On April 11, four days after a popular uprising deposed the authoritarian leader of next-door-neighbor Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev met with President Obama in Washington. According to Mike McFaul of the National Security Council, the two presidents discussed Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, economic cooperation and, lastly, Kazakhstan’s current chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As the OSCE holds human rights to be one of three essential components of European security, this part of the meeting included a “very lengthy discussion of democracy and human rights.”
Just a few days before Nazarbayev came to Washington, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court announced—after a long delay—that on April 26 it would decide whether or not to hear an appeal in the case of Evgeniy Zhovtis, the country’s leading human rights activist. Zhovtis is serving a four-year sentence for vehicular manslaughter. His defense team and independent observers had catalogued numerous serious violations in the conduct of the investigation, trial, and appeal of his case.
According to McFaul, Obama and Nazarbayev discussed the Zhovtis case and “agreed that we need to try to find a creative solution to solve this very difficult issue.”  Apparently, no one told the Kazakhstani Supreme Court, which just two weeks later decided it would not hear the Zhovtis appeal. Of course, Kazakhstan’s government will argue that its judiciary is independent and can’t be pressured by the executive branch.
How to respond (politely) to such an assertion? Well, let’s allow the State Department to do it for us. In this year’s annual human rights report, the State Department notes that: “The law does not provide for an independent judiciary. The executive branch limited judicial independence…Lack of due process was a problem, particularly in politically motivated trials.”
Having secured a meeting with President Obama in Washington, Nazarbayev still wants the U.S. to agree to Kazakhstan’s proposal to hold an OSCE summit this year in Astana and for Obama to attend. Washington needs to remember that the overthrow of Kyrgyz ruler Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sparked by public outrage over their leaders’ corruption, bad governance, and human rights violations. This was accompanied by widespread unhappiness at the failure of the American government to speak out about these glaring problems. Against this background, can the U.S. really afford to agree to an OSCE summit in Kazakhstan while Evgeniy Zhovtis, an innocent man, sits in prison?
Patterson leads DeLaSalle into state tournament.(SPORTS)
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) March 13, 2010 Byline: JIM PAULSEN; STAFF WRITER Last summer, when DeLaSalle's Carissa Wolyniec heard that her team was in the market for a new coach, the senior guard admitted to a little trepidation.
"I was nervous," Wolyniec said. "I thought we might get some nothing coach. But look who we got: the best there is." DeLaSalle hired longtime Minneapolis North head coach Faith Patterson, who brought with her impeccable credentials -- 10 state tournament appearances and five state championships in 13 years.
It didn't take long to Patterson to put her stamp on her new team, guiding it to a 29-0 record and a berth in the state tournament following the Islanders' 69-62 victory over Totino-Grace in the Class 3A, Section 3 finals on Friday night.
DeLaSalle's victory was reminiscent of so many of Minneapolis North's triumphs under Patterson. The Islanders used superior inside strength and athleticism to counter Totino-Grace's speed. DeLaSalle's pressure defense forced 17 turnovers as the Islanders got out to a 34-23 halftime lead. this web site chanhassen high school
The Eagles cut their turnover totals down in the second half, committing just three, but the Eagles never got closer than seven points until closing to within four the final seconds of the game. Wolyniec was a big reason, scoring 17 of her 22 points after halftime.
"This group of girls has just embraced us from the start," said Patterson, whose husband John is an assistant coach with the team. "We've been welcomed in. And the players have worked so hard to get here. That has made things so much easier." JIM PAULSEN Class 4A, Section 2 No. 7 Chaska 45, No. 2 Edina 43: Brooke Brown is accustomed to having a glowing smile on her face. It was still noticeable how much bigger it was Friday night.
The senior guard scored on a driving left-handed layup with 20.4 seconds remaining, propelling No. 7 Chaska to a 45-43 come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Edina (26-2) in the Class 4A, Section 2 finals at Chanhassen High School. The victory avenged a 73-62 loss to the Hornets in mid-December.
"This is the best moment of my life," an ecstatic Brown said. Her basket gave the Hawks a 44-43 lead. Ellen Degler added a free throw with 3.9 seconds remaining after Edina missed a shot with 7 seconds left. here chanhassen high school
"We were able to overcome adversity," said Brown, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
The Hawks (22-6) went more than 10 minutes without a basket in the first half and trailed by as many as 10 points.
"Our shots weren't going in during the first half, but the one positive was our defense." So was Edina's until the final three minutes. Chaska scored 10 points in that span, nine by Brown.
"The play [a high pick-and-roll to the right] didn't work, so I backed it out," Brown said. "I ran into my own player [trying to drive the left side of the lane] and I think that's why their defense fell apart. I saw an opening, stayed confident." Edina senior guard Taylor Young finished with 10 points. But she injured her right knee in the opening three minutes and didn't play with her usual explosiveness the rest of the way and was given frequent rests.
"I really feel for Taylor," Chaska coach Tara Seifert said. "She had a tremendous career." RON HAGGSTROM Class 4A, Section 5 Maple Grove 56, Mounds View 44: From a purely aesthetic point of view, Maple Grove's victory left plenty to be desired. Look at it through Crimson-colored glasses, however, and it was a thing of beauty.
The Crimson made more than twice as many turnovers as field goals in the second half of the game (seven to three) but they managed to turn a three-point halftime lead into a 12-point victory thanks to a virtual clinic on free-throw shooting.
Maple Grove, the top seed in the section, made 22 of 26 shots from the free throw line after halftime and held second-seeded Mounds View to 25 percent shooting from the floor to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2001.
"We've worked and worked on free-throw shooting since we lost a game earlier this year because we couldn't hit free throws," Maple Grove coach Mark Cook said. "We shot about 100 today before the game." Maple Grove center Julie Kruse led the Crimson with 15 points and guard Ellen Edison added 14 for Maple Grove, which made 26 of 32 free throws in total.
JIM PAULSEN
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Democracy would seem to include the right to crush opposition or ignore it to death. Same sort of thing that saw USA supporting the South American murderers of the 80's while seeking to squash the socialist reformers in the region. I am a capitalist with a social agenda. We need to make a balance between aggressive 'we will make you laissez-faire' and we will control every aspect of your lives for the good of those who will not lift a lazy finger. Brain and Brawn together with compassion. Why are we agreeing to accept cheap crap from oppressive thieves when we can welcome fair priced goods from honest traders. I am ultimately Hobbesian in my prognosis and I would like to see fair recognition of value locked into a sustainable network. The alternative is the Objectivist shibboleth I think. God Bless.