Prisoner’s Strike Against Mass Torture
On July 1, prisoners in Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California began a hunger strike to protest abuse and brutal living conditions. These prisoners describe their treatment in Pelican Bay’s Secure Housing Unit (SHU) as torture. In the SHU prisoners are confined for years in windowless cement cells. These prisoners spend 23 hours a day […]
THE BIG STRIKE – When Workers Shut Down San Francisco
In 1934, San Francisco workers waged a city-wide strike demanding better wages and working conditions. Today, our circumstances are similar to the 1930s. Many are laid off, and the employed endure cuts to their benefits and pay. Like the 1930s, we hear there is no money. Unlike the workers of the 1930’s, however, we have […]
The Summertime Blues: Working More For Less
The summertime is advertised as the perfect months to spend more time with family and friends. Many workers save their vacation every year knowing that their children are out of school and have more free time. Others wait all year to travel back to the places where their families live, some perhaps only seeing their […]
Holding Our Lives Hostage to Pay for Their Debt
Over the past weeks the government has been discussing ways to deal with its massive $14 trillion dollar deficit. The threat from both Republicans and Democrats is the same – if Congress doesn’t increase the amount of debt the US government is allowed to take on (the so-called “debt ceiling”), the entire US economy may […]
Surprise, Surprise The official number of jobs added to the economy in the month of June was recently released and the people in the news and government are shocked. It turns out that there were hardly any new jobs added to the economy, unemployment is up and the recession seems to be getting worse. Actually […]
July 4th – We Need Our Own Independence Day
On the Fourth of July, the politicians and the corporate media celebrated their version of the past. It was marked by calls for patriotism, to support the troops by supporting their wars, and of course, as with all holidays, calls to go shopping. They used this holiday to justify their policies, to glorify their power […]