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> Fri., July. 11, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Bush in Uganda
Small Arms in Conflicts
Questioning Computerized Voting
Controversial Anti-Gang Measures
Public Access TV in Philadelphia
Free Speech Radio News Headlines
As Ahmed Al-arawi reports from Baghdad, charges by the U.S.
military that the armed resistance is coming from Saddam Hussein
loyalists are false.
Fewer U.S. workers will be eligible to collect overtime cash
once new legislation, promoted by the Labor Department goes
into effect. Pamela Barnett reports from D.C.
The Florida Supreme Court struck down a law requiring minors
seeking abortions to notify their parents first, saying it
violated the teens' right to privacy. Mitch Perry reports
from Tampa.
More than six years after a young black man was shot and
killed in his car in Connecticut by an officer from a neighboring
town -- which at the time had an all-white police force --
the mother of the victim won a stunning victory in federal
court yesterday. Melinda Tuhus reports from New Haven.
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Bush in Uganda
Today in Uganda, President Bush and National Security Advisor
Condoleza Rice blamed the CIA for approving false intelligence
in the State of the Union Address, particularly the implication
that Iraq was trying to acquire nuclear material from African
countries. Meanwhile, a report issued by Human Rights Watch
yesterday accused Uganda and Rwanda of violence in the Congo.
According to the report, Uganda is accused of arming militias.
Ugandan Army Commander, Major General James Kazini and President
Yoweri Musevini's brother, Major General Salim Saleh, was
named in the illicit looting of the Congo's wealth. Many in
the opposition believe Bush's visit will save President Musevini's
face perhaps in exchange for U.S. Military warplanes being
refueled on Ugandan soil. Sasha Lilley reads for Joshua Kyalimpa
who files this report from Kampala Uganda.
[top]
Small Arms in Conflicts
As President Bush continues his five-nation tour of Africa,
the U.S. is under mounting pressure to send troops to Liberia
as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. A 1,000 strong
West African contingent will be deployed there within two
weeks in an effort to end nearly 14 years of conflict that
has claimed thousands of lives. Much of the violence in Liberia,
as elsewhere in Africa, has been carried out with assault
rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers manufactured
abroad. These so-called small arms and light weapons have
found their way there despite a United Nations weapons embargo.
As governments meet at the UN this week to review progress
in curbing the illegal arms trade, grassroots organizations
are calling for tighter controls. Susan Wood has more from
the UN.
[top]
Questioning Computerized Voting
Following the Florida 2000 election dispute, Congress passed
a major Election reform law called the Help America Vote Act
in 2002. Not everyone is happy. Designed to create a secure
voting process, activists, writers and computer scientists
claim the touch screen voting machines are extremely less
secure and vulnerable to hackers. Now states are rushing to
meet federal deadlines as a new breed of digital voting machines
replace older punch cards and some optical scan systems. As
Geoff Brady reports, the system that purged black voters before
the Florida 2000 election is now the subtle blueprint within
the Help America Vote Act that will be adopted by all fifty
states.
[top]
Controversial Anti-Gang Measures
The City of Los Angeles filed an injunction yesterday against
the largest of its "crip" gangs. The City calls
it part of a strategy to put an end to gang violence by banning
gang activity. In the wake of the Rampart scandal where officers
were accused of systematically violating the rights of suspected
gang members, it's a controversial measure among activists.
Jordan Davis reports.
[top]
Public Access TV in Philadelphia
Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Community Access Coalition,
or PCAC filed a business plan to the city’s managing
director to start Public Access Cable Television. Currently,
Philadelphia is the largest city without public access cable
television, this despite a City Council law passed 20 years
ago that provided for it without setting up an entity to oversee
programming. The current Philadelphia Community Access Coalition
plan was requested by the city's Managing Director, Phil Goldsmith,
during an on-going mediation to negotiate a settlement in
a lawsuit filed by the PCAC. Dante Toza has more from Philadelphia.
[top]
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