Feb. 2, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The race is now at full throttle going into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in 24 states.

A battle is shaping up in Congress over the Bush administration’s move to entrench long-term U.S. military occupation in Iraq.

South Africa: Energy crisis looms
Australia: PM hears about Cuban medical program
Belgium: Rethinking biofuels
Vietnam: Workers strike
Iraq: Heroin production rises
Rwanda: Military aid continues
Canada: Puts U.S. on torture list

CHICAGO — “Bush offered nothing in his State of the Union talk that will make a damned bit of difference in my life,” declared Sarah Smith, a mother of two who works for minimum wage as a cashier at the Halsted Foods supermarket in this city’s Bridgeport neighborhood. “Any rebate I would get has to go to pay medical bills I owe on my credit card. That might stimulate the bank but it won’t do a thing for my kids and me.

CLEVELAND — Surrounded by dozens of friends, family members, public officials and labor leaders, Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced Jan. 25 he was withdrawing from the race for president to focus on his re-election to Congress and to be able to continue the fight for social and economic justice in Washington.

Cuba’s election season ended on a rainy Jan. 20 when 8.1 million citizens, age 16 or over — 95 percent of those eligible to vote — chose 614 delegates to the National Assembly and 1,201 delegates to 14 provincial assemblies, all for five-year terms. Voting that day concluded a process that began last September, when people in neighborhoods throughout the island selected 37,300 local nominees for election to municipal assemblies.

In an emotional rally at the Gaza border Jan. 26, undaunted by rain, some 2,000 Israelis brought humanitarian aid and demonstrated for peace and an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

At its midwinter meeting last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors called on Congress to reform the Federal Housing Administration so it will give more help to troubled borrowers, and to increase funding to help borrowers and neighborhoods hard-hit by soaring mortgage foreclosures.

While the future is looking up for General Motors and its high-priced execs, it’s anything but good for workers as the company is moving quickly to slash its labor expenses. General Motors has just told Wall Street analysts it will take advantage of its new cost-cutting labor agreement with the United Auto Workers to reduce its annual U.S. labor costs by $5 billion by 2011.

African American History Month 2008 is an exciting time. Not only can we explore the special features of the African American experience through history, literature, music, dance, theater and the movies (go see “The Great Debaters”), but we can also take the time to be conscious of the connection between the African American experience and the dawning of a new day in our country.