The World Monitor

Desperate Roman Catholic Church Trys to Poach Anglicans

2009-10-21T09:21:00.001-07:00

The recent announcements from the Vatican regarding the new policy of accepting disaffected Anglicans into the RC Church, should be viewed for what they are.... POACHING!
We would like to remind our readers that in previous cases, particularly in the USA the RC Church has set up a few congregations in what they have referred to as the "Anglican Rite".
Anglicans beware, there is really only one thing that this offer boils down to...SUBMISSION TO ROME!
Did not the Reformation occur precisely to get away from the corruption of the Papacy?
When you think about this offer.... BEWARE...The Vatican never makes an offer which does not have rich benefits in it for them.

Pope rescinds Austrian bishop's appointment after embarassment

2009-03-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

IN WHAT looks like a further embarrassing setback for Pope Benedict, the Vatican yesterday confirmed that the pope has cancelled the appointment of Austrian Fr Gerhard Maria Wagner as auxiliary Bishop of Linz. In a most unusual step, the pope has effectively backtracked on an appointment, made two months ago, which prompted anger and dismay amongst Austrian Catholics.

Last month, faced with what he called “fierce criticism”, Fr Wagner had asked the pope to withdraw his nomination. In a one-line statement yesterday, the Vatican press office confirmed that the pope had granted Fr Wagner’s request, dispensing him from accepting the office in Linz.

Critics, in Austria and beyond, had complained about various statements made by Fr Wagner, in particular with regard to the Hurricane Katrina disaster which struck New Orleans in 2005. Writing in a parish newsletter, Fr Wagner had said: “The amoral conditions in this town are indescribable. This is not just any city which has been drowned but the people’s dream town with the ‘best brothels and the most beautiful whores’”, wrote Fr Wagner, suggesting that the hurricane had been a punishment from God for the “spiritual pollution” of New Orleans.

Furthermore, Fr Wagner is on record as having labelled the Harry Potter book series as “satanic” and having declared homosexuality to be a curable condition. In his parish in Windischgarsten, he prompted resentment by refusing to allow lay participation in church affairs.

The Complete Story may be found here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0303/1224242151655.html

Theologian Kung Says Roman Catholic Church in Danger of Becoming a Sect

2009-02-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

The Earth Times Reported Today that:

Tubingen, Germany - The Catholic church was under the increasing threat to deteriorate into a sect under the rule of Pope Benedict XVI, a leading progressive theologian said. Father Hans Kung, an emeritus professor of ecumenical theology at the University of Tubingen in southern Germany, said he was "very sad" over the direction where the current church leadership was heading.

Remarks by Kung that the Catholic church under the current pope risked becoming a sect triggered fierce criticism by the Vatican.

After meeting Pope Benedict XVI four years ago he was still optimistic, Kung, whose authority to teach Catholic theology was rescinded by the Vatican over his criticism against papal authority, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"I was hoping that he [Pope Benedict] would show himself as reforming, ecumenical and open for the future. But this hope has been bitterly disappointed," Swiss-born Kung said.

Benedict XVI, formerly cardinal Josef Ratzinger, strained relations with the Protestant churches because of his lack of willingness to engage in ecumenical dialogue. Neither did the pope's dialogue with Islam amount to more than lip service, Kung said.

Furthermore, the German-born pope severely damaged relations with members of the Jewish faith by revoking the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a Holocaust-denying bishop of an arch-conservative Catholic group.

"Pope Benedict XVI seriously angered many faithful Catholics and suffered a severe loss of his credibility. This is sad," Kung said.

The pope should state that the revoking [Williamson's] excommunication without conditions has not been justified, Kung demanded.

The Complete Story may be found here:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/257814,pope-loses-credibility-theologian-hans-kung-says.html

U. S. Criticizes Philippines for Failure to Stop Graft and Corruption

2009-02-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

The Philippine Inquirer Reported Today that:

MANILA, Philippines—Corruption remains rampant in the Arroyo administration primarily because of its failure to enforce laws penalizing crooked officials and its withholding of information from public inquiries into questionable government transactions, according to the US State Department.

In its “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in 2008,” which was released on Wednesday, the US State Department said the culture of corruption in government agencies and the judiciary was among the reasons basic human rights continued to be violated in the Philippines.

“The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,” the report says.

Right to information

It adds: “The law provides for the right to information on matters of public concern. However, denial of such information often occurred when the information related to an anomaly or irregularity in government transactions. Much government information was not available electronically and was difficult to retrieve.”

But the report also mentions that a number of public officials were prosecuted last year, and that the Sandiganbayan handed down a number of convictions.

Obama’s policy

The report covers 2008, when George W. Bush was still the US president. But its general introduction refers to the policy of President Barack Obama on human rights, which warns against corrupt and suppressive governments.

It was signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said “the promotion of human rights is an essential piece of [US] foreign policy.”

Predictably, Malacañang on Friday sought to downplay the report.

The Complete Story may be found here:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090228-191520/US-raps-RP-for-failure-to-stop-graft

Vatican Rehabilitated Bishop Ordered to Leave Country by Argentine Government

2009-02-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

Reuters reported today that:

A Roman Catholic bishop who caused an international uproar by denying the scale of the Holocaust left Argentina on Tuesday, days after the government ordered him out of the country.

Bishop Richard Williamson, an ultra-traditionalist who headed a seminary near Buenos Aires until earlier this month, said he believes that no more than 300,000 Jews died in Germany's Nazi concentration camps, rather than the 6 million figure that is widely accepted.

Wearing dark sunglasses, a baseball cap and an overcoat, the tall, gray-haired Williamson was seen by a Reuters reporter in Argentina's main international airport as he entered the boarding area.

The bishop did not respond to questions and raised his fist toward the face of a local TV reporter who was trying to get a comment from him as he walked briskly toward his flight.

Argentina's Interior Ministry later confirmed that the cleric departed on a flight bound for London.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090224/wl_nm/us_argentina_bishop

Army charity hoards millions-Another Government Scandal

2009-02-22T23:54:00.000-08:00

The AP reported today that:

FORT BLISS, Texas – As soldiers stream home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Between 2003 and 2007 — as many military families dealt with long war deployments and increased numbers of home foreclosures — Army Emergency Relief grew into a $345 million behemoth. During those years, the charity packed away $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid, according to an AP analysis of its tax records.

Tax-exempt and legally separate from the military, AER projects a facade of independence but really operates under close Army control. The massive nonprofit — funded predominantly by troops — allows superiors to squeeze soldiers for contributions; forces struggling soldiers to repay loans — sometimes delaying transfers and promotions; and too often violates its own rules by rewarding donors, such as giving free passes from physical training, the AP found.

AER was founded in 1942 to soften the personal financial hardships on soldiers and their families as the country ramped up its fight in World War II.

Today, AER's mission is to ease cash emergencies of active-duty soldiers and retirees, and to provide college scholarships for their families. Its emergency aid covers mortgage payments and food, car repairs, medical bills, travel to family funerals, and the like.

Instead of giving money away, though, the Army charity lent out 91 percent of its emergency aid during the period 2003-2007. For accounting purposes, the loans, dispensed interest-free, are counted as expenses only when they are not paid back.

During that same five-year period, the smaller Navy and Air Force charities both put far more of their own resources into aid than reserves. The Air Force charity kept $24 million in reserves while dispensing $56 million in total aid, which includes grants, scholarships and loans not repaid. The Navy charity put $32 million into reserves and gave out $49 million in total aid.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090223/ap_on_re_us/army_s_stingy_charity;_ylt=AufBe81Mynblwt3e63rlY18DW7oF

Junkets and First Class Travel by Members of the Government

2009-02-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

Recent news reports about the travel habits of some members of Congress and others in the U.S. Government are undoubtedly causing much furor. The World Monitor is currently investigating what the Obama Administration is planning to do to ban the usage of first-class air travel by all levels of the Federal Government, as well as the usage of military aircraft to fly delegations to questionable events or on dubious fact-finding missions.
We will keep our readers updated as we receive responses from the agencies involved.

AP Investigation: Banks sought foreign workers

2009-02-02T03:45:00.000-08:00

The Associated Press Reported today that:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Major U.S. banks sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country for high-paying jobs even as the system was melting down last year and Americans were getting laid off, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.

The dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.

As the economic collapse worsened last year — with huge numbers of bank employees laid off — the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in the 2007 budget year to 4,163 in fiscal 2008.

The Complete Story May be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_bi_ge/bailout_foreign_workers

Pope stirs up Jewish fury over bishop

2009-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Vatican is reinstating a British priest who denies millions died at the hands of the Nazis

Tension between the Vatican and Jewish groups looked set to explode yesterday after Pope Benedict XVI rehabilitated a British bishop who has claimed no Jews died in gas chambers during the second world war.

Benedict yesterday welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church Richard Williamson and three other men who were excommunicated in 1988 after being ordained without Vatican permission. The three had been appointed by breakaway French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The Vatican decree issued yesterday spoke of overcoming the "scandal of divisiveness" and seeking reconciliation with Lefebvre's conservative order, the Society of Saint Pius X, which opposes the modernisation of Catholic doctrine.

But Jewish groups have warned the Pope that the decision could damage Catholic-Jewish relations after Williamson claimed in an interview, broadcast last week, that historical evidence "is hugely against six million having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler ... I believe there were no gas chambers".

Shimon Samuels, of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Paris, said he understood the German-born pope's desire for Christian unity but said Benedict could have excluded Williamson, whose return to the church will "cost" the Vatican politically.

In an interview taped last November and aired last Wednesday on Swedish television, Williamson said he agreed with the "most serious" revisionist historians of the second world war who had concluded that "between 200,000-300,000 perished in Nazi concentration camps, but not one of them by gassing in a gas chamber". Williamson added he realised he could go to jail for Holocaust denial in Germany.

British Jewish groups condemned the decision and said they feared it could damage social cohesion. "The Council of Christians and Jews have said that in recent years there has been a considerable increase in antisemitism from some of the eastern European churches," said Mark Gardner, spokesman for the Community Security Trust which monitors attacks on Jewish people in the UK. Gardner said he hoped the Vatican would make it clear it abhors Williamson's comments about the gas chambers.

The Complete Story May be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/25/pope-benedict-richard-williamson

Vatican attacked for opposing gay decriminalization

2008-12-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Gay rights groups and newspaper editorials on Tuesday condemned the Vatican for its decision to oppose a proposed U.N. resolution calling on governments worldwide to de-criminalize homosexuality.

The row erupted after the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations told a French Catholic news agency the Holy See would oppose the resolution, which France is due to propose later this month on behalf of the 27-member European Union.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore said the Vatican opposed the resolution because it would "add new categories of those protected from discrimination" and could lead to reverse discrimination against traditional heterosexual marriage.

"If adopted, they would create new and implacable discriminations," Migliore said. "For example, states which do not recognize same-sex unions as 'matrimony' will be pilloried and made an object of pressure," Migliore said.

A strongly worded editorial in Italy's mainstream La Stampa newspaper said the Vatican's reasoning was "grotesque."

Pointing out that homosexuality was still punishable by death in some Islamic countries, the editorial said what the Vatican really feared was a "chain reaction in favor of legally recognized homosexual unions in countries, like Italy, where there is currently no legislation."

Franco Grillini, founder and honorary president of Arcigay, Italy's leading gay rights group, said the Vatican's reasoning smacked of "total idiocy and madness."

"The French resolution, which is supported by all 27 members of the European Union, has nothing to do with gay marriage. It is about stopping jail and the death penalty for homosexuals," Grillini told Reuters.

FRANCE DEFENDS RESOLUTION

The resolution is to be presented by Rama Yade, France's state secretary for human rights. On Tuesday the Paris government defended the resolution.

"France's initiative ... is an initiative that is based on existing texts. The idea is not to create new rights. The idea is ... to make decriminalization possible," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

Human rights groups say homosexuality is still punishable by law in more than 85 countries and by death in a number of them, including Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.

Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said "no one wants the death penalty or jail or fines for homosexuals" but defended Migliore's comments, adding that the Vatican was in the majority on the issue.

"It's not for nothing that fewer than 50 member states of the United Nations have adhered to the proposal in question while more than 150 have not adhered. The Holy See is not alone," Lombardi said.

An editorial in Rome's left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper said the Vatican's position "leaves one dumbstruck." Margherita Boniver, a leading member of the Italy's leftist Democratic Party, called it "alarmingly anachronistic."

Anglican bishops in 'secret meeting' with Vatican over gay priests and women bishops row

2008-07-08T00:34:00.000-07:00

The Daily Mail reported that:

Senior Church of England bishops have held secret talks with Vatican officials over the crisis issue of homosexual priests and women bishops in the Anglican Communion.

The bishops met senior advisers of Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the controversial topic, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The news of the meeting comes ahead of a crucial vote tomorrow at the General Synod, the Church of England's ruling body, on how far to accommodate parishes and clergy who oppose women bishops.

The group of conservative bishops are said to have expressed dismay at the liberal direction of the Church of England and their fears for its future.

They met members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed by the Pope before he was elected Pontiff in 2005, it was said.

The meeting was reportedly part of an attempt to build closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was not told of the talks, it was reported.

But a Church of England spokesman said: 'This is one of a plethora of stories on the internet and in print ahead of Monday's debate and it will be down to General Synod to determine the way ahead on this issue.'

Up to 600 clergy have written to Dr Williams warning that they might leave the Church if safeguards such as dioceses for opponents of women bishops are not set up.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that in a separate development, three diocesan bishops of the Church of England have written to Dr Williams supporting the threat and another has said he is preparing to leave the Church.

The letter from the Bishops of Chichester, Blackburn and Europe - seen by The Sunday Telegraph - argues that traditionalist clergy will not be able to 'maintain an honoured place' in the Church without sufficient legislation.

The reports come after the creation of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a worldwide network opposed to liberalisation of Church teaching on issues such as homosexuality.

The Lambeth Conference, the 10-yearly meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion is also due to meet later this month in Canterbury, Kent.

No-one was available for comment at the Catholic Church of England and Wales.
Lambeth Palace declined to add any more to the statement from the Church of England.

The Rt Rev Kieran Conry, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said: 'A number of Church of England bishops are looking at the options open to them should things go wrong at the Lambeth Conference.'

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032429/Anglican-bishops-secret-meeting-Vatican-gay-priests-women-bishops-row.html?ITO=1490

Egypt: Court Upholds HIV Sentences, Reinforces Intolerance

2008-06-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Five Convictions in Fear-Driven Crackdown a Blow to Health and Justice

A Cairo appeals court’s decision to uphold the sentences imposed on five men jailed in a crackdown on people living with HIV/AIDS underscores the Egyptian government’s dangerous indifference to public health and justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The May 28 ruling upheld the maximum three-year prison terms for each of the five, following a months-long campaign targeting men with HIV/AIDS. A total of nine men have been sentenced to prison so far.

“To send these men to prison because of their HIV status is inhuman and unjust,” said Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Human Rights Watch. “Police, prosecutors, and doctors have already abused them and violated their most basic rights, and now fear has trumped justice in a court of law.”

On May 7, a court of first instance in Cairo had convicted the five men on charges of “habitual practice of debauchery,” a phrase that in Egyptian law encompasses consensual sexual acts between men.

Before their first trial, a prosecutor told the men’s lawyer that they should not be allowed to “roam the streets freely” because the government considered them “a danger to public health.”

Since October 2007, Cairo police have arrested a dozen men on suspicion of being HIV-positive. The crackdown began when one man, stopped on the street during an altercation, told officers he was HIV-positive. Police arrested him and the man with him, beat and abused them, and interrogated them to name sexual contacts. Police then began picking up others based on information from those interrogations.

On January 14, 2008, a Cairo court sentenced four of those men to one-year prison terms on “debauchery” charges. An appeals court upheld those sentences on February 2. The present five defendants were referred for trial separately in March. Authorities released three other men, who tested negative for HIV, without charge, after months in detention.

While the 12 were in detention, doctors from the Ministry of Health forcibly subjected all of them to HIV tests without their consent. Doctors from Egypt’s Forensic Medical Authority performed abusive anal examinations on the men to “prove” they had had sex with other men. Human Rights Watch has documented that such examinations conducted in detention constitute torture. Police and guards beat several of the men in detention. A prosecutor told one of the men that he had tested positive for HIV by saying, “People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live.”

The prisoners who tested HIV-positive were chained to their beds in hospitals for months. After a local and international outcry, the Ministry of Health ordered the men unchained on February 25.

“Putting these men in prison serves neither justice nor public health,” Amon said. “The Egyptian government and the country’s medical profession must act to end this campaign of intolerance.”

Excommunication decree for attempted ordination of women

2008-05-31T02:46:00.001-07:00

Vatican, May. 30, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has announced that any Catholic bishop who attempts the ordination of a woman to the priesthood, and any woman who participates in such a ceremony, is subject to automatic excommunication.

The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in the May 30 issue of L'Osservatore Romano, takes effect immediately and applies throughout the universal Church. The document was signed by Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop Angelo Amato, the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation.

"Both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incurs excommunication latae sententiae."

The Vatican document declares that "he who attempts to confer Holy Orders on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive Holy Orders, incurs excommunication latae sententiae." A latae sententiae penalty is incurred automatically, and no public decree is necessary. Only the Holy See will have the authority to lift that penalty.

The decree cites #1378 of the Code of Canon Law, which prescribes the penalty of excommunication for anyone who simulates a sacrament. That canon specifically mentions only the simulation of Mass and Confession; the May 30 decree extends the scope of the canon to apply to a simulated ordination ceremony as well.

Anti-Torture Activists Convicted, Guantanamo Prison Put on Trial

2008-05-31T01:18:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC - May 29 - Thirty-four Americans arrested at the Supreme Court on January 11, 2008 were found guilty after a three-day trial which began on Tuesday, May 27th in D.C. Superior Court. The defendants represented themselves, mounting a spirited defense of their First Amendment rights to protest the gross injustice of abuse and indefinite detention of men at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.

Charged with "unlawful free speech," the defendants were part of a larger group that appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on January 11—the day marking six years of indefinite detention and torture at Guantanamo. "I knelt and prayed on the steps of the Supreme Court wearing an orange jumpsuit and black hood to be present for Fnu Fazaldad," said Tim Nolan, a nurse practitioner from Asheville, NC who provides health care for people with HIV.

Defendants and witnesses argued that they did not expect to be arrested at the Supreme Court, "an internationally known temple to free speech." Ashley Casale, a student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, told the court, "I am 19-- the youngest person in this courtroom—and I come on behalf of all the prisoners at Guantanamo who were younger than I am now when they were detained. According to the U.S. Constitution we have a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances and Guantanamo Bay prison is beyond grievous."

Historian Michael S. Foley, a professor at the City University of New York, teaches the U.S. Constitution to undergraduates. He testified that if "you told me that the defendants would be arrested for 'unlawful free speech' just twenty feet from where the Justices decide First Amendment cases, I'd say you were 'crazy.'"

Those who stood trial this week were arrested (along with 43 others) without their identification and taken into custody under the names of Guantanamo prisoners. This twist on traditional protest allowed the defendants to symbolically grant the Guantanamo prisoners the day in court that the Bush administration and the Pentagon have denied them.

"I am not surprised at being convicted," continued Nolan, "but I felt compelled as a medical professional to speak out against torture that is facilitated by medical personnel at Guantanamo. I have to act on my ethical principles every day: if I know child abuse is occurring, I am required to report it. The abuses at Guantanamo must also be acted upon."

The defendants are common citizens: priests and pastors, construction workers and farmers, schoolteachers and professors. They come from Charlottesville, Des Moines, New York City, Scranton, Saratoga, Worcester, and other cities and towns.

Judge Wendell Gardner will sentence the defendants tomorrow (Friday, May 30), in D.C. Superior Court (courtroom 218, 500 Indiana Ave), and has indicated that some are likely to receive prison sentences.

A number of the defendants waived their right to speak during the trial, recognizing the near–total denial of legal and human rights to the Guantanamo detainees. "We could not in conscience exercise our rights," says Matthew Daloisio of this courtroom witness, "when our country continues to deny the rights of others. It was powerful to hold the name of Yasser Al Zahrani in my heart as I sat in a court of law. Yasser was a 22-year-old Yemeni man. He was arrested at 17, and brought to Guantanamo. He was never charged or tried. On June 10th, 2006, he apparently took his own life. He will never have the chance to sit in this court room, and my conviction today seems a small price to pay to bring his name in court."

During the trial, some defendants took the stand to testify to their motivations and intentions in acting on January 11. They argued that they were there to appeal to the Supreme Court Justices to rule against the Bush administration in the cases of Boumediene v. U.S. and Al Odah v. Bush. They contend that after all other remedies had been exhausted; direct action and appeal were the only options.

The judge refused to let Thomas Wilner, a partner at the Washington law firm Shearman and Sterling, who represented twelve Kuwaiti citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay in the case decided in their favor by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 28, 2004. Wilner's descriptions of the predicaments of his clients, and expressions of horror and dismay at the failure of most Americans to act against the detainees' indefinite detention and torture were part of forming many of the defendants' motivation and intention. After his testimony was deemed "not relevant" and "unnecessary" by Judge Gardner, Wilner addressed defendants and supporters outside the courthouse, saying: "Hopefully, we'll end torture and indefinite detention as a matter of law. And then, we need to work to make sure that hysteria and false facts don't sweep away the soul of the nation again." He then addressed those on trial directly, saying, "You are standing up for the soul of this nation."

In the defendants' first closing statement, Father Emmett Jarrett, an Episcopalian priest from New London, CT, told Judge Wendell Gardner, "we came to the Supreme Court on January 11th with one intention-- to put dramatically before the court—both the Supreme Court and the higher court of public opinion and conscience—the plight of the men and boys detained at Guantanamo. We came to the Supreme Court on January 11th not to protest but to present a letter to the justices, asking them to act on behalf of detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo, to restore their human and legal rights—to give a voice to the voiceless."

Arthur Laffin followed with a closing statement that touched on both legal and moral arguments for the defendants' innocence, and pleaded with the court and the prosecution to join the defendants in "ending the horrors." "The Nuremberg Accords," he asserted, "state that individuals have a duty to prevent crimes against humanity and that if people don't act to prevent such crimes, they are actually complicit in them." He then concluded, "We, who are on trial today, along with many friends, refuse to be complicit in these crimes."

After Laffin finished, Claire Schaffer Duffy, of Worchester, MA stood and stated, "on behalf of Abbas Hasid Rumi Al Naely, I stand by Art's closing statement." And then, one after the other, each pro se defendant also stood, stated their own name, the name of the prisoner at Guantanamo they carried on January 11 and through the trial experience. Many were openly weeping as they stood.

The action on January 11 was organized by Witness Against Torture, a group that formed in 2005 when 25 people walked from Cuba to the U.S. detention facilities to protest conditions there. January 11, 2008 marked six years since the opening of U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court demonstrators were joined by protestors in London, Sydney, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Barcelona and throughout the world.

Retired Admiral John D. Hutson, the former judge advocate general of the Navy, said of the Supreme Court demonstrators, "In the military, there is the concept of 'calling in artillery onto your own position.' It refers to heroic action taken in desperate situations for a greater good. That's essentially what these courageous Americans are doing… They accept that there may be an adverse consequence to them personally but they believe drawing attention to the issue is worth the sacrifice."

San Joaquin Episcopalians celebrate new beginning

2008-03-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

Jerry Lamb invested as provisional bishop during festive Eucharist

[Episcopal News Service – Lodi, California] A jubilant celebration of Holy Eucharist concluded the March 29 special convention in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and made official Bishop Jerry Lamb's role as provisional bishop.

"What you have been about and what I have been about these last months, weeks, days, even hours is not really about building a new diocesan structure," Lamb said during his sermon. "As I understand it, what we are about is the proclamation of the Good News that Jesus is the Christ and that we do this from within the base of our Episcopal and Anglican tradition because that's who we are: members of the Episcopal Church and members of the Anglican church."

Most of the more than 400 people who attended the convention remained for the Eucharist. Individuals from the Episcopal dioceses of Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, El Camino Real, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Nevada, Northern California, Rio Grande, San Diego and Olympia also attended.

Half of the offertory was assigned to Lamb's discretionary fund and the other half, Lamb told the congregation to loud and sustained applause, would be given to the Diocese of Louisiana, which continues to rebuild after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori led Lamb and the congregation through his formal seating as provisional bishop. That part of the service included recognition that Lamb had been duly chosen and accepted by the members of the diocese.

The choice of Lamb came in consultation with the Presiding Bishop, who had recommended him earlier, in accordance with Canon III.13.1. That canon states in part that "a Diocese without a Bishop may, by an act of its Convention, and in consultation with the Presiding Bishop, be placed under the provisional charge and authority of a Bishop of another Diocese or of a resigned Bishop."

Lamb, 67, retired as bishop of the Sacramento-based Diocese of Northern California in 2007 and most recently served as interim bishop in the Diocese of Nevada. Lamb and his wife, Jane, will live in Stockton, the seat of the Diocese of San Joaquin.

Lamb will make his first official diocesan visit March 30 to St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Stockton. Jefferts Schori will participate in Eucharist the same day at St. John's in Lodi. Later in the day she will officiate at Evensong at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in San Andreas.

Lamb also renewed his episcopal ordination vows before he was formally invested and seated at the provisional bishop.

Earlier, during his sermon, Lamb had told the congregation that the work in which they were engaged is "not about who your bishop is."

"It is about how you and I will rebuild this Episcopal diocese so that at its core it will proclaim and live the Gospel or Jesus Christ," he said. "The diocese must have its roots firmly in Christ Jesus and live out the baptismal promises we all have renewed in one way or another this past week."

Lamb acknowledged that "there is no getting around the point that this is a very, very unique situation in the life of the Episcopal Church and in the life of this diocese."

"These past years and months have left hurt and confusion. We came together both last night and today to heal and seek God's will for our next steps in the journey to wholeness in the body of Christ and to answer our call to proclaim the Good News."

Everyone involved heeds "God's presence and grace," Lamb said.

"We also need each other and we also need those who are not here for one reason or another," he added. "Whether they are hurt or confused or fearful, I believe our first obligation is to reach out to others in this diocese and to invite them to come home. And when they do come home, brothers and sisters, they must be welcomed with the love of Christ and into the open arms of the community. And it will not be easy. There is much re-structuring -- re-building -- to be done. We will begin in an attitude of reconciliation."

Lamb urged all the diocese's congregations to build their missionary efforts, looking at evangelism, stewardship, Christian education and seeking out programs from the wider church. to strengthen their efforts. He also praised San Joaquin Episcopalians for their work in worship, pastoral care and outreach, adding "Brothers and sisters, I know these can be strengthened."

Lamb told the congregation that "God will not leave us adrift, but we can turn away from God. We can let hurt, anger, confusion, misunderstandings turn us inward and away from God and the proclamation of the Good News."

Instead, Lamb told the congregation that he believed that God will give "wonderful growth" to "the seeds you and I together plant."

"There will be growth," he said.

The bishop concluded his sermon by suggesting that "A Prayer attributed to St. Francis" (page 833 in The Book of Common Prayer) ought to become "a core prayer for us together" and led the congregation in reciting its call to reconciliation and becoming instruments of God's peace.

Photos courtesy of Episcopal News Service, Mary Frances Schjonberg

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.

American West Heating Nearly Twice as Fast as Rest of World, New Analysis Shows

2008-03-30T02:49:00.000-07:00

Groups Say Western Senators Have Opportunity to Protect Region from Growing Economic Toll

SAN FRANCISCO - March 27 - The American West is heating up more rapidly than the rest of the world, according to a new analysis of the most recent federal government temperature figures. The news is especially bad for some of the nation’s fastest growing cities, which receive water from the drought-stricken Colorado River. The average temperature rise in the Southwest’s largest river basin was more than double the average global increase, likely spelling even more parched conditions.

“Global warming is hitting the West hard,” said Theo Spencer of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “It is already taking an economic toll on the region’s tourism, recreation, skiing, hunting and fishing activities. The speed of warming and mounting economic damage make clear the urgent need to limit global warming pollution.”

For the report, the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) analyzed new temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for 11 western states. For the five-year period 2003-2007 the average temperature in the Colorado River Basin, which stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, was 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the historical average for the 20th Century. The temperature rise was more than twice the global average increase of 1.0 degree during the same period. The average temperature increased 1.7 degrees in the entire 11-state western region.

“We are seeing signs of the economic impacts throughout the West,” said study author Stephen Saunders of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. “Since 2000 we have seen $2.7 billion in crop loss claims due to drought. Global warming is harming valuable commercial salmon fisheries, reducing hunting activity and revenues, and threatening shorter and less profitable seasons for ski resorts.”

The Colorado River Basin is in the throes of a record drought, shrinking water supplies for upwards of 30 million people in fast-growing Denver, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. Most of the Colorado River’s flow comes from melting snow in the mountains of Wyoming, Utah and Wyoming. Climate scientists predict even more and drier droughts in the future as hotter temperatures reduce the snowpack and increase evaporation.

To date, the governors of Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington have signed the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), an agreement to reduce global warming pollution through a market-based system, such as cap-and-trade. The WCI calls for states to reduce their global warming emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Conservationists say the states should commit to meeting these targets, and that there should also be a firm target of an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

A growing chorus of leaders across the political and economic spectrum says more aggressive action is needed at the national level. Supporters say the Lieberman-Warner bill, “America’s Climate Security Act” (S. 2191), is the strongest global warming bill moving through Congress. The bipartisan bill is the first climate legislation ever to be passed out of a Senate committee. The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill by summer, by which time supporters are optimistic about strengthening the bill even further.

“We need strong leadership from western senators to pass America’s Climate Security Act,” said Spencer. “The longer we wait to put a concrete cap on global warming pollution, the greater the threat to all Americans.”

The NRDC-RMCO report, “Warming in the West,” analyzed temperature data from Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The report is available online at www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/west/contents.asp.

Congressional Progressives Demand Classified Access to Domestic Spying Program

2008-02-16T02:10:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, DC - February 15 - The Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congresswomen Barbara Lee (CA-9) and Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), today demanded that President Bush provide an opportunity for all Members of Congress to have the same access to classified documents regarding his Administrations domestic spying program. In a letter sent today, the Co-Chairs called on the President to provide House Members with classified access to documents pertaining to the program, access which to this point has been denied. The letter comes as the debate in the House over an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act continues to heat up, and follows a letter signed by 29 House and Senate Members that the Progressives sent to the President last week telling him that they will oppose any legislation that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies who participated in the Administration’s warrantless program. Lee and Woolsey issued the following statements:

“It is imperative that the Bush administration give Members of Congress access to these documents before we take any further votes on this issue,” said Congresswoman Lee, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “After keeping us in the dark about the true extent of this program, it is time for the Bush administration to come clean and level with lawmakers who are concerned about its impact on civil liberties.”

“It’s far past time that President Bush realizes that sometimes he can’t bluster and scare his way into getting what he wants,” Woolsey said. “As a co-equal branch of government this Congress has a responsibility to carefully weigh any decision regarding updating our intelligence laws, and the Congress simply cannot do that without access to the full details of what we’re voting on. The President’s ‘promise’ of this program’s legality is worthless – we are not a rubber stamp. Therefore, we want all Members of Congress to have access to the information regarding this program, and the role that telecom firms played in it.”

Text of Letter

President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
February 14, 2008

Mr. President;

Your Administration recently granted select House Members access to documents related to the scope and prior conduct of telecommunications companies involved in the expanded warrantless domestic surveillance program. As Co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), we are writing to request that every interested House Member be provided with an opportunity to review, in compliance with standards for reviewing classified material, these documents.

Since we are at a critical legislative juncture in voting to provide blanket immunity to dozens of telecommunications companies for their complicity in this secretive and substantially expanded surveillance program, we are now requesting that every Member be provided with immediate access to these documents. Providing blanket retroactive legal immunity to corporations that may have willfully violated fundamental privacy rights of millions of Americans sets a very dangerous precedent.

Additionally, your public acknowledgement of the existence of these warrantless surveillance programs demonstrates that this program is not a covert operation, and the legislative branch's access to documents about these companies' activities should no longer be restricted. As a co-equal branch, Congress must have an opportunity to learn the full extent of these companies' actions before making this decision.

This is simply a fundamental matter of protecting the constitutionally mandated civil liberties of every American and we hope that we can expect your full cooperation in this endeavor. We are committed to protecting the privacy of innocent Americans while providing the necessary tools to safeguard our country.

We look forward to your prompt compliance with our request.

Sincerely,

Barbara Lee Lynn Woolsey

Member of Congress

Saudi Arabia: Halt Woman’s Execution for ‘Witchcraft’

2008-02-15T01:45:00.000-08:00

Fawza Falih’s Case Reveals Deep Flaws in Saudi Justice System

NEW YORK - February 14 - King Abdullah should halt the execution of Fawza Falih and void her conviction for “witchcraft,” Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Saudi king.

The religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence against absurd charges that have no basis in law.

“The fact that Saudi judges still conduct trials for unprovable crimes like ‘witchcraft’ underscores their inability to carry out objective criminal investigations,” said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Fawza Falih’s case is an example of how the authorities failed to comply even with existing safeguards in the Saudi justice system.”

The judges relied on Fawza Falih’s coerced confession and on the statements of witnesses who said she had “bewitched” them to convict her in April 2006. She retracted her confession in court, claiming it was extracted under duress, and that as an illiterate woman she did not understand the document she was forced to fingerprint. She also stated in her appeal that her interrogators beat her during her 35 days in detention at the hands of the religious police. At one point, she had to be hospitalized as a result of the beatings.

The judges never investigated whether her confession was voluntary or reliable or investigated her allegations of torture. They never even made an inquiry as to whether she could have been responsible for allegedly supernatural occurrences, such as the sudden impotence of a man she is said to have “bewitched.” They also broke Saudi law in multiple instances, ignoring legal rules on proper procedures in a trial.

The judges did not sit as a panel of three, as required for cases involving the death penalty. They excluded Fawza Falih from most trial sessions and banned a relative who was acting as her legal representative from attending any session. Earlier, her interrogators blocked her access to a lawyer and the judges, and denied her the right to professional legal representation, thus depriving her of the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses against her. She claims that some of the witnesses were unknown to her and that others had made statements against her only as a result of beatings.

Saudi Arabia does not have a written penal code, and “witchcraft” is not a defined crime. The Law of Criminal Procedure of 2002 grants defendants the right to be tried in person, to have a lawyer present during interrogation and trial, and to cross-examine any prosecution witnesses. The law obliges law enforcement officers to treat detainees humanely.

An appeals court ruled in September 2006 that Fawza Falih could not be sentenced to death for “witchcraft” as a crime against God because she had retracted her confession. The lower court judges then sentenced her to death on a “discretionary” basis, for the benefit of “public interest” and to “protect the creed, souls and property of this country.”

“The judges’ behavior in Fawza Falih’s trial shows they were interested in anything but a quest for the truth,” Stork said. “They completely disregarded legal guarantees that would have demonstrated how ill-founded this whole case was.”

On November 2, Saudi Arabia executed Mustafa Ibrahim for sorcery in Riyadh. Ibrahim, an Egyptian working as a pharmacist in the northern town of `Ar’ar, was found guilty of having tried “through sorcery” to separate a married couple, according to a Ministry of Interior statement.

The National Lawyers Guild Condemns Senate Grant of Immunity to Telecommunications Companies

2008-02-15T01:40:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK - February 14 - Responding to fear-mongering by the Bush administration, the Senate voted on February 12 to give retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies that have turned over our telephone and Internet communications to the government. These companies have violated several laws, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Title III, the Communications Act, and the Stored Communications Act, as well as the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution.

The Bush administration has been illegally engaging in warrantless surveillance since early 2001, through its "Terrorist Surveillance Program." Over 40 lawsuits against the telecommunications companies challenging the legality of the program are pending.

On the eve of Congress's Labor Day recess last year, the Bush administration had rammed that the "Protect America Act" through a Congress still fearful of appearing soft on terror. It was a 6-month fix to the 1978 FISA, which didn't anticipate that foreign intelligence communications would one day run through Internet providers in the United States. But the temporary law went further than simply fixing that glitch in FISA; it granted immunity to telecommunications companies that provided consumer telephone and computer data to the government.

The day before the Senate took up this issue, Vice President Dick Cheney invoked the memory of September 11, 2001 twelve times in his address to the Heritage Foundation, and urged Congress to make the Act permanent. In the face of lawsuits against the telecom companies, Attorney General Michael Mukasey described the need for the companies to defend against litigation as "an enormous burden." Indeed, defending these lawsuits has likely cut in to their enormous profits.

Although President George W. Bush claims that making the Act permanent was critical to keeping us safe, he threatens to veto the bill unless it includes the immunity provision. Apparently protecting corporate profits trumps national security.

The House of Representatives passed a bill without immunity for the telecoms. The two bills will have to be harmonized. The National Lawyers Guild urges Congress to adopt the House version that omits immunity. Litigation against the telecommunications companies is the only remaining avenue of accountability for the administration's lawbreaking.

ACLU in Court Tuesday for Extraordinary Rendition Case Against Boeing Subsidiary

2008-02-01T23:38:00.000-08:00

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - February 1 - The American Civil Liberties Union will argue in federal court next week for the continuation of its case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. The ACLU is opposing the government’s attempt to throw out the case by misusing the “state secrets” privilege in an effort to avoid legal scrutiny of the unlawful and shameful program.

Tuesday’s hearing is part of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of five victims of the rendition program who were kidnapped and secretly transferred to U.S.-run prisons or foreign intelligence agencies overseas where they were subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and torture. The lawsuit charges that Jeppesen knowingly aided the program by providing flight planning and logistical support services for aircraft and crews used by the CIA to transport the victims.

After the lawsuit was filed, the U.S. government intervened to seek its dismissal, contending that further litigation of the case would expose state secrets and be harmful to national security. However, the information needed to pursue the lawsuit, including details about the extraordinary rendition program itself, is already in the public domain.

CCR Says Suspected Use of Torture Undermines Credibility of 9/11 Report

2008-02-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - January 31 - The Center for Constitutional Rights is outraged by new information that reveals that the much of the information contained in the 9/11 Commissions Final Report regarding the planning and execution of the terror attacks on New York and Washington was supported by information gained from torture, including water boarding.

The analysis from NBC News shows that more than one quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Commission’s Report refers to controversial interrogation techniques, including information in the Report’s most critical chapters, those on planning and executing the attacks. Remarkably, Commission staffers and Executive Director Philip Zelikow admitted that though they were skeptical of the intelligence reports, they did not make any inquiries regarding cross-examination techniques.

CCR President Michael Ratner expressed shock at the revelations stating, “If the Commission suspected there was torture, they should have realized that as a matter of law, evidence derived from torture is not reliable, in part because of the possibility of false confession…at the very least, they should have added caveats to all those references.”

“The Commission’s heavy reliance on tainted sources reinforces the notion that we as a nation have not yet come to terms with the reality that the U.S. engaged in torture,” he added. “Until we do so, we undermine our credibility in the eyes of the world as a nation of hypocrites.”

CCR is currently seeking to preserve evidence of the torture of their client Majid Khan, a former CIA ghost detainee now held at Guantanamo. While held at a CIA black site, Majid was subject to hours of torture, which only stopped when he agreed to sign a statement that he wasn’t allowed to read.

“The effect of our government’s reliance on secrecy and torture not only shames the U.S. in the eyes of the world, but sacrifices our freedom and security here at home,” said Vincent Warren, the Executive Director of CCR.

European Parliament issues resolution on the arrest of the Chinese dissident Hu Jia

2008-01-29T23:19:00.000-08:00

Zeng Jinyan and Hu Jia Pictured Left

January 23rd, 2008

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the human rights situation in China,

– having regard to the latest two rounds of the EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights held in Beijing on 17 October 2007 and in Berlin on 15-16 May 2007,

– having regard to the public hearing held on 26 November 2007 by its Subcommittee on Human Rights concerning Human Rights in China in the run-up to the Olympics,

– having regard to the Olympic Truce called for by the UN General Assembly on 31 October 2007, when it urged UN member states to observe and promote peace during the Olympic Games,

– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the human rights campaigner Hu Jia was taken away from his home in Beijing by police on 27 December 2007 on charges of inciting subversion,

B. whereas Hu Jia and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, have thrown the spotlight on human rights abuses in China over the past few years and spent many periods under house arrest as a result of their campaigning,

C. whereas Hu Jia is in bad health, suffering from a liver disease that obliges him to take medication,

D. whereas in 2006 Time Magazine named Zeng Jinyan one of the world's one hundred 'heroes' and in 2007, together with Hu Jia, she received the Reporters without Borders special 'China' prize and a nomination for the Sakharov Prize,

E. whereas human rights organisations called the arrest another move by the Chinese authorities to silence critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics,

F. whereas 57 intellectuals from China immediately published an open letter calling for the instant release of Hu Jia,

G. whereas the President of the European Parliament published a statement on 31 December 2007 admonishing the Chinese authorities for their detention of Hu Jia and urged them to use the forthcoming Games as 'an opportunity for China to demonstrate that a country hosting the world’s most important sports event is committed to internationally recognised human rights standards, including freedom of expression',

1. Strongly condemns the detention of Hu Jia and demands his prompt release and that of all the dissidents who have been arrested and jailed for crimes of opinion;

2. Urges the Chinese authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Hu Jia, his relatives and his lawyers;

3. Calls upon China to respect its commitments to human rights and the rule of law, in particular the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, by putting an end to the harassment of Chinese human rights defenders, in order to demonstrate its commitment to human rights in its Olympic year;

4. Urges China not to use the Olympic Games as a pretext to arrest and illegally detain and imprison dissidents, journalists and human rights activists who either report on or demonstrate against human rights abuses;

5. Reiterates its opinion that human rights concerns should receive far more attention in the build-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, and highlights the need for 'respect for universal fundamental ethical principles' and the promotion of a peaceful society concerned 'with the preservation of human dignity' as enshrined in Articles 1 and 2 of the Olympic Charter;

6. Urges China to reform its criminal law to allow greater freedom of expression to journalists, writers, free-lances, reporters etc., who will report to the world on such an important event as the Olympic Games: considers that this reform will also make it possible to clarify the scope of certain unclear legal provisions (e.g. Article 105 of China's Criminal Code) and give the world a positive signal that the 17th Congress of the CCP paved the way for greater respect for different opinions;

7. Calls on the Chinese authorities to allow Hu Jia and all the other dissidents under arrest to receive medical assistance if necessary, and to bear in mind that detention in inappropriate conditions could damage their health;

8. Urges the Chinese authorities to close the so-called 'black jails', places of detention set up to detain 'troublemakers' in advance of this year's Olympics;

9. Calls on the Council of the European Union to take action in relation to the Chinese authorities regarding the arrest of Hu Jia and the disappearance on 22 September 2007 of Gao Zhisheng, a noted human rights attorney and friend of Hu Jia, who has come to represent the plight of the many thousands of human rights defenders currently imprisoned in China;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of the applicant countries, the President and Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China and the International Olympic Committee.

South Carolina consecrates Lawrence as 14th Episcopal bishop

2008-01-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

[Episcopal News Service] The Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston, South Carolina, was filled to overflowing January 26 as Mark Joseph Lawrence was consecrated the 14th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. St. Mark’s Episcopal and St. Matthew’s Lutheran churches provided streaming video when the cathedral’s capacity of 1,100 was reached.

Twenty-five bishops from Canada, Dominican Republic, England, Tanzania, and the United States were present.

East Carolina Bishop E. Clifton Daniel, president of the Episcopal Church's Province IV, was the chief consecrator during the service which began at 11 a.m.

Co-consecrating bishops included: Edward L. Salmon Jr., 13th bishop of South Carolina; C. FitzSimons Allison, 12th bishop of South Carolina; Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester, England; Keith Ackerman of Quincy; and Julio Holguin of the Dominican Republic.

Joined by their five children and six grandchildren, Lawrence and his wife, the former Allison Taylor, received a lengthy standing ovation.

"We thank you and Allison for your strength and perseverance," said Alden Hathaway, retired Bishop of Pittsburgh and preacher for the service. "You inspire us and give us hope."

Lawrence, 57, said he believes a bishop is to be "the shepherd of the shepherds of God" and "the chief shepherd of the diocese."

Lawrence's crozier, the bishop's pastoral staff, was carved from "old growth" redwood from northern California by a carver in South Carolina as a nod to his California roots and his new ministry. His chimere, part of a bishop's vestments, bishop's ring and pectoral cross were gifts of St. Paul's Episcopal Parish in Bakersfield, California, where Lawrence had served as rector since 1997.

Lawrence was first elected September 16, 2006 to be South Carolina's 14th bishop.

In the weeks following that election, questions arose about Lawrence's intentions concerning the diocese's continuing membership in the Episcopal Church. Some diocesan standing committees announced their intention not to consent, and some publicized their decisions.

On March 15, 2007, Jefferts Schori declared that election "null and void," saying that a number of the consent responses did not adhere to canonical requirements and thus Lawrence's election did not receive the consent of the majority of diocesan standing committees.

Lawrence was re-elected as South Carolina's bishop on August 4, 2007 at a special electing convention. He was the only candidate in the election.

Jefferts Schori announced October 29, 2007 that Lawrence had received the consents needed for him to become the next bishop of South Carolina.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop, confirmed that Jefferts Schori has been invited to visit the Diocese of South Carolina in February. He added that the agenda was currently being finalized.

The Diocese of South Carolina includes 75 parishes and missions in the lower half of the state of South Carolina.

-- The Rev. Lisa B. Hamilton, Episcopal Life Media's correspondent in the dioceses of Provinces I and IV and the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg, Episcopal Life Media's correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II, contributed to this report.

Indiana University teams with Church & Dwight to improve the nation’s sexual health

2008-01-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Jan. 28, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- To address critical sexual health issues facing citizens across the United States, the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has entered into a unique 3-year agreement with one of the world's leading sexual health products companies, Church & Dwight, maker of Trojan brand condoms. The agreement establishes the IU center as a strategic research, education and consulting partner with Trojan.

The collaboration will include a range of projects focused on understanding consumer behaviors and those designed to influence the design of products, such as condoms, that sexually active individuals need to use consistently and correctly in order to best protect their own health and the health of their partner. IU will draw upon the sexual health expertise of faculty from various academic units, including HPER, the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, the School of Medicine and the Department of Telecommunications.

"This partnership brings together two of the world's leading entities in the area of sexual health, Indiana University and Trojan brand condoms, to address critical knowledge gaps in the manner in which individuals make healthy decisions once they decide to become sexually active," said Michael Reece,(pictured above left) director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion. "Given Trojan's significant influence on condom use trends in the United States and the range of sexual health experts on Indiana University's faculty, this partnership truly represents the manner in which academic and corporate entities can come together in a participatory way to have a significant influence on the nation's health."

Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing for Trojan, said the range of expertise at IU makes it a beneficial partner as the company continues its efforts to develop high-quality products and evolve the sexual health of America.

"We want to raise the bar on consumers' definitions of what it means to be sexually healthy and break down the barriers to condom acceptance and usage in the months ahead," he said.

Robert M. Goodman, dean of the School of HPER, said he is "quite pleased that Church & Dwight recognizes the excellence possessed by IU and School of HPER in the area of sexual health. The Center led by Dr. Reece is a fine example of our dedication to the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and other prominent public health concerns. Our working arrangement with Church & Dwight further illustrates how leading universities such as IU can partner with industry for the betterment of the public's health."

The new partnership will be headed by Reece and Debby Herbenick, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion. It also will involve a transdisciplinary team of IU scientists, including Stephanie Sanders, with the Kinsey Institute; Dennis Fortenberry, M.D., IU School of Medicine; Susan Middlestadt and Brian Dodge, Department of Applied Health Science; and Bryant Paul, Department of Telecommunications.

"This partnership is particularly exciting given our teams' shared vision of helping women and men to enhance their sexual lives, to experience sexual pleasure, and to strive toward sexual health in responsible ways," said Herbenick.

NEW RESEARCH FINDS EQUAL LEVEL OF COMMITMENT AND RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION AMONG SAME-SEX AND HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES

2008-01-22T22:04:00.000-08:00

Findings knock down stereotype that gay relationships are not as healthy and secure as heterosexual marriages

WASHINGTON – Same-sex couples are just as committed in their romantic relationships as heterosexual couples, say researchers who have studied the quality of adult relationships and healthy development. Their finding disputes the stereotype that couples in same-sex relationships are not as committed as their heterosexual counterparts and are therefore not as psychologically healthy.

These results are from two studies featured in the January issue of Developmental Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. This issue includes a special section that examines sexual orientation across the lifespan.

Both studies compared same-sex couples with opposite-sex couples on a number of developmental and relationship factors. The first study examined whether committed same-sex couples differ from engaged and married opposite-sex couples in how well they interacted and how satisfied they were with their partners. Evidence has shown that positive interactions improve the quality of relationships in ways that foster healthy adult development.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign compared 30 committed gay male and 30 committed lesbian couples with 50 engaged heterosexual couples and 40 older married heterosexual couples, as well as with dating heterosexual couples. All the partners responded to a questionnaire that documented how positively they interacted with one another on a day to day basis. The couples were also observed during a laboratory task and were monitored for distress by skin conductance and heart rate.

Results showed that same-sex relationships were similar to those of opposite-sex couples in many ways. All had positive views of their relationships but those in the more committed relationships (gay and straight) resolved conflict better than the heterosexual dating couples. And lesbian couples worked together especially harmoniously during the laboratory tasks.

The notion that committed same-sex relationships are “atypical, psychologically immature, or malevolent contexts of development was not supported by our findings,” said lead author Glenn I. Roisman, PhD. “Compared with married individuals, committed gay males and lesbians were not less satisfied with their relationships.”

Furthermore, said Roisman, “Gay males and lesbians in this study were generally not different from their committed heterosexual counterparts on how well they interacted with one another, although some evidence emerged the lesbian couples were especially effective at resolving conflict.”

In the second study, researchers from the University of Washington, San Diego State University and the University of Vermont wanted to examine how sexual orientation and legal status affected relationship quality. To do so, they followed 65 male and 138 female same-sex couples with civil unions, 23 male and 61 female same-sex couples not in civil unions and 55 heterosexual married couples over a three-year period. One member of each heterosexual couple was a sibling to a member of a civil union couple.

Both partners in all of the couples answered questions regarding their demographics, status of their relationship, number of children, sexual behavior, frequency of contact with their parents with and without their partners and perceived social support. Partners in same-sex relationships also answered questions regarding disclosure of their sexual orientation to their family, peers and work associates.

The researchers found that same-sex couples were similar to heterosexual couples on most relationships variables, and that the legalized status of a relationship did not seem to be the overriding factor affecting same-sex relationships.

Despite the legal status of their relationships, the civil union couples showed no differences on any of the relationship measures from the same-sex couples who were in committed relationships but not in civil unions. “This may be because those couples in Vermont who sought out the legal protection of a civil union might have legalized their relationship more for symbolic value than for commitment reasons, which did not affect their day-to-day interactions,” said lead author Kimberly F. Balsam, PhD.

However, the same sex-couples who were not in civil unions were more likely to have ended their relationships compared to those couples in same-sex civil unions or heterosexual marriages. This suggests that the protections afforded by a legalized relationship may impact same-sex relationships, something the study's authors plan to follow up on in future research, said Balsam.

The findings also showed that same-sex couples, regardless of civil union status, were more satisfied with their relationships compared to married heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples reported more positive feelings toward their partners and less conflict than heterosexual married couples, said the authors. They theorized that there may be societal pressures and norms, as well as the presence of legal status as a couple, which may contribute to heterosexual couples staying together even when they are not happy. Alternatively, most long-term same-sex couples have to stay together by their own will and hard work since they don't have society's forces on their side, Balsam added.

This was the first study to follow same-sex couples in legalized unions over a period of time. This type of design allows the researchers to monitor changes in the relationships and compare them with changes experienced by both same-sex couples not in civil unions and heterosexual couples. All the couples were comparable with respect to race/ethnicity and age at the time of the study.

STUDY: Adult Romantic Relationships as Contexts of Human Development: A Multimethod Comparison of Same-Sex Couples with Opposite-Sex Dating, Engaged, and Married Dyads,” Glenn I. Roisman, PhD, Eric Clausell, MA, Ashley Holland, MA, Keren Fortuna, MA, and Chryle Elieff, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Developmental Psychology, Vol. 44, No. 1.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev44191.pdf

New Study Reveals False Statements By U S. Officials Preceded Iraq War

2008-01-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

The AP reported today that:

WASHINGTON - A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a threat.

"The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said.

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

The center said the study was based on a database created with public statements over the two years beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, and information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles, speeches and interviews.

"The cumulative effect of these false statements — amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts — was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.

___

Plan to exhume Italian saint Padre Pio draws protest

2008-01-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Reuters reported today that:

ROME (Reuters) - A plan to exhume the remains of Italy's favorite saint to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death has sparked a protest by followers who threaten to go to court to make sure he rests in peace.

The exhumation would give millions of Italians another chance to pay tribute to Padre Pio, a 20th century mystic monk said to have suffered from stigmata -- bleeding wounds in the hands and feet similar to those of Christ.

Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio announced at the weekend his intention to lift the saint from his crypt in southern Italy and put it on full view for several months starting in April.

"It is our duty to allow the generations that come after us the ability to venerate and best care for his mortal remains," D'Ambrosio said in a sermon.

But other Catholics, like Francesco Traversi, who heads the Association Pro-Padre Pio, are threatening to block the exhumation in court.

"They can't do it (without the relatives' permission) because otherwise they'll be committing a crime," Traversi told Reuters by telephone, adding his group would present a legal motion to block the proceedings in the southern city of Foggia.

Traversi said he had the support of Padre Pio's closest relatives -- his niece and her daughters -- although an Italian news agency quoted one relative denying that.

Padre Pio's popularity is hard to overestimate. A Catholic magazine once found far more Italian Catholics pray to him than any other icon of the faith, including the Virgin Mary or Jesus.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080107/lf_nm_life/italy_saint_dc

Legal, Financial and Real Estate Industries Dominate Presidential Fundraising, Study Shows

2007-12-20T16:25:00.001-08:00

Report by Public Citizen and Campaign Finance Institute Details Campaign Bundling

WASHINGTON - December 20 - More than half the major fundraisers for the presidential campaigns hail from just three segments of the U.S. economy: lawyers and law firms, representing both corporate and consumer interests; the financial sector; and real estate, according to a joint study released Thursday by Public Citizen and the Campaign Finance Institute.

These industries account for more than 1,100 of the major fundraisers for the presidential candidates. In contrast, most of the 70 major industries represented in the study furnished 15 or fewer major fundraisers, often called “bundlers.”

“Bundlers are a highly concentrated bunch. The paltry number of people who bankroll campaigns shows this private fundraising system is broken,” said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. “Congress must require far more transparency in disclosing bundling activity if it wants to fix the presidential public financing system.”

The study tallies the number of major fundraisers furnished by each industry and breaks down each industry’s fundraisers by party and candidate.

The two candidates who provide the most details about their bundlers, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, appear to have received more than half their money from these fundraisers. Though other candidates have been less forthcoming about the details of their fundraising operations, there is no indication that they rely any less on major fundraisers than Clinton and Obama.

The study points to the need to modernize the presidential public financing system so candidates need not rely on deep-pocketed, special-interest donors to run competitive campaigns.

Debt is Haunting the American Consumer and Harming the Economy

2007-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

The Center for American Progress Reports that:

WASHINGTON - December 20 - “Duh,” the defining word in an ever-present car ad this holiday season, also summarizes what is happening to holiday shoppers. It should be obvious to anyone paying attention and paying credit card bills that American consumers have amassed record amounts of debt and have less disposable income than ever before.

But what may not be clear to everyone except those trying to pay for holiday presents while failing to balance all their other debts payments is that consumers only have two choices: borrow less or go broke. Either way, more and more families will be joining those who are already slowing their spending as income growth slows and other means of borrowing shrink. If this does not happen during the 2007 holiday shopping season, it most likely will happen when debt bills come due early next year.

The facts tell a grim story:

· Income growth is slowing. In October 2007, income growth (adjusted for inflation) was 3.0 percent higher than a year ago, down from 4.0 percent year-on-year growth in September and 4.6 percent growth year-on-year in August.

· So, too, is wage growth. Between October 2007 and October 2005 real wage growth fell by 51 percent.

· Debt rates are rising. In the third quarter of 2007, total debt stood at 133.0 percent of disposable income—the highest level on record..

· Americans are spending less. Census data show a deceleration in the retail sales growth over the past several years.

· The housing crisis is getting worse. The third quarter of 2007 found the highest foreclosure rate on record—0.8 percent of all mortgages foreclosed—after six consecutive quarters of rising foreclosure rates.

· Bankruptcies are rising alarmingly. In less than two years the bankruptcy rate grew by 85.2 percent, with 2.8 bankruptcy cases per 1,000 people in the third quarter of 2007.

The basic economic arithmetic is clear. Without faster income growth, which will likely not occur in a slowing economy, consumers will ultimately max out on their debt. And with less access to home equity loans or other lines of credit, the implications are dire. A quick look at the data on income growth, family indebtedness, consumer spending, and bankruptcy filings tell the story.

You may visit the Center for American Progress at:
http://www.americanprogress.org/

Christians share gift of faith with their friends this Christmas as thousands invited to congregate at nation’s cathedrals

2007-12-18T01:10:00.000-08:00

17 December 2007

More than 140,000 people are expected to attend a Church of England cathedral for a service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year, following a 7.5 per cent rise in worshippers between 2005 and 2006.

Last year, with many cathedrals close to capacity, worshipper numbers reached more than 130,000 in the 24-hour Christmas period - a 37 per cent increase since 2000. Across all Church of England parish services, it is expected that the total topped the 2.8 million seen over the same period in 2005.

In addition to the attendance statistics for last Christmas, other figures released today from a survey of three cathedrals conducted last year suggest that Christians are using these ‘flagship’ church buildings to encourage their friends to attend church, with more than a third of respondents saying they heard about the cathedral service from a friend, and a quarter of those surveyed saying they actually attended the service with friends or neighbours.

The study - conducted by the Church of England in York Minster, Southwark Cathedral and Derby Cathedral over nine Christmas services last year - demonstrates the magnetic draw of cathedrals at Christmas time for those who rarely attend church, with as many as half of those surveyed in the congregations saying they attend church less than once every three months.

One in four had been to a cathedral over the year to attend a service, but more than half of these Christmas congregations had visited a cathedral for another reason, such as sightseeing or quiet reflection.

Today’s statistics will be the star on top of the tree for cathedral deans and their congregations, who have seen attendance throughout the year rise by 17 per cent since the turn of the millennium – a rate of three per cent each year. In an average week in 2006, 24,800 adults and 6,800 children and young people attended cathedral worship. All services across the Church of England parishes attract about 1.2 million a week.

Figures released earlier this year showed that attendance at cathedrals on Easter Eve and Easter Sunday increased to 52,400 in 2006 – an increase of nine per cent since 2000.

The Revd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Church of England, comments: “Rumours of the demise of Christmas as a Christian celebration are baseless. It won’t be the experience of the thousands upon thousands who will be attending Christmas services this week. There will be standing-room only at many cathedrals and churches, as the dormant desire to recapture a sense of the wonder of the Nativity, to share with others in singing and praying, and to glimpse something of the spiritual meaning of the Christmas story draws people from across communities towards churches across the country.

“The significant attraction of special occasions and major festivals is a welcome sign of the wider success of the year-round ministry of cathedrals. Many people feel an innate connection with their local cathedral as a symbol of the spiritual life of their community. The anonymity that can be maintained when worshipping with hundreds of other people within these historic buildings can act as a further pull for some people in deciding how to mark this special season of the year.”

The cathedrals of Canterbury, London, Norwich, St Albans and York each expect more than 5,000 adults, children and young people to join them for worship on Christmas Eve or Day this year. Across the country, the Christmas menu of events and services prepared by cathedrals is set to attract a wide range of worshippers, as deans and chapters lay on extra services and put out even more seats to meet demand:

* At Chelmsford Cathedral, Essex, the Dean and Chapter have found that the traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols is so popular that they are holding it twice this year - one on Sunday 23rd December and one on Christmas Eve. In addition, the cathedral hosts a total of nineteen carol services during Advent, including one for Essex County Fire and Rescue service and a service for the deaf.

* This year at Wakefield Cathedral, situated in the centre of the town’s historic market cross, the Dean and Chapter have begun holding lunchtime shoppers’ carols on Tuesdays in Advent, with up to 100 people attending. The Cathedral also holds two ‘Tree of Lights’ services and a related concert with Wakefield Hospice, which a total of 2,500 people have attended.

* At Chichester Cathedral, Sussex, as many as 400 people come to the Advent Procession on Advent Sunday each year to hear the Cathedral Choir as they process by candlelight through the building in full voice. Throughout the first half of this December, around fifteen different organisations held carol services in the Cathedral - including a special one where visitors arrive by steam train at Chichester Station. The Cathedral’s own carol services are hugely popular, with as many as 900 people expected at each of the three events, two of which have already ‘sold out’, leaving just one unticketed service on Sunday 23rd December, for which the Cathedral’s doors will open one hour before the 3pm start.

* Durham Cathedral has organised two ‘Carols for All’ events in association with the city’s Christmas Festival, attracting around 600 people to each service. The Cathedral also launched a Midnight Eucharist service for Christmas Eve just four years ago, and has seen congregations at that service rise from around 400 to 900 people in 2006.

* In Truro, Cornwall, the Christmas Services and Concerts at Truro Cathedral are so popular that a system of free ticketing has been introduced for the first time this year. A recent review of the fire regulations means that the capacity seating is now limited to 900, and so the service of Nine Lessons and Carols, always one of the most popular events in the Christmas Calendar, is this year being performed twice. Even with that provision, all tickets had been taken up by the end of November. After the joy of 19 separate carol services, the Midnight Mass and Christmas Day Service, Sunday 30th December brings the Children and Pets Carol Service - which always attracts huge numbers of both - and is followed by Evensong and Carols around the Crib.

* At York Minster, two Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols are now arranged to meet demand – one on the 23rd December and one on Christmas Eve - with almost 3,000 people expected at each. A special Crib Service on Christmas Eve, where younger members of the congregation are invited to dress as shepherds and angels, sees approximately 1,000 parents and children enjoying being part of a ‘living Nativity scene’.

An Opinion Research Business (ORB) survey conducted earlier this year suggested that four in 10 people went to church at some point during Advent or Christmas last year, broadly in line with figures seen in each of 2005 and 2003. The most recent figure (39 per cent) is significantly above that seen just after the turn of the millennium when, in 2001, ORB recorded a figure of 33 per cent.

Advertisements for Medical Devices, Implants Should Carry Warnings of Dangerous Side Effects, Infections

2007-12-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

Consumers Union petitions FDA to require clearer warnings on DTC device ads

WASHINGTON, DC - December 17 -- Consumers Union has filed a petition with the FDA requesting it require all advertisements for implantable devices – such as knee, hip and heart valve replacements, cosmetic implants and heart stents – carry a warning about the possibility of dangerous infections or failures of the devices once they are in the body.

Implantable device makers recently have launched a wave of direct-to-consumer advertisements for their products, and Consumers Union said a review of these ads show that most lack basic information about the possibility of severe or fatal side effects.

“There is no question that many of these devices can restore high quality-of-life in patients, but we are concerned that serious and possibly deadly side effects like infections are consistently understated in these device ads,” said Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

“We’re asking the FDA to require clear warnings about the dangers of infection during and following such surgery, and information about how long the devices are likely to last once they are in the body,” Vaughan said.

Click here to read the full petition to the FDA.

In light of the rising rate of MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections for surgical patients, CU is requesting device advertisements disclose the potential risk of infection and urge patients to ask their doctor and hospital about infection rates at the facility where the surgery will be performed. Nearly 100,000 people die each year from hospital-acquired infections, and CU is supporting national infection-reporting and prevention legislation (HR 1174, HR 4214 and S 2278).

The Centers for Disease Control infection surveillance report shows hip and knee prosthesis surgery to be a serious source of infection, in some cases a high-risk source, and in some of the reporting hospitals, the infection rate may run as high as 5 percent or more.

Another recent study of 2003 nationwide data for primary total, partial, and revision hip replacements found the rates of readmission for any cause within 90 days of surgery ran between 9 percent for total replacement to 21 percent for partial.

“We do not want to discourage those in pain and facing loss of mobility from seeking out medical advice on implants. But we do believe that unintended side effects, which can include death, can be minimized if the public is better educated to avoid facilities which are not practicing the highest level of anti-infection practices,” Vaughan said.

“Placing information about the danger of infection from surgery in device advertisements will speed the day that America’s surgical centers and hospitals address this life-and-death problem,” he added.

Indiana University discovers 1699 Captain Kidd Shipwreck

2007-12-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Resting in less than 10 feet of Caribbean seawater, the wreckage of Quedagh Merchant, the ship abandoned by the scandalous 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name, has escaped discovery -- until now.

An underwater archaeology team from Indiana University announced today (Dec. 13) the discovery of the remnants. IU marine protection authority Charles Beeker said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and to convert the site into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to the public.

Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said it is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic, and because it has been sought actively by treasure hunters.

"I've been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career," Beeker said. "This is one of the first sites I've been on where I haven't seen any looting. We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."

The find is valuable because of the potential to reveal important information about piracy in the Caribbean and about the legendary Capt. Kidd, said John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, who is participating in the research.

"I look forward to a meticulous study of the ship, its age, its armament, its construction, its use, its contents and the reconstructed wrecking process that resulted in the site we see today," Foster said. "Because there is extensive, written documentation, this is an opportunity we rarely have to test historic information against the archaeological record."

Historians differ on whether Kidd was actually a pirate or a privateer -- someone who captured pirates. After his conviction of piracy and murder charges in a sensational London trial, he was left to hang over the River Thames for two years.

Historians write that Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant, loaded with valuable satins and silks, gold, silver and other East Indian merchandise, but left the ship in the Caribbean as he sailed to New York on a less conspicuous sloop to clear his name of the criminal charges.

Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of IU Bloomington's Mathers Museum of World Cultures, said the men Kidd entrusted with his ship reportedly looted it, and then set it ablaze and adrift down the Rio Dulce. Conrad said the location of the wreckage and the formation and size of the canons, which had been used as ballast, are consistent with historical records of the ship. They also found pieces of several anchors under the cannons.

"All the evidence that we find underwater is consistent with what we know from historical documentation, which is extensive," Conrad said. "Through rigorous archeological investigations, we will conclusively prove that this is the Capt. Kidd shipwreck."

The IU team examined the shipwreck at the request of the Dominican Republic's Oficina Nacional De Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático.

"The site was initially discovered by a local prominent resident of Casa De Campo, who recognized the significance of the numerous cannons and requested the site be properly investigated," said ONPCS Technical Director Francis Soto. "So, I contacted IU."

Beeker and Conrad have worked closely with ONPCS for 11 years since they began conducting underwater and land-based archaeological research related to the era when the Old World and New World first met.

"It continues our work down there from the age of discovery to the golden age of piracy, the transformation of both the native and introduced cultures of the Caribbean," Conrad said.

Much of their work is focused in the area of La Isabela Bay, the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement established by Christopher Columbus. The Taino were the first indigenous people to interact with Europeans. Beeker said much of the history of this period is based on speculation, something he and Conrad are trying to change.

The IU research in the Dominican Republic typically involves professors and graduate students from various IU Bloomington schools and departments, including the School of HPER, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and the departments of anthropology, biology, geology and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Anthropology doctorate student Fritz Hanselmann, who teaches underwater archaeology techniques in HPER, said there have only been a few pirate ships ever discovered in the Americas, and that IU's multi-disciplinary research will make a significant contribution to the field.

HPER Dean Robert M. Goodman accompanied the most recent expedition to learn more about this successful interdisciplinary and international research collaboration. He also went to explore potential public health linkages between the School of HPER and the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, founded in 1538. It is the largest university in the country and the oldest in the Americas.

"Indiana University is working to increase its international presence," Goodman said. "Earlier this month, the IU Board of Trustees was presented a strategic plan that calls for increased student and faculty participation in study abroad and international service learning programs, as well as the development of strategic international partnerships that support overseas study, global research and the recruitment of international students.

"The archeological work being done by IU in the Dominican Republic affords us tremendous entrée for wider areas of collaboration," he said. "Because of the network that Mr. Beeker and Dr. Conrad have established, the Universidad Autonóma de Santo Domingo is eager to establish a formal agreement with IU. We met with the secretary of state for environment and national resources, the dean of faculties of health sciences at the university, representatives from USAID, and the president of the hotel association, all of whom are eager to foster relationships between IU and agencies of the Dominican Republic. This was an incredibly productive trip for IU."

Beeker and his students have conducted underwater research projects on submerged ships, cargo and other cultural and biological resources throughout the United States and the Caribbean for more than 20 years. Many of his research projects have resulted in the establishment of state or federal underwater parks and preserves, and have led to a number of site nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.

Archbishop of Canterbury Announces Appointment of New Representative to Holy See

2007-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome are delighted to announce the appointment of the Very Revd David Richardson (Pictured Left) as the Archbishop’s Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Centre. David Richardson is Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne Australia and was previously Dean of St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide. David Richardson succeeds the Right Reverend John Flack, former Suffragan Bishop of Huntingdon, as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal representative in the Holy See. Bishop John retires in February. David Richardson will take up his appointment after Easter.

Dr Williams congratulated David Richardson on his appointment: "I am delighted that someone of David Richardson's stature will be carrying forward the much-valued work of his predecessor, Bishop John Flack. His role at this important time builds on four decades of dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. It will be exercised in the context of the ‘many area of witness and service" which call for "closer co-operation between us’, as Pope Benedict and I affirmed in our Common Declaration last year."

David Richardson responded saying "I am delighted to accept this appointment and honoured that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Governors of the Anglican Centre have placed this trust in me.

I am also very pleased that this means the Anglican Church of Australia is able to be represented at this key level of the vitally important area of ecumenism.

Archbishop Rowan and Pope Benedict are two of the great spiritual and intellectual visionaries of our time - men of profound intelligence, learning and holiness - and I am looking forward very much to doing whatever I can in this position to work with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Lambeth Palace in the cause of the Gospel and our shared ecumenical endeavour. I am also looking forward to promoting through the work of the Anglican Centre mutual understanding at every level, particularly in areas of divergent views, and to strengthening the bonds of affection and trust between our two communions.

David was born in 1955 in Queensland but spent most of his childhood in North Devon and then the Midlands where his father worked as a priest. David finished his schooling in Brisbane.

After studying English literature at the University of Queensland, David trained in theology at St Barnabas’ College in Adelaide, Melbourne College of Divinity and then received his postgraduate diploma in Pastoral Theology at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

David remained in the UK and served his curacy at Great St Mary’s, the University Church in Cambridge whilst also becoming a chaplain at Girton College in the university from 1976-1979. He then returned to St Barnabas’ theological college as Sub-Warden where he taught New Testament Studies, Liturgy and Pastoral Care & Spirituality until 1982.

For the next five years, David was the Rector of St Lucia’s in Brisbane. In 1988 David was invited to become the Dean of St Peter’s cathedral in Adelaide at which he served for eleven years before becoming the Dean of St Paul’s in 1999. Being responsible for two major cathedrals, David has worked with local and national civic leaders and with leaders of other Christian and faith traditions as well as nurturing the life of two major centres of Christian worship.

David’s early interest in the world-wide church has been fostered by his experience of being for ten years the clerical representative for Australia on the Anglican Consultative Council (1992-2002). For the last twenty-five years he has also served on the Australian National Liturgical Commission and was its Executive Secretary for fifteen years. David also served for fifteen years on the ecumenical body, the Australian Consultation on Liturgy.

David is married to Margie, a clinical psychologist. They have two grown up children, Emma and Tom.

The Anglican Centre in Rome

The Anglican Centre in Rome was founded in 1966 with the encouragement of Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI. The Centre enables Anglican/Roman Catholic dialogue at every level and encourages the formation of lasting friendships between leading Roman Catholics and Anglicans. The Centre gives opportunities for Roman Catholics to learn more about the Anglican tradition and Anglicans to learn about the Roman Church. A place of study, for groups and individuals, the Centre offers hospitality, dialogue and prayer in the search for unity.

Citing Destruction of Torture Tapes, ACLU Asks Court to Hold CIA in Contempt

2007-12-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - December 12 -The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a motion asking a federal judge to hold the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in contempt, charging that the agency flouted a court order when it destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the harsh interrogation of prisoners in its custody. In response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the ACLU and other organizations in October 2003 and May 2004, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the CIA to produce or identify all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees in its custody. Despite the court’s ruling, the CIA never produced the tapes or even acknowledged their existence. Last week, in anticipation of media reports concerning the tapes, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly acknowledged that the CIA had made the tapes in 2002 but destroyed them in 2005.

“The CIA’s secret destruction of these tapes displays a flagrant disregard for the rule of law,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “It must be sanctioned for violating the court’s order and the obligation to preserve records that fell within the scope of our Freedom of Information Act requests.”

The tapes, which showed CIA operatives subjecting suspects to extremely harsh interrogation methods, should have been identified and processed for the ACLU in response to its FOIA request demanding information on the treatment and interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. The tapes were also withheld from the 9/11 Commission, appointed by President Bush and Congress, which had formally requested that the CIA hand over transcripts and recordings documenting the interrogation of CIA prisoners.

“These tapes were clearly responsive to the Freedom of Information Act requests that we filed in 2003 and 2004, and accordingly the CIA was under a legal obligation to produce the tapes to us or to provide a legal justification for withholding them,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “By destroying these tapes, the CIA violated the statute as well as an order of the court. In the circumstances, it would be entirely appropriate for the court to hold the agency in contempt.”

The motion filed today relates to a lawsuit that was filed in 2004 to enforce a FOIA request for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad. The ACLU brought the FOIA lawsuit with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace.

The motion filed today asks the court to hold the CIA in contempt; to require the CIA to produce a complete list of all records that fall within the scope of the FOIA requests that have been destroyed (including tapes); and to require the CIA to file with the court a detailed written description of the substance of the destroyed tapes.

“The interrogation techniques employed by our government raise fundamental questions of human rights and decency,” said Arthur Eisenberg, New York Civil Liberties Union Legal Director. “The CIA cannot avoid those questions by simply destroying the evidence.”

The ACLU brief and related legal documents are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia

Many of these documents are also contained and summarized in Administration of Torture, a recently published book by Jaffer and Singh. More information is available online at: www.aclu.org/administrationoftorture

San Joaquin votes to leave Episcopal Church, realign with Southern Cone

2007-12-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

Some delegates vow to 'Remain Episcopal'; Presiding Bishop comments on action

By Pat McCaughan, December 08, 2007

[Episcopal News Service, Fresno, California] Delegates attending the 48th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on Saturday, December 8, overwhelmingly voted to leave the Episcopal Church and to align with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield asked for a moment of silence in deference to those who opposed the change, reminding the gathering that he "knows what it feels like to be a minority" before the vote tallies were read. The results, by orders were: 70-12 clergy and 103-10 vote in the lay order to effectively remove all references to the Episcopal Church from its constitution and describe the diocese as "a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in full communion with the See of Canterbury."

"The Episcopal Church receives with sadness the news that some members of this church have made a decision to leave this church," said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. "We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness. We wish them to know of our prayers for them and their journey. The Episcopal Church will continue in the Diocese of San Joaquin, albeit with new leadership."

"This is a historic moment...a vote for freedom," Schofield had told the gathering of about 88 clergy and 113 lay delegates meeting at St. James Cathedral in Fresno. He reminded the gathering that the diocese as a whole was realigning and said that clergy who rejected the move had time to discern whether or not to accept the invitation to join the Southern Cone.

The vote was taken after about 30 minutes of emotional debate, often interrupted by applause.

Samantha Bland, a parishioner at Christ the King Church in Riverbank called upon delegates to focus on teen pregnancy, soaring foreclosure rates, methamphetamine addiction and dwindling resources plaguing Central Valley congregations "instead of this distraction."

"I have yet to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury say the Episcopal Church is not part of the Anglican Communion. I have not heard that we as an Episcopal Church have not reported back" about the Windsor Report. "I ask for us to look into our hearts and take care of our communities and remember the parishioners we're here to represent."

Another congregant, who asked not to be named, said the vote was ironically "a good thing. We can get on with our ministry, now that this diocese is free of this poison," she said, referring to the rancor surrounding the issue of leaving.

To vote otherwise, Schofield told delegates in his convention address a day earlier, would effectively signal his retirement within two years, by General Convention 2009 "with no reasonable hope for an orthodox successor" and a return to "where we were before last December's convention. Canon laws will be introduced to make it impossible for dioceses and persons to leave."

Although the move makes San Joaquin the first diocese in the nation to complete a legislative process seeking separation from the Episcopal Church, Schofield predicted that more dioceses will follow. Flanked by Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan and Bolivia Bishop Frank Lyons from the Southern Cone province, Schofield told a gathering of reporters December 7 that the consecration of an openly gay bishop in 2003 was merely a "flashpoint" for those who had had "enough because of the liberal theology of the Episcopal Church."

"Those who want to remain Episcopalians but reject the biblical standards of morality, the ultimate authority of the Bible, and the biblical revelation of God to us in His Son the only savior of mankind, will in the end be left solely with a name and a bureaucratic structure," he said.

The central California-based diocese represents about 8,500 Episcopalians in 47 congregations, at least five of whom Schofield predicted will opt to remain with the Episcopal Church.

Nancy Key, a co-founder of 'Remain Episcopal,' said those who wished to remain in the Episcopal Church have felt marginalized and maligned.

"It feels like spiritual violence," said Key, a parishioner at Holy Family Church in Fresno, which has chosen to remain within the Episcopal Church. "All we want to do is be in the Episcopal Church that actively ordains women and is inclusive," she said. San Joaquin is among three dioceses that refuse to ordain or deploy women priests. The others are Fort Worth and the Peoria, Illinois-based Diocese of Quincy.

Schofield characterized Venables' invitation to align with the Province of the Southern Cone as a "Godsend" for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, allowing for disagreeing factions to still remain within the Anglican Communion. The Province of the Southern Cone has about 22,000 members and encompasses Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Lyons also told reporters that Williams approved of the new affiliation and described it as "a sensible way forward."

But, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion secretary general, disagreed. "I would be surprised to hear that the Archbishop would formally support such a development which is contrary to the Windsor Report," he said in a November 27, 2007 letter to a Fort Worth delegate who had asked for verification of similar assertions Lyons made during the Texas diocese's November 17 convention.

Delegates to the Fort Worth diocese's 25th convention also gave the first of two approvals to dissociate from the Episcopal Church. Similarly, Pittsburgh delegates on November 2 voted for realignment. Delegates at Quincy's October 20-21 annual synod, however, chose to remain with the Episcopal Church, at least for the immediate future.

Schofield said San Joaquin congregations wishing to remain with the national church may retain their property, as long as they don't owe the diocese money. "I just wish the Episcopal Church was as generous in the other direction," he said.

He said that nothing will change immediately as the diocese waits to see what, if any, action the Presiding Bishop will take. "On Monday, the doors won't be locked."

After chancellor Kenneth VanRozeboom's lengthy report to convention detailing the legal implications of the move, Schofield said the diocese is monitoring the decision in the property disputes between the Diocese of Los Angeles and four breakaway churches, awaiting a hearing before the California Supreme Court.

He characterized such litigation as being "like cannibalism, like Christians eating each other. Christians should not be taking Christians to court," he said. Regardless of the outcome in Los Angeles, the future remains murky because that decision involves "churches, not dioceses." Schofield concluded that any litigation "will be a fairly long, drawn-out process."

In June, the Executive Council, the governing body of the Episcopal Church between meetings of General Convention, warned that actions by Episcopal Church dioceses that change their constitutions in an attempt to bypass the Church's Constitution and Canons are "null and void."

During an exchange of letters prior to convention, Jefferts Schori had advised Schofield that approval of the constitutional changes would "implicitly reject the Church's property and other canons."

Regarding the diocese's intention to affiliate with the Southern Cone, she said: "If you continue along this path…it will be necessary to ascertain whether you have in fact abandoned the communion of this church, and violated your own vows to uphold the doctrine, discipline, and worship of this Church."

If Schofield is considered to have abandoned the communion of the church, he would have two months to recant his position. Failing to do so, the matter would be referred to the full House of Bishops. If the House were to concur, the Presiding Bishop would depose the bishops and declare the episcopates of those dioceses vacant. Those remaining in the Episcopal Church would be gathered to organize a new diocesan convention and elect a replacement Standing Committee, if necessary.

An assisting bishop would be appointed to provide episcopal ministry until a new diocesan bishop search process could be initiated and a new bishop elected and consecrated.

A lawsuit would be filed against the departed leadership and a representative sample of departing congregations if they attempted to retain Episcopal Church property.

And that's how Nancy Key and other "loyalists" intend to proceed, she said. The group, "Remain Episcopal" will convene immediately after the close of San Joaquin's convention to strategize.

"We are prepared to work with the Episcopal Church to reconstitute our diocese," she said. "I feel this is what we are called to do. I am so convinced of this."

-- The Rev. Pat McCaughan, a correspondent for Episcopal News Service, is associate for parish life at St. George's Church and Academy in Laguna Hills, California.

Episcopal Church Diocese of San Joaquin Threatens Breakaway

2007-12-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

The AP reported today that:

FRESNO, Calif. - Headed into a critical vote, an Episcopal diocese in central California is poised to split with the national denomination over what its bishop sees as the threat of moral decay in the church.

The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin is expected to vote by Saturday to secede from the U.S. church, becoming the first full diocese to do so because of a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.

An affirmative vote would place San Joaquin under the leadership of a like-minded, conservative Anglican diocese in Argentina. It is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the diocese's multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets.

In a letter to parishioners, Bishop John-David Schofield said "those who claim they want to remain Episcopalians but reject the biblical standards of morality ... will — in the end — be left solely with a name and a bureaucratic structure."

The head of the U.S. denomination has warned Schofield against secession.

"I do not need to remind you as well of the potential consequences of the direction in which you appear to be leading the Diocese of San Joaquin," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter Monday to him. "I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw back from this trajectory."

Schofield responded that the diocese would go forward with the vote during its annual convention, which starts Friday. He all but predicted that delegates would choose to break with the Episcopal Church, the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_us/episcopalians_secession_2

Federal Court Ruling Upholds Separation of Church and State

2007-12-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - December 3 - A federal appeals court today ruled that tax funding of an evangelical Christian rehabilitation program at an Iowa state prison violates the separation of church and state and must end.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that government support for the InnerChange Freedom Initiative at Newton Correctional Facility -- a program operated by Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries -- advances religious indoctrination at state expense. Americans United brought the litigation against InnerChange on behalf of inmates, their families and taxpayers.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, hailed the ruling.

"This is an extremely important decision," said Lynn. "Government officials have no business paying for religious indoctrination and awarding special treatment and benefits to those willing to embrace one religious perspective.

"Government should not single out a particular religion for special treatment," Lynn continued. "You simply cannot give government funds to a religious group for its evangelism program."

Added AU Senior Litigation Counsel Alex J. Luchenitser, "This ruling is a major setback for the White House’s ‘Faith-Based Initiative.’ It reaffirms that the government must ensure that public funds are not used for religious instruction, and that the government must not aid programs that discriminate based on religion.”

Americans United presented evidence that inmates who took part in InnerChange were given better treatment and perks that were not available to others, including better housing and expedited access to classes required for parole. During its investigation of the program, AU discovered that InnerChange was saturated with evangelical Christianity and that staff members were frequently hostile to other faiths.

At trial, inmates testified that they were pressured to convert to evangelical Christianity, and that the beliefs of Roman Catholics and other faiths were ridiculed. The court record showed that non-Christians were frequently referred to as "unsaved," "lost," "pagan" and "sinful" by InnerChange staff. The program required staffers to abide by an evangelical statement of faith.

In a unanimous decision joined by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the appeals court upheld a lower court ruling issued on June 2, 2006, except that it reversed a portion of the lower court ruling that required InnerChange to return funds it received prior to June 2006. InnerChange will still need to return funds it received after the June 2006 ruling.

The decision states: "In the present case, plaintiffs demonstrated . . . that the InnerChange program resulted in inmate enrollment in a program dominated by Bible study, Christian classes, religious revivals, and church services."

The opinion concluded that the state’s “direct aid to InnerChange violated the Establishment clauses of the United States and Iowa Constitutions.”

Corrections officials in other states have considered adopting InnerChange. Lynn said today's ruling should bring those plans to a screeching halt.

The lead trial counsel in the case was Americans United’s Senior Litigation Counsel Luchenitser. The trial team also included AU Litigation Counsel Heather L. Weaver and Iowa constitutional law attorney Dean Stowers. Luchenitser also presented the oral argument to the appeals court on behalf of the plaintiffs.

PHR Opposes Proposed US Travel Restrictions for People with AIDS on Human Rights Grounds, Calls for Complete Lifting of US HIV 'Travel Ban'

2007-12-01T00:19:00.000-08:00

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - November 30 - Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) opposes proposed regulations developed by the Bush administration's Department of Homeland Security that would increase the obstacles for people living with HIV who seek to visit the United States. Since the travel ban is a US law, PHR is calling on the White House and Congress to lift US HIV travel restrictions entirely. Organizations have until December 6, 2007 to register comments to the Department of Homeland Security about the proposed changes to regulations governing the law. Under pressure from public health experts, China has recently agreed to drop its own travel ban against people with HIV. The current US rules have been opposed by over 200 health groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the World Health Organization.. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would appoint a commission to examine public health aspects of the US travel restrictions against people with HIV, the HIV Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration Act of 2007.

Renowned AIDS physician, researcher, and PHR Health Action AIDS Campaign advisor Paul Volberding, MD, made the following statement regarding the proposed regulations:

"In 1990, I was the co-chair of the International AIDS Conference in San Francisco and President of the International AIDS Society. Because of this misguided US policy, the IAS decided to never again allow the US to host this important scientific meeting until the travel restrictions were changed. The proposed new rules, if anything, make the restrictions even more discriminatory. For the US, which has assumed a laudable leadership role in HIV science and global treatment, to impose such an uninformed, misguided and unnecessary policy on our visitors is more than unfortunate. While our citizens can and do travel to other countries for pleasure and business without restrictions, we erect discriminatory barriers against those from other countries for a chronic, treatable disease that is not casually spread. It's past time for political decisions to be informed by the very science our own government has so appropriately supported."

PHR Health Action AIDS Campaign Director Pat Daoust, MSN, RN said, "If we are ever to effectively address HIV/AIDS from a public health perspective, we must first abolish all discriminatory practices against those infected with HIV. The travel ban is nothing more than a continuation of misunderstood, and offensive, practices that violate human rights and contribute to the stigma that fuels this pandemic."

Under the current regulations, it is possible for HIV-positive visitors to seek a "waiver" to the HIV ban, allowing them to visit the US for no longer than 30 days. Such waivers right now are capriciously granted and difficult to obtain; the visitor's passport is permanently stamped to indicate that the bearer is HIV positive. New regulations would require the visitor to demonstrate that they have no HIV symptoms, can supply evidence that the danger they pose to public health is minimal, and that they have an adequate supply of medication for their trip. Under the current system and proposed regulations, they must also prove that they have been counseled about how HIV is transmitted, and show that they have adequate funding to pay for any medical care they may require. Such stipulations are not placed on visitors with heart conditions and other costly medical problems. PHR said that the current law, and the proposed regulations, violate the human rights to freedom of movement, freedom from discrimination, and privacy. "There are no valid public health grounds for the restrictions, which were originally established during the late 1980s by the Reagan administration," said Daoust.

If a person does become gravely ill while visiting the US with expenses that he or she can't cover, under the new regulations the person could be barred for life from entering the US again.

Archbishop of Canterbury Says U. S. Has Lost High Moral Ground

2007-11-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

Reuters Reported Today that:

LONDON (Reuters) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of the world's Anglicans, has launched an attack on the United States, saying it has lost the high moral ground since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Williams, a longtime critic of the war in Iraq, said in uncharacteristically blunt language: "We have only one hegemonic power at the moment. It is not accumulating territory, it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That's not working."

Asked in an interview with the Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel, if he thought the United States had lost the high moral ground since the 9/11 attacks, he replied "Yes."

Drawing comparisons between British imperialism and the 21st Century United States, Williams said: "It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering and normalizing it.

"Rigthly or wrongly, that is what the British Empire did -- in India for example."

"It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put things back together again -- Iraq for example."

ACLU Responds to Federal Court Ruling in "State Secrets" Lawsuit About Warrantless

2007-11-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - November 16 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled today that a charity that sued President Bush for engaging in unconstitutional surveillance can pursue its case in court. The Bush administration had asked the appellate court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the very subject matter of the litigation – the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program – was a state secret. The Ninth Circuit rejected this argument, noting that the government had publicly acknowledged the surveillance program and that senior officials had discussed the program in press conferences and statements. The court did, however, find that an inadvertently disclosed document indicating that the charity had been the target of surveillance was properly protected by the state secrets privilege, and returned the case back to the district court to determine whether the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act preempts the state secrets privilege in this context.

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project and counsel to the plaintiffs in ACLU v. NSA, in which a request for review is pending before the Supreme Court:

"As the court properly recognized, the government should not be permitted to shut down litigation simply by asserting that a case implicates state secrets. In the al-Haramain case and many others, it's clear that the executive branch is using the state secrets privilege not to protect legitimate national security information but to shield the government and its agents from accountability for systemic violations of the Constitution. A state secrets privilege that operates in this way serves neither national security nor the country's broader interest in the rule of law."

The following can be attributed to Ann Brick, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California and counsel in two U.S. District Court cases in the Northern District of California involving state secrets claims by the government: Riordan v. Verizon Communications, Inc., which challenges Verizon's turnover of customer call records to the NSA, and Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., which challenges the practice of "extraordinary rendition":

"The Bush administration's ever-increasing use of the state secrets privilege to thwart holding it accountable for its illegal conduct remains deeply troubling. We see it in the al-Harmain case, where the administration has baldly admitted that it acted in utter disregard of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and we see it in the administration’s use of the privilege to avoid judicial scrutiny of violations of basic human rights on questions of torture and rendition. The courts have an important role to play in all of these cases and it is very significant that the Ninth Circuit sent the al-Haramain case back to the district court for a determination of whether FISA trumps the common law state secrets privilege."

CCR Files Amicus Brief in First Guantánamo Case Before European Court of Human Rights

2007-11-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - November 15 -Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed an amicus brief in the first Guantánamo case before the European Court of Human Rights.

Boumediene and others v. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first case on behalf of Guantánamo prisoners before an international tribunal, where international human rights law applies and is enforceable. It is also the first case to address the issue of what responsibility other countries that assisted the U.S. in transferring men to Guantánamo have for the violations that occur at the prison camp.

One of the issues of responsibility the court will rule on is whether Bosnia has an obligation to do more diplomatically to try to get its citizens and residents out of Guantánamo, given that it helped put them there in the first place when it delivered the six men to U.S. authorities immediately after they had been cleared of any wrongdoing by a Bosnian court.

"If the European Court rules favorably, it will essentially be telling Bosnia that it has an obligation to get these men out of Guantánamo and to step up and recognize its responsibility to do more than it has been doing," said CCR attorney Pardiss Kebriaei. "The ruling could potentially affect efforts to have other countries help with the safe resettlement of former detainees as well."

Many countries are guilty of unlawfully assisting the U.S. in its "war on terror" by illegally handing people over to U.S. authorities, letting the U.S. use their territory or airspace to conduct renditions to torture or as sites for secret CIA prisons, and possibly committing other violations of national and international law. This is the first case that addresses the responsibility of a country for redressing these violations.

Among international human rights tribunals, the European Court of Human Rights is one of the strongest and most respected, and its decisions are enforceable.

CCR attorneys stated that a court order for Bosnia to do more to get its men out of Guantánamo is exactly the kind of step that is necessary to safely empty the prison and be able to finally close it down.

CCR has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for the last six years – sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and – just this month – sending the first attorney to meet with a former CIA "ghost detainee." CCR has been responsible for organizing and coordinating the largest ever coalition of pro-bono lawyers in order to defend the men at Guantánamo, ensuring that nearly all have been represented. CCR will be representing the detainees with co-counsel in the Supreme Court on December 5.

Iran: End harassment of Women’s Rights Defenders

2007-11-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Human Rights Groups Protest Imminent Imprisonment of Delaram Ali

WASHINGTON - November 12 - Seven leading international human rights organizations today demanded that the Iranian authorities immediately set aside the prison sentence against a women’s rights defender, and drop charges against others facing trial because of their peaceful activities demanding equal rights for women in Iran.

Amnesty International (AI), Equality Now (EN), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Front Line (FL), Human Rights First (HRF), Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) were reacting to news that 24 year old social worker and women’s rights defender Delaram Ali faces imminent imprisonment. In July 2007, she was sentenced to 34 months in prison and to a 10 lash flogging on charges of "participation in an illegal gathering," "propaganda against the system" and "disrupting public order and peace." These charges were brought against her after she participated in a peaceful demonstration in Tehran’s Haft Tir Square on 12 June 2006 calling for an end to discriminatory legislation against women. She was beaten by police during her arrest and had her left hand broken. At her trial, her defence lawyer was not allowed to speak and address the court in her defence.

Delaram Ali received a phone call from the authorities on 4 November 2007 in which she was told that her appeal against conviction and sentence had been completed and that she should report to the court by 10 November for the sentence to be carried out. She was warned that, if she failed to do so, she would face arrest. She was told that her prison sentence had been reduced to 30 months’ imprisonment and the flogging sentence had been commuted, but as yet, neither she nor her lawyers have received any other notification – under the law, she should be issued with the court’s written verdict.

Several other women’s rights defenders have been sentenced to prison terms in connection with the June 2006 demonstration but all are currently free awaiting the outcome of appeals. If Delaram Ali is imprisoned, she will be the first to have her sentence implemented.

The authorities have also been harassing members of the Campaign for Equality, launched shortly after the 12 June 2006 demonstration, which aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians to a petition demanding an end to legislation, which discriminates against women. More than a dozen people have been arrested while collecting signatures. Most recently, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, active members of the Campaign in Kordestan province, were detained on 9 October and 4 November and are currently held without charge or trial in Sanandaj, apparently by local officials from the Ministry of Intelligence.

Amnesty International, Equality Now, FIDH, Front Line, Human Rights First, Women Living Under Muslim Laws and OMCT would regard the imprisonment of Delaram Ali, solely for her peaceful actions as a defender of women’s rights, as a gross violation of her rights to freedom of expression and association. Her summons appears to be part of a deliberate campaign by the Iranian authorities to intimidate human rights activists and wider civil society in Iran, where an unprecedented crack down on peaceful dissent is underway.

In addition, the above-mentioned organisations expressed concern at the degree to which Iranian security forces who ill-treat detainees during arrest are able to act with impunity.Delaram Ali lodged a complaint against her ill-treatment during arrest, along with the others who were beaten, but in October 2007, despite the existence of photographs of the demonstration showing ill-treatment, and the medical evidence presented, the case against the police officers who had been present at the demonstration was dismissed.

Bill Would Streamline Whistleblower Protections

2007-11-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC - November 2 -The Government Accountability Project (GAP) applauds Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, and a group of 13 co-sponsors, for introducing the “Private Sector Whistleblower Protection Streamlining Act of 2007” yesterday, November 1. The legislation, H.R. 4047, would for the first time establish a uniform, coherent system of legal protections for all private sector, state and municipal employees who are retaliated against for disclosing threats to public safety or violations of federal law.

“This is a ‘Good Housekeeping,’ good government measure more than 30 years overdue,” said GAP Legal Director Tom Devine. “Whistleblowers are the life blood for the government to enforce consumer protection laws. But the legal system is hopelessly dysfunctional. For too long, whistleblower law at the non-federal government and corporate levels has been a crazy quilt of contradictory, hit or – usually – miss protections tucked into specific public health and safety laws.”

The list of 13 original co-sponsors includes Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL), Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Rep. Don Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), and Rep. John Tierney (D-MA).

The legislation uniformly adopts “best practices” whistleblower protection models Congress already has passed, or has been considering, on an issue-by-issue basis since last November’s election. To illustrate, in August President Bush signed into law enhanced whistleblower protections for ground transportation employees in the rail, bus, trucking, and public transit industries. The Senate Commerce Committee this week advanced similar protections for employees who blow the whistle on violations of product safety standards. The Senate approved modern, “best practices” whistleblower protections for employees of defense contractors as part of its FY2007 defense bill.

H.R. 4047 applies the modern “best practices” throughout the private sector and for non-federal government employees for enforcement of consumer protection laws in areas including health and health care, environmental protection, food and drug safety, transportation safety, building and construction-related requirements, energy, homeland, and community security, and financial transactions or reporting requirements, including banking, insurance, and securities laws.

“It will benefit labor, management and the public to streamline the 32 disparate federal whistleblower statutes, while filling arbitrary coverage gaps,” GAP Legislative Representative Adam Miles explained. “Currently almost everyone is flying blind about whistleblower rights. Nobody knows what the rules are without a legal specialist.”

To illustrate, an employee at a meat packing plant has whistleblower rights when challenging the release of fecal-contaminated water flowing into a river. But the same employee has no rights when disclosing the shipment of fecal-contaminated meat and poultry to a supermarket’s butcher case. A truck driver is protected for challenging bad tires, but not illegal cargo in his haul. An employee of a pharmaceutical company has protection for disclosing false statements in financial reports to shareholders. But there is no protection for challenging false statements to the government or the public about potentially lethal drug safety hazards.

FCC Pressed to Stop Comcast’s Internet Blocking

2007-11-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Free Press, Public Knowledge, MAP file official complaint against cable giant for Net Neutrality violations

WASHINGTON, DC - November 1 - Responding to Comcast’s blocking of Internet traffic, members of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition and Internet scholars at the nation’s top law schools today filed a petition and complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. The filings call for urgent action to stop violations of consumers’ right to access the software and content of their choice.

In the “most drastic example yet of data discrimination,” the Associated Press recently exposed that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company and second-largest Internet service provider, is actively interfering with its users’ ability to access legal content. The company is cutting off legal peer-to-peer file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Gnutella, as well as business applications such as Lotus Notes. Comcast has claimed its actions were “reasonable network management.”

“Comcast’s defense is bogus,” said Ben Scott policy director of Free Press. “The FCC needs to take immediate action to put an end to this harmful practice. Comcast’s blatant and deceptive BitTorrent blocking is exactly the type of problem advocates warned would occur without Net Neutrality laws. Our message to both the FCC and Congress is simple: We told you so, now do something about it.”

The “Petition for Declaratory Ruling” presses the FCC to establish that blocking peer-to-peer communications like BitTorrent violates the agency’s “Internet Policy Statement” — four principles issued in 2005 that are supposed to guarantee consumers competition among providers and access to all content, applications and services.

“Last year, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and opponents of Net Neutrality told Congress that the FCC has all the authority it needs to prevent exactly this sort of customer abuse by a major provider,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Media Access Project. “Now we come to the acid test. Will the FCC, which vowed to protect our freedom to run the applications of our choice, stand up for citizens in the face of Comcast?”

The FCC issued its policy after dismantling longstanding “open access” requirements that had protected Net Neutrality since the birth of the Internet. Millions of concerned citizens and hundreds of organizations from across the political spectrum have urged Congress and the FCC to reinstate and enforce Net Neutrality laws to prevent discrimination by cable and phone companies, which dominate nearly 95 percent of the broadband market.

“The Commission has a choice,” said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge. “It can either protect consumers from the abuses of telephone and cable companies, or it can walk away and let the telephone and cable companies chip away at the free and open Internet little by little until they can control consumer use of the network as they please. We will see how serious the Commission is about preserving the neutral, non-discriminatory Internet that encourages innovation without permission.”

The petition was filed by Free Press, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and Barbara von Shewick of Stanford Law School and the Stanford Center for Internet & Society.

Free Press and Public Knowledge also filed a complaint against Comcast, asking the FCC to stop Comcast from interfering with Internet traffic and rule that the cable giant’s actions directly violate the agency’s Internet Policy Statement. The groups proposed fines to deter future violations by Comcast and other Internet service providers.

“Nobody gave Comcast the right to be an Internet gatekeeper,” says Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and co-author of the complaint. “And there is nothing reasonable about telling users which Internet services they can and can’t use.”

ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury says new national Armed Forces Memorial helps 'make the invisible visible'

2007-10-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

October 12, 2007
[Lambeth Palace, London] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, gave a sermon at the October 12 Service of Dedication of the Armed Forces Memorial, in which he said that the memorial is a reminder of the often invisible service and skill that keeps Britain's national community secure.

"We lift up a visible and tangible reminder, so that we don't get trapped in unthinking, complacent security...," Williams said. "[E]ach name here recorded represents a unique moment of loss and anguish for a family and a group of comrades. There is nothing abstract about this commemoration. In doing this, we rediscover things about our own humanity that we often shy away from - our urgent need of each other, the reality of a common life supported by gift and sacrifice."

Williams stressed the need for the memorial as a way to allow grief and compassion to enter human lives, however momentarily: "We have let ourselves be challenged and our comfort interrupted by this memorial," he said.

"For this brief moment we have seen more than we normally let ourselves see; and we pray the God upon whose risky, sacrificial love we all depend to teach us the honesty, the thanksgiving, and the pity we need to keep us fully human," he added.

Williams also spoke of the appreciation for all elements of the armed forces, whether in the front line or in more supportive roles: "When we recognize our debt to them, it is not only to those who have served and struggled heroically but to those whose daily work and faithful support make it possible for heroism to happen. When we say our thank you's to them, it is to all of them."

Illegal Government Surveillance Opens Door to More Privacy Violations

2007-10-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

EFF Tells Congress About Hidden Costs of Dragnet Spying

SAN FRANCISCO - October 12 – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told a congressional committee today that the government's illegal dragnet electronic surveillance opens the door to even more privacy violations for ordinary Americans.

The sheer volume of personal information collected and the databases in which that information is stored create a giant target for attackers who want to steal or expose Americans' personal data. In a response to questions asked of EFF by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn explained in comments submitted Friday that an increase in the number of databases introduces more points of vulnerability into the system, putting sensitive personal information from millions of people at risk.

"We have all heard about security problems with government databases. A report from the Department of Homeland Security found 477 breaches in 2006 alone," said Cohn. "The warrantless domestic surveillance going on now isn't just illegal -- it could expose your personal information to thieves and criminals."

The committee asked EFF for input as part of its review of the Protect America Act, deeply flawed legislation that broadly expanded the National Security Agency's authority to spy on Americans without warrants. Next week, the House is set to vote on the RESTORE Act, a bill designed restore the civil liberties lost under the previous law.

Since the committee had also sent a list of key questions to AT&T and the other major telecommunications firms about their involvement in illegal surveillance activities, EFF provided the committee information about the Hepting v. AT&T lawsuit. EFF represents the plaintiffs in this class-action lawsuit brought by AT&T customers, accusing the telecommunications company of violating their rights by illegally assisting the NSA's domestic surveillance. The Hepting case is just one of many suits aimed at holding telecoms responsible for knowingly violating federal privacy laws with warrantless wiretapping and the illegal transfer of vast amounts of personal data to the government.

EFF also provided the committee with a legal analysis of the use of so-called "exigent letters" by the government to obtain information about Americans and about their "communities of interest," two topics also raised by the committee in its letters to the telecommunications carriers. EFF's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) work uncovered this illegal broadening of surveillance authority.

"We're pleased that the committee is interested in obtaining answers from the leading telecommunications carriers about whether they have been following the privacy laws protecting their customers' communications. Congressional oversight of the telecommunications companies' activities is long overdue," said Cohn.

Doctors Without Borders Warns More Food Will Not Save Malnourished Children

2007-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - October 10 – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today called for increased and expanded use of nutrient dense ready-to-use food (RUF) to reduce the five million annual deaths worldwide related to malnutrition in children under five years of age. Current food aid, which focuses on fighting hunger—not on treating malnutrition—is not doing enough to address the needs of young children most at risk, MSF warned.

"It's not only about how much food children get, it's what's in the food that counts," said Dr. Christophe Fournier, president of MSF's International Council. "Without the right amounts of vitamins and essential nutrients in their diet, young kids become vulnerable to disease that they would normally be able to fight off easily. Calls for increased food aid ignore the special needs of young children who are at the greatest risk of dying."

RUFs, which come in individually wrapped rations, contain all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that a young child needs. This dense therapeutic food, which has milk powder, sugars, and vegetable fats, can be produced and stored locally and transported easily, and requires no refrigeration, making it ideal for use in hot climates. It allows a child to recover from being malnourished and catch up on lost growth. Being easy-to-use, mothers—not doctors and nurses—are the main caregivers, meaning far more children at risk can be reached.

"In Somalia we are giving acutely malnourished kids packets of ready-to-use food and we see them gain weight and begin thriving within a couple of weeks," said Dr Gustavo Fernandez, MSF head of mission in Somalia. "RUFs are practical to use in places like Somalia where security is very bad. General food distribution is also needed, but it is not going to be very effective to treat kids under three years old."

Severe acute malnutrition in early childhood is common in large areas of the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and South Asia -- the world's "malnutrition hotspots." The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 20 million young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition at any given moment and MSF estimates that only three percent of them will receive RUF in 2007.

Therapeutic RUF for only severely malnourished children, as current WHO, World Food Program, and UNICEF guidelines recommend, is too restrictive. Given its nutritional benefits, RUF has the potential to address malnutrition at earlier stages and is far more effective than fortified blended flour, which is normally distributed. MSF is piloting a program using a modified RUF as a supplement to prevent children from becoming acutely malnourished.

"Instead of waiting for kids to get gravely ill we decided to act earlier," said Dr. Susan Shepherd, MSF medical coordinator, Maradi, Niger. "We are piloting a program that gives RUF to all children under three in at-risk communities so that they get the nutrients that are missing in their normal diet."

Through this early treatment or prevention approach in Niger, MSF is providing mothers with small containers of RUF as a supplement to their normal diet. Early results from this ongoing project, which is reaching more than 62,000 children, indicate that RUF is significantly more effective than the traditional approach of supplying fortified flours and cooking oil to mothers of young children.

MSF is calling for donors and UN agencies to urgently speed up the introduction and expansion of RUF. This is going to take a new allocation of funds to cover the cost of €750 million (approximately $1.05 billion) to reach the most vulnerable. But it will also take a realigning of food aid strategies with existing and newly developed products that have the nutrition needed to cure malnourished children.

MSF has been treating malnutrition with therapeutic RUF since the first products became available in the late 1990s, and in 2006 treated more than 150,000 children with acute malnutrition in 22 countries.

Why the Deafening Silence Regarding Iraqi Civilian Casualties?

2007-10-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

COLORADO - October 8 – While we frequently hear references to the thousands of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, there is little or no mention given by the U.S. government or media to the Iraqi civilian death toll. But three weeks ago, for the second time in about 14 months, reputable sources estimated Iraqi civilian deaths to be near a million. Unlike most other estimates, these are based on surveys conducted throughout most regions of Iraq. Why then are these casualty estimates largely ignored or downplayed, while relatively low estimates based solely on fatalities confirmed in media reports are treated as credible?

In July 2006, a study funded by MIT and conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers estimated the "excess deaths" in Iraq -- the difference between the pre- and post-invasion death rates. This estimate was determined by surveying "12,801 people living in 47 clusters" throughout Iraq, according to study co-author Gilbert Burnham. Participants were asked about the numbers of deaths in their household since the invasion. Teams asked for death certificates 87% of the time, and these were presented in 92% of the cases. The resulting death rate estimate was extrapolated over the entire population, resulting in an estimate of deaths due to the direct and indirect consequences of the invasion. The result: 654,965 deaths, within a 95% confidence interval of 392,979 to 942,636, with 92% of fatalities due to violence. At the time, John Zogby, whose polling company had done several surveys in post-invasion Iraq, said "The sampling is solid. The methodology is as good as it gets. It is what people in the statistics business do."

This horrifying gut-wrenching estimate is now supported by a similar Iraqi household study released last month, and done by the respected UK-based ORB research group. It surveyed 1,499 Iraqis in 15 of the 18 provinces. Results showed that 83% died from violence. The total estimated death toll since the invasion was 1,220,580. Based on a 2.5% margin of error, there was a minimum of 733,158 deaths and a maximum of 1,446,063.

AFP National Chairman Jonathan Hill stated, "Our illegal and unjust invasion has probably, directly and indirectly, led to about one million Iraqi deaths. Respect for constitutional foreign policy principles would certainly have avoided this blunder and many others. It is high time for cheerleaders of this war to face their mistake and change direction. We all need to work together now to minimize further loss of life and end this tragic war."

Russia Should Rethink Use of Youth Groups to Police Protests

2007-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW - October 5 – Russian police should rethink the use of police volunteers from pro-Kremlin youth groups, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent to the Minister of the Interior today. At a minimum, the police should ensure accountability for the volunteers’ actions before proceeding with their use.

According to recent news reports, Moscow city police have recruited volunteers from the pro-Kremlin youth group “Nashi” (Ours) to patrol Moscow streets, including at demonstrations and opposition events. Members of Nashi have stated that they will mobilize Nashi patrols to prevent “destabilization” of the country from opposition groups.

“Nashi is no neutral group,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Our fear is that instead of keeping order, Nashi will try to silence critics.”

Nashi has stated that it will deploy police volunteers to an opposition event planned for Sunday, October 7, 2007. Members of the Russian People’s Democratic Union have announced plans to hold a public meeting of the “Dissenters’” March. The Moscow Mayor’s Office issued a permit for the meeting to be held at Pushkin Square in Moscow on the afternoon of October 7.

Human Rights Watch said that police volunteers do not have the right to use force or to detain people, and if they do, it’s a crime. If police give volunteers special authority, they must do so in accordance with the law, and volunteers are bound by the same rules as the police.

In the past year, police in Moscow and other cities around Russia have used disproportionate force to violently disperse the peaceful Dissenters’ Marches.

Federal Migration Service officials have also used youth group members for law enforcement purposes. They announced that on September 15 they enlisted members of a nationalist youth group called “Mestnye” (Locals) to seek out and detain migrants, whom they alleged were working illegally at Moscow’s busy Yaroslavskii market.

In the letter, Human Rights Watch urged the police not to use volunteers in this manner, and reminded them that, if they did, they must take measures to ensure transparency and accountability for any powers given to Nashi volunteers.

“Police using volunteers need to ensure they are held accountable for their actions,” Cartner said. “Police need to take steps to prevent the unlawful use of force or vigilante-style justice by its volunteers and investigate any complaints about their actions.”

New Revelations About Secret Torture Authorizations From DOJ

2007-10-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - October 4 – The New York Times reported today that the U.S. government is still holding people at CIA black sites after purporting to end the program a year ago, and is generating secret memos to propagate a program of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" that in reality qualify as torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

"Even as the government was publicly denouncing torture, our client Majid Khan and others were being subjected to it," said Vincent Warren, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). The Center represents many of the detainees at Guantánamo including Majid Khan, a Baltimore resident who was held in secret CIA detention until last September. CCR is representing the detainees before the Supreme Court this term in a direct challenge to the unprecedented and unconstitutional expansion of executive authority to detain suspects without due process.

According to CCR attorneys, administration officials in both the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote opinions and sought to justify U.S. torture tactics in order to support the president's will and not the rule of law. It is clear from reports that even within the Department of Justice and the administration there has been strong dissent against these policies, and that those who have opposed them have been phased out of their roles or sidelined.

Speaking of the upcoming confirmation process for the new attorney general, Vincent Warren said that in order to restore honor to the office, the nominee must publicly promise to rescind the broad torture framework unlawfully built up by this administration, turn over all relevant documents to Congress, and mount an investigation of DOJ complicity in subverting the rule of law. "Torture is illegal, immoral, and it doesn't work. Detainee torture policies that produce faulty intelligence and exaggerated confessions result in innocent men being locked up. Without access to real courts and the ability to challenge the basis for their detention, the detainees will never see justice."

Amnesty International USA and Responsible Endowment Coalition Launch Guide to Support Responsible Investing by U.S. Colleges and Universities

2007-10-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - October 3 – The first-ever step-by-step guide to encourage colleges and universities to adopt responsible investment practices in pursuit of social and environmental change is being released today in a collaboration between Amnesty International USA and the Responsible Endowments Coalition. The guide is aimed at higher education trustees and administrators and student activists who want to push for responsible investing on their campuses.

Available online at no cost (www.endownmentethics.org) the handbook, Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance Issues into Institutional Investment: a Handbook for Colleges and Universities, is a comprehensive guide with real-world examples and best practices from leading academic institutions.

Amy O'Meara, a business and human rights campaigner for Amnesty International USA, said that while the trend toward responsible investing has been gaining over the last decade most academic institutions continue to invest in at least some companies whose policies and practices offer no protections for the environment or human rights and may, in fact, hurt either or both. "Colleges and universities could use their power as investors to press companies to improve how they respond to social and environmental challenges. But often they do not," O'Meara said.

"The truth is, academic institutions in the United States lag behind public and private pension funds, foundations, and even mutual funds in adopting strategies and policies for responsible investing," said O'Meara. "The value of college and university endowments now exceeds $340 billion in the United States. If higher education devoted a larger share of these endowments to responsible investments, the impact on the common good and on social and environmental change could be enormous."

Morgan Simon, executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, said: "Our handbook explains in depth how college trustees, investment managers and students can align investment strategies with their institutions' values and missions. Long term, colleges with responsible practices can have a significant impact on how companies define their response to social and environmental challenges in addition to supporting their own communities."

Simon said: "The guide provides many compelling examples of best practices from colleges and universities who have taken some leadership in this area."

Sixteen of the top 20-ranked colleges and universities (2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings) have adopted some practices that incorporate social, environmental and governance concerns in investment decisions.

The practices range from committees on investor responsibility to formal processes that allow students to petition for shareholder advocacy on issues that are of concern

Overall, more than $2.29 trillion in assets in the United States are currently managed using one or more strategies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. This means that one out of ten dollars under professional management in the United States today is involved in some form of ESG investing.

The handbook offers information on legal issues, investment strategies, including positive investment screening and community investment, sample investment policies, and outlines various methods of shareholder advocacy and direct engagement with companies whose practices may be of concern. The guide was endorsed by the Social Investment Forum, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Friends of the Earth.

"This resource can offer win-win solutions for those seeking creative yet responsible approaches to university investing,” said Timothy Smith, Senior Vice President for Walden Asset Management and Chair, Social Investment Forum.

Lisa Sachs, a co-author of the handbook and currently a third-year student at Columbia Law School, is now a leader pushing for action on this issue on her campus. "The world of finance and investments is often confusing to students, even those who are intent on getting their schools to change their endowment policies. I think we have been able to break down complex ideas and put them into a form that students can turn into action."

"College students today have a low tolerance for hypocrisy, and many are getting an education so that they can better fight the massive injustices they see in the world, including human rights abuses by companies. These students are ready to undertake sophisticated efforts to reform their college endowments with the guidance this handbook offers," said Sachs.

The Responsible Endowments Coalition works to foster social and environmental change and promote corporate reform through university endowments by educating and empowering a diverse community of university members and allies.

Amnesty International USA, as part of its overarching mission to protect and promote human rights, works to ensure that companies abide by international human rights obligations in their global business operations.

Canada Refuses Entry to CODEPINK Cofounder Medea Benjamin and Retired Colonel Ann Wright

2007-10-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - October 3 – Two well-respected US peace activists, CODEPINK and Global Exchange cofounder Medea Benjamin and retired Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, were denied entry into Canada today (Wednesday, October 3). The two women were headed to Toronto to discuss peace and security issues at the invitation of the Toronto Stop the War Coalition. At the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. They will hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC to ask the Canadian government to reverse its policy of barring peaceful protesters.

The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience.

WHEN: Thursday, October 4th at 1pm

WHERE: Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC

"In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world," says Benjamin. "For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country."

"The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies," says Colonel Wright, who was also Deputy US Ambassador in four countries. "The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country."

Both Wright and Benjamin plan to request their files from the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act and demand that arrests for peaceful, non-violent actions be expunged from international records.

"It's outrageous that Canada is turning away peacemakers protesting a war that does not have the support of either US or Canadian citizens," says Benjamin. "In the past, Canada has always welcomed peace activists with open arms. This new policy, obviously a creature of the Bush administration, is shocking and we in the US and Canada must insist that it be overturned.

Four members of the Canadian Parliament--Peggy Nash, Libby Davies, Paul Dewar and Peter Julian-- expressed outrage that the peace activists were barred from Canada and vow to change this policy.

ACLU Urges Senate to Move Ahead With Contempt Charges, Rejects Claim of Executive Privilege

2007-10-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC - October 2– Today, the American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to move forward with contempt proceedings against White House officials who refused to cooperate with legitimate subpoenas issued under congressional authority. The ACLU also released a memo to assist Congress in understanding the limits of executive privilege and the authorities it has to compel compliance with the subpoenas issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee on the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program. The ACLU’s memo concludes that the documents requested are not covered under the privilege and should be released immediately. The administration has already missed two deadlines set by the committee.

"Many presidents have overreached by claiming executive privilege to hide documents and witnesses from public oversight, and each time Congress has slapped their hands," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Today’s Congress must do the same if it wishes to operate as a meaningful and equal branch of government."

The courts have long held that executive privilege is not absolute, and even where it applies it can be overcome if the other branches of government can show they need the information. Congress has significant legislative and oversight interests in the NSA warrantless wiretapping program because it is currently considering legislation to replace the Protect America Act.

Most importantly, the courts have held that the privilege cannot be invoked to hide government wrongdoing. Even where issues concerning national security are at stake Congress has a right to the information it needs to fulfill its constitutional obligations. Facing a possible constitutional crisis capable of destroying our crucial checks and balances, the ACLU also reminded Congress just how vital its oversight and legislative role is.

"The federal courts have long held that Congress has the authority not only to pass laws, but investigate their implementation," added Fredrickson. "Congress is facing an historic moment where it can either fight for its rightful place in our constitutional system of government or accept the president’s continued and sweeping claims of supremacy. It’s do or die time for the separation of powers."

Senate Passage of Hate Crimes Bill Moves Bill Closer Than Ever To Becoming Law

2007-09-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

9/27/2007

WASHINGTON– In an historic step toward equality for GLBT Americans, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which updates and expands the federal hate crimes laws to include bias motivated violence based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability, and provides new resources and tools to assist local law enforcement in prosecuting vicious crimes.

"For over a decade our community has worked tirelessly to ensure protections to combat violence motivated by hate and today we are the closest we have ever been to seeing that become a reality," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Congress has taken an historic step forward and moved our country closer to the realization that all Americans, including the GLBT community, are part of the fabric of our nation. The new leadership in Congress fully understands that for too long our community has been terrorized by hate violence. And today, the US Senate has sent a clear message to every corner of our country that we will no longer turn a blind eye to anti-gay violence in America."

The Senate in a bipartisan vote of 60 to 39 accepted cloture which ended debate on the bill and then moved to approve the Matthew Shepard Act by a voice vote -- attaching it as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill.

On May 3rd, the House of Representatives passed a companion bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592), with a strong bipartisan margin of 237 to 180. Twenty-six state Attorneys General, including 23 from states with anti-hate crimes laws already on the books, as well as 230 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations support the Matthew Shepard Act and the LLEHCPA because, despite progress toward equality in almost all segments of our society, hate crimes continue to spread fear and violence and local law enforcement often lack the tools and resources to prevent and prosecute them. Some of these supporting organizations include the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 26 state attorneys general, the National District Attorneys Association, the NAACP, the Episcopal Church, the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the YWCA of the USA and the United Methodist Church.

The President has threatened to veto the legislation, calling it "unnecessary." According to the FBI, 25 Americans each day are victims of hate crimes–that means approximately one hate crime is committed every hour. One in six hate crimes are motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. It’s time to update the law to protect everyone, and this year marks our best chance yet to get it done.

"Hate crimes terrorize entire communities and violate America’s core democratic principles that all citizens are created equal and are afforded equal protection under the law," continued Solmonese. "On behalf of the millions of Americans who have waited too long for these critical protections, we urge President Bush to sign the bill when it arrives on his desk."

The hate crimes amendment was introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). It confers authority on the federal government to investigate and prosecute crimes committed against victims solely because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability when local officials are unwilling or unable to do so. It also expands existing federal hate crimes law to improve prosecution of bias-motivated crimes based on race, religious, national origin and color and provides additional resources to local law enforcement.

IBM to further develop Cell processor technology at IUPUI

2007-09-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Sept. 27, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- IBM announced today it will establish a worldwide center for developing products and applications using its advanced Cell chip technology at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis -- the first such IBM facility on a college campus.

IBM plans to staff the new 2,000-square-foot Future Technology Solution Design Center located in the university's Informatics and Communications Technology Complex with five professionals who will develop new products and applications based on advanced Cell processor technology.

IBM's investment in the facility is roughly $3.8 million, including equipment and staffing costs, with lab space and datacenter support leased from the university. Academic institutions and business customers will have access to the center to design, test and optimize new devices based on IBM's "supercomputer on a chip" technology.

"We chose Indiana for this center because of the close proximity of leading institutions like IU, IU School of Medicine and Purdue, as well as its well-earned reputation as a hot bed of life sciences expertise," said Robert Eades, manager of the center. "We believe we can couple this expertise with the advanced capabilities of our Cell technology to benefit not only medicine, but a broad range of industries and applications."

The Cell processor is an advanced chip developed in partnership by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, with up to nine processor cores that allow it to operate at speeds of up to 5GHz. Its ability to process large amounts of information, coupled with its high bandwidth communication capabilities, allow developers to place massive amounts of processing power into relatively small devices, improving performance easily and economically.

"This is a great new opportunity for Indiana and for our growing life sciences industry," said Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman. "IBM's commitment will allow the next generation of computing technology to evolve in Indiana."

Home to the IU School of Medicine, the nation's second-largest medical school, the IUPUI campus offers the new center access to researchers and life sciences leaders in the state to identify possible uses and applications for the new high-speed computing technology.

"Location matters, and locating this IBM applications center on the IUPUI campus brings together people and technology to advance Indiana," said Brad Wheeler, IU vice president for information technology and chief information officer. "This is a natural fit and an important public-private partnership for the state."

While IBM has partnerships with universities around the world, this is the first time it has located a technology development center staffed by IBM professionals on a college campus.

"To advance computing we are going to have to be more creative about how we use parallel programming," said Gerry McCartney, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Purdue University. "By placing the Future Technology Solution Design Center along Indiana's I-65 research corridor, IBM will be able to work with scientists and engineers from Purdue, IUPUI, and IU-Bloomington to optimize their research so that it will run on the next generation of supercomputers."

IBM has already logged advances in life sciences using the new technology. A partnership with the Mayo clinic has allowed development of a Cell-based system to quickly analyze and compare 3D MRI images from the same patient taken months apart to evaluate the effectiveness of cancer treatment. This comparative process that once took seven hours can now be performed in seven minutes or less using the new Cell-based system.

Future applications in the medical field could include a global database of medical images that would allow doctors around the world to compare samples in real time -- allowing a doctor in New York to consult a specialist in San Francisco to more accurately and promptly diagnose a patient's condition.

Cell processors also can be used in other applications requiring the processing and sharing of large amounts of data, particularly image-processing applications. For example, products based on Cell are being developed for use in sonar and radar applications by Mercury Computers.

Broadband Crisis Cripples Small Businesses

2007-09-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Consumer Groups Urge Congress to Improve Internet Access for all Americans

WASHINGTON - September 26– In testimony before the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship today, Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott will call on lawmakers to confront the lack of broadband competition that is hurting America’s small businesses in the global marketplace.

“The market failures of small business broadband come at a great economic expense,” Scott said. “American small business owners are at a huge competitive disadvantage to their counterparts in Europe and Asia, where broadband is widely available at much higher speeds and lower prices. Our entrepreneurs and innovators deserve better.”

Scott will testify at a hearing titled “Improving Internet Access to Help Small Business Compete in a Global Economy” on behalf of Free Press, Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America. Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps will also testify.

A live webcast of the hearing will be available at http://sbc.senate.gov/

Yesterday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, authored a guest post on the SavetheInternet.com blog inviting regular citizens to recommend ways to bring universal, affordable, high-speed Internet access to small businesses and all Americans.

“Without national broadband access, we’re throwing sand in the gears of our economy, placing a technological ceiling of job growth, innovation and economic production,” Senator Kerry wrote. “We need to make universal deployment a national priority.”

Every international ranking shows that the United States is falling behind the rest of the world in broadband availability, price and speed. Small businesses in other countries are able to choose among dozens of competitive business-class broadband options, while American small businesses have only their local monopoly telephone company.

The lack of competition in the broadband market is so severe that most small businesses are unable to purchase the kind of broadband service most suited to advance their competitive interests. Many small businesses — especially in rural areas — do not have any high-speed Internet connectivity.

“How can rural towns and cities hope to spark economic growth and attract new businesses when many lack a basic broadband connection?” Scott asks. “Until we have real broadband competition for everyone, our rural communities will continue to languish on the wrong side of the digital divide — at an enormous economic and social cost.”

Free Press, Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America will call on Congress to adopt a national broadband platform with policy initiatives that safeguard Network Neutrality; facilitate the collection of broadband data; open unused TV “white spaces” for wireless broadband use; ensure spectrum auctions produce real competitors not vertical integration; protect the rights of local governments to offer broadband services; transition Universal Service Fund programs to broadband; and spark broadband marketplace competition.

“Faith in the great American spirit of entrepreneurship is not a substitute for policy changes that would restore America’s technological edge in the global economy,” said Scott.

Burmese Junta's Record Suggest Potential for Violent Crackdown, Rights Group Says

2007-09-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - September 25 - With hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in peaceful protests against the military regime in Burma, the junta’s record for oppression of dissidents makes the potential for a violent crackdown there a “cause for extreme concern,” according to a leading human rights group.

“The current military regime in Burma has a bloody history. The massive, nonviolent protests in the streets of 1988, like those we saw yesterday, ended with some 3,000 people dead at the hands of the Burmese army,” said Betsy Apple, Director of the Crimes Against Humanity program at New York-based Human Rights First. “Why should we expect anything different today?”

“We can foresee the danger of violence here, which is why it’s critical for the United Nations Security Council and those with particular influence on Burma—namely China and ASEAN—to demand a peaceful resolution to these protests,” she added.

The current protests began in early August, when the Burmese junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), decided to double the price of fuel, making some of the world’s poorest people even poorer. In a series of smaller protests, a number of monks, revered in the largely Buddhist country, were beaten. This led to a series of protests culminating in as many as 100,000 people marching in the streets of Rangoon on September 24.

“The SPDC’s propensity toward violence, particularly against democracy activists, members of Burma’s ethnic nationality groups, and women, is quite well known,” said Apple. “It’s no secret that the regime has committed serious abuses, including torture, killings, rape, and forced labor, against its people. It seems unlikely that the junta will just ignore the peaceful protests, and unlikelier still that they won’t bring in troops with guns.”

China has strong economic ties to the SPDC and to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Burma is a member. It is critical that China use its strong relationship with the military regime to urge calm, demand respect for human rights, and urge the SPDC to commence the long-overdue process of democratization. ASEAN countries also should exercise their influence over Burma’s junta to call for a peaceful resolution to the protests and an end to the oppressive military regime. Finally, the international community should demand the immediate release of Nobel Peace prize winner and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as all political prisoners. The U.S. tightened economic sanctions on Burma on Tuesday, September 24, and other countries should send an unequivocal signal to the junta as well that continued repression will not be tolerated.

Environmental Groups Say Carbon Credit Company Made False Claims to SEC

2007-09-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

September 21 - Several environmental organizations have filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to express concern about potentially illegal statements made by the "eco-restoration" firm Planktos, which is planning a massive iron dump into the Pacific ocean near the Galapagos Islands in a scheme designed to produce carbon offset credits that can be sold for profit.

The International Environmental Law Project, the International Center for Technology Assessment, Fishwise, Greenpeace, the ETC Group, and Friends of the Earth today notified the SEC that Planktos' recent SEC filings contain false information regarding the applicability of U.S. environmental laws to its activities. Additionally, the groups' letter said statements made by Planktos CEO Russ George may mislead investors about the financial and environmental benefits of selling the carbon offset credits that Planktos claims it will be able to generate.

"Scientists warn that large-scale iron fertilization schemes such as the one that Planktos is pursuing are risky and could disrupt ocean ecosystems in harmful ways, yet Planktos misleads the public by portraying itself as a 'green' company," said Ian Illuminato of Friends of the Earth.

"It appears as though Planktos is misleading its investors too, and we've alerted the SEC to that fact. In recent SEC filings, Planktos has been less than forthcoming about the legal obstacles its scheme faces in the U.S. and about the potential market value of any carbon offsets that it might manage to generate," said ICTA Staff Attorney George Kimbrell.

Planktos' planned experiment is to spread iron dust into the ocean to create plankton blooms that suck carbon from the atmosphere and therefore mitigate global warming. Leading biochemists and oceanographers have cast doubt about how much of the absorbed carbon will actually remain in the ocean in a lasting way, which it is intended to do. They also warn of unintended consequences of such manipulation of ocean ecosystems. However, Planktos portrays itself as a savior of the oceans and atmosphere and stated in an information statement filed with the SEC on June 20, 2007 that its process "will sequester tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide."

A copy of the letter filed with the SEC is available at http://www.foe.org/Planktos/Letter_to_SEC.pdf.

To read more about the controversy surrounding the Planktos iron dumping scheme, see recent reports from the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071902553_pf.html) and a Wall Street Journal blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/energy/2007/08/16/upset-about-an-offset/).

Major Health Care Proposals Ignore the 'Big Leak,' Says Health Insurance Expert

2007-09-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

September 21 - “Universal health care is getting the attention it deserves, but unfortunately the proposals receiving the most attention ignore the ‘Big Leak,’” which is the enormous non-benefit costs incurred by health care providers who must match their billions of billings with thousands of differing private health care plans,” says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. “Putting everyone under the Medicare umbrella would eliminate that leak,” he says.

“Medicare’s single-payer system would reduce non-benefit spending by doctors, hospitals, clinics, laboratories and health care insurers by about $300 billion a year, providing funds to insure everyone without additional outlays.”

Bernstein is available to discuss current universal health care proposals as well as the Medicare-for-all option. His current comments on health insurance follow:

Health insurance companies, unlike Medicare, deal with vast administrative costs:

“Hundreds of private insurers offer innumerable differing plans,” Bernstein says.

“Those differences usually reflect marketing considerations rather than medical goals. In contrast, Medicare has one set of charges in a region. That helps explain Medicare’s low administrative costs — about 2 percent of benefit outlays. In addition, Medicare does not have the marketing and advertising costs that add significantly to private insurer outlays. In dealing with Medicare, medical care providers need master only one set of rules and schedule of charges — a clear gain in efficiency.”

Giving patients a choice:

“Some contend that their proposals offer patients a choice,” he says. “To start, patients don’t choose their coverage, their employers do. Even when there are several plans on offer, the employer chooses which ones to include. Further, the employer chooses who administers the plans. That’s where much of insurance competition occurs — who can offer the lowest cost to the employer/chooser; that turns on who can produce lowest benefit payout.

“The choice patients cherish most is who will be their doctor and which hospital will provide care. Many private insurance arrangements limit those choices. Under Medicare, the patient chooses.”

Proposed plans rely on tax breaks and other subsidies:

“The major proposals depend upon tax breaks and other subsidies to make coverage appear more affordable,” Bernstein says. “This merely shifts costs to other plan participants or taxpayers. This increase total costs and thereby make the programs themselves less affordable.”

CREW Releases Third Annual Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report

2007-09-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - September 18 - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released its third annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress entitled Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch). This encyclopedic report on corruption in the 110th Congress documents the egregious, unethical and possibly illegal activities of the most tainted members of Congress. CREW has compiled the members’ transgressions and analyzed them in light of federal laws and congressional rules.

Sixteen members have been replaced from last year’s list of 25.

CREW also has re-launched the report’s tandem website, www.beyonddelay.org. The site offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions as well as the full-length profiles and all accompanying exhibits.

Members of the Senate:
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)

Members of House:
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. David Scott (D-GA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL)
Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM)

Dishonorable Mention:
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

“Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them.”

Sloan continued, “Nevertheless, Congress persists in abdicating its constitutional responsibility to police itself, opting to ignore the ethical and legal transgressions of its members. Luckily for the public, at least the Department of Justice still believes that political corruption is worth pursuing.”

Several members in the study are already under federal investigation including: Reps. Calvert, Doolittle, Feeney, Jefferson, Lewis, Miller, Mollohan, Murphy, Renzi and Young, as well as Senator Stevens.

Smog Poses Greater Health Risk Because of Global Warming-New Study

2007-09-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

More Bad Air Days for Southern, Eastern U.S. Cities

WASHINGTON - September 13 - People living in ten mid-sized metropolitan areas are expected to experience significantly more 'red alert' air pollution days in coming years due to increasing lung-damaging smog caused by higher temperatures from global warming.

The analysis[1] was prepared by researchers at Yale, Johns Hopkins and Columbia universities, in collaboration with researchers at State University of New York at Albany, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The study uses data from the 2007 journal Climatic Change, which looks at climate change, ambient ozone, and public health in U.S. cities. It was released today by NRDC and some of the nation's top medical experts.

"The air in many of our nation's cities is already unhealthy. Hotter weather means more bad air days for millions of Americans," said NRDC Climate Center’s Science Director Dan Lashof. "People with asthma are especially at risk, but everyone is adversely harmed by breathing unhealthy air. This research provides another compelling reason to establish enforceable limits on pollution."

The study, "Heat Advisory: How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days," projects that higher temperatures mean more smog for a given level of precursor emissions. Smog is formed when pollutants from cars, factories, and other sources mix with sunlight and heat.

On 'red alert' days -- everyone -- particularly children and people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses -- is advised to limit prolonged outdoor exertion. For people with asthma, smog pollution can increase sensitivity to allergens. The Environmental Protection Agency's blue ribbon panel of science advisers has concluded that the current ozone standard of 84 parts per billion (ppb) needs to be substantially reduced to between 60 and 70 ppb in order to protect public health.

"EPA should reduce the ozone standard to within the range recommended by its science advisers. A standard at the lower end of that range will save more lives. During warmer months high ozone levels already create breathing problems for children, elderly, and those with respiratory diseases," said Physicians for Social Responsibility's
Environment and Health Programs Dr. Director Kristen Welker-Hood. "We know that global warming will lead to higher temperatures, especially in urban areas, and as this study shows, we can expect more and more suffering related to unhealthy air the longer we wait to address global warming."

In Washington, D.C., for instance, residents would see a 24 percent drop in clean air days per summer.

The report looks at the following cities located in the eastern and southern half of the U.S.:

* Asheville, NC
* Cleveland, OH
* Columbus, OH
* Greenville, SC
* Memphis, TN
* Philadelphia, PA
* Raleigh, NC
* Virginia Beach, VA
* Washington, DC
* Wilmington, NC

These cities are highlighted because of their size, population and geographical differences. Federal policy makers representing these areas will be faced with critical decisions about reducing global warming emissions and it is important that they be made aware of the health implications of hotter temperatures.

Scientists say average temperatures will rise as much as 10 degrees F by the end of the century unless we start cutting global warming emissions.

Researchers project that, unless action is taken to curb global warming, by mid-century people living in a total of 50 cities in the eastern United States would see:

*
A doubling of the number of unhealthy ‘red alert’ days
*
A 68 percent (5.5 day) increase in the average number of days exceeding the current 8-hour ozone standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
*
A 15 percent drop in the number of summer days with “good” air quality based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria because of global warming

Scientists say the Earth is warming faster today than at any time in history. Globally, 11 of the last 12 years rank among the 12 warmest on record since 1850. Better technology in our cars, trucks and SUVs, and cleaner, more efficient energy choices like wind and solar power will help reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming as well as smog forming emissions like nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur oxide (SOx) gas and particulates.

ACLU Condemns Phone Companies’ Role in FBI Datamining

2007-09-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

Reaffirms No Amnesty for Telecoms

WASHINGTON - September 10 - The American Civil Liberties Union today condemned reports that telecommunications companies datamined their customers' records at the request of the FBI. The requests, first reported by the New York Times, asked phone companies to identify the "communities of interest" of customers being scrutinized by the FBI and were brought to light in documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The FBI has since ceased the demands.

"For years, the FBI was not only asking telecom companies to do its investigative work, but also asking them to sidestep the Fourth Amendment," said Michael German, ACLU National Security Policy Counsel. "The fact that telecoms complied with the FBI’s intrusive demands is shocking. It sets an extremely risky precedent to hand out such broad and vague authority to telecom companies. Ceding investigative powers to private companies will have disastrous effects not only for Americans’ privacy, but for their safety."

These revelations come at a time when broad telecom amnesty is being debated on Capitol Hill for the companies’ role in the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program. The ACLU noted that this is not the first time these companies have asked for immunity from criminal prosecution. There has been a sustained below the radar lobby effort to get amnesty since the administration’s surveillance program was revealed at the end of 2005. The first concerted effort was made through a lobbying push at the end of the 109th Congress with a section of the Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act. The section would have preempted stronger state privacy laws and eliminated the rights of independent state agencies to investigate the companies’ role in warrantless spying. In April of this year, an immunity provision was included in the administration’s first FISA "modernization" proposal. Further attempts to attach immunity to other legislation were beaten back by privacy groups.

"We are increasingly discovering the intrinsic role telecom companies played in the administration’s unwarranted and illegal surveillance of Americans," said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel. "Congress should not even begin to consider blanket amnesty before investigating just how deeply these companies were entrenched with the government’s spying program. This is about accountability. The law was clear and if telecom companies placed their bottom line over the constitutional rights of their customers, they need to face the consequences."

Federal Judge strikes down part of Patriot Act

2007-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

The AP reported today that:

NEW YORK - A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court's approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said the government orders must be subject to meaningful judicial review and that the recently rewritten Patriot Act "offends the fundamental constitutional principles of checks and balances and separation of powers."

The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law, complaining that it allowed the FBI to demand records without the kind of court order required for other government searches.

The ACLU said it was improper to issue so-called national security letters, or NSLs — investigative tools used by the FBI to compel businesses to turn over customer information — without a judge's order or grand jury subpoena. Examples of such businesses include Internet service providers, telephone companies and public libraries.

Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said prosecutors had no immediate comment.

Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case for the ACLU, said the revised law had wrongly given the FBI sweeping authority to control speech because the agency was allowed to decide on its own — without court review — whether a company receiving an NSL had to remain silent or whether it could reveal to its customers that it was turning over records.

In 2004, ruling on the initial version of the Patriot Act, the judge said the letters violate the Constitution because they amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. He found that the nondisclosure requirement — under which an Internet service provider, for instance, would not be allowed to tell customers that it was turning over their records to the government — violated free speech.

After he ruled, Congress revised the Patriot Act in 2005, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed that Marrero review the law's constitutionality a second time.

The ACLU complained that Congress' revision of the law didn't go far enough to protect people because the government could still order companies to turn over their records and remain silent about it, if the FBI determined that the case involved national security.

The law was written "reflects an attempt by Congress and the executive to infringe upon the judiciary's designated role under the Constitution," Marrero wrote.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_re_us/patriot_act_lawsuit

Burma: Constitutional Convention Reinforces Military Rule

2007-09-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - September 5 - The conclusion of Burma’s National Convention on Monday shows that Burma’s military intends to ignore public sentiment and remain in power indefinitely, said Human Rights Watch today.

“The end of the national convention heralds neither reform nor change in Burma,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It merely marks the end of a long, drawn-out chapter of faits accomplis designed by the military to stay in power.”

The National Convention began in 1993 and has met haphazardly for over a decade, even failing to meet at all between 1996 and 2003. The convention followed an election in 1990 that had been overwhelmingly won by a pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In July, Human Rights Watch set out its serious concerns about the convention in “Burma: Constitutional Convention a Facade for Military Rule”, and to view the Chronology of the National Convention.

Street demonstrations – very rare under Burma’s repressive government – during the past two weeks were sparked by sharply increased fuel prices, which were hiked in mid-August. More than 150 activists have been arrested by authorities, and the low-key conclusion to the convention was likely a further response to the popular unrest.

The convention has still not produced a written constitution. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has drawn up a list of “Fundamental Principles” and “Detailed Basic Principles” that will serve as the basis of a future constitution. Some of the clauses in the “Principles” are those designed to ensure the continued primacy of the military in Burmese politics. For example, in Chapter 1, State Fundamental Principles, Article 2 (f) allows “for the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces) to be able to participate in the national political leadership role of the State.” Article 10 (d) states that “necessary law(s) shall be enacted to make citizens’ freedoms, rights, benefits, responsibilities and restrictions effective, firm and complete.” The future president, who must possess “military vision,” also has sweeping emergency powers that grant the office the right to seize national or local control in the event of a threat against the national sovereignty “by wrongful means such as violence or insurgency” (Chapter 11, Article 8).

“This long convention process has excluded the majority of the Burmese population, it has muzzled the delegates who were permitted to attend, and it has ignored their concerns, suggestions and proposals, along with those of many civil society groups and ethnic nationalities,” said Adams. “The constitution that comes out of this will be a constitution by the generals for the generals, who rule Burma for their own benefit.”

Equal Pay for Equal Work? Not for Medicaid Doctors

2007-09-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

New Report Analyzes the Great Divide Between Medicare and Medicaid Payments to Doctors in 10 States and the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 5- Doctors in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia who treat Medicaid patients are paid far less than doctors in many other states who provide identical services to the same patient group, according to a new Public Citizen report. Compared with their colleagues in other states, doctors in those five jurisdictions also earn much less under Medicaid than under Medicare.

The bottom line: Patients in states with low Medicaid reimbursement rates may have more difficulty finding care because doctors have a financial disincentive to treat Medicaid patients and may even limit the number of Medicaid cases they accept. This reality is particularly harsh in those five jurisdictions, which account for more than 13.5 percent of all Medicaid beneficiaries.

In the report, available here, Public Citizen exposes the disparity among what Medicaid pays doctors for services in 10 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the disparity between Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates within those jurisdictions. The organization selected these jurisdictions for its analysis of reimbursement disparity between Medicaid and Medicare by identifying the states designated in a 2003 study as the five worst and six best (two were tied.) Public Citizen then obtained 2007 Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates for 11 primary care procedures in those states.

The results reveal stark evidence of the great divide in doctor reimbursement. Except for Alaska and Wyoming, which pay physicians more under Medicaid than under Medicare, Medicaid fees tend to be lower than Medicare fees throughout the nation. But some states pay at or near parity (including Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware and North Carolina), and their average fees were used to compare fees in the low-paying states.

In New York, doctors are paid $20 for an hour-long consultation with a Medicaid patient, while in higher-paying states, doctors receive an average of $157.92 for the same service – a difference of greater than sevenfold. The difference within a state between Medicaid and Medicare fees is just as dramatic. For this hour-long consultation, a physician in New York could earn $196.47 from Medicare, almost 10 times more than from Medicaid. Similarly, for a 15-minute visit, physicians treating Medicaid patients in New Jersey earn $20.60, less than half what their counterparts receive in the higher-paying states ($49.20) and less than a third what they would earn if they were treating a Medicare patient ($65.65).

Under Medicaid, doctors in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island earn a miserly 31 cents for every dollar paid to their colleagues in the higher-paying states for an hour-long consultation with a new or established patient. Again, the differences within each of these states are significant when Medicaid and Medicare fees are compared; in these same two states, the fee for the same service is 3.7 times higher under Medicare.

“Fee differences between Medicare and Medicaid in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia consign Medicaid reimbursement to second-class status in those states and its beneficiaries to lower-tier care,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen. “As long as Medicaid fee schedules shortchange providers, the program and its clientele will be considered less worthy, and access to care will be restricted for the poorest, neediest Americans.”

Even the reimbursement amount for an electrocardiogram, which is usually performed by a technician under a physician’s supervision, varies considerably. In Washington, D.C., this procedure earns a fee of $16 under Medicaid and $29.29 under Medicare, a 1.8-fold difference. “Geography may not be destiny, but in the Medicaid program, it can affect providers’ incomes,” said Annette Ramirez de Arellano, co-author of Public Citizen’s study. “Price discrimination not only has been allowed but actually enshrined in the fee schedule that governs Medicaid, one of our major health programs.”

Medicare, which mainly treats people 65 and over, and Medicaid, which treats primarily the poor, have historically been worlds apart in terms of physician reimbursements. Medicare fees are established nationally, with justifiable geographic adjustments among states, while Medicaid fees vary widely from state to state.

This dollar gap has influenced the amount and type of care available to these groups. Physicians may cap the number of Medicaid patients they see because it isn’t financially viable to see more, and they need to reach their target incomes.

Pentagon Sued Over Release of Documents on Civilians Killed

2007-09-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Victims Advocacy Group Says Iraqi and Afghan Civilians Deserve Official Recognition

WASHINGTON - September 4 - Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict today affirmed the importance of The American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DoD) demanding compliance with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to release documents regarding civilians killed by coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than a year ago, the ACLU submitted a FOIA request for civilian casualty information to several DoD departments but has thus far received documents only from the Department of the Army. In April, the Army released nearly two thousand pages of partial claims files, submitted by civilians against Coalition Forces for death, injury or property damage. Today, the ACLU is releasing an additional 10,000 pages detailing civilian harm received from the Department of the Army. CIVIC noted this is likely a small fraction of the total existing record of civilian casualties held by US Armed Forces and applauded the ACLU for filing a lawsuit to obtain the remainder. Human rights groups have for years been asking for and have been denied these records.

“It’s unfortunate getting this information from the US military had to come down to a lawsuit,” said CIVIC’s executive director Sarah Holewinski. “Is the Pentagon in the dark about US-caused casualties, just as we are? If not, it should release the data and back up its claim to have the best interests of civilians at heart.”

CIVIC noted that keeping detailed records of casualties caused by US and Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is the only way to ensure proper adherence to the Laws of War – the international rules requiring civilian protection and avoidance by all means feasible in combat. “Now is the time for the US to make clear – with hard data – that it avoids civilians, analyzes incidents of harm to improve operations, and appropriately compensates civilians when mistakes happen,” said Holewinski. “If all of that is true there’s no reason for the Pentagon to continue dodging our requests. Every civilian injury and death matters.”

Online Courses Not For Everyone-New Results from Indiana University

2007-09-04T01:42:00.000-07:00

From Indiana University News

Online courses aren't for everyone, particularly college freshmen. Freshman taking distance learning classes were twice as likely to receive grades of D or F or to withdraw from the course compared to their counterparts in face-to-face classes, according to research at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Older students fared much better in the online courses. "Freshmen really stood out," said Mark Urtel, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education in IUPUI's School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. "It's counterintuitive -- people say younger students are the ones who grasp technology, use it most, and know it the best, but it's my opinion that they grasp the technology and use it on their terms, not necessarily ours." Urtel's study is based on students' grades in a course he taught both online and face-to-face. Initially, he noticed patterns in students' grades so he sought funding for further study because of the growing popularity of online courses. Freshmen, he said, are generally under-represented in research involving online courses. And he said online courses also enjoy the perception that they must be better, appropriate or even easy because they involve high-tech approaches. Urtel said distance education courses work well for some students, but freshmen need to be aware of the pitfalls and challenges involved. In his study, 60 percent of freshmen received either a D, F or withdrew from the class. "Given the rapid growth of distance education and on-line learning, some people may assume that it involves technology, it's got to be better," he said. "Our findings, as they relate to freshmen students in particular, suggest otherwise."

Distance education experts at Indiana University offer the following suggestions and considerations:

* First semester freshmen, in general, should not take online courses, Urtel said.
* A student needs to be an organized, disciplined type of person to do well in an online course, said Lesa Lorenzen-Huber, a clinical assistant professor in IU Bloomington's Department of Applied Health Science and Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. Usually older students do better, although older students with jobs and families can sometimes get easily overwhelmed. If a child is ill and work is demanding, the online course is the easiest thing to let go or procrastinate about because there is not a required time to attend or work on the course.
* A good online course should also be well organized, Lorenzen-Huber said. If you can't easily find your way around after a day or two, it may be the fault of the course design. Or, you may not have the technological expertise necessary for that particular course. There should be good opportunities for student-student and student-professor interaction.
* Investigate what kind of experience an online course is offering, said Elizabeth Boling, chair of the Department of Instructional Systems Technology in the IU School of Education. Online experiences run the gamut from the simplest self-paced study course that feels a lot like going through a workbook on your own and at your own pace, to courses like those in her department's master's degree program that may require students to carry out collaborative project work with peers (who may be located in another state or country), learn and use new media, make frequent contributions to discussions, meet deadlines for assignments and maintain a certain grade point average.
* Think carefully about what you want out of an online course and ask questions about it--or check details online--before enrolling, Bolin said. The highest quality course will not seem like a high quality course if it does not match students' interests or learning style, yet a less-than-polished online tutorial on the students' obscure hobby might be just right.

Church of England Report highlights long-term role for missionary deacons

2007-08-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

The role of deacons as missionaries to their communities should be taken more seriously, and people exploring a vocation to the priesthood should be encouraged to consider ministering as a deacon – the ‘diaconate’ - as a long-term option, argues a report from the Church of England’s Faith and Order Advisory Group published this week.

In 2001, the General Synod called for work to be undertaken on providing a theological basis for relating ordained and lay (or unordained) forms of ministry to each other. The request was fuelled by significant growth in the number of different types of ministry being commissioned at a local level within the Church. As the scope of these ministries has grown in recent years and, in some cases, assumed the functions of deacons, the report – The Mission and Ministry of the Whole Church - seeks to answer questions about the hallmarks and boundaries of ordained ministry.

In addition to exploring the nature and meaning of ordination, and as part of its aim to set out a theological rationale for the orders within the Church of England, the report identifies three ‘hallmarks’ of ministry that can be applied to consider whether a form of ministry can be described as ordained. It proposes that these criteria are that the form of ministry:

* Involves a lifelong commitment that permanently marks a person’s public identity
* Receives national recognition and regulation; and the intention of interchangeability with other churches
* Embraces a comprehensive ministry, including word, sacrament and pastoral care.

Based on a close study of the meaning of ‘ministry’ and ‘service’ in the New Testament, particularly drawing on the work of Dr John N. Collins, the report proposes that the Church shifts its understanding of the term ‘diaconate’ from a term describing primarily a ‘servant’ role to one describing a mission-focused ministry. “This has profound implications for every aspect of Church life and very particularly for the ministry and ministries, ordained and lay, which express and serve this fundamental purpose of the Church,” it argues.

“If the diaconate is indeed fundamental, nothing is more important and time spent discovering what it means in practice is time well spent… We need to locate the diaconate more centrally in the overall mission of the Church and thus to correct the prevailing assumption that the diaconate is merely a transitional year before priesting, an apprenticeship for the priesthood, and that it is the latter that really matters,” the Group says. It follows, the report suggests, that those discerning a vocation to ordained ministry should be encouraged to consider their calling to the ‘distinctive diaconate’, and those going on to priesthood after serving as a deacon for a short period should consider whether they should extend the “unique opportunity to engage in primary pastoral work with a missionary intent and with an anchor in the liturgy” that the diaconate offers.

The report also urges the whole Church to celebrate the role of Readers, stressing the value of the “ancient, honourable and vital lay ministry of Readers that has the potential to find new paths of mission” for the Church. The report suggests that the ministry of Readers “comes close to” meeting the three criteria of ordained ministry, but it does not recommend any extension of the role of Readers in the celebration of the Sacraments – that is, presiding at the Eucharist or conducting baptisms or marriages. The key role that Readers can play in new developments such as ‘Fresh Expressions’ of Church, and the possibility that they may be given the necessary preparation to be designated lay pioneer ministers, is highlighted.

The work of Church Army Evangelists is highlighted for the capacity it has to take the mission of the Church far beyond its own walls; they are in the front line of the Church’s gospel mission.

The 100-page report also affirms the roles of Churchwardens and lay pastoral (or parish) assistants, and provides a theological underpinning for discussions about the scope, limits and the need to encourage these forms of ministry.

Same Sex Couples Can Marry in Iowa: Judge

2007-08-31T00:18:00.000-07:00

The AP Reported today that:

DES MOINES, Iowa - A county judge struck down Iowa's decade-old gay marriage ban as unconstitutional Thursday and ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for six gay couples.

Gay couples from anywhere in Iowa could apply for a marriage license from Polk County under Judge Robert Hanson's ruling.

Less than two hours after word of the ruling was publicized, two Des Moines men applied for a license, the first time the county had accepted a same-sex application. The approval process takes three days.

Gary Allen Seronko, 51, was listed as the groom on the form and David Curtis Rethmeier, 29, the bride.

"I started to cry because we so badly want to be able to be protected if something happens to one of us," Rethmeier said.

Deputy Recorder Trish Umthun said she took five calls from gay couples after the judge filed his ruling Thursday afternoon and expected a rush of applications Friday.

County attorney John Sarcone said the county will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court and immediately sought a stay from Hanson that would prevent gay couples from seeking a marriage license until the appeal is resolved. The Supreme Court could refer the case to the Iowa Court of Appeals, consider the case itself or decide not to hear it.

A hearing is likely to be held on the stay motion next week, said Camilla Taylor, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization.

House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, said the ruling illustrates the need for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

"I can't believe this is happening in Iowa," he said. "I guarantee you there will be a vote on this issue come January," when the Legislature convenes.

Massachusetts is the only state where gay marriage is legal, though nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Nearly all states have defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and 27 states have such wording in their constitutions, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Dennis Johnson, the lawyer for the six gay couples who sued in 2005 after they were denied marriage licenses, had argued that Iowa has a long history of aggressively protecting civil rights in cases of race and gender. He said the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Legislature passed in 1998, contradicts previous rulings regarding civil rights.

Roger J. Kuhle, an assistant Polk County attorney, argued that the issue is not for a judge to decide.

Hanson ruled that the state law allowing marriage only between a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070831/ap_on_re_us/same_sex_marriage;_ylt=AsXYteQw1o.bz7zrR71eDzys0NUE

California Legislature Calls on Congress, President to Pass Federal Hate Crimes Act

2007-08-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

SACRAMENTO - August 29 - The California Senate on Monday approved a resolution urging Congress and the president to strengthen the federal hate crimes law. Senators passed AJR 29 by a 22-1 vote.

AJR 29, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, and sponsored by Equality California, urges Congress and the president to protect hate crime victims who are targeted based on their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It calls for passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. The federal measure would expand the nation’s hate crimes protections and boost law enforcement’s ability to investigate and prosecute acts of violence against all protected communities of people. Current federal law only covers hate crimes that are motivated by race, color, national origin or religion.

In July, the Assembly passed the same resolution by a 70-1 bipartisan vote, with 46 Democrats and 24 Republicans casting an “aye” vote. That vote marked the most bipartisan support ever received in the California Legislature for a measure affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Unlike the Assembly, the hate crimes measure did not receive Republican support in the Senate.

“No person should have to live in fear of being harassed, assaulted, or even murdered, simply because someone else does not accept or understand their identity, appearance or behavior,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “It is encouraging to see California legislators put their partisanship aside to take a stand against the intolerance and violence that plagues our community and society. Our elected leaders in Washington D.C. should take note and follow the lead set today by California lawmakers.”

The federal legislation passed the House of Representatives with a 237-180 vote, but no vote has been set for the Senate version of the bill.

Last month, a young Sacramento man lost his life in an assault that was allegedly motivated by racism and homophobia. Satendar Singh, a native of Fiji, died on July 5 as a result of the injuries he suffered during an attack that occurred four days earlier at Lake Natoma. One man has been arrested in connection with Singh’s death and authorities are still searching for the primary suspect, who is being sought on suspicion of committing involuntary manslaughter and a hate crime.

“No community should tolerate acts of violence or hate crimes of any kind, regardless of a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Assemblymember Eng. “My colleagues in the Legislature are sending a clear message to the federal government that all victims should receive equal protections under the law.”

AJR 29, which is co-authored by 58 Democratic and Republican lawmakers, does not require a signature by the governor.

‘Executive Excess’ Report Americans Pay A Staggering Cost For Corporate Leadership

2007-08-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - August 29 - With leading Presidential candidates turning up the heat on overpaid CEOs, a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy documents for the first time the extreme pay gaps that have opened up not just between U.S. business leaders and American workers, but between U.S. business leaders and leaders elsewhere in American — and European — society.

The complete new report, Executive Excess 2007, is now available to journalists online at www.faireconomy.org/executiveexcess. It is embargoed until Wednesday, August 29.

KEY FINDINGS:

CEO-WORKER PAY GAP: CEOs of large U.S. companies last year averaged $10.8 million in total compensation, over 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, a calculation based on data from an Associated Press survey of 386 Fortune 500 companies.

The top 20 private equity and hedge fund managers, pocketed an average $657.5 million, Forbes magazine estimates. That’s 22,255 times the pay of an average U.S. worker.

Workers on the bottom rung of the economy have just received their first federal minimum wage increase in a decade. But the inflation-adjusted value of the new minimum, despite the hike, stands 7 percent below the minimum wage level a decade ago. CEO pay, in that decade, has increased over inflation by roughly 45 percent.

“The CEO-worker pay gap is finally getting some high-profile attention from Presidential candidates,” says report co-author Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies. “But lawmakers still aren’t doing nearly enough to tackle the gap.”

PENSION AND PERK GAPS: CEOs at major U.S. corporations enjoyed, on average, $1.3 million in pension gains last year. By contrast, only 58.5 percent of American households led by a 45-to-54-year-old even had a retirement account in 2004. Between 2001 and 2004, the retirement accounts of these households gained an average of only $3,775 in value per year.

CEOs of S&P 500 companies retire with an average $10.1 million in their special Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans, accounts not open to average workers. By contrast, only 36.3 percent of American households headed by an individual 65 or older held any type of retirement account in 2004. The accounts that did exist averaged only $173,552 per household.

The top 386 CEOs took in perks worth an average of $438,342 in 2006. A minimum wage worker would need to work 36 years to earn as much as CEOs obtained just in perks last year.

THE LEADERSHIP PAY GAP: Compensation for American business leaders now wildly dwarfs the pay that goes to leaders in other sectors of American society. The 20 highest-paid individuals at publicly traded corporations last year took home, on average, $36.4 million. That’s 38 times more than the 20 highest-paid leaders in the nonprofit sector and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid generals in the U.S. military.

The 20 highest-paid figures in the private equity and hedge fund industry collected 3,315 times more in average annual compensation in 2006 than the top 20 officials of the federal government’s executive branch, a group that includes the President of the United States.

“Today’s soaring pay gap between business executives and elected leaders in government essentially makes corruption inevitable,” notes Sam Pizzigati, an Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow. “With such huge windfalls at stake, business leaders have a powerful incentive to manipulate the political decisions that affect corporate earnings.”

THE US-EUROPEAN EXECUTIVE PAY GAP: In 2006, the 20 highest-paid European corporate managers made an average of $12.5 million, only one third as much as the 20 highest-earning U.S. executives took home last year. These 20 top European execs led companies that generated $19 billion more in sales revenue than the corporations led by their higher-paid American counterparts.

PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE: Executive Excess 2007 highlights six practical initiatives that can rein in runaway executive pay. Five involve eliminating perverse tax incentives for excessive pay, while one would use government contracting dollars to encourage more reasonable pay.

According to report co-author Chuck Collins, “Meaningful change could be on the horizon, as many political leaders are finally catching up to the public outcry to rein in excessive compensation.”

Authored by Sarah Anderson, John Cavanagh, Chuck Collins, Sam Pizzigati, and Mike Lapham, Executive Excess 2007 is the 14th annual CEO pay study by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy.

The Institute for Policy Studies is an independent center for progressive research and education in Washington, D.C. United for a Fair Economy is a national organization based in Boston that spotlights growing economic inequality.

Palisades Nuclear Plant Critics Warn Court about Catastrophic Earthquake Risks

2007-08-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - August 23 - Atomic watchdog groups have told a federal appeals court that even a moderate earthquake affecting the Palisades atomic reactor could spell radioactive catastrophe for Lake Michigan and communities downwind and downstream.

In the face of a motion filed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to dismiss the lawsuit, citizen groups have defended their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The suit alleges that the high-level radioactive waste storage facilities at Palisades, on the Lake Michigan shore near South Haven, violate governmental earthquake safety regulations.

“Palisades' mounting radioactive wastes put our precious Lake Michigan at risk, and thus the drinking water supply and recreational destination for millions of people downstream,” said Alice Hirt of Don't Waste Michigan in Holland.

In early August, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) moved to dismiss the citizen groups’ appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Earlier this year, NRC rejected the groups’ petition urging the agency to enforce its own regulations at Palisades. Palisades now has over 30 concrete and steel silos holding deadly irradiated nuclear fuel rods. The silos, called dry casks, rest upon two concrete pads. The concrete slabs are located upon loose sand amidst the dunes of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Some containers of radioactive waste are just 150 yards from the water.

The environmental coalition’s attorney, Terry Lodge of Toledo, said: “The NRC's numbers racket is a big fraud, endangering public health and the Great Lakes. We've exposed the hidden de-regulation of earthquake safety by the NRC. This is not ‘inadequate enforcement,’ it is zero enforcement.

“The NRC's so-called experts pretend in their calculations that the slabs holding the casks are sitting on relatively stable clay,” Lodge added. “But in fact they sit on highly unstable sand dunes, which would amplify the vibrations from an earthquake. NRC didn't count the thousands of tons of steel and concrete represented by the slabs and casks in their number-crunching. As a result, they're denying the very serious risk that these slabs, and possibly even the casks, will shatter in the event of an earthquake and release catastrophic amounts of radioactivity. Earthquakes capable of doing that have hit the Great Lakes region before.”

NRC will almost certainly file a rebuttal within the next week. Palisades’ owner, Entergy Nuclear of New Orleans, may also seek to have the case dismissed. The federal court will then take the case under advisement, meaning it will review both sides’ arguments and then render a decision at some point in the future.

“Each of the casks contains 240 to 320 times the long-lasting radioactivity released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb,” said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear, a national watchdog group. “We must stop Palisades from generating any more of these forever deadly radioactive wastes, and safeguard and secure what’s already piled up on the beach against accidents, attacks, and leaks.”

The groups’ expert witness, Dr. Ross Landsman, can be contacted upon request. Dr. Landsman formerly served as NRC dry cask storage inspector at Palisades. He repeatedly raised warnings within the agency about the earthquake risks for over a decade, until his retirement in 2005.

For more information on concerned citizen efforts to address radioactive waste generation and storage risks at Palisades, including the most recent legal filing as well as Dr. Landsman's original 1994 letter to NRC's chairman, see http://www.nirs.org/reactorwatch/licensing/palisades.htm

Jordan: Government Pledges to Grant Iraqis Education, Health Rights

2007-08-20T03:14:00.000-07:00

Iraqis Still Denied Refugee Status

AMMAN, JORDAN - AUGUST 16 -The Jordanian government in a welcome step has pledged to provide public health care and education to Iraqis living in Jordan regardless of their legal status, but continues to refuse to recognize them as refugees, Human Rights Watch said today.

For the first time, Jordan has officially pledged to allow Iraqi children to attend public schools regardless of their residency status. Of an estimated 200,000 school-age Iraqi children in Jordan, only 20,000 went to school last year, of whom only about 6,000 completed the school year. Iraqis who overstayed their tourist visas or residency permits will also receive public health care, the World Health Organization reported.

“It is commendable that Jordanian officials are recognizing the rights of all children to education and the rights of all people, regardless of legal status, to basic health care,” said Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch. “But Jordan is blocking the entry of most Iraqis attempting to flee the violence in their country and is unwilling to recognize that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis living in Jordan are, in fact, refugees.”

Jordan has virtually closed its borders and, with few exceptions, is not allowing Iraqis to enter the country. Iraqis or their professional sponsors must now pay a US$5,000 deposit guaranteeing their departure. Jordan routinely turns back most Iraqis at the borders or airport. It does not conduct interviews with Iraqis seeking to enter Jordan to determine whether they are fleeing persecution or generalized violence and does not allow the UN refugee agency to do so. On July 27, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint appeal for $130 million to provide educational opportunities for an estimated 500,000 Iraqi children of school age in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt.

“The international community bears a responsibility to support refugees inside Jordan and at its borders,” said Frelick. “International donors should quickly and generously support the UN appeal and directly support Jordan and other host countries so that they can meet the education needs of Iraqi refugees.”

Jordan has also closed its border during the past three years to a group of 194 Iranian Kurds who fled Iran in 1980 and became recognized refugees in Iraq. They remain stranded in the no-man’s land between the Iraqi and Jordanian land borders under harsh conditions without regular access to water, food or medicines because Jordan has refused them entry. The Kurds, who were recently joined by another group of 38 Iranian Arab refugees stranded in Iraq, say they fear persecution if they were to resettle to a northern Iraqi camp which has been offered to them.

“While alleviating the plight of Iraqi refugees already in Jordanian cities, the government should not lose sight of the fact that others, including Iranians and Palestinians, are fleeing Iraq to save their lives,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Refugees have a right to seek safety and should never be returned to danger.”

Jordan hosts a higher number of Iraqi refugees per citizen than any of its neighbors. There are an estimated 800,000 Iraqis in Jordan, which has a population of 5.6 million, most of whom have overstayed their visas or residency permits.

After years of conflicting public policy that gradually pushed Iraqi children to costly private schools or out of education altogether, Jordan pledged at an international conference in Amman on July 26 to admit Iraqi schoolchildren this year regardless of their residency status.

On August 3, the World Health Organization announced that Egypt, Syria and Jordan had committed to providing Iraqis with health services equivalent to those their citizens enjoy. While Iraqi refugees in Jordan already had access to state-subsidized health-care, some could not afford even the small fees to access government services. Under the new commitment, Jordan will give priority “to ensuring access for displaced Iraqis to the most essential health services.”

ACLU Challenges Louisiana Law Funneling Taxpayer Funds to Favored Churches

2007-08-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

NEW ORLEANS - AUGUST 13 - The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a lawsuit today asking a federal judge to halt the payment of state taxpayer money to two Louisiana churches.

"The government cannot simply choose to subsidize its favorite houses of worship with taxpayer dollars," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

The state's general appropriations bill, HB1, signed into law last month, unconstitutionally directs taxpayer dollars in the amounts of $100,000 to Stonewall Baptist Church in Bossier City and $20,000 to Shreveport Christian Church. The grants were not subject to any oversight or competitive bidding process, and the bill offers no purpose or justification for the challenged earmarks. According to the ACLU, while the state can, in certain circumstances, provide funding to religious organizations for some programs that provide non-religious social services, the First Amendment squarely bars the government from funneling direct, unrestricted, cash payments to churches.

"The state of Louisiana has a responsibility to spend its taxpayers' money in a lawful manner," said Katie Schwartzmann, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Louisiana. "In this case, none of the requirements is present to allow the funding to pass constitutional muster."

Louisiana residents have long criticized the legislature for using earmarked appropriations bills to fund preferred private entities. The underlying problems of paybacks and slush funds have become increasingly clear following recent reforms that, for the first time, require each earmark to be listed individually. It is now clear that the earmarking process has been hiding unconstitutional efforts to send taxpayer dollars to favored churches for years.

Repeated attempts by the ACLU to learn more about the grants were largely ignored by the state, which refused to respond to several requests for documentation. The ACLU of Louisiana has filed the lawsuit on behalf of itself and its members in an effort to reaffirm the basic constitutional ban on government-funded religious activities.

The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeks a court order prohibiting the transfer of taxpayer funds to the churches.

Attorneys on the case are Mach with the national ACLU and Schwartzmann with the ACLU of Louisiana.

Nearly 80 percent of India lives on half dollar a day

2007-08-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

Reuters reported today that:
Fri Aug 10, 10:08 AM ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Seventy-seven percent of Indians -- about 836 million people -- live on less than half a dollar a day in one of the world's hottest economies, a government report said.

The state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) said most of those living on below 20 rupees (50 US cents) per day were from the informal labor sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty.

"For most of them, conditions of work are utterly deplorable and livelihood options extremely few," said the report, entitled "Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector," seen by Reuters on Friday.

"Such a sordid picture co-exists uneasily with a shining India that has successfully confronted the challenge of globalization powered by economic competition both within the country and across the world."

Around 26 percent of India's population lives below the poverty line, which is defined as 12 rupees per day, said officials.

Economic liberalization since the early 1990s has created a 300 million-strong middle class and led to an average annual economic growth of 8.6 percent over the last four years, but millions of the country's poor remain untouched by the boom.

According to the report, based on data from 2004-2005, 92 percent of India's total workforce of 457 million were employed as agricultural laborers and farmers, or in jobs such as working in quarries, brick kilns or as street vendors.

The report said the majority of those working and living under "miserable conditions" were lower castes, tribal people and Muslims and the most disadvantaged of these were women, migrant workers and children.

"This is the other world which can be characterized as the India of the Common People, constituting more than three-fourths of the population and consisting of all those whom the growth has, by and large, bypassed," said the report.

The complete story may be found here;
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/wl_nm/india_poor_dc;_ylt=AntG7.7KyRSa.y__iLNX3jK9F4l4

Congress Demands ex-School of the Americas Release Information on Graduates and Instructors

2007-08-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is directed to release the names, ranks, courses and country of origin of graduates and instructors

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 6 - In a historical move to demand transparency, the House of Representatives approved the FY 2008 Defense Appropriations bill with an accompanying report that demands the former School of the Americas, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC), release to the public the names of all students and instructors who attended the school during the fiscal years of 2005 and 2006. The directive also requires that the same information be available to the public in all future fiscal years.

The report is a victory for the School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), a non-profit human rights organization which has monitored the institution since 1991. “At the beginning of each fiscal year, SOA Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain WHINSEC attendance information as part of our commitment to human rights monitoring. In 2006, our FOIA request for fiscal year 2005 was denied,” said Pamela Bowman, Legislative and Research Coordinator for the SOA Watch. “This report that forces WHINSEC to release the names of its graduates comes as a result of constituent pressure and the recognition by Congress that WHINSEC will not voluntarily comply with an expectation of transparency.”

The SOA/ WHINSEC is a military training facility for Latin American security personnel located at Ft. Benning, Georgia. The institution was catapulted into the headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Despite this shocking admission and hundreds of documented human rights abuses connected to soldiers trained at the school, no independent investigation into the training facility has ever taken place.

As a result of previous FOIA requests, researchers at human rights organizations were able to access SOA Watch’s extensive graduate database to inform Congress, media outlets, and the public about the numerous instances of SOA/ WHINSEC graduates and instructors who have been implicated and convicted of human rights atrocities in Latin America.

Support for the School of the Americas, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, continues to erode. In May, President Oscar Arias joined three other South American countries to send a strong message of support for human rights and military accountability by ceasing all military training of their troops at the controversial school. Citing concerns around the image of the institution in Latin America, Argentina and Uruguay announced that they would no longer send soldiers to train at the military school based at Fort Benning.

Since 1996, Congress has debated several times whether to prohibit funding for the institution. On June 21, 2007 the McGovern/Lewis amendment to the FY 2008 Foreign Appropriations bill that would have prohibited funding for the SOA/WHINSEC lost by a margin of only six votes.

Congress Votes to Expand Unchecked Warrantless Wiretapping

2007-08-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 6 - Following the Senate's lead, the House of Representatives on Saturday night voted to expand warrantless intelligence surveillance of international communications -- including those between people in the United States and people abroad. The Center for Democracy and Technology strongly opposes the measure.

The legislation, which the President is expect to sign, includes virtually none of the checks and balances that civil liberties advocates had called for to ensure that warrantless surveillance did not result in unchecked snooping on innocent Americans in the United States.

"Congress should be focusing on restoring checks and balances to intelligence surveillance, not on authorizing more warrantless wiretapping of communications that involve people in the United States," CDT President Leslie Harris said. If there is a person in the United States on the line, court authorization should be the rule."

The new warrantless surveillance authority will expire in six months. Immediately after the vote, House speaker Nancy Pelosi declared "unacceptable" many provisions of the bill that had just passed, and called on the chairs of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees to report more comprehensive legislation to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "as soon as possible."

The White House proposed comprehensive legislation in April to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to permit more warrantless surveillance of international communications and of communications between Americans and foreign embassies in the United States.

Said CDT Senior Counsel and Director of CDT's Program on Freedom, Security and Technology, Gregory T. Nojeim, "the Administration's FISA reform legislation would make court supervision of intelligence surveillance both rarer and less effective in protecting privacy," Nojeim added. "It's up to Congress to chart a new course."

CCR Condems FISA Modernization Law

2007-08-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Democrats Complicit in Broad Expansion of Warrant-less Spying on Americans

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 6 - The "FISA Modernization" bill that passed both houses and was signed into law by the President on Sunday night broadly expands the federal government’s power to conduct surveillance on Americans without a court warrant. The bill went beyond earlier reports that the new law would merely allow the government to listen in to communications between two overseas parties that just happen to route through a switching circuit located in the U.S. Under the new statute the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence may approve listening in on the conversations of Americans so long as the target of the surveillance is “reasonably believed” to be abroad, with no prior review by the courts.

“The Democratically controlled Congress has now joined forces with the Bush Administration in undermining the Constitution,” said CCR Executive Director, Vincent Warren. “Make no mistake, this law is not merely a technical fix, rather it enshrines in law the ability of the NSA to listen in to the conversations and read the emails of millions of Americans.”

This legislative development comes in the wake of recent media reports that a secret ruling by a federal judge who sits on the FISA court reversed a January 10th ruling from the same court that had allowed the administration to carry out the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program in almost exactly the same manner as before. This reversal is supposedly what prompted the Bush administration's current push for “emergency” legislation to expand its wiretapping powers and legitimate the NSA Program and let to the passage of the FISA Modernization Act, although the decision appears to have occurred in April, several months ago.

According to CCR attorney Shayana Kadidal, “This new act effectively deprives federal judges of their rightful role in the warrant process. As agents of accountability and oversight, judges ensure that law enforcement will do a more rigorous job and, in the long view, that makes us all more safe.”

The issue of the constitutionality of the original spy program is still wending its way through the Courts. On August 9th, CCR’s challenge to the program, CCR v. Bush, will be the subject of oral argument before a federal district court in San Francisco.

About CCR

Those Who Authorize and Use CIA 'Enhanced' Interrogation Tactics Risk Criminal Prosecution

2007-08-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

Landmark Report: Techniques Previously Authorized for CIA Use — Not Ruled Out by President’s CIA Executive Order — Likely Violate U.S. Law

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 3 - A landmark report released today by two leading human rights groups concludes that U.S. officials who authorize or use “enhanced” interrogation techniques risk violating U.S. law and could face criminal prosecution. The CIA had suspended its interrogation program in 2005 out of reported concern about its legality. On July 20, President Bush issued an Executive Order that he claimed would allow that program to resume.

The unprecedented analysis by Human Rights First and Physicians for Human Rights combines medical and legal expertise to comprehensively examine ten techniques widely reported to have been authorized for use in the CIA’s secret interrogation program, including sleep deprivation, simulated drowning, stress positions, beating, and induced hypothermia. The Report —“Leave No Marks: ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality”— demonstrates the mental and physical consequences of the use of these techniques, and its title refers to the techniques’ intended design, which is to inflict psychological trauma and pain without leaving physical scars. U.S. law requires an assessment of the physical and mental impact of an interrogation method to determine its legality. The report concludes that each of the ten tactics is likely to violate U.S. laws, including the War Crimes Act, the U.S. Torture Act, and the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005.

“These ‘enhanced’ interrogation techniques can cause severe and often irreversible harm to their victims,” said Dr. Scott Allen, who co-authored the report, and is an Advisor for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Co-Director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at Brown University. “The report’s full and independent review of the medical literature and case studies concludes that these methods are likely to cause significant physical and mental harm to detainees, and they should be immediately and explicitly prohibited by the Bush Administration and by Congress,” he added.

Defenders of the use of severely coercive treatment in interrogations have argued that “enhanced” interrogation techniques are “aggressive” and “tough,” but not particularly harmful. But the report reviews an extensive body of medical and psychological literature and applies the experience of experts who have treated victims of torture and abuse to show that although “enhanced” interrogation techniques may not result in visible scars, they often cause severe and long-lasting physical and mental harm. The use of such methods can and does frequently result in posttraumatic stress disorders, depressive disorders and psychosis. The common use of physical and emotional abuse in combination with one another “compounds their devastating psychological impact,” the report finds.

In conducting the medical analysis, Physicians for Human Rights drew upon experts in the physical and psychological effects of torture. Human Rights First’s legal analysis applied its expertise with the relevant statutes, treaties, case law, and legal history. The report’s conclusions are based on extensive research in both fields and have been reviewed by widely respected medical experts.

"Administration lawyers may try to convince interrogators that the secret interrogation techniques authorized by the President are lawful because they cause no 'permanent damage.' But interrogators shouldn't buy it," said Elisa Massimino, Washington Director of Human Rights First. "Stress positions, prolonged isolation, sensory bombardment, mock-drowning and other such abuses can cause serious physical and mental pain. They need not inflict permanent damage in order to violate the law and potentially result in very serious criminal sanctions."

Massimino added: "Authorizing such abuses as consistent with the Geneva Conventions has profound -- and dangerous -- consequences for our own military, now and in future wars The administration's argument that doctors will oversee the program to ensure that interrogators don't go too far gives new meaning to the term 'calculated cruelty.'"

The report urges the US government to “refrain from repeating the mistake of allowing the euphemistic descriptions of interrogation techniques to blur the line between permissible and impermissible treatment.” It calls on the government to instead adopt the recommendations it sets forth as necessary steps to creating “a single standard of humane treatment.”

The report calls on the executive branch to:

* Prohibit the “enhanced” interrogation techniques, in order to protect U.S. officials and personnel from potential criminal liability and to ensure that all U.S. personnel adhere to U.S. law.

* Prohibit the use of any other method that, alone or in combination with other interrogation methods, presents a significant risk of causing serious or severe physical and/or mental pain or suffering.

* Instruct all U.S. interrogators in effective, legal, non-harmful methods of interrogation.

* Declassify and release all documents, from all relevant U.S. agencies, which contain information on U.S. interrogation policy and practice, including but not limited to the “enhanced” interrogation methods.

The report urges the U.S. Congress to:

* Clarify existing language in the MCA, which under a reasonable interpretation currently prohibits the use of the “enhanced” techniques, by explicitly listing the techniques, forbidding them, and making clear that they remain criminal.

* Establish a single standard for detainee treatment and interrogation practices to be followed by all U.S. personnel, including CIA personnel.

The Administration’s CIA Executive Order, issued on July 20, undermines the attempts of the McCain Amendment and the Pentagon’s revised Army Field Manual governing interrogations, issued in September 2006, to establish a single standard of humane treatment for detainees. By refusing to clearly identify abusive techniques and to take them off the table for use by the CIA, the Executive Order effectively leaves the decision of when, how and upon whom to use these tactics to the discretion of the CIA Director.

ACLU Condemns Administration's Circumvention of Spy Judge

2007-08-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 3 - Following reports that a judge overruled the Bush Administration’s wiretapping procedures, the American Civil Liberties Union today slammed the White House for attempting to rush new domestic spying legislation through Congress this week. The alleged ruling by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge against a “basket warrant” led the administration to begin fiercely lobbying Congress to make sweeping changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) before Congress recesses.

"A campaign of fear and misinformation has spread on Capitol Hill that needs to be stopped," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "When a judge rules against the government, we shouldn't just rush to change the law. We can't allow an administration that breaks the laws to simply bully lawmakers into rewriting them. Congress must stop caving in and start standing up to this administration."

For months, the Bush administration has been shopping its proposed FISA changes around Congress. Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, has been heavily involved in the lobbying for gutting FISA. Late last night, Senators Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced legislation that is very similar to the administration’s proposal. The senators’ bill would permit the wiretapping of Americans without warrants and without judicial review. Its proposed changes are sweeping. As long as the National Security Agency targets someone overseas, whether that person is sending or receiving information via the phone or email, the communications of Americans on the other end will be caught up in the surveillance dragnet.

Also yesterday, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), released his plan for an interim FISA fix. His proposal would also allow mass collection of Americans’ communications, would permit the vast amount of data to be subsequently datamined. This would bury any useful intelligence and would guarantee the collection and retention of countless phone calls and emails in the event that one party is within the United States. In addition, Senator Rockefeller proposes a sunset provision to re-examine the changes in six months. The Patriot Act reauthorization debacle makes clear that sunsets are a bad idea.

“This administration’s continued aversion to oversight and the rule of law shows a remarkable lack of respect for the American people,” added Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The FISA court is notorious for rubberstamping most applications for warrants. The moment that one judge says no, the administration calls foul and attempts to browbeat Congress into passing legislation that will give them carte blanche authority to wiretap Americans. Lawmakers must reject this political ambush and carefully consider any changes to FISA.”

Bipartisan Committee Denounces Illegal Spying Program

2007-07-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - JULY 25 - Today a bipartisan coalition of political leaders, policy experts, and legal scholars condemned the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program as illegal, and called on Congress to complete its investigation of the program before considering any changes to the law governing electronic surveillance. The condemnation came in a statement issued by the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee. Signers of the statement include: David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union; Walter Cronkite, former Managing Editor of CBS Evening News; Mickey Edwards, former member of Congress (R-OK) and Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee; Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and former White House Chief of Staff; and William S. Sessions, former federal judge and Director of the FBI under Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.

"The NSA's warrantless surveillance program has stood for too long as an affront to America's rule of law," said David Keene, a co-chair of the Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee. "The American people deserve to know why and to what extent the NSA has been tapping Americans' phones without a warrant."

In its "Statement on the National Security Agency's Domestic Surveillance Program," the Liberty and Security Committee asserted that the spying program "upends separate, balanced powers by thwarting the will of Congress and preventing any opportunity for judicial review." The statement was issued one week after the passage of a deadline for the White House and Department of Justice to comply with subpoenas issued by the Senate Judiciary Committee seeking production of documents about the NSA's domestic surveillance program. One day before the arrival of the deadline the White House sought and received an extension from the Committee. "Congress should be applauded for taking steps to uncover the truth about the spying program," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel at the Constitution Project. "That national political and policy leaders from across the political spectrum have come together to denounce this illegal program speaks volumes. Congress must complete its investigation before considering any changes to the law governing electronic surveillance."

Senators challenge Gonzales' truthfulness at hearing

2007-07-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Reuters reported today that:

WASHINGTON - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drew fire at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday where lawmakers challenged his truthfulness and ability to lead his battered Justice Department.

"The attorney general's lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people," said Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat. He described the department as "shrouded in scandal," and told Gonzales: "I don't trust you."

"It looks to me ... as if the department is dysfunctional," added Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's ranking Republican and a leading critic of Gonzales, particularly for his firing of nine federal prosecutors.

"What keeps you in the job, Mr. Attorney General?" asked Senator Herbert Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat.

"I have decided to stay and fix the problems," replied Gonzales, whose department has been wracked by allegations that politics played a role in hiring practices and the administration of justice.

Gonzales, with the support of President George W. Bush, has rejected calls to resign in recent months from Democrats as well as some fellow Republicans in Congress, many of whom again questioned Gonzales' credibility at Tuesday's hearing.

"We have every reason to believe that the Attorney General testified truthfully," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Yet Democrats have stepped up pressure on the attorney general and the administration to answer questions as they head toward a possible court fight over Bush's claim of executive privilege in denying lawmakers access to documents and witnesses.

Gonzales refused to answer when asked if the White House was on solid legal ground in contending Congress cannot force the Justice Department to pursue a possible congressional contempt citation against the administration or its current or former aides.

'I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION'

"Your question relates to an ongoing controversy which I am recused from," Gonzales told Leahy. "I can't -- I'm not going to answer that question."

Since shortly after taking control of Congress in January, Democrats have been investigating Gonzales' firing last year of nine of the 93 U.S. attorneys. Critics charge partisan politics were behind the dismissals. The White House denies it.

Specter urged the administration to consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the firings.

Gonzales was asked about testimony in May by a former aide, Monica Goodling. She said that although Gonzales had earlier testified he had not discussed the probe with colleagues, he had raised the topic with her shortly before she left the Justice Department.

"Which one of you is telling the truth?" Leahy asked.

"I did have that conversation with her in the context of trying to console and reassure an emotionally distraught woman," Gonzales said. "I tried to reassure her (that) as far as I knew no one had done anything intentionally wrong."

"My conversation with her was not to shape her testimony," he told dubious lawmakers.

Congress is also examining Gonzales' role in Bush's warrantless domestic spying program, which critics have denounced as illegal.

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Senators_challenge_Gonzales_at_hearing.html?siteSect=143&sid=8051347&cKey=1185325651000

Questions linger about L.A. Cardinal Mahony

2007-07-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

From the AP 2 hours ago:

Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony approved a record clergy abuse payout, opened the files of the Roman Catholic priests involved and looked into the cameras and apologized last week for the victims' treatment. And it still might not be enough to satisfy some.

To fund the archdiocese's share of the $660 million settlement, the cardinal will have to sell property, liquidate investments and cut spending, dismantling part of what he built in more than two decades as the city's archbishop.

Even so, critics question whether the cardinal should have done more to rein in predatory priests in the nation's largest archdiocese. Bishops answer only to the Vatican, which had to sign off on some funding of the settlement, but every church leader needs the trust of the parishioners.

"He acknowledged he made some mistakes, he apologized," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. "Now the people of Los Angeles are going to have to weigh the good that he's done over the last 22 years versus the bad things he did and decide whether they can continue to accept him as their bishop."

Last week's deal was made on the eve of a civil trial in which Mahony would have been grilled about why he left some abusive priests in churches without telling parents or police.

As part of the settlement, the archdiocese agreed to release the personnel files of accused clergymen, which could reveal any direct links between Mahony and the guilty priests he supervised. But each priest tied to the 508 Los Angeles cases can challenge his records' release — another potential obstacle to full disclosure.

Mahony, 71, has acknowledged the suffering of victims. He was among only a handful of bishops who revealed the names of suspected clergy so the public could be protected from them.

At the same time, his lawyers fought disclosure of priests' files to prosecutors all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. They also challenged California's one-year window that allowed abuse claims to be filed no matter how far back they dated. None of the maneuvers succeeded, but they contributed to delays in reaching a settlement, which took four years to negotiate.

Leon Panetta, a member of the original National Review Board, the lay watchdog panel bishops created to monitor their child protection reforms, said Mahony appeared to be "captured by his lawyers." Panetta recalled a board meeting with Mahony a few years ago where the cardinal was accompanied by his lawyers.

"There were more lawyers in the room than I'd ever seen," said Panetta, who served as chief of staff to President Clinton. "They were basically digging in, and as lawyers tend to do, basically saying, `We're not going to cooperate. We're going to fight this out, we're not going to admit to anything and we're going to exhaust the legal process to the fullest.'"

Mahony was sincerely concerned about victims, but went on to let his lawyers "drag it out," Panetta said. "I think that is the mistake the cardinal made. They played for time. In the end they arrived at a settlement, but I think it's done tremendous damage to his reputation and the archdiocese."

However, attorney Pamela Hayes, a New York litigator who served on the board with Panetta, said Mahony had a dual role as pastoral leader of the archdiocese and as its chief executive, with financial obligations that go beyond the victims.

"This should have happened sooner rather than later, but they were doing what most defendants do. They fought back," Hayes said. "It might not sound nice, but do you know any multibillion-dollar organization that is going to fork out millions of dollars to people who say they were molested without any proof?"

After a California judge approved the settlement Monday, Mahony received support from an unlikely source — a lead lawyer for the victims. Attorney Raymond Boucher praised Mahony for meeting with victims and for working to convince religious orders to sign onto the deal.

"We particularly appreciate the sensitivity and personal efforts of Cardinal Mahony in bringing important parts of this settlement together," Boucher said in a news release.

But some Catholic commentators, advocates for victims and editorial writers said the payout protected Mahony at the church's expense.

Phil Lawler, editor of the conservative Catholic World News, said Mahony should resign. Lawler called the cardinal's legal strategy "self-serving" and argued it was meant "to prevent the disclosure of embarrassing information."

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070721/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse_cardinal

L. A. Catholic Archdiocese to Pay $600 Million for Clergy Abuse

2007-07-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

The AP reported minutes ago that:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will settle its clergy abuse cases for at least $600 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press learned Saturday.

Attorneys for the archdiocese and the plaintiffs are expected to announce the deal Monday, the day the first of more than 500 clergy abuse cases was scheduled for jury selection, according to two people with knowledge of the agreement. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been made public.

The archdiocese and its insurers will pay between $600 million and $650 million to about 500 plaintiffs — an average of $1.2 million to $1.3 million per person. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, the sources said.

The settlements would push the total amount paid out by the U.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese.

It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement, and final details were being ironed out.

Lead plaintiffs' attorney Ray Boucher confirmed the sides were working on a deal but would not discuss specifics. He said that negotiations would continue through the weekend and that there were still many unresolved aspects.

Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, declined to comment on any settlement details.

"The archdiocese will be in court Monday morning," he said.

Steven Sanchez, 47, was one of the plaintiffs set to go to trial Monday. He was expected to testify in the trial involving the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach.

Sanchez, a financial adviser, said the past few months have been especially difficult because he had to repeat his story of abuse for depositions with his attorneys and archdiocese attorneys in preparation for trial.

"We're 48 hours away from starting the trial, and I've been spending a lot of time getting emotionally prepared to take them on, but I'm glad," he said. "It's been a long five years."

A spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said at a news conference outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Saturday that the group had not been apprised of any settlement, and that no such deal would stop anyone's suffering.

"No matter what happens, no resolution, guilty verdict or settlement magically takes away the pain of having been raped or molested by Catholic priests in this archdiocese," said Mary Grant, the group's regional director.

The settlement would be the largest ever by a Roman Catholic archdiocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.

Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses — Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego — sought bankruptcy protection.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far.

The largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60 million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the mid-1950s and after 1987 — periods when it had little or no sexual abuse insurance. Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.

Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to raise funds for a settlement.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overseeing the cases recently ruled that Mahony could be called to testify in the second trial on schedule, and attorneys for plaintiffs wanted to call him in many more.

The same judge also cleared the way for four people to seek punitive damages — something that could have opened the church to tens of millions of dollars in payouts if the ruling had been expanded to other cases.S. church since 1950 to more than $2 billion, with about a quarter of that coming from the Los Angeles archdiocese.

It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split among the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement, and final details were being ironed out.

Lead plaintiffs' attorney Ray Boucher confirmed the sides were working on a deal but would not discuss specifics. He said that negotiations would continue through the weekend and that there were still many unresolved aspects.

Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, declined to comment on any settlement details.

"The archdiocese will be in court Monday morning," he said.

Steven Sanchez, 47, was one of the plaintiffs set to go to trial Monday. He was expected to testify in the trial involving the late Rev. Clinton Hagenbach.

Sanchez, a financial adviser, said the past few months have been especially difficult because he had to repeat his story of abuse for depositions with his attorneys and archdiocese attorneys in preparation for trial.

"We're 48 hours away from starting the trial, and I've been spending a lot of time getting emotionally prepared to take them on, but I'm glad," he said. "It's been a long five years."

A spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said at a news conference outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Saturday that the group had not been apprised of any settlement, and that no such deal would stop anyone's suffering.

"No matter what happens, no resolution, guilty verdict or settlement magically takes away the pain of having been raped or molested by Catholic priests in this archdiocese," said Mary Grant, the group's regional director.

The settlement would be the largest ever by a Roman Catholic archdiocese since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002. The largest payout so far has been by the Diocese of Orange, Calif., in 2004, for $100 million.

Facing a flood of abuse claims, five dioceses — Tucson, Ariz.; Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego — sought bankruptcy protection.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders have paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims so far.

The largest of those came in December, when the archdiocese reached a $60 million settlement with 45 people whose claims dated from before the mid-1950s and after 1987 — periods when it had little or no sexual abuse insurance. Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

However, more than 500 other lawsuits against the archdiocese had remained unresolved despite years of legal wrangling. Most of the outstanding lawsuits were generated by a 2002 state law that revoked for one year the statute of limitations for reporting sexual abuse.

Cardinal Roger Mahony recently told parishioners in an open letter that the archdiocese was selling its high-rise administrative building and considering the sale of about 50 other nonessential church properties to raise funds for a settlement.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070715/ap_on_re_us/church_abuse

Pope Asserts Other Christian Denominations are Not True Churches

2007-07-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Unexpected Comment and Document are Sure to Cause Furor

The AP reported today that:

LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.

On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.

In the latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II's ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.

It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy's Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," the document said. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.

The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.

"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."

The document said Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.

"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," the commentary said.

Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.

"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.

The document, signed by the congregation prefect, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul — a major ecumenical feast day.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710/ap_on_re_eu/pope_other_christians

Bush commutes Libby prison sentence

2007-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

The AP reported today that:

WASHINGTON - President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak investigation Monday, delivering a political thunderbolt in the highly charged criminal case. Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush's move came just five hours after a federal appeals panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. That meant Libby was likely to have to report soon, and it put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald disputed the president's assertion that the prison term was excessive. Libby was sentenced under the same laws as other criminals, Fitzgerald said. "It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals," the prosecutor said.

Libby's attorney, Theodore Wells, said in a statement that the Libby family was grateful for Bush's action and continued to believe in his innocence.

Bush's decision enraged Democrats and cheered conservatives — though some of the latter wished Bush had granted a full pardon.

"Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's decision showed the president "condones criminal conduct."

Unlike a pardon, which would have wiped away Libby's criminal record, Bush's commutation voided only the prison term.

The president left intact a $250,000 fine and two years' probation for his conviction of lying and obstructing justice in a probe into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. The former operative, Valerie Plame, contends the White House was trying to discredit her husband, a critic of Bush's Iraq policy.

Bush said his action still "leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby."

Libby was convicted in March, the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair roiled the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Arms were secretly sold to Iran to gain freedom for American hostages, with the money funneled to anti-communist guerrillas in Nicaragua in spite of a congressional ban. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, issued pardons for six former officials shortly before leaving office in 1992.

Testimony in the Libby case revealed the extraordinary steps that Bush and Cheney were willing to take to discredit a critic of the Iraq war.

Libby's supporters celebrated the president's decision.

"President Bush did the right thing today in commuting the prison term for Scooter Libby," said House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.

"That's fantastic. It's a great relief," said former Ambassador Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions for Libby's defense fund. "Scooter Libby did not deserve to go to prison and I'm glad the president had the courage to do this."

Already at record lows in the polls, Bush risked a political backlash with his decision. President Ford tumbled in the polls after his 1974 pardon of Richard M. Nixon, and the decision was a factor in Ford's loss in the 1976 presidential election.

White House officials said Bush knew he could take political heat and simply did what he thought was right. They would not say what advice Cheney might have given the president.

On the other hand, Bush's action could help Republican presidential candidates by letting them off the hook on the question of whether they would pardon Libby.

Bush said Cheney's former aide was not getting off free.

"The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged," Bush said. "His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."

A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, "The vice president supports the president's decision."

The White House said Bush came to his decision in the past week or two and made it final Monday because of the ruling of the appeals panel, which meant Libby would be going to prison soon.

The president's announcement came just as prison seemed likely for Libby. He recently lost an appeals court fight that was his best chance to put the sentence on hold, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons had already designated him inmate No. 28301-016.

Bush's statement made no mention of the term "pardon," and he made clear that he was not willing to wipe away all penalties for Libby.

The president noted Libby supporters' argument that the punishment did not fit the crime for a "first-time offender with years of exceptional public service."

Yet, he added: "Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable."

Bush then stripped away the prison time.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070703/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_trial

Supreme Court Decides to review Guantanamo cases

2007-06-30T01:59:00.000-07:00

The AP reported today that:

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to review whether Guantanamo Bay detainees can use federal courts to challenge their confinement, reversing an April decision not to hear arguments on the issue.

The unusual turnabout was announced without comment from justices who had twice before issued rulings critical of the way the Bush administration was handling detainees. Arguments are expected in the fall.

There was no indication why the justices changed course from three months ago, but lawyers for the prisoners pointed to intervening events as having changed the complexion of the long-running controversy.

A week ago, lawyers for the detainees filed a statement with the Supreme Court from a military officer who alleged U.S. military panels that classified detainees as enemy combatants for the past four years relied on vague and incomplete intelligence.

Under a law the Bush administration pushed through Congress last year, designating detainees as an enemy combatants strips them of any right to use the federal courts to challenge the legality of their detention.

Detainees challenged the law, and their appeal reached the Supreme Court earlier this year. On April 2, the court turned down the detainees' request to be heard.

At the time, Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy pointed to the "obvious importance" of the cases, but said it would be premature to intervene. Three members of the court said in April they wanted to step in immediately: Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.

Five of the nine justices must agree to take a case that previously has been denied a hearing, according to an authoritative text on the Supreme Court. Court observers pointed to a 60-year-old case as the closest parallel to how the justices' handling of the detainees latest appeal.

Currently, 375 detainees are held at Guantanamo Bay.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said that "we did not think that court review at this time was necessary, but we are confident in our legal position."

The operation of Guantanamo Bay has brought global criticism of the Bush administration and condemnation from Democrats on Capitol Hill. Democratic leaders say they will push next month to cut the president's budget for the prison in an effort to force its closure.

The White House says Bush has already decided to close the facility and transfer more than 370 terrorism suspects elsewhere.

In 2004, the Bush administration hastily created Combatant Status Review Tribunals after the Supreme Court faulted the government for note giving detainees access to courts.

On Friday, Washington attorney David Remes said that "the corrupted CSRT proceedings and the very restrictive government view of what the detainees can do in the lower courts led the justices to conclude that they should take up these issues."

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070630/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_guantanamo

ACLU Renews Call on Congress to Investigate U.S. Detainee Torture and Abuse on Eve of International Day Against Torture

2007-06-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - JUNE 25 - In anticipation of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention Against Torture, the American Civil Liberties Union reiterated its call on Congress today to create an independent and bi-partisan commission to thoroughly investigate policies and practices of torture and abuse against detainees held in U.S. custody.

"It is a sad commentary that on a day that used to be about calling on rogue countries to stop the practice of torture and abuse, Americans cannot at least hold their heads up high in the knowledge that their own government has behaved according to international legal and moral standards," said Jamil Dakwar, Advocacy Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program. "It is time for Congress to finally thoroughly investigate the chain of command that allowed this to happen, and to also make sure that the victims of these disgraceful actions have a proper avenue for redress."

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect in 1987 and was ratified by the U.S. in 1994. It forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon those under their control and prohibits the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Convention also prohibits the transfer or the rendition of persons to countries where they could be at risk of being tortured. Over recent years, it has become clear that the U.S., as part of the so-called "war on terror," has repeatedly violated the Convention. Last year, the U.N. Committee Against Torture condemned the U.S. for its policies that had led to the widespread abuse against detainees, including the use of torture.

To date, no high-ranking senior officials in the government or military have been held accountable for U.S. detainee abuse, including that at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. According to a June 25 published report, the Pentagon and senior military officials were told about the now infamous Abu Ghraib abuses significantly earlier than they professed to have knowledge about them. Army Major General Antonio M. Taguba, in charge of investigating Abu Ghraib, informed Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker magazine that he had submitted more than a dozen copies of his report on the abuse through several channels at the Pentagon and to Central Command headquarters, and that he was given orders to investigate only military police at the prison, not those above them in the chain of command.

Moreover, more than 100,000 pages of government documents released in response to ACLU Freedom of Information Act requests reveal that a pervasive and systemic pattern of harsh interrogation techniques have been used by military personnel indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guántanamo Bay. The documents include evidence that detainees have been beaten; forced into painful stress positions; threatened with death; sexually and religiously humiliated; stripped naked; hooded and blindfolded; exposed to extreme heat and cold; denied food and water; isolated for prolonged periods; subjected to mock drownings; and intimated by dogs.

It is estimated that there are currently about 18,000 detainees held in Iraq, over 660 in Afghanistan, and about 375 at the U.S. prison in Guantánamo Bay. Most do not have access to attorneys or family members, and, under terms of the Military Commissions Act eliminating habeas corpus protections, have been denied the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts. In addition, it has come to be known that the CIA is engaging in the unlawful practice of "extraordinary rendition" – the kidnapping of foreign nationals for detention and interrogation in secret overseas prisons in countries where it is known detainees are routinely tortured or abused.

According to the ACLU, violations of the Convention Against Torture are not limited to incidents abroad. Abusive conditions of confinement also persist in so-called Supermax prisons in the U.S.: prison rape and sexual assault are daily occurrences, and the use of Tasers and restraint devices have endangered prisoners.

"Too often, the women, men, and children in our nation's prisons are exposed to appalling living conditions and grossly inadequate medical care and are not protected from sexual abuse and the dangerous use of electroshock and other weapons," said Elizabeth Alexander, Director of the ACLU National Prison Project. "Moreover, federal law often makes it difficult to redress many of these human rights violations."

GAO Report Finds Federal Agency Media Policies Unclear

2007-06-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

UCS Calls For Stronger Protections for Federal Scientists

WASHINGTON - JUNE 19 - The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a report supporting recent criticisms that federal agency media policies hinder government scientists from publicizing their research results relating to critical public health and environmental issues. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said the report's findings suggest agency policies for communicating scientific results need significant clarification and improvement.

"Public health and safety are at risk when federal scientists are prevented from speaking freely about their research," said Francesca Grifo, senior scientist and director of the UCS Scientific Integrity Program. "Current policies even with the new GAO recommendations do not protect these basic scientific freedoms."

The GAO investigation examined communications policies at several federal agencies where the censorship of science has become pervasive, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The GAO report recommended steps federal agencies should take to address the problem. First, agencies need to clarify and better explain existing media policies to federal scientists. Fewer than half of the NOAA and NASA scientists surveyed understand they are allowed to "discuss potential policy implications of their research as long as they identify such views as their personal opinions and not those of the agency." Second, agencies should provide a robust appeal process for scientists who are refused permission to disseminate their research results. Only a quarter of the scientists at NASA, NOAA, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are aware of an intra-agency appeals process.

While the GAO recommendations are important first steps, they are "insufficient to prevent political interference in the communication of research results and guarantee the First Amendment rights of government scientists," Grifo said.

The GAO report was released just a few weeks after the Commerce Department issued a new media policy that does little to improve the quality of federal scientific communications, according to UCS. Last month, UCS and the Government Accountability Project (GAP) sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez urging him to address policy shortcomings that are not addressed by the GAO report:

* All federal media policies should affirm scientists' rights to speak freely to the media on any topic, provided they make it clear that any views expressed are their own and do not reflect their department's official position;

* Scientists must have the right of final review of any communication citing their research; and

* Federal media policies should guarantee federal scientists' rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act and other free speech protections.

"The new Commerce policy restricts and confuses scientists," said Grifo. "Scientists do not leave their basic first amendment rights at the curb when they come to work for the government. The Commerce Department must address the new media policy's fatal flaws."

A revised NASA communications policy released in 2006 also fails to guarantee many critical rights, according to an analysis by UCS and GAP.

The GAO report confirms the findings of "Atmosphere of Pressure," a joint investigation by UCS and GAP that found that while the quality of federal climate science remains high, there is broad interference in the communication of results. The GAO report found that about 200 researchers at NASA, NOAA, and NIST had dissemination requests denied during the past five years.

In a survey of climate scientists across nine federal agencies included in "Atmosphere of Pressure," scientists reported experiencing at least 435 occurrences of political interference in their work over the past five years. Nearly half of all respondents (46 percent) perceived or personally experienced pressure to eliminate the words "climate change," "global warming," or other similar terms from a variety of communications. Forty-three percent of respondents reported they had perceived or personally experienced changes or edits during review of their work that changed the meaning of their scientific findings. And nearly half (46 percent) perceived or personally experienced new or unusual administrative requirements that impair their climate-related work.

Today’s GAO report was requested in 2006 by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), then-ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, in response to allegations of widespread political interference in science.

The Constitution Project Welcomes House Bill to Restore Habeas Corpus

2007-06-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - JUNE 15 - Today the Constitution Project applauded the introduction by Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA) of H.R. 2710, which would restore the habeas corpus rights repealed by the controversial Military Commissions Act last year. Rep. Sestak, a retired three-star Navy admiral, has long supported restoring the constitutional right known as the Great Writ. As a candidate for the US House of Representatives Sestak said that the habeas-stripping Military Commissions Act "falls short of protecting American service members as well as ideals of fairness and justice." *

"Representative Sestak knows from personal experience that defending the Constitution is not always popular, when serving in the Navy or in Congress," said Sharon Virginia Sloan, president of the Constitution Project. "The unusual battlefields of the 'war on terrorism' should not lead us to abandon the constituional principles that have sustained this country for more than two hundred years. This bill will restore the rule of law and demostrates that our government need not concede the moral high ground to keep Americans safe."

Beijing Olympics: IOC Called Upon to Act on Abuses in Chinese Olympics Suppliers

2007-06-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

New Report from ITUC, ITGLWF and Clean Clothes Campaign Details Severe Workers' Rights Violations in Several Chinese Factories

BRUSSELS - JUNE 11 - On the eve of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in London, a new report "No medal for the Olympics on labour rights" released today by the PlayFair 2008 campaign group exposes gross violations of basic labour standards by several Chinese factories supplying goods under license for the Beijing Olympics, including adult wages at half the legal minimum, employment of workers as young as 12 years old, and employees made to work 12-hour shifts seven days a week in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. With freedom of association banned in China, the workers lack any effective means to defend their rights.

PlayFair 2008 researchers carried out interviews and investigations in early 2007 in four factories making Olympics licensed bags, headgear, stationery and other products. The companies are Lekit Stationary Co, Mainland Headwear Holdings Ltd, Eagle Leather Products, and Yue Wing Cheong Light Products. The report also reveals labour rights violations such as forced overtime, workers being instructed to lie about wages and conditions to outside inspectors, poor health and safety conditions, workers required to work 30 days per month and employers falsifying employment records.

"We’re so exhausted, trying to get the "Olympic bags" done in time! To hell with the Olympics product, I am so tired" said one worker interviewed by PlayFair 2008. The PlayFair 2008 organisations have since the Athens 2004 Games tried to get the International Olympics Committee to put worker rights standards into Olympics supply chain contracts, as set out in the new report, however the IOC has refused to do so. "Licensing of the Olympics brand is a major source of income for the IOC and national Olympics committees, and it brings shame on the whole Olympics movement that such severe violations of international labour standards are taking place in Olympics-licensed factories" said Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, a PlayFair 2008 Campaign partner along with the global union Federation the International Textile, Leather and Garment Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC).

"Children as young as 12 years old working 15 hours a day. Workers cheated of more than half their legal wages. All working till they drop making Beijing Olympics related products. This isn’t sport! It begs the question if IOC actually means ’Ignoring Outrageous Conditions’ rather than ’International Olympic Committee’", said ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney.

The IOC imposes a range of strict conditions on licensees, however these do not include requirements to respect fundamental labour standards. Beijing Games licensing is expected to generate some US$70million in income to the Olympics - 40% more than for the 2000 Sydney Games. Broadcast rights, sponsorship deals and ticket sales are other major sources of Olympics revenue, and substantial profits are also expected to be made through the sale of other Olympics-related merchandise.

“PlayFair 2008 is ready at any time to enter serious discussions with the IOC on establishing an effective mechanism to protect workers being exploited in Olympics-related production,” said Ineke Zeldenrust of the CCC International Secretariat. “The IOC has been silent on these issues too long and we will be actively campaigning to get them to take action. As the organizer of the biggest global sports-event they should also use their authority to support full respect for fundamental workers’ rights in the sporting goods sector overall.”

"The IOC’s refusal to ensure internationally recognised core labour standards on freedom of association at Olympic-licensed factories is in direct conflict with the Olympic spirit of fair competition. The horrendous conditions faced by Chinese workers working on Olympic products puts the IOC and the Chinese Government to shame," said Lee Cheuk Yan, General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. Prior to publishing the report, PlayFair 2008 sent a copy to the IOC at its Lausanne Headquarters, calling again for the IOC to adopt and implement effective mechanisms throughout Olympics licensing and supply contracts to ensure respect for fundamental labour standards. In the previous discussions between PlayFair and the IOC, the IOC rejected the Play Fair proposals, and to date has no effective mechanism at all to protect workers being exploited in Olympics-related production.

In a letter to PlayFair 2008 last Friday night, the IOC stated its commitment to social responsibility and ethical sourcing, however it did not respond to the specific proposals put to it by PlayFair, nor did it set out any concrete initiatives to deal with the problem. The PlayFair group has also called on the Beijing Olympics Committee not to proceed with its threat to cancel contracts with factories identified in the report, but to join in efforts to ensure respect for fundamental international labour standards throughout the supply chain.

"We warned the IOC at the time that failure to take the necessary action on labour standards would lead to situations such as those identified in the report, bringing lasting damage to the name and reputation of the Olympic movement. Unfortunately, they chose not to take action. This should not happen again", said Ryder.

North Carolina Cities fight bill to limit broadband

2007-06-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

Legislature considers move some call "No Competition Act"

The Independent Weekly reported June 6, 2007 that:

The North Carolina state legislature is considering a bill that would severely restrict the ability of local governments to provide broadband Internet access. It would affect everything from Chapel Hill's evolving plan for downtown wi-fi access to city partnerships with private industry to some rural communities' efforts to provide access to citizens stuck with nothing but dial-up.

House Bill 1587, "The Local Government Fair Competition Act," is supported by the telecommunications and cable industries, which say cities have unfair advantages—they don't pay taxes and can subsidize a money-losing Internet business with revenue from the city budget. The bill sets out a long list of strict financial and political requirements should a government get into the broadband business. But the N.C. League of Municipalities and a growing number of cities oppose the measure, saying it would effectively make it impossible for local governments to provide Internet service in rural and low-income areas where private industry has decided not to.

Largely ignored by the media, this tug of war between local governments and private industry is part of a trend in which state legislatures are carving out the nation's digital future by enacting laws that will govern the next generation of communications technology. Like the fight over net neutrality, these local laws will have tremendous impact on Americans' access to the Internet in years to come. But unlike that widely publicized congressional battle, these state-level regulations are struggled over in obscurity.

But if the average citizen doesn't know much about this fight, city leaders certainly do. Durham, Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, Greensboro and a growing number of other cities have announced their opposition.

For Chapel Hill, the bill could mean an end to long-running plans. "Chapel Hill does oppose any law that would impede its ability to provide high speed broadband Internet service to the community, so we are in opposition to this bill," says a town spokesperson.

Cary has not taken an official position, but leaders there wrote members of the House committee saying the town "is very concerned about the negative impacts" of the bill, which "could severely limit a local government's ability to foster economic development and bridge the digital divide."

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A155099

U.S. Anti-Terror and Anti-Drug War Benefit Colombian Government, Despite Human Rights Concerns

2007-06-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - JUNE 7 - Despite a post-9/11 shift to emphasize terrorism in the U.S.-backed fight against drugs in Colombia, policy goals have been stymied by ongoing human rights violations and a wave of scandals linking scores of government officials to paramilitary groups designated by the United States as terrorist groups, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Colombia benefited from a nearly half a billion dollar increase in overall U.S. military aid in the three years following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Foreign Military Financing (FMF), which finances foreign government purchases of U.S. military services and training, rose from zero in the three years before the attacks to more than $100 million in the following three years. This aid came on top of the nearly $2 billion during the same time period from U.S. taxpayers that Colombia received from the Pentagon and State Department to counter drug trafficking in the region, the Center's "Collateral Damage" series found.

American largesse has positioned the troubled nation among the top 10 recipients of U.S. military aid in the three years after 9/11. Despite that, U.S.-trained Colombian military and security forces have been criticized by human rights groups for their alleged kidnappings, torturing and murder of civilians.

"What matters now is the fight against terrorism, not the protection of human rights," said Professor Bruce Bagley, a Colombia expert at the University of Miami. "Despite the fact that the demobilization of paramilitary groups has contributed to fewer massacres and the kidnapping numbers are down, last year Colombia was still the most dangerous country on the planet for union leaders and activists."

Media Consolidation Diminishes Diversity on the Radio

2007-06-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - JUNE 6 - Reacting to a new Free Press study on radio ownership released today, national women's rights and civil rights leaders joined two Federal Communications Commissioners in condemning the FCC for its failure to address the low number of female and minority media owners.

"We found that women and people of color control just one-eighth of the country's full-power radio stations despite comprising two-thirds of the population," said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press and author of Off the Dial: How Media Consolidation Diminishes Diversity on the Radio. "These results are stark and a cause for alarm. The FCC should be aware of the consequences before enacting any policies that could further media concentration."

As the FCC considers eliminating longstanding media ownership limits, Off the Dial exposes how these changes could hasten the disappearance of the few female- and minority-controlled stations on the radio. On a national teleconference today, FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps blasted the agency's pro-consolidation policies for pushing out female and minority owners.

"This study presents fresh and challenging evidence about the lack of female and minority ownership in the radio industry," Commissioner Copps said. "My fervent hope is that we can harness the shame of our failures and recommit ourselves to creating a media that reflects the diversity of the American people."

"Women and people of color have been left off the dial because the FCC has pursued policies that are far off the mark," said Commissioner Adelstein. "It is our legal and moral obligation to promote diversity in the public airwaves. But as this landmark report shows, misguided policies have concentrated radio station ownership in a few hands and denied two-thirds of the American people an opportunity to serve the needs of their communities. The Commission needs to thoroughly study this report and develop a comprehensive strategy to remedy this injustice."

Off the Dial found that the average local radio market has 16 white male-owned radio stations — but just one female-owned station and two-minority owned stations. Women own just 6 percent of all full-power radio stations, even though they comprise 51 percent of the population. People of color own just 7.7 percent of stations but make up 33 percent of the population.

"I commend Free Press for compiling this thorough report on the lack of diversity in radio station ownership," said Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.). "The incredibly low numbers of women and under-represented minorities that own radio stations — Latinos own just 2.9 percent, and women own just 6 percent of full-power commercial radio stations — run contrary to the public interest. This report demonstrates the problems associated with the increasing consolidation of media ownership. As the FCC re-examines media ownership rules, I urge them to pay close attention to this report and the disturbing statistics showing that we need more diversity among owners of radio and other media."

"All day, all night, all white, clearly does not represent the diversity of American culture," said Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. "When people of color own just 7.7 percent of radio stations but make up 33 percent of the population, we see how poor public policy decisions continue to lock more of the 'Rainbow' out of opportunities."

"Commercial radio may be one of the most unfriendly environments for women and people of color," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. "Media consolidation has created an almost unbreakable glass ceiling at the top. The FCC must take action to promote more diverse ownership and end the white male stranglehold on the airwaves."

"Latinos own less than 3 percent of U.S. radio stations but make up 15 percent of the population," said Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "These alarming statistics suggest that women and people of color have very few stations available to serve the needs of the community. LULAC urges the FCC to do better."

Off the Dial shows that media consolidation is a barrier to ownership diversity. Female and minority owners are more likely to be local radio station owners and more likely to own a single station. Off the Dial also found that female and minority owners were more likely to have a female president or CEO and employ women as general managers.

"We are concerned about the status of the invisible majority," said Carol Jenkins, president of The Women's Media Center. "That women are acutely under-represented in ownership is part of the larger crisis of representation and participation in the media overall. In the case of radio, it's a pipeline issue: When 85 to 90 percent of general managers and program directors are men, women simply don't acquire the skills to run — and then own — radio stations."

"Our entire federal government, from the FCC to Congress and the courts, is to blame for the shameful lack of media diversity this important report reveals," said Mark Lloyd, senior fellow at Center for American Progress and chair of the Media and Telecommunications Task Force at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "We must begin to hold our representatives responsible for licensing who gets access to the public spectrum. And a licensing scheme that has locked out women and minorities since the early 1920s must be corrected to reflect America in the 21st century."

Former Cheney Chief of Staff Libby sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison

2007-06-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

The AP reported minutes ago that:

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation — the probe that showed a White House obsessed with criticism of its decision to go to war.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the highest-ranking White House official sentenced to prison since the Iran-Contra affair, asked for leniency, but a federal judge said he would not reward someone who hindered the investigation into the exposure of a CIA operative. The operative's husband had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

No date was set immediately for Libby to report to prison.

"Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course," said U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who spent years investigating the case, said, "We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much." He had asked for a sentence of up to three years, while Libby had asked for probation and no time in prison.

Reaction from the White House was still supportive — but somber.

President Bush, traveling in Europe, said through a spokesman that he "felt terrible for the family," especially Libby's wife and children. Libby and his wife, Harriet Grant, have two school-age children, a son and a daughter.

Cheney said he hoped his former top aide would prevail on appeal.

Libby did not apologize and has maintained his innocence.

"It is respectfully my hope that the court will consider, along with the jury verdict, my whole life," he said in brief remarks in court before the sentencing, his first public statement about the case since his indictment in 2005.

A Republican stalwart, he drew more than 150 letters of support from military commanders and diplomats who praised his government service from the Cold War through the early days of the Iraq war.

He was convicted in March of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters about CIA official
Valerie Plame. Fitzgerald questioned Bush and Cheney in a probe that became a symbol of the administration's deepening problems.

"Mr. Libby was the poster child for all that has gone wrong in this terrible war," defense attorney Theodore Wells said. "He has fallen from public grace. It is a tragic fall, a tragic fall."

Cheney, looking to Libby's appeal, said, "Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man."

Defense attorneys sought to have the sentence delayed until appeals run out. A delay also would give Bush more time to consider calls from Libby's allies to pardon the longtime aide.

Walton said he saw no reason to put the sentence on hold but agreed to consider it. He scheduled a hearing for a week from Thursday.

Libby and Fitzgerald left court without speaking to reporters.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070605/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_trial

Senate Outrage Over Southwick?

2007-06-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Judicial Nominee Heads for Committee Vote

WASHINGTON - JUNE 4 - The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote this Thursday on the nomination of former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge Leslie Southwick to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way, cited Southwick’s troubling record on the rights of African Americans, gays and lesbians, and workers, and today urged Democratic and Republican Senators to come out forcefully against the nomination prior to the vote.

He made the following statement:

“Leslie Southwick upheld the reinstatement with back pay of a white worker after she had been fired for using the single most offensive racial epithet, calling a black colleague a ‘good ole nigger.’ In the wake of heightened racial sensitivity engendered by the Don Imus imbroglio, it’s amazing that there is so little outrage over the unbelievably insensitive position taken by a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.”

“In another case, he agreed that an eight-year-old girl could be taken away from her birth mother, in large part because the mother was living with another woman in a ‘lesbian home.’ Southwick went even further, joining a gratuitously anti-gay concurrence suggesting that he believes sexual orientation is a ‘choice,’ and that one legally acceptable consequence of that ‘choice’ is losing one’s child.”

“Today we read that Senator Barack Obama is opposing the nomination. Bravo. My question is, why is Senator Obama’s voice the only senatorial voice we have heard? I urge other senators to come out forcefully today to object to this nomination, and to urge their Republican and Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to reject it.

“Last November, the American people voted for change. Change does not include rubber-stamping George W. Bush’s federal court nominees, and giving them lifetime seats on the federal bench. In fact, that’s one way to ensure that the legacy of the Bush administration far outlasts his term. Elections matter.”

ACLU Calls for Immediate Investigation into Death at Guantánamo Bay

2007-06-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

Prisoner Death Comes Just Days Before ACLU Set to Monitor Military Commission Proceedings

New York - JUNE 1 - The American Civil Liberties Union today called for an independent investigation into the death of a Saudi national held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay. Military officials have described the death as an “apparent suicide,” making it the fourth death in custody at Guantánamo in the past year.

The U.S. government has previously downplayed the significance of suicides and suicide attempts at Guantánamo Bay, said the ACLU. Last year, officials drew widespread criticism after calling the suicides of three detainees “an act of asymmetric warfare.”

“Further deaths at Guantánamo should not surprise us when prisoners are afforded a second class system of justice, are held indefinitely without charge, and are given only limited access to their lawyers,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “Guantánamo Bay has operated for far too long under a shroud of secrecy. The global community and the American public have rightfully lost their trust in the U.S. government after countless reports of abuses and injustices at Guantánamo.”

“Guantánamo remains a legal black hole,” Romero added. “This is inconsistent with American values and must stop immediately.”

The ACLU has called on Congress and the Bush administration to shut down Guantánamo Bay. Last week, the ACLU endorsed legislation introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would effectively end the practice of indefinite detention without charge or due process for detainees who have been held for as long as five years without knowing the reason for their detention. It would also provide an incentive for the government to finally charge those detainees it believes are guilty of crimes against the United States.

“The military commission system at Guantánamo Bay delivers only the illusion of justice,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “Most of the prisoners have not been charged at all, and those prisoners who have been charged are being tried under rules that are fundamentally unfair.”

Jaffer will travel to Guantánamo Bay to observe the arraignments of Salim Ahmed Hamdan and Omar Khadr, both of which are scheduled to take place on Monday, June 4. Hamdan is a Yemeni national who is alleged to have been Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and chauffeur. He is charged with conspiracy and providing material support to terrorism. Hamdan previously challenged the military commissions system in a case that reached the United States Supreme Court. In June 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the military commissions authorized by President Bush violated U.S. military law and international treaties. Following that ruling, Congress enacted the Military Commissions Act (MCA), which was signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006. Hamdan and Khadr are being tried under the MCA.

Khadr, a 20-year-old Canadian citizen, will be arraigned on charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, material support and espionage. Most of the charges relate to a 2002 incident in Afghanistan in which Khadr is alleged to have thrown a grenade, killing a U.S. soldier. At the time, Khadr was 15 years old. Khadr’s lawyers argue that he should be treated as a minor and that he was abused by U.S. forces at Guantánamo Bay.

At their respective arraignments, Khadr and Hamdan will be asked to enter pleas. It is not yet known how they will respond. The ACLU’s Jaffer will post his observations of the hearings to the ACLU’s blog at http://blog.aclu.org.

The ACLU is one of four organizations that have been granted status as human rights observers at the military commission proceedings. When the tribunals began in 2004, Romero and two ACLU lawyers attended the proceedings and blogged about their observations.

Dating Site eHarmony sued in California for excluding gays

2007-05-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

Lawsuit alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in Los Angeles

Reuters reported today that:

The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

A lawsuit alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Linda Carlson, who was denied access to eHarmony because she is gay.

Lawyers bringing the action said they believed it was the first lawsuit of its kind against eHarmony, which has long rankled the gay community with its failure to offer a "men seeking men" or "women seeking women" option.

They were seeking to make it a class action lawsuit on behalf of gays and lesbians excluded from the dating service.

eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential religious conservative group Focus on the Family.

It has more than 12 million registered users, and heavy television advertising has made it one of the nation's biggest Internet dating sites.

The company said the allegations of discrimination against gays were false and reckless.

"The research that eHarmony has developed, through years of research, to match couples has been based on traits and personality patterns of successful heterosexual marriages," it said in a statement.

"Nothing precludes us from providing same-sex matching in the future. It's just not a service we offer now based upon the research we have conducted," eHarmony added.

According to the lawsuit, Carlson, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, tried to use the site's dating services in February 2007. When she was denied access, she wrote to eHarmony saying that its anti-gay policy was discriminatory under California law but the company refused to change it.

"Such outright discrimination is hurtful and disappointing for a business open to the public in this day and age," she said.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070531/tc_nm/usa_eharmony_gays_dc

Guantanamo Detainee apparently kills himself

2007-05-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Critics say suicide committed out of desperation

The AP reported minutes ago that:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Saudi Arabian detainee died Wednesday at Guantanamo Bay prison and the U.S. military said he apparently committed suicide. Critics of the detention center said the death showed the level of desperation among prisoners.

Also Wednesday, a Canadian detainee fired his American attorneys, leaving him without defense counsel ahead of his trial, his former U.S. military attorney told The Associated Press. The detainee, Omar Khadr, is still to be arraigned and is one of only three of the roughly 380 Guantanamo prisoners to be charged with a crime.

The military did not identify the detainee who died or describe the manner of death. There are about 80 detainees from Saudi Arabia held at Guantanamo.

Guards at the U.S. Naval Base in southeast Cuba found the detainee unresponsive and not breathing in his cell Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. military's Southern Command said in a statement.

"They tried to save his life but he was pronounced dead," said Mario Alvarez, a Miami-based spokesman for the command.

Lawyer Julia Tarver Mason, whose firm represents eight Saudi detainees at Guantanamo, said she has tried so far without success to learn from the government if the apparent suicide was by one of her clients.

"They are in the care of the United States government and that should mean that deaths should not occur," Mason said.

It would be the fourth suicide at Guantanamo since the prison camp opened in January 2002. On June 10, 2006, two Saudi detainees and one Yemeni hanged themselves with sheets.

A spokesman for detention operations, Navy Cmdr. Rick Haupt, declined to comment, referring questions to the Miami-based Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Defense attorneys said the death was likely an act of desperation at a prison camp where detainees are denied access to U.S. civilian courts and isolated in their cells for up to 22 hours a day.

"You have five and a half years of desperation there with no legal way out," said Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. "Sadly, it leads to people being so desperate they take their own lives."

Marc Falkoff, who is part of a team of attorneys representing 17 men from Yemen, said the suicide should be expected given the conditions at Guantanamo.

"We've said all along that the guys are going to try to take their lives and that appears to be what happened here," Falkoff said. "It's just incredibly sad and it wouldn't happen if these guys were just given their day in court."

A cultural adviser was helping the military handle the remains. "The remains of the deceased detainee are being treated with the utmost respect," the military said.

The death came as the U.S. military prepared to try Khadr and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni, in military tribunals set up by Congress after the
U.S. Supreme Court rejected a previous military trial system, calling it unconstitutional.

The complete story may be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guantanamo_suicide

Religious Leaders Call for Balanced Debate

2007-05-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

Progressive Religious Leaders Call for a Balanced Representation of Religion in the Media

WASHINGTON - MAY 29 - Media Matters for America, along with Faith in Public Life and progressive religious leaders from throughout the country, held a press conference today to discuss "Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in the Major News Media," a new report documenting the overrepresentation of conservative religious figures in the major news media. Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog organization; Faith in Public Life, an organization dedicated to increasing the strength and visibility of faith leaders working for justice and the common good; and the diverse group of progressive religious leaders called on major media outlets to provide a more balanced expression of religious values and views.

"The overwhelming presence in the news media of conservative religious voices leads to the false implication that to be religious is to be conservative, and worse, that to be progressive is to lack faith or even to be against faith. Nothing could be further from the truth," said Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. "People of faith have long been, and will continue to be, active leaders on progressive causes for justice. Our faith compels it."

"I have long felt the media have given Americans a distorted view of what people of faith believe. This research from Media Matters proves that. I hope both the print and electronic media in this country will now seek the balance so many of them profess to have as they continue to report issues of religion and its impact on our society, government, and the American culture," said Rev. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA.

"The media have a vital responsibility to represent the fullness of Catholic social teaching in what needs to be a broad and rich debate about the role of religion in public life," said Alexia Kelley, Executive Director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. "Catholic leaders who speak to the moral dimensions of an unjust war, the dignity of the human person, the growing gap between rich and poor, and global warming, speak from the heart of our Catholic faith. They must not be routinely passed over for strident commentary from culture warriors."

"This report clearly indicates what we've always suspected -- that the media prefer to see the world through a simple lens, a casualty of which is that the right and the conservative voice can often take control of the conversation," said Rev. Dr. Jim Forbes, host of the Air America program The Time Is Now. "So what do we do now? Those of us on who call ourselves progressives need to speak out and be heard."

"Unfortunately, much of the secular and religious media are stuck in the habit of secular-left/religious-right bipolar reporting, and they're failing to see that the religious and political landscape isn't that simple anymore, if it ever was," said Brian McLaren, Board Chairman for Sojourners/Call to Renewal.

Media Matters undertook this study in large part because of the media's response to the 2004 elections, in which key media figures overemphasized the impact of "values voters" -- a misleading term used by the media to describe conservative religious voters motivated by opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, which suggested that progressive voters did not care similarly about values.

In their coverage, news organizations overwhelmingly presented a picture in which religious Americans were defined as conservative Americans. This representation in the media proved to be a misleading characterization of how these so-called "values voters" influenced the 2006 elections, in which the "value" cited most by voters was the Iraq war, not issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

* A 2006 Zogby International exit poll showed that the "moral issue" cited most by voters was the Iraq war, and that more than twice as many voters cited greed and materialism or poverty and economic justice as "the most urgent moral crisis in American culture" as those who cited abortion or same-sex marriage.
* Despite their depiction in the mainstream media, only 10 percent of evangelical Christians said abortion and same-sex marriage would be the most important factor in determining their vote, according to a 2006 study by the Center for American Values in Public Life.
* Even though close to 90 percent of Americans identified themselves as religious in the Center for American Values in Public Life study, according to a post-election survey in 2004, only 32 percent of Americans identified themselves as conservative.

KEY FINDINGS:

* Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders we studied were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders between November 3, 2004 -- the day after the 2004 presidential election -- and December 31, 2006.
* On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
* In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.