INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-KAZAKHSTAN:

ATTACK ON WORKERS' RIGHTS ACTIVIST:

The following appeal comes from the online labour solidarity site Labour Start.

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Kazakhstan: Prominent workers' rights activist attacked:

Late in the evening of September 22, Ainur Kurmanov, a well known workers' rights activist and organizer, was viciously attacked by unknown thugs at the entrance to his home in the capital city of Kazakhstan, Almaty. He is badly bruised from head to toe, suffering from concussion and head wounds and has a broken finger. Recently, Ainur has conducted important campaigning work at the Almatinskii Wagon Factory and also at the Almatinskii Heavy Engineering Plant. With Ainur's active assistance, workers at these plants went on strike and participated in protest meetings and other activities. As a result, hundreds of jobs were saved at the wagon factory and the plant was rescued from bankruptcy and collapse. The attack Ainur suffered last month is without doubt linked to his activity as a workers' rights activist. We ask you to support Ainur and send a clear message to Kazakh authorities to demand the immediate arrest of those guilty for this attack and for the perpetrators of the assault to be exposed.

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THE LETTER

Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to the Kazakhstan authorities.

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To General Prosecutor of Kazakhstan Mr. Kairat Mami

To Prosecutor of Almaty Mr. Amirkhan Estaev
Dear Sirs,
I have learned that Ainur Kurmanov, a well known workers' rights activist and organizer, was viciously attacked by unknown thugs at the entrance to his home in the capital city of Kazakhstan, Almaty, late in the evening of September 22. According to the information available to the international union community, this barbaric attack was linked to Ainur’s activity as a workers' rights activist and organizer. At the same time nothing is heard about any actions taken by the authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan to investigate this case and guarantee that anything of this nature will never happen again. This causes a grave concern about the personal security of Ainur and other workers' and human rights activists in Kazakhstan and also raises an issue whether the democratic rights can be properly protected in the country that is going to assume a chairmanship in OSCE in 2010. Therefore I urge you to apply all your efforts in order to carry out an immediate, unbiased and transparent investigation of this case to ensure those guilty for this attack to be found and for the perpetrators of the assault to be exposed.

AMATEUR ASTRONOMY:

THE CANADIAN SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2008 THAT YOU WON'T SEE (unless you wear a parka in August):

Yes, there will be a total solar eclipse in Canada this year, though you are unlikely to see the event getting as much press as solar eclipses usually do. On August 1st the eclipse will begin in Canada, sweep across northern Greenland, central Siberia and end in northern China. Double click the graphic to the left or see the colour version at the end of this entry(double click this as well) to get an idea of the path of this eclipse. Whazza problem ??? This "Canadian eclipse" will begin totality in the northern part of western Nunavut at 09:11:07("central eclipse "09:24:10) UT (see the Time and Date website for conversion to your own local times). If I read my maps right Cambridge Bay and Alert may or may not see totality. Other than that the eclipse will not pass over any settled are until it hits Siberia. The path of the eclipse will be about 206 to 236 km wide. The eclipse will have its maximum extent and duration in Siberia. In Siberia the eclipse will pass over the city of Novosibirsk . for information on the eclipse in that city consult the (English language) Russian site, a presentation of the city of Novosibirsk. The central eclipse will end in China at 11:18:29 UT, and the total eclipse will end at 11:21:28. In its path from Siberia to China the eclipse will pass over the triangle where Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia meet. This is apparently the best site to view the eclipse as the cloud cover in the area of China that the eclipse will visit is usually quite extensive at this time of year. If you are interested the Chinese information on the eclipse is HERE at the 'Eclipse Chasers" website, a site truly devoted to those with more money than sense as it caters to those who travel the world in search of eclipses(well...to each their own hobby, and I can think of worse things to do). There is also a Google map available of the path of the solar eclipse, different from the charts presented on this page.

Want more information ? Consult the Hermit Eclipse site, and the Eclipse Chasers site.

HAPPY VIEWING IF YOU'RE A POLAR BEAR !