Little Brother Forum

By PAT EATON-ROBB/October 7, 2007

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - There is just enough space for Lisa Rivera’s family to sleep at Jessie’s House homeless shelter.

In one room, she fits the full-sized bed she shares with her 9-year-old daughter, the trundle for her 11-year-old son, a twin bed for her 14-year-old daughter and a playpen for her 1 1/2-year old son.

“It’s comfortable, but it’s hard sleeping all together,” the 32-year-old woman said. “Oh my God, sometimes it’s so hard.”

Faced with domestic abuse, high housing costs and unemployment, Rivera’s family finds itself among the growing ranks of the homeless in Massachusetts - and possibly, the country.

About 1,800 homeless families were in Massachusetts shelters last week - up from 1,400 in June 2006 and just under 1,200 in June 2005, according to state figures. There are more families in shelters now than at any time since the inception of the state’s family shelter program in 1983, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

State officials blame a wide range of problems - from cuts in assistance to the recent housing crisis.

“We’re very concerned that this is going to keep going,” said Julia Kehoe, commissioner of the state Department of Transitional Assistance. (more…)

Anne Broache/Cnet.org/September 10, 2007

WASHINGTON–A controversial plan for national identification cards known as Real ID drew another ringing endorsement from top Bush administration officials on Monday, even as senators continued to question the law’s privacy implications and cost.

Cheerleading for the mandate was led by the retiring Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who called a nationalized ID card a top priority. He asked the four Bush administration officials present to divulge whether they supported the idea, which was recommended by the 9/11 Commission but has sparked rebellion from numerous states and civil liberties advocates concerned about its cost and potential for abuse.

One by one, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and National Counterterrorism Center Director John Redd–said they fully endorsed the idea. Each ranked it as a high priority.

Draft regulations issued earlier this year by the Department of Homeland Security dictate that starting May 11, 2008, residents of all states must begin presenting compliant electronic cards in order to board airplanes or enter federal buildings–that is, unless their respective states file for a reprieve starting October 1 of this year. (more…)

By Nancy Scola/AlterNet/September 19, 2007

Anyone hearing about central India’s ongoing epidemic of farmer suicides, where growers are killing themselves at a terrifying clip, has to be horrified. But among the more disturbed must be the once-grand poobah of post-invasion Iraq, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer.

Why Bremer? Because Indian farmers are choosing death after finding themselves caught in a loop of crop failure and debt rooted in genetically modified and patented agriculture - the same farming model that Bremer introduced to Iraq during his tenure as administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American body that ruled the “new Iraq” in its chaotic early days.

In his 400 days of service as CPA administrator, Bremer issued a series of directives known collectively as the “100 Orders.” Bremer’s orders set up the building blocks of the new Iraq, and among them is Order 81*, officially titled Amendments to Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law, enacted by Bremer on April 26, 2004. (more…)

Amnesty International/July 27, 2007

As Jordan prepares to host a new conference on the crisis caused by the continuing exodus of refugees from Iraq, Amnesty International today called for urgent international action to assist Syria and Jordan — the countries most affected by the refugee flow — both financially and by establishing generous resettlement programmes for the Iraqis in greatest need of protection.

“More than two million Iraqis have now fled the sectarian violence raging in their country and almost two million others are internally displaced,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “Most of the refugees have escaped to Syria and Jordan, placing great demands on these countries’ resources, and threatening a humanitarian crisis that could engulf the region unless concerted international action is taken now.” (more…)

Ahmed Ali/Electronic Iraq/Jul 23, 2007

BAQUBA (IPS) - Life in the violence-plagued capital city of Iraq’s Diyala province has become a struggle for day-to-day survival.

Heavy U.S military operations, sectarian death squads and al-Qaeda militants have combined to make normal life in Baquba, 50 km northeast of Baghdad, all but impossible.

Movement from the city to another destination is extremely dangerous. Kidnappings have become rampant in a lawless city where government control is only a mirage. (more…)

by Lou Dobbs/CNN/February 21, 2007

NEW YORK (CNN) — We’re fighting a war that is inflicting even greater casualties than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, incredibly, costing even more money. We’re losing the War on Drugs, and we’ve been in retreat for three decades. (more…)

The farmed-animal industry deliberately recruits immigrants because they will accept low wages and can be easily manipulated for fear of losing their jobs. Some meatpacking giants have even been charged with smuggling undocumented workers into the States. Far away from their homes with no support network, many of these migrant workers are treated like slaves by the farmed-animal industry. In some slaughterhouses, two-thirds of the workers are immigrants who cannot speak English.

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Paul Harris/The Guardian/February 19, 2006

Americans have always believed that hard work will bring rewards, but vast numbers now cannot meet their bills even with two or three jobs. More than one in 10 citizens live below the poverty line, and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening.

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The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a department of the United Nations Secretariat, is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the United Nations and in international human rights laws and treaties. The mandate includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, coordinating related activities throughout the United Nations, and strengthening and streamlining the United Nations system in the field of human rights. In addition to its mandated responsibilities, the Office leads efforts to integrate a human rights approach within all work carried out by United Nations agencies.

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