Oct. 6, 2007

The United Food and Commercial Workers union, negotiating for thousands of grocery workers in Southern California, won a stunning victory in July, approving a new union contract that reversed the unfair two-tiered system they had been forced to accept back in 2004.

How many elections can be hailed as “The Year of the Woman” before anything actually changes? Hint: no answer to this question exists yet.

According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the “UN has it wrong: Africa’s problem is repressive rule.” Zimbabwe, Tanzania, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, and Niger are cited as examples in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer commentary by Claudia Rosett.

Daniel C. Bruch and Thomas W. Strieter are retired Christian pastors who have spent their lifetimes serving people. They have been moved by the extremist rhetoric and actions of fundamentalist conservatism to write Toxic Faith: Liberal Cure, an analysis of the Christian Right.

In 2001, Michael Yates decided to retire early from teaching economics at the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, Pa. With his wife Karen, he carefully planned a travel route through the United States, living as cheaply as possible. They packed a Dodge van with necessities, and prepared to survive as itinerant laborers.

One of the main priorities of Ecuador’s constituent assembly, set to convene Oct. 30, will be to counteract the “barbarism that prevails in the economy” and to dismantle the economic model that exists today so as to benefit “the most dispossessed sectors in the country,” according to President Rafael Correa.

Hundreds of young people from all over the world gathered Aug. 23-26 in Caracas, Venezuela, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first World Festival of Youth and Students.

The hazard of violent death that faces trade unionists, especially in Latin America, is apparent from the recently issued annual report of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for 2006. A perusal of the report makes for grim reading, especially because improvements from the year before seem nonexistent, a situation that continues this year.

El empezar del documental “The War” (La Guerra) sobre el impacto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial del cineasta Ken Burns continúa ser motivo de protestas de parte de hispanos en Estados Unidos. Pero no solo fueron los latinos que criticaron el proyecto, sino grupos de veteranos, medios de opinión y noticias, y otros.