Freedom of Press

How the press is working around…

Religious Persecution in India

August 26, 2009 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

The White House is watching you…

Porto Alegre, August 6, 2009

by Luís Henrique Vieira

This blog could not run out of the most important issue of the blogosphere today.

No one could ever imagine a situation like this. Yes, it is happening. It is happening in the most important democracy in the world. It is happening in the term of the most popular president of the world.

It is there in the website of the White House to check with anyone’s eyes: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov“. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/)

Watch out, Barack Obama, you are not the owner of the USA or the world. It seems you think you are.

obama-chavez Equal friends?

August 7, 2009 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

N. Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists

By Blaine Harden
The Washington Post

TOKYO, June 8 — A North Korean court sentenced two U.S. journalists to 12 years in a labor camp Monday, as the government of Kim Jong Il continued to ratchet up tension with the United States and its neighbors.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, television reporters detained in March along North Korea’s border with China, received harsher sentences than many outsiders had expected. But several experts in South Korea predicted that talks will begin soon to negotiate their release.

The U.S. government said it was “deeply concerned.”

The five-day trial of Ling and Lee was held in Pyongyang’s Central Court, the top court in North Korea. Outside observers were not allowed.

“The trial confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing,” the official Korean Central News Agency said. It said the court sentenced “each of them to 12 years of reform through labor.”

The “grave crime,” however, was not explained. The reporters had earlier been accused of unspecified “hostile acts.” Legal analysts in South Korea said the North Korean court may have sentenced the women to the maximum of 10 years of hard labor for hostile acts and added on two years for illegal entry.

The detention and sentencing of the two journalists has coincided with — and become entangled in — a series of provocative acts by North Korea that this spring have angered its neighbors, its historical allies and much of the world.

The heavily armed, secretive state — in the throes of a succession process, as the country’s ailing leader prepares to hand power over to his youngest son — launched a long-range missile in April, detonated a nuclear bomb in May and has renounced the truce that ended the Korean War.

On Monday, North Korea warned fishermen and boat captains to stay away from the country’s east coast, Japan’s coast guard said. The North is planning to launch several medium-range missiles from the region, according to reports in the South Korean press.
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The U.S. government, which last year lifted some sanctions against North Korea and delivered large amounts of food aid, has become increasingly exasperated by the North’s behavior. President Barack Obama, who came into office saying he was prepared to meet personally with Kim Jong Il, said Saturday that “we are going to take a very hard look at how we move forward on these issues.”

Led by the United States and Japan, the U.N. Security Council is considering new sanctions against North Korea for exploding a nuclear device in defiance of a U.N. resolutions.

If the sanctions are approved, North Korea threatened Monday that it would retaliate with “extreme” measures. “Our response would be to consider sanctions against us as a declaration of war and answer it with extreme hard line measures,” the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.

“We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said early Monday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday the charges against “these young women are absolutely without merit or foundation.”

The verdict cannot be appealed and is final, officials in Seoul have said.

But there is a widespread expectation, at least in South Korea, that the journalists will be released when the North Korean government decides the time is right to talk again to the United States.

In the past, North Korea has released Americans who have entered the country illegally. The government also has a history of brinkmanship, turning confrontation and bluster into negotiations that reward it with food, fuel and other concessions.

“The verdict does not mean much, since they will get released,” said Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea who teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. “Unfortunately, right now the North Koreans want to keep tensions high, so it will take many months and perhaps a year or more before the Pyongyang authorities will decide that it’s time to make some friendly gesture to Washington.”

Other North Korean observers were more hopeful of a quicker resolution.

“Now that they are sentenced, we can think and talk about making arrangements for their release,” said Han Seung-soo, a former South Korean foreign minister. “It is ironic but with the sentencing we now have something more tangible to negotiate about.”

Ling and Lee were working for Current TV, a cable and Web network co-founded by former vice president Al Gore, when they were detained March 17 by North Korean soldiers along the border with China. The reporters were working on a story about North Koreans who flee the country, but the circumstances of their arrest are not clear.
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The State Department last week did not rule out the possibility that Gore may fly to North Korea to negotiate the reporters’ release. A spokeswomen for Gore contacted by the Associated Press declined to comment.

Ten years ago, Bill Richardson, then a member of Congress and now governor of New Mexico, traveled to Pyongyang to negotiate the release of an American who got drunk and swam across a river into North Korea. Richardson, too, said last week that he did not expect negotiations to begin for the journalists’ release until after their trial ended.

“The sentence can be seen as an indication that North Korea is now expecting a very prominent envoy to come for the negotiations over their release,” said Hong Jung-wook, a lawmaker from South Korea’s ruling party.
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In appearances last week on U.S. television, the families of the women broke months of silence and offered public apologies to the North Korean government for whatever acts the journalists may have committed.

“If at any point the girls went into North Korea, then we apologize on their behalf,” said Lisa Ling, who noted that she had recently received a telephone call from her sister Laura in Pyongyang and that she sounded “extremely scared.”

Laura Ling suffers from an ulcer, her sister said. Lee has a four-year-old daughter.

Both women have been allowed to telephone their families in the United States, which is highly unusual in a state that seals away political prisoners in concentration camps, sometimes for life, without any contact with relatives.

Ling and Lee have been visited three times by the Swedish ambassador, and have been allowed to send and receive letters through him. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.

The women have told their families that they have been treated “fairly” while in North Korea.

Despite the sentence to “reform through labor” analysts said that Ling and Lee would probably not be sent to a labor camp where they would work with other North Korean prisoners.

There are believed to be about 200,000 political prisoners in North Korean camps, where former inmates say conditions are often brutal, hunger is widespread and attempts to escape usually result in a public execution.

“They are very unlikely to be sent to a real prison, since there they would learn too much about things outsiders are not supposed to know,” said Lankov, who has written several books about North Korea and studied there as a student from what was then the Soviet Union. “I am pretty sure that the authorities will keep them in relative comfort, in conditions far better than the average prison, but still perhaps tough for the average American.”

June 8, 2009 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

Writer of book against Obama got arrested in Kenya

The american writer of a book against Barack Obama was arrested last tuesday (10.09) at Nairobi (Kenya), where he wanted to present his work. “Jerome Corsi was arrested and is at the moment on the building of the service of imigration”, a police´s source said to the international news agencies.

Corsi was going to present his book at a hotel in Kenya. Obama´s father borned at Kenya. Corsi announced that he will expose “the secret relations between Barack Obama and kenyan leaders”. 

The kenyan police said that the arrest has no conexion with the book. “Like any other person, we should check the documents”, said an official.

October 9, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | 1 Comment

EU starts kind of censorship

Porto Alegre, September 4, 2008

by Luís Henrique Vieira

The EU (European Union) parliament took the initiative against “gender stereotypes” in advertising and “to regulate” the protrayal of women in the media in general to “promote balanced and balanced portrayal of women by the media”. The new was told yesterday by the blog Ranting Kraut. Check the text from the source transcripted below.

MEPs vote to confront sexist advertising

 

LONDON – The European Parliament is calling on member states to tackle the issue of gender stereotypes in advertising through public information campaigns.

An EU report, drafted by the institution’s Women’s Rights Committee, was adopted by a large majority in the European Parliament today.

 

It pushes for education initiatives to be introduced that will “combat the structurally embedded stereotype images of women and men we find all around us.”

The report argues that gender stereotypes are used in advertising to the “financial gain of big business” and that women have “suffered” by being “represented as objects.” 

It also calls on member states to monitor ad campaigns and to remove “stereotyped and degrading” images of women from advertising while introducing regulatory measures to “promote balanced and diverse portrayals of women by the media”.

The report recommends especially close policing of the use of nudity and noticeably thin women in ad campaigns. 

Report author Eva-Britt Svensson also highlighted digital media as being of particular concern, especially the portrayal of women in the majority of video games and their supporting advertising.

Transcripted from http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/843614/MEPs-vote-confront-sexist-advertising/

September 4, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

U.S. Journalist Arrested in Nigeria

by Will Connors – The New York Times

LAGOS, Nigeria — An American documentary filmmaker and his translator working in the volatile Delta region of Nigeria have been arrested and accused of spying, according to Nigerian government officials and media watchdog groups.

Andrew Berends, a New York-based freelance journalist who was working on a film about the oil-producing Delta region, was arrested on Sunday and held for 36 hours before being released. Mr. Berends’s passport and equipment were confiscated, and he was made to report back to the State Security Service early Tuesday morning. His translator, Samuel George, was also arrested.

“When you come to a security area with no clearance it’s against the rules,” said a military spokesman, Major Sagir Musa, who confirmed that Mr. Berends had been arrested and handed over to the security service. “He had no security clearance. It is for his own safety. If something happens to him it’s an embarrassment to the security agencies. It’s not normal times in the area right now. The S.S.S. will investigate him and once they are satisfied they will release him, God willing.”

Mr. Berends contacted both Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists Monday night, and both advocacy groups condemned his detention.

“Berends was arrested just for doing his job and no other reason,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement Tuesday. “It is absurd for the authorities to think that, by arresting him and his interpreter, they can conceal the economic and ecological disaster unfolding in the Niger Delta.”

Despite its oil riches, the Niger Delta is a desperately poor and increasingly lawless part of the country where wealth is siphoned away by corrupt officials. Militants demand a greater share of the area’s oil resources and claim to be fighting on behalf of the impoverished residents, but also appear to be engaging in many criminal and opportunistic acts of violence. Hundreds of foreign workers and wealthy Nigerians have been kidnapped for ransom, and oil theft is rampant.

Several other foreign journalists and filmmakers have been detained while working in the region in recent years. In April, four members of a Seattle-based film crew were arrested while filming in the Delta and held for six days on spying charges. In May, a CNN journalist was detained while in the main Delta city of Port Harcourt and questioned by the S.S.S. for five days before being released.

“The government probably knows the fellow’s real mission and that it has nothing to do with espionage, but they want to do it to discourage others from coming to report on the situation on the ground,” said Chris Alagoa of the Niger Delta Peace and Security Secretariat, a community organization in the region. “They shouldn’t report on things that aren’t true, but if they’re reporting objectively on the situation, the world and the Nigerian people have a right to know the truth. Hounding journalists and filmmakers who want to inform the public is in bad taste.”

While Nigeria has a significantly freer press than most other Africa nations, gathering information in the tumultuous Niger Delta is particularly difficult.

“We have one of the freest presses in Africa, but there are rules,” said Nwuke Ogbonna, Information Commissioner for Rivers State, of which Port Harcourt is the capital. As for Mr. Berends, he said, “He may have engaged in actions that are not in the national interests of this country. Whether that means spying or entering off-limits areas I can’t say. It’s for the security agents to determine whether this means he was spying.”

Mr. Berends had visited Nigeria on several occasions and had been in the country since April on this particular trip. He often ventured into the creeks of the Delta to film in local villages affected by oil drilling. Two weeks ago, Mr. Berends said he had nearly finished his work and was planning on returning to New York this month.

September 2, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

Singapore: Very rich, but without freedom

Porto Alegre, August 17, 2008

by Luís Henrique Vieira

Singapore is widely known as an island of prosperity and somewhere you can get rich easy. The country has the 6th GDP per capita of the world (US$ 49,714). Otherside, some people can get suprised with some rules for native people from Singapore. The blog Censorship in Singapore reveals that Singapore´s government establishes many kinds of censorship in the laws of the country.

The amazing island of Singapore

To play a game or watch a movie in the asian island you have to be allowed by the BFC (Board of Film Censors) under the MDA (Media Development Authority). According to the government, games like Mortal Kombat, Doom or Grand Theft Auto “allow players to make crimes”. Persons with less than 18 years can´t buy these games.

In Singapore is ilegal to broadcast political movies ou films with a lot of violence. The Texas Chain Say Massacre, Shortbus and Life of Brain were banned in the country.

Broadcasting rules

“Authority” means the Media Development Authority of Singapore established under the Media Development Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 172);

“broadcasting apparatus” means any apparatus capable of or designed or constructed for the reception of any broadcasting service and specified in the First Schedule;
“broadcasting apparatus licence” means a licence granted under section 20 in respect of broadcasting apparatus, and “broadcasting apparatus licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
“broadcasting licence” means a licence granted under section 8 or 9 for the provision of a licensable broadcasting service, and “broadcasting licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
“broadcasting service” means a service whereby signs or signals transmitted, whether or not encrypted, comprise —
(a) any programme capable of being received, or received and displayed, as visual images, whether moving or still;
(b) any sound programme for reception; or
(c) any programme, being a combination of both visual image (whether moving or still) and sound for reception or reception and display,
by persons having equipment appropriate for receiving, or receiving and displaying, as the case may be, that service, irrespective of the means of delivery of that service;
“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Authority and includes any temporary Chairman of the Authority;
“chief executive” means the chief executive of the Authority appointed under section 28 of the Media Development Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 172) and includes any person acting in that capacity;
“class licence” means a licence determined under section 9 to be applicable to certain licensable broadcasting services, and “class licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
“Code of Practice” means a Code of Practice issued under this Act;
“debenture” includes debenture stock;
“dwelling-house” includes a hotel, inn, boarding house or other similar establishment;
“encrypted” means treated electronically or otherwise for the purpose of preventing intelligible reception;
“free-to-air broadcasting service” means a licensable broadcasting service made available for reception in not less than 2 dwelling-houses by broadcasting apparatus commonly available to the public without payment of a subscription fee;
“free-to-air licence” means a broadcasting licence granted under this Act for the operation of a free-to-air broadcasting service, and “free-to-air licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
“Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore” means the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 137A);
“licence” means a licence granted under any provision of this Act, and “licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
” behalf of the Government.

Learn more in Censorship in Singapore.

August 17, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | 1 Comment

The Worldwide Press Freedom index

The organization Reporters Without Borders makes an annual ranking considering the freedom of press in the countries. Andorra and Malta are not in the list. The rank is based on a questionnaire sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.

According to RWB, survey asks questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press. Check your contry below.

Rank Country Index Notes
2007 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
1 Flag of Iceland Iceland 0.75 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
1 Flag of Norway Norway 0.75 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
3 Flag of Estonia Estonia 1.00 2.00 1.50 2.00 2.50
3 Flag of Slovakia Slovakia 1.00 2.50 0.75 0.50 2.50
5 Flag of Belgium Belgium 1.50 4.00 4.00 4.00 1.17 3.50
5 Flag of Finland Finland 1.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
5 Flag of Sweden Sweden 1.50 4.00 2.00 2.00 1.50 1.50
8 Flag of Denmark Denmark 2.00 5.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 3.00
8 Flag of Ireland Republic of Ireland 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.83 1.00
8 Flag of Portugal Portugal 2.00 3.00 4.83 4.50 5.17 1.50
11 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 3.00 2.50 0.50 0.50 2.50 4.25
12 Flag of Latvia Latvia 3.50 3.00 2.50 1.00 2.25
12 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 3.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
14 Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 4.00 0.75 1.00 3.50 2.50 11.25
15 Flag of New Zealand New Zealand 4.17 5.00 2.00 0.67 2.83
16 Flag of Austria Austria 4.25 4.50 2.50 3.25 2.75 7.50
17 Flag of Hungary Hungary 4.50 3.00 2.00 6.00 3.33 6.50
18 Flag of Canada Canada 4.88 4.50 4.50 3.33 1.83 0.75
19 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 5.00 5.00 2.00 2.00 1.00
20 Flag of Germany Germany 5.75 5.50 4.00 2.00 1.33 1.50
21 Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica 6.50 6.67 8.50 7.63 3.83 4.25
21 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 6.50 3.00 1.00 2.25 3.00 4.00
23 Flag of Lithuania Lithuania 7.00 6.50 4.50 3.00 2.83
24 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 8.25 6.50 5.17 6.00 4.25 6.00
25 Flag of Mauritius Mauritius 8.50 8.00 7.50 10.50 7.25 9.50
25 Flag of Namibia Namibia 8.50 6.00 5.50 10.00 11.00 8.00
27 Flag of Jamaica Jamaica 8.63 5.50 7.50 4.17 3.33
28 Flag of Australia Australia 8.79 9.00 6.50 9.50 9.25 3.50
29 Flag of Ghana Ghana 9.00 8.50 15.00 13.50 8.75 23.00
30 Flag of Greece Greece 9.25 8.00 4.00 7.00 6.00 5.00
31 Flag of France France 9.75 9.00 6.25 3.50 4.17 3.25
32 Flag of the Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan) 10.00 10.50 12.25 14.25 12.00 9.00
33 Flag of Spain Spain 10.25 10.00 8.33 9.00 7.67 7.75
34 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina 11.17 5.00 7.00 3.67 6.83 12.50
35 Flag of Italy Italy 11.25 9.90 8.67 9.00 9.75 11.00
36 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Macedonia 11.50 11.50 8.75 11.25 9.67
37 Flag of Japan Japan 11.75 12.50 8.00 10.00 8.00 7.50
37 Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 11.75 13.75 9.75 10.00 4.00 6.00
Flag of Grenada Grenada 12.00
39 Flag of Chile Chile 12.13 11.63 11.75 10.00 6.83 6.50
39 Flag of South Korea South Korea 12.13 7.75 7.50 11.13 9.17 10.50
41 Flag of Croatia Croatia 12.50 13.00 12.83 11.83 16.50 8.75
42 Flag of Romania Romania 12.75 14.00 16.17 17.83 11.50 13.25
43 Flag of South Africa South Africa 13.00 11.25 6.50 5.00 3.33 7.50
44 Flag of Israel Israel (Israeli territory) 13.25 12.00 10.00 8.00 8.00 30.00
45 Flag of Cape Verde Cape Verde 14.00 11.50 6.00 8.75 8.25 13.75
45 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus 14.00 7.50 5.50 22.00 20.83 pre-2005 data included Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
47 Flag of Nicaragua Nicaragua 14.25 15.50 15.25 11.67 6.50
48 Flag of the United States United States 14.50 13.00 9.50 4.00 6.00 4.75
49 Flag of Togo Togo 15.17 15.00 23.75 19.50 27.50 31.50
50 Flag of Mauritania Mauritania 15.50 17.50 40.00 51.00 36.67 41.33
51 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 16.25 9.00 10.25 8.00 6.50 9.75
52 Flag of Mali Mali 16.50 9.00 8.00 12.83 11.00 12.50
53 Flag of Benin Benin 17.00 5.50 5.50 5.50 5.25 6.00
54 Flag of Panama Panama 17.88 9.50 15.00 14.50 9.75 15.50
55 Flag of Tanzania Tanzania 18.00 19.82 17.50 14.50 16.50 21.25
56 Flag of Ecuador Ecuador 18.50 15.25 21.75 16.50 7.67 5.50
56 Flag of Poland Poland 18.50 14.00 12.50 6.83 6.17 7.75
58 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 19.00 14.50 12.50 22.00 20.83 pre-2005 data included Cyprus
58 Flag of Montenegro Montenegro 19.00 11.50 14.83 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2007 data from Serbia and Montenegro
60 Flag of Kosovo Kosovo 19.75 16.00 25.75 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2005 data from Serbia and Montenegro
61 Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 20.00 14.00 8.25 7.50 11.00 4.83
61 Flag of Madagascar Madagascar 20.00 15.00 24.50 18.50 8.17 22.75
63 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 20.17 17.00 21.25 31.67 31.33 25.50
64 Flag of El Salvador El Salvador 20.20 10.00 5.75 6.00 6.83 8.75
65 Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 20.25 17.50 25.75 50.25 37.00
66 Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 20.83 21.00 25.17 27.50 17.33
67 Flag of Serbia Serbia 21.00 11.50 14.83 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2007 data from Serbia and Montenegro
68 Flag of Bolivia Bolivia 21.50 4.50 9.67 20.00 9.67 14.50
68 Flag of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso 21.50 16.00 19.00 16.25 18.00 27.75
68 Flag of Zambia Zambia 21.50 22.50 23.00 29.75 23.25 26.75
71 Flag of the Central African Republic Central African Republic 22.50 14.50 19.75 32.50 32.75 21.50
72 Flag of the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 22.75 12.75 12.25 6.75 17.00
73 Flag of Mozambique Mozambique 23.00 11.50 10.50 16.25 14.00 23.50
74 Flag of Mongolia Mongolia 23.40 19.25 12.50 19.00 18.25 24.50
75 Flag of Botswana Botswana 23.50 13.00 14.00 11.50 13.00
75 Flag of Haiti Haiti 23.50 19.50 33.50 42.13 31.00 36.50
77 Flag of Armenia Armenia 23.63 25.50 26.00 23.50 25.17
78 Flag of Kenya Kenya 23.75 30.25 30.00 22.25 18.50 24.75
79 Flag of Qatar Qatar 24.00 18.00 23.00 32.50 35.00
80 Flag of the Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo 24.50 17.00 17.00 17.50 14.00 23.17
81 Flag of Moldova Moldova 24.75 19.17 17.50 20.50 27.00
82 Flag of Argentina Argentina 24.83 17.30 13.67 21.33 15.17 12.00
83 Flag of Senegal Senegal 25.00 17.50 19.00 21.50 14.50 14.00
84 Flag of Brazil Brazil 25.25 17.17 14.50 16.50 16.75 18.75
85 Flag of Cambodia Cambodia 25.33 27.25 23.00 36.50 19.50 24.25
85 Flag of Liberia Liberia 25.33 19.00 20.50 40.00 40.00 37.75
87 Flag of Albania Albania 25.50 18.00 14.17 11.50 6.50
87 Flag of Honduras Honduras 25.50 14.50 18.00 11.75 14.17
87 Flag of Niger Niger 25.50 24.50 13.00 18.33 15.75 18.50
90 Flag of Paraguay Paraguay 26.10 18.25 15.50 10.50 7.17 8.50
91 Flag of Angola Angola 26.50 21.50 18.00 26.50 28.00 30.17
92 Flag of Malawi Malawi 26.75 25.50 22.75 31.00 21.00 27.67
92 Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 26.75 26.50 32.50 51.00 40.00 40.00
94 Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire 27.00 25.00 52.25 60.38 42.17 19.00
94 Flag of East Timor Timor-Leste 27.00 18.50 13.50 13.50 5.50
96 Flag of the Comoros Comoros 28.00 22.50 22.00 26.50 18.50 20.50
96 Flag of Uganda Uganda 28.00 29.83 19.25 24.00 25.75 17.00
98 Flag of Lebanon Lebanon 28.75 27.00 28.25 24.38 32.50 19.67
99 Flag of Lesotho Lesotho 29.50 16.00 19.50 29.50 17.75
100 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 30.50 26.00 26.00 37.75 34.25 20.00
101 Flag of Turkey Turkey 31.25 25.00 25.00 37.25 35.00 33.50
102 Flag of Gabon Gabon 31.50 28.50 26.00 37.50 31.25 20.50
103 Flag of Israel Israel (extra-territorial) 32.00 47.00 37.50 49.00
104 Flag of Guatemala Guatemala 33.00 21.25 21.50 16.50 30.83 27.25
104 Flag of the Seychelles Seychelles 33.00 24.50 17.00 23.50 26.75 20.75
106 Flag of Morocco Morocco 33.25 24.83 36.17 43.00 39.67 29.00
107 Flag of Fiji Fiji 33.50 14.00 14.00 16.00 11.50
107 Flag of Guinea Guinea 33.50 27.50 26.00 24.50 33.17 26.00
107 Flag of Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau 33.50 14.50 17.00 23.50 35.25 30.25
110 Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 33.60 34.00 32.00 35.25 32.00 31.75
111 Flag of Cameroon Cameroon 36.00 28.25 20.50 27.00 30.50 28.83
111 Flag of the United States United States (extra-territorial) 36.00 31.50 48.50 36.00 41.00
113 Flag of Chad Chad 36.50 35.50 30.00 33.25 24.00 28.75
114 Flag of Venezuela Venezuela 36.88 29.00 23.00 24.63 27.83 25.00
115 Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan 37.00 30.00 33.00 27.75 34.50 28.25
116 Flag of Bhutan Bhutan 37.17 25.00 51.50 55.83 77.33 90.75
117 Flag of Peru Peru 37.38 28.25 33.33 40.00 10.25 9.50
118 Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 38.00 28.00 38.75 52.50 35.17 23.00
Flag of Brunei Brunei 38.00
119 Flag of Tonga Tonga 38.25 13.00 14.50 38.17
120 Flag of India India 39.33 26.50 27.00 38.50 39.00 26.50
121 Flag of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 39.50 26.00 39.50 24.50 23.50 24.50
122 Flag of Jordan Jordan 40.21 27.50 24.00 39.13 37.00 33.50
123 Flag of Algeria Algeria 40.50 40.00 40.33 43.50 33.00 31.00
124 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 41.00 22.25 33.00 39.83 32.00 37.83
125 Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 41.63 41.00 36.17 44.17 42.50 42.00
126 Flag of Colombia Colombia 42.33 44.75 40.17 47.38 49.17 40.83
127 Flag of Burundi Burundi 43.40 39.83
128 Flag of the Philippines Philippines 44.75 51.00 50.00 36.63 35.25 29.00
129 Flag of the Maldives Maldives 45.17 51.25 58.50 69.17 47.50
130 Flag of The Gambia Gambia 48.25 54.00 41.00 29.50 18.25 22.50
131 Flag of Nigeria Nigeria 49.83 32.23 38.75 37.75 31.50 15.50
132 Flag of Djibouti Djibouti 50.25 33.00 37.00 55.00 35.50 31.25
133 Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 50.50 51.00 57.33 51.50 38.50 40.75
134 Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh 53.17 48.00 61.25 62.50 46.50 43.75
135 Flag of Thailand Thailand 53.50 33.50 28.00 14.00 19.67 22.75
136 Flag of Mexico Mexico 53.63 45.83 45.50 27.83 17.67 24.75
137 Flag of Nepal Nepal 53.75 73.50 86.75 84.00 51.50 63.00
138 Flag of Swaziland Swaziland 54.50 40.50 35.00 31.00 37.50 29.00
139 Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 55.40 47.00 51.00 49.67 34.50 34.50
140 Flag of Sudan Sudan 55.75 48.13 44.00 44.25 45.75 36.00
141 Flag of Singapore Singapore 56.00 51.50 50.67 57.00 47.33
142 Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan 56.50 44.25 39.17 28.25 40.17 35.50
143 Flag of Yemen Yemen 56.67 54.00 46.25 48.00 41.83 34.75
144 Flag of Russia Russia 56.90 52.50 48.67 51.38 49.50 48.00
145 Flag of Tunisia Tunisia 57.00 53.75 57.50 62.67 50.83 67.75
Flag of Oman Oman 57.75
146 Flag of Egypt Egypt 58.00 46.25 52.00 43.50 34.25 34.50
147 Flag of Rwanda Rwanda 58.88 41.00 38.00 37.25 34.25 37.50
148 Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 59.75 76.00 66.00 79.17 71.50 62.50
149 Flag of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 62.00 50.00 64.25 67.50 45.50 48.25
150 Flag of Ethiopia Ethiopia 63.00 75.00 42.00 37.00 37.50 37.50
151 Flag of Belarus Belarus 63.63 57.00 61.33 54.10 52.00 52.17
152 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan 64.83 70.33 60.75 61.75 39.00 44.67
153 Flag of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea 65.25 48.00 44.00 46.25 44.75 42.75
154 Flag of Syria Syria 66.00 63.00 55.00 67.50 67.50 62.83
155 Flag of Libya Libya 66.50 62.50 88.75 65.00 60.00 72.50
156 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 67.50 50.75 33.25 36.50 24.83 15.75
157 Flag of Iraq Iraq 67.83 66.83 67.00 58.50 37.50 79.00
158 Palestinian Authority 69.83 46.75 42.50 43.17 39.25 27.00
159 Flag of Somalia Somalia 71.50 51.25 59.00 43.50 45.00
160 Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 74.88 71.00 66.50 52.13 61.50 45.00
161 Flag of Laos Laos 75.00 67.50 66.50 64.33 94.83 89.00
162 Flag of Vietnam Vietnam 79.25 67.25 73.25 86.88 89.17 81.25
163 Flag of the People's Republic of China People’s Republic of China (mainland only) 89.00 94.00 83.00 92.33 91.25 97.00
164 Flag of Burma Myanmar 93.75 94.75 88.83 103.63 95.50 96.83
165 Flag of Cuba Cuba 96.17 95.00 87.00 106.83 97.83 90.25
166 Flag of Iran Iran 96.50 90.88 89.17 78.30 89.33 48.25
167 Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 103.75 98.50 93.50 99.83 82.83 91.50
168 Flag of North Korea North Korea 108.75 109.00 109.00 107.50 99.50 97.50
169 Flag of Eritrea Eritrea 114.75 97.50 99.75 93.25 91.50 83.67

August 11, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | 2 Comments

Morgan Freeman is already ok

For those who expected more news about the actor Morgan Freeman, he was ok since thursday (08.07) according to the hospital from Memphis. Freeman got a car accident on last weekend and receveid treatment for broken bones.

The actor lost the control of his car while he was driving close to his home in Mississipi. The british newspaper Daily Mail reported that Morgan Freeman is divorcing from his wife after 24 hours of marry.

This blog is talking about that because this blogger is an assumed fan of Morgan Freeman. Also, because this blog will talk about things not related to free press sometimes, to be nicer.

August 10, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet

Bill O’Reilly is really watchdog journalist

Porto Alegre, August 9, 2008

by Luís Henrique Vieira

For who does not know, watchdog journalism is the job that is incumbent to provide the truth whatever who will be touched with the facts, even workmates. The american journalist Bill O’Reilly commands a daily show at Fox News TV and he is a really watchdog journalist. On last thursday (08.07), O’Reily dennounced that the Florida Congressman Robert Wexler does not live in Florida and pay income taxes just there. Besides that, his show told that The Palm Beach Post is not commited with the public, but with political forces. Check the text below:

Media Corruption

The O’Reilly Factor

“Last week we reported that Florida Congressman Robert Wexler doesn’t live in Florida. It also looks like Wexler pays income taxes in Florida, not in Maryland where he actually lives. The Palm Beach Post, a far left concern for years, wrote that the Congressman had done nothing wrong and then attacked us for reporting the story. The head hatchet man is editorial page editor Randy Schultz, a committed left wing zealot. Few people care about the Palm Beach Post or Schultz, but here is the bigger picture: No longer can Americans trust the media, which was given special Constitutional privileges to look out for the folks. The Palm Beach Post and many other media outlets are in the business of advancing a political cause – liberalism – and there’s no balance in this ideological intrusion. Media ideology has greatly aided Barack Obama in his quest to be president, and now it’s being used as a blunt instrument. The folks in Congressman Wexler’s district have a right to know where the man lives and what his tax situation is. We provided that; the Palm Beach Post did not. You decide which enterprise is noble.”

August 9, 2008 Posted by lvieira | General | | No Comments Yet