Jan 22, 2005

Huge coalition moves to stop privatization

“Social Security ain’t broke and Wall Street won’t fix it!” shouted hundreds of marchers in front of the Stock Exchange, Chamber of Commerce and Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office in San Francisco, Jan. 18. From there the Gray Panthers announced a Feb. 3 national “Day of Deluge,” when people are urged to swamp their Washington representatives with the demand: “No privatization of Social Security.”

LOS ANGELES — Inspired by the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., tens of thousands in California, Texas, and across the nation marched and rallied, calling for peace, social justice, and workers’ rights. click here for Spanish text

Sometimes we just don’t want to be bothered by a telemarketer. But this weekend your phone is going to ring and on the other end will be a volunteer for the People’s Weekly World asking you to help us raise $200,000 by Jan. 29.

CHICAGO — The People’s Weekly World launched its new look Jan. 8. But it took months of behind-the-scenes work to prepare for the redesign. Our graphic design desk drafted page after page and critiqued them with the editorial board before the new look was ready to go.

WASHINGTON — With the slogan, “Torture is not an American value,” peace groups conducted a “call-in” to senators’ offices Jan. 18, urging them to reject Alberto R. Gonzales as unfit for the post of U.S. attorney general.

HINESVILLE, Georgia (AP) — A young girl clutching her arm blackened by burns, dogs feeding off bodies in mass graves — the images still haunt Sgt. Kevin Benderman 15 months after he came home from Iraq.

DENVER, Colo.: Over 30,000 call for peace, justice, equality
/ GREENVILLE, S.C.: Struggle for King holiday continues / COLUMBUS, Ga.: 8,000 march to end police murders / COLUMBIA, S.C.: Fund public schools, no to privatization

NEW YORK — The people of this city have plunged into the growing international fight against Wal-Mart’s unfair business practices by forming the “Wal-Mart Free NYC Coalition.” This comes in response to the department store chain’s announced plans to build its first city store in Rego Park, Queens.

SAN FRANCISCO — As their latest contract extension ended last week, hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area grocery workers gathered for a press conference outside the Oakland hotel where their union, the UFCW, is in tense contract talks with the giant Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger grocery chains.

Two socialist nations intent upon expanding their productive capacities recently reached agreements for expanding trade relationships and cooperation over a range of mutually beneficial endeavors. Cuba is seeking alternatives to dependency on the capitalist global economy and ways to lessen the impact of the U.S. economic blockade. China fills the bill.