This week on a special edition of Information Underground: the red light camera debate! The studio guest will be Jim Ash from Take Back Your City arguing against the red light cameras, and Emily Reiter from Keep College Station Safe arguing for the red light cameras.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Political and Social Thought to the Left of College Station
Constitutional amendments recommendations:
Proposition 4: Establish a "national research university fund" to help Texas public universities become major research universities. The fund would be used to pay for such growth. Under the amendment, the existing higher education fund would be folded into the national university research fund. The Legislature would be required to dedicate state money to the fund.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of no.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of yes.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of yes.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of no.
Proposition 8: The state, under this proposition, would be able to contribute money, property or other resources for the establishment and operation of veterans' hospitals in the state. As the number of veterans needing care continues to grow, it is critical they have a place to go for quality care.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of yes.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of no.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots does not make a recommendation.
Proposition 9: The Open Beaches Act gives all Texans unrestricted access to the beaches of the Texas coast, from the ocean to the line where natural grasses begin. As that is state law, it can be changed by the Legislature at any time. Proposition 9 would put the Open Beaches Act into the state Constitution so that any changes would require a vote of the people.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of no.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of no.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of yes.
Proposition 11: The U.S. Constitution allows government entities to appropriate private land for public use, provided the land owner receives fair compensation. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments could take private land and give it to another private entity if it provided for economic development or increased property taxes. Proposition 10 would require government entities to take land only for legitimate public purposes. Land taken through eminent domain would have to be kept -- and used -- by the government for some productive purpose.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of no.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of no.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of yes.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of yes.
For more information and recommendations about all eleven propositions to amend the Texas Constitution, visit the Burnt Orange Report.
Proposition 4: Establish a "national research university fund" to help Texas public universities become major research universities. The fund would be used to pay for such growth. Under the amendment, the existing higher education fund would be folded into the national university research fund. The Legislature would be required to dedicate state money to the fund.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of no.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of yes.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of yes.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of no.
Proposition 8: The state, under this proposition, would be able to contribute money, property or other resources for the establishment and operation of veterans' hospitals in the state. As the number of veterans needing care continues to grow, it is critical they have a place to go for quality care.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of yes.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of no.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots does not make a recommendation.
Proposition 9: The Open Beaches Act gives all Texans unrestricted access to the beaches of the Texas coast, from the ocean to the line where natural grasses begin. As that is state law, it can be changed by the Legislature at any time. Proposition 9 would put the Open Beaches Act into the state Constitution so that any changes would require a vote of the people.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of no.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of yes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of no.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of yes.
Proposition 11: The U.S. Constitution allows government entities to appropriate private land for public use, provided the land owner receives fair compensation. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments could take private land and give it to another private entity if it provided for economic development or increased property taxes. Proposition 10 would require government entities to take land only for legitimate public purposes. Land taken through eminent domain would have to be kept -- and used -- by the government for some productive purpose.
Left of College Station recommends a vote of yes.
The Eagle recommends a vote of yes.
The Austin Chronicle recommends a vote of no.
The El Paso Times recommends a vote of no.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recommends a vote of yes.
The Houston Tea Party Patriots recommends a vote of yes.
For more information and recommendations about all eleven propositions to amend the Texas Constitution, visit the Burnt Orange Report.
Headlines
Local News
Waco City Council to Vote on New Smoking Ordinance
According to an article in the Waco Herald-Tribune, the Waco City Council scheduled vote to toughen the city smoking ordinance, either by removing certain loopholes from the current one or by going completely “smoke-free.” The council appeared evenly divided over which path to take. Supporters of the “smoke-free ordinance” proposed by the city-county health district said public health concerns justify the option of banning smoking everywhere but homes, retail tobacco stores, outdoor areas or a limited number of hotel rooms. But some on the council said the smoke-free ordinance would be too drastic and would infringe on private rights and hurt business. Some council members support the more modest “Option 2,” which would allow smoking in existing bars, as well as in restaurants and other businesses that have separately ventilated smoking areas.
Texas A&M News
Thirty Candidates Considered for Texas A&M Presidency
Texas A&M University has more than 30 candidates for the university's presidency, including nationally recognized names and individuals who have been "highly placed" in federal government. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that notable names not on the list are Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Aggie yell leader, and United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a former Texas A&M president. The candidates are from academia, business and government, though a breakdown wasn't immediately available; the applicants will remain secret throughout the process, as they did in the 2007 search for Texas A&M president. The search began in July following the controversial resignation, widely believed to be forced, of Elsa Murano as the university's 23rd president. Murano's departure came after the public release of a February performance evaluation of her by Texas A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney. The former president rejected the review in a response to the Board of Regents.
Texas Politics
Voters to Consider Research University Funding
According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Texas lawmakers took the first steps earlier this year toward a goal that could take two or three decades to reach: increasing the number of tier-one research universities. Now the state's voters will get to weigh in on an important element of the plan. Proposition 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot would free up about $500 million from a dormant higher education fund to help seven public emerging research universities strive for a place on the national stage. Early voting begins Monday on this and 10 other constitutional amendments. If voters approve, the dormant account would be dissolved and the money transferred to a new national research university fund. Five percent of the money, or about $25 million, would be spun off each year for faculty salaries, graduate student stipends, library materials and other uses that advance research.
More on the different propositions to amend the Texas Constitution later during tonight’s commentary.
National News
Justice Department to Ease Medical Marijuana Prosecutions
The Justice Department announced this week that it would mellow out on prosecuting medical marijuana users in the 13 states in which therapeutic pot smoking is allowed. The McClatchy news service reports that in breaking more definitively from the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder formally directed federal prosecutors in Alaska, California, Washington and 10 other medical-marijuana states to refocus investigations on heftier targets. The newly clarified policy amplifies earlier Obama administration statements and puts more muscle behind them. A three-page memo sent to selected U.S. attorneys guides priority-setting for the White House-appointed prosecutors. As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama declared that he wouldn't interfere with individual state decisions to permit prescription marijuana use, and Holder previously voiced similar sentiments. Within weeks of Obama's inauguration, though, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided several pot dispensaries in Los Angeles. This year's raids resembled earlier Bush administration DEA raids, raising alarms about whether drug enforcement policies really had changed. An unsuccessful 2005 Supreme Court challenge by Oakland, Calif., resident Angel Raich left federal authorities with the power to prosecute medical-marijuana use even in states that permitted it.
War and Peace
Americans Deeply Split on Troop Increase for War in Afghanistan
Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether 40,000 more troops should be sent to Afghanistan, and public approval of the president's handling of the situation has tumbled, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has recommended the substantial increase in troop strength, and 47 percent of those polled favor the buildup, while 49 percent oppose it. Most on both sides hold their views "strongly." The survey also found that a large majority of Americans say the administration lacks a clear plan for dealing with the problems in Afghanistan. As the administration's review continues, 57 percent of those polled approve of how Obama is carrying out his duties as commander in chief, but confidence in his leadership on the Afghan war has eroded since the spring. In previous polls, Obama received some of his highest ratings in relation to his dealings with Afghanistan, including 63 percent approval in April of his handling of the situation there. In the latest poll, 45 percent approve, down 10 percentage points in the past month alone, and 47 percent disapprove, an increase of 10 points. Nearly a third of those surveyed say they strongly disapprove.
Education
College Tuition Rises While Incomes Are Flat
This year's College Board report shows average increases of 6.5% for public in-state tuition and 4.4% for private colleges. According to an article in Business Week, the consumer price index declined 2.1% between July 2008 and 2009, meaning that inflation-adjusted increases in prices this year are significantly larger than current dollar increases. At the same time, family net income has barely budged over the past decade. The average annual in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges for the 2009-10 academic year is $7,020, up $229 from last year. Those numbers don't include room and board, which adds another $8,193.
Environment
Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost Is in Billions
According to an article in the New York Times, burning fossil fuels costs the United States about $120 billion a year in health costs, mostly because of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution. The National Academy of Sciences reported this week that the damages are caused almost equally by coal and oil, according to the study which was ordered by Congress. The study lends support to arguments that society should pay extra for energy from sources like the wind and the sun, because their indirect costs are extremely small. But it also found that renewable motor fuel, in the form of ethanol from corn, was slightly worse than gasoline in its environmental impact. Coal burning was the biggest single source of such external costs. The damages averaged 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 0.16 cents for gas.
Human Rights
Study Finds Ending Capital Punishment Would Have Saved $2 Billion
States are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on the death penalty, draining state budgets during the economic crisis and diverting funds from more effective anti-violence programs, according to a report released this week by the Death Penalty Information Center. A nationwide poll of police chiefs conducted by RT Strategies, released with the report, found that they ranked the death penalty last among their priorities for crime-fighting, do not believe the death penalty deters murder, and rate it as the least efficient use of limited taxpayer dollars. Nationwide, the report estimates, at least $2 billion has been spent since 1976 for costs that wouldn't have been incurred if the severest penalty were life in prison. The figure is based on an estimate in a 1993 North Carolina study that found the average extra cost of a death sentence in this state was $300,000. With 37 prisoners executed last year, the United States is among the top five countries that still have the death penalty.
Reproductive Rights
Judge Bars Restrictive Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Online Posting of Patient Data
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, state judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a new Oklahoma law that would require doctors to report detailed information about abortion patients, which would then be posted online. The law would require physicians to report such information as age, marital status, race, number of children, education level and the mother’s relationship to the father. It would also require the reason for the abortion, the cost and the type of payment used. Names of patients would not be included in information that would be posted online by the state’s health department, but abortion rights advocates say because Oklahoma is such a small state it would not be difficult to identify some patients. Reproductive rights advocates say the law would violate the privacy of patients and is an attempt to dissuade women from seeking abortions.
Women’s Issues
FBI's Report on Rape Statistics Not All Good News
Despite FBI stats showing rapes at a 20-year low, the large numbers of untested rape kits indicate that many rape survivors haven't received justice. According to an article in Women’s E-News, in 2008, 89,000 people reported that they had been raped to the police, compared with a high of 109,062 reported rapes in 1992. Experts on sexual violence attributed the decline in part to the role of DNA evidence in identifying suspects in stranger rape cases. However, while reported rapes have gone down, according to comprehensive academic studies the arrest rate for rape remains anemic at only 30 percent of reported cases, roughly the same as two decades ago. Also, despite the potential benefits of testing these rape kits, tens of thousands of them sit untested in police storage facilities throughout the United States.
GLBT Issues
HIV Infections Increasing Only Among Gay Men
According to a report by New American Media, gay and bisexual men account for more new HIV infections in the United States, 53%, than any other population group. This is the only risk group in the nation in which the annual number of new HIV infections is increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s. There are also racial differences; the infection rate among gay and bisexual African American men between the ages of 13-29 is approximately twice that of Whites and Hispanics in the same age bracket. One study found that African American gay and bisexual men were twice as likely to be infected with HIV as other gay and bisexual men. And among those infected, about half were unaware of their HIV status, meaning they were unknowingly transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to others.
Waco City Council to Vote on New Smoking Ordinance
According to an article in the Waco Herald-Tribune, the Waco City Council scheduled vote to toughen the city smoking ordinance, either by removing certain loopholes from the current one or by going completely “smoke-free.” The council appeared evenly divided over which path to take. Supporters of the “smoke-free ordinance” proposed by the city-county health district said public health concerns justify the option of banning smoking everywhere but homes, retail tobacco stores, outdoor areas or a limited number of hotel rooms. But some on the council said the smoke-free ordinance would be too drastic and would infringe on private rights and hurt business. Some council members support the more modest “Option 2,” which would allow smoking in existing bars, as well as in restaurants and other businesses that have separately ventilated smoking areas.
Texas A&M News
Thirty Candidates Considered for Texas A&M Presidency
Texas A&M University has more than 30 candidates for the university's presidency, including nationally recognized names and individuals who have been "highly placed" in federal government. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that notable names not on the list are Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Aggie yell leader, and United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a former Texas A&M president. The candidates are from academia, business and government, though a breakdown wasn't immediately available; the applicants will remain secret throughout the process, as they did in the 2007 search for Texas A&M president. The search began in July following the controversial resignation, widely believed to be forced, of Elsa Murano as the university's 23rd president. Murano's departure came after the public release of a February performance evaluation of her by Texas A&M System Chancellor Mike McKinney. The former president rejected the review in a response to the Board of Regents.
Texas Politics
Voters to Consider Research University Funding
According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Texas lawmakers took the first steps earlier this year toward a goal that could take two or three decades to reach: increasing the number of tier-one research universities. Now the state's voters will get to weigh in on an important element of the plan. Proposition 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot would free up about $500 million from a dormant higher education fund to help seven public emerging research universities strive for a place on the national stage. Early voting begins Monday on this and 10 other constitutional amendments. If voters approve, the dormant account would be dissolved and the money transferred to a new national research university fund. Five percent of the money, or about $25 million, would be spun off each year for faculty salaries, graduate student stipends, library materials and other uses that advance research.
More on the different propositions to amend the Texas Constitution later during tonight’s commentary.
National News
Justice Department to Ease Medical Marijuana Prosecutions
The Justice Department announced this week that it would mellow out on prosecuting medical marijuana users in the 13 states in which therapeutic pot smoking is allowed. The McClatchy news service reports that in breaking more definitively from the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder formally directed federal prosecutors in Alaska, California, Washington and 10 other medical-marijuana states to refocus investigations on heftier targets. The newly clarified policy amplifies earlier Obama administration statements and puts more muscle behind them. A three-page memo sent to selected U.S. attorneys guides priority-setting for the White House-appointed prosecutors. As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama declared that he wouldn't interfere with individual state decisions to permit prescription marijuana use, and Holder previously voiced similar sentiments. Within weeks of Obama's inauguration, though, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided several pot dispensaries in Los Angeles. This year's raids resembled earlier Bush administration DEA raids, raising alarms about whether drug enforcement policies really had changed. An unsuccessful 2005 Supreme Court challenge by Oakland, Calif., resident Angel Raich left federal authorities with the power to prosecute medical-marijuana use even in states that permitted it.
War and Peace
Americans Deeply Split on Troop Increase for War in Afghanistan
Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether 40,000 more troops should be sent to Afghanistan, and public approval of the president's handling of the situation has tumbled, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has recommended the substantial increase in troop strength, and 47 percent of those polled favor the buildup, while 49 percent oppose it. Most on both sides hold their views "strongly." The survey also found that a large majority of Americans say the administration lacks a clear plan for dealing with the problems in Afghanistan. As the administration's review continues, 57 percent of those polled approve of how Obama is carrying out his duties as commander in chief, but confidence in his leadership on the Afghan war has eroded since the spring. In previous polls, Obama received some of his highest ratings in relation to his dealings with Afghanistan, including 63 percent approval in April of his handling of the situation there. In the latest poll, 45 percent approve, down 10 percentage points in the past month alone, and 47 percent disapprove, an increase of 10 points. Nearly a third of those surveyed say they strongly disapprove.
Education
College Tuition Rises While Incomes Are Flat
This year's College Board report shows average increases of 6.5% for public in-state tuition and 4.4% for private colleges. According to an article in Business Week, the consumer price index declined 2.1% between July 2008 and 2009, meaning that inflation-adjusted increases in prices this year are significantly larger than current dollar increases. At the same time, family net income has barely budged over the past decade. The average annual in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges for the 2009-10 academic year is $7,020, up $229 from last year. Those numbers don't include room and board, which adds another $8,193.
Environment
Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost Is in Billions
According to an article in the New York Times, burning fossil fuels costs the United States about $120 billion a year in health costs, mostly because of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution. The National Academy of Sciences reported this week that the damages are caused almost equally by coal and oil, according to the study which was ordered by Congress. The study lends support to arguments that society should pay extra for energy from sources like the wind and the sun, because their indirect costs are extremely small. But it also found that renewable motor fuel, in the form of ethanol from corn, was slightly worse than gasoline in its environmental impact. Coal burning was the biggest single source of such external costs. The damages averaged 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 0.16 cents for gas.
Human Rights
Study Finds Ending Capital Punishment Would Have Saved $2 Billion
States are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on the death penalty, draining state budgets during the economic crisis and diverting funds from more effective anti-violence programs, according to a report released this week by the Death Penalty Information Center. A nationwide poll of police chiefs conducted by RT Strategies, released with the report, found that they ranked the death penalty last among their priorities for crime-fighting, do not believe the death penalty deters murder, and rate it as the least efficient use of limited taxpayer dollars. Nationwide, the report estimates, at least $2 billion has been spent since 1976 for costs that wouldn't have been incurred if the severest penalty were life in prison. The figure is based on an estimate in a 1993 North Carolina study that found the average extra cost of a death sentence in this state was $300,000. With 37 prisoners executed last year, the United States is among the top five countries that still have the death penalty.
Reproductive Rights
Judge Bars Restrictive Oklahoma Abortion Law Requiring Online Posting of Patient Data
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, state judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a new Oklahoma law that would require doctors to report detailed information about abortion patients, which would then be posted online. The law would require physicians to report such information as age, marital status, race, number of children, education level and the mother’s relationship to the father. It would also require the reason for the abortion, the cost and the type of payment used. Names of patients would not be included in information that would be posted online by the state’s health department, but abortion rights advocates say because Oklahoma is such a small state it would not be difficult to identify some patients. Reproductive rights advocates say the law would violate the privacy of patients and is an attempt to dissuade women from seeking abortions.
Women’s Issues
FBI's Report on Rape Statistics Not All Good News
Despite FBI stats showing rapes at a 20-year low, the large numbers of untested rape kits indicate that many rape survivors haven't received justice. According to an article in Women’s E-News, in 2008, 89,000 people reported that they had been raped to the police, compared with a high of 109,062 reported rapes in 1992. Experts on sexual violence attributed the decline in part to the role of DNA evidence in identifying suspects in stranger rape cases. However, while reported rapes have gone down, according to comprehensive academic studies the arrest rate for rape remains anemic at only 30 percent of reported cases, roughly the same as two decades ago. Also, despite the potential benefits of testing these rape kits, tens of thousands of them sit untested in police storage facilities throughout the United States.
GLBT Issues
HIV Infections Increasing Only Among Gay Men
According to a report by New American Media, gay and bisexual men account for more new HIV infections in the United States, 53%, than any other population group. This is the only risk group in the nation in which the annual number of new HIV infections is increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s. There are also racial differences; the infection rate among gay and bisexual African American men between the ages of 13-29 is approximately twice that of Whites and Hispanics in the same age bracket. One study found that African American gay and bisexual men were twice as likely to be infected with HIV as other gay and bisexual men. And among those infected, about half were unaware of their HIV status, meaning they were unknowingly transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to others.
Friday, October 23, 2009
This Week on Information Underground
This week on Information Underground our studio guest will be Professor Joe Feagin, sociology professor at Texas A&M University who teaches Racial and Ethnic Studies, Gender Relations, and Urban Political Economy. Feagin has written such books as White Racism: The Basics, Living with Racism: The Black Middle Class Experience, and Double Burden: Black Women and Everyday Racism. Our topics of conservation will include racism, white privilege, and the current state of race relations in America.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Political and Social Thought to the Left of College Station
“We want our country back.”
That was the sentiment that I heard on Friday afternoon at the protest on the Texas A&M University campus during President Barack Obama’s visit to speak at the Points of Light Institute.
I walked through the crowd among the protesters for several hours, and I saw signs with diverse messages. There where those who where protesting health care reform, and while they readily admitted that the health care system needed to reform they did not support any changes that would reform the system. There where those who where protesting government spending and taxes, although it is hard to take those criticisms seriously after an Administration that spent more than any Administration since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Administration. There where those who where protesting against illegal immigration and the changing demographics of Texas, never mind the fact that the changing demographics of Texas have much more to do with Latino residents that are citizens of the United States.
While the issues and messages of the protesters may have been diverse, the one thing that was not diverse was the protesters themselves. Of the one thousand people that where on Spencer Park on the campus, about twenty-five percent where students. The vast majority of the protesters where middle aged and white. Most of the people holding signs and shouting into microphones may have been saying different things, but they all shared the same skin color.
I thought it was particularly fitting that some of the protesters held up signs proclaiming that they are not racist, that they simply do not agree with the President’s policies. One protester even voiced the same opinion that he was not a racists, only moments after ranting about illegal immigrants and Hispanics taking over Texas. It must be said that not everyone that disagrees with President Obama’s policies is racist, and not everyone who protest and holds up signs is motivated by racism. In fact in all likelihood most of the people who where in that crowd would probably not openly use racist language or do something that is overtly racist. But that does not mean that is not a racist element in the background. You can not tell me that when hundreds of middle aged white people get together and say that they want their country back after the election of the nation’s first black President that there is not an element of racism.
It seems that now the subject of racism is being clouded by language or rhetoric. Any time racism is brought up in the public debate those where are being accused say that the “race card” is being used. Any time racist language or behavior is brought it is treated as if it has to be completely overt and blatant to be considered racism. The truth is that racism is very rarely as blatant an overt as say, denying a couple a marriage license because they are interracial.
I talked to some people of color that where near the protest, and ask them what they though about the protest and if they thought that there was a racist element to any of the protest. The answers I heard where both honest and revealing. Perhaps the most telling of all was a young female African-American student, who told me that she did think there were elements of racism in the protest. She sited the looks that the white protesters would give her as she looked at their signs, and the defensive posture that she noticed as they prepared for her reaction. She noted that it is hard for her not to see racism in some of the cartoon-like depictions of the President, and the images of the President as Hilter.
We do not live in a colorblind society, and there is no such thing as a post-racial America. Anyone that says that they are colorblind or that America is post-racial is only doing so because they have the privilege to be oblivious. If you think that someone is playing the race card, it is probably because you already played the racist card
That was the sentiment that I heard on Friday afternoon at the protest on the Texas A&M University campus during President Barack Obama’s visit to speak at the Points of Light Institute.
I walked through the crowd among the protesters for several hours, and I saw signs with diverse messages. There where those who where protesting health care reform, and while they readily admitted that the health care system needed to reform they did not support any changes that would reform the system. There where those who where protesting government spending and taxes, although it is hard to take those criticisms seriously after an Administration that spent more than any Administration since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Administration. There where those who where protesting against illegal immigration and the changing demographics of Texas, never mind the fact that the changing demographics of Texas have much more to do with Latino residents that are citizens of the United States.
While the issues and messages of the protesters may have been diverse, the one thing that was not diverse was the protesters themselves. Of the one thousand people that where on Spencer Park on the campus, about twenty-five percent where students. The vast majority of the protesters where middle aged and white. Most of the people holding signs and shouting into microphones may have been saying different things, but they all shared the same skin color.
I thought it was particularly fitting that some of the protesters held up signs proclaiming that they are not racist, that they simply do not agree with the President’s policies. One protester even voiced the same opinion that he was not a racists, only moments after ranting about illegal immigrants and Hispanics taking over Texas. It must be said that not everyone that disagrees with President Obama’s policies is racist, and not everyone who protest and holds up signs is motivated by racism. In fact in all likelihood most of the people who where in that crowd would probably not openly use racist language or do something that is overtly racist. But that does not mean that is not a racist element in the background. You can not tell me that when hundreds of middle aged white people get together and say that they want their country back after the election of the nation’s first black President that there is not an element of racism.
It seems that now the subject of racism is being clouded by language or rhetoric. Any time racism is brought up in the public debate those where are being accused say that the “race card” is being used. Any time racist language or behavior is brought it is treated as if it has to be completely overt and blatant to be considered racism. The truth is that racism is very rarely as blatant an overt as say, denying a couple a marriage license because they are interracial.
I talked to some people of color that where near the protest, and ask them what they though about the protest and if they thought that there was a racist element to any of the protest. The answers I heard where both honest and revealing. Perhaps the most telling of all was a young female African-American student, who told me that she did think there were elements of racism in the protest. She sited the looks that the white protesters would give her as she looked at their signs, and the defensive posture that she noticed as they prepared for her reaction. She noted that it is hard for her not to see racism in some of the cartoon-like depictions of the President, and the images of the President as Hilter.
We do not live in a colorblind society, and there is no such thing as a post-racial America. Anyone that says that they are colorblind or that America is post-racial is only doing so because they have the privilege to be oblivious. If you think that someone is playing the race card, it is probably because you already played the racist card
Headlines
Local News
Bryan City Council Moves to Eliminate Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency
According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the Bryan City Council hired a law firm this week to create a corporation to replace the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency. The College Station City Council postponed a similar vote last month that would have allowed for the creation of a new government agency to manage both cities' solid waste operations, including the Twin Oaks Landfill, which is under construction in Grimes County and being managed by BVSWMA. The cities operate BVSWMA jointly, but the partnership has been strained for more than a year. The cities agreed to create a new agency in place of BVSWMA in an effort to resolve their differences.
Local Politics
College Station Residents Begin to Vote on Red Light Cameras
Supporters of College Station's red light cameras say they're a matter of safety, however, opponents say the issue's all about rights. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that this week, voters in the city will begin the process of settling the matter. Early voting begins Monday on a ballot measure that would ban the cameras from the city. Election Day is Nov. 3. Voters across the state are also being asked to decide the fate of 11 proposed amendments to the state's constitution. Two groups have formed to lobby for voter support: Take Back Your City was created after red light camera critic Jim Ash collected enough signatures to send the measure to the ballot, and Keep College Station Safe, which is led by a consultant hired by American Traffic Solutions.
Texas A&M News
Protest Sparked by President Obama’s Visit to Texas A&M
President Barack Obama visited Texas A&M Friday, accepting an invitation by former President George H.W. Bush to speak at the Points of Light Institute. Outside of the event about one thousands people gathered from across the state to protest the President. The Texas A&M College Republicans sponsored the protest, and other local organizations participated including the Brazos County Republican Party, the Brazos County Young Republicans, the Brazos County Tea Party, and the Young Conservatives of Texas, Texas A&M Chapter. Signs depicting President Obama as Adolf Hitler were present in the crowd, as well as a poster with the President and other Congressional leaders with Swastika symbols. While the message of opposition to the President was constant, it was the only constant, as protesters voice concerns about everything from health care to where the President was born.
Texas Politics
Texas State Board of Education Trustees Failed to Disclose Gifts
Two members of the Texas State Board of Education have received thousands of dollars in gifts from a company seeking a lucrative contract with the board, records show, and those members have not reported the gifts on financial disclosure forms. Bidding documents submitted to the board by the company, AEW Capital Management of Boston, say its employees bought 53 gifts worth more than $5,000 for board finance committee members Rene Nuñez, D-El Paso, and Rick Agosto, D-San Antonio. The 15-member board is in the process of allocating $1.2 billion for real estate investment firms to manage – lucrative work for which more than 90 firms have submitted their qualifications. AEW is among them.
National Politics
30% Say Overweight Workers Should Pay More for Health Insurance
North Carolina is about to become the second state to penalize its employees for being obese, but just 30% of Americans favor making government workers who are overweight pay more for their health insurance. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% are opposed to making overweight government workers pay more for health coverage. Adults are less sympathetic with smokers. Fifty percent (50%) support a plan that makes government workers who smoke pay more for their health insurance, but 43% oppose such a measure.
War and Peace
Iraq Releases New Death Toll Figure
At least 85,000 people have been killed in Iraq by bombs, murders and fighting from 2004 until 2008, Iraq's human rights ministry says. The government released the figures on Tuesday in a draft report based on death certificates issued by the health ministry. It said 147,195 people had been wounded in the same four years, but the number of undocumented injuries and deaths could be far higher. The figures in the report are lower than that of the Iraq Body Count project run by a group of academics and peace activists. The project estimates that 102,071 civilians have died in the violence so far since 2003. The group took its figures from media reports, which it then cross checked with numbers from hospitals, morgues and local non-governmental organisations. But the figures from both the Iraqi government and the Iraq Body Count project are lower than the numbers from a 2006 study by The Lancet, a British-based medical journal. The Lancet estimates 601,000 people were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2006.
Health Care
Study Shows Gap in Hospital Care
There is a wide gap in quality among America's hospitals, and a corresponding large difference in the rate of patient deaths, says a report by medical ratings company HealthGrades Inc. The study showed that patients have a 51.53 percent lower risk of dying in a top-rated hospital than in U.S. hospitals in general. That's based on an evaluation of hospital mortality related to 17 procedures and diagnoses at 5,000 non-federal U.S. hospitals. Researchers examined 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. Under HealthGrades' one- to five-star hospital ratings system, with five stars meaning overall performance in the top 15 percent of U.S. hospitals, patients have a 71.64 percent lower risk of dying at a five-star hospital than at a one-star facility.
Reproductive Rights
Abortion and Unintended Pregnancy Decline Worldwide as Contraception Use Increases
According to “Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress,” a major new Guttmacher Institute report released this week, increases in global contraceptive use have contributed to a decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies and, in turn, a decline in the number of abortions, which fell from an estimated 45.5 million procedures in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003. While both the developed and the developing world experienced these positive trends, developed regions saw the greatest progress. Within the developing world, improvement varied widely, with Africa lagging behind other regions. The decline in worldwide abortion occurred alongside a global trend toward liberalizing abortion laws. Nineteen countries have significantly reduced restrictions in their abortion laws since 1997, while only three countries have substantially increased legal restrictions. Despite these trends, 40% of the world’s women live in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, virtually all of them in the developing world.
GLBT Issues
Air Force Academy Censors Professor for Discussing Gays in the Military
A Lieutenant Colonel who taught at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was punished and barred from teaching after she invited three Academy alumni to campus to discuss sexual minorities in the military. The professor, Lt. Col. Edith Disler, said that the classroom visit was approved by her course director, but Academy officials pulled her from the classroom anyway, launching an investigation that ended in a formal reprimand based on the subject matter discussed. Also this week, new data from the Pentagon shows that women made up a majority of Air Force discharges under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 2008, even though they represent a distinct minority of the overall service. Women received 56 of the 90 total Air Force discharges under the policy, which is 61% of firings, even though women make up only 20% of the service. By comparison, women received 36% of discharges in the Army, where they make up 14% of personnel, 23% in the Navy where they make up 14%, and 18% in the Marines where they make up only 6%.
Race and Racism
Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License in Louisiana
A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites and came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society. The ACLU was preparing a letter for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and see if they can remove him from office. According to a report by CNN, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is calling to have Bardwell's license revoked, and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is calling for his dismissal.
Bryan City Council Moves to Eliminate Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency
According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the Bryan City Council hired a law firm this week to create a corporation to replace the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency. The College Station City Council postponed a similar vote last month that would have allowed for the creation of a new government agency to manage both cities' solid waste operations, including the Twin Oaks Landfill, which is under construction in Grimes County and being managed by BVSWMA. The cities operate BVSWMA jointly, but the partnership has been strained for more than a year. The cities agreed to create a new agency in place of BVSWMA in an effort to resolve their differences.
Local Politics
College Station Residents Begin to Vote on Red Light Cameras
Supporters of College Station's red light cameras say they're a matter of safety, however, opponents say the issue's all about rights. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that this week, voters in the city will begin the process of settling the matter. Early voting begins Monday on a ballot measure that would ban the cameras from the city. Election Day is Nov. 3. Voters across the state are also being asked to decide the fate of 11 proposed amendments to the state's constitution. Two groups have formed to lobby for voter support: Take Back Your City was created after red light camera critic Jim Ash collected enough signatures to send the measure to the ballot, and Keep College Station Safe, which is led by a consultant hired by American Traffic Solutions.
Texas A&M News
Protest Sparked by President Obama’s Visit to Texas A&M
President Barack Obama visited Texas A&M Friday, accepting an invitation by former President George H.W. Bush to speak at the Points of Light Institute. Outside of the event about one thousands people gathered from across the state to protest the President. The Texas A&M College Republicans sponsored the protest, and other local organizations participated including the Brazos County Republican Party, the Brazos County Young Republicans, the Brazos County Tea Party, and the Young Conservatives of Texas, Texas A&M Chapter. Signs depicting President Obama as Adolf Hitler were present in the crowd, as well as a poster with the President and other Congressional leaders with Swastika symbols. While the message of opposition to the President was constant, it was the only constant, as protesters voice concerns about everything from health care to where the President was born.
Texas Politics
Texas State Board of Education Trustees Failed to Disclose Gifts
Two members of the Texas State Board of Education have received thousands of dollars in gifts from a company seeking a lucrative contract with the board, records show, and those members have not reported the gifts on financial disclosure forms. Bidding documents submitted to the board by the company, AEW Capital Management of Boston, say its employees bought 53 gifts worth more than $5,000 for board finance committee members Rene Nuñez, D-El Paso, and Rick Agosto, D-San Antonio. The 15-member board is in the process of allocating $1.2 billion for real estate investment firms to manage – lucrative work for which more than 90 firms have submitted their qualifications. AEW is among them.
National Politics
30% Say Overweight Workers Should Pay More for Health Insurance
North Carolina is about to become the second state to penalize its employees for being obese, but just 30% of Americans favor making government workers who are overweight pay more for their health insurance. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% are opposed to making overweight government workers pay more for health coverage. Adults are less sympathetic with smokers. Fifty percent (50%) support a plan that makes government workers who smoke pay more for their health insurance, but 43% oppose such a measure.
War and Peace
Iraq Releases New Death Toll Figure
At least 85,000 people have been killed in Iraq by bombs, murders and fighting from 2004 until 2008, Iraq's human rights ministry says. The government released the figures on Tuesday in a draft report based on death certificates issued by the health ministry. It said 147,195 people had been wounded in the same four years, but the number of undocumented injuries and deaths could be far higher. The figures in the report are lower than that of the Iraq Body Count project run by a group of academics and peace activists. The project estimates that 102,071 civilians have died in the violence so far since 2003. The group took its figures from media reports, which it then cross checked with numbers from hospitals, morgues and local non-governmental organisations. But the figures from both the Iraqi government and the Iraq Body Count project are lower than the numbers from a 2006 study by The Lancet, a British-based medical journal. The Lancet estimates 601,000 people were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2006.
Health Care
Study Shows Gap in Hospital Care
There is a wide gap in quality among America's hospitals, and a corresponding large difference in the rate of patient deaths, says a report by medical ratings company HealthGrades Inc. The study showed that patients have a 51.53 percent lower risk of dying in a top-rated hospital than in U.S. hospitals in general. That's based on an evaluation of hospital mortality related to 17 procedures and diagnoses at 5,000 non-federal U.S. hospitals. Researchers examined 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. Under HealthGrades' one- to five-star hospital ratings system, with five stars meaning overall performance in the top 15 percent of U.S. hospitals, patients have a 71.64 percent lower risk of dying at a five-star hospital than at a one-star facility.
Reproductive Rights
Abortion and Unintended Pregnancy Decline Worldwide as Contraception Use Increases
According to “Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress,” a major new Guttmacher Institute report released this week, increases in global contraceptive use have contributed to a decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies and, in turn, a decline in the number of abortions, which fell from an estimated 45.5 million procedures in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003. While both the developed and the developing world experienced these positive trends, developed regions saw the greatest progress. Within the developing world, improvement varied widely, with Africa lagging behind other regions. The decline in worldwide abortion occurred alongside a global trend toward liberalizing abortion laws. Nineteen countries have significantly reduced restrictions in their abortion laws since 1997, while only three countries have substantially increased legal restrictions. Despite these trends, 40% of the world’s women live in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, virtually all of them in the developing world.
GLBT Issues
Air Force Academy Censors Professor for Discussing Gays in the Military
A Lieutenant Colonel who taught at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was punished and barred from teaching after she invited three Academy alumni to campus to discuss sexual minorities in the military. The professor, Lt. Col. Edith Disler, said that the classroom visit was approved by her course director, but Academy officials pulled her from the classroom anyway, launching an investigation that ended in a formal reprimand based on the subject matter discussed. Also this week, new data from the Pentagon shows that women made up a majority of Air Force discharges under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 2008, even though they represent a distinct minority of the overall service. Women received 56 of the 90 total Air Force discharges under the policy, which is 61% of firings, even though women make up only 20% of the service. By comparison, women received 36% of discharges in the Army, where they make up 14% of personnel, 23% in the Navy where they make up 14%, and 18% in the Marines where they make up only 6%.
Race and Racism
Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License in Louisiana
A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites and came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society. The ACLU was preparing a letter for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and see if they can remove him from office. According to a report by CNN, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is calling to have Bardwell's license revoked, and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is calling for his dismissal.
Friday, October 16, 2009
This Week on Information Underground
This week on Information Underground our studio guest will be Darren Benson, the City Editor from the Bryan-College Station Eagle newspaper. Our topics of conversation will include the current state of journalism and media, the future of newspapers, what alternative and internet news outlets are contributing, and the blogosphere.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Political and Social Thought to the Left of College Station
Today is Come Out day, and I am a straight ally.
I am a straight ally because a threat to anyone’s civil rights anywhere, is a threat to everyone’s civil rights everywhere.
I am a straight ally because when I served in the military some of my closest friends where homosexuals that had chosen to serve their country, but their country rewarded their services by forcing them to live a lie. There are thousands of gay and lesbian people that have been discharged from the United States military, not for any misconduct, but for the simple fact that they are not heterosexual.
I am a straight ally because while I have the freedom to marry whomever I chose, homosexuals in most states through the county are denied that right. Same-sex couples only want the same rights that I have, and they should have those same rights. Same-sex couples do not want to someone force religious institutions to perform same-sex marriages, nor do they want preferential treatment under the law. They simply want equal treatment under the law.
I am a straight ally because when I get married there are 1,138 rights bestowed upon me by the federal government, rights that are not given to same-sex couples. From the right to employment assistance and transitional services for spouses of members being separated from military service, to the right to per diem payment to spouse for federal civil service employees when relocating. From the right to joint parenting rights, such as access to children's school records to the right to family visitation rights for the spouse and non-biological children, such as to visit a spouse in a hospital or prison. From Domestic violence protection orders to existing homestead lease continuation of rights to funeral and bereavement leave to joint adoption and foster care to even joint tax filing.
I am a straight ally because no one should be denied human rights because of who they are, because of who they love, or because of how they live their life.
I am a straight ally if only for the simple reason that the only reason that my human rights are not violated is because I was born straight. That simple privilege. I have done nothing to deserve the privilege that I have in so many ways. But because I am a straight white man, there are things that I will never experience and advantages I have simple because I am not a black man, I am not a Latino woman, I am not gay. Never will my entire raced be judge because of my actions; never will my career advancement be questioned because of my sex; never will my human rights be violated because of my sexual orientation.
I am a straight ally because if I was not then I would be saying to all of the people that I have known and loved who where gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender that your human rights, that your civil liberties, that your happiness does not matter as much as mine.
I am a straight ally because change can only take place when everyone stands and demands that change must take place.
I am a straight ally because a threat to anyone’s civil rights anywhere, is a threat to everyone’s civil rights everywhere.
I am a straight ally because when I served in the military some of my closest friends where homosexuals that had chosen to serve their country, but their country rewarded their services by forcing them to live a lie. There are thousands of gay and lesbian people that have been discharged from the United States military, not for any misconduct, but for the simple fact that they are not heterosexual.
I am a straight ally because while I have the freedom to marry whomever I chose, homosexuals in most states through the county are denied that right. Same-sex couples only want the same rights that I have, and they should have those same rights. Same-sex couples do not want to someone force religious institutions to perform same-sex marriages, nor do they want preferential treatment under the law. They simply want equal treatment under the law.
I am a straight ally because when I get married there are 1,138 rights bestowed upon me by the federal government, rights that are not given to same-sex couples. From the right to employment assistance and transitional services for spouses of members being separated from military service, to the right to per diem payment to spouse for federal civil service employees when relocating. From the right to joint parenting rights, such as access to children's school records to the right to family visitation rights for the spouse and non-biological children, such as to visit a spouse in a hospital or prison. From Domestic violence protection orders to existing homestead lease continuation of rights to funeral and bereavement leave to joint adoption and foster care to even joint tax filing.
I am a straight ally because no one should be denied human rights because of who they are, because of who they love, or because of how they live their life.
I am a straight ally if only for the simple reason that the only reason that my human rights are not violated is because I was born straight. That simple privilege. I have done nothing to deserve the privilege that I have in so many ways. But because I am a straight white man, there are things that I will never experience and advantages I have simple because I am not a black man, I am not a Latino woman, I am not gay. Never will my entire raced be judge because of my actions; never will my career advancement be questioned because of my sex; never will my human rights be violated because of my sexual orientation.
I am a straight ally because if I was not then I would be saying to all of the people that I have known and loved who where gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender that your human rights, that your civil liberties, that your happiness does not matter as much as mine.
I am a straight ally because change can only take place when everyone stands and demands that change must take place.
Headlines
Local News
Rock the Republic comes to Bryan
This weekend Rock the Republic, a diverse live music and arts event, will be taking place in Downtown Bryan. According to an article in the Texas A&M Battalion, the event will feature a variety of musicians, slam poets and urban artists exclusively from Texas with emphasis on the overall experience of the event. The event organizers emphasize that it is not a festival, but a “a spectacle of sight and sound.” Tickets are $10 for a one-day pass and $25 for the full three days, and the event is expected to sell out. Sales end on Monday, October 12th.
Listen to 89.1FM KEOS this Wednesday from 6:00-7:00pm to hear an interview with the events organizers on Biased Transmission.
Local Politics
CS City Manager Considers Ethics Complaint Baseless
The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that the College Station city manager responded to ethics complaints; last week a complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission alleging that City Manager Glenn Brown used $20,000 in public funds to produce and mail misleading information about the red light cameras. Brown characterized the complaint as disappointing and without merit, and Brown believes that he has done anything wrong. Brown said the brochures cost $14,000 to $15,000 to print and mail and were intended to remind residents of the upcoming election and to let them know of the polling locations. Residents will vote November 3rd on whether to remove the city's red light cameras.
Texas News
Houston Police Investigating Possible Hate Crime at Mosque
The FBI and Houston police are investigating a possible hate crime after someone scrawled anti-Islamic remarks on the wall of a southwest Houston mosque. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, earlier this week an unidentified man entered the Turkish Center Mosque and wrote hateful phrases about Islam and Muslims on the wall. Dr. Aziz Siddiqi, president of the nonprofit Islamic Society of Greater Houston that represents 300,000 area Muslims, characterized the phrases as “very derogatory,” but declined to repeat their exact wording. The Houston Police Department is reviewing surveillance video to try to identify the suspect, who used chalk to write on the walls of the mosque, and the FBI is conducting its own inquiry to determine what happened and whether the incident falls within federal jurisdiction.
National News
Arlington Unveils a New Unknown Soldier
For the first time in a generation, Arlington National Cemetery has marked the burial of an unknown on its storied grounds. However, according to an article in Salon, twenty-five years since the last interment at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the identity of the body remains a mystery not because the ravages of war made identification impossible, but because in a bureaucratic error the cemetery lost the paperwork showing the identity of the remains. This is the first time the cemetery has marked an unknown since 1984, when Arlington entombed the remains of a Vietnam veteran in the Tomb of the Unknowns, and that unknown soldier was supposed to be the last unknown interred in any U.S. military cemetery, given advances in DNA technology and a multimillion dollar effort to account for every soldier and identify all remains. Rather than publicly admit this error, Arlington quietly left the remains unmarked for six years.
National Politics
Top Payers In Health Care Reform
The National Journal reports that the Chamber of Commerce has spent more money lobbying during the health care debate than any other group. The Chamber of Commerce, who will not support legislation that includes a public option, spent $17.4 million in the first half of 2009. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, who is opposed to any pharmaceutical price controls, has spent $13 million in the first half of 2009 including $4 million on TV ads featuring “Clintoncare” throwbacks Harry and Louise voicing their support for reform. AARP has spent the third most in the first have of 2009, $9.4 million, is opposed to decreases in funding of Medicare but has been supportive of health care reform. The American Medical Association spent $8.2 million, and the Business Roundtable spent $7.4 million in the first half of 2009.
War and Peace
Contractors in Iraq Are Hidden Casualties of War
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has depended on contract workers more than in any previous conflict - to cook meals for troops, wash laundry, deliver supplies and protect diplomats, among other tasks. According to a report by ProPublica, tens of thousands of civilians have worked in the two battle zones, often facing the same dangers as U.S. troops and suffering the same kinds of injuries. Contract workers from the U.S. have been mostly men, primarily middle-aged, many of them military veterans drawn by money, patriotism or both, according to interviews and public records. They are police officers, truck drivers, firefighters, mechanics and craftsmen, mostly from rural corners of America, especially the South. Nearly 1,600 civilian workers -- both Americans and foreign nationals -- have died in the two war zones. Thousands more have been injured. (More than 5,200 U.S. service members have been killed and 35,000 wounded.) Many of the civilians have come home as military veterans in all but name, sometimes with lifelong disabilities but without the support network available to returning troops
Economy
Quarter of America's Total Income is Earned By the Top 1%
The Economist reports that in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, the top 1% increased their share of the country's income to 23.5. The concentration of income earned by this top percentile now stands at its highest since 1928. Two-thirds of the country's total gains in the five years to 2007 accrued to the top 1%, whereas the bottom 90th percentile saw only 12% of the extra income.
Environment
EPA Probes Herbicide Atrazine for Human Health Threats
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the commonly used weed killer atrazine will undergo a new comprehensive evaluation to determine its effects - first on humans and later on amphibians and aquatic ecosystems. According to an article in the Environmental News Service, the most recent studies on atrazine and its potential association with birth defects, low birth weight, and premature births will be included in the year-long evaluation of the chemical's effects on humans. To evaluate atrazine's potential cancer and non-cancer effects on humans, the EPA will engage the federal Scientific Advisory Panel established by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The panel, composed of biologists, statisticians and toxicologists, serves as the primary scientific peer review mechanism for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Next September, at the end of this process, the EPA will decide whether to revise its current risk assessment of the pesticide and whether new restrictions are necessary to better protect public health.
Immigration
Napolitano Vows Continued Enforcement of Immigration Laws
The McClatchy news services reported that in response to widespread criticism from immigrant advocates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced steps this week to improve conditions of detainees and allow them easier access to attorneys. But Napolitano stood firm on the Obama administration's efforts to continue strict enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. In her mixed message of humane treatment and tough enforcement, Napolitano made it clear she intends to reform detention operations from what she described as a patchwork of privately-run and government-run facilities with different standards in different locations.
Reproductive Rights
Unsafe Abortion Cost the Developing World Millions of Dollars Each Year
Treating the complications that result from unsafe abortion costs Africa and Latin America $227–280 million each year, according to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute. These costs (reported in 2006 US$) place a considerable added strain on struggling national health systems in Africa and Latin America, which spend an estimated $490 million annually treating complications from pregnancies and births. Unsafe abortion costs the developing world at least $341 million when the Asian and Pacific regions are taken into account. Globally, 15–25% of women who need hospital-based care for complications from unsafe abortion never receive it. If these women had access to the services they needed, the costs to health care systems would at least double. Currently, an unknown number of women who never receive treatment suffer lifelong consequences or die from their complications, a grave illustration of the social and medical costs of unsafe abortion.
Women’s Issues
Marital Rape is Still an Underreported Crime in India
According to a report by Women’s International Perspective, regardless of culture, status or religion, women across the world continue to show reluctance in pressing charges against the rapist when the culprit is their spouse, despite the fact that marital rape accounts for a quarter of all rape cases reported globally. In India where a staggering 70% of women feel denying their husbands’ sexual demands is an offense that justifies wife beating, it doesn’t come as a surprise that more than two-thirds of the country’s married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been raped. It has taken Indian lawmakers a very long time to recognize marital rape as a crime. And yet having a law in place that criminalizes this form of violence against women is not enough to address this largely underreported epidemic.
GLBT Issues
House Approves Hate-Crimes Measure
Legislation to punish hate crimes became a flashpoint on Capitol Hill on this week, according to an article in the Washington Post. A measure expanding the definition of such crimes was attached to the bill outlining the Defense Department budget and approved by the House over the strong objections of Republicans. The bill passed the House this week, 281 to 146, with 131 Republicans and 15 Democrats in opposition. The measure must pass the Senate, in a vote that could come as early as this week, before it can head to President Obama's desk for his signature. The provision would broaden the current definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also create a new federal crime to cover attacks against U.S. military personnel because of their service.
Race and Racism
Justice Department Probe Examines Treatment of Latinos by Suffolk Police
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into allegations of “discriminatory policing” by the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Police Department over how officers responded to reports of crimes against Latinos. The investigation, announced last week, will be conducted by the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the local U.S. attorney’s office. It comes about nine months after the agencies began looking into a complaint that the Suffolk police force failed to adequately investigate crimes against Latinos and discouraged them from seeking assistance. The complaint was filed shortly after the November killing of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant fatally stabbed in the town of Patchogue in what authorities say was a hate crime.
Rock the Republic comes to Bryan
This weekend Rock the Republic, a diverse live music and arts event, will be taking place in Downtown Bryan. According to an article in the Texas A&M Battalion, the event will feature a variety of musicians, slam poets and urban artists exclusively from Texas with emphasis on the overall experience of the event. The event organizers emphasize that it is not a festival, but a “a spectacle of sight and sound.” Tickets are $10 for a one-day pass and $25 for the full three days, and the event is expected to sell out. Sales end on Monday, October 12th.
Listen to 89.1FM KEOS this Wednesday from 6:00-7:00pm to hear an interview with the events organizers on Biased Transmission.
Local Politics
CS City Manager Considers Ethics Complaint Baseless
The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that the College Station city manager responded to ethics complaints; last week a complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission alleging that City Manager Glenn Brown used $20,000 in public funds to produce and mail misleading information about the red light cameras. Brown characterized the complaint as disappointing and without merit, and Brown believes that he has done anything wrong. Brown said the brochures cost $14,000 to $15,000 to print and mail and were intended to remind residents of the upcoming election and to let them know of the polling locations. Residents will vote November 3rd on whether to remove the city's red light cameras.
Texas News
Houston Police Investigating Possible Hate Crime at Mosque
The FBI and Houston police are investigating a possible hate crime after someone scrawled anti-Islamic remarks on the wall of a southwest Houston mosque. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, earlier this week an unidentified man entered the Turkish Center Mosque and wrote hateful phrases about Islam and Muslims on the wall. Dr. Aziz Siddiqi, president of the nonprofit Islamic Society of Greater Houston that represents 300,000 area Muslims, characterized the phrases as “very derogatory,” but declined to repeat their exact wording. The Houston Police Department is reviewing surveillance video to try to identify the suspect, who used chalk to write on the walls of the mosque, and the FBI is conducting its own inquiry to determine what happened and whether the incident falls within federal jurisdiction.
National News
Arlington Unveils a New Unknown Soldier
For the first time in a generation, Arlington National Cemetery has marked the burial of an unknown on its storied grounds. However, according to an article in Salon, twenty-five years since the last interment at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the identity of the body remains a mystery not because the ravages of war made identification impossible, but because in a bureaucratic error the cemetery lost the paperwork showing the identity of the remains. This is the first time the cemetery has marked an unknown since 1984, when Arlington entombed the remains of a Vietnam veteran in the Tomb of the Unknowns, and that unknown soldier was supposed to be the last unknown interred in any U.S. military cemetery, given advances in DNA technology and a multimillion dollar effort to account for every soldier and identify all remains. Rather than publicly admit this error, Arlington quietly left the remains unmarked for six years.
National Politics
Top Payers In Health Care Reform
The National Journal reports that the Chamber of Commerce has spent more money lobbying during the health care debate than any other group. The Chamber of Commerce, who will not support legislation that includes a public option, spent $17.4 million in the first half of 2009. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, who is opposed to any pharmaceutical price controls, has spent $13 million in the first half of 2009 including $4 million on TV ads featuring “Clintoncare” throwbacks Harry and Louise voicing their support for reform. AARP has spent the third most in the first have of 2009, $9.4 million, is opposed to decreases in funding of Medicare but has been supportive of health care reform. The American Medical Association spent $8.2 million, and the Business Roundtable spent $7.4 million in the first half of 2009.
War and Peace
Contractors in Iraq Are Hidden Casualties of War
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has depended on contract workers more than in any previous conflict - to cook meals for troops, wash laundry, deliver supplies and protect diplomats, among other tasks. According to a report by ProPublica, tens of thousands of civilians have worked in the two battle zones, often facing the same dangers as U.S. troops and suffering the same kinds of injuries. Contract workers from the U.S. have been mostly men, primarily middle-aged, many of them military veterans drawn by money, patriotism or both, according to interviews and public records. They are police officers, truck drivers, firefighters, mechanics and craftsmen, mostly from rural corners of America, especially the South. Nearly 1,600 civilian workers -- both Americans and foreign nationals -- have died in the two war zones. Thousands more have been injured. (More than 5,200 U.S. service members have been killed and 35,000 wounded.) Many of the civilians have come home as military veterans in all but name, sometimes with lifelong disabilities but without the support network available to returning troops
Economy
Quarter of America's Total Income is Earned By the Top 1%
The Economist reports that in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, the top 1% increased their share of the country's income to 23.5. The concentration of income earned by this top percentile now stands at its highest since 1928. Two-thirds of the country's total gains in the five years to 2007 accrued to the top 1%, whereas the bottom 90th percentile saw only 12% of the extra income.
Environment
EPA Probes Herbicide Atrazine for Human Health Threats
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the commonly used weed killer atrazine will undergo a new comprehensive evaluation to determine its effects - first on humans and later on amphibians and aquatic ecosystems. According to an article in the Environmental News Service, the most recent studies on atrazine and its potential association with birth defects, low birth weight, and premature births will be included in the year-long evaluation of the chemical's effects on humans. To evaluate atrazine's potential cancer and non-cancer effects on humans, the EPA will engage the federal Scientific Advisory Panel established by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The panel, composed of biologists, statisticians and toxicologists, serves as the primary scientific peer review mechanism for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Next September, at the end of this process, the EPA will decide whether to revise its current risk assessment of the pesticide and whether new restrictions are necessary to better protect public health.
Immigration
Napolitano Vows Continued Enforcement of Immigration Laws
The McClatchy news services reported that in response to widespread criticism from immigrant advocates, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced steps this week to improve conditions of detainees and allow them easier access to attorneys. But Napolitano stood firm on the Obama administration's efforts to continue strict enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. In her mixed message of humane treatment and tough enforcement, Napolitano made it clear she intends to reform detention operations from what she described as a patchwork of privately-run and government-run facilities with different standards in different locations.
Reproductive Rights
Unsafe Abortion Cost the Developing World Millions of Dollars Each Year
Treating the complications that result from unsafe abortion costs Africa and Latin America $227–280 million each year, according to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute. These costs (reported in 2006 US$) place a considerable added strain on struggling national health systems in Africa and Latin America, which spend an estimated $490 million annually treating complications from pregnancies and births. Unsafe abortion costs the developing world at least $341 million when the Asian and Pacific regions are taken into account. Globally, 15–25% of women who need hospital-based care for complications from unsafe abortion never receive it. If these women had access to the services they needed, the costs to health care systems would at least double. Currently, an unknown number of women who never receive treatment suffer lifelong consequences or die from their complications, a grave illustration of the social and medical costs of unsafe abortion.
Women’s Issues
Marital Rape is Still an Underreported Crime in India
According to a report by Women’s International Perspective, regardless of culture, status or religion, women across the world continue to show reluctance in pressing charges against the rapist when the culprit is their spouse, despite the fact that marital rape accounts for a quarter of all rape cases reported globally. In India where a staggering 70% of women feel denying their husbands’ sexual demands is an offense that justifies wife beating, it doesn’t come as a surprise that more than two-thirds of the country’s married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been raped. It has taken Indian lawmakers a very long time to recognize marital rape as a crime. And yet having a law in place that criminalizes this form of violence against women is not enough to address this largely underreported epidemic.
GLBT Issues
House Approves Hate-Crimes Measure
Legislation to punish hate crimes became a flashpoint on Capitol Hill on this week, according to an article in the Washington Post. A measure expanding the definition of such crimes was attached to the bill outlining the Defense Department budget and approved by the House over the strong objections of Republicans. The bill passed the House this week, 281 to 146, with 131 Republicans and 15 Democrats in opposition. The measure must pass the Senate, in a vote that could come as early as this week, before it can head to President Obama's desk for his signature. The provision would broaden the current definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also create a new federal crime to cover attacks against U.S. military personnel because of their service.
Race and Racism
Justice Department Probe Examines Treatment of Latinos by Suffolk Police
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into allegations of “discriminatory policing” by the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Police Department over how officers responded to reports of crimes against Latinos. The investigation, announced last week, will be conducted by the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the local U.S. attorney’s office. It comes about nine months after the agencies began looking into a complaint that the Suffolk police force failed to adequately investigate crimes against Latinos and discouraged them from seeking assistance. The complaint was filed shortly after the November killing of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant fatally stabbed in the town of Patchogue in what authorities say was a hate crime.
This Week on Information Underground
This week on Information Underground our studio guest will be Arturo Torres Gonzales is a Senior International Policy and Diplomacy major from Port Lavaca, Texas. The topic of discussion will be the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (The "DREAM Act"), a piece of proposed federal legislation that was introduced in the US Senate, and the US House of Representatives in March. This bill would provide certain undocumented immigrant students who graduate from US high schools and who arrived in the US as children the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Political and Social Thought to the Left of College Station
We have not talked in thirty years, so we have a lot to talk about. The United States has not had a diplomatic relationship with Iran since the revolution in 1979, and over those thirty years our relationships with Iran has frozen over.
Over those thirty years the United States has been heavy on rhetoric but light on substance, and administrations have refused to engage Iran in directly diplomacy without preconditions. Also, the United States has been unable to gain the support of our European allies, and the key members of the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China, have been unwilling to give their support. Throughout these thirty years of non-diplomacy Iran has gained power in the unstable Middle East, supported terrorist, and moved towards gaining a nuclear bomb. Not talking has not worked.
The new administration has a new approach to Iran: actually talking to them. Over the last week the United States and the countries of Brittan, France, and Germany have began negotiations with Iran, in the wake of the disclosure of an Iranian nuclear facility. This is just the beginning of an international game of diplomatic chess.
The most important element to these negotiations is patience, it will talk more than a few days to thaw three decades of diplomatic ice. However, it is critical that these diplomatic negotiations continue, and it would be premature to place arbitrary time limits. A timeline of when Iran must comply with certain obligations will be a nature product of the negotiations.
Perhaps the most important reason that the United States should engage in diplomacy with Iran is because it is the only way in which it could be known if a peaceful outcome is possible, and because the alternative of a military engagement with Iran should not only be the last course of action considered it should be prevented by every reasonable measure.
This is a point that cannot be emphasized enough: the United States must avoid a military conflict with another country in the Middle East. The United States should not go to war with Iran. After 4,666 casualties in an Iraq that will hopefully be coming to an end, and 1,441 casualties in the war in Afghanistan (included already 17 this month and 396 this year) it is hard to conclude that the United States should risk more lives in another war of choice.
However, if negotiations fail, and Iran leaves the table, the United States will actually be in a much more powerful position that it would be if it does not engage in diplomacy. In fact bringing the other countries to the table will also increase the effects of economic sanctions on Iran, and the backing of those countries and the United Nations will make military action against Iran much more feasible.
The question that those who are against direct diplomatic engagement with Iran must ask themselves is: If you are not for diplomacy now, then what are you for? The answer to that question is that they are for military action; they are for another war during a time in which the United States is already engaged in two wars in the Middle East.
Diplomacy and international politics is a chess game, and the United States must think several moves ahead. While all of our options (diplomatic, economic, and military) should remain on the table, we must be willing to engage in such as way that does not lead to an unneeded sacrifice of those options. If the United States does engage in direct diplomacy with Iran it will strength our influence with the rest of the world, and perhaps regain the credibility that made the United States a powerful force for peace and democracy.
This week the Obama Administration has made first moves in direct engagement with Iran. Last week the Iranian foreign minister arrived in Washington, D.C. for the first time in over a decade, in preparations with negotiation with the United States and Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. During the negotiations last week Iran agreed to open the uranium enrichment plant near Qum to international inspection and also agreed to continue diplomatic negotiations. While these negotiations should be viewed with cautious optimism, it is an important first step towards a direct diplomacy with an old adversary.
Over those thirty years the United States has been heavy on rhetoric but light on substance, and administrations have refused to engage Iran in directly diplomacy without preconditions. Also, the United States has been unable to gain the support of our European allies, and the key members of the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China, have been unwilling to give their support. Throughout these thirty years of non-diplomacy Iran has gained power in the unstable Middle East, supported terrorist, and moved towards gaining a nuclear bomb. Not talking has not worked.
The new administration has a new approach to Iran: actually talking to them. Over the last week the United States and the countries of Brittan, France, and Germany have began negotiations with Iran, in the wake of the disclosure of an Iranian nuclear facility. This is just the beginning of an international game of diplomatic chess.
The most important element to these negotiations is patience, it will talk more than a few days to thaw three decades of diplomatic ice. However, it is critical that these diplomatic negotiations continue, and it would be premature to place arbitrary time limits. A timeline of when Iran must comply with certain obligations will be a nature product of the negotiations.
Perhaps the most important reason that the United States should engage in diplomacy with Iran is because it is the only way in which it could be known if a peaceful outcome is possible, and because the alternative of a military engagement with Iran should not only be the last course of action considered it should be prevented by every reasonable measure.
This is a point that cannot be emphasized enough: the United States must avoid a military conflict with another country in the Middle East. The United States should not go to war with Iran. After 4,666 casualties in an Iraq that will hopefully be coming to an end, and 1,441 casualties in the war in Afghanistan (included already 17 this month and 396 this year) it is hard to conclude that the United States should risk more lives in another war of choice.
However, if negotiations fail, and Iran leaves the table, the United States will actually be in a much more powerful position that it would be if it does not engage in diplomacy. In fact bringing the other countries to the table will also increase the effects of economic sanctions on Iran, and the backing of those countries and the United Nations will make military action against Iran much more feasible.
The question that those who are against direct diplomatic engagement with Iran must ask themselves is: If you are not for diplomacy now, then what are you for? The answer to that question is that they are for military action; they are for another war during a time in which the United States is already engaged in two wars in the Middle East.
Diplomacy and international politics is a chess game, and the United States must think several moves ahead. While all of our options (diplomatic, economic, and military) should remain on the table, we must be willing to engage in such as way that does not lead to an unneeded sacrifice of those options. If the United States does engage in direct diplomacy with Iran it will strength our influence with the rest of the world, and perhaps regain the credibility that made the United States a powerful force for peace and democracy.
This week the Obama Administration has made first moves in direct engagement with Iran. Last week the Iranian foreign minister arrived in Washington, D.C. for the first time in over a decade, in preparations with negotiation with the United States and Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. During the negotiations last week Iran agreed to open the uranium enrichment plant near Qum to international inspection and also agreed to continue diplomatic negotiations. While these negotiations should be viewed with cautious optimism, it is an important first step towards a direct diplomacy with an old adversary.
Headlines
Local News
Complaint Filed in Red Light Camera Fight
A complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission against College Station resident Jim Ash for eight possible violations of the Texas Election Code by the political action committee Take Back Your City, which opposes the use of red light cameras in College Station. According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the complaint was filed by the lawyer for Keep College Station Safe, a political action committee formed to campaign for the red light cameras. The violations that Take Back Your City is accused of include not file timely financial disclosure reports, accepted political contributions without a campaign treasurer, failed to fully disclose the total amount of political contributions and failed to identify donors.
Texas A&M News
Texas A&M Interim President Holds a Town Hall Meeting
Texas A&M University interim President R. Bowen Loftin held a town hall meeting this week to address concerns and issues of the University. The Texas A&M Battalion reports that town hall consisted of a panel of speakers from various departments that helped explain major changes happening at Texas A&M. Topics addressed included Vision 2020, enrollment increase, the ongoing search for a new president, and concerns with the current flu season. The town hall concluded with an open forum during which students asked questions concerning military walk and the Howdy portal.
Texas News
Texas Ranks Nearly Last in Receiving Stimulus Funds
The Dallas Morning News reports that analysis of federal grants and contracts shows that Texas has received less funding per resident from the stimulus package so far than almost any other state. Texas has been approved for about $12.9 billion in stimulus grants and contracts, not including the estimated $4.2 billion that Texans received through the law's main individual tax credit, according to federal estimates. When adjusted for population, the state's share of stimulus grants ($533 per person) ranks 49th among 50 states, according to data reported by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.
Texas Politics
Perry Shakes Up Agency Investigating Possible Innocent Man's Execution
Governor Rick Perry replaced the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission during the politically sensitive and potentially explosive investigation into the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Perry appointed John Bradley, Williamson County's chief prosecutor, to lead the state agency investigating whether Willingham was executed based on a fatally flawed arson investigation. The Forensic Science Commission made news in August when a fire scientist hired by the commission concluded the arson ruling that was key to Willingham's conviction was based on bad science, unproven theories and personal bias by arson investigators. The commission was created in 2005 to investigate allegations of scientific negligence or misconduct in criminal matters. Its final report on Willingham was expected early next year, but Wednesday's personnel changes are expected to push that deadline back indefinitely.
National Politics
Hidden ‘Bundles’ of Lobbyist Giving Show Full Court Press by Health Care Donors
Open Secrets reports that a collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has uncovered never-before-seen webs of campaign contributions from outside lobbyists and their clients, who are all important players in the healthcare reform, to key members of Congress. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and author of the main health care reform bill now being debated in the Senate, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this one-two punch from the lobbyists and their clients. In all, 11 major health and insurance firms had their contributions to Baucus boosted through extra donations from 10 or more of their outside lobbyists. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., collected lobbyist “bundles” from 14 major healthcare organizations. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., actually led the list, with 22 organizations. In all, 61 members of Congress—39 in the Senate, 22 in the House, 38 Democrats and 23 Republicans—got money from 10 or more outside lobbyists whose healthcare or health insurance industry clients also contributed to their campaigns.
War and Peace
4,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq
This week General Ray Odierno, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, testified before Congress that United States will withdraw about 4,000 troops from Iraq by the end of October. The Washington Post reports that the United States is on track to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by September 2010. Approximately 124,000 troops and 11 Combat Teams operating in Iraq today, and according to Odierno’s testimony by the end of October there will be 120,000 troops in Iraq. The number of U.S. contractors in Iraq has dropped from 149,000 in January to just over 115,000, saving over $441 million; nearly 100 U.S. bases also have been closed. This year 128 United States military members have died in Iraq, and 4,666 military members have died in Iraq since the war began.
Health Care
Study Finds That Cost Higher in Texas If Health Reform Fails
A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects that by 2019, Texas' ranks of uninsured, public program spending and individual and employee health care expenses will balloon if reform isn't passed. The study, which estimates how coverage and cost trends would change from now to 2019 if health care isn't reformed, found out-of-pocket expenses could increase by more than 35 percent in every state. The effects in Texas within 10 years include: as many as 8.3 million residents would be uninsured, up from 6 million this year, the average resident's health care spending would increase as much as 81 percent, employers' premiums would increase as much as 121 percent, Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program spending would increase as much as 117 percent, and uncompensated care would increase by as much as 138 percent.
Economy
US Income Gap Widens as Poor Take Hit in Recession
According to an article in the New York Times, the recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, and has widened the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs effect household budgets. The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans (those making more than $138,000 each year) earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to newly released census figures. That ratio was an increase from 11.2 in 2007 and the previous high of 11.22 in 2003. Household income declined across all groups, but at sharper percentage levels for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997. Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.
Environment
Twenty Percent of the World's Mammals Are at Risk of Extinction
Almost 10% of the World's mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish are at risk of extinction because of threats including habitat loss and climate change. According report by BBC News, a study by Australia's Biological Resources Study, a project aiming to document all of the planet's known animal and plant species, found that almost 1% of the World's 1.9 million classified species were threatened, included 9.2% of major vertebrate species. The study found that 20% of mammals were endangered, as were 12% percent of birds and 29% of amphibians, and almost 5% of reptiles were considered threatened, along with 4% of fish species.
Civil Rights
Supreme Court to Hear Second Amendment and Patriot Act Cases
Free Speech Radio News reported earlier this week that the United States Supreme Court announced the cases it is preparing to consider in this year’s session including two high-profile cases; one case dealing with the Patriot Act and another the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court will assess a portion of the Patriot Act that prohibits U.S. residents from donating money or resources to support terrorist groups. The provision has been condemned by civil rights organizations that argue it is too vague and could block various peaceful and nonviolent activities, such as human rights training. The Court will also decide whether local and state governments can ban the possession of handguns. The case stems from a Chicago gun-rights group who opposes the gun ban in that city, saying it violates the Second Amendment.
Reproductive Rights
New Push to Define Person and to Outlaw Abortion in the Process
Anti-abortion groups are attempting a new strategy to outlaw abortion by lobbying to amend state constitutions to define personhood from conception. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, in several states across the country activists are gathering signatures, pressing state legislators and raising money to put “personhood” measures on ballots next year. Pro-choice groups say that the “personhood” movement threatens in vitro fertilization; some kinds of birth control, including IUDs and pills; and stem cell research. Defeats of personhood measures around the country have not daunted proponent; earlier this year, the legislatures of Montana and North Dakota rejected personhood measures, but the close votes alarmed supporters of legal abortion.
Women’s Issues
Darfur Women Refugees in Chad Face Rape in Camps
A report by Amnesty International found that women who fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region are being regularly raped in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, despite the presence of United Nations trained forces. Chadian police supported by the United Nations were doing little to protect women and girls from sexual attacks and other violence by villagers, soldiers, family and in some cases aid workers. According to the Amnesty International report, more than 142,000 women and girls had fled Darfur's six-year conflict to take refuge in 12 camps inside Chad's border. Rights groups have reported the widespread rape of women during the conflict in Sudan's remote western Darfur region.
GLBT Issues
Research Concludes GLBT Students Face Levels of Harassment Higher Than Their High School Peers
Middle school GLBT students are significantly more likely to face hostile school climates than high school GLBT students, yet have less access to school resources and support according to a new report by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. More than 9 out of 10 GLBT middle school students said they experienced harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 59% experienced physical harassment and a 39% said they had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as many as in high school (20%). More than 8 out of 10 GLBT middle school students reported hearing homophobic epithets frequently or often from other students in school, a higher percentage than high school students (73%). Also, 63% of GLBT middle school students had heard school staff make homophobic remark.
Race and Racism
Study Finds Doctors Often Register Unconscious Bias Against Blacks
A study published in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved found that white physicians often show an unconscious bias against black patients. Psychological testing determined that white physicians have friendlier attitudes toward anonymous white people than toward black people. White, Asian and Hispanic doctors showed preferences for whites over blacks, while black physicians showed no significant preference, the study said. These unconscious preferences for whites were two to three times' higher than the physicians' self-reported attitudes. According to the study’s authors the gap between physicians' conscious attitudes and their implicit preferences could help explain why black patients receive worse care.
Complaint Filed in Red Light Camera Fight
A complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission against College Station resident Jim Ash for eight possible violations of the Texas Election Code by the political action committee Take Back Your City, which opposes the use of red light cameras in College Station. According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the complaint was filed by the lawyer for Keep College Station Safe, a political action committee formed to campaign for the red light cameras. The violations that Take Back Your City is accused of include not file timely financial disclosure reports, accepted political contributions without a campaign treasurer, failed to fully disclose the total amount of political contributions and failed to identify donors.
Texas A&M News
Texas A&M Interim President Holds a Town Hall Meeting
Texas A&M University interim President R. Bowen Loftin held a town hall meeting this week to address concerns and issues of the University. The Texas A&M Battalion reports that town hall consisted of a panel of speakers from various departments that helped explain major changes happening at Texas A&M. Topics addressed included Vision 2020, enrollment increase, the ongoing search for a new president, and concerns with the current flu season. The town hall concluded with an open forum during which students asked questions concerning military walk and the Howdy portal.
Texas News
Texas Ranks Nearly Last in Receiving Stimulus Funds
The Dallas Morning News reports that analysis of federal grants and contracts shows that Texas has received less funding per resident from the stimulus package so far than almost any other state. Texas has been approved for about $12.9 billion in stimulus grants and contracts, not including the estimated $4.2 billion that Texans received through the law's main individual tax credit, according to federal estimates. When adjusted for population, the state's share of stimulus grants ($533 per person) ranks 49th among 50 states, according to data reported by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.
Texas Politics
Perry Shakes Up Agency Investigating Possible Innocent Man's Execution
Governor Rick Perry replaced the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission during the politically sensitive and potentially explosive investigation into the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, Perry appointed John Bradley, Williamson County's chief prosecutor, to lead the state agency investigating whether Willingham was executed based on a fatally flawed arson investigation. The Forensic Science Commission made news in August when a fire scientist hired by the commission concluded the arson ruling that was key to Willingham's conviction was based on bad science, unproven theories and personal bias by arson investigators. The commission was created in 2005 to investigate allegations of scientific negligence or misconduct in criminal matters. Its final report on Willingham was expected early next year, but Wednesday's personnel changes are expected to push that deadline back indefinitely.
National Politics
Hidden ‘Bundles’ of Lobbyist Giving Show Full Court Press by Health Care Donors
Open Secrets reports that a collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has uncovered never-before-seen webs of campaign contributions from outside lobbyists and their clients, who are all important players in the healthcare reform, to key members of Congress. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and author of the main health care reform bill now being debated in the Senate, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this one-two punch from the lobbyists and their clients. In all, 11 major health and insurance firms had their contributions to Baucus boosted through extra donations from 10 or more of their outside lobbyists. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., collected lobbyist “bundles” from 14 major healthcare organizations. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., actually led the list, with 22 organizations. In all, 61 members of Congress—39 in the Senate, 22 in the House, 38 Democrats and 23 Republicans—got money from 10 or more outside lobbyists whose healthcare or health insurance industry clients also contributed to their campaigns.
War and Peace
4,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq
This week General Ray Odierno, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, testified before Congress that United States will withdraw about 4,000 troops from Iraq by the end of October. The Washington Post reports that the United States is on track to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by September 2010. Approximately 124,000 troops and 11 Combat Teams operating in Iraq today, and according to Odierno’s testimony by the end of October there will be 120,000 troops in Iraq. The number of U.S. contractors in Iraq has dropped from 149,000 in January to just over 115,000, saving over $441 million; nearly 100 U.S. bases also have been closed. This year 128 United States military members have died in Iraq, and 4,666 military members have died in Iraq since the war began.
Health Care
Study Finds That Cost Higher in Texas If Health Reform Fails
A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects that by 2019, Texas' ranks of uninsured, public program spending and individual and employee health care expenses will balloon if reform isn't passed. The study, which estimates how coverage and cost trends would change from now to 2019 if health care isn't reformed, found out-of-pocket expenses could increase by more than 35 percent in every state. The effects in Texas within 10 years include: as many as 8.3 million residents would be uninsured, up from 6 million this year, the average resident's health care spending would increase as much as 81 percent, employers' premiums would increase as much as 121 percent, Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program spending would increase as much as 117 percent, and uncompensated care would increase by as much as 138 percent.
Economy
US Income Gap Widens as Poor Take Hit in Recession
According to an article in the New York Times, the recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, and has widened the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs effect household budgets. The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans (those making more than $138,000 each year) earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to newly released census figures. That ratio was an increase from 11.2 in 2007 and the previous high of 11.22 in 2003. Household income declined across all groups, but at sharper percentage levels for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997. Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.
Environment
Twenty Percent of the World's Mammals Are at Risk of Extinction
Almost 10% of the World's mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish are at risk of extinction because of threats including habitat loss and climate change. According report by BBC News, a study by Australia's Biological Resources Study, a project aiming to document all of the planet's known animal and plant species, found that almost 1% of the World's 1.9 million classified species were threatened, included 9.2% of major vertebrate species. The study found that 20% of mammals were endangered, as were 12% percent of birds and 29% of amphibians, and almost 5% of reptiles were considered threatened, along with 4% of fish species.
Civil Rights
Supreme Court to Hear Second Amendment and Patriot Act Cases
Free Speech Radio News reported earlier this week that the United States Supreme Court announced the cases it is preparing to consider in this year’s session including two high-profile cases; one case dealing with the Patriot Act and another the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court will assess a portion of the Patriot Act that prohibits U.S. residents from donating money or resources to support terrorist groups. The provision has been condemned by civil rights organizations that argue it is too vague and could block various peaceful and nonviolent activities, such as human rights training. The Court will also decide whether local and state governments can ban the possession of handguns. The case stems from a Chicago gun-rights group who opposes the gun ban in that city, saying it violates the Second Amendment.
Reproductive Rights
New Push to Define Person and to Outlaw Abortion in the Process
Anti-abortion groups are attempting a new strategy to outlaw abortion by lobbying to amend state constitutions to define personhood from conception. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, in several states across the country activists are gathering signatures, pressing state legislators and raising money to put “personhood” measures on ballots next year. Pro-choice groups say that the “personhood” movement threatens in vitro fertilization; some kinds of birth control, including IUDs and pills; and stem cell research. Defeats of personhood measures around the country have not daunted proponent; earlier this year, the legislatures of Montana and North Dakota rejected personhood measures, but the close votes alarmed supporters of legal abortion.
Women’s Issues
Darfur Women Refugees in Chad Face Rape in Camps
A report by Amnesty International found that women who fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region are being regularly raped in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, despite the presence of United Nations trained forces. Chadian police supported by the United Nations were doing little to protect women and girls from sexual attacks and other violence by villagers, soldiers, family and in some cases aid workers. According to the Amnesty International report, more than 142,000 women and girls had fled Darfur's six-year conflict to take refuge in 12 camps inside Chad's border. Rights groups have reported the widespread rape of women during the conflict in Sudan's remote western Darfur region.
GLBT Issues
Research Concludes GLBT Students Face Levels of Harassment Higher Than Their High School Peers
Middle school GLBT students are significantly more likely to face hostile school climates than high school GLBT students, yet have less access to school resources and support according to a new report by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. More than 9 out of 10 GLBT middle school students said they experienced harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 59% experienced physical harassment and a 39% said they had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as many as in high school (20%). More than 8 out of 10 GLBT middle school students reported hearing homophobic epithets frequently or often from other students in school, a higher percentage than high school students (73%). Also, 63% of GLBT middle school students had heard school staff make homophobic remark.
Race and Racism
Study Finds Doctors Often Register Unconscious Bias Against Blacks
A study published in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved found that white physicians often show an unconscious bias against black patients. Psychological testing determined that white physicians have friendlier attitudes toward anonymous white people than toward black people. White, Asian and Hispanic doctors showed preferences for whites over blacks, while black physicians showed no significant preference, the study said. These unconscious preferences for whites were two to three times' higher than the physicians' self-reported attitudes. According to the study’s authors the gap between physicians' conscious attitudes and their implicit preferences could help explain why black patients receive worse care.
Friday, October 2, 2009
This Week on Information Underground
This week on Information Underground representatives from the Texas A&M College Republicans will be studio guest debating the issues; topics of discussion will include politics on campus, national and state politics including the upcoming elections, the ongoing health care reform debate, the current state of foreign policy with Iran, and several other important issues.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
Listen to Information Underground on 89.1FM KEOS on Sundays from 5-6pm after Tavis Smiley, for all the alternative news, politics, and commentary that you don’t hear in the mainstream media. To listen to Information Underground online and to listen to past episodes visit Information Underground on BlogTalkRadio. Tune in every week to hear headlines, interviews, and political and social thought to the Left of College Station.
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