newsdesk.org: Civics & Society Archives

Lip-Syncing the Cultural Revolution

China's Ministry of Culture announced it may punish individuals, groups and organizers who lip-sync or pretend to play an instrument...

The Czech Republic's Meth Crackdown

Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, is cracking down on the sale of medicines made with ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in...

Violence Claims Mexican Journalist

Armando Rodriguez, a veteran Mexican crime reporter, was recently shot to death outside his home in the border city of...

Prison in Greenland? It's Casual.

The small island of Greenland is home to one of the most lax prison systems in the world, where most...

Dalai Lama Admits Tibet Policy 'Failure'

The Dalai Lama has acknowledged that his drive for genuine autonomy in Tibet has failed. Agence France-Presse reports that even...

The Truthiness Report

The San Francisco 2008 Election Truthiness Report is co-produced by Newsdesk.org and The Public Press, and funded through small donations...

U.S. Border Checkpoints Move Inland

An activist group says that the United States has expanded border checkpoints deeper into the nation than the Constitution permits...

Proposition B: 'Chump Change' or 'Massive Budget Hole'?

By Tim Kingston The Truthiness Report: No. 7 in a series on election advertising. The battle over public power and...

Prop. K: Untested Theories Drive Prostitution Debate

By Bernice Yeung, Newsdesk.org/The Public Press Proposition K, which seeks to decriminalize prostitution in San Francisco, has spawned a heated...

Women on Top in Rwandan Parliament

Women will form the majority in Rwanda's national parliament, making it the first country in the world to have more...

San Francisco Voter Propositions for November '08

By Greg M. Schwartz, Newsdesk.org/The Public Press Editor's Note This overview of the twenty-two propositions on San Francisco's Nov. 4...

U.K. Takes Cue from U.S. Sex Offender Law

Four communities in England will start running background checks on possible sex offenders, similar to "Megan's Law" in the U.S....

"Transition Towns" Tackle Climate Change

Transition towns -- part of a grassroots movement to help communities adopt carbon-neutral lifestyles -- are slowly spreading from England,...

The State Claims Your Raindrops

Rainwater harvesting for domestic use or irrigation is a sustainable practice that may be against the law in the state...

Sidebar: Swaying Voters at $2 a Word

• Main Article: "Invasion of the Policy Pushers" Here are the most lopsided campaigns in the fall 2008 San Francisco...

Invasion of the Policy Pushers / Interest Groups Spin SF Ballot Arguments

By Matthew Hirsch, Newsdesk.org/The Public Press • First in a series fact-checking 2008 election ads in San Francisco • Sidebar:...

Invasion of the Policy Pushers / Interest Groups Spin SF Ballot Arguments

By Matthew Hirsch, Newsdesk.org/The Public Press • First in a series fact-checking 2008 election ads in San Francisco • Sidebar:...

In South America, Land Rights go Native

A group of new reports finds that land-rights battles in South America may be tipping in favor of indigenous peoples....

San Francisco's 'Black Exodus' Gathers Steam

A new study has found that African Americans are abandoning San Francisco in droves, faster than any other U.S. city....

India's Recipe for school success? Add three eggs

In India, there apparently is such a thing as a free lunch. The World Press Review reports that the government...

Businesses Decry Paid Sick Leave Push in California, Ohio

A bill working its way through the state legislature would make California the first state to mandate paid sick leave...

World's Youngest Republic Swears in Maoist Prime Minister

Following years of turbulence and the end of its traditional monarchy, the newly minted Republic of Nepal swore its first...

Australia Breaks Ground on Gay Retirement Home

Australia is breaking new ground with plans to build its first retirement village for gays in Ballan, Victoria. The Moorabool...

FBI Apology Spurs Further Questions

The FBI has apologized for monitoring the telephone records of Washington Post and New York Times journalists in 2004 --...

Save the (Native) Humans

Last Saturday marked the U.N. International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples -- and international media took little notice. Yet...

Immigrants Seek Assimilation under the Surgeon's Knife

Plastic surgery that alters ethnic features to align with Western beauty conventions is on the rise, according to new reports....

How Green is My Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart may be investing in environmental initiatives to become recognized as a "green" company, but it has also been lobbying...

Women Claim Space at AIDS Conference

Circumcision, female condoms and sex work grabbed attention at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City last week. Researchers at...

California may Sue Nestle over Water Plan

Nestle's plans to build a water-bottling plant in northern California may uncork a lawsuit against the whole operation. State Attorney...

Did U.S. Taxpayers pay for Burma Junta's Satellite?

A U.S. government-backed satellite company tested its products in Burma, despite longstanding U.S. sanctions against doing business with that nation's...

China sets up protests during Olympics

In a bid to placate rights activists, China will set aside three protest zones in Beijing during the Olympics in...

Low-caste Indian woman rising up through politics

Kumari Mayawati, a low-caste Indian woman and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, led an electoral charge in late July to...

Real Estate Slump Good for Conservationists

The mortgage crisis and real estate slump are affecting just about everyone these days, but some conservationists are not complaining....

Racial Profiling in the Great White North?

Racial minorities in Canada are more likely to have a police record than their white counterparts even if they don't...

Court Dates and Coup Attempts for Turkey Secularists

Political unrest and terrorism is causing problems for Turkey's ruling party, which has staved off coup attempts as well as...

Pinochet's Ghost Still Haunts Chile

General Augusto Pinochet is dead, but Chile continues to wrestle with the legacy of his 17 years of brutal military...

A Toilet for Thai Transsexuals

A secondary school in northeast Thailand recently built a toilet solely for its transsexual student population. According to the Telegraph,...

Argentina: Saving the Family Farm

A coalition of farm worker organizations, small farmers and native communities has rallied together in Argentina to focus attention on...

On the Run: Accused Balkan War Criminals Remain at Large

A former Serbian leader accused of the massacre of thousands of Muslims in the mid-1990s has been apprehended, but several...

Car Crash Data Must go Public, Court Rules

The public will have access to previously secret government data about serious car accidents, a court ruled this week. The...

A Grassroots Water Grab in California

The debate about water privatization is global, but many of the battles are local. One such struggle ended recently, when...

Monsanto Loses Canadian GMO Dispute

In late March, Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser won a small victory against Monsanto Corporation after a decade-long legal engagement. His...

Zimbabwe Troubles May Bust Borders

Zimbabwe's controversial re-election of President Robert Mugabe is bringing new pressure on South Africa to resolve the conflict, and raising...

Colombia's Disappeared Return to View

Thousands of Colombians who have "disappeared" over the decades were commemorated in prose and pictures at a June conference in...

Canada In Heated Debate over Global Warming Tax

Environmentalists have long proposed taxing carbon emissions as a way of combating global warming -- but if a new Canadian...

China: A Million Mutinies Now

After years of brutally suppressing dissent, China has in recent months faced violent public unrest in a number of different...

Pumped up for Public Water

The tide may be turning for water privatization. Water supplies have already fallen out of private hands in developing nations...

A Big Year for (Democratic) Drug Deals

The pharmaceutical industry spent $168 million lobbying Congress in 2007 -- a record sum that helped influence legislation and prevented...

Philly Police Raid Raises Hackles

After four residents of a North Philadelphia home passed out petitions criticizing surveillance cameras in the neighborhood, police raided their...

Philippines: Activist Deaths Persist

A human rights activist warned that the extrajudicial killing and disappearance of activists in the Philippines could spike again in...

When is 'Voter Fraud' a Fraud?

Willie Ray, a Texas grandmother and Democrat, says had been helping elderly shut-ins to vote for years when she was...

Food Crisis Renews Biotech Farming Debate

As global food prices climb, the debate over genetically modified agriculture is once again heating up. The Christian Science Monitor...

Less than Virginal, a French-Muslim Marriage Goes Awry

France has been rocked in the past week by news that a court allowed a Muslim groom to annul his...

Local Music Thrills to New Community Radio

A new, noncommercial FM radio station -- one of the first to be approved nationwide in 15 years -- is...

Earthquake Parents Protest China Schools Collapse

About 100 parents of children killed in schools by China's recent earthquake have been turned back from a protest at...

Muslims Down Under: Bias, Sketch Comedy

A fight over a proposed Islamic school in a small Australian town has turned nasty, with locals accusing Muslims of...

A Gathering Around Cluster Bombs

Activists and diplomats from around the world are in Dublin, Ireland, this week to try to establish a treaty banning...

Australian Press Points to Children of Burmese Junta

Since Cyclone Nargis ravaged Burma earlier this month, the military junta that rules the nation has been roundly condemned for...

Household-Name Republican Fighting for Her Political Life

With congressional elections coming up this fall, many Republican incumbents are looking vulnerable even in states where their party previously...

New Execution Inquiries

The United States resumed executions last week after a brief moratorium, but several other nations that still carry out the...

For Cold War Brits, the Day After was a Tea-Time Nightmare

A wry old anti-nuclear slogan used to say "One nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day." If you're British, and...

New Wind-Power Projects Becalmed

With oil prices setting new highs nearly every day, wind power is getting another look. But, like most weather reports,...

Yemen Steps, Uneasy, From Past to Future

Yemen -- the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, bordered by Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea -- is opening...

Broadband: BBC calls for Market 'Intervention'

Citing inclusion and civic participation as trumping private profit, the British Broadcasting Corporation is making a case for government "intervention"...

Ghana's Oil -- Blessing or Curse?

With the discovery that Ghana is sitting atop an estimated three billion barrels of oil, the impoverished West African nation...

A Political Resurrection in Malaysia

Almost 10 years after he was driven out of office by a bizarre series of corruption and sodomy charges, Malaysia’s...

Not Your Father's Hate Groups

A national survey has found the number of active hate groups in the United States has increased by 48 percent...

Israel: Homelessness Spikes for Girls

The percentage of homeless teenage girls in Israel jumped from 15 to 25 percent last year, driven by the social...

Cultivating Change in Lebanon

Caught between warring militias and Israeli reprisal, Lebanon's farmers have a hardscrabble life that is only exacerbated by the threat...

The Ends of the Internet?

How shall the Internet come to an end? Let us count the ways. GigaOm.com, an online media service focusing on...

Rhode Island: Secrecy Affirmed for Cable TV

Rhode Island's lead cable TV regulator has agreed to keep secret previously open data about the business operations of the...

An Investor's Guide to Presidential Candidates

Pondering a donation to a presidential candidate? Looking for the right choice given the needs of your special-interest group? Friends...

Windmills and Foul Air in the Navajo Nation

To much environmentalist acclaim, the Navajo Nation has announced plans to create a new wind-power plant on a reservation in...

'The Great Firewall' Lets Down its Guard

While China, confronted with violence in Tibet, was shutting down some parts of the Internet, it opened access to one...

"Avoidable" Gaza Deaths Follow Medical Travel Bans

The World Health Organization said preventable deaths almost doubled in the Gaza Strip between 2006 and 2007, following the Hamas...

Australian Labor's Nuclear Powers

Firmly established in power, Australia's Labor Party has opted to reinvigorate a plan from the previous government to expand uranium...

U.S. Guest Workers Kept Like "Pigs in a Cage"

Almost 100 Indian guest workers at a Mississippi shipyard stormed off from their jobs one day earlier this month, claiming...

Debt Waived for India Farmers

Small and marginal farmers in India will get almost $15 billion in debt relief, thanks to legislation orchestrated by the...

Who Wants to Buy a President?

Bucking the trend of "horse race" campaign coverage, the Center for Public Integrity's latest edition of "The Buying of the...

Gay Muslims Seek Political Asylum in Britain

The United Kingdom has been gripped in recent weeks by the stories of two gay teenagers who say they face...

Communist Chic in the Former Eastern Bloc

There's nothing unusual about people returning to the fashions, products and social spots of their youth, but when that youth...

South Africans March as Crime Wave Peaks

A planned march against crime in South Africa is highlighting how racial and economic relations have changed in the nation...

New Reparations Call for Philippine "Comfort Women"

The Philippine legislature is considering a new resolution to ask for apologies from Japan, as well as financial reparations, for...

News Outlet Seeks Reader Donations to Fund Iraq Trip

An Oregon news service has come up with an unusual way to help pay for a reporter's trip to Iraq:...

Koran in Hand, She Wins Over Mullahs

Fiery and not yet out of her 20s, Wazhma Frogh has been making waves in Afghanistan by using the Koran...

Short-Changed by the Labels? Musicians Dispute Napster Settlement

The recording industry may have netted hundreds of millions of dollars in settlement money from lawsuits targeting Napster, Kazaa and...

"Enviropig": Less Pollution, More Questions

A little bit of genetic editing is all that's required to slash the environmental damage caused by sewage from industrial...

Infants and International Incidents

With regulations tightening in China, Western couples are increasingly looking to Vietnam for overseas adoptions. But the trend is creating...

Radiation on the Reservation

As the market booms for uranium mining in the American West, a Seattle newspaper took a new look at what...

A "Complicated Truth" About Obama Donations

Although Barack Obama has publicly disavowed campaign donations from lobbyists, the candidate, along with his rival Hillary Clinton, has received...

Friend of Hostages, or Friend of Hostage-Takers?

Venezuela's firebrand President Hugo Chavez has been deeply involved in recent months in trying to resolve the long-running standoff over...

Wikileaks Shutdown Thwarted

Infoworld technology guru Robert X. Cringley said the attempted shutdown of the Wikileaks Web site by a U.S. judge at...

Great Lakes Toxics Data Suppressed?

Millions of people in the Great Lakes region may face health problems from toxic pollution, but a study on the...

New York Targets Nonprofit Fraud

New York City investigators are looking into more than 30 cases of potential nonprofit fraud, the New York Post reports....

Black and White and Read All Over ... in Asia, Anyway

Newspapers in the United States may be shrinking, losing circulation and laying off employees at an alarming rate, but times...

Russia Sends Opposition To Psych Wards

A Russian opposition activist was forced into a mental hospital in one of many signs of the Russian government's crackdown...

Specter of Fraud Haunts Pakistan Election

The majority of Pakistan's voters expect the upcoming February 18 election to be rigged, reports McClatchy Newspapers. Doubts are widespread,...

Sea Cow Stymies Navy's Okinawa Plan

The endangered dugong, a type of "sea cow" similar to Florida's manatee, threatens to put the brakes on a huge...