legalize, don't criminalize!

Chicago Tribune | Immigration activists get blessing: "About 200 activists showed up at Holy Name Cathedral on the Near North Side Sunday afternoon to receive a blessing from a Roman Catholic bishop and to board buses to an immigration showdown in Congress this week.

On Monday, the Judiciary Committee will make a decision on which immigration bill will go to the full Senate.

One is an enforcement-only bill that would make aiding undocumented immigrants a felony. The other bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), would include provisions for legalization.

Other cities across the country also held pro-immigration rallies over the weekend. In Los Angeles on Saturday, 500,000 people marched downtown, and Denver, Milwaukee, Phoenix and Atlanta also had strong showings.

In Chicago, the group of mostly Latino demonstrators stood on the steps of the church holding signs for television cameras and occasionally yelling out slogans such as, 'Si, se puede!' ('Yes, we can!').

One man held up a large wood crucifix, some held up American flags and signs were passed out by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights that said, 'Legalize, don't Criminalize.'

Refugio Velasco, a warehouse worker and father of five from the South Side, wanted to protest legislation that"

undocumented U.S. Border Patrol agent

Monterey County Herald | 03/27/2006 | Minutemen not just at border: "PHILADELPHIA - John Ryan is, as the slogan on his olive green T-shirt announces, an 'undocumented U.S. Border Patrol agent.'

No one deputized the retired Quakertown, Pa., telephone repairman to stare into the hardscrabble desert between Mexico and the United States, protecting the U.S. border from the estimated million people who cross it illegally each year."

What the bloody hell does it mean? Slogan baffles Japan - National

What the bloody hell does it mean? Slogan baffles Japan - National: "TEACHING Japan to swear is too bloody hard. The catchiest punchline in years has proved impossible to translate into Japanese, leaving Tourism Australia to ask: 'So, why don't you come?'

Print advertisements with the English-language scrawl 'So, where the bloody hell are you?' have had the new line added for Japan. It will also be used in TV and radio broadcasts.

The change has been made so that the valuable Japanese market does not miss the message. Swearwords are virtually unheard of in Japan, so there is no equivalent to 'bloody'.

About the worst insult that anyone would hurl is 'idiot'. 'Where the hell are you?' would be said in anger, never for fun."

Utah's new slogan is ``Life Elevated.''

Beacon Journal | 03/26/2006 | Utah's new slogan goes to next level: "Utah's new slogan is ``Life Elevated.''

``This statement embodies the heart and soul of our state -- it is also the essence of life in America's greatest state,'' Gov. Jon Huntsman said.

The slogan is to be used in a $14 million campaign to attract visitors to Utah.

The state's first choice for a new slogan, as disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, was ``Seek Higher Ground,'' which was deemed too close to Colorado's ``Enter a Higher State.''"


Meanwhile: Australia's Slogan, Another one bites the dust.

NOW!

The Marketplace of Perceptions: "The Seductive Now-Moment

A national chain of hamburger restaurants takes its name from Wimpy, Popeye’s portly friend with a voracious appetite but small exchequer, who made famous the line, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Wimpy nicely exemplifies the problems of “intertemporal choice” that intrigue behavioral economists like David Laibson. “There’s a fundamental tension, in humans and other animals, between seizing available rewards in the present, and being patient for rewards in the future,” he says. “It’s radically important. People very robustly want instant gratification right now, and want to be patient in the future. If you ask people, ‘Which do you want right now, fruit or chocolate?’ they say, ‘Chocolate!’ But if you ask, ‘Which one a week from now?’ they will say, ‘Fruit.’ Now we want chocolate, cigarettes, and a trashy movie. In the future, we want to eat fruit, to quit smoking, and to watch Bergman films.”"

Socialist Market Economy

The Midnight Epress To Xian - Xian, China, NE Asia, Asia - Bruce McDonnell Davis :: BootsnAll Travel Network: "In China you seldom hear the word communism. If you say the word you may be looked at as if you’ve uttered a profanity, or at least viewed as being not current. You’re politely informed that people now say, “socialist market economy”. Three words have replaced communism. Even words can fall victim to inflation. Fine. I’ve always found the spelling of communism, curriculum and Mississippi to be a challenge. Whether it’s communism or socialist market economy, you’re expected to live by the rules."

Jehad

A bloody trail: The Harkat ul-Mujahideen, once the most formidable terrorist organisation operating in Jammu and Kashmir, has returned strongly to jehad.

Click above for the full story

Me Maharashtracha, Maharashtra Mazha. (I belong to Maharashtra, Maharashtra’s mine)

DNA - Mumbai - Please guide me, says Raj - Daily News & Analysis: "Raj Thackeray, who has finalised his party MANASE’s constitution, ideology and policies, is going the extra mile to win over Mumbaikars.

In a move so far unheard of in politics, the youth leader is seeking the opinions and reactions of the citizens. Party sources say Raj is personally going through some of the opinions, an exercise, he thinks, is necessary before the Shivaji Park rally on March 19.

Raj believes that he has coined a slogan that will instantly strike an emotional chord with Maharashtrians — Me Maharashtracha, Maharashtra Mazha. (I belong to Maharashtra, Maharashtra’s mine). Pamphlets carrying the slogans are being distributed by Raj supporters across the state.

They have a map of Maharashtra, an image of Shivaji and, a picture of Raj professing his party ethos. “To create a new Maharashtra, I need your valuable opinion,” the pamphlet says. In the last fortnight, his supporters fanned out asking people what they think of party, leaving a blank space in pamphlet asking people to write their assessment."

Hire. Fire

Students across France protest job law - Europe - International Herald Tribune: "Tens of thousands of students marched through Paris and other French cities Tuesday, stepping up their opposition to a new law that makes it easier to hire, and fire, young workers.

In Paris, university and high school students, joined by teachers, workers, union members and Communist Party members, marched across town stopping traffic as they chanted slogans like 'We're not cannon fodder' and 'We're not young flesh for the boss.' At one location near the Sorbonne in the heart of the Latin Quarter, the police clashed with small groups of protesters, dispersing them with tear gas.

More than half of the 84 public universities in France remained either completely or partially closed Tuesday because of student blockades, according to the French Ministry of National Education.

The Sorbonne, at the University of Paris, remained closed three days after the riot police used tear gas to evict about 300 students.

The university authorities said the occupation had caused damages of between $600,000 and $1.2 million.

The protests are driven by two factors: domestic politics and the fear of change among the French middle and working class. This is not about promoting grand revolutionary ideals.

Designed by the government to help reduce high unemployment, particularly among dis"

The Cost of Living

Atanu Dey on India’s Development » The High Cost of Living: "India is expensive. That is just another way of stating that people in India are poor. You are poor if you cannot afford stuff. Which means that the prices you face are too high for you to buy stuff. Therefore you are poor. Simple enough but misunderstood by many reasonably bright people."

SayWA

State's new tourism slogan has some experts saying, 'Huh?' - Seattle - MSNBC.com: "I Love NY. Virginia is for lovers. What happens here, stays here.

SayWA."

IDEMO DALJE - LET'S GO ON.

FR Yugoslavia: Election Report: "Milosevic's party, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) used: IDEMO DALJE - LET'S GO ON. It also means: LET'S GO FURTHER (than we are now). The double meaning is intended. This slogan was used in a children series a few years ago, so it has a nice nostalgic ring to it.

The double meaning also works with the next slogan: MOZEMO JOS VISE! - WE CAN EVEN MORE / WE CAN EVEN HIGHER. Two other slogans: ZA VOJVODINU KOJU MOLIM - FOR THE VOJVODINA THAT I LOVE KORAK PO KORAK - SIGURAN KORAK - STEP BY STEP - A SURE STEP

The party of Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic, had a very interesting campaign using young rap artists to sing their slogans. This way they got a lot of attention. They used; JUL JE COOL - JUL IS COOL LEPO, LEPSE, LEVO - BEAUTIFUL, MORE BEAUTUFUL, LEFT MI ZNAMO NAJKRACI PUT - WE KNOW THE SHORTEST WAY

Nova Democratia used only one slogan, EVO RUKE - LET'S SHAKE HANDS

Seselj's party, the Radical Party, used a very simple slogan; VREME JE - IT IS TIME.

The Serbian Renewal Movement of the Zajedno coalition had the slogan: NAS JE VISE meaning WE ARE MORE.

All these slogans were used on TV. They were also used on political campaign posters and handouts."

God is great

For Muslim Who Says Violence Destroys Islam, Violent Threats - New York Times: "Dr. Sultan said the world was not witnessing a clash of religions or cultures, but a battle between modernity and barbarism, a battle that the forces of violent, reactionary Islam are destined to lose.

In response, clerics throughout the Muslim world have condemned her, and her telephone answering machine has filled with dark threats. But Islamic reformers have praised her for saying out loud, in Arabic and on the most widely seen television network in the Arab world, what few Muslims dare to say even in private.

'I believe our people are hostages to our own beliefs and teachings,' she said in an interview this week in her home in a Los Angeles suburb."

I'm Buffalo Niagara > Buffalo Niagara: Where life works

Business First: 'I am Buffalo Niagara' replaced by slogan that 'works' - 2006-03-09: "'I am Buffalo Niagara' is history.

After a five-plus year existence as the primary tag line for the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, the region's primary economic development marketing and outreach agency, has debuted a new catch phrase: 'Buffalo Niagara: Where Life Works.'"

Someone please tell them that slogans do not work anymore...

STOP ANC RACISM

The Wonderful World of Ms. World: "South Africa reminds of California with a lot of Black people. Unfortunately, too many of the Black people are still poor a decade after the death of apartheid. The economic inequalities are openly visible. Blacks are now in positions of political and government authority but the whites have all the keys to the boardrooms. I've heard that 'reverse racism' is now being practice which is a preference for Blacks in government and other areas. I laugh when I see signs that read, 'STOP ANC RACISM.'"

Party time!

Communal ammunition : HindustanTimes.com: "Noted historian Paul Brass has shown how periods of intense political mobilisation of the Muslims have been followed by communal violence in which Muslims invariably end up the biggest sufferers."

Holy War

The Australian: Crusades equal to 9/11: textbook [March 08, 2006]: "Crusades equal to 9/11: textbook
Justine Ferrari, Education writer
March 08, 2006

A TEXTBOOK widely used in Victorian high schools describes the Crusaders who fought in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages as terrorists, akin to those responsible for the September 11 attacks.

The Year 8 textbook Humanities Alive 2 says that the Crusaders, like Muslim terrorists, 'believed they were giving their lives for a religious cause'.

'Like the Crusaders ... they were told they would go straight to heaven when they died,' the book says. 'Those who destroyed the World Trade Center (sic) are regarded as terrorists. Might it be fair to say that Crusaders who attacked the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem were also terrorists?'

The textbook has been criticised by Melbourne University historian Barry Collett, a specialist in medieval history, for being 'historically inaccurate' and 'grossly misleading' in its depiction of the Middle Ages.

'The Crusaders felt they were intervening to stop the bloodshed that was already going on,' he said. 'I would tend to compare them more with Australian troops intervening in East Timor.'"

Loud and (nu)clear

The Australian: Editorial: [March 08, 2006]: "With 39 per cent of the world's low-cost-recovery uranium, Australia has an essential role to play in keeping the nuclear peace. The NPT may no longer provide us with a universally applicable guide on how Australia can help the world meet its energy needs while restraining rogues who talk of peace but want weapons"

Onna Otaku

Wired 14.03: PLAY: "10 ways to identify Onna Otaku:

Hair: No chestnut dyes, no colored highlights, minimal brushing.

Wardrobe: Generic jeans, shirts, and sneakers (with price tag left on, Minnie Pearl-style). Jacket from store at train station. For more formal occasions: school uniform, kimono, or Dhoulmagus costume. (He's the mysterious jester from Dragon Quest VIII. Duh!)

Pets: Six virtual pups on her Nintendo DS. (She feeds and walks them hourly.)

Phone: Worn clipped on pocket to look 'technical.' It's got a 3-megapixel camera, built-in smartcard purchasing, TV tuner, MP3 player, and browser.

Storage: Cute bags are OK for jaunts, but she prefers wheeled luggage for comic cons and epic shopping trips.

Magazines: Four different anime monthlies, Cosmode (for cosplayers), and Dolly Dolly (for figurine fans).

Diet: Why cook when 7-Eleven has beef bowls and habanero snack chips?

Recent Purchases: Action figures and manga galore. Spool of DVD-Rs for, uh, 'backup' copies of her fave shows.

On her laptop: Script for Sailor Moon/Anakin Skywalker doujinshi (fan comic), links to manga release schedules and 2ch.net (think Slashdot).

Under her mattress: Boy's Love comics, which depict romantic, tragic, and hot pretty boy-on-pretty boy action."

History lesson

The New Yorker: From the Archives: Content: "“As a student of religion, I read with great interest Toynbee’s ‘A Study of History.’ I always wondered why he felt that the next stage of regeneration in the world would be religious. I felt that religion had been on the run all over the world for centuries. In some places, there have been adjustments, but they have been made only slowly and painfully. Christianity accommodated itself to Darwin, but it was hard even in a tolerant country like Britain. Islam has experienced a number of shocks and adjustments. There have been several efforts to update the religion. But they have all failed. By and large, the clergy remains narrow, fanatical, and ignorant.”

He went on, “The merchants of the bazaars worked hand and glove with the mullahs. They were the two most conservative elements in the cities. The bazaaris usually rented land from the religious foundations, and made the foundations big gifts. But both the bazaaris and the foundations have been outmoded by recent developments. When I left Iran to go abroad to school, in 1960, this was still a backward country. Only a few cities in the country had running water. There were only about ten thousand people who had been or were at universities. Most industry was handicrafts, and about eighty per cent of the people still lived in rural villages."

Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.

"At the entrance to the Guantanamo detention camp, a wooden sign reads: 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.'"

Y'a bon Banania

MiamiHerald.com | 03/06/2006 | Chocolate drink company drops 'racist' slogan: "Nutrimaine, the French manufacturer of Banania breakfast drink, has given up the copyright on the well-known catchphrase 'Y'a bon Banania' which means 'Me like Banania' in mock-French.

Uttered by a broadly smiling black colonial soldier, the slogan first appeared on advertisements in 1915. It was last used in 1977, but Nutrimaine was paying an annual fee to protect the copyright

PARIS (AFP) -- The French makers of a popular chocolate and banana drink have bid farewell to its 80-year-old advertising slogan after a pressure group threatened to take the company to court for racism.

Nutrimaine, which manufactures the Banania breakfast drink, said earlier in February it has given up the copyright on the well-known catchphrase ''Y'a bon Banania'' -- mock-French meaning ``Me like Banania.''

Uttered by a broadly smiling black colonial soldier, the slogan first appeared on advertisements in 1915. It was last used in 1977, but Nutrimaine was paying an annual fee to protect the copyright, and the brand still uses the image of a smiling black face in a red and blue fez.

COLLECTIVE SUIT

A collective from France's overseas territories -- where most of the population is black -- filed suit before the Paris courts claiming that the advertising ``contravenes public order be"

Kindness: the ultimate renewable resource

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Kindness Campaign has winner in slogan contest: "“Kindness: the ultimate renewable resource,” was chosen from more than 200 entries, said Cathy Holt of the Kindness Campaign. The campaign aims to encourage compassion in the community through events that recognize local people and agencies that help their neighbors and through events that bring the community together.

For her slogan, Toy wins dinner for two at Vincenzo’s in Asheville."

Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories

Easily separated!

Bush Rules Out a Nuclear Deal With Pakistanis - New York Times: "'I explained that Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories,' Mr. Bush said at a joint outdoor news conference with Mr. Musharraf on the grounds of the presidential palace, Aiwan-e-Sadr. 'So as we proceed forward, our strategy will take in effect those well-known differences.'"

Hubli-DharwadOne

The Hindu : Karnataka / Hubli-Dharwad News : `Hubli-DharwadOne' to be launched soon: Minister: "HUBLI: Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar announced here on Saturday that a service on the lines of 'BangaloreOne,' which provides various services to the citizens under one roof will be launched in the twin cities under the name 'Hubli-DharwadOne.'

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, the Minister said the process in this regard has begun and an official has held initial discussions in this regard with the Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation.

Under the project, citizens can pay their electricity bills, water bills, property tax and even get reservation in State transport buses under one roof. 'To begin with, the project will be implemented at two or three locations in the twin cities,' he said. Mr. Shettar said the State Government is considering setting up another tahsildar's office in Hubli taluk."

WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY

'WOMEN HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY' A GLOBAL TREND, NOT A SLOGAN: VP LU: "Vice President Annette Lu said Saturday that she believes the old adage 'women hold up half the sky,' used to inspire women to transcend the inferior position they held in traditional society, is not a slogan anymore but a global trend"

Slogans by Bob Marley

ilikemusic.com - independent UK music magazine and directory - URBAN - Bob Marley And The Wailers Slogans: "This year would have been reggae superstar Bob Marley’s 60th birthday and to celebrate this landmark, Island Records will be releasing a brand new previously unheard Marley song, “Slogans” on November 21st, featuring Eric Clapton on guitar.

“Slogans” has been built up around a demo Bob recorded in a Miami hotel. His sons Stephen and Ziggy have produced the song adding instrumental parts around Bob’s vocal and creating a record that stands up alongside his many classics.

'Slogans is one of seven or eight songs found on a tape of Bob working in his room with a drum machine, my guess would be around 1979. They're really sketches of songs and this one has been brought up, instruments added, including Eric Clapton on guitar. I think it's pretty amazing. The lyrics sound so current. It could have been written about New Orleans,' says Chris Blackwell, the former Island Records boss who launched Marley's international career and produced many of his finest records.

The single is released on November 21st ’05 and will be available in CD and 7” vinyl and will feature “Slogans” and “The Heathen” recorded live at the Rainbow theatre in London on 4th June ’77.

“Slogans” will also be available on the forthcoming “Bob Marley & The Wailers Africa Unite – The Singles Collection” which is released on November 7th ’05."

Tit for Tat.

India Uncut: "You know, Amit, if something happens to me here, and I report it to Delhi, the Indian government makes sure that exactly the same thing happens to my Pakistani counterpart out there. If I tell them that my house has been burgled, they will presume that it’s the work of the Pakistani government, and exactly the same kind of burglary, in exactly the same manner, will take place in my counterpart’s house in Delhi. I have seen this happening time and again.

That is why we [Murali and KJM Varma, the PTI correspondent here] have decided that no matter what happens to us, we will not report it to our government."

Little Brother (Thambi) is watching you

TheStar.com - Roar of the Tamil Tigers: "Forget George Orwell's Big Brother, says Jeyaraj; here it's the fear of 'Little Brother' — the English translation of LTTE leader Prabhakaran's nickname, 'Thambi.'"

Jeyaraj is a Sri Lankan Tamil in Toronto.

Lower Hutt - at least it's not Masterton.

Saatchi’s slur! - Wairarapa Times-Age - Mar 2 2006 5:00PM - localnews: "Saatchi and Saatchi's top man in Wellington has slammed Masterton with his suggestion for an advertising slogan for Lower Hutt.

And to make matters worse, Jonathan Russell, general manager of the worldwide ad agency's Wellington office then backhanded the town again when he rang the Wairarapa Times-Age yesterday afternoon following a request to talk to him about the slur.

Mr Russell was on national radio news early yesterday suggesting that the slogan for Lower Hutt City could be:

'Lower Hutt - at least it's not Masterton.'

Wairarapa MP John Hayes said the comments were "outrageous and based on ignorance."

Mr Hayes said he didn't hear the news item but was unstinting in his praise of the town.

"Everybody knows that Masterton is the best small city in New Zealand, and we have so much to enjoy and be proud of in our community."

"

Musharaff wants International law against blasphemy.

International law against blasphemy to be sought -DAWN - Top Stories; March 1, 2006: "President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan will ask for international legislation banning blasphemy against all prophets and terming it cognizable offence."

Kalla, kalla Amrica, kalla kalla lill-irhab

IRAQ: an e-mail exchange with the Guardian :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - ch: "'Kalla, kalla Amrica, kalla kalla lill-irhab' - no to America, no to terrorism."

Kadima! Peres is now 'in the center.'

Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: "Peres has a new slogan: Kadima! Peres is now 'in the center.'

Kadima is a great slogan. It's the cry of a general leading men on a battlefield. It means: Forward! Follow me!
Don't look around at the fallen and dying all around you!
Keep going. Don't look back! Never mind that it was founded by a controversial general known for his impulsiveness and determination - qualities sometimes helpful on the battlefield, but quite disastrous in matters of state.
Never mind that his greatest accomplishment in office, carried out with bulldozer determination, has in record time already proven an unmitigated disaster: The disengagement provided the Hamas with its successful campaign slogan:' Ten years of negotiation, five years of Intifada.' Never mind that daily rockets now land in the Negev and Ashkelon and Ashdod and Sderot. Never mind that for the first time in our history the national consensus towards the IDF has begun to unravel. Never mind that. Kadima!"

At 95, Mr. Smith trying to get to Washington

At 95, Mr. Smith trying to get to Washington: "At his age, Sid Smith's campaign slogan seems obvious: 'At 95, who needs term limits?'
The Austin-area former newspaperman, real estate agent and current artist is running for Congress.

Smith is on the ballot in next Tuesday's Democratic primary.

His main goal is to boot Republican freshman Michael McCaul."