Democracy & Civics

Genetically Engineered Trees Cut Down

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An electric fence wasn’t up to the task of protecting a field of genetically engineered trees in New Zealand. Twenty of the modified pine trees were cut down last week, and a spade left behind bearing a telltale “GE Free New Zealand” sticker. The New Zealand Herald reports that a hole dug under the Scion Research fence was all it took for the attackers to gain access to the field, which was planted to investigate tree reproduction. An activist group, the Soil and Health Association, had previously called for the trees to be cut down, but said it was not responsible for the attack. A spokesman for the group told the Herald that Scion’s security measures were inadequate, leading not only to the incursion by humans, but also to the potential removal of experimental genetic material from the site by rabbits.

Democracy & Civics

Indigenous Rights Wend a Legal Labyrinth

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Armed with a U.N. declaration on indigenous rights, an activist coalition is working to stake out new legal protections for indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere. Indian Country Today reports that the coalition met in mid-December in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss democracy, “autonomy,” land rights, natural resources, economic development and cultural heritage. Activists said their goal was to enact the U.N. declaration as law in their home countries. Yet they also criticized it for failing to guarantee the right of indigenous groups to organize politically across state and national boundaries, and for overlooking claims on mineral rights and other natural resources in their traditional territories. The newspaper also noted that the conference comes at a time of rising political fortunes for leftists in Ecuador and Bolivia, who harnessed the indigenous vote to win electoral majorities.

Democracy & Civics

Smells Like Team Spirit

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In what may be a first for political branding, a Spanish political party has begun marketing its own perfume. The Catalan Socialist Party unveiled the scent at a press conference Monday, with a spokesman saying that the perfume conveys the party’s “confidence, equality, progress and efficiency,” according to the British newspaper The Guardian. The Guardian quoted the fragrance’s creator, Albert Majos, as saying the product was “neither perfume nor air-freshener,” but a representation of socialism’s values. One journalist attending the press conference said the smell was so powerful he left the room feeling faint, the Guardian reported. The press conference was held the same day that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero dissolved Parliament and officially announced that general elections would be held on March 9.

Democracy & Civics

Iran Grapples with Discrimination, Division

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Despite an ongoing crackdown on dissent, women’s rights and ethnic separatism remain a thorn in the side of Iran’s fundamentalist government. Reuters reports that the “Million Signatures Campaign,” aimed at improving the legal standing of Iranian women in divorce, child custody, inheritance and other cases, continues unabated despite the periodic jailing of its leaders. One Iranian cleric told Reuters that religious law ensures women there are not turned into “products” and sex symbols in the Western fashion. But according to campaigners — who collect signatures on buses, in shopping centers and at social events — the strict Islamic dress code is less important to them than social equity. Advocates say the social standing of women in Iran has improved, and that the majority of university students today are women, although the law of the land continues to reinforce discrimination.

Nation

Transplant Shortage Hits Minorities

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Doctors all over the world are having difficulty finding matching donors for bone marrow transplants – a lifesaving operation for certain very serious illnesses. And patients from ethnic minorities are the most at risk. Because the transplants are much more likely to succeed when they are between people of similar genetic backgrounds, physicians try to find donors from the same ethnicity as the patients. But, even in advanced nations, the pool of registered donors is relatively small, and ethnic minorities make up a small percentage of that small number. In New Zealand, this means that patients who belong to the indigenous Maori population are much less likely to find a matching donor and receive a transplant than are the descendents of European settlers.

Democracy & Civics

Nigeria's Smoke Out

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Claims that international tobacco companies are targeting young people in Nigeria have spurred a $43 billion government lawsuit against Phillip Morris, British American Tobacco and International Tobacco. Activists told The Guardian that the companies are targeting teenagers with marketing strategies that have banned in other nations, using sponsored events, pop stars and product placements to glamorize smoking. According to the World Health Organization, one in five Nigerian teenagers smoke, and the number of women smokers there rose tenfold in the 1990s. Government lawyers cite “internal” corporate documents that identify “young and underage smokers” as a prime target — some no more than eight or nine years old. Critics of the lawsuit say that Nigeria’s lawsuit is a cynical ploy to make money off the industry, which only recently enjoyed numerous tax breaks there.

Public Health

Japan's Health Care Crisis

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It is a leader of the industrialized world, a scientific and technological powerhouse with a robust economy, a vigorous democracy and guaranteed universal health care for all its citizens. Yet Japan increasingly struggles to make good on that promise, as hospitals, many of them privately owned, have begun shutting down their emergency wards due to rising costs and staffing shortages. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports that 235 hospitals in Japan have stopped accepting emergency patients in the last two years, and 20 have closed their doors for good. At issue is a lack of doctors willing to work overnight shifts, and private owners who have found hospitals, especially in rural areas, to be unprofitable. –Josh Wilson/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“200 hospitals have ended emergency care over past two years”
Asahi Shimbun/Agence France-Presse, January 16, 2008

Economy

Are Boycotts Cutting into Myanmar's Gem Trade?

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[Updated Jan. 17, 2008]
The Myanmar junta’s repression of democracy protests last summer have calmed the streets, but its harsh tactics may have also robbed the state’s gem trade of its luster. Inter Press Service reports that Myanmar’s gem auctions brought in $300 million in 2006, the state’s third most profitable export after fossil fuels and timber. But according to activists, a November 2007 gem auction earned $150 million, far short of its $230 million “low end sales projection.” Now, Myanmar is staging another auction this week, prompting renewed calls for boycotts.

Democracy & Civics

Free After 20 Years on Death Row

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A Scottish man who spent 20 years on Ohio’s death row has been freed following a new plea. Kenny Richey was convicted and sentenced to death in 1987 for setting a fire that led to the death of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins. He has always claimed to be innocent, and his conviction was overturned in August. The case was often delayed by Richey’s health problems. The 43-year-old has suffered multiple heart attacks. On Monday, he was released after he pleaded no contest to charges of attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and breaking and entering, and was sentenced to time served.

Democracy & Civics

Thailand's New Democracy as Fractious as the Old

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Thailand returned to democracy last month, with its first national elections after 15 months of military rule. But the transition is proving to be a rocky one. According to Asia Times, The People Power Party, a new version of the party once headed by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won the largest number of seats — though not an outright majority — in parliamentary elections on Dec. 23, and party leaders began lining up partners to form a coalition government. The victory seemed a blow to military leaders, who were opposed to Thaksin’s government.