Surveillance Tools: Not Just for Spies Now

    This report was published at Washingtontimes.com at December 5,2011. And was written by Shaun Waterman. This is a summary and the title is above.

    A German company offers surveillance technologies for use against political opponents. In Russia, a company sells equipment to identify a single targeted voice in digital recordings of thousands of phone calls. In China, a company boasts software that can track the security on any hotmail or gmail account.

    Secret tech that just a few years ago were exclusive of spy bureau, are now available to the highest bidders from companies in dozen of countries.

    The private companies offer tech and services that can eavesdrop on cellphone calls, monitor internet activity, tap into fiber-optic cable. The tech can search, filter and index vast quantity of data obtained through all this surveillance.

    "Even if American companies, as they claim, only sell to governments, there is no real regulation of end-users even in the U.S., let alone in China and Russia". Said Christopher Soghoian, an privacy advocate and graduate at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University.

    Privacy International, a NGO and the anti-secrecy Wikileaks last week published a database of more than 130 companies worldwide that market surveillance tech. The Privacy International NGO and Wikileaks investigators infiltrated tech conferences and obtained promotional materials based in 25 countries, they included well-established entities in the U.S., Israel, Europe, Brazil, China and Russia.

    Chinese telecom giant ZTE, for instance, market surveillance products in addition to its phone networks, Cisco System Inc., big U.S. tech company also sell surveillance equipment and services.

    After the Arab spring uprisings, protesters in Egypt, Libya and other countries found evidence that deposed dictator had used surveillance tech to spy activists. Syria is using this tech to intercept even secure communication channels such as Skype.

    Campaigners are calling for the law to be tightened. "When it comes to surveillance tech operating within the boundaries of current legislation is insufficient", said Emma Draper from P.I. NGO. "Those are essentially tools of political control to oppressive regimes with impunity can no longer be tolerated", she added.

   

V. T. XXX - Gross Domestic Product ( GDP )

        This post is a summary of a report published at: ECLAC.org at 2 October 2012 with the title of " Latin America and Caribbean growth will fall to 3.2% in 2012, owing to the weak global economy." Where there are the estimates of growth for 2012 in the Latin America countries.The source is from ECLAC on the basis of official figures, these are projections in the variation in GDP for 2011-2012.

        GDP is one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country`s economy. As one can imagine, economic growth, what GDP represents, has a large impact on nearly everyone. For example, when  the economy is health, you will see low unemployment and wage increases as businesses demand labor to meet the growing economy. ( investopedia.com ).

       The other list is the ranking of  GDP of the Minas Gerais municipalities, this data is from: IBGE.gov.br and is from 2009, the most recent year available. This list is the first.

 GDP of MG Municipalities          Estimates of GDP growth 2012 for L. A. Countries

1º Belo Horizonte - 44.5 billions                                   Panama   9.5%
2º Betim - 25.2 b                                                          Peru     5.9%
3º Uberlândia - 16.1 b                                                  Chile     5.0%
4º Contagem - 15.4 b                                                   Costa Rica  5.0%
5º Juiz de Fora - 7.4 b                                                  Bolivia    5.0%
6º Uberaba - 6.5 b                                                       Venezuela  5.0%
7º Ipatinga - 5.6 b                                                         Ecuador   4.5%
8º Sete Lagoas - 4.1 b                                                  Colombia   4.5%
9º Montes Claros - 3.8 b                                               Suriname   4.3%
10º Itabira - 3.4 b                                                          Mexico    4.0%
11º Varginha - 3.0 b                                                      Uruguay    3.5%
12º Gov. Valadares - 2.85 b                                          Argentina    2.0%
13º Divinópolis - 2.82 b                                                   Brazil     1.6%
14º Poços de Caldas - 2.8 b                                          Paraguay    -2.0%
15º Pouso Alegre - 2.5 b

V. T. XXIX - Homicide rates

   These data are from: Institutosangari.org.br and from a  Mexican NGO called, Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice.Seguridadjusticiaypaz.org.mx. At first, the data from Brazilian cities and after from the world.The world list, data are from 2011. The rate is number of homicides/ 100.000 inhabitants, for all lists. The list begins with the most violent to less.

          MG Municipalities                      Others Brazilians Municipalities

    Betim                   61.7                                 Top 5 in Brazil

    Téofilo Otoni       45.5                            1º  Itupiranga (Marabá)                160.6        

    Govern.Valad.     43.5                           2º Simões Filho (Salvador)            152.6

    St. Luzia              39.3                        3º Campina Grande Sul (Curitiba)    125.5
   Contagem            39.0                           4º Marabá    PA                         125.0            B .H.         38.2                                             5º Pilar (Máceio)                 110.6            Ribeirão neves     36.4                                     Others

    Uberlândia           22.6                                 Vitória   ES                  70.3

    Viçosa                 19.7                              Duque de Caxias  RJ       67.1

    Ubá                     16.7                                  Curitiba     PR             56.5

    Alfenas                13.5                                  Campos   RJ              47.6

    S.J.del rey           11.0                                   Goiânia   GO              41.5

    Lavras                10.9                                 Porto Alegre  RS           41.5

    Juiz de Fora        10.6                                     Brasília                    35.9

    Varginha             10.4                                  Diadema   SP             32.3   

    Poços Caldas      6.8                                   Rio de Janeiro                28.8

    Barbacena           4.5                                    Guarulhos    SP              22.9

    Cataguases          3.8                                     Campina     SP              16.8     

     Pouso Alegre     2.9                                      Três Rios  RJ               16.5

                                                                              Maringá    PR              16.0

        Top 10 in the World                                     Barra do Piraí    RJ          13.5

  1º San Pedro Sula (Honduras)    158.9                 S. J. Rio Preto   SP           11.1

  2º Ciudad  Juarez (Mexico)     147.8                       Petrópolis   RJ               10.8

  3º Máceio (Brazil)                   135.3                       Ribeirão Preto  SP           10.3

  4º Acapulco (Mexico)             127.9

  5º Distrito Central (Honduras)   99.7                            Top 4 in the U.S.A.

  6º Caracas (Venezuela)           98.7                          1º  New Orleans         57.9   

  7º Torreón (Mexico)              87.8                            2º Detroit                 48.5

  8º Chihuahua (Mexico)           83.0                           3º St. Louis                35.4

  9º Durango (Mexico)             79.9                            4º Baltimore               31.4

 10º Belém (Brazil)                 78.1

The Depth of Human Rights Protection in Democracies

   This post is a summary of a article published at Purdue.Academia.edu and was written by Kali Wright Smith, Phd in Political Science. The title is above.

   There is a substantial body of research devoted to understanding the relationship between democracy and human rights performance. The dynamics of the relationship between the degree of democracy in a state and protection of empowerments rights might be different and improvements may take longer to emerge.

   The expansion of democracy is often championed due that will provide citizens with a host of benefits. One of the primary advantage is government protection of human rights. There is a substantial theoretical and empirical evidence to support this idea. Beyond fundamental rights lie an expanded range of freedoms including freedom of speech, movement, religion, association and worker`s right. The transiton to democracy might bring immediate advances in human rights, but the experience of third wave democracies demonstrates that newly democratic states may experience a reversal or adopt a weaker variant of democracy, consequently, it is worth asking whether there is a change in the depth of human rights as democracies mature.

   This study reveals a strong link between improvements in democracies and protections of empowerments rights. It demonstrate that longer experience with democracy produces more fortified human rights protection. Democracy have received attention in both, the academic and policy worlds. This regime is viewed as a critical factor in a country`s social and economic development. The presence of democracy is associated with superior civil society, increased economic equality, and stronger provision of public services.

   Other inherent qualities of a democracy directly influenced rights. Democracies are the natural allies of human rights because as a state become more open the public gains the ability to mobilize and press for increased rights. The development of democratic institutions gives the public greater imput into the government which allow it to challenge undesirable government practices through democratic channels rather than through extreme measures. This accountability mechanism shapes the way democratic leaders perceive demands for individual rights. Democracies frequently bind themselves to international human rights law because they respond to norms ragarding the appropriateness of such behavior. Studies of compliance with international law suggest that democratic states have greater respect for their international legal obligations because they have experience with the rule of law at the domestic level.

  Looking at the gap between theory and reality, Arat ( 1999,124 ) claims, ¨ I see this selective treatment of human rights and privileging of some over others as an important explanation of the failure of democracies in actually observing the recognized rights of their citizens.¨

  This is a stronger test of the relationship between democracy and human rights. In addition to questions about what types of human rights democracies respect. There are challenges to the overarching idea that democracies are always superior in protecting human rights, this skepticism is grounded in the notion that in developing countries, the transition to a democratic regime does not always make a substantial difference in human rights protection. This is particularly pertinent to young democracies which often suffer from lack of proper foundations for democratic rule. However, the finding that democracy does not have a strong effect on human rights in developing countries could be due to the fact that these countries have had less experience and have not attained sufficient democratic consolidation. Greater experience with democracy also result in deeper entrenchment of democratic norms, thereby creating increased citizens expectations and demands for government rights protection.

   The primary finding that the level of democracy is a critical factor in understanding protection of broader civil, political, and social rights is an important step, but this can be used as a starting point for further research. This study has shown that more work is needed to determine what factors other than democracy affect empowerment rights protection.

   Arat, Zehra F. (1999) Human rights and democracy: expanding or contracting?

 

Living Democracy

     This post is a summary of a article published at Co-Intelligence.org  and was written by Frances Moore Lappé and Paul Martin Du Bois in 1992. The title is above.

     Around the world people are throwing off tyranny. Meanwhile, here in the United States it feels like democracy is not working. Public debate gets nastier, and our democracy seems stymied in the face of mounting social problems.

     Now many people feel that the political process itself, driven by wealth and media professionals, hold citizens in contempt, so a cycle of disaffection has begun, feeding on itself : the more citizens withdraw from public participation, the more politicians ignore them. The more irresponsible the politicians act, the more citizens withdraw in anger and hopelessness.

     But, we from Co-Intelligence Institute NGO believe this self-destructive cycle arises from an incomplete understanding of democracy. More important than its forms ( like elections ), democracy needs to be viewed as a way of life, a civic culture in which people creatively participate in public life.

    Our research has encourage us : we have found that millions of americans are awakening to one of the key insights of living democracy, a very simple truth, today`s problems can not be solved without the involvement of the people most directly affected. Solutions to social problems can not just be fabricated by computers and experts. Wise, workable solutions need the insight that emerge from diverse experiences. They depend on the ingenuity of those involved, who knows the problems most intimately.

    To act on their values, citizens need power, but to many americans, power is bad, it is always corrupt, coercive, self-serving. But in living democracy, power is seen as a dynamic, enabling relationship, not a one-way force. The concept of power becomes one of mutually expanding horizons.

    When power is understood as derived from relationship among people, not from authority over people. Each person`s action influences the actions of others. From this insight it follow that no one is ever completely powerless. A relational approach to power alters the practice of politics, making it more interactive. Living democracy sees power in terms of enabling relationship.

    Citizens of a living democracy are not born. We learn the arts of democracy. The democratic arts are capacities that citizens cultivate in order to act with power, wisdom and effectiveness in public life. There are dozens of them. We find it useful to place them into four categories: communication in public dialogue, the resolution and management of conflit, thinking and group facilitation.

    Public dialogue requires conscious commitment to exploration: to asking why, why do you and I think as we do and toward what ends? It requires attention to creating an environment ( even mutually agreed upon rules to insure full participation ) in which differences are used as occasions for examining underlying assumptions and sources of information.

    Democracy requires that we learn to create systems of accountability, to ask those difficult questions, and to expect and get answers from those we empower to work for our communities.

    In living democracy, citizens are not seeking more government and no less government, they are developing appropriate and effective roles for government. Made accountable to citizens` real concerns. These citizens know that they don`t have a democracy. Democracy is something that they are doing.

    Nastier - more unpleasant, or disgusting, or bad-tempered.

    Stymie - prevent or slow down the progress of.

    Hopelessness - loss of hope in regard to a particular situation, feeling of passive abandonment of oneself to fate.

    Insight - ability to understand the truth about something.

    Contempt - feeling that a person or thing is worthless or unworthy of respect.

    Accountable - responsible for your actions and expected to explain them.

   

Index of Fiscal Management

    This post is a summary of a report published at Estadao.com.br at March,18,2012. This index was made by FIRJAN (Federation of Industries of the Rio de Janeiro State/ FIRJAN.org .br), and this index combines five factors: own income, personnel expenses, investments, cost of debt, and liquidity of the brazilians municipalities. The index is based on data from the official statistics released by the Office of National Treasure. Data are for the fiscal year 2010.

    Concept A = Management excellence = index greater than 0.8

    Concept B = Management good = index between 0.6 - 0.8

    Concept C = Management in difficulties = index between 0.4 - 0.6

    Concept D = Management critical = index less than 0.4

    63.6% of the municipalities have a index below 0.6, due the high spending on staff, own income reduced, and scarce investment. 36.4% of the municipalities are between 0.6 - 0.8 and only 1.8%  are above 0.8 with a management excellence, were classified as having excellent fiscal status.

    MG Municipalities                            Other brazilians municipalities
    Muriaé - 0.84                                             S.J. do Rio Preto - 0.87

  Uberlândia - 0.80                                         Vitória - 0.84

   Ubá - 0.72                                                   São Paulo - 0.78

   Lima Duarte - 0.70                                       Curitiba - 0.77

   Belo Horiz. - 0.69                                         Campo Grande - 0.76

   Juiz de Fora - 0.68                                        Londrina - 0.75

   Caxambu - 0.67                                            Ribeirão Preto - 0.69

  Varginha - 0.66                                             Angra dos Reis - 0.68

   S. J.del Rey - 0.65                                        Rio de Janeiro - 0.67

   Viçosa - 0.64                                                Duque de Caxias - 0.62

   Gover. Valad. - 0.64                                     São Gonçalo - 0.61

   S.J Nepom. - 0.61                                        Salvador - 0.48

   Contagem - 0.60                                           Natal - 0.45 

   Santos Dumont - 0.58                                    Macapá - 0.44

   Betim - 0.58                                                  Petrópolis - 0.43

   Cataguases - 0.38                                          Três Rios - 0.40

   Barbacena - 0.32                                           Cuiabá - 0.37

  Cost of Debt - ratio between interest and amortization expenses and the total revenue.

  Fiscal - relating to the income received by a government, raised through taxes.

  Liquidity - availability of liquid assets.

  Critical - at a point of danger or crisis.

V.T. XXVIII - Education and the 2012 election

    This post is a summary of two reports: 1) ¨Education and the 2012 election.¨   Published at Huffingtonpost.com at 4 Nov 2011. Written by Gaston Caperton. And    2) ¨Education to play significant role in 2012 elections.¨  Published at Theepochtimes.com   at 9 Feb 2012. Written by Shar Adams.

    For decades, americans have been searching for a president who could put the school system on his or her back, make education the government`s top priority. Unfortunately, every four years it seems like a new issue comes along that pushes education to the back ( economy, terrorism, health care ).

    Will 2012 be different? It is soon to tell. But for education advocates like myself, this election is a unique opportunity to seize the public dialogue and steer it toward a serious conversation. The reality is that education plays a role in many of the key issues that will decide 2012 presidential race. How can we put more americans back to work? Education. How can we lower our long-term debt? Education. How can we become energy independent? Education.

    Education can be the silver bullet if we invest the necessary time and the resources. Unfortunately, both are becoming scarce. As the U.S. continues to plummet in the global education standings, we can not afford to continue wringing our hands.

    We have a lot of big questions when it comes to education, questions about the role of the federal government, the nature of the curriculum and the integration of technology.

    While jobs and the economy are headliner issues for most americans, education will likely play a significant  role in elections this year, according to a recent research for a forum for education.

    With long-term unemployment a reality in many communities. Americans increasingly see the relationship between education and the economy. The research  indicated education had move up on par with health care and the national debt as an issue of concern.

     David Winston, president of the D.C. research company says, ¨ people are beginning to realize that one of the outcomes of having an education system that is not producing what it needs is that you are seeing skilled work going overseas because other countries have better labor pools and have really skilled workers.¨

     The forum followed of the research touched on a range of key education issues this year, ranging from the  reauthorization of the ¨ No Child Left Behind¨ act to raising the dropout age to 18. The new goal of the NCLB act is to have 100% of students reaching proficiency in mathematics and reading by 2014.

     The Obama administration has proposed changes to NCLB act : to grant schools flexibility, to teach with creativity, and to replace teachers who are not helping kids` learn.

     

     Steer - direct or guide.

     Wringing - very wet or  to wash.

     Outcome - result or consequence.

     Pool - a supply of people for use when needed.

     Dropout - stop participating or attending.