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"Losing press freedom means our democratic transition is going backwards," he said.
The country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi said at a forum in Hanoi last week the case had nothing to do with freedom of expression. The reporters had been sentenced for handling official secrets and "were not jailed because they were journalists", the Nobel laureate said.
On Friday six Myanmar journalist organisations published a rare statement from groups within the country criticising the country's leader, saying they were "disappointed" with her comments.
The reporters, who pleaded not guilty, said they were handed rolled papers by police shortly before they were detained last December, and a police witness testified in court that they had been set up.
Some 700,000 Rohingya crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh fleeing the crackdown, which U.N.-mandated investigators said last month was launched by senior Myanmar generals with "genocidal intent".
Signs held by the protesters on Sunday included the messages "Murder is not a state secret" and "revealing the truth is not a crime".
One organiser, Maung Saung Kha, performed a short play where he put on a military jacket over the orange traditional Burmese jacket worn by lawmakers of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. He then rolled up a copy of the state-run daily The Mirror and began hitting members of the press with it.
Activist Htet Khine Soe said the "injustice" of the case against the reporters had led him to design a T-shirt with an illustration of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's faces. The design was worn by some demonstrators and was also used on stickers placed around Yangon.
"We need to know what's happening in the world. We need journalists for that," he said. "Without that, we will be stupid people without ears and eyes."
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This year, the Globe invited 2,021 companies to participate in the Top Places to Work survey, 332 went all the way through the process. More than 70,000 employees rated them on things like direction, execution, connection, management, work, pay, and benefits. Winners are declared in four categories: small companies (50...
One of the patterns I have noticed among combox chatter when Latin, litanies and rich liturgy are discussed is the ever-present individual who chimes in with, “You just want to take the Church back to the 1950s.” This prevalent sentiment in the blogosphere and beyond (I assume it isn’t just one person repeating it over...
This “old is bad, new is good” idea is an odd response given the age of the Catholic Church – it’s pretty much older than dirt. The Church is the only organization still standing that witnessed the Roman Empire, the historic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In fact, the five deca...
But even if we ignore all of these facts, there is still another compelling reason to consider looking back to what the Church offered before the 1960s: simply the reality that the Church knows how to help people become holy. Those of us accused of wanting to dredge up the 1950s (personally, I prefer the 1350s – the Da...
Many of the changes that have come about since the 1960s have focused on making the Mass more accessible to parishioners – certainly a good thing. Pope John XXIII’s stated goal of the Second Vatican Council was to “throw open the windows of the Church so we can see out and the people can see in.” But there have been ch...
There is another industry that has undergone similar cultural changes as the Church: the food industry (which is even older than the Church). For decades, convenience has been a significant driving factory in food production. People want tasty food that they can select and consume quickly without much regard for where ...
Over the last few decades, resistance to fast eating has been gaining steam. Allergies, disease, obesity, broken communities, and the environment are some of reasons people are thinking more about what they eat and how. Trends are popping up all over such as farm-to-fork restaurants, homesteading, expanding farmers mar...
The parallels between nourishing food and nourishing faith go deeper. We have to ask ourselves, have we become McDonald's type consumers at Mass? Are we focused upon making Mass as painless as possible in order to check off the Sunday obligation box? If so, then perhaps we have forgotten what the real reason for the Ma...
The Church has shown over and over that it isn’t opposed to innovation and new ideas, even if it happens at an elephant’s pace (the Church has time on its side). But so much of the culture in our parishes doesn’t truly lead the average Joe to a deeper holiness. This isn’t to say it can’t be found, but so many just go t...
People are starved for true spiritual nourishment. There is a real hunger for something deeper, transforming, personal and real. They want God. As ever, the truth of the Church as the Body of Christ offers the best nourishment there is – we just have to be willing to serve it. It may not be “having it your way,” but ho...
The winter flounder, a bottom-dweller with both eyes on the right side of its head, isn�t the most profitable New England fish but it�s suddenly become one of the most important� and fishermen say that�s all wrong.
To protect the dwindling winter flounder population, fishermen working waters from southern New England down to New Jersey will see their already scarce allotment of fishing days cut in half, costing them millions.
This tough new measure won�t just keep fishermen away from winter flounder.
New England groundfish (such as cod, haddock and flounder) swim in the same areas, so regulators protecting weak fish must also limit fishing on stronger species because they all get pulled up in the same net.
New Bedford fisherman Carlos Rafael said even if a weak species improves, more cuts inevitably come as another declines, and steps must be taken to protect it. Rafael said that sidelines his boat and he can�t get his allowed catch of healthier fish, such as haddock.
Federal regulators estimate the new rule, which went into effect last year, will cost the Northeast�s fishing industry $15 million in revenues, about 9 percent. Fishermen say it�s worse than that. Rafael says he alone will lose about $3.6 million, 40 percent of his business.
Under the new rules, fishermen from Portland to Providence are down to a few dozen fishing days a year on a single permit, with some carrying as few as 18 days. That follows a steady trend that�s seen fishing days reduced from about 88 in the early 2000s. The new rules are a bridge to a 2010 overhaul of New England fis...
The hope is better conservation, and bigger catches, but it doesn�t change the legal mandate that creates a system where weakest links drive fishery management.
The fisheries law, called the Magnuson-Stevens Act, requires the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect and rebuild 19 New England species and gives strong protection to lucrative and less valuable stocks alike.
Winter flounder, called �blackbacks� for their dark colors, are prized for a delicate flavor that goes well with various sauces and spices. But they�ve never been king of New England�s seas. Winter flounder had a healthy $12 million catch in 2006, but that was far below the $20 million for Atlantic cod.
Still, regulators were set to shut down the entire Southern New England fishing area to protect winter flounder, before deciding to count each fishing day used there as two days.
The dire condition of winter flounder wasn�t even known until 2008 when a federal stock assessment showed its population was just 9 percent of the level to which fishery managers hope to rebuild it. That made it a �weak link,� joining fish such as Gulf of Maine cod or yellowtail flounder, whose troubles have driven rul...
By law, regulators must try to minimize the negative effects on fishing communities when they make new rules. But when conservation and economics conflict, protecting fish is the top priority, said Galen Tromble, chief of the domestic fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
�There�s a line you can�t cross,� Tromble said.
Gloucester fisherman Vito Giacalone is pushing for more flexibility, such as allowing reasonable levels of fishing on weaker stocks that allow fishermen to catch more of the healthier species. Right now, he said, the law is forcing fishermen out of business, while tons of fish they are allowed to catch stay in the ocea...
�We can�t imagine that Congress intended such absurd results,� said Giacalone.
But Tromble said allowing increased fishing on weak stocks to get to healthier fish could hurt both in the long term.
Researchers are trying to develop special gear to make it easier for fishermen to pluck healthy fish out of the ocean without hurting weak stocks. Meanwhile, a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey would give managers more time to rebuild certain stocks. That could ease restrictions on the fish in the...
The Pew Environment Group opposes the bill, saying it would delay the rebuilding of fish stocks for decades. Peter Baker of Pew�s �End Overfishing in New England� group said he�s hopeful about the tough new quotas, and new autonomy for fishermen, that are part of the coming �sectors� system.
�What works is setting limits, letting fishermen participate in what the rules are to achieve those limits, (and) sticking with it,� he said.
A total of 11 tries, a record 82 points scored at a sold-out Murrayfield and a nailbiting finish. Not surprisingly Scotland coach Gregor Townsend was asked if that was the oddest international he’d witnessed.
“It’s a strange game when 70 or 80 points are scored,” he admitted. “You don’t often see that in Test rugby. I’m sure the neutrals would have loved that.
There was an odd mood in the post-match press conference, with most people not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Rarely have six Scotland tries at Murrayfield been celebrated in such a muted manner. What, Townsend was quizzed, were the positives he could take away?
“The fact that we won is probably a good one to start with,” he replied, following the coach’s first match at Murrayfield. “The crowd numbers were tremendous and the way the team worked to get that win.
No one is going to argue that last point, especially with the All Black bogey man casting a long shadow over yesterday’s less than convincing display. Scotland scored six tries but they left a number of others on the pitch and when the big islanders ran hard at the Scottish tryline the defence was wet paper.
It’s a fast becoming a Scottish problem because Exeter scored three tries from short range against Glasgow in the Champions Cup so the secret is out.
Samoa’s forward pack is far from the scariest in world rugby but their big men also helped themselves to three tries from short range and another one when replacement Ofisa Treviranus strode through the middle of the breakdown 20 yards out.
“I think the fact that we weren’t winning the gain line with our tackles,” said Townsend when quizzed about Scotland’s shortcomings. “They are heavy players and they run hard but that is international rugby so we have to make sure we are getting lower than them and we are knocking them back.
“We weren’t able to slow down their ball enough in the second half, I thought we did that well in the first half, when we got a few turnovers to play off, but in the second half they were getting momentum.
WP Nel retired with a suspected fracture to his arm and Tommy Seymour limped off the field with a toe injury but should be fit for next Saturday’s Test.
Scotland skipper John Barclay started his Scotland career a decade ago against New Zealand at the 2007 World Cup. He was asked about this match and the next one.
Over the past decade, a few urban superintendents have compiled uncommon records for longevity and accomplishment. With tenures of from five to 10 years and more, these intrepid schools chiefs have run largely minority and poor districts where test scores have risen, graduation rates have increased, and the number of s...
The list includes familiar names such as Boston’s former superintendent Thomas W. Payzant (11 years); Carl Cohn of the Long Beach, Calif., school district (10 years); New York City’s Joel I. Klein (since 2002); and Laura Schwalm of California’s Garden Grove Unified School District (since 1999). All of these leaders hav...
How to explain these apparent exceptions to the rule of short-tenured urban schools chiefs? I offer three different storylines that may help explain.
These schools chiefs are extraordinary individuals. They have revived districts that were nearly terminal cases due to chronically low student performance, bureaucratic resistance to change, and managerial incompetence. They persuaded their respective mayors or boards of education to install new systems of parental cho...
The urban districts they lead, once graveyards for superintendents, have become magnets attracting the best and the brightest among young professionals who want to be part of the Herculean effort to reclaim children and youths from the despair of living stunted lives.
By sheer force of individual will, together with political smarts and enormous expenditures of energy, these superintendents have ignored the conventional wisdom and succeeded. They are, as I say, remarkable individuals.
The key to success in many superintendencies comes down to being in the right place at the right time. After the state of New York gave New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg the authority to take over that city’s public schools, he appointed Joel I. Klein the system’s chancellor in 2002. Klein is still chancellor—th...
If timing is crucial, so is context. Each of the chancellors Mayor Giuliani wanted in the top job had been hailed as a hero in his previous urban district. But in each case, the mayor became convinced that the schools chief didn’t fit him or the city.
Or consider Carl Cohn, who shepherded the Long Beach district through a decade of changes yielding strong gains in student achievement—a record sufficient to win the Broad award for urban district excellence. Cohn retired from Long Beach in 2002.
Then, in 2005, he was hired by the San Diego Unified school board to heal that district’s wounds of battle after six years of struggle and the forced exit of Superintendent Alan D. Bersin. But in December of 2007, barely two years into his tenure, Cohn left San Diego. His 40 years of urban school experience and extraor...
For strong superintendent leadership to emerge in a district, then, it’s best not to look for a superstar. Leadership depends on finding the right person for the time and place. Cohn in Long Beach, Klein in New York City, Forgione in Austin, and Johnson in Minneapolis are examples of perfect pairings; Cortines and Crew...
Improving urban students’ academic performance is hard work, filled with struggles, defeats, and small victories. Working closely with their school boards, these long-serving superintendents have accomplished a great deal through tough decisions, energetic actions, and handling conflicts with political savvy.
When superintendents introduce major changes, such as expanding parental choice, firing slackers, pressing principals to be instructional leaders, or redesigning comprehensive high schools, conflicts are inevitable. Often, they involve dilemma-rich, politically volatile choices. One such decision is whether to press fo...
In managing these predictable dilemmas, superintendents find few clear-cut victories. The conflicts often require them to forge unappealing compromises. Successful, long-serving superintendents have learned to sell such compromises to powerful stakeholders as evidence of putting pressure on teachers and principals, whi...
The dirty secret these leaders know well is that they cannot permanently erase conflicts or solve all problems with the resources they have. This is particularly true when they are trying to turn around chronically low-performing, high-poverty schools and keep them turned around. They may feel that they can do better t...
Of the three storylines, the Superman/Wonder Woman narrative is currently the most popular explanation for success in the superintendency. It is also the one most often embedded in job descriptions for advertising—and in every news article greeting a new schools chief. Yet it is the least convincing of the three storie...
Yet even the “best match” explanation for superintendent success and longevity must come to terms with the limits to fundamental changes inherent in urban schools. Here are social institutions strongly affected by a city’s demography, history, and economy—and by deeply embedded, often unbending socioeconomic structures...
These tough-minded, politically astute superintendents who have survived in various cities for upwards of a decade have achieved a great deal. What keeps their numbers from expanding, however, is the popular belief in a superhuman leader able to solve all problems swiftly and permanently. This belief reflects society’s...
To lessen the inevitable disappointment that follows by a year or two the appointment of a savior schools chief, mayors and school boards would do well to downsize expectations, display more patience, and pay far more attention to sniffing out better matches between the person and the city. They should also understand ...
Larry Cuban, an education historian, is a professor emeritus at Stanford University.
Published in Print: August 27, 2008, as The Turnstile Superintendency?
“State-Chief Turnovers Squeezing Talent Pool,” August 13, 2008.
“Experience vs. Potential: Hiring Superintendents in a Tight Market,” July 16, 2008.
“Test Scores in Big-City Schools Seen to Be on Upswing,” April 30, 2008.
Iraq handover could allow US to refocus forces, but anxiety persists about hits at home and abroad.
The US Embassy in Pakistan virtually shut down Tuesday following warnings of a terrorist attack.
An Al Qaeda-linked group is threatening to turn Yemen into a "third swamp" for US forces now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
FBI officials are increasingly concerned that terrorists are planning a US strike meant to disrupt November's elections.
Whatever US progress in handing Iraq back to the Iraqis, the struggle against radical Islamist terrorism continues around the globe. In the short run, developments in Iraq probably won't affect the larger conflict. If nothing else, significant US forces will remain there for some time to come.
But US officials hope to transfer resources as soon as possible to other nations, such as the Philippines, where the war on terror has so far been something of a holding action. If the US troop presence in Iraq could be cut in half, "about 40 percent of our entire combat capability [would then] be freed up to pursue ot...
As far as Washington is concerned, the most worrisome front on the terror war may be within US borders. Officials remain convinced that Al Qaeda wants to carry out some spectacular strike to influence US politics. The Democratic National Convention in Boston July 26-29, and the Republican National Convention in New Yor...
"This summer and fall our nation will celebrate a number of events that serve as powerful symbols of our free and democratic society," FBI Director Robert Mueller said recently. "Unfortunately, the same events that fill most of us with hope and pride are seen by terrorists as prime vehicles for sowing fear and chaos."
Electronic intercepts indicating Al Qaeda's glee over the effect of the March 11 Madrid bombings on the Spanish elections are among the reasons US authorities are worried about November, they say.
"War on terror" is a loose terminology that covers a wide array of US security activities, of course. FBI enforcement inside the US is one of the war's core components. So is Special Forces liaison with domestic security in Africa, East Asia, and other regions.
To the Bush administration, the toppling of Saddam Hussein was a central front in the terror war. But the nature of links between the Hussein regime and Al Qaeda remains a matter of dispute.
The displacement of a dictatorship of epic proportions may eventually change the nature of the entire Mideast, by showcasing the benefits of democracy and economic development. That is the hope of the administration, in any case. But for now the invasion of Iraq appears to have spurred Al Qaeda-related recruitment thro...
"They've had this opportunity to become a much more professional cadre of thugs," says Jessica Stern, an expert on terror at Harvard University.
The fortunes of these foreign fighters in Iraq may depend on the ability of the interim government to win ordinary Iraqis to its side. "It could affect the foreign fighters in that they get less support domestically," says Judith Yaphe, an Iraq expert at the National Defense University.
As long as an insurgency continues in Iraq, and US troops are targeted there daily, it will remain the top priority of the US national security establishment. That's why reducing the violence there is so important, not only for Iraq's future, but for the future of the terror war, say experts.
Resources are the issue. As the recent call-up of 5,600 members of the Individual Ready Reserve shows, the Pentagon remains hard-pressed to find enough personnel to fulfill its global obligations. Cutting the US presence by 60,000 or 70,000 troops, if that were possible anytime soon, would be a big help.
"Perhaps [that would] free us to devote more resources to Afghanistan, to the extent it has been the poor cousin to US efforts overseas in combating terrorism," says Jim Walsh, a security expert at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Of late, there have been some counter- terror successes in the Afghanistan region. Last week, Pakistan's military launched a helicopter assault along the Afghan border that killed an Al Qaeda-linked figure, Nek Mohammed, who had been accused of sheltering insurgent forces.
But Afghanistan itself has been battered by attacks on election workers, registration sites, and other targets linked by Taliban guerrillas to the nation's upcoming September elections. And Pakistan has its own troubles - continued violence by Islamic militants was behind the shutdown of most operations recently at the...
In Saudi Arabia, attacks on Westerners have left diplomats and foreign workers on edge, even though Saudi forces recently killed alleged terror mastermind Abdulazia al-Muqrin. In Yemen, a shadowy group that professes Al Qaeda ties has threatened a Saudi-like explosion of violence, even as Yemeni authorities prepare to ...
Such events may sum up the US experience so far in the war on terror. For all the tactical successes - and there have been many - it is facing a dynamic and adaptable radical Islamist foe. "I would say that maybe at this particular moment, we may be a bit safer and we may be a little less likely to experience a catastr...
Is Al Qaeda winning? House hearing probes terror group's status.
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