A Grim Situation In Libya's Abu Salim Hospital

Dozens of corpses of men and women have been discovered at Abu Salim Hospital in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Doctors and nurses reportedly fled after clashes erupted near the hospital between rebel forces and fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Melissa Block speaks with Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons for details on the grim situation in the hospital.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/26/139977272/grim-situation-in-abu-salim-hospital-in-libya?ft=1&f=1004

al sharpton bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai barak obama

A Grim Situation In Libya's Abu Salim Hospital

Dozens of corpses of men and women have been discovered at Abu Salim Hospital in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Doctors and nurses reportedly fled after clashes erupted near the hospital between rebel forces and fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Melissa Block speaks with Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons for details on the grim situation in the hospital.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/26/139977272/grim-situation-in-abu-salim-hospital-in-libya?ft=1&f=1004

george w bush nancy pelosi harry reid john mccain al gore

Desperation Grips Children In Horn Of Africa

Famine is driving Somalis out of the country by the tens of thousands. Many are seeking shelter in Kenyan refugee camps. Humanitarian agencies are facing intense pressure, and medical staff are receiving malnourished children. Aid is getting through, but the U.N. says more money is needed. NPR Foreign Correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton speaks with host Michel Martin.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/26/139969318/desperation-grips-children-in-horn-of-africa?ft=1&f=1004

hillary clinton george w bush nancy pelosi harry reid john mccain

Foreign Policy: The Logic Of Leading From Behind

With a shaky economy and delicate foreign relations in rebelling countries, Barack Obama has been accused of leading America from behind. David Rothkopf of Foreign Policy agrees that he is, but says there's significant reason for taking a step back.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/24/139903051/foreign-policy-the-logic-of-leading-from-behind?ft=1&f=1057

al gore bill clinton newt gingrich sarah palin al sharpton

Most U.S. House Members Not Doing Town Hall Meetings

If your member of Congress is holding town-hall meetings during their summer recess to discuss the great issues of the day with you and their other constituents, he or she is in the minority.

The non-partisan group No Labels, created as a refuge for voters favoring pragmatic, less ideological solutions to the nation's problems, surveyed U.S. House members and found that 60 percent weren't holding town hall meetings this summer.

 

Republicans were holding more such constituent meetings than Democrats, according to No Label. About two-thirds of Democrats and half of Republicans weren't doing town hall gatherings, the group said.

The group's blog reports:

It's a sad sign of the state of affairs when our elected officials don't have time to meet with their constituents.

The survey doesn't provide any sense of whether this year's percentage is significantly lower than past years though news articles that used the No Label report as a springboard suggest that to be the case.

Town hall meetings got much attention in the summer of 2009 when Tea Party activists and other dissatisfied voters turned up at them to often shout down Democratic lawmakers.

Gail Russell Chaddock of the Christian Science Monitor reports that instead of holding such meetings, lawmakers are using job fairs to meet their constituents. She reports:

The political advantages are two-fold: The events cast members as doing something about the nation's jobs crisis while at the same time shielding them from public confrontations with angry voters. It means town-hall meetings – once a staple of the congressional summer season – are now in decline thanks to the testy summer of 2009, when health-care protests helped launch the tea party movement and provided endless grist for opposition campaign ads.


Bill Lambrecht at stltoday.com which covers St. Louis notes that some lawmakers are using factory visits and telephone teleconferences, both which are easier to manage than town halls, as ways to reach out to constituents:

House members in the St. Louis region as well as Missouri's senators are among those opting for events that bring them in contact with voters in a more controlled fashion than town hall meetings.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/08/24/139912141/most-u-s-house-members-not-doing-town-hall-meetings?ft=1&f=1014

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