Culture

L.A. Targets Gangs for Hate Crimes

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The Southern Poverty Law Center says a Latino gang based in the California prison system has widened its feud with a rival African American gang, and is now engaged in an “ethnic cleansing” campaign that targets blacks indiscriminately. The latest victim, 14-year-old Cheryl Green, was fatally shot after straying too close to the “forbidden line” that divided her neighborhood down the middle, NBC4 in Los Angeles reports. Race-based attacks there have spiked in the past few years, and state and federal agencies are teaming up for a crackdown. Sources:
“L.A. blackout”
Intelligence Report (Southern Poverty Law Center), Winter 2007
“Injunction to be filed against 204th street gang”
NBC4.TV (Los Angeles), January 19, 2007
“No age of innocence in gangland’s turf war”
New York Times, January 21, 2007

Democracy

The Loyal Opposition in Iraq, Lebanon

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A new organization of 500 Sunni scholars and clerics have vowed to stand with Iraqi officials and Shiites to “close the gaps and divisions among the Sunni authorities,” according to United Press International. The move puts them in potential conflict with the Sunni Islamic Scholars Association, Iraq’s highest Sunni authority and a dedicated opponent of the government and the political process. In Lebanon, a tax to privatize key industries and secure new loans for debt relief drew opposition from a coalition of Hizbollah, Christian, Druze, Sunni and leftist partisans. They say the tax will harm already-impoverished Lebanese, and neglects development and agricultural needs. Sources:

“New religious Sunni group declared in Iraq”
United Press International, January 19, 2007
“Lebanon’s new battleground”
Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt), January 18-24, 2007
“Donors promise generosity in Paris despite turmoil in Beirut”
The Daily Star (Lebanon), January 25, 2006

Nation

Nation: Jan. 18-24

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Redwood Protections Run Deep

Protections woven into the deeds on 200,000 acres of old-growth redwood trees in Northern California may come in handy now that their owner, Pacific Lumber, has filed for bankruptcy. Taxpayers put up $480 million in 1999 to protect the smaller Headwaters Grove, but the deal came with extensive habitat protections covering the rest of the property. U.S. Attorneys “Fired” by White House

Sen. Dianne Feinstein says the federal attorneys who prosecuted the BALCO steroids case and the bribery trial of Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham have been forced to resign. She blames a provision of the Patriot Act that allows the president to replace U.S. attorneys at any time, and seeks its repeal. Christians-Only Health Plan Stands
A cost-sharing medical program that covers 19,000 churchgoers, and collected $42.8 million in monthly premiums in 2005, can continue to operate in Kentucky.

Featured

Commentary: Lawyers Bashed for Representing Guantanamo Detainees

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A Pentagon official apologized for what two Atlanta law firms called a “crass attempt at economic blackmail.” But a columnist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution says Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Charles Stimson should be fired for suggesting that the firms, which provide pro bono representation to Guantanamo inmates, were taking money from terrorists. Source:
“U.S. official terrorizes Atlanta firms”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 18, 2007

Featured

News You Might Have Missed * Vol. 6, No. 4

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Important but overlooked news from around the world. THIS WEEK:
Afghans fight back for schools, the swastika again divides Europe, Los Angeles grapples with gangland “ethnic cleansing,” Sunnis make a new push for peace in Iraq, a Pentagon official bashes Guantanamo lawyers, Feinstein says key federal prosecutors have been fired, and bankruptcy may fell the Headwaters redwoods … or not. QUOTED:
“The Lebanese people are poor, and the taxes are already too high. We can’t afford to pay them.

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ALLEGATION & PERSPECTIVE

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Claims of Counterfeit Cover-Up
A German newspaper alleges the United States is secretly printing the counterfeit bank notes the Bush administration has publicly charged North Korea of forging, allegedly to finance its nuclear weapons program. The newspaper cites anonymous sources and does not suggest a motive, according to a blog item on AlterNet. The Doctor of Haifa Street
Speaking on a cell phone with a CBS correspondent, a famed Iraqi surgeon and one-time guest of President Bush describes hiding with his family in a dark, bullet-scarred home along Haifa Street in Baghdad as insurgents and U.S. troops battle outside. Sources:
“Is the CIA counterfeiting dollars and blaming it on North Korea?” AlterNet.org, January 9, 2007
“Trapped on Baghdad’s deadliest street”
CBS News, January 12, 2006

Democracy

IRAQ: MOVING FORWARD

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A Peace Plan’s Ambition
A “blueprint” for stability in Iraq, proposed by former defense minister Ali Allawi, would replace American troops with an international security force, negotiate security treaties, and establish a “Middle Eastern Confederation of States” to bolster civil society and establish a collective supreme court. The Independent, which published Allawi’s original proposal, reports that the plan also calls for a decentralized Iraqi government divided into regions, and a World Bank-funded reconstruction council. Sources:
“The Iraqi proposals”
Independent (U.K), January 5, 2007
“From all corners, support grows for Iraq peace plan”
Independent (U.K), January 6, 2007

Democracy

Women: Rights & Welfare

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Progress in Yemen, Zimbabwe
A Western-educated Yemeni woman said she would break a law against women in politics by forming a party dedicated to gender equality. GulfNews.com reports that Sumaya Ali Raja, who was invited to deliver her message to a traditionally all-male council, got a mixed reception from conservatives, but was welcomed by the Socialist Party and others. Legislators in Zimbabwe finally passed a bill protecting women from domestic abuse … ten years after it was introduced. Activists say that one in four women there are victims of abuse, and linked domestic violence with high rates of murder and HIV infection.

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GLOBAL GIVING

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Questions for Gates Foundation, Nigeria Funds
Although the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spends millions on health and anti-poverty campaigns in Africa, the charity also derives almost half of its $35 billion endowment from investments in oil companies blamed for widespread pollution and health problems there. In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, CEO Patty Stonesifer defended the investments, saying that it is “naive” to think that stockholders can affect corporate practices. In Nigeria, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was indicted for his alleged role in the disappearance of $125 million meant to combat a “brain drain” of oil and gas industry experts; he claims outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo spent it to illegally bankroll a third elected term. Sources:
“Gates Foundation may shift billions into ethical stocks”
Guardian (U.K.), January 12, 2007
“Gates Foundation to keep its investment approach”
Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2007
“Science and technology millions missing in Nigeria”
SciDev.Net (U.K.), January 13, 2007

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RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

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Hate Speech in England
British officials want a preacher “closed down” for using a false name to post calls for violence against Ethiopian “infidels” and others. The messages appeared on a password-protected Web site that has about 700 members, and may have inspired other European- born extremists to smuggle weapons and fight alongside al Qaeda in Somalia, the Times of London reports. Sectarian Detroit
Iraq comes home to Detroit, where Sunnis angered by the hanging of Saddam Hussein are blamed for vandalism and threats against local Shiite businesses and mosques. Community leaders say that the attacks were the work of a few individuals only, and the FBI has promised to investigate any civil-rights violations. Sources:
“U.K. preacher in secret Web call for jihad”
Sunday Times (U.K.), January 14, 2007
“Islamic group calls for federal probe into vandalism of buildings”
Associated Press, January 10, 2006