Editorial: In defense of science
Oral arguments began this week on a lawsuit by 11 parents in Dover, Pa., seeking to reverse the local school board’s decision to teach “intelligent design” in the system’s biology classes. The school board argues that its decision is an issue of “academic freedom.”
Mercury emissions expose extreme rights family values hypocrisy
On Sept. 13 the U.S. Senate narrowly rejected a bipartisan resolution offered by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would have maintained a firm timetable for the reduction in mercury emissions from power plants.
Panel hears bipartisan call to save VA hospitals
NEW YORK — On Sept. 19 the Veterans Administration Local Advisory Panel (LAP) met here to discuss a report by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP that included proposals to close the city’s two VA hospitals, Manhattan and Brooklyn (Fort Hamilton).
BP hit with record $21 million fine
HOUSTON — BP Products North America Inc. has been fined a record $21 million for health and safety violations as a result of a March 23 explosion that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 at its Texas City, Texas, plant, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. The penalty was almost twice the previous record fine at the plant.
City urged to uphold rights of immigrants
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “Every day it becomes more difficult to live,” testified Lupe, a mother and member of Unidad Latina en Accion, at a Sept. 15 public hearing on the status of immigrants. “Landlords exploit us. We don’t have adequate utilities. Our children test for high lead. We are asking the New Haven Board of Aldermen for help in changing the laws.”
AFL-CIO urges new direction for U.S. after Katrina
WASHINGTON (PAI) — Saying the havoc Hurricane Katrina wrought exposed to the public the gaping holes in U.S. society and the economy — and the ideologically driven failure to respond to them — the AFL-CIO will launch a mass campaign to promote a “new direction” for the U.S.
Growing unity vs. NYC Mayor Bloomberg
NEW YORK — The campaign to defeat Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ally of President Bush, has swung in the people’s favor following the Sept. 13 Democratic primary and a string of endorsements for the primary’s victor, Fernando Ferrer.
World Notes
Bangladesh: Garment workers urge minimum wage; Ghana: Mine safety promoted; Gulf States: Strikes highlight expatriate workers’ plight; Nicaragua: Sandinistas make oil deal with Venezuela; United Kingdom: TUC elects Black woman president
London marchers: How many more people must die?
LONDON — Antiwar protesters sent a stark message to Prime Minister Tony Blair over the weekend: “How many more must die before you listen?”
Report says Israeli wall helps land grab
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem released a report Sept. 15 titled “Under the guise of security: Routing the separation barrier as to enable Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.”
