By: Rickard Ekstedt

Yesterday, two holdout vulture funds, including Paul Singer’s NML Capital, were in a New York Federal court versus Argentina. The Financial Times has dubbed the proceeding the “‘the trial of the century’ in sovereign debt restructuring.” After the hearing, judges at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that will issue their ruling in the coming weeks.

Jubilee USA Network is bringing attention to the effect that this case could have on poor countries: “If these vulture hedge funds win, it will mean they will more aggressively target poor countries in fragile financial recovery. If we win, it will mean that it will be harder for vulture funds to target the monies that develop social infrastructure in many poor countries,” said Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA Network’s Executive Director.

The faith community and other groups, organized by Jubilee USA, held a vigil in concern for poor people affected by vulture funds during the proceeding outside the hearing. Vigils also took place in London and Buenos Aires.

In 2001, when Argentina defaulted on roughly $81 billion, NML Capital purchased some of Argentina’s debt on a secondary market. When Argentina defaulted, they restructured with some of their creditors in 2005 and 2010 but holdout creditors, led by NML Capital, rejected the proposal and sued Argentina for the full amount in NY courts – thus, naming NML Capital a holdout vulture fund. Vulture funds buy the debt of poor countries or countries in financial recovery for pennies on the dollar and then sue to make as much as a 400% profit off the backs of the poor. Jubilee USA Network introduced bipartisan legislation in 2009 to stop vulture funds from making a profit off of poor countries.

Pro-choice Production Offers New Venue for Social Justice in an Engaging Activism Based Theater Experience “Words of Choice,” a dynamic pro-choice theater piece is bringing its show to New York City this March in honor of Women’s History Month and the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In addition to the two performances, the show is available via live-streaming to audiences across the nation and the globe. “Words of Choice” weaves together dozens of stories of reproductive rights through poetry, spoken word, oral history, theater and journalism. It is performed by three actors, and showcases a variety of serious, comedic and contemplative pieces. As part of the first-ever WiredArts Fest, Words of Choice will be showcased to hundreds of activists with the shared goal of reproductive and social justice. “Women’s rights and reproductive freedoms are still under attack. As activists and ambassadors of change, everyone involved with Words of Choice is committed to moving public sentiment and influencing policy makers. We created this event because the use of theater is a way to transmit the pro-choice message, opening hearts and minds, and empowering the movement for women’s full equality and rights,” said Cindy Cooper, creator of Words of Choice. “Words of Choice” will be performed on March 1 at 7 pm EST and March 2 at 3 pm EST at The Secret Theater in Long Island City. As part of the WiredArts Fest, the live streaming audience will be able to participate simultaneously with tweeting, instant messaging, photo shots and Facebook. After the shows a panel discussion will take place to discuss the pieces and the state of reproductive and social justice.

Brazil: the perfect freedom of expression?

"I don't agree with only one of the words you say, but I will defend to the death your right to do so!"(Voltaire),

It is controversial the relationship between freedom of expression and the degree of development of societies.

Many seek to justify the repressive character of the current regimes as a price that must be paid for achieving progress.

Throughout history, however, people fought and died for the right to speak, to question, to publish.

Specifically we found, to our great relief, that the more developed societies are precisely those who managed broader and unquestioned freedom of expression.

However, there are difficulties everywhere, because everywhere there are those who use free speech as a weapon of war, war itself, political war and commercial war.

It is no coincidence that in many countries today, people debate legislation on the subject. This is the case of our neighboring republic, Argentina, to name just one instance.

In Brazil we have a history of abuse and arbitrariness: from the most vile censorship, like that practiced during the "military dictatorship*", even dishonest and virulent attacks carried out by sectors of the press, against institutions, citizens and even banks.

Who does not remember the school closed in São Paulo, for alleged sexual abuse against children? Or a known and respected politician who had his reputation soiled and took years and many slow lawsuits to reestablish the truth? And a certain large bank, labeled as "broken" by a magazine of great circulation, to then face really great difficulties caused by those malicious news and to end (badly) sold?

The White House Tuesday rebuked Israel for officially endorsing 1,500 new Jewish residences in Arab East Jerusalem, saying the action makes suspicious Israel’s pledge to peace talks and an independent Palestinian state. A number of European Union countries also condemned the Israeli move.

“We are deeply disappointed that Israel insists on continuing this pattern of provocative action,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, according to the Washington Post. “These repeated announcements and plans of new construction run counter to the cause of peace. Israel’s leaders continually say that they support a path toward a two-state solution, yet these actions only put that goal further at risk.”

The Palestinians recently said that they expect all of the UN Security Council members, excluding the US, to denounce Israel's fresh announcements of constructing new homes in East Jerusalem.

The Obama administration’s statement delivered an unusual but hard blow to Israel, its top Midle East ally. However, Israelis think the US would not support a Security Council resolution or statement.

"(T)he confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive, and costly -- to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities. That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country." -- Susan RiceSusan Rice, letter to President Obama

CNN is reporting that Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has “voluntarily” withdrawn her name from consideration as Hillary Clinton’s successor as secretary of state.

Rice has been under heavy, repeated, unrelenting, and unwarranted criticism from Republicans and right wing media over statements she made following the September attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Those attacks took the lives of the Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other CIA operatives.

Her withdrawal came in the form of a letter dated Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 to President Barack Obama. Here is the complete text of Rice's letter to the President. Obama promptly described Rice as "an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant."

Clinton has said in the past that she would relinquish her office immediately upon the confirmation of a successor.

Come to Durango, and take a ride in one of Animas Transportation's cabs with a driver who is ostensibly from Philadelphia. Ask him where an interested party could obtain cocaine. This driver served seven years in canon City for dealing cocaine while a taxi driver in Aspen. after being paroled, he moved to Durango, and immediately began selling cocaine here. He made the mistake of losing his wallet near me one night: I looked through it and saw that he has innumerable high limit credit cards. Taxi drivers don't normally qualify for 100,000 dollar limit cards...Do they?

Watch him. Buy coke from him. Better yet, rip him off or blackmail him. Who's he gonna tell? The cops?

Coloradans, can you help Mainers fend off a Denver-based Big Gas attack on Penobscot Bay? DCP Midstream LLC, a BIG natural gas port, pipeline & megatank operator, is close to getting its OKs to transform and industrialize our bay's estuary, heart of the lobster ecosystem, by establishing the east coast's biggest Liquified Petroleum Gas terminal in the our bay's brackish estuary. Can you help us with actions in Denver?

The People of Maine's biggest bay, have been resisting fiercely, using every tool in the nonviolent handbook available. Demonstrations, confrontations, litigation, state/federal/local permit opposition, public hearings etc, etc have been ongoing for more than a year.

We must confront Power at its lair. But we cannot afford to send a delegation of Mainers to Denver to shame DCP outside their 25th floor corporate headquarters in the Republic Plaza building at 370 17th St. Suite 2500, Denver.