Archie Green, 91, union activist and folklorist, dies
Archie Green, a shipwright turned folklorist whose interest in union workers and their culture transformed the study of American folklore and who single-handedly persuaded Congress to create the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, died last Sunday at his home in San Francisco. He was 91.
Obama admin. weighs in on side of women workers in Wal-Mart case
(PAI) The Obama administration, represented by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has weighed in on the side of the female workers who filed a class action sexual discrimination suit against Wal-Mart eight years ago. The government was silent until now, but EEOC attorneys who sided with the women are career personnel, not GOP Bush government appointees.
Predatory payday lenders target Black and Latino communities
As the misdeeds of major financial institutions continue to make the headlines, it should be no surprise to find out the many ways people have been cheated by financial institutions at the community level. The controversial practice known as 'payday lending' is one of the most egregious examples. The process gives cash-strapped consumers an advance -- with exorbitant interest rates -- on their paychecks. For years consumer advocates have pushed for more regulations on the payday loan industry, arguing that these firms are in fact predatory lenders that trap the working poor in a cycle of debt.
NE health summit: Hundreds demand reform
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Two different groups of people gathered here March 17 to talk about solving the health care crisis. Inside the Davis Center at the University of Vermont were some 400 people invited to the White House Northeast Regional Forum on Health Reform, hosted by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Republican Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont.
Neo-con ideologues launch new foreign policy group
WASHINGTON, Mar 25 (IPS) - A newly-formed and still obscure neo-conservative foreign policy organisation is giving some observers flashbacks to the 1990s, when its predecessor staked out the aggressively unilateralist foreign policy that came to fruition under the George W. Bush administration.
Unemployment hits harder among Blacks, Latinos
(AP) The ax fell without sound or shadow: Tatiana Gallego was suddenly called into human resources and laid off from her job as an admissions counselor for a fashion college.
Webcams show Bald Eagle hatchlings
A webcam at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Virginia caught the hatching of two Bald Eaglets born six days apart late last month, according to the National Wildlife Refuge System's website.
Pass the budget! Grassroots coalition demands action
WASHINGTON—President Obama appealed to the people to throw their support behind his first federal budget to help pull the country out of the deep economic crisis. Speaking at his second White House news conference the President said the $3.5 trillion Fiscal Year 2010 budget is “is going to need the support of the American people,” adding that it is “inseparable” from his economic recovery program.
Abuse raises question about law for disabled workers
A scandal rocking an Iowa town of barely 250 has ballooned into a statewide story. But it has national implications. Last month, FBI agents, social services and health department officials in Iowa converged on a 106-year-old bunkhouse. It’s where dozens of mentally retarded men lived when they were not working for as little as 37 cents per hour gutting turkeys in a processing plant, according to news [1] reports and documents [2] released by state officials.
