Yesterday the news bug bit. Here are the results – stories on indigenous rights, literature, health rights, law and courts across the world, and more! The condensed listing directly links to articles. The extended version (“read more”) is indexed with subject headings, publication details, excerpts, and selective links for excerpts.
Young Muslims build a subculture on an underground book.
Poet chosen for inauguration is aiming for a work that transcends the moment.
Klamath Tribes Recovering Identity.
Mining Continues Near Western Shoshone Site.
Students attend Human Rights forum.
In breast reconstruction, some hidden choices.
In parts of Eastern Europe, mentally ill kept under wraps.
Caretakers For Burn Victims Suffer Emotional Toll.
Bush v. Gore still influencing court decisions.
Parents of China quake victims file lawsuit.
Russian treason bill could target Kremlin critics.
Germany considers taking released Guantánamo prisoners.
Code Pink Does ‘Shoe-In’ at White House Rally.
THE WRITTEN WORD & MUSLIM-AMERICAN YOUTH
“Young Muslims build a subculture on an underground book.” Christopher Maag. IHT. 23 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/23/america/23muslim.php?page=1
“For many young American Muslims, stigmatized by their peers after the Sept. 11 attacks but repelled by both the Bush administration’s reaction to the attacks and the rigid conservatism of many Muslim leaders, [Michael Muhammad Knight’s] novel [The Taqwacores] became a blueprint for their lives.”
POETRY AT WHITE HOUSE
“Poet chosen for inauguration is aiming for a work that transcends the moment.” Katharine Q. Seelye. IHT. 21 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/21/america/21poet.php?page=1
“[Elizabeth] Alexander, 46, is the incoming chairwoman of the African-American studies department at Yale and the mother of two sons, 9 and 10. She writes often of race, gender and class, in both poetry and prose, nurtures young black poets through Cave Canem, a poetry workshop, and has been a friend of Obama for more than a decade.”
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INDIGENOUS LANDS & LIVELIHOOD (N. AMER.)
“Klamath Tribes Recovering Identity.” Jeff Barnard (AP). Reznet. 21 Dec 08. http://www.reznetnews.org/article/klamath-tribes-recovering-identity-27140
“The Klamath Tribes were one of the wealthiest in the nation in 1954 when [the US] Congress terminated their tribal status. Officially, the decision was supposed to assimilate Indian people into society, but tribes have long felt it was a grab of their valuable timber holdings… [I]n 1986, the tribes won restoration of their tribal status. Now, 22 years later, they are on the verge of buying back a piece of their old reservation: 90,000 acres of lodgepole pine known as the Mazama Tree Farm.”
INDIGENOUS LANDS & THE SACRED (N. AMER.)
“Mining Continues Near Western Shoshone Site.” Associated Press. Reznet. 15 Dec 08. http://www.reznetnews.org/article/mining-continues-near-western-shoshone-site-27010
“Lawyers for Barrick Gold Corp., environmentalists and a group of Western Shoshone have agreed what work can proceed at a new Nevada [US] mine until a hearing is held next month on efforts to restrict the project. Critics of Barrick’s Cortez Hills Project in northern Nevada claim the mine will deface Mount Tenabo, a site held sacred by some members of the Western Shoshone.”
CHILDREN’S & INDIGENOUS RIGHTS IN EDUCATION (N. AMER.)
“Students attend Human Rights forum.” Kate Harries. Indian Country Today. 12 Dec 08. http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/global/36045434.html
“Attawapiskat students have used Facebook and YouTube to build a powerful children’s human rights movement. Their catchy slogan – Each One Reach One, Each One Teach One – comes from ‘Work for Peace,’ a rap by American poet Gil Scott-Heron. Serena and other Cree youngsters told of being educated in portables since 2000, when Attawapiskat parents pulled their children out, scared of the toxic effect of a 1979 fuel leak that had spilled 30,000 gallons of diesel under the J. R. Nakogee elementary school building. They told of traveling to Ottawa [Canada] and being promised a new school by three Indian Affairs ministers, only to have it cancelled a year ago by the current minister, Chuck Strahl.”
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WOMEN’S HEALTH & RIGHTS (N. AMER.)
“In breast reconstruction, some hidden choices.” Natasha Singer. IHT. 23 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/23/healthscience/23beauty.php?page=1
“For many cancer patients undergoing mastectomies, reconstructive breast surgery can seem like a first step to reclaiming their bodies. But even as promising new operations are gaining traction at academic medical centers, plastic surgeons in the United States often fail to tell patients about them. One reason is that not all surgeons have trained to perform the latest procedures. Another reason is money: some complex surgeries are less profitable for doctors and hospitals, so they have less of an incentive to offer them, doctors say.”
RIGHTS FOR MENTALLY ILL (EUROPE)
“In parts of Eastern Europe, mentally ill kept under wraps.” Matthew Brunwasser. IHT. 22 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/europe/bulgaria.php?page=1
“A two-year study of guardianship systems in eight countries completed early this year by the Mental Disability Advocacy Center in Budapest found jail-like regimes for patients suffering from a wide range of mental disabilities, from mental illness to intellectual disability. The center, a privately funded nongovernmental organization, estimates that one million people live under guardianship in Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union and are subject to ‘significant, arbitrary and automatic’ violations of human rights.”
HEATH CARE FOR US VETS
“Caretakers For Burn Victims Suffer Emotional Toll.” Terry Gildea. Impact of War Series. Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR. 21 Dec 08. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98542612
“The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left lasting scars on the young men and women recovering at military hospitals across the country. Many of them injured by roadside bombs were burned beyond recognition. The medical staff who dress their wounds and help ease their agonizing pain also fight a daily emotional battle.”
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US COURTS ON ELECTIONS
“Bush v. Gore still influencing court decisions.” Adam Liptak. IHT. 22 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/america/23bar.php?page=1
“Bush v. Gore is turning out to have lasting value after all. ‘You’re starting to see courts invoke it,’ said Samuel Issacharoff, a law professor at New York University, ‘and you’re starting to see briefs cite it.’ Divorced from its earlier context, the growing point of the case is to impose order on often chaotic election processes in the states.”
CHINA COURTS ON VICTIMS
“Parents of China quake victims file lawsuit.” Edward Wong. 22 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/asia/quake.php?page=1
“In legal cases that involve politically sensitive issues, judges and lawyers in China often come under great pressure from government officials to keep the cases from going forward… In similar legal action, parents in three provinces filed lawsuits this fall against dairy companies after tens of thousands of children across China fell ill and at least four died from drinking milk and baby formula tainted with a toxic chemical called melamine.”
RUSSIAN LAW CRIMINALIZES FREE SPEECH
“Russian treason bill could target Kremlin critics.” David Nowak (AP) Seattle Times. 17 Dec 08. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008530096_apeurussiatreasonlaw.html?syndication=rss
“The bill would add non-governmental organizations based anywhere in the world that have an office in Russia to the list of banned recipients of state secrets. The government has repeatedly accused foreign spy agencies of using NGOs as a cover to foment dissent. Critics warned the loose wording will give authorities ample leeway to prosecute those who cooperate with international rights groups.”
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CLOSING GITMO
“Germany considers taking released Guantánamo prisoners.” Associated Press. IHT. 22 Dec 08. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/americas/germany.php
“Merkel’s spokesman, Thomas Steg, said Germany would not accept prisoners if conditions were attached. ‘One thing is clear: The Americans cannot ask for any special terms – no other agreements, swaps or other strings attached,’ Steg told reporters.”
MUNTADAR AL-ZAIDI
“Code Pink Does ‘Shoe-In’ at White House Rally.” YouTube. 17 Dec 08. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yOC4ckof04
