Archive - Mar 27, 2009

• Pakistan suffers deadly attack
• Obama announced plan for Pakistan and Afghanistan
• New bill seeks to reform Criminal Justice System
• Environmentalists protest militarization of ocean
• Vets go back to college

• NY’s strict Rockefeller rug laws see reform
• Protesters upset over VT governor’s plan to veto same-sex marriage bill
• ‘Cash for Kids’ sentences overturned
• Fargo residents evacuate ahead of record floods
• Indonesian dam breech kills dozens
• Thai protesters block government

Virginia Senator Jim Webb has introduced legislation to create a blue-ribbon commission to investigate problems in the U-S criminal justice system. He says the commission’s goal will be to reshape the system “from top to bottom.”  Webb calls the criminal justice system “a national disgrace…” citing irregularities and inequities that disproportionately target communities of color. According to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, one out of every three African American males will be incarcerated during his lifetime.

Hours after the deadly attack in northwest Pakistan, President Obama announced what he is calling a new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But critics say the plan is more of the same. More troops in Afghanistan, more promises of aid and more hopes of accountability. FSRN’s Karen Miller has more.

Click here to go back to the newscast for Friday, March 27, 2009

In one of the most violent attacks in months, a suicide bomber in Pakistan’s northwest tribal areas blew up a packed mosque as people gathered for Friday prayers. An estimated 80 are dead, dozens injured. Catherine Komp reads for our reporter in the region, Gabe Matthews.

Click here to go back to the newscast for Friday, March 27, 2009

Six years after the US invasion of Iraq, hundreds of thousands of war veterans are flooding onto America's colleges and universities. More than 300,000 returning veterans are using their GI Bill to attend college, with a tidal wave of over 500,000 more student-veterans expected when a newer, expanded education benefit takes effect this fall. From Sacramento, Aaron Glantz looks at what these veterans encounter when they show up on campus and what we all can do to ease the transition from combat to college.

The US Navy’s is facing criticism for its training operations that use sonar in the Pacific West Coast. Sonar is an underwater technology that is known to adversely impact marine mammals. Other trainings include underwater bomb detonations, and the use of aircraft and missiles. Environmental groups say some areas should be off limits to weapons testing, and some criticize the militarization of the sea.  As FSRN’s Christina Aanestad reports, the US Navy wants to use nearly the entire US coastline for weapons and warfare training.