Democracy & Civics

Banks Take Aim at Student Loan Plan

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Opposition is emerging to President Barack Obama’s plan to take private banks out of the student loan business. Student indebtedness has grown to an average of nearly $23,000 per individual, and student loans remain a lucrative business for U.S. banks, earning $85 billion annually, according to news reports. The White House plan would cut out the middleman and let students borrow directly from the government, with the hope of making more money available for loans, while saving an estimated $94 billion over the next decade. Citigroup has already begun an e-mail campaign urging its borrowers to write Congress to oppose the plan, notes Talking Points Memo. And executives for Sallie Mae, the biggest provider of student loans, said if the plan is adopted as proposed, an undetermined number of banking jobs could be lost.

Oakland Toxic Tour

Port’s Diesel Pollution Stirs West Oakland Protest

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By Kwan Booth (article) and Kim Komenich (photography, audio)
Crowdfund this story with Spot.Us
Part One in a Series

West Oakland’s struggles over diesel pollution linked to high local rates of asthma and cancer brought a confrontational protest to a recent Port of Oakland meeting — the latest in a year-long clash between residents, port officials and the trucking industry. Heads turned and presentations stopped mid sentence as approximately 50 community activists and union truck drivers stormed the meeting early on, equipped with protest signs, a bullhorn and calls for “good jobs, clean air.” “Protesters interrupt May 2 Port of Oakland meeting”
At issue is the proposed Comprehensive Truck Management Program, which would require new pollution controls for trucks serving the port. Although the protesters said the plan wouldn’t be effective, many independent truckers said it would put them out of business due to added costs for pollution controls. Emotions ran high, and one truck-company owner who attempted to speak was repeatedly shouted down by protesters.

Featured

Brazil: Blacks Move Ahead to Stay Behind

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Brazil’s African-descended citizens now have a .2 percent majority nationwide, but lack proportional access to education and food. This includes almost four times the rate of illiteracy and longer work hours compared to their European-descended countrymen. Photo: Brazilian child/Carf

Democracy & Civics

Nicaragua Targets Illiteracy

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Nicaragua’s leftist government is linking a new literacy campaign to July’s 30th anniversary of the overthrow the Somoza dynasty. The program is a repeat performance for President Daniel Ortega, who led the country after Sandinista guerrillas toppled the Somoza family dictatorship in 1979. According to Inter Press Service, a left-leaning news source, the National Literacy Campaign in 1980 reduced illiteracy in the country from 52 to just below 13 percent, before succumbing to further civil war and ongoing political conflict. Now, the government hopes to meet UNESCO standards of under five percent illiteracy in the next few months. Nicaraguan government statistics showed more than half a million citizens, out of a population of 5.3 million, were illiterate in 2005.

Democracy & Civics

Brazilian Blacks Assume Majority, Not Equity

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Brazil’s African-descended citizens now stand at 49.6 percent of the population, edging out their European-descended brethren by .2 percent, but lacking proportional access to education and food. Twenty percent of Brazilian blacks are more likely to be illiterate, and have to work as much as 76 hours for their “basic food basket,” compared to a 6 percent illiteracy rate and 54 hours of work for basic food needs for Caucasians, reports Merco Press. In 1888 Brazil became the last country in South America to abolish slavery. President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has proposed new quotas for blacks in universities, in an effort to drive social and economic integration. –Brittany Owens/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Black population becomes the majority in Brazil”
MercoPress, April 25, 2009

World

Children Still Soldiers in Global Battlefields

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Up to 200,000 children have been forced into armed service by government troops and rebel groups in 20 countries throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, according to news reports. This ranges from conscription of teenage boys into the Peruvian army, as reported in LivinginPeru.com, to grim stories of children used in terrorist operations. In one such incident, Inter Press Service reports that Iraqi insurgents placed explosives on a young girl and detonated her by remote control. The worst abuses are found in Myanmar, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo; insurgent fighters in Afghanistan, Burundi, Nepal, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Colombia also habitually conscript child soldiers. The Daily Star of Lebanon also reported various Palestinian groups are still using children as soldiers.

Economy

China Comes Calling in Latin America

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China’s search for natural resources is taking it to Latin America, and bringing considerable economic clout at a time when U.S. trade with the region is steadily declining. In Peru, China has locked in control of copper production with its multibillion-dollar purchase of a mountain that holds most of Peru’s copper reserves, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Venezuela, meanwhile, has sealed a new agreement that will increase crude oil exports to China to one million barrels daily by 2012, reports Portworld.com. Other Chinese investments in Latin America include $1 billion for a hydroelectric plant in Ecuador and a $10 billion loan to Brazil’s national oil company, The New York Times reports. China is now Latin America’s second largest trading partner, with trade increasing by almost 40 percent in 2008, up to $140 billion, according to China Daily, while a Foreign Policy magazine essay states that China is signing currency swap agreements worth more than $100 billion.

Featured

Bloc Party

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Moldova’s April 5 poll saw the Communist Party re-elected with appeals to family and security (right), but young protesters say the vote was rigged, and stormed the national parliament building. It’s just more freezing wind for democracy in the former East Bloc. Photo: Dittaeva

Democracy & Civics

After a Thaw, East Bloc Democracies Face New Freeze

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The fledgling democracies of Moldova and Ukraine are struggling with new political and economic challenges. In Moldova, young protesters stormed the national parliament building in a show of anger over April 5 elections they believe were rigged in favor of the ruling Communist Party, the BBC reports. President Vladimir Voronin dismissed the protestors as “fascists,” and election observers said the vote was fair. Yet doubts remain among students and opposition parties. Communists have ruled the nation since Mr. Voronin was elected in 2001 by older Moldovans disillusioned by post-Soviet reforms, creating a schism between young voters seeking quicker change and reform, reports the Associated Press.

Democracy & Civics

UPDATE: Fiji Called a South Pacific 'Burma'

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The deepening military control of the island of Fiji has prompted fears of dictatorship. The New Zealand Herald reports that Commodore Frank Bainimarama, head of Fiji’s armed forces, was named Prime Minister just days after an April 9 court ruling declared that his government was illegal under the nation’s constitution. Bainimarama seized power in a 2006 coup, and has been in charge ever since. After the court ruling, Fiji’s president, who is considered a “puppet” by critics, suspended the constitution, had the judges fired, and gave Bainimarama a promotion to head of state. Democratic elections are on hold, press freedom and dissent have been “crushed,” the country’s 800,000 inhabitants are facing international isolation and economic destitution.