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The 28th Amendment
by AmiBlue 1/15/2011 - 5:07 pm
I’ve always been against term limits, but have thought recently that limiting the terms of our Congresspersons would be the best way to keep them from becoming too cozy with lobbyists and might be the best way to put an end to perpetual fundraising and campaigning (I know - wishful thinking) This proposal for the 28th amendment lays out specific term limits that seem reasonable to me and also sets forth limitations on the benefits our representatives receive that align their interests with ours. What do you think?
Don’t tell ‘em. Sell ‘em
by AmiBlue 1/7/2011 - 9:05 pm
Rick Perlstein writes a brief and enlightening history of the conservative battle to destroy liberals in First Principles: The Role of Government, part of the winter issue of Democracy Journal. The republicans have used the power of media for many more years than I had imagined and the paranoia that fuels the fight seems to have been around even longer. (N.B. I’m taking just a few snippets from Perlstein’s article here, but I highly recommend the entire piece.)
From Perlstein’s article: [Read more]
From cat food to prime rib?
by AmiBlue 11/15/2010 - 6:43 pm
I had expected the very worst from Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, but I confess that I was impressed and pleasantly surprised with their draft proposal for shoring up Social Security. So was Peter Orzsag, which gives me pause, but Kevin Drum over at Mother Jones likes it, too, so maybe I’m not on too far wrong. None of this affects me directly that I know of because I am already a beneficiary of SS. I am concerned because of my children, but also because SS is the crown jewel of liberal policy and the thought of this country without it is, well - unthinkable. [Read more]
Please watch and pass it along
by AmiBlue 10/12/2010 - 1:16 pm
Steve Benen at Political Animal has put together this video. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of all the political ads smearing candidates. This one is very convincing in a subtle way. Please send it along to people you know who are thinking of opting out in 2010.
In the News
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Conversations with suicide bombers
By Elizabeth Weingarten, ForeignPolicy.com, May 23, 2012
It was 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Mossarat Qadeem was sitting on the floor of a house with about a dozen young Pakistani men -- some of whom had nearly become suicide bombers. Qadeem's goal: to undo the destructive brainwashing of the al-Qaeda and Taliban teachers who trained them in extremism, in part by asking the students to narrate their life stories.
"We were handling one of the boys, and he just came, put his head here in my lap, and he started crying and weeping," Qadeem recalls. "I was taken aback. It is very unnatural in my country that a man that tall can just sit at your feet and put his head here. [The other men] were all crying with him, and I was looking at him, and thinking, ‘my God.'"
All in a day's work for Qadeem. She's the national coordinator of Aman-o-Nisa, a coalition of Pakistani women that convened in October 2011 to combat violent extremism in Pakistan at the grassroots level. [....]
Read the article at http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/23/conversations_with_suicide_bombers- Add new comment
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For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice
The issue of sexual assaults on American Indian women has become one of the major sources of discord in the current debate between the White House and the House of Representatives over the latest reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
.......
“We should never have a woman come into the office saying, ‘I need to learn more about Plan B for when my daughter gets raped,’ ” said Charon Asetoyer, a women’s health advocate on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, referring to the morning-after pill. “That’s what’s so frightening — that it’s more expected than unexpected. It has become a norm for young women.”
The difficulties facing American Indian women who have been raped are myriad, and include a shortage of sexual assault kits at Indian Health Service hospitals, where there is also a lack of access to birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing. There are also too few nurses trained to perform rape examinations, which are generally necessary to bring cases to trial.
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Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden Given Jail Term (for...
By Ismail Kahn, New York Times, May 23/24, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency pin down Osama bin Laden's location under cover of a vaccination drive was convicted on Wednesday of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a senior official in Pakistan said.
A tribal court here in northwestern Pakistan found the doctor, Shakil Afridi, guilty of acting against the state, said Mutahir Zeb Khan, the administrator for the Khyber tribal region [....]
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Russia lawmakers advance bill on penalties for protesters
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012
MOSCOW — Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory.
The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.
The sanctions were approved on first reading by parliament's lower house, which is controlled by Putin's United Russia party. They mark a return by the Kremlin to a tough stance against critics after concessions during the recent election campaign [...]
Also see:
Russians back Putin, strong leadership
Washington Post, May 22, 2012A Pew survey of 1,000 Russians found that President Vladimir Putin is well-liked by more than 70 percent of citizens, especially older adults.
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In Cuba, Mystery Shrouds the Fate of an Undersea Internet...
Associated Press, May 21, 2012
HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age on the island.
More than a year after the February 2011 ceremony on Siboney Beach in eastern Cuba, and 10 months after the system was supposed to have gone online, the government never mentions the cable anymore, and Internet here remains the slowest in the hemisphere. People talk quietly about embezzlement torpedoing the project and the arrest of more than a half-dozen senior telecom officials.
Perhaps most maddening, nobody has explained what happened to the much-ballyhooed $70 million project....
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