Truthout roundup 9/29

Stocks Plunge as Bailout Fails
http://www.truthout.org/092908R
Carl Hulse and David M. Herszenhorn, The New York Times: "In a moment of historic import in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry. The vote came in stunning defiance of President Bush and Congressional leaders of both parties, who said the bailout was needed to prevent a widespread financial collapse."

Paulson Will Have No Peer
http://www.truthout.org/092908S
Peter G. Gosselin, The Los Angeles Times: "The Treasury chief will gain sweeping, even unparalleled power under Congress' compromise plan. Despite all the constraints Congress supposedly wrapped around him, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson is about to become the most powerful mortgage financier of the modern era - most likely of any era."

Dean Baker The Bailout: Congress Endorses Conservative Nanny State
http://www.truthout.org/092908T
Dean Baker, Truthout: "Congressional support for the bailout was a big victory for those who want to redistribute income upward. The bailout is about taking money from the schoolteachers and cab drivers and giving it to incredibly rich Wall Street bankers, who are so incompetent that they drove their banks into the ground."

Dan Bacher The "Green Governor" Slashes Funding for Endangered Species
http://www.truthout.org/092908EA
Dan Bacher, Truthout: "When he signed California's long-overdue state budget, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, true to his role as the 'Fish Terminator,' blue penciled $3.1 million in funding from a key program run by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to restore endangered and threatened salmon, steelhead and other species."

Unions in China Still Feeble, but Gaining Foothold
http://www.truthout.org/092908LA
Peter Ford, The Christian Science Monitor: "Almost all the Fortune 500 companies in China will allow unions to open in their factories, according to union leaders who are wrapping up this week a 100-day campaign to organize workers in some of the world's largest corporations."

Why Are Mothers Still Dying in Childbirth?
http://www.truthout.org/092908WA
Rebecca Seal and Katrina Manson, The Observer UK: "More than 500,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth every year in the developing world due to lack of proper care ... It is one of the world's greatest hidden epidemics, but the search for a solution is hopelessly underfunded. On average, every minute of every day a woman somewhere dies in childbirth or pregnancy, the overwhelming majority in developing countries."

China's Milk Scandal Now Seen as Risk in Europe
http://www.truthout.org/092908HA
Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times: "European Union regulators on Thursday ordered rigorous testing of imports containing at least 15 percent milk powder after concluding that food containing tainted milk powder from China may well be circulating in Europe and putting children at risk."

Counting Every Vote
http://www.truthout.org/092908VA
Erica Naone, ABC News: "California's secretary of state, Debra Bowen, believes that open-source software should be used in elections involving electronic voting machines, to protect against error and fraud. Bowen has a history of pushing for greater transparency and accountability in election technology. After taking office in November 2006, she commissioned a top-to-bottom review of e-voting systems, including detailed analyses of source code, documentation, security, and usability."