National

Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that’s exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday.

Right now, I'm on a train from New York City, where the Battle of Brooklyn took place and our first capital, to Boston, land of the real
Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, the shot heard around the world, Paul Revere and lots more. Then I plan to go on to Worcester,
my hometown, and, more importantly, the city where the first national convention for women's suffrage took place, and also an early hotbed
of abolitionist activity.

Cuba and the United States are poised to resume talks on migration issues any time now, although the five Cuban agents imprisoned in the U.S. remain "a formidable obstacle" to normalising bilateral relations, according to Cuban parliament president Ricardo Alarcón.

The NAACP has initiated an “I am Troy Campaign” as part of worldwide effort to prevent the execution of Troy Davis, a 40-year-old man on death row in Georgia. Davis, who is African American, was convicted 20 years ago for the death of a white off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail.

Davis, a former coach, is viewed to be innocent by a broad coalition of including former President Jimmy Carter, the Vatican, Amnesty International, former FBI head William Sessions and conservative Bob Barr. Seven of nine witnesses in the case have recanted their testimony.

Has anybody else noticed that most news stories about politicians' affairs aren't really about women?

There are women in them, of course. There's the Wronged Wife, who is often portrayed as a victim in stories that frame her in a domestic light, focusing on how she is "coping" and whether "she'll stand by her man," the Cheating Husband.

Workers Uniting, representing 3.5 million workers in North America, the UK and Ireland, unequivocally condemns the military coup and kidnapping of the democratically elected President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya.

CRANSTON, R.I. — Health care providers, union leaders and advocates from across Rhode Island got the Fourth of July spirit going early. Gathering Thursday outside the state health insurance commissioner’s office here, they “declared independence from the insurance industry,” and urged the state’s congressional delegation to support a strong national health care reform bill that includes a public option.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the New Haven firefighters is not a reason to keep Judge Sonia Sotomayor off the court as some on the right are pushing, but rather it shows how urgent it is that she be confirmed.

The demand for full marriage rights was a major theme at the June 28 Gay Pride Parade in New York.

Can you believe it? It still seems like a dream to me. This fighting, working-class newspaper is back to daily publishing!

Following in the footsteps of The Daily Worker and all the other great newspapers that have advocated for workers, for equality and democracy, for peace and socialism, this daily is online and reaching 80,000-100,000 each month at www.pww.org. And we have just begun.