Y Day website now comes live in your area.

The site is updated and in Roll of honour we feature Kwanele Makhoba, the world's only teenager that got recognised for doing a quickie. You can also learn a bit about inflation on Economics page, see Me, My Mobile & I on Technology page. Arts and Culture and Poetry pages are as usual awesome!

The news section has articles about Rhodes students magnifying telecommunications history on the web, about Oudtshoorhn se nommer tien, Mpumalanga's school multimedia centres and Museveni's stance on pre-marital abstinence amongst others. There is more on offer, log on to www.yday.org.za and experience it all! If you'd like to assist or get involved, please contact us.

Meanwhile, the broader Y Day project continues to seek ways of PRACTICALLY bridging the digital divide in South Africa and beyond - your input will be appreciated!

www.yday.org.za
yday@ananzi.co.za

New York is in the United States, right? United States is/was a democracy right? Democracy upholds freedom of press among other freedoms right? And - ummm, democrats do not discriminate on the basis of nationality and language - inter alia - right? You have to be Arabic-speaking to get marching orders from New York Stock Exchange....

Right! Below is an AFP article

"Arabians banned from NYSE"
NEW YORK - The New York Stock Exchange says it has banned reporters from the Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera from its trading floor, sparking charges of retaliation for the channel's coverage of the Iraq war.

NYSE spokesman Ray Pellecchia said the decision to rescind the accreditation of two journalists from Al-Jazeera's New York bureau had been taken to try and accommodate a surge in requests from television networks for access to the stock exchange.


"We've had to prioritise requests that we've gotten and focus our efforts on those who focus on providing responsible business coverage, and as a result we cannot accommodate Al-Jazeera at this time," Pellecchia said.

"If we can develop more capacity in the future and they are interested in coming back, they may be allowed back," he added.

Al-Jazeera - based in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar - has given extensive coverage to widespread Arab criticism of the American war effort and US military officials have
criticised the station for broadcasting Iraqi television images of American prisoners of war.

The satellite channel has made daily broadcasts from the New York Stock Exchange for several years.

On its regular morning financial broadcast, Al-Jazeera said the accreditations had been withdrawn "because of al-Jazeera's coverage of the war on Iraq."


Pellecchia confirmed that Al-Jazeera was the only network to have its existing accreditations rescinded, but refused to comment on the charge that the move was purely retaliatory in nature.


However, a stock exchange official who declined to be identified said the decision had been taken "with events in Iraq in mind."

-AFP

I mean seriously, it's about time we the young people take this seriously. It's about time we stopped blaming politicians for greed and selfishness (yes they are selfish) and started doing something ourselves for us -- is that too hard to ask for.

George it's true, there are so many Africans I know of who cant afford $4 a year, even in SA. This ties well with $1-a-day Africans live on I've written about elsewhere (same thread). Let me commit first: I pledge minimum $4-a-year for 10 years towards the fund to alleviate poverty by creating jobs and empowerment projects. I pledge a business plan towards a foundation on the fund's project/s.

Time to ACT is NOW! Bush & Co are busy pursuing their "righting" stunt in Asia! What about you? Ignoring poverty is not the answer... "Over to you moderator and TIG (14,000) Members. What do you think!!!" (-geogias)

Those following hip-hop or similar culture know Arrested Development "Here have a dollar... in fact no brother man have two... Two dollars mean a snack to me but it means a big deal to you." is that too hard to understand?

-shoks
ps: learn more about this, check discussion thread entitled "TIGAid for the Poor" make your view known and refuse not to be counted. Do something!

On March 21, 1960 the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) under the leadership of Robert Sobukwe held a non-violent anti-pass laws protest campaign.

PASS LAWS, WHAT ARE PASS LAWS, AND THEIR IMPACT:
Pass laws turned African man ‘bachelors’ and as such they had to stay away from their loved ones in some “bachelor zones” (hostels). African women and children had been “endorsed” and separated from their husbands and fathers – the bachelors. The apartheid government had removed Africans from urban areas to reserves in an 'endorsing out' law. Under the discriminatory Urban Areas Act, Africans weren’t allowed to stay in urban areas for longer than 72 hours unless they’d lived there for longer than 15 years, had worked with the same employer for 10 years or had a discretionary permit to reside and work there.

Employers - employers were legally and technically white people (exclusively) - would quite often terminate the workers’ (black workers) contracts after nine years and 11 months. (Just one month before the ten-year term allowing them in urban areas). Now what does that mean? It means that the poor African had to go be automatically “endorsed out” - back to the sytematically disadvantaged bantustans. They'd have to go back to square one (see discriminatory Urban Areas Act above) through the whole process of getting rights to stay in urban area – and then it becomes one long-unending struggle.

Back to that fateful March 21, 1960 in Sharpeville where thousands gathered to hold a non-violent anti-pass laws protest campaign. About 20,000 people assembled outside the local police station. In other areas – in the Vaal Triangle (GP) – some people had had the brush of the apartheid police force. However, in Sharpeville, planes were flying high and low, and lots of cops – about 300 – were in the area. In no time, unprovoked and uninstructed, the apartheid trigger-happy cops opened fire on unarmed and visibly defenceless people – including women and children.
These cops - against the backdrop of visibly defenceless and unarmed campaigners - were supported by Saracens armoured vehicles.

The above said, the first scuffle broke out then the police station fence was trampled, apartheid officer pushed over, and the front rank of the crowd pushed forward resulting in the cops shooting randomly. Most of the victims had been shot in the back and what this means is that despite the campaigners leaving the scene these cops felt a need to "just" shoot.

THE COPS? …what did they have to say: they had been in serious danger as the crowd had been in possession of dangerous weapons and had been throwing stones.
THE GOVERNMENT? …what was the reaction: a legislation was to be introduced to indemnify the government and its officials retrospectively against claims resulting from action taken during the demonstration. Pass laws were suspended and re-instated on March 28 (day of mourning).
THE WORLD? …horror and shock waves following the massacre greeted the whole world.
THE AFRICANS? … under the leadership of Chief Albert Luthuli of the African National Congress (ANC) they observed March 28 as a day of mourning, resulting in a massive national stay-away. Chief Luthuli had publicly burned his pass in the capital (Pretoria) the previous day.
THE WHITES? …they rushed to the stock exchange (JSE) to sell their shares, and some made emigration arrangements.

Sharpeville Day was followed by the banning of freedom and political formations (also known as “terrorist” movements) in SA: ANC, PAC, SA Communist Party and many others. Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) was formed many months later after it became apparent that “there are many people who feel that it is useless and fully futile for us to continue talking peace against the government whose reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed and defenceless people” (-Nelson Mandela).
… and that was the beginning of the underground struggle – more on this on December 16 or earlier!

Picture: Apartheid police force watches as 69 bodies lie dead and hundreds others wounded after accomplishing their murder mission - against the unarmed and defenceless people (and women and children).

sources: www.sahistory, SA newspapers and archives.
_________

ps: I dont know how to insert a picture perfectly - I dont like this small picture thing - how do I do it?