Archive - Oct 23, 2007

• Bush and the Democrats Debate over War Funding
• The Dream Act May See Debate on the Senate Floor
• Clash over GM Farms in Brazil Leaves Two Dead
• Countries Rush to Claim Land and Resources in Antarctica
• Insurgents in Kashmir Volunteer to Limit Types of Weapons Used
• Navajo Representatives Testify about the Health Risks from Uranium Mining

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• Fires Rage Across Southern California
• CO2 Buildup Much Worse Than Predicted
• UK Backtracks on Renewable Energy Pledge
• Poor Families Left in the Cold
• Code Pink at the Canadian Embassy Over Denial of Entry

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The Democrats are setting up for a fight with the White House over
appropriations bills. The President has promised to veto any of the 13
funding bills that go beyond his spending requests – currently the
bills are 22 billion over. But the president just asked Monday for an
additional unbudgeted 46 billion to fund the war in Iraq. And the
discrepancy is not sitting well with Democrats.

FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Violence erupted this weekend in Brazil. Security forces allegedly
hired by Syngenta fired upon human rights activists attempting to camp
out on a test farm. The Swiss agri-business company has GM test plots
throughout Brazil and has come under increasing criticism from
grassroots organizations. In response to Sunday's incident, Syngenta
claims its security forces are under contract not to carry weapons. But
activists on the scene counter that claim. This is the latest in a
year-long struggle over one farm in the Brazilian state of Parana.

Tomorrow the Senate will attempt to call up legislation on education
rules for foreign-born students. The Dream Act, which has been
circulating in Congress in various forms for several years, would allow
undocumented students who have been in the country for five years or
longer to receive federal financial aid. It would also offer them a
path to remain in the country. Angela Kelley director of the
immigration policy center says that the debate and the legislation will
be far different this time around.

But some critics of the legislation have gone so far as to call the
bill a "Trojan Horse" – a means for undocumented immigrants to bring
their family members into the country. Senator Richard Durbin is a
co-sponsor of the bill.

The land and resource grab at the Earth's poles is in full swing.
The Guardian, a London Daily, published a story last week saying the
U-K plans to claim more than 360-thousand square miles of Antarctica's
ocean floor and south Atlantic islands. The claim includes Antarctic
territories claimed by Chile and Argentina. In Chile the news prompted
the government into action. They're attempting to counter the territory
grab by the United Kingdom.

From Santiago FSRN's Jorge Garretón has more.