Democracy & Civics

Who Wants to Buy a President?

By |

Bucking the trend of “horse race” campaign coverage, the Center for Public Integrity’s latest edition of “The Buying of the President” does more than simply track vital statistics, such as poll numbers and the amount of money raised by each candidate. Instead, CPI delves into who, specifically, is donating — and what their motivations are. The site offers a wealth of regularly updated information and analysis of campaign spending throughout the 2008 season, with blogs tracking ad buys, campaign spending, and controversial, tax-exempt 527 organizations that aren’t quite political action committees, but still impact elections. There’s also an extensive look at the history of campaign financing and its abuses, plus an overview of “The Spoils” — the rewards given to the donors who backed the winning candidate, including “Access,” “Flights on Air Force One,” “Cabinet Posts” and more. Source:
“Buying of the President 2008”
Center for Public Integrity

Environment

Hunting Animals Who Hunt Humans

By |

With mountain lion attacks are on the rise in rural Washington, and many residents feel the answer is more hunting. New legislation signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire allows just that — but a new study finds that hunting actually makes attacks more likely. The Seattle Times reports that a research team from Washington State University working in the northeastern part of the state, where most of the attacks have taken place, have found that the problem was not that hunters weren’t killing enough lions, but that they were killing the wrong ones. Hunters looking for an impressive trophy kill older adult males, leaving behind the smaller but more aggressive and unpredictable adolescents. The younger lions are the ones who get dangerously close to humans, mostly because they don’t know any better.

Democracy & Civics

Gay Muslims Seek Political Asylum in Britain

By |

The United Kingdom has been gripped in recent weeks by the stories of two gay teenagers who say they face persecution and even death in their home countries of Iran and Syria. Though unrelated, the stories the two youths tell are eerily similar. The Iranian, 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi, won a temporary reprieve last week when the British Home Secretary agreed to reconsider a deportation order, according to The Independent. Kazemi had already lost one bid for asylum in Britain and had been rejected in the Netherlands as well. He first came to Britain in 2005 as a student, and learned the following year that his boyfriend in Iran had been arrested and put to death for sodomy, the newspaper reported.

Democracy & Civics

Communist Chic in the Former Eastern Bloc

By |

There’s nothing unusual about people returning to the fashions, products and social spots of their youth, but when that youth was spent in communist Eastern Europe, nostalgia takes on new levels of meaning. The Christian Science Monitor reports that young and old alike in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and other countries in the region are engaging in a fashion craze for communist-era clothing, eateries and brands of sneakers and soft drinks. There are even new nightclubs that are explicitly modeled on the infamously gray, institutional look of the old Eastern Bloc. The fad is sometimes referred to by the German term “Ostalgie,” or “nostalgia for the East,” the Monitor reported. Andreas Ludwig, a museum director, said that the trend is a combination of pop culture and a “social critique” of Western-style capitalism.

Democracy & Civics

South Africans March as Crime Wave Peaks

By |

A planned march against crime in South Africa is highlighting how racial and economic relations have changed in the nation since the fall of apartheid 14 years ago. South African entertainer Desmond Dube plans to hold the Million Person March Against Crime on April 24 to call for the South African government to do more to ensure safety on the streets. He was inspired to action after the slaying of his friend and neighbor, Bashimane “Shimi” Mofokeng, last week, according to South African news reports. The slaying was just one of many that have terrorized parts of South Africa in recent years. Already the rally is generating a good deal of media attention and interest from the public, according to the reports.

Democracy & Civics

New Reparations Call for Philippine "Comfort Women"

By |

The Philippine legislature is considering a new resolution to ask for apologies from Japan, as well as financial reparations, for “comfort women” held captive by occupying Japanese forces during World War II. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the resolution was unanimously passed by a legislative committee, but was met with dismay by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which stated that financial reparations were already dealt with in two previous treaties, in 1951 and 1996. However, an official said the government had no opposition to private claims of “sexual slavery” sought against Japan. Proponents of the measure also stated that the terms of Japan’s surrender required it to maintain “continuing compliance with modern human rights law.” Source:
“House panel OKs resolution on comfort women”
Daily Inquirer (Philippines), March 11, 2008

Environment

From Bike Lanes to "Wildlife Highways"

By |

The town of Cambourne in the United Kingdom is notable not just for its abundance of bike lanes and pedestrians, but also for the wetlands, woodlands and lakes, which have attracted an unusual variety of wildlife. According to The Independent, Cambourne was developed in the 1990s on what used to be farmland, and built “wildlife highways” to link ponds, forests and other habitats before the local office park or housing developments were approved. By linking habitat fragmented by development, isolated plant and animal species are more able to move around, mingle and propagate. As a result, Cambourne is rich with biological diversity, including numerous bird species, deer, badgers, newts, dragonflies and voles. Although the town is not chock-full of solar houses or wind turbines, it has been lauded by wildlife campaigners for its protection of habitat.

Economy

From Sweatshops to Cotton Fields: Child Labor Goes Rural

By |

Far from the urban industrial sweatshops, child labor remains widespread in rural parts of the developing world. In the Philippines, advocates say tens of thousands of children are working on farms, in mines, and even in deep-sea fishing. The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, in a press release late last month, claimed to have rescued 76 children under age 15 from working at a single sugar plantation. The agency plans to send the children back to school, and also to provide them with medical care and economic assistance. Wire services reported last month that the United States has promised $5.5 million to the Philippines to help it with a stepped-up campaign to combat child labor.

Democracy & Civics

News Outlet Seeks Reader Donations to Fund Iraq Trip

By |

An Oregon news service has come up with an unusual way to help pay for a reporter’s trip to Iraq: It’s asking readers to donate money to the cause
Tim King, executive editor for the Salem News, is heading to Iraq later this month to spend up to six weeks embedded with Oregon National Guard troops. In order to defray the high costs of such a trip, the agency is putting on a fundraising event March 9 at an Oregon winery, and also has links on its Web site for readers to donate through PayPal. The site has taken a strongly populist approach in its funding appeals. One article requesting donations is headlined “Making War Coverage a National Community Project,” while another reads: “If You Really Care About our Soldiers in Iraq.” The Salem News also solicited and received donations for a previous reporting trip to Afghanistan.

Democracy & Civics

Koran in Hand, She Wins Over Mullahs

By |

Fiery and not yet out of her 20s, Wazhma Frogh has been making waves in Afghanistan by using the Koran to undermine oppression of women and boost her literacy and education programs.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Frogh’s work is part of a trend among liberal-minded Muslims to use sacred texts to advance women’s issues where secular approaches have failed. Now an employee of a Canadian international development agency, Frogh works at both the policy level and on the street. Her greatest task — to win over the men who predominate both in Afghan government and village life — has been surprisingly successful, given the country’s struggles with the fundamentalist Taliban. Her boosters say among Frogh’s great strengths are her encyclopedic knowledge of the Koran, and her facility with Arabic, both of which often exceed the capacities of local mullahs. Source:
“Inside Islam, a woman’s roar”
Christian Science Monitor, March 5, 2008