Et hop une petite vente privée de bijoux N2!!!! Bon c’est pas les dernières collections, mais ça reste hyper mignon!!!

Sautoir "Dans ma bulle" 13€

C’est ou? Sur Espace Max ici

Boucles "Dans ma bulle" 17€

C’est quand? A partir d’aujourd’hui jusqu’au 10 novembre….

Bracelet "Chabada" 18€

Alors pour des petits bijoux trop choux à prix tout doux….

flo et lou

Previous research suggests a relationship between spatial attention and phonological decoding in developmental dyslexia. The aim of this study was to examine differences between good and poor phonological decoders in the allocation of spatial attention to global and local levels of hierarchical stimuli. A further aim was to investigate the relationship between global/local processing and electrophysiological indices (N1, N2) of spatial attention in these groups. Good (n = 18) and poor (n = 16) phonological decoders were selected on the basis of non-word reading ability. Participants responded to either the global or local level of hierarchical stimuli presented in the left or right visual field in a sustained attention task. Poor phonological decoders showed slower RT relative to good phonological decoders regardless of whether attention was directed to either global or local processing levels. This was accompanied by a lack of task-related modulation of the posterior N1 and N2 Event-Related Potential (ERP) components, suggesting differences in the early allocation of spatial attention and later perceptual processing respectively. Poor decoders also showed greater N2 amplitude overall, suggestive of compensatory processing at later perceptual stages. There was preliminary evidence for sex differences in hemispheric lateralisation, with a reversal of hemispheric lateralisation observed among male and female poor phonological decoders. These findings have important implications for the understanding of the relationship between spatial attention and phonological decoding in developmental dyslexia.

from Brain and Language

Banyak orang pasti bingung membaca judul post ini.

Music, Ok…

Band, Ok..

N2, heh ?? Apa itu ?

N2 sebenernya adalah sebuah band yang terbentuk September 2008. Personilnya terdiri dari 4 orang + 1 orang executive manager..

Ini adalah pelampiasan saya dalam bermusik. Saat bosan dan gak ada kerjaan, biasanya kami berkumpul di studio untuk latihan (diluar latihan rutin seminggu sekali..) Sudah banyak lagu yang tercipta dan kami aransemen, namun kesempatan untuk recording masih belum bisa dilakukan.. Pray for the best ja yap…

Membuat lagu adalah salah satu kegiatan yang biasa saya lakukan saat sedang tidak ada kerjaan atau di waktu luang. Hali ini tidak menutup kemungkinan saat belajar untuk ujian dan ulangan, saat bad temperate, atau saat sibuk sekalipun. Inspirasinya banyak, bisa tentang kehidupan, alam, freindship, dan masih banyak lagi..

Tunggu ja kabar selanjutnya ya…

Built to live not to die

Just over a year ago, I met some creative minds from Isobar, one of  Nokia’s digital agencies. One of their strategic leads used the term “built to live” in his presentation, to describe the right kind of presence that brands should have when going online. Around a coffee table discussion, we would all agree that you can’t just “copy->paste->print->web”, but sadly enough, that is often the case.

Since the birth of the internet, companies of all sizes have been entering this exciting  “always on” media with different levels of  “corporate ambitions”.  This new environment forced companies to re-think their definitions of media, but also brought more fundamental questions to the core attributes of the brand itself.

Although technological innovation has accelerated insurmountably in the last 10 years, i feel there are still certain building blocks that remain relatively unchanged, when it comes to a successful brand presence on the Web. I’ve taken a stab at defining these in more detail below.

Meaningfulness

In the digital space, the experience IS the brand. Edward T. Hall, a non-verbal communication genious once said that verbal communication (in terms of words) accounts to only a fraction of the actual meaning delivered in a conversation. All the non-verbal ques such as gestures, tone of voice, bodylanguage and cultural/social context comprise of the largest part of the deciphered message. Analog brands are used to talking at consumers. Brands in the digital space are the brand they express through their actions. A great creative mind at N2 Helsinki, recently made the comment on how brands used to be the the visual objects that talked down to consumers. In this time and age, brands in the digital space are equal to any personal brand. Barriers are broken, people have the power and successful brands need to be “good people” if they want to succeed.

In practice, this implies that corporations need to think about the meaningfulness of their brand in the digital space. Meaning is derived from values, self-esteem, character and composure; all attributes that can be found (in one form or another), in the brand guidelines of the company. The interpretation/implementation of these guidelines, is what often goes wrong. Analog brands PRESENT the brand. Digital brands ARE the brand and deliver on the brand promise through good behavior and useful doing.

Sustainability

Another cornerstone for success in the digital space is built around the notion of continuity. John Willshire created a great presentation in which he referred to advertising as being like “fireworks”. They come in a nice package and you just light them up and shoot them off to the sky. You get a lot of reach and at best, people say “WOW! Nice firework” and then return to whatever they were doing. Bonfires are social gatherings. People are at the heart of them and the process takes time/effort, but the fire can be infinitely re-ignited from the burning coals in the fireplace. Fireworks are just as common in the digital environment. Campaigns are in essence “built to die” as they have a window of 2-3 months after which they are taken down and planning starts for the next “firework”. Good brands think about continuity and sustainability in their marketing efforts. Ask yourself, what’s the “red thread” between the communication streams i’m creating. Do i just shoot off fireworks or do i build bonfires and actively participate in them?

With such great web 2.0 tools available, there shouldn’t be an excuse for shooting fireworks. Stop replacing time with money, hire some community managers and social media optimizers and start building a sustainable presence for your brand. Your advocates will love you for it.

Scalability

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, establishing a scalable presence on the web takes time as well as “machinery”. When i refer to scalability, i mean 2 different things:  platform & presence. Platform scalability in terms of using technology that is easy to use, deploy, expand and build upon. A few months ago, i had the privilege to meet Raanan Bar-Cohen from Automattic, the company responsible (amongst many things) of keeping this blog up and running. Raanan mentioned how the core of WordPress is only a few megs and how everything else can easily be built onto plug-ins, thus allowing easy customization that can be scaled when new platform releases come out.

Although scalability from a platform perspective is important, it’s the presence side that i feel is even more vital. Many of the platform related scalability issues fail when the web presence is treated as an end destination. In today’s web, there is no end destination. Consumers navigate through purchase funnels that are not linear, and investing in brand presence scalability should have an emphasis on expanding the brand’s presence across the internet. In practice, it means leveraging both man & machine. “Machine” in terms of mechanical SEO, SMO, SEM, and “man” in terms of active community, content, editorial and analytics management.

Measurability

A digital marketing manager cannot have the excuse of saying “50% of my advertising works, i just don’t know which 50%”. Investing and using measurement tools as a standard indicator of the performance of your web presence is critical. Often marketing managers get caught up with the “key selling points”, “tone of voice”, “messaging strategy”, “visual language” and “creative concept”. In many cases, you can just let the data tell you the truth as a large part of digital marketing really begins once the campaign or initiative is out there. You can even see this in the way internet services are brought out to the market. They are often released as closed alphas, then expanded into invitation only betas until expanding to the “final version”. Similarily, marketing managers obviously need to think about the concept and strategic intent of the initiative, but significant effort should also be placed into the actual “tweak it as you go” initiatives. AB testing, weekly/daily paid media optimization, changes in ad copy, reactive spin-offs generated through consumer responses etc etc. This obviously requires investing in the right measurement tools and training your staff to make use of them and have the flexibility to react rapidly to changes.

In the end, many of these streams and thoughts are very straight forward and simple to implement within any corporation where there is the desire to do so. Having the desire and courage to do the right things is the final (and often) most challenging piece

For those that don’t travel out of Cape Town much, you should. As difficult as it is to leave this wonderful city, with everything it has going for it, sometimes the best weekends are those spent elsewhere. I know, you can get locked up for saying things like that about The Perfect City, but it really is great to “get away.” And if you’re getting away on the N2, you’re going to pass the Peregrine Farm Stall. It’s on your right just before you get to the Elgin turnoff. When you get there, keep driving. Don’t even look at it. Don’t even mention it. Because a short drive further on is the Houw Hoek Farm Stall, which is really worth stopping for. The Peregrine is really just the red herring. Not the pub, but as in the thing that distracts you from something else. The Red Herring pub isn’t anywhere near the N2 anyways. It’s in Noordhoek. Why even bring it up?

So aside from the farmstall, the Houw Hoek has a restaurant attached that serves reasonably decent roadfood (i.e. you wouldn’t really go there if it was in the city). But their actual farmstall is really impressive – well stocked with deli-type products (preserves, olive oils, nuts, etc) and with an adjacent wine shop that offers wines from the region. But there’s one thing you are stopping here for – their homemade pies and sausage rolls.

Okay, this really isn’t about the Houw Hoek Farm Stall at all. This is really an ode to the pies and sausage rolls they serve. I ate one of the sausage rolls this past weekend and when I finished the last bite I thought God might reach down and give my stomach a little rub himself. It was almost spiritual. It was THAT good. It was ridiculously good. Just silly. If every bite of food gave as much pleasure, we’d all be moaning uncontrollably in our restaurant seats before being restrained and carried away. I’ve also had a chicken pie and the chicken & mushroom pie here, which are almost as good, but the sausage roll takes first prize. And it doesn’t even have bacon in it!

How is this possible? Good mince, well spiced and fresh – that’s how. They make them daily and they sell them out. There are enough hungry roadtrippers buzzing past to clean their pie rack out several times a day, well, on weekends for certain. There really is nothing like a good pie when you’re driving. The crumbs sticking to your face and spilling all over your legs as you manoeuvre the pie out the packet to your mouth. And when you’re done you just hurl the packet out the window. Whoa! Okay, never do that! Firstly, you’re littering. Secondly, if you’ve left any pie residue in the packet, it could land on someones windscreen and cause a serious traffic accident. Death by chicken & mushroom pie! Do you want that responsibility? Me neither. Eat responsibly, people.

www.houwhoekfarmstall.co.za

I discovered this amazing website yesterday, a real treasure trove, full of delights especially so if you have to buy a present for a baby. Bianca and Family also restore furniture. Look at the beautiful school desks that were featured on Apartment Therapy.

The magnets above reminded me of a few things which I’ve seen that are as kitsch and I love. I went to Saigon earlier this year and spotted the selection of toys below.

Last week I went to see Walking In My Mind and was delighted to look into Yoshitomo Nara’s student shack and his display of toys and dolls.

What I really want to get is these earrings from Les Nereides’s diffusion line, N2 which are also available as a brooch and cute hair grips.

But if wearing kitsch is not for you, there is always decoration. This wallpaper from Nono fits the bill.

Or buy this beautiful tree designed by Millicent & Frank. Although I think it’s the little deers that complete the look.

]]> http://strangestthings.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/why-i-hate-national-roads/ Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:52:27 +0000 shahilj http://strangestthings.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/why-i-hate-national-roads/

Leaving Gariep Dam, I had the choice of taking either the N1 or the R58. Seeing that the detour to the power station was scheduled later than I expected, I took the National route from Gariep Dam to Colesberg.

This stretch was a meagre 44km in total. And, I mean, even though it is the country’s premium National Road, how bad can it REALLY be? Here’s my list. It is that bad!

• It sucks.
• Traffic!
• No real scenery.
• You are speed restricted. Not that I condone travelling over the legal limit but on a National Road, you can have three lanes and the speed limit will be 80kph. Furthermore, traffic cops are everywhere and even if you aren’t travelling fast, you always end up braking when you see one of them meaning a less efficient drive.
• It sucks.
• There is no risk travelling on a National route. Everything is shown to you like a pre-schooler. There is no chance of you hitting a cow as the freeway is fenced off with electric wire that can make a medium-well steak out of said cow in seventeen seconds. Every hazard has a sign warning you about the hazard and a sign warning you that you are going to see a warning sign. You don’t need to calculate how much petrol you need seeing that there is a garage every five kilometres.
• Caltex Star Stops, Engen 1-Stops, Shell Ultra Cities, Total Petroport and whatever they call those Sasol jobbies. Excuse me whilst I go puke.
• You can’t just stop in the middle of the road and look around in awe at nature’s beauty.
• Construction never ever ends.
• It sucks.
• Rest stops are designated. It doesn’t matter that there is an exquisite view of a dam and mountain at one point – the freeway dictates that you must stop 2km down the road with a marvellous view of a koppie with half its side levelled out.
• BMW X5’s – these don’t take R-roads. It will damage their 4×4 suspension and there is nobody on those roads to cut off.
• You can’t travel at 80kph when you want to enjoy the view because said BMW X5 will have its bright lights, fogs and stadium-strength roof-mounted spotlights glaring at you if you do.
• It makes you sleep.
• It sucks.
• If you are on a single-lane freeway and encounter a truck, you’re screwed. The traffic means that you are following that truck all the way to Beitbridge (even though you just got out of the Huguenot Tunnel!)
• Too many sign posts telling you everything you don’t need to know and more.
• Mountain passes are WAY too tame. Van Reenen’s Pass is easier than driving up my driveway and the Tsitsikamma Toll Route, um, it bypassed SEVEN mountain passes.
• Did I mention it sucks?

Okay, I’ll stop there. Firstly, this is just a generalisation of the National routes. Actually, this applies mostly to the lower numbered N-roads namely the N1, N2, N3 and N4. The N4 is undoubtedly the most boring road to drive if you have no interest in the beauty of industry and power generation. Some N-roads are exquisite such as the Camdeboo Route on the N9 and the Friendly Route on the N6. The N11 between Middelburg and Marble Hall is another beautiful drive with an even more beautiful road surface. These routes still suffer from some of the downfalls mentioned above. Driving the R701, known as the Gariep Lake route, was a religious experience. The roads were just as good as any N-road yet I was free to drive the way the purest automobile engineers intend a car to be driven.

Not taking away any of the uses of the N-roads. They are extremely important to the country. They’re the main veins of our economy and aid interaction. The features of the roads are important and if you need to get somewhere quickly, these are the best options. These are not roads for travellers and adventurers.

R-roads are the driver’s roads. These open up your mind and engine and give you the true sensation of being a road warrior. The R-roads aren’t without issues though. The solitude of the R-roads proves a burden if one has to meet with an accident. These R-roads are also much more sensitive to weather and one never knows when these roads could be closed due to some sort of hazard.

However, when you are on a road trip, you want the mystery, intrigue and stunning views offered to you by the R-roads. Quite simply, if your travels take you solely down a lowly numbered N-road, please don’t bother calling it a roadtrip.

- Neue Seite, sagte Bob, und wir fangen an mit einem Zitat: „Wenn ich an einem Problem arbeite, denke ich nie über Schönheit nach. Ich denke nur an die Lösung des Problems. Aber wenn ich fertig bin, und die Lösung ist nicht schön – dann weiß ich, dass ich falsch liege.“ Buckminster Fuller.

- Na ja. Ob dieser Text schön ist oder nicht, den dein Praktikant da geschrieben hat …
- Er heißt Danny Schwarz.
- Wie auch immer. Von der Schönheit dieses Textes hab ich keine Ahnung, Bob. Aber ich weiß eines genau. Dass dieser Typ falsch liegt. Der hat’s nicht drauf. Schmeiß ihn raus.
- Hm.

Die Sonderstellung des face2buns sollte sich auch in seiner räumlichen Positionierung in Ihrem Showroom widerspiegeln. Schaffen Sie spürbare Distanz zu den Mitbewerbern des face2buns. Unterstreichen Sie diese Distanzierung noch durch inszenatorische Mittel wie Beleuchtung und Dekoration.

- Das ist ja nicht mal völlig bescheuert, murmelte “Big” Bruder, der dazu übergegangen war, mit seinem Zahnstocher seine Fingernägel zu reinigen. Aber besonders realistisch ist es auch nicht. Wer räumt denn einem x-beliebigen Bürostuhl eine Sonderstellung ein?

- Hier ein paar Plakatvorschläge, kündigte Bob an: Überlassen Sie das Sitzen nicht dem Sitzfleisch. Überlassen Sie es Ihren Fingerspitzen. face2buns.

- Bob. Das ist. Das ist albern.

Dies ist kein Bürostuhl. Dies ist ein face2buns.

- Banal.

Eine Entscheidung ist keine Frage der richtigen Gründe. Sie ist eine Frage des richtigen Gefühls.

- Was soll das sein? Oscar Wilde? Komm schon!

Es gibt einen Punkt, an dem Technologie übergeht in … pures Gefühl.

- Okay. Okay. Aber es hebt mich nicht aus meinem Sitz.

Wollen Sie wirklich die Gründe hören, warum Sie sich für einen face2buns entscheiden sollten? Hören Sie lieber auf Ihr Gefühl!

- Ach, komm! “Big” Bruder winkte ab. Das ist doch der reine Schwachsinn. Gefühl.

Die Zukunft des Sitzens liegt in der Bewegung.

- Wegen dieser Anschmiegetechnik in der Rückenlehne? Viel zu subtil. Bis der Verbraucher das geschnallt hat, liegt er schon daheim im Bett.

Verlangen Sie von Ihrem Stuhl weniger als von sich selbst?

- Das find ich okay. Es hat etwas von moralischer Erpressung. Das gefällt mir.
- Big, du hast zwei Mal “okay” gesagt. Bei sieben Vorschlägen ist das ein durchaus nicht unterdurchschnittliches Ergebnis.
- Ich hab sogar drei Mal “okay” gesagt. Trotzdem. Schmeiß den Heini raus. Der taugt nicht für die Werbung. Der wird nicht glücklich bei uns.
- Das mag sein … aber soll ich dir was sagen, Big?
- Ja? Was? Du willst ihn haben?
- Genau.
- Aber was willst du mit dem?
- Ich weiß auch nicht. Bob blickte auf die Blätter in seinen Händen. Irgendwie finde ich das … das hat was. Irgendwas. Keine Ahnung. Es ist nicht 08/15.
- Ja, und genau da liegt das Problem, Bob. Wir arbeiten in einer 08/15-Branche, wie du weißt! Erfinde hier nicht die Werbung neu, mein Lieber!
- Mach ich nicht. Aber hör mal. Hier ist noch ein Anschreiben von Danny Schwarz, für potentielle Kunden:

Sehr geehrter Herr Braun,
Vladimir Nabokov schrieb einmal, gute Prosa erkenne man an einem gewissen kitzligen Gefühl im Rückgrat. Verhält es sich mit einem guten Bürostuhl nicht ähnlich?

- Nein. Ein Bürostuhl kitzelt nicht. Wenn mein Bürostuhl mich kitzelt, Bob, hau ich ihm eins in die Fresse.

(Möchten Sie wissen, wie es weitergeht mit Danny Schwarz, Bert “Big” Bruder und Bob? Macht Danny seinen Weg in der ellenbogenharten Werbewelt? Kann Bob seinen Praktikanten fit machen für die Formel 1 des Handelsmarketings? Die Antworten auf diese Fragen sowie auf alle weiteren Fragen, die Sie ans Leben haben, finden Sie in dem Roman “Hohlkörper”! Ab Herbst 2009 in Ihrer Buchhandlung.)

La dernière fois je fêtais la fin de mes exams sans pour autant en savoir le résultat. Aujourd’hui, je peux enfin savourer mes vacances sereinement, car j’ai validé ma deuxième année de licence. Bref, heureuse je suis.

Sans transition, je vais vous parler d’un achat solde oh combien désiré. Début juin, 3 semaines avant les soldes donc, petit passage au Galeries Lafayette et là, que vois-je? Un corner Maje! Mon sang ne fait qu’un tour. J’essaye tranquillement quelques jupettes et tops. Parmi toutes les fanfreluches essayées deux retiennent mon attention. Une mini a froufrou liberty et une autre en soie magenta. Vu le prix, hors de question de craquer avant les soldes, bien sur.

Mercredi 24 juin, premier jour des soldes, me voilà au stand Maje des Galeries Lafayette mais à Paris cette fois! Grosse déception car plus de jupette liberty à ma taille (d’ailleurs il y a toujours ma taille à Orléans, mais bon budget complètement explosé). Mais, mais, mais… La magenta est bien là, à ma taille. Je la choppe direct, et continue de fouiner dans le stand. Et là, la même en noire. Vous commencez à me connaitre, les couleur c’est pas spécialement mon truc donc forcément j’ai préférée prendre la noire!

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Jupe froufrous Maje

Tees en lin Petit Bateau (le même que le noir)

Collier N2

SAÚDE
Brasil confirma primeiro óbito por Influenza A (H1N1)
Paciente gaúcho que esteve na Argentina faleceu no domingo (28.06)

DESTAQUES SORTIMENTOS.COM

MAIS SOBRE A Influenza A (H1N1)
O que é a gripe suína ?
Tire suas dúvidas sobre a gripe suína
Gripe suína preocupa brasileiros

Corrosion Prevention System for Dry & Pre-Action FPS

Don’t Let Corrosion Destroy Your Fire Protection System!

If your building has a dry or pre-action Fire Protection System (FPS), then you face the risk of corrosion damaging the sprinkler system.  Corrosion can cause pinhole leaks that are dangerous for a number of reasons:

• Disruptive to normal operations
• Potential damage to equipment/property
• Loss of revenue due to shutdowns
• Continuous introduction of oxygenated water due to repeated draining for repairs
• Costly ongoing repairs

Your sprinkler system can also be susceptible to residual water build-up and freezing  – both of which can contribute to corrosion.
How Nitrogen Can Prevent FPS Corrosion
Traditionally, compressed air is used as a supervisory gas for dry and pre-action fire protection sprinkler systems.  However,
the constant availability of oxygen in the compressed air supports corrosion of the steel piping in the presence of moisture, which is almost always present.  Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) has also been identified as a real threat for the integrity of these types of fire protection systems.

Nitrogen works to prevent corrosion:

• N2 is an inert gas which does not support the corrosion reaction and eliminates oxidation of non-metallic components of FPS
• Nitrogen effectively displaces all oxygen from the system and stops the corrosion reaction by eliminating the cathodic oxygen reaction
• The dew point of 95% N is approximately -71˚F, which enables it to absorb much more moisture than compressed air. This effectively “dries out” any residual moisture from the system (introduced into the system by humid air) thereby removing another prerequisite for corrosion
• Absence of water will completely eliminate the potential threat of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC).
• Prevents the formation of ice blockages in freezer FPS systems.

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• safer,
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9 June 2009

Reference: Violation of housing rights of 60 families in Macassar Village, Cape Town.

Dear Mayor Plato,

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is an international human rights non-governmental organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices throughout the world. COHRE has consultative status with the United Nations and Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. COHRE works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing for everyone, everywhere, including preventing or remedying forced evictions.

COHRE is deeply disturbed by reports of the repeated demolition of shacks in Macassar village by Cape Town’s Anti Land Invasions Unit, South African Police Service (SAPS) and Metro Police. COHRE also expresses concern about the reported violent arrest of Abahlali baseMjondolo activist Mzonke Poni on 1 June 2009.

According to information received by COHRE, several backyard dwellers in Macassar village, frustrated with poor living conditions and their increased vulnerability to evictions resulting from rising rents, occupied vacant municipal land along the N2 highway on 18th May 2009. On the 19th morning, however, police personnel demolished approximately 60 shacks and fired rubber bullets injuring four people including a woman and a child. Police also arrested three persons including Professor Martin Legassick. On 20th May, Macassar SAPS Superintendent facilitated an agreement between the occupiers and their local ward councillor where the occupiers were given permission to build shacks on another piece of land in the vicinity. We understand that occupiers were informed that this agreement would be endorsed by your presence at the new site the following day.

COHRE notes with disappointment that according to reports received, you reversed the ward councillor’s decision and ordered the Anti Land Invasions Unit to once again demolish newly constructed shacks and confiscate building material. COHRE would like to point out that an estimated 300 backyard dwellers have thus been rendered homeless and are forced to live and sleep in the open.

COHRE expresses shock at the City’s apparent disregard for the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from, and Unlawful Occupation of, Land Act 1998 as well as for the interdict against further demolitions secured in the Cape High Court by Abahlali baseMjondolo. According to information received, the Anti Land Invasions Unit continued to illegally demolish shacks despite being informed about the interdict of 29th May.

South Africa’s Constitution states in Section 26(3) that “no one may be evicted from their home…without an order of the court made after considering all the relevant circumstances [emphasis added]”

COHRE respectfully reminds the Government of South Africa that under international human rights law, evictions can only occur lawfully in very exceptional circumstances and after all feasible alternatives have been explored in consultation with affected persons. If, and only if, such exceptional circumstances exist and there are no feasible alternatives, can evictions be deemed justified. Furthermore, evictions should not result in rendering individuals homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights. Governments must therefore, ensure that adequate alternative housing is available to affected persons.

The backyard dwellers of Macassar, like several other poor communities, are victims of South Africa’s ongoing housing crisis marked by growing waiting lists for subsidised housing every year and the inability of the State to adequately respond to the growing demand. Many of the backyard dwellers who occupied land in Macassar have been on the waiting list for 15-20 years, with no solution in sight.

Instead of facilitating access to the right to adequate housing through the allocation of vacant public land to the back yard dwellers of Macassar, the City has sought to forcibly evict them and thereby unlawfully deprive them of the shelter they had. COHRE therefore urges the City of Cape Town to:

• Take urgent steps to provide emergency shelter and relief material to all those affected by the forced eviction;
• Devise and implement a strategy to resolve the crisis through meaningful consultations with affected people and with a view to fulfil their right to adequate housing;
• Adequately compensate all those who have lost their belongings and building materials in the demolition drives;
• Withdraw all charges against those protesting against the demolitions; and
• Initiate an independent enquiry into allegations of violence and illegal actions by members of the Anti Land Invasions Unit, SAPS and the Metro Police.

We look forward to your response.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Salih Booker

Executive Director

Cc

The Honourable Mr. Achmat Ebrahim
City Manager, Cape Town

The Honourable Ms. Helen Zille
Premier, Western Cape

The Honourable Mr. Tokyo Sexwale
National Minister for Housing

Ms. Raquel Rolnik
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing

Comme tous les ans, les fashion victims que nous sommes se ruent à toutes les ventes presse qui se trouvent sur notre chemin. De mon côté, j’ai la chance d’habiter en plein centre de Paris, là ou une bonne partie des ventes ont lieu. Du coup, bien obligée d’aller y faire un tour. Pour les parisiennes, voilà un petit bilan non exhaustif de ce qui vaut le coup, ou pas!

On commence par Manoush, J’y suis allée jeudi après midi. Pas de queue je suis entrée sans problème, on ne m’a même pas demandé mon invitation. A l’intérieur, un sacré bordel, mais toute la collection actuelle. J’avais flashé sur une tunique dans la vitrine de la boutique de la rue Montmartre. 200€, j’avais laissé tombé. Et là, le même, à 40€, j’ai craqué (même si je n’y allais qu’en repérage, pour le blog, ça fait partie des dommages collatéraux on dira!). De manière générale : Les robes en soie sont à 60€ (au lieu de 365€), les tee shirts à 30€ ou 10€, les sacs en cuir à 80€, tout comme les chaussures. Bref, de vraies bonnes affaires à faire pour les fans de la marque. (bon, je sais, elle veut rien dire cette photo, mais il est plus d’une heure du mat, du coup je vous épargne ma tête ultra fatiguée!)

Direction ensuite la vente American Retro et Zoe Tees.

Bon, là, clairement, c’est pas dément, par contre, pas une once de queue. Pour American Retro, aucune pièce de la collection actuelle, beaucoup de vêtements déchirés ou tâchés. J’ai quand même réussi à dégoter un gilet perf beige en coton et lin. Pour les prix : les jupes à 30€, les mailles à 40€ et les robes à 50€. Par contre, pour celles qui aiment Zoe Tees, beaucoup de choix, des couleurs vraiment sympas, et rien à plus de 20€. Pas d’invitation à présenter à l’entrée.

Direction ensuite la vente By Zoé, au 27 rue du Caire. Là aussi, pas d’invitation à présenter à l’entrée. Pas énormément de choix, mais tout est de la collection actuelle. Teesh à 20€, tunique en soie à 40€, sarouels très sympas à 30€. Au pire, si on vous demande quelque chose à l’entrée, donnez ça :

Chez Zadig & Voltaire, grosse deception : Des vêtements chers, pas grand chose de la collection actuelle. Plus de sacs ou de pochettes, bref, je suis repartie bredouille. En plus, ils sont exigeants sur le carton à l’entrée, c’est un peu à la tête du client, j’ai vu plusieurs filles se faire rembarrer, et d’autres non…

Chez Stella Forest, déjà plus grand chose quand j’y suis allé mardi. Rien de la collection actuelle, les pulls et gilets sont à 40€, les robes en soie à 50€ et tout le reste à 30€. Pas besoin de carton pour entrer, et ça se passe au 76 rue Réaumur.

Mais les ventes presse, c’est loin d’être fini! La semaine prochaine, de grosses ventes en prévision, voilà pour commencer ce que j’ai reçu dans ma boite aux lettres. D’autres invitations en début de semaine prochaine, enjoy!

The defiant backyard dwellers who are continuing to illegally occupy a piece of land in Macassar should retreat, Mayor Dan Plato said.

Tension has grown over the past three days, with the protesting group not backing down on its intention of permanently occupying land close to the N2.

On Thursday Plato said the protesters should stay away from the city-owned land, which had been budgeted for and earmarked for 2000 housing units.

Once environmental impact studies were completed, work would start, he said.

If the group was allowed to squat there, they would “start shouting for services” such as electricity and toilets, he said.

Plato claimed he had heard that certain elements had orchestrated the land invasion through misinformation.

They were sleeping in proper houses while causing trauma for the families spending nights out in the cold, he said.

On Tuesday, police and law enforcement agents razed structures the group had erected and confiscated their building materials.

A fracas broke out as the group clashed with the police, resulting in the injury of one policeman and several other people, and three arrests.

Professor Martin Legassick of the University of the Western Cape, a supporter of the backyard dwellers, was also held but later released.

A day later, the backyard dwellers said they had again erected about 70 structures on a nearby piece of land.

The structures were demolished on Thursday by the law-enforcement agents, and building materials confiscated.

In a statement, the group alleged they had occupied the second piece of land after they had had successful negotiations with local councillor John Heuvel.

“After three hours of negotiations between the backyard dwellers and the ward councillor, it was agreed that they could build on that land, which is 10m from the land they had occupied,” the group said.

Heuvel denied that he gave them the green light to occupy the land, saying politics was at play and “the situation was getting out of hand.”

He was set to meet city officials soon to discuss the matter.

Legassick said it was disgraceful for Heuvel to turn against the group.

“He (Heuvel) should explain himself,” said Legassick.

When the Cape Argus visited the area on Thursday, the situation was relatively calm, but police and law-enforcement agents were there with a Casspir and several police vans.

The backyard dwellers, some with beds, mattresses and blankets still lying on the land, claimed that Heuvel had betrayed them by ordering law-enforcement agents to raze their structures despite an agreement with him.

“People are desperate, my brethren.

“We don’t need violence.

“We need a place to stay,” said Gert Smit, 38.

Women with children said they had nowhere to go on the cold and rainy nights.

Their spokesman Mzonke Poni said the group would stay on the land and the way forward would be discussed on Friday night.

o This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on May 22, 2009

20 May 2009, 09:04

Source: Cape Argus

A police officer and a young boy were among several people injured during Tuesday’s violent confrontation between police and Macassar Village backyard dwellers who invaded land adjacent to the N2.

During the incident, four men – including prominent academic Martin Legassick – were taken into custody.

When police bundled Legassick, who the people called their “comrade”, into the back of a police van, the backyard dwellers hurled stones at them, and police opened fire with rubber bullets.
Legassick had been present since early Tuesday and had been photographing the homeless people and the actions taken by the police.

He was standing with a homeless family when a police officer approached and began photographing them.

Another police officer in plainclothes then went to stand next to Legassick and was heard calling the professor “you f***ing twit” before grabbing him by the arms.

Moments later, stones rained down on the police, who opened fire, and people scattered in all directions. The police gave chase after a group of people ran into side streets and managed to escape.

Released about an hour later, Legassick admitted that he had sworn at the plainclothes police officer who had grabbed him.

Police patrols were stepped up on Tuesday night, as Macassar Village was tense after the backyard dwellers marched to the Macassar police station to demand the release of three men arrested during the confrontation.

The three are due to face public violence charges when they appear in the Somerset West Magistrate’s Court on Thursday morning.

Macassar police station commissioner Princess Benjamin said a police officer was injured during the stone-throwing.

“It’s still very tense out there. We called the local councillor to come and address the people, but they’ve left,” Benjamin said.

Macassar Village resident Elmarie Rex said a rubber bullet had struck her four-year-old son Benjee, but he had not been seriously hurt. Another resident, Wandile Mhleli, was hit in the buttocks, backyard dweller Eric Gaji had an open wound on his arm. “They just fired without looking. I tried to get out of the way, but could not do it in time. I just felt a shock to my arm,” Gaji said.

On Monday the backyard dwellers moved on to the land, which had been cleared last week, ostensibly for a community sports event at the weekend. But when city law enforcement officials arrived yesterday morning, a number of shacks had been built on it.

Officials dismantled some of the shacks, but later backyard dwellers rebuilt them. After a lengthy standoff law enforcement officers called for police assistance.

City law enforcement officials gave the backyarders 30 minutes to remove the structures, failing which their materials would be confiscated. An hour after the order was ignored, police and Metro Police accompanied a team of workers who loaded the building materials on to a truck.

As the materials were taken away, backyarders hurled abuse at police.

Angered by the removal of the building materials, a group of young people ran towards the N2 to blockade the freeway, but quick intervention by police prevented the disruption of traffic.

Later, Anti Eviction Campaign leader Mzonke Poni told the backyarders they had a right to their land and they could sue the municipality for damage to their materials.

Community leaders and police later tried to persuade them to spend the night in a community hall. It was not clear late on Tuesday night if they were.

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on May 20, 2009

Questa storia dell’influenza suina non mi convince. Se si tratta di un’influenza del tutto analoga a quella stagionale che colpisce gli umani, dov’è l’allarme? Se come quella, anche questa ha un tasso di mortalità che si aggira intorno al cinque per cento (uno per mille, per ora), dov’è il rischio? Altro che questione di salute pubblica. L’unico interesse tutelato, in questa storia, mi sembra quello delle case farmaceutiche produttrici di vaccini. L’ultima volta, in Italia, terrorizzati dalla peste dei polli, ne abbiamo fatto incetta, e ce ne sono avanzate 40 milioni. Non sapevamo che farcene, prima che il virus suino uscisse allo scoperto. Adesso possiamo finalmente ripescarle dai magazzini, nell’ attesa del nuovo vaccino, perchè tanto, pollo o maiale, tutto fa brodo. Ma siamo realistici: come per l’influenza aviaria, il rischio di pandemia di influenza suina è pura fantasanità, allucinazione da overdose di benessere. Roba da gente che può permettersi di portare il cane dallo psicologo, per intenderci. Reale emergenza sanitaria sono tre miliardi di persone a rischio di malaria, per 250 milioni di nuovi casi e un milione di morti all’anno. Una realtà taciuta, perchè sconveniente. Mentre qui, l’unico inconveniente è il rischio, questo sì reale, che la gente smetta di comprare carne di maiale. E questa volta, nessun giornalista si presterà ad azzannare una braciola in pieno tg. Perchè, se è vero che la probabilità che un virus adattatato a una certa specie ne infetti un’altra è tanto maggiore quanto minore è la distanza tra le due, sarebbe il primo atto di cannabilismo in diretta tv.

Dentro le mura, al sicuro, protetti da guardie armate, filo spinato e telecamere a infrarossi, i buoni. Fuori, isolati e controllati, i cattivi. I palestinesi, per esempio, che gli israeliani considerano bestiali terroristi da chiudere fuori dal muro di separazione, illegale secondo la Corte di giustizia internazionale, al di là del quale si consumano violenza e occupazione. O il popolo Saharawi, le cui legittime richieste di indipendenza, sostenute finanche dalle Nazioni Unite, si scontrano contro le otto mura di sabbia e pietra edificate dal Marocco nel Sahara occidentale. Lo stesso Marocco che si oppone al muro di Ceuta e Melilla, enclave spagnole in terra marocchina, costruito dalla Spagna con fondi della Comunità europea per contenere la pressione migratoria dall’Africa subsahariana. Una pressione testarda, come quella degli ispanici che dal Messico cercano di entrare negli Stati Uniti, attraversando il deserto dell’Arizona o il Rio Grande a costo della vita, per aggirare il gatekeeper, muro di acciaio tra Tijuana e San Diego eretto da Clinton e rinforzato da Bush. Cattivi, poi, sono i poveri di tutto il mondo. Quelli delle favelas di Rio de Janeiro, che presto vedranno un muro ergersi tra loro e la vicina foresta, a impedire l’espansione selvaggia delle loro baracche di latta e cemento. E quelli di Villa Jardin, barrio misero e malfamato di San Isidro a Buenos Aires, che un muro alto tre metri separa dagli abitanti benestanti del vicino barrio La Horqueta. Neanche fossimo a Padova, nel ricco, e buono, certo, nord-est italiano.

Sembra che la stella di Berlusconi sia destinata a continuare a splendere, nonostante le ultime traversie familiari. L’affaire Veronica non ha scalfito quella che lo stesso interessato ha definito una popolarità “imbarazzante”. Sono passati, ormai, i tempi in cui la moglie di Cesare doveva essere al di sopra di ogni sospetto. Adesso è sufficiente avanzare qualche riserva sulla moralità di Cesare colto con le mani nella marmellata per fare la figura del parruccone. Se, come diceva Brecht “sfortunato è il paese che ha bisogno di eroi”, quello che non riesce a pretendere dai suoi governanti nemmeno un po’ di coerenza tra valori sbandierati e comportamenti praticati è ormai allegramente avviato alla catastrofe. C’è un aspetto, tuttavia, che merita un’ulteriore riflessione. Berlusconi continua a riscuotere il gradimento degli italiani non “nonostante” i suoi comportamenti, ma proprio “grazie” ad essi. Mi sembra che la sua migliore intuizione sia stata di natura antropologica prima ancora che politica, e si sia concretata in quella che vorrei chiamare “la rivincita del puzzone”. Essa consiste nel dare non solo una patente di legittimità, ma persino una sorta di benemerenza a quei caratteri “tipicamente italiani” fustigati da cinquant’anni di egemonia culturale austera e trinariciuta. C’è qualcosa di liberatorio nel voto a Berlusconi, qualcosa che somiglia ad Alberto Sordi che s’ingozza di pastasciutta esclamando “Maccaroni, ‘mo ve distruggo”. Sono quelle patacche di sugo le nuove medaglie al valor civile.

Vorrei tanto una pistola. Da bambino visitammo il conservatorio, il violista disse che, quando era indeciso se comprarsi il violino o la moto, il direttore d’orchestra gli disse che con una viola e il suo talento si sarebbe comprato anche la moto. “E così è stato”, aveva aggiunto teatrale. Io vorrei una pistola, sarebbe la mia viola.

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