Recently in Soc 205 Category

9/15/08 James Suroweicki, New Yorker, Equal Before Mammon - Pay inequality.

She was an ordinary middle-class mom who, despite fierce criticism, succeeded in a male-dominated profession. She challenged the local establishment and became a national figure, earning herself a spot as a featured speaker at her party's recent Convention. But she wasn't the governor of Alaska. She was a woman named Lilly Ledbetter, a former middle manager at a Goodyear plant in Alabama, who appeared at the Democratic Convention to give a human face to the slogan "Equal pay for equal work."

States Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Convicts. Solomon Moore. NY Times. 9/13/2008.

Striding across a sweltering strip-mall parking lot with her clipboard in hand, Monica Bell, a community field organizer in Orlando, Fla., was looking for former convicts to add to the state's voter rolls.

Factory Facts. Christian E. Weller and Diego Flores, The Center for American Progress. 8/04/2008.

U.S. manufacturers across the country have suffered dramatic job losses over the past seven years of economic growth, with these losses falling particularly hard on states that are heavily dependent on manufacturing and are now suffering the most as the U.S. economy struggles to cope with the housing crisis and slowing economic growth.

The Food Crisis and Global Institutions. Emily Schwartz Gtrco. Foreign Policy in Focus. 8/05/2008.

The food crisis reflects a breakdown in our global food system that threatens to worsen poverty, hunger, climate change, and insecurity. Global institutions and governments are responding, yet their answers are vastly inadequate. For decades, trade and investment liberalization have undermined human rights and the environment. The food crisis should help us to understand that now it is time for a new vision of global cooperation, one that is democratic and accountable to people and the planet.

A Third Way: Globalization from the Bottom. Abbas Jaffer. Foreign Policy in Focus. 8/06/2008.

Just as many books have been written as there are individual viewpoints on the crises related to globalization. Mark Engler's new title How to Rule the World: the Coming Battle Over the Global Economy has some unique offerings. It offers insight about the different currents at play in globalization, along with some new analysis about the rise of a distinct globalization that promotes social and economic democracy. This new movement is people-powered, and its future is promising.

Government owes American Indians $456 mln: judge. Tom Doggett. Reuters. 8/08/2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After 12 years of litigation, a federal judge rejected claims that the government owed American Indians $47 billion for mismanaging their money held in a special trust fund, but ruled they were owed less than 1 percent of the amount sought.

Unease over Guatemalan gold rush. Bill Law. BBC. 8/21/08.

With gold prices skyrocketing, the Mayans of Guatemala find themselves caught up in a new rush for the precious metal.

A proudly American shoe company ships jobs to China. Michelle Nijhuis. Christian Science Monitor. 8/27/2008.

Chaco Sandals in Paonia, Colo., succumbs to global market forces and lays off 45 full-time workers, silencing a manufacturing plant - and a town.

MEXICO: Peasants Seek Ways to Block Canadian-Run Mine. Diego Cevallos. InterPress Services. 8/31/2008.

The Canadian mining corporation Minefinders has explored a rural area of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua for 14 years. But as it gets ready to begin mining gold and silver there, its plans are threatened by peasant farmers' protests.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Climate Change Refugees Look to Australia, N.Z.. Stephen de Tarczynski. InterPress Services. 9/01/2008.

With the apparent effects of global warming already being felt among Pacific island nations, Australia and New Zealand are being urged to do more to prepare for 'climate change refugees'.

Ecuador Constitution Would Grant Inalienable Rights To Nature. Eoin O'Carroll. Christian Science Monitor. 9/04/2008.

Ecuador's proposed constitution includes an article that grants nature the right to "exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution" and will grant legal standing to any person to defend those rights in court.

Vietnamese women wed foreigners to help family. Ben Stocking. AP. 8/10/2008.

TAN LOC ISLAND, Vietnam (AP) -- Nearly 70 young Vietnamese women swept past in groups of five, twirling and posing like fashion models, all competing for the hand of a Taiwanese man who had paid a matchmaking service about $6,000 for the privilege of marrying one of them.

On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction. Oliver Tickell. Guardian/UK. 8/11/2008.

We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told the Guardian last week. At first sight this looks like wise counsel from the climate science adviser to Defra. But the idea that we could adapt to a 4C rise is absurd and dangerous. Global warming on this scale would be a catastrophe that would mean, in the immortal words that Chief Seattle probably never spoke, "the end of living and the beginning of survival" for humankind. Or perhaps the beginning of our extinction.

Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005. General Accounting Office. GAO-08-957. 7/24/2008.

Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 32 pages)   Accessible Text   

Concerns about transfer pricing abuse have led researchers to compare the tax liabilities of foreign- and U.S.-controlled corporations. (Transfer prices are the prices related companies charge on intercompany transactions.) However, such comparisons are complicated because other factors may explain the differences in reported tax liabilities. In three prior reports, GAO found differences in the percentages of foreign-controlled and U.S.-controlled corporations reporting no tax liability. GAO was asked to update the previous reports by comparing: (1) the tax liabilities of foreign-controlled domestic corporations (FCDC) and U.S.-controlled corporations (USCC)-including those reporting zero tax liabilities for 1998 through 2005 (the latest available data) and (2) characteristics of FCDCs and USCCs such as age, size, and industry. GAO analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service's Statistics of Income samples of corporate tax returns. GAO does not make any recommendations in this report. In commenting on a draft of this report, IRS provided comments on technical issues, which we incorporated into this report where appropriate.

FCDCs reported lower tax liabilities than USCCs by most measures shown in this report. A greater percentage of large FCDCs reported no tax liability in a given year from 1998 through 2005. For all corporations, a higher percentage of FCDCs reported no tax liabilities than USCCs through 2001 but differences after 2001 were not statistically significant. Most large FCDCs and USCCs that reported no tax liability in 2005 also reported that they had no current-year income. A smaller proportion of these corporations had losses from prior years and tax credits that eliminated any tax liability. By another measure, large FCDCs were more likely to report no tax liability over multiple years than large USCCs. In 2005, comparisons of FCDCs and USCCs based on ratios of reported tax liabilities to gross receipts or total assets showed that FCDCs reported less tax than USCCs. FCDCs and USCCs differed in age, size, and industry. FCDCs were younger than USCCs in that a greater percentage had been incorporated for 3 years or less from 1998 through 2005. In 2005, FCDCs were larger on average than USCCs in that they reported higher average gross receipts and assets than USCCs. A comparison by industry in 2005 showed that large FCDCs were relatively more concentrated in manufacturing and wholesale trade, while large USCCs were more evenly distributed across industries. GAO did not attempt to determine the extent to which these factors and others, such as transfer pricing abuse, explain differences in tax liabilities.

Amazon Rainforest Threatened By New Wave of Oil and Gas Exploration. Iam Sample. Guardian/UK. 8/13/2008.

With over 35 multinational companies racing to tap into oil and gas reserves situated in peak biodiversity spots, conservationists urge an environmental impact assessment

Wal-Mart to invest $1bn in Brazil. BBC. 8/13/2008.

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, says it will invest some 1.8bn reais ($1.1bn; £588m) to expand in Brazil.

Mumbai's slum solution?. Mukul Devichand. BBC. 8/14/2008.

Mukesh Mehta wears a crisp shirt and tie as he picks his way past makeshift shacks and stinking open gutters in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum.

Struggling with India's gender bias. Steve Bradshaw. BBC. 8/19/2008.

The number of female foetuses being aborted in India is rising, as ultrasound is increasingly used to predict the sex of babies.

Behind the growing instability in Nigeria. Eugene Puryear. Intelligence Daily. 8/20/08.

As oil prices continue their dramatic rise, public interest in oil-producing countries is growing. Nigeria--the world's sixth largest oil producer--is of particular interest.

World Water Crisis Underlies World Food Crisis. Environmental News Service. 8/20/08.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The world's supplies of clean, fresh water cannot sustain today's "profligate" use and inadequate management, which have brought shrinking food supplies and rising food costs to most countries, WWF Director General James Leape told the opening session of World Water Week in Stockholm [on Monday].

Climate change? Blame your stuff. Scott Learn. Oregonian. 8/01/2008.

Burning gas is a big greenhouse gas culprit, but manufacturing things to buy is also a large source; Oregon wants to track it

Unequal America: Causes and consequences of the wide--and growing--gap between rich and poor. Elizabeth Gudrais. Harvard Magazine. July/August 2008.

When Majid Ezzati thinks about declining life expectancy, he says, "I think of an epidemic like HIV, or I think of the collapse of a social system, like in the former Soviet Union." But such a decline is happening right now in some parts of the United States. Between 1983 and 1999, men's life expectancy decreased in more than 50 U.S. counties, according to a recent study by Ezzati, associate professor of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and colleagues. For women, the news was even worse: life expectancy decreased in more than 900 counties--more than a quarter of the total. This means 4 percent of American men and 19 percent of American women can expect their lives to be shorter than or, at best, the same length as those of people in their home counties two decades ago.

KENYA: Water Studies - But Where Are the Water Supplies?. Rosalia Omungo. Inter Press Services. 6/02/2008.

The road leading to the informal settlement of Korogocho is narrow and winding. Here, in Nairobi's third largest slum, up to 150,000 people are crammed into an area of just over one square kilometre, their shanties made of cardboard, wood or metal.

More Women May Retire Poor. Candice Choi. ABC News. 7/09/2008.

Women may not earn as much as men or fly up the corporate ladder as quickly, but they get the last laugh since they live longer. Right?

The Great Immigration Panic. NY Times Editorial. 6/03/2008.

Someday, the country will recognize the true cost of its war on illegal immigration. We don't mean dollars, though those are being squandered by the billions. The true cost is to the national identity: the sense of who we are and what we value. It will hit us once the enforcement fever breaks, when we look at what has been done and no longer recognize the country that did it.

AFRICA: Critics Target U.S. Military Command. Lawrence Delevingne. Inter Press Service. 6/02/2008.

In just a few months, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) -- Washington's latest military oversight structure for the continent -- is expected to be fully operational.

Where Credit Is Due: A Timeline of the Mortgage Crisis. Naomi Prins, Mother Jones. July/August 2008.

1913: Federal Reserve Act creates national banking system.

1914: Federal Trade Commission Act prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices.

1933: With memories of 1929 stock crash still fresh, Glass-Steagall Act separates "commercial banks" focusing on consumer activities (checking, savings) from "investment banks," which deal with speculative trading and mergers.

1968: Truth in Lending Act requires banks to disclose loan terms & fees.

1970: Bank Holding Company Act Amendments first step toward weakening Glass-Steagall; allow commercial banks, via holding companies, to both accept deposits and make commercial loans.

1978: Supreme Court's Marquette decision gives banks the right to make loans in states other than where they are headquartered; lenders rush to places with the weakest consumer protections, e.g. Delaware and South Dakota.

Survey: Risky acts more likely for Hispanic teens. CNN. 6/04/2008.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Hispanic high school students use drugs and attempt suicide at higher rates than their black or white classmates, according to a new federal survey that shows a continuation of a disturbing trend.

Africa's Unnatural Disaster. Sameer Dossani. Foreign Policy in Focus. 6/26/2008.

While the mainstream media doesn't always ignore the pressing issue of hunger in Africa, it rarely explores the root causes of this problem. Behind most news on the issue, there's an assumption that casts hunger as a natural result of unfortunate weather conditions, coupled with bureaucratic inefficiency and bad economic planning.

S Africa Chinese 'become black'. BBC. 6/18/2008.

The High Court in South Africa has ruled that Chinese South Africans are to be reclassified as black people.

Got Water? Elizabeth de la Vargas. Mother Jones. 7/22/2008.

"Lisa, the whole reason we have elected officials is so we don't have to think all the time. Just like that rainforest scare a few years back. Our officials saw there was a problem and they fixed it, didn't they?"--Homer Simpson

On June 24, 2008, Louie and I curled up on the couch to watch seven of the nation's foremost water resources experts testify before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

INDIA: Public Hearings Grant Justice to Rural Women. Nitin Jugran. Inter Press Services. 6/02/2008.

SAWAI MADHOPUR, Rajasthan, Jun 2 (IPS) - The Indian state of Rajasthan is historically known for its cultural traditions and the epic tales of valour of its womenfolk are legendary. But sadly, today, this state fails to present a vibrant picture with regard to the status of its women who lead a backward existence.

New fight for Congo's riches. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/29/2008.

Scores of lucrative mining concessions handed out by President Joseph Kabila are in doubt after a report questioned their legality. Will a programme of renegotiation finally allow a beleaguered nation to exploit its huge mineral wealth?

As G-8 meets, free trade under fire. Mark Trumbull. Christian Science Monitor. 7/07/2008.

Recent economic woes are raising new doubts about the benefits of globalization.

Indonesia's answer to rising food prices. Simon Montlake. Christian Science Monitor. 7/14/2008.

A top rice importer last year, Indonesia's government is allocating more land to grow it and other food crops.

New pressures force U.S. farmers south of the border. Sara Miller Llana. Christian Science Monitor. 7/15/2008.

Tougher immigration control and stricter environmental and food safety regulations are prompting US firms to move farms to Mexico, Brazil, and everywhere in between.

Hippie town's homeless attack portends trend. Evelyn Nieves. AP. 7/17/08. BOLINAS, Calif. (AP) -- Ricky Green wandered into this town some months ago, a stranger just a bit stranger than most. He had shed his middle-class respectability - a job as a graphic artist in the 'burbs - strapped a guitar over his shoulder and landed here on what he told people was "a spiritual journey."

The WTO's Raw Deal on Services. 7/17/08. FPIF. Desperate to clinch a new global trade deal, World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy is planning to convene a "mini-ministerial" meeting in the third week of July. The aim of the meeting is to come up with agreements to liberalize trade in agriculture, industry, and services. These sectors have been the focus of the so-called Doha Round of WTO negotiations that have dragged on since 2001.

Biofuel Land Demand Puts Peasants at Risk: Report. Reuters. 6/02/2008.

ROME - The rise of biofuels is not only adding to the global food price crisis but also poses a risk for peasants, pushed off their land to make way for energy crops, a report prepared for this week's food summit said.

Watchdog: NASA misled on global warming studies. CNN. 6/02/2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA's press office "marginalized or mischaracterized" studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006, the agency's own internal watchdog concluded.

'Everyone's starving' in Ethiopia, aid worker says. CNN. 6/09/2008.

SHASHAMANE, Ethiopia (AP) -- Like so many other victims of Ethiopia's hunger crisis, Usheto Beriso weighs just half what he should. He is always cold and swaddled in a blanket. His limbs are stick-thin.

Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest . David Streitfeld & Keith Bradsher, NY Times. 6/10/2008.

GRIFFIN, Ind. -- In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster.

ECONOMY: Global Woes Hit Developing Countries. Abid Aslam. Inter Press Service. 6/10/2008.

WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (IPS) - The global credit crunch unleashed in the United States is combining with runaway food and fuel prices to put the squeeze on developing countries, according to the World Bank.

New Criminal Record: 7.2 Million. Darryl Fear. Washington Post. 6/12/2008.

The number of people under supervision in the nation's criminal justice system rose to 7.2 million in 2006, the highest ever, costing states tens of billions of dollars to house and monitor offenders as they go in and out of jails and prisons.

Plutocracy Reborn. The Nation. 6/11/2008.

Chart One: Re-creating the Gap that Gave Us the Great Depression

The most precise data on the income of America's most affluent have come, in recent years, from the work of economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty. Their most recently updated figures for income inequality in the United States, available online from the Emmanuel Saez home page, cover the years 1913 (the first year of the modern federal income tax) through 2006.

Race and Extreme Inequality. Dedrick Muhammad. The Nation. 6/11/2008.

The current presidential campaign has sparked a lot of conversation about race, but it has primarily been at the symbolic and interpersonal level. It has failed to probe the underlying substance of racial economic disparities and the slow rate of progress toward equity in wealth and wages. Too many Americans naïvely see the strong presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama as evidence of the resolution of the racial divide.

The Rich and the Rest of Us. John Cavanagh & Chuck Collins. The Nation. 6/11/2008.

Over the past three decades, market-worshiping politicians and their corporate backers have engineered the most colossal redistribution of wealth in modern world history, a redistribution from the bottom up, from working people to a tiny global elite.

U.S. says ending trade barriers key to food crisis. Reuters. 6/13/2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is boosting food aid and development support to combat the global food crisis, but poor countries must also scrap ill-considered export bans and farm trade barriers, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

South Korea's Beef with America. Christine Ahn. Foreign Policy in Focus. 6/13/2008.

On June 10, one million South Koreans from all walks of life poured onto the streets of Seoul, the nation's capital, to protest the newly elected President Lee Myung Bak's deal with the United States to fully open Korean markets to U.S. beef.

Falling like a ton of bricks. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2008.

After 15 years of continuous growth, the housebuilding industry is coming apart. With his company's shares down 90 per cent, Mark Clare, boss of Barratt, tells Nick Mathiason he suspects a 'short-selling conspiracy' - but hints he needs to raise cash

New homes slump worst since 1945. Nick Mathiason. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2009.

The number of homes built in Britain this year will plunge to its lowest level since 1945 and plummeting construction activity is expected to lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs. The country's most senior housebuilders confirm that completions will be around 100,000, some 70,000 less than last year.

We won't be Berlusconi's scapegoats, say Gypsies. Tom Kington. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2008.

Tom Kington in Rome meets families evicted by the city's new right-wing mayor at their isolated camp and hears them demand 'a few rights'

$40bn shortfall in Africa aid endangers 5 million lives. Tracy McVeigh. Guardian/UK. 6/15/2008.

Watchdog proposes a special tax as the foot-dragging by G8 nations undermines a decade of progress

.Inside the RUF: at last the child soldiers of Sierra Leone have their say. Hannah Strange. Times Online/UK. 6/16/2008.

The trial of the rebel leaders behind a devastating civil war is soon to come to a close. The child soldiers who knew them tell their stories

Study: Language barrier can keep children from getting healthcare. Patrick McGee. Huston Star-Telegram. 6/16/2008.

Children from homes where English is not the primary language have far more health problems than other kids in the U.S. and have less access to health insurance.

The impact goes beyond those youngsters and their families, said study author Dr. Glenn Flores, director of general pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Illegal dumping plagues some Los Angeles neighborhoods. Robert J. Lopez. LA Times. 6/16/2008.

For Alex Rodriguez, the rats and stench are the worst things about the rubbish routinely dumped on the street and alley in his South Los Angeles neighborhood.

Human cost of Brazil's biofuels boom. Patrick J. McDonnell. LA Times. 6/16/2008.

The country is a key producer of ethanol. Many of those cutting the sugar cane used to make the fuel are said to endure primitive conditions.

World crude production has peaked: Pickens. Jasmin Melvin & Missy Ryan. Reuters. 6/17/2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World crude oil production has topped out at 85 million barrels per day even as demand keeps climbing, helping to drive a stunning surge in prices, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday.

Destroying African Agriculture. Walden Bello. Foreign Policy in Focus. 6/03/2008.

Biofuel production is certainly one of the culprits in the current global food crisis. But while the diversion of corn from food to biofuel feedstock has been a factor in food prices shooting up, the more primordial problem has been the conversion of economies that are largely food-self-sufficient into chronic food importers. Here the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) figure as much more important villains.

Bioenergy: Fuelling the food crisis?. Stephanie Holmes. BBC. 6/04/2008.

The biofuel debate is electrifying the UN food price crisis summit in Rome, pitting nations against each other and risking transforming bioenergy - once hailed as the ultimate green fuel - into the villain of the piece, the root cause behind global food price spikes.

Price rises hit Indonesia parents. Lucy Williamson. BBC. 6/04/2008.

Financial pressures in Indonesia are driving more families to give up their children, a report says.

FRANCE: Noble Ignorance Fails the Minorities. Hilaire Arvil. IPS. 6/04/2008.

PARIS, Jun 4 (IPS) - According to the French constitution, France has no minorities. French law makes it illegal to record citizens' ethnic origin or religion. But in the face of mounting discrimination, France recently introduced corrective institutions. However, the system is still in its infancy.

Monsanto Seeks Big Increase in Crop Yields. Andrew Pollack, NY Times. 6/05/2008.

Monsanto, the leader in agricultural biotechnology, pledged Wednesday to develop seeds that would double the yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 and would require 30 percent less water, land and energy to grow.

Boeing, Dow Chemical Fined 926 Million Over Nuclear Pollution. Agence France Presse. 6/04/2008.

LOS ANGELES - A Denver, Colorado court has fined Dow Chemical Co. and Boeing Co. a combined 926 million dollars for property damages caused by plutonium contamination from a nuclear weapons plant.

Analysis: US Terrorism List Also a Political Tool. Foster Klug. AP. 6/04/2008.

WASHINGTON - North Korea has not been linked to a terrorist attack in more than two decades, but it is still on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Now, it may be on the verge of its coveted goal of getting removed for reasons having little to do with terrorism.

Senate committee: Bush knew Iraq claims weren't true. Jonathan S. Landay. McClatchy. 6/05/2008.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials promoted the invasion of Iraq with public statements that weren't supported by intelligence or that concealed differences among intelligence agencies, the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Thursday in a report that was delayed by bitter partisan infighting.

Turning Los Angeles wastewater to tap water. Rich Connell. LA Times. 6/07/2008.

Politics killed a 1990s plan to recycle, but drought, technology and Orange County's success offer hope.

Chinese illegal immigrants discovered in Texas border town. CNN. 6/06/2008.

LA JOYA, Texas (AP) -- Local police are accustomed to dealing with illegal border crossings but were astounded by the video of 15 Chinese immigrants unfolding themselves from the back of a sport-utility vehicle near this small border town.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Children in the Path of the (AIDS) Pandemic. Kathryn Strachan. Inter Press Service. 6/06/2008.

JOHANNESBURG, Jun 6 (IPS) - There is barely a path leading down the steep incline and through the dense bush to the Mabuyakhulu homestead. It would be easy to pass by without finding 13 year old Zanele* and her eight year old sister Andiswa who stay there on their own.

HEALTH-CUBA: Free Sex Change Operations Approved. Dalia Acosta. Inter Press Service. 6/06/2008.

HAVANA, Jun 6 (IPS) - New horizons opened up for transsexuals in Cuba with the approval of a Public Health Ministry resolution that establishes guidelines for their health care, including free gender reassignment operations.

In India, a bank for street children. Henry Chu. LA Times. 6/07/2008.

Run almost entirely by the youths, a bare-bones bank sponsored by a charity offers a place to stash meager earnings and learn about saving and planning.

World hunger's urban edge. Stephanie Holmes. BBC. 6/05/2008,

The global food price crisis has revealed not only the new face of hunger but also its voice.

Former nun helps Mexico 'femicide' victims recover. Sara Miller Llana. Christian Science Monitor. 6/05/2008.

Linabel Sarlat runs a support center to help bring economic and spiritual renewal to the women of Anapra, Mexico.

Americans $1.7 trillion poorer. Tami Luhby. CNN. 6/05/2008.

Americans' net worth falls for the second straight quarter as home and stock prices decline, but it may not hurt consumer spending, experts say.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Summit Agrees Greater Liberalisation. Sabina Zaccaro. Inter Press Service. 6/05/2008.

ROME, Jun 5 (IPS) - The three-day world summit called by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to respond to the food crisis ended with plans and pledges - and a new push to liberalisation.

Solving the global food crisis starts with women's rights. Yifat Susskind. The Progressive. 6/03/2008.

Solving the food crisis means empowering women.

James Byrd, Jr.:10 Years Later, 'Horrific Death' in Jasper Won't Fade From Memory. Bill Hanna. Star-Telegram - TX. 6/08/2008.

Ten years after the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr., his family is unwilling to let his memory quietly fade away.

U.S.-born children feel effects of immigration raids. Anna Gorman. 6/08/2008.

Federal agents say they try to act humanely when a parent is arrested, but advocates charge that youngsters are often traumatized and are sometimes left without supervision.

In Burma (Myanmar), how many cyclone orphans?. Christian Science Monitor. 6/09/08.

Aid groups are trying to curb child labor and reconnect families - without the help of surnames.

Japan's Ainu hope new identity leads to more rights. Takehiko Kambayashi. Christian Science Monitor. 6/09/2008.

URAKAWA, JAPAN - While Friday's parliamentary decision to recognize the ethnic Ainu as Japan's indigenous people is a major step for a country long proud of being ethnically homogeneous, for many members of the long-discriminated-against minority it's not enough.