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U.S. explores legislation if GITMO closed; Case in Madrid train bombing concludes.

As part of the path to close the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, senior advisers to the Bush administration are exploring the legal options for the detention of foreign terrorist suspects in the U.S. civilian prison system.  Officials are proposing legislation that would create three legal categories for the estimated 375 detainees; one […]

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The Children of AIDS

The Children of AIDS

HIV/AIDS is a true pandemic, and unless we take serious action, it will continue to plague us for generations, and generations to come. AIDS has taken more than 20 million lives, and HIV has infected more than 60 million people worldwide. But the virus doesn't stop there, it continues to devastate families and villages around […]

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Odds And Ends

Dingell v Waxman (and others) – Congressman John Dingell has been in the House of Representatives since 1956. He holds the seat held by his father from 1933 to 1955. If you want to follow the federal energy legislation wending its way through Congress, you have to know the players and John Dingell is near […]

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Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

I mentioned the superb work of RENEW Wisconsin and my old friend, Michael Vickerman, at Some Notes on Renewable Energy from April 30.  Michael has been kind enough to share his impressions from a recent major renewable energy event. ******* Random Thoughts from this Year's Renewable Energy Fair For some, turnout is the measure of […]

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News roundup: Croatia, GITMO, and LRA trials develop.

CROATIAN TRIAL DELAYED A decision by a U.N. war crimes tribunal delays the proceedings for three Croatian military and police officials on trial for atrocities. The appeals court for the U.N. system upheld the disqualification of the defendants lawyers for conflicts of interest. The defendants are alleged to have run a joint criminal operation with […]

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Allegations against U.S. military mount in Iraq

Two U.S. soldiers were charged with premeditated murder in two separate incidents.  On Saturday, the U.S. military cited Staff Sergeant  Michael Hensley and Specialist Jorge Sandoval  were charged with murder and wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of the deceased.  Hensley is charged with three counts of murder, while Sandoval faces one conviction.  The charges […]

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Supreme Court reverses; opts to hear GITMO cases: Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court said on Friday it would hear appeals by Guantanamo prisoners on their right to challenge their confinement before federal judges, a test of President George W. Bush's powers in the war on terrorism. The court in April had denied the same appeals by the prisoners, but the justices in […]

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Are Children Really Better Off In Rich Countries?

Are Children Really Better Off In Rich Countries?

“The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children , their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.” -UNICEF What is really a better life for a […]

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House of Representatives

We looked at the Senate energy legislation from June 15 to 22. (See various posts below.) Now the ball is very much in the court of the House. Yesterday, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, led a press conference of leading Democratic committee chairs to “Announce America’s “Energy Independence Day’ Legislation.”  Frankly, the package, […]

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Death toll from Bosnian war announced.

An independent commission has reached an official death toll from the Bosnian war in the 1990's.  The study from the Norwegian Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo – called the “The Bosnian Book of the Dead”  – has reached a figure of 97, 207, far less than United Nations estimates.  UN estimates cite a figure […]

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Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. -John F. Kennedy

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. -John F. Kennedy

 

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The Voice of the Child

Children so often suffer unjustly, just because they are children, for the world too often sees them as less worthy to have a voice. However all children have the right to be heard, and they have so much to say and contribute to the world. With age and power we so often forget the wisdom […]

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Iraqi tribunal to investigate Shi'ite massacres.

The tribunal established to investigate allegations of war crimes for members of Saddam Hussein's former regime has stated it will begin prosecuting individuals accused of launching a campaign against a Shi’ite uprising following the liberation of Kuwait in 1991.  Following the defeat of Iraq in the first Gulf War, Shi’ites in southern Iraq and Kurds […]

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UN prosecutor demands Serbia hand over war crimes suspects.

The chief war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations, Carla del Ponte, said that the European Union should not proceed on negotiations with Serbia until all war crimes suspects have been arrested.  Del Ponte has stated that, despite positive assessments by the EU, Serbia should not be perceived as meeting its full obligations to join […]

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Children Enslaved In The Name of Sport

Children Enslaved In The Name of Sport

This past year the media brought one particular issue of child trafficking and slavery to the public’s attention, camel jockeys. This year alone 43 children have already been recovered in the Middle East. Many of the children have been taken from poorer areas of Pakistan and many with the consent of their parents, as traffickers […]

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