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> Tues., July 6, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Features Iraq: Medhi Army and Civilian Works Projects
Department of Defense Budget
Justice for California Farm Workers?
Event Data Recorders: Safety or Surveillanece?
Los Angeles Reacts of Beating of African America Motorist
FSRN Headlines
John Kerry this morning announcing the selection of his running
mate, John Edwards. Kerry said that both men will campaign
to make America stronger, on the world stage by re-establishing
old and creating new alliances, as well as at home: While
no one is really surprised by this news, the response to Edwards
selection has been mixed. People on the left say they would
have preferred a more left wing candidate - Edwards did not
vote on the so-called partial births abotion ban passed by
Congress and he supports the death penalty. Moreover, while
Edwards supports domestic-partner benefits for same-gender
couples; he opposes same gender marriage.
The Senate voted today on President Bush’s nomination
of J. Leon Holmes to the district court in Arkansas. Amrutha
Nanjappa has more from Washington DC:
In Mexico on Sunday, President Vicente Fox's conservative
party lost races for governor in three states, including Zacatecas
where voters elected feminist activist, Amalia García.
According to early results, Amalia Garcia, a femenist and
anti corruption activist won with at least 45 percent of the
vote. Garcia has had years of political experience; She was
a federal senator in 1997, national president of the PRD in
1999 and previously belonged to the Communist Party. She said
her victory was in large part due to women's participation.
Fox's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, also lost
seats in the northern states of Durango and Chihuahua to the
Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico
from 1929 to 2000. Garcia will take office in September as
the third female governor since women won the right to vote
in 1953.
As the general election went underway this weekend, Political
analysts say that the military may return to Indonesia’s
political landscape. Meggy Margiyono reports:
[top]
Features Iraq: Medhi Army and Civilian Works Projects
Resistance fighters in Iraq may receive amnesty as the prime
minister tries to solidify his control of the situation. Fighting
in Faluja between US marines and local mujahedeen has not
stopped: the US military dropped two-ton bombs on a pair of
homes it says were used to house militants on Monday. But
the possibility of an amnesty has left one rebel leader posturing
for maximum political gain. Salam Talib and David Enders file
this report from Baghdad.
[top]
Department of Defense Budget
It is estimated that more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians were
either killed or injured by cluster bombs dropped by the United
States and its coalition of the willing. Human Rights Watch
says that more civilians died because of cluster bombs than
any other U.S weapon during the invasion and occupation of
Iraq. It is believed high civilian casualties are due to the
high dud rate of such bombs, which remain active and often
times explode when touched. However, as Mitch Jeserich reports,
this is not stopping Congress from fulfilling the Pentagon's
request to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on these
lethal weapons.
[top]
Justice for California Farm Workers?
In June, more than 400 people in Southern California were
rounded up by Border Patrol agents and deported to Mexico.
The raids have had a ripple affect throughout the state's
immigrant communities. Last week, hundreds of California farm
workers and their supporters marched for five days through
immigrant communities of the California Central Coast amid
rumors of Border Patrol activity in the area, and to support
the AgJobs bill which would allow undocumented workers to
gain permanent legal status. FSRN's Vinny Lombardo reports.
[top]
Event Data Recorders: Safety or Surveillanece?
California's first in the nation law regulating the use
of event data recorders, or EDRs, in automobiles went into
effect last week. The law would prevent recorded data from
EDRs from being obtained without a court order or the vehicle
owners' consent, except in cases of safety research in which
the owner's identity is protected. The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration is collecting public comment on a proposed
rule that would set data collection standards for EDRs voluntarily
installed by automobile manufacturers. Will EDRs lead to greater
automotive safety or to increased surveillance of the motoring
public by police and insurance companies? Kellia Ramares files
this report.
[top]
Los Angeles Reacts of Beating of African America
Motorist
Tensions stemming from an already strained historical relationship
of racial violence and oppression against black communities
nationwide worsened in Los Angeles with the latest police
use of excessive force against a black motorist. LA residents
have responded with an uproar in the form of rallies, press
conferences and flashlight vigils. FSRN correspondent Charlene
Muhammad has more.
[top]
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