Archive for
July 16th, 2009
Stories
Egyptian Women and a Fresh Outlook on Divorce
Divorce has always been a stigma in the Egyptian society. Today, the winds of change are blowing this away.
Blogger Shaymaa El Gammal blogged about an online radio dedicated to divorced women. Quoting Mahasen Saber, the owner of I want a divorce blog and radio, she wrote:
Quoting Youm7 Newspaper Hayat blogs about the second program saying:
And about the third program she writes:
While the fourth one is:
Blogger Eman Hashim posted a coinciding article entitled “We are to blame”:
و اللى بتخبى حملها على صحبتها العانس الست
و اللى بتفكر فى الحسد و الأر و النبر و تعمله الف حساب عادة الست
اللى ربى الراجل على ان المطلقة دى واحدة هاتموت و تبقى مع اى راجل و لو نص ساعة الست
و اللى قبلت انها عشان كبرت فى السن فمش من حقها تطلب اى طلبات و عادى انها تتجوز متجوز عشان تشتغ له شغالة ست
اللى ربت بنتها انها تقبل اى اهانة فى الخطوبة عشان تتجوز لحسن ده خلاص مفيش عرسان ست
و اللى انضربت قدام ابنها و بنتها و ما قالتش حاجة لحست تتطلق و المطلقة دى سبة … برضه ست
She who hides her pregnancy from her “spinster” friend is a woman.
She who fears the evil eye of another woman is also a woman.
She who brought up the man to believe that a divorcee would do anything to have a man for half an hour is a woman.
She who gave in to despair and agreed to get married to a married man and become his “servant” is a woman.
She who raised her daughter to accept all sorts of insults from her fiancee for fear of ending up outside the marriage institution is a woman.
She who was beaten up in front of her kids and put up with it to avoid the divorce stigma is a woman.
And finally Asser Yasser shared some recent statistics (September 2008) about Egyptian women lest the state of panic over finding a man resides:
Previously it was noted that the ratio was 1 male : 4 females.
Brazil: Plaintiffs try to silence one of the country's leading journalists
At 59 years of age, over 43 of which have been dedicated to his career, Lúcio Flávio Pinto is a prize winning journalist from the Brazilian state of Pará who independently runs the small biweekly Jornal Pessoal [Personal Newspaper, pt]. Reporting as it does on drug trafficking, environmental issues, and political and corporate corruption, as well as media bias and domination, it is no news that Pinto has been subject to a number of lawsuits.
The last piece of news from the courts came on Monday, 7th July, when Judge Raimundo das Chagas Filho ordered the journalist to pay R$ 30,000 (approximately US$15,000) in damages in a civil libel suit to brothers Ronaldo and Romulo Maiorana Jr., principals of the powerful regional media company Organizações Romulo Maiorana, with a two newspapers, two radio stations and a TV channel, affiliated to Globo Network. They had argued that the memory of their father had been damaged by an article published in 2005 in the Jornal Pessoal newspaper, which has now been republished on many blogs.
According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, “the decision is part of a systematic pattern of legal harassment against Pinto, who faces more than 10 lawsuits from powerful plaintiffs”. The CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator, Carlos Lauría, says: “We call on Judge Raimundo das Chagas Filho to overturn the sentence. By suing Pinto, the plaintiffs are trying to silence one of Brazil's leading journalists.” In 2005, Lúcio Flávio Pinto won the CPJ International Press Freedom Award, covering corruption in Brazil's lawless Amazon.
Rose Silveira from Observatório de Imprensa [Press Observatory, pt] brings Pinto's impressive achievements as an independent journalist into focus:
Lúcio Flávio Pinto, de 59 anos, em quatro décadas de jornalismo é um dos profissionais mais respeitados no Brasil e no exterior. Seu Jornal Pessoal resiste, de forma alternativa, há 22 anos, sem aceitar patrocínio ou anúncios, garantindo a independência de seu editor frente aos temas públicos do Pará, sobretudo na seara política. Por sua atuação intransigente frente aos desmandos políticos, às injustiças sociais e ao desrespeito aos direitos humanos, recebeu prêmios internacionais importantes: em 1997, em Roma, o prêmio Colombe d´Oro per La Pace; e em 2005, em Nova York, o prêmio anual do CPJ (Comittee for Jornalists Protection). Além disso, é premiado com vários Esso. É também autor de 14 livros, tendo como tema central a Amazônia; os mais recwentes são Contra o Poder, Memória do Cotidiano e Amazônia Sangrada (de FHC a Lula).
In four decades of journalism, Lúcio Flávio Pinto, 59, has been one of the most respected professionals in Brazil and abroad. His Jornal Pessoal has resisted, in an alternative way, for 22 years, without accepting sponsorship or advertising, ensuring the independence of its editor when it comes to the public issues of Pará, especially in political matters. For his uncompromising action against misuse of politics, social injustice and disrespect of human rights, he has received important international awards: in 1997 in Rome, the Colombe d'Oro per la Pace prize, and in 2005 in New York, the CPJ (Committee for the Protection of Journalists) annual prize. Furthermore, he has been rewarded with several Esso prizes. He is also the author of 14 books, with the Amazon as the central plot: the most recent are Contra o Poder [Against Power], Memória do Cotidiano [Memories of Daily Life] and Amazônia Sangrada (de FHC a Lula) [Bleeding Amazon (from FHC to Lula)].
The Maiorana persecution of Pinto has lasted for 17 years and the news of the sentence imposed on him has shocked many, including Pinto himself. In a letter to his readers, republished on many blogs such as morenocris [pt], Pinto says he is perplexed at the punishment and the Judge's justification of it, which, according to him, has no correspondence with the facts and contemplates only the plaintiffs' version of facts:
O juiz alega na sua sentença que escrevi o artigo movido por um “sentimento de revanche” contra os irmãos Maiorana. Isto porque, “meses antes de tamanha inspiração”, me envolvi “em grave desentendimento” com eles.
O “grave desentendimento” foi a agressão que sofri, praticada por um dos irmãos, Ronaldo Maiorana. A agressão foi cometida por trás, dentro de um restaurante, onde eu almoçava com amigos, sem a menor possibilidade de defesa da minha parte, atacado de surpresa que fui. Ronaldo Maiorana teve ainda a cobertura de dois policiais militares, atuando como seus seguranças particulares. Agrediu-me e saiu, impune, como planejara. Minha única reação foi comunicar o fato em uma delegacia de polícia, sem a possibilidade de flagrante, porque o agressor se evadiu. Mas a deliberada agressão foi documentada pelas imagens de um celular, exibidas por emissora de televisão de Belém.
The Judge argues in his sentence that I wrote the article driven by a “sense of revenge” against the Maiorano brothers. This is because, “months before such an inspiration”, I was involved “in a serious disagreement” with them.
The “serious disagreement” was the assault I suffered, committed by one of the brothers, Ronaldo Maiorano. The assault was behind my back, in a restaurant, where I was having lunch with friends, without any possibility of defense, I was attacked by surprise. Ronaldo Maiorano was covered by two state police officers, acting as his private security guards. He attacked me and left, unpunished, as he had planned. My only reaction was to communicate the fact to the police, without the possibility of catching him red-handed, because the offender had escaped. But the deliberate attack was documented on a mobile phone, and broadcast by a TV channel in Belém.
The article at the center piece of the disagreement was written for a book eight months after the said aggression, and only after publication in Italy was it re-published in Pinto's personal newspaper. Idelber Avelar [pt] pinpoints a more feasible reason for the lawsuit:
Alguns meses depois da agressão, Lúcio foi convidado pelo jornalista Maurizio Chierici a escrever um artigo para um livro a ser publicado na Itália. O texto, eminentemente jornalístico, relatava as origens do grupo Liberal. Em determinado momento, dentro de um contexto bem mais amplo, ele fez referência às atividades de Maiorana pai no contrabando, prática bem comum, aliás, na Região Norte na época. Como se pode depreender da leitura do artigo, nada ali tinha cunho calunioso, posto que – uma vez processado –, Lúcio anexou aos autos toda a documentação que provava a veracidade do que afirmava. (…)
A obra investigativa de Lúcio fala por si própria: veja a qualidade da prosa e da pesquisa que informa o trabalho de Lúcio e julgue você mesmo. O que ele oferece em seus textos, entre muitas outras coisas, é a documentação, história e raízes daquilo que é sabido até mesmo pelos mosquitos do mercado Ver-o-Peso: que n'O Liberal só se publica aquilo que é de interesse da corja dos Marinho.
The investigative work of Lúcio speaks for itself: check the quality of his prose and research that backs up his work and judge for yourself. What he offers in his writings, among many other things, is the documentation, history and roots of what is known even by mosquitoes of the Ver-o-Peso Market: that in the Liberal newspaper only what is of interest to the [Globo TV Network owners] Marinho rabble gets published.
A screenshot of Jornal Pessoal – Pinto's personal newspaper, only recently published online too
The judge also banned Pinto from publishing the names of the Maiorana brothers in Jornal Pessoal, and if he doesn't comply with the judge's decision he can be charged with contempt. Walter Rodrigues [pt] says the fee is surreal considering that Jornal Pessoal has a circulation of only 2,000 papers. He calls it plain censorship:
Segundo a sentença do juiz Raimundo das Chagas Filho, Lúcio Flávio pode muito bem pagar a indenização, por ser dono de um jornal “periódico de grande aceitação pelo público, principalmente pela classe estudantil, o que lhe garante um bom lucro”. O JP, na verdade, vive apenas da venda avulsa, sem assinantes nem anunciantes, praticamente não dá lucro e parou de circular várias vezes, nos últimos 15 anos, por falta de recursos.
A imposição de censura — vedada na Constituição — consiste na proibição de citar negativamente o nome dos Maiorana em matérias futuras, sob pena de multa de mais R$ 30 mil. Já o direito de resposta nunca fora solicitado diretamente ao jornalista, nem este jamais o havia recusado a ninguém.
The imposition of censorship - prohibited in the constitution - is the ban on mentioning the name of the Maiorano family negatively in future pieces, under penalty of a fine of more than R$ 30,000. However, the journalist has never been asked to publish a reply, nor has the opportunity to reply ever been denied.
Ana Célia Pinheiro [pt] agrees, and says that Judge Raimundo das Chagas seems to be “absolutely unprepared for the pursuit of the Judiciary”:
Não pode um juiz pisotear a Constituição e impor a censura prévia, como fez o senhor Raimundo das Chagas em relação ao jornalista Lúcio Flávio Pinto. (…)
Não pode um juiz simplesmente ignorar as provas trazidas aos autos, no afã de transformar a vítima em algoz.
Não pode um juiz esquecer a importância do serviço que presta à coletividade – e não, simplesmente, a alguns.
A judge cannot forget the importance of the service he provides to the community - and not simply to a few.
Marcus Benedito [pt] publishes the full text of the decision and points out a factual discrepancies:
O mesmo artigo 5º da Constituição Federal – CF, que deveria garantir o direito à informação, à liberdade de expressão etc, foi utilizado pela oligarquia Maiorana para condenar Lúcio Flávio Pinto.
Pinto can still appeal against the decision, but while the mainstream media has been incredibly quiet about the sentence, the blogosphere immediately started a campaign to help him to foot the bill (which should be paid in addition to legal costs) and to promote awareness of this example of yet another instance of harassment against independent journalists and bloggers. A new blog [pt] has been created by Lucia Gomes, primarily to gather signatures in solidarity with Lúcio Flávio Pinto. Over 200 people have signed so far. According to the blog:
Esse fato demonstra o que significa fazer jornalismo de verdade na capital do Pará: uma condenação.
Even for those who haven't got much money to donate, any help will do as a token, as Alex Castro [pt], a self publishing author, points out. He has donated the same amount as the price of his upcoming book, “Mulher de um Homem Só” [Woman of Just one Man, as of yet untranslated].
Façam suas contas e conversem com suas consciências. Pesem quanto podem dar e quanto vale uma imprensa genuinamente independente. E, se acharem que devem, ajudem.
Eva Maués [pt] takes on the suggestion from a comment and heads the “coinage” campaign. She explains:
Todos os solidários ao Lúcio, que já provou não ter condições de arcar com tal despesa, podem doar moedas para que os R$ 30 mil sejam pagos em moedas de R$ 0,10. Já gostei e reforço aqui no blog a campanha. Vamos todos juntar as 300 mil moedas necessárias ao troco para os Maiorana.
Luciane Fiúza de Mello [pt] summarizes the feelings of many bloggers:
Lúcio Flávio Pinto, estamos todos contigo e contra esta Justiça corrompida que envergonha a gente. Que este juiz absurdo sinta o peso da injustiça que está cometendo.
Global Voices has another post on the subject: Brazil: Judicial decisions, a growing threat to online freedom.
Iran: Protests prompt emergence of underground Internet newspapers
The recent emergence of internet newspapers in Iran is evidence of the will of Iranian citizens and opposition forces to continue to communicate even as the Islamic Republic intensifies censorship, filtering and repression. By reading Internet newspapers we learn that the Iranian protest movement is as diverse as is Iranian society and its blogosphere.
In the last two months, the Islamic Republic's security forces have tightened their grip on the media, this after Iran was swept by large-scale protests against the June 12 presidential election results, which declared incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.
Dozens of journalists and bloggers have been imprisoned, pro-reformist websites have been filtered and a few not-yet-banned reformist journals such as Etemad Meli are under intensified surveillance. Under such difficult circumstances for the media, we are witnessing a new phenomenon inside Iran: the emergence of “underground” Internet newspapers.
At the end of June, at least two such newspapers were launched: Khyaboon (”Street”) and Kalam Sabz (”Green Word”) where the word “green” is a reference to Mir Hussein Mousavi's campaign colors. So far, Khyaboon has published 13 issues and Kalam Sabz has published 10. Khyaboon is available only by email and the paper has no website or blog. Kalam Sabz also uses email, but has a website. Both journals are distributed in PDF file format.
Khyaboon
Here are a few headlines from Khayaboon: “What is going on in the silence of Evin prison”, “While the blood drops from the regime's hands, Mousavi only writes a letter”, (first photo), “Is this a velvet coup?”, “Urban art is critical of established order” (second photo), “Stop forcing confessions”, “People came to confront the coup, but Mousavi did not come” (third photo), “War breaks out in the streets” (fourth photo), and “A campaign to defend imprisoned protesters has begun” (fifth photo).
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Kalam Sabz
Headlines in Kalam Sabz, include: “Mousavi presents his condolences to victims' families”, “Neda is the most popular word in the world” (first photo), “Karroubi: Forces of repression were trained in Russia” (second photo), “This year, a worse disaster than 18 Tir” [the 1999 crackdown on student revolt] (third photo), “Khatami: It was a velvet Coup against people” (fourth photo).
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Political trends
A common point between two publications is that both of them are against the current president and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayathollah Ali Khamenei's decision to approve Ahmadinejad's victory.
While Kalam Sabz largely reflects the opinions and statements of reformist leaders and parties, Khyaboon criticizes Mousavi for being too soft to face to the authorities and call for more action. Kalam Sabz, as the reformists' organ, does not question the legitimacy of Islamic Republic, while Khyaboon takes a different approach.
Khyaboon can be characterized as a radical-left journal, which criticizes even Mousavi for his inaction. In an article entitled “Mousavi and his elites”, contributor Amir K. writes that Mousavi's actions demonstrate his reluctance to sacrifice his class interests, and that while his 9th Statement says Ahmadinejad is not a legitimate president, he falls short of proposing ways to defeat the coup and fails to demand that those who killed people be brought to justice.
Khyaboon publishes the poems of Said Soltani, a well-known Marxist poet who was executed in early 1980's when Ayatollah Khomeini, the spirtual Leader of Iranian reformists and conservatives, was at the head of the Islamic Republic. The views of the Workers' Union and leftist students are published in Khayaboon as well.
Kalam Sabz in its first issue quoted a statement by the Iranian Leader from 30 years ago in which he criticized the Shah's alleged habit of following his own desires and not those of the people. If today somebody follows the same path, says Kalam Sabz, he commits an act deserving of similar condemnation.
Images speak louder than words
Khyaboon has published many photos of the protests, including some depicting security forces repressing protesters or protesters throwing stones. There are almost no photos of reformist leaders. Kalam Sabz, on the other hand, rarely publishes photos of the protest movement and usually runs a photo of a reformist leader on its front page.
Khyaboon, also in contrast to Kalam Sabz, publishes cartoons targeting Ali Khamenei and displays on the front page of its 13th issue graffiti (second photo in our Khyaboon album) of a monkey passing through various stages of evolution to become a man and finally a man with a gun.
Reading the new underground internet newspapers offers a sense of deepening crisis in Iran and the sad state of its media. Khyaboon and Kalam Sabz shed light on the divergent strains within the protest movement and the way in which one part of society radicalises its requests and slogans.
Zeitoon, an Iran-based blogger, describes a similar situation on her blog. At a Thursday demonstration she observed lots of “down with Khamenei”, “down with dictator” and “Allaho Akbar” slogans, but there were only a few times that she heard Mousavi's name.
Kyaboon and Kalam Sabz are militant journals fighting against the strong influence of state-run newspapers, TV, radio and web sites. It appears that between the state's huge propaganda machine that portrays everything in the country as wonderful, and the “fight club”-style underground journals, independent media has lost its place. Independent journalists have found a place, however: the prison cell.
Iran: Armenian bloggers on plane crash
When a regular flight en route from Tehran to Yerevan crashed after takeoff yesterday, killing all 168 on board, many in Armenia and its Diaspora were distressed, and not least since there were 40 ethnic Armenians among the dead. Ianyan provides the background to why Armenians were so concerned.
A Russian-built Caspian Airlines plane crashed in Iran headed for Yerevan, Armenia on Wednesday after it caught on fire in mid-air and killed all 168 people on board when it collided into farmland near the city of Qazvin, just 16 minutes after take off.
Eight members of Iran’s youth judo team and many Armenians were among those killed, included two who were part of the flight crew. Iran is home to around 100,000 ethnic Armenians who usually fly between the two bordering countries to visit relatives.
Select details from local and international news reports were quickly spread by many on Twitter and Facebook, one of the most prolific being @unzippedblog.
Most comments on social networks and blog posts in the LiveJournal blogging community on the crash in Armenia were obviously limited to information taken from newswires and other media outlets.
However, Iranian-Armenian blog ՏՐԱՄԱԳԻԾ [AM] not only posted photographs of the accident, but also Armenian-language translations of Iranian state TV reports.
The “Tupalov” airplane took off Tehran international airport and crashed 16 minutes later near Khazin area. […] Republic's president Ahmadinejad just spoke, conveying condolences and demanding those responsible, to conduct detailed investigations and find out the reasons of the crash and report back as soon as possible.
In another post, the blogger detailed one Armenian citizen, Harutyun Khalghatian, who was late for the flight.
Harutyun Khalghatian, 44 was visiting Tehran on business and was visiting Tehran and was saved by a miracle. In an interview with Khalghatian's friend…. we found out that he had a party last night, because of which he woke up late and couldn't make it to the flight.
Լճակ [RU] provided links and updates to news on the crash, while veteran dissident journalist-blogger Mark Grigorian offered his own opinion on the use of antiquated planes.
“Time to hand out all the Soviet planes as scrap metal, ” adding in the comments section:
Sadly, the soviet planes have worn out not only physically, but also morally. This particular machine, I guess, is a morally worn out one.
@Unzippedblog tweeted the question on everybody's mind:
Why on earth #Iran still uses that ancient Russian plane TY-154! They should be banned. #armenia #yerevan.
He posted an answer in a later tweet.
BBC confirmes http://bit.ly/BpFW9 that poor air safety record in #Iran is due to sanctions imposed by US. #armenia #yerevan
Если бы можно было жить в море… [RU] who blame the US embargo on Iran for the crash.
God give piece to their soal… there were two kids. They say catastrophes are frequent in Iran, because of the embargo which doesn't let them update the plane fleets and they mostly have TU's and old American jets.
Others, such as Words Blog, recounted how relatives knew some of those that died.
“There were two air-technicians in the plain who worked for the Caspian. I didn't know them, but my mother and aunt worked with them.”
“Was in the airport today… it hurts…” wrote 517 Design [RU], a blogger and photographer back from Yerevan's airport with an accompanying photo.
© PanARMENIAN Photo / Sedrak Mkrtchyan
Iran: Online videos send messages to Joe Biden
About 100 Iranians, Americans and Iranian-Americans have posted short personal messages on YouTube to support the Iranian opposition movement that is calling the 12th of June presidential election a fraud. They are calling upon Joe Biden, American Vice President, and the U.S. government not to recognise the current Iranian government and to support the Iranian civil movement. The full set of films can be viewed here.
Joe Biden is asked not to negotiate with the Iranian regime:
The U.S. government is asked to take in consideration Iranian people's suffering
and not to engage with Iran:
Egypt: Mounir Said Hanna found guilty of “Satire”
Egyptian Mounir Said Hanna Marzuq has been found guilty of “satire” after a colleague reported him and his poem to the authorities. He has been sentenced to three years and was fined L.E. 100,000 for insulting president Hosni Mubarak.
Zeinobia called on Coptic human rights activist and the lawyer of the orthodox church, Naguib Gabriel and asked:
Where is Naguib Gabriel when you need him?
She also posted a translation of some of the verses that led to the man's downfall:
Shine, shine whom you shine on all of us
Shine, shine whom you shine wherever you go
No one can shine like you shine
You made people feel confused and lost
You made people feel happy and lost
Mounir Said Hanna was hoping that his lines would be turned into a ballad:
ونورد فيما يلي إحدى قصائد منير حنا:
زغلل
زغلل زغلل زغللنى ياللى حبك جننى
زغلل زغلل زغللهم ياللى شكلك جننهم
كورال
زغلل زغلل يا مزغلل زغلل ع الكل خليت الدنيا حلوى وفل الفل
١- المرايا بتزغلل على واحد بس ولكن انت يا مزغلل زغللت الكل
٢- فلاش الكاميرا بيزغلل قبل الصورة ولكن انت يا مزغلل صوت وصورة
٣- زغلل زغلل يا مزغلل منين ماتروح بتخلى الدنيا حلوة وفيها روح
٤- زغلل زغلل يا مزغلل زغلل وقول مش أى حد ينفع يبقى زغلول
٥- اوعى تبطل تزغلل يا واد يا زغلول خليت الدنيا حلوة والفرح يطول
٦- زغلل زغلل ع الليلة وع الحاضرين خليت الناس فى حيرة وكمان تايهين
٧- زغلل زغلل ع الحفلة وع الحاضرين خليت الناس فى غفلة وكمان تايهين
٨- زغلل زغلل ع الفرح وع الحاضرين خليت الناس فى مرح وكمان تايهين
Zeinobia jotted down her frustration saying:
I am so angry for those who reported Mounir to the authorities !! Are we living the Nasserite era with reports writing again !!??
I wonder where are the human rights organizations in Egypt ?? Is not this an attack on freedom of expression ??
What did Mounir do for all that ??? So what if he mocks Mubarak !!?? Mubarak is not a God , he is just a president.
I wonder where is the Church from all this ??? Or now we are a secular country !!?
Speaking of the Church, Al Mowaten blogged it's reaction saying:
وأكد نجيب جبرائيل مستشار البابا شنودة للشؤون القانونية بأن المواطن لم يكن يقصد إهانة مبارك وأن ما قام به عمل أدبي لا يمكن التعامل معه على نحو غير ذلك.
Naguib Gabriel insisted that the man did not mean to insult Mubarak and what he wrote is a literary work that cannot be regarded otherwise.
Save Egypt Front posted the beginning of the story:
Furthermore:
The sentence has been appealed and the final verdict will be pronounced on July 18, 2009.
Links for Thu, 2009-07
After a brief hiatus, Sheki, Azerbaijan is back and posts a brief history, accompanied by photographs, of Baku's 100-year old boulevard.
Marcial Cambronero announces the launch of the Promesas 2010 (Promises 2010) site [es], which will help hold Costa Rican politicians accountable for their campaign promises.
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp reports that “LIVEHOPELOVE.COM, a website about living with AIDS in Jamaica, has been nominated in the United States for a prestigious Emmy award.”
“When things get tough, the Dream is what unites, what keeps an individual and a group moving forward”: Gil the Jenius is concerned that the Puerto Rican dream is to be rescued and throws out a challenge: “Show Me We aren't the princess. Go ahead, try to show Me Our dream isn't ‘Save Me', that it is, instead, ‘Saving Ourselves'.”
Dominica Weekly says that the island's “muted” celebration of World Population Day was an opportunity lost “to start to create meaningful change in the lives of our women”, but adds: “It’s never be too late to create a positive movement…”
In this post, PNH at Desicritics reflects on the impact of Indian history and culture on the English language.
“Due to the recent (and not so recent) spate of violent deaths, there has been much talk about the lenience of our laws pertaining to murder and manslaughter”: Bermuda Jewel advocates the reintroduction of capital punishment.
Francis Wade agrees that “the country you leave is not the country you return to”, advocating instead that returning Jamaicans come home “with a flexible, open mind that is willing to enter into an entirely new experience.”
Aparna Singh at Ultra Violet shares her view that despite the rise in the number of divorce cases in India, a divorce is never the easy way out of a marriage - never mind what some cynics may say.
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