September 11th and its Consequences Ten Years Later
For the past few weeks we have been constantly reminded about the attacks on September 11, 2001. We were shown the planes crashing into buildings and told how our lifestyle was attacked on that day. This has been followed by interviews with family members who lost loved ones either in the attacks or in the […]
Hurricane Irene: A Man-Made Natural Disaster
The aftermath of Hurricane Irene on the East Coast has been a disaster. So far there have been at least 43 deaths. At its peak, over 6.5 million people went without power. And still over 580,000 residences are without power from North Carolina to Maine. Whole cities remain flooded, roads completely wrecked, bridges down, water […]
Education Should Be A Right – Not A Privilege
Many schools are starting this week. Children, college students, teachers and workers are returning to their schools and what will they find when they return? It is a system in crisis. From kindergarten to graduate school our public educational system has been cut to the bone. California now ranks 50th of the fifty states in […]
Violence in Oakland – Two Responses
The epidemic of violence that has plagued Oakland gained more attention when three-year-old Carlos Nava was shot and killed by a stray bullet in a mid-day drive-by shooting in East Oakland two weeks ago. That tragic event brought forward different responses from the community. Most people responded with sadness and a sense of outrage that […]
Verizon Strike – Drawing a Line Against Concessions
Starting on August 8th, 45,000 workers at the Verizon telephone company went on strike. The company wants major concessions from a section of the Verizon workforce which has union rights and benefits. Verizon is attempting to break the unions that represent these workers, and strip away their benefits. The Verizon workers are absolutely right to […]
Community Responds To Oakland Violence
Last Monday, Carlos Fernandez Nava, a three-year old child, was gunned down in the middle of the day. Carlitos, as he was known to family and friends, was with his mother on the way to a store on International Boulevard in Oakland. Drive-by shootings are nothing new in Oakland, but this murder of innocent child […]
Using the Debt Crisis to Attack Our Lives
For weeks now Obama and the Congress have been arguing over what to do about raising the US government debt ceiling. The US debt is now more than $14 trillion – meaning this is how much more the US government has spent than it has taken in. There is a real crisis of the economy. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Paying for Their Deficit with Our Lives
Over the last several weeks Obama and politicians in Congress have been telling us over and over again how bad the US government’s $14 trillion deficit is. Lately, it seems like every time we turn on the nightly news or pick up a newspaper we here scary stories about how unless something is done soon […]
Squeezing Workers for Every Last Penny
As the economic crisis continues to bring in record profits and income for banks and corporations and the super rich, working people keep paying for the crisis with their pocket books. In addition to layoffs, unemployment, foreclosures, and budget cuts, those of us workers who still have jobs are seeing our paychecks disappear even more […]
The Real Debate About Climate Change
Since the beginning of the New Year there has been a string of extreme weather events throughout the world. In December and January, the South American country, Colombia, saw record flooding that left millions without access to safe drinking water or shelter. A few months later, in April, Colombia was again battered by record flooding. […]
S.F. MUNI Workers Were Right To Vote “NO”
Last week San Francisco MUNI workers, who drive buses, streetcars and cable cars in San Francisco, voted down the latest transit contract proposal 994 to 488. This is the third time in 18 months the workers have rejected a contract proposal full of takeaways. The MUNI workers had good reasons to say “No” to this […]
There is No Justice in This System!
We are out in the streets today in memory of Oscar Grant. This is not a day of mourning. We are here because we refuse to allow his murder to be ignored. We refuse to ignore the fact that Johannes Mehserle will be released two and a half years after he murdered Oscar. Mehserle is […]
Their Profits Are Killing Our Planet
A string of natural disasters in the last few weeks has given us a small glimpse of what our future will look like if we continue to accept living under a system that puts profits before the well-being of the planet. Last Monday, a massive tornado more than a half-mile wide tore through the town […]
Puerta Del Sol is Spain’s Tahrir Square
Since May 15, tens of thousands of workers, students, families – the poor masses of Spain – have occupied Puerta Del Sol, a large plaza in Madrid, the capital city. The protestors are calling Puerta Del Sol, Spain’s Tahrir Square, after the protests in Egypt. They’ve built a small tent city and are chanting “we […]
Obama’s Middle East Speech – Hypocrisy and Lies
Last Thursday, May 19th, Obama gave a speech that was supposed to signify a major change in U.S. policy towards the Middle East. He praised the supposed progress in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result of the U.S. invasion; he claimed to embrace the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt for being non-violent popular movements. He […]
Brown’s Revised Budget: New Numbers, Same Lies
Today, Governor Jerry Brown released the details of his new budget proposal. Now that property taxes and income taxes have been paid, the state looked at its revenue. California brought in $6.6 billion more than what the initial budget had expected. So this means, instead of having a budget deficit of $26.6 billion, the new […]
Bin Laden Assassinated – Who’s the Real Terrorist?
The Obama administration announced last week that the U.S. military has killed Osama Bin Laden. The media and the politicians want us to feel avenged as we are forced to relive on television the devastation of the September 11th attacks. Those who lost loved ones among the 3,000 deaths will never stop mourning. But at […]
Their Recovery is Our Crisis!
From the politicians and the media, we are told the worst of the crisis is over and the economy is recovering. We are supposed to be relieved by the record-breaking profits of U.S. banks and corporations. Meanwhile, unemployment has still not improved, average wages of workers have gone down, yearly foreclosures are still increasing, and […]
Get Rid of the Bosses’ System – Not the Workers
May 1st, May Day, is a day of international workers solidarity. It is a day when workers around the world will take to the streets and show their common struggle for a better life for all. International Workers’ Day started in the US in the 1880s, with the struggle for the eight-hour day. The issue […]
Democrat Budget or Republican Budget – Same Class War
In a year where U.S. corporations have made record profits, and where U.S. military spending has expanded to record levels, we are told that working and poor people have to share the burden for budget deficits. Isn’t it a strange idea of sharing when those who are least able to afford it are given the […]
The Federal Budget: Their Game, Our Lives
Last week, Obama along with Republicans and Democrats from Congress announced their new federal budget for 2011. It will cut more than $38 billion in social spending over the next year, and will be the largest one-year federal spending cut ever in US history. Before they announced their budget, Republicans and Democrats couldn’t immediately agree […]
Bosses, Politicians, and The Rich Declare War on Workers
For most working people, we are living in what is the worst economic crisis of our lifetime. But for the banks and corporations and the super rich – times have never been better. Last year there was the highest profits of any financial quarter ever recorded in U.S. history. Bank profits last year were the […]
Nuclear Power: Lining Their Pockets, Risking Our Lives
On Friday March 11th, a major earthquake hit Japan’s east coast. The quake and the tsunami that followed together killed over 10,000 people. If this disaster weren’t devastating enough, it was followed by another man-made disaster which continues today. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged in the quake and tsunami, and its reactors […]
Their Agenda is Not Ours
Who’s supposed to pay for the $26.6 billion California budget deficit? According to the Democrats it will be poor families, children, disabled, and elderly people. On Thursday, Democrats on the California budget conference committee voted to accept many of Governor Jerry Brown’s proposals to pay some of California’s $26.6 billion deficit through massive cuts to […]
Winds of Change From the Middle East To the U.S. Mid-West
All over the world change is in the air. It began with Tunisia when the population rose up and drove out Ben Ali their brutal dictator of over 23 years. It took them 28 days. The revolutionary wave quickly shifted to Egypt where it took the Egyptian people 18 days to throw out the 40-year […]
Libya: Revolution Threatened by the U.S. And Europe
Today the Libyan people are in the midst of a revolution to overthrow Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. Qaddafi has ruled since 1969, making his state one of the longest-lived dictatorships in the world. A Struggle with Imperialism During the first half of the 20th century, Libya was an Italian colony. During this time many Italian […]
Wisconsin: The US Working Class Begins to Fight Back!
Workers in the United States are beginning to show that they will no longer pay for a crisis created by rich people. Last Tuesday, more than 50,000 teachers, firefighters, and other public workers in Wisconsin stormed the state legislature in Madison and began a series of massive demonstrations that have lasted into this week. They […]
Egypt, Tunisia and Beyond: Revolution is in the Air!
First it started in Tunisia, where workers and the poor masses, after 28 days of massive protests and strikes, forced out Ben Ali, a brutal dictator of more than 23 years. Currently the revolution has not been defeated despite many attempts to form new governments run by the same old regime under new faces. Workers […]
Mubarak Out! The First Steps in the Egyptian Revolution
The revolution in Egypt has won a huge victory by driving out President, Hosni Mubarak, the 30 year military dictator of that country. The people of Egypt have made the first steps in a revolution. Mass Demonstrations On Thursday, Mubarak promised to make a speech, and everyone predicted that it would be his resignation. However […]
Egypt: Self-appointed Leaders Try to Hijack the Revolution
The revolution to overthrow the brutal regime of Egyptian dictator, Hosni Mubarak, is entering its third week. Last Friday, in what demonstrators called a “Day of Departure,” more than a million people came out into the streets of Cairo to try and give President Mubarak a shove out the door. Demonstrations of hundreds of thousands […]
Tunisia and Egypt – Protests Turning Into Revolution
The social movement in Tunisia has developed into a revolution. No longer is the mass of workers, poor and youth simply content with the ouster of the dictator of 23 years, Ben Ali – they want a government that represents the interests of the majority of the population and not the rich servants of the […]
Revolution in the Middle East & North Africa
On January 15th, the people of Tunisia, through mass protests and strikes, overthrew Ben Ali, the brutal dictator of that country. He had ruled for 23 years, selling the country’s resources to foreign corporations and degrading the living conditions of the Tunisian people. The overthrow of Ben Ali has shown people all over North Africa […]
The Corporate Media: Distracting Us From the Real Terrorists
Two weeks ago in Arizona, a disturbed man with a gun walked into a group of people attending a local political event organized by a congresswoman and began shooting. Six people were killed and fourteen were wounded in the rampage. Since the shooting, the media has been exposing us to story after story about it. […]
The Tunisian Workers Are The Example For Us All
On December 17, 2010 a young man of 26 years old walked to the local City Hall in protest. He was an unemployed college graduate with an engineering degree who barely made a living selling vegetables from a pushcart before the local police took it away from him. The young man, in front of City […]
Tunisia’s Revolution – End of A Dictatorship
Struggle Against Imperial Domination Tunisia is a country at the very northern tip of North Africa. It was independent until 1869 when it was turned into a colony of the French. Tunisians became virtual slaves, working for French bosses. This was the fate of the Tunisian people for the next decades. Tunisia is rich in […]
Our Resolution For The New Year
Each New Year people take stock of their lives and make resolutions hoping to change some aspect of life for the better. It may be to spend less money, to eat healthy food, to exercise more or to try and have a better relationship with loved ones. These resolutions and the self-reflection they stem from […]
Let’s Make Next Year OUR Year
2010 is drawing to a close. People will gather with friends and family to celebrate. For those of us who don’t have to go into work on New Years day, the first day of 2011 might even be an opportunity to get a little rest. As usual, the corporate TV stations will broadcast their New […]
Georgia State Prison Strike – Prisoners Stand Together Against the Worst Conditions
On December 9th, inmates in the Georgia state prisons started the biggest U.S. prison strike in history. Thousands of prisoners in seven prisons took part, refusing to leave their cells and follow the daily work routine. Across the prison system, across racial lines, and under the noses of the prison authorities, thousands of prisoners have […]
Make The Holidays Ours – Not the Corporations’
In case you haven’t noticed, the Holiday season is in full swing. Everywhere we go the sights and sounds bombard us, imploring us to stay in a festive mood and buy our loved ones that certain something that will make this the Holiday season to remember. Commercial after commercial, the tv, radio and internet, they […]
Wikileaks: Exposing a System Run by Criminals and Liars
Last week, the website Wikileaks began to release more than 250,000 secret US government documents to the public. The documents are a series of communications between US diplomats. The US government claims they were copied by an US Army private named Bradley Manning and given to Wikileaks. Earlier in the year Wikileaks released hundreds of […]
Wikileaks – Government Lies, Murder and Blackmail Revealed
On November 30th, the website Wikileaks released 250,000 private communications between U.S. officials and foreign heads of state. The cables reveal the brutal attacks on civilians, torture, blackmail and lies perpetrated by the American government. These are just a few examples: Blackmailing Governments U.S. representatives to international climate change meetings have blackmailed other countries to […]
The Economy – It’s a Robbery Not a Recovery
As the effects of this economic crisis are being shoved in the faces of workers, the ruling rich have never been richer. Last week, the third quarter profits of U.S. banks and corporations were published. Together banks and corporations earned at a rate of $1.7 trillion per year – this is the highest rate of […]
Black Friday- Poisoning Our Holidays
Once again the Thanksgiving holiday has arrived. People across the country will cook food and come together, relaxing in a rare moment free from work and school. Millions of people will travel to visit family, play sports, watch football and eat way too much. When the day is almost finished and people are starting to […]
Unemployment – Our Misery, Their Profits
If we’re not already among the millions of people unemployed right now, we all know people who are. And even if we do have a job, the bosses certainly aren’t short on giving us threats about how lucky we are to have one and how they could take it away at any moment. The misery […]
Another Cop Gets Away With Murder!
Johannes Mehserle, a white BART cop, murdered Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year old black man, in front of hundreds of witnesses, and now he has officially gotten away with it. Mehserle has only been sentenced to two years in jail. He will only have to serve as little as seven months because the 292 days […]