Social Justice Blog

"There are lots of ways to rig an election, and it sure helps to be the incumbent if you're planning on doing so," writes Ethan Zuckerman over at WorldChanging.net. He's talking about the elections in Zimbabwe, slated for March 29. In 2005, the country's parliamentary elections were largely derided for serious human rights abuses (check out this study by Human Rights Watch).

Zuckerman reports that incumbent Morgan Tsvangarai has engaged in fraudulent activities, which include printing over 9 million ballots (a lot for a nation of 5.9 million voters); he also reports:

"The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has recruited 90,000 polling officers, who will oversee voting at polling places. Polling officers are often asked to help illiterate voters cast their votes, which can lead to vote rigging. And the ZEC has primarily recruited schoolteachers - who are government employees - to serve as the polling officers."


Visit Sokwanele for more information or check out this neat new application Sokwanele launched with Google Maps. As Zuckerman writes:

"Will Sokwanele's map show us whether the Zimbabwe election was rigged? It's possible that it already has - the map is filled with incidents of "political cleansing," violence where people who don't hold membership cards in ZANU-PF have been chased out. If you can't safely make it to a polling place, you can't vote. There are countless reports of failures to register voters, of food being given to government supporters and not to the opposition, of violence from police and troops against citizens."
posted by Alexandra at 3/28/2008 03:30:00 PM

John McCain debates himself on Iraq.

George W. approves.
posted by Matt Borondy at 3/26/2008 05:39:00 PM

Above is the full video of Rev. Wright's speech in which he shouts "God Damn America" after listing violent racial injustices. His thesis is that God is constant and governments change and that often times the American government has gotten it wrong (segregation, slavery, internment camps, etc.).



And there's the "America's chickens are coming home to roost" speech after 9/11 in which he's QUOTING SOMEONE FROM FOX. Yes, Fox News is actually crucifying this guy for directly quoting one of their shows.

Read (and watch) more about the truth of the Trinity Church.
posted by Matt Borondy at 3/21/2008 05:45:00 PM

Currently 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water.

World Water Day 2008 - this March 22 - is a time to take action and help solve this problem. Please visit WorldWaterDay.org and WorldWaterDay.net to find out how to get involved in one of the marches in NYC, LA and Seattle (you can also join a virtual march), or become a water advocate.

The Sierra Club also has a few good ideas: host a "Running Dry" screening, send a message to decision-makers, or simply get smart about the issue.

Water is a critical part of sustainable development, contributing to the preservation of the natural environment and alleviation of poverty.
posted by Alexandra at 3/19/2008 04:01:00 PM

Please elect this man.
posted by Matt Borondy at 3/18/2008 06:44:00 PM

The images captured in the New York Times' Baghdad Bureau blog speak for themselves.
posted by Alexandra at 3/18/2008 06:07:00 PM

Today, Senator Barack Obama delivered a major speech on race relations, tackling what many deem "the biggest test of his presidential campaign and political career." Obama renewed his call for generational change and national unity this morning and addressed race relations at length. The speech also addressed Reverend Wright's sermons about America following 9/11.

An excerpt:
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old - is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know - what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

Read the entire speech here.
posted by Alexandra at 3/18/2008 10:02:00 AM

Gunfire and violence are filling the streets of Tibet this morning, following on the heels of protests that started on Monday. Many reports are labeling the protests as the most serious challenges to Chinese government authority in nearly two decades.

What's happening and why? "It was evident to most observers - including the State Department - that the human rights situation in Tibet deteriorated last year. The reports in the last couple of days of peaceful protests being broken up with tear gas, of monks being detained and beaten, and of the sound of gunfire coming from monasteries around Lhasa are sadly predictable given the severity of the situation described by the 2007 report, and could be a harbinger of further clashes between Tibetans and Chinese authorities in this Olympics year," said Mary Beth Markey, Vice President of the International Campaign for Tibet. Check out their report here.

The protests come at a time when China is eager to present a harmonious image to the rest of the world as Beijing prepares to play host to the Olympic Games in August.

The International Campaign for Tibet is inviting Tibet supporters to join their Olympics campaign, Race for Tibet. Organizers hope to challenge the "Chinese government to use the Olympics opportunity to step forward on the world stage, abandoning its human rights abuses and failed policies in Tibet."

For frequently updated information on the continuing crisis, check out Tibet Will Be Free, published by Students for Free Tibet International.
posted by Alexandra at 3/14/2008 11:04:00 AM

Melissa Farley, author of Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada: Making the Connections, and Victor Malarek, author of The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade, have a great Op-Ed piece published in the New York Times today in regards to Eliot Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring. They ask:

"What do we know about the woman Gov. Eliot Spitzer allegedly hired as a prostitute? She was the one person he ignored in his apology. What is she going through now? Is she in danger from organized crime because of what she knows? Is anyone offering her legal counsel or alternatives to prostitution?"

They're not the only ones wondering. Human rights groups that credit Spitzer with what they call "the toughest and most comprehensive anti-sex-trade law in the nation" can't believe Spitzer stands accused of being one of the very men his law was designed to catch and punish. Read more about that here.

To find out more about global organizations working to end sex trade/human trafficking visit Project to End Human Trafficking, Human Trafficking.org, Shared Hope International, or The Red Light Movement.
posted by Alexandra at 3/12/2008 10:32:00 AM

Amidst the news of the continuing battle for the Democratic nomination, and the shocking end to Eliot Spitzer's political career, President Bush vetoed an intelligence authorization bill which would have prevented the CIA and other US agents from using waterboarding, sexual humiliation, dogs and other techniques that amount to torture and ill-treatment. Click here for more about the provisions of the proposed act.

Bush claims the "need to maintain a separate CIA program that will shield from disclosure to al Qaeda and other terrorists the interrogation techniques they may face upon capture...I cannot sign into law a bill that would prevent me, and future Presidents, from authorizing the CIA to conduct a separate, lawful intelligence program, and from taking all lawful actions necessary to protect Americans from attack."

Amnesty International is calling on Congress to "immediately mandate an independent investigation into the heaps of highly credible evidence of illegal and inhumane actions in the war on terror, and then prosecute those responsible promptly." To take action click here.
posted by Alexandra at 3/11/2008 09:37:00 AM

We've been spending a lot of time at ObamaIsWinning, a fun, informative site about Obama's campaign that features a nice collection of often-hilarious videos and a blog:

http://obamaiswinning.com/
posted by Matt Borondy at 3/06/2008 07:47:00 AM

Just voted here in Vermont! Today, a total of 370 pledged delegates are at stake in primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

To find out more about what's going on around the country today, check out some of these links:

Read about the races in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Listen to what people around the country are pinpointing as this election's most important issues.

Find out why rank and file Dems don't think Hill should drop out the race -- even if she loses big today.

Learn more about the tradition of the town meeting, and why political scientist Frank Bryan thinks "real, deliberative, legislative democracy without decision, is like sex without completion."
posted by Alexandra at 3/04/2008 09:41:00 AM

Over at The Daily Kos, a discussion of the FISA debacle:

Are you comfortable with allowing unlimited, warrantless electronic surveillance and datamining of the communications of all Americans and indeed the entire world on the say-so of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and/or David Addington, with no possibility that they will ever agree to answer any questions you may ever have about it?

Chalk up another victory for American Fascism while I go vote in the primaries and pretend to live in a democracy.
posted by Matt Borondy at 3/04/2008 07:56:00 AM