Jan. 26, 2008

While stock markets plunge and panic spreads in financial circles, what happens when the economy goes into recession?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two workers, sheltering themselves from a cold, torrential downpour in this Mississippi River port, were chewed up like trash in the back of a malfunctioning garbage truck. Thus began, in 1968, a long public employee strike that shook the nation and cemented a historic civil rights/labor alliance.

Belgium: European Roma suffer persecution
Nigeria: Pfizer charged in ‘illegal’ drug trial
Haiti: Alerts issued for activists
India & China meet in Beijing
Iran: Negotiations, not war

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers stood on the Senate and House floor this week and decried hunger and homelessness spreading like a plague among their constituents as the nation plunges toward economic recession.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts not only slash state spending for health care but also imperil federal matching funds for Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program serving millions of the poorest Californians, health care advocates say.

As Israel imposed a lockdown and continued a military assault on Gaza, and rockets from Gaza continued to terrify the bordering Israeli village of Sderot, Israeli peace and human rights advocates organized a relief convoy and peace demonstration, Jan. 26, at a Gaza border crossing. A parallel Palestinian demonstration was set for the other side of the border.

Despite President Bush’s much-publicized visit to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank this month, most commentators say no peace progress is likely without U.S. pressure on Israel to halt its settlements in the West Bank. Now escalating tensions between Israel and Palestinian Gaza, and a mounting humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s 1.5 million residents blockaded by Israel, threaten to torpedo peace talks, many fear.

I am one of the many young people who work at UPS. As you probably all know, UPS is one of the world’s largest package delivery companies, delivering 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers, spanning over 200 countries.

PHILADELPHIA — A landmark agreement reached last month could open the way to diversifying the construction workforce here. Pending approval by the City Council, contractors, the city’s Convention Center authority and the building trades unions, new major Center City projects could be affected. The deal would set measurable goals and percentages for hiring workers of color and women.

Addressing the House Armed Services Committee last week, a leading U.S. general in Iraq let a cat out of the bag — unless Congress and a new administration that is committed to a sane foreign policy chart a radically different course, significant U.S. troops may be in Iraq until at least 2018.