The sanctions against Zimbabwe are supposed to hurt the clique surrounding president Mugabe. They may be having the opposite effect. Two young men with dreadlocks hung around idly near a mall in Eastlea, one of the better suburbs in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, waiting for a potential employer to pick them up. They had folders filled with references and resumés with them and approached every car that rolled onto the parking lot, hoping to find work. "But there is no work," Jason Chivunga sighed. "Because of the sanctions." His former classmate Blessing Kwaramba nodded in agreement. "We are suffering for it. If there was no boycott, Zimbabwe would reach for the stars. Why are we still being punished?" he asked.
Two young men with dreadlocks hung around idly near a mall in Eastlea, one of the better suburbs in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, waiting for a potential employer to pick them up. They had folders filled with references and resumés with them and approached every car that rolled onto the parking lot, hoping to find work. "But there is no work," Jason Chivunga sighed. "Because of the sanctions." His former classmate Blessing Kwaramba nodded in agreement. "We are suffering for it. If there was no boycott, Zimbabwe would reach for the stars. Why are we still being punished?" he asked.
... Saying he could assume that innocent people have been executed, state District Judge Kevin Fine ruled in a pre-trial motion in a capital murder case on Thursday that the death penalty was unconstitutional and found himself on Friday facing a torrent of criticism from a string of high-profile Texans including Gov. Rick Perry. <...> "Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?" he said. "I don't think society's mindset is that way now." On Friday, Fine said he was only focusing on the due process issue the motion brought up and the only guidance on that issue is what has been provided by the U.S. Supreme Court "that places a duty on trial courts to act as gatekeepers in interpreting the due process claim in light of evolving standards of fairness and ordered liberty." "So I am now charged with interpreting such evolving standards and I'm called upon to assess the current state of our society's standards of fairness and ordered liberty in light of what we as a society now know. And that is that we execute innocent people. This is supported by the exoneration of individuals off of America's death rows." ...
... Saying he could assume that innocent people have been executed, state District Judge Kevin Fine ruled in a pre-trial motion in a capital murder case on Thursday that the death penalty was unconstitutional and found himself on Friday facing a torrent of criticism from a string of high-profile Texans including Gov. Rick Perry.
<...>
"Are you willing to have your brother, your father, your mother be the sacrificial lamb, to be the innocent person executed so that we can have a death penalty so that we can execute those who are deserving of the death penalty?" he said. "I don't think society's mindset is that way now."
On Friday, Fine said he was only focusing on the due process issue the motion brought up and the only guidance on that issue is what has been provided by the U.S. Supreme Court "that places a duty on trial courts to act as gatekeepers in interpreting the due process claim in light of evolving standards of fairness and ordered liberty."
"So I am now charged with interpreting such evolving standards and I'm called upon to assess the current state of our society's standards of fairness and ordered liberty in light of what we as a society now know. And that is that we execute innocent people. This is supported by the exoneration of individuals off of America's death rows." ...
But having had exactly this argument with my sister, who's a lay magistrate, I don't hold out much hope. keep to the Fen Causeway
... In Tuba City [Arizona] last year [whose hospital is run by the Navajo Nation and financed partly by the Indian Health Service], 32 percent of women with prior Caesareans had vaginal births. Its overall Caesarean rate has been low -- 13.5 percent, less than half the national rate of 31.8 percent in 2007 (the latest year with figures available). This is despite the fact that more women here have diabetes and high blood pressure, which usually result in higher Caesarean rates. <...> Dr. Amanda Leib, the director of obstetrics and gynecology at Tuba City, said: "I think the midwives tend to be patient. They know the patients well, and they don't have to leave at 5 to get home for a golf game or a tennis game. As crass as that sounds, I do think it has some influence." <...> Some of Tuba City's success probably arises from Navajo culture and customs. Couples often want more than two children, but repeated Caesareans increase the risk of each pregnancy, so doctors and patients are motivated to avoid the surgery. Also, Navajos regard incisions as a threat to the spirit, something to be avoided unless necessary. Birth is a joyous affair here, and the entire family -- from children to great-grandparents -- often go to the delivery room. "I've had 12 family members in the room," said Michelle Cullison, a nurse-midwife. "I've frankly never seen a place like this. Whoever that woman wants to be there is there. It's something I would take out to the community." Linda Higgins, the head of midwifery at Tuba City, said: "All of a sudden Mom is surrounded by women, and they're all helping her and touching her." As a result, many young women have already seen children born by the time they become pregnant, and birth seems natural to them, not frightening. ...
Dr. Amanda Leib, the director of obstetrics and gynecology at Tuba City, said: "I think the midwives tend to be patient. They know the patients well, and they don't have to leave at 5 to get home for a golf game or a tennis game. As crass as that sounds, I do think it has some influence."
Some of Tuba City's success probably arises from Navajo culture and customs. Couples often want more than two children, but repeated Caesareans increase the risk of each pregnancy, so doctors and patients are motivated to avoid the surgery. Also, Navajos regard incisions as a threat to the spirit, something to be avoided unless necessary.
Birth is a joyous affair here, and the entire family -- from children to great-grandparents -- often go to the delivery room.
"I've had 12 family members in the room," said Michelle Cullison, a nurse-midwife. "I've frankly never seen a place like this. Whoever that woman wants to be there is there. It's something I would take out to the community."
Linda Higgins, the head of midwifery at Tuba City, said: "All of a sudden Mom is surrounded by women, and they're all helping her and touching her."
As a result, many young women have already seen children born by the time they become pregnant, and birth seems natural to them, not frightening. ...
Wonder what Elisabeth Badinter would have to say about yet another "anti-science" retour en force du naturalisme originating in the U.S. The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
Doctors and midwives here earn salaries and are not paid by the procedure, so they have no financial incentive to perform surgery. (Doctors earn $190,000 to $285,000 a year, and midwives $80,000 to $120,000.) "My colleagues here truly want to practice medicine and help people," said Dr. Jennifer Whitehair, an obstetrician. "That's not true everywhere. Here they're not thinking, how much can I make off this procedure?" The hospital and doctors are federally insured against malpractice, in contrast to other hospitals, where private insurers have threatened to raise premiums or withdraw coverage if vaginal birth after Caesarean is allowed. As a result, Dr. Leib said, doctors in Tuba City are free to "think about what's best for the patient and not what covers our butts."
Doctors and midwives here earn salaries and are not paid by the procedure, so they have no financial incentive to perform surgery. (Doctors earn $190,000 to $285,000 a year, and midwives $80,000 to $120,000.)
"My colleagues here truly want to practice medicine and help people," said Dr. Jennifer Whitehair, an obstetrician. "That's not true everywhere. Here they're not thinking, how much can I make off this procedure?"
The hospital and doctors are federally insured against malpractice, in contrast to other hospitals, where private insurers have threatened to raise premiums or withdraw coverage if vaginal birth after Caesarean is allowed.
As a result, Dr. Leib said, doctors in Tuba City are free to "think about what's best for the patient and not what covers our butts."
Years after activists accused Nike and other Western brands of running Third World sweatshops, the issue has taken a surprising turn. <...> In the end, market forces and ambition, not activism or corporate initiatives, pushed up wages and improved working conditions. The forces originally unleashed by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping still drive China's economy, producing a manufacturing labor shortage and giving villagers viable choices beyond factory work. <...> [Factory Girls author Leslie] Chang views sweatshop critics as condescending. She notes that the 19th-century U.S. industrial economy developed in a similar way, as Vermont and New Hampshire farm girls migrated to work in Massachusetts textile plants, sending savings home. She says savvy Chinese workers, not preachy activists, are securing better conditions and wages in China's fast-developing economy. ...
In the end, market forces and ambition, not activism or corporate initiatives, pushed up wages and improved working conditions. The forces originally unleashed by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping still drive China's economy, producing a manufacturing labor shortage and giving villagers viable choices beyond factory work.
[Factory Girls author Leslie] Chang views sweatshop critics as condescending. She notes that the 19th-century U.S. industrial economy developed in a similar way, as Vermont and New Hampshire farm girls migrated to work in Massachusetts textile plants, sending savings home. She says savvy Chinese workers, not preachy activists, are securing better conditions and wages in China's fast-developing economy. ...
... The new generation of migrant workers, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, have far more options than their parents - the original generation of rural migrant workers who fuelled China's extraordinary economic growth over the last two decades. While their parents moved from the countryside to the city out of economic necessity, those born the 1990s, in particular, have always enjoyed a higher standard of living, are better educated, and better understand the reality of life in the big city. Many were born in or grew up in the city, and consider themselves to be more urban than rural. As 19 year-old migrant worker Chen Changzheng told a reporter the Dongguan Times: "Exactly what part of me do you think looks like a peasant?" The younger generation of workers are both more aware of their rights and more self-confident and assertive. They will not accept indefinitely the appalling working conditions their parents put up with. Many will only work for a few months before moving on to another factory or a new town. They are highly mobile and think nothing of jumping on a train or bus to cross the country if the mood takes them. More choices for younger migrant workers And it is this increased mobility that has put the Pearl River Delta at a disadvantage. The delta is no longer the only show in town for factory workers, there are jobs everywhere from Chongqing to Jiangsu and increasingly closer to home for rural families. The wages may not be as high as in the delta but the lower cost of living and proximity to their friends and family make staying closer to home an increasingly attractive option. Younger workers can also afford not work if they choose to. Very often their parents have made enough money to live on and don't need their children to support them. However, very few young workers are living off their parents. They money they do earn, they spend on themselves and their friends. As one teenager said, "I don't need to support my family but neither do I want to be a burden." ...
... The new generation of migrant workers, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, have far more options than their parents - the original generation of rural migrant workers who fuelled China's extraordinary economic growth over the last two decades. While their parents moved from the countryside to the city out of economic necessity, those born the 1990s, in particular, have always enjoyed a higher standard of living, are better educated, and better understand the reality of life in the big city. Many were born in or grew up in the city, and consider themselves to be more urban than rural. As 19 year-old migrant worker Chen Changzheng told a reporter the Dongguan Times: "Exactly what part of me do you think looks like a peasant?"
The younger generation of workers are both more aware of their rights and more self-confident and assertive. They will not accept indefinitely the appalling working conditions their parents put up with. Many will only work for a few months before moving on to another factory or a new town. They are highly mobile and think nothing of jumping on a train or bus to cross the country if the mood takes them.
More choices for younger migrant workers
And it is this increased mobility that has put the Pearl River Delta at a disadvantage. The delta is no longer the only show in town for factory workers, there are jobs everywhere from Chongqing to Jiangsu and increasingly closer to home for rural families. The wages may not be as high as in the delta but the lower cost of living and proximity to their friends and family make staying closer to home an increasingly attractive option.
Younger workers can also afford not work if they choose to. Very often their parents have made enough money to live on and don't need their children to support them. However, very few young workers are living off their parents. They money they do earn, they spend on themselves and their friends. As one teenager said, "I don't need to support my family but neither do I want to be a burden." ...
They are, of course, in peak physical condition, with the flying skills required of any air force ace. But China's first female astronauts have faced an extra challenge: they had to be mothers to qualify for the country's prestigious space programme.Two women and five men have been selected as the next generation to go into space, a Hong Kong newspaper reported today, citing an unnamed military source.Xu Xianrong, an expert at the air force general hospital, said women had advantages as astronauts over men because they were more mentally stable, better able to bear loneliness and had better communication skills.The insistence that they should also be wives and mothers does not relate to their multi-tasking abilities. Officials are concerned that space flight might affect their fertility."It's out of the consideration of being responsible for the female pilots," Xu told the state news agency Xinhua. "Though there is little evidence on how the space experience will affect the female constitution, we have to be extra cautious. After all, it's unprecedented in China." ...
They are, of course, in peak physical condition, with the flying skills required of any air force ace. But China's first female astronauts have faced an extra challenge: they had to be mothers to qualify for the country's prestigious space programme.
Two women and five men have been selected as the next generation to go into space, a Hong Kong newspaper reported today, citing an unnamed military source.
Xu Xianrong, an expert at the air force general hospital, said women had advantages as astronauts over men because they were more mentally stable, better able to bear loneliness and had better communication skills.
The insistence that they should also be wives and mothers does not relate to their multi-tasking abilities. Officials are concerned that space flight might affect their fertility.
"It's out of the consideration of being responsible for the female pilots," Xu told the state news agency Xinhua. "Though there is little evidence on how the space experience will affect the female constitution, we have to be extra cautious. After all, it's unprecedented in China." ...
