Funny article on Republicans complaining about how long the health care reform bills are. They're doing all kinds of stunts in front of the cameras to exaggerate the size of the bills including stacking copies on top of each other to make the pile look even larger; displaying copies of the bill with double-spacing, double-wide margins, and large print; one Representative hoisted a copy on his shoulder with a sturdy rope tied around it; another Representative threw the pages of the bill to the crowd at a Capitol Hill rally; and several Republican congressmen have joked about it being longer than War & Peace (which is not actually true). "Although they complain they don't have time to read all of it, they found the time to tape it together, page by page, so they could roll it up the steps of the Capitol likes super-sized toilet paper and show how very long it is." (Full Story)
Since when did shorter legislation seem like a better idea? When dealing with something so huge and complex like a reform to the health care system, I should hope it's not a meager 30 page bill. I think I want my legislation a little more mapped out and detailed than that.
In a report released by the charity Save the Children, it was found that there are about eight million children around the world that live in orphanages or similar institutions. Though the report says the number is probably even larger because there are many children that are not registered. They also found that at least four out of five children in orphanages have at least one living parent. Cases like this are especially high in parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. The author of the report writes, "It is a myth that children in orphanages have no parents. Most are there because this parents simply can't afford to feed, clothe, and educate them." It really shows how terrible poverty is and how unjust it is, that so many parents cannot raise their children.
Some parents believe that their children will be returned to them when they are older -- though few are aware they are giving up all legal rights to their child. Save the Children also reported that some institutions coerce or trick poor parents into giving up their children. At some of these institutions, children face the risk of physical and sexual abuse, as well as trafficking. "The report says children have become 'commodities' in a growing industry and that 'unscrupulous institutions are known to recruit children in order to profit from international adoption and child trafficking.'"
Save the Children wants more resources to go into projects that can help support families so that they can continue to look after their children, instead of giving them up. They also want strict monitoring of these institutions that house children. (Full Story)
The Iranian government is expanding their effort to stifle the opposition by implementing a variety of "ideological offensives." The government is "implanting 6,000 Basij militia centers in elementary schools across Iran to promote the ideals of the Islamic Revolution, and it has created a new police unit to sweep the Internet for dissident voices. A company affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards acquired a majority share in the nation's telecommunications monopoly this year, giving the Guards de facto control of Iran's land lines, Internet providers, and two cellphone companies. And in the spring, the Revolutionary Guards plan to open a news agency with print, photo, and television elements."
The government calls this a "soft war." They believe the problems that they face with the opposition is a result of Western interference and cultural subversion. As a result, Iranian officials have taken on new efforts to "re-Islamize the educational system, purge secular influences and professors, and purify the media of subversive ideas."
A professor at Syracuse University (who is an Iran expert) thinks this strategy might not be effective, and instead could backfire. "The Iranian population is overwhelmingly literate and young, and previous efforts to reinstall orthodoxy have only exacerbated cleavages between citizens and the state. (Full Story)
This is the most-read story on BBC this morning: "Adam Lambert's gay kiss on stage gets 1,500 complaints." (Full Story)
ABC said the number of complaints they received was "moderate". Fifteen hundred people complain about a gay man kissing another, and that's only considered a "moderate" amount. There shouldn't be any complaints. People in Europe must think we are such morons.
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