On December 28, a potential strike by the ILA (International Longshoremen’s Association), representing East Coast dockworkers, was averted when union negotiators agreed to extend the contract for another month and continue bargaining. Both sides took this as a hopeful sign.
Many people view the New Year as a time for resolutions -- losing weight, exercising more, staying in better touch with friends, taking up a new hobby. Here's something you don't often hear of when considering New Year's resolutions -- devoting more time to civic life. Our nation has millions of runners, gym goers, bird watchers, collectors, sports fans and musicians. But one area that is often overlooked when it comes to one's free time and quality of life is the "democratic arts."
On Friday, after just one day of rushed debate, the Senate shamefully voted on a five-year extension to the FISA Amendments Act, an unconsitutional law that openly allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans' overseas communications.(Reuters)
The New York Times should be embarrassed. On December 24 it gave a Christmas present to the corporate-backed lobby group Fix the Debt with its front-page Business section puff piece about the organization, which is pushing to balance the federal budget by slashing social programs while cutting taxes for the rich.
December 29th marks the 122nd anniversary of the Massacre at Wounded Knee. It is a story that remains fresh in the lives of many indigenous peoples across America. Each generation is taught to never forget.
In 1891, reviewing the history leading up to the massacre, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Thomas Morgan said,
Russia and the US are squabbling over whose human rights abuses are bigger. After the US signed the Magnitsky Act, which blacklists any Russian deemed to be a human rights violator, Russia has retaliated by barring American couples from adopting Russian children, 60,000 of whom have found new families in the US since 1992.
You are a person who cares. You see injustice and people suffering, all over the world, and you know it’s not right. You go looking for some way to fix it, but you know you can’t do it alone. So you find an organization tackling the problems that matter to you. If you can, you give a donation to support their work.
But how can you tell that you’ve made a lasting difference?
