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> Fri., July 30, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Democratic Convention Speaker Highlights
Kerry Speech Strong – But Concerns Persist
Hearings on 9-11 Commission Report
WTO – Cotton Farmers in Senegal
Gentrification Guts Affordable Housing
Grass Roots Democracy
FSRN Headlines
U.S. has Largest Deficit in History
A White House report released today shows the nation’s
budget deficit is at its highest in U.S. history. Officials
there however are proud of the 445-billion dollar deficit
saying it is less than what they originally predicted.
Over Five Million Jobs Lost in Two Years: Bureau of Labor
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing that
from January 2001 through December 2003, 5 point 3 million
workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least
3 years. “Displaced workers are defined as persons 20
years of age and older who lost or left jobs because their
plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work
for them to do, or their position
or shift was abolished.” A slight majority of those
workers were re-employed. But, half of them earned less than
what they did prior to their job loss; a third lost a full
20-percent of their previous wages.
Bush Pushes Shrimp Tax
Bush Administration officials plan to tax imported shrimp
hoping to appease some southern voters. Mark Antokas reports
from WMNF in Tampa.
Schwarzenegger vs. Democratic Legislature
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to curb the
democratically controlled legislature’s power by turning
them into part-timers. Christopher Martinez reports from Sacramento.
Sudan Update
The United Nations Security Council passed a watered down
resolution on the devastating crisis in the western Darfur
region of Sudan. Haider Rizvi has more from the U.N.
Homeland Security Secretary May Step Down Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge may step down after the November elections.
According to the Associated Press report, Ridge says he is
over worked and under paid. He adds that he’s concerned
about putting his two teenage children through college. The
Homeland Security position pays a bit less than 176 thousand
dollars a year.
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Democratic Convention Speaker Highlights
The Democratic Convention wrapped up last night with presidential
candidate John Kerry accepting the presidential nomination
from the nation’s Democrats. While many watched Kerry
speak last night – most missed the numerous others speakers
throughout the 95-million dollar four-day event. All but the
Rev. Al Sharpton read from the party script. Here are some
excerpts:
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Kerry Speech Strong – But Concerns Persist
Senator Kerry gave what many observers there called one
of the best speeches of his career. Kerry made many pledges
from never needlessly sending troops to war to never privatizing
Social Security. Mitch Jeserich has more from Boston.
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Hearings on 9-11 Commission Report
Today in Washington, DC Senators held hearings on ways to
implement the 9-11 commission's report. The report includes
addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as other
security failures in order to deal with terrorism. From Capitol
Hill, Selina Musuta reports.
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WTO – Cotton Farmers in Senegal
The chances of an agreement on agricultural issues at WTO
talks between the European Union, the US, Australia, India
and Brazil at tenuous at this hour. India has rejected the
latest draft and negotiations continue. With no agreement
in sight among the major players, the World Trade Organization
General Council meeting is expected to spill over to the next
few days. The Geneva meeting is the first major summit since
the breakdown of talks last September in Cancun, Mexico. Poorer
countries are demanding richer states cut farming subsidies
that deny them access to markets. Five key member states have
put together a document on the highly controversial topic
of agricultural reform. The draft is criticized by African
countries who say cotton issues are not addressed. African
farmers suffer from prices on the international market, and
seek solutions to face shortcomings. Ndiaga Seck tells us
that Senegalese farmers try to develop different crops and
the government must lower taxes on agricultural machines to
face world market realities.
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Gentrification Guts Affordable Housing
Boston and New York, the sites of the national political
conventions, are both known for housing markets with sky-high
rents. But neither of the major presidential candidates, nor
their parties, are addressing what many communities across
the country call is a critical need: affordable housing. Darby
Hickey reports from Washington, DC that tenants, homeowners,
and small businesses are working together to resist the process
of gentrification
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Grass Roots Democracy
If democracy means building political power from the ground
up, then this election season is ripe with possibility. At
block parties, school gyms and county fairs, volunteers are
mobilizing their base and registering voters traditionally
overlooked or dismissed. In Seattle, one such drive is focused
on districts with high concentrations of low-income residents.
Martha Baskin has our story.
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