Oct. 15, 2005

CHICAGO — With 52,000 households’ gas shut off and home-heating costs breaking records, Chicagoans are tired of being cold in their own homes. And fingers are being pointed at Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Days after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake sent tremors across much of South Asia, rescue efforts intensified in the hardest hit area of the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir in the Himalayas. The quake hit on the morning of Oct. 8, devastated Muzaffarabad, the Pakistani-administered capital of Kashmir, and wiped many mountain villages off the map.

In late August President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela announced a new stage in his country’s fight for health care. The government will spend $2.5 billion. “The first and most important use [of the money] is to purchase necessary equipment, the most modern in the world,” said Chavez. “That’s Barrio Adentro III (‘Inside the neighborhood’): a hospital revolution.”

The Bush administration is ignoring serious structural defects that threaten to turn Haiti’s upcoming elections into a farce, critics charge.

Belgium: General strike protests gov’t ‘reforms’; Colombia: Paramilitaries suspend disarmament; France: One million workers strike; S. Africa: Tens of thousands in anti-poverty ‘stay-away’; Japan: Court rules shrine visits ‘unconstitutional’

HOUSTON — A state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages will be voted on Nov. 8 in Texas. If passed, Proposition 2 could eliminate gay unions all together. Progressive activists, advocates, and some politicians are outraged at the attempt by the right wing to use this as a wedge issue. The Texas AFL-CIO opposes the legislation.

Philadelphia parents and education advocates are incensed that science curriculum materials in the city’s kindergarten through third grade are supplied under a $3 million contract by a company run by William Bennett, former secretary of education under Ronald Reagan. The company is K12 Inc.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — “We’ll be back!” was the cry of the 100 members of the Communication Workers of America, joined by supporters from Jobs With Justice, as they wrapped up an informational picket line at a Comcast technical center Oct. 6 in this Detroit suburb. The majority of workers here have expressed an interest in joining the CWA, the union says, but the company has used intimidation, fear tactics and closed-door brainwashing meetings to stop the union organizing drive

Communicators coordinate; Union for Oregon child care workers; Sweet victory for grape workers; Forced overtime hot issue; 4-year delay fatal to union drive; Letter carriers save lives too; Endangered species?; Supreme union buster?

Hoping to send a powerful message about energy conservation, President George W. Bush said today that he would embark on an historic cross-country motorcade to promote less driving.