These are the stories I recommend reading for July 23rd 2010:
- Cabindan Separatists In Exile Deny End to Conflict: IRIN – Offers of peace by senior officials of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), which seemingly ended a long-standing separatist conflict in northern Angola, were made without the knowledge or consent of its president, Henrique N’Zita Tiago, and exiled leaders in France describe the olive branch as a “coup d’état”. – angola cabinda
- Toxic Legacy of US assault on Fallujah ‘Worse Than Hiroshima’: The Independent – Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study. – iraq cancer health history military
- Counting the Cost of Zimbabwe’s ‘Blood Diamonds’: The Guardian – Mutare, a nest of spies and paranoia in Zimbabwe’s wild east, is the latest corner of Africa to discover the corrupting power of diamonds. The nearby Marange fields contain deposits claimed to be worth billions of dollars, potentially making the crisis-torn country one of the world’s top diamond producers. – africa
- War on Terror or War of Terror?: CounterPunch – Critical evidence from the British government and other sources suggest that the “War on Terror” has actually destabilized the Middle East and increased the terror threat throughout the globe. The former head of Britain’s MI5 – Baroness Manningham-Buller – finds that the Iraq war has dramatically contributed to the growing terror danger as directed against the United Kingdom and its citizens. – waronterror military iraq afghanistan
- U.S. Money Wasted on Afghan Projects, Auditor Finds: LA Times – A federal watchdog criticized U.S. agencies on Thursday for squandering taxpayer money on facilities in Afghanistan that are too complex and costly for the Afghan government to maintain. U.S. officials acknowledge that they plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to hire contractors to operate a complex of buildings in troubled Kandahar and other facilities in Afghanistan for the next 10 years. – afghanistan military
- National Guard and Reserve Suicide Rates Climbing: McClatchy – Sixty-five members of the Guard and Reserve took their own lives during the first six months of 2010, compared with 42 for the same period in 2009. The grim tally is further evidence that suicides continue to plague the military even though it’s stepped up prevention efforts through counseling and mental health awareness programs. – military iraq afghanistan
- P Street Project to Lobby for Progressives’ Agenda: Washington Post – The P Street Project is an effort by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee to build upon the progressive movement’s online organizing of the past few years and move into the business of registered lobbying. The lobby has recently advocated on some issues during a trial run, but will be officially launched here at Netroots Nation, a gathering of 2,100 liberal leaders, bloggers and activists. – progressive campaigns 2010
- 36 Hours In Florence: NY Times – Evidence of a more youthful and revitalized Florence is everywhere. Dilapidated piazzas have been refreshed, contemporary art galleries have sprung up, and old-school palazzi have been turned into trendy restaurants. Traffic has also improved, making the city even more pleasant to navigate. – travel italy
- Married, but Sleeping Alone: NY Times – Nearly one in four American couples sleep in separate bedrooms or beds, the National Sleep Foundation reported in a 2005 survey. Recent studies in England and Japan have found similar results. And the National Association of Home Builders says it expects 60 percent of custom homes to have dual master bedrooms by 2015. – marriage household
- Change Comes to a Place That Doesn’t Care for It – NY Times – Veteran senators say they have never seen the chamber so bogged down in partisanship. Members are getting whiplash as they watch colleagues come and go, creating an aura of instability in a political body that historically has looked upon turnover as something best left to the House. – congress senate
- Cleaning Products Linked to Breast Cancer: SF Chronicle – A new study in Environmental Health magazine suggests that using conventional cleaning products may increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer. The study surveyed 1,500 women, half who’d been diagnosed with cancer and half who had not. The women who reported heavy use of cleaning products — particularly air fresheners and mold and mildew control products — had twice the risk of having cancer as those with lowest reported use. – cancer health environment household
- Woolsey Introduces Bill to Salvage Public Option: Marin IJ – The public option that Woolsey, D-Petaluma, is proposing is based on a robust version proposed early in the health care reform debate before it was modified in hopes of attracting the votes of those opposed to the idea, Woolsey said. The option would create a government health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. – healthcare publicoption woolsey marin
- Only 2 California House Races IDd As Competitive: SF Chronicle – Three months before the Nov. 2 election, only two of the state’s 53 House members – Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and Dan Lungren, R-Gold River (Sacramento County) – face credible threats to their re-election bids, according to party insiders and independent analysts. Most Bay Area members are routinely re-elected with 70 to 80 percent of the vote. – 2010 california congress democrats republicans campaigns
- Most Sonoma County Districts Cutting School Days (PD) – More than half of Sonoma County’s school districts will cut classroom days from the upcoming school year, and still more have dropped staff development days under financial pressure from California’s budget crisis. Twenty-two districts are reducing instructional time, and 12 of them are cutting five days — the maximum allowed. – education petaluma sonomacounty
- Delicious Toolbox: 80+ Updated Tools and Resources – – delicious web2.0 socialmedia
