Month: October 2020
Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion I visited the Vietnam Wall in Washington and I would imagine the flag and anthem were not in the last thoughts of dying soldiers.The Constitution was forged with purpose to protect everyone’s rights. It’s not a buffet where we choose which ones are most important. Tolerance and diversity are necessary if we are to maintain a free society.Your personal rights end at the nose of the next individual. True patriots should protect another’s right to demonstrate their displeasure as much as their own.Calvin MooreColonie More from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesAlbany County warns of COVID increaseFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?
The assertion of The Gazette’s editors that some laws are “petty” does a disservice to people who do not flout them.Petitions are a serious business. As a duly elected Republican committeeman, I routinely carried petitions to put candidates on the ballots. I routinely saw signatures, addresses and whole pages of a petition being rejected by the county Board of Elections for irregularities, negating the time, expense and effort petition carriers put into them.From that I learned that if one follows the rules, things get done and very few of my signatures were rejected. To assert that a day late on a petition for a referendum on the purchase of a building for a new Duanesburg town hall is excusable and the town should accept the petition is to negate the rule of law. To force the town to go to court to invalidate an invalid petition is to force the taxpayers of the town to pay for someone’s sloppiness and lackadaisical attitude.I can only hope The Gazette’s editors get their facts straight before casting aspersions.Charles LeoniDuanesburgMore from The Daily Gazette:Foss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?Local movie theater operators react to green lightEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesSchenectady County warns of possible COVID-19 exposure at Schenectady restaurant, Rotterdam barEDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motorists Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion We are a country of laws. We routinely assert we are proud of that fact.
More from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationEDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?EDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesEDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the census Even in their pain and fear – no, especially in their pain and fear – they knew what to do.“They showed not only a familiarity with social media but a remarkable ability to ‘cover’ the events happening in their own lives,” David Clinch, global news editor at Storyful, told me.That, Clinch said, “gives me some encouragement that this generation is not just able to understand and communicate about what is happening around them but is also putting themselves in a position to control the narrative and make a difference in their own futures.” (Storyful vetted and verified the videos students were producing, many of which then went out into the larger media world.)In some cases, you could even see or hear Douglas students grappling with their own changing views in real time.“I don’t even want to be behind a gun,” one girl told a student journalist during the attack, according to The Washington Post.She said that, despite having rallied for gun rights in the past and having planned to go to a shooting range for her 18th birthday, she had changed her mind: “It’s definitely eye-opening to the fact that we need more gun control in our country.”Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., an outspoken critic of congressional inaction on gun control, seemed to think the students could make a difference. “I will not feel hopeful until a majority of Americans are out on the streets demanding change,” David Hogg told me by phone Friday afternoon.His message to politicians is simple: “Instead of condolences, give us action. There is something seriously wrong here.”Hogg noted in our conversation that he and his contemporaries make up the first post-9/11 generation.They also are the first to be immersed in digital culture from early childhood, and to understand at a gut level its full potential.“Using these tools,” he said, “is what our generation should be known for.”Margaret Sullivan is The Washington Post’s media columnist. Previously, she was the New York Times public editor. Enter Hogg.The 17-year-old is the school’s student news director, who not only interviewed his fellow students during the horrific massacre at his school on Wednesday, but then spoke with passion to national media figures, providing footage that has now circled the globe.In a level gaze directly into CNN’s camera, Hogg called out politicians for their hapless dithering.“We’re children. You guys are the adults. … Work together, come over your politics and get something done,” Hogg said.Hogg wasn’t the only teenage survivor who demonstrated thoughtfulness and poise this week.When CBS’ Jeff Glor interviewed four Douglas High students on his evening news show Thursday night, their quiet strength was remarkable.They didn’t, of course, all have the same message. “It’s really tragic that one of the ways our movement grows stronger is by having more victims,” he said, “but that is the reality.”Of course, the status quo is so corrupted and intransigent that perhaps nothing that is said – including by the transcendent voices of these young survivors – will make a difference.As so many others have observed, even the 2012 massacre of tiny children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, didn’t create change.This week, though, feels just a little different.In the wake of the massacre, students are demanding a more meaningful conversation on gun regulation, Robert Runcie, superintendent of the Broward County schools, acknowledged at a news conference Thursday.“I hope we can get it done in this generation,” he said. “But if we don’t, they will.”The passion, intelligence and credibility of the Douglas High survivors is not going to go away. Categories: Editorial, OpinionTelegenic and media-savvy is one way to describe David Hogg, a lean and dark-haired senior at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.But maybe a better way is this: Change agent.And what could be more sorely needed than a change agent right now?Because the mass shootings in America have become a horror of repetition in which meaningful change has come to seem impossible. Two of the students Glor interviewed made the too-familiar case that it is too soon to be entering into political conversations. Another argued for greater gun control.One simply wanted to remind viewers to express love to their family and friends while they can.But what ties them together is their command of the visual medium and their powerful composure amid the worst kind of tragedy.This seems all the more notable because they are teenagers.But, in fact, it’s probably their very youth, and the all-digital world of social media – the water they’ve always swum in – that makes it possible.This is the YouTube, the Instagram, the Snapchat generation.Communicating immediately and effectively is second nature.
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Topics : The newswire will close at the end of June while its subediting business Pagemasters is set to close at the end of August.In a statement, the company’s closure was attributed to the “unprecedented impact” of digital platforms taking content and distributing it for free.”We have reached the point where it is no longer viable to continue,” the statement said.Staff were told between 30 and 50 jobs would be made available at the company’s two major shareholders Nine and News Corp Australia. Up to 180 people currently work in editorial at AAP. Australia’s only national newswire will close after 85 years in operation, with staff told Tuesday their jobs will come to an end in June.Australian Associated Press’ closure was announced at a staff meeting in the company’s headquarters in Sydney, with chief executive Bruce Davidson describing it as a sad day.”AAP has been a critical part of journalism in Australia since 1935, and it is tragic that it will come to an end,” Davidson said.
Ahsanul Khalik, the head of the province’s COVID-19 relief task force, said his team had called on the North Lombok administration, as well as business owners on the Gili Islands, to provide accurate information regarding the current situation to prevent any panic among the public and tourists in the region.Read also: COVID-19: Not all hand sanitizers work against it – here’s what you should useThe task force, along with the health agency and other stakeholders, would disinfect a number of major public spaces on the Gilis during the 14-day restriction, Ahsanul said.“Tourists who are visiting Gili should continue enjoying their trip without having to panic. There’s no need to leave Lombok; we only restricted access for 14 days,” he said.Indonesia has announced 17 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 134 with five fatalities as of Monday afternoon. (rfa)Topics : Read also: Stay home, President says“We have received reports of tourists panicking and rushing to leave Gili Trawangan because of the prevalent misinformation about the restriction of all access to NTB. It’s untrue; there’s no lockdown,” NTB’s Communications and Information Agency head, I Gede Putu Aryadi, said on Monday.He reiterated that the administration had only agreed to temporarily restrict access to Gili Trawangan, particularly via speedboats from the neighboring resort island of Bali. Other points of entry, such as the Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok and Lembar Port in West Lombok, remain operational, he added.“We restricted access to the Gili islands because Bali has reported positive COVID-19 cases. The restriction is specifically meant for speedboat arrivals from Bali. Boats are still allowed to depart from Gili, so tourists may leave without panicking,” he said. The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) administration has restricted access to its popular tourist destinations, the three Gili islands off Lombok, for 14 days over concerns of a nationwide COVID-19 outbreak.The restriction was implemented as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded nationally topped 100, raising concerns over an escalated health crisis, particularly in popular destinations such as Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air, known for their pristine white sandy beaches and underwater scenery.However, administration officials have denied that the province was in full lockdown mode, as tourists who wish to leave Gili Trawangan are still able to do so by boat.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry has named an individual identified as IQ, the commissioner of logging company CV. Sumber Berkat Makmur (SBM), a suspect in an illegal logging case in Sabuai village, Eastern Seram regency, Maluku.The ministry’s law enforcement division for Maluku and Papua has seized a wheel loader, two bulldozers and 25 logs of various varieties and sizes as evidence in the case.Investigators suspect the logs came from the Sabuai indigenous village, where residents had been involved in disputes with the logging company. The division’s head, Yosep Nong, said his office was looking into the case. “We seized the evidence as we obtained a warrant from a district court,” he said in a statement.Read also: Prosecutions continue amid lack of indigenous people’s protectionIQ has been charged under the 2013 law on forest destruction, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years’ imprisonment and a Rp 100 billion (US$6.3 million) fine.The indigenous community of Sabuai has protested the company’s operations near Mount Ahwale. The police detained two people and named them suspects in mid-February for allegedly damaging heavy equipment belonging to the logging company.The ministry’s law enforcement director general, Rasio Ridho Sani, said illegal logging was among the ministry’s priority agendas, as such activity was rampant in Maluku and Papua, among other regions.“We have prosecuted 389 illegal logging cases. The practice has not only caused financial losses to the state but also endangered people’s lives as it disrupts nature’s balance,” Rasio said. Topics :
In hearing these cases, the presiding judge could limit the number of people allowed inside the courtroom to observe the social-distancing regime now recommended in all public places. Everyone coming to a courtroom must also have their temperature taken.“Judges and everyone in the room can use protective gear, such as face masks and gloves,” Hatta said.He appealed to the public seeking court services to turn to the internet.“Justice seekers are encouraged to use the e-litigation applications for civil, religious and state administrative cases,” he said, adding that many court officials, including judges, could handle them by working from home. Some court officials, including those at the Supreme Court, however, still turn up to work to provide certain public services that could not be provided online. The Justice Monitoring Coalition, an NGO, criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to continue holding hearings, saying this could compromise the health and safety of court officials.“This could endanger court officials and prisoners,” the coalition said in a statement.The coalition also called on the Supreme Court to release prisoners with minor crimes, such as drug users who make up the bulk of inmates, to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Indonesian prisons are notoriously overcrowded. The coalition cited data from the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Correctional Facilities Directorate General showing that the number of prisoners in the country exceeded prisons’ capacity by 98 percent. (mfp)Topics : The Supreme Court has decided to put on hold most trials across the country because of the coronavirus outbreak but will move on with cases where the detention period has almost ended.In a circular issued on Monday, chief justice M. Hatta Ali said the ruling applied to cases heard at district, military and religious courts and where it was no longer legally possible to extend the detention period.Otherwise, their detention should be extended until the end of the COVID-19 crisis, he said.