links for 2010-07-07

"Mr. Lee asked for an interpreter, to no avail. He said that because he did not understand what the workers were saying, he had to return to the office repeatedly to hand in documents he filled out with outside help, only to understand from them vaguely that another piece of information or another form was required. Mr. Lee said he had requested an interpreter every time, but they insisted on dealing with him in English.
“'The workers don’t listen,' Mr. Lee, who lives in College Point, Queens, said through an interpreter. 'They regard themselves as kings.'”

"A Republican Governor rules over the executive, legislative and judicial constitutional powers due to an electoral sweep in 2008–a call for change in administrative practices to overcome the financial crisis that broke out on the Island earlier than in USA. The change imposed, however, has been ideological: a neo-conservative and elite-managed ultra-capitalist mode of government.

"Response from organized and non-organized sectors of society is developing fast. Labor and community based organizations, environmental activists, students and journalists are among the victims..and reacting to belligerent and dictatorial practices."

"Lately, however, Jordan River has provoked a firestorm of controversy on SL's community forum, especially over Jordan River's most extreme forms of expression, such as an exhibit depicting Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier held captive by Hamas, next to sculptures meant to depict eviscerated IDF soldiers. As with the pro-Palestine protests that stormed into Israeli and Jewish sites in Second Life this year and last, this seems like another instance where Second Life's Community Standards, which prohibit most forms of '[a]ctions that marginalize, belittle, or defame individuals or groups', cannot adequately account for the full range of political and ideological tumult in the real world."

"The African National Congress Youth League welcomes the decision of the IAAF to clear South African golden girl Caster Semenya to continue to be an athlete as a woman," said Shivambu.

"It brings to an end the wild speculations that were pushed and celebrated by those opposed to the progress and success of South Africa's historically disadvantaged individuals."