Fiery words from Herman Cain tonight. The Republican presidential hopeful calls the black community politically “brainwashed” in an interview on CNN’s The Situation Room. “African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view,” he argues. “I have received some of that same…
Continue reading …It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt—or threatened with bodily harm. Stephen Hanks, the 47-year-old who said some nasty things to Bristol Palin regarding her momma (an exchange that was, of course, caught on film), has now apologized. Though he originally said he’d gladly do it again…
Continue reading …The Obama administration launched its Supreme Court defense of its landmark health care overhaul today, formally appealing a ruling by the federal appeals court in Atlanta that struck down the law’s core requirement that individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty beginning in 2014. Though the case has long…
Continue reading …Michael Jackson’s personal assistant took the stand today in the Conrad Murray trial , and talked about a mysterious cream he says the doctor wanted to retrieve right after the singer’s death. Michael Amir Williams testified about the day Jackson died, saying “we were making small talk about how horrible it…
Continue reading …French men get to be “monsieur” their whole lives, and French women would like to stick with a single honorific as well. Jezebel reports on the effort to kill “mademoiselle,” a campaign backed by Osez le Feminisme (Dare to be Feminist) and Chiennes de Garde (Watch Bitches). The two groups…
Continue reading …Cuba legalized the sale and purchase of automobiles for all citizens today, another major step in the island’s economic transformation and one that the public has been requesting for decades. Unrestricted sales had previously been limited to cars built before the 1959 revolution, one of the reasons Cuba’s streets are…
Continue reading …A Massachusetts man who authorities say planned to blow up the Pentagon and US Capitol using unmanned drones laden with explosives was arrested today. According to the US Attorney in Boston, Rezwan Ferdaus’ plan included the use of three small drone planes filled with C-4 plastic explosives; six people would…
Continue reading …A sentence we never thought we’d write: The US and al-Qaeda have a common goal. The terrorist group would, pretty please, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop claiming that the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks. An article in its fall 2011 issue of Inspire magazine notes that “the Iranian…
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President halted construction in wake of police violence but remains accused of betraying native peoples Tens of thousands of Bolivians have taken to the streets to reproach President Evo Morales over a police crackdown on indigenous protesters. The marchers decried the perceived betrayal by Bolivia’s first Indian president of his prime constituencies: native groups and environmentalists. “Evo was a very strong symbol for many people. He embodied principles of justice, of human rights. But now these people are disenchanted,” said Jim Shultz, an analyst with thinktank the Democracy Centre, which works on Bolivian issues. Some Bolivians, such as 44-year-old schoolteacher Juana Pinto, said Morales had proved a disappointment. “This government is the worst and it should go because it attacked human beings, the indigenous compatriots who had given it their support, and now it’s turned its back on them,” said Pinto, who took part in a march that brought central La Paz to a standstill. The president issued a statement saying the protests had been a “profound wake-up call” for his government following weekend police action that broke up a march by Indians protesting against a proposed highway through their protected Amazon reserve. “I could never order such violence as has been seen by the Bolivian people,” Morales said in a statement released to news media. He asked for forgiveness from the families of the protesters and urged indigenous groups to hold talks with the government. Bolivia’s main labour federation called a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday. It appeared only partially successful – most businesses were open. Morales championed a new constitution in 2010 that granted Bolivia’s 36 indigenous groups an as yet ill-defined autonomy. He promised to protect indigenous people from industry and developers. But since winning election in December 2005 the president has been forced to weigh development against environmental protection. His “revolution” reached a crossroads last year when he decided to pursue a 190-mile (300km) jungle highway funded by Brazil through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory National Park, or TIPNIS, in the eastern lowlands state of Beni. About 1,000 people began a march on La Paz in mid-August from Beni’s capital, Trinidad, to protest against the highway they say is an open invitation to loggers and coca-planting settlers and a threat to park inhabitants. That march was broken up on Sunday by riot police who used teargas and truncheons, arresting several hundred marchers but later freeing them under pressure from local people. Bolivia’s defence minister resigned immediately in protest at the crackdown and the interior minister followed, accepting responsibility for police actions. Morales announced on Monday that he was suspending the highway project and would let voters in the affected region decide its fate in a referendum. The original protesters against the highway have promised to resume their own march. Bolivia Indigenous peoples Amazon rainforest guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …President halted construction in wake of police violence but remains accused of betraying native peoples Tens of thousands of Bolivians have taken to the streets to reproach President Evo Morales over a police crackdown on indigenous protesters. The marchers decried the perceived betrayal by Bolivia’s first Indian president of his prime constituencies: native groups and environmentalists. “Evo was a very strong symbol for many people. He embodied principles of justice, of human rights. But now these people are disenchanted,” said Jim Shultz, an analyst with thinktank the Democracy Centre, which works on Bolivian issues. Some Bolivians, such as 44-year-old schoolteacher Juana Pinto, said Morales had proved a disappointment. “This government is the worst and it should go because it attacked human beings, the indigenous compatriots who had given it their support, and now it’s turned its back on them,” said Pinto, who took part in a march that brought central La Paz to a standstill. The president issued a statement saying the protests had been a “profound wake-up call” for his government following weekend police action that broke up a march by Indians protesting against a proposed highway through their protected Amazon reserve. “I could never order such violence as has been seen by the Bolivian people,” Morales said in a statement released to news media. He asked for forgiveness from the families of the protesters and urged indigenous groups to hold talks with the government. Bolivia’s main labour federation called a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday. It appeared only partially successful – most businesses were open. Morales championed a new constitution in 2010 that granted Bolivia’s 36 indigenous groups an as yet ill-defined autonomy. He promised to protect indigenous people from industry and developers. But since winning election in December 2005 the president has been forced to weigh development against environmental protection. His “revolution” reached a crossroads last year when he decided to pursue a 190-mile (300km) jungle highway funded by Brazil through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory National Park, or TIPNIS, in the eastern lowlands state of Beni. About 1,000 people began a march on La Paz in mid-August from Beni’s capital, Trinidad, to protest against the highway they say is an open invitation to loggers and coca-planting settlers and a threat to park inhabitants. That march was broken up on Sunday by riot police who used teargas and truncheons, arresting several hundred marchers but later freeing them under pressure from local people. Bolivia’s defence minister resigned immediately in protest at the crackdown and the interior minister followed, accepting responsibility for police actions. Morales announced on Monday that he was suspending the highway project and would let voters in the affected region decide its fate in a referendum. The original protesters against the highway have promised to resume their own march. Bolivia Indigenous peoples Amazon rainforest guardian.co.uk
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