August 16, 2013

Will Other Red States Follow North Carolina’s Targeting Of Student Voters?

Source: Alternet.org

“So, American citizen, you think you have a right to vote for your federal representatives? Think again. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia just disabused you of that notion—although in a backhanded sort of way,” Frank Askin, a professor of law and director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, wrote this past June in the Newark Star-Ledge r.

Askin was not referring to the Voting Rights Act ruling, which threw out the formula by which the U.S. Justice Department could overrule discriminatory changes in voting laws or practices. Instead, he’s referring to another ruling that supports the GOP’s ability to go ahead and decide—state-by-state—who is and isn’t a legal voter.

This means that seemingly local decisions, such as two North Carolina election boards targeting students, are the tip of a very large new legal iceberg, with state and local Republicans knowing the Supreme Court has their back. That is so because Scalia, writing the opinion in an Arizona case over its requirement that new voters present citizenship documents, said that states—not Congress—decide who can vote.

“In the 2000 case of Bush vs. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court reminded us that Americans did not even have a constitutional right to vote for their president,” Askin wrote. “That right is subject to the will of state legislatures, which, under the Constitution, could themselves appoint presidential electors. The only protections the Constitution presently provides for voting are those forbidding discrimination on the basis of race (15th Amendment), sex (19th) and age (26th).”

Read more: http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/will-other-red-states-follow-north-carolinas-targeting-student-voters

August 15, 2013

UN chief warns Israeli settlement could prevent Palestinian state

Source: The Globe and mail(Canadian)

“I am deeply troubled by Israel’s continuing settlement activity in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem,” Ban said, speaking at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “The settlement activity is deepening the Palestinian people’s mistrust in the seriousness on the Israeli side toward achieving peace. It will ultimately render a two-state solution impossible.”

The five-year break in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations was largely due to a dispute over settlements. Abbas insisted on a settlement freeze as a condition for talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the demand, arguing that all issues should be raised in negotiations with the Palestinians.

Under U.S. pressure, Abbas eventually agreed to return to talks without a settlement freeze, though Abbas aides have said the Obama administration assured them it would try to restrain Israeli construction. Amid expectations of a slowdown, Israel’s recent announcements about new settlement plans prompted particular anger among Palestinian negotiators. Israeli officials argued that much of the new construction is planned in areas Israel expects to keep in any peace deal.

The current round of negotiations is the third attempt since 2000 to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Negotiators are to draw borders, including one running through Jerusalem, agree on security arrangements and decide on the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/un-chief-warns-israeli-settlement-could-prevent-palestinian-state/article13791764/

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The U.N. Chief, as well as Kerry and other world leaders, are repeating this same thing more often.



Kerry's warning about becoming "isolated" isn't being taken seriously.
Washington has the power to force concessions. Military and financial support could be limited or restricted in order to hasten a resolution to the dispute.

August 13, 2013

Dying Black Teen Denied Heart Transplant Due Partly to Low Grades and Trouble With the Law

Source: Alternet

ifteen-year-old Anthony Stokes has less than six months to live unless he receives an emergency heart transplant. But his family has been told that Anthony doesn’t qualify for the transplant list because he has a “ history of non-compliance” — partly due to his history of earning low grades and having some trouble with the law.

“They said they don’t have any evidence that he would take his medicine or that he would go to his follow-ups,” Melencia Hamilton, Anthony’s mother, told WSBTV News. Hamilton explained that her son has an enlarged heart, and a transplant is the only thing that will help his condition.

The doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta weren’t very specific about what exactly contributed to their decision to label Anthony as “non-compliant.” But family friends explained to WSBTV News that they were told it’s partly because of Anthony’s performance in school and run-ins with law enforcement.

His family and friends don’t accept that as a valid reason to deny the teen life-saving treatment. “We must save Anthony’s life,” family friend Mack Major, identified as Anthony’s mentor, told CBS Atlanta. “We don’t have a lot of time to do it, but it’s something that must be done.”

Read more: http://www.alternet.org/dying-black-teen-denied-heart-transplant-due-partly-low-grades-and-trouble-law

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Discrimination against the poor continues.

August 13, 2013

Warren, Sanders Pose Questions for the Next Fed Chair

Source: American Banker



Following are their questions with a summary of the lawmakers' own views:

1) Would fulfilling the Fed's employment mandate be a "top priority?" What level of unemployment is "acceptable and should be the Fed's target?" Warren and Sanders: Because the Fed moved swiftly to save the financial system from near collapse, it should move more aggressively to confront unemployment.

2) Is the candidate willing to "work to break up 'too big to fail' institutions"? Warren and Sanders: The "too big to fail" banks are even bigger than they were in 2008 and must be addressed.

3) Was the financial crisis caused by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act? Warren and Sanders: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Depression-era law, caused the crisis, but they also dislike deregulatory efforts in the 1980s and 1990s.

4) How would the next Fed chair propose to help small- and medium-sized businesses create jobs? Warren and Sanders: Lawmakers are still waiting to see how the Fed's policies are actually going to help Main Street, not Wall Street.



Read more: http://www.americanbanker.com/people/warren-sanders-pose-questions-for-the-next-fed-chair-1061273-1.html