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> Tue., Jan. 10, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Alito Confirmation Hearings: Day 2
General Strike Highlight Chaos in Haiti
Journalism Censorship in Iran
New Orleans Hotels Seeking to Evict Survivors to Make Way
for Tourists
Detroit Auto Workers Protests Concession Demands
Broadening Policy to Deputize Local Police to Enforce Federal
Immigration Law
FSRN Headlines
IRAQ WAR COULD COST TRILLIONS
A new study has determined that the Bush administration's
original estimate of the cost of the war in Iraq may be radically
lower than the actual long-term cost. Quinn Bowman reports
from Washington DC.
Economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes determined that
the war may cost up to 2 trillion dollars. The pair included
factors the U.S. government has not included in their overall
price tag for the war - like the cost of providing health
care to injured or maimed soldiers, the increase in the US
deficit, the funds needed to recruit new soldiers, as well
as the rise in oil prices. Although White House estimated
the war would cost between 100 and 200 billion dollars, Stiglitz
says that even the study's estimate is a conservative one.
[Stiglitz clip] "We assumed only 5 dollars of the increase
is due to the war in Iraq. I think a more reasonable number
is a substantially higher fraction of the increase in the
cost of oil is due to war in Iraq. And if you did that you
would end up with a much higher number." The study, which
Stiglitz says was purposely conservative in order to stifle
charges that he was exaggerating the findings, assumes that
US troop levels in Iraq will decrease every year until a full
withdrawal in 2010. Report co-author Linda Blimes is a Harvard
lecturer while Joseph Stiglitz is the 2001 Nobel laureate
in Economics. For FSRN, I'm Quinn Bowman in Washington DC.
LATIN AMERICAN FOREIGN MINISTERS ON IMMIGRATION POLICY
Foreign Secretaries from Central America, Mexico, the Dominican
Republic, and Colombia have issued a joint declaration calling
for a more pragmatic approach to the question of immigration
enforcement. Vladimir Flores has the story.
The Foreign Secretaries are meeting in Mexico City to construct
a regional consensus regarding immigration policy. This, after
the U.S. House of Representatives passed controversial legislation
in December. The bill calls for the expansion of the metal
wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and will classify the act
of working without proper documentation as a felony. The measure
has sparked widespread criticism in Mexico, where the border
wall is seen as a symbol of xenophobia and irrational immigration
policy. Although exact numbers are unknown, an estimated 4
million Mexicans live and work in the U.S. without legal documentation.
Money sent back by workers in the form of remittances is Mexico's
second-largest source of revenue. The U.S. Senate is expected
to debate the House-approved immigration bill in February.
U.S. TO SEND TEAM TO ETHIOPIAN-ERITREAN BORDER ZONE
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has
announced that the United States will send a delegation to
the disputed border region between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The
neighboring countries fought a bitter war over the demarcation,
which claimed over 70,000 lives between 1998 and 2000. A border
agreement was reached in 2002, but Ethiopia has refused to
withdraw from Badme, a town awarded to Eritrea. The UN Mission
to Ethiopia and Eritrea has issued a number of warnings over
the past few months of escalating tensions in the Temporary
Security Zone and troop movements have been reported on both
sides. Eritrea ordered UN staff of North American and European
nationality to leave the border zone in December and grounded
all UN helicopter overflights. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea could
face sanctions for failure to reduce troops under the terms
of a resolution passed in November by the UN Security Council.
POLICE CHARGED IN PIQUETERO DEATHS
Two Argentine police were convicted yesterday of murdering
two unemployed activists - or "piqueteros" - during
a protest in June OF 2002. Marie Trigona reports from Buenos
Aires.
An Argentine court sentenced a police chief and an officer
to life in prison yesterday for the 2002 killings of two piquetero
activists, Darío Santillan and Maximiliano Kosteki.
The two former officers were also charged with attempting
to kill another 8 protesters during a police crackdown of
a road blockade near the suburban Avellaneda train station.
Six other police officers received sentences of 10 months
to 4 years in prison for covering up the killings. News footage
and photographs helped identify the two at the scene of the
homicide and provide proof that police tried to cover up evidence
of having used live ammunition against demonstrators. At least
33 people were wounded by lead bullets during the 2002 protest.
Piqueteros have staged monthly blockades at the Puerrydon
Bridge, the site of the 2002 killings to demand criminal prosecution
of the intellectual authors of the police crackdown.
DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM IN NEW JERSEY
The New Jersey legislature approved a moratorium on capital
punishment yesterday. The state will suspend executions while
a panel evaluates the use of the death penalty. The commission
is due to present their findings in mid-November. Yesterday's
vote marks the first time a U.S. state legislature has passed
a death penalty moratorium. Previous moratoriums in Illinois
and Maryland were ordered by the states' governors. New Jersey
governor, Richard Codey, is expected to sign the bill into
law within seven days.
[top]
Alito Confirmation Hearings: Day 2 (3:52)
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito spent a second day
in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee defending his record.
Alito faced questions about his decisions during his 15 years
on an appeals court, his views on the expansion of presidential
power, and his membership in a college organization that advocated
discrimination against women and people of color. FSRN’s
Selina Musuta reports from the hearings in Washington DC.
[top]
General Strike Highlight Chaos in Haiti
(3:58)
Haiti finds itself in a sea of turmoil, as presidential
elections in the troubled Caribbean nation were recently delayed
for the fourth time. Business elites have called for UN soldiers
in the country to crack down on poor neighborhoods, while
a general strike gripped Haiti on Monday. Aaron Lakoff has
more from Port-au-Prince.
[top]
Journalism Censorship in Iran (3:34)
Iran’s Supervisory Board on the Press ordered the
closure of a daily newspaper last week, and it banned a new
women’s bi-weekly magazine. This is the first time the
new ultra-conservative Iranian government has ordered the
closure of publications since August. Both publications say
they will announce plans for the future of their work this
week. Iranian Affairs correspondent Saeedeh Jamshidi has the
story.
[top]
New Orleans Hotels Seeking to Evict Survivors to
Make Way for Tourists (3:08)
Four New Orleans hotels attempted to illegally evict displaced
residents Monday. The hotels rooms are being paid through
FEMA temporary housing vouchers, and Hurricane Katrina survivors
worry that while FEMA continues to extend deadlines, more
hotels will be attempting to replace evacuees with tourists.
Mayaba Liebenthal reports from New Orleans.
[top]
Detroit Auto Workers Protests Concession Demands
(1:14)
Rank and file United Auto Workers union members are organizing
nationwide to fight back wage and benefit concession demands
made by giant auto parts maker Delphi and General Motors.
Hundreds of workers protested what they call the GM/Delphi
assault on the working class at this Sunday’s Detroit
auto show. Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy late last year,
originally demanded 60% in cuts, but in the face of union
resistance has since backed off, at least temporarily, in
favor of a "consensus agreement" with its unions.
But Delphi could still file in bankruptcy court as early as
February to void union contracts and pension obligations.
If that happens, the UAW could strike - crippling not only
Delphi but GM along with it. With one in seven jobs in the
US being auto-related, from sales to parts to service and
more, these developments could have enormous implications
for US workers and the nation’s economy. Doug Cunningham
spoke with auto workers on Detroit’s streets on Sunday,
who expressed determination to resist the use of bankruptcy
laws to impose what they say are poverty wages.
[top]
Broadening Policy to Deputize Local Police to Enforce
Federal Immigration Law (3:44)
Yet another city in Orange County, California is considering
leveraging local law enforcement resources in targeting undocumented
immigrants, as enabled by the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
The city of Cypress is proposing to clear the way to deputize
local police to enforce federal immigration law. Kelly Barnes
was in Cypress last night, where the public had an opportunity
to comment on the proposal.
[top]
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