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> Tues., June 29, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
Sadr City Update
Supreme Court Round Up
EPA Seeks to Weaken Clean Air Standards
Toys Containing Mercury
Supreme Court Rules on Online Pornography
Sex Film Industry Deals with HIV/AIDS
Grassroots Radio Conference Reports on Micro Radio
FSRN Headlines
Israeli Military Hits the Gaza Strip
More Israeli military tanks rolled into the occupied Gaza
strip today. Israeli government officials say it is in response
to a Palestinian rocket attack in a town just on the other
side of the Gaza border. In that attack, two Israelis were
killed, including a 3-year-old boy on his way to kindergarten.
Early this morning, Israeli helicopter gunships launched four
missiles at a media building in the center of Gaza City. Laila
El-Haddad reports from Gaza.
Canadian Elections
Canadian election results will force the ruling Liberal Party
to negotiate with other parties to pass legislation, possibly
the right, as voters give seats in small numbers to more leftist
groups. From CKLN, Kristen Schwartz has the story.
Latinos/as Face Greater Environmental Risks
Latinos and Latinas face greater environmental risks in large
part because they live in poorer neighborhoods. Betsy DeSitter
explains from D.C.
Rice Production Drops
Production of the world’s most important food crop is
dropping due to global warming according to a just released
report. The International Rice Research Institute wrote the
report along with the Agricultural division of the University
of Nebraska. Scientists at the Institute’s farm in Indonesia
studied 12 years of rice field yields along with climate data.
17-year studies in the United States also show that corn and
soybean yields slow down with rising temperatures. Scientists
theorize “the hotter nights make the plants work harder
just to maintain themselves, diverting energy from growth.”
The report showed that rice production decreased “by
10 percent for each one degree Celsius increase in minimum
night time temperature.” In combination with increasing
daytime temperatures, the report shows that overall rice production
is down 15-percent more than scientists have predicted with
global climate models.
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Sadr City Update
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said today that
Saddam Hussein would be released in Iraqi custody tomorrow.
Recent polls show Hussein, if he were allowed to stand in
an Iraqi presidential election tomorrow, would capture at
least half the vote. It’s not hard to figure out why
— the lack of reconstruction in the country continues
to alienate everyday Iraqis from the occupation authorities
and newly appointed governments. Salam Talib and David Enders
have this report from Sadr City.
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Supreme Court Round Up
Today the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed but upheld the Alien
Tort Claims Act that allows foreigners to bring human rights
cases against corporations or people residing in the United
States. The court also announced it will take up a case concerning
whether the Bush administration can prosecute people who use
medical marijuana. Mitch Jeserich brings us this Supreme Court
roundup.
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EPA Seeks to Weaken Clean Air Standards
Today is the deadline for public comment on the Bush administration’s
proposal to deal with toxic mercury in the air. The EPA expects
that by the end of the day more than 600,000 members of the
public will have responded – most in opposition –
in what is by far the biggest response to any Environmental
Protection Agency proposal. They want the EPA instead to just
implement existing regulations in the Clean Air Act. That
would reduce six-fold the amount of mercury from power plant
emissions over the industry's proposal, which is the one the
EPA supports. Melinda Tuhus reports from New Haven, Connecticut.
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Toys Containing Mercury
Kellogg's is putting a toy containing mercury in several
of its children's cereals, in a battery to illuminate a Spiderman
wrist gadget. Keebler, an affiliate, is offering a similar
toy through a mail-in offer. However, in Connecticut, sales
and free distribution of Mercury-added novelties were banned
as of July 1, 2003. The state's Attorney General, Richard
Blumenthal, is holding a news conference tomorrow calling
for Kellogg’s to remove the toy from the food shelves.
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Supreme Court Rules on Online Pornography
In addition to the Supreme Court decisions covered earlier
in our newscast – the High Court also ruled today that
a law aimed at shielding children form on-line pornography
is probably an unconstitutional muzzle on free speech. The
majority sent the case back to a lower court for a trial.
Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy wrote that for now,
the law, known as the Child Online Protection Act, sweeps
with too broad a brush saying there is a potential for extraordinary
harm and a serious chill upon protected speech. The 1998 law,
which never took effect, would have authorized fines up to
$50,000 for the crime of placing material that is "harmful
to minors" within the easy reach of children on the Internet.
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Sex Film Industry Deals with HIV/AIDS
*WARNING* This story contains graphic content some may find
offensive
A recent HIV outbreak in California's adult film industry
left five porn performers infected with the virus. The HIV
scare captured worldwide media attention and raised questions
about the porn industry's ability to continue policing itself.
The state wants to step in and mandate condoms during filming,
but many performers aren't sure that will make the industry
any safer. This story does contain graphic language. From
Los Angeles, Ngoc Nguyen has this first in a two part series
on health and labor rights in the sex film industry.
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Grassroots Radio Conference Reports on Micro Radio
As average Americans grow increasingly dissatisfied with
corporate media, some activists hope to create an alternative
media source through micro radio. Corporate radio tends to
marginalize community voices and critics of government and
industry. Micro radio stands to offer all of these voices
and more -- as Cheryll Roberts discovered at this year's 9th
annual grassroots radio conference in Los Olivos, California.
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