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World is less democratic than people think According to the UNDP,
the development program of the United Nations, the spread of democracy
in the world has come to a standstill. The Human Development
Report 2002 shows that only 57 per cent of the world population
lives in a constitutional state; 38 per cent does not have a free
press. In many countries, dictatorial regimes have won over democratic
governments. This is occurring in spite of the fact that democracy
offers a bigger opportunity for economic, physical and cultural
prosperity than authoritarian governments. 'Neger' and 'creool' remain in dictionary The 'Dikke Van Dale' (Van Dale Unabridged Dutch Dictionary) does
not need to remove the words 'neger' (black) and 'creool' (creole)
from the Dutch Language dictionary. The dictionary does not discriminate
by including these words, according to a decision by the Committee
for Equal Treatment. "After all, the function of a dictionary
is simply to record the meaning of words in accordance with their
actual usage", according to the Committee's statement. The
Foundation for the Honour and Restoration Payments for Victims of
Slavery in Surinam started the legal proceedings, claiming such
words would be hurtful and insulting to Afro-Surinam Dutch citizens
(see Actueel, juni 2002). War as an educational computer game There are computer games full of senseless violence and there
are games that carry a message in addition to the violence. The
American army recently became the producer of the latter version,
an educational war game. In America's Army, American youth
is taken along online on a military operation and, on the way, is
trained in the values of the American army. The objective of the
game is peculiar for a shooting game: to accomplish the mission
with the fewest possible victims. Since it was launched at the beginning
of July, more than a million players have downloaded the game. HIV doll on Sesame Street Takalani Sesame, the South African version of the children's program
Sesame Street, receives a doll with HIV. The female doll must teach
the little viewers how to interact with children and adults with
HIV. Ten per cent of the entire South African population is infected
with the disease, including 2.4 million children under fifteen.
Iranian forbidden to dance The Iranian court passed sentence on dancer Mohammed Khordadian
for his so-called evil influence on the young. The very popular
Khordadian, Iranian by birth, has lived and worked for years in
the United States. His dance classes are broadcast via television
and are very much loved in his native country as well. Khordadian
was arrested when he visited Iran again after 23 years. He is not
being allowed to leave his homeland for ten years. Copyright on silence Who owns silence? According to music publisher Peters, John Cage.
Cage is the composer of the famous 4'.33'',
that consists of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Producer
Mike Batt has now recorded a minute of silence on a CD by The
Planets. According to Peters, Batt is violating copyright law
by doing so. European academics boycott IsraelA professor in Translation Sciences at the University of Manchester
fired two Israeli employees for political reasons. Professor Mona
Baker, originally from Egypt, threw her Israeli colleagues off the
editorial staff of two scientific magazines. In so doing, she is
responding to the call from British academics to boycott Israeli
scientific and cultural bodies in protest against Israel's actions
against the Palestinians. According to a statement by the teachers
it is about time that Israel abides by UN resolutions. No cricket between India and Pakistan The International Cricket Council (ICC) has requested Nelson Mandela
to help get India and Pakistan back to the cricket field. India
suspects Pakistan of supporting the rebels in the Indian federal
state of Kashmir, and thus refuses to play against the country.
It is the first time that the political conflict has influenced
cricket matches between the two countries. American Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional A California judge has declared the pledge of allegiance to the
American constitution illegal. It all revolves around the excerpt
'one nation under God'. According to judge Alfred Goodwin, this
phrase violates the separation of church and state mandated by the
constitution. According to him 'one nation under God' carries no
less of a religious connotation than 'one nation under Vishnu' or
'one nation under Zeus'. Nine new world heritage monuments UNESCO, the
UN's cultural organisation has proclaimed nine new monuments to
be world heritage on its annual meeting. These include the ruins
of Jam in Afghanistan, the Mexican Maya city Calakmul, the Indian
Mahabodhi temple complex, the Egyptian Santa Catherina monastery
and the Tokaji region in Hungary. The historical inner cities of
the Surinamese city of Paramaribo and the German cities of Stralsund
and Wismor were declared to be 'valuable for humankind' as well.
Currently there are 730 cultural monuments and natural areas on
the UNESCO list. Sources: NRC Handelsblad, het Parool, De Telegraaf, Trouw, de Volkskrant, Rotterdams Dagblad, Algemeen Dagblad, De Standaard, Gazet van Antwerpen, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Commissie Gelijke Behandeling, Unesco, United Nations Development Programme, Chigaco Jewish Community Online, Palestine Chronicle, Alternet |
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