Even in the world richest country like USA, the hungry people do exist. 49 million out of 350 million is not small number. via WP
The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a federal report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.

In 2008, the report found, nearly 17 million children — more than one in five across the United States — were living in households in which food at times ran short, up from slightly more than 12 million youngsters the year before. And the number of children who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.

the Justice Department remains concerned that the fact the settlement gives Google immunity from lawsuits related to orphan works may be anticompetitiv. via WSJ
Google Inc. and two author and publisher groups submitted a modified version of a controversial settlement over digital books, but it appears likely the fight over the agreement will continue.

The revised pact submitted late Friday would allow Google to distribute millions of digital books online, but would cut the number of works covered by the settlement by at least half by removing millions of foreign works.

Yet the issue of whether it is fair for the settlement to let Google distribute books whose legal rights owners haven’t been identified—known as orphan works—is still drawing criticism.

Obama to Visit Indonesia in 2010, Wants to Bring First Lady, Daughters to “Old Haunting Grounds”
After meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President Obama said he accepted an invitation to visit the world’s most populous Muslim nation next year.

“I am very excited about our prospects for deepening relations in the future, and I want to make sure everybody knows that I intend to be visiting Indonesia next year,” Obama said at the Shangri-La Hotel here, where he conducted a one-on-one meeting with Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the APEC summit here.

The 220-215 vote marks the first such victory in decades of efforts to expand insurance coverage. The bill wins a lone GOP vote and loses many Democrats, pointing to challenges awaiting in the Senate. Via LAT

Hate crime bill is important in America a country where its citizen comes from a multi-cultural, races, ethnicities, sexual orientation and religious background. A law is needed to handle that potentially inhospitable environment.

Although a ethnic-based conflict took place a few times in Indonesia, like anti-Chinese riot, Ambon and Poso Muslim-Christian strife, etc I don’t think such law is really need to be set up here. If you walk on the streets in Java or other islands, you’d rarely find such ethnic-based hate-crime.

What Indonesia needs the most is a stern law on corruption. I strongly support a capital punishment or death penalty for any government officials who nowadays regard a corruption act as a sort of achievement. Corruption is the mother of all crimes in Indonesia. The sooner such law is set-up, the better. What do you think?
President Obama signed major civil rights legislation on Wednesday, making it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. The new measure expands the the scope of a 1968 law that applies to people attacked because of their race, religion or national origin. The U.S. Justice Department will have expanded authority to prosecute such crimes when local authorities don’t.

The provision, called the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is attached to a defense authorization bill. It is named after Matthew Shepard, a gay college student tortured and killed in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death the same year.

President Obama on Friday won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, bringing the relatively novice leader a new measure of prestige on the world stage but also potential complications in carrying out a foreign policy that includes managing two wars. More

United States should concentrate on getting Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, instead of criticising Tehran’s nuclear programme, says Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry has said the United States should concentrate on getting Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, instead of criticising Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The comments came after Hillary Clinton last week said the US would arm its allies in the Gulf region if Iran built a nuclear weapon.

“There is no need for the US to provide a defence umbrella for the neighbouring countries,” Hassan Qashqavi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday.

“It is enough to tell its ally, the Zionist regime and convince it for the issue of disarmament and dismantle its own 200 nuclear warheads from the occupied territories.