Nov. 10, 2007

TOKYO — About 42,000 workers and citizens from all over the country rallied here Oct. 28 in opposition to an “anti-terrorism special measures” bill, the proposed revision of Japan’s constitution to permit military operations abroad, and tax hikes on consumer goods.

The 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China was held Oct. 15-19 in Beijing. Over 2,200 delegates, representing 73 million party members, discussed far-reaching goals for economic, political, social and international work. Amendments were made to the party’s constitution. Lastly, central committee members were elected by secret ballot and a new top leadership was announced.

Guatemala: Colom wins presidency
East Timor: Students, farmers protest industrial agriculture
United Arab Emirates: Migrant workers resist
Burundi: Workers strike national government
France: Unions up in arms

On Oct. 15 management at Smithfield’s Tar Heel, N.C., plant broke off negotiations with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and a day later filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the union which includes within it petitions to silence community, religious and other groups that have been supporting the 14-year struggle to unionize the plant.

NEW YORK — In the biggest successful organizing campaign in New York City in almost 50 years, over 28,000 home child care workers have joined the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the largest local in the American Federation of Teachers.

The first strike by Hollywood writers in 20 years began Nov. 5 with picket lines set up coast to coast. The strike has already disrupted soap operas, talk shows, and, more important, the flow of advertising money into network coffers.

Lockport, N.Y., was once a seemingly growing, family oriented, peaceful community. The historic homes were beautifully maintained and added to the small city’s culture. Original buildings and its lock system along the Erie Canal were preserved for historical value.

A related but less publicized UN report issued in November 2006 was titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow — Environmental Issues and Options” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN. The report presents an in-depth scientific analysis of the impact of agriculture on the ecology of the planet.

John Reed, the great American labor journalist and a founder of the Communist Party USA, was the first to bring this country the news of what had happened in Russia on Nov. 7, 1917. In “Ten Days that Shook the World,” he wrote that the workers, led by Lenin, and carrying the banner of “peace, bread and brotherhood,” had seized power.

Wall Street wizard Robert E. Rubin, former Clinton treasury secretary, is stepping in to clean up Citigroup, which recently forecast losses of $13 billion due to its role in the subprime mortgage racket. That bubble has burst, sowing misery as millions of hard-pressed homeowners are forced into foreclosure.