Archive - Sep 16, 2008

Barack Obama and John McCain have not been the only presidential candidates who have been responding to the current financial crisis on Wall Street. Election Unspun producer Karen Miller sat down with Peace and Freedom Candidate, also labeled an Independent on many ballots, Ralph Nader. Nader says the current situation is caused by concentrated power and greed. He says that taxpayers should benefit from bail outs.   

Part 2
 
Some of you out there might identify with Ralph Nader, or Cynthia McKinney, or Bob Barr or any other third party candidates.  But how many of you are actually going to vote for one of them.  Well, that's what Sam Husseini, founder of VotePact.org, hopes to convince you to do.

• Constitutional Referendum Divides Bolivia
• South American Leaders Back Evo Morales
• Burmese Children Seek Education over the Border
• Financial Crisis Takes its Toll
• Washington Strikes Out on a New Energy Bill

Click here for Headlines Package
Click here for 13 Meg Version
Click here for Dial-Up Version

• Bush Visits Gulf Coast in the Aftermath of Ike
• This Year's Ozone Hole Larger Than 2007's
• Greenpeace Announces New Company Ranking for Greener Guide to Electronics
• Internal Fighting in Gaza
• Nicaraguan Priest Assumes Presidency of UN General Assembly

More and more Burmese children are leaving their families and illegally
crossing the border into Thailand in the hope of gaining an education.
The repressive Burmese military regime spends one of the lowest amounts
of money on health care and education in the world. Even basic
education is very expensive. So children as young as five are making
the journey into Thailand in the hope of getting a free education at
schools run by exiled Burmese. Rebecca Henschke visits one such school
in the border town of Mae Sot, where nearly 3,000 students are living
and studying.

A commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal on the financial crisis.

Massive unrest in four of Bolivia's eastern provinces has taken the country to the edge of collapse in the past three weeks. Violence has claimed the lives of at least 30 people in the Pando province – whose local government belongs to the established right wing, which is in direct opposition to President Evo Morales' plan for a referendum in January. That referendum could result in a new constitution which will benefit the country's mostly indigenous peasants. Today, FSRN will examine the crisis from inside Bolivia and then go to Santiago, Chile, where South American political leaders met to condemn the violence and support Bolivia's president. First, Leny Olivera and Aldo Orellana report from Cochabamba.

The instability of financial markets is surmounting: economists are monitoring insurance giant AIG, which could file for bankruptcy. The fed is meeting with AIG and a handful of banks and has so far left the door open for some type of financial support. After two days of market turmoil since Lehman Brothers announced it would file for bankruptcy Sunday, FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell takes a look at how the market's effects could impact you and what the Presidential candidates say they're going to do about it.

House Democrats are hoping to pass a comprehensive energy bill today, after weeks of debate and back and forth between the parties. The bill will include limited offshore drilling as well as increases in funding for renewable energy sources and tax credits for consumers who invest in renewable energy.  Despite the drilling initiatives, many Republicans oppose the bill, saying it puts too many limits on drilling, and that it is not a real solution to the energy crisis. In hard economic times, many are wondering how long it will take Congress to create an energy plan that works. FSRN's Katherine Jarmul has more.