They Fled To Protect Their Rights
Senate adjourns, governor calls exodus a ‘stunt’ and expects holdouts to return
Wis. union vote on hold after Democrats leave state
Faced with a certain Republican victory that would end a half-century of collective bargaining for public workers, Wisconsin Democrats retaliated with the only weapon they had left: They fled.
Fourteen Democratic lawmakers disappeared from the Capitol on Thursday, just as the Senate was about to begin debating the measure aimed at easing the state’s budget crunch.
By refusing to show up for a vote, the group brought the debate to a swift halt and hoped to pressure Republicans to the negotiating table.
“The plan is to try and slow this down because it’s an extreme piece of legislation that’s tearing this state apart,” Sen. Jon Erpenbach said.
The Majority Will Not Be Represented
Uganda’s birth rate and population are soaring, putting its society, and democracy, under strain ‘
A nation goes to the polls – but the majority are too young to vote
It is a “quiet morning”, according to the nurse at Mulago Hospital’s maternity ward, but it does not look like it. A dozen expectant mothers fill the wooden bench in the waiting area. A heavily pregnant girl in a blue dress – little more than a child herself – writhes on the floor, already in labour.
The 30 beds of the labour suite are too few for the numbers so some women are giving birth on the floor. “We are the baby factory,” Sister Bernadette Numugema says with a shrug. “We run 24 hours.”
Kampala’s biggest hospital is home to the busiest maternity wing in the world. The record for a single day stands at 105 deliveries. It delivered 33,000 babies last year.
Yes, Your Country Is an Authoritarian State
Europe’s most senior judge faced fierce criticism last night after suggesting that Britain would resemble a 1960s Greek dictatorship if it denied prisoners the vote and ignored human rights rulings.
Only dictators defy European rights law, judge tells Britain
Jean-Paul Costa, the president of the European Court of Human Rights, said it would be a “disaster” if Britain defied his court’s ruling over enfranchising inmates.
In a thinly veiled comparison, he said only Greek military dictators had previously denounced the European Convention on Human Rights.
His comments were condemned by David Davis, the Conservative backbencher who was one of the MPs behind last week’s Commons vote which backed a motion opposing the European ruling by 234 to 22.
Mr Davis said last night: “It is farcical to compare the oldest democracy in Europe with a military dictatorship.
We Wanted To Piss You Off
Two warships turn back from Suez canal after Israel calls move ‘a provocation’
TWO IRANIAN warships have withdrawn their application to sail through the Suez canal after Israel described the move as a provocation.
An unnamed canal official told the Associated Press that no reason was given for the decision.
The official identified the two vessels as a frigate and a supply ship, and said they were en route to Syria. He said they were now in an area near the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia.
It’s Not One Dimensional Any More
A New Dimension in Film
3D Movies Go Arthouse at Berlinale
A distraught-looking woman with bedraggled hair comes forward, holding out a piece of red cloth toward the viewer. Behind her huddles a group of women in simple white gowns, looking anxious. They are barefoot and are standing on a soil-covered stage.
The scene, from Wim Wenders’ new documentary “Pina,” is not exactly the kind of thing one would expect to see in a 3D movie, flicks that have so far been associated with animals leaping out of the screen and helicopters zooming around the theater. Until now, it’s safe to say, stereoscopic films have been distinguished more by their spectacular effects and typical Hollywood cheese than their subtle storytelling or profound insights into the human condition.
Look At Me I’m Just So Damn Popular
Heir more apparent: Kim’s son made No.2 in defence
At a time when dynastic rule is under attack in popular uprisings throughout the Middle East, the heir apparent to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il smoothly acceded to a senior spot on the National Defence Commission, the country’s most powerful body, a leading newspaper in Seoul reported.
Chosun Ilbo, citing an unidentified source in North Korea, said Mr Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, had cemented his spot as the second most powerful person in the country when he was named recently to the post of vice chairman of the defence commission, which is led by his father.
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