'Laws alone are not enough to remedy discrimination'
The Rev. Martin Luther King was present when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964. Prohibiting discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion or national origin, it was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
Keep Philly Cool; Open the Pools!
PHILADELPHIA — A group of some 100 citizens of Philadelphia of different generations from communities across the city demonstrated at City Hall yesterday with a simple demand: “Open our pools!” Their signs and chants left little doubt about their message: “Turn on the Tap!” — “Mayor Nutter, Turn on the Water!”
Texas may bar students learning about Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall
United Farmworkers founder César Chávez is an unfitting role model for students, and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is not an appropriate historical figure. So say “expert reviewers” in their report to the Texas State Board of Education, which recommends removing the two U.S. leaders from the social studies curriculum taught to its 4.7 million public school students.
Hate crimes law 10 years overdue, critics charge
Legislation to protect victims of attack based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities reached the Senate floor July 15 with a good chance of being signed into law. Current hate crimes law applies to acts of violence motivated by prejudice against a person’s race, color, national origin, or religion. Under the new proposal hate crimes law will be expanded to include sexual orientation, disability and gender.
House bill: Taxes the wealthy to keep America healthy
The health care bill presented by the House leadership this week pays for the health insurance of the 20 percent of the people who cannot afford it with a surtax on the richest 1 percent. Nothing like this has ever emerged from the leadership of a U.S. Congress.
Crowd to Calif. gov: Dont let our state go up in smoke!
SAN FRANCISCO ― “Cutting services is not a quick fix. We need to tax the big oil companies, we need to restore the vehicle license tax. We need to increase revenues, we can’t live off cutting services for those who need them the most.” Fidel Valenzuela, a community organizer with the Hayward-based Community Resources for Independent Living, was in the crowd outside California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office here, with a delegation from his organization.
COMMENTARY Hepatitis C silent but deadly
As we get older, we tend to get tired sooner than in our younger days and find ourselves tacking naps, we also have the occasional lapse of memory and joint pain. For most, these symptoms of age are nothing more than that, signs of aging.
Community groups slam banks, back consumer agency
ST. LOUIS -- Darryl Moore, a local ACORN member, pointed up at the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Securities building here on July 14 and said, 'They're sticking us up. They're using our tax dollars to pay for public relations, lobbying campaigns and TV ads that are against common sense financial reforms.'
Senate committee advances health reform
A public option as part of health reform cleared a major legislative hurdle today, July 15, with passage of the Quality, Affordable Health Coverage for All Americans Act in the Senate HELP Committee. The bill would expand health care coverage for tens of millions of Americans who currently lack insurance and will provide tens of millions more with more choices about which health plan suits them best.
Groups denounce Rush Limbaugh's Sotomayor comments
Rush Limbaugh’s recent comment calling Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor a “racist” and lacking “intellectual depth” is sparking new movements in several places around the country.
