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Last Updated: Sep 5th, 2008 - 11:52:44 |
Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 58, Dies
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| Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones in February interview --PBS.org |
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. She was 58 years old. In 1998 she became the first African American woman to represent Ohio in Congress. She was a leader in the fight against predatory lending practices and advocated for broadening healthcare coverage for low- and middle-income people. In January 2005, she led the fight in the House against certification of President Bush’s re-election, citing voting irregularities in Ohio.
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “I’m duty-bound to follow the law and apply to the law to the facts as I find them, and it is on behalf of those millions of Americans who believe in and value our democratic process and the right to vote, that I put forth this objection today. If they are willing to stand at polls for countless hours in the rain, as many did in Ohio, then I should surely stand up for them here in the halls of Congress. This objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning the victory of the President, but it is a necessary, timely and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy. I raise this objection neither to put the nation in the turmoil of a proposed overturned election, nor to provide cannon fodder or partisan demagoguery for my fellow members of Congress. I raise this objection because I am convinced that we, as a body, must conduct a formal and legitimate debate about election irregularities. I raise this objection to debate the process and protect the integrity of the true will of the people.”
Electronic Voting Company Admits System Flaw Could Cause Lost Votes
A major electronic voting company has acknowledged its voting system contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped and lost. The company, Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold, said the problem has been part of its software for ten years but was only recently identified. The flawed software is on both touchscreen and optical scan voting machines made by Premier, which supplies voting machines to thirty-four states.
Poll Shows McCain Takes 5-Point Lead Over Obama
In campaign news, the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has taken his first lead over Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the Reuters/Zogby national poll. 44 percent of voters polled backed McCain; 39 percent backed Obama. Libertarian candidate Bob Barr polled at three percent, and independent candidate Ralph Nader was at two percent. Pollster John Zogby said Obama’s support among Democrats fell by nine percent over the past month.
John Zogby: "What’s happened, number one, young people, liberals, a solid core of Obama’s base just raising some questions about him. For liberals, maybe the perception that he’s flip-flopped on some key issues like FISA and a sense that for young people, I think, especially, that maybe he’s not the unique different sort of political persona that they expected.”
Obama Expected to Name Running Mate this Week
In campaign news, Senator Barack Obama is expected to announce his choice of running mate in the coming days. The New York Times reports Obama is focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.
Obama Ad Criticizes McCain Ties to Abramoff Colleague
In other campaign news, Senator Obama has released a new ad slamming John McCain’s ties to Ralph Reed, an associate of convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Sen. Barack Obama: “I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message.”
Text of Obama ad: "It was one of Washington’s biggest scandals, and the Republican power broker Ralph Reed was in the middle of it, in deep with convicted felon and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But when the Senate investigated, the senator in charge never even called Reed to testify. That senator? John McCain. And who is now raising money for McCain’s campaign? Ralph Reed. For twenty-six years in Washington, John McCain has played the same old games. We just can’t afford more of the same.”
McCain on Reinstituting a Military Draft: “I Don’t Disagree”
For at least the second time this year, Senator John McCain has suggested he might support the reinstatement of a military draft. During a town hall meeting this week, McCain said he agreed with a supporter’s concern that a draft might be needed in order to hunt down Osama bin Laden.
Audience Member: “If we don’t reenact the draft, I don’t think we’ll have anyone to chase bin Laden to the gates of Hell.”
Sen. John McCain: “Ma’am, let me say that I don’t disagree with anything you said.”
Last September, during a campaign event in New Hampshire, McCain also discussed the draft.
Sen. John McCain: “One, this is the best military we’ve ever had, and it’s just not big enough. Two, there has never been a draft that I have ever heard of since World War II that was fair. What we’ve done is we find rich people find a way out and lower income people are the ones that serve. So the thing—if you could design—I might consider it. I don’t think it’s necessary. I might consider it, if you could design a draft where everybody equally would serve.”
McCain Can’t Recall How Many Homes He Owns
In other campaign news, Senator Obama has begun airing a new television ad criticizing John McCain for failing to remember how many homes he and his wife own. During an interview with the website Politico, McCain was asked about his multiple homes.
Sen. McCain: “I think—I’ll have my staff get to you. It’s condominiums where—I’ll have them get to you.”
McCain’s staff says the Arizona senator and his wife own four homes: two in Arizona, one in California and one in Virginia. But it is reported the McCains actually own at least seven properties worth around $14 million. McCain’s comments come just days after he said the threshold for considering someone rich is $5 million.
“Trouble the Water”–New Film Provides Firsthand Account of Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath
Next week marks the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. President Bush visited New Orleans Wednesday and lauded the recovery of the city, saying “hope is marching in.”
But that isn’t quite as clear to many of the city’s residents who are still unable to find jobs or afford housing. In a report to be released Tuesday Oxfam America details how much more needs to be done to bring back hope to the city, noting that 35,000 people are still living in FEMA trailers and only 12 percent of returning African-American evacuees can find jobs.
A new film takes us back three years, back inside Hurricane Katrina and the many forms of devastation that followed. “Trouble the Water” is the name of the film. It follows a couple from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, aspiring rap musician Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott Roberts, and their return home two weeks after the hurricane. It begins with footage shot by the couple, who documented the approach of the hurricane and the moment the floodwaters began to rise.
“Trouble the Water” won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival this year and its opening tonight in New York at the IFC theater.
Louisiana Teenager Sentenced for Hanging Noose
And in Louisiana, a teenager who hung nooses off the back of his truck has been sentenced to four months in prison. Nineteen-year-old Jeremiah Munsen displayed the nooses on Sept. 20, the day of the large civil rights protest in Jena, Louisiana to support the Jena Six.
US Military Funds Mind Reading Researching
The US military has issued $4 million in grants to university researchers to study ways to read people’s thoughts. According to the Associated Press, the military says the research could someday lead to a gadget capable of translating the thoughts of soldiers who suffered brain injuries in combat or even stroke patients in hospitals. But critics say such mind-reading technology could be used during interrogations. The project is a collaboration among researchers at the University of California, Irvine; Carnegie Mellon University; and the University of Maryland.
Prosecutors Send Target Letters to Six Blackwater Guards Involved in Iraq Shooting
The Washington Post is reporting federal prosecutors have sent target letters to six Blackwater guards involved in a shooting last September that left seventeen Iraqi civilians dead in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square. This indicates a high likelihood the Justice Department will seek to indict at least some of the men.
Top CEOs Give 10x More Money to John McCain
In campaign news, The Hill newspaper reports the top executives from the country’s largest companies have donated ten times more money to John McCain’s campaign than to Barack Obama’s. The chief executive officers of the 100 biggest Fortune 500 corporations have given McCain just over $218,000. Obama has received about $20,000 from the same CEOs. McCain has pledged to drastically cut the the corporate tax rate, a move that would save the country’s 200 largest corporations almost $45 billion a year. According to the Center for American Progress, eight companies would save over a billion dollars a year under McCain’s plan: Wal-Mart, AT&T, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Bank of America, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.
Cancer-Stricken 34-Year-Old Chinese Computer Engineer Dies After Being Denied Care in Private US Immigration Prison
Earlier this month, a thirty-four-year-old Chinese computer engineer named Hiu Lui Ng overstayed his visa, died in a Rhode Island immigration detention facility. He had cancer in his liver, in his lung, in his bones. He had a fractured spine.
Despite repeated complaints of severe pain, Mr. Ng was refused independent medical evaluation by immigration officials. The New York Times reported this. Instead, he was taken in shackles to another prison two hours away, where an immigration officer tried to convince him to withdraw his appeals and accept deportation.
Before Jason Ng—his American name—died on August 6th, he told his sister the doctors at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island had told him to “stop faking” his illness.
Jason Ng’s story is the latest in a series of similar cases of neglect and abuse at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. Investigations by the Washington Post, the New York Times earlier this year revealed as many as eighty-three prisoners have died in or soon after ICE custody in the five years since the agency was created in March of 2003.
When contacted for response, ICE said they could not comment on Jason Ng’s death, because it’s under investigation.
Congress is responding to these deaths with legislation aimed to improve conditions for non-citizens in ICE custody. Congress member Zoe Lofgren from California and Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey have sponsored the House and Senate versions of the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008.
New Rule on Abortions to Impact Hospitals and Clinics
The Washington Post reports the Bush administration has announced plans to implement a controversial regulation designed to protect doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who object to abortion or birth control from being forced to deliver services that violate their personal beliefs. The rule empowers federal health officials to pull funding from nearly 600,000 hospitals, clinics, health plans, doctors’ offices and other entities if they do not accommodate employees who refuse to participate in care they find objectionable on personal, moral or religious grounds. Women’s health advocates and family planning advocates condemned the regulation, saying it could create sweeping obstacles to a variety of health services, including abortion, family planning, end-of-life care and possibly a wide range of scientific research.
Report: 79 Million Have Trouble Paying Medical Bills
An estimated 79 million adults in the United States are now having problems paying medical bills or are paying off medical debt. This according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. Declining insurance coverage and rising healthcare costs are also contributing to the sick skimping on needed care. 45 percent of adults reported that the high costs of healthcare prevented them from getting needed care in 2007. Karen Davis, the president of the Commonwealth Fund said, "These findings provide further evidence that the health system is falling short of where it needs to be to ensure health and economic security. We need a new administration to make universal and affordable health insurance available.” It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of all adults in the country— or 116 million people—were either uninsured for a time during the past year, were underinsured, reported a problem paying medical bills, or said they did not get needed healthcare because of cost. Of the major presidential candidates, only two—independent Ralph Nader and Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney—are calling for a single-payer healthcare system.
NYC & D.C. Area to Track License Plate Numbers
The New York Police Department is developing a plan to track and record every vehicle entering Manhattan. The proposal, known as Operation Sentinel, calls for 116 license plate readers and 3,000 closed-circuit cameras to be installed at every bridge and tunnel serving the island. Radiation detectors would also be used. Meanwhile, Homeland Security officials in the Washington, D.C. area are also planning to dramatically expand the use of automated license plate readers to track vehicles. The Associated Press reports officials from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia have agreed to install 200 license plate readers on police vehicles, at airports and along roads.
US Expands Database on Travelers at Border Checkpoints
The Washington Post reports the federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all US citizens crossing by land. The data will be compiled and stored for fifteen years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations. Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy & Technology criticized the government’s actions. He said, “The theory of this data collection is: Track everyone—just in case." The Washington Post also recently revealed that federal border agents are now allowed to take and search a traveler’s laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device without any suspicion of wrongdoing. The policy applies to anyone entering the country, including US citizens.
FBI Agents May Get More Power to Probe Anyone
The New York Times reports the Justice Department may soon allow FBI agents to open an investigation of anyone, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps without any clear basis for suspicion. According to a letter signed by a group of senators briefed on the issue, the plan might permit an innocent person to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion or on protected First Amendment activities.
Iowa Town Turned into “Open-Air Prison” as Wives of Men Arrested in Largest Immigration Raid in US History Forbidden to Work…or Leave
It’s been three months since immigration officials descended on the tiny town of Postville in northeastern Iowa to conduct what would become the largest immigration raid in US history.
On May 12th, helicopters, buses and vans carrying dozens of armed immigration agents descended on Agriprocessors, the largest kosher slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant in the country. Nearly 400 workers, most of them Mexican and Guatemalan, were arrested. Nearly 300 of them were charged with aggravated identity theft and Social Security fraud. Many were sent to prisons scattered across the state.
Postville lost more than a quarter of its population in the raid. And for those left behind, namely the wives and children of the men taken away, the town has been turned into what some have described as an open-air prison. Dozens of immigrant women remain in Postville without status or a means of support. Many of them are even forbidden from leaving and have been made to wear electronic monitoring bracelets.
The women are now forced to rely on donations from St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Church and the local food pantry
UN Official Warns of Neo-Colonial Food System
A top United Nations agriculture official has warned that the race by food-importing countries to secure farmland overseas to improve their food security risks creating a “neo-colonial” system. The Financial Times reports the warning by Jacques Diouf comes as countries from Saudi Arabia to China plan to lease vast tracts of land in Africa and Asia to grow crops and ship them back to their markets. Diouf said, “The risk is of creating a neo-colonial pact.”
150 Killed in Spanish Airline Crash
In Spain, more than 150 people were killed Wednesday when a Spanair plane swerved off the end of a runway at Madrid’s airport, crashed and burst into flames. It was the worst European air disaster in two decades.
Peruvian Indigenous Groups End Protests After Land Law Thrown Out
In Peru, indigenous rights groups called off more than a week of protests at two key Peruvian energy sites after congressional leaders moved to throw out a controversial land law. The law would have made it easier for mining and energy companies to buy communally owned land. Indigenous groups were concerned this would have led to a foreign land grab, especially in the Amazon rain forest.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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