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.

Economy

UPDATED: Egypt Gripped by Textile Strike

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While the world focuses on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s repression of journalists and the Muslim Brotherhood party, a different sort of social unrest has boiled over at a state-owned textile mill in Mahalla el-Kubra, where tens of thousands of strikers have brought work to a costly standstill. The BBC notes that a similar strike last December at the mill led to sympathy strikes across Egypt, causing the government to “back down and meet the workers’ demands” for higher pay and better profit sharing. Now, an estimated 27,000 workers have taken over the factory in Mahalla, a town north of Cairo on the Nile Delta, claiming the government has failed to live up to its promises. According to Reuters, inflation is on the rise and wages are stagnant, shutting out laborers from the benefits of Egypt’s otherwise growing economy. The Associated Press reports that at least five strike leaders were arrested, but a pro-labor blogger, Hossam el-Hamalawy, posted a statement by the strike committee that the leaders have since been released after promising to “calm” the protests.

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.

Economy

Smuggler's Paradise for Iraqi Oil Runners

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After a revenue-sharing bill that would have opened Iraq’s oil fields to foreign investment failed in parliament, Iraq’s domestic oil industry has seen business as usual — theft, corruption and destruction of pipelines for political gain. With Basra’s oil fields and ports under the control of warring Shiite tribes, militias illegally export millions of barrels of crude to Iran by boat under the noses of Iraq’s maritime forces. On any given day, up to 300,000 barrels are smuggled into Iran, according to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. The Iranian coast guards and the Iraqi Navy are said to be involved in the trade, but the main culprits are the main ruling parties and militias of Basra, as well as the most influential tribes. Iraqi maritime forces say they may arrest smaller smugglers but the government won’t allow them to arrest the larger gangs.

World

The Chemical Legacy Today

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A host of chemicals created for use in industrial and commercial processes are having unintended effects on populations. The Guardian reports that a study of Inuit communities above the Arctic Circle in Russia, Greenland and Canada found twice as many girls as boys are being born. The blame was placed on DDT, PCBs, and endocrine disrupters that enter a mother’s bloodstream and change her baby’s sex before birth. The chemicals are used in electronics like televisions and generators. The chemicals are absorbed by seals, whales and polar bears at 1 million times the normal rate, and the animals are then consumed by the Inuit, scientists say.

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