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> Mon., Mar. 15, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
DN! Exclusive from Jamaica
Socialists Win Spanish Election: A Turn to the Left?
Medicare Cost Cover-up?
A Prescription Drug Alternative in Tampa
Conscientious Objector is Court-Martialed
Iraq’s Oil Workers are Underpaid
FSRN Headlines
headlines coming soon
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DN! Exclusive from Jamaica
As we reported in the headlines, Haitian President Jean
Bertrand Aristide has arrived in Jamaica. Joining us now is
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman who was one of only two
journalists to travel with President Aristide from the Central
African Republic to Jamaica.
[top]
Socialists Win Spanish Election: A Turn to the Left?
Spain has a new Prime Minister. José Luis Rodríguez
Zapatero, leader of the victorious Socialist Party that swept
to power over the weekend, accepted victory by calling for
a minute’s silence for those killed in last week’s
train bombing in Madrid. Zapatero then went on to reproach
President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair saying
they "need to engage in some self-criticism" on
their decision to engage in a war against Iraq. Deepa Fernandes
reports.
[top]
Medicare Cost Cover-up?
Several Congressional members have asked the Department
of Health and Human Services' Inspector General to investigate
whether officials from the department were threatened to remain
silent on information that put the projected cost of the Medicare
Bill 150 billion dollars over what the Bush administration
claimed before the measure passed last November. Mitch Jeserich
reports from Capitol Hill.
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A Prescription Drug Alternative in Tampa
3 months after President Bush’s new Medicare plan
was signed into law, many senior citizens are hoping that
the plan will help them cope with the rising cost of prescription
drugs. But they may be disappointed. Under the new plan, seniors
in the middle-income bracket will pay almost 60 percent more
than they paid in 2000, even after adjusting for inflation.
By 2013 middle-income seniors will be paying more than two
and a half times as much for prescription drugs as they did
in 2000. Last week the General Accounting office found that
the Bush Administrations advertisements promoting the Medicare
plan as the same but better, were misleading, but not quite
illegal. Now residents of the Tampa bay area have new option—a
non-profit pharmacy selling prescription drugs at wholesale.
From WMNF radio Andrew Stelzer has the story.
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Conscientious Objector is Court-Martialed
Stephen Funk is a gay, half-filipino former Marine reservist
who was court-martialed and sentenced to 6 months in a military
prison for being absent without leave for 45 days while filling
out a conscientious objector discharge request. He was the
only conscientious objector to be prosecuted for his refusal
to fight during the recent Iraq war, and he now carries a
felony conviction with him, wherever he goes. Sarah Olson
has more from Oakland California
[top]
Iraq’s Oil Workers are Underpaid
In the news last week was the fact that Iraqi's main northern
oil pipeline -- closed for almost a year by sabotage -- is
ready to resume daily exports. That according to a US military
official in charge of Iraq's oil. The pipeline is currently
controlled by Halliburton with security provided under a $39.5
million contract to ERINYS, a company with close links to
Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress. But as Aaron
Glantz reports from Kirkuk, despite the corporate profits,
workers in Iraq's northern oil fields are still underpaid.
[top]
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