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More Haitians using Puerto Rico as migrant route - Globe Gazette
Mason City Globe Gazette Hundreds of Haitian migrants have made their way to Puerto Rico in recent months. They've found that if they can make it to the U.S. territory without getting arrested, they can fly on to U.S. cities such as Miami, Boston or New York without having to ... |
Puerto Rico business groups and some municipal governments are teaming up against a proposed $1 billion overhaul of a sales and use tax that is a key component of a budget proposal meant to cut a large deficit in the debt-ridden economy.
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ANDREY TSELIKOV
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Every Russian opposition rally and march attracts wild online speculation about the numbers of participants — both by observers and the participants themselves. This week's May 6 rally commemorating last year's event which ended in violence and arrests (the so-called Bolotnaya prisoners) was no exception.
As usual, the estimates ranged widely even before the scheduled start of the rally at 7:00 PM. At 6:38 PM journalist Alina Grebneva tweeted [ru] that she thought there were 2.5 thousand people present. Just two minutes later shetweeted again [ru] that another journalist next to her estimated 5 or 6 thousand. Around the same time, at 6:46 PM, Coordinating Council member Ilya Yashin estimated [ru] that there were already 30,000 participants.
The next batch of estimates came after 7:00 PM: first, at 7:06 PM leftist leader Sergey Udaltsov (who is under house arrest, and therefore was not actually present at the rally) tweeted [ru] that there were 50,000 people, Yashin repeated[ru] this figure at 7:10. Meanwhile, by 7:26 PM Grebneva updated her estimate [ru] to 10,000. At around the same time Moscow police low-balled with an estimate [ru] of 7 thousand people passing their metal detector checkpoints, while Radio Svoboda said [ru] that the “consensus” seemed to be around 15-20 thousand. At 7:46 PM Echo Moskvy's Alexey Venediktov did some “math” based on the area of the Bolotnaya Square and arrived at anywhere from 28 to 42 thousand people (at 2 and 3 people per square meter).
Of course, all of these numbers were pure guesswork (doubly so on Udaltsov's part). It is extremely hard to judge the size of a crowd even with a bird's eye view, harder still when you are actually part of the crowd, or looking at it from one side — which is the reason why such estimates always vary widely (one is reminded of journalist Oleg Kozyrev's tweets about hundreds of thousands of participants at one of the prior marches). What is surprising is the ease with which the people guesstimating could arrive at a reasonably accurate number, if only they were willing to put in the time.
Enter SONAR [ru], a group of electoral observer volunteers, who have organized a hand count of rally participants using tally counters (RuNet Echo has previously reported [ru] on their attempts to arrive at accurate rally counts). SONAR has been tweeting [ru] and updating its Facebook page [ru] live, as the results came in, and it is interesting to compare these results to the various numbers thrown around on Twitter.
At 6:30 PM SONAR counted 7,000, by 7:00 PM the number grew to 13,900 — a far cry from 30,000 first estimated by Yashin, but already higher than the final police estimate. At 7:30 SONAR counted 22,100 people, a number which oddly continued growing until the rally ended at 8:30, with 27,500. It is unclear if the count reflects a lag in reporting, or if there were indeed 5 thousand stragglers who showed up to see the last few minutes of speeches (and missed Oleg Kashin's singing). Although the final number will probably upset both supporters and detractors of the protest cause, it appear to be relatively accurate, as it is in line with some of the saner estimates. Incidentally, SONAR has shown once again that a simple averaging of highest and lowest estimates often works perfectly — Yashin's 50,000 plus the police's 7,000, divided by 2, is 28,500 people.
As usual, the estimates ranged widely even before the scheduled start of the rally at 7:00 PM. At 6:38 PM journalist Alina Grebneva tweeted [ru] that she thought there were 2.5 thousand people present. Just two minutes later shetweeted again [ru] that another journalist next to her estimated 5 or 6 thousand. Around the same time, at 6:46 PM, Coordinating Council member Ilya Yashin estimated [ru] that there were already 30,000 participants.
Journalist Oleg Kashin singing cult punk classic “Everything is According to Plan” in lieu of a speech at the May 6, 2013 rally in Moscow. YouTube screenshot, May 6, 2013.
Of course, all of these numbers were pure guesswork (doubly so on Udaltsov's part). It is extremely hard to judge the size of a crowd even with a bird's eye view, harder still when you are actually part of the crowd, or looking at it from one side — which is the reason why such estimates always vary widely (one is reminded of journalist Oleg Kozyrev's tweets about hundreds of thousands of participants at one of the prior marches). What is surprising is the ease with which the people guesstimating could arrive at a reasonably accurate number, if only they were willing to put in the time.
SONAR's website. Screenshot, May 6, 2013.
At 6:30 PM SONAR counted 7,000, by 7:00 PM the number grew to 13,900 — a far cry from 30,000 first estimated by Yashin, but already higher than the final police estimate. At 7:30 SONAR counted 22,100 people, a number which oddly continued growing until the rally ended at 8:30, with 27,500. It is unclear if the count reflects a lag in reporting, or if there were indeed 5 thousand stragglers who showed up to see the last few minutes of speeches (and missed Oleg Kashin's singing). Although the final number will probably upset both supporters and detractors of the protest cause, it appear to be relatively accurate, as it is in line with some of the saner estimates. Incidentally, SONAR has shown once again that a simple averaging of highest and lowest estimates often works perfectly — Yashin's 50,000 plus the police's 7,000, divided by 2, is 28,500 people.
Written by Andrey Tselikov · comments (0)
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 ABC News |
More Haitians Using Puerto Rico as Migrant Route
ABC News Hundreds of Haitian migrants have made their way to Puerto Rico in recent months. They've found that if they can make it to the U.S. territory without getting arrested, they can fly on to U.S. cities such as Miami, Boston or New York without having to ... and more » |
JANE ELLIS
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The ‘Marriage for All’ bill approved by France on April 23, 2013, allows gay men and women the same rights to get married as heterosexuals. Several months of bitter debates broadcast by Francophone Africa media have brought the subject home to many African countries, leading to interesting reactions.
Several media outlets in Africa have already reported the case of two South African men who married each other in the ‘traditional’ style:
However, in Francophone Africa, where homosexuality is still severely penalised in several countries, this event has not been copied.
In Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivoire, there has mostly been a jokey tone to comments. On Facebook people joked about the subject, making allusions to emigration by family regrouping:
Some Ivoirians expressed their incomprehension of homosexuality and the possible consequences of the legalisation of gay marriage:
Several media outlets in Africa have already reported the case of two South African men who married each other in the ‘traditional’ style:
In Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivoire, there has mostly been a jokey tone to comments. On Facebook people joked about the subject, making allusions to emigration by family regrouping:
“Le Mariage pour tous voté à Paris; Enjaillement [réjouissance] dans certaines rues de Babi. Djo le frère Madou peut venir marier [épouser] son frère ABLO et partir avec lui à Bengue, le frère DIGBEU peut venir épouser son ami SERI et PARIS est gagné…
Marriage for all voted in by Paris, rejoicing in some streets of Babi. Djo the Madou brother can marry his ABLO brother and leave with him for Bengue, the DIGBEU brother can marry his SERI friend and Paris is won…
The Côte d’Ivoire is one of the few countries in the region which does not penalise homosexuality. In a short film on YouTube, several Ivoirian internet users nonetheless underlined their fears and a showed a moderate point of view.@MyMaLuyDealBi: Après ce sera au tour de la polygamie pour tous j’espère. Oui c’est cela aussi le mariage, en France ou ailleurs
@MyMaLuyDealBi: After this I hope it will be the turn of polygamy for all. Yes, that too is marriage, in France or elsewhere
@Lord225: La prochaine etape c'est d'adopter les enfants que les couples normaux auront fait. Pfff Grand N'importe Quoi #directAN
@Lord225: The next step is to adopt the children that normal couples have had. Pfff Doesn't make any sense#directAN
Gay people in Africa continue to be subject to violence and are sometimes even in danger of death. Homosexuality is still against the law in nearly 40 African countries, the most aggressively so being Uganda and Liberia.
Written by Philippe Léveillée · Translated by Jane Ellis · View original post [fr] · comments (1)
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 Above the Law |
It's Her Beloved World, And We're Just Living In It: Justice Sotomayor Speaks ...
Above the Law Justice Sonia Sotomayor, author of an acclaimed memoir, My Beloved World (affiliate link), delivered the Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture at the PEN World Voices Festival here in New York. After Justice Sotomayor's speech, she engaged in ... |
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Phonics Songs 2
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A song to help children to learnthe letters sound. Watch Now!
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Puerto Rico business, local governments line up against proposed budget
Reuters May 6 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico business groups and some municipal governments are teaming up against a proposed $1 billion overhaul of a sales and use tax that is a key component of a budget proposal meant to cut a large deficit in the debt-ridden ... Consul General Xu Erwen meets with Governor of Puerto RicoMFA China all 2 news articles » |
