US signals shift of approach to Syria conflict | News | DW.COM | 17.09.2015

On Wednesday, Moscow offered to meet with officials from Washington to discuss military operations that could help defeat “Islamic State” militants while also preventing potential clashes between Russia soldiers and US-trained troops.After initial hesitation, the White House said Thursday it might be open to such a meeting. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration was still evaluating the Russian proposal.”The White House, the Defense Department and State Department are discussing next steps in order to determine the best way forward,” he said.

Source: US signals shift of approach to Syria conflict | News | DW.COM | 17.09.2015

Census Data Show the Value of the Safety Net | National Women’s Law Center

Both the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure show there is still much more work to be done. As poverty rates remain high, especially for single mothers, women and children of color, elderly single women, and women with disabilities safety net programs continue to be essential. Programs like SNAP, Social Security, and tax credits for low-income families all help lift women and their children out of poverty and must be protected. However, if Congress doesn’t act to end the sequester, many already under-funded programs will face further cuts. Yesterday’s Census data confirm that investing in programs that help low-income families and children works, but that these programs need to be strengthened, not cut, as we continue to work to ensure that everyone has a way out of poverty.

Source: Census Data Show the Value of the Safety Net | National Women’s Law Center

South China Sea images reveal impact on coral of Beijing’s military bases

As China races to extend its military reach, it is turning pristine habitats into permanent islands. Satellite images of the South China Sea show rapid destruction of some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world. The reclamation of land in the contested Spratly archipelago to build runways, military outposts and even small towns is endangering ecosystems that are key to maintaining world fish stocks and biodiversity

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The Collection of Presidential Briefing Products from 1961 to 1969 | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) {Foreign policy wonk dream!}

The CIA’s Historical Review Program on 16 September 2015 released a collection of presidential briefing products written during the Kennedy and Johnson presidential administrations. This large-scale release of The President’s Intelligence Checklists (PICLs) [an acronym pronounced “pickles”] and The President’s Daily Briefs (PDBs) includes almost 2,500 documents exclusively written for the president each day except Sunday. They summarized the day-to-day intelligence and analysis on current and future national security issues. President Kennedy received the first PICL — a seven-page 8 ½- by 8-inch booklet — on Saturday, 17 June 1961 at his country home near Middleburg, Virginia. The PICL was replaced by the PDB on 1 December 1964, during the Johnson administration. In addition to the PDBs and PICLs, the collection includes The President’s Intelligence Review and its replacement, Highlights of the Week, as well as ad hoc supplemental products and annexes that featured topics of presidential interest. The CIA originators of the PICL, and later the PDB, strove to craft a daily current product that was true to sensitive source reporting and yet was easily readable by the president and his advisors.

Source: The Collection of Presidential Briefing Products from 1961 to 1969 | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)

Migrant or refugee? Why it matters which word you choose

Latina Lista: News from the Latino perspective Latina Lista: News from the Latino perspective – News from the Latino perspective. Migrant or refugee? Why it matters which word you choose by Latina Lista

By Charlotte Taylor
The Conversation

Across Europe, a debate is raging about how to describe the thousands of people escaping war and turmoil in their own countries and making the journey to safer places. Are they refugees or migrants? The question is important: since European leaders have been justifying inaction over their plight by dismissing many of them as “economic migrants” who are less deserving of help.

Al-Jazeera has made a firm decision on this issue, announcing that it will stop using the umbrella term “migrants” when referring to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean.

By choosing the term “migrant” over “refugee” (where the latter would be accurate), the choice denies the person their internationally recognised human rights, under the UN Refugee Convention.

But Al-Jazeera also noted that the very meaning of the word “migrant” was changing. What was once a basic description has come to carry negative connotations.

This kind of semantic degrading is common for words relating to controversial topics. We need only think of the endless cycle of terms used to describe people with disabilities, which often develop into insults and are eventually replaced.

In the early stages of a meaning change there is a tendency for people to resist the new interpretation, by claiming that they are using the dictionary definition. But dictionaries do not merely define words – they also describe how they are used. If a negative meaning develops this will be listed. For example, the definition of “villain” has shifted from meaning someone of low-born status “villein”, to the current understanding of evil.

Loaded words

At any one moment in time there are a range of terms available to describe human migration. The use of one name over another involves a choice and also carries information about the speaker’s opinion towards those they are describing.

For example, when people talk about “expatriates” or “expats”, they are often discussing affluent people, who have moved to another country. As Mawuna Remarque Koutonin argues, they are usually from the same country as themselves and often white.

British nationals constitute the second largest group of European foreign born residents in Spain. Most moved there looking for a better quality of life, enabled through the lower cost of living. They are “economic migrants”, but this term is not used to describe them in the UK. Instead it is most commonly used to refer to people moving from less affluent countries, both inside and outside the EU.

One way we can demonstrate how terms have specific geographical associations is by noting which words occur most frequently alongside them. If we look at the use of words relating to migration in contemporary American English we see the following sets of associations for six of the most frequent naming choices:

Words most commonly associated with six of the most frequently used naming choices.
Corpus of contemporary American English

As the table shows, the word “expatriate” co-occurs with “American” and “British”, while “immigrant” does not. The nationalities occurring simultaneously with the word “immigrant” are “Mexican” and “Chinese”. And the most frequently co-occurring word is “illegal”, which also occurs with “migrant”.

Naming is a choice which reflects not just a process, but a view of that process and the people involved. This becomes yet more evident when considering the terms “immigrant” and “emigrant”. Which could be dismissed as simply relational antonyms, reflecting two perspectives of the same process.

However, looking at an older version of American English we see that while the use of the name “emigrant” has decreased over time, “immigrant” has increased.

Historical changes in the use of the words ‘immigrant’ and ‘emmigrant’.
Corpus of Contemporary American English

Historically, “emigrants” referred to people who moved to America in the 19th and 20th Centuries from Ireland, France and England. The difference then is not due to the perspective from which the speaker regards migration, it is a difference of identity. “Immigrant” tends to refer to “others”, while “emigrant” tends to refer to “us”.

The consequences

There are differences in the meanings of the words used to describe migration and they are largely in interpretation. But in the end, what is in a name? Does the choice of one over another make a difference? As a linguist I am bound to say yes, but in the case of migration the choices made have very real implications.

The expression of particular attitudes by powerful voices will have an effect on the attitudes of others.

So when the Australian government promotes the names “illegal arrivals” or “illegal maritime arrivals” to refer to those seeking asylum, there are consequences.

The Associated Press dropped the term “illegal immigrant” in 2013 and The Guardian has similarly questioned its use of the term.

When people are deemed “illegal” – particularly by officials – it erases our shared humanity. Things that are shared are discarded in order to highlight only differences – “they” are not like “us”.

That makes the debate over the “right” term to use in relation to human migration controversial. Naming choices reflect differing attitudes and can have detrimental consequences.

The Conversation

Charlotte Taylor is a lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at University of Sussex This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.