NEEDED: A SOLUTION FOR THE PLIGHT OF AFRICAN REFUGEES IN ISRAEL AND EGYPT

I mentioned the holiday of Pesach or Passover just yesterday. Pesach is all about the Israelites fleeing oppression in Egypt. With that in mind the plight of refugees from the Ivory Coast, Sudan, and a few other African nations trying to get into Israel via Egypt is more than ironic.

In recently months Israel and Egypt have been playing hot potato with these African immigrants. Both countries wanting the other one to take them.

The Chicago Tribune reports at an Israeli Cabinet meeting last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the wave of African migrants a "tsunami" that could grow even larger, and he ordered the army to return the infiltrators as soon as they cross the border.

How will the PM feel as he sits down to his Passover Seder this year? As he reads what his Jewish ancestors went through to obtain their freedom will it dawn on him that his "order" is in contradiction with what the holiday is all about?

Anat Ben-Dor, director of the Refugee Rights Clinic at Tel Aviv University, said his government has failed to set up an effective mechanism to review the migrant cases and determine who were refugees with the right to protection in Israel and who could be legally deported (as if).

"Israel must follow the convention it has signed and carry out an orderly, professional examination of these cases," Ben-Dor said, referring to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. "Under international law there is a minimum requirement to check if the person reaching you deserves protection."

Turning the migrants back at the border, as ordered by Olmert, would violate a government commitment to the Supreme Court and the convention's prohibition against returning asylum seekers to countries where they might be at risk, or from which they could be sent back to places of danger, Ben-Dor said.

Romm Lewkowicz, from the Hotline for Migrant Workers in Israel also wants the government to come up with a policy for dealing with refugees and for considering each individual on a case-by-case basis.

In the meantime, Lewkowicz' group and others are calling on the government to issue work permits to the refugees so they can support themselves and take the financial burden off the government.

Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Yael Dayan criticized her own government for not dealing with the issue and also called on the government to let the refugees to work so they can provide for themselves.
"These are young, healthy people who are able. The weak ones were killed or stayed behind," she said.

And in Egypt where once Pharaoh, the Pharaoh of Exodus, himself reigned we see a growing stream of casualties from shooting incidents at the border with Israel as the Egyptian police have cracked down on migrants.

"It is wrong that they kill people trying to have a better life," Tawer Ali, a Sudanese refugee community leader in Cairo, told Panapress.

"If they want things to change and if the government wants refugees to stop trying to go to Israel, then the Egyptian government needs to do better with the refugees here in Egypt," Ali said.

Of course, the government doesn't want the refugees to stay in Egypt either.

And the people of Egypt have been less then hospitable to their darker skinned "guests." Human rights workers say African refugees in Egypt are subject to taunts, discrimination and violence.

Over the last two years, about 6,000 refugees have entered Israel. More than 2,800 Africans have crossed the border since the beginning of the year. Right now, more than 1,000 African refugees, including women and children, are housed in a prison in southern Israel. Hundreds more are living in shelters in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Israel says it is a small country and there is only so much it can do.

Egypt says pretty much the same thing.

And that argument is not totally without merit.

Still these two countries alone or with others need to come up with something better than deportation, imprisonment or death.

Tel Aviv's Dayan says the international community needs to come up with a plan.

The Western world has been very good at highlighting the genocide in Africa. There should be some kind of international authority that not only saves them but helps them get their feet on the ground, she said.

You think?

The following is from Inter Press Service (IPS).

Africans Lost in 'The Promised Land'
By Zack Baddorf

TEL AVIV, Apr 15 (IPS) - The young man who agreed to be called Hamed has come a long way to do nothing. The Ivoirian would prefer to work but, after sneaking into Israel from Egypt about a month ago, he's got nothing better to do than sit in a park everyday in central Tel Aviv, wait, and hope for a government decision on his refugee application.

Hamed, 22, who asked to remain anonymous fearing retribution from the Israeli government, joins about 7,000 African refugees who have arrived in the Jewish state since 2005. Steven Wolfson from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Tel Aviv told IPS that about 2,200 Africans have arrived in the past three months, creating a "crisis situation".

Hamed said he fled Cote d'Ivoire because his father was murdered and he feared the killers would come after him. His family spent about 3,000 dollars to get him to Egypt and then paid another 800 dollars in late February for a Bedouin smuggler to sneak him into Israel's southern Negev region. After travelling for three days by jeep and on foot through the Sinai desert, he heard a gunshot along the border.

"I was thinking at that (moment), maybe that's an Egyptian. They are going to kill me or not?"

His fears are not without reason. Since the start of the year, Egyptian border guards have killed 10 African asylum-seekers trying to enter Israel, including two Ivoirians.

Amnesty International has called on Cairo to investigate the killings. The human rights organisation claims the Israeli government has pressured Egypt to reduce the number of Africans entering Israel illegally. Ilan Lonai, director of Activism and Campaigns for Amnesty's Tel Aviv office, told IPS the result has been the disproportionate use of force by Egyptian border guards.

"When somebody is asked to stop and he's not threatening you, there's no reason in the world to shoot him, especially people who are running away from you," Lonai said. "There are different ways of stopping them."

Most of the asylum seekers are from Eritrea and Sudan. Human Rights Watch reports that thousands of young men have fled Eritrea to avoid "endless military conscription." The U.S.-based group has documented torture against military deserters there.

In Sudan, 2.5 million people have died in the country's 22-year-long civil war, and another 2.5 million have been displaced in the western region of Darfur alone since 2003, according to HRW. Sudanese who visit the Jewish state risk execution if they return home.

Lonai says Israel should not be using Egypt to stop people that need protection from entering the country.

"This is a very sad issue in a country that has built itself on this notion of protecting refugees to so easily forget all of our history and push it all away," said Lonai, referring to the creation of the Zionist state after the Nazi Holocaust nearly 60 years ago. "This is a very, very sad issue."

The "main problem", according to Shevy Korzen, executive director of the Tel Aviv-based Hotline for Migrant Workers, is Israel doesn't have an established system in place to manage incoming refugees. Korzen told IPS that Israel needs to set clear guidelines and provide appropriate protection to refugees.

"If someone reaches the border and asks for asylum, then according to international law their claim has to be assessed," she said. "Israel cannot say, 'Oh, we're ok. We're not shooting. We're just asking the Egyptians to do this.' This is wrong."

When it comes to deciding who can stay and who will be sent south, back to Africa, Korzen said, Tel Aviv's decisions are made "ad hoc". Korzen cited the example of Israel's August 2007 return of 48 Sudanese asylum seekers to Egypt, which then sent 20 back to Sudan.

When the refugees first started arriving in Israel a few years ago, the State granted temporary residence to 600 Sudanese from Darfur, and gave work permits to 2,000 Eritreans.

About 5,500 African asylum-seekers crossed the 160-mile wide Israel-Egypt border last year alone, according to UNHCR. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the refugee influx at a Feb. 24 Cabinet meeting as a "tsunami that could grow." Olmert ordered his ministers to immediately deport about 4,500 "illegal infiltrators", according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release.

But this hasn't happened. Instead, Tel Aviv decided in March to take over the evaluation of claims of Sudanese and Eritrean refugees from UNHCR. Wolfson said the Israeli Ministry of Interior is registering but not yet assessing the claims "due primarily to the volume of them." Africans from elsewhere, like the Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria, are still evaluated by the UN, which submits its recommendation to an Israeli committee. While Israel has no quotas, typically the committee grants asylum to about 10-20 Africans a year, Wolfson said.

"In the long run, obviously this can't work," said Korzen. "In the long run, Israel has to accept the fact that it has become, like other countries, a country that accepts asylum seekers. It's not the only one -- it seems to think so but it's not -- and it needs to be able to handle this in accordance to its obligations, to international law, to the Refugee Convention, which Israel was the first country to sign and promote."

As for Hamed, he made it across the border, and was found by Israel Defence Force troops. They detained him in a military camp for two days and then released him into Israel. Like thousands before him, Hamed registered with UNHCR in Tel Aviv.

He now lives on the support of a non-governmental organisation that feeds and houses him in a shelter near the Tel Aviv central bus station. Neither the UN nor the State of Israel provides food, water or shelter. Without a work visa, he can't work, legally, to support himself.

"Well, don't forget that Israel is a developed country," Wolfson told IPS at the UNHCR's downtown office in Tel Aviv, explaining why the refugee agency doesn't provide aid here. "We understand the worry that providing assistance to new arrivals will create a pull factor, but, at the same time, I think basic humanity requires a more comprehensive response from the various authorities, and at least cooperation among the various actors."

Wolfson said there are "excellent" NGOs doing a "very, very good job against tremendous odds. But they are sometimes working in isolation, and some government coordination at the very least if not actual government support would go a long way to making the job of everyone easier."

Until a definitive policy is established, Hamed will remain in limbo. He said he will continue to come to Levinsky Park each morning, like he has for the past month, to sit and talk with about 40 other African refugees who, like him, don't know their status in Israel or their future.

"What I have to do?" asked Hamed. "I have to be patient (and) wait for that. I can't do anything."

THE LAWSON FILE: DON'T SHUT THIS JOINT DOWN

Neighbors complain about bars all the time, the noise, the rowdiness, the motorcycles. Then, as always there are the allegations of of public urination. Often I am in sympathy with the complainers. But this time my borthers and sisters the place in question, The Tokio Store, has been operating for a lot longer than any of the folks who live nearby have been in the neighborhood. Also, this time the local gendarmes don't seem to see the problem either. This seems just one of those "not in my back yard" issues.

It's true there is live music on weekends and there are motorcycles (god forbid). But the offending joint has been operating for 100 years. Seems a shame to shut it down now.

Try a fan and a white noise machine in your bedroom folks. Works for me when neighbors get noisy and I'm one lousy sleeper.

The owners of the Tokio Store in little Tokio, Texas are more than willing to try to work out whatever problems do exist, but the landowners nearby don't seem interested.

This is a place owned by a disabled Vietnam Vet who has suffered from traumatic stress syndrome and it is a place where numerous charity events are held each year.

Who amongst us can forget the Tokio Store Fish Fry and Music Festival Featuring Heart of Texas Road Gang, Texas Style, Taylor Brothers, Spivey Crossing and others held just last month with proceeds going to Shriners Hospitals for Children.

It's a hangout.

And its noted for its pie.

One of those who hang out there had this to say about the place:

"Nice little place for a beverage and a game of pool. VERY biker friendly. Opens at noon. If they don't look open, just pull up your bike. The owner lives next door and will come and open the place for you."

Another, some fellow named Richard said,

"We were at the Tokio Store last night, it was our daughters birthday, she is good friends of the new owner and his wife, they had the Nascar race on the TV for all the folks to watch, we had a blast, some of the best old country songs on the juke box I have heard in a long time and definitely the coldest beer to be found!"

Or there is this from Boyd Saller,

"I am glad to see the Tokio Store on your site, it is definitely a Texas Honky Tonk!! One that I know Willie himself would praise, since he's played there (If you have to ask who Willie is, then don't bother). Plus my ranch is just north on the other end of Old Railroad Road, so I have a soft spot for Debra and Charley, the current owners. If you ever get near there, just a few miles West off I-35 on FM185, stop and have a cold Shiner or just for some good ole' Texas talk!

By the way those bikers the neighbors are all riled up about - well, we're not talking vicious meth dealing bikers here, at least not for the most part. See the post below for a little on that.

I remember when my hangout, The Rock Chalk, a bar that catered to longhairs in Lawrence, Kansas back in the 60s was closed because the Attorney General of Kansas didn't like it. I was pissed. I kinda equate this with that.

Google Tokio Store and all kinds of interesting events and music stuff pops up.

Sounds fun to me.

There aren't enough good ol' joints left.

There are plenty of complaining neighbors left though.

The following is from the Waco Tribune.

Historic Tokio Store under fire from neighbors over noise, traffic
By Tommy Witherspoon

The Tokio Store has survived a major fire and a devastating tornado in the more than 100 years it has served as a general store and, more recently, as a unique place to down a cold brew and meet new friends in a cozy rural setting.

A threatening storm of another kind is brewing, however, around the northern McLennan County landmark that is pitting the store against 30 of its neighbors and involves the county and at least two state agencies.

The neighbors of the bar, located a few miles southwest of West, hope to shut it down as a public nuisance and have filed at least two petitions with county commissioners, a license protest with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and a complaint with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The bar’s detractors say it is a weekend haven for “wannabe Hell’s Angels” who race up and down Old Railroad Road and Tokio Loop and claim that bands playing there on weekends rattle their windows and shatter the serenity of their country lifestyle.

The neighbors also say that parking problems during busy weekend events at the bar choke off public access and threaten the safety of area residents and bar patrons, some of whom bring their young children with them.

They also claim that two long-abandoned underground gasoline storage tanks are in violation of environmental regulations.

Tokio Store owners Charles and Deborah Kirkpatrick said they are just trying to make an honest living and hope the problems with their neighbors can be worked out.

“I just wish they would do like we try to do — leave everybody alone,” said Charles Kirkpatrick, a disabled Vietnam veteran who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and complications from exposure to the defoliant known as Agent Orange.

Kirkpatrick’s mother and stepfather, Georgia and Blakie Kruger, ran the bar for 40 years before Kirkpatrick and his wife took it over 11 years ago. They said they are hoping to apply to have a Texas Historical Marker placed on the bar while they work with the various county and state officials to resolve their neighbors’ complaints.

“We’ve just got a unique situation here, and it seems like there is no fast or easy solutions,” Deborah Kirkpatrick said. “We are just leaving it up to all the other folks to help straighten it out.”

The Kirkpatricks said they have run off a few of the more undesirable biker groups who have tried to patronize their bar. Most who come now are groups such as the Iron Pigs or Blue Knights, clubs of motorcycle-riding police officers and firefighters, or the 100 Percenters, a group of disabled veterans who also ride.

Most of the groups ride their motorcycles on the weekend and stop off at the Tokio Store for a beer or other cold drink on their way home, the Kirkpatricks said. Live bands on the weekends shut down no later than 12:30 a.m., and the parking complaints have not been a problem before the neighbors’ most recent petition drive, they said.

The only time one of the two parallel roads that run in front of the store has been blocked off was when they had a benefit for the Shriner’s Hospital for Children and the street was used for additional parking with the permission of county officials, the Kirkpatricks said.

The bar’s closest neighbors, Mike and Joy Cook, have helped organize the petition drives and protests against the May renewal of the bar’s state license to serve beer. They said the problems, including litter, have gotten worse the past two years and contend that the Kirkpatricks’ claims to them that they can’t control the actions of their patrons is not acceptable.

“The loud, rowdy patrons which frequent the bar have no respect of our rights or feelings for our homes,” an open letter sent to the residents of Tokio says. “They come to drink, block traffic, throw trash on the roads, urinate outside and loudly race down the streets.”

Cook, who lived on the road for years but moved next door to the bar after his mother died in November, said he has been threatened by drunken bar patrons whom he confronted about throwing beer bottles in his yard. He says he can’t keep his windows open at night because of the noise emanating from the bar.

McLennan County Precinct 3 Commissioner Joe Mashek and County Engineer Steve Hendrick have been trying to resolve the parking issue for a few months. The county right of way apparently runs right through the front porch of the store, and there is an issue of whether the underground storage tanks and the Kirkpatricks’ trash Dumpster are on private or county property.

Store patrons historically have parked in the median between two county roads, Old Railroad Road and Tokio Loop, Mashek said. Those matters are still under deliberation, he said.

“The Tokio Store has been part of the Tokio Community and its history for over 100 years,” Mashek said in a prepared statement. “However, the issue at hand is the traffic on the roadways surrounding the store, which I inherited when I took office as commissioner. Until now, the roadways represented in this matter had not been identified as a problem. I appreciate the concerns of the citizens in the community and am looking into their concerns.”

Andrea Morrow, a TCEQ spokeswoman in Austin, said complaints about the underground gas tanks are being investigated, including an attempt to determine the location and ownership of the tanks.

When it is determined whether the Kirkpatricks or the county is responsible for the tanks, they likely will be removed or filled in by the responsible party, she said.

McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch said his deputies go to the Tokio Store when they are called. However, he said, “they have always been compliant.

“They have live music. It’s a beer joint,” Lynch said. “But it hasn’t been anything that has been a major problem. They park up and down the road, but they have been doing that for years.”

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Lt. Tom Dickson summarized the situation with an acronym: NIMBY.

“We call that ‘Not In My Back Yard,’ ” he said. “That is not a legal reason to protest their beer license. You have to have legal facts to protest. But it is a real divided issue out there.”

Dickson said his agency investigates protests against a bar’s beer license. That is forwarded to the agency’s legal department. They review it, and if it warrants a hearing, it is referred to the county judge, who conducts a hearing and makes a determination.

Sometimes TABC officials try to mediate a dispute between bar owners and protesters, Dickson said. Those efforts frequently result in agreements to put up a fence, to redirect outside lighting, to turn the music down or shut down an hour or two early, he said.

“We will do everything we can with the protesters and the licensee,” Dickson said. “If we can work it out, that would be desirable. If it doesn’t get worked out, we will have to go to a hearing.”

CONFRONT NAZI MARCH IN DC ON APRIL 19TH

It will be 15 years since Waco and 13 years since Oklahoma City and the nazis are coming to DC on April 19th. Their piggish march will be targeting non-white immigration and immigrants. They believe now is the time to cash in on all the anti-immigrant crap going down in this nation of ours. As they put it on their web site:

"In 2008 the Immigration issue will be at the forefront. Anyone with eyes and ears can bear witness to the changing face of our Nation. This will be the opportunity of a lifetime for Pro-White and Pro-American activists to make themselves heard."

These jackboots will be countered. Make no mistake about that. (See post below)

Truth is it makes perfect sense for them push forward with an anti-immigrant march. They've been part of that movement all along.

This would be a good time for "us" to expose that connection while shutting down hate speech.

Please don't sent in comments about "free speech." Nazis want me dead. I'm not interested in their right to spew forth their filth as part of their on going campaign to kill me and all us other other "non-aryans."

The following Call to Action comes from Washington DC Indy Media.

Confront the Nazis in Washington DC – April 19, 2008 – 11:30 AM

Youtube video:
www.youtube.com/watch

Assemble at 11:30 AM on the Southwest corner of Constitution Ave NW and 14th St NW
Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement Plans to Rally on National Mall near Washington Monument

On, April 19, 2008, at 12 PM (noon) the neo-Nazi, white-supremacist organization known as the “National Socialist Movement” is planning to march and rally “against illegal immigration” on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on the North Side of the Washington Monument. The monument is located to the South of Constitution Avenue NW, between 15th St NW and 17th St NW.

Coming on the heels of the racist immigration ordinance passed in Prince William County, Virginia (and similar laws passed elsewhere in the US), and coupled with the alarming rise in the number of known hate groups in the United States, we feel that the march of these racist bigots must be confronted vigorously, and with strength.

Despite claims that those opposed to immigration are concerned about “the rule of law”, terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement have always attempted to blame immigrants, African-Americans, Jews, non-heterosexual people, and all people of color for what they perceive to be “societal problems”. It is clear that their hatred is based on racial prejudice, and the law is merely an excuse to spread their white supremacist beliefs. We believe that it is not any coincidence that xenophobes and white supremacists share views on immigration, and immigrants.

The National Socialist Movement, according to their website, are “America's Nazi Party”, and are “…inspired by our Fuhrer Adolf Hitler.” The group is currently, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the largest neo-Nazi group in the United States, largely due to the implosion of several other neo-Nazi groups.

They are the same organization that, in order to stir up hatred, marched in Toledo, Ohio (in 2005) in a neighborhood largely made up of people of color. They did indeed, get a reaction, as riots ensued, and the Nazis, and the police protecting them, were run out of the area for a time.

We invite all those opposed to fascism and racism to come and confront this very real, and dangerous neo-Nazi group. Gather at 11:30 AM on the Southwest corner of Constitution Ave NW and 14th St NW (the Mall side), to assemble before confronting the fascists.

THE LAWSON FILE: PHILLY JANITORS DESERVE A FAIR WAGE

Being a janitor isn't exactly glamorous. It's hard work though and everyone sure as hell notices when that work doesn't get done.

And the people doing that work ought to make a decent living.

But like so many jobs in America, the harder you work, the worse off you are. CEO's are making a mint in this country while the people who clean their offices are invisible to them...and get paid like it.

In Philadelphia, as in numerous other places, janitors are fighting back and fighting for a livable wage.

Members of the cleaning staff at City Hall who have been busting their butts for years trying to keep up with the mess there along with others working in the City of Brotherly Love have been around seven months without a contract.

Jeez, I'd say they've been pretty damn patient.

All of the cleaners in City Hall are Philadelphia residents, and the majority of them are black or Latino.

Philly Indy Media says after numerous bargaining sessions, Team Clean, one of the city's major cleaning companies, refuses to budge on basic issues. While other janitors in the city "enjoy" wage increases and better benefits, Team Clean holds its employees hostage.

Formed in Denver in 1985 by the SEIU, Justice for Janitors is in its 20th year. The campaign is about hard-working janitors uniting for fair working conditions with support from our communities. Over the years, Justice for Janitors has worked to provide better wages, basic benefits, and job security for janitors who clean buildings in major cities and suburbs.

If your in Philadelphia you ought to get your ass down to Paine Plaza on Wednesday to show your support for these hard working men and women.

The following is from Philadelphia Indy Media.

CALLING ALL FRIENDS OF PHILLY LABOR!

WHAT: RALLY FOR A FAIR CONTRACT FOR MSB AND ONE PARKWAY JANITORS
WHEN: WEDNESDAY APRIL 16, 1 PM
WHERE: PAINE PLAZA, 15TH & JFK
FOR INFO: Call Jeff Hornstein at 267-250-6480

Team Clean is the janitorial services contractor at many public buildings in
Philadelphia including the Municipal Services Building, One Parkway, City
Hall, the Convention Center, and several Philadelphia schools.

Team Clean's contract with Local 32BJ for their employees at MSB and One
Parkway expired on September 30, 2007.


PLEASE JOIN US IN DEMANDING JUSTICE FOR THESE JANITORS!!!

WE'RE NOT TOO OLD SAY HONG KONG FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

Hong Kong flight attendants are accusing the government of failing to protect them from age discrimination. They say large airlines such as Cathay Pacific, British Airways and United are forcing Hong Kong-based cabin crew to retire at 45. The flight attendants want the government to enact age discrimination laws. Yesterday they staged a protest at Hong Kong's airport to dramatize their demands.

It wasn't the first time.

In 2006, flight attendants from Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Dragonair staged a protest urging the government to legislate against age discrimination.

Apparently no one was listening.

In Hong Kong there is no law on the books preventing age discrimination. Indeed, after losing a sex-discrimination case to one of its female flight attendants forced to retire at age 45, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's flagship carrier, responded by lowering the retirement age for its male attendants from 55 to 45; now male and female cabin crew are fully equal at Cathay Pacific - both must deplane at 45.

Asia Times has reported Japan Airlines (JAL), which employs hundreds of staff in Hong Kong, appears to be the most youth-oriented carrier in the city. JAL has asked its Hong Kong-based flight attendants to disembark as early as their 35th birthday, and it is fair to say that most of these forced retirees think their premature retirement has nothing to do with their ability to do their jobs.

In fact, experience is crucial for aviation safety. Experienced flight attendants are very important as they are very knowledgeable to deal with contingency and emergency.

Some airline administrators have argued mostly behind closed doors that passengers want young, good looking flight attendants. However, studies have clearly shown
that the most important criteria of most respondents in selecting an airline was its safety record and not age of its flight attendants. Therefore, there would be no economic impact on the airline industry in Hong Kong (or elsewhere) to adopt an anti age discrimination policy.

Polls have shown 71 per cent of workers in Hong Kong approve of raising the retirement age. A new international workplace survey by Kelly Services, a global staffing provider, found almost 29% of Hong Kong workers aged 45 or older felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of their age.

The following is from The Standard (Hong Kong).

Don't ground us at 45, say attendants

A dozen flight attendants from four airlines staged a 30-minute sit-in protest at the airport yesterday demanding their airlines extend the retirement age from 45 to 65.
Representatives from Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, British Airways and United Airlines said attendants at the first three airlines are facing age discrimination since the airlines' pilots and ground staff are allowed to work until the age of 65.

United Airlines does not have an age limit for flight attendants.

Chanting slogans and holding signs in the departure hall, the attendants demanded fairness with regard to retirement.

Hong Kong Flight Attendants Association spokeswoman Becky Kwan Siu-wah, who is also the chairwoman of Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants' Union, said almost 10,000 flight attendants are affected by the retire-at- 45 policy.

"It is unfair because, in Europe and the United States, there are flight attendants working until 84. There is also racial discrimination in Japan Airlines as its Japanese flight attendants can work until 65 yet its Hong Kong employees have an age limit of 35," she said.

One of the protesters, Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants' Union secretary Vera Wu Yee-mei, said 45 was too young for a retirement age, given that the life expectancy for women in Hong Kong is 89.

"What should we do with the second half of our lives?

"Moreover, experience actually helps with our work as flight attendants as safety is more important than the public perception of flight attendants being pretty," she said.

Confederation of Trade Unions lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, who was at the protest, urged the government to legislate against age discrimination in the workplace.

A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said the airline has been actively engaging the union and members of the crew community to discuss subjects of common interest, including retirement age.

"All staff were fully informed of the employment conditions, including the retirement age, when they accepted the company's employment," she said.

The spokeswoman maintained the extension of retirement age is a complex issue which has a significant impact on promotion prospects, pay and benefits, and is a decision that requires careful consideration.

A Dragonair spokesman said the retirement age for its cabin crew is broadly in line with that of its competitors.

"It is not uncommon for companies to adopt different retirement ages for different staff groups and different countries in accordance with the job nature and environment," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Equal Opportunities Commission said it is against discrimination on any ground.

PESACH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Jewish festival of Passover or Pesach is just around the corner. Many of the themes of Passover have social justice implications.

The text of the Pesach Seder is written in a book called the Haggadah. The traditional Haggadah tells the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and explains some of the practices and symbols of the holiday.

In past decades the traditional Haggadah has been updated by newer versions which attempt to combine the old with the present, and to focus on the social justice implications as they apply in today's world.

There are numerous progressive Haggadot out there to choose from (you can even download some off the internet.

Some of these Haggadot focus on the Exodus issues of class, race, ethnic oppression; some on feminism, women's liberation, and the full presence and empowerment of women in Jewish life and in the world; some address mostly issues of peace and war – especially conflict and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

If you don't happen to have one of these you can also take a simple step suggested in the post below to add more meaning to the holiday.

Now a note from just me that is sure to tick off some of you. For some reason also in the past few decades Christians have taken to having Passover Seders. To me this is a bothersome development, even a bit on the insulting side. Passover is a Jewish holiday. It does not need to be infused with a Christian interpretation. Leave it alone. Please even if you mean well, just let it alone. How would you feel if Jews created a Christmas story in which Jesus was just some nice Jewish Rabbi who happened along one day with a nice message (and without any of the Son of God stuff)? I doubt that Christians would like it all that much. The Pesach holiday means something special to us. You are often more than welcome to attend a Passover Seder in a Jewish home, in a Jewish environment. That can be very rewarding for all concerned. However, creating some new Christianized version is a lousy idea, thank you.

It strikes me as strange that Christians seem to have this desire to capture other peoples' religious traditions. Muslims, Jews, and no other religious faiths I know do this. Why do you suppose Christians do?

The following suggestions for Passover is from the American Jewish World Service.

We encourage you to incorporate this reading into the Four
Questions section of your seder.

At this time of year, we are reminded of the Jewish people's fight for liberation and our own fortunate circumstances - and the struggle for freedom that so many in the world still face on a daily basis. In particular, the people of Darfur who are experiencing their sixth consecutive year of oppression and violence, and the millions of people in the developing world who live under the shadow of HIV and AIDS.


MA nish-ta-nah ha-LAI-lah ha-zeh mi-KOL ha-lei-LOT?

How is this night
different from all other nights?

We know the traditional
answers to this question: On
this night, we eat matzah and
bitter herbs, we dip and we
recline. But this is not all, or
even most, of what Passover
is about.

On most other nights, we
allow the news of tragedy in
distant places to pass us by.

We succumb to compassion
fatigue – aware that we
cannot possibly respond to
every injustice that arises
around the world.

On this night, we are
reminded that our legacy as
the descendants of slaves
creates in us a different kind
of responsibility – we are to
protect the stranger because
we were strangers in the land
of Egypt.

Let us add a fifth question to
this year’s seder. Let us ask
ourselves,

Aych nishaneh et ha-shanah ha-zot
mi-kol ha-shanim?

How can we make this year
different from all other years?

This year, this Passover, let
us recommit to that sacred
responsibility to protect the stranger,
particularly those vulnerable
strangers in faraway places whose
suffering is so often ignored.

Let us infuse the rituals of the seder
with action:

When tasting the matzah, the
bread of poverty, let us find ways
to help the poor and the hungry.

When eating the maror, let us
commit to help those whose
lives are embittered by disease.

When dipping to commemorate
the blood that protected our
ancestors against the Angel of
Death, let us pursue protection
for those whose lives are
threatened by violence
and conflict.

When reclining in celebration
of our freedom, let us seek
opportunities to help those who
are oppressed.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE JUST PLAIN UGLY

Japan's whaling fleet is set to return to port on Tuesday after killing little more than half its intended catch in the Antarctic due to harassment by activists, officials said Monday.

"Sabotage by activists is a major factor behind our failure to achieve our target," a Fisheries Ministry official said

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its campaign saved 500 whales.

Greenpeace Japan, which also carried out activities aimed at obstructing the hunt, said it was not satisfied with the reduced catch.

"They say that one reason for the lower catch is that they didn't see so many whales," said Junichi Sato of Greenpeace. "That is a good reason why they should not conduct lethal research."

He added that, despite the reduction, the number of whales actually killed was more than three years ago.

Japan kills whales under an internationally permitted research program, despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Critics, however, say the program is a cover for Japan's ailing whaling industry, and demand it be stopped.

Greenpeace says the international convention that helped save the elephant and rhino from extinction at the hands of poachers is being ignored by the Japanese Fisheries Agency to continue whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

"Japan's research whaling program is a national embarrassment," said Greenpeace Japan Whales Project Leader Junichi Sato, "it is riddled with illegalities and instances where international law has been bent, broken, and bypassed; it continues to strain relations with our allies around the world and tarnish Japan's reputation. It's time for Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean forever."

Greenpeace is also calling for an investigation into the refuelling of the fleet in the Antarctic treaty zone - breaching the spirit of the Antarctic treaty, to which they are a signatory, and using a vessel with no permit as part of the fleet to do so.

Meanwhile the Japanese fisheries agency said Friday up to 60 minke whales in the north Pacific Ocean will be caught in the coming month for "research."

Five boats will be dispatched today off northern Japan for the "research" mission that will run through late May. The agency said "researchers" will study the whales' dietary intake and the data will be used to analyze the whale population's impact on fishery resources.

Business Week says Japanese consumers' demand for whale meat peaked after World War II, when protein was in short supply; it has declined steadily since, although whale meat is still considered a traditional food.

By the way, it isn't only Japan. That other cruel and ecologically insensitive whaling nation Norway has set a kill quota of 1052 whales for 2008.

The quota is the same as last year despite the whalers being unable to find enough whales to meet that quota. The actual kill was 97 whales short of 1052.

The majority of these whales will be taken from the coastal areas around the Barents Sea, Svalbard and the North Sea.

The following is from TV3 News, New Zealand.

Japan catches fewer whales because of protestors

Japan's Antarctic whaling catch fell far short of its target in the season just past - because of the efforts of anti-whaling protesters.

Fisheries Ministry statistics released last night show the fleet caught only 551 minke whales - compared to a planned catch of 850.

No fin whales were caught at all, although the fleet had set itself a target of 50.

The ministry says sabotage by activists was the major factor behind the failure to achieve the target.

Greenpeace sent a ship to the Southern Ocean to disrupt the whale hunt, but most of the problems were caused by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which repeatedly confronted the fleet.

THE LAWSON FILE: FIGHTING CORPORATE GRAFFITI

A lot of people (like me) find billboards a hideous blight on our cities and our countryside. Billboards blot out the natural beauty and architecture of communities, assets that should be highlighted, not hidden behind ugly billboards. In urban centers they are actually little more than trash.

Rather than going away, corporate America is coming up with new ways to make things worse.

For example, some big companies have taken things a step further - they turn huge buildings into giant advertising graphics. As Spreading the News points out what happens is a marketing type company scouts for a space (a building) to "hit up", once found they contact the realtor or owner, persuades them for X amount of dollars to rent or lease the space, generates a large ugly digital print known as "supergraphics" and has them installed, on the building for us to be bombarded with its imagery and be seen every morning while we either drive to work or every evening while we drive home.

Lucky us.

But as ugly as giant billboards, there is another model that is growing much faster and is just as hideous and probably more dangerous.

Growingly (that is not a word according to spellcheck, but I don't care) we are faced with digital signs that change about every few seconds. From Connecticut to California, digital billboards are becoming an increasingly hot issue as outdoor advertising companies seek to convert existing billboards to digital and erect new ones. Critics say they are a driving distraction and a neighborhood eyesore that should be forbidden. Scenic America, which is fighting to stop these digital eyesores says, "The biggest threat now facing America's communities and highways is the proliferation of digital billboards."

In Detroit, its one such billboard in particular is taking some heat from locals. A billboard on Interstate 75 near 7 Mile in Detroit has some residents in the area very upset. They say the billboard is too bright and is making sleep impossible.

"It drive me crazy at night. I live right here," said resident Audrey Watson. "It shines right here in my family room."

Well, Audrey you aren't alone in your anti-billboard feelings.

Some citizens of Los Angeles have had enough after documenting their fair town has 11,000 "points of blight" on local streets allowed by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council. It seems, too, any time any city has tried to limit and control what some call "litter on sticks," the billboard industry has fought hard to limit restrictions. Now, anti-billboard activists in LA have mounted a last-ditch effort to derail a proposal before the Los Angeles City Council that would place two 76-foot-tall billboards next to the 10 Freeway as part of an unusual trade-off to create a park in South Los Angeles.

Although the double-faced billboards are planned for a gritty stretch of 16th Street near downtown Los Angeles, the proposal has drawn the ire of opponents in Westwood, Venice and Holmby Hills, who fear the decision will set a precedent -- clearing the way for towering signs at other freeway locations.

"Once one billboard company gets this, then everybody will want the same thing, and there's no way you can stop that," said Ted Wu, president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight.

In Long Beach, Calif., three neighborhood groups are fighting the construction of six digital billboards along local freeways; each sign would be 40 feet high, with a 30-by-20-foot screen. Members of the North Long Beach Action Group and the Bixby Knolls Improvement Association, believe the flashing signs would affect neighborhoods in North Long Beach, Bixby Knolls, just south of Long Beach Airport, and on the Westside. "Digital billboards of that size can be read from a quarter of a mile off the freeway," Martha Thuente, chair of the North Long Beach Project Area Committee told the Long Beach Press Telegram. "It destroys the visual aesthetics of an area."

Though the industry claims billboards are essential providers of important information, polls reveal that they most people see them as ugly, intrusive, and uninformative.

Between 1957 and 1977, at least eight polls found 70% or more of respondents to be anti-billboard. In the 1990s, pools found people in Florida, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Texas, Michigan, and Missouri all agreed that billboards are litter on a stick. In fact, virtually every credible poll that's been done reveals one fact: Americans do not like billboards.

By a 10 to 1 margin, Floridians prefer reducing the number of billboards over further increases.

64% of the citizens in New Hampshire oppose to billboard advertising on highways, with 53% of total respondents strongly opposing billboards.

62% of Rhode Islanders state that billboards make state roads less attractive, as opposed to 31% who simply felt it made no difference.
96% of Houstonians believe it important to make major improvements in beautification of the city, and

79% of Houstonians support maintaining or strengthening the city's ordinance removing ALL billboards by 2013.

69% of Missourians believe that fewer billboards would make their state more attractive to tourists, while just 26% disagreed.

Who likes these billboards anyway.

Billboard companies and other advertisers - that's who.

Says Paul Meyer, president and chief operating officer of Clear Channel Outdoor, "The more congested the area is, the more effective outdoor advertising can be."

With TIVOS and VCRs allowing some of us the option to cut out TV ads, billboards are becoming ever more popular with the industry because even fickle viewers go outside --and find themselves often stuck in traffic when they do so -- so billboards are harder to avoid. There is no button to press that gets rid of them.

The billboard companies do not exist nor multiply on their own. They are supported from local and multinational companies who use billboards as a cheap advertising alternative.

And don't think the massive amounts of moola the industry puts into the pockets of local, state and national legislators doesn't pay off.

Take Dayton, Ohio, for example. On February 6th the local billboard laws were gutted by the city commission. Despite citizen opposition the new changes to Dayton's zoning code regulating billboards means according to the blog Daytonology, "These monstrosities are going to go up as close as 500 feet apart in all these areas they were formerly outlawed: light industrial (I1), business park (BP) and eclectic commercial."

Then there is the state of Tennessee. Gene Burr, an architect who serves on the board of Scenic Tennessee, wrote in the News Sentinel that Knox County, through its Board of Zoning Appeals, decided to permit digital billboards in response to a request from the billboard industry in May 2007. There was no public hearing, Burr said, and now there are three digital billboards in the county.

Forget about Dayton and even the entire state of Tennessee if you want. You don't live there.

Yeah, well, thirty-seven states fail to protect unzoned and rural areas, allowing companies to litter the countryside with signs; and 23 states permit billboard companies to cut down trees to improve the visibility of billboards. Maybe that bothers you.

Spreading the News makes an interesting point:

"Graffiti is always cast as an "urban blight" - but peeps, an ad where an almost nude 50 foot man in underwear advertising a cologne that I do not wear is an "urban blight" to me. Why would I want to see that? Do you enjoy it? I am sure most don't and like graffiti is to many a nuisance these corporate ads are a nuisance to many. To me at least."

Maybe its time for a little more militant, a little more radical grassroots anti-billboard action.

I'll leave it to you to come up with your own ideas about that.

The following story is from the LA Times.

Anti-billboard activists target multi-story 'supergraphics'

Anti-billboard activists have a new target: multi-story "supergraphic" signs plastered illegally on about three dozen buildings citywide.

A handful of West Los Angeles activists joined City Councilman Jack Weiss on West Pico Boulevard at Overland Avenue on Thursday morning to call for hefty fines against those who post the signs.

Their backdrop: a Gap Inc. supergraphic with a blond model reclining across several stories of an office building in the 10000 block of West Pico Boulevard.

The ad, which appeared in February, is a 60-foot-by-20-foot vinyl sheet stuck to the building, according to a lawyer for the company that negotiated a lease for the space. That's 1,200 square feet compared with about 750 square feet for a traditional billboard.

A few blocks away, another supergraphic advertised "Dirt," the new Courteney Cox show on FX. Others elsewhere in the city tout Washington Mutual and Wachovia banks.

"This is taking off because people are finding a way to get around our law," which prohibits new billboards, Weiss said, calling the ads "sneaky" and deriding the "shrink-wrapped buildings" as "urban blight."

Companies that post the signs defend them as free speech and say city leaders are discriminating against them by forbidding supergraphics in some areas while allowing them in others, such as Hollywood.

A lawyer for the Philadelphia-based company that posted the Gap sign, Worldwide Rush, said the company is contesting the city ban in federal court, arguing that it violates free speech.

In areas where the signs are banned, code-enforcement officials typically cite companies, then go to court to have the ads taken down, a process that can take years.

While the suits are pending, judges have barred the city from removing the supergraphics, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

"It's visual blight, a distraction to motorists, just treating the architecture of the city as a canvas," said Dennis Hathaway, a spokesman for the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight.

Weiss wants the city to enforce a law already on the books that allows it to levy $2,500-a-day fines. The fines apply not only to advertisers such as Gap -- which buy the signs -- but also to the sign companies that post them and the property owners who lease the space.

The average supergraphic costs $20,000 to $200,000, depending on the size of the building, location (freeway proximity drives the price up), nearby businesses and other variables, said Matthew Cooper, a spokesman for Beverly Hills-based Skytag Inc.

Cooper said all of his company's roughly 20 signs are in areas permitted by the city. "If it's done right, a highly pictorial ad with a nice creative [design] can add to the landscape," he said. "These people who just slap up these ads anywhere are giving us a bad name."

RUSSIAN MINERS WIN UNDERGROUND FIGHT

In Russia’s Sverdlovsk Region, a ten-day sit-in strike by 96 bauxite miners 800 metres below ground ended last Friday. The strike began on the evening of March 26, when, according to a local mine union source, 107 miners completing the night shift refused to leave the mine. Twenty-four hours later, they sent up their demands. They launched a hunger strike on April 1 and again refused to come to the surface until their demands, including funding for the construction of another mine, were met. Workers also demanded the restoration of previously suspended parts of the their welfare packages

The world’s largest aluminium producer – United Company RusAl – has now agreed to amnesty for all involved and pledged to meet the strikers demands.

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) reports the company, privately-owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, shut five other bauxite mines in the North Ural Mountains on 28 March, curtailing wages for 5,000 other miners in an effort to divide miners and pressure the striking union. That failed, with members of the other unions signing pledges of support for the strikers, as well as sending food and other supplies to them, until they started the hunger strike.

An annual pay increase put in place late last year for all the unionised miners of the region by RusAl paled next to the company’s vast profits and the 15% inflation rate of the region. The strikers of the Independent Miners’ Union sent a list of ten demands to the surface. Those demands included a 50% pay increase on top of the average salary of US$760 per month, an end to weekend work, resumption of a company halted social welfare programme that took effect 1 January, and investment in other mines of the region.

The blog Dance with Bears points out this was the first organized action by miners against a Russian metals oligarch for a share in the wealth he has been accumulating in the current commodity boom. It is also the first challenge by an independent miners’ union to overwhelm resistance from the company-favoured unions. The Independent Miners’ Union of Russia which led the strike is one of four unions at the mine. The larger unions at the mine began by officially denouncing the smaller union’s strike as illegal.

Local press reports said that the wildcatters were backed by other miners, and most of the population of a nearby town, who came out for a solidarity rally.

UC RusAl, controlled by Basic Element, owned by Russia's richest man, Oleg Deripaska, became the world's largest aluminum producer after a March 2007 merger between RusAl, rival Sual and Swiss Glencore's alumina assets.

The following is from libcom.org.

Russian Bauxite miners occupy mine shaft

After over a week of occupation of a mine shaft, the Russian miners returned to the surface, with the promise of compromise on key wage demands and the restoration of social programmes.

The occupation began on March 26th, with the workers producing a list of 11 demands including a 50% wage increase, and the restoration of previously suspended parts of the workers welfare packages. The occupation was part of a strike by 3000 workers against Severuralsk - part of the Rusal group, under the control of Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia’s richest Oligarchs, and is the first strike by unionised workers against Rusal.

While initially responding aggressively and threatening legal action against the occupation it claimed was illegal, Rusal backed down as all 5 shafts in the mine were shut down by workers. Attempts to bring in police were suspended, and negotiations have begun between Rusal and representatives of both unions involved. Demands for the restoration of certain social programmes have already been accepted, and wage increases of over 20% are anticipated.

The strike has attracted significant attention and sympathy from across Russia, as well as active solidarity from other unions and residents of the local town.

WORKERS TAKE OVER HOSPITAL IN CHILE

Hospital workers from the National Federation of Workers of the Health (Fenats) and the National Federation of University Professionals of the Services of Health (Fenpruss) occupied a hospital in Chile today.

The San Jose Hospital was already in the news after a mother of Peruvian nationality gave birth in bathroom of the waiting room while waiting to be seen. A prosecutor was assigned to investigate the incident also today.

Currently there is very little available on the take over which happened only a few hours ago. I'll keep looking in the days ahead.

The following is from El Mercurio.

Workers take over San José Hospital facilities

SANTIAGO, Chile - Some 300 workers of the San José Hospital have taken over the medical center to demand better salaries and more transparency about the appointment of management positions.

“We are protesting for better salaries, for respect for workers and to speak out against the political favoritism that exists at the hospital, which is the institution’s main problem”, stated protest leader Luis Morales.

“There are department heads that were given their positions based completely on personal contacts. The administration has said that, in order to make management more transparent, various candidates would be allowed to petition the positions, and this has not happened”.

The protesters are also demanding their salaries be raised to 300 thousand pesos as well as a pension incentive of 20 million pesos, not 3 million as they are scheduled to receive.

The demonstration began with the protesters taking over the facility´s management offices. Later, the workers made their way to the adult Emergency Room, where they set up barricades.

Special Police Forces arrived at the scene around 10:00 AM to break up the demonstration and take down the barricades.

FRENCH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN THE STREETS

At least 19,000 school students and teachers have demonstrated on the streets of Paris against a proposed reform of the French education system.

USA Today reports police are using tear gas to quell pockets of violence on the edges of the Paris protest by high school students.

Skirmishes are breaking out between police and demonstrators on the Boulevard du Montparnasse on the Left Bank of Paris. Plain clothes police officers have been charging small groups of protesters. Some marchers have been setting off fire crackers.

AP Television footage showed projectiles being hurled at riot police, as skirmishes broke out between police and demonstrators on the Left Bank of the capital.

The protests are against job cuts in secondary schools. The government plans to cut some 11,200 education jobs this year, including 8,500 teaching posts.

The protest, which began on Thursday afternoon, is the students' second this week and the fifth in two weeks.

One teacher taking part in the rally told The Associated Press that the job cuts will affect quality of education in France.

"We are against the laying off of jobs in the field of education because we think it would be absolutely impossible for us to teach decently to the students that we have,'' he said.

Demonstrators also fear that Sarkozy's overall reforms will erode the protection they get from social and labour unions that underpins French society.

The following is from the Tocqueville Connection.

FRENCH STUDENTS STEP UP PROTESTS AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS

About 19,000 French high school students took to the streets of Paris on Thursday, according to police, stepping up protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned job cuts in education.

Organisers said between 30,000 and 40,000 protesters took part.

It was the fifth and biggest protest over the past two weeks against the government's plan to slash 11,200 jobs in education in September, including 8,830 teachers.
"We are saying 'stop this haemorraghing'," said Florian Lecoultre, president of the UNL student union.

Students, joined by teachers and parents, set off in the early afternoon from Paris' Luxembourg Gardens on the Left Bank, carrying a large banner that read "Students mobilised against job cuts."

There were some minor incidents at the start of the march, when police used tear gas against protesters who threw rocks and other projectiles, but the protest overall took place peacefully.

On Tuesday, some 8,500 students took part in Paris protests, according to police but organisers put the figure much higher at about 25,000.

A first protest drew between 4,600 and 6,000 students in Paris on March 27.

The protest action disrupted classes in hundreds of secondary schools in the Paris region, and about 40 of them shut down altogether. Police detained 11 students in a suburb after they threw rocks and attacked storefronts.

Education Minister Xavier Dacros vowed not to backtrack on the proposed job cuts that the government has said will be achieved by not replacing retiring personnel.

"We hear the students and they have reason to be worried about their future but it is a lie to make them believe that the school issue is a numbers' game," Darcos told parliament.

"We have to reform high schools and it's not 100 more or 100 fewer staff that will make the difference," he said.

Smaller protests were also held in France's third city of Lyon and in Toulouse, in the southwest. Up to a quarter of teachers went on strike in the Paris region, according to union officials.

During demonstrations on Tuesday, police detained 25 people and three police suffered minor injuries in scuffles with protesters.

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who threw rocks and other projectiles at them on Tuesday.

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL ROMA DAY

April 8th is International Roma Day, which was first marked in 1971.

There are about 15 million Roma worldwide.

An estimated 7-9 million Roma live in EU member states but to date there is no integrated and comprehensive EU policy specifically targeting discrimination against Roma.

The European Agency for Fundamental Rights recently concluded that Roma continue to be the single most discriminated group in Europe and that urgent action needs to be taken. Said Socialist Group vice-president Jan Marinus Wiersma: "If there is one organisation that can and should do more to promote Roma inclusion, it is the European Union".

Around Europe rallies and commemorations have taken place aimed at calling attention to the current plight of many Roma on the continent.

According to statistics from the Roma Information Center, about 59 percent of the Roma population in Serbia is subjected to poverty, while 60 percent never finish primary school.

Co-existence of Czech Romanies with the majority society is not improving, activists from some Romany organisations said today.

On the contrary, anti-Gypsy tendencies have strengthened in the past period, activists from the Dzeno organisation and the Association of Romany Regional Representatives said.

An analysis has shown that one-third of Romani in the Czech Republic live in ghettos in which almost all adults are jobless and families are dependent on welfare benefits.

Czech Romany organisations have called a demonstration outside the Government Office on April 11. They demand the resignation of Deputy PM Jiri Cunek, head of the junior ruling Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), over his recent controversial statements on Romanies.

A press release from the Dzeno Association says, "In the Roma communities (of Moldovia) there is no access to qualitative drinkable water, Roma are often disconnected from the electrical energy source, are subjected to a violent treatment applied by policemen. Discrimination is a phenomenon which can be met in schools, medical institutions and other public places.

In Belarus fficially 91% of total Roma population is unemployed.

In Prague, an exhibition on Prague’s Namesti Miru, opened today showing the faces and names of those who have been killed in racially-motivated attacks in the Czech Republic since 1989.

The Organization of Bulgarian Jews "Shalom" supported the remembrance of the hundreds of thousands of Roma, who were killed in the Nazi death camps by sending a letter to the Municipality of the Danube town of Lom, and the "Roma Lom" Foundation.

For the first time ever Macedonia marked the International Roma Day as a national holiday for its Roma people, Macedonian television A1 reports. NGO Nahtari and the Union of Roma in Macedonia have marked the holiday in Šuto Orizari municipality; celebrations were held on the municipal square yesterday.

In Bulgaria, in the town of Stara Zagora a folk dance and song company “Avligite” held a concert. In the town of Sliven wreaths and flowers were laid in front of the monument of Sabi Dimitrov in remembrance of the Roma people who died in the Holocaust.

The following is from Romea.cz.

Moldovan gypsies hold action of protest in Chisinau

Moldovan gypsies have held a demonstration in the country’s capital Chisinau in protest of what they described as the indifference towards their social and economic situation on the part of the government.

About a hundred Romanis – this is the way the gypsies call themselves – marched along downtown streets, waving slogans and flags.

“We held this action on the International Romani Day to remind the government of the policy of ignorance and discrimination we’re subjected to,” said Nikolai Radita, the chairman of the National Center of Moldovan Romanis.

He summed up the gypsies’ main woes, saying they are unemployment, problems in getting education, scanty access to potable water and electricity, and some others.

“About 90% of Moldovan Romanis are unemployed today and, unfortunately, our young generations are heading into the same problem as they don’t have an opportunity to study,” Radita said.

Unofficial data puts this country’s gypsy population at 15,000. It is believed that the town of Soroca where the gypsy king Artur Cerara has the main residence is the capital city for the Romani.

The International Romani Day was instituted in commemoration of the 1st World Romani Congress that was held in London April 8, 1971. It has been marked annually in many countries of the world since then.

Europe has a Romani decade lasting from 2005 through 2015. One of its objectives is to improve the social status of the gypsies on the Old Continent.

HAITIANS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN CRY AGAINST HUNGER

Witnesses said at least one person was killed by hotel security guards during a protest in the southern city of Les Cayes, where at least four people died last week in food riots and clashes with U.N. peacekeepers.

Today Haitian officials were calling for calm.

The call went unanswered.

AFP says early today protesters crowded against the fence around the presidential palace throwing rocks toward the building guarded by police, on the second consecutive day of demonstrations in and around Port-au-Prince and six days after unrest first erupted in the city of Cayes.

The web site "We Haitians United We Stand For Democracy" reports thousands of people marched mostly peacefully past the National Palace in Port-au-Prince. "We're hungry," some called out. Others carried posters reading "Down with the expensive life!"

Some protesters threw chairs against buildings and shouted for the U.N. troops to leave the country, blaming them for the high price of rice.

By midday the whitewashed palace was completely blocked off as a dozen armored vehicles manned by Brazilian soldiers under the UN Minustah peacekeeping mission took position around the compound.

Witnesses said there was gunfire and that scuffles broke out with UN soldiers.

In other areas of the capital, barricades were erected on the streets.

"Living conditions are horrible. We are tired of hearing promises, we want fast action," said a protester named Wilson, 25.

Haitians are particularly affected by food prices that are rising worldwide. Eighty percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.

"Some can't take the hunger anymore," the Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste told The Associated Press. "As a priest, I encourage all government officials to do their best to find ways to solve the near-famine situation."

The protests began after a sudden jump in prices for fuel and basic food commodities in the poor country of 8.5 million.

The cost of staples such as rice, beans, fruit and condensed milk has gone up 50 percent in the past year. Gasoline has seen its third price hike in less than two months.

Hedi Annabi, UN special envoy to the country said the UN was there to support the government. He later told reporters, however, that there was a need "for urgent assistance to alleviate the suffering of the population".

Merisma Jean-Claudel, a young high school graduate from Port-au-Prince expalined to Haitain Analysis:

"...people can’t buy food. Gasoline prices are going up. It is very hard for us over here. The cost of living is the biggest worry for us, no peace in stomach means no peace in the mind. Although, many can’t pay taxi or tap-tap fares just from Delmas to the downtown of Port-Au-Prince, I wonder if others will be able to survive the days ahead because things are very, very hard. It is imperative that the government reopen food banks to save lives. In 2003 they had food banks in the popular districts. Now they are closed. The government must reopen them if they don't want people to die."

What is happening in Haiti is not and will not be unique.

The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned on Monday that a global surge in food prices could lead to further tensions.

"A new face of hunger is emerging; even where food is available on the shelves, there are now more and more people who simply cannot afford it," WFP director Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

The following is from Caribbean Net News.

Fifth person dies in Haitian food price protests
Published on Tuesday, April 8, 2008

A man was killed by gunfire as demonstrators took to the streets in the southern Haitian city of Les Cayes on Monday, raising the death toll to five in protests against rising food prices, officials and radio reports said.

Protesters also marched outside the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, the capital of the impoverished Caribbean nation of nearly 9 million people, expressing anger at the higher cost of food.

Four people were killed and 20 others were hurt in a riot in Les Cayes last week. UN vehicles were burned, peacekeepers were attacked and a food warehouse was looted by angry mobs on Thursday and Friday.

In response to the unrest, Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis announced a multimillion-dollar investment program aimed at lowering the cost of living.


Haitians protest the high cost of living in front of the Haitian Parliament in Port-au-Prince. AFP PHOTO
Prices of rice and other essentials have doubled and in some cases tripled, sparking protests since Wednesday in Gonaives, Petit-Goave and other cities against the government of President Rene Preval, whose 2006 election brought relative calm after decades of violence and political upheaval.

The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned on Monday that a global surge in food prices could lead to further tensions. Unrest related to food and fuel costs has recently hit Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal, it said.

"A new face of hunger is emerging; even where food is available on the shelves, there are now more and more people who simply cannot afford it," WFP director Josette Sheeran said in a statement.

Tensions remained high in Les Cayes, one of Haiti's largest cities. Gunfire erupted on Monday when protesters tried to storm the home of a senator, Gabriel Fortune, and two men were wounded, according to a city official.

One of the men died later at a hospital, he said.

"The government is solely responsible for what is happening today because it has failed to properly address the problems," resident Maxon Benoit said on Sunday. "Why don't they eliminate taxes on food products and give the population a break?"

Les Cayes Mayor Pierre Yvon Chery was attacked on Sunday by angry protesters when he went to the seaside neighborhood of La Savane to explain measures enacted by the government to help calm the unrest.

Residents said the violence was the worst Les Cayes had seen in years.

"This is a shame for us, inhabitants of this city known for its calm, its hospitality and its civility," said 45-year-old Marie Jeanne Occeant. "It is true the situation is unbearable. I have not seen such hardships my whole life, but the violence can only make it worse."

Over the weekend, UN and Haitian security forces helped clean streets in Les Cayes, where barricades of burning tires and the shells of wrecked cars were erected.

"We have reinforced our police contingents with specialized units from Port-au-Prince and a new battalion of Brazilian troops has also arrived in support," said Henriot Toussaint, police chief for the southern region. "We have the situation under control."

THE LAWSON FILE: HELP US KEEP BILL SELF

Please send Lew Perkins (Kansas Athletic Director) a special plea to keep Bill Self at Kansas. For those of you who somehow do not know, Bill is our basketball coach. Email Perkins at kuathletics@ku.edu

I realize college basketball isn't world peace or anything, but it helps keep me sane, okay. I also realize the contradiction between spending millions of dollars for basketball coaches and virtually everything else here at the OD, but what can I say. Sometimes you just have to live with the stupid stuff, too.

And so it goes. WE'RE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND WE'RE HAPPY TODAY!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK KUUUUUUUU!

PRISON FOR DUMMIES - OR THE INEXPERIENCED

Last week a friend of mine asked me to use my experience to help out someone he knew. It seems this guy is going to prison (someplace he's never been). So my friend asked me to write up a little primer of what to do, not do, expect etc. It was an interesting challenge and I think I'll print a revised (less personally directed) version from which anyone facing prison time might benefit. Remember this is just my opinion from my experience. Obviously every situation is somewhat unique. Others may disagree with my opinions. Other may have different suggestions. I would love those folks to send in their comments and suggestions. One big difference from my time and this time is the prevalence of gangs. They were there, but not so organized back in my day.

Also, these suggestions are for someone who wants to do their time and get out with as little hassle as possible. This is not for someone who wants to be the big cheese. This is not for someone who wants to do heavy political work while in prison.

My experience only applies to male prisons. I have not the slightest clue what it's like in a women's prison.

By the way, the above picture is a current google earth aerial view of a place I spent some time doing "research" for this guide.

The stuff below is in no order, just put it down as I thought of it. It's several pages long so it's all I'll post for today at the Oread Daily.

PRISON FOR DUMMIES – OR THE INEXPERIENCED

Commissary fund – Keep it low. Even if you have the financial resources, don’t put too much money in it. Doesn’t look good to all the convicts who don’t have much and will want yours. Don’t buy too much stuff at once. Stick to the basics. Snacks, coffee, juice, soda whatever. Just don’t overdo it. You don’t want too much stuff hanging around your area. And do not become known as someone who is giving away his stuff either. It may seem nice, but it isn’t a good thing to get into. Later, when you have friends if they share, you can share.

Cigarettes – Keep some packs on hand whether you smoke or not. They are one of the main currencies in the joint.

Stand Up For Yourself – This is a big one and a tough one. No matter what, don’t weakly give in to anything, even if you might get the shit beat out of you do not just fold. This applies to most everything. If someone steals your stuff, find a way to confront them (within reason). Once you give in, you become fair game for everyone. There is no shortage of people who are so scared that they will submit to just about anything. If you are not one of those people, you’re less likely to have a problem. Also, don’t whine. Don’t piss and moan about your situation. Prison culture is male culture, bad male culture.

Be Cool – Unless you are planning on being in prison forever, the best policy is to just stay out of the way, stay to yourself (at least, until you have some idea of what’s what and who is who). Don’t intervene in disputes. Mind your own business. Don’t tell people your business. Do your time and get out. Don’t make waves.

Race – The reality is if you are white, you are white. It doesn’t matter if on the outside you are big on “diversity.” It doesn’t exist on the inside. This doesn’t mean you have to act like a racist or be nasty to other races then your own, just realize when you go to eat a meal and if the place is divided by races (which it probably will be), eat on your race’s side. It's a drag, but it's reality.

Respect – Respect other cons and their space. Don’t dis anyone unless you are looking for trouble. Respect yourself. You too have rights. If you don’t respect yourself, no one else will either. Keep your clothes clean, your area neat, yourself looking good. It’ll help. Don’t just let yourself go. If you can get something to wear besides prison garb and others do it, I’d suggest you do it.

Gangs – When I was in prison they weren’t a big deal. I would do my best to stay as far away from them as possible, but in truth, I don’t know how it works these days. Gangs are divided by races and ideologies.

Don’t complain to the man – If something happens your recourse is NOT to go ask a guard for help. Do not rat anyone out ever. Do not give the impression that you are doing that. It is best not to initiate communications with guards or other staff. If you look around and other respected cons seem to interact with a prison staff person, then it’s probably okay for you to do so as well. However, again that does not mean if someone steals your stuff, for example, that you should go complain to staff, any staff, about it. You will have to deal with it yourself as best you can.

Visits – If you are lucky and you get a bunch, that is good. However, remember most cons don’t, so don’t play it up. It’s okay to have them, you’ll need them; just don’t “brag” on about them. Also, after visits are tough times because everything sort of starts over again for you. It’ll pass. Wear something clean to a visit. If you have something special to wear, now is the time. If they let you get food from the outside world (we could order from Sonic when I was in prison), I’d do it. You’d be surprised how great lousy fast food can be.

Learn the ropes – Watch what others do and learn the culture. Pick out people you “like” and try to follow their behavior to some extent. It’ll take a little time but it’s worth it.

Friends – Friends in prison are good, but take your time making them. You need to know who is who and what you are getting into with whatever clique you might become a part of. More than likely friends will pick you and not the other way around. It’s good though to have friends to hang with, to talk to, to joke around with, to eat with. Prison can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. Keep in mind you are responsible for your friends. Others will judge you by your friends. Remember that most people in prison are not middle class whites and their culture is not that of middle class suburban America. If you are, this is actually an opportunity to make friends who are not like you and to learn something. Keep that in mind. You can keep these friends forever or not.

Debt – Don’t owe anyone anything. Don’t borrow. Don’t get in debt to someone else. It may seem friendly at first, but it can lead to trouble. When you first enter any institution, you will be approached with 2-4-1 offers. Meaning that the person will front you 1 item (pack of cigs, commissary food, whatever) but you will have to repay them two. This is a classic trap for inexperienced inmates. If you are there long enough and you develop friends, then you’ll know how to relate to them as far as borrowing goes.

Television Room – In my day they had TV rooms (I presume they still do). Don’t change the channel unless you are the ONLY one in the room. Watch what’s there. Don’t tell others to “hush up.”

Movies – Even if you don’t feel like it go to them or whatever other entertainment is offered (unless you hear there is going to be trouble).

Exercise – Do it. I did it mostly in my cell or ran. I didn’t go to the weight room because I was staying out of crowds, so to speak, and the guys in the weight room were huge and I wasn’t. How and where you exercise is up to you, just do it.

Drugs/Contraband – Of course, it’s up to you, but my advice is stay away. Drugs are everywhere and you can get them if you want them, but it’ll only cause you problems.

Gambling - Never, EVER become involved in gambling.

Older Convicts – In general these are the guys who know what’s what and aren’t trying to impress. The younger guys are still trying to prove themselves.

Routines – For me developing routines helped. I would guess that is an individual thing. The flip side was that for me, I’ve never totally gotten rid of those routines. However, routines helped me get through the day.

Shower – Exactly what they say, “Watch your back.” If you shower with the group it is one place you are really exposed all the way around so to speak. If you happen to have a job or something that allows you shower alone, do it. Otherwise, get in, do your business, get out. It isn't as dangerous in the shower as some make it out to be. Just don't invite trouble. However, stay groomed. It’s a good way to respect yourself and demonstrate to yourself that you are still you.

Strip Searches – Get use to it. Just do it. No big deal. I’d rather be the guy getting searched then the guy doing the searches.

Job – It may seem lying around all day would be a good idea, but it gets old and time goes slow. Most any job is better than that. Anyway, they may ask you to select from several jobs. I did that and they gave me the one I didn’t choose. It didn't really make any difference. I had several different jobs. I actually enjoyed my job in the power house.

Rules – I’m presuming you just want to do your time and get out. In that case try to follow the rules. It isn’t possible to follow all of them, but do what you can. Don’t freak out if you get in trouble for something. It happens. Always remember you are unfortunately under the control of the prison authorities. They’ll do what they want.

Radio/TV – In my day you could buy a radio in the commissary. It was the best thing I did. I actually enjoyed listening to ball games and the like. Now days in some places you can have tvs etc. It’s up to you. I suppose I’d see what others have. You don’t want a bunch more than other convicts just because you have more financial resources.

Racism/Sexism – Get used to it. People don’t talk like you may be used to. The N word will be used widely. People will discuss what they’d like to do to women etc. You don’t have to play that game, but you also don’t have to correct anyone or try to make them “politically correct.” Again, you don’t have to become a racist to make it. Just try to ignore it and move on. Just be aware that racism and sexism and homophobia are much more overt inside then outside.

Be A Stand Up Guy – I know I’ve harped on this, but it’s important. Don’t promise anything you can’t keep. Don’t lie if possible. Again, respect yourself. Be trustworthy. If you have friends, mean it. Don’t fake it.

One Day At A Time – It’ll seem like your MR is never going to come. It will. When it’s over it will seem like it all didn’t last that long (although it’ll be with you for the rest of your life). Try not to focus on the distant future, but always remember it will come.

Phone – Varies from place to place on what phone time you get and how you use it. Anyway, use it. It is something to look forward to (like visits) and it is something that keeps you in touch with the outside and helps keep you sane. You have lots of supporters it sounds like. You are lucky. Never mess with someone else’s phone time or visiting time. It is important to them just as it is to you.

Diet – If you have some special diet (say you are a vegetarian), try your best to follow it. Most prison food is starchy. I confess I actually liked prison food (call me sick). I liked the mashed potatoes and the bread and the oatmeal etc. However, I can tell you stories about finding metal fibers in my cookies etc. You can usually eat as much as you like so be careful not to get fat. Again, exercise. If your prison happens to have a farm, you may actually get fresh vegetables or milk…who knows.

Homies – It’s odd but if there is someone there from your home town, you’ll be glad. It’s good to have something in common with someone. If you happen to know someone from before now is the time to renew that friendship. Share newspapers etc. On the other hand, just because someone is from your home town doesn’t mean they are cool to know. You’ll know.

Read – If you like to read, now is the time. You’ll have lots of time to read. You can get most books as long as the prison doesn’t censor it and they don’t censor all that much really. The prison library is a good place to hang from time to time. It will have a collection of all the books you never wanted to read. But again you can get stuff from outside. You can also get newspaper subscriptions. Do it. Get a couple. They’ll be late, but so what. Get a local paper and some other paper you like. After you’ve read pass it on to someone who’d like to read it. Or leave it in some common area. It’ll be appreciated. The small things are.

Convicts – It is okay to refer to you and others as convicts. That’s what you are and it isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Take possession of the word (unless this has changed…pay attention, you’ll know). Also, remember that outside of a few total crazies most of your fellow convicts are just people who got caught. Just like you they have lives. Beware though of those bad guys. Try to stay out of their way. Never tell another prisoner what to do or give anyone orders. Don’t tell someone in the library or the TV room to quiet down. Don’t stare at people.

Guards – Guards are not your friends. For the most part if you don’t bother them though they won’t bother you. Don’t give them a reason to single you out or they can make life hell. Also, remember that they would like most to get through the day with no problems. Also remember that they are just as crooked (if not more so) then the convicts. They are in it for themselves. Who becomes a prison guard? Still, there are some guards or other staff who are actually human. Not too many, but some. If you happen to have one in your area, all the better. But prison staff is not there to help you. They aren’t interested in you. Also, there are guards who are just assholes. Watch out for them. Some of them seem to get pleasure out of messing with people.

High School - Keep in mind that like high school there are cliques and just like high school some guards, like some teachers, have favorites and guys they don’t like. Just like high school there are staff (guards, counselors whatever) who want to act like one of the guys. They aren’t. They go home at night.

Guilty As Charged – Everyone and I mean everyone will assume you are guilty. If you are, you are. If you aren’t, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean you have to admit anything (and there generally is no reason to do so), but it is a given.

Crimes – If you don’t have to discuss why you are there don’t. If you do, don’t lie about it. Some crimes give you status. Mine did. Most people probably won’t even understand what you are in for. Some crimes are real no nos. No one likes child molesters, for example. The same crimes you find most heinous, your fellow cons likely will as well. Keep in mind that most crimes are committed for a reason. Don’t judge.

Education – If there happens to be something you always wanted to study and the opportunity presents itself, now is a good time. Most of your fellow cons may not have near the educational opportunities you’ve had. As time goes on and you get to know people, they may come to you for help with writing letters or whatever. Be nice. Help em out. But do not patronize. Just because you may be more educated, doesn't make you better than anyone else.

Religion – Personally, I’d say don’t flaunt it. However, lots of people go to church groups and the like. If that is your thing fine. If it isn’t fine. Don’t hassle someone over their beliefs. Same with politics. No big reason to get into it.

Making Prison Better – If you are selfless and want to organize the place that is your business, but your chances of improving things are pretty damn slim and your chance of getting yourself in big trouble are pretty damn great. Anyway, unless you become someone whom everyone respects, you can’t accomplish much. I think today though it’s mostly gangs, but I don’t know.

Cops – Don’t talk to them. Don’t be seen talking to them. If you are you’d better have a good explanation. Being a rat is the worst possible thing to be in prison. It’s always possible the cops may come to talk to you about something. Your options are limited, but don’t talk to them if you can help it. If you must, keep it brief and hope you have friends who can explain your situation to others. Never snitch. Never ever snitch. Never ever ever snitch.

Goody Two Shoes – Don’t be one. Doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk or a bad guy, just don’t act like a choir boy.

Punk – Do not become someone’s punk. There is nothing worse. Fight if you have to. Don’t become someone’s gopher because you’ll only have to do more and more for the person. If something awful happens maybe you can get into protective custody or transfer. Bad things are always possible. Probably not as pronounced as the outside world believes, but it is prison after all. The strong survive, the weak don’t. Be as strong as you can. Don’t become involved with punks.

Fear - Even though you will feel it at some point, try not to show fear. Convicts smell fear. Your first day will probably be the scariest as you will have no idea what’s what. People will yell at you. Ignore them. Someone will probably try to take advantage of you. Just be cool. You are the new kid on the block and you are different (you’ve never been inside before). You’ll be a curiosity. Some may want to put you down to show you are no better than anyone else.

Listen – Listen to people when they talk to you. Their stories are important to them. Don’t blow them off. Also, the prison grapevine will be your best and worse source of information. Convicts run the place and they know what is happening. On the other hands, in a closed society rumors will run rampant. You’ll learn. Pay attention. If you hear something bad is going to happen, take it seriously, stay out of the way.

Humor – Humor is good. Just make sure people get it. Funny things and stories actually occur in prison, believe it or not.

Trouble – If there is trouble, a riot, a big fight, whatever, go back to your crib if possible. Best to just stay out of the way. This, of course, does not apply to a situation like Attica (which if you are political you will understand).

Volunteer – Like in the army (which by the way is one way to think of your time) don’t volunteer (unless it is something you really want to do for some reason). No one likes a suck up though. Keep that in mind.

Busy – Stay as busy as you can doing something.

Noise – Prisons are noisy. It is the first thing you will notice. All that steel etc. People yell, people scream, people snore, etc. etc. You’ll get used to it.

Be Aware – Stay aware. Stay alert. Take note of what is going on around you. I don’t mean you have to be on a constant state of tension. Just be aware of where you are.

Short Timer – As your release approaches, time will slow down. Not much you can do about. Don’t talk about getting out all the time though (or at all if you can help it). Others may have a long way to go and don’t want to hear about how happy you are to be getting out. Some jerk may even get off getting you in trouble, so again, don’t talk about your upcoming release. When the day comes, say good bye to your friends, give away your stuff. Take whatever the prison is giving you even if (as in my case) it is an ugly green leisure suit. You’ve earned it.

Hooray – You will get out and return to life. You’ll have a million stories to tell. You’ll be stronger for the experience (although you may have adopted some neurotic behavior to cope with prison life that isn’t so great in the free world – I did). You’ll actually learn a lot that you would never have learned otherwise. Not saying I’d sign up for the experience, but you might as well get something out of it. Never act like you never had it. Don’t bury the experiences. If there were awful ones then get some help. Otherwise move on with your life and don’t go back.

Parole – Don’t violate your parole. Most parole officers will be glad to have a guy like you on their caseload. Most parole officers are lazy and would just as soon they don’t have to do anything. Most parole officers get off on their power. Oh well. Some parole officers can actually be nice. Like guards they are the exception, but if you get one, lucky you.