Monthly Archives: June 2017

World must oppose Ethiopian government-sanctioned mass killings – Green Left Weekly

Posted: June 5, 2017 at 8:00 am

Government-sanctioned mass killings in Gambella in Ethiopia by South Sudanese forces, which decimated the Anuak Tribe in January last year, is a clear example of the second wave of atrocities of the maleficient rulers towards the forgotten people of the African Horn.

Armed with modern weapons, the South Sudanese Nuers settled as refugees and took pride in forcibly and permanently disarming any Anuak civilian who dared to rise up. This region has come to prominence with various calls for the international community to take action again the genocidal acts of the Ethiopian government against its own people.

It is expected that crimes against peoples can be dealt with by fair law enforcement, and administered by fair judicial systems. But in Ethiopia, the judiciary lacks independence in any politically related cases.

Ethiopian courts refuse to investigate incidents of alleged torture, information dissemination is hindered with false media reports, and international agencies are blocked from investigating and detailing government oppression of civilians.

Government officials and party loyalists obtain preferential access to jobs, land and finances. The corruption of this Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government, over which the Tigrayan People's Liberation Frontis the main component, has not been curtailed over its years in power. Rather it has bulldozed through the human rights of the people who slave away for subsistence.

In 2003, protests by the Amhara, the Oromia and the Gambella peoples aimed to stop native lands from being taken over. With their arms raised to signify peaceful protest, they were violently repressed.

Whole tribes in large parts of Ethiopia have faced destruction at the hands of a government entrusted to protect them. The nations wealth has been looted amid a bleak future of greater poverty and economic starvation for already suffering peoples. How much longer can people be subjected to the personal greed of the EPRDF in collaboration with the Gulf state countries?

The pride and life of Ethiopia must be preserved. The international community must take notice of the atrocities in Ethiopia and label them for what they are: genocide.

Unfortunately, for its own cynical interests, the US government has supported the EPRDF regime. When then-president Barack Obama visited Ethiopia last year, he congratulated the government on its re-election while it jails civil rights activists.

Ethiopia needs a combined effort by international agencies to investigate these genocidal acts, and hold the ruling party accountable and responsible. Bona-fide democratic processes must return.

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YOUR OPINION: Spirit of local political groups lives on – Elmira Star-Gazette

Posted: at 8:00 am

Carrie Heath 6:14 p.m. ET June 4, 2017

Do you know what those long, rectangular buildings are that still dot the countryside in villages and on once-busy corners? They are Grange buildings, the shuttered remnants of rural progressive politics.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Grange was a political force to be reckoned with, giving voice to rural farmers, looking out for the little guy in an age of robber barons and conspicuous consumption. The Grange was one of the first American political organizations to give women equal standing. They fought against corruption in government and for greater participation from everyday people in the form of initiatives like recall, referendum and direct election of senators.

These were radically progressive ideas at the time. That progressive spirit lives on today in groups, such as Indivisible. I am proud to have a long family history of involvement in the Grange, and I am proud to be a founding member of our local Indivisible group. Like those old Grangers, we emphasize educating our members about current issues in politics, helping them get their voices heard by our representatives, and fighting for policies that reflect progressive values.

We use the inalienable rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition the government that are enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution to meet these goals. It is true that our founders constructed the Constitution in order to protect our inalienable rights from government oppression. So why are some Americans so quick today to try to oppress anyone who disagrees with them?

We are not paid protestors hellbent on demonizing America or destroying civility. Like President Theodore Roosevelt, we want an America that offers a square deal to all of her citizens, not a sweetheart deal to just the fabulously wealthy.

We are not liberal snowflakes who will melt away at the first sign of opposition. We are as tough as those old farmers at their Grange meetings. We are progressives. We are patriots. We are Indivisible.

Carrie Heath is chair of Tioga County Indivisible.

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How One Art Fair Is Getting Argentinian Artists Into Museum Collections Around the World – artnet News

Posted: at 8:00 am

More than 10 major museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Madrids ReinaSofa, took home art from this years ArteBA fairand its all thanks to a little-known museum acquisitions program that is perhaps the most ambitious of its kind.

The program, supported by donations from Argentinian businesses and individual supporters, offers up to $10,000 each to participating museums to acquire work from the Buenos Aires art fair. This year, the Dallas Museum of Art bought a drawing by the Buenos Aires-based artist Horacio Zabala, while the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University chose a work by David Lamelas.

The ArteBA fair, whose 26th edition took place last weekend, has been making a push since 2013 to promote the countrys artists abroad through the initiative, with no smaller a goal than securing Argentine artists status in art history. Though ArteBAs program is not the only one of its kind, it does have an uncommonly extensive roster of participating museumsand an uncommonly deep bench of supporters, rather than the more typical backing of a single foundation.

The program coincides with a concerted effort by museums throughout the Western world to bolster their holdings of art from outside of Europe and North America. At ArteBA in 2015, New Yorks Guggenheim Museum acquired Asamble (Assemble), a 2015 performance work by Amalia Pica (born in 1978 in Neuqun). The piece has since been staged in London and in New York.

Amalia Pica, Asamble (2015). Courtesy Guggenheim Museum.

AlthoughArgentina has given birth to major 20th-century artists like Len Ferrari, Lucio Fontana, and Liliana Porter, efforts to get the countrys contemporary artists on curators and collectors radars are necessary because of its history of relative isolation. Buenos Aires is a long way from many of the worlds art capitals, and its economy has suffered due to rampant inflation and oppressive political regimes.

National and local politicians in recent years have risen to the challenge, partly by providing financial support for Argentinian galleries to participate in international art fairs. They are also investing additional money in bringing the international art world to Argentina. Last year, the government of Buenos Aires teamed up with the massive Art Basel fair to become the inaugural site of theArt Basel Cities initiative.

This year, the Dallas Museum of Art used the fairs acquisitions program to fill in a gap in its holdings. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, the museums assistant curator of contemporary art, picked out a drawing by Horacio Zabala (born in Buenos Aires in 1943 and still living in the city), on offer from Henrique Faria Gallery of New York and Buenos Aires.

Zabala came of age during the beginning of the so-called dirty wars with the installment of a military government, Brodbeck said. He was dealing with government censorship and oppression in a conceptual vein.

Davis Lamelas, Bueno Aires No Existe / Buenos Aires NExiste Pas (2011). Courtesy ArteBA.

Carla Acevedo Yates, assistant curator at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, chose a work by David Lamelas, Buenos Aires no Existe, Buenos Aires Nexiste Pas(2011), also from Henrique Faria.

The title of the work quotes the first line of a letter written by Marcel Duchamp to his brother while the artist was spending time in the city. The acquisition comes at an opportune moment: Yates is organizing an exhibition of Lamelass work at the Broad Art Museum next June. Our museum is just five years old, Acevedo Yates said, so were just building our strategy to collect contemporary art.

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The ongoing war on drugs – The National

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The National
The ongoing war on drugs
The National
The UAE's strategic location and economic strength make it a very attractive place for international drugs smugglers. As described in yesterday's newspaper, drug gangs are resorting to more and more outlandish even creative methods in order to ...

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The ongoing war on drugs - The National

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California Gambling Control Commission

Posted: at 7:58 am

There are currently 62 casinos operated by 60 Tribes.

Footnotes:

1 Date the executed Compact was ratified by the Legislature or by the voters through the Referendum process.

2 Compact was ratified through an alternate process that: 1) required the Governor to certify that it was materially identical to the 1999 Compacts at the time it was submitted to the Legislature; and, 2) was not rejected by the Legislature, as specified in AB 1385 (Battin, Chapter 874, Statutes of 1999). See Government Code section 12012.25(b).

3 Federal approval of a Compact is published in the Federal Register after it is ratified in accordance with State law and approved by the United States Secretary of the Interior.

4 The State of California entered into a separate Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Tribe as a government-to-government agreement for the purpose of enforcing provisions separate and apart from the 2006 Compact amendments. This MOA was approved by the Legislature under AB 1738 (Coto, Chapter 42, Statutes of 2007). On February 5, 2008, voters approved Propositions 94, 95, and 97, which allowed the Compact amendments and the MOAs to go into effect.

5 The State of California entered into a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the Tribe as government-to-government agreement for the purpose of enforcing provisions separate and apart from the 2006 Compact amendments. This LOA was aproved by the Legislature under AB 1212 (Nunez, Chapter 227, Statutes of 2007).

6 Tribe's Secretarial Procedures became effective on February 8, 2013.

7 The Tribe is listed as the Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California: Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation on the Federal Register Notice dated January 29, 2016.

8 The Tribe is listed as the Capitan Grande of Diegueno Mission Indians of California: Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation on the Federal Register Notice dated January 19, 2016. On December 5, 2014, the Federal Register published the Notice for the Class III Amended and Restated Tribal-State Compact between the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians and the State of California.

9 Tribe's Secretarial Procedures became effective on July 29, 2016

10Tribes Secretarial Procedures became effective on August 12, 2016

11On October 26, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded in Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of Pauma & Yuima Reservation v. California (9th Cir. 2015) 813 F.3d 1155 that Pauma's 2004 Amendment was rescinded. Therefore, the Tribe is subject to the 1999 Compact for purposes of payment obligations.

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Manila Casino Attacker Was a Gambling Addict, the Philippine Police Say – New York Times

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New York Times
Manila Casino Attacker Was a Gambling Addict, the Philippine Police Say
New York Times
The police identified Mr. Carlos as the man seen in security videos of the attack, setting fires in the casino's gambling rooms and stealing more than $2 million worth of gambling chips. The videos were made public Saturday, but the assailant had not ...
Police in Manila identify casino assailant as a desperately indebted gambling addictThe Week Magazine
Manila casino attack suspect was in debt, hooked on gambling, Philippine police sayCBS News
Manila casino attacker was gambling addict, not ISIS terrorist policeRT
Inquirer.net -Los Angeles Times -CNN International -CNN
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Is there too much video gambling in Springfield? – The State Journal-Register

Posted: at 7:58 am

Tim Landis Business Editor @TimLandisSJR

Video gaming in Springfield is at the saturation point if trends in gambling tax collections are an indication.

Taxes on gambling terminals have raised approximately $5.8 million, including license fees, since gaming began in the fall of 2012, according to figures from the city Office of Budget and Management. The city also continued to lead the state at the end of April with 576 terminals at 126 locations. Rockford was second with 431 terminals at 90 locations.

But city budget director Bill McCarty said tax revenue from terminals has stabilized at about $120,000 a month for several months, even as the overall number of terminals has increased. At the end of April 2016, 538 terminals operated at 120 Springfield locations, according to figures from the Illinois Gaming Board.

"Given the relative stagnation of revenues in the $120,000 range for many months, it would appear that perhaps we have reached the saturation point with the number of terminals," said McCarty. "The fact is, there are so many machines in place, one has to assume video gaming is convenient for anyone who wants to play, and therefore, most of the revenue produced by new machines will likely come at the expense of existing machines, rather than new money."

The state collects a 30 percent tax on net terminal income -- amount gambled minus amount paid out -- with five-sixths going to the state and one-sixth to local governments. In the year ended April 30, according to Gaming Board numbers, $134.3 million was wagered on Springfield terminals with about $101.7 million paid out and net terminal income (the equivalent of gambling losses) totaling more than $3.2 million. State law sets payoffs as a percentage of wagers.

Springfield gambling taxes have been set aside for road and other infrastructure improvements.

Mayor Jim Langfelder said he believes video gaming has gone well beyond what was intended by the original state law. He added that he has asked city attorneys whether it would be possible to limit further expansion, though he said he does not yet have a specific proposal.

"I always thought it should just be allowed at the bars and nowhere else," said Langfelder. "Today, it's the gas stations, the restaurants; we've had barbershops want them. Everybody wants them because it can add a different aspect to your business.

"What we have to keep in mind is this is entertainment for people 21 years of age and older. Now, I hear people say, 'I take my child into a restaurant, and they think those are video games that you can play, and it's gambling.'"

The widespread availability of video gaming also figures into the possibility of a downtown casino, said Langfelder. There were discussions of a Springfield casino during the spring legislative session, but lawmakers adjourned Wednesday without voting on gambling expansion. Any casino proposal, the mayor said, would be subject to a local voter referendum.

"We want the opportunity to say, 'Yes, we want a casino,' or, 'No, we don't.' But if we do have a casino, it should be in downtown," said Langfelder.

-- Contact Tim Landis: tim.landis@sj-r.com, 788-1536, twitter.com/timlandisSJR.

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Keep up fight over underage gambling – The Daily Gazette

Posted: at 7:58 am

I currently work at the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County, as the youth outreach coordinator, partnering with the New York Council on Problem Gambling on the YOU(th) Decide Project.

I am writing to express excitement and gratitude that over 90 resolutions were signed in support of the YOU(th) Decide mission, and 21 policies were signed that affected over 7,000 youth across New York state.

The Mission of YOU(th) Decide is to empower youth to make educated decisions regarding their gambling behaviors, and prepare communities to work together to prevent underage gambling.

Did you know that among United States youth between the ages of 14 and 21, 68 percent have gambled in the past year, and 11 percent have gambled twice a week or more? Of those youth, 6.5 percent are at risk for, or have already developed, a gambling problem.

Underage gambling brings with it a number of negative consequences, including, but not limited to:

Increased likelihood of developing a gambling addiction;

Increased risk of delinquency and crime;

Damaged relationships and poor academic performance;

Mental health issues including depression and substance abuse disorders;

Overall poor general health;

And attempted and completed suicide.

There is not just one person, nor one group of people, who are affected by underage gambling. There is not just one factor in someones life that alone leads to underage gambling. There is also not just one strategy that will along prevent underage gambling.

Kara James

Saratoga Springs

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Philippines Says Casino Attacker Was High-Rolling Gambling … – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Posted: at 7:58 am


Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Philippines Says Casino Attacker Was High-Rolling Gambling ...
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The gunman who went on a deadly rampage at a metro Manila casino complex was a Filipino gambler in heavy debt, who had been recently barred from the ...

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Pagcor sets measures vs gambling addiction – Inquirer.net

Posted: at 7:58 am

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on Sunday maintained that it was implementing strict measures to fend off gambling addiction among customers of licensed gaming establishments in the country.

The state-run gaming firm issued the statement after authorities discovered that Jessie Carlos, the gunman behind the deadly attack on Resorts World Manila which left 38 people including himself dead, was a gambling addict.

It is the agencys hope that gaming in the country will remain to be a form of entertainment and not a means to destroy individuals and families, Pagcor said.

As the governments gaming regulator, Pagcor ensures that such strict measures on responsible gaming are implemented not only by Pagcor-operated gaming establishments, but by all its licensees, it said.

Pagcor said it had been strictly enforcing a code of practice for responsible gaming in casinos and other similar gambling establishments nationwide to prevent gambling addiction and minimize potential harm to individual players and the community.

Aside from using traditional and social media platforms, Pagcor said it had set up a 24/7 hotline and tapped the assistance of private groups to raise awareness on gambling addiction and help in the rehabilitation of gambling addicts.

Carlos had been barred from entering any gambling facility upon the request of his family, according to Pagcor.

Aside from player exclusion Pagcor also enforces stricter regulations for its electronic games and e-bingo sites. Among these were banning of minors, known addicted players and the strict enforcement of distance requirements for electronic gaming sites, Pagcor said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expressed condolences to the victims of the attack on Resorts World Manila.

On behalf of the international tourism community, UNWTO conveys its heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families and friends of the victims and to the Filipino people, UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai said in a statement released through the Department of Tourism.

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