Britannia Radio

Democracy, Obama Style

From the desk of Johnny Fincioen on Tue, 2010-12-28 17:06

No respect for Parliament. No respect for judges. No respect for the constitution. December gave us a taste of what’s coming in 2011.

Obama’s administration grabs the power to regulate the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a board of five people who are selected and nominated by the President. The FCC declared herself authorized to define rules about how and what can be done on the Internet. With this decision she brings the American Internet under the control of the US government. Three people, all selected by Obama, two women and one man, approved the decision against the two men, chosen by Bush during his presidency. The FCC took her decision although over 300 of the federal senators and House representatives of the 535 in total, a clear majority, had written a statement opposing such power grab. The aversion will certainly be even larger in the new 2011 Congress. The FCC action, with full support of Obama, is also in direct violation of the decision of a federal judge, who in April 2010 decided the FCC has no power to regulate the Internet.

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Rundown 2010: UK Shaken But Not Stirred

From the desk of A. Millar on Mon, 2010-12-27 16:46

With an election having taken place in May, 2010 should have been the year in which politics took center stage. Instead, the pressing issues of the day were largely ignored during the campaign period, as they have been for the last decade. Partly as a consequence, 2010 turned into the year in which politics spilled over into the streets.

Welfare cuts was, to some extent, an issue that the parties tackled, perhaps since they were inevitable. Still, students – the base of Britain’s third party, the Liberal Democrats – expressed their outrage at the university fees hike proposed by the coalition government (of which the Lib Dems are the junior partner). Unfortunately they were also whipped up into rioting throughout November and December by various socialist organizations – which appear to have remained off the radars of the authorities and media.

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