Nov. 19, 2005

TUCSON, Ariz. — Four long months of holding the picket line have ended in victory for copper strikers in three mines, a concentrator and a smelter in this state and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush’s smear tactics failed to silence his growing opposition as the peace movement and defenders of the poor stepped up their fight against the Iraq war and a Republican proposal to cut $50 billion from federal programs for low-income Americans.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Rejecting the governor’s anti-people agenda, bringing our troops home from Iraq and using resources for human needs instead of war and occupation — these were the themes of the Northern California People’s Weekly World banquet held here Nov. 5.

LOS ANGELES — Everyone is interpreting the Nov. 8 California elections as a vote on the political performance of the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is true. However, the vote was more about political program. Public policy was on the ballot, not personalities. The stand the voters took on policy should be the primary guide for political action in 2006.

In an all but unanimous vote on Nov. 8, the UN General Assembly for the 14th consecutive year called for the U.S. government to get rid of its 45-year-old economic blockade of Cuba. A Cuban resolution for an end to the blockade was opposed by only four nations: the United States, the Marshall Islands (population 59,000), Palau (20,000) and Israel.

CHICAGO — Braving cold, gray skies on a Monday afternoon, Nov. 14, about two dozen parents, youth and peace activists gathered outside Lane Tech High School on this city’s North Side to greet students with “opt-out” forms. When properly filled out, the forms deny military recruiters easy and official access to students’ names, addresses and phone numbers.

MILWAUKEE: Vets for Peace banned from parade; WASHINGTON: Arctic drilling held at bay, for now; WASHINGTON: In hate crimes, racism is likeliest motive; WATERVILLE, Maine: VFW vandalizes war casualties’ tribute; WASHINGTON: Vets rally to restore benefits

Two years after a U.S.-backed coup ousted democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s judicial system is in a state of collapse.

Eastern Caribbean: Uniting in uncertain times; United Kingdom: Urge anti-bullying law; Africa: Hunger is growing; S. Korea: ‘Stressed out’ at work; Colombia: Protesters occupy church

LORAIN, Ohio — A union-community coalition delivered a sharp rebuke to Wal-Mart Corp. in the Nov. 8 election here. Voters in this northern Ohio steel center overwhelmingly defeated a ballot referendum that would have permitted city authorities to rezone a west side residential area in order to bring in a Wal-Mart store.