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> Thur., Nov. 13, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Senate Passes Syrian Accountability Act
Wal-Mart Hit with Lawsuits
EU Social Forum Kicks Off
FTAA to Strangle Media Freedoms
Global Power Exposed: Part 14: Prisons for Profit
Free Speech Radio News Headlines by Randi
Zimmerman
Senate Passes Syrian Accountability Act
(3:51)
A leaked C.I.A. report warns that a growing number of Iraqis
are supporting the U.S. resistance in the occupied country.
The report indicated that more Iraqis are beginning to believe
that U.S. lead forces can be defeated. This comes as today
President Bush announced he is sending the top U.S. administrator
in Baghdad Paul Bremer back to Iraq to develop a plan to expedite
establishing an Iraqi government. Meanwhile spending on the
military continues to increase as well. Before the U.S. Senate
began its 30-hour so called "Talkathon", it passed
a 401 billion dollar Defense Appropriation, which is more
money than the Department of Defense originally requested.
The appropriation includes increased health coverage for soldiers
and 9.1 billion dollars for missile defense programs. Also
this week the Senate passed the Syria Accountability Act,
which slaps new sanctions on Syria, which some people see
as a first step to broader escalations. Mitch Jeserich has
more from Washington D.C.
[top]
Wal-Mart Hit with Lawsuits (3:29)
Today Wal-Mart reported record sales and earnings in the
third quarter of 2003 - this despite a number of high-profile
lawsuits charging the company with a range of labor law violations.
Over the past week alone, the retailer has been hit with two
class-action lawsuits alleging that store managers routinely
forced employees to work off the clock; another lawsuit seeks
class action status to represent immigrant workers who say
they were denied the most basic of labor rights. John Hamilton
has more.
[top]
EU Social Forum Kicks Off (3:36)
Some 60 000 people from Europe and around the world are
expected to come to the European Social forum in Paris this
weekend which will follow on from past forum’s in Porto
Alegre, Brazil. The World Social Forum gave birth to the popular
slogan "another world is possible". While a European
constitution is being drafted, the forum will propose alternatives
to the current construction of the European Union. The European
Social Forum organizes have criticized both right and left
wing French politicians who they say are trying to get mileage
out of the forum. Raphaël Krafft reports from Paris.
[top]
FTAA to Strangle Media Freedoms (3:49)
Next week in Miami, Trade ministers from 34 countries throughout
the Americas will meet to advance the proposed Free Trade
of Americas Area. This free trade agreement will further open
up new markets for multinational corporations, but critics
charge this expansion will come at the expense of diversity
and autonomy at the national level. One of the many issues
the FTAA will significantly affect is media regulation. Under
the proposed rules of the FTAA, as well as WTO rules, media
consolidation will grow even bigger, and allow the corporate
media to expand throughout the Americas. Such rules would
make it impossible for countries to roll-back failed policies
that have been put in place, safeguard existing policies,
or even institute media reform. From Madison, Patrick Beckett
has the story.
[top]
Global Power Exposed: Part 14: Prisons for Profit
(4:24)
Yesterday U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra and West Michigan furniture
makers won a 350-65 House approved bill granting private companies
access to prison labor for the federal government's furniture
contracts. Currently the Federal Prison Industry, an agency
under the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons,
employs more than 21,000 prisoners and netted $678.7 million
in 2002. And as Simba Russeau reports in part 14 of our special
series looking at the corporations profiting from the global
roll back of civil liberties, the private sector of the prison
industry is cashing in on laws established to maintain what
critics call a profitable slave market and clientele base.
[top]
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