National

When Louis Alonso Hernandez, 23, Manuel Sanchez, 41, Kerry Allred, 57, Brandon Phillips, 24, Don Erickson, 50, and Carlos Payan, in his 20s, began their 12-hour shift 1,500 feet underground at the Crandall Canyon mine Aug. 6, they fully expected to see their families at the end of the day.

MINNEAPOLIS — Cars have been removed and the ninth victim’s body was recovered Aug. 13 from the I-35W bridge collapse here. Tall black cranes, one with the American flag on top of it, moved slowly on the horizon over the site. A wide area surrounding the bridge is closed to all but recovery workers.

Baton Rouge, La., Kansas City, Mo., and Bethlehem, Pa., are far from Wall Street, but they are among the ground zeros in the financial crisis now grabbing headlines. It’s a crisis caused, some say, by “incredible greed and looting” by the nation’s financial institutions.

HAZLETON, Pennsylvania – Un tribunal federal le dio un fuerte rechazo a los planes de elementos antiinmigrante de implementar medidas locales que castigan a los indocumentados y otros inmigrantes al anular la ordenanzas de esta ciudad.

Steve Share, editor del Minneapolis Labor Review, estaba en su oficina la tarde del agosto 1 cuando oyó las sirenas de vehículos en camino al derrumbamiento de un puente. Agarró su cámara y salió. Lo que lo impresionó más fue la valentía de gente arriesgando sus vidas para salvar a otros.

“Esta es, por mucho, la economía mundial más fuerte que he visto yo en toda mi vida empresarial,” declaró recientemente el secretario del Tesoro, Hank Paulson, durante su visita a las oficinas de la revista Fortune. ¿De veras? ¿Fuerte para quién?

Are those who sing our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” and those who enjoy the huge fireworks displayed over our entire nation every July 4 really aware of the significance of this historic holiday?

The post-Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans has ripped the mask off the ruling class. Unlike a festive Mardi Gras unmasking, the greed, racism, arrogance and brutality of the Bush administration and the class whose interests it represents are out in the open for all to see.

Barry Bonds finally claimed baseball’s all-time home-run record, hitting his 756th homer on Aug. 7. But then ... enter the haters.

Last week, Congress gave in to a campaign of Bush administration fear-mongering and approved the Protect America Act by a vote of 60-28 in the Senate and 227-183 in the House. Bush immediately signed the bill into law.