January 24, 2007 no. 446 - Vol. 5
"Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine."
David Ogilvy
Today's Grammatigalhas offers a primer in multicultural lawyering.
Also, do not miss our news section in Spanish: Historia Verdadera.
Bush asks for 'a chance' on Iraq
Bush has urged America to give his new Iraq strategy "a chance to work", in his seventh annual State of the Union address. Failure in Iraq would have "grievous" consequences, he told Congress. His speech also focused on domestic issues, and he called on political opponents to join him in tackling the US's most profound problems. Energy policy was near the top of the agenda. Bush called for a 20% cut in petrol consumption by 2017. But the speech overall offered little new to the president's supporters and even less to his opponents. This is perhaps a sign of diminishing expectations of the remaining two years of this presidency.
Bush presses comprehensive immigration reform in State of the Union address
Bush pressed for comprehensive immigration reform in his State of Union address Tuesday night, urging US lawmakers to take action to secure US borders, enhance interior and worksite enforcement of immigration laws, create a temporary worker program, resolve "without animosity or amnesty" the status of illegal immigrants already in the US, and promote assimilation. The call contained in a speech otherwise focused on Iraq and various domestic initiatives on health care, energy and education follows the failure of House and Senate negotiators to come up with agreed legislation in the last Republican-dominated session of Congress despite earlier presidential urgings . Observers suggest bipartisan agreement on key points is more likely under new Democratic leadership, although perhaps without the same emphasis on strict enforcement measures like border fencing that proved controversial earlier this year, although the President did sign a law authorizing a 700-mile-long barrier along the Mexican border. Bush also called on members of the Senate to give his latest judicial nominees what he labeled a "fair hearing" and a "prompt up-or-down vote," saying that he and lawmakers have a shared obligation to ensure that vacancies in the federal courts are filled.
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China net use may soon surpass US
China could soon overtake the US to have the world's largest number of internet users. China had 137m internet users by the end of 2006, an increase of 23% from the year before. This figure means that more than 10% of the population is now online. About 210 million of America's 300 million people now use the internet. China will only surpass this number if it keeps up a 24% annual growth rate in the next two years.
China confirms satellite downed
Nearly two weeks after using a ballistic missile to destroy an aging weather satellite, China has confirmed it carried out a test that destroyed a satellite, in a move that caused international alarm. The foreign ministry provided few details, but it said that China does not want to participate in a space race. It is the first known satellite intercept test for more than 20 years. Several countries, including Japan, Australia and the US, have expressed concern at the test, amid worries it could trigger a space arms race.
Legal Meaning Is Not Everyday Meaning
Multicultural
Of, relating to, or including several cultures. Of or relating to a social or educational theory that encourages interest in many cultures within a society rather than in only a mainstream culture.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping occurs hen cultural characteristics are oversimplified and exaggerated, and then applied ton everyone who shares something of that culture. If you stereotype other cultures, people in those cultures can often quickly sense how you are thinking. The stereotyping will prevent you from having constructive working relationships with them.
Stereotyping is a form of prejudice that can form damaging images of people because of a particular characteristic without having any knowledge of the person.
Genuine respect for a culture, on the other hand, can make it much easier for you to work with people of other cultures.
Everyday “Legal” Jargon
Multicultural lawyering
Today, lawyers deal with people from widely varied cultures, regardless of the legal work they perform. To be effective, lawyers must understand cultural differences and know how to address them. Different cultures are entitled to respect on their own terms without stereotyping.
A culture is a body of values, customs and ways of looking at the world shared by a group of people. It encompasses, among others, the following elements: ethnicity, religion, nationality or immigrant status, disability, sexual orientation, income and education, occupation. Many people have sensibilities shaped by more than one culture.
If you ignore the differences among cultures - or if you think of people in cultural stereotypes - you will alienate clients, witnesses other lawyers, and judges. You will cut yourself off a great deal of information, simply because different cultures communicate in different ways. Working with people of diverse background is a skill!
Let’s examine some ways in which cultures can differ and how that can affect how you do your work as a lawyer.
How is conflict viewed?
In the US culture, conflict is considered socially acceptable and even socially useful. That does not mean that every person enjoys conflict. Many people do not and will avoid it if they can. But conflict is not considered disgraceful. It is honorable to complain when something goes wrong. And US law resolves disagreements through procedure that might be more adversarial and contentious than in any other country.
In other countries, however, conflict is considered disgraceful. In some cultures, someone involved in open and public conflict is thought to have done something shameful. People in these cultures may often simply suffer a loss rather than complain officially about the person who caused the loss, especially if that person has a higher status or power of some kind. The world is not divided into conflict-tolerant and conflict-intolerant cultures. Instead cultures have a broad range of attitudes toward conflict.
If you counsel a client whose cultural assumptions about conflict are different from yours, you might create a set of options that are entirely inappropriate for the client unless you take the cultural differences into account. And if you negotiate confrontationally against someone who views conflict as a disgrace, you might make agreement impossible.
Is hierarchy valued?
Participatory relationships between professionals and their clients are becoming very egalitarian in the US, but may not seem natural in cultures where authority figures are deferred to in formal or traditional ways. It might be difficult for a lawyer to create a participatory relationship with a client from a culture where hierarchy is valued. The client might view the lawyer as an authority figure who must be given respect and deference.
Is formality valued?
The US culture is, by world standards, unusually informal; in business situations, they quickly get on a first-name basis, for example. In some cultures, this can be taken as a show of disrespect. In other, informality can imply that you do not take seriously the person you are talking to or the subject you are talking about.
How acceptable is it to show emotion or talk about emotion?
In some cultures, it is not acceptable to discuss emotions about personal matters in public. Some people do not speak about their emotions as spontaneously as Americans do. A client might be suffering emotionally even if the client, for cultural reasons, does not talk about it in an interview. And some clients might be made uncomfortable if their lawyer tries to express empathy too overtly. In some cultures, empathy is best expressed by subtle changes in tone of voice or facial expression rather than in words.
How much is typically said in words and how much is left to implication or context?
In the US culture, a relatively high proportion of what one communicates is expressed in words. In some other cultures, this is considered unsubtle or rudely blunt. In some cultures, words are carefully chosen to imply messages that are not spoken. If a person form such cultures deals with an American lawyer, the potential for misunderstanding is high: he might not hear the other person’s implications and might become impatient, wrongly assuming that the other person is uncommunicative.
For lawyers, there is a paradox here. In negotiation, you will have to communicate some things without saying them bluntly in words. If you say them bluntly in words, your adversary will use them against you. If you imply them, or let the context imply them, your adversary can get the message but not in a form that can be used against you. You will have to learn how to communicate a great deal through implication and context rather than bluntly with an excess of words.
What does body language communicate?
There are many ways in which body language that seems natural in one culture may convey inappropriate messages in another culture. For example, if you fail to look into people’s eyes while talking to them, you could show disrespect. But for other people the opposite could be true. In the US looking into another person’s eyes while talking is optional: you can do it - or not - without implication concerning respect.
What is more important, the individual or the group?
In the US, individuals are expected to make their own decisions based on what is best for them. In other cultures, an individual might decide on the basis of what is best for a group: the family or the community. In still other cultures, a group reaches a consensus and decides for the individual, usually on the basis of the group’s needs. If you are counseling a client from a culture whre group needs or group decision-making prevail over individual needs or individual decision-making, you can be helpful to the client only if you take that into account.
For lawyers, there are several reasons to care about multicultural situations:
First, it’s the right thing to do. If you really center on the client, then you should be able to respect the cultural differences that exist between you and the client. Hat means to recognize the differences and adapt to them rather than assume that the client will adapt to your culture.
Second, it is your self-interest to care. It is good business to respect the cultural differences. A very large amount of a lawyer’s work comes through recommendations by satisfied clients, and clients whose differences have been respected sincerely are that much more likely to recommend.
Third, the world is a more interesting place when we become open to cultural differences and the ways in which people from other background live and perceive what happens around them.
What skills do you need ?
You cannot memorize in advance every detail about every culture you might deal with professionally. There are far too many cultures for that to be possible. Instead develop an instinct for situations where another person’s cultural assumptions may be very different than yours. Learn to look for indications of cultural difference. And then try to figure out what would be the appropriate way to respond.
Of course, you can inform yourself about the other cultures that are most commonly found in the area where you practice law. Learn not only about the customs, the values of others but also about how people in those other cultures view your culture and the world in general. Think, beforehand, about what behavior on your part would be appropriate - or which one you should avoid - either because it would be stereotyping or because it might accidentally give offense I other ways. If you make a cross-cultural mistake, apologize promptly.
The most important thing is to be open-minded and curious about how other people think and act and why they do so in that way. A generous frame of mind on your part and a genuine liking forother people - and their differences - go along way in this respect.
As If Your Life Depended On It… or How to get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice, practice
Give the thumbs up / down
Approve (or disapprove). According to contemporary observers such as Juvenal and Horace, the spectators at ancient Roman gladiatorial contests used to be called upon to determine whether or not a beaten gladiator should be killed. If their response was favorable, they kept their thumbs clenched in their fists; if not, they turned their thumbs out. This is not what the modern expression says, but it appears to be the origin.
Fearful / Fearsome
To be “fearful” is to be afraid. To be “fearsome” is to cause fear in others. Remember that someone who is fierce is fearsome rather than fearful.
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Papeleras
La Corte de La Haya se declaró incompetente para aplicar medidas cautelares en el proceso de las Papeleras que enfrenta a Argentina y Uruguay. La sentencia señala que los cortes de ruta por la vigilia de pobladores de Gualeguaychú no provocan daños irreparables como anuncio el gobierno de Tabaré Vásquez.
El primer argentino
Leonardo Franco es el primer jurista argentino que es parte de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH). Asumió formalmente el cargo en San José de Costa Rica y será parte del tribunal junto a otros seis miembros hasta el 2012. La CIDH fue creada hace 48 años.
Ética en el Internet
Las empresas Microsoft, Yahoo y Google trabajan en la elaboración de un “código de conducta” para Internet; la norma pretende promover la libertad de expresión y la privacidad de la información en la red.
Lavado de Dinero
Un informe del Grupo de Acción Financiera de Sudamérica (Gafisud) establece que Chile incumple con una serie de acuerdos internacionales en el combate al lavado de dinero. Dice que uno de los problemas es que no adaptó su legislación ante las resoluciones de la ONU.
Lula & Chávez
El presidente Lula da Silva ofreció a su homólogo de Bolivia, Evo Morales, una salida al mar a través del río Madera, afluyente del Amazonas. Según informaciones extraoficiales la oferta pretende neutralizar la influencia del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez sobre el país andino.
Autorización
La Corte Suprema de México avaló a la Secretaria de Gobernación para que siga otorgando permisos para el funcionamiento de las casas de juegos de azar.
Green agenda for global leaders
Climate change, the rise of Asia and the next web revolution will dominate the agenda when the World Economic Forum starts on Wednesday in Davos. The five-day talking shop in the Swiss Alps brings together business leaders, politicians and campaigners, among them Bill Gates, Tony Blair and Bono. More than 30 trade ministers will meet on the sidelines in the hope of reviving stalled global trade talks. Davos attracts 2,400 participants from 90 countries. They will discuss the geopolitical changes that have resulted in an "increasingly schizophrenic world" that is "harder and harder to understand. Participants can expect a daily reminder of what global warming could mean: usually the Davos valley is buried under a metre or two of snow at this time of year, but until Tuesday the mild winter left the hills mostly green.
CIA trial under way in Washington
The trial of a former White House aide is under way in Washington which is likely to reveal how the Bush team acted in the run-up to the Iraq war. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is charged with lying about the disclosure of a CIA agent's identity in 2003. It has been alleged Valerie Plame was "outed" in revenge for her husband's attack on President George Bush's use of intelligence to justify the war. The case is not about the leak itself but the alleged cover-up. Deliberately revealing an agent's name is a serious offence in the US and the leak sparked a high-level criminal inquiry. A grand jury looked into claims that leading White House officials set out to discredit former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, revealing his wife's identity in the process.
Jurors will have to decide whether Mr Libby, once chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, lied to investigators examining the disclosure of Ms Plame's name.
Mexico extradites drug suspects
Mexico has extradited several key alleged drugs smugglers to the US, including the reputed leader of one of country's most powerful drug cartels. President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December 2006, has vowed to curb drug-related crime in Mexico. In mid-December he ordered thousands of troops to be sent to Michoacan state, on the Pacific coast, where drug-related crime killed more than 500 people last year.
Morales reshapes Bolivia cabinet
Morales has replaced seven out of 16 ministers of his cabinet - a day after celebrating his first year in office. Among those sacked was Education Minister Felix Patzi whose reform plans had provoked criticism from the Roman Catholic church and education workers. Interior Minister Alicia Munoz was also removed after coming under pressure for failing to curb social unrest. Morales said the changes were needed to respond to Bolivia's problems.
Phone Scam Hits Migrants' Families in Mexico
Scammers are targeting the families of Mexicans who are working north of the border. Calls to rural Mexico urge family members to send money for a relative who has had trouble in the United States.
Bank of England Voted 5-4 for Surprise Rate Increase
Bank of England policy makers voted 5- 4 for a surprise increase in the benchmark interest rate this month to quell inflation. The nine-member committee said inflation may stay above the 2 percent target for longer than the central bank's forecast. The dissenters said there was insufficient news to warrant an immediate increase, which ran the risk of sparking an over-reaction in financial markets.
Argentina, Brazil join WTO complaint against U.S. corn subsidies
South American agricultural leaders Argentina and Brazil have joined Canada in a complaint against the United States over what they claim are illegal government handouts to American corn growers. The request for consultations threatens a major commercial dispute in the Western Hemisphere at a time when global free trade talks remain stalled over agricultural tariffs and subsidies and the U.S. begins debating a new multibillion-dollar farm bill. Under WTO rules, a three-month consultation period is required before a country can ask the trade body to launch a formal investigation. A WTO case can result in punitive sanctions being authorized, but panels take many months, and sometimes years, to reach a decision. Canada lodged its complaint on Jan. 8, claiming that some $9 billion paid out by the U.S. annually in export credit guarantees and other subsidies unfairly and illegally deflated international corn prices. "This is not just about corn," said Clodoaldo Hugueney, Brazilian ambassador to the WTO. "Brazil is the world's largest ethanol exporter, so this is an important issue for us."
Brazil Sells Dollar-Denominated Bonds Due in 2037
Brazil sold $500 million of dollar- denominated bonds maturing in 2037 to take advantage of the country's lowest borrowing costs ever. Brazil sold the 30-year bonds to yield 6.635 percent, or 1.73 percentage points over similar U.S. Treasuries, locking in borrowing costs after the country's yield spread over U.S. securities tumbled. The yield on the 7 1/8 percent dollar bonds due in 2037 fell to a low of 6.52 percent on Jan. 3, down from as high as 8.1 percent in May 2006. This is a very favorable moment for Brazil to issue bonds.
CVRD to invest heavily in Brazil infrastructure
CVRD will unveil its 2007 investment budget this week, including hefty investments in Brazil's infrastructure and overseas mining projects. The plan is for CVRD to keep investing heavily in Brazilian infrastructure. Lula unveiled an ambitious 500-billion-real ($235-billion) infrastructure investment plan on Monday, but he said the government will spend only 68 billion reais while state-run and private companies are expected to contribute the rest. Poor infrastructure is partly to blame for tepid economic growth in Brazil, an agriculture and mining nation the size of the continental United States. CVRD has built up its own rail network over the years to move iron from inland mines to ports. The formerly state-run company is the largest-single infrastructure investor in Brazil.
Brazil shares crash blame
Air-traffic controllers share the blame and may face up to 12 years in prison for the collision over the Amazon that killed 154 people last September. Lepore and Paladino, the Long Island small-jet pilots who survived the Sept. 29 crash with a Boeing 737, will likely be held responsible when the investigation concludes next month.
Return of the Drug Company Payoffs
Two court decisions have allowed the manufacturers of brand-name drugs to resume the underhanded practice of paying generic competitors to keep their drugs off the market. It is a costly legal loophole that needs to be plugged by Congressional legislation. The problem arises when a generic manufacturer tries to take its drug to market before the patent on a brand-name drug has expired by arguing that its product does not infringe upon the patent or that the patent is invalid. Huge sums of money are at stake, especially with blockbuster drugs whose annual sales can exceed a billion dollars. Rather than risk it all, a brand-name manufacturer may choose to pay its generic competitor substantial compensation to drop its challenge and delay marketing its drug. Both companies make out handsomely. The big losers are consumers and the public and private insurers that must continue to pay monopoly prices for the brand-name drugs. The pharmaceutical industry contends that the settlements are a reasonable way to resolve disputes and that they often result in bringing generic drugs to market before a patent has expired, albeit not as soon as the generic company wanted. The industry argues that regulators and the courts should judge such settlements on a case-by-case basis.
Nicotine Manipulation Confirmed
Any doubts that the tobacco industry has surreptitiously raised the nicotine content of cigarettes should be laid to rest by a study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. They confirmed last year’s discovery of the nicotine increase by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and went on to identify how the tobacco companies designed their cigarettes to accomplish this. These manipulations were discovered because of more realistic tests to measure how much nicotine is deliverable to typical smokers and requires companies to report design features of their cigarettes. Harvard researchers the nicotine yield per cigarette rose by an average of 11 percent between 1998 and 2005, a conclusion contested by the industry. They concluded that the companies managed this by using tobacco containing a higher concentration of nicotine and perhaps also by slowing the rate at which cigarettes burned — thus increasing the number of puffs per cigarette. The companies presumably hoped that additional nicotine would hook more new customers and keep old ones from breaking the habit.
Africa
Kibaki named in new Githongo evidence
East African Standard, Liberal daily of Nairobi, Kenya
NPP`s Patriotic Youth charges
Ghanaian Chronicle, Independent, published in Accra, Ghana
GUINEA: More trouble in Guinea could shake region
Integrated Regional Information Networks (United Nations), Nairobi, Kenya
Report: US launches new Somalia strike
Mail and Guardian, Liberal daily of Johannesburg, South Africa
Couple behind bars
The Sowetan, Liberal daily of Johannesburg, South Africa
Mwanawasa visits Copperbelt
Times of Zambia, Government-owned daily of Lusaka, Zambia
Americas
Ahead of Schedule
Barbados Advocate, Independent daily of St Michael, Barbados
Record exports in 2006
Buenos Aires Herald, Liberal daily of Buenos Aires, Argentina
'I told her not to go' - Daughter missing since meeting man from chat room
Jamaica Gleaner, Centrist daily of Kingston, Jamaica
Calderon struggles to stabilize tortilla prices
The Guadalajara Colony Reporter, Independent weekly of Guadalajara, Mexico
Asia Pacific
U.N. report to list climate change risks
Daily Yomiuri, Conservative daily of Tokyo, Japan
CPC Politburo calls for all-around financial reforms
People's Daily Online, Pro-government daily of Beijing, China
Rivercat master charged
The Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily of Sydney, Australia
East Java Produces 47 Percent of National Sugar
Tempo, Independent weekly of Jakarta, Indonesia
Dirty cash to fuel 2007 poll violence
The Manila Times, Pro-government daily of Manila, Philippines
Former GMs jailed 16 years for cheating Tabung Haji, two ministers of RM200m
The Sun, Independent daily of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Europe
Leadership Struggle Breaks Out Among Bavarian Conservatives
Deutsche Welle, International broadcaster of Cologne, Germany
Senators ask Tallinn to refrain from desecrating history of fascism defeat
Interfax, Government-owned news agency, Moscow, Russia
Ä184bn plan no election stunt, says Government
Irish Examiner, Centrist daily of Cork, Ireland
Wrigley Bites Into Korkunov Candy
The Moscow Times, Independent, English-language daily of Moscow, Russia
Three killed as general strike hits Lebanon
The Scotsman, Centrist daily of Edinburgh, Scotland
State of the Union
The Times, Conservative daily of London, England
Middle East
Mission accomplished
Al-Ahram Weekly, Semi-official, English-language weekly of Cairo, Egypt
Sultan Signs First Jeddah Airport Expansion Deal
Arab News, Pro-government, English-language daily of Jidda, Saudi Arabia
President Will Suspend Himself but Insists He is Innocent
Arutz Sheva, Pro-settler publication of Israel
Bush: 'Give Iraq plan a chance'
Gulf News, Independent daily of Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Justice Min. Livni joins calls for Katsav to resign
Ha`aretz, Liberal daily of Tel Aviv, Israel
4th tripartite meeting on IPI pipeline kicks off in Tehran
Islamic Republic News Agency, Government-owned news agency of Tehran, Iran
Justice Minister: Katsav should resign the presidency
The Jerusalem Post, Conservative daily of Jerusalem, Israel
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