"Where Are the Women?"

Lawmakers Walk Out on Contraception 
Hearing After Female Witness Barred

In a dramatic scene on Capitol Hill, several Democrats walked out of a congressional hearing on the Obama administration’s rule that would require health insurance plans, including those provided by Catholic-affiliated hospitals and universities, to offer free contraceptives for health-related issues and birth control.

The lawmakers took action after the committee chair blocked testimony from a female witness who supports the mandate.

Georgetown is a Catholic university whose health plan does not cover contraception. 

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), walked out of the hearing, along with the witness, law student Sandra Fluke, who was barred from testifying.

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Anthony Shadid (1968-2012), Pulitzer-Winning NY Times

Middle East Correspondent Dies in Syria

The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid, has died at the age of 43. Shadid died of an apparent asthma attack on Thursday while covering the conflict in Syria.

An American of Lebanese descent who spoke fluent Arabic, Shadid captured dimensions of life in the Middle East that many others failed to see.

His exceptional coverage won him a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and 2010 for international reporting while covering the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Shadid has been a guest on Democracy Now! several times over the past decade, reporting on Libya, Tunisia, Iraq and Lebanon.

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Florida Lawmakers Defeat Prison Privatization amid

National Push for For-Profit Jails

  
The Florida State Senate has defeated a measure to privatize at least 27 prisons, which would have created the largest corporate-run prison system in the country.

Despite the vote, Republican Gov. Rick Scott could still privatize the prisons through executive authority.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of prisoners being added to privately run jails is outpacing the overall prison population by 17 percent compared to 4 percent.

The nation’s largest operator of for-profit prisons, Corrections Corporation of America, recently sent letters to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons in exchange for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least at 90 percent capacity.