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IRAQI ELECTION UPDATE….A reader writes:

I hate to be a “why aren’t you blogging about this” critic, but any reason you decided not to post about the passage yesterday of the Provincial Elections law in Iraq? It’s the sort of thing you and others would usually mention, and when I saw the story in the NYTimes I expected it to be a big topic of discussion, even with the bail-out and campaign antics taking up media attention. But instead, it got no mention at all on any blog I regularly read.

Say what? They finally passed an election law? Seriously? I had no idea. Marc Lynch provides some commentary:

Today it appears that the impasse has finally been broken as the Parliament overwhelmingly passed a new provincial elections law based on a compromise on Kirkuk engineered by the tireless UN envoy Staffan de Mistura….What’s more, they have agreed to push back the deadline for voting until January 31, 2009 (in the non-KRG provinces and Tamim province with Kirkuk). This will allow enough time for the Iraqi High Elections Commission (which will determine the exact date) to adequately prepare and organize and for the various political blocs to mobilize for the campaign.

….UPDATE: The Iraqi Parliament has released a detailed report, if not the actual text, of the law. Among the crucial details, beyond the elaborate compromise on Kirkuk: the vote will be open list, women’s quota but no minorities quota, can use symbols of non-candidates except for religious figures (so no Sistani? Is Sadr “religious” figure?), and some limitations on use of mosques and other places of worship for campaigning. All in all looks pretty good – the open list is key, and goes against the preferences of what the ruling coalition, plus a way was found to accomodate the women’s quota.

In my defense, it appears that even Juan Cole missed the news during the rush of events yesterday. Just goes to show what financial collapse combined with a day of world class political grandstanding will do.

The “compromise” on Kirkuk, by the way, is to go ahead and hold elections everywhere else while a commission convenes to cogitate for a while over the fate of Kirkuk. In other words, they’re just kicking the can down the road. Still, this is good news regardless.

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Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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