from Al Jazeera
President Mohamed Morsi decrees pardon for political prisoners who were arrested during the revolution in 2011….
Oct 092012
News blog
Oct 092012
from Democracy Now
Hugo Chávez Wins Re-election in Venezuela with 54% of Vote
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez:
"I send my words of recognition to all of those who voted against us. I send out a special recognition for your democratic talent, for your participation, for the civic demonstration that you have given today despite not agreeing with the Bolivarian proposition. I invite you to dialogue, to debate and to the joint work for a Bolivarian Venezuela."…
Oct 072012
Small "compounding" plants spark new concerns about safety.
Eddie C Lovelace, a Kentucky judge still on the bench into his late 70s, had a penchant for reciting Shakespeare from memory and telling funny stories in his big, booming voice. But a car accident last spring left him with severe neck pain, and in July and August he sought spinal injections with a steroid medicine for relief.
Instead, Judge Lovelace died in Nashville in September at age 78, one of the first victims in a growing national outbreak of meningitis caused by the very medicine that was supposed to help him. Health officials say they believe it was contaminated with a fungus…
Oct 062012
“We Have Been Its Victims”, says Ortega.
from Yes!
The Nicaraguan president’s decision to withdraw his country from a notorious military training program is firing up activists determined to close the school for good…
Oct 062012
Coauthor (with Elisabeth Wehling) of The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic.
You don’t
- State your moral values. Contrast them with your opponent’s.
- Project empathy and enthusiasm. Connect.
- Communicate clearly and simply.
- Be authentic. Say just what you believe.
- Project trust.
- Present an authentic view of yourself that the public can identify with and be proud of.
Obama did none of this. Instead he talked about policy details.
He needed to come on strong from the first sentence.
Democracy is based on citizens caring about and taking responsibility for both themselves as for the well-being of all. Government is the instrument that citizens use to guarantee protection and empowerment for all. We all, together, provide what is needed for a decent life. Individual accomplishment rests on what other Americans have provided and keep providing.
Success is much more than money. It is your contribution to America as a whole — whether it is teaching, raising children, providing food, healing the sick, making useful products, guaranteeing our rights and our safety, or running businesses that make life better. America needs us all. And we all depend on each other.
Obama made a lame attempt to correct Jim Lehrer’s use of “entitlements.” He should have pointed out that such money is earned through a life. People have worked for, and contributed earnings.
All policies rest on morality — upon being the right thing to do. Obama needed to make the case that it is right, as well as to support women’s rights, and gay rights, safe food, education, basic research, and on and on.
Obama believes this. To win, he needs to say what he believes, and press Romney.
Oct 062012
Organizers decline opportunity to promote Iranian pro-democracy movement.
by Paul Weinberg,
An international debate about whether protests against an attack on Iran should also embrace the Iranian pro-democracy movement arrived in Toronto just in time for Saturday’s (October 6) anti-war’s rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto and may reflect similar debates elsewhere.
Oct 052012
from a CEP news release
The American company Tesoro hhas presented a motion to the National Energy Board (NEB) to reject a case filed by Chevron to be a Designated Priority Destination (DPP) for Canadian crude. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) is calling on the NEB to proceed with the case despite opposition from Tesoro due to the precarious situation of the refinery in Burnaby, BC.
Oct 042012
from CBC News
The Canadian Press
A much-touted plan to bring Ottawa together with First Nations to overhaul native education has fallen apart…
Oct 042012
from The Toronto Star
by Thomas Walkom National Affairs Columnist
Canada’s tainted meat scandal is growing. For beef eaters across the country, this is a serious health worry. For Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, it is a defining moment…
Oct 032012
Police in riot gear arrested at least 17 protesters who sat down in the middle of a road leading to a Wal-Mart warehouse in Elwood, Illinois, on Monday in a bid to support striking workers. The arrests were made after some 600 people sang, chanted and marched toward the warehouse, which is run by a contractor but supplies Wal-Mart stores. Warehouse workers went on strike more than two weeks ago amidst allegations of sexual harassment, dangerous working conditions, unpaid wages and retaliation against organizers. Managers reportedly fired several leaders and threatened others after they delivered a petition. The strike in Illinois follows another strike by some three dozen workers at a Wal-Mart supply warehouse in Southern California who have also pushed for fairer workplace conditions.