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Union leader promises to fight states over worker rights
AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka lashed out at politicians in Wisconsin, Ohio and a dozen other states who he said "are trying to take away workers' right to organize and bargain for a better life," at a May 20 National Press Club luncheon. He promised to fight back. "Budget proposals unveiled in Washington and state capitals across our country this year revealed a despicable canvas of cruelty," Trumka said. Trumka criticized a litany of states. For instance, he cited legislation in Michigan that would require foster children to purchase second-hand clothes with their $79 annual support. "…
Type: News
Jones calls for Marshall Plan-type assistance for Egypt
Former U.S. National Security Advisor James L. Jones called for the United States to create an aid package for Egypt similar to the Marshall Plan that helped Europe emerge from the destruction of World War II at a National Press Club luncheon May 16. The plan would provide economic and governmental assistance and send a clear message to those who have doubted U.S. intentions in the region. “When we look at strategically important countries, Egypt commands a unique regional position, and it is extremely important that Egypt not turn out the way Iran did 30 years ago,” Jones told a ballroom…
Type: News
FEMA administrator promotes preparation for next disaster
People don’t want to think about bad things so they don’t prepare for emergencies, Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told a National Press Club Newsmaker audience May 4. The problem with not preparing is that “you don’t get to pick the next disaster. You don’t always know when it is going to happen. It could be happening right now [and] we just don’t know it,” Fugate said. Planning ahead for an emergency also allows help to be received by those who need it most, Fugate said. “It is about the shared responsibility of being prepared as a community so that…
Type: News
UN official urges support for refugee host countries
The contributions of Tunisia, Egypt, and Liberia to refugees fleeing the fighting in Libya and Ivory Coast should not be overlooked and must be supported, Antonio Guterres, the United Nations's high commissioner for refugees, said at a May 3 Newsmaker. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister, has been the top UN official for refugees since 2005. Last year, he was reelected by the General Assembly to a second five-year term. About 650,000 people have fled Libya as a result of the fighting there, Guterres said. The help offered to these refuges by Tunisians and Egyptians has been amazing,…
Type: News
Jailed Iranian journalist receives UNESCO Freedom of the Press Award
Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi became the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Laureate at a ceremony May 3 in the packed National Press Club ballroom in the first such award of the prize in the United States. NPC President Mark Hamrick called it a high honor and historic day for the Club. The award drew a salute via video from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Delegates also adopted "The Washington Declaration," a four-page document aimed at stronger protections globally for freedom of the press. It will go to UNESCO for final approval. Zeidabadi remains in an Iranian…
Type: News
Atlanta mayor advocates road maintenance, public transportation projects over new highways
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called for more federal transportation assistance to be delivered directly to cities rather than channeled through state governments at a National Press Club Newsmaker on May 3. Federal help should target maintenance of existing roadways and public transportation instead of outdated highway projects, he said. He advocates adding lanes or creating hot lanes rather than building more roads in urban areas. More highways are a low priority for mayors, he added, quoting results from a survey of 176 cities sponsored by the United States Conference of Mayors. In contrast,…
Type: News
Author: Muslim Brotherhood takes pragmatic, flexible approach to West
Even though Muslim Brotherhood organizations around the world are comprised of like-minded individuals acting through informal networks, the Muslim Brotherhood is not monolithic, Lorenzo Vidino said at an April 27 Newsmaker. Vidino, author of "The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West," spoke about the Muslim Brotherhood globally, focusing mostly on Europe and North America. The first Muslim Brotherhood organizations in the United States were created in the mid-1960s by elites, who came to the West to further their studies, and militants, Vidino said. However, he added, these first arrivals were…
Type: News
Public media executive urges tripling of federal funds for non-profit broadcasting
Congress needs to triple rather than cut the $450 million non-profit media receive annually, Bill Kling, CEO of American Public Media, said at an April 26 National Press Club event on the future of broadcasting. Congress received "500,000 letters, e-mails and phone calls opposed to the cuts threatened by the House and supported by some members of the Senate," Kling said. The cuts were not made, but media leaders fear they still might be. Joyce Slocum, interim president and CEO of NPR, said the public radio network "gets little of its funding from the federal government." But she said federal…
Type: News
Center for Public Integrity launches daily investigative news site
The Center for Public Integrity is launching a daily news site, iwatchnews.org, with a plan to sell 25,000 to 50,000 subscriptions in the first year for $50 a year through Center memberships, according to an executive and two journalists who spoke about their initiative at the National Press Club on April 25. The Center is 20 years old, but iwatch news is just a few weeks old and is still in the testing phase. The goal, the speakers said, is to make money from a digital platform while doing what old media does best – investigative journalism. Executive director Bill Buzenberg, who came to the…
Type: News
Karzai opponent says corruption a bigger threat to Afghanistan than Taliban
Former Afghan foreign minister and 2009 presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah told an April 21 Newsmaker audience that military success against the Taliban will mean little if Afghanistan's corrupt government cannot win over its own people. Abdullah, chairman of the Afghan Coalition for Hope and Change, also met with Department of State officials and members of Congress during his visit. The opthamologist-turned-politician said that even though he could not get meetings with higher-ranking officials, he "deemed it necessary to come to Washington to express my views." He said the…
Type: News