Democracy

Consumers Union Opposes Senate GMO Labeling Bill

June 26, 2016 Jean Halloran and Michael Hansen, www.consumersunion.org Educate! Democracy, Food and Agriculture, GMOs, health

By Jean Halloran and Michael Hansen for Consumers Union. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announced a deal on legislation related to genetically engineered ingredients, or GMOs. The new bill would nullify state laws requiring clear, on-package labeling of food with GMOs and replace them with an ineffective national standard to be set two years from now by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports, issued this statement in response: “This deal is unacceptable to the nine out of ten Americans who support mandatory GMO labeling.

Review: ‘Global Capitalism And The Crisis Of Democracy’

June 25, 2016 Harry Targ, www.heartlandradical.blogspot.com Educate! Capitalism, Democracy, Globalization, Neoliberalism

By Harry Targ for Portside. The more sophisticated theorists correctly argued that the dramatic increase in cross-border economic, political, and cultural interactions was not merely the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the technological revolution, or the happy dawn of worldwide production and investment. For some theorists, including Jerry Harris, globalization was not even just a byproduct of a systematic policy by international economic institutions (although it was that too) but the development of a new stage in the history and direction of capitalism. This new stage in the development of global capitalism is the subject of this book. It provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of how neoliberal globalization shapes politics, the role of the state, and the possibilities for the creation of a new kind of socialism, a twenty-first century socialism.

Who Should Make Policy, People Or The Politicians?

June 25, 2016 William John Cox, www.informationclearinghouse.info Create! 2016 Elections, Democracy, Policy

By William John Cox for Information Clearing House - June 23, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - In the midst of what undoubtedly will be the nastiest and most expensive presidential campaign in American history, it is important to remember that the question is not so much whether a candidate is a good or bad person, but rather what should and will be the policies, objectives, and consequences of her or his administration? What do the People of the United States really want and expect their government to do on their behalf? Who should make political policy, the People, or the politicians they elect to represent them?

State Refuses To Do Safety Study For Gas Plant

June 19, 2016 Staff, www.wearecovepoint.org Petitions and Online Actions Climate Change, Democracy, health, Oil and Gas

By We Are Cove Point. Lusby, Maryland - Dominion is building a gas refinery and export terminal in a densely-populated neighborhood in Southern Maryland without analyzing the risks to people in the community. Families are worried and want to know how likely it is that a chemical spill or explosion will happen and what damage it will do. That sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Wouldn’t you want to know if this was being built across the street from your house? Families are already leaving the community out of fear, and it’s causing a lot of heartache as they say goodbye to this beautiful waterfront and the friends they’ve made. Some families are staying because they can’t stomach selling their house and putting others in harm’s way or because their property values have dropped and they can’t afford to sell. This isn’t right. They deserve answers.

How A Utah County Silenced Native American Voters

June 19, 2016 Krista Langlois, www.hcn.org Resist! Democracy, Elections, Indigenous Rights, Racism

By Krista Langlois for High Country News. Sixteen years ago, when Jones joined the board of the Utah Navajo Health System, he realized his neighbors were dying because the closest ambulances — the county’s, in Blanding, and the tribe’s, in Kayenta, Arizona — were an hour away “on a good day.” So Jones asked the county commission if one of San Juan’s ambulances could be housed in a garage in Montezuma Creek. From there, it would take half the time to rush an elder suffering a heart attack to medical care. But the county wasn’t interested. Over the next decade, Jones says, he and other health advocates repeatedly tried to get the commission to improve ambulance service on the reservation. But while the sole Navajo commissioner was supportive, the two white commissioners were usually not.

Jailed Activist On Hunger Strike Worsens, Act Now

June 15, 2016 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Democracy, Hunger Strike, South Korea

By Popular Resistance. Seoul, South Korea - As we have written before, the South Korean government of Park Geun-Hye, the daughter of the former military dictator Park Chung-Hee, is using the National Security Law to arrest and jail peaceful activists. One young activist in particular needs our help. Her name is Kim Hye-Young and she was arrested in the summer of 2015 during a sit-in at a peaceful protest. She has thyroid cancer and a panic disorder and she has been in jail ever since. She was sentenced to two years in prison. She must be released because not only is this an outrageous sentence for her political expression, but the conditions in jail are harming her health. Kim Young-Hye went on hunger strike shortly after her formal sentencing on May 26, 2016. Her health is deteriorating further.

Difference Between How U.S. Treats Brazil And Venezuela In One Video

June 7, 2016 Zaid Jilani, www.theintercept.com Educate! Brazil, Democracy, United States, Venezuela

By Zaid Jilani for The Intercept - A STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON repeatedly refused to comment on the momentous political crisis in Brazil during his daily press briefing on Friday — in almost ludicrous contrast to his long and loquacious criticisms of neighboring Venezuela. When questioned on the stark contrast, increasingly exasperated department spokesperson Mark Toner replied, “I just – again, I don’t have anything to comment on the ongoing political dimensions of the crisis there. I don’t.”

Free Prisoners Of Conscience In South Korea

June 5, 2016 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Petitions and Online Actions Corea, Criminal Justice, Democracy, Human Rights, Peace

By Popular Resistance. Washington, DC - A delegation of three women are currently visiting the United States as representatives of a coalition of social justice and labor organizations called the Corean Alliance for Independent Reunification and Democracy (CAIRD) on a peace expedition. They are educating activists in the US about the serious situation in the Republic of Korea for social justice activists. The government of President Park Geun-hye is using the National Security Law in an extreme way to ban protests and arrest activists. For example, simply speaking positively about North Korea is a crime punishable with seven years in prison. Activists who participated in peaceful demonstrations last year are currently in jail or are facing imprisonment. They are considered to be prisoners of conscience by CAIRD members. One activist in particular, Kim Hye-young, needs support from people in the US.

These Online Platforms Make Direct Democracy Possible

June 5, 2016 Tom Ladendorf, www.inthesetimes.com Organize! Democracy, Direct Democracy, Internet, Politics

By Tom Ladendorf for In These Times. Under the banners of Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening, thousands of people spent April 11-18 disrupting Washington, D.C., to send a message: Get big money out of politics. Campaign finance reform could do a lot to revive American democracy, but it’s not the only effort afoot to give people a larger voice. Around the world, organizations from political parties to cooperatives are experimenting with new modes of direct democracy made possible by the internet. “The world has gone through extraordinary technological innovation,” says Agustín Frizzera of Argentina’s Net Party. “But governments and political institutions haven’t innovated enough.”

Newsletter – US Democracy Crisis: Illegitimate System

June 4, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www,.popularresistance.org Newsletter 2016 Elections, Corruption, Democracy, oligarchy, Plutocracy, Revolution, TPP, Transparency

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Two years ago we wrote that the task of the movement is to build national consensus. We have shown in previous articles that national consensus is being reached on many issues, but the government is not responding to the public consensus. We have also reported on research that shows the US is really an oligarchy operating in the worst democracy in the western world. The government's lack of responsiveness to the people and elected officials who fail to represent the people’s views are resulting in a crisis of democracy. This week the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs reported on that crisis. They found the legitimacy of US government has disappeared

The System That Chooses & Elects The President Is A Farce

June 4, 2016 Mohsen Abdelmoumen, www.ahtribune.com Educate! Democracy, Hillary Clinton, oligarchy, Plutocracy

By Mohsen Abdelmoumen for the American Herald Tribune. The super-rich whose interests lie with Wall Street, the global corporations, and what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex, own and control both the Democrat and the Republican parties and their candidates. This shared monopoly prevents any anti-oligarchy party from emerging effectively to compete, under their rigged laws at the state level for establishing and funding national political parties. It's a hell of a system, a total fraud on democracy, painted up to look like democracy. This is why even in an election year as controversial as this one, most Americans will not vote. The majority of Americans have lost faith in what has become a charade that betrays their interests.

Colorado Governor Petitions To Weaken Direct Democracy

June 4, 2016 Staff, www.aurorasentinel.com Educate! Colorado, Democracy, Petitions

By Staff of The Associated Press - AURORA | Gov. John Hickenlooper helped launch a petition drive for a ballot initiative that would make it harder to amend Colorado’s Constitution. Hickenlooper told a kickoff event in Aurora on Wednesday, June 1, that Proposition 96 would ensure the constitution isn’t held captive by special interests. Supporters say it would encourage citizens to seek statutory law changes that can be modified, if needed, by the legislature, rather than amendments to a constitution that’s one of the easiest to change in the nation.

Major Democracy Mobilization In West Papua, Police Crackdown

May 31, 2016 Staff, www.westpapuamedia.info Resist! Democracy, Indonesia, Nonviolence, West Papua

By West Papua Media. Indonesian police have arrested scores of West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat) members around Papua on May 30, as Papuan civil society is gearing up for a day a mass mobilizations to sustain pressure brought on by the massive May 3 rallies, where Indonesian security forces beat hundreds of people and arrested close to 2300 people. KNPB members across Papua were handing out pamphlets calling on West Papuan society to rally on May 31 for international mediation to allow West Papuans to exercise their universal human rights of Self-Determination, long denied by Indonesia. The May 31 rally will also be demonstrating Papuan support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) bid for full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, which was due to meet in Port Moresby this week, but the meeting has been postponed.

The Brazilian Coup’s Image Problem

May 28, 2016 Gianpaolo Baiocchi, www.bostonreview.net Educate! Brazil, coup, Democracy, Elections, Latin America

By Gianpaolo Baiocchi for Boston Review - Two weeks ago, after recording what was perhaps her last official address and signing a net-neutrality addendum to Brazil’s landmark 2014 Internet civil rights legislation (the Marco Civil da Internet), Dilma Rousseff was temporarily removed from the office of president of Brazil. For a period of up to six months, the Senate will deliberate on whether to remove her permanently from office or reinstate her to finish her term, depending on if she is found guilty of a “crime of responsibility” for fiscal inconsistencies in the national budget.

Big Oil’s Democratic Primary Favorite In California

May 23, 2016 Steve Early, www.counterpunch.org Educate! California, Democracy, Oil

By Steve Early for Counter Punch - Residents of Richmond and other California refinery towns have learned, over time, to be wary of state and local officials too closely tied to companies like Chevron. Politicians who benefit from “independent expenditures” on their behalf or direct campaign donations from oil producers or, their lobbying group, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) tend to be less enthusiastic about protecting the environment by reducing fossil fuel dependence.

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