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| Sentido's Broadsheet section provides readers with an archive of all stories placed on our front page, for each year. The service will soon be expanded to include republication of special reports from other sources and premium articles and information, along with the option to create tailor-made news and travel publications for personal enjoyment. | ||||||||
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STABILITY KEY GOAL SHARED BY RIVALS IN PAKISTAN
30 December 2007 In the wake of the assassination of Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto, stability seems to be the key goal among top rivals in secular political leadership. The PPP has announced that in keeping with Ms. Bhutto's wishes, her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a 19-year-old student at Christ Church College, Oxford, will take the helm of the party, with her husband, Bilawal's father, managing day-to-day affairs until Bilawal finishes his studies. [Full Story] BHUTTO ASSASSINATION SIGNALS DEEP-RUNNING POLITICAL RIFT THAT COULD DESTABILIZE PAKISTAN Fmr. Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose father was executed in the process of a military coup in the 1970s, and who has said she remained "broken" by what had happened to her during 5 years in military prison, was assassinated Thursday, while campaigning to restore free elections to her country. She had been the first woman elected PM in a Muslim country and had sworn she would combat radical fundamentalism and end the cycle of military takeovers. [Full Story] OVERCOMING ACRIMONY, BALI CONFERENCE BRINGS CONCESSIONS, START OF 'ROADMAP' The UN climate change policy conference on the Indonesian island of Bali has ended in dramatic fashion, as EU and US delegates found themselves in a war of words over differences in how to reach long-term reductions in "heat-trapping gases" emitted by human societies, essentially: carbon emissions. [Full Story] PAULSON BOND PROPOSAL AIMS TO STAVE OFF FORECLOSURES The Secretary of the US Treasury Dept., Henry Paulson, has proposed a plan whereby Congress would approve new legislation allowing state and local governments to issue tax-exempt bonds to homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages who need to refinance in order not to suffer foreclosure. The plan would allow "innovative mortgage programs" to be kept at lower cost, allowing affected borrowers to keep their homes while they pay down potentially crippling loans. [Full Story] THE 12-YEAR SEA-CHANGE, THE GREEN ECONOMY Between the years 2008 and 2020, we are likely to see a still unimaginably sweeping shift away from fossil fuels and high-contamination modes of powering our economy. The transition will have a political component, but will be driven mostly by cost concerns, resource scarcity, and public demand for cleaner air and responsible climate policy, a demand which is not ideological in nature. [Full Story] PUTIN'S UNITED RUSSIA PARTY SAID TO BE USING STATE POWER TO BLOCK OUT RIVALS Reports from across Russia indicate that by various means, state authorities are pressuring organizations and institutions of all kinds to force mass voter turnout for Pres. Putin's United Russia party. The Kremlin denies the allegations, but at least one high ranking election official has said he was given orders to ensure that United Russia receive 'double' the number of votes forecast by current opinion polling. [Full Story] REBEL SENATOR LEADS COUP ATTEMPT BY MILITARY MUTINY AGAINST ARROYO IN MANILA After a tense 7 hours, Philippines government forces, having surrounded the Peninsula Hotel in Makati, Manila's financial district, fired tear gas into the luxury hotel and were able to detain all the participants in the attempted coup d'état. Rebel senator Antonio Trillanes, Brigadier General Danilo Lim, and former vice president Teofisto Guingona are alleged to be the master-minds behind the conspiracy to overthrow Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government. [Full Story] THE TIME IS NOW FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON EMISSIONS REDUCTION Due to the science we already have, the laws we have to govern our own activity and to force government to act for the public health, we face the real possibility of being forced, in American courts, in the future, to pay for damage done to the most affected populations in other parts of the world, as a result of inaction by our government. The public voice, and those campaigning for the level of public respect needed for election to office, should bring this issue to the fore, push for real initiatives to tackle the problem boldly, in a collaborative way, now. [Keep Reading] TEXT OF U.S. PRES. BUSH'S OPENING REMARKS TO ANNAPOLIS MIDEAST PEACE CONFERENCE Thank you for coming. Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, Secretary General Ban, former Prime Minister Blair, distinguished guests... We meet to lay the foundation for the establishment of a new nation — a democratic Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and security. We meet to help bring an end to the violence that has been the true enemy of the aspirations of both the Israelis and Palestinians. [Full Transcript] HOUSING MARKET CRISIS TIED TO SPECULATION, 'PREDATORY' LENDING As the crisis stemming from high-risk sub-prime mortgage lenders' collapse in the US spreads, the real estate market beyond US borders is being hit by what observers are calling the 'credit crunch', taking for granted this will affect all international financial endeavors, such is the situation. The governor of the Bank of England has now warned that the United Kindom is facing what should be its tightest economic year in a decade, warning that the slowdown could last into 2009. [Full Story] PAKISTAN TO SEE 'CARETAKER' GOV'T & PM OVERSEE JANUARY ELECTIONS, UNDER EMERGENCY RULE Key opposition leader Imran Khan has been detained under counter-terrorism laws under the new martial law decree by Gen. Musharraf. But the beleaguered military leader says he will appoint a 'caretaker' government that will oversee a smooth transition to the next phase of Pakistan democracy, which should presumably see a legitimately elected parliament and prime minister, and Pres. Musharraf resigning as military chief and serving strictly as a civilian president. With thousands of their supporters, as well as political and judicial officers in prison, opponents are justifiably skeptical. [Full Story] BHUTTO, AGAIN UNDER HOUSE ARREST, CALLS FOR MUSHARRAF TO RESIGN OFFICE Former prime minister and current opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest for the second time in one week, this time to prevent her from leading a protest march from Lahore to Islamabad. Musharraf claims new crackdown is aimed at protecting Ms. Bhutto's life, as evidence exists of a suicide campaign. Over 4,000 police are reported to be surrounding Bhutto home. [Full Story] LIBERTY & SECURITY WRESTLE IN PAKISTAN, AS ELSEWHEREWHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE 21st CENTURY? 13 November 2007 In many parts of the world, people are presently facing the question, on a societal scale, of whether or not free and open democracy can coexist with measures taken to protect against extremism. The question is an old one and goes to the root of whether it is possible, as a matter of natural law, to vote away one's rights or to vote against democracy. [Full Story] THE COST OF GOING GREEN MAY ACTUALLY BE NEW BOOM ECONOMY Ecological advancement and retro-fitting will be the new boom economy. Let's make sure we do everything possible to fund not only research, but implementation. What will it cost to produce an environmentally-oriented overhaul of the US economy, by way of the private sector, with government incentives, and to the ever-growing benefit of private sector interests? [Full Story] MUSHARRAF ARRESTS OVER 3,500 LAWYERS, DISSIDENTS, ACTIVISTS IN NATIONWIDE MIILITARY ACTION Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has signaled his willingness to resort to force to put a stop to protests against his exercise of power, suspending the constitution, rounding up opposition leaders, judiciary officials, human rights activists, and saying democracy will be restored upon his decree. Several days into a martial law decree, protests are mounting and police violence against demonstrators shows no signs of abating. [Full Story] WHY MUSHARRAF'S USE OF FORCE AGAINST CIVIL REFORMERS IS DANGEROUS FOR PAKISTAN, THE REGION When Pervez Musharraf came to power in a military coup d'état in 1999, he promised to restore democracy fully within 3 years' time. Symbolic elections were held under a temporary constitution, beginning his first 5-year reign. Now, under a civilian constitution, Musharraf has been re-elected to a 2nd 5-year term, though the Supreme Court was about to issue a ruling on the legitimacy of his re-election, as he had not relinquished control of the military. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF DECLARES MARTIAL LAW, SUSPENDS CONSTITUTION Pakistan pres. Pervez Musharraf, a general who came to power by 'bloodless' military coup in 1999, has been facing opposition from a national lawyers organization that says he has delayed too long in restoring the democratic process, and was facing a Supreme Court ruling that might invalidate his recent re-election. Musharraf claims he had no choice but to suspend the constitution, because Pakistan's "sovereignty" was under threat from "paralysis of government by judicial interference". [Full Story] WEAK DOLLAR IS CANARY IN PROVERBIAL ECONOMIC COAL MINE Americans living overseas see the front edge of the dollar collapse. Life in Europe seems to be twice as expensive as just a few years ago, as Euro-driven price-inflation meets the rapid drop in the value of the dollar against major currencies, like the Euro and the British Pound Sterling. Americans at home are facing higher food prices, higher fuel costs, and an overall slowdown in home-buying. [Full Story] PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO CURB DAMAGE FROM CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW CLOSE ARE THEY? Can the world prepare to face the potential economic fallout from increasingly intense weather phenomena, prolonged heat waves, desertification, ice-melt and flooding? While there is no clear proof Hurricane Katrina was a direct result of climate change, hurricanes of such intensity will become increasingly frequent as Gulf waters warm; the aftermath provides real instruction for just how fragile the social fabric can be in the face of natural disaster. [Full Story] NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AWARDED FOR WORK TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change is no longer controversial; it has been accepted as scientific fact by a global consensus of researchers and policy makers, including the Bush White House, which resisted acknowledging human activities were a vital contributing factor, until recently. Now the Nobel committee selecting the Peace Prize laureate has raised the issue of warming posing a major international security crisis. [Full Story] CHINESE CITY EXAMPLE OF CRISIS IN FRESH WATER FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT Shijiazhuang, a city of 2 million on the North China Plain saw 11% growth last year, is undergoing a population and construction boom, and is inviting new residents with money to spend to inhabit water-intensive luxury housing, even as irreplaceable aquifers are drying up, and water tables are dropping at alarming speed. Fossil aquifers upon which the region is already over-dependent may be dry by 2037. [Full Story] JOURNALISM STUDENT TASERED BY POLICE AFTER ASKING HARD QUESTIONS OF SEN. KERRY Last week, a journalism student attending a speech by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), at the University of Florida, was cuffed, electrocuted and detained by police while posing a series of hard questions to the senator. He asked the 2004 presidential candidate why he conceded the 2004 election "on the day" when there were reports from several states of voter suppression. He went on to ask why Kerry does not push to impeach Bush for the Iraq war, and to prevent war with Iran, then finishes with a third question about whether Sen. Kerry was "a member of the same secret society as the president". [Full Story] POLITKOVSKAYA INVESTIGATION IN DISARRAY, SUPPORTERS SAY RUSSIAN GOV'T SABOTAGED CASE In late August, prosecutors announced the arrest of 10 individuals in connection with an alleged conspiracy to murder investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down in her apartment-building's lobby last year. A judge in Russia has ruled against the detention of an FSB agent, who was released, then re-arrested on unrelated charges of abduction, murder and abuse of power. Now the Russian government has replaced the lead investigator, provoking "disappointment and bewilderment" at Novaya Gazeta, where Politkovskaya worked. [Full Story] BARCELONA PLACES 8TH WORST FOR AIR QUALITY IN STUDY OF 26 CITIES Barcelona, a city often thought to be a bastion of liberal thought and green politics (the Green party is part of the regional coalition government), is listed one of the worst cities for air quality in Europe, according to La Vanguardia newspaper and CREAL, a Barcelona-based research institute. The city and the region are dealing with a sometimes unmanageable influx of new inhabitants and tourist activity, which have produced soaring demand for transportation, air travel, electricity and new construction. [Full Story] WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO 'LAWS ON THE BOOKS' CONSERVATISM? American conservatives, from ideologues to the everyman on the street, have long touted the notion that government powers should not be expanded, that the US Constitution contemplates a small, limited role for government in American life, and that what is needed to address society's ills is not the enactment of new laws, but enforcement of the "laws already on the books". But the 21st century has seen a radical departure from that philosophy among conservative politicians in Washington, DC. [Full Story] JUDGE RULES PART OF PATRIOT ACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL A National Security Letter (NSL) is a secret document sent by federal investigators to an entity which is then required to pass along otherwise private information, much of which might not fit within judicial review under the protections of the Fourth Amendment. They are permitted only in cases allegedly linked to investigations of specific terror plots. Now, a federal judge has said the section of the USA PATRIOT Act that allows federal investigators to conscript individual citizens or organizations as domestic spies, in total secrecy under penalty of prosecution, violates First Amendment protections and is an assault on the Constitutional role of the judiciary. [Full Story] DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN & OF THE CITIZEN The representatives of the French people, constituted into a "National Assembly," considering that ignorance, forgetting or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortunes and of the corruption of governments, are resolved to expose [i.e., expound], in a solemn declaration, the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of man, so that that declaration, constantly present to all members of the social body, points out to them without cease their rights and their duties... [Full Transcript] CLEAR CHANNEL PLAN TO SWITCH AIR AMERICA RADIO TO ALL-SPORTS FORMAT PROVOKES PUBLIC OUTCRY In San Diego, California, the sixth largest city in the United States, Clear Channel is planning to shut down the city's only progressive radio station, Air America, a nationally-syndicated talk radio format that often voices criticism of the national conservative social agenda, Republican party activities and big business interests. All of these have traditionally held strong sway over the military-centered mainstream of San Diego society. [Full Story] CALIFORNIA ELECTORAL COLLEGE PLAN MAY UNDERMINE NATIONAL ELECTION INTEGRITY The Electoral College is a procedural peculiarity enshrined in the Constitution, initially intended to protect the voting power of slave-holding states, which puts the very concept of majority rule in question. A California plan to "reform" the system would grant electoral college votes to the Republican party even if it doesn't win the state, which would rob the Democrats of votes they would not gain in any state controlled by Republicans. [Full Story] ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER 'GAPING HOLE' IN UNIVERSE, 1 BILLION-LIGHT YEARS ACROSS Astronomers examining a microwave anomaly in the area of the constellation Eridanus, southwest of Orion, report having discovered a massive void, far larger than anything seen or theorized to date. The empty space, more than 1 billion light-years in diameter, contains no galaxies, stars or visible nebula, and appears to lack even dark matter. [Full Story] SENTIDO LAUNCHES SPECIAL REPORT SECTION ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS Sentido.tv is devoted to a free and independent press, and upholds the right of all people to live in societies where the presses and modern news media are open, and enjoy the freedom to deliver news that is inconvenient to those in positions of influence. Without this freedom, democracy and the business of information are in constant peril of being extinguished. Our special report on press freedom will allow readers to see what stories we publish that relate to the state of that vital freedom in today's world. [Go to Press Freedom] ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES RESIGNS US attorney general Alberto Gonzales has resigned his office, according to sources in the administration. Amid accusations of political abuses and incompetence, prominent members of Congress from both parties had been calling for Gonzales to step down, for several months. A probe into his role in the firing of 8 US attorneys in December of last year, allegedly for political reasons, has called into question his leadership at the Department of Justice. [Full Story] CHILEAN TOURIST HELD HOSTAGE BY ARBITRARY PROSECUTION IN RUSSIA Russian law prohibits transporting anything deemed a "cultural treasure" out of the country. Roxana Contreras, a Chilean-born tourist from St. Louis, Missouri, traveling in the Russian countryside, understands little Russian and was unaware of this law "when a street vendor persuaded her to buy some unexceptional Red Army medals and old ruble notes", as reported by the International Herald Tribune. [Full Story] AT WAR: FACING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AS SECURITY THREAT New efforts are being encouraged to recategorize climate change, shifting public focus away from science and shedding light on its vital importance by comparing global warming to a global security threat. According to British climate change ambassador John Ashton, there is a need to approach global warming from a war stance. We are in a war, and our soldiers —people, plants, animals, the very Earth itself— are down for the count. [Full Story] GREECE SAVAGED BY BRUSH-FIRES, AT LEAST 51 PEOPLE KILLED Fires across Greece have taken at least 51 lives over three days, and the government has declared a state of emergency in all parts of the country. Media, ministries, and scientists are attempting to understand how so many forest- and brush-fires could appear in so many places so quickly. The southern Peloponnese peninsula has been called the "epicenter" of the catastrophe, with fires now threatening major ancient monuments and the capital, Athens. [Full Story] KAZAKH PRESIDENT WINS ALL SEATS IN NEW PARLIAMENT, ELECTIONS CRITICIZED BY OBSERVERS Kazakhstan has never held an election that was considered free and fair by independent observers, but the latest installment of the country's strained effort to grow into a post-Soviet democracy has taken rigged elections to an extreme. No opposition parties reached the threshold of voter support needed to gain even one representative seat, leaving the president with absolute control over the parliament, and essentially totalitarian power. [Full Story] VOTER FRAUD & JUSTICE FIRINGS PROBES REVEAL DISAPPEARING PRESSURE GROUP, THE ACVR The American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) was supposed to be a non-partisan NGO pushing for government action to combat what it alleged was a widespread problem with ballot fraud across the United States. When investigations revealed it was founded and operated by Republican campaign operatives, and that its allegations were largely fabricated, the organization literally disappeared from public view. And now it is increasingly difficult to find documents it published or links to information about its founders online. [Full Story] PROJECT 'QUIPU': AN INTEGRATED ECONOMIC VIEW FOR THE 21ST CENTURY To emerge from the fog of flawed and incomplete economic and financial analysis, we need to come to grips with the fact that all resources, all functions or 'services', be they natural or the product of human ingenuity, figure somehow in economic values at all levels. Think proposes to create a system whereby live-update, rss-technology, and financial and editorial expertise, for evaluating broad economic trends and engagements, without limiting analysis to single-parameter references like GDP or individual stock indices. [Project page] MEDIA WATCH GROUP 'FREE PRESS' SAYS MURDOCH PURCHASE OF WSJ IS MEDIA CONSOLIDATION AT ITS WORST Rupert Murdoch's takeover of Dow Jones is a textbook media-consolidation story: a major multinational media conglomerate ingests a smaller rival whose focus is principled, evidence-based reporting. The founder of 'Free Press' Bob McChesney, says "If we don't have an informed citizenry, then every word in our Constitution is meaningless... It's our duty, not our right, to build a free press." [Go to video] SENTIDO GOES AUDIO, ADDS STREAMING RADIO TO ENHANCE USER EXPERIENCE Sentido.tv has added a new feature to its Media section, allowing users to listen to music from a selection of styles, over embedded streaming radio widgets. The move is the first step in a plan to create a multimedia experience that will bring added impact to Sentido's depth of research and principled reporting. [Go to 'Ambiance'] WATER RESOURCE STRESS: GLOBAL ECONOMIC-ECOLOGICAL FACTOR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Water is one of the "fundamental building-blocks of life", as is often said in science, in biology classrooms, in medicine, theology, environmental policy debates, and in cosmology and space exploration. It is also a commodity whose economic reality is increasingly defined by chronic scarcity and often intensely uneven distribution. [Full Story] AT&T CENSORS PEARL JAM LYRICS IN WEBCAST, APOLOGIZES When Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder asked Pres. Bush to "leave this world alone" in song, online viewers watching Lollapalooza via AT&T's 'Blue Room' webcast were not able to hear it. The company cut the political lyrics from the webcast in what band-members, fans and net-neutrality advocates have called blatant censorship. AT&T blamed an outside contractor and apologized for the 'mistake'. [Full Story] CHINA DETAINING, INTIMIDATING JOURNALISTS IN EFFORT TO CONTROL PUBLIC IMAGE ABROAD As China officially began the countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games, various groups report foreign journalists have been intimidated, harassed and even detained, while trying to do their work in China. There is an apparent campaign from the highest levels to limit the ability of Chinese citizens to speak out about corruption, state violence, ecological crisis and authoritarianism; the state is apparently not embarrassed by being seen as a closed totalitarian system. [Full Story] GEOTHERMAL ENERGY CREATES HOPE FOR GLOBAL ENERGY SOLUTION The race to tap large quantities of underground, geothermal energy is heating up. In a recent bid to solve their country's demand for clean energy, the Swiss are digging deep, and the Earth is responding. A scientist at MIT, in the US, says 40% of US geothermal sources could power the entire country's energy needs in excess of 56,000 times. [Full Story] NET NEUTRALITY: A NECESSARY PRINCIPLE FOR MAINTAINING GLOBAL DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS The concept of 'net neutrality' refers to the current state of affairs in the free democracies of the world, where those who control the physical infrastructure of the Internet are not allowed to police its content or to charge for provider-user access. It is a vital ingredient in the make-up of the Internet, because it guarantees the freedom of information that makes the web so useful to free society and so valuable to those who do well what works in that open environment. [Full Story] BILL MOYERS RELAYS THE GOOD NEWS OF NET NEUTRALITY 'VICTORIES' Journalist Bill Moyers explains how Net Neutrality is really about stipulating for all media regulations an 'Equality of Access provision' like that imposed on AT&T after "Free Press and SavetheInternet.com orchestrated 800 organizations, a million and a half petitions... a top-shelf communications campaign. Who would have imagined that sitting together in the same democratic broadband pew would be the Christian Coalition, Gun-owners of America, Common Cause and MoveOn.org?" [Go to video] DARFUR REBEL GROUPS LOOKING FOR AGREEMENT TO COOPERATE WITH UN FORCES Arusha, Tanzania, played host last week to leaders from "more than 10 Darfur rebel groups", as the groups held talks to work out common ground and a structure for negotiating peace with the Sudan government, in light of the coming deployment of 26,000 UN-mandated peacekeepers for Darfur. The conflict which began as an effort to stamp out regional differences and secure control for Khartoum has become a crisis of global interest and one which the United Nations now seeks to put an end to. [Full Story] ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & CLIMATE PROTECTION: A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE We are currently in the grips of the many problems inherent in a petroleum-centered economy and increasingly, business is seeing the urgent need to transition to a cleaner, more cost-effective, less politically hazardous, and economically and environmentally sustainable future. A video documentary now suggests the time has come when government, business and the public are aware of the need to build a comprehensively "new economy". [Full Story] TEXAS BUILDING WIND FARM INFRASTRUCTURE WITH 7,000 MEGAWATTS' CAPACITY "A typical coal-fired power-plant is 300 megawatts", reminds the ecological researcher and author, Lester Brown. In Texas, in a demonstration of what he calls "quantum-jump thinking of what the future might look like", thy're building a wind-harvesting industry that will produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity. This is a huge advance for the economical commitment to renewable resources. [Full Story] RUSSIAN MISSION TO CLAIM ARCTIC SEA-BED IN BID TO DRILL FOR OIL, GAS Russia has launched an exploration mission to the North Pole, in an effort to plant a flag at the sea bottom and claim the land (and by extension the resources that lie beneath the sea-bed). Some of the world's most extensive reserves of natural gas and possibly petroleum are believed to lie beneath Arctic Ocean sea-bed. [Full Story] LEBANON FACES DECISIVE VOTE IN BY-ELECTION, OPPOSITION SAID TO HAVE LEAD After last summer's brutal Hezbollah-Israel war, the people of Beirut, and Lebanon as a whole, are struggling to find a way forward. The nation has nearly split into pro-Hezbollah and pro-Western factions, and talk of civil war has repeatedly threatened to become reality. Now, in a by-election to replace assassinated Syria-critic Pierre Gemayel, the district of Metn will vote either for his Phalangist father, former president Amin Gemayel, or for Camille Khoury, hand-picked by Gen. Michel Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FMP). [Full Story] ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES FLAWED ACCORDING TO UC STUDY A California government-sponsored study has "found that virtually all voting machines used in the state are vulnerable to hackers", creating a whirlwind of complaints from activists and defiance from manufacturers. Secretary of State Debra Bowen, along with voting rights activists have said the problem needs to be solved before next year's presidential primary elections. [Full Story] ETHICS REFORM LEGISLATION PASSES, BILL GOES TO WHITE HOUSE FOR SIGNING The House and Senate have both passed the conference-committee-resolved legislation to tighten constraints on donations from lobbyists and raise ethics standards in Congress. White House has criticized the legislation, though it is expected Pres. Bush will sign the bill into law. As reported by the LA Times "The measure grew out of a pledge by Democrats to 'drain the swamp' after they won majorities in both congressional chambers in last fall's elections. It passed the Senate, 83-14, after clearing the House, 411-8, earlier this week." [Full Story] DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SENATE GIVES PRES. BUSH POWER TO EAVESDROP WITHOUT WARRANTS The Democrat-controlled US Senate yesterday passed a bill that would authorize the president to not only continue, but to expand his use of extrajudicial wiretapping, a practice ruled unconstitutional last year by the Supreme Court. Analysts suggest that Democrats caved to White House rhetoric, for fear of being considered 'soft on terror'. Civil libertarians say the vote is a dark day for US Constitutional law. [Full Story] NIGHT-TIME PHONE-CALL FROM JUSTICE AIDE ASKED US ATTORNEY TO STALL GUILTY PLEA The investigation of the firing of 9 US attorneys late last year has the attorney general fighting off daily calls for his resignation. In each case, it appears there were political motivations for dismissing federal prosecutors whose records were generally outstanding or above average. John L. Brownlee, who was ultimately not fired, says he received a phone-call from a Justice official asking him to slow down on a guilty plea already negotiated. [Full Story] PINK SOLAR CELLS CAN PRODUCE POWER AT 25% OF CURRENT COST As environmental groups, lobbyists and the general public push for more environmentally friendly industrial practices, scientists are finding innovative ways to bring down costs and increase the efficiency of renewable resources. The dye-sensitive solar cells (DSSC), with a pinkish sheen, now being developed at Ohio State University, are an example of the type of engineering innovation that could bring about a genuine green-power revolution. [Full Story] US CHRISTIANS BACK TWO-STATE SOLUTION IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT After years of Middle East policy dominated by the most vocal among evangelical Christian fundamentalists, those who believe Israel's domination of the Holy Land is a necessary step toward the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, moderate Christian voices are grouping together and seeking to be heard. They acknowledge that Palestinians have a right to a homeland as well, and that a sense of justice, and not dogma, should dictate policy. [Full Story] BIDEN-GELB PLAN FOR 'SOFT PARTITION' OF IRAQ WINS FAVOR The Iraq conflict has become exactly what it's proponents said it would never become, a bloody sectarian quagmire, threatening to rip the country apart along ethnic and confessional lines. Many warned that Iraq would be another Yugoslavia if its socialist dictatorship were toppled, splitting along ethnic and religious lines and descending into uncontrollable internecine violence. Could separating the three main communities, giving each a regional government, be the path to peace? [Full Story] HIV CRISIS HITS MIGRANTS RETURNING TO RURAL MEXICO FROM US A new study has shown that the most serious risk rural Mexican women face of contracting HIV is by sexual intercourse with their own husbands, in cases where the husband is a migrant worker traveling to and from the US. The result of the irregular migration policy regarding the US-Mexico border is that men who migrate without papers to work in factories or on farms often spend large amounts of time alone, with no contact with their wives or families. [Full Story] FBI DIRECTOR TESTIMONY SUGGESTS GONZALES MISLED CONGRESS ABOUT OPPOSITION TO WIRETAPS FBI director Robert Mueller, the top law-enforcement agent within the Justice Department, testified before that House Judiciary Committee that there was in fact a heated confrontation between senior Justice Department officials and White House aides in 2004, regarding President Bush's warrantless NSA wiretapping program. Two days earlier, AG Gonzales had told the Senate there had never been any disagreements within the administration regarding the legality of the program. Mueller testified that the crisis was so severe, he had to intervene to prevent a wave of resignations at Justice. [Full Story] RUPERT MURDOCH WINS BID TO BUY DOW JONES Controversial media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, through his company Newscorp, has reportedly persuaded the Bancroft family, which holds a controlling interest in the financial company Dow Jones, to sell the firm for $5.6 billion, giving him control of the Wall Street Journal newspaper. Until now, there had been opposition from within the Bancroft family, based on concerns Murdoch would distort the editorial culture and diminish the Journal's reputation for journalistic independence. [Full Story] UN SECURITY COUNCIL ORDERS 26,000 PEACEKEEPERS FOR DARFUR, LARGEST MISSION IN WORLD Darfur, beset by years of bloody internecine violence, with the Khartoum-backed janjaweed militia killing civilians in numbers the US government has officially declared to be genocide. For years, human rights groups have pleaded with the international community to intervene, with or without the support of the Khartoum government. Now, the UN Security Council has ordered the world's largest peacekeeping mission to secure Darfur. [Full Story] HOUSE, SENATE TO HOLD VOTES ON ETHICS REFORM The conference committee negotiating differences between House and Senate versions of ethics reform legislation have reached agreement, and the unified bill will be presented to both houses for a final vote, before being sent to the president for signature and passage into law. Negotiators reportedly worked late into the night of 27 July in order to resolve disagreement over language limiting contributions from lobbyists. [Full Story] BEIJING SECURITY CAMERAS TREAT KISSES AS MUGGINGS A system of security cameras set up throughout the Chinese capital is overseen by computers that cannot distinguish between affectionate embraces and muggings. The government is seeking to ensure that violence is not a problem in the intensely crowded city, in order to step up commerce, tourism and public image, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be hosted there. [Full Story] RUSSIA EXPELS 4 BRITISH DIPLOMATS IN LUGOVOI AFFAIR Russia has announced it is expelling 4 UK diplomats, in response to a move by the UK government to expel 4 Russian diplomats over the Kremlin's unwillingness to extradite Alexandr Lugovoi, tycoon and Putin supporter, for alleged involvement in the murder of Alexandr Litvinenko. [Full Story] MONSOONS HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN BANGLADESH, NEPAL, EASTERN INDIA Bangladesh is one of the world's most low-lying countries, with nearly half its area below sea level. At the end of the Himalayan watershed, it is prone to floods of sometimes incomprehensible proportions. This year's monsoons have taken at least 75 lives in one week, with 29 killed across eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday alone. [Full Story] REAL ID SCHEME OPPOSED BY SENATE The Democratic leadership in the Senate has garnered support to refuse funding for promoting a Republican-backed scheme whereby all US citizens would be forced to carry "national ID cards" by 2013. The vote cut a funding amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill; an amendment added by staunch opponent Max Baucus (D-MT) bars states from using any funding from the Homeland Security bill to enact the national ID card plan. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF, BHUTTO MEET IN SECRET EFFORT TO STABILIZE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT Serious trouble started for Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf when a band of radical students, who seek to institute an Islamist state in place of Pakistan's strained democratic system, took over the Red Mosque in central Islamabad. Musharraf took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, and has yet to restore the nation's democratic process. Musharraf has now met with Benazir Bhutto, exiled head of the main opposition party, in an effort to strengthen his government through a power-sharing deal with the nation's second largest political bloc. [Full Story] ECONOMY STRONG OR REPORTING WEAK? It was amazing to see an article entitled "Strong U.S. economy helps slow drop in world markets" in a major international newspaper, knowing that the dollar is falling, people are struggling to make ends meet, we're constantly hearing about bankruptcies on the rise, and the housing market is, well, contributing to a potential global credit crisis, with major mortgage lenders under investigation for lending-to-loot. The story was based on figures reported by the US Commerce Department, which had just reported (Friday) that the "US economy" (ostensibly, GDP) had grown by 3.4 % in the 2nd quarter of 2007. [Full Story] ENERGY POLICY, OR THE UNNECESSARY PROLONGATION OF THE STATUS QUO? The US Congress is still working on producing legislation that would bring together federal law and executive regulatory policy in one comprehensive national energy strategy. The special consulting group organized in 2001 by the vice president wanted nuclear plants and "clean coal", but both carry huge costs for preventing or reversing contamination, and neither is broadly considered the "future" by scientific consensus. [Full Story] SENTIDO VIDEO NOW SHOWING REUTERS SYNDICATED VIDEO PLAYER Sentido video is going "live" with regularly updated video news feeds from Reuters. The player is available on the front page of Sentido's video section, and allows users to browse a number of headlines, selecting video clips as they become available, or to view the entire series of the moment as one continuous stream. [Go to Video] THINK: A NEW RESEARCH PROJECT EVOLVING SOLUTIONS FOR SMARTER LIVING Through the 'Think' project, Casavaria [Sentido's publisher] aims to develop major new technologies to help bring the costly aspects of everyday post-industrial life in line with what the planet, and civilization itself, can sustain. The project seeks to reduce instability in technology for communication and to develop an entirely new sort of renewable "fuel" source. [Full Story] UK TREASURY TO CLOSE ARMS SALES OFFICE ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION The British Treasury department has announced plans to close the government's controversial office for arms sales, amid allegations of corruption in dealings with foreign governments and fears of proliferation. According to the Guardian, "The 450-strong defence export services organisation (Deso), based near Oxford Street in London, has long been the target of anti-corruption campaigners and opponents of the arms trade." [Full Story] NORTH KOREAN DENUCLEARIZATION COULD LEAD TO LASTING PEACE Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that US negotiations to achieve the de-nuclearization of North Korea may also lead to talks to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean war, which has been officially in a state of truce (at times fragile) since 1953. State Dept. negotiator Christopher Hill has said the 6-party regional talks could become comprehensive peace talks, with the aim of declaring an official end to the war by year's end. [Full Story] OUTER WALLS OF RED MOSQUE COMPLEX DEMOLISHED, MUSHARRAF GIVES ULTIMATUM TO MILITANTS INSIDE The standoff at the Red Mosque in the center of Islamabad, Pakistan, is nearing a potentially bloody crescendo. Pakistan's security forces have demolished nearly all the outer walls of the complex, and sporadic small-arms fire continues. At least 24 people have been killed since the hostage-taking and siege began 5 days ago. [Full Story] DEVELOPERS SUCCESSFULLY LOBBY TO SOFTEN WETLANDS CONSERVATION RULES In June 2006, the Supreme Court issued a ruling requiring that previously unprotected small or unmapped streams and waterways be brought under the 1972 Federal Clean Water Act. Isolated wetlands were to fall under this ruling, and the US government drafted a policy proposal that would regulate the development or filling of such wetlands. Now, new language added to the rules, seem to leave isolated wetlands without federal oversight. [Full Story] GOOGLE LAUNCHES SPECIAL HEALTH ADVISORY GROUP, TO HELP USERS TARGET NEEDED HEALTH INFORMATION Google has launched a new special advisory group for health issues. The aim is to improve its overall search technology so that the end-user's experience is not a confusion of mis-matched or possibly dangerous flawed information regarding health issues. The hope is that Google's ability to provide relevent content will be honed and new search refining techniques will be discovered through the effort to ensure that health-related information is more relevant, more reliable, and more easily accessible. [Full Story] HRW CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO MILITARY, CIVILIAN ASSAULT THAT KILLED 2 PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON The New York based group Human Rights Watch has called on the Lebanese government to launch an independent inquiry into the violence that killed 2 and injured 28 Palestinian demonstrators in late June. Those killed are reported to have been civilians who were marching, unarmed, in a demonstration aimed at raising awareness of their situation and forcing a solution that might allow them to return to their homes in the Baddawi refugee camp. [Full Story] BBC REPORTER JOHNSTON, HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA, FREED UNHARMED Alan Johnston's ordeal became a global concern, when the BBC and his family organized a campaign to urge his immediate release. The release is a propaganda coup for the Hamas leadership, which after ousting Fatah from Gaza, has been stripped of its role in the Palestinian government. Former PM Ismail Haniyeh appeared with Johnston in a press conference at Haniyeh's Gaza residence and sought to project a new image of Hamas as keeper of law and order and responsible political leadership. [Full Story] US SOCIAL FORUM DISCUSSES INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, LINK TO IMMIGRATION POLICY The United States Social Forum (USSF) has taken up the issue of indigenous rights, as part of an evaluation of how civil society treats marginalized groups or deals with hardships they experience as a result of prevailing socio-economic conditions. The forum connects the issue of indigenous rights with the interests of other marginal groups struggling to resolve chronic social disadvantages, such as immigrants, homosexuals and political dissidents. [Full Story] BUSH ERASES LIBBY'S PRISON SENTENCE, LEAVES FINE INTACT Pressured for months to pardon Libby by hard-line voices in the conservative establishment, Pres. Bush opted to commute the 30-month prison sentence, leaving the former vice-presidential aide with a $250,000 fine. Libby was convicted of lying to federal prosecutors and obstruction of justice for his actions during the investigation of the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. [Full Story] AFRICAN LEADERS DISCUSS PLAN TO UNITE CONTINENT UNDER SINGLE FEDERAL SYSTEM Libyan president Muammar Qadhafi is not the first to propose uniting the continent under a single government, but his proposal is bold from any perspective. At the African Union summit in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Qadhafi has proposed that African heads of state should begin the process of integrating the diverse governments and systems under one central, democratic government. [Full Story] DEVELOPMENT BECOMES A NEW GLOBAL IDEOLOGY Ideologically-driven revolutions have sought to implant Utopian movements where authoritarian regimes once stood, but all too often, they have brought about new authoritarian regimes, which view dissenters as immoral or unthinking pawns of the old regime, and therefore, a universal threat. Now, Foreign Policy magazine has asked the question of whether "development", as an international policy agenda, is becoming the new universalizing ideology, with all the relevant risks. [Full Story] CIA RELEASES CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHOWING ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES The CIA has released hundreds of pages of classified top-secret documents, related to criminal activities contemplated or carried out decades ago. The files are a partial release of an archive compiled at the time of the Watergate hearings, in an effort to gather and control documents related to activities that could break out into scandal if publicly disclosed. [Full Story] NEW STRAIN OF STEM RUST THREATENS WHEAT CROP ACROSS AFRICA, SOUTHERN ASIA A new strain of wheat-eating stem rust has emerged as a threat to the global food supply. Ug99, named for the place and date of its discovery, Uganda, 1999, takes advantage of weaknesses in wheat varieties which were specifically developed to be resistant to stem rust, and which have been so for nearly 4 decades. [Full Story] US, IRANIAN OFFICIALS MEET IN BAGHDAD TO DISCUSS SECURITY, STRATEGIC CONCERNS Diplomats from the US and Iran have met in direct talks for the first time in more than a quarter century. There was little anticipated to be gained from the meeting, except perhaps a premise for future security negotiations and a possible increase in mutual confidence in the goal of securing Iraq. The meeting was described by participants as "businesslike", Iran proposed a three-way forum to negotiate security solutions. [Full Story] THOUSANDS OF CENTRAL AMERICAN MIGRANTS RISK LIFE AND LIMB ON 'DEATH TRAIN' In what are often desperate attempts to reach the northern Mexico border, where they can cross into the US and escape endemic poverty, thousands of central American workers risk life and limb to reach better life. Lack of adequate policy for arranging, organizing transport for guest workers leaves disturbing tragedy in place of road to prosperity. [Full Story] BUSH, SENATE LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON LANGUAGE FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL After more than a year of intense debate and heated opposition, a bipartisan group of senators have reportedly reached an agreement with the White House on language that would allow passage and signing for sweeping immigration reform legislation. The bill would give legal status to an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants, and would create a new merit-based system for approving visa applications. [Full Story] FMR ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS BUSH INTERVENED TO HALT MASS RESIGNATIONS OVER NSA PROGRAM Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, James Comey, former deputy attorney general, who acted as AG during Ashcroft illness in early 2004, said Pres. Bush intervened to halt a raft of resignations in protest over the policy clash. Comey reportedly had to rush to AG Ashcroft's hospital bedside to prevent White House officials from gaining authorization, despite official opposition from Justice Dept. lawyers and then acting AG Comey. [Full Story] BUSH ANNOUNCES PLAN TO REGULATE GASOLINE CONSUMPTION IN VEHICLES In response to a Supreme Court ruling 6 weeks ago that found carbon dioxide to be a pollutant eligible for regulation, Pres. Bush has announced he will order the EPA to regulated gasoline consumption for vehicles by the end of 2008. Bush said in the White House rose garden that the American people "expect action" on greenhouse gas emissions. Critics say the long delay in enacting the new regulations is designed to forestall the implementation of new standards in some states. [Full Story] SARKOZY WINS FRENCH PRESIDENCY WITH 53% OF VOTE When the French socialist party put forward Ségolène Royal as the candidate to be the nation's first woman president, there was a general consensus that the conservative party, for all its luminaries, would not have a figure palatable enough to replace Chirac and defeat Royal. Now, Nicolas Sarkozy, an inflammatory and charismatic figure, has won the presidency with a hard-line platform that takes on some of the nation's most prized political idiosyncracies. [Full Story] NEW IPCC REPORT PLOTS WAY TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE Two major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year made front-page headlines across the world, warning of dire consequences of global climate change. Now, the new report, due to be released this week, plots a course to combat and reverse the climate phenomenon. [Full Story] US SUPREME COURT RULES EPA MUST REGULATE CARBON EMISSIONS In a lawsuit brought by 12 states, several cities and a dozen pro-environment organizations against the federal government, the US Supreme Court has handed down a narrow 5 to 4 ruling reversing Bush administration policy that avoids regulating carbon dioxide emissions. The Court says the Clean Air Act specifically authorizes the EPA to enforce such regulation in order to protect the public and effect clean air standards. [Full Story] MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS FROM MILITARY ARMS DEPOT IN MAPUTO A series of blasts in the center of Maputo, capital of Mozambique, left the population shaken. The explosions occurred in a massive military arms depot located near residential areas, in the Malhazine neighborhood. The government was immediately confronted with serious security concerns, but assured the public the explosions were the result of an accidental fire. [Full Story] DANUBE ADDED TO LIST OF MAJOR RIVERS IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING How can a major river disappear? It is all too easy to thing this will never happen, that nature is in balance and will always find a way. But the reality is that nature replaced no-longer viable realities with others that can stand up to circumstance, and circumstance is stressing some major rivers beyond their capacity. The Danube is the latest to be added to a list of endangered rivers. [Full Story] BUSH COURTS LATIN AMERICA FOR ALLIES IN BIOFUEL PRODUCTION The war in Iraq is not winning US President George Bush any popularity points internationally these days, but a focus on the war against poverty and environmentally progressive energy production certainly might; or that is the bet the Bush administration is wagering as the president visits South America this week to discuss biofuel. [Full Story] |
SENATE VOTES 94 TO 2 TO STRIP BUSH ADMIN. OF POWER TO NAME FEDERAL PROSECUTORS WITHOUT REVIEW
USA PATRIOT ACT PROVISION OVERTURNED IN WAKE OF APPARENTLY POLITICAL APPLICATION OF NEW POWER 20 March 2007 As calls increase in president's party, and in Congress, for the attorney general to resign, the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip the government of a special power to name federal proseucutors without an approval process. The investigations into whether political motivations were at play in the firing of 8 US attorneys last year let the Senate to vote 94 to 2 to oppose the special post-9/11 power. [Full Story] DISTILLERY DEMAND FOR GRAIN TO FUEL CARS VASTLY UNDERSTATED Investment in fuel ethanol distilleries has soared since the late-2005 oil price hikes, but data collection in this fast-changing sector has fallen behind. Because of inadequate data collection on the number of new plants under construction, the quantity of grain that will be needed for fuel ethanol distilleries has been vastly understated. Farmers, feeders, food processors, ethanol investors, and grain-importing countries are basing decisions on incomplete data. [Full Story] ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER FIRE FOR POLITICAL DISMISSALS Investigations by the judiciary committees in both the House and the Senate are probing the suspicious nature of the untimely dismissal of at least 8 US attorneys, for what appear to be political reasons. The White House had claimed there was not strategy to fire en masse, until it was revealed that there was in fact consultation on firing all US attorneys and replacing them with political loyalists. [Full Story] JUSTICE DEPT. ADMITS MISTAKES IN FIRING US ATTORNEYS The Justice Department's new performance rating system has come under fire, after the firing of 8 US attorneys was called into question. The cases were not clearly cases of underperformance, but seemed to indicate there had been political motivations for the dismissals. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has now admitted that the program was not applied properly in some of those cases and promises to improve the evaluations policy. [Full Story] ZIMBABWE OPPOSITION LEADER TSVANGIRAI KIDNAPPED, TORTURED, SKULL CRACKED This week, Zimbabwe's supreme court ordered the government to provide the detained opposition leader with legal counsel, access to family and aid groups, and immediate medical treatment. His wife described his condition as being unable to walk or see. The government denied him treatment for several days, and he is now in hospital with a cracked skull. [Full Story] SPAIN GOV'T REVEALS CONSERVATIVES FREED 295 ETA MEMBERS BEFORE SENTENCES WERE SERVED Spain's ruling socialist party (PSOE) has published information showing that the conservative Partido Popular (PP), currently in the opposition, freed 295 ETA convicts before their sentences were completed, during 8 years in power. The move comes as Popular leaders, attacking the PSOE government on a daily basis, has planned a massive demonstration for Saturday to accuse the government of caving to terrorism for freeing De Juana Chaos to avoid his hunger strike ending in death. [Full Story] JURY FINDS LIBBY GUILTY OF LYING, OBSTRUCTION The case was complex and convoluted, and risked jeopardizing numerous fundamental values of American liberty and jurisprudence. One reporter was sent to prison and many were subpoenaed and forced to give up their sources. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has said the case is now closed, though no one has been charged with the leak of classified information itself. [Full Story] FIRST JUDGES, NOW LAWYERS ON STRIKE AGAINST GOV'T AGGRESSION IN UGANDA On 1 March 2007, Ugandan security forces under the control of President Yoweni Museveni stormed the offices of the High Court, assaulted civilians, lawyers and judges, and re-arrested 6 suspects that had only just been granted bail. The action showed not only disrespect for the peaceful process of adjudication, but also for the legal independence of the judiciary in making its rulings. [Full Story] IMPRISONED ETA FIGURE DE JUANA CHAOS REPORTED NEAR DEATH Spain's Basque region, known there as Euskal Herria or Euskadi, faces new tensions as supporters of hunger-striking convict say government has failed to push for lasting peace, conservative victims' families group pressures government to cease all negotiation with ETA or its banned political wing Batasuna. Demonstrations turned violent in Bilbao as demonstrators demanded a solution to the crisis. [Full Story] THE PRESIDENCY OF FERDINAND MARCOS Demand for land reforms by poor farmers led to another Huk uprising, and political turmoil continued to wreak havoc on Philippine society. Social unrest eventually led the Marcos administration to tighten security measures and increase military campaigns to quash dissenters in 1969. Marcos won re-election that year, and his new term began under great duress, as allegations of corruption began to surface. [Full Story] GEOTHERMAL: WEST DIGS DEEP FOR THE NEXT BIG THING IN POWER Geothermal energy is increasingly being touted by scientists and researchers as one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly sources of power available. Currently, geothermal sources supply enough energy, 2,800 megawatts, to run 2.8 million American homes. [Full Story] BRAZIL MAP OUTLINES DEVELOPMENTAL SPRAWL INTO AMAZON For the first time, Brazil’s national statistics office (IBGE) released maps detailing the country’s geographical, social and political conditions, which include the human agricultural encroachment into the Amazon region. This could mean the beginning of a real recognition by the state of the toll its development projects are takin the integrity of the region's ecology. [Full Story] SENTIDO.TV LAUNCHES EMBEDDED VIDEO STREAMING Whether it's an appeal for aid in Darfur and recognition of the killing taking place there, or the announcement made by Barack Obama (D-IL) that he would run for president in an effort to rekindle hope in America, Sentido's video pages offer readers a chance to link to in-depth reporting, find other resources online. Viewers can watch Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, the courage of 'Tank Man', who stood down a column of Chinese tanks in Tiananman Square after the 1989 massacre, or learn about ecological research or the plight of refugees from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. [Go to Sentido Video site] HOWARD ATTACK SIGN OF RADICAL SHIFT AWAY FROM DEMOCRATIC VALUES Australia's prime minister John Howard, has launched a rhetorical attack against US presidential candidate and US senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Howard took the unusual step of attacking not only an individual candidate for a foreign head of state, but also suggested that if a Democrat wins, it would be a victory for terrorists. The comment is controversial enough because Obama is not the first US politician to propose a phased withdrawal of troops, but also because it appears to reveal allegiance to a specific party in a foreign state. [Full Story] TEXT OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S 'I HAVE A DREAM' SPEECH I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. [Full Story] SEN. BARACK OBAMA ANNOUNCES BID TO WIN DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008 US Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has announced his plans to run for president in the 2008 elections. He will face a tough field of heavyweight contenders, led by the star-power and financial backing of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), just to win the nomination of his party. The historic announcement, seen by many as the first African-American candidate with nationwide electability, brought thousands of citizens together to hear and witness the event. [Full Story] VANDALS SHOULD NOT DICTATE CULTURE OR BE THE MEASURE OF CURRENT EVENTS We are living with a general malaise on all sides in these times, and we are treating it with too much aplomb and not enough courage. Three nights ago in Barcelona, Spain, one of the great iconic works of the city was attacked by a group of senselessly angry (as if by profession) young people, an entirely destructive and inadequate expression of something that is perhaps more ego-driven than anyone suspects. [Full Story] A RISING TIDE OF RECOGNITION THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS HUMAN-INDUCED The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared last week that global warming and climate change is linked directly to human activities. The UN-based group, made up of 2500 of the world’s foremost scientists working on climate change convened again for the first time since 2001 to discuss the issue with more urgency to the global community. [Full Story] CHINA SEEKS TO CURB ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMFUL ACTIVITIES IN ADVANCE OF 2008 OLYMPICS China’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games means even greater changes to the country’s already expansive environmental agenda. In a bold move to establish itself as not only an economic powerhouse, the Chinese government is trying to make environmental protection a public affair and change its international reputation as a heavy polluter. [Full Story] TUNA CATCH DOWN 80 PERCENT SINCE 1990 IN PARTS OF MEDITERRANEAN In Rome on Tuesday, 24 countries met to protect the Mediterranean Sea from the imminent dangers of over-fishing. Meeting at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization they announced new cooperative efforts aimed at correcting years of failed policies leading to the dwindling fish populations in some of the region’s most pivotal fishing waters. [Full Story] STORM DUMPS CARGO OVERBOARD AS SHIP BREAKS UP AT SEA The 62,000 ton cargo ship MSC Napoli broke apart off the coast of Devon, England, during last Thursday’s storm system over the UK. A World Heritage Site, the coastline is home to a variety of plant and animal species, and some of the ship’s toxic cargo containers have already spilled into the sea. [Full Story] NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS HAVE MOVED DOOMSDAY CLOCK FORWARD, WARNING OF 'NEW NUCLEAR AGE' The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the minute hand on the figurative 'Doomsday Clock' forward 2 minutes, from 7 minutes to Midnight to 5 minutes to midnight. The figurative clock measures the possibility of major threats to civilization bringing about the end of continuity in human society, and was initiated due to the threat from nuclear weapons. [Full Story] CRUMBLING CANADIAN ICE SHELF SIGNALS ARCTIC CLIMATE IN DISTRESS Less than 500 miles from Canada’s north pole, ice shelves continue to show increasing signs of distress. A 41 square mile ice shelf, the largest to fracture in almost 30 years, broke free without notice last summer from the coast of Ellesmere Island. [Full Story] PHILIPPINES: 'AROMA, LIGHT, COLOR, SONG' A low mumbling of congestion, cars, buses, bikes and jeepneys harmonize with pedestrians in urban chorus. Negotiating its way through a mixture of cooking smoke and tropical urban air, the salt of the seas soak clothes and voices alike. Sounds hover through the air under a pungent midday sun that shines over this country of more than 7,000 islands. Tempering brisk spirits and making strangers into instant friends, a humid atmosphere makes for willing faces, as a signature of Manila, the Philippines' capital city. [Country Page] BUSH ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SEND 21,500 MORE SOLDIERS TO IRAQ After much speculation and many leaks, US pres. George W. Bush has announced he will send more than 20,000 additional soldiers into Iraq warzone, will require Iraqi government to take action against sectarian movements fomenting violence across Iraq. Bush also said that "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me". [Full Story] US GUNSHIPS STRIKE TWO LOCATIONS IN SOMALIA Even as Somalia is struggling to withstand a resurgence in the violence that has beset the country for over 15 years, as the transitional government attempts to establish itself in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu, after a ground invasion by neighboring Ethiopia, the United States has launched at least two airstrikes against positions in the area of Ras Kamboni, Badmadow Island, in the south of the country. [Full Story] DARFUR REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENS, STABILIZATION FORCE NEEDED The peace agreement signed between the main rebel faction in Darfur and the Khartoum government last May was tenuous at best from the outset, and seems in serious jeopardy of failing. The desperate situation in Darfur is now deteriorating, as violence against civilians not only continues but appears to be escalating, and foreign forces remain ineffectual. [Full Story] DEMOCRATS TO TAKE CONTROL OF CONGRESS FOR FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS The Democratic party will take control of both houses of the US Congress today, as the president's party struggles to adjust to the idea of losing control of the legislative process. The November elections gave the Democrats a majority in both the House and the Senate, and they are already planning aggressive moves on key legislation for the first few days. [Full Story] WAR TO UNDERMINE SOMALI FOOD, AID SUPPLIES After Ethiopia admitted to placing at least four thousand ground troops into Somalia, to aid the powerless 'transitional government' based in Baidoa, it became apparent that full-blown war had broken out between Somalia's neighbor and the militia of the Union of Islamic Courts, governing most of the country since early June. Now, aid groups say the fighting will disrupt efforts to get food and other aid to the millions of poor Somalis in need in the anarchic political and economic situation. [Full Story] FMR CHILEAN DICTATOR, AUGUSTO PINOCHET, DIES AT 91 General Augusto Pinochet, head of the Chilean armed forces, leader of the coup of 11 September 1973, that toppled the government and ended the life of socialist president Salvador Allende, has died. For 17 years, he ruled Chile with an iron fist, nationalized key industries and directed a campaign of kidnap, torture and murder against thousands of dissidents. [Full Story] HEZBOLLAH LEADS OPPOSITION COALITION IN BID TO OUST LEBANON GOVERNMENT Demonstrations in Beirut are threatening to topple the moderate government of PM Fouad Siniora. The militant group, Hezbollah, comprised of political, religious and militia factions, has called for the replacement of the sitting government and brought as many as 1 million supporters into the streets of downtown Beirut to show the strength of its political coalition. [Full Story] UK AUTHORITIES FIND SIGNIFICANT QUANTITY OF POLONIUM-210 IN CLOSE CONTACT OF MURDERED SPY, LITVINENKO Investigators in the UK have said they found a "significant quantity" of Polonium-210, the intensely radioactive isotope that killed former Russian spy Alexandr Litvinenko, in the body of a close associate of the victim. The discovery raises fears about wider contamination and the possibility that others may have been targetted. [Full Story] SCIENTISTS SAY LITVINENKO POLONIUM POISONING BEARS HALLMARKS OF SOPHISTICATED STATE OPERATION When former Soviet spy, Alexandr Litvinenko accused the Russian state, under Vladimir Putin, of organizing his murder, the diplomatic community was faced with a possibly explosive situation. Now scientists in the United Kingdom are saying the polonium-210 isotope found in Litvinenko's system suggests a level of sophistication that would require not only state sponsorship, but likely military cooperation. [Full Story] VIRGINIA GIVES DEMOCRATS CONTROL OF THE SENATE The concession of Sen. George Allen (R-VA) to challenger Jim Webb gives the Democrats 51 seats in the Senate chamber, guaranteeing an outright majority, and control of both houses of Congress. The concession appears to seal the results of the midterm elections as a rejection of the methods and ideas of the party that has held power throughout the Bush presidency, and could significantly weaken his position as top executive. [Full Story] DEMOCRATS WIN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, REPUBLICANS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES AT POLLS Among the early news emerging from the 2006 midterm elections: Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy win by wide margins; embattled Republican senator Rick Santorum is ousted by Bob Casey, Jr., by margin of nearly 59% to 41%; Rep. Weldon loses seat in PA, largely due to corruption scandal; Democrats take control of House of Representatives. [Full Story] D.R. CONGO VOTES IN FIRST FREE ELECTIONS IN 40 YEARS The Democratic Republic of Congo voted Sunday in its first free and decisive presidential elections in four decades. It is hoped that a peaceful transition with a recognized, elected government, will bring peace to the war-ravaged country. More than four million people have been killed in civil war, just since 1998, and decades of instability and violent conflict have taken many more lives. [Full Story] OAXACA SCENE OF FEDERALES CRACKDOWN, STRIKERS DISPERSED In hopes of bringing peace and normalcy to strike-ridden Oaxaca, outgoing pres. Vicente Fox ordered 4,600 Federal Preventive Police, airlifted in from the capital, to occupy the city's central square, or Zócalo. The move came after 5 months of smothering general strikes, with a broad coalition of demonstrators demanding the resignation of regional governor Ulises Ruiz and establishing barricades. [Full Story] BIOMETRIC DEVICES MAY UNDERMINE INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY In the wake of major terrorist attacks against densely populated civilian centers in several countries across Europe, Asia and America, governments and private industry are looking at ways of using biometric scanning technology to determine who should or should not have access to certain locations and services. The technology is complicated and highly advanced, but unproven, and potentially highly flawed. [Full Story] REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN BOB NEY PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY, CONSPIRACY IN PROBE LINKED TO ABRAMOFF On 13 October, Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican from Ohio, admitted he gave political favors in exchange for bribes, pleading guilty on several counts. He will now face sentencing and is expected to resign his seat in Congress, though he has not given a date. Ney is the latest political casualty of a massive corruption investigation involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, anti-tax hawk Grover Norquist, disgraced Texan congressman Tom DeLay, and dozens of other influential Washington figures. [Full Story] GRAMEEN BANK, FOUNDER YUNUS WIN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and entrepreneur who founded the Grameen Bank to give micro-credit loans to poor small-business owners, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yunus shares the prize with the bank he founded, the award given for the bank's efforts to help eradicate endemic poverty among large populations through individual financing. [Full Story] 'OBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE TRUTH NOW SUSPECT' The foundation of a free society is a press with the freedom to criticize instruments of power and influence and to reveal wrongdoing as it actually takes place. War is not a sufficient reason to institute a system of broad censorship criteria or to rein in the news media, as if they posed a direct threat to the wellbeing of the nation. But increasingly, it appears that American news media are intolerant of facts as such, waiting for members of the government themselves to come forward with complaints. [Full Story]
WORLD'S LANGUAGES DISAPPEARING AT ALARMING RATE
HALF OF ALL KNOWN LANGUAGES MAY DISAPPEAR BY 2100, MORE THAN 3,000 CULTURES LOST 6 October 2006 The world's three most widely-spoken languages, English, Spanish and Mandarin, each enjoy more than 450 million speakers worldwide. These languages are increasingly useful for international business and for diplomacy in an interconnected global society. But languages with fewer than 10 million speakers are now considered "minor" and many long-standing cultures are in danger of disappearing, as only a handful of people remain who can speak them. [Full Story] BOLIVIA INTENT ON REGAINING ACCESS TO THE PACIFIC After the 1879 War of the Pacific, Chile retained control of coastal territory that had previously been party of Bolivia, leaving the Andean nation landlocked. The nation famous as a symbol of Spanish imperial wealth, for the Potosí silver mines, the richest ever uncovered, would be geographically isolated and would become the poorest nation in South America. [Full Story] GENERALS, REPUBLICANS REVOLT AGAINST BUSH TORTURE POLICY Roughly three dozen retired generals, including former Sec. of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, have come out in opposition to the White House's latest attempt to transform the legal meaning of the Geneva Conventions ban on torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Senate leaders, behind John McCain (R-AZ) have also joined the rebellion, passing a measure that upholds the standing definition of the Geneva constraints on coercive interrogation. [Full Story] DARFUR AGAIN VERGES ON MASS KILLING, MILLIONS IN PERIL The troubled western region of Sudan, Darfur, is again at the center of a kind of perfect storm of cynicism, ignorance and neglect. Even as the UN Security Council has voted to authorize a force of 20,000 "blue helmet" peacekeepers, incorporating the 7,000 African Union (AU) soldiers already in the region, Sudan's ruler Omar al-Bashir has ordered the AU out and massed 10,000 soldiers on the edge of Darfur. [Full Story] SENATE REPORT SAYS HUSSEIN NEVER HAD AL-QAEDA TIES As the 5th anniversary of the attacks of 11 September 2001 approach, the US Senate's Intelligence Committee has issued a report officially finding that Saddam Hussein never collaborated with al-Qaeda in any sense. In fact, he was hunting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who would later name his organization "Al-Qaeda of Mesopotamia". Hussein was suspicious of the Islamist radicalism of al-Qaeda and did not view them as friendly to his regime and its interests. [Full Story] BUSH ADMITS TO SECRET JAILS WITH 'ALTERNATIVE' INTERROGATIONS Pres. Bush has acknowledged the existence of a secret network of CIA-run prisons, where an "alternative set of procedures" was used to extract information given up "unwillingly" by top terror suspects. The revelation suggests that some facilities existed on European soil, renewing allegations that have long been denied by European and US officials, and provoking calls for a probe into possible human rights violations. [Full Story] FELIPE CALDERÓN WAS OFFICIALLY DECLARED THE WINNER OF MÉXICO'S 2 JULY 2006 ELECTION Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal, the last constitutional word on the outcome of the election of 2 July 2006, has officially declared Felipe Calderón the winner and president-elect. Oppostion leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he will ask his supporters to back him in a rally vote on 16 September in the center of Mexico city in an effort to form a parallel government, the function of which is, at present, still unclear. [Full Story] ALL VOTES MUST BE COUNTED, ALWAYS It is no secret that Mexico's electoral system is undergoing a period of extreme strain and an important test of resilience. While the ruling PAN party's candidate Felipe Calderón enjoys a narrow but contested lead, challenger López Obrador seeks to effect at least a full hand-count of all ballots cast, or a reversal of the election results on the grounds of fraud. The stickiest part of the controversy is what justifies examining only a small percentage of the contested ballots. [Full Story] DESPITE THOUSANDS OF CIVILIAN DEATHS, FEW MURDER CASES HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN IRAQ WAR While prisoner abuse has been a widely reported charge, with shocking images and public outrage to keep attention on the subject, there has been relatively little similar public outrage expressed over situations where civilians have died in questionable circumstances. The Washington Post reports there has been a tendency not to investigate many such deaths, with top officials saying "in private" that there's "a tendency to consider Iraqi civilian deaths an unintended consequence of combat operations". [Full Story] FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN BUSH POLICY LOOSENING CONTROLS ON PESTICIDE USE WARRANTLESS NSA WIRETAPS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL A federal judge in Detroit ruled early yesterday that Pres. Bush's NSA surveillance program, which uses wiretaps implemented with no judicial oversight, is unconstitutional. The ruling strongly enforced the point that there are "no powers not created by the Constitution" rejecting the AG's claim that the Congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force (in Afghanistan) as a legal platform for sweeping new domestic powers. [Full Story] UN-BROKERED LEBANON CEASEFIRE COMES INTO EFFECT A ceasefire as laid out in UN Security Council resolution 1701, passed unanimously on Friday, came into effect this morning. Though Hezbollah launched a record number of rockets yesterday into northern Israel, and Israeli warplanes continue to batter Beirut and other sections of southern Lebanon less than half and hour before the 8am deadline, one hour later there were reports that Israeli aircraft were "absent" from Lebanese skies and that Hezbollah had ceased firing rockets into Israel. [Full Story] |
CASTRO HANDS OVER POWER, TEMPORARILY, TO BROTHER
FIDEL CASTRO, WHILE UNDERGOING SURGERY FOR INTESTINAL BLEEDING, RELINQUISHED POWER TO HIS BROTHER, RAÚL 1 August 2006 After nearly 5 decades in power, Cuba's authoritarian leader Fidel Castro, has relinquished power to his brother and appointed succesor, Raúl Castro. The move is supposed to be temporary, as a means of providing for a transition should complications arise or recover be lengthy, after his surgery to correct acute intestinal bleeding. [Full Story] FEAR ENDANGERS BY DECEIVING The fear and uneasiness that provokes human beings to conflict is never what it seems to be; that is its nature and its method: to take hold by way of complex deceptions. Fear wages a coup d'esprit by deceiving the mind into thinking it promises clarity and intellectual comfort, peace of mind, justice and the healing of wounds, that it may actually generate the only feasible path to physical or political safety. [Full Story] 'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' BRINGS SCIENCE TO THE FORE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS For a long time, conventional wisdom dictated that environmental issues were political in nature, and a matter of preference or opinion. The landmark documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' demonstrates conscientiously that the issue is beyond politics. The film takes pains to show that while priorities —and opinions about them— are at issue, not making ecological sustainability a top priority is not only foolish, but morally unjustifiable. [Full Story] QUANTUM STABILITY FROM GRAPHENE'S 'PERFECT' CRYSTAL FILM Philip Ball reports in the New Scientist that discoveries in the quantum properties of graphene, a single-atom-thick sheets of interlinked carbon atoms may hold the secret to superfast computing, beyond the physical capacity of silicon. The unique material is obtained by flaking or peeling individual sheets away from graphite. [Full Story] RALLIES IN MEXICO CITY CALL FOR VOTE-BY-VOTE RECOUNT The uncertified result of Mexico's presidential election of 2 July is leading to wider calls for a national hand recount. The liberal leader of the Partido por el Bien de Todos has said the election was frought with ballot fraud and official acts of sabotage and intimidation and that the count is illegitimate and incomplete. [Full Story] ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT RAPIDLY ESCALATING Israel's bombardment of Lebanon is described today as "relentless", with new targets in northern Lebanon having been hit and civilian death tolls and injuries mounting. Leaders at the G8 summit have issued a joint communiqué blaming Hezbollah attacks on civilians for the violence, demanding an end to rocket attacks, but calling on Israel to cease all operations in Lebanon that could harm civilians. [Full Story] CIA AGENT WHOSE COVER WAS BLOWN BY WHITE HOUSE LEAK FILES SUIT AGAINST VP In the summer of 2003, after victory had been declared in the invasion of Iraq, then career undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame's name was illegally leaked to the press by as yet undetermined government officials, effectively ending her undercover work and potentially endangering her life. Now she is filing suit against VP Cheney, Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, and 10 unnamed administration officials for maliciously blowing her cover. [Full Story] WORKING OUT THE KINKS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY'S GREATEST PROMISE: WIND POWER Opponents of wind-harvested power generation —usually lobbying for subsidies or public support for fossil fuels purveyors, but also including conservationists— like to crow that giant turbines kill birds, destroy pristine habitat and even "emit" carbon dioxide indirectly. The gist: that an "environmentally friendly" power source is in point of fact not so environmentally friendly. [Full Story] UN NAMES 10 MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORIES FOR 2006 Every year, the United Nations publishes a list of the 10 most serious stories most overlooked by global press, world governments and international bodies. The list often includes multiple crisis situations which could degenerate into full-scale war. Developing nations, whose situations are often misunderstood or dismissed by news media, as too complicated, intractable, or of marginal relevance, take the spotlight this year. [Full Story] PRESS FREEDOM IS EVERYONE'S FREEDOM The freedom of the press is the freedom of the American people. Not its guarantor, not a metaphorical representation of freedom as an idea, not even merely a mainstay of a free system. A free and independent press is American liberty at work, building and defending itself against the slide toward secret or arbitrary exercise of power, as conceived within or beyond the legal process. [Full Story] UN SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE SEEKS GLOBAL REGULATIONS
ACTION TO REGULATE SMALL ARMS TRADE SEEKS TO END PROLIFERATION, CURB RANDOM VIOLENCE, ACTS OF OPPRESSION 1 July 2006 The United Nations conference on light weapons proliferation is facing a burgeoning black market trade which spreads new and used small arms around the globe, fueling civil wars and organized crime. Recent months have seen a number of reports urging governments to tackle the problem; in May, the rights group Amnesty International reported the illicit trade was "out of control", fueled by an "opaque chain" of private interests. [Full Story] SUPREME COURT FINDS GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEES' RIGHTS DENIED BY BUSH MILITARY TRIBUNALS PROPOSAL Pres. Bush's efforts to assume new powers in personally judging accused al-Qaeda co-conspirators "enemy combatants", then crafting a unique, extralegal war crimes tribunal system, where certain rights are denied the defendants, have been rejected by the Supreme Court. The Bush administration must now file criminal charges, either in civilian criminal court or before a standard military court martial. [Full Story] ALITO BREAKS TIE, SUPREME COURT RULES 5-4 TO UPHOLD KANSAS DEATH PENALTY STATUTE New Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito broke the tie between the other 8 justices, leading to a 5-4 majority upholding Kansas' death penalty statute. The statute was challenged by a man sentenced to death under a statutory provision which causes sentencing to default to death when juries find convicted murderers are not among the worst offenders, some of whom will not face a death sentence. [Full Story] PAPERLESS TOUCHSCREEN IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM PARADIGM As noted by a Sentido reader, paperless touchscreen balloting machines are not the only machine-based voting technique vulnerable to tampering. Punch-card readers can be calibrated to miss, exaggerate or misread marked votes. And optical-scan paper ballots can record figures not accurately representing the markings on ballots. [Full Story] SECURITY OF U.S. ELECTIONS, VOTING RIGHTS NOT GUARANTEED The 2000 election process gave clear evidence that the established system for running elections and counting votes in the United States is not cohesive, not fool-proof and not secure against tampering. Congress took action to reform voting standards nationwide to "Help America Vote". But that legislation suffered one fatal flaw: while promoting the shift to touchscreen ballots, it did not require that electronic balloting machines produce a paper record that could be hand-checked. [Full Story] CATALUNYA VOTES FOR NEW ESTATUT, GAINS MORE AUTONOMY FROM MADRID Catalunya, a region of northeastern Spain, along the Mediterranean and the French border, has approved a new regional charter by popular referendum. The 'Estatut' gives the culturally distinct and historically complicated region greater autonomy over taxes revenues, policy and infrastructure. [Full Story] BILL PRESENTED TO PREVENT GOV'T TAMPERING WITH SCIENCE Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) is to introduce an amendment to legislation currently under debate, which would restrict the executive branch's ability to gag scientists, manipulate their findings or demote those who disagree with official policy. The legislation would also require that scientists appointed to investigatory panels be selected for their credentials, not their political views. [Full Story] WORLD GRAIN STOCKS FALL TO 57 DAYS OF CONSUMPTION This year’s world grain harvest is projected to fall short of consumption by 61 million tons, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand. As a result of these shortfalls, world carryover stocks at the end of this crop year are projected to drop to 57 days of consumption, the shortest buffer since the 56-day-low in 1972 that triggered a doubling of grain prices. [Full Story] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR EU GOV'TS TO BE HONEST ABOUT INVOLVEMENT IN RENDITIONS A new report by the human rights organization, entitled Partners in Crime, accuses 7 EU member states of collaborating in extrajudicial detentions and renditions to third countries or prison facilities where torture may be used. The report follows up on a Council of Europe investigation, headed by Swiss senator Dick Marty, which found that 14 EU states had been complicit in extralegal detentions and prisoner transfers. [Full Story] SHIFTING PROTEIN SOURCES The composition of world meat production has changed dramatically over the last half-century or so. From 1950 until 1978, beef and pork vied for the lead. Then the world meat consumption pattern began to change as economic reforms adopted in China in 1978 led to a dramatic climb in pork production, pushing it far ahead of beef worldwide. [Full Story] JOURNALIST HOSPITALIZED AFTER FOUR MONTHS ON HUNGER STRIKE Independent Cuban journalist, Guillermo Fariñas Hernández, is now hospitalized in critical condition, after 4 months on hunger strike, which led to his needing emergency surgery. Fariñas has said he would follow through with the hunger strike until the last, facing possibly deadly consequences in hopes of spurring reform that would allow reporters to gather information and to report on and criticize government activities. [Full Story] TWENTY-SIX STATES HAVE PASSED LEGISLATION REQUIRING PAPER TRAILS FOR ELECTRONIC BALLOTS Since the 2000 election, voting technology has become a major issue in US elections regimens and regulations; touchscreen balloting machines, which legislatures seem to have favored as a way to record votes accurately, eliminating the 'hanging chad' problem, were designed with no paper record and have proven insecure and susceptible to tampering. Now, 26 US states have passed laws requiring paper trails, and 13 more, plus Washington, DC, have proposed laws "not yet enacted". [Full Story] BACHELET DISMISSES POLICE COMMANDER FOR VIOLENT CRACKDOWN Michelle Bachelet's government has tried to bridge the divide between seizing a unique opportunity to increase spending due to the copper boom and demonstrating the fiscal responsibility she has promised will allow her government to build long-term reforms into Chilean social policy. But her $130 million spending plan does not include a major education-spending increase. High school students have been organizing to call for nationwide increases, saying only with better education is an egalitarian democracy truly possible. [Full Story] HIGH COURT ALLOWS DEMOTION FOR DISSENT The freedom of speech is one of the foundational rights under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, because it affords the common citizen a protection against a basic authoritarian abuse of power. Now, the US Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 4 that public employees do not enjoy First Amendment protections while on duty. [Full Story] THE WORLD AFTER OIL PEAKS Peak oil is described as the point where oil production stops rising and begins its inevitable long-term decline. In the face of fast-growing demand, this means rising oil prices. But even if oil production growth simply slows or plateaus, the resulting tightening in supplies will still drive the price of oil upward, albeit less rapidly, and in a world of declining oil production, no country can use more oil except at the expense of others. [Full Story] THE ILLUSION OF THE DEFINITE & INVASIVE 'OTHER' The identity of groups, or for that matter of individuals is not implacable, nor is it absolutely relative. It follows the vicissitudes of the human health and mind, and requires sincere dialogue with the other in order to reach its fullest potential. The push to establish a single national language can only be sustained on the basis of a number of false premises, all of which work against the interests of both a democratic society and American tradition itself. [Full Story] UGANDA TO DESTROY 57,000 WEAPONS The nation of Uganda is taking important steps toward reducing the risk of regional arms poliferation, by destroying a stockpile of old and out-of-use weapons and weapons seized from illegal sources. The move is part of Uganda's pledge to the 2004 Nairobi Protocol, which required signatory nations of Africa's Great Lakes region to reduce the threat of proliferation of light arms across borders, to the peril of civilian populations and political stability. [Full Story] THE WALL GOES UP AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION On Monday, George W. Bush announced a "five-point plan" for curbing illegal immigration and recognizing and regularizing the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the United States without proper residence or work permits. Now, as the Senate has voted to 83-16 to include a 370 mile protection barrier in its immigration reform legislation, the White House is enlisting major defense contractors to build the fence. [Full Story] 'THE WIND RUSH IS ON' IN TEXAS State authorities in Texas have announced plans to build the nation's largest offshore wind farm. The facility would be built about 10 miles off Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico and would consist of 500 wind-harvesting turbines, 400 feet in height. [Full Story] NSA BUILDING DATABASE OF ALL PHONE CALLS MADE IN U.S. The National Security Agency, which has been the center of a major legal controversy over its eavesdropping on law-abiding American citizens without judicial approval, has now been revealed to be collecting phone records of tens of millions of people. The effort is reportedly part of a strategy to amass a record of all phone traffic in the US, no matter its purpose. [Full Story] U.S. MAYORS RESPOND TO WASHINGTON LEADERSHIP VACUUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE Recognizing that global warming may fast be approaching the point of no return and that the world cannot wait for the U.S. government to act, hundreds of U.S. city mayors have pledged to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. By signing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, these mayors —representing some 44 million Americans— have committed their cities to meet or beat the U.S. emissions reduction target in the Kyoto Protocol, despite the federal government’s refusal to ratify that treaty. [Full Story] NEPAL PARLIAMENT SWORN IN UNDER NEW PRIME MINISTER After King Gyanendra declared he would reinstate the lower house of parliament, which he disbanded, claiming a state of emergency in his war to put down Maoist insurgents, agreements were reached with the 7-party alliance of mainstream opposition parties which had staged the massive and growing demonstrations. That 7-party alliance reconvened parliament on Friday and today swore in its interim Prime Minister, who will oversee the vote and negotiations to draft a new constitution. [Full Story] BOLOGNA: 70 KM OF PORTICOES & A STUDIED RESISTANCE Less well-known than nearby Tuscany with its myriad of famous hillscapes and medieval towns, the region of Emilia Romagna to the east boasts its great and complicated capital: Bologna. A town known for hearty cuisine and a leftist politics, Bologna is full of things to see and do apart from eating. It is an under-toured historical city, ripe for rich days of discovery. [Full Profile] GOV'T POLICY UNLAWFULLY CRIMINALIZES COMMENT ON SCIENTIFIC FACT The global environment is, of course, a global issue, one that touches every life on the planet, and the science about it should be open and available to all. Past government policy and existing federal law mean that such scientific evidence should be readily available to the public. But now, it appears that several agencies are laboring to silence scientists who are researching climate trends and alterations. [Full Story]
CHERNOBYL DISASTER 20 YEARS ON, STILL NOT FULLY ADDRESSED The world's worst nuclear accident occurred 20 years ago this week in Chernobyl, Ukraine, under the Soviet regime of the USSR. Fallout from the explosion directly contaminated an area inhabited by 5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Now, a new study based on research from the Russian Academy of Sciences finds 200,000 people or more will eventually die from maladies directly caused by the disaster. [Full Story] COURT FILING CITES 'CONCERTED EFFORT' TO ATTACK CRITICS Regardless of whether the president or the vice president have done anything illegal, it is now clear that they were both involved in deliberately using classified national security information to smear a critic of their Iraq policy. This contradicts statements made as recently as last week which suggest that the president opposed any such use of sensitive information for personal or political gain. [Full Story] IMMIGRATION BILL FAILS IN SENATE Though many sources had predicted passage of substantial new immigration law reform in the Senate, the bill failed to gain passage, after a series of complex parliamentary maneuvers stalled a bipartisan compromise. Republicans opposed to the legislation had attempted to attach amendments designed to limit the number of people who would be eligible for citizenship and to narrow the focus of benefits under the law, prompting Democrats to use parliamentary procedural measures to block those amendments. [Full Story] PRES. BUSH LINKED TO LEAK OF INFORMATION TO PRESS As the case against Lewis "Scooter" Libby proceeds, for violating the federal law prohibiting the disclosure of the classified identities of undercover agents, he has reportedly testified to a grand jury that Pres. Bush was directly involved in the leaking of other information to the press. [Full Story] IMMIGRATION REFORM COULD EASE HARDSHIP FOR MILLIONS In recent weeks, the United States has seen the streets of major cities flooded with protesters, demanding more humane immigration reform than that offered by the House of Representatives. The bill currently before the Senate could offer such a solution, and would provide an opportunity for millions more people to become US citizens. [Full Story] NEW PROTEST MOVEMENT SHOWS VITAL HISPANIC POPULATION The issue of "immigration reform" began sweeping the mindset and the Latin media markets of the United States in December, when the House of Representatives passed a bill that would classify all undocumented immigrants as "aggravated felons", and make it a crime to provide assistance of any kind to them, regardless of personal relationship or imminent need of serious assistance. [Full Story] AT&T SUED FOR VIOLATING LAW IN NSA DOMESTIC SPY PROGRAM AT&T was once the nation's telecommunications monopoly, and abuses there led to the break-up of the Bell monopoly and the regulation of telecoms, with the intent of encouraging competition and achieving the goal of forcing providers to serve the customers first. Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit alleging that the telecommunications giant has violated federal law by assisting the government in spying on innocent Americans without any court authorization. [Full Story] US CLASHES WITH ELEMENTS OF RULING SHI'A IN TROUBLED IRAQ Reports from Baghdad suggest the bodies of some 69 Iraqis were found yesterday, at several sites where sectarian clashes occurred. In one incident, it appears at least 30 people were massacred. Aides to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr cited as saying 18 killed in US-led raid; Iraqi police allege 22 civilians killed in raid on mosque. [Full Story] 'PERMANENT CEASEFIRE' DECLARED BY ETA BEGINS TODAY Spain's 4-decade long conflict with terrorist group ETA, fighting for separation of the Basque country from Spain, today appears at an end. Two days ago, the organization surprised many by declaring a "permanent ceasefire", without receiving any guarantees about its goals or about the future of its membership. [Full Story] WORLD WATER DAY HIGHLIGHTS EFFECTS OF CLEAN WATER SCARCITY ON 1 BILLION Parts of east Africa have not seen rain for six years and six nations there are facing extreme famine. Through events organized by UNESCO, the UN and NGOs are hosting World Water Day today, to raise awareness of the problem of scarcity of safe drinking water affecting an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. [Full Story] BRAZIL INAUGURATES WORLD'S FIRST FULLY DEDICATED LANGUAGE MUSEUM Brazil has launched the world's first museum devoted solely to the history and evolution of a language: Portuguese, the national language since the colonial era and independence. The museum is located in the Station of Light, a train facility built by the British at the turn of the 20th century, and a national architectural landmark. [Full Story] AT LEAST 2 BODIES OF KATRINA VICTIMS FOUND IN NEW ORLEANS LOWER 9TH WARD Seven months after hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast, officials have found the bodies of at least 2 more victims, with a third body possibly also that of a hurricane victim. Student volunteers were working to help remove debris and search for still missing victims in the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the most devastated sections of New Orleans, when they came upon human remains. [Full Story] BELARUS POLL "SEVERELY FLAWED", GOV'T TO FACE SANCTIONS In the weeks before the election, held yesterday, Belarus pres. Lukashenko imprisoned an estimated one-third of the top campaign staff of his lead rivals. The state openly called any opposition to his reelection a threat to the nation and warned of "bloodshed" if there were protests. The EU says the vote took place in a "climate of intimidation" and opposition leaders say the state-orchestrated results were an illegal "seizure of power". [Full Story] CHINA'S WORST-KEPT SECRET Beijing is nervous about a movement stirring in the remote countryside. The severe hierarchy and stratified economic system dominating the ancient nation are provoking violent demonstrations and calls for economic reforms by poor in rural areas. [Full Story] BELARUS PRES. THREATENS TO "WRING THE NECKS" OF OPPONENTS Belarus president Lukashenko has spent years stamping out opposition through a combination of abuses through the state police (still KGB), jailing of dissidents, press censorship, expropriation and propaganda. Opposition to democratic means is almost total under his rule, and the state mobile phone provider has warned of bloodshed. [Full Story] WILD BIRDS MAY BE LESS LIKELY TO SPREAD AVIAN FLU THAN POULTRY As nations across the world either brace for what is now seen as the inevitable spread of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has proven deadly to a high percentage of the few human beings who have contracted the virus, some are taking aim at migratory birds. But wild birds might not be the most likely means of delivery for the aggressive virus. [Full Story] BACHELET TAKES OFFICE, CHILE'S FIRST WOMAN HEAD OF STATE Michelle Bachelet, winner of Chile's recent presidential election, has been sworn in and has taken power as the nation's first woman president. She inherits the economic legacy of fellow socialist, outgoing pres. Ricardo Lagos, who leaves surpluses in government revenue, a rapidly expanding economy and a well-functioning balance between free market policies and expansive social programs. [Full Story] TARRAGONA: GRACE OF TIME & DAYLIGHT If you approach the city by train, you might be lucky enough to find a glistening blue sea to your left and the austere keep of the Roman amphitheatre rising on the hill to your right. It's a city with a unique and casual knack for such cohabitation, the ancient inlaid into a thriving modern city, once the seat of Roman colonial authority and trade in northeast Hispania, now Catalunya. [Full Profile] CITIZEN GOVERNMENT: HAVE YOUR SAY BEFORE CONGRESS VOTES In an effort to prevent "earmarking", whereby language is added to a bill with the specific purpose of directing specific funds to a given project or district, Readthebill.org is calling for the US House to pass a resolution that would require that all legislation be available in full online, in its final form, for at least 72 hours before Congress votes on its passage. [Full Story] SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO DISAPPEARING AT ACCELERATED RATE Research and new images show glaciers famed as "snows of Kilimanjaro" receding at alarming rate, far faster than projections had suggested. Researchers at Ohio State University, who warned five years ago that the famed snowcap on Mount Kilimanjaro might melt or even disappear now say the melt is occurring, but at a rate much faster than expected. [Full Story] DATA SHADOWS & IMPROBABLE CONSENT Neither contracts nor "terms and conditions" including indemnities disclaimers, can be classified as legislation. They do not make or construct legal limits by themselves. Obvious as this may seem, it is a necessary introduction to the problem of the trade in personal information and "soft surveillance", whereby one is routinely subjected to interrogation, inspection and even physical search, not for having broken any laws or even aroused any reasonable suspicion, but simply because "that's policy". [Full Story] |
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