Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (497181)	7/22/2009 10:10:18 AM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1578303

Plan to Free 27K Inmates Threatens Calif. Budget Deal newser.com (Newser Summary) – A plan to slash the number of inmates by 27,000 could sink California's long-delayed budget deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Angry Republican state lawmakers threatened to back out of the agreement after learning of the plan, which would give prison officials authority to let any inmate over 60 years old or with less than a year left on their sentences finish their time on home detention to save money. The state's Democrats have double-crossed GOP lawmakers with a bill "that includes the worst of the worst—a sentencing commission and release of 27,000 prisoners, " the state assembly's Republican leader fumed in an email to colleagues. The deal could go to a vote in the state legislature as soon as tomorrow. Leaders are still cautiously optimistic they will get the necessary two-thirds vote in each house, despite strong opposition to various clauses from the left, right, and middle. —Rob Quinn SOURCES: Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (497181)	7/22/2009 10:34:26 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578303

Brawl Breaks Out in South Korean Parliament By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS nytimes.com Filed at 7:35 a.m. ET SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hundreds of competing lawmakers screamed and wrestled in South Korea's parliament Wednesday as a rivalry over contentious media reform bills descended into a brawl that sent at least one to a hospital. Lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party occupied the speaker's podium in a bid to quickly pass the bills aimed at easing restrictions on ownership of television networks. Opposition parties responded by stacking up furniture to block ruling party members from entering the main hall of the National Assembly. The parliament plunged into chaos, as lawmakers scuffled and shouted abuse at each other. Women lawmakers from the rival parties joined in the melee, grabbing each other by the neck and trying to bring opponents to the floor. YTN television network reported some were injured. One woman lawmaker was seen lying on a blue mattress with nurses checking her blood pressure. The lawmaker was later taken to a hospital, YTN said. The scenes were not unusual to South Korea's confrontational and melodramatic politics, where rival parties sometimes resort to violence to get their way. Last year, opposition lawmakers used sledgehammers to pound their way into a parliamentary committee room to block the ruling party from introducing a bill to ratify a free trade pact with the United States. The opposition strongly opposes the proposed media reforms that would ease restrictions on large businesses and newspapers owning stakes in major broadcasting stations. They claim the move is a ploy by the government of President Lee Myung-bak to get more sympathetic media coverage by allowing large conservative newspapers to get into the broadcasting business. Despite the opposition lawmakers' attempt to blockade the National Assembly, ruling party legislators managed to get into the hall and rammed through the bills amid angry shouts from their opponents. Some opposition lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to jump on to the speaker's podium. They were dragged away by ruling party lawmakers. As the vice parliamentary speaker announced the passage of one bill, parliamentary security guards rushed to cover him for fears that opposition lawmakers might hurl something, which has happened in the past. The deputy speaker is affiliated with the ruling party. The main opposition Democratic Party said the voting had procedural problems and it will seek a court injunction to invalidate the move. ''The National Assembly, the hall of the people's will, was brutally trampled and infringed upon today,'' the party said in a statement. The ruling Grand National Party rejected the claim and accused the opposition of using violence and of being insincere during negotiations to find a compromise on the bills. ''This kind of tragedy should never be repeated again,'' it said in a statement. The Grand National Party controls the 294-member unicameral National Assembly with 169 seats. The main opposition Democratic Party has 84 seats.