The way out of capitalist lying, cheating and stealing
The roll call of corporate fraud – from Enron to Tyco; from Adelphia to Dynegy – keeps lengthening, with the addition of WorldCom, accused of listing $3.9 billion as “investment” rather than as expenses for maintainence and repair, thus reporting high profits rather than substantial losses.
COINTELPRO specter haunts Black America
The announcement by the FBI that it was propagating new guidelines that would extend far-reaching powers to its agents to monitor the internet, snoop in mosques and keep an eye on people everywhere from the local library to a protest demonstration was met with reactions within the Black community ranging from disbelief to anger and fear accompanied by calls to resist this unconstitutional encroachment on civil liberties and the right to dissent.
Surveilling students: Same old, same old
As an undergraduate at American University, I had the surprise of finding that the campus administration had handed over information on me to the South African embassy (I was a South African citizen at that time). As a graduate student at Northwestern University, I was shocked to learn that campus security had drilled peepholes into the walls of the stalls in the men’s washrooms. Later, it was learned that authorities at a nearby academic institution had passed information on the political activities of Iranian students to the SAVAK secret police. Students and others across the country raised hell about these abuses.
One nation, under socialist ideals ... who would have thunk it?
As soon as I saw the ruling, I could see the headlines. It was a no-brainer. About as predictable as George W. calling everyone who doesn’t agree with him an “evil-doer.”
The decline of the dollar
There is growing instability in global currency markets. Since February, the dollar has declined more than ten percent against both the euro and the yen. But it has risen sharply against the currencies of Mexico, Brazil and several other countries.
Could you be Enron-ed?
SEATTLE – The final leg of the AFL-CIO sponsored tour, “Could you be ‘Enron-ed’?” was kicked off at the Seattle Labor Temple on June 19.
House passes bonanza for drug companies
Seldom has the naked power of money been so effective as it was in the early morning hours of June 28 when the GOP-controlled House of Representatives made a cash deal with the pharmaceutical industry.
Labor leaders arrested
WORCESTER, Mass. – Arrests are becoming common at the Shaw’s Supermarkets in the Worcester area as Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) try to enforce a collective bargaining agreement between the local union and the supermarket chain.
Calif. unions rally for the right to organize
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – “We’re under attack, not in Afghanistan but in San Francisco, Los Angeles, the Central Valley and across California. We’re being intimidated from within,” said Art Pulaski, secretary-treasurer of the California Federation of Labor. International watchdog groups have found that U.S. labor laws are not protecting workers’ rights, he told a rally at the Capitol here June 25.
Harrisburg rally demands money for schools
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Over 100 members of two coalitions, Philadelphians United to Support Public Schools and the Coalition to Keep Public Schools Public, boarded buses on June 25 to lobby for the $75 million promised to Philadelphia schools last December by Governor Mark Schweiker during the state takeover of the school district.
