[alternet-l] THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 10

[Joanne Doyle]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 105

This issue:

HOT SITES/
AHMEDIYA COMMUNITY/
GM CROPS UPDATE/
GENDER AND CITIZENSHIP/
RFID TAGGING/
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/
WEB BEHAVIOUR/
LATIN AMERICA & WSIS/
INTERNET CUBA/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
JOBS/
DIARY/

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The AlterNet News is the GreenNet e-newsletter that carries brief news 
items, campaign updates, a diary of key forthcoming events and 
announcements. News comes from our contacts all over the web, but most of 
the AlterNet News will come from the GreenNet community. Please don't send 
news to the AlterNet address. Send items for inclusion, including a web 
link if possible, to actnow at gn.apc.org. Items may need to be edited. Plain 
text e-mail is preferred.

Back issues are on-line at:
--> www.gn.apc.org/news/alternet/index.html

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HOT SITES

Greennet has developed the online archive of Capital & Class magazine. The 
is build using open source web publishing tool called APC ActionApps. The 
archive is only available to subscribed visitors. ActionApps allow visitors 
to search or browse  quickly through more than 2000 articles from past C&C 
issues as well as and download them in the high quality PDF format. On the 
CSE side, ActionApps helps CSE website editors to quickly publish new 
issues, and also provides a tools for maintaing online subscribers database.

--> www.cseweb.org.uk/

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AHMEDIYA COMMUNITY

Wluml appeal:

"Dear Friends,

The position of the Ahmadiya (Qadiani) community in Bangladesh continues to 
deteriorate rapidly, raising grave concerns for their safety. We therefore 
urge you to respond with increased pressure on the Bangladesh Government 
regarding their duty to protect minority communities.

In December 2003 we circulated an alert for action regarding attacks on the 
community. The Bangladesh Government has now banned all Ahmediya (Qadiani) 
publications and the level of persecution - both by the government and by 
non-state groups - is increasingly daily.

As WLUML has seen in Pakistan and other contexts, persecution of Ahmediya 
(Qadiani) groups and other minorities has been frequently used by 
governments as a means of diverting attention away from real political and 
economic problems facing the people. Extreme Right politico-religious 
groups have also raised questions regarding the status of the Ahmediya 
(Qadiani) community as a means of monopolising local politics and of 
pressurising governments. The violence that has followed such develops has 
terrorised all peace-loving citizens - minority as well as majority - in 
these countries.

Visit their website for information about what actions you can take:
--> http://wluml.org/english/

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GM CROPS UPDATE

FoE Scotland respond to conclusions by the Government's statutory advisers, 
ACRE, on the implications of growing GM crops:

"The Committee has now confirmed the fact that planting GM crops such as 
oilseed rape and beet are guilty of causing more damage to the environment 
than conventional varieties. Friends  of the Earth believes that the 
Executive now has more than enough reasons to prevent these GM crops from 
being commercialised in Scotland. GM crops have been shown to be unsuitable 
on economic, scientific and public acceptance grounds."

Read ACRE's advice on the implications of the farm-scale evaluations of 
genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops:

--> www.defra.gov.uk/news/2004/040113c.htm

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GENDER AND CITIZENSHIP

A 'Cutting Edge Pack' from BRIDGE:

How are citizenship rights and responsibilities being extended and 
transformed by struggles for gender equality?

How can women and others marginalised by gender participate in and 
influence the decisions that affect their lives?

This pack is a concise, practical resource for policy-makers, practitioners 
and activists. It demonstrates how gendered understandings of citizenship 
rights can help development actors promote the participation of all women 
and men in shaping their societies and communities.

The pack is made up of:

Overview Report – by Shamim Meer with Charlie Sever. External adviser 
Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay

Supporting Resources Collection – summaries of key texts, case studies, 
tools, guidelines and key organisations

Gender and Development In Brief bulletin

The pack is available in English & Spanish in hard copy and electronic 
format. The In Brief bulletin is also available in French in electronic 
format.

The Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Citizenship is available free from the 
BRIDGE website:
--> www.ids.ac.uk/bridge/

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RFID TAGGING

"RFID tags may eventually replace bar-code labels on all consumer goods. 
When exposed to radio signals, they transmit a unique serial number for 
individual items and help manufacturers, distributors and retailers keep 
track of every item in their inventory. But privacy groups, led by 
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (or CASPIAN), 
fear that businesses and governments can use those signals to track 
individuals' movements inside stores and in public places.

'We understand and care about the concerns that some of our customers have
about privacy and, as always, we put our customers' needs first,' said
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark.

Wal-Mart and other retailers say they plan to place RFID tags only on the
pallets and containers in their supply chains.

But Germany's largest retailer, Metro Group, says it plans to tag every item
in its stores with RFID. It said it is working with IBM to develop a device
that would disable RFID tags as customers left Metro stores."

Read the full WIRED article online at:
--> www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61868,00.html/wn_ascii

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FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Article 19 express concerns over proposed Rome II Regulations that pose a 
threat to
Internet publishers' freedom of expression:

"ARTICLE 19 is concerned that the Regulations, as drafted, pose a threat to
the freedom of expression of Internet publishers by subjecting these to
potential litigation in jurisdictions with repressive defamation regimes.
The Regulations aim at resolving conflict of law issues in non-contractual
cases, including defamation actions. The proposed rule states that in case
of conflict, the law of the place of distribution will be the law applicable
to a defamation action. "Distribution" in this context means the place where
Internet material has been downloaded. This means that in practice, any
person or body that publishes information on the Internet will be
potentially subject to the defamation laws of every member of the European
Union - some of which fall short of international standards of free
expression.

For further information, contact Julia Apostle or Morris Lipson, Legal
Officers, via email: Julia at article19.org, morris at article19.org, 
info at article19.org

Read the latest news on their website:
--> www.article19.org

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WEB BEHAVIOUR

Is the Web’s apparent openness, diversity, and cost effective information 
dissemination an illusion?

Read the online paper: Do Web search engines suppress controversy? to find 
out more.

Contents include:
Understanding Web behavior: Politics, technology and users
Why does visibility of controversy matter?
Case studies of controversial topics
Summary of case studies: How much is controversy suppressed?
Limits of the experiments
Explanations for controversy revealing/suppression
General explanations
Toward a more objective Web
A simulated objective Web

--> http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_1/gerhart/

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LATIN AMERICA & WSIS

As part of a coalition called REDISTIC (Networking on the Social Impact
of ICTs), APC has just co-produced a publication called "The Other Side
of the Divide: Latin American and Caribbean Perspectives on the WSIS".
The publication consists of 3 sections as follows:

Section 1: Visions. Principles and values that govern the regional 
direction towards IS

Working the Internet with a Social Vision
Knowledge-based international aid: Do we want it, do we need it?
A methodological proposal for measuring the transition to Knowledge Society 
in Latin American countries
The Digital Divide : the same division of resources?
ICT, Development, and Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean
Ideas to rethink Connectivity in Rural Areas
Civil Society Access to Direct Management of Communication Media

Section 2: WSIS from LAC

Declaration of somos at telecentros for World Summit on the Information Society
World summit on the information society seen from the field: Do we enter 
the play or do we criticize from outside?
World Summit on the Information Society: Is the Outcome a Foregone Conclusion?
We Must Debate about the Right to Communication with Open Mindness
Latin America gearing up for the World Summit on the Information Society

Section 3: The IS from LAC: Topics and experiences

Thinking about knowledge society in Costa Rica
Information Society in Haiti: mechanisms and conditions for technological 
empowerment
The role of the civil society in info-inclusion processes
Communities and civil portals: What for?
Indigenous people and the information society in Latin America and the 
Caribbean: A framework for action
Bringing Up Citizens for the Information Society: The experience taken from 
the Communitarian Information Network Operators

All sections are also available in spanish, french and portuguese.

Access the full reports in english here:
--> www.redistic.org/indexj.htm?body=proyectosjen

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INTERNET CUBA

Reporters without Borders are against a plan by the Cuban authorities to 
ban the use of the telephone network to get online:

"We are extremely worried by this new decree which is aimed at tracking 
down 'informaticos', Cubans who managed to get Internet access despite an 
official ban," said Robert Ménard, secretary general of the international 
press freedom organisation. "The Internet is one of the few means of 
getting around the ever present censorship of news and information in this 
country,"he said. "Since they are unable to monitor the Internet as easily 
as the newspapers, the government has simply chosen to ban access to the 
Internet for almost the entire population. Very few countries go as far as 
this to control the Net," he added.

 From 24 January, it will officially forbidden to use the regular telephone 
network, billed in pesos, to connect to the Internet, except for those 
specifically allowed to do so by "the person in charge of a body or of a 
central administration organisation". The change will not affect foreign 
companies and organisations that use another network, billed in dollars, 
for Net access.

Read the full article at their website:
--> www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=9039

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

'In Cornwall its Saturday before you realise its Thursday.'
- Wilfred Pickle

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JOBS

London and South-east England Regions - Global Dimension (LaSER -GD)
Two part-time posts (2 ½ days per week) at approximately £23,000 pro rata

The LaSER-GD consortium was set up to implement the DFID initiative 
'Enabling Effective Support' in the two regions of Greater London and 
South-east England. It aims to improve teachers' access to resources and 
support for delivering the global dimension across the curriculum.

Global Dimension Outreach Co-ordinator
The Outreach Co-ordinator will be responsible for implementing a 
communications strategy to engage stakeholders and help build a learning 
community for the global dimension. This would include representing the 
consortium and maintenance of a LaSER-Global Dimension website.  The 
successful candidate will have experience in communicating with a range of 
audiences by a variety of means and be competent with IT.

Global Dimension Monitoring and Evaluation Co-ordinator
The M and E co-ordinator will be responsible for implementing the 
evaluation strategy and offering support to participating organisations. 
The successful candidate will have knowledge of the formal education 
sector, experience of project evaluation and an understanding of global issues.

The contracts will be initially for one year starting April 1st 2004, with 
a probable extension pending the continuation of further funding. The 
closing date for applications is February 5th.
For details and an application pack, please email: 
karennorris at worldaware.org.uk.
*
ARTICLE 19, the global campaign for freedom of expression is looking for an 
administrator to be responsible for the running of the office.

The principle responsibilities will be to ensure the smooth functioning of 
the ARTICLE 19 office, by ensuring that all necessary equipment is 
maintained, supplies and stationery ordered, services maintained and the 
programme staff supported in their administrative needs.  The post holder 
will be responsible for reception and may supervise volunteers and interns 
to assist with these duties.  The post holder will also provide support to 
the Director and co-ordinate and minute staff and other meetings.  In 
addition this post will provide support to the Executive Director.
The closing date for applications is 30th January 2004.  Interviews will be 
held on the 10th February but only short listed candidates will be contacted.
Interested candidates should send a CV and covering letter to Pauline 
Donaldson at Pauline at article19.org
Information on ARTICLE 19 can be obtained on their website:
--> www.article19.org
*
World Development Movement
Campaigns and Policy Team Internship (minimum 3 months; 28 hours per week)

Closing Date for Applications: Monday 2nd February
Suggested Start Date: Mid-late February
(Start dates are flexible according to personal circumstances)

The Campaigns and Policy Team is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic
person who can work within a small, dynamic team, to assist us in our
campaigns. Candidates should have a keen interest in the work of WDM and
should be able to commit to at least four days a week (28 hours) for a
minimum of 3 months. This position will give the post holder a valuable
insight into the campaigning methods of an organisation at the forefront of
fighting for justice for the world's poor and will offer the opportunity to
make an important contribution to the Team's work.

For further information, please email: campaigns at wdm.org.uk
*
Fiza Khan, an individual, is looking for a volunteer webdesigner to help 
design a site to promote
a Charity Fashion Show organised in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. The 
event is scheduled for Summer 2004 so help is needed as soon as possible.
Please email Fiza at fizankhan at hotmail.com to discuss details.

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DIARY DATES

JANUARY

Saturday, 24th
Cafe Diplo at the French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place SW7. Tube South 
Kensington. 10.45 am. £3, £2 concessions, members free.
THE TERRORIST MONEY TRAIL
Loretta Napoleoni, author and economist, looks at terrorism and its 
interface with the West from an economic perspective. Her book 'Modern 
Jihad, the New Economy of Terror' is published by Pluto Press.  A chaired 
discussion will follow.

FEBRUARY

Saturday, 7th
Cafe Diplo at the French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place SW7. Tube South 
Kensington. 10.45 am. £3, £2 concessions, members free
HAITI: FIRST INDEPENDENT BLACK REPUBLIC
Rod Prince, journalist and Caribbean expert, gives a 200th anniversary talk 
on a country that is largely ignored, is the poorest in the Western 
Hemisphere, and beset with neo-liberal agenda. A chaired discussion will 
follow.

Wednesday, 18th
'More to Life than Banking' networking evening, hosted by LSE.
The events will be held in the Atrium of the new students centre, and will 
operate as an informal Careers Fair; each organisation will have a table to 
display their publicity. The evening will start at 6.30pm and will finish 
at 9.30pm.


Saturday, 21st
Cafe Diplo at the French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place SW7. Tube South 
Kensington. 10.45 am. £3, £2 concessions, members free
WHO PROFITS FROM FAMINE?
Peter Griffiths, author and freelance economist with international 
organisations, shows how World Bank staff, aid workers and politicians 
endorsed policies that created a near-famine situation in Sierra Leone. His 
book 'The Economist's Tale: a consultant encounters hunger and the World 
Bank' is published by Zed Books. A chaired discussion will follow.
More information about Cafe Diplo events:
--> www.monde-diplo-friends.org.uk

Wednesday, 28th
public debate and discussion on: The Iraq War and Wars of Terrorism:
What could have been done?  What can be done?
Strategies for effective peacebuilding for governments and citizens

The meeting will be hosted by John McDonnell, MP and the speaker is
Kai-Frithof  Brand-Jacobsen from TRANSCEND and PATRIR.
Full details via email from: mail at ministryforpeace.org.uk

MARCH
Friday, 19th
Yorkshire CND is planning a major blockade of Menwith Hill.
They want as many people as possible to come along to the event and either 
take part in non-violent direct action or to support the demonstration.
More information here:
www.blockthebase.org.uk

Saturday, 20th
Earth Day 2004
Spirit Matters and Resurgence Magazine present a day of Klezmer music, 
African drumming and dance, poetry, story-telling, talks, meditation, 
networking, Qi Gong, Yoga Chanting, B/earth day cake and more.
Admission  £ 10 (Concessions £5)
Further details:
--> www.spiritmatters.info

Saturday, 27TH
FREE TRADE vs WORKERS' RIGHTS?
Day School on trade union resistance to free trade in the Americas and 
building solidarity in the UK. Organised by Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign.
Cost: £12 (waged) or £6 (unwaged). Inexpensive food provided by local group 
supporting nursery school in Nicaragua.
Further details from NSC on 020 7272 9619, or via email:
--> nsc at nicaraguasc.org.uk

The Directory of Social Change run regular trainings for charities, check 
out details at:
--> www.dsc.org.uk/charitytraining.html

More Diary Dates on GreenNet:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml

Please add your events to the calendar here:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/add.shtml

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The AlterNet News is edited by Joanne Doyle for GreenNet:
---> www.gn.apc.org

Please note that opinions expressed in AlterNet are those of the
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