April 19,2011

BUSINESS INSIDER– In the U.S. debate on social spending and entitlements, it’s important to remember that we spend more than some and less than most.

In fact, we’re ninth from the bottom of the OECD‘s 34 listed countries in social spending as a share of the economy. 

Ireland is above us and Australia below.

Following is a list of the 14 greatest social spenders included in the OECD’s rankings.

Continue reading about US Ranks 9th to Last in Social Spending.

© 2011 BUSINESS INSIDER

Photo by flickr user Boasorte Careca

DAILY BEAST–  It’s a simple question with a gut-wrenching answer: In a time of war, is it ever OK to torture an enemy?

For decades, the answer was an automatic no. The often-cruel conditions endured by prisoners of war during World War Two spurred the Geneva Conventions, which stipulated an agreed-upon set of standards for handling war victims. By the late 1960s, when any young man could have been drafted to go to Vietnam, the humane treatment of soldiers was at the forefront of many Americans’ concerns.

But now, during a time of two overseas wars, Americans’ opinions on torture seem to have fractured, and largely on generational lines. A new study by the American Red Cross obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast found that a surprising majority—almost 60 percent—of American teenagers thought things like water-boarding or sleep deprivation are sometimes acceptable. More than half also approved of killing captured enemies in cases where the enemy had killed Americans. When asked about the reverse, 41 percent thought it was permissible for American troops to be tortured overseas. In all cases, young people showed themselves to be significantly more in favor of torture than older adults.

Read full article on Study: 60% of Young People Support Torture.

© 2011 DAILY BEAST

Photo by flickr user Andreas Helke Protest

RAW STORY– Bolivia is preparing to pass a new law that could lead to citizens challenging environmental destruction in court.

A Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra (The Law of Mother Earth) would grant nature the same rights as humans, according to The Guardian.

The country will establish 11 new rights for nature, including: the right to exist, the right to continue natural cycles, the right to clean water and air, the right to be free of pollution, and the right not to have cellular structures altered or genetically modified.

The law will also give nature the right “to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities.”

“It makes world history,” Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro García Linera said. “Earth is the mother of all.”

“It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration.”

The law enjoys the support of Bolivian President Evo Morales and his Move Toward Socialism party. Not coincidentally, he is Latin America’s first indigenous president.

Read more about Bolivia to Grant Rights to Mother Nature.

© 2011 RAW STORY

Photo by flickr user Threaded Thoughts

LOS ANGELES TIMES– The system of military commissions that will try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other alleged 9/11 plotters contains a dirty little secret. Hardly anybody talks about it, but it’s a key reason for concern as the apparatus becomes established.

It is this: The commissions can operate inside the United States, and they have jurisdiction over a broad range of crimes. Nothing in the Military Commissions Act limits the military trials to Guantanamo detainees, or to people captured and held abroad, or even to terrorism suspects. Nothing prevents the commissions from trying noncitizens, arrested inside the country, whom the president unilaterally designates as “unprivileged enemy belligerents.” In other words, the law permits military officers to try non-Americans from Alabama and Arkansas as well as Afghanistan.

The Obama administration’s decision last week to shift the high-profile 9/11 case from federal court is bound to move the military system toward legitimacy. The commissions lack the seasoned body of precedent that guides civilian courts, so their procedures will have to survive litigation by defense lawyers. But once the commissions gain stature and become the “new normal,” every future administration will have a ready instrument to arrest, judge and sentence wholly within the executive branch, evading the separation of powers carefully calibrated in the Constitution. The judicial branch has no role except on appeal, where only the federal court for the D.C. circuit may review a verdict and sentence after the trial.

Read full article about 9/11 Trials at Guantanamo Will Create a Distressing Legacy.

© 2011 LA TIMES

Photo by Brennan Linsley Pool, Reuters

GUARDIAN– The United States said Monday it is “deeply concerned” about the rising trend of disappearances and arrests of human rights activists in China after one of the country’s most famous artists was detained.

Ai Weiwei, 53, an avant-garde artist who helped design the futuristic Bird’s Nest stadium at the Beijing Olympics, has been missing since he was stopped Sunday while preparing to fly to Hong Kong. Police also raided his Beijing studio.

Dozens of Chinese lawyers and activists have vanished, been detained or held under house arrest since February when online calls for protests similar to the pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa started cropping up. At least three people have been indicted for subversion. No major public protests have taken place in China.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner called for the immediate release of Ai, an outspoken government critic who has been keeping an informal tally of the detentions on Twitter, where he has more than 70,000 followers.

Read full article at Concerns Grow Over Rising China Detentions.

© Guardian News and Media Limited 2011

Photo by flickr user Gary Lerude