural goods,” in order to subsequently make them available to the proper legal authorities. However, Escobar Alas opposed labeling the documents a national patrimony, claiming that such a categorization was unconstitutional. The Archbishop then took the case to the Salvadoran Supreme Court, which ruled that the records would be retained by the Archdiocese for the time being, giving legal legitimacy to the Archbishop’s hold on them. [3] The fate of Tutela Legal’s archives is still up in the air, as the Church maintains that it is the sole owner of the records.

Wounds that Can’t Heal

One year after the 1992 Peace Accords that ended 12 years of civil war, El Salvador’s amnesty law made Tutela Legal’s mission of remembrance even more important by limiting the possibility of justice and reparation for the many human rights violations committed during the nation’s civil war.  However, some cases have been successfully tried in the United States, and one has been referred to the IAHCR. [4] The timing of the closure by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador raised suspicions because it came just 10 days after the Salvadoran Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about the constitutionality of the legislation. In August of 2011, before El Salvador’s usually-conservative Supreme Court was considering repealing the amnesty law, Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas stated:

“I could not imagine if all the cases were opened. When will we live in peace, I do not think this generation wants to spend their lives discussing the past, especially as there are abundant cases committed by both sides … Possibly the Amnesty Law is the most appropriate mechanism to maintain peace.” [5]

The arguments for closing Tutela Legal, taken together, do not appear to be consistent. The reason Escobar Alas initially gave for the shutdown was that Tutela Legal’s personnel had performed “irregular practices” with the organization’s finances. This claim has not been substantiated. The employees of Tutela Legal arrived at work on September 30 to find that the doors to the office were padlocked shut, that they were unemployed, and that they had ten minutes to remove their belongings while being escorted by security guards. The Archbishop then argued that the end of the war had made Tutela Legal functionally irrelevant. Such an argument did not sit well with those hoping to end impunity in El Salvador. [6] Presently, Escobar Alas is saying that the office closed as a result of organizational restructuring and claims that measures are underway for the creation of a new office.

The changing nuances of the Archbishop’s arguments may be related to the immediate and growing push back by El Salvador’s social movements and by the international human rights community. The office’s former employees have not been demoralized; on the contrary, they are now working on opening a new human rights office without the help of the Archdiocese, receiving funding from some of the same international organizations that backed Tutela Legal.

Moving Forward

Despite Monsignor Escobar’s claims that a new office will be opened soon, former employees of Tutela Legal are in the process of forming their own office, to be titled “Tutela Legal Doctora María Julia Hernández,” after the woman who served as director of the office from 1983 to 2007. [9] The venture will be backed by international Catholic aid foundations from nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and France.  Activists in El Salvador, international human rights organizations, and solidarity networks are hoping to obtain further support from the Catholic Church by writing a letter to Pope Francis, who at the time of the closing was aware of efforts being made for the beatification of Archbishop Romero, the founder of Tutela Legal’s predecessor, Socorro Jurídico. [10, see footnote] Whatever promises it makes about protecting the safety and legacy of the archives, the word of the Archdiocese of San Salvador has been seriously compromised and human rights groups are closely monitoring any deterioration of the situation, urging that the integrity and security of the archives be maintained. And no matter what the motives behind the closure may be, hopefully the cumulative effort of the many groups working to get the case files into the hands of a reliable human rights body, rather than the Archdiocese, will be successful, and some of San Salvador’s most treasured archives of rights-related documents will remain intact.

Breaking News:

At 4:30 A.M. on November 14, three armed assailants plundered the Pro-Búsqueda human rights office in San Salvador.  Two security guards were reportedly beaten and tied up while the perpetrators set fire to records and stole computers.  In light of the withholding of Tutela Legal’s 50,000 archives, the attack on Pro-Búsqueda, which holds additional records of El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war, poses further challenges to the preservation of the essential historic memory of the war and any possible termination of the impunity of war criminals that has prevailed in El Salvador since the passage of the Amnesty Law of 1993. While the extent of the damage at Pro-Búsqueda is not yet known, there is concern that the loss may have a strong impact on some of the 1000 open cases and also may compromise any future prosecutions of the perpetrators of the disappearances. The Foundation for the Study of the Application of the Law (FESPAD) has characterized this crime as a “terrorist attack” and the Ombudsman for Human Rights, David Morales, has described it as reminiscent of the war.  A motive has not yet been identified, but it is clear that both events are a threat to the crucial archives of the human rights violations of El Salvador’s civil war.

Pro-Búsqueda was founded by Jesuit Priest Jon de Cortina in 1994 to establish an office that would be charged with searching for children who disappeared during the civil war (1979 – 1992). Thanks to Pro-Búsqueda’s meticulous research, so far 235 children out of the more than 1200 cases referred for investigation have been located and informed about their birth parents. In the large majority of cases, state actors have been implicated in the sale, referral for adoption (mostly in Europe and the United States), or the raising of these children.

Erika Johnson, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

References

[1] http://www.coha.org/tutela-legal-closed-in-el-salvador-amid-concern-over-the-fate-of-valuable-archives/

[2] http://www.laprensagrafica.com/2013/10/22/fiscalia-requiere-34-archivos-de-tutela-legal [3] http://www.cispes.org/topcontent/espanol-protect-romeros-legacy-denounce-closure-tutela-legal/

[4] http://upsidedownworld.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4518:activists-struggle-to-recover-human-rights-archives&catid=35:news-briefs&Itemid=68

[5] http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/10/el-salvador-shutters-historic-rights-clinic-20131010112129327660.html

[6] Ibid, UpsideDownWorld

[7] Ibid.

[8] http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/10/activists-struggle-to-recover-human-rights-archives/

[9] http://tutelalegalmariajh.com/

[10] *Archbishop Romero was murdered while conducting mass on March 24, 1980. Pope Francis is promoting that he be made a saint, says the National Catholic Reporter, which could be fulfilled without the attribution of a miracle if his status as a martyr, which has already been publicly stated by previous popes, is officially confirmed. http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-unblocks-romero-beatification-official-says

The article Human Rights Archives Under Attack In El Salvador – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Observer Research Foundation

By Raghav Sharma

Presidential elections in Afghanistan are scheduled for 5th April 2014. For the third time, Afghans would vote to elect someone to take charge of the fragile Afghan State in the shadow of the impending withdrawal of American and other NATO troops by December 2014. That would mark an unprecedented transition for the polity and political-economy Americans helped craft post 9/11. The Pushto-Darri term ‘Inteqaal’ (transition) alludes neatly to the enigmatic elements implicit in the withdrawal almost set to begin. The foremost compelling challenge would be for the Afghan national troops to hold the military line against an emboldened battle hardened Taliban. And that holding operation would have to rely on the support of an economy decisively dependent on foreign aid. Given the nature of cross border reverberations across the Durand line, the impending Inteqaal is fraught with possibilities of an extreme kind.

The transition about to begin in Kabul also presents a different kind of opportunity to engage afresh with the complex challenges shaped by many decades of violent conflict and foreign intervention. Much would depend on the international community’s will to keep its pledge of continued financial support through the uncertain years of transition. The transition would also test New Delhi’s imagination and effectiveness in being able to engage with a diverse set of political leaders across fluid political lines. Specifically, Inteqaal would put to severe test New Delhi’s skill and strategic will to support the Afghan state and security institutions. As for the West, disengagement from active combat in Afghanistan could soothe nerves in Rawalpindi and Tehran. Finally, Washington’s recent overtures to Tehran could trigger a new regional dynamics and reshape the transition process.

Nomination process for the elections came to a close on 6th October. Twenty-seven candidates have entered the fray. Political battle lines for a bid to the Arg have been drawn. Seemingly unusual political alliances have come to the fore. Perhaps the most perplexing of these is signified by the academic turned politician Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai’s decision to have General Abdul Rashid Dostum as his first vice President. The speculation is that he hopes to corner thereby sizeable number of Uzbek votes. Notably, Dostum after his nomination in an unprecedented move apologized to the Afghan people: “…who were sacrificed due to our policies”. No one can say with certainty whether Dostum’s apology is genuine or an opportunistic move to wash off stains from a past he would now want forgotten to make him politically palatable. The apology nevertheless signals a certain new kind of maturity and restraint in the country’s political process.

That kind of maturity, significant in the long duration, does not mitigate in the slightest the formidable challenge Ashraf Ghani faces. Consider just a minor incidental detail: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is pitted against his brother Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai. The number of possible combinations and balancing equations in this multi-cornered contest strung along several rainbow coalitions is truly staggering. Few had expected Dr. Ghani, who enjoys that rare privilege in Afghan politics of a clean image with impeccable academic credentials, of allying with a political player whose role in the bloody conflict of the 1990′s still rankles. Given Dostum’s key political demand that the Constitution be amended to allow for a system of de-centralised governance in place of the centralised unitary state system currently in place, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah should have been his first logical choice.

Instead, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former foreign minister and a close aide of Ahmad Shah Masood, has teamed up with Muhammad Khan from the legal faction of Gulbuddin Hikmatyar’s Hizb-i-Islami. The two sides fought pitched battles in the 1990′s and in the process brutally destroyed much of Kabul, killing and injuring thousands of civilians. Dr. Abdullah is a typical example of one, of whom Afghans would speak of as du-raga, literally the two veined. His patrilineal descent is Pashtun and his matrilineal descent is Tajik. Upon that accrues his potential to mobilise sizeable support in two key constituencies. Completing the troika here is Muhammad Mohaqiq, an ethnic Hazara, as the second vice-Presidential nominee. Significantly, the late Ahmad Shah Masood’s brother has cast his lot with the other presidential hopeful Zalmai Rasoul, Karzai’s trusted Foreign Minister; widely speculated to be Karzai’s preferred choice to occupy the Arg. Rasoul’s second vice-Presidential nominee is not only a Hazara, but also a woman, Habiba Surobi. She has served as Governor of Bamian province. Rasoul has also taken care to establish good working relations with most major western capitals.

Another notable contender in the race is Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf, an ethnic Pashtun from Paghman and a well-known Salafist. Sayyaf enjoys an excellent line to the Arab world, particularly Riyadh. And that has been crucial for ensuring his political clout. On the ground in Afghanistan, even when the jihad was at its feverish peak, Sayyaf’s forces were regarded as too small to count. Among Kabul’s international backers, Sayyaf’s adherence to Salafist Islam would be a complicating factor were he to make it to the Arg. He has got on board Ismail Khan, the strongman from Herat as his vice-presidential nominee. Other Presidential hopefuls include: Gul Agha Sherzai, a Barakzai Pashtun from Kandahar, who has served as Governor of Kandahar and Nangarhar; former defence minster Abdul Rahim Wardak; President Karzai’s brother Qayum Karzai who has roped in former Minster for Mines Wahidullah Shahrani an ethnic Uzbek, as his first Vice presidential nominee.

Which of these political formations will steal the march is anybody’s guess. However, the emerging political landscape does hold some crucial clues. Consider for instance the large sweeping fact that Afghanistan for the first time in its history appears poised for a political transition through the ballot box. None of the previous Afghan Presidents since 1973 completed their tenure. Karzai is the first one to complete two consecutive terms in office. Grave flaws of the Afghan political process notwithstanding, the simple fact that the nascent Afghan polity is preparing to elect its President for the third time running signifies something significant and exceptional. Notably, even neighbouring Pakistan has taken more than six decades to reach that stage.

Second, the socially heterogeneous composition of political alliances speaks of certain cardinal shifts on the ground. It is easy for sceptics from a distance to dismiss these alliances as purely opportunistic; cynical mobilisation to capture the ultimate prize of political supremacy. Cynicism and opportunism is certainly in play but along with that we need to take note of the grave fact that leaders who fought pitched battles in the past against each other are attempting to work together within a common political framework. That indicates perhaps a small crucial step towards a slow maturity of the political process. Even if one were to concede that these alliances are born entirely of political opportunism, one would still need to account for and explain the kind of support that some of these leaders command in their constituencies.

A large crucial fact that merits strong note and sensitive attention is that political alliances have not followed the neat simplistic “ethnic logic” of the kind often projected as the eternal fact of Afghan social political life. Analytical comments on Afghanistan tend invariably to speak of the conflict in Afghanistan as Pashtuns arrayed in acute unrelenting hostility against the non-Pashtuns. The unfolding elections should make us all pause and rethink the truth and wisdom of such conventional binary oppositions. In fact, it is difficult to meaningfully talk in terms of straightjacketed constituencies of ‘ Pushtuns’ or ‘ Tajiks’, or for that matter even Hazaras.

In the long duration, the kind of recent shifts and changes in the political process taking place bode well for Afghans. Foremost, it would encourage politicians to build support cutting across ethnic constituencies. Externally, for the foreign policy of leading nation states particularly in the Afghan neighbourhood, it could make possible sober engagement with leaders across the political spectrum rather than remain confined to certain ethno-political factions; the invariable pattern in the past.

Finally, the fact that the electoral process continues to attract large active participation of social groups, most notably the Uzbeks and Hazaras who in the past had remained confined to the margins, is enormously significant. It is an indication of their continued faith in an open political system despite its many flaws and distortions. Further, such participation is also reflective of a social transformation engendered by the long years of conflict and the democratic experiment of recent years. It is an apt moment to also take firm political note of the social heterogeneity characteristic of Afghanistan. Also noteworthy in this respect has been the impact of this process on the transformation of the concept of legitimacy itself. Traditionally vested with the Muhammadzai branch of the Durrani Pashtun’s who comprised the ruling line for nearly 200 years. Testimony to this has been the minimal interest generated by candidature of Mohammad Nadir Naeem, nephew of former President Daud Khan.

We need to look beyond the Presidential vote scheduled for 5th April 2014. These elections would not only test equations of military and political power as the NATO forces pull out of Afghanistan, but also the strength and possibility of deeper enduring facts of the Afghan reality.

(The author is with the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt, Germany)

The article Decoding The Afghan Elections – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Robert Reich

Walmart just reported shrinking sales for a third straight quarter. What’s going on? Explained William S. Simon, the CEO of Walmart, referring to the company’s customers, “their income is going down while food costs are not. Gas and energy prices, while they’re abating, I think they’re still eating up a big piece of the customer’s budget.”

Walmart’s CEO gets it. Most of Walmart’s customers are still in the Great Recession, grappling with stagnant or declining pay. So, naturally, Walmart’s sales are dropping.

But what Walmart’s CEO doesn’t get is that a large portion of Walmart’s customers are lower-wage workers who are working at places like … Walmart. And Walmart, not incidentally, refuses to raise its median wage (including its army of part-timers) of $8.80 an hour.

Walmart isn’t your average mom-and-pop operation. It’s the largest employer in America. As such, it’s the trendsetter for millions of other employers of low-wage workers. As long as Walmart keeps its wages at or near the bottom, other low-wage employers keep wages there, too. All they need do is offer $8.85 an hour to have their pick.

On the other hand, if Walmart were to boost its wages, other employers of low-wage workers would have to follow suit in order to attract the employees they need.

Get it? Walmart is so huge that a wage boost at Walmart would ripple through the entire economy, putting more money in the pockets of low-wage workers. This would help boost the entire economy — including Walmart’s own sales. (This is also an argument for a substantial hike in the minimum wage.)

Walmart could learn a thing or two from Henry Ford, who almost exactly a century ago decided to pay his workers three times the typical factory wage at the time. The Wall Street Journal called Ford a traitor to his class but he proved to be a cunning businessman.

Ford’s decision helped boost factory wages across the board — enabling so many working people to buy Model Ts that Ford’s revenues soared far ahead of his increased payrolls, and he made a fortune.

So why can’t Walmart learn from Ford? Because Walmart’s business model is static, depending on cheap labor rather than increased sales, and it doesn’t account for Walmart’s impact on the rest of the economy.

You can help teach Walmart how much power its consumers have: Stand with its workers who deserve a raise, and boycott Walmart on the most important sales day of the year, November 29.

The article Robert Reich: What Walmart Could Learn From Henry Ford – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.