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> Fri., Jan. 23, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Gun Lobby on Capitol Hill
Alternate Forum to WSF Held in Mumbai
Torture in Argentina Military Training
Lessons From Roe v Wade
LGBT Series Part 4: Tampa Hate Crimes
FSRN Headlines
Evidence of Halliburton Kick-backs
New allegations of corruption are being leveled against Halliburton
regarding U.S. taxpayer-funded projects in Iraq. From KPFT
in Houston, Renee Feltz reports.
CA Grocery Workers Strike
Los Angeles area Girl Scouts say they will avoid selling cookies
outside Ralph’s, Albertson’s, and Vons supermarkets.
A San Fernando Valley scout’s official said the girls
should be kept away from having to answer questions about
the 3 month long strike of grocery workers. The massive labor
dispute, that has forced seventy thousand grocery workers
across southern California onto picket lines, is about to
go national. John Hamilton reports with the Workers Independent
News Service.
State Court Takes Over Arkansas School System
The Arkansas Supreme Court took control of the state school
system saying the Legislature skipped a key deadline. Legislators
were supposed to come up with a plan to remedy the court’s
prior decision ruling that the way the system is funded is
unconstitutional. Tiny Lake View School District filed a lawsuit
in 1992 claiming the state unconstitutionally discriminates
against smaller, often poorer, mostly minority districts thereby
denying those children an equal opportunity to education.
After a hearing yesterday, the justices ignored state lawyers’
pleas for more time and reportedly expressed frustration that
the political leaders were unable to come up with a plan in
a year. The state court is expected to appoint a special master
–when or how long the process will take is yet to be
determined.
Latinos Call for HHS Secretary to Resign
Health care advocates are calling for the resignation of Tommy
Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services for refusing
to step in on the aggressive practices of hospitals seeking
payment from the poor and uninsured. David Gruen reports from
D.C.
Extra headline not able to be included in the newscast, download
it here
Protests continue around Switzerland against leaders meeting
at the World Economic Forum. Diletta Varlesse reports from
the Independent Media Center in Switzerland.
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Gun Lobby on Capitol Hill (4:00)
As we reported yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the omnibus
appropriation bill that along with funding much of the government
will also relax media ownership rules, threaten overtime pay
for 8 million workers and ease background checks for gun owners.
And as Mitch Jeserich reports in this DC roundup, Gun control
advocates say the omnibus bill is just the beginning of what
the powerful gun industry has planned on Capitol Hill this
year.
[top]
Alternate Forum to WSF Held in Mumbai (3:33)
While the WSF wrapped up today in the Indian city of Mumbai,
another parallel conference was occurring called Mumbai Resistance
(MR). MR was organized by the radical and the front-organizations
for many of the underground resistance movements in India.
Staged across the road from the WSF venue, Mumbai Resistance
had 20,000 participants and representatives from more than
40 countries. MR says that the WSF is a gathering that channels
dissent into avenues acceptable to the big capitalist powers.
MR also rejected what they call the corporate NGO debates
of the WSF. Our correspondent Vinod K. Jose reports from Mumbai
Resistance.
[top]
Torture in Argentina Military Training (4:02)
Last week, Argentina's government revealed that torture
was taught in military training courses 11 years after the
end of the nation's dictatorship. The disclosure came as a
shock in Argentina, which is still struggling to confront
the mass kidnappings and killings carried out under the military
regime. FSRN’s Reed Lindsay is in Cordoba, the third-largest
city in Argentina and the location of one of the training
camps in which torture was employed.
[top]
Lessons From Roe v Wade (3:49)
On the 31st anniversary of Roe vs. Wade pro-choice advocates
in California took stock of the achievements and setbacks
of the last 31 years, and are taking hard looks at the fight
for safe reproductive choice for all women. Currently, 97
percent of rural areas do not have a known abortion provider
and only 603 hospitals around the country provide abortion
services. More than two thirds of women pay for abortions
themselves, with very little access to insurance or state
funds. Sarah Olson files this report from San Francisco
[top]
LGBT Series Part 4: Tampa Hate Crimes (4:13)
Members of the LGBT community in Tampa, Florida are struggling
to make sense of a local rise in hate crimes that mirrors
a national increase. In the Tampa Bay area, LGBT persons have
been beaten, several are missing, and at least two have been
murdered. And yesterday Tampa police reported a new case of
a missing gay man -- adding to the fear and frustration already
felt by Tampa's queer community. In this final part of our
special series looking at the worldwide assault on the rights
of LGBT communities, Brandy Doyle files this report from Tampa.
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