People Before Profit blog

Machine guns on Arizona choppers?

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 04:07:00 +0000

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Republican Rep. John Shadegg wants the U.S. Customs Department’s Black Hawk helicopters to be armed with .50-caliber machine guns. Shadegg says this would allow a gunner on board to fire into the engine blocks of smugglers’ cars as they bring workers across the desert toward Phoenix and Tucson. Rep. Jeff Flake, Shadegg’s fellow Republican, said recently he would support such a move if the Department of Homeland Security requests it.

“This is a ridiculous proposal from a policy and liability standpoint,” stated Jen Allen, director of Border Alliance Network here. “It would further turn the Arizona/Mexico border region into a literal war zone – a war that is killing men, women and children for the simple act of trying to improve their lives or unite with family members.” The Network has been instrumental in documenting abuses and working on migrants’ rights issues. “Shadegg’s proposal will give rise to more anti-immigrant violence in Arizona,” Allen continued, calling the proposal “state-sanctioned violence against immigrants.”

People in Tucson are very upset by the latest record number of deaths along the border with Mexico in 2003. Over 400 migrants looking for work and their family members have died of dehydration in the scorching desert, which has been tagged the “corridor of death” by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection Robert Bonner. With the advent of winter, the latest victims are reported to have died of exposure on freezing nights. NAFTA and globalization have flooded the markets in Mexico and Central America with low-priced U.S. corn, driving more and more desperate farmers to attempt the perilous trip north for survival.

The author can be reached at susan@susanthorpe.com.

Sacramento says no to Patriot Act

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 03:40:00 +0000

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In a jam-packed room filled with hundreds of community members, the Sacramento City Council voted 8-1 on Nov. 13 to support a resolution opposing the Patriot Act’s unconstitutional provisions. Sacramento thereby became the 203rd U.S. city to do so.

“I was moved by your testimony, not only by the words but by the breadth of community groups represented here tonight,” said Mayor Heather Fargo as she called for the vote at 11:30 p.m.

The crowd both inside and outside the Council chambers (over 100 waited outside for seats) was a diverse array of Sacramentans from different ethnic groups, religious beliefs and political views. Many were supporters of the Sacramento Coalition to Stop the Patriot Act. Thirty speakers delivered testimony, including representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and Physicians for Social Responsibility, both of who staunchly opposed it.

In the end, only Councilman Robbie Waters voted for against the resolution. In spite of a compelling 15-minute presentation by coalition members Keith Wagner, Jason Rabinowitz, Stella Levy and Rashad Baadqir on how the Act attacks civil rights and liberties, Waters concluded that there was “no evidence of any violation of civil rights under the Patriot Act.”

Councilman Lauren Hammond, who introduced the resolution, said, “This resolution declares that our civil rights and liberties should not be abridged. … We’ve been down this road before with Joe McCarthy during the anti-communist scare and during World War II, when our government put Italian, German and Japanese Americans in detention camps. We’ve already done this and it doesn’t make us more secure.”

Rashad Baadqir, executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, agreed. “The USA Patriot Act goes against the very foundation of living in a free and open society,” he said.

For an up-to-date list of the states, counties, cities, and towns that have rejected the Act, visit www.bordc.org.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org.

Mumia defense office burglarized

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 03:37:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA – On Nov. 19 the office of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ) here was broken into by burglars. A spokesman for the ICFFMAJ says it was “an apparent political burglary.” The political burglars took the group’s computers, files and databases, but no other items of monetary value were taken.

A similar break-in at the same ICFFMAJ office occurred in June 2000, when lists of financial donors were stolen but nothing else.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, a progressive African American journalist, has been in prison for over 20 years, most of that time on death row. His lawyers and supporters say he was wrongfully convicted in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

From the age of 15, when he was the communications secretary for the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther Party, Abu-Jamal was a target of the FBI’s antidemocratic COINTELPRO program. He has also been the target of right-wing, racist police harassment.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Oct. 8 against Abu-Jamal’s habeas corpus appeal. The court ruled that the Post Conviction Relief Act court had acted properly in blocking Abu-Jamal’s motion to introduce the sworn confession by Arnold Beverly that he killed Faulkner. The confession was not allowed because of its “untimeliness.”

The state’s Supreme Court also dismissed the testimony of Philadelphia court stenographer Terri Maurer Carter. Carter said in a sworn statement that she overheard Abu-Jamal’s original trial judge, Albert Sabo, say in regard to Abu-Jamal’s case, “Yeah, and I’m going to help ’em fry the n——-.” This evidence, the court said, was submitted in a timely manner, but it was disregarded because the issue of Sabo’s racism against Abu-Jamal had been previously raised and rejected by the courts.

Though the sentencing phase of Abu-Jamal’s first “trial” was judged by the courts to have been flawed and therefore the death sentence was (momentarily) suspended, it can be reinstated at any time. The district attorney only has to request that the sentencing phase be reopened. Mumia Abu-Jamal remains confined to a death row cell at SCI Greene in western Pennsylvania, and while his defense lawyers are going back to the federal courts, he remains in great danger.

For more information on his case, contact the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal at www.freemumia.org.

The author can be reached at bjhope215@yahoo.com.

National Clips

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 03:18:00 +0000

WASHINGTON: Black farmers say ‘save our land’

African American farmers from across the South protested in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Nov. 19, charging that it continues to grant loans to white farmers while denying badly needed funds to keep Black families on their land.

USDA statistics confirm their charges. The department grants loans totaling $4 billion with 80 percent of the money going to white, mostly corporate, farmers. As a result, Black farmers have lost their land at an “alarming rate” according to Clinton Bristow, president of Alcorn State University, a historically Black agriculture college. In 90 years, the number of Black farmers has plummeted from 1 million to 18,000.

“What we are talking about – discrimination – is real,” said James Myart, an attorney representing Black farmers.

There are 12 class action suits pending against the USDA for racism.

LAS VEGAS: Dump Bush, not nuclear waste

Hundreds of environmentalists, union members and Democratic Party leaders demonstrated on the Strip, Nov. 25, demanding President Bush reverse his decision to dump 77,000 tons of nuclear waste on Yucca Mountain, 100 miles north of the country’s fastest-growing city.

Bush was in town to pick up checks at a $2,000 per plate fund-raiser at the Venetian Casino, in his first visit since the 2000 election.

“Yucca Mountain is the main area we’re interested in,” said Peggy Maze Johnson of the environmental group Citizen Alert.

Leading state Democratic elected officials denounced Bush’s decision to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain and joined the protests organized by the November 25 Committee the following day.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.: Sprint lays off 2,000 workers

What does a billion dollars in profit look like? Try the paychecks of 2,000 working families. Sprint Telecommunications, which employs 70,000 around the country including 20,000 in Kansas City, announced that it plans to increase profits by $1 billion by eliminating the jobs of 2,000 workers, mostly in the Kansas City area.

In the last two years, Sprint has slashed 21,000 workers from its payroll.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.: School administrators sue for racial justice

Reva M. Chatman served the Nashville Metropolitan School District for three decades. Suddenly she was demoted from district Human Resources Director to classroom teacher. She decided to retire and contacted an attorney. “It became clear to me I was treated differently from other individuals,” Chatman said. “I had worked for the district for 32 years, had excellent credentials. Why all of a sudden am I incompetent when I was considered extremely competent under other superintendents? The only thing I had left to consider was the fact that I was treated differently because I am African American.”

Seven other district administrators have joined Chatman and filed a class action suit for racial justice.

A state investigation into employment practices in the district before the most recent suit revealed that the Metro district has not complied with state desegregation guidelines for two years, risking the loss of state and federal funding.

Chatman is leading a coalition of educators, the Alliance for School Equity and Excellence, that demands that the district work in a collaborative manner and establish a peer review committee to evaluate demotions, terminations and retirements.

INDIANAPOLIS: Grocery workers defending health care

While their brothers and sisters are on the picket lines in Southern California, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 700, 4,000 strong, are working under an extended contract because the corporation, Kroger, has agreed to discuss health care costs.

On Nov. 3, Local 400 members voted by a 3-1 margin to reject Kroger’s final contract offer and authorized a strike. The main issue was the company’s demand to gut workers’ health care benefits. A federal mediator brought the company back to the bargaining table and union workers have continued on the job. In a message to workers, the UFCW said of the talks, “Some progress has been made due to the resolve of Local 700 members.”

Kroger has advertised for scabs at its 58 central Indiana stores represented by the UFCW.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Julia Lutsky contributed to this week’s clips.

Bush Medicare plan robs seniors

Thu, 27 Nov 2003 02:35:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – In a treacherous sellout of 41 million senior citizens, the Republican-controlled House and Senate narrowly approved George W. Bush’s prescription drug scam that fattens HMO and drug company profits while opening the door to Medicare privatization.

The meager and confusing drug benefit, with a gaping doughnut hole in the middle, is offered only to those seniors who leave traditional Medicare and join a for-profit HMO, a form of legislative blackmail.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), at a Capitol Hill news conference, denounced the bill, approved by the Senate 54-44, as “an enormous transfer of wealth from seniors to HMOs and pharmaceuticals.” She predicted an angry backlash against the sellout in the 2004 elections.

“Shame on Congress for opening the door to privatize Medicare,” declared a statement by the Alliance for Retired Americans, “for protecting the profits of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries over the needs of older Americans.” The ARA vowed to keep fighting “until we get a decent bill” providing prescription drugs under Medicare.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called it “highway robbery” that will strip 3 million retirees of existing benefits while forcing them to rely on the “skimpy yet expensive” drug benefits in the bill. The legislation “will engineer massive and radical structural changes in Medicare” aimed at forcing seniors into privatized care, he charged.

During Senate debate, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) branded the measure “a witch’s brew” that embodies the GOP’s “right-wing ideological fantasies” and “private sector worship.” Medicare was established 38 years ago, he said, to guarantee medical care for people like his father, a coal miner afflicted with black lung, who had to rely on charity medical care until Medicare was enacted in 1965.

The government will subsidize HMOs to the tune of $1,900 more per person than regular Medicare – a 26 percent advantage, creating a $12 billion “slush fund” for HMOs, Harkin said. “That’s not competition, that’s corporate welfare,” he said. The bill embraces former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s plan to “let Medicare wither on the vine,” Harkin charged.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) displayed a chart comparing costs for a list of prescription drugs. Nevacor, for example, an anti-cholesterol medication, costs $4 per pill over the counter but only 26 cents per pill through the Veterans Administration, which bargains with drug manufacturers on behalf of millions of veterans – similar to the Canadian government which negotiates drug prices a third or half the price paid in the United States.

“But under this legislation, Medicare will be forbidden from negotiating such low prices for its recipients,” Lautenberg said. Seniors will be forced to pay on average $810 per year in deductibles and co-pays before deriving a penny from the drug plan. After drug costs reach $2,250, a recipient will get nothing until drug bills reach $3,600 in a year, the so-called “doughnut.” The legislation imposes a means test for the first time, undermining Medicare’s universality, which is one of its strongest pillars.

Bush bullied and cajoled to get the bill through as part of his drive for a second term. Destroying Medicare and forcing seniors into private HMOs is a centerpiece of Bush’s hidden agenda.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), millionaire heir to the HCA/Columbia Health Care Corp., will reap millions from the plan.

Hank McKinnell, Pfizer chairman and CEO, a “Ranger” who has pledged to raise $200,000 for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, is also on the bill’s gravy train. Charles Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, hailed the bill for providing “sufficient funds” to the hospitals he lobbies for. He is a Bush-Cheney “Pioneer” who has pledged $100,000 to their re-election campaign. M. Keith Weickel, chief operating officer of HCR Manor Care, a chain of more than 500 nursing homes, is another Bush “Pioneer” who stands to profit from the legislation.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said he was “stunned” that the Republicans did not permit a single House Democrat to participate in the House-Senate conference where the final version of the 675-page bill was drafted.

Republican leaders steamrollered the bill through the House in the dead of night by a 220-215 vote. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) likened the strong-arm tactics to the stealing of the 2000 presidential election, saying the GOP “stole it by hook and crook.”

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) planned to filibuster but was blocked when the Senate voted 71-29, with 22 Democrats joining 47 Republicans, for a motion to end debate.

The American Association of Retired Persons, which calls itself the nation’s largest retiree organization, endorsed the bill. The group derives 60 percent of its revenues from insurance-related ventures. “AARP would stand to gain tens of millions of dollars each year in new income under the Republican Medicare bill,” charged Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.

While the Medicare bill slipped through, a filibuster blocked an energy bill packed with $110 billion in giveaways to Bush-Cheney oil and gas cronies.

The author can be reached at greenerpastures21212@yahoo.com.

National Clips

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:16:00 +0000

ATLANTA, Ga.: Patriot Act inspires

dictatorships, says Carter

First, former Vice President Al Gore, and now former President Jimmy Carter have condemned the Patriot Act.

On Nov. 11 Carter said civil liberties have eroded in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, and passage of the Patriot Act has emboldened dictatorships around the world to abuse human rights.

Carter said that the U.S. sent a worrisome signal by rounding up hundreds of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S., most held without access to a lawyer, for alleged violations of immigration laws.

Saad Ibrahim, an Egyptian human rights activist, spoke at Carter’s side. “Every dictator in the world is using what the United States has done under the Patriot Act to justify past violations of human rights and declare a license to continue to violate human rights,” Ibrahim said. Ibrahim himself was jailed for seven years for exposing fraud in the Egyptian election process.

Other examples include Tunisia, where lawyers defending accused terrorists are indicted for terrorism; India, where anti-terrorist laws were used to prosecute people for protesting a business development; and Colombia, where President Uribe referred to human rights activists as “politikers at the service of terrorism.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: The Cubans are

coming! The Cubans are coming!

Starting Nov. 17, the University of Alabama (UA) hosted a week-long seminar on Cuba which include 10 Cuban professionals: poets, scientists and writers. The seminar is an ongoing exchange funded by UA trustee and shipping magnate Angus Cooper. In 2004, a second Alabama-Cuba conference is scheduled for Havana.

Jimmy Lyons, director and chief executive officer of the Alabama State Port Authority, said U.S. policy toward Cuba remains volatile because of the anti-Communist Florida Cuban-American community, but “deepening ties are inevitable.” U.S. law does permit cash trade in agricultural and medical supplies. The Alabama Port Authority just signed a deal with Cuba to ship 10,000 to 20,000 tons of poultry through Mobile. “We certainly have other prospects going forward,” said Lyons. “There is a lot of potential.”

El PASO Tex.:

Racial double standard in U.S. Army

Jessica Lynch captured the hearts and minds of Americans and received an 80 percent disability benefit from the U.S. Army. That’s great, says the family of Shoshana Johnson, African American soldier who was also captured by the Iraqis. So why is Ms. Johnson only awarded a 30 percent disability? The difference amounts to $600-$700 a month. The family has enlisted Rev. Jesse Jackson to plead their case before Congress.

“Here’s a case of two women, same unit, same war; everything about their service commitment and their risk is equal. … Yet there’s enormous contrast between how the military has handled these two cases,” Rev. Jackson said.

In March, 2003, Johnson’s unit, a maintenance group, was ambushed by Iraqis. Johnson, 30, mother of a three-year-old, was shot in both legs. Eleven members of the unit were killed and six were taken captive, including Lynch and Johnson.

WORCESTER, Mass.:

Workers strike French company

A strike this month by members of the United Auto Workers union sent a clear message to French-based Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. that workers in Massachusetts are growing tired of the firm’s stalling tactics. The strike took place Nov. 5-13. It began a day after workers overwhelmingly voted to reject company takeaway proposals.

The 800 workers at Saint-Gobain Abrasives voted the UAW in as their bargaining representative in August 2001. But the company has consistently delayed efforts to reach a first contract. Over the same period Saint-Gobain has committed 15 unfair labor practices, including unilaterally reducing workers’ health care benefits and bypassing the UAW on workplace health and safety concerns.

“We had no other choice,” stated Tony Quitadama, a 30-year mechanic at the plant. “We’ve been bargaining with them for almost two years and just as they [tried] to defeat the union vote in 2001, they continue to violate the law and make contract proposals that would take us backward, not forward.”

The union has received support from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), particularly from its affiliates at Saint-Gobain plants in France.

National Clips are compiled by DeniseWinebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com).

Pat Baker contributed to this week’s clips.

Big push to block GOP energy bill

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:12:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – Calls resounded on Capitol Hill for senators to block enactment of the 1,000-page Energy Policy Act, a Christmas tree laden with sugarplums for the oil and gas monopolies. The House approved the energy bill 246-180, with 46 Democrats joining 200 Republicans in support, on Nov. 18.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona branded the bill a “leave no lobbyist behind” pork barrel for oil and gas companies and Bush-Cheney campaign contributors. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said the bill would “do about as much to improve the nation’s energy security as the administration’s invasion of Iraq has done to stem the tide of global terrorism.”

Written exclusively by Republican lawmakers, with Vice President Dick Cheney looking on, it would cost taxpayers $115 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

While it does not lift the ban on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), it provides $2 billion to build a new gas pipeline from Alaska to Chicago, suggesting that the drive to open the ANWR will continue. It includes $25.7 billion over the next decade in new “tax incentives,” better known as loopholes, for energy producers. Waxman said, “These costs include industry subsidies, tax breaks, authorizations for new government spending, and mandates that increase consumer prices for gasoline and electricity.”

Moveon.org, the Internet grassroots organization, urged its 2 million members to bombard senators with demands that they filibuster to block the huge giveaway to Bush-Cheney oil and gas cronies. “The bill was developed in secret – first drafted by a Cheney task force whose very participant list was kept secret, even from Congress, and now finalized by senators and House members who literally locked Democrats out of the final negotiations,” charged Moveon.org organizer Peter Schurman. “This is outrageous and unacceptable. The last time President Bush forced something unknown down our throats, we got the USA Patriot Act. … In the context of recent blackouts and the war in Iraq, all of our senators will be under huge pressure to approve an energy bill, even if it doesn’t address the key problems, as this one doesn’t.”

Zach Corrigan of the Public Interest Research Group charged that the bill “eliminates clean air protections for millions of Americans. It allows communities with deteriorating air quality to delay cleanup. … As a result, Americans will suffer from thousands of additional asthma attacks, hospitalizations, emergency room visits and new cases of asthma.”

Even the staid New York Times urged the senators to filibuster “and launch this dreadful bill into the legislative netherworld where it belongs.”

The author can be reached at

Seniors slam Trojan horse drug bill

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:06:00 +0000

WASHINGTON – Senior citizens, African American, Latino and white, packed the ornate Senate Caucus Room Nov. 19 and cheered as speakers blasted a prescription drug plan that provides meager drug benefits for some senior citizens while opening the door to the privatization of Medicare.

Standing behind a big banner that proclaimed, “Don’t Privatize Medicare,” New York’s Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton praised the protesters for traveling to the nation’s capital. “You’re standing up not only for yourselves but for the millions who can’t be here,” she said. “This bill will take benefits away from seniors in my state who rely on a state prescription drug plan. The real agenda is to end Medicare. That’s what this is all about, the old switcheroo. It is another Republican giveaway to the HMOs and the pharmaceuticals.”

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) vowed a determined fight against the bill in the House and urged Democratic senators to block it with a filibuster in the Senate. The crowd erupted in a chant, “Filibuster, filibuster!”

The demonstrators, many of them members of the AFL-CIO’s Alliance of Retired Americans (ARA), came on buses from New York, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Many wore union shirts, jackets and caps from more than a dozen unions. Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the ARA, told the crowd, “The Bush administration and Congress are callously using a much needed and long awaited prescription benefit to privatize Medicare.”

If enacted, Coyle warned, “Medicare as we know it will cease to exist. They may say they are looking out for seniors but they are really protecting the profits of the big pharmaceutical companies and insuring increased profits for the insurance industry.” ARA, he said, demands that the Senate kill this giveaway and enact a simple, straightforward prescription drug benefit under Medicare.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) mentioned that AARP, the retiree group, endorsed the prescription drug plan and is running full-page ads admitting that the “Medicare bill isn’t perfect. But millions of Americans can’t wait for perfect.”

The room echoed with boos and shouts of “down with AARP!” Many went cross-town after the rally to picket AARP headquarters and burn their AARP membership cards in protest against the sellout. AARP CEO Bill Novelli wrote the preface for Newt Gingrich’s book on health care in which the former House Speaker called for letting Medicare “wither on the vine.” AARP runs a profitable business selling prescription drugs and has longstanding ties to Colonial Penn and other insurance companies.

Edward Vasko, a retired LTV steelworker wearing his SOAR cap, rode one of the three buses from Pittsburgh. “LTV eliminated everything we worked a lifetime for,” he said. “They took away our life insurance, health insurance, and pension benefits. Now the Bush administration is trying to phase Medicare out. If they have $87 billion to spend on Iraq, why can’t they find a few billion dollars to pay for a prescription drug benefit? We ought to have a plan where we go to pick up a prescription and we don’t pay anything for it.”

In a statement released a day earlier, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney charged that the prescription plan would undermine Medicare for 41 million recipients. “For years, seniors have been promised the one improvement to Medicare they said they need: coverage for prescription drugs,” Sweeney said. “What today’s deals offer instead is skimpy drug coverage coupled with reduction in benefits now guaranteed by Medicare, money for HMOs and pharmaceutical companies and a path to the probable privatization of the entire program.”

Democratic presidential candidates at a forum in New Hampshire sponsored by the AARP denounced the prescription drug bill. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark drew a strong ovation from the seniors at the forum. “This is a Trojan horse bill,” he said. “It’s got provisions in it to undercut Medicare. I think the American people want their representatives and their association [AARP] to stand up and be counted for senior citizens and that means rejecting this bill.” Only Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) waffled, refusing to say he would vote against the bill in the Senate. Bush wants the prescription drug bill as a centerpiece of his campaign for a second term. He vows to ram it through before Thanksgiving. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) is leading the struggle in the Senate to block it, if necessary with a filibuster.

The author can be reached at

Show-Me States winning streak

Fri, 14 Nov 2003 06:48:00 +0000

The Thrill and the AgonyThis week in sports by Chas Walker

‘Show-Me’ State’s winning streak

The “Show-Me” State has certainly shown us some excellent pro football so far this season. The St. Louis Rams are 6 and 3 and tied for first with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West Division. But the bigger story is Kansas City, a team that has the best record in the NFL, undefeated after nine games, and that is fresh off a big 41-20 win over the Cleveland Browns.

KC special teams kick returner Dante Hall began the season by returning kickoffs for touchdowns in four consecutive games – an NFL record that turned heads as well as broke ankles. He came awfully close again in the Nov. 9 match-up against the Browns. If it hadn’t been for a botched block and an ankle-grabbing diving tackle from the final Cleveland defenseman, Hall would have recorded his fifth total this season. (As it was, he returned the kick 77 yards, setting up a Kansas City field goal.)

Another standout is running back Priest Holmes, who has accumulated 862 yards on 182 carries and 14 total touchdowns so far this season. The threat of Holmes in the backfield – and the fact that the offense relies on him so much – works to their advantage when they decide to pass, since pass coverage thins out on simple play-action fakes. In this week’s game, for example, the KC quarterback Trent Green threw 29 for 42 for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns; the team only gained 88 yards total on the ground.

Kansas City’s defense deserves some of the credit for this year’s success as well. In this past week’s game, they forced two turnovers, sacked the Browns’ QB Kelly Holcomb three times, and allowed no single-play offensive gains greater than 20 yards.

The interesting thing about Kansas City’s undefeated streak is that their offense, on average, gains only slightly more yards per game (359.9) than their defense allows (331.6), and yet their average point total is nearly double that of their opponents – 31.9 to 16.7. By way of comparison, the Dallas Cowboys are on top in the NFC East with a 7-2 record and they average nearly 100 yards more than their opponents per game. Their points per game average is only slightly higher than their opponents’ – 20.1 to 15.1.

What does this mean? It means that Kansas City can convert when it counts, under pressure, in the red zone. They do not waste their scoring opportunities on the field, they rarely turn the ball over, and they force their opponents into making mistakes. Kansas City is now seeking to become just the ninth team since the league merger in 1970 to begin a season with 10 wins and no losses.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

National Clips

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:27:00 +0000

WASHINGTON: Al Gore says ‘repeal Patriot Act’

Before 3,000 people in Constitution Hall, Nov. 9, former Vice President Al Gore charged President Bush with “mass violations of civil liberties” and eating away at personal freedoms under the Patriot Act. To repeated applause, Gore called on Congress to repeal the Patriot Act.

“I believe that the Patriot Act has turned out to be, on balance, a terrible mistake, and that it became a kind of Tonkin Gulf Resolution conferring Congress’ blessing for this president’s assault on civil liberties,” Gore said.

Over 26 million Americans agree with Gore. Recently, Portland, Maine and Silver City, N.M., joined 203 cities, towns and communities enacting resolutions challenging the federal Patriot Act. The Gore event was sponsored by MoveOn.org, the grassroots online peace and justice group.

FRESNO, Calif.: More gov’t spying on peace groups

The quiet young man who sat in the corner turned out to be a detective for the Fresno County Sheriff. Members of Peace Fresno found out his true identity when the local newspaper published his picture.

Catherine Campbell, an attorney representing Peace Fresno, told the Sacramento Bee that the group is contemplating legal action.

In early November, Attorney General John Ashcroft issued new guidelines which expand law enforcement agencies leeway in spying on antiwar groups and others. Although portions of the new guidelines are “classified,” the guidelines in part call for “the proactive collection of information concerning threats to national security, including information on individuals, groups and organizations of possible investigative interest.”

The phrase “possible investigative interest” worries the American Civil Liberties Union. In a statement, the ACLU contends that the rules are “apparently designed to allow detailed monitoring of both citizens and noncitizens without any indication of ongoing or intended espionage.”

BECKLEY, W.Va.: Bush protects coal operator, fires whistleblower

Jack Spadaro, a mining engineer, enforced safe underground and surface mining regulations and taught coal mine safety for 26 years. In October, the National Mine Health and Safety Administration accused him of abusing his authority, failing to follow orders and misusing a credit card which cost the government $22.60 in bank fees. The administration said it would fire Spadaro within 30 days.

What Spadaro did was expose a cover-up. On Oct. 11, 2000, 300 million gallons of contaminated water, the result of strip mining, burst its restraining walls and flooded two hollows and an abandoned underground mine on the West Virginia-Kentucky border. The “sludge pond” spill was twice of the size of the fatal Buffalo Creek disaster, 30 years ago, when 125 people were killed. This time no one died when the mountain of polluted water and sludge spewed out, but residents have been buying bottled water for the past three years.

Spadaro was part of the investigative team and wanted to issue eight violations against Massey Energy, owner of the “sludge pond,” impose heavy fines and hold federal regulators accountable for inadequate enforcement of safety regulations. At the end of the day, Massey paid only $110,000 in fines.

“I would have to say flat out that Jack would not be in the spot he’s in if he had not been a whistleblower,” said Joseph Main, health and safety director for the United Mine Workers of America union.

Jason Huber, Spadaro’s attorney, agreed. “It is readily apparent that Mr. Spadaro’s proposed termination is not a result of meritorious complaints regarding how Mr. Spadaro dispatched his duties,” said Huber. “But is rather the Department of Labor, Secretary Elaine L. Chao, Sen. Mitch McConnell and the Bush administration’s retaliation against Mr. Spadaro for whistleblowing activities.”

Secretary Chao is married to McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. Massey is a major campaign contributor to McConnell and President Bush.

TULSA, Okla.: Free trade? Not if it hurts drug profits

Federal Judge Claire Eagan issued an injunction at the request of the Bush administration closing the doors of a company which assisted people in obtaining prescription drugs from Canada. On Nov. 10, Judge Eagan shut down 85 RxDepot and Rx of Canada stores.

An estimated 1 million to 2 million U.S. residents had been able to fill their doctor’s prescriptions at a fraction of the cost by purchasing them either through the mail or directly from Canada. Canada has national health care and bars prescription drug advertising.

Profits at prescription drug corporations, like Bayer, have skyrocketed to over 17 percent, according to the Alliance for Retired Americans, a union-based, national organization for retirees.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Julia Lutsky contributed to this week’s clips.

Media reform movement comes of age

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:21:00 +0000

MADISON, Wis. – As the audience overflowed the 1,800-capacity Orpheum Theatre here last weekend, Commissioner Michael Copps of the Federal Communications Commission told them they were “the most important meeting occurring in America today,” and veteran newsman Bill Moyers said they were engaged in “a struggle for the soul of democracy.”

The occasion was the National Conference on Media Reform, Nov. 7-9. About 2,000 people from 47 states and a dozen countries, including high-profile figures like AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, and several members of Congress, attended the conference with the aim of reversing the trend of the mass media becoming corporate titans with their own biased agendas.

In the opening session, journalist John Nichols compared the media reform movement to the environmental movement on the eve of the first Earth Day. While media issues have elicited more public comment to the government than any other issue besides the war in Iraq, there’s been surprisingly little attention to them in the mainstream media or the presidential debates.

“You are the grassroots activists who will put this issue on the agenda,” said Nichols.

Robert McChesney, a University of Illinois professor whose books and activism have energized and made him a star of the media reform movement, told the conference how the original hope was to bring together maybe 200 people. He said the main catalyst for the explosion of those expectations was the grassroots battle of the U.S. people against media concentration.

More than 2.5 million Americans voiced opposition to a new rule passed by the FCC on June 2 that would have allowed a single corporation to control up to three television stations, eight radio stations, a daily newspaper and all the billboards in any given city. The courts have blocked the rule from going into effect, and the battle in Congress is 13 votes away from reversing the rule permanently.

Dozens of workshops at the conference focused on the shortcomings of the media and how to fight back. The concentrated ownership of media – 90 percent of all print and electronic content is now controlled by just five corporate giants – has limited public access and participation, squelched authentic localism, deluged Americans with advertising, and disenfranchised voices of color.

One workshop leader noted that media concentration has degraded the information environment to the point where many people – sometimes majorities of the U.S. population – hold demonstrably false beliefs about George Bush, the war in Iraq, and taxation, for example.

Comedian and author Al Franken agreed. Summing up a scientific study by the Annenberg School of Journalism, Franken said, “The more you watch Fox News, the dumber you get.”

Structural changes in the media have also damaged the interests of workers more directly. Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley pointed out that media bias comes from institutions more than from reporters.

“The vast majority of reporters enter journalism because they want to make a difference,” Foley said. “That’s why so many of those who are good are leaving these days, because it’s very demoralizing. … These are ruthless employers, as ruthless as any corporate bully you can imagine.”

Foley offered the example of Mike Gallagher, a star investigative reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer until in the summer of 1998, when his major investigative report on bribery and other wrongdoing by Chiquita Brands led him to be fired as a scapegoat for stepping on the wrong toes.

John Sweeney called the events described by Foley part of the “attempt to eliminate what’s left of our country’s free press.”

Rahul Majahan, a writer and antiwar activist, noted a report from Reporters Without Borders that rates the United States 31st in the world in terms of press freedom. As if to prove the reformers’ point about media bias, almost no mainstream media showed up at the conference.

When Amy Goodman of Pacifica’s “Democracy Now!” program asked what mainstream media were present, only one group identified themselves. “Where are you from?” she asked. They shouted back, “Canada.”

The authors can be reached at pww@pww.org

Corporations have their own press, the people need theirs

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:17:00 +0000

There are six more weeks left for the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo fund drive. Thus far, contributions from 43 states totaling $83,716 have come in from readers who say, “Yes!” to the PWW’s coverage of the people’s struggles.

Where do the checks come from? From trade unionists and unemployed, from artists and academics, from retirees and pensioners, urban and rural, working people all over the country.

The checks and money orders come in amounts ranging from $2 to $3,000. Some folks send a check every month.

We are proud that our paper doesn’t receive one penny from any corporation. We are proud that the people who back us are vocal opponents of exploitation and racism. We are proud that our supporters contribute because they know they are a part of a movement for peace and humanity, away from violence and destruction. We welcome your contribution of whatever amount.

When asked how Friends of the People’s Weekly World in Arizona raise money for the annual fund drive, Joe Bernick’s answer is “First, you saturate the community with lots of PWWs for 12 years!”

More than 20 years ago, Joe began writing articles for the paper. Later he helped distribute bundles at area copper mines. Now he, and Communist Party District Organizer Lorenzo Torrez are the prime movers behind the annual fund drive.

With help from PWW readers, they distribute about 900 papers weekly. Regular readers pick up their paper at one of 10 libraries, two major bus terminals and three community campuses.

Joe says, “We hand out a lot of newspapers in Tucson, but they’re not free. They cost money to produce and we pay for them. We want to keep handing them out and increase the number we distribute. This paper is an important part of the movement that will defeat Bush next year. Help us do this by contributing to the fund drive!”

Supporters of the paper in Chicago and New York will be calling readers to ask for contributions to help us reach $120,000 by Nov. 16. Every contribution to our fund drive goes a long way and every dollar counts.

Help us reach our goal of $200,000 by Dec. 15 so we can continue giving you the coverage you like and enable us to expand our readership.

You can give online with a credit card at www.pww.org or over the phone at (212) 924-2523, ext. 363, Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. Eastern time. Checks or money orders can be sent and made payable to Long View Publishing Co., 235 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10011.

Pamella Saffer is the coordinator of the PWW/Mundo fund drive and can be reached at pww@pww.org

Diddy runs the City

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:50:00 +0000

The Thrill and the AgonyThis week in sports by Chas Walker

Diddy runs the City

“Every child needs a high quality education and proper health care in order to prepare for the ‘Marathon of Life.’” Thus begins NYC rapper P. Diddy’s manifesto about why he chose to run the ING New York City Marathon Nov. 2. Diddy was out to raise money for the NYC public schools and several charities that serve with New York’s poor children, as well as to raise awareness about challenges faced by low-income children.

Asking fans to “diddy-cate” money per every mile of the 26.2-mile course, the rapper-cum-runner aimed to raise over $1 million.

In an accelerated two-month training program, Diddy ran under the guidance of three-time NYC Marathon winner Alberto Salazar and with a pair of stabilizing sneakers custom-built by sports scientists. He commented along the way that the challenge of training was “changing [his] lifestyle: cutting back on being out late, partying, working in the studio late, changing my diet.” But he made it to the finish line in 4 hours and 14 minutes – 15 minutes faster than Oprah Winfrey’s celebrated 1994 Marine Corps Marathon.

And while finishing the marathon is certainly an accomplishment, winning it is something else entirely. The women’s division was won by Margaret Okayo of Kenya in 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 31 seconds, besting the course record she set in 2001 of 2:24:21. The men’s title was taken by another Kenyan, Martin Lel, in 2:10:30.

Over 34,000 runners began and finished the marathon, in large part thanks to the cheers of over 2 million fans who lined the streets of New York to see the runners through. The five-borough race begins on Staten Island at the Verrazano Bridge, passes through Brooklyn and Queens, then crosses over to Manhattan, shoots up briefly into the Bronx, and finally zips back down into Manhattan alongside Central Park.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

PWW/Mundo forum hosts Parenti

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:40:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES – The war in Iraq, like conflicts in which the United States has been engaged for more than a century, is not about spreading democracy but global corporate expansionism, Michael Parenti told a standing-room only crowd at a fund-raiser for the Peoples Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo held Oct. 13 here.

Over 250 people packed the UNITE! union hall to hear author and professor Michael Parenti speak on, “Democracy vs. U.S. World Domination.”

Despite the recent recall election victory for Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, the audience showed that the people’s fighting spirit and hunger for progressive views are not curbed. The event raised $4,700.

Parenti pointed out that, in 1958, it was a CIA coup that placed the Baathist Party in charge of the country, which Saddam Hussein subsequently took control of in 1968.

The war in Iraq has many domestic advantages for George W. Bush and his right-wing associates, according to Parenti. It is a distraction from the domestic problems that plague the U.S.

The billions of dollars the war is costing the U.S. provides a classic example of the have-nots protecting those who have it all. “When it comes to protecting their money, you’re money is no object,” said Parenti.

With the situation deteriorating, Bush has had no choice but to turn to the UN, which he first rebuffed for assistance. “Now he goes to the UN and asks them to pick up part of the blood tab. The people of the world have refused,” said Parenti.

Evelina Alarcon, chair of the Southern California district of the Communist Party USA, welcomed the crowd and Parenti. She also introduced a group of union grocery workers on strike. One of strike leaders said that she, along with 70,000 of her UFCW brothers and sisters, were determined to win their fight.

At the end of Parenti’s presentation, Terrie Albano, editor of the People’s Weekly World made an appeal for donations and subscriptions.

Parenti’s latest books, “The Assassination of Julius Caesar – A People’s History Of The Roman Empire,” “The Terrorism Trap” and “To Kill A Nation” may be ordered from Esther Cicconi at (213) 387-1618 or through your local bookstore.

The authors can be reached at pww@pww.org.

Blame profits, not workers, for high health costs

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 06:21:00 +0000

The issue of corporate greed in health care is beginning to make its way into the mass media, thanks in good part to the blatant price-gouging of the pharmaceutical companies. The evidence pointing to drug company profiteering – as revealed by dramatically lower drug prices in Canada – is too overwhelming to deny.

Generally speaking, however, the term “profit” is deleted from any mainstream discussions regarding the high cost of health care. This is no accident. The for-profit hospitals, drug companies, medical supply companies and insurance companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to deflect popular attention away from their huge profits. They prefer that people blame their skyrocketing health care costs on doctors, on general inflation, or perhaps even on themselves.

People are desperately searching for a solution to this mounting crisis. Workers and their unions being assaulted with demands for draconian co-payments, deductibles and out-of-pocket payments at the time of service. Every labor negotiation includes employer demands for greater employee co-pays and deductibles. Employers say they want “financial relief” from escalating medical bills. And, make no mistake about it, these bill are astronomical. But its workers who are taking it in the chin.

For example, Milt Freudenheim, writing in the Oct. 22 issue of The New York Times, quotes the Hewitt consulting company that out-of-pocket costs to employees have doubled since 1998. This total is now over $2,126 a year. And, if that is not bad enough, the expectation is that this figure will top $2,600 by next year.

Even when there is a good negotiated labor contract for health benefits, workers have to fork out hundreds of dollars when they seek treatment. Still worse, as we’ve previously reported, the Commonwealth Fund reports that 9.6 million workers and their families at companies with more than 500 employees have no employer-provided health insurance at all.

A very dangerous new trend among employers is to keep the premiums and basic costs to employees steady, but then increase the out-of-pocket costs for people who actually use hospitals and physician services. This is old method of dividing the workers so as to better control them. It’s also a good illustration of blaming the victim.

Bosses point to sick workers as the cause of crisis. Stories circulate that “a few patients” are costing employers hundreds of thousands of dollars. “We need to control these excessive costs,” say whining employers, suggesting that patient behavior is the problem. Under this scenario, the for-profit health care companies are completely left off the hook.

In the early 1970s, the cost of health services was going through the roof. Hospital services were skyrocketing in terms of costs. The Republican administration of Nixon imposed price controls. These had the effect of slowing the increases and also put the pressure on Congress to take action, as in the proposed enactment of the Kennedy-Corman bill.

Economists cry bloody murder at the mention of price controls, but something must be done, and done soon.

Politicians running for office in 2004 must be forced to address not just the costs of health care, but also the profits that these costs are generating. When visiting all those running for office, make sure that they don’t get off just wringing their hands, shaking their heads and feeling sorry for the patients. Too many of them accept money from drug, health insurance and supply companies. Insist that they put human needs first. Insist that they address the wanton profiteering of the medical-industrial complex. And hold their feet to the fire for a truly universal plan of national health care.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Arizona: Grassroots can beat big bucks

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 05:01:00 +0000

TUCSON, Ariz. – It is going to take a massive grassroots effort to vanquish the millions and millions of dollars flooding the coffers of the Bush campaign from corporate America, the defense industry, the prison industry, and every other mega-corporation that reaps benefits from donating to Bush.

Nevertheless, here in Tucson, we are gearing up for local elections in 2003 and the presidential election ahead in 2004 by using the same tactics we did in 2002 to get Raul Grijalva elected to Congress.

Pima County, which contains most of Grijalva’s district, had a 67 percent voter turnout for the November 2002 election – the second highest in the entire United States. This is mainly because for months on end, teams of volunteers, every Saturday and Sunday – and weekdays as well – walked all the precincts three to five times in the sweltering 105-plus degree heat all summer long, getting vote-by-mail requests signed, registering voters, and dropping information brochures behind screen doors and hanging on doorknobs. We tracked the reception from each household, refreshed information over and over again in computers to generate the next walking lists, had art sales and house parties to fundraise. We followed up on election day by walking all the precincts twice more that day, making phone calls to remind folks to vote, driving people to the polls, manning all the voting locations – whatever it took. Massive effort from many folks for maximum payoff: That is what it takes.

The election night party was incredible, with folks trailing back to Grijalva campaign headquarters wet and windblown after a raging storm in the late afternoon soaked the volunteers walking precincts and manning voting locations.

Like the media is doing to Dennis Kucinich right now, halfway through the campaign, local papers said that Raul Grijalva was not going to make it. He was not deemed to be even among the top five and had less than half the money of Elaine Richardson (who was heavily supported by Republican car dealers, developers, and Emily’s List). His rag-tag band of volunteers were just a pathetic joke to the pundits.

But we were like one big crazy family working around the clock with people rushing back to headquarters from their jobs every day, or spending their vacations working on the campaign that summer. In the end, we won by double the amount of votes with only half the money! It was the most gratifying experience of my life.

It gave us hope for the future when we all realized we could actually win, and win big with such a grand, truly grassroots effort.

Congressman Raul Grijalva is proving to be a wonderful voice for the people of Arizona. And our movement and those important connections made during his campaign are still alive in Tucson.

The author can be reached at susan@susanthorpe.com

National Clips

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 04:34:00 +0000

MACON, Ga.: Tobacco merger to destroy 14,000 jobs

It was not the famous “tobacco settlement” where cigarette corporations are paying billions of dollars to states to cover smoking-related health care costs that forced the closure of the Brown and Williamson (B&W) cigarette plant here, the largest in central Georgia. It is the merger with R.J. Reynolds. The merger was announced Oct. 27. The plant closure will increase profits by $500 million a year, according to B&W projections.

When Rickey Crawford’s boss called him at home to tell him of the plant’s closing in 18-20 months, he fell silent. “I was stunned. I didn’t say a word for about five minutes,” Crawford said. “I thought this plant would never close.” B&W has been in Macon for 27 years.

Initially, 2,100 families will lose their jobs at the sprawling complex, but Bill Riall, an economist with the Economic Development Institute at Georgia Tech, estimates “that the loss would ultimately produce a total job loss of about 14,000 in the state.” B&W pays $11 million a year in state and local taxes and fees. The average worker is paid $26 an hour making 80 billion cigarettes a year, half of which are exported to Japan and other countries.

In 2000, Georgia gave the plant a $2 million a year tax break.

MIAMI: U.S. gov’t prosecuting Greenpeace

For the first time in history, an entire organization is being criminally prosecuted for the actions of two of its members. “The government’s action is unprecedented – prosecuting an entire organization for the expressive activities of its supporters,” said John Passacantando, executive director of the 250,000-member organization. “Nonviolent, civil protest – an essential tradition from colonial times to the modern civil rights movement – may become yet another casualty of John Ashcroft’s attack on civil liberties.”

The case stems from a Greenpeace protest to halt illegal logging of mahogany, an officially endangered species. Activists boarded a ship, allegedly carrying the valuable wood, off the coast of Miami in April 2002. Two environmentalists who boarded the ship and 12 others in support vessels were arrested. Before their arrest, two Greenpeace members raised a banner, “President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging,” on the ship. For their actions, the Department of Justice is prosecuting the entire organization. They will appear in court this month.

CHEYENNE, Wyo.: FedEx guilty of sexual harassment

In a mixed decision, a jury found, after two days of deliberations, Federal Express guilty of sexual harassment, and ordered the company to pay a Wyoming woman $10,000 in compensatory damages. However, it did not award her lost wages, benefits or medical expenses.

For 26 months Rebecca Phillips endured constant verbal abuse from co-workers and supervisors. In her lawsuit, she said co-workers routinely imitated and acted out sexual activities in her presence. When she complained, supervisors told her to “toughen up” and “quit whining.” Management issued a warning to her co-workers, but took no action to create a safe working environment. Phillips said other women and minority workers were also subject to abuse.

MILWAUKEE, Wis.: Methodists protest Cuba travel restrictions

Citing recent congressional action that would ease travel restrictions to Cuba, over 500 Methodists signed a petition presented to Sen. Herb Kohl on Nov. 3. The Wisconsin senator is a member of the conference committee which is brokering legislation to be sent to President Bush. The petition urges Kohl to resist efforts by House Republicans to maintain current restrictions on travel to Cuba. “We are disturbed at reports that the clear majority will of both houses of Congress may be subverted by a small minority with the backing of the House leadership,” said Paul Kinsley and Dollora Greene-Evans, members of the Central Methodist Church. Maintaining current restrictions, charged Kinsley and Greene-Evans, “(would) subvert our own cherished democratic process, in an attempt to deny our right to travel as free people.”

In 1999, six members of Central Methodist went to Cuba to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their sister church. Two African Americans were part of the delegation and were subsequently fined under current laws regulating Cuban travel by Americans. No white members were fined at the time. Members of the church took this racist action public and now Kinsley, who is white, is also facing penalties.

National Clips are compiled by Denise Winebrenner Edwards (dwinebr696@aol.com). Art Heitzer and Leon Oboler contributed to this week’s clips.

Canadian health care expert on tour

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 04:13:00 +0000

Doug Allan, a Toronto-based trade union health care researcher and health coalition organizer, will be speaking on “Lessons from Canada’s Public Health Care System” in a series of three events in the eastern United States this week. His U.S. tour is being sponsored by Friends of the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo.

“Canada’s universal public health care system covers services like doctors and hospitalization for all, regardless of wealth,” Allan told the World. “Canadians are fearful of encroaching privatization and ‘American-style’ for-profit corporate health care,” he said. They know, however, that “public health care is something worth fighting for.”

Allan is an authority on the Canadian health care system, particularly in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. A key focus of his work has been working with others to stop the privatization of Canada’s health care services. While advocates of privatization in Canada have recently been set back in their quest to privatize the country’s single-payer insurance system, they are unrelenting in their efforts to privatize the health care delivery system – hospitals, clinics, tests, and homecare, for example.

Allan will share some of the experiences of Canadian unions and health coalitions – door-to-door canvassing, lawn signs, electoral campaigns, and more – in their struggles to preserve and expand the public health care system there.

Allan’s remarks should be of considerable interest to audiences in the United States, where health care costs are spiraling out of control and where at least 40 million people lack health care insurance. The Congressional Budget Office has recently estimated that up to 59 million people are uninsured at least briefly in any given year.

Readers in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Cambridge, Mass., areas should try to see Doug Allan at the following events below.

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Doug Allan tour schedule

Baltimore Saturday, Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. People’s Weekly World/Mundo Forum Stony Run Friends Meeting House 5116 N. Charles St., Baltimore Suggested donation: $5 Information: (410) 433-3269

Philadelphia Sunday, Nov. 9, 2:00 p.m. People’s Weekly World/Mundo Banquet Holiday Inn, Stadium 10th & Packer, Philadelphia Tickets $38; students, unemployed $23 Information: (215) 222-8895

Cambridge, Mass. Monday, Nov. 10, 7:00 p.m. Wine and cheese reception CME in Cambridge Central Square 550 Massachusetts Ave. Information: (617) 354-2876