Sunday, December 09, 2007
...what comes first? Peace? Or a safe and sustainable Earth?...
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore,and his wife Tipper walk in the streets of Oslo Friday Dec. 7, 2007. Gore will be awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Bjorn Sigurdson / SCANPIX)
It's interesting to realize both may have to happen at once. Republicans aren't capable !!!
by Samantha Winston
The Lightning Rod
They say there is a place where lightning doesn't strike twice - but three times, four time, over and over.
They say the trees can't grow there. When one gets too tall, it's struck down.
They say there's a place where the air vibrates with electrons, calling the bolts of lightning down flicker-quick and hot fingered, singing the trees that dare raise their heads too high so they grow sideways to defeat the electric enemy.
There are places like that where I have lived. Don't raise your head too high. Don't act too proud. Don't show off. Don't show at all. Hide your body and your mind. Hide behind mediocraty. Because if you don't, then someone will be quick to knock you down - make sure you realize that you better toe the line, stay in line, keep your head down. And if, by some quirk of talent or fate you stand out, you're the lightning rod.
What prevents Peace from happening and sustaining?
John Lennon and Yoko Ono believed Peace was contagious. They believed it needed to be. Not conveniently so, but, necessarily so.
I honestly believe Nixon liked his feet on the ground when it came to nukes rather than above it all.
...Security Assurances. Non-nuclear-weapon states sought guarantees that renunciation of nuclear arms would not place them at a permanent military disadvantage and make them vulnerable to nuclear intimidation. But, it was argued, the security interests of the various states, and groups of states, were not identical; an effort to frame provisions within the Treaty that would meet this diversity of requirements for unforeseeable future contingencies would create inordinate complexities. To resolve the issue, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom submitted in the ENDC, on March 7, 1968, a tripartite proposal that security assurances take the form of a U.N. Security Council resolution, supported by declarations of the three powers. The resolution, noting the security concerns of states wishing to subscribe to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, would recognize that nuclear aggression, or the threat of nuclear aggression, would create a situation requiring immediate action by the Security Council, especially by its permanent members.
Following submission of the Treaty itself to the U.N. General Assembly, the tripartite resolution was submitted to the Security Council. In a formal declaration, the United States asserted its intention to seek immediate Security Council actions to provide assistance to any non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty that was the object of nuclear aggression or threats. The Soviet Union and the United Kingdom made similar declarations. France abstained from voting on the Security Council resolution; the French representative said that France did not intend its abstention to be an obstacle to adoption of the tripartite proposal, but that France did not believe the nations would receive adequate security guarantees without nuclear disarmament....
Headline: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty / Rogers / Nixon (click here)
Abstract:
(Studio)
Nixon signs nuclear non-proliferation treaty with 46 cntrys.; US, USSR resume nuclear arms limitation talks; France, Communist China not in pact but expected to observe it. REPORTER: Chet Huntley
(DC)
[State Secretary William ROGERS - says 47 nations bound not to interchange nuclear weapons with non-nuclear cntrys.]
[NIXON - declares treaty 1st step in reducing danger of nuclear war.]
Pact will slow nuclear arms race.
REPORTER: Richard Valeriani
U.S. Firmly Committed to NPT (click here)
President George W. Bush
Thirty-five years ago, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons entered into force. Today, almost all nations are party to the treaty. The NPT represents a key legal barrier to nuclear weapons proliferation and makes a critical contribution to international security.
In May, the parties to the NPT will convene the Seventh Review Conference of the treaty. In the context of this review, I reaffirm the determination of the United States to carry out its treaty commitments and to work to ensure its continuance in the interest of world peace and security.
NPT Parties must take strong action to confront the threat of noncompliance with the NPT in order to preserve and strengthen the treaty's nonproliferation undertakings. We cannot allow rogue states that violate their commitments and defy the international community to undermine the NPT's fundamental role in strengthening international security. We must therefore close the loopholes that allow states to produce nuclear materials that can be used to build bombs under the cover of civilian nuclear programs....
Then in 2006. The USA having pulled out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty signs a joint statement with Russia, ending the progress of a nuclear free Earth, in exchange for the opportunity to continue to do research and escalate into a new Cold War. Bush proves beyond a shadow of a doubt to the entire country and global community, he is not only an ass, but a pain in the ass as well !
Did I mention they were both Republicans. At this point it might be a little confusing !
Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President V. V. Putin (click here)
The United States and the Russian Federation believe that strengthening their cooperation in civil nuclear energy is in the strategic interests of both our countries. It will serve as an additional assurance of access for other nations to economical and environmentally safe peaceful nuclear energy.
The United States and the Russian Federation are working together to meet the challenges posed by the combination of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism. We recognize the devastation that could befall our peoples and the world community if nuclear weapons or materials or other weapons of mass destruction were to fall into the hands of terrorists. We are closely cooperating to lessen that unacceptable danger, including by strengthening the nonproliferation regime and ensuring the security of nuclear weapons and fissile materials.
Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy...
The US's nuclear cave-in (click here)
By Joseph Cirincione Buffeted by political turmoil at home, US President George W Bush sought a foreign-affairs victory in India. To clinch a nuclear-weapons deal, Bush had to give in to demands from the Indian nuclear lobby to exempt large portions of the country's nuclear infrastructure from international inspection.
With details of the deal still under wraps, it appears that at least one-third of current and planned Indian reactors would be exempt from International Atomic Energy Agency inspections and that Bush gave in to Indian demands for "Indian-specific" inspections that would fall far short of the normal, full-scope inspections...
March 02, 2006
U.S. Enters New Nuclear Age as Bush Seeks Funds for New Generation of Nukes (click here)
A new nuclear age appears to be on the horizon. President Bush recently asked Congress for $27 million to help jumpstart the country’s first new nuclear weapons program in two decades. As we broadcast from New Mexico–the center of the country’s nuclear weapons program–we speak with Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group.
“We are on the verge of an exciting time.”
Those were the recent words of the nation’s top nuclear weapons executive, Linton Brooks. Here in New Mexico–the center of the country’s nuclear weapons program–a new nuclear age appears to be on the horizon. Bush recently asked Congress for $27 million to help jumpstart the country’s first new nuclear weapons program in two decades. The money will be used to fund a competition between the Los Alamos and the Lawrence Livermore laboratories to find and design a new generation of nuclear bombs to replace the country’s entire nuclear arsenal....
Republicans have always had a 'thing' about China. Nixon opened China and now China is shutting down Bush !
One might recognize Nixon and Mao.
...In October 1974, Mr. Bush traveled to Peking, where he served as the Chief of the US Liaison Office during the critical period when the United States was renewing ties with the People’s Republic of China....
Sorta came full circle didn't it? The Communist Country that could. And did. Took the capitalist power of the USA and harnessed it for it's own disposal. Taiwan. Hong Kong. Yep. The Bush family legacy, literally, passed the USA's global prowess to China. I think Neal Bush still finds China his favorite hideaway, prostitutes and all. (click here)
The difference of course is that Nixon wasn't an environmental mental midget, then was the time when predictions were made of today's Climate Crisis.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (click here)
NEPA is the foundation of modern environmental law and has been described as "the most important and far reaching environmental and conservation measure ever enacted by Congress." This historic legislation is widely applicable yet focuses environmental issues within a comprehensive national policy. NEPA provides the continuing stimulus for review of environmental concerns associated with proposed actions. Inherent in the NEPA provisions is environmental accountability and public involvement. NEPA has been emulated by countries throughout the world as a model for environmental impact evaluation and decision making. Its visionary approach to environmental issues makes it as relevant today as when it was first enacted over 30 years ago.
The idiocy doesn't belong to the Court of Appeals, although I am sure it's fashionable to say it. Can anyone guess why the Bush/Cheney/Gonzalez Justice Department wanted to demolish the Ninth Circuit Court? Why they wanted to eliminate some USA Attorneys? Couldn't be related to cronies, could it? Now that is a good reason, maybe the best reason, to destroy the USA Constitution. Right?
Environmental idiocy comes out of Court of Appeals (click here)
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has done it again.
The most liberal court of the country has put reason on its head and issued a decision that favors the trees over the people.
This time, we believe, even the environmentalists have to ponder the sense of it.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a portion of President Bush's "Healthy Forests Initiative," which exempts environmental review of logging projects up to 1,000 acres and prescribed burns up to 4,500 acres. The court said it violated the National Environmental Policy Act.
In its opinion Wednesday, the three-judge appeals court panel said the Forest Service had failed to properly analyze the rule, causing "irreparable injury" by allowing more than 1.2 million acres of national forest land to be logged and burned each year without studying the ecological impacts.
The court ruled that the Forest Service no longer can exempt such projects from environmental analysis until the rule can be analyzed properly.
The ruling sided with the Sierra Club and Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign. The groups said the ruling would protect millions of acres of national forest from destructive and unnecessary logging projects.
We would like to know if there is a concern over the "irreparable injury" caused by devastating wildfires. This injury is not only to human lives and property, but to the forests that are decimated by overheated wildfires that can bake the ground to such a point that water runoff is an environmental disaster, and saplings cannot grow without human intervention.
Forest Service Chief Gail Kimball said that expedited logging on national forests saved thousands of homes during California's recent wildfires.
We see here in the Tahoe Basin that the Angora fire was considered an environmental disaster, and if an even larger fire occurred in the basin, it would greatly affect Lake Tahoe's clarity.
The National Environmental Policy Act already slows the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit from accomplishing various tasks quickly and cheaper.
This court ruling just entrenches an already huge bureaucracy deeper into political mire, leaving an unsuspecting public - and our nation's forests - in peril.
We urge an appeal.
No surprise there, huh? Mental midgets abound everywhere. The entire global community now assembled in Bali, is clamoring for the USA to stop it's' polluting ways and what do Bushies want? To clear cut National Treasures and Protected Forests.
Did I say they were Republicans? I thought I did.
George W. Bush - Republican. Bush - energy crisis. Bush - skyrocketing oil prices. Bush - Expansionist War into where? Where? That's right Iran.
....And why did we need a "major intelligence push" in the first place? According to Miller, it's because Bush dismantled the Iran Task Force set up during Bill Clinton's administration in order to focus all his attention on — surprise! — Iraq. "When Bush came in, they were totally disinterested in Iran," said a former CIA official who held a senior position at the time. "It went from being a main focus to everything being switched to Iraq."....
This is not rocket science. Nixon - Republican. Nixon - oil embargo. Nixon - skyrocketing oil prices. Nixon - Expansionist War.
Nixon called it 'The Moral Majority." Today. The 'moral majority' is culminated by Evangelical Christians that would like to see the USA a majority of people engaged in religious dogma rather than a Constitution.
"Give Peace a Chance" by The Beetles
Two, one, two, three, four
Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism,
Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, That-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m
All we are saying is give piece a chance,
All we are saying is give piece a chance
C'mon
Ev'rybody's talking about ministers,
Sinister, Banisters
And canisters, Bishops, Fishops,
Rabbis, and Pop eyes, Bye, bye, bye byes
All we are saying is give peace a chance,
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Let me tell you now
Revoluton, evolution, masturbation,
Flagellation, regulation, integrations,
Meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations
Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan,
Tommy Copper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,
Allen Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare
Krishna
Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism,
Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, That-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m
All we are saying is give piece a chance,
All we are saying is give piece a chance
C'mon
Ev'rybody's talking about ministers,
Sinister, Banisters
And canisters, Bishops, Fishops,
Rabbis, and Pop eyes, Bye, bye, bye byes
All we are saying is give peace a chance,
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Let me tell you now
Revoluton, evolution, masturbation,
Flagellation, regulation, integrations,
Meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations
Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan,
Tommy Copper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,
Allen Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare
Krishna
Town says teen can't keep pet rooster
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRWIN, Pa. -- Melissa Hensler got a "Most Unusual Pet" prize from her township two years ago for her pet rooster - but now the same township says the bird is a farm animal in a residential area and it's got to go.
The parents of the 13-year-old girl say they may file a lawsuit against the zoning decision by North Huntingdon Township officials.
Melissa has raised the rooster, named Sundae, and eight other chickens for six years. But in July, say parents Barb and Don Hensler, a neighbor complained that they were raising chickens, and the township's attitude changed.
The prize that Sundae won two years ago "is no substitute for township law," code enforcement officer David Stitt said.
"Chickens are farm animals. You can call them pets if you like, but they are still fowl," Stitt said.
A township board rejected the Henslers' request for a zoning exception, leading to their consideration of court action.
"I've already spent $250 for the first appeal. These chickens are not worth that much - maybe $1.75 or $2 - if you sold them," Don Hensler said. "We were just asking the township to allow us to keep our pets until they pass on."
Hensler said chickens typically live eight to 10 years.
"If I had to get rid of them, it would be like losing part of me," Melissa said. "I would be losing my children."
IRWIN, Pa. -- Melissa Hensler got a "Most Unusual Pet" prize from her township two years ago for her pet rooster - but now the same township says the bird is a farm animal in a residential area and it's got to go.
The parents of the 13-year-old girl say they may file a lawsuit against the zoning decision by North Huntingdon Township officials.
Melissa has raised the rooster, named Sundae, and eight other chickens for six years. But in July, say parents Barb and Don Hensler, a neighbor complained that they were raising chickens, and the township's attitude changed.
The prize that Sundae won two years ago "is no substitute for township law," code enforcement officer David Stitt said.
"Chickens are farm animals. You can call them pets if you like, but they are still fowl," Stitt said.
A township board rejected the Henslers' request for a zoning exception, leading to their consideration of court action.
"I've already spent $250 for the first appeal. These chickens are not worth that much - maybe $1.75 or $2 - if you sold them," Don Hensler said. "We were just asking the township to allow us to keep our pets until they pass on."
Hensler said chickens typically live eight to 10 years.
"If I had to get rid of them, it would be like losing part of me," Melissa said. "I would be losing my children."
Conservation Carbon - Reforesting Ecuador's Northwestern Rain Forests
Challenge
Over the last 35 years, deforestation due to logging, agriculture and population growth have resulted in the loss of over two-thirds of this region’s original forest cover. Today, much of the original forest has been converted to use for commercial agriculture or pasture dominated by invasive African grasses and commercial agriculture. Many fields have also been abandoned, leaving only highly degraded and stunted secondary vegetation. The threat of losing so many species found nowhere else in the world has grown to the point that Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment recently highlighted this region as one of the top five conservation priorities in the nation.
Response
In an effort to protect the region’s biodiversity, support local communities and combat global warming, Conservation International’s (CI) Conservation Carbon program is engaging the private sector to support reforestation projects in the coastal plain and western foothills of northwestern Ecuador which will mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity, and support local communities....
The Challenge is compounded by what may be expanding militias among the countries promoting Rainforest Biome Revitalization. The countries of South America need to reassess the importance of these regions of their country and protect them from degradation by militias. Reputations can be enhanced of all these countries if there are higher reaching values in conservation at a time when Earth's worst enemy pollutes more carbon than any other.
The countries of South America now forming economic ties need to educate their citizens in regard to conservation and the protections of such areas to promote more peace, national security and national pride.
Sovereignty is most important. Stability is key to development and a self-interest of people to a viable economy.
Here again, human rights is paramount to any other directive by the country.
Bolivia Assembly To Vote On New Constitution (click on title to entry)
Once the assembly agrees on all the provisions of a new constitution it must go to a national referendum for approval.
The assembly rewriting Bolivia's basic law agreed to reconvene on Saturday to vote article by article on a draft constitution that has caused a deep split and violent protests in the poor Andean country.
Among controversial reforms the assembly could approve this weekend are allowing presidents to serve more than one consecutive term, turning the bicameral legislature into a one-house body, and granting Indian communities and provinces more autonomy from the central government.
The assembly's board of directors said in a news release that it called for delegates to meet on Saturday evening in Oruro city, two weeks after three people died in violent protests in Sucre, the assembly's original base.
The assembly is controlled by allies of leftist President Evo Morales who aim to empower Bolivia's poor Indian majority after centuries of discrimination. Its work stalled for months because of fear of violence.
But two weeks ago the delegates met under military guard and approved an outline of the constitution in a vote boycotted by the opposition. That vote sparked violent protests in Sucre and a general strike in six of the country's nine provinces.
Once the assembly agrees on all the provisions of a new constitution it must go to a national referendum for approval....
Influence peddling that leads to arming of militias anywhere in the world by any company needs to end. Sovereignty and the humane treatment of all the world's citizens needs to take place. Peace among any peoples are important while the political processes are reviewed internationally.
The world is a far, far smaller sphere in the year 2008. War is not an option and roving militias are simply more danger to any aspect of any ultimate freedom of people. Stability and the scrutiny of the international community, along with sustainability as per the UN efforts while human rights organizations seek better political processes that eliminate human suffering and cause instability rather than peace.
If the USA continues it's ambitions of spreading democracy to benefit it's 'wealth economics' then instability in any country only leads to the opportunity to cause war rather than settle it. Human rights in relation to political processes will find resolve in trade arrangements and economic infrastructure. The more citizens appreciate the aesthetics of their lives including educational systems for children, the more they will want to sustain their governments without violence and seek a political process which facilitates participation.
No war. No militia will bring back destroyed natural assets of a country. In the year 2008, Earth has to take precedent and educational processes of all people need to bring a focus to the value of peace over war and internal strife.
Alabama Coal Company Accused of Bankrolling Colombia's Killer Right-Wing Militias By Frank Bajak
The Associated Press
Friday 06 July 2007
Rafael Garcia, the former technology director of the DAS state security agency, says in an affidavit that he saw Jimenez give "a suitcase full of cash" to paramilitary commanders "to assassinate specific union leaders," naming Locarno and Orcasita. Garcia is in prison, convicted of erasing drug traffickers' names from DAS records.
Former paramilitary fighter Alberto Visbal says in an affidavit that he saw Jimenez pay his boss, who went by the alias "Julian," $200,000 in cash. Visbal, who has fled Colombia, said he understood from another fighter present that the money was in exchange for the killings. Visbal says he was later sent to confirm Locarno's death.
In a filing in an Atlanta circuit court Thursday seeking more time to gather depositions, plaintiffs for the union also alleged that former union treasurer Jimmy Rubio saw a Drummond official - they didn't specify which one - pay a paramilitary leader for the killings. Rubio went into hiding when his father-in-law was murdered just before he was to give a deposition in the case, they said.
Affidavits from Rubio, Visbal and Garcia have all been entered into the public record in Birmingham.
Drummond challenged the accounts. "We have evidence that some (of the witnesses) are being paid and/or offered assistance by the United Steelworkers Union," it said in its written response.
http://www.able2know.org/forums/about99620.html
It is in the best interest of the region to protect the rainforests and provide military support if needed against militias.
In this image released by Venezuela's Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, stands with Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007.
Story Published: Dec 9, 2007 at 11:57 AM PST
Story Published: Dec 9, 2007 at 11:57 AM PST
Besides the oil of the region, there is economic vitality in the rainforests with protected conservation efforts.
Ecuador's Correa Deepens Navy's Control of State Oil Company
By Stephan Kueffner
Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador appointed Navy officers to lead the state-owned oil company's three biggest divisions, deepening the armed forces' control of PetroEcuador.
Patricio Goyes will run the production unit, Carlos Albuja will head refining, and Marco Salinas will oversee sales of oil and other fuels, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.
The personnel moves come after President Rafael Correa last week named a Navy admiral to run the company, which produces about half of the Andean country's roughly 500,000 barrels in daily output. He handed control to the military after a week of protests in the Amazon region shut some output....
By Stephan Kueffner
Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador appointed Navy officers to lead the state-owned oil company's three biggest divisions, deepening the armed forces' control of PetroEcuador.
Patricio Goyes will run the production unit, Carlos Albuja will head refining, and Marco Salinas will oversee sales of oil and other fuels, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.
The personnel moves come after President Rafael Correa last week named a Navy admiral to run the company, which produces about half of the Andean country's roughly 500,000 barrels in daily output. He handed control to the military after a week of protests in the Amazon region shut some output....
Perhaps that is the intent of the Chinese interest in Equator? I mean if the USA can't stabilize a country, I guess they won't be extended a welcome. But, in the same instance doesn't that open more nuclaer options in the Western Hemisphere? Well, at any rate, the rainforests, if over run by militias would be plundered for their lumber and causing not only the failure of the scientific efforts in Northern Chile, but, a new danger to the carbon sinks that are so vital to Earth.
China poised to take over U.S. base at Ecuador's invitation
Ecuador’s president has offered the Chinese government an airbase currently serving as one of the last U.S. military outposts in South America.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during his recent visit to China that he would offer Beijing a lease on the Manta Airport, the presidential website reported last week.
Currently, Manta is used by U.S. military forces for operations. The contract is up in 2009 and Correa will not renew it, a transport and public works ministry communications official told BNamericas.
Currently, Manta is used by U.S. military forces for operations. The contract is up in 2009 and Correa will not renew it, a transport and public works ministry communications official told BNamericas.
Bank of South Inaugurated in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Dec 9 (Prensa Latina) The Presidents of Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina will meet here on Sunday to sign the foundational act of the Bank of the South, which will fund regional projects, official sources confirmed on Saturday.
Bank of the South with a New Tool for Development
Hugo Chavez Arrives in Argentina for Inauguration
The ceremony to inaugurate the Bank of the South will be one of the last official activities of Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, who will hand over power to his wife, Cristina Fernandez, on Monday.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez confirmed the inaugural ceremony, when he ratified an announcement made by his Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa.
"Caracas will be the venue. We had planned to sign it in Caracas one of these days, but there is not time due to overlapped schedules," Chavez said recently in Santiago de Chile at the end of the Ibero-American Summit.
The Bank of the South will open with an initial capital of seven billion dollars, which will come from the seven member countries" international reserves.
According to Chavez, one of the promoters of the project, the bank will help Latin America to be financially independent from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Buenos Aires, Dec 9 (Prensa Latina) The Presidents of Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina will meet here on Sunday to sign the foundational act of the Bank of the South, which will fund regional projects, official sources confirmed on Saturday.
Bank of the South with a New Tool for Development
Hugo Chavez Arrives in Argentina for Inauguration
The ceremony to inaugurate the Bank of the South will be one of the last official activities of Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, who will hand over power to his wife, Cristina Fernandez, on Monday.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez confirmed the inaugural ceremony, when he ratified an announcement made by his Ecuadorian counterpart, Rafael Correa.
"Caracas will be the venue. We had planned to sign it in Caracas one of these days, but there is not time due to overlapped schedules," Chavez said recently in Santiago de Chile at the end of the Ibero-American Summit.
The Bank of the South will open with an initial capital of seven billion dollars, which will come from the seven member countries" international reserves.
According to Chavez, one of the promoters of the project, the bank will help Latin America to be financially independent from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Ecuador's foreign minister resigns
QUITO, Ecuador (AP): Ecuador's foreign minister resigned Thursday and President Rafael Correa wants her successor to adopt a "more revolutionary'' approach to diplomacy, a government spokeswoman said Thursday.
Maria Espinosa resigned for personal reasons but may still work with the government in other areas, spokeswoman Julia Ortega told reporters.
Espinosa's replacement has not been named but Correa "wants the diplomatic service to be much more revolutionary,'' Ortega said. The Foreign Ministry must "respond much more to the dynamic of the new government and citizen's revolution.''
The leftist Correa took office in January vowing to root out corruption and wrest power from Ecuador's traditional political parties, which he blames for the country's ills.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/7/apworld/20071207084435&sec=apworld
Ecuadorian president appoints new foreign minister
www.chinaview.cn
2007-12-08 10:19:14
QUITO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorans President Rafael Correa appointed Tourism Minister Maria Isabel Salvador as the country's top diplomat Friday after her predecessor resigned the previous day.
Salvador was sworn in as the new foreign minister at a cabinet meeting to succeed Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who tendered her formal resignation Thursday. A government spokeswoman said she resigned for personal reasons.
Espinosa acknowledged certain problems in the foreign ministry, but denied having problems with President Correa, saying she is willing to continue collaborating with him in the citizen revolution project he is carrying out.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/08/content_7217968.htm
Ecuador Endorses Constituent Assembly’s Actions
December 09, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many Ecuadorians are content with the first decisions carried out by their Constituent Assembly, according to a poll by Cedatos/Gallup. 76 per cent of respondents support the ad-hoc legislative body’s ratification of Rafael Correa as president, and 69 per cent approve of the decision to shut down the National Congress.
In addition, 59 per cent of respondents agree with the Constituent Assembly having full powers, and 52 per cent approve of its ability to dismiss any person or institution that does not carry out its decisions. Support is considerably lower—at 35 per cent—for allowing lawmakers to have immunity from prosecution.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/29278/ecuador_endorses_constituent_assemblyaas_actions
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