February 02, 2004
Headlines
Bush Agrees to Independent Commission on Iraqi Intelligence
President Bush told reporters at his cabinet meeting today that he will appoint a special panel to look into intelligence gathering leading up to the invasion of Iraq. From Capitol Hill, Darby Hickey reports.
Pakistani Scientists Gives Other Nations the Bomb
Pakistani intelligence officials found that one of their own nuclear scientists helped other nations develop the bomb. Masror Hussain reports from Islamabad.
Protests in Haiti
Small and diverse organizations joined forces and amassed more than 100- thousand to march in Port-Au-Prince. Sylvio Juste reports from Haiti.
NYC to Dump Recycling??
A New York City agency announced today that the city could have saved 35- million dollars if the city dumped its recycling program. Jackson Allers reports from WBAI.
State of Georgia Won’t Teach Evolution
Georgia’s governor said he is displeased with the proposal by his state’s Superintendent of Schools to remove the word “evolution” from the curriculum for high school biology students. The plan, which also takes out topics like Darwin’s fossil evidence and the emergence of single celled microorganisms, refers to evolution as “biological adaptation” and reduces its emphasis. Superintendent Kathy Cox says she wants to avoid student’s being turned off to science because they believe in other origin theories of the development of life on Earth. Governor Perdue said if you’re going to teach evolution then call it evolution. Public comment on the proposal runs until March. The Superintendent will make a final recommendation to the Georgia state board of education in May.
2005 Budget released
Today President Bush released his 2005 Budget proposal that totals 2.3 trillion dollars. The budget would make permanent the tax cuts that are set to expire and would increase the national debt to 521 billion dollars, the largest in actual dollars ever. Spending on the military meanwhile makes up almost a quarter of total national spending, making defense contractors such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, some of the biggest winners in Bush’s budget proposal. FSRN‘s DC Editor Mitch Jeserich reports.
Previewing Super Tuesday: Report from New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson today attended rallies for Democratic presidential hopefuls John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman on the heels of tomorrow’s 7 state primary and caucus votes. Tomorrow’s contests will be the first to include largely people of color electorates – in South Carolina the population is largely African American, while in Arizona and New Mexico close to half of the population is Latino. And while much of the attention is on South Carolina and Arizona, communities in New Mexico are mobilizing to be heard. Deepa Fernandes reports from Albuquerque.
Censorship by CBS during Super Bowl
Yesterday’s Super Bowl was the most watched game since 1997 with some 140 million viewers tuning it for at least some portion of the football final. Controversy came at the half time break when singer Justin Timberlake ripped co-performer Janet Jackson’s shirt exposing her breast on national television. The FCC announced today it will probe into the issue. Yet what many activists around the country took issue with was the censorship practiced by CBS when they refused to air an ad by MoveOn.org. As Sandra Ahten reports, MoveOn.org, like other groups which are willing to pay the full costs for advertisement or underwriting, are having to modify their message or find alternative outlets in order to be heard.
Refugees in Mexico after violent incursion
The central Mexican town of Tlalnepantla remains occupied following a violent incursion by state police nearly three weeks ago. On Saturday, refugees displaced by the conflict were able to return to their town long enough to attend a mass for peace and reconciliation. However, as Vladimir Flores reports, as long as state police continue to occupy the town, many of Tlalnepantla’s displaced will continue to live as refugees.
European Social Forum
There were events all across Europe over the weekend organized by the European Social Forum. Naomi Fowler brings us this report from Parliament Square in London.
