Sokwanele is a civic action support group for Zimbabwe. They have a blog and newsletter that reports on things going on in Zimbabwe.

They have begun a new project-the Zimbabwe Land Series. Sokwanele invited two scholars to write monthly articles about land reform in Zimbabwe. These articles will provoke thought and are intended to invite comment by Zimbabweans world-wide to participate int he conversation through comments.

 This is the first in the series describes why land reform will always define Zimbabwe:

http://www.sokwanele.com/system/files/Paper%201%20-%20Zimbabwe%20Land%20Series%20-%20Rukuni.pdf

Lots going on in the Capital Markets in Africa...but first take a look at this:

All about the governance at Universities by Faculty Senates.  

http://www.lcbackerblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/between-faculty-administration-board.html#more

Sanja Iveković: Sweet Violence

I have missed you my sweet, sweet BLOG. I took some time off. I did do some writing but nothing that would interest you. I went to an exhibition recently in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art...it was transformational. Please click through this link for additional video and text regarding this exceptional artist, feminist, and social observer. She is from the former Yugoslavia. born in Zagreb, and her work is relevant to people and women world wide.    


This exhibit is her first in the US. Do not be put off by her label as a feminist (male readers) She did promote women's issues, which continue to need promotion. I am shocked how much sexual harassment is tolerated at Academic institutions. I should have stayed with the brokerage firm and taken my chances there since I face much the same kind of treatment !! There are just MORE women in Academia getting mistreated so it feels like a club, sort of.

But still her work in Sweet Violence includes refugees and outcasts. She uses video and magazine advertisements to make us SEE what is happening everyday in terms of alienation, isolation, abandonment, violence and loneliness.    

One display is in a small, dark  room. As you turn the corner into the room you see a screen displaying words with a rhythmic sound like the drip of water at regular intervals. The words disappear and the screen shows a desolate wilderness of nothingness. In front of the screen are are tall, living plants that might be confused with people because of their size. This exhibit is about refugees and I identified with every one of the words for some reason and I don't mean to trivialize the experience of the true refugee. It was compelling and I stayed for quite awhile in that dark room full of plants watching the words and listening to the drips.

The MOMA has an excellent website and I hope you have enough electricity to access it and watch.   

KONY video nonsense

Please find below a link to a Pambazuka article on the downside of the KONY video.

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80787

My only comment is to repeat what National Public Radio (NPR) and BBC World News have reported from Uganda: that the video lack historical reference or context and therefore deprives the watcher/listener of a full understanding of the situation.

Why does a non-profit from San Diego tell us what is happening in Uganda after we have all witnessed the power of the Arab uprising via smart phone recordings of video etc? This tech-generation must insist on integrity and truth and allow PEOPLE to tell their story rather than accept a story second hand.

Why is Facebook eating what San Diego is cooking? Insist instead on the voices of Africans rather than buying what a Muzungu tells us.

satirical smiley :)

The OPEN Act.

Today Wikipedia is dark as well as Reddit. Google is wearing a black armband. It is a full-on protest over the Anit-Piracy legislation Congress will vote on on Jan 24th. Very exciting to see a concerted effort to get Washington's attention. All of this protesting is refreshing. We still have people Occupying City Hall where I live.

My main complaint about the Tech community is that they created an online environment that facilitates CRIME. Now that Congress has decided to step in, they are outraged. I believe the Acts are the result of a void created by the people running Google, Reddit etc. I think there was an opportunity to see this day coming and get in front of the Anti-Piracy Train. They missed that opportunity and I wonder why? What else were they occupying their time with??

Greed is on both sides of this issue. Maybe less greed than was involved in the Sub-prime crisis but greed and hubris. The Tech community thinks a lot about themselves.

I have seen the Open Act which purports to be a more reasonable response to Piracy. It amends the Tariff Act of 1930 and addresses unfair trade practices relating to infringement of copyrights and trademarks by certain websites. I have not compared it to SOPA but will do so and come to some understanding of the differences.

Not to be repetitive but why wasn't this Open Act already passed years ago. I think it is because the Tech community talks the talk but only acts when their pocketbooks are in jeopardy...just like Washington.

We have been sliding down the slippery slope of deterioration of the protections surrounding Intellectual Property. SOPA and PIPA may be extreme responses to that slide but at least Washington acted. What has Silicon Valley done?

SOPA--domestic Drama

Bills to stop Web Piracy are causing all sorts of trouble here in the US and in California. My Business Law students are all concerned. There are so adorable.

The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act are supported by the Motion Picture Association of America. In opposition to those Acts is the entire Tech industry who is blacking out Wikipedia as a protest.

I'm thrilled. I plan to organize my entire Legal Research and Writing class around this tremendous event. Finally, I will be privy to my students ACTUAL thoughts instead of those stolen from the anonymous but clearly wisemen of the Wiki world. Who else but the wise have time to update and verify all that is contained there??!!

At this point I don't even care if I sound like my parents....old and ill-informed. Seriously?? A protest that stops the one site I have spent years forbidding students from using.

The tech guys claim that lawmakers just don't get it. Eric Martin of Reddit.com may be right that people do not get the Internet. I just wonder why, if he and other tech people do get it, they have not fought for copyright laws to be enforced. Shouldn't people be able to protect what they create and earn from it without being afraid of others stealing it??!! Maybe this is less about censorship and more about income streams being disrupted.

I really don't like being lectured about getting things when all I see is someone trying to save there ASSETS. If what you do contributes to the violation of the law...then that is a problem. Did you KNOW that when you started doing it. Look, I hate sounding like a cop but if YOU want to be paid at the expense of someone ELSE being paid then I am unsympathetic.

Conflict Resolution 101, be part of the solution and not the problem. The tech world needs to grow up and inform Washington if someone there doesn't get the inter-Web Net.

Tech geeks: Spend less time with Nurf guns and enter the adult-world of law, law creation, and law enforcement. Start making the tough decisions and compromises we are all forced to.

I am sure you have important things to say and we are all listening....and Thanks for the Wikipedia thing!!!

Vulture funds

There are legislative loopholes that allow Western companies, banks and financial institutions, to buy forgiven debt of a developing country with the intention of collecting later on when the country may have cash. These companies or Vulture funds establish themselves in tax havens for the single purpose of acquiring debt at a fraction of it value and then, as a creditor, seeking payment if and when the country is solvent and can pay. Debt collection by a creditor must be sanctioned by the courts, debt collection laws, and legislation regarding debt forgiveness. Is it possible that hedge ‘vulture funds’ are given a pass legally to conduct business this way at the expense of poverty stricken countries? Is there anything stopping these funds from buying Greece’s debt at a fraction and collecting later?

Vulture funds operate legally under the domestic and international legal infrastructure that allows them to do so. There are some jurisdictions that are attempting to prevent vulture funds from various legal systems, such as India, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Those nations anti-vulture fund legislation, among other things, proscribes access to courts by companies collecting on debts from High Indebted Poor Countries. As of yet, no similar legislation has been successful in the United States.

Vulture funds recently suffered a loss in the reorganization of Washington Mutual Inc (WMI). The Bankruptcy court ruled that certain distressed debt hedge fund creditors- Aurelius, Owl Creek, Appaloosa, and Centerbridge- traded WMI subordinated debt based on material non-public information they had learned from their lawyers involved in the reorganization of WMI. The court disallowed their claims under the reorganization for equitable reasons.

I am going to spend a little time looking into Vulture funds and how they are regulated in the United States and elsewhere.