Dec
21
2009
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the entire program
Despite the work of hundreds of thousands of delegates, environmental activists, and ordinary citizens in Copenhagen Denmark over the past several weeks, the final 12-paragraph draft accord on Climate change involved only 5 nations including the US and China. The New York Times described it on Saturday as a “statement of an intention to act rather than a binding …
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Dec
21
2009
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the entire program
A new study released Friday has found the death penalty system in the United States to be in decline over the past decade. In the end of the year report compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, death sentences handed down across the nation reportedly reached an all-time low since 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated executions. …
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Dec
21
2009
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the entire program
Last Wednesday a bill was filed that would put fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables onto the menus of school cafeterias nationwide. The bill allocates $20 million for the purchase of salad bars, $20 million towards grants for “farm-to-school” partnerships, and $100 million to upgrade cafeteria equipment. The bill dovetails with an overhaul of the national food …
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Dec
21
2009
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the entire program
The Santa Maria de Iquique Massacre
Back in the day on December 21st, 1907, the bloody Santa Maria de Iquique Massacre took the lives of hundreds if not thousands of workers in Chile. Earlier that month, nitrate miners on strike descended on the northern port city of Iquique to demand better working conditions and higher salaries. Local authorities …
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Dec
21
2009
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” — World Health Organization, 1948 …