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Politics and Culture - American Profiles In Radical Independence

 
“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Politics and Culture - December 2007

California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger healthcare proposal, recently passed in the California Assembly, requires all California residents to have a minimum level of health insurance coverage. State health care programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Programs will be expanded to cover low income residents, and financial assistance will be available to lower-income residents. Health insurance companies will be required to guarantee coverage regardless of pre-existing health conditions. Limits will be placed on how much companies can charge for coverage.

Critics doubt that California can afford to undertake Schwarzenegger’s proposal. Arnold King, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute doubts California is a “good position” to be undertaking Schwarzenegger’s proposal. He points out that California is “Ground Zero for the coming collapse in housing market values. The state needs to be very sure that its fiscal house is in order


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The Global Governance Project, a joint research program of 11 European research institutions which studies global governance in relation to sustainable development, released a November 2007 study titled, “Preparing for a Warmer World.” The study looked at climate refugees.

The findings of the study are chilling. Over 200 million people in developing countries might end up refugees due to climate change over the next century. Current institutions, funding organizations, and funding mechanisms are inadequate to deal with the problem


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During an interview on December 5, 2007 by journalist Jim Lehrer, John Negroponte, deputy secretary of state since January 2007, mentioned his tenure in Iraq as the ambassador. When Negroponte began his stint as ambassador to Iraq in June 2004 he brought with him an extensive knowledge of defeating insurgents through the use of death squads. Having served as the Ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985, Negroponte helped strengthen the dictatorship of General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez, not to mention helping the Contras during the Nicaraguan civil war.

Negroponte was appointed by President Reagan, and replaced Jack Binn (Carter’s appointee). During his tenure as Ambassador to Honduras, Martínez’s death squads kidnapped and killed political opponents. Argentinian military advisors in Honduras trained the death squads, and helped create Contra forces in Nicaragua. Negroponte supervised the building of the El Aguacate air base where Contras were trained by the U.S. Critics claim it was sued to hold and torture detainees. A 2001 excavation of the base found 185 corpses that are believed to have been killed at the site. Two Americans were among the corpses discovered


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Bali Climate Change Conference

December 5th 2007 02:23
Representatives from over 180 countries are meeting in Bali, Indonesia for a climate change conference from December 3-14, 2007. The conference is hosted by the Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its subsidiaries.

The UNFCCC has three goals for the Bali conference: negotiations on a climate change deal for after 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol expires), set the agenda for negotiations, and reach an agreement on when negotiations will conclude. Negotiations will have to conclude by 2009 to avoid a gap after the Protocol expires in 2012. The conference will also cover mitigation, adaptation, technology, and financing


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Hugo Chavez: Saint or Sinner

December 4th 2007 02:55
Venezuelans narrowly rejected amendments to its constitution on Sunday, December 2, 2007. Supporters such as Angelo Rivero Santos, the deputy chief of mission of the Venezuelan embassy, say the amendments were “aimed at helping to speed the redistribution of national resources to Venezuela's neediest.” Critics like former government legislator Elias Matta say the referendum “aims to…impose totalitarianism.”

The Venezuelan congress debated and voted on the constitutional reforms for six months. The amendments would have only modified less than 20% of the constitution (69 out of 350 amendments


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