Archive - Oct 1, 2009

• Chinese government promotes red tourism on 60th anniversary of communist rule
• US Senate considers extending PATRIOT Act provisions
• Senate could eliminate anti-trust exemptions for health insurance companies
• Two dozen Greenpeace activists under arrest after action at Suncor mine in Canada´s tar sands

• Pacific Rim natural disaster update
• Korean family reunions wrap up
• Indigenous protests in Ecuador end in death
• New compromise plans emerging from within Honduras
• Senate votes to fund planes the military doesn’t want

China celebrated the 60th anniversary of communist rule today, with a massive military parade in Beijing.  Eight thousand soldiers goose-stepped their way through Tiananmen square as President Hu Jintao saluted them.  The soldiers were followed by tanks, missiles and a wide array of military hardware.  

President Hu told the invite only crowd that socialism had saved China. He asked for more unity to build a “strong, democratic and harmonious country.”

In the autonomous city of Hong-Kong, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the 60th anniversary of communist rule and to denounce human rights violations in China.  The demonstrators wore black and condemned the lack of freedom of expression in mainland China.  The Associated Press reports police prevented demonstrators from arriving at the Chinese government´s liaison office in Hong Kong, with a coffin that symbolized victims of persecution.

No major protests were reported on mainland China.  Meanwhile, the government there is trying to keep the revolutionary fires alive through several means, including the promotion of  red tourism.

President Hu Jintao´s administration has invested billions of Yuan into historic communist sites in an attempt to reaffirm its legitimacy. FSRN´s Daniel Bastard recently visited Yan’an, the most famous red tourism site in northwest China.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are currently reviewing parts of the PATRIOT Act as some of its provisions expire at the end of this year.  The legislation was enacted following the September 11th terrorist attacks and it gives government expanded powers to monitor telephone calls, emails and other records of US citizens.  Today the Senate JudiciaryCommittee discussed extending some of these measures.  FSRN´s Karen Miller has more.

A key senate committee is continuing long days of crafting health care legislation. As the committee broke for lunch, two advocates for single-payer health care protested in the committee room while senators walked out the back door.  The protesters are part of an entourage of doctors who call themselves Mad as Hell Doctors, they traveled across the country to rally in favor of a single-payer system.

Lawmakers are also working to attach a measure to the healthcare reform bill that would repeal anti-trust laws. Health insurance companies are one of the only industries in the US not subject to federal laws that control price gouging and other deceitful practices. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Greenpeace says 23 of its climate activists have been arrested in northern Canada, after they blocked operations at a Suncor oil mine in Alberta´s tar sands region. On Wednesday, activists from Canada, Brazil and Germany entered the Suncor mine and stopped two conveyor belts that carry bitumen from the mine.

Greenpeace says that open-pit oil mining in Canada´s tar sands is creating an environmental catastrophe, as it pollutes local water sources and generates high amounts of carbon emissions.  The activists who participated in Wednesday´s direct action have been charged with trespassing.  FSRN spoke with Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a climate campaigner for the Greenpeace office in Edmonton.