Legislation that would have increased the scope of Stem Cell research in Massachusetts was vetoed by the Governor, Mitt Romney because he is opposed to the idea of human embryo cloning.

Following expectations that he would again reject the Legislature’s plan to sanction embryonic stem cell research, Romney announced his veto of the bill last week. In his veto message, the governor said he could not “in good conscience” allow the bill to become law due to his objections to embryonic cloning and changing the definition of when human life begins.[Gov vetoes stem cell bill]

But then not wanting to be Kansas, the legislature overturned the veto.
Iin California, there was a voter initiative to fund stem cell research and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support for it. Now here is the interesting thing – both Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger are Republicans.
It is a sign of maturity in politics that two diametrically opposite view points can be held by people in the same party and they can express it publicly without fear of retribution from the high-command. The freedom of expression that Americans have is not curtailed by the leadership of political parties

As expected, Sonia Gandhi is set to be re-elected Congress president with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the party’s top brass cutting across generations backing her candidature for the top organisational post.
A total of 89 nominations were filed from different states and Union minister Oscar Fernandes, who is chairman of All India Congress Committee’s central election authority, said that till Wednesday nominations in favour of Gandhi alone had been received. [All nominations so far name Sonia]

Do you think anyone will file a nomination against her? That would be the end of his career in the Congress Party. This has an uncanny similarity to the way Saddam Hussein was elected as well.

Iraq declared Saddam Hussein the winner Wednesday with 100 percent of the votes in a referendum in which he was the sole candidate, perpetuating his two-decade reign and prompting bursts of celebratory gunfire in Baghdad’s streets.[Iraq declares Saddam election winner]

I am not equating Sonia with Saddam. One is a mass murderer and the other is a naturalized Indian trying to make a living in India. But when it comes to elections, Congress Party members and Iraqis ruled by Saddam have the same right. Vote for the supreme leader or else. Coming to think of it, how many parties in democratic India have internal democracy?

After going through ups and downs, finally the women of Kuwait get the right to vote.

But in spite of the law’s shortcomings, the decision goes a long way toward solidifying the gains that Kuwaiti women have already made. The law essentially enshrines in the Constitution what is already a de facto characteristic of Kuwaiti society: Despite having been denied the right to vote, Kuwaiti women have led their female counterparts in other countries in the Gulf in terms of gender equality. Unlike other women in the region, Kuwaiti women are free to drive, dress as they choose and travel without any restrictions. Women outnumber men in universities and they compose a third of the emirate’s workforce. They also play an active role in the political arena through local and international rights groups and civil society organizations – groups that have played a key role in demanding that the state extend women their rights. The female force can be felt in every sector, from banking to medicine to art and the oil industry. The new law only confirms what was already known: Kuwaiti women are an important part of the fabric of their society.[Empowered women will drive Kuwait into the 21st century]

NPR has an interview with one of the activists.

It was too early to cheer on the topic of women’s voting rights in Kuwait. The Prime Minister as well as the chief of state wanted women to vote and stand for elections. But the conservatives did not agree and voted down the proposal

Women’s participation in politics has been a divisive issue in Kuwait for years, and in recent months has grown heated as advocates for women, backed by international pressure, appeared to make strides. Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have all held elections in recent years, and all have allowed women to vote.
Kuwait’s elected Parliament exercises a great deal of control over the government. But while the Kuwaiti Constitution gives equal rights to men and women, the country’s election law bars women, along with men in the police and military, from voting. That limits the voting base to only 15 percent of the total population of 950,000 Kuwaitis.
Women would essentially double that base, and redraw the country’s political map in the process. But conservative and tribally backed members of Parliament say Islam and Kuwaiti custom bar women from holding that much power.
“The parliaments of most other Muslim countries don’t have as much power as we do,” said Waleed al-Tabtabae, head of Parliament’s human rights committee and a fervent opponent of the measure. “We have no problem with women voting, but we do have a problem with women standing for elections. Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, and we are technically the head of the nation here.” [Lawmakers Block Women From Voting in Kuwait]

If Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, then did Pakistan and Bangladesh commit un-Islamic acts ?

In his book, Longitudes and Attitudes, Tom Friedman writes about traveling in Saudi Arabia after Sept 11th. He meets a number of women who talk to him about the repressive Saudi society and wonder why no one is taking up their case with the Saudi authorities.
Saudi Arabia gave some rights to women, due to terrorism, but still they are forced to wear the veil and don’t have the rights to drive or vote. But in the neighboring Kuwait, women now have the right to vote.

In a first step toward granting women full political rights, Kuwaiti lawmakers agreed yesterday to allow women to vote and run in local council elections, but the measure requires more legislative action before it would become law.
The measure was taken on a 26-20 vote for women

Rajan R has images of two British newspapers, one when Bush was re-elected and one few days back. This is related to the war in Iraq which is now transforming the middle east.
Update: Women in Kuwait demand rights

When neocons suggested that the Middle East could use some democracy, this was dismissed as an impossible task by everyone. But here is what’s happening

The most extraordinary event of all, of course, is Iraq’s Jan. 30 election, when 8 million voters cast ballots despite insurgent bombs and bullets. Weeks earlier, Palestinian voters had trooped to the polls to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat. They chose Mahmoud Abbas, who proclaims his desire (sincerely or not) to end the armed struggle against Israel. Then, on Feb. 10, Saudi Arabia held its first-ever municipal elections. Only men could vote, but this was still a crack in the hitherto absolute authority of the royal family.
Now, in Egypt, Hosni Mubarak has suddenly pledged to hold a multi-candidate election for president this fall. Will he allow a genuine contest? That opposition leader Ayman Nour remains in jail is hardly encouraging. But something significant has happened when the pharaoh feels the need to proclaim, “Egypt needs more freedom and democracy.” [Neocons May Get the Last Laugh]

Besides this people in Lebanon are now demanding that Syria withdraw immediately. Even the Arab media is reporting this as positive news

In a widely noticed interview, Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon

First the writing of the constitution was considered an impossible task and that was done. After postponing the elections once, Afghans had their chance to vote for their President. But there has been one problem with the indelible ink which was donated by India.

Three years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans voted in massive numbers Saturday to elect their president for the first time. But the historic and largely peaceful poll quickly fell under a cloud of uncertainty as 15 candidates alleged irregularities and fraud and said they would deem any result “illegitimate.”

The dispute centered on the supposedly indelible ink applied to voters’ thumbs to prevent them from casting ballots more than once. In many precincts, voters said, washable ink was used or indelible ink was applied improperly, allowing the marking to rub off easily and opening the door to repeat voting.[Afghan Votes in Security, but Fraud Allegations Arise]

On BBC News, there was one of the Presidential candidates showing his fingers after voting and his fingers were clean. I have voted many times in Indian elections and all the time the ink would stay for few days and then disappear. So what happened ? Was it the ink that failed ?From a caption under the photo in the Washington Post, it seems the election officials applied regular ink instead of the indelible ink.

Feuding warlords, “Taliban attacks”:https://varnam.org/archives/000439.html and political squabbling have affected Afghanistan elections. The elections that were to take place in September have now been postponed to mid-October.
bq. There is also intensive discussion in Kabul over whether to postpone parliamentary elections until next year as violence mounts, and the disarmament of militias and warlords has faltered. Youth and civil society groups have already called for elections to be postponed until next year to ensure greater stability and freedom for voters. Political parties which are only starting to form and register are largely in favor of a postponement too, officials said.
bq. United Nations officials and diplomats are concerned that without more disarmament of the warlords and their militias, there will be gross intimidation and interference in an early election, especially for parliamentary seats. The United Nations spokesman, Mr. Almeida e Silva, stressed that the organization was being guided by the time frame laid down in the Bonn agreements, which set elections for this year, but was also concerned to see commitments on disarmament and demobilization of militias, the surrender of heavy weapons and political freedoms met ahead of elections.
bq. Jean Arnault, the United Nation’s special representative in Afghanistan, told the Security Council in May that the Taliban and al Qaeda insurgency in southern Afghanistan was increasing, hindering voter registration and threatening the legitimacy of elections. Mr. Arnault said voter registration hasn’t been possible in three of the 34 provinces and has proven difficult in nine others.
If the elections do not happen in October, it may get postponed to next year as the mountain passes will get snow covered after October.

While President Bush is meeting with NATO members, all editorial writers are expecting NATO to contribute troops to Iraq so that the pressure on American troops is reduced.
bq. Fifty years after its founding, NATO fought its first war in 1999 against Serbia over its abuse of ethnic Muslims in Kosovo. Since then, it has moved beyond its historic arena – Europe – by sending troops to lead a security force in Afghanistan. Now, Iraq could be a catalyst either for repairing damage and helping to redefine NATO’s mission or for eroding its common purpose. In the latter event, the mutual disenchantment that began even before the Iraq war could have far-reaching impact – in Iraq, throughout the Middle East and wherever the post-Cold War international order comes under attack. [“Sacramento Bee”:http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9789565p-10712165c.html]
Having NATO troops in Afghanistan has not made the country very secure. They are providing security to the embassies of western nations, while warlords and militia are still very active in rest of the country. This makes the September elections very risky as people may not come to vote in many parts of the country.
bq. THE NATO SUMMIT President Bush attends Monday in Istanbul cannot focus exclusively on debates about the training of Iraqi security forces. NATO will also be asked to do more to provide security for parliamentary elections scheduled for September in Afghanistan. On this topic there should be no unbridgeable differences, since NATO members, including France and Germany, have already committed themselves to helping Afghanistan achieve stability.
bq. If the NATO allies ignore a request for help from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and warnings from Human Rights Watch and other independent human rights organizations, their shirking of responsibility will cast a dark shadow not only over Afghanistan but also over the Atlantic alliance. [“Boston Globe”:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2004/06/26/secure_afghan_elections/]