Obama Administration

Cuba’s ‘Miami 5’ – What on Earth is Going On Now ?

2009-06-16:  Can this really be happening ?   Or … is it just one more annoying and depressing example of American Exceptionalism ?

Below is a Declaration by the Presidency of Cuba’s National Assembly, dated 15th June 2009 …

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today, without explanation, its decision not to review the case of our Five comrades who are unjustly imprisoned in that country for struggling against anti-Cuban terrorism that is sponsored by the U.S. rulers.  The judges did what the Obama Administration requested of it.

In spite of the solid arguments made by the defence attorneys from the obvious and multiple legal violations committed during the whole trial, by ignoring the universal backing to the petition – expressed by an unprecedented number of ‘Friend of the Court’ Briefs, among them 10 Nobel Prize recipients, hundreds of parliamentarians, and numerous U.S. and international jurist organizations, of outstanding political and academic personalities – the Supreme Court rejected the case, thus ignoring the demand of Humanity and its obligation to do justice.

We see manifested once more the arbitrariness of a corrupt and hypocritical system and its brutal treatment of our Five Brothers.

Our struggle to win their freedom will not diminish for one instant.  Now is the time to step up our actions, and not leave even one space uncovered or door unopened.

We are certain that Gerardo, Antonio, Fernando, Ramón, and René will continue leading this battle, as they have during these almost 11 years.

Responding to the infamous decision, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo declared: “Based on the experience that we have had, I am not surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision.  I have no confidence at all in the justice system of the United States.  There are no longer any doubts that our case has been, from the beginning, a political case, because not only did we have the necessary legal arguments for the Court to review it, we also have the growing international support as reflected in the Amicus Briefs presented to the Court in our favour.  I repeat what I said one year ago, 4 June 2008, that as long as one person remains struggling outside, we will continue resisting until there is justice.”

The struggle must be multiplied until the U.S. Government is forced to put an end to this monstrous injustice and restore freedom to Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René.

.

.

END

Enhanced by Zemanta

e-Accessibility – Allowing Every Person to Access e-Books ?

2009-04-11:  Globalization is not just an economic concept … it is a social reality in the 21st Century.

 

The recent legal settlement in the United States of America between the Authors Guild (USA) and Google, announced 2008-10-28, relates to the protection of authors’ rights during the course of Google’s Live Project to digitize every hardcopy book … of any type.  This settlement has consequences far beyond the jurisdiction of the USA.  Beware !

 

In the middle of all this consternation, and directly linked to many things I have been discussing over the past months … on 8th April 2009, I signed the following Petition …

 

 

Petition Target:  The Authors Guild (USA)

 

Sponsor:  Reading Rights Coalition (USA)

 

” When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader on 9 February 2009, the company announced that the device would read e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology.  Under pressure from the Authors Guild (USA), Amazon announced that it will give authors and publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of their e-books available for the Kindle 2.

 

The Reading Rights Coalition (USA), which represents people who cannot read print, is protesting against the threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from e-books for the Amazon Kindle 2.

 

The Coalition includes organizations which represent the blind, people with dyslexia, people with learning or processing issues, seniors losing vision, people with spinal cord injuries, people recovering from strokes, and many others for whom the addition of text-to-speech on the Kindle 2 promised to facilitate, for the first time, easy mainstream access to thousands and thousands of books.”

 

 

I added this Text to my Signature (#3238) …

 

” This action by the Authors Guild must now be clearly described and understood as a denial of basic human rights for a sizeable sector of the population in all of our societies.  Since 3 May 2008, when it became an International Legal Instrument … the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities specifies, protects and guarantees these basic rights.  It is the stated intention of the Obama Administration that the USA will soon ratify this UN Convention.”

 

 

 

To Sign the Petition:  Go to … www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read

 

.

 

.

 

END

Enhanced by Zemanta