At IPS Thalif Deen's "U.S. Pursues Disruptive Anti-Abortion Agenda" is worth noting:
As expected, the United States has once again raised the politically divisive issue of abortion at a crucial U.N. meeting here, refusing to reaffirm the landmark Programme of Action unanimously adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. According to an amendment introduced by the United States, Washington has indicated its willingness to support the ICPD programme of action only ”with the understanding that nothing therein creates a right to abortion.” ”As everyone knows, the Cairo conference made it clear that abortion was a national matter, not an international matter,” a Third World delegate told IPS. ”The (George W.) Bush administration is obviously bent on sabotaging these post-Cairo meetings with a politically sensitive issue that was settled as far back as 1994,” he added.
Via BuzzFlash, Marica found this from The Berkshire Eagle: "Kennedy leads fight to alter Patriot Act" by Evan Lehmann. From that article:
The mood of an attacked nation has changed since 9/11 and so should the USA Patriot Act, says a Massachusetts senator involved in the debate over renewing the law.
Passed 45 days after four airliners were hijacked and used as weapons in 2001, the Patriot Act will be scrutinized and studied before year's end, when 16 of its provisions are due to expire.
At the center of attention are the law's most controversial elements: those that broadened the government's ability to investigate library records and conduct searches without notifying suspects.
"In the years since 9/11, many of us have become concerned that the act needlessly overrides basic freedoms, and we have an opportunity to restore them without in any way endangering our national security," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
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