Congo Rebel Leader in Custody

Friday, Bosco Ntaganda, a Congo rebel leader, was in the custody of the International Criminal Court’s custody. He surrendered voluntarily to the U.S. Embassy in Kigali on March 18^th. Ntaganda is wanted for war crimes dating back to 2002. He left Congo’s army last year amid fears he would be arrested and started M23, a rebel group. Last month, M23 split into numerous factions, one of which vowed to capture Ntaganda. Ntaganda is an ethnic Tutsi who was born in Rwanda. He is facing seven counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity. He is accused of using child soldiers and murdering civilians in Congo’s Ituri region.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-22/congo-rebel-leader-ntaganda-in-icc-custody-after-leaving-rwanda.html

Obama's Legacy: Clean or Dirty?

In his second inaugural speech and his state of the union address, President Barack Obama promised climate action in government.  Friday saw the first move by the administration towards any kind of environmental changes; Obama announced the start of a $2 billion research fund that would delve into clean fuel cars. Unfortunately, the same day, officials in the White House indicated that Obama was leaning towards approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would export tar sand from Canada; it would bisect the US to bring the tar sand to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. If Obama approves it, the pipeline would increase our fuel supply, and therefore our energy security, and provide jobs in the US and Canada, and therefore good relations with Canada. However, the pipeline would also cause serious damage to climate change- tar sand is basically the dirtiest fuel there is and extracting it takes enormous amounts of energy. What Obama decides on this major controversy will leave a lasting legacy on not only the US, but the world as a whole.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/15/obama-congress-electric-cars-research

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/feb/22/keystone-xl-pipeline-barack-obama-oil-sands

Sequester Spells Doom

The sequester- it’s the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that are set to take effect Friday unless Obama can agree on a new way to cut a federal debt that exceeds $16.5 trillion. This is only the latest GOP budget battle. These budget fights have been nearly constant in Washington recently. There have also been ideological clashes between Obama and the conservative House Republicans. Obama is seeking a “balanced” plan that includes new revenues through taxes on the wealthy as well as spending cuts. The budget resolution that funds the government expires March 27^th. This sets up prospects for another government shutdown in the near future. Or it may simply be delayed again in the 11^th hour.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/28/obama-sequester-mcconnell-shutdown-debt-ceiling/1953879/