eyelash growth

An end to prison terms and exorbitant fines for crimes of defamation, slander and libel remains a key objective for the overall improvement in freedom of information in the southern countries of South America. In this respect, Argentina and Uruguay have shown the way.

However, the step remains to be taken by Ecuador, which is still under the influence of the El Universo case, Bolivia, Colombia and Chile.

Decriminalization is urgent in Peru, where a promising reform of the criminal code approved in July 2011 has not yet been enacted. Will President Ollanta Humala carry out the commitments he gave to the Press and Society Institute (IPYS) just over a month before he was elected on 5 May?

Reporters without Borders notes that, in contrast to the head of state’s personal wishes, too many legal proceedings and vexatious applications continue to hamper the free flow of information and opinion, encouraging self-censorship on the part of journalists and bloggers.

Bureaucratic harassment is particularly evident when an article or a report criticises a politician, highlights cases of corruption and conflicts of interest or examines allegations of collusion – sometimes borne out — between some members of the security forces and organized crime.

2011 was a fateful year for the Peruvian press, with the murders of three of its members and the six-month detention of radio and television journalist Paul Garay Ramírez, wrongfully convicted of defaming a prosecutor.

Other cases still pending require the country’s highest authorities to keep their promises. The future of freedom of information and the right to criticise depends on their outcome.

Political scandals

On 9 January, TV journalist Gaston Dario Medina Sotomayor will learn whether his three-year suspended prison sentence and the award of civil damages of 10,000 soles (3,700 dollars) against him have been upheld on appeal.

Sotomayor, who works for the TV station Cadena Sur TV-Canal 15 and Radio Nova FM in the southern city of Ica, was convicted by a local court on 30 September 2011 for having described Congressman José Luis Elias Avalos as a political defector.

The term refers to a political scandal that broke in 2008 when members of parliament were accused of accepting cash payments to leave their original party in mid-term and join that founded and led by former President Alberto Fujimori. Avalos, a former member of the Avancemos party, was eventually cleared of accepting nearly 100,000 dollars to join the Fujimori camp.

Teobaldo Meléndez Fachín, editor of the radio and television programme “Ribereña Noticias”, received an even harsher sentence for “aggravated defamation” on 7 November for condemning a banking and property scam implicating the mayor of the northern town of Yurimaguas, Juan Daniel Mesía Camus.

The three-year suspended sentence he was given could be made custodial unless he pays 30,000 soles (11,000 dollars) in damages claimed by the plaintiff. The journalist filed an appeal a week after he was convicted.

“Local authorities believe themselves to be all-powerful because they have money, but this money really belongs to the people,” Meléndez told Reporters without Borders. “It is the second time I have been convicted for exposing cases of corruption and fraudulent operations.”

He pointed out that the first judge appointed to hear his case was replaced just as the aggravated defamation charges were about to be quashed.

Norbil Vallejo Saavedra, managing editor of the bi-monthly Quincenario Macro Regional Nuevo Confidencial in the north-western province of Chiclayo was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 soles (3,700 dollars) two days ago. He immediately filed an appeal.

A complaint had been lodged against him on 3 October 2011 by David Cornejo Chinguel, owner of the private university Instituto Juan Mejía Baca for reporting fraud allegations made by students against the institute’s management.

The case implicates the plaintiff’s son who is suspected of getting young people to hand over large sums of money for non-existent courses.

The journalist told Reporters without Borders he feared for his newspaper’s survival. He also pointed to the close relations between the complainant and local magistrates.

Satire banned

The journalist and blogger Luis Torres Montero was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment – the first year custodial and the second suspended – and a fine of 155,000 soles (55,000 dollars) for defaming the former defense minister, Rafael Rey, in an article published in the newspaper La Primera in April 2010.

The story, regarded as a literary satire by the journalist, was headlined “Rafi Rey doesn’t dare come out of the closet” and presented Rey as a homosexual, which was cited by the latter as grounds for legal proceedings.

Torres lodged an appeal on 22 December and awaits the forthcoming verdict.

“The article is a criticism of Peru’s conservative society which has a low tolerance of minorities and regards homosexuality as something unnatural,” Torres told Reporters without Borders.

“By writing this piece, which is fiction and not based on fact, I wanted to place Rafal Rey, a former defense minister and a high official of Opus Dei, in a scene that he himself does not tolerate.”

Another blogger, José Alejandro Godoy, was accused of defaming the former Fujimori minister, Jorge Mufarech, and sentenced by a Lima court on 29 October 2010 to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 soles (107,000 dollars), as well as 120 days of social work.

Godoy published an article in his blog Desde el Tercer Piso repeating all the allegations reported in other media outlets against Mufarech over various financial scandals and including links to the source of each one.

On 3 November 2011, his lawyer Roberto Pereira filed a new appeal against the sentence, which is unjust in substance, contrary to the constitution and a breach of precedents set by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in three similar cases.

Reporters without Borders is pleased to learn that a court has quashed journalist and blogger José Alejandro Godoy’s criminal defamation conviction on appeal. The court ruled that the complaint that former labour minister Jorge Mufarech brought against Godoy was baseless and incoherent.

A legal farce

The radio station La Voz de Bagua, based in the town of the same name, was closed down in June 2009 on the pretext of using a frequency without authorisation, although it had a 10-year licence to broadcast on the frequency since 2007. In reality, the station was accused by the government of the time of supporting an uprising by indigenous groups in the Amazonian region of Yurimaguas.

The station, also with Roberto Pereira as defense counsel, was allowed to return to the airwaves in August 2010.

However, its manager Aurora Burgos de Flores still faces a charge of illegal use of the radio spectrum, for which she faces four years’ imprisonment and a fine demanded by the public prosecutor.

Her retrial was to have been held on 15 November 2011 after countless appeals but Judge Marleni Urbina Quispe, who had been assigned to the case, never turned up at court. as Burgos de Flores’s friends have pointed out, President Humala himself expressed concern about the fate of the station and its staff before he was elected. this legal farce must be now be brought to an end.

Reporters without Borders will continue to support the campaign for decriminalization of press offences launched on 23 November 2011 by Peru’s National Association of Journalists.

<a href="http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=41631tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article”>Decriminalization of press offences a major issue in 2012 – Reporters Without Borders

I got fisted and got my upper lip swollen and not just the upper lip but the area above the upper lip has also got some swollen appearance specially the left side area, it also gave me a little bump inside my left nostril…its been 7 years since that incident, but the swelling thing is still there, I am asking this question this late because I matched my current photo with my older one and i could see the difference…it has kind of evolved in this time…whats the treatment that can be afforded without any plastic surgery?

What is the treatment for a permanent swelling on face after fist injury?

Santander, through both Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, are offering a high interest deal by linking a high interest current account with a high interest regular savings account.

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You can apply for the current accounts, from both Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, online.

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The savings accounts are only available to new customers who do not currently have a current account with Alliance & Leicester, Abbey, Cahoot or Cater Allen and have not held a current account within the 3 months preceeding an application.

The savings account require a regular savings amount to be added each month, from £20 to £250 and no withdrawals can be made during the 12 month fixed period.

As Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk comments ‘As long as you’re comfortable that you can contribute 12 equal monthly payments without the need to access your account then it’s definitely worth a look. if you’re a disciplined regular saver this market leading rate will ensure you receive a decent return on your cash.’

The offer is available until 5 September 09.

<a href="http://www.moneyhighstreet.com/credit-card-news/body-art-or-boob-job-christmas-present/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.moneyhighstreet.com/credit-card-news/body-art-or-boob-job-christmas-present/Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:39:33 GMT”>Link a current account and savings account to get a high interest deal

By Evelyn Jackson December 18, 2011

Turn on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and you’ll see the star, Victoria, sparkle and shimmy. She and her male co-singer harmonize, “I will try everything to make you grow closer to me … I want you all to myself … I’ll try 365 days, 365 ways to get to you.”

Tame for teens, and intriguing for many preteens, but not perhaps for an 8-year-old girl who may be mystified by the sexually suggestive moves of Victoria and the male-female lyrical message.

What about the latest Barbie dolls you can see on the Internet — the first 11 pages of the website full of Barbies with blue eyes and blond hair? Barbie is, of course, part of the mainstream culture, and many girls see her as a role model. but what kind of message does Barbie give when your child is half Latino and half Indian?

How do you respond when your 6-year-old son chooses a toy gun as a gift for his friend’s birthday party? Fine if you accept that toy as one that would be fun for the birthday boy, but what if you are a parent who does not think toy guns are appropriate?

Finally, is it OK to give your child permission to celebrate the April herring run if your family is Native American even if that ceremony falls on a Thursday and the teachers will not excuse that as a legal absence?

For the first few years of a child’s life, the TV programs, toys and celebrations experienced at home may not be seen as unusual. the only world your child knows is the one you have created for him. Once a child starts school, however, the culture of the home may not match the cultural norm.

Lisa Delpit, author of “Other People’s Children” (2nd edition, the new Press, 2006), knows it is not easy for a child to realize that the way he has been raised looks peculiar to his friends.

“We do not really see through our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs,” she writes.

What are these clashes and what is the best way to handle them?

Caitlin Hamaty of Eastham has experienced the cultural clash for two years. Her parents, Monica and Rob Hess, feel that Nickelodeon’s “Victoria” is “not a model for their daughter.” Victoria, they say, dresses as if she should be in her 20s and yet she is marketed to tweens.

“At first,” says Caitlin, “when I was 6, I was kind of sad that I couldn’t watch what the other girls watched. They talked a lot about Victoria. One of my friends said she would be Cat from ‘Victorious’ for Halloween. Others talked about what was happening on the show and I said I remembered it when I didn’t really know about it. I was confused. if told them I was not allowed to watch that

program, they would say, ‘Your mom is so

Danielle Carrigo of new Bedford is from Mexico, her husband from India. She is faced with a similar dilemma when she looks at the cultural norms and sees that they do not fit her family. Carrigo is aware that her daughters — now 5 and 7 years old — need guidance when they get blond/blue eyed Barbies as gifts. Her girls are brown-eyed and brown-haired. She does not want them to think that “beauty is only in one color.”

The culture clash may also come when you as a parent choose gifts for other children. your selection sends a message about your values and may make clear that the beliefs in your home do not match the mainstream.

Cindy Horgan is the Family Support Coordinator at Cape Cod Children’s place in Eastham. “Two of my sons had a universal craving to play with guns. When they were little, I stood so strongly against this. They would choose a toy gun for a gift for a friend’s party and say, ‘Mom, this is the present they want.’ I’d answer, ‘I’ll never contribute to anyone’s arsenal.’ then I’d buy something artsy for the birthday boy and my sons thought they would be laughed at for that present.”

Fear of being singled out for a different way of behaving is familiar to many young people. for the Wampanoag of Mashpee, this awareness that they are different extends to their education. according to Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, the disconnect comes when we put the traditions of the tribe against the established educational system. “Our people,” he says, “suffer from a high school graduation rate of only 48 percent.”

Cromwell explains, “We give thanks for everything on the earth, for the four-legged creatures, for the trees, for the resources that are part of the circle of life. Historically the Europeans took away many pieces of who we were. though those things don’t happen today, the school system has to teach our kids in a way they can understand. Native American children are a different kind of learners, for example, they have to see a picture of a bear and talk about what a bear does. if they are just shown the word bear, it does not build as strong a foundation.”

Then too, he says, children learn better from role models they can identify with and who understand the Native American identity.

“Right around April,” Cromwell says, “the earth opens up, bearing her fruit, the herring come out. They are part of our sustenance, part of what kept us alive, and we need to give thanks. In the dominant society, however, educators may say, ‘What the heck are you talking about? the herring is just a fish. go back and read about Paul Revere. Why are you taking a day off from school for a herring ceremony?’”

Carrigo’s job as assistant superintendent of equity, diversity and family in the new Bedford public schools puts her in a position to see a spectrum of cultural clashes and therefore many opportunities for misunderstanding.

For example, she says, “There are some Asian cultures where people will smile when they are apologizing. it may mean ‘I’m happy you are punishing me, correcting me.’ if you haven’t had a chance to educate educators, they may see the child as disrespectful. for children of Latino background some may address the teacher with ‘teacher, teacher, teacher.’ some teachers feel if they were respected they wouldn’t be calling that out, that the child should know my name. but in Spanish, the word is maestro, which is someone who has mastered their subject. it is a very respectful term.”

Horgan sees these colliding value systems on the Cape as well. She says, “In addition to different family designs — same-sex families, grandparent families — there is also a unique economic clash. In some inner cities in the state, for example, everyone is on the same page — poor. In Wellesley, rich. on the Cape we are land-rich and resource-poor. there could be a child from an upper-class, educated family sitting next to a child from a family that is pressured to make ends meet. it is unusual to have both ends of the spectrum here — wealth and poverty side by side. we can see this clash when children open their lunchboxes. for example, one child might have a lunch of dipped cheese, another with cut roast beef from the deli department. Clothes also tell the difference. One child has $150 sneakers, the one next to him, sneakers from Kmart. by middle school, children begin to notice.”

For both families and cultures with different belief systems and for those in the mainstream culture, knowing about these differences is key to softening misunderstandings. for those children who might think Caitlin’s mom is “mean” because of the TV choices she makes for her child, perhaps when they are older, they will understand the thinking behind her prohibitions.

Until that happens, it is the role of the parents to educate the child — to keep firm to their beliefs.

“When Caitlin was in preschool,” says Monica Hess, “some of her classmates were having ‘Hannah Montana’ birthday parties. At 4 years old, they wanted to dress like her. there were ‘Hannah Montana’ party hats, paper plates.

“The fact that the plates and hats exist shows that the ‘Hannah Montana’ company is marketing its product toward a younger age. At 13, girls would not be having a themed party.

“Sometimes it is frustrating to me because I am making a lot of unpopular decisions,” Hess says. “Maybe I’m the odd parent out. but then I think again and say, no, this is what I believe. I know I’m making unpopular decisions, but I believe in them. Being a parent is not a popularity contest. It’s not about giving into peer pressure and seeing what others do and saying so I should, too. my children totally accept these rules.”

Caitlin gives evidence that her mom is right.

“If I watched those programs I’d keep talking about it,” she says. “I’d probably not want to stop and I’d turn into a couch potato.”

Caitlin’s little sister, Keira, is 14 months old. what rules would Caitlin make for her if it were up to her?

“I’d say she should watch the shows I used to watch at her age, like ‘SpongeBob’ and Elmo and not inappropriate shows. I don’t want those shows to get stuck in her head.”

Like Hess, Carrigo holds firm to her beliefs for her own children. She explains, “In this house, we do it this way, in that house, that way. we have conversations and they are not always easy, but we try to get them to a level that they understand. if they get a gift like a Barbie doll, I don’t take it away, but we do talk about how the dolls they have are just as beautiful.”

Some cultural clashes can be eased through compromise. Remember Cindy Horgan’s opposition to buying toy guns for a birthday gift? recently her family bought a vacation place in Vermont on 10 acres. there, Horgan said, “we have a neighbor who hunts. he invited our sons to go skeet shooting with him. he told us that one of our sons was very good and had an eye for it. I had to re-evaluate my opposition. I moved from the no-guns position to the perspective of guns used responsibly. I realized that with my first stance, I was not teaching: I was controlling.” the Horgan family saw what was positive in a toy they had previously opposed.

Through her position with the new Bedford school system, Carrigo has suggestions to further cultural understanding when the dominant culture that the schools represent educates children from a different background. .

“It is always helpful if families can go to school and explain their differences just as they can go to school and say, ‘My child has peanut allergies, or can’t eat wheat,’” Horgan says. “They could say, ‘My

child speaks a different language at home, or we celebrate this religion during this time, or my child will be dressed in a different way, or my child

will not be eating lunch this month.’

“In a perfect world, schools would begin with this knowledge,” she says, “but we are not there yet. This way, schools can at least be prepared.”

Cromwell sees that having the dominant culture understand the American Indian traditions is in part financial. In his view, under No Child Left Behind, more Title 7 funding should have been put into school to enable students to succeed. “In Mashpee” he points out, “only $40,000 of Title 7 dollars have been allotted to pay for tutoring, educational advocacy, recruiting high-quality teachers and principals, and for the development of a curriculum designed to meet the learning style of our tribal students in the public schools.” it has not been enough, he says, in light of the low high school graduation rate.

Cromwell hopes that if the school better understands the customs and traditions of the Native Americans, that understanding will boost the students’ confidence, and it will help to overcome all the years that the tribe has felt disrespected. Once that happens, the Wampanoag will prosper and be competitive; they can collaborate so that both sides will benefit. Or as Cromwell puts it metaphorically, “We can walk with one foot in the moccasin and one foot in the shoe.”

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Sofitel to open flagship property in Mumbai.Thursday, 29th December 2011Source : HVS International

Accor’s Sofitel Luxury Hotels unit has announced the opening of a luxury hotel in Mumbai on 26 December. Located at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the hotel has been designed by the architects at BBGM (USA), with interior designers at the Miaja Design Group (Singapore) led by Isabelle Miaja, a renowned French designer. all 302 rooms, including 31 suites, feature MyBedTM concept, an all-feather bed combined with an extra-light down duvet. the Club Millesime, the club floor, offers an executive lounge and bar with indoor and terrace seating. According to the company release, in the food and beverage section, the hotel will offer six distinctive restaurants and bars: Pondich