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Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) Begins 2nd Parliamentary Term

The Inaugural Session on December 6th.

(LONDON) - ransnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a new political concept, formed after the mass killing of Tamils in the final months of the war in 2009.

It is a new political formation based on the principles of nationhood, homeland and self-determination. The raison d’etre for the TGTE is lack of political space inside the island of Sri Lanka for the Tamils to articulate and realize their political aspirations fully due to Constitutional impediments, racist political environment and military strangulation; and the coordination of diaspora political activities based on democratic principles and the rule of law.

Lebanon: Criminalize Torture

Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes Said Torture is widespread in the Lebanon.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - The police torture and ill-treatment are grounded in inadequate or badly implemented legal protection, a judicial emphasis on confessions over other types of evidence, a culture of impunity, and lack of proper oversight mechanisms.

Lebanese authorities should establish an independent complaints mechanism to investigate torture allegations, and donor countries should ensure that aid to the Internal Security Forces supports the establishment of real accountability mechanisms.

Does the FDA Have a Conscience -- Or Are They Too Corrupt to Care About American Lives?

FDA approves potentially deadly drug against recommendations of their own committees, big pharma will do anything for money, and the FDA is in their pocket.

(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) - Congress has major concerns about the FDA's approval of a dangerous and highly addictive new opioid set to be prescribed in 2014. The name of the painkiller is Zohydro ER.

Their concern is primarily due to the epidemic of deaths and addictions in the past decade plus because of dangerous opioids -- in particular OxyContin. You may wonder how the FDA could approve another opioid when the U.S. is fighting a tsunami of deaths, addiction and abuse currently to the opioids they had previously approved.

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Respond to Salem-News.com Article

The Council knows this process is not any easy one for the Tribal community but the Council is committed to getting through it with diligence and compassion.

(GRANDE RONDE, OR) - The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is conducting an enrollment audit. The audit fulfills one of the tasks assigned in the Tribal Strategic Plan for 2010, which was adopted in August of 2009. That plan was formulated after nearly two years of development that began with a Strategic Futures conference in 2007 involving Tribal leaders and members.

The plan directed Enrollment to audit all enrollment files and applications, track reasons for denials, and audit blood quantum records with the goal of strengthening the Grand Ronde Family Tree.

Clackamas Sheriff`s Office Seeks Endagered 13 Year Old Girl

Samantha Dodson may be in the company of a 40 year old male named Kelsey McCune. He is described as a white male, age 40, 6 foot tall and 170 lbs., with a glass eye and salt-and-pepper hair.

(OREGON CITY ) - The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is looking for an endangered 13 year old runaway, possibly in the company of a 40 year old male. Citizens are urged to call 911 immediately if they see her.

She is described as a white female, 5 foot 4 inch and 125 lbs., with brown eyes and a slim build. Her hair was recently dyed red.

Open Our Eyes

A golden rule for all of us: welcome every idea, however strange it seems, as long as it doesn’t claim to be the absolute good, and as long as it doesn’t refuse differences, and let go of every idea that shuts the door for creation and progress.

(KABUL) - While catching up with each other over the challenges facing ordinary Afghans and Egyptians, Sherif Sameer and I talked about how ‘opening our eyes’ could go a long way toward building a better world. We decided to co-write this piece, from Ismailia, Egypt and Kabul, Afghanistan.

The truth is there, clear and burning like a sun. We only need to open our eyes and take a look. ‘Our eyes’ means ‘our minds’. The mind is that big thing on top of our necks inside of our heads, and it has a function called ‘thinking’.

Power is Dangerous Unless You Have Humility
A Conversation with Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa

Now retired, this Rwandan businessman is a leader in Africa as an industrialist who has spent 52 successful years manufacturing tobacco, tea, snack foods and cement.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - After a long flight to Washington DC, Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa sat down with this writer for an exclusive two-hour interview.

Upon meeting him, one can immediately sense that Mr. Ayabatwa is a humble man with an obvious desire to improve the business community of Africa as well as empowering the lives of Africans through support in their business ventures. He is a soft-spoken man with a welcoming smile that never left his face no matter the topic.

23 Pounds of Cocaine Discovered and Seized

Estimated Value is a Half Million Dollars.

(CENTRAL POINT OR) - Two California residents were arrested Tuesday night when an Oregon State Police (OSP) trooper discovered approximately 23 pounds of cocaine in their vehicle during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 near Central Point. OSP Drug Enforcement Section detectives are continuing the investigation.

On December 3, 2013 at approximately 10:24 p.m., an OSP trooper stopped a Chrysler Sebring four-door displaying California license plates northbound on Interstate 5 near milepost 32 for a speed violation

After the Humiliation of the Last Papal Visit
Will the Pope Insist on Seeing Gaza this Time?

Or should he, too, boycott Israel until Jerusalem and the Christian and Muslim communities are freed from occupation?

(LONDON) - CNN reports on Israeli PM Netanyahu's reception at the Vatican and plans for the Pope to visit Israel in May.

Recalling the shabby treatment of religious leaders on previous visits to the Holy Land, let us hope Pope Francis takes a firmer line than his predecessor and insists on seeing Gaza and ministering to his terrorised flock there. In May 2009, when Benedict was Pope, the Vatican told the Israeli press that the Holy Father would refrain from visiting Gaza. The word ‘refrain’ was a peculiar one in the circumstances. "The Pope will refrain from visiting Gaza...." smacks of abstinence, as in refraining from sexual intercourse.

What Would You Tell Netanyahu?

Opposition to the Prawer Plan is coming from every corner — over a thousand youth in Haifa last weekend, hundreds of rabbis in the US, tens of thousands of people of conscience across the world.

(OAKLAND) - What if you could deliver a direct message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the same week that a Knesset Committee was voting to forcibly relocate over 40,000 Bedouin citizens of Israel? What would you tell him?

Our friends in the Jewish Reform movement will have that opportunity next week—and they need a firm but supportive push from you to show some courage.