Children Drug War [1.300 Killed]

A stuffed bear lies over a child's grave at the children section of the San Rafael cemetery in Ciudad Juarez, July 17, 2011. Photo by Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters.

By Miguel Angel Gutierrez (July2011)

MEXICO CITY – Once largely spectators to the deaths of hitmen, police and innocent bystanders, children are increasingly in the firing line of Mexico’s drug war.

Minors initially made up a small proportion of the casualties in the conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives in 4 1/2 years, but the child death toll has risen sharply in recent months, as killing became more indiscriminate.

Well over a quarter of Mexico’s 112 million population is under 18, and economists say the country risks squandering its future if President Felipe Calderon’s government is unable to arrest the creeping slide of young people into the violence.

“This life is a disaster,” said Agustina Carrillo, whose 17-year-old son was shot dead by a young drug dealer in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, epicenter of the drug violence and a key smuggling point for drugs into the United States.

Little official data is available on child killings, though government figures showed the number of murders of 16-20 year-olds in Chihuahua state — home to Ciudad Juarez — more than doubled to 386 in 2010 from 136 in 2008.

Grieving parents have used the media to pillory Calderon and his conservative National Action Party (PAN), which was hammered in a key state election this month..

Many joined a peace march that crossed much of the nation in June, urging the president to end the army-led conflict he launched soon after taking office in December 2006.

The United Nations this year urged Mexico’s government to do more to investigate crimes against minors and improve scope for prosecution, notably against the army, which has also been blamed for killings.

Though he remains more popular than his party, Calderon’s approval ratings have hit record lows, and last month he met victims of the drug war to apologize, only to be berated live on television by distraught mothers.

Most victims are between 18 and 35, though the lobby group Network for the Rights of Childhood in Mexico (REDIM) says some 1,300 minors have also been killed since Calderon’s war began.

A REDIM report at the start of 2011 showed the violence killed 994 children until last November, or around 21 every month. In the eight months since, REDIM calculated about 300 more have died — at an average of nearly 38 per month.

NO PUNISHMENT

What particularly alarms analysts is that while many killings were once accidental, atrocities like dismemberment are now deliberately being carried out against children.

“A distinct trend is observable: at the start of 2010 many deaths were due to crossfire,” said REDIM director Martin Perez. “Since then we can see organized crime has started to kill boys and girls to send messages to other cartels.”

Many children fall victim to violence due to ties to family members mixed up in the narcotics trade, which is estimated to generate around US$40-billion in revenues every year.

The chaos has left thousands of orphans struggling to survive across Mexico.

It has also drawn more and more minors into the killing, with girls as young as 16 now being trained as assassins by gangs.

According to REDIM, roughly 30,000 minors have been recruited by drug gangs, whose promise of easy cash has helped fill a gap in the job market for young people, rising numbers of whom lack proper schooling or regular work.

Javier Oliva, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said the increasing exposure of children to drug dealing and violence showed cartels were becoming more brazen and corrupt in their pursuit of profit.

“This is the level of violence you get for control of the drug market,” Oliva said. “What I see here is a clear demonstration of impunity. They can do these things because there is no punishment,” he added.

The government has pledged to improve Mexico’s failing justice system, and the Supreme Court last week ruled soldiers accused of abuses could face trials in civil courts instead of closed-door military tribunals.

The changes came too late for Cinthia Salazar, who accuses the army of shooting dead her two sons Bryan, 5, and Martin, 9, at a checkpoint in northeastern Mexico last year.

“They took two of my children,” she said. “Who’s going to give them back to me? Nobody. I told them (the soldiers) not to shoot us because there were kids, but they ignored me.”

© Thomson Reuters 2011

Source: http://news.nationalpost.com
#Children #War #Drug #Mexico-U.S #Cartels #U.N #Calderon

Children during the Holocaust

by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C

Children were especially vulnerable in the era of the Holocaust. The Nazis advocated killing children of “unwanted” or “dangerous” groups in accordance with their ideological views, either as part of the “racial struggle” or as a measure of preventative security. The Germans and their collaborators killed children both for these ideological reasons and in retaliation for real or alleged partisan attacks.

The Germans and their collaborators killed as many as 1.5 million children, including over a million Jewish children and tens of thousands of Romani (Gypsy) children, German children with physical and mental disabilities living in institutions, Polish children, and children residing in the occupied Soviet Union. The chances for survival for Jewish and some non-Jewish adolescents (13-18 years old) were greater, as they could be deployed at forced labor.

The fate of Jewish and non-Jewish children can be categorized in the following way: 1) children killed when they arrived in killing centers; 2) children killed immediately after birth or in institutions; 3) children born in ghettos and camps who survived because prisoners hid them; 4) children, usually over age 12, who were used as laborers and as subjects of medical experiments; and 5) those children killed during reprisal operations or so-called anti-partisan operations.

In the ghettos, Jewish children died from starvation and exposure as well as lack of adequate clothing and shelter. The German authorities were indifferent to this mass death because they considered most of the younger ghetto children to be unproductive and hence “useless eaters.” Because children were generally too young to be deployed at forced labor, German authorities generally selected them, along with the elderly, ill, and disabled, for the first deportations to killing centers, or as the first victims led to mass graves to be shot.

Upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau and other killing centers, the camp authorities sent the majority of children directly to the gas chambers. SS and police forces in German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union shot thousands of children at the edge of mass graves. Sometimes the selection of children to fill the first transports to the killing centers or to provide the first victims of shooting operations resulted from the agonizing and controversial decisions of Jewish council (Judenrat) chairmen. The decision by the Judenrat in Lodz in September 1942 to deport children to the Chelmno killing center was an example of the tragic choices made by adults when faced with German demands. Janusz Korczak, director of an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto, however, refused to abandon the children under his care when they were selected for deportation. He accompanied them on the transport to the Treblinka killing center and into the gas chambers, sharing their fate.

Non-Jewish children from certain targeted groups were not spared. Examples include Romani (Gypsy) children killed in Auschwitz concentration camp; 5,000 to 7,000 children killed as victims of the “euthanasia” program; children murdered in reprisals, including most of the children of Lidice; and children in villages in the occupied Soviet Union who were killed with their parents.

The German authorities also incarcerated a number of children in concentration camps and transit camps. SS physicians and medical researchers used a number of children, including twins, in concentration camps for medical experiments that often resulted in the deaths of the children. Concentration camp authorities deployed adolescents, particularly Jewish adolescents, at forced labor in the concentration camps, where many died because of conditions. The German authorities held other children under appalling conditions in transit camps, such as the case of Anne Frank and her sister in Bergen-Belsen, and non-Jewish orphaned children whose parents the German military and police units had killed in so-called anti-partisan operations. Some of these orphans were held temporarily in the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp and other detention camps.

In their "search to retrieve 'Aryan blood,'" SS race experts ordered hundreds of children in occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union to be kidnapped and transferred to the Reich to be adopted by racially suitable German families. Although the basis for these decisions was "race-scientific," often blond hair, blue eyes, or fair skin was sufficient to merit the "opportunity" to be "Germanized." On the other hand, female Poles and Soviet civilians who had been deported to Germany for forced labor and who had had sexual relations with a German man -- often under duress -- resulting in pregnancy were forced to have abortions or to bear their children under conditions that would ensure the infant's death, if the "race experts" determined that the child would have insufficient German blood.

In spite of their acute vulnerability, many children discovered ways to survive. Children smuggled food and medicines into the ghettos, after smuggling personal possessions to trade for them out of the ghettos. Children in youth movements later participated in underground resistance activities. Many children escaped with parents or other relatives -- and sometimes on their own -- to family camps run by Jewish partisans.

Between 1938 and 1940, the Kindertransport (Children's Transport) was the informal name of a rescue effort which brought thousands of refugee Jewish children (without their parents) to safety in Great Britain from Nazi Germany and German-occupied territories. Some non-Jews hid Jewish children and sometimes, as in the case of Anne Frank, hid other family members as well. In France, almost the entire Protestant population of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, as well as many Catholic priests, nuns, and lay Catholics, hid Jewish children in the town from 1942 to 1944. In Italy and Belgium, many children survived in hiding.

After the surrender of Nazi Germany, ending World War II, refugees and displaced persons searched throughout Europe for missing children. Thousands of orphaned children were in displaced persons camps. Many surviving Jewish children fled eastern Europe as part of the mass exodus (Brihah) to the western zones of occupied Germany, en route to the Yishuv (the Jewish settlement in Palestine). Through Youth Aliyah (Youth Immigration), thousands migrated to the Yishuv, and then to the state of Israel after its establishment in 1948.

Source: http://www.ushmm.org 

Finally, Hollywood Movies "May" Back to Indonesia

Elisabeth Oktofani & Dion Bisara | July 15, 2011 

In the clearest sign of hope yet, Indonesian officials signaled on Thursday that Hollywood blockbusters — including the last Harry Potter film — could be back on screens within a fortnight.

Djonny Sjafruddin, head of the Indonesian Cinema Companies Union (GPBSI), told the Jakarta Globe that almost all film importation issues were now solved.

“Particularly the ones related to customs, royalties and income tax,” he said. “We’re now only dealing with technical issues.”

This meant Hollywood films might arrive here in as little as 10 days, he said. “It will still take time for the films to go through customs, censors and adding the subtitles,” he explained.

A key priority is getting “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” he said, which premiered in London last week and began showing in Asia this week, to the chagrin of Indonesian fans.

The turn of events on Thursday was made possible by the Customs and Excise Office clearing newly registered film importer Omega Film to bring in movies.

Susiwiyono, the director of customs and excise information, confirmed the news in a text message but did not explain why.

Omega was given a film import license on May 3, but a freeze was imposed as officials sought to clarify its relationship with Indonesian film giant Cineplex 21.

Cineplex 21 is affiliated with Camila and Satrya, two major film importers banned by the Finance Ministry pending payment of Rp 22 billion ($2.6 million) in back taxes and interest.

Omega was the only company given an import license among the six that applied, as four appeared to have the same address as Omega. It was not clear why the fifth was rejected.

Syamsul Lussa, head of the film department at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, explained that companies in the film industry were not allowed to have businesses that could create “vertical integration, whether directly or indirectly.”

Vertical integration refers to a company going into businesses that form part of its supply chain or production path.

“So, if there is dodgy data about Omega Film, we are going to investigate it and revoke its business permit if necessary,” he said.

Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has said that the Motion Picture Association of America, the umbrella group for six major Hollywood studios that boycotted Indonesia from February over a royalty dispute, only wants to deal with importers it is familiar with, understood to mean Camila and Satrya and the Cineplex group.

In the clearest sign of hope yet, Indonesian officials signaled on Thursday that Hollywood blockbusters — including the last Harry Potter film — could be back on screens within a fortnight.

Djonny Sjafruddin, head of the Indonesian Cinema Companies Union (GPBSI), told the Jakarta Globe that almost all film importation issues were now solved.



“Particularly the ones related to customs, royalties and income tax,” he said. “We’re now only dealing with technical issues.”

This meant Hollywood films might arrive here in as little as 10 days, he said. “It will still take time for the films to go through customs, censors and adding the subtitles,” he explained.

A key priority is getting “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” he said, which premiered in London last week and began showing in Asia this week, to the chagrin of Indonesian fans.

The turn of events on Thursday was made possible by the Customs and Excise Office clearing newly registered film importer Omega Film to bring in movies.

Susiwiyono, the director of customs and excise information, confirmed the news in a text message but did not explain why.

Omega was given a film import license on May 3, but a freeze was imposed as officials sought to clarify its relationship with Indonesian film giant Cineplex 21.

Cineplex 21 is affiliated with Camila and Satrya, two major film importers banned by the Finance Ministry pending payment of Rp 22 billion ($2.6 million) in back taxes and interest.

Omega was the only company given an import license among the six that applied, as four appeared to have the same address as Omega. It was not clear why the fifth was rejected.

Syamsul Lussa, head of the film department at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, explained that companies in the film industry were not allowed to have businesses that could create “vertical integration, whether directly or indirectly.”

Vertical integration refers to a company going into businesses that form part of its supply chain or production path.

“So, if there is dodgy data about Omega Film, we are going to investigate it and revoke its business permit if necessary,” he said.

Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has said that the Motion Picture Association of America, the umbrella group for six major Hollywood studios that boycotted Indonesia from February over a royalty dispute, only wants to deal with importers it is familiar with, understood to mean Camila and Satrya and the Cineplex group.

Source : www.thejakartaglobe.com/15July2011/hollywoodmoviesmaysoonbebackonscreen

AP Exclusive: Nike faces new worker abuse claims

By NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press – 7 hours ago 

SUKABUMI, Indonesia (AP) — Workers making Converse sneakers in Indonesia say supervisors throw shoes at them, slap them in the face and call them dogs and pigs. Nike, the brand's owner, admits that such abuse has occurred among the contractors that make its hip high-tops but says there was little it could do to stop it.

Dozens of workers interviewed by The Associated Press and a document released by Nike show that the footwear and athletic apparel giant has far to go to meet the standards it set for itself a decade ago to end its reliance on sweatshop labor.

That does not appear to explain abuses that workers allege at the Pou Chen Group factory in Sukabumi, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Jakarta — it didn't start making Converse products until four years after Nike bought Converse. One worker there said she was kicked by a supervisor last year after making a mistake while cutting rubber for soles.

"We're powerless," said the woman, who like several others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. "Our only choice is to stay and suffer, or speak out and be fired."

The 10,000 mostly female workers at the Taiwanese-operated Pou Chen plant make around 50 cents an hour. That's enough, for food and bunkhouse-type lodging, but little else. Some workers interviewed by the AP in March and April described being hit or scratched in the arm — one man until he bled. Others said they were fired after filing complaints.

"They throw shoes and other things at us" said a 23-year-old woman in the embroidery division. "They growl and slap us when they get angry.

"It's part of our daily bread."

Mira Agustina, 30, said she was fired in 2009 for taking sick leave, even though she produced a doctor's note.

"It was a horrible job," she said. "Our bosses pointed their feet at us, calling us names like dog, pig or monkey." All are major insults to Muslims. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

At the PT Amara Footwear factory located just outside Jakarta, where another Taiwanese contractor makes Converse shoes, a supervisor ordered six female workers to stand in the blazing sun after they failed to meet their target of completing 60 dozen pairs of shoes on time.

"They were crying and allowed to continue their job only after two hours under the sun," said Ujang Suhendi, 47, a worker at a warehouse in the factory. The women's supervisor received a warning letter for the May incident after complaints from unionized workers.

The company's own inquiries also found workers at the two factories were subjected to "serious and egregious" physical and verbal abuse, including the punishment of forcing workers to stand in the sun, said Hannah Jones, a Nike executive who oversees the company's efforts to improve working conditions.

"We do see other issues of that similar nature coming up across the supply chain but not on a frequent level," she said. "We see issues of working conditions on a less egregious nature across the board."

Nike, which came under heavy criticism a decade ago for its use of foreign sweatshops and child labor, has taken steps since then to improve conditions at its 1,000 overseas factories. But the progress it has made at factories producing gear with its premier "swoosh" logo is not fully reflected in those making Converse products.

An internal report Nike released to the AP after it inquired about the abuse show that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide fail to meet Nike's own standards for contract manufacturers.

Twelve are in the most serious category, indicating problems that could range from illegally long work hours to denying access to Nike inspectors. A Nike spokeswoman said the company was not aware of physical abuse occurring at those factories. Another 97 are in a category defined as making no progress in improving problems ranging from isolated verbal harassment to paying less than minimum wage. A further six factories had not been audited by Nike.

Nike blames problems on pre-existing licenses to produce Converse goods that it says prevent the parent company from inspecting factories or introducing its own code of conduct.

Read full story & view pics : www.google.com/hostednews/AP/Nike/14July2011

Wright reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. http://www.twitter.com/stephenwrightAP
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

#Labor #Factory #Women #Indonesia 

AGAIN..Web Traffic Virus Attacked!

These past 2 days my laptop got rapid propagation infected host. My Internet traffic was running very very very slow, the bandwidth totally dying!. 

I thought the wireless BTS was down temporary or my browsers got crashed or else wrong. So I've decided to uninstall, install few programs and updated antivirus. After scanning, detecting, checking the software certificates status and so on, so on...dang! finally this morning I've found out I've been attacked by worm-well known as SQL slammer (I remember the 1st time heard about slammer was around 2001).  I was infected with this worm via the Internet and then connected to a network via a VPN (Virtual Private Network).  The routers network processing lead my Internet bandwidth to the end of the traffic, I couldn't even loading any Beta data (90% of all vulnerable machines were infected within 10 minutes).  

Where the worm came from? Well you know, from one of the Windows 'Installer' (one of the supporting download software program that compatible with my laptop's Windows) it need to be install before setting MS antivirus updates. Reality the Setup.exe file is a 'boot-strapper' of the Msiexec.exe file that also sets an error level on return that corresponds to the Microsoft Win32 error codes. I wasn't quite sure to accomplish this, It says it must use a higher level setup launcher (not Windows Installer based) that wraps both the custom application and the stand-alone MSDE, and then opens them independent of each other.  

BUT...I've also just found out that Microsoft no longer offers support for this software program and will no longer be updated. Man..   

  

I'm glad, after my laptop got numerous collapse and crashed of routers under the burden of extremely high bombardment traffic (also removed from routing table), now it clean again. 

So, guys...here some tips : 

1. Take care your PC and Update it regular or you can setting the updates automatically (setting - control panel -  automatic updates). 

2. Check the Certificates Expiry & Authorize of any programs you download (setting via Tools - Internet Option). 

3. After download - Scan your file before you extract the file.

3. If something goes wrong with PC, just disconnect the Internet - Restart - Run the antivirus. 

4. When you find the Troubleshoot File - Uninstall them - Delete the shortcut - Scan - Restart again. 

If you have spare time (especially for you, Ladies), please learn & get to know about your own PC ; learn about the Internet codes - Threads type, how to edit the configuration, learn how to get source & read HTML, to use the Socket Layers properly, etc. So you could fix your own PC :). 

Regards

#internet, anti virus, slammer, worm, SQL, Internet down, routers, troubleshoot, engine, computer