Editorial: Let the eater beware!
Millions from coast to coast relaxed at barbecues this week, enjoying burgers, franks, salads and fresh fruits. Many of us, with good reason, had second thoughts as we flipped those burgers and bit into those franks because we’ve been hearing and reading a lot about dangerous foods that are imported from China.
Editorial: Justice turned upside down
President George W. Bush’s choice of July 2 — right before Independence Day — to commute former White House aide “Scooter” Libby’s prison sentence for lying and obstruction of justice carries a special irony.
Single-payer universal health care can be a reality!
All of us have encountered one problem or another with our health care plan. I know of a colleague who died from cancer due to her HMO’s refusing to pay for her treatment when the cancer was in its early stage.
A little health education for FOX and CBS
FOX Broadcasting and CBS reached new lows of hypocrisy and pandering to the ultra-right on reproductive rights, sex and contraception when they recently refused to air ads for condoms. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has offered to educate FOX and CBS about reproductive health. Here’s her letter to FOX.
Big cheers for Family and Medical Leave Act
AFL-CIO blogger Mike Hall writes, “When the Department of Labor in December asked workers and employers to comment on their experiences with regulations that implement the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), many observers believed it was the first step by the Bush administration to revise the rules to restrict access to family leave — as big business has clamored for since it was enacted in 1993.”
July 7 THIS WEEK IN LABOR
Moldy food found at Farmer Joe’s; How about American Vulture?; Farm workers toil in extreme heat; Fast track dies; We’d deliver, but our bosses won’t let us
July 7 NATIONAL CLIPS
Mayors stand up for cities: U.S. out of Iraq; Maine rally for Iraq pullout, impeachment; State universal health care passes Wisconsin Senate; FBI gives Wall St. and Main St. criminals a break
Great public schools, a basic right for every child
PHILADELPHIA — The No Child Left Behind Act and the Supreme Court rejection of school desegregation programs drew harsh criticism July 3 as 9,000 teachers and other school workers opened the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly here. The four-day conference met under the slogan “Great public schools, a basic right for every child.”
Facade of good intentions
The great, recurring question that is often asked by people of good will about the Holocaust and the crimes of the Nazi regime is, “How could this happen?” Yet many of these same people think nothing about asking a couple why they want to adopt a disabled child, or whether they would like to be “relieved of the burden” of caring for a child with Down’s.
What foreign language threat?
English is so dominant in this country that it is hard to get Americans, even university students, to learn other languages. And, although first-generation immigrants may struggle a bit with English, their children here almost always are fluent in it, and by the third generation, the problem is not to get people to learn English, but to re-teach them the language of their grandparents. When politicians try to turn a non-problem into a problem, you can bet that the purposes are demagogic
