July 7, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — Top elected officials including Mayor Gavin Newsom urged far-reaching health care reforms, as patients and families shared horror stories about their care June 28 on the steps of City Hall.

Mayors stand up for cities: U.S. out of Iraq; Maine rally for Iraq pullout, impeachment; State universal health care passes Wisconsin Senate; FBI gives Wall St. and Main St. criminals a break

Activists with Let Cuba Live of Maine and Quebecers with Caravane d’amitié Québec-Cuba engaged in a six-hour standoff with U.S. Homeland Security officials June 30 at the wilderness Coburn Gore border station in Maine. At issue was transfer of 30 boxes of humanitarian aid the Quebec group had donated to recipients in Cuba, to be delivered by the 18th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan.

There’s consensus among political experts that the location, moderator and audience at the June 28 Democratic presidential debate, held at Howard University, forced candidates to discuss solutions to issues concerning Blacks and other minority voters. A second forum for candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination will be broadcast by PBS in September from another historically Black campus, Morgan State University, in Baltimore.

UNITED NATIONS — Environmental degradation is a root cause of Sudan’s conflicts, says a June 22 UN report. Without addressing this issue, a lasting peace is unlikely, the report says.

The colonial status of Puerto Rico is once again coming up for review by the United Nations General Assembly. The UN’s Special Decolonization Committee placed the issue on the larger body’s agenda by unanimously adopting a resolution June 14. The resolution was sponsored by Cuba and Venezuela.

Bolivia: Regional leaders form Bank of the South; Algeria: U.S. Africa Command remains homeless; Afghanistan: Narcotics grow under U.S.-British occupation; Portugal: Small nation pioneers sustainable energy production

Moldy food found at Farmer Joe’s; How about American Vulture?; Farm workers toil in extreme heat; Fast track dies; We’d deliver, but our bosses won’t let us

AFL-CIO blogger Mike Hall writes, “When the Department of Labor in December asked workers and employers to comment on their experiences with regulations that implement the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), many observers believed it was the first step by the Bush administration to revise the rules to restrict access to family leave — as big business has clamored for since it was enacted in 1993.”

FOX Broadcasting and CBS reached new lows of hypocrisy and pandering to the ultra-right on reproductive rights, sex and contraception when they recently refused to air ads for condoms. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has offered to educate FOX and CBS about reproductive health. Here’s her letter to FOX.