According to wikipedia, Sarah Palin “opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples”.
What a psycho! Social conservative indeed. Nothing “social” about denying someone health benefits because of who they”re in a relationship with!
Goodness. Don”t see why the Republicans didn”t just pick someone like Condi instead…why then you could play the race and gender card.
and then this..
a “gun-toting” hockey mom?
“That has all changed with his pick of Palin, who is a mission statement of Christian conservativism in human form. She”s not just pro-gun, she shoots grizzly bears. She”s not just anti-abortion, she has had five children, giving birth to her fifth, who has Down”s syndrome, earlier this year. She supports teaching creationism alongside evolution in science classes at state schools.”
Sounds like appointing a solid Auntie-ji into power - show everyone what “women really want”.
The Cold War Studies Centre and the Institute for the Study of Americas at LSE presents a public lecture by Orlando Patterson who is Professor of Sociology at Harvard, this evening at 6:00 p.m. {Old Theatre}
The lecture focuses on the relevance of what people actually mean by “freedom” and how these underlying ideas impact on race issues, immigration and multiculturalism in the USA.
“The [USA] should take immediate measures to eradicate all forms of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by its military or civilian personnel, in any territory under its jurisdiction”
UN Committee against Torture
“Since AI started highlighting specific cases of Guantanamo detainees, 16 of them have been released from US detention. Of those detainees transferred to their home countries, 1 remain in detention and 13 have been released.”
Earlier this year the US government submitted a report to the UN Committee against Torture, the first such report since the USA launched its war on terror after the 11 September 2001 attacks, in which time the world has witnessed the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal in Iraq and revelations about the US programme of renditionÂ.
On 19 May 2006 the Committee issued recommendations to the US government over its compliance with its treaty obligations under the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The US delegation to the UN stated that the USA takes its international obligations regarding torture extremely seriously.
Amnesty International calls on the USA to match action to these laudable words, and ensure that it respects its obligations at home and abroad.”
The Committee against Torture is a 10-member body of independent experts established by the Convention against Torture to monitor the compliance of states with their obligations under the treaty. It meets twice a year and reviews the periodic reports of states.
Read more on Amnesty International”s site..
this morning”s epolitix summary highlights the following about Tony Blair”s trip to the US: -
“Before heading back to the UK, the prime minister delivers a keynote speech setting out his views on the role of international institutions in an era of globalisation. Ahead of the speech, Blair said the international community needs to deal with global problems. “If they”re not tackled, the consequences are very quickly felt around the world,” he said. “And you have got to have institutions that are capable of taking them on and tackling them and getting action taken.”
ah ha! very interesting - thanks tony for pointing out the role of international institutions. precisely. who are these international institutions, what “power” have they got - who controls them - and the most important questions are - is there any democratic accountability?
Web Braille offers access to thousands of electronic braille books on the Internet for the use of eligible braille readers by the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS).On May 11th 2006 NLS made the following announcement on the Web Braille website:
“Because of technical and security difficulties, Web Braille will be unavailable in the near future. NLS regrets the inconvenience and will provide further information as soon as possible.”
Unacceptable and unfair - this needs to be resolved immediately! Please add your voice and sign the online petition- they need to sort this out ASAP.
Geek News Central have posted an article on this.
Thanks…
via As it Happens
US Department of Justice has released footage of the American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon. This comes after a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch - a conservative legal group/ ‘watchdog’. Word is this is to quell all the conspiracy theories that the Pentagon was never hit, and an impact was ’simulated’..
the footage is taken from two angles and one of the tapes is from a security camera. reasons cited in the past for not releasing this footage is that it could have had an impact on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.
the judicial watch website was down yesterday evening following reports this video was going to be released at 1700 GMT (of course that was going to happen -!) they”ve now dealt with it and you can find the video and info on it here
“Due to the overwhelming interest in the newly released video of American Airlines flight 77 which was flown into the Pentagon on September 11th,this webpage has been minimized to reduce the server load.”
It will be very interesting to see what happens now - in the light of all the theories to date ( which of course were all fueled by the non-release of such footage) re: the Pentagon crash - that it didn”t happen etc. etc. If any “conspiracy theorists” are reading this - please shout! Judicial Watch have said that they “hoped the release of the footage would put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines 77″
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check out what Daimnation has to say about the conspiracy angle.
In the meantime, what’s happening in Peru? Well the outcome of the election is still not clear and looks like it won’t be for a while, seeing as its gone off into a ‘run-off’’ second round. The interesting news is that given the state of play, a dodgy manoeuvre is the signing a free-trade pact with the US – signed in Washington by President Alejandro Toledo, last Wednesday. Me thinks – pushing something lik e that through at a time like this is a bit sneaky? The deal is said to be similar to a 2003 deal between the US and Chile, which at the time was fiercely opposed by Chilean labour groups. The Institute for Public Accuracy has some insightful analysis on this topic and I was particularly interested in what Pedro Francke (Professor of Economics at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and also involved with ForoSalud, a coalition of organizations focusing on healthcare in Peru) had to say:
“The Peruvian Minister of Health has said that this agreement will double the price of medicine within 12 years, and will particularly affect those with AIDS, tuberculosis and other health problems. The Health Ministry has also calculated that between 700, 000 and 900,000 people would lose health coverage because of the agreement. It also prevents Peru from protecting its farmers. We are collecting signatures for a petition demanding that agreement be subject to a referendum.”
The power of rhetoric is undeniable. after all who ever was interested in facts anyway? ha ha as if..
Found a very amusing site: American Rhetoric: the power of oratory in the United States
that your nation was addicted to oil..?
what sustainability means ( or have you not found that one out yet?)
does anyone else find it amusingly ironic how ” Bush hits the road to take his green message to his nation of oil addicts“
along with his fancy motorcade..Ha.
Time magazine has named U2 star Bono - and Bill and Melinda Gates -as its “Persons of the Year,” citing their charitable work and activism aimed at reducing global poverty and improving world health. This is of course set against the backdrop of a year which has seen numerous natural disasters- from the tsunami in South Asia to Hurricane Katrina, and the Live 8 efforts.
“For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time”s Persons of the Year.”
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