posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 17
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 17
Today the RESTORE Act enters the final round in the US House of Representatives, where it will be presented to the House for a floor vote. The act is designed to restore some civil liberties lost under the current administration. While the RESTORE Act does not give telecoms such as AT&T immunity for helping the executive branch spy on Americans, a contingent of House representatives is trying to change that. And true to form, President George W. Bush has threatened to veto any bill lacking telecoms immunity.
Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has told a congressional committee that the government’s illegal dragnet electronic surveillance opens the door to even more privacy violations for Americans.The sheer volume of personal information collected and the databases in which that information is stored create a giant target for attackers who want to steal or expose Americans’ personal data.
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 16
May I introduce you to charming Marguerite de Navarre (aka Marguerite d’Angoul?me or Marguerite de France) that I recently met in the Luxembourg Gardens? Don’t get fooled by my photo, she is much older that what she looks (515 years old)! And don’t go thinking she’s a little snob by the way she stands, in fact she has all the nobility you can wish for: not only was she the daughter of Charles of Orl?ans, Count of Angoul?me and Louise of Savoy but on top of that her father was a direct descendant of Charles V. She was also the older sister of Francis the 1st, a famous French king. If you’re interested to know more about here, click here.
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 15
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 14
I’m finally getting around to this! I was recently tagged by Lara at Ready2Spark who has started a Green Challenge. She’s asked several bloggers to share tips on what they’re doing to introduce environmental sustainability into their daily lives, and then to pass the challenge on to others. Here are a few things that my family and I are doing over in this neck of the woods:
1. Whenever possible, we try to buy organic produce and use “green” cleaning products. (btw: When I’m in the States, it’s always a bit surprising to see how the term “organic” is being thrown around nowadays. I’m sure I wouldn’t have to look too hard to find a study proving/disproving the level of organic authenticity in a jar of cocktail weenies bought at a roadside 7-11, but who am I to question?) Here in Paris, products labeled organic (or “bio” in French) aren’t as readily on hand as in the States, but you really don’t have to look far. Monoprix and Carrefour both have their own extensive lines of bio products. Naturalia and Biocoop are health-food stores that have several locations around Paris, and there are lots of online websites that deliver bio products to your door. Most of the local produce markets also sell organic on a daily or weekly basis.
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 14
Long ago, before Paris had zebra-stripe pedestrian crossings, there were passages clout?s. These were crosswalks delineated by large nails (clous) driven in lines into the streets, originally between the cobblestones. The heads of these nails, about the size of a hamburger bun, were smooth and rounded, allowing for automobile tires to ride smoothly over them. So elegant in the streetscape, those rows of nails — but I guess they were too subtle a warning for today’s traffic.
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 12
Climate change campaigner Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The 59-year-old former US vice president has devoted his efforts to environmental campaigning, winning an Oscar for his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth. He has also written the book The Assault on Reason.
The UN’s IPCC, comprising 3,000 leading climate scientists, is the world’s leading authority on global warming. The Nobel committee said it wanted to help the world focus on the threat faced from climate change.
Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Gore and the UN panel were chosen “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 11
Today the UN Security Council issued its first-ever “Presidential Statement” on Burma. Such a statement is agreed by all members of the Security Council, including China and Russia, but is not a resolution and is not binding in any way.
“This is a first step, when what Burma needs is a concrete measure,” said Aung Din, former political prisoner and executive director of the US Campaign for Burma. “We hope the Council follows this move by implementing an arms embargo that stops countries from shipping weapons to this regime.”
In the statement, the Security Council “unanimously and strongly deplored the use of violence against peaceful demonstrations in Burma. The Security Council emphasized importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees. It also called on the military regime to create conditions necessary for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung san Suu Kyi, all concerned parties and ethnic groups, to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation.
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posted by Charles H. Russo on Oct 11
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