CyberclassroomTV Online Education Network: December 2011

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

THE YEAR 2011 IN REVIEW: USA POLITICS - Survey says Latino voters sticking with Obama, Democrats

Wednesday December 28, 2011

According to the survey, Latino registered voters favor President Obama by a margin of 2-1.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Hispanic support for President Obama is strong over possible Republican opponents
Latinos surveyed disapprove of increased deportations under the Obama administration
The main issues for Hispanic respondents are jobs, education and health care

Washington, United States.- Latino voters strongly support President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party, despite dissatisfaction with the administration's deportation policies, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The results are good news for Obama and Democrats for next year's election, as Hispanics are the fastest-growing population group in the country and comprise a major voting bloc.
According to the survey, Latino registered voters favor Obama over Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney or Texas Gov. Rick Perry by margin of more than 2-to-1.
The results are similar to the presidential election in 2008, when Obama got 67% of the Latino vote compared with 31% for Republican candidate Sen. John McCain.
Hispanic voters have traditionally identified with the Democratic Party, and the Pew survey's results showed that connection continues. It said two-thirds of Hispanic registered voters identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party, while 20% felt that way about the Republican Party.
"It is interesting that among Latino voters, the voters who are registered, there is a lot of support for the Democrats, but also for Barack Obama," Mark Hugo Lopez, executive director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said in an interview with CNN.
The survey of 1,200 Hispanic adults was conducted in English and Spanish from November 9 through December 7, and has a margin of error of 3.6%.
While showing strong Latino support for Obama and Democrats, the survey also showed Hispanics dislike immigration policies of the Obama administration, which increased deportations to 395,000 in 2009 and 387,000 in 2010.
According to the Pew survey, 59% of Latino respondents disapproved of the administration's handling of deportations, while 27% approved.
At the same time, the survey found that less than half of the Hispanic respondents -- 41% -- knew that more deportations were occurring under the Obama administration than the Bush administration that preceded it.
A strong majority -- 77% -- of Latino respondents who were aware of the increased deportations under Obama disapproved of his administration's policy, while just over half of those unaware of the increase also expressed disapproval.
Hispanics accounted for 97% of deportees in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
More than 90% of Latino respondents in the survey support the DREAM Act, a Democratic measure pushed by Obama that provides a pathway to legal residency for children of illegal immigrants who attend college or serve in the military. Republicans have blocked passage of the measure in Congress.
In the interview with CNN, the Pew Hispanic Center's Lopez said that the most important issues for Hispanic registered voters were jobs, education and health care -- the same as in past years.

The focus of opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad: Snipers rule the streets in the besieged Syrian city of Homs

Wednesday December 28, 2011

Exclusive: Government snipers prowl Homs

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Homs has been the epicenter of the anti-government protest movement in Syria
A filmmaker finds bullet-pocked walls along streets where snipers reign
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed nationwide
Syria has restricted access since it began cracking down on protests in March

Homs, Syria -- For months, the Syrian city of Homs has been the focus of opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with almost daily protests since the summer.
More recently, defectors from the military have begun organizing armed resistance. Meanwhile, government forces have tightened their siege of rebellious neighborhoods that are now under the control of the opposition.
A freelance journalist and filmmaker -- who is not named for his own security -- has just left Homs, and over the next few days CNN will be showcasing his remarkable stories from the front lines of a city at war.
Among the bullet-scarred walls of neighborhoods under siege, he encountered the government snipers who prowl the city picking off their victims apparently indiscriminately and at will.
He found snipers stationed on almost every main street, manning checkpoints on both sides and firing at anybody crossing the street between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. the next day -- imposing a kind of unofficial curfew.
He spoke to one woman whose daughter was seven months pregnant when she was shot in the head as she tried to venture out of the house to do some shopping. The snipers kept shooting as relatives tried to reach the pregnant woman where she lay dead in the street, before finally they were able to bring her body back to her mother's home.
To film what was going on, the journalist too had to risk his life on the streets of Homs, with about 1 million inhabitants the country's third-largest city.

Journalist: Post-curfew deaths in Syria

View his images in hi-res

Warning: Multiple graphic images

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Defiance and death in besieged Syrian city of Homs

"I had to cross several times exactly the same streets where people got shot several minutes before. And you arrive at a scene where half an hour ago someone got shot and 30 minutes later people are crossing the street normally," he said.

Gunfire near Arab League observers

"Me crossing the street, I was feeling literally that the sniper is aiming at me and it is up to him if he is going to pull the trigger or not."

Russia doesn't want NATO option in Syria

Residents describe the daily struggle of life in the cross-hairs, some telling how they throw bread and other supplies across the street to others who cannot safely traverse to reach a shop.
A monitoring mission from the Arab League arrived in the city Tuesday but opposition activists fear they will not see the full extent of a brutal government crackdown that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives nationwide.
Despite the days-long military siege, thousands turned out for anti-government demonstrations as the Arab League team entered the city.
The fact-finding team is monitoring an Arab League initiative that calls for Al-Assad's security forces to withdraw from cities, release detainees and end violence.
But from what he has seen in Homs, the journalist thinks the point of no return has already been reached. So many people have been killed already that those going out to protest don't believe the authorities would let them live even if they stayed at home, he said.
His is a rare insight into the realities of the situation in Homs. The Syrian government has limited journalists' access to the country since its crackdown on protests began, making it impossible to verify many reports. Most information has come from activist groups seeking to keep the world informed of the ongoing violence. They put the death toll at more than 6,000.
The unrest began in March when protesters, emboldened by democracy movements in Tunisia and Egypt, called for open elections and an increase in political freedoms, and demanded an end to brutal regime actions.
The movement quickly spiraled into a call for the ouster of al-Assad, and the regime cracked down on peaceful demonstrators. The government says it is combating "armed terrorist groups."