Wednesday, October 1, 2008

• Advocates Seek Foreclosures Assistance in Bail-Out Package
• US-India Close to Nuclear Deal
• US Military Deploys to US Soil
• Florida Voters Sound Off on New Voting System
• Hospital Infections Raise Health Concerns

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Advocates Seek Foreclosures Assistance in Bail-Out Package
The Senate is prepared to give the 700 billion dollar Wall Street bail out a go.  Senate leaders say it will have an easier time passing their chamber. The bill has been changed and negotiations will likely continue until the 11th hour before the Senate votes tonight.  One of the sections still being negotiated is on foreclosures assistance.  Housing advocates are trying to strengthen protections for those facing foreclosure.  FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

US-India Close to Nuclear Deal
The US Senate is expected to vote soon on a nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and India.  The agreement could open the way for the selling of nuclear technology - including reactors and fuel – to the country which, as a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is barred from receiving such goods. The House of Representatives approved the agreement last week. Speaking on the Senate Floor today, Senator Richard Lugar expressed his support for the deal.

FSRN spoke with Dr. Edwin Lyman, a Senior Scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, DC.  He is also a past president of the Nuclear Control Institute, an organization committed to nuclear nonproliferation. We asked Dr. Lyman to respond to Senator Lugar's remarks.

US Military Deploys to US Soil
Beginning today, October 1st, a U.S. military brigade will start its first permanent domestic tour of duty.  The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team will be employed by the US Northern Command to patrol US streets and provide security for convoys during man-made or natural disasters.  Jen-ka Soderberg has more:

Florida Voters Sound Off on New Voting System
Following hanging chads and other problems plaguing the 2000 election, many of Florida's counties switched to touch screen machines in which there was no paper trail of votes. Because of problems with those computerized systems, including 18,000 under-counted votes in a very close 2006 Congressional election, the state moved to an optical scan system with a paper trail, beginning with the primary election on August 26th    of this year.

Voters bubble-in an oval on these paper ballots, which are then read by a machine and can be recounted by hand in a disputed election. WMNF Community Radio's Seán Kinane spoke with voters in Tampa to see if they felt confident in Florida's new voting machines.

WMNF Community Radio's Seán Kinane recorded and produced today's installment of Street Beat, interviewing Tampa resident's about Florida's new voting machines.

Hospital Infections Raise Health Concerns
Hospitals around the world are taking measures to prevent the spread of super-bugs and hospital-acquired infections like MRSA - the antibiotic resistant bacterium. Healthcare professionals estimate that around one in ten hospital patients worldwide suffer from these infections and of those, thousands die. In 2007, more people in the United States died from MRSA than from AIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control. As Cinnamon Nippard reports, these increasing numbers of superbugs pose a serious threat to humans and healthcare systems around the world.