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Democracy Action Launch Volunteer Map

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Democracy Action has today launched a map detailing Auckland Councils controversial 'sites of value' to mana whenua. A rule in the council's notified Unitary Plan requires applicants carrying out work on 3661 sites of significance and value to mana whenua to obtain cultural impact assessments from one or more of 19 iwi groups.

Democracy Action Chairman, Lee Short, says:

We've had dozens of volunteers photographing and documenting sites to ensure that the public are informed. The fact that some of the supposed sites appear to be located in former rubbish dumps, on the seabed or under buildings does not seem to have prevented the Council from implementing these controversial provisions.

"The mana whenua provisions have the potential to pose a significant regulatory and financial burden on property owners in the vicinity of any of the 3,600 sites throughout Auckland, and the 2,000 properties within or near designated Special Ecological Areas

"Democracy Action does not question the need to protect the archaeology of historical and cultural sites. What we do question is the process by which the Council has come to include these sites in the Unitary Plan. Officials have not investigated them, verified their locations or even checked that they still exist."

"Democracy Action is calling for the removal of the 3,600 sites of value to mana whenua from the Unitary Plan until each site has been properly assessed and audited. At the moment it is patently obvious that this has not been the case."

Auckland land owners are encouraged to check the map here.

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Democracy Action Launch Volunteer Map

The reaction from the pro-democracy campaigners and student groups behind the recent Umbrella Movement protests was anything but mild.

He has every intention of gobbling up Hong Kong for his Beijing master, said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy legislator, noting how Mr Leungs detractors knew him as the wolf.

Mr Leung had a track record of tactlessness, Ms Mo added. Once he told his supporters that if others have different opinions [they should] go and shout at them.

Asked for his opinion on the reference to sheep, Alan Leong, from the pro-democracy Civic Party, told CNN: "I think it's crazy, and he is sick.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists occupied the city's streets for 11 weeks last year in what became known as the Umbrella Movement.

Ma Ngok, a political scientist, told the South China Morning Post, the comment was not smart.

He seems like he wants the people to blindly follow what he says like sheep following the shepherd. And CY Leung preaching more peace is kind of ironic because many people see him as the guy causing a lot of conflicts in Hong Kong."

Who is CY Leung and why do Hong Kong protesters want him to resign?

A 2012 profile of Mr Leung by Chinas state-run media suggests Hong Kongs leader once placed greater value on characteristics usually associated with the outgoing Year of the Horse.

The pro-Beijing leaders impoverished childhood instilled in him the importance of determination and perseverance, the profile said.

Go here to read the rest:
Hong Kong leader tells people to act like 'sheep'

ABUJA, Nigeria It had been two days since Nigerias presidential election was postponed at the behest of the military, and Idayat Hassans phone was ringing nonstop.

Its like a coup against democracy, said the director of the Center for Democracy and Development to the ninth or 10th reporter of the day.

Its like blackmail, Hassan said when her phone rang again.

Im very worried, she said to a colleague, and now she hung up the phone, put her head in her hands and sighed. After 16 years of democracy this.

This: For weeks, Africas most populous nation appeared to be barreling toward its most fiercely competitive election since it returned to civilian rule in 1999, a race between President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator. Hassan and others were training poll watchers. Ballot boxes were being distributed across the country.

And Nigerians, from elite professionals to street hawkers, were beginning to sense a startling possibility: An election could actually kick the ruling party out.

Except that then it all came to a grinding stop.

And now Nigerians suddenly find themselves in an odd netherworld of anxiety about what will happen next. Will the governing party accept the prospect of relinquishing control over a $500billion economy? Will Buhari accept defeat if he feels the election has been rigged? Is Nigeria about to settle it all in a spiral of violence that could include everyone from rebels in the oil-rich Delta to the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast?

The democratic system is going to be tested really, said a civil servant named Edwin, who did not want to give his last name because he works for the government.

After defeating Buhari in the 2011 election, Jonathan had been running neck-and-neck with him this time, with Buhari bolstered by Lagos public relations gurus helping him overcome his image as an autocrat with a bleak human rights record that included ordering the whipping of tardy civil servants. Now cast as a reformer, Buhari was drawing huge crowds, tapping into broad frustration over high unemployment, the armys feckless efforts against the Boko Haram insurgency and allegations of spectacular corruption in Jonathans administration.

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Nigerian vote delay prompts suspicion of election rigging, worries of violence

Free Trade, Democracy and Education in New Zealand
David Seymour is a Policy Analyst and member of the Parliament in New Zealand. During this interview conducted by Carolina Santos, he explains the positive c...

By: NEWMEDIA UFM

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Free Trade, Democracy and Education in New Zealand - Video

South Sudan Music 2015 - Democracy by Prince Lupai
Democracy in South Sudan is the only way that will take our Country forward, Democracy is not war but love and peace.

By: South Sudan Music Station

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South Sudan Music 2015 - Democracy by Prince Lupai - Video