Democracy & Civics

Kurdish Vote Puts Pressure on Arabs

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Kurdish officials are beginning the process of sending Arab residents back to their cities of origin ahead of a referendum on whether to absorb Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Regional Government area. Some Arabs, who were originally placed in Kirkuk by Saddam Hussein to counter the political influence of ethnic Kurds, fear they will be forced to leave their comparatively peaceful region. Kurdish officials fear the Arabs will vote to keep Kirkuk inside Iraq. Some even report being detained by police until they agreed to leave; the Kurdish government is offering families $16,000 if they do so voluntarily. Accounts of how many Arabs the government has relocated differ.

Democracy & Civics

Day Labor Camp Divides in Texas

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A Christian church in Houston is part of an interfaith coalition that has drawn the ire of anti-immigration activists by planning a new center for day laborers, the Houston Chronicle reports. U.S. Border Watch, a civilian group, brought 200 people to a rally opposed to the plan, saying it would undermine border security. But members of the Cypress Creek Interfaith Coalition for Economic Development, while acknowledging that most day laborers were indeed undocumented immigrants, said the site was vital because there is an “economic need” for their work. Source:
“Faith leaders plan day-labor site, despite protest”
Houston Chronicle, September 26, 2007

Democracy & Civics

Billboards No More for Brazil's Megalopolis

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More than 70 percent of residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and the nation’s economic powerhouse, remain fully committed to a near-total ban on outdoor urban advertising there. Adbusters reports that the city’s conservative mayor, Gilberto Kassab, pushed through the new Clean City Law to target air, water, noise and “visual” pollution. Despite opposition from business, particularly Clear Channel Communications, $8 million in fines have been passed down this year, and 15,000 billboards, placards and outdoor video screens have been taken down or remain blank. Source:
“Sao Paulo: A City Without Ads”
Adbusters, Sep-Oct 2007

Democracy & Civics

Agribusiness Gets Another Record Harvest — of Subsidies

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The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the latest federal farm bill would spend $280 billion on traditional subsidies for corn, cotton and wheat, but virtually ignores burgeoning organic and alternative farming centered in Northern California. The newspaper notes that California’s Fresno County produces more food than the entire state of South Dakota, but gets a fraction of the federal money sent to the Great Plains. Organic farmers and advocates say that the subsidies reinforce destructive farming practices — including over-reliance on chemicals and lack of crop diversity — and that if California was as heavily subsidized as other states, the development of farming alternatives might never have taken root. Source:
“Federal bill helps huge farmers, not California’s innovative ones”
San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 2007

Democracy & Civics

The Burma Backstory: How Fossil Fuels Keep the Junta in Business

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Although most of the world’s political powers, including the United States, have condemned the Myanmar junta’s crackdown on reformist protesters, the military regime’s persistent grip on power there has only been strengthened by decades of economic cooperation with the West. Here’s a roundup of Newsdesk.org’s coverage of the issue, as well as the latest articles from other regional and international news sources. In 2002, Newsdesk.org reporter Jennifer Huang broke ground with an exclusive investigative article on a series of human rights lawsuits filed against international energy corporations working in developing nations with abusive regimes. The lawsuits — which targeted a number of American oil companies, including California’s UnoCal — were filed in federal court under the Alien Tort Claims Act, an 18th century law that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction over some offenses committed overseas. Unocal was sued for its partnership with the French oil giant Total in the construction of the Yadana Pipeline, which carries millions of cubic feet of natural gas every day along a 63 kilometers route through Burma’s southern Tenasserim region.

Democracy & Civics

Canada Ponders an Afghan Quagmire

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Canada faces renewed uncertainty in Afghanistan, with the death of more than 60 Canadian troops and new pressures on its humanitarian mission there. Under pressure from a dispirited public to withdraw troops, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would end its combat mission in February 2009 unless parliament votes otherwise. Harper is now seeking a consensus vote to extend the mission; the Canadian Press reports that “‘consensus’ means 50 percent plus one MP in a parliamentary vote.” Fearful of losing one of its greatest assets in Afghanistan (Canada has 2,500 troops in Kandahar alone) British and Polish NATO officials are calling for “strategic patience” at a crucial time for security there, reports the CanWest News Service. Canadians, however, seem to be out of patience.

Democracy & Civics

Swiss Citizenship Hurdles Called Racist

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An official report released by Switzerland’s Federal Commission on Racial Discrimination says the Swiss citizenship system is racist because it allows community members, not elected professionals, to vote on whether someone is fit to be Swiss. The BBC reports that the system historically excludes Muslims, people from the Balkans, and Africans. Becoming Swiss is already tough; permanent residents must wait 12 years before applying, and a birth in Switzerland is no guarantee of naturalization, according to the BBC. The report recommended changes to the citizenship balloting process, which allows villages to hear arguments from the applicant and then vote based on their religion or any other criteria. Source:
“Swiss citizenship system ‘racist'”
BBC (U.K.), September 13, 2007

Democracy & Civics

Rwanda: Genocide Inquiry Stumbles on French Connection

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With the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda due to wrap up early next year with many genocide suspects still at large, Rwanda is keen to find and prosecute fugitives at home or abroad. But distance, cost, and international politics make this an unlikely goal. Along with France and Switzerland, Canada is trying Rwandan genocide suspects who stole across its borders in 1994. Genocide survivors claim to have seen at least five who are still at large in Canada. These expatriates criticize the Canadian government of tolerating the fugitives in the same way they refused to intervene during the genocide.

Democracy & Civics

Mexico's Drug War Crosses Borders

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Driven by America’s insatiable appetite for cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics, Mexican drug cartels have increasingly transformed U.S. border towns into scenes of violence, kidnappings and corruption, reports the Los Angeles Times. The El Paso Times reports that drug cartels are increasingly recruiting U.S. citizens to their networks, including Horizon High School students in El Paso who were recently busted for driving Mexican drugs to Oklahoma City. According to the Dallas Morning News, U.S. narcotics officials are well aware of the problem, and last week rounded up 30 key Mexican Gulf Cartel operatives that were selling cocaine and marijuana at key points throughout Texas. One key Gulf Cartel leader, Miguel Trevino Morales, a hit man in charge of fending off any competition in and around Nuevo Laredo, has so far evaded the grasp of both Texan and Mexican officials. Oddly, Morales is listed as “wanted” only by the Laredo police, and not by the DEA or other national-scale agency, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Democracy & Civics

A Neo-Nazi Resurgence Tests Speech Limits

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From a grisly “execution” video to clashes over protest rallies, officials and ideologues tread dangerous ground as neo-Nazi activists seek to push their agenda in Europe and the United States. In Russia, a student was arrested for posting a video that appears to document the execution-style beheading and shooting of two purported Central Asian immigrants. The Guardian reports that racist and neo-Nazi crimes in Russia are up 22 percent compared to last year. Previous incidents there include an assault on an environmentalist camp that left one person dead and nine injured. Germany remains intolerant of neo-Nazi activity, and banned a march memorializing Rudolph Hess, the Third Reich’s second-in- command, who committed suicide in prison in 1987.