Democracy Now! US and World News Headlines for Monday, December 2nd, 2013
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By: Dean Morgan
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Democracy Now! US and World News Headlines for Monday, December 2nd, 2013 - Video
Democracy Now! US and World News Headlines for Tuesday, December 10th, 2013
Further videos about topics addressed are available in Recent Activities, Favourites, Play Lists on my channels. Mirrored and published with the permission of: Visit to watch the entire independent...
By: Dean Morgan
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Democracy Now! US and World News Headlines for Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 - Video
STORRS Democracy is not a spectator sport.
That was the message commencement speaker Philip Uri Treisman gave Sunday to about 1,350 graduates of the University of Connecticut's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
"We like to believe that our democracy will survive with no investment from us it is our birthright," said Treisman, founder and director of the University of Texas' Charles A. Dana Center for science and mathematics. "But democracy is very fragile and hard to maintain and depends on a broad middle class committed to its support."
Treisman urged graduates to engage with the political process or risk having a sliver of voters with a narrow agenda backed by unlimited cash take control of the nation's governing bodies.
"Be the civic actors that build the connective tissue that binds us together as a people," he said.
Students wearing black gowns and mortarboards, some decorated with beads, glitter and messages, filled the lower seats of Gampel Pavilion. Parents, family and friends packed the surrounding seats for the Class of 2014 graduation.
Pride for UConn's national championships in men's and women's basketball infused the day's proceedings. At times, the event resembled a pep rally, with the organ booming, cheers of "UConn Huskies" rippling through the arena and pictures of cheering students flashing on the large screens overhead.
Student speaker Rebecca D'Angelo noted that her class had experienced four NCAA national basketball championships, while Treisman said he'd rooted for the UConn basketball team all season.
Among the graduates was UConn point guard Shabazz Napier, who carried a banner and led the processional into the pavilion. His mind, however, was on academics, not basketball Sunday.
"It's a special feeling to be able to graduate and do it with my family here," said Napier, a sociology major. The national championship "is definitely cool, but the degree tops it off.
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UConn Grads Told: Democracy's Not A Spectator Sport
Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
The Jakarta Post
Publication Date : 11-05-2014
From the incredulous to the hilarious, the post-electoral fallout of the great democratic exercise in Indonesia on April 9 could fill a seasons worth of comedy scripts: the mad to the failed gone bad.
In Kampung Baru, Bone, South Sulawesi, a father blocked a frequently used local road because his son was predicted to fail to win a seat in the provincial legislature.
In Parepare, also in South Sulawesi, a failed council candidate from the Democratic Party and his team began confiscating kitchen stoves they had donated to residents because the candidate failed to gain enough votes for the local council.
As one resident innocently put it: I did vote for him, but my wife voted for someone else because we also received donations from other candidates...So we spread the vote to be fair.
A foundation in Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi, shut down several schools it had run because its benefactor failed in the district election.
Another failed candidate in Sindang Jati, Bengkulu, actually went back to residents carrying a firearm, demanding they return money that had been distributed during his campaign.
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Democracy is precious and expensive, but does it have to be so vulgar?
Aims of the Speaker #39;s Commission on Digital Democracy
The Speaker talks about the reasons for and aims of his Commission on Digital Democracy and invites people to get involved at http://www.parliament.uk/digitaldemocr...
By: UK Parliament
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Aims of the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy - Video