Sept. 2, 2006

A couple of economic reports grimly confirm what workers across the U.S. already know from their own experience.

Today the labor movement has joined with millions of immigrant workers and social justice advocates in a united struggle for labor and human rights.

Crossing guards for fairness
Minimum wage and Oprah
Picture would tell tale
Facts not right
Response
PWW does it again

Is Andy Stern right that class struggle trade unionism is outdated and a leftover from the heyday of industrial unionism? Is he right that corporate globalization is inevitable and all that unions can do is go along to get along? I think not.

Anyone who feels that getting protection from their employers is taking away their “rights” will be relieved to learn that the United States Department of Labor, George W. Bush in charge, is racing to the rescue.

The immigrant rights movement is stronger than ever. But there is still a strong chance that an anti-immigrant bill, perhaps the “compromise” touted by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), could be rammed through in September. To fight this, we need unity, and a hard-headed, reality-based strategy.

The end of the war in Lebanon will have a very strong effect on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This effect goes over and beyond the general and always correct observation that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land are at the core of the hostile relations and problems between Israel and the Arab world.

NEW YORK — It’s not too often that a band like Seanchai and the Unity Squad comes along. The group combines a diverse mix of punk, rock, reggae, hip-hop and Irish influences with overtly political, in-your-face lyrics on topics ranging from the fight for freedom from British colonialism in Ireland to the commercialization of hip-hop.

In a scene halfway into “Quinceañera,” a film directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Carlos (Jesse Garcia), an 18-or-so-year-old Mexican American troubled youth, dope smoker and car washer, is kicked out of his parents’ house in Los Angeles. He takes sanctuary at his tio’s (uncle’s) home.