August 2010
6 posts
2 tags
THEN & NOW: 90 Years Ago, Women Gained the Right... →
“Female voters would also pose practical difficulties, described bluntly by a Mississippi man: ‘We are not afraid to maul a black man over the head if he dares to vote, but we can’t treat women, even black women, that way. No, we’ll allow no woman suffrage.’”
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Mexico Supreme Court Upholds Adoptions By Same-Sex... →
“Mexico’s high court voted 9-2 to guarantee adoption for these couples. Last week it decided in favor of the right to same-sex marriage and made clear that other states in the country have to recognize the same-sex marriages that take place in Mexico City.”
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Mexico Contemplates Ending the Drug War →
“Mr Calderón became the first incumbent president to call for open discussion of the merits of legalising a trade he has opposed with such determination….It has brought into the open an argument that appears to be gaining currency in Mexico.”
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Portugal Gets 45 Percent of Its Energy From... →
“’I’ve seen all the smiles — you know: It’s a good dream. It can’t compete. It’s too expensive,’ said Prime Minister José Sócrates, recalling the way Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, mockingly offered to build him an electric Ferrari. Mr. Sócrates added, ‘The experience of Portugal shows that it is possible to make these changes in a very short time.’”
Update: More Billionaires Pledge Half Their Wealth... →
“Among the billionaires joining the campaign are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller and investor Ronald Perelman, according to The Giving Pledge campaign.”
Read the original post here
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United Nations Affirms Right to Safe Water →
”’ I think every now and then, the human species advances somewhat in our evolution, and today was one of those advances.’”
July 2010
4 posts
2 tags
First Black Politician Elected In Russia →
“People in this Russian town used to stare at Jean Gregoire Sagbo because they had never seen a black man. Now they say they see in him something equally rare – an honest politician.”
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New Gel Cuts Risk of HIV Infection →
“It is the first time an HIV-prevention method controlled by women, who bear the brunt of the epidemic in Africa, has been shown to work. About a third of women in the study said their partners didn’t know they were using the clear, odorless gel.”
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Volunteerism Rises in U.S. →
“Women largely contributed to the jump in volunteers. In 2009, 36.7 million women volunteered, up 1.2 million from 2008. More blacks also gave their time.
Americans overall set aside 8.1 billion hours to lend a hand, with the typical volunteer donating about 52 hours for the year.”
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Cities Increasingly Turn to Landfills As... →
“The expanded energy plant allows more methane gas to be turned into electricity, which reflects the city’s desire to address climate change and pleases local environmental groups such as Ecology Action.Company officials estimate the plant can reduce greenhouse gases by 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
‘The plant is taking advantage of a resource to create energy out of...
June 2010
7 posts
2 tags
Obama Nominates Women, Minorities to the Bench At... →
“Goldman, who has written extensively on the subject, said the appointments are particularly impressive because of the high level of discrimination that characterized the legal profession for decades. He noted that former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor could not even land a job as an attorney after graduating from law school but was offered a job as a legal secretary...
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Gates, Buffett Pushing to Revolutionize... →
“Gates and Buffett started what can be called the biggest fundraising drive in history. They’d welcome donors of any kind. But their direct target is billionaires, whom the two men wish to see greatly raise the amounts they give to charities, of any and all kinds….They are driving to get the super-rich, starting with the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, to pledge...
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Iceland Unanimously Passes Gay Marriage Law →
“The Althingi parliament voted 49 to zero to change the wording of marriage legislation to include matrimony between “man and man, woman and woman,” in addition to unions between men and women.”
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Americans' Acceptance of Gays Crosses 50%... →
“There is a gradual cultural shift under way in Americans’ views toward gay individuals and gay rights. While public attitudes haven’t moved consistently in gays’ and lesbians’ favor every year, the general trend is clearly in that direction. This year, the shift is apparent in a record-high level of the public seeing gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable....
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Kagan's Nomination Is the Sweet Smell of Progress →
“If she is confirmed, we will be one step closer to the day when a female nominee’s gender is no longer remarkable, closer to that elusive cultural tipping point when it is no longer unusual to see women on the Supreme Court or in other positions of significant power. If three women are serving on the nation’s highest tribunal, perhaps the gender of the fourth female justice...
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Long Live the Rule of Law, Part III →
“Engin Çeber’s father, Ali Tekin, told Amnesty international: ‘Although we are not completely satisfied with the judgment and nothing can bring Engin back, this is a first in Turkey. Maybe it will be important for the future. Let there be no more deaths like Engin’s, let there be no more torture.’”
May 2010
13 posts
1 tag
Reining In Coal Plants in the U.S. →
“‘The cost of Wolverine coal would have meant diminished health, diminished economy, and great injury to our environment which sustains our lives,’ said Jean Veselenak, a resident of Rogers City. ‘Wolverine must now put its head to the real thing; wind, solar; and new technology that already exists in Michigan. Our families deserve these jobs and their health after long...
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Finding Ways for Peacebuilding →
“When John Paul Lederach was a student looking for a college that offered peace studies, he found only a handful of programs in the United States. That was more than 30 years ago. Today, almost 100 US graduate schools and dozens of undergraduate colleges offer degrees or certificates in conflict resolution and peace studies. And Dr. Lederach’s writings now are a frequent part of the...
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Drastic Changes in Management of Canadian Forests →
“The plan calls for an immediate three-year moratorium on logging on 29m hectares while conservation plans to protect woodland caribou are developed; the goal is eventually to distinguish those lands that can be logged using sustainable techniques and those that cannot be logged at all….The parties to the agreement, 21 companies which make pulp, paper and other wood products, and...
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Crime Rates Down for Third Year →
“It was the third straight year of declines, and this year’s drops were even steeper than those of 2007 and 2008, despite the recession”
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Clegg Turns Page in Britain →
“‘This will be a government that is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state. That values debate, that is unafraid of dissent.’”
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World's Smallest Waterlily Saved from Extinction →
“‘We can turn this corner. We have the capability to do it. There’s no reason why another species of plant should go extinct if we apply just a bit of resource and a new attitude towards caring for the natural world.’”
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Portugal Legalizes Gay Marriage →
“Portuguese Socialist Party spokesman Vitalino Canas welcomed his president’s decision. ‘This is a memorable moment,’ he said. ‘This is a great step forward for us politically and as a society.’”
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Supreme Court Rejects Life Without Parole for... →
“‘We have all these protections for kids in virtually every area of law except the criminal justice system,’ Stevenson said. ‘Kennedy’s opinion begins to reconcile that.’”
Read more: The New York Times’ editorial on the opinion
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U.S. Military Proposes Medal for Prevention of... →
“‘Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those combat actions that merit awards for...
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The Death of High Fructose Corn Syrup →
“The back-to-back, double whammy announcements that PepsiCo (PEP) is ditching high fructose corn syrup in Gatorade along with the results of a scathing new study from researchers at Princeton make it official — allies of the controversial sweetener have lost the war.”
3 tags
Lithuanian Court Clears Way for First Gay Pride... →
The ruling issued by the top Vilnius appeals court said: ‘The state has a duty to ensure the right to peaceful assembly, even of people whose opinions are not popular or represent minorities.’”
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Norway Builds the World's Most Humane Prison →
“‘In the Norwegian prison system, there’s a focus on human rights and respect,’ says Are Hoidal, the prison’s governor. ‘We don’t see any of this as unusual.’”
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Then & Now: 50 Years After the FDA's Approval of... →
“The millions of women who, like Loretta Lynn’s narrator, have used the pill to slip the bonds of biology, turning childbearing from an obligation into an option, have utterly reshaped our ideas about sex, marriage, and family.”
April 2010
8 posts
1 tag
International Disaster Relief Becomes More... →
“The supplies in Panama are part of an approach called prepositioning, a relatively recent improvement to disaster logistics. The chaotic response to the 2004 Asian tsunami showed that the aid organizations’ centralized systems weren’t nearly efficient enough. ‘Goods were being flown from China to Europe and then back to Indonesia,’ says Birgitte Olsen, who became the IFRC’s...
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Philippine Court Overturns Ban on LGBT Political... →
“‘This is a significant development and sends a positive message about the ability of LGBT individuals and groups to engage in political and social activities without discrimination. This landmark decision is a progressive step towards full respect for and protection of the rights of LGBT people in the Philippines,’ said Hazel Galang of Amnesty International.”
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U.S. Military Shrinking Its Carbon "Bootprint" →
“The Army and Air Force have several bases that are partially powered by solar energy, one of which — Fort Irwin in California — is expected to be able to stop taking energy from the public electricity grid within a decade.
The navy has set itself a key goal of getting 50 percent of fuel used ashore and afloat from non-fossil sources by 2020, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told a...
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40 Years After First Earth Day, Ohio River is Much... →
“Biologists with the eight-state Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, which sets water quality standards for the Ohio River, say a return of a viable fishery is among the strongest evidence of improvement. Forty years ago, about all that lived in the Ohio were tough, pollution-tolerant carp and catfish, said Peter Tennant, deputy director of the commission. But surveys dating to...
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Maternal Deaths Decline Sharply Across the Globe →
“The study cited a number of reasons for the improvement: lower pregnancy rates in some countries; higher income, which improves nutrition and access to health care; more education for women; and the increasing availability of ‘skilled attendants’ — people with some medical training — to help women give birth.”
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Lemur Thought Extinct Discovered in Madagascar →
“Scientists have long believed that the Sibree’s dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus sibreei) went extinct following the destruction of its only known forest habitat. But a few years ago Mitchell Irwin of McGill University in Montreal and his research team encountered some dwarf lemurs that didn’t quite look the way they expected the species to appear. Two lemurs were caught, their DNA...
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WatchBoulder, CO Shows How American Cities Can Become Bike-Friendly
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Philippines Moves To Protect Women During Armed... →
“Among other things, the resolution calls on all parties to armed conflict to cater to the special needs of women and girls during resettlement and post-conflict reconstruction. It also calls for specialized training to be provided to military, police and civilians for the protection of human rights needs of women and girls in conflict situations….The Philippines is the first Asian...
March 2010
14 posts
2 tags
Biologist Priest Awarded Templeton Prize for... →
“On Thursday, Ayala, an acclaimed researcher at UC Irvine, won the 2010 Templeton Prize, awarded annually in recognition of achievements in affirming spirituality…. ‘Ayala’s clear voice in matters of science and faith echoes the foundation’s belief that evolution of the mind and truly open-minded inquiry can lead to real spiritual progress in the world,’...
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The Case for Optimism →
“If all goes well in China and India in the next generation—and if nothing goes catastrophically wrong in the rich post-industrial North Atlantic core of the global economy—then the next generation will see a real milestone. For the first time ever more than half of the world will have enough food not to be hungry and worry about famine, enough shelter not to be wet and worried about...
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New Start: America & Russia Agree to Sharp Cuts in... →
“On Friday March 26th Obama announced that Russia’s president, Dmitri Medvedev, had agreed to a follow-on treaty to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was signed in 1991 and expired last December. The new deal will cut both countries’ arsenals by about a third from the maximum that would have been allowed under a deal struck in 2002 between George Bush and...
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Officials In Small Georgia Town Allow Gay Prom... →
“‘You don’t have the right to say no,’ principal Michelle Masters said. ‘As a principal, I don’t judge him. I’m taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background.’
It’s a big step for the high school — and the community, many townsfolk said.
‘With our town being so small and country, it’s a very big thing,’ Lucas said....
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The Success of Environmental Regulation →
“In the 1970s, many scientists felt that the planet was on an unsustainable course in terms of pollution. Which is how we had the blossoming of the environmentalist movement. The creation of the Earth Day holiday. The growth of ‘green’ parties in Europe’s multi-party system and the rising influence of environmental interest groups in the United States. We passed the Clean Air Act...
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100 Years of False Starts, But U.S. Finally... →
“For almost a century, presidents and members of Congress have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to Americans. On March 21, 2010, after a year of epic debate between Republicans and Democrats, Congress gave final approval to legislation that would remake the nation’s health care system….
November 1932: The Wilbur Commission finds that adequate medical attention is...
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After 5 Decades, U.S. Department of Transportation... →
“In what amounts to a sea change for the Department of Transportation, the automobile will no longer be the prime consideration in federal transportation planning. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the needs of pedestrians and cyclists will be considered along with those of motorists, and he makes it clear that walking and riding are ‘an important component for livable...
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U.S. State Prison Populations Decline for First... →
“As of January 1, there were 1,403,091 people in state prisons, which is 5,739 fewer than a year earlier, said the survey, titled Prison Count 2010,’ a drop of 0.4 percent.”
Read the report here
And listen to an interview about the study
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Australia Ends Death Penalty Permanently →
“The death penalty has been buried forever after Federal Parliament passed laws ensuring it can’t be reinstated in any jurisdiction….ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries said the abolition of the death penalty was a ‘hallmark of a civilised society’.”
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U.S. Cancer Death Rates Show Broad Decline →
“The biggest factor in the change, according to the authors, is prevention: people are smoking less, and we should see continued improvements in this regard due to the decreased rates of smoking in adolescents. Mammograms, the Pap smear, and increased colonoscopy rates all account for drops in their relevant cancers, indicating that detection is also playing a role, while new treatments had...
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Progress Towards a Multiracial Nation →
“By the middle of this century, people of color will make up the majority in the United States, a culmination of this country’s long and often-violent struggle with its multiracial identity. But alongside assorted celebrated ‘firsts,’ landmark court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, and legendary protests such as the March on Washington, are lesser-known political,...
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Solar Power Becomes More Affordable →
“Solar power continues to become more economical with every passing month. The price of standard monocrystalline/polycrystalline 210W to 300W modules has halved, from above $3/watt to below $1.70/watt in the past 12 months. The Canadian province of Ontario has become the first location in North America to offer an aggressive feed-in tariff comparable to the feed-in tariffs in Germany and...