November 30, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The United States Senate will begin deliberations on comprehensive health insurance reform legislation this week. Already there is intense criticism of the Senate’s health reform bill, from both ends of the ideological spectrum. A number of pro-business conservatives argue it is too costly and will hamper free enterprise and pro-patient progressives argue the bill is already too watered-down and needs a stronger public option, to expand coverage and reduce cost.
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November 29, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The United States is trudging through the tailing winds of an economic storm that saw trillions of dollars in wealth wiped away, major financial institutions demolished, and an investment-based nationalization of the nation’s largest banks, and the mystery, according to most observers, is: where are the jobs? One after another source will say job recovery trails recovery in national economic growth by six to eighteen months.
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November 29, 2009 :: Mirya Dunaeva :: Comments Off
The Nevsky Express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, carrying 661 passengers, yesterday suffered a serious impact or explosion, derailing several cars and killing at least 26 people, near the village of Uglovka. A small crater found near the tracks and an engineer’s testimony that an explosion had occurred have led investigators to suspect a bomb attack as the cause for the tragedy.
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November 28, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Scientists have discovered evidence that human hearing is in part dependent on tactile cues that come not from audible sounds, but from pressure fluctuations and air-particle displacement against skin around the ear.
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November 28, 2009 :: Eva Scherson :: Comments Off
Dubai is the jewel of the Arabian peninsula, the region’s financial capital and a city of global importance. Exorbitant wealth has become something like a national sport there, and major institutions there took the position that they could outlast the global financial panic without substantial government intervention.
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November 27, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Modesto Irrigation District (MID) will test the applicability of mega-battery technology for storing clean energy produced from wind farms, for more effective and well-timed distribution to Pacific coast states. Primus Power Corp. will use a new $14 million federal grant, along with other investment channels to store up to 25 megawatts of electricity. The project is a start, for a region where demand can exceed 600 megawatts on hot summer days.
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November 26, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: Comments Off
Andal Apatuan, Jr., the heir to a powerful political dynasty on the southern Philippine Island of Mindanao, and a candidate for governor in 2010, has been taken into custody after a raid by military and police forces. Ampatuan is running to replace his father as governor of Maguindanao province, his father being forced to step down after three consecutive terms due to term limits.
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November 25, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Republican party has developed an increasingly obstructionist, radical ideology, based on fundamental distortions of the process of government and the aims of opponents. Party strategists openly admit there is a calculation that such distortions will “reframe” the Democratic agenda in a light average Americans view as hostile to their interests, and so indirectly, will generate support for the Republican party. But they have failed to produce viable policy proposals that deal with the pressing crises of this historical moment.
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November 24, 2009 :: Severino Villalonso :: Comments Off
With election contests heating up in the troubled southern region of the Philippines, Mindanao, a mass-grave has been unearthed that is said to contain the bodies of at least 46 people kidnapped and murdered yesterday in connection with the local campaign. At least 20 are reported to be journalists who were traveling with one of the candidates when his convoy was attacked and everyone in it kidnapped, and now, according to reports emerging from the region, summarily executed and thrown into a shallow mass grave.
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November 24, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Washington, DC, for the first official state visit of Pres. Barack Obama’s presidency. PM Singh was chosen by the Obama administration for the occasion in order to highlight the complex strategic partnership the US enjoys with India and to build a closer alliance on a range of issues. The bookish economist-turned popular PM is said to have a close working relationship with the legal scholar-turned popular president. Singh praised Obama for “the breadth of his global vision for peace and prosperity”.
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November 23, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Malaria is one of the 21st century’s great plagues. It is responsible for anywhere from 1 to 3 million deaths per year, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Efforts to eradicate the disease are mounting: in the year 2000, just 3% of children under 5, in sub-Saharan Africa, slept with mosquito nets; by 2008, that figure had risen to 56%. Aid groups now project that aggressive preventive measures can protect 100% of the population by the end of 2010 and reduce the number of deaths to near zero by 2015.
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November 22, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
For the first time in decades, the United States Senate has voted to open floor debate on comprehensive healthcare insurance reform legislation. All 58 Democratic members of the Senate, plus the two independents that caucus with them, voted to approve debate. 39 of the 40 Republicans voted against opening debate, except Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), who did not vote. Though not expected to vote with Democrats today, Maine Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were thought to be more conciliatory with regard to passing legislation containing a compromise on the public option, so their no-votes are seen as a further challenge to the Democratic majority.
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November 21, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has announced she will vote to support cloture, which will allow debate to move forward in the Senate on healthcare insurance reform legislation. Lincoln joins other conservative Democrats, Mary Landrieu, of Louisiana, and Ben Nelson, of Nebraska, in supporting her party leadership’s call for a vote to begin debate on the healthcare insurance reform legislation.
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November 21, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Through the work of writing, I have learned first and foremost that nothing is what it tells us it is, because there is always another level, another way to play at naming, with reality, to bend untruths to be more true, as medicine, as savior, as demon filtered for taste, as a ritual mark of [...]
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November 21, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
From WhiteHouse.gov: “In an address recorded in Seoul, South Korea, the President discusses his trip to Asia. He talks about his push to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran, and around the world. He talks about promoting America’s principles for an open society in China while making progress on joint efforts to combat climate change. And talks in-depth about the primary objective of his trip: engaging in new markets that hold tremendous potential to spur job creation here at home.”
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November 21, 2009 :: Eva Scherson :: Comments Off
Can we expect China’s cooperation on emissions reduction? It’s clear that China has shifted its energy policy somewhat, to take account for the potential long-term strategic economic benefit of being a major source for green energy technology, know-how and to use green energy to fill out the nation’s energy supply and possibly permit exportation of energy or fuels.
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November 20, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Despite months, even years, of speculation the job would go to the former 2.5-term British prime minister, Tony Blair, the European Union has named Belgium’s new multilingual, largely unknown Flemish prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, its first full-time president. Van Rompuy’s role will be daunting and complex, as he will be the public face of a 27-nation bloc whose “unity” sometimes seems more a matter of legal technicality than of fact.
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November 20, 2009 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
The leadership of the Republican party is relentlessly championing a rhetoric of armed rebellion and hate-speech. Seasoned evangelical leader Frank Schaeffer says those who condone this extremist language are “trawling for assassins”. He called those engaged in such extremism “the American version of the Taliban”. He called on Republican leaders who have refused to denounce [...]
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November 19, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
If we’re looking at a rise in overall global energy consumption as an “opportunity”, we should class all particulars of the debate in terms of the long-term viability of the energy resource to be exploited. While carbon-based commodities may see steep returns in the short term, heavy front-end investment in carbon-based fuels will reduce the long-term viability of those commodities as business models, thus curving down the benefit over time.
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November 19, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
A court in Iran has sentenced 5 people to death for their role in post-election anti-government protests this summer. At least 81 people have been sentenced to jail terms ranging up to 15 years in prison, for protesting the government’s handling of the election and its violent crackdown on the protesters. The government says all 5 are members of “terrorist and opposition groups”, apparently considering opposition to the ruling party a “terrorist” crime.
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November 18, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: Comments Off
A lawsuit by a former Washington editor for the New York Post has revealed that the paper’s Washington bureau chief told her the newspaper’s official aim was to “destroy Barack Obama”. The revelation comes amid a spreading controversy over accusations the media properties owned by conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch have been used to fabricate news, organize phony Republican rallies, orchestrate sham grassroots groups —called ‘astroturf’ organizations—, systematically misrepresent the facts and personally attack political opponents of Murdoch’s preferred party and candidates.
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November 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama has reportedly secured Chinese president Hu Jintao’s pledge of cooperation on global economic recovery, efforts to curb emissions and combat climate destabilization, and nuclear non-proliferation, both in Iran and North Korea. The pledge of cooperation came despite Obama’s demand that China honor the “universal” human rights of its people, alongside differences over how strongly to pressure Iran to guarantee its nuclear pursuits are legal and peaceful in nature.
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November 17, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Last week, the United States’ ambassador to Afghanistan, retired Lt.-Gen. Karl Eikenberry, warned against sending any additional troops to Afghanistan in support of the corrupt system of government headed by Hamid Karzai, who appears to have rigged the recent presidential election that returned him to power. Investigative reporter and Afghanistan specialist Peter Bergen has told CNN the comment is “seismic”, but warned a delay based on waiting for the Afghan government to become less corrupt could mean years without effective resolution of security conditions there.
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November 16, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: Comments Off
In a vile new low, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani has said he expects bringing the accused 9/11 mastermind to justice will directly cause new terror attacks on New York. Mr. Giuliani is now seeking to use the memory of 9/11 and the very real and lasting trauma felt by so many people, to [...]
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November 15, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
What did Jon Voight mean by suggesting that Pres. Obama is the first and only president in our history to shame “our beautiful White House”, alleging he plans a socialist takeover that would undermine the Constitution? In fact, Pres. Obama is significantly more centrist on a range of issues than were Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, [...]
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November 15, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama used his weekly address to honor American veterans and to mourn those who lost their lives in the tragic shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. The president discusses the review he has ordered for the Fort Hood killings and pledged he would support American servicemen and women, which he considers his most profound responsibility.
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November 13, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has called for sweeping political and economic reforms, designed to make Russia a modern, advanced democratic society. In his state of the nation address, Pres. Medvedev said Russia needs to evolve from being a “primitive” economy based on raw materials and natural resources to an advanced economy based on unique innovative human knowledge. He also said the new Russia needs to be one of “intelligent, free and responsible people”, not one where political bosses dictate policy.
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November 12, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
With new regulatory restrictions on predatory lending practices, including constraints on the freedom of banks to raise interest rates to unsustainable levels, major banks have told federal regulators that they will be hiking interest rates and slashing credit limits for millions of customers, even where payments have not been missed. According to CNN, “a minority of banks” have said they will reduce penalties for good customers; economists worry the credit-card cost hikes will impede economic recovery.
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November 11, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Lou Dobbs’ last broadcast on CNN aired tonight. His resignation, which he announced on the air, was effective immediately. He blamed “partisanship and ideology” in the public sphere for undermining public discourse and said the “winds of change” were blowing across the nation and that he would like to pursue “other opportunities” in order to speak as honestly about the problems the nation faces as he can.
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November 11, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
One of the smears Republican opponents of heathcare reform have been pushing is the idea that the reforms passed by the House and under consideration in the Senate would “allow government bureaucrats to get between you and your doctor”, and make decisions about what treatment you can receive. In fact, this is an outright lie, put forth by interests that already do interfere with your doctor’s discretion and deny you care, for profit, and they’re pushing the lie because they don’t want people to know the bill bans any insurance provider —including the government— from dictating treatment options.
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November 11, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: Comments Off
Lebanon has formed a new government of “national accord”, which will include majority leader and prime minister designate Saad Hariri and also representatives of Hezbollah, the militia group seen as a terrorist threat by Israel, and which was the target of an Israeli bombing campaign in 2006. The UN Security Council congratulated Lebanon on moving forward with national unity and wished the new government well.
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November 11, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This report alleges widespread routine abuse of foreign-born domestic workers in Lebanon. Domestic workers are excluded from Lebanese labor regulations and does not monitor treatment in the home. It is reportedly common for employers of foreign domestic workers to illegally seize their passports upon arrival and forbid them to leave the home.
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November 10, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video is a report from Doctors without Borders (MSF) on their ongoing efforts to deliver much-needed medical aid to civilian populations across the war-torn Democratic Republican of Congo. MSF got into delivering aid to the DR Congo after the ethnic clashes in Rwanda that turned into the brutal Rwandan genocide. The mass exodus of refugees from that human catastrophe caused the violence to spill into DR Congo, and was one of the factors that sparked the brutal civil war there, which took 5.4 million lives between 1998 and 2008.
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November 10, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF/Doctors without Borders) is accusing the military of the Democratic Republic of Congo of firing on civilians at vaccination clinics it was running. MSF goes as far as to allege it was “used” as a means of luring large numbers of civilians to 7 different locations where Congolese troops allegedly fired into the crowds, in what appears to be an attempted assault on the rebel militia Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), operating in northeastern DR Congo.
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November 10, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin, ensuring that capitalist and democratic West Berlin remained surrounded on all sides by the communist German Democratic Republic, where a permanent state of martial law kept millions prisoner for decades. West Germany was forced to move its seat of government to Bonn, to protect against a potential hostile siege from the East German regime, strongly backed by the Soviet Union. But on 9 November 1989, a spreading movement of ground-up resistance and reform climaxed in what seemed like the sudden unraveling of an empire that covered half the continent.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows the emotional exuberance of the massive crowds of millions that flooded the streets of Berlin around the places where the wall was being dismantled and the checkpoints where cars were being allowed through. The iconic East German Trebant cars were symbolic of the people’s urge to peek through the barrier and glimpse life on the other side. They brought East Germans into the streets packed with revelers, who welcomed their newly free neighbors. The atmosphere is one of joy and celebration as families and communities are reunited.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
his video is in German, with English subtitles. It shows the convergence of thousands at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing, as news of the opening of the wall began to spread. The wall is slowly opened as the border guards begin to understand the scope of what is taking place. The political order has shifted so quickly, it takes time for the information to filter through that they are not to use force to stop the tens of thousands seeking to cross into West Germany.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows original video footage from 12 November 1989, taken at various sites both before sunrise and later that morning. The video focuses on Potsdamer Platz and records the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the jubilation of those who flocked to the historic celebration.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video shows an ABC News report on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the process of reform and political change that rapidly swept across eastern Europe in the months surrounding that event. The report cites the efforts of mass movements of ordinary people to overthrow hardline totalitarian regimes through peaceful mass protest.
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November 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
By Maggie Mzumara She thought she had no choice. She really did not see any. What she saw was a desperate situation which needed a quick, if desperate, choice. Earnest enough! But the law and society thought otherwise. That the choice she made was criminal and not perpetrated in earnest at all. Just, where were [...]
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November 9, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: Comments Off
The progressive organizing group MoveOn.org has announced huge success in collecting funds to mount primary challenges to any Democratic senator who acts to block an up-or-down vote on healthcare reform. In just one week, their Health Reform Accountability Pledge campaign collected $3,578,117 in pledges. The organization’s statement about the fundraising success reads: That’s how much [...]
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November 8, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Last night, every Republican but one voted against the House of Representatives’ monumental healthcare reform package. Anh Joseph Cao has said he came to understand the need to vote to pass the sweeping healthcare reform program, after listening to the concerns of constituents desperate to find a way to secure reliable, affordable coverage for basic and/or emergency healthcare. A release on his website reads as follows…
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November 8, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The Spanish-language blog Belascoaín y Neptuno is reporting that on 6 November 2009, three bloggers in Havana, Cuba, were summarily detained, beaten and threatened by security forces. Yoani Sánchez, Claudia Cadelo and Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, and other unnamed individuals were allegedly forced into security agents’ vehicles, detained without charge, beaten and intimidated, in an apparent effort to crack down on political dissent.
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November 8, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Haley Barbour, the Republican governor of Mississippi, today told David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press that the president’s decision about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan should not be politicized by Republicans. He said that he’s always been of the mind that domestic politics should “stop at the border” and that the president [...]
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November 8, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: One Comment
The Democrats celebrated a major legislative victory last night, when they passed historic health reform legislation. Only one Republican joined in passing the measure, despite a last-minute success in attaching a partial ban on federal funding for abortions. With that provision in the final bill, the near unanimous Republican no-vote was effectively a vote against [...]
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November 8, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
At 10:59 pm Saturday evening, a 15-minute vote was called. Members of the House were then to vote yea or nay by electronic device. By 11:01 pm, the vote was 197 to 184 and moving quickly. The vote tally will not be final until the Speaker drops the gavel to close the vote. By 11:03 pm, 36 Democrats had voted against the measure, making the special Saturday vote a case of high legislative drama.
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November 7, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama has joined the push on Capitol Hill to pass healthcare reform. Last evening and this morning have brought a series of meetings with House leadership to orchestrate a majority vote to pass healthcare reform, possibly today. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) last night met with conservative Democrats and representatives from the [...]
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November 6, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Extreme conservative ideologues, who have openly called for the “purification” of the party, have now declared war on moderates in their own party, whom they call Republicans in name only (RINO). At a rally organized by Rep. Michelle Bachmann —who famously declared her paranoid belief that American children were about to be kidnapped and sent [...]
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November 6, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: 2 Comments
The radical fringe of the Republican party today gathered to hear Michelle Bachmann call for open rebellion against the government. Signs were held up in front of the US Capitol showing a Nazi mass grave and calling it “healthcare”. Other signs showed the president as an evil villain and calling for “hunting season” against moderate Republicans. The rally, which Rep. Bachmann called a “press conference”, is now being called the most visible admission the party is being taken over by a message of hate.
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November 4, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
For the first time in the district’s history, going back to the 19th century, a Democrat has won New York’s 23rd Congressional district, thanks in part to Sarah Palin and other Republican radicals. A move by Palin, Rick Santorum, Fred Thompson and other extremist conservatives to impose their will on the local Republican party, forcing [...]
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