Take action before things in Burma get worse. The last time the Burmese people took to the streets in protest (back in 1988), the military junta killed thousands. Visit
Amnesty International for ways to speak out against this human rights crisis.
posted by Alexandra at 9/27/2007 01:29:00 PM
"The involvement of the monks is a significant escalation...It shows that the frustration has increased, a political frustration as well as an economic frustration."-David Steinberg-
Yesterday in Myanmar, nearly 1,000 monks were joined by thousands of people who walked alongside them in the greatest sign of public participation since the protests in the country began on Aug. 19, after the government "raised fuel prices on Aug. 15 without warning or explanation by as much as 500 percent."
As reported by the
New York Times, the Asian Human Rights Commission, an independent group based in Hong Kong, released what it said was a transcript of a public statement by monks in Yangon yesterday:
"The clergy boycotts the violent, mean, cruel, ruthless, pitiless kings, the great thieves who live by stealing from the national treasury. The clergy hereby also refuses donations and preaching."
Read the rest of the
NYTimes article here.
posted by Alexandra at 9/21/2007 08:39:00 AM
"LGBT Americans find their livelihoods are placed in jeopardy when they either take the bold step of coming out or when the facts of their lives are inadvertently discovered."-Deborah J. Vagins-
Vagins urges Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA), which "would make it illegal for employers to make decisions about hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity." Read more
here.
For some more reading, check out the ACLU's report, entitled "
Working in the Shadows."
posted by Alexandra at 9/20/2007 11:21:00 AM
In "
Why the Cost of College Won't Drop Anytime Soon," Wasik drops a bunch of unsettling numbers in his analysis of Congress' recent overhaul of federal college aid (the Higher Education Access Act). Though Democrats applauded the new legislation, in Wasik's opinion "the new law will increase aid to low-income students, give a break for students pursuing public service and reduce subsidized federal-loan rates over time, it won't mandate that any colleges rein in their costs."
For another perspective on this topic, read Ric Perlstein's "
Good news on higher ed". He thinks the bill is pushing things in the right direction.
If you're lazy and don't feel particularly inclined to read, take a listen to
NPR's coverage here.
posted by Alexandra at 9/18/2007 09:29:00 AM
"Voter roll purges, if incorrectly done, can be a factor in determining election outcomes -- particularly in tight races. Unlike most of the "voter fraud" cases cited by GOP activists, where a handful of registrations -- usually in the single digits -- from big voter registration drives are found to be erroneous, purges can affect thousands of voters. In Florida and Missouri in 2000, a total of 100,000 legal voters were incorrectly removed, according to academics and local election officials. In Cleveland in 2004, voter purges were a factor behind long lines and people leaving without voting as poll workers dealt with people who did not know they had been removed from voter lists, various media reported."-
Steven Rosenfeld-
Read "
Voter Purging: A Legal Way For Republicans to Swing Elections" to find out more about the Department of Justice new initiative to get 10 states to purge voter rolls before the 2008 election. Rosenfeld is co-author of
What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election.
posted by Alexandra at 9/12/2007 08:54:00 AM 
