Category Archives: Post Human

Todays National Post front page carries a story about the exploratory mission to Iran being organized by Terrance Nelson, former chief of Manitobas Roseau River First Nation, and a small delegation of like-minded Canadian aboriginal activists. Nelson believes that Irans dictatorship can be a helpful partner in addressing Canadian human rights abuses because the Ayatollahs have always promoted the human rights issues of indigenous peoples in this country.

These Iranian leaders, of course, would be the same folks who ordered the rape, torture and killing of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi (dont worry, Mr. Nelson, shes not indigenous) not to mention countless other barbaric crimes too numerous to list in this space. But never mind that: Nelsons militant rhetoric casts Ottawa as the enemy of Canadas natives. And by the logic of the-enemy-of-my-enemy, the holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is perversely imagined to be a kindred spirit.

Its a sick joke. And its not even the first time its been told: The spectacle of militant Canadian natives traipsing off for photo-ops with one of the most reviled, human-rights-abusing regimes on earth played out in exactly the same way 25 years ago.

In August, 1987, in advance of a visit by then- External Affairs Minister Joe Clark, South Africas white supremacist government flew in four Canadian Indian leaders for a Pretoria news conference and a lavish, all-expenses paid fact-finding tour aimed at discrediting Canadas sanctions regime. Among the stooges whod been brought to South Africa for the propaganda event was Gerald Wuttunee described by the South Africans, somewhat hilariously, as a Red Indian Chief from Sescatchewan. (The Canadian delegation, Toronto Star correspondent Peter Goodspeed reported at the time, also had several non-Indian members including one Eileen Presseler, who was then president of something called the British Columbia Free Speech League. In Pretoria, she declared that Canada was into a period of censorship, book banning, political show trials, that kind of thing, thought crimes.)

A few months before that, in March, 1987, Louis Stevenson, then chief of the Peguis Indian Reserve north of Winnipeg, invited South African ambassador Glenn Babb to conduct a fact-finding tour of his impoverished community. Babb readily agreed, and he showed up with dozens of journalists in tow.

The visit suited the agenda of both men: Stevenson was able to press his case for more government funding through the national media, and Babb used the suffering of Canadian natives as a backdrop for his claim that Canada and the West more generally had no moral standing to criticize Apartheid (a policy Babb described as benign).

The media circus at Peguis was somewhat surreal, according to a report by the Stars Derek Ferguson, with Stevenson dressed in deerskin and full headdress, and Babb in an expensive blue serge suit and navy cloth overcoat, surrounded by bodyguards. Stevenson gave a speech in which he requested $99-million in aid from the South African government. Babb said he would see what he could do.

In the last 25 years, nothing has changed, apparently: Militant native leaders, who purport to be pursing the cause of racial justice, make common cause with the most openly hateful and bigoted regimes on the whole planet. All thats missing, in 2012, is for Irans version of Glenn Babb (had he not already been thrown out) to go traipsing around Kashechewan or Attawapiskat with a Press TV camera crew.

One hopeful note for me to end on: In response to Stevensons 1987 stunt, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) unanimously passed a resolution condemning Babbs visit to Peguis. Twenty-five years later, it would be nice if the AFN gave a similarly full-throated condemnation of Terrance Nelson and his like-minded band of useful idiots.

National Post jkay@nationalpost.com Twitter @jonkay

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First Nations stooges: South Africa in 1987 and Iran in 2012

Human rights are essential to all peoples, but also institutions, for without protected human rights, social instability reigns, writes Mona Makram-Ebeid

These are extraordinary times with incommensurable feelings of optimism and dread in the air. Still unfolding are struggles for supremacy between forces of democracy and others inwardly looking, whose references are to a past that has long vanished, a fragile global ecosystem and the much vaunted but highly elusive more equitable economic order. Woven into this matrix of power relations are challenges to gender, religious beliefs and class inequities perpetuated by institutions with inherent patriarchal, intolerant and autocratic tendencies. The tensions these struggles create cause fear and uncertainty for many people, but for those who work in human rights, there has never been such a moment of unique opportunity to introduce the future to the present.

Human rights activists, politicians, academics, lawyers, judges, reformers and "movers and shakers" now have an unprecedented opportunity to develop new values, mechanisms and strategies to guide and shape the future. 2011 in our Arab region, was the year of the people, "the power of the powerless", the year of the revolution, and most importantly a revolution anchored in -- and inspired by -- the power of an idea: human rights, and of international human rights law -- freedom, human dignity, social justice; in other words, the internationalisation of human rights and the humanisation of international law, as the revolutionary change agent of the human rights revolution.

Today one of the most prescient demands of all the political forces in Egypt, intellectuals and youth movements is to move to a State of Law, which must be clearly embedded in the constitution. It is this notion of a jurisprudential revolution as a revolutionary change agent from an arbitrary system, to a State of Law that will determine the real success of the 25 January Revolution. The only way to lay the foundation for a civil, democratic, modern and egalitarian state is through the establishment of a genuine national consensus on the principles of constitutionalism that guarantees equality and equal participation for all Egyptians without distinction on grounds such as religion, race, and class or gender.

On the other hand, the standard of humane incorporation requires that non-Muslims in a Muslim majority country be granted equal citizenship with equal opportunities to enjoy their own religious identities, particularly that there is a long and rich history of accommodation and cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims in Egypt. Moreover, there is sufficient Islamic theological and legal basis for this accommodation and cooperation. The role of the human rights movement must therefore be one of strategic advocacy impelled by the imperative of solidarity, on the one hand, and the interdependent universe we inhabit on the other, and that strategic advocacy must be seen as being empowered by the people and the idea of human rights as tools of the revolution.

One of the most important advocacy functions and indispensable to the promotion and protection of human rights is the investigation, documentation, exposure and denouncing of violations of human rights and violators themselves. In other words, what is involved here is the mobilisation of shame against human rights violations, whether it be governments or individuals; the notion that the "whole world is watching".

Accordingly, this fact-finding function is crucial to the protection of human rights. In many countries, government themselves have become increasingly dependent on the fact-finding of non-governmental human rights organisations and even the intergovernmental machinery, such as the UN Commission on Human Rights or the Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, would be virtually incapacitated in the absence of NGO briefs, petitions, documentary evidence, legal analysis and written and oral interventions.

Today, NGOs are increasingly playing a formative role in the initiation, drafting, interpretation and application of international human rights agreements. For example, the work of women's rights groups played an important legislative role in the initiation and enactment of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as well as highlighting the global pattern of violence against women. But as long as the perception of women's role as reproducers and caretakers is not changed, human rights will never be human.

The educational process towards creating a culture of human rights and respect for the right to be different is especially important during a period of transition to democracy, because the struggle for human rights is not only to curb abuses of power but also to promote the democratic exercise of power.

A corollary to and support system for the development of the rule of law and the process of democratisation is the "constitutionalisation" of rights in a rights charter. A recent charter of rights for a post-revolution constitutional democracy in Egypt was issued by a group of scholars of different political and religious hues (I was privileged to be one of them) who gathered together under the enlightened guidance of the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the highest authority in the Islamic world, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, a graduate of the Sorbonne.

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Human rights and Egypt's future

"In a way, this is like an ad hoc, ground-up rule of law."

As it smoldered, Yang Dacai () smiled.

Then the chief of the Shaanxi Safety Supervision Bureau, Yang had been dispatched to the scene of an August bus fire that killed 36 people along a stretch of Yan'an () highway in the central Chinese province.

Almost immediately, Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, trended pictures of the vehicle's charcoaled, blown-out frame; of emergency crews carrying the dead. Behind lengths of crime tape, arms tucked at the small of his back, stood Yang -- grinning at a motioning police officer.

This image juxtaposing tragedy against stereotyped government callousness quickly spread. Disgusted, and determined to ascertain the official's identity, self-appointed Internet sleuths conducted what is known as a human flesh search.

Translated directly from the Chinese renrou sousou yinqing() and popularized by Chinese bulletin board services like Mop, Tianya and KDnet, flesh searches are grassroots, collaborative efforts to share information online.

Shaanxi Safety Supervision Bureau chief Yang Dacai became suddenly famous, with Web users rushing to caricature him.

Although the term sounds ghoulish, this sleuthing process involves the probing and posting of personal details in pursuit of romance, kinship, justice, or vindication. Citizens and officials alike are equally exposed to the deluge of home and email addresses, bank statements, or gaming handles. Yang, a man with expensive tastes, was no exception.

Despite Yang's supposedly-meager government pay, flesh searchers unearthed his penchant for designer watches, belts and eyeglasses. He was ultimately dismissed as bureau chief for these excesses, but Yang's dispassionate smugness in the face of a horrific accident surely did not help his cause.

"Flesh searchers feel like they are sharing information in a system that does not have a comprehensive or consistent rule of law," explained global tech sociologist, ethnographer and blogger Tricia Wang. "In a way, this is like an ad hoc, ground-up rule of law. It's thrown together, it's not very systematic, it can fall apart at any second -- but what's amazing is that there is no face-to-face contact and yet trust is able to form."

See the article here:
What Is a 'Human Flesh Search,' and How Is It Changing China?

Less than a month after Canada cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, former First Nations chief Terrance Nelson says he will meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejads regime in Tehran next week as part of an exploratory mission to discuss resource development and human rights abuses in Canada.

The announcement sparked widespread condemnation and concerns about Irans intentions.

The Posts Kathryn Blaze Carlson spoke Thursday to Terrance Nelson and Iranian-born activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who is also wife of Defence Minister Peter MacKay, about Nelsons planned visit:

Terrance Nelson, former chief of Manitobas Roseau River First Nation, lost his bid to lead the Assembly of First Nations this summer.

Q: The Iranian regime has a brutal human rights record. Do you acknowledge that? A: The United Nations, Amnesty International, all the Jewish press and western media have always talked about that kind of stuff. The Iranian government cant do anything or not do anything without it being reported here in the west. The same cant be said of Canada; none of the so-called allied countries, like the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Britain, ever make comments much less condemn the human rights violations here in Canada.

Q: So do you acknowledge there are human rights abuses in Iran? A: Of course, but there are human rights abuses over here, too. There are 600 missing women in this country.

Q: Whats been the reaction from the First Nations community? A: The western media has influenced a lot of the First Nations people. Theres no question about that. But what the western media says is not always true. Nobody gave a damn about half-a-million children dying in Iraq in 1998 [because of economic sanctions], because gasoline was 88 cents a gallon in the United States. A lot of our people are saying, Its your choice. And as far as Im concerned, its a personal choice.

Q: What are you willing to do for the Iranian regime? A: One of the things we want to be able to do is try and humanize the Iranian people. The western media has very clearly demonized the Iranian people. We know what demonization is all about because weve been demonized in our own land.

Q: The Iranian regime has been accused of monitoring Iranian-Canadians in Canada. Some people are concerned the regime will try to get you to keep an eye on dissidents here. What do you say to that? A: We have no intentions of monitoring anybody.

Q: What do you say to concerns the regime will enlist First Nations to perpetrate violence against Canada? A: Thats a pretty big stretch. When have First Nations people ever bombed anything? The worst weve ever done is make the white man late for lunch when we do our protests in the city street. Im 59 years old. If I was going to bomb something, I would have bombed it a long time ago. Peter MacKays wife is constantly pushing the Conservative agenda and talking about human rights violations. [Iranian-Canadians] might not like the Iranian government, but does that mean they support the deaths of millions of their people [because of the economic sanctions]?

Excerpt from:
Q&A: Terrance Nelson and Nazanin Afshin-Jam debate his trip to Iran

A performance-art show with half- naked black people thats touring Europe has drawn protests during its visit to Berlin. Activists have termed it a human zoo.

White stage director Brett Baileys Exhibit B features museum-style installations of living models in static poses designed to highlight the troubled history of European colonialism in Africa.

Black activists demonstrated at the Kleiner Wasserspeicher, which is showing the work as part of the Foreign Affairs Festival, after acclaimed stagings in Brussels and Grahamstown, South Africa.

This is the wrong way to discuss a violent colonial history, said Sandrine Micosse-Aikins, a member of Buehnenwatch, the organization which instigated the protest.

In one piece, a black woman sits above a cooking pot, holding a skull and a shard of glass. A plaque describes how Namibian women in concentration camps had to boil and scrape clean the skulls of their menfolk so that they could be sent to Germany for scientific examination in the early 20th century.

In another display, photographs of severed black heads stuffed and skewered on metal prongs recall the work of Eugen Fischer (1874-1967), the German professor of anthropology and eugenics whose theories of racial hygiene guided the Nazis.

Below them, the heads of four living Namibian singers seem to float above plinths. They sing beautiful Herero songs about genocide, in counterpoint to the grisly displays.

Contemporary asylum seekers are on show alongside a supine representation of Angelo Soliman, an 18th-century Nigerian philosopher and confidant of Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph I. Upon his death in 1796, Solimans body was stuffed and displayed in a glass case alongside wild animals.

An earlier version of the show, Exhibit A, opened at Viennas Festwochen in 2010 and went on to Braunschweig, Germany, and Helsinki.

On Oct. 2, a post-performance public debate took place in Berlin below the photographs of Fischers severed heads.

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Black ‘Human Zoo’ Fury Greets Berlin Art Show

Long-lost human remains have regularly turned up at construction sites like this one, in the 3000 block of Q Street NW. (Sarah L. Voisin - WASHINGTON POST) Something unexpected is turning up at construction sites throughout the city: human remains. Excavators have inadvertently exhumed long-forgotten burial sites, particularly in Georgetown, Candace Wheeler reports in the Post. The bodies are of unknown identity and age, but city archaeologists yes, those exist are working to catalog the burial sites. Because, explains archaeologist Ruth Trocolli, As a homeowner, if you want to build an addition to your home, what youre really concerned about is will you find more human remains?

In other news:

The D.C. playoff tab: $76,000 per game (Post)

Michael Brown fends off attacks on nonprofit (Post, Loose Lips, Examiner)

Ballpark naming rights arent getting any cheaper (WBJ)

Phil Mendelson might support his colleagues, but his colleagues arent supporting their colleagues (D.C. Wire)

Especially Tommy Wells, who is endorsing David Grosso (@tommywells, Hill Rag)

AFL-CIO didnt contact main rival before endorsing Brown, citing internal process (Examiner)

Airports Authority bill, Barbara Lang appointment sail through council (Post, WBJ, Examiner)

Behold Ron Machen, Vince Grays Worst Nightmare (Washingtonian)

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DeMorning Links: Forgotten bodies

I mentioned Michael Carrolls Super Human trilogy in my post about superhero fiction, and since then Ive also read the earlier Quantum Prophecy trilogy. The Super Human books are prequels but were published later but I happened to start with them, which makes for an interesting perspective on things. Having all six books under my belt, I thought Id dig a little deeper into the stories; be warned, though, that this may involve some spoilers.

(Note: The Quantum Prophecy trilogy was first published in the UK as The New Heroes with different subtitles: The Quantum Prophecy, Sakkara, and Absolute Power.)

The Quantum Prophecy trilogy is set in a time mostly about a decade after Mystery Day, the day a huge battle took place between many of the worlds superheroes and a supervillain named Ragnarok. After Ragnaroks battle tank was destroyed in an enormous explosion, nearly all of the superhumans vanished. A few remained, but they had lost their powers, and nobody had an explanation for what happened at the battle or where they all went.

Ten years later, though, a few teenagers are discovering that they have powers, and things quickly get interesting.

Heres a brief rundown of the first trilogy:

The first book, The Awakening, gives a brief prologue about the battle with Ragnarok, and then jumps to the present, in which a couple of British kids, Colin and Danny, start to realize they have super abilities. Almost immediately, theyre swept up into a larger chain of events. One of those ever-present shadowy organizations (you know, the ones that have unlimited resources and incredible amounts of information yet nobody knows it exists) captures the kids and whisks them away to America. Colin manages to get away from his captors, but then hes in Florida a twelve-year-old on his own in a foreign country, with no contacts and no money. The story jumps back and forth between Colin and Danny, as Colin tries to track down the kidnappers and Danny learns more about what they have in store.

At the heart of the trilogy is the so-called Quantum Prophecy, a series of visions that the super-fast Quantum had back before Mystery Day about a coming war. The organization is trying to prevent that war, but in doing so theyve condemned these superhuman kids before theyve actually done anything.

Book Two, The Gathering, introduces a new wrinkle: the Trutopians. Theyre a collection of communities around the world that are based on truth and utopia, welcoming anyone who wants to join but with very strict rules about crime and lawlessness. Theyre working hard to recruit these teenage superheroes while also working to discredit the organization that now shelters them. Meanwhile, Danny and Colin (and a few new kids) find themselves in a hidden fortress (in Kansas, of all places) to be given training by the military and some former superhumans. But throughout this, they still dont know who to trust, and the prophecy still looms over everyone. At the end of the book, Colin is forced to make a very tough decision, and parts ways with the other New Heroes.

The final book, The Reckoning, ramps everything up a notch. Wed already found out more about the Trutopians and their leader in the second book, but Book Three is when their plans start to kick into gear. Things get particularly heated when Colin faces off against the rest of the New Heroes, and a war begins. I wont say much more about this one, but the superhumans have their abilities pushed to their limits, and even the happy ending leaves some more room for future crises.

Link:
A Closer Look at The New Heroes

Phase 2 human trial set to examine effectiveness of topical gel in treating post-surgical orthopedic infections

Newswise PHILADELPHIA A team of researchers led by Samir Mehta, MD, chief of the Orthopaedic Trauma & Fracture Service at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received a $2.5 million grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), provided through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), to begin Phase 2 human trials of a study that examines the effective treatment of post-surgical orthopedic infections using Microbion Corporations topical BisEDT drug. The University of Pennsylvania will work with a team of researchers from Microbion and the University of California-San Francisco on the trial, set to begin pending FDA approval.

Were honored to be given this award from the DoD, and are hopeful that the Phase 2 trial will allow us to offer improved treatments and standards of care to a significant number of patients, said Mehta. Orthopaedic trauma and fracture patients are at an increased risk for infection. If successful, this new treatment strategy could be a significant step toward reducing instances of amputation, disability, and even death.

Studies show that patients requiring orthopaedic trauma surgery may be three times more likely to experience post-operative infections (8.7 percent) than patients undergoing other forms of surgery (2.8 percent) as a result of the high-energy nature of the injury. With approximately 2.6 million orthopaedic devices implanted annually in the United States, approximately 4.3 percent (112,000 patients) will suffer from a post-operative infection.

Orthopaedic extremity injuries also constitute the majority (65 percent) of combat casualties experienced in recent U.S. military conflicts. The risk of infection developing after surgical treatment of traumatic, open military wounds represents an extremely serious threat; reports indicate that military wound infection rates may be as high as 77 percent. Such infections frequently lead to death, amputation, disability, and other significant morbidity, despite the best available care.

The goal of our study is to examine the efficacy and safety of administering a single application of Microbions topical BisEDT gel to infected extremity wounds, said Annamarie Horan, MPA, PhD, director of Clinical Research for Penn Orthopaedics. The gel is not a replacement for standard antibiotics, but the promising results of the Phase 1 trial provide strong evidence suggesting the drug may be an effective supplemental treatment.

Phase 1 human trials of BisEDT were successfully completed in 2011. In June 2012, the CDMRP award team met with the FDA in Washington D.C. to discuss the teams plan to advance to Phase 2 human clinical studies for the treatment of infections associated with orthopedic trauma. Clinical studies for Phase 2 will begin next year at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital.

Last year, the World Health Organization noted a significant rise in the rate of infections that are able to ward off antibiotic treatment. The alarming rate of antibiotic resistant infections has since been labeled a global health crisis. The research team is hopeful that future research and development of drugs like BisEDT will lead to new standards of health care and improved treatments for all patients.

Dr. Mehta and Dr. Horan do not have any financial affiliation with Microbion Corporation.

###

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U.S. Department of Defense Awards Penn Researchers Funding to Investigate New Anti-Infection Drug

The Associated Press Published Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 7:15AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 8:28AM EDT

HONG KONG -- When two boats filled with people collided on Hong Kong's busy waterways, the impact knocked a hole in one vessel's engine room and the water poured in too fast to stop it from sinking. Passengers struggled to find life vests and dozens drowned in the turbulent waters.

Rather than rush to help, however, the crew of the other vessel, a ferry, seemed paralyzed, according to witnesses. After pausing briefly near the doomed ship filled with holiday revelers, the ferry continued on to its berth.

Shock over Monday's crash, which left 38 dead, gave way to outrage Wednesday over what experts concluded was human error. Investigators have not publicly offered a theory of how the collision occurred but have arrested seven crew members, including both captains.

The ferry company denied accusations that the boat left immediately after the crash, but did not say whether its crew did anything to help the other vessel as it rapidly sank.

The captain of the Sea Smooth ferry was in a hospital with rib injuries Wednesday, said Nelson Ng, general manager of Hong Kong and Kowloon (Ferry) Holdings. He said staff members tried to talk to the captain, but he added, "We have to wait for the psychologist's report. ... He doesn't really want to say anything."

When asked whether the captain blames himself for the accident, Ng said, "He's emotionally depressed, so I believe he probably does." He did not release the captain's name.

The collision, Hong Kong's deadliest maritime accident since 1971, has hit at the heart of the semiautonomous territory's identity. Fleets of ferry boats form the backbone of the transport network, and much of Hong Kong's economy relies on its reputation as a well-managed shipping hub.

"We cannot help but be shocked and angry," the English-language South China Morning Post said in an editorial Wednesday. It said "pinpointing fault and ensuring that there is no repeat" would be a matter of "safety, reputation and financial well-being."

All 38 people killed had been on the Lamma IV, a boat owned by utility company Hong Kong Electric, which was taking about 120 of its workers and their families to watch fireworks in celebration of China's National Day and mid-autumn festival.

More here:
Outrage over human errors in deadly Hong Kong boat crash

Wednesday 03 October 2012 by John Hyde

Campaign group Justice has appointed human rights lawyer Andrea Coomber (pictured) as its new director.

Coomber, currently legal director of the international human rights organisation Interights, replaces Roger Smith. Smith announced his decision to step down in May after 11 years in the post.

Coomber will become the fifth director in Justices 55-year history when she takes up the post on 18 February 2013.

She said: Justice has a rich history in this country and an international reputation for excellence in providing thoughtful legal analysis of critical rule of law and human rights issues.

I am honoured to be part of its future and look forward to working with staff to build on its many successes.

Coomber is an Australian-qualified lawyer who spent five years working in human rights in New Delhi, Geneva and Cairo. She joined Interights in 2002 and has advised and co-represented applicants before the European Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and UN treaty bodies.

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Justice names new chief