The latest news on Health Care, Climate Change, Economy, Bankers, Single Households, Japan, Drone Attacks, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Select op-eds.
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Quote of the Day. “I liken myself to the old woman who lives in a shoe. The seams are tearing, and people are just popping out all over.” Mary L. Fifield, the president of a Boston community college, on the surge in enrollments at community colleges, including a large number of recent high school graduates who can’t afford four-year colleges due to the recession. (New York Times)
FAITH IN THE NEWS
Annual religious-freedom report cites concerns in familiar, new places “An independent government panel that monitors global religious-freedom conditions thanked the State Department for its latest comprehensive report on the subject Oct. 26, but said the administration could move more boldly to protect freedom of conscience in some places.”
Congregations Keep on Giving, Despite the Recession “Despite the economic recession, a plurality of congregations reported an increase in donations in the first half of 2009, according to a new study.”
Jewish Leaders Welcome New Catholic Statement on Conversion “Jewish leaders are welcoming a revised statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that rejects suggestions that interfaith dialogue could lead to the conversion and baptism of Jews.”
NEWS AT HOME
Health Care. Reid hopes to sway enough senators on 'public option' “Shy of a safe majority even with the provision that states may opt out of a government health plan, the Senate leader offers possible concessions and favors to Democrats and Republicans on the fence.” Democrats Divided Over Reid Proposal for Public Option “Senate Democrats voiced deep disagreements on Tuesday over the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, suggesting that the decision by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, to include a public plan in major health care legislation had failed, at least initially, to unite his caucus.” Centrists unsure about Reid's public option “Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's risky decision to bring to the chamber's floor a health-care bill containing a government insurance plan was met with skepticism by moderate Democrats, who said they still do not know whether they could support a public option on a final vote.”
Climate Change. White House Steps Up Climate Efforts “The Obama administration and some Senate Democrats expressed fresh urgency on Tuesday about the need to address climate change and refashion the nation’s energy economy.” Economics of climate change move to the fore “For a decade or more, the political battle over climate change has been fought largely over the validity of the science of global warming. But Tuesday, as the Environment and Public Works Committee opened its first hearing on a Senate climate change bill, those concerns took a rear seat to a different issue: the potential economic impact of climate change.”
Economy. Congress fears risk of economic relapse “Fear that the economy might fall back into recession is compelling Congress to extend unemployment benefits and incentives for homebuying that lawmakers hope will help sustain growth.” Unemployed hope Congress extends benefits once again “The Senate is expected to act this week on extending the benefits for 14 weeks, with an additional six weeks for states whose unemployment rate is above 8.5 percent.” Homeless students: Increasingly, families taking shelter anywhere they can “School district officials said the boy is one of a record number of area students living in motels, campgrounds, shelters, cars and, yes, storage facilities.”
Bankers. Bankers face activists' anger in the streets of Chicago “Some 5,000 union members and community activists marched through downtown Chicago Tuesday, expressing public frustration with the banking industry -- namely, what demonstrators charge is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding $350 billion in federal bailout money.”
Legal Aid. Civil Gideon' Trumpets Legal Discord “A new California law that gives poor residents the right to an attorney in civil matters such as child custody and foreclosure is being hailed as a model that could transform the nation's legal landscape.”
Single Households. Single households surge in D.C. area “Living alone is on its way to becoming the new norm in parts of the Washington area, as the proportion of households headed by married couples has declined and one-person households have jumped.”
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
Japan. Japan's A-bomb cities urge Obama to visit "The mayors of the two cities, devastated by American atomic bombs in 1945, invited Mr Obama after he gave a speech in April calling for a world free of nuclear weapons. Hopes were also raised when he won the Nobel Peace Prize."
Afghanistan. Eight U.S. soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Afghanistan “October became the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan when two bombs killed eight soldiers and an interpreter in separate attacks Tuesday.” Afghanistan attack kills 6 U.N. workers “Militants armed with automatic rifles, grenades and suicide vests attacked a guesthouse in central Kabul at dawn today, killing at least five U.N employees, including an American.” U.S. to Protect Populous Afghan Areas, Officials Say “President Obama’s advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability.” Obama redefines White House relationship with top field commander “President Obama does not have the one-on-one relationship with Gen. McChrystal that President Bush did with Gen. Petraeus, but rather a more traditional one along the chain of command.”
Drone Attacks. US warned on drone attacks “The US has been warned that its use of drones to target suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan may violate international law.”
Pakistan. Carnage as car bomb hits Peshawar “At least 91 people are killed by a car bomb in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan, in the deadliest such attack this year.” Clinton vows to support Pakistan “Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has pledged Washington's support for Pakistan in its fight against 'brutal extremist groups.'”
Iran. Iran nuclear sanctions 'unlikely' “President Dmitry Medvedev's adviser Sergei Prikhodko said sanctions on Iran 'are unlikely in the near future,' Russian news agencies reported.”
Iraq. Legislators in Iraq Block a Deal on Election Law “The country’s political parties failed to agree on election laws on Tuesday, despite a proposed deal put together by the nation’s top political figures the day before.” Iraq seeks approval for nuclear plant “An Iraqi minister says Baghdad has contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna, to seek its approval to relaunch a peaceful nuclear programme.”
African Union. AU agrees displaced persons pact “African Union members could soon be obliged to help and protect millions of citizens uprooted by conflict and natural disasters, after the body agreed a convention on internally displaced people.”
OPINION
Democracy with a dose of moral clarity (Michael Gerson, Washington Post) “Sandel is best at what he calls bringing 'moral clarity to the alternatives we confront as democratic citizens.' In this cause, he outlines three attempts to define the meaning of justice, each with large public consequences.”
Don’t Build Up (Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times) “It is crunch time on Afghanistan, so here’s my vote: We need to be thinking about how to reduce our footprint and our goals there in a responsible way, not dig in deeper.”
Sojourners' Daily Digest is a compilation of the top news related to our commitments of life and peace, economic and racial justice, and care of creation, with a special focus on news of the engagement of faith in public life.
