By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

A panel of foreign affairs experts argued Tuesday that France’s re-entry into the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military command is not a “Trojan Horse” plot to undermine the power of NATO. Speaking at the Atlantic Council’s discussion “Going from Oui to fait Accompli: France’s Normalization with NATO” the panel discussed the key role that France will play in bringing together the European Union and the United States within NATO.

Leo Michel, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, says the idea that France’s re-involvement in NATO will allow them to undermine the organization is ridiculous.

“This is a win, win outcome. It is not cover for some a nefarious French plot to hobble NATO.”

“French reintegration is a vote of confidence in the trans-Atlantic community and provides an example to the rest of the Europe of a common effort towards meeting challenges coming at us” explained Jim Townsend, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy.

However, the panel stressed that France’s new role did not mean that the relationship between France and the United States would be “simple and easy.”

” There are some in town that think that the clouds are going to open and rainbows are going to appear and all of a sudden divisions after division of French forces are going to flow into the NATO system…that is just not realistic.” However, Townsend added, “The addition of French strategic thought back into NATO military command…will be a tremendous plus for the alliance.”

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

The Iranian protester’s that are using social networking sites such as Twitter are demonstrating “the empowerment of e-democracy for the first time” according to Ravi Singh, CEO and founder of ElectionMall Inc.

Singh, whose technology company provides, as he describes it, a “one stop shop for political campaigns to generate awareness over the web”, feels that the use of social networking as a tool for political change is a “historic development” that shows the “merger of technology, social media and politics.”

“What we are seeing right now is a phenomenal behavior where people have become educated with these new tools, ” said Singh. He added that this new form of media is “in essence the new weapon for democracy, literally causing an e-revoloution on the ground.”

“A true internet revolution can only happen when we actually see a grassroots participation in those countries, and what we are seeing is a new kind of grassroots which is basically being empowered by the internet.”

Responding to a question regarding the authenticity of some social networking media, Singh acknowledged that this is a concern.

“Content is being questioned because we have no kind of validation…there has to be some kind of third party validation and I think what we will have to do is not ‘best practices’ but some kind of ethical standards on what we will take as true and right in real time”

“I would encourage the founders of Twitter to think of authenticating some of the content that is going on as well as the validity of the profiles. Unfortunately technology companies do not really think about how there applications will change the world” he said.

You can listen to an clip from Talk Radio News Service’s interview with Ravi Singh by clicking the audio link. (0:34)

 

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By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service
Supporters of President Obama’s health care plan rallied on Capitol Hill Thursday, to press for immediate action on health care reform. Organized by the Health Care for America Now! Coalition (HCAN), the “We Can’t Wait ’09″ rally brought together 10,000 health care activists from across the country to pressure Congress into taking significant action on health reform by the end of the year.

Joining those in attendance were actress Edie Falco, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Said Dean, “The American public deserve the choice of whether to continue with what they have or if they want to try something different.”

Added Senator Schumer, “You being here will make sure that we hold everyone in that building’s [the Capitol’s] feet to the fire,” bringing the enthused crowd to cheers.

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, asserted that the issue of health care was literally a matter of life and death for many Americans, calling the current system a “national disgrace.” He added that Republicans need to decide whether to “get out of the way or be run over” by the sheer force of the public’s call for health care reform.

Colonel Jeff Ireland, Director of Manpower and Personnel for the Montana National Guard, asserts a need for education and awareness regarding the mental health issues facing veterans (0:28).

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC) today briefed reporters on the current situation of global “disasters” including natural disasters, food insecurity and disease.

The report shows 220,000,000 million people are food insecure, and 213,000,000 are affected by natural disasters worldwide. Ninety percent of the world’s malaria cases are occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eighty percent of the population in Cambodia is living within flood distance of the Mekong River.

The Associate Director of the ICRC on climate change, Maarten van Aalst said ” Seventy-six percent of disasters happened in developing countries with 99% of these overall deaths in developing countries.” He emphasized going the “last mile,” by setting up advanced early warning systems.

The report entitled: “World Disasters Report 2009: Focus on Early Warning, Early Action,” underscores that overwhelming evidence is now predicting a highly changeable climate in the decades ahead. “There will be many disasters ahead, and there will be many surprises,” added van Aalst. The disasters which are triggered by climate change (floods, heatwaves, storms and hurricanes) are expected to potentially threaten more lives and livelihoods than the world has ever witnessed before.

A full copy of the report can be found on the ICRC website: http://www.icrc.org

Former President William Jefferson Clinton welcomed his new role today as United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti. Clinton appeared alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to talk about the new program being boosted by the Clinton Global Initiative “Haiti: A New Paradigm”.  The goal is to encourage philanthropists, non governmental organizations and other private investors to rebuild schools, hospitals and other facilities. He also underscored the need to invest in clean energy. “There are real genuine economic opportunities there.”

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explains that the U.S. is slated to start training Mexican officers to provide additional security around the U.S.-Mexico border. This is the result of the enhancement of the 2007 Bilateral Strategic Plan. (0:32)

 

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By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Serive

The U.S. federal government is working to construct an orderly exit from its involvement with the automobile industry, while stabilizing the auto giants and saving jobs, said Ron Bloom, a senior advisor at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Bloom testified today before the Senate Banking Committee, along with Dr. Edward Montgomery, White House Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers.
 
Committee Chairman, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) explained that the hearing was unique. He said it was the first time it would have the opportunity to hear directly from Obama administration officials in charge of supervising federal assistance to the auto industry. 

“Let us remember-Not too long ago, it seems an American could walk a city block without sensing the strength of an American automaker’s brand. Their labels adorned buses, railcars, and aircraft. They dominated the U.S. automobile market,” said Dodd. “Today, those images have faded. For the first time, the domestic market share for Ford, Chrysler and GM has slipped below 50 percent, going form 66 percent in 2001 to just 47 percent today.”

Bloom explained to the committee that the restructuring process that followed both GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy has required “deep and painful sacrifices from all stakeholders,” including workers, suppliers, dealers and the communities that rely on the auto industry. 

The Obama administration made it clear in February that it’s auto task force wanted to handle the auto restructuring process in a commercial manner. That is to ensure that all stakeholders are treated fairly and that the government’s involvement doesn’t change how much they receive, according to Bloom.

Earlier today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D-Md.) held a press conference with colleagues and automobile dealers.

Hoyer said, “Two Sunday’s ago I was on a phone call with the White House who was helping us make our policy effective and I asked them, what money does it save the manufacturing General Motors or Chrysler if you shut down a dealership? Answer…zero.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) was also present for the press conference and said the way things are being handled could be viewed as a “bailout for the big guys but a force out for the little guys.”

Talk Radio News’ U.N. Correspondent Tala Dowlatshahi interviews UNRWA Representative Saahir Lone (14:06)

 

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Talk Radio News Managing Editor Victoria Jones speaks with Helene-Marie Gosselin, the U.N. Representative of UNESCO, about the progress of UNESCO (10:50)

 

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