The News, Summer 2008

In updating the DotP web site, this post “The News, Summer 2008” has migrated from a former WordPress page titled “The News”. Sources, excerpts, and personal comments are available about a range of topics – the environment, health matters, im/migration, and more.

EXPERTS PONDER THE HAZARDS OF USING TECHNOLOGY TO SAVE THE PLANET. Cornelia Dean. International Herald Tribune. 12 August 2008. ~~”When scientists and engineers discuss geoengineering, it is obvious they are talking about technologies with the potential to change the planet. But the issue of engineering ethics applies as well to technologies whose planet-altering potential may not emerge until it is too late. […] [T]here is growing recognition that climate engineering, nanotechnology and other emerging technologies are full of ‘unknown unknowns,’ factors that will not become obvious until they are put into widespread use at a scale impossible to turn back, as happened, in a sense, with the atomic bomb. Before its first test, some of its developers worried that the blast might set the atmosphere on fire. They did not anticipate that the bombs would generate electromagnetic pulses intense enough to paralyze electrical systems across a continent.”

*

POLLUTION AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE. Lester Graham. The Environment Report. 11 August 2008. ~~”Researchers at the University of Michigan are looking to see if air pollution is a factor in school kids’ health and academic performance.”

*

IN OHIO, INMATE MOTHERS CARE FOR BABIES IN PRISON. Steve Inskeep. NPR. 13 August 2008. ~~”The program is one of many across the country designed to meet the unique needs of mothers who are locked up. Women are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. prison population. At the Ohio Reformatory, the warden estimates that 75 percent of the 2,300 inmates housed there are mothers.”

COMMENTS: Another issue impacting our world. Check out the Quaker Council for European Affairs’ joint project on the conditions of women in prison.

RUSSIA AND GEORGIA – BACKGROUND TO CONFLICT. Amnesty International. 12 August 2008. ~~”After months of increased tension, and recent low-level hostilities, the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia escalated in the early morning of 8 August 2008. The fighting became the most serious confrontation since the civil war between the two was concluded through a truce in 1992.”

COMMENTS: I met someone who receives updates from a Georgian about the situation on the ground. People are suffering.

WHY TEXAS STILL HOLDS ‘EM. Stephanie Mencimer. Mother Jones. July/ August 2008. ~~ “Historically, Mexicans caught illegally entering the country have been dumped back across the border, while immigrants and asylum seekers from other countries were processed and released to await their court dates. (Only those with criminal records were detained.) Most of those released, though, failed to appear for court hearings and removal proceedings, and the government didn’t have the resources to go looking for them. So in 2006, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency ended its traditional “catch and release” policy and instead started incarcerating non-Mexican immigrants — anyone from a Salvadoran migrant to an Iraqi family seeking political asylum — ”pending their deportation or asylum hearings. Over the two years since, the agency has increased its use of detention facilities by more than half; it now holds some 30,000 people on any given day.”

COMMENTS: Worldwide trend. Scroll down for news about Australia, Italy, Norway, and Belgium to read more about the incarceration of migrants.

SLAMMED: WELCOME TO THE AGE OF INCARCERATION. Jennifer Gonnerman. Mother Jones. July/ August 2008. ~~ “Nearly one in four of all prisoners worldwide is incarcerated in America. […] Eight years ago, we surpassed Russia to claim the dubious distinction of having the world’s highest rate of incarceration; today we’re still No. 1.”

COMMENTS: *Shakes head.* So what we gonna do about it? I’m considering that right now…

OBAMA, IN SHIFT, URGES TAPPING OIL FROM U.S. RESERVE. Larry Rohter. International Herald Tribune. 5 August 2008. ~~”Aides to Obama said that he now favored releasing light oil from that emergency stockpile, 707 million barrels stored in salt caverns, and replacing it with heavier oil, which they said would be more appropriate for the country’s long-term energy needs. They described that action – meant to help drive down oil prices, which have begun falling in the last month after a long, sharp increase – as a ‘limited swap’ rather than a depletion of the reserve.”

COMMENTS: So it begins…compromise. Certainly “bipartisan” work requires some compromise but for whatever reasons this one strikes my nose with a bad odor. Likely it’s because the land should not be any more damaged.

OCEANS’ ALARM: JELLYFISH SWARMS. Elisabeth Rosenthal. International Herald Tribune. 3 August 2008. ~~”The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of natural predators like tuna, sharks and swordfish; rising sea temperatures caused in part by global warming; and pollution that has depleted oxygen levels in coastal shallows. […] Within the past year, there have been beach closings because of jellyfish swarms on the Côte d’Azur, in France, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, and at Waikiki and Virginia Beach in the United States.”

COMMENTS: To put it as a poet, I hear the glaciers crying.

TROOPS DEPLOYED IN ITALIAN CITIES AGAINST CRIME AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Elisabetta Povoledo. International Herald Tribune. 4 August 2008. ~~”Television news stations showed military officials searching immigrants’ suitcases at subway stations. […] They will not be securing the city’s historic monuments. Local officials said they felt that a military presence could scare off tourists. ‘They will only be in areas where they have no impact on normal citizens,’ said Rome’s mayor, Gianni Alemmano.”

COMMENTS: Incongruence, incongruence. How do soldiers (because we are talking about soldiers, not desk-clerk “officials”) at subway stations decide who is an immigrant? Is there special “training” for racial profiling, or are ID cards being checked for all subway users? Do tourists in Italy not use subways to get to the historical monuments? If only “normal citizens” won’t be impacted, who are the “abnormal” citizens in Italy?

WITH FLEMISH NATIONALISM ON THE RISE, BELGIUM TEETERS ON THE EDGE. Michael Kimmelman. International Herald Tribune. 4 August 2008. ~~”In its escalating dysfunction Belgium demonstrates the inextricable link between culture and nationhood.”
~~Belgian historian Els Witte: “‘A language is a culture,’ she said. ‘In Belgium the two cultures know very little about each other because they speak different languages.'”
~~Writer Roel Jacobs who lives in Brussels and was born to Flemish parents: “‘There are six million Dutch speakers and they’re angry about Francophone influence, but meanwhile they care nothing about the influence of English and Anglo culture,’ he went on, ‘so it’s not rational. We’ve forgotten our true cultural history.'”
~~Editor Francis Dannemark: “”A Flemish friend,” [he] said, ‘put it to me this way: ‘Flanders has nothing in common with Holland except language, and the Flemish and Walloons have everything in common except language.’ But there’s almost no communication between the two communities, except through rock music, which everybody sings in English, and sports, which transcend everything.'”

COMMENTS: Read this article with my Belgian partner, who was born and raised in Flanders. He found it very accurate. I’m still waiting to befriend Francophone Belgians (Walloon and from Brussels) and hear their thoughts on the country’s political history and present.

MANY U.S. HOSPITALS REPATRIATING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Deborah Sontag. International Herald Tribune. 3 August 2008. ~~”Many U.S. hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept the patients without insurance. […] The U.S. immigration authorities play no role in these private repatriations, which are carried out by ambulance, air ambulance and commercial plane. […] Medical repatriations are happening with a frequency and a degree of patient consent that vary from state to state and hospital to hospital.”

COMMENTS: In other words, since there are no “authorities” tallying when people are illegally removed from a hospital bed, we really have no idea about the pace at which patients are forced to–or duped into–abandoning medical attention.

WOMEN’S ADVOCATE IS UN’S NEW HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF. Barbara Crossette. The Nation. 27 July 2008. ~~”What is strange is that the qualifications that [Navanethem] Pillay [- a South African judge now sitting on the International Criminal Court -] brings to the high commissioner’s office were not applauded by the Bush team, which prides itself on having leaned on the Security Council in June to pass a resolution reiterating the doctrine now enshrined in law that rape and other forms of sexual abuse are recognized crimes of war. Pillay, before and during her time as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, was among who pushed to press such charges because rape had figured horrifically in the Rwanda genocide of 1994. In September 1998, the Rwanda tribunal became the first of the war crimes courts to punish sexual violence in conflict.”

*

EXTREME WATER EMERGENCIES. Elizabeth de la Vega. The Nation. 28 July 2008. ~~Accounts for the 24 June 2008 testimonies “before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.” In sum, experts insist that “bodies of water don’t respect political boundaries; we have to manage them ‘on the rivers’ terms.’ And the stakeholders from both riverbanks–as well as from up and downstream–all need to be at the table.”

*

DEMOCRATS CALL FOR PROBE OF EPA CHIEF’S TESTIMONY. John Nielsen. NPR. 30 July 2008. ~~”The senators claim EPA chief Stephen Johnson lied to Congress and folded under White House pressure on global warming policy.”

*

TRADE TALKS’ FAILURE SEEN AS BLOW TO US ECONOMY. Corey Flintoff. NPR. 30 July 2008. ~~”[Economist C. Fred] Bergsten says Tuesday’s collapse of the ‘Doha’ talks — so-called because they began in Doha, the capital of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar — is the first failure of a major international trade negotiation since the 1930s, and the implications could be particularly serious for the U.S.“

*

CRANE PROTESTS IN BRUSSELS COMING TO AN END. flanders.be/Expatica. 31 July 2008. ~~”About 25 asylum seekers have climbed off the cranes following a court order. […] However, a small number of crane protesters were determined not to give their actions up. […] Local authorities have warned protesters who refuse to come down that they will be removed by force and may end up in a closed detention centre from where they will be expelled.“

*

CRANE PROTESTS SPREADING OVER BRUSSELS. flanders.be/Expatica. 29 July 2008. ~~”A total of 30 asylum seekers on cranes are seeking for legal permits to stay in Belgium as of Monday evening. […] Most of the protesters had gone on hunger strike earlier and some have also started a thirst strike. ‘For these people, this is the only way to obtain a legal permit to stay’, says a support group of the Francophone Brussels university, Université Libre de Bruxelles.”

*

NINE ASYLUM SEEKERS ON CRANES IN LATEST PROTEST. flanders.be/Expatica. 28 July 2008. ~~”In the area of the de Brouckère square in central Brussels, at least nine asylum seekers have climbed onto three different cranes. The crane protest is the latest in a series of other crane protests and hunger strikes as an increasing number of sans-papiers [–without papers–] are staging protests… Their actions are linked to the government’s indecision on asylum matters.”

*

HUNGER STRIKERS OBTAIN TEMPORARY RESIDENCE. flanders.be/Expatica. 28 July 2008. ~~”Thirty nine people who have gone on hunger strike for a Belgian residence permit in a church have been granted temporary leave to stay in the country. […] The permits have been issued for medical reasons and can be extended. Belgium’s Forum for Asylum and Migration is pleased with this development, but is pressing for structural measures and a legal framework to help refugees who find themselves in a similar situation.”

*

BOY KILLED IN WEST BANK PROTEST. BBC. 29 July 2008. ~~”Israeli troops have shot dead a 12-year-old Palestinian boy during a protest against Israel’s barrier in the occupied West Bank, medics say. […] He was hit in the head by a live bullet fired by Israeli soldiers and died of his wounds while being transported to hospital, Palestinian medical sources said.”

*

SIKH GIRL WINS BANGLE LAW BATTLE. BBC. 29 July 2008. ~~”A 14-year-old Sikh girl [Sarika Singh] has won her High Court discrimination claim against her school after it excluded her for breaking its ‘no jewellery’ rule. […] The judge declared the school [Aberdare Girls’ School] was guilty of indirect discrimination under race relations and equality laws.”

*

WORLD TRADE TALKS END IN COLLAPSE. BBC. 29 July 2008. ~~”The main stumbling block was farm import rules, which allow countries to protect poor farmers by imposing a tariff on certain goods in the event of a drop in prices or a surge in imports. India, China and the US could not agree on the tariff threshold for such an event. […] Analysts have said that the collapse of the Doha talks could symbolise an end to multilateral trade agreements.“

*

AUSTRALIA ENDS AUTOMATIC DETENTION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS WITHOUT VISAS. Tim Johnston. International Herald Tribune. 29 July 2008. ~~”Children will no longer be held in detention centers… Adults who are detained will have their cases reviewed every three months. ‘The presumption will be that persons will remain in the community while their immigration status is resolved,’ [Immigration Minister Chris Evans] said.”

*

BERLUSCONI SENDS TROOPS TO BACK POLICE. Reuters, AP. International Herald Tribune. 29 July 2008. ~~”Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa signed a decree that will send 4,000 soldiers onto the streets, starting next week, for at least six months.”

*

*

LIVING IN FEAR: TANZANIA’S ALBINOS. BBC. 21 July 2008. ~~”Away from the wards, under the shade of a mango tree, a black woman sits with her albino daughter. Ashura and Amina, her angelic looking nine-year-old. They may seem an odd couple at first, but the firm eyes of the mother reveals a woman deeply protective of her child. She is a woman who looks older than her years. Ashura and Amina now live on their own, ostracised by the rest of their family. ‘When Amina was born my husband and the older two children moved away,’ recounts Ashura. ‘They were so ashamed and thought Amina would bring us bad luck… but I am not leaving her… she’s my daughter.'”

*

*

VIRGIN OF EL COBRE DRAWS CUBANS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. Marc Lacey. International Herald Tribune. 27 July 2008. ~~”‘People who are against the government bring their dreams and their suffering and their pain,’ said [Father Jorge] Alejandro. ‘And those who support the government come here, too. The virgin brings them together. She’s the mother of reconciliation.‘”

*

NORWAY INCREASES SECURITY AFTER ATTACK ON REFUGEE CAMP. Walter Gibbs. International Herald Tribune. 25 July 2008. ~~”‘The entire asylum reception system is under pressure,’ [Agnar Kaarboe, communications director of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration,] said. More than 8,000 refugees are now living in centers while their applications are under review. Nearly 60 percent face deportation under current policies.”

*

ITALY DECLARES NATIONWIDE STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Reuters. International Herald Tribune. 25 July 2008. ~~”‘This way it ends up only increasing the worries and insecurities of people, exactly the opposite of what should be done,’ Marco Minniti, a Democratic Party politician, said.”

*

ANGRY BLOGGERS ON LEFT AND RIGHT UNITE OVER FISA. Martin Kaste. NPR. 25 July 2008. ~~”Proponents say those changes actually strengthen privacy rules for certain phone calls, but in fact, the bill also streamlines the government’s ability to sweep up large amounts of data without court warrant.”

*

*

POLICE RESOURCES ARE DIVERTED FROM OTHER PROBLEMS TO PREVENT TERRORISM. David Johnston. International Herald Tribune. 24 July 2008. ~~”‘Our nation, that I love, is like a great giant that can deal with a problem when it focuses on it,’ said Esserman, who became chief in 2003 when he was hired by Mayor David Cicilline. ‘But it seems like that giant of a nation is like a Cyclops, with but one eye, that can focus only on one problem at a time.'”

*