Senator Hillary Clinton Speaks at the Democratic National Convention

By Joel Ebert

A crowd of roughly sixty people gathered in Congress Park for a rally supporting the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp. Among the key speakers at the event were Minuteman President Chris Simcox, Alan Keys, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), and Constitutional Party Presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corp. consists of American citizens who patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in order to assist in the prevention of illegal immigration. Simcox organized the event to bring together Presidential candidates who have promised to adhere to the Minutemen’s agenda. He said the event was organized to challenge both Barack Obama and John McCain on their immigration policies.

“We need to show the rest of the world that you are not going to tread on us,” Simcox said. “We are going to use our military assets and we are going to secure our borders to maintain our national security and protect public safety,” he continued. The gathering was interrupted by a group of eight protesters opposing the Minutemen with a megaphone. Chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, racist Minutemen have got to go”, the protesters stirred the feelings of the Minuteman crowd.

The protesters waved klan hoods and taunted the Minutemen by declaring, “The US government is illegitimate.” The crowd responded with laughs and annoyed looks. “Its a shame to waste a good public school education,” Simcox said, referring to the teenage protesters.

Former Vice- Presidential hopeful Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) discusses Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) choice of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as his running mate with Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner. He also discusses his congressional district and issues facing Americans. Edwards answers questions about the current energy crisis as well as the American health care system and claims that it is not impossible for Sen. Obama to win Texas in the November election (5:17).

 

 Standard Podcast [(5:17)m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

by Holly Jackson

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Barbara Lee were among twenty-six members of congress named as honorees by the Global AIDS Alliance Fund on Monday for their legislative efforts in fighting the AIDS epidemic.

The event, “Spreading Hope: The Congressional Leadership Awards in the Fight against HIV/AIDS,” ran concurrently with the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.

Although the group said it strives to make the fight against AIDS a bipartisan issue, it favors Sen. Obama’s AIDS strategy, with many at the event referring to Sen. Obama as the next President. Senators Obama and Hillary Clinton were also named as honorees, but were not in attendance.

Moderator David Munar of the AIDS Action Council said, “The drivers for change are coming from the Democratic Party.”

The organization also asked candidates for U.S. Congress to sign a pledge to provide leadership in fighting AIDS domestically and abroad, saying the U.S. needs to devise national AIDS strategy to combat the disease.

Actor Danny Glover, the Chairman of TransAfrica Forum, said “There is a country where a new epidemic, a new infection happens every nine minutes.” Glover continued, “There is a city where one out of 20 people are infected with HIV. That country is the United States and that city is Washington, D.C.”

Glover also said there were serious problems with President George W. Bush’s legislation “President’s Emergency Plan on AIDS Relief” (PEPFAR) approach to fighting global AIDS. The legislation requires that one-third of funds provided to AIDS-infected nations must be used for abstinence-only programs. Glover’s organization, TransAfrica Forum, is an African-American lobbying organization for Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean for AIDS relief funding.

The Global Aids Alliance Fund will also be present at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next week.

by Jessica Sall

Supporters of Presidential candidate John McCain arrived today at the Colorado Convention Center. They attempted to be heard by protesting against the Obama campaign. “We want to support our candidate,” stated protest leader of the supporter group, Charlie Smith, referring to Sen. John McCain.

“It’s a good thing for us to have the alternative view point out here,” Smith said, “As people become more familiar with Obama, the celebrity aspect of him will pass.”

The McCain supporters consisted mostly of college students from around the Denver area. “There’s a lot of youth support of McCain that doesn’t gets out there,” said Smith. According to Smith there will be other McCain supporter groups waking around downtown Denver with McCain signs, trying to get their message out. They will stay the length of this convention before continuing to the Republican National Convention next week.

Click Here to Listen to Audio File (1:05)

Click To Play

 

 Talk Radio News at the Democratic Convention: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This past week, both the United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have renounced violence surrounding the electoral stand-off in Zimbabwe.

On Monday, the Security Council dileberated late in to the evening.  Current Security Council president Zalmay Khalilzad, United States Ambassador to the UN, expressed his frustration at the on-going voilence, indicating that it would be almost impossible for a “free and fair” election to occur on schedule.  Mr. Ban stated earlier this week that an election held under such adverse conditions “would lack all legitimacy.”

Additionally, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, renounced recent acts of violence and intimidation.  In a statement issued on 19 June, Pascoe called political intimidation “unacceptable” and noted that if violence continued it would be very difficult for the world community to recognize the results of this Friday’s previously-scheduled run-off election.  Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been holed-up within the Dutch embassy after announcing his intention to pull out of his bid to unseat current President Robert Mugabe.  Tsvangirai’s supporters have been targeted in attacks by Mugabe loyalists. 

For more information on the Zimbabwe electorial crisis, please visit the BBC’s Zimbabwe Q&A, and the Guardian’s Zimbabwe timeline.  Google News on the Zimbabwe electorial crisis.

Craig Harwood, an engineer at Rockwell-Collins, discusses the massive waters that flowed through downtown Cedar Rapids.  (0:50)

 

 Mississippi-Like Waters in CR: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As the waters recede from the banks of the Cedar River, Dan Patterson – Cedar Rapids, Iowa native – reports on the extent of known damage. (2:44)

 

 Dan Reports From IA On Flooding: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mary Skopec from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources describes why this year’s flood has been so devastating and how development has increased it’s impact.  Ms. Skopec also details how restoration of wetlands can word in tandum with agriculture to minimize damage of future floods. (6:27)

 

 Iowa DNR on Floods: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download