National

Texas progressives mourn the death of Molly Ivins. Even the people she antagonized most – corporate bigwigs and greedy politicians – are making public lamentations about the loss of our true Texas satirist.

I discovered the dirty little secret of college admissions when I was sitting in the rusty desk-chair in my guidance counselor’s office. The college admissions process is all about class.

Polling prior to last fall’s midterm elections indicated that education and the cost of college are top concerns among young people today. With over 2 million more young people voting last year, we made our presence known.

As African American History Month opens, New Orleans, a world-renowned vital center of African American history and culture, which figures so large in the story of our nation, continues to reel under the criminal neglect of George W. Bush and his administration, a full year and half after Katrina struck.

In a sign of the fundamental shift being made by the new Congress, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) opposing President Bush’s military escalation plan for Iraq. The measure could come before the full Senate next week.

What will your legacy be? A poem by Dr. Margaret T.G. Burroughs. A Black History Month feature

Anyone who believed there was going to be a bipartisan effort in Congress to reflect the voters’ views got doused with a bucket of cold water last week when GOP senators tried to block a bill that would increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 over two years.

WASHINGTON (PAI) — The number of unionists declined by 326,000 from 2005 to 2006, dropping to 12 percent of the U.S. labor force, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. But there were big jumps of 52,000 in Arizona and 26,000 in Washington, a small rise in Minnesota, and increases in 17 states, including “red states” Montana and both Carolinas.

Health care advocates slammed President Bush’s latest health care proposals as free-market fantasy that would dismantle employer-provided health coverage, enrich insurance companies and worsen the nation’s health care crisis.

Instigated by a company hell-bent on keeping out a union, the U.S. government raided the world’s largest pork processing plant, Smithfield Packing, in Tar Heel, N.C., on Jan. 24.