• Some of Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri most memorable meetings with the news media have been tragicomic. In his introductory news conference, for example, he boasted of his own unprecedented autonomy, only to refer more than once to the instructions he had received from the top military officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, 76.
• In an infamous appearance on Dec. 17, Mr. Ganzouri announced that the military-led government would never use violence against protesters at the very moment that the military police were in fact storming through Tahrir Square beating civilians with clubs in a melee that left several dead by the end of the day. That was not so funny. » The full New York Times article _ By David D. Kirkpatrick and Mayy El Sheikh - Published: January 4, 2012

Egypt's General Adel Emara no longer made any pretense of seeking the support of civilian leaders for military policies.

• The general also dropped the warm, avuncular approach he and others in the council had taken toward the news media, chastising journalists as though they were naughty schoolchildren.
  “When you want to speak, tell me to stop talking!” he said sarcastically. “I didn’t allow for talking,” he said at another point. “If you talk I’ll kick you out.”

• In a scornful news conference, Gen. Adel Emara of the ruling military council insisted that the military had never used violence against peaceful protesters.
  “The armed forces and the police pledged not to use violence against protesters actively or even verbally,” he said. Instead, he said, the protesters had deliberately provoked soldiers into clashes as part of a plot “to destroy the state.”

• His defiant statements came hours after a predawn military assault on Tahrir Square added three more people to the death toll, the latest in a series of military attacks witnessed by journalists, captured on video and broadcast across the Internet and on satellite television. Activists used circles of bricks to mark the bloodstains left on the pavement.
• Egypt’s powerful mainstream Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, agreed to join hands with liberals in demanding the prompt end of military rule. » The full New York Times article - By David Kirkpatrick - Published December 19, 2011.

• A Learning Foundation Lesson - Similarities and differences between Egypt and Thailand - Go to this ESL Compare and Contrast Lesson.

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Thai hyper-royalists say they will kill in the name of the King.

• The royalists have launched a vicious campaign against a group of law professors from the esteemed Thammasat University, calling themselves Nitirat or “law for the people."
• The Nitirat have proposed an immediate amendment to the anachronistic lèse-majesté law. These hyper-royalists have accused the Nitirat of attempting to overthrow the monarchy, a dire crime in Thailand.
• At the forefront of the witch-hunt is the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), known for its acts of seizing the Government House and Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2008. Supporters of the PAD have demanded that the military to abduct members of the Nitirat or throw them from helicopters. » The full Asia Sentinel article - By Pavin Chachavalpongpun - February 3, 2012.

Thai Army Boss: Stop Criticizing Law Guarding King

• Thailand's army commander wants an end to calls for reform of a law mandating three to 15 years' imprisonment for people found guilty of insulting the monarchy.
• Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said Tuesday he believes debate over the Lèse-majesté law is excessive, and critics who say it should be amended because it is too harsh and limits free speech should go live abroad.
• The military exercises considerable influence in Thailand, in part because of a history of military coups, most recently in 2006.
• Criticism of the law has increased since a 61-year-old man was imprisoned for text messages (allegedly) sent from his phone and a Thai-American man was sentenced for material he posted on the Internet while living in the United States. » The Full AP article - Published in the New York Times: December 20, 2011.

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Human rights on the slide in Thailand

• It’s been a terrible week for human rights in Thailand.
• Thankfully some international NGOs, such as ARTICLE 19, have been consistent in their condemnation of Lèse-majesté. Their statement yesterday regarding Ampon’s case cuts to the heart of the issue.
• “This verdict is shocking and shows the Thai authorities’ complete disregard for freedom of expression,” says Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “We were encouraged last month when the government admitted that the use of the lèse-majesté law can adversely affect freedom of expression, however this latest development proves those words to be empty. We are saddened for Amphon and this extreme injustice.” » The full Asian Correspondent article By Andrew Spooner - November 25, 2011.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva did not have history on his side in the election.

• Last year: After 91 people, mostly civilians, were killed, Abhisit's denial that troops were responsible for a single death or injury was mocked even in the Democrat stronghold of Bangkok.
• A web-savvy generation could, with a few mouse-clicks, watch videos on Youtube showing military snipers firing on civilians. » The full Reuters article - By Jason Szep - Published: July 1, 2011.

Abhisit's coup sponsored government, even after loosing the election, continues to undermine democracy in Thailand:

• Thai Inquiry Into Violence against protesters Falters: Teera Suteewarangkurn, a law professor at Thammasat University in Bangkok, said the military leadership feared it would face a public outcry if it admitted that soldiers had killed civilians.
• “The legal process here has had unusual delays,” said Jaran Cosananand, a professor of law at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok. “Political power undermines the law in Thailand.”
• The military’s refusal to cooperate in the investigations underlines the ascendance of military power in Thailand.
• The military’s budget and overall influence in Thai politics have risen sharply since 2006, when the army took power in a coup, removing the prime minister at the time, Thaksin Shinawatra, and angering his millions of supporters. » The full New York Times article - By Thomas Fuller - Published: January 24, 2011

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Thai Legal Maze After Coup Delays Investments

• "This just highlights the economic cost of the coup and the legacy of military rule that the country is still paying for," said Andrew Yates, head of foreign sales at Asia Plus Securities Pcl, Thailand's third-biggest brokerage by market capitalization.
• The biggest loser is the customer."Government and policy instability were cited as the biggest concerns for doing business in Thailand among 13,000 executives surveyed in the World Economic Forum's 2010- 2011 Global Competitiveness Report. » The full Bloomberg article - By Daniel Ten Kate - Published September 23, 2010.

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Asia Sentinel (AFP)

• WWS - World Wise School - The Blind Men and the Elephant -
  Overview | Students will develop sensitivity to others' points of view.
  - Students will understand the importance of having as much information as possible before coming to conclusions. Go to this Building Society Lesson Worksheet.
• The Learning Foundation - Making Good Laws: "Is the Thai Constitution credible?" -
  Go to this Building a Healthy Society and Law Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Examining Military Coups Around the World -
  Overview | Students consider military coups and their aftermaths, research famous coups... illustrating those events, and write letters from the perspectives of ousted leaders examined during class. Go to this Law and Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Democracy in Action -
  Overview | Students consider words that reflect their knowledge and opinions about democracy. Go to this Building a Healthy Society and ESL Lesson.

• Iran does not have a nuclear bomb, and nothing in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report released Tuesday brings the world any closer to doomsday.
• The IAEA report is disturbing; it concluded that Iran had let up on past efforts to build nuclear weapons but, as suspected, has conducted significant work more recently. The report will help build international support for isolating Iran; that is its intent.
• This crisis atmosphere helps Netanyahu shore up his own tenuous political position in Israel — in part by playing on American domestic politics. The problem with this war frenzy is that it may inhibit a strategy of containment and punishment against Iran that has been working.
• In fact, we do have time. And there are a whole host of questions that are either being ignored or dismissed in our frenzy to show support.

  • Would an aerial strike actually work against Iran, which has spent a lot of time hiding its efforts?
  • If Israel were to strike Iran militarily, wouldn’t the world view Israeli action as implicitly condoned by the United States?
  • And what would happen after the strike? » The full Boston Globe Column - By Juliette Kayyem | November 10, 2011.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Nuclear Reactions -
  Overview | Students examine the United States’ response to suspected nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea by participating in a fishbowl discussion and writing letters to President Obama. Go to this Science and Building Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - A New 'Spin' on Nuclear Energy -
  Overview | Students describe how inventions can influence society, especially if misappropriated for unintended purposes. They discover the principles underlying the centrifuge, the invention on which nuclear energy relies. Go to this Science and Building Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Secret Agent Men -
  Overview | Students examine the purpose, goals and actions of government intelligence services by researching and presenting case studies on agencies around the world. Go to this Science and Building Society Lesson.

BEIJING -- Karma Samdrup and his two younger brothers were the kind of Tibetans who put the Chinese Communist Party at ease. Vaunted environmentalists, they were pillars of their community who steered clear of politics. Even better, Mr. Samdrup had become a rich philanthropist and planned to donate part of his immense Tibetan art collection to a state-run museum.... (continued after the picture)

Karma Samdrup, shown in December 2008, is a wealthy Tibetan who prospered within the Chinese system. In a sign that Mr. Samdrup’s case has reached the highest echelons of power, the two books about him were recently banned by government censors in Beijing. » image source.

Mr. Pu says the legal process against his client has been flawed. He was not allowed to see Mr. Samdrup for six months, and it was only on the eve of the trial that the two were allowed to meet. Their entire 30-minute exchange, he said, was videotaped by the police, making a frank exchange nearly impossible.
During the hearing on Tuesday, according to the lawyer, Mr. Samdrup pleaded not guilty and told the court his interrogation had been accompanied by daily beatings from the police and fellow prisoners. He also said he was drugged with a substance that made his eyes and ears bleed, all part of an effort to force him to sign a confession. His wife estimates he lost at least 40 pounds in custody.
Although the trial is closed to the public, Ms. Woeser said many Tibetans were nervously awaiting news of the proceedings, which continued Wednesday.
“People are very angry, but they are also afraid,” she said. “The feeling is that if someone as influential as Karma can be taken down, none of us is safe.” » The full New York Times article - By Andrew Jacobs - Published: June 23, 2010.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - The Torture Question -
  Overview | Students will research the recent history of torture in the U.S., examine opinions about whether torture is ever justified, and engage in a debate on the issue. Go to this Law and Society Lesson. Related background on: Torture in China
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Splitting the Motherland? -
  Overview | Students learn about the issues surrounding Tibet’s struggle for independence since China’s invasion in 1950. They then write dialogues discussing the issue from opposing points of view. Go to this ESL, Law and Society Lesson.

Clinton Raises U.S. Concerns of Military Power in Iran
“That is how we see it,” Mrs. Clinton said at a televised town hall-style meeting of students at a university in Doha, Qatar. “We see that the government of Iran, the supreme leader, the president, the Parliament is being supplanted and that Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship.
Her blunt comments carried particular resonance because of where they were delivered, in Qatar, a Persian Gulf emirate with close ties to Iran, and later in the day, in Saudi Arabia. But they built on the administration’s strategy of branding the Revolutionary Guards as an “entitled class” that is the principal culprit behind Iran’s nuclear proliferation and political repression. The full New York Times article » By Mark Landler

Fahad Shadeed/Reuters
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, spoke Monday, February 15, in Riyadh. Original image/The New York Times.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - What’s At Stake? Mapping Causes and Effects of Developments in Iran -
  Overview | Why is Secretary of State Clinton urging an uprising in Iran? What is at stake under Iran’s current leadership — for the Iranian people and the rest of the world? In this lesson, students immerse themselves in the complicated issues that have brought growing alarm to the international community. They trace and research the issues, and then create a concept map that connects each issue’s causes and effects. Finally, they write an open letter to Secretary Clinton. Go to this Building a Healthy Society and ESL Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - The Political is Personal -
  Overview | Students explore their own personal political philosophies by identifying events, people and experiences that have helped shape their beliefs and writing an essay. Go to this Building a Healthy Society and ESL Lesson.
• A Learning Foundation Lesson - Drip by drip, discontent is revealed - - Compare and Contrast: Iran and Thailand.

Speaking at the Pentagon, where nine years ago a hijacked plane smashed into the west side of the building and killed 184 people, Obama conjured a solemn remembrance of that horrible day but also spoke strongly in defense of religious freedom.
"The highest honor we can pay those we lost, indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war, is to do what our adversaries fear the most," the president said. "To stay true to who we are, as Americans; to renew our sense of common purpose; to say that we define the character of our country, and we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are." » in this Associated Press article - By Erica Werner

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Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents

Instead of “the hammer,” in the words of John O. Brennan, President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, America will rely on the “scalpel.” In a speech in May, Mr. Brennan, an architect of the White House strategy, used this analogy while pledging a “multigenerational” campaign against Al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates.
(But) do the selective hits make the United States safer by eliminating terrorists? Or do they help the terrorist network frame its violence as a heroic religious struggle against American aggression, recruiting new operatives for the enemy? » More in this New York Times article - By Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Robert F. Worth - Published: August 14, 2010

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Terrorism Today: Investigating Al Qaeda’s Presence Around the World-
  Overview | In this lesson, students consider the presence of Al Qaeda in various countries, with particular attention to its recent growth in Yemen. Working in groups, they investigate key people, places and institutions related to Al Qaeda and counterterrorism efforts, and create a maps or diagrams. Go to this Building a Healthy Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Secret Agent Men -
  Overview | Students examine the purpose, goals and actions of government intelligence services by researching and presenting case studies on agencies around the world. Go to this Science and Building Society Lesson.

Jurm was tormented by warlords in the 1990s, and though it never fell to the Taliban, the presence of the central government, even today, is barely felt. The idea to change that was simple: people elected the most trusted villagers, and the government in Kabul, helped by foreign donors, gave them direct grants — money to build things like water systems and girls’ schools for themselves.

Original image source » Holly Pickett for The New York Times
Villagers and development workers had to persuade a local mullah to get a girls' school built in the Jurm District of Afghanistan.

But forcing conditions would have violated a basic principle of the approach: never start a project that is not backed by all members of the community, or it will fail.
“People have to be mentally ready,” said Akhtar Iqbal, Aga Khan’s director in Badakhshan. If they are not, the school or clinic will languish unused, a frequent problem with large-scale development efforts.
Today, many people have water taps, fields grow wheat and it is no longer considered shameful for a woman to go to a doctor. The full New York Times article » By Sabrina Tavernise

• World Wise School - Perceptions - This activity is designed to help students understand that perceptions are influenced by personal experience and taste as well as cultural background.  Go to Building Society Lesson Worksheet.

• WWS - World Wise School Lesson - Students will recognize that a single observation can be misleading -
  Young children often make assumptions and judgments about people based on quick impressions. For example, a little girl noticing a house with peeling paint and an unkempt yard told her aunt, "I bet the people who live in that house are ugly." The girl had somehow learned to make assumptions about people she had never met based on her perception of their possessions. Go to this Building Society Lesson Worksheet.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Intersection of Religion and Modernity -
  Overview: Students examine the ways in which various religious faiths have responded to social, ideological, and technological changes in 'modern' times. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

Le has few memories of his three-day journey on the fishing trawler, which ended just as they were running out of food, water and fuel.
But he has vivid memories of the example set by his father, Thong Ba Le, who is now 69 and has never returned to Vietnam. After the family settled in northern Virginia, he took a job in a supermarket, where he worked his way up from bag boy to manager.
"I always wanted to be like my dad," Le said. "He persevered and overcame many challenges." The AP image and article source.

• New York Times - Learning Network - Coming to America -
  Overview: Students will personalize immigration history through a simulation. They will then analyze immigration history in their own area using the Times interactive Immigration Explorer tool. Go to this Building Society Lesson.
• New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring How Trends in American Immigration have Impacted American Politics Throughout History -
  Overview: Students create an exhibit that explores the connections between immigration and politics from 1850 to the present. Go to this Building Society Lesson.
• PBS Lesson - The Immigration Debate -
  Overview. Students will:
  • Consider the validity of statements often cited regarding immigration and immigrants
  • Research and debate the essence of these statements to support or negate presented perspectives
  • Make informed decisions regarding the statements' accuracy  Go to this Building Society Lesson.

PAST COVERAGE OF THE N. KOREA CRISIS
North Korea is more than just another nation joining the nuclear club. It has never developed a weapons system it did not ultimately sell on the world market, and it has periodically threatened to sell its nuclear technology.
So the end of ambiguity about its nuclear capacity foreshadows a very different era, in which the concern may be not where a nation's warheads are aimed, but in whose hands its weapons and know-how end up. From the article: News Analysis: For White House, a failure of two decades of atomic diplomacy - By David E. Sanger The New York Times Published: October 10, 2006

The mushroom cloud over Nagasaki shortly after the bombing on August 9.(1945) (Photo from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-AEC)
Nagasaki, August 10, 1945; photograph by Yosuke Yamahata; used with permission of copyright holder, Shogo Yamahata/Courtesy: IDG films. Photo restoration by TX Unlimited, San Francisco - The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II: A Collection of Primary Sources

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the Implications of North Korea's Nuclear Capacity -
  Overview: Students examine the implications of North Korea's nuclear testing. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

The country’s top prosecutor, Keir Starmer, set out... new guidelines (which) are likely to make it easier for the terminally ill and those with degenerative diseases to receive help in committing suicide.
He listed 13 factors that could influence the authorities not to prosecute. These include the person aiding a suicide being motivated by compassion; the deceased clearly wanting to die; and the deceased being terminally ill, being severely physically disabled or suffering from an incurable degenerative disease.
Mr. Starmer said that the guidelines were an interim measure that would remain in place while his office sponsored a period of public consultation from now until Dec. 16. Final guidelines will be published in the spring, he said.

In her own statement on Wednesday, Ms. Purdy said: “I am relieved that common sense has won the day. I, and many others like me, want to be able to make informed decisions about the time and manner of our death, should our suffering become unbearable. We want to know whether someone we love will be prosecuted for helping us to die, even if that assistance is simply being with us at the end.” The full New York Times article » By Sarah Lyall

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the Quest to Protect Human Rights -
  Overview: Students explore the concept of human rights by developing and defending their own "Bills of Human Rights" and by writing a reflective essay that compares their notions of human rights and the protection of them. Go to this Building a Healthy Society Lesson.

“A counterinsurgency strategy can only work if you have a credible and legitimate
Afghan partner. That’s in doubt now,” said Bruce O. Riedel, who led the administration’s
strategy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year.
“Part of the reason you are seeing a hesitancy to jump deeper into the pool is that they are looking to see if they can
make lemonade out of the lemons we got from the Afghan election.” He said. Read the full New York Times article » By Peter Baker and Elisabeth Bumiller

• The New York Times - Learning Network - History in the Making -
  Overview: Students explore the social history of the United States to better understand why the election of Barack Obama is historic from a variety of perspectives. Go to this Building Society and Law Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Assessing the Findings of the National Intelligence Estimate on Terrorism after 9/11 -
  Overview: Students share opinions about the meaning of feeling safe in the continuing aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. They then read and summarize findings of the Office of National Intelligence concerning the potential threat to the United States from Al Qaeda and read news reports and opinions in order to re-address the notion of safety. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

President Dmitri A. Medvedev said “If agreements are reached on the programs linked to uranium enrichment and its use for peaceful purposes in Iran, we will with pleasure take part in these programs,” Mr. Medvedev said. “If the Iranian leadership takes a less constructive position, then anything is possible, in theory.
“We would not want this to end in imposing sanctions under international law, because sanctions, as a rule, are a complex and dangerous path,” he continued. “But if there is no forward movement, no one can rule out this scenario.” The full New York Times article » By Ellen Barry

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the Implications of North Korea's Nuclear Capacity -
  Overview: Students examine the implications of North Korea's nuclear testing. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

The enterprise has steadily borne fruit. The detection rate in Bangladesh inched up to more than 70 percent in 2006, according to the World Health Organization, and the cure rate to 89 percent. Among the 22 countries that are considered to be heavily burdened by tuberculosis, few have reached those levels, the health organization says. Go to the article

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Impact of Disease on the Global Population -
  Overview: Students investigate the nature, causes and statistics of diseases in lesser developed countries and explore ways in which disease impacts the global population. Go to this Health and Building Society Lesson
• Related Lesson New York Times - Learning Network - Nothing to Sneeze At -

  Enlisting (Thai) villagers in 2006 flu battle - set a global example  "Thailand has mobilized about 750,000 volunteers (under the Thaksin government) one for every 15 rural households." 'This is something that all over the world we've been trying to promote. And this is probably the best example that I've ever seen.' said William Aldis, the representative of the World Health Organization in Thailand." Go to the article - By Thomas Fuller - International Herald Tribune

  Go to this Health and Building Society Lesson

Even if the madrasas do not make militants, they create a worldview that makes militancy possible. “The mindset wants to stop music, girls’ schools and festivals,” said Salman Abid, a social researcher in southern Punjab. “Their message is that this is not real life. Real life comes later” — after death. From this New York Times Article - By Sabrina Tavernise.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Examining the State of Education in Pakistan -
  Overview: In this lesson, students consider the growth of religious schools in rural Pakistan and their impact, then draw connections between recent current world events, their own experience and prior knowledge. Go to this Building Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Shaping of Tolerance and Intolerance -
  Overview: Students examine the meanings of tolerance and intolerance and participate in a "town hall meeting" in which they represent different perspectives in order to explore how tolerance is shaped by various beliefs and contexts.   Go to this Building Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Clash of Civilizations? -
  Overview of Lesson Plan: Students learn about a United Nations initiative to create the Alliance of Civilizations to resolve conflict between the East and West. They then discuss and dismantle a number of misconceptions about the Muslim world. Go to this Building Society Lesson

Teachers exhorted their students to ask questions. Some, true to the school’s embrace of new technology, gauged their students’ comprehension with individual polling devices.
“The Muslim world in general is struggling with its Islamic education,” Razak Mohamed Lazim, the head of Al Irsyad said, explaining that Islamic schools had failed to adapt to the modern world. “In many cases, it’s also the challenge the Muslim world is facing. We are not addressing the needs of Islam as a faith that has to be alive, interacting with other communities and other religions.” From this New York Times Article By Norimitsu Onsishi.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring What It Takes to Become a Well-Informed Citizen -
  Overview: In this lesson, students explore education requirements for different professions, and define the skills and knowledge that adults use in their everyday lives. Go to this Building Society Lesson.
• Related Lesson from: The Learning Foundation - A Simplified Mock Trial -
  The Malaysian authorities' refused to renew the publication of the weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald unless it stops using the word Allah as the word for God in the Malay language.
  The Newspaper answered: Muslims, like Christians, do not worship a person called Allah. They worship a single supreme being, which the Arabic language denotes as Allah.
  Students argue both sides of the issue and decide in the case: Only Muslims can use 'Allah' - Simplified Mock Trial Lesson Plan.

• Tolerance.org - 10 Ways to Nurture Tolerance "Identify intolerance -
  (stereotypes and cultural misinformation depicted in news reports, movies, TV shows, computer games and other media) when children are exposed to it." Go to this Building Society Lesson.

About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.
"Whenever a man wants sex, we cannot refuse," said Fatima Husseini, 26, one of the marchers. "It means a woman is a kind of property, to be used by the man in any way that he wants."
One provision makes it illegal for a woman to resist her husband's sexual advances. A second provision requires a husband's permission for a woman to work outside the home or go to school. And a third makes it illegal for a woman to refuse to "make herself up" or "dress up" if that is what her husband wants.

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The cleric, Mohammed Hussein Jafaari, (answered) "This law was approved by the scholars. It was passed by both houses of Parliament. It was signed by the president."
He said it was between professionals and nonprofessionals; that is, between the clerics, who understood the Koran and Islamic law, and the women calling for the law's repeal who did not.
The religious scholars, Mr. Jafaari conceded, were all men.
Mr. Jafaari said that what was really driving the dispute was the foreigners who loomed so large over the country.
"We Afghans don't want a bunch of NATO commanders and foreign ministers telling us what to do."
The full New York Times article - By Dexter Filkins

• The Learning Foundation - "An Afgan Woman's Rights"- What makes a law good lesson plan. -
Students decide if a law approved by the scholars, passed by both houses of Parliament and signed by the president makes it a "good law" and discuss if the claim by the cleric, Mohammed Hussein Jafaari, that it is foreigners making the dispute in the country.
Writing assignment based on this statement: "NATO commanders and foreign ministers involved in Afganistan have a right (or no right) to speak out about these laws."

‣ Before the military was unleashed - Thailand's prime minister Abhisit speaking in a televised interview with army chief Anupong Paochinda in a show of solidarity with the military, flatly rejected a red shirt offer to call elections in 30 days and hold a vote 60 days later. He said: "There must not be a precedent that allows intimidation to bring about political change" From Reuters article - By Jason Szep.

‣ Would Abhisit's party, which hasn't won a nationwide poll since 1992, be in power if their "yellow shirted" supporters had not hijacked the airports and held them hostage for 8 days in 2008 stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers?

‣ None of the yellow shirts have been convicted for shutting down the airport, including Kasit Piromya, the current foreign minister who took part and reportedly said the protest was “a lot of fun.” » The full New York Times article. By Thomas Fuller.

‣ Abhisit's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban says (the 8 day) blockade of the two airports last year “caused no damage to aviation” so charges are baseless. » The full Bangkok Post article..

‣ Is Thai law biased? » Thai Supreme Court rulings are based on the military created constitution.
‣ Giles Ungpakorn, is now in England after the current government filed Lèse-Majesté charges against him.
He said, "The drafters will claim they are following the policies of the palace, but it's much more complicated than that, .... Moreover, the monarchy is just one institution. There are 65 million other people in Thailand who deserve an equal say in how the country is run." The (18th) Thai Constitution has a problem right from the start,... Giving power to unelected civil servants who tend to be very conservative is a step backwards." » The full Asia Sentinel article - By Daniel Ten Kate.

Thailand's martial law will continue for another three months, Abhisit's military-backed government decided

Thailand's army-backed government is now wielding overwhelming surveillance, imprisonment, censorship and other "state of emergency" powers across much of this Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation. The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, commonly known as the Red Shirts, acknowledge that they have been strangled and are struggling to stay alive. Thousands of cameras are to be installed all over Bangkok, making it probably the most heavily surveilled city in Asia.
"The government's use of terrorism charges to go after Red Shirt leaders, as well as Thaksin, is inappropriate for what was mostly a peaceful political movement that did not target civilians," said the Belgium-based International Crisis Group on July 5.
The emergency decree, described by the ICG as “draconian,” conveniently also" grants officials immunity from prosecution," the ICG said. » The full Asia Sentinel article - By Richard S. Ehrlich - July 8, 2010

• WWS - World Wise School - The Blind Men and the Elephant -
  Overview | Students will develop sensitivity to others' points of view.
  - Students will understand the importance of having as much information as possible before coming to conclusions. Go to this Building Society Lesson Worksheet.
• The Learning Foundation - Making Good Laws: "Is the Thai Constitution credible?" -
  Go to this Building a Healthy Society and Law Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Democracy in Action -
  Overview | Students consider words that reflect their knowledge and opinions about democracy. Go to this Building a Healthy Society and ESL Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Examining Military Coups Around the World -
  Overview | Students consider military coups and their aftermaths, research famous coups... illustrating those events, and write letters from the perspectives of ousted leaders examined during class. Go to this Law and Society Lesson.

Broken banks. The markets rise and fall on every whisper out of Washington about the direction of President Obama's bank-bailout plan. But whatever the plan, it will take years before the balance sheets of teetering titans like Citigroup and Bank of America are healthy again. An effective plan might generate confidence that the feds are on the case, but there is no conceiveable plan that will repair the most troubled banks anytime soon.
If there's any good news, it's that the working parts of these banks will continue to function while the broken parts get dismantled. That's what the federal interventions are supposed to do. In other words, they might resume something that looks like normal lending before all the problems are solved.
More in this Yahoo Business News article. » By Rick Newman.

"The people that behaved well are no doubt going to find themselves taking care of the people who didn't behave well," Warren Buffett said in this » AP article

• The New York Times - Learning Network - A Plan for Recovery -
Overview: Students examine the "who, what, where, when, why and how" of the proposed stimulus plan for the U.S. economy; they then write their own proposal outlining how stimulus funds might benefit their community. Go to this Economy and Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Impact of Keynesian Economics During a Recession -
Overview: Students define and examine the role of Keynesian economics during recessions and depression, then write a memo to President Obama advising him on how to put Keynesian principles into practice. Go to this Economy and Society Lesson.

Where will new, real sources of growth come from? Not from Wall Street, probably. Nor, obviously, from Detroit. Nor from Silicon Valley, at least not by itself. Well before the housing bubble burst, the big productivity gains brought about by the 1990s technology boom seemed to be petering out.
So for the first time in more than 70 years, the epicenter of the U.S. economy can be placed in Washington. And Washington won't merely be given the task of pulling the economy out of the immediate crisis. It will also have to figure out how to put it on a more sustainable path - to help it achieve fast, broadly shared growth and do so without the benefit of a bubble. Obama said as much in his inauguration speech when he pledged to overhaul Washington's approach to education, health care, science and infrastructure, all in an effort to "lay a new foundation for growth." Read this New York Times article » By David Leonhardt

• The New York Times - Learning Network - A Plan for Recovery -
Overview: Students examine the "who, what, where, when, why and how" of the proposed stimulus plan for the U.S. economy; they then write their own proposal outlining how stimulus funds might benefit their community. Go to this Economy and Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Impact of Keynesian Economics During a Recession -
Overview: Students define and examine the role of Keynesian economics during recessions and depression, then write a memo to President Obama advising him on how to put Keynesian principles into practice. Go to this Economy and Society Lesson.

"I think the leukemia taught me to think step by step," Van der Weijden said. "When you're laying in the hospital bed and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about next week or next month, you're only thinking about the next hour."You just be patient. You lay in your bed and just wait. It's almost the same strategy I've used here, to stay in the pack, to be patient, and stay easy just waiting for your chance." Read IHT Article » - The Associated Press

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Creating “Life Lists” of Personal Goals -
Overview: Students consider what it means to live a life well-lived by creating life lists of goals they would like to accomplish and analyzing patterns in the lists of their peers. Go to this Life's Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning How Stem Cells Can Repair the Body -
Overview: Students research stem cells to learn how they function, the distinguishing characteristics of types of stem cells, and how stem cells may be manipulated by scientists to help bodies heal and regenerate unhealthy or damaged cells.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
Overview: Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Home Minister Syed Hamid called the arrest "not a political move," while others have suggested that Mr. Anwar has nothing to fear from a "fair" trial. Malaysia's state-run media have fallen into line, too. One headline in the New Straits Times reads: "Trust in the authorities needed to restore calm."
But it's trust in the system that's lacking here. Given Mr. Anwar's judicial treatment the last time around, it is difficult to believe he would get a fair trial. His arrest is likely to stimulate more support for his cause of a more democratic and free Malaysia. The government obtained a court order barring Mr. Anwar and the public from going within five kilometers of Parliament on Monday, the day he was planning to attend a key debate.From this Wall Street Journal Review and Outlook Article »

First - Police released a statement to the media before the facts were gathered and the accused could respond:

The Director of the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, Bakri Zinin, made public an allegation made by, Saiful Bukhari that a criminal act was committed against him by, Anwar Ibraham, and the Director told Agence France Press that “we will investigate this report first. We will look into it and carry out the necessary steps before issuing any warrant of arrest.”
The Director made this statement to the media even though Saiful claims he was worried for his own and his family's safety if the news was widely spread among the public, (and the statement violated the basic rights of Anwar Ibraham to be presumed innocent). From this Asia Sentinel Article » By Jed Yoong - The Asian Sentinel.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Analyzing Media Coverage of Crime -
Overview: Students will compare the coverage of two crime stories, analyzing both for objectivity, language, emotional impact, and local and national dissemination. Go to this Media and Law Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the Quest to Protect Human Rights -
Overview: Students explore the concept of human rights by developing and defending their own "Bills of Human Rights" and by writing a reflective essay that compares their notions of human rights and the protection of them.  Go to this Law and Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Putting the United States' (and other countries) Appeals Process on Trial -
Overview: Students (compare the Anwar case and) analyze the United States' current appellate process, with a critical eye focused on possible inequities within the system(s). Go to this Law and Society Lesson

Global food shortages have placed the Middle East and North Africa in a quandary, as they are forced to choose between growing more crops to feed an expanding population or preserving their already scant supply of water.
For decades nations in this region have drained aquifers, sucked the salt from seawater and diverted the mighty Nile to make the deserts bloom. But those projects were so costly and used so much water that it remained far more practical to import food than to produce it. Today, some countries import 90 percent or more of their staples. Read the IHT Article »

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring Natural and Human Threats on Fresh Water and Marine Ecosystems -
Overview: Students examine various fresh water and marine ecosystems, researching the aquatic life they support, threats from nature and humans, and preservation efforts. Go to this Science and Economy Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Addressing the Causes and Effects of the Global Food Crisis -
Overview: Students learn about the reasons for Australia's rice shortage and its impact on the rest of the world. They then individually identify the causes and effects of another agricultural commodity's recent changes in the global marketplace. Go to this Science and Economy Lesson.

Dam-building, over-extraction for drinking, industry and agriculture, invasive species, climate change, pollution and shipping were among the various activities whose impact the group assessed.

Five of its "top 10" are in Asia, such as the Yangtse, Mekong, and Ganges, though Europe's Danube and North America's Rio Grande are also included. - Article link - BBC News

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring Natural and Human Threats on Fresh Water and Marine Ecosystems
Overview: Students examine various fresh water and marine ecosystems, researching the aquatic life they support, threats from nature and humans, and preservation efforts. Go to this Science Lesson

As advanced science (communications and international agreements) play a larger role in courtrooms across the country (and the world) judges who earned degrees in English, the humanities (or only Law as in Thailand) face the daunting task of making informed decisions about some very technical disputes. Read the entire article Judges get crash course in sciences - By Mike Baker - Associated Press Writer.

"... This is a problem for Thailand. They ignore the scientific evidence. The judge, the attorney, the police... I think they don’t know much about forensic science, especially DNA...." read the rest of the Interview with Dr. Porntip - Foreign Correspondent.

• WWS - World Wise School- Is That a Fact?
Overview: Understanding the difference between fact and opinion is critical to our ability to examine our reactions to events and people. Stereotypes and prejudices are often based on opinions that are perceived as facts. Go to this Building Society Lesson Worksheet.

• The New York Times - Learning Network  Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
Overview: Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies.  Go to this Science Lesson.

• The Learning Foundation - Simplified Mock Trials - "What to Teach" - Simplified Mock Trial.

Project POOCH, Inc. provides opportunities for youth in corrections to develop the personal and vocational skills they will need to become responsible, productive members of the community. The program accomplishes this by teaching youth to care for and train shelter dogs for adoption.
The organization has successfully paired youths incarcerated at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon, with homeless shelter dogs for over a decade. Youths (guided by professionals) learn to train the dogs, groom them, and find them new adoptive “forever homes.”
The dogs leave the program ready to be great pets, while their trainers re-enter the community with new job and personal skills and an increased compassion and respect for all life.

• New York Times - Learning Network - Researching the Roots of Our Attitudes Toward Animals -
Overview: Students will reflect on their attitudes toward pets and use animal images to design an experiment identifying factors that influence humans’ attitudes, feelings and ambivalence toward animals. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

For people hospitalized with advanced heart disease, it is better to have visitors than to lie quietly alone. But one type of visitor seems to be especially beneficial, researchers reported on Tuesday. That visitor is a dog. Read Article » By Lawrence K. Altman - New York Times

• New York Times - Learning Network - Researching the Roots of Our Attitudes Toward Animals -
Overview: Students will reflect on their attitudes toward pets and use animal images to design an experiment identifying factors that influence humans’ attitudes, feelings and ambivalence toward animals. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Americans offer varied positive and negative perspectives regarding immigrants. There are points of view, for example, regarding immigrants' impact on the U.S. labor force and issues around terrorism and immigration. Gathering information on pro and con arguments can be helpful if making conclusions regarding immigrants' roles in the United States is to occur. Read Article »

• PBS Lesson - The Immigration Debate -

Overview. Students will:
• Consider the validity of statements often cited regarding immigration and immigrants
• Research and debate the essence of these statements to support or negate presented perspectives
• Make informed decisions regarding the statements' accuracy  Go to this Building Society Lesson.

• New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring How Trends in American Immigration have Impacted American Politics Throughout History -
Overview: Students create an exhibit that explores the connections between immigration and politics from 1850 to the present. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

The platypus genome offers an unprecedented glimpse of how evolution made its first stabs at producing mammals. It tells the tale of how early mammals learned to nurse their young; how they matched poisonous snakes at their own venomous game; and how they struggled to build a system of fertilization and gestation that would eventually, through relatives that took a different tack, give rise to the first humans. Read Article » By Rick Weiss - Washington Post

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Celebrating Important Evolutionary Milestones in the Tree of Life -
Overview: Students compare physical features among organisms and understand the evolutionary importance of these features. Go to this Science Lesson.

• WWS - World Wise School- Is That a Fact?
Overview: Understanding the difference between fact and opinion is critical to our ability to examine our reactions to events and people. Stereotypes and prejudices are often based on opinions that are perceived as facts. Go to this Science and Building Society Lesson Worksheet.

The drought's effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production. Read this IHT Article » By Keith Bradsher

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Addressing the Causes and Effects of the Global Food Crisis -
Overview: Students learn about the reasons for Australia's rice shortage and its impact on the rest of the world. They then individually identify the causes and effects of another agricultural commodity's recent changes in the global marketplace. Go to this Economy and Society Lesson 

"India has decided to invest in the water sector mostly through public money, but China has decided to allow private companies, including foreign investors, to participate in water supply and sewage products .... As a result, most of the listed companies in Asia that have water exposure are focused on the China market." Christopher Wong, an analyst with UBS, wrote in a recent research note.
He added "We believe intense competition for water projects and opaque regulations has dampened the attractiveness of water projects in the near term," Read the article » -By Sophie Taylor and Alison Leung (Reuters)

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the Complexity of Water Disputes -
Overview: Students discuss their community’s water sources and assess the factors affecting the water availability and quality. They research water disputes around the world and understand common factors among them. Read the article » (China) Choking on Growth - New York Times - Go to this Economy and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Creating an Educational Guide on Water Safety -
Overview: Students research water pollution and create a class guide to raise the public's awareness about this issue. Go to this Science and Economy Lesson.

"Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now," Obama said.
He said the controversies during the past couple of weeks "reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American." Read the article » By Janny Scott - IHT

• New York Times - Learning Network - Free Speech -
Overview: Students share opinions and feedback from the speech on race delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. They then create a hypertext-annotated version of the speech that explains its historical and contemporary references and offers their own commentary. Go to this Building Society Lesson.

Sania Mirza, the most successful tennis star in India, has announced that she has no desire to play in her country any more, distressed by a string of controversies that have exposed her to months of negative publicity.

Barkha Dutt, managing editor of NDTV, one of India's most popular news channels said that Mirza had "every reason to feel fed up."
"She is young, pretty, with attitude, and as a result she is hounded," she said, "and gets caught up in these controversies which range from the fabricated to the ridiculous." Read Article »

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Shaping of Tolerance and Intolerance -
Overview: Students examine the meanings of tolerance and intolerance and participate in a "town hall meeting" in which they represent different perspectives in order to explore how tolerance is shaped by various beliefs and contexts.  Go to this Building Society Lesson.
• World Wise School - "How Accureate is It?"
This activity introduces students to the difficult concept of generalization so that they will challenge generalizations made about people... Go to this Building Society Lesson Worksheet.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring Bias in the News -
Overview: Students look for biased words in news articles, suggest synonyms, then rewrite the sentences to demonstrate how word choice can alter meaning. Go to this Media and Society Lesson.

"Socrates...the consummate inquiring mind in history wrote nothing, accomplished nothing, and made his mark by standing around a rock, questioning people ... When an audience is interested in questioning the world, then nonsense blows away like a morning mist .... Read more

• World Wise School - Worksheet - Students will learn to identify and modify generalizations.
This activity introduces students to the difficult concept of generalization so that they will challenge generalizations made about people... Go to this Building Society Lesson 

About 2 million of the 10 million deaths annually in children under age 5 worldwide are caused by pneumonia -- an inflammation of the lungs caused by an infection. The researchers envision medicine distribution to children with pneumonia by health-care workers in local communities. Read Article »

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Identifying the Key Issues Concerning Home- and Hospital-Based Health Care
Overview: Students share opinions about where patients might be treated for a range of ailments. They then investigate the key issues related to home- and hospital-based health care and write a reflection paper. Go to this Health Lesson.